Driving in Costa Rica

With 4 days before we are due back on the Pacific coast at Manuel Antonio, we decided to hire a car to allow us to explore the Central Valley and to see one of the volcanoes - either Poas or Irazu. Booked a small 4x4 with Economy carhire in Liberia (one of the biggest local companies) but when we got there the only 4x4 they could offer us was a Nissan Frontier pickup with a crewcab - which they described as an upgrade. Linda was not impressed but since it was only for 3 days, I thought it would be OK. Unfortunately it drove like a tank and the 200km journey down the Interamericana was an interesting trip - even managed to get stopped by the Police - think I was a bit quick through a small town - but once they saw the gringo passport they just waved me on.
Found a great hotel - El Cafetal Inn - on a coffee plantation near Atenas - tremendous views and a great pool. Only 30 mins from the International airport so it would makes a great place to start or finish a trip to CR.
Drove to Poas on Saturday and managed to get to the craters in sunshine - great sight and a pleasant walk around the trails - unfortunately that was all I could manage because of some hot pickle I had eaten with my breakfast which disagreed with my stomach in a big way. Had to retire hurt to the bedroom leaving Linda on the sunlounger by the pool.
Better by the next morning and headed for the Waterfall gardens at La Paz - which meant driving almost to the top of Poas again before turning off straight into a wall of mist and low cloud and a road which was still under repair after a recent earthquake. Managed about 20km of part road / part dirt track only to find that the waterfall gardens were completely obscured in the mist which meant driving back the way we had come.
Found a couple of places to stop on the journey back to the hotel and had to settle for another afternoon by the pool!
Dropping off the truck in San Jose this afternoon and picking up a shuttle down to Manuel Antonio where we will spend the next 6 days in a self catering cottage on the beach next to the National Park.