Blogs from Central America Caribbean - page 2175

I had decided to return to Guatemala after 10 days in Utila. The diving had been a fantastic experience but I was starting to run out of hard cash. A Limpera, the currency in Honduras is worth 1/2 a Quetzal, the currency in Guatemala, a Quetzal at this time is worth about 8 pence (12c). I had 500 Limperas left, on this I had to leave the country, pay for accommodation for a night and eat. 500 Limperas is worth £20. The ferry from Utila to La Ceiba was 195 Limperas. Ok, 305 limperas left. 51 Limperas to San Pedro on the bus, 254 Limperas remain. On the ferry to La Cieba I met up with Jules from England, Helena and Pamela from France, they were all wanting to travel to Copan, Helena and Pamela then ... read more

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

Here in Xela there is a Spanish School with a print of my arse on the wall. Sakribal has been really good fun, and I’ve learnt lots of Spanish, if only I could put more of into practice. My teacher for the third and fourth weeks of school was Carolina, she spoke only a few words of English, which meant that the lessons were much harder work for me – exactly what I needed. I bought the most horrible item in Xela as a thank you present, a Hello Kitty lamp/alarm clock combo, she really loved it so that was great. Ok… so the arse prints, paint on paper on a chair, arse on the chair on the paper, reverse arse towards wall and the print is made. Sharon, Lizette and Christian (the crazy Danes of ... read more

My second (and now third) week in Xela has been a lot of fun. The friendships I had made in the first week carried on into the second and I now have a new brother, Patrick, from Dallas, Texas. Patrick has been living in Xela for around 6 months volunteering at a local school, teaching English, the first English teacher that they have ever had at the school - and travelling around central America. He's a few years older than me, I guess that makes him my big brother. Having Patrick around has helped with my Spanish as he is "mas o menos" - more or less, fluent it means that an instant translation of the difficult words is available. The amount of conversation at the table has increased, my limited vocabulary was holding things back ... read more