We have now been in our new home of Merida, Yucatan, Mexico for almost 2 weeks. We desperately needed to rest and have tried to pace ourselves after our 2 week drive from Costa Rica. When we move to a new town there is always plenty to keep busy with just finding markets, banks, malls, etc. and just generally learning all of the new streets. Merida is a huge city and has a great abundance of all so we spent some time searching for the necessities that best suited our needs. It has also taken some time to get used to our new house. We live in a restored adobe house about 5 blocks from the Merida’s Gran Plaza and about 4 blocks from Santiago Plaza. The roads are wide and straight and are logically numbered ... read more

We are nearing the end of our month long visit to Costa Rica. It is our 5th country and 6th move in 6 months. Costa Rica is the most touristy and most expensive country (by far) that we have lived in during our time in Central America. Apartments, groceries, and entertainment are nearly double what they have been in other countries. The tourist infrastructure is much better developed here and, because of the number of tourists, they are able to, and do, charge more money for things. Costa Rica has many beautiful areas but at times it seems like an adventurous traveler could find the same things in other Central American countries for much less money. Costa Rica does have friendly people who all seem to speak some English and it does feel “safer” than some ... read more

We have officially been on the road for one year! Since we had Mike down for the previous week and saw a flurry of sights, we decided to take the road less travelled. Tuesday morning we took a drive back to Colon on the Caribbean and then northwest to Fort Lorenzo. We originally intended to do this part of the trip when we went to Portobelo, but something happened to our car and we couldn’t go. The map took us over a one-lane bridge near the Gatun Locks at the entrance to the Panama Canal. We were stopped at a red light with a lot of other vehicles. The light changed and it was our turn. I have never seen a lock gate from this angle before. It was quite massive. I looked up and I ... read more

We are now getting into the last few days in Boquete, Panama. It’s been a good visit to a small town in the mountains. It is now the rainy season in Central America and if you like rain, Boquete is the place for you. It rains nearly every day here. A lot of rain; literally 2-3 inches every day. We looked up weather statistics for Boquete and it is common to get 30 to 40 inches of rain in a month here. Every afternoon by 3 the clouds roll over the volcano and up the valley. Because the weather often knocks out internet, TV and even electricity we have spent quite a few nights sitting on our balcony and enjoying the unbelievable lightning storms. After a week of staying around the house watching the rain we ... read more

After a long, two day drive from Granada, Nicaragua, we are now in Boquete, Panama. Boquete is a small mountain town near Baru Volcano in northwestern Panama; in fact, the only volcano in Panama. Boquete is popular with expats from many countries and is hugely different from the colonial towns we have stayed in on our trip so far. The drive from Granada was not terrible even though it took two days. It was about 2 hours from Granada to the Costa Rican border. The border people from Costa Rica seemed surprised that we weren’t going to stay in their country. I don’t think they had ever had anyone pass through Costa Rica to get to Panama. It seemed like it hurt their feelings and they weren’t sure how to do the paperwork. We enjoyed the ... read more