11/5/2018 0 Comments Our diary2018-03 Central America
26/3/18 After skiing in USA & Canada we left our ski gear at an Airbnb in San Francisco then flew San Francisco to San Jose in Costa Rica with Delta Airline via LA. 27/3/18 La Cuesta pension San Jose Costa Rica On arrival in San Jose took local Red Bus to the city which unfortunately turned out to be just a shopping centre and in the wrong direction. At the end of the line we got the right bus walked to our pre booked hotel, and went for a 3 hour sleep straight away. We were so tired. Later on we found a travel agent who told us where we need to go in Costa Rica as we hadn’t done any research at all. Walked to bus station past homeless scary people and booked a bus ticket to Monteverde in the cloud forest area. Walked the streets of San Jose a very uninspiring city with concrete buildings and no charm. Back at the hotel we noticed how poor it was, missing glass in some windows etc. no hot water. things we hadn’t noticed in our tired state. Fairly good position though in city and nice staff. Ate mangos for dinner. 28/3/18 Monteverde Hostel Costa Rica Up really early to get the bus at 6.30am. Now in the cloud forest of Monteverdi after a 5 hour bus journey covering 145km. Famous for wildlife and rain forest. Within moments of arriving Svend got himself a ride in the back of a police wagon. Nooooo...... not what you think! In his haste to get off the bus he managed to leave behind the lap top bag and all the important bits and pieces. And off it drove into the horizon without him even realising! When he did, there just happened to be some heavily armed police near by (we are in Central America) & instead of shooting or robbing him, kindly took chase of the bus with him in the back. Retrieving said computer & important bits & pieces intact! Kudos to Costa Rican police on the first day! Arrived 11am found a room in centre of town and found out what we needed to do. Seems to be just a fun town full of zip lines, hikes and rope swings. We booked on the most popular zip line tour and a night walk for tomorrow then checked out the giant ficus tree up steep streets to the outskirts of town and Svend climbed up inside it. Missed sunset though but Got a free cocktail at the sister Hotel then cooked pasta dinner at the hostel. Nathan finished out field. He Did Shaggy ridge exercise tough but did really well he messaged. 29/3/28 Monteverde Hostel Got free breakfast at sister Hotel down the road then picked up for our Extreme zip lining trip. $50 each. I was nervous but it was better than expected however the super man position was a little nerve wracking. I didn’t do the Tarzan jump. I was a little rushed then the opportunity was over before I could commit. I felt the company rushed us through too much, but probably because it’s Easter with so many people. We’re feeling Costa Rica is more a fun park type destination rather than a cultural experience. America in Spanish. We’ve been buying baguette bread rolls and avocados for lunch. Quite expensive food here so better to make our own where we can. In the afternoon we returned to the big tree and Svend got right to the top. Yesterday there were too many people waiting and only 5 could try to be in there at the same time. Got great photos. In the evening we went on a night trek for $25 each through the forest. It had the potential for being a great trip, but we’d not factored in the 200 other people also tramping through the same tracks & the wildlife obviously keep away. So we didn’t see much although the guide was very enthusiastic about the tarantulas he found & the scorpions, & frog. There was supposedly a sloth & a toucan in the trees but it was hard to confirm. We met a older uk family brother & sister & Young boy Luis who is 9 & quite a character & very excited about things. Back in town got our free cocktail and the cooked our standard pasta and sauce dinner. 30/3/18 Gringo Pete’s Too Hostel La Fortuna Up early, breakfast at the hotel down the road & all ready for our Jeep,boat,Jeep transport to La Fortuna & Arenal volcano area. $25 for 3hr trip saving us a few hours in travelling. Our hearts sank when we realised its only tourists doing this so you just move in one mass foreign group. Probably 3 bus loads plus we were in a minibus. No Jeep in sight. 2hrs then transferred to a boat on Lake Arenal with a 40min crossing. So misty we didn’t see the volcano. It last was active from 1968 until 2010. When the towns got famous for watching the red lava run down the sides. Now the area does all the outdoor activities plus trekking & hot springs. The town was so busy on arrival as it was Easter & full of Americans plus Costa Ricans on break. We hadn’t booked accomodation but Svend was lucky to find us some & we settled in. Chatted to other travelers who lead us the way to go next up into Nicaragua & then other places in Costa Rica. We’ve never travelled so unprepared but we just get to the next place and wing it from there. There’s so much info that it all gets a bit overwhelming, so much choice. I checked out the town & svend walked to a swimming hole but it was raining & cool so I declined. 31/3/18 Gringo Pete’s Too Hostel La Fortuna Up early to catch the first bus to the free hot springs 12km out of town. The towns full of resorts using the hot springs but expensive & crowded right now. Going early was a good choice but the return bus wasn’t until 1.30pm so a long time to wait. The water was lovely and we walked a way up stream & got away from the crowds. Unfortunately Svend fell in the rocks taking photos & by the end of the day his knee was swollen & painful. It means he couldn’t do the activities available trekking etc. we dud walk out of town later in the day & saw a very camouflaged sloth with a baby. They are very rare & shy. Made own lunch & dinner & caught up with the photos & diary. 1/4/18 Hospedaje Central Moyogalpa Omnetepe Island Nicaragua Caught a early bus 6am from La Fortuna to Tanque then another bus all the way to The Nicaraguan border. 