So we are now down to one girl and a guy in Central America, travelling separately. I just happened to run into Mark at the hostel I´m at about 10 minutes ago. It´s unfortunate how this trip turned out, but at the same I think it was unavoidable. I hope that doesn´t sound crass.
I thought I´d update this blog one more time before I leave for Costa Rica. So here´s a quick description of what I´ve been doing with myself. And may I add that travelling as a single female creates a lot of unwanted attention from men! How can I politely say ¨I´d rather continue reading than talk to you¨?
Managua: The capital of Nicarauga. Everything is barred up, indoors and outdoors. Outside, on top of the bars you will see barbed wire. I was warned by the hotel owner and about 4 people on the street that I shouldn´t be walking alone at dark. I was back inside by 6:30 p.m. and ready to move on. Streets are unmarked as is the case in many Central American cities. That makes wandering around, searching for a destination infuriating at times. And it kinda causes some insecurities. Gave in and ate at freaking Burger King after getting lost, misguided by the Lonely Planet, and ripped off by a cab driver. Love the breakfast sausage.
Granada: I returned to Granada for a second time because I liked it and the hostel so much. Plus there isn´t much about Costa Rica that appeals to me or fits into my budget. Enjoying the comfort of being in a familiar place, free DVDs and a 10 minute phone call to Canada, as well as the pool. Granada is unbearably hot. Ate the best veggie burger of my life. Some attractive, maintained colonial buildings, and a lot of dilapidated structures. Took a day trip to Lake Pacoyo, which reportedly has the cleanest water in Nicarauga. Lazed around in an inner tube on the crystal clear water for most of the day.
Isla de Ometepe: Two islands were formed into one after an eruption of one of the (2) volcanoes created an isthmus between them. Having difficulties pronouncing isthmus. Travelled with a couple from London (UK), Nick and Jo, and two others from the UK, Julian and Keith, as well as another Julia and a teacher named Dave. Spent two nights in Merida. Hiked to San Ramon. Viewed spectacular waterfall cascading down a steep rock face. Falls provide drinking water for town, so no swimming allowed. Decided to ignore the ¨watch for falling rocks¨sign and stood under the falls for a minute. Was hit in head by a falling rock. Enjoyed the gluttony of having a breakfast and dinner buffet served at the hotel. Lake swimming was amazing, although thoughts of the fresh water sharks crossed my mind. Nearby island was made home to monkeys rescued from captivity. Monkeys are now dependant on the owners since the island doesn´t have food. Roaming cows, pigs, chickens and horses everywhere. One night on Santo Domingo beach. White sand, not at all busy. Splurged for a nice hotel. Wished I had much more time here. Truly is ¨an ecological jewel¨. Took small ferry back to mainland. Luckily did not puke.
San Juan del Sur: Still travelling with the group, minus Dave and other Julia. Formerly a town visited by rich Nicaraugans and few surfers. Now being developed by rich Nicaraugans, visited by many Gringos. Subway was put in town 8 months ago. A 20 story hotel was just approved for construction. Other than that, the beach was good, water cool (Pacific) and salty so floating was not an issue. Visited nearby Playa Majagual and Maderas. Gorgeous area. Wish I was a geologist so I could describe the cliffs and eroded rocks surrounding the shore. Accomodations were pricey, the budget place was booked, so it became a day trip. Splurged and bought shrimp and tried some lobster. Both were incredible. Not much to eat but seafood.
And here I am in Granada. The trip to San Jose is about 8 hours long, so I plan to leave early tomorrow morning for the big city. Start volunteering on the 23rd.
Friday, April 20, 2007
Friday, April 6, 2007
The best hostel in Honduras?
We haven´t talked about the hostel we´re staying at in Omoa yet - Roli´s Place. It definitely deserves a mention.
In the Lonely Planet guide is it touted as the best hostel in Honduras, or something along those lines. It seems that this praise has gone straight to Roli´s head.
After dropping our bags off in the room it was necessary to walk around the place to read the signs posted around, some with kinda contradictory rules. There are rules for everything.
My favorite sign is basically an introduction to Roli. He lists of all of the wonderful things he is doing to keep the hostel as the best in Honduras. His job is to keep the place ¨extra special¨, and while doing his work he does not have time to answer outlandish questions from his guests! Apparently every night as he puts out the mosquito coils for us he is bombarded with questions such as: ¨you must be Roli?¨, ¨where is the bus to bla, bla, blah?¨, ¨do you know where I can find a decent restaurant?¨ and so on.
