5/8/14 - Hola Colombia!
So onwards and over the border to Colombia I go. As with Peru, a very easy border crossing. I really wanted to go to Cali directly, but that would have meant around 16 hours in a bus which I couldn't face the thought of, so I broke up the trip by staying in Pasto a night (Koala Inn, 20,000 pesos) - nothing much to see here folks! - and the next day got on an 8 hour bus to Cali. Which is beautiful! So staying at Hostel Casa Blanca (22,000 pesos/night) in Santa Monica, which is a fun little corner of the city, and have a few days to kill before I can get my cheap flight to Cartagena. My only flight of this year... I couldn't do a 30 hour bus trip! So planning on using the time to catch up on much needed admin stuff.
p.s. I have had a trifecta of the Holy Grail of Hostels with the last 3 - paying dorm rates and being the only person in the room! Bliss!
p.s. I have had a trifecta of the Holy Grail of Hostels with the last 3 - paying dorm rates and being the only person in the room! Bliss!
7/8/14 - Cali
Whats a lone girl to do when hanging out in Cali? Well obviously, hang out with cats... at El Gato Del Rio. A city park combined with giant tribute statues of cats! I wandered back from there via the main park, a pretty basillica, and on the way back passed a fountain full of stone turtles. Obviously a sign that the turtles are still with me! All in all, Cali is a nice, relaxing, modern city, easy to get around, the temperature is nice and warm, and I recommend the mandarin ice cream! Hostel Casa Blanca, 18,000/night.
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10/8/14 - Cartagena
I`m at the Caribbean!
Cartegena is part old Spanish vibe, with the beautiful old architecture to go with it, and part Caribbean craziness, with people and cars everywhere. The sun was out, the sea was clear, so it was the perfect place to drop my bags for a couple of days... oops 3 days... oops 4 days... yup it`s one of those places that it is easy just to keep extending your time in! Hostel Mama Waldy, 26,000/night (Approx. US$14)
Crazy days, and chilled out evenings hanging out with a beer and the locals in the local square every night. Oh and we had a pretty cool dorm, so we had Saturday night salsa dancing club night as well! Loved it :)
Cartegena is part old Spanish vibe, with the beautiful old architecture to go with it, and part Caribbean craziness, with people and cars everywhere. The sun was out, the sea was clear, so it was the perfect place to drop my bags for a couple of days... oops 3 days... oops 4 days... yup it`s one of those places that it is easy just to keep extending your time in! Hostel Mama Waldy, 26,000/night (Approx. US$14)
Crazy days, and chilled out evenings hanging out with a beer and the locals in the local square every night. Oh and we had a pretty cool dorm, so we had Saturday night salsa dancing club night as well! Loved it :)
12/8/14 - The Trip to Capurgana
Note 1: This was my route in 2014 - by 2017 this route via Necocli was being recommended - to cut out the Turbo boat I guess!
Note 2: I traveled in August, the quietest time to cross the strait. I was lucky with the weather and the timing - apparently it can be really bad at other times of the year. I've read loads of blogs of people being injured on the boat due to the bumpiness of the waves. Be cautious about taking this route!
Well this was both not as bad as the reviews I had read, and at the same time jaw dropping in parts, so deserves it`s own blog entry!
I was worried about the bus as I heard the road was riddled with pot holes. The Capurgana-Monteria bus was fine (even better as I took a travel sickness pill so slept most of the 5 hours!) and the Monteria-Turbo leg had a rough patch for maybe 15-20 minutes and that was fine as well! So trip was 7am-6pm all up, so perfect timing to get into Turbo while still light. And I was fairly confident at that point that the reviews were exaggerated. Hmmm... read on!
Stayed at Turbo at the recommended Residencias Florida. It is right beside the boat wharf. There is nothing to do in Turbo except get the boat so don`t go there planning to stay a few days. Get in... and leave! Got my boat ticket the night before no problem (do this - you'll likely miss out if you wait until the morning). And went to bed... on a mattress I swear was made of wood. Woke up at 3am and, eww the floor feels a bit damp! Maybe I should move my backpack onto my bed. A good decision, as when I got up a 6am the whole floor was covered in water. From the shower? Nope. From the ground? Nope, I was on first floor. It is a mystery... and when I showed the hostel owner he just shrugged and walked off. So there you have it, the best recommended hostel in Turbo...
