TravelStream™ news feed for member peteanddee on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/peteanddee en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Tue, 06 Feb 2007 20:55:04 -0500 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/peteanddee/central_america/1169253900/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/peteanddee/central_america/1169253900/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/peteanddee/central_america/1169253900/tpod.html Tue, 06 Feb 2007 20:55:04 -0500 2 months in Central America - Guatemala, Honduras, Nicuragua, Costa Rica, Belize, Mexico, Cuba & Panama

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3 days in, Panama

After flying out of Havana, I landed in Panama City on the evening of 19th January, saddened to having left Cuba, excited to be in another new country, a bit melancholy and missing Dee enormously and feeling like it was finally time to go home to Sydney to start a new and uncertain chapter in my life. After a really crap night's sleep in a noisy dorm room I went looking for another place to stay but couldn't find anything so I paid for another night and hoped for the best. I caught a taxi to the ruins of the original Spanish settlement that the Pirate Henry Morgan plundered in the late 16th Century. Lots of interesting Spanish ruins here including the old church belfry, one of the iconic symbols of Panama. Then off to the museum for some knowledge and culture followed by a taxi to the historical centre of Panama City. I walked around here for a while and came across a large sound stage for the Panama Jazz festival. After another hour or so exploring the wonderful streets lined with grand colonial building and crumbling homes I listed to a couple of hours of Jazz at the free concert. Then it was off to the Cuaseway. The Causeway was built during the construction of the Panama Canal from 1904 to 1914. It used millions of tonnes of excavated rock to build a break-wall between four islands at the Pacific entrance to the canal. I walked the length of the causeway then jogged back. The next day I walked a few kms through Panama City and caught to bus to visit Miraflores Locks on the Panama Canal. The Panama Canal is one of the engineering wonders of the 20th century and stretched 80km across the isthmus of Panama from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic ocean. I saw two huge ships go through the lock system that lowers (or lifts) them 54 feet from the level of the Miraflores lake to sea level in less than 20 minutes - very impressive stuff. Then it was back to the hotel to load up the pictures for the blog and to start looking for a job online. So I am finishing this off at Panama Airport about to fly to Santiago then Auckland and finally home to Sydney on 24th January. The last 6½ months of travelling through Africa, South America & Central America have been full of wonderful experiences and it has been the trip of a lifetime. Thank you very much for sharing the journey with Dee and I.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/peteanddee/central_america/1168308480/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/peteanddee/central_america/1168308480/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/peteanddee/central_america/1168308480/tpod.html Mon, 22 Jan 2007 10:47:00 -0500 2 months in Central America - Guatemala, Honduras, Nicuragua, Costa Rica, Belize, Mexico, Cuba & Panama

