Merry Christmas everyone! We are here in Porto Alegre, Brazil after the most wonderful Christmas Eve here with Kiki's family. We partied until late and drank even later! We have had a wonderful time so far and, with more friends coming from the airport as I type, we have even more to come!
With the pics of Machu Picchu finally uploaded and arranged, it is time for an update as to our antics since!
When we left Machu Picchu, sad and tired, we went back to one last night in Cusco before our flight to Lima. We arrived late and met up with Clair and Cody, they had arrived that day to start their acclimatisation for the Inca Trail. We went out for dinner and a quick drink or two....... we got back to our hotel room at 6am, 2 hours before we had to leave for our flight! After a quick sleep, we awoke a little late and rushed to the airport and got on the plane a little worse for wear!
I have to give Jen a lot of credit here as we spen the whole day travelling and I could not have directed us anywhere! but we made it all the way to Huacachina, just outside of Ica, in the south of Peru. Here we stayed for 2 nights, it is literally an oasis in the middle of the desert - a small lagoon surrounded by giant sand dunes. Quite an amazing place. After a very well deserved sleep, we decided to partake in the local past times.... dune buggying and sand boarding!! We had a blast and the dunes were beautiful to see the Sun go down over.
With these activities done, and nothing left to do in the middle of the desert, it was time to move on. Not without a trip to the Ica museum first though. Most of the exhibits in this tiny museum are not that interesting, but they do have some really, really well preserved mummies, shrunken heads, crazy skulls and even a re-hydrated mummy hand!! We only have one photo from here of the mis-shapen skulls - they look like alien heads but they are human! Quite the exhibit!
We left Ica and headed even further south for Nasca. One of the few "must sees' in Peru are the Nasca Lines. They were constructed in the sand hundreds of years ago by the native people of the area and depict a wide range of animals, beings and plants. To view them, it is necessary to take a short flight over the area. We arrived for our flight at 845am and were buckled into the tiny plane and in the air within minutes. Jen's dislike of flying seemed to disappear as we soared higher in our tin can of an aircraft! It was really cool to see the lines, but difficult to get decent photos as we were jerked around in the dinky aircraft. The lines themselves were a marvel, the organisation to put them together was amazing, and there were so many in a high concentration in this area, the flight was definitly worth braving to see them! We even made it back to the ground safely!
After the lines we headed West for the coast, just South of Lima. Here there is a small town called Pisco, ravaged only 1 year ago by an 8.0 earthquake. 80% of the town was levelled and it is evident today that it is a very long process to come back from such a disaster. Despite the mis-fortune, the people here were the friendliest that we had encountered so far, everyone waving and saying hello, a refreshing change! Fortunately our hostel was still standing when we arrived and we were able to book a tour for the next day to see the nature reserve close by. We were also very happy to have kitchen, and for the fist time in a long while, we were able to cook our own dinner!
We left for the Ballistas early the following morning and, upon arrival, set out on our boat tour. The wildlife here is similar in someways to the Galapagos. Lots and lots of birds and sea lions. Infact, so many thousands of birds that some of the islands appear black! The one bonus here though is that there are lots and lots of penguins (we missed them in the Galapagos)! We were also able to see dolphins! After the islands we went on to get a tour of the rest of the reserve, we started with seeing the flamingos and then on to see the beautiful coastline.
We arrived back in Pisco that evening and with the 3 guys that we had met on the, tour, Simon, Thomas and Andy, 1 Swede, 2 Swiss, we headed out to experience the local nightlife! The club was poppin'! And Jen even managed to get a kiss!! We retired late, ready for our long travel day that lay ahead.
We desided to get a bit to eat before we left as we would be spending the next 24hrs in the airport. So, slightly hungover, we went in search of food. I suggested a place that I had seen previously, and after a short but hot trek through the city, we arrived for the set lunch and sat down to enjoy. Well, when Jen dug into her soup, she pulled up a chicken foot! It was foul (or fowl!!)!! Put me right off my lunch! Didn't put us in good stead for our travelling to Brazil!
Our Brazilian adventures are still under way, stories to come soon!
Merry Christmas!! xx
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
The Sanctuaries
Here are the photos of us in and around Machu Picchu. Both the Inca Site and the hotel were amazing! I hope that these photos do it justice as it was one of the most amazing places that we have ever been to. Also, it is the 3rd of the "7 New Wonders of the World" so far!
Hope that everyone enjoys! (& comments!)
Hope that everyone enjoys! (& comments!)
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
At long last....
here are our photos for the Inca Trail. They lead upto us arriving at Machu Picchu, more to come soon!
Can't wait for your comments!
Can't wait for your comments!
Monday, December 22, 2008
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Sanctuary...... quite literally. Thanks Aunt R & Uncle J!!
We left off last time checking into the Santuary Lodge as we arrived at Machu Picchu cold and wet! We went up to our room to drop our bags and change out of sopping wet clothes quickly before our tour started at 8. When the door opened we were greeted with a beautiful room with a splendid bathroom and a huge fluffy bed.... I dared not touch it for fear that the previous 27 miles may take its toll and I´d pass out before my head hit the pillow! We changed and reluctantly left the room.
The rain had stopped with perfect timing for our tour. The last 4 days had all been for this moment when we would enter into the Inca Sanctuary of Machu Picchu. We had followed the same pilgrimage route that the Incas would have followed 500 years previously. We had already seen the site from the trail, it was now time to enter and see the buildings from up close.
When we entered, our guide, Casiano, sat us down and we listened to the history of the site, its discovery in 1911 by Hiram Bingham, the myths and legends and the findings that had been made at the time. The information we were getting was wonderful and no one could wait to explore further.
The 1st thing that was so striking was how the Incas incorporated the natural rock formations in everything, whether it is the building itself, alters within or pools of water to view the constellations, the natural rock was ever present. Just as amazing was the use of a single natural spring to give water to the whole community. Elaborate channels, plumbing and irrigation feeds the whole site with fresh water. Machu Picchu is 60% agricultural and 40% residential. The seemingly endless terraces were used for all different kinds of crops and the residential area is comprised of palaces, temples, living quarters, a jail and more.
We also learned just how ingenious the Incas were. Many buildings and large structures are built on stone rollers, earthquake protection, and nearly all structures are built with an incline of at least 3 degrees, again for stability. Many of the alters are bult from the natural rock formations, but all with directional purpose. North, South, East and West points are used in the alters and are aligned to the degree (Jen has a little compass so we confirmed this!).
All in all we had a great tour, it is too difficult to put it all into words and do it justice. This really was a fascinating people and Machu Picchu really is a Wonder of the World. For me, the trek and the site itself was one of the most fulfilling things that I have ever done, the sense of achievement and sheer amazement at the site itself was something incomparable!
This was, of course, until we experienced the Sanctuary Lodge!! We went back and finally showered and lay down. We ordered room service and dined with just each other for company. It was wonderful! Next on our agenda were our complimentary massages.... They were fantastic, and much deserved! We decided to spend the rest of the afternoon exploring Macchu Piccu further and had a wonderful time doing so. As the light of the day faded we retired to the hotel bar and had a couple of drinks before relaxing on the bed watching TV before dinner.
We decided to sit and have dinner in the dining room, so after a quick drink, we sat down to indulge in the haute cuisine we had seen other diners partaking in. The whole 3 courses were wonderful for the both of us, including a delicious bottle of wine. I dined on crab and some amazing duck, whilst Jen enjoyed a wonderful avocado salad and Chicken in Tarragon sauce. We left the table plump and content and enjoyed the rest of our evening watching movies and lying in the oversized bed!
Unfortunately we had to leave the Sanctuary in the morning. After the buffet breakfast of course.... smoked salmon.... mmmm!! Thank you once again Aunt Rayna and Uncle Jimmy. It was amazing and even better as we had just hiked for 4 days. Thank you!!
More to come soon. We are having issues with uploading pics here I´m afraid. We have over 500, some from the tail end of Quito, some from Cusco, but mostly from the trail!
We are now in Huacachina, a little oasis in the Peruvian desert- south of Pisco and north of Nazca, 3k from Ica. It´s cool! We are going sandboarding and dune buggying this arvo!
Love to all! Feliz Navidad!
The rain had stopped with perfect timing for our tour. The last 4 days had all been for this moment when we would enter into the Inca Sanctuary of Machu Picchu. We had followed the same pilgrimage route that the Incas would have followed 500 years previously. We had already seen the site from the trail, it was now time to enter and see the buildings from up close.
When we entered, our guide, Casiano, sat us down and we listened to the history of the site, its discovery in 1911 by Hiram Bingham, the myths and legends and the findings that had been made at the time. The information we were getting was wonderful and no one could wait to explore further.
The 1st thing that was so striking was how the Incas incorporated the natural rock formations in everything, whether it is the building itself, alters within or pools of water to view the constellations, the natural rock was ever present. Just as amazing was the use of a single natural spring to give water to the whole community. Elaborate channels, plumbing and irrigation feeds the whole site with fresh water. Machu Picchu is 60% agricultural and 40% residential. The seemingly endless terraces were used for all different kinds of crops and the residential area is comprised of palaces, temples, living quarters, a jail and more.
We also learned just how ingenious the Incas were. Many buildings and large structures are built on stone rollers, earthquake protection, and nearly all structures are built with an incline of at least 3 degrees, again for stability. Many of the alters are bult from the natural rock formations, but all with directional purpose. North, South, East and West points are used in the alters and are aligned to the degree (Jen has a little compass so we confirmed this!).
All in all we had a great tour, it is too difficult to put it all into words and do it justice. This really was a fascinating people and Machu Picchu really is a Wonder of the World. For me, the trek and the site itself was one of the most fulfilling things that I have ever done, the sense of achievement and sheer amazement at the site itself was something incomparable!
This was, of course, until we experienced the Sanctuary Lodge!! We went back and finally showered and lay down. We ordered room service and dined with just each other for company. It was wonderful! Next on our agenda were our complimentary massages.... They were fantastic, and much deserved! We decided to spend the rest of the afternoon exploring Macchu Piccu further and had a wonderful time doing so. As the light of the day faded we retired to the hotel bar and had a couple of drinks before relaxing on the bed watching TV before dinner.
We decided to sit and have dinner in the dining room, so after a quick drink, we sat down to indulge in the haute cuisine we had seen other diners partaking in. The whole 3 courses were wonderful for the both of us, including a delicious bottle of wine. I dined on crab and some amazing duck, whilst Jen enjoyed a wonderful avocado salad and Chicken in Tarragon sauce. We left the table plump and content and enjoyed the rest of our evening watching movies and lying in the oversized bed!
Unfortunately we had to leave the Sanctuary in the morning. After the buffet breakfast of course.... smoked salmon.... mmmm!! Thank you once again Aunt Rayna and Uncle Jimmy. It was amazing and even better as we had just hiked for 4 days. Thank you!!
More to come soon. We are having issues with uploading pics here I´m afraid. We have over 500, some from the tail end of Quito, some from Cusco, but mostly from the trail!
We are now in Huacachina, a little oasis in the Peruvian desert- south of Pisco and north of Nazca, 3k from Ica. It´s cool! We are going sandboarding and dune buggying this arvo!
Love to all! Feliz Navidad!
Monday, December 15, 2008
WE DID IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So we left at 5am from Cusco with our Llama Path group, headed for Ollanteytambo. We arrived around 7am for breakfast, where we spied a guinea pig farm next door and some fabulous ruins in the distance. We ate in a hurry, and then hopped back in the van for the final 45 minutes to Kilometer 82- the starting point! How exciting. We organized our bags with the porters (who are incredibly fit and friendly) and then set off, walking sticks in hand!
Day one was nice. Fourteen km, slightly sloping uphill but nothing insane. We passed many houses along the way, with locals going about their business, cows and chickens and a baby pig roaming around. So strange to think that these people live here full time, watching tons of backpackers pass by their front doors in the middle of nowhere. There were lots of baños along the way, ranging from slightly scary to life-altering trauma (towards the end, as well as some local women selling water, soda, and gatorade to the unprepared passersby. We were blessed with gorgeous weather, and took tons of pictures along the way, clean and smiley, unaware of the horrors that lay ahead.
We passed two checkpoints along the way to our camp, getting the much coveted passport stamps that made us feel quite official. We camped at Ayapata, 3300m high. Our porters were amazing- they always passed us on the trail and had our meals set up and waiting for when we arrived, and our tents pitched, hot water to wash up, etc etc. We all felt quite proud that evening, and passed out very soon after dinner.
Day 2 was not as much fun, but was a lot more rewarding. We awoke to hot tea delivered to our tent at 5am, then rushed to pack and eat so that we could get to hiking. We had 9 hours of straight hiking, gaining 900m to the top of Dead Woman´s Pass, then losing 700m to the botton of a valley, another 500m up, then 400m down. This is all just the change in altitude, mind you, the actual hike was about 16km in total. The beginning was not so tough, but the trail quickly took a turn for the worse. At times, we were climbing up incredibly narrow yet very steep steps and thanking the Inca Gods for the lack of rain. We encountered a pack of llamas at one point, who turned angry when I tried to pose with them, and ended up chasing me up the trail for a while- very good incentive to run!
Everyone felt pretty downtrodden, but we pushed on, and made it to the top of Dead Woman´s Pass in much less that the estimated time. It was cold and windy up there, and the panoramic views were insane. The downhill was almost as bad as the uphill though, and as we went down the other side we felt our calves being pushed to their limits and knees getting a bit jerky. We had lunch at the bottom, then pushed up the next pass, which was much less intense but still tiring. We visited incredible temples and forts along the way, then entered the cloud forest right before our campsite. WOW, what a day! We shoveled our food in then passed out, freezing our butts off all night.
Day 3 was not so bad! Because we had pushed on so much in the first few days, we had only 7km to hike, mostly downhill (and down those damn steps!) visiting more Inca sites along the way. We arrived in Wiñay Huayna around lunchtime, napped for a bit, then checkd out more great ruins before heading to the small BAR(!)that was near the campsites. Beer to celebrate our new friend Chelsea´s birthday and to relax after our lengthy workouts. Dinner, then a ceremony with our porters and bedtime!
Day four- Machu Picchu! We woke up at 3am, ate a lovely cake that our chef baked for us, and hauled our butts down to the checkpoint gate, arriving second in line, and waited until the gates were opened at 5:30. We are not exactly sure why it is so important to arrive at that time and then wait, but whatever. As we sat there, it began to rain, then pour; our first rain of the trip thankfully but what a terrible day for it! As soon as the gate opened, we RAN as fast as we could, as it was the goal to reach the Sun Gate first. Well that didn´t happen for us, but 2 of the Aussie girls in our group made it there second! The trail wasn´t too tough, but there were some of those killer Inca steps thrown in that really put a kink in your pace. So tiresome! We finally reached the Sun Gate and there is was, in full glory. Machu Picchu in its entirety from a sort of arial view. There were few tourists in our view, so we shot some great pictures then headed down to the site, another hour of hiking, then there we were! We grabbed our bag from the porter as we waited for our tour to begin, and ran over to the Sanctuary Lodge to check in- we are SO LUCKY!!!!!!
Day one was nice. Fourteen km, slightly sloping uphill but nothing insane. We passed many houses along the way, with locals going about their business, cows and chickens and a baby pig roaming around. So strange to think that these people live here full time, watching tons of backpackers pass by their front doors in the middle of nowhere. There were lots of baños along the way, ranging from slightly scary to life-altering trauma (towards the end, as well as some local women selling water, soda, and gatorade to the unprepared passersby. We were blessed with gorgeous weather, and took tons of pictures along the way, clean and smiley, unaware of the horrors that lay ahead.
We passed two checkpoints along the way to our camp, getting the much coveted passport stamps that made us feel quite official. We camped at Ayapata, 3300m high. Our porters were amazing- they always passed us on the trail and had our meals set up and waiting for when we arrived, and our tents pitched, hot water to wash up, etc etc. We all felt quite proud that evening, and passed out very soon after dinner.
Day 2 was not as much fun, but was a lot more rewarding. We awoke to hot tea delivered to our tent at 5am, then rushed to pack and eat so that we could get to hiking. We had 9 hours of straight hiking, gaining 900m to the top of Dead Woman´s Pass, then losing 700m to the botton of a valley, another 500m up, then 400m down. This is all just the change in altitude, mind you, the actual hike was about 16km in total. The beginning was not so tough, but the trail quickly took a turn for the worse. At times, we were climbing up incredibly narrow yet very steep steps and thanking the Inca Gods for the lack of rain. We encountered a pack of llamas at one point, who turned angry when I tried to pose with them, and ended up chasing me up the trail for a while- very good incentive to run!
