TravelStream™ news feed for member ejmaue on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/ejmaue en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Tue, 07 Apr 2009 20:07:59 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ejmaue/3/1238630520/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ejmaue/3/1238630520/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ejmaue/3/1238630520/tpod.html Tue, 07 Apr 2009 20:07:59 -0400 Central America 2009

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Panama City, Panama

(Apr. 1) We arrived around 9am to Panama City and headed out on our hunt for a good hotel. We wanted somewhere with AC and cable since we'll be here over a week.

We got a cab to the area of town we wanted to go to, and the scummy driver allowed both Joseph and Andrea to pay him (each didn't know the other paid) so that he got a double fare out of the deal. At least this was our very last taxi ride in Central America. From here on out out we'll take the Panama City public buses, which look like terrors on wheels but only cost .25 each and are very easy to figure out.

The buses are hilarious. They are traditional school buses but have usually been painted bright colors and airbrushed with voluptuous women and cartoon characters. They're all 'souped' up, with big smokestacks on the back and sometimes even shark fins stuck to the tops. When you get in, they may even have a blacklight on the inside with a feather boa or some form of 'bling' adorning the rearview mirror. If they are going longer distances, they'll blare loud music for the entire trip. Buses in Panama, above all Panama City, are definitely an experience.

After verifying prices at about 10 different hotels, we found that no one was going to rent us a decent room for less that $25/day. This would be the most we've ever spent on a room in Central or South America, but we gave in to the lures of AC and cable. We checked out a couple in that range and found one that is extremely nice, very clean with starched white sheets, a vanity and hot water! We figure we can keep the overall budget down if we just hang out in our rooms all day, eating next to nothing and limiting our activities to bus rides and walking.

After getting settled we took a bus to the mall so Joel could get cigars and we could walk around for a bit. Clothes in Panama are sooo cheap! I feel spoiled. I got a pair of shorts and two shirts for $10.

Back near our hotel, we found an awesome Chinese restaurant for dinner. $3.50 buys a giant plate of food that is enough for two people and even comes with a soda. Between the nice hotel, cheap clothes and good food, Panama City has redeemed itself!

(Apr. 2) Walked down past Plaza Cinco de Maya to the pedestrian street with an even greater abundance of cheap clothes for sale. Joseph was a trooper and survived a full three hours of shopping, being that he was fortified by an excellent .50 icecream cone partway through.

It was back to the Chinese food restaurant for dinner and, if possible, I think we got even more food tonight. We shall return...

(Apr. 3) Went to the dentist and got two cleanings, two sealants and three fillings for $155. Not cheap but certainly cheaper than in the US.

(Apr. 4) Happy Birthday Mom!

(Apr. 7) Went to the mall and got robbed on the bus ride back. Somebody behind us on the bus stole Andrea's wallet from Joel's back pocket and got our camera. We chased down a couple of guys who had been behind us and did nothing short of a strip search but didn't find anything. Just like in South America, it happened just before our flight home after having had nothing stolen the entire trip. Bummer.

(Apr. 9) Flight leaves at 2pm!!! Will be in Vegas by 9 :)
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Portobelo, Panama

(Mar. 26) We arrived in Portobelo early in morning after about 10 hours in bus rides. It's a very small town and the hotel where we'd made reservations was a hole in the wall. We walked just a few blocks up and found a great place owned by a Chinese family for just $12/night per room. It normally costs $15 but we got a discount for agreeing to stay a week. We slept while Cory, Joel and Andrea checked out some of the many Spanish forts here. The town has a ton of history, having been named Portobelo by Christopher Colombus himself and at one time having been the richest city in the world with gold from Peru to California passing through on the Chagres River.

(Mar. 27) Paid $6/person for a roundtrip boat tour to the San Fernando forts on the other side of the bay (admission free) and to a beautiful private beach on the Caribbean. Spent all day swimming and attempting to cut open coconuts with Joel and Andrea's machete. Saw a lot of toucans.

(Mar. 28) Went to the city of Colon and saw the world's second largest free trade zone (which was lame). The first largest is in Hong Kong. Cory, Joel, Andrea and I took a cab out to a remote fort called San Lorenzo and managed to get the $5 entrance fee knocked down to $2 by saying we were international exchange students. We saw at least 15 monkeys in the San Lorenzo national park and one of the more impressive toucans. The fort was situated in a beautiful location, on a cliff with Caribbean beach on all sides. We also saw the Panama Canal and the Gatun Locks. Yay, now we can say we've done it. We dropped Cory at the bus station so he could get to Panama City in time for his flight, went shopping at 4 Altos for a while, and headed back to Portobelo around 7.

