The Big Trip: Costa Rica - The Jungle

Wow!

Not sure how to write this up because it cannot convey the intensity of the past 7 days.

Corcovado national park is a mindblowing place and so far removed from the 'other' Costa Rica full of gringos and established tours.

It is situated in the south of Costa Rica on the Osa Peninsula and consists of 50,000 hectares of protected rainforest including 800 species of birds and, 139 mammals and 116 amphibians.


We finally arrived at Rio Drake Lodge in the late afternoon after our long journey from Palmar Norte. The lodge is in a fantastic location, isolated at the end of a long quiet beach. Currently, a work in progress, it is owned by a very friendly guy called Edu. We set up our tent in a covered area close to the beach and then walked the 20mins to the nearest shop for some beers and dinner. On our return we were introduced by Carol to Ballardo, her friend and self-proclaimed 'JungleMan' (or JaguarMan, he kept switching between the two). Ballardo grew up in the park and is an expert on jaguars having spent a few years working in Corcovado and San Francisco on conservation projects. He agreed to be our guide in the jungle for the time we would spend there and promised to show us the real 'jungle' rather than the well trodden trails found around the ranger stations.

The following day we walked 3km along the beach with Carol and Tabitha to Drake Bay, a small village north of the park. We also had our first pipa, the sweet clear liquid of the unripe green coconut. We needed money and having misread the book that told us there was an ATM there (the nearest bank was actually one day away in Puerto Jiminez!) we searched for somewhere to cash travellers cheques. However, this proved fruitless and thus we found ourselves stuck in Corcovado with no money with which to live on or pay Edu or Ballado. In the evening, we discussed our plans for our time in the jungle with Ballardo and arranged to set off early next morning and finish in Jiminez on the eastern side of the park so that we could eventually get money for payment.

Ballardo awoke us the next morning at 6.30am so that we would have time to prepare and also to avoid the high tides of the various rivers that crossed the beach on our way down the coast. We took with us just our tent, rainjacket and sunscreen. First we walked for 1hr to Drake to get supplies that consisted of bread rolls, biscuits and plenty of water.

We then, after a short walk along the beach, entered the jungle for our first days trekking. We were heading towards a place called Rincon which was where we would set up tent for the night. We passed quite a number of locals on the way through the jungle and Ballardo seemed to know them all emitting a sort of jungle-yodal to each one to catch their attention. We saw many animals on the way including scarlet mccaws, white-faced monkeys and toucans and at one point had to cross a crocodile-infested creek by boat. We continued through the jungle following the coastline, sometimes walking along beautiful deserted beaches before re-entering the jungle.

A few hours later, we finally made it to Rincon and pitched our tent on the beach just as the skies opened and the rain started to fall. This was when Ballardo discovered that he has left his tent poles behind. We thought this wouldn't be a problem though as being Jungleman he would be able to fashion a bivouac from palm leaves in no time at all. Minutes later however, he has returned to inform us that he is going to stay with jungle friends at their place a small walk from where we are camped. We started to wonder if he really was the jungle man!

Anyway, Ballardo invited us over to meet his friends Rafa and his wife Lidietta who he hadn't seen for a few months and they gave us a hot meal and then asked us whether we would like to stay with them. We refused politely as we wanted to stay on the beach in our tent. It became apparent as the night wore on that to refuse their offers of hospitality would appear to them as an insult so the next time they offered we accepted. As though an important multi-million dollar contract had just been agreed on, there was much shaking of hands and smiling faces.

Rafa and Lidietta are charming people and couldn't do enough to make us feel comfortable. We learned from Ballardo that Rafa had fought in Vietnam against the Americans and had helped train the Viet Cong on behalf of the Nicuraguan government (he was born in Nicuragua). Suffice to say, he doesn't have much time for the Americans.

Later on that evening we walked along the beach with Rafa and his wife to a local bar called Poor Mans Paradise where we shared a few beers. On the way, Rafa and Ballardo caught crabs which later became a delicious soup.

Rafa and Lidietta spoke no English but we got by as best we could with Ballardo as our intermediatery but it was not always clear what was being said or agreed on between him and Rafa. Having no money, we were wary of accepting too much from them but Ballardo assured us that it was all taken care of even though we were not sure what that meant.

After a few more beers back at their home we were shown to our room as though we were royalty and slept well sheltered from the torrential downpour outside.

The next morning, after Lidietta made us breakfast we packed away our unused tent and entered the jungle once more. It was beautiful trekking, sometimes quite tough, but extremely rewarding as we saw a rare white falcon, more macaws, monkeys, toucans and pesotes. It got to the point where we were getting blase about the wildlife, it was so abundant.

At this point it needs to be said that although we were trekking in the jungle we were not actually inside the Corcovado protected area. The park at 50,000 hectares forms only part of the wider jungle which doesn't for some reason enjoy protected status even though it is still dense jungle. We walked to San Pedrillo rangers station on the edge of the park and against Ballardos advice (that there would be less wildlife becasue of the tourists) decided to pay $8 each to enter the park. We spent a couple of hours inside the park and although we enjoyed some cool trekking including some river crossings we only saw one agouti, a very expensive one at that.

Late afternoon, we made our way back to Rincon. The last part of the trek was at dusk including an exciting but quite scary scramble up a steep bank whilst thousands of bats screamed overhead. One hit Mel on the head which she didn't like very much.

Back at Rincon it was obvious we were going to be staying another night with Rafa and Lidietta.
In fact, they had pulled out all the stops that day and had assembled a large welcoming committee including a family friend Alex and Ballardos so called 'second father'. We got fed again on chicken that Lidietta had killed that afternoon and kept topped up on the local firewater Cacique, a kind of rum.
By this point, it was getting rather embarrassing for us as we had no money with which to tip them but they kept showering us with gifts including Ballardos crocodile necklace, a wallet (needed one of those), two necklaces for Mel and some lucky jungle beans. They seemed to have adopted us into the family and showed genuine heartfelt emotions promising that this would always be our home should we come back to the area. It was all quite fluffy and overwhelming.

See pics here of the end of trek party!

We went to bed exhausted and drunk.

In the morning and following a swim with we waited on the beach for a boat to take us back to Drake so that we could pick up our backpacks. We then took a taxi and headed towards Jiminez. Rafa and Lidietta came with us and invited us to stay the night with their daughters family in La Palmar, it would then be an easy matter of getting the bus to Jiminez the next morning to find a bank...

