Got up at 4.45, packed up and met the bus at 5.30.  We arrived at Heathrow at about 7.15 and got moving through the various desks.  We had a bit of a hold up as we went through customs - the satellite phone and beacon looked a bit suspicious, but we were soon at the gate and ready to board the plane.  Unfortunately there was another delay as the postiion of several bits in Ben’s bag had fallen together and made it appear as though he was carrying a gun.  Luckily, after a chat with airport police, he got on the plane.  The flight was an 8-hour slog from London Heathrow to Newark, New Jersey.  The flight was pleasant and we all had our own TV sets on which we could play games/watch films.  I chose to watch the last two Matrix films as I had never seen them.  We had a few bits of food on the flight.  The transfer at Newark was a bit of an effort due to the stringent American custom laws.  We sat around at Newark, eating and discussing until our next flight was called.

The flight from Newark to San Jose, Costa Rica bagan at 17.30 local time (23.30GMT) and was also not too bad, despite the fact that it was late and the plane wasn’t as good.  We had even more paperwork to do at San Jose airport, including a sheet on swine flu.  The flight had shown just how remote some areas of  America and the Caribbean are.  On the descent we flew above and through a thunderstorm, which was very impressive.  At the airport we were met by representatives from our first Hostel, where we would stay for two nights.  The first impressions of San Jose were that it was hot, humid, loud and busy.  Once at the hostel we paid and then settled down to bed at about half 11 (5.30GMT - over 24 hours since we had left Hitchin).