Central / South America

The Last Chapter

2005-06-05T18:37:00.000+01:00

So it has finished. Back home after a gruelling 6 flights in 4 days, i'm home.

The Galapogos continued to be amazing and the snorkelling with Sea Lions, Sharks ans Turtles was a big highlight. Land wise, nothing beat the Blue Footed Boobies and i mean that too!

We were joined by a group of 8 Dutch people for the last 4 nights on the boat and they were very friendly to us and made a big effort not to alienate us, so my thanks to all of them.

The last 4 months have been an amazing time, seeing lots of great places and most of all meeting lots of great people along the way. My biggest problem is that i have now caught the travel bug and have already got itchy feet.

Thanks to all those that have read this and for the feedback.

Until the next journey.....ta ta.

Late football result just arrived from the Galapogos Islands:

Yacht Rumba 1 Yacht Aida Maria 0

Goalscorer: Richardson (90th min)

Attendance: 3 (2 of which were pelicans)

Life on the ocean waves

2005-05-29T16:55:00.000+01:00

ok so the Galapogos does have internet, which is quite lucky as it happens for booking accomadation for our last night in ecuador.

1 of the girls from the truck was on our boat for the first 3 nights and even bumped into 2 of my favourites from the truck on a beach but now it looks like we are sharing with a bunch of strangers. Has been great fun so far, seen plenty of animals and birds, even snorkeled with sea lions (bet you never realised sea lions snorkeled).

Having trouble typing now as i am still swaying as if i´m still on the boat, even though it is most definitely dry land - got 4 more nights to go too.

i here the weather is quite nice back home but wouldn´t swap this for anything.

25th May 2005

2005-05-26T00:13:00.000+01:00

Firstly let me say a big congratulations to my Big Bro on Liverpools amazing win in the Champions League final today. I actually cheered every time Liverpool scored (i know i should feel very bad about this and i blame the alcahol).

We are now in Quito and this tour has officially finished, all that is left is the Galapogos Islands. Last 2 days have said bye to quite a few really nice people that have become friends over the last 2 months. There is still a good size left but it is our turn to say bye to the rest tonight as we leave early tomorrow morning (not stopping me having a few beers though).

Quito has a few nice spots but not that many mind. Got to the cinema yesterday, for prob the last time on this trip. Got to see Kingdom Of Heaven this time.

Prob wont be able to update this site over the next week as (hopefully) the Galapogos is internet free. Just over a week before coming home and i look forward to seeing all of you real soon. Ok i`m lying, i really wish i was still out here travelling but you don`t need to know that.

22nd May 2005

2005-05-22T21:29:00.000+01:00

Survived the jungle but not after getting the willys scared out of me seeing tarantulas and, worse, cockroaches in my bed just as i was going to get in. Have to say it was great fun during the day. Went to a local tribe and saw their sharman. He did some chants on me to give me good luck, not had any since then - back with the dodgy stomach, lost every game of cards and Celtic losing the league. Not happy.

Tomorrow we go to Quito where the tour finishes and the memories begin and so does our trip to the Galapogos. Had a bit of a scare as Continental cancelled our flight home from Quito but thankfully that has been sorted and get home a whole 15 minutes earlier!

17th May 2005

2005-05-17T17:20:00.000+01:00

Now in the final week of this leg of the trip. We are on the outskirts of Tena which is in the Amazon area. Our hotel (well lodge) is actually in the Amazon and has some great views. Tomorrow we are going deeper into the jungle for 2 nights and are expecting to meet plenty of friendly creepy crawlies.

Yesterday we managed to catch up with the truck before it departed. Our taxi driver from Baños to Rio Verde insisted on stopping at all the sites on the way and all 4 of us were glad he did. The highlight was a basket cable car high across a raging river to the waterfall on the otherside.

Thanks to the 2 people who are still reading this!!!

15th May 2005

2005-05-15T19:32:00.000+01:00

Not sure if many people are still reading these updates as not had any feedback for ages now. Think i`m only doing this for my own benefit as my personal journal has lapsed a little bit (i`m still in Bolivia in that). I promise to catch up though (but that`s what i always told my teachers, at school, when i slipped behind onmy homework).

The small break away group made it to Baños without any major incidents. One of the buses did drop us off on the outskirts of Riobahmba, miles away from the bus terminal we needed for our connecting bus to here. Thankfully a local bus came along which went there. Definitely worth the effort, not only was Cuenca worth the extra night, so too is Baños. Great little town with a big volcano smoking away on the horrizon!

