Central America Ethical Trail

“Central America Ethical Trail”

Written on: 17/04/2012 by tom_aarvold

It was my first time flying by myself and so I was a little nervous but was really happy that I was going to be picked up from the airport in Mexico City. The first day we talked about the project and had any lingering questions answered. Then we set out to explore Mexico City, which was amazing as hid had so much to offer. We did so much in Mexico City, my highlights were enjoying the delicious street food, watching some Mexican Wrestling and taking a relaxing boat ride down the floating gardens. Then we took the 12 hour bus journey to San Cristabal, not nearly as bad as it sounds. We stayed at a really nice Hostel where you could leave your mark by painting on the walls. In San Cristabal we visited the local villages and towns, learnt some salsa and and took a sight seeing boat trip where we saw some amazing views, crocodiles, monkeys and iguana's. Another longish bus journey we were in Palenque where we stayed in the jungle, good preparation for the Costa Rican jungle. Palengue was beautiful, we visited some amazing ruins and waterfalls with natural pools we we swam. Then we traveled onto Guatemala. Flores was picturesque with its huge lake, we also swam a lot. After a day of sunbathing on the jetty we visited some more ruins, very to different to the one of Palenque. Next we went to Lanquin, perhaps the most beautiful place I've every been. The hostel was a lot of fun, we went tubbing down the river and later visited some bat caves to watch them all fly out at sunset. the next day we went to Semuc Champy, exploring caves by candle light, tubbing, bridge jumping and walking up to an incredible viewpoint. Off to Antigua, which had a really good market, bought a lot of presents there. Antigua was a really fun town by day and by night. We then went to San Pedro where we climbed the volcano overlooking the town, greatly underestimated how hard this was, perhaps the only thing that I wouldn't recommend (at least for an inexperienced hiker like myself). I thought that Guatemala was the most beautiful country during this trip. Honduras, we started in Copan where we zip-lined which was really good fun. We then went to the tiny town of Cofradia to volunteer at a local bilingual school whilst staying in a home stay. The family I stayed with were incredibly friendly and kind. Volunteering at the school was an amazing experience, the children were so nice and welcoming, it was one of my favorite parts of the trip. Then we went to my favorite place, Utila. Scuba diving by day and partying by night, a real paradise. After an early start we headed off to Nicaragua. Leon was really fun, we went volcano boarding ( 2nd most thrill seeking activity according to CNN). Grenada was a nice little town where we had a relaxing time before we went to San Juan Del Zul. This is party beach town, a lot of fun whether you like surfing or just chilling on the beach. Costa Rica, we made our way down to Puerto Jimenez, a small town near the jungle. We then spent the rest of our trip volunteering in the jungle. This was an amazing experience. living in the jungle was amazing, the walks and beach were beautiful and the abundance of animals was incredible. It was nice to be in the same place without moving for 4 weeks. it wasn't all work and no play. expect a party night each week, watching movies and playing cards by candle light. This truly was a trip of a live time. An unforgettable experience, met so many nice people and did so many amazing things. I would highly recommend this to anybody.