Again, we were fussed over like were royalty and more food and Cacique was forced on us. Rafa gave Mel his army hat as used in Vietnam and then proceeded to show off his scars where he was shot!

Rafa organised a taxi for us in the morning after a Cacique 'hair of the dog' and we all headed to Jiminez together to find a bank such that we could pay Ballardo and Rafa and Lidietta. I don't know why Rafa and Lidietta needed to accompany us but it soon became apparent that Ballardo had been promising them tips for all the meals, lodging and transport etc and that this had totalled quite a large sum.

Just our luck the bank was closed and the ATM didn't work. We were beginning to panic now and Rafa and Ballardo were starting to look nervous. We had one last chance to get cash and that was to get the ferry across the bay to Golfito (30min) to find the ATM there. Mel agreed to go with Ballardo whilst I stayed behind with Rafa getting drunk in a bar. It was a tense afternoon, especially as Rafa kept buying me beers that I was obliged to repay him for.

Eventually, Mel and Ballardo reappeared with the money and there was much celebration all round including another round of beers. There then followed an awkward moment whilst we paid Rafa/Lidietta, I don't think they felt they were properly compensated and Rafa's mood turned dark. It was embarrassing for us as had we known that everything had a cost attached we might have made different decisions. And they kept reiterating all along that all their hospitality was free and from the kindness of their hearts.

We all stayed in Jiminez for the night and went out to a local restaurant with the others which was tense as Rafa and Lidietta had obviously had a fight over the money amongst other things, which got worse when they found out they were to pay for their half of dinner.

So, we returned back to the hotel a little upset that our wonderful experience had been tarnished at the finishing post but I think it will blow over and that we will all remain good friends for life!

After an emotional goodbye to Ballardo we left Jiminez the next day for Golfito and onwards to Panama for Xmas and NYE!

In summary, I think that before our journey we had a romanticised notion about what it would be like. I think we felt that we would be camping in the middle of the jungle living off berries and catching our dinner etc but in fact what we got was a more authentic experience of the jungle and the people who live in the jungle.

For a complete set of our Costa Rica photos click here.

Facts
Rio Drake Lodge: $6 per peron per night camping

The Big Trip: Costa Rica - Panic a snake!

OK. So what to say about Costa Rica. It is by far the most developed country we have been so far and there is a large US influence of course, the worst part being you bump into a lot of Americans but if you can ignore that half and just concentrate on the wildlife then it has so much to offer with probably the most diverse ecosystems in Central America. If you´re into birds then this is the place to come but suffice to say there is stilll no sign of that damned elusive Quetzal!

We began our Costa Rican experience in Liberia. This is a fairly non-descript town but which provides a good base from where to visit the Rincon de la Viejo national park. On our arrival in Liberia, we found the Liberia Hotel which was run by very friendly people providing good advice. However, we then found out that not only was the park closed on Mondays (the next day) but that the country was inconsiderate enough to be holding national elections with the bizarre and wholly inexplicable side-effect of a ban on alcohol sales for two whole days, can you believe that! So, the next day we decided to spend on the Nicoye Peninsula. We began at Playa del Coco which was an awful place and so quickly moved on to Playa Hermosa which was nicer but very US in flavour with condominiums a plenty. Still, we had an enjoyable day on the beach and got some snorkelling in.

The next day we went to Rincon. It was fantastic walking culminating in a lovely waterfall and even a hummingbird and nest spot by yours truly! See our pictures here.

6 Dec
We got an early bus towards Monteverde having made the decision not to go to Fortuna and Volcano Aranel (having already been to Volcan Pacaya). We arrived early evening at St Elena (St Elena and Monteverde are both small villages separated by 5kms and both have cloud rainforest reserves) and found accomodation at Cabinas Del Pueblos . St Elena is a pretty albeit quite touristic village and reminds me of an alpine skiing village but with rainforest instead of snow!

We decide to spend the first of our two days here at St Elena cloud rainforest which is spectacular (pics here) although the day, of course, doesn´t pass of without incident. Towards of the end of our walk through the forest, and just after I say to Mel that it's a pity we havn't seen a snake, I go and step on one. I didn't spot it until I walked over it but Mel did. Unfortunately the snake now separated us and I was in a dead-end path with no where to go. The snake was not going to move and was on the defensive, it's head reared up and giving me the snake-eyes!
We deliberated about what we should do whilst the snake remained motionless staring me out. Nothing phased it and it didn't flinch even after we threw sticks at it, nor did it budge when a Dorito came it's way. We decided that the best course of action was for Mel to run back to the lodge and get the wardens. So off she went and half an hour later the cavalry arrived with a long pointed stick and removed the offending article. We were then able to return safely to base to ponder over what went wrong. Pics here.

The next morning was the zipwiring tour! Zipwiring, for those of you unaware, is when you slide down a series of taut wires attached by a harness to a small flywheel, and you literally zip from point to point. In Montervede and St Elena the tours take you over and through the rainforest canopy. Our company EXTREMO! had only been operating for two weeks and had the highest (100m) and the longest (750m) wire around. For about an hour and a half we zipped around the canopies like monkeys on speed sometimes not being able to see anything around us but mist. The tour finished with a 30m rappell followed by a stomach-churning tarzan swing (there is movie footage of us doing this, to be added later I hope). As there were only three of on the tour we were allowed to do the swing again but it didn't make it any less scary.

In the evening we cooked spag bol which was nice as you don't often get the chance to cook for yourself when travelling around.

9 Dec and 10 Dec - yesterday
We move on from the rainforests to the coast and Quepos which turns out to be an absolute dump and an evil place, it's only saving grace is that it's cheap to stay there (we stayed at the Wide Mouthed Frog) and it's near the national park of Manuel Antonio. We spent the following day at the park which is small but perfectly formed with the abundant wildlife more than compensating for the tourists. In the space of five minutes we saw white-faced monkeys being cheeky, a pesote (similar to a raccoon) enjoying a coconut, a sloth with baby not doing much and iguanas topping up their tans on the rocks.

Interesting fact about sloths. Sloths are not what you'd call killing machines but they do exhibit aggressive tendencies occasionally. On the rare occasions when they do fight, the spectacle apparently resembles t'ai chi recorded in slow motion.

