Month: January 2016

Volcanos, sunshine and Pura Vida. Nicaragua and Costa Rica. ☀️☀️☀️

Tuesday 5th January.

Another day of travelling into Nicaragua. The plane was originally delayed due to adverse weather conditions. The rain was a joke.

Our flight went via El Salvador which from the air looked beautiful!

Our hotel, Hotel Chilamates, was really nice with a good pool area. We went for dinner at Cafe Garden where I shared another good bottle of Malbecwith Ruth and Kim.

After dinner we had some uber cheap cocktails sat in a bar on the street.

Wednesday 6th January.

Today was a crazy busy day.

We had breakfast a Kathys Waffle House and I had some fantastic blueberry pancakes. We then had a tour of Granada and visited the market.

We then headed to the Masaya Volcano and walked across the top for some amazing views. It was bloody hot though and of course I got sunburnt! More stairs to climb too. GAH!

One of the craters was active so we could see the gas coming out (and smell it!)

From here we went to another crater that was full of water where we could swim. I sat and had lunch with Ibi and Krystal and continued to drink the rum cocktail we had that was rum and guava juice and it was beaut. My memory after this is a bit hazy…

We went on a boat, I know because I lost my sunglasses on said boat. I’m told we saw monkeys but I have no idea. Everyone was crazy drunk but it was a fun evening. All in bed by 9:30pm!

Thursday 7th January

Today was a chilled day and I sat by the pool – writing all this up! Ronny ordered fried chicken for lunch!

Nothing hugely exciting today other than lazing around. Dinner was at a restaurant called Nectar where I had a yummy fish burrito.

Friday 8th January.

Today we were due to get a chicken bus to the ferry to cross the lake to an island called Ometepe. As there isn’t loads to do on the island, and there is currently some form of bird flu outbreak in Nicaragua, we opted to get a private bus to a beach for the day and head to Ometepe later in the afternoon.

The beach was a surf camp and there were many good looking surfer boys and we could hire boards for $10 for the day. After joking that maybe surfing was the talent I was yet to find, I quickly realised that it was as far from being my forte as could be. I was useless. Tess and a couple of others did manage to stand up though! Good day all round.
We then arrived at the ferry port to a small boat which turned out to be our ferry. It was a little rickety and the benches downstairs were unbelievably uncomfortable. So much so I moved to a flat bit of floor to soon realise my bum was very hot as I was sitting above the engine. Good start to the trip!

To overcome any potential illness, I turned my music on and danced to the music while sat on the hot engine and pretended the movement of the sea was my dancing. It worked a treat. We even got to watch the sunset as we moved over the lake.

We were staying with families on the island. Tess and I were paired with a lady called Sandra and I figured this would be a real test of my spanish! Fortunately when we arrived, we also found that Ronny (our guide) was staying at our house too so that eased the tension a little!

It was a nice open plan house with tiles on the floor and coloured walls. Our beds had individual mosquito nets and we had an ensuite. There were many small bugs about but that wasn’t the end of the world.

Dinner of spaghetti, salsa and vegetables had been prepared for us. Tess and I sat with Ronny and the eldest boy in the house for dinner. His English was as good as my Spanish so we managed to muddle through okay! I found out he was studying accountancy at university so we were able to bond a little there! The girl who joined us shortly after was 15 and her English was really good so her translations were often very helpful!

Ronny had a full conversation (given that he is Costa Rican, Spanish is his first language so no problems for him!) with the parents and I piped in when I could – mainly when he was saying how much he liked Mexico to which I said “no, no me gusta Mexico – me gusta Belize!” Which they laughed at. It was a good evening and lots of their family came round.

Saturday 9th January.

Last night we were given our options of climbing with of the two volcanos – one requiring a particularly steep incline as its the second highest volcano in Nicaragua, the other was not so steep but as it was a mud trail, you would have needed shoes with traction both of which were 8-9 hours walking – or the other option was a “Lazy Tour” of the island including a visit to a beach, some hot springs and inspections of some rock carvings.

Needless to say which I (and in my defence the rest of the group) chose so we left at 9am for a drive to a lagoon where we only had a one hour walk around a lake looking at the fauna and flora surrounded by butterflies. It was a nice walk – albeit super hot! We also walked to see some howler monkeys that lived in a tree in the area which was pretty cool.
From here we headed to a local farm to see some rock carvings.

I also tried a star fruit which was so sour but so incredible. Definitely going to look out for those at home!

We stopped for lunch at a beach which was nice although we didn’t go in the water as we only had an hour or so there and I didn’t want to sit on a bus in wet clothes! I also stubbed my toe getting off the bus and was the most painful thing in the world!

