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The Americas
  • Greg Clayton
  • Daniel Tarpey
  • Greg Clayton
  • Daniel Tarpey

The Americas

A 149-day adventure by Greg & Daniel Read more
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  • The Americas

    Mirador Kaqasiiwaan

    March 25, 2024 in Guatemala ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    Our next ascent of the day was up to this viewpoint over the lake. It was super popular and colourful market stalls lined the entire route to the top.

  • The Americas

    Indian Nose Hike

    March 25, 2024 in Guatemala ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    We then ascended further up the hills in an attempt to reach the top of the 'Indian's nose' (see the face in picture one). It takes around 2 hours, however we got a bit lost and confused by a locals directions, so whilst not quite making it to the top, we made it close enough.Read more

  • The Americas

    San Marcos La Laguna

    March 25, 2024 in Guatemala ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    Our final stop of the day was another small lakeside town, this time with even narrower streets and probably the most laid back atmosphere of them all. We'd planned on going for a swim in the lake at the nearby nature reserve, however we arrived 30 mins before it closed so decided it probably wasn't worthwhile. We did however find a football pitch!

    On our way back to the ferry we could heard thunder and all of a sudden it started raining heavily, our first rain of the trip! We made it back across the lake on the ferry for some dinner and a quiet night ahead of an early start tomorrow.    Read more

  • The Americas

    Arriving in El Salvador

    March 26, 2024 in El Salvador ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    Today has been another long day on the road and we've just entered El Salvador! We boarded our first bus in San Pedro at 5am which arrived back to Antigua at 8am. We had time for a McDonalds breakfast in a lovely McDonalds courtyard before boarding our second bus at 10am.

    Now on to Santa Ana! P.s. have you ever seen a $1USD coin before?!    Read more

  • The Americas

    Ascending Volcan de Santa Ana

    March 27, 2024 in El Salvador ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    This morning was an early start for us to catch the bus to the trailhead of Volcan de Santa Ana! The only bus we could take left the Santa Ana station at 7:30am. We arrived at the station to discover a number of the people we shared a shuttle with yesterday as well as dozens of other backpackers, all inevitably headed for the volcano.

    The bus was old school and very full so we stood for almost all of the 1.5 hour journey.

    You can only hike the volcano with a guide for some reason and our tour group what around 40 people strong!

    After around 1.5 hours of steady ascent we approached the volcano crater, where for some reason there were around half a dozen armed army personnel.    Read more

  • The Americas

    Santa Ana Volcano Crater

    March 27, 2024 in El Salvador ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    At the rim of the crater you can look down into the steaming emerald lake. The sulphur choked us at times but this didn't stop us enjoying a well earned pizza slice as we admired the view.

    Our descent was simple enough but our bus journey back was not as plain sailing. We had to wait over 2 hours for the irregular bus and when it arrived it was jam packed, and also temporarily broke down. But it cleared out soon enough and the bus moved much quicker descending downhill.

    We stopped off at the supermarket to pick up some ingredients for a home made tuna pasta as we enjoyed many Impractical Jokers compilations, a wonderful way to end the day!    Read more

  • The Americas

    San Salvador - Liberty Plaza

    March 28, 2024 in El Salvador ⋅ ⛅ 33 °C

    This morning we had a bit of a lie in after a few consecutive early starts. We checked out of our Airbnb and took a 10 minute Uber to the bus station on the edge of town (at a cost of just $3!). From hear we boarded a local bus which was almost direct to El Salvador's capital city of San Salvador.

    After quickly checking into our Airbnb we headed out to join the 3pm walking tour.

    Our first stop being Liberty Plaza, the place where San Salvador was founded many years ago.    Read more

  • The Americas

    San Salvador Cathedral

    March 28, 2024 in El Salvador ⋅ ⛅ 32 °C

    Our next stop was the cathedral, towering over the Civic Square. We also took a trip down to the crypt where Oscar Romero is buried, the national saint who was assassinated in 1980.

  • The Americas
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    San Salvador - Best of the Rest

    March 28, 2024 in El Salvador ⋅ ⛅ 32 °C

    Other stops along the tour included the national library (donated by the Chinese), kilometre zero, Somasco El Calvario Church, the central market and national palace (home to the executive, legislature and judicial arms of the government).