So, after a gorgeous day out in the park we pack our bags and head off towards Uvita which is halfway to Corcovado National Park, our most eagerly anticipated part of Costa Rica. However, we missed our stop for the Toucan hostel and had to change our plans and stay in Uvita village instead. But, when we went to collect our backpacks from the luggage compartment I discovered to my shock that somewhere along the way from Quepos someone had taken my backpack thinking it was theirs (in the dark they must have looked the same). So, I am left holding a knackered old backpack containing pots and pans and a machete. At this point I am in shock trying to come to terms with all that has probably been lost, the tent, clothes, chargers, toothbrush etc and wondering what the hell we are going to do. Luckily, my daypack contains everything of real importance like all mour documents, iPod, camera etc.

We decide to stay in Uvita for the night (at an overpriced and bland room costing $30, haggled down from $50!) with the intention of catching the same bus going back to Quepos at 5am the next morning in the hope that the other person was as eager to get back their belongings and would perhaps intercept us on the way through.

11 Dec
After the worst nights sleep yet, we awoke this morning and caught the 5am back towards Quepos. I am in a foul mood and Mel is very patient to the extreme. As luck would have it, about an hour up the road Mel, the star, spotted my pack at the side of the road along with an anxious looking local. I jumped off the bus feeling a huge sense of relief and also disbelief that we had been reunited. I exchanged bags and hugs with the man, it was a moment.

Back in Quepos, we awaited the bus going back south and it was here we met a French Canadian woman called Carol and her daughter Tabitha going the same way and also planning on staying in Corcovado at a lodge just outside Drake Bay on the northern side. Since we had no real plans for doing Corcovado yet we have decided to go with them to the lodge and have got as far as Palmar Norte, a shitehole in the middle of nowhere, where we are staying at a Chinese restaurant.

I lost another wallet today with $20 in it. I should stop doing this.

Tomorrow, we head for the Corcovado and the unknown.

Adios!

Facts
Currency is the Colon with 535 Colons to $1
Liberia Hotel - $7 per night for dorm
Cabinas Del Pueblos $10 per room with shared kitchen and lounge
Wide Mouthed Frog $9 per night with pool

The Big Trip: Nicuragua - Manholes and Leatherbacks

Buenos Noches!

Phew...the last two weeks seem to have flown by.

Nicuragua is an extraordinarily friendly country and I only wish we could have spent more time there, it has so much to offer, although it could do something about all the holes in the streets...
It has some amazing volcanoes and crater lakes, beautiful sunsets, fantastic surfing (if that's your thing) and stunning wildlife. Also, the rum is to die for, especially a brand called Flor De Cana. Bottles sell for around $5 and they are extremely drinkable. There is a 4yr, a 5yr, a 7yr, 12yr and apparently a 20yr. I intend to try them all and report back.

So, we finally managed to leave the island of Utila and after spending one night in Tegucigalpa, the decididly dodgy capital of Honduras, we finally arrived in Granada. After a couple of unsuccessfull attempts to find accommodation we are eventually offered a room in a house affilated with a youth hostel called Hospidaje La Libertad ($15/rm inc breakfast and free internet), a really cool collection of rooms around a courtyard with a fountain. We spent the rest of the evening just wandering around people watching and eating pizza. Granada is a very picturesque colonial town nestled on the western side of Lago Nicuragua which is so large it seems more of a sea than a lake. It reminds me very much of Antigua in it's layout and color scheme.

The next day we arose late and spent the day just doing our admin. Every now and again you need to stop somewhere and spend time on the boring stuff like laundry, writing emails, buying bits and pieces from the shops etc. It's amazing how quickly a day passes without actually seeming to have done anything. One of the great things about being away for so long is that when you want to, you can just decide to do nothing for the day and just sit around being lazy. This doesn´t happen (with me anyhow) when you only have two weeks somewhere. I'm always up at the crack of dawn planning the day to get the most out of the trip which means you get a lot done but at the same time is not really relaxing. It's refreshing not having to think like that although Mel will testify that this behaviour still rears it's ugly head every now and again, and probably more often than that!

Anyhow, after mooching around all day we decide to go and catch happy hour at The Bearded Monkey. We had just left the apartment to head out for the evening when I heard Mel cry out behind me. I turned around in alarm, my adrenaline already rushing through my veins to see Mel chest high in a manhole(womanhole?) in the road. I rushed over and pulled her out (surprisingly easy on adrenaline!) and sat her down on the curb. I really expected her to have broken her leg or some ribs but luckily she came away with only some bruising and a nasty cut on her stomach that we decided required stitches. After enquiring at the hostel we managed to find a local pharmacy/surgery that was open and within half an hour a doctor had arrived and stitched her up good and proper. And all this cost only $10 and she was seen to quicker than she would have been in the UK! So far, I am impressed with the Latin American health service.
By the way, the reason why there are so many holes in the road in Nicuragua is that thieves steal all the covers for the scrap metal value.

The following day, not wanting to be deterred by her injury, we hired bikes and cycled up to a local butterfly farm and spent the afternoon chatting with the owners about butterflies. They recommended a local comidor for dinner and it was here that we discovered the delights of the Nicuraguan rum Flor de Caña after accidentally ordering a bottle of it...

When we both came around, we realized it was morning and that we had arranged to spend the day at a lakeside lodge called the Monkey Hut, part of the Bearded Monkey hostel. It's set in a beautiful location on the edge of a crate lake and we nursed our heads kayaking and swimming although Mel didn't because she wasn't allowed to what with her stitches and that.

We vowed to leave Granada the next day and headed to the Isle of Ometepe. This is an island consisting of two volcanoes in the centre of Lago Nicuragua. At this point we were travelling with our German friend Marcus who we first met in Guatemala, then in Utila and then found again in Granada. I knew we would probably bump into people again and again as there is a north south 'trail' which a lot of travellers follow but it still surprises you when you turn up in some seemingly remote part of a different country and meet someone you know. Also, it becomes a bit of a joke saying when after each emotional goodbye you just bump into the same individual a few days/weeks later. But you never know so you go through the motions anyway. Actually, one of the upsetting parts of this travelling lark is that you make quite intense friendships with people over a short period of time and then wave goodbye knowing that you probably won't see them again.

So, we found a really cute hospidaje in Altagracia called Hotel Ortiz($5pppn) run by a very friendly fellow who called himself Mario. He helped us by informing us of the various excursions speaking Spanish very slowly.

