The End of the Journey and Some Final Thoughts

Nothing says fun like an early morning ferry back to the mainland filled with people puking all over the place. And with that I said goodbye to Utila, and the Bay Islands which had become like home to me and an incredible stop on the journey. Once arriving on the mainland I started the push north, to try and catch not only the ferry to Belize but also my flight home from Cancun, Mexico. Making my way on yet another bus to San Pedro Sula, Honduras, I was needing to make it to Puerto Cortes to make the ferry the following morning. At the bus terminal in San Pedro, an Auzzie couple with the same plan that I had, so through convenience we started to travel together and make our way up to the port. After arriving we settled into a hotel in town. It was really nice to have my own room, with a private bathroom for the first time in a long while. Some simple things like that, become quite big once you haven't had them for a while. The next morning after a very painless Immigration process at a small office near the port we made our way over to catch the ferry. The "D-Express" was to be our ride. We all had our own thoughts about what the "D" stood for, by I will let you form your own opinion of a small speed boat headed north from Honduras. While waiting for the ferry I was hoping to change some money and was told that I could do so. When I decided I wanted to I was taken onto the boat and hidden behind a small wall to make the transaction. Easily one of the sketchiest feeling things that I had done on the whole trip. After a fairly quick 2.5 hours to Belize where I thought the lady beside me was either going to die or vomit all over me, we arrived in Belize. The Immigration officers came right onto the boat and did our paper work there. We then had to get off and get the bags checked. I had a pretty intense search...the officer actually opened my bag, which I believe is only the second time that has happened! OH NO! Once we were all cleared we jumped back on the boat for a quick 5 minute ferry over to the town of Placencia. Here I partnered up with 2 Norwegians who where just finishing their study in Leon, and 2 Canadians from B.C. and we caught a taxi out the the main road, at a price a bit steeper than what I have been used to, but was able to get some sweet street knowledge and wisdom from the driver. We were hoping to make it in time for a bus that would allow us to skip the stop in Belize City, which is incredibly dangerous and dodgy, with not many redeeming points to it, but unfortunately this couldn't happened and we needed to stay the night in the city. As I said, upon arrival in the city we were warned by the bus driver that we needed to get a taxi, and that walking anywhere would be stupid and dangerous. This to was echoed by the hotel owner, who, when we asked if there was any place to go and eat were told that there was a place a block or two down but if we were going to go there we should only take the money that we need and nothing more because the chance of us getting robbed was really high. Yes, that is the type of city Belize City is. Early the next morning we made our way back to the bus station for the final push through Belize. Upon arriving at the boarder I pay the 16$ exit fee, for my 24 hour trip through the dodgy country of Belize and I am then on to Mexico. The final stop on the journey. After the customs stop we head back to the bus only to find that it had left us at the border, and because of that some taxis were needed to make it the final way to the bus station where I would find my final bus to Cancun. After departing from the friends that I had met leaving Honduras, and on the trip through Belize I was now on my way to the tip of the Yucatan Peninsula, and the western worlds vacation paradise of Cancun. Mexico initially had a much different fell from the rest of Central America. There was a more developed feel to the area. I'm sure that this is not the case in all parts of the developing nation but the tourist haven of the peninsula had a much different feel from anything that I had seen in the past 4 months. Nice roads, better vehicles and a cleaner environment had a foreign feel to me. Upon arriving in Cancun I made my way from the very modern bus station to a hostel near by. I was now in my final destination and on the home stretch of the trip, a really sad realization to come to. After a fairly lonely night in the hostel, and quite dinner on my own, I decided to head into town and try to see some of the sites. The hostel is not very near the resort and hotel rich area of the peninsula and I am required to take the very modern bus system to see what is out there. When I get out to the "Hotel Zone" I am blown away by what I see there. Massive hotels lining the entire stretch of the beach with stores and restaurants included in the mix. I feel so out of place here and am experiencing this strange feeling of a reverse culture shock. After being away from everything and living in a more organic way, this all seems to be a shock for me. I walk along the beach and through the store to see what there is to see. This shopper paradise isn't sitting all that well with me. I have a really tough time seeing the appeal to this all. It seems to have any last trace of culture sucked out of it and replaced with an Americanized caricature of what Mexico and central America really is and has to offer. I feel sorry for people if that is the only experience of Central American culture, because it is much deeper and vibrant that Cancun seems to lead on. No it is not wrong to go here and have a vacation but I hope people realize there is more than malls, clubs, beaches and big hotels in this part of the world. This however is all I really needed to see for me to know that the resort style vacation is not quite for me. After this eye opener of a day I made my way back to the hostel to see that I had a new roommate from the U.K. After chatting for a while we went out for dinner at a road side stand and had my last taste of the food of Central America. Upon returning to the room I finish my final packing and get ready for the early morning flight back to the homeland. As i lie in bed I am filled with a tremendous mix of feelings. On one had I am excited to head home and see friends and family and so sad that this journey of a life time is now coming to an end. I have seen and experienced so many things that have changed me, and helped form my world view and outlook on life. I have met some incredible and inspiring people along the way that have taught me to dream bigger, and really enjoy life to the fullest in whatever you are doing. Not really looking forward to getting back into the real world but realizing that for me this is the end of a chapter in my life. However, this will not be the last trip like this and already feel the creative juices flowing as I ponder future trips. I get up early in the morning and head off to the bus station to get my ride to the airport. A few hours from now I will be back on home soil. Getting on the place I feel an excitement about going home. After arriving at the airport, in Toronto, I met my parents and we headed home. My trip was finally over. Now being home for a while I want to be back on the road. I have tasted something so sweet and now want that again.
I want to thank people for reading along and taking part in my journey. Your encouragement has been huge as I made my way though 8 countries over 4 incredible months.

Thanks

Bye for now

Mike

Utila - Part 2

Its incredible to think that in just under a week I will be back home in Canada after 4 months on the road, traveling and experiencing some of the amazing things that Central America has to offer. I have really loved my time here on Utila. This little island with only two main streets that are full of people and golf cart, has been home for almost 3 weeks now. It has been nice to spend a bit of time in one place as opposed to constantly being on the move. I guess part of me has succumb to a big lie of Utila, and that is "I am leaving tomorrow." Its really easy to hang out here when you are surrounded by really friendly people and some incredible diving. I was planning on doing a few other things here in Honduras but have decided to stay here basically until I leave for Mexico. I do not feel bad for staying here and missing out on other things, this place is great and I'm enjoying my time.
After I finished my Advanced Open Water course with Alton's Dive Centre, I decided that I wanted to continue on with the next step in the diving ladder. For me that meant I was going to be getting my Rescue Diver certification. This course was a lot harder than the previous two that I had taken and made for some really long and tiring days in the water and a good wet suit sunburn to go along with all that. Thankfully I had my First Aid training, and because of that it cut of a day of the course and saved me a bit of money. The idea behind the Rescue Diver is that you are there to provide help to other divers. This could mean dealing with panicked divers, tired divers, or even unconscious ones. The course was 3 days of jumping in and out of the water "saving" people through different scenarios and learning how to handle situations both on the surface and under water. Learning search patterns, diver tows, and how to bring unconscious people to the surface, was all part of the training. By the time I finished the high stress and high intensity course I was a bit relieved and really proud of myself. It was really rewarding and a huge accomplishment. Open Water courses show you how to have fun while diving, but the Rescue program teaches you how to take care and be responsible for other divers around you. I feel that because of this course it has made me a better and more confident diver.
After my time with that I needed a chance to relax again. A few of the people from the dive shop decided they wanted to go up to the fresh water caves on the island where you can do some skin diving and snorkeling in the caves filled with water. Going up there I thought that it would be very similar to my experience at Semuc Champey, but this didn't turn out to be the case. When we arrived at the caves I was looking around for the area to begin out expedition. It was a small crack in the earth that went down into the darkness. After lighting some candles five of us made our way into the cave, with parts of the cave forcing you to crawl on your stomach through some very narrow holes. This probably would not have been an overly enjoyable experience for someone with claustrophobia. Finally we made it to the water and jumped into the refreshingly cold pools, after a sweaty walk in. Having a few underwater torches we decided to go swimming from cavern to cavern through little underwater tunnels. It was crazy to see all the little passage ways that were tuck away in the caves. Once made our way into one of the caves there was an opening we wanted to check out. I went in to take a look at the area underwater to see if there was another opening to be seen, allowing us into another room. After a quick scope out I gave the light off to another guys to check it out. He took his breath and headed under. After a few moments we were all impressed with how long he could hold his breath, a few more moments passed by and then we started to get a bit worried. I looked down into the water to see if I could see him, but the water had silted up and we could no longer see the torch and that meant it was really disorienting in there. That's when we really started to worry. I thought that Alban was going to die. The group of us just sort of sat there for a second trying to decide what we were going to do, but at the last second we saw a light, and one of the other guys, Andrew, pulled Alban out. Alban didn't have his mask on his face and looked totally panicked. What had happened was that he kicked the roof of the cavern while swimming and that dislodged a lot of silt. After that he had no idea where he was and started to panic. He took off his mask and then started to take in a lot of water, in a panicked effort to save himself. As bad as it sounds, if Andrew had not seen the light and grabbed him, I don't know if Alban would still be around. After the scare we decided it was probably best if we just went back to the dive shop. So we all took a nice relaxed walk along the coast as we made out way back, thankful that nothing too bad had happened.
The time at the dive shop has been really great. Other than the diving there has been lots of opportunities to talk with the Dive-masters and Instructors. It was really cool one night when the shop put on a fish fry with some fresh local catch. Some of the locals prepared the meal and we all just ate to our hearts content on a typical plate of coleslaw, plantains and some tasty fresh fish.
I have really enjoyed the opportunity to relax in the hammock on the end of the dock looking out over the ocean watching the world slowly go by as I listen to Jack Johnson, Snow Patrol or some jonnymeloband. This is really beautiful, and something that I am going to miss when I get home. I had thought about staying here longer and doing my Dive-master training here, but decided against it because of time and money. But I know that at some point I will do it. Possibly coming back here to continue, or maybe doing it somewhere else, who knows. All I know is that I love diving and want to keep on doing that, and possibly make some money with it at some point.
And so on Sunday I will start to make my push back north. I will make my way via ferry from Honduras over to Belize on Monday morning. After that I will basically move as fast as I can through Belize and hopefully get to the Mexican boarder in a day or two. I will then continue on up to Cancun in order to make my flight on Thursday the 6th.
I hope that you have enjoyed one of the last posts. I will see many of you very soon when I return home.

