Rich and Linz

13.1.12 Mancora Peru. Arrived in Mancora at 5.30am feeling dazed and confused after very little sleep due to heat, very windy roads and border duties. Had nowhere booked but luckily there was a moto taxi driver that spent 30min driving us around trying to find a room. Ended up finding one called La Casa de Sebas. Bit pricey but spacey, quiet and didn’t really care as was so tired and just needed a bed. My first impressions of Mancora was that it was pretty shabby and dusty. Spent the afternoon on the beach watching the chaos of loads of surfers all dropping in at once along with kite surfers whipping past everyone. Grabbed some good ceviche (lemon juice marinated raw fish with squid and prawns (cooked) and onions. Was really nice but a ‘little spicy’ was ... read more

Playa Guanico, Panama 19th December 2011 – 4thJanuary 2012 Rich and I finally arrived in Panama 7 hours late due to our flight being delayed because of thick fog at the airport in Quito which meant that no planes could land. After spending 2 hours just queuing up to check in we then got a measly free breakfast and hung out in departures going slightly mental. We finally arrived in Panama City and were going to get a bus to the centre but after seeing how full they were thought sod it and got a taxi. We met up with Dan and Jemma at Hotel Costa Azul (not as posh as it sounds!) and had a few beers in the room before going out for an Italian meal. Dan and Jemma’s hold luggage got left in ... read more

26.11.11 Got a taxi from Taganga to Santa Marta then flew to Medellin via Bogota. Met a nice chap on the bus from airport to Medellin who rang loads of hostels for us, most were full so ended up going to one in the centre called Hotel Odeon. It was in a pretty dodgy area but was really cheap- only £8 a night. The chap gave us his phone number and said to call him if we needed any help! We then caught the metro to see Suzy and Sean who we met on the Gapster / San Blas trip at her mum’s house, for some traditional Colombian food which involved bean soup, avocado, sausages, salsas, arepas (corn breads) etc as it was Suzy’s birthday. Drank loads of Sean’s Aussie mate’s aguadiente (sugar cane alcoholic drink). ... read more

6.11.11 Bocas Del Toro, Panama: Rained all morning and finally plucked up the courage at lunchtime and cycled over centre of island to the other side. It was very hilly and took ages as we only had a cruiser style bike with one gear! Went for quick snorkel, lots of fish near shore, then had a beer and got boat to starfish beach. Snorkelled around looking at starfish, there were loads! Rich found a dollar in the sea, then decided to get a boat home with the bikes in, as couldn’t face the cycle. Cooked dinner and ate with Dave, Suze, James and Stacey. It is a real nice place to stay, the rooms are very homely and there is a great deck with hammocks, it’s called Panama’s Paradise. 7.11.11 Rained again in the morning and ... read more

12/10/11 Woke up, weather still really bad. Grey, windy and rainy but not cold still 28d. Had a typical Salvadorian brekkie of scrambled eggs with tomatoes, peppers and onions served with refried beans and some salty cheese like feta. You also normally get fried plantain as well but they must have ran out as had papaya. The coffee was bad. Got a lift to El Cuco a village a 15 min drive away down a bumpy road. The town is pretty shoddy, we went to a place to use the internet and managed to check the weather and surf forecast but the internet was really slow and we had a power cut three times so we gave up in the end. We did manage to find out that we’re in a tropical depression as there’s a ... read more