Had missed the old public transport trips with the locals starring at you and the sellers getting on and off the bus in the remotest of places selling the weirdest things. Plus there is the delightful smells you get, either no deodrant or too much hideous aftershave.

Just over a week left now on the truck and for this trip. No question that i will definitely miss a few people. Have been promised a game of golf with one of the girls so i better start practicing when home, well can`t lose to a girl.

12th May 2005

2005-05-12T21:18:00.000+01:00

Welcome to Ecuador. First day we make it in Ecuador we get caught up in another road block. This time the banana farmers were upset over something. Luckily we only got held up by an hour but another tour company got stuck there over night.

Peru finished with a bang. I`m now a surfer dude having been taught by the 1998 Latin American champion surfer (which is a very big thing) I now can rent a board and hit the waves. Have to say i thought it was going to be hard but 1st wave, i was up and made it all the way (turning was a bit of a problem though).

As you may have guessed, we finished Peru on the beach and it was a beautiful place too. Could have done with another day there (needed to ironing out 1 or 2 small surfing problems) but alas no, Ecuador was waiting for us. Before hitting the beach i was looking forward to getting out of Peru, we had been in it for a month and had started to drag but was sad to see it leave, now realised it felt like a good old friend. Thankfully Ecuador looks like as being more of a long term partner.

We are in a very nice city called Cuanca. 3rd largest city in Ecuador and very pictuesque. So much so that I`m staying an extra night here before going to Baños and spending a night there before catching up with the truck. The truck was supposed to go to Baños, which is supposed to be another lovely place but due to the local volcano being on some sort of alert they are now no longer going there. Us volcano experts laugh at these sort of dangers and have decided to pay it a visit. So, keep an eye out on the news for any British tourists missing when it erupts! To be honest I am glad to get off the truck and go back to public transport for a bit, it seems more of an adventure and less like a school holiday.

We have also been told that we are no longer allowed to go to the part of the Amazon we was going to as the government has said too many people are catching too many hideous diseases there. This time i shall be paying full attention as i am in no rush to catch a hideous disease, again. We will still be going into the jungle but a safer part. Still a slight chance that i might get eating alive by Pirahna fish, soldier ants or one of a million horrible things that give you nightmares.

6th May 2005

2005-05-06T18:27:00.000+01:00

We have left the delightful Lima behind. With a population of 9 million you think that they might be able to produce at least one decent taxi driver who actually knew where he was going!

Saw plenty of other sites in Lima, other than the bars, managed to find 2 cinemas and saw a couple of films (both for less than a $1).

Yesterday was a long all day drive to Huaraz, which i thought was going to be a nice place - it`s not. Had hoped to buy some dodgy goods here but they want more than they cost back home! This is suppose to be a cheap country. We are back at altitude (just under 4000m) so the beer drinking is back to the lets get drunk for cheap. At least i got to see the election result before going to bed.

After tonight we have to camp for 4 nights (2 on a beach), just to make you all feel that slightly bit less jealous.

3rd May 2005

2005-05-03T16:55:00.000+01:00

Last 2 days have been fun, makes a change. On Sunday as we travelled to Pacaras National Reserve we stopped off at an oasis in the desert and jumped in sand buggies and raced up and down the sand dunes. We even stopped off and did a little bit of sand boarding down the dunes, which i took to like a duck to a ski slope! Got sand in places i never thought possible.

Yesterday we had a boat ride out to the national reserve and saw plenty of wildlife out there. Dolphins, penguins, sea lions (which one decided to have a wee in front of me) and, my favourite, Peruvian Boobies.

Now in the capital, Lima. Found my irish pub last night and will soon be going to another bar to watch the 2nd leg of Liverpool v Chelsea. Well you do have to see all the sites while you are here. Lima is a big city with some nice patches, i like it as it has a bit of edge to it. No doubt i will get mugged now just to prove that point.

30th April 2005

2005-04-30T23:19:00.000+01:00

Everyone (except the toilet paper manufacturers) will be glad to know that the virus has finally cleared. It has taken 5 days of antibiotics, and not very much food (or worse beer) but i´m finally back on my feet and just in time too! As the other Kumuka truck (aptly called Nelly) challenged the mighty Kinda to a 5 aside game at Puerto Inca, yesterday. Half time was 0-0 and looking a very close call but thanks to the Samba Football we ended up stuffing them 6-0 with all of our team getting at least 1. Unfortunately they took bad to losing and half our team (that will be 2.5 players then) got some form of injury - mine was a lovely kick on the shin - now a lovely bruise. They then challanged us to beach volleyball and after 3 games of that they agreed that we was far too superiour for them. On the footballing side i have started to play a lot more with my left foot, trouble is it´s 20 years too late!

