31 de Enero 2011

Mari and I are now in Costa Rica, entering a few days back throught the border town Peña Blancas. It wasn an interesting border crossing, as it was the first one where we had any kind of wait involved. This was our 8th border crossing in 3 months, and before this one, I dont think it ever took longer than 15 minutes and there was never more than 5 or 6 people ahead of us. When we hit the border this time, from Nicaragua to Costa Rica, there was a long line that ran out the front door and around the side of the building well into the back. My guess is there were over 100 people waiting for entry. Mari and I waited in line for over an hour, practicing our lies on how we were going to convince the agent that we had no intention of staying in Costa Rica. Which isnt much of a lie, but we heard rumors about the entry that indicated that we would need proof illustrating that we would be leaving within our 30 day visa period - meaning that typically people show their exiting bus or airline tickets when entering the country. As we had no exit plan, we were practicing our lies. But as it turns out, the agent couldnt have cared less - stamping our passports and moving us along without a word.

From the border we took a bus to Liberia, where we ate lunch, grabbed some cash from the cash machine, and caught another bus out to Playa Tamarindo (playa = beach) - one of the top ten must see locations within Costa Rica according to some website Mari found before we left. As it turned out, Tamarindo is the smaller scale equivalent of Cancun on the Costa Rican coast. This means high prices (possibly the highest in Costa Rica - which is already a shock to our central american price scale) and lots of foreigners. We left the very next day, headed to Playa Brasilito, which we heard was nice and beautiful and much more adequately priced for travelers like ourselves. Brasilito was beautiful, with a nearby strip of shacks serving up cheap casadas (chicken, rice, beans, fried plantain plate) right off the main muddy sand beach. This beach was like the beach at San Juan del Sur, where the sand is more of a fine muddy clay mixture, that fills each crashing wave with a muddy brown look. The water feels warm and great, but when you leave the water you are covered in a fine silt. Having heard of another nearby beach, we walked down the main beach and crossed over a tree covered bluff and descended down into another little beach where the sand was composed of millions and trillions of shell pieces, some large, some small, and some rubbed down over centuries into a fine sand. It was absolutely spectacular to imagine the timeline of that beach and how it was created. How many years upon years does it take a beach to accumulate hundreds of square feet of deep crushed shell sand? I dont know, I can barely wrap my head around that thought. But I love thinking about it.

Anyways, after busing around all day yesterday trying to reach our third and final Pacific Coast beach called Montezuma, we found it nearly impossible to get there. Even though on the map it looks like there are roads that go everywhere we want to go, the bus routes simply do not go there. We would have had to take a bus around the peninsula, take two ferries, and another bus just to reach this beach that looks like it should be within reach of a 3hour bus trip. Anyway, we changed our plans yesterday returning north to Liberia (where we had just been 2 days before) in order to continue our path in a new brighter direction. I will pause here for a few thoughts on Costa Rica.

• In Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua, there was always an autobus, minivan, collectivo, truck, or chicken bus to anywhere we wanted to go. Even down the worst, broken, pot holed streets heading somewhere, or no where. Yet, somehow here in Costa Rica, even though the quality of buses and seats has improved a bit, the actual bus service is appauling. As we are finding out, we really need to plan a bit better to work around limited bus schedules and services like never before. Through all of central america we never had to wait long for a bus, there were always so many going in all directions, and there was always someone there pestering you as to where you were headed and ushering you quickly in the right direction. Here, its completely different. We are waiting all the time for buses, as they run on schedules. Plus, there is no one ushering us to the bus we need, so we are left asking other passangers and vendors bus times and schedules. Its got us a bit confused. It seems the more modern the country, the more backwards the bus system. Its totally confusing. We want our hectic functioning crappy bus system back. We laughed at it, hated it at times, but it was cheap and functioned perfectly. Oh, I forgot to mention the bus is expensive here. Its helping to destroy our once, pre-established budget.
  

