TravelStream™ news feed for member hannahwills on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/hannahwills en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Tue, 13 Nov 2007 18:20:32 -0500 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/hannahwills/2007_tour/1194301920/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/hannahwills/2007_tour/1194301920/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/hannahwills/2007_tour/1194301920/tpod.html Tue, 13 Nov 2007 18:20:32 -0500 Hannah and Paul's Excellent Adventure - 2007

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Caye Caulker, Belize

We were picked before the sun had even risen (5am) - for our journey from Flores to Caye Caulker. The border crossing from Guatemala to Belize was painless - and we crossed into Belize with no worries. And even less worries when we got off our ferry from Belize City to Caye Caulker - the sign at the end of the wharf greeted us with the island motto ´go slow´, and a bunch of local rasta´s. The water was the most beautiful Caribbean blue - and the sun was shining. The island vibe is TOTALLY laid back - and its pretty easy to get into the swing of things here.

We met a super friendly belgian couple (Dimitri and Isabel), who gave us the heads up on a fantastic place to stay - Mara´s place - which was almost at the ´northern split of the tiny Caye. With its own jetty and deck chairs to lie on, as well as a sea view and hammocks on our balcony - there was little to do but kick back - read our books, swim, snorkel, enjoy tropical fruit and local lobster, and laze in hammocks all day!

The only things that roused us from our lazing was hiring kayaks one day with the belgians - and made it up to the uninhadbited split off part of the key, as well as hiring bikes another day - it only took about half an hour to do the circumfrence of the island - but they bikes are so cruisy and fun - wouldnt mind one for London.
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Flores, Guatemala

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Rio Dulce, Guatemala

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Antigua Guatemala, Guatemala

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Santa Teresa, Costa Rica

It was a long long day of travelling when we arrived at Zopilote Surf Camp on the Nicoya Peninsula in Costa Rica. Up at 3.45am in Santiago, minivan to airport (1 hour), flight to Lima (didnt know about this stop over, our 5th time in Lima airport....never thought we would be back here!), flight to San Jose, one DODGEY bus terminal later (stare harder anyone....I know we are gringo´s! Please dont rob us!), a bus to Punta Arenas, one car ferry, another bus to Cobano (the roads start to get bumpy in the dark), then a smaller bus we are told are needed to make it thought the wet, bumpy unsealed roads to Mal Pais, I clutch on to the bus handle for dear life as we seem to slide more like a rollercoaster down the pot holes and hills, arrive in Mal Pais - no one from the camp is there....oh ohhhhh, 10pm and tropical rain pouring - however a man with a flash looking taxi luckily drives past and spots us under the shelter and knows where Zopilote is - so we bump another 30 mins to camp (he is busy showing us the flash TV in his car!).....phew.....we are here, and Trish (surf camp mum, empasize the SURF part!) greets us with late supper and shows us through the mud to our bunglalow home! Cant wait to wake up tomorrow and see where we are - although we can hear the surf only a few hundred yards away! hehe!

Wake up early as the bungalow is open air with mosquito nets and the sun is up at 5.30am. Paul is excited about getting to check out the surf - although the tropical rain persists! At least you can still surf! There is a nice young German couple, a Japanese guy and two nice Norwegian girls here to! It is good because the Norwegian girls and just starting off at the same time as me - so at least i have someone to potter with in the white water....

Later in the week, Tillman, a hillarious young German judge arrived back at the camp - he had split his chin open on his first lesson (striched up on the kitchen bench by the surf Doctor Mel who arrives on her quad bike!)- and so all stiched up he had been travelling whilst this healed - so he arrived back at the camp for round two. He had the dryest straight up sense of humour - which made dinner time pretty funny. Paul told me to try and imagine Tillman surfing in a Judges wig and gown - pretty funny! Another German Girl, Sylvi arrives, as does a young Austian Couple with a baby - who have WON a trip tothe 6 ´chill and surf´camps around the world (Portugal, France, Capetown, Rio de Janeiro, Costa Rica and Indonesia)!

After 2 days of pretty torrential tropical downpours - and ever uncreasing mud - the sun came out - what a relief! And it was HOT!

