Central America Archives - Jim Murty’s TravelTravelTravel

Central America, Countries, Sustainable Tourism

The perfect Latino immigrant to America

6th April 20266th April 2026 funtime65

And we’ve found the perfect Latino immigrant to America, who barely causes a ripple and never stays past her shell-life.

Meet Peggy who we learn washed up without a by your leave on the sands of the east coast as a hatchling turtle.

And was so taken by the States, as we all are, that she returned 30 years later to the very same beach, as a mother to lay her eggs.

Peggy’s odyssey

Peggy’s peregrinations come to mind as we prepare for World Earth Day on April 22.

And celebrate the global leadership of Belize in caring for our heroes in a half-shelf.

As they set a benchmark for marine sustainability by legally protecting 30% of its waters by 2026.

And use drones and climate modelling to balance fisheries, tourism, and shoreline protection.

The Great Migration

The aim is to integrate reef restoration and community-led monitoring to ensure healthier ecosystems support coastal livelihoods.

And now here’s where MarAlliance come into play.

With the first satellite-mappped loggerhead turtle migration from Belize to the US.

And mangrove restoration projects that nurture juvenile fish, boosting biodiversity and food security.

Scholarships and education programmes empower young Belizians to become future marine scientists.

All so that we can explore clean Caribbean seas on those de rigueur holiday excursions of swimming with the turtles.

Belize please

And, of course, it doesn’t stop there.

Yes, you’ll get to mingle with the natives, the turtles and the indigenous wildlife.

And explore the Bladen Nature Reserve trails.

And the Belizians will power up local airlines, helicopters, rental cars, buses, boats and even horses.

To get you on your way and off the beaten path.

While you can zipline through the jungle too or scuba dive.

And for those who like an easier life, you can relax on the beach or pound on a Garifuna drum.

So if you want to enjoy an ecoliday with plenty of activities you wouldn’t do back home.

Then check out Belize in Central America with the major airlines who fly there.

And just say Peggy and the turtles sent you.

Central America, Countries, Deals, Flying

Now we Cancun fly Aer Lingus from Dublin

21st May 202521st May 2025 funtime65

I’ve done the Guadalaharry ole, hung with The Three Caballeros and sung Mariachi so I reckon I’m Mex-ready now we Cancun fly Aer Lingus from Dublin.

Guadalaharry’s was my first introduction to American working life.

If you discount being pressganged into moving dumpsters at the back of my aunt’s business The Irish Cottage in Queens.

A Mexican restaurant in Quincy Market in Boston back in the Eighties, I was employed as a bus boy .

And I was rewarded with a pittance and a cut of the waiters and waitresses’ tips.

And as well as clearing up the dishes and washing them I had to join the staff in celebrating customers’ birthdays.

Which involved Mariachi music and a chorus of ‘Happy Birthday ole, Happy Birthday ole, Happy Birthday from Harry’s, Happy Birthday oleeeeeeee.

Mariachi Murty

Not surprisingly the mariachi band who entertained us in Orlando years later hit their notes rather better.

And Donald Duck and the Three Caballeros at Epcot, well they have had years of practice.

While when it comes to Tex-Mex, well the San Antonians on the River Walk bandstand no doubt learned it at their mother’s knee.

And their love of Cerveza at their father’s.

A new Mexican wave

Because after all the Lone Star state of Texas is infused with Mexican heritage.

Where the lines have been blurred over the centuries and the best compromise of all is the sobriquet Tex-Mex.

Less well known probably is that Scots and Irish, my mixed bloods, enmeshed themselves in the rows between neighbours down in this part of the world.

With a bagpiper heralding the Battle of the Alamo and Irish emigrees too fighting to the death.

Today’s Scots and Irish head to Tex-Mex territory and the motherland for Tequila and Tacos and sun, sea, sand and sangria.

But up until today’s Aer Lingus announcement of direct routes from Dublin to Cancun that has involved circuitous stop-offs.

Ireland’s national carrier will operate three times weekly on the airline’s A330-300 aircraft, operating from 6 January to 29 April.

Cancun cookin’

Of course, if you want to wander from the Caribbean beaches, the region is also home to awe-inspiring archaeological sites.

Such as El Rey, Ichkabal, Coba, Kohunlich, El Meco, Chichén Itzá, and Tulum.

All of which offer a fascinating glimpse into Mexico’s rich heritage.

