San Salvador and the long trek back to EDLM
Thursday 22nd November – San Salvador to Antigua Guatemala This morning I was up early to get the bus that I had earlier paid for when in Colombia which would get me to Guatemala City! I was super excited to be heading back to the Mountain School for a couple more weeks of much needed Spanish study....
San Miguel wanderings, and another volcano climbed!
Sunday 18th November – San Miguel This morning I set off very early with another guy from the hostel to climb the San Miguel Volcano – also known as Chaparrastique Volcano. I´d heard that this volcano climb was no joke – whilst the volcano is only about 2200m high, the ascent is really slippery and...
Perquín - The tragic history of the El Salvadorean Civil War
Friday 16th November - Perquín This morning we took the first bus out to the town of Perquín; where the museum of the revolution is located. This museum pays tribute to the hundreds of thousands of El Salvadorians that lost their lives or went missing during the 20 year civil war. We had a guide nam...
Hiking in El Impossible National Park
Tuesday 13th November Tacuba – El Impossible National Park Today we transferred from the Ruta de las Flores to the small town of Tacuba, where we would have access to the largest national park in El Salvador – the El Impossible National Park. We arrived in Tacuba in the early afternoon and had som...
The Ruta de las Flores - beautiful towns, beautiful views
Sunday 11th November – Juayua (Ruta de las Flores) Today we took a self-guided trip of two of the towns in the Ruta de las Flores. We started by taking the short trip on the bus to Apaneca where we first visited an amazing and detailed Labyrinth grown from tightly grown hedges. I tried to make my wa...
Santa Ana - Volcanoes and a very cool theatre
Thursday 8th November -San Salvador – Santa Ana This morning first thing I headed back down the Museum of Anthropology to see the rest of the exhibits. To my surprise, this time they offered me a free guided tour. A great chance to practice my Spanish and super informative too! My guide Alberto was...
San Salvador - the beautiful and safe capital
Monday 5th November – San Salvador This morning I took a bus into the city centre to join the free walking tour for tips. I met my guide – Natalia outside the Hospital Nacional Rosales to start the tour. There was only one other couple on the tour – they were on a long weekend trip from Colombia, wh...
Medellin - a city reborn
Wednesday 31st October – Salento to Medellin I had thought that the 250km day from Salento to Medellin would be quick and easy but I should never underestimate the pain that can be the Colombian roads – this ride ended up taking close to 9 hours, and I arrived close to 8pm on Halloween night – one o...
Lago Yojoa
Sunday 8th July – Rio Cangrejal to Lago Yojoa. Travel day today – things didn’t start out too well when the bus to La Ceiba didn’t turn up for over an hour while I was waiting outside the river lodge. Turns out that the buses don’t run as regularly on Sundays. The final leg of the day was the bus to...
Cocora Valley - and the amazing giant wax palm trees
Tuesday 30th October. Cocora Valley. The main attraction in the Salento region apart from the coffee plantations is the Cocora Valley. There is a 12km walking circuit through the valley which I walked today. First thing in the morning I headed to the central plaza where I boarded a colourful jeep he...
Salento - the swiss alps of Colombia
Sunday 28th October. Cali – Salento. This morning with a little bit of a sore head, it was time to say goodbye to Cali. I had been surprised at how much I had enjoyed this large city, but I think this had a lot to do with the friendly local people and travellers I had met along the way. Today I caug...
Cali - the world capital of salsa!
Wednesday 24th October. Cali Arrived this afternoon in Cali – world capital of salsa! It´s a much bigger town than Popayan and not as many old and beautiful buildings, but I managed to find my way without my phone to the hostel which was set in a lovely quiet neighbourhood about 20kms walk away from...
Popayan - the white city
Thursday 18th October – San Agustín- Popayán It was about 5 hours on the bus from San Augustín to the city known as the White City – Popayan. It was a nice drive too through a lovely national park most of the way on a pretty rough road. Actually getting to the bus stop was the most fun, a guy picked...
Silvia markets and people watching
Tuesday 23rd October – Silvia Markets This morning I met up with Sidney, a girl I had met on the free walking tour in Popayán and we headed to the bus station to make a day trip to the town of Silvia where there is local market on Tuesdays and you can see the people from the local indigenous tribes...
