Mexico to Brazil

An 8 month journey travelling from Mexico City through Central America and South America to Rio de Janeiro in Brazil Read more

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Mexico to Brazil Michael and Helen Cook
Acatenango and Fuego Volcanoes
Mar 3–4, 2024 in Guatemala ⋅ ⛅ 8 °C
Guatemala and indeed Central America is known for its volcanoes. So we signed up for a one night two day trek to climb Acatenango. However the main focus for the trek was actually Fuego the neighbouring peak which is a highly active volcano erupting several times an hour. Our camp was level with Fuego and provided excellent views of these eruptions less than 2 miles away.

(Unfortunately Helen wasn’t able to join me - Michael - for this having felt a bit unwell and not sleeping the night before - she is fine now).

On the first day we climbed from the road at 2450m to 3600m to our camp. We passed through four clear zones - Agricultural (maize, avocado etc), Cloud Forest, Pine Forest and lastly the baron volcanic zone. There were 19 of us in the group plus our guides and porters.

From the camp we had excellent views of Fuego during sunset and into the night. We arrived at 3pm and whilst most the group did an extra hike to get closer to Fuego (see head torches in Timelapse video) I stayed to relax and focus on photography. About every 10 minutes there would be an eruption - you would see it first and hear it a few seconds later.

Getting the shot of the volcano erupting at night was very tricky. These lava spewing eruptions only happened about once an hour and it was hard to even see the mountain to focus the camera.

I went to bed without a shot I was happy with, it was a very cold night but I got a couple of hours sleep. I woke up at 3am and went out to try for the shot again and nailed it at about 3.45. At 4am those that wanted to summit Acatenango set off (only 5 of us as most had burnt themselves out with the Fuego hike) under head torch.

This was a tough 90 minutes to ascend to the summit (3976m). We were all feeling the thinner air (at sea level you have 20% oxygen but at this height it was effectively 12%). Someone with another group was vomiting with altitude sickness. Plus we hadn’t slept well, were walking under head torch and it was incredibly dusty due to all the volcanic ash. It was two steps forward one step back.

It was all worth it to see another sunrise and be above the cloud. Me and another in the group (from a mountain rescue team in England) noticed that the view point we were at was not the high point and insisted on running to the true summit. This turned to a slow trudge as soon as it became up hill.

We were back at the camp for seven covered head to foot in ash and dust, After breakfast we descended to the start 1200m descent in two hours. Exhausted but very happy to have done this amazing experience.Read more
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Mexico to Brazil Michael and Helen Cook
Copan Ruins
Mar 6–11, 2024 in Honduras ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C
The main reason people come to Copan Ruinas is to see the Mayan Ruins here after which the town gets its name. We visited them today and (according to the unesco app) this is our 100th UNESCO World Heritage site.

The ruins are spread over a large area but the central plaza is impressive and you could see how 6,000 people could gather for sacred rituals or political events.

The interplay between nature and history struck me again with trees growing out of temples and root systems breaking into ancient pavements. The large colony of Scarlet Macaws were accompanied by many other birds including Collared Acari, Lessons and Turquoise Browed Motmot and two life ticks in Streak Backed Oriole and White-throated Magpie Jay.

The carvings here and small details were the most impressive we have seen to date, well preserved. Copan is most known for its stairway featuring the largest hieroglyphics in Mesoamérica.

This will be our last Mayan ruin on this trip as we are at the far south of their range. A very impressive civilisation.Read more
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Mexico to Brazil Michael and Helen Cook
Macaw Mountain
March 7, 2024 in Honduras ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C
Warning this post may contain an excessive amount of colour! We are now in Honduras and today we visited Macaw Mountain. This place blends the definition of wild and captive but for a good reason. It is a site to breed and release Scarlet Macaws into the wild. It is also a rehabilitation centre for injured or previously captive birds.

There were birds in cages - very large cages (much better than UK bird parks I would say) but all the pictures attached are of wild or at least free flying birds which have now been released.