We surf in the morning at about 8am and came back and have a MASSIVE breakfast with everyone down the table at about 11am. Then we surf again in the afternoon at about 4pm till sunset at 5.30ish and then again a massive dinner is cooked by Trish.

Everyday I have tried to make missions into Santa Teresa township - about 45 mins walk. But after all the rain the roads are muddy carnage! One day I thought I might die - I seriously almost cried - went to the side of a huge puddle where the mud looked firmer - NO - one leg sunk, and as I helplessly yanked my jandled foot out the other sunk knee deep too! Arghh....so knee deep I managed to yank my feet free and reach down deep in the mud and retrieve my temporarily munted jandals out - needless to say I was a complete muddy monster! The funny thing was - as I began walking head down dejected I heard a whistle from a local mowing the lawns over the road who had witnessed my huge mare - he was Marcos the same man who does the surf camps gardens and he showed me (laughing) where i could hose off! Needless to say I got a ride home in the camp ute that day from Trish - and the roads dried up a little in the next few days! You kinda get used to always being muddy - and itchy covered in mozzie bites! Im normally covered in a layer of calamine lotion and mud! Attractive! We also have borrowed the camps bikes...rusty old cruisers which is pretty fun but just means the mud is displaced to your arse and all up your back by the time you get into town! hehe!

There are many animals at the camp - I was shocked to see a horse running around the coconut palms and mud in the backyard, there is also a pig down next to the massage table (!) by the beach, and about 6 dogs at any one time at the camp. You often see geckos running on the roof, a fruit bat tries to knock off the banana´s in the main house at night, big iguana´s often are crawling up the coconut palms as are cute red squirrels and we even saw (and heard) howler monkeys on our first morning.....so shall we say, no shortage of wildlife.......It is funny heading to the beach as you are normally followed by a pack of 5 or more dogs all shapes and sizes from Jack Russel to Great Dane size! Like a zoo!

The guys that normally run the camp (Simon and Bruno) have been in Indonesia and Austria and so Trish has been looking after the camp and feeding us - she has done a great job - we are normally bursting full! It is great to not have to worry about finding a restaurant to eat at everyday - and having ´home cooked´meals. Need to go on a diet though....yikes.

So after 9 days here - I can´t say that my surfing is that much better - but the water is gorgeous and warm and at least I can play around a bit more now - Paul has caught some great waves - and we feel more exhausted than when we arrived! We are ready to take our muddy washing to Guatemala and start the next leg - with lots of beach and sea time under our belts.....

Lots of Love, xoxox
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/hannahwills/2007_tour/1192638540/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/hannahwills/2007_tour/1192638540/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/hannahwills/2007_tour/1192638540/tpod.html Mon, 29 Oct 2007 12:42:39 -0400 Hannah and Paul's Excellent Adventure - 2007

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Santiago, Chile

We arrived in Santiago after an overnight bus from Pucon, and yet another screaming baby....but on the bright side - the sun was out in Santiago and it seemed like a completely different city than the one we had visited at the start of our journey. Once again it was awesome arriving at Dell´s apartment in the lovely Las Condes, almost like coming home!

With the help of Dell´s 2 restaurants we had one of our best eating days since we left NZ....Paul was absolutley stoked with his Kiwi style big breakfast at Dell´s Cafe Melba, which was topped off with Kiwi fish and chips for dinner at Akarana (even came in newsprint with malt vinegar....how cool is that?). Akarana also looked like a different restaurant from when we were here in the snow 2 months ago, the outdoor bar and all the tables looked amazing, and once again we had an unreal meal, yummy wines and a terrific host - Dell is like our South America mum now....

So this is the end of our South America chapter, 10 weeks, 5 countries and many unforgettable memories later. I will never forget Peru and its challenges and beauty, Machu Picchu is still a highlight, as well as the Iguacu Falls, Brazil and colourful city of Rio, and our recent climb of Villarica in Chile capped it all off nicely.

