Ok it’s hot. Unbeknown to us southern Europe has been under what is known as a heat dome for the last 2 weeks. In non-meteorological terms this means it’s scorchio with temperatures +40 degrees. There are some horrific wildfires raging in other parts of the country which helps keep any inconvenience it is causing us into perspective.

Our first couple of days were spent in Chania getting into the swing of being abroad again. We hadn’t really noticed the full extent of the heat as, being pale skinned Brits we were avoiding the midday sun anyway. That said, it was a bit too hot to explore Chania town so we spent our time hanging out on a couple of local beaches building sand castles, playing in the sea and eating at some amazing fish tavernas.

Acclimatised (or so we thought) we decided to head over the mountains to Paleochora on the south side of the island. On opening the car doors we were met with a furnace. I’ve worked in the Namibian desert and have traversed part of the southern Sahara but it was rarely as fierce as this. So we quickly scurried into the holiday apartment that was to be refuge for the next couple of days to work out a game plan.

Paleochora is billed in our trusty Lonely Planet guidebook as being a pretty and laid back port town with plenty of good beaches. The only problem being that the furnace had us hiding inside for 6 hours each day. That said, when we did venture out the guidebook was right. Sandy beaches with mountainous backdrops, crystal clear water, bougainvillea covered walls, tavernas spilling out onto shaded alleyways. Bliss – as long as you don’t mind living in an oven!

Over the last year in London, when the various lockdowns allowed, I’ve been taking James swimming almost every weekend in an attempt to build on the good work of Lisa and Di Di teaching him to swim during our time living in Hastings. Jimbo took to the sea in Crete without hesitation and has become a proper little fish. I couldn’t be a prouder dad being able to take him 50m or so out to sea looking for fish, diving down 3-4m together to take a closer look at sea grass and urchins.

A few days in, the heat dome was forecast to stay until the weekend so we decided to retreat to the mountains to hopefully find some cooler air…

Because of the heat we chose to move inland and uphill, back towards the north coast. We were a bit aimless in terms of where next given the totally crazy weather, leading us to two very different types of accommodation.

First up Elia traditional hotel. 10km inland from the north coast this hotel has maybe 10 rooms and was set in an olive grove on a hillside with stunning views of the closest beach.

You arrive at a place like this – no playground, a simple swimming pool, hot, dusty. And you wonder how you will entertain a 5 year old for 2 nights.

You leave wondering how you will ever find a hotel as good as this one. For us, the brilliance came from the combination of a gorgeous rural setting with cicadas and stars, superb hospitality from Efi and team, gorgeous meals served on a terrace with the best views, a communal feel where all the guests interact as much (or as little) as they would like, and then some fairy dust sprinkles of 4 two month old kittens that James adored (note they did not feel the same).

Aside from the hotel we were in a pretty cool part of the island and headed one morning to Deliana Gorge. On route we took our little 1 litre car cross country. John had it all in hand and I learned to choose the bigger roads when map reading in the future.

To steady my nerves we did a little wine tasting on the way back. It was surprisingly tasty!

And so from our country retreat we headed east along the coast to Panormo. It gets a good write up in the Lonely Planet, though they didn’t mention our hotel – a rare trip to an all inclusive. We’ve been to a few in our time and enjoyed them lots. We’ve met good friends at places like this including Natalya and Shane in Mauritius 😘. That said it’s not our usual environment…less so in the middle of summer holidays!

Speaking of friends – we met Erin, Alex, Chloe and Madeline for an all too brief 24 hours whilst at the hotel. Chloe and Madeline are 6 and 4 respectively and between them and James much mischief was had. Just as we were about to leave the hotel the kids went for a little wander around the pool. We headed out to check on them and found them fully clothed, chest deep in the kiddies pool…bad parents 😆.

And so I write this blog from our balcony sun lounger drinking minibar wine, wondering if I could possibly be hungry enough to contemplate breakfast tomorrow. I’ll put my big girl pants on and manage a pancake or two and then be relieved to leave and head further east. But I will be forever grateful for the precious hours spent on the sun lounger whilst James was at kids club. Even if we paid for it dearly with our daily trips to the water slides!!!

This blog should be retitled…James is definitely no longer a baby and we are also not sure that a month in Greece really counts as travelling. But we do what we can with what we have and this time our trip will be all in one country. As a country Greece is one of our go to favourites and we plan to explore as much as ever.