We saw mostly bird species we have seen before on this trip but some allowed much better photos. Tomorrow we plan to visit the Mayan ruins which make Copan famousRead more
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Mexico to Brazil Michael and Helen Cook
Santa Ana, El Salvador
Mar 11–15, 2024 in El Salvador ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C
Today we left Copan Ruinas in Honduras and took a bus to Santa Ana in El Salvador whilst this was only a 5 hour trip we went via Guatemala. This meant a total of four border points and four more passport stamps.

But we are now in country number 5 of this trip. Until recently El Salvador was quite a risky destination but the current president declared a state of emergency and put all the gang and cartel members in prison with very little legal process.

The people love him for it as the murder rate and corruption levels and fallen like a stone. He was just reelected with 83% of the vote.

That said there is a strong armed police, army and security guard presence all around. A shotgun toting guard at most cash points for example.

We haven’t done much other than eat some street food for tea ($2 each for a meal), done some food shopping and visited the impressive gothic cathedral.

Tomorrow we are planning another volcano hike (together this time) and to visit a nearby crater lake.Read more
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Mexico to Brazil Michael and Helen Cook
Climbing Santa Ana Volcano
March 12, 2024 in El Salvador ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C
So today we climbed the highest Volcano in El Salvador - Volcan Ilamatepec or just Santa Ana Volcano. It is 2381m albeit we only went to the craters edge and not to the full summit. It was much easier than the last volcano!

We had about 500m of ascent from the trail head first through forest and then more sparsely vegetated slopes.

The huge Agave plants were impressive. This is what they make Tequila from. The flowers form once in the plant’s life and then they die. But when you see the size of them (twice a human) you can see it is a once in a lifetime investment.

Continuing the theme of armed guards there were two armed police on the top ensuring all the tourists were safe.

The crater itself was impressive with a strong sulfur smell and a 200m drop to the acidic lake. We added a new bird on the top - Violet Green Swallow which takes me to 399 for the trip.

Afterwards we visited the much larger crater lake of Coatepeque for lunch.Read more
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Mexico to Brazil Michael and Helen Cook
Seeing beyond the Flowers.
March 13, 2024 in El Salvador ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C
Today we took a drive along a road known as the route of the flowers (Ruta de Las Flores). It is a bit out of season for the flowers but it was still a pleasant drive. And there were plenty of flowers to see along the way, along with street art, artisan crafts and a nice mix of street food and coffee plantations.

Our guide Carlos told us all about the history much of it sadly violent. A genocide of native groups in the 1930s by a military dictator. A civil war from 1979 to 1992 which resulted in over 75,000 deaths and many “disappeared.” Our guide told us how his grandmother was tortured and killed during these years and showed us a place where a rebel leader was shot by firing squad. This isn’t ancient history but fairly recent.

After the civil war the country was weak and at this time the USA deported thousands of gang members from Southern California. The country could not cope with these violent and organised criminals and gang warfare flourished. Gangs were more powerful than the state. As recently as 2015 El Salvador had the highest murder rate in the world 103 murders per 100,000 in a year (UK is 9.9). Again our guide told us how the gangs would collect extortion money from his parent’s business and those that didn’t pay were killed.

Over the last couple of years a new president - Nayib Bukele - has led a massive crackdown. Ironically the gangs culture has been used against them. Gangs identified using tattoos. One gang for example had a sad clown face tattoo and a tear indicated you had killed someone. During the crackdown these tattoos were enough to arrest and convict (for life). During the crackdown 70,000 gang members have been put in prison (2% of population) with minimal judicial process. If you want to get an idea of scale and seriousness, see https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-64…

The murder rate is now 2.4 per 100,000 (less than UK) and the president has been re-elected with 83% of the vote. To bring this closer to home, our guide told us that the place we are staying was a stronghold of the notorious MS-13 gang and completely unsafe a couple of years ago. Now they are welcoming tourists and hopefully the economy can grow and flourish leading to a better life for all here.Read more
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Mexico to Brazil Michael and Helen Cook
Goodbye El Salvador
March 15, 2024 in El Salvador ⋅ ☀️ 33 °C
So we are leaving El Salvador and heading to Costa Rica.

