Blogs from El Salvador, Central America Caribbean - page 9

With Christmas approaching, it was time for the annual El Salvador international T20 cricket tournament – The Volcano Cup. This year it was the hosts, along with neighbours and rivals Guatemala and Mexico competing for the trophy. A 40 over match was arranged with Mexico for the day after too. The squad was a mixture of expats and locals, along with the coaching trio of me, Brock and Adrian. The final couple of training sessions were well attended and the tournament kicked off with ES vs. Guatemala. Batting first Brock and I put on 50 for the first wicket in no time at all, Brock in particular hitting the ropes with consistency. I departed for 16, playing on to a delivery that reared off the pitch. The good start continued and we looked set for a ... read more

Keen to see some ‘typical’ Central American towns we drove with Bessy (and Morena another teacher also living at Bessy’s) out to Suchitoto, a very pretty town with a gleaming white church, cobbled square and low rise houses. The sun was scorching hot and as we ambled around the small town we came across an unusual little museum full of a random collection of plates. We enjoyed lunch at a restaurant with gorgeous views over Suchitoto Lake and the surrounding mountains. Having previously completed a walk around Boqueron volcano with dogs we thought we’d try it without the risk of being hauled over the edge. The scenery throughout El Salvador is dominated by volcanoes providing a dramatic back drop, with San Salvador nestled between a number it looks most impressive. On our walk we were lucky ... read more

We know that we have been lax in getting these blogs posted sooner. Once again, if you are a subscriber, an email will notify you automatically when we post. Nothing but wonderful things can be said about arranging our ride through Twisted Tanya’s to El Salvador from Copan Ruins. Garnel, Tanya’s husband and father of their two children, personally drove us in his Ford Explorer. It was the BEST drive we have had so far and Garnel is a great guy! (We were sorry we did not get to spend more time with he and his wife.) The drive was about 5 hours from Copan, but the company was great. We all talked a bit of politics, history, and had some good laughs. It was very, very interesting. As for immigration, due to the way the ... read more

Antigua, Guatemala The shuttle from El Salvador to Antigua was uneventful. We were the only two on the mini-bus and the journey only took around five hours. We arrived late in the evening and were fortunate to find a room for the night. Antigua is a very touristy city, with loads of ex-pats and a Spanish school on every corner. This is probably due to the fact the city is quite spectacular. Antigua is surrounded by three volcanoes, the colonial architecture is the finest we have seen to date, and the climate is not the stand-there- and-sweat environs we have become accustommed to. We spent a day wandering aimlessly through the city, finding that around every corner there was another interesting church or building. Antigua has a little cosmo feel to it too, with cafes everywhere ... read more

Matagalpa, Nicaragua We survived the Revolution in San Juan del Sur, but unfortunately there were fireworks and blaring techno music that lasted all night, through the morning, literally until 5 am. It was a rough night with little sleep, but we boarded a microbus at 6 am and headed back through Rivas and ended up in Managua. We tried everything in our power to avoid Managua and get off the bus prior to entering the Capital, we hadn't heard anything good about Managua, plus we wanted to avoid the 1 million people that flooded the city to celebrate the Revolution. At one point the bus stopped in Masaya, we got off with our packs, the driver asked a few locals about a bus to Matagalpa and couldn't get any info, so we got back on the ... read more