May 13, 2011
Right now we are hunkered down in Bogota and waiting patiently for Sunday to come so we can begin the journey home! We have been away for almost 5 months and are definitely ready to be among the familiar again.
Last week we spent 5 days in Taganga. Tangana is a teeny tiny little town near Santa Marta. It is famous for diving and the starting point for the Lost City Trek. We were interested in the diving for sure but being that everyday was an average 36degrees we opted out of the trekking tours. We took a bus from Cartagena and 5 hours later they dropped us off at our hotel. Now that we were a mere week from heading home we shelled out a whopping $35 a night for a private room with bathroom at one of the nicer hotels...this one was even called a B&B! It had a pool too which was a life saver in that heat. I have never been that hot in my life. During the day a bathing suit and sarong was the standard uniform. The streets were mostly just dirt and rock and I don't blame them...who the hell would want to pave a street when you can barely breathe when you just walk for 5 minutes.
Chad signed up to do his advanced course in scuba diving. He really wanted to do it in Utila but having infected ears prevented that. It is just as cheap if not cheaper in Colombia to do your dive courses. I did two fun dives on his first day and was amazed by the number of fish I was seeing! The water is not as clear and is quite a bit colder but the angel fish were bigger than I have ever seen and the barracuda were as long as I was. At one point I saw 3 eels, two angel fish and a barracuda and I couldn't decide where to look. We also came across an octopus having a snack on some type of crustacean. I didn't even know it was an octopus because he hid his body inside this tube corral. The divemasters in Colombia are not as hesitant to interact with the wildlife as they are in Utila. My divemaster was grabbing scorpion fish by the tail and picking up porcupine fish in his bare hands and scaring the crap out of lizard fish just to make them move. Entertaining for me yet probably no so great for the fish.
Chad's first two dives were the deep dive at 30m and navigation. He got to see what its like to feel the effects of narcosis that happens at those depths. His instructor asked him to do a few simple math problems and he said his brain felt like mush and couldn't even add 4 plus 4. His next two dives were the drift dive and buoyency perfection. For the drift dive he had to swim against a current and make their way back to the boat using currents. That day they were super strong and they tried to swim against it but were getting nowhere. When they started to head back some how Chad's bouyency got messed up and he ended up floating to the surface. When he tried to submerge again he couldn't find his instructor. Oops. So he just had a little relax at the surface and waited for him to come up. He still passed! Our last day in Taganga we signed up for the night dive. It was amazing! We each are given a flash light and told to follow the leader. It wasn't nearly as scary as I thought it would be. Not at all actually. We saw lobsters that were going about their business, this weird prehistoric looking flat bug thing and all the fish we saw during the day that were busy swimming around sleeping peacefully on the corral. At the end of the dive we all turned off out lights and swirled our hands around so we could see the bioluminesence of the plankton! When we came to the surface we noted that two of our group members were not the same group members we came down with. They also noted this and asked us "who are you?" in which we replied "we are us, who the hell are you?". Unbeknownst to us two of our group had to surface because one was low on air and two divers from another boat some how ended up with us. Very odd indeed. They were just as confused as we were.
Many of our sailing trip friends came to Tanganga as well so we had lots of fun eating and drinking and complaining about the heat! We actually had the best steak dinner we have had on this trip at a restaurant there. But alas time to say goodbye. We decided to fly to Bogota instead of taking the bus because of bad road reports and an aversion to 20 hour bus rides. It was the exact same price and took 19 hours less!
So here we are. I am wearing a sweater and my scarf and socks! I hadn't even looked at my sweater since Mexico. Bogota is at 2400m and is cold and rainy. We actually have blankets on the bed...crazy I know! We arrived yesterday and after a quick nap we went out in search of food! We found a nice place and sat down. I thought I orderd chicken but a big honking steak came out slathered in mushrooms! It was the best mistake ever. Our hostel here is shit but for some reason all the good ones require reservations, who knew. Today we went out for a bit but it started to pour so we had to retreat to a bar for beers. A bar called Public Beer House that has three of its own brew. I even drank a dark ale! I was so impressed with myself. We did a little shopping too and after rewarded our good haggling skills with a chorrizo and a potato on a stick and a chicken empanada. Back at the hostel we are too cold to leave our sleeping bags so I think we will call it a night.
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
From Panama City to Cartagena via the San Blas Islands....pure paradise.
May 8, 2011
We haven't written in while because we are running out of time and are trying to pack in a lot of stuff! But I will try to start where i left off...
We booked the overnight bus to Panama City as it was an 18 hour ride. We left SJ at 11pm and got woken up at 4am to get off the bus and stand in line at the immigration office. The office however didn't open until 6am. Two hours of sitting on the ground half asleep for no reason. They wouldn't let us back on the bus. Finally the office opened at 6:30am!! One little stupid stamp and off we went to another line!! 9:00am and we were finally through the border. 5 hours of stupid lists and calling our names and not even once looking through our bags. To get into Panama you are supposed to have a ticket out of the country. We lacked that of course because we are taking a boat out of the country. We told the officer that and he shrugged and stamped away. I think because it says Canada on the front of my passport he didn't really think i was going to try to live in panama illegally.
We arrived in Panama City around 3pm and took a taxi to a hostel called Luna's Castle. This place is amazing. It is a converted colonial mansion. There are rooms tucked away in every corner and art covers the walls everywhere. There is even a theatre room with makeshift movie couches going up to the ceiling. We watched a few movies in there and had a grand time. We met lots of other Canadians here. One being an army med student from Toronto who never seems to be sober. The first morning we saw him he was chowing down on a stack of pancakes (pancakes being free at our hostel). He unfortunately went to a strip club the night before and being quite drunk let a Colombian stripper sit on his lap. She pick pocketed him and left him broke. He managed to still have his passport but all of his cards and cash were now gone. There is even a warning sign at the hostel stating in bold letters "If the girl flirting with you is too good looking to be talking to you she is probably Colombian and on the clock!"
We spent about 4 days around PC exploring the old town or Casco Viejo it is called. It is falling apart in some areas. The ruins of old buildings mixed with bold colours and liveliness of the people is amazing to look at and take pictures of. The presidential palace and the national theatre are both in this area. We went out for pizza the first night we were there and ended up in the "Red Zone" or the zone where whiteys are not accepted readily. We had no clue and no body bothered us at all.
We booked a sailing trip to Cartagena, Colombia on a catamaran called Buon Vento or Good Wind in Italian. The captain was this greasy old salty italian fella whose English was less than great. He sold us with the italian chef on board and promises of pristine islands and what not. $450 each it was a bit steep but only 100 more than a flight so we signed up! While we were signing up we met 5 of the other passengers. The captain was really insisting on us having our passports in Puerto Lindo the next day but we still had some sights to see in PC. He suggested that we find this fellow named Mor who was also staying at the hostel and give him our money and our passports. We figured he must be a crew member but when we met him the next morning he stated that he was just another passenger and was wondering why the hell the captain was telling him to come two days early and to carry that much money and two Canadian passports of people he didn't even know. Mor is from Israel and worked in security and said "ahh Canadian passports? they are worth a lot of money you know." he seemed nice enough. hahah. we being the trusting canadians gave him our passports but no money.
While in Panama City is an apparent must that you have to visit the Panama Canal. We teemed up with our shipmates Dave, Sarah and Sarah from England and went on our merry way. Dave being fluent in spanish after having a spanish girlfriend for three years navigated our journey. First thing however we needed to stop at the mall for a rain coat and a Panama hat. Chicken busing it around the city for 25cents a ride is the way to go! We arrived at the Miraflores Locks. We paid $5 to go up to the observation deck and watch as some big ships were heading through. Super interesting but mostly the kind of thing our Dad's would appreciate we all thought. After hiding in a bus shelter for an hour from the downpour the bus finally showed up and off we went home.
To get to our launch point for the sailing trip we had to get to a tiny town called Puerto Lindo. Its so tiny its not even on any maps. We took a taxi and two buses. On the last bus (chicken in type) we had to squeeze ourselves and our bags into the back. Finding there a lad from saskatchewan. Odd place to find a saskatchewanee but there he was and he and chad chatted it up for the hour or so ride where we were squashed in. The naked baby in front of me was blowing snot bubbles out of her nose and her umbilical hernia was bulging out like a belly wiener. She was adorable.
We got dropped off at our hostel called Wunderbar. Owned by a German couple who have a little daughter with a crazy mullet haircut and a rather rough way with the animals. She has many pets but her favourite and the brunt of most of her tough love was a baby sloth named Lazy. He was adorable and clung to a teddy bear most of the time or hung out upside down in a tree in the yard. We got to hold him and feed him mango. There were also two little green birds that she would grab and stick on her shirt and then wheel around in her power wheels and yell "beep beep!" before she ran over your toes. We went on a walk to town to obtain provisions for the boat. Provisions being booze...and lots of it.
Next morning we met Eduardo and Nicky the Italians who run Buon Vento. We boarded the boat and were shown to our cabin with even our own bathroom. The others however were not as lucky. There were four bedrooms and one small berth at the front of the boat. Eduardo totally overbooked the trip and crammed three people per bed for the people who were not couples. He even put Mor the Israeli guy in with two girls from France and Switzerland. We were lucky and so were the Irish couple because we got our own rooms. Nicky and Eduardo slept in the kitchen.
The first day we sailed for 6 hours until we came to the San Blas Islands. It was a bit rough and almost everybody was sea sick. Chad and I were lucky that time. We anchored right beside a village of the Kuna people who literally live in shacks made of sticks, yet they wear western clothing and really like coca-cola. They paddled across in their ramshackle old canoe came aboard the ship after we had dinner and brought some of their items for sale. For an added commercial effect they had to of course bring their little two year old to charm us into forking over some cash. American cash at that. I bought two purses for my nieces and lots of the other girls bought ankle bracelets that they have to put on you in a certain way by wrapping it around and tying each stand so that it makes a pattern. Some of the boys swam to shore and went about collecting and breaking open coconuts. The Kuna however were not so happy with this as this is the only thing that grows on the island so they would rather that you bought one from them for a dollar and they will break it open for you.
Next morning we had some breakfast and after a quick swim we motored a ways out and the captain let us all get out and snorkel. In this area there was a wreck and it looked rather recent. It must have hit the reef and then sunk because it was hanging on the side of the corral wall. Saw lots of cool fish. After only another hours sail we were at our next stop. This stop was in front of an amazing little beach with a corral reef just to the left of us. It was absolute perfection. The water was crystal clear and full of fish. I even saw pairs of squid changing colours as I got closer. We spent hours snorkeling and usually I get cold eventually and have to get out of the water but the water was so warm that I didn't even feel like I was in the water. Our chef Nicky was out today too with his spear gun. He trapped two huge lobsters and a big crab, our dinner for that night. Once again eating illegally fished lobster! No one seems to care that they are disappearing as fast as we are eating them. Esther from Switzerland mentioned this but it was to deaf ears. You can never waste a lobster so we made sure every last piece if meat was gone. The food on this trip was great but the portion sizes lacked and Chad was starving the whole time!
That night we took the dinghy to the island and made a huge fire on the beach. The Irish couple brought out their drum and best singing voices and we practiced our hippy skills: hoolah hooping and rope and ball swinging. Super fun. We got to swim back to the boat in the dark! The glowing plankton was so beautiful as it lit up around your moving hands and feet. Next morning I woke up and we were in a whole new spot! This was were we were guaranteed to see rays and sharks. The captain took us on the dinghy to the starting point up current a ways. There was a huge piece of pipeline actually stuck in the corral and the sharks like to hide behind it. He let us out in some very shallow water and said to just let the current take you back to the boat. So off we float. Within about 5 minutes I saw my first shark ever! It was a relatively small nurse shark but so unreal to see. They have big fins and these little whiskers on their snouts. I got one blurry picture. Chad had fins on so he could stay close to where the sharks were without getting pushed by the current. He saw 3 sharks, nurse and reef. One he said was about 6 feet long. As we drifted further down we saw tons of rays nestled in the sand. One got spooked and shook off its sand and sped away. The english sarah's had to share a snorkel which was bull shit and blonde sarah almost put her foot down on the ray's tail because she couldn't see that it was below her. Once we got back to the boat it was time for brunch and then to ready ourselves for 30 hours for the open sea crossing.
The crossing itself was uneventful until we were joined by probably about 6 dolphins! They stayed at the front of the boat and dove in and out of the water taking a look at us. They stayed with us for a good 10 minutes or so. It actually helped some of our seasickness to have something to focus on other than how miserable it is to be sick. Brown haired english sarah was the sickest and yacked off the side of the boat a few times. The rest of us were a little green around the gills as well. Not Chad though....show off! I spent most of the time in my cabin sleeping and listening to music. Reading or writing or anything that involved using your eyes was impossible. Usually the crossing takes two days but the captain was eager to get there so he had sails and motor on the whole time which usually doesn't happen. We heard of one boat whose engine broke on the crossing and because the winds are blowing right into us they had to tack the whole way. It took them 10 days!! I couldn't imagine. I would die!!
Once we arrived in Cartagena the captain took us to his friend's restaurant for pizza and told us how to obtain cocaine easily and safely while in Colombia! yeesh!
We haven't written in while because we are running out of time and are trying to pack in a lot of stuff! But I will try to start where i left off...
We booked the overnight bus to Panama City as it was an 18 hour ride. We left SJ at 11pm and got woken up at 4am to get off the bus and stand in line at the immigration office. The office however didn't open until 6am. Two hours of sitting on the ground half asleep for no reason. They wouldn't let us back on the bus. Finally the office opened at 6:30am!! One little stupid stamp and off we went to another line!! 9:00am and we were finally through the border. 5 hours of stupid lists and calling our names and not even once looking through our bags. To get into Panama you are supposed to have a ticket out of the country. We lacked that of course because we are taking a boat out of the country. We told the officer that and he shrugged and stamped away. I think because it says Canada on the front of my passport he didn't really think i was going to try to live in panama illegally.
We arrived in Panama City around 3pm and took a taxi to a hostel called Luna's Castle. This place is amazing. It is a converted colonial mansion. There are rooms tucked away in every corner and art covers the walls everywhere. There is even a theatre room with makeshift movie couches going up to the ceiling. We watched a few movies in there and had a grand time. We met lots of other Canadians here. One being an army med student from Toronto who never seems to be sober. The first morning we saw him he was chowing down on a stack of pancakes (pancakes being free at our hostel). He unfortunately went to a strip club the night before and being quite drunk let a Colombian stripper sit on his lap. She pick pocketed him and left him broke. He managed to still have his passport but all of his cards and cash were now gone. There is even a warning sign at the hostel stating in bold letters "If the girl flirting with you is too good looking to be talking to you she is probably Colombian and on the clock!"
We spent about 4 days around PC exploring the old town or Casco Viejo it is called. It is falling apart in some areas. The ruins of old buildings mixed with bold colours and liveliness of the people is amazing to look at and take pictures of. The presidential palace and the national theatre are both in this area. We went out for pizza the first night we were there and ended up in the "Red Zone" or the zone where whiteys are not accepted readily. We had no clue and no body bothered us at all.
We booked a sailing trip to Cartagena, Colombia on a catamaran called Buon Vento or Good Wind in Italian. The captain was this greasy old salty italian fella whose English was less than great. He sold us with the italian chef on board and promises of pristine islands and what not. $450 each it was a bit steep but only 100 more than a flight so we signed up! While we were signing up we met 5 of the other passengers. The captain was really insisting on us having our passports in Puerto Lindo the next day but we still had some sights to see in PC. He suggested that we find this fellow named Mor who was also staying at the hostel and give him our money and our passports. We figured he must be a crew member but when we met him the next morning he stated that he was just another passenger and was wondering why the hell the captain was telling him to come two days early and to carry that much money and two Canadian passports of people he didn't even know. Mor is from Israel and worked in security and said "ahh Canadian passports? they are worth a lot of money you know." he seemed nice enough. hahah. we being the trusting canadians gave him our passports but no money.
While in Panama City is an apparent must that you have to visit the Panama Canal. We teemed up with our shipmates Dave, Sarah and Sarah from England and went on our merry way. Dave being fluent in spanish after having a spanish girlfriend for three years navigated our journey. First thing however we needed to stop at the mall for a rain coat and a Panama hat. Chicken busing it around the city for 25cents a ride is the way to go! We arrived at the Miraflores Locks. We paid $5 to go up to the observation deck and watch as some big ships were heading through. Super interesting but mostly the kind of thing our Dad's would appreciate we all thought. After hiding in a bus shelter for an hour from the downpour the bus finally showed up and off we went home.
To get to our launch point for the sailing trip we had to get to a tiny town called Puerto Lindo. Its so tiny its not even on any maps. We took a taxi and two buses. On the last bus (chicken in type) we had to squeeze ourselves and our bags into the back. Finding there a lad from saskatchewan. Odd place to find a saskatchewanee but there he was and he and chad chatted it up for the hour or so ride where we were squashed in. The naked baby in front of me was blowing snot bubbles out of her nose and her umbilical hernia was bulging out like a belly wiener. She was adorable.
We got dropped off at our hostel called Wunderbar. Owned by a German couple who have a little daughter with a crazy mullet haircut and a rather rough way with the animals. She has many pets but her favourite and the brunt of most of her tough love was a baby sloth named Lazy. He was adorable and clung to a teddy bear most of the time or hung out upside down in a tree in the yard. We got to hold him and feed him mango. There were also two little green birds that she would grab and stick on her shirt and then wheel around in her power wheels and yell "beep beep!" before she ran over your toes. We went on a walk to town to obtain provisions for the boat. Provisions being booze...and lots of it.
Next morning we met Eduardo and Nicky the Italians who run Buon Vento. We boarded the boat and were shown to our cabin with even our own bathroom. The others however were not as lucky. There were four bedrooms and one small berth at the front of the boat. Eduardo totally overbooked the trip and crammed three people per bed for the people who were not couples. He even put Mor the Israeli guy in with two girls from France and Switzerland. We were lucky and so were the Irish couple because we got our own rooms. Nicky and Eduardo slept in the kitchen.
The first day we sailed for 6 hours until we came to the San Blas Islands. It was a bit rough and almost everybody was sea sick. Chad and I were lucky that time. We anchored right beside a village of the Kuna people who literally live in shacks made of sticks, yet they wear western clothing and really like coca-cola. They paddled across in their ramshackle old canoe came aboard the ship after we had dinner and brought some of their items for sale. For an added commercial effect they had to of course bring their little two year old to charm us into forking over some cash. American cash at that. I bought two purses for my nieces and lots of the other girls bought ankle bracelets that they have to put on you in a certain way by wrapping it around and tying each stand so that it makes a pattern. Some of the boys swam to shore and went about collecting and breaking open coconuts. The Kuna however were not so happy with this as this is the only thing that grows on the island so they would rather that you bought one from them for a dollar and they will break it open for you.