And because we got a taste for the enchilada back then in Guadalaharry’s we’re keen to tuck into the local fare.

And Cancun offers a wide choice from the smoky, charred richness of grilled meats to the region’s iconic zesty ceviche.

From Lobster Pizza, Queso De Bola,crispy sweet Marquesitas or freshly made Guacamole.

Friends across the water

And all this as Ireland and Mexico mark the 50th anniversary.

Of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

So it’s Areeba, Areeba from us and now we Cancun fly Aer Lingus from Dublin we know what we’ll be doing in 2026.

Particularly with flights to Cancun available from €291 each way, including taxes, fees and carrier charges.

Africa, Asia, Central America, Countries, Europe, Pilgrimage

Celebrating Jesus and a Happy Hanukkha

29th December 2024 funtime65

As Christmas and the Festival of Lights coincide only four times a century this year we’re celebrating Jesus and a Happy Hanukkah.

If the prophecies were right then it was on Kislev 25, 3757, or 5BC, that the Light of the World emerged.

Six hundred years after the Maccabi recovered Jerusalem and the Second Temple was rededicated.

Jesus being a Jew he would naturally have celebrated Hanukkah with Mary, Joseph and his siblngs.

And the Gospel of St John cites Jesus in the temple telling Jews: ‘I and the Father are one.’

Hanukkah holidays

All of which Sabbath lesson for the day brings us round to Hanukkah holidays.

Now the good news is that they last eight days, roughly the same time frame as your average family holiday.

Jewish families, and friends, have been gathering to light one additional candle in the menorah multibranched candelabra.

To replicate the actions of the Maccabi in entering the temple way back then when they made a little oil go a long, long way.

Diaspora around world

Now the Jewish diaspora has led to slight variations on the agreed customs.

So look out in your part of the world, and bear in mind that just like the Irish and the Scots Jews have enriched the whole planet.

We are grateful here to our friends at Reform Judaism for sharing some of the differences from near and far.

Which we will give you a tchotchke, or trinket of, to impress your Jewish pals.

Aleppo to Africa

Now Syrians of all shades and faiths don’t have their troubles to seek but Syrian Jews have long been resilient to the challenges.

The Jews of Aleppo descend from Sephardic Jews expelled from Spain in 1492.

They light an additional shamash (helper candle) on Hanukkah as a sign of thanks.

And in solidarity with refugees who have fled their homes in search of shelter and peace.

And for Kurds they have a take on the giving of Hanukkah gelt, but with a twist.

A week before the holiday, children lock the doors to their rooms and their parents must give them coins to get in!

More is always more in exotic Morocco and they have a ninth day where children collect leftover candles.

They then throw them on a bonfire where the grown-ups jump over them and wish for a partner or to get pregnant.

Vin and games

It’s not surprising to find French Jews blend in the country’s vintage into their customs.

With the celebrants of Avignon ending the Shabbat that falls during Hanukkah by opening a new bottle or cask of wine.

After Havdalah, the end of Shanbat, Jews travel the neighborhood to various homes, tasting the wines and toasting the holiday.

Similarly Mexicans blend in local mores to their celebrations, in their games.

And often break a dreidel-shaped piñata filled with Hanukkah trinkets and treats.

In the Promised Land

Of course, every Jew would want to be in The Promised Land for Hanukkah.

Cantor Evan Kent eulogises about Hanukkah as every pleasure is multiplied as opposed to the sacrifice of other holy days.

And particularly ‘the sufganiyot which help the atmosphere as it’s impossible to be in a bad mood while eating a jelly donut.’

And who’s to say a certain Nazarene carpenter 2,000 years ago didn’t do the same with his family.

Worth thinking about as we join in celebrating Jesus and a Happy Hanukkah.

Caribbean, Central America, Countries

Panama chat

23rd January 202423rd January 2024 funtime65

Now it’s been nearly 325 years since pasty-faced Scottish types tried to make a Central American strip their home before retreating to their cold damp climes… so it’s about time for Panama chat.

Because had Asher Warr and Robin Faulkner been around from 1698-1700 then maybe the Scots would have stuck around.

The two British entrepreneurs launched their first property Amarla Cartagena in Colombia in 2022.

And after the success of that venture they have followed that up.

Panama revisited

With Amarla Casco Viejo in Panama which opened last year.