We managed a cheeky half term break in October but otherwise we (like most others in the U.K.) have been completely grounded since March 2020. I make it 18 months and 12 days since our big 6 months adventure came crashing down only 10 weeks in. I rarely reread blog posts but I have read ‘Game Over’ time and time again. Reflecting on the timing of the pandemic and what it meant for our family and our dreams.

We remain grateful that our friends and family made it through in good health. There were some tricky moments for a couple but we are all still strong. I know that is not the case for so many people and I also know that many countries have more challenges than the U.K. who at least seemed able to get a vaccine rollout delivered double quick.

Since I’m not Dominic Cummings and this isn’t a political blog 🤣 I’ll crack on with talking about our travels. We’ve got the month of August on Crete, with the option to island hop along the way.

We’re on day 2, maybe 3. Frankly I’ve already lost count! We’re in Chania right now and plan to potter around the island at least for 2 weeks. This morning we’re on a typical Greek beach…a little sandy cove, blue clear water, sheltering from fierce heat under olive trees or similar. The noise from the cicadas is incredible and totally welcome. Chania is full of Greeks – I can’t figure out whether it is just because all the English are in the all inclusive resorts down the coast or if Covid really is having an impact. I guess a bit of both.

Some things haven’t changed. Greek salads rock and John’s love of feta cheese continues. You can survive on €5 bottles of white wine indefinitely. The seafood is great. The Greek people are lovely. And James given the choice will also always choose chips for dinner!

Time will tell whether we see / do anything really blog worthy on this trip. But we’ll keep you posted and for now focus on a little bit of rest and relaxation.

Overnight it all changed. Through the lens of Coronavirus Hawaii is certainly safer than the U.K. right now. And yet a simple change of U.K. foreign office guidance effectively ended our adventure. Literally overnight it was clear that we had to leave the USA.

We’d been developing alternative plans for weeks as Coronavirus progressed and grew ever closer. Thoughts such as running away to Australia and New Zealand were curtailed due to their new immigration stance and so we were left with heading to Japan early or skipping Japan and China and hiding somewhere in Thailand.

In the end the risk of hitting mandatory quarantine in these places, or the treatment of those travelling from the US suddenly changing felt very risky. We have a friend working for BA and he was also helpful in letting us know just how much long haul travel was being grounded. Little did we know that a mere 24 hours later the U.K. foreign office would recommend against all but essential travel anywhere – thank goodness we were not at this point on a plane to Asia.

Suddenly we faced the real threat of our travel insurance being invalidated or worse still being locked in the same room as James for 2 weeks! We also couldn’t be certain we could get home if our family needed us and that was when suddenly 6am Hawaii time on a Monday morning we planned our escape.

In 40 hours we would land in Heathrow. Our family and friends we think were unsurprised and in parts happy we would be back. We were sad. We broke the news to James and he simply said “no, no, no”. Happily he was placated within seconds by being told he could see his old toys and then he wanted to know why he could not board the plane immediately.

One of the reasons why travelling as a family works for us is that we seem to do ok when things are tough. There was no hysteria, a factual discussion followed by packing – something we are now very good at. A final tight hug and kiss signalled the sad end of a fab adventure and early departure from our Hawaii Big Island holiday home. That was John and I – James was waiting to get on the plane already 😂.

We spent our last hours trekking down into the Kilauea Iki Crater and across the solidified lava lake formed as part of the 1959 eruption. Other worldly, relaxing and beautiful – a poignant way to end the adventure.

Cutting short our adventure means we miss so much – for now we won’t see Japan a big bucket list destination. China was much anticipated and James was really excited at the prospect of seeing elephants in the wild in Thailand. We also cut short our trip to Hawaii and we honestly don’t know if we will come this far round the world again. We saw such a tiny snippet of this beautiful unusual place. But, we are safe and well and can always travel again. Sometimes things are not meant to be.

The adventure was also so much more than a visit to a few cool places. It was family time to hang out together before school starts. Happily we have all survived close quarters with one another and frankly the family time piece of this adventure doesn’t end at Heathrow – neither of us have jobs to go to. We expect to be spending more time together in an even more unusual situation in the coming months!!

Both of us were also done with day to day routine and work and needed a break. For me it was also a chance to reflect after 20 years of working fast and hard. To figure out what next. Some of that thinking has been done, the trip gave space to unwind, get sleep and let the mind wander. There have been no lightening bolts for either of us but we are recharged with a clearer sense of what to focus on.