Next morning we had some breakfast and after a quick swim we motored a ways out and the captain let us all get out and snorkel. In this area there was a wreck and it looked rather recent. It must have hit the reef and then sunk because it was hanging on the side of the corral wall. Saw lots of cool fish. After only another hours sail we were at our next stop. This stop was in front of an amazing little beach with a corral reef just to the left of us. It was absolute perfection. The water was crystal clear and full of fish. I even saw pairs of squid changing colours as I got closer. We spent hours snorkeling and usually I get cold eventually and have to get out of the water but the water was so warm that I didn't even feel like I was in the water. Our chef Nicky was out today too with his spear gun. He trapped two huge lobsters and a big crab, our dinner for that night. Once again eating illegally fished lobster! No one seems to care that they are disappearing as fast as we are eating them. Esther from Switzerland mentioned this but it was to deaf ears. You can never waste a lobster so we made sure every last piece if meat was gone. The food on this trip was great but the portion sizes lacked and Chad was starving the whole time!
That night we took the dinghy to the island and made a huge fire on the beach. The Irish couple brought out their drum and best singing voices and we practiced our hippy skills: hoolah hooping and rope and ball swinging. Super fun. We got to swim back to the boat in the dark! The glowing plankton was so beautiful as it lit up around your moving hands and feet. Next morning I woke up and we were in a whole new spot! This was were we were guaranteed to see rays and sharks. The captain took us on the dinghy to the starting point up current a ways. There was a huge piece of pipeline actually stuck in the corral and the sharks like to hide behind it. He let us out in some very shallow water and said to just let the current take you back to the boat. So off we float. Within about 5 minutes I saw my first shark ever! It was a relatively small nurse shark but so unreal to see. They have big fins and these little whiskers on their snouts. I got one blurry picture. Chad had fins on so he could stay close to where the sharks were without getting pushed by the current. He saw 3 sharks, nurse and reef. One he said was about 6 feet long. As we drifted further down we saw tons of rays nestled in the sand. One got spooked and shook off its sand and sped away. The english sarah's had to share a snorkel which was bull shit and blonde sarah almost put her foot down on the ray's tail because she couldn't see that it was below her. Once we got back to the boat it was time for brunch and then to ready ourselves for 30 hours for the open sea crossing.
The crossing itself was uneventful until we were joined by probably about 6 dolphins! They stayed at the front of the boat and dove in and out of the water taking a look at us. They stayed with us for a good 10 minutes or so. It actually helped some of our seasickness to have something to focus on other than how miserable it is to be sick. Brown haired english sarah was the sickest and yacked off the side of the boat a few times. The rest of us were a little green around the gills as well. Not Chad though....show off! I spent most of the time in my cabin sleeping and listening to music. Reading or writing or anything that involved using your eyes was impossible. Usually the crossing takes two days but the captain was eager to get there so he had sails and motor on the whole time which usually doesn't happen. We heard of one boat whose engine broke on the crossing and because the winds are blowing right into us they had to tack the whole way. It took them 10 days!! I couldn't imagine. I would die!!
Once we arrived in Cartagena the captain took us to his friend's restaurant for pizza and told us how to obtain cocaine easily and safely while in Colombia! yeesh!
Saying hasta luego to Santa Teresa, CR
April 21, 2011
The day before yesterday our friend Donaji came to stay with us. She is from Mexico. We met her in Leon, Nicaragua when we were with the big group of people. She is 30 but I thought she was 24. She is on a long trip as well, probably for a year. She is only a couple months into her trip and now she is booking a flight to Bangkok soon. Her English is so good and our Spanish is so bad. I was thinking of trying to speak lots of spanish with her but so far it is just easier to speak in english with a couple spanish words and phrases thrown in for good measure.
The first day she was here we decided just to have a beach day. So we went out surfing with our two boards at low tide and caught lots of little waves and had a blast. Chad went out and caught some pretty nice ones! He is getting better every day and starting to like it more and more. We came home for lunch and then it was back to the beach. Chad of course went back out surfing but since Doni has done a lot of yoga and knows quite a bit about it we decided to have our own little yoga session of our own. So at sunset we faced the sun and did an hours worth of bendy, stretchy, mantra filled yoga! I was impressed with her teaching skills! She could probably start her own class. It was the first time that I had really done yoga properly and not on a DVD. To top off the evening I made a pretty good tasting coconut chicken curry.
Today we rented a quad again to go to the Cabo Blanco Nature Reserve. Because of Semana Santa we couldn't even get a good price with a spanish speaker in our group. We only rented one and the three of us piled onto it with Chad driving and me on one side and Doni on the other. We tried to get one for 7am so we could get to the park early to see all the monkeys and other animals when they are most active. But of course the surfer guys who run the hotel up the road are neither friendly or helpful in the morning. So we had to wait until 8am to leave. We got to the park at 9am to start the 5km hike through the jungle to the beach. We spent a good three hours wandering the jungle and saw all kind of cool animals. We saw howler monkeys, white faced monkeys, quatti, mapaches and lots of lizards. We reached the beach in 3 hours and made some sandwiches and hit the water. Little did we know lurking in the water were poisonous sea cucumbers or pepino de mar. Doni got a back sting right on her arm. She flew out of the water after that. The water was murky so we didn't know what it was at first but we asked Alonzo, our local Costa Rican friend, and he said it was a sea cucumber that just floats past. The walk back was grueling because we ran out of water and it was mostly uphill. I don't think I have ever sweat that much. The quad ride home was nice and refreshing.
April 22, 2011
Having returned the quad without filling the gas tank due to no gas stations being open the shop owner wouldn't give Doni her passport back! Luckily with a little help from her friend also vacationing for the weekend he used a little Mexican persuasion to give it back the next day. Mario is Doni's friend from school in Mexico and he was there in Santa Teresa on vacation with his friend Alonzo who is from Costa Rica. We had a great weekend with them! We drank beer and rums on the beach listening to blasting mariachi and latin dance music from his jeep. We got a bit tipsy but after some chicken and rice (of course!) and a wee siesta we were up for the electronic music beach party down the road! The music was a little ravey for me but we still had a good time.
Next morning we packed up the house and our surf boards and hitched a ride with Mario back to San Jose where he works and lives. Doni, Chad and me piled into the back seat with all our stuff strapped and stuffed into any available corner we could find. It was a long drive back to the city because of all the vacationers traffic. We stopped in Punta Arenas for some dinner and an ice cream before hitting the road again. Whilst we were in said town Chad was repeatedly heckled by a crazy woman who fell in love with him. She actually meowed at him. She told Mario why she loved him so much but he was actually embarrassed to repeat it! Its all in the eyes i think. His colouring is so brown he looks like a local until you see his eyes....so I have to beat the ladies off with a stick!
When we finally got to San Jose I thought we might just head to the Ticabus station and hit the road to Panama city that night but with all the Semana Santa traffic the tickets were sold out for two more days! Not really knowing what to do we were lucky enough that Mario is so generous and a great host! He let us stay with him for three nights until the bus came. When we got to his apartment we were in awe! He lives in a really nice complex with a pool and a gym and gardens gallor. He has a great view of a pond and fountain from him balcony. We revelled in the luxuries of a backpacker break. The first day in SJ we hung out at the pool and just had a relax day. That night however, being monday night, was Salsa night at a club that Mario knew. We met another one of Doni's friends from Mexico and Alonso there. The food was absolutely amazing and the salsa was frickin awesome. Not knowing how to salsa, chad and i stood back and took it all in.
The next day we took the bus into the city and went for a walk around downtown and went to the museum. We ended it with some of the best chop suey I've ever had! SJ has a great Chinese food scene! We had to catch the bus to Panama City that night and Mario was again nice enough to drop us off. We left our surf boards with him to hopefully sell but who knows maybe we'll be back soon!
The day before yesterday our friend Donaji came to stay with us. She is from Mexico. We met her in Leon, Nicaragua when we were with the big group of people. She is 30 but I thought she was 24. She is on a long trip as well, probably for a year. She is only a couple months into her trip and now she is booking a flight to Bangkok soon. Her English is so good and our Spanish is so bad. I was thinking of trying to speak lots of spanish with her but so far it is just easier to speak in english with a couple spanish words and phrases thrown in for good measure.
The first day she was here we decided just to have a beach day. So we went out surfing with our two boards at low tide and caught lots of little waves and had a blast. Chad went out and caught some pretty nice ones! He is getting better every day and starting to like it more and more. We came home for lunch and then it was back to the beach. Chad of course went back out surfing but since Doni has done a lot of yoga and knows quite a bit about it we decided to have our own little yoga session of our own. So at sunset we faced the sun and did an hours worth of bendy, stretchy, mantra filled yoga! I was impressed with her teaching skills! She could probably start her own class. It was the first time that I had really done yoga properly and not on a DVD. To top off the evening I made a pretty good tasting coconut chicken curry.
Today we rented a quad again to go to the Cabo Blanco Nature Reserve. Because of Semana Santa we couldn't even get a good price with a spanish speaker in our group. We only rented one and the three of us piled onto it with Chad driving and me on one side and Doni on the other. We tried to get one for 7am so we could get to the park early to see all the monkeys and other animals when they are most active. But of course the surfer guys who run the hotel up the road are neither friendly or helpful in the morning. So we had to wait until 8am to leave. We got to the park at 9am to start the 5km hike through the jungle to the beach. We spent a good three hours wandering the jungle and saw all kind of cool animals. We saw howler monkeys, white faced monkeys, quatti, mapaches and lots of lizards. We reached the beach in 3 hours and made some sandwiches and hit the water. Little did we know lurking in the water were poisonous sea cucumbers or pepino de mar. Doni got a back sting right on her arm. She flew out of the water after that. The water was murky so we didn't know what it was at first but we asked Alonzo, our local Costa Rican friend, and he said it was a sea cucumber that just floats past. The walk back was grueling because we ran out of water and it was mostly uphill. I don't think I have ever sweat that much. The quad ride home was nice and refreshing.
April 22, 2011
Having returned the quad without filling the gas tank due to no gas stations being open the shop owner wouldn't give Doni her passport back! Luckily with a little help from her friend also vacationing for the weekend he used a little Mexican persuasion to give it back the next day. Mario is Doni's friend from school in Mexico and he was there in Santa Teresa on vacation with his friend Alonzo who is from Costa Rica. We had a great weekend with them! We drank beer and rums on the beach listening to blasting mariachi and latin dance music from his jeep. We got a bit tipsy but after some chicken and rice (of course!) and a wee siesta we were up for the electronic music beach party down the road! The music was a little ravey for me but we still had a good time.
Next morning we packed up the house and our surf boards and hitched a ride with Mario back to San Jose where he works and lives. Doni, Chad and me piled into the back seat with all our stuff strapped and stuffed into any available corner we could find. It was a long drive back to the city because of all the vacationers traffic. We stopped in Punta Arenas for some dinner and an ice cream before hitting the road again. Whilst we were in said town Chad was repeatedly heckled by a crazy woman who fell in love with him. She actually meowed at him. She told Mario why she loved him so much but he was actually embarrassed to repeat it! Its all in the eyes i think. His colouring is so brown he looks like a local until you see his eyes....so I have to beat the ladies off with a stick!
When we finally got to San Jose I thought we might just head to the Ticabus station and hit the road to Panama city that night but with all the Semana Santa traffic the tickets were sold out for two more days! Not really knowing what to do we were lucky enough that Mario is so generous and a great host! He let us stay with him for three nights until the bus came. When we got to his apartment we were in awe! He lives in a really nice complex with a pool and a gym and gardens gallor. He has a great view of a pond and fountain from him balcony. We revelled in the luxuries of a backpacker break. The first day in SJ we hung out at the pool and just had a relax day. That night however, being monday night, was Salsa night at a club that Mario knew. We met another one of Doni's friends from Mexico and Alonso there. The food was absolutely amazing and the salsa was frickin awesome. Not knowing how to salsa, chad and i stood back and took it all in.
The next day we took the bus into the city and went for a walk around downtown and went to the museum. We ended it with some of the best chop suey I've ever had! SJ has a great Chinese food scene! We had to catch the bus to Panama City that night and Mario was again nice enough to drop us off. We left our surf boards with him to hopefully sell but who knows maybe we'll be back soon!
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Life by the Sea
April 19, 2011
Happy Birthday Adrienne! We are missing yet another birthday. Our dearest friend "Aids" is turning 25 today!
The countdown is on to the end of this trip. A little less than one month left. We decided to head straight for San Jose and get on the bus to Panama City instead of going ot Quepos to see the park. We figure that Costa Rica is definately a place that we will visit again. Its super easy to rent a car and a house and hunker down with a big group for a couple weeks. The language barrier is virtually non-existent. I do miss speaking spanish but my frustration and stress level is at an all time low!
A couple days ago we rented a scooter so we could get out of town for the day. I picked it up in the morning and we left after breakfast to see the sights. We took the back road, "forbidden" to scooters! I can see why but Chad being the master scootsman got us up and down the steep bumpy windy trails with only a couple times that I had to bail and walk up the hill. This way was so much more scenic and beautiful and we got to see a lot of the Costa Rican countryside. First we went through jungle and dry creek beds and then through rolling hills with floppy eared cows staring at us and big bright yellow flowered trees dotting the landscape. Each cow had her very own white crane looking bird to pick the bugs off her! I need one of those to keep the mosquitos off me.
On our journey we stopped at some little beaches off the side of the road and found some nice snorkel spots. Being high tide however it was a bit wavey for me. We saw a massive turtle swimming around this one spot. We got into Montezuma for a bit of lunch and some shopping! Chad was kind enough to volunteer to go get gas in the next town so that i could shop in peace. I didn't really find anything because its all so expensive, geared to tourists who are only staying a week or two. I did find some earrings and a headband from the hippies who make and sell their wares along the roadside.
On the way back we stopped at a beach and went for a swim but the current and waves were huge. We then realized why there was a rope to hold on to. Finally got to snorkel around a bit because the water was so clear but all i saw were little fish and the bottom covered in tiny shells instead of sand. The ride back brought us to a little fishing village where they head out for fishing trips and "secret beach"...well its not really that secret but you have to walk on a little trail through the jungle to get there so i guess it is "slightly secret beach".
After this busy day and evening we decided to go out for dinner for a change. We went to an Argentinina BBQ...of course. They had a big open fire BBQ pit in the floor and were grilling up tons of meat! Chad was salivating about it before we even got there. Chad got an entire 1/2 chicken and I got the ribs. There was so much meat on our plates that I took most of it home and we had it for dinner again the next night. It was called La Pierdas, their slogan: its the shit!
Yesterday we went out fishing with a group of six. We set it up with Ryan, the dude who did Dave's tattoo a week ago. He found us a boat and with a change of plan about 6 times we finally got to go out. We went from 3 until sunset and caught 4 jack fish of some sort. Apparently they are not really good to eat so they sent most of them back to the sea. We were really trying to get yellow fin tuna! They were jumping around us like crazy but we didn't even get one nibble. I think the dolphins were herding them away from us! A huge pod of dolphins hung out by the boat for a while and I tried to get some video of them. Some got fairly close! I was actually more excited to see the dolphins then catch tuna! We ended up heading back to shore with no tuna in tow. Another boat caught four of them so they gave Ryan a nice big filet. He neglected to share any with us and took Chad's fish he caught aswell so we said fairwell to our shortlived friendship with tattoo Ryan. His girlfriend on the other hand was lovely and I really liked her and wonder how she can be with a weiner like him!
We had to ride our bikes back from the fishing village in the dark and by the time we got home we were tired, dusty, sweaty and sunburned. In no mood to cook. But alas the pizza place down the road was closed and so instead we made steak, potatoes, salad and garlic butter shrimp. Our kitchen window is always open and the smell of our food always wofts down to the neighbours behind the tree and plants. The other day with I was sauteing up some garlic...which we do for almost every meal...I heard one of them say "Oh, garlic again!". We also have a nightly visitor that I have named Betty. She is a pitbull mix who loves to come over to have some leftovers and belly rubs. She is so sweet. I don't even know where she lives or who she belongs to but she has a collar so I guess I can't take her home. I offered to take one of the scooter rental guy's German Shepard puppies off his hands because they are so rambunctious, but he sais his children would cry, and I didn't want to make his children cry.
The AC still doesn't work here and I doubt it will ever be fixed. We didn't get a BBQ like they promised and our landlady is a first rate beeotch. But other than that staying in a house has been lovely. But I am definately ready to hit the road again. Once Semana Santa is over....we're outta here!
Happy Birthday Adrienne! We are missing yet another birthday. Our dearest friend "Aids" is turning 25 today!
The countdown is on to the end of this trip. A little less than one month left. We decided to head straight for San Jose and get on the bus to Panama City instead of going ot Quepos to see the park. We figure that Costa Rica is definately a place that we will visit again. Its super easy to rent a car and a house and hunker down with a big group for a couple weeks. The language barrier is virtually non-existent. I do miss speaking spanish but my frustration and stress level is at an all time low!
A couple days ago we rented a scooter so we could get out of town for the day. I picked it up in the morning and we left after breakfast to see the sights. We took the back road, "forbidden" to scooters! I can see why but Chad being the master scootsman got us up and down the steep bumpy windy trails with only a couple times that I had to bail and walk up the hill. This way was so much more scenic and beautiful and we got to see a lot of the Costa Rican countryside. First we went through jungle and dry creek beds and then through rolling hills with floppy eared cows staring at us and big bright yellow flowered trees dotting the landscape. Each cow had her very own white crane looking bird to pick the bugs off her! I need one of those to keep the mosquitos off me.
On our journey we stopped at some little beaches off the side of the road and found some nice snorkel spots. Being high tide however it was a bit wavey for me. We saw a massive turtle swimming around this one spot. We got into Montezuma for a bit of lunch and some shopping! Chad was kind enough to volunteer to go get gas in the next town so that i could shop in peace. I didn't really find anything because its all so expensive, geared to tourists who are only staying a week or two. I did find some earrings and a headband from the hippies who make and sell their wares along the roadside.
On the way back we stopped at a beach and went for a swim but the current and waves were huge. We then realized why there was a rope to hold on to. Finally got to snorkel around a bit because the water was so clear but all i saw were little fish and the bottom covered in tiny shells instead of sand. The ride back brought us to a little fishing village where they head out for fishing trips and "secret beach"...well its not really that secret but you have to walk on a little trail through the jungle to get there so i guess it is "slightly secret beach".
After this busy day and evening we decided to go out for dinner for a change. We went to an Argentinina BBQ...of course. They had a big open fire BBQ pit in the floor and were grilling up tons of meat! Chad was salivating about it before we even got there. Chad got an entire 1/2 chicken and I got the ribs. There was so much meat on our plates that I took most of it home and we had it for dinner again the next night. It was called La Pierdas, their slogan: its the shit!
Yesterday we went out fishing with a group of six. We set it up with Ryan, the dude who did Dave's tattoo a week ago. He found us a boat and with a change of plan about 6 times we finally got to go out. We went from 3 until sunset and caught 4 jack fish of some sort. Apparently they are not really good to eat so they sent most of them back to the sea. We were really trying to get yellow fin tuna! They were jumping around us like crazy but we didn't even get one nibble. I think the dolphins were herding them away from us! A huge pod of dolphins hung out by the boat for a while and I tried to get some video of them. Some got fairly close! I was actually more excited to see the dolphins then catch tuna! We ended up heading back to shore with no tuna in tow. Another boat caught four of them so they gave Ryan a nice big filet. He neglected to share any with us and took Chad's fish he caught aswell so we said fairwell to our shortlived friendship with tattoo Ryan. His girlfriend on the other hand was lovely and I really liked her and wonder how she can be with a weiner like him!