All questions are to be directed to Nellya - that's what she is paid for! He makes a comment about how people ignore her because she doesn't speak English, and because she looks young. Is that possibly a generalization?
And by the way, he hasn't been doing his job with the mosquito coils - I counted over 100 bites below my knees. I refuse to use the DEET spray I brought with me unless I'm in an area that's puts me at risk for malaria. Anyway...
So the highlight of this story is right here: this one traveller was staying at Roli's for a couple nights and then decided to camp out on the beach. He came by one night with a guest who stopped in to get something from the room. He was there for about 30 seconds before Roli came out, accused him of abusing his hospitality, hit him with a flashlight, grabbed his arm and pulled him off the property. I hung out with this guy - he was nowhere close to being a nuisance.
I should've just copied that sign out for you guys. Honestly, it cracks me up every time I look at it.
- Julia
In the Lonely Planet guide is it touted as the best hostel in Honduras, or something along those lines. It seems that this praise has gone straight to Roli´s head.
After dropping our bags off in the room it was necessary to walk around the place to read the signs posted around, some with kinda contradictory rules. There are rules for everything.
My favorite sign is basically an introduction to Roli. He lists of all of the wonderful things he is doing to keep the hostel as the best in Honduras. His job is to keep the place ¨extra special¨, and while doing his work he does not have time to answer outlandish questions from his guests! Apparently every night as he puts out the mosquito coils for us he is bombarded with questions such as: ¨you must be Roli?¨, ¨where is the bus to bla, bla, blah?¨, ¨do you know where I can find a decent restaurant?¨ and so on.
All questions are to be directed to Nellya - that's what she is paid for! He makes a comment about how people ignore her because she doesn't speak English, and because she looks young. Is that possibly a generalization?
And by the way, he hasn't been doing his job with the mosquito coils - I counted over 100 bites below my knees. I refuse to use the DEET spray I brought with me unless I'm in an area that's puts me at risk for malaria. Anyway...
So the highlight of this story is right here: this one traveller was staying at Roli's for a couple nights and then decided to camp out on the beach. He came by one night with a guest who stopped in to get something from the room. He was there for about 30 seconds before Roli came out, accused him of abusing his hospitality, hit him with a flashlight, grabbed his arm and pulled him off the property. I hung out with this guy - he was nowhere close to being a nuisance.
I should've just copied that sign out for you guys. Honestly, it cracks me up every time I look at it.
- Julia
Thursday, April 5, 2007
Jelly Fish
I was going to wait for Julia to do this blog, but it is hot outside and I am looking for reasons to stay in the blissful A/C. So here I am.
We have been in Omoa for...I dunno, 6 days maybe and I pretty much love it here. I have yet to determine if it is the place or the fact that I am once again on the Caribbean sea. I suspect that any town on the Caribbean coast I would be in love with, but that is neither here nor there. Today I am going to talk to you about the sea itself, not my love of it.
The first two days were pure bliss in the warm blue water of the sea. Julia and I would go to the beach simply to float in the water and let the sun beat down on us. The sea is particularly thrilling to Julia as the poor girl is cursed with the inability to float in fresh water. Seeing her newly bouyant body in the water is peculiar at times as she has yet to master the art of relaxation and I can often here her momentary panic and feel the usually calm water ripple with her jerky and uncoordinated movements as she struggles to remain afloat. Forgetting of course that she was just floating a brief moment ago and there is no need for the panic...but I digress.
We had just gotten used to our daily water routine of doing virtually nothing but play around in the salty bathwater when it was brought to our visual attention that we had some friends in the form of jelly fish. Not one or two, because of course jelly fish swim in schools, but a dozen of them or so in the immediate vicinity of us. I dont know how many there were in total as for the duration of their visit (about 2 days) we kept our frolicking to the warm shallow waters instead of the cool depths just slightly farther out. It was interesting the watch these globes of jelli (say it like its spelled. Its funnier that way. Jell-I) float about the water without a direction or purpose. However no matter where we went they seemed highly attracted to us and would change course to better follow our retreat. They didnt effect our stay in the sea too much however and for the couple days they were there we made a game of finding them and identifying the different colours. People standing on the peer and gazing into the water had a better view and could see just how many there were, but we felt that our swimming would stop entirely if we knew the truth and we continued to delude ourselves that there were only a bakers dozen or so. I should also mention that Julia had a momentary brush with death (as she likes to think of it) as a jelly fish collided with her clothed side and they made quick but definite contact with each other. Wow.