5hours through lovely green hills & tropical forests. Border crossing very straight forward with an $8 fee to leave Costa Rica a $1 fee for something else then a $12 fee to enter Nicaragua. A taxi driver approached us with a good deal & after counter offer by svend we were on our way to San Jorge to catch a ferry to Omnetepe Island, the ferry took just 1 hour & we arrived about 4pm. A long day. Had pizza & a walk around small town, feeling exhausted. It’s started to get warmer than when we arrived so Shorts & tshirts now out. 2/4/18 Hospedaje Central Moyogalpa Omnetepe Island Nicaragua A long hot day spent on the back of a dirt bike. After breakfast of scrambled egg rice & beans at our hotel we got a late start & hired a motorbike for off road as the island hasn’t got paved roads all the way round. It was very bumpy surface much of the way & my head was shaking inside the helmet & my bottom got sore bouncing up & down & my legs got cramp from holding on. Apart from that it was a great experience. We checked out the beach areas & the waterfall hike. The waterfall wasn’t too impressive after the long hot hike upto it. Had a dunk under the water for photos & net a son & his 75yr old mum up there. She also was on the back of a motorcycle for the first time. She wanted an active holiday with her son for her birthday. Checked out a few small villages, saw several monkeys in the trees. Almost back at moyogampla & we stopped at Punta Elena sand spit for a beer & watch the sun set with two volcanos in the horizon. Lovely setting. Retuned the bike at 6:30pm had amazing dinner at our place which seems to have the best restaurant in town as well. In bed early as I felt wrecked. I’m also bitten all over. Maybe bed bugs! 3/4/18 Casa Vega on Parque Central Masaya A very hot day on Ometepe Island. Found a great breakfast place with pancakes. Decided to pack up & move on. Talked to Aden, returning from Perth. We caught thr Chez Guevvera Ferry Back to the mainland & got a local bus to Masaya. A hot gruelling walk into town & svend found a room on the main square. Had a walk to the famous artisans & souvenir market then decided we needed to find a taxi & get to volcano Masaya asap as we’d get to see the active volcano by night. Took longer than we expected as they limit the cars going up. Then after 20 minutes they blow a whistle & you have to leave. It was pretty impressive & over a rock wall you could peer into the depths of the red lava. The taxi driver was impressed it was his first time to see it. Back in town now 8pm had shower & I blew out the lights of the whole house with my hair dryer. Svend helped fix it. Got some pizza slice in square & beer. 4/4/18 Casa Vega on Parque Central Masaya First thing svend washed our clothes by hand. Predominantly his but about 6 pieces of mine. I could hear the water running a lot as he rinsed. Unfortunately at the end of the day we couldn’t have showers as he’d used all the water in the tanks above the laundry. I somehow thought that was going to happen. Had a day at Apoyo crater lake. Took local bus then fortunately hitched a lift to the lake a long steep road in the sun. There was a surprisingly nice resort at the bottom that had a pool & restaurant, a jetty & floating pontoon in the lake. Lovely pleasant water to cool off in. Hitched back & the ride took us right to the main road. Unfortunately the next bus only took us part the way to town so we had a longer than expected walk to the market area. But got haircuts. Mine a bit rough. Svends almost a complete shave. In the early evening we took a horse cart to The Malecon & watched the sunset over the Volcano we were at last night with the lake in the foreground. Had a nice juice in the park f watched people exercising. Again had a slice of pizza & beer in the square then an early night. A busy hot day. 5/4/18 Casa Lemon tree Granada Took a horse cart to the bus station after we did some Holiday house work. Found out a security deposit I’d refunded had gone 3 times so now I’m trying to get the client to pay it back. The bank can’t stop it now. It’s 2x $500. Tech error on website & inconsistent wifi was the cause. In Granada Svend found us a lovely grand old colonial place to stay with pool,bar & kitchen. Close to centre. Very touristy but beautiful city. Ate street burritos for dinner & happy hour cocktails talking to an American who owned a bar there. In the evening I worked on the Homeaway website templates Till past midnight, as with the take over from stayz it’s very messy to work with. The pool was a nice respite from the heat. 6/4/18 Casa Lemon tree Granada Did a boat tour of Isletas de Granada in the early morning so very pleasant. Only us on the boat. Nice guide Jorge works for himself. Saw fancy houses on the islands owned by some of the richest people. Also some overseas people. Two islands had monkeys on them who came to get our bananas. Stopped at a Fort Island plus a restaurant. On way back stopped at Chocolate factory with free tour & samples. Had a nice pool where we sat for awhile & remet the Scottish girls we crossed the border with. Cooked lunch of eggs at our Casa , swam cooked off then walked the streets, saw hammock shop/ factory where street kids help out & are given help. Also there is a cafe with only deaf people working there. Nice to see community projects. Visited the cathedrals & climbed two bell towers to see the view. Ate burritos but in a restaurant this time. Quiet night on the streets. We went back to the pool & Rang a few friends & family. 7/4/18 Casa Cipress Leon Nicaragua Spoke to a couple of older guest in the hotel. Both Canadian & living in Nicaragua. One owned a big house rented out 19 rooms to couples or single girls. Clothes optional. Odd guy named Randy. Took a bus to Managua the capital. The Scottish girls were onboard too. At the mini bus station svend talked a guy into letting us store our big packs in his cupboard, then we took a taxi into Parque Central & spent a couple of hot hours looking around. Very uninspiring, very few people. A deserted broken cathedral, an empty waterfront park (Malecon) with nothing open, polluted lake. Took a taxi back recovered our bags then had to queue for minibus to take us to Leon. 90min drive then another taxi into the central area. Svend again left me in the park with the bags checked out a few then we moved in to our little place. Nothing like Granada. Perhaps was a one off. Bought food at the supermarket cooked omelet then walked around. Had discos blasting & bars techno music blaring. The city seemed to be on steroids. Cars & people everywhere. We escaped back to our street had a quick beer then bed. 8/4/18 Casa Cipress Leon Nicaragua We cooked eggs for breakfast with toast & fruit good start for the day. Svend went on a Volcano surfing trip that is much hyped. Aden did it years ago. Whilst he was away I found the free walking tour of the city that was highly recommended, & run by students. I learnt a lot that confirmed stuff I’d read about the revolution. About USA involvement, rebel’s etc. we walked the streets, market,murals,cathedral, hospital, museums,fire station. Didn’t go in any just places pointed out to us. After that I revisited the market. Saw enormous avocados but went back as it was so hot. When svend came back he had organised for us to be shuttled to the beach late afternoon as part of his tour. Gets people to the bars etc. he was a bit mixed about the volcano surfing. His group was older & women who slowed the climb up so he only got one ride down so was a little disappointed & it didn’t live