The Journey Begins

So...I finally managed to make it to "Central America"! Yeehaa

I wont bore you with the numerous details about the trip so far, aside from providing a neat little round-up of the story so far...

I got away from Oz with no real problems. Flying on Qantas and American Airlines I was able to enjoy the benefits of my Qantas Club Membership and stopped off for a nice shower in LA (not much else to do there I´m afraid!). Unfortunately the generosity of the Australian Qantas Club (i.e. Free drinks, free food) does not quite extend to the equivalent club in the US...they charge for everything (buggers!). My flight to Dallas and then to Guatemala City was rather dissapointing due to the fact that the stingyness of the Captains Club extended to the actual airline and you dont get any food in-flight (unless you happen to have a spare $5 to purchase some cheese and crackers...what the...?). After flying for so many hours that I lost count...I so hungry I could have eaten my own arm...fortunately they do actually sell food in Antigua...but one is hard pressed to find it open late at night.

Arrival in Guatemala City was pretty standard...I quickly identified some fellow Toucan Travellers and latched on to them for the journey down to Antigua. Unfortunately one of the poor sods did not recieve her bag...so although we arrived at 2030 we did not actually make it out of the airport until 2200!

Thursday was my ´travel recuperating day´which was spent enjoying a long breakfast and a stroll around the town. The town is quite scenic with three volcanos towering over head. There were amazing markets and shops and I was having difficulty keeping money in my wallet! I managed to find Cheryl in the afternoon and retreated to a cafe for some coffee, cake and serious catch-up!

Friday was the joining day for the tour, which was actually marked as a ´free day´. Ambitiously Cheryl and a number of other willing participants convinced me that getting up at 0530 and walking up the Pacaya Volcano was a great way to kick off the trip! Fortunately they were not wrong and the walk offerred spectacular views and the opportunity to see a little bit of ´red hot lava´from the most recent eruption (7 months ago). Unfortunately (actually probably fortunately) there was no activity happening apart from a little bit of rumbling - could be the mountain was having a few internal digestive problems?

Saturday was another early start as we had a six hour drive and a border crossing (from Guatemala to Honduras) to deal with as we headed to Copan. The trip was as exciting as a trip in a 8 seater mini-bus can be getting us to Copan Ruinas on time to get oriented with the town before heading out into the Jungle for a dip in some local ´hot springs´which was rather lovely.

Copan Ruinas is famous for the local Mayan city ruins (hence the name!) and boasts a well maintained park which is being environmentally regenerated in order to provide a relaxing and reflective visit to the ruins. It was amazing to wander around the old city...I must admit that I felt a little bit like Lara Croft with all the massive steps, the carvings and the jungle noises. In the afternoon we had decided to partake in a tour to a local coffee plantation followed by a trip to the Bird Park. The coffee plantation was interesting and the coffee was tasty, but the real highlight was the Bird Park. We got to see Red, Blue and Green Macaws, Toucans and a variety of other Southern Region parrots...and at the interactive centre we were able to hold and pat the birds...an amazing experience.

Our last night in Copan was spent visiting some children in a local orphanage. An amazing and humbling experience. I purchased some balloons and took them along...they were a real hit with the kids! We took along some pizza, juice and watermelon and managed to convince the manager that we could feed the kids. Whilst the children were living in relative squalor (the smell of urine was overpowering inside) it was a real privelige to have brought a smile to their faces!

I am currently in Tela, and have dipped my toe in the Carribbean Sea...looking forward to heading off to the island of Roatan tomorrow!

See you then!

Erica