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Elvis Lives Tour
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Elvis Lives Tour

May 2016 - April 2019 Läs mer
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    4

    Volcán Acatenango

    12 april 2017, Guatemala ⛅ 19 °C

    After reaching our limit at the Tourist Police camp spot we had a choice of either the coast or the top of a volcano, so we chose the difficult option! Volcan Agua had been hovering over the city with a permanent cloud cap so we knew it was was going to be a bit of a change of climate.

    It was only a short drive so we arrived in the afternoon & arranged with our guide Hector to start the next morning, so we had a night to acclimatise to 2300m. Our crazy Estonian friends arrived a bit later but they decided to go up starting at midnight!

    We set off in lovely morning sunshine although carrying many layers of clothes as we were warned to expect extreme cold - in fact 6 people died on this mountain in January from hypothermia and we didn't want to take any chances! We were lucky enough to have as guides not just Hector but his 10 year old son Mina, who was on Easter school holidays and was climbing the volcan for the first time. Of course he & Maya virtually skipped up as we trudged arriba arriba arriba (up up up) first through farmers fields, then into cloud forest & finally through barren volcanic landscape. It was a hard hike & we were relieved to get to our campspot, quickly setting up our tent which Maya immediately crawled into and nestled into our sleeping bags, as sun had been replaced by freezing fog whooshing down from the top of the volcano above us. Hector told us we were facing Volcan Fuego & the fog should clear at night... fingers crossed.

    Héctor made a big campfire & we all chatted with some Guatemalans from nearby Guatemala City who were also doing the hike. We ate our pasta 'n sauce dinner & huddled into our tent with all our layers, plus with Maya in the sleeping bag :), and still felt cold. After managing to get maybe an hours sleep I woke to see that sure enough the fog & clouds had lifted, the wind had died & the smoking peak of Fuego was in front of us surrounded by twinkling stars & lit by the full moon - stunning.

    In the dark at 4:30 we started the brutal final ascent, pretty much straight up some very loose volcanic soil. We were rewarded with a spectacular sunrise at the top of Acatenango & to top it off a big smokey eruption by Fuego only a kilometer or so away.

    As you can imagine going down was much easier, apart from one little tumble! We said goodbye to Hector and his son (who immediately went off to play football with his mates!) & drove to Antigua dreaming of a hot shower. The shower nearly didn't materialise as the hostel we usually have one in was full so turned us away... (even seeing our filthy state & desperation). Luckily the next hostel we tried took pity on us & we had a wonderful hot shower which they wouldn't even accept any payment for.    Läs mer

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    Santa Semana (Easter Week)

    17 april 2017, Guatemala ⛅ 25 °C

    We're back in Antigua after scaling the volcano, and the craziness of Santa Semana is still continuing - in fact it's escalating!

    The celebrations started months back but for 2 weeks leading up to Easter it really ramps up and it's very different to how we do things back home (ie bugger all apart from maybe giving up some chocolate). They close off the streets and they create these amazing carpets out of sand, pine needles, sawdust and coloured powder. Then, as it's so hot and dry, they have to keep hosing them down so they don't blow away in the breeze. At some point the massive procession comes along and tramps right over them. At times it looks like a purple Klu Klux Klan parade, but most of the time it's a good half a kilometre plus of incense burning, power cable lifting, and carrying crazy heavy 'Easter floats'. I can't really describe it, and the pictures barely do it justice. The massive wooden stages of the cross they carry must weigh as much as Elvis (with full tanks) and some 50 or more men (and occasionally only women) carry it in a strange swaying motion. We're not sure if it's the weight, power lines or some deferential reason that causes this bizarre path forwards, sideways, back, sideways, forward motion but it doesn't look easy work. Plus these processions appear to go on for as much as 12 hours, so we're guessing there must be substitutions allowed but I wouldnt rule out it being a hard core act of devotion.

    Amongst all this we took a week of much needed Spanish lessons. Although it was super useful to practice I'm not sure how many times I'm going to use the 3 different types of past tense (depending on whether you finished the action and aren't going to do it again; have done it, are continuing to do it and will do it in the future; or have done it and might do it again), particularly when it is perfectly legit to say it in the present tense and add 'yesterday' or '2 weeks ago'.

    Mingled with the educational and deferential we managed to eat pie and mash (twice), have a Texas BBQ (twice), savour a decent Thai meal, eat a scotch egg, watch the Super Sunday footy whilst enjoying a full English (which turned out to be free, as I gave the cockney owner a St George's flag), enjoy terrace happy hours whilst being towered over by volcanoes, and generally enjoying ourselves far too much!!

    I have to say although we haven't been blown away by Guatemala as a whole, we have thoroughly enjoyed Antigua. I suspect that it's more to do with having been on road for exactly 11 months now and not really spent any time in full on touristy places, and if we had been here 6 months ago we would probably have hated it!

    We even managed to conveniently forget the 5 day limit at the Tourist Police place, and snuck out on the 9th morning, but I think they were all still recovering from Santa Semana to worry about it.    Läs mer

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    Bienvenidos A El Salvador!

    20 april 2017, El salvador ⛅ 28 °C

    We made a bad call and rather than taking the scenic route we we ended up crawling through the clogged roads of Guatemala City. After a challenging 3 hours or so we finally reached the Guatemalan/El Salvador border. Then had negotiate a vehicle export and a vehicle import, which isn't easy even in your own language! On top of that it was stinkingly hot so we were pretty shattered by the end of it. We even couldn't be bothered to go to the animal section so Maya is technically an illegal alien in El Salvador!

