Central America

Travelling in Central America is nothing short of awesome for anyone who loves nature, vibrant culture and sustainable travel. From sandy beaches to jungle clad mountains, Central American countries are home to incredible landscapes. Read about our sustainable, slow travel adventures in Costa Rica, Panama, Nicaragua, Guatemala and El Salvador.

The Cult Behind Hospedaje Central on Ometepe Island

“We originally came to Ometepe to work at the Hospedaje Central,” said the homeowner, “that was before we heard the rumours of the violent cult going on behind it.”

When we arrived back on Ometepe Island, we were tired, thirsty and ready to put our feet up. We dumped our bags and headed right over to Hospedaje Central (also known as El Indio Viejo) for some passionfruit juice and cheap Tonas. The hostel is one of the bigger and more lively joints in town, attracting a lot of young, free-spirited backpackers. Rainbow coloured ribbons hang from wide basket lamp shades, the walls are shabby and the ceiling is exposed bare barn house timbers. Everything is painted in bright colours, from the bar stools to the murals on the walls.

3 mins read

Why We Came Back to Ometepe Island in a Heartbeat

This little volcanic island out in Lake Nicaragua is one of those incredible places that you think you’ll only get to see once. As it turns out, we’re here for a second time.

We have fond memories of Ometepe Island. It was our first time climbing an active volcano, our first encounter with a howler monkey, and our first opportunity to rent a scooter and relive our Taiwan scootering days. When we left, we were practically glowing with what a good time we’d had and we were pretty sure that it was one of those once in a life time visits.

4 mins read

5 Small Towns You Shouldn’t Miss in Costa Rica

I had the small town blues last week. Since Luke’s leg injury, we’ve been shacking up in small towns across Panama and Costa Rica. I was lusting for adventure – and all these small towns were making me feel blue.

I’d had my fill of sweet suburban houses, local farmer’s markets and small sodas – but hang on, what was I complaining about exactly? Life can’t always be big city lights and volcano boarding adventures, and quite frankly I wouldn’t want it to be either. Come to think of it, the small towns in Costa Rica have been some of the best places I’ve visited. Here are five of those awesome little places which you just can’t miss.

4 mins read

Volcan, Panama – Travel Guide

Volcan is a very small but very pretty town in Panama. It’s not exactly a tourist hotspot – and really, that’s what’s so lovely about it.

We never intended to visit Volcan. After we finished house sitting in Boquete we were going to whizz on down to Panama City, except Luke injured his leg and there was no way that he was going to survive that 9 hour bus ride. With only a week before we were returning to Costa Rica, we decided to loop round to a small town on the other side of the volcano so Luke could rest up. For this, Volcan was the perfect choice.

4 mins read

Why Being Vegetarian in Costa Rica is Easier Than You Think

Think eating vegetarian in Costa Rica means endless days of “rice and beans – hold the chicken?” Think again.

Friends of ours who travelled in Costa Rica said that we’d be sick of rice and beans in no time. Though we’ve certainly eaten more rice and beans than is probably healthy while on the road, Costa Rica has proven to be an excellent destination for vegetarian travel. Being able to order vegetarian food in local sodas (cheap eateries) is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to vegetarian travel in Costa Rica.

5 mins read

Boquete, Panama – Travel Guide

Green mountain views, world renowned coffee plantations and cafes that just sell strawberries, it’s no wonder that we loved Boquete, Panama.

When we realised we had a spare six weeks to explore Panama over Christmas, we set about looking for a house sit in Boquete so that we’d have a place to call home over the festive season. As it turns out, the sun was shining on us and we found a lovely home to look after. We had wonderful mountain views, local dark roast coffee and three goldens to keep us occupied.

6 mins read

What I Learned From a Coffee Finca in Panama

Ever since I first set foot in Central America, I’ve wanted to go to a coffee finca. In Costa Rica, we never found the right time and in Nicaragua, we were never in the right place.

In Panama, we found ourselves in Boquete, a small town in the green mountain highlands famed for growing the finest coffee in the world. As well as industrial growers, there are many small, independent coffee growers in Boquete and it’s not uncommon to see locals and expats growing coffee in their own back gardens. My travels are powered by coffee and I can never start writing without a black coffee, so it was time to find out exactly how it gets from bean to cup.

5 mins read

2014 in Photos

Back in January, who knew that our 2014 would look like this…

When we came home from Taiwan at the end of 2013, Luke told me that 2014 was my year. By that, he meant it was up to me to choose what we would do. Moving to Taiwan was his idea and though I chose to follow, it wasn’t an easy decision for me. Although I loved our year away in Taiwan, I felt homesick often and that feeling was always exacerbated by the stresses of teaching.

I loved the travel, I loved weekend road trips, I loved the independence and having our own home, and I loved Luke. But I wasn’t happy as a teacher and I didn’t want to be crawling through the week, desperate for the weekend. I wanted to make changes to our lifestyle. By the end of 2013, we were both ready to leave Taiwan.

Though I don’t think about it as 2013 being Luke’s year and 2014 as being my year, there’s no doubt that this year I was the one who put forward the idea of an alternative travel lifestyle as freelancers and house sitters. Thanks to Luke’s trust, our combined determination and perseverance, and the incredible generosity of strangers, 2014 has been the happiest year of my life.

3 mins read

How Much Does It Cost to Travel Bocas del Toro, Panama on a Budget? [Infographic]

The Panamanian island of Bocas del Toro isn’t the friendliest of places for a budget traveller, but keeping travel costs down is still do-able.

When we were travelling in Puerto Viejo we decided to hop across to Bocas del Toro for a week. As expected our travels in Bocas del Toro stretched our budget way more than Nicaragua and a little more than Costa Rica. These expenses are just for Bocas del Toro, not for Panama as a whole. We’re travelling in mainland Panama for a month over Christmas and New Year, so it will be interesting to see how the two compare.

3 mins read

When I Met the Man Who Built His Own Paradise

In a dockside bar in Bocas del Toro, a silver-haired Belgian man, once a lawyer on Wall Street, told us how he escaped, disconnected and built his own island paradise in Panama.

4 mins read