TravelStream™ news feed for member pagesturning on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/pagesturning en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Sun, 14 Sep 2008 16:03:52 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pagesturning/latin_america/1166447460/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pagesturning/latin_america/1166447460/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pagesturning/latin_america/1166447460/tpod.html Sun, 14 Sep 2008 16:03:52 -0400 Road trip through Latin America

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Lima, Peru

<img alt="Happy Xmas" src="http://www.travelpod.com/users/pagesturning/thumbnail.large.latin_america.1166447460.happy_xmas.jpg" border="0">I see that I sent the last blog only five days ago!  Sorry.  But we seem to have done a huge amount in only a few days and now we are in Lima and it is only a few days before we meet with our secundo son in Ecuador when it is total relax time - watching him surf rather than primero son; such doting parents.  As I said in the last blog Arequipa and the campsite were great.   Arequipa is one of those cities that really "shouldn't": it has suffered so many earthquakes that someone should have moved them on.  But they seem to have figured out how to keep the damage to a minimum and most of the older houses are only one storey high.  The cathedral lost one of its towers only a few years ago but they got right back in and rebuilt it.  Arequipa is built almost exclusively out of a volcanic rock called sillar a sort of pale grey colour.  It is a big city with many beautiful buildings and much of it is quite humdrum but it pulses with life and the main "blood" are the little yellow Daewoo taxis that buzz around like so many bees; they literally swarm up to intersections where like insects they almost touch and sniff and then miraculously disengage.  I could have watched them for ages; very skillful driving but no patience so horns are blaring continuously (I got roundly hooted for going up a narrow cobbled street at less than the speed of light!).  The high point of our visit were a few hours spent in the Monasterio de Santa Catalina a convent which covers about five acres right in the centre of town.  It was started over 400 years ago and only in 1970 was it opened to the public and now a large part of it is accessible.  Being a nun was not so bad then as they had servants and mostly came from the moneyed classes.  They had a rude awakening when a strict mother superior arrived after a few hundred years of shenanigans.  Their "cells" were extremely commodious with kitchens and drawing room and little court yards.  It is like a small town with narrow streets and lovely squares and pretty gardens; and now they have tasteful classical music piped everywhere.  Although it evidently grew over time and almost without design around every corner the beauty in a door, a window, coloured walls, small courtyards and potted plants was divine.  The peace and tranquility made you whisper.  The convent housed 450 nuns once but now it is down to only 30.  One of the best bits of a Latin American city we have seen.   Like every city Arequipa has its Plaza de Armas and while we were having coffee a street protest went round and round the plaza - protesting the closing of an old school for development!  While they were marching around with brass bands blaring and megaphones screaming a little bent old lady decided to cross the road - it was like something out of a Chaplin movie; she seemed totally unaware of all the people and the absolutely apoplectic cab drivers and crossed very slowly from one side to the other, and quite safely.  Sitting watching Latin America live is one of our favourite pastimes.   Arequipa is overlooked by two large mountains and the famous Volcan El Misti but they can only be dimly seen and cannot be photographed because of the thick smog or dust - a shame. From Arequipa we went up to one of the two Canyons the area is famous for: Canon del Coca - it is not the largest but it is more accessible.  You rapidly rise from Arequipa's 2,400m to well over 4,000m until you reach Chavey and from there you stay at around 4,000m along the rim of the canyon.  The area has been farmed for hundreds of years and the old Inca terraces are still in use and this I think was much more dramatic than the canyon itself which is more like a very steep sided valley.  Tourists flock there to see condors up close (if they are lucky).  We got there well past viewing time - no tourists, which was nice, but also no condors, although we did see one later in the day.  By the time we got to Chavey my head was splitting because of the altitude and I just wanted to go down again but Sheila had a plan and a route.  We did see some quite pretty villages but best were the restored churches done with aid from Spain which were so simple but so beautiful.  Otherwise the area is not really as spectacular as the guide book says.  I said Sheila had a route but she lost the plot fairly soon after the condor viewing site and really the only thing that governed our progress was "descent".  We were starting to panic having been driving for about 4 hours across high plains on a road not on our map, without seeing any recognizable signposts or seeing any habitation or cars until we caught up with a truck who assured us that the Pan Americana was straight ahead! We finally stopped by the side of the road when our GPS said it was about 2,700m.  We pitched our tent about 100m from the road in a patch of what seemed like talcum powder which got into everything, ate quickly and fell into bed. "There won't be any traffic" said Sheila.   Well we had not even gone to sleep when two huge trucks stopped on the road (why here?) followed by a white pick-up; the trucks flashed their lights and hooted long and hard; the driver of the pick-up got out with a flash light and scoured the hills  including the stream bed near our tent.  We meanwhile were feeling somewhat nervous and were trying to work out what was happening and thought that it was a drug drop and that eight months into our trip we were about to meet our end.  They finally all left, apparently unsuccessful.  But it left us very sensitive to noise and to the almost endless (it seemed) stream of vehicles on a road where we had previously driven for several hours without seeing any.  I was up and down like a yo-yo.  When another vehicle stopped and the door opened and slammed I began to have vivid "videos" of being burnt alive in a gas drenched tent (Sheila incidentally had exactly the same video) and kept my clothes and shoes on for rapid flight (I wasn't sure what Sheila was going to do but I would definitely be able to run faster than her).  Like all bad dreams in the daylight it seemed stupid but we did run into a roadblock where the policeman asked if we had seen a white pick-up; I find "no" is always the best response on these occasions. From our brush with drug-runners we got up at first light and ran straight towards the coast meeting the Pan American at El Alto (as I have said we were not sure what road led us to the Pan Americana but we knew it when we saw it).  The road from here along the coast is absolutely spectacular with steep rocky cliffs and the road clinging to the side; the Peruvians when building a road do not seem to worry about whether a road cutting will be possible they just do it.   The trucks as always treat the road as a speedway with some tragic results as you can see above - another set of videos passed through our heads!  The contrast of desert and rocks and the startling blue sea and crashing surf makes it difficult to keep one's eyes on the road and the co-driver had her work cut out.  We finally stopped at a little resort called Puerto Inka on a small bay surrounded by pre-Columbian ruins which were remarkable complete.  The place was lovely (as you can see) and we planned on staying there two nights but were chased out by the news that the disco was going to be fired up for a big party on the second night.  We bumped into a geologist from South Africa who had lots of contacts in common with me and who was there to assess old mine workings in the area for some investors; he noted some right by the resort which he said were rich in copper and gold and thought it would be a great idea to desecrate the area with a mine! From there we had a short trip to Ica (Peru's wine district) where we stayed the night in another pulsating town and then another short drive to the big bad city of Lima which seems very tame on a Sunday. We're in a delightful suburb called Miraflores which has upscale suburbs as well as much of the accommodation. Tomorrow we pick up our passports and scamper north to Finian.  We wish you all a very happy Xmas.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pagesturning/latin_america/1176057240/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pagesturning/latin_america/1176057240/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pagesturning/latin_america/1176057240/tpod.html Sun, 08 Apr 2007 15:16:55 -0400 Road trip through Latin America

