http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/BGC/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from BGC en-us Thu, 21 Aug 2008 12:53:03 BST Thu, 21 Aug 2008 12:53:03 BST It's noon on a friday afternoon and out the window of my room I see about ten highrise apartments and three more being built. This is a growing city as the population pushes higher than eight million people the growth pushes north and west away from the mountains. Small towns are absorbed into the metropolis and they become historic neighbourhoods with expensive restaraunts and trendy stores. http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Colombia/Bogota/blog-309862.html ColombiaLast year when a group of travelers I met told me I had to go to Colombia I let out a small laugh and said something like What for To sample the coffee and get kidnapped No they said You really need to go to Colombia. All right whatever I said Next year I'll go to Colombia. And boy am I glad I came after being here for nearly four weeks I'm not to sure where to start http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Colombia/Medellin/blog-300658.html On monday the 16th of June we met the people we would share the boat with 2 English 2 Germans 2 Australians 2 Americans us and a French girl. Quite a mix all with the same goal of getting down to Colombia and mostly sailing for the same reason that being theres no road and its funner than flying and not that much more expensive. Some are backpacking like us some are heading there to fly b http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Colombia/Cartagena/blog-291780.html We're definitely off the beaten track in panama now a few hours out of the big city on the carribean coast. It took a few days to sort things out and tomorrow we set sail for Columbia aboard the 50 foot ketch Seeadler captained by a guy named Guido. With the wind at our backs and a bit of luck we'll land in Cartagena after 5 days probably red skinned and crusted in salt. It's been a while http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Panama/Panama-City/blog-286634.html Well the last two weeks have passed quickly as we make our way further and further south. Before dropping Tiff off at the airport we spent some time on the pacific side of Costa Rica where we experienced a big tropical storm. We were confined to our beach cabana for most of three nights and two days as driving rains and hurricane force winds battered the coast. We passed the time by playing car http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Panama/Bocas-Del-Toro/Isla-Colon/blog-283766.html Nicaragua was the country I looked forward to visiting the most while planning this trip and a few hassles aside it was a realy great place. We probably could have given it some more time but with only five days left to be back in Costa Rica we decided to hit the beach there for a bit. After writing the last entry we decided to tour around the city of Granada for a bit while the sun was loweri http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Nicaragua/San-Juan-Del-Sur/blog-280822.html So I met up with my brother and sister last tuesday in Liberia I ended up getting in about 45 mins after them because I missed the early bus out of Managua oops. Rather than double back across the border we spent a day in Costa Rica at Rincon de la Vieja park. Tiff and Dane were getting used to the hot and humid climate while I was enjoying the cool dry weather. It's definetely not 'honduras http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Nicaragua/Isla-de-Ometepe/Merida/blog-277670.html I've heard for a long time that Honduras is the cheapest place to dive in the world and from what I've seen it definetely lives up to that reputation. The island of Utila has a dozen or so diveshops all competing for your business keeping prices down and promising all sorts of extras. Rather than sign up to dive the first day Mike and Daryl checked out every shop and grilled them with questio http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Honduras/Bay-Islands/Utila/blog-273860.html I crossed the border into Guatemala late last week after less than a week in Mexico. The crossing was an interesting one a shuttle took us an hour south where we had our passports stamped by Mexican officials who tried to charge 100 pesos after a small misunderstanding. Then we boarded a longtail boat and traveled an hour upriver past a few small settlements and a decent sized crocodile. Once http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Guatemala/blog-271267.html Palenque is a small town in the Southern Mexican state of Chiapas near the border with Guatemala. Its more Central American than Mexican as its surrounded by thick green jungle and humidity you almost have to swim through. The main draw here is a set of ruins built by the Mayans that have been absorbed into the jungle and untouched for a very long time. They were good to wander around for a http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Mexico/Chiapas/Palenque/blog-270088.html I arrived in Mexico late Sunday night flying over the city was like nothing I had seen before Lights emmited an orange color as far as the eye could see. After a taxi to a downtown hostel I booked a tour to the pyramids north of town to keep me busy the next day. The hostel has a great central location close to many of the main sights and is not a bad deal at 10 bucks a night. The py http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Mexico/Distrito-Federal/Mexico-City/blog-269015.html