Everyone felt pretty downtrodden, but we pushed on, and made it to the top of Dead Woman´s Pass in much less that the estimated time. It was cold and windy up there, and the panoramic views were insane. The downhill was almost as bad as the uphill though, and as we went down the other side we felt our calves being pushed to their limits and knees getting a bit jerky. We had lunch at the bottom, then pushed up the next pass, which was much less intense but still tiring. We visited incredible temples and forts along the way, then entered the cloud forest right before our campsite. WOW, what a day! We shoveled our food in then passed out, freezing our butts off all night.
Day 3 was not so bad! Because we had pushed on so much in the first few days, we had only 7km to hike, mostly downhill (and down those damn steps!) visiting more Inca sites along the way. We arrived in Wiñay Huayna around lunchtime, napped for a bit, then checkd out more great ruins before heading to the small BAR(!)that was near the campsites. Beer to celebrate our new friend Chelsea´s birthday and to relax after our lengthy workouts. Dinner, then a ceremony with our porters and bedtime!
Day four- Machu Picchu! We woke up at 3am, ate a lovely cake that our chef baked for us, and hauled our butts down to the checkpoint gate, arriving second in line, and waited until the gates were opened at 5:30. We are not exactly sure why it is so important to arrive at that time and then wait, but whatever. As we sat there, it began to rain, then pour; our first rain of the trip thankfully but what a terrible day for it! As soon as the gate opened, we RAN as fast as we could, as it was the goal to reach the Sun Gate first. Well that didn´t happen for us, but 2 of the Aussie girls in our group made it there second! The trail wasn´t too tough, but there were some of those killer Inca steps thrown in that really put a kink in your pace. So tiresome! We finally reached the Sun Gate and there is was, in full glory. Machu Picchu in its entirety from a sort of arial view. There were few tourists in our view, so we shot some great pictures then headed down to the site, another hour of hiking, then there we were! We grabbed our bag from the porter as we waited for our tour to begin, and ran over to the Sanctuary Lodge to check in- we are SO LUCKY!!!!!!
Quito and Cuscotopia.
Sorry for the lengthy gap in updates, we should have done this before we left on our trail but these things happen...
We did manage to realise our plans in Quito and see the Teleferico and the beautiful view over the whole of Quito. We also managed to venture into the amusement park at it´s base and go karting. It was awesome! Haven´t driven in a while but both of us managed not to spin out! That evening we left Quito for Lima, where we spent the night in the airport for our 5am flight to Cusco.
On arrival at 7am in Cusco, we went straight to our chosen hostel, Suecia II, and checked in to a double room and slept until the early afternoon. We decided it was time to explore this beautiful city that we had found ourselves in. We arrived in Cusco 3 days before our trek to Machu Picchu began. We had to acclimatise to the elevation, 13000ft above sea level. This also meant that we were not smoking and drinking, so no falling off boats and late night rum sessions!
Cusco is an amazing city, so much history and lots of interesting architecture. The main square, Plaza de Armas, has 3 churches and 1 cathedral squeezed into 2 of it´s sides, all with differing styles, many of the buildings mix original Inca foundations with the more modern Colonial style. Also, littered across the city, there are original Inca walls and foundations, some of which have withstood over 500 hundred years of use and even a major earthquake in 1650 - we later learned just how ingenious the Inca engineers were, most designs include an incline of at least 3 degrees and some of Machu Picchu is actually built on rollers!
After 3 days of exploring it was time to go for our briefing for our trek. As it turns out, we were in a very large group, 16 people. What made this even more interesting is that along with the 16 apying customers, we had 2 guides, 1 chef and 21 porters. Giving a total group size of 40! We were definitly in for an interesting time.
Photos for the rest of Quito, Cusco and thgen the Inca trail to follow.... another couple hundred!
We did manage to realise our plans in Quito and see the Teleferico and the beautiful view over the whole of Quito. We also managed to venture into the amusement park at it´s base and go karting. It was awesome! Haven´t driven in a while but both of us managed not to spin out! That evening we left Quito for Lima, where we spent the night in the airport for our 5am flight to Cusco.
On arrival at 7am in Cusco, we went straight to our chosen hostel, Suecia II, and checked in to a double room and slept until the early afternoon. We decided it was time to explore this beautiful city that we had found ourselves in. We arrived in Cusco 3 days before our trek to Machu Picchu began. We had to acclimatise to the elevation, 13000ft above sea level. This also meant that we were not smoking and drinking, so no falling off boats and late night rum sessions!
Cusco is an amazing city, so much history and lots of interesting architecture. The main square, Plaza de Armas, has 3 churches and 1 cathedral squeezed into 2 of it´s sides, all with differing styles, many of the buildings mix original Inca foundations with the more modern Colonial style. Also, littered across the city, there are original Inca walls and foundations, some of which have withstood over 500 hundred years of use and even a major earthquake in 1650 - we later learned just how ingenious the Inca engineers were, most designs include an incline of at least 3 degrees and some of Machu Picchu is actually built on rollers!
After 3 days of exploring it was time to go for our briefing for our trek. As it turns out, we were in a very large group, 16 people. What made this even more interesting is that along with the 16 apying customers, we had 2 guides, 1 chef and 21 porters. Giving a total group size of 40! We were definitly in for an interesting time.
Photos for the rest of Quito, Cusco and thgen the Inca trail to follow.... another couple hundred!
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Quito.... still....
The last blog finished with us doing nothing all day.... I was extremely hungover, which is unusual, usually it´s the other way around! But Jen kept me alive and we had a quiet evening. Yesterday we went for a great curry with awesome garlic naan and then came to use the internet. The plan was to go to the Botanical Gardens and maybe old town in the afternoon. The plan was not accomplished when it started to rain so hard and then HAIL all afternoon! After waiting out as long as possible we hurried back to the hostel and enjoyed an evening of reading, hanging out, and of course, a few beers!
Today I left Jen in bed (we had a very sleepless night due to a puking, M&M eating, snoring roommate) and we plan to attempt the Gardens again and the Teleferico - a huge cable car to the top of a nearby 4000m mountain for a view over the city. Fingers crossed the weather holds up!
Today I left Jen in bed (we had a very sleepless night due to a puking, M&M eating, snoring roommate) and we plan to attempt the Gardens again and the Teleferico - a huge cable car to the top of a nearby 4000m mountain for a view over the city. Fingers crossed the weather holds up!
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Galapagos pics.... finally! There´s lots!
Now we have 2 cameras these are in an odd order...... Guayaquil 1st, then waterproof camera and then 400 more!:
Galapagone
Wow, time flew by!! Where did we leave off? Ah yes, day 1. Well, basically, we were on a 5 day/4 night cruise, and after day 1 our guide left on vacation and was traded out by a horrible guy named Daniel, who did not speak English. That wouldn´t have been so bad if he actually knew anything, but he was completely useless! He knew nothing, and made up everything else!!! You do get what you pay for though, so we should have expected some problems on our super cheap cruise. Other than that, things were fabulous! Great food, great day trips, and great company! Some of the highlights included panting blue footed boobies standing on eggs, smelly sea lions barking at each other, swimming with sharks, sting rays, turtles, and crazy fish, Oli being nibbled on by a large sea lion, and flying flamingos! Much much more, everything we looked at was amazing. It is impossible to sum it up with words, so enjoy the photos, please! One other highlight was our first trip (and 3 more!) to the local hospital!
On our third day, we were hiking along some volcanic rock and enjoying the scenery. Oli and I began fooling around, cutting each other off on the path, and in a typical Jen move, I tripped and chopped off part of my toe!! It wasn´t quite severed at that point, but it sure did bleed. Later, upon further investigation by Oli and our new friend Carolina (armed with tweezers), it was decided that the top part would need to be amputated at the hospital as it was not just the nail, but a large chunk of flesh encompassing the nail and more! So we wrapped it up, and the following day we were docked in the bay of Port Ayora. Clean hospital, lots of meds and painkillers, and half a toe later, we were ready for some Thanksgiving drinks! We all went to Limon y Cafe and celebrated until the wee hours of the morning, at which point Oli and I decided to head back for our last night on the Merak. We hopped on a water taxi and somehow it found our boat in the big harbor. Oli hopped off, and I followed. Now the following events were not the result of too many celebratory drinks and I feel like it was only a matter of time before it happened. I had one foot on the Merak and one on the water taxi, and suddenly the water taxi bounced back. I tried to leap for Oli´s arms, but I slipped, and after some struggling, there was darkness. And it was surprisingly warm! Somehow I found myself treading water in the pitch black of the harbor, with my bandaged toe becoming undone and my flip flops floating away into the night. Our cook came running up to the deck and tried to help Oli lug me up, and then they gave up and had the taxi do it. I was dead weight and slippery. Seconds later, wrapped in a towel, Oli and I sat on deck of the Merak and laughed to our hearts content.
We spent the following days in the Galapagos at the lovely Hotel España, drinking and dining with our new friends Clair and Cody. We were unable to do much during the day as I was not allowed to go diving or snorkeling or swimming or hiking or ANYTHING, per doctors orders. We relaxed and read and waited to get off that damn island!!
We are now in Quito, doing basically the same thing! We have been told by many many people that the city is incredibly dangerous, so we have not done as much sightseeing as we would have preferred. Yesterday, we hired a cab to take us to the equator, where we spied a shrunken head, large snake skins, and Oli´s new Halloween costume (he can tell you about it later). We then headed off to the Basilica, where we climbed entirely too many stairs and steps, and saw the entire city of Quito from atop one of the spires. Cody and Clair are staying at our hotel, so we have been drinking and dining and sightseeing with them. Last night we wasted away in a British pub, noshing on fish and chips and chilli con carne. Today we have done nothing, and it feels great!! Getting a bit thirsty.... :)
On our third day, we were hiking along some volcanic rock and enjoying the scenery. Oli and I began fooling around, cutting each other off on the path, and in a typical Jen move, I tripped and chopped off part of my toe!! It wasn´t quite severed at that point, but it sure did bleed. Later, upon further investigation by Oli and our new friend Carolina (armed with tweezers), it was decided that the top part would need to be amputated at the hospital as it was not just the nail, but a large chunk of flesh encompassing the nail and more! So we wrapped it up, and the following day we were docked in the bay of Port Ayora. Clean hospital, lots of meds and painkillers, and half a toe later, we were ready for some Thanksgiving drinks! We all went to Limon y Cafe and celebrated until the wee hours of the morning, at which point Oli and I decided to head back for our last night on the Merak. We hopped on a water taxi and somehow it found our boat in the big harbor. Oli hopped off, and I followed. Now the following events were not the result of too many celebratory drinks and I feel like it was only a matter of time before it happened. I had one foot on the Merak and one on the water taxi, and suddenly the water taxi bounced back. I tried to leap for Oli´s arms, but I slipped, and after some struggling, there was darkness. And it was surprisingly warm! Somehow I found myself treading water in the pitch black of the harbor, with my bandaged toe becoming undone and my flip flops floating away into the night. Our cook came running up to the deck and tried to help Oli lug me up, and then they gave up and had the taxi do it. I was dead weight and slippery. Seconds later, wrapped in a towel, Oli and I sat on deck of the Merak and laughed to our hearts content.
We spent the following days in the Galapagos at the lovely Hotel España, drinking and dining with our new friends Clair and Cody. We were unable to do much during the day as I was not allowed to go diving or snorkeling or swimming or hiking or ANYTHING, per doctors orders. We relaxed and read and waited to get off that damn island!!
We are now in Quito, doing basically the same thing! We have been told by many many people that the city is incredibly dangerous, so we have not done as much sightseeing as we would have preferred. Yesterday, we hired a cab to take us to the equator, where we spied a shrunken head, large snake skins, and Oli´s new Halloween costume (he can tell you about it later). We then headed off to the Basilica, where we climbed entirely too many stairs and steps, and saw the entire city of Quito from atop one of the spires. Cody and Clair are staying at our hotel, so we have been drinking and dining and sightseeing with them. Last night we wasted away in a British pub, noshing on fish and chips and chilli con carne. Today we have done nothing, and it feels great!! Getting a bit thirsty.... :)
Well...
There´s gonna be a lot going on today, updates & over 500 pix from the Galapagos. But..... just realised that we never posted the pix from Panama.... sorry! So here we are:
Sorry for the delay!!
Sorry for the delay!!
Friday, November 28, 2008
You can´t always get what you want....
We flew to Baltra from Guayaquil, and met our group at the baggage claim. 3 Germans and 3 Aussies, as well as our fantastic guide, Cesar. We hopped on a bus and rode to the docks to get on board the Merak, our home for the next 5 days. We immediately sat down to an elaborate lunch, and were shown our cabins. Oli and I had requested the Marital room, assuming that with a double bed, there must be more room than the standard bunk bed cabins. WRONG!! The bed was slightly triangular, pretty small, and cave like, as the ceiling lowered towards the back. There wasn´t even enough room for both of us to stand in there! It was cozy though, and we had a little port window for some fresh air. We set off for the first stop, a small bay on Santa Cruz Island. We saw hundreds of sea lions! Little tiny babies searching for their moms, barking until their cries were returned. The dads stayed in the water, swimming back and forth. They sure smelled! There were lots of dead babies as well, ones who had been abandoned by their mothers and left to starve and then rot on the shore. So sad! Ahh more soon, this internet sucks. $4 an hour?!?!?!?
Sunday, November 23, 2008
How to Catch a 2 Toed Sloth
So we arrived in Guayaquil yesterday, and hopped in a cab to the lovely Dreamkapture hostel in the northern suburbs. Relaxed, wandered, had some lovely Lebanese food in the mall down the road! Back to the hostel to relax a bit more, read, write, and then down the street to this AWESOME mexican taco place! We are actually taking a food tour around the world, and have been pretty successful in not having ANY local foods in most of the places we have been!! This is not on purpose, mind you, but it is becoming an embarassing trend. Read a bit more, then bed time!
This morning we had a lovely brekkie at the hostel, then headed out to the Parque Historico, for a little zoo wander, where our quide explained how to catch a 2 toed sloth, and then to see the historical reproduction of the city from 1900. It was... a bit tacky. As were the plantation fields and servant´s homes. Ahh well. Then off to downtown, where we witnessed one of the creepiest things ever- the iquana park. Its just a park in the middle of town, which has been infested with huge jurrasic looking iguanas. Tons of them! Climbing over each other, over people feet, and up some peoples legs! Ugh. Oli decided to pet one, but didn´t look very pleased afterwards. We then walked along the riverfront promenade, the Malecon, and enjoyed the breeze. We attempted to go to the MAAC, the museum of Contemporary Art and Architecture, but after searching and searching for the entrance, we discovered it is closed on Sundays. WTF?! Then up the 384 steps of Santa Aña to see the colorful houses and shops, and then killer view from the top. Gorgeous!
We are now trying to wrap up some of our affairs before we depart for the GALAPAGOS!!!! We will be gone until December 2nd, on a cruise for the first 5 days, and diving for the rest of the time, fingers crossed! We will update you once we reach Quito! Miss you all, love you, and Happy Thanksgiving, you Yanks!!
This morning we had a lovely brekkie at the hostel, then headed out to the Parque Historico, for a little zoo wander, where our quide explained how to catch a 2 toed sloth, and then to see the historical reproduction of the city from 1900. It was... a bit tacky. As were the plantation fields and servant´s homes. Ahh well. Then off to downtown, where we witnessed one of the creepiest things ever- the iquana park. Its just a park in the middle of town, which has been infested with huge jurrasic looking iguanas. Tons of them! Climbing over each other, over people feet, and up some peoples legs! Ugh. Oli decided to pet one, but didn´t look very pleased afterwards. We then walked along the riverfront promenade, the Malecon, and enjoyed the breeze. We attempted to go to the MAAC, the museum of Contemporary Art and Architecture, but after searching and searching for the entrance, we discovered it is closed on Sundays. WTF?! Then up the 384 steps of Santa Aña to see the colorful houses and shops, and then killer view from the top. Gorgeous!
We are now trying to wrap up some of our affairs before we depart for the GALAPAGOS!!!! We will be gone until December 2nd, on a cruise for the first 5 days, and diving for the rest of the time, fingers crossed! We will update you once we reach Quito! Miss you all, love you, and Happy Thanksgiving, you Yanks!!
PaPaPaPanamaaaaaaa
Hola amigos!
Out last stop in Central America was muggy, crazy, and memorable. We landed after the 1 hour flight from CR, and toddled on over to the bus stop, 300m from the airport entrance. We headed towarda Via España, and the first bus that came flying by was PACKED. We waited 20 minutes, then hopped on the next one, for the hour long journey into the city. The buses are old school buses from the U.S., like chicken buses, but they are painted an array of vibrant reds and pinks. And they drive like crazy! We found ourselves in the banking neighborhood, and hopped out by Hotel Continental. Walked down a small dead end alley, and found our hostel! Zuly´s was a great choice, with fun people everywhere. However, after living in luxury, it was saddening to share a bedroom with 5 other people... and the sheets were too small so they kept popping off, and Oli and I have found tiny red bites on our arms and legs.... bed bugs? Never saw any, or felt any, but would the marks lie?
