Women's Island With a name like that, it has to be good, right?  Well, the name comes from some Mayan goddess figurines found on the south ...

I guess I should finish this...Now, This Is A LocationI'm always interested by the difference between how one imagines a place and reality.  A...

Into The Cayes Belize is rightly famous for a group of small islands attached to an enormous barrier reef.  The islands are called Cayes and ...

Expensive? Now then, Belize.  Many of those I met on the road were not going to Belize because it is viewed as expensive. Well, that depends ...

I really don't know where to start, this place is fabulous. Yes, it can be hot (41 degrees celcius in the shade when I was there) so take lots of w...

Situated on the lakeside of Peten Itza, this place is a lovely little wooden building with large rooms, a small restaurant and a dock going straigh...

Mein Gott I couldn't quite believe it when I rocked up in El Remate.  The reason I was here was a chance encounter with a swiss couple within...

Into the Valley of Death OK, a bit melodramatic, but the journey to El Estor from Lanquin was fabulous.  Must dig a photo or too out.  A...

Warm Waterfalls El Estor is great for some of the places close by.  About 20km out of town towards Rio Dulce is a place called El Paraiso and...

This place is fabulous, simple as that. Sleeping accommodations are a number huts on stilts rising up the side of a river bank. I got a single roo...

If You Are In Guatemala, You Should Come HereIt gets a separate review, but El Retiro must make the list of the World's Top Ten Hostels. Lanquin is...

Copán in RuinsSo these are Mayan ruins. Mr Hill, you need to come to this part of the world if life allows the priviledge. Really, it is incredibl...

Really, you boys have the minds of gutters. Yes, O Jail Bait! Can Be Rearranged Into a Town Name on Lake AtitlanHowever, as far as I could tell thi...

Romanesque Firstly, ask yourself what you like. If the answer to that question is lounging around all day in cheap eateries, bars and hostels, acq...

ERIC! For me, Antigua doesn't appear on the city list when I am looking to validate - had to add it myself. Anyway... So, Antigua, my third colo...

I like this place. Indeed, if I had had more time, I may well have stayed here a few weeks and done a bit of work. It's yer standard hostel for y...

They Certainly Like Their "El's" Here  There is nothing at El Zonte bar a reef point break, a surf camp and a couple of restaurants - a wonder...

There is Something About ItI have this thing about place names that make me want to go there.  I don't really know what it is, some connatatio...

For Once, People Are RightOne of the things that I have concluded about this travelling lark is you have to make your own mind up about places.&nbs...

Dear Simon and Ria: I didn't go on the volcano slide, it looks frankly dangerous and I am concerned about the environmental impacts.  Plus, th...

Monkey BeardsOne thing I have learnt is that hostel choice needs to match mood.  So if I am feeling quiet and contemplative, holing up in the ...

Brown Lakes......Should be smelly, right?  This one isn't but is merely brown.  It is cool to swim in (and needs to be at times, Nicaragu...

Just look at the HorizonBy Christ, Lake Nicaragua is a choppy mother. As soon as we slipped the concrete harbour at San Jorge (and the attendent sc...

OK, this is a bit of a behemoth.  I thought I'd write a summary of the country as I found it now I'm leaving it.  Although life is full o...

Exit Stage NorthI've had a wander around in San Jose today just to say adios to a few places.  It's sort of sad and sort of exciting too...

The only really good City Centre bar I found in San Jose, Bar Morazan (sorry, the accents have gone on me keyboard) twinkles like a disco light thr...

Bang in the centre of San Jose is the Q Cafe. Really, you simply cannot get any more central as it is on one of the corners of Avenida Central and...

Check me out - going to fancy nightclubs at my age. El Retrovisor seems to be a hang out for youth and university types. It was a little bit like...

There is a sign outside of the Dominical Backpackers Hostel up the side street to a Caribbean restaurant. Do yourself a favour and follow it, this...

Just a hundred metres or so down from the beautiful old hostel is Tortilla Flats, an American owned restaurant and cabina set up. It has an open b...