(Mar. 29) Joel and Andrea bought some traditional Kuna stuff. The Kuna people are one of the few completely independent tribes in the Americas. They have what is called a Comarca (like a province) in which they govern themselves and determine all their own rules independent of Panama. I got bit by a monkey named Sabu that belongs to one of the ladies. He bit Andrea yesterday.

(Mar. 30) Went to a nearby town called Nombre de Dios that was the first Spanish settlement in the Americas. Not much to see there since it was destroyed by privateers so we just got on the first bus back to Portobelo. We are starting to get pretty bored in Portobelo since there are all of three restaurants there and no cable, but we'll go to Panama City day after tomorrow. Despite the boredom we're glad we spent a week here. The setting, with all the Spanish ruins on the Caribbean bay, is beautiful.

(Mar. 31) Spent the day exploring the ruins a little more and watched a really pretty sunset from a fort up on the hill. Will leave for Panama City early in the morning so we can attempt to find a good hotel. I spent a while calling around to various hotels yesterday to make reservations and they were all either full or too expensive for our budget. Starting to remember why we didn't like it there...
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Boquete, Panama

(Mar. 21) Feels good to be done with the major part of our bus rides south. Last time we were here in David we couldn't find a hotel due a big flower festival, but this time we figured it'd be easy to find a place and that we wouldn't need reservations.

WRONG.

Apparently the biggest festival of the year, the INTERNATIONAL FAIR of David is taking place this week.

We walked all around town looking for a place that would accomodate 5 (as Cory would be arriving that night) but couldn't find anywhere.

Finally, a girl working at one of the hotels said she knew of a private house where we could stay. The room would cost $35 and all 5 of us could fit. We asked if we could walk and the owner of the house said no, because it was far, but we didn't realize just how far it would be. The locals say something is far away if it isn't within 4 blocks. We got in a taxi and rode for 20 minutes, out into the middle of nowhere. The room wasn't horrible, but just a few sagging beds in this 20-something guy's house. We all decided it'd be best not to stay, since it was so far from town where we would pick up Cory, and asked the taxi driver to take us back. He was a nice guy and didn't charge us as much as he could have.

As a last resort, we figured we'd ask at the nice hotel right next to the bus terminal. It would be $60 for a room for 5, which wasn't horrible ($12/each), but we didn't know how crammed in there we'd be. The receptionist swung the door open and Joseph and I practically in unison said we'd take it. It was HUGE with a double bed for each person and air conditioning. And to boot, it was right next to where the bus Cory was taking from Panama City would be coming in.

We expected Cory around 9pm so Joseph and I waited outside from about 8:30 to 10. Bus after bus from Panama City came in and he wasn't on them. ¨Great,¨ we thought, ¨he's probably stranded somewhere in Panama City and we have no way to contact him.¨

After waiting for awhile, we went upstairs to our room for a few minutes. I came downstairs just to peek outside the door and see if another Panama City bus had arrived. Then a deep voice says, ¨Erin.¨ There was Cory, sitting in the lobby of our hotel using the Internet! Turns out he had arrived in David half an hour ago, but the bus dropped him on the other side of the terminal. It was really a miracle that he just happened to come around to this side and decided to use the Internet to try to contact us. Otherwise we never would have found him.

(Mar. 22) Walked around town with Cory and went shopping. In the afternoon went to the International Fair of David (admission: $1.50) and bought cheap beer, burgers and meat sticks. We started to ask around about bull or cock fights and, after receiving many different answers, determined we would get on a bus headed for the border and get off at what they told us is called ¨The Coliseum of Roosters.¨ Most people said they wouldn't be fighting since it was a Sunday, but we figured it'd be worth it to give it a shot.

Sure enough, we got off in the middle of nowhere and there was a so-called coliseum filled with drunk guys, pruned roosters and a dirty carpet ring about 15 feet in diameter. We were so excited just to have found the place.

It was quite an experience. The roosters come out like little dragons, with their feathers all pruned to make them more light and agile. They have spikes taped onto the back of their talons and fight until the death. Loads of drunk guys and a few women hang over the rails screaming for the rooster they bet on.

Finally, by the 6th round, Cory and I attempted to bet. We ended up betting on just about the weakest rooster there and lost $5 to an ecstatic drunk guy. Oh well...it was definitely worth the experience and we couldn't believe we actually made it to such a remote place. It's so funny that no guide book dares to mention an event like this for fear of endorsing animal cruelty when it is undoubtably one of the biggest cultural events in Panama.

