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ISLA OMETEPE - Picture this... you're sitting on a covered porch on a beautiful Nicaraguan island in the center of a gigantic lake looking out over a gorgeous bay with an active volcano in the distance. You're having some drinks, you're making new friends, you're laughing and joking and having a great time... everything is perfect. And then the unthinkable happens... you're out of rum!
What do you do?? You jump on a motorcycle and get some more, that's what you do!! Actually, to be historically accurate, you jump on the back of a motorcycle driven by a half-in-the-bag limey named Tim and after nearly dumping it in the parking lot you eventually make your way in the dark down the rockiest, nastiest, sorriest excuse for a road to the local store - which is more like a dusty smelly shed full of random food stuffs and an alarming number of flip flops - to buy some more. What did you think?
It was a recipe for disaster but peace and harmony is restored... note the 3.1 liter mega cola...
Folks are having fun again... Dave (in the green of course) really has to pee...
The rum is disappearing again but Geoff and Brynn don't seem to mind...
Then somebody finds a nasty spider... Tom tries to grab it...
Tim is overjoyed... yep, that's a big nasty hairy spider alright!
Then he tries to eat it... no Tim NO!
Tom takes a closer look... (with the help of Tim pushing his head  ...
Playing with a tarantula while inebriated isn't the smartest thing one can do but in the end, remarkably, nobody was hurt. The spider was a little frightened, and we were a little stupid, but we all survived. Good times!
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LEON - After a couple of weeks on the island, we were ready to go chill in a little colonial town for a spell. Leon was perfect! Dry, dusty, and surrounded by volcanoes, Leon is all churches and tiled roofs. Its also far less touristy than its rival Grenada, and folks are really friendly. Not all was perfect... it was the hottest place we have visited thus far, where cold showers were actually a joy and a necessity. The aroma of horse poop filled the air due to the use of horse drawn carts used to transport goods. Ahhh leon!
Heres a few pics!
This sums it up... tiled rooftops, churches, and volcanos.
Typical street scene... battered truck and a lovely residence.
A pretty little church in Leon...
We spent one day enjoying the perfect beach (finally saw the Pacific... woohoo!) in nearby Las Penitas.
And then climbed another volcano... I'll let Tom tell you this story!
Our first hotel was crappy and not worth taking a picture of. But the second was really beautiful, and had a garden with a lime tree and a pomegranate tree!
We switched it up again after a coupla days. Our third hotel was also very charming, and had Stuart, Jack and Chesco. Stuart filled us in on the local gossip, Jack the cocinero kept us fat and happy on tostones with guacamole, and Chesco made the most amazing mojitos! They cost about $1.50, so Tom and I each drank at least 2 to 4 of them every evening.
Leon was great! We are currently in Grenada, Nicaragua and enjoying that too. Will get pics together shortly!
xoxox
anna
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LEON - You ever have an ATM not distribute money for you, and have a little voice in the back of your head say, ´now I wonder what happens if the ATM takes money out of my account anyways?´
Well today I got the chance to find out.
I was trying to get money from the ATM at Nicaraguan bank BDF, and got a message that it couldnt process X amount. So I tried again, with a lesser amount so as not to overwhelm the poor thing (sometimes you have to talk nice to get them to work... no hitting or swearing... slide the card juuuuust right!). And it gave me an odd message: ´you have maximized the number of daily transactions´.
I thought: ´Huh, thats weird. I havent MADE any transactions today´. Now Im not always the brightest girl, but I thought Id mosey down to the internet place to double check that my bank account as in sync with my friendly local ATM machine.
And surprise, surprise, it showed a deduction of $137. Thanks BDF.
So this afternoon I spent 2.5 hours in line at the bank, to speak to a lady who seemed like she would rather be making loans to new clients than talking to me. I expressed my problem in 3-year old spanish. She had me sign a form and said she would let me know the results of the inquiry in 10 days. She´d call me.
So kiddos, I just wanted to get a shout out to yas. Next time a bank tells you that they cant ´accomodate your request´, you just might want to double check your account to make sure that they didnt take out 200 bucks anyways.