Bye for now

Mike

Utila - Part 1

I'm sorry that there hasn't been a post in a while. I've been incredibly busy since I arrived here on the island. Utila is one of the three Bay Islands of Honduras, located in the Caribbean, with beautiful sunny warmth and people that speak a difficult form of English. Its a mix of English, Spanish and the local Garifuna language, but when it comes out sounds much like a Jamaican accent but a lot less understandable at times It is a very big traveler stop and probably most famous for all the diving that can be done on the Meso American Reef which is the second largest reef in the world.
I took a ferry ride over to the island, which is the only real way unless you want to pay a stupid amount of money for a 15 min flight. The price of the ferry isn't much better ($23 for an hour long ride) When I got off and got my bags I don't think that I was quite ready for the madness that awaited me at the end of the dock. What happens is all of the dive shops on the island, of which there are probably 10 or 15, congregate at the end of the dock awaiting the new batch of travelers to try and sell them on their shop before they are picked up by another. So this means there is 20 or 30 dive shop employees trying to hand you pamphlets about them and why you need to choose their outfit. A couple times I just laughed because it was overwhelming all the commotion in the area. I decided to go with Alton's Dive Centre, because they offered me a free night to stay and a place to put my bags while I checked out the other shops of the island to choose which one I want to go with. So I set of and checked in at almost all the shops on the island collecting some information and prices, and they were all about the same. So I ended up staying with Alton's because it had a good friendly feel with a welcoming attitude. I signed up to do my Advanced Open Water course which would allow me to now max out my depth at 40m instead of 18m as well as get some practice in other areas of diving. The course was 7 dives in total. They included, peak performance buoyancy skills, navigation, deep, wreck, current, night and then a free fun dive at the end. In each of the dives we learned some basics about the specific type of dive. The reef here is incredible. I am really quite glad that I did my Open Water in Panama, because with a less impressive reef and terrible visibility it has made this time on the Meso American Reef even more mind blowing. The colour of the coral, visibility and abundant aquatic life has been truly amazing.
Another thing that makes Utila quite famous is the whale sharks that come around for a while in the month of April. They are the largest fish in the ocean and are remarkably beautiful, and so part of the reason for me coming to Utila was the prospect of getting to swim with these massive creatures. When I arrived there hadn't been any whale sharks sighted as of yet, which meant that they were a bit late. But after a day or two there had been a couple of sighting by some of the local fishermen, which got me quite excited. On my first day of diving, in between the first and second dives we were told that we were going to be going whale sharking! How exciting. The event of whale sharking is unlike anything Ive done and carries with it an incredible adrenaline rush. What happens is that the captain of the boat gets in contact with the other captains too see if there have been any sightings and where abouts they were. Then the go around and look for the boils of tuna. This is when the tuna swim in a circular motion trapping a bunch of tiny fish and force them up towards the surface. Once the tuna have reached the surface they all start jumping for the fish that they have trapped, ocean a look of boiling water. These are generally good indicators of where to find whale sharks because they eat the same type of small fish. When a boil is spotted we are all told to get down in two lines with our fins, mask and snorkel ready to go. Sitting on the deck in eager anticipation of what is to come we waited, and waited and waited, scanning boil after boil for a mouth of a whale shark as it goes vertical to eat or a dark shadow as it swims below. The silence is then quickly broken with shouts of GO! GO! GO! Its to the left! Everyone in the chaos pours into the water and starts swimming around trying to see it. The first one I saw was beautiful. I froze. This massive fish right in front of me, so calm and serene majestically moving through the water. I did no know what to do but sit and stare. I have never seen anything like that before let alone swim with it. After a bit of time with the whale shark it swam away and we were left floating alone in the deep blue of the ocean, as you look down and can't see a thing, but a deep and entrancing colour. That day we went for a few more jumps to try and see them and each time they blew me away. After getting in the boat we all recalled our personal experience and thoughts about what had just happened, all equally stunned. The next day when we went we had the same procedure. This time when we jumped in I didn't know where I was to be going and was left in s pile of bubbles. But when the bubbles cleared right beside me was a 40ft whale shark, had I reached out I could have touched it and actually had to move back so that I didn't hit it. The shark just sat there for a while with us curious as to his new visitors, even looking some of the people in the face as they had their cameras rolling and taking some incredible footage of these animals. Then again it slipped back into the deep blue and headed off on its own. This was probably one of the big highlights to my trip and something that I probably wont get the chance to do again.
Those experiences already made this tiny island an incredible stop for me but that wasn't the end. I have broken this up into two different parts and will post the rest in a few days. I hope that you have enjoyed and look forward to hearing from you

Thanks

Bye for now

Mike

Now to Honduras

Into Honduras. Upon arriving at Copan Ruinas, just a few minutes from the boarder with Guatemala, I was looking for a bit of a chance to slow down the travel, as I had been going rather quickly for the past few weeks. And that is what I have done. I spent a bit of time in Copan just relaxing and taking in some of the sights around town without really doing a whole lot. Copan is a sleepy little town set on the side of a hill. A beautiful place to stay for a bit. A few casual walks here and there, taking it pretty easy was what I wanted from it. I figured that with being so close to the Mayan ruins that the town takes its name after, I would be a bit of a fool not to go and see them. I made my way from the town about 2kms out of the centre to the ruins which lay beyond. Now most people say that if you are going to go to Copan you should do it before Tikal, because the scale and grandeur really does dwarf that of Copan. I did it the other way around. After paying my ticket, which was a fair bit more expensive than I had expected ($15, when Tikal was $20) I made my way into the park. Tikal is known for it massive building and the grandure of all the construction. Copan on the other hand is more know for the artistry and carvings that scatter the land in that area. Tikal made it big, Copan made it beautiful. All round the grounds there were "stelas." These are large, beautifully ornate statues that depict stories and rulers of the Mayan dynasties. These types of things are all over the property. There are still a few buildings in the area that are quite nice, with one stair case being the largest hieroglyphic stair case in all of the Mayan world. The one thing that surprised me the most and I think was just as impressive, was the number of Scarlet Macaws that few freely around the park. These are the beautiful red parrots that you usually would think of when a parrot comes to mind. Besides having a terribly painful call, they were so beautiful and could easily be found in the trees, often in groups of 3 or 4. So I spent the afternoon in the park walking around and admiring all that was there, stopping occasionally to read a book for a while continuing on with the relaxed nature of the trip. The next day I decided to move on to Los Naranjos, near the Lago Yojoa, further in land from the boarder, and this meant another long bus day. When I arrived to the place it was basically a continuation of Copan in the sense of relaxation. One day I did make my way to a waterfall near the area, which was rather nice to see. 42m's of cascading water, and some swimming that followed was a nice way to break up the time there. After a few days of relaxing there and a lot of reading I moved off to La Cieba, on the Carribbean coast of Honduras. This was to be my staging area for the jump to the Bay Islands. So far I would say that my time in Honduras has been really nice, not all that eventful and I am sorry because that makes for a boring blog post, but now I am on the Utila, one of the islands off the coast and am getting ready to do another dive course here. Hopefully that will be able to produce a bit more of an exciting read for you all.
I hope that you have enjoyed so far, and any comments or questions please feel free to let me know!

Thanks

Bye for now

Mike

Tikal!