    First impressions of El Salvador, reputedly the most dangerous country in the world after Syria, are good. Roads are decent and everything seems pretty clean and modern. We drove a further hour to the nice town of Juayua (why-You-a), and had a lovely meal of ribs and veggie laguna (you can guess who had what!).

    We needed to stall a day, as it can be a bit dangerous not doing some things not on the weekend when there aren't a lot of people about, so we spent the day enjoying the hotel garden, enjoying pupusas (the local delicacy), and exploring the nice little town.

    In the morning we did a short walk to Los Chorros (7 Waterfalls), and we were simultaneously worried and reassured that there were 4 heavily armed army and policemen. There were a bunch of lovely pools and I was gutted I didn't have my swimmies with me. Half an hour later we were back in town and weekend food market had kicked off. Jo had an amazing massive shrimp and steak kebab (for 5 bucks!) and I had decent ribs (I know, again!).    Läs mer

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    Parque Nacional Cerro Verde

    23 april 2017, El salvador ☀️ 25 °C

    As we arrived in the national park everyone was just starting to pack up & by 5 there were a few policemen about. Shame as they missed a truly spectacular sunset with volcanoes poking up through a thick layer of clouds.

    After a peaceful night it got really busy in the morning, and we joined the guided (guide & 2 armed policemen) hike up the Santa Ana volcano, along with at least 50 other people, but unfortunately without Maya.

    It was a very pleasant walk & we were relieved to find it much easier than some of the other volcanoes we've tackled, although still a good couple of hours to the top. The view down into the bubbling & smoking sulphuric crater lake was pretty amazing.

    After some improvised showers (I had to take the indoor one out after it was leaking) we feasted on pupuseas (thick tortillas stuffed with good things) and chips. Phil even managed to improvise a chip butty out of them! It then cleared out again and we had another quiet night huddled in the van watching a film.    Läs mer

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    Everybody's Going Surfing,...El Salvador

    27 april 2017, El salvador ☀️ 35 °C

    We drove off the volcano top (not stopping at any of the miradors due to reports of armed robberies) and almost immediately were back in the hot and steamy conditions. We had a quick pit stop at a supermarket and we were delighted to see the high prices of Guatemala a thing of the past. A couple of hours of easy driving (great road surface not a tope/reductor/tumulo in sight) we hit the coast.

    This whole coast is famous for its surfing, and we picked out a nice sounding spot thinking we would stay a day or two before meandering on along the coast. However, what we hadn't bargained for was an amazing camp spot, with two pools, hammocks everywhere, great WiFi, free electricity, and even a terrace overlooking the surf beach (which had a soaking pool). All of this for 10 bucks!

    Inevitably one day turned into a week, whilst we whiled away the days hopping between pools and hammocks. Lunch invariably involved some delicious pupusas, and would have amounted to a couple of bucks each (if it wasn't for the large beers that accompanied it). At most we stretched ourselves to walk a massive 800m to the end of the cove, but many days we didn't even manage that! To be fair it's stinkingly hot (35C+) and really humid so you can't do much, and there's really not much here (half a dozen rustic restaurants). I doesn't even cool down much in the evenings and we are thankful for the air con.

    Beach life is dangerous to the belly so we eventually hauled ourselves of this beautiful spot and on south towards the Honduran border.    Läs mer

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    Tortuga Verde

    2 maj 2017, El salvador ⛅ 29 °C

    We FINALLY left Zonte and drove about 3 hours south along the coast road. We arrived around 2pm on a bank holiday and unsurprisingly the place was heaving.

    We parked up on the road and wandered down the beach a mile or so to Tortuga Verde (Green Turtle), which is a pretty big resorty hotel place, but a very nice one. We whiled away a few hours until Hora Feliz started, and then whiled away a few more!

    It was seriously hot and damn humid too, and we were really glad of a hookup and our air-con. The next day we chilled at our place in the morning, hit the pupuseria for lunch, walked a few miles down the wide flat beach collecting sand dollars, and then ended up back at Happy Hour!

    A nice place, but not a patch on some of the INCREDIBLE places we have stayed at so far.    Läs mer

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    ..., Lunch in Honduras, ...

    3 maj 2017, Honduras ⛅ 34 °C

    Breakfast in El Salvador, lunch in Honduras & dinner in Nicaragua! To be honest, this is little more than a dot on the map so the app correctly counts this as another country. We were here 3 hours so I think that definitely counts...

    We breezed through El Salvador emigration but stalled at Honduras immigration (mainly due to going customs, bank, money changer (banks don't change money!), customs, bank, customs.

    Then there was a 3 hour drive across the southern end of the country before we had to do it all again. Fortunately when entering Nicaragua there was a nice guy selling mandatory insurance (a whopping $12 per month) who guided me through the process, so although it took over 2 hours it wasn't too stressful. Even Maya is now legally in Nicaragua - we couldn't hide her due to the compulsory fumigation inside & outside the van.

