All good things come to an end

So i guess this is it. The end of the trip.
Today is Monday 30th August and tomorrow ill be heading back to the land of cream teas and the queen, after over half a year half way across the world. Crazy.

I best your bursting to know what ive been up to in last 3weeks (or whatever)...maybe...so here it is.

My stay in Managua (capital of nicaragua) was suprisingly good (although i was staying with some rediculously boring australians) because we met some nice locals and had great food. This made me think about how you have to check places for yourself rather than completely relying on other folks opinions (everyone i met said Managua was real bad).
I then (after a amazingly long boarder crossing, but helped by two excellent canadians) made it into Costa Rica! The famous country of rainforests, beaches and dinosaurs.
Costa Ricas incredible. Its got an amazingly amount of national parks and biological reserves. Theres a large amount of americans tourists and expats in the expected places, but once you get away its perfect.
Stayed in Liberia for a night because i had to (where after i asked the hostel man where i could eat for muy barato (cheap), he gave me a 20min speech about how costa ricans are rich and all walk around in fred perry tshirts and i will have to get used to spending more. I got a meal for C1500 ($3) in the chinese).
I then made my way to Monte Verde. This is this amazing little town in the middle of cloudforest. The most popular thing to do there is ziplining, so naturally i had to do it. Really incredible times; attached to the wire, zipping over and through beautiful cloud forest. There was an especially memorable wire called 'The Superman'. Your attached by a harness on your back and feet so your lying in the air facing the ground. You then speed for 1km insanely high on this cable, but you cant see it and it was the most incredible feeling. The closest to flying im probably ever going to get...

When we got back (me and some cool folk from the ziplining) we hiked through the forest to a massive tree which was completely hollow on the inside with the roots forming a crazy maze/ladder in place of a trunk. i climbed up to the top. I felt like i was in Pans Labyrinth...amazing.

I then went on a nighthike in the Monte Verde cloudforest reserve, where we saw massive tarantulas, frogs, salamanders...


Next morning i was feeling educational so i went on a coffee farm tour which sure was coffee tastic (the best part of the tour was seeing a hummingbird).


I then headed to Alajuela where i stayed in a great hostel which was also an art studio and met some great germans, costa ricans and yanks. From alajuela its easy to get to Volcan Poas (the volcano you can drive to). After a testing 5 minute hike the crater was covered in cloud, but when it cleared it was incredible. Its got a acidy green crater lake which is bubbling and steaming furiously. It looked kind of like the beginning of life (or what i expect the beginning of life looked like).
There was a weird moment. whilst i was marveling at the crater, an american family were arguing about something hilariously stupid not even noticing the fact that there was an incredibly beautiful, natural masterpiece a few meters away. Due to the fact that i havent argued with anyone in 6.5months i found this strange behaviour, and i decided then that im never going to argue again.


Stayed in Sab Jose for a night in an excellent hostel with a swimming pool and rooftop bar. Met some brilliant folk- american girl i met in monte verde, and an English drama teacher and irish tour guide who together were taking 12 16yo's through central america. Very interesting, nice folk (they bought me beers and kept saying how everyone should be doing what im doing). After a 8 hour bus ride and a boat i arrived in Peninsula de Osa (the Osa Peninsula). I was there because i had heard from the mouths of several travellers that Corcovado National Park was the place to be. Corcovado is an area on the Osa Peninsula which was called 'the most bio-diverse place in the world' by national geographic. Its an area of primary tropical rainforest and beaches. After arranging with the hostel owners friend to guide us, i embarkked on a 4 day treck with a indian photographer, mexican and a german into the wild.

We all had to carry our food, clothes and water on our backs which made the trek even tougher. On the first day we walked only 2 hours to the first ranger station, but this was our entrance into the tropical rainforest and it was absolutely amazing.

The most pristine, dense rainforest ive seen, packed full of so much life its hard to handle- in this two hours we saw toucans, squirrel monkeys, hummingbirds, 'michael jackson birds', leafcutter and army ants, toads, spiders, snakes, parrots and many many other bird species (some endemic to Costa Rica). Also GLASS FROGS! These are amazing- you turn one upside down and its skin in translucent so you can see its heart beating.