We had to ride our bikes back from the fishing village in the dark and by the time we got home we were tired, dusty, sweaty and sunburned. In no mood to cook. But alas the pizza place down the road was closed and so instead we made steak, potatoes, salad and garlic butter shrimp. Our kitchen window is always open and the smell of our food always wofts down to the neighbours behind the tree and plants. The other day with I was sauteing up some garlic...which we do for almost every meal...I heard one of them say "Oh, garlic again!". We also have a nightly visitor that I have named Betty. She is a pitbull mix who loves to come over to have some leftovers and belly rubs. She is so sweet. I don't even know where she lives or who she belongs to but she has a collar so I guess I can't take her home. I offered to take one of the scooter rental guy's German Shepard puppies off his hands because they are so rambunctious, but he sais his children would cry, and I didn't want to make his children cry.
The AC still doesn't work here and I doubt it will ever be fixed. We didn't get a BBQ like they promised and our landlady is a first rate beeotch. But other than that staying in a house has been lovely. But I am definately ready to hit the road again. Once Semana Santa is over....we're outta here!
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Life in Ticoland
April 9, 2011
For the past few days we have been cooking and surfing and beach combing! Recipe for very relaxing good time: Wake up, make breakfast, read, go to the beach, come home, make lunch, read, draw, go to grocery store and buy more food, cook supper, sleep and repeat! The surfing here is so difficult. The rip currents are strong and the waves are massive. I like to go during low tide where you can wade in about waist deep and catch the baby waves and ride them right in to the beach. Chad is still determined to get out to the big waves and is getting closer every day.
Yesterday our friend Dave from Quebec showed up in Santa Teresa. So we put good use to the spare bedroom and now we have a house guest. He has to leave for home on monday morning so we have had a busy weekend. Tomorrow he needs to buy bus tickets, buy souveniers for his mom, get a tattoo and go to the beach. So ya very busy.
Today we rented quads and went to Montezuma. There are some waterfalls close to town that we wanted to check out. Quads are pretty pricey to rent for a day but we figured what the hell. We left town around 1:00pm. It was 17 km to the waterfalls and we ate a lot of dust on the way there. Chad found the snorkel mask to be quite useful for keeping the dirt out of his eyes while he drove us down the road like a maniac! I held on for dear life and pleaded for him to slow down but he has been deprived of four wheeled machines for months now and there was no way he was missing out on any fun. Once we got to Montezuma we headed straight for the waterfall entrance. It was a short hike to the first set of falls. There were a few places to jump into the water. Had a quick swim and then kept treking up the hill until we got to the second and third sets of falls. These were where we wanted to be! The second set of falls was a 40 foot plunge into the pool below and the third set had a rope swing and some places just to sit and hang out. There were fish in the pools and I snorkeled around looking at them but for some reason fresh water fish in murky water scare the crap out of me! There were these little purple and orange crabs everywhere! They were all over the road and in the woods and all around the falls. We made one mad and it shook its purple pincers at us. It took me a while to work up the nerve to jump the 40ft falls but after I climbed down to take video of the boys doing the jump I felt like a big weeny so up I went to give it a go. I only hesitated for about 5 seconds because any longer I would have realized how much it would hurt to hit the water from that height. When I hit the water my bum was given quite the wedgie but other than that I excaped with only a bright red welt from where I slapped the water. Chad took some video and you can here me squeal like a wee little girl as I usually do.
The next day Dave was anxious to get himself a tattoo. He got one done in Thailand on his last trip so he figured why not make a habit out of it! So we spent the day looking up designs for a forearm band. He found a maori sun that he liked and some bands of triangles and square. We had it drawn up for the tattoo artist, a guy named Ryan from Florida, and we went to the shop at 8pm. Dave's appointment was for 8 but there were still two more people ahead of him. The girl on the table was almost butt naked and was getting a radio with wings on her rib cage. It turned out great and all of the boys were very impressed....with her nakedness I think and not really the tattoo. The next girl wanted a spade sign on her finger. She took soooo long trying too decide where on her finger and how big and what colour that the artist was getting a little annoyed. She finally figured it out and the tattoo took about 2 minutes. He charged her $20 and sent her on her way. Now it was Dave's turn. The apprentice made the stencils and Ryan placed them on his forearm almost perfectly....even after a few beers! He had to free hand some of the straight lines to line up properly on the skin but it looked pretty good. The tattoo took about 2 1/2 hours until about 1am. We went through about 18 beers and the tattoo artist had his fair share....this made Dave slightly nervous. But when he was done the lines were crisp and clean and he had himself a nice tattoo! We went out for drinks after and he bought us a drink and invited us to go fishing.
I road my bike home and the boys had to walk, along the way the most annoying of all backpacker annoyances occured! A broken flip-flop!! Every backpacker goes through at least two pairs of flip-flops on a 3 to 6 month tour. Dave was not impressed as these Sanook flops were his favourite and "de bess der is in all de wurl!!" Being a gravel road all the way home we attempted to triple on the bike. This ended with us all in the ditch and a very bent basket on my bike. Along with gravel we also had to dodge the numerous crabs that come out of the woods when it rains. They are bright purple and orange and don't really have a clue where they are walking and frequently run right under the tires of a car or bike. Being barefoot dave had to dodge the live crabs and the dead ones. Safely home and now with ravenous hunger we cooked up some fried rice and the boys fell into deep conversation about beef jerkey for about an hour. This is where I took my leave and went to bed.
April 14, 2011
We have been here in Santa Teresa for 10 days and it is going by so fast. We still have so much we want to do but we keep getting stuck in the same pattern of eating and sleeping and surfing. Chad is getting better and I've spied him catching some pretty wicked waves. I however am not really trying very hard and its sad to say that I have been working harder on my tan than my surf skills.
I finally booked our plane tickets home last night. The price just seemed to be going up every day so I had to commit. We leave from Bogota on May 16th. 20 hours later we will be home. The cheapest way is always the longest way. But I truely don't mind air travel. I love waiting for the plane and I love airports! The only problem is that we only have 20 days to get from Santa Teresa to Bogota. In those 20 days we have to see Manuel Antonio National Park, take a bus from San Jose to Panama City and see the canal, take a bus to San Blas and get on a sailboat and sail to Cartagena and then catch the 20 hour bus ride to Bogota.
For the past few days we have been cooking and surfing and beach combing! Recipe for very relaxing good time: Wake up, make breakfast, read, go to the beach, come home, make lunch, read, draw, go to grocery store and buy more food, cook supper, sleep and repeat! The surfing here is so difficult. The rip currents are strong and the waves are massive. I like to go during low tide where you can wade in about waist deep and catch the baby waves and ride them right in to the beach. Chad is still determined to get out to the big waves and is getting closer every day.
Yesterday our friend Dave from Quebec showed up in Santa Teresa. So we put good use to the spare bedroom and now we have a house guest. He has to leave for home on monday morning so we have had a busy weekend. Tomorrow he needs to buy bus tickets, buy souveniers for his mom, get a tattoo and go to the beach. So ya very busy.
Today we rented quads and went to Montezuma. There are some waterfalls close to town that we wanted to check out. Quads are pretty pricey to rent for a day but we figured what the hell. We left town around 1:00pm. It was 17 km to the waterfalls and we ate a lot of dust on the way there. Chad found the snorkel mask to be quite useful for keeping the dirt out of his eyes while he drove us down the road like a maniac! I held on for dear life and pleaded for him to slow down but he has been deprived of four wheeled machines for months now and there was no way he was missing out on any fun. Once we got to Montezuma we headed straight for the waterfall entrance. It was a short hike to the first set of falls. There were a few places to jump into the water. Had a quick swim and then kept treking up the hill until we got to the second and third sets of falls. These were where we wanted to be! The second set of falls was a 40 foot plunge into the pool below and the third set had a rope swing and some places just to sit and hang out. There were fish in the pools and I snorkeled around looking at them but for some reason fresh water fish in murky water scare the crap out of me! There were these little purple and orange crabs everywhere! They were all over the road and in the woods and all around the falls. We made one mad and it shook its purple pincers at us. It took me a while to work up the nerve to jump the 40ft falls but after I climbed down to take video of the boys doing the jump I felt like a big weeny so up I went to give it a go. I only hesitated for about 5 seconds because any longer I would have realized how much it would hurt to hit the water from that height. When I hit the water my bum was given quite the wedgie but other than that I excaped with only a bright red welt from where I slapped the water. Chad took some video and you can here me squeal like a wee little girl as I usually do.
The next day Dave was anxious to get himself a tattoo. He got one done in Thailand on his last trip so he figured why not make a habit out of it! So we spent the day looking up designs for a forearm band. He found a maori sun that he liked and some bands of triangles and square. We had it drawn up for the tattoo artist, a guy named Ryan from Florida, and we went to the shop at 8pm. Dave's appointment was for 8 but there were still two more people ahead of him. The girl on the table was almost butt naked and was getting a radio with wings on her rib cage. It turned out great and all of the boys were very impressed....with her nakedness I think and not really the tattoo. The next girl wanted a spade sign on her finger. She took soooo long trying too decide where on her finger and how big and what colour that the artist was getting a little annoyed. She finally figured it out and the tattoo took about 2 minutes. He charged her $20 and sent her on her way. Now it was Dave's turn. The apprentice made the stencils and Ryan placed them on his forearm almost perfectly....even after a few beers! He had to free hand some of the straight lines to line up properly on the skin but it looked pretty good. The tattoo took about 2 1/2 hours until about 1am. We went through about 18 beers and the tattoo artist had his fair share....this made Dave slightly nervous. But when he was done the lines were crisp and clean and he had himself a nice tattoo! We went out for drinks after and he bought us a drink and invited us to go fishing.
I road my bike home and the boys had to walk, along the way the most annoying of all backpacker annoyances occured! A broken flip-flop!! Every backpacker goes through at least two pairs of flip-flops on a 3 to 6 month tour. Dave was not impressed as these Sanook flops were his favourite and "de bess der is in all de wurl!!" Being a gravel road all the way home we attempted to triple on the bike. This ended with us all in the ditch and a very bent basket on my bike. Along with gravel we also had to dodge the numerous crabs that come out of the woods when it rains. They are bright purple and orange and don't really have a clue where they are walking and frequently run right under the tires of a car or bike. Being barefoot dave had to dodge the live crabs and the dead ones. Safely home and now with ravenous hunger we cooked up some fried rice and the boys fell into deep conversation about beef jerkey for about an hour. This is where I took my leave and went to bed.
April 14, 2011
We have been here in Santa Teresa for 10 days and it is going by so fast. We still have so much we want to do but we keep getting stuck in the same pattern of eating and sleeping and surfing. Chad is getting better and I've spied him catching some pretty wicked waves. I however am not really trying very hard and its sad to say that I have been working harder on my tan than my surf skills.
I finally booked our plane tickets home last night. The price just seemed to be going up every day so I had to commit. We leave from Bogota on May 16th. 20 hours later we will be home. The cheapest way is always the longest way. But I truely don't mind air travel. I love waiting for the plane and I love airports! The only problem is that we only have 20 days to get from Santa Teresa to Bogota. In those 20 days we have to see Manuel Antonio National Park, take a bus from San Jose to Panama City and see the canal, take a bus to San Blas and get on a sailboat and sail to Cartagena and then catch the 20 hour bus ride to Bogota.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Santa Teresa!
April 4, 2011
I am so excited! We have three weeks to actually live in one place! We rented a house starting tomorrow morning until after Semana Santa is over on the 25th. Apparently things get really really busy and places fill up and have been booked for weeks so we decided to make our stay here in Santa Teresa a bit longer so we don't get caught trying to travel during that week.
We arrived here yesterday with the water taxi and then had to take another two buses to get to town. Getting around Costa Rica is way more difficult than any of the other countries we have been in. Their buses are infrequent and the roads really rough and dusty. I didn't have enough cash to pay the $2 bus fair on the way here but I didn't realize it until we were getting off the bus. I gave him all my change and he looked super pissed but he didn't chase me down the street or anything so all in all it worked out.
We checked into a dorm room at a hostel called Brunela. Our first walk through the yard we spotted a troop of monkies heading through the trees along the beach. I think they were howlers but they didn't make any noise at all this time. The rooms are really dirty and dusty but the concept is so cool. Each bunk is its own unit really with storage under the bed in locked cabinets and a built in concrete shelf beside the bed and each bed has its own fan and reading light. The fan is a must. I can't believe how hot it gets here. I am sweating buckets and have throw myself into the sea or the shower quite regularily. The walls are painted bright green with former guest artistry for decor and there are surf board storage racks in every room. There are so many iguanas living at the hostel that they are competing for roof space to sun themselves and one got into the kitchen last night and knocked over a bunch of bottle and broke them. Its kind of sad but there are two levels and it seems that all of the european, north american english speaking guests are on the top level and the spanish speaking guests are on the lower level. Each level has its own kitchen so we don't even really get to mingle. There is a serious food stealing problem here. It is most likely due to the amount of ganga being smoked and in turn is causing midnight munchie raids on the fridge and cupboards. Did I mention how excited I am to be getting our own house?
We went looking at places today with this guy who manages a bunch of properties around town. He didn't have a car so we got to ride around on a scooter. Chad drove and I tried my best not to fall off the back. I was so tempted to rent one for the whole time we are here but really its not that big and a regular bike is much cheaper and better for us and the noise level. Men seem to think the louder their ATV, motorbike, truck etc... the more attractive they seem to the ladies. This is true in most nations of the world. Although I believe the opposite. We found a place that these guys were just moving out of and it was filthy! But we looked past the grunge and saw that it would be perfect for us. They were cleaning it up this afternoon and we get to move in tomorrow morning. There are two bedrooms so we might try to find another couple to move in and help with the rent. As it is we will be paying $32 a day for a house and two bikes so it is actually pretty reasonable but it seems like so much when you have to pay for it all up front. The kitchen is basic but it will be so nice to be able to cook our own food and not have a million people trying to use the same stove and rotten food in the fridge and people stealing your food. If you are a stoner or a drunk dorm living is great.
We went surfing for a bit this afternoon. There were exactly two other people on the entire beach, which is huge. As we are not knowledgable in surf conditions we didn't realize that it was supposedly "shit" and there was no point of going out today. We went anyways and had a grand time! I caught a few baby waves and am feeling more confident in the water. Chad is getting his paddeling down and heads straight out for the big ones which scares the crap out of me. I was actually proud of myself today for knowing that the board needed to be waxed. In three weeks I think I may just be able to ride a board that isn't 14 feet tall. Our board is only 7ft2in but it looks so huge compared to the guys who surf the big waves. Havn't met any big wave girls yet. Chad is suffering from chaffed nipples lately. He forgot to wear his rash gaurd every time we've went out since we got here. He said it feels like someone just cut them right off!
It is the end of dry season here so everything is covered in dust and dried right out. Mid April its supposed to start raining. We are actually really looking forward to a good tropical storm. We had a tiny little storm on Little Corn in our tin roofed cabana. I feel like I need to get a job. I was tempted today to ask the owner of this coffee shop we went to if I could just hang out and learn how to cook vegan food and be her yoga chef. Its a tad on the hippyish side here. Only a tad however so its cool.
Everyone has a dog or two. There is a race of chocolate lab here that must have been crossed with a mastif of some kind because they are massive! One came behind me today on the beach and when I turned around there were these huge jowely jaws in front of my face with the longest pink tounge hanging out of it. It was just staring at me because I was holding a stick in which he was obviously salavating over and wanted me to throw it. All the dogs have collars but none of them ever seem to have an owner in sight. So I hucked it for him....he neglected to bring it back.
Some people may think that a backpacking around central america blog would be full of adventure and a lot more interesting stories than throwing a stick for a dog but really at the end of the day thats what I think was interesting. Other things I found interesting: a girl with a newborn baby maybe a week old dressed in only a onesie on a bus full of people, how good at riding double, triple and even quadrouple families are on bicycles (if there is a spot to rest your behind there is room for one more), you pronounce Costa Rica like Coasta not Costa....wierd.
We're talking more and more about home these days. I think it is because spring is coming and we know how much there is to do. Already made plans for May Long weekend! We are pretty much moving our packs into the boler and heading out from there. No need to move back into the house just yet! We may have to trade in our board shorts and t-shirts for jeans and sweaters however.
April 5, 2011
Moved in the house this morning!! They wanted all the money today so Chad had to rip to the bank on his bike but in the blistering heat brains are not very functional. He got out 100,000 colones and didn't realize that was only $200. I had to come and find him to see what in this world was going on. Made another trip to the bank and then paid the dude his money. We still haven't got a BBQ or a coffee maker but he keeps promising tomorrow tomorrow! so who really knows what we will end up with. The AC also doesn't work but the caretaker Eddie says that the repairman will also come tomorrow tomorrow.
There are two little geckos that live in the kitchen and they keep chirping at me. There is also a family of iguanas that live on the roof. Every once in a while they crash around and make it sound like we're being stormed with falling mangoes. I wish Xeila was here. She would appreciate the tico pace. Nice and relaxed. Chad just left to go surfing for a bit. We had to wait here for the repair guy to come who now isn't coming until tomorrow so I opted to stay and wait. When we left our hostel this morning the Swedish couple we were sharing a room with were purging their stuff before they leave tomorrow for home. They bought a surf board at the beginning of their trip and used it twice. For some reason the shop they bought it from told him that it was a beginner board which it clearly is not. Its a short and skinny board that most of the experienced guys used. He was gonna sell it for $60 or whatever anyone would give him for it. We bought it for $50 with fins and leash included. Chad just went to go try it out. We will probably only use it as a flotation device but later on before we leave we can sell it or who knows we may end up buying a board bag and keeping these boards. Trips to tofino, road trip down the coast of the US, Bali....we could probably use them quite a bit. We let the swedish couple borrow our bikes to go to the ATM at the other end of town and they were so thankful they didn't have to rent bikes for 30 min and pay out the ass. They even gave us their hiking boots! They both were going to just get rid of them cause they would never use them at home and didn't want to stuff them into their packs. How lucky were we that they both have the exact same size feet as us!
I am so excited! We have three weeks to actually live in one place! We rented a house starting tomorrow morning until after Semana Santa is over on the 25th. Apparently things get really really busy and places fill up and have been booked for weeks so we decided to make our stay here in Santa Teresa a bit longer so we don't get caught trying to travel during that week.
We arrived here yesterday with the water taxi and then had to take another two buses to get to town. Getting around Costa Rica is way more difficult than any of the other countries we have been in. Their buses are infrequent and the roads really rough and dusty. I didn't have enough cash to pay the $2 bus fair on the way here but I didn't realize it until we were getting off the bus. I gave him all my change and he looked super pissed but he didn't chase me down the street or anything so all in all it worked out.
