The Bay Islands off the Caribbean coast of Honduras are famous for the quality and the price of their diving. Another new experience for me waited there. Scuba diving. To get to this wonderous new experience I had to negotiate the bus companies of Honduras. The 7am bus took me in relative comfort to San Pedro Sula, the second city of Honduras. After around 50 Limpiras (£2) and a 3hr journey I arrived in one of San Pedros bus stations. My one task for the city was to withdraw enough Limpiras to cover my diving course and keep me fed and sheltered for the same number of days. This is the first significant section of my journey were I have been totally on my own. This made the task a lot more difficult than it could ... read more

In Spanish Antigua means literally antique. Antigua until 1773 was the capital of Guatemala. In 1773 Antigua was devastated by an earthquake that all but destroyed the city. The Guatemalans decided to move the capital of the country to the present location of Guatemala City. Meanwhile the citizens of Antigua rebuilt the city in the colonial Spanish style that had existed before the destruction. Now Antigua is a world heritage site, meaning that special laws regulate any renovations, or new buildings in the area. Nestled between three volcanoes Antigua is one of the most beautiful cities I have ever visited. Scattered throughout the town are ruins from the 1773 earthquake, colonial buildings now converted into restaurants, shops and Internet cafes. I had only planned to stay in Antigua for a few days but due to being ... read more

On Saturday my family, well Patrick and Francisco took me to Alguna Chicabal. About 10 miles from Xela, the lake is in the centre of a dormant volcano, surrounded by lush highland forest. It's also the home of the Quetzal - the national bird. It's very rare. We got up at 5am, Pablo my Guatemalan brother decided not to take us in the pickup truck as promised the previous day so it was another trip on the chicken bus. After leaping off the chicken bus in the middle of nowhere we had a 3hr hike to the summit. We set off, I kept having to wait for my companions. Francisco complained that I was "muy rapido" - fortunately a pickup truck passed, Francisco hailed it and we jumped on. There were three small boys in the ... read more

Up in the highlands near the Mexican border is the village of Todos Santos. The village is famous for the traditional dress of the locals, mam - a Mayan language, the use of a 260 day Mayan calandar and the murder of a Japanese tourist in 1998 for taking photographs. So armed with my digital camera I boarded a bus bound for Huehuetenango where I could change bus for Todos Santos. Sharron and Ann from school decided to accompany me... well actually - Sharron had planned the trip and kindly offered to let me accompany them. We left at 7am, stopped at McDonalds for coffee and a sausage and egg muffin, yep McDonalds has made it to Xela - sorry world I've eaten there now. The chicken bus to Huehue took 2 1/2 hours, an hours ... read more

Two and half hours chicken bus ride from Xela is one of the most beautiful spots in all Guatemala. Lago Atitlan, a huge lake surrounded by three huge volcanoes. Panajachel is small town on the shore of the lake. We arrived mid afternoon found a hotel and went to eat. Since I left England 6 weeks ago I haven't been to a place quite as set up for tourists as this, the town even had a multi-storey hotel. Throw in a large number of travellers, staying in the cheap hotels - as low as £3 per night, and there is a vibrant mix of people. Lots of small cafes and restaurants have appeared to cater for the demand of the tourists. After wandering the streets for a while we found a gallery slash café, the Café ... read more