After lunch we went to some natural springs although I say natural, the pool we were in was man made. The water was also bloody freezing. Some of the group had some of the CocoLoco there, a cocktail with a variety of shots in with the coconut water. Given that I don’t like coconut, I missed out though. Sarah bought herself and Katie one each and then tried to swim across the pool with one in each hand and nearly drowned doing so. It was very amusing!

We then went back to the community centre at the home stay where Leo gave Ibi a photography lesson which I listened in on (very helpful) and we watched the sunset before dinner.

Back to the home stay for our last night where on route I realised I had left my trainers on the bus. Mare. When we got back to our house, Tess went for a shower and a large bug/beetle landed on the floor next to my feet. As Tess wasn’t yet in the shower I called her for some help (it was mahoosive) and she flipped it the right way to help it fly out alone (our room had no windows). She went back in the shower and it flipped on its back again – it clearly couldn’t cope with the fan being on! I tried to turn it over again as Tess made it look easy. Poor thing. Tess came out the shower and a few minutes later the bug had gone and we assumed it had finally managed to fly away.

I asked Tess to put some after sun on my back and as I moved my hair out the way, I touched something hard and figured I must have left a hair grip in there. HOWEVER after a couple of seconds, I realised that this hard thing was no hair grip, IT WAS THE BUG/BEETLE FROM THE FLOOR! We had no idea how it had got into my hair but I was horrified and we both couldn’t stop laughing. Tess was laughing so much she couldn’t get her fingers to take it out! It was awful. Fortunately however she managed to remove said bug and my hair was once again restored to being bug free. AWFUL. Bed in my mosquito net couldn’t come soon enough.

Sunday 10th January

I woke at 05:30 and checked the time on my iPad. The iPad lit up my surroundings and I saw a GINORMOUS spider on my mosquito net. As we needed to get up at 05:45 anyway, I crawled down to the other end of the bed and exited the bed spider free. Yak.

We dressed, ate breakfast and left for the ferry. On route to the ferry we tried to drive past the bus drivers house to get my shoes back but unfortunately at 06:30 he wasn’t awake so I donated my shoes to the island. Nicaragua has had my sunglasses and my trainers. I hope they do someone well.

The ferry back to the mainland was not a chicken ferry and was relatively pleasant. We then had a short drive to the border for Costa Rica!

The crossing into Costa Rica was a mare and took ages. Lots of waiting in the sunshine. It also included a 10-15 minute walk in the sunshine with our bags. We were all sweaty bettys! Finally after 2 hours we made it into Costa Rica! Off to Monteverde we went.

We stopped for lunch at a supermarket that also had a clothes shop next door. Given that I was going to need trainers more than anything for the next few activity days I went and bought a pair of new trainers – much less snazzy than my old pair unfortunately but I bought some ultra snazzy new sunglasses to make up for it.

The afternoon was then spent in the van booking activities for tomorrow. I went for horse riding for the evening tonight. Tomorrow I will be going zip lining at 9am, ATV riding at 11am and walking through the hanging bridges tomorrow at 2:30pm. Busy busy!

Horse riding was lovely. We stopped to watch the sunset too which was really pretty. Riding back in the pitch black was interesting though – at least the horses knew where they were going!

Monday 11th January

Zip lining was awesome. There were 9 zip lines, the longest of which was 1.5km and is the longest in Latin America. It was pretty cool.

ATVs was my favourite activity though. Definitely want one at one. The views were absolutely amazing too.

The hanging bridges were cool. We saw pizotes in the trees and it was a relaxed walk in a beautiful setting.

We went to a bar after dinner where Pitbull was the main soundtrack which got a bit tedious and we also had these awful chilli shots which tasted like tomato sauce. Disgusting.

Tuesday 12th January.

Today we were leaving Monteverde and crossing the lake to La Fortuna. We had amazing views of the Arenal volcano too.

La Fortuna was hot and muggy. All activities were also crazy expensive and I didn’t fancy any of them. Tomorrow was going to be a quiet and relaxed day!

Dinner was at the most incredible steak restaurant. $22 for a beer, chicken wings and a delicious steak. Perfect.

Wednesday 13th January.

Today was very quiet. We headed into town for some lunch then Ibi and I tried to find a bar to watch a football game. No where was showing it, so back to the hotel to stream it with a couple of beers from the gas station!

After dinner we went to a local karaoke bar which was fun. Didn’t bode well for tomorrow’s early start though!

Thursday 14th January.

Today we had to wake up crazy early for whit water rafting. Many of us were feeling very worse for wear.

Fortunately the water did us good and we had a really fun day! Pictures to follow!

After changing, onto San Jose for our last night!

