Monday 13th Feb - Bocas to Panama City A 5.45am alarm and we were off to the tiny little municipal airport of Bocas. It felt like a bit of a sell out taking the plane and avoiding the 11 hour bus ride but what the heck, for a mere extra 50 quid we'd travel in comfort at speed. Our inflight meal consisted of a glass of Orange Juice and a packet of cheesy crackers which had a fluorescent orange filling and looked like they'd been dipped in Uranium but were actually quite tasty. We got fleeced by the taxi to the hotel who charged us more than double than if you walk out of the airport to pick up one. Panama City was indeed very different to every other city in Central America with it's towering, ... read more

Saturday 24th December - Orlando to St Pete's Another early start and it was a frantic dash to the bus stop having called the bus company as soon as I got up and found out we had 20 minutes to pack up and get to the stop. 2 buses later and we were at the Orlando Amtrak station, home of a mere 4 train rides each day. Riding the Amtrak was like stepping back in time about 50 years and overall an enjoyable albeit yet again odd experience given you're in the richest country in the world. You check in your baggae and everyone is made to wait at virtually the same place on the 100 yard long platform. The train arrives and after some more waiting as the passengers depart down off the train, assisted ... read more

Wednesday 14th Dec - Nashville to Memphis This turned out to be a bit of a weird day. We woke up not knowing if we´d stay another night in Nashville and as it turned out we didn´t. For what seemed to be a pretty big place there wasn´t that much of a city centre and it certainly wasn´t typical with the absence of all the usual chain shops and restaurants you got everywhere else. Strange but quite refreshing. Instead they´d been replaced by honky tonk bars, boot sellers and other independent vendors. We stuck with our Mexican for the 2nd day running to make them the 1st people to gain some repeat business from us! Then at 4 we left the hotel for a short yomp to the Greyhound station about 10 blocks away. After waiting ... read more

Sat 4th Feb - Cahuita Most of the day was spent ambling round town. We mistakenly thought you had to pay to get into the Cahuita National Park on what is said to be the best beach in Costa Rica and so gave it a miss which we were to regret the next day on learning it was free to enter. So rare that you find a free attraction as a tourist it's even more annoying when you're trying to scrimp on as many pennies as possible. On our 10th and final night in Costa Rica we once again experienced Costa Rica's ridiculously high priced food for what is distinctly average and just as likely as anywhere else to commit you to doing some serious toilet time. Sun 5th Feb - Cahuita to Bocas, Panama We'd ... read more

Tuesday 31st Jan - Turrialba to Tortuguero (try repeating that after a couple of drinks!) It didn't look that far on a map but it turns out the trip required 4 buses and a boat and after you set out without writing down the intermediate changes, where you don't have central bus stations or passers by that speak any english, it's not hard to get a little hot under the collar. Our 1st change turned out to be the hardest in Siquerries as I spent nearly an hour walking around town asking for help, getting sent in the wrong direction, before I stumbled across a stationary shop which happened to have a 1 page map of Costa Rica and the illusive town name of our next stop, Guapiles. The rest pf the journey was pretty much ... read more

Thursday 26th Jan - Granada to San Jose, Costa Rica We were forced to extend our stay in Granada as surprise, surprise, all of the buses out of town had been fully booked until today. Our previous transporters Ticabus were still full so we had to go with the Nicaraguan national carrier TransNico who were far more latin and we represented the only gringos on the trip. The standard was again very good and comparable with Ticabus as was the nice slow border crossing into Costa Rica. At first there seemed little difference between the countries but as we neared the capital San Jose you realised the contrast or gulf is huge. The roads were excellent and safe which featured fantastic bridges and flyovers over valleys and rivers which you don't often see in Nicaragua. The ... read more