Okay, well Mari and I are headed to a town called La Fortuna near Volcan Arenal. We would have left today and been there already except we didnt know then the intricacies of the bus system as well as we do now. Thus we will head out tomorrow morning. Liberia to Cañas, Cañas to Tilaran, Tilaran to La Fortuna. All this effort to be near Volcan Arenal, a true firebreathing dragon of a volcano. After seeing two volcanos that function like a glorified chimney, Mari and I decided it was time to see a volcano with attitude that let off its steam with true passion - spewing lava and fire. We hope it still has a bit of an internal struggle to show us when we arrive.

Today we ran into a couple we hadnt seen since we were back in Valladolid, Mexico - before christmas. Its funny to think that all this time, moving from country to country, we have been traveling on somewhat similar paths, but never ran into one anther until today. Unfortunately, they fly back to South Africa in a week or so, so we wont be seeing much of them in our future travels. Thats one of the interesting things about traveling for so long and along such a narrow swath of land such as central america - we run into the same people every so often along the way.

Later, I believe we are headed out to see a movie. Its a toss up between the new Tron, and another which I have forgotten the name - red something. I love hitting the cities with cinemas now, it offers me a little taste of home. Even though I didnt hit the cinema much at home, I just love watching movies.

Wishing everyone the best - Travis (and Mari)

27 de Enero 2011

San Juan del Sur

Not much to do here but enjoy the sun and the beach and possibly a good book. Prices are kinda high (relatively of course) compared to other locations in Nicaragua, thus Mari and I have been eating food in the comedores inside the mercado, as the restaurants that cater to foreigners have hiked prices a bit. The mercado serves local food, grilled chicken with rice, beans, a small salad and a tortilla. A plate full of food for 50 cordobas, which is just over $2 USD.

This is a big surfing town. There are surf shops, and surf board repairs, signs for surf lessons and surf hostels and hotels. Seems like this might be the place to be if you like dreadlocks and surfing. As we do not surf, or have dreadlocks, it seems we will be moving on possibly tomorrow. Either headed into Costa Rica, or heading south down the coast to make one last beach stop before exiting Nicaragua.

I think I am tanner now than possibly ever before. When I take a shower and look down at my tan lines, its shocking. My butt is white white white, while the rest of me shades to darker at the extremities. Amazingly, my arms actually got burned the other day when we rented the motorcycle on Ometepe. I was amazed as my arms are the darkest part of my entire body, yet they are still able to succumb to the intense sun rays in this area. Reminding me to be careful when removing my shirt at the beach.

I dont know if anyone pays attention to my book list on the side of the blog, but right now I am reading Eat Pray Love. And its quite amazing. I have never read Elizabeth Gilbert before, and I am quite certain this must be an Oprah book. Mariana laughed that I was reading a girl book. But I must say, I am really enjoying her journey within the pages, searching for pleasure and discovery. Its broken into thirds. The first part is her trip to Italy which I thoroughly enjoyed. Especially contrasting her thoughts on love, life and marriage while traveling in a foreign land learning another language. Very insightful. The 2nd part is a spiritual journey that is interesting, but does not click with me on a deeper lever. Currently I am on the last third of the book, a trip she takes to Indonesia staying with a local medicine man. Quite interesting.

I have been lucky with the book exchanges. And I personally believe that all the books I have read are great picks. Yet yesterday, I found a true gem. Eduardo Galeano's "Open Veins of Latin America." This is the book to read on this trip. Eduardo Galeano is from Uruguay, and is Mari's hero in many ways. This is the book that Hugo Chavez gave Obama at the 5th Summit of the Americas, immediately jumping from the 54,295th most popular book on Amazon to #2 on the list the day after. Mari has been dying for me to read some of his books and it looks like the time is now.





Ciao for now.

26 de Enero 2011

Mari and I left Ometepe this morning. Hopping on the ferry back to San Jorge (60 cordoba each), where we caught a taxi back to the Rivas bus teminal (20 cordobas each), where we caught a bus to San Juan del Sur (15 cordobas). 190 codobas = $8.60 USD. Not bad for a ferry, taxi, and bus.