After the craziness of Semana Santa now behind, and Antigua finally returning to normal I headed off for Tikal, located in the northern Peten Province of Guatemala, near to the boarders of Mexico and Belize. Making my way into the capital, Guatemala City, I boarded a bus for what would be a near 12 hour ride to the city of Flores. Thinking that booking a ticket for a coach bus would make the trip a bit more comfortable and less of a hassle, I was fine with spending a few more dollars. This however did not turn out to be the case. This was more or less just a chicken bus with some comfortable seats. Stopping everywhere to pick up and drop people off, this made for a long and incredibly crowded trip. This was not quite what I was expecting to be in for on this particular bus. It did end up getting interesting. When we stopped for a quick rest break and a chance to get some food, I ended up meeting some Honduran men that seemed rather friendly. Through some more conversation I found out that they were headed to the States, and yes probably in the way you may have guessed. These guys were illegals! This ended up turning out to be an incredible experience for me as I sat with Jose, a 19 year old Honduran making the trek for the boarder, learning about what they would have to go through in the following month or so, how the crossing works, why they are doing what they are doing and much more, but I am going to save that for another post because its a bit of a long story.
After arriving in Flores quite late, I bid farewell and good luck to the guys I had met on the bus and then made my way off to find a hostel for the night. The next morning I was quickly off to find a shuttle for the 1.5 hour trip further north to the tourist Mecca of Guatemala, Tikal. Packed with far more people than the mini bus was designed for we moved off into the jungle. Seeing signs warning of panther crossing and large snakes, I got quite excited about where I was going. Though it was destined to be a bit of an expensive trip I was looking forward to seeing the ruins that I have heard so much about.
Full of clean, old, rich, white tourists I just fit right in...only a bit dirtier, a lot younger, and with a lot less money.
I arrived at Tikal around noon, but waited until 3:30 to enter the park, because if I waited till then I would be able to use my ticket again the next day. with a ticket costing around $20 to get in I thought this would be wise. As a side note, the Guatemalan people get to enter for about $3, and I thought about trying to convince the guard I was a local but I'm not sure I would get through...maybe the lacking Spanish or possible the incredibly pasty white skin might give me away. So I bit the bullet and bought my white ticket.Walking though the "proper jungle with Tarzan vines and all," in the words of a English guy Will(who I met and lived with in Antigua for Semana Santa) I stumbled across the grandeur of Temple I. Sitting there in all its beauty, I stood dumbfounded, not really knowing what to do. In a bit of shock as to what was before me all I could really do was take pictures in hopes of capturing the this Mayan architectural masterpiece that has been tucked away in the Guatemalan jungle for hundreds of years. Wandering around the Grand Plaza, I tried to take in the beauty of it all. The place is so interesting and I found myself drifting off and thinking about what it would have been like years ago with all its original inhabitants, and also later to be the one to make the discovery of this place. Climbing Temple IV, I got an incredible panoramic view, and thoughts of "is this happening for real?" came into my head. It was so nice to walk around the grounds more or less alone, since most of the tourists has already gone back, allowing for some time alone on top of some of the temples. The one big downer to the Tikal is that there is so much backhanded dealing going on. If you want to climb some o the temples that are not allowed to be climbed, you will find a friendly guard there that is more than willing to let you go up for a few bucks. All I wanted to do was get some nice pictures and watch the sun set, and they were fine with that as long as they got some cash for it.
The next morning I return to the park early, so that I can have it to myself with out being smothered by tourists that would arrive later in the day. Walking around, I saw some of the other temples that I had skipped the previous day like Temple V. This one was huge, and to get to the top you had to climb a super sketch ladder to the top, and once there you felt as though you were going to fall all the way back down. But the view from there over the Grand Plaza was beautiful.
Tikal turned out to be a great experience and lived up to its name. It was another one of the things that I had planned on doing this time around and was glad to have accomplished it.
Later that afternoon, I made my way back to Flores and then down to Rio Dulce for the night before I would head on to Copan Ruinas, Honduras. Rio Dulce was a nice little town, but the hostel gave me new meaning to "don't let the bed bugs bite!" Yes, the next morning I was quite itchy.
From there I made my way on a series of buses to the Honduran boarder, and onto Copan Ruinas. A fairly painless experience, this is now where I find myself. This is the 6th country of the trip.
Thanks for reading, and I hope that you have enjoyed the blog and catching up on what is going on. I would also encourage you to check out the link on the side, which shows all the places that I have been on the trip so far.

Bye for now

Mike

The Map

Check out the link on the side, Map of the Journey, to see where I have been so far! I will try to update it often and add some more detail to the places.

Enjoy

Mike

Semana Santa

Slowly moving from side to side, their sombre sway moves the massive, ornate float down the road.
Semana Santa has been an incredible experience. The colour, atmosphere, the number of people have all been something so different for anything that I have been a part of here in Antigua. Semana Santa here in Antigua is said to be the second largest Easter week celebration in the world, next only to the Vatican City. Thousands of people, Central Americans and tourists alike all decend on the city for the week long celebration consisting of many different processions though the cobble stone streets of the colonial city. The city has been famous for this for many years and this one was not going to be any different in that regard. The idea behind the processions is that the people pay handsomely (500Q or about $65) for a chance to carry one of the floats for one city block, in the hopes of cutting some time off their stay in Purgatory.
The floats they carry are incredible, both in size and beauty. Many of them require over a hundred people to slowly carry the solid oak float through the streets. Once they have finished their turn the next group stands in beside them and they systematically change out and continue on down the road.
The processions started on the previous Sunday and continue all through out the week, until they come to the climax on Friday. It is incredible to see how many people have fit into this relativly small city as people dressed in purple tunics occupy the streets. Friday, which is arguably the biggest day of the week, start the celebration on Thrusday night. At this point hundreds of people take to the streets to create these ¨alfombras¨ or carpets of sawdust, pine needles, produce, flowers, or a combination of them all. The ones of sawdust are arguably the most beautiful and the most intricate. The streets are packed all night with people walking around and taking in the celebration. The carpets are to signify how people placed palms before Christ as he entered the city and do the same for the representations carried on the floats. People will start them in the early evening and work through the night for the procession that starts a 5 the following morning, on carpets 10m or more in length. Working 8 to 10 hours, making some of the most beautiful and detailed pieces I have ever seen, you can see that it is an incredible source of pride for the artists as thousands of people file past their work and take pictures all enamoured by the work . The incredible thing is that folling the hours of work, they are all trambled and distroyed in a matter of minutes as the procession makes its way over them. After the procession passes there is nothing left that resembles the previous beauty, rather all that remains is a pile of colourful dust that is then hurridly swept up and taken of to the trash by the cleanup crews that follow.
There is a weird feels to it all though. Quite dark feeling and at times it lacks the spirituality that one may assume surronding an event like this. Many people seem to be doing this as their one good deed for the year, and hope to keep themselves in the good books. They chat on cell phones, and listen to music during this time that is to signify the great suffering and life of Christ.
Each of the different floats signify something different, with one carried by men and then followed by another carried by the women. There is even one for the children to carry as not to be left out of the event. They make their way on a marked path through the city streets and then eventually make their way back to whatever chruch they began at.
Also during this week I did a bit more Spanish school in order to get myself a place to stay and finish off the course that I had started before. I lived with the family that I did back in January and it was nice to see them and catch up on what has happened in between. This week I have had some pretty good people to live with, a girl from the States, a guy from England and then a fellow Canadian from Quebec. It has been good to get to know them over the week and take in the processions and celebrations that have happened.
It is strange though that during the week there are so many procession and a really festive attitude about the place, and then on Sunday there is nothing much to be said. It is different because many places around the work this is the day of greatest celebration and here it is almost a non-event.
The week here has been incredible to see all that goes on and the magnitude of the celebration and ceremony that the people take part in. Im sorry if there are some things that are a bit unclear, but there was so much to take in and getting that altogether to post here is a bit of a chore. However, if you have any questions about the celebration or about anything surrounding my trip please let me know.
As well as a side note...I have now changed my ticket and will be returning home on the 6th of May instead of the 13th of April. I felt as though I needed more time for me to complete what I wanted to here and not be rushed in the process. I suppose to you could also say that I have been bit by the travel bug and don´t want it to end. Take your pick.

Thanks for reading, and I hope you have enjoyed it.

Bye for now

Mike

In the Land of Q'eqchi' - Lanquin and Semuc Champey

The road back to Guatemala was again uneventful, with the only real highlight being the overnight stop in San Salvador, El Salvador. I left the bus station for a bit to head out and grab dinner which consisted of papusas (sort of like a pizza pocket) with homemade hot chocolate, and then washed down with some Kolaschanpan (national pop of El Salvador). It was sweet sitting on the street corner with the locals as we all ate from the same stand, and sharing some minimal conversation.
Arriving in Guatemala, I had planned on going to Antigua for the day, in order to set up a shuttle to Coban in the Guatemalan highlands, but a last minute decision let me directly to Coban, saving some time and hassle. A beautiful little town away in the hills was to be my stop for the night until I continued onto Lanquin, about 2 hours away.
The next day I made my way to the bus to Lanquin and settled in for what was to be another tightly packed bus ride, through the highlands. However, this ride was a little more eventful than most. While waiting for the bus to depart, some Guatemalan youth came of the bus. Turns out they were medical students from the city heading to Lanquin for a bit of a vacation. They were great. Full of energy and wanting to have some fun. They really wanted to help me out with my Spanish, and one of them spoke incredible English. Another Guatemalan that I have met that has learned the language from TV and music. Incredible. So we played games and just joked around for the rest of the trip.
When we arrived in Lanquin, I was just planning on heading to the hostel and relaxing for the day, but they invited me to go to the Semuc Champey pools with them. Though hesitant about going because I was rather tired and wanted to rest in this picturesque Mayan town, I decided against it and headed off with them. A great decision and one I don't regret. Semuc Champey is a series of limestone pools with the most incredible water, and landscape. It is located in a river valley with hills towering overhead. We spent the afternoon, relaxing, and going from pool to pool, enjoying the refreshingly cool water. There was also a lookout located up the side of one of the hills, which offered an breath taking view of the area. Though arriving there hot and sweaty we were blow away by the beauty of the area. The day turned out to be so much fun and I am glad I didn't let myself sit it out. They were a lot of fun, friendly, and full of energy. It makes travel a lot more fun when you get to experience it with locals, who are discovering part of their country for the first time.
The next day I made my way back to Semuc Champey which is located 10 kms outside of Lanquin. A girl named Becca, who I had met on the bus to Guatemala, and I headed out to go caving near the pools. So we piled into a pickup truck and made for the hills. We did however make one quick stop. With that stop we picked up 20+ local Mayan men, women and children who were on their way in that direction as well. I don't know if Ive seen or even knew that many people could fit in a truck. We made out way out doing the Guatemalan bump and grind, picking up and dropping off along the way.
The cave tour we did was mind blowing. We were given candles and followed our guide Carlos deeper and deeper into the cave, with the tiny wax candle as our only source of light. Wading our way through the pools inside the cave, I like many other times n the trip did so with a stupid grin on my face, and the occasional burst of laughter as I thought about what I was doing. Climbing a series of ladders, holding our little candles, and then eventually swimming through some of the deeper pools we took a break. Carlos told us to put out our lights. At first a little hesitant and not sure if he was joking I followed along. It became a totally new feeling. Absolutely no light what so ever. It was the same with your eyes open and shut. As simple as it sounds this fascinated me. Eventually we relighted the candles and continued on until we reached the end with a small spot to jump off the wall into the pool about 3m's below. Making our way back to the entrance we had to narrowly fit through a crack in the rock and drop into a pool below. This trip was incredible, and well worth it.
After making my way back to Lanquin I had to leave for Coban again, because with the town being so small they don't have an ATM to withdraw money, and not knowing this before I only had enough to make it back to Coban. So with that I bid farewell to this dreamy little Mayan town, and the Q'eqchi' language and left for the slightly bigger Coban in hopes of catching a shuttle to Antigua in the morning.
The next day I caught a shuttle to Antigua for the Semana Santa festival which I will write more about in the next post. The place is crazy right now, with tonnes of people all over the place and a real festive atmosphere. I will be sure to let you know all about it in the next post.