Adios Uvita, Bienvenidos DominicalOK, I've been avoiding here for a reason.  I met a bloke in Jacó who had learned to surf in Dominical and h...

Frankly, a bit of a dump. And an insecure one at that. Its location is superb, a literal stones throw from one of Costa Rica's prime surfing beac...

I feel slightly bad about this review because I was in a bit of a mood when I stayed here, however........ As in blog entry, you lied to me peop...

All liesNow then, one of the many things that gets my goat is being lied to.  Just go to the wesbsite of the Tucan Hotel for me.  Now,...

Welcome to the Latter Half of the ThirtiesAs well as being the day Jeffery Dahlmer was convicted for his heinous crimes, February 17th marks my day...

120 (Sea) Horse PowerMy first day in the tent camp (see separate review) was spent in the Corcovado National Park - a vast expanse of low-level...

OK, I've put "average" as the price because although it is $65 a night, that does include stuff like all meals, equipment hire (kayaks, snorkels, e...

PhewI was beginning to worry.  I'm thinking about my best/worst things about Costa Rica and was considering adding in Granada as best plac...

Scary if you think about itSan José sits in a vast bowl formed by chains of volcanos and mountains.  Right about now is precisely the...

Four-by-Four's rock... And so we began to descend back down the slope until... Diego had spotted a small turn off on the way up, so we swung in...

YukHeh, been looking to use that title for ages. This will be a hangover then?  One of those classic ones where little rememberences of th...

Crazy WorldAs promised from earlier in the blog, I made a weekend visit to the Jazz Café and it turned out to be another freakish cultural experie...

Well, this is the final trip I shall take to Jacó local surfing spot and centre of Costa Rican whoredom.  It is noteworthy for two rather o...

What, pray tell, is that? I hear you ask.  Well, it is a dance school which I now patronise every Tuesday and Wednesday.  I thought it ...

Jazz CaféSo what better to do after an hour and a half treading on womens' toes than visit a bar?  I've seen this place a number of tim...

So, I'm holed up in the Hostel Oasis with me old mucker Rob.  The hostel is a sprawling Colonial buiding with really high ceilings, a smal...

Perception SchmepsonI was a bit concerned about visiting Tamarindo, but that shows you how much value one can place in other peoples' opinions.&n...

Who'd have thought staying in a room that looked like it was part of a converted lorry cargo container could be so cool?  For US$8 a night, ...

Tina´s place is alright.  The cabin is quite nice and we had a large glass window.  However, only Rob could really enjoy the starry ni...

Treking, Sort OfFive hours on horseback hurts one´s arse, official. By Jiminy, it was fun though.  We left Monteverde and descended int...

Smoking ConesRather than stay in La Fortuna (the town close to the volcano), my fellow travelers and I spent our three days in some ...

Extremely quiet with fabulous views of the active side of the volcano. The room was pretty big and had a fridge with en suite bathroom.&nbs...

This place is cool.  It has a bar/restaurant with reasonable food and nightly films (although we were unlucky enough to see Spiderman 2 twice ...

Christmas started early with the arrival of Mr Tony Clifford from England. I introduced him to the delights of San José, including the discovery o...

OK, all the following business is stuff I have been reading, listening to, eating, etc...Books"The God Delusion"; Richard Dawkins. Dissecting rel...

Today, I saw two pigs roped to the top of a bus.  The Nicaraguans didn´t know what I was laughing at. 

San Juan del SurSo then, San Juan, or should we say Saint John of the Sea - quite apt. I came here to learn a bit more Spanish.  A week´s int...

Volcano spotting isn´t very difficultHaving not visited Nicargua before, it was with some excitment that I boarded the bus in San José heading fo...

It would seem I have been involved in an earthquake. Now, at the moment, I live in the offices where I work.  I don´t mean I have a mattress ...

I feel a rant coming on.  Now, I understand we live in an age of communication.  Electronic systems are professed to make our lives easie...