Friday 15th January.

Today I was leaving to fly to Quito for my final leg of my trip, a visit to the Galapagos. I nearly missed my connecting flight in Panama city as I was doing too much shopping but I made it to Quito safe and sound.

Off for my next adventure! Gutted to leave Central America though – I’ve had the most amazing time!

Central America is HOT ☀️☀️☀️

Monday 28th December.
I left for the airport at 4am on Monday morning and 3 flights later I arrived exhausted 24 hours later in Antigua, Guatemala at 10pm local time (4am UK time). I had managed to sleep the entirety of every plane journey, waking up only for meals – as a result I missed ice cream which was unfortunate.

Had a bit of a mare at the airport in that my driver wasn’t there. Fortunately a very friendly man sorted some internet for me and rang the hostel to find out where my driver had got to. Unlike many other airports I have been to, he managed to be very helpful and very friendly without being leery and making me uncomfortable. So, when he asked for a tip, I went against my normal rules of ‘anyone who asks for a tip, shouldn’t get one’ and gave him one. Hopefully he will help out the next person in an equally friendly manner!

It took an hour to get to the hostel from Guatemala City airport. Unlike the last time I was here, it wasn’t rainy and although it was dark outside I was able to look out the window and judge my driver’s driving. I would be interested to know why it is that all non-first world countries drive like maniacs. How does it work there and not at home? Crazy. Speed limits were obviously optional here.

Hostel was fine although I’d been given a top bunk which was super high from the floor. Just had to hope I didn’t need the loo in the night.

Which, of course I did. I woke at 4am and after a couple of episodes of eastenders and the Christmas special of Call the Midwife, I finally braved the stairs down to the floor which weren’t as bad as they looked – ie I survived. Back to bed for a little more sleep.

Tuesday 29th December.

I woke up for the second time at 11:45 and figured I should probably get up. I had arranged to meet a friend for lunch at 3 (Guatemalans dine late it seems) so I still had a few hours to explore.

Lunch with Pedro was at a local restaurant which sold various different dishes from the area. I chose a 3 meat curry – chicken, beef and I think pork, accompanied with some guacamole and rice. Nom.

After a leisurely lunch we headed out to find a bar called Earth Lodge. It took a while to find as people were sending us on a wild goose chase. We finally arrived and it was certainly worth the wait. The view was spectacular.

We sat outside with our drinks and as it got dark, we could see the volcano erupting in the distance which was amazing to watch. Taking pictures of it though was almost impossible! We even felt a small earthquake as it errupted!

I found out that you could also stay there and was gutted I couldn’t as it would have been an amazing view to wake up to! We had parked the car in the car park which was only a 10 minute walk away. Unfortunately for me though the walk to the lodge had been ten minute down hill so when we left to drive back to Antigua, it was then obviously a ten minute walk uphill and the incline was insane. I would not recommend that walk to anyone. Ever. Especially after 5 glasses of wine and in flip flops. Horrific. I’d rather climb the steps in China! I almost vommed.
The lodge was beautiful though so if I ever return, I will definitely stay there, although I will not be bringing luggage. They even had tree houses you could stay in!

After there we drove back to Antigua and spent the rest of the evening at a rooftop bar. Very enjoyable. This is what travelling is for.

Wednesday 30th December.

Wednesday was a slow day as the wine (and the g&ts on the rooftop) began to take its toll. I could also have done with a few more hours sleep! I was meeting the rest of the group tonight for my next tour so I spent a couple of hours over lunch (chicken and chips – glorified nandos) with a few beers and then back to the hotel for a quick nap.

Thursday 31st December.

Thursday morning we were leaving for Honduras. There’s a total of 16 of us in the group, 17 with the guide, Ronny. It’s a good group with everyone being a similar age. Given that I was super unprepared for this trip, I needed to get cash out. So a couple of the others and I went to find the cash machine. At first, my card didn’t work although Tom just said the machines were temperamental so I kept trying and after a few attempts on 3-4 machines, I finally had cash. Even though we were moving onto Honduras, the cash machines in Antigua were apparently safer than those in Honduras so I got enough to last the next week or so! A few days later though, I did find $180 in an envelope which I had stashed in my bag from the China part of the trip. Great find!

It was a long drive to Copán just over the border. We had lunch at a restaurant with a pool and had to change buses as the brakes on the old bus were broken! We got to Copán late but with enough time to go to dinner and see in the New Year!

Friday 1st January 2016.
The next morning I felt a little worse for wear but as there had been some devil children screaming outside the window from about half 7 in the morning, a few of us still managed to get up and explore the Mayan ruins. The Copán ruins are a UNESCO world heritage site and there was the longest hieroglyphic stairway there which was impressive. There was a lot of climbing and as I had a couple of near death experiences as I tripped over a tree root, I began to feel a little health and safety might not go amiss!