Our first night in Panama City, we wandered around a bit, and found out we are situated right by a movie theater, $2.10 a showing. Wow! So we grabbed some lunch, wandered around.. Oli got a haircut and I got a French pedicure, costing us $10 combined. And then we were off to see 007! Great action scenes, very loose plot, and super annoying people! Everyone talks loudly, with no regard to the movie. I guess because it is subtitled anyway it doesn´t bother them, but it bothered me! After the movie, we grabbed some $0.50 beers and hung out at the hostel, playing Kings in the Corner all night.
Day 2 in Panama City- We slept in, then hopped on the bus to the city center, where we were supposed to catch another bus to the Panama Canal. Unfortunately, the bus stop had been ripped out, and we wandered around asking many people before finally a very nice man helped us out and told us we had to go to the bus terminal instead. At this moment, we once again cursed the writers of the Lonely Planet Central America On A Shoestring, 2004 edition. UGH. Guidebooks lie often, and are almost useless when 4 years old! But I digress..
We went to the bus terminal, which was chaotic, to say the least. Finally found our way, squeezed on the bus towards Paraiso, and away we went. Upon arrival at the Mireflores Locks, we walked for about 20 minutes to the brand spankin´new welcome center, which housed a thorough museum. We sprinted through the 4 levels, and up to the top floor viewing deck. What a sight! Words can´t capture the intricate sight, and unfortunately, pictures can´t suffice either! We went down to eat at a very very expensive restaurant(which we found out too late)and ate while we waited for 2 huge boats to approach the locks. We had a great view from here, which is when our camera malfunctioned and corrupted our memory card. Great. We do have pictures from after this incident though, so enjoy!
After lunch we trudged back out to the road to wait in the baking sun to catch a bus to the Summit Botanical Gardens and Zoo. The gardens weren´t so much botanical as they were a giant park with grass and tables and playgrounds... but the zoo was cool. We have never seen monkeys this excited and active in our lives! Cool ocelot, pretty birds, etc.
Waited for an hour for the bus, then headed home to go to another movie! This time, The House Bunny. We grabbed the best street chili dogs EVER, some rum, and then headed into the cinema. Believe me, the rum definitely helped this movie. It actually wasn´t so bad, and made us almost miss LA. Almost. Off to the Istmo Pub afterwards for a snack and some local brews, which tasted like a cross between band-aids, cigarette butts, and bacon. Not a very nice blend. And we tried all 4 on tap! Shame shame. Next time, we´ll stick to the Stella!
The next day we were basically worthless. We bought another camera, so we now have our lovely Fujifilm fancy one, and another Olympus point and shoot. We wandered around, caught up in our journals, and then for the main evernt.. a double feature! First we went and saw Body of Lies, a DiCaprio/Crowe movie. It was good, but not one we need to see again. We grabbed dinner at the pub, Oli tried the beers again with disgust. And then it was off to see movie number 2- Baby Mama! Man, we need to get out of this city. We were basically seeing everything available in English as it was so cheap. Thankfully, we had rum for this movie too.
Then it was off to bed, as we would be leaving for Ecuador in the morning!!
Out last stop in Central America was muggy, crazy, and memorable. We landed after the 1 hour flight from CR, and toddled on over to the bus stop, 300m from the airport entrance. We headed towarda Via España, and the first bus that came flying by was PACKED. We waited 20 minutes, then hopped on the next one, for the hour long journey into the city. The buses are old school buses from the U.S., like chicken buses, but they are painted an array of vibrant reds and pinks. And they drive like crazy! We found ourselves in the banking neighborhood, and hopped out by Hotel Continental. Walked down a small dead end alley, and found our hostel! Zuly´s was a great choice, with fun people everywhere. However, after living in luxury, it was saddening to share a bedroom with 5 other people... and the sheets were too small so they kept popping off, and Oli and I have found tiny red bites on our arms and legs.... bed bugs? Never saw any, or felt any, but would the marks lie?
Our first night in Panama City, we wandered around a bit, and found out we are situated right by a movie theater, $2.10 a showing. Wow! So we grabbed some lunch, wandered around.. Oli got a haircut and I got a French pedicure, costing us $10 combined. And then we were off to see 007! Great action scenes, very loose plot, and super annoying people! Everyone talks loudly, with no regard to the movie. I guess because it is subtitled anyway it doesn´t bother them, but it bothered me! After the movie, we grabbed some $0.50 beers and hung out at the hostel, playing Kings in the Corner all night.
Day 2 in Panama City- We slept in, then hopped on the bus to the city center, where we were supposed to catch another bus to the Panama Canal. Unfortunately, the bus stop had been ripped out, and we wandered around asking many people before finally a very nice man helped us out and told us we had to go to the bus terminal instead. At this moment, we once again cursed the writers of the Lonely Planet Central America On A Shoestring, 2004 edition. UGH. Guidebooks lie often, and are almost useless when 4 years old! But I digress..
We went to the bus terminal, which was chaotic, to say the least. Finally found our way, squeezed on the bus towards Paraiso, and away we went. Upon arrival at the Mireflores Locks, we walked for about 20 minutes to the brand spankin´new welcome center, which housed a thorough museum. We sprinted through the 4 levels, and up to the top floor viewing deck. What a sight! Words can´t capture the intricate sight, and unfortunately, pictures can´t suffice either! We went down to eat at a very very expensive restaurant(which we found out too late)and ate while we waited for 2 huge boats to approach the locks. We had a great view from here, which is when our camera malfunctioned and corrupted our memory card. Great. We do have pictures from after this incident though, so enjoy!
After lunch we trudged back out to the road to wait in the baking sun to catch a bus to the Summit Botanical Gardens and Zoo. The gardens weren´t so much botanical as they were a giant park with grass and tables and playgrounds... but the zoo was cool. We have never seen monkeys this excited and active in our lives! Cool ocelot, pretty birds, etc.
Waited for an hour for the bus, then headed home to go to another movie! This time, The House Bunny. We grabbed the best street chili dogs EVER, some rum, and then headed into the cinema. Believe me, the rum definitely helped this movie. It actually wasn´t so bad, and made us almost miss LA. Almost. Off to the Istmo Pub afterwards for a snack and some local brews, which tasted like a cross between band-aids, cigarette butts, and bacon. Not a very nice blend. And we tried all 4 on tap! Shame shame. Next time, we´ll stick to the Stella!
The next day we were basically worthless. We bought another camera, so we now have our lovely Fujifilm fancy one, and another Olympus point and shoot. We wandered around, caught up in our journals, and then for the main evernt.. a double feature! First we went and saw Body of Lies, a DiCaprio/Crowe movie. It was good, but not one we need to see again. We grabbed dinner at the pub, Oli tried the beers again with disgust. And then it was off to see movie number 2- Baby Mama! Man, we need to get out of this city. We were basically seeing everything available in English as it was so cheap. Thankfully, we had rum for this movie too.
Then it was off to bed, as we would be leaving for Ecuador in the morning!!
Cloudforesting.
We awoke early on Monday morning and were out the door by 7am, on our way to the Monteverde cloudforest. Seth and Majela had not been there before, and believe it or not, neither had we! We were on the road for an hour or so and we stopped for some delicious ´pinto´, the local breakfast specialty. When we got back on our way we were surprised to find the turn off just around the corner. It was time for our hellish ride to begin - the road up there is notoriously terrible, 35km is a long way....
We were all pleasantly surprised when we found ourselves cruising down a beautifully fresh, tarmac highway! Seth was a little concerned as to how he could have missed the news of the new road, but was ultimately relieved! The scenery grew increasingly beautiful as we climbed but the road abrubptly turned to gravel, and then to dust, and then to mud. Before we knew it our gorgeous road was gone, we had fortunately got a little more than half way though.
Seth´s ´billy goat´ ride took us through the unbelievably potholed "road" unscathed and we arrived at our destination, the rain forest living up to it´s name with a light drizzle. When we knocked on the door of out hotel it appeared to be empty. We had chosen this place as it was home to one of the original Quakers (yes Quakers!) that had founded the area. We waited and still no one turned up so we decided to try some other places. We were pleasantly surprised when we stumbled upon the Mariposa Lodge, closer to the park entrance and we were able to secure ourselves our own 2 bed apartment for the evening! Before we left for our hike in the cloudforest proper, we went and stocked up, hiking snacks, nibbles and of course rum, limes and beer for our return!
We arrived in the park and started on the hike we had chosen, The Triangle, circumnavigating the whole park. It really was a wonderful experience. The path is literally carved into the vigin cloud forest, the light rain only adding to the authenticity! We wandered past streams and waterfalls, gorges and cliffs, all the while being extremely optimistic about spotting the greatly sought after Quetzal. We didn´t see one of theses elusive birds but we had a great time none the less! We finished our day in Monteverde hanging out in our cabin apartment, enjoying our beers, rum and company.
As we left the cloudforest we decided to check out the cheese factory there, started by the founding Quakers. Unfortunately no tour, or free tasting, but we did spot some very odd looking choco-cheese! We then embarked on the bumpy ride back to civilisation!
On the way back to Santa Barbara we stopped in the small beach town of Punta Reinas and had some good seafood and a short walk along the promenade. We then started back for Seth & Mayela´s where we spent our last evening with the family, eating great spaghetti, watching McHale´s Navy and playing a local version of Monopoly!
The following day we were up with the kids at 630, said our goodbyes and were off to the airport for our flight to Panama. It was sad to leave the home we had had for the past week and the family that had been so wonderful to us. Time to become real backpackers again though......
(..... now we just want the luxury back!!!!)
We were all pleasantly surprised when we found ourselves cruising down a beautifully fresh, tarmac highway! Seth was a little concerned as to how he could have missed the news of the new road, but was ultimately relieved! The scenery grew increasingly beautiful as we climbed but the road abrubptly turned to gravel, and then to dust, and then to mud. Before we knew it our gorgeous road was gone, we had fortunately got a little more than half way though.
Seth´s ´billy goat´ ride took us through the unbelievably potholed "road" unscathed and we arrived at our destination, the rain forest living up to it´s name with a light drizzle. When we knocked on the door of out hotel it appeared to be empty. We had chosen this place as it was home to one of the original Quakers (yes Quakers!) that had founded the area. We waited and still no one turned up so we decided to try some other places. We were pleasantly surprised when we stumbled upon the Mariposa Lodge, closer to the park entrance and we were able to secure ourselves our own 2 bed apartment for the evening! Before we left for our hike in the cloudforest proper, we went and stocked up, hiking snacks, nibbles and of course rum, limes and beer for our return!
We arrived in the park and started on the hike we had chosen, The Triangle, circumnavigating the whole park. It really was a wonderful experience. The path is literally carved into the vigin cloud forest, the light rain only adding to the authenticity! We wandered past streams and waterfalls, gorges and cliffs, all the while being extremely optimistic about spotting the greatly sought after Quetzal. We didn´t see one of theses elusive birds but we had a great time none the less! We finished our day in Monteverde hanging out in our cabin apartment, enjoying our beers, rum and company.
As we left the cloudforest we decided to check out the cheese factory there, started by the founding Quakers. Unfortunately no tour, or free tasting, but we did spot some very odd looking choco-cheese! We then embarked on the bumpy ride back to civilisation!
On the way back to Santa Barbara we stopped in the small beach town of Punta Reinas and had some good seafood and a short walk along the promenade. We then started back for Seth & Mayela´s where we spent our last evening with the family, eating great spaghetti, watching McHale´s Navy and playing a local version of Monopoly!
The following day we were up with the kids at 630, said our goodbyes and were off to the airport for our flight to Panama. It was sad to leave the home we had had for the past week and the family that had been so wonderful to us. Time to become real backpackers again though......
(..... now we just want the luxury back!!!!)
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
More Costa Rican Bliss!
We have been enjoying our stay here so much we haven't had the time to blog! But we are leaving for Panama tomorrow so thought we had better catch up a little.
After we hiked on Friday Seth took us to see an amazing waterfall at the base of a number of cascades. It was great, we were able to walk behind it and peer down into the pool of foam that lay beneath, home to the old bridge! We spent the evening hanging out in the sauna and watching movies, it was so nice to relax in a homely manner!
After a relatively early night, we got up on Saturday and went to 'Hiper Mas', fingers crossed, to find a new camera. We emerged triumphant with a great new camera that we were itching to try out. Whilst the kids went to the dentist, we got a tour of Santa Barbara and it's farmers market, including some awesome shrimp ceviche and coconuts! We wandered some more in town and decided to go for a really great lunch (they know how to do pork in this country!) and then to the local zoo! They had lots of great birds and monkeys and all kinds of animals. Aswell as the animals, the entire park was home to thousands of big 'ol spiders with golden threads..... apparantly not poisonous but definately scary looking! We came back to the house and relaxed before our big night out. Seth's friend Alex was having a bar opening - cowboy themed! We started with a quick beer and a shot at Mr. Pitufo's and then onto Bar Trapiche. As we pulled up the entire bar seemed to explode, it was someones birthday and the tiny bar had an 8 piece band in it! It was quite the experience, totally authentic and we enjoyed the music with a couple of beers and some more ceviche! When we got to Alex's bar the party was already underway and we joined in with the fun, Jen even ended up in a beer chugging contest! We rolled home later ready for bed and extremely merry!
Our Sunday started off with a football game, the biggest team in Costa Rica, Saprissa, was playing right here in town. It was a lot of fun to sit in the stands with Majela, Freddy and Jazmine, taking in the local flair and a sausage-in-a-taco!! The game ended 1-1, not a great result for Saprissa. After the game we walked back to the house, had lunch and hung out until it was time for us to go to 'Cuento de Navidad', the Christmas play, at Cafe Brit, not too far away. It was 'A Christmas Carol', in Spanish of course, and it was a lot of fun! We were able to follow along and enjoy as many of the jokes as possible. We finished our Sunday evening with a family trip to a great pizza place, we tucked in and came home for to get a good nights rest before we headed for the cloud forest 1st thing yesterday morning.
Well thats enough for now, pics and more story to follow!
After we hiked on Friday Seth took us to see an amazing waterfall at the base of a number of cascades. It was great, we were able to walk behind it and peer down into the pool of foam that lay beneath, home to the old bridge! We spent the evening hanging out in the sauna and watching movies, it was so nice to relax in a homely manner!
After a relatively early night, we got up on Saturday and went to 'Hiper Mas', fingers crossed, to find a new camera. We emerged triumphant with a great new camera that we were itching to try out. Whilst the kids went to the dentist, we got a tour of Santa Barbara and it's farmers market, including some awesome shrimp ceviche and coconuts! We wandered some more in town and decided to go for a really great lunch (they know how to do pork in this country!) and then to the local zoo! They had lots of great birds and monkeys and all kinds of animals. Aswell as the animals, the entire park was home to thousands of big 'ol spiders with golden threads..... apparantly not poisonous but definately scary looking! We came back to the house and relaxed before our big night out. Seth's friend Alex was having a bar opening - cowboy themed! We started with a quick beer and a shot at Mr. Pitufo's and then onto Bar Trapiche. As we pulled up the entire bar seemed to explode, it was someones birthday and the tiny bar had an 8 piece band in it! It was quite the experience, totally authentic and we enjoyed the music with a couple of beers and some more ceviche! When we got to Alex's bar the party was already underway and we joined in with the fun, Jen even ended up in a beer chugging contest! We rolled home later ready for bed and extremely merry!
Our Sunday started off with a football game, the biggest team in Costa Rica, Saprissa, was playing right here in town. It was a lot of fun to sit in the stands with Majela, Freddy and Jazmine, taking in the local flair and a sausage-in-a-taco!! The game ended 1-1, not a great result for Saprissa. After the game we walked back to the house, had lunch and hung out until it was time for us to go to 'Cuento de Navidad', the Christmas play, at Cafe Brit, not too far away. It was 'A Christmas Carol', in Spanish of course, and it was a lot of fun! We were able to follow along and enjoy as many of the jokes as possible. We finished our Sunday evening with a family trip to a great pizza place, we tucked in and came home for to get a good nights rest before we headed for the cloud forest 1st thing yesterday morning.
Well thats enough for now, pics and more story to follow!
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Ticos and Ticas
So we hopped on the first chicken bus to La Virgen, then caught another one to the border. Immigration was pretty fast, and we were sorted out by 8:30. The 9:30 bus to San Jose was sold out, so we played cards with Tamara and James until the 10:30 bus. Less than $8 to get there- not bad! We passed out on the bus, woke up briefly to say adios to our fellow gringos as they departed at Monteverde, and then slept again. Our phone was dead, and we didn't have the number for Seth, whose house we would be staying at, so we had to ride in to the center of San Jose and look for an internet cafe. Just our luck, it began raining as soon as we got off the bus. We were in a pretty bad area of town, and it was getting dark, so we ran into a few hotels asking for directions. Found the cafe, got a hold of Seth, then hopped in a tragic cab for the hour long ride to Santa Barbara. The driver was frightening, and quite stupid, and we were thankful to get there in one piece. He got lost constantly!!! We were finally dropped off in front of the church, where he tried to demand more money than we had agreed upon. Thanks guy!