Going away with just one bag is also an eye opener. It reminds you of how little you need and simplifies life. I hope to remember this when we get home, but from our last big trip I remember how quickly that feeling disappears for me, unlike John who is a good influence in this space.

So what to do in the U.K.? We’ll take a couple of weeks to decompress, eat curry, stop eating trail mix, enjoy a couple of gin and tonics and find a new routine. We had hoped to see family and friends but this is already ruled out and instead we will focus on doing our bit to help the world get rid of this virus.

What’s clear, is that the world is experiencing something quite extraordinary and dreadful. I hope family, friends and loved ones fair well through this – we are sending good wishes to you all and will remain thankful that we had the opportunity to travel even if it didn’t work out quite a planned.

Until next time.
JJL x

After enjoying our time there so much we reluctantly left San Diego and headed to Las Vegas for a few days. Vegas was on our itinerary for a few reasons. Firstly it is a good flight hub for getting to Hawaii. Secondly the Californian national parks we really wanted to visit further north (Yosemite, Sequoia, Redwood etc) are too cold and snow covered for the meagre contents of our bag at this time of year. Finally, to satisfy our mild curiosity as Vegas seems to be on a lot of people’s bucket list. It’s not the sort of place we’d ever make a special trip to visit so since we were in the area we thought we’d see what it’s all about.

Thanks to the generosity of some of our colleagues and friends at Hastings Direct our stay was made much more comfortable and fun than it would have been otherwise. Caesar’s Palace, Cirque du Soleil and our posh (relatively when you have become accustomed to rice & beans) dinner were fab guys, thank you.

Before we left for Hawaii we decided to splash some cash and take a helicopter ride over the Hoover Dam and into the Grand Canyon. Throughout the trip so far James was adamant that he wouldn’t go in a helicopter but some gentle persuasion convinced him to give it a go. Of course he loved it and was added to the growing list of truly memorable experiences on our trip.

Next, onto Hawaii and if we had known we would only have one week there we would have approached it differently. We were expecting 3 weeks and had planned time on Oahu, Big Island and Kauai.

Leaving Vegas for Hawaii we thought we had timing on our side once more and had out run Coronavirus. It was only when we landed in Honolulu we saw that the US had extended its travel ban to include the U.K. and even then it appeared that having been away from Europe for 10 weeks would mean we were good to stay. More on that in our next blog!

In Honolulu we had just 2 days and so headed straight to world famous Waikiki. Time for some sun and surf. It turns out that the world famous beach in Waikiki is man-made and suffering from terrible erosion. In the early 1900s sand was brought in from California and this has continued along with donations from nearby beaches on Oahu. We didn’t love it – the beaches of Roatan, Belize and even San Diego rested heavy on our minds. Thankfully given the early ending of our trip we did head out to surf whilst we were there – it was an intimidating crowd that surf Waikiki which definitely impacted our form!

We did quite like the food in Waikiki and found a fab cafe serving healthy food and smoothies, some of it was even accidentally vegan! Poke, cured raw fish bowls served with rice and other veg, nuts etc was also favourite.

What we were really waiting for was our trip to Big Island. Although flowing lava was no longer visible since Kilauea stopped erupting in 2018 there remained lots to see and we were excited. Purposefully we started on the less popular east coast. With plenty of rain and no stereotypical golden beaches it was short of resorts but right up our street in terms of slightly run down tropical charm.

We based ourselves in Hilo and headed a few miles out to Robertson’s and Carlsmith beaches. They were directly off an unassuming road but were totally spectacular.

We visited Robertson’s because it was a black and green sand beach, created by the lava eruptions. It was dramatic, rugged, chilled and stunning. A small walk across some rock pools and we found 4 green turtles just chilling out!! The waves were lively and John couldn’t resist a dip. The variety of fish he saw were quite amazing although I think the fresh water seeping up from the rocks beneath were a surprise and kept the tropical waters a bit nippy!

The following day we went to Carlsmith beach just next door. This time a tiny yellow sand beach set in a dramatic black lava rock secluded bay which was perfect for swimming. Crystal clear waters and more turtles were once again joined by rising cold ground water. John loved it but James and I only managed a short dip.

In our time in Hilo we also made visits to an eerie lava-tube cave, spectacular waterfall and a grove of huge banyan trees all just on the outskirts of town.