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12 days in, Cuba

After a short flight from Cancun, my friend Dani was waiting for me as I exited customs at Havana airport hugely excited about spending the next 12 days in Cuba. Dani had just spent 4 nights in Caracas, Venezuela after flying out from London. We jumped into a cab and entered a whole new world as we drove from the airport into the centre of Old Havana. Dani had booked us into the ritziest hotel in town for our first 3 nights and the views from the rooftop hotel and spa where absolutely fabulous as the sun set on Havana Vieja. It is difficult for me to describe in words how much we enjoyed Havana. After travelling through some 21 countries over the past 6 months I was still completely blown away by Havana. The sights, sounds, smells and people were simply overwhelming. Dani and I spent two full days just walking the streets of Havana for hours and hours. At every turn it was a photographer's dream and I took more than 100 pictures on my first day in this breathtaking bustling city. I had wanted to visit Cuba for many years mainly to see how it had evolved under the socialist rule of Fidel Castro for the past 48 years, but mostly for the thousands of old classic cars that are still driving around. This aspect did not disappoint as American cars from the 1940's and 1950's were everywhere. As we walked around Havana there were majestic Chevrolets, Fords, Buicks, Plymouths, Dodges, Packards and many others classics driving past us every minute, waiting in traffic or merely parked on the street looking graceful. Many of the old cars were run down seemingly beyond repair and a handful were in stunningly restored pristine condition with the majority of them falling somewhere in between. There were kerb-side repairs going on every few blocks with greasy overalls tucked head down under enormous bonnets and grubby legs sticking out from under the broken down cars. One old guy was sanding back the roof of a battered yellow 1950's Chevy in the street, caressing his car with love and willing it to go on for a few more years of faithful service. Other old cars were still rattling along protesting with creaks and groans, belching clouds of blue black smoke but still looking so cool. The colonial Spanish architecture in Havana was that good, it almost stole the show from the classic cars. Many of the larger buildings were stunningly beautiful with ornate stone masonry. Most of the colonial era homes were in various states of disrepair with crumbling facades that hadn't seen paint for 50 years, windows were broken and some roofs had collapsed decades ago, but you wanted to stop and photograph every building. The architecture was art in its purest form. Another thing that is difficult to comprehend is that Cuba operates two currencies - Cuban Convertible Pesos (CUCs) and Cuban Pesos. One CUC is about $1.10USD (The govt taxes foreign currency about 10% when they convert it!), where as you get 25 Cuban Pesos for 1 CUC. Nearly everything that tourists buy is in CUCs which is a blatant govt policy to shaft the tourists where as the locals are paid in Cuban Pesos and almost everything they buy is in that currency. As an example the internet is 6 CUCs an hour (and you need to show your passport to use it) where as we bought a piece of chocolate cake for 1 Cuban Peso. However, the Cuban people themselves take the cake. The vast majority of Cuban people are very poor but they radiate happiness in the face of adversity with broad smiles. The people are all manner of shapes and sizes ranging in skin colour from the darkest black through multitudes of mixed race honey browns to some people that are as white as snow. It is truly an eclectic mix. Everyone is friendly and so full of life. Havana is a truly fabulous city but after three wonderful nights here it was time to catch a flight to the eastern end of the island to pick up our rental car. After a 4am wake up and a cramped flight, we checked into our hotel at Santiago de Cuba at about 9am. Our hotel was on the main square and our balcony overlooked a beautiful church. We hit the streets in search of some breakfast and after walking a few blocks we came across a delightful trio of ancient musicians gleefully playing their classic Cuban tunes on a park bench. The streets were filled with hundreds of locals going about their business but seemingly having nothing to do. We walked around and around the streets enjoying the sights competing with trucks, bicycle taxis, cars, horses & carts, scooters, push carts, bicycles and classic old cars. We caught a cab to the war memorial on San Juan Hill where one of the last battles was fought ending the Spanish Cuban American war in 1898. Then it was off to Jardin de los Helechos, a lush peaceful fern and orchid garden a few kilometres from town. We didn't ask our taxi to wait for us so we walked for an hour or so along the rural road back towards the city centre before catching a taxi for the last bit. The next morning we needed to catch a taxi back to the airport to pick up our hire car. As fate would have it we scored a 1956 Chevrolet Bel-Air taxi to the airport. The Chevy was super cool and it would have been amazing to drive around Cuba in it. We arrived at the airport at 10am with big grins only to find the car rental office completely deserted with note saying they would be back at 11.30am, so plan B. We left our bags at the airport and hoofed it in the blaring sun for an hour to visit Castillo de San Pedro del Moro. This stunning 15th Century castle and fort stands proudly at the harbour entrance with gorgeous views of the Cuban coastline. After having fun exploring the fort and taking some pics we gladly jumped into a cab back to the airport. After waiting for another half an hour the rental car guy finally showed up and we did the paperwork then took off in our beast for the next week, a midnight blue Hyundai Accent that had about as much character and class as a dusty plastic flower (Oh we so wished for an old convertible 1950's classic). Although I bagged the Hyundai a lot in the initial few days, it proved its mettle on the very dodgy roads we encountered over the first few days narrowly avoiding thousands of potholes that could have easily ripped a wheel off. Our first drive was heading further east for about four hours to the end of the island and the port town of Baracoa Running the gauntlet of the ocean waves and spray along the Malecon (ocean retaining wall), we arrived in Baracoa at dusk and checked into a hotel on the sea front (Surely it is OK for rental cars to drive through salt water). Luckily we had a room at the back of the hotel, or we would have had waves crashing through the windows! We had our first dinner in a Casa Particular (private residence) where they served us lobster and we got chatting to 4 crazy Canadians who were cycling the length of Cuba. They proved to be about the only other tourists we spent any time talking to on the entire trip...most of the time feeling like we were the only tourists around. We had read in the guide book that the next stretch of road (only 210km) would take us 5 hours...and they weren't kidding with potholes galore! We passed the Canadians cycling about 80km out of Baracoa, still pushing along through one of the most polluted nickel-mining towns on the east coast of Cuba. Arriving in Gibara on a Saturday night and finding the town gearing up for a cheap rum & music party, we decided to stay in one of the Casa Particulars - local people's homes where you sleep in one of their bedrooms and they can cook for you too (it's a bit like staying at your grandma's but you can't understand a word she is saying). After being turned away from a few of them as they were full due to the Saturday night fiesta, a helpful tout took us to one where there was a room left. The room only had one double bed in it and it was quite funny trying to explain that 6 months pregnant Dani and I were not a couple and that we wanted two beds (?dos camas por favour). It was funnier still to have to enter the other room where guests were staying and man-handle a broken ancient bed out their door, down some narrow dodgy stairs and in through the old lady's lounge room to 'our' bedroom. Funnier still was realising that the bed was so delapidated that it had literally broken in half and it only had three legs! One of the landlady's grandsons came to the rescue with two bricks to put under the corner where the missing leg was (like he did it every time they moved the bed). I sat on the bed and the broken wooden frame touched the ground so two of my paperbacks and a Lonely Planet came out of my bag and supported the busted frame perfectly. The granny and her wrinkled old mother gleefully cooked us a lovely prawn curry and with our bellies pleasantly full of local fare we headed out for some tunes and to experience the Gibara fiesta local style. Down at the square on the waterfront the musicians were re-joining the stage after a short rain delay and the teenagers in the crowd were bopping away to the DJ. The 10 piece band kicked things up a bit and we listened to a few never ending songs lifted straight from the Buena Vista Social Club set. There were people of all ages from couples in their 60's through to pre-schoolers dancing, drinking and having a merry time. Most of the people were drinking some local spirit out of old 1 Litre plastic water bottles and they were comical in their efforts to re-fill them from a huge barrel in the back of a truck in the middle of the square. We left the locals to it and tried to sleep with the locals partying on to the early hours, oblivious to the stonking hangovers many would wake up with. We were awoken early by some horrendous squeals from a pig that wasn't real keen on being slaughtered. After our appetites returned we had a yummy breakfast cooked by grandma, then bid our farewells and went for a walk around the town and bought some cheap peso ham rolls. Afterwards we returned to our car to find that a guy had washed all of the mud off