Two Rucksacks One Boy

San Juan del Sur is a surfing town on the southern pacific coast of Nicaragua. There are quite a few nice places to get food at drink and it seemed like a really nice place to hangout for a couple of days, though we only stopped for a night. For us it was a good place to stop before making the crossing to Costa Rica.

The twin peaked island in the middle of lake Nicaragua; Isla Ometepe is a great place to summit some volcanoes, do some horse riding, or there's even a couple of beaches to chill out on. Getting around the island can be difficult, but if you've got a couple of extra days and cash it's worth checking out. One thing it bare in mind though: there will probably be spiders...

Granada was our favourite place in Nicaragua, it was really pretty and all the houses were painted different colour and it really reminded us of our favourite city in Mexico, Valladolid. It's on a very pretty lake which we did a day trip around, and it's a great base for the surrounding areas.

Leon was our first introduction to Nicaragua and it was definitely a great start. Nicaragua definitely seems like the undiscovered gem of Central America. Plenty to do, cheap, great food and people, we just wished we had more time there! There's a few places to see around Leon, and great places to eat and drink, though the main draw is Volcano boarding, and it's definitely worth the stop.

Getting There We got the  Utila Dream Ferry  for 575L or 25USD. It leaves twice a day at 9am and 4:40pm. To get to the ferry dock you'll need a taxi, it's about a 15 minute taxi ride and 45 minutes on the ferry. Top Tips Get to the dock about 20 minutes before the boat leaves to avoid stress! You can stay for cheap at many of the diving places, so if you plan on diving it's the way to go. You'll need to book directly through the dive shop. Things to do Diving - Utila is a diving hot spot, the reef is right by the island and it's cheap. That said, it's not a whole lot cheaper than everywhere else, and the diving itself was by no means the best I've done. Whale Sharks - Again, we weren't lucky enough to see them but there are whale shark sightings frequently around the island. Chepes & Bando Beach - There's a public and private (70L) beach to choose from at either end of the main town. Baleadas - Hondurian food of cheese and beans ...

Getting There We travelled from Placencia, Belize to La Ceiba, Honduras. It wasn't the most pleasant journey and I blogged about it in slightly more detail here . Where we stayed We stayed at the 1877 hostel in a private dorm room with a shared bathroom. The hostel had a nice atmosphere and great communal areas. Journal We arrived at 1877 hostel in La Ceiba just as it had gone dark. It had been an extremely cramped taxi journey as there were 5 of us plus the driver and everyone had their large bags too. My leg had lost feeling a couple of times despite trying my best to move every now and then. We were dropped off at the hostel which seemed to be locked up (which didn't bode well), however it was quickly opened by someone who must have seen us pull up outside. We parted with our 35USD each and wished the taxi driver luck as he had to drive all the way back for four hours to Porto Cortez. We didn't envy him! We checked in to the hostel where Kate and I got a r...

The border crossing from Belize to Honduras needs to be done by boat. The boat goes once a week on Fridays from Placencia, it stops at Big Creek for an hour or so - where they do the passport control - and then makes the crossing which takes two to three hours depending on the weather. The boat can be extremely rocky and there isn't much shelter. Sitting on the right hand side and towards the back (but still inside) is your best bet for a (more) comfortable trip

Placencia is a resort town at the end of a very pretty peninsular. The beach is nice to look at but when we were there it was a little dirty with lots of rubbish being washed up that let it down. The main town has lots of really great resturants with a special mention of Rumfish which was incredible. We spent three days here happily relaxing before catching the weekly boat to Punta Cortez (Honduras).

Hopkins is a quiet Caribbean town with a few nice places to eat and see. We only stayed a night and not sure we would stay much longer, however it's the stopping off point to get to Glovers Reef which we'd heard a few people saying good things about, unfortunately we didn't have the time.

Dangriga is mainly a stopping off point on the way to the Southern cayes. There isn't much to see or do, though if you like getting barked at by lots of aggressive dogs then it's the place for you. We stayed one night, I wouldn't stay any longer - if at all.

The Raggamuffin Island Tour was three days of sitting on a boat relaxing, snorkelling with Manatees, turtles and sting rays. Sleeping on picture perfect Cayes and drinking rum with a great group of people. In short, it was awesome.

Caye Calker is the perfect mix of "sit back and do nothing" and having loads of things to do. It's a few hours boat ride to the blue hole where you can go diving and snorkelling. There's also plenty of other snorkelling and diving options too. You can paddle boat, kite surf or rent a jet ski. If none of that interests you then how about relaxing on a desert island paradise. Caye Caulker is the perfect place to relax after a long few weeks on the road. Though be prepared to up your budget!

The ruins of Tikal are one of Guatemala's main draws, it's definitely a very cool place to explore though it's let down slightly by an inane and expensive ticketing system. Come prepared and bring lots of cash!

Flores was meant to be a quick stop off on the way to Belize however the old town and some tummy trouble turned it in to a two night stay. There's some nice places to eat and drink and the lake makes a great place to explore; So it wasn't all bad!

Lanquin is the nearest town to the tourist destination of Semuc Champey. A series of picturesque limestone pools that you are able to bathe in. In the same area there is also the opportunity for Caving and tubing. We did all of them, and they were great... if a little cold.

Coban isn't much to look at, there isn't much to do there, and the food didn't appear to be that great either. It's mainly a stopping off point on the way to Lanquin and Semuc Champey, or Flores. However, for us though there was one main draw, an Orchid sanctuary called Orquigonia. We decided to stay there to see what it was like.