    As we got into the hills it looks like a beautiful country and I look forward to seeing a bit more of it next time around.    Läs mer

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    Floaty Light

    4 maj 2017, Nicaragua ⛅ 13 °C

    We only had a few km after crossing the border to reach Somoto Canyon, and were still high up (well 800m) surrounded by glorious green hillsides. After staying in the yard of a local guide & his family, we set off at 9am to do the long canyon tour with Claudia, one of his daughters. She kept asking us if Maya liked swimming & we soon realized why as we had to launch ourselves off rocks into a deep, smooth sided, water filled canyon. Maya was loving it and swimming really well, until she discovered that it was far easier to sit on the backs of our life jackets!

    We opted for the long tour and spent 5 hours meandering our way through the canyon. Fortunately the water was a beautiful temperature, and it was much nicer to lazily float along than walk along the banks.

    By the time we got back to camp we were pretty shattered, and we had a lovely meal cooked for us by Fausto's wife. The whole family lived on the same plot and they kept coming over for little chats. They were all members of the village cooperative who ran the tours of the canyon, and it was nice to be away from the backpacker trail and in the heart of real Nicaragua.

    That night it rained pretty hard (well the rainy season is supposed to start in May), and by the morning the place had turned into a quagmire. The whole family got covered in mud trying to get us out (at one point the main guy Fausto even insisted on washing my feet!) and after an hour of struggle we eventually got our tyres onto firm ground.    Läs mer

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    Eco

    5 maj 2017, Nicaragua ⛅ 23 °C

    We cruised a couple of hours down from Somoto to the large town of Estelí. We spent a hour or two exploring the town and getting a feel for Nicaragua. There wasn't much to do in the town and I didn't feel like another 3 hours drive down to León, so we decided to head into the eco community areas this region is famous for.

    The road started well enough but the final km to the café finca (coffee farm) was probably the worst road we've traveled on, with large water channels cutting wheel sized ruts into the muddy, steep and winding road.

    Despite that it was a nice chilled stop and in the morning we did a short but glorious walk up to the Tisey Mirador (viewpoint). Unsurprisingly they did a pretty mean cup of Joe (coffee for the non-yanks) as well!    Läs mer

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    2

    El Hoyo

    8 maj 2017, Nicaragua ☀️ 22 °C

    OK, so this post is unbelievable late and also out of date order but I figured I should write about our first (of many) hike(s) with Quetzaltrekkers. At least this time we were clients so we got to enjoy the hike rather than worry about everyone else.

    It all starts with a quick 45 min hike up Cerro Negro (literally Black Hill), Central America's newest volcano. It appeared out of nothing 150 years ago and the last couple of eruptions have made Volcano Boarding possible (allegedly the only place in the world). You basically sit on a plank of wood and hold on for dear life whilst you sledge down the 45° slope in under a minute. It's the place of the land speed record on a bike (172kmph), although the guy broke nearly every bone in his bone that day, however his nurse turned out to be his future wife.

    After that it's on with the backpack and a gruelling hour climb up the next volcano, although fortunately a dormant one this time. It was damn hot and crazy humid so we were all dripping, but we had a great group and everyone kept each other's spirits up. Another couple of hours hiking we reached the camp spot, just below a massive sink hole (El Hoyo - The Hole). We had a beautiful sunset, with the sun disappearing behind the line of volcanoes stretching out across the flat land.

    It was an early start (4:30am!) for a gorgeous sunrise, this time over the lake punctuated by Momotombo Volcano, and then about 3 hours downhill to (crater) Lake Asosoco for lunch and a swim. Another hour on and we were on the bus back into León.

    After a much needed shower the whole group met up at a rooftop bar to watch another sunset. The cheap beers did their job and everyone ended up in Oxygen, the cheesiest nightclub in town until 2am!

    We had great guides, a really nice group of fellow hikers and fantastic weather so it was an awesome hike and inspired us to apply to be guides ourselves.

    The next day we retired to the Las Penitas beach half an hour down the road for a few days of much needed R&R.    Läs mer

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    2

    We Got A Job!!

    10 maj 2017, Nicaragua ⛅ 34 °C

    Most of you know that one of the focal points of this trip was to volunteer, and we found an amazing sounding charity called Quetzaltrekkers where you work as a tour guide to support street kids in the local area. We were planning on doing this in Quetzaltenango (aka Xela) in Guatemala, but were hugely unimpressed with the way they were run and they conjured up a load of bizarre reasons why it wouldn't work with the dog.

    Fast forward 2 months and we've arrived in León, Nicaragua where their sister (albeit an estranged one) organisation runs. This was a polar opposite experience - they actually have a couple of directors running the place (as opposed to just the loudest volunteer voice) and are so much more organised. They even have a resident dog, Luna, which shot a big hole in the previous arguments that the guests might not like the dog.

    León is a gorgeous city with lovely colonial buildings and a political hotbed (the recent revolution started here), although probably the hottest and most humid place we've ever visited. Against a complete contrast to Xela, which got down to single figures and was just a bit of a grimey town which didn't have a lot going on. To top it off food is dirt cheap ($1.25 for a set menu) and beer is under a buck in the many bars too :)

    We definitely feel like we dodged a bullet in Guatemala and have a really good feeling about things here, so we applied to be tour guides and we got the job!!

    It's a bit scary to be going back into the working world, although our office will be the tops of volcanoes and our days off will probably be spent at the beach 20 minutes away.

    On top of the heat the wet season has just started here and there are some torrential deluges, although normally only for a hour or two at the most. Due to this and not being able to find somewhere decent to camp (we haven't seen a proper campsite since we entered Nicaragua) we've even found a room to rent. Even that is lovely, with individual rooms spaced out under a big atrium roof with an open kitchen, barbecue and lots of outdoor space for Maya.

