shoes are overrated

yesterday, i spent two hours trekking through the panamanian jungle on a small island in bocas del toro, barefoot, in the rainy season. it was supposed to take 15 minutes, and you were supposed to wear knee-high rubber boots. nobody told us that. needless to say, our flip-flops were the first casualty. three israelis we meant later on the beach compared it to marching through lebanon whilst in the military--and they had on the proper footwear.

we finally got to "wizard island," supposedly the most beautiful island in all of isla basitmentos. it would have been worth it if we could have picked up a boat taxi off the beach like the lonely planet (lying planet) said. they also didn't mention that you had to swim past the surf to get to the boat. a little difficult with digital cameras. so we headed back into the mud, battling off giant lizards, poisonous green muck and god-knows-what-else.

i´ve provided a video so you can get a taste of walking in our shoes--or lack thereof.



so, what kind of tropical jungle disease did YOU get today??

pura vida

it's what all the ticas (costa ricans) say. pura vida. full of life. this is living. it's all good.

sitting beachside on the caribbean when a tica walks up peddling coconuts. he takes out a machete, hacks it open, and it's pure coconut milk straight from the fruit. pure vida.

riding through the rainforest, somewhere in between nowhere and paradise, a toucan (straight-up toucan sam style) flew past my bike. pure vida.

cheersing ice-cold cervezas underneath palm trees with new friends from all over the world. pura vida.

i think i could get used to the costa rican lifestyle--unfortunately, just stopped over in puerto viejo for a couple of days en route to panama. initially, i was planning on simply busing my way through the country, but decided to give costa a little bit of love. you can't really say you've seen a country if its all been through bus windows. although i do spend a lot of my time looking through bus windows. on buses in general, actually. ah, the joys of traveling.

next time i talk to ya'll, it'll be from panama! i hear there's a canal there that's a pretty big deal or something? i should probably go see what all the fuss is about.

p.s. happy thanksgiving!!! (and i chose the one hostel--in all of costa rica, probably--in which i am the only american. go figure).

today i am thankful for: my family and friends-who will always love me unconditionally no matter what, skype, bug spray and fried plantain chips. and for being able to live in a country where i don't constantly live under the fear of death, the pain of hunger or the oppression of ideas and values. and for having this opportunity to explore the lives of others and experience pura vida.

love and miss you all!

tranquillo time (kind of)

so, i finally got myself out of said hammocks of san juan del sur and made my way back north, to the bohemian rhapsody of isla de ometepe. twin volcanos rise up out of the massive lago de nicaragua, forming an island dotted with small coastal villages that ring the mountains and populate the ithmus in between. the place is truly magical, unspoilted by the small stream of hippie-minded backpackers, teaming with howler monkeys, green parrots and blue-tailed urracas, villagers living straight off the land and sea. a nice break from san juan, a fun fiesta to be sure, but basically gringo-ville, usa.

the lancha docked at moyogalpa, the bigger of the two main villages, where i caught my first glimspe of the island. clouds covered the peaks of each volcano, not just ringing the peaks but spread over the tops, making the cloud cover look like snow. i´ve never seen clouds like that before. coconut palms, banana trees and thatched huts lined the lakefront--a good place for some tranquillo time, no?

spent my first night at a hostel/animal rescue center, where we wandered around the town feeding the mangy yet lovable stray dogs that roam the streets, and awoke the next morning to a deer nuzzling me awake.

later, caught a bumpy ride down unpaved roads around the island to finca magdalena, a cheerfully dilapidated farmhouse on an organic coffee plantain set at the base of volcan maderas. it´s a bit rustic--as in the ¨dorms¨are old stables and the bathrooms have a whole host of fun new bugs to discover whilst in use--it´s got loads of local character (as in locals live there as well). magdalena definitely attracts the dreadlocked, unshaven, one-loving type, but you know me--i dig it. it´s a bit island, a bit bohemian, but all nicaraguan. in the back, coffee beans of all different colors were spread out to dry under the sun, getting a nice brown tan au natural, and here´s the absolute best part: you get to drink it! that´s right, NO nescafe! it´s been such a killer for me, traveling through regions that produce some of the best coffee in the world and having to drink instant because it´s all exported. and now here it is, straight from the source. muy bueno!