it (without us asking) so we gave him a tip and headed off on the twisting road to Playa Santa Lucia, a subdued beach side strip on the north eastern shores of the island. About half way there, we were stopped by a policeman for another roadside check. We asked if we were going in the right direction and before we knew it, he was hitching a lift with us! Hitchhiking is a way of life here for many people, but I think the policemen find it pretty easy to get lift pulling scams like that. We arrived after lunch and checked into the recommended hotel - it was simple, cheap and right on the beach - perfect for some chilling out on a white sandy beach under the palm trees. We spent the afternoon soaking up the sun and did the same the next morning before driving to Camaguey for lunch. We arrived in Sancti Spiritus late after driving the last half hour in the dark on scary roads dodging bicycles, horses, cattle, horse & carts and other unlit vehicles (Don't ever drive in Cuba at night!). We stayed in a lovely hotel on the main square with splendid courtyards and postcard views. After exploring the town in the dark and doing some late night internet-ing we needed to get some grub and went into a pleasant looking restaurant. When we sat down we didn't realise at the time that this was a Cuban Pesos restaurant (ie not really for tourists). They were about to close up and only had two things left on the menu so we ordered two lasagnes, a chicken salad to share and two cans of lemonade. About three minutes later after hearing the ding of the microwave, the waiter presented us with two tea cup sized plates with tiny portions of something that didn't look like lasagne and a tiny serve of spaghetti with white sauce that looked wrong and was inedible. We ate the lasagne, which was easily the worst lasagne I have ever eaten then asked for the bill. I think we were finished about 6 minutes after entering the restaurant. The bill was 14.40. I thought what a rip off if it was CUCs but I didn't know what currency they were charging. So I tried it on and gave the waiter a 20 Cuban Peso note (80 US Cents). He returned with my change and our meal cost 60 US cents (compared to $10-20USD we normally paid for a meal) so it wasn't bad value after all and it showed us a true lesson in the double Cuban economy world. After breakfast we walked around Sancti Spiritus and bought some souvenirs, then drove to the beach at Playa Ancon and had lunch at a restaurant right on the beach. After that we drove the picturesque town of Trinidad for some sightseeing then onwards to Topes de Collantes and our hotel in the mountains. It was late in the afternoon but we went to do the 2 ½ hour waterfall hike. Unfortunately the guards at the gate would not let us enter as it was too late in the day and they said that we wouldn't have time to finish the hike and the Police would have to come looking for us. So, disappointingly, we sensibly skipped it and went back to the hotel for a swim in a bizarre pool a lifetime past its use by date and then had an even more bizarre buffet dinner surrounded by a truckload of eastern Europeans on some type of package holiday. No recommendations from us for this hotel! After lovely early morning hike to explore the wonderful La Batata cave we drove more 500km westwards on the autopista to visit Pinar del Rio province at the western end of Cuba. We arrived at the town of Vinales in the late afternoon and checked into our cabin at the lovely Hotel Ranch San Vicente, about 7km past the town. After a swim, a couple of well deserved beers by the pool and an early dinner it was snooze time after another long day in the car. The next morning we found another guy washing our car (bizarre), drove into Vinales where I unfortunately dropped my camera and broke it. At bit of a shame but my battered camera has thankfully made it thus far, hopefully I can get it fixed back in Aus. We met our guide and went for a 3 hour scenic hike through the local farmland and the foothills of the mogotes (limestone hills) that typified this area. There were several birds, fabulous rock formations, beautiful forests and stunning scenery to soak up. After climbing half-way up a limestone hill, we stopped at a farmer's lean-to and he chopped up a couple of coconuts for us, gave us some nourishing stumpy bananas and a grapefruit too. After the hike, our helpful guide Roly offered to take us to a traditional tobacco farm where they also roll their own cigars so, enthusiastically off we went. Roly told us that he had only been guiding for 6 months since he graduated from Vinales university with a history major. When we arrived at the tobacco farm we asked Roly many questions about life in socialist Cuba and what it was like to live there (some of these questions had intrigued us since we got off the plane on our first day in Havana). Roly told us that everybody has to work for the government or they are working illegally and that all the males need to do 2 years of national service. His wages as an official tourist guide were paid by the government and were a measly 175 National Pesos per months ($7USD) regardless of how many tourists he guided or how often he guided the treks and they would rise to 300 pesos per month ($12USD) after he became fully certified later this year. According to Roly, almost all Cubans receive measly wages from the government and that is the cause for most of the angst so maybe a small pay rise for all might make a huge difference. Roly said that you want to use your own home as a Casa Particular and rent rooms to tourists, you have to register it and pay the government 175 National Pesos a month for the privilege, regardless of whether any tourists stay with you. Roly said that the government took 85% of the tobacco that each farmer grew and that the farmer was 'allowed' to keep the rest of it. He said that in comparison the government only took 10% of a normal fruit farmer's crop (obviously the tobacco brings in some much needed hard currency from exporting cigars). Roly talked about some of the benefits of the socialist system and many of the restrictive constraints such as not being able to buy a car or a house, not being able to rent a room when travelling with his former English girlfriend (mixed relationships with Cuban Nationals and foreigners are a big no no). He said that doubted that the system will change very much when Fidel passes on. He said that everyone learns English at school and we suspect that as tourism increases more and more of the younger generation will be uneasy, possibly leading to the next Cuban revolution for better or worse. It was a fascinating and enlightening conversation that deeply touched our souls. At the Tobacco farm we walked past the crops seeing fresh cut tobacco leaves drying on the racks in the sun and entered the drying building where row upon row of tobacco leaves were hung up to dry. We met the head cigar roller and we sat down with him to some splendid fresh grapefruit and an espresso of home grown coffee. He opened up a bag of dried tobacco leaves that had also been fermented in a mix of rum, sugar, water and honey and gave us a sniff. He then selected some tobacco leaves from the bag, stripped out the veins, trimmed them with scissors and rolled us a perfect Cuban cigar in about 2 minutes! I was sold on buying some genuine 'Cubans' from this guy rather than any dodgy fakes on the street and I took five of his finest cigars and he threw in the one he rolled in front of us for free. We left the tobacco farm and Roly very happy as many of the missing pieces of our Cuban knowledge jigsaw had been filled in. Back in Vinales, after a fruitless wait at the internet café we headed back to our hotel for a swim and bask in the sun by the pool. As we were lounging there in our own little world we reminisced the magical journey we had just been on, thinking about what life was like for Cubans and what was missing. As you are exploring Cuba it is the things that you don't notice that eventually just come to you. No newsagents selling stands of hundreds of trashy magazines, no threatening figures or evidence of hostility or crime, no billboard's marketing so called desirables, no crippling credit card debt or 30 year mortgages, no materialistic culture wanting more and more. It is a simple hard life for the vast majority of Cubans. They barely have enough money for clothes and simple food but they somehow get by, are super friendly and all seem to carry a wonderful disposition. After our reminiscing, Pete had a sulphur bath whilst Dani got a mud pack facial. Then it was a lovely last supper in Vinales listening to a perfect Cuban band on our last night on this wonderful Cuban odyssey. The next morning we paid the guy for washing our car again (???) then drove for three hours back to Havana airport. We got lost for the first time in Cuba as it took us more than half an hour to find our elusive airport terminal. If there is one thing I have against Cuba, it has to be the complete and utter lack of road signs to anywhere, you navigate by the sun and gut feel - fortunately Dani was brilliant at navigating whilst I just drove along narrowly avoiding potholes, trucks, cars, horses and people hitchhiking. We had to return the hire car with an empty fuel tank and believe me, the fuel light had been on for a long time when we thankfully parked the car at the airport. We checked in ok, had some lunch and parted ways with Dani flying back to Venezuela for her course and me off to Panama for 3 nights. Cuba was a truly magical experience for both of us, an unforgettable journey through a wonderfully unspoilt country!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/peteanddee/central_america/1169646480/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/peteanddee/central_america/1169646480/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/peteanddee/central_america/1169646480/tpod.html Sun, 21 Jan 2007 20:51:07 -0500 2 months in Central America - Guatemala, Honduras, Nicuragua, Costa Rica, Belize, Mexico, Cuba & Panama