Seth showed up and got rid of the driver, then off we went to a bar for some dinner! Delicious beans and rice with crunchy pork on top, washed down with a cold Imperial. Mmmm welcome to Costa Rica! We then hopped over to Mr. Pitufo's bar, with looks like it is in a 1950's time warp. Very charming! Caught up with Seth, who is an old friend of the family that I have known basically my whole life, and then headed up to his house in the hills to meet the family. The kids, Jasmine and Freddy, were still up, and super energetic. We also met Seth's lovely Tica wife, Mayela. We got the grand tour of the house, and went to bed early. Long day of travel!
The following morning, we had a great breakfast made by the maid, Lydia, and then spent the day lounging by the pool. It was so nice to relax! The sauna wasn't so bad either!! We got caught up on our reading, and almost caught up on our journaling. In the evening, we headed off to a few local bars, then to the grand opening of the posh bar Pitch. Pretty fancy, with camera crews and a live band. Oh, and free rum! We had a great time. Interesting clientele, and we wondered what type of longevity a place like that will have.
Friday morning, we went to Volcan Poas to hike up to the crater. It was a short walk, actually, on a paved road, and it was beautiful at the top! The fog was rolling over the top and mixing with the volcanic vapors- very scenic! Tough to describe, but photos will follow soon! We then hiked up a narrow trail lined with green trees and bushes, and lots of moss. We arrived at the other crater, which is now an acidic lake. Gorgeous views! Lovely short hike as well. It was nice to see some of the scenic beauty of Costa Rica. Ahhhhh gotta go, more soon!
Seth showed up and got rid of the driver, then off we went to a bar for some dinner! Delicious beans and rice with crunchy pork on top, washed down with a cold Imperial. Mmmm welcome to Costa Rica! We then hopped over to Mr. Pitufo's bar, with looks like it is in a 1950's time warp. Very charming! Caught up with Seth, who is an old friend of the family that I have known basically my whole life, and then headed up to his house in the hills to meet the family. The kids, Jasmine and Freddy, were still up, and super energetic. We also met Seth's lovely Tica wife, Mayela. We got the grand tour of the house, and went to bed early. Long day of travel!
The following morning, we had a great breakfast made by the maid, Lydia, and then spent the day lounging by the pool. It was so nice to relax! The sauna wasn't so bad either!! We got caught up on our reading, and almost caught up on our journaling. In the evening, we headed off to a few local bars, then to the grand opening of the posh bar Pitch. Pretty fancy, with camera crews and a live band. Oh, and free rum! We had a great time. Interesting clientele, and we wondered what type of longevity a place like that will have.
Friday morning, we went to Volcan Poas to hike up to the crater. It was a short walk, actually, on a paved road, and it was beautiful at the top! The fog was rolling over the top and mixing with the volcanic vapors- very scenic! Tough to describe, but photos will follow soon! We then hiked up a narrow trail lined with green trees and bushes, and lots of moss. We arrived at the other crater, which is now an acidic lake. Gorgeous views! Lovely short hike as well. It was nice to see some of the scenic beauty of Costa Rica. Ahhhhh gotta go, more soon!
Nica pictures!
Pictures from Granada, before the camera incident (glad we had saved them!!)
Pictures from SJdS, AFTER the camera incident. (Thanks Becky and Chris for letting us borrow your camera!!!)
Pictures from SJdS, AFTER the camera incident. (Thanks Becky and Chris for letting us borrow your camera!!!)
Saturday, November 15, 2008
W-w-w-wipeout!!!
We hopped into the truck to head to the beach for our surf lesson, unfortunately there was no more room in the back so we had to ride up front, with air-conditioning.... shame. We were particularly grateful when our short journey to the beach turned out to be an hours ride on another wonderful Nicaraguan dirt road. It was worth it though, as when we arrived we were treated to a great view of the secluded beach we were to spend the rest of the day on.
After a quick how to with our instructor, an older local guy, we were in the water, floating on our boards with him holding us. As a wave came along he told us when to start paddling and gave us a nice push onto the wave, all we really had to do was stand up! It wasn't quite that easy but we gave it our best shot and both of us (in fact Jen before I) were standing on our boards, wobbling along within 15 or 20 mins. It was now time to try it on our own and 2 and a half hours later our bodies were battered and broken but content (edit: Jen just wants me to recognise here that she was the only one in the water the whole time and the teacher said she was the best student.)!
We spent the whole afternoon in the water, trying again and again, succeeding and failing! The most frustrating thing was that even if one was successful, for 30 seconds of standing up we had to walk/swim/paddle for 10 minutes to get back to the same spot to start over again! It was great fun and we both surprised ourselves as to how well we took to the water, we did suffer though - sore knees, bruised ribs and especially for Jen, more bruises unaccounted for! Who knew it would be such a brutal sport?!?
After another long truck journey back (again, we were a little slow getting into the back of the trucks and just HAD to sit in the cab!) we knew it was time for a big meal and several beers, so the group of us went to Jerry's Pizza and feasted on good slices and great company...... and cold beers! We hung out for the evening, played some crazy 8 countdown, and headed off to bed after a grueling game, as we were getting up at 6am to the bus to the border of Costa Rica!!
After a quick how to with our instructor, an older local guy, we were in the water, floating on our boards with him holding us. As a wave came along he told us when to start paddling and gave us a nice push onto the wave, all we really had to do was stand up! It wasn't quite that easy but we gave it our best shot and both of us (in fact Jen before I) were standing on our boards, wobbling along within 15 or 20 mins. It was now time to try it on our own and 2 and a half hours later our bodies were battered and broken but content (edit: Jen just wants me to recognise here that she was the only one in the water the whole time and the teacher said she was the best student.)!
We spent the whole afternoon in the water, trying again and again, succeeding and failing! The most frustrating thing was that even if one was successful, for 30 seconds of standing up we had to walk/swim/paddle for 10 minutes to get back to the same spot to start over again! It was great fun and we both surprised ourselves as to how well we took to the water, we did suffer though - sore knees, bruised ribs and especially for Jen, more bruises unaccounted for! Who knew it would be such a brutal sport?!?
After another long truck journey back (again, we were a little slow getting into the back of the trucks and just HAD to sit in the cab!) we knew it was time for a big meal and several beers, so the group of us went to Jerry's Pizza and feasted on good slices and great company...... and cold beers! We hung out for the evening, played some crazy 8 countdown, and headed off to bed after a grueling game, as we were getting up at 6am to the bus to the border of Costa Rica!!
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Huevos Tortugas
Hola Amigos!
So after the brutal mugging yesterday, we decided to wander the streets and explore the town. Very quiet, full of surf shops. Cute though! Hot as hades.. We went back to Casa Oro to read a bit, and then have some cervezas before the big event..... TURTLES! We are very close to La Flor, which is one of the biggest nesting colonies in the world. They are in the middle of a big arrival, with as many as 3,000 mamma turtles reaching shore nightly and dropping off their eggs. Fantastic!
We signed up for the tour, a whopping $30 each, and arrived at 6:30 for the very technical powerpoint presentation. Woohoo! Did you know that turtles mate with many partners, some at the same time, and then self fertilize? Did you know that a turtle can lay up to 120+ eggs in one sitting? Did you know that out of every 1,000 baby turtles that hatch, only one will make it to adulthood? If you answered ¨No, I did not know that!¨, then you would have been thoroughly enthralled at this presentation! We felt the same way.
So after our little lesson, we all piled into the trucks and vans to ride off to the turtle sanctuary. What a long, bumpy ride! I lucked out and the only seat left was in the front, so I enjoyed some rockin´ eighties tunes and nice air conditioning, while the others melted behind me. The 22k ride took a little over an hour. Yikes! We arrived at 8:30, had a little briefing, then off to the shore! Keep in mind that we were with a large, large group of gringos- who wants to take a guess as to how many of them followed the rules once we reached the sand???
When we reached the beach, we were stunned. The moon cast a bright glow over the sand, and there were TONS of big mamma turtles, en route to the sea or just emerging. Some were digging their holes with their back fins, some were filling the holes with sand.. and some were plopping out eggs. Wow! I have never seen a reptile fill their nest, and it was a sight to be seen.
Unfortunately, because there are so many turtles that surface each night to lay their eggs, the beach isn´t large enough to accomodate all of them. So each night, many turtles end up digging up the nests that were laid the previous nights, and laying their own eggs in their place. Because of all this digging and uncovering, a potent egg odor lingers over the beach. Mmmm.
Exciting evening! We hung around for an hour, dodging these determined turtles, while spying on this intimate time in their lives... Then it was back in the van for the long drive home! I slept quite comfortably, though Oli said he felt very violated by the bouncy benches in the back. Poor poppet.
We are off to go surfing... hang ten dudes!!!
So after the brutal mugging yesterday, we decided to wander the streets and explore the town. Very quiet, full of surf shops. Cute though! Hot as hades.. We went back to Casa Oro to read a bit, and then have some cervezas before the big event..... TURTLES! We are very close to La Flor, which is one of the biggest nesting colonies in the world. They are in the middle of a big arrival, with as many as 3,000 mamma turtles reaching shore nightly and dropping off their eggs. Fantastic!
We signed up for the tour, a whopping $30 each, and arrived at 6:30 for the very technical powerpoint presentation. Woohoo! Did you know that turtles mate with many partners, some at the same time, and then self fertilize? Did you know that a turtle can lay up to 120+ eggs in one sitting? Did you know that out of every 1,000 baby turtles that hatch, only one will make it to adulthood? If you answered ¨No, I did not know that!¨, then you would have been thoroughly enthralled at this presentation! We felt the same way.
So after our little lesson, we all piled into the trucks and vans to ride off to the turtle sanctuary. What a long, bumpy ride! I lucked out and the only seat left was in the front, so I enjoyed some rockin´ eighties tunes and nice air conditioning, while the others melted behind me. The 22k ride took a little over an hour. Yikes! We arrived at 8:30, had a little briefing, then off to the shore! Keep in mind that we were with a large, large group of gringos- who wants to take a guess as to how many of them followed the rules once we reached the sand???
When we reached the beach, we were stunned. The moon cast a bright glow over the sand, and there were TONS of big mamma turtles, en route to the sea or just emerging. Some were digging their holes with their back fins, some were filling the holes with sand.. and some were plopping out eggs. Wow! I have never seen a reptile fill their nest, and it was a sight to be seen.
Unfortunately, because there are so many turtles that surface each night to lay their eggs, the beach isn´t large enough to accomodate all of them. So each night, many turtles end up digging up the nests that were laid the previous nights, and laying their own eggs in their place. Because of all this digging and uncovering, a potent egg odor lingers over the beach. Mmmm.
Exciting evening! We hung around for an hour, dodging these determined turtles, while spying on this intimate time in their lives... Then it was back in the van for the long drive home! I slept quite comfortably, though Oli said he felt very violated by the bouncy benches in the back. Poor poppet.
We are off to go surfing... hang ten dudes!!!
Monday, November 10, 2008
We have been mugged....
by a troupe of bandit jellyfish. They were a vicious bunch, and took no mercy. They snuck up while we were chin deep in the cove of San Juan Del Sur, and took advantage of the murky waters. They eyed up our gorgeous, 4 week old camera, and went for it. They caught Oli by surprise, with repeated lashings to his forarm. He dropped the camera, and I caught it under my feet. As we went down to grab it, the waves took us hostage, and knocked us off our tip-toes. Then when we dove for it, they came back for more flesh. My arms, legs, and feet fell victim to their ruthless ways. We kept on fighting the good fight, with the help of our new friends Becky and Chris, but to no avail. The attacks continued, and we were outnumbered. We returned to shore with our tails between our legs, and stingers in our extremeties. Oli had it the worst, but opted to head down the beach to a cafe for some vinegar instead of taking Chris up on his offer to pee on him.
Sad, sad day. We will not let the ocean gods beat us. We are going back for more later, but without any flashy valuables. And don´t worry, the pictures will continue- we are going to borrow one for the time being, and replace our dearly departed in San Jose. Lets hope number three´s a charm. I wonder if the insurance company will pay to replace this one as well.....
Sad, sad day. We will not let the ocean gods beat us. We are going back for more later, but without any flashy valuables. And don´t worry, the pictures will continue- we are going to borrow one for the time being, and replace our dearly departed in San Jose. Lets hope number three´s a charm. I wonder if the insurance company will pay to replace this one as well.....
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Hondurian photographs
And below are the pictures from Honduras, and the Bay Islands. Please note that it is excruciatingly painful to upload this amount of photos in one day, and if the bars weren´t closed, we would not have been this productive!!!! Let us know how much you love our updates please... we know you lurkers out there are shy, but we can see you!!!! Say hello :)
Rio Dulce and Livingston
Below are the pictures from our last days in Guatemala. ENJOYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!
"I'm gonna get ya little fishy... " - The Cat, Red Dwarf
So the boat ride to Roatan was a little rough..... well it was a lot rough. Despite all odds though, none of the 4 of us got sick..... several others did though - the wonders of Dramamine! When we did finally arrive we were hoarded by a huge number of cab drivers, still with a dodgy belly, this was a little overwhelming but we managed to find a nice local guy who took us to the West End, via the shop and liquor store, to the sweet sounds of very loud Reggae!
We got to the west end and the place we wanted to stay at, The Mariposa Lodge, was full, so after a short trek we arrived at the 2nd choice, Chillies, and an awesome 2 bedroom cabana right at the back of the property, seemingly in the middle of the Jungle. We went out to explore and get some food and some cash and investigate the diving situation.
We arrived back at the lodge 2 hrs later, with no cash, all the ATMs were down, sore feet and a PADI course booked the next day with the Native Sons, starting at 830 am. So we opened up the rum! Several cocktails later we had walked down the beach with Angela and Ulla to a Reggae bar and were dancing away. 830 am came around a little too early!
Instead of it being just the 2 of us, 3 others had joined right then but fortunately our diving course started with a video. Our instructor, Andrea, was great and after a quick set-up tutorial, somehow, we found ourselves in a boat, suited up and ready to go. 3 - 2 - 1 and we were over the side backwards and in the ocean. Without really knowing what we were doing we ended up kneeling on the ocean floor (at least we were - not everyone had too much control!) and purposefully filling our masks with water and other fun stuff!! Despite the initial anxiousness and slightly dodgy feeling, it was awesome and we got to have our 1st experience of breathing under water, the reef, the little fish, the big fish and the general awesomeness of SCUBA - at least that is what I thought!
Who knew learning to dive took so much studying?! We watched more videos and read more chapters as the days progressed. We did "confined" water training in the bay and managed to stay out of the pool and everyday we had an open water dive. The reef in Roatan is dubbed as the 2nd best in the World, I have no basis for comparison, but would have to agree! As each day went on we both fell more and more in love with Scuba and the reading wasn't that bad!
Tuesday night was the last night for Angela, Ulla and Claudia (now that we had finally found her)so we all went out and had a few to drink, and then a few more! We also found out that Obama was the new President, so we had a few more!! Yay!! On Wednesday we woke up much earlier than we wanted and had our 3rd open water dive in the morning and came back for lunch, after which we took our final tests, and passed.... yay!! Only our 4th open water dive and we would be away!!
That afternoon things got messy..... I got ill and the power went out - no running water, no flushing toilet! And there was civil unrest on the Island. We stayed in! Come Thursday, still under the influence of a stomach bug, I was unable to dive but Jen went out and finished her course and came back a certified Open Water Diver! To celebrate we had lunch, and I kept it down... woooooo! Another quiet, powerless evening lay ahead and in the morning I was able to take my final dive and Jen had her 1st fun dive. Before lunch I was certified too and with the power back on we were even able to get some cash, pay our bill and get back on the road by lunch.
The boat ride back to La Ceiba was no where near as bad and we were able to enjoy our books and arrived safely on mainland Honduras, ready for a full 2 days of travel! We jumped on a bus and started our journey to Nicaragua, first stop Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras.
6 hours later we arrived and took a cab to the hotel there, where we even had a TV! But no remote! Come morning we trotted over to the TICA bus office for the 9am bus all the way to Managua, Nicaragua. It was full. So the journey began. A cab to the other bus station, a chicken bus to El Paraiso, another to the border. Another chicken bus (chicken buses are old US school buses, made for little kids, most Central Americans fit into these seats. I, however, don't.) to Ocotal and then a bus from Ocotal to Managua. We had a cab take us to the other bus station were we finally arrived in Granada, Nicaragua around 730pm last night. Long day! We met a friendly Aussie girl and Coast Rican guy who led us to the hostel, we wished however we had taken a cab as after 45mins of walking with our packs, we were a little hot!!