Thanks for reading

Bye for now

Mike

The Bus and a Stop in Leon

The plan at the end of the last post I was to head out from Boquete, Panama, to San Jose, Costa Rica the following morning. This didn´t happen. I realized that I really liked Boquete and wanted to stick around for another day and enjoy the town, because there was no real need to rush. So thats what I did. The extra day wasn´t all that exciting or action packed, but rather relaxed. I sat around reading and drinking coffee for a while and after a bit I met up with one of the other guys from the hostel. After chatting we decided to go for lunch with one of the Dutch girls there. We had a filling lunch at a small family resturant, and then we decided to head back to the hostel and chill there, and thats what the day consisted of. Relaxation, music, and conversation. Again, this was not all that productive a day, but it turned out to be one of my favourites.
The next morning, bright and early, I did force myself to leave the little mountain village and head down to David, Panama in order to catch my connecting bus towards San Jose. The Tracopa Bus ride north is very normal. Boring and long. Nothing much exciting happens along the ride, and all that you do is pass the time with reading, music and if your lucky, sleep.
Once we arrived in San Jose, I had to go through the unfortunate but necessary experience of negociating a taxi over to the Tica Bus terminal, were I could catch my next bus up to Nicaragua. Catching a taxi is the bane of my exsistence. They can charge whatever they want because your white, and because you need it, and they know it. So I find one that is reasonable and make my way over to the other terminal to set up my next ticket.
When I arrive I find out that the early bus I want to take is full and I am forced to take the afternoon coach. The downside to this is that I would arrive in Managua, Nicaragua,(the capital) late at night. This is undesirable because the big cities are not the safest, even in day light, and it also would mean that I will be later getting to Leon. But there is not much that I can do about this, so I book and head off to find a hostel for the night.
The next morning before I head off to the bus, I went to search out some food. I came across the main street, where a festival was in full bloom. Everyone around me was eating plates of gallo pinto (a typical dish, consisting of rice and beans mixed together). I asked around to see what the festival was all about and how much the plates of gallo pinto were going to cost me. It turns out that this is the Gallo Pinto Festival. Yes, thats right, its a rice and beans festival, where they try and break the record for the most gallo pinto made. People come from all over to celebrate with music, street preformers, and the obligatory eating of gallo pinto, which by the way is totally free! Eat to your hearts content. I went around getting plates from various vendors who all added their own little flavour or sauce to the mix. Quite a neat thing to be a part of the worlds largest rice and beans festival (possibly the only).
The bus ride was again uneventful until we got to the Nicaragua side of the boarder. I had intended to get some money in San Jose to cover the boarder crossing, but was distracted by the rice and beans. So I ended up at the boarder 1$ short of what I needed. I thought this would be fine, because I could just take money out at the boarder ATM. It wouldnt accept my card. So I was then forced to ask a fellow travelling Canadian for a few bucks to get me through. It was a bit of a hassle but once that was over the ride went smoothly. I decided to get of in Granada because it was safer and familiar for me to do in the dark.
The next morning I caught a series of buses to get to Leon, which is another colonial town in Nicaragua. I wanted to take a day or two off in Leon so that I wasnt spending my whole time on the bus. The town is beautifully colonial. I stopped into some different museums in the area surrounding the FSLN (Left wing "rebel" party) and the revolution that took place in the country in the late 70´s early 80´s. These places were quite moving. The first was run by mothers of fallen soldiers. The room was filled with pictures and write ups told of the revolution here in Leon. Talking to one of the mothers who lost two of her children and four of her brothers to American backed Somoza dictatorship was sobering to say the least. Its incredible to see first hand what happens to these countries that have their politics meadled with by the Americans, and how it destroys lives for some foreign agenda. The next one I went to was run by former rebels, in one of the Somoza strongholds during the revolution. They told of the battles in the area, with my guide proudly showing off the scar he had from where a piece of an exploding bomb ripped into him. Just 12 when he joined, he pointd out pictures of many of his friends that died in the fighting who were of similar age. He was proud to have served and he let me try on some of the equipment used during that time, along with a rocket launcher that they used during battle. The experience was so facinating but so very sad. It showed me a lot about the reality of what many have had to live through here in Central America. It makes me rather thankful for the upbringing that I have been given in Canada.
I will leave Leon today and continue to head north on the Tica Bus, with the untimate destination being Guatemala. If all goes well I should be there Thursday afternoon.
Thanks for reading, I hope you have enjoyed.

Bye for now

Mike

Boquete, Coffee, and the Road to the North

In the late afternoon I bid farwell to Dan. After a good handshake and some parting comments of good luck, we went separate ways for the first time in 5 weeks or so. He was on his way to catch a flight bound for Cartegena, Colombia, to meet up with his vehicle that was to be shipped there in the next few days. I decided to head north, making my way back to Guatemala, instead of continuing on to South America. There are still some things that I want to do before my trip is over and inorder to have a sence of completion to Central America. I feet as though going north would allow me to accomplish these things. So now I am traveling on my own for the first time in this trip.
Early in the morning I boarded a bus bound for David, Panama. After a painless journey, with the only difficulty being the amount of time, I arrived in the city. Quickly searching out my connecting bus I hopped on and was headed for Boquete, in the Chiriqui Highlands. Arriving just before dusk I settled into the hostel, greeted by the overly energetic and more than helpful owner Pancho, who runs the operation out of his house. A rather relaxed evening was ahead, and I tried to plan for the next few days in this new area.
Boquete in a beautiful place situated in the highlands of Panama. The temperature here is beautiful with a warm sun during the day and a cool, refreshing night to make for comfortable sleeping. The air here is fresh, and crisp, similar to that of the mountains in Alberta. The people are friendly, wanting to talk and interact with you as you go about your business. There is something a little bit magical about the place that makes it infectious. I realize that I need to do what I came for and then leave, because I very easily could be caught here for a long period of time, with such a fun, welcoming, and relaxed environment at my disposal.
In the morning I worked on coordinating the activities that I hoped to do over the next few days, with the main goal being to go on a coffee tour and visit the plantations that have made the area world famous. Finding out that a tour would be difficult to set up for that day, I decided to pursue it for the following day. This meant that the day was going to be filled with hiking and some gardens that were in the area. I made my way up one of the hills to the Explorador, on the detailed directions of Pancho. The Explorador is a garden set away in the hills of Boquete with some beautiful flower beds, and excellent vistas of the surrounding area. After a leisurely stroll through the gardens I make my way back down the hill. Instead of turning left, back towards the town, I went right. This lead up and around the hills and plantations in the area. It turned into an afternoon of beauty and leisure as I made my way past all the little farms and houses nestled in the hills. Along the way I visited another garden, where the family opened up their property for the public to walk around their estate and see what they had to offer.
After a well deserved nights rest, I readied for the real reason that I came to the area, and that was for a coffee tour on the Kotowa Coffee Estate. This expereince was nothing less than spectacular.
Picked up at the hostel by the friendly Dutch ex-pat, Hans, we made our way the the estate. This particular place was founded by a former mayor of Vancouver in the early 1900´s. Hans was to be our guide and helped us navigate through the incredibly large and complex world of coffee production. Starting with the history of coffee production, and then moving on the the progression of the actual coffee plants used, my head was spinning with all the knowledge that I was being given. We then moved on to the even more involved processing and roasting steps, as the fruit was then turned into the wonderful hot brew we know and love.
The Kotowa Estate, is actually one of the leaders in the environmentally conscious production of coffee. The production takes quite a toll on the environment, with many of the bi products created. Kotowa however has brought their waste down to almost nothing through different strategies, and are one of the unique operations in Panama. They too also have an incredible relationship with their employees, such as the pickers. The families are given good accomidations, a doctor, and schooling for their children, along with the job in the fields. A lot of effort is put into making sure they are taken good care of, which is somewhat rare in these parts. Finally, we came to the end of the tour, where we were able to take part in the wonderfully delicious cupping process. This is where the coffee is tasted to ensure quality and consistancy, but for us was just an excuse to taste what the estate was brewing up. From the smell to the taste, the coffee is scrutinized, looking for any imperfection in the coffee and analyzing the different flavours present in cup. This tour was easily one of the highlights that I have had on the trip and well worth the trip to Boquete.
Tomorrow morning I will head back down to David to catch a bus bound for San Jose, as I continue on the road north, back to Guatemala. Again, it is sad to look at it this way but I feel that I am now coming towards the end of the trip even though I have a few weeks still ahead of me. Im not going to let this affect me because there is still so much that I want to see, do, and experience along the way.
I hope that you have enjoyed this, and I would whole heartedly encourage someone to make Boquete a stop on any trip to Panama.