The next day was tough- we trekked for 9.5hours from Los Patos rangers station to Sirena station. Your not allowed to do this route without a guide because its too dangerous. It was rediculiously muddy. probably the most muddy ive ever been. also the most tired. For sure the hardest walk ive ever done- a long way involving climbing over fallen trees, jumping over mud baths, wading through rivers and dodging colonies of army ants. The rainforest is so humid you start sweating after walking for 3 minutes. Just absolutely amazing how much you see (as well as gigantic trees with such crazily winding buttress roots they look like theyve been carved but a carpenter)- blue morphus butterflies (bigger than my head), hummingbirds, spider monkeys (throwing sticks at us), howler monkeys, giant orb spiders, wild pigs, many more unbelievably big ants, lizards, bats (including a crazy species which has evolved suction cups so it can stick inside a rolled up leaf), coaties....the list goes on. Also saw tapir, puma and jaguar footprints (its nearly the real thing..!) Day three we hiked around the rangers station and found a sloth, a crocodile, snake, iguana, anteater and pretty much all the other things.




Wondered over to the beach and watched an amazing sunset over the rainforest. Just when i was wondering how this could get any better, a turtle swam out of the sea and wondered up the beach towards us. This place is truly magical.
That night we managed to find a red eye tree frog (symbol of costa rica) which confirmed that we were indeed in costa rica and the real deal rainforest.
The final day we trekked for 8.5hours back along the beach and rainforest to Carate. Stunning scenery of the sea, beach and then wall of dense rainforest. Scarlet Macaws, parrots, white faced cappachin monkeys and finally a tapir! It was very massive and looked like what would happen if an elephant mated with a anteater.
4 different species of monkey we saw. This i found particulaly incredible (amazing to watch how they act in the wild. their like small hairy stick chucking lizard eating humans).





The amount of things we saw living in this perfect tropical rainforest really makes you marvel at nature and all the crazy things there are out there. i feel very lucky that i went to this place which many people would make it a lifelong goal to get to (or pay a lot of money), also the fact that the others became great friends by the end made it even better (if this is possible). This has got to have been one of the highlights of my trip.
Stayed 2 more nights in a local town with the mexican and indian (they bought me meals, drinks and a snorkelling trip because their amazing people) and the brilliant guide (Nito- he knew whatever you asked him and was a genius at finding stuff (literally he would notice something you would never even see with binoculars). He also made all the animal noises so they would come closer (i felt like i was in a david attenborough programme)).
What made it even cooler was that apparently this was where they filmed Jurassic Park.

Left the excellent land of the Rich Coast and headed to Panama. Very untouristy country and really beautiful. Stopped off in Bocos del Toro (archipelago on the caribbean) where i stayed in one of the best hostels. Activities: Partying every night, sleeping, swimming (deliciously clear water), hiring a guy to boat us over to amazing beaches on little islands, eating free pancakes... Went to this amazing party at 'Aqua Lounge' where we had to get a boat to get there. It had a sea swimming pool and was literally on the sea. amazing. met some really brilliant people (swedes (who cooked great food for me), germans, english, australian...).



And now here i am in my final spot, Panama City, which is really nice! There are massive sky scrapers but also really nice colonial parks and buildings.

I cant believe this is the end of the road. I cant even remember what englands like anymore (its hot and sunny right?!).
I remember one thing Alaster (cousin) told me before i left was that the people you meet in each place decides your experience more than the place itself, and i definitely agree. Ive met some of the best people of my life in the last 6.5months, friends for life that ill never forgot am sure ill see in the future. Amazing to think that you can become such good friends with people you only for a week or two (or day). So interesting to chat to people from so many different countries and learn about their cultures. It does remind you that there are so many brilliant people out there, and this is a main reason as to why i just want to travel more and more now, ofcourse as well to discover more incredible places in the world.
The things ive done blows my mind- most of which i never thought id do, and i cant even imagine if i had decided to not have a gap year...

The weird thing is everyone can do this, just save up some money and go (maybe easier said than done but still), and i dont understand why everyone doesnt. It has been the journey of a lifetime. Exceeded all expectations. and i feel like the luckiest guy in the world.

Con mucho amor mi amigos,
Simon

Volcano Boarding, Motorbiking & Hammerhead Sharking...

Its been a while i admit, and after a worried email or ten from the mum ive decided to update..
ALOT has happened in the last few weeks, and its up there with the best time of the trip.
After more fun times in Leon, involving hilariously random theatre in the parque central, amazing 1.50pound breakfasts (called Tipico: Gallo Pinto (rice and beans), plantains, cheese, coffee), real cool dutch, swedish and isrealie folks...and ofcourse VOLCANO BOARDING! This was amazing. So we hiked up Volcan Cerro Negro which is completely black from all the ash (its very active) with our boards (planks of wood with some rope), trekked through the crater which was really incredible...sulphur smelling steam all around you, rising up from the ground.