San Juan del Sur is on the Pacific Ocean (its nice to be back) and its our first time back on the Pacific in just under 3 months, as our 3 month traveling anniversary is right around the corner. This place is fairly gringo-fied, and it took us a while of bypassing $70 hotels til we found one in our budget. We are staying at a place named Casa 28 for $14 a night. You can tell when you are back in traveler destinations when the prices are quoted in $USD's.

Anyway, the beach is a fine silty sand, sorta muddy and clayey, but still soft and beautiful. The water is a greenish blue hue and swimmable. The harbor is full of boats rocking and swaying with the tide, and the sunset was beautifully orange and brilliant.

I believe I am catching a cold (unbelievable!!!!) as I have a sore throat and my head feels a bit light. Mari is getting hungry. So its time to say goodnight and go prepare some dinner and tea.

Ciao.

24 y 25 de Enero 2011

Mari and I visited La Isla de Ometepe in Lago de Nicaragua, staying two nights in a town called Moyogalpa. This island is quite beautiful, as both halves of the island are composed of volcanoes jetting up in the center, typically hiding their heads in the cloud cover above.


The first night we stayed in a place near the ferry dock named Hotel Ometepetl for $15 USD. It was okay, nothing special except that we had a television for the first time in a long time that recieved fuzzy yet watchable reception. It was more than good enough for us to watch some spanish versioned Family Guy and Simpsons episodes. But after one night, we decided to switch and ended up at a place named Hotel Sinai for $8 USD. Cheaper and actually not too shabby.

The first night on the island we relaxed, ate pizza, drank some beer, and watched a bit of television. The following day after switching hotels, we rented a motorcycle for the day to explore a bit of the island. After a quick refresher on how to change gears, and map in hand, Mari and I set off to circumnavigate the island and take in the little towns dispersed outside the main thoroughfare of Moyogalpa.

View from the ferry as we approached the island.

Look at this little cutie with her pet bird. The children on the trip are literally killing us with their inherent cuteness.

As Mari and I were cruising around on the motorcycle we passed this duo placed in charge of the herd.

We stopped off for a quick swim in Lago de Nicaragua at a little beach called Charco Verde. And I mean little. It was tiny. But I kept hearing that the lake waters are high, so perhaps the beach simply disappeared for a bit beneath the depth of the water. The sand is black, with bits of polished quartz flecked within. Upon leaving the beach, this is the view of Volcan Concepcion we encountered. Nearly rid of its hat cloud and visibly spewing smoke.

The sunset right at the ferry dock, setting over the Lake. I took this pic as trucks full of plantains were boarding the ferry back to San Jorge.

Ometepe was a great stop, and what a unique location in the world. A twin volcanoe island in the middle of a giant lake. How much more picturesque can it get?

Portraits

Mari and I arent big on setting the camera on auto-timer, or asking other people to snap a pic in order to capture a photo of ourselves in front of some marvelous site or other. Typically, which ever of us that has the camera sneeks in a quick pic here and there capturing the other. Realizing that most of the pics on this site dont actually contain images of us, I figured I would throw a few up especially for the folks back home.


Mari in a coffee shop in Granada. One of the greatest things about Central America is the amount of liquados, or batidos that are available everywhere. Liquados and batidos are fruit smoothies, made with either milk or water and whatever fruit they have available. A typical banana and milk batido here costs about 20 cordobas and is absolutely delicious.

Travis eating lunch Volcan Masaya. Mari prepared some great cream cheese and roasted chicken sandwhiches for us to enjoy on our day trip up the mountain. We are sitting eating, enjoying the breeze and the wonderful view spread out before us.

Mari on the ferry from san Jorge to La Isla de Ometepe. The waves were strong when we set off, and waves pounded the side of the boat splashing water up over the edge and onto the vehicles on the back deck. Mari was a bit worried at the beginning, here in the picture, but soon the waves calmed and the ride was enjoyable.

Travis on the ferry, with Volcan Concepcion on La Isla de Ometepe in the background.