Thanks for reading. Please contact me with any questions or comments that you may have on anything mentioned above.

Bye for now.

Mike

Panama City and the Canal

The days are filled with sun and warmth. There is so much to do here in Panama City and I don't have the desire to get out of the big city as soon as possible, which is the often the case here in Central America. This is not only because of the safety factor (capitals are often the dodgiest) but also because there is generally not much to do there. This however is not the case in Panama City. There is a lot to do and a lot of history surrounding the Canal and the city itself.
The past few days have also been quite busy for Dan. Panama City is more or less the end of the road for driving. Colombia is very close but there are no navigable roads though, and if you were to make your way though the mire of the Darien Gap, the area beyond is full of rebels and other characters you best not mingle with. So that leads those who are driving to go through the hours worth of paper work and bureaucracy in order to put the vehicle in a shipping container and send it to Cartegena, Colombia. This is what has been taking up Dan's time over the past few days. Dan has teamed up with a really cool couple from France, and have been working through all the paper work that is needed for such an endeavor. Vincent and Marie have been driving around the world for the past year. They left France and made their way through Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, and are now making their way down from Vancouver.
I joined them on the first day while they were searching out some quotes from different companies, and then on the last day when we went to Colon to drop off the vehicles and finish off the paper work required for the shipping. This was interesting to see the huge port city and all that goes into the running of such a massive operation as the Panama Canal. For me, though the paperwork was really boring and involved a lot of sitting around, it was good for me to see what all has to go into the process of shipping, and hopefully one day I will be able to do the same thing and go through the same hassles that they have.
However, during the other days that they were doing all the "fun" stuff I decided to do a little sight seeing in the city on my own. I started off by walking Casco Viejo again and taking some photos of the area. I also went to a museum that chronicled the history of the area and they development of the Canal.
The next day I made my way by bus down to Panama Viejo, which is on the other side of town, and is the home of Old Panama, the original location of the cities settlement. The city was raided and sacked by the famous pirate Henry Morgan back in the 1600's, and all that was left after the burning of the city is some ruins. It is a very nice walk along the ocean seeing what is left of the city. I made my way to the church tower that was left standing after the raid and decided to climb up it. I apparently made it past the guards and needed to purchase a ticket to go up. But the guard at the bottom told me that if i just payed him $2 instead of the required $4 then he would let me pass... or I could go back and pay the full $4. I payed the man the $2 and continued on my way. The top of the tower had some beautiful views of the city and a chance to see a mix of the new and old.
The other highlight to the past few days has been the chance to see the Panama Canal and the Miraflores Locks. This is one of the main sets of locks in the Canal system and we have the opportunity to see some massive ships making their passage from the Caribbean to the Pacific. All the man power that went into the making and now managing of the canal is so impressive. It was interesting to learn that Panama didn't take over the running of the Canal until 2000, when the Americans finally turned over the power to the country. This because a massive source of pride for the Panamanian people. When they took over there was a lot of skepticism about their ability to run it, and to combat that they decided to look into developing the canal to handle bigger ships and more volume. This should be completed in the next few years and will have a significant impact on world trade. Quite an interesting day watching these massive ships passing right in front of you.
One thing that my mom dutifully reminded me of forgetting in the last post was that I have now been reunited with my debit card and have a flow of money again. This is quite nice and takes a lot of stress off me. Thanks to the help that the family gave to me, I was able to continue enjoying the trip. It was however a bit of a good experience because it showed me that it is possible to continue on and travel, and that you can do some of the more expensive countries on a respectively little amount of money, and not feel as though you are missing out on things.

I hope that you have enjoyed and if there are questions or comments please email me, and I will make sure to get back to you. Thanks for reading.

Bye for now

Mike

Scuba and the City

While in Bocas del Toro, Panama, Dan and I had originally planned on staying just a few days to check the local flavour and then continue moving on. However, this was not the case, and our plans changed. We played around with the idea of doing a scuba course in Bocas because it seemed to by a pretty popular thing to do with the tourists there, and there was supposed to be some good diving for reasonable prices. So we decided to shop around for a company that would give us the most bang for our buck. After some time walking around we decided to go with the company "The Dutch Pirate" ran by a Dutch man named Rob and his wife Carol. They were a really nice couple that really wanted us to have a good time while we were there. One of the nicest perks about going with them was that we were given a place to stay that was included in our fees, which made it the cheapest, and really, the best option for us.
Waking up to rainy skies was not the way that I imagined doing the course, but it seemed like this was going to be how I would have to do it. After meeting up at the dive shop and heading over to Isla Basimientos we started our course. The dive shop also served as our lodgings for the time that we were there, which was incredible. We were living on the water of a small Caribbean island, with not a whole lot around. The town was small and had a different feel from the more uptempo main island, Colon. It was a very relaxed stay while we lazed around and listened to the rain clattering off the tin roof of the shop.
The course itself was quite fun. Obviously there was a fair amount of theory to it, but you went through the motions and it passed by painlessly. The real thrill came when we actually got to dive. You roll off the boat into the warm waters of the Caribbean, with all of your gear ready to go. Floating on the surface waiting for the others to get in, I had the chance to peer to the sea floor below. Just seeing some simple starfish on the bottom was enough to make me grin from ear to ear. The first decent into the water was met with a few frantic gasps for air until you realize that this does you and that you can in fact breathe under water. That was such a foreign and exciting feeling to be under the water, on the see floor looking around as schools of fish swim by and starfish litter the ground around you. While underwater we worked on some skills in an attempt to master the art of moving underwater. Even these became fun. The highlight was the chance to go and swim through the corals that the area was famous for. It was incredible seeing those colours and all the different shapes of the coral. Beautiful to say the least. As well the different fish that lived among the coral only added to colour spectacle of the ocean. The whole time I was down there I was smiling and laughing along, as I took in this whole new world and all that it had to offer.
The next few days are full of similar things. Lessons and more diving. We had the chance to see some incredible things even though the visibility was poor due to all the rain. We even had the chance to see a ship wreck. In total, we were able to have 6 dives over 4 days, quite impressive and loads of fun. So now I am a certified open water scuba diver. It is neat because this is another thing that I didn't plan on doing but it turned out to being one of the best things so far.
After leaving Bocas in search of some sun we made our way back to the Pacific side. We stayed the night at Playa Las Lajas, which was nice to be back in the sun warmth, while we tried to dry out from 4 days of constantly being wet.
Only spending the night there we continued on, for a 6 hour trek down to Panama City. Finally making it there we crossed over the Bridge of the Americas which is the only solid object connecting the two sides. The view was incredible and Dan and I chatted with each other about how big a milestone this was for both of us. After trying to navigate the narrow one way street of Casco Viejo, which is the old section of Panama City, we make it to the hotel for the night. The one we originally book was full and so we had to settle for another for that night which was a rather shady place. Casco Viejo is an area with a lot of reclamation going on. The city is trying to turn these slums into a new and vibrant tourist destination, and it seems to be working. This old world architecture gives the city a bit of a European feel, mixed with some Havana-esque latin charm. This place, though sketchy and dangerous in sections has a lot of beauty to it, and right down the road from us is the residence of the President of Panama!
This time now is really for Dan to work on the details of shipping down to Colombia, and he has been putting in the hours with a French couple that he is shipping with. During the day they work themselves through the bureaucracy and paperwork that accompanies such a task. The past couple days for me have been relaxed as I walk round and take in the beauty of this very modern and built up city, with a skyline very similar to that of Toronto or any other major city in Canada or the States. Last night I had the chance to go to a professional Panama League baseball game. Though Im not the biggest fan of the sport, it was the chance to take in a big and popular part of the cultural make up of the area. The stadium was huge, but the game was rather poorly attended. However, the fans made there presence know by being loud and rowdy, with drums and other instruments, music and baseball filling the night.
So that is where the journey takes me so far. The next few days will have some more sight seeing such as the Canal Locks and Old Panama, and then I will continue my trip back north, parting ways with Dan.
If you have any questions or comments please send them through, I would be happy to talk with you able them.
Thanks for following