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Finally home, Australia

Home sweet home!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/peteanddee/central_america/1167868560/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/peteanddee/central_america/1167868560/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/peteanddee/central_america/1167868560/tpod.html Sun, 21 Jan 2007 00:06:25 -0500 2 months in Central America - Guatemala, Honduras, Nicuragua, Costa Rica, Belize, Mexico, Cuba & Panama

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13 days in, Mexico

So I caught the 7.30am water taxi from Caye Caulker to Belize City, walked a few blocks to the bus station and got on the 9am express bus to Chetumal on the Mexican side of the Belize border. After crossing the border OK, we were dropped off at the bus station in Chetumal. The bus station was chockers and I spent an hour in the queue to buy my ticket to Playa del Carmen. I decided to visit the Museo de la Cultura in Chetumal and it was well worthwhile. Heaps of interesting Mayan exhibits, artefacts and carvings helped me to fill in the blanks on Mayan history. The air conditioning was also a welcome reprise from the oppressive heat and humidity. Back to the bus station and five hours later I arrived in Playa del Carmen. By this stage I was pretty jack of travelling all day and went to the closest hostel to the bus station bought some grub and had a couple of coldies before retiring in a surprisingly comfortable and quiet dorm room. I did some overdue washing at a laundromat the next morning and walked around town for a bit before packing up and walking a few blocks to check in at the place that Suse had reserved for us, less than 20m from the beach. My cabin was fantastic with a comfy bed and new bathroom. The cabin also had another bed in the loft but after my last loft related incident I didn't even set foot on the ladder. Not long after I checked in, Jus and Suse arrived looking very tired from all of their flights, so we had a lazy day having a few coldies at the beach. We spent three nights in Playa Del Carmen soaking up the sun, eating tacos, tortillas, and enchiladas washed down by icy cold beer on the beach. On Christmas day we treated ourselves to some delicious lobster and several many salubrious beers.  On Boxing Day it was time to move on so we caught the ferry for 40 mins to the island of Cozumel and checked in for two nights. Cozumel gets 30 million visitors a year (but we couldn't see the attraction), mostly from huge cruise liners that queue up to dock for the day and disgorge their human cargo. The main town is swamped by the sort of sunburnt package tourists that you will do your best to avoid.   We hired some mopeds and did a circuit of the island, stopping for lunch at a ghastly forgettable restaurant by the beach then rode on a little more to find a peaceful stretch of sand for the afternoon. Unfortunately it wasn't really that peaceful as a bunch of American turkeys had bogged their Off Road buggy and couldn't get it off the beach. It was funny to watch this huge guy trying to push his buggy up a 2m high 45 degree sand slope whilst having his hand firmly planted on the accelerator - it would have been a Darwin Award moment if the buggy gripped and took off running over the buffoon but alas our wishes did not come true. We went for a swim and Jus and Suse had a snorkel. After some sun it was time to ride around the rest of the island. We came across a fatal scooter accident that shook us up a bit so that evening was quite subdued. The next day we wanted to do some diving at one of Cozumel's supposed world class dive sites but unfortunately the harbour was closed for the two days we were there due to high winds so that wasn't an option. Looking for something to do, we visited the information booth and decided to catch a taxi to one of the resorts about 15km away. We selected a resort that was $12 entry but it included free use of the watersports equipment including Hobie cats and kayaks so we thought that a sail and a paddle would be good fun. We arrived at this plastic resort only to be told that none of the watersports equipment could be used as it was too windy, but they still wanted $12 entry. We thought stuff that and Jus and Suse walked in without paying the entry fee. I followed them in a few minutes later and no one challenged us. The resort was even worse on the inside with day trippers from the cruise ships all line up in deck chairs on the beach looking like fat lobsters. We decided to walk a few hundred metres down the beach and found a lovely isolated spot in front of an empty restaurant. We spent an hour or two here enjoying the solitude and having a run and a swim. As we were about to go for lunch the guy from the restaurant kindly asked us if we could move on as a tour group was about to arrive for an all inclusive boozy lunch which was fine with us. Then a heavily overloaded sailing catamaran cruised up and rammed into the beach disgorging more than 100 pissed day trippers so that was our signal to walk further down the beach and have a pleasant lunch. We caught a taxi back to our hotel and had another quiet night with Jus needing to do more work stuff whilst Suse and I went shopping for diamonds. The next morning after a somewhat disappointing two days we caught the ferry back to Playa del Carmen and jumped in a colectivo to Tulum, about and hour further south down the coast. Tulum is a little odd with the town a long way from the beach and the nearby Mayan ruins. After being turned away from the hostel and about six hotels we finally found a room to crash for the night in the hotel / restaurant / bar. It wasn't much but by that stage we were pretty desperate and jack of lugging our gear around town. We dumped our stuff, got changed and caught a taxi to see the ruins at the north end of Tulum beach. After seeing the grandeur of Machu Pichu, the towering pyramids of Tikal and the intricate carvings at Copan I wasn't expected to be blown away but still keen to check them out. The ruins themselves were OK but paled into insignificance against the other ruins I had seen on the trip. The big issue was that it was completely swamped with day tripping tourists. We queued for more than 20 mins to get in and it was a complete sh*tfight walking around the ruins. It was quite difficult to soak up the atmosphere here as the number of tourists really spoiled it. Maybe it would have been much better first thing in the morning. We left the ruins and walked south along a glorious beach, more than 2km long with restaurants, cabanas and small hotels scattered unobtrusively in the sandhills behind the beach. After having another swim and a bake in the sun we decided to walk back to the hotel. We arrived 1 ½ hours later with sore feet as we had misjudged the distances somewhat. That night we visited an Argentinian Parillia and Jus and I had a grilled meat feast and a bottle of red - a fantastic meal. The next morning, after a quick swim at the beach at El Paraiso at Tulum, Jus and Suse headed off to continue their journey through Belize and Guatemala. I changed hostels and moved into dorm room further down the road to save some scarce pennies. On 30th Dec I caught colectivo mini van from Tulum to Playa del Carmen, then another colectivo to near the Cancun airport where I was due to meet James Faddy. I was walking towards the airport when a nice guy stops his car and offers me a free lift for the last 2km. James arrived from New York looking a bit shabby and we caught a ride to our budget hostel in downtown Cancun. Cancun is more than a little odd as there is a 20km long hotel strip on a thin sand spit surrounding a large lagoon with all of the hotels fronting the ocean (a bit similar to the beach at Surfer's Paradise, Australia). There is also the main town of Cancun which is more than 10km from the heart of the 'strip'. We had no firm plans other than spending the first two nights in Cancun then getting out of there as fast as possible. We wanted to go exploring places new and ideally wanted to sail to Belize. After an endless search of travel agents we were forced to abandon the idea of sailing the Caribbean as the only reasonably priced sailing trips were day trips. We had a quiet night in downtown and discussed plan B. We decided to rent a car and drive to Belize and see some of Mexico while we were at it. So after some searching around, we hired a Jeep Wrangler for 8 days then went exploring the hotel zone. After a few hours on the beach we headed back for a fantastic dinner and a kip as tonight was New Years Eve. We arrived in the centre of the hotel zone before 11pm and were astounded by the numbers of people queued up outside the nightclubs. We had paid a small deposit for some tickets to the Coco Bongo nightclub but we found out that they were not valid on NYE which was a bummer. As it was $145USD entry fee for Coco Bongo we thought that we would have a few beers at a place that had free entry and see how the night panned out. After several many beers we were enjoying watching the huge queues of people who had paid megabucks for their night club tickets. Some people who queued for more than two hours and many did not get inside before midnight so our chosen dodgy bar was looking ok in comparison. At about 1.30am the queue to Coco Bongo had disappeared so we decided to se if we could get in. We bargained with the guy at the ticket booth and ended up getting in for $30USD each, including all you could drink - great stuff! This night club was amazing as it was part night club, part auditorium and mostly a Vegas acrobatic type show. Lots of glitz 'n glam with tiers and tiers of people having a wild time. James' highlight of the night had to be taking a piss with Rod Stewart who was drunker than ten men. After getting well and truly boozed we left about 4.30am and had a feed of something neither of us can remember before making it home safely before the sun rose. The next morning was a little hazy but after checking out a little late we took the roof off the Jeep, threw our gear in the back and cruised down the highway in the glorious sunshine to Playa del Carmen. We stayed here for two nights soaking up the sun, enjoying the food, having a swim and a beer or three. We also went for two scuba dives to see some turtles grazing on the ocean floor and some impressive walls covered in coral - a safe introduction back into diving after a long absence for both of us. Off to Tulum the next day for lunch at the beach to discuss the rest of the trip. On the drive there we were discussing the possibility of doing a scuba dive in a cenote which is a limestone sinkhole. We pulled up at a place called Hidden Worlds and about 20 minutes later we were suited up and trundling down a dirt road in the back of a jalopy that was some type of truck in a previous life. We stared down the hole in the ground to see crystal clear water 10m below. We climbed down the rickety ladder into a glorious underground limestone cavern. The cavern was amazing with stunning limestone stalactites and stalagmites. We donned our scuba gear and enter the startling clear fresh water of the bat cave cenote. The first few minutes of the dive were absolutely breathtaking and it was a constant WOW for the whole dive. It was like being in a movie - like nothing we had ever experienced before. The actually filmed the cave diving sequences for an IMAX movie at the same dive site. There were small fish in the water and they seemed suspended in space as they cruised past us. We swam through several long tunnels and between limestone pillars that had formed over millions of years. Words can't do this dive justice but it was clearly the best dive of my life! After the exhilaration of the cenote dive we got back I the Jeep and headed for the Nuddy Bar at El Paraiso club which a perfect place to kick back on the beach. As we pulled up at the traffic lights at the edge of Tulum a tout handed us a card for a NYE full moon recovery party on that night at the El Paraiso club (my liver hurt as I read that the party was that night). As fate should have it we waited 2 hours for some breaky (which finally arrived at 4.30pm!) whilst I went on a fruitless search for accommodation so we could stay the night. We scored a new Cabana about 600m down the beach and were set for the party, though our livers were protesting. We had another kip at arrived back at the beach club at 9.30pm. The music was good and it was excellent chilling out on the lounges on the sand listening to the surf with a few icy cold ones. The place slowly filled up with those on various substances dancing to the beat but after a few more hours we decided to call it an early night and left everyone to party for a few more hours. In the morning we drove the 250km from Tulum towards the Mexican border then got hopelessly lost for almost 3 hours. We drove around and around looking for any signs to Belize or the border. There were absolutely none so we got totally lost in two different towns. We asked more than ten people for directions... '?Donde esta la frontera Belize' but it was really frustrating the crap out of us. After doubling back about five times we keep driving north on the road to Cancun, back where we had come from. Seriously, we think it is a Mexican government ploy to not let any Mexicans leave their country by hiding the signs. We eventually found the turn off near some road works that we had already driven past 4 times. It seems that they hadn't put the signs up for Belize yet. Without any definite plan we parked the Jeep outside the Police station on the Mexican side of the border as our rental agreement would not allow the car to cross the boarder. We hoisted our packs and walked though the border OK and crossed into Belize. Mexico - the 2nd time After three enjoyable days in Belize, James and I crossed the border back into Mexico, found the Jeep unmolested, took the roof off again and drove to Coba. The plan was to get to Coba find some accommodation and see the Mayan ruins early the next morning then drive to the airport to fly out. After some nice Domino's pizza in a nameless town we made it to Coba and pulled into the ruins at 4.30pm. We hired some dodgy old mountain bikes and pedalled furiously around the ruins. We climbed the highest pyramid some 42m high and were blessed with spectacular commanding view of the forest canopy far far below. We walked out of the ruins just as they closed an hour later and went around the corner to check in to a Club Med. This place was spiffy indeed but bizarrely it was completely empty. After some left-over pizza for dinner James and I played twenty games of pool, he won 14-6 but I was leading 4-2 at one stage so I should have called it an early night. The next morning it was a two hour drive to drop James off at Cancun airport, drop the Jeep off and take a short flight to Havana to rest my liver on the next chapter in this fabulous journey.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/peteanddee/central_america/1166059020/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/peteanddee/central_america/1166059020/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/peteanddee/central_america/1166059020/tpod.html Sat, 20 Jan 2007 22:19:47 -0500 2 months in Central America - Guatemala, Honduras, Nicuragua, Costa Rica, Belize, Mexico, Cuba & Panama

