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Diogo Brandao

Joined April 2018
  • Sabbatical
    Day218

    Panama City and bye bye Central America

     December 7, 2018 in Panama ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    Our last day in Central America... Panama City was sunny and rainy and hot and humid all at the same time. Christmas decorations are all over, but our European brains are unable to get in that spirit while feeling this heat. But that should be solved by tomorrow, because we are headed to very cold places ✈️ ☃️Read more

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  • Sabbatical
    Day216

    Bocas del Toro

     December 5, 2018 in Panama

    Time for some serious relaxation. We stayed in Bastimentos Island which was perfect for that, mainly because there wasn't much else to do! A lot of hammock time, three nice dives (getting lost made it so much more fun), exploring a bat cave where we had water up to the neck, and hiking forbidden trails to perfect beaches. Oh, the cocktails too.Read more

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  • Sabbatical
    Day213

    All aboard!

     December 2, 2018 in Panama ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    Living on a sailboat for 2 days with Analia and Marcelo was an incredible experience. They were such nice people, it was really enriching to get to know them and their experiences, and sailing with them was a lot of fun and we learned some stuff! Sleeping on the boat, in a remote place, with the window wide open above you means each time you wake up you are looking directly at the stars. And so many stars. Unless the reason you woke up was the rain falling on you. At night we could have fun watching bioluminescence in the water and in the early morning we had the beach all to ourselves for snorkeling with dozens of starfish. Unforgettable!Read more

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  • Sabbatical
    Day195

    Antigua is the cutest

     November 14, 2018 in Guatemala ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    My last days in the country of volcanoes were spent in Antigua, one of the most colorful and cute towns I've seen. It is such a pleasant and friendly place for having hot chocolate and fruit shakes all day long, and sit in the main square watching Volcán de Fuego explode. I had to say goodbye to Lena, my wonderful travel companion from the last weeks. It was a surprise to realize that traveling alone actually doesn't have to mean being alone at all. You meet and connect with amazing people and end up creating unexpected friendships. It really is the people, more than the places, that make your journey.Read more

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  • Sabbatical
    Day193

    Copán Ruínas, Honduras

     November 12, 2018 in Honduras ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    A last minute decision to go to Honduras led us to a surprisingly relaxing and beautiful weekend. We went there for the Mayan ruins - the artistic center of the Mayas - but were also enchanted by the macaws - dozens of them both wild and in a recovery centre for former domestic birds. The town of Copán itself is small and colorful, a very pleasant place to walk around and eat cheap pupusas. And we found a little bit of heaven in the Tea and Chocolate Place ☕Read more

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  • Sabbatical
    Day190

    A week in San Pedro La Laguna

     November 9, 2018 in Guatemala ⋅ 🌧 25 °C

    I stayed one week on the shores of Lake Atitlan to learn Spanish, but did much more than that. For one week I spoke to my teacher for 4 hours everyday, lived with the family of Maria and Ventura, and was a regular client at the panaderías, so I had no choice but to learn a lot. Again Lena and I thought it was a wonderful idea to wake up during the night to go hike Volcán San Pedro, regretted it on the way up, and decided we'd do it all again when we got to the top looked at the view. I also painted for the first time since kindergaden, and the school took us on a visit to coffee plantations that ended up being a slightly scary night hike. Altogether it was an intense but also relaxing week, since it was the first time I slept in the same place for more than two nights in a row... Finally we left the lake behind headed for our next adventure: Honduras!Read more

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  • Sabbatical
    Day184

    Lake Atitlan and a sad goodbye

     November 3, 2018 in Guatemala ⋅ 🌧 25 °C

    The last night of the group tour was spent in a homestay with Mayan families in San Juan La Laguna, who welcomed us in their homes, showed us their culture and tried to teach us to make tortillas.

    In the morning, Lena and I had to say goodbye to this group of strangers who became a sort of family in the last weeks. Each of them was a little crazy in their own ways. Ailise and Ciara the Irish girls who spoke really slowly so we could understand them, Fiona Red Hair, Gabriel my dive buddy, Holly the international, Izie the cinema girl, Johanna the photographer, Lotte the cliff jumper, Luna the adrenaline seeker, Michelle the (future) survivor, Ray the amigo, Rosemarie 30-second-shower, Rosie the horse rider, Tom the party beast, Vesna the "I want to go to bed early" party beast, and our guide Harold who loves us all.

    To fight off post-group-tour-depression, we spent Sunday morning in the most colorful place on Earth, the market of Chichicastenango, stocking up on souvenirs.    Read more

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  • Sabbatical
    Day181

    Hiking Pacaya Volcano

     October 31, 2018 in Guatemala ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    Where do I start... It seemed like a great idea to go hike and sleep close to the mouth of an active volcano. It didn't seem so great when we had to start walking up in the rain on slippery ground and with heavy backpacks. But we managed to get to the campsite before total dark and to have a great evening with a hilarious girl-tent-wine-party, lantern-lit dinner, marshmallow-roasting and watching small eruptions at night. We then woke up before 4 am - again, wondering why the **** are we doing this - for a horrible night hike up to the mouth of the volcano to get there before sunrise.

    And then the universe made up for all our suffering. The sky was clear, the volcano was beautiful and really smelly and so intimidating, the sunrise was beautiful, the mountains around were beautiful, we could see all the way to the other 3 volcanos... It was worth every fall on the bum on the slippery way down!    Read more

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  • Sabbatical
    Day179

    Rio Dulce and Livingston, Guatemala

     October 29, 2018 in Guatemala ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    Rio Dulce was a good surprise. We stayed in a lodge in the jungle next to the river, with overpriced bad food but beautiful wood cabins and lots of birds around. We made the trip to Livingston to see the Garifuna people & culture, but the boat ride in itself was already worth the trip. With the beautiful walk up the river to the Siete Altares waterfalls and swimming there, even better.Read more

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  • Sabbatical
    Day177

    Tikal and Flores, Guatemala

     October 27, 2018 in Guatemala ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    The first taste of Guatemala was impressive.

    Tikal, a.k.a. the Manhattan of the Mayas, is a huge site with huge buildings, but each detail seems to be precisely calculated, each stone placed in the exact spot so that the position of the sun relative to each temple would reveal the beginning of each season and guide their agricultural practices. All of this deep in the middle of the jungle.

    We spent the night in Flores, we thought it was a good idea to go for a swim in the lake until locals were staring at us as if we were crazy. We were therefore forced to watch sunset from the swimming pool and finished the night with some mojitos 🌅 🍹    Read more

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