Bye for now

Mike

Caribbean Vibes

After leaving La Fortuna and the central part of Costa Rica, Dan and I continue on our way over to the Caribbean coast through the large and expansive banana fields that cover this part of the country. It is obvious that this is a major part of Costa Ricas economic make up. Not all that sure what this new coast has to offer, we have been told that it is very different from the rest of the country and to some degree may be seen as its own Caribbean colony. We drive through the dingy port town of Limon, and decide to continue on through as not much good has been about it. It is quite strange to go from the relative prosperity of the Pacific and Central part of the country, to the slummy and under developed country that has not been experienced yet in Costa Rica.
Making our way along the coast under the cover of gray and depressed sky's, we make our way to the small and well talked about backpacker hot spot of Puerto Viejo. We make our way down to Rockin' J`s hostel, which really could be described as a backpackers resort, because all that you need is there and there is no real need to leave the compound. When you do there are warnings about the danger of the town, and the need to move in groups. This seemed slightly unwarranted. This hostel is a large place with an interesting vibe. Impressively decorated with tile mosaics covering everything around and marge camping areas and hammock area. Here rooms are somewhat of a novelty with most choosing to camp or use a hammock.
The town itself doesn't seem to be much to write home about and I fail to see why it comes so highly recommended. Though interesting and obviously of the Caribbean nature it doesn't particularly excite me. Though I will say that part of this feeling could have been because of the poor weather that we have been having, some sun could easily change the feeling of the place.
We stay for the night but decide to stay a bit longer when we find out about the Canadian Gold medal game for hockey. Dan, though an Auzzie is quite into the sport, which is rather nice to see and someone to cheer along with.
in our days in between we decide to go to a sloth sanctuary, cause Dan is quite fond of them. As we drive back through the banana fields we see a long line up of cars, and are unsure of what to think. We are waved down and told that the road is out because of the rain and that we cant get through to our sloth centre. Disappointed we turn around and return to the resort to read and laze around in the hammocks.
The next day was the big day. Canada Gold medal Hockey. It was nearly missed too because we thought that it was a late starting game but when Dan was talking to his parents they inform him that its on right now. So thankfully we get the game streaming on his computer so that we can follow along with the action. Quite a thrilling win I must say and it is really nice to be able to be a part of the action even when your hundreds of kilometers away from it all.
The next day we leave for Panama, which is the 4th country of the trip. It was again another easy boarder crossing for us, and the only real his was that the Immigration officer wanted me to prove that I was leaving with an onward ticket, and the only thing I have is my online booking confirmation for my flight from Guatemala. At first she denies it and tells me I need to buy a bus ticket. I'm not really wanted to do that so I push the ticket back through the window and try to convince her that its ok and that I'm not planning on staying in Panama for long. After a bit of an enthused look she gives me my stamp and lets me pass.
We make our way to Almirante where we ditch the Jeep in safe storage to continue on by means of the backpack again. Taking a ferry to Bocas del Toro, which is a small community of islands that has some world renowned diving and the Caribbean culture in full bloom.
So that is where I find myself at the moment, Bocas del Toro. This place has a neat feel with the housing remaining from the days of the United Fruit Company and their development in the area. A much more relaxed vibe and nicer feel even though the weather still fails to cooperate.
Lets make the best of it.

Bye for now

Mike

Adventure Costa Rica

The last few days in Costa Rica have been incredible. Adventure at every turn, with each successive thing seemingly more grand that the previous. Firstly, I finally was able to access my money that had been sent down, which has made life a whole lot easier and much more relaxed, though it was good to see how far I could go on that small amount of money in what is the most expensive country in Central America. So I figured that I had to splurge a little bit. By splurge I mean that I bought a delicious jar of peanut butter and a thing of jam. I know, it really is the high life. I also caved and bought some McDonald´s as well. This place really is a representation as to what is happening here is Costa Rica, there is some loss of culture for the people here. The teens would rather eat there than their own typical food. It is quite evident the westernization that is occurring here, and the effect of high amounts of wealthy tourism on the area. The country is seemingly now just the tropical playground for the North Americans and Europeans. At the same time I cannot complain all that much because it has provided me with some incredible experiences so far.
The other day, while in the cool and misty Cloud Forests of Monteverde, I had the opportunity to go for a canopy tour. This was an amazing experience that I have never felt before. We made out way up into the trees, and were outfitted with harnesses and gloves for the trek. I climbed the first tower, was latched in and stepped off the platform to fly through the trees. This was very much the case for all the trek, flying above and through the canopy, with views only a bird can every really hope to get. We were also given the chance to repel down from the tree to a Tarzan swing. The repel wasn't all that bad, it was the swing that I was most concerned with. All you did was step of this platform high in the trees with a bit of free fall and then let the rope take you: At first I wasn't sure if I could do that but decided the more I think about it the less chance there is I will do it. So I stepped up,and took the leap...and yes it was well worth it. That would have been great if that was where the day ended, but there were still a few more cables to do and the final Superman line. Superman was a feeling like no other, with your feet help up parallel with the ground, as you fly over a canyon for over a kilometer. With my arms spread wide, a stupid grin on my face, and laughing like an idiot, I came the closest I have ever to actually flying, it was a surreal feeling.
After that, Dan and I continued on, with a bit of back tracking to a national park near the Nicaraguan boarder called Rincon de la Vieja. Once we arrived we set up our tents amid a plague of bugs and readied ourselves for the next days hike. This park has been called the Central American Yellowstone, because of all the earth activity in the area. The next day we hiked, and hiked, and hiked some more up through the jungle still we broke through to a bit of a clearing. But the hiking continued and we made our way up the mountain in a bit of a slippery scramble. After that we found ourselves on a knife edge ridge that provided some incredible views and the feeling like you were on top of the world. Again, if only that was where it ended. We made a bit of a drop down the side of this mountain, to an active volcano crater. This massive bowl filled with boiling water and the smell of sulfur was all to ourselves for a bit once some other tourists left. Incredible. Not to mention we could get as close to the edge if we wanted to, not a fence or safety rope to be seen. I guess this is Central America after all.
Once we made our way back to the bottom we were able to make our way around a small loop that you can hike. This area was filled with bubbling mud pits, hot springs, and gas spraying from the ground. It was amazing for me to experience cause I have never seen something like that. We continued on over to the other park entrance so that we could go and see the hot springs there, and camp for the night. Though very tired we made our way into the jungle with our head lamps on for a bit of a night hike to the hot springs, and was it worth. It was so nice to just soak in the warm water, and let the body relax. Smelling of sulfur and a fair bit tired, I slept incredibly.
And then today...I went kayaking in Costa Rica. It did not disappoint me in the least. We signed up for the class II and III trip which the guides reassured me that they were fine and that I would have no problem with them. Tranquillo. A bit apprehensive and a lot excited Dan and I made our way down the rocky Rio Balsa. It was such a good time and one of my dreams for the trip which I am so glad that I got to do. It was a good few hours of continuous rapid that were such a thrill and made for excitement from top to bottom. Only once did I have to swim and that was in part to my lacking judgment and part to a raft. I was trying to decide if I was going to leave the thin eddy and move on. I hesitated and was pulled under a raft that was in the way. A rocky ride down and a few scratch and dents more, but came out the other side of it all good and ready for more.
Costa Rica has been a wild ride so far and in the next few days we are going to make our way over to the Caribbean side of Costa Rica which is supposed to have a totally different cultural feel.
I am excited for what the next bit of time hold for me as we press on into the unknown and experience life along the way.

Bye for now

Mike

The Costa Rican Road and Money Woes

Costa Rica has been the next step of the journey. When I finished the last post, I was in Tamarindo on the northern part of the Nicoya Peninsula. That was an interesting place for me. It was quite beautiful there but had obviously been over run by tourism and there was really no local flavour to the place. It was basically Florida, in Costa Rica. It was also a bit of a stressful time for me there as well because apparently somewhere between Nicaragua and Tamarindo I lost my debit card, and didnt know where it may be. However, I did have my credit card, and thinking that would be fine it eased my mind for a bit until I needed to take out money. The option for me to cash advance was not put on my card so I couldn't take out money, and the supply that I had was quickly running down. So a few calls and stressful hours after that there was a Money Gram set up so that I could receive some money from my parents until I could get my debit card replaced. This happened on a Saturday and so the chance to take out money with the money gram would have to wait until Monday, and I was seriously low on cash. So extreme budgeting came into effect, which is incredibly difficult in a place like Costa Rica with prices very similar to Canada. Pushing my ability to be cheap and eat some less than spectacular meals, I waited till Monday. Then came a series of trips to different banks to try and access the money that had been wired down. One bank the system was down but I was referred to another. Well the next one didn't do money grams at all, but they know another that did. Turns out that one didn't do it either, so it turned into running around town trying to figure this out and getting more and more frustrated as the time went on, cause by now I have $0 in my possession. Thankfully Kale lent me some cash so that I could keep traveling, which was huge and really made my day and week for that matter. A good friend who stepped in for me and helped out when it was really needed.
So the past week has been the struggle to access this money that is down here but floating in some cyber bank of inaccessibility, which is going to be my next challenge. I however was able to Western Union myself some money today so that should be a big help till I get to Panama City and hopefully can get my debit card replaced and sent there. Oh the joys of traveling.
Other than that the time has been great. As I said in the last post, I am now traveling with an Australian named Dan Grec (http://dangrec.com/) which has been great. We continued our way down the Nicoya, stopping at some beautiful city's and just relaxing and enjoying the beach and some of the most beautiful places that this tropical paradise has to offer. Stopping in Samara, we were able to watch Avatar on some community center´s wall, enjoying some Cola and popcorn. Continuing on, even though we could have stayed there much longer, we went to Mal Pais and Santa Teresa. This was a quaint little surf town with some of the biggest and strongest waves I have ever felt. After that we moved onto Montezuma on the southern point of the peninsula. This was a chilled out Rasta town, with some of the most beautiful series of three waterfalls I have ever seen. We were able to scale the side of a hill to access the waterfalls at the top, and do some jumping. I know many of you who know me wont believe this but there was a 10m waterfall at the top, and yes, I jumped it after some hesitation and second guessing about 56 times. Well worth it and a huge confidence booster for me.
After that we moved back to the mainland after a neat ferry crossing. Now we are located in Monteverde in the Costa Rican Cloud forests. Stunningly beautiful and refreshingly cool change in temperature from the oppressive and humid heat of the coast. Today we went of a series of hikes which was great fun and had the chance to see yet another waterfall. This one was arguably more beautiful but we went able to jump from it. In total it was 90m top to bottom with some real cold water at the bottom, I tested that out, trust me its cold.
Tomorrow we are going to go and do a canopy tour in the Cloud Forest which should be pretty wild. This one is the biggest and longest in Costa Rica, with a 1km superman line...I'm going to fly. I will definitely let you know how that goes.
I am continuing to enjoy my trip and have some incredible adventures along the way. I hope that you have enjoyed the update, and I'm sorry that this was a bit of a poorly written piece. I will try to do better for you next time and be a bit more descriptive and exciting.
The road continues...

