Why did I find myself in Cuba? Wasn’t the plan to live and work in Colombia? Yes but I still change my mind as frequently as my undercrackers so I ended up here. The missing two months since my last blog can be summed up quickly: Colombia Ciudad Perdida trek; very very good. Barranquilla Carneval; very very very good (better than Rio in my opinion). Trying to find work, an apartment, a Spanish course in Medellin; frustrating. Costa Rica Seeing all my friends and dragging out my birthday celebrations to at least a month; really nice. Teaching again in Intercultura; [View Full Entry]

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I could easily have been disappointed with Venezuela because I had dreamed of going there for so long, my expectations were very high. However, I left Venezuela (initially illegally but that’s another story) feeling enormously satisfied. It was a strange feeling because I’ve been to a lot of remote and exotic places but I just could not believe I was there, at Angel Falls. I can’t remember when I first had the desire to travel. I think it was when I was about ten or eleven. The country that always stood at the top of my wishlist, though I can’t exactly [View Full Entry]

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Due to my rule about only writing one blog per country (Costa Rica is an exception because I was living there), I cannot discuss, or show any photos, of New Year in Serbia. New Year in Belgrade was a very last minute decision, I think I bought the ticket on the 29th, actually to Zagreb, and then I took a bus. After New Year I had a bit of trouble when I went to buy a ticket home. I didn’t realise that because many of the countries in this part of the world are the Orthodox Church, which celebrates Christmas on [View Full Entry]

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I never had much of a desire to visit the US of A because I agree with descriptions like this by I can’t remember who: The USA is like a big overfriendly dog that can’t help knocking down all the furniture as it wags its tail. Seeing as many of my best pals during my year in Costa Rica were Yanks and also thoroughly decent folk, I thought it was about time I took a look for myself at their country. Here’s a travel tip for Brits who want to go to Central America. Price up a flight from Costa Rica [View Full Entry]

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I last blogged Costa Rica sometime near the end of the first semester, beginning of June if I remember right. Well, after the fabulous month off (see previous two blogs about Colombia and Panama), the second semester turned out to be completely different to the first. About a dozen new teachers started in August, which put us old lot in a minority. This really changed the atmosphere of the school. When I started teaching in January there were only five newbies. We had to make a real effort to join in with the established teachers. Despite being stressed about lesson planning [View Full Entry]

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For a fourth and final visa run of 2008 I wanted to get a bit further away. There are wonderful places in both Nicaragua and Panama that are close and convenient but I have sampled both. Given the monotonous rainy season, I also felt that the greater the distance the better between myself and Costa Rica's central valley. Having a TACA pilot as a private student has a few advantages. As well as informing me about some of the most beautiful places in Costa Rica, that escape the guidebooks but don't escape a bird's eye view, he can also tell me [View Full Entry]

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The Kuna are an admirable little bunch in that they are one of the few indigenous peoples in the Americas that managed to resist European domination or, as often was the case, extermination. Their historical tenacity is in sharp contrast to their current peaceful and welcoming nature. But this veneer belies the fact that as recently as 1925 they kicked the Panamanian police of their islands in protest of an attempt to suppress their traditional ways. This act contributed toward the Kuna having a remarkable amount of political autonomy, some claim more than any other indigenous group in [View Full Entry]

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I don’t need to start this blog claiming that Colombia is the new Peru or Costa Rica. An unexplored, undiscovered tourist mecca, with glorious mountains, beaches, rainforests and happening cities, blah, blah, blah. All of those things are true except for the unexplored and undiscovered parts. Colombia is already discovered and is very popular. The idea of it being a terrifyingly dangerous country with kidnappers, murderers and cocaine traffickers on every corner, is very outdated. The number of tourists here testifies to that fact. True, there are areas that you shouldn’t vis [View Full Entry]

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Continuing on my vain, pointless and futile quest to climb the highest mountain of every country on Earth, I found myself heading to Cerro Chirripó in Costa Rica. This is not as unlikely as it sounds, given that I now live in Costa Rica. In fact you could say that it was inevitable that I would end up there. Due to having to work five Saturdays on and five off, for 50% of the year I get a three day weekend (the school is closed Fridays). This is not really sufficient time to attempt climbing Chirripó because it takes a day [View Full Entry]

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Being a paid volunteer does away with the necessity of obtaining a work visa. This is in operation for English teachers around the world where having the correct work permit often involves unfathomable bureaucracy and a lot of money. One advantage of this slightly fishy scam/entirely legal opportunity, is visa runs. Basically, every ninety days I am given some time off and a bit of extra cash, to leave the country for seventy-two hours. I managed to time this particular visa run with Semana Santa, or Easter week. The school and indeed most of Costa Rica, shuts down for eight days. [View Full Entry]

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