(Mar. 23) Took a morning bus to a town called Cerro Punta where we could start our 10 mile hike through the cloud forest to Boquete. Much of the trail had been wiped away by landslides from days of rain so we had to do some creative maneuvering to bridge the gaps in the trail. It was a really beautiful walk. The best parts were at the beginning and the end, where the Rio Caldera (river) was more visible and the pastoral landscapes were amazing.

Every hotel in Boquete charges around $10 a person or more so we were very excited to find that the place where we had made reservations for $11 a person (Hostal Boquete) found us a room for $8/person in the affiliated hotel next door called Sueños del Rio. The guy running the place is from Indiana and was very nice to be price-conscious for us.

We stayed just one night as there's not much to see there, though we could've stayed a month for the cool climate.
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Corn Islands, Nicaragua

(Mar. 14) We had a quick and easy flight over to the Corn Islands and were pleasantly surprised to discover that the white sand beaches and turquoise green waters from the movies really do exist!!

We found a hotel easily that was a little run down but had an awesome view of the Caribbean water for just $15 a room.

We spent the whole first day just swimming in the pristine clear water and sunning ourselves---a very nice vacation from our vacation.

(Mar. 15) Today we did an overpriced snorkeling tour with Nautilus for $20 each. We didn't see much aquatic life but got to see two shipwrecks, one of which was from a 200 yr. old Spanish galleon. Joseph and I even dove down to touch one of the canons. I wasn't sure I liked snorkeling at that point because I felt like I was mostly choking down salt water and couldn't enjoy myself. One cool thing was that we went on the afternoon tour and, therefore, were the only people on the boat. It turned out to be a glass-bottom boat, which normally costs $20 in itself so we got two tours for the price of one.

(Mar. 17) After spending three nights and three days on the big island, we took a very bumpy boat ride ($6 each) over to Little Corn. The little island doesn't have any cars...only a sidewalk and dirt paths around its perimeter.

We went to the most popular hotel on the island, called Casa Iguana, because in the guidebook it was listed has having cabins for $25. When we got there just about every white person on the island was there and they wanted $85 for a room! What a joke. We tried walking down the beach to find a place but everywhere was either booked or not liveable. We were starting to think that leaving Big Corn may have been a mistake. We would have to wait until 2pm to catch the boat back there.

While we were waiting, Tori and I decided we would look at hotels on the other side of the island, just to see. We found a great one run by a friendly guy from Austin, TX, where Tori and Brigette are from! He offered an Austin discount, making the air-conditioned, beautiful and clean rooms only $20.

We ran back to see if Joseph and Brigette now wanted to stay. When we got back we discovered that Brigette had fallen ill and so it was very fortunate that we found a room here. I don't think another bumpy boat ride would've been feasible.

Brigette rested for what remained of the day while Joseph, Tori and I explored the island. It was much nicer than our first impression, and there was a path through the jungle to a series of beautiful beaches on the north coast. About halfway there, the jungle opens up to a great 'Field of Dreams' style ball field. Also along the way is a house where they sell delicious, fresh pan de coco (coconut bread) for just 75 cents a loaf. You know you've made it to the beach when you come upon a lime orchard owned by an old man named Otto, who likes to sit on his porch all day and talk to passers-by.

We walked the entire perimeter of the island and that night went to a little restaurant called Brigette's where I had the most delicious meal of my life - 2 butter and garlic soaked lobster tails for just $8. For another $4, you could add two more lobster tails, which Joseph and I did and then shared.

(Mar. 18) Tori has her own snorkel gear and I rented some for just $5/day from Dolphin Dive so we could go out exploring. We found an AMAZING coral reef on the north coast that Tori said was right up there with what she saw in Belize. We saw nurse sharks, one of which was 7 ft. long, a sting ray and hundreds of tropical fish. It was great snorkeling with Tori because she knows the names for everything. She also saw a huge eagle ray, which I missed. The $5 snorkel gear was a great deal (much better than the tour). Brigette, Joseph and I all took turns with it and got to see amazing sea life and coral. By the third time out I finally got the hang of snorkeling and no longer felt like I was gulping sea water. I felt totally relaxed and we stayed out for at least an hour just flippering around and enjoying ourselves.

The little island was out of water the whole time we were there, but we were able to pull up well water and bathe that way, which was kind of fun. It felt like a blast to the past with the absence of cars, water and usually electricity.

(Mar. 19) Headed back to Big Corn on the 7am boat so we could be sure to catch our afternoon flight back to Managua. We met Joel and Andrea there and went back to the excellent restaurant we had found when we were there last for a big dinner. Things were about double to triple the cost on the islands as on the mainland, so Joseph and I had been splitting about every meal and were hungry!