Tierradentro - some really crazy underground tombs
Saturday 20th October – Tierradentro This morning I set off from Popayán with only my daypack (what bliss!) for the region known as tierradentro. This area is known for its elaborate funerary chambers and is a 5 hour bus ride through some beautiful mountainous regions from Popayán. The bus arrived a...
San Agustin
Monday 15th October – San Agustin This morning I headed out to the Archeological Parque of San Agustin as the park would be closed the following day. I walked the 3kms from town out to the park not really having too much background information as to what I was about to see. After paying to get into...
The failed visit to Tatacoa Desert!
Saturday and Sunday 13th and 14th October – Tatacoa Desert (attempt) Big bus day today! What was a 6 hour bus ride turned into 7.5 hours to get to the town of Neiva where I switched buses to head to a place called the Tatacoa Desert. I hadn´t been able to book any accommodation in advance so I was s...
Bogota
Bogota: Saturday 6th October to Friday 12th October. Our midday flight from Santa Marta to Bogota meant that we were up pretty early to take the bus to the airport! Worst bus in the world as it was stopped twice for police searches and also it didn’t even take us all the way into Santa Marta where w...
The lost city and Tayrona National Park
Sunday 30th September This morning we organised our tour for Ciudad Perdida and then got on the first bus out of Santa Marta headed towards an eco lodge closer to Tayrona National park. Our new accommodation was a perfect place to relax in a hammock in nature and we spent the afternoon reading our b...
Colombia´s North: Cartagena
Friday 28th September – Cartagena This morning we took a walking tour of the city of Cartagena in Spanish! I was starting to realise that Spanish in Colombia was a totally different ball game! Luckily our guide was really good about trying to speak slowly and clearly for us non-native speakers! Cart...
Lost and Found Hostal - slice of jungle paradise in the middle of nowhere
Monday 24th September – Lost and Found Hostel Panama. The weather for climbing Volcan Baru like we had planned wasn´t ideal. We changed our plan instead and decided to head for the famous Lost and Found Hostel about 1 hour from David. This hostel is a bit of a destination in itself – there aren´t an...
Boquette - Panama
Saturday 22nd September – Boquete We arrived in Boquete at about 7:30am after our night on the bus from Panama. The ride had gone pretty smoothly and I had managed to get quite a bit of sleep which was a win! At about 4:30am we had passed through a police checkpoint where we were all woken up and to...
Panama City Wanderings
Wednesday 19th September – Colombia (Bogota) – Panama City I had a lovely relaxing breakfast at the hotel in Bogota and then headed back to the airport for the second leg of my flight to Panama City. I had plenty of time to check in and drop my bag (or so I thought!), but at check in, the lady behin...
Chavin - Really Really Really old ruins
Sunday 9th September – Chavin Ruins Today I took yet another long bus ride out the the Chavin de Huantar site – where I was able to see the ruins which date back to the period between 900 and 200BC. The Chavin ruins are much much older than the Incan Ruins which were only built in about the 1500s AD...
Laguna Paron - the most beautiful lake in the Cordillera Blanca?
Saturday 8th September – Laguna Paron Day Trip Today was another big day trip out to the Cordillera Blanca this time, heading out to the biggest Lagoon in the Cordillera Blanca – Laguna Paron. We passed through some beautiful countryside on the way up to the Laguna, including the town of Yungay whic...
Pastoruri Glacier
Friday 7th September Pastoruri Glacier Day Trip Today I had organised to head out on a day trip out to see the Pastoruri Glacier. It was about 3 hours drive from Huaraz, way out up in the mountains at about 5100m altitude. On the way up we made a number of stops in the national park – we saw some lo...
Laguna Wilcacocha hike
Tuesday 4th September. Laguna Wilcacocha Today was my first acclimatisation hike from Huaraz. I decided to choose on of the easiest ones – to Laguna Wilcacocha. This lagoon is only a 20 minute collectivo ride from downtown Huaraz, and reaches a maximum height 3800m which is only 400m higher than Hua...
Laguna Churup - a longer than intended hike
Thursday 6th September. Laguna Churup Self-organised hike today to Laguna Churup. Set off at 7.30 with directions and assurances from the hostel that I could definitely do this hike on my own without any problems. I headed into downtown Huaraz and managed to find the collectivo that would take me to...