up to the hype. He dressed in overalls & goggles & carried a wooden board, took an hour because the women were slow & he could have raced up in 30mins. The beach trip to Las Piñatas was quite nice, cooler at least but I’m. It a fan of black volcanic sand beaches after our own in sydney. Spoilt by that. Water was nice & we had some beers in the beach front bars. The driver picked us up 4pm with a couple of Canadian guys & a Dutch woman. The driver wanted to leave us till 9pm but we all said please 7.30pm. We drank with them at the bars. One works in Chad as Enviromentalist for oil co. Interesting talks. Found out it was Sunday when we’d thought it was Saturday. Lost a day somewhere this week. 9/4/18 Sonis Homestay Somoto Canyon tours I took svend on my walking tour but he wasn’t too bothered, he’d though we would do the tour today but as I thought today was Sunday & didn’t think they ran on sundays I did it yesterday just in case. Got some tablets in chemist over the counter that cost 50c each here & $30 in Australia. I bought 6 so should last me for years. We did some holiday house bookings on line for Pacific Palms which has been a bit hard with Stayz changing to Homeaway & getting used to their website & setting up templates. Plus all sorts of calendars to check. A bit of a nightmare really. We then got a taxi to the bus station, a lively place with coloured buses & cyclos, & lots of activity. Caught the bus to Esteli, north near the Honduran border, a packed bus, plus street vendors crammed in selling drinks, snacks & a huge pizza that went in a flash. On arrival in Esteli i suggested going on further to Somoto where we were met at the bus by Henri. A very tall charismatic man who runs Canyon tours & has Homestay near the canyon entrance. After some negotiations we joined the two German girls who had booked him, & spent the night at Sonis. They made dinner for us & we agreed to go on the 6 hour trek with the others. Accomodation was clean & basic. Food was healthy but too much for me, chicken with vegetables. The German girls of 34 were fun, & another German girl from our place in Leon was also there. Sonis is a community inspired project, creating employment for the local people, Homestay’s, guided tours, raising chickens for the dinners. A guy Bryan from uk provides advise free, & lives there 6 months of the year. He helps with advertising, protocol, etc 10/4/18 Iguanas Hostal Esteli Had a prepared breakfast of fruit & yogurt. Then off on our canyon tour with the happy German girls Francesca & Vanessa, plus Morris another German I thought was French who got off the bus at the entrance. What a great day. Not too much walking yea, but a lot of swimming in life jackets through the canyon. Walking about 5km interspersed with 7km of water. Water hole jumps of varying heights & a few rapids, but it’s the end of the dry season so water at its lowest. Finishing with a boat trip. Hot sun but felt cool in the canyon, it narrows to just 10m in some places. Not the most spectacular I’ve seen but a fun day with nice people & not a commercial tour. Just a local guide. Henry’s brother. We decided to leave on a high for Esteli. Nice time had, but more nice times beckoning. Got a nice express bus to Esteli. No chicken bus this time. Found Iguanas place but it has a grungy feel about it, then Svend got a fever & went to bed. I did photos a big job deleting etc. at 9pm we went out for pancakes with bananas & Nutella yummy. Robyn niece has just been accepted to do her Doctorate in psychology in sept at Nottingham Uni. A big step. Impressive. EXTRA POST OH THE DELIGHTS OF THE CHICKEN BUS . After a lengthy wait to set off, the hawkers miraculously manage to exit this human mesh of bodies & we’re finally on the road ......or so we think, normally just 150m from the bus station a crowd of late comers enter the bus in a rush..... filling the non existent spaces. Happens every time! Then the fun begins. The music is cranked up, Latino reggaeton if we’re lucky, think Despacito for 4 hours, or Mexican mariachis or worst of all. Blasting techno house music. Usually accompanied by a video on a front screen of semi naked girls twerking for said 4 hours. The speakers are everywhere so you just have to get used to it. God I sound like a grumpy old woman ! Fortunately in Nicaragua the roads are surprisingly good, no bumps or holes so the trips are fairly quick. Unlike in Guatemala where speed bumps were every 500m so you could hardly rev up to 60km per hour when you had to slow again. This went on for hours, & just added to the delight! 11/4/18 Central Hotel El Rama Our day didn’t work out as expected. Our Hotel was a bit shifty but ok. Lovely murals being painted on the walls. Had breakfast at same pancake place Rogen booked on a cigar factory tour at 1pm. When we came back with our luggage we found out it wasn’t a taxi ride out to a plantation or factory out of town but a grey block building next door. We decided to cancel & instead took a bus to Managua, where we waited till 6pm for bus East to El Rama & our adventure to Corn Islands. It was supposed to take 5hours but after 4 we had only gone 70km. We broke down 3 times with driver & co fixing clutch but it still smelt of burning. Then finally another bus came & took us so we arrived at El Rama at 3am. Quickly found a dodgy room & found out our holiday houses had a problem with one guy overstaying & the wedding group being an apt short. Never happened before & guy insisting he was right but apologised later. However it was late at night & the wedding group seemed to be ok with it till tomorrow. V stressful. 12/4/18 Green House Lodge Found out we were in the middle of a market place. Bought a boat or ‘panga” ticket for 2 hr trip along river to Bluefields. Fast motorised canoe type boat with awning. Through river & tributaries, v green & tropical. On arrival you’d think you were in another part of the world. English everywhere & black creole looking people. Apparently descendants of escaped African Slaves. Was never colonies by the Spanish just english protectorate then the area taken over by USA then merged into Nicaragua. But they don’t associate with being Nicaraguan. Left to their own devices but v poor. Found a boat to Corn Islands didn’t leave till Saturday morning. So we took another panga at 4pm to Pearl Lagoon, an hours ride. All costing v little. Tiny town so got a room quickly, ate avocado & corn chips for snack that turned into our dinner. Had a dark walk on street. Always being approached by local Rasta guys wanting to show you something or be your guide. Just before we went to bed our room was infested with ants but seemed to get better when we turned off the light. 