It's Christmas Day and we arrive into Caracas just after midnight. After collecting our bags we experience the first quirk of Venezuela - the dollar black market. Luckily we had done a bit of research beforehand so are not surprised when an airport official asks us if we want to exchange dollars at a rate of 1:50. As the official rate is 1:6.7 this doesn't seem too bad! We exchange some money and wait for our airport pickup. We get taken to our hotel along with t...

We arrived in the beautiful colonial city of Granada at 8pm and it was nice to see people still walking the streets. With its outdoor dining and Spanish influence, Granada has a Mediterranean feel to it. We spent the next day wandering round the town exploring the churches and cathedrals as well as relaxing in the central park. We went on a four hour, evening boat journey to Isla Ometepe, an island in the vast Lake Nicaragua formed by twin volcanoes. We spent ou...

We woke at 4am and headed to Finca Madelana where we started our hike up Volcan Maderas. It started off quite normal, following a trail of trea trunk steps, but then we entered the jungle and had narrow paths to squeeze through. We got to a section which was very muddy and we struggled to stay clean, our boots taking the brunt of the sticky wet mud. The further up we went the more dense and wet the vegetation became and it felt like we were in Hogwarts' forbidden...

After a long overland journey from El Salvador we arrived in the lovely little town of Copan Ruinas. There we saw the fascinating Mayan ruins which have been fully excavated revealing intricate carvings on the buildings. We also spent a relaxing afternoon at the thermal springs deep within the jungle. At the springs, we first experienced a steam bath by standing on a bridge with 85 degree water flowing beneath us. We then nourished our skin using the mud in the m...

El Salvador is a hidden gem in Central America. Most travellers bypass it but we were really glad we didn't miss this beautiful, verdant land. We really enjoyed Juayua, a very chilled town with a great hotel where our room was decorated by a local Salvadorian artist and there was a relaxing garden complete with hammocks. Parque National El Imposible was a definite highlight as were the waterfalls. In Santa Ana we hiked up Volcan Santa Ana where we had amazing v...