We’re reliably informed that it is a striking departure from the staid, traditional hotels that dominate the local hospitality scene in Casco Viejo.

And that the hotels are true to the Amarla brand with genuine values rooted in local culture, community and design,.

While redefining the luxury hospitality experience.

Amarla Casco Viejo is perched right in the heart of the historic district of Panama.

With the adults-only hotel giving an intimate experience, with only eight rooms.

Now we have experience of adults-only on the Caribbean in Barbados.

Couples therapy

And don’t be put off being a single in a couples hotel.

Because, as your Bandanaman found out your fellow guests will be only too happy to invite you over for drinks and to sit in for dinner.

Amarla Casco Viejo is designed to offer guests the chance,

To experience understated luxury and local Panamanian culture.

From the architecture to the locally influenced restaurant Kaandela.

Fiery local flavours await and the bar has a spirited South American selection of mezcals and coffee.

Best sipped, they say, on the rooftop, overlooking the trendier-by-the-day Casco.

March of time

Now we’re told too that March is a good time to travel, perhaps that was the earlier Scots’ mistake in their vain bid to set up a colony in Darien.

Temperatures are said to stick around the high 70s and low 80s without too much humidity.

And ocean breezes make for cool and comfortable evenings.

Maybe time then to put the past behind us and head for Central America again and indulge in Panama chat this year.

And you don’t even have to go by ship, although my globetrotting gal did.

Instead you can fly with KLM from Glasgow via Amsterdam round-trip, all from under £1,000 (£973).

And remember to come back with a Panama hat which they imported from Ecuador via those masterly milliners.

But that’s another story… and maybe another Amaria will pop up there too.

Central America, Countries, South America

Darien back on the tourist map

5th September 20235th September 2023 funtime65

As tourist destinations go it didn’t catch on in the same way as say Blackpool or Ibiza but here’s Darien back on the tourist map.

Darien used to be a big thing in the 1690s after it had been identified by outsiders as a route from Atlantic to the Pacific.

Particularly those, like me, of a Scottish variety who, jealous of their English neighbours’ burgeoning empire, went after their own.

Only to find unsurprisingly that the locals, the neighbouring English and Dutch colonists and even God himself didn’t agree.

And cursed by plague, pestilence and penury in the jungle, their bid to establish a New Caledonia ended in bankrupting Scotland.

And why does this matter to you if you’re not of the Scottish variety?

Well the opportunistic English hotfooted it up to Scotland to buy them out and force a union on them, the United Kingdom.

Panama chat

If I haven’t sold the Darien to you yet, then maybe I’m better passing the job over to our friends at Swan Hellenic cruises.

The SH Diana people who will take you around Panama and Peru.

And into the jungle to meet the indigenous Embera people of the Darien.

Where we’re expecting they’ll be more welcoming than 325 years ago.

And Swan Hellenic will be coming in good will to promote the Darien.

Graceful Swan

The SH Diana is brand new for 2024 from Lima to Panama City, along South America.

And, of course, you’ll get to meet the natives who were here before any of us, God’s other critters.

Nature including Humboldt Penguins and Southern Sea Lions on Isla Guanape.

Peruvian pelicans and Blue-Footed Boobies on Lobos de Tierra.

One hundred and thirty species of hummingbird on Puerto Bolivar.

And nested waved albatross on Isla de la Plata.

Deal us in

Departing on March 18, the nine-night Cultures of Northern Peru and Biodiversity expedition cruise costs from £5,356 pps

Including return group transfers from the airport to the cruise port.

One pre-night cruise accommodation with breakfast in a four/five star hotel or onboard.

All meals on board, onboard accommodation in a stateroom selected category.

Twenty-four hour room service, drinks available all day, lecture programmes by experienced expedition team and guest speakers (phew)!

One selected short excursion per port of call, standard Wi-Fi, onboard gratuities and port taxes.

And maybe that’s where the Scottish navy went wrong.

And why they should have followed Swan Hellenic’s lead and why we have Darien back on the tourist map.

Central America, Countries, Deals

Mexico for swinging

9th May 20239th May 2023 funtime65

It’s an oft-asked question… where’s good for a sunny couple’s holiday and there were no sunnier couple than the all-American pair inviting me down to Mexico for a swinging couple’s holiday?

Innocent abroad as I was I took the polo-shirted middle-aged man and his librarian-type wife at their word.

