The last breath…

It is 11am, I am in Costa Rica just out side of San Jose and our flight leaves at half past two.  Nicaragua was amazing.  We got in on Saturday afternoon and then left from Rivas Thursday morning early.  The people are amazing and the food is great.  It was an amazing experience to go back and see the people and places.  Most of the time was spent trying to track down families, eating with them, and travel on the bus.  I covered the entire western side of the country.  Josh and I split up for a while and met back up on Wenesday afternoon.

Costa Rica is beautiful but not the Switzerland of Central America as I have heard.  I think we have been ripped off more here than anywhere else is Central America.   I guess that is what I get for being so white. It was bound to happen sometime on the trip.  We have only been able to see San Jose and a few outlying towns.  Not the Costa Rica experience I would have like to have had, but a good one none the less. 

We did not make it down to Panama.  But it has left us something to come back for.  Now the trip would start here in Costa Rica and end somewhere in South America.  I am excited to get back to the states although I am sad to leave Central America.  No schedule, no commitments, no school, and no worries has been great for a month.  School starts on the 4th of September, and I am ready except for a small trip out to New York for a few days.  To see a very good friend.

Managua, linda Managua

At last we arrived in Nicaragua.  After we finished diving in Utila on Friday morning we headed out to the capital of Honduras, Tegucigalpa.  Diving was amazing.  We saw some a sea turtle, large fish, and some beautiful coral.  I only ended up underwater four times due to financial constraints.  Nevertheless it was beautiful.  We stayed the night, Friday night, in Tegucigalpa and then took the 6 am bus to Managua.  Josh said it was a nine hour ride, so I was pleasantly supprised when we arrived in Managua just after 12 pm.  Knowing the city and wanting to save money we hoofed it to a bus stop next to the Metrocentro, a very large mall in the center of the city.  We caught a local route and headed out to see some of the families we knew from two years ago.  Josh and I shared a spare bed last night at the home of one of the families.

Nicaragua is by far the cheapest country in Central America.  It helps that we do not have to pay for food or a place to say, but not with standing it would cost very little even if we did. Internet is about fifty cents an hour and a coke cost half as much as it did in Honduras.

The plan from here on out is to pretty much travel to the four corners of the country before thursday.  It is going to be a day in each place and lots of bus rides.  At least I have a few days to enjoy the food and my freedom from commitment.

Life back to normal

After overhyped hurricanes, diving boats being full and general mayhem on the Island life is once again back to normal.  The boats are doing out and people are getting back to doing nothing, full time.   I managed to find a spot on a boat going out this moring with the dive center that we are staying at, Underwater Vision.  I have not been in the water for about 5 years. I was required to do a “Tune Up”.  All went extremely well, even though the diving was not amazingly breathtaking, just amazing.  My diving buddy, Andy from Dublin, went though his air rather fast on the first dive and we had to cut it short.  I still had maybe 20min left in me at the time.  The second dive went much better.  Not having to do all the Tune Up skills we were able to see more fish and reef.  We did not see the famous Whale Shark but we did see a small sting ray and some beautiful reef fish.

Other than the diving life on the Island has been extemely relaxing.  I rented the book A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah and have been reading it in between banana smoothies, baleadas (Hondurean dish made with a thick corn tortilla, queso, and onions), and naps in the hammock.  I wanted a book that would not bore me and Beah has done an amazing job at keeping me interested.  I HIGHLY recomend this book.  It is extremely graphic but very open and honest about the horrible situation of child soldiers in Africa.  I always thought that Blood Diamond over did the story of the mans child who is captured by the RUF.  How wrong I was.