In the morning we took the local bus to Agua de Ojo, a natural spring on the side of one of the volcanoes, it was very pretty. We then walked down to Playa Santa Domingo where we had lunch and it started to rain...very hard. When the last bus back failed to materialize, we waited over an hour in the rain watching the monkeys, we decided to try to walk the 7kms back in the dark. Luckily, after about 30mins we were picked up by some lads in a 4x4 and soon realized that walking back was a stupid idea.

29th Nov
We leave the hotel and Marcus (for definitely the last time) and catch a ride to Chaco Verde on the southern tip of the western volcano. Chaco Verde is a small national park and a place to chill and watch monkeys and that's exactly what we did as well as imbibing more of Nicuraguas lovely rum. We left the island the next day to head towards San Juan Del Sur just in time to miss the sunset. San Juan del Sur is a small surfers paradise on the south western point of Nicuragua and apparently blessed with fantastic sunsets! We stayed in the Hospidaje Casa 28 ($5pp, horrible beds).

The next day we headed for La Flor, a turtle conservation refuge some way south of San Juan. We had heard of an expensive hotel there that the guide book said we could also camp at but when we arrived they wouldn't accept us and were asking for $80 a night for one of their cabinas! So we had one other option, to try to get to the rangers station on the beach and stay there. We hitched down there and managed to avoid paying the $27 charge for camping on the beach by agreeing to set up tent next to the station on hard ground. We cooked potatoes for dinner that we had brough from the expensive hotel. Then went to the beach armed with our torches to find turtles. We bumped into the park wardens who let us wander around with them. It was a good idea as no sooner as we had started they found us a newly hatched nest of baby turtles making their way towards the sea and freedom (I say freedom loosely as only one in a hundred of the babies will actually survive the various dangers inherent in the journey).
Minutes later and we strike the jackpot! Large tracks lead us up the beach to a line of palms where underneath a large female leatherback is digging her nest so that she may lay her eggs.
It's an incredible sight and we stay there for about an hour whilst she lays her eggs, the rangers allowing us photos providing they are taken from behind! We leave before she returns to the sea but the next day we return to find a set of tracks leading back to the ocean.

After returning to San Juan Del Sur for one night we headed for the border at Peñas Blancas which we crossed with minimal fuss before finishing our journey at Liberia, our first stop in Costa Rica!

Facts:
Currency: Cordoba 18 to one dollar
Best rum: Flor De Caña 7rs

The Big Trip: Honduras - Pills, Thrills and Bellyaches

Well, Utila has been a game of two halves.

Utila is the smallest and the flattest of the three major Bay Islands and is closest to the Honduran mainland. Utila is a different world to mainland Honduras because of the British influence on the Bay Islands for 300 years. The island is mostly uninhabited except for the small fishing village of East Harbor, now home to many dive companies. Historically Utila was largely a fishing and agrarian community but it's prmary source of income is now diving tourism.

It's very different here to Guatemala, a distinct Carribean vibe and more affluent. The food here is good, plenty of rice and beans and good quality chicken, fish and steak! A special mention goes to RJs opposite the dive centre which had great snapper and wahoo.

The language here of the locals is weird though. I can recognise all the words as being English but I still can't work out what anyone's talking about, it's like the words are all in a fifferent order. Also, the music here is terrible and has almost driven me mad. It's called Reggaeton and is a hybrid of dancehall and ragga. In a word, it's shit and has no discernible merit whatsoever. I'll be happy to leave it behind.

So, we arrived by ferry about 10 days ago to absolute perfect Carribean sunshine and headed for the dive company Altons that had been recommended to us by a couple of friends we met in the Spanish school. We decided to take accommodation with the school as it was very cheap ($4pp or free if doing a course) and situated right beside the jetty. Mel enrolled to do her PADI advanced course following a refresher dive the next day whilst I signed up for a package of fun dives.

The next few days saw some fantastic diving especially in Turtle Harbour on the north side of the island. Notable sightings included

hawsbill turtles

barracuda

porcupine fish

lobsters

a nice octopus on a night dive (also cool bioluminescence)

juvenile spotted drum fish

However, the weather didn't hold out and for the last few days we have witnessed the belated beginning of the rainy season in Utila. The atmosphere is completely different to the preceeding few days. The rain has been falling hard, the visibility has deteriorated and the mood of everyone here dampened. It hasn't helped that the same time as the weather worsened so did my health. This was due to taking antibiotics on an empty stomach following a mild fever resulting in it burning a hole in my stomach lining making every mouthfull feel like swallowing scolding water doubling up in pain. So I have been out of action for the last few days feeling very unsociable because I can't eat or drink and we have been going stir crazy in our little prison cell sized room with only our books to keep us company. It really has been quite dull and I am only now starting to feel a little better.

The last couple of days we have been trying to leave the island but the weather is so bad that the ferries have been unable to leave. Thus we have resorted to booking a flight out of here to the mainland tomorrow morning.

I shall be quite happy to leave after the last few days although overall our experience of Utila has been great, having each got in about 15 quality dives!

Tomorrow begins the long journey south to Nicuragua...

Books read:

Pillars Of The Earth by Ken Follett: Thought I'd hate it but it was a great providing much insight into daily life in the middle ages in England

Marinou Stork Nightmares by Irvine Welsh: nasty book full of grim characters that I probably should of read when I was 17

The Big Trip: The Ruins Of Tikal

Since the last update we have reluctantly left the beautiful Guatemala behind us for Honduras and are now about to embark on the second phase of our trip. Tomorrow we catch a ferry to Utila, one of the Bay Islands of Honduras where we will be hoping to notch up a few dives!

But that's all in the future. Let's catch up on the past few days shall we?

We stayed at El Retiro in Lanquin for a couple of days which, as mentioned before, is a beautiful ecolodge, in the central region of Guatemala. Incidentally, they also have a fantastic iPod service so I am now packing a mean collection of tunes.

The highlight of any trip to this region is the day excursion to the Ka'anba caves and the Semuc Champey national park. The cave expedition ranks up there with Volcan Pacaya as another excursion paying scant regard to health and safety regulations. On arrival we were kitted up with a single candle and then told to follow the guide into the caves. Having rained a lot in recent days we expected it to be wet but we didn't realise was that for most part we would be neck deep in cold water and swimming upstream in an underground river. It felt like proper Indiana Jones stuff as we all swam slowly through the cave system holding our candles above us or at some points in our mouths. The best was to come though as the guide to each of us in turn behind a surging underground waterfall. There was a sense of elation in everyone's faces as we exited the caves in a torrent of water.