We checked into a dorm room at a hostel called Brunela. Our first walk through the yard we spotted a troop of monkies heading through the trees along the beach. I think they were howlers but they didn't make any noise at all this time. The rooms are really dirty and dusty but the concept is so cool. Each bunk is its own unit really with storage under the bed in locked cabinets and a built in concrete shelf beside the bed and each bed has its own fan and reading light. The fan is a must. I can't believe how hot it gets here. I am sweating buckets and have throw myself into the sea or the shower quite regularily. The walls are painted bright green with former guest artistry for decor and there are surf board storage racks in every room. There are so many iguanas living at the hostel that they are competing for roof space to sun themselves and one got into the kitchen last night and knocked over a bunch of bottle and broke them. Its kind of sad but there are two levels and it seems that all of the european, north american english speaking guests are on the top level and the spanish speaking guests are on the lower level. Each level has its own kitchen so we don't even really get to mingle. There is a serious food stealing problem here. It is most likely due to the amount of ganga being smoked and in turn is causing midnight munchie raids on the fridge and cupboards. Did I mention how excited I am to be getting our own house?
We went looking at places today with this guy who manages a bunch of properties around town. He didn't have a car so we got to ride around on a scooter. Chad drove and I tried my best not to fall off the back. I was so tempted to rent one for the whole time we are here but really its not that big and a regular bike is much cheaper and better for us and the noise level. Men seem to think the louder their ATV, motorbike, truck etc... the more attractive they seem to the ladies. This is true in most nations of the world. Although I believe the opposite. We found a place that these guys were just moving out of and it was filthy! But we looked past the grunge and saw that it would be perfect for us. They were cleaning it up this afternoon and we get to move in tomorrow morning. There are two bedrooms so we might try to find another couple to move in and help with the rent. As it is we will be paying $32 a day for a house and two bikes so it is actually pretty reasonable but it seems like so much when you have to pay for it all up front. The kitchen is basic but it will be so nice to be able to cook our own food and not have a million people trying to use the same stove and rotten food in the fridge and people stealing your food. If you are a stoner or a drunk dorm living is great.
We went surfing for a bit this afternoon. There were exactly two other people on the entire beach, which is huge. As we are not knowledgable in surf conditions we didn't realize that it was supposedly "shit" and there was no point of going out today. We went anyways and had a grand time! I caught a few baby waves and am feeling more confident in the water. Chad is getting his paddeling down and heads straight out for the big ones which scares the crap out of me. I was actually proud of myself today for knowing that the board needed to be waxed. In three weeks I think I may just be able to ride a board that isn't 14 feet tall. Our board is only 7ft2in but it looks so huge compared to the guys who surf the big waves. Havn't met any big wave girls yet. Chad is suffering from chaffed nipples lately. He forgot to wear his rash gaurd every time we've went out since we got here. He said it feels like someone just cut them right off!
It is the end of dry season here so everything is covered in dust and dried right out. Mid April its supposed to start raining. We are actually really looking forward to a good tropical storm. We had a tiny little storm on Little Corn in our tin roofed cabana. I feel like I need to get a job. I was tempted today to ask the owner of this coffee shop we went to if I could just hang out and learn how to cook vegan food and be her yoga chef. Its a tad on the hippyish side here. Only a tad however so its cool.
Everyone has a dog or two. There is a race of chocolate lab here that must have been crossed with a mastif of some kind because they are massive! One came behind me today on the beach and when I turned around there were these huge jowely jaws in front of my face with the longest pink tounge hanging out of it. It was just staring at me because I was holding a stick in which he was obviously salavating over and wanted me to throw it. All the dogs have collars but none of them ever seem to have an owner in sight. So I hucked it for him....he neglected to bring it back.
Some people may think that a backpacking around central america blog would be full of adventure and a lot more interesting stories than throwing a stick for a dog but really at the end of the day thats what I think was interesting. Other things I found interesting: a girl with a newborn baby maybe a week old dressed in only a onesie on a bus full of people, how good at riding double, triple and even quadrouple families are on bicycles (if there is a spot to rest your behind there is room for one more), you pronounce Costa Rica like Coasta not Costa....wierd.
We're talking more and more about home these days. I think it is because spring is coming and we know how much there is to do. Already made plans for May Long weekend! We are pretty much moving our packs into the boler and heading out from there. No need to move back into the house just yet! We may have to trade in our board shorts and t-shirts for jeans and sweaters however.
April 5, 2011
Moved in the house this morning!! They wanted all the money today so Chad had to rip to the bank on his bike but in the blistering heat brains are not very functional. He got out 100,000 colones and didn't realize that was only $200. I had to come and find him to see what in this world was going on. Made another trip to the bank and then paid the dude his money. We still haven't got a BBQ or a coffee maker but he keeps promising tomorrow tomorrow! so who really knows what we will end up with. The AC also doesn't work but the caretaker Eddie says that the repairman will also come tomorrow tomorrow.
There are two little geckos that live in the kitchen and they keep chirping at me. There is also a family of iguanas that live on the roof. Every once in a while they crash around and make it sound like we're being stormed with falling mangoes. I wish Xeila was here. She would appreciate the tico pace. Nice and relaxed. Chad just left to go surfing for a bit. We had to wait here for the repair guy to come who now isn't coming until tomorrow so I opted to stay and wait. When we left our hostel this morning the Swedish couple we were sharing a room with were purging their stuff before they leave tomorrow for home. They bought a surf board at the beginning of their trip and used it twice. For some reason the shop they bought it from told him that it was a beginner board which it clearly is not. Its a short and skinny board that most of the experienced guys used. He was gonna sell it for $60 or whatever anyone would give him for it. We bought it for $50 with fins and leash included. Chad just went to go try it out. We will probably only use it as a flotation device but later on before we leave we can sell it or who knows we may end up buying a board bag and keeping these boards. Trips to tofino, road trip down the coast of the US, Bali....we could probably use them quite a bit. We let the swedish couple borrow our bikes to go to the ATM at the other end of town and they were so thankful they didn't have to rent bikes for 30 min and pay out the ass. They even gave us their hiking boots! They both were going to just get rid of them cause they would never use them at home and didn't want to stuff them into their packs. How lucky were we that they both have the exact same size feet as us!
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Nica to Costa Rica
April 1, 2011
We left Isla de Ometepe a bit early because we were a bit tired of having to walk a million miles to see the sights and motorbike rentals were few and far between. We met this expat at the coffee shop run by another expat while we were waiting for the bus that offered us a "volunteer" experience at his farm. Pretty much picking weeds in the veggie garden and helping fix the pig pen. We figured we have enough of that to do at home and if we did volunteer for something it would be better to help local people who actually need it. I would still love to do something in the hospitals but my spanish is not nearly good enough. We caught the chicken bus to the ferry terminal and headed back to the mainland. We arrived about 5pm and of course all the buses were done for the day so we had to hire a taxi to take us to San Juan del Sur. It was only $14 for a 45 min drive so not too bad I guess.
We stayed at a hostel right off the main beach/harbour with the absolute worst beds I have ever had to endure. They were matresses at one point I believe. Now they are flattened to about 2inches thick and placed on wooden planks. We actually stayed for 5 nights but mostly because we were determined to give San Juan del Sur a decent go. The first night we drank way to much rum with a New Yorker girl and Yuval from Israel that we were with in Leon. New York was very proud of the fact that she speaks "perfect spanish" and made it very clear on several occasions throughout the night. She really did speak very good spanish but geeze you don't need to mention it every 10 minutes. Despite my annoyance we went out dancing and had a great time together....didn't catch her name however...maybe Amanda, i don't know. When we got back to the hostal she had a very loud match of wits with a military med student from Toronto. Non of it made any sense due to the large amounts of Flor de Cana rum that was consumed. They made up the next day.
Sick in bed the entire next day in that horrible bed! Went for fish and chips and poutine for breakfast at 6pm. Then went back to bed. Feeling much refreshed the next day we did a walk about the little town. If you really want to experience SJDS you need a vehicle. The surfing beaches were at least 30min out of town to either the south or north. In our desperation to stay in Nica prices we even contemplated renting a car and camping out of it. That idea was soon crushed when people warned us that sleeping in your car was asking to get robbed, especially out on the beaches. Chad is actually wishing someone would mess with us so he can have a kungfu match and practice his best moves. I told him that if he wants to fight with someone he had better just do it at home where you can call them out properly....in english and not get shot because they all have guns. The dudes in nica like to make kissy noises at girls. I flipped one the bird the other day and then i read in the travel bible that you shouldn't show any anger towards them cause they might get violent....ooops! whatever! bring it! i'll crush you like a cookaracha!!
Our last day in SJDS we decided to try out the surf. We had to take a shuttle to Madera beach and rent a board. I caught a few little wee ones in the white water and had a blast! I can't wait to do it every day and try out the bigger waves when I'm not scared poo-less. Chad was sick still with his head cold so he only went out a couple times but he caught the bigger ones cause he has mad paddeling skills. The water was clear and blue and refreshingly chilly. It was at least 40 degrees out. There was a big rock to the north of the beach that looks just like a dorsal fin! It was a great spot. You could swim and not get crushed or rolled onto the beach like a dead fish. Met a couple from the UK in their 40's still rocking the waves.
Went for supper at a pizza place and got seated next to a group of 26 people on a surf/jesus retreat. None of them drank any booze and they prayed their little hearts out.
Next morning we were up bright and early to catch the chicken bus to Rivas to catch the big Ticabus to Punta Arenas to catch the ferry to Montezuma and catch the next bus to Santa Teresa...or so we thought. Originally we thought we'd try to get the Santa Teresa where we plan on renting a house for a few weeks. The bus driver neglected to stop in Punta Arenas and so we just sat back and relaxed all the way to San Jose, about 3 hours further than where we planned on going. ooops again. Luckily we ran into a nice feller from Lake Tahoe who suggested maybe we try out Jaco to buy a surf board and take the water taxi from their across to the Peninsula where ST is. So that is where we now find ourselves.
After arriving in San Jose we had to wait at another bus station for a couple hours until the next bus to Jaco showed up. That was a rather interesting establishment. There was a couple tag team preachers who walked the gauntlet of passengers the entire time. They were well dressed guys in their 60's. I thought the first guy might be schizophrenic or something because he was yelling at the ground and pointing at things that were not there. But then his partner got up for his turn. Then I figured it out. They weren't schizophrenic at all....they were just very into their word! Another 3 hours on the bus and we were in Jaco.
Jaco is a strip of restaurants and bars and a few high rise vacation rental condos with a nice surfing beach. Today we rented bikes and toured around a bit. Having a bike makes all the difference in the world as to what you can see. We packed a lunch and headed down the road to a bigger but less populated beach called Hermosa. Costa Rica is so much more green and lush. We road along and heard this squaking in the trees above us and saw a big group of scarlet macaw's. They are apparently pretty rare to see in many parts of Costa Rica due to trapping and habitat destruction. It made my day! Once we got to the beach we watched the surfers and decided to try some body surfing. The waves here were brutal and broke so close to the shore that it took me right off me feet and left me with my pants half off and my hair full of black sand and rocks. I'm so graceful in the water. Getting in was easy, getting out was a problem. As soon as I got close to the shore a wave would come and scoop me back out or slam me into the ground covering my in black volcanic sand and depositing me directly in front of some cool surfer folk.
We had steak at this Argentinian place that bakes their own bread. I feel like we're on vacation and not traveling here! We had to go buy our own bottle of wine at the liquor store because the restaurant was having troubles with a liquor licence. Not really thinking about price I grabbed a nice looking wine and took it to the till and gave her a 20 dollar bill hoping she had change and would ask for smaller bills as is what usually is the case. This time she asked me for more money! I was in shock at having to spend over $20 on a bottle of wine. I'm not sure what I will do when we get home....I might have to start incorporating the bartering system. I'll go to my neighborhood liquor store and cut the price in half and then work up from there until we come to a fair deal.
We left Isla de Ometepe a bit early because we were a bit tired of having to walk a million miles to see the sights and motorbike rentals were few and far between. We met this expat at the coffee shop run by another expat while we were waiting for the bus that offered us a "volunteer" experience at his farm. Pretty much picking weeds in the veggie garden and helping fix the pig pen. We figured we have enough of that to do at home and if we did volunteer for something it would be better to help local people who actually need it. I would still love to do something in the hospitals but my spanish is not nearly good enough. We caught the chicken bus to the ferry terminal and headed back to the mainland. We arrived about 5pm and of course all the buses were done for the day so we had to hire a taxi to take us to San Juan del Sur. It was only $14 for a 45 min drive so not too bad I guess.
We stayed at a hostel right off the main beach/harbour with the absolute worst beds I have ever had to endure. They were matresses at one point I believe. Now they are flattened to about 2inches thick and placed on wooden planks. We actually stayed for 5 nights but mostly because we were determined to give San Juan del Sur a decent go. The first night we drank way to much rum with a New Yorker girl and Yuval from Israel that we were with in Leon. New York was very proud of the fact that she speaks "perfect spanish" and made it very clear on several occasions throughout the night. She really did speak very good spanish but geeze you don't need to mention it every 10 minutes. Despite my annoyance we went out dancing and had a great time together....didn't catch her name however...maybe Amanda, i don't know. When we got back to the hostal she had a very loud match of wits with a military med student from Toronto. Non of it made any sense due to the large amounts of Flor de Cana rum that was consumed. They made up the next day.
Sick in bed the entire next day in that horrible bed! Went for fish and chips and poutine for breakfast at 6pm. Then went back to bed. Feeling much refreshed the next day we did a walk about the little town. If you really want to experience SJDS you need a vehicle. The surfing beaches were at least 30min out of town to either the south or north. In our desperation to stay in Nica prices we even contemplated renting a car and camping out of it. That idea was soon crushed when people warned us that sleeping in your car was asking to get robbed, especially out on the beaches. Chad is actually wishing someone would mess with us so he can have a kungfu match and practice his best moves. I told him that if he wants to fight with someone he had better just do it at home where you can call them out properly....in english and not get shot because they all have guns. The dudes in nica like to make kissy noises at girls. I flipped one the bird the other day and then i read in the travel bible that you shouldn't show any anger towards them cause they might get violent....ooops! whatever! bring it! i'll crush you like a cookaracha!!
Our last day in SJDS we decided to try out the surf. We had to take a shuttle to Madera beach and rent a board. I caught a few little wee ones in the white water and had a blast! I can't wait to do it every day and try out the bigger waves when I'm not scared poo-less. Chad was sick still with his head cold so he only went out a couple times but he caught the bigger ones cause he has mad paddeling skills. The water was clear and blue and refreshingly chilly. It was at least 40 degrees out. There was a big rock to the north of the beach that looks just like a dorsal fin! It was a great spot. You could swim and not get crushed or rolled onto the beach like a dead fish. Met a couple from the UK in their 40's still rocking the waves.
Went for supper at a pizza place and got seated next to a group of 26 people on a surf/jesus retreat. None of them drank any booze and they prayed their little hearts out.
Next morning we were up bright and early to catch the chicken bus to Rivas to catch the big Ticabus to Punta Arenas to catch the ferry to Montezuma and catch the next bus to Santa Teresa...or so we thought. Originally we thought we'd try to get the Santa Teresa where we plan on renting a house for a few weeks. The bus driver neglected to stop in Punta Arenas and so we just sat back and relaxed all the way to San Jose, about 3 hours further than where we planned on going. ooops again. Luckily we ran into a nice feller from Lake Tahoe who suggested maybe we try out Jaco to buy a surf board and take the water taxi from their across to the Peninsula where ST is. So that is where we now find ourselves.
After arriving in San Jose we had to wait at another bus station for a couple hours until the next bus to Jaco showed up. That was a rather interesting establishment. There was a couple tag team preachers who walked the gauntlet of passengers the entire time. They were well dressed guys in their 60's. I thought the first guy might be schizophrenic or something because he was yelling at the ground and pointing at things that were not there. But then his partner got up for his turn. Then I figured it out. They weren't schizophrenic at all....they were just very into their word! Another 3 hours on the bus and we were in Jaco.
Jaco is a strip of restaurants and bars and a few high rise vacation rental condos with a nice surfing beach. Today we rented bikes and toured around a bit. Having a bike makes all the difference in the world as to what you can see. We packed a lunch and headed down the road to a bigger but less populated beach called Hermosa. Costa Rica is so much more green and lush. We road along and heard this squaking in the trees above us and saw a big group of scarlet macaw's. They are apparently pretty rare to see in many parts of Costa Rica due to trapping and habitat destruction. It made my day! Once we got to the beach we watched the surfers and decided to try some body surfing. The waves here were brutal and broke so close to the shore that it took me right off me feet and left me with my pants half off and my hair full of black sand and rocks. I'm so graceful in the water. Getting in was easy, getting out was a problem. As soon as I got close to the shore a wave would come and scoop me back out or slam me into the ground covering my in black volcanic sand and depositing me directly in front of some cool surfer folk.
We had steak at this Argentinian place that bakes their own bread. I feel like we're on vacation and not traveling here! We had to go buy our own bottle of wine at the liquor store because the restaurant was having troubles with a liquor licence. Not really thinking about price I grabbed a nice looking wine and took it to the till and gave her a 20 dollar bill hoping she had change and would ask for smaller bills as is what usually is the case. This time she asked me for more money! I was in shock at having to spend over $20 on a bottle of wine. I'm not sure what I will do when we get home....I might have to start incorporating the bartering system. I'll go to my neighborhood liquor store and cut the price in half and then work up from there until we come to a fair deal.
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Leaving Corn Island, Managua and Isla de Ometepe
March 25, 2011
Leaving Little Corn at 6:30am on the panga boat was an adventure in itself. The ocean was so windy and the waves were massive. Our driver was pretty good at handling the boat but a few times when we had to climb a wave the boat felt like it was going to run out of steam. When we finally got to the dock we were bombarded with taxi drivers trying to grab our bags to take us to the airport. One guy selling conch shells and sea stars was outright yelling at everyone about the prices and saying "deese guys have to eat, why you try to only pay dem ten! dis ride cost ya 20!" We paid our 20 cordobas (the last cash we had) and got to their airport with lots of time to spare. Our flight back to Managua was rough and we had to land in Bluefields to pick up more people. I thought we were making an emergency landing because we started to descend while we still over the ocean!
We decided to stay in Managua and try to get Chad a haircut because he was starting to look on the shabby side. His mood is also proportional to his hair length. The longer the hair the crankier the Chad. We took a taxi from the airport to Managua Backpackers Inn which is actually run by a Canadian. It was really close to a mall so we hung out there and ate food court food went to the movies and drank delicious coffee's. Chad finally bought a sencond pair of shorts. I was getting pretty tired of looking at those grubby old red shorts that he has had for 10 years. On the way back from the mall the hostel owner told us to be careful because there was a group of little boys roaming around sniffing glue and might try to grab my bag or something. We were actually warned by a lot of people about how dangerous and horrible Managua is but we didn't really find it too bad. There were definately areas that you would stay away from but generally people were really helpful and nice to us.