We were sad to leave the east coast but excited to be heading to Volcanoes national park on the slopes of the Kīlauea and Mauna Loa volcanoes. We stayed in a small apartment nestled in the rainforest surrounded by giant ferns and dripping moss covered trees which was like a scene from Jurassic Park. We didn’t know it yet but our time there was to be very limited. We did however manage to take in the views from the crater rim and visit some steam vents where ground water seeps down into the volcanic rock and returns to the surface as slightly stinky (sulphurous) steam. There was also a trip to a vineyard to sample the local produce which was of dubious quality.

It was at 6am the next morning when things rapidly started to unravel…

We think San Diego is great.

Fresh from 7 weeks in Central America. Salty, sandy, mosquito bitten, done with rice and beans and looking for something other than local beer – along came fresh, hip, bright San Diego. Timing is everything and San Diego hit all the right spots.

Chosen for this trip because of it’s laid back, funky, outdoor and compact city lay out. We had two weeks to spend in and around San Diego and we’re looking forward to getting settled into local life.

We were spoilt for choice – beaches (Ocean, Pacific, Coronado, Mission, La Jolla), downtown (Gas Lamp, Old Town, Little Italy), Hipster action (North Park), more middle class (South Park) and upstate cute beach towns like Encinitas. As such we chose to hop around to try to see and experience as much as possible.

James also featured heavily in our planning for SD and we arrived with plans to visit a bunch of particularly kid friendly stuff – the very big and famous zoo, New Childrens’ museum and Legoland to name but a few #goodparents. Note that Seaworld is not included – hoop jumping killer whales or whatever is just not our cup of tea.

First stop – South Park (not that South Park). Our base for some jaunts around the city. San Diego Zoo, Coronado Island, Balboa Park and some much needed shopping. We found a gorgeous bright airy city with wide sidewalks, roads that took a month to cross and oddly limited street lighting. We also found lots of restaurants, craft breweries and other shops that would be very at home in Hackney were is not for the lack of air pollution and sense of space that made it feel very different.

Coronado Island has an amazing beach alongside a naval base and is picture postcard US of A. Stars and Stripes flags hang from houses and political poster boards are the norm alongside manicured lawns and white board churches. It’s cute, clean and made us giggle.

Keen to see more we headed seaward. Pacific beach no less. We expected surf life, sand in our toes, cool shops, taco stalls…and playgrounds. Put simply it is stunning – there is something really compelling about white sand and surf waves as far as the eye can see. A back drop of a cycle/skating/running/walking pathway and then beautiful modern double story homes with sea views. Finally, the geography in this area means you have sea in both directions on a peninsular that is only 4 blocks wide. Nice!

Our holiday home had a couple of bikes so we hired a trailer for James and set off to explore. Top of our list was La Jolla. John did an early morning dive in a kelp forest making friends underwater with sea lions and cormorants. James and I followed him up there on a ride which is a similar distance to the one we would normally ride on our commute to old work in Hastings. However I soon found out that a heavy toddler, trailer and California cruiser bike was frankly bloody hard work up any size of hill! La Jolla has a great coast line with clear cold seas and resident sea lions amongst other things. It also has nice coffee, restaurants and is just cute enough without being twee.

Despite this fun we had all been feeling under the weather for a few days. James in particular was struggling and so we decided to take a trip to the local clinic to get him some antibiotics and put our mind at rest. We always want to be honest in our blog and this was one of those moments when you would prefer to be at home amongst a familiar medical system rather than googling symptoms in the dead of the night. The back drop of Coronavirus is also not helpful. Cases are growing in California, and he definitely had some of the symptoms. I also don’t want to be dramatic – the clinic gave him the all clear for flu and we know they have very few testing kits for Coronavirus so really we are none the wiser. Either way James is now much better and enjoyed watching more TV than usual whilst he was unwell. Kids get sick everywhere and it is just a bit more challenging whilst travelling in unfamiliar places.

We only managed to stay for three nights in Pacific beach, due to a lack of planning on our side. So we hired our first car of the trip and headed north about 30 mins keeping close to the coast. We had some relaxed days there hanging around the local beaches and playgrounds limiting as much as possible James getting other people sick whilst avoiding total cabin fever. A special call out to Encinitas – we think it’s a pretty compelling area to live in – kids playing in the surf, sea swimming (for John as it’s cold!), great weather (even in February), lovely food and a cool vibe. We might be googling ‘jobs in San Diego’ whilst James is asleep later!!