After getting a room we needed to eat and desperately wanted a beer. Just our luck, no alcohol may be served here for the 3 days we are in towne due to the election..... what are the chances? Early to bed it was!
Today we are exploring here and deciding where to go next before we head to Costa Rica, maybe stay here, maybe to the beach to surf and chill, who knows??
Till next time....
I'm gonna get ya little fishy...........
We got to the west end and the place we wanted to stay at, The Mariposa Lodge, was full, so after a short trek we arrived at the 2nd choice, Chillies, and an awesome 2 bedroom cabana right at the back of the property, seemingly in the middle of the Jungle. We went out to explore and get some food and some cash and investigate the diving situation.
We arrived back at the lodge 2 hrs later, with no cash, all the ATMs were down, sore feet and a PADI course booked the next day with the Native Sons, starting at 830 am. So we opened up the rum! Several cocktails later we had walked down the beach with Angela and Ulla to a Reggae bar and were dancing away. 830 am came around a little too early!
Instead of it being just the 2 of us, 3 others had joined right then but fortunately our diving course started with a video. Our instructor, Andrea, was great and after a quick set-up tutorial, somehow, we found ourselves in a boat, suited up and ready to go. 3 - 2 - 1 and we were over the side backwards and in the ocean. Without really knowing what we were doing we ended up kneeling on the ocean floor (at least we were - not everyone had too much control!) and purposefully filling our masks with water and other fun stuff!! Despite the initial anxiousness and slightly dodgy feeling, it was awesome and we got to have our 1st experience of breathing under water, the reef, the little fish, the big fish and the general awesomeness of SCUBA - at least that is what I thought!
Who knew learning to dive took so much studying?! We watched more videos and read more chapters as the days progressed. We did "confined" water training in the bay and managed to stay out of the pool and everyday we had an open water dive. The reef in Roatan is dubbed as the 2nd best in the World, I have no basis for comparison, but would have to agree! As each day went on we both fell more and more in love with Scuba and the reading wasn't that bad!
Tuesday night was the last night for Angela, Ulla and Claudia (now that we had finally found her)so we all went out and had a few to drink, and then a few more! We also found out that Obama was the new President, so we had a few more!! Yay!! On Wednesday we woke up much earlier than we wanted and had our 3rd open water dive in the morning and came back for lunch, after which we took our final tests, and passed.... yay!! Only our 4th open water dive and we would be away!!
That afternoon things got messy..... I got ill and the power went out - no running water, no flushing toilet! And there was civil unrest on the Island. We stayed in! Come Thursday, still under the influence of a stomach bug, I was unable to dive but Jen went out and finished her course and came back a certified Open Water Diver! To celebrate we had lunch, and I kept it down... woooooo! Another quiet, powerless evening lay ahead and in the morning I was able to take my final dive and Jen had her 1st fun dive. Before lunch I was certified too and with the power back on we were even able to get some cash, pay our bill and get back on the road by lunch.
The boat ride back to La Ceiba was no where near as bad and we were able to enjoy our books and arrived safely on mainland Honduras, ready for a full 2 days of travel! We jumped on a bus and started our journey to Nicaragua, first stop Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras.
6 hours later we arrived and took a cab to the hotel there, where we even had a TV! But no remote! Come morning we trotted over to the TICA bus office for the 9am bus all the way to Managua, Nicaragua. It was full. So the journey began. A cab to the other bus station, a chicken bus to El Paraiso, another to the border. Another chicken bus (chicken buses are old US school buses, made for little kids, most Central Americans fit into these seats. I, however, don't.) to Ocotal and then a bus from Ocotal to Managua. We had a cab take us to the other bus station were we finally arrived in Granada, Nicaragua around 730pm last night. Long day! We met a friendly Aussie girl and Coast Rican guy who led us to the hostel, we wished however we had taken a cab as after 45mins of walking with our packs, we were a little hot!!
After getting a room we needed to eat and desperately wanted a beer. Just our luck, no alcohol may be served here for the 3 days we are in towne due to the election..... what are the chances? Early to bed it was!
Today we are exploring here and deciding where to go next before we head to Costa Rica, maybe stay here, maybe to the beach to surf and chill, who knows??
Till next time....
I'm gonna get ya little fishy...........
To bring you slightly up to speed.....
Hmmm where were we.. where were we... ? Ahh yes! Volcanic excursion!! So the lava was tumbling down toward us. It was so unpredictable, with giant pieces of molten rock just rolling wherever it pleased. In retrospect, it really was quite dangerous, and we were tempting the gods, but alas, we are still alive to tell our tale. We approached the lava to take the obligatory pictures, warmed our hands and faces, toasted some marshmallows, then away we went. Back through the pitch black, the howling wind, and the unsteady rocks which tumbled down the volcano with every step. Thankfully only one person fell, and wasn´t hurt too terribly. I was wishing for a more powerful flashlight, and the rocks were so treacherous! After 40 minutes, we made it back to the tents, and climbed in to get any warmth we could. We fell asleep to the wind whipping our tent violently, and awoke many times throughout the night
We woke up at dawn, tore down camp, and admired the spectacular view. Absolutely once in a lifetime, amazing experience. We trekked back down to civilization pretty quickly, and were in Antigua, exhausted, by 10am. We unpacked, said goodbye to our amazing guides, and went in search of a hearty breakfast and some internet time before we departed for Rio Dulce. We caught the minibus to Guatemala City at 1, and then the bus to Rio Dulce at 4:30. Uneventful ride, consisting of scattered sleep and reading. We finally arrived in Rio Dulce at 11, where we hopped in a cab to Backpackers Hostel right on the water. We had a few drinks and some dinner, and went to bed in the 25+ person dorm (only $2.50 per person, what a deal!!).
We awoke the following day, Halloween! We hopped in the water shuttle to go up the river to the rasta town of Livingston, right on the Carribean. It was supposed to be about an hour long ride, but of course, things on this trip are never that simple! We went around picking up tourists and locals from many different places throughout the town, picking up the last batch about 45 minutes later. This crowd was so special. The minute they approached, they began spazzing out about how crowded the boat was, how the last one with this many people flipped over and sank, how it was immoral to put people in this situation, how dangerous it was to have no life jackets, etc. However, they had no qualms about jumping in, shoving the poor kid with the chicken in his lap to the floor, and pulling out their massive video cameras. Classic gringos, thanks guys! Americans have a tough enough time traveling without people like you tainting our reputation even more!! So about 10 minutes in, another boat pulled up beside us. I guess the weight was a bit much for our current boat, so we swapped to the other one, mid river.
Ten minutes later, the motor stopped. Ha. Awesome. It all honesty, the current wasn´t so bad, and it would have been easy to swim ashore, though a bummer to loose all of our belongings. The biggest guy on the boat began to scream. He was saying he needed ot go back to his hotel, how it was illegal to treat people this way, how if the boat didn´t turn around immediately, HE was going to turn the boat around. The boat began to rock. Thankfully, another boat pulled off and sent him away. As he drove off, he screamed how we should all get a refund, and how horrible things were in Guatemala. Oh joy. After he was out of sight, everyone began to chuckle and say they wished they had caught his outburst on camera. The boat immediately went ashore once the motor began to work, and we all received life jackets. Then, finally, away we went! The boat ride was gorgeous, we road through the jungle, past tiny water huts, local fishermen, lily pads, hot springs, and more.
It was so serene. We finally arrived in Livingston around noon, and set off to find a hotel. The town was alright, not really all it was cracked up to be by the guidebook and people we had met. Mainly a lot of cruiseship passengers wandering around, buying tacky souvineers, and lots of overpriced restaurants. However, our hotel had a fantastic balcony with hammocks, from where we could sit back, watch the passerbys on the streets, and drink cheap beer! So we spent our afternoon drinking, reading and writing, with the sounds of reggae in the background.
Dinner over more beers, and then some Coco Locos, which are coconuts filled with rum. MMMM.... Happy Halloween!!!!
The following morning, we took the 7am water shuttle to Puerto Barrios, and then another bus to the Honduran border. We met some lovely German girls, who were also heading towards the Bay Islands that day. We decided to team up with Angela and Ulla, and travel in a group. Four bus journeys later, we arrived in La Ceiba. It was pitch black, and way past the last boat rides to the islands, so we decided to find a hotel. We went to many places, then decided to head back to the first place we saw. It was torrentially downpouring, the streets were flooded, and there were sketchy characters around every corner. Ulla and Angela had been traveling with their friend Claudia, a girl from Guatemala, and she was with us until the rain got heavier, then she hopped into a cab. We didn´t see her for days.
We went back to the hotel, dried off, and went in search of food. As we left, the owner of the hotel said that we were in a very bad area, that there wasn´t food anywhere nearby, and that it wasn´t safe, even for four people to walk together. We ventured out anyway. We wandered for a long while, before we passed an expats bar, where a man told us that there was a Pizza Hut down the street. Victory!! We had some pizza, then went back and passed out.
We were unsure of whether the boats would be running the next morning, due to the heavy rain, but the hotel owner called, and we were in luck! We rushed off to the dock and bought our tickets. Finally, something was going our way!!
We woke up at dawn, tore down camp, and admired the spectacular view. Absolutely once in a lifetime, amazing experience. We trekked back down to civilization pretty quickly, and were in Antigua, exhausted, by 10am. We unpacked, said goodbye to our amazing guides, and went in search of a hearty breakfast and some internet time before we departed for Rio Dulce. We caught the minibus to Guatemala City at 1, and then the bus to Rio Dulce at 4:30. Uneventful ride, consisting of scattered sleep and reading. We finally arrived in Rio Dulce at 11, where we hopped in a cab to Backpackers Hostel right on the water. We had a few drinks and some dinner, and went to bed in the 25+ person dorm (only $2.50 per person, what a deal!!).
We awoke the following day, Halloween! We hopped in the water shuttle to go up the river to the rasta town of Livingston, right on the Carribean. It was supposed to be about an hour long ride, but of course, things on this trip are never that simple! We went around picking up tourists and locals from many different places throughout the town, picking up the last batch about 45 minutes later. This crowd was so special. The minute they approached, they began spazzing out about how crowded the boat was, how the last one with this many people flipped over and sank, how it was immoral to put people in this situation, how dangerous it was to have no life jackets, etc. However, they had no qualms about jumping in, shoving the poor kid with the chicken in his lap to the floor, and pulling out their massive video cameras. Classic gringos, thanks guys! Americans have a tough enough time traveling without people like you tainting our reputation even more!! So about 10 minutes in, another boat pulled up beside us. I guess the weight was a bit much for our current boat, so we swapped to the other one, mid river.
Ten minutes later, the motor stopped. Ha. Awesome. It all honesty, the current wasn´t so bad, and it would have been easy to swim ashore, though a bummer to loose all of our belongings. The biggest guy on the boat began to scream. He was saying he needed ot go back to his hotel, how it was illegal to treat people this way, how if the boat didn´t turn around immediately, HE was going to turn the boat around. The boat began to rock. Thankfully, another boat pulled off and sent him away. As he drove off, he screamed how we should all get a refund, and how horrible things were in Guatemala. Oh joy. After he was out of sight, everyone began to chuckle and say they wished they had caught his outburst on camera. The boat immediately went ashore once the motor began to work, and we all received life jackets. Then, finally, away we went! The boat ride was gorgeous, we road through the jungle, past tiny water huts, local fishermen, lily pads, hot springs, and more.
It was so serene. We finally arrived in Livingston around noon, and set off to find a hotel. The town was alright, not really all it was cracked up to be by the guidebook and people we had met. Mainly a lot of cruiseship passengers wandering around, buying tacky souvineers, and lots of overpriced restaurants. However, our hotel had a fantastic balcony with hammocks, from where we could sit back, watch the passerbys on the streets, and drink cheap beer! So we spent our afternoon drinking, reading and writing, with the sounds of reggae in the background.
Dinner over more beers, and then some Coco Locos, which are coconuts filled with rum. MMMM.... Happy Halloween!!!!
The following morning, we took the 7am water shuttle to Puerto Barrios, and then another bus to the Honduran border. We met some lovely German girls, who were also heading towards the Bay Islands that day. We decided to team up with Angela and Ulla, and travel in a group. Four bus journeys later, we arrived in La Ceiba. It was pitch black, and way past the last boat rides to the islands, so we decided to find a hotel. We went to many places, then decided to head back to the first place we saw. It was torrentially downpouring, the streets were flooded, and there were sketchy characters around every corner. Ulla and Angela had been traveling with their friend Claudia, a girl from Guatemala, and she was with us until the rain got heavier, then she hopped into a cab. We didn´t see her for days.
We went back to the hotel, dried off, and went in search of food. As we left, the owner of the hotel said that we were in a very bad area, that there wasn´t food anywhere nearby, and that it wasn´t safe, even for four people to walk together. We ventured out anyway. We wandered for a long while, before we passed an expats bar, where a man told us that there was a Pizza Hut down the street. Victory!! We had some pizza, then went back and passed out.
We were unsure of whether the boats would be running the next morning, due to the heavy rain, but the hotel owner called, and we were in luck! We rushed off to the dock and bought our tickets. Finally, something was going our way!!
Saturday, November 8, 2008
We are alive!
Sorry for the lack of updates, we have been stranded in paradise! From Antigua we traveled up the Rio Dulce to Livingston, then off to Honduras! La Ceiba was a shithole, but then we were off to the Bay Islands. We were in Roatan, getting PADI certified and having a blast. There was a bit of civil unrest, some strikes, 48 hours without water or power, and then Oli got Monte´s revenge!! Poor guy. We left on Friday, and made it to Teguc. for the evening. We just arrived in Granada, Nicaragua, after 11 hours, 3 taxis, and 5 chicken bus rides. Wooooo! We will give a thorough update manaña. Hope everyone is well!
YAY OBAMA!!!!!
Sorry for the lack of updates, we have been stranded in paradise! From Antigua we traveled up the Rio Dulce to Livingston, then off to Honduras! La Ceiba was a shithole, but then we were off to the Bay Islands. We were in Roatan, getting PADI certified and having a blast. There was a bit of civil unrest, some strikes, 48 hours without water or power, and then Oli got Monte´s revenge!! Poor guy. We left on Friday, and made it to Teguc. for the evening. We just arrived in Granada, Nicaragua, after 11 hours, 3 taxis, and 5 chicken bus rides. Wooooo! We will give a thorough update manaña. Hope everyone is well!
YAY OBAMA!!!!!
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Hot like lava
So, we wandered into to town to find ourselves a tour up to Pacaya to see the lava in the evening but when we arrived at the tourguides that we had heard about we chose to do something a little different. The plan was to leave at 2pm the next day (yesterday) and hike to the volcano and make camp to wait out until the sunset and from there hike to the lava, afterwhich we would spend the night on the volcano and head back in the morning. So we spent the afternoon on Tuesday wandering here in Antigua and hit up a couple of cool bars in the evening.
Come Wednesday, we packed up and headed for O.X., our guides, and by 330pm we were hiking up Pacaya itself. After a few wrong turns and a little backtracking, we made it to our campsite, with amazing panoramic views of the landscape and the other 3 volcanoes in the area. It was also bitterly cold and extremely windy! After layering up and eating a great curry dinner, huddled together for warmth, we started out for the lava!
Within just a few minutes we were able to see the lava on the side of the volcano, where we were heading to. Hot, molten rock just crumbling down... headed straight for us!!!
Details to follow soon, we have to catch a bus to Rio Dulce.
But here are the pics! Enjoy!
Come Wednesday, we packed up and headed for O.X., our guides, and by 330pm we were hiking up Pacaya itself. After a few wrong turns and a little backtracking, we made it to our campsite, with amazing panoramic views of the landscape and the other 3 volcanoes in the area. It was also bitterly cold and extremely windy! After layering up and eating a great curry dinner, huddled together for warmth, we started out for the lava!
Within just a few minutes we were able to see the lava on the side of the volcano, where we were heading to. Hot, molten rock just crumbling down... headed straight for us!!!
Details to follow soon, we have to catch a bus to Rio Dulce.
But here are the pics! Enjoy!
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Holla Guatemala!