    We start work on the 21st May so have a little bit of time for exploring the surrounding areas beforehand.    Läs mer

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    Lava & Lake

    13 maj 2017, Nicaragua ⛅ 31 °C

    As there were a lot of new starters at Quetzaltrekkers the directors asked us if we would start in a few weeks, and we jumped at the chance to see some more of the country before settling down.

    We headed to Lake Apoyo with Blake and Emma, a couple of aussies we had befriended and were loving avoiding a few hours of chicken bus travel. When we arrived at the massive crater lake in the sweltering heat our first thought was to take a dip in the warm waters and enjoy a lakeside beer. Our camp spot had a poor Pincahu, one of the weirdest animals I've ever seen, which had been cruelly maimed by some of our, at times, horrible race.

    The next day we explored some overlooks of the crater and lots of artisanal villages, buying a gorgeous tree frog vase which we love, but is going to be a nightmare to get home in one piece....

    After that we went to Masaya, which is a small but recently highly active volcano. We waited for the evening and drove up to the crater edge for our allotted 15 minutes of viewing time, and were mesmerised by the bubbling and spitting lava. Unfortunately you could only see a small piece of the magma, but it was still absolutely awesome and we were lucky they had opened up access again after it was deemed too dangerous for visitors. Camping inside the park still isn't allowed so we parked up at the gate for the night. As usual the photos don't do it justice but it was an amazing experience and probably as close to lava as you will ever get.    Läs mer

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    2

    Granada

    15 maj 2017, Nicaragua ⛅ 30 °C

    Next stop was Granada, another gorgeous old colonial city full of Spanish cathedrals but also some pre-consiquador history. We stayed in probably the nicest hostel of the trip with rooms set around a lovely garden courtyard that was run by a women's cooperative funded from Europe.

    The town itself was nice, but didn't have the coolness of León with all its student influences. Still we spent an enjoyable day exploring the sights, food, shopping, and nightlife. We bought an amazing painting of exotic birds hidden in the jungle - I only wish we had the funds to have bought a bigger version of it.    Läs mer

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    1

    Ometepe

    17 maj 2017, Nicaragua ⛅ 25 °C

    Still with Emma & Blake we jumped on the tiny ferry over to the island of Ometepe. Parking the van on the small deck was an exercise in complete trust as they directed me to within an inch of the walls, trucks and people! It was a short journey across to the amazing double volcanoes rising out of Lake Nicaragua (the largest in Central America).

    As we drove out of the small port town we ended up on the runway, with awesome views of the towering Volcano Concepción. Rather than tackling the 10 hour hike we headed to the more leisurely Ojos de Agua (Eyes of Water), where we spent a lovely afternoon relaxing around the glorious spring fed swimming holes. It cleared out when the last bus went passed at half 4 and we had the place to ourselves, along with a troop of capuchin monkeys (white face) and howler monkeys, for a very peaceful night.

    In the morning we hiked the other side of the island up Volcano Maderas. It was a tough and muddy 6+ hour walk, and we weren't rewarded with the views of Concepción we were hoping for, but some more close encounters with monkeys made it worthwhile.

    We were feeling justifiably lazy the next day and ended up back at the swimming hole as a respite from the 35+ C heat, and bumped into some people from our hike a few weeks earlier. That evening we had a few beers watching an incredible sunset followed by a pretty authentic Italian with Blake & Emma, before the heavens opened and we barely made it home without squashing any of the hundreds of large frogs that had covered the road.

    In the morning we dropped our friends at the bus station back on the mainland to continue their journey south as we headed back to León, via the only Walmart on the country to get some much needed western treats.    Läs mer

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    Telica Sunrise

    23 maj 2017, Nicaragua ⛅ 26 °C

    (hugely out of date post!)

    So we started work and the first thing I did was volunteer to swap a hike with one of the other guides who wasn't feeling too great. After doing all the prep the night before we had a 5am start to make sure our clients had a hearty breakfast before we headed out up Telica, a very active volcano.

    An hour long chicken bus ride dropped us at the bubbling mud pools and we hiked a couple of hours across lush finca (farm) land before we hit the volcano itself. A steep and sweaty hour climb followed, and I was pleased to find myself in decent shape, despite the ridiculously heavy rucksack. As there's no water on the volcano and with this heat/humidity everyone has to carry 8 litres of water, as well as a tent and/or a chunk of heavy food - no dry noodles here!

    The camp spot is just below the bellowing crater of a volcano that was chucking rocks at this very spot only last year. We headed up to the crater edge and peered down the vertical sides into the deep crater hoping to see lava but unfortunately there was way too much acrid sulphur smoke coming out to even get a glimpse, but the true size and power of this volcano was pretty evident. We checked out the bat cave, with loads of little bats skittering around when our torch beams disturbed them, and then we watched the sun disappear behind San Cristóbal, the next volcano in the Maribios chain and the highest in Nicaragua (1728m).

    Marden, one of only 2 local guides, cooked a delicious veggy pasta followed by the obligatory roasted marshmallows, before we turned in for the night. In the morning it was a 4:30am start and we were quickly up the steep hill for a spectacular sunrise across the flat plains before the mountains I the north.

    The second day of Telica is a short one, with about 2.5 hours down to what the guides call 'the desert', although TBH isn't as bad as it sounds. When we are really lucky we get picked up by one of the other tour groups who drive their 4x4s to here, but normally we have to slog through a dry river bed of a road for another half an hour before we get a long chicken bus in town.