As we sipped cocktails at the Harrah’s Hotel off the Strip in Las Vegas.

While all the time my pal Martin from the north of Ireland was shooting me looks.

Before he just about rescued me when we were ready to exchange details and they were about to tell me about their ‘special’ getaway with their club down in Cancun.

Beach Cassidy and the Sundance kids

No such confusions with our old friends from Ireland Cassidy Travel.

They have just the thing for my itchy-footed companion in life who never tires of telling me that she never gewts away.

And that’s a seven-night all-inclusive stay at the 3* Rui Lupita in Playa del Carmen for travel on June 12 for €1099pps.

Marriachi midfielder: A bit of Mexican fun

We’re told the stunning Caribbean eachside resort is surrounded by tropical gardens and offers

And has a choice of four pools, four restaurants and live shows and entertainment.

Mex my day

Now, I’ve flirted with Mayheecho over the years.

From packing bowls with tortilla chips and guacemole during my post-University stint as a busboy in Boston, Massachussets as well as many other jobs.

To dancing along to the Marriachi bands in Orlando and hanging with the Three Caballeros at Epcot and in Annaheim.

While later this month by the grace of Deo I’ll be channeling my best Tex Mex in San Antonio as part of the American Travel Fair.

So Ole, it has to be Mexico for a swinging couple’s holiday.

America, Central America, Countries, Europe, UK

Out the box pugilist statues

11th August 202211th August 2022 funtime65

And ahead of the unveiling of the Ken Buchanan statue in Edinburgh we’re thinking today. Out the box pugilist statues.

Rock’n’roll in Philly

Rocky, Philadelphia: And with apologies to Tim Witherspoon, Bernard Hopkins and Philadelphia Jack O’Brien (the clue is in the title…

It’s all about Rocky Balboa… and you can get your selfie with the Great Man at the top of his steps in Philly and you don’t have to the run.

On a pedestAli

Muhammad Ali: And the best Ali statue is in sports-mad Philly which immortalises the great duel with adopted Philadelphian, Joe Frazier at the Joe Hand Gym.

Being Ali, we’ve counted 85 statues of Ali around the world, and of course you’ll want to see him in his hometown of Louisville.

And that means the Muhammad Ali Center in the Kentuckian town.

Alexis the Great

On the shoulders of giants: Alexis in Nicaragua

Alexis Arguello, Managua, Nicaragua: And the late great Nicaraguan was a man difficult to worked up to dislike.

No trashtalking here with Alexis always making a point of asking his opponents how their family is… before beating them up.

And on one occasion, Glasgow’s own, Jim Watt, who I’d fanboyed in a record store and wished good luck for his next fight.

Which was… Alexis Aguero.

The Merthyr Matchstick

Johnny Owen, Merthyr Tydfil, Wales: And we’d probably never have heard of Merthyr Tydfil, 23 miles north of Cardiff, were it not for one brave Welsh fighter.

Owen was given his idiosyncratic nickname on account of him being 5ft 8ins and 8st.

And his courage was his undoing when he was knocked unconscious in a world bantamweight title fight in LA and died from his injuries.

Johnny though lives for ever in the hearts of Merthyr (population 50,000) where he shares centre stage with Howard Winstone and Eddie Thomas.

Classical fighters

Boxer at Rest, Palazzo Massimo alle Terme, Rome: And, of course, we’ve been boxing the ears off each other since when Cain struck Abel.

And our Greek (Olympics) and Roman friends loved their prize fighters.

With the statue Boxer at Rest still captivating and informing us about the ancient Romans.

Of course, the Romans were bare-knuckled fighters and it’s how we all start in the playground.

Knuckle down: The Bareknuckle Hall of Fame in NY

Of all places Belfast is where you’ll find the Bare Knuckle Boxing Hall of Fame… Belfast, New York, that is.

The most famous stock of bare-knuckled boxers on the planet are, of course, the Fighting Furys.

Now it’ll probably take years to sculpt a 6ft 9ins and 20st statue.

But we rather like this interpretative statue of the Gipsy King in his hometown of coastal Morecambe in Lancashire.

Just a sample then of our faves. Out the box pugilist statues.

And remember none of us are free of anachronistic statues until all of us are free of anachronistic statues and we get the icons we want.

