Hi Everyone, I am now in San Jose and I am about to update you about the last two weeks travelling in Central America, from Antigua to San Jose.First of all I just want to let you know how much I regret not being in London, because during the last two weeks, I have had a few issues to deal with which I don't have at home. Firstly I've got stung by a jellyfish whilst out snorkelling in colourful coral reefs in the bay islands of Honduras and also ended up with a massive sunburn on my back that turned into a milk chocolate looking colour. Then, trying to tan evenly all over, I started to get teased by my fellow travellers about the freckles coming out in my face due to being in the sun too much! Additionally, I have come down with a cold, because all those water related activities have taken its toll, such as abseiling down five waterfalls and white water rafting in Costa Rica. On top of all of that, I also had the runs. It seems most travellers have this at least once and it's usually from eating all this terribly healthy food here and probably drinking a few too many cocktails with ice cubes in them! It's hard to deal with all of this, but don't worry I am surviving and doing a lot better. Now I feel like a real backpacker! :-)Well, with regards to my travels, Antigua was lovely. I loved this town. It had loads of very colourful houses and lovely shops and restaurants in backyard gardens which were all looked after very well and planted with pretty tropical plants. I wish we spend some more time there, but at least I got to see the amazing vegetable and craft markets. At this place many people from on the trip from Cancun left the group here and some joined us. So we got a couple of cheeky Aussi students, a very quite Norwegian girl and another ´very outgoing´ 67 years old woman called Gloria. We headed off the next day with a private bus to Copan, just after the boarder of Honduras. There are also some famous Mayan ruins which we explored in the afternoon. We haven't spent a lot time at this place but it seemed quite cute. The following day we have had a long journey to Utila Island, part of the Bay Islands north of Honduras, which is famous for diving. Apparently it's the cheapest place to get your license in the world. Some people of the group have done this during the stay, but I opted for snorkelling around a smaller island called water cay and cycling around Utila. I was hoping for good seafood again being on an island but unfortunately they don't seem to be able to cook it very well. Everything was overcooked, but apparently the burgers where the best thing to go for - not quite a type of meal you'd want on a boiling hot tropical island!Anyhow, I didn't fancy that place too much. It's a bit boring being stuck on an island for a few days so I was happy to leave and we headed to Nicaragua. We did stop off first at the capital of Honduras before entering Nicaragua. Anyone knows the name of it??? Think, think, think.... 5th grade geography............................................ It's Tegucigalpa! I certainly have never heard about this one before and apparently not worth seeing either as we only stayed for the night. We arrived in Granada after two long days travelling, but this town was very worth it. It was so nice. It's seems similar to Antigua but still different. It felt very safe and the food was lovely here. We found a nice place for breakfast, where they serve Gallo Pinto. A traditional dish made of rice and beans. Very tasty. They served it with local, very salty cheese and banana slices both of which were fried. At the market I noted that this town was crackling heaven. One stall had tons of it - just pork crackling! Then I found that they sold at the central park a local delicacy which is basically, root and cabbage salad with crackling served on a banana leaf for just over a dollar. Amazing stuff!!!A few days later we went to Ometepe, a small island on the Lake Nicaragua which was basically formed by two volcanoes of which one is still active. No I didn't climb that one either (too lazy) but I had the opportunity to party with the very locals at a massive open-air party in celebration of some religious event that went on all January. The party wasn't very religious at all though. They had better DJ's, sound and lighting systems there than some clubs in London! That's no joke! It was incredible and totally unexpected. The music they played were some electronic remix of Latin and 90s music, but it was very good. Not cheesy at all. It was sooooo much fun. Everyone was non-stop dancing and going wild on the dance floor! Unfortunately I didn't take a photo of that, but there was also a cockfight organised which I had to watch. It's illegal in 90% of places in the world! It was pretty bloody but interesting to see. I really liked Nicaragua, but I was also looking forward to see Costa Rica which was our next destination. We went straight to Monteverde and we stayed at the nicest hotel yet. Very clean, hot showers and breakfast was included!! The town itself wasn't special but in this area we had the chance to do some great outdoor activities. I opted for a canopy tour, which is zip lining (on a harness) from tree to tree or even across valleys. One line was 750 meters long and almost a kilometre above ground. As the country side is sooo beautiful, it was just the most incredible experience - like flying by yourself. I also managed to visit a coffee plantation which was very interesting. Did you know that stronger coffee, i.e. dark roasts are actually less in caffeine than light roasts. So if you think a strong, long roasted coffee is going to wake you up more - you are mistaken! We didn't stay here very long and headed right to La Fortuna. This was also an adventure town but really not a nice place. There I signed up for canyoning (rappelling down five waterfalls) and white water rafting on really quite strong currents. It was really quite challenging - now I can't wait to do more such mad adventures!!! I couldn't wait to leave La Fortuna as it was sooo terribly loud and somehow uncomfortable. Very happy to have arrived in San Jose, capital of Costa Rica, which I am going to explore just now. Hope you are all well at home and miss me loads.

Love Andrea xxx