    There's an never-ending debate amongst the guys about which is easier/better, and after doing them both a bunch of times I'm leaning towards Telica being my fav. The crater is just awesome, particularly when the smoke clears for a few seconds and you see the lava river dribbling through the crater floor. I also like getting back to town before 12 as it's almost like having a day off, particularly of you have something the next day and need to start prep again at 6pm.    Läs mer

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    Isla Del Maíz (aka Corn Islands)

    10 augusti 2017, Nicaragua ⛅ 20 °C

    After 2.5 months of hard graft (relatively speaking) we decided we needed a wee break. Ali, Jo's sister, has been with us for just over a week so it's been full on with the 2 main 2-day hikes, plus a lot of volcano boarding as it's definitely high season, and we are feeling it a bit. More likely we are feeling the after affects of Cormac's (one of the directors who has been here a year) party, complete with a sacrificial pig and more than a drop or two of rum!

    We've actually timed it pretty well as we left the day after the party and have 10 days of chillaxing before we get back in time for the next party, which strangely enough is also our leaving party as we only have another week and a half of hiking and there is a bit of a mass exidos with Sam, Max & Alivia all leaving within a week of each other. I do feel sorry for Job, Marielle & Wilfred, as they are the last guides standing as Miguel has also moved on and Dará & Rachel (our house mates) leave only a week or so after us. Fortunately the season will drop off with the school holidays finishing, but the remaining guides will still have their work cut out for them.

    Ali's presence was the perfect excuse to get out to the Corn Islands, 2 small dots of land perched far out from the eastern coast of Nicaragua. This place definitely has a very Caribbean feel, with lilted English being the predominant language, albeit interspersed with a smattering of Spanish.

    We took a small 16 seater plane out here, a day spent a couple of days exploring Large Corn before jumping in a little lancha and skipping across the waves to Little Corn. A week of bliss followed, with not much going on other than a lot to lazying around on idyllic beaches, scoffing copious amounts of seafood (lobster season has started :), and drinking a way too much cerveza & rom - but then again we are on holiday!

    We did a dive, but we have been spoilt by diving in some of the best spots around the world so even an inquisitive nurse shark didn't do it for us. The next day we did a snorkel trip and it blew the dive out of the water (sorry, bad pun). We woke a bunch of dozing sharks grabbing 40 winks on the sandy bottom and saw half a dozen magnificent eagle rays, along with amazing coral and some beautiful fish.

    As it lobster season I almost ate my own weight in seafood, but the culinary highlight was a 4 course extravaganza on the other side of the island (a 10 minute walk!). It was so good we visited twice in a row, and on our last night we sampled Rondon, a local delicacy made from coconut milk, lobster, conch, prawns and a whole fish - delicious.

    They are such sleepy and friendly little islands, and it was a perfect place to recharge the batteries before the final week of hiking and getting back on the road again. It was bliss to get away from the oppressive heat of León, the hottest city in Nicaragua, possibly Central America, and the gorgeous cooling ocean breezes. Hopefully it won't be long before we are back on the coast again.    Läs mer

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    Ali's Found A Penguin!

    11 augusti 2017, Nicaragua ⛅ 30 °C

    Guest Find Penguins Post – featuring Ali (Jo's sister)!

    As Jo and Phil have been busy working in Leon for the past two and a half months and I’ve been out to visit, I thought I ought to write a guest spot for their travel blog. My three weeks in Nicaragua have been characterised by volcanoes (which is the norm here!) and Caribbean Islands.

     The volcanoes began with a two day hike to El Hoyo with Quetzaltrekkers and Jo and Phil as the tour guides. And I have to tell you all here just how incredibly impressed I was with how fantastic they are in their volunteering role; I was particularly proud of my sister! Not only did she amaze me with her fitness and strength (everyone carries 8 litres of water each up the volcanoes as well as tents and food etc etc and Jo just skipped up. Even with my much lighter pack (still the 8 litres of water but not much else) I was having to stop every few minutes or so for a rest) but also her total professionalism, problem solving and ability to just take everything in her stride. When three of the clients discovered their tent didn’t have a fly sheet, Jo just instantly sorted things by putting the three girls in a big tent with me and she and Phil sleeping fly-less. She may have lay awake half the night waiting to be rained on but the clients would never have known she was anything but totally calm! Sadly, I didn’t get to sample their campfire cooking skills as I was recovering from a bit of ‘Nica-belly’ but I heard good things!

    I got to do a second hike with Jo and Phil guiding again a couple of days later, fortunately feeling totally well this time. Telica was amazing – you actually stand right at the edge of a crater and camp just a few 100 metres away! The sulphur and smoke even cleared for just long enough for us to see lava at the bottom while we waited for sunrise. To follow that with a breakfast of s’mores (the torrential rain the night before had meant no campfire so we cooked ‘em up in the morning instead) and a lovely hike back down the mountain was perfect.

    Happily for me, as volunteers, Jo and Phil get to take holiday so they knocked off for 10 days and we headed out to the Corn Islands. Proper tropical island paradise! For my last month at work, as inspiration to keep us all going until the end of term, we had a picture up on our wall of a hammock strung between two palm trees. On the Corn Islands, I spent a lot of time in, pretty much, exactly that picture! I’m looking forward to adding a photograph to the wall next to it to make my colleagues jealous. Phil’s written about what we did so I won’t say more than I loved the sea, the sand, the food, the people and the general laid-back lifestyle we enjoyed for 9 days. Bliss.

