My time visiting the beautiful country of Guatemala has been an undeniably positive and memorable experience. I hand wrote the draft for this journal from atop a monument in the majestic grand plaza of the Tikal Mayan ruins, and it's a glorious location to provide inspiration for my travel blog! The ruins of Tikal, along with the sublime beauty of Lago de Atitlan, and the gorgeous colonial city of Antigua with it´s vibrant nightlife are wonderful attractions to rival the tourist highlights of any country in the region The tourist industry in Guatemala has potential for substantial growth, but let´s touch base again from the start of my visit... We left off in San Salvador, dear reader, where I caught…

El Salvador is the next country on the itinerary for my friends and I while travelling through Central America. We are all pressed for time due to various reasons and need to get a wriggle on, so we hoofed it to the bus terminal at Santa Rosa in Honduras, and jumped on an international bus south to the border and on to San Salvador, the capital of El Salvador. While passing through border immigration we met a kind expat who is living in San Salvador, and he invited us to dinner at his Chinese restaurant on arrival. We jumped back on the bus and journeyed through beautiful countryside, as we headed off on another short commute to San Salvador. We…

The people of Honduras greet travellers with friendly and smiling faces, and the infectious nature of the locals quickly wins you over. This is a country that doesn't see many tourists, but the warm hearted locals make for a very pleasant stopover. My friend and I started our visit with a bus journey from beautiful Leon to the Nicaraguan border through an undeveloped area of the country. We were puzzled to see three very well dressed chicas jump on the bus in the middle of nowhere, only to jump off the bus after an hour or so ... still in the middle of nowhere! That experience will be filed under the category of a travel mystery. We crossed the border…

My whirlwind tour through Central America continues, dear reader, with selected highlights from Nicaragua. Time constraints limit my options at this particular stage of the trip, yet if the choice is between a short visit to these wonderful countries or not being here at all, I certainly won´t need to phone a friend as the decision is a no brainer. I booked a seat on an international Tica Bus from San Jose across the border to Rivas in the south of Nicaragua. From there a further short taxi ride, and then a one hour ferry crossing landed me at the magical Isla de Ometepe on Lake Nicaragua, which is the largest lake in Central America. The island was formed by…

The irresistible lure of the caribbean cast a further spell on me, and has led to a change of plans to see in the new year. The original plan was to spend New Years Eve in Panama City, but I found myself on a bus the night before through the Panamanian countryside and on to Changuinola. I met a Dutch couple and a Costa Rican on the bus, and we shared the cost of a taxi to the border with Costa Rica. An uneventful border crossing ensued and we had to wait a couple of hours for a connecting bus. After an hour of further travel I caught a transport truck to complete the journey, and was thrilled to be…

Christmas in Cartagena was great but then again so was christmas eve and boxing day. Without friends and family it was just another good day on the road. The German owner of the Casa Viena hostel didn´t make a fuss, it was business as usual but a good business so I was glad to be in his hostel. Cartagena provided me with a wealth of new information to assist in the next stage of my travels, and serves as a half way house between South America and Central America. The colonial town is also a superb tourist destination and provided for very picturesque photos. I'd hoped to secure a spot on a sail boat, dear reader, with the plan being…

I caught an overnight bus from Merida in Venezuela north to Caracas, and met two nice travellers to start off one of my more unusual travel tales. It was a good feeling to be in a city right near the caribbean coast of South America, having travelled to the southern most city in the world Ushuaia in Argentina during 2003. Perhaps it doesn't have the same ring to it as Cape Town to Cairo, but nevertheless I felt it was a memorable achievement. In a bizarre twist I stayed in Caracas for only five minutes, and my story follows... The travellers were in transit at the Caracas terminal, dear reader, and we parted company as I caught a taxi to…

I've been on the bounce, dear reader, since last sharing travel adventures with you and the journal continues from Cali in Colombia. After a relaxing stay in a quality hostel it was time to move on, and north is the plan. I booked on a bus to Bogota and for the first time on this trip I was the only foreign traveller on board. The journey was through mountainous terrain along winding roads, and the bus arrived in Bogota in the early evening. Bogota is the capital of Colombia with a population of seven million inhabitants at an altitude of 2600 metres. It's interesting to note three capital cities in South America are at high altitude and surrounded by mountains.…

My friends and I continued north from Riobamba Ecuador to Banos, which is a picturesque town in the centre of the country surrounded by mountains and known for adventure activities. We spent a quiet day at the local pool in this lovely town and enjoyed good food, but had to press on north to Quito, the capital of Ecuador. We had a very bad experience within two hours of arrival despite being out early in the central tourist area, and being within a block of two security guards with dogs. Fortunately we weren't really hurt and my friend's possessions were quickly recovered by security. We spent four nights in Quito, dear reader, and a definite highlight was the middle of…

My last night in Lima coincided with the final world cup qualifier for Germany 2006, played in Sydney between Australia and Uruguay. I watched the first game in Huacachina with a Uruguayan girl I met on an earlier tour, it was great fun and a predictable result. Of course I was extremely gracious to her in defeat. The return game started at 4:00am local time, and by coincidence there were up to ten Australians at the hostel in Lima. The place was absolutely jumping around 7:00am when Australia slotted home the winning penalty, as we started hopping about like mad kangaroos to celebrate a terrific achievement for Australian football. Congratulations to the mighty Socceroos and all the best for the…