The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2014 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
A New York City subway train holds 1,200 people. This blog was viewed about 6,800 times in 2014. If it were a NYC subway train, it would take about 6 trips to carry that many people.
It’s been ages since my last post..and also since my last backpacking trip..when I say ages..I mean around 6 months..I know I am a bit spoilt when it comes to travelling therefore my interpretation on time sounds rather big headed..but believe me…this is not how I mean it.
So..I had 3.5 days that I had to take before the end of the year and even though I would have had a lot of things to do at home, I rather made a little holiday from these days including the weekend. So..where can one go for 5 days with guaranteed sunshine relatively close to England..The Canary islands!
I always wanted to see these islands but hearing a lot about the British tourism in this area (yes the ‘Benidorm or Algarve’ type of tourism) I kind of postponed the destination in my head…when I thought..how about backpacking!
So I looked up the hostels in Gran Canaria (somehow this island was the closest to my heart) and I found one that suggested…yes! this is what I need at the beginning of December..on my own! The place is called La Ventana Azul and I can highly recommend it to anyone wanting to chill, sleep, surf, party..
http://www.ventana-azul.de/wordpress/
I flew with my favourite airline: Norwegian (if you have not heard about the best low coast airline before with free wifi on board check it out now: http://www.norwegian.com/uk/ )..the journey was about 4 hours..and I arrived from 5 degrees to 20! It was a fantastic feeling! I took a bus to Santa Catalina (part of Las Palmas, the capital) where my hostel was situated, Lisa (lovely German traveller) greeted me who arrived in the island a couple of days before and started working in the hostel. Lisa explained that at the minute me and my room mate David are the only individual guests, as the rest of the hostel is rented to a Dutch sailing club who are preparing for the next Olympics on the island for 2 weeks with different physical exercises beyond sailing..
I’ll be honest..if things did not turn out how they did it would have been a problem because this young Dutch team was very closed and had no interest in communicating at all..they were loud and sometimes inconsiderate..but..it might just be me getting old..:) David was a surfer, equally very young so he was not as communicative as I was either..but!
Lisa took me on my second day to her hostel (she was living in another hostel about 7 minutes away from mine) where I met the real crowd:) A group of crazy Italians, living on the island, a Hungarian guy who was about to sail through the Atlantic to reach the Caribbean, an English guy who could only talk about his online marketing business and why he hates England, another holidayer who was from Germany, an Aussie globe trotter and that’s it. It didn’t take long for us to become friends..and the fact that I (used to) speak Italian was a big advantage. I remembered all those good times I had with Italians during my university years and in the first year after moving to England. It all came back and I had the same amount of fun as I did back then.
I was walking a lot, trying tapas bars, making friends with locals. One day I took the bus down to Maspalomas and visited the famous dunes where I tried to sunbathe a bit..well..I lasted about an hour and I went though very extreme moments when I was hot and when I was extremely cold as the clouds covered the sun.
Maspalomas is like an artificial ‘all-inclusive ‘ resorts heaven. There is much more sun in the southern part of the island than in the northern part (hence why I came back only with a tiny bit of tan). It is a popular place to go for the European retired crowd, which you don’t see as much in Las Palmas.
Another day I decided to dive even though the morning I picked was windy, rainy and about 15 degrees..I saw a few things but overall was not a great experience because of the strong current and bad mask I got from the dive centre.
But after diving while waiting for the guy who picked me up from my hostel and took me to Arinaga (just after the airport where the dive centre was situated) I had the best seafood probably ever..if you are there, visit this place called Restaurante Nelson: http://www.restaurantenelson.com
One night we went for a Tapas and beer night to the old city centre which was a great experience! 1 tapa + 1 bier =2 euros. Fantastic selection of tapas, jam packed, great weather, music..
On the last day we decided to hire a car..everyone went out on Saturday night but Lisa told the Italians that Sunday morning at 8am we are leaving…We went to the car hire at 8am with Lisa given that it was almost an impossible mission to get the Italians out of bed before 9am (especially cause some of them apparently returned at 5 in the morning)..
The car hire was a bit of a joke…laid back..:) 35 euro/car/day, no deposit or passport required, you get the keys, they explain where the parking house is, which floor to go to and then you look for your own car:) Took a while for us to find our 2 cars but in the end we did and went to pick up the others..well..in the end we left just after 10, and drove first to Nublo Rock (Rocque Nublo). The inland is green and beautiful. This rock was amazing as well! We had great banter on the way.
Sadly we lost each other with Lisa and only re-united in the south of the island, the end of the day just before dinner, caught some sun, and sat in a fantastic seafood restaurant (about 10 of us) and had the ‘last supper’. I adore the fact that Italian people are crazy about food. I am crazy about food too so sitting at a table where we are actually talking about how amazing the food we are eating is just great!
Next day my flight was at 7am, so I said bye to Lisa, who slept in the hostel just to be able to say goodbye to me (<3) and drove myself to the airport. It was great that I could leave the car there without any problem and did not have to hire a taxi early in the morning.
Well, that’s it. Some people asked if it was ok going on a holiday alone without Richard and I said yes it was…I will always have that ‘explorer’ spirit in me which he understands perfectly and knows that once in a while i need to go away alone to find myself when I get lost in the big city…
I am talking about Scotland here in Scot language. 🙂
So Richard and I decided to take a little holiday around the August bank holiday up to Scotland. We had a week, and our main destination were the highlands so instead of flying up there and rent a car to get around he drove up all the way with a stopover in the Lake District.
Scotland has always been a dream destination for me but somehow when you are living in England you are always opting for warm and sunny destinations..This was a perfect time to choose Scotland having spent half of this year in the tropical Central -America..
So the first night we spent in a lovely B&B just passed Keswick in the middle of nowhere:) It was actually a perfect escape from the city..We left London at 8am and got to the Lake District by 3pm with little stops on the way.
We took a stroll in the huge green fields and the nearby lake..it was warmish and sunny..but windy.
The B&B is called Ravenstone Manor- nice rooms and location however they were a bit smaller than they pretended to be. The service was a bit slow…If it was a backpacking trip I wouldn’t describe the place like this but again if I was a backpacker I wouldn’t have stayed in a flashy place like this:)
After the great egg benedict and cooked brekkie we headed to Scotland. Stopped at Loch Lomond in two places, at Balloch and Luss. In Balloch beyond the Maid of Loch (built in Glasgow in 1953, taken in sections to Balloch, and re-assembled on the slipway) we visited a shoe shop I never heard of before called Pavers. Now this wouldn’t be news just itself but because I bought 2 pairs of shoes (on sale) and one turned out later to be too small we got involved in some additional adventure later on…(they say no regrets..however…..)
After Balloch we made a short stop in Luss. Now this is a little perfect postcard looking town with lovely flowery gardens and a sea front.
We drove through Glencoe’s majectic mountains then we got to Fort William, in a beautiful B&B with stunning location called Hillview Guesthouse where we spent 2 nights due to our greatest adventure next day..climbing the UK’s highest mountain: Ben Nevis.
Next day the big day..both super excited and hoping for the great weather that was predicted. I wasn’t too worried..thought after the 5000m Villarica volcano a 1344m peak wouldn’t be a problem. Well…it wasn’t as easy as I thought. Many people were climbing it on the day we chose, the sun was shining, the wind was moderate..the trail was steep:) First we had to climb up rocks, then we had a half an hour ‘easy part’ passing the lake just before half way and from the waterfall a solid 2 hour uphill. We even found a little snow patch! On the top it was cold but sunny and windy. Had lunch, spent 30 minutes up there and made our way down. It was a total of 8 hours ..4.5 up and 3.5 down. Great experience, would do it again!
