8 Bit Odyssey

Not literally, but in many ways my time in Granada was my time in Central America in microcosm. Ok, so there were no Mayan temples and no beach time, at least not on the coast, but pretty much everything else was there. Attractive and brightly-coloured city for churches, chocolate and culture. Day trips to hike a volcano, boat round some islands and relax by a lake. Decent food options, obligatory gelato and ludicrously cheap rum. Add some monkeys on top to cover the wildlife angle and you’ve got a more than solid and pretty representative few days. The hostel proved to be a largely excellent choice: lots of common space, comfortable and a block from Central Park. Plus free gallo pinto and eggs for breakfast every morning. The one downside was the morning when construction work started next door at 4am but that was hardly the hostel’s fault. And then it was time to explore a bit. I went to the magnificently yellow cathedral and also up the bell tower and being here on a Friday night,...

No, I haven’t formed a band with Phil, Porker and James, for which your aural sensibilities are probably eternally grateful. Instead I’ve been bossing it Boor-style in Nicaragua’s fiery heart. Political slogans, graffiti and flags abound but add rather than detract from an attractive, brightly-hued city. So this meant swapping the beach for some city living and again doing something I’ve not done in quite this way for a while and getting my culture on. And while I walk past a sign informing me of the fact every day on the way to work, until I was reminded by a local enquiring where I was from, I had forgotten that León is one of five cities twinned with Oxford. As the only non-European one, it had always stood out but now I think about it - politics, culture, a prestigious university - it does make sense. I confess that there was no evidence on display that the revolution was televised, but there were certainly plenty of photos, at the ramshackle Museum of the Revolution. It wasn’t b...

Ok, that might not be wholly true, but two out of three ain't bad. And I am now in Nicaragua. Or as the slogan at the hostel put it, 'Surf, sunset, smile', and I had no complaints on that front either. Although I didn't participate myself, the surf at Las Peñitas was strong and I enjoyed watching plenty of others ride the waves. Instead I took the rather more leisurely approach and merely went paddling in the Pacific. The aforementioned sunset was pretty spectacular, not least because the weather can be summed up in one word: scorchio! Fortunately to prevent this pallid Englishman from melting too much there was a healthy breeze and other than when it blew sand in my face, I counted myself lucky that it was there. And in case it wasn't obvious, smiling was pretty easy. After a few weeks of activities, some strenuous, others less so, I had been looking forward to some beach time and doing very little. Which is essentially what I did do. I wandered the strip and la...

My second stop in Honduras was at Lake Yojoa, in the heart of the country, and I was staying at a microbrewery. If you think that sounds pretty idyllic you’d be right. The baby of Bobby, an American ex-pat who has slowly been racking up visitors over the last few years, D&D Brewery and Lodge is more drunk and disorderly than Dungeons and Dragons. Except it was naturally very civilised and, thinking about it, the place has waterfalls, cloud forest and caves nearby, not to mention the lake itself, offering boundless opportunity for adventure and exploration. Plus the oldest RPG cliché in the book: ‘you all meet in a tavern’. Having left the forgotten realms of the Maya behind, I was now in ‘the real Honduras’: isolated, wild and beautiful. So naturally I seized the opportunity for another first and spent my first day there... birdwatching. It might not be rock and roll but I was keen to give it a try, especially as the main aim was to see Central America’s poster bird, the resplend...

I felt there might be a chance. I knew that there were scarlet macaws around Copán ruins and they had had a greater importance here than at any other Mayan site. Early on during my visit I saw a pair fly overhead, though too fast for me to capture on film (clearly I’m no Quick Draw Macaw) but I was feeling vaguely optimistic. The jungle housing the ruins was very much alive with a chorus of squawking, cawing and chirping and as I made my farewell the volume picked up. There! Up to my left, a scarlet macaw in the tree! And two more not much higher! A glance to my left showed me a whole blooming treetop full of these beautiful birds! It was a delightful surprise and a great departure from the main site. Of course, most visitors will not have been surprised in the way I was. I had gone off to visit the outlying northern group of buildings first. Had I headed straight to the grand plaza like the vast majority of people, I’d have seen the information signs explaining about the parrots in ...

I suppose it wasn’t all going to go without a hitch but I could definitely have done without an ATM eating my bank card. After trying to explain what had happened via my broken Spanglish and the power of Google Translate, it became pretty apparent that it was not going to be retrievable. Fortunately Lauren was - and generally is - amazing so I was able to order a replacement with her on the phone to the bank and me at the same time. And weirdly it turned out the lady at Nationwide lived in our flat in Didcot about ten years ago. Then Lauren sent me some money via Western Union and I had a taxi ride to pick it up, once more navigating a lot of seemingly unnecessary questions and a side quest to find a photocopier in the shopping mall before I eventually got my cash. Panic over. Much-needed ice cream (sadly a bit average, though I was spoiled in Antigua) and beer followed. Kudos also to Carlos at the hostel for his help and relaxed demeanour. This was typical of him and goes a long way...

If Tikal is the jewel in Guatemala's  crown, Antigua probably runs it a close second as the country's premier tourist destination . It's very easy to see why as it's a beautiful city, both quaint and antiquated, a grid of low-rise colourful colonial buildings. The former capital, at least it was way back when, it's a treat to wander, especially after ambling up to the viewpoint above the city. And did I mention that it's overlooked by not one but three volcanoes? Agua looms large directly to the south and a bit further afield are Acatenango and fiery Fuego, the latter of which is very active and was smoking away gently for a couple of days while I was there.  I didn't go up any of that trio but I did take a trip up Pacaya, not far away and offering great views of the aforementioned three. It's also live so we couldn't go up to the top but it felt a lot more like a volcano than San Pedro due to the darker ash and particularly the desolate black lava...

A large and beautiful lake. Wisps of cloud in the azure sky. Small towns dotting the hillsides down to the water. And towering above it, three volcanoes. I kept looking to the sky expecting to see Smaug, though he didn’t show. That, in a nutshell, is Lake Atilán. Indeed, having travelled the length of Guatemala now, it’s a country of exceptional natural beauty, with a bit of everything, and would have made a more than adequate Middle-earth had Peter Jackson not plumped for New Zealand. The long and winding road out of Utopia began on the pick-up. No eggs this time but I was clinging on in the back with seven others. And thank the lord it wasn’t raining as it had been every other morning there. After that bone-rattling half hour we boarded the shuttle and as the hours slipped by the journey became increasingly smooth as we left the wilds behind for a different kind of scenery. We eventually arrived in Panajachel, the lake’s gateway town, shortly after sundown. Hopping in a tuk tuk (an...