Earth Lodge was a welcome reprieve from the rigours of 6 months of backpacking. A lodge, cum avocado farm up the hill from Antigua, with spectacular views over the local volcanos. Those who've heard me bang on about its merits will have already heard about the spanish lessons, delicious family dinners, hammocks and the brilliant characters who make it such a great home away from home. But bear with me ... effectively, Earth Lodge is the Guatemalan boomerang - everyone who's been here once, will someday come back. I arrived at Earth Lodge jammed in the back of a pick-up [View Full Entry]

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I was psyched about Guatemala - the exotic and unknown - with live volcanos and jungles, the famed chicken buses and Mayan locals in brightly coloured clothing. But, Guatemala got off to a bad start. Within minutes of alighting from the lancha in Livingston a rough Garifuna tout with a gold tooth told me to ´get f-ed´ when I wouldn´t accompany him to his hostel. Things got far worse, before they got better. The coked up, midget manager of the Iguana hostel, Eric, did his best to run my friends and I out of Livingston. Guatemala was an adventure waiting to [View Full Entry]

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¨Baby, you gonna be dancing with me later, you better Belize it¨- said the enormous rastafarian who´d accosted me by the dance floor of Caye Caulkers infamous karaoke joint. I´ve heard some pretty amusing pick-up lines in my time, but this one was stolen from Belize´s most popular souvenir t-shirt. Classy! Still on a Cuban high, I decided to head to Belize on a whim. Belize being one of those places that a lot of backpackers skip. Mostly because it´s quite expensive versus the rest of Central America, it´s English speaking and it doesn´t offer the same cultural diversity as its [View Full Entry]

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Cuba is almost too much to take in - food for the senses! For starters, the streets are lined with crumbling, colourful buildings and elderly Cuban men and women really do smoke cigars in windows and doorways. Add to that, curvaceous women in headscarves and hair in rollers strolling down the street, whilst men wash or repair shiny vintage cars. It´s like one big fiesta - music plays, people call out to friends, children play in the streets, people look out their windows, watching the world go by. Like Carrie Bradshaw wandering the streets of Paris (but somewhat less stylish), I [View Full Entry]

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Fear. Not normally in my repertoire. But that´s what I felt as the plane swooped down upon smoggy, sprawling Mexico City. The most populous city in the world, home to 25 million people, 1 million cars, allegedly 1 million police ... bigger than the entire population of Australia. Finally, my travels south through Central and South America were no longer a pipe dream. But the fear is for an entirely different reason. You see, us Maynes girls are notoriously bad dancers and equally terrible at learning new languages. In this part of the world, respect is earned through salsa dancing and [View Full Entry]

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If you believe what you see on American television, in South Beach (aka SoBe) Miami the sun always shines. Beautiful people, fresh out of either solarium or plastic surgery, sip expensive cocktails in hip bars by an impossibly spectacular beach, before driving home along Ocean Drive in their harley or convertable (top down of course)... which may, or may not be stolen later. Sadly my only knowledge of Miami was the sum of 20-something years of American television. Quality programming including Miami Vice, Nip Tuck, CSI Miami, Miami Ink ... all reinforced most of, or all of the above stereotypes. I [View Full Entry]

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Canada was all about the white Christmas, old friends and Western comforts. Many a time during my asian travels I'd dreamt of quality red wine, a good steak, a toilet where you could flush the paper instead of putting it in a smelly rubbish bin. Imagined a bathroom with the winning trifecta - clean, hot water, locking door. Luxury! It took five flights from Goa before I reached Toronto - including a sweet, but brief, stopover with Donna and Scott in Singas. I'd left behind balmy Goan days well into the 30's - for the prospect of minus 20 degrees celsius [View Full Entry]

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India is all about the crazy, unpredictable and often breathtaking experience. About spectacular views of green rice paddies and palm trees from train windows one minute, then laundries and slums the next. People, always with smiles, unreserved laughter and unwavering good humour. About crazy and indecipherable systems of bribe and "making things happen". About bright, bold colours - saris, bangles, flowers, foods and spice. The aromas - some mouth-watering, many stomach-turning which assault the senses at every turn. The pollution-enhanced sunsets, the beautiful beaches, mountains and backwaters of the south. But the best thing is simply being a part of it [View Full Entry]

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Kolkota. City of joy. City of 15 million. Dirt under fingernails, toenails, up nostrils and in ears. Atmosphere like smog soup. Horns sound constantly and loudly. The smell of rotting garbage mingles with animal carcass and urine. Everywhere you look there are mangy dogs, cows, masses of people - working stalls, driving rickshaws, sleeping, begging, swarming. On trains a human crush grabs tightly to overhead bars leaving the air fresh with BO. A man tells me I'm sitting in the wrong section. I lose my hard fought seat to find its standing room only in the 'ladies' area. At least I'm [View Full Entry]

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Look at my photos from Providence at face value and you will see only bright smiles and happiness. Laughing children playing and learning in a mismatch of clothing and various states of dishevel (but they all seem to have shoes). A school facility that offers shelter, running water and even electricity. The classrooms have colourful tables and chairs, murals, blackboards, pencils, chalk. Food served at lunchtime, children playing marbles. But scratch the surface and discover some shocking truths - a smile can be deceiving. My volunteer experience in India is without question the best experience I’ve ever had in my life. [View Full Entry]

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