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12 days in, Costa Rica

The border crossing was a bit confusing, with both sides being separated by a huge gap, trucks and busses moving all over the place, and of course no signage in either Spanish or English. After what seemed like ages, we eventually navigated our way through the border ok and jumped on a very full bus heading south towards the town of Liberia. Unfortunately, Dee was sleeping on the bus (being a donkey is hard work!!) and Pete missed the stop for Liberia, so it was another hour down the track before we realised the mistake we had made. Eventually we arrived in Liberia, where we organised a tour for the next day to Rincon National Park.The national park is quite isolated, so receives few tourists and has very basic amenities. There are different walks to do here, once of which is to reach the summit of the volcano. However, with Pete in his condition and it being a rainy, cloudy day, we decided to do the other two walking tours to the fumaroles, mud pools and waterfalls. The morning walk was quite nice, through dense jungle, across running rivers (no bridges) and up and down the landscape in order to see the fumaroles and boiling mud pools. It was then another walk up and down slippery mud paths to see the pretty waterfall, where we enjoyed our packed lunch - stale bread and crushed biscuits! The waterfall was beautiful, although the water was very cold, so needless to say, Dee didn't go in. After complaining that we hadn't see very many animals, we saw a few white-faced monkeys swinging through the trees and then Pete almost stood on a giant snake lying in the middle of the path! It was a nice day out, but we were absolutely filthy when we arrived home - some clothes won't be making it back to Oz! From Liberia, we caught the bus to Playa Tamarindo, which is a beach on the Pacific coast known for surfing. We had a nice time soaking up the sun, eating delicious nachos and watching the sun go down over the Pacific. We only stayed here one night, but the town had such a relaxed atmosphere that it felt like longer. After some more beach time the next morning, it was then onto a shuttle to the little town of Monteverde. Monteverde sits up in the mountains and is surrounded by cloud forest. It is a very picturesque town with lots of log cabins, so we decided to spend 2 nights here. The next day we headed to the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve. We had a nice time walking around, admiring the flora and trying to spot some wildlife. You could hear the howler monkeys, but the best that we could see was a couple of birds and a centipede. The Hummingbird Gallery was next door, so we popped in for a quick look. It was amazing to see these birds up close as they are so small and yet their wings beat unbelievably fast. We also visited the Frog Pond and saw the multi-coloured frogs that Costa Rica is famous for. What we didn't expect was how small they were: some about the size of your thumbnail - it's no wonder we didn't see them whilst walking around the Reserve! It was quite amusing when the guide pointed to the glass display cabinet and introduced us to the cane toad - guess we'll have to get used to the sight of these creatures when we get back home! As it was our 2 year anniversary, we decided to head out for a nice meal, although it was early to bed again as it was another early start in the morning. We caught the bus to San Jose and upon arrival experienced a little bit of drama. As Pete was bending down to help Dee with the big bags, 2 guys sandwiched him and pretended that they were also unloading their bags (personal space is scarce here), whilst a third guy rummaged in Pete's pocket and grabbed the money belt (the clip had broken during the fall from the ladder, hence being in the pocket), containing both our passports and a small amount of cash. Pete realised what had happened and quickly ran after the man, before tripping over the guard rope at the bus terminal. When the criminal heard Pete after him, he quickly threw the money belt on the ground, which Dee quickly retrieved, whilst Pete still lumbered after the 'baddy', dropping his day pack as he went, again leaving Dee to collect the remains. The security guard realised what had happened, came to help Pete and managed to clobber the man in the kidneys with the knight-stick. The man seemed to be surrounded, but then suddenly made a break for it, charging into Dee as he went. She tried to grab him around the neck, but whilst holding onto 2 daypacks, the tackle was ineffective.  With Pete wheezing, beyond speech and in pain and Dee not knowing if the man still had any of our possessions, she dropped the bags, ordered Pete to stay guard and without a second thought sprinted after the man through the streets of San Jose, just before asking (in perfect Spanish!!) the security guard to help her. She chased the baddy down one street, around the corner, up another, round another corner, however always about half a block away but with pedestrians, taxi drivers and shop assistants yelling at her which way the man went. When she eventually caught up to him, the police already had him against the wall, so a kick to the bollocks would probably have seemed inappropriate! Dee was huffing and puffing whilst they patted down the man and tried to ask her if he was the correct guy and what had happened. Well, without actually knowing if he was the right guy, what had actually happened or where the hell she was, Dee tried to communicate in Spanish and English and lots of hand-gesturing as best she could.  Pete meanwhile, was back at the bus terminal, with the bags safely locked in the office, when somebody told him that the man had been caught. Unfortunately, Pete couldn't determine the whereabouts of his girlfriend, so was a little worried! With police escorts, Dee navigated her way back to the bus terminal to be reunited with Pete, where we decided to go to the police station in order to go through the paperwork needed to charge the baddy. This obviously took a long time, before we were herded into the boss's private car to pick up our bags and file the charge with the judge at the Judicial Court. Some funny moments occurred with the two policemen trying to carry our big bags and then listening to 'Funky Colmadina', whilst hooning through the streets of San Jose. Well, after our excitement for the day, two very nervous tourists headed off to a different bus terminal in order to head to the Caribbean coast and the little town of Cahuita. After our drama, we thought it was time to stay put for a little bit and ended up staying three nights here. The first day, we organised a snorkelling trip to see the coral reef. Unfortunately, an earthquake destroyed the majority reef 15 years ago, so there wasn't a lot of live coral to see. We did however see a cuttlefish, lots of huge fish and a gigantic puffer fish. Our guide then took us to the edge of the National Park, where we saw lots of cheeky white-faced monkeys and a fluorescent yellow, poisonous snake. One of monkeys jumped into the boat and ran off with a plastic bag belonging to our guide, who then had to chase him. Luckily the 'thieves' were uninterested in our bag! We then spent the afternoon relaxing and soaking up the sun. The next day, we rented a scooter and headed south to visit some other beaches. We went to the beautiful beach of Manzanillo, where we were the only tourists lying in the sun before heading to the more popular, surfing beach near Puerto Viejo. The next day, we had organised a tour to take us to the northern end of the Cost Rican coast to visit Tortuguero. From the little town of Moin, we took 4 hour boat-ride through the canals, stopping to see some of the many species of birds, lizards, monkeys and crocodiles along the way. We arrived at the very small village of Tortuguero and went for an afternoon stroll along the beach to try and find some baby turtles making their way from the nest to the water. Unfortunately we were about 15 minutes too late to see ten baby turtles making the journey. However, we were lucky in that one poor little green turtle was a little disorientated and swam out of the ocean, back to the beach, ran around in circles a couple of times before heading back to the water - somehow I don't think he's got a long life-expectancy! It was great to see the one tiny turtle, about the size of your palm, frantically moving his flippers about, but after our many failed attempts in different countries, I think we are going to have to try and get our turtle-nesting/hatching experience back in Australia. We had a lovely seafood dinner of giant freshwater shrimps that night before our canoe ride through the National Park the next morning. Our guide was very good and managed to show us lots of birds, including a toucan from afar, a lazy sloth, lots of birds, crocodiles, otters and 2 different types of monkeys. It was then a very long journey to get back to San Jose, via a 'banana boat' and then 2 more buses. We were definitely on our guard this time and managed to reach the hostel with no dramas. For our final day, we decided to book a tour to see Volcan Poas. The volcano is still active, however as the crater is filled with water it helps to keep the eruptions at bay. You can still see the steam rising though the water and there is evidence of acid rain on the leaves of the plants. We then went on a short walk to see the extinct crater lake, which was a beautiful blue colour, surrounded by forest and was supposedly the scene for a James Bond movie.It was then back to San Jose to organise our bags and go our separate ways. Dee is flying home for Christmas and Pete is making his way towards Belize, Mexico, Cuba and Panama, meeting up with some friends along the way. All in all, it's been an absolutely fabulous trip and we will be taking home a lifetime of memories home to Aus with us!!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/peteanddee/central_america/1166656560/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/peteanddee/central_america/1166656560/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/peteanddee/central_america/1166656560/tpod.html Fri, 19 Jan 2007 22:51:43 -0500 2 months in Central America - Guatemala, Honduras, Nicuragua, Costa Rica, Belize, Mexico, Cuba & Panama