It looked like mars. If you touch the floor you can easily burn yourself. the view from the top was really amazing (you could see a string of volcanoes in the distance, and also where the ash suddenly stops and a line of forest begins). We then grabbed our boards, put on gloves, goggles and a suit, and boarded down the ash on the side of the volcano. Rediculously fun, and i went pretty darn fast. Bits of ash flicking up in your face, racing down the side of an active volcano with one of the best views ive seen...(am i making you jelous yet?). For sure something i never thought id do!

I ended up next in Granada, and more gringoie city which is pretty much the same as Antigua (guatemala) but not quite so good. Had an excellent time though, partying with nice germans, canadians and taiwanese and swimming in the hotel pool next door (it was insanely hot here...literally rediculous). I then made my way to Isla de Ometepe which is a island in the middle on Lago de Nicaragua, made up of two volcanoes. Absolutely incredible place with incredibly picturesque views wherever your head turns. The first day i saw some sort of fiesta where cowboys were attempting to ride angry bulls, with local kids spitting and throwing litter on them. interesting. Then in a place nearby (Charo Verde) I went for a hike and bumped into a group of howler monkeys who let me have lunch with them (i didnt eat their monkey food). On the way back i met some great canadian women (at least 50..) who offered to buy me a beer (ended up being 2 beers and some cake), and we chatted about politics. These are the things that keeps us lone travellers going!
Next place on the island was Santo Domingo where i met some friends from Leon (the brilliant Dutch girls and an american guy i met in Xela), where we decided to rent motorbikes. The motorbike guy told us the basics (this is the clutch, this is the brake, these are the gears....go!) and you catch on very quickly (well i did, but then again i guess im english..). This has got to have been one of the funnest things of the trip so far. We biked all around the island, through mud puddles, over rocks, through fields....with locals staring at us (suprised that gringos can ride motorbikes too..!). it was suprising easy and with the views of the volcanoes, an unforgettable experience.

When we returned, there was the most amazing sunset, with everything a weirdly beautiful orange.


Next day, me, judith (german girl who was on my bike) and mike went to Merida (otherside of the island) to climb half way up Volcan Maderas to a waterfall. Really brilliant with the giant waterfall and howler monkeys everywhere.

I then went and spent a day on an organic farm, where i saw an amazing sunset from a watchtower (involving the sun setting over the side of Volcano Concepcion, and fireflys lighting up all around you) and worked on the farm for 20% off my bed.

The bread and mango chutney here was incredible.

I then came back to Managua (the capital) and flew on a small plane to the Corn Islands. these are these amazingly perfect caribbean islands off the north coast of Nicaraga. i stayed in a beach hut for C$100 a night, where if i walked 5 seconds from my door, i would be at the sea.
It looked like what you imagine paradise to look like...perfect white sand beaches, coconut palms hanging over, incredibly clear water which was almost warmer than outside.


Spent many a day lying on the beach, swimming in the sea, climbing up trees to collect coconuts and then banging them on rocks to drink the milk and eat the flesh. I met some really brilliant people here (Darius&Martius the germans, Julie&Sif the danish, Fabio the brazilian, Rebecca&Trish and some more canadians), and apart from collecting coconuts, bread fruit and sleeping, little was done.
Ate some great food though; Ron Don (the local speciality- fish soup with lobster, fish, shrimps, plantains, uka...), more lobster, coconut bread..... So much fresh seafood im suprised i dont look like some sort of fish (including 2 barracuda, a king fish and a spanish mackerel which we caught!). Actually one meal we had was the fresh fish we caught that day from the sea, bread fruit id picked that day from the tree, and plantains picked from the island. I love the caribbean.
We stayed on little corn the whole time (theres big corn aswell, which is where im typing this from) because its alot nicer. The atomosphere is so friendly and relaxed (oh you want to go fishing? go and talk to Elvis in Bridgets place..etc). So you get to know the locals very quickly (many friends including Coconut man, fishing man, empanada man and hammock man).
We also went snorkelling (as theres an amazing coral reef next to the island), and finally saw a HAMMERHEAD SHARK! Yeah! Ive finally conquered my shark fear! It was quite far beneath us, but looked so amazing (and you could still see it really clearly because the water is perfectly clear)- massive and worryingly powerful (considering we paddled out in just a canoe).
Also went on a night dive, which was absolutely insane. Its completely dark so you have a torch. Loads of lion fish, also octopus, and masssssive turtle... Also there was a thing called Bioluminescence which is basically when all the little algae lights up all around you and you feel like your swimming through the stars. Really incredible.


And now here i am on Big Corn waiting for my flight back to Managua and from there ill head down to Costa Rica (tomorrow). I have a rediculously short amount of time left, its too depressing to think about (although dont worry i am looking forward to seeing you england folks).

