BexProfit

What a wonderful week! As usual, could always be longer. The Bay Islands are great - lots of eye candy, lovely people to hang out with, hot but breezy so a perfect combination.. not to mention the myriad of hammocks to chill out in, funky bars, cosy BBQ restaurants with top nosh, and THE DIVING! Enjoyed various bar nights (although obviously not drinking too much as alcohol, boats, early mornings and diving don't really mix) at the Treetanic bar (see photo) with Elisa. Also called Jade Seahorse after the restaurant beneath it, it is a sensory overload of colour, shapes, tunnels, pagodas, tree houses, every size and shape of light, tinkling windchimes... fab fab fab. The other weird anomaly is the language - the islanders speak a kind of criolle mix datign back from the British ... read more

I arrived into El Salvador later in the day than I had hoped, so stayed one night in San Miguel, the city nearest the eastern Honduras border. The next day I headed north early and reached Pequín, site of a lot of fighting in the civil war. visited a museum and local lookout and tried to understand as much as I could about what had happened and who was involved. As always women featured prominently as fighters, not to mention priests (several of whom were assassinated) and, the biggest shock, the use of handheld computers by the rebels to keep spreadsheets of weapons captured, amongst other things, really brought home how recent the fighting was. Then went on to El Salvador, where I stayed with the ever so lovely George Chippendale, a Brit and a great ... read more

Nicaragua *2 domestic rabbits hopping around outside a garage in the middle of a busy part of Leon and prey to traffic and dogs but seeming quite happy! *Middle-aged woman outside her roadside kiosk kissing her parakeet sitting on its corner... there are many captive birds here, all with severely clipped wings - a depressing sight *Horse and cart taxis - string for bridles and reins, no saddles, all very small - look stunted from being made to work too young; skinny and overworked. *Beaten up dog ever so politely sitting by me in hope of getting food - not begging. Looked like someone must have kicked him when little - his jaw all skewwif. Luckily I had a cheese and ham roll which I had discovered mould in so gladly gave to him! *2 parakeets ... read more

From Rivas, I managed to get to the port and over on the ferry to Omotepe island. Omotepe consists of two volcanoes- Fire and Water, the latter being inactive. It is a beautiful spot, although like the rest of Nicaragua has very basic facilities. I stayed in town one night and wandered around during a power cut - there is a main street and not much else but I sat on the edge of their 3D model of the island down by the shore and was given a gift of local fruit by a group of boys to munch on as I watched the sunset (called momon: little balls of melon-like flavour over a big seed which you spit out). Next morning visited the local museum at the back of a shop which had been started ... read more

Heading back north from Panama, I crossed the border back into Costa Rica and headed to Chacarita to talk with the park rangers. I arranged to go back to Piedras Blancas, but first spent a fun night on the town with Fernando in Rio Claro - met his children and had karaoke sung to me! Rode in to the park with Arturo and the river was so incredibly high. The May trees were still in flower so there was lots of yellow coverage everywhere. The Raleigh construction site was looking good - Phase III had done a great job on finishing the roofs and painting what they could of the cabins and there was almost no sign of where our camp had been so browny points on the environmental impact. I was seriously impressed by how ... read more

From Bocas del Toro I headed to the Peninsular de Azuero on 23rd May, a more remote part of Panama although not as untouristy as the guidebooks would leave you to believe. I reached the main town of Chitre to encounter Payless Shoe Source and everyone practicing their english on me. Beautiful local churches revealed out-of-tune singers practising for sunday services, wood and gold, enormous statues of saints, the Virgen and depictions of bloody suffering, not to mention one which contained the most effeminate camera crew ever filming a television programme locally - quite a contrast! Visited Los Santos where Panama signed its independence from Spain in 1821 and the men there still wore the traditional upturned brimmed hats. However, there wasn´t a huge amount of evidence of the traditional dress the region is supposed to ... read more