    Our first impressions of San Salvador would definitely be a mixture of some great architecture but also still a lot of poverty. No surprise in a country that is still slowly eradicating its problems.    Read more

  • The Americas

    Good Friday Morning

    March 29, 2024 in El Salvador ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

    This morning we headed out into the historical centre where preparations were well underway for the Good Friday procession, mainly in the form of the creation of 'sawdust carpets' for the procession to pass over in the evening parade.

    We also saw a small morning procession.    Read more

  • The Americas

    National Palace of El Salvador

    March 29, 2024 in El Salvador ⋅ ☀️ 33 °C

    Next up we joined a tour through the National Palace of El Salvador, which was occupied by the governments offices until 1974. The tour was entirely in Spanish so we understood very little but we still got to appreciate all of the different rooms, courtyards and views!Read more

  • The Americas

    National Library of El Salvador

    March 29, 2024 in El Salvador ⋅ ☀️ 34 °C

    Next up we paid a visit to the brand new National Library of El Salvador. The library sits across the main square from the cathedral and was 'donated' by the Chinese government, along with 3 other projects (a new national stadium, tourist pier and water treatment facility) costing $500m in total. By sheer coincidence, El Salvador no longer recognises Taiwan as its own state.

    The library was amazing and you had to queue to get in. Most of the floors where filled with kids books, games, activities and play areas. There were also numerous viewing decks, a cafe and a top floor Italian restaurant.    Read more

  • The Americas

    Good Friday Procession

    March 29, 2024 in El Salvador ⋅ 🌙 28 °C

    Alas as darkness fell the procession took to the streets, led by the stations of the cross and followed by the coffin of Jesus amongst other religious figures. We let the procession pass through the crowds before saying our goodbyes to San Salvador as we have a very early start in the morning as we move on!Read more

  • The Americas

    Transiting Through Honduras

    March 30, 2024 in Honduras ⋅ ☀️ 35 °C

    This morning we boarded the 5am coach from San Salvador headed for Leon in Nicaragua. Dissecting El Salvador and Nicaragua is Honduras, so we had to enter Honduras for a few hours. This was pretty smooth and offered a chance to stop for lunch!Read more

  • The Americas

    Entering Nicaragua

    March 30, 2024 in Nicaragua ⋅ ☀️ 38 °C

    After just over 9 hours on the coach we arrived at the Nicaraguan border! Despite the border not being very busy it seemed to take ages as we had to scan our bags, wait for our passports to be returned and then provide our vaccination history, all at separate stations! Eventually we ticked all of the boxes and were back on the road.Read more

  • The Americas

    Arriving in Leon

    March 30, 2024 in Nicaragua ⋅ 🌙 31 °C

    After catching a taxi from the bus terminal we arrived at our hostel! We quickly checked in before heading out for burgers. We were also able to catch a glimpse of Leon at night which was very impressive! We then returned to our hostel to observe part of karaoke night and to have a few drinks.

    I've also realised that today is my 151st day on the road, which marks pretty much exactly the half way point, on the home stretch now...    Read more

  • The Americas

    Morning at Poco a Poco

    March 31, 2024 in Nicaragua ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

    We'd had a long day on the road yesterday and a big afternoon ahead of us so we had a relaxed morning at our hostel, only leaving to pick up some groceries. It was also Man City v Arsenal so we watched this on the hostel terrace!Read more

  • The Americas

    Volcano Boarding - The Build Up

    March 31, 2024 in Nicaragua ⋅ ☀️ 35 °C

    Just after lunch we headed to Bigfoot Hostel, a hostel world renowned for its volcano boarding tours!

    In the hostel reception they displayed some of the news/tourism outlets they have hosted over the years. Hung on the wall was the board used by a Mexican man who holds the volcano boarding speed record of 101kmh from a run in 2019.

    Here we became part of a group of backpackers around 50 strong and boarded a bus to the volcano. The bus was pumping loud music throughout and we made it to the volcano after around 1.5 hours.

    We then ascended the volcano with our board which took around an hour including 3 stops.    Read more

  • The Americas

    Volcano Boarding

    March 31, 2024 in Nicaragua ⋅ ☀️ 34 °C

    It was now time to suit up and and take the quick route down! We didn't want to be the first people up down but definitely didn't want to be the last so I went about 10th and Dan shortly after.

    It was great fun and definitely a unique experience! The fastest speed for our day was 80kmh (although the girl did go flying off her board) which it's fair to say me and Dan didn't quite match but we still had fun!

    We could then watch the sunset from the bottom of the volcano before saying goodbye and boarding the bus once again.    Read more

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