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7 days in, Belize

After sussing out all of my options to somehow get from Costa Rica to Cancun, I finally decided to save some money and catch the bus for 50 hours over the next four days. I went to the bus company to book the tickets but they were all completely sold out for the next 8 days. I walked all across San Jose to the other companies and they were all sold out too. Back the hostel, I thought hmm....I'm screwed here. So onto the web and I started searching all possible flight combinations to get me anywhere near Cancun. I found a flight to Belize City via San Salvador and booked it so I flew to Belize early the next day, a few hours before Dee began her lengthy trek back to Aus. So I am on the plane thinking...where am I going to go in Belize? After a reading the travel guide I decided that a few days in the sun on Caye Caulker would suit me so here I am. I caught a water taxi from Belize City to Caye Caulker and have spent three nights here kicking back and recovering. I hired some snorkel gear yesterday and snorkelled the northern part of the island seeing lots of fish hiding under the mangroves. This morning I went for a gentle kayak for an hour and I seem to have got through that OK. The sun is out, the palm trees are swaying and the water is about 30 degrees. The beers are icy cold, everyone is friendly and the sounds of Bob Marley are drifting in the breeze. This island is so laid back that you could stay here for days and days. After three nights resting up on Caye Caulker it was time to make my way to the Mexican border town of Chetumal so I caught the 7am water taxi to Belize City, then walked a few blocks to the bus station and jumped on the 9am bus to Chetumal. Belize 2nd time After finally making it to the border my friend James and I parked the Jeep outside the Police station on the Mexican side of the border with Belize as our rental agreement wouldn't allow us to take the car out of Mexico. We crossed the border ok and jumped in a cab to the Belize town of Corozal. We bought our ferry tickets from our taxi driver, checked into the hotel the went for a walk around town and grabbed some Chinese take away. Up at 6am the next day we boarded the fast ferry for the 2 hour ride to the town of San Pedro on Ambergris Caye. We checked into the hotel, explored the town, visited some dive shops and went up the beach to a resort to use their sun lounges and hammocks for the rest of the afternoon. As the sun was going down we headed home and dropped in at a dive shop to enquire about night diving the following evening. The said they were actually doing a night dive in 15 minutes time and if we wanted to come along they would throw in the dive gear for free. So after a quick dash back to the hotel to get changed, we were quickly into the wetsuits and heading out to sea on the dive boat as the Caribbean sun was setting. The dive was through fairly shallow water (3m - 12m) at a marine reserve inside the reef. It was my first night dive so the first few minutes in the water were a little nervy but then it was time to hunt out the marine life. We saw a couple of giant crabs, delicious looking huge lobster, various coral, and a parrot fish and grouper that were both at least a metre long. A two metre long moray eel topped of some great sights. Unfortunately the dive was a bit amateurish as the two groups from our boat got mixed up together so there were about 12 divers all bumping into each other, the sand and the coral. There were also a couple of people with really large dive cameras that spoilt things a bit. All in all we were happy that we dived in Belize but after our Cavern dive in Mexico, it was a bit of a let down so we decided not to do another dive. The next day we just chilled out on the beach at the resort again and had a few quite beers which was nice and relaxing then we went out for a few noisy beers, bar hopping through the town. San Pedro is quite similar to Caye Caulker but is a bit more developed and has lots more people and traffic getting about. On our third day at San Pedro we caught a small plane back to Corozal, a taxi back to the Mexican boarder and were soon driving back up the Yutican peninsula.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/peteanddee/africa_2006/1158003720/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/peteanddee/africa_2006/1158003720/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/peteanddee/africa_2006/1158003720/tpod.html Fri, 29 Dec 2006 16:35:58 -0500 10 weeks in Africa - South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda and the Congo

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16 days in, South Africa

We flew from Nairobi into Johannesburg, where we picked up our hire car and negotiated our way through the streets via the 'safe way'. The next morning we headed off on our Soweto Township Tour which was a great experience. There are 5 million black people living in the township and we saw the homes of the famous residents, the church that was at the centre of some of the uprisings and the Hector Pietersen Museum. There used to be a lot of shanty shacks that they lived in, however the government has been systematically building cheap housing with running water and electricity for most of them for the last 50 years so there are few shanty shacks left.Off towards Kruger National Park in the Toyota Tazz - a new car, but identical to a 1988 Toyota Corolla - no power steering, a tape player and a carby as well. I don't know what the story is by these cars were everywhere along with the VW Citi which was a VW golf of the same era. We did the southern part of Kruger and saw heaps of animals including elephant, giraffe, white rhino and lions with cubs - it was way cool. Quite a different experience to see the game from our little car and we were pleased that our game-spotting skills had become more refined.After Kruger, we stayed in Graskop and hired some mountain bikes. The scenery was lovely with rolling hills and farmland. We had a nice ride and got to visit a few of the waterfalls in the pine tree forest.We then travelled to a little town at the base of the Drakensburg Mountains and liked it so much that we decided to stay a bit longer. We booked ourselves on a Sani Pass tour which took us over the Drakensburg Mountains and into Lesotho. Lesotho is a separate country in the middle of South Africa. They were never affected by an apartheid type system and it was interesting to see how the whites integrated into a typically black culture. We visited a traditional home in the village, where the women stay for about 8 months of the year to tend to the crops and cattle. The house was surprisingly warm as the oven was in the middle of the house and as it was used it also heated the stones under the floor. The lady in the house cooked some traditional bread for us and we sampled the local brew - unfortunately not very nice. We then visited the highest pub in Africa, where it was so cold, the beers needed no refrigeration!We arrived in Durban for some much needed sun, relaxation and to watch the Wallabies play the Springboks on TV. There is a big Indian population here, so needless to say we had to try this 'traditional' meal. We found Durban to be very multi-cultural, with different races on equal par financially. The beach was lovely and it was great to watch the sun go down with a few cocktails!We then headed towards the mystical place known as Hogsback, so called because the mountains look like the back of a hog. It was raining when we arrived, however this only made it appear more eerie with the clouds hanging low to the ground - it is easy to see why this was supposedly the inspiration for JRR Tolkein's Lord of the Rings. We had a lovely little cabin all to ourselves, with a wood fire, which Pete started up for Dee as she wasn't feeling well. We went on a hike the next day to see a really old tree and some waterfalls. The 3 local dogs showed us the way, causing us to scramble up and over the rocks in the rain!Jefferey's Bay is traditionally known as the best surfing beach in South Africa and it was an awesome sight to see the surfers out there catching right-handed waves just in front of our hostel. We wish we could have stayed there for more than one night.After Jeffery's Bay, we backtracked a bit to do something very special. We went to a private game park that allowed you to pat lion cubs. We arrived and saw the zebras, wildebeest, big lions and three tigers that had been removed from Cape Town Zoo. The highlight was seeing the three really cute 9 week old lion cubs that were from the same litter and included a pure white cub. We were led into their cage by their keeper and were allowed to spend 20 minutes playing with the cubs, picking them up and patting them. They were so cute! On the way out we saw four 4 month old lion cubs but they were far too big to play with.Off to a beautiful cabin overlooking Plettenburg Bay where we went for a walk on the beach but it was far too windy and cold to go for a swim.Dee had read that you could ride ostriches in Oudtshoorn, so of course we were going to have to go visit and have a go. We did a tour of the ostrich farm, where it was interesting to hear how they are not overly smart birds, due to the size of one eye-ball being larger than the size of their brain! The eggs are extremely strong and we could stand on them without breaking them. Every couple of days, the farmers remove a couple of eggs to trick the female into laying even more eggs! The keepers caught the ostriches for us by chasing after them with a long stick (apparently they run away from things that are taller than themselves) and then bending their rubber-like necks and placing a bag over their head. Because the ostrich can't see what's going on, they are a lot calmer. This was a very funny site and the ostriches never seemed to catch onto the name of the game. Dee had great fun riding one, where you got to sit on the back of its body and hold onto the feathers on the wings. The keeper then ripped the bag off its head, chased after it with a long stick and you were expected to hold on for dear life! Lots of fun and laughter!Stellenbosch is the most famous wine region in South Africa and it would've been rude of us to have come all this way and not try the local samples. We joined a wine tour and visited four wineries, learning how the wine was made, stored and the 'fine art of tasting'! One of the wineries had goats roaming in a circular-type house and this was of course where we got to taste some cheeses - all very delicious.We then headed towards Cape Town and travelled down the peninsular to Cape of Good Hope and along the way saw the very picturesque village called Simon's Town. We stopped off nearby to visit the penguins, which were very cute, wobbling around in their dinner suits. We walked out to the very bottom tip of Africa and were able to see where the two seas collide at Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope. From the land we could see the rocks hidden under the water and it was easy to understand why so many ships didn't make it around the cape.On our last day in South Africa, we visited Robben Island. This is where Nelson Mandela was jailed for more than 20 years but was also a very important place for the leadership of African National Congress and other organisations vehemently opposed to the massive injustices of apartheid and the tyranny of the government policies towards blacks. They had a museum there and it was interesting, although shocking to learn about the racial discrimination that was going on during our lifetime and to hear first hand accounts of the brutalisation of the prisoners. Unfortunately it was too cloudy to go to the top of Table Mountain, so we will have to do that on our next trip to this breathtakingly beautiful country. We are saddened to leave Africa after 10 fabulous weeks here, but we are very excited about the next chapters in our adventure: South America and Central America.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/peteanddee/central_america/1165447680/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/peteanddee/central_america/1165447680/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/peteanddee/central_america/1165447680/tpod.html Wed, 20 Dec 2006 17:37:56 -0500 2 months in Central America - Guatemala, Honduras, Nicuragua, Costa Rica, Belize, Mexico, Cuba & Panama