Anyway, on the boat (note: speedboat, not ferry - and sit up the front to avoid sea sickness!), and being Caribbean time the 8.30am leaving was actually 9.45am. The local men kept me entertained with marriage proposals, so if I ever go back to Turbo (NEVER!) I have options... and feeling positive the hostel was the worst I would see. So we leave the wharf, turn out of the harbour... and about 8 guys jump on our already full boat! Who were they? Who knows... and probably better not to ask! So all good... until 10.15am when, in the middle of the open sea, our motor cuts out! So we bobbed around for around an hour or so until another boat turned up (note: speedboat) and we all had to jump from one to the other. And then throw the luggage (ohhh my heavy backpack!) from one boat to the other. But then we WERE on our way and apart from one more mid ocean stop, when another boat pulled up alongside and all our extra passengers jumped into that and sped off, we arrived at the paradise that is Capurgana!
Note 2: I traveled in August, the quietest time to cross the strait. I was lucky with the weather and the timing - apparently it can be really bad at other times of the year. I've read loads of blogs of people being injured on the boat due to the bumpiness of the waves. Be cautious about taking this route!
Well this was both not as bad as the reviews I had read, and at the same time jaw dropping in parts, so deserves it`s own blog entry!
I was worried about the bus as I heard the road was riddled with pot holes. The Capurgana-Monteria bus was fine (even better as I took a travel sickness pill so slept most of the 5 hours!) and the Monteria-Turbo leg had a rough patch for maybe 15-20 minutes and that was fine as well! So trip was 7am-6pm all up, so perfect timing to get into Turbo while still light. And I was fairly confident at that point that the reviews were exaggerated. Hmmm... read on!
Stayed at Turbo at the recommended Residencias Florida. It is right beside the boat wharf. There is nothing to do in Turbo except get the boat so don`t go there planning to stay a few days. Get in... and leave! Got my boat ticket the night before no problem (do this - you'll likely miss out if you wait until the morning). And went to bed... on a mattress I swear was made of wood. Woke up at 3am and, eww the floor feels a bit damp! Maybe I should move my backpack onto my bed. A good decision, as when I got up a 6am the whole floor was covered in water. From the shower? Nope. From the ground? Nope, I was on first floor. It is a mystery... and when I showed the hostel owner he just shrugged and walked off. So there you have it, the best recommended hostel in Turbo...
Anyway, on the boat (note: speedboat, not ferry - and sit up the front to avoid sea sickness!), and being Caribbean time the 8.30am leaving was actually 9.45am. The local men kept me entertained with marriage proposals, so if I ever go back to Turbo (NEVER!) I have options... and feeling positive the hostel was the worst I would see. So we leave the wharf, turn out of the harbour... and about 8 guys jump on our already full boat! Who were they? Who knows... and probably better not to ask! So all good... until 10.15am when, in the middle of the open sea, our motor cuts out! So we bobbed around for around an hour or so until another boat turned up (note: speedboat) and we all had to jump from one to the other. And then throw the luggage (ohhh my heavy backpack!) from one boat to the other. But then we WERE on our way and apart from one more mid ocean stop, when another boat pulled up alongside and all our extra passengers jumped into that and sped off, we arrived at the paradise that is Capurgana!
17/8/14 - The Colombia/Panama Border
Capurgana is just a lost paradise. I did plan to go to Tayrona, then come here for a couple of days, but decided to go straight here and chill for 5 days instead, and I am glad I did because there is so much to do here! Jungle walks, reef snorkeling straight from the beach, white sandy Caribbean beaches... yup it is difficult to get here, but totally worth it! Stayed at a couple of hostels in search of the perfect mattress - what is it with these hard as a board mattresses here! - but best was Hotel Luz de Oriente, right on the waterfront, and 15,000/night if you are travelling with San Blas Adventures. As I was about to!
Being the only border town, and land crossing, between Colombia and Panama, there is heavy security presence here. However it it also the only place in the world you can walk between the two countries, and also between South and North America! So even though the hill was a killer, I had to do it just for the geographical geekiness of it all. It takes about an hour all up, and the beach at the Panama side was totally worth it! The hill was much easier coming back. And I did get marriage proposals from both the Panama and Colombian guards so that kinda cheered me up after the climb. The Panama guard had the added bonus of also being able to make a good chicken soup apparently... and the Colombian countered with his *quote "passion and beautiful skin colour" *... and they did mention that if I wasn't interested, any of my single friends would be fine. Just saying, ladies!