    I’m off home in a couple of days’ time and Jo and Phil have another week of hiking volcanoes before getting back in Elvis and continuing their epic journey. I feel really lucky to have been able to join them for this little bit of their adventure and really glad I got to see them thriving in their volunteer roles as Nicaraguan tour guides. Thank you so much for your hospitality and for entertaining me, Jo and Phil. Ali xx    Läs mer

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    Elvis Lives Again!

    22 augusti 2017, Nicaragua ⛅ 31 °C

    About 6 weeks ago we woke Elvis from his hibernation, and he started up regular as clockwork. Unfortunately as soon as I lifted my foot from the accelerator to go into idle he spluttered to a stop. Really strange as I'd driven him only a few weeks before and he was fine.

    So after asking around with the drivers at work I found a mechanic who rocked up, listen to me describe the problem and immediately said the problem was with the fuel pump. So the next day we took the 2 hour bus to Managua, the capital, and spend the day hunting for a replacement. After several hours and many, many autopart shops we eventually find one, but they wanted $400 and 30 days for something I can buy off Amazon for under a 100 bucks.

    We then traipse back to the other side of town and the customs officials refuse to extend our 30 day temporary import licence :( After much pleading (in very disjointed Spanish) they finally understood we can't drive to the Costa Rican border and we eventually spoke to the man in charge. He was very nice to us (as tourists he explains) and says he will grant it but only after it's fixed and we can prove we are not blagging it. Not quite what we were hoping for but potentially we can use this to our advantage and avoid a fine we were expecting for overstaying.

    I ordered the part to my friends at work in the US and they ship it down, along with some old laptops they are kindly donating to some of our sponsorship kids (the humidity just kills laptops here). It arrives right before we head out to the Corn Islands on holiday, so when we get back we only have 10 days left before we are due to leave on our visas.

    I wasn't very comfortable with the first mechanic who took hours to do very little, so I went with a recommendation from my landlord. He installed the new fuel pump in super quick time, but then the engine didn't start and he very quickly ran out of ideas, before jumping on his bike and disappearing without even asking for any money!

    Luckily a nice dutch guy wanders over who has the same van, and he knows a good mechanic who worked on it. The next day he arrives and finds a blockage in the fuel line, but after getting it sorted the van still stalls - back to square one!! Fortunately he was a decent mechanic and soon found the actual problem and the next day Elvis Lives again!

    So we may have wasted a lot of time and a few hundred bucks on the new pump, but you have to look at it on the positive side and now we should avoid a problem with the fuel pump that had done 110,000 miles.

    A couple of days later we have finished at Quetzaltrekkers and packed the van up again. Next stop was back to customs in the capital Managua. I wasn't expecting this to go well but we rocked up and although we ended up paying another $30 we got our import extension and will avoid a nasty fine at the border.    Läs mer

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    Jo's Quetzaltrekkers reflections

    24 augusti 2017, Nicaragua ⛅ 29 °C

    I wanted to write about the 3 months we've just spent living and working in Leon as it's been so different from the rest of our trip. It's been an incredible experience and there have been highs (both literally & figuratively) and lows during which I've learnt so much about myself, which surprised me at my ripe old age!

    I have to say to start with I struggled, both with the hiking & the social side of being thrown in with a bunch of teenagers and early 20somethings. Much more so than Phil who reveled in both the physical challenge and the chance to act like a 20 year old again :) On my first hike I was with 2 guides Max & Job who were teaching me the ropes when I discovered to my horror (& probably theirs) that I was older than both of their combined ages... On my first Telica hike the guide training me, Soren, had just turned 19 and we had two 20 year old clients who liked to run marathons so unsurprisingly I was by far the slowest & was practically in tears during the steep section. On another memorable early hike a client was really struggling, so much so I took her bag but she suddenly fainted right in front of me she was unconscious for about a minute, which was one of the longest minutes of my life. I felt so alone & out of my depth and the responsibility of what we were doing really hit home. (It all ended ok, we got her down the volcano and into hospital where it turned out she had a kidney infection - I took her on another hike a couple of weeks later & she did brilliantly.) All in all I really wondered if I would be able to stick out the 3 months we had committed to do.

    However I persevered, became fitter and stopped worrying about speed or holding back groups. In fact I naturally preferred being the guide at the back of the group who had to help the clients who were struggling, it was so rewarding to get someone to push themselves and discover they could do so much more than they had imagined. I had one client who cried at the beginning because she didn't think she could do it but by the end was crying with joy as she was so proud of herself. I also had the pleasure of guiding my sister on our hikes, showing her the beautiful landscapes & amazing views we've been living with.

    As for the other guides they are some of the nicest most genuine people I've had the privilege to meet. They were initially a bit skeptical when they heard an 'older couple' were going to be guides but I have to say they got over our age differences much more quickly than I did. They were much better at rolling with the issues and annoyances which invariably came up which initially frustrated me but I grew to appreciate the attitude that we'd sort out anything that arose one way or another. "At Quetzaltrekkers we are very good problem solvers!" Miguel Canto guide 2017. I discovered some new bands (Glass Animals) and music genres (Reggaton) and we spent way too much time discussing possible GoT plot twists over way too many beers at Via Via. At our various parties I became the chief Mojito maker & learnt that syrup works amazingly well if you've run out of sugar (this twist on the classic cocktail was named the 'MojiJo').