In the afternoon, we moved on to the national park of Semuc Champey. This is a paradise of pools and waterfalls set amidst a lush valley with some fantastic walking trails. We spent a few hours here enjoying the clear turqoise waters of the stepped baths. The pools are actually a limestone bridge over the river Cahbon (don't ask me how they were formed) and upstream you can see the water being channeled under the bridge, as it thuders through it is a spectular sight. You wouldn't want to fall in here.

Our second day at Lanquin was a little more sedate with some nice tubing down the river (link to follow hopefully) and then in the afternoon a trip to the local batcaves of Lanquin which was very cool as you could sit at the entrance of the caves at dusk and experience the bats emerging in their thousands.

The following morning we arose early to make the long journey to Tikal national park which contains the spectacular Mayan ruins and is set deep in the jungle of northern Guatemala. The best way to see Tikal is to enter the park after 3pm (Q50 to enter), this then allows you free entry for the entirety of the next day. You are then able to experience the awesome sunset and sunrise in this mystical place.

We were too tired to go straight to the park after our travelling so we decided to spend the night at El Remate on the northwestern shore of Lago Peten Itza. We found a cute hotel called La Casa de Dona Tonita (Q60pp) and spent the evening swimming in the warm waters of the lake.

The next afternoon we caught a local bus to the park entrance. We had decide to camp here at the Jaguar Inn as not only was it the cheapest option amongst many expensive cabañas but it would allow us to be right at the park entrance for the sunrise tour.

It's difficult to describe how wondeful Tikal is. Although thousands of years old it feels very alive and you can easily imagine what it must have been like back then. See this wiki for further information. We watched the sunset from the top of the Temple Del Mundo and after asking one of the guides were permitted to stay in the park until after closing allowing us to experience the ruins by moonlight, it was magical.

The next morning we were up at 4.30 for the sunrise tour (Q100). Our group was led by the guide to Temple IV where we all climbed to the top to wait for the sun. We were greeted by an awe-inpiring view of the jungle with swirls of mist hanging above the canopy. As the sun edged it's way over the horizon the howler monkeys started to speak to each other, it was an unearthly sound and quite eery. It was the most mystical ting I have ever experienced...man! Incidentally fact fans, this exact view was used as the backgound to the rebel base in Star Wars!

Photos of Tikal here.

After a few more hours exploring the ruins and watching the monkeys we left Tikal and travelled east towards the border and the second country of our trip, Honduras. We stayed in Rio Dulce near the border for a couple of nights at a hostel called The Backpackers. Rio Dulce is a beautiful river and a very popular stopoff for those yachting around the Caribbean. Not owning a yacht, we spent an afternoon on a walking tour around a local reservation and chilling in a nearby ecolodge.

The next day (yesterday) was another long day travelling across the border into Honduras and up to the north coast to the rather non-descript town of La Ceiba. Tomorrow we will take the ferry over to Utila for a few days diving - I can already feel the Carribean vibe taking over!!

I shall miss Guatemala a great deal especially my time at the school and with the family. It is a beautiful country of beautiful people and one day I will return. Although next time I shall be more careful of my things.

The Big Trip: The Drunken Horse Race of Todos Santos

Finally managed to post this update from an ecolodge in Central Guatemala. We are now staying at the beautiful El Retiro lodge in a village called Lanquin in the Verapaces region where we are chilling out for a couple of days before heading northwards to our final destination of Tikal.

We left San Pedro last Sunday after completing our third week of lessons at the school. It was quite hard saying goodbye to those we had spent so much time with, especially our teachers and family. On Saturday, we had our last meal of pizza as prepared by our US friend Caitlin and then on Sunday headed by boat to Panajachel where we would head towards Todos Santos for the annual drunken horse race and Day Of The Dead celebrations. Joining us for the ride was Joel, an Aussie with an eye for sarcasm and a fiercely competitive card player.

We made such good time that we managed to reach Todos in the evening and we arrived to a surreal scene. The small highlands village was shrouded in fog and in the small central square there were two antiquated ferris wheels along with some fairground stalls that looked like they could have been pulled from the Victorian era. It was like something out of a Stephen King novel and if an evil clown had turned up he wouldn't have been out of place. Coupled with this, all the people here where the same traditional costume/uniform so the square was filled with groups of men and boys all wearing the traditional red stripey trousers, white shirt and straw boaters who all turned to watch us as we walked across the square to try out the rustier and most dangerous looking of the two wheels.

Sticking to backpacking principles we found the cheapest place in town, a barn at Casa Mendoza (Q30 each) where we spent a freezing night, vowing to find a hotel the next morning.

Monday:
The next morning the cold mist had dissipated leaving behind it a beautiful springlike day.
We spent some of the morning trying to find alternative accommodation, eventually settling on Hotel Mam, where the three of us found a room to share that was warmer and had a shower.

After lunch we checked out the local Spanish school for learning or volunteering opportunities as there was still over two days until the actual race, but had no luck what with the fiesta and all.

Mel and I explored the village in the afternoon, a very small but pretty village nestled in the valley at 2500 metres up. We walked a loop around the village passing a slaughterhouse on the way just as the butchers were pulling the entrails from a cow's carcass. The crazed smiles of the butchers and the pack of snarling dogs waiting by the entrance just added to the feeling that this place wasn't quite right...

The bizareness continued into the evening where we attended a crowning ceremony at the local vilage hall. It was a kind of beauty pageant in which the local girls took turns solemnly parading themselves down the hall with a strange shuffle like dance before being crowned on the stage. We stayed for what seemed like an eternity whilst these expressionless girls walked past all the while being filmed by their proud parents and accompanied by an hilarious 3 piece marimba band (The marimba, by the way, is the national instrument of Guatemala, is similar to a large xylophone and normally played by 3 people).

It got a bit boring so we went back to the hotel to play more cards and have a beer in the hope that when we returned events would have livened up a bit. But no, now it was speech time and every girl took her turn on the mike thanking everyone first in Mam, the local Mayan language, then in Spanish. We left after the first one had finished having congratualted ourselves on experiencing some of the local culture. At least the food was top notch!

