So with just over 3 months of travelling we are nearing the end of Central America and the start of (the significantly larger) South America. The last leg of Central was the San Blas Islands which we hopped along to reach Colombia on our 'San Blas Adventures' tour. Our travel from Guatemala City to Panama City has covered 7 countries, 6,000Km (1,900Km would have been the shortest route down the Interamericana highway), 72 buses and given Katy 12 sloth sightings. We wanted to capture our thoughts of these very different but homogeneous countries. We met someone who said that all Central countries are all the same but we think he must be blind :-)

Guatemala - Our starting country which gave us so many firsts has to be one of our favourites. It is rich in culture and variety of scenery and probably the most conservative country that we have been to. It probably also had the craziest bus journeys with over-packed buses lurching from bend to bend. The highlands where we spent our first weeks are very traditional, with many people wearing traditional dress. We then dropped down into the forests as we headed north - the roads in this area have only semi recently been tarmacked and we saw lots of slash and burn clearing.

Belize - The country with most diverse people and cultures gave us a chance to 'put down' our Spanish and speak to all the locals in English. Listening to Bob Marley music as we headed for the Cayes was a great moment. The highlight was the best snorkeling we're ever done seeing turtles, manatees, sharks and rays in a single day.

Honduras - Its bad reputation precedes it (San Pedro Sula is apparently the murder capital of the world) but we saw an incredible and friendly side of this country from the beautiful island of Roatán to the stunning landscape of forested hills that we saw from the bus. A lack of tourists from our previous destinations was welcome.

El Salvador - The little gem of a country also had few tourists and a bad reputation but we saw nothing to support this (apart from lots of armed guards). Cool Juayua with its fabulous weekly food festival and two of the best hostels we've ever stayed in was a trip highlight and so was the street art that we saw throughout. Also it's the country where Katy started her journey to liking coffee.

Nicaragua - A difficult country to sum up as we experienced many positives but also some negatives. This was the only country where locals were not honest with us - we would agree a price which would then later increase. It was also the most party centric country we visited with many gap year and university students. (We're just jealous because they're younger and we can't afford the alcohol every night.) The positives were active volcanoes, islands, colonial buildings, the beautiful Laguna Apoyo, meeting an ex-guerrilla and being there for the 35th anniversary of the revolution. We would like to return one day and get off the tourist trail here.

Costa Rica - The country that gave us more land-based wildlife in a single day than the previous 5 countries combined. All Katy's dreams came true at once when we saw the first sloth and her baby. The different types of rainforest we saw were spectacular in their own right, even without the wildlife, our favourite being the Monteverde cloud forest. Our unforgettable, very wet, turtle laying sighting was another highlight. We started meeting more people just away for short trips and lots of families. This was the cleanest country we visited and apart from Panama the only country where they don't just throw their rubbish out of the bus window.

Panama - From beautiful beaches and islands to stunning mountain scenery, Panama has a lot going for it. It was on our list because it bridged Central to South America but now we've been we can see why so many people come on holiday only to Panama. Apart from the San Blas islands it lacks the culture and friendliness of other Central countries and feels very 'Western' but the capital city was just what we needed for a rest in a 'familiar' place. In the new underground system (21p a journey) and the city mall we felt that we could have been anywhere in what we call the 'Western world'. The success of the Kuna people of the San Blas islands is a testament to Panama.

In general our diet has lacked vegetables, which Central Americans don't seem to be very fond on. Instead they favour fried foods with rice and beans. We've had many fresh fruit juices but these come with lots of added sugar. We don't hold out much hope for a better diet in South America but it's only short term unhealthiness.

Travelling has, at times, been tiring for us. The long bus journeys the obvious example but also just being away from the familiarity of home. But we are really excited (like kids at Christmas) about the next leg of our trip - bring on the South.

Simon & Katy