Huayhuash Circuit Hike
Monday 10th September – Monday 17th September: Huayhuash Hike 103kms – 8 days. Day 1: Monday 10th September Finally, after 8 days of searching for a trip to Huayhuash, this morning I was heading off for the 8 day hike that some people describe as the most beautiful hike in the world. We set off at 9...
Trujillo and Surrounds
Friday 31st August – Trujillo Today I went on a tour of the local archaeological sites in the Trujillo area. I decided to take the tour in Spanish, in part to practice and in part to save some money! It was a bit of a whirlwind tour but the sites were all well worth visiting so it was worth the craz...
Manu Road - The Amazon Basin
Friday 17th August – Manu Road We were up early this morning because we were heading down to Manu Road, about a 7 hour drive over the mountains and then down into the Amazon Basin. Very few tourists head down this way as it is super expensive and difficult to access. The views were incredible and th...
Machu Picchu - the incredible Inca Site.
Thursday 23rd and Friday 24th August – Machu Picchu Up early this morning, today was the day that we were going to be heading out to one of the most famous tourist attractions in the world, Machu Picchu! After breakfast at the hostel, I headed down to meet Anna and the kids at their hotel, and we ha...
Exploring the beautiful town of Cusco
Saturday 25th August – First day by myself in Cusco! Anna, Nick and the kids headed off today back to Spain and so it was my first day all alone for quite some time! I was exhausted! I took a small walk through the town of Cusco in the morning, down to the San Pedro Markets which were super interes...
Rainbow Mountain
Wednesday 29th August – Rainbow Mountain (Montaña de Colores) The pick up time for this day tour was 2.15am – the most crazy yet! But I´d read that it was worth it to get up early and beat the crowds of thousands of tourists that descend on the Rainbow Mountain each day. It was a 3 hour drive in the...
The Sacred Valley
Tuesday 14th – Thursday 16th August Puno – Ollantaytambo - Cusco The bus from Puno to Cusco and then a mini van onto Ollantaytambo took pretty much all of the day with some great views out over the snow-capped mountains and local village. In the evening we arrived in the Sacred Valley to the ancient...
Week 12 at EDLM
Back at the Mountain School for Week 12! Back again at school! This place really does feel like my home away from home! I´m studying with Anny this week which is lovely and I am also eating with Roselia – my favourite Señora! The week has been really fun with a nice group of students and a bunch of...
Copan Ruinas
Saturday July 14th Gracias -Copan Ruinas Pretty long day on the buses– lots of roadworks on the roads between the two towns so the trip ended up taking nearly 6 hours – for about 100kms distance! Checked into a lovely hostel in Copan Ruinas called Iguana Azul. The town seems just lovely and they peo...
Lake Titikaka adventures
Saturday 11th August – Tuesday 14th August. Puno - Lake Titikaka. We arrived late in the evening on the bus from Chivay, pretty tired and worn out from our long hike in the morning up the steep side of the canyon followed by all the tourist crowded activities of the day. The following morning we wer...
Hiking in the Colca Canyon
Thursday 9th -Saturday 11th August Cañon del Colca 6am pick up this morning and we were heading by private car to the second deepest canyon in the world, The Cañon del Colca, about a 5 hour drive away even higher up into the mountains. We had the private car and driver though so that we could stop o...
The lovely colonial city of Arrequipa
Wednesday 8th August: Arrequipa. After our crazy bus ride yesterday, we enjoyed a bit of a lie in the hostel before a late breakfast. At this point we decided to join a walking tour of Arrequipa which started in the Plaza de Armas at the sociable hour of 11am. Our tour guide was Carlos and he spoke...
The mysterious Nazca Lines
Monday 6th -Tuesday 7th August Nazca We took a 2 hour bus trip this morning to the town of Nazca where we were hoping to get a glimpse of the mystical Nazca lines by plane. Unfortunately when we arrived we found out that the planes had been all booked up in advance due to a number of dust storms in...
Crazy Crazy Huachachina
Saturday 4th -Monday 6th August: Huacachina After a relatively short 2 hour bus ride – we arrived in the desert town of Ica and were taken by a crazy tuk tuk to our destination town of Huacachina. This town is amazing – a little tropical oasis surrounded by towering sand dunes and desert. If it soun...
Paracas and the Ballesta Islands
Thursday 2nd August: Arrival in Lima Peru. Arrived late in the day to Lima and took an airport bus to the hotel to meet up with Anna and the family. They were exhausted after 22 hours travelling and arriving to find that they didn´t have any bags and that the accommodation they had booked online cou...
