Before heading off to the other side of the world, I decided to visit some friends in the US. My first stop, back in the first world, was St. George, Utah. St. George is a small town about 1.5hrs from Las Vegas and close to Zion National Park. Annalee, an old friend from Vienna lives there, so I spent a few days relaxing there, catching up, and enjoying the comforts of the developed world. Of course a visit to Vegas was a must, so we spent 2 days there (with some Annalee's other friends), having a good time, and gambling. I [View Full Entry]

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After a late arrival in Playa del Carmen, I was glad to book a tour to Chichen Itza the next day. Chichen Itza is the famous Mayan ruin city, now one of the new 7 wonders of the world. Chichen Itza if famous for its big pyramids, and for the Mayan calendar that was found there, which ends on December 21st, 2012. Some say this predicts the date of the end of the world, I guess we will find out soon enough if they are right.. I found Chichen Itza quite impressive, though prefer the Tikal ruins in Guatamala, as they [View Full Entry]

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After the volcanoes and ruins in Guatamala, it was time to catch my breath and get in some beach time in Caye Caulker, a laid back island about 1 hour by boat from Belize City. The first day I went on a snorkelling tour around the island, and it really was the best snorkelling I have ever done. At the first site there were dozens of rays, swimming around and and even touching us. Kept thinking of Steve Irwin, but these rays where of the more harmless variety. At the next site there where large schools of fish, colourful corals, and [View Full Entry]

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My first stop in Guatamala was Antigua, a beautiful colonial town, but my main reason for visiting was the close proximity to Volcan Pacaya, one of the most active volcanoes in the world, with a regular lava flow which you can get as close to as you want to, if you can take the heat that is! The volcano is about an hours drive away from Antigua, and then it takes another 1.5hr hike to get to the actual lava flow, but it's well worth it! I got up to about a meter from the lava, but then the heat got [View Full Entry]

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After spending 6 months in South America, I found myself with less than 3 weeks for Central Amrica before having to fly to the US to catch my flight to Bangkok. So I decided on a few highlights that I wanted to see. As I had arrived in Panama City from Colombia, the Panama Canal was a must see, beeing one of the impressive engineering feats of our time. And impressive it was. We spent some time watching massive container ships passing through, their sides barely clearing the edges. Panama City itself had a very modern section, with skyscrapers and casino´s. [View Full Entry]

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After spending my last weeks in Colombia partying in Santa Marta, then relaxing and diving in Taganga, I parted ways with Pascal & Julien, and returned to Cartagena with Andy and Emma, a couple I had met about 3 weeks previously in Quito. They had the same plan to take a yacht from Cartagena to Panama, so our itineraries fit perfectly.. Back in Cartagena we headed straight for the marina to find out about potential yachts, and the first one we saw didn't exactly fill us with hope. It was small, cramped, and only sailing in 5 days.. Luckily a family [View Full Entry]

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Playa Blanca is a beautiful isolated beach on an island off Cartagena, where we stayed for three nights, sleeping in hammocks on the beach. No electrcity, no running water. The days consited of waking up in the morning for a swim, relaxing on the beach, eating fresh fish, relaxing more, eating more fresh fish, and a little more relaxing. You get the picture. Next stop was Cartagena, a old colonial city with a beautiful historic center and an impressive castle. [View Full Entry]

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I met two swiss guys, Pascal and Julien, In the hostel in Medellin, who were heading to Rio Claro, so I made a last minute decision to join them, and a good decision that was! Rio Claro is a nature reserve about 3hrs from Medellin, with the main feature being the pristine River (Rio Claro). We hadn't booked any accomodation, so when we walked past a campground we decided to give it a try. We managed to hire a tent (at least it resembled one) from the guy who managed the grounds, and stayed there for 4 days. We spent the [View Full Entry]

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Bogota was my first stop in Colombia, and is a pretty interesting city. I did most of the major sighseeing on the first day, starting in the historic center, Plaza Bolivar. From there all the interesting buildings (Cathedrals, presidents residence, older buildings) are quickly covered. Entrance to museaums was also free, so I visited the Gold museum, as well as the Botero gallery, which much to my suprise, I quite enjoyed. Botero is a famous Colombian artist, who draws (and sculpts) everything supersized. For great views of the city, I took the cable car up to Monseratte, a church on the [View Full Entry]

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I arrived in Ecuador, much to my suprise, in Guayaquil. For some reason my plane had been diverted. Luckily, with my brilliant spanish, I found out they had organised a connecting flight, so I would make it to Quito after all, just 6 hours later than anticipated. I stayed at the Secret Garden Hostel, where Christina, whom I had met in Rio, was volunteering for a month. She was planning to go to Cotopaxi, just 1 1/2 hours from Quito, the next day, so I decided to join her. So after seeing the historic center Quito, the next day we headed [View Full Entry]

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