We got to know after that 9 days out of 10 you can’t see anything above 700m, hence why people turn up with maps and compass…Lucky.
The next day we were sore…..especially after driving hours and then getting out of the car..
So the 4th day’s destination was the Skye island. We took a gamble on the ferry from Mallaig, it was fully booked when we got there but luckily got in on stadby. Otherwise it would have made no sense to go to Skye for only a half afternoon. The area is 1656 km2 and has about 10.000 inhabitant. The island is mainly living of agriculture, tourism and fishing. The capital is Portree, very pleasant little town with some nice cafes and a colourful harbour.
After Skye we headed to the Eilean Donan castle..we caught the best time to visit..sunset.
We spent the night in Plockton, tiny village (smaller than where I come from which is a rare find, 800 people living in). Next day discovered a few pretty trails.
The last mission in Scotland was to witness the Loch Ness monster.. Having a vivid fantasy I believed more than 50% of the existence of the monster..the first afternoon we visited Inverness, had a great meal in a fine dining restaurant in hiking kit among flashy night dresses and suits around us..Friday night style;-)
Next day we did a private boat trip to hunt down the monster and when I say private ..it was a boat with a capacity of min. 100 people but nobody turned up:) After the unsuccessful attempt to catch the monster we went to the exhibition centre to see the scientific explanation of the monster’s existence or non-existence..and finally we headed to Pavers to change my shoe for a bigger size. Sadly it was an outlet store (like most Pavers shop) where they could not exchange the shoe..I was ready to drive around Scotland to find a High street shop instead of Outlet shop but luckily Richard had a bit more brain and figured we can do the exchange online.
So we headed back home..with a stopover at a place I bet most of you did not hear..Redcar:) But before this we stopped in Pitlochry at the Atholl Palace Hotel for a lovely afternoon tea.
So Redcar..it’s by the sea…and getting there Saturday evening might not be the true picture of how the town looks midweek. The biggest surprise was that none of the pubs served food at 8pm. 🙂 The room however looked stunning..the best on this trip with a deluxe bathroom.
On the last day we stopped for a little hike in the Yorkshire Moor which was great then Richard drove us home and finished the week with a lovely fish and chips:)
In my last blog I described how I got into Colombia on a sailing boat. The final destination of the 5 day sailing trips is usually Cartagena. My first way lead to my Danila in her office..It was absolutely amazing to see her! She checked in with me in the hostel called ‘El viajero’, we got ready and we headed out to see the rest of the ‘sailors’ to Mamma Llena where they stayed, as we agreed that we are going to do the party chiva bus the first night on proper land.
Well..party chiva did not disappoint me this time either! 2 years ago I did this same bus party with my dear Hungarian friend Lili (whom I am going to see on he 1st of August after 2 years !! well excited:) and Renaud, from France. This was also the night 2 years ago when I met my friends living in Cali..they will have a proper dedicated section later on in the post.
A bit about this party bus. So you can book it in a hostel/hotel for about 35.000 COP (£12) and it includes a ‘Cartagena by night tour’ accompanied by live music, entertaining guide with great interaction with the participants and rum! What more you want?
The atmosphere is insane, people are dancing, singing, talking. We stop a few times and engage with the locals, then we get dropped off around 1-2 am by one of Cartagena’s best nightclubs to enjoy the typical dance called vallenato. Here is a bit of a taster:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epClggSAEsA
Next day I felt awful..It wasn’t only hangover. The water in Cartagena is not good. Your drinks on the chiva come with ice made of tap water. Be careful. Also I think my immune system was already a bit run down. I got to know a really nice girl though called Vina. She is AmeriMexican and the lucky thing was heading down to the World Cup .. 2 days after chiva we went to Playa Blanca with Danila and Vina.
It was quite busy cause it was a bank holiday in Colombia but equally it was great and the water was very pleasant!
The day after I was walking around ..needless to say also the previous 2 nights we were out and in Cartagena it is very easy to go to bed as the sun is rising cause you can get lost in dancing and the entertainment of locals. 🙂 One evening we went out to see the captain who works in the same company as Danila, and my favourite sailing buddy, Amabel.
After checking the bus prices to Medellin I found that flights are only maybe £10 more expensive so it was an easy choice for me to make. I took a flight to Medellin on Tuesday the 2nd July saying goodbye to Danila, Vina, the Caribbean, and the costeños..(It was a big step for me for not going to Santa Marta, the place where I enjoyed my time the most on my first trip working, partying, trekking in Lost City, dancing, drinking awesome juices every day but I had to see Medellin, and Salento this time, which I missed out last time and of course return to the salsa capital Cali!)
So I flew into Medellin, travelled with a lovely lady from the airport to the centre, from which we took a taxi together, she dropped me off at Black Sheep hostel. She said her favourite Hungarian writer was Sandor Marai (I like him very much too!) This hostel where I decided to stay is a kiwi-colombian owned hostel. Fab staff, location (very quiet street near the Zona Rosa). I had about 4-5 days in Medellin. What helped enormously is a friend I had there called Andres. We met with Andres on one of the best nights I have ever had in Bogota in Andres Carne de Res. Since then we have been in contact on and off and when he saw that I was coming he called me on skype and gave me some great tips on what to visit in Medellin. I met him and his girl one night with my Hungarian friend, Agi whom I met in Cartagena before Medellin and turned out we were heading the same direction. She is a lovely girl, we had great laugh together (sometimes pulling hair but that’s just Hungarian passion:). She was about to go to ayahuasca. This is a South American ritual where the participants with the help of the Shamans and a special plant from the Amazon get rid of negative energies and the plant opens up chakras opening also future opportunities or seeing past memories. You are not supposed to eat 5 days before the event (which goes on during the night) but Agi ignored this little condition and was happily eating lamb 3 days before the ritual. She then informed me that the event went very well and she is feeling great. Medellin is a great city. It’s nothing similar as people imagine it as. Not drug capital anymore and there is no danger as it was 20 years ago. Anyone who comes here SHOULD DEFINITELY do the walking city tour with Pablo (http://www.realcitytours.com/ ). His enthusiasm and patriotism made me cry whilst listening to Colombia’s history.
The next day I went to Guatape and Piedra del Penol. We went with a superb retro minibus (https://www.facebook.com/vanporcolombia?fref=ts) and visited an artificial lake and a huge rock (740 steps to get up there). And the town of Guatape is a miracle…so nice and colourful!! What made it even more beautiful was the people and the fact that I bumped into an Italian couple whom I met in Honduras!! What a nice and unexpected surprise!
In Medellin I met a fantastic couple from London, Kim and Keith. Keith wasn’t a big fan of Latin music as opposed to Kim (always the girls!!!!) so we went out one night to a Cuban club ..great night, great dancing!
We actually became good friends and happened to continue our journey to the same place on the same day, to Salento.
Salento is in the Coffee Zone with excellent hiking possibilities including breathtaking landscapes in the Valle Cocora.
The town itself is beautiful as well with full of incredible handicraft…given that I had 3 weeks left of my trip this time I bought a few things including my hammock and a lamp..these things will remind me every day of this cracking country and journey <3.
In Salento we stayed in a very cosy homey hostel called Casona de Lili. Lili, the owner was super sweet…every morning we received a big hug and smile ..juice, coffee and just simply love. There are many options to stay in Salento but this little house is highly recommended.
Kim and Keith decided to stay one more day not to miss the opening ceremony of the World Cup but I moved on to Cali where my dear friends were waiting for me with open arms. A bit of introduction about them..
