I recently wrote a review of my packing list for Latin America, here are six of the less obvious items that turned out to be indispensable:
Earplugs – Noisy hotels/hostels, long bus journeys with crying babies, Bolivian folk music. All enough to cause loss of sleep, and subsequently bad moods. All preventable with a decent set [...]

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Clothes
1 Pair Trousers – used sparingly, in nightclubs and whe ntemperature dipped – especially in Bolivia
1 Pair Cargo Shorts – used extensively. I recommend Gap. Lasted very well, had pockets repaired in Panama then replaced in Colombia.
3 T Shirts – White t-shirts didn’t last too well. Easy and cheap to [...]

During the week, Yami invited me to spend a day with her at her clinic, in the tiny hamlet of Toabré in the hills outside Penonome. In order for dentists and doctors to receive permission from the government to work as medical professionals in Panama, upon completion of their degree/doctorates, they must complete two years [...]

Highlights
Equipment Review
Final Route

Highlights
The original blog – “roylloydjones” – started out as an almost daily journal from my eleven month backpacking trip around Latin America in 2005/06, recording daily events as I travelled by any mode of transport available – car, bus, train, aeroplane, rickshaw, canoe, sail boat, speed boat and ferry, eventually travelling this [...]

Days 265 to 281 – Sunday 11th to Tuesday 27th June 2006
I flew back to Panama, spent a week with Yami and returned to Cartagena. I then tried to go south to Medellin, but the buses were a little bit of a problem due to the FARC in the region, so I decided to take [...]

Day 255 – Thursday 1st June 2006
Check out was 11am. Come 10.45 we rolled out of bed and quickly tried to pack our things up and leave. I decided that I wanted to go to Cartagena and hang around there for the 10 days until my flight to Panama, so it would be goodbye to [...]

Day 254 – Wednesday 31st May 2006
Waking up again a little fragile, it was straight into the sea to clear the head. The cooling water worked its magic yet again, and that together with the fruit juices made me feel almost human again.

Days 247 to 249 – Wednesday 24th to Friday 26th May 2006
In reality after getting to bed at 5am, an 8am start was never going to happen. I thought we all did well to get up at 9am and start preparations for our trip to Parque Nacional Tayrona, the pristine Caribbean beach where we would [...]

Day 245 – Monday 22nd May 2006
Aaron & I woke up early as planned, packed our things up and checked out of our hostel. Our plan was to head to the Pacific coast of Colombia for the week before heading back to Cali for the weekend to hit the town.

Day 243 – Saturday 20th May 2006
We waited until lunchtime to go to the airport to take our flight to Cali. We said see goodbye to the Swedes and Jon and took a taxi. The airport was the most security conscious airport I have seen. A check in the taxi on the way into the [...]