Today i have just been on a little Cessna plane to fly over the Nazcar lines. For those who don´t know, the Nazcar lines were created pre inca times and are big pictures of animals drawn on the ground but the only way you can see them is from the sky, which has baffeled historians. Some even say it was done by aliens - prob after they had a few beers that is!

The weather has picked up now we are no longer at altitude and that we are creeping ever so close to the Equator. The only downside is that we seem to be doing a bit more camping recently, this will change on Monday when we reach the capital of Peru, Lima (and yes this is def the capital this time).

I´m off to make up for lost time and catch up with the beer drinking.

24th April 2005

2005-04-24T18:37:00.000+01:00

I survived the Inca Trail, all 4 days of it and it was great fun, if hard work. Made even harder by the fact that I caught a virus on the 2nd day and couldn`t eat, not a good thing when you have lots of hard walking to do but there is no escape and not many toilets on the Inca Trail (thank God for Imodium). Machu Picchu was fantastic, so picturesque. No point me trying to put it into words, those who have been here will know what i mean.

Back in Cusco and still got the virus, so I couldn`t get up in the morning to watch both Celtic`s and Millwall`s excellent victories on TV in one of the local pubs.

Today is being spent in the hotel room enjoying the local TV, Luckilly this internet is close to my room!

18th April 2005

2005-04-18T17:27:00.000+01:00

Firstly congratulations to the old man for correctly pointing out that La Paz is not the capital of Bolivia, obviously Sucre is. And thanks top Big Bro for his confidence in thinking i can take on the entire Bolivian army single handed and unarmed. Mind you Bolivia has never won a war in it´s recent history and has lost a lot of land because of that.

Yesterday we travelled to Cusco and encountered our 2nd road block by protesters, what joy. This time it was in a more scenic area with mountains and a waterfall to look at. Thankfully there was no dynamite and even better we found a football on our truck, found a nice patch of grass and proceeded to have a game. Started of just us lot playing but soon turned into other travellers joining in (mainly Peruvian but we did have an Argetinian on our team). Unfortunately the road block got cleared so we had to stop. There were several more road blocks a long the road but the riot police turned up and got rid of them, i´ve never clapped the police before and judging by their friendly waves back, don´t think they´ve been clapped much either!

Free day in Cusco to get any last minute things we need for the next few days. Tomorrow we go to the Sacred Valley and then it´s on to the Inca Trail. Get back to civilisation on Saturday evening for a few welcome drinks.

Cusco is a lovely place, been a real surprise. There is even an Irish bar here, so that´s me happy!

16th April 2005

2005-04-16T23:03:00.000+01:00

We made it into Peru, crossing probably the worse border i have ever seen, basically you could just walk through if you wanted - i didn´t, i wanted the stamp in my passport!

We travelled to Puno which is on Lake Titicaca (correct spelling this time). Headed out to the restaurant where i had a lovely Elpaca steak (which i can add to the Llama steak i had in La Paz) both were very nice and tender but think Llama wins. Peru is famous for having Guinea Pig on the menu, which 2 people had (braver than me) and i´m glad i didn´t. It came whole and you could still see it´s little teeth showing through.

Yesterday we went to Amantani Island in Lake Titicaca where we stayed with local famalies for the night. Our family lived up at the highest point on the very big hill, good exercise though. Good to see how the locals live and they did look after us very well. Our pathetic Spanish volcabulary was useless on the island as they speek a completely different language! Still we learnt to say hello, thankyou, where is the toilet and one beer please! After lunch we all met up and had a few games of footy (6 aside) against the locals. Trouble is we were nearly 4,000m above sea level. The away team was knackered after 1 minute! Still feel the locals cheated by running all the time. We didn´t do too bad, lost all 3 games though! But they were close! I did ok, set up 1 goal and didn´t let any in while in goal. My lungs were complaining for the rest of the day though - must remember never to do something as stupid as that ever again!