Update next from the Rainforest! Adios de Simòn

Oh and....

When i posted the last entry it was before I did the 2 free fun dives in Utila, due to what these dives were like, i feel its necessary to update the blog again now...

These dives were possibly (and i know im saying this alot) one of the most amazing things ive experienced. By this time I was quite good underwater, and i could relax and swim around, rather than worrying about breathing and equalizing etc. I was chasing fish through the coral reef (the reef is absolutely amazing- the most crazy looking coral youve ever seen, and every colour you can imagine), lying on the ocean floor looking up at Eagle Rays gliding casually above me, spotting massive Green Moray Eels coming out of their little holes within the coral. We also saw a ship wreck which was so incredible...it was covered in coral and life of all types. I spent a while gliding around it, peering through windows and suprising giant fish of some sort (It must be weird for them to see a massive human with fins and a tank of air peering into their homes...). By this time I had finished my Open Water and so am now officially a Open Water Diver!...and can dive anywhere in the world! (I plan to go to Israel for the Red Sea next, then Australia for some Great barrier reef and 'shrimp on the barbie'). Unfortunately we didnt see the Hammerhead shark which was in the area, but maybe that was for the best (I still have all my limbs)

I also forgot to write about how i knew Utila would be a party time...before i even got off the boat, i was invited to a beach party. At the party i chatted to the DJ who was telling me how he loved Dubstep (type of music) (he was very jelous im from Bristol (the home of Dubstep))...he also said he liked Guido (Guy- helena's (my friends) brother), so there we were dancing to Guido on a beach on a Honduran Island.

Oh and i forgot to say, im in Nicaragua now. Me and a friend from Utila (26 year old Financial man from NYC) travelled down here over the past few days. We stayed in a hostel which was also a micro-brewry on the way (so good to have real great beer (ale) after many a bad honduran beer) and am now in Leon which is an abolsutely brillant city. So Honduras....cool place and what i noticed is that theres many more black people there (mostly Garifuna- decendants of slaves on St Vincent who the British dumped on the Bay Islands because they rebelled), and also they love Baleadas (tortillas stuffed with beans, vegetables, and meat).

Its rediculous; you do insane things that you never thought youd ever do like sleep ontop of a remote mayan temple surrounded by monkeys and rainforest or jump of a cliff into a massive crater lake surrounded by volcanoes, and you think 'surely this insanity cant continue?!' but then things always come up: diving with coral reefs in the Caribbean sea etc.
Not long left but i dont care because im having the best time. Let me know how you folks are.


Love 'n' stuff
Señor Simon

Hugging policemen and the like

HELLO!
Yes tis Simon and im no longer in the brilliant country of Guatemala, but in the steamily hot, rainforest & coral reef filled, cowboy country of Honduras! Que Bueno!


At the mo im on a coolcool island of the north of Honduras (in the Caribbean) called Utila- one of the Bay Islands. Its pretty developed and is for sure a party island, however the main thing here is scuba diving. Which ofcourse im doing!
Im doing the PADI Open Water course which is 3.5days, and is cheapcheapcheap (the dive school gives you accomodation and 2 fun dives free). The first day you have to do all the videos and learning stuff (so you dont get decompression sickness (where you lungs explode) etc) but then you get in the water. Its incredible. Breathing underwater is the weirdest thing. It takes a while to get used to equalizing (holding your nose and blowing), so that the pressure in your ears releases, but once youve got it its fan-diddley-tastic. Yesterday was the best so far- im definitely getting used to it, so i was swimming around (obviously with the instructor and the group) right next to the coral reef surrounded by crazy looking fish, and taking a close look at the reef and all the weird looking plants and animals around it. [we saw angel fish, sting ray, barracuda, butterfly fish and a million others. Also yesterday some people saw a hammerhead shark so today hopefully we can see that (and i can get over my intense shark phobia)]. But yeah it like a completely different world that youve just discovered.
So yeah, brilliant lifestyle of diving in the day, partying at night.


So where have i beeeeeen...hmmmm, oh yeah ok so from San Pedro in Lake Atitlan, we (me, naiomi (the leeds-bristol girl) and aussies (from the treck)) went to Santa Cruz la Laguna on the lake still and stayed in a cool hostel with banana trees and the biggest mosquito ive ever seen (literally i reckon bigger than my face). Hung around, met some bristolians (we seem to be pretty avid travellers) who knew some of my friends, trekked to a waterfall...
We then went to San Marcos la Laguna, where we jumped off some high cliffs into the lake. This was truely incredible with the view of the lake and volcanoes surrounding.