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5 days in, Nicaragua

We crossed the border OK and continued on the bus to Managua. We got off the bus and into a taxi, who was supposed to take us to the shuttle station, but when we arrived there were no shuttles as it was Sunday afternoon. On later reflection we think he might have had a scam going as we met people at the hostel who were on the same bus and managed to get a shuttle - not to worry! The taxi driver eventually took us to the bus station so we could catch a bus to Granada but he royally ripped us off. There was no time to argue as Dee was already on the chicken bus with our bags and it was driving away so Pete just paid the taxi fare and jumped on the bus. After another long day we checked into a hostel in Granada but they only had one double room left, which was a loft room. Against better judgement we decided to take the room (big mistake), had a couple of quiet drinks, a nice dinner and a few games of pool.  When it was time for bed, Dee went to the bathroom and Pete climbed the ladder to the loft room. Unfortunately as Pete got to the top of the ladder, the base of the ladder slid out on the slippery tiles and as Newton says, 'what goes up ... must come down' ... and down it was ... with a giant thud!!! Pete fell about 3m and landed badly on his hip, ribs and shoulder on the very hard tiles. After about 15 minutes of screaming, hyperventilating and unbelievable pain we decided to call the ambulance. Pete could barley breathe and was in a bad way, but the people at the hostel were great and everyone tried to help Pete out.  The dodgy ambulance showed up with some paramedics but after nearly dropping the stretcher, almost rolling Pete off the stretcher and having about twenty unsuccessful attempts to ram the stretcher into the back of the ambulance, we were beginning to think that we were in a bad comedy show. Needless to say, there were lots more agonizing groans. Thankfully we arrived at the hospital OK, but as our Spanish was very limited and Pete couldn't talk at all, Dee had to draw several diagrams and make hang signals to communicate to the doctors that Pete had fallen off a ladder and smashed himself to bits. Things improved a little when Pete was given some oxygen and pain killing injections, although Dee was a little worried about the health and safety standards of the hospital. Three X-rays later they confirmed at least one cracked rib, but Pete also thinks that he damaged something near the base of his right shoulder too. Dee however still thinks that there was just hair on their X-ray machine! The hospital was a fairly dodgy place with antiquated equipment and dirty sheets so Pete decided to head back to the hostel and stayed in a single room with no ladders to negotiate. Cracked ribs are unbelievably painful, the only respite you get from the pain is when you don't move or breathe: a real challenge if you want to stay alive. In the morning Dee went off to get the painkillers from the chemist with the script we received at the hospital. We didn't realise that the script was actually for an injection and it took a lot of sign language to try and communicate that we needed to buy a needle as well. The pharmacist eventually supplied the needle too but then thought that the injection was meant for Dee and was more then willing to help with this procedure! Luckily Dee communicated that it was for her amigo and survived the experience with her butt still in tact. Speaking of needles, Dee is not very good with needles and feels queasy at the sight of them. It was a very big step for Dee to give Pete and injection in the bum (not a pretty image ... how far has this relationship stooped?). So, battered and bruised from hip to shoulder Pete decided to walk very slowly around the central plaza in Granada for a bit then move onto the next town. For the next few days (more like weeks, Dee says!!) Dee had to pack both large backpacks and then carry them everywhere as Pete was completely useless and could barely walk let alone carry 30kg of gear.  A taxi, bus and another taxi later we arrived on the Pacific coast at a beach town called San Juan del Sur. We wanted to chill out here in the sun, let Pete recover somewhat and also go to the nearby turtle breeding beach. We signed up for the turtle tour but it didn't go ahead the first night as there were not enough interested people so Pete went to bed early to rest his battered body. We spent a few hours the next day at the beach and signed up for the turtle tour again. Unfortunately again there were not enough people so we watched 'Paycheck' on DVD instead. We were a little disappointed about missing out on the turtles so we decided to move on the next day and caught a taxi via Rivas to San Jorge and bought tickets for the ferry to Isla de Ometepe. Isla de Ometepe is an island in the middle of Lago de Nicaragua, the largest freshwater lake in the world. The island was formed by two volcanoes, Volcan Concepcion and Volcan Maderas. The ferry ride was very rough and we were grateful to get off in the port town of Moyogalpa. We stayed in the closest hotel to the ferry terminal to save Dee having to lug both backpacks all over the island. Due to Pete's injuries, we were unable to climb either volcano, hire mountain bikes or do anything overly exerting. After discussions with a very helpful tour operator, we decided to do an all day tour of the island instead. We met our driver at 8am and visited a co-operative coffee farm at Finca Magdalena to see the ancient petroglyphs, then had lunch at Santo Domingo. It was then off to Altogracia to see the petroglyph statues, then the beach, Playa Venecia, at Laguna Charco Verde where we went for a walk near the lagoon and enjoyed the stunning view of Volcan Maderas. To finish off our day we watched the sunset on Lago de Nicaragua at Punta Jesus Maria. A fabulous day out! We were up early the next day to catch the ferry back to San Jorge and a taxi to the Costa Rican border.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/peteanddee/central_america/1164816300/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/peteanddee/central_america/1164816300/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/peteanddee/central_america/1164816300/tpod.html Wed, 20 Dec 2006 17:36:37 -0500 2 months in Central America - Guatemala, Honduras, Nicuragua, Costa Rica, Belize, Mexico, Cuba & Panama

