http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/AGirlCalledZoe/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from AGirlCalledZoe en-us Sat, 02 Jan 2010 01:44:25 +0000 Sat, 02 Jan 2010 01:44:25 +0000 The city name of Campeche is translated from the Mayan 'Lord Sun Sheep Tick' a less appealing sounding destination. The guide book claims that it's an undiscovered gem'. It is certainly very charming with pastel painted buildings all shorter than the cathedral. It had an air of Amsterdam on the Caribbean about it.The claim that it was untouristy was true and that was because there was nothin http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Mexico/Yucat%E1n/Merida/blog-349139.html So this is it 24 days to go and over 4000 kilometres to cover. I have devised a plan to fill in the gaps of what I didn't see last year. Of course Mexico is a massive country and you can but scrape the surface in the short time I have had here.The brief stop in San Cristobal de las Casas was just for shopping coming back to this city made me realise how much I love Mexico the colours the fo http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Mexico/blog-440615.html The first thing that really struck me about El Salvador was how genuinely friendly the people were. As a traveller you appreciate the little things people that give honest directions who answer your questions with a smile and who greet you like you're a guest in their house. This is how Salvadorans are and because the country has not yet been over run by tourism they are still very excited to http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/El-Salvador/blog-423570.html My real reason for rushing back to Guatemala was the start of the Moon course in San Marcos La Laguna. Far more hippy and lowkey than San Pedro the lakeside lanes are home to crystal healers massage therapists and herbal remedies as well as the locals selling fruit veg and cake.The village is also home to a meditation and yoga centre called Las Pyramides here I will make my home for a month http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Guatemala/Lago-de-Atitlan/San-Marcos/blog-436298.html The return to San Pedro brought back a lot of funny memories of Xmas and New Year shenannigans. Though this time the party never even got started as Mhairi and I planned to dive the next morning so late night boozing was a no no. I hadn't been diving since Malaysia in 2007 so they reccommended a refresher session which I was very thankful of as soon as I got under water and the fear began to ri http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Guatemala/Lago-de-Atitlan/blog-436608.html I wanted to spend a day exploring this region before heading up to Lago Atitlan so I visited the little frequented Santa Lucia Cotzumalguapa. Not expecting too much from this city I was pleasantly surprised that the town was clean friendly and bustling with activity. I was in search of a lost Olmec City hidden in the sugar cane fields. The taxi drivers wanted 20 for a lift to the sites so http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Guatemala/Santa-Lucia/blog-435812.html I crossed the border sat in the back of Manolo's jeep feeling a little worse for wear after last night's party. I could have stayed in Tacuba much longer just chilling at Mamas y Papas and exploring El Impossible. But the clock is ticking and I need to get a move on at the 10 month mark alreadyFirst stop back in Guatemala is the sleepy and inaccessible village of Monterrico. Despite being qui http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Guatemala/Monterrico/blog-434090.html I can't help being a nosey parker here nights are still and sticky so the locals pull their rocking chairs onto the streets to catch any stray breeze. The stable doors to their houses are thrown open to reveal colonial parlours that provide little clue to what century we're in. The wooden wall clocks tick slowly by to the pace of life and the eyes of the obligatory Virgin gaze down tenderly. http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Nicaragua/blog-418303.html '100 natural' this is the attractionthat draws the hordes to Costa Rica. More than 27 of the country is protected and severe penalties are enforced for treefelling hunting and illegal animal trade. This is not to say that it does not still happen but Costa Rica is noticeably greener and less developed than it's northerly neighbours.The 'pure life' is what Tico's strive for keeping it natu http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/blog-418304.html I have to rate the Panamanian border officials at Sixalola as the most sneaky officious and downright rude I have ever come across. Everywhere else they have happily been wave you through with the presentation of a few dollars. Here the ohsofriendly guy comes to meet you and conversationally asks how long you're travelling and when and where you're flying home from. He then goes and