There was a bad side though. As we were jumping off (and i swear at least one person was always sitting at the top), mine and Ians (aussie) daybags got stolen. Pretty annoying considering i lost my camera, watch, raincoat (still havent found another one), some money and the bag (luckily though, they did leave on the path my tin of sardines). So we went to the local police expecting a lot of effort, when actually they were definitely the nicest policement ive ever met. He happily typed us up a report each, and also as the other policemen were watching the football and argentina scored, we all took part in a group hug. Possibly the best police experience ive ever had. Maybe we have something to learn from them.

We then didnt want to spend the night in Panajachel (on the lake also) so I wrote 'Antigua' on a piece of paper i found in a bread basket and held it up. 5 minutes later we got a lift in the back of a pickup past amazing waterfalls to a random crossroads where we got a bus to some random town where we held on to the outside of a chicken bus to Antigua.
Unfortunately in Antigua I got a bit ill (stomach pain, nausea etc) and had to rest for a few days (damn it! i finally got the illness! i thought i was some sort of amazingly healthy man). I then headed to Copan Runias (via Guatemala City, where after getting out of taxi to the bus station, at leat 10 men were shouting 'Chiquimula!' 'Antigua!' 'Copan!' etc as loud as they could in my face, while trying to take my bag to their buses, i only got by by shouting 'Un momento!', 'Silencio' etc.)...a small, very pretty town just in the Honduran lands. Met some cool folk (one of which-a high school teacher in the US- said hes going to tell and inspire his class about me because hes so impressed that im travelling alone for 6months...sweet).
From there i went up to the North and stayed in a little jungle lodge for 3 days (next to the Pico Bonito National Park).



I got there in a chicken bus, crammed full of hondurans, heading into the rainforest (i wondered if this was a good idea, considering i didnt really know where i was going). It was really cool- right in the Honduras rainforest, next to a big river. I went white-water rafting one day which was absolutely brilliant. So fast and fun going over these massive rapids (some were class 5). I fell out once and got trapped under the boat which was a brilliantly exhilarating experience.
I then headed to La Ceiba (port for Bay Islands), and decided (by the persuasion of 2 cool americans), 1 hour before the boat left, to go to Utila.

So here i am!
Leaving tomorrow to make my way to Nicaragua (should take me a day or two) and see what happens than. Havent got long left at all so i want to be speedy and make it to Costa Rica for funfun times there (the only thing is everywhere is so amazing!).

Love to all from the Caribbean
Simon

Tropical Storm Number 2: Alex

¡BUENAS! Well its been a while and the reason is clear; Guatemala is clearly the best country ive ever been to.

So my last week or so in Xela was great, and consisted of primarily these things:

= Going to a natural sauna. The steam comes directly from the volcano underneath, and when you walk outside to escape the heat, an incredible view awaits you of clouds pouring over the mountains of this tiny mayan village.

= Ignacio Pèrez Borrel from Buena Vista Social Club performed in La Parranda (salsa/reggaeton club). It was amazing. Eventhough hes 70 he was leading the way on the drumming and percussion (i dont know if youve heard great salsa but the percussion is always in a crazy beat) and we all danced salsa right infront of him and his band (Buena Vista de Corazòn). I shook his hand and got a photo with him.

= My graduation from my spanish school (which id grown to love) was superfantastisch. The theme of the party was songs, so we all had to bring a spanish song to sing, but me and simon forgot and so had to dance on the table (these are the rules) to simons brilliant drum&bass/dubstep/techno music. Twas sad to leave my brilliant teacher (Willberth Gonzalez) also.

So Xela was incredible....i didnt know life could get that good.




On Sunday, lots of us from the school climbed Volcàn Santa Maria. it started well with all ten of us crammed into the back of a pick up (one guy was 6'8 tall) along mud roads. The volcano was a challenging trek and took us 3.5hours to get up, but the views were insane (and luckily simon(#2) brought cereal and milk power), and half way up we encountered a group of mayans praying loudly on the side of the volcano, moaning words in Quichè (a mayan language) and looking histerical.
In the afternoon me and simon danced salsa with the woman in the cafe and her friend.