Our original plan was to take the bus and next stop would have been Nicaragua. However their policy of confiscating cameras and binoculars has meant this isn’t an option for us.

So after 75 days and 8,000km of overland travel we are having to fly to San Jose. We will then travel to the north of Costa Rica for some diving, leave our stuff before popping into Nicaragua for a week.

A very short video summarising some
of our recent adventures in Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.Read more
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Mexico to Brazil Michael and Helen Cook
Landed in San Jose
Mar 15–16, 2024 in Costa Rica ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C
Not much to say but we have landed safely, got Uber into town, checked into hotel, purchased some bus tickets and now waiting for late dinner (9pm).

Next bed before we get a bus at 8am.
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Mexico to Brazil Michael and Helen Cook
Diving in Costa Rica
March 19, 2024 in Costa Rica ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C
The last few days we have been diving from Coco in Costa Rica.

It is over 20 years since we dived in the pacific (Hawaii in 2001). The conditions here are challenging for diving. The visibility can be quite low sometimes about 5m. There are strong currents with a high surge factor which can mean you are moving forward and back in relation to the bottom. Lastly the water temperature is also a bit cooler with powerful thermoclines. A thermocline is where the water can change temperature by as much as 10 degrees when you cross an invisible barrier. It is like going from the hot to the cold bath.

We mainly came here to see Manta Rays but alas this was not to be this time. When we went to the Catalinas Islands where they gather (over an hour by boat) the visibility was awful. But we did see lots of cool marine life Moray Eels, White-Tip Reef Sharks, many large Rays, many Octopus including a huge one, and so many fish some in schools of thousands bait balling.

But we have enjoyed the diving including taking a speciality course towards our Master Diver qualification. I think we are now better divers than we were 20 years ago. And coping with the challenging conditions here is part of that development.

We have also done some cool birding from the house. This included getting our 400th bird of the trip - Hoffman Woodpecker

Finally we have received permission from the Nicaraguan government to visit the country after two rounds of questioning (by email) so tomorrow we move on towards the border crossing the next day for a week in Nicaragua,Read more
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Mexico to Brazil Michael and Helen Cook
Granada, Nicaragua
Mar 21–23, 2024 in Nicaragua ⋅ ⛅ 34 °C
Yesterday we left Costa Rica and took a bus to Granada Nicaragua.

For the distance this was a very long and difficult journey. What could be done in 2.5 hours by car (180km) took over 9 hours. We waited at the bus stop (a bench under an underpass) for our bus for 3 hours. It then took over an hour to clear the Nicaraguan immigration before waiting another couple of hours in 38 degree heat for our bus to clear customs so we could continue.

Granada is a lovely colonial era city which reminds us greatly of Antigua in Guatemala. Impressive churches, bustling markets, horse drawn carriages mingling with tuktuks and pickups.

There is quite a lot of poverty on display and we were pleased to eat at an excellent social enterprise called Smile Cafe, which employs about 35 deaf staff and educates its customers on sign language. Of course a smile is a universal language too.Read more
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Mexico to Brazil Michael and Helen Cook
Off the beaten track - Ometepe
Mar 21–25, 2024 in Nicaragua ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C
Nicaragua is a bit off the tourist path compared to some of the other countries we have been. And the place we are staying on Omtepe is also off the beaten path too or more accurately well beyond where the paved road finishes. Things are a lot quieter and rustic here. The restaurant opens to serve you, we are the only westerners staying in the village.

We got here by taking a two hour bus then a one hour ferry then a 90 minute Tuktuk. Ometepe is an island on Lake Nicaragua the largest lake in Central America. It is primarily formed by two volcanoes - one only is active.

We have had a fairly relaxed few days walking around the village of Merida. Yesterday we went kayaking in a mangrove swamp with lots of birds, caiman and monkeys to see. Today we went horse riding.

Interesting to know that ocean based bull sharks are able to swim up the river from the Caribbean (takes about two weeks) and there is a population in the lake. They used to think they were a separate freshwater species until they tagged them and saw them coming and going.