the next day, i bypassed hiking what would have been my 3rd volcano thus far and decided to hike to the öjo de agua¨instead, a once-sacred pool turned natural swimming pool. seemed to fit in right with my tranquillo mindset. despite a couple locals telling us that it was walkable but very far and kind of confusing (aka ¨take a taxi, gringos¨), we decided a little exercise and exploring never did anyone much harm, right? well, 18 km and 9 hours later, we returned sweaty, muddy but, alas, successful!

as to be expected, nina (a norwegian girl i met in san juan) and i found ourselves hopelessly lost on the ithmus between the two volcanos, but after some aimless wandering and some supreme español on my part (thank you very much!), we found the ëye of the water,¨ which didn´t look like an eye, or very sacred for that matter, but we had a refreshing dip and promised to reward ourselves by taking the bus back. except for one minor problema. no buses on sunday. minor oversight, and just as the sun was making it´s beautiful exit. perfecto.

thumbs out, it seemed, was the only way to go, as we were 10 km from the finca and ometepe doesn´t exactly believe in streetlamps (and don´t worry mom--the island is incredibly safe--we asked around). after a couple no-goes, a friendly family with a pickup montioned for us to hop on and drove us down some rocky paths that didn´t look all that familiar, but that´s not saying much because we couldn´t see much at all. they dropped us at the junction for our town, but it was still another 4 km of trudging through dirt paths using only the light of the moon to guide us (thank goodness for clear nights!). a headlamp, i realized, would have been a smart thing to bring with us. hindsight is always 20-20, isn´t it? finally arrived at the base of madgalena, but it was still 20 more minutes up to the farm and the trees completely blocked out the sky. please excuse my french, but hell no was i walking up that. as if we sent up a smoke signal or something, two guys from magdalena arrived in two motos, just in time to shuttle us home, safe and sound- so much for tranquillo, eh? rewards for getting back included a delicious slice of homemade chocolate cake and a round of fire-dancing lessons. no kidding.

lessons learned:
-bring headlamp everywhere
-check bus schedules if planning on relying on bus
-a machette is really an all-purpose tool and a worthy investment for future travels
-i like to play with fire

X

nicaraguan time

i swear i haven´t fallen off the face of the earth. just went through a bout of computer-laziness, where i couldn´t really be bothered to get out of my hammock to mosey over to an internet cafe. i suppose i´m on nicaraguan time. but here is a quick rundown of what i´ve been up to since we last chatted...

-hung out with some nicas in leon, who took us to a beautiful beach just outside the city called las peñitas. (it was so nice to see the pacific...felt like meeting up with an old friend!)


-found myself next to a monkey on my chicken bus to granada


-attached myself to a cable 65 meters high in the mountains and ziplined my way down


-attempted to learn to surf, spent way more time off the board then on, and got stung by my first jellyfish in san juan del sur


-hiked up to ¨see jesus¨


-generally been having a grand ol´ time!

short and sweet, i know, but i PROMISE a more detailed post to come. just wanted to check in and let you all know i´m alive and well! i´m fresh off the boat on the gorgeous isla de ometepe, a island of two volcanos in the middle of lago de nicaragua, and will most likely be heading to costa rica next week, as it is thanksgiving and i should probably find myself some gringos with which to eat, drink and be merry!

riding volcanos

i am still washing bits of volcanic rock out of my hair. i swear there are bits of gravel in my ears. in fact, i think i took half the volcano home with me, which is just fine because volcan cerro negro was big enough, thank you very much.

the second i heard there was a thing called ¨volcano boarding¨in leon, i knew it had to be done. early monday morning, a ramshackle group of 18 very adventurous--or very stupid--travelers jumped into the back of pickup trucks for a quick jaunt up and down a volcano.