So on monday i went to a small Quichè village in the mountains called Pachaj to help on a reforestation project. I wasnt really shore what to expect but it was incredible. i stayed with a local family who were rediculously nice and hospitable. They only spoke spanish (and Quichè) which was interesting, but actually it was easier than i thought. Què bueno. I stayed up there for 5 days and everyday i had tortillas and maiz tea (which tasted like something died in it, but ofcourse i had to pretend to like it. actually i quite liked it by the end). Also lots of mosh. Estela (the mother) taught me how to make tortillas and cook them on her fire/stove (for some reason mine tasted weird and were raw inside...).
There was no shower there, so everyday (without me asking) Estela heated up a pot of water on the fire which i had to pour over myself with a bowl. Along with the candle in the bathroom (well outside concrete shack), showering was a pretty weird experience.
They found it very hard to say the names Sue and Ralph, and were shocked when i told them i didnt believe in the devil.

Pachaj landscape is incredìble; surrounded by mountains and volcanoes and located literally at cloud level (clouds are constantly drifting through the village). Theres also fields of maiz everywhere.
The co-ordinator of the project, Elmando,(proyecto Chico Mendes)was such a great, inspirational man. the sunday before they planted 5000 trees on the local mountain, and there were 10000 waiting to go out. One day we trekked up the mountain (me, elmando, claudia (his daughter), daisy (fellow volunteer) and 100 school kids), each with 2 trees in hand (200 in total) and planted them on an area at the top where theres intense deforestation (which means more landslides, less nature and really bad water problems for the local communities).

Me and Daisy had a moment where we just thought- this is extremely random and incredible:- holding two trees, surrounded by 100 guatemalan kids, on top of a mountain-with insane views of volcanoes- in a crazy little guatemalan village.
I planted my own tree next to the project (called Simòn) like all the volunteers do.
There was also the most amazing lightning ive ever seen, and without rain or thunder.

Two more weird things:
-Everyone says adios (goodbye) rather than hola (hello)
- Before you leave the table (or floor) after eating you have to say Gracias to everyone, for which they reply Buen Provecho.

It was sad to leave my family here and Estela kept saying 'Yo voy estar muy triste' (im going to be very sad).
I came back from Pachaj to Xela for one night (incredibly good to see Simon, Aoife (irish girl), Willberth and my other friends and my family again) and partied before embarking the next moring on a 3 day hike to Lago de Atitlàn (i had 2 hours sleep). We had to carry big, heavy rucksacks full of food, clothes, sleeping bags/mats...everything we needed, and i think the first day of hiking (up steep mountains) was one of the hardest hikes ive ever done. It was rediculous though, the walk led us through mayan villages, up mountains, through cloud forests.
However there was a slight issue. Half was through day 1 a second tropical storm hit guatemala (Alex) and there was horrendous rain, bringing mudslides and making the trail impossible. So after spending the first night on the floor of a municipal building of a crazy small village somewhere between Xela and Atitlàn, the second day we got a ride in the back of a pickup to the next stop. The final day it wasnt raining in the morning so we hiked nearly to the last part to the lake. (see picture, as too hard to descibe the view awaiting us). but then the rain started again and we had to get a ride for the very last bit (which was also very dangerous, with landslides, the road crumbling away and rivers running everwhere), but finally we reached the lake (by tuktuk) and here we are in San Pedro La Laguna. The lakes very beautiful (actually a crater lake), surrounded by volcanoes and little villages.
The storms still over us so its impossible to do anything outside (but tomorrow we want to go kayaking), and tomorrow im going to the next village with a english girl (who lives in leeds and is going to bristol uni ironically).
Last night we all went to an amazing Isrealie restaurant, and the two isrealies (one of which is constantly playing brilliant bob dylan songs on guitar and harmonica) with us chose amazing hummus, falafals and pita bread.


Ive just realised ive only got 2months left so i want to go into honduras asap (to venture into some rainforest and get kidnapped by drug lords).

Until next time!
Simon x

Ingles con Señor Simon

Buenas! Todas aqui esta muy bien!


Yes i am in Xela (Quetzaltenango)! This brilliant city in Southern Guatemala. Its not as 'tourist pretty' (or touristy) as Antigua, but because it much more genuine it's a really cool place to experience real Guatemala and learn spanish tambien.
I've been here over a week now and I don't ever want to leave. Im staying with a local family (Miriam, Maria, Anejandra, Beatrice, Gabrielle & Estuardo), who are the most friendly and funny people ive encountered for many a day. and have my own room, which ive 'simonized' with pictures and stuff on the walls. It feels like I properly live here now. Brilliant. The school is really good; its 1 on 1 for 5 hours a day. Yo pienso que mi espanol es mucho mas bueno ahora. Theres activities everyday which are great. Last week we went to a local primary school and taught english to young kids. My class was apparently very calm compared to the rest (maybe this is a sign..)...it was rediculously fun teaching to these kids. They were so eager to learn!! At the end they surrounded us and bombarded us with questions; One kid asked (in espanol): "Senor Simon, what is frijol in english?", "Bean.." I say, "Like Mr Bean?", "Yes! Exactly" I say, "Senor Frijol Senor Frijol!!". Funny times.