Added a few birds to my list despite no binoculars including Nicaraguan Grackle, Southern Lapwing, Amazon Kingfisher and Banded Wren. But best of all was Orange-Chinned Parakeet my 1,000th life-bird.

Day after tomorrow we head back to Costa Rica where we will be back on the more beaten track.Read more
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Mexico to Brazil Michael and Helen Cook
Monteverde Butterfly Gardens
March 29, 2024 in Costa Rica ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C
We are now in Monteverde (Green Mountain) and this is a lovely cloud forest location in Costa Rica.

We have seen lots of butterflies during our travels so far but often without the good camera or without time to focus on photography. Having been deprived of my camera in Nicaragua I was keen for some
wildlife photography opportunities so this morning we popped down to the Monteverde butterfly gardens and were not disappointed with the native Costa Rican butterflies on display.Read more
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Mexico to Brazil Michael and Helen Cook
Cloud forest
March 29, 2024 in Costa Rica ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C
This afternoon we visited the local cloud forest and took the hanging bridge walkways. We walked about five km along the forest floor whilst also taking 8 different hanging bridges in and above the canopy.

The various sights small and large were amazing. Here the plants are the stars and the sheer variety of them is overwhelming. We did add four new birds to our trip list but the forest itself provided the strongest impression. We also saw monkeys.

Anyway the photos say it all so I will shut up. Tomorrow we go birding again in this rich cloud forest habitat.Read more
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Mexico to Brazil Michael and Helen Cook
Zip Lines
March 29, 2024 in Costa Rica ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C
Costa Rica is a fairly developed country and that means regulations and health and safety. So for example our accommodation (for the first time on this trip) has smoke and CO detectors.

All of this gives me the confidence to be a bit adventurous and do the zip-lining that is on offer here and a fun way to see the cloud forest from within and above.

This zip-lining tour was 3.5km of zip lines with the longest one being a kilometre. It took a couple of hours to complete. The last zip line was a km long and done superman style - felt like proper flying.Read more
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Mexico to Brazil Michael and Helen Cook
Birding Monteverde
March 31, 2024 in Costa Rica ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C
We have just spent a couple of wonderful days birding around Monteverde. I have written extensively about it in my blog (wildscot.blog) so won’t repeat it here but some great photos to share
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Mexico to Brazil Michael and Helen Cook
Talamanca Highlands
Apr 1–3, 2024 in Costa Rica ⋅ 🌙 8 °C
Down the western spine of southern Costa Rica run the Talamanca Highlands which includes the highest mountain in Costa Rica at just under 4000m. We came to this area for the birding which has a high number of regional endemics (found nowhere else)

We left Monteverde yesterday on the 5.30am bus getting to the capital San Jose at 10.30. We have arranged a car hire for two weeks and they let us pick it up three hours early. I think our effort at Spanish helped.

We arrived at our lodge at 2200m in time for some birding adding several new species from our balcony.

This morning we were out the door at 4.45am and birding in the cold 3 degrees at 5.30am. Lots of good birds including a crazy busy hummingbird feeder video.

Costa Rica has some amazingly colourful birds which makes their choice of national bird quite understated (see photos).Read more
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Mexico to Brazil Michael and Helen Cook
Bioluminescence Kayak Tour
April 3, 2024 in Costa Rica ⋅ 🌙 28 °C
We arrived on Osa Peninsular yesterday (after 5 hour drive) and immediately went on a kayak tour. There were basically three parts to this

First we kayaked around the mangroves and saw various wildlife including the stunning American Pigmy Kingfisher which I have heard three or four times but never seen. Also several birds from home Osprey, Grey Plover and Turnstone.

Next we had a chill on the beach with fresh fruit and swam in the pacific watching the sunset.

Then a nighttime Kayak until we came to a place where we could see the phenomenon known as bioluminescence. This is caused by tiny plankton. Nothing to show on film as it was so dark and they were so tiny. But it was magical. You ran your hand through the water and could see hundreds of tiny stars or jewels twinkling. We did a snorkel in the dark and it was like flying through space at light speed.Read more
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Mexico to Brazil Michael and Helen Cook
Corcovado wilderness and… RESCUE
April 4, 2024 in Costa Rica ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C
Yesterday we sent off early to trek into the heart of the Corcovado National Park. This legendary part of Costa Rica has 2.5% of the world’s biodiversity (trees, plants, animal, bird and insect species). That is very high.