Claudia- Carlos and Lorena- Luis Fernando: We met 2 years ago in Cartagena after me and my friend Lili and Renaud went on a chiva bus party..the memory stayed alive clearly as Claudia sent me an email a year ago that she was coming to Europe with work and she happened to be in London on my 30th birthday party!:)
2012:
2013:
2014:
She kindly offered me that I can stay with her and Carlos..and without any doubt this was the best part of my trip (apart from when Richard came to see me)! Carlos and Luis Fernando are musicians so we sang, danced, played on congas, guitar, did karaoke and everything one can imagine. I cooked one day Gulyas for them, we went out in town, clubbing, they looked after me so well ..I cannot be grateful enough to them.
Another fabulous addition to this week was Maki! Maki is my Japanese friend, whom I met again 2 years ago in the Bolivian jungle..me Danila and her (and of course David from Germany) hung out among the crocodiles for days and Maki decided to come back to South America! And she came to Colombia to see me!!! So we met in Cali (after she left her luggage again somewhere she made it to Cali with a couple of days of delay) and she spent the last bit of my travels with me. One evening we went to kilometre 18 in a place called ‘La Neblina’. This is a place where no tourist have ever been..18 km from Cali towards Buenaventura with a completely different climate there is a place with curvy mountain road which is a very popular place to go for the ‘caleños’. In fact if you want to see something adventurous (or do), you should drive down this road back to Cali…young crazy people are cycling down with the speed of cars overtaking from left and right or up and down..doesn’t really matter for them…as a car driver it’s a bigger challenge not to hit them!
Another memorable event in Cali I experienced was the first Colombian game during the World Cup against Greece. We all know what the outcome was and having been in Colombia during this time was similar experience to those being in Brazil!
Multiple day party followed the victory…
Sadly on the 17th June I had to fly to Bogota..1 day before the last..
Luckily Maki kept me company but Cali took everything out of me so we didn’t go out on my last night. On the 18th we went to the Botero museum and Maki left around 1pm, and I continued to the Gold museum and checking out the souvenirs.
Getting to the airport around 6pm in rush hours was again quite an experience..I nearly missed my flight back to Europe!!
I decided to stay one night in Madrid before flying back to London as I have never been before. I watched the second Colombian game here which ended with the same result as the one before.
On the 20th I flew back to London where Richard was waiting for me with open arms and heart full of love. I spent a week in London, went for an interview 6 days after my arrival, then flew home to Hungary, got a call informing me that I got the job, had a great couple of weeks, Richard came over for the last 4 days and now back in London again and just started my new job today.
This is my last blog for a while..but I am sure I’ll update it after my future short trips…
It’s not an end..but a new beginning..and Colombia stays in my heart forever..<3
The border crossing between Costa Rica and Panama was very smooth. All you need is 500$ cash, and an outbound ticket or at least a proof of some ticket that takes you home from either Panama or Colombia.
I left Corcovado at 7am and arrived in Sona at 7pm. Sadly from Sona there was no bus anymore to Santa Catalina but I met a taxi driver who gave me an acceptable price..i did try to look for accommodation is Sona but sadly it’s not a backpacker town so there is one or 2 hotels there for about $25 so I thought why not pay this for the taxi instead and stay in Santa Catalina. The reason I went there was to dive in Isla Coiba. In the end I stayed in a lovely place called Hibiscus Garden which is about 10km away from Santa Catalina. It’s owned by a German couple living there with their kids and there was a lovely Argentinian couple volunteering..they made my stay excellent! So diving was awesome there..I was with the dive master only. He is from Oz…I got slightly annoyed though cause during first dive he touched a coral and he panicked so after 45 mins we had to go up….even though my tank was half full but hey..rescue diver was doing what she was meant to do;-) On second dive he lasted 50 minutes (again half full tank) cause he had to pee!!! I mean bloody hell pee in your wet-suit if you are a dive master and you are with only one person on the dive! I was really annoyed. But hey ho, we saw sharks, turtles, rays and amazing schools of fishes so it was satisfying in the end. In the hibiscus garden I also did some horse riding and engaged with the locals working on the farm. The food was excellent! Price was 11$ a night or so.
You can actually stay on Coiba ..and I would recommend it as it’s beautiful:
After Catalina I headed to Panama city to spend the weekend there before starting my epic trip to San Blas and Colombia on 26th May. Panama City was about 7 hours away from Catalina, so I arrived there late afternoon. I got recommended to stay in Casco Viejo, so I picked the most popular hostel there called Luna’s Castle. It was a party hostel but I wasn’t too bothered as I stayed only 2 nights and I wanted to go out.
I really liked Panama city. It had a great vibe, nice buildings, nice people..and I felt very close to Colombia..In the end I opted to rest cause i was tired but at least I did some sightseeing:
There is a great fish market where you can eat fresh fish and ceviche, there is a lovely Modern Art Museum that I visited, and I just walked around. It’s advisable to buy Metrobus card for 2$ and top it up with a few $. You don’t need much as a journey is 0.25$.
I also visited the Canal. It was interesting to understand the history behind it.
I only spent 4 days on Panama mainland. Sadly I didn’t get the chance to visit Boquete- fantastic place to do some trekking (although a few people went missing there recently) or climb the Baru volcano (where you get to see the 2 oceans on a clear day) or to visit Bocas del Toro..the Caribbean paradise of Panama. Knowing though that I will shortly go to the San Blas islands during my 5-6 days of sailing to Colombia made me feel ok about not going to Bocas.
So..the sailing trip started on the 26th May on a Monday. We got a transfer from Panama city to the San Blas islands by 4×4 and a little speedboat where our catamaran was waiting for us (Nacar 2).
The name of the first island where we spent the first night (never on the island, always on the boat) was Analunega. This was a fairly developed island with the indigenous community (kuna) living there. If I compare them to the Tayrona people in Colombia the kunas are much more commercialised and charging tourists a lot for a necklace or any kind of handicraft.
The first lunch was on the island, then Jonathan (sailor) cooked our dinner. Our captain was super cool- Jose. I almost forgot the story of how I got onto this particular sailing boat. I have a friend called Danila whom I met 2 years ago in the Bolivian jungle. She is Argentinian and she is still travelling since 2012! I can say without any exaggeration that she is a master of life! She found a job in Quito last year that allowed her to go to the Galapagos islands twice for free! And now she is working on the sailing company called Blue sailing (highly recommended if you are planning to do a trip either from Colombia to Panama or the other way round) so she booked me onto this boat as I had fixed dates.
So I got a fantastic bed outside..I knew this would be my best bet cause inside the boat you are more likely to get seasick during sailing, plus it can be a bit stuffy.
On the second day we moved after breakfast to the second island called Chichime. On this island I swam a lot! I was always in the water with my snorkelling gear and what you can see down there is a miracle. Not particularly because of the marine life as I was spoilt previously on my dive experience allover the world but this place is famous for its stunning sea stars..tons of them in the bottom of the sea and you can see them perfectly as the water is crystal clear.
On the 3rd day we sailed to the 3rd island called Huaisaludo. This was the least developed island, only one family lived here Julio and Laura. They moved 5 years ago from Panama City…cannot imagine a bigger contrast..but can perfectly imagine how a person can get to the point living 50 years in a big city to move to a deserted island. They are living from selling coconut to tourists for $1 each. They also sell empty beer cans to different commercial boats. They haven’t got much but what they have is worth more than any Versace bag or a super car. They see the sun rising above the Caribbean sea every morning and they see it setting every evening. We spent an afternoon with them drinking Coco Loco (rum in the coconut water).