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Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Sheila and I have immediately gone into counselling; I find writing this while in a straight jacket quite difficult; a place in an asylum is being arranged! Yes culture shock has hit rather hard; we have been in Vancouver for just a day and the trip is already becoming a memory. Even in Mexico, camping beside 14 huge RVs towing their cars all with larger yellow posters saying RVFantasyTours and one RV containing "staff", we started the culture shock. We were in a little town called Alamos which is being steadily bought up by Americans who although they are lovingly re-building homes in the original style have almost completely stifled the village life so that the town felt dead. Going through the Mexican/American border and then onto smooth roads with no pot-holes and no "topes" (very abrupt traffic-calmers) was the real culture shock; going through a border where no-one stamped our passports or tried to extort non-existent fees from us or wanted copies of everything in triplicate and which takes hours of frustrating waiting.Meeting friends is extremely discombobulating as it is as though we have been away for only a couple of weeks. Everyone is so well dressed and spending so much money; our three nights with my brother in Malibu were completely unreal with such apparently conspicuous consumption and single food items that cost the same as a three course meal in Latin America. I know it is all just us and that life for you all is quite normal but we wanted to turn around and head back down again. The first thing on our agenda was to get Sheila to her hairdresser where he succeeded in turning her into something that will take me weeks to recognise!We are already boring people with our stories and are really looking forward to meeting with other travelers (we have been contacted by two who live nearby) where we are in no danger of boring each other with our shared experiences. And what experiences. It has been wonderful although of course with its ups and downs; when your house is a small tent and a car you are very close to each other most of the time and sometimes it brings you closer together and at other times maybe not. But the sharing of what we have tackled will give us something to warm our wet winter nights. It is obviously something that anyone of you can do if you have a mind; everyone will tell you stories of what terrible things happened to someone they knew but never what went right for almost everyone else. We really scared ourselves with imagining what could go wrong before we set off.What were the best bits? Sheila says I should not label them but for me Peru was right out in front with Bolivia coming in second; so much beauty and in Peru the Inca ruins are mind-boggling; and in Bolivia every day has a different challenge. For Sheila I think it was the Corcovada in Costa Rica where she saw her puma and got bitten by the scorpion.Our biggest regrets were not completing the high mountain route in Bolivia where we got chased out because of my mountain sickness, and trying to go too far south; 12 months is too short even though we missed out half of South America.Everywhere we found the people wonderful, so kind and helpful but also so respectful of our privacy; people will not stare but if you smile you always get a wonderful response; if you are lost you get the best pantomime out - lots of words and emphatic gesticulations even if it is only one turning to make - or they might jump in the car with you or often jump into their own cars and guide you through. People seem so much happier with their lot than in the West where having so much leaves people apparently with much more to grumble about; people who make so much of their own entertainment with festivals, dancing and street happenings almost everyday somewhere; still with such strong family values - in the best way not the Bush way; people with so little but willing to give so much, and to strangers as well. Of course the police and officials can be universally awful and those in Peru were often quite frightening but a "voluntary payment" usually got us out of trouble.My sister-in-law in one email said - enough with the description, give me statistics: so here are some:o We drove approximately 60,000kms and if you have a Toyota all it required was oil changes some new air filters and one drive train grease half-way; although the engine is nearly ten years old I never had to add oil in between changes; fuel cosnsumption was about 6,000 litres so we did our best to warm the globeo We spent some C$32,000 on everything other than insurances and vehicle papers which added approximately another $6,000 (and this included some $5,000 to get us and our car to and from Panama); so you cannot say it was an expensive tripo We visited 12 countries: Mexico 17days, Guatemala 27, Honduras 7, Nicaragua 9, Costa Rica 25, Pamanama 22, Belize 7, Ecuador 90, Peru 35, Bolivia 29, Argentina 43, Chile 35; our 90 days in Ecuador were through force of circumstance rather than because we wanted to be there so long: meeting with Fin getting car on and off boats me on longer business trips etco I continued to work and had five trips to other parts of the world; nearly drove my travel agent mad with my weird itineraries which also kept changingo We were the only travelers on four wheels that were camping and not sleeping in a purpose built vehicle (yes I know we are real toughies! Or maybe just stupid?) and if we subtract the times when I was away or when we were with friends or shipping our car, we camped 159 days out of 280 o The most days we spent in any one place was about 14 and often a full 10 hours was spent driving only 250kmo We sometimes set off at 5am but more commonly around 9am and if it was chilly we were in bed by 8pm, but if warm this could stretch to 10pm....wow!So now we are home and Sheila says I better snap out of my funk real fast; it is absolutely wonderful to see friends again even if they remind us that it is all over; but it is not all over, other adventures are already gestating. I have thoroughly enjoyed writing this blog and I hope I have not bored you all absolutely rigid. When next we meet I will be testing you to make sure you read every word!Pagesturning are now closing this book.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pagesturning/latin_america/1175035200/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pagesturning/latin_america/1175035200/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pagesturning/latin_america/1175035200/tpod.html Tue, 27 Mar 2007 19:04:22 -0400 Road trip through Latin America

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Patzcuaro, Mexico

This is our penultimate blog and we are starting to panic at the sudden change in our lives that awaits us in Vancouver! We are presently in Patzcuaro which is absolutely lovely. We had been previously in San Cristobal which we had thought was one of the loveliest places we had been but I think Patzcuaro beats it; Mexico seems to have a greater appreciation of their culture and beauty than other Latin American countries and are restoring buildings in just the way they were originally built - all adobe and crudely formed timber - but the finished product is worth the effort. But more about Patzcuaro later.The last blog was sent was from Belize and our lazy coastal days. We crossed the border into Mexico near to Chetumal with the minimum of hassle (for Latin America) although there is always something that is a little different and takes time. We went into Chetumal for money from an ATM which seemed to Sheila to have refused her request but showed up on our bank account as having paid her $450! Sheila is not happy and our bank has launched an investigation on our behalf! From the border we drove to a "cross-roads" town that is supposedly gearing for a flood of tourists (yet to come) and have built accordingly but even though everywhere was empty we still had to pay top dollar. From there we had a short drive to Palenque which is one of the more accessible and well known of the Mayan sites. We stayed just outside at probably our best campsite so far: Mayabell, with shady sites, a huge swimming pool and lovely restaurant. We went in to Palenque on the 21st of March not realising it was an auspicious date so it was rather crowded but as we were in early we could keep ahead of the large parties of noisily-guided tourists and sun-worshipping groupies all in white and communing with various deities. Sheila and I are easily sated by ruins but Palenque is special and is in a magnificent jungle setting in the foothills so has lovely views over the coastal plain. Of course you have to contend with tourists at the foot of a pyramid yelling to their friends at the top but it is a huge site so mostly it was peaceful. But three hours saw us done and in need of the swimming pool.We had two nights at Palenque which is in Chiapas State and then set off for San Cristobal in the heart of Chiapas. This state has been the scene of troubles in the past ten or so years from a group calling themselves the Zapatistas but it all appears to be quite quiet at the moment. The road climbs from the coastal plain through very up-and-down limestone country to San Cristobal at 2,000m; a very slow drive because of all the bends and the thousands of "topes" to slow you down through the villages. But we did not mind as the countryside was so special. We fell in love with San Cristobal immediately: it is a little like Antigua and Granada with lots of brightly painted adobe structures but somehow we felt it was less to do with tourism than other towns like it. We will definitely come back again. We stayed in a rather run-down but perfect "page-like" spot with no-one else around a few kilometres out of town - Rancho del Nicolas. San Cristobal has recently suffered the worst excesses of the so-called missionaries. Why these evangelical types call themselves missionaries when most of the population is already Christian I do not know. They had fairly recently converted indigenous people from Catholicism to some brand of Protestantism and the converts were immediately turfed-out of their villages by the others and now form a ring of desperately poor shanty towns around San Cristobal containing some 20,000 inhabitants. Great work missionaries! Apologies for my rant. An aside: on our first night in the campsite we were both awakened in the middle of the night by an almighty crack and the next morning found a large tree had snapped and fallen just in front of our car and tent!After two freezing nights in San Cristobal we headed for the coast on a very long drive that eventually found us at a little sea-side village called Zipolite a few kilometres beyond Porto Angel. I know the place is built with tourists in mind but such a funky set of restaurants and little hotels all built of rickety timber and palm roofing along a lovely beach with large headlands at each end. By far the prettiest and unspoilt beach-type place we have been to on this trip. It seems the Mexicans have much more practice than other Latin Americans with a huge tourist source on their doorstep. I know they can produce excesses like Cancun but they clearly understand other types of tourists. Again we found a laid-back (some would see this term as "falling down") Fernando's campsite which was ideal for the Pages. So two more nights relaxing before girding our loins for another assault on the miles.We met a middle-aged New Zealand nurse in the campsite who had driven down from Utah, where she lived, on a humanitarian mission to Nicaragua with loads of donated medical equipment; the Mexican authorities had delayed her at the border for 20 hours and taken three large boxes of old spectacles; I am sure they were going to sell them. Sometimes the venality of some of those in authority is mind blowing.Again another hard driving day from a sweltering coast to a chilly altitude of 2,000m brought us to where we are now: Patzcuaro. But now we are in the poshest RV and campsite we have been in so far with internet, hot showers, swimming pool and smart loos but of course a row of real RV's: air-conditioned and trailing at the very least a motorbike with everything a couple could want for luxurious living on the road; I know I sound catty but maybe I am a bit jealous as well! They were over half from Quebec and some of them are permamnently in their RVs so it is their home. As I said before, we thought we had seen our best at San Cristobal but Patzcuaro I personally feel is better, Sheila is not so sure. It seems to be more like what it must have been a few hundred years ago and it has a continuous theme of creams and ruddy-browns through all the buildings and every shop sign is written the same way in small slightly shaky writing. Round every corner the plazas and cobbled street are equally lovely; and we went into the library where although there were few books the building was so delightful that it could have turned even me into a scholar. Another town we will definitely return to. On our last night the RVers organised a meal at a restaurant which turned out to be a hilarious evening full of Bush jokes from an American there (I have never met an American that admits to having voted for Bush); being an RVer is a very tiring business as they spend masses of time socialising and working on their ships of the road; but they definitely all seem very happy.Tomorrow we hit the road again for another mad dash of 600 to 800 or so kilometres; we made the journey south through Mexico in only five and a half days; we are taking a much more leisurely fourteen days this time. At the moment our plan is to cross the US border on Sunday.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pagesturning/latin_america/1174254000/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pagesturning/latin_america/1174254000/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pagesturning/latin_america/1174254000/tpod.html Sun, 18 Mar 2007 17:51:35 -0400 Road trip through Latin America

