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Central America

It's August 2008 and I'm leaving the USA and won't be back for one year! It's time to wander and learn again!

For years it's been bugging me that there are four countries in Central America and two major countries in Europe that I've never visited. Moreover, I still haven't finished my book on Eastern Europe. I need to revisit the region, especially countries I short-changed in 2004: Poland; Bulgaria; and Moldova.

Therefore, tonight I'm flying to Oaxaca, Mexico. From there I'll take buses and:
  • Cross Chiapas, Mexico, the site of a violent revolution a few years ago
  • Revisit Guatemala
  • Speak English in Belize
  • Lay on a beach on the island of Roatan in Honduras
  • Navigate the waters of Nicaragua
  • See volcanoes in Costa Rica
  • Snorkel in archipelago of Bocas del Toro, Panama
The only Central American country I am not visiting is El Salvador. I've been there twice and it's pretty uninteresting. Besides, El Salvador has the second highest murder rate in worldEl Salvador has the second highest murder rate in world (after Iraq) and I prefer to die in a more interesting way.
 
I won't be backpacking the whole time. My primary way of getting around will be buses and boats. Occasionally I will trek into a jungle to get a dose of malaria.

After Central America, I'll fly to sin city. No, not Las Vegas, but Amsterdam. Toek, a fellow CDT hiker, is letting me stay at his place. He says his apartment will be full of drugs and hookers, but I don't that's possible in Amsterdam.

Four days later I'll fly out of the Netherlands to visit the only other major country in Europe that I have not been to: Norway. After a week of seeing fjords, it's off to Estonia and the rest of Eastern Europe! I look forward to freezing my butt off there this winter.

With this trip I will have visited all the major countries in Europe; however, three micro-countries will remain: Andorra, San Marino, and Lichtenstein. All three are tiny city-states, like Vatican City. They somehow have a seat at the United Nations and so I need to see them if I am to complete my quest of visiting every country on the planet. It's annoying that they even exist and I'm hoping their will surrender their sovereignty to their neighbors soon.
 
I also hope to revisit Germanyand see my uncle in France.
 
WHAT ABOUT 2009?
 
In 2009 I plan to ....
 
 
WHAT ABOUT 2010-2011?
 
Spend a year visiting all 54 countries in Africa. (It might take longer than one year.)

AND 2012?

Write my book on the Africa trip. Return to the USA. Kiss the ground. And vote in the US Elections.
1 Why Are Rainforests Disappearing in Central America?
2 Panama's Bocas del Toro
3 Costa Rica and William Walker
4 Navigating Nicaragua's Waters
5 Heading for Hell in Honduras
6 Belize is a Breeze
7 Sneaking into Guatemala
8 Southern Mexico
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