America, Asia, Canada, Central America, Culture, Sport, UK

Queer how offside Qatar is to the world

13th June 202213th June 2022 funtime65

It’s become a fixture on the party and social calendar in the West but, of course, Pride is a revulsion elsewhere in the world, and in this World Cup year isn’t it queer how offside Qatar is to the world?

Now the football world (a different universe, of course) turned a blind eye to the Emirate’s discrimination and criminalisation of the LGBTQIA community when awarding Qatar the hosting of this winter’s World Cup.

And quite what that’ll mean to LGBTQIA football fans who are wanting to follow their countries’ fortunes then we’ll try here to decipher.

While we all know too that of the hundreds of footballers, coaching staff and officials taking part not one will be LGBTQIA.

And that will get FIFA off the hook… and there won’t be anybody queer in that organisation either.

A word from the sponsors

Football’s World Cup is, of course, more than a sporting event.

It is a cultural, educational example and the tourist trip football fans have been planning for years.

So make of these welcoming words if you will from Qatari official Major General Abdulaziz Abdullah Ansari

‘If he (a fan) raised the rainbow flag and I took it from him, it’s not because I really want to really take it to really insult him.

‘But to protect him. Because if it’s not me, somebody else around him might attack (him).

‘Watch the game. That’s good. But don’t really come in and insult the whole society because of this.

‘Reserve the room together, sleep together – this is something that’s not in our concern. We are here to manage the tournament.

‘Let’s not go beyond the individual personal things which might be happening between these people… this is actually the concept.’

Right, where do we start? The Major General’s assertion that he really wants to protect ‘them’?

Qatari protection

So, protecting them then would be not exposing them to a punishment of up to seven years in prison and a fine.

And the possibility of death penalty if you are indigenous.

Of course this is for men because just like in Victorian Britain lesbianism wasn’t even considered thing despite upper-class society’s obsession with all things Classical where the Sapphists were chronicled.

Maybe here too Major General you might think.

About criminalising the people who would attack an innocent person simply because which sex they love.

And then what about their concession to gay visitors that they can ‘reserve the room together, sleep together’?

Well evidence this very year has shown that FIFA recommended hotels in Qatar are actively refusing to accommodate same-sex couples.

Or ‘these people’ as the Major General calls them.

Of course it’s not as if we hadn’t been warned.

Bla, bla Blatter

That bastion of integrity, former FIFA chief Sepp Blatter had thought it all a big joke.

When he was asked about a lack of gay rights in Qatar shortly after they were selected in 2010… ‘They should refrain from any sexual activities.’

And the Qataris, naturally, must have seen this as a green light.

Because three years later the head of Qatar’s World Cup bid team, Hassan al-Thawadi, said that everybody was welcome at the event, so long as they refrained from public display of affection.

‘Public display of affection is not part of our culture and tradition’.

To which you can justifiably add… and particularly not when you’re holding hands with, or kissing, a member of the same sex.

American continental LGBTI army

We can console ourselves somewhat that the next World Cup will be held in the USA, Canada and Mexico.

Where people are allowed to express themselves and love each other how they want.

Let’s hope too that by then there will be more than one openly gay professional footballer in the English league structure.

And that this is replicated throughout the country.

And that the sports whitewashing by Middle Eastern and Gulf countries who are buying up, or have bought up Europe’s biggest clibs, does not deter LGBTQIA players from coming out.

Now we’ll leave this heavy but necessary subject.

To get back to checking out where I can get my best Pride experience around here in sleepy North Berwick, near Edinburgh.

A Dutch of class

But before we go, big hats with feathers off.

To the Dutch politician who suggested that the Netherlands national team play in pink rather than their traditional orange, in solidarity with the LGBTI community.

We’ve not heard whether that this is being taken up by the Dutch football federation.

But having partied with the inclusive Oranje Army on the way to Rotterdam to see them play Greece a number of years ago…

We know the supporters’ only rule is that you love Total Football.

America, Central America, Countries, Culture, UK

Fantastically Great Women

11th April 2022 funtime65

Fantastically Great Women Who Changed The World.

That’s Daddy’s Little Girl, The Scary One and my Dear Old Mum, and Emmeline Pankhurst, Rosa Parks and a host of others.

And showing here that women aren’t just for International Women’s Day but should be valued daily…

We’re flagging up a celebratory musical which has been touring the UK.