The last hotel of the round-Costa-Rica jaunt was very nice indeed, if a little dark.  I put this down to the huge room and the inadequate up...

OK, this place is like an upmarket Butlins.  You get a chalet, complete with balcony view of the volcano.  Apparently, I was lucky to...

I think this was my favourite hotel of the whole jaunt. Set on a mountainside, the views from the balcony were fabulous.  When the clouds lift...

Originally, I said this place is yellow.  However, in reality it seems it was actually orange. Anyway, decent enough room and a very usefu...

A great place in a great little village. After clambering up a steep incline, the cabin was seen with a nice patio, repleat with hammock.  As ...

Mmm, distinctly underwhelmed by this place. It is a decent enough stopover joint, and has a gret shower. Plus, the breakfast is really good. B...

But surely you´re on a year long one?  Not so fast, muchacho - I am actually working here y´know. Just so you can be a-envious of where I´m...

Scene:  1 am on a hot Pacific night. The taxis cruise slowly looking for fares, bars shed noise onto the street and mosquitoes buzz in the bro...

1. Sinus cleansing:  Several hours after falling off into the sea, some of that water still discharges from one´s nose.  Usually in a ...

Cabinas Chuck is a pretty good place for surfers in so much as you can hire boards (they cost more than the rooms!) and even store them there i...

Surf or Smurf?Hellfire, how did I end up here?  Well, alright, there was one reason - the surf.  For a learner like me, the beaches of Ja...

The Ciros Bar comes up trumps again.  This is my first bar experience of Central American football and it was fun.  The score could qui...

So Eric (fellow volunteer hailing from Medford, Oregon) and I got on a bus to go to the seaside. The Puntarenas station in San José seems to hav...

I´ve decided I like this place.  Yes, it is really security conscious.  People who have ever lived in Liverpool will recognise the ant...

Oh the joys of barflydom.  Joey is an American bloke who owns a bar. A bar where I have had some "firsts".1. The first time (and hopefully l...

These islands are gorgeous and, as we speak, are being sold bit by bit to American (and the odd British) property speculators. Now, I am not...

I can´t think of many better ways of spending a day.  Get there at 9:30, pile aboard and meet some new people, then spend an hour or so wit...

Name: Carlos JimenezAge: 46Nickname: The Toothless JackalIn one line...: In relentless and utterly futile pursuit of blonde, gringo womenPerson...

Sixaola.  A true border town - a place you have to go to but wouldn´t normally choose to visit. It´s dusty, watchful and transitory. ...

I feel it is time to write about my new local. From the outside (and indeed from the inside) it really is nothing to write home about. In fact,...

A lonely star appearsBefore any others show a faceI will return to the firstAlthough one becomes fiftyCombining in shapes sweet to the eyeThe first...

This is what I needed after the solitude of the farm.  Cahuita village is great.  Small, not a great deal going on, beautiful and letha...

This is a good place.  The rooms are a bit dark, although the one I had was very large.  It also had the ubiquitous "suicide shower" and ...

So I found myself in the middle of a Rainforest on a farm.  The word "secluded" certainly applies.  Finca Lomas lies a 20-minute walk a...

Yellow coral beaches, swinging palms, hammocks and Caribbean bars.  This place should be gorgeous, right?  Well it is.  And it isn...

Boy, oh boy.  I love this place.  The food is good and it sells cakes.  A great atmosphere pervades here, but the best thing is coff...

No, not the really hard level on Manic Miner, [actually, he´s thinking of Eugene´s Lair, ed] but a collection of the beasties seen in Costa Ric...

So, I´m listening to Test Match Special over the Interweb and thinking of Days of Empire.  All I need is a G&T with some quinine and the ...

A fabulous place; languid, sleepy and spectacular.  Getting there is far from straight-forward.  You need to take a six-hour bu...

Perhaps I should have mentioned ramshackle cities alongside those verdent forests? I arrived in San Jose after a marathon journey spanning two E...