We had happily postponed a trip to Legoland whilst James was ill and having now made a good recovery it was time to brave it. I was half expecting that James would for whatever not enjoy it as is so often the case with toddlers and when he refused to go on his first ride that looked all the more likely! Things picked up when he got the chance to drive a Lego car – and given his apparent lack of appreciation of other road users I am delighted that he may be of a generation where passing his driving test is never required 😂. We hit the big time in the afternoon when James went on his first two rollercoasters. The second of which John declared he was a bit scared about! We didn’t buy the theme park photos as the look on James’ face was pure terror…though he still is adamant that he loved it and was not scared at all. We had great weather, tiny queues (James still moaned) and a fun time – thanks Legoland.

Having hit most of the top spots early in our time in SanDiego we headed back to the city with a light schedule. Top of the list for all of us was to visit some of the cities breweries. San Diego state has more breweries than any other US state – literally everyone here brews their own. James was particularly on board with this plan as he had figured out that when we go to breweries he gets the iPad! Highlights included an earlier out of town visit to Stone brewing in Escondido and Ballast Point in Little Italy – uber cool spaces with great food and beer.

Looking back on San Diego from the airport, as far as cities go San Diego is right up there. Very kid and adult friendly – we really recommend it.

Next stop – Las Vegas baby! Bring it on…

We’ve visited a fair chunk of Central America over the past 7 weeks. With nearly 2 months of travel in this area we wanted to share our best bits…

Best for kids:
⁃ Surfing lessons. An unexpected win though we do recommend warm seas and ensuring your little one can swim a bit first!
⁃ Zip-lining. Not for those nervous of heights but otherwise a brilliant, albeit expensive, way to spend a few hours.
⁃ Hot springs. Always a win for us.
⁃ Chaa Creek. A resort near San Ignacio in Belize. We stayed in a jungle lodge with open netted walls and no electricity. More upmarket options are definitely available. The combination of jungle, trails, butterflies, canoes, river tubing, howler monkey sounds and open camping was brilliant.
⁃ Ambergris Caye – the secret beach whilst not at all secret was amazing. A child friendly stretch of coral sand and pristine sea kept us happy all day.
⁃ Golf buggy action on Ambergris Caye. Must be driven by a responsible adult with a driving license and not a 3 year old…😉
⁃ All beaches and swimming pools are a win for us. Swimming, jumping, acrobatics, sandcastles, collecting rubbish from the sand. This all kept us very busy and happy.

Beaches:
⁃ Roatan. Everything that a Caribbean beach should be…when the cruise ship is not in town! House reef wading distance out for snorkelling.
⁃ Ambergris Caye Secret beach. Ditto re Caribbean paradise plus a child friendly depth all around, kayaks and tubes to play on.
⁃ Matapalo / Uvita. Pacific beaches backing onto the jungle. The bath warm water is clean if not clear. Lively waves are good for surfing.

Nature:
⁃ Chaa creek – see above. To be woken by howler monkeys is spectacular. We also spotted an anteater, agoutis, butterflies, iguanas, bats, a terrapin. V cool!
⁃ Costa Rica in general is a natural paradise but the highlight for us was definitely spotting the tree frogs.
⁃ Uvita / Matapalo. A real natural paradise with jungle hitting the beach. Though annoyingly we didn’t see much and I suspect the marine life with whales and dolphins would have been good.

What we wished we’d skipped:
⁃ David in Panama. Bad scheduling and a flower festival made us stuck here for 2 days. There is literally nothing to write about David.
⁃ We should have taken less time in Monteverde (Costa Rica) but in the end we had a fab time hanging out with our Canadian pals.
⁃ A lot of fuss is made over the Resplendent Quetzel (bird). We saw one. Whatever.
⁃ The free hot springs in the evening in La Fortuna. An odd 18-30 party experience cramped under graffitied bridges.
⁃ James sickness in Medellin. We got away lightly but 4 days into the trip we totally could have done without it!

What we wished we’d seen:
⁃ More of Colombia. It’s a vast country with so much more to offer and just our kind of place. But the distances involved means that It just wasn’t a good idea with a toddler.
⁃ Caribbean coast of Costa Rica. Roatan and Belize were our Caribbean adventure but it still would have been nice to see the Costa Rica version.
⁃ Bocas del Torres in Panama. It’s supposed to be a spectacular beach area but tricky to get to if like us you haven’t planned for it.
⁃ Santa Catalina in Panama. In our pre James days we definitely would have hung out at this kind of place but the long journey and trade offs to visit other places meant we skipped this.
⁃ North of the Panama Canal into the jungle. Looked very cool but we were doing jungle elsewhere so we skipped this.
⁃ More sloths. They don’t do much but it would have been fab to see more of them in the wild.
⁃ Blue hole and shark alley in Belize. Given John and I both dive we would have loved to do the Blue Hole but it’s a full day trip that we would have had to do one at a time. We tried to snorkel Shark Alley but apparently they are not so keen about toddlers being bait 😂.