Most nights a tropical storm played out off the coast - quite surreal sitting on the shore having dinner watching the lightening over the sea in the distance. On one night the storm came inland and it may have been the most vicious storm I've ever been in. The thunder was like a bomb going off, it was that loud; when the lightening came, it went from pitch black to like the middle of the day, and the wind blew the palm trees around like they were matchsticks. Seriously crazy storms there! (Follow up note - I came across similar storms later in my trip in Utila Island, off Honduras).
So that is my whirlwind trip through Colombia. I only had 2 weeks in the end but I found it incredibly friendly, beautiful, and so much fun. Sure there are still problem areas, but if you stick to the main tourist routes you won't have any problems. Go! Enjoy! And thank you to my father, whose graduation present paid for much of my time here! p.s. my daily budget went up to around US$30 here.
Being the only border town, and land crossing, between Colombia and Panama, there is heavy security presence here. However it it also the only place in the world you can walk between the two countries, and also between South and North America! So even though the hill was a killer, I had to do it just for the geographical geekiness of it all. It takes about an hour all up, and the beach at the Panama side was totally worth it! The hill was much easier coming back. And I did get marriage proposals from both the Panama and Colombian guards so that kinda cheered me up after the climb. The Panama guard had the added bonus of also being able to make a good chicken soup apparently... and the Colombian countered with his *quote "passion and beautiful skin colour" *... and they did mention that if I wasn't interested, any of my single friends would be fine. Just saying, ladies!
Most nights a tropical storm played out off the coast - quite surreal sitting on the shore having dinner watching the lightening over the sea in the distance. On one night the storm came inland and it may have been the most vicious storm I've ever been in. The thunder was like a bomb going off, it was that loud; when the lightening came, it went from pitch black to like the middle of the day, and the wind blew the palm trees around like they were matchsticks. Seriously crazy storms there! (Follow up note - I came across similar storms later in my trip in Utila Island, off Honduras).
So that is my whirlwind trip through Colombia. I only had 2 weeks in the end but I found it incredibly friendly, beautiful, and so much fun. Sure there are still problem areas, but if you stick to the main tourist routes you won't have any problems. Go! Enjoy! And thank you to my father, whose graduation present paid for much of my time here! p.s. my daily budget went up to around US$30 here.
21/8/14 - The San Blas Islands
These islands are stunning, stunning, stunning. I travelled with San Blas Adventures, because the other option, sailing from Cartagena, meant 2 days of open sea and seasickness. Not appealing! Whereas San Blas Adventures, while a speed boat and not a sailboat, is only on the water for maybe 2 hours a day, and the rest of the time is island time - which meant loads of snorkeling time! We slept on the islands as well, in hammocks, which I must say were incredibly comfortable and I may never buy a bed again...
After going through customs at Puerto Obaldia (if you aren't on a boat, you can get a small plane to Panama City from here - but it's probably more pleasant to fly from anywhere else!), the first 2 nights we stayed in Kuna villages on the islands. The weather was overcast most of the time, being August, but it was still hot so I had noooo problem jumping into the water at a moments notice. On the last night we reached the islands that looked like all the photos... palm trees, white sand, clear water... very, very happy people! And on the way back the the mainland on the last day we stopped at one more picture postcard island. The trip is by no means a luxury holiday - toilet facilities are basic at best (that toilet at the start of Slumdog Millionaire? That was the best toilet we saw all trip!) and you will get WET on the boat ride back to the mainland on the last day (don't sit in the back rows for that trip!) but if you can put up with a little rough and ready you will be rewarded with some spectacularly untouched nature. And lobster dinners :)
Thanks Mum, your graduation present paid for this fabulous trip!!
After going through customs at Puerto Obaldia (if you aren't on a boat, you can get a small plane to Panama City from here - but it's probably more pleasant to fly from anywhere else!), the first 2 nights we stayed in Kuna villages on the islands. The weather was overcast most of the time, being August, but it was still hot so I had noooo problem jumping into the water at a moments notice. On the last night we reached the islands that looked like all the photos... palm trees, white sand, clear water... very, very happy people! And on the way back the the mainland on the last day we stopped at one more picture postcard island. The trip is by no means a luxury holiday - toilet facilities are basic at best (that toilet at the start of Slumdog Millionaire? That was the best toilet we saw all trip!) and you will get WET on the boat ride back to the mainland on the last day (don't sit in the back rows for that trip!) but if you can put up with a little rough and ready you will be rewarded with some spectacularly untouched nature. And lobster dinners :)
Thanks Mum, your graduation present paid for this fabulous trip!!