Gracias - the charming colonial town.
Wednesday 11 th July Lago Yojoa – Gracias Day of transit today. Took buses from the lake all the way to the beautiful town of Gracias. It took about 5 hours all up but I was able to enjoy some lovely scenery and views of the lake and surrounding mountains on the way. Gracias is a beautiful old provi...
Rio Cangrejal
Thursday 5 th July. Utila – Rio Cangrejo. Up early this morning to take a ferry back across to the mainland. The German girls knew where the best seats on the ferry were – right up on the front deck, Titanic style. This made for a great trip back across to the mainland with great views over to the...
Utila - Diving and snorkelling with dolphins
Monday 2 nd July – La Ceiba to Utila. Spent the day taking care of business in La Ceiba, waiting for the 4pm ferry out to Utila. I organised to go diving with a company called Alton’s – and they were going to pick me up at the pier and take me to the accommodation. The ferry was a nice smooth ride o...
Rio Dulce - Hot Water Waterfall!
Friday 29 th June – Livingston to Rio Dulce town via Rio Dulce. This morning I caught a public boat for the epic river journey up the Rio Dulce (Sweet River). This river journey is really famous – heaps of rich people bring their boats hear to shelter from the Caribbean Hurricanes. It’s also famous...
Livingston
Thursday 28 th June – Siete Altars Cascadas Had a sleep in this morning and then set out for a day trip to some waterfalls – Seven to be precise! This was a nice hour long walk along the beach – with lots of plastic to remind me how badly we treat our environment, but beautiful birds and scenery no...
Belize and back to Guatemala - Travel Day
Wednesday 27 th June 2018 Caye Caulker to Punta Gorda to Livingston (Travel Day) Big day of travel today. Caught the 7am shuttle from Caye Caulker to Belize City and made it just in time for the local bus heading to Punta Gorda in the south of the country. The bus journey was 6.5 hours on an old US...
Caye Caulker - Diving the Blue Hole
Monday 25/6 Blue Hole for Diving! Up nice and early today as we had a 5am start at the dive shop ready for breakfast and to head out to the Blue Hole! There were a couple of girls from my dorm who were also going on the dive so we headed down together to the dive shop. After a nice breakfast of eggs...
Snorkel Trip from Caye Caulker - Manatees!
Tuesday 26 th July: Snorkel Trip to see Manatees I’d thought a lot about who to do my snorkel trip with. I was really keen to catch my first glimpse of the amazing manatee, but I’d heard that a lot of the operators on the island were feeding sharks and not using environmentally friendly practices on...
Caye Caulker - Diving Turneffe Atoll
Saturday 23 June Transfer day from San Ignatio to Caye Caulker was pretty pain free. 3 hours in the local bus to Belize City and then a taxi to the Ferry port and transfer by boat for 45 minutes to Caye Caulker. I arrived on the island in time to book in some diving for the following day out to Turn...
San Ignacio (ATM caves)
Tuesday 19 June This morning I was finally leaving Guatemala – I definitely had mixed feelings about this but it was time to head out and explore a new place. I'm off to Belize – just a short trip across the border to San Ignacio - a pretty simple border crossing (no bribes!). The hostel in San Igna...
Flores, Tikal and Yaxha
Today was a transit day between Coban and Semuc Champey. Again I used the local buses and it was very cheap and easy to navigate. First I took a bus from Coban to a crossroads in the middle of nowhere where I had to change to a bus bound for the town of Sayaxche where I needed to take a little boat...
Semuc Champey - amazing swimming pools set in the most incredible nature
It was a day of travel from the mountain school to the town of Coban. 4 separate local buses, and I was holding someone’s sleeping baby on my lap for a part of the way. I love the adventures on the local transport, and it seems so much more efficient than the tourist shuttles which are often running...
Nebaj to Todos Santos Hike
Daniel had told me all about his amazing trek from the town of Nebaj; which was about 5 hours by bus to the north east of Xela, to the town of Todos Santos. This trek is really off the tourist trail and so I decided to book in with the same private guide.. It cost me about $50 a day for everything i...
The Mexico Visa Run
After losing my phone at the football match, I didn’t have any way to get in contact with my friend Daniel from the Mountain School. We had planned to do a visa run together to Mexico – as my visa had expired the previous week. Luckily for me I ran into him again at the hostel, he had been wondering...