And the answer to the question: ´what happens if the ATM takes money out of my account anyways?´. I guess Ill let you know the end result in ten days. Now why doesnt it ever happen where they distribute cash but forget to take the money OUT??!! (oh BTW... this isnt restricted to renegade machines in Nicaragua... our Brit hotel owner said he has heard of it happening in England as well)
xoxox
anna
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TEGUCIGALPA - Believe me when I tell you Utila is a tough island to leave! We almost stayed for `just one more day`which would surely have led to another, and another, and ano- and then it would be July. After spending two weeks we met a lot of great folks (most of whom were British, strangely) and had a lot of fun times so it was hard to say goodbye.
Here´s Anna and I with our new Belgian friends Rita and Phillipe. We met these guys in Tela, Honduras and then we ran into them again on Utila! We spent a lot of time hanging with them and they were a lot of fun. Phillipe, I´m still waiting for that picture!!
One day on the island these two swedish sisters came running up to me, grabbed my arm and said in heavily accented english "We need you to come to our place!". I thought it was my lucky day! Anyway, I got Anna and we both ran off with them Turns out they had a tarantula in their bedroom and needed me to save the day...
Along with the tarantulas - that love to hang out in the banana trees behind where we stayed - were these ginormous and much scarier looking spiders. I have no idea what they are but they were huge and were everywhere. The giant one is the female and she lived outside of our room... notice how small the male is.
Here´s one of many pretty sunsets we managed to see on the island...
Here´s the staff at Deep Blue Divers. From left to right is Ian (our Advanced Open Water instructor), Phil, Tracy, Mike and Victoria. They were a great shop, very friendly and full service too - at the shop Victoria gave Anna a gorgeous haircut one day, I updated my ipod, Anna bought a few bracelets, we had lots of ice cold beer... and on and on. I wouldn´t hesitate to recommend these guys to anybody. Hopefully we can hook up with Ian again for the Rescue Diver course next year. Conspicuously absent is Russel, our dive master - I think he was still hung over from working at the Jade Tree-Tanic bar.
On our last night we headed up to ´the water tower´ to watch the sunset with Russell (our crazy British dive master), his girlfriend Annette (an absolute sweetheart), and her housemate Emma. I had a blast diving with Russell... we pretty much spent our time making fun of each other. I may have been thrown off the boat and into the ocean once or twice, but I don´t want to talk about it anymore. We all got on famously and we´ll miss hanging out. See you in New Zealand sometime??...
Anna took this on the ferry off the island... notice the jagged mountainous outline of the mainland in the background.
Here´s our last look at the harbor on Utila...
We met Chris and Helen (also British), and shared some drinks and dives, but we don´t have any photos of them at the moment. Chris took a bunch of underwater shots on our dives though so I´ll be checking his website http://www.chrismillen.co.uk/. If anybody ever makes it to Boston, be sure and look us up!
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UTILA - Hey everybody, we're down in Utila Honduras right now, enjoying a lot of scuba diving. Utila is one of Honduras' Bay Islands and is a mecca for scuba divers. Apparently it's the cheapest place in the world get your PADI scuba certification (PADI is one of the main certification organizations). You can get 10 dives for 200 bucks down here, back home that would cost around 450... and don't worry, the equipment is all in great condition.
Anna and I just completed our Advanced Open Water training and are looking forward to getting certified in Wreck Diving and using Nitrox - a special mix of air with more oxygen than usual to give you longer bottom times. The wreck diving cert will allow us to go inside the wrecks we come across - a big no-no if you haven't got the proper training. It's not quite as dramatic as that Ashton Kutcher/Kevin Costner movie, but it's close
Yesterday we did our first night dive and earlier that day Anna saw her first Octopus! Wohoo!! She was all excited... we were actually in the middle of a search and recovery exercise when she started pointing wildly holding up 8 fingers... I thought she found the item we were searching for but NO, it was just a silly old octopus. I just caught a glimpse of it before it dashed into a hole in the coral.
The day before that we swam with a pod of dolphins! We were en route to our next dive site when I spotted dozens of dorsal fins rolling through the water. The captain stopped the boat and let us all throw on masks/snorkels and jump in with them. It turns out there were over 40 of them... the dive master thought there were more. Underwater I saw baby dolphins and heard the high pitch squealing they all make while communicating. It was very cool. Sorry I have no pictures.