This 3rd night was the best night in terms of the group. Lobster dinner…(some killed the lobster..as a diver I didn’t have the heart)
We all got to know each other by this time, all the alcohol appeared on the table which everyone brought with themselves, we made a fire on the island, instruments came out..it was a superb night which ended with some skinny dipping in the 28 degree water.
Next day everyone was hungover and we all knew that we would pay for last night this day…We started sailing on the open sea..We all took our seasickness pill which helped but everyone was silent and sleeping most day.
The 5th day was the longest..we had enough water and food but the fact that we couldn’t move just sit or lay made it a bit hard. Also that we didn’t have wind! So the max speed of the sailing boat was 4.5 knot and we had 230 miles to do..That’s an average 5.1 mile/hour…Therefore we knew we wouldn’t arrive on Friday to Cartagena. On the last night people were taking turns in guarding while he captain and sailor were sleeping. My turn was from 10pm to midnight ..I had to check lights around, check the monitor to see if there is any boat nearby, check is there was a storm coming. I enjoyed this task immensely. I have never felt more free in my life than on this boat surrounded by only water and sitting by the steering wheel under the stars..I had time to think. About my life, and about the world. I felt incredibly grateful that i had the opportunity to travel such a big distance…already the second time ..And I was heading towards he country that I most loved on my first trip..Colombia…
I felt the excitement in my tummy..this was the first time for me to return to a country that I visited before as a backpacker..and because I had very strong memories I was very curious about how it would feel being back there.
On Saturday we had still a long distance to cover..sadly the engine stopped about 37 miles away from Cartagena. The captain knew immediately what to do. The dinghy boat pushed us until he called for help..and then we just got pulled into cartagena by a fishing boat.
We arrived at 4.30pm.
In my next post I am going to write about Colombia, the last country I visited on this trip.
At the Costa Rican border we said goodbye to each other with Nikki, she went to Monteverde and I went to Playa el Coco..Mistake! The only reason I went there was to dive but it was like a worn out ghost town..100% americanised and low season..if you happen to be there do not go with Summer Salt dive centre! They stood me up by saying they would have a trip to the Bats Cave (best dive site where mantas and hammerheads are common ) the day after, so I waited, but when I appeared at the dive centre at 5.30 in the morning it was closed and nobody appeared up until 6.30 am (trip was meant to be at 6am) so I packed all angry and left.
The next destination was not any better: Jaco. The only reason I came here was to see a friend of mine Gil, whom I met in the Corn islands. The town is full of expensive beach shops, surfers (mainly gringo), but it was nice to hang out with the girls for a night.
After this I spent a night in Quepos so I could have an early start to Manuel Antonio National park the day after, which did not quite happen cause the girls took ages to arrive from Jaco but it was ok. I saw my first sloth!! Mission completed for Costa Rica:)
Sloths are incredibly slow..they live high up on the trees and only come down once a week to poo. They made me laugh. I saw one with the baby!!
The national park was nice but way too touristy and half of it was closed because of maintenance. Raccoons are cheeky, they attack the backpacks while tourists are chilling on the beach.
Next stop was Uvita. Now this place is less touristy and beautiful. I stayed in a wonderful hostel called Flutterby House where I met a really nice girl who worked there. I had a tree house just for myself..very much enjoyed this jungle house!
It´s a bit scary to get to this hostel after dark as the bus drops you off about a kilometer away and I was walking on a dirt road for about 20 mins with my iPhone´s flash light but in the end I made it.
Next day I visited the Marino Ballena National Park ..I have never seen such a stunning beach! It was low tide and you had to walk about 200m to reach the water..
On the way back I chatted to a lovely Tica lady (this is how Costa Ricans call themselves, Ticos) who fixed a nice lift for me to the waterfall where the rain got me and I walked back in pouring rain. Was fun:)
After Uvita I headed to the Penisula Osa (Bahia Drake) where I wanted to stay in the national park 1 or 2 nights..I haven´t made any arrangements yet and I chose to go to a hidden gem called Jaguar´s Jungle which is a hostel in the real jungle ..with nothing nearby (town is 4 hours walk among poisonous snakes ). Let me tell you about the way to Bahia Drake, cause it´s not that straight forward. In Costa Rica buses are not great. You have to change a lot and they are not frequent at all. So from Uvita I took a bus to Palmar Norte where sadly there was no bus to Sierpe so I took a taxi for $15. In Sierpe there is a morning (11.30am ) and afternoon boat to Bahia Drake (around 3pm). I made the 11.30 one and requested a lift to Jaguar´s Jungle..they wanted to charge me more (regular price is $15, so they said cause it´s way further out than Bahia Drake I need to pay $25 which I refused so they called Leo, the owner who wasn´t in the hostel but on holiday and he arranged the lower price for me.
As the boat dropped me off, Osvaldo and David greeted me. David was a volunteer, Osvaldo was a Tico. They had lovely seafood coconut soup so I had lunch and just wondered around..I was the ONLY guest. Which seemed kind of cool at the beginning..things got complicated when I told them my plans..I wanted to dive the next day in Isla Caño, then go to Sirena (the ranger station in the National Park with the most wild life) for 2 nights…sadly Leo did not leave them phone numbers..even if he did there was only one spot by a coconut tree where there was reception…but yes not having contact with agencies made things complicated. They tried to call Leo several times but Leo was happily surfing somewhere instead of picking up his phone and trying to help Osvaldo and David (who hats off, tried everything to get me on tours).
Next day the diving boat did not come to pick me up and i felt stuck! It was a paradise but I only had 4 days left as I had to leave Costa Rica within 12 days (I could have stayed longer but I wanted to spend 3 weeks in Colombia so I planned it this way) and I did not want to ´waste´these 4 days by not doing why I came to this amazing wild national park.
Osvaldo walked with me to the next place which was a biological centre with similarly no guests or students at that moment. At least the guy there had one agency´s contacts but sadly that agency wanted me to go diving with them so because they didn´t have trip for the next day they did not made a phone call around other agencies and dive centres if they had a trip ..
Also spending 2 nights in the national park would have cost me a fortune..(around $350) cause the guide was obligatory and expensive, camping there was expensive, food was expensive, so I decided to do a day tour at Sirena which was rated average in Lonely planet as to see wild life you really need to wake up early and catch the animals. There are tattoos, tapirs, monkeys, ant eaters and many other animals to observe..I just wanted to see a tapir! So I was very lucky cause we had an excellent guide who was a marine biologist but knew a lot about the animals in the park too. We found fresh tapir tracks!!! So we followed the footprints which lead us to the big male tapir who was having the nicest dreams:) We woke him up. He is not afraid of humans. It was superb and exciting to see a tapir for the first time!
We saw 3 type of monkeys, excellent birds, a deer, coaties, Cayman, crocs..and on the way dolphins too! This tour was incredibly good!
I decided to move to the town (Bahia Drake) to arrange my diving, so I stayed in Casa Murillo with excellent ocean view, and I managed to go diving in the end to Isla Caño where I saw some great sharks ..actually the place reminded me of Richelieu rock in Thailand..it was a great day! we did 2 dives, lunch at the beach, and I walked back to town through the jungle (3 hours).
Sadly I had to leave as I only got 12 days stamp in Costa Rica, but I wouldn’t have time to stay any longer anyway. The border crossing went just fine.
In my next post I’ll write about Panama and the 5 days sailing trip on the San Blas islands to Colombia.
My first stop in Nicaragua was on the North, a town called Esteli. I planned to visit the Miraflores natural reserve to finally spot a quetzal but sadly my health decided for me..
