It was, in short, an unqualified success in all important ways. The local guides set a remarkably high standard in being knowledgeable, articulate and generally helpful, two or three of them outstandingly so. None of the hotels was less than comfortable and/or notable for its outlook and general amenities; those in Nicaragua and El Salvador were probably the best, while the Guatemalan and Belizean accommodation was betrayed only at times, mainly by the food it served. We took away an enormous variety of impressions, ranging from the sense of insecurity and awe created by all those volcanoes; through the surprise at the comparative sophistication and well-being superficially apparent in El Salvador and the interest in seeing potters, weavers, farmers and conservationists at work; to the ultimate satisfaction experienced through that artful blend of the natural with the man-made worlds characterising the Mayan sites of Guatemala and Honduras, most notably at Copán and Tikal which were the obvious highlights of the tour.

TD, Oxford