Tuesday:
The next day was spent just chilling and waiting for the race although we did go on an interesting tour of the local pueblos. Later that night we stayed up drinking the local firewater quetzalteca and playing cards.

Wednesday - Race Day Nov 1:
Every year on this day the Todos Santians hold a spectacular all day drunken horse race (the riders, not the horses) that starts at 8 in the morning and continues all the way through to 5 stopping for 2hrs at lunch so the riders can refuel with more beer. This tradition started hundreds of years ago following the invasion of the Spanish Conquistadors who introduced horses to Guatemala that were stronger and had more stamina than the indiginous animals used at the time. The Mayans resented the Spanish mastery of their horses and consulted their Shamans if they could use the horses too. The Shamans said that the nature of the Mayans was not in harmony with the nature of the horse but if they could show that they could master the animal then this would show that they too possessed similar strength to that of the invaders. Out of this arose the ritual of the race whereby the potential riders would drink copious quantities of beer before being introduced to a horse they had never ridden before in order to prove their mastery and manhood. The riders ride in teams and spent the whole of the preceeding night at the captains house drinking beer and singing as it could be their last night alive (20 riders have died in the past few decades). The race and accompanying fiesta are so important to the locals that they will spend their entire years savings on the one day which may include the hiring of the horse, and all the drink and lavish food.

We watched the race unfold during the day as the riders got more drunk and we witnessed quite a few falls, some hilarious and some that looked wince-inducingly painful.

See the pics here.

Thursday and Friday:
We left the morning after, nursing our sore heads and saying our godbyes to Joel, with the intention of getting as a far as we could towards Lanquin where we had heard there is a beautiful lodge by the river where we could relax a couple of days after the Todos madness. We took a microbus to Huehue then got another to Uspantan, a miserable place with an all year round light drizzle, where we had to spend the night in a dinghy hotel. The weather took a turn for the worse the following morning as we made an early start towards Coban. This involved a treachorous and highly stupid journey over the mountain pass where we were forced to stop for over 2hrs whilst the road was cleared of a boulder the size of a small car! I did feel quite nervous...

Well, we finally made it to the lodge in Lanquin in the afternoon which is as amazing as we were told.


Films we have seen update:
The Motorcycle Diaries - wonderful film about an epic journey around South America by Che Guevara and friend by motorbike
Crash - the best film I have seen in years. It is about racial tensions and stereotypes and follows the story of several LA residents over a 24hr period.

The Big Trip: Maximon and the Lost Keys

Another week gone and the Spanish is really coming on well now. I have learnt the pretorit, imperfect and future tenses this week along with stacks of vocabulary. It's going so well in fact that we are going to spend another week here at the school.

Not much else to report on this week.

On Tuesday we went to see the Shawshank Redemption at one of the local cafes. However many times I see this film I never get bored of it, it's an absolute classic.

We were invited to a good birthday party at a bar called Jarachik on Wednesday. Jammed with band on the bongos for a while until it started to rain hard and we all had to move inside. Also, went to a fantastic chill out bar Zoola to watch the same musicians jam the next night.

Saturday was quite an eventful day.

We finally met Maximon today. Maximon is an wooden effigy representing a Mayan God. There are several of these located in various parts of Guatemala and they must be placated with gifts, most usually a cigar and rum! Read more about him here.

The most revered Maximon lives in Santiago Atitlan, a small market town just 20mins boat ride from San Pedro. We arrived late morning and were immediately accosted by a group of young chicos who all offered to take us to him for a small fee of Q5. After a brisk 5min walk we arrived at the current residence of Maximon and paid our Q10 to have our photo taken with him.

Later on, in the evening, Mel prepared a traditional Aussie BBQ for our family before we went out to the Buddha bar for drinks. A good night was had by all and we arrived back at our house at 1.30am, slightly inebriated, only to find we had left our keys inside our room! We tried to knock on the door and call out for Juan but with no success. It was then I had the drunken but brilliant idea of climbing onto the roof of the house so that I could access the property from the stairwell (they are currently adding a couple of floors to their place to accomodate more students so the stairwell is open to the elements). Melanie skillfully hoisted me up and somehow I managed to pull myself up onto the roof before tiptoeing down the stairs to let her in. It was then I discovered that we needed the keys to open the door from the inside. I turned to head towards our room to recover the keys to find the door locked (presumably by Juan after we left). So....I'm stuck in the reception area and Mel is waiting outside and everything has taken a turn for the worst, when Juan walks out loking slightly dazed and confused asking what's going on. The next few minutes we spent embarrasingly trying to explain, in Spanish, with the aid of our phrase books what had happened.

I think they are ok with everything now. I wrote them a letter this morning to apologise.

So, today there has been torrential rain from 1pm so I have pretty much been sitting here updating this blog and my photos. Later on we will head towards the Alegro where we hope to defend our pub quiz title.

The Big Trip: Kayaking and Chichicastenango

"Romans They Go The House" ?

It's Monday morning and time to tell you about what we've been up to in the last few days.

Our classes are going well and by the end of this afternoon we will have completed our first week. Clarita seems quite happy with my progress so I am going to step up to 5hrs a day for the second week.

Have been learning all my present tense irregular verb conjugations in the last couple of days which has been pretty tough going but I´m sure I'll get the hang of them eventually.

We had quite an eventful weekend. Saturday we went on a kayaking expedition to San Marcos where we jumped off rocks and swam in the lake. It also saw the first appearance of the frisbee (thanks Damo). You can track the journey of the frisbee in this link if you like. Just add it to your bookmarks to follow it's trail across the Americas!!

We met up with the same crew later on at a bar called Alegra where we downed a couple of litres of Sol before heading off to Chillies for some live music. Messiness ensued and we ended up in a club called Freedom playing superb Drum&Bass. Somehow we ended up being the last people there and we stumbled around San Pedro looking to party further with the bands trombonist (tromboner?).

Needless to say next morning we felt pretty groggy but we had to be done at the lakeside to catch a 7.45 bus to Chichicastenango for it was market day! Although quite touristy now and no cheaper than anywhere else it is still worth a visit to this famous market as the hustle and bustle of the traders and the kaleidoscopic array of colours make for sensory overload, even better with a hangover!

