We spent the last week or so in and around Quito, the highest city in Ecuador (at 2800 metres above sea level). With a population of about two million it’s a reasonably large city, though the surrounding mountains squeeze it into such a long and narrow shape that it can take hours to travel from one end to another. Despite our general dislike of large cities, we actually enjoyed a couple afternoons wandering around and taking in the sights: epic churches, interesting museums, huge parks, artisanal markets, and interesting architecture - oh, and there’s also a pub with craft beer which is a much needed change from the usual boring Ecuadorian beer. One of the main reasons we decided to visit Quito is because a friend of mine, Michael-Anthony (usually just “M.A.”) happened to be here for an IAESTE (International Association for the Exchange of Students for Technical Experience... phew!) conference. M.A. and I have shared some other interesting coincidences in the past – on my first day of work during my IAESTE internship in Vienna in 2007, I walked into the office only to find M.A. (who was also taking Mechanical Engineering at UofT) sitting at the desk beside mine. For whatever reason, we had to travel halfway around the world to become friends, and had soon drank half the beer in Austria and formed an impromptu band with a couple other interns... some great memories. It was nice to spend some time catching up and taking in some of the sights. He also snuck us onto a bus tour and scored us a free lunch, helping us pose as conference attendees. =) The center of Quito is located about 25 km south of the actual equator, and one of the more interesting stops on the bus tour was at “la mitad del mundo” – a site marking the location (or close enough) of the actual equator. Our tour guide eagerly demonstrated some of the phenomena associated with being on the equator, most of which M.A. and I, being rational engineers, tried to debunk. The one that really irked us was the demonstration of water draining in a sink, with the direction changing due to the Coriolis Effect. The demonstration showed that the same sink drained differently depending on where it was placed: directly on the equator (draining straight down), ten feet north of the equator (draining counter-clockwise), and ten feet south of the equator (draining clockwise). At first we were a bit baffled, but upon looking closer we noticed that the guy leading the show was totally cheating!! Before draining the sink on the equator, the water was left for a few minutes to make sure it was completely still, but right before the demos off of the equator the water was poured from a bucket in such a way as to already get the water moving in the right direction. Poppycock, I say! Once the demo ended, we stepped in and were able to, by pouring from the bucket in the right way, get the water to drain the opposite way it was supposed to. BAH. I’m not disputing the Coriolis Effect, I’m just saying there’s no way it can make a difference over such a small scale… anyways, maybe we were taking things too seriously. The other reason we came to Quito is its proximity to Cotopaxi National Park, about fifty kilometres south of Quito and the home of Cotopaxi, Rumiñahui, and Sincholagua volcanoes, with Cotopaxi being among the highest active volcanoes in the world. If you’ve been keeping up with our adventures so far, you’d know that we were way overdue for a volcano hike, though the high elevation made this one a much different experience from La Concepción and Telica (Nicaragua) and Arenal (Costa Rica).
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Aaaaaahhhhhh hot springs…… There is NOTHING better than a day spent soaking in natural hot water with tons of happy strangers. Baños was a perfect contrast from the loud and dirty Montañita. Nestled high in the Andes Mountains at 1815m above sea level, Baños is a small, very green and picturesque volcano village with about 17,000 residents, literally located in the line of lava from the highly active Tungurahua volcano. As recently as 1999 the entire town had to evacuate as a precaution, though luckily the volcano didn’t totally blow. We spent two nights at a very nice “eco” hotel called La Casa Verde. It was the most expensive place we have stayed so far on our trip at $50 per night, and it was totally worth it! After the Dengue fiasco we decided it was time for a little treat. Not only was the place itself very nice, the people staying there were fun to chat with, they had 100’s of DVD's, and they had amazing organic vegetarian food. I wasn’t completely ready to enjoy full meals at this point but by the time we left I was feeling so much better. On the first day we just wandered around the town and soaked in one of the many hot springs. It was very “tranquillo”. And on the second day we figured we could do some white water rafting since adventure travel is one of the main attractions in Baños. Rafting was much more exciting than we had anticipated! We have both been on rivers in multiple countries and for the most part have found white water rafting to be somewhat boring at times between rapids, and exciting only for 5 or 6 quick rapids. Neither of us had flipped a raft before, though we had both fallen out a couple of times in a relatively controlled manner. This trip was different. From the moment we entered the river until we finished the trip an hour or two later it was non-stop action! And not just tame rapids either, but very strong currents and large boulders that we had to ram every time even though half of the people in our raft were terrified. They were terrified for good reason too, perhaps!
It started out as a very high fever. I thought I was going to freeze to death but the thermometer said I was nearly 104°F. In the middle of the night on day two of the fever we went to the hospital. There were two nurses telling jokes to each other in the corner who were