http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Donny/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Donny en-us Sat, 22 Nov 2008 16:08:32 UTC Sat, 22 Nov 2008 16:08:32 UTC 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 p http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Panama/Archipielago-de-San-Blas/blog-315115.html I donrsquot 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 dangerou http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Colombia/blog-315109.html 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 scamentirely legal opportunity is visa runs. Basically every ninety days I am given some time off and a bit of extra cash http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Nicaragua/Isla-de-Ometepe/blog-288469.html Continuing on my vain pointless and futile quest to climb the highest mountain of every country on Earth I found myself heading to Cerro Chirrip 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 d http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/blog-285495.html The reason for deciding on Costa Rica as a destination to spend a year minimum living and working was that it had both mountains and beaches. True many other countries around the world have mountains and beaches too. In fact probably all of them. Except Holland. Costa Rica is a little country but it has an unfair wealth of natural wonders. Again Irsquom struggling to think of a country http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/blog-281187.html After spending most of 2007 travelling I wanted to settle a little bit the following year. I wanted to have the same bed for more than three nights in a row I wanted to be able to pick from more than five tshirts each morning I wanted to make more permanent friends I wanted a cupboard full of food etc etc. However I was sure that i didn't want to be in the UK. Tried that not too keen. http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Heredia/blog-276262.html My plan had been to head out to some of the distant southern cayes off of Belize. However I met more and more people who had either just come from there or had tried to get there and all told similar stories. Because it is low season either the water taxi's aren't running or you can get to the islands but you'll be the only one there. Not good when most diveboats require a minimum of four t http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Honduras/Bay-Islands/Utila/blog-225479.html Before I went to Central America I didn't know much about the Maya. I put them in a group with the Inca's and Aztec's as a once great civilisation that were flattened by the arrival of the Europeans. Turns out I was completely wrong.I can remember thinking when in Peru that while Machu Pichu is spectacular the church in my village at home in Yorkshire is much older. This didnrsquot dampen my http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Guatemala/blog-225477.html Before I went to Belize I had tried to find some definitive information about the Blue Hole. If you do a bit of diving then this place is legendary. According to guide books and tourist info websites the hole is not far off being the greatest thing on Earth. But when you read blogs on websites like this one you can come across highly conflicting views. This is what I thoughtBooking the trip http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Belize/blog-225468.html Itrsquos strange how the most spontaneous decisions always lead to the best experiences. I think my time in Mexico was one of the most challenging but also the most fun months of my life.After my Eastern Europe jaunt during my week or so as a tourist in London I was the only English person at most of the sites I decided that I wanted to live and work abroad. There is plenty of work out t http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/Mexico/Quintana-Roo/Playa-del-Carmen/blog-225462.html Upon arrival in Ohrid I was quite surprised by what I found. I had read a bit about this town and the lake how it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site full of ancient buildings and how the Cyrillic alphabet was invented here in the ninth century AD. I had also seen a lot of photographs nearly all of a little church sitting on a cliff above a deep blue lake. Well that is only half the story. Tacke http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Macedonia/Ohrid/blog-205731.html First of all a quick aside my camera broke in Slovenia so none of the usual arty photography attempts for the next two blogs. I have to thank Dawn and Sara for these pictures.Right I first heard about Pag Island a few years ago. A party island that not too many people know about especially not in the UK sounded very appealing. I expected it would be a bit like Ios the Greek party island t http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Croatia/blog-205051.html There are two reasons why I came to Prague this summer. Number one is because it meant I could fly directly home to Yorkshire. Number two is because itrsquos Prague. This city really does live up to the hype. Unfortunately everybody knows it does so half of the population of the earth were here.I didnrsquot mind the crowds though. Because I was making this final leg of my trip alone I co http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Czech-Republic/North/Prague/blog-202207.html It was the third year in a row that I have passed through Budapest and the second time this trip. Therefore I really wished I liked it more. Itrsquos not that I donrsquot like it it is easy and convenient to use as a hub for further travels the old part of Buda is nice the people are friendly and itrsquos quite cheap. I really canrsquot put my finger on why I have never been taken http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Hungary/Budapest/blog-202204.html I was in Bosnia last year but only had chance to visit Mostar. This year I only had time to visit Sarajevo but unfortunately seeing as my camera was broken here are a few snaps from 2006. One thing that struck me in Sarajevo that was present in Mostar but not to the same extent are the constant reminders of the war. I appreciate that Sarajevo was under siege for three years and four months an http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Bosnia-and-Herzegovina/East/Sarajevo/blog-202200.html Ever since I first saw pictures of this little country I have wanted to pay a visit. But it looked so wonderful that I would have felt guilty going there alone. This funny characteristic explains why I have just spent three months travelling around West Africa when I actually really wanted to go to Ethiopia. Fortunately while pouring over the maps looking for somewhere less appealing to go to http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Slovenia/blog-201798.html Around June time last year I can remember telling people that I was about to go to EXIT Festival in Serbia. The typical reaction was ldquoyou are going whererdquo After telling them the line up their interest perked up a little but few people were envious. This year the reaction was completely different. They were either very jealous or they were coming too. Despite being seven years old http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Serbia/North/Novi-Sad/blog-201099.html At the border of Benin it is possible to get a 48 hour transit visa thus saving a lot of time and money messing about at embassies. It isnrsquot as much of a race through the country as you might think because fortunately the country is only 100km across and its two principal attractions lie quite close together.Ganvie is a town built on stilts in the centre of a large shallow lake. The 270 http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Benin/blog-198906.html For a few weeks climbing Mount Cameroon was the only thing I really wanted to do before leaving Africa. True there were other little trips and activities in Cameroon Nigeria Benin and Togo but none excited me like the prospect of climbing West Africarsquos highest mountain. Another reason it was important is because the trek was a present from my granddad. Sadly I never got the chance to m http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Cameroon/West/Mount-Cameroon/blog-176910.html It is not a fair reflection on Nigeria that the subject I choose to write about for this particular blog is how I left the country. Yet leaving was the most entertaining part of an entertaining couple of weeks crossing this big bewildering nation. Nigeria was never a country high on my list of places to visit. It has even less tourist sights than its neighbouring West African countries and even http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Nigeria/Calabar/blog-171570.html