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Dangriga, Belize

Life can be very tough at times. As I have said before our life on the road is not all a bed of roses: whilst I lie in my hammock surrounded by clacking coconut palms and a multi-hued sea on a little island (5acres) on the reef, the wind is really a little stronger than I would ideally like it to be. So bothersome!So we made it to Belize: I got back from Chile a day late but with an extra working day to add funds and so Sheila was OK with that. Found her in Antigua in good spirits so we reloaded the car and headed out. Immediately got hopelessly lost in Guatemala City and it took a couple of hours before we were on a road that everyone said was going to the place we wanted, but I think we may have been mispronouncing it because when we finally located ourselves on the map we were on a road going NE rather than NW (towards Copan instead of Coban!). Oh well just a few miles more. That first night we made it to Raxruja where we had been before (the infamous day when we -Sheila actually - left our rucksack behind in a restaurant and I swear started off her ulcers). When we arrived there was this huge RV parked outside the hotel; as big as they get; the owner and his parents chatted to us asking about what they could see and we started to tell them but realised that the RV could not get through many of the roads. People are mad: they had 2 air-conditioning units, huge generators, two dogs; wife was hoovering all the window blinds because of the dusty road; he even had his own satellite dish so that he could do his emails; why did they leave home?This reminds me, that when I was with Sheila in Antigua we saw our worst case of tourism clashing with culture. In a church there was a large family gathering with a very old man in their midst, and three of the younger women were stroking votive candles over his face and clothes whilst they were chanting and then they lit the candles and placed them in front of the altar one after another whilst praying. Two middle-aged, lycra clad ladies bustled over and started taking photos. The indigenous people do not like their photos being taken at the best of times but even less so when they are in the middle of a private religious ceremony. But undeterred by their obvious discomfort, and not content with the photos already taken, the two ladies began to manhandle the three indigenous ladies into poses that better suited their photographs. We nearly screamed. But being typically reserved Anglo Saxons we said nothing other than vile mutterings under our breath. I think many tourists view it all the same way they view a theme park.We left Raxruja and headed for the Belize border. On the way you cross a broad river on a lovely ferry at Sayaxche (which we talked about in an earlier blog) but this time we watched a wonderful manoeuvre with a huge truck that had wedged the ferry in the mud (see the photo above): he had to back up and then accelerate as fast as he could go and then slam on anchors just before he went off the end into the river to build-up some momentum; he did this many times and slower inched the ferry off the mud; all seemed in a days work for the truck driver! We got to the border at about 3pm where there were quite a number of people queuing to go through. After parting with some "unexpected" money with both Guatemala and Belize we entered this strange place where everyone speaks a sort-of English (very Caribbean). Sheila, even after several days, can't get used to it, especially after just spending a week in Spanish school. They still use "miles" here!Belize is "cute": it is not really a country since it only has about 350,000 inhabitants and everything is so laid back that you need to prod people before you ask a question. But they are all so friendly and if you stop for more than a few seconds someone has engaged you in conversation. This of course has its downside: in Latin America you can usually get rid of unwanted attention by saying "no entiendo" but here saying you don't understand your own language doesn't work. We spent the first two nights just across the border in San Ignacio on the edge of a very large park called Mountain Pine Ridge Forest Reserve where we spent the day visiting caves, wandering in the forest and swimming in lovely rivers and pools. But amazingly the area is swarming with British troops who are either protecting the border (Guatemala as well as Mexico claim all or part of Belize between them), or getting jungle training; not sure which but Land Rovers are dashing all over the place. We were also struck by the relative wealth of Belize compared to its neighbours and all seemingly built on tourism, orange juice and sugar cane, although they have recently found oil.We then drove down to the coast to Hopkins. The drive through the hills was lovely: all limestone country and the erosion has left a very jagged jungle covered landscape with endless orange orchards in the lower lying areas. Hardly anyone around. And what was so noticeable was the lack of litter, virtually no plastic bags at all; and the small towns and villages were generally immaculate. At Hopkins, a dusty little Garifuna village, we stayed at Jungle Jeanie's Resort; a 70 plus, marathon running, semi-hippy Canadian from Kelowna! Camped amongst her cabins and had a very peaceful two nights feeling very much at home.Then out to one of the Cayes which are dotted along the barrier reef. This one is about a 30 minute fast boat ride from Dangrida and is called Tobacco Caye. It is only five acres and maybe three feet above sea level at its highest point with about four ram-shackle resorts (really just a few cabins and an eating area for each resort) spread around. Today it is almost deserted. Good value with full board at one called Paradise. We took a boat with some others to go snorkelling as soon as we arrived as a cold front was predicted for the next day and potentially high winds would prevent any snorkelling. Lovely fish and coral and some we hadn't seen before, but definitely not the best we have seen. That's the problem with life: as it gets longer and you see more and more disappointment becomes more likely; or am I just a miserable old git - don't answer that question! But all lovely! Really relaxing, great company, good food, friendly people, and we will be sad to leave tomorrow and head out of this strange little British outpost called Belize!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pagesturning/latin_america/1173485460/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pagesturning/latin_america/1173485460/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pagesturning/latin_america/1173485460/tpod.html Tue, 13 Mar 2007 19:40:08 -0400 Road trip through Latin America