So the road from Flores to Lanquin was in pretty bad shape, turning our 7 hour trip into an 11 hour one. Terrible floods are affecting thousands of people, the worst flooding in 30 years. We came upon the first bit of flooding, which didn't seem too deep, though the current was incredibly strong. We waited 3 hours for a truck to tow us, and finally drop us off in a dry patch. Horray! However, 2 minutes down the road, the flooding returned, worse than before. We waited a while to tag on with another truck, which towed us into this small town, with buildings completely underwater. We were towed onto a ferry, and floated across to safety. It took a full hour to get through the floods, with the help of the towers. Then we continued on, another 6 hours to our hostel. We were traveling alongside another bus from Flores, with an English girl named Emma, and a French Canadian couple. We went to the same hostel in Lanquin, Los Retiros, wich was set off in the hills along a rushing river. There were stilted bungalows, which were all full, so Emma, Oli and I decided to bunk up together in a loft above the bungalow. Not much bug protection, but the beds were okay!Went down the road for some much needed beers and dinner, then retired early, as we were taking the 9am tour to Semuc Champey!
We were picked up at the hostel in a truck, where we rode in the back like cattle. 10k later, down a very bumpy road, we arrived at Las Marias caves. First we all hopped on the rope swing and flung ourselves in the rushing river, then we grabbed candles and headed into the caves. We waded through water, with only the dim light from our candles. It was amazing! Climbed up ladders, through small crevices, and into more pools with waterfalls. The water was surprisingly warm! Such an incredibly unique experience.
From the caves, we trekked back down the hill, grabbed some tubes, and floated down the river for a while. So relaxing to look up at the lush green trees and hills surrounding us, and we were blessed with a beautiful day. Once de-tubing, and walking back, we decided hey, why not throw ourselves off this massive bridge? Its only 30+feet to the raging waters below. We got some great photos! I tried to chicken out, but then some local police drove up and cheered me on, I had to do it! It felt like I would never hit the waters below, and once in the water, it took ages to get back up again!! Crazy.
We then walked up to the entrance to Semuc Champey, buying some delicious handmade chocolates along the way from some local girls. We decided to take the tough hike up the mountain to see the glorious lookout point over the sparkling blue pools below. And what a hike it was! Straight up, through mud, holding on to vines and tree trunks to steady yourself. But the payoff was incredible. What a view! We trekked down to the pools, and immediately hopped in, and each pool became increasingly warmer. This was one of the best days so far, such incredible beauty and fun times!
We decided to go to the Lanquin caves when we got back, to see the hundreds of thousands of bats that emerge at sundown. We waited for a while, and suddenly they began flying out of the mouth, never once hitting us. There were other tourists there that made the experience a bit painful, with CONSTANT flashes so we couldn't see a thing! It was a cool experience though. Oli, Emma and I walked back through town in the dark, passing a massive spider along the way.
English roast for dinner, which was not so great, then beers and great company! We chatted with the very nice guy who was staying below our loft and had been on the tour with us, and basically hung out all evening! We signed up for the trip to Antigua the next morning, a direct bus which would take 7 hours. Not bad!
Or so we thought. After passing through Coban, we found the roads blocked because of an impromptu teachers strike. Our driver took us to a nearby mall to wander for a little more than an hour, and it was FREEZING! Had some lunch, waited ages for our bus to return, and then off we went. We found out that the roads were going to be completely closed the next day, today, for more strikes, and transportation would be impossible. Lucky timing! The rest of the drive was uneventful, restless naps, reading, counting down the minutes until we arrived and could get off the bus. We finally arrived in Antigua around 6ish, a nice 10 hour ride! Wow!
Oli, Emma and I walked around to a few different hostels which were all highly recommended but completely overpriced. We settled on one down the road, a clean place with hot water, and a cheap triple room. We bought some chips and dip, some Brahvas, and played cards all night in the freezing cold.
Today we are off to find a tour to take us up the active volcano! More soon, my lovelies!
We were picked up at the hostel in a truck, where we rode in the back like cattle. 10k later, down a very bumpy road, we arrived at Las Marias caves. First we all hopped on the rope swing and flung ourselves in the rushing river, then we grabbed candles and headed into the caves. We waded through water, with only the dim light from our candles. It was amazing! Climbed up ladders, through small crevices, and into more pools with waterfalls. The water was surprisingly warm! Such an incredibly unique experience.
From the caves, we trekked back down the hill, grabbed some tubes, and floated down the river for a while. So relaxing to look up at the lush green trees and hills surrounding us, and we were blessed with a beautiful day. Once de-tubing, and walking back, we decided hey, why not throw ourselves off this massive bridge? Its only 30+feet to the raging waters below. We got some great photos! I tried to chicken out, but then some local police drove up and cheered me on, I had to do it! It felt like I would never hit the waters below, and once in the water, it took ages to get back up again!! Crazy.
We then walked up to the entrance to Semuc Champey, buying some delicious handmade chocolates along the way from some local girls. We decided to take the tough hike up the mountain to see the glorious lookout point over the sparkling blue pools below. And what a hike it was! Straight up, through mud, holding on to vines and tree trunks to steady yourself. But the payoff was incredible. What a view! We trekked down to the pools, and immediately hopped in, and each pool became increasingly warmer. This was one of the best days so far, such incredible beauty and fun times!
We decided to go to the Lanquin caves when we got back, to see the hundreds of thousands of bats that emerge at sundown. We waited for a while, and suddenly they began flying out of the mouth, never once hitting us. There were other tourists there that made the experience a bit painful, with CONSTANT flashes so we couldn't see a thing! It was a cool experience though. Oli, Emma and I walked back through town in the dark, passing a massive spider along the way.
English roast for dinner, which was not so great, then beers and great company! We chatted with the very nice guy who was staying below our loft and had been on the tour with us, and basically hung out all evening! We signed up for the trip to Antigua the next morning, a direct bus which would take 7 hours. Not bad!
Or so we thought. After passing through Coban, we found the roads blocked because of an impromptu teachers strike. Our driver took us to a nearby mall to wander for a little more than an hour, and it was FREEZING! Had some lunch, waited ages for our bus to return, and then off we went. We found out that the roads were going to be completely closed the next day, today, for more strikes, and transportation would be impossible. Lucky timing! The rest of the drive was uneventful, restless naps, reading, counting down the minutes until we arrived and could get off the bus. We finally arrived in Antigua around 6ish, a nice 10 hour ride! Wow!
Oli, Emma and I walked around to a few different hostels which were all highly recommended but completely overpriced. We settled on one down the road, a clean place with hot water, and a cheap triple room. We bought some chips and dip, some Brahvas, and played cards all night in the freezing cold.
Today we are off to find a tour to take us up the active volcano! More soon, my lovelies!
Friday, October 24, 2008
Well I´ll be a monkeys Uncle...
The day we arrived here in Flores we were told that the President was going to be at Tikal the following day, so therefore, it was closed. Well this was fine with us as after so much hectic travelling, a day of chilling out, laundry and casually meandering around this little island would be perfect. So thats just what we did, with nothing too unusual happening, just us enjoying our vacation! That was until we got our laundry back..... less a pair of my pants! This lead to a very interesting conversation in Spanish (I don´t speak Spanish!), trying to see if they had cropped up at the Laundrette since we had left. Well the lady there, despite the language barrier, clearly did not like the suggestion that she had misplaced my undies, so Jen and I were sent back with our tails between our legs, me down to only 3 pairs of ¨calsones¨! To top off the evening, we also found out that the President was not at Tikal that day but was going to be there the following day, yesterday, when we were planning to go.... another day in Flores it was, it could be worse!
We decided that we should do something with this extra day here, so after breakfast we headed towards the natural caves, Actun Kan, just a couple of kilometers away. The caves themselves were cool, but nothing compared to the Carlsbad Caverns in AZ that we had seen on our cross-country adventure just a month prior. We did get to see a bat though! In fact, it was the walk to the caves that was rather eye-opening.
As we left the main roads of Santa Elana, 2Km from the hostel, on the way to the caves, we found ourselves in what wcan be described as a village settlement in the Jungle. There were horses, pigs, chickens and dogs roaming the muddy road that was lined with timber and tin shacks that stretched into the jungle foliage of the small valley that we were walking through. It really was quite the experience and the inhabitants were certainly interested in the 2 white folks walking through. As odd as it sounds, the main form of transport here is the tuk-tuk, and we were definately in the minority of foreign travellers walking anywhere.
That evening, we did establish that Tikal was infact open today, but the sunrise tour stopped the day we got here - a combination of newly discovered laws (possibly a lack of bribes!) and bad weather, so we booked ourselves in for the 5am departure and settled in for an early night. Come 5:30 this morning we were on our way to the ruins, tired but excited.
It became apparant on this hour long trip that the Guatemalans are very happy to let their livestock run free everywhere. The bus was constantly having to weave past horses, turkeys, pigs, dogs, goats and children to make its way along the winding roads! In fact, on the return journey, we saw a dog just lying on the floor in the middle of the road, traffic whizzing past in both directions! But we did arrive safely to Tikal, ready for our tour. Cesar, our guide, was great, and within minutes we were gazing at turkey like animals belonging to the peacock family, toucans and hearing all the sounds of the jungle. Cesar was fascinating to listen to as he clearly had a love for the area and also spoke great English! The first ruins we came across were in the main plaza, including some great masks and carvings, but it was not until we reached Temple V that we were really blown away.
Temple V is the 2nd biggest pyramid at Tikal and it is beautiful. And it is also very steep! But even steeper are the stairs you have to take to get up to the top. To prevent damage to the stones, a wooden staircase hyas been erected next to the actual steps. I use the word ¨staircase¨ very loosely, as really it is a series of ladders! Jen and I were first to ascend and when we finally got to the top, out of breath already, we became even more breathless. The view was amazing, the temples sticking out of the miles and miles of jungle in every direction. But the strongest sensation of all was the one to stick as close to the wall as possible, not look down and hold on to anything we could! It was even worse when it came to getting down.... again Jen and I were first to attempt the descent, without looking down, we had to do so in the same way we came up, just like a ladder, as the steps were so damn steep. We practically kissed the ground as we returned to earth!
The rest of the tour was wonderful, we saw spider monkeys several times and were able to clinb temple IV, the tallest on the site, except this time up much more managable flights of steps - the view, however, was even better! This was at the end of our tour and Jen and I decided to explore a little futher on our own and headed down a road our map indicated lead to some more temples. We had gone quite far but still no ruins, or signposts, and out of nowhere there was a VERY large rustle in the jungle next to us. Our pace quickened as we had visions of a jaguar tracking us! Within no time we stumbled across the next set, and thankfully, more people and this lead us back to the entrance!! As we returned for the shuttle back we also came across an entire pack of racoons crossing the path... of course by the time I got the camera out there where only a few stragglers left!
On the return journey an observation about the Guatemalan people became very clear to me. They love their weapons! The guys clearing the sides of the road don´t have strimmers or weed-whackers, let alone a lawn mower, but just go at it with machetes.... very efficiently I might add too! Anybody in the security business here, whether for a bank or a parking lot, has a stockless shotgun and the Police are something else! Giant automatic rifles, no matter if they are in a small town, a city, or just kicking it in the back of a pick up! But what made all this clear to me was what we saw today..... in a small village at the side of the road, there was a cop standing next to a shanty hut, in his hand was one of the scariest pieces of artillery I have laid my eyes on! (Chris, you´ll appreciate this!) He had a stockless shotgun, with a collapsable stock attached, a magazine so big that one would only expect to see it on a cartoon AK-47, and to top it all off a silencer the size of my forearm attached to it!!! What was this guy expecting to encounter in the tiny Guatemalan village!!
Anyway... we did make it back with no firearm contact and were greeted back at Los Amigos by the resident parrots accompanying us for lunch, and a new addition to the family.... a turkey, that has spent most of this afternoon staring at the mirror, clucking and pecking at itself!
We leave here tomorrow, back on the road, to Semuc Champey to experience the natural beauty of a limestone bridge and swimming holes! From there we shall go on to Antigua and Lake Atitilan, after which we shall head back to the East to Rio Dulce and take a river tour to Livingston. From there into Honduras.
At least thats the plan, we will see!!
Till next time... Adios.
We decided that we should do something with this extra day here, so after breakfast we headed towards the natural caves, Actun Kan, just a couple of kilometers away. The caves themselves were cool, but nothing compared to the Carlsbad Caverns in AZ that we had seen on our cross-country adventure just a month prior. We did get to see a bat though! In fact, it was the walk to the caves that was rather eye-opening.
As we left the main roads of Santa Elana, 2Km from the hostel, on the way to the caves, we found ourselves in what wcan be described as a village settlement in the Jungle. There were horses, pigs, chickens and dogs roaming the muddy road that was lined with timber and tin shacks that stretched into the jungle foliage of the small valley that we were walking through. It really was quite the experience and the inhabitants were certainly interested in the 2 white folks walking through. As odd as it sounds, the main form of transport here is the tuk-tuk, and we were definately in the minority of foreign travellers walking anywhere.
That evening, we did establish that Tikal was infact open today, but the sunrise tour stopped the day we got here - a combination of newly discovered laws (possibly a lack of bribes!) and bad weather, so we booked ourselves in for the 5am departure and settled in for an early night. Come 5:30 this morning we were on our way to the ruins, tired but excited.
It became apparant on this hour long trip that the Guatemalans are very happy to let their livestock run free everywhere. The bus was constantly having to weave past horses, turkeys, pigs, dogs, goats and children to make its way along the winding roads! In fact, on the return journey, we saw a dog just lying on the floor in the middle of the road, traffic whizzing past in both directions! But we did arrive safely to Tikal, ready for our tour. Cesar, our guide, was great, and within minutes we were gazing at turkey like animals belonging to the peacock family, toucans and hearing all the sounds of the jungle. Cesar was fascinating to listen to as he clearly had a love for the area and also spoke great English! The first ruins we came across were in the main plaza, including some great masks and carvings, but it was not until we reached Temple V that we were really blown away.
Temple V is the 2nd biggest pyramid at Tikal and it is beautiful. And it is also very steep! But even steeper are the stairs you have to take to get up to the top. To prevent damage to the stones, a wooden staircase hyas been erected next to the actual steps. I use the word ¨staircase¨ very loosely, as really it is a series of ladders! Jen and I were first to ascend and when we finally got to the top, out of breath already, we became even more breathless. The view was amazing, the temples sticking out of the miles and miles of jungle in every direction. But the strongest sensation of all was the one to stick as close to the wall as possible, not look down and hold on to anything we could! It was even worse when it came to getting down.... again Jen and I were first to attempt the descent, without looking down, we had to do so in the same way we came up, just like a ladder, as the steps were so damn steep. We practically kissed the ground as we returned to earth!
The rest of the tour was wonderful, we saw spider monkeys several times and were able to clinb temple IV, the tallest on the site, except this time up much more managable flights of steps - the view, however, was even better! This was at the end of our tour and Jen and I decided to explore a little futher on our own and headed down a road our map indicated lead to some more temples. We had gone quite far but still no ruins, or signposts, and out of nowhere there was a VERY large rustle in the jungle next to us. Our pace quickened as we had visions of a jaguar tracking us! Within no time we stumbled across the next set, and thankfully, more people and this lead us back to the entrance!! As we returned for the shuttle back we also came across an entire pack of racoons crossing the path... of course by the time I got the camera out there where only a few stragglers left!
On the return journey an observation about the Guatemalan people became very clear to me. They love their weapons! The guys clearing the sides of the road don´t have strimmers or weed-whackers, let alone a lawn mower, but just go at it with machetes.... very efficiently I might add too! Anybody in the security business here, whether for a bank or a parking lot, has a stockless shotgun and the Police are something else! Giant automatic rifles, no matter if they are in a small town, a city, or just kicking it in the back of a pick up! But what made all this clear to me was what we saw today..... in a small village at the side of the road, there was a cop standing next to a shanty hut, in his hand was one of the scariest pieces of artillery I have laid my eyes on! (Chris, you´ll appreciate this!) He had a stockless shotgun, with a collapsable stock attached, a magazine so big that one would only expect to see it on a cartoon AK-47, and to top it all off a silencer the size of my forearm attached to it!!! What was this guy expecting to encounter in the tiny Guatemalan village!!
Anyway... we did make it back with no firearm contact and were greeted back at Los Amigos by the resident parrots accompanying us for lunch, and a new addition to the family.... a turkey, that has spent most of this afternoon staring at the mirror, clucking and pecking at itself!
We leave here tomorrow, back on the road, to Semuc Champey to experience the natural beauty of a limestone bridge and swimming holes! From there we shall go on to Antigua and Lake Atitilan, after which we shall head back to the East to Rio Dulce and take a river tour to Livingston. From there into Honduras.
At least thats the plan, we will see!!
Till next time... Adios.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
You better Belize it.
Three hours later, we arrived in Belize City! The guidebook boasted of a quaint Carribean town, where you can walk nowhere without being serenaded by Reggae Beats and friendly faces. I have come to the conclusion that the author must have been on some heavy drugs. I have never been in such a shit-scary place in my life. Talk about trench town!!! We walked by the crumbling buildings and were followed by many drunk homeless men, asking us if we needed directions to the ATM. Yea, that sounded like a good idea. After a bit of bickering in the streets, we hopped in the water taxi to go over to Caye Caulker. We didn´t want to spend one more minute in that scary town. Caye Caulker was nice, but as it was still raining, there was little to do other than eat and drink, which we did. Can you believe we had to pay $39 Belizian, which is $20 american dollars, for a 6 pack of Red Stripe!?? At this point we knew we needed to leave Belize, STAT. Had a nice evening of cards in our room, listening to the rain pour down.