Josh has to finish his Open Water certification late on Thursday before we can leave.  We are not sure if we are going to dive on Friday morning or just call it after Josh is finished.  Either way our next stop is Teguicgalpa for a night and then on to Nicaragua.  Nicaragua was intended as the highlight of the trip but it looks like we will only have 3 or 4 days there before having to head down to Costa Rica.  Panama is offically off the travel plan.  Our goal to travel down to the canal has been put on temporary hiatus.  Maybe next year we will start from Panama and make it down to the end of Chile.  Take a few weeks…

Hurricane Dean claims first victim on Utila

My first dive this morning was canceled.  I spent the night dreaming of Whale Sharks and all I got in the morning was bad weather and a canceled drive trip.  I have had a hard time finding a place to upload my photos so I can’t show you but the docks are empty and all the boats to and from the mainland have stopped their trips.  It has been raining off and on today.  Hopfully Dean in all his fury will have passed us by and tomorrow I can do some diving.  Dean should pass far north of us and we should just be getting some weather, nothing severe.  Although there has been a general run on the gorcery stores for basic food stuffs.

Utila is amazing.  Beautiful beaches, clear water, and generally no responsability.  Very appealing.  We found a cheap dive shop that has an attached hotel.  Josh is doing his open water diver certification and I am just waiting until the weather clears to get into the water.  The food is amazing and life is good.  We found a movie rental place and rented Pirates of the Carribean to weather out the rain tonight; fitting.  Utila was home to some of the first British priates that settled in the region.  It was also the home of Robinson Crusoe when his ship wrecked off the coast.

Even though the diving was canceled and we are going to be getting some weather from Dean it has been amazing here on the Island.  The water is warm and life is beautiful.

4 down, 3 to go…

Central America continues to amaze me.  These last three days have been filled with new experiences.  We decided not to stay in Antigua; instead we caught a pus to Panajachel on the shores of El Lago Atitlan.  It was a good decision.  We got in later in the afternoon and found a quaint hostel called La Posada Sanchez.  It set us back 3 USD a peice and we each had a bed.  An improvement.  I finally found my grilled fish.  That set me back 2.50 USD.  We stayed the night and then the next morning got conned in to a 35 dollar bus ride to San Salvador for Friday morning.  We later found out that we could have taken the same ride for 25 dollars or just taken the local transport for even less.

Thursday we spent the morning in Panajachel and then bused it back to Antigua.  We found a nice place for 2.50 a peice and just hung out.  I found phone and internet cafe that offered phone calls to the states for 10 cents a min and incoming calls for 1 cent a min.  I called my family and tried to get a hold of a few friends in Central America.  I then called my girlfriend Laura and had her call me back.  After the phone call was over I went to pay and they charged me 6 dollars total instead of just over 1 dollar.   They said the rates for incoming calls had changed to 6 cents a min.  I was to tired to argue; it was very classic though.

We woke up early to catch the Bus to Guatemala City and then on to San Salvador.  It went smoothly.  Oddly the bus driver from Guatemala City to San Salvador drove annoyingly slow.  I am used to the chicken buses of Guatemala that would scream around every corner and make three lanes when there was probably not even enough space for two.  In San Salvador we decided to just catch a bus to San Pedro Sula in Honduras and not spend a day there.   We were to leave at 3 but were held back by a snake that had stowed away in the luggage hold of the bus.  I have never seen eight men so excited and afraid at the same time.  It was a small garter snake and it took eight of them twenty minuets to decide who would go in and kill it.  It then took them another 10 minuets to finally kill the thing.  The women in the terminal would scream and run away occasionally when they saw anything move close to the bus.

El Salvador is gorgeous.  It was breathtaking driving though the mountains; it was also surprisingly fresco through the entire country.  The drive was great, I had time to sit and think and not sweat.  We got in to Honduras with out a problem until about 10pm.  There were only a few of us that went all the way to San Pedro Sula, maybe 20.  Well I had dozed off and was dreaming of beautiful beaches and scuba diving when I was awoken by a very loud bang.  I heard glass shatter every where and someone was screaming.  The men on the bus all got up and started to the front of the bus; except Josh.  Like a good ROTC student Josh hit the deck.  He was lying down in his seat thinking that we were taking fire from some unseen enemy.  The bus driver just kept on going. I thought that we had crashed or that the front window had been shattered.  It was neither.  Someone had thrown a stone at the bus window hoping that we would stop the bus so they could then board us.  The bus driver and the ticket man seemed unfazed.  After the attempted robbery I could not sleep.  We got in to the bus station and found a taxi to the Hotel San Jose.