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Antigua, Guatemala

NB there are lots of the punctuation keys missing on this computer and so youll have to insert the punctuation in your own minds! If I hear the word INFRACCION again I think Ill scream (sheila speaking.......) - weve now had our 3rd or rather 4th one, but the first one was when I burst into tears and he waved us on and so we didn't have to pay anything!! The latest one occurred just prior to leaving Honduras when we got lost in San Pedro Sulla. We had the usual pantomime of confiscated licence, a fine of Q900 to be paid at a bank - quickly reduced to Q450, and then a request for a voluntary payment to be paid directly to him. At least this policeman was quite charming as he ripped us off and said he hoped we would return to Honduras!!Before leaving the topic of Honduras - in the last BLOG Chris described the Caribbean coast as touristy but this gives the wrong impression as in fact we saw zero tourists whilst staying in our Garafuna (sp?) village. What he was trying to say (would I put words in his mouth????) is that there is no longer any real life in these villages - they consist of people originally from Jamaica et al living in shacks and houses surrounded by litter (their own) and their sole function seems to be to provide accommodation and food to tourists both at relatively high prices for somewhat grotty options. Many moons ago they were likely very active fishing villages.So we crossed the border to Guatemela at Copan Ruinas and what a delight - couldn't have been easier and everyone so helpful - we were pathetically grateful for being treated so nicely in contrast to other crossings! We had to revisit Chiquimula (the scene of my first endoscopy on the way south) in order to get cash from an ATM and then stopped for the night at a place just off the main road. The road to Guatemala City is ugly - full of trucks and buses and roadworks, and of course the lack of signs meant we ended up right in the middle of Guatemala city when we were trying to avoid it! After much help from incredible people who went out of their way to enable us to follow them to the right road, we eventually arrived in Antigua in the afternoon. As the book had described it is indeed picture-perfect - narrow cobbled streets, beautiful old buildings painted in ochre, rust reds, browns and whites and lots of ruined but still beautiful churches as a result of many earthquakes. Chris took an instant dislike cos he thought it was purely a tourist town but I must say he revised his opinion once we had begun to explore it. Antigua is flanked by 3 volcanoes on 3 of its 4 sides and 1 of them, Vulcan Fuego, puffs smoke intermittently and even spews out red lava, but Im yet to see the latter phenomenon. Guatemalas history is full of devastating earthquakes and volcanic eruptions and the evidence of the 1773 earthquake is very visible with so many buildings and churches with only part of their structure remaining.We found a local family who have just 4 rooms around a small patio which is the focus for all of their daily activities. So Chris flew off to Santiago and I settled in. With the help of my patron I registered in a Spanish school 1 minute from the house and so I am spending 20 hours immersed in Spanish. My understanding of Spanish is improving in leaps and bounds but my young tutor doesn't know how to listen and to make me talk and I can hardly get a word in edgeways and so my speaking is not improving...oh well!!The first night after Chris left I was thrilled to hear the national juvenile symphony orchestra playing on the steps of the cathedral at one side of the central park. It was wonderful - Bernstein, Mozart and Dvorjak under a full moon - doesn't get any better! Maybe Im imagining it but it seems as though everytime something really good happens its followed by a downer....and this occurred the following day when my bag was slit and my purse removed without me knowing a thing...grrrrr ...so angry with myself! It was at a major religious procession which was a very moving experience and I got carried away taking photos (normally Chriss domain) and was not as vigilant as I should have been. Families in the narrow cobbled streets get together and create beautiful pictures on the surface of the cobbles, out of flowers and greenery or out of coloured sawdust (all the primary colours plus green). Some of the pictures are as big as 3x10 metres and are only a few feet apart and the patterns are elaborate and beautiful. The procession - hundreds of men and boys dressed in purple cassocks with hoods accompanying 2 enormous shoulder-carried floats with Jesus on the cross on one of them and Mary on the other - winds its way on a prescribed route up and down the narrow streets (watching them turn corners was interesting as they have to sway back and forth as they shuffle around the corner) and this requires them to walk on the pictures, destroying them in the process. So much effort for such a short period! But watching the families out on their hands and knees creating the pictures, from baby to grandpa, all playing their role, brought tears to my eyes. It made me realize that we have definitely lost something in our first world countries in terms of family and community involvement.Have got up to speed on the local politics through my Spanish classes and unfortunately Guatemala is in hot water right now as 3 San Salvadoran representatives to the Latin American parliament were assassinated in Guatemala 2 weeks ago and then the 4 Guatemalan policemen put onto the case were also killed. San Salvador is clearly very unhappy and is talking of breaking off relations, world bodies have condemned the actions and the pressure on Guatemala to come up with what happened and why is very great. Bush arrives this weekend on a prearranged visit but the timing clearly is not good, and its also election year for the government ....ugly. Of course rumours abound and there is even talk of San Salvador declaring war...who knows.Unfortunately I cant include some of the incredibly beautiful photos that we have on Antigua as Chris has the laptop with him and so we will have to add the photos once he is back, so don't forget to revisit the BLOG next week cos the photos should be good!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pagesturning/latin_america/1172615220/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pagesturning/latin_america/1172615220/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pagesturning/latin_america/1172615220/tpod.html Tue, 27 Feb 2007 17:38:09 -0500 Road trip through Latin America

