Things I learnt travelling in Central America...

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After travelling solo through Central America: Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Costa Rica, I have learnt a good few things...

New vocabulary... There are some words that vary greatly across the different Spanish speaking countries. For example 'banana' in English, can be banana, platano or guineo, depending on which country you are in. The word 'cool' also varies a lot: pega, chivo, chevere... Even if you know Spanish it is sometimes difficult to know what is going on!

Things to take when travelling...
SMALL denominations of money - it is impossible to break into the large ones although that is all the cash manchines will give you.
A torch - essential for powercuts, badly-lit hotels or places in the jungle, and toilets when the light bulbs have blown.
Vitamin B1, B6, B12 - Makes you disgusting to mosquitos.
Gaffa tape - According to my friend Jono you can fix or make anything with it... wallets, bags, shoe laces...
Padlock - obvious...
Lots of carrier bags - waterproof your things with them and use them to disguise laptops/ other valuables as worthless shopping.
Support bandage - Put it on your leg, stash money in it.
Ear plugs - essential for people snoring in hostels and during noisy bus rides.
Safety pins - If you lose weight while travelling as I did, these are useful to stop trousers falling down...

Useful things to know...

As in many countries over here, taxis don't normally run on meters so ask in your accommodation how much it should cost before getting it, if you don't understand numbers in Spanish, have a notebook and get them to write it down! Taxis might also pick up other passengers, don't be alarmed, it's normal, they make more money that way.

People will try to rip you off - barter!! Argue with them. Tell them you've seen a better price somewhere else or tell them you only have a small amount of cash - this should lower the price.

Buses (long distance ones) are often FREEZING COLD with airconditioning - take socks and a jumper to avoid getting a cold.

Plug sockets! These can vary across and within countries - take European and US style adaptors (or buy them for really cheap in ferretarias, you can get padlocks and torches here too)


Random facts I learnt while travelling...

Bananas are not trees - they are giant herbs (Jono).

The spider that kills the most people does not bite them, it climbs coconut trees, cuts their stalks so they fall to the floor and crack open, then eats the flesh inside - people get in the way of the falling coconuts! (Jon).

You can fit at least 5 people in a hammock at one time.

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