My first stop in this trip was Masaya volcano. My hotel was a a cabin in Nindiri with a spectacular view of Masaya lake. Very quiet and beautiful place all to ourselves. Definitively a place I recommend. Check this video taken there: It's not my first volcano. But it's the first with an actual lava lake!! for this, I needed to go in the evening. To make sure of the location, I went by day at Masaya volcano park entrance. But then, what a deception!! An american acrobat did walk above the crater on a metal wire last evening, and the volcano was closed for 3 days to leave time to disassemble and clean it all..... I planned to go back there at end of vacations, but sadly, corona virus alerts made me cut short my ... read more

I have been to many archaeological sites in all of the Americas. Can I consider Coba to be one that you should visit if you're in the area? Totally! Site is not far from Tulum, (45 minutes to 1 hour). Contrarily to other Maya sites, you can still climb the biggest pyramid! This is a big plus as you can really sense how these buildings were a major achievement when they were built, if you're on the top of it! Site's is in the forest so it' s never too hot and there's plenty of shade. For those who can't walk too much, you can hire a tricycle taxi, (man powered), for a few pesos). One part of the site is more quiet so you can go there to look for birds, especially early in the ... read more

6 years ago, I went to Mexico to swim with the whale sharks and its was a fantastic experience, (see one of my previous blogs)! For the research of this trip, I learned that Akumal was a good place to see wild green sea turtles ..... and it is right! The animals are so gracious when they swim under the sea and reptiles are my favorites of all animals!! In Akumal, there are rules and you need a guide if you want to go to the most prolific spots. I read some comments online of people complaining about this. Sad truth is that people were out of control and harassed the turtles in the past, so local town took action to set some rules to make the process sustainable in the long run. That's is totally ... read more

Florida state in the USA has everything you might dream for a vacation: beaches and warmth, excellent infrastructure, themes parks, national parks and reserves, (natural and cultural), camping, fishing, golf, shopping malls,etc... Yucatan, starting from Cancun down to Tulum is a bit the same. There are some differences though: the very fast development of the coast has led to dozens of kilometers of private beaches where it's almost impossible to go. Also, while in Florida if you like nature, you have national parks, state parks and reserves always very cheap, in Yucatan, there are very few natural parks not related to a theme park or to a tour company. But with some research and tips, you can find some quiet and cheap places, even in the busy Riviera Maya. For these, go to very less popular ... read more

Trip almost over. Before returning to Cartagena found a small place about 50 kms South of it to relax. Small hotel is just at the exit of San Basilio de Palenque. This is a small city founded by escaped slaves. They are proud of their heritage and there are many opportunities of visiting this culture if you are interested. Hotel was fine, located on a small farm but only problem was ......the road!!! In this part of the country, no major highway to connect major cities, so there are tons of trucks on the road...annoying! About 35kms from the hotel, found a small nature park near city of San Juan Nepomuceno. That's the greenest part of the region for kms around!! There are howler monkeys to see if you haven't seen any elsewhere. Little problem with ... read more