In the evening our famalies dressed us up in local dress and held a fiesta for us. For the girls it meant several layers of dresses pulled tightly, an embroided top and an embroided shrowl. For the guys it was a poncho! Sometimes it is a lot better to be male! Lots of local style dancing to local music (basically pan pipes) with the local girls which was far too energetic for my liking and interupted the beer drinking. Still have learnt a few new moves for the next time i go clubbing.

We said goodbye to our families this morning and headed to another island which wasn´t so good. Lots of walking (up hill again) to the town square which was not very impressive. Our local guide then gave us a talk about local history which apparantly went on for ages, i fell asleep during it! Thankfully i wasn´t the only one. It was good for topping up the tan though.

Back in Puno for one more night then we move to Cusco were the base is for the Inca Trail, which we start on Wednesday. The exercise we ahve just had should be of help to us but think i´m going to collapse at least 3 times over the 4 days.

13th April 2005

2005-04-13T21:45:00.000+01:00

Have spent the last 2 days in La Paz, which despite being very busy is turning in to one of my favourite citys so far on this trip. La Paz is the home to the highest golf course in the world but unfortunately also one of the most expensive!

I have put a deliberate mistake in my previous post (of course it was deliberate) the 1st person to post what that mistake is will win a beer on my return. Talking of beers, started to get the hang of drinking at altitude now, should mean when i`m back at sea level i`ll be able to drink you all under the table - well do most of you anyway.

Tomorrow it is off to Peru, home of Paddington Bear originally. We get to stay with local families on Lake Titikaka (bad spelling again - one day i`ll learn how to spell these things before coming on the net). Apparantly they dress you up in local gear, a lot of drink will be needed that night!

Just for my bro - well done to Liverpool, just watched the 2nd leg.

11th April 2005

2005-04-11T21:27:00.000+01:00

Well the last 6 days have been a mixed bag and that is a big understatement. Before we left San Pedro, we went on a day tour in the desert to see all the strange formations of cliffs through the time (it hasn´t rained in these parts for over a 100 years) and we got to see the sunset over the rocks, which was nice but not as nice as the sunset in Caye Caulker - nothing could beat that.

On the 6th we left San Pedro to go to the Bolivian border (in the middle of nowhere). Where we left Kinda to split up in small groups to go across the desert and salt flats for 3 days in jeeps. I never realised just how exciting going across a desert for that long could be. We saw some truely amazing sites including Flamingos, rabbit like creatures, Llamas (different varieties - yes there are different varieties of Llamas), the only active volcano in Bolivia (which as volcanos go was pretty boring). We travelled up to over 4000m above sea level and 7 of our group started to suffer from altitude sickness quite badly. Not me of course, not even a little headache - i ended up feeling bad because i was ok though!

The final day of travelling was over the salt flats, which was by far the best day. Miles and miles of nothing but white of salt on the ground, hope my photos do it justice. Then out of nowhere there is an island in the middle with 10 foot high cactus´s on it.

We ended up in the small town of Uyuni and stayed in a eal nice hotel (just what was needed after 3 days crossing the desert in smelly clothes). The place was run by a man from America and he was real friendly and has the best pizza in south America there, well i liked it anyway - don´t expect you to go over and try.

The next day started with a shock. As i was packing the bags on the truck outside the hotel (and also outside an army barracks) the guards were doing there duty and securing the perimeter. Unfortunately one of them ran up and knelt down 5 meters away and pointed his very large machine gun at me! I decided to walk very quickly to the other side of the Truck! Anyway, we got back on Kinda and set off for the town of Potisi and to visit the silver mine there. It was over 200Km to travel in tricky mountain roads and we got to within 40kms of the place when we were stopped by a road block in a small town. They were blocking the road not letting anything pass. We found out that the bus company had put the bus fares up and they were very upset by this (lucky they don´t live in London). They were not going to budge untill the fare was reduced again - rumour was that it was going to be soon, ha! The blokes all got out to try to look like we meant business and that was the 1st time we heard the dynamite being thrown. The blokes quickly decided that they had a very good cause and were sympathetic with their needs!

We stayed one night camping near by hoping they would let us poor tourists through but after plenty more dynamite thrown, doesn´t make good sleeping, they didn´t so we gave up and turned back and went on a long 2 days hard drive to La Paz (capital of Bolivia and highest capital in the world). It included another free camp by the side of the road but these are becoming fun now!

So here we are in La Paz. Hoping for a better few days now, at least it´s a nice hotel with a tv!!!