After my recent Acid reflux I was not expecting getting one again!! But sadly it came back and put me in bed for 4 days. This reflux is an awful thing..there is no relief. You should not lie down, you are too weak to walk though or even sit..you are hungry but you can only eat dry stuff that absorbs the acid..defo a good way to drop a few pounds down! I met some lovely people though in the hostel. Once I was strong enough I took the bus to Leon with Wayne. Leon is an incredibly hot town..I’m talking about 35-40 degrees..The hostel we wanted to stay in was full so we stayed in Cerro Negro, just in front of the other one. I very much liked this hostel..as apart from people it had everything..pool table, comfy chairs, hammocks, bamboo swing, and a rubber kids pool. This is where I spent my first afternoon.
Leon is a nice little colonial town..there is an excellent juice bar just by the main park where you could choose among more than 50 juices.
I was in Leon at the start of the biggest Latin American celebration, the Semana Santa. For us it’s Easter but they celebrate the whole week and there are possessions where they dress up and carry Jesus Christ on their shoulder..
I met Nikki in Honduras and she said she might come to celebrate my birthday to the Surfing Turtle Lodge (Near Leon on the beach) and she came to the same hostel as me and Wayne so we hang out the 3 of us for a day before the Turtle Lodge.
Leon was memorable for me because I decided to go to the hospital and check if I have gallstones given that this acid pain usually moves to the back the last couple of days. The doctor sent me for blood and urine tests, and ultra sound (this latter was private).
So I spent a morning doing all these and turned out I had no gallstones. First thing I’ll do when I’m back in England is to do a helicobacteria test as I read it’s a common cause of acid reflux.
So after these adventures once I got better I went to the Surfing turtle lodge around the 16th of April to spend my birthday and the rest of Semana Santa there. It’s a little paradise..There is not much to do..only surfing if waves are good but while I was there they weren’t. The other activity is to watch turtle eggs hatch and when the sun goes down send the little turtles on their way to the ocean. It’s important to do this in the evening as they have more chances to survive.
We played every day at 4pm volleyball and the losers had to go up to the bar and have a little dance for Ice Ice Baby and then down at one go a Smirnoff Ice..I was almost every day on the bar:)
So a few words about the group…I think Surfing Turtle was the foundation for the rest of my Nicaraguan travels when it comes to fun people to travel with! Ben and Imogen (Australian couple) is defo my fave couple, we shared joy, tears and beers in our Nicaraguan stay. Nikki I talked about earlier is a super cool chick, traveling with her little guitar, passionate about tattoos and has a great voice! She is from Canada..Kevin! He arrived! I met him in Copan Ruinas and although our ways separated for the rest of Honduras he promised he would come for my birthday and there he was! With a bottle of rum from Roatan and a bracelet and ring from another traveller friend of his! Sweet! Alina and Celine. I met Alina in Leon, we travelled together to the lodge and hung out there together. She was very nice and lent me her local phone so I could call La Costeña to book my plane ticket to the Corn islands (next destination, more about it later).Her friend Celine came only for the last night so I didn’t chat to her much that time. And an unmissable addition to our group was Wayne..well..he is a tough one. So Wayne was a great travel companion up until the Lodge..
He is one of those people who claims that he hates hang out with travellers but he still does and tries everything to appear cool and not a ‘gringo’ (Latin Americans call foreigners gringo. Originally this word was used for North American people but it seems to apply now to everyone.) His agenda for the 5 days in Surfing Turtle Lodge was to get hammered..so he started drinking in the morning most days and finished last …unless he climbed on other people’s bed and was sick in them. By the end he managed to have more enemies than friends..in a way it was very sad and I felt sorry for him but he earned this for himself and somebody who doesn’t want to be helped cannot be helped.
After 5 days of fun we left the turtle and some of them stayed in Leon, I went to Managua, spent a night there just to be able to leave a few things before flying to the corn islands due to weight restrictions. That one night in Managua was fun, I went to the cinema and watched Rio 2. I miss cinema!!!!
Next day at 2pm I had my flight to Big Corn. I went to the airport on chicken bus..thought to save 20$ before the expensive Caribbean islands…
Flight was one hour, as soon as I arrived at Big Corn I took a boat to Little Corn island which is the backpackers’ favourite. Just a note on the flight..if you are planning on going there and you don’t know how long for do not book it on the website! call them or buy the ticket in an agency so you can get an open ticket for the same price (return 165$).
When I got off the boat I met Gil, lovely Canadian lady and then Nienke (The Netherlands). Lovely girls, great to hang out with! I shared a room in Cool Spot with Nienke so like this we paid 7.5$ each instead of 15$. We discovered some great restaurants, Happy hour in Tranquilo was a must every day. I signed up for a 10 dive package at Little Corn Dive centre but sadly I got sick (flu) so i could not continue diving there but I did 3 and I saw some nice things..but overall Little Corn diving is quite low key..
Few days after Nienke left and Immy and Ben arrived along with Alina and Celine so the turtle crowd was back!!! Except for Kevin and Nikki.
Here are some pics on Little Corn Islands:
Internet on the island is not great..My internet strategy was ..breakfast at Iguana where I would connect with the world, stock up with water, play a little game where you had to hook to a metal ring on a string to a metal hook and have the best (and sweetest) French toast on the island. The last 2 pics above were taken at Iguana.
With Immy we discovered the most expensive resort on the island..300$ a night..great view and great little bungalows..but a little expensive in my opinion..
Immy and Ben, and Alina and Celine stayed but I decided to spend a night (almost 2) in the Big Corn island.
I took the morning ferry to be able to explore the big island..There are more locals on the Big Corn and you can actually get some cheap local food not only touristy expensive one. I splurged though on my last night and I stayed in Paraiso Resort in a fantastic bungalow with a/c and comfort. Bear in mind at Cool spot I had a mouse on my last night so I really deserved a bit of a splurge!
I would say people who travel to the Corn islands..give a chance to the big corn as well cause it has more beautiful beaches than the little one ..yes you need to take a taxi after dark and during the day cause there are much longer distances but i walked around the island in a day with beach stops.
Few shots on Big Corn:
Even though it wasn’t high season..I failed in my attempt to reserve a return flight to Managua. So the only solution was to go to airport on stand by and if people didn’t turn up for the flight I could go. There are 2 flights a day from and to the Corn islands. From is at 8.30 am and 3.30pm..next day for the 8.30 am I did not manage to get on. I did manage to get onto the 3.30 pm one though so it gave me the chance to return to my favourite beach (Arenas) and enjoy for another half day this paradise.
On the flight I met a couple (English boy, Brasilian girl) and as they were heading to Granada we decided to split a taxi instead of taking a bus. It was a total of 25$ for a 1.5h journey so it was well worth it. I picked up my stuff from the hostel and we arrived at Granada around 7pm. I was recommended a hostel called Oasis which had a perfect position and across the street there was an excellent Japanese restaurant where we had sushi…LOVED IT! I missed sushi so much!
I spent a few days in Granada, met Kevin again and then Immy and Ben too, I climbed Mombacho and Masaya volcans, went for a day to Masaya market (if you ever go there and want to buy things go to the old market which is about half price as the new market.) This hostel was excellent value..very spacious and free pancake and fruits for brekkie. ($9 a night)
At Mombacho I was climbing with a German guy who was travelling for 2 weeks with his mum! such a great effort by the mum to see his son in Nicaragua and climb a volcano with average inclination of 60 degrees.
At the Masaya volcan I was walking with a Nica boy and an El Salvador boy. They came to the market with me after. Nice people!
