Well I've been back in Australia for almost a week now. My parents and sister met me at the airport in Sydney last Sunday holding "Welcome Home Dan" signs .. quite embarrassing .. hahaha. We went to my sisters house in Glebe for lunch and the first thing I did was order a pie ... loved it, missed...
After an epic 14 hour flight from New York I arrived in Tokyo quite exhausted. With the help of a very friendly Japanese business man I found my way to the hostel in Asakusa. Jetlagg ensured that I was awake by the crack of dawn each day which created plenty of time for sightseeing. The first day...
After a stopover in Miami where I felt like I was still in Central America due to the Spanish speaking influence, a few grillings by US Immigration (they are so strict now) and a couple of bag searches I arrived at Philadelphia airport. Kate picked me up which was really nice and we drove into...
Due to celebrations the night before my bus ride to San Jose, Costa Rica wasn't one of my finest memories from Central America. I was now travelling solo as Frank had decided to chill in San Juan a bit longer but I had to be in San Jose for my flight on Monday! The border crossing into Costa Rica...
To be honest if you'd asked me 6 months ago where Nicaragua was I probably would have replied "somewhere in Africa" ... but No, it's smack bang in Central America between Honduras and Costa Rica. It's the largest country in Central America and also the poorest but probably has the...
So we made our way to Honduras from El Salvador. We stopped in the Colonial town of Santa Rosa de Copan for a couple of nights which was very chilled out and had a great little town square. There wasn't much to do so we just chillaxed and caught up on some sleep. Spent a couple of days on buses...
After some "quiet" farewell drinks on Friday, a hungover climb up Volcano Pacaya on Saturday (the lava flow was extremely spectacular) and goodbyes to our host families we hit the road to El Salvador on Sunday morning! After a brief stop to change buses in the Capital Guatemala City we...
Well it´s been a month since I arrived in Antigua and today was my last day of classes which means that it´s time to move on. Heading to El Salvador on Sunday! -80 hours of Spanish Class -13 hours of Salsa Lessons -Too many late nights -Too many early mornings -Climbed 2 Volcanos -Weekend at the...
Yep that's right ... last weekend Frank, Kenny and I climbed a 4000m (13000ft) Volcano called Volcan Acatenango. It was probably one of the toughest hikes I have ever done. After a pre trip briefing on Friday night, the journey started at 5am on Saturday morning when we met up with our guides and...
Last weekend, Frank and I headed to nearby San Pedro which is on beautiful Lake Atitlan. The journey there involved a 3 hour shuttle bus and then a ferry to San Pedro. We were a bit sluggish as Friday night was Tim and Chris´s farewell party and we only got a few hours sleep. Anyway we checked...
Monday was my first day of Spanish classes and talk about brain overload!! It was an intense experience! The classes consist of 4 hours of one on one tuition every morning (8-12) and are a mixture of speaking and grammar. Great way to learn! It´s got slightly easier as the week has progressed but...
The Lonely Planet describes Antigua as a haven for backpackers who want to half ass study Spanish ... not too far from the truth really. It´s a very beautiful city nestled in a valley surrounded by three volcanoes, one of which is still active! It´s a Colonial town and has a cool town...
After getting the ferry back to Belize city we got a bus to Flores, Guatemala. Turned out to be another crazy bus ride! The highlight was when the bus driver pulled over at some markets, jumped out and returned to the bus clutching a chicken by the neck .. funny stuff! Stayed a few nights on the...
Our introduction to Belize was transferring from a Luxury Mexican Coach to an ancient ex-American school bus (they call them chicken buses) just before the Mexico-Belize border. The bus ride to Belize city was total mayhem, the bus seemed to be going around in circles and took forever to arrive in...
From Cancún we checked out nearby Chichen Itza which is an ancient Mayan city. It was pretty spectacular! The huge pyramids were particularly impressive. The acoustics in the Ball Court were amazing .. you could whisper at one end and be heard 40m away at the other end. My high pitched Cooees...
I spent the last 2 nights on Isla, an island paradise just off the coast of Cancun. It was deadset stunning ... luke warm, crystal clear water lapping up against white sand. Very reminiscent of Thailand. Didnt do that much apart from spend the days relaxing on the beach drinking cheap beers and...
I left Kelowna slighty intoxicated (thanks guys for the awesome farewell!) on a 12 hour overnight Greyhound to Seattle. I stayed with a friend of a friend Beccy for the night then flew to Mexico the next day. The flight was fairly uneventful and I arrived at Cancun airport at about 8pm. Stepping...
Well my time in Kelowna and Canada has finally come to an end. I finally sold my van after 6 weeks! The first person that came to look at it bought it as I expected but I lost a bit of cash on it. Not to worry, I got my moneys worth out of Stan the Van! So my plan now is to hit Central America. I...
Well the full circle is now complete and I'm back in Kelowna for the sole purpose of selling my Van. I've been here around 4 weeks now and I have only had 2 calls which sucks big time. Wish me luck! I've been staying on the couch at my old sharehouse (The Bates Motel) which is fun but not ideal....
We said our farewells to Kate then Dad and I headed North from Pennsylvania to Ontario, Canada. We were basically on the same highway all day. The next 2 nights were spent staying with our friends the Boyles in Kingston. Tom showed us around the local area and we did a day trip to Ottawa to catch...
Dan's Capers used to be a blog about my travel adventures but it has evolved into a collection of my thoughts and things I like. Enjoy