once we got to the base, everyone grabbed a board (really just a piece of wood) and we started our ascent. the hike was only about an hour to the top, which wouldn´t be to bad if a.) there was an actual path, not just huge boulders you had to scramble over whilst carrying b.) a huge awkward piece of bark when it was c.) SCORCHING hot outside. the central american sun was shining, the sand is black and if i´m not mistaken, volcanos historically have a reputation of being slightly hotter than the average mountain. i literally had to focus on putting one foot in front of the other, so i didn´t even get to appreciate the view until we reached the peak. the vista was incredible! the day was clear, so you could see nicaragua´s entire volcanic chain.


we circled our way around the craters, watching sulfer steam up out of crevices under our feet. it felt other-wordly, like we were on another planet or something.




then, it was time to suit up and head out. donning the ever-sexy ¨protective suits¨and goggles, dan, our guide, gave us a run down on what to do. basically, the boards were designed to go as fast as possible. you sit, you lean back, you slide, you try not to turn because then you will fall and volcanic rock likes to shred skin. but, he said, remember that hike it took to get up here. you don´t want to through that all way by going slow, right? thanks, dan.

guess who went first?

whelp, no turning back now!

thought going through my mind: this is stupid.

dust, rock, magma and whatever else makes up a volcano goes everywhere. you can´t scream because you risk inhaling a small boulder. you are absolutely flying. using your ¨feet¨as brakes is a lie--there are no brakes. at this point, you are simply along for the ride.

30 seconds and 53 km/hr later, it was all over. on the adrenaline rush spectrum, this one is definitely near the top! after i went, everyone else headed down, speeds higher and lower than mine, so at least i put in a respectable showing. the guy who got top speed, 75 km, took a huge spill at the bottom, where the incline sharpens. i´ll try to get the video up when i have the time. spoiler alert: he survives.

victory!

by far, one of the cooler things i´ve done. a little banged and bruised, but hey, i lived to tell the tale!! until next time, amigos!

outrunning hurricanes

we escaped hurrican ida!! deciding that a tiny caribbean island was not where we wanted to be when a storm hit, tropical or otherwise, helen and i bought tickets for the 6:20 am boat off utila, along with about half the other tourists on the island (all 10 of us). the rain had been coming down in sheets since about 5:30, but they were loading up the ever trusty "utila princess" so on the boat we went. rocking and rolling and whatnot. it was almost like a ride...except for the fact that it wasn´t. the wind tossed us about for a fair bit, people were slipping and sliding and i put on my ipod hoping that listening to the who would calm my nerves--and my stomach. the thought crossed my mind that maybe, MAYBE, it wasn´t the greatest idea to take a small boat across an ocean during a tropical storm. but then i saw it--land ho!! hurrican ida ain´t got nothing on the utila princess!

uh-oh....

another two long days of traveling, where we literally went from one tip of honduras to the other, with a short stay in the capital, tegulcigalpa (say THAT one five times fast). a highlight was that instead of walking into nicaragua, we took a rickshaw-turned-bike taxi (not unlike the ones in downtown san diego...except a tad more rickity) over the border. once our microbus got to the honduran border, we were assaulted by a deluge of money changers clammering for our lempiras (along with the usual suspects of food peddlers...because of course during this whole chaotic scene, i would love a quick baleada and some fried plantains, thank you very much!). totally overwhelmed and not really understanding anything, i saw a quick glimpse of blue being carried overhead and thrown into a bike taxi. and where my backpack goes, i go. so onto the bike i went, where juan cycled me over the bridge and into nicaragua, stopping just once for a toña cerveza on the way (it was HOT, suprise suprise!).

favorite mode of transporation, thus far

now in leon, a small-ish colonial town in northwestern nicaraguan, that has, among other things, tons of history and volcano boarding. yes, apparently you hike up a volcano and then strap yourselve to a wooden board and slide down. ¿porque no?

