Casa Vieja Lodge San Jose

... of the evening trying to persuade James to come with us, so it was not surprising at 8:45 to see James waiting for the bus. So after a week in San Pedro it was more than time to leave.. and in retrospect I should have used the week to learn more Spanish, but I also need some time to consolidate what I’ve already learnt and I do intend to do more maybe in Nicaragua. You know you’ve been too long in a place when you know the answer to every question ...

... located near downtown. I have a quick shower (no hot water :( ) before heading down to the lobby. There over the next hour we meet the rest of the team.<br><br>Beer Count: 10 (Gallo Light)<br><br>We head off to dinner at a Habitat approved venue. This basically means that they are sure that everything is going to be well cooked. At dinner I bet Cathy (a crazy-awesome Aussie) and others that leader Paul would not go running with them ...

... only to later find out that their rainy season had just started which typically affected the afternoons. The day of the hike was fine until we started driving towards the volcano, but then the rain started. It rained, and rained, and rained. The only time the rain let up was when we reached the lava flow for a brief moment. The lava flow was quite a spectacle as the pictures will attest. Unfortunately only a couple ...

Nancy se lève à 7h30 mais on prolonge de 1h la soirée poker a été longue. Malgré tout ça, on sera les premières pour le petit-déj, on speed tout le monde ;) et on file à la plage sans demander notre reste. L'eau est délicieuse et le soleil un peu fort. La famille nous rejoint en quad et nous en laisse un pour le retour. Une fois bien brulée, je reconduis tout ce petit ...

Wuckin good breakfast this morning then went to a Crusoe Island break in Antigua. How amazingly beautiful this place was. I went snorkelling in the clear warm blue ocean and saw the most gorgeous fish and a whopping great starfish (Not the chocolate variety). The island was about as big as two football pitches with a ram shackled bar built on it. But the food and drink was included all ...

We arrived in Antigua a day later than expected, but in a good mood. We went out for a meal, then a couple of drinks. People are very friendly here and we got chatting to several locals. Tom went on to a club and an after party with some of them. But I cant manage that sort of thing these days and got to be relatively early. Tom rolled in at 4 am. The upshot was that I was up and ready to go at 8.30; Tom was still out like ...

... an amazing price of $10 per 30 minutes) while others received an amazing hour long Thai massage ($30/hour). <br><br>In the afternoon we headed back to the condo and napped and then got ready for dinner.  We headed out to the main dining area where dinner was to be served, but we saw no one.  Using my broken Spanish I spoke with an employee and asked where dinner was...he continued to point me towards the main dining area ...

... But no, the car was actually infrastructure patrol, and they stopped to help us with our flat tire. In no time the tire was changed and we were on our way again! <br><br>As it turned out, our driver Edgar, was actually extremely helpful &amp; became like a guide to us the entire week. (His prices were $100-$120 per day - 5 people) His vehicle, an old mini van, we relatively clean, but obviously not well kept.<br><br>

We were picked up from our respective hotels at 12pm and taken to San Jose. San Jose is a traditional Maya Itza village where attempts are being made to preserve the language and revive old traditions. Its very neatly kept and sits on the very steep slopes of the lake shore . The school we decided on gives a proportion of the money we pay to the community for the above reason. We were introduced to the family we would be staying with: Florinda ...

Looming 2552 meters over the south end of Guatemala City, Volcan Pacaya is a popular weekend excursion because it is the only active volcano in the region. A mere 20 minutes from the city (which can quickly become 2 hours during rush hour), one can take a shuttle bus or hitch a ride halfway up the mountain to the small sub-alpine village of San Fransisco. There you'll need to buy an entrance pass (25Q = $3 ...