Bye for now

Mike

Ometepe Island and Separate Roads

Hello All
I'm going to begin with an apology for not updating sooner, as I have been without internet access for some time now, so now I suppose I have a lot to tell. Our time in San Juan came to a close with a night watching the Super Bowl, crazy to think that we could do that down here, but I guess that's the way it is in a town full of gringos (white people). It was really cool as well, because we were able to meet up with our South African friends, whom we stayed with in Guatemala. That was quite nice to see them again and chat about the travels. After some more good byes, and saying farewell to the sand and surf, we left with an American we met named Zach for the Ometepe Island. Now this place is absolutely beautiful. It is an island in the middle of lake Nicaragua, that has been formed by two volcanoes that joined in the middle forming an inhabitable and rather beautiful island. Once we arrived to the port in San Jorge, we took a rocky ferry over to the island, quite a nice 1.5 hour ride. When we were on the boat we met some other travelers and decided to go with them for a while and split some taxis along the way. We started off at Charco Verde which is a nice lake side town a chilled out and got to know each other a little better, while we all watched the sun set over the lake. The next day we continued over to a small spring, navigating the bumpy roads (if they can really be called that) to go swimming for the afternoon, which was nice and relaxing and a bit of an oasis for us. It was refreshing to swim in some fresh water again. After some time in the sun the whole crew taxied on to Finca Magdelana which is an organic coffee plantation on the side of one of the volcanoes. Beautiful to say the least, with great views of the other active volcano. Life is tough. It was so sweet to sit around the table and play some games with people that we had only met a short time ago and fell like we´ve known them for quite sometime.
After camping out under the Nicaraguan stars, 6 of us guys decided to climb the volcano that our hostel was perched on. Voclan Maderas is a dormant volcano with a small muddy lake in the crater at the top. The hike up was wet, slippery and slightly difficult to say the least. But oh how we were rewarded at the top. A beautiful little lake at the top and a really stunning concept that we were sitting in the bowl of a volcano. After some time of relaxation and taking in the beauty of it all, we decided to head down. Now I should have started by saying that we were supposed to have a guide to summit because it is supposedly tough to get up and down. Now getting to the summit was no big deal but getting down we may or may not have gotten lost and took some other paths to get to the bottom, making out trip a fair bit longer and leading us through some jungle, farmers fields and banana plantations. Its quite a fun time and definitely added to the adventure. I really loved that day, and my body let me know the next morning with some good aches to leave with.
The next day Ben, Kale and I all went our separate ways. Ben back to Guatemala, Kale down to Costa Rica, and I decided to stay another day on the Island before i left with my new traveling partner. It sucked cause I didn't get to say by to the guys because I had to get off the bus quickly which i though they were behind me but they were continuing on the next stop. It was great traveling with them and a pleasure to spend time doing something I love with them.
I'm assuming Ben made it to Guate, and Kale became an illegal alien in Costa Rica, but once that was sorted out he ended up in Tamarindo with me and I got to see him again.
Now I am in Costa Rica on the Nicoya Peninsula on the Pacific Ocean. I have started to travel with an Auzzie named Dan who has started his trip in Calgary, drove up to Alaska, and is now working his way down to the southern tip of South America. Check out www.theroadchoseme.com for some more information. It has been pretty wild traveling with him and I'm really enjoying it. Last night we camped out in Tamarindo. It was pretty crazy. After finally falling asleep i heard some people come to the camp sight and I figured that it was just a group of people coming in late. Oh how I was wrong...It turns out that there are 75-100 people that just moved in last night and they sure weren't quite about it. Its a combination family reunion, vacation, school trip craziness. So once i realized that my good night sleep was no longer a reality, decided that if you can beat 'em, join 'em, so i went out and talked with them for a while and used the lacking opportunity for sleep as a chance to practice my Spanish, which worked out well for me.
So now I'm going to continue my trip making my way down the Nicoya Peninsula with Dan and eventually make our way down to Panama.
I hope you all have enjoyed, sorry for the length and for being late in the update.
Bye for now

Mike

San Juan - Sun and Surf

Well right now Im in San Juan del Sur on the beautiful southern Pacific coast of Nicaragua. This place is quite beautiful, and a great place to continue the adventure of the trip. When I got here the one thing that San Juan reminded me of was Rio de Janerio, because its a bay city with a huge Jesus statue perched high on a hill over looking the city. At any stretch it is a beautiful place and a chilled out beach and surfer town.
At the end of the last post I had said how we were going to be going to Isla de Ometepe, which is an island formed by two volcanoes, one of which is active. Well earlier in the week we had heard from some people that there was going to be an evacuation of the island because it had shown an increase in seismic activity, and they though that it was going to blow, which would be rather devastating. However, we hadn't heard much more about it and then planned on continuing our trip there after a few days. Then the day that we decided to leave we saw a newspaper article saying that the island was being evacuated and the hostel had been trying to contact the ferries and they had not been responding so they figured that the a fore mentioned evacuation was happening, which was a bit of a downer, cause we figured we couldn't get to the island. It turns out that that wasn't true and we had been talking to some girls who were one the island and said that there was nothing going on there and that they had a great time. So we are going to go most likely after our time here in San Juan is up.
Anyways after this news about the island, we decided to reroute to San Juan, which really wasn't all that had a decision. So we along with another Canadian guy that we met, Quinn, left for the bus to Rivas and then to continue to San Juan. It was funny cause by the time that we arrived here in San Juan, many of the people that were at our hostel in Granada were here as well because of the same information. It was rather interesting on the bus because we had a guy try to convince us that we needed a taxi from Rivas to San Juan meanwhile we knew there was a bus. Totally unnecessary, but that's what come along with being a white traveler, you get people telling you you need things that you really don't and making things sound worse than they really are. So we got off the bus in Rivas, and went one us over, and wow, look at that...a bus to San Juan. So our journey continued.
One interesting point of this ride which sort of made me shake my head came when a some tourist got all mad at the guy who collects the money on the bus cause he charged him 5 extra Cordoba because he had his bags on the bus. He was getting really mad and angry over what is the equivalent of 25 cents. Some people.
But that aside San Juan has been great, we have had the chance to swim and even try surfing a few times, and it is defiantly infectious and addictive. Its pretty tough to get the hang of it and your body and ego take quite a beating, and you fall awkwardly off the board, but when you catch that one wave, even for a little bit it makes it all worth it. So now I'm basically a professional surfer with lost of sponsors and such, no big deal, so I will most likely move to Hawaii to continue to pursue this career.
Its crazy how fast the time is going here, in just over 3 weeks Ben and Kale are going to head home, and that will start a whole new trip for me, on my own. Ive really enjoyed it and and definitely looking forward to the next parts of this trip. And just as a clarification point, Ben had never left or was lost, i was going to write that in at the end of that one post, but I apparently forgot, slight over sight. He is fine and well, with his credit card, passport, and even his close and backpack too! I hope that put some minds at ease.
Anyways the next step of the trip will be to actually go to Ometepe, and spend some time there, unless we get some actual evidence of the evacuation, like maybe the island is up in flames or a large pillar of smoke and ash rising from the island or something like that.
Hope you have enjoyed

Bye for now

Mike (people here know me as Kelly Slater)

