Grab a cuppa coffee – or a fine batido (smoothie) – and read my top 9 travel tips for Nicaragua, an often-overlooked slice of Central America … Nicaragua has a spirit you can feel. World-class wildlife and a growing eco-tourism movement combine with a cacophony of noise, and locals who aren’t afraid to talk politics. It makes […]
To try and communicate better with local people when travelling, I enrolled in two weeks of Spanish language school in Nicaragua. Was it worth the effort? Seven years after first mastering enough Spanish to be able to order food, work out which bus I needed to be on, and make small talk about how cold […]
That’s what’s going through my mind at 3am this morning. I’m wide awake, random thoughts churning through my head. I only do this when I’m worried about something. Normally me and sleep are very happy bedtime buddies. Tomorrow I travel to Miami, the start of a two-month journey that will also see me take in […]
Bags of culture. Decent public transport. Good value. Chatty residents. All these make Mexico one of my favourite destinations. Here are 11 tips for independent travel in Mexico. Getting around – 11 tips for travel in Mexico 1. Combis Collectivos / combi vans are a steal for local transport (think camper van of the VW […]
“Cerveza, cerveza?” hollers the vendor, above the hullabub of humanity that’s hunching its way across the graveyard of Santiago Sacatepéquez, Guatemala. Kites flutter overhead, their larger cousins punctuating the ground and the skyline. Graves of the moneyed serve as a picnic-table for tucking into El Fiambre, the traditional festival dish that honours the dead. Kids […]
Peru has a whole lot more going for it than Machu Picchu. Here are three more Peru UNESCO sites you should visit: watch a knitting extravaganza, fly above an astronaut, and see a mummy frozen in time! 1. Textiles on the Island of Taquile, Lake Titicaca Lake Titicaca borders both Peru and Bolivia, high in […]
San Juan Chamula in Chiapas, Mexico, is somewhere I’ll never forget. My senses overpowered me and the tears flowed in the church of this Tzotzil Maya village near San Cristóbal de las Casas. Here’s why. The view of the main square in San Juan Chamula was enough to get my senses reeling. A vibrant swirl of […]