We also went to this place called Zunil - a small indigenous village just outside of Xela. I wasnt expecting much but it was insane. We went into what looked like a house, but inside, surrounded by flowers and people praying, was a lifesize figure of a white man dressed in a cowboy hat and boots, sunglasses, a lit cigarette, scarves and rubber gloves. This is San Simon.


The mayans here regard him as holy. Extremely weird. Upstairs was a room full of smoke and fire. All along one wall was a firepit with massive flames. People were praying while tossing on seeds (for good harvests) and alcohol. One family was being protected by having a egg rubbed over them (weirdly the father was also on his mobile at the same time- seems to be that globalisation has caught up here). There was a real human skeleton behind bars at one end, dressed like the grim reaper. People were lighting cigars of the fire and then puffing non stop while praying. Hard to see and breath so we left. Incredible (and also extremely weird) to be in a place of such intense religious practises.


So you might of heard that that volcano i climbed and toasted marshmallows on last week (Pacaya) has erupted. So far three people are dead, more missing and more than 2000 people evacuated. Its covered the whole of guatemala city with ash (7cm in areas) and the airports closed. When i heard this i couldnt believe it...last week I was toasting marshmallows on it innocently! and now its erupting violently. crazy. Ever since I arrived here last weekend its been raining. It got worse and worse and a few days ago it was raining non stop. Eventually we heard why. There was a tropical storm/hurricane heading our way. It passed over guatemala city and up the country but the main centre managed to miss here. The flooding was intense though, the streets were literally like rivers and lots of people lost their houses. The clubs were full of ankle deep water (which made dancing even more fun). The newspapers have 'Emergencia" written everwhere. Theres been alot of destruction of houses and villages, and theres mudslides and guatemala city has massive holes in the ground... Incredible to be in this crazy country! Depite all this however, people were still dacing salsa in the supermarket.

I spend alot of time here with friends from the school, eating choco-bananas, climbing the surrounding hills, slouching in cafes with amazing guatemalan coffee, oh yeah and dancing salsa. Im learning salsa at the moment with classes everyday; its brilliantly fun and means that when you go out later you can actually join in with everyone else. Its very different to bars/clubs in england, everyone dances salsa, and no matter where you go salsa is always played. Its also much easier to grab a partner and dance because everyone dances the same dance! (also i think being a 'crazy-looking' gringo helps) Everyone just has a great time.
Theres one other student staying in my house, Simon the Swiss man, who is possibly the coolest person ive ever met in several long years. We're thinking of buying a cheap car and driving to Nicaragua (theres a hilariously small chance this will actually happen...but the thoughts cool!)


Today we have a cooking class which should be interesting considering i cant even cook english food (although i do make a darn good lemon drizzle cake). We were supposed to be climbing Volcán Santa Maria tomorrow, but because of Pacaya all volcanoes in Guatemala are restricted for climbing for 2 weeks encase they erupt.

Not sure when im going to leave here (know knows maybe not for 3 months...) but i want to go to Lago de Atitlan next for some paragliding fun.

¡Pero tengo que ir porque hoy es viernes y hay muchos fiestas (y tengo que bailar salsa ahora)
Hablar mas tarde


Simon x

Caves, Waterfalls, Volcanoes and dancing in the rain

Buenas Tardes folks

I seem to have travelled pretty far in the last few weeks...from mid Belize to southern Guatemala. Because yes here I am in beautiful, friendly, clean, happy, intriguing, picturesque, expensive, secretive, volcano engulfed Antigua! Its insanely similar to San Cristobal in Mexico, and does feel so much more Mexican than Guatemalan. Its just so clean and cool. Theres amazing little cafes and bookshops and local craft shops everywhere. Just walking down the street and you peer into so many really pretty little gardens and brilliant places to sit with a book and 'waste' away the day.

Anyho....oh yeah, so I went from Dangriga in Belize down to Punta Gorda which is the place to get boats into Guatemala. After trecking around for a bit only finding hotels (and encountering a local who came up to me and said he worked for the voluntary police and i should buy him some milk and bread) I found a cool little hotel (no hostels here) where I spent a few days chatting with the owner about British politics- she loved Nick Clegg (or just 'Nick' as she called him). Oh yeah and I cant believe David Cameron is Prime Minister! So weird, although admittidly it doesnt seem to be very relevent to my life at the moment. Also danced some Garifuna dance to brilliant Garifuna drumming with local Garifuna women. Interesting times.