On the way back to the hotel, we saw some macaws which were amazing. They are so colourful (and so loud!)

The evening was spent at the Luna Jaguar hot springs. To get there we had to drive an hour and a half in the back of a pick up truck. Unfortunately I was on the end and got majorly squished every time the truck braked! It was a very scenic drive though so totally worth it!

The springs were amazing (and, unlike the ones in Japan, we didn’t have to be naked (and they also weren’t as ridiculously hot!). The pool we were in was bath temperature and was so relaxing. As we had opted for a bbq for dinner, we also had some nachos and some delicious cheesy dip. Sitting in hot springs with rum and coke and nachos, was the perfect way to spend an evening!

Dinner was also super tasty although it did start to rain slightly which, although fine for food as we were under cover, it did not bode well for the drive back and as it got worse, we were soaked!! Bed couldn’t come soon enough!

Saturday 2nd January.

Unfortunately the morning after, we were up at 5am for a crazy long travel day to Roatan, an island in the Caribbean. Four hours on a bus to then change to get on another bus for four hours. The first bus wasn’t too bad as we all managed to get seats but as more people got on and had to stand, they looked uncomfortable standing on a coach in that heat! I was sat next to my room buddy, Tess, and we decided to offer part of our chair to one of the small kids who were forced to stand. Although it was a nice thing to do, it did result in is being horrifically uncomfortable for an hour or so! Not enough space for two adults and a small child on those seats!

At the change over, we ran into the mall there to use the toilet. It was interesting to see the number of armed security patrolling the place – wasn’t sure whether to be concerned or not!

The next bus was much more roomy but after a couple of hours, the journey slowed substantially as the driver had to get out to poor water over the engine every so often to cool it down. Eventually after some other toying with the engine, we got off the bus and got taxis to the ferry terminal.

The ferry was an hour and a half and although miraculously I wasn’t, a number of people were ill. The staff were very good though and seemed to have a sixth sense for it and cleaned up things super quickly. I sat outside with a breeze and watched the sunset before I slept the rest of the journey!

After the ferry, we still had a short drive to the hotel so dinner was a quiet one with Mexican food on the beach before bed.

Sunday 3rd January.

Sunday morning a few of us were going snorkelling as it was the perfect day. The water was clear and the water not choppy. Very enjoyable. Other than the sunburn I ended up with!
After relaxing at a bar in West Bay after snorkelling and a good few margaritas later, a couple of us went to the beach after dinner at a Thai restaurant to look at the stars.

Monday 4th January.

Monday morning was much less sunny and I wasn’t feeling fantastic – blamed on the ice in the margaritas! As a result any plans to go diving were a definite no for me which was a shame but all diving was cancelled in the end due to bad weather :(. My ears had also hurt a little when I free dived on Sunday so it was probably for the best!

Instead we went to the beach for a little while until it started to rain. And oh my did it rain. The heavens opened and we ran back to the hotel. Not wanting to waste the afternoon though, Tess, Krystal and I decided to don our rain gear and umbrellas and head to the butterfly farm which we thought looked not to far away.

On route we stopped for lunch and waited for the rain to subside. After it eased a little, we started the short walk to the butterfly farm. Half an hour later, we were still walking and the of course the rain started again. We stopped to ask for directions and we kept going. Ten minutes later, with wet rubbed feet from flipflops and a lack of confidence in directions, we gave up and got a taxi back to the hotel. At least we tried.

Krystal went to her room for a nap before dinner and Tess and I headed back to our room. Tess took the time to read while I took the first shower. Just as I was enjoying my shower and washing out the conditioner, Tess started banging on the door telling me to get out the shower. Wondering what was wrong, I turned off the shower and grabbed my towel. I came out to find water pouring from the ceiling and the floor flooded. Fortunately Tess had been able to move my clothes out the way so little got wet but it was definitely time for a new room!

Our new room was a floor up so to save dragging my back pack up, I left my big bag in Ellie and Gregs room and took an overnight bag up. What a nightmare.

A few of us went to dinner at an Argentinian restaurant which was good. I had a Caribbean salad and shared a bottle of Malbec. Delish.

As we left the restaurant, we found that again, it was pouring down with rain. This time we had no rain gear and no umbrellas so we ran to the bar, aptly named Booty Bar. I was soaked through. Yak. And I did not dry so I partied soaked to the bone. Nice. Tequila made it better though.

Tuesday morning we were off to Nicaragua for some more lagoons and volcanos! Bring on the sunshine!