I got up early this morning and did some writing and we then ventured out to find a bank and finalize plans to get to the Island.  On Utila we should be doing some diving and general relaxing.  Although Hurrican Dean might throw our plans for a loop if the winds are to high to boat out there today.  We shall see…

Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama are the last three.  Hopefully my funds will last until the Canal, if not I might go home one country short of the goal.

Good bye Belize

It is good to be back in Central America. Belize was is an anomaly I think; I was not worried about my personal security, we arrived on time, and people did not really try to rip me off. Guatemala is like night and day from Belize. Monday night we arrived in Tikal. It was late and we splurged on a nicer bus that would take us directly to the national park. Rooms were 55 USD; we opted for the 5USD a night hammocks that they offered. It was the second worst night of sleep thus far. Tuesday morning rolled around and I was up at 5:30 and ready to go. My body was hurting all over; for some strange reason my abs were wasted. We got in to ruins just after 6am. That was the way to go. There were not tourists and it was cool. It was raining but that did not last long. Tikal was well worth the uncomfortable night in the hammock. It was breathtaking. I was not expecting much and was taken back by how amazing the ruins and the jungle were. We stayed for a few hours and then headed out to catch a bus to Flores and then on to Guatemala City and then to Antigua.

We got in to Flores and caught the 12pm bus to Guatemala City; estimated time of travel was 9 hours. We were then going to catch a late bus and be in Antigua around 10:30. After running out of gas, blowing out a tire, and being stuck on an impassible road for a few hours we rolled in to the city at 1:30 am. There was only one hotel open and they took us for 20usd. Even though the 13 hour bus ride and the night of little sleep in the hammock basically ruined my body I woke up pretty refreshed this morning. I am still extremely sore from both ordeals but in good spirits.

Antigua is amazing. We are going to grab some lunch and stroll the colonial streets before heading out to El Lago Atitlan. We are still debating on where to head to next, if we crash here or if we head down to San Salvador. It is nice not to have a schedule or plans.

Central America at last

Day Five- Saturday. Wenesday was spent in Tulum. The overpriced Playa del Carmen did not fit the budget; even Tulum was expensive. We stayed in a packpacker hostel that was very dominatly French. It cost 30US a night and was miserable. I lost the rock paper sisors for the bed and slept on the tile floor on Josh’s sleeping pad. Needless to say it was one of the worst nights of my life.

Thursday we check out of the hotel and hit up the beach. We swam and for about an hour and then walked around and tried to see the ruins down the road. I am sunburt; it hurts bad even two days after. It was pricy so we headed back to Tulum. We caught a bus to Coba and arrived there just before five. Coba is a small town that boasts some very impressive ruins. They closed at 5 and so we decided to stay the night and see them early in the morning. The hotel was a restraunt, bus stop, and hotel. It was a steal for 7 dollars a peice.

Friday we went to the ruins early. It was the way to go; there were almost no visitors and it was not as hot. There is also an impressive lake near by filled with crocodilles. We then caught the bus back to Tulum. From there it was bus rides late in to the night. We had to catch a bus to Chetumal on the Belize border. From there we caught a bus to Belize city. We were actually torn between there and Orange Walk, north of Belize City, but we finally settled on Belize City. We met a man named Ali on the bus and he taxied us around once we got in to the city; it was around 8 pm and completly dark. We stayed at the hotel he was staying at and crashed once we got there.