Next on our list of shit to do in the city was a haircut. We asked one of the guys who worked at the hostel a good place to go and he told about this place called "Juane's". Apparently that's where he goes to get his hair cut and dyed because he started going grey at 15 and "this is a very bad thing" for him he says. He gave us directions and we found it fairly easily. When we walked in Chad was almost ready to turn around and run away. The place was almost exclusively staffed by very pretty, very fabulous gay fellas! They were gorgeous! The place was decortated all in white and pink and women seemed to have been there all day for various treatments. I plunked myself into a white leather couch and watched as chad tried to pantomime what kind of a hair cut he wanted. While this was going on one of the fabulous ones asked me if i wanted any agua, tea or cafe. I asked for agua and he said "oh no no no!" and brought me out a glass of iced tea that was amazing! They brought one for chad too while he was getting pampered. After his hair was cut chad tried to ask her to cut his sideburns a little more because as we all know they can become quite unruly. She said ok and proceeded to produce a straight blade razor! The woman sitting beside me asked if my husband spoke any spanish and might end up bald if he wasn't careful! She thought this was hilarious and we had quite the chuckle. His hairdresser wanted to put gel in his hair soooo badly but of course chad said no. All in all the whole experience costed $9 and we had the best time ever. I got to sit on a big white leather couch sipping ice tea and watching Enrique Iglesias videos and chad got to have a taste of how a real guapo latino has his hair done. His mood has also since improved.
Other things we did in the city: went to a movie staring sylvester stallone and a bunch of other meat heads and it wasn't even that bad, went out for wings, went out for an overpriced steak dinner and wine in our backpacker grubbyness in a really fancy restaurant, went for a walk around the Plaza de Revolucion and saw some cool statues and a church that looks like its about ready to fall over and went to a meuseum of sorts about the Sandinistas. Over two days we did a lot and actually had a really good time in Managua.
I got really frustrated on our last night there because I was getting sick of living out of my backpack and feeling trapped because your not supposed to walk around at night and always feeling like everyone is just trying to rip you off. Just tired I suppose, so we went for steak and wine. That made me feel better even though they fricken pan fried the steak....you just don't do that to a delicious cut of meat I tell you! It was delicious non the less and so was the wine. The next morning feeling refreshed and a little hung over we went for coffee at the mall again and got a taxi to the bus station. We went to San Jorge which is the town where you catch the ferry to Isla de Ometepe. All our timing worked out perfectly and we got to Finca Magdalena at sundown. We met a Dr. from Prince George and a speech therapist from Smithers on the boat and were going to share a taxi with them but as he spoke fluent spanish he found us a chicken bus for a $1 each instead of a $20 taxi. Super nice of him and I regret not even getting their names.
This is our second night here at the Finca (farm). It supposedly a working organic coffee and produce farm but we have yet to see any coffee or produce. We asked about horse back riding tours and they said they don't do any tours at the farm. We checked down the road and if you go through a different company they will give you a tour of the farm. Fricken backwards here sometimes.
an ant was crawling on chads pillow just now.....ewww. don't worry i got it.
We went for the longest walk in the world today. We thought that the town was close but it was actually a two hour walk away. The good thing however was that we ran into our friends from Quebec and Mexico. They were part of the big group we traveled with from Utila to Leon. They had picked up a Beligian along the way. They were headed to meet the other girls from Switzerland and the Netherlands on the beach. On Donnagee's head was a little baby white faced monkey. They picked him up at the restaurant and he liked to cuddle so when they tried to leave he wouldn't leave her. The owner said they could take him to the beach if they wanted. So of course the logical thing would be to take the monkey along. This particular monkey had a bit of cold and was a little on the boogery side. He was also deathly afraid of water so taking him to the beach was not a good idea. When Donnagee went swimming he decided he wasn't going to stick around and so he took off and they couldn't find him again. When we got back to the restaurant the owner asked where the monkey was and luckily Donnagee being from Mexico told her in spanish the whole story and the lady didn't seem to mad. This restaurant was filled with animals just hanging out everywhere, there were two parrots on a chair, a piglet had run of the whole house and a rooster made a home behind my chair and crowed right in my ear! Fidelio will make it home sooner or later. Poor little Fidelio is out there swinging in the trees probably having the time of his life...i hope! He even "made a pee pee" on me! Poor Donnagee felt so bad..."i loose so many thing today! first my earings, my pink bra, a monkey and now my washing soaps!".
This island is alive with farm animals. Everywhere you look there are actually well fed, decent sized horses, pigs, chickens, goats and big huge brahma looking cows. I tried to rent a couple horses today and I said that I didn't want a guide because I have "mucho experience con cabellos!". He didn't believe me so we didn't go
Leaving Little Corn at 6:30am on the panga boat was an adventure in itself. The ocean was so windy and the waves were massive. Our driver was pretty good at handling the boat but a few times when we had to climb a wave the boat felt like it was going to run out of steam. When we finally got to the dock we were bombarded with taxi drivers trying to grab our bags to take us to the airport. One guy selling conch shells and sea stars was outright yelling at everyone about the prices and saying "deese guys have to eat, why you try to only pay dem ten! dis ride cost ya 20!" We paid our 20 cordobas (the last cash we had) and got to their airport with lots of time to spare. Our flight back to Managua was rough and we had to land in Bluefields to pick up more people. I thought we were making an emergency landing because we started to descend while we still over the ocean!
We decided to stay in Managua and try to get Chad a haircut because he was starting to look on the shabby side. His mood is also proportional to his hair length. The longer the hair the crankier the Chad. We took a taxi from the airport to Managua Backpackers Inn which is actually run by a Canadian. It was really close to a mall so we hung out there and ate food court food went to the movies and drank delicious coffee's. Chad finally bought a sencond pair of shorts. I was getting pretty tired of looking at those grubby old red shorts that he has had for 10 years. On the way back from the mall the hostel owner told us to be careful because there was a group of little boys roaming around sniffing glue and might try to grab my bag or something. We were actually warned by a lot of people about how dangerous and horrible Managua is but we didn't really find it too bad. There were definately areas that you would stay away from but generally people were really helpful and nice to us.
Next on our list of shit to do in the city was a haircut. We asked one of the guys who worked at the hostel a good place to go and he told about this place called "Juane's". Apparently that's where he goes to get his hair cut and dyed because he started going grey at 15 and "this is a very bad thing" for him he says. He gave us directions and we found it fairly easily. When we walked in Chad was almost ready to turn around and run away. The place was almost exclusively staffed by very pretty, very fabulous gay fellas! They were gorgeous! The place was decortated all in white and pink and women seemed to have been there all day for various treatments. I plunked myself into a white leather couch and watched as chad tried to pantomime what kind of a hair cut he wanted. While this was going on one of the fabulous ones asked me if i wanted any agua, tea or cafe. I asked for agua and he said "oh no no no!" and brought me out a glass of iced tea that was amazing! They brought one for chad too while he was getting pampered. After his hair was cut chad tried to ask her to cut his sideburns a little more because as we all know they can become quite unruly. She said ok and proceeded to produce a straight blade razor! The woman sitting beside me asked if my husband spoke any spanish and might end up bald if he wasn't careful! She thought this was hilarious and we had quite the chuckle. His hairdresser wanted to put gel in his hair soooo badly but of course chad said no. All in all the whole experience costed $9 and we had the best time ever. I got to sit on a big white leather couch sipping ice tea and watching Enrique Iglesias videos and chad got to have a taste of how a real guapo latino has his hair done. His mood has also since improved.
Other things we did in the city: went to a movie staring sylvester stallone and a bunch of other meat heads and it wasn't even that bad, went out for wings, went out for an overpriced steak dinner and wine in our backpacker grubbyness in a really fancy restaurant, went for a walk around the Plaza de Revolucion and saw some cool statues and a church that looks like its about ready to fall over and went to a meuseum of sorts about the Sandinistas. Over two days we did a lot and actually had a really good time in Managua.
I got really frustrated on our last night there because I was getting sick of living out of my backpack and feeling trapped because your not supposed to walk around at night and always feeling like everyone is just trying to rip you off. Just tired I suppose, so we went for steak and wine. That made me feel better even though they fricken pan fried the steak....you just don't do that to a delicious cut of meat I tell you! It was delicious non the less and so was the wine. The next morning feeling refreshed and a little hung over we went for coffee at the mall again and got a taxi to the bus station. We went to San Jorge which is the town where you catch the ferry to Isla de Ometepe. All our timing worked out perfectly and we got to Finca Magdalena at sundown. We met a Dr. from Prince George and a speech therapist from Smithers on the boat and were going to share a taxi with them but as he spoke fluent spanish he found us a chicken bus for a $1 each instead of a $20 taxi. Super nice of him and I regret not even getting their names.
This is our second night here at the Finca (farm). It supposedly a working organic coffee and produce farm but we have yet to see any coffee or produce. We asked about horse back riding tours and they said they don't do any tours at the farm. We checked down the road and if you go through a different company they will give you a tour of the farm. Fricken backwards here sometimes.
an ant was crawling on chads pillow just now.....ewww. don't worry i got it.
We went for the longest walk in the world today. We thought that the town was close but it was actually a two hour walk away. The good thing however was that we ran into our friends from Quebec and Mexico. They were part of the big group we traveled with from Utila to Leon. They had picked up a Beligian along the way. They were headed to meet the other girls from Switzerland and the Netherlands on the beach. On Donnagee's head was a little baby white faced monkey. They picked him up at the restaurant and he liked to cuddle so when they tried to leave he wouldn't leave her. The owner said they could take him to the beach if they wanted. So of course the logical thing would be to take the monkey along. This particular monkey had a bit of cold and was a little on the boogery side. He was also deathly afraid of water so taking him to the beach was not a good idea. When Donnagee went swimming he decided he wasn't going to stick around and so he took off and they couldn't find him again. When we got back to the restaurant the owner asked where the monkey was and luckily Donnagee being from Mexico told her in spanish the whole story and the lady didn't seem to mad. This restaurant was filled with animals just hanging out everywhere, there were two parrots on a chair, a piglet had run of the whole house and a rooster made a home behind my chair and crowed right in my ear! Fidelio will make it home sooner or later. Poor little Fidelio is out there swinging in the trees probably having the time of his life...i hope! He even "made a pee pee" on me! Poor Donnagee felt so bad..."i loose so many thing today! first my earings, my pink bra, a monkey and now my washing soaps!".
This island is alive with farm animals. Everywhere you look there are actually well fed, decent sized horses, pigs, chickens, goats and big huge brahma looking cows. I tried to rent a couple horses today and I said that I didn't want a guide because I have "mucho experience con cabellos!". He didn't believe me so we didn't go
Monday, March 21, 2011
Adventures on Little Corn
March 20, 2011
We ran out of money a few days ago but have kept a little stash in order that we may go to Tranquilo today after snorkeling to have a delicious bbq'd cheese burger on coconut bread buns! But alas is it is very difficult to get what you want, when you want on this island. Sunday being a day of rest here among the god fearing means closed for business and no burgers for us. We have had to eat at our hostel everyday for every meal because we have a tab and can pay for it with a credit card when we leave. Lots of places around the island have signs that say they accept credit cards but when we ask they always say..."no not right now" or its only for guests of their hotel. There is a particularily good restaurant just down the beach that we long to eat at but even after schmoozing the owners they can still not accept payment in credit card or dish washing for that matter. We are very preoccupied with food lately...mostly because we are spoiled rotten 1st worlders who always get what they want.
The hostess at our accomodations is a little girl named Shanelly who speaks creole and spanish and likes to boss the customers about. She can get away with most everything becuase she knows she is adorable. Her mom does her hair in braids every morning and every morning she wails her head off. But once she is set free she roams about the hostel seeing if anybody has any cool sunglasses that she can try on and is also a fan of having her picture taken. I think she is about 2. She likes to count to 10 before she jumps off the bench into the sand and thinks that 6 comes after 9 and won't be told any different. Shanelly likes to put her tooth marks into crayons and eats paper and flowers. She says: "mmm tastes like mango!" about everything. She tried to feed me a flower to prove it to me. Shanelly has a little baby brother but she can't remember his name. I drew her a flower and she went and told all the other customers and her Dad that she drew it, what a stinker. No one believed her though because we have all seen her artwork scrawled into the tables with crayon and know that she is still in the scribbles stage.
We did one dive yesterday. We were a bit disapointed because the visability was pretty bad and there wasn't much in way of large sea creatures. We did get to spot a couple of squid which was pretty cool and a monster lobster and a pair of dinner plate sized grey angel fish. There aren't any dive boats going out to the shark reefs this week because the wind has been pretty heavy. We saw one boat go out there but they were from a dive shop on Big Corn Island. Talked to a guy from Nova Scotia and he saw hammerhead and nurse sharks and sting rays. We're gonna go out on the boat to snorkel tomorrow with they guys who run our hostel because at least then we can charge it! We Canadians are out-numbering every other nationality we are finding. Met a family from the Yukon here on spring break vacation with thier teenagers.
This guy named Igor who is originally from Yugoslavia but has an Australian passport asked us if we wanted to go to Bocas Del Toro in Panama on his sailboat on tuesday. For $100 each we could ride on the boat for 180 miles. We'd have to pay for food and our entrance to Panama by boat ($75!!). We were pretty tempted because after our weeny sailing trip in Belize this one seemed legitamately a sailing trip. No motoring the whole way but actually using the sail to move the freakin boat! He came down here from Utila and it took about 16 days and they hit a few storms. The guy from Vancouver came down with him and said it was pretty scary at times. One night they hit a bad storm and had to take down the main sail and the boom wasn't tied tight so it was swinging around and they went over a big wave and the boat lurched and was inches away from slamming into Igor's face. Very close call. Plus nobody else on the boat knew how to sail so if they lost Igor they were all lost too. Sailing is so cool....its still seems like an adventure.
The place we are staying is called Cool Spot or Grace's Place. It seems like every place has a name and then who run's it. We've got a cabana that's about 20feet from the water with a hammock out front and even our own bathroom. Its super basic and looks like it would fall apart in a hurricane for sure. We were reading with the light on and all of a sudden it went out a little burst of flame came out of the light switch. Its a good thing we only have power at night or the whole place would burn down. We tried to cook itchyban with our little water heater element thing and a bucket and the water refused to boil so we gave up and went and had lobster instead. We each got two lobster tails for about $12 each. Lobster is about the only thing that is not proportionately priced. A burger and fries is $8 and hey for $4 more you can have a lobster feast!
Last night we found a crab in the bathroom. The floor is half concrete and half dirt behind the toilet and that must have been where he was hiding. I was doing my business and was about to throw the toilet paper in the trash (you can't flush your toilet paper down the toilet anywhere in central america!) when the crab grabbed the toilet paper out of my hand and tried to eat it! eeww. freaked me out i thought it was a mouse or something. Chad chased it around for a while but it eventually slipped thought he crack in the wall.
We went for a snorkel today but we only have one set of fins and mask. So we borrowed one mask and Chad had to tug me around. There isn't much to see in front of our place, mostly sea grass and sandy patches. We found a couple big conch's and a little sting ray and a few fish hanging out around some sunken palm tree logs. The channel where all the sharks hang out is actually directly in front of our place but you would need a boat to get out there. We went out pretty far but I got scared so I made Chad tug me back closer to the shore. I would rather be closer to a boat if I saw a shark. They say that the nurse sharks and even the hammerheads have never hurt anyone around here but still they are big fish with big teeth, that's enough to make me nervous. On a dive last week this guy from Vancouver went out and sat on the bottom and the sharks just swim around and basically ignore you so he decided to grab a hammerhead's tail. Obviously the shark was not impressed and took off pretty fast but as they were ascending he noticed the sharks starting to circle below them. That was enough to get him onto the boat in record time.
There are no cars here on little corn, nothing motorized at all actually. We have walked around quite a bit and did some exploring. Ended up in this German lady's yard where we thought there was supposed to be a restaurant. There was a sign that said "Farm Peace and Love" but apparently it is not a place to eat. She came out of her house and asked us what we were doing wandering around her yard. She had a massive Great Dane and a Bull Mastif and a couple other mutt style island dogs and some horses and cows. I think that you can stay out there but I don't believe she advertises or makes it well know. Plus she seemed kinda cranky especially for one who owns a farm called "Farm Peace and Love". After that place we tried "Derek's Place" which apparently has food sometimes. We strolled in and he also looked perturbed as to our presence. We asked if we could get some food, no dice....of course. But the lady who ran the kitchen said she could make us some fresh squeezed juice. Sounded delightful to us. But she only had one orange and some passion fruit so we had one watered down orange juice and a delicious passion fruit blended with ice. The cost: $5US!! If we would have known we would have kept on our way. Our precious cash funds depleted on juice! They seem to like using US dollars here for some reason. Not sure why but our place here charges in Cordobas.
I tried to find a place with internet to call me mum. I try to call every sunday but it doesn't always work and today was no exception. The power being out for more time than the power being on here leaves the wifi connections useless most of the time. Oh well, hopefully they will be in Costa Rica soon to hang out with us at the beach learning to surf! Only 8 weeks left of this trip and I have a feeling its going to go fast.
We ran out of money a few days ago but have kept a little stash in order that we may go to Tranquilo today after snorkeling to have a delicious bbq'd cheese burger on coconut bread buns! But alas is it is very difficult to get what you want, when you want on this island. Sunday being a day of rest here among the god fearing means closed for business and no burgers for us. We have had to eat at our hostel everyday for every meal because we have a tab and can pay for it with a credit card when we leave. Lots of places around the island have signs that say they accept credit cards but when we ask they always say..."no not right now" or its only for guests of their hotel. There is a particularily good restaurant just down the beach that we long to eat at but even after schmoozing the owners they can still not accept payment in credit card or dish washing for that matter. We are very preoccupied with food lately...mostly because we are spoiled rotten 1st worlders who always get what they want.
The hostess at our accomodations is a little girl named Shanelly who speaks creole and spanish and likes to boss the customers about. She can get away with most everything becuase she knows she is adorable. Her mom does her hair in braids every morning and every morning she wails her head off. But once she is set free she roams about the hostel seeing if anybody has any cool sunglasses that she can try on and is also a fan of having her picture taken. I think she is about 2. She likes to count to 10 before she jumps off the bench into the sand and thinks that 6 comes after 9 and won't be told any different. Shanelly likes to put her tooth marks into crayons and eats paper and flowers. She says: "mmm tastes like mango!" about everything. She tried to feed me a flower to prove it to me. Shanelly has a little baby brother but she can't remember his name. I drew her a flower and she went and told all the other customers and her Dad that she drew it, what a stinker. No one believed her though because we have all seen her artwork scrawled into the tables with crayon and know that she is still in the scribbles stage.
We did one dive yesterday. We were a bit disapointed because the visability was pretty bad and there wasn't much in way of large sea creatures. We did get to spot a couple of squid which was pretty cool and a monster lobster and a pair of dinner plate sized grey angel fish. There aren't any dive boats going out to the shark reefs this week because the wind has been pretty heavy. We saw one boat go out there but they were from a dive shop on Big Corn Island. Talked to a guy from Nova Scotia and he saw hammerhead and nurse sharks and sting rays. We're gonna go out on the boat to snorkel tomorrow with they guys who run our hostel because at least then we can charge it! We Canadians are out-numbering every other nationality we are finding. Met a family from the Yukon here on spring break vacation with thier teenagers.
