The back of the pickup truck ute was filled to capacity. The load was being tossed from side to side with each twist and turn of the mountain road. What was different about this load though was it was standing room only full of people. I had managed to get one of the remaining spots. On the outside rear bumper. It was hang on or fall off. These open air pickup “taxis” are an everyday ...…[read more]
Author: Chris
Vivo En El Volcan! It’s the start of another day in Panajachel, Guatemala. The streets are already bustling with activity. The woman cooking tortillas gestures a cordial Hola, Buenos Dias. The local market, just a few minutes walk down the rough cobble stoned road brings the assortment of traffic from pedestrians, trucks, vans, tuk tuks, bicycles, motor bikes and cars to an almost halt. The pickup trucks stop to unload their produce. Their tyres bulging ...…[read more]
As one Texan explained, it’s North America’s Bali equivalent to Australia. Roatan island is on the Carribbean side of Central America, off the coast of Honduras. Surrounded by a reef, the island is a diving Mecca. An island paradise with calm tropical waters, beautiful beaches shaded with palms against a background of mountains. What’s different about Roatan is it offers a range of resort type quality accommodation, particularly in the popular West Bay area. Not ...…[read more]
Central America is hot. I’m not just talking about the air temperature. But what’s just below the surface. There’s 109 volcanoes in the region and 16 just in Nicaragua. But that number seems to vary widely depending on who you talk to. Regardless there’s enough of ’em here you’d have to wonder if the place could one day go off big time! We miss out on volcanoes down under. So I thought no better opportunity ...…[read more]
Silvana was was telling me about her family. She sketched on a piece of paper the relationships of each sibling and their children. I asked her why her brother’s name was missing above his list of children. “Diving accident” she went on to explain. It is reported there are up to ten to twenty diving fatalities each year in Nicaragua. Using only a car air compressor on a boat feeding unclean air to a diver ...…[read more]
They are truly amazing creatures. To be skimming through the water with about thirty of these wonderful marine animals playfully speeding along right beside you is a special moment. In front of the boat, darting underneath, across and around. It’s hard to tell who’s enjoying it more. Then to witness all those other majestic creatures of the deep pounding up and down in and out of the ocean. I had joined one of the dolphin ...…[read more]
We were never really that fond of each other. But we’ve been doing so much together lately. We’ve been to all sorts of places. Last year we had an adventure across Morocco. We’ve been from New York to Canada. Now in Central America we’ve been up mountains, through jungles and down to the coast in Panama, then in Costa Rica. Part of the adventure is the journey. That’s why I’ve now come to love busses. ...…[read more]
I was backtracking a bit. But it was worth it. Two busses, a taxi and several hours later we were back near the Panama border on the Caribbean coast. Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica. It’s a kind of a surfie dude sort of seaside village. It’s the casual laid back feel that gives this popular seaside place an enticing feel. The palm tree lined beach front that sets the scene for enjoying a beer on the ...…[read more]
It was the early part of the gap year just back in August 2016 last year. I was still in Australia visiting family, at that time in Tom Price. It’s a small remote mining town in outback Western Australia. After a small garden clean up, the rubbish went to the local refuse centre where my son got a tip off. A batch of surplus bed linen from a mining camp was possibly about to be dumped. ...…[read more]
I’m not sure if it’s the higher cost, the mountains or the beauty. But Costa Rica, as they say the Switzerland of Central America, is certainly that, a country renowned for its beautiful natural features. And the friendliness of the Cost Rican people is evident as soon as you cross the border. My quest to add a few more words to my Spanish vocabulary took me to Turrialba, a mountain village in the middle of ...…[read more]