But not only that, there is a Shaman idol up on the steep hill just outside the town that you must see if ever you're here. It or he is called Pasqual Abaj and many people make the trip here to send messages via the shaman or to pray for luck and prosperity to loved ones dead or alive. It's quite an intense feeling being there and although we didn't witness it, there is quite often sacrifices of live chickens and pigs etc.

Pics of Chichi and Pasqual here.

Last night we arranged to meet up with some of the people we went to Chichi with but the rain was so heavy that we couldn't get down there. So instead, we went back to the Alegra for a burger and a pub quiz which we won netting us two bottles of Sol. Nice. We'll be back there next to defend our title.

Tonight we are cooking omelettes for our family.

The Big Trip: San Pedro

Adios mis amigos y bienvenida a San Pedro. Estoy escribiendo esta de un Internet cafe. Esta viernes en la manaña and todo is bueno! Estamos estudiando a la escuela de San Pedro y viviendo con una familia cerca del centro.

Esta espanol es facil.

Mirar.

Me llamo Estuardo y estoy bonito, guapo, inteligente, simpatico, generoso, amable y astuto.

No problema.

(corrections, especially from Cathal appreciated)


We have been here for two days now and have yet to learn the past tense so will write in good ol English for the remainder of this entry. I would have blogged earlier but we have had a power cut here which began when we arrived and has only just come back on.

We arrived by boat Tuesday lunchtime crossing the impossibly beautiful Lake Atitlan and were taken by a little man to the San Pedro school of Spanish where we enrolled for a fortnight of one to one Spanish lessons starting that afternoon. We are both taking 4hrs a day from one to five at a cost of $56, a bargain! Also, we have decided to stay with a local family to maximise our immersion in the langauge. Besides, it´s $50 for a weeks board with three meals a day except Sunday when they all go to church.

We were soon introduced to our 'mother' Rosalia who took us up through the winding cobbled streets of San Pedro to our home to be for the next two weeks. There we met her husband Juan and 15yr old son Abner. Also, there is a third student staying here Caitlin who's from Seattle and who already speaks pretty good Spanish. In a way it's a good thing that she's here as the family don't speak a single word of English.

The house is quite modest although I think for San Pedro Rosalia and Juan are quite well off. The house is currently being extended with two extra floors being added to take further students so when it's complete they will be earning a tidy income from us students. To put it into perspective, they get $50 a week, or Q375 per student which is about the same as the weekly income of one of the teachers at the school. So, when there's 5 or 6 students there at any one time...

The family are lovely. Juan is a teacher at a local school whilst Rosalia makes cakes to sell locally and they are fantastic cakes!

We had our first lunch or almuerza of rice and goat which was surprisingly good!. Rosalia loves to cook and the foood is always fresh and very tasty although I'm already getting tired of tortillas. Then it was off to school, a 10min walk away down the steep hill towards the lake.

The school is beautiful and set in the perfect surroundings of the lake and volcanoes with little straw huts dotted around the gardens where the teaching takes place. It is the perfect place to learn and with all our meals being prepared for us at home we have nothing to do but concentrate on learning the language.

My teacher is Clarita, a 21yr old girl who has just recently got married. She is a bonita chica as you can see! Melanies teacher is Letty who is very nice also.

Our first lesson went well. Clarita speaks little English but in 4hrs we covered introducing yourself, age, origin, numbers and some basic verbs. I even got some homework.

After school, we returned home for cena (dinner) with our family. There being a blackout we had to eat by candlelight. We tried to have a conversation with our hosts but it mainly consisted of listening to them, nodding our heads and saying si every now and again. After dinner we went to bed as this learning lark is quite exhausting! We have Rosalia and Juans bedroom for the duration of our stay whilst they are camping out in another room. It´s quite nice with two double beds but there are no windows so is a little dark.

Yesterday morning after breakfast and completing our homework we explored San Pedro.
It is a town of about 6000 and a lot of them are hippies! We were worried at first as the first non-local we came across was a poi wielding Israeli crusty but thankfully that's the only one we've seen. It's low season here and there is a nice balance between the local culture and the hippy bars and internet cafes that are dotted around the town. I imagine that in high season this place becomes a bit like Glastonbury but as it is now I like it. The activities on offer here range from kayaking on the lake, horse riding and volcano climbing to chilling in the bars watching movies or salsa!

The local population are mostly Tzutzuhil, a Mayan community, and do not speak Spanish amongst themselves. Tzutzuhil sounds like Klingon - lots of glottal stops.

In the afternoon, it was back to class where I learnt telling the time, days, months and some prepositions.

Last night after dinner we went out to a bar called Buddha where we played darts, drank beer and shot some pool, home away from home I suppose but the music was good and the beer cold.
I think we may be spending quite a lot of time here in the next couple of weeks.

Have got to sign off now as we need to be back for lunch before this afternoons class.

Adios

The Big Trip: The Great Chicken Bus Robbery

OK

So, three days into out trip and I have been pickpocketed already.

We are now in Panajachel which is a beautiful village on the northern tip of Lake Atitlan. I would love to tell you what a wonderful time we've had here but between making extended frustrating calls to cancel all my cards and avoiding the monsoon which starts at 2pm and persists well into the evening we havn´t really had a chance to chill.

So, on Sunday morning after a fantastic breakfast we packed our backpacks and set off in high spirits to find a chicken bus to take us to Panajachel. Luckily we found one straight away, so we threw our packs onto the roof, climbed on board and just hoped that the packs would still be there when we got to the other end. To get nto Panajachel you need to change at a non-descript town called Chimultenango. It was here, as we had just started the second leg of our journey that, as I patted my trouser pocket, I realised that I had been robbed. I have no idea who did it or when but my guess is that it was within a minute of getting on the first bus.

Now, any normal security conscious person with multiple cards and quite a lot of cash on them would split it all up carrying only what they might actually require on the journey. But not me. I had it all in safely stored my wallet in my unbuttoned jeans pocket.

I am now shaking with adrenaline with the realisation that someone is going to have one hell of a party tonight on four cards and $300 of cash. Oh, the stupidity. Added to this, the heavens have opened and we are stuck in some goddam hole that I can´t remember the name of waiting for another bus to take us down to Panajachel. After using the local toilet which is reminiscent of the scene from Trainspotting we finally catch the bus and arrived in Pana at 4pm. The next few hours are spent trying to call all of my banks where I find that 12 fraudulant transactions have already been made on my credit cards including two purchases from shoes.com and three from
another footwear website, so I´m guessing it was a woman who robbed me.

