Love Mondays. End of part 1 - Cancun, Mexico to Panama City, Panama

Hola chaps!!

So it's the end of the first part of our trip, Central America you've been great!!

Here is a round up of our highlights.

Best City: Antigua. Guatemala in general was an absolute dream, from the hazy pastel streets of Flores to the dizzy heights of some of the gigantic Mayan temples we visited, but Antigua was our highlight. Colourful, vibrant, flavourful and fresh, we will definitely revisit if we get the chance....here are our highlights in picture....

Curveball Country: You better Belize it! Belize is a country we didnt originally plan to visit, but we're so glad we did. During our visit we saw two sides of Belize. Firstly the sleepy non touristy Orange Walk town, a rural town with authentic food and charming locals. Orange Walk is a real melting pot of cultures with a mix of Mayan and Caribbean heritage and even their own white community, the Mennonites. The Mennonites are people of German decent who migrated to parts of Central America and live a segragated existence, reproducing only with each other. Our second stop was the island of Caye Caulker, a bustling tourist attraction with colourful beach side vendors, party bars and out of this world snorkelling spots along the worlds second largest barrier reef......

Glad we didn't leave home without: A couple of products which have been absolute lifesavers while on the road:

-Solid and powder deodorants from Lush

-solid shampoo also from Lush 

-Duct tape (penguin print- thanks Kat)

-iPod speakers (thanks Tasha!)

-Backpack raincovers (for our bags on the bus roof)

-Travel sickness pills!! 

Best coffee: We've been on a bit of a coffee quest these past 8 weeks and have come across some crackers. The Cappuccinos in La Fortuna, chili mochas we had in Antigua, and the chocolate frappaccinos in Caye Caulker were probably the best though...maybe something to do with the chocolate content?!

Best breakfast: This little combination from The Rainbow Cafe in Antigua was amazing.... Also crossaints in Pan Pay, Puerto Viejo... And generally the pineapple jam and refried beans are ace over here!

Best day: We had a great day on Isla Bastimentos, Bocas del Toro.... Rainforest, beach, coffee, cacao and boat trip... Ace combo!

Not such a great day: Our first night in Honduras when there was a huge storm resulting in no power and no water - was a bit of a low moment as we hadn't quite got our bearings!

Number of countries visited: 7

Number of hours on buses: 86.5

Number of hours on boats: 31

A map of our route through Central America..

Next stop, South America- where we have 8 weeks to wander through Peru, Bolivia, Argentina and Chile...

Big love Lisa and Rach xx

Happy Monday - Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica to Santa Fe, Panama

Good afternoon folks,

After our bike trip last week we stopped off at a local soda (locals cafe)  for a hearty serving of Caribbean chicken with rice and beans. It's amazing how we've had this combination of food countless times during our trip, but each time the flavours are different and the accompaniments vary, but always equally as tasty and cheap! Although some Central Americans have the habit of serving beer over ice, which we find really strange and unnecessary! Why waste a good beer (or in Costa Rica's case... Make a bad beer worse!!)

The next morning we got a shuttle bus to Bocas del Toro, Panama, but for a nice change we arose at a more civilised hour to get on the bus at 8.00am. We stayed on the main island, Isla Colon a busy touristy town with brightly coloured buildings and a Happy Hour around every corner!

Isla Colon

On our first full day we took a bus to the other side of the main island to Starfish Beach, a beach famed for, you guessed it, a plethora of resident starfish....

Starfish beach (playa del drogo)

One said Starfish

The next day we decided to explore one of the neighbouring islands, Isla Bastimentos and we're so glad we did. The main island was really fun but we felt that it has been a little spoilt by tourism, Bastimentos felt much quieter and cleaner. When we got off the water taxi we hiked up through the hills on the most amazing walk. 

Getting a little lost in the forest

All the way up there were signs to a cafe called 'Up In The Hill' which promised organic coffee and chocolate when we arrived. And it did not disappoint! After a steep and very hot hike through amazing green rainforest, we came across this sign...

Victorious!! 

A little further on we reached our destination...

'Up In The Hill' is owned by a couple who built it from scratch and have been extending and perfecting it for the past 17 years, they were currently installing solar panels when we arrived! Nestled in the lush green forest on the top of the hill, what was probably originally a small wooden hut now stands a fully functioning family home over two floors. As well as making organic trinkets, home remedies and other goods, the couple farm cacao and serve a local coffee which of course we had to sample.....

Organic brownie, Americano and Mocha made with coconut milk

View out over the forest from the cafe

Feeling refreshed and very relaxed we carried on our trek down the other side of the hill towards 'Wizard Beach' a very secluded very beautiful beach...