Volcan Masaya

As I stated a few days ago, Mari and I took a day trip outside of Granada to the nearby town of Masaya to visit Volcan Masaya. I finally have time and internet to post some photos.

We hitched a ride from the front gate of the park all the way to the parking lot seen here on the cusp of the smoking crater. This active crater is actually a second volcano at the site named Volcan Nindiri, while Volcan Masaya sits dorment next door. The emitted smoke is acrid, and they recommend not staying nearby for more than 15 - 20 minutes in order to avoid the poisonous affects.

The sides of the crater illustrate the strata and shear faces that plummet straight down into the caldera.

Heres where the magic happens. Sauron's eye in the center of the bowl. They say if you come at night (on the night tour) that you can see the red glow of lava within. That would have been great to see, but Mari and I are shoestringing it and avoided paying for the guide and the tour, thereby quartering the cost of the trip.

This is actually Volcan Masaya, sitting just to the side of the active crater of Nindiri. From our left, this looked like a great place to climb and see the surrounding area.

Atop Masaya we had spectacular views of most of the local craters, all three lakes in the area, plus the giant volcanoes both north and south that sit looming in the distance. You can see Volcan Mombacha in the distance here.

24 de Enero 2011

Mari and I left Granada this morning, taking the bus south to Rivas where we caught a taxi headed to the ferries located in a town called San Jorge. The ferries head out to the Islas de Ometepe, two volcanoes that compose an island in the Lago de Nicaragua. The vocanos are Volcan Concepcion and Volcan Maderas. Both exquisite in size and beauty. Stepping off the ferry, we set foot in a town called Moyogalpa, the largest of the towns on the island, and the place we will be staying tonight.

The bus from Granada to Rivas cost us 48 Cordobas, the taxi cost us 45 Cordobas, and the Ferry was 120 Cordobas. Transportation costs put us just under $10 USD for the day. For the last several weeks Mari and I have been traveling on chicken buses, but didnt get the ¨real¨deal until our bus ride today, where people actually had chickens in hand. We shot a small video of a cute little boy and his chicken that I hope to somehow edit and post in the (near??) future.

As for the ferry ride, what a beautiful sight it was this afternoon as we whisked across the water heading towards the island and its two giant volcanoes looming in the distance, each shrouded in cloud cover near the top. The day was slightly windy and the water was quite choppy, making for a bumpy, swaying and rocking boat ride. But....still, nothing compared the boat ride I had a few years back crossing from Morocco to Spain where I thought the boat was actually going to break to pieces and we were all going to drown. This one just imparted the slight feeling of uneasiness that sets your mind thinking out possibilites.

So far... Moyogalpa appears to be a pleasant, small, tranquil island town. The water in the surrounding lake appears to be a muddy, brownish color, reminding Mari of the River Plate that seperates Argentina and Uruguay.

We walked around and checked out 5 places to stay and nothing jumps out as amazing, so I suppose we will just choose one that is on the nicer side and start making more decisions. I decided today we are becoming more picky in our decisions regarding where to stay. I think after traveling as long as I have through several countries, always holing up in hostels, I could create a pretty kick ass hostel that would offer and cater to the desires and whims of travelers. I know this to be true, because we are sometimes quite disappointed in the options of places we have to stay, that offer sometimes nothing spectacular. I wish I could open a hostel consulting firm, where I could help locals create hostels that cater to foreigners. That way travelers could support the local businesses, and it would be a win win situation. Typically, foreigners set up the better hostels, as they know what travelers want and need, thus circumventing the local businesses.

While in Granada we visited another Volcano, named Volcan Masaya. It was located roughly 20 Km outside of Granada, and after two short bus journeys, we were left at the entrance to the park. We paid our entrance and were planning on walking the 6 Km to the top, but after jokingly sticking out my thumb to hitchhike to the top, the car actually stopped and we hopped in for the the short drive to the summit. And what a site it was. A giant smoking crater puffing out throat scraping fumes. Luckily the wind was to our backs and we could enjoy the views without much hinderence. I hope to post some spectacular pics next time I swing by the internet cafe.

Ciao for now.