Tajumulco - hiking to the highest point in CA
As I was finishing up my final few days at the Mountain School, my friend Brittany mentioned to me that she was going to be climbing the Volcano Tajumulco the week after we finished up at the school. This volcano had already been on my radar as it is the highest in Central America - and I really do...
La Escuela de la Montana - first time around
WEEK 1: Escuela de la Montana I had a couple of jobs to do this morning in town – like obtaining some quetzales from the ATM which proved to be a bit of a challenge as the “good” ATM wouldn’t accept my card. Finally got sorted with an inferior ATM which charged Q40 ($8) for a transaction fee – super...
Antigua - the city of Gringos
Saturday 21 th April: San Pedro la Laguna – Antigua It was sad to farewell Lago Atitlan today, but not before we had a nice morning studying in the garden at Playa Linda. Our shuttle to Antigua left at 2:30 so we had plenty of time for lunch with a view out over the lake. The ride to Antigua was pre...
Acatenango Hike
Saturday 23 rd April: Antigua – Acatenango hike Picked up this morning at 7am by Elvin our guide for the big hike up to Acatenango. It was Stefan’s birthday so we were hoping that it was going to be an amazing experience, something for him to remember! We picked up our group from around Antigua – a...
Lago Atitlan - San Pedro la Laguna
Thursday 19 th April: Xela – San Pedro de la Laguna Today we headed to Lake Atitlan for some rest and relaxation! It was about 3 hours on the bus through some amazing scenery – particularly as we took the jagged blind corners as the road headed downhill towards the lake. I found myself praying that...
Xela - Santa Maria Volcan Climb
Sunday 15 th April: Escuela de la Montana - Xela After handing out the choc chip cookies to the children in Fatima – even the bad ones. It was time for Stefan and I to pack our bags and leave what had become our second home at the Mountain School. We had some of the children help us with our bags u...
Mexico to Xela
Saturday Feb 24: San Cristobal des las Cases to Quetzaltenango (Xela) Today was my first land border crossing. I had to be up for the 6:30am pick up and was squashed into the minivan that was heading to the Mexican side of the boarder. Of course again there were a bunch of people on the bus who I ha...
San Cristobal de las Casas
Thursday Feb 22: San Cristobal des las Casas I arrived here at about 3pm – after a long day on the bus! The hostel I was staying at was called Hostel La Isla, and was a really welcoming, family-like place. After a shower, I stepped out in the town, which felt like a small town but actually housed a...
Merida
Wednesday Feb 21: Merida This morning I joined a free walking tour around the historical town of Merida. Our guide was really informative, going back through history to the Aztecs and the Spanish colonisation. He pointed out some Mayan carvings in the church walls – the Spanish had dismantled Mayan...
Valladolid - Chichen Itza
Tuesday Feb 20 Valladolid- and Chichen Itza Bart woke us up an hour early this morning, having forgotten about the hour time difference from the east coast. So we were very organised and ready to head to the Collectivo station to take the bus to Chichen Itza by about 7:30am. It was a little squishy...
Cenote Diving - Dos Ojos
Saturday Feb 17: Cenote Diving from Playa Del Carmen Up early this morning to catch the ferry across to Playa to meet with Edyta and dive the famous Mexican Cenotes. We met our dive master Miguel at the dive shop and he drove us for about an hour out to the Cenotes known as Dos Ojos (two eyes). My f...
Cozumel
Thursday Feb 15: Cozumel Woke up this morning with my cold taking full force – there was no way that I was going to be able to dive. So I rescheduled and now had the whole day to fill in Cozumel – with not much to do. I spent the morning relaxing in a hammock, reading my book in the sunshine. In th...
Isla de Mujeres (The Island of the Women)
I arrived at the Ferry Terminal in Cancun. Luckily for me, there was a ferry leaving right as I turned up to the terminal - so straight aboard for the 20 minute trip across the straight. First impressions of the Isla: it seems to be a lot like Bali - but with less bogan Australians and more bogan Am...
Teotihuacan Pyramids and The Basilica of the Virgin Guadolupe
I had some pressure from people in the hostel to take this tour, initially I was a bit reluctant because I knew I would be seeing A LOT of sacred sites on the trip, but I'm really glad I did decide to go and see this set - because they were amazing! The day started relatively early at 9am from the h...