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6 days in, Honduras

After crossing the border we spent our first night in Honduras in the lovely town of Copan Ruinas next to the Copan Mayan ruins. We walked to the ruins and decided to tour them on our own without a guide. At the entrance there were several beautiful scarlet macaws posing for photographs and entertaining us. Whilst not as impressive in scale as Tikal, Copan is famous for intricately carved stelaes depicting the kings of Copan. We spent a few hours exploring the wonders of the ruins, climbing over the temples and seeing the impressive ball court with six famously carved macaw heads. The Hieroglyphic stairway was breathtaking. The flight of 63 steps was allegedly built by King Smoke Shell and it contains several thousand glyphs depicting the history of the royal house of Copan. The stelae in the great plaza were beautifully carved between AD 613 and AD 738, depicting the various Copan kings of the era. From Copan we caught the bus to La Ceiba for the night and took the ferry the next morning to Roatan in the Bay Islands to kick back in the sun for a few days. We stayed at Chillie's hostel in a cute little cabin only meters from a beautiful Caribbean beach in West End Village. We checked in and headed straight to the beach for a swim in the gloriously warm water and a few hours of sun-baking on the golden sand. Roatan is very chilled out and you definitely feel relaxed here, especially after a couple of beers or pina coladas at the bar on the beach. We cooked ourselves a nice dinner for a change and relaxed with a few drinks in the cabin playing cards. The next day we hired some snorkelling gear and a brand new scooter to tour the island. Unfortunately the weather was against us and it rained most of the day making it a little challenging to ride the scooter on the muddy, pot-holed dirt roads. However we still managed to get all the way to Paya Bay near the eastern end of the island. We visited Punta Gorda, a garifuna settlement and then across the island to Oak Ridge, a port town with many timber houses built on stilts over the water. After some lovely prawns at a restaurant overlooking the glorious coastline, the rain was getting stronger so we headed back to the hostel. An hour later, we arrived home completely soaked, but thankfully we managed not to drop the scooter. On our last day we went for a snorkel at West End then caught a water taxi up to West Bay, a gorgeous sandy bay lined with palm trees and a pristine reef for snorkelling. Snorkelling was excellent but not quite the same as snorkelling with seals in the Galapagos. We really enjoyed our stay on Roatan and could easily have stayed a few days more.Onto the ferry to La Ceiba, a taxi to the bus stop and a bus to Tegucigalpa, before staying the night in a dodgy hostel and then bussing it to the border with Nicaragua.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/peteanddee/central_america/1164076140/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/peteanddee/central_america/1164076140/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/peteanddee/central_america/1164076140/tpod.html Wed, 20 Dec 2006 17:35:48 -0500 2 months in Central America - Guatemala, Honduras, Nicuragua, Costa Rica, Belize, Mexico, Cuba & Panama

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8 days in, Guatemala

We flew from Quito to Guatemala City then jumped straight into a shuttle heading for Antigua, about an hour away. After our first night in Central America we explored the beautiful town of Antigua which is surrounded by three volcanoes. Cobbled streets, multi-coloured historic buildings and a lovely central park make this a special place. After lunch we got in the van for our tour to Volcan Pacaya.  Volcan Pacaya (2552m) is the only active volcano near Antigua. It isn't just a bit active, this volcano has molten lava pouring down the side of it constantly. We met our guide and began our ascent of the volcano. After an hour or so of steady uphill trekking we saw beautiful views of a hydro-thermal lake and three neighbouring volcanoes, one of which were emitting large puffs of smoke every few minutes. We came across a large lava flow that happened about 6 months before and had to scramble over the brittle volcanic rocks to get to the new path on the other side of the lava flow.  It was getting dark as we neared the top of the volcano and saw our first glimpses of the fiery red lava. Lots more scrambling was required for the last 500m as we had to climb over the lava field which was still smoking in some places and through the cracks you could still see the molten red lava just below our feet. The sun set just before we reached the newest lava flows and it looked completely amazing in the dark. There was a river of molten lava only metres away from us, pouring slowly down the mountain. We climbed a little higher and another lava flow branched off a few metres in front of us and headed towards us. It was intensely hot and after a few quick pictures it was time to head to safety. We didn't get to the top of the volcano as the lava was pouring out the side, about 400m from the summit; but getting that close to the lava flows was an incredible experience. The next day we boarded a shuttle to Panajachel, a nice little town on the shores of Lago de Atitlan. The lake is surrounded by several volcanic peaks and has small settlements scattered around its many coves. A beautiful sight! After only one night in Panajachel, we packed up our stuff and boarded the shuttle to Chichicastenango. The markets at Chichi were absolutely fabulous. We spent several hours exploring the lively markets and bought some clothes, electrical stuff and presents. The local ladies wore very colourful outfits and it was good to see them haggling over the price of a live chicken. After lunch we bargained down the price of another shuttle and headed off to Quetzaltenango (Xela). We spent the night in Xela and went exploring the town the next morning, spent ages trying to buy some bus tickets and made a frantic dash on a chicken bus to the hot springs at Fuentas Georginas. We got off the bus at Zunil and jumped into the back of a local ute for the 8km drive uphill to the hot springs. Time was against us as we had a long distance bus to catch, so we only managed 20 minutes in the hot springs but it was absolutely worth it as they are supposedly the prettiest natural spa in Guatemala. The pools are surrounded by cliffs covered in lush tropical vegetation and overlook a beautiful valley. Dee was asked if she could have her picture taken with a bunch of locals, which was quite amusing! Then it was into the back of the ute again for the frantic dash down the mountain, luckily our driver had agreed to take us all the way back to Xela. We grabbed our bags from the hostel, jumped a taxi and made it to the bus stop with only a few minutes to spare. Onto another rickety old bus bound for Guatemala City, a quick bite at Maccas then boarding an overnight bus to Flores to see the wonders of Tikal.  After another crappy overnight bus journey getting woken up every half hour we caught an early morning shuttle to El Remate for some R & R on Lago de Peten Itza. We stayed in an 'ecological bungalow' which didn't have any windows or doors. It was basically a hut with hardly any walls, but a nice view over the lake. After a much needed kip under the mosquito net we went for lunch and explored the lake shore. It was then up early again the next day for our shuttle to Tikal, the grand daddy of Mayan ruins. Tikal is a truly wonderful experience. The temples are massively constructed up to 60m high and are spread out through the dense jungle. There are thousands of ruins at this ancient Mayan city and it takes several hours to explore the highlights of the site. The Great Plaza is the centre piece, flanked by the Temple of the Grand Jaguar (Temple I) and Temple II with the acroplolis del norte on one side and the central acropolis on the other. The view from Temple II was great and left us wanting to climb more temples, so it was off to climb Temple IV with a spectacular view of the jungle canopy with the tops of four of the temples standing tall and proud above the tree tops. We explored as many ruins as we could, climbed all of the temples and wondered what life was like in this city more than a thousand years ago. We went into one of the small museums on site to see the original stelae and altars which were intricately carved, detailing the life and accomplishments of the various Mayan kings. We were very tired after all the climbing and walking more that 10km around the site so were glad to jump in the shuttle back to pick up our bags at El Remate and get dropped off at Flores. Once again, it was onto another bus, this time bound for Rio Dulce. At Rio Dulce we went to the famous Finca el Paraiso, a boiling hot waterfall an hour on a chicken bus from Rio Dulce. The waterfall was fab and it was great sitting under the falls getting brutally massaged by the naturally heated mineral water pounding our backs. The pools above the falls were so hot that you could only stand ankle deep in them for a few seconds before getting cooked. We were told that the bus back to Rio Dulce was coming past at 2pm but unfortunately it was more than an hour late so by the time we got back we didn't have enough time for our jungle cruise. Up very early again but it was raining so we had to miss out on the jungle cruise and hopefully see something like that in Costa Rica. Onto the bus again heading for Copan in Honduras and after changing buses, hoarded into very cramped shuttles and taxis we finally made it through the border to Copan Ruinas.
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