So I guess its time to day....Gracias and Adios to South America - Central America here we come......
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Pucon, Chile

Paul can write this adventure
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Buenos Aires, Argentina

Well - we arrived in Buenos Aires (BsAs) on a saturday night - and my first impressions in the cab on the way from the airport was how tidy and organised it seemed to be here in Argentina. We thought (wrongly) that we could simply rock up at the hotel we had chosen from the LP - but no - it was full - as was the next 4 hotels that the cabbie kindly drove us too in the Microcentre area - until we finally found a 4 star hotel which we just settled for - whats one nights luxury huh? And I must admit the buffet breakfast (although i was STILL sick from the Caprihina episode....UNFAIR to say the least) was the best yet....and that is saying something after Brazil!

So we moved down the road to a more reasonably priced Hotel (on Av. de Mayo) the next morning - which was still right in the action and wandered in the warm sun to the sunday San Telmo markets. Wow - they were fun - and colourful - with all the street mimes and art - they were possibly the most interesting markets I have been to! With the added bonus of freshly squeezed orange juice, great street tango displays and fresh tomato, cheese and onion oozing calzone´s (which Paul and the rest of the foot traffic couldnt resist devouring) - it was a fantastic way to spend a Sunday in BsAs.

The next day I woke up with a serious goal in mind - we were here to shop - and Argentenian leather was top of my list. So we set off down Florida street - not even the rain could stop us! I was on a mission. When we made it to Galleria Pacifico - Paul and I split off - and within 10 minutes - Paul came back and said that he had tried on and found a beautiful suit for a ridiculously cheap price in Christian Dior upstairs - and as I went to check it out with him - it soon became apparent - that BsAs is the BOYS shopping dream. The shirts, the shirts, the leather shoes and belts - were classy, cool, cheap - and in abundance!

Over the next few days - I became more and more shopping challenged. I couldnt find my ´perfect´boots in my mind - nor the bag and belt that would match them perfectly - while Paul found awesome shirt after awesome shoes etc. No fair. He is normally allergic to shopping! Must have been murphy´s law.

As well as the shopping Paul and I walked to Recolleta and checked out the amazing grave sight - some of these were like mini churches - and were beautiful and airy at the same time.

We also walked to La Boca - to see the famous Caminito, brightly coloured building´s and tango on the street. It was more than colourful and had an electric atmosphere. I bought a small picture to remember our day there - it is just a shame we cant fit more art in our packs!

One thing I have been disappointed with in BsAs is the food (we were probably looking in the wrong places!) - although the steak is easy to find and huge - unless you are a meat-atarian, cheese-atarian, pastry-atarian, bread-atarian it is challenging finding a healthy light meal. Honestly looking round I would think that heart disease would be rife here - but everyone is quite slim and styly - so they must know something I dont know! hehe:) On our last day of intense last minute shopping - Paul and I tried the Japanese food in Galleria Pacifico - and it was to die for - the best i have EVER tried. Absolutely stunning and SO very refreshing after a week of heavy food! I was in heaven.

So - I finally found some boots that will hopefully see out a London winter, and a handbag with a few other nick knacks.....and Paul you ask? Well, one CD suit, suit pants, 4 CD shirts, 3 pairs of shoes, 2 belts and 3 t-shirts later - he emerged! Stella effort, I must say. Best buy - a CD belt for just $36 dollars. What man (even if formally opposed to shopping) could resist these bargains?

Almost a week in BsAs - a wicked city. Very stylish, great atmosphere, great culture, beautiful parks, great shopping - but time to press on. A long bus to Bariloche in the South is on the cards - but luckily the buses are supposed to be the best in the country. Phew.

Adios Chico´s!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/hannahwills/2007_tour/1190583180/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/hannahwills/2007_tour/1190583180/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/hannahwills/2007_tour/1190583180/tpod.html Mon, 15 Oct 2007 17:15:16 -0400 Hannah and Paul's Excellent Adventure - 2007

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Ilha Grande, Brazil

Well - we set off this morning - a little sad to leave Rio and the sun - but with an island paradise and some recreation on our minds.

And our initial siting of island lead us to believe we were in for this island treat. We caught a bus 3 hours down the coast - and then jumped on a cruisy motorised old ketch for an hour and half to the island. And arriving with the sun lowering in the sky at 5pm - a picturesque wee village with restaurants on the beach - we decided there was only one thing we could do - dump our bags at our hotel (sweet wee apartments - Ilha Inn Flats) - and head back for a cocktail in the sun. Perhaps for the first time - it seemed that Paul and I couldnt wipe the smiles off our faces at the thought of the next 5 days here as we watched the happy people getting off their day tours on the wharf. It was safe here, the sun was out, it was relaxing and there was tonnes of cool recreation for the week.

