September 17 We crossed the Honduran-Guatemalan border headed for an overnight in Antigua and then on to Quetzeltenango aka Xela to do a three day hike with Quetzeltrekkers (same organization and purpose as in Leon, Nicaragua, fosters and educates street children) among the mountains, volcanoes, and Maya villages. Thanks to some excellent bus driving including one driver flagging down our connecting bus amidst rush hour Guatemala City traffic, and a team of excellent drivers and navigators on the resulting bus to Xela, we just made it for the briefing the night before the hike. This was the most impressive bus driving I had seen in Central America, where bus driving is virtually a contact sport. Our four man team (two spotters who spent the whole time yelling which shoulder to pass on, a ticket taker and ... read more

July 10th I arrived in Managua at midnight and was shuttled to the Managua Backpackers Hostel for the steamy first night in Central America. There is little that appeals to me about this capital city of 1.5 million, so I left the next morning with a couple of Brits to Leon in Northwestern Nicaragua. We found a hostel owned by English and Barbadian business partners trying for Nicaraguan citizenship that was rather busy with young travelers. I immediately signed up for volcano boarding the next day, since it seems well that’s what you do here; things with volcanoes. The volcano for boarding was Cerro Negro, black hill, which first formed in 1850 making it one of the youngest in the world. It last erupted in 1999 mainly of sulfur and ash, but enough of which to ... read more