Overall, the islands were very beautiful and enjoyable. They were expensive, even more so than we had anticipated, but we were able to lower costs somewhat by sharing dinner and skipping breakfast. If we go back, we will probably opt for the land and water route rather than flying and will try to find a place with a kitchen so we could cook our own food. Then it would be easy to stay for months...
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Managua, Nicaragua

(Mar. 10) Got into Managua around 5, got a taxi for 50c ($2.50 US), found a good hotel (Hotel Casablanca, $6 per person), and got dinner at the mall.

(Mar. 11) Brenda left early this morning for the airport in a taxi we arranged through our hotel. The owner went along which assured us that it was secure.

(Mar. 12)

(Mar. 13) Brigette and Tori arrive at 11:31 am on Continental! We'll spend one night here and then fly to the Corn Islands at 6:30 am on the 14th.
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Las Penitas, Nicaragua

(Mar. 9) We got our best deal of the trip, where a taxi driver agreed to take us the 2 1/2 hours from the border to the beach outside Leon for just $10 per person. It would cost us nearly that in buses, and this way we would arrive sooner. I think by the end of the trip he was regretting it, as the last hour was on a totally torn-up road that is under construction and, as rumor has it, is being paid for by the U.S. We heard this from an American lady who runs a hotel there at the beach, and are wondering why on Earth the U.S. would pay for an obscure road in Nicaragua. Probably part of the non-stimulative stimulus package.

The ride was pretty rough, with Brenda in the front (she gets car sick) and the four of us crammed in the back, but we made it and the beach was worth it.

We started out staying in a dorm ($8 each) at an American-run hotel called Playa Roca. We don't particularly like dorms, since the people who stay in them tend to smell bad and party hard, but the owner lady assured us we could have the 8-bed room just for the 5 of us.

We played on the beach for a while and were having a grand ol time until I came into our room and found 3 British bachelors unpacking their things onto our beds. I asked the owner, politely, what happened to having the room to ourselves. She looked at me like I was crazy and said condescendingly, ¨It's a DORM.¨ I wondered if I'd misunderstood her and checked in with Brenda and the gang. They all heard her say we could have it to ourselves also! Otherwise we wouldn't have even elected to stay there. It wasn't very nice anyway, and we just chose it for convenience sake.

Brenda went to ask her what happened, and the woman spoke in the same condescending tone to her. ¨M'aam, it's a dorm. I said that I would try to prevent other people coming in if I could--not that you could have it to yourselves.¨ When Brenda, politely mind you, reminded her that she did say we could have it to ourselves, the woman immediately became defensive and said, ¨Are you calling me a liar?¨ That escalated to the woman asking if we wanted our money back, to which we said YES and packed our things to get out of there. The Brits throughout the whole thing were incredibly rude, making comments about how stupid we were to not understand the concept of a dorm. What they didn't understand is that we do, of course, understand the concept, but that the owner had PROMISED us the room to ourselves and then gone back on her word when she saw the chance to make a few more bucks. It was none of their business anyway and Joseph was ready to clobber them.

Earlier we had turned our clothes in for laundry service there and when Joseph went to collect them off the line, they all started to blow away, as though someone had just gone over and pulled the pins off the line. Everyone else's clothes had pins, but curiously ours now did not. We walked around collecting our things and the owner came over, attempting to smooth things over for fear of a bad review. When I made mention of the fact that all our clothes (which we had already paid to have cleaned) were now on the ground, she went back to her condescending voice and said, ¨Well, you see, in a third world country things aren't exactly like at home.¨ She acted as though we were just some spoiled rich kids who don't understand what it's like to ¨rough it¨, something I assure you she has never done.

Joseph, understandably irritated, said, ¨M'aam, you just need to stop talking.¨ She carried on, talking down to us but at the same time trying to sugarcoat the situation. ¨You see,¨ she said, ¨we don't use clothes pins because they would get rust on your clothes.¨ Really, lady? Because people have been using clothes pins for years and haven't had a problem. And for some reason, there were clothes pins on everything else on the line.

Oh well. We left and were better for it. Today's lesson: DO NOT GO TO PLAYA ROCA!!! The woman who runs the place is dishonest and rude.

We walked just a few doors down and found an awesome place called Mi Casita that cost less, $7 per person. We had our own room for 5, a good fan and a lovely terrace.