5th April 2005

2005-04-05T16:27:00.000+01:00

La Serena turned out to be a nice little town, nice walk along to beach with some of the new people, found out one of the girls is from Glasgow and is a Tim. On Friday night we went up one of the mountains (by bus i`m glad to say) to the observatry and did a bit of star gazing. Good for me being in the southern hemisphere for the 1st time. Got to see Jupiter with it`s stripes and Saturn with it`s rings. Didn`t see Uranus though!

On Saturday we finally met up with our truck (Kinda) and had 2 long days driving across the Chilean desert including camping by the road overnight, which was extremely cold (would swear to explain how cold it was but don`t want to get this site blocked for those at work). After our 2 long days on Kinda we finally ended up in a small town called San Pedro (think we have been to a San Pedro in every country so far). Very dusty and very hot during the day (well it is the desert). We are camping here which means one of the 3 groups on the truck does the cooking and i prefer that as the food they do is better (and cheaper) than the restaurants! No cooking by me as i`m a packer, which means a lot of hard work but still beats cooking and washing up!!!

Last night we had far too much to drink of some local spirits which means a very sore head this morning.

Tonight it`s out to the desert to watch to see the sights! Tomorrow we move into Bolivia and spend 3 days crossing the salt plans and more camping. We will be at high altitude for a while, hopefully no altitude sickness for me and def no beers.

I`m having trouble getting into hotmail here so hopefully will get to read emails in Bolivia in 4 days.

1st April 2005

2005-04-01T20:32:00.000+01:00

Now moved to La Serena, a coastal town in Chile. This place has a lovely beach but it`s too cold!!! This wasn`t part of the plan, i now have to say a terrible joke and i do apologise for this but got to get it out of my system.....it`s chile in Chile (sorry).

Long travel day tomorrow and a bush camp at the end of it, which basically means we park up and pitch our tents where ever we find a suitable place. Sounds like great fun!

30th March 2005

2005-03-30T20:49:00.000+01:00

The new tour has now officially started, although the 1st day is a free day in Santiago. The bus is full so means not that much space, hopefuly we will survive. So far we have been visiting the cultural places in Santiago - ok been to 3 different cinemas so far! Seen Constantine, Hitch and Closer. Kind of want a break from museums and stuff, got 2 months to catch up on all that!

Met the new group last night and turns out i`m the only single guy on the trip :-)

Tomorrow we set off on the truck for the 1st time, which i think we all just want to do as it feels the tour really starts then. We`ve been told to expect the weather to get cold in places, now very worried my lovely tan will fade away. We were also told that we may have to miss out visiting a volcano in Ecuador as it is on "orange alert" í`m devastated.

27th March 2005

2005-03-27T21:55:00.000+01:00

Well we made it to Santiago early this morning (checked in to our hotel at 4am!). Santiago seems to be a very nice city, so should be ok for the next few days before the next tour starts.

Just like to say thanks to those who emailed me to say happy birthday.

25th March 2005

2005-03-25T16:12:00.000Z

So the 1st leg has finished. Already there are only 6 of the group left in San Jose (soon to be 5). We had a big drinking session on Wednesday night as Yesterday and today it is illegal to sell alcohol in Costa Rica!!! Still we made up for it by finding a bar that was serving free rum all night, which left a few very sore heads the next day. After we got kicked out of the bar by the police we ended back at our hostel and the 5 of us left up quietly (well we tried to be quiet) slipped into the swimming pool for some silly fun (i'm shaking my head at the memories of it - disgraceful behaviour).

The last 6 weeks have been the best anyone can have and would recommend it to anyone. It's been a great mix of beaches, wildlife, activities, history and of course drinking. There hasn't been a single day i've not enjoyed.

The bad news is that i have found out that tomorrow night Costa Rica play Panama in a World Cup qualifier, the day i travel down to Santiago (Chile are also playing that night too - some very bad planning by me).

The South America tour starts on the 30th and hopefuly i will get enough chances to keep this updated as reguarly.

Happy Easter to everyone.

22nd March 2005

2005-03-22T22:48:00.000Z

Now moved down to the Pacific coast to Quepos and the nice hot weather again. Gives us a time to relax our aching bodies after all those physical excursions! I wished! Lovely pool at where we are staying. We have 2 nights here to make the most of it!

Coming to the last few days now in Central America, 2 members of the group had to leave early as there was no public transport for them over the easter weekend for their connections, they are both going to Panama. This weekend I fly down to Santiago in Chile and probably a completely different lifestyle.