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Tela, Honduras

Well we sadly left the Corcovado but for several days afterwards we were reminded of our visit by finding ticks in improbable and unmentionable places! Our next park was the Santa Rosa dry forest near the border with Nicaragua but we broke our journey at a small campsite on the coast where Sheila shared her shower with a very sleepy boa constrictor! As you drive up the coast road you are struck by the amount of development going on with super-luxury gated communities and North American style malls going up all over the place. Huge hoardings line the road advertising eco and canopy tours; it all seems to be about activities not the natural wonder of the flora and fauna; and the hoardings and massive developments are definitely not "eco". Many parts of the country seem to already have passed that point of no return on their way to emulating some of the worst parts of Mexico. Maybe we are being too judgemental but one had the feeling that places like the Corcovado were very much off the official radar screen in favour of big development. And like Panama it looks all up for sale to foreigners.The Santa Rosa Park (the last remaining original dry forest in Central America, according to the guide book) was lovely especially as we were the only campers in a huge campground which is dominated by four vast fig trees. We had two lovely nights there and during the day took the worst road, by far, that we have ever driven down to the coast which is almost completely deserted apart from a few surfers. We were highly entertained by the huge iguanas that frequent the picnic site and watching how they enforced their pecking order. The beach is endless around a magnificent bay and is reputed to have good surfing. We really should have hiked the 24km return journey but the heat put us off. Our third night we went into the adjoining park of Rincon which has an active volcano we wanted to visit. They no longer allow camping in the park but we found a lovely garden setting in a nearby lodge; why a posh lodge lets people use their garden for camping I do not know but we did not complain. The next day we were up bright and early to be the first at the crater only to be told that it was too dangerous to walk there due to the fierce winds and anyway it was in thick cloud. A shame but we made up for it with lovely walks in the large acreage belonging to the lodge and soaked in some hot springs which we had all to ourselves.We were sad to leave Costa Rica as it does have some of the best parks we have been to in Latin America but another work trip is calling me with flights booked from Guatemala. We crossed into Nicaragua without too much hassle although a straight-faced official did us out of $10 in fees; quite deliberately asked for $14 but only gave us a receipt for $4! We only noticed the difference when back on the road. We passed through three police road blocks in very short order with no problems before the fourth hit on the right question: where are your triangles? No triangles: infraction! $25. Not a huge amount in the greater scheme of things but big relative to our budget! He did a tremendous song-and-dance about our safety when changing a tyre; meanwhile pick-up trucks were going by so full that passengers were hanging on the sides. But the wrinkle was that we had to pay the fine at a bank (over 50km away) while he kept my driving licence; when we had paid, the bank would radio to him and he would bring me my licence! Pull the other one mate. Strong words were muttered by the licence holder with the policeman asking the wife what the licence holder was saying; thankfully wife did not know the Spanish words for a literal translation. But she asked couldn't we pay him? He pulled himself up to a mighty five feet and said, very hurt, prohibido! Sheila then said that the banks would be closed by the time we got there; wasn't there something we could work out. He then relaxed and said we could pay him. What a performance. It took a good half-hour to get to where we knew we would get to in the end.We had not really recognised how poor Nicaragua is when we came south but we immediately noticed the horses and carts everywhere and the dirt-poor dwellings in stark contrast with Costa Rica. The Nicaraguan receptionist at the Rincon lodge had 10 years of university but could not get a decent job in Nicaragua; I asked him about his new president and he said with bitterness "garbage!" Daniel Ortega, who led the original Sandinistas, has got in again on his fourth try after several unholy alliances had not worked; I do not think he has any political ethics, just wants to be president. As you drive past Managua on the way to Leon you pass some sumptuous villas behind high barbed wire fences and are frequently passed by darkly tinted, fast moving expensive cars; so there are some extremely wealthy Nicaraguans who pass out jobs to family and friends and keep their money very tight. It is difficult to see how the man in the street can get to the next rung and the new president is unlikely to help. All the Central American countries seem to be trying to emulate Costa Rica on the tourist front but they have not protected their tourist "resources" so how they are going to do it I do not know.We spent two nights in Leon which is the "other" city that travellers visit; the first choice seems to be Granada but we liked Leon much better as it is more alive, more lived in, than Granada. We stayed at the Hostal Clinica which really puts you in the midst of a Nicaraguan family with granny wandering up and down on her bowed legs with a parrot sitting on her head; daughters doing homework; dog and cat playing endlessly; all in the same room that the guests relax in; very pleasant. We always like a town once we have found an establishment that sells cheap beer, which we found on our second night. Lots of live music in the streets and a lovely religious procession wending its way slowly from one blessing stop to another. Nothing fancy about the town but an enjoyable visit.We then made our way east through San Jacinto (near Leon) which has a field of bubbling mud pools and sulphurous steam vents where, in company of six or more resident expert volcanologists most under the age of 10, we were lead around in expectation of a tip. Sheila's hand was firmly grasped by one little girl who proceeded to rub her face up and down Sheila's arm; it was a very hot but extremely fascinating walk. They told us that the hot sulphurous mud would take away the itching from mosquito bites so Sheila's legs looked very funny by the time we got back to the car where a dozen hands were presented for a propina!We then headed towards the Honduran border via Silva Negra (always a good stop as $1.5 per person buys you a good cup of coffee and a slice of cake and the run of their coffee estate and large cloud forest...we visited it on our way south as well) with a night in Jinotega where we had stayed previously. The little restaurant next to the hostal specialised in Sopa con Huevos de Toro: you guessed it - bull's balls. I could not resist especially as the pretty young waitress winked at me, nodded towards Sheila, and said it would give me strength; not at all sure what she meant but the wink was enough! Our reason for retracing our steps through Silva Negra and Jinotega was that it is said to be the best drive in Nicaragua but last time it was cloaked in cloud. This time it was beautifully sunny and we stayed going north on a very minor road and had one of our best drives joining the Pan Americana north of Esteli.We reached the border at about mid-day on a Sunday with the usual line of trucks leading up to the border but nothing moving and it was abnormally quiet. We soon found out why! We were greeted by the usual young touts who had some story about the banks being closed and $40 we had to pay etc. etc. Sheila, very haughtily, said nonsense and that we did not need their help. The touts were very patient and followed closely until this rather rude senora found out that they were right: since we had passed through the last time they had slapped on a whole host of charges some of which could only be paid at the bank. Of course banks are not open on Sundays. Under the notice informing the tourist of these new charges was the exhortation that "no further charges were necessary and that we should help stamp out corruption by reporting irregularities". Well if you do not want to spend the night at the border you first give the customs lady $5.50 to hold your money till the next day and $3 to the tout that delivers the money to the bank and gets the necessary stamp. Honduras boasts that its borders are open 24 hours but have now put in a system that actually severely limits the hours of operation for the poor motorist. The tout, a very patient and knowledgeable young man, also did the job of the hugely fat policeman who was having lunch and watching football on TV and sent the tout to examine our car and check the chassis number. The young man was the first person who had actually done it properly and who actually knew where the chassis number was; of course it did not match but he went all over the car until he found a number that did. We were then on our way with a frequently cursing Sheila.Our first stop was on the banks of Lake Yojoa 2.5 hours beyond Tegucigalpa (my favourite city name) in a barely begun campsite where we stayed for free courtesy of the pucker British owner, although the restaurant meal, that we felt obliged to eat, wiped out any savings. But we had a lovely quiet night except for some odd noises that had us on the edge of our mattresses but as you can see we are still alive.As we followed the road from Tegucigalpa to the Caribbean coast Sheila kept saying watch out for a right turn; we never found a right turn the whole way; a complete mystery to Sheila and nothing like the map but not the slightest bit surprising to me.From the lake we drove a few hours to the Caribbean coast and I write this from a very hot little Garifuna village called La Ensenada (mostly black inhabitants that were shipped across from St Vincent by the British to an off-shore island and then from there to the mainland by the Spanish). These villages are given very high billing in the guide books but I think they are grossly over-blown as they are really only there to serve the tourists and the litter on the beach and throughout the villages is the worst we have seen (but maybe we are just getting jaded by all the wonderful places we have already seen). We did feel we should have at least a quick look at the Caribbean but we both much prefer the Pacific with its large crashing waves.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pagesturning/latin_america/1171735860/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pagesturning/latin_america/1171735860/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pagesturning/latin_america/1171735860/tpod.html Sat, 17 Feb 2007 13:22:02 -0500 Road trip through Latin America