26/8/14 - The Panama Canal & Panama City
Panama City is closing a loop for me, as I had a 2 hour stopover here when I flew to Quito back in February. And after flying over it, there is one top stop in Panama City I have been looking forward to, and it is the Panama Canal!
I went to Miraflores Lock today to watch the container ships entering the canal system ($15 entry). There are actually 2 canals side by side, so two ships can be processed through the lock system simultaneously, and they are currently building a third to fit the modern wider ships through. The ships barely fit width-wise in the current canals! Anyway, around 40 ships a day transit through the canals, 20 for each canal or around one an hour in each canal, paying up to $110,000 for the privilege, depending on weight. I watched ships going from the Pacific to the Caribbean, so they enter the lock system, the gate shuts behind them, and water is pumped from the lock ahead, into the lock the ship is in, to raise the ship until both locks have the same level of water. It takes around 8 minutes to complete this. Once the ship is at height, the gate ahead opens and the ship transitions to the second lock. The gate shuts behind again, water is pumped to raise the ship again to the level of the lake ahead, and simultaneously drain the previous lock back to the sea level of the Pacific Ocean (around 8 minutes again). Once completed, the final gate in front opens and the ship can continue onwards through the canal (and two more lock systems over the 80km passage). In total the ship is raised (or lowered, if transiting from the Caribbean to the Pacific) 16m through the Miraflores Lock. Considering the weight of the ship and the amount of water, it is incredibly fast!
So a fairly fascinating process if you are interested in modern engineering marvels! And a timely visit as well... it turns out the first ship sailed through August 15, 1914... making it 100 years, last week, that the canal has been open for business!
I also wandered down to the old town (Casco Viejo) later in the day after visiting the canal. From here you can get a view as far as the eye can see of all the ships lined up waiting to go through the canal, and there are nice old Spanish buildings and cafes around here too. Here is a slide show that I hope (kind of) shows how the lock system works... and a small video showing the mules bringing a ship through a lock gate. You can see it is pretty fast!
I went to Miraflores Lock today to watch the container ships entering the canal system ($15 entry). There are actually 2 canals side by side, so two ships can be processed through the lock system simultaneously, and they are currently building a third to fit the modern wider ships through. The ships barely fit width-wise in the current canals! Anyway, around 40 ships a day transit through the canals, 20 for each canal or around one an hour in each canal, paying up to $110,000 for the privilege, depending on weight. I watched ships going from the Pacific to the Caribbean, so they enter the lock system, the gate shuts behind them, and water is pumped from the lock ahead, into the lock the ship is in, to raise the ship until both locks have the same level of water. It takes around 8 minutes to complete this. Once the ship is at height, the gate ahead opens and the ship transitions to the second lock. The gate shuts behind again, water is pumped to raise the ship again to the level of the lake ahead, and simultaneously drain the previous lock back to the sea level of the Pacific Ocean (around 8 minutes again). Once completed, the final gate in front opens and the ship can continue onwards through the canal (and two more lock systems over the 80km passage). In total the ship is raised (or lowered, if transiting from the Caribbean to the Pacific) 16m through the Miraflores Lock. Considering the weight of the ship and the amount of water, it is incredibly fast!
So a fairly fascinating process if you are interested in modern engineering marvels! And a timely visit as well... it turns out the first ship sailed through August 15, 1914... making it 100 years, last week, that the canal has been open for business!
I also wandered down to the old town (Casco Viejo) later in the day after visiting the canal. From here you can get a view as far as the eye can see of all the ships lined up waiting to go through the canal, and there are nice old Spanish buildings and cafes around here too. Here is a slide show that I hope (kind of) shows how the lock system works... and a small video showing the mules bringing a ship through a lock gate. You can see it is pretty fast!
Panama City itself is an interesting mix of pre-Spanish ruins, Spanish old town, and super modern high-rises, complete with supermalls, casinos galore, and the elite brands associated with these. Also there is a really cool park in the centre of the city (Parque Metropolitano, $4 entry to the trails) where you can see toucans, tortoises, monkeys and sloths (I went twice!). Oh and had a hot date at the mall... It`s a fun city, and there is actually quite a bit to do here, so I dropped my bags for a few days more than I expected (6 days!) and explored before heading north on the bus again. Oh and for those interested in such things, it`s the first place on my trip where toilet paper goes in the toilet and not in the bin beside! My hostel was Mamallena, $13/night.