And which is dropping in on our own wee capital, Edinburgh here in Scotland.

Bus boy: And I’d have given Rosa my seat

Premiered last Autumn it is running at the King’s Theatre from April 25-30 .

FGWWCTW is based on the popular books by Kate Pankhurst who realised while writing them that she was related to the Suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst.

The sisterhood of women from history are brought to life on stage.

From Civil Rights heroine Rosa to Marie Curie to Frida Kahlo and more when inquisitive heroine Jade discovers the Gallery of Greatness on a school trip.

All of which allows us to do a deeper dive into these Fantastically Great Women.

Rosa Rising

The most famous bus passenger in history was seamstress Rosa Parks who refused to give up her seat on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama, to a white passenger.

And so she became the symbol and the headline name for a legal action which struck a key victory for the Civil Rights Movement.

She has a museum dedicated to her in Troy University in Montgomery.

And much more besides including name checks in the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, Tennessee.

Where this male, pale and stale dude was honoured to share a seat with her statue.

Vote for Women

Let’s here it for the women: And give them the vote

Like all injustices, it is only when they have been corrected.

With the passage of history their sheer ludicrousness hits home.

And of course at the time the protesters have to take desperate and self-sacrificing measures.

And they are often pilloried for it.

Stand up and stand proud Emmeline Pankhurst.

And her Suffragettes who went on hunger strike, chained themselves to railings.

And one even threw herself in front of a royal’s horse and was killed.

All so that they could come out of the kitchen and vote.

And yet too few of us are made aware of The Pankhurst Museum in Manchester where she lived. Mmm, plus ca change.

And now for the science bit

Now time was, and still is to a certain extent, when science was considered the preserve of menfolk.

Try telling that to Maria Skłodowska (you’ll probably know her, erm, by her married and Francocised name Marie Curie).

Well, the two-time Nobel winner and radioactivity pioneer, is celebrated the world over with her trust is active in the field of Cancer care.

But to get right to the heart of her and her story visit the Museum of Maria Sklodowska-Curie in Warsaw in Poland.

And art too

And yes, if you were to ask most men (and probably a few women too) to name a female artist they would struggle.

They’d probably not get past Tracey Emin, great artist though she undoubtedly is,

Of course a greater modern appreciation for Frida Kahlo is changing that.

And not just for opening up the folksy world of Mexico to us.

But also as a champion of the Chicano Movement of Hispanics in the USA, feminism and the LGBTQ+ rights.

Visit the Frida Kahlo Museum, or La Casa Azul or Blue House as it is known, in the Coyoacan neighbourhood of Mexico City.

Edinburgh’s creme de la creme

And what about the city itself which will be hosting the musical Fantastically Great Women at the King’s.

Scandalously, and this is the case with statues the world over which is one of my pet subjects, there is scant recognition of women.

Unless, of course, you are a queen which is the case in Edinburgh’s port town of Leith where Victoria is immortalised.

We should take our lead from the working-class neighbourhood of Craigmillar.

It has marked the social activist Helen Crummy with a statue.

And where she leads educationalist Mary Erskine, suffragist Elsie Inglis or writer Muriel Spark.

I dare say though that if any woman will be placed on a podium it will be an adopted Edinburgh celeb.

JK Rowling, who her public profile aside, would deserve it for giving us Harry Potter.

Africa, Central America, Countries, Oceania, South America

Today 190 years ago Darwin set out

27th December 202127th December 2021 funtime65

It’s all a globetrotter can do these days… watch Around the World in Eighty Days on TV which is timely as today 190 years Darwin ago set out on his own global journey.

Took him a bit longer to get around Earth (five years) than oul’ Phileas Fogg.

And barring stopping the assassination of the French President and saving a podgy Italian kid’s life (OK, I’ve only finished the first episode) it just seems to be jolly japes.

Darwin, for his part, unveiled the Evolution of the Species.

Tortoises and slow tourism

And met the Giant Tortoises of the Galapagos.

Now you can be doing without spending five years on the choppy high seas aboard the Beagle (and yes we know it has long since been scrapped although the site of its last home in Rochford is marked).

Instead get on a G Adventures trip to the islands off the western coast of South America.

Where our pals tell us that there is a nine-day trip from Ecuador from £1,499 which is a saving of £500.

And furthermore they’ll take care of your flight bookings in and out of Quito — with the cheapest flight cost possible.