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Palma Norte, Costa Rica

Before I left for Australia to top up the coffers with filthy lucre we had to get the car from the "knocking-shop" to Sheila's backpackers. Sensibly we waited until rush hour to do this and chose a busy street to do it in. But that wasn't the most important part: I found myself straddling railway lines which I thought were either defunct or for trams; no, they really were for a train. Behind us I could see that bright light they shine and heard the hooter (I learnt later that they don't actually run you down) but at the time I could not be sure so I joined everyone else squashed over to the side except for the motorbikes that saw an opportunity! Alongside came a seven car passenger train. Luckily the lights went red at the next intersection so I could take a breath but the train simply barrelled on so presumably Tico motorists understand it all; it then went from one side of the road to the other; so this quite narrow higgly-piggly road shares its space with a fully fledged train which switches from one side to the other; the most frenetic few driving minutes of the whole trip. Anyway we got Sheila in and she takes over the story...My first night in my Backpackers hostal in San Jose was "interesting" - populated mainly by 18-25 year olds (although there was the odd family with very small children and the odd grey haired couple) and with paper-thin walls, and so although I went to bed at 9.30 there was no chance of sleep until after 1am. The garden and small pool were wonderful; the non-stop electronic music was dreadful! There was a communal kitchen and so I cooked all my own meals and so didn't have to worry about going out after dark to eat (dark at 6pm) - San Jose not being the safest of cities. My evening entertainment was either a film on TV (me? yes, really!) or on several occasions fire dancing accompanied by drummers by the pool. I made an attempt to set up Spanish conversation sessions but when I met the person he turned out to be a very inexperienced guy in his early twenties and I had severe doubts but didn't like to say so. Think he must have felt the same because he never pitched up to our first lesson - relief on my part! San Jose sits in the centre of the country at 1000m in a large fertile valley with mountain ranges to both the north and south separating if from its Caribbean and Pacific Coasts. As a city however it has to be one of the most uninteresting cities that we've visited since there are no old buildings and no character to it. I was also upset by the number of young African/Spanish descent males that one saw, who were clearly drug addicts and spent their day lying prostrate in the middle of the pavement, completely out of it. Although we saw poverty in other countries the people were all trying to eke out a living by selling things in the street, and we had previously seen no evidence of drugs. I took myself out for the day to botanical gardens outside Cartago. This entailed two buses and as always everybody was so helpful to me. It was wonderful to wander around the gardens - so peaceful - I realise I could never live without a garden, my spirit needs it! Also did a daytrip to Vulcan Poas, one of Costa Rica's active volcanoes. It was a three hour drive in a bus to the northwest of San Jose, through rich agricultural land growing strawberries, other fruits and vegetables and flowers for export, followed by coffee plantations as the altitude increased, and finally dairy cattle. The 2500m volcano was quite dramatic as you look down into the crater filled with steaming water and sulphurous vents.I (chris) then returned and made Sheila's life worthwhile once more. I know what she means about the hostel: poor nights sleep, and very, very young. Left early for the coast and the Corcovado Park in the Osa peninsula which is largely untouched tropical forest in the south west of Costa Rica and Sheila has wanted to go there for years. We reached Puerto Jimenez on the Sunday. The town seems to have no function other than to service tourists and has little of interest. We did sample the little fair that was running and watched very serious locals doing karaoke.Next morning we drove another 40 odd kms to leave our car and pack up food and tent etc because the park can only be accessed by walkers (unless you have the money to fly or boat in). We had an interesting set of bridges to negotiate where parts of the bridge deck were missing and only the I beams remained; you had visions of the tires getting caught between the beams and I felt them catch once! We are not really equipped for hiking with small rucksacks and a large tent but we put something together to get us to the first park rangers station where we could camp and day-hike. We learnt much later that in fact the main camp (16km further on) serves meals and can provide beds so we could have made it but now it will have to wait for another trip. Anyway the hours walk along the beach nearly killed us as the humidity was off the clock; in fact we have now been dripping wet for four days.It really is a beautiful and unspoiled part of the world with the jungle coming right down to the sea and hardly anyone around. The beach is magnificent, the best we have seen by far. On one early morning stroll (I stayed behind trying to keep cool) Sheila was watching a small anteater when she realised that a puma was only a few feet away watching its breakfast; her sharp intake of breath sent it away but what luck. She saw lots more animals and is quite ecstatic about the place. Her good luck was rewarded that evening by a large scorpion's bite! She screamed and dropped everything and I was worried that it was a snake and in fact was relieved when I saw the scorpion; Sheila was not relieved for many (sheila: at least 5 or 6) more hours and said it was like giving birth multiple times. Even the next morning her fingers were still tingling and her teeth were on edge. She now goes everywhere in hiking boots. We also saw peccaries and all four species of monkeys.While at the coast I experienced one of life's profound mysteries: where do hermit crabs get their shells? We have seen a few elsewhere but here the beach and forest edges are swarming with them; but the beach itself has no empty shells whatsoever. When a home gets too cramped what do they do? Put up a sign? And if someone answers their advert it must be every house buyers worse nightmare: everyone has to move up or down until you get to the smallest or largest. And where do the largest hermit crabs go; what if there are no monster homes available at that time; do they just go homeless? I noticed that some of the shells were getting pretty ropy with holes and chips so they are clearly multiple tenant dwellings. I will ponder this mystery and if I find the answer will post it so that you do not all have to worry like me.One other little mystery is how lizards are able to walk or run on water; they zoom across quite wide rivers as thought they were running on the land!We had three nights at the coastal part of the park and then drove to the other eastern entrance so that we could access the deeper jungle - the footpath along the coast from Carate was low jungle and scrub. So we drove back through La Palma and then onto a 14km stretch of road that had over 25 river fords; often the river and the road were the same thing and Sheila had to walk ahead to try and fathom out where the road went! Memorable motoring but I now write this from our own little jungle hide-away surrounded by innumerable bird and insect noises and with two toucans just around the corner. The dense jungle part has given us much less fauna to look at than the coastal portion but the jungle itself is magnificent, with incredible plants, butterflies, huge trees going up for ever and covered with monstera, lianas and masses of other vegetation. The park is famous for its scarlet macaws of which there are hundreds. They mate for life but if their continuous squawking is anything to go by their marriages are anything but peaceful. The toucans are incredible with their improbable bills. We haven't seen as many birds as we'd expected but likely because the forest is so dense.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pagesturning/latin_america/1170352980/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pagesturning/latin_america/1170352980/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pagesturning/latin_america/1170352980/tpod.html Thu, 01 Feb 2007 13:15:56 -0500 Road trip through Latin America

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San Jose, Costa Rica

It is ages since our last blog and you guessed it! the boat had been delayed yet again.&nbsp; We drove down from Vilcabamba to have another couple of days on the coast near to the port of Manta at Alandaluz where we had stayed twice before - they said it was our second home when we pitched up.&nbsp; Nice two days on the beach and then back to Manta.&nbsp; Meanwhile our lady at the shipping company had said everything was on time.&nbsp; Imagine our surprise - or not! - when the agent looked at us as if we were mad ... "Boat? What boat? Oh that one - delayed another three days!"&nbsp; So off to the beach again and this time north back up to Canoa - also for the third time.&nbsp; Sit around re-planning our central American trip as it gets shorter and shorter.&nbsp; Back to Manta and this time it is only a 1 day delay but just long enough that we have to spend another two nights in this "lovely" town.We start our embarkation marathon on the 25th January.&nbsp; Every port seems to be completely different in terms of what you need so we were very lucky that travelers we had met, who did the same trip with their car a few months before, gave us detailed instructions for loading in Manta and for getting the car back in Panama.&nbsp; It would have been so much harder if we had not had their experience.&nbsp; The agent, very pleasant but very laid back, spoke good English but somehow his instructions never quite made it into a coherent set of actions.&nbsp; Well we started with a delightful customs lady but of course every form no matter how trivial has to be signed by the chief and he was out until the middle of the afternoon - sit around!&nbsp; We finally got to the port gates to be told that we were missing a last essential bit of paper.&nbsp; Back in the car to return to the office that had failed to give it to us and phone calls from said office got us a little man to meet us at the port gates, who then took us in hand through the narcotics inspection and into the car park.&nbsp; The narcotics inspection delighted Sheila as it was done by a slobbery female golden retriever who wanted nothing more than to play.&nbsp; The policeman was so insistent that she find drugs that I felt she was going to just so she could finish!&nbsp; The kennels at the narcotics centre were full of dogs clamoring to be the ones to come and inspect our car...pick me!!&nbsp; So finally we left our precious car in the middle of a "secure" car park and handed over our key to the little man who said he would personally drive it on; who was he? Not sure but he seemed very genuine.There were only 2 private cars to be loaded along with some new trucks en route to Vancouver. The cars were to be loaded that night and we were very excited to see the enormous blue car carrier slowly come into port at about 6-7 pm. The next morning we went to pay and get our bill of lading; our friendly agent said ours was the last car driven on; it was red, wasn't it?&nbsp; No you idiot it was grey!&nbsp; Oh I am sure I saw a grey one as well.&nbsp; So we leave not knowing whether our car is still sitting in the car park.A bus to Guayaquil and the next day, Saturday, a comfortable flight to Panama City and back into the same hotel where we'd stayed when collecting our car on the southerly leg.&nbsp; They did not recognize us; not surprising when you can book most rooms by the hour here!&nbsp; We wait out the weekend expecting our car to be discharged on the Sunday.&nbsp; Into the agent bright and early on the Monday to be told the boat had been sitting outside the port and our car (if it is onboard) might only be driven off that afternoon; "you can pick it up tomorrow".&nbsp; No, no tomorrow is too late; please, please.&nbsp; Alright do customs and then go to the port and wait at Nico's Café for further instructions.&nbsp; Customs a doddle; we are so lucky that we are in Balboa and not Colon which was dirty and dangerous.&nbsp; Nico's is probably the best fast-food place in the world: infinite variety, cool and inexpensive; and in the four hours we are there we sample a wide variety of what is on offer.&nbsp; We are told to phone the agents at 1pm but of course she is not going to be back until 2pm.&nbsp; At 2pm she says she cannot release the car until Tuesday; after much protestations by Sheila we are then told to call the Colon office; I am not sure what Sheila said on the phone as I was guarding our patch at Nico's but she got a promise that "Tanya" would meet us at the gate at 3pm.&nbsp; At 3pm at the gate there is no Tanya and no one knows who Tanya is.&nbsp; The security guards take pity on us and give us a another security guard to hold our hand and in we go for another two hours of form filling and signing and inspection; we never found Tanya and never found out why anyone from the agents had to release our car.&nbsp; Suddenly at about 5pm our car was magically in front of us completely intact and with nothing missing.&nbsp; We know why: we found a little brass Buddha in the dirt early on in the trip and he sits inside the car and is our talisman and has been working extremely hard.&nbsp; So back on the road in Panama; the same road but at least we are back into our much delayed trip.&nbsp; We had hoped to have an overnight visit with our friends Jane and Barry in Boquete but the delays sadly made this impossible and we stopped at one of our usual "cheapies" just outside Santiago (Panama). At least we managed to meet Barry for coffee in David on Tuesday, as we passed through, as he was in town to do some business. Our destination is San Jose where I am flying out (Friday) for Oz and we need to find somewhere nice for Sheila to stay and a language school.&nbsp; The border was the usual shambles with the added problem of a failed computer system which delayed us an additional two hours.&nbsp; The Panamanians in their usual desultory way tried to get us to pay for various things; they seem to expect people to say no but they try anyway for form's sake.&nbsp; As with the ports it always seems a bit different and there is always a tout trying to hold your hand.&nbsp; But we heard a horrendous story from a young Canadian who used a tout and missed an essential stamp on his passport and when he tried to leave Costa Rica they threw him in jail and confiscated his motorbike etc etc!&nbsp;We broke our trip to San Jose at Golfito on the coast and what a delightful little place it turned out to be.&nbsp; The guide book doesn't do it justice.&nbsp; For us it was like a tropical Tofino (west coast of Vancouver Island); any minute you expected one of Graham Greene's characters in a Panama hat to come strolling by.&nbsp; The jungle presses hard against the town which is strung around a beautiful bay, all higgldey-piggldey.&nbsp; Sadly we only had time for one night. We hadn't previously driven on a chunk of the southern road from the border as we'd taken a high route. It was beautiful dense rain forest with trees laden with bromalids and huge leaved plants dripping in moisture. The drive up to over the 3000m pass, although busy with trucks, was also more beautiful than we had remembered. It's rather nice to have a second visit to these central American countries as we really did rush through on our southerly leg coupled with me being so unwell.&nbsp;We are now in San Jose a very uninteresting city but with a very interesting street numbering system and way of directing people.&nbsp; Calles and Avenidas start at the centre and go "even" one way and "odd" the other!&nbsp; Coupled with this, the locals do not use street addresses to locate anything, they use landmarks some of which have ceased to exist for many years so they never know street names.&nbsp; If you don't know this, which we did not, you circle the same blocks six times searching for the missing roads!&nbsp; It is vastly more expensive than anywhere else we have been which has Sheila gnashing her teeth. Anyway, having spent one night in an hourly hotel (but they have a secure car park!) we get Sheila into a hostal today where she will have a 2-bed room to herself whilst I'm away. &nbsp;
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pagesturning/latin_america/1168879260/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pagesturning/latin_america/1168879260/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pagesturning/latin_america/1168879260/tpod.html Mon, 15 Jan 2007 11:59:43 -0500 Road trip through Latin America

