More Mayan Magic Sometimes you get a good feeling about a place and know you're going to love it; that's what happened with us in Mexico, as from the moment we arrived we felt right at home, and throughout our 2 weeks in the country, as we got to know more of Mexico, it just got better and better. Palenque was the first stop. The journey from Flores in Guatemala involved 7 hours of travel on roads that when they were paved they were good but when unpaved they were very bad. The border runs along the Rio Usumacinta, but there [View Full Entry]

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The colours of Guatemala It's the colours that I remember best from Guatemala. The perfect blue of Lake Atitlan, once called the most beautiful lake in the world; the red rivers of lava on Volcan Pacaya, which flowed no more than 100 metres from us on the volcano's slopes; the reflections on the white stones of Tikal in the early morning light. And that's only the natural colours...even more striking are the small pueblos. Each village attempts to outdo the next in terms of the designs and colours of their local dress, especially during their festivals (and there's no shorta [View Full Entry]

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Next stop Honduras As we travel from the Nicaragua/Honduras border to Tegucigalpa a small girl, aged about 9 or 10, boards the bus alone. It's the middle of the day so why she is not at school I don't know. She carries a box down to the back of the bus, takes out bags of banana chips and starts trying to sell them to people on the bus for 5 Lempiras (about $0.25) a bag. Seeing people selling food on buses is a common sight in Central America, but I've never before seen so young a person. It's difficult to imagine [View Full Entry]

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The red and black flag First time visitors to Nicaragua could be forgiven for thinking that the country's flag is red and black, but this is in fact the Sandinista Flag, which we noticed flying everywhere, almost from the moment we crossed the border, and which is much more prominent than the official blue and white Nicaraguan flag. Politics is never far away in Nicaragua, and almost every town has a Sandinista mural or memorial, usually a statue or painting of a revolutionary soldier throwing a grenade or aiming a rifle. Murals supporting the opposite side are much less [View Full Entry]

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Goodbye to Panama We left Bocas del Toro in Panama by a fast water taxi, sitting beside a local man carrying a rather terrified looking chicken, then reached the Panama/ Costa Rica border by an even faster and scarier land taxi. The border is crossed via a old, worn bridge, which takes you to the Costa Rican town of Sixaola, where the formalities were fast and efficient. Neither of the border towns was attractive, so we hopped on the first bus out of there along the Caribbean coast to Puerto Limon. Costa Rica may be the most rich and developed country [View Full Entry]

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Central America After spending 10 months in South America, we had left ourselves only two months for the final part of our trip, through Central America, from Panama to Mexico City. This is clearly very little time to see 8 different countries, and an area with so many sights, meaning we will have to be very selective. No more days lazing around in hammocks. Well, not so many, perhaps! Our first view of Panama - and of Central America - was from the window seat of the twin propeller Aires plane on the flight from Cartagena to Panama City. Panama City [View Full Entry]

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Conquering our fears Back in September 2007, when we started our travels in South America, the one country we were sure we would avoid was Colombia. However, as we travelled through South America we met more and more people who raved about Colombia and who convinced us to at least consider a visit. Colombia still has a reputation as an unsafe country, stemming from the 40 year civil war between rebel groups such as FARC or ELN and various governments. But things seem to be changing now, the security situation is vastly improving, and what was once a truly unsafe count [View Full Entry]

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Finding our way to the Lost City There are many great treks in South America, but certainly nothing quite like the Ciudad Perdida trek, a 6 day round trip which takes you to the heart of the Colombian jungle and back, where seeing lost cities, fording rivers, walking in tropical downpours and learning how to make cocaine are just some of the activities covered. Though located only 40 km from Santa Marta, there is a strong sense of isolation and remoteness in the jungles around Ciudad Perdida (Lost City in English). This area is home to a number of indigenous groups, [View Full Entry]

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Down to the cloudforests We rounded off our 23 days in Ecuador with a visit to the laid-back town of Mindo, in the cloudforests on the western slopes of the Andes, not too far from Quito. After spending most of our time in Ecuador in the mountains, Mindo provided a refreshing change in scenery - and it was great to go hiking without needing to catch your breath every few seconds. First we had to find out how to get here. Instructions in the Lonely Planet were wrong, something we only discovered after a painful search for a bus terminal in [View Full Entry]

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Middle of the world There are few cities that can match Quito in terms of location. Drive a few hours to the west and you reach Ecuador's beaches, while the fascinating jungle landscapes are close by in the east. If it's mountains and volcanoes you want, well, they're practically on your doorstep as the city is surrounded by them; including the world's highest active volcano, Cotopaxi, only 1.5 hours to the south. An equally compelling attraction near Quito, one from which Ecuador took it's name, is the Equator, which passes through Ecuador just north of the city, and which wa [View Full Entry]

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