    It has been a great confidence boost to find out that I could succeed in a totally different, physical work environment, learn to need less control & roll with whatever came my way whilst making so many new friends. Overall I'm really proud with myself, I did 12 overnight hikes & have climbed Cerro Negro countless times for volcano boarding. I found out that on the hikes I did in July I made over $3500 in profit going directly to underprivileged kids in and around Leon. Now it's time to move on, it's been emotional & I'm sad to say goodbye but satisfied in a job well done.    Läs mer

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    Back on the Road (aka Beach) Again :)

    26 augusti 2017, Nicaragua ⛅ 30 °C

    After spending the night at a lovely place in Managua we picked up our paperwork without any bother, and then headed south to near Masaya, where we'd been 3 months previously. After negotiating a fairly hairy road we found another fantastic place to stop, complete with swimming pool overlooking a crater lake and the glow of a volcano in the background.

    When we'd filled up with petrol after leaving León the guy had brimmed it, resulting in petrol spilling all over the forecourt. We decided we'd best get this looked at before we headed into pricey Costa Rica, and I spent 2 hours under the van with several mechanics trying to get to fuel pump cap to sit tightly. It amazing how such a simple things can take hours, but we got it sorted although our fuel gauge is still stuck at full, but I wasn't going to ask them to take it off again!

    We drove a couple of hours on down to the coast, arriving just as a stunning sunset was bathing a glorious long white sand bay, and pulled up just by the side of the beach for the night. No facilities here so nothing else for it but to wash the grease off with an evening dip, followed by a mucho tasty fish tacos at the little shack down the road.

    It was amazing to wake up to the sound of waves (no air raid sirens here!) and have breakfast on the beach. I definitely feel super happy about about being back on the road again. We moved to a little official camp site and had a lazy day exploring the beach, including bathing in a lovely rock pool which occasionally got topped up by a big wave. In the evening we wandered over to the nice hotel on the outcrop between the bays and watched the big fight.

    The next day we walked a couple of miles down to the beach to meet Josh, Chantel & Maya's friend MK. We haven't seen them since Mexico where we spent a couple of weeks with them and it was really nice to catch up over a lazy lunch, before we had to head off to beat high tide when the rising estuary would cut us off.

    This section of the coast is unbelievable - probably the nicest since the Baja California which blew our minds at times. As much as we loved volunteering, it's so nice to be away from the humidity of León, back to a tranquilo lifestyle and chilling on the beach. Unfortunately our visa expires tomorrow so we can't hang around for as long as we would have liked.    Läs mer

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    Bienvenidos a Costa Rica! (country #7)

    28 augusti 2017, Costa Rica ⛅ 30 °C

    Before we headed out of Nicaragua and into expensive Costa Rica we had a few errands to run. First of was getting Maya seen by a vet as the wound her op a month ago was causing some problems. Fortunately it was just a simple clean up and antibiotics, but she was sedated and is now back in the cone of shame :( The other important task was to buy a few slabs of beer before the price doubles over the border!

    Border crossings with a van are tedious. We know how they work now so we expect a lot of unnecessary running around, but in 35+ C heat it is a tough day. Just getting out of Nicaragua tool us an hour and a half, but fortunately Costa Rica are a little more efficient and it took about the same to the more complicated import licence.

    We'd spotted a nice camp spot on iOverlander, the app which is like the bible to people like us, which was under an hour from the border. We couldn't believe what we found with a gorgeous beach in a sheltered bay complete with picnic tables and completely free, and in a country that's safe to wild camp - a far cry from having to stay at firestation carparks as a lot of people do in the countrys to the north.

    The next day we stopped off at a Walmart and it was a joy to buy a fresh & decent baguette, plus prices weren't as scary as we'd been lead to believe. A quick half an hour and we were back at the coast, this time in a lovely camp site just off the beach. The next day was spent tending to Elvis and his electric problems, which look like they were caused by a faulty amp meter rather than anything more serious (and expensive). We also had a new lawn installed - nice to get a little upgrade and hide some of the sand.    Läs mer

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    Pura Vida

    1 september 2017, Costa Rica ☀️ 17 °C

    Pura Vida is Costa Rica's catchphrase. Literally it means pure life, but it's basically Life is Good and it's well suited. People seem to enjoy life here, and who can blame them. If Nicaragua is the scruffy younger brother then Costa Rica is the good looking sibling in the fancy suit. The standard of living is much higher here, and people have time & money to enjoy life a lot more. It's a nice change, if a little americanised but we weren't complaining when we got a proper fresh baguette from Walmart and not a long, round loaf.

    We headed up into the hills to Lake Arenal, and it's utterly gorgeous scenery. It reminded us of driving around the Big Island on Hawaii, with winding little roads, brooks crashing through gullies, and everything dripping in tropical flora. The other thing we REALLY like about CR is its a lot safer than most of the other Central American countries, and we had no concerns wild camping at the edge of the lake for a couple of nights.

    The following day we tried to hike Cerro Chato, a big volcano next to the larger and active Volcano Arenal, but we couldn't go with the dog and rangers would stop you if they caught you. The big downside to CR is they want $10 per person just to walk on some trails, and the National Park wanted $15. On our 4th attempt we found some private land we could take Maya on and spent a couple of hours hiking through the luscious rainforest up to the lava field at the base of the volcano.