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Loja, Ecuador

So we are still here and it is the 14th of January. I know we said we would ship to Panama on the 12th but that was before we were told that the boat was delayed by nine days! It has played havoc with what time we had left for Central America which was already very short because of two work trips I have to fit in. We've had to radically change our plans for Central America and we're really only going to have two excursions and the rest will be Sheila at Spanish school in Leon (Nicaragua) and Antigua (Guatemala) whilst I earn money, and the eating up of the miles to get us home, although we plan to do the latter a little more leisurely than we did coming down! The two "excursions" will be the Corcovada Peninsula in Costa Rica which will be for about five days and will be camping and hiking, and the second will be 10-12 days in Belize. We had a merry time trying to change our flights to Panama which we had booked on the Internet. We finally went to a Western Union office in Esmeralda who said that a local agent might do it; the local tour office could not but they sent Sheila off with a young man (even though we were doing no business with them) and he squired Sheila around for about an hour until successful and then very reluctantly accepted a tip for being so wonderful: a perfect example of how kind Latin Americans can be; cancels out the unkindness you experience from the traffic police, for example!When we learned of the boat delay we moved with Fin about four hours drive north up the coast to Mompiche. This is primarily a surfers hang-out and consists of the road in and a cross road along the beach with a few hostels and grungy eateries but exactly what you would expect a beach village should be: dusty streets with dusty chickens and dogs scratching about; waving coconut palms; fishermen mending their nets; gaggles of dirty but happy kids; and every late afternoon a pick-up soccer game right in the centre and you better keep your hand firmly on your beer bottle as the players are no respecters of the restaurant patrons - well shack patrons. Lots of muscular and tattooed dudes staring into the far distance looking very cool waiting for that magical wave; then they all stand up, and out to the "waves". The wave is a left-break and peels off a point and then over a reef - on which many soft bodies and boards scrape - and once it starts to break the same wave slowly makes its way in a perfect curve all the way to the beach. Fin caught waves which he rode for over 400m; gave him as much surfing on one wave as he was getting in a whole session at Canoa. Of course if there are thirty surfers waiting their turn some arguments arise over who is dropping in on whom; I realised that if you are a pretty girl you definitely have the upper hand as being sworn at by a girl means you cannot punch her and you also look a little foolish as everyone immediately takes her side. Watching Fin surf is usually an exercise in futility as if you blink you have missed his best wave of the day; but here, although the surf was not big, you knew when he was going to catch it and then watched his every move as dutiful parents should; we could then discuss the intricacies of each swoop and swerve and whether he was holding his arms in the correct stance and whether he was making spray etc.We really enjoyed our five days in Mompiche and got into a steady routine of providing breakfast and dinner for Fin and kicking back on the beach with our beers watching the sun go down. Town simply runs into the fisherman's boats and nets and then into the sea; the bay is beautiful and you can walk for miles if you have the will to take the heat and humidity. We camped in the grounds of a posh hostel well away from any noise so were able to sleep without ear plugs and the throbbing of big base speakers. We were sad to leave and I think Fin will stay there for a long time as unlike Canoa there are no gigolos making life difficult for single male travelers.From Mompiche we drove back to Canoa to pick up the boxes we had stored at the Bambu (since our car is packed to the roof we can't fit anything or anyone extra without storing four of our boxes and doing a circular trip to retrieve them!); then to Bahia to spend the night with friends we had made at Canoa - Paul and Maria who live in Barcelona but have an apartment near Bahia. They are typical of many couples we have met on this trip: no permanent job and no family ties and move often but no security either; a completely different way of living; has its pluses and minuses. And then, via a night in Naranjal, to Loja in the south of Ecuador which we missed on our first visit. In Naranjal we stayed at the Three Brothers' hostel which should have been called the three brothers grim(m)! I am sure they never got any repeat customers.We just had the one night in Loja which although it is a lovely town with the typical narrow bustly streets it has already been completely rebuilt twice due to devastating earthquakes so has no old colonial architecture to see. We stayed in possibly the best hostel for its price we have stayed in anywhere, Hostal Londres, in the centre of town. Since Sheila was looking very shaggy we had a trip to the hairdresser and although the young girl who cut it was very grumpy she did a good job...but with each cut it's definitely becoming shorter and shorter! From Loja we turned south and dropped 500m very quickly to Vilcabamba sharing the road with hundreds of hurtling young local cyclists riding all over the road on defective bikes with no helmets; what were their parents thinking - or not? Vilcabamba, where I sit writing this blog, is as laid back as it is possible to get without being comatose. It has that unique 1,500m climate that coffee and people love - never cold but never hot; how can only 1,500m altitude right on the equator be so perfect? We went to the end of a terrible little dirt road hoping for camping but settled instead for a "rustic" cabin up on the hillside surrounded by an unkempt garden, coffee bushes, citrus, guava and bananas; just the sounds of birds and farm animals and a rushing river in the valley below. So relaxing that we are staying three days; even though rustic cabin means just about to slide down the hill with none of the knives or pans with handles, gaping holes in the roof etc. The expatriates that own the place are again typical: great idea when you are in your early twenties and traveling with a romantic outlook; twenty years on you have a place that cannot in your best year give you more than about $15,000 of income which is not nearly enough for the capital improvements needed to gear yourself up to better paying guests. As one of our other hostel owners said "a prisoner in paradise". But we had a wonderful hike up the valley into the nearby national park; nearly killed ourselves as we have done very little for so long and are thoroughly out of shape; this eternal moving on leaves you little time or volition for that regular exercise routine. So please keep your fingers crossed for our boat to be in Manta when she should be; that we get our car onto the boat; and that the car is safely in Panama when we get there; and that everything that should be in the car is still in the car!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pagesturning/latin_america/1167851880/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pagesturning/latin_america/1167851880/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pagesturning/latin_america/1167851880/tpod.html Wed, 03 Jan 2007 14:29:12 -0500 Road trip through Latin America