13/4/18 Bluefields Nicaragua Slow day, a trip out in the country 9km by taxi to find a very poor community. Given a tour by Orlando who kept asking for money. Hard to see how hard life is. School didn’t have a teacher as she had breast cancer & he said they needed $350 to help her. His father was in hospital with prostate cancer, needed money for that too. He’d fought in Contra war too, trained by US troops. Lots of stories. We got a lift back on back of truck. Then another panga back to Bluefields. Svend found an aircon room nice change. Heat buildup. Got boat booked for tomorrow to Corn Islands so we bought some basic foods to take with us as it’s supposed to be expensive. 14/4/18 Christina’s Place Little Corn Island Had breakfast at the hotel I had pancake and svend had eggs. Had a 6 hr fishing boat trip. Boat fairly full but not too uncomfortable. We always have to wear life jackets. Great Corn Island is about 70km off the Nicaraguan coast. They even played a DVD of Troy so that distracted me for awhile even if it was dubbed into Spanish. From Great corn Island we took another Panga, with life jackets packed, no roof. Took about 30minutes. Little Corn Island is very small about 1 1/2 sq km. No cars just push bikes & handcarts. Not developed at all. But lots back packers. Got a room near the dock & centre of town! Pretty hot though we have a fan. Took a walk for sunset drink to deserted beach through villages. Later found all the life on the island. A few bars near our hotel. Had fish curry. Talked to Nathan. He had reversed the green car down drive with the door open. Now needs fixing as it won’t close. Svend found a new door from wrecker, found someone to put it on. Nathan just needs to contact them & get it done. Hope he appreciates the help. He’s off to brisbane to see Aden on Tuesday. At least we have wifi & can get our problems solved. And still run p palms. We’re gradually getting the websites organised, needs tweaking when we get home, as we’re on 3 & need to keep them synchronised. 15/4/18 Christina’s Place Little Corn Island The electricity goes off at 6am till 1pm everyday. Saves the use of generator. Opposite our place is a Revival church & whilst we had breakfast the Sunday service hallelujah’d us with singing. Very loud & enthusiastic. Walked across the Island to Otto’s beach spent the day there just relaxing, booked a snorkel trip for tomorrow, talked to the boss Mariono. He fought in the Contra war on side of Sandinistas from age 15. Conscripted by government. If they ran away they ended up in Honduras or Costa Rica then had to fight for USA backed contras. No win situation. They didn’t get paid or get food. Had to find it themselves. Lasted 6 years. On the hot walk across the island you walk across a baseball field & 4hours of games were on. So we stopped for awhile to watch with locals cheering on. On a discovery walk we ended up around another bay & found some cabins on the beach. Booked one for tomorrow. Cooked own dinner of pasta at night. Had a walk to another church. Caught one song but then an angry sermon in Spanish so we left. At the restaurants we spotted out two Happy German girls Francesca & Vanessa! Also Lisa who we met in Leon. Francesca will come snorkeling with us tomorrow. They had just been on a night snorkel. 16/4/17 Graces Cool Spot Kite Beach Little Corn Island. Svend up early investigating our move. Saw there was a lot of seaweed & no beach. So we’ll just stay one night. Then back to town. Walked to Ottos beach. Had a long snorkel tour. Saw lots but because we’ve done lots before it’s not so exciting & both of us had our snorkels on too tight. Gave us a headache till we released it. Saw fish,sharks, coral. Francesca did it with us. They fly home tomorrow. After trip we walked round the beaches, going from lovely white sand beach to sea weeds, to our new place. A reggae themed complex with huts opposite the beach. It’s cooler on this side with a wind blowing. Later we walked to the next village in the forest & ordered lobster & prawns Curry’s for dinner. We were the only ones initially then this simple restaurant filled up. Apparently it’s the most popular place in the evening. Back at our hut we spoke to Primus a Slovenian guy. Knew a lot about European history especially in his area. He’d just been on the night snorkel trip but had panicked in the pitch darkness so got out of the water. I would have too. They didn’t even have life jackets on! Blog moment. A sweet realisation. There’s no sweeter moment on arrival to the tiny, remote Caribbean island of Little Corn, 80km off the Nicaraguan coast, than the realisation that the journey was as much the experience as the destination. Little Corn Island To get there either:- take a 2hr chicken bus.... enough said. Followed by the luxury Express modern coach from Managua capital to El Rama. Unfortunately this express broke down 3 times in the 5 hours it should have taken us, burning clutch smell most of the way, & us sitting on the side of the road whilst the driver & his minions attempted to fix it whilst parked on a speed bump for extra height, in pitch darkness about 4 of them under the bus for over an hour. Off we went again but sadly broke down again & we were finally rescued by another passing bus arriving at our destination at 3am instead of 11pm. It seems this is a not uncommon scenario as the streets were lively enough & someone was ready with a hotel room for us at that time! Waking up we found not only were we in the middle of a market place but our room was actually a balcony that had been partly enclosed only from the top of the railing. Something we hadn’t seen behind the curtains the night before. Next stage of our intrepid journey was a Panga, a high speed motorised large canoe that plies the rivers & tributaries of the East coast of Nicaragua. These boats leave when very full, plus luggage & life jackets, refugee style. ...... something like a chicken bus but with the chance of drowning! This is actually a great way to travel through the jungle & waterways, avoiding sunken boats or fallen trees at high speed. Arriving without incident we were now in Bluefields, & to our surprise the people there are black African slave descendants who speak english (with A Jamaican style accent) & couldn’t be more different to the Latino Spanish speaking Nicaraguans on the west coast. They seem to live their own way, culture, music several indigenous languages but don’t seem to have too much government resources sent their way. So after an overnight in Bluefields we were ready for a 6 hour fishing boat ride 80km out to sea. Always with the compulsory red life jacket actually strapped on to us. I’m not sure if this gives us more confidence in the vessel or less. They even played a movie for us Troy with Brad Pitt to pass the time, & handed out sick bags for, well........ This journey too went well & we arrived on Great Corn Island awaiting yet another Panga.... refugee style for a short 40min trip to finally arrive on Little Corn. Or of course you could take the 1 1/2 hour flight from Managua City but where would the fun be in that! 17/4/18 Christina’s place Awake early but not for sunrise as it’s at 5am. Hung around our hut reading & breakfast of pancakes what else! Walked back across Island another route taking us direct to the jetty. Svend found a house that smelt of bread, when he asked they sold him a hot loaf, just off the step. It’s known for bread but no advertising anywhere. A quieter day, some bars closed, they seem to take it in turns, but we had sunset on the beach near our hotel & jetty with our customary beer & chips. We are in a nicer room with bathroom &kitchen so we cooked pasta with veggies for dinner. 18/4/18 Island Express cargo boat on open sea. Up at 5am to catch the daily Panga to Big Corn Island. Svend got tickets at 5.15 but there was already 15 people in front. We managed to get breakfast before we left at 6am, turns out they had to put on another boat. At a Big Corn svend found a hotel near harbour, a bit grotty but best of a bad lot. We had a long sleep then took local bus on a sightseeing trip part way round the island. When we got off we found an amazing bakery selling all sorts of homemade cakes & sorrel a berry juice. We had 4 cakes & w sorrels plus 2 coffees. Across the road was a lovely beach where we spent the afternoon. Blog moment A young German guy told me about his 4 months volunteering in Nicaragua where his uni group built a school in North west of the country. They were just civil engineers no trades people, but used locals as well as sourced local eco materials wherever possible. He was very enthusiastic & I hope it was well built & well received. There’s a certain known problems with NGO aid, the community begins to rely on it, or another bunch of Europeans will be along to do the next project. Or sometimes things are built that weren’t needed or weren’t built well. I suppose everyone wants to feel they have done their bit. But we must be careful not to rob people of their ability to make their own way in life, however that should be. Everyone has to have a reason to get out of bed everyday. . We continued our walk around the island coming across a packed Baptist church in full sing song. We quickly realised it was a funeral & soon after out they came with the coffin put on the back of a Ute with 4 guys sat on the sides holding it in place. The Ute unfortunately wouldn’t start but after 4 goes off went the Ute & mourners behind it. We’ve realised that if you have a Ute the community get you do do all sorts for it. Seems dead bodies are often in the picture! We found a nice bar with a panoramic view had a couple of cocktails, then wandered back to town via the harbour checking our boat to Bluefields left tomorrow at 9am & we couldn’t get tickets till the morning. We were told the other cargo boat in dock unloading blue metal was leaving at 7pm for El Rama. A labourer took us on board showed us a bunk cabin with 8 simple beds & said we could get on if we wanted too. It would get into El Rama at 7am but that would actually save us two days travel. We quickly packed up out bags left Hotel saying we might be back if we couldn’t get on the boat. We simply walked on, all bunks were taken except one but someone was persuaded to let us have one more & he slung up a hammock. We set sail before we should so it’s lucky we were on. No one questioned us, or checked us or asked for money. We simply walked on! No questions asked. We strapped our bags together, I retrieved my sarong that had found its way to my bunk buddy, then we soon settled down to sleep as it was pitch black. It stopped at El Bluff for awhile but couldn’t dock as a v large boat was in place. A smooth sail, very quiet night, no one talked. Beds a bit rough, broken dirty mattresses, but we out our sarongs on them. In the night it got breezy so I found my sweat shirt & long pants. Helped a lot. 19/4/8 Hotel Parairso San Carlos Nicaragua Svend woke me up at sunrise & we did a tour of the ship, taking photos. We were now on the river heading inland, saw lots of monkeys in trees & women washing clothes. We arrived in the docks, svend paid about $10 each for the trip to the captain. A short walk into El Rama & we soon found ourselves on a chicken bus heading to Juigalpa & onwards to Costa Rica. Part way there we realised we didn’t need to go to juigalpa & the bus dropped us in a small town Santa Thomas to get a connection. We’re now back in Spanish speaking areas so it can get difficult. However we workout we were heading towards the border & we’d stay the night in San Carlos & go to Costa Rica tomorrow. In the town I had a wander & took photos of two men on a roof spray painting. They noticed & later got the bus driver to take me out & got me to climb the ladder onto the roof to see the view. I was shaking up there & they were laughing. When I got down Svend hadn’t even seen me on the roof. I thought he was taking photos. Arriving in San Carlos we got a pleasant room on the Malecon had a walk around & Svend revealed he had an infected leg, similar feeling to when he got cellulitis. We went straight to a pharmacy & got amoxicillin over the counter. Cost about $1.50 for 6 day course. We had a fish meal on the lake front then he went back to rest. I had a wander round the small town & picked up wifi in the park. Saw a small rally in town. Lots of white shirts but I couldn’t understand what was going on. Talked to Aden. Nathan is up in brisbane with him. Leaving today. In the evening we had a pizza but I’m full after a few bites now. Blog moment Night snorkeling the next new thing. On Little Corn Island we saw plenty of advertising for night snorkeling. I thought this sounded fun & was up for trying. However after a full morning of snorkeling where svend & I both had our masks on too tight, (I’ve got a great fear of leaking water so tend to tighten my mask too much without realising) that gave us a massive headache & the excursion seemed to go on forever, bobbing around in the waves & realising your guide was not heading towards the boat any time soon, & not really caring if we saw another shark or school of fish ( we just wanted to get out of the water). When the guide told us to loosen the masks or we would get a headache!!! things got much much better! We’d had enough & decided we’d give the night snorkeling a miss. But we were interested when one our neighbours came back from his trip. He was in quite a stricken state & said that after only a few minutes he’d had a panic attack & had to get back on the boat. Apparently it was pitch black out at sea & they were swimming around but without life jackets, & he just got freaked. (Apparently