The next day, we grabbed a water taxi back to Belize City, then a Chicken Bus to San Ignacio. And a chicken bus it was! 2 live chickens were in the back seat, sitting in plastic bags, clucking away. Wow. Arrived in San Ignacio, where we were met by a very nice american man who gave us all the informaiton in the world that we could need for the town, and let us know that the Guatemalan border was closed because the bridge was under water!! Terrible flooding everywhere. Crazy. We went to the shop, bought a bottle of rum, some bread and fillings, and went back to the hotel. Nice evening of kings in the corner and cocktails!
Woke up today, went across the road to get an update on the border. It had opened! Hopped in a chicken bus, and away we went!! The border crossing was no big deal,and thankfully the water had receeded just enough to allow traffic through. You could see the standing water in all the fields, this flooding will be devestating for many people. After attiving in our third country, at the end of our third week, we were relieved to be back on comfortable ground! Grabbed a collectivo to Flores, got a room at Los Amigos (nice private room, with actual art on the walls, in the best place in town... $11!!!) Had a huge pizza lunch down the street overlooking the lake, and are feeling great. Its nice to finally catch you guys up on the blog! Miss everyone, we are enjoying your comments. Love you all!! :)
The next day, we grabbed a water taxi back to Belize City, then a Chicken Bus to San Ignacio. And a chicken bus it was! 2 live chickens were in the back seat, sitting in plastic bags, clucking away. Wow. Arrived in San Ignacio, where we were met by a very nice american man who gave us all the informaiton in the world that we could need for the town, and let us know that the Guatemalan border was closed because the bridge was under water!! Terrible flooding everywhere. Crazy. We went to the shop, bought a bottle of rum, some bread and fillings, and went back to the hotel. Nice evening of kings in the corner and cocktails!
Woke up today, went across the road to get an update on the border. It had opened! Hopped in a chicken bus, and away we went!! The border crossing was no big deal,and thankfully the water had receeded just enough to allow traffic through. You could see the standing water in all the fields, this flooding will be devestating for many people. After attiving in our third country, at the end of our third week, we were relieved to be back on comfortable ground! Grabbed a collectivo to Flores, got a room at Los Amigos (nice private room, with actual art on the walls, in the best place in town... $11!!!) Had a huge pizza lunch down the street overlooking the lake, and are feeling great. Its nice to finally catch you guys up on the blog! Miss everyone, we are enjoying your comments. Love you all!! :)
Adios, Amigos!!
So, once we got back to the hostel, we decided to play another thrilling, hard core game of volleyball. Keep in mind that at this point, we were practically professionals. Diving in the sand, spiking the ball, all our blood, sweat and tears went into this game. However, Kirsty had to go ahead and show us up!! We played the first game, our team won. Then we played against the Israelis, who asked Kirsty to play on their team to even out the numbers. We were getting nice and competetive, when all of a sudden Kirsty flew to the ground. I was under the impression that was was just so pissed that she missed a shot or something that she was getting out her aggression. Oli, however, thought she had spied a cockroach. She screamed out ¨Kev, Kev!¨and we stopped the game, finally cluing into the fact that it wasnt just her being badass. Turns out, she severely screwed up her knee, and it had popped out of the socket. People ran and grabbed ice, another lady called the hospital on the island. The first verdict was that there was no ambulance and we would have to carry her. Not such a nice idea. Then the paramedics finally showed up, and had to put her leg in a brace before carrying her off on a stretcher. I held back the chihuahua and tried to stay out of the way. She was SO brave. Ended up having to go to Cancun, get xrays, and is now stranded in paradise with Kev for 6 weeks. In a twisted way I am super jealous; Isla is heavenly.
That night we had some drinks, said goodbye to Wanda and Nico, and had more drinks with friends until the wee hours.
The following morning we were off to Playa Del Carmen, with a stop in Cancun to try and find a new camera. Ours was 100% broken. After running around like crazy people, we did not find the replacement we were looking for, and headed down to Playa with our tails between our legs.
Met up with Bill and Allie at our hotel, and had a delicious dinner of tacos at the food stalls. Walked along the beach, went back to our cabañas, chatted a bit, then had an early night.
The following day we found our camera, but for $5,039 pesos! Holy cow. Bought it anyway, we needed a camera, needed a waterproof one, already had the memory cards, batteries, etc. Spent the remainder of the day on the beach, then had a nice dinner beachside. Had a few beers, and once again tucked in early.
The next morning we said Adios to Bill and Allie, and headed down south to Tulum!
Upon arrival at Tulum, we headed out to find our cabañas at Don Armandos (how funny you guys met there Elise!!). Unfortunately, they were closed for repairs for 2 weeks. Looked like a fun place! We trekked halfway into town before hailing a cab for the rest of the way. The rain poured down. Stayed at the Weary Traveler hostel in town, which was packed and had great reviews. However, all I could smell all night was the sewage from the bathroom. Bleh. Left the following morning for Chetumal, seeing none of the ruins we had planned on.
Chetumal was not much of a place, but we had a great hostel in town at a familys home. We watched The Sword In The Stone with their little niño, in spanish, and read in bed.
The following morning we headed into Belize!! We were so excited. At the border, whilst getting our exit stamps, we were bribed $20 each by the immigration officials. WTF??? Not being well versed in border crossings overland, we paid angrily, and were obviously denied a receipt. Turns out every gringo on the bus had paid. UGH. I do wonder what would have happened if I had refused, but that shiny gun kinda gave the man his authority.
That night we had some drinks, said goodbye to Wanda and Nico, and had more drinks with friends until the wee hours.
The following morning we were off to Playa Del Carmen, with a stop in Cancun to try and find a new camera. Ours was 100% broken. After running around like crazy people, we did not find the replacement we were looking for, and headed down to Playa with our tails between our legs.
Met up with Bill and Allie at our hotel, and had a delicious dinner of tacos at the food stalls. Walked along the beach, went back to our cabañas, chatted a bit, then had an early night.
The following day we found our camera, but for $5,039 pesos! Holy cow. Bought it anyway, we needed a camera, needed a waterproof one, already had the memory cards, batteries, etc. Spent the remainder of the day on the beach, then had a nice dinner beachside. Had a few beers, and once again tucked in early.
The next morning we said Adios to Bill and Allie, and headed down south to Tulum!
Upon arrival at Tulum, we headed out to find our cabañas at Don Armandos (how funny you guys met there Elise!!). Unfortunately, they were closed for repairs for 2 weeks. Looked like a fun place! We trekked halfway into town before hailing a cab for the rest of the way. The rain poured down. Stayed at the Weary Traveler hostel in town, which was packed and had great reviews. However, all I could smell all night was the sewage from the bathroom. Bleh. Left the following morning for Chetumal, seeing none of the ruins we had planned on.
Chetumal was not much of a place, but we had a great hostel in town at a familys home. We watched The Sword In The Stone with their little niño, in spanish, and read in bed.
The following morning we headed into Belize!! We were so excited. At the border, whilst getting our exit stamps, we were bribed $20 each by the immigration officials. WTF??? Not being well versed in border crossings overland, we paid angrily, and were obviously denied a receipt. Turns out every gringo on the bus had paid. UGH. I do wonder what would have happened if I had refused, but that shiny gun kinda gave the man his authority.
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Island living
We arrived at Isla Mujeres from Cancun a little apprehensive as the entire walk to the Hostel with our packs we were hoarded by people selling us crap! But when we did find the Poc-Na we were quite impressed..... the oldest in Mexico, it has a very communal feel, cheap food and drinks, activities and it`s own beach bar, volleyball court and stretch of Ocean - it was as close as we could feel to an Island Paradise.
As it got dark we ventured out to find some eats and wandered through the streets of the tiny town, again being pestered to coming into the shops, but all part of the experience really. We found ourselves a cheap bar, $1 drinks and $1.50 seafood taco, and relaxed. We strolled back to Poc-Na and enjoyed some reading and more cheap beer and waited for the beach bar to open so that we could cash in our free welcome drinks.... when it did, it was like being in a movie, sitting on the sand, drinking a Pina-Colada, surrounded by palm trees, the ocean and a grass roofed bar. All to be taken in under a beautifully bright moon.... who could ask for anything more?!
We were a little dazed the following morning and we headed to the South tip of the Island to the Turtle sanctuary. We hopped on the bus and rode it to our stop, just a short walk from the stop. Short, it may have been, but it felt like an eternity in the heat! We found the sanctuary and wandered around.... the turtles were very cool, everything from little babies to big ol´ giant ones, it was a lot of fun. Jen found a dead baby though. Sad! From here, we walked back to where the bus stop was to see a park that Jen had read about. A Pirate had fell in love with a girl, so to win her heart, he built her a beautiful park. However, she ran off with a local and the pirate went crazy. Well the park definitely showed the crazy side! It was a dump! It had a "zoo", which consisted of some warthogs, 2 crocs heald in only by chicken wire and some sad, sad , sad looking spider monkeys. It was terrible! So we hopped in a cab to head back to Playa Norte.
Playa Norte is the beach at the North end of the island, right by the hostel, that was supposed to be great. So after a little lunch we thought we´d head down and see what all the fuss was about. At lunch however, jen thought that she recognized a guy she went to college with.... we´d find out later! The beach was beautiful, the ocean was so warm and clear, we could walk out forever before it even reached our waists. We had fun and I also saw some one I was 97% sure that I went to Uni with, but she left and I didnt get a chance to find out!
That evening we were sitting down to update our journals, which hadn´t been done in days (mine still hasn´t!) and a couple came to sit with us as they thought we were so into our writing, they would be able to read quietly..... well it didn´t really work out like that! Wanda and Nico were awesome,they had been living in Canada, Wanda originally from Romania, Nico from Germany and the had met in France! Quite the travellers already! They had just come from where we were heading to and had some great stories, warnings and advice. All 4 of us hit it off straight away and the alcohol kept flowing and as Jen went to the bar she came back with an old friend.... she and Bill had worked together in Chico and he happened to be passing through on his way to Guatemala with his girlfriend Ali, to go and volunteer with a company called Maya Peddle. Well, now there were 6 of us, even more drinks came out as the band started to play, and before we knew it we were chatting with a guy and a girl from Scotland who had sat next to us.... Kev and Kirsty were at the start of their 1 year trip also, so 6 became 8 and the band kept playing. The lead singer of whom worked at Poc-Na and was soooooo drunk that we couldnt fathom him playing the guitar and before we knew it, everyone present had a free shot of tequila in their hands and things were getting crazy! Particularly when the 2nd free tequila came out (this was Sunday night..... gotta love the vagabond life!) and the band kept playing! Needless to say, we had a great night, and even though it was raining, our spirits couldn´t be dampened.
We woke up, a little hazy, and headed to reception for the snorkel tour we were going to sign up for with Wanda and Nico..... fortunately for Nico, as he was incapacitated from the night before still, it was cancelled as the rain continued to hammer down on us spiradically. We grabbed lunch, and the rain calmed down, the 4 of us decided to head down to the beach and read...... but we got side tracked. Before we knew it we were playing volleyball, fairly well too, and withing a short period our 4 became 8 once again, and we all battled in the sand for supremecy!!
When the Sun went down, it was time for dinner and we went with Wanda, Nico, Bill and Ali, for more good food, cheap beer, good times and great new (and old) friends. We retreated back to the hostel and spent the evening playing cards, BS-ing and having fun.
The following day, we were on for snorkelling and the 4 of us signed up and wandered down to the docks with our tour guide. After a little prep we were on the ocean, heading to the coral, for the 1st of our 2 45min dives before we had some lunch and visited the turtle sanctuary, which we had already done. The water was great and I was very excited to try the waterpoof camera in more than just a hot tub or pool! Well, one photo in and it stopped working! The shutter was jammed, so after 20 mins of messing with it and mising the sights, I put it in my pocket and enjoyed the snorkelling! It was great, lots of fish and life all over teh place. We had been told that hurricane Wilma had destroyed so much, and it was still so beautiful, I found it hard to imagine what it was like before. We floated with the current and admired the fish, ranging from tiny schools to big loners! It was great, and despite the float belt they made us wear, it was easy enough to dive down and swim amongst the fishes closer to the bottom.
As we neared the end of the 1st dive, I caught up with Jen.... she didn´t look so good. Turns out that the ocean was a little choppy for her and she was feeling the effects of motion sickness, to the extent that she had just given the fishes a hearty meal and she had to swim away before it caught up with her!! Nice! Fortunately we were just a few yards from the boat at this time, whereupon we clambered in and went to the next stop for our 2nd dive. Nico and I hopped right in and I had a feeling Jen was going to stay behind. The 1st thing I saw in the water was a squid, it was so cool seeing it swim along but after a short while I lost as it was so camoflauged but just a second later I came across an Octopus... also extremely camoflauged, I was very happy!
Jen joined me finally, apparently after hurling all over the side of the boat, but feeling much better for it! We continued to enjoy the fish and explore the artificial reef that had been put in, it was a fun trip! After a great lunch we headed back to the docks and departed to head back to Poc-Na for more antics!
More to come, but our bus leaves for Chetumal. The heavens just opened here but we love this tropical rain, so refreshing from the oppresive heat!
We should be in Belize by tomorrow, country no. 2!
As it got dark we ventured out to find some eats and wandered through the streets of the tiny town, again being pestered to coming into the shops, but all part of the experience really. We found ourselves a cheap bar, $1 drinks and $1.50 seafood taco, and relaxed. We strolled back to Poc-Na and enjoyed some reading and more cheap beer and waited for the beach bar to open so that we could cash in our free welcome drinks.... when it did, it was like being in a movie, sitting on the sand, drinking a Pina-Colada, surrounded by palm trees, the ocean and a grass roofed bar. All to be taken in under a beautifully bright moon.... who could ask for anything more?!
We were a little dazed the following morning and we headed to the South tip of the Island to the Turtle sanctuary. We hopped on the bus and rode it to our stop, just a short walk from the stop. Short, it may have been, but it felt like an eternity in the heat! We found the sanctuary and wandered around.... the turtles were very cool, everything from little babies to big ol´ giant ones, it was a lot of fun. Jen found a dead baby though. Sad! From here, we walked back to where the bus stop was to see a park that Jen had read about. A Pirate had fell in love with a girl, so to win her heart, he built her a beautiful park. However, she ran off with a local and the pirate went crazy. Well the park definitely showed the crazy side! It was a dump! It had a "zoo", which consisted of some warthogs, 2 crocs heald in only by chicken wire and some sad, sad , sad looking spider monkeys. It was terrible! So we hopped in a cab to head back to Playa Norte.
Playa Norte is the beach at the North end of the island, right by the hostel, that was supposed to be great. So after a little lunch we thought we´d head down and see what all the fuss was about. At lunch however, jen thought that she recognized a guy she went to college with.... we´d find out later! The beach was beautiful, the ocean was so warm and clear, we could walk out forever before it even reached our waists. We had fun and I also saw some one I was 97% sure that I went to Uni with, but she left and I didnt get a chance to find out!
That evening we were sitting down to update our journals, which hadn´t been done in days (mine still hasn´t!) and a couple came to sit with us as they thought we were so into our writing, they would be able to read quietly..... well it didn´t really work out like that! Wanda and Nico were awesome,they had been living in Canada, Wanda originally from Romania, Nico from Germany and the had met in France! Quite the travellers already! They had just come from where we were heading to and had some great stories, warnings and advice. All 4 of us hit it off straight away and the alcohol kept flowing and as Jen went to the bar she came back with an old friend.... she and Bill had worked together in Chico and he happened to be passing through on his way to Guatemala with his girlfriend Ali, to go and volunteer with a company called Maya Peddle. Well, now there were 6 of us, even more drinks came out as the band started to play, and before we knew it we were chatting with a guy and a girl from Scotland who had sat next to us.... Kev and Kirsty were at the start of their 1 year trip also, so 6 became 8 and the band kept playing. The lead singer of whom worked at Poc-Na and was soooooo drunk that we couldnt fathom him playing the guitar and before we knew it, everyone present had a free shot of tequila in their hands and things were getting crazy! Particularly when the 2nd free tequila came out (this was Sunday night..... gotta love the vagabond life!) and the band kept playing! Needless to say, we had a great night, and even though it was raining, our spirits couldn´t be dampened.