You can imagine the gutwrench when Paul and I were woken up by howling winds and rain on the roof the next morning! We pulled the curtains - and the warm breeze that had been blowing through the coconut palms last night was now a howling gale....what the hell....Paul is convinced that the recreation gods are against us. Today we had planned to walk 2 hours to Lopes Mendes - one of the most beautiful beaches in Rio with the best break where you can hire boards. The storm looked pretty nasty - so as itchy as our feet were we decided to stay put for a few hours and see before we started trekking into the jungle! Damn i wish i had a book - wasnt planning of sitting still! The rain didnt reallly blow over - and going stir crazy - we decided to go for a little hike anyway to suss out the path for tomorrow.

Luckily the wind had died down slightly the next day - but was still pretty rainy and we had heard the surf at Lopes Mendes was no good - so we decided to hire a double kayak and go for a tiki tour around - turns out the kayak filled up with water (the girl was pretty laid back and said this was quite normal........yah) and we made it around the bay and found a nice wee place to have an 11am cocktail on the beach in the drizzly rain. These Caprihina´s are strong - it definately spiced up the paddle back around the bay - but we were slightly embarrassed by the lack of distance we made and put it down to the bad equipment.....recreation needs sun we told ourselves....hehe!

The next day we woke up and it was still overcast...but at breakfast the portugese lady who owns the flats came and got us and took us out the back to the deck - and gave us a banana and pointed - it was soooo cool - all these tiny wee monkeys were coming down from the trees for a morning feed of sweet brazilian banana´s - one even had a tiny wee baby on its back - it was so so SO cool to see these wee guys in their natural environment and get so close! After brekkie - we decided it was Lopes Mendes today or never - so we got a wee boat round the island. Paul was almost running down the track (you had to walk 20 mins there) when he heard the surf....even i was, but unfortunately it was pretty dodgey - the one guy that was out surfing was getting hammered and came in quickly. It was not ideal - and Paul took to throwing coconuts on the beach in frustration! haha.

Every night - Paul and I have been sharing this local dish - they give you a huge platter of fresh grilled fish, white rice, grated carrot, beetroot and tomato as well as this rich yummy bean mix - it is so so good. We have been loving it!

On our last day here we decided to go on a boat tour to Gruta do Acaia - a blue cave or cenote that you can dive in. The boat trip took a few hours to get there (on a crudee wee thing named Kawai - with 7 other laid back Brazilians who were all enjoying the sun and tunes being played onboard). Luckily one of the girls on board interpretted the instructions of the portugese speaking driver - as most of the time we had no idea what was going on - and we pulled up to the coast - jumped off onto the rocks and cruised up to where you access the cave from on land (private property - making 10R a person - not bad!). It was really really confined and dark getting down the ladders in the cave - and cramped when all 9 of us got to the bottom - but the luminous blue from the water spilling into the cave was awesome! It was pretty nerve wracking i have to say everytime a wave rolled into the cave and the water level swelled up - there was no quick escape down there! It was intense. And because the tide was up we couldnt swim in there - which was a shame. After the cave - we headed back to the Lagoon Verde for some snorkelling and then onto another bay for some fish, beans and rice for lunch! It was a great day with some lovely people (although it was a little hard not understanding any portugese!). We decided to meet up later that evening for some cocktails - which sounded like a pretty good idea to us on our last night on the island. Unfortunately i underestimated the power of the Caprihina - and had the pain of the next 4 days (yes Im not a born drinker) to remind me of the little bloop! Dóh.

The next day we took the 5pm boat back to the mainland in the pouring rain - and I felt terrible the whole way - drenched we luckily grabbed an cabbie at the wharf who helped us find a 2 star hotel relatively easily.