    Although it wasn't at all strenuous compared to the past few months we felt we definitely deserved a dunk in some hot pools. We parked up outside the 70 buck-a-head 5 star spa resort, then crossed the road and dunked directly in the 38C river that flowed through a series of rustic pools. Once I grabbed a couple of cold beers from the fridge this was Pura Vida indeed!!    Läs mer

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    Beach Life Is The Only Life I Know...

    7 september 2017, Costa Rica ⛅ 12 °C

    We sneakily decided to cross the Panamanian border on a Sunday as we know the vet doesn't work and we'd heard you can bribe $20 and avoid the crazy $130 animal import fee. Considering there were loads of stray dogs wandering around we didn't feel too bad about it, but as it happened they didn't ask, we didn't tell, and no-one even bothered to open the door of the van.

    Whenever we hit a new country we like to stop by a supermarket to see how prices fare and if you can get anything new and exciting. Panama seems to offer more than Costa Rica and tonnes more than Nicaragua, and surprisingly it's pretty damn cheap (50 cents beers anyone?).

    We headed straight down to the beach at Las Lajas and were surprised to see another overlander in our choosen camp spot. We were even more amazed when we discovered it was our friends Sandro & Gabi, who we first met about 6 months ago near Mexico City. They travel even slower than we do!!

    The place we stayed was called Johnny Fiestas, and was a super small (6 beds) hostel with great camping right off the beach in an incredible 20km long bay. There was literally nothing around, but this place was so friendly we immediately felt at home with hosts Matt & Dario, and didn't feel like we needed to leave. Everyone chills at the bar most of the day, with a bit of surfing or walking/running along the beach thrown in for some exercise. With cold beers for a buck a hit and champions league on the TV we found a little piece of paradise.

    I think it might also be Maya's favourite spot too, as she was immediately besties with Suzzie and they spent all day running wild across the beaches, fields, sea and muddy ponds they could find!

    This place definitely makes the top 3 of magical spots we've stayed at, but after 5 days we felt we should tear ourselves away to begin our journey back NORTH... (more to follow...)    Läs mer

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    Panamanian Hill County

    15 september 2017, Panama ⛅ 23 °C

    Boquete is up in the hills around 1000 m, and although there was a lovely breeze on the coast it was absolutely gorgeous to get somewhere cooler. We even got our duvet (a super light one) out for the first time in god knows how long.

    We're drove right to the end of the valley up an extremely steep road, that Elvis wheezed up despite his 5.2l V8 engine! We camped the night at the ranger's hut and did the beautiful Sendero (trail) Los Quetzales (a mythical bird that has been hiding from us all the way since Guatemala). It was only 5km each way but it was through thick cloud forest and I don't think a metre of it was on the level so it was a tough but rewarding hike to the mirador.

    In need of a shower we headed back into town to a little Pension, and were revelling in our first HOT shower for months. The next day we chilled around town and in the evening saved a little kitten that the nasty dogs (not Maya I hasten to add!) at the campsite were attacking.

    In the morning when we tried to leave Elvis didn't want to :( We had a re-occurance of our die-on-idle problem, but luckily we knew of an American mechanic in town so the following day he came out to give him the once over. There was nothing else for it but to spend the afternoon enjoying pitchers during happy (6) hour(s) at the local brewery, which had an amazing coffee amber on tap.

    I'd actually got Elvis running again by cleaning up the battery connections and generally poking around without knowing what I was doing, but it was good to get Josh to give him the once over and he lined up a part for us at the bottom of the hill and showed me how to install it.

    We're picked it up en-route back to Johnny Fiestas, where we chilled for a couple of days working out what to do next... (more to follow...)    Läs mer

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    North? Or South....?!

    21 september 2017, Panama ⛅ 20 °C

    So our original plan was to drive to Panama, and as it sounded pretty complicated and expensive to ship south we were going to sell Elvis here and fly home. That plan had been out of the window for a while as we were so loving life out here, and we'd decided to drive back north to the states, store the van somewhere (possibly Jo's relatives in Arizona). We would then return another time with more funds and then ship from Mexico to South America for another big adventure.

    As soon as we left our most southernly point (Johnny Fiestas!) a day started driving north we had pangs of regrets and started to reconsider...

    We'd been looking into remotely registering the van in the US and it was a huge pain in the arse, plus the costs involved in insuring it when it was dormant there would quickly add up, and undoubtedly there would need to be repairs after years in the hot/cold extremes of that part of the world. We'd worked out we wouldn't be able to make it back home in time for Christmas, so had decided spring would be a good time to try and re-acclimatise to British weather.

    We also thought that you never know what would happen in the future, and tearing yourself away from lives in the UK is never an easy thing to do, sooooo maybe we should make the most of the opportunity now.... We have at least 6 more months on the road and Panama is the normal jumping off point for South America. We'd also discovered that it wasn't going to be as expensive as we'd thought, and we luckily found a couple of aussie dudes to share a container with, which would half the costs.

    The biggest downside to this decision was the fact we were due to meet my little sister in the Yucatan (Mexico) in early November, and we were so looking forward to seeing family again, as well as touring with her and Nick for a while. She helped make the decision easier by telling us not to spoil 6 months just for the sake of 2 weeks with them, but it was still a tough call.

    So after much deliberating we finally decided - we were going back to South America!    Läs mer

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