All in all, travelling through Central America with a toddler was filled with amazing experiences and once we’d found our travelling on local buses mojo it was relatively hassle free. In fact travelling with a toddler opens up a whole new world thanks to 3 year olds abilities to break down social and cultural barriers… We also recommend travelling without one! 😮

Dazed from a very early morning get-up we reluctantly headed to the airport to leave the paradise island of Roatan for Belize.

We’d considered Belize as a travel destination in the past (pre James) but it’s not a straightforward country to fly to from the UK so we never ended up going. Known for its dense jungles, reefs and minimal tourist attractions we were unsure how many toddler friendly things we’d find to do there – But since we were going to be in that part of the world it would have been rude to miss it this time around. Plus it seemed like a good end point for the Central American part of our trip.

After we checked in at the airport in Roatan there was a bit of a surprise in store for us. There was only one aircraft on the runway and it was tiny! With only three others passengers we bagged seats directly behind the pilots. What a way to get to the next country. James however was more interested his impromptu carrot cake breakfast (the only thing available at 06:00 in the airport) and left our seats covered in crumbs… there’s no hiding the whodunnit on such a small plane 😳

Safely back on terra firma our first stop was Chaa Creek lodge near San Ignacio which is nestled in the Belizean jungle on the banks of the Macal river. Being cheapskates we opted to stay in the jungle campsite with no electricity and a shared wooden shack toilet block, rather than the posh lodge complete with spa and swimming pool. Despite the lack of luxury there’s something special about being lulled to sleep by jungle nighttime sounds under the light of a hurricane lamp. So too is a 05:30 wake up call by a troupe of howler monkeys in the trees overhead.

That said Lucy did get a reminder that we were in the jungle for real when one evening she discovered a scorpion in the campsite toilet cubicle. Thankfully both made a hasty retreat and neither were harmed.

It turns out that filling our time with toddler friendly things to do in a jungle was easier than anticipated. The camp had canoes for guests to use so we spent a morning paddling up river spotting wildlife along the way. There were even a few light rapids to test our canoeing skills but we failed at the first hurdle and had to get out and push. As you can imagine James isn’t the most helpful in such situations. We made a pleasant lunch stop at a botanical garden then it was a leisurely float back downstream to camp.

River tubing seemed to be a big tourist draw in that part of the country but came with an expensive price tag. Again, being tight northerners at heart and unsure whether James would enjoy it we found a way of trying it out for free. The posh lodge had inner tubes we could use to float our way downstream back to our campsite. An hour later we arrived with wet bums and with only a slightly bored toddler. It seems James tubing highlight was actually the al fresco wee he did at the end of the jetty!

The rest of our time at Chaa Creek was spent lazing by the posh lodge pool, walking the many jungle trails and visiting an on-site butterfly farm which James surprised us again and loved.

The local family who ran the campsite looked after us beautifully. They cooked us amazing food and helped entertain James when he was being grumpy, we couldn’t have asked for better hosts. Thank you Chaa Creek.

Our next stop was San Pedro town on the island of Ambergris Caye, one of the many small coral islands that line the Belize barrier reef. Considering that ambergris is a grey waxy substance produced by the digestive tracts of sperm whales you’d be forgiven for thinking it’s probably not really worth the 90 minute long water taxi ride from Belize City to get there. However it’s actually a beautiful tropical island surrounded by white sandy beaches, warm turquoise sea, with a friendly laidback Caribbean vibe.

The main mode of transport on the island for locals and tourists alike are golf carts. So not wanting to miss out on the fun we hired one for a day and headed north along potholed roads to the ‘secret’ beach which was touted (so clearly not secret) as being the best on the island. It didn’t disappoint and James spent the day playing in the water with his two newfound friends from North Carolina.

We’d hoped to be able to take a reef snorkelling trip whilst on the island but none of the operators would let James do the snorkelling so instead we spent our last day on the island chilling Caribbean style – checking out the local playgrounds, eating ice cream, afternoon beers, diving off jetties into the sea… at which James excelled and impressed everyone with his daredevil antics.