I met Alex as well in Granada which was a great surprise ! We went for dinner ..big crew! I loved it then we went out partying. Sadly Immy and Ben didn’t come with us but it was an excellent night!! We started at a local place playing salsa, latin, 70s, rocky! Then we went to Granada’s greatest club called I ❤ weekend. What a night!
After Granada I went to Ometepe which is an island in one of Nicaragua’s big lakes and on the island there are 2 volcanoes. Concepcion (the higher one) and Maderas. Nikki booked a hostel for me ( Zopilote farm)..very organic and nice place. I got there, nice people in the dorm, we had a pizza night, met Nikki finally and Monica from Spain and we decided to hire a scooter for next day so we were cruising around the 3 of us on the bike. Loved it! The highlight of the day was Ojos del Agua natural pool from volcanic crystal clear water.
The next day Monica and I decided to climb Maderas volcano..humid..hot..rainy, muddy. Based on these take the necessary equipment. Great cloud forest though and I even saw the most dangerous snake on Ometepe, red and black colour which lets you live 2 hours once it bites you:) What a lucky girl I am not having got bitten!:)
Getting around in Ometepe is not easy. There are some buses that are not very reliable. Hitching is a possibility, To get the ferry back to the mainland we had to hitch from Santa Cruz to Moyogalpa. Now that was a serious fun!
I forgot to mention that while I was in Granada I discovered that someone scammed me…Probably one of the cash machines I used was read by hackers and they took almost 600 pounds from my account. I blocked it immediately and ordered a new card to San Juan del Sur (to where I had no intention of going cause it was known being a party town of teenagers hosting this fantastic event of Sunday Funday) as I didn’t know how posts arrive to Ometepe. I picked a hostel in San Juan and said to the customer service rep. He promised 7 days so..I was hanging out a few days in San Juan staying at different places. Why?
1. Casa las Olas, owned by an Aussie couple in their 50s..it’s a beautiful place with an infinity pool but there was a group of Aussies who were drunk every day pretty much during the day and night which took away the charm of this lovely place.
Next day we moved to the hostel I ordered my bank card to, Casa Oro. They mentioned to me earlier that they would charge me $5 for this post with is ridiculous. When we occupied our beds I found bed bugs!!! These are my biggest nightmare! I notified the staff so they came into the room with a special liquid which turned out to be tequila! so they got rid of the mattresses, sprinkled the frame and lit it up!
They suggested I do the same thing with my backpack without the lighting it up bit.
The process didn’t help. I couldn’t sleep because of the evil bed bugs so I moved downstairs to a different room in the middle of the night. Grrr
For the evening we hired a movie with Nikki (The shrink) it was a great movie and proves you can do different things in San Juan del Sur not only drinking.
Next day we moved to another hostel and went to a surfing beach called Maderas. It was a lovely beach but we didn’t surf so we came back next day to do a surfing class. This class gave me the final proof that surfing is not my sport. Too much hassle and once you stood up once it doesn’t give you that amazing feeling ..but that’s the case with every ‘non first’ I guess..
The conclusion of my Nicaraguan trip was that my card never arrived so I blocked it (Barclays really should deal with situations that can occur during travelling) and ordered it to London. San Juan was not that bad although young travellers should watch out cause there is a drug problem there…2 travellers died while I was there.
Nicaragua was awesome! Very safe and fun! You always meet people and your money lasts long! Also true that I haven’t seen another country where so many T-shirt merchandise is being sold! Every other traveller has either a Lava shot or a Volcano boarding, a Toña beer or Flor de Caña rum T-shirt. I only bought a surfing turtle lodge one!
In my next post I’ll talk about Costa Rica and Panama. Stay tuned;-)
First stop in Honduras was the famous Utila! I remember this place very well from my first trip as my first open water dive instructor did his instructor course here (and he almost let me drawn). Also, Richard’s instructor Diego spoke very highly about UDC (Utila Dive Centre) so once the ferry docked I went straight to UDC. If you happen to be on this island and have no idea where to dive or stay don’t despair, there are plenty of people waiting by the dock selling their dive shop/hostel.
So at UDC I met Sarah (English lady, super nice), who gave me a brief intro about the dive shop and facilities. I was mainly interested in doing my Rescue Course here and she explained the structure. There were already 2 fellow divers just starting the course, Alex and Lisa, so I joined in the next day. In medias res! I like it! I got free accommodation during the course in the Mango Inn, official hostel of UDC which I very much liked..who wouldn’t like this?
Just a bit more about Sarah..and there is a reason why I dedicate a separate paragraph to her. I think we were meant to meet as she fulfilled a big dream of mine..She and her husband were living in London having fantastic jobs, and a great lifestyle..but something was missing. And what is the rare thing..that for both of them the same thing! They were both freedom lovers. They realised that life is too short to live in a crowded big city that however offers so much to someone who is in great financial situation, it doesn’t offer sunshine, warm climate or freedom to keep a healthy balance between work and these two. They were both beach and sun lovers, so one day in their 40s they decided to pack their bags and move to Utila and dedicate their lives to their passion..diving!
As I am writing this Sarah just posted the most amazing thing on Facebook that I have to quote..
‘20 years ago today, I stood on a beach overlooking the ocean, with my soul mate beside me. In front of dear friends and family, I promised to love him forever…
Today I stand in our beach front house in the Caribbean, overlooking the ocean with my soul mate still beside me.
To my darling D.D I love you more today than ever. We have had an amazing life together so far. We have lived, laughed and loved….here’s to many more years of that.
I love you forever…….’
She is an example for me ..and even if for now I made my decision to go back to London to the person I love, the dream of one day living on a beach and having enough sunshine that a human being needs in order to live a happy life with the person I love has not been forgotten…
The rescue course started with a one day EFR (Emergency First Response course). I did this for my driving license 13 years ago but it had to be within 2 years so I repeated it in English this time. During the rescue course the people doing their dive master courses are ‘helping’ by being victims. So during the 4 days we have about 2 hours theory and 3 hours in the water doing skills.
The 3rd day was the toughest but in the end I completed the course and I was very happy that I did it! The biggest challenge was not the course though but to resist the temptation of not continuing to next level. There would have been no point though if I wouldn’t work with it..so I made my decisions. After my 2 fun dives I got a flu so couldn’t dive anymore..
Few words about Utila. If you are looking for a quiet island don’t go to Utila. It’s a party island where there is nothing else to do but diving. There are several people doing their zero to hero courses (Open water to dive master) in one go while getting hammered in the evenings.. It’s expensive, locals are not very friendly and all conversations are about diving. If you see the whale shark you are lucky! I was there in the right time but sadly did not see it..but there was always somebody coming back to the hostel super excited about seeing one or two. There are some good bars and restaurants like Munchie’s or an absolute must near Mango Inn: The Jade Seahorse. It took the owner 25 years to build the place (you can stay here but obviously prices are not on backpacker levels.
Few pics:
After Utila I went to Copan. This was my favourite place in Honduras, lovely town, great variety of things to do. The ruins were not that great as I have seen so many by this time that I couldn’t appreciate anymore, but I went one day to the hot springs and one day horseback riding. I met some great people here too and stayed in a superb hostel called La Iguana Azul. Oh and by the ruins there are a lot of macaws. They are bright red and loud. Awesome birds!
After Copan I went for a day to Gracias- recommended by Lonely Planet..well..it’s a nice little town but unless you have a lot of time and want to see everything it’s not a must. There is a cute little jar shop though that is worth a visit (called Lorendiana), and some nice churches and a fort. There are no hostels, only slightly or very expensive hotels. (for a backpacker)
After Gracias I chicken bussed it to Lago de Yojoa which I very much loved! I stayed in a microbrewery called D&D which had a pool, excellent beers, great tourist information and a bonfire every night. I met my friend Alex here (we did the rescue course together in Utila), we did a walk up to the view point over the lake, took a Flor de Cana bottle of rum and celebrated our efforts in 40 degrees!