Tomorrow we are off to Rio with a flight to Buenos Aires booked - woohoo - no long buses - and shopping to come.....as soon as I forget those nasty caprihina´s I will be in heaven!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/hannahwills/2007_tour/1190241120/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/hannahwills/2007_tour/1190241120/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/hannahwills/2007_tour/1190241120/tpod.html Mon, 15 Oct 2007 16:57:55 -0400 Hannah and Paul's Excellent Adventure - 2007

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Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

After stressing for almost our whole bus trip (yes 18 hours - Paul now laughs and hassles me....i know im a stresser! But if i had a dollar for every person that told me to be careful in Rio as it is really dangerous!) from Florianopolis...we arrived at the Hotel Toledo in Copacabana exactly as planned! Phew.....!! and the view from our vintage room is awesome! We can open our shutters and hear and see all the activity on the beach! It is so such a cool vibe! We headed to the rooftop for an excellent breakfast (Brazil still has not let us down) and got ready to hit the beach and get amongst the action! An afternoon of people watching and swilling beers (for Paul anyway) was on the agenda....and after hiring a few beach chairs - we sat whilst the world comes to you - prawns, watermelon, beers, ice cream, sunglasses, bracelets, t-shirts....Paul reckons their is no need to ever shop here! And the sights you see......well....NZ MUST be the most conservative country in the world - because you wear a bikini or speedo´s no matter what your weight range or age is here! It makes for some interesting and uncomfortable sights.....hehehe:)

Viv (my Brazilian friend) has been calling me from New Zealand and basically set up a full itinery for our time in Rio - which is awesome! I just wish she was here to show us around! It is an awesome place! The only downside is that you have to pay attention to your surroundings the whole time - and stay on your game - which is easy to forget when you become overalled at all that is going on here!

Rio is truely a beautiful city - it has it all - peaks, a lake, a harbour, beaches, jungle - you can almost see the huge statue of Christ the Redeemer from anywhere, which is absolutely awesome and more so up close!

We really lucked it with a guide names Luis. As we have been skeptical of anyone who has come up to us on the street - I wasnt sure whether Luis - who claimed he was an English speaking tour guide was legit....but he was absolutley awesome! For far less than the advertised city tours - Luis intercepted us at the bottom of the Sugar Loaf - and said he would take us on the best tour of Christ the Redeemer and then drop us back, we would take his car with air conditioning, and he would tell us everything we wanted to know about the city he loved...in english (a rarity) - so we hopped into his car and hoped for the best. And it really paid off - Luis was a good man - and we learnt so much more than trying to make it around the sight with a tour in portugese!

We have eaten at Monchique (a churrascaria) recommended by Viv - basically an all you can eat restaurant like Wildfire in Auckland (but better) - until we are stuffed - I dont know how many more salad bar´s I will be able to look in the eye - but Paul is loving all the meat! He is definately making up on the lack of that in Peru and Bolivia!

We have been getting up early and hitting the boardwalk with the locals to jog/walk the length of copacabana - it is a really cool atmosphere - about 24 degrees by 7am and it has temperature/time signs the length of the beach which steadily rise while your sweating it out with the locals and tourists alike - again, if you want to work out in white socks, white sneakers a sweat band and your red speedo´s then you can go do so here in Rio! Cracks me up!

We found a wotif.com bargain with Hotel Augusto´s a little further down the street - so we spent two nights there as well - and if you could beleive it - the breakfasts were an even better spread - about 7 types of fresh tropical fruit juices! Amazing. The only hitch was the cab we got to get there - turned out the driver was actually insane (he could not speak or read - Im not sure if that was because he was drunk...) - and drove us on a wild goose chase - when we finally got to the Hotel we paid more than enough of the rip off fare and he proceeded to follow us into the lobby of this lovely hotel and yell and wave his arms and make quite a scene....

We even made it to Rio Sul mall - which Viv had recommended to us - it had some lovely clothes - but I was amazed at the prices...Brazil has definately not been cheap at all. I really wonder who has the money to buy all this stuff......its a little confusing after seeing the poverty and the favella´s etc.

Our next move - will be a bus to Angra dos Reis and then a boat out to Ilha Grande - a beautiful Brazilian Island on the Costa Verde (green coast) with plenty of recreation.

Sa-weet - sounds like us!
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