Today. We wandered around the city until the bank opened at 9am. We cashed some travlers cheques and ate some cheap food. There was not much for people like me with little money to do. We toyed with the idea of getting a boat out to the Cayes and staying a day there but opted against it due to our economic condition. We also heard of boats going to Cuba, but ruled that out as well. After some shopping and wandering we found a bus to San Ignacio.

Between the blonde haired German menonites, the rasta-english, and the extremely friendly people, Belize was nothing like I thought it would be. I have only spoken Spanish a handfull of times; it throws me for a loop. My mind is working in Spanish and has to change over when they talk to me in English. They German Menonites were a trip as well. On the bus over to San Ignacio a group of blond haired Arian looking people board the bus. They spoke english like the natives. It was interesting.

Next stop the surronding jungles of Cayo. Then on to Tikal in Guatamala.

Cancun or not…

The first day of our amazing trip went well. We got up early on Tuesday and arrived at the airport for our 7 am flight to Houston.  We boarded and waited to taxi out.  We waited a long time before they told us the plane was out of commission due to mechanical failure.  We had to wait until 3:30 to fly out. By that time we had missed our conecction to Cancun and had to stay the night in Houston. 

We flinaly got in to Cancun at 11:15 this morning.  In our zeal for adventure and to save money we tried to exit the airport on foot.  After half an hour of walking in circles tring to find the exit to the main highway we decided just to splurg on a bus to Playa del Carmen.  It was well worth it.  We had no idea how far the highway was from the airport.

Our next stop is Chetumal on the Belize border.  Hopefully we can find some cheap transport, a place to sleep, and some fish tacos.

Here we go…

Josh and I, my roomate and long time friend, are leaving in five hours on our tour de Central America. Initially planned for the 25th of July, our trip was posponed due to financial situations and other considerations. We fly in to Cancun today, the 7th of August, and hopefully return to the United States on the 31st of August; we will retrun via San Jose Costa Rica. Our goal is to visit every country in Central America ending at the Panama Canal before returing to Costa Rica and flying home. That is Belize, Guatamala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama. Most of the travel will be done hitchiking and on chicken buses. Funds are tight. We are packing light and hoping to move fast and sleep for free. My gear is as follows

• Jansport 5oL backpack
• 2 Shorts
• 1 Pants
• 3 Shirts
• 5 Undergarments
• 1 Light Fleece
• 1 Rain Jacket
• 1 White Collared Shirt
• 1 Tie
• 1 Sheet
• 1 Light Fleece sleeping bag liner (for colder nights)
• 1 Full size towell (my one indulgence)
• 1 Pair of sandals (Chacos)
• 1 Journal
• 1 Notebook
• 1 Travel Book
• 1 Map
• 1 Waterbottle
• 1 Headlamp
• Digial Camera with extra SD card and charger
• Small thing of toliteries (toothbrush, floss, toothpaste, clorox, lip balm)
• Plastic Garbage bags and a few small ziplock bags

and it begins…

Meciendo: Poem of the Month

Gabriela Mistral is one of the few female Latin winners of the Nobel Prize for literature on November 15th 1945. Her poems are laced with with references to many of the tragic events in her life. Her first love Romeo Ureta killed him self three years after meeting Gabriela; her 17 year old nephew also committed suicide a few years later. Her father left the family when Gabriela was three, and by the age of 16 she had to support her family. A few of the themes that constantly appear in her poetry are the fragility of life, a rebirth after death, liberation from the world, and childhood. She became a champion for children and education in Chile and Mexico. Mistral also served as a Chilean consul in various parts of Europe.

El mar sus millares de olas
mece, divino
Oyendo a los mares amantes,
mezo a mi niño.

El viento errabundo en la noche
mece los trigos.
Oyendo a los vientos amantes,
mezo a mi niño.

Dios padre sus miles de mundos
mece sin ruido.
Sintiendo su mano en la sombra
mezo a mi niño.

-Gabriela Mistral