We woke up, a little hazy, and headed to reception for the snorkel tour we were going to sign up for with Wanda and Nico..... fortunately for Nico, as he was incapacitated from the night before still, it was cancelled as the rain continued to hammer down on us spiradically. We grabbed lunch, and the rain calmed down, the 4 of us decided to head down to the beach and read...... but we got side tracked. Before we knew it we were playing volleyball, fairly well too, and withing a short period our 4 became 8 once again, and we all battled in the sand for supremecy!!
When the Sun went down, it was time for dinner and we went with Wanda, Nico, Bill and Ali, for more good food, cheap beer, good times and great new (and old) friends. We retreated back to the hostel and spent the evening playing cards, BS-ing and having fun.
The following day, we were on for snorkelling and the 4 of us signed up and wandered down to the docks with our tour guide. After a little prep we were on the ocean, heading to the coral, for the 1st of our 2 45min dives before we had some lunch and visited the turtle sanctuary, which we had already done. The water was great and I was very excited to try the waterpoof camera in more than just a hot tub or pool! Well, one photo in and it stopped working! The shutter was jammed, so after 20 mins of messing with it and mising the sights, I put it in my pocket and enjoyed the snorkelling! It was great, lots of fish and life all over teh place. We had been told that hurricane Wilma had destroyed so much, and it was still so beautiful, I found it hard to imagine what it was like before. We floated with the current and admired the fish, ranging from tiny schools to big loners! It was great, and despite the float belt they made us wear, it was easy enough to dive down and swim amongst the fishes closer to the bottom.
As we neared the end of the 1st dive, I caught up with Jen.... she didn´t look so good. Turns out that the ocean was a little choppy for her and she was feeling the effects of motion sickness, to the extent that she had just given the fishes a hearty meal and she had to swim away before it caught up with her!! Nice! Fortunately we were just a few yards from the boat at this time, whereupon we clambered in and went to the next stop for our 2nd dive. Nico and I hopped right in and I had a feeling Jen was going to stay behind. The 1st thing I saw in the water was a squid, it was so cool seeing it swim along but after a short while I lost as it was so camoflauged but just a second later I came across an Octopus... also extremely camoflauged, I was very happy!
Jen joined me finally, apparently after hurling all over the side of the boat, but feeling much better for it! We continued to enjoy the fish and explore the artificial reef that had been put in, it was a fun trip! After a great lunch we headed back to the docks and departed to head back to Poc-Na for more antics!
More to come, but our bus leaves for Chetumal. The heavens just opened here but we love this tropical rain, so refreshing from the oppresive heat!
We should be in Belize by tomorrow, country no. 2!
Friday, October 17, 2008
Campeche.. a bit late! Piste, Chichen, and arriving in Isla
Wow, lots to catch up on!
Last we wrote, we were off to Campeche. We arrived at the bus station and ran into two English travelers, whom we shared a cab with to the Monkey Hostel. After checking in, Oli and I headed down to the beach and wandered around a bit to check out the town. The beach was more of a wall, kinda filthy, but with spectacular views out into the ocean. There seemed to be a storm brewing, so we went in search of a shop or a place to eat. We walked through the central Zocalo, which was my favorite part of the town. Beautiful, pristine, with tons of walkways, benches, and lights. It was gorgeous. We walked around the town and were suddenly caught in a downpour. We tried to wait it out in the alcove of a theatre, but to no avail. Finally we decided to make a run for the hostel, and when we were a block away, we heard a voice call out "do you speak English!?"
To our surprise, this voice came from a bar! It was a girl from Houston, who was there with her boyfriend. They had met two Dutch travelers and were in the middle of a drinkathon. Glad to be out of the rain, we settled down for some great company and some coronas. We hung out for a while, before promising to meet up that evening to celebrate the girls birthday. Went out for dinner, back to the hostel where we found the Brits, and with them in tow, trudged through the rain to the bar. We ended up having a great night out, talking all sorts of politics, economics.. it was a blast.
The next day we wandered around town, too cheap to do most of the tourist activities other than the Botanical Garden, which ended up being awful!! Then off to the shop to get some food to cook for dinner. Early night in, watched a movie, made dinner, passed out.
Then it was off to Merida in the morning, to connect to Piste, where Chichen Itza is. We grabbed a hostel after a bit of trouble, and read all night. The rain poured down.
In the morning, we woke up early, trekked over to the ruins, stored out bags, and explored. The ruins are very well preserved, and it was fun to be at the first "seven wonders" sight of our trip. However, we found the previous ruins that we have seen to be much more majestic, and so we kinda rushed through it.
Bus to Cancun, the a ferry to Isla Mujures. What a paradise! They call it the backpackers Cancun, and it was just amazing. The Poc-na hostel is the oldest in mexico, and it was phenomenal.
I am being glared at by a guy who wants the computer, so I will give all the great details of Isla later- including reconnections, great new friends, volleyball, drunkest musician ever, a trip to the mexican hospital complete with a broken knee (not us!!) broken camera, puking whilst snorkeling, and more! Lots of fun stories to come, my friends. Stay tuned!! :)
Last we wrote, we were off to Campeche. We arrived at the bus station and ran into two English travelers, whom we shared a cab with to the Monkey Hostel. After checking in, Oli and I headed down to the beach and wandered around a bit to check out the town. The beach was more of a wall, kinda filthy, but with spectacular views out into the ocean. There seemed to be a storm brewing, so we went in search of a shop or a place to eat. We walked through the central Zocalo, which was my favorite part of the town. Beautiful, pristine, with tons of walkways, benches, and lights. It was gorgeous. We walked around the town and were suddenly caught in a downpour. We tried to wait it out in the alcove of a theatre, but to no avail. Finally we decided to make a run for the hostel, and when we were a block away, we heard a voice call out "do you speak English!?"
To our surprise, this voice came from a bar! It was a girl from Houston, who was there with her boyfriend. They had met two Dutch travelers and were in the middle of a drinkathon. Glad to be out of the rain, we settled down for some great company and some coronas. We hung out for a while, before promising to meet up that evening to celebrate the girls birthday. Went out for dinner, back to the hostel where we found the Brits, and with them in tow, trudged through the rain to the bar. We ended up having a great night out, talking all sorts of politics, economics.. it was a blast.
The next day we wandered around town, too cheap to do most of the tourist activities other than the Botanical Garden, which ended up being awful!! Then off to the shop to get some food to cook for dinner. Early night in, watched a movie, made dinner, passed out.
Then it was off to Merida in the morning, to connect to Piste, where Chichen Itza is. We grabbed a hostel after a bit of trouble, and read all night. The rain poured down.
In the morning, we woke up early, trekked over to the ruins, stored out bags, and explored. The ruins are very well preserved, and it was fun to be at the first "seven wonders" sight of our trip. However, we found the previous ruins that we have seen to be much more majestic, and so we kinda rushed through it.
Bus to Cancun, the a ferry to Isla Mujures. What a paradise! They call it the backpackers Cancun, and it was just amazing. The Poc-na hostel is the oldest in mexico, and it was phenomenal.
I am being glared at by a guy who wants the computer, so I will give all the great details of Isla later- including reconnections, great new friends, volleyball, drunkest musician ever, a trip to the mexican hospital complete with a broken knee (not us!!) broken camera, puking whilst snorkeling, and more! Lots of fun stories to come, my friends. Stay tuned!! :)
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Island life.....
Just qa very quick note..... sorry for the lack of entries, we are alive but we have been in a black hole of paradise and amazing friends, both new and old - on the same day Jen and I both ran into someone we went to Uni with ??!!
Anyway, we have to leave the Isla Mujeres today for Playa Del Carmen and we will give a fully updated account of the last week soon, but for now, the last few hours of the Island Life await us.
Love to all
Anyway, we have to leave the Isla Mujeres today for Playa Del Carmen and we will give a fully updated account of the last week soon, but for now, the last few hours of the Island Life await us.
Love to all
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Jungle Love...... Oh-ee-oh-ee-oh!
So, just to continue from last time (thank god it posted, i thought i had been cut short!)....
We left Teotihuacan and hopped on a "collectivo", our 1st experience of the group taxi, 10 pesos ($1) to get dropped anywhere on the route..... the town of San Juan was our stop. The 3 of us piled in, a little apprehensive, and trundled into the town in the Mexican equivalent of a Bedford Rascal (for you Brits!). We hopped out and immediately spotted the market, tacos were on the horizon and they, once again, did not dissappoint! Granted it was mystery meat, but it was delicious and spicy! From San Juan we knew there was a bus back to MC, we just had to find the stop and after a little waiting here, some bad Spanish there, we located the stop, got our tickets and waited in the shade.
The ride itself was interesting, a busker of sorts bust out his guitar and started serenading the passangers for some extra cash, interesting considering that the only "busking" that we had seen was where people got on the subway, turned on a stereo and tried to sell you the wailing melodies drifting down the car at high volume! This was a nice change and sent me straight to sleep until we pulled into the bus depot. Thomas left us and we headed to Frida Kahlo´s house (he, like me 2 years ago, did not know of the famous Mexican artist!). A few subway changes and a brief walk past more delicious smelling taco stands, we reached her house. It was very interesting to see her house, her collection of various art forms and sit in the tranquil garden and relax after the early morning and frantic pyramid climbing!
We returned to the hostel, collected our bags and headed to the bus station once again for our 13hr ride to Palenque, a small town nestled deep in the jungle, home to some of the most impotant Mayan ruins to date.
We arrived at 730am on Sunday and hopped straight in a collectivo to El Panchan, a backpacker haven right outside the national park, set up by Don Mucho so that travellers could see the ruins easily and stay at low cost. This really was in the heart of the jungle! We found our hostel, Marguerite & Ed´s, and booked in for 3 nights for a private cabana and waited for it to be ready at Don Muchos restuarant. We gobbled down some brekky and dreamt of the shower to come! The room was great, finally no roommates, although the roof space did connect directly with the cabana next door...... these mediterranean girls did not have good singing voices!
We ventured into Palenque in the afternoon and picked up some supplies, water and sandwich provisions for our trip to the ruins the next day. We ate the famed pizza here at Don Muchos and splurged on beer as the band played... so nice just to relax as opposed to the fast pace of Mexico City. Bedtime finally called and we fell asleep to the sounds of the Jungle.
We awoke early and trapsed down to the entrance of the park, hailed a collective and hopped out at the entrance ruins. On the advice of some fellow travellers we found a guide, Gustavo, who promised an hour for the both of us for 150 pesos, not bad for a small group. Gustavo was great very informative but unfortunatly the main attraction, the termple of inscriptions, was closed.... still, what a sight, Pakal, the the great ruler here, had a tomb nestled deep inside, not discovered until later in teh excavation! Pakal was inbred (the royals had only one family to choose a mate from.... their own!) with 6 fingers on each hand and his right leg shorter than his left. This was all clearly documented in the stone carvings! We learnt of the sacrificial beliefs, the Mayans cut off the heads of slave ( the Aztecs removed still beating hearts) and sprinkled the blood on crops so that the Gods of the Underworld would push the crops (corn and peyote) up through the soil. We saw the Mayan toilets, including plumbing! And learnt of the belief system, all very interesting. After our tour, we explored the rest of the site on our own, trekking into the jungle to see some of the other excavated and other un-excavated sites. Palenque has some 1400 structures, only 500 of which are excavated. We encountered, murials, steep steps, an iguana, slippery steps, more steep steps and finally some beautiful jungle water falls, ending in some amazing pools. As we left we saw that the tomb of the Red Queen was now open, an eerie, damp system of small rooms, including her sarcophagous. We had come across her body in MC, she is named the Red Queen because the dyes used in the tomb and in her death robes soaked into her bones over the years, leaving her skeloton red..... quite the fashion statement!
We left the ruins, hung out and relaxed here at El Panchan. We were halfway through a movie (a creature comfort for us.... the wonders of the ipod!) when the heavens opened. We had been hearing thunder and seeing lightening all afternoon but none had affected us. Now, in full force, we were witnessing our 1st tropical downpour. Quite the sight! After hitting the hay however, something unsuspecting happened.... the outside light of our cabana turned itself on.... rather odd and a little concerning, was someone trying to lure us out into the jungle?!
So we spent today relaxing, this is a vacation after all, venturing into Palenque for more tacos and a stroll in the sweltering heat and humidity to return and do some more relaxing before we leave tomorrow for the town of Campeche. Located on the coast 7 hours north of here, it is famed as a place frequented by pirates..... should be interesting!
More updates in the near future, hope all is well with everyone!
We left Teotihuacan and hopped on a "collectivo", our 1st experience of the group taxi, 10 pesos ($1) to get dropped anywhere on the route..... the town of San Juan was our stop. The 3 of us piled in, a little apprehensive, and trundled into the town in the Mexican equivalent of a Bedford Rascal (for you Brits!). We hopped out and immediately spotted the market, tacos were on the horizon and they, once again, did not dissappoint! Granted it was mystery meat, but it was delicious and spicy! From San Juan we knew there was a bus back to MC, we just had to find the stop and after a little waiting here, some bad Spanish there, we located the stop, got our tickets and waited in the shade.
The ride itself was interesting, a busker of sorts bust out his guitar and started serenading the passangers for some extra cash, interesting considering that the only "busking" that we had seen was where people got on the subway, turned on a stereo and tried to sell you the wailing melodies drifting down the car at high volume! This was a nice change and sent me straight to sleep until we pulled into the bus depot. Thomas left us and we headed to Frida Kahlo´s house (he, like me 2 years ago, did not know of the famous Mexican artist!). A few subway changes and a brief walk past more delicious smelling taco stands, we reached her house. It was very interesting to see her house, her collection of various art forms and sit in the tranquil garden and relax after the early morning and frantic pyramid climbing!
We returned to the hostel, collected our bags and headed to the bus station once again for our 13hr ride to Palenque, a small town nestled deep in the jungle, home to some of the most impotant Mayan ruins to date.
We arrived at 730am on Sunday and hopped straight in a collectivo to El Panchan, a backpacker haven right outside the national park, set up by Don Mucho so that travellers could see the ruins easily and stay at low cost. This really was in the heart of the jungle! We found our hostel, Marguerite & Ed´s, and booked in for 3 nights for a private cabana and waited for it to be ready at Don Muchos restuarant. We gobbled down some brekky and dreamt of the shower to come! The room was great, finally no roommates, although the roof space did connect directly with the cabana next door...... these mediterranean girls did not have good singing voices!
We ventured into Palenque in the afternoon and picked up some supplies, water and sandwich provisions for our trip to the ruins the next day. We ate the famed pizza here at Don Muchos and splurged on beer as the band played... so nice just to relax as opposed to the fast pace of Mexico City. Bedtime finally called and we fell asleep to the sounds of the Jungle.
We awoke early and trapsed down to the entrance of the park, hailed a collective and hopped out at the entrance ruins. On the advice of some fellow travellers we found a guide, Gustavo, who promised an hour for the both of us for 150 pesos, not bad for a small group. Gustavo was great very informative but unfortunatly the main attraction, the termple of inscriptions, was closed.... still, what a sight, Pakal, the the great ruler here, had a tomb nestled deep inside, not discovered until later in teh excavation! Pakal was inbred (the royals had only one family to choose a mate from.... their own!) with 6 fingers on each hand and his right leg shorter than his left. This was all clearly documented in the stone carvings! We learnt of the sacrificial beliefs, the Mayans cut off the heads of slave ( the Aztecs removed still beating hearts) and sprinkled the blood on crops so that the Gods of the Underworld would push the crops (corn and peyote) up through the soil. We saw the Mayan toilets, including plumbing! And learnt of the belief system, all very interesting. After our tour, we explored the rest of the site on our own, trekking into the jungle to see some of the other excavated and other un-excavated sites. Palenque has some 1400 structures, only 500 of which are excavated. We encountered, murials, steep steps, an iguana, slippery steps, more steep steps and finally some beautiful jungle water falls, ending in some amazing pools. As we left we saw that the tomb of the Red Queen was now open, an eerie, damp system of small rooms, including her sarcophagous. We had come across her body in MC, she is named the Red Queen because the dyes used in the tomb and in her death robes soaked into her bones over the years, leaving her skeloton red..... quite the fashion statement!
We left the ruins, hung out and relaxed here at El Panchan. We were halfway through a movie (a creature comfort for us.... the wonders of the ipod!) when the heavens opened. We had been hearing thunder and seeing lightening all afternoon but none had affected us. Now, in full force, we were witnessing our 1st tropical downpour. Quite the sight! After hitting the hay however, something unsuspecting happened.... the outside light of our cabana turned itself on.... rather odd and a little concerning, was someone trying to lure us out into the jungle?!
So we spent today relaxing, this is a vacation after all, venturing into Palenque for more tacos and a stroll in the sweltering heat and humidity to return and do some more relaxing before we leave tomorrow for the town of Campeche. Located on the coast 7 hours north of here, it is famed as a place frequented by pirates..... should be interesting!
More updates in the near future, hope all is well with everyone!
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