Left the great country of Belize ("where ya guanin white boi?"), with an Australian and Kiwi i met, and entered Livingston, Guatemala. Its a small town with not so much to do but the hostel was real cool; poker fun, pub quizes, movies, family dinners, local racoon. And best of all everthing was put on a tab so you didnt have pay for it until the end! Common phrase: 'No money now?! OK one more beer!'(this was also very dangerous....the day i left wasnt a happy day). The mosquitos and sandflies here were intense though...they seem to have got over the whole fear of deet thing. Me and some folk trekked to the Siete Altares one day, which was just loads of pools and waterfalls engulfed by jungle. I also met some Israli folk who taught me 'Yanniv!' the best card game ever....mainly because me and a German guy who was there just shouted Yanniv lots for no reason.

I then made my way to Lanquin with 2 Canadian girls i met on the bus (larissa & alexandra). A really nice little town in the hills of mid Guat with a really nice hostel (although cockroaches and scorpians also). The reason to go here is for the pools and cave at Semuc Champey. This was truely incredible. I know I often over exaggerate things like this but literally it would be impossible to over exaggerate this.
The pools are very similar to Plitvice lakes in Croatia; rediculously clear located in the middle of a lush jungle valley with impressive mountains surrounding it. Amazing to have a swim after a sweatysweaty treck up to the viewpoint (see pic).

There were also crazy fish which nippèd at your legs sucking off the nutrients (i guess), you couldnt help but giggle out loud (i got some weird looks from guatemalans). We then went to the caves. I pretty sure their called Kan'Ba, and are filled with a freezing river. You cant bring in headlamps because you have to swim alot and your head goes fully under. So we had candles. It was just me, the canadian girls and the cave guide. Unbelievably atmospheric...i did feel like i was exploring the cave for the first time. We had to swim through this freezing water, whilst holding candles in the air, trying the look around to see the amazing stalletites as well. Jumped off the cave wall into the river, squeezed through many holes, slid down many slides. It was really tough but incredibly fun. Definitely one of the best things ive done so far.
As if this wasnt enough, we also swang off a massive rope swing into the river outside (Alexandra landed on her face and her 'bit of skin that connects your lip to the roof of your mouth' fell off. It was hilarious (obviously she didnt think so)! I then jumped off a bridge. We hitched a ride back to Lanquin and had a nap. Incredible day. I also randomly met this girl i keep bumping into (the one who fell of the cliffs in Mazunte...not sure if i mentioned that).
The rest of the time we also went tubing (sit in an inner tube and float down the river) and went to the Lanquin caves where we waited until dark and saw thousands of bats retreat the cave in search of food.
You could feel them brushing past your face. crazyness. On the walk back in rained very heavily, and due to my innate English act of loving rain, me and the canadians danced in the rain with all the locals standing and staring (we tried to get them to dance but they were too embarrased). They literally thought we were insane. Brilliant fun though.
The hostel had an English food buffet night but i decided that i could afford it (Q50- 4pounds or so=expensive here). I spent alot of time with Alexandra and Larissa so it was sad when they left, but were arranging to meet in Honduras.


From there got a bus down here to Antigua. Antigua is great though; its surrounded by 3 volcanoes, one of which is active.
Yesterday we trekked up Volcano Pacaya (may have read this in Helenas blog), which was spewing lava and smoke. Absolutely incredible to see lava up close, and it was properly flowing as well.


We roasted marshmallows, but not for long otherwise youd have no eyebrows (the heat was the most intense ive ever felt). Today me and this really cool Israli and Bristolian (yes Bristolian) hiked up to a stunning view point over the city. You could see the closest volcano looming over Antigua, and with the cross on the hill it made for a simon-tastic photo. I remember reading about this and seeing the photo on Alasdairs blog (my cousin), and thinking 'wow that looks insane i would love to be there', so really cool to be there. Me and the guys and thinking of doing a 2day hike up a different volcano tomorrow (has to be with a local man with a machete because its not safe) but who knows. I want to get to Xela to meet a friend and do a spanish course but as i say 'theres no rush'! (although i only have 3.5 months left).


Im sure all is boring where you are, but hopefully your lack of excitment makes my adventures seem even more exciting...!

And incase you were wondering my health is tiptop. I seem to be the only person ive talked to who hasnt got some sort of stomach craziness/ diarrhoea.

Thinking about what Lucila (from flores jungle treck) said a while ago about how you have to stop every now and again and just think 'i am having the time of my life and i am so happy'. This is definitley the situation.

Habla mas tarde

Love Simòn x