This guy named Igor who is originally from Yugoslavia but has an Australian passport asked us if we wanted to go to Bocas Del Toro in Panama on his sailboat on tuesday. For $100 each we could ride on the boat for 180 miles. We'd have to pay for food and our entrance to Panama by boat ($75!!). We were pretty tempted because after our weeny sailing trip in Belize this one seemed legitamately a sailing trip. No motoring the whole way but actually using the sail to move the freakin boat! He came down here from Utila and it took about 16 days and they hit a few storms. The guy from Vancouver came down with him and said it was pretty scary at times. One night they hit a bad storm and had to take down the main sail and the boom wasn't tied tight so it was swinging around and they went over a big wave and the boat lurched and was inches away from slamming into Igor's face. Very close call. Plus nobody else on the boat knew how to sail so if they lost Igor they were all lost too. Sailing is so cool....its still seems like an adventure.
The place we are staying is called Cool Spot or Grace's Place. It seems like every place has a name and then who run's it. We've got a cabana that's about 20feet from the water with a hammock out front and even our own bathroom. Its super basic and looks like it would fall apart in a hurricane for sure. We were reading with the light on and all of a sudden it went out a little burst of flame came out of the light switch. Its a good thing we only have power at night or the whole place would burn down. We tried to cook itchyban with our little water heater element thing and a bucket and the water refused to boil so we gave up and went and had lobster instead. We each got two lobster tails for about $12 each. Lobster is about the only thing that is not proportionately priced. A burger and fries is $8 and hey for $4 more you can have a lobster feast!
Last night we found a crab in the bathroom. The floor is half concrete and half dirt behind the toilet and that must have been where he was hiding. I was doing my business and was about to throw the toilet paper in the trash (you can't flush your toilet paper down the toilet anywhere in central america!) when the crab grabbed the toilet paper out of my hand and tried to eat it! eeww. freaked me out i thought it was a mouse or something. Chad chased it around for a while but it eventually slipped thought he crack in the wall.
We went for a snorkel today but we only have one set of fins and mask. So we borrowed one mask and Chad had to tug me around. There isn't much to see in front of our place, mostly sea grass and sandy patches. We found a couple big conch's and a little sting ray and a few fish hanging out around some sunken palm tree logs. The channel where all the sharks hang out is actually directly in front of our place but you would need a boat to get out there. We went out pretty far but I got scared so I made Chad tug me back closer to the shore. I would rather be closer to a boat if I saw a shark. They say that the nurse sharks and even the hammerheads have never hurt anyone around here but still they are big fish with big teeth, that's enough to make me nervous. On a dive last week this guy from Vancouver went out and sat on the bottom and the sharks just swim around and basically ignore you so he decided to grab a hammerhead's tail. Obviously the shark was not impressed and took off pretty fast but as they were ascending he noticed the sharks starting to circle below them. That was enough to get him onto the boat in record time.
There are no cars here on little corn, nothing motorized at all actually. We have walked around quite a bit and did some exploring. Ended up in this German lady's yard where we thought there was supposed to be a restaurant. There was a sign that said "Farm Peace and Love" but apparently it is not a place to eat. She came out of her house and asked us what we were doing wandering around her yard. She had a massive Great Dane and a Bull Mastif and a couple other mutt style island dogs and some horses and cows. I think that you can stay out there but I don't believe she advertises or makes it well know. Plus she seemed kinda cranky especially for one who owns a farm called "Farm Peace and Love". After that place we tried "Derek's Place" which apparently has food sometimes. We strolled in and he also looked perturbed as to our presence. We asked if we could get some food, no dice....of course. But the lady who ran the kitchen said she could make us some fresh squeezed juice. Sounded delightful to us. But she only had one orange and some passion fruit so we had one watered down orange juice and a delicious passion fruit blended with ice. The cost: $5US!! If we would have known we would have kept on our way. Our precious cash funds depleted on juice! They seem to like using US dollars here for some reason. Not sure why but our place here charges in Cordobas.
I tried to find a place with internet to call me mum. I try to call every sunday but it doesn't always work and today was no exception. The power being out for more time than the power being on here leaves the wifi connections useless most of the time. Oh well, hopefully they will be in Costa Rica soon to hang out with us at the beach learning to surf! Only 8 weeks left of this trip and I have a feeling its going to go fast.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Off to Little Corn
March 16, 2011
To get to Corn Island: take a bus to Managua, take a taxi to the airport, take a plane to Big Corn Island, take a taxi to the dock, take a panga to Little Corn Island, walk to your hotel and your there! Every form of transportation is put to use, besides a dog sled.
The flight to Corn Island was a nice change from hours on a bus. Almost as soon as we were settled into our seats we started our decent. We landed on Big Corn Island and had to get a cab to the docks where we caught to panga (little boat) to Little Corn Island. The crossing is notoriously rough. We hit a few big waves but overall it was more entertaining than scary. We met a couple from Colorado who opened a hotel/restaurant here and when we got off the boat they showed us the short cut to the beach cabanas out of the village. We had to stay in a leaky room last night because all the rooms were full! But this morning we snapped up a sweet beach cabana with its own bathroom! It is so much more expensive here than we realized. We took about $200 with us thinking that was more than enough for a week because it has been so far. As soon as we got here we realized the hostels are about double the price they are on the mainland and food is about quadrouple. Last night we went for dinner at the coloradian's restaurant and were blown away by how much the food was. I had shrimp and it was $12 and chad had a tiny piece of chicken for $9. We had to try their ceasar's though! They told us on the boat that they get so many Canadian visitors that they had to start making them because they all hated the bloody mary's. They decided to quit making bloody mary's all together because these were so much better. The only catch was that they were $4 each! Our whole bill came to $32! oops. They accept credit cards at some places so at least we can pay for our room but eating out is going to be tricky. Have to dust off the ole calculator.
Today we spent the day wandering lost around the island. Amazing how lost you can get on an island that only takes an hour to walk completely across. We started in the village and thought maybe we would walk the beach until we got back to our hostel on the other side of the island. We found some beautiful golden sand beaches with not a soul in sight but we also neglected to bring any water or sunscreen. We walked a bit faster and at every turn we seemed to find more beach or impassable cliffs. The first path we took from the beach ended up in this family`s yard and they were quite reluctant to tell us the correct path back to the village, pleading `no english!` . So we guessed. After we found a bunch of cows we found another house and a much more helpful family that pointed us in the right direction back to the village. If we weren`t lost and hungry and thirsty it would have been a great hike! Once back in the village we had a beer and decided it was lunch time. Ritz crackers, chips and cookies were on the menu to conserve much needed funds. Although the damn chips were as much as a small meal! Back to the Cool Spot for us and we settled in with a nice bottle of Nica Rum a coke and a tub of ice. We rigged up the laptop and the ipod and are having quite the happening cabana party.
To get to Corn Island: take a bus to Managua, take a taxi to the airport, take a plane to Big Corn Island, take a taxi to the dock, take a panga to Little Corn Island, walk to your hotel and your there! Every form of transportation is put to use, besides a dog sled.
The flight to Corn Island was a nice change from hours on a bus. Almost as soon as we were settled into our seats we started our decent. We landed on Big Corn Island and had to get a cab to the docks where we caught to panga (little boat) to Little Corn Island. The crossing is notoriously rough. We hit a few big waves but overall it was more entertaining than scary. We met a couple from Colorado who opened a hotel/restaurant here and when we got off the boat they showed us the short cut to the beach cabanas out of the village. We had to stay in a leaky room last night because all the rooms were full! But this morning we snapped up a sweet beach cabana with its own bathroom! It is so much more expensive here than we realized. We took about $200 with us thinking that was more than enough for a week because it has been so far. As soon as we got here we realized the hostels are about double the price they are on the mainland and food is about quadrouple. Last night we went for dinner at the coloradian's restaurant and were blown away by how much the food was. I had shrimp and it was $12 and chad had a tiny piece of chicken for $9. We had to try their ceasar's though! They told us on the boat that they get so many Canadian visitors that they had to start making them because they all hated the bloody mary's. They decided to quit making bloody mary's all together because these were so much better. The only catch was that they were $4 each! Our whole bill came to $32! oops. They accept credit cards at some places so at least we can pay for our room but eating out is going to be tricky. Have to dust off the ole calculator.
Today we spent the day wandering lost around the island. Amazing how lost you can get on an island that only takes an hour to walk completely across. We started in the village and thought maybe we would walk the beach until we got back to our hostel on the other side of the island. We found some beautiful golden sand beaches with not a soul in sight but we also neglected to bring any water or sunscreen. We walked a bit faster and at every turn we seemed to find more beach or impassable cliffs. The first path we took from the beach ended up in this family`s yard and they were quite reluctant to tell us the correct path back to the village, pleading `no english!` . So we guessed. After we found a bunch of cows we found another house and a much more helpful family that pointed us in the right direction back to the village. If we weren`t lost and hungry and thirsty it would have been a great hike! Once back in the village we had a beer and decided it was lunch time. Ritz crackers, chips and cookies were on the menu to conserve much needed funds. Although the damn chips were as much as a small meal! Back to the Cool Spot for us and we settled in with a nice bottle of Nica Rum a coke and a tub of ice. We rigged up the laptop and the ipod and are having quite the happening cabana party.
Friday, March 11, 2011
The trip to Nicaragua!
March 10, 2011
Well after a 1 hour ferry ride, 4 hour bus ride, a night in San Pedro Sula, then a 13 hour bus ride we finally made it to....Leon. We were originally going to head all the way to Grenada today but after joining up with a group of travelers and enduring more than enough time in that freezing cold stinkin bus we decided Leon it would be. Its supposed to be Grenada's rival city. We formed a nice little group of 9 when we all got on the ferry from Utila. Made up of 5 Canadians, an Israeli fella, an English lass, a Swiss girl and a girl from the Netherlands. Three out of the five of us Canadians are of the Quebecois variety but thankfully forgive our uni-lingualness and speak mostly English in the group. I do however enjoy the ocasional exclamation of "tabernack!". We make quite the formidable group. We took every last dorm room here at the Bigfoot Hostel. We just got back from an authentic Nicaraguan buffet! I couldn't tell you the name of anything that we ate but it was all delicious. Much better than last night's beleada run. We were warned that walking anywhere in San Pedro Sula was not advised as it the murder capital of Central America. We figured a couple thugs wouldn't mess with our crew so we went 2 blocks to find some food. The first thing we found was a fast food style beleada place. A beleada is a tortilla with beans and rice and egg and whatever other type of mixture you want in it. Chad's was stuffed full with a chilly type mash and I went for the egg...tasted like a nasty olive. The hostel we stayed in was really nice actually. It felt like we were at someone's house. There was a living room where we all sat on futons and drank beer and watched a movie before bed. We stayed in the dorms and it was so hot we couldn't really sleep that well. The bus ride here was absolutely brutal and it was supposed to be the first class bus. First of all we had to be at the bus terminal at 4 in the morning to leave the city at 5. Our cab didn't come to pick us up until 4:30 so we were a bit late but at least we made up about half of the passengers so they wouldn't leave without us. The shoved all of us into two taxis including all the bags. For some reason they charge by the person and not by the trip so we didn't even save any money being packed in. Once we finally got on the bus we were getting ready to sleep the rest of the morning away but the AC was on full blast and because it was 28degrees out at night no one was wearing sweaters or pants or touques (which were almost necessary). I complained once and got the typical shrug response. Thankfully we got a flat tire and had to stop at a service station to get it fixed, at which time I had to sort through all the bags to find mine and get out all my warm gear. Had a coconut sugar cookie and an OJ for breaky and we hit the road again. No more stopping breaks for us until the Nicaraguan border. Crossing took slightly longer than the other crossings we did and they even searched some bags (didn't happen any where else so far). It cost $15 to enter Nicaragua and some of the group didn't have enough money. We did a pool and got them through, we think maybe the drivers took a bit of the cut because all the guide books said it would cost only $7. Another currency to learn! Here in ole Nica its the Cordoba. I already think that I'm going to like it here. There is a cathedral in the center of town that is supposed to be the biggest in Central America. That's the plan for tomorrow...walk...church...walk...church...food....walk....drink....walk....sleep! Once big difference already that I have noticed is that there are fruits and vegetables!! Yay! Starting to think I'm coming down with scurvy! or the bends or whatever.
Well after a 1 hour ferry ride, 4 hour bus ride, a night in San Pedro Sula, then a 13 hour bus ride we finally made it to....Leon. We were originally going to head all the way to Grenada today but after joining up with a group of travelers and enduring more than enough time in that freezing cold stinkin bus we decided Leon it would be. Its supposed to be Grenada's rival city. We formed a nice little group of 9 when we all got on the ferry from Utila. Made up of 5 Canadians, an Israeli fella, an English lass, a Swiss girl and a girl from the Netherlands. Three out of the five of us Canadians are of the Quebecois variety but thankfully forgive our uni-lingualness and speak mostly English in the group. I do however enjoy the ocasional exclamation of "tabernack!". We make quite the formidable group. We took every last dorm room here at the Bigfoot Hostel. We just got back from an authentic Nicaraguan buffet! I couldn't tell you the name of anything that we ate but it was all delicious. Much better than last night's beleada run. We were warned that walking anywhere in San Pedro Sula was not advised as it the murder capital of Central America. We figured a couple thugs wouldn't mess with our crew so we went 2 blocks to find some food. The first thing we found was a fast food style beleada place. A beleada is a tortilla with beans and rice and egg and whatever other type of mixture you want in it. Chad's was stuffed full with a chilly type mash and I went for the egg...tasted like a nasty olive. The hostel we stayed in was really nice actually. It felt like we were at someone's house. There was a living room where we all sat on futons and drank beer and watched a movie before bed. We stayed in the dorms and it was so hot we couldn't really sleep that well. The bus ride here was absolutely brutal and it was supposed to be the first class bus. First of all we had to be at the bus terminal at 4 in the morning to leave the city at 5. Our cab didn't come to pick us up until 4:30 so we were a bit late but at least we made up about half of the passengers so they wouldn't leave without us. The shoved all of us into two taxis including all the bags. For some reason they charge by the person and not by the trip so we didn't even save any money being packed in. Once we finally got on the bus we were getting ready to sleep the rest of the morning away but the AC was on full blast and because it was 28degrees out at night no one was wearing sweaters or pants or touques (which were almost necessary). I complained once and got the typical shrug response. Thankfully we got a flat tire and had to stop at a service station to get it fixed, at which time I had to sort through all the bags to find mine and get out all my warm gear. Had a coconut sugar cookie and an OJ for breaky and we hit the road again. No more stopping breaks for us until the Nicaraguan border. Crossing took slightly longer than the other crossings we did and they even searched some bags (didn't happen any where else so far). It cost $15 to enter Nicaragua and some of the group didn't have enough money. We did a pool and got them through, we think maybe the drivers took a bit of the cut because all the guide books said it would cost only $7. Another currency to learn! Here in ole Nica its the Cordoba. I already think that I'm going to like it here. There is a cathedral in the center of town that is supposed to be the biggest in Central America. That's the plan for tomorrow...walk...church...walk...church...food....walk....drink....walk....sleep! Once big difference already that I have noticed is that there are fruits and vegetables!! Yay! Starting to think I'm coming down with scurvy! or the bends or whatever.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Still in Utila...
March 8, 2011
The past few days have been spent trying to see a doctor about our ear issues. There is an eccentric doctor in town named Dr. John who is an American and is apparently absolutely stark raving mad. He works very minimal hours but when an emergency happens he is there. Supposedly he drinks a lot and does a fair amount of drugs but is the best doctor on the island. He has long hair and a big beard and an ample belly. His wardrobe of choice is a pair of short jean cutoffs and a t-shirt...maybe if your lucky. He sells these ear drops for divers that prevents what we have now. They are called: Dr. John's Eardrops. We went to see him yesterday because Chad's ear is just getting worse and mine were starting to hurt. The clinic was open but no doctor on that day because the night before they had an emergency. Today we figured he had to be open...we waited all moring but he didn't show up again. We met a dentist outside his office who said that he works with him from time to time and this is pretty typical for him to not show up or to show up drunk but that he was the best doctor he ever met. We found a doctor eventually but she only spoke spanish. Our problems were pretty standard so it wasn't difficult. She gave us each some antibiotics pills and drops and some anti-inflammatories. She said no drinking or diving for a week! The whole visit and meds were actually fairly expensive: $2072 Limperas or like $100. We advised our friend David who just arrived in Utila on Monday to invest in some ear drops before he even gets in the water so he could avoid this issue altogether.
Back to Dr. John. So the emergency that had him up all night on Sunday was actually a good ole fashioned wild west shootout. We heard the story today from a friend of one of the shooting victims. There is this crazy German guy who has lived here for some time who runs the BBQ at Evelyn's Restaurant. He has two dogs and they were poisoned for whatever reason. He decided to blame this group of three other expats who live here on Utila, one was a guy named Steve (nationality unknow), a girl from scottland and another girl (name and nationality also unknown). He found them at a bar called Quervo's and told them that "this is war!". They didn't really think anything of it and just shrugged it off and told him they didn't know anything about what happened to his dogs. The next night they were at the same bar having some beers at around 11:30 and he came in through the side entrance to the bar. He had a 38 magnum with him this time. He pointed the gun at Steve's head and pulled the trigger! It grazed the top of his head and left him with a nasty abrasion. The German then pulled his gun on one of the girls in the group. This was a Scottish girl we had actually been served by at a different restaurant the night before. He shot her in the back as she was trying to duck out of the way. While the German was doing that Steve grabbed a cooler that was behind him and used it as a shield, the German shot at him again, hitting the cooler. Amazingly the bullet didn't go through and he was able to hit the shooter with it and elbow him in the face and the gun fell to the ground. At which point he grabbed it and ran outside and screamed for help. The German followed him and spread out his arms and asked Steve to shoot him. Steve decided that was probably not a good idea and there were no more bullets in the gun anyways. Once the police got there he calmly put his arms behind his back and was completely content with being taken to jail. The Scottish girl was hurt pretty badly and that's where Dr. John had to be called. They brought her to the clinic and he stayed with her all night and got the bullet out. She had lost a lot of blood and had to be taken to the hospital in Roatan. Everyone is amazed that no one was killed. This guy was obviously off his rocker and will spend a long time in jail...or the mental hospital. This kind of thing really never happens here so everyone is talking about it. Anyways I guess we could forgive Dr. John for not being able to come to work to fix our ear infections.
Yesterday was actually very eventful, other than the shooting. Nate and Becca had a brand new baby boy, it was my brother's birthday and our friend David came to the island. I am pretty ripped that we couldn't be there to welcome the new baby and enjoy his brand newness, but we will see him soon.
We are still trying to figure out when we are leaving. We keep saying tomorrow but it keeps becoming tomorrow and we keep putting it off. The next leg of our journey will take us through Honduras and into Nicaragua. We don't really plan on seeing anything more in Honduras. It will be about a 3 day journey to Granada but we take the Tika bus which at least has air conditioning. After that its off to Isla de Ometepe and then San Juan del Sur for some surfing. We actually have a bit of a plan for the next couple weeks which is unusual.