Right now we're hoping to see one of these whale sharks... unbelievably huge creatures that feed on small fish and plankton and stuff (not on Tom and Anna). Look at the size of the snorkeler in the photo! They are supposed to be here from march to april and tend to like full moons. Well, it was a full moon last night so we're keeping our fingers crossed!
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TELA - We took a ferry from Livingston to Puerto Barrios, Guatemala, where we decided to hold up for a night to get an early start on Honduras the next day. What a dusty place Puerto Barrios is! On the ferry we ran into an old hippie named Douglas - an avid fish enthusiast, beer drinker, and pot smoker - who told us a little bit about the area. He also recommended a hotel where we got a room for 10 bucks. He was a friendly old codger but looked a little worse for wear.
The next day we hopped a minivan to the border, where we crossed and waited for another bus to take us to Omoa. That was interesting... a guy just over the border told us to walk 2 km to town - in the hot sun - to catch the bus to Omoa. We did, and an hour later the bus dropped us off right smack back at the border, right next to the same guy that told us to walk to town!! Weird, but we got some exercise and the bus driver earned a quick 10 Lemps off some stupid gringos. While waiting for the next bus we discovered how the dogs escape the hot sun.
Oh, we also saw a bunch of these guys running around. You´d hear them coming first... then see them gallop by... and they were out of sight as quickly as they came. It was a little surreal.
At some point we finally got to Omoa. Omoa is a sleepy fishing village right on the ocean, where we ran into yet another hippie. This guy was from 'the states', in his fifties - and more than a little odd - but he ran the hotel we were staying at. He made lots of 'pipes' and wasn´t into shaking hands, but he did fold his hands together and give us a nice little bow. Later that day he gave us a ride to town in his hippie van - complete with shag carpeting, space for a double bed in the back, and his 23 year old bride in the passenger seat. Yikes. Staying at his hotel was an 'experience', and that´s all I have to say about that. Here´s a picture of the van...
Here´s a picture Anna took of the beautiful beaches of Omoa. In ten years I fear the horizon will be cluttered with condos...
There were horses grazing in the hotel yard... at first they were kindof skittish but we fed them some bananas and they were very happy with us. Anna got a video of them chomping on palm leaves and took these shots of them trying to get into the hotel. I think they´re looking for one of those pipes...
Oh... there they are... poking their heads into the kitchen/office/saddle shed/pipe-making-room...
As you can imagine, we were sad to leave Omoa (not the hotel) but excited to move on to Tela. We hopped a couple more busses, arrived at noon, and found a good hotel this time! Tela is nice, it´s a small city right on the water and there´s nice cheap places to eat and lots to do. We figure we´ll check out the Botanical Garden (largest collection of fruit trees in the world or something) and then do a river kayak tour and hopefully see some crocodiles!
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RIO DULCE - It seems we can´t get enough of this place. Before we headed to Antigua, Michael and Linda generously offered us a ride out to Livingston on their sailboat when we returned... it was an offer we couldn´t refuse! So after a few days kickin around in Antigua we returned to Tortugal Marina. That afternoon we happened to run into Elizabeth and Wayne, some very interesting folks we met a month ago on Glover´s Atoll! (We actually spotted them once from a bus a few weeks back on the way to Tikal but they didn´t see us) Elizabeth (a professional singer) taught us some exercises to expand our lung capacity and Wayne (an economist) talked to Anna about economist stuff. Turns out they were around for a few days so we spent some time catching up, playing rummycube and chasing giant moths. Before we left for Livingston Michael took this picture of us...
The next few hours were spent on the river... Michael is at the helm skillfully avoiding all manner of potential hazards and certain disasters. Look at the concentration...
Along the way Anna and I weren´t just sittin on our laurels... we learned a bunch. Michael walked me through charting their course to Belize while Linda showed Anna the systems on the boat. I also got to help navigate the river according to the charts. Underway we got a lesson on the auto pilot, the onboard gps/charting system, the particular rigging setup in use, what a 'rigid boom vang' was, and how to properly use a marine head. Here´s a view from the boat as we approached Livingston at the mouth of the river...
When we got to Livingston we helped dock the boat and spent the afternoon pretending it was ours while Michael and Linda headed off to imigration to check out of Guatemala. We ran into Oliver again, a frenchman who designed and built his own ginormous sailboat with the intention of chartering it. Ok back to us and 'our' boat... here´s a shot of me, Anna and Michael at the dock.