one fish, two fish

so i know i left you all hanging before, but i made it to honduras. well, honduran ghost towns are more like it.

after a two-day journey involving the aforementioned various forms of transportation through tiny little seaside towns (and the very big and very scary san pedro sula), we made it to la ceiba, a port town that is the jumping off point for all the bay islands in honduras.

basically, our journey consisted of this: taking a sunrise taxi from flores to the santa elena bus station, where we bought a ticket for a second-class bus (not a chicken bus, mind you, but there was still the livestock of choice in its own seat at the front of the bus). a four hour journey brought us past lago izabel and steamy rio dulce to a random junction in the middle of banana fields, where we were hustled off the bus and straight into a microbus heading to puerto barrios. from the microbus, a very nice guatemalan bargained us a great deal for a pick-up ride to the honduran border. we got our exit stamps, changed from quetzales to lempiras and walked into a different country (it looked the same). honduran officials hassled me a bit because i had two stamps from guatemala, but some lempiras shut them up and got me a stamp. from there, a chicken bus to omoa, where we checked into a hostel that hadn't seen another guest for two weeks, and they stayed one day. weird. the town itself was right on the caribbean sea, and we made it just in time for sunset, the sky turning brillant colors of orange and red before the sun dipped into the sea. and then the mosquitoes came out to play. ugh.

omoa after sunset

the next day, took a bus from omoa to puerto cortes, a shuttle from puerto cortes to unispiring and scary san pedro sula (we HAD to go there after all, grrr), then a first-class bus to la ceiba, where we missed the last boat by 30 mintues. the one thing in all my travels that actually ran on time, go figure.

at this point, we had not seen ONE other fellow traveler. it was kind of cool, but mostly eerie. consulting the ever trusty lonely planet, we picked the hostel heralded as "the best place to meet other backpackers." empty. tried another in the "zona viva" area of town. again, no one, but they quoted us a better price so we stayed. in a tiny room on the first floor with a leaky roof and a very rusty lock on the door. with a group of thug-looking hondurans hanging outside our window. and then it started thundering. and raining. and then the power went out. on halloween night.

feeling almost safer outside than in, i put on my money belt for the first time ever with my passport and memory card (my only two true possesions), and left everything else, partly convinced it would be gone when we got back. running through empty flooded streets, we made it to the one open bar and had ourselves some very delicious fruity cocktails, mini umbrella and all--because what else would you do in a deserted honduran town on the caribbean sea during a tropical storm? drink (and keep ém coming, senor)! and when we got back, the dutch hostel owner informed us that even though the security guard had failed to show up, we should not worry, because "roy" was keeping watch. roy, with his stoned eyes and beer in hand, slumped over in a plastic chair, is supposed to make me feel safer? we pushed our beds against the door that night.

but to make a long story short--too late, right?--made it to utila. there are actually other travelers here, thank goodness, but not many. seems that everyone was scared away after the coup--governments of various countries are still telling people not to come, so travelers either avoid it all together or take a bus straight across. it's really too bad, because it's a beautiful country with really strong local character, and you can tell the tourist cut is really hurting. i was called an "oddity" on one of the most touristy islands in the world. come to honduras, people! i saw more guns in guatemala.

caribbean culture on utila is really strong--lots of reggae, coconuts and island living. i actually keep forgetting that i'm in honduras. everyone speaks english, or speaks spanish in that "ya mon" caribbean accent. unfortunately, i found myself grounded by a particularly nasty ear infection, so getting my open water diving certification had to be put on hold for the moment. a bummer, really, to be told i can't go in the water on an island that revolves around that one thing. but i've made do, and against doctors orders went snorkling yesterday, which was amazing! truly incredible to be able to see the life aquatic. one fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish. seahorses and stingrays and sea turtles, oh my. who needs diving, anyway??

utila by day

utila by night. and also the dock and hammocks, where i spent most my days.

i will be attempting to make my way to nicaragua tomorrow--and just in time, as it seems there is a hurricane/tropical storm heading our way. fingers crossed we don't get stuck on the island--i've getting eaten ALIVE by mossies and god knows what else!

besos!

