Blogs from Central America Caribbean - page 1922

I spent 5 weeks hiking around Mexico and Guatemala with a few friends from England. It was an amazing journey. We spent the first 5 days in Mexico before heading into Guatemala and staying with a family in Quetzaltenango to study Spanish. From here we did trips to volcanoes, Lake Atitlan and Antigua. After spending most of our trip near the pacific side we left for Guatemala City. Yuuk! Not a nice city, but we needed to stop for 2 nights because my buddy was having problems with his plumbing. (he needed a doctor). After the visit we headed for the Caribbean side of the island at Rio Dulce to do some hiking. This was great. We left one day to hike to some naturally heated waterfall, but on the way were some bandits waiting to ... read more

I’ve spent this past week doing a combination of entertaining my friend Terry who is visiting for three weeks and doing more work than I have time for! Whatever happened to “Pura Vida” anyways! Actually, I cannot complain as last weekend I spent on the Pacific Coast and this week I spent on the Caribbean coast. The Caribbean coast…. I really love the Caribbean coast! It’s just not as built up as the Pacific Coast and there are still some good real estate deals there! I stayed at a cool B&B, Banana Azul, right on the beach in Puerto Viejo. While there, I learned that someone bought the land right behind Banana Azul, about 2000 meters, for $45,000! My God, one block to the beach and a perfectly flat piece of land with tons of room ... read more

Hola from Cuba! Three days after wearing beanies, gloves and fleeces for a hike in the Yorkshire Dales, we stumbled into the Cuban heat. The daytime temperatures are much the same as in Brisbane, but night minimums and the humidity are much more like Darwin in summer. We still have no photos, and will add some when we can get hold of them, and find a computer terminal that doesn´t have all its software locked down. This may not be until we leave Cuba. Some first impressions... Everywhere we have been we are awed and inspired by the architecture. It is, of course, heavily influenced by colonial Spanish, with Moorish touches thrown in, but with a very Cuban flavour. Even though a lot of it is crumbling, it remains stunning. In the old buildings, the ceilings ... read more

it has only been a few days since i last checked in, but it feels like a week has gone by! in a good way! happy birthday to NAN and CALA. not everyone can be a virgo....poor souls! and cala & vic...congrats on your marriage. i wish i could have been there to share in the celebration. you are a sweet and inspiring couple and i wish you muchos años of love and happiness. yesterday i arrived in beautiful montezuma. the beaches here are absolutely FANTASTIC!!!!! they vary so much....the texture of the beach changes from blackish sand, to shells, to rocks, to whitish sand. there are rocky headlands separating each beach....and the forest comes right up to the beach. yesterday i was exhausted from spending the night on the tile floor of the ferry station ... read more

9/02/06 Saturday Day 2 at Hacienda Guachipelin (the Ranch) last day Again, little sleep, lots of interruptions, up before 06:00! Yup, again woke up just after twilight, very cool, I guessed @73F. Refreshing, no prevailing smells! So off I go.....just outside the entrance I found the sign: "Lookout Poiint"....up the trail. COOL! Its a stucco 'rancho' with electricity and a banjo (bathroom) up on a knoll that is higher than the Ranch. Looks out over the forrest with an excellent view of the mountains, particularly, Rincon. OK, so I got pics on previous blog from this adventure, sue me! Lots of clouds coming from the Carribean side, clear towards the Pacific. There is a plaque embedded in the post says to the effect, the Electrical Society Association errected the building in 1997. (looks less than a ... read more