We had planned a 20km jungle and beach trek with the hope of seeing new wildlife including 5 species of cats (jaguar and puma included), ant eaters, armadillo, tapir and many new birds. We had one night booked at the remote research station which only has 20 beds. This had to be booked over a month in advance.

Our guide was great and in the morning we saw lots of wildlife (see photos) as we entered the national park. We stopped for lunch and a swim by a small waterfall which cooled us down in the heat of the day. Our progress was determined by the tide as we needed to pass a headland and then continue for an hour and a half on the beach.

Alas clambering over a rocky scramble I (Michael) felt a sudden pain in my calf a knew immediately I had pulled the muscle. This had happened to me once on a Munro and I was out of action for four weeks.

The guide went into rescue mode and an ATV was arranged to collect me. First I had to get back a painful half a km to before the rocks. Whilst waiting we did see an Ant Eater which was nice and a Black Hawk.

The ATV took us back to the trailhead and transport was arranged to take us the 90 minutes back to town.

A mixture of emotions. Very disappointed not to have another day and a half to explore this amazing wilderness. The hike had cost $$$ and should have been a top experience for Costa Rica.

But on the other hand very grateful that this happened in Costa Rica which had a rescue protocol (I was 6th rescue this year) and that we are both safe and relatively well.

After removing all the ticks from the jungle (!) and having a shower and hot meal we have reflected that we have been pushing it hard the last week or so and perhaps this is natures way of telling us to slow down, well I will have to as will be physically restricted for the next few weeks.Read more
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Mexico to Brazil Michael and Helen Cook
Carara national park
Apr 6–9, 2024 in Costa Rica ⋅ ☁️ 29 °C
This place was packed full of nature! First thing in the morning we woke to a troop of about 40 howler monkeys moving through the trees above our cabin. The alpha male howling his dominance. The whole group eating fruit and dropping the stones on our roof - bang, bang, howl, bang. Quite the alarm clock.

Then last thing at night we find a scorpion in the shower. We just put a cup over it, had our shower and asked staff to move it in the morning.

Costa Rica - Pura Vida!

In between was lots of wildlife and bird watching with a wonderful guide called Santiago. I (Michael) am able to get around ok providing not too much gradient. More info about the wildlife sightings in the blog.

After three weeks in Costa Rica, a country smaller than Scotland, I have seen more bird species here than I have ever seen in the whole of the UK in my 49+ years. Remarkable.Read more
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Mexico to Brazil Michael and Helen Cook
Owl’s That!
April 8, 2024 in Costa Rica ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C
We haven’t had the confidence to go out looking for owls on this trip, partly because of security concerns meaning that driving at night is unwise and partly because there are a lot of things you can stand on that have the name poisonous in their title and/or job description.

So when our excellent guide Santiago offered to take us out at night looking for owls we jumped at the chance. Six owls and one nightjar later we were delighted albeit rather tired as beyond our normal 8pm bedtime. (Yes really as we get up at 5am most mornings).

Next up we move to La Fortuna and the beautiful Arenal Volcano.Read more
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Mexico to Brazil Michael and Helen Cook
Tanagers for Lunch
April 9, 2024 in Costa Rica ⋅ ☁️ 25 °C
On our drive up to La Fortuna we stopped for lunch at a place which had bird feeders. This was high in the Cloud Forest so attracted a new range of Hummingbirds and especially Tanagers that I wanted to see. The setup was really good allowing close up shots on natural branches. At one point a tanager landed on my shoulder for a couple of seconds.

The staff had to stay alert to use a water hose to scare off the Coatis (like a Racoon) who would come to try and steal the food which was funny to watch. A couple of quite rare birds here but lots of lovely colour too - see pics. I love how accessible the wildlife is in Costa Rica.Read more
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Mexico to Brazil Michael and Helen Cook
Sloth hunting in Arenal
Apr 9–12, 2024 in Costa Rica ⋅ ☁️ 24 °C
One of the animals I (Helen) wanted to see in Costa Rica was sloths. I had seen them in the rescue sanctuary in Monteverde and we saw one as a ball of fur in Carara National Park but not a great sighting. So today we went to walk the Bogarin trails as we had read there was a good chance of seeing them there.