Epic fail of a selfie!

Our next stop was Boquete, a small and sleepy town in central Panama where the clouds hung low over the surrounding mountains....

Whilst here we tried rock climbing, very enjoyable but leaving us very achy for the next couple of days... Lisa is definitely more cut out for this than me... But trying is the main thing, right?! The geek in me also loved the way the volcanic rock had folded... But I shan't bore you with that...

We are now in Santa Fe, a small very peaceful village, when we arrived we wandered down to the river for a picnic...

Tomorrow we will head to Panama City ahead of our flight to Peru on Friday.

The weeks highlights:

Best view: The view over Bocas while trekking up the hill... 

Best food: Organic treats 'Up on the hill' and an amazing breakfast in Santa Fe with a sweet bread called hojadres..

Lesson learnt: Rock climb using your leg muscles more than your arm muscles... Aching for days after and with backpacks to throw up to the tops of buses... Ouch!

Love Monday Funday: Today we took in the sights of the sleepy village of Santa Fe. Time seems to stand still here and you're more likely to see a local on horseback instead of in a car. We ended up at the river, where Rachel went for a very cooling dip!!

Rickety bridge over the river

Sometimes it's nice to take it easy in the  countryside and take in the visual wonder that is our planet!

Borders crossed: 1

Number of hours on buses: 13

Number of Mosquito bites: too many to count

Have a great week everyone.

Big love Lisa and Rach xx

And Colin says hi too... He's looking forward to Machu Picchu after seeing so many beautiful mountains...

 

Happy Monday, Isle de Ometepe, Nicaragua to Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica

Good afternoon everyone,

After our epic travel last week, we decided to slow down the pace a bit this week. When our ship finally came in in the early hours of Tuesday morning, we only had time for a quick (and very poor) coffee and the obligatory battle with the Spanish language whilst buying tickets for yet another boat journey. This time a much more pleasant experience cruising along on a river boat for three hours against an amazing lush green backdrop, peppered with small communities...

This ride down the San Juan river took us to the cute town, El Castillo. We wanted to see this river as there is currently a planning application in to turn it into a canal :-( fingers crossed that it doesn't happen!!

This was to be our last day with Nick and Marie so after finding somewhere to stay we set off in search of food, first things first hey! The breakfast we found in a local cafe was good and satisfied our hunger, however after being described as an 'American style breakfast' we were a bit confused by what was set down in front of us.....

Who knew that the Americans were such a fan of peanut butter and rice and beans with their eggs?!

Feeling slightly cheated but no longer hungry we went off to explore the main attraction of El Castillo, a 17th century fort with great views over the town..

After a fair few beers we said our goodbyes to Nick and Marie and settled down ready for an early rise. We got up at 4.30am to catch 2 boats and 2 buses enroute to La Fortuna, Costa Rica. This being the smoothest border crossing yet, the River Frio boasting turtles, Jesus Christ lizards (they walk on water) and monkeys!

La Fortuna is a small town surrounded by  mountains and volcano Arenal.....

We spent our time here wandering the streets eating local food, sampling coffees and planning our next move. We wanted to get to Tortuguero on the Caribbean side of Costa Rica, a small town famed for the turtles which come to nest on the beach every year. After quite a stressful days planning (we had not quite appreciated just how difficult it was to reach by public transport) we set off the next day. 

Small and friendly Tortuguero offered the chance to see amazing wildlife and during our two night stay we took a canoe tour and visited the national park where we saw a huge array of wildlife from snakes to rare birds to scary looking cayman....

Canoeing down river Tortuguero 

The rare Povan bird

Cayman lurking in the undergrowth...very cool to get this close

Our next stop was to be Puerto Viejo. A bustling town with a lot of Caribbean charm. On Sunday evening we strolled down to an open air bar on the beach to watch live reggae music and a girl who was cutting some amazing shapes whilst climbing and hanging from a piece of cloth...

The weeks highlights:

Best view: The sunrise we witnessed over the misty river when leaving El Castillo...

Best food: Local food in La Fortuna, a strange but tasty mix of chicken, beans, beetroot, tuna and plantain...

Lesson learned: Don't book accommodation for the next day when you have not yet worked out how to get there!

Love Monday Funday: We had a glorious Famous Five esque day.... Laden with water, cookies and lemonade, we hired bikes and beach hopped all the way from Puerto Viejo to mazanilla (and back) amazing views, the sun on our faces and the Caribbean Sea and plenty of beer stops to cool us down.....

Our sentiments exactly 

Number of hours on a boat: 11

Number of hours on buses: 7.5

Number of borders crossed: 1

Have a fantastic week everyone

Love Lisa and Rach xx