Costa Rica (CR) with a population of 4.5 million was the final country to be visited on my Central American tour. Country number 137, (54% of the world) comes with a chic tourist reputation as a wildlife paradise with easy access to a huge range of animals of varying species as well as a plethora of activities for adrenaline seeking junkies. Skyrocketing numbers of tourists and services needed to cater for them has put a great strain on its ecological habitat and CR is struggling to find the right balance between economic development and environmental conservation to promote sustainable tourism. CR, which has the highest standard of living and longest life-expectancy in Central America, needs to address rampant child prostitution, drug addiction, general crime and increased divorce rates as the country develops and becomes more diverse and cosmopolitan. Second only to tourism is agriculture and CR is largest pineapple producer in the world.

The first destination to be visited was the Cano Negro National Wildlife Refuge which lies in the centre of the flight path for millions of migrating bird species. Upon arrival the group embarked on a twilight walking tour by the nearby lake spotting a number of interesting species, the highlight being pink spoonbills, a crocodile and red-winged blackbirds. At dinner a huge Coconut Beetle, originally mistaken for a mosquito, made an unexpected appearance, causing much commotion as it crawled up the outside of Hilary's leg. After commanding the group's attention and photographs, the surprise dinner guest was returned to its natural environment by Mark.

We went on a Rio Frio boat trip where we spotted an assortment of the local habitat inhabitants with the highlights for me being Crocodiles, Iguanas, Great Egrets, Ahingas and Tiger Herons. More huge tame and friendly Iguanas were observed at the lunch stop at Muelle. Inspired by the England cricket teams dramatic turnaround in reaching the World Twenty20 final in India, we sped towards our next stopover at La Virgen de Sarapiqui, where the River Sarapiqui was a foaming torrent fringed by lush vegetation. This location was a magnet for adventure seekers with the options on offer including whitewater rafting, zip-wiring and hiking. Needless to say with lumber issues prevailing and quad bike "scars" still fresh, I declined participation. The previous night I appeared to contract food-poisoning of some sort (not drink-related for once) and spent a restless night sprinting between my bed and the bathroom facilities.

We continued on our journey towards San Jose (SJ), the capital of CR via the scenic grandeur of the Braulio Carrillo National Park and rain forest. En-route our speeding slowed to a crawl as were caught in a 2 hour traffic jam following the capsizing of a lorry. SJ is one of the youngest and most cosmopolitan Central American capitals. We went to a local restaurant for the group's "last supper" where I made the appropriate speech on behalf of the group. We then retired to a bar called Chavestas where the poised and rhythmic Maggie once again led the dancing. I sampled an interesting cocktail call Fu*k You which was a blend of vodka, whisky and ammoretto.

On the final morning, I took a solo walking tour around the centre of San Jose, taking in Parque Nacional, Monumento Nacional, Plaza de la Democracia, Parque Espana, Parque Morazan, Parque Central and the well-kept Catedral Metropolitana. Whilst pleasant, San Jose does not have many attractions to tempt the tourist as it is mainly a commercial and financial centre.

Unfortunately our return flight from San Jose to Madrid was cancelled due to alleged high winds in San Jose. I was there and didn't experience anything untoward. As a result, Eric, Fiona, Nicola, Alison, Duarte, Laura, Mark and I were bused to the San Jose Best Western hotel for an additional bonus holiday night. The flight was rescheduled for 13.20 departure the following day..... except it became clear as take-off time approached that there was one missing essential ingredient - no fu*king aeroplane to take us home and to much booing, whistling and incandescent anger and rage from the tired, frustrated and utterly fu*ked-off passengers, the ETD was rescheduled to 15.00, then 17.00, then 18.00 before finally doing so at 18.35, over 24 hours late. There was a complete dearth of any meaningful information provided and you got the feeling that the Iberian ground staff were blaming the passengers for having the teremity to want to fly home! Hang your heads in shame Iberia and British Airways for an appalling example of terrible, lying and incompetent customer service.

Last updated: 4th May 2016