The local tourist office are great to us and waste no time in getting a police report for me that I can send to the insurance company. They also recommend a pleasant local hotel called Matitia (Q62 per dbl room) which we hole up in for the night. It has a parrot.

Today, I have spent more time in internet cafes sorting everything out. The card companies have scratched the fraudulant transactions so that´s a relief. I just need to get together all I need for the insurance claim.

It has been raining even harder this afternoon so we have decided to stay for one more night. Tomorrow we will take the local boat or llancha across the lake to San Pedro where we will begin our Spanish lessons!!

The Big Trip: Antigua

So, we have been in Guatemala for two days and already I have had one of the most amazing experiences of my life.

Antigua is a great starting point for Guatemala and is the perfect place to acclimatise for a couple of days or so. Click here for a brief history of the town.

We arrived yesterday morning from Guatemala City and found our way to our hostel Casa Amarillo (Yellow House), a lovely little place on the NW of Antigua (dbl room inc breakfast $14). We spent the remainder of the morning just chilling and wandering the streets finding a great Menu del Dia on the way (Casa de los Mixtas Q15. ATW, the exchange rate is Q14 to GBP1). In the afternoon we took a police guided tour up to the Cerre de la Cruz, a crucifix positioned high on a nearby hill overlooking the town and with spectacular views of the volcanos. Although quite touristy the area around Antigua is still quite dangerous with attacks by bandidos not uncommon.

Today has been amazing.

This morning we took a tour around the local Azotea coffee plantation and museum which also included a fascinating exhibition of Guatemalan and Mayan instruments.

We got a lift back into town with the owner of the plantation who described what it was like for the coffee producers in Guatemala. The coffee produced here is some of the finest in the world, however, the locals don't see much of it as the best beans are all exported, mainly to the US market. The Guatemalan coffee producers like so many producers around the region are seeing their modest profits squeezed as the large overseas buyers impose crippling regulations in their quest for consistent quality at low prices.

So, all you coffee drinkers out there, try to remember to buy FairTrade as when you´ve seen the working conditions up close you can really understand the pressures these people are facing every day.

So, we get back to town with just enough time to grab some supplies before embarking on our journey to Volcan Pacaya, an active volcano an hours drive south of Antigua. We are doing the night hike up the volcano as we were told that it has been very quite active recently with plenty of lava flow action to see. However, we were not prepared for what was to come.

After an almost two hour fairly strenuous hike up the side of the volcano with just our headtorches for light we clambered over a ridge, through a fence marked 'Strictly No Entry´to see an awesome sight of multiple lava flows on the side of the volcano about 200m away.

I thought this would be as close as we could get but with complete disregard to all health and safety regulations the shambolic tour leaders took us on a treachorous scramble over days old lava flows to within feet of one of the red hot flows. The heat was almost unbearable and the sound of the flow was like the loud crackling of exploding popcorn as the red hot magma crawled past us down the volcano side. Needless to say I had to get up real close to get those pictures but withdrew after the smell of buring rubber reminded me of how close I actually was.

I took up an egg to fry like you see in the documentaries but it broke in my pocket.

Got back to the hostel at half midnight. Tomorrow we are going to head towards Panajachel on Lake Atitlan by the local chicken bus.

What could possibly go wrong...

The Big Trip: A Bite from the Big Apple

We have arrived in Central America on the start of our big trip!

I am writing this from a small guesthouse positioned at the end of the runway of Guatemala City airport and things get very loud and hectic every two minutes...not gonna get much sleep tonight...

We have just arrived this evening after an amazing two days in the big apple. We did the usual touristy stuff: Times Square, Empire State, Staten Island Ferry (best way to see the statue of Liberty), Central Park (link to pics here soon). Felt like we were in an episode of Sex and the City!! NYC is a city of contradictions. Supposedly a melting pot of cultures it is also very racially segragated. There are your stereotypical uberfat MaccyD worshippers then there are your masochistic superwaifs powerjogging around central park at 9 at night. And although they can be very impatient and brash they are also extremely helpful forever asking you if you need a hand finding where you are going, only to enter into an argument with another new yorker about the best way to get there!!

Anyhow, the highlight, if you can call it that, was ground zero. It was immensely moving to be there (having been up it a few years back) and I found it very difficult to leave the site.
Another highlight was the craziest cab ride I have been in - like being in a computer game only more dangerous!

More pics here.

So, we are in Guatemala now after spending a few hours in Dallas airport waiting for the connection. Got lots planned in the next few weeks including learning the spanish lingo and climbing volcanoes!! Havn't been mugged/pickpocketed/hijacked yet.

Tune in soon with next installment!

Very tired now so off to bed...

Paul & Pauls Wedding Party weekend

A classy production by P&P to celebrate their marriage including champagne and strawberries reception. And what a great venue, the Narrow Street in Limehouse on the banks of the Thames!

I really enjoyed the replay of the wedding DVD and Paulas drunken but heartfelt speech! Even Simon turned up at the end!

More piccies here

Last day at skool...

Last day of work today at CMC Markets. It all feels too weird. This afternoon I turned off my monitor for the last time and cleared my desk. Got presented by some nice gifts from my colleagues including some kind words from Howie.

Will take away some fond memories from the last 3 years.

Went down the Crypt for a final game of pool before hitting the east end pubs.

What does the future hold..?

Our time is running out !

Once upon a time, in a field not far away (Reading to be precise...) , 40000 earthlings are subjected to an awesome display of aural firepower.

Muse have landed and swept away everyone before them with a show that is as intense and exhilerating as it is bombastic and overblown. Pure ecstasy from beginning to end.

It's official. Matt Bellamy is a god.

For myself, it has to go down as the best gig of my life. And experiencing it with the two Mels (Eminem) and Paul & Paula is the icing on the cake and the perfect finale to my UK festival career.

Some photos of us here

Damo and Fee Fee, you were missed...
(hope that stone sees the light of day soon!)

The Battle For God

Interesting article (here) in the Grauniad by Karen Armstrong today, basically a precis of her book The Battle for God: A History of Fundamentalism but well worth a read. Must make a point of reading some of her other books...

Pauls stag

I think we can safely say this weekend was a success.

Pics of Paul's stag weekend here