X

tikal my fancy

so for starters: tikal. was. AWESOME! but i'll get to that in a bit.

where did i leave off? well, after lanquin, it was a long and sweaty shuttle ride up to flores. you could literally feel the heat pressing down on you as we made our way northward into the peten region of guatemala. here, the jungle grows free and there is really no such thing as a cool breeze or hot shower.

once in flores, by happenstance met a girl in my dorm who's next stop was also honduras! it's been amazing, actually, how easy it's been to stumble across really great traveling buddies. let's hope that luck lasts me through the rest of my journeys!

after being completely knackered from a couple days of travel, i decided to put tikal off for another day-when i would have enough energy to really appreciate it-and explore the island (yeah, flores is an island. who knew, right??) of flores. helen-the british girl i'm traveling with-and i set off with the intention of finding this little town of san miguel where there was supposed to be great swimming, but after five minutes of walking in the humidity was about to blow off the whole idea. it was then that we happened across the random guatemalan, who told us he knew of a "really special place" he could take us too. um...porque no??

he was with a norwegian guy, christofer, as well, and all four of us boarded a boat and set off. no words were spoken, but we ended up at some dock, got off and headed into the jungle. apparently, this guy was a tour guy in another life, and took us to all these "sacred mayan sites," aka large mounds of dirt with a couple stone engravings, and a couple of lookout points where you could see the whole of the peten region. it is very green. finally, we began making our way to the beach down this tiny path. he took out his radio to play music to ward of the jaguars...and at this point i didn't know if i was more scared of a jaguar attack or this guy's friends with machetes. luckily though, we emerged onto an absolutely picturesque stretch of playa. white sand, turquoise water...you know the drill. the water was warm and clear and the perfect temperature. great way to spend the afternoon!!

the beach at san miguel

and the next day was tikal.

temple I

you guys know me, i'm already a bit obsessed with ancient civilizations and archeology and anything that is remotely related to indiana jones, so i already knew tikal would be awesome. but seriously, it was AWESOME! huge mayan temples tucked away in various parts of the jungle, the tops peaking just over the rainforest cover. in fact, i don't know how you could go to tikal and not be impressed with the grandeur of everything (cough cough rachel!!).

on top of temple IV

the area around the main plaza was pretty crowded, but the ruins are so spread apart that you could basically climb a temple, sit at the top and feel like you have the whole of tikal to yourselves. which is exactly what we did.

howler monkeys swing from the vines, "fox monkeys" (they have a proper name but they look like racoons and for some reason we all started calling them fox monkeys), tarantulas scurrying through the leaves. sadly, no jaguars. although they could have been watching us and we would have never even known.

speaking of tarantulas. i held one. her name was delilah and she liked to crawl up my arm with her eight hairy legs.

it was hot and sweaty (are you seeing a trend here? EVERYWHERE is hot and sweaty) but so worth it. and we saved 150Q on a tour guide by using our trusty lonely planet and a compass!

good things come in threes

and maybe tikal got me in an adventurous mood, but that night, helen and i decided against taking a very expensive, very boring tourist shuttle ride to san pedro sula in honduras and instead forge our own way using buses. and that, my friends, is another story for another time. but i guess you already know we made it...

but as a preview, it involved about 9 cities, 1 tuk tuk, 3 taxis, 2 microbuses, 3 chicken buses, 2 city buses, 2 immigration offices, 1 international border, 2 hostels and 1 boat ride. all in the name of saving 150Q (about 15 bucks) and a good story. mission: accomplished!

i've been on the road for a while now. definitely sick of my clothes, but not even close to being sick of traveling. truly where i am at my happiest. maybe you have to get lost to really be found.

and PHOTOS:
some more pics of flores and tikal
updated pics of the rest of guatemala