In the end Belize turned out to be one of the best places to entertain a toddler that we had visited yet. Mainly down to the openness/tolerance of the local kids to playing with a slightly loopy English boy.

It was sad to leave Central America but it was time to head north to San Diego in the US. Despite loving the last month and a half in the tropics we were both looking forward to some time without applying sunscreen, constant sweating and the ever present nighttime threat from mosquitoes. City life, craft beer and food that doesn’t contain rice & beans here we come….

Our original trip itinerary had us landing in Colombia, heading up to Panama, moving onto Costa Rica and then somehow arriving in Belize some weeks later. We had wanted to keep the itinerary flexible to see what we fancied and following some rapid Google action we settled on a series of flight hops to see some countries that were not originally on our radar.

I imagine lots of people have not even heard of El Salvador, indeed if it weren’t for a certain song in the 90s which I LOVED I may not have heard of it either. Its a small country bordering Honduras and Guatemala.

The capital San Salvador has the unenviable reputation of being the murder capital of the world. Things are however improving thanks to efforts from the new President. As ever we took care and blended in as much as a couple of el cheles (Salvadorean version of gringos) and an objectionable toddler can!

The decision to go to El Salvador was driven by a couple of things. When you read travel posts it feels like it might be a special place – great nature, volcanoes, friendly people (gang members aside) and it is compact meaning we can see stuff relatively easily. We also loved the idea of hopping into a new country which is still relatively unexplored by tourists.

Because El Salvador is a bit more risky we chose a four night break staying in the capital in a nice area and booked Salvadorean Tours take us out each day. That means we didn’t have any planning to do for a few days – no buses timetables to figure out, no decisions to make except where to have dinner. Result!

We got a great taste of El Salvador, touring the capital, visiting volcanoes, national parks, Mayan ruins and…churches. John’s highlight was inadvertently getting his ‘energy read’ by a Mayan Shaman (I saw him more as an old dude out for a picnic near the Mayan ruins). John sleeps easy at night now he has been told he has lots of positive energy. I didn’t rate the Shaman’s abilities much though as he missed the obvious chance to tell us we have an grumpy child 😂.

What we saw sadly was a little unremarkable. We have no regrets visiting El Salvador and seeing somewhere new, but the lack of wildlife and limited tourist attractions, aside from historical monuments (not our thing), meant it only held our attention for so long. James was sympathetic to this and helpfully suffered a bout of travel sickness putting pay to our final day’s tour. I write this from a McDonalds soft play area…and aside from the blooming cold air conditioning I’m quite happy 😆!!

We can also say that life in El Salvador is never dull – whilst in town the military stormed parliament to demand better equipment. They were fully armed, although a bit like Bogota everyone is fully armed all the time so I guess that’s not news worthy. Whilst we were warned I don’t think any of us expected to experience two earthquakes. Neither caused damage but I couldn’t have put it better myself when after the second one John suggested it was time to leave the country before it falls apart!

Leave we did and we took a short flight to Honduras. If we had doubts about the security of El Salvador then Honduras was looking even more sketchy. Serious gang crime keeping the country in poverty, foreign office guidance not to take public buses, but has a government that says it is open to tourism? The answer to all of this is Roatan island in the Caribbean. It hosts a million or so cruise ship day visitors each year and is just beautiful. 40km long and a few km wide we think we may have found our beach paradise. Life on Roatan is still not totally safe – we were warned against taking the short path around the bay we were staying at, it just isn’t safe even for locals unless in large groups.

We booked four nights next to the best beach on the island (world?), West Bay. Golden coral sand, crystal clear waters, a reef wading distance from shore. Here’s to a little bit of Caribbean paradise!

I don’t really have much more to say about Roatan. We sunbathed, swam, built sandcastles, swung in hammocks, had some beers and repeated. You’re welcome 😊.

James has been practicing his swimming wherever possible on the holiday. He apparently swims better than the guy who looks after us in our accommodation… he’s an embarrassed 18 year old living on an island and cannot swim! James also got to give snorkelling a go…and is starting to get the hang of it.

All good things come to an end. We fly on to our last country in Central America – Belize. First stop a jungle lodge with no electricity- dear god!

We’d spent a week in Costa Rica exploring the Pacific coast. Now was the time to head up country to La Fortuna and onto Monteverde, firmly on the gringo tourist trail.