I met a super nice girl here Nikky, we wanted to have an overnight jungle trip (Santa Barbara cloud forest) to check out this famous quetzal bird (official bird of Guatemala but can be spotted here too) but D&D was crap in organising tours..great info source but not great action behind.
I met Kelly and Wayne here too. I enjoyed their deep psychological conversations and debates by the bonfire every evening so one day we visited a national park together to watch birds.
Just before the last night the brewery ran out of beer …so we were drinking wine…5 of us..8 bottle..NOT GOOD!
that evil night after a few days just when I got to Nicaragua triggered my acid reflux so…next time I’ll think twice.
I also did an excellent trip to the Pulhapanzak waterfall. If you get the chance go behind the waterfall..it’s an adrenaline rush!! Walter, the tour guide took me there with his motorbike (unofficial tour lol)
One day Wayne and I went to the coffee farm next door, it was a nice afternoon with some great scenery. Same day we saw a Mot Mot bird in the brewery!! Such great wild life here!
So a few words about Wayne. He is an English guy, very clever but a little bit of a lost soul. This hasn’t turned out just yet..he will be in my next blog too. Anyway he used to work as an IT consultant in England and had some hotel points accumulated. He kindly invited me to spend a weekend with him in the Intercontinental hotel in Tegucigalpa (with no bad intentions, purely because he needed company I guess) and I was thinking why not splurge a bit for free and refresh in a nice hotel, dye my hair, have a proper shower etc.
We got a direct bus at 6am to the capital of Honduras (2nd highest murder rate in central america) ..and cause we couldn’t occupy the room yet we went across the street to a shopping centre. Wow..what a rush I had going through those amazing shops! too much time in basic places gives me back that genuine enthusiasm and appreciation for things we take for granted in the first world.
So after I did the ‘beauty session’ we went out with Wayne to the centre to check out a few bars and we ended up going with 2 locals to a Cuban salsa bar…I LOVED IT! Was dancing the whole evening. Wayne didn’t have this enthusiasm for dancing so he opted for drinking. We closed the night in a very fancy roof terrace.
The next day I left Tegus and took the bus to Nicaragua. Next time I’ll continue from here.
In the previous post I already started talking about Guatemala. Flores, Tikal were amazing, Antigua..super rich city with many fancy cars, lots of foreign people studying Spanish etc. After Antigua I went to one of my favourite places in Guatemala to Lake Atitlan.
In Guatemala the majority of tourists are travelling with shuttles (you don’t see locals in these) just because it does not cost much more than chicken buses and long destinations can be reached much easier with a direct shuttle rather than having to change 2-3 times. This is what I took for 80 quetzales (about £6) for a 3.5 hour journey. The shuttle took me to Panajachel which is the main town around the lake, then I took a ‘lancha’ (boat) to San Pedro which was meant to be the most lively part of the lake with the most backpackers on it. I found a hotel (Hotel Helen) with stunning views over the lake for about £3 a night..quite rare finding a place like this on these rates.
In San Pedro there are some cool restaurants and bars to hang out, there is always a party somewhere and it’s easy to meet people. One day I bumped into 4 Canadian girls with whom we were doing a free Salsa lesson when Richard was still with me. It was a great surprise to see them again so we started chatting and we bonded in the evening during one of the ‘Ladies’ nights’ parties!
One day I went to Chichi market..in Guatemala for some reason buses always broke down…this is what happened on this day as well, and one other thing topped the experience..there was a Swedish lady on the shuttle who like hearing her voice..so she was singing along the great 80’s songs during the 3 hour journey…NOT COOL!
The market itself was a little disappointing after the Bolivian La Paz market…and it was expensive..so i ended up buying almost nothing.
On the way back I took some nice pics of the lake:
After San Pedro and the parties we moved to a way more chilled place called Santa Cruz where we stayed in a home-style hostel called La Iguana Perdida. I did a dive here with ATI Divers (part of TrekCats- Association of Central and South American Divers)..you could see houses, swimming pools, saunas under water and volcanic sand where we poached an egg. The lake is growing due to past earth moves this is why some houses are already under water. The Iguana was nice, dinner together, activities. It’s a tab based system. I had a hair cut here too:) Was a great experience. A travel buddy cut it for me.
After the Iguana I was done with the lake. My Canadian friends went to Guatemala City to catch their flight home so I carried on alone. Next destination was Semuc Champey but I had to break the journey in Antigua, where I spent a lovely afternoon, stayed in the same hostel I stayed with Richard at (Hostel Jacarnda, lovely people and great place!), and had a nice pancake dinner in the ‘Luna de Miel’.(http://www.lunademielantigua.com/ )
Next morning I took the shuttle to Semuc Champey. The road is fine from Antigua until the last hour which is an 11 km dirt road…hence it takes an hour to get to the village of Lanquin. I decided to stay in El Retiro in Lanquin (http://www.elretirolanquin.com/ ), where I met a very nice group of people with whom we did the Semuc Champey tour the next day…well…it’s a beautiful place..
The tour was pretty hard core, we went to a cave first where all you need is a bikini and a candle and some courage:)
We climbed walls, swam through the cave, jumped off cliffs within the cave..so..it was a miracle if somebody finished the adventure without any injury. Then we hiked to the terrace pools, and spent the afternoon sliding down, diving in, having fun.
The day after I took it easy, just did some tubing on the river where i managed to hit a branch and go under my tube lol.
That evening I met an American man who was running a local NGO and explained me that he is recruiting volunteers who would be willing to donate 100 quetzal (around £8) meaning the volunteer would go to a pharmacy with a local doctor to buy medicine for people living in the mountains and walk with the local doctor to visit these families. I was very keen on doing something like this on my trip..well…I did it and i don’t regret it but it was a tough experience seeing some of those houses and generations living together along with the little pig…It put things in perspective and all of a sudden it won’t matter which brand of sunglasses shall i pick up next time when I’m in a department store..
After Semuc another 7 hour trip was coming up (originally 4 but because of the road closures it got extended:) to Rio Dulce. There is nothing in Rio Dulce just a river and a lovely hostel called Casa Perico where I made a new friend, a pet honey bear:)
Sadly During Semuc and Rio Dulce I was sick..(usual acid reflux) but after a few days I recovered and could continue to the last town in Guatemala to Livingston.
Livingston is influenced by Belize as it’s by the border and the people living there are much more Caribbean than the conservative Guatemalans. By the way in Guatemala I had to watch out for what I was wearing because sometimes I got some looks when I was wearing shorts..Very religious country, hence Easter (Or as they call it Semana Santa starting this year on the 14th April finishing on the 20th April) is the biggest celebration in Guatemala especially in Antigua.
The boat ride between Rio Dulce and Livingston is very nice..that was the reason I visited these places:
I stayed only one night in Livingston because I couldn’t wait to get to Utila and dive! The epic journey from Livingston to Utila in one day has already been posted previously, in my next post I’ll share my adventures in Honduras.
As an overall closing line I was expecting a little bit more from Guatemala. I heard many good things about it but the level of development in certain areas was surprising. Still liked it though and would go back at some point.