Getting to spend the day and night on the boat was fantastic. Had a little afternoon cocktail and some conversation, you know, just to get used to the cruising life. For dinner we had gargantuan burritos and some good Argentinian wine. Topped it off with the rest of the M&Ms Leigh brought us and a movie. That´s right, A MOVIE!! The accomodations were so comfortable, I could really get used to it. The next morning we had a little fruit cocktail, packed up our stuff, and sadly departed. We can´t say enough about how great Michael and Linda were and the fun time we had with them! Thanks guys, and we´ll see you in Boston if not sooner.
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RIO DULCE - Hung out again today with Michael and Linda, our new sailing heros. We took a 'launcha' (along with Bill and Trudy, also from the Marina) to Finca Paraiso, a gorgeous natural hot springs that flows over a waterfall into a cold river. It was a beautiful, clear, hot day and the boat dropped us off about an hour's hike from the falls. Here's Bill, myself and Michael taking the walk...
Check out the crazy 'brahma' cows we saw along the way. They are characterized by the big hump on their back. These puppies were enormous and curious - and there was a bunch of em.
Here's a look at the falls... if you stand or sit under the flow, the hot water feels great pounding on your body. After sitting there for 10 minutes or so I got nervous that a log - or a guy in a barrel - was going to come over and squash my head.
Here's Anna and I trying to pose for you guys and not slip off the rocks. Notice our very sexy farmer's tans. Rrrhheearrwwrr.
After the falls Michael, Linda, Anna and I got a guide and took a hike up the cold water river and found a dark cave we could swim into. We don't have any photos cuz it was pitch black (many many thanks to Kath and Jim for leaving us their headlamp) and my camera isn't waterproof! But rest assured, it was amazing. We ventured pretty far into the cave, scrambling over wet rocks and eventually found another loud, booming waterfall inside!
The next day Michael showed me around their boat's Yanmar diesel motor. He had to change the fuel filter, the oil, and the impeller on the water pump. I think Linda was happy to not have to get her hands dirty and I was psyched to get a look at the engine. Later that night we - and by we I mean Anna - whipped up a fantastic dinner in the kitchen on their boat (Michael had whipped up some jalapeno mac and cheese). That was a lot of fun cuz they just kindof let us have at it and see what it's like to cook on a boat. Of course we didn't eat until late because we were all too busy having a good time chatting and drinking Linda's vodka.
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ANTIGUA - I'll preface this by saying I'm not sure how safe and/or smart this was... but we climbed a volcano today. Oh, I meant to say an active volcano. I think folks do this sort of thing all the time in Hawaii but something tells me the safety standards here in Guatemala are - shall we say - a little more 'lax'. And by 'lax' I mean 'nonexistent'. Nevertheless, it was the best seven bucks I've spent in a while.
The volcano we climbed is called Pacaya... it's one of the most popular which also means the security is fairly good (read - less chance of getting mugged). It erupted a few months ago and left a bunch of crusty slag all over the place. Here's a look at the three volcanoes in the area, Pacaya, Antigua and Agua.
From the end of the access road it was a 2 km climb up a dirty, dusty, horse-poop-filled path with the last 1/2 kilometer or so through some lethally sharp and very hot crusty stuff. It was tricky climbing, but to see the molten lava sloughing off the mountain was incredible...
About now we were getting awfully close to the hot stuff. I nearly fell into this crack and died. Ok, maybe that's a small exaggeration, but you can see my foot right there above all that very red goo.
Some folks brought marshmallows and stuff for making grilled cheese. These three Israeli guys brought a pot of water and some coffee... held it over this pit for a few moments and it was done. They nearly lost their pot.
In the photo below, we were so close I could feel my feet and leg hair burning... and yes, that's a pile of oozing earth right in front of us. Right about here was when I started thinking it's probably not great to be breathing in volcano gasses. Right about here was also when Anna realized her shoes had begun to melt. Whoops! They'd gotten so hot that the glue holding the soles had softened and the upper had nearly come off. Time to get a move on!!
All in all, it was a little sketchy but we had a fantastic time. Anna also loved that it gave her with an excuse to do a little shoe shopping the next day!
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