Crossing the Colombia-Ecuador border overland took me seven-and-a-half hours. Next to me, tourists were ready to write off the country there and then. Yet despite this backdrop of festering frustration, I fell for Quito almost immediately. After arriving very late the night before, I woke in the capital on a beautiful, sunny Sunday morning. As […]
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How to make the most of your time in Tayrona National Park
Tell anyone who’s not been to Colombia you are imminently travelling to the country and they will inhale sharply and imagine danger around every corner in Medellin and Bogota. This perception is outdated, yet refuses to disappear. But tell someone who’s been to the country about your travel plans, and they will begin to talk […]
Discovering Bocas del Toro
During the course of the months I spent in Bocas del Toro, I became extremely fond of the destination. You would expect this to be self-evident when living and working in a Caribbean paradise, yet each year some visitors are disappointed by their trip to the archipelago. This says more about them than Bocas […]
Progress Report: Five Months in Latin America
Since my last video, I have travelled with my girlfriend from Bocas del Toro to Bogota in Colombia. While this has given me lots of opportunities to practise my Spanish, this hasn’t quite matched my 20 hours of tuition I was receiving every week at Habla Ya. Consequently, my fluency has regressed. This is something […]
Goals galore but defenders will help determine who claims the glory
The quarter-finals of this season’s European football matches will live long in the memory. Roma, Red Bull Salzburg and Marseille all progressed when almost everyone thought their chances were over. Juventus nearly joined them, before Cristiano Ronaldo’s late penalty dashed the Old Lady’s dreams. The four ties involving these teams saw 34 goals scored over […]
Progress Report: Four months in Panama
I was hoping to use the video in this post to showcase my continuing progress towards fluency. However, what it instead shows is something more honest. In recent days I have been buoyed by the results of a few online tests. The first was a Spanish A Level exam, which is the test taken by […]