We could have booked a guide, which would have increased our chances but I liked the idea of finding our own (which was also cheaper). After about an hour someone pointed one out - a three toed sloth which was very active, especially considering they sleep about 20 hours a day.

Then later a guide from another group gave us a tip of an area where he had seen one. So off we set and spotted one curled up in a tree and then a mother and baby high up in the canopy. Whilst we had some help for these it was satisfying to have located them ourselves (and save the $70 for a guide).

We also saw lots of pretty birds!Read more
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Mexico to Brazil Michael and Helen Cook
La Selva
Apr 12–15, 2024 in Costa Rica ⋅ ☁️ 29 °C
Moving on to our last destination in Costa Rica (after this we only have one night in capital awaiting international bus) we arrived yesterday in La Selva.

Yesterday we spent a few hours at a White-Collared Manakin Lek. Photos and video attached - in order to impress the female several males will gather at a Lek site and perform a strange dance where they “jump” from one point to another making a clicking sound. The clicks are actually made by a bone in their wings.

It has been quite wet the last few days which has forced us to take things a bit easier. But we were out for 5 hours this morning 5.30-10.30 birding and looking for mammals. We added the Sun Grebe which is quite hard to see and a close relative to the African Finfoot which we saw in Botswana. Our clothes are now hanging to dry.

We have also seen various mammals (a Peccary relative of pigs but very small) reptiles (large green Basilisk today) frogs (several named Blue Jean Frog because of their coloured legs) and bats (amazing sleeping Honduran White Bats, they are called tent making bats because they find a big leaf and bite it to change the shape so it forms a tent for them to sleep under).

Most of the people we meet here are on a 2-3 week holiday with a high budget. We are cooking ourselves and taking sandwiches for breakfast (while they eat fully cooked yummy things). When we get talking they are all amazed by the trip we are taking and many end up following my wildlife blog.

This compares to Nicaragua and Guatemala where most of the westerners we met were backpackers and who were either heading north or south on long trips through multiple countries. Most the backpackers move rapidly through Costa Rica because it is expensive.

Talking of budgets we have now decided we are not going to the Galapagos on this trip. It is very expensive and the money saved will help us continue using guides in South America which really enhances our wildlife spotting and it is also good to support local people.

We hand the car back on 15th and then head to Panama the next day.

Going to try a bit of interaction and invite any questions about our trip in general or Costa Rica specifically in the comments below!Read more
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Mexico to Brazil Michael and Helen Cook
San Jose
Apr 15–16, 2024 in Costa Rica ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C
No one comes to Costa Rica on holiday to visit San Jose but we had a travel connection which necessitated a 5am start and therefore an overnight in San Jose.

We handed a car back and then Uber into the city centre followed by some sightseeing and an early night.

We are now travelling to our next country Panama and the island of Bocas del TorroRead more
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Mexico to Brazil Michael and Helen Cook
Goodbye Costa Rica, hello Panama
April 16, 2024 in Panama ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C
So we have travelled from San Jose to Bocas del Torro in Panama. We took 3 buses to get to the border.

At the border we cleared Costa Rican migration behind a Dutch mother and daughter. They had been living in Costa Rica for four years but didn’t have residency and the daughter's passport had expired and Costa Rica were refusing them entry. Eventually we got through easily but we were leaving Costa Rica.

The border here is actually a river and we had to walk across a bridge with our bags before entering Panama. It is quite fun walking across a border bridge the last time we did this was between Zimbabwe and Zambia with Victoria falls as a backdrop.

Then 1 further bus and a motor boat to reach the island of Bocas del Torro. All together a 12 hour journey. Good to be back on the Caribbean and tomorrow we are planning to go diving,

A very short video of our time in Nicaragua and Costa Rica.Read more
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