I understand and know through experiences that I'll always be an outsider who is pointed and starred at, it goes with the territory of being a foreigner travelling until I entered Central America.
I was greeted with "Hola" not long, fixed stares or stern, finger pointing. I was treated as an insider, someone who does have feelings too. And I know their manners weren't because of 'Miss money bags' walking their way, they were like it amongst each other. They were polite and respected one another more than I've ever seen in other countries.

December 2012 - January 2013
I felt calm, I was happy and everything and everyone I encountered during our travels warmed my heart.


Guatemala - Calm. Colours. Curves.

Guatemala City -
10pm. The streets were empty and every building was lined with barbed wire. I'd arrived a day early to my parents, thrown in first to test the waters. Oh dear, was it going to be one of those keep a firm grip on your bag and constantly keep looking behind me types of holidays?! Especially after the youth hostel assistant recommended I stay out certain red areas in town especially after 6pm. I was soon to found out I was most defiantly, wrong!

Antigua -
Red, yellow, green, purple - clothing, buildings, nature, buses, nothing was a shade of sad.
Walking out of my bedroom onto the roof, the profile of Volcan del Fuego silhouetted by the perfect blue sky was trying to break through the marshmallow clouds that had formed above the peak. Good morning!


Honduras - Courteous. Cowboys. Cobbles.

Copan -
Boys stood with their hands pressed upon the shop window, their breath fogging up the glass, gazing at the hats displayed in front of them. Inside the shop men picked up boots made of different animal skins, hoping and longing that one day a pair would be theirs to impress the lads and ladies.
Feet angled to side, thumbs hooked in the belt hoops, hat and head pointing north, this boy had it all apart from the click. His heels weren't clicking on the cobbled streets. He wore Timberland boots. He was a young cowboy in the making.

So what did we do on Christmas day? Nothing too out of the ordinary (cough) just walked around an incredible archaeological find, the Maya Ruins!

Roatan Island -
And suddenly I was shut off from the outside. Peace. I looked into the crystal clear water, as the sand swirled around. I listened to my amplified heavy breathing as I made my way towards the coral and that's when the most precise gift was given to me. A turtle swam towards me, right up to me. I kicked my flippers and not so gracefully followed him until enough salt water had leaked through the sides of my goggles and I had to make a swift exit from his world of serenity.


Nicaragua - Spirited. Sexy. Salsa.

Grenada -
Balancing baskets of cashew nuts and pottery on their heads, women weaved in and out of multi-coloured chairs, occasionally stopping to show of their goods, only to be ushered away with "no gracias" With a smile, they picked up their baskets and walked off, swaying their curvy hips to the guitar players under the tree.

Running around, enjoying the sun, small entrepreneurial boys called out "one dolla, one dolla" as they waved grasshoppers and flowers they'd made out of thick grass.

A statue of Jesus sat on the coffee table, as we sat patiently on the sofa, in the living room come hair salon. Mum made faces at the little boy as I made faces in the mirror, petrified at what this small lady welding sheep shearers was going to do to my hair. With no Spanish skills "chop chop" and hand gestures was all I could muster up. It could have been worse, but next time I think I'll say, "snip snip!"

Pulling a small glue jar from his ripped jeans pocket and opening the lid only slightly, his exhalation was followed by rolling eyes and a wide grin. Standing up, his bare, hard soles tried to keep him steady as he moved through the crowds. Discreetly our friend Jurgen took a photo only for the boy to come charging up to us. Jurgen flipped the camera around, where the boy stopped and starred at himself. This was him? He flung his arms over Jurgen, his face beaming and nestled his head into Jurgens shoulder. Everyone starred unsure of this gesture. To me, it was the sweetest yet saddest thank you. What was so bad in his life that this pleasant boy had gone down such a path at only around 8 years old?

Pop! A 4 year old threw a little firecracker onto the pathway. Whoosh! 2 men let off hand held rockets that fired high. Bang! Colourful fireworks exploded in the dark night sky. Squeals! A ladies sparkler starting sending off large sparks in all directions.
"10,9,8,7…" A tradition in Nicaragua is to eat one grape every time the clock strikes at midnight. I made twelve wishes and with some luck in 2013 those wishes can come true along with some I made for others. As for mum, I'm not too sure as she shoved her last four in her mouth at once as she ran out of ideas and time!
A live band got everyone up on their feet, not that anyone needed an excuse. Men buying a loaf of bread in the supermarket can't help but let their salsa feet let loose down the aisles. We danced until the music stopped and the cocktails had run dry. HAPPY NEW YEAR.


Costa Rica - Genuine. Glorious. Green.

Monteverde -
Continual lush rolling hills. The green never stopping.

Where did it go now? Zoom. The worlds smallest bird, zipped past again. It's wings beating over 80 times a second until finally I saw the metallic blue of her feathers glistening in the sun light that broke through the tree coverage. Behold, my first beautiful hummingbird.

Arenal, La Fortuna -
Home to the most active volcano in Costa Rica, with average eruptions 41 times a day. Stop. Rewind. 41 times a day. Pfft. She'd been sleeping for over a year and wasn't close to waking up when we arrived. Gutted!

"It's okay, I'll tell if you're too fat to fit. Plus I have some Vaseline just in case!" There was no way my helmet was going to fit through that gap, let alone my body. Our guide put his feet through first, shifted to the side, sucked in his belly, shuffled, pushed with his hands and then he was gone. "Mum you go first!" as we squeezed, climbed and made our way through a series of five million year old caves.

San Jose -
The taxi driver tried his best in broken English to make conversation, watching me look in the wing mirror at my parents waving "I just had to say goodbye, I'm not sure when I'll see them again, it's very sad" he continued as I fought back the tears. Our trip was over so quickly, our goodbye even quicker but memories that won't be forgotten in hurry.


"My thoughts are digging in the background. My roots have grown but I don't know where they are" - The Head and the Heart
Have I found where my roots are? xx