Note: taxi drivers in Panama City openly overcharge gringos! Always ask the price before getting in. The default price for gringos seems to be $20... or $15 for a 'deal'. Uh uh, don't accept, the actual price is around $6 or less. Find out taxi trip rates before making any excursions (your hostel will be able to tell you) and don't feel bad about slamming the door and walking away from any taxi that quotes you any of these gringo prices. Thanks to my hostel I didn't get gringo'd at all. Win!
31/8/14 - Bocas del Toro, and Panama Healthcare
Here I am, back in an island paradise again, ridiculously clear water, starfish everywhere, yada yada yada, check out the photos :)
Oh a pretty cool thing here though is the red frog, it is the only place in the world you can find it! (yep those Timburi Cocha froggers have definitely had an effect on me!).
I also experienced Panama healthcare here. I was getting earache after all the snorkling in San Blas, and was going to wait until Costa Rica to get it checked out as I heard it was cheap up there, but it was starting to hurt so I thought I had better get to the doctor. Well a good thing I did, as after being checked out, the cost was... nothing! And the prescription cost was... nothing! Turns out if you are on a tourist visa in Panama you get free healthcare! As opposed to the guy I met who had his earache sorted in Costa Rica at a cost of $100. So there is a helpful travel tip for you all :)
Overall Panama impression: I loved Panama. It is on the verge of tipping into expensive territory due to masses of USA tourists swarming down, but still affordable for the budget traveller at this point. Daily budget was around US$30-35.
Overall Panama impression: I loved Panama. It is on the verge of tipping into expensive territory due to masses of USA tourists swarming down, but still affordable for the budget traveller at this point. Daily budget was around US$30-35.
2/9/14 - Costa Rica
Well this was my least favourite place on my last trip due to USA tourists driving prices up and businesses now seeing tourists as $$$ and overcharging accordingly. BUT I was willing to give it a second chance, and to complete my second loop of arriving at San Jose, where I finished my last trip.
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So after walking over the rickety old rail bridge that is the border crossing, all went well for an hour and a half... and then Costa Rica screwed me over again. I had bought a bus ticket from Bocas to San Jose, but needed to switch shuttles at the border as they cannot cross. So got to Puerto Viejo, where all the other tourists disembarked... and then as there was only me going to San Jose, the shuttle driver decided he couldn't be bothered and dropped me at the bus station and told me I needed to buy a ticket for another bus to get the rest of the way. I was FURIOUS!!! (Cue second argument in Spanish!). So that was Costa Rica done for me. Went to San Jose (Hostel Costa Rica Backpackers, $10/night), spent a day writing up my Timburi Cocha project results for Manchester University, then got on the next bus out of there up to Nicaragua. Screw you Costa Rica, I was going to go up to Arenal and maybe to the beach, but you're not getting a cent more out of me. But you did retain my title of least favourite country...
5/9/14 - Granada, Nicaragua
My bus was supposed to go to Managua, Nicaragua; but I thought I would get off at Granada, having been here before and having a vague memory of it. Well it definitely turned out to be the right choice as I forgot how much I had loved it here the last time! It is a beautiful colonial city (almost 500 years old) set on a lakeside, with a very walkable central area, and restaurants with internal courtyards with lit-up fountains at night. Bliss :). And my hostel had a pool and a fountain with tortoises! So definitely back in a good mood again after *that last place which I won't mention*. Hostel GM Granada, $11/night.
We also found a flyer for an insanely cool hostel called Poste Rojo. It is set in the jungle just outside of Granada. It is a small hike uphill to get to it - not fun with 20ish kilos on your back - but totally worth it, as it is a treehouse! They have a swing bridge, and loads of hammock areas, but my two favourite things were finding a red eyed tree frog in the evening... and waking up to howler monkeys in the trees 10m from my hammock in the morning. $7/hammock, but they have dorms as well if you want. And they let you paint a memory on the treehouse as well! Obviously, I painted turtles... Very, very cool :)
7/9/14 - Leon, Nicaragua
Leon is similar to Granada, maybe a smaller, grittier version, though also very walkable to see the main sights and as with most places, everyone is sooo friendly. I had a bit of a cultural day today, visited the art museum and the collection of Central and South American art (well worth it! I recommend :) ) and a bit of Church admiration as well. The main cathedral is surrounded by lion statues (get it? Lions? Leon?). It is reallllly hot here though so I think I have spent most of my money of ice creams and fruit juices. Not a bad way to spend a day! Hostel is Sin Fronteras, $7/night.