people think it’s a bit wuzzy to wear a life jacket snorkeling but I feel much more relaxed if I don’t have to stay afloat as well as worry about my mask). I realised that I probably would have been scared sh..tless, & my over active imagination would have kicked in! I’ve seen the movies Blue Water or Into the deep, Who knows what lies beneath you in the DARK, every bump could be a shark or something equally as awful. They do shine a torch to show up the luminescent corals & plankton but to be honest it’s not on my bucket list & if I want to see it I’ll switch on National Geographic! Safe & dry on my sofa. 20/4/18 Hotel Central Cariari Costa Rica The swelling on Svends left foot has gone down but we’re still worried about infection getting worse. It was raining when we left town on a minibus for the border town of Los Chilles. A simple & easy crossing not many people use this one. A bus was waiting the other side & we got on it not really knowing where it went. We ended up getting another bus to San Jose, then having to change bus terminals, getting warned by a gansta looking guy ‘Guys, What are you doing here, I know it’s 5pm but guys you are tourists & that makes you look very attractive, get a taxi, I’m telling you’ of course we didn’t & continued stomping onwards going the wrong way, until finally we found the terminal, bought a ticket for Cariari on the way to Tortugero, had a quick something to eat & we were on our way again. Only 2hr trip but Cariari was a miserable place,& the hotel was as awful as they get. Very near bus station so we could get early bus to Povan. Hotel room could only lock from inside. The toilet & shower light didn’t work, the toilet with a light couldn’t be used but I didn’t know until afterwards. The sheets were stained so we got new ones. Pretty awful & that’s saying something. BLOG MOMENT The good gangsta Samaritan Lost in translation (or more correctly, pronunciation) Toenails & thumbs. I have to share a giggle moment I have thinking back about an incident in Nicaragua where I went on a walking tour of Leon with a young student ( whilst Svend was yahooing volcano surfing with the young ones) Whilst stopped outside an pretty impressive cathedral, he was explaining that we could come back later to explore & do the tour of an amazing collection of Toenails & Thumbs. Wow that would be pretty ghastly, like the Horrible Histories, I knew the Spaniards were brutal bastards, but REALLY, a collection of Toenails & Thumbs. I decided I’d pass on that one. So later when I was out & about giving Svend the second hand tour & about to tell him about this Special tour he could go on, it dawned on me that, in bad English, with a heavy Spanish accent, Toenails & Thumbs become quite innocent...... tunnels & tombs!! NGOs 21/4/18 El Icaco Tortugero Up early to catch the 6am bus to Povona, pouring rain, unfortunately it left at 5am so we waited in a cafe until 9am for the next one. Went through lots of photos & video deleting. At Povona the bus driver charged us for the boat ticket, but on the boat we realised we’d been charged a few dollars more than we should. The boat trip was beautiful, through rainforest jungle, & it was raining as we wound our way through the tributaries. At Tortugero Svend found a lovely complex on the beach, I was really pleased with it. We’d thought about canoe tours but we’ve been on so many boats lately, & the turtle night tour, we are too early for the mass green laying eggs turtles. The huge 2m leatherbacks are starting to come but they’ve only seen one in 6 days. The tour is at 10pm & it was torrential rain. So we decided to skip both tours. It was raining so much we didn’t even leave our place to have dinner. 22/4/18 El Icaco Tortugero Rained until 9am then things brightened up. We had breakfast of pancakes & hoped to eat dinner there but it was closed later when we got there. Walked around the village, no cars or motorised vehicles, but kids on bikes nearly run you over. Lots of dogs, that we are wary of. Svend got bitten a couple of weeks ago, then on Little Corn Island A young backpacker got bitten on his leg & wrestled to the ground with a big dog, so now we are cautious. Weather got hot so we found a small swimming pool that is connected to our hotel. Spent a couple of hours there cooling off. Sorted more photos & video as it’s normally a big job when we get home. Had a nice walk along the very rough beach early evening. Waves current & sharks Make it not so great. We ate dinner of Papusas street Food from El Salvador that I’ve got to like. Flat bread like with beans cheese in it then cooked on a griddle. Had a nice spicy sauce with cucumbers that we added. Talked a lot to the young guy running this family business. We’ve just heard there have been political riots in Nicaragua & 25 people been killed . One journalist in Bluefields. I saw a meeting in San Carlos just thought it was a rally. They are protesting the government. 23/4/18 Casa Mahanda Cahuita Costa Rica Morning rain again but cleared for our 3 hour boat trip to Moin, along the canal, built for the logging & banana industry early this century. Tourism has only recently mushroomed with the protection of the turtles bringing tourists to the area, so that the locals make more by protecting the turtles than killing them. Now a national park. In 2002 only 90 visitors to the area, 2008 90,000. Now they limit it to 1000 a day. But it still feels untouristy. The trip to Moin goes once a day, there was 2 boats with 15 people on each, so not many do it this way. Many come on total tours, all inclusive. It wasn’t raining so the trip was very enjoyable, the driver stopped to show us birds, crocodiles & 2 sloths. We motored along narrow & wide river ( but really the canal) vegetation was amazing so green & huge palms etc. we were running parallel with the ocean & saw it at times. With huge logs at the entrance. At Moin we didn’t take the tour shuttle bus but walked, hitched with a truck, the got a bus to Cahuita. Svend again went on his merry way leaving me with the bags & he found another lovely place with kitchen & courtyard, in centre of the village. Cahuita is mainly black African original descendants or from Jamaica. Has its own identity, used to speak english but now the young people just want to speak Spanish & the government don’t promote english. Has a reggae vibe to it but just really one street. Saw a nice sunset, had a prawn Rondon for dinner, Caribbean dish I’d heard a lot about. Not as good as Thai green curry though. 24/4/18 Casa Mahanda Cahuita Costa Rica Raining really a lot. But we set off in our ponchos to Hike in national park. Lots of Mud, slippy board walks,we saw white face Monkeys, brown monkeys, 2 raccoons, acote look like big brown rat close to the ocean. The walk was mostly along the beach then through rainforest. So lovely. It stopped raining after half an hour but still muddy. We had things on so ok really. 