ENCA Member James Watson explores the advantages and disadvantages of flightless travel by embarking on a journey to Central America without a plane ticket.
James was also able to raise £550 for ENCA through donations made in support of his endeavour. His blog below outlines the process of planning and undertaking the trip as well as detailing visits to many communities and organisations with whom ENCA has worked.
I am now back on land in Central America, after a very sedate 18 days at sea on the ‘BF Ipanema’ cargo ship. More than the hitch-hiking, this voyage was something I was anxious about when planning my trip – how would I cope with such a long time on a ship, with no one but crew to talk to and surrounded by thousands of miles of very deep ocean?
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I’m now writing from Le Havre, on the Normandy coast of France, where in 11 hours I get on the cargo ship that will take me to Guatemala. This journey will take 18 days, during which there will not be internet access, so here is a quick run down of the trip that’s brought me here, and what I know about the next trip, across the ocean.
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I did a lot of very touristy things in Egypt – as much as I could fit into my short time there in fact – and took a lot of pictures. So I thought the best way to show this stuff would be another gallery.
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I am now on my way back from Egypt after spending 2 weeks there. While in Egypt I got to relax a little with friends in Cairo (thanks Sabs and Chris!), got on a train to Luxor much further South and saw a bunch of pharaonic Egypt, and get a tiny first taste of the Arab world.
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Part 1 of my blog on my first journey through Turkey (here) focused on Istanbul, including the impact its rapid expansion is having on informal
migrant communities living on land wanted for development.
Istanbul was an amazing tourist experience, and a nice chance to relax after my journey through Europe.
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I’ve now completed the first major stage of my travelling, and reached my friends in Cairo, where I am going to stay for 2 weeks. After using a bus to get to Istanbul, I was then able to hitch-hike and couch surf all the way to Iskenderun in the South of Turkey, to catch a ferry to Egypt and complete the journey.
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I have now got a little further in my travels, and it seems a good opportunity for an update, which I thought I’d do through a little gallery.
Having hitch-hiked to Bulgaria, I have also decided to have a bit less complicated travel for the next step, and get a bus to Istanbul, and possibly through Turkey after that.
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So, I am now 4 days in to my travels, and dying to say a few things about it.
My first day involved getting the Eurostar to Brussels. As already mentioned, it turns out a one way Eurostar ticket cost as little as £35, and is about the easiest way to get off of Great Britain.
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First of all, James is planning on going to Egypt to meet friends. To do this without flying he intends to get a Ro Ro ferry (really a small cargo ship) from Mersin in Southern Turkey, to Port Said in Egypt.
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One of ENCA’s members, James, is lucky enough to be planning a year travelling to a few corners of the world, with plans to visit Egypt before heading to Latin America – volunteering with and hopefully developing further links for partners of ENCA in Central America.
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