Nicaragua and Learning

Well I'll start with saying that the last few days have been pretty incredible, not necessarily because we have done a lot but we have been able to relax a lot, which is quite nice and a welcomed change from the studying of Spanish and the hustle of Antigua. Getting here was a pretty good story though.
Everything was fine getting to our bus and getting on and all that, everything was smooth, and nothing all that exciting as you would expect from a bus ride till we hit the El Salvadorian boarder. We got off the buss to a huge group of men asking to change money and for us to come with them while they help us across our boarder. Me being an idiot (though I have now learned) took out my passport at which point some dude snatched it from me, and all his buddies tried to hold me back but I kept on pressing though cause some random guy had my passport, the only thing that really matters when it comes down to it. I stayed surprisingly calm cause that could have gotten bad real quick. Anyways once I found the guy in the immigration office and got my passport back the rest of the boarder crossing was painless. From there we got back on the bus and continued on to San Salvador, where we arrived at 7 or so and stayed for the night in the Tica Bus station there, which wasn't all that bad, and really convenient. We met an American on the bus, named Dustin. He needed to get some money and some food so we decided to go with him. Walking around San Salvador at night was pretty sketchy for a group of white guys especially when one was going to an ATM on the street. Seeing how the city is as night was a real eye opening experience and again showed us more if what real Central America is all about. We continued on to get some food at a restaurant and then returned to our hostel. It was sweet to see the night life of the market in a big Central American city, but that was a good way to end off a pretty crazy day.
The next morning we got back on the bus at 5 to continue our journey to Managua. It was pretty nice cause the boarder crossing we all quite easy for us to get through and our ´searches´ of our baggage often consisted of either a pat down of the bags or even just a wave through with no hassle at all. The only thing that sucked about the Nicaraguan boarder was that kale tried to change some Guatemalan Quetzals into Nicaraguan Cordoba, and he got ripped huge, losing 25$ which was a pretty crappy way to start the time in Nicaragua, but definitely learned from that one.
THEN...we arrived in Managua, the capital city, and here is where some real fun started. We parted ways with the American and got ourselves a taxi. After negotiating 1$ ride to the `bus stop` we got in and started driving at which point he started to explain how the buses wern't running from this one stop cause it was Sunday, and at that point i knew that we were going to be taken for a good ride here. So then we asked to go to the main bus stop but for 10$ which is ridiculous for a taxi ride in Nicaragua, so we declined and he told us he would drive us to Granada for 10$ each, which again is retarded cause it costs 1$ in the bus, but at this point there want much to do, cause he could have dropped us off and drove off with the bags or ditched us in a sketchy part of town, so we just decided to haggle with him and only were able to get him down to 25$, but it was so frustrating cause I knew he was lying to us and just taking advantage of us cause we were white, but it was late in the afternoon and we couldn't do much about it, but it drove me wild and I wasn't going to let something like that ruin my trip. So we got to the hostel which was a sweet chill place and relaxed for the night playing cards with some people for the evening.
Nicaragua has been so nice cause we have just been able to relax, partially cause the heat is so crazy but also cause we want to. We did go up a bell tower, on recommendation from Cassie, which it definitely didn't disappoint, with a great view of the city and the lake, well worth it.
The food here is so cheap and so good. We have been able to eat for about 2$ a meal with great fresh food, like gallo pinto, chicken and plantain chips which totally rule the food world.
I have found the national people here to be way more relaxed too. They aren't pushing like Guatemala, and (for the most part) don't try to rip you off. They have a chill approach to life, which is quite refreshing. It is nice to walk through the market and look innocently at the crafts they sell and not get hassled ridiculously by the vendor.
One final point, Nicaragua is the official home of the hotdog and if you want to have the worlds best of anything come here, cause that's what everyone is advertising...like the smoothie and hotdogs hat we had the other day...and it was for the most part true.
We are going to be leaving for Isla Omepete which has been formed by two volcanoes that joined together with cities all around the island. Supposed to be beautiful and relaxing which is what I'm looking for. And hopefully not too much more "learning"
If you have any questions or comments I would love to hear from you

Talk to you later

Bye for now

Mike

The End of Guatemala

So this time tomorrow I will be on a bus headed for San Salvador, el Salvador, and then on to Nicaragua. My how the time has flown by. It was been so much fun here. Last week was pretty good. I went into Chimaltenango to visit the Discover students which was really nice to reconnect with them and see then at the start of the trip. Also was able to see some of the Guatemalan students from last year which was pretty cool to reconnect with them. While I was there i also had the chance to have lunch with the president of GBS, which was really nice to chat with him again and see how things have been going with him.
After that i went down to visit my host family from my weekends in Chimal. It was so nice to see them again and chat with them too. It neat to see how the kids have grown up. Just before we left the mom was about to have a baby but we weren't able to see it cause we left. So this time round I had the chance to see the new little baby April. All in all it was a great time in Chimal.
A quick point before I move on, if anyone has seen or heard from Ben that would be nice if you could let Kale and I know...we haven't seen him in 3 days. He left all his clothes and stuff and just took his passport and credit cards. Not sure whats going on, he has met a few shady people, but anyways I shall continue
The day after that we had a pretty decent earthquake. The 5.3 was located just of the coast and closer to the Salvadorian boarder, but we still definitely felt it. As far as I know there was no damage but it was probably the biggest one that i have felt since being down here.
Today also concludes our home stay here, as well as the Spanish classes. Its been really great learning more and more each day and getting to know the family and share some sweet experiences and laughter with them. I feel like I am a little more confident, and a little more capable to communicate.
It has been sweet to live with some of the people I did Discover with last year, and to have the Spanish over lap with them for the week. It was pretty cool to see them again and chat.
One other point, that I forgot to mention in my last blog was Kale and Ben had their first "chicken bus" experience. These are old American school buses painted really brightly, and they rip around the streets at break neck speeds, with the drivers maneuvering like they have got a 2004 Chevy Aveo (which is for sale by the way, talk to me if your interested) Hitting all the bumps they can and making you pray the moment you step on. I think that Ben put it the best way, Its like a roller coaster...but i think that this one is more a thrill cause death is much more plausible.
So as I said before tomorrow we will head off to Granada in Nicaragua for the next step of the trip. There we hope to continue the chilling and possibly hook up with a group from Canada that is down there on building project.
Sorry that this update wasn't all the most exciting but that's going to happen every now and then.

Bye for now

Mike

A Guatemalan Experience Continues

This has been a great week in Antigua, but really I couldn't expect anything less from this place. I moved into another house this week with Ben and Kale because they had an opening there, and their meal times are a lot better cause of some sweet South Africans and also because there is a lot for forced Spanish conversation. I'm really glad that i made that move because i got to meet and get to know some of the coolest people around. These are three guys from S.A. who left stressful careers to travel the world and experience life to the fullest. One guy is a mechanical engineer for Boeing, another is a geologist in northern Ontario, and the third guy has a masters in micro biology, some very bright guys to say the least. they have been traveling by car all through Canada, and the States and are making their ways to Panama and ultimately Peru, rock climbing and kite boarding along the way. They taught me a lot and were really inspiring people, but it was great to get to know them while they were here.
A great experience from this week has been all the live music that we have been able to see. First we were able to see the Buena Vista Social Club at a small restaurant in town. They are a really famous jazz/salsa club from Cuba, and so one of the members came to Antigua and he was great! they also brought in a drum line style group that was also incredible to hear. That was a great night to relax and hear some of the best and liveliest music around.
Another night we saw a group that played Peruvian music. It was a little more chilled out than the salsa but it was still a great time and a fun experience.
This week has also been good for my Spanish. I'm starting to have things click, and I have some daily epiphanies when it comes to Spanish. It has been great not only because it is enabling me to speak a little better and understand a little more, but also because I have had the opportunity to learn a lot about the culture. One day I was talking with my Spanish teacher about the wars that have gone one in the region and it because a very emotional conversation that lasted about 45 minutes. I got some good insight into the history of the area and the scar that it has left on the people here. I'm pretty sure that she wants me to get married cause Ive been given a lot of marital advice, which has been entertaining though i have explained multiple times to her that I don't have a lady friend. But also just in general learning about the culture and various aspects of what is going on here has been rather insightful
We also had the chance to drop off the Gleaners soup (and yes Shelly I got some pics). Its was great to go back to the place and my how it has changed. It was good to see that the orphanage is coming along and that they are getting their feet under them. I'm glad I was able to provide a little bit of help courtesy of the gleaners to the kids there. It was a good day to relax and chill with the kids and see the end part of the gleaners soup process.
Finally, we finished off this week with a trip to Volcan de Pacaya, which is one of 3 active volcanoes in Guatemala. When we started out assent it was quite cloudy and I thought that we would be disappointed and not be able to see the great views. Thankfully the clouds cleared and gave us a great vista of what was around and we some some lava roll down the hill. It was beautiful, and this year I was able to go a lot higher than we did last year, pretty close to the cone. That was such a good experience that was a lot of fun and a great way to end the week.
Today I am going to Chimal to see the Discover student who arrived yesterday. This week is going to consist of some more Spanish and finalizing our next step of the trip to Nicaragua.
Hope you have enjoyed and sorry for the long update.
Bye for now

Mike (who is quite warm in Guatemala!)

Beginning of Something Great

Hey all

Man o man, life is good. I am loving it down here for the second time around. It has been great to see the place again and wander around in the beauty of the colonial city. It has been great to have Ben and Kale down here and so see them enjoy the place as much as I did and it helps me to value this experience this so much more.
We made it hear safely after a day of travel, and then were picked up at the airport by our Spanish teacher. It was so sweet to talk to him and get the chance to translate for Ben and Kale...it was surprising how much that I could remember, and exciting to be able to help others out.
The classes have been good. I'm learning and relearning a lot. I think that for Ben and Kale then are having a good time with the Spanish, though finding it a bit of a challenge, which most people do at the beginning.
It has been great living with our Spanish families. Ben and kale live with the school director and I'm next door with a different family. It has been great to speak and learn about the families and some more of the culture while we are down here.
Its a lot different experience than Discover because all the trip is dependent on our planning, but I think that make it a lot of fun.
Ben and Kale had their first time at the market and bought some ponchos. It was pretty interesting to watch them go through that for the first time with the haggling and the ridiculous prices that people start with and where you can get them down too....for example they started at Q225 and ended at Q50...a bit of a difference
It has been so great to meet people from all over the world with the same mind set and goals as you. So far we have met people from England, South Africa, China, Japan, the States, Korea, just to name a few...
There are some great people here.
I want travel to be an integral part of my life and I am enjoying what I am doing so much, this place is great, the people are great, this experience is great.
Well that is all for now, I hope that you enjoyed it

Talk to you later and I hope to hear from some of you.

Bye for now.

Mike