Three hours after picking up my smart little Suzuki 4-wheel drive I found myself surrounded by the genuine cloud forest of San Gerado de Dota in the Southern Central Mountains. Eco-tourism and in particular birding is the main industry here and all the lodges put out food and offer a variety of bird tours with the star attraction being the superb Resplendent Quetzal. My first call was the Paraiso Quetzal Lodge where I paid a small visitor fee and was treated to dozens of brightly coloured hummingbirds buzzing around my head on their way to and from the feeders.

Still struggling to accustom myself to the left-hand drive vehicle on winding mountain roads I cautiously made my way south-westward towards my next destination, the wonderful primary rainforest of the Osa Peninsula. I'd booked myself into Finca Sueno de Osa, a remote lodge deep in the heart of the forest with miles of private trails, hoping to see some of the peninsula's fabulous wildlife without having to arrange a guided tour of Corcovado National Park... and I wasn't disappointed.

After two days deep in the rainforest it was time to head north along the Pacific coast to my next lodge, the somewhat up-market Hacienda Baru. I was disappointed to find they no longer allow un-guided exploration of their trails at night but it was still an excellent location with peccaries, agouti and capuchin monkeys all common on the trails around the lodge as well as many different birds. I did manage to sneak onto the trails a little before dawn one morning and was rewarded with coati feeding in the tree tops and a smart little nine-banded armadillo scuttling around below.

Continuing northwards my next stop was Playa Grande on the north-west coast. The biggest beach in Costa Rica might not seem like the ideal place for wildlife, but it's one of the world's most important breeding sites for Leatherback Turtles. Unfortunately due to the population decline, viewing Leatherbacks is no longer allowed but I did join a group watching Green Turtles egg-laying via red torch-light.

My final destination before heading home was the Biological Station at Palo Verde National Park, a large wetland reserve which also contains extensive dry forest, two habitats I hadn't explored much in Costa Rica. At the peak of the dry season with low water levels and a lot of the forest life dormant I didn't have very high expectations... how wrong could I be? Thanks to the expert guidance of biological guide Ulises Chavarrí, Palo Verde turned out to be the highlight of the trip!

Reluctantly taking my leave of Palo Verde I drove back towards San Jose, stopping to spend a night in Monteverde on the way. Like Manuel Antonio, this area was teeming with tourists including the night hike I'd booked where I turned up to find literally hundreds of people setting off into the forest in a procession. Again though there was plenty of wildlife and everything was well managed to minimise the disturbance.