tells t http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Panama/blog-414912.html A string of coincidences led me to be here I met a girl from Bishop Auckland the town where I was born in Tegus and we talked about visiting Valle de Angeles. I missed the bus stop for Valle and had to backtrack which meant I ended up on the same bus as the volunteer coordinator for itoi. When he suggested I could help at a construction project in La Esperanza I asked if he'd heard of an http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Honduras/La-Esperanza/blog-395974.html A town called thankyou Gracias one of a series of towns on the 'Ruta Lenca' the mountainous and indigenous zone of Western Honduras. We planned to visit the cloud forest but never foresawthat none of the four banks would have an ATM so spent the next day retracing our steps to Santa Rosa and chasing round town looking for a machine that would work. The frustrations of Central America Still http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Honduras/blog-383444.html Bad news for ruin buffs and good news for those a bit 'ruinedout' Copan is the southernmost city of the Mayan empire. A colony has been here for 3000 years but the founder of the famous city arrived in AD 426 a powerful shaman named Great Sunlord Quetzal Macaw. Copan grew in strength through jade trade and military power but the empire mysteriously collapsed around 900 AD. One of the most http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Honduras/Copan-Ruins/blog-382934.html All of my ancestors lived in povertyThey all worked on the fincasAnd left nothing for their childrenI may live in poverty as wellBur I hope that my children can harvestThe fruit of my labour hereAnd break the circle of povertyThe campesino Jose Abel. Worker in La Florida. The adventure always starts with a journey and after being squashed with seventy other people on a bus designed for school kid http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Guatemala/Quetzaltenango/Colomba/blog-385598.html Easter week is the holiest time of year for many Catholics. Feeling very pious and loaded down with rum beacause someone told us that booze was prohibited on Good Friday we descended on Comayagua for the festivities.This beautiful colonial town is the best place in Honduras to witness the religious celebrations. The local people are very proud of their traditions and spend months planning det http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Honduras/Comayagua/blog-395990.html At the heart of tropical El Peten lies the tourist hub of Flores. A small island on Lago Peten Itza a causeway separating an idyllic bubble from the dirt and crime of the mainland. Flores serves as a base for the hordes that spend a couple of nights here to visit Tikal. I ended up spending a week in the hostel Los Amigos mainly because the food was so good but also psyching myself up for the http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Guatemala/El-Peten/Flores/blog-377944.html When you cross an international border by sea you at least expect a substantial craft to be taking you there. Sheltering from the rain under plastic sheeting on a little fibreglass boat we felt like some sort of illeagal immigrants being smuggled into Belize.The customs official only stamped my passport with 15 days entry which turned out to be more than sufficient it is only the size of Wal http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Belize/blog-377895.html This looks like the sort of place you would smuggle a cargo of cocaine or get your dirty cash laundered. Also known as Fronteras it seems that Rio Dulce has never been able to shed it's buccaneering past. This town is technically not a fronteer but it does bridge the gap between mainland Guatemala and the Caribean coast. In the past it was an entry route for British pirates to come and steal http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Guatemala/Rio-Dulce/blog-377888.html Described by many guidebooks as 'one of the Americas' most enchanting cities'. For me it lacked the magic of Cartagena or the intrigue of Cusco and was simply a prettilypainted colonial town. Though in it's day Antigua was one of the greatest cities of the Spanish empire governing all of Central America up to Mexican Chiapas. In 1773 after a year of constant tremors two huge quakes brought http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Guatemala/Antigua/blog-377884.html Being back on the road felt great after the island fever I headed south to the town of Poptun and the infamous Finca Ixobel. The Finca was started by an American couple in the 80's though Michael Devine was shot dead outside the property in 1990 during the civil war. Some say the CIA were behind the killing a sad tale but his memory lives on in this fabulous lowkey resort run by his widow Ca http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Guatemala/Coban/Semuc-Champey/blog-377939.html