19th March 2005

2005-03-19T21:45:00.000Z

After a few days of chilling out on the Caribbean coast we moved up Costa Rica to La Fortuna, a small town but with plenty of fun things to do and a very big active volcano that sometimes gives spectacular eruptions at night time. When we arrived a few of us walked down to the river where there was a monkey rope to swing over the rocks and drop into the water below. 2 of the group managed to do belly flops, which sounded painfull but thankfully no such disasters for me (except for nearly swinging back into the rocks).

Yesterday we all went white water rafting. The boats were small and only had 4 + guide in them and it was only grade 4 rapids but was good fun. Came close to falling out a couple of times but managed to stay in the boat, that is, until the boat tipped over - you don´t have much choice then! Brilliant though and we all made it back in the boat safely without drowning. In the evening it was to the natural hot springs below the volcano for a few hours, which my aching limbs desperately needed but my sunburnt knees didn´t.

Today we walked up to the big waterfull here and by the time we got there we were sweating, out of breath and ready for a swim in the water nearby. The waterfall is about 70m high and looked spectacular - not quite Niagara but you can´t swim near there.

Tomorrow it´s over to Monte Vierdi and straight away zip wiring through the rain forest.

15th March 2005

2005-03-14T20:58:00.000Z

Been having fun in Costa Rica, which is definitely the best country so far (well definitely the best looking women anyway). Walked around the shops in San Jose, the capital, for a day - got myself 2 presents, both beer related.

On Friday evening we all went to the National Theatre to see an all women band playing a farewell concert (if anything like Black Sabbath they will have loads more after too). They played a mixture of local / African style of music and sang about the struggles of women in Central America - all very political and socialist, so I loved it. After that went out drinking with a couple of the lads round the bars. We kind of stuck out like sore thumbs being in the area where the locals go rather than tourists but it was better. In the early hours of the morning we ended up in a bar full of gorgeous local girls, unfortunately they were all ladys of the night (some even had deeper voices than me).

Saturday saw us move back down to the Caribbean coast to Cahuita, which is another place that feels like it should be in the Caribbean. Beautiful beaches all to ourselves, with great clear cooling sea to swim in. Also walked the nature trail here (for too long in my opinion - it's too hot for walking) where we saw some Howling Monkeys and White Faced Capuccino Monkeys up very close. Now debating whether to make a joke about a certain member of my family here but think i will be mature instead and not.

Today we moved along the coast a bit to Puerto Viejo, which is a bit bigger than Cahuita but has the same vibe to it. Only been here for 2 hours before i was offered my 1st joint, obviously i declined but may pop back to taht bar later! Tonight, the local cinema has got Million Dollar Baby and Oceans 12 showing so that is what we are about to do!

Tomorrow is pure beach time, in this beautiful hot weather and Wednesday sees us going back to San Jose for 1 night to visit our lady friends!

10th March 2005

2005-03-11T00:00:00.000Z

Sorry for the delay in updating the diary but I have been a bit of a beach bum over the last few days.

We spent 2 nights on Ometepe Island (basically the island is just 2 volcanos in the middle of Lake Nicaragua - the largest fresh water lake in the world) where it has beautifull beach and plenty of sunbathing time. Hired out a mountain bike on the free day here to just cycle around for a bit. Turns out to be a big mistake as the hills were slightly bigger than in Nazeing and it was a lot hotter too. Did get to cycle in a banana plantation, which is definitely something you can´t do in Nazeing!

The only other exciting thing that happened here was me stepping on a snake, must remember not to do that again - think the screams were heard at the top of the volcanos.

We then moved on to Nicaraguas Pacific coast in a remote little backpackers resort. Again it was beautiful beaches (which we had nearly all to ourselves) with big big waves - which made swimming fun. One of our group decided that we all should stick our legs in the air when a big wave broke in front of us and let the current sommersault us around under it. Hours of fun.

Today we left our paradise beaches to move in to Costa Rica (last country we visit on this tour). We stay in the capital, San Jose, for a 2 nights before going off somewhere for lots of fun (which includes white water rafting, canopy walks in the rain forest, etc).

Finally I will say how disapointed I am that Millwall allowed Leeds another lucky draw, that´s twice this season. I blame the referees.