8.5km to the end. Saw a toucan close up. Hitched a lift back to town, cooked a meal in our court yard. Did some work on our prices for Airbnb. We have to move with the industry. Add cleaning in with our prices. 25/4/18 Casa Rolando Puerto Viejo Costa Rica Short bus ride 15km to next beach town. Very reggae influenced. Nice cabin accomodation, the hired bikes for a 20km ride out of town to Punta Uva. Our bikes were hopeless like riding in sand but the ride was flat. Spent time nearer to town on a beach, watching people walk dock lines. Had Sunset on waterfront saw yacht had been caught on a reef close to the beach. Had a huge ,pizza for dinner in a reggae bar. 26/4/18 Hansi Hostal Bocco del Toros Panama Another short bus trip to Sixaola Border crossing, paid $10 each to leave Costa Rica then we were in Panama. Got a minibus, then boat from Almirante.talked to an Israeli girl traveller. Svend very impressed with her, I could just see her huge suitcase & bags, & she was jumping from country to country to meet friends, not well planned out trip. Nice girl though. At Boccas town we found a lovely place to stay nearby the ferry. I was exhausted & couldn’t keep awake. I’d taken anti histamines for the bites that had swelled on me, so I think they knocked me out. After a sleep I was much better. We could on,y stay one night but I proclaimed I wasn’t leaving. It was so clean & everything well maintained. Owned by German lady. Buzzing town, lots tours to take. We decided to go next day. Snorkeling & Island hopping. Ate fish at waterfront bar. 27/4/18 Hansi Hostal Bocco del Toros Panama Torrential Rain until 9am then we took a Boat tour, overcast but no rain. First stop dolphin bay, saw a few. Fun snorkeling no headache. Coloured coral & fish. Island stop & did a cross island walk, had a board walk but it was rotting & falling apart as we walked on it, especially when some of our heavier people walked on it. At lunch stop saw two macaws, took loads of photos, also man in boat selling lobsters & huge crabs. Went to sloth island saw several high in the trees. Then to a shallow bay saw huge numbers starfish & sea urchins. A good day. Spent time with a young polish lady, living in San Francisco, but moving back to Europe. Dinner of seafood paella. Enough for two. Stayed at the same accomodation as they had a cancellation. 28/4/18 Hansi Hostal Bocco del Toros Panama Another great day. Took bus to Playa Drago then walked around the bay to Playa Estella, or Starfish Bay, a local showed me some sloths in the trees. a mother & baby low down & close, but we hadn’t the zoom camera with us. Saw five in total, close up, faces & moving around. Amazing to see. Spent time on beach & snorkeling seeing huge orange starfish, more sloth watching then home & fish dinner again in a small restaurant that had closed but let us in. 29/4/18 Mammallena Hostal Boquete Panama Ferry then Long bus journey from Almirante to David, then a quick trip to Boquete. Small town in the hills with just a square & a couple of streets. Hostal right on the square. Cooked a pesto pasta for dinner with tuna & sweet corn. Svend debated doing a night hike to see the sunrise with others in the Hostal but decided against it but when they drove off in the bus he regretted it, got up talked to others then came back to bed feeling ok, as some hadn’t actually gone. It was 14km each way very steep from 1200m upto 3800m along a rough track. 30/4/18 Overnight bus David to Panama City Made pancakes with the supplied mixture in the kitchen. Found out only one of the hikers made it to the top. One had altitude sickness. Another stopped after only 2km, another hurt her ankle. After breakfast we caught bus to the Lost waterfall hike. A dog followed us all the way & back. Started to rain, track really muddy, steep in places, scrambling up over rock tracks & tree roots. Used poncho so that helped. 3 waterfalls would have been lovely if not raining. We did it in 2 hours but hardly stopped. We decided not to do the Pipeline track as was planned as too rainy. Hung around till 6pm the got bus to David then a late bus that should have taken 9hours to Panama City. So we got the 8.30pm. Unfortunately it went faster we’d hoped getting us in there at 3am. We hung around bus station until 5.30am then took a bus & taxi to Lunas Castle Hostal, where they let us in & showed us a sofa where we slept till 7am. Aden had stayed there years ago with Bree so svend sent him photos. 1/5/18 Casa Casco Viejo Panama City After we woke up The Hostal couldn’t check us in till midday so svend found another one that we could go to straight away for a shower. We also went out for a nice breakfast but the bill had all sorts of taxes & service charges added on so worked out to be about $19. Super expensive for us & Panama. It was a public holiday so shops etc closed for the day. Very quiet on the streets. We are staying in the old town that’s World heritage listed & being renovated slowly. Some places crumbling others finished. Wandered around a little past the fish markets & to metro station back to where we’d started early that morning. Took bus to Miraflores Locks to see the Panama Canal. Very hot day but really interesting to finally see it. Svend sailed through it with Mark, aden & Nathan both been there before me. Saw video, then a museum then huge ships move through the locks as we watched from a high viewing platform. Lots of people saw the first lot but we stayed & saw yachts tied together & a tour boat. All sizes big & small. Amazing to think that small channel links two oceans & allows transport between them. On way home we ate at the fish market really nice atmosphere & good food but spoilt with all the additions on the bill. The chips were extra to the fish, then service, then tax. One meal ended up $24. On way back stopped at a bar with live music & mainly older women dancing salsa. We were so tired we went to bed at 8pm. 2/5/18 Casa Casco Viejo Panama City The streets much livelier today, business as usual. Investigated the old town, buildings, churches & waterfront. Churches all had amazing alters, & San Jose church had a room with the nativity scene but an enormous one with lots of scenes building up to the birth with lots of little ceramic figures. Then in afternoon we took train to the centre of the modern city. The skyscraper landscape looks impressive from afar but not too interesting in its midst. We had a little walk, had a pizza then went back to Casco Viejo. Bought 5 hammocks for the holiday houses. Now just have to carry them. Jan Gade had some not great test results back from a big growth in his groin he’d had removed. No infection but abnormal B cells. Sounds like a CLL chronic lymphocytic leukaemia to me but he’s having a bone marrow soon to get a better diagnosis. Must be worrying for him & Suzie. 