The past few days have been spent trying to see a doctor about our ear issues. There is an eccentric doctor in town named Dr. John who is an American and is apparently absolutely stark raving mad. He works very minimal hours but when an emergency happens he is there. Supposedly he drinks a lot and does a fair amount of drugs but is the best doctor on the island. He has long hair and a big beard and an ample belly. His wardrobe of choice is a pair of short jean cutoffs and a t-shirt...maybe if your lucky. He sells these ear drops for divers that prevents what we have now. They are called: Dr. John's Eardrops. We went to see him yesterday because Chad's ear is just getting worse and mine were starting to hurt. The clinic was open but no doctor on that day because the night before they had an emergency. Today we figured he had to be open...we waited all moring but he didn't show up again. We met a dentist outside his office who said that he works with him from time to time and this is pretty typical for him to not show up or to show up drunk but that he was the best doctor he ever met. We found a doctor eventually but she only spoke spanish. Our problems were pretty standard so it wasn't difficult. She gave us each some antibiotics pills and drops and some anti-inflammatories. She said no drinking or diving for a week! The whole visit and meds were actually fairly expensive: $2072 Limperas or like $100. We advised our friend David who just arrived in Utila on Monday to invest in some ear drops before he even gets in the water so he could avoid this issue altogether.
Back to Dr. John. So the emergency that had him up all night on Sunday was actually a good ole fashioned wild west shootout. We heard the story today from a friend of one of the shooting victims. There is this crazy German guy who has lived here for some time who runs the BBQ at Evelyn's Restaurant. He has two dogs and they were poisoned for whatever reason. He decided to blame this group of three other expats who live here on Utila, one was a guy named Steve (nationality unknow), a girl from scottland and another girl (name and nationality also unknown). He found them at a bar called Quervo's and told them that "this is war!". They didn't really think anything of it and just shrugged it off and told him they didn't know anything about what happened to his dogs. The next night they were at the same bar having some beers at around 11:30 and he came in through the side entrance to the bar. He had a 38 magnum with him this time. He pointed the gun at Steve's head and pulled the trigger! It grazed the top of his head and left him with a nasty abrasion. The German then pulled his gun on one of the girls in the group. This was a Scottish girl we had actually been served by at a different restaurant the night before. He shot her in the back as she was trying to duck out of the way. While the German was doing that Steve grabbed a cooler that was behind him and used it as a shield, the German shot at him again, hitting the cooler. Amazingly the bullet didn't go through and he was able to hit the shooter with it and elbow him in the face and the gun fell to the ground. At which point he grabbed it and ran outside and screamed for help. The German followed him and spread out his arms and asked Steve to shoot him. Steve decided that was probably not a good idea and there were no more bullets in the gun anyways. Once the police got there he calmly put his arms behind his back and was completely content with being taken to jail. The Scottish girl was hurt pretty badly and that's where Dr. John had to be called. They brought her to the clinic and he stayed with her all night and got the bullet out. She had lost a lot of blood and had to be taken to the hospital in Roatan. Everyone is amazed that no one was killed. This guy was obviously off his rocker and will spend a long time in jail...or the mental hospital. This kind of thing really never happens here so everyone is talking about it. Anyways I guess we could forgive Dr. John for not being able to come to work to fix our ear infections.
Yesterday was actually very eventful, other than the shooting. Nate and Becca had a brand new baby boy, it was my brother's birthday and our friend David came to the island. I am pretty ripped that we couldn't be there to welcome the new baby and enjoy his brand newness, but we will see him soon.
We are still trying to figure out when we are leaving. We keep saying tomorrow but it keeps becoming tomorrow and we keep putting it off. The next leg of our journey will take us through Honduras and into Nicaragua. We don't really plan on seeing anything more in Honduras. It will be about a 3 day journey to Granada but we take the Tika bus which at least has air conditioning. After that its off to Isla de Ometepe and then San Juan del Sur for some surfing. We actually have a bit of a plan for the next couple weeks which is unusual.
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Utila dive-a-thon!
March 3, 2011
We have been learning to scuba dive for the past 4 days! We signed up to do out Open Water Scuba Diver course through the Utila Dive Centre. There was a bunch of class time and skills tests, 2 confined dives and 4 open water dives off the boat. Utila is supposed to be the cheapest place in the world to learn how to dive. Everyone who is here is here to dive and if not its to stay on some of the private islands they have here. $100 a night and you can stay on your own island in a cabana. We just finished the course today. Chad is hooked and now wants to do his advanced course. I was unfortunate enough to be cursed with narrow ear tubes and have some crazy pain when resurfacing. I have to go really really slow when coming up but even then it still hurts like hell. Everyone else had more trouble equalizing going down, that part was good for me. Once I'm down there and past a certain depth, like 8 or 10 meters its great and and I love feeling weightless!! The fish are so cool when you actually get to stop and look at them and hang out on the bottom with them for a while. Our first dive was at a place called Little Bight and the corral was colourful and the fish plentiful. We went to 12 meters. The second dive was at a place called Black Corral Wall and that's what it was...a corral wall that we dove beside. We went to 16 meters there. Today we dove at Ted's Point and Moon Hole. They were both beautiful. The surface was a little rougher so got a few mouthfull's of seawater. Finished off all the skills and did some backflips and handstands on the bottom to celebrate our newfound scuba certification! Our instructor was so patient and helpful. The divemasters were cool too but our school is a teaching facility and so we each had a divemaster following us around trying to help us get our buoyency right and help us to equalize and go up. After a while I was getting a little sick of them grabbing me by the tank and putting me where they wanted me and pressing my buttons and all those frickin hand signals were nuts! We have two fun dives booked for tomorrow and I'm looking forward to them but my ears are not. I tried so hard to go as slow as absolutely possible when coming up but my ears still had a "squeeze" and i couldn't even function for about a minute because it hurt so bad and I couldn't hear. So ya no advanced diving for me I guess, which really sucks because every other part of diving is so awesome. I think I inherited my mom's ears...she has issues even driving to the mountains.
Other than diving Utila is a pretty nice little town. The food here is great. We go to RJ's BBQ every mon, wed and fri for grilled fish! Tonight we are going to the Driftwood Restaurant with our instructors to celebrate our PADI certs. There was a beach BBQ pig roast on the second night we were here and we went to have a plate. When we got there the sand flies ate us alive and there was no pig roasting...it apparently was cooked earlier and was in cardboard boxes. The dude dished us up with his bare hands pulling out the pig portions from the nasty greasy box. It was pretty frickin gross and I had an instant stomach ache. We gave the rest to the dogs and high taled it back to RJ's for some good food. Our friend from the sailing trip, Mike from England, was especially covered in sand fly bites. He is also doing the dive course with us aswell as a girl from Ohio named Jackie. We've been pretty hard on the budget these past few days....after diving beer and good food are always in order. No cooking for us yet. We are in dorms however. Chad and I try to make our room look as unwelcoming as possible in order to keep out intruders! Each dorm only sleeps four but its nice for us to have the room to ourselves. This french girl with an English accent stayed for two nights. Chad and I had took both the bottom bunks and we clearly had our stuff on our beds. She went over to my bed and put her stuff on it and proceeded to pull out a loaf of white bimbo (that's a brand name here) bread and mow down a few slices. I politely told her that my stuff and my sheets were on that bed and she said "oh that's ok". So I politely asked her "soo...um...which bed do you want?" she said "this one if you don't mind" i said "well I did sleep there last night and that is all of my stuff and my sheets so ya i guess you can i just need to move all of my stuff." she said "yes, thankyou". So she effectively and politely stole my bed....bugger.
March 4, 2011
We are now officially certified open water divers....not sure if I ever want to dive again but at least I can say that I can if I want to! My ears are not feeling any better. We have two fun dives to do today at 1 but I really don't know if I can do it. Last night to celebrate we went out to the Driftwood restaurant and I had a porkchop the size of my head! Chad an entire half of chicken. Not sure what we plan on doing for the rest of our time on Utila. Chad was thinking of doing the advanced course and did some shopping around at schools last night. He still doesn't know. After the Driftwood we went to the Tranquila Bar. We met two girls from Edmonton there. They both work on Whyte Ave. One at Filthy McNasty's and the other at Black Dog. Small world. They both bartend during the summers and roll in the dough and take the winter and travel. Last year Thailand, this year Central America. Meeting so many Canadians on this trip. People have been raving about Costa Rica like crazy so I 'm getting excited to head there soon.
March 5, 2011
3 fun dives down with no ear squeeze!! I decided I wasn't going to skip my fun dives just because of a little ear pain. The pain always went away so whatever. I'm so glad that I didn't skip them because my ears were great and I saw so much cool stuff. Our first two dives yesterday we did in the afternoon. I really like one called Labarynth. It was like a maze through the corral. It was like swimming through canyons of corral. Saw some lobsters and all sorts of fish. Went out with the boat afterwards to try to find some whale sharks but they have been eluding us so far. You have to look for a big flock of birds dive bombing the surface to find them. The birds are eating all the plankton and shrimps that get sent to the surface when the sharks are eating. We saw some pictures that one of the divemasters took and they look enormous! Hopefully we will be able to see one. The dives we did today were pretty cool too. We went out with the morning boats in hopes that we could do the dives and then look for some whale sharks again but no such luck. We did see a pod of spinner dolphins and a sea turtle though! We found a lionfish too. There were a couple of people on the boat who were hunting them. They are actually foriegn to the carribean and are becoming a big problem so people are going out and spearing them and leaving the dead fish around to teach the other fish to start eating them. Becuase they are foreign there have no natural predators so they are multiplying like crazy. 60,000 eggs in one week per female. They are super poisonous too. They are normally found in Thailand and other asian countries but they have a couple of theories about how they came to the carribean. The first is that an aquarium in Florida was damaged in a hurricaine and the all the fish got swept out to sea and the lionfish just flourished. The other theory is that they came from the ballasts of tanker ships from asia when they pump them out in harbours. Underwater they look black and white and have fins sticking out in every direction and like to hover under rocks. Chad did the second dive today and I snorkeled. He saw a huge fish that no one really knew the name of so they decided to call it the bigfatfish. The snorkeling was crazy and I got to see quite a bit. I took some pics and video of them diving below me. As they were coming back to the boat the pod of dolphins decided to show and up and swim past us. Spinner dolphins are smaller than bottlenose ones and are generally not to curious about divers and tend to swim away. Bottlenose on the other hand will come up to divers and look and them and see what the heck they are and why do they look so funny. I think I am going to be a mermaid when I grow up.
Said goodbye to Mike from England today. He is heading south like we should be but just the effort of packing my bag right now is beyond my capabilities. We are so tired and hot and just wanting to chill for a few more days and let our ears drain! I would like to have dry hair for maybe longer than a couple of hours. Our hotel here is frickin awesome and I am not looking forward to having to leave. They kicked out an American couple because they were not taking the dive course anymore, so hopefully we don't get the boot! I think I know the reason now why people here tend to never leave...its too much of a pain in the ass to get anywhere and the mainland is ugly and busy and poluted.
Creature tally in room: 1 very large spider, 1 very cute lizard, 10,000 mosquitos.
We have been learning to scuba dive for the past 4 days! We signed up to do out Open Water Scuba Diver course through the Utila Dive Centre. There was a bunch of class time and skills tests, 2 confined dives and 4 open water dives off the boat. Utila is supposed to be the cheapest place in the world to learn how to dive. Everyone who is here is here to dive and if not its to stay on some of the private islands they have here. $100 a night and you can stay on your own island in a cabana. We just finished the course today. Chad is hooked and now wants to do his advanced course. I was unfortunate enough to be cursed with narrow ear tubes and have some crazy pain when resurfacing. I have to go really really slow when coming up but even then it still hurts like hell. Everyone else had more trouble equalizing going down, that part was good for me. Once I'm down there and past a certain depth, like 8 or 10 meters its great and and I love feeling weightless!! The fish are so cool when you actually get to stop and look at them and hang out on the bottom with them for a while. Our first dive was at a place called Little Bight and the corral was colourful and the fish plentiful. We went to 12 meters. The second dive was at a place called Black Corral Wall and that's what it was...a corral wall that we dove beside. We went to 16 meters there. Today we dove at Ted's Point and Moon Hole. They were both beautiful. The surface was a little rougher so got a few mouthfull's of seawater. Finished off all the skills and did some backflips and handstands on the bottom to celebrate our newfound scuba certification! Our instructor was so patient and helpful. The divemasters were cool too but our school is a teaching facility and so we each had a divemaster following us around trying to help us get our buoyency right and help us to equalize and go up. After a while I was getting a little sick of them grabbing me by the tank and putting me where they wanted me and pressing my buttons and all those frickin hand signals were nuts! We have two fun dives booked for tomorrow and I'm looking forward to them but my ears are not. I tried so hard to go as slow as absolutely possible when coming up but my ears still had a "squeeze" and i couldn't even function for about a minute because it hurt so bad and I couldn't hear. So ya no advanced diving for me I guess, which really sucks because every other part of diving is so awesome. I think I inherited my mom's ears...she has issues even driving to the mountains.
Other than diving Utila is a pretty nice little town. The food here is great. We go to RJ's BBQ every mon, wed and fri for grilled fish! Tonight we are going to the Driftwood Restaurant with our instructors to celebrate our PADI certs. There was a beach BBQ pig roast on the second night we were here and we went to have a plate. When we got there the sand flies ate us alive and there was no pig roasting...it apparently was cooked earlier and was in cardboard boxes. The dude dished us up with his bare hands pulling out the pig portions from the nasty greasy box. It was pretty frickin gross and I had an instant stomach ache. We gave the rest to the dogs and high taled it back to RJ's for some good food. Our friend from the sailing trip, Mike from England, was especially covered in sand fly bites. He is also doing the dive course with us aswell as a girl from Ohio named Jackie. We've been pretty hard on the budget these past few days....after diving beer and good food are always in order. No cooking for us yet. We are in dorms however. Chad and I try to make our room look as unwelcoming as possible in order to keep out intruders! Each dorm only sleeps four but its nice for us to have the room to ourselves. This french girl with an English accent stayed for two nights. Chad and I had took both the bottom bunks and we clearly had our stuff on our beds. She went over to my bed and put her stuff on it and proceeded to pull out a loaf of white bimbo (that's a brand name here) bread and mow down a few slices. I politely told her that my stuff and my sheets were on that bed and she said "oh that's ok". So I politely asked her "soo...um...which bed do you want?" she said "this one if you don't mind" i said "well I did sleep there last night and that is all of my stuff and my sheets so ya i guess you can i just need to move all of my stuff." she said "yes, thankyou". So she effectively and politely stole my bed....bugger.
March 4, 2011
We are now officially certified open water divers....not sure if I ever want to dive again but at least I can say that I can if I want to! My ears are not feeling any better. We have two fun dives to do today at 1 but I really don't know if I can do it. Last night to celebrate we went out to the Driftwood restaurant and I had a porkchop the size of my head! Chad an entire half of chicken. Not sure what we plan on doing for the rest of our time on Utila. Chad was thinking of doing the advanced course and did some shopping around at schools last night. He still doesn't know. After the Driftwood we went to the Tranquila Bar. We met two girls from Edmonton there. They both work on Whyte Ave. One at Filthy McNasty's and the other at Black Dog. Small world. They both bartend during the summers and roll in the dough and take the winter and travel. Last year Thailand, this year Central America. Meeting so many Canadians on this trip. People have been raving about Costa Rica like crazy so I 'm getting excited to head there soon.
March 5, 2011
3 fun dives down with no ear squeeze!! I decided I wasn't going to skip my fun dives just because of a little ear pain. The pain always went away so whatever. I'm so glad that I didn't skip them because my ears were great and I saw so much cool stuff. Our first two dives yesterday we did in the afternoon. I really like one called Labarynth. It was like a maze through the corral. It was like swimming through canyons of corral. Saw some lobsters and all sorts of fish. Went out with the boat afterwards to try to find some whale sharks but they have been eluding us so far. You have to look for a big flock of birds dive bombing the surface to find them. The birds are eating all the plankton and shrimps that get sent to the surface when the sharks are eating. We saw some pictures that one of the divemasters took and they look enormous! Hopefully we will be able to see one. The dives we did today were pretty cool too. We went out with the morning boats in hopes that we could do the dives and then look for some whale sharks again but no such luck. We did see a pod of spinner dolphins and a sea turtle though! We found a lionfish too. There were a couple of people on the boat who were hunting them. They are actually foriegn to the carribean and are becoming a big problem so people are going out and spearing them and leaving the dead fish around to teach the other fish to start eating them. Becuase they are foreign there have no natural predators so they are multiplying like crazy. 60,000 eggs in one week per female. They are super poisonous too. They are normally found in Thailand and other asian countries but they have a couple of theories about how they came to the carribean. The first is that an aquarium in Florida was damaged in a hurricaine and the all the fish got swept out to sea and the lionfish just flourished. The other theory is that they came from the ballasts of tanker ships from asia when they pump them out in harbours. Underwater they look black and white and have fins sticking out in every direction and like to hover under rocks. Chad did the second dive today and I snorkeled. He saw a huge fish that no one really knew the name of so they decided to call it the bigfatfish. The snorkeling was crazy and I got to see quite a bit. I took some pics and video of them diving below me. As they were coming back to the boat the pod of dolphins decided to show and up and swim past us. Spinner dolphins are smaller than bottlenose ones and are generally not to curious about divers and tend to swim away. Bottlenose on the other hand will come up to divers and look and them and see what the heck they are and why do they look so funny. I think I am going to be a mermaid when I grow up.
Said goodbye to Mike from England today. He is heading south like we should be but just the effort of packing my bag right now is beyond my capabilities. We are so tired and hot and just wanting to chill for a few more days and let our ears drain! I would like to have dry hair for maybe longer than a couple of hours. Our hotel here is frickin awesome and I am not looking forward to having to leave. They kicked out an American couple because they were not taking the dive course anymore, so hopefully we don't get the boot! I think I know the reason now why people here tend to never leave...its too much of a pain in the ass to get anywhere and the mainland is ugly and busy and poluted.
Creature tally in room: 1 very large spider, 1 very cute lizard, 10,000 mosquitos.
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Belize and Honduras!!
February 26, 2011
The last week has been so busy that I didn't even have a chance to write. We have come and gone from Belize already and its a good thing because it was the most expensive place so far. All the prices were on par with home. We got to Belize City at around 1 and booked our ferry tickets straight away. Having 45 minutes to spare I decided to taste the local street food. We got a chicken and rice with beans and salad meal. It was awesome!! There was this guy with cloudy eyes and yucky teeth who saw me counting my change to pay for the food and came up and just stuck his hand in my face and expected me to give him money. I ignored him and Chad even got between us and he still wouldn't take a hint. The lady selling me chicken however told him to "git tha heel oudda heeaah"! I must say hearing English has been quite refreshing...even if we can only understand half of it. The ferry ride to Caye Caulker (pronounced Kee...of which i didn't know until we were two days on the island) was about 45 minutes. Once we got there this guy decided he was going to help us find the best accomodations in town. We figured what the hell and he actually found us a perfect place on the quieter beach for only $20 a night which was a steal really for the island. We stayed 4 nights in Caye Caulker. Mostly we ate, drank and went to the beach. On the Saturday night after we arrived however there was a "Full Moon Party". You had to buy tickets and the only way to get out to the party was to take a water taxi. It was pretty pricey but we figured it would be worth it. However our beach day tired the hell out of us and we fell asleep at 5pm and then woke up at 1am! So off we went to catch the water taxi and we got to the party by 1:30. It was winding down a bit by then but still pretty wild. They had the party in this two level cabana type deal. The bar was on the lower floor and the dance floor was at the top and of course everyone wanted to be on the top floor. They had "security gaurds" manning the stairs and only really letting locals go up. It was a pretty basic dance/drinking party. The prices for drinks were stupid...a spiced rum and coke was $6US!! This one hippie girl tried to bust out the hoola hoops but the police officer grabbed her hoops and said "no hoola hoops". It was funny at the time...mostly because of our distaste for hippies...and hoola hoops. We left the party at 5am with the second last boat...the very last one left at 7am!!