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Canoa, Ecuador

Well Xmas and New Year have come and gone and little Canoa has convulsed and pulsed with hordes of people but is now back to its deserted self. It is nice to have a non-commercial Xmas: there is very little different in the shops; not a lot of decorations and definitely no piped Xmas carols; just the odd little parade- and some are very "odd"! We watched one in Bahia near Canoa where it was dis-organised chaos: all the little vehicles carrying beauty queens etc were completely covered with only small holes through which to drive and some of the holes were definitely too small; the vehicle pulling the queen had problems with his engine and went forward in leaps and bounds with the queen hanging-on and not daring to wave; some organisers are waving them on and others are holding them back. But everyone has fun. But first we had to get here and to Fin. And before we left Peru the "carreteras" (traffic police) finally did a number on us. They have tried on four other occasions but every time we have waited them out and they finally waved us on. We were about five hours out of Lima when I heard the siren and saw the flashing lights; my heart sunk and woke Sheila from a deep sleep; this was the first problem as she was bleary and did not know what was happening. Anyway they aggressively pulled us over and sauntered across and asked if I spoke Spanish, now the circus started. I drive slower than almost everyone on the road and on the open road keep scrupulously to the speed limits which are often ludicrously slow; several cars had just whipped past me at super speed when they pulled me over. So sorry, they said, but it is the "system"; the system is triggered by a satellite that caught me speeding in an urban area; children are out from school; all very dangerous. Their hands are tied as once I am in the "system" they are duty bound to follow through. Pull the other one! Who ever heard of someone getting caught speeding by a satellite but when faced by aggressive policeman your brain freezes. Well we will have to go back to Lima which is where cases are dealt with and fines paid - another bit of nonsense but by this time he has my driving licence and has showed me a pocket full of confiscated licences. The pantomime continued with one policeman (I realised afterwards) phoning the other so his phone rings and he pretends he is talking to Lima about these speeding Canadians. First I say to Sheila we will not pay then I lose my cool and say pay, pay; they have shown us the infraction and the number next to it is "340" (who knows whether this represents the size of the fine or the infringement number!) which is over $100 but losing my licence is worth much more. Sheila pulls out notes but can only make about 120. In the end they are satisfied with this, make me sign something and say next time my car will be confiscated! Not a bad wage for 20 minutes of work. I know the total is not a lot of money but being impotent in front of two crooked cops makes you feel really bad and really bad for the rest of the day - bastards. So for the next two and half days we drive as though there is something wrong with the car, we are going so slowly. We stopped in Santa (where we had stayed once before on the way down) and then finally in Mancara which is a very busy vacation/surf town and not very pleasant. Finally we made the border relieved that we had not had another run-in with the traffic police. And they are such an idle bunch they simply sit in their new Toyota Landcruisers mostly sleeping until, of course, they see something worth cheating. The border between Peru and Ecuador was its usual scene of pandemonium but this time we were wiser and did not change money into counterfeit notes or park where it seems to cost extra; still have to pay the odd little man who "watches" but otherwise very smooth. Quite a relief to get into friendly little Ecuador; although there are plenty of stories here as well but we have not experienced anything bad. It is sad that both times we have left Peru it is with a bad taste in our mouths because it really is a most fascinating country with generally lovely people. Sheila now had the bit between her teeth and thought nothing of driving non-stop well into the night to get to her little Finian. But sensible me prevailed and we finally stopped in the grand old Paris Hotel on the main square in Portoviejo which is a commercial centre but absolutely dead at night and finding somewhere to eat was quite difficult....the local Chifa (Chinese!) was where we ended up. I am not sure how many years ago they actually cleaned the floors or windows of the hotel but it must have been very grand at some stage of its life. Then off the next day only to be thwarted by a very long line-up at the ferry to cross the river at Bahia on the coast that lasted three hours but we finally found Fin at about 1.30pm sitting with friends and saw as well as a huge welcoming grin the slightly panicked expression on his face. The same one we saw when we met up with him in Australia last year: "Oh God my life is about to change; they are going to nag me about smoking; what am I going to do when this trip is over; and generally try to organise my life!" Poor kid, in fact we've only tried to have a couple of "serious" discussions and he always profits from our visits. I am sure he was the only young man on the coast who had a Xmas stocking from his Mother; most of it was stuff we wouldn't or couldn't wear but Fin is not fussy and is always short of clothes We generally meet sometime in the morning and then again for drinks and dinner in the evening before he hits the nightlife with his mates. During the day he surfs, sleeps, reads and generally mucks around with his mates. We have been in Canoa at the wonderful Hotel Bambu camping under thick trees (being poohed-on by the iguanas) for about two weeks and are moving on tomorrow after Sheila's final visit to the dentist. Yes, Sheila is having her regular medical emergency; which in itself makes a nice story. We found the recommended dentist a woman with what looked like reasonable premises but in a very rundown San Vicente across the river from Bahia. Evidently she put on her sterilised surgical gloves tried to start her drill then suddenly picked up a pair of pliers from a tool box and got down on her hands and knees on the floor to fix some pipes or something! The gloves stayed on; maybe they are to protect her from her clients? Anyway Sheila is quite pleased since the tooth had broken away and the filling has to be done in two stages but the whole thing with injections only costs $15; we could afford to come here and back for how much we could save with our dentist although I suspect this filling will only be temporary. I have had my innocent little eyes opened in Canoa: there are scads of gigolos and they all seem very successful. What look like very nice European girls seem quite happy to buy them food and drink in exchange for favours; where are their brains? As I said before Xmas and New Year were interesting in Canoa as it is normally such a sleepy little village but people seem to come in for the day from miles around. On New years day it was quite impossible to move both on the beach as well as on the roads in the village and we just stayed in the confines of the hotel. On New Years eve they have a great tradition of using half-sized paper mache figures in which they have stuffed all the regrettable things of the year (together with fireworks) and on the stroke of midnight they douse them with gasoline and set light; all over the village there were burning pyres, exploding. It leaves you clean for the coming year. We're heading to another surf place up north tomorrow with Fin for a couple of days and then we high-tail it down to Manta on 10th to prepare for our car's voyage to Panama. If all goes well the vessel sails on the 12th and we fly from Guayaquil on the 13th. Happy New Year to everyone!!!
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