5th March 2005

2005-03-05T22:36:00.000Z

We have now turned up in a the nice little city pof Granada, still in Nicaragua. The best part was seeing that we are staying in a posh hotel complete with swimming pool, not sure what the hotel made of us when we turned up all dirty with our backpacks (everyone in the group was desperate for a laundrette - which thankfully we found, nothing beats the feeling of clean clothes, ok maybe you lot didn't need to know that).

One thing that has struck us all though is how much Japanese influence there is here. Our tour leader has explained that Niacaragua voted against banning whale hunting and coincidently Japan dropped the debt and pumped in lots of money to this country.

Went up another volcano yesterday but this time we just drove up to the top in the mini bus, where's the fun in that. I wasn't even scared once on the climb up.

We also got pulled over by the police and charged $1 each for going through a town. Lee our tour leader did argue over this but it's hard to win an argiument when the police have AK47s pointing at you.

Hope everyone is having a good weekend.

3rd March 2005

2005-03-03T19:27:00.000Z

We have now moved ito Nicaragua and are spending a couple of nights in the old city of Leon. The city has the largest cathedral in the whole of Central America and apart from that it is very hot! A famous poet comes from here too so any of those who studied English can you please tell me who Ruben Dario is, the whole group would be very happy! We did go to his old home (now museum to him) but all in spanish so we are still none the wiser.

This place was also very envolved during the violent revolution museum so we visited the old jail which is now a museum for the revolution. All i can say on the museum is that it is very artistic, basically the 4 of us that went couldn´t stop laughing (i´m afraid you will have to see the photos when i´m back to see what i mean).

Thanks to the Harlow suppoter, Chris, for giving me the good news about Stortford.

1st March

2005-03-01T22:32:00.000Z

Roatan island was beautiful, lovely weather, nice people (maybe a few too many americans but you can´t have it all). Basically spent 4 days sitting on the pier sunbathing and jumping off the pier into the beautiful sea there. It was another island which deserves to be in the Caribbean.I recommend you all to go there next time you are in Honduras! For the record, the Sandfly Vs Mosquittos match was very boring over the first 3 nights, staying at 0-0. But the Sandflys defence collapsed in the dying minutes to allow the Mosquittos 2 late bites on the final night. Obviously they had been studying Millwall´s tactics very closely!!!

Tomorrow we move into Niciragua (must check that spelling later). Apparently there are plenty of cool things to do there, not going to spoil my surprise by finding out ahead though!

Good luck to Adriaan, Catherine & Emily with your move back to Brisbane. And it does look like it´s between Wales & Ireland for the rugby. Noticed the english are complaining that it was unfair, oh well never mind - good luck against Italy in the wooden spoon decider!

Can someone please either mail me or post a comment on hear telling me how Stortford got on in the Trophy. Thanks.

25th Feb 2005

2005-02-25T17:30:00.000Z

We have now left Guatemala and have entered the very hot country of Honduras. On one of the last nights in Guatemala 3 of us decided to go to a Guatemalan cinema to watch The Motorcycle Diarys. We each had popcorn too just to make the trip more authentic! No Pearl & Dean, no "Coming Soon to a cinema near you" the film just started on the dot.

We visited our last Mayan ruins in Honduras yesterday at Copan. Now we are making our way to Rotan Islands for a few days. 2 problems here. One is there is no internet access - so no checking out all the major sport results (now back as an optormist after Millwalls win) and even worse - the mosquitos will have competition from the Sandflys as to who has the rights to bite me!

Glad to hear the weather back home is cold and snow.

Have a good weekend to you all.

22nd Feb 2005

2005-02-22T18:26:00.000Z

Bit boring for posting today as we have just been chilling out in Guatemala. Spent a couple of days down by Lake Atitlan and now back in Antigua.

No volcanos, ancient ruins, not even a mosquitto bite to report. But after the previous few days it's nice just to chill out and relax. Right now I'm off to the pub to watch Liverpool in the Champions League. The excitment is just too much to bear!

19th Feb 2005

2005-02-19T22:02:00.000Z

Wow is all I can say for what we have just done this morning. We have just climbed up Pacaya Volcano in Guatemala. It is listed on the foreign office as a red zone (don't go there - smacked wrists for all concerned) as it is currently active but 7 of us decided we wanted to do it. After a long hard 4km slog up the slopes, including a really hard km going up the shingles and volcanic ash (every 1 step forward you slipped half a step back) we managed to get to the summit for some amazing views and to watch the lava spurt out of the volcano. Having stayed up there for nearly an hour we then had to get down!!! And I have never had so much fun in doing just that. No one could walk down the shingle part, you just had to slide down and hoped that you only fell on your arse (which yes I did do on more than 1 occassion). When we got to the bottom we all considered walking back up just to slide down again! But our legs had the final say.