3/5/18 Bodhi Hostal, El Valle de Anton Panama Walked through the busy mall in Casco Viejo to the metro station at Cinco de Maio (I’d thought they were saying trains didn’t run till 5 May the night we arrived, instead they were telling me I had to get to that station) took metro to the grand bus station & managed to get a minibus leaving straight away & direct to El Valle. A very small pretty village in the middle of an old fertile volcanic crater. Lots of North Americans apparently retire there. Svend found a Hostal to stay in, unfortunately there weren’t any private rooms so we stayed in triple bunks that all had curtains, a fan & a light. I was a bit out of my comfort zone but the atmosphere was nice. Yoga happening & friendly people. We went for a walk to some waterfalls, started to drizzle a little & at the first disappointing one we met a couple of Germans Hannah & Daniel, they later offered a lift in their hire car to the 2nd falls which were slightly better but not really worth the $5 entrance. They drove us back to town & we bought them a beer & talked for a couple of hours. They’d done Everest base camp but hadn’t finished as Hannah got sick. We suggested the Silk Road to travel & they suggested Lombok, as the waterfall there was the most amazing ever. They left us about 8pm then I cooked a pasta again. Didn’t go to bed till after midnight I was trying to remember to do the marble puzzle solitaire & failing. Svend was doing a booking for the p palms houses. I’m getting a cold & coughed a lot, tried not to keep my room full of mates awake. 4/5/18 Hotel Mixtel David bus station Panama Had pancakes made for us at the Hostal included in our bed price. Took a walk around the village. Lovely green rain forest, drizzle rain but lovely feeling walking surrounded by the volcano crater. Walked to some hot springs but didn’t go in. Packed up. Got talking to an older Irish traveller. Blog is The travels of on old Irish nomad. ?? We also suggested to him to travel the Silk Road & was very interested in it. Set off not really knowing where we were heading as we are leaving San Jose on the 9th so heading towards there. Thought we would head to Boca Chica then charged our minds as the bus was slow& it was getting later. Finally decided to head to David but the bus ended up being 2 hours late as stuck in city traffic, not sure if the rain caused it or accident. Arrived at 9pm & got a room at the bus station. We’d found it a few days ago when waiting for the Panama bus, the bus we were on was freezing cold as usual & we hadn’t dressed accordingly for the journey. After checking in we walked to the Little casino around the bus station area & got some chips to eat. Watched a women’s finals soccer game, ended in penalty shootout. 5/5/18 Martina’s Hostal Bahia Drake Costa Rica Svend out & about fetching me breakfast, yogurt banana & juice. Got a bus to the border of Panama & Costa Rica, easy crossing, but the bus we were waiting for just drove past us. We were heading happily towards Dominical beach town but svend sat & talked to a local guide who said we must go back & see the Corocovado National park. So we got off at the next town Sur Palmor & took a bus back to a junction where a bus was just leaving but waited. Then we were picked up by a truck where we stood in the back driving through jungle on gravel road, it could only take us to a village but by then the scheduled mini bus had caught up with us & we changed to the village of Agujatia. A small town on the water in the jungle. Most people come in by boat. It’s one of Costa Ricas most inaccessible areas but getting more popular. Wonderful eco sensitive area, with areas of original rainforest jungle. We were given the Honeymoon suite instead of a simple room so we will stay a couple of nights probably until we go to San Jose. Cooked pasta again. Easiest & most accessible ingredients. 6/5/18 Martina’s Hostal Bahia Drake Costa Rica Woken at 5am with a cacophony of bird noises, quietened down at 6ish. Slow day just spent walking along the beach track, seeing large lizards in trees, & birds. Sleeping at cocolito beach, just generally chilling out. Really hot & humid. Some people did long treks, or. Ishtar walks. Nice peaceful place with hammocks & kitchen, communal area. 7/5/18 Cocos Beach Hotel, Dominical, Costa Rica Svend’s 62 birthday. But we were up early to catch the 7am ferry from the beach. Aden called, & Svend also talked to his brother Kjeld. Small motor boats filled up from the waters edge, nice weather fortunately, speeding along on open water then along tributaries of green jungle, much like most of Costa Rica that we’ve visited. The only thing to complain about is the cost of food in supermarkets is more than in Australia, also restaurants, crazy prices. On arrival at Sierpe we dodged the taxis & minibus’s & waited fir the local bus, then took the bigger bus to Dominical, from Palmar where Svend bought a new leather bum bag for his birthday, he’d seen it the other day as we were waiting before the bus but she wouldn’t negotiate. He got it this time. In Dominical we found it is a surf village, with dirt roads, few people around as it’s low season with rain & heat. Got a cabin opposite the water. Beach a bit stoney, dark sand but lots of waves. We were in for a while but it was too rough for me. Svend loved it. The waters a nice temperature though. I’ve found some bright towels for Logan & Coby as gifts but the beach sellers don’t want to bargain with Svend. Had our nightly beer looking at the pacific ocean, had pizza dinner talking to the waiter. We showed him Trevor Carlson’s video of big wave surfing, he was impressed. Had english CNN news for first time in ages. Donald Trump up to mischief again, over Iran deal. Never a dull moment with this US president. 8/5/18 Easy morning, the last on the road, we fly tomorrow early from San Jose. Had a walk, swim, breakfast of pancakes at little eatery, finally bought the two towels for the nephews. Nice turtles & birds, bright colours that caught my eye. Got a police report for lost bag, cancelled Svends credit card. Took bus at 1.30pm to San Jose airport. A long journey around the coast with driver only going 50km per hr. Not sure why. Walked to our Airbnb which was in a little old ladies house in some small streets, then we had a seafood pasta at a local restaurant. 9/5/18 Rosas Place Airbnb San Jose Walked to the Airport in the morning, flew back to San Francisco, stayed at the same Airbnb & our luggage was safe, had an interesting evening with the host, a Jordanian with interesting friends & other house mates.
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