K- After a weeks stop off to see friends and family in the UK we arrived in Cape Town on Tuesday after an uneventful 26 hour journey from Birmingham via Dubai. During the flight Mark took the opportunity to slip into something a little more comfortable if not entirely inconspicuous (see photo) - he loves to assimilate in to local cultures! Unfortunately he appeared to be the only person in Cape Town who is wearing this local dress - but hopefully it will become more appropriate as we progress in to the bush...... We were met at the airport by Mark's friend Steve and are staying with him, his partner Michelle and their lovely 8 month old baby Chloe in Noordhoeck, about 25 minutes outside Cape Town. We took the scenic route home along the gorgeous ... read more

M – We have tried to mix it up with the food in the last few weeks – street food, market food, bus stations, airports, restaurants and hotels. Most of our experiences have been good and some even great. As we have mentioned before, regardless of where we end up there is always the rice and beans option. And if you don’t choose it, just to make sure you didn’t forget, they will usually add a portion of each to your plate anyway. Now I have entered a new stage – I am experimenting with new concoctions. The first that I am proud to unveil is the Central American Equivalent of the British Chip Butty! Using the other staple that usually comes with all food ........the Flour Tortilla. Take a flour tortilla, add a good squirt ... read more

M - Copan Ruinas is a pretty and interesting little town with two added bonuses. The first, and currently more famous of the two, is the Mayan Ruins which are just outside of the town. The second, not so well known, is the locally brewed German beer. Yes, if you wonder down the back streets you can find a low volume but extremely professional German very Micro-Brewery. We have promised the brewer, Thomas, that we would not write anything about his establishment on TripAdvisor as he basically doesn’t want to become part of the tourist trail. He currently brews his beer as a hobby/small business and his Honduran wife cooks German food and they don’t want to be overwhelmed. Good luck to him on the latter. I lived in Germany for 6 months and I can ... read more

K- There has been a lot of rice in Nicaragua. One day I realized that we had eaten rice with every meal for six days, including breakfast (Gallo Pinto (rice & beans) with eggs, cheese and tortilla is a breakfast staple here). For variety I therefore ordered a dinner with mashed potatoes. They were great – but were accompanied with a side of rice! We remarked on this to our hotel owner in Managua and he told us that he once ordered spaghetti and got a side of rice with it so it seems that our experience is the norm. Fortunately we like rice. I mention food, and the slight repetitive nature of it so far on our trip because our visit to Little Corn, a tiny island (1 mile square) off the East coast of ... read more

Unfortunately it is Mark who has had the main surprise of my birthday today with a minor dose of Delhi belly - sufficient to keep him up a lot of the night and in bed all day. He is well on his way to recovery though so no-one need worry! And his loving wife has been to the pharmacy to purchase more Imodium (at least I hope that's what they gave me - my Spanish is improving but there was only so much miming I was prepared to do in the Pharmacy!) Eating a solitary breakfast this morning I was however also surprised by the gift of some birthday cake (plus watermelon hearts & candle) and a homemade card from the staff of our small hotel. Thankfully the "¡Feliz cumpleaños!" was kept to a discrete murmur ... read more