So back to one post before the previous one..I am in Mexico..it’ s the 21st February. I took a flight from Mexico D.F to Cancun to meet Richard. I was super excited! I arrived at Terminal 1, he did Terminal 3 and the waiting time was only 1 hour for me. Dressed up as a Mexican cowgirl I was waiting for my cowboy in boots, denim shorts and sombrero. Just as in the movies..very emotional and happy meeting at the airport, then we took a bus to Playa del Carmen around 9pm. Upon arrival I couldn’t hide my disappointment..I totally thought that PDC was less touristy and it’s a perfect escape from Cancun but no..bazaar style main street with silver shops, souvenir shops, agencies etc. We got to our wonderful hotel which was booked by Richie as a post-Valentine treat and roses allover..proper romantic. Again..as in the movies:)
1st full day in PDC we decided that on our route together there will be plenty of dive opportunities so Richard should do his open water certificate to be able to dive without limitations. After a tiring shopping around dive shops (which was quite off-putting for him) we found a very nice freelance instuctor, Diego (Argentina), and agreed he would start diving in a couple of days’ time, which then allowed us to have a mega night in Coco Bongo, the best nightclub in town (similar to cirque du soleil , crammed with shows) where you buy a fairly expensive entrance and have unlimited drinks throughout the night..fantastic night..super drunk:)
Video will be up soon. in the meantime so pics:
Next day..absolutely dying of hangover we booked a tour to Chitzen Itza..7.50 am start..needless to say we did not find funny the Mexican guide’s forced jokes on the 4 hour minibus ride:) Once we were at the site we felt better. Had a stop at a little rather commercial Mayan village, then a guided and free tour on the archaeological site.
On the way back to PDC we stopped in a ‘Gruta’ and swam in the natural pool …sadly it was packed with tourists but still was fun.
Richard did his open water in 2 days which is pretty impressive..i was concerned if he would like it etc. but he did!
We made friends with Diego and his girlfriend Ingrid and we went together after the course to the world famous dive destination Isla de Cozumel and did 2 dives where we saw Eagle Rays, turtles, Nurse sharks, lobsters, sting rays, trigger fish, cow fish, angle fishes and many more..It was an insane dive! Just to name them, the first one was Colombia deep dive and the second La francesa. If you guys get the chance, this is the place to go! Also very big surprise at Cozumel..Hagar, a friend with whom I dived in 2012 in Cambodia was sitting in the Blue Magic dive shop!!! What a small world..
Reunited:
We stayed only one night as we had a total of 17 days together and we had to move. Next stop was Tulum. This is an incredibly romantic place on the Caribbean coast..We stayed in Playa condesa in lovely little bungalow, visited the ruins, did some cave diving (Dos Ojos), and just hang out in the hammock sipping great cocktails. I truly loved this place..so did Richard.
Next destination was Belize for us. We crossed from Mexico in a town called Chetumel by ferry to Caye Caulker. At least this was the plan, until someone told us how great the carnival is in San Pedro (neighbour island where the only transport method is by gold carts) Well..San Pedro was not my favourite place, because it took us ages to find accommodation and it was super expensive (all booked up because of the carnival..) not only booked we pricey accommodation which was about 15 minutes walk from the centre but there was no sign of the carnival…So next day we did a trip to Hol Chan and Shark Ray Alley. In Hol Chan we dived and Shark Ray we snorkelled with sharks and a big rays..you could so easily touch them ..it was an adrenaline rush! Loved it! The only thing that I was not quite happy with was that the locals were feeding the sharks..but otherwise they would not be approachable ..meh..this is one of those things you can either refuse to go because of the ethics or..you just say whatever..I won’t miss this experience.
After the half day dive we took the ferry to Caye Caulker. I preferred it so much more! Smaller island and a bit less touristy and developed. Saying that..there was a Starbucks on the island where the only road available was dirt road. We booked a dive trip to the famous Blue Hole..
It’s a full day trip, as it takes 2 hours on a speedboat to get there..the journey is fairly rough, so consider taking pills if you are sea sick. On the first dive we dropped down to 40 meter..sadly the visibility was not the greatest..you could just about see the wall but I managed to see 3 sharks as well so I was still impressed. The other 2 shallow dives were pretty good with turtles, eagle rays sting rays, schools of jacks and snappers and lots of fun in the water with Richie. Truly amazing day!
I have to stop here for a second and share a fairly funny story that happened just before we left Caye Caulker on the boat. A lady in her early 40s had to go to the loo after breakfast (6am) but the dive shop (Frenchie’s) did not have a toilet. I was in similar shoes and I was told to return to my guesthouse, the boat will wait. As I was on my way to our guest house this lady was running and said, come with me, this local man said there is a hotel where you can ‘borrow’ the loo. This hotel was very close to the dive shop so I joined her. It was too early, so we literally broke into this hotel but there was no toilet. So this lady decided that she will use the garden..she also added that she needed to do a number 2. I only had to do a number one but was not considering using the garden of a hotel. Especially after I bumped into a few staff members of the dive shop and turned out it was the official hotel of the dive shop! 🙂 I was offered a lift though to my guest house so i could go to my own bathroom. As we left the shore with the boat this lady came up to me and said how bad she feels about having to do a number 2 in the garden and she was considering going back and confess her ‘crime’ just in case she would be arrested..I was entertained by this story along with Richard for the rest of the day..
I miss those stunning sunsets of Caye Calulker..
The following morning we left Caye Caulker and headed to Flores, Guatemala. We arrived well in the afternoon and we did not want to rush around to organise our trip to Tikal the next day and given that Flores was a lovely little town with a huge lake we decided to stay there next day. Great decision! We hired kayaks, visited a museum and a viewpoint, met some locals who offered us beers in the heat. First surprise in Guatemala for us was a super developed shopping centre by the bridge between Santa Elena and Flores..western standards..western prices.
We decided not to do Tikal in the sunrise and what a great decision! There was no sunrise the next morning. We left Flores at 8am and returned at 4pm. Tikal was wonderful..a bit like Angkor Wat in Cambodia but with less tourists. Loved it.
We took the night bus to Guatemala..it was very smooth…we pretty much slept through the journey. From Guat we took a shuttle to Antigua which took less than an hour so we were there by 7am.
Antigua was the second surprise for us…I totally thought that Guatemala is still fairly undeveloped but Flores, Antigua and later on Lake Atitlan proved the opposite. We found some amazing bars and restaurants in Antigua but experiencing that our order at a place is taken by iPad…well..I can’t deny my disappointment. Antigua is expensive. A fantastic place to stay though is: Casa Jacaranda. Cheap and you get a choice of 5 different brekkies included. Has a superb garden with hammocks, and the owners when they are there love chatting to tourists.
One day we climbed Pacaya Volcano, which is a still active volcano and you can burn your feet on the volcanic rocks if you stand there too long but you can easily get lost in the fun of melting marshmallows above the heat of the lava. On the way back you get to pick avocados from the tree. It’s a half day trip..not demanding at all. The rest of our time in Antigua we watched the Sunday preparation for the Semana Santa (Easter), walked around, visited markets ,went to Pastores the little leather town nearby where you can buy cheap leather boots, belts, bags etc.
If you like eco-lodges, pay a visit to the Earth Lodge, fantastic hideaway from the touristy Antigua.
The morning of the 11th March was sad for both of us as the dream travelling together came to an end. I was tempted to go home with him but I thought I might not have another opportunity like this to travel and to be honest I kinda had enough of travelling alone. Now that I experienced how great is to travel with the one you love and share all these adventures, feelings, moments, I don’t really want to travel alone anymore. I am really grateful to Richard that he made such an effort to take almost all his holidays of the year off to be able to travel with me and that he let me share with him such an amazing experience !
In the next post I am going to continue with Guatemala as after the 2 most touristy and developed places we visited with Richard I got a good insight into the ‘real life’ in Guatemala.
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