On day two of our visitation to the Jelli we discovered that there was a poor deceased soul floating in the water. The underneath part had been removed (I dont know how or why) and just the jelly bowl was floating along in the water. Julia picked it up and placed it on her head (what is the name for the Jewish hat thingy? It looked a lil like that). We spent a few minutes touching it and feeling the jelly. It is a rather thick membrane for those that dont know. And while it is soft, and in fact jelly-like the membrane is about an inch to an inch and a half thick making it difficult to penetrate without a sharp object on hand. Julia tired of the bowl quickly and left me to play with it. We had already filled it with water and worn it on our heads...there didnt seem to be much else to do with it, so I hurled it at Julia. It did not hit her, but she was vex nonetheless and picked it up to launch at me. This lasted for a few moments until we realized that we were essentially throwing a dead carcass at each other, and the playing stopped.
We searched but could not find one jelly fish. Our Jelli friends had left to go haunt another beach town Im sure and Julia and I have gone back to our daily frolicking. They will be missed.
Janelle
We have been in Omoa for...I dunno, 6 days maybe and I pretty much love it here. I have yet to determine if it is the place or the fact that I am once again on the Caribbean sea. I suspect that any town on the Caribbean coast I would be in love with, but that is neither here nor there. Today I am going to talk to you about the sea itself, not my love of it.
The first two days were pure bliss in the warm blue water of the sea. Julia and I would go to the beach simply to float in the water and let the sun beat down on us. The sea is particularly thrilling to Julia as the poor girl is cursed with the inability to float in fresh water. Seeing her newly bouyant body in the water is peculiar at times as she has yet to master the art of relaxation and I can often here her momentary panic and feel the usually calm water ripple with her jerky and uncoordinated movements as she struggles to remain afloat. Forgetting of course that she was just floating a brief moment ago and there is no need for the panic...but I digress.
We had just gotten used to our daily water routine of doing virtually nothing but play around in the salty bathwater when it was brought to our visual attention that we had some friends in the form of jelly fish. Not one or two, because of course jelly fish swim in schools, but a dozen of them or so in the immediate vicinity of us. I dont know how many there were in total as for the duration of their visit (about 2 days) we kept our frolicking to the warm shallow waters instead of the cool depths just slightly farther out. It was interesting the watch these globes of jelli (say it like its spelled. Its funnier that way. Jell-I) float about the water without a direction or purpose. However no matter where we went they seemed highly attracted to us and would change course to better follow our retreat. They didnt effect our stay in the sea too much however and for the couple days they were there we made a game of finding them and identifying the different colours. People standing on the peer and gazing into the water had a better view and could see just how many there were, but we felt that our swimming would stop entirely if we knew the truth and we continued to delude ourselves that there were only a bakers dozen or so. I should also mention that Julia had a momentary brush with death (as she likes to think of it) as a jelly fish collided with her clothed side and they made quick but definite contact with each other. Wow.
On day two of our visitation to the Jelli we discovered that there was a poor deceased soul floating in the water. The underneath part had been removed (I dont know how or why) and just the jelly bowl was floating along in the water. Julia picked it up and placed it on her head (what is the name for the Jewish hat thingy? It looked a lil like that). We spent a few minutes touching it and feeling the jelly. It is a rather thick membrane for those that dont know. And while it is soft, and in fact jelly-like the membrane is about an inch to an inch and a half thick making it difficult to penetrate without a sharp object on hand. Julia tired of the bowl quickly and left me to play with it. We had already filled it with water and worn it on our heads...there didnt seem to be much else to do with it, so I hurled it at Julia. It did not hit her, but she was vex nonetheless and picked it up to launch at me. This lasted for a few moments until we realized that we were essentially throwing a dead carcass at each other, and the playing stopped.
We searched but could not find one jelly fish. Our Jelli friends had left to go haunt another beach town Im sure and Julia and I have gone back to our daily frolicking. They will be missed.
Janelle
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