10/9/14 - Well hello there San Salvador
So sometimes you zag instead of zigging and this is one such occasion. I was close to the border of El Salvador, and thought it would be a shame to miss one country out of all of Central America, so I hopped on the bus as I had a few days to spare before I needed to be at my next volunteer gig, knowing nothing about El Salvador except it is known for violent gangs.
WELL, those days are well gone (in the tourist areas anyway!). I cant speak for the whole country, but I had a great 3 days in San Salvador. Markets, malls, museums, some Mayan ruins, and some of the friendliest people I have met anywhere. I didn't make it to the beaches but I have also heard rave reviews about them. El Salvador is in the middle of a resurgence and in the early days of promoting itself as a serious tourist destination. I say get in now before it gets ruined by too many gringos coming through! And stay at Ximenas, ($10/night) it is close to everything you need :)
I can also highly recommend the local pupusas, which became my daily lunch!
WELL, those days are well gone (in the tourist areas anyway!). I cant speak for the whole country, but I had a great 3 days in San Salvador. Markets, malls, museums, some Mayan ruins, and some of the friendliest people I have met anywhere. I didn't make it to the beaches but I have also heard rave reviews about them. El Salvador is in the middle of a resurgence and in the early days of promoting itself as a serious tourist destination. I say get in now before it gets ruined by too many gringos coming through! And stay at Ximenas, ($10/night) it is close to everything you need :)
I can also highly recommend the local pupusas, which became my daily lunch!
22/9/14 - Utila Island, Honduras
So my next turtle gig was with BICA in Utila Island, Honduras, aka cheapest diving in the world. On my last trip I went to Roatan, the next island over, and Utila is muchhhhh smaller. But compact in a nice way! So I had a month lined up with BICA, and it was right at the end of hatching season so I got to see some more cute turtle babies, Carey (Hawksbills) and also my first loggerhead babies! ;)
HOWEVER. I also saw the crappy side of volunteering here. The people running the program were lovely, but one volunteer got it into his head that he was head of the household and therefore was running the show. After a week and a half of steadily increasing power trips I had enough so asked for the balance of my money back and caught the next boat out. Good timing too as the power trips were moving to intimidating behavior. BICA had no policies in place to deal with the situation, so the volunteer was pretty much free to do what he wanted. Anyways, not my circus, not my monkeys now, but just saying, in case anyone else has a similar volunteer experience, you are not bound to stay in these situations!
My ears never quite came right after San Blas so diving was still out for me on the island :( But still happy, I had a few days snorkeling, and I saw a sting ray, a spotted eagle ray, and a moray eel! And I ate my fill of baleadas also - yum!!
p.s. Take the free Dramamine they offer you at the ferry terminal on the mainland (at La Ceiba - not as bad as Turbo, but still probably not a place to hang around in) - take a couple of tablets, so you have one for the return ferry also. It'll knock you out for the hour long ferry ride, and save you from seasickness!
HOWEVER. I also saw the crappy side of volunteering here. The people running the program were lovely, but one volunteer got it into his head that he was head of the household and therefore was running the show. After a week and a half of steadily increasing power trips I had enough so asked for the balance of my money back and caught the next boat out. Good timing too as the power trips were moving to intimidating behavior. BICA had no policies in place to deal with the situation, so the volunteer was pretty much free to do what he wanted. Anyways, not my circus, not my monkeys now, but just saying, in case anyone else has a similar volunteer experience, you are not bound to stay in these situations!
My ears never quite came right after San Blas so diving was still out for me on the island :( But still happy, I had a few days snorkeling, and I saw a sting ray, a spotted eagle ray, and a moray eel! And I ate my fill of baleadas also - yum!!
p.s. Take the free Dramamine they offer you at the ferry terminal on the mainland (at La Ceiba - not as bad as Turbo, but still probably not a place to hang around in) - take a couple of tablets, so you have one for the return ferry also. It'll knock you out for the hour long ferry ride, and save you from seasickness!
30/9/14 - Antigua, Guatemala
After another night in San Pedro Sula aka murder capital of the world (I had a night there on the way to Utila as well - stay at La Hamaca, $15/night plus tax, it is safe and close to what you need), I am back in Antigua, Guatemala! It is my third time here and it is still one of my favourite places in the world. So I am chilling here for a few days, (at Hostel Holistico, Q90/night (approx. $11 incl. breakfast), doing my admin i.e. clothes washing, eating loads of delicious food (omg, pepian is the BEST!), and then heading to my next turtle gig with Arcas in Hawaii thanks to a introduction from Alej who I was with in the jungle way back in Ecuador. Ahhh turtle networking :)
9/10/14 - more turtles in Hawaii! (Guatemala!)