Not seen enough of Antigua yet to pass comment but we are coming back here for 2 more nights during the week. Unfortunately this means we are now leaving at 8am tomorrow morning, meaning if the Auld Firm game is on tv I will have to miss the last 15 mins :-(

Glad to see Millwall are doing well without me!

18th Feb 2005

2005-02-18T19:36:00.000Z

I´m going to start by answering the questions "Big Bro" has posted. First of all the movies, on the 2 coach trips we had Robert Rodrigues The Mask of Zorro and Gothika (nice family film). The shark is well, it has had some therapy and is now happy that it won´t have to see my legs again!

Now on to the main part, me! After being eaten alive for the first 4 days, the mosquitos have decided to leave me alone for the last 2, which is a bloody miracle!

On Wednesday we left the island of Caye Caulken and moved on to the border town of San Ignacio, which again is a really nice and friendly place. Thursday morning was spent getting to the Mayan ruins of (ok I´ve forgotten how you spell it but know it begins with an X). Only 4 of us made it to this trip (it was an optional extra) and I´m glad I did, it was pretty breathtaking but then again, so was the mile up hill walk to it! We had the place to ourselves bar 1 Japanese tourist, who was shouted at every time he was in the picture. At lunch we left Belize to move into Guatemala where we are staying on a small island in Flores. This morning was a stupid early start to go to the famous Tikal ruins. Again we got there as it opened, so had less people walking around but as the site was over 10 square miles and lots of temples to climb there was a lot to see.

Later this afternoon it´s a flight to Guatemala City and a bus to Antigua. Our tour leader says it is the best city on the tour butit is also where 4 people in our group leave, including 1 girl who is into decent music. I know I can watch the Auld Firm game on Sunday as we won´t be travelling but not seen any Celtic pubs listed for Antigua. If it was Chile, Peru, Mexico I´d be ok. Just hoping we have cable in the hotel and it´s on that. How sad am I, all this way out here!

For those emailing me, thank you, I really do appreciate it and I´m sorry if I am slow to respond but time is always a struggle.

15th Feb 2005

2005-02-15T18:14:00.000Z

Now in Belize, or to be precise, the beautiful island of Caye Caulken which feels more like the West Indies than Central America. It's a laid back friendly island. Played the locals at darts last night and obviously had to let them win to be polite or might have something to do with the Belizian Stout i was drinking (Belizian stout, just what was needed after a long days travelling).
Tomorrow is back to main land Belize and kyaking in the caves near the Guatemala border.
Right now though it's back to the beach and maybe, just maybe, a swim in the caribbean sea :-)

13th Feb 2005

2005-02-13T23:49:00.000Z

Having survived "swimming" with the shark"s" we have met up with those we will be traveling with to Costa Rica. 14 in total (inc the leader) with most coming from the south east! So much to traveling miles to get away from the people I spend every day with. No Millwall or Celtic fans though. Couple of the statutory Aussies and 1 Canadian.

The island we visited yesterday was good fun, even if the little shark was a bit of a let down. Snorkeling in the coral reef in the Caribbean Sea more than made up for it. Had plenty of free drinks on the trip which also helped too.

We traveled down to Playa del Carmen today, another beach resort but a bit nicer than Cancun. Tomorrow we have to get up at the lovely time of 5am for a 10 hour bus ride into Belize. Thankfully the bus service in Mexico is 1st class. Comfy seats, lots of leg room and they even put a film on the screens, National Express could learn a bit here.

Missing you all. Hope you are all ok.

11th Feb 2005

2005-02-11T21:48:00.000Z

Well we made it in one piece to the start in Cancun. After what seemed like ages in the air and 3 airline meals later we arrived in Mexico yesterday. Spent today just walking around (and getting lost) so have seen most of the town! Tomorrow we are off to the beautiful island of Isla de Mujeres for some snorkling and swimming with sharks, hopefully these ones haven´t appeared in any Hollywood films!!!

That´s all for now, well we´ve only had one day so far. Good luck to the Lions tomorrow! By the way the weather here is nice and hot but just about right for walking around in ¨:-)