(Mar. 10) Had breakfast at a nice restaurant next door called Oasis and spent the morning swimming and sunning. The waves were brutal today. Andrea and I both had gotten scuffed up yesterday from getting ground into the sand but it was so hot that I decided to give it another shot. Joseph, being so tall and a good swimmer, handles himself pretty well, but I just couldn't keep up. For the first 10 minutes in the water it was great, bobbing up and down and treading above the waves. After that it turned intense and I got washed up to shore and rolled about like a rag doll. I definitely had more than my daily recommended sodium intake. Joel tried swimming too and he even got beat about. Andrea, with a big raspberry on her hip from the day before, smartly decided to refrain from getting in.

Joel and Andrea will stay there on the Pacific Coast for a week and found a great place owned by a Canadian guy and with just a few guests. Brenda, Joseph and I left for Managua around 2pm, so Brenda could catch her flight the next morning. The trip was the smoothest 3 hour transition ever, and by 5pm we were in a nice hotel in Managua near a shopping center. Ahhh...we get to stay put for a couple days before my aunt Brigette and cousin Tori get here for our trip to the Corn Islands.
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Guasaule, Honduras

(Mar. 7-8) The travel through Honduras went smoothly as far as Joseph and I were concerned. Altogether it took about 13 hours rather than the 9 we'd anticipated, but it wasn't bad. We ended up staying the night of the 8th in a hole-in-the-wall place on the border at Guasaule Honduras since transport to Leon was sketchy at 9pm when we arrived.

The place wasn't bad though, and they only hiked the prices up slightly considering they were our ONLY choice for lodging and it was late (300 lempira per room, about $15 US).

The next morning we left around 8 and had a smooth border crossing to Nicaragua. Hated having to pay $7 per person AGAIN to reenter Nicaragua but didn't really have a choice. Oh well...2 border crossings down, 2 to go.
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Copan, Honduras

(Mar. 6) Took the 6 hour shuttle at 4 am to Copan, Honduras. 1 border crossing down with little trouble. And this time we actually got a stamp!! Last time we came into Honduras we had to pay 3 dollars and didn't get anything to show for it.

We found a hotel easily and went to have lunch at a place called Red Frog with good food and better drinks. Our hotel had free transportation to the ruins (about 1 km out of town) so we went over there at 1pm and stayed until closing time at 5.

Those spendy, it was worth it ($15 to see the ruins, $7 for the museum). Joseph and I both agreed it was better than Tikal because we felt that less had been rebuilt according to speculation. The museum was cool as nearly all of the stelae and stone carvings were original.

The ruins themselves were neat because you could better see how the people lived there. At Tikal all the buildings looked the same (all temples), but here you see where the residential areas were, where the ball field was, etc.

There wasn't was much wildlife there as at Tikal, since it's not located in in the jungle, but there were beautiful red macaws everywhere that were very photogenic since they were being fed by the park rangers.

We had a nice walk back to our hotel and prepared ourselves for another early morning. We would leave at 6am the next day on a long stretch of bus rides to get through Honduras.

Honduras was our least favorite country, and other than the ruins, wasn't very nice as far as we were concerned. The people weren't as friendly as in Nicaragua and Guatemala, the prices were slightly higher, and the roads seemed even more littered with trash than in every other Latin American country.
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Antigua Guatemala, Western Highlands, Guatemala

(Mar. 4-5)Back in Antigua, so that we can catch a shuttle from there to the Copan Ruins in Honduras. Decided to stay an extra day so Joel and Andrea would have more time to recuperatre from the bug they have.

Nice to see George (the owner) and the nice girls who work and live there again.

Just relaxed and enjoyed the fact that the hotel has everything you need: Internet, food (3 tacos for 10Q;50 cents), tv, a terrace and comfy beds.
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Panajachel, Western Highlands, Guatemala

(Mar. 1) We were originally planning on crossing the lake to a smaller town but Panajachel was so nice and had a lot of conveniences (i.e. restaurants and shopping) so we decided to stay there.

We found a good hotel (Hotel Eli) run by a nice family and with decent rooms. It had cable and they turned their double into a triple for Joseph, Brenda and me.

The first two days there we just hung out around town, enjoying the good almost American quality restaurants and sunning ourselves on the concrete boardwalk.

(Mar. 3) Day 3 Joel and Andrea were feeling sick so they stayed in. They appeared to have caught what I had (a cold?). Joseph, Brenda and I went to the docks hoping to take a boat to San Marcos but after some frustration over the inflated gringo prices decided to take a colectivo (5Q, 60 cents) to Santa Catarina about 10 minutes away.

The town itself wasn't much but we found a good swimming spot where hotsprings trickled over the rocks and into the lake. We only swam for about an hour as by the early afternoon the water gets chopping. We then attempted to sunbathe on some craggy rocks and, after an hour or so, made our way back to Panajachel for or last evening on Lago de Atitlan.
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