The OTHER Hawaii is a small village on the south Pacific coast of Guatemala, and I am volunteering here for a week with Arcas at Parque Hawaii near Monterrico. The turtles in this region are Olive Ridley (Parlama) and later in the year the odd leatherback can be seen as well. But they also found a green turtle here this year as well!
The scale of the centre here is incredible. There are over 300 nests in the vivero (hatchery) and more eggs are being added every day. Each nest can hold up to 60 eggs and I think around 70 nests hatched in the week I was there! So I saw somewhere between 2000-3000 babies heading to the water. Crazy! And also very unusual; however in the week there was also a full moon combined with a blood moon/eclipse, so possibly that is what caused this mass hatching... usually they hatch at night but for a day or two they were starting as early as midday (and it was HOT, 30 degrees plus!). And Olive Ridley hatchlings are also different to others that I have seen, in that all the babies arrive at the surface at the same time, so the whole nest can be running around at the surface within around 30 minutes to an hour! So very strange, and an interesting theory to research in the future.
I also finally saw NESTING TURTLES!!! Sooooo happy and an amazing sight. I was lucky enough to see two, and watch the whole process of the turtle digging the hole, laying the eggs, and covering the hole back again. Those turtles are FAST when they run back down to the sea!
We were busy the whole week, looking after other animals on site (raccoons, parrots, tortoises and caimans), also planting trees to help sustain the mangroves in the region, and helping with environmental education at the local school. Not to mention night patrols on the beach, temperature checks of the nests, sample measurements of the hatchlings from each nest, burying eggs, excavating old nests to see how many eggs never hatched... never a dull moment, and a really fun group of people from all over the world! And they gave me some turtle earrings when I left :) They are so cute!
16/10/14 - time out at Lake Atitlan
After the heat and the business of last week, I decided to have a holiday (yes a HOLIDAY - travelling can be hard work with all that organising!). And everyone always raves about Lake Atitlan, so off I went!
I started in San Marcos (Hostel San Marcos, Q50/night), the hippie/new age hangout at the lake. Not that I have started crystal gazing, but because it was supposed to be the most scenic location. They certainly were not wrong! I caught up with my friend Nil I had met in Ecuador and we caught a water taxi to the Sunday markets in Panajachel. They are a smaller version of the Chichicastenango markets a couple of hours up the road, and a bit cheaper. Having said that, while prices are still cheap in Guatemala, they are around double what I was paying on my first visit here 4 years ago...
Anyway, I digress, and after a couple of nights I moved on to San Pedro (Mr Mullets, Q35/night). Less hippie, a bit more commercial, but still relaxed. And weirdly, full of Israeli cafes! But I had a hammock and two books and my goal was to finish them in 3 days and I am proud to say I achieved my goal. Ahhh bliss... so now I am getting on the night bus to go up to Flores for a few days, as I have had a tip where I might be able to see a jaguar! The hunt commences...
Oh one notable event in San Marcos... the owner of Nil´s hostel used to work at Noma in Denmark, aka the best restaurant in the world! So not being one to miss an opportunity, off to her hostel I went for lunch. And I must say my Indian spiced soup, and bruschetta with goats cheese (all homemade) may just be one of the best meals I have ever had. All at the bargain price of Q40 ($5). Bargain! You too can dine on luxurious food if you are in the vicinity of Maya Moon Lodge :)
I started in San Marcos (Hostel San Marcos, Q50/night), the hippie/new age hangout at the lake. Not that I have started crystal gazing, but because it was supposed to be the most scenic location. They certainly were not wrong! I caught up with my friend Nil I had met in Ecuador and we caught a water taxi to the Sunday markets in Panajachel. They are a smaller version of the Chichicastenango markets a couple of hours up the road, and a bit cheaper. Having said that, while prices are still cheap in Guatemala, they are around double what I was paying on my first visit here 4 years ago...
Anyway, I digress, and after a couple of nights I moved on to San Pedro (Mr Mullets, Q35/night). Less hippie, a bit more commercial, but still relaxed. And weirdly, full of Israeli cafes! But I had a hammock and two books and my goal was to finish them in 3 days and I am proud to say I achieved my goal. Ahhh bliss... so now I am getting on the night bus to go up to Flores for a few days, as I have had a tip where I might be able to see a jaguar! The hunt commences...