Confidence was high and we were winging it on our local bus journey to La Fortuna. After a convoluted 6 hour journey over the mountains (despite what the guidebooks say booking ahead apparently helps!) we did finally arrive in La Fortuna, the town at the foot of Volcan Arenal. When I visited 10 years ago the volcano was still spitting out lava but thankfully (as Lucy still hasn’t got over our Nicaraguan live volcano climb 6 years ago) it’s calmed down and is now classified as being in a ‘resting phase’ i.e. isn’t doing much now but could kick off at any point. Whilst there are no longer any fireworks displays it still cuts an intimidating figure looming at the end of the high street.

Despite our best efforts, so far there were still no sloth sightings. Then on checking-in to our hotel there they were. Two in the tree right outside the hotel entrance. No kudos for spotting them though as it seems they just hang out in the same tree pretty much all the time. In all honesty, despite the anticipation it was a bit of an anticlimax seeing two grey-brown lumps doing literally nothing. James’s attention was held for about 2 seconds and he returned to trying to kick gravel off the path which is clearly more exciting.

As you do when staying in the shadow of a brooding giant volcano, we decided to head to its hotspot. Baldi hot springs is basically a series of 25 pools filled with hot water which seeps up from the depths of the volcano. James met a couple of play mates from Vancouver Island, Tucker and Mason and there was no looking back. We thought that 3 hours there would be enough…7 hours later we found ourselves trying to coax him into leaving.

The next day we opted for a guided walk through the lush rain-forested slopes of the volcano to do some wildlife spotting. Whilst the trek was a bit tame by our usual standards we did get to see coatis, leaf cutter ants, toucans, white faced monkeys, agoutis and hummingbirds aplenty.

The stars of the show though were the red eyed tree frogs which emerged at dusk. Far more interesting than sloths as they actually move. In fact Lucy may have accidentally squashed one trying to brush it off James when it jumped onto him, although the details are unclear since it was so dark 😳

The rest of our time in La Fortuna was spent enjoying some of the local cafes, restaurants and bars before heading to our next destination, Monteverde.

The journey to Monteverde has to be one of our easiest yet. To go by bus takes 9 hours to cover the 110km which gives you an idea of the terrain. Thankfully there’s a more tourist friendly way of getting there. A seamless 3.5 hour bus-boat-bus service which air conditioned busses you to the shores of lake Arenal, takes a shortcut by ferrying you across the lake, then another bus picks you up on the other side and safely deposits you right outside your hotel. Being in gringo premier tourist attraction land has its benefits.

Santa Elena is nestled just below the cloud forest of Monteverde so makes a good base for exploring the area. It also means that you frequently get a drenching when the clouds from further up the mountain get blown by. Monteverde is not only home to one of the most biodiverse ecosystems on the planet, it also has some of the best zip-lines in the world. We mentioned the idea of zip-lining to James and he was well up for it so we booked ourselves in for the biggest and the best the next day.

Selvatura Adventure Park has 13 zip-lines through the forest canopy, one of which is a whopping 1km long! Thankfully for us they are happy to take toddlers, so James was paired up with his guide Kevin and off we went.

The horizontal rain and 40 kph winds didn’t deter jungle Jim who absolutely loved it. He was even allowed to do the 45m Tarzan swing which some of the adults in our group wimped out of (good parenting?). The first thing he said when unhooked from the rope was ‘Can I do it again’. Legend!

Back at the hostel James met a couple of new playmates, Simon and Desmond from northern Canada. We all (parents and kids) spent a wonderful couple of days together romping around local playgrounds, eating ice cream, hanging out in a nearby village square, exploring forest reserves and enjoying the sunset views over the Golfo de Nicoya.

A funny story that must be told (sorry Simon) – Simon sadly got sick with a bad ear infection and had to visit a doctor. In a stupid attempt to lighten the mood Lucy retold a story of her childhood when in Spain she got sick and the doctor tried to stick a tablet us her bum. Unfortunately Simon lost this in translation as apparently his ‘tablet’ is iPad size and shaped 😱. Even more surprising… upon his visit to the doctors he did indeed get the very same treatment. Happily Simon got well quickly and quickly got back to wrestling his brother and James. Thank you Mary Jane, Shane, Simon and Desmond we had a fab time.

It was then back to San Jose for a couple of nights in a posh (relatively) hotel to scrub off the dirt from the forests and get some laundry done before flying to our next destination. We are excited to be changing countries and particular to visit one which we know so little about – see you in El Salvador.