Our friends from Vancouver recommended a sailing trip that they had done the previous year. So we looked into it and it sounded wicked. We booked it and left town on February 22. It was with a company called Raggamuffin. The boats were definately worthy of the name Raggamuffin. We had three crew...all local Caye Caulkerins named Jermaine, Shane and James. Jermaine was a slightly shady character who was supposedly accused of stealing cocaine that washed up on his friend's island from the Colombian drug runners. James was an older guy that used to teach diving courses and is an expert spear fisherman. Shane was the entertainer of the group and was a backflipping, dancing, freestyle rapping flirt machine. He says his family wants to send him to the US to try to become a real rapper. The first day we stopped to snorkel some reefs twice. The very first snorkel spot we saw a HUGE eagle ray, that was probably about 10 feet across. We passed through a school of baracudas while going through the reef and I almost chickened out and went back to the boat. Thier teeth are as big as sharks teeth!! A german guy on our tour caught a huge one on the first day. The tour was all about sailing, fishing, snorkeling, eating and rum punch. They figured this punch was the best thing in the world. It was this concoction of fruit punch juice crystals, water and cheap white rum. They made a big batch of it in those big water jugs. So like 25 gallons of rum punch and 20 of us couldn't even finish it. The food was really good though. The first night we had conch curry and baked baracuda! We stopped on this tiny little island that was maybe 1/2 an acre with 3 or 4 palm trees and surrounded by reef. Our 12 tents covered the place. We slept there for the night and they cooked us up a big breakfast in the morning. The next morning the winds were good enough that we could actually sail a bit. We had the sails up most of the time but the engines were usually always going too. More fishing that day and Chad caught a baracuda. Others on the boat caught a red snapper and a tiny little tuna! The second night we spent on Tobacco Caye. This island had lots of houses on it and there are actually 20 people that live there. We snorkeled here as well and I saw two more spotted eagle rays, some little sting rays and some other people saw a bunch of jelly fish. They pushed some more damn rum punch at us but we opted to patronize the only bar on the island and have a beer. Three days of fishing and sailing and no beer is unheard of! Later that night it was dance party central at the boat where the crew thought they should show the single ladies how to dance "Belizean" style. That was our time to exit as most people know Chad is not a fan of dancing and didn't feel like being rum punched into dancing to Michael Jackson tunes. Next morning was another big breakfast and off for more snorkeling and fishing. On our way to Placencia we were lucky enough to have a pod of bottle nose dolphins chase our boat for a few minutes! They were so big and amazingly beautiful.
Once we got into Placencia we were sunburned and tired and not in the mood for the tourist "helpers" who want to find you a hotel. We followed a couple who did use of these helpers and got a place on the beach for pretty cheap. A few minutes later the same guy came to our door and asked for my husband. Chad being in the bano at the time couldn't come to the door. So he proceeded to ask me for a tip of $5US! I asked him what the hell for and he said that he bought us there so he deserved a tip. I gave him $1US and told him I didn't have any more money. He gave it back and asked for my husband again. He stunk like booze and had one that was all cloudy and he had no teeth. He was frickin creepy. In the end he took his one dollar and left after I told him he wouldn't get any tip. Anyways, after that went out for some food and then hit the hay. As the next morning we had to catch the ferry to Honduras. There is only one ferry a week so we didn't really have a choice. The ferry ride was 4 hours and i got a bit sea sick but not too bad. An english fellow from the sailing trip was headed the same way so we decided to stick together. On the boat we met some other Canadians from Burnaby who live on Utila (where we were headed). They are dive instructors there and were a wealth of information. We decided to stick with them as they knew the cheapest and fastest way to get to the island. We didn't realize what an endeavour it was to get from Belize to Utila. First the ferry from Placencia to Big Creek for passport stamps then on to Peurta Cortes in Honduras for immigration and more passport stamps. After that we caught a city bus to San Pedro Sula to the main bus terminal and after that we caught a bus to La Ceiba and had to stay overnight because there are only two ferries a day that go to Utila, last one was at 4. La Ceiba was dirty and loud but we all shared a cab this moring to get to the terminal and we finally made it here.
When we got to the main dock we dropped our big bags at Captain Morgan's Dive Shop and headed out for some breakfast and some major dive shop shopping. We visited three of the major ones and it took us almost all day. We finally decided on Utila Dive Centre because they had the best accomodations and the best reputation. A bit more expensive than the others but the fact that our room is actually decent and there is a great pool and a nice garden with hammocks makes it worth it. The other shops were bare bones, borderline infested places. One house they had a room in looked haunted and the other shop was situated over top of a swamp. We are dead tired and are sick of moving around all the time. I think we will stay here for a couple weeks. It will be nice just to chill for a while. So that brings you up to speed on what we've been up to for the past week. Made me tired just writing it!
The last week has been so busy that I didn't even have a chance to write. We have come and gone from Belize already and its a good thing because it was the most expensive place so far. All the prices were on par with home. We got to Belize City at around 1 and booked our ferry tickets straight away. Having 45 minutes to spare I decided to taste the local street food. We got a chicken and rice with beans and salad meal. It was awesome!! There was this guy with cloudy eyes and yucky teeth who saw me counting my change to pay for the food and came up and just stuck his hand in my face and expected me to give him money. I ignored him and Chad even got between us and he still wouldn't take a hint. The lady selling me chicken however told him to "git tha heel oudda heeaah"! I must say hearing English has been quite refreshing...even if we can only understand half of it. The ferry ride to Caye Caulker (pronounced Kee...of which i didn't know until we were two days on the island) was about 45 minutes. Once we got there this guy decided he was going to help us find the best accomodations in town. We figured what the hell and he actually found us a perfect place on the quieter beach for only $20 a night which was a steal really for the island. We stayed 4 nights in Caye Caulker. Mostly we ate, drank and went to the beach. On the Saturday night after we arrived however there was a "Full Moon Party". You had to buy tickets and the only way to get out to the party was to take a water taxi. It was pretty pricey but we figured it would be worth it. However our beach day tired the hell out of us and we fell asleep at 5pm and then woke up at 1am! So off we went to catch the water taxi and we got to the party by 1:30. It was winding down a bit by then but still pretty wild. They had the party in this two level cabana type deal. The bar was on the lower floor and the dance floor was at the top and of course everyone wanted to be on the top floor. They had "security gaurds" manning the stairs and only really letting locals go up. It was a pretty basic dance/drinking party. The prices for drinks were stupid...a spiced rum and coke was $6US!! This one hippie girl tried to bust out the hoola hoops but the police officer grabbed her hoops and said "no hoola hoops". It was funny at the time...mostly because of our distaste for hippies...and hoola hoops. We left the party at 5am with the second last boat...the very last one left at 7am!!
Our friends from Vancouver recommended a sailing trip that they had done the previous year. So we looked into it and it sounded wicked. We booked it and left town on February 22. It was with a company called Raggamuffin. The boats were definately worthy of the name Raggamuffin. We had three crew...all local Caye Caulkerins named Jermaine, Shane and James. Jermaine was a slightly shady character who was supposedly accused of stealing cocaine that washed up on his friend's island from the Colombian drug runners. James was an older guy that used to teach diving courses and is an expert spear fisherman. Shane was the entertainer of the group and was a backflipping, dancing, freestyle rapping flirt machine. He says his family wants to send him to the US to try to become a real rapper. The first day we stopped to snorkel some reefs twice. The very first snorkel spot we saw a HUGE eagle ray, that was probably about 10 feet across. We passed through a school of baracudas while going through the reef and I almost chickened out and went back to the boat. Thier teeth are as big as sharks teeth!! A german guy on our tour caught a huge one on the first day. The tour was all about sailing, fishing, snorkeling, eating and rum punch. They figured this punch was the best thing in the world. It was this concoction of fruit punch juice crystals, water and cheap white rum. They made a big batch of it in those big water jugs. So like 25 gallons of rum punch and 20 of us couldn't even finish it. The food was really good though. The first night we had conch curry and baked baracuda! We stopped on this tiny little island that was maybe 1/2 an acre with 3 or 4 palm trees and surrounded by reef. Our 12 tents covered the place. We slept there for the night and they cooked us up a big breakfast in the morning. The next morning the winds were good enough that we could actually sail a bit. We had the sails up most of the time but the engines were usually always going too. More fishing that day and Chad caught a baracuda. Others on the boat caught a red snapper and a tiny little tuna! The second night we spent on Tobacco Caye. This island had lots of houses on it and there are actually 20 people that live there. We snorkeled here as well and I saw two more spotted eagle rays, some little sting rays and some other people saw a bunch of jelly fish. They pushed some more damn rum punch at us but we opted to patronize the only bar on the island and have a beer. Three days of fishing and sailing and no beer is unheard of! Later that night it was dance party central at the boat where the crew thought they should show the single ladies how to dance "Belizean" style. That was our time to exit as most people know Chad is not a fan of dancing and didn't feel like being rum punched into dancing to Michael Jackson tunes. Next morning was another big breakfast and off for more snorkeling and fishing. On our way to Placencia we were lucky enough to have a pod of bottle nose dolphins chase our boat for a few minutes! They were so big and amazingly beautiful.
Once we got into Placencia we were sunburned and tired and not in the mood for the tourist "helpers" who want to find you a hotel. We followed a couple who did use of these helpers and got a place on the beach for pretty cheap. A few minutes later the same guy came to our door and asked for my husband. Chad being in the bano at the time couldn't come to the door. So he proceeded to ask me for a tip of $5US! I asked him what the hell for and he said that he bought us there so he deserved a tip. I gave him $1US and told him I didn't have any more money. He gave it back and asked for my husband again. He stunk like booze and had one that was all cloudy and he had no teeth. He was frickin creepy. In the end he took his one dollar and left after I told him he wouldn't get any tip. Anyways, after that went out for some food and then hit the hay. As the next morning we had to catch the ferry to Honduras. There is only one ferry a week so we didn't really have a choice. The ferry ride was 4 hours and i got a bit sea sick but not too bad. An english fellow from the sailing trip was headed the same way so we decided to stick together. On the boat we met some other Canadians from Burnaby who live on Utila (where we were headed). They are dive instructors there and were a wealth of information. We decided to stick with them as they knew the cheapest and fastest way to get to the island. We didn't realize what an endeavour it was to get from Belize to Utila. First the ferry from Placencia to Big Creek for passport stamps then on to Peurta Cortes in Honduras for immigration and more passport stamps. After that we caught a city bus to San Pedro Sula to the main bus terminal and after that we caught a bus to La Ceiba and had to stay overnight because there are only two ferries a day that go to Utila, last one was at 4. La Ceiba was dirty and loud but we all shared a cab this moring to get to the terminal and we finally made it here.
When we got to the main dock we dropped our big bags at Captain Morgan's Dive Shop and headed out for some breakfast and some major dive shop shopping. We visited three of the major ones and it took us almost all day. We finally decided on Utila Dive Centre because they had the best accomodations and the best reputation. A bit more expensive than the others but the fact that our room is actually decent and there is a great pool and a nice garden with hammocks makes it worth it. The other shops were bare bones, borderline infested places. One house they had a room in looked haunted and the other shop was situated over top of a swamp. We are dead tired and are sick of moving around all the time. I think we will stay here for a couple weeks. It will be nice just to chill for a while. So that brings you up to speed on what we've been up to for the past week. Made me tired just writing it!
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Bus rides, Tikal and off to Belize
February 18, 2011
We're on our way to Belize right now...yes, right now...i'm writing this while riding the bus. We lucked out so far and actually have seats on this bus. Still a super grumpy ass driver but what have you, I think that is just what you have to deal with. We left Lanquin the day before yesterday and had the worst bus ride ever. We took the tourismo bus to Flores. These type of buses are only supposed to hold 14 people maximum. To save money the company (AdventureTouristas) decided to pack three full bus loads of people into two buses. We were all settled into our seats in the first bus and our bags were tied to the roof and then all of a sudden the driver decided that Chad and I needed to switch buses. They told us it was a bigger bus, a better bus. Then they grabbed our packs and tied them to the other bus's roof. When I opened the door I was wondering where they expected me to sit. There was not one open seat. The driver proceeded to pull out the two wooden boxes they put in the ailes between the real seats. That was where they expected us to sit. I lost it! I was actually yelling in Spanish! Looking back I was pretty proud of myself! But it didn't do any good. He told us if we wanted to go to Flores this was the only way to get there and he didn't mind leaving us behind. Bugger! They have no respect for women, especially when that woman is yelling in broken spanish. Chad was ready to start a coup and take over the bus and leave the cranky driver to fend for himself in the jungle. Every Guatemalan we have met has been so nice and helpful and generally wonderful people, except for the tourism industry. They seem to think they can charge whatever they want and just shrug their shoulders when you complain. This israeli girl was in tears yesterday because her bag was ripped open on the roof of the truck and she asked why it was open and the driver lost it on her. I had about $7 in Mexican Pesos in a side pocket of my bag that "mysteriously" disappeared when we got to Flores. There are a couple ladies from England sitting behind me who were charged three times as much for this bus to Belize and when they confronted the company about it they just gave the good ole Guatemalan shrug. Anyways enough venting about bus trips...i believe bad bus rides are all part in parcel for this type of traveling.
Yesterday we got up at 4:00am to catch the bus to Tikal Ruins! We chose the earliest tour because you get to see more animals and its not nearly as hot. We had a tour guide who spoke English with a Spanish and Australian accent. He kind of reminded me of a Guatemalan Crocodile Hunter! He was so passionate about the animals and Mayan history. We saw first thing in the morning a little fresh water crocodile. Later on in the tour we saw spider and howler monkies and tons of different birds and parrots. Leaf cutter ants were carrying bits of flowers, seeds and leaves to thier hills. Our guide grew up in Tikal and has been doing tours since he was 12. There is a lot of work going on in Tikal right now, only 15% of the ruins have been uncovered because at first sight it just looks like mountains with trees in the middle of the jungle but under that jungle there are massive pyramids and sacraficial alters!! From the tallest pyramid we could see the entire jungle and the tops of the other pyramids peaking out of the canopy. There are 17,000 structures in Tikal. This is a huge place. No one really knows why the Mayans left the city but they think it might be because of overpopulation and the difficulty of getting fresh water and food into the city. In 900AD there were no trees and no gardens, there is no natural springs or rivers. The city was a place for royalty and they were served by the people of the surrounding area. Water and food had to be carried long distances every day. El Mirador is another Mayan city that is even more impressive than Tikal but you can't get there unless you hike there. The trip is 5 days long. Chad really wanted to do it but I am not really in shape to hike 30km a day through the jungle in 40degree heat. Louise took us on a walk through the jungle on our way back to the buses and we found a car graveyard from the 60's....it reminded me of the farm at home!! I am getting a teensy bit homesick but I think once we get to the ocean that will be well behind me. Time is going way too fast.
We're on our way to Belize right now...yes, right now...i'm writing this while riding the bus. We lucked out so far and actually have seats on this bus. Still a super grumpy ass driver but what have you, I think that is just what you have to deal with. We left Lanquin the day before yesterday and had the worst bus ride ever. We took the tourismo bus to Flores. These type of buses are only supposed to hold 14 people maximum. To save money the company (AdventureTouristas) decided to pack three full bus loads of people into two buses. We were all settled into our seats in the first bus and our bags were tied to the roof and then all of a sudden the driver decided that Chad and I needed to switch buses. They told us it was a bigger bus, a better bus. Then they grabbed our packs and tied them to the other bus's roof. When I opened the door I was wondering where they expected me to sit. There was not one open seat. The driver proceeded to pull out the two wooden boxes they put in the ailes between the real seats. That was where they expected us to sit. I lost it! I was actually yelling in Spanish! Looking back I was pretty proud of myself! But it didn't do any good. He told us if we wanted to go to Flores this was the only way to get there and he didn't mind leaving us behind. Bugger! They have no respect for women, especially when that woman is yelling in broken spanish. Chad was ready to start a coup and take over the bus and leave the cranky driver to fend for himself in the jungle. Every Guatemalan we have met has been so nice and helpful and generally wonderful people, except for the tourism industry. They seem to think they can charge whatever they want and just shrug their shoulders when you complain. This israeli girl was in tears yesterday because her bag was ripped open on the roof of the truck and she asked why it was open and the driver lost it on her. I had about $7 in Mexican Pesos in a side pocket of my bag that "mysteriously" disappeared when we got to Flores. There are a couple ladies from England sitting behind me who were charged three times as much for this bus to Belize and when they confronted the company about it they just gave the good ole Guatemalan shrug. Anyways enough venting about bus trips...i believe bad bus rides are all part in parcel for this type of traveling.
Yesterday we got up at 4:00am to catch the bus to Tikal Ruins! We chose the earliest tour because you get to see more animals and its not nearly as hot. We had a tour guide who spoke English with a Spanish and Australian accent. He kind of reminded me of a Guatemalan Crocodile Hunter! He was so passionate about the animals and Mayan history. We saw first thing in the morning a little fresh water crocodile. Later on in the tour we saw spider and howler monkies and tons of different birds and parrots. Leaf cutter ants were carrying bits of flowers, seeds and leaves to thier hills. Our guide grew up in Tikal and has been doing tours since he was 12. There is a lot of work going on in Tikal right now, only 15% of the ruins have been uncovered because at first sight it just looks like mountains with trees in the middle of the jungle but under that jungle there are massive pyramids and sacraficial alters!! From the tallest pyramid we could see the entire jungle and the tops of the other pyramids peaking out of the canopy. There are 17,000 structures in Tikal. This is a huge place. No one really knows why the Mayans left the city but they think it might be because of overpopulation and the difficulty of getting fresh water and food into the city. In 900AD there were no trees and no gardens, there is no natural springs or rivers. The city was a place for royalty and they were served by the people of the surrounding area. Water and food had to be carried long distances every day. El Mirador is another Mayan city that is even more impressive than Tikal but you can't get there unless you hike there. The trip is 5 days long. Chad really wanted to do it but I am not really in shape to hike 30km a day through the jungle in 40degree heat. Louise took us on a walk through the jungle on our way back to the buses and we found a car graveyard from the 60's....it reminded me of the farm at home!! I am getting a teensy bit homesick but I think once we get to the ocean that will be well behind me. Time is going way too fast.
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