Oh one notable event in San Marcos... the owner of Nil´s hostel used to work at Noma in Denmark, aka the best restaurant in the world! So not being one to miss an opportunity, off to her hostel I went for lunch. And I must say my Indian spiced soup, and bruschetta with goats cheese (all homemade) may just be one of the best meals I have ever had. All at the bargain price of Q40 ($5). Bargain! You too can dine on luxurious food if you are in the vicinity of Maya Moon Lodge :)
20/10/14 - Mayan temples and more lake time
With great sadness my bank account is nearly dry :( so my time here is nearly over. No matter, I still have time for one more location that involves a 3 hour shuttle from the Lake to Guatemala City, then a 10 hour bus to the north of Guatemala - Flores!
I have been here before, as this is the base when people visit Tikal, possibly the greatest Mayan temple of the civilisation (in my humble opinion). But having visited Tikal before, this time I am here to relax on the tiny island, hang out in the hostel hammocks, get my last dose of delicious street food, and visit another notable but mostly overlooked site, Yax-ha. Which I found to be just as impressive as Tikal (albeit smaller) and with virtually no other people, so much nicer. And I saw more howler monkeys! Happy Lisa :) I never did get to see that jaguar - it was being rehabilitated, so human contact is now being removed - but I did get to see a 3 legged ocelot. Sad that it had lost it's leg in a trap, but happy it got to survive!
And just time for one more scam, the old fake bus ticket reared it's head again. However this time I was able to recognise it straight away (no logos or travel agency contact details? hmm fishy...) so went to the tourist police... who agreed it was a fake and called the transport police... who also agreed it was fake and called the real police... who all (10!) accompanied my to the agent and after an hour of denials by the agent, finally I got my money back. So, I'm very impressed Guatemala, that you take tourist scamming so seriously!
Oh and yay loads of the Arcas turtle people arrived the same weekend to visit Tikal, so had loads of people to hang out with! Hostel Los Amigos, Q50/night.
I have been here before, as this is the base when people visit Tikal, possibly the greatest Mayan temple of the civilisation (in my humble opinion). But having visited Tikal before, this time I am here to relax on the tiny island, hang out in the hostel hammocks, get my last dose of delicious street food, and visit another notable but mostly overlooked site, Yax-ha. Which I found to be just as impressive as Tikal (albeit smaller) and with virtually no other people, so much nicer. And I saw more howler monkeys! Happy Lisa :) I never did get to see that jaguar - it was being rehabilitated, so human contact is now being removed - but I did get to see a 3 legged ocelot. Sad that it had lost it's leg in a trap, but happy it got to survive!
And just time for one more scam, the old fake bus ticket reared it's head again. However this time I was able to recognise it straight away (no logos or travel agency contact details? hmm fishy...) so went to the tourist police... who agreed it was a fake and called the transport police... who also agreed it was fake and called the real police... who all (10!) accompanied my to the agent and after an hour of denials by the agent, finally I got my money back. So, I'm very impressed Guatemala, that you take tourist scamming so seriously!
Oh and yay loads of the Arcas turtle people arrived the same weekend to visit Tikal, so had loads of people to hang out with! Hostel Los Amigos, Q50/night.
23/10/14 - Chao and farewell Latin America
So this is it, back to reality after an amazing 8 1/2 months. Just enough time for some last minute shopping at the markets in Antigua, and my last pepian (seriously, it is my new favourite food!)
I have had a fabulous time and am leaving happy that I have achieved everything I wanted to do (turtles! Spanish language skills have improved! Independant travel in foreign language country! etc etc) as well as some experiences that were unplanned but also turned out to be highlights (yes Timburi Cocha jungle frogs/ocelot hugging, that is you!).
So will I be back one day? Possibly! After all, it was my 3rd time in Guatemala and I still love it! And I do feel I could practice my Spanish even more... so never say never. For now though, I need to get a job, so I'm signing off from Latin America... but keep an eye on this blog, as I don't have any definite plans at this point, so may end up anywhere!
I have had a fabulous time and am leaving happy that I have achieved everything I wanted to do (turtles! Spanish language skills have improved! Independant travel in foreign language country! etc etc) as well as some experiences that were unplanned but also turned out to be highlights (yes Timburi Cocha jungle frogs/ocelot hugging, that is you!).
So will I be back one day? Possibly! After all, it was my 3rd time in Guatemala and I still love it! And I do feel I could practice my Spanish even more... so never say never. For now though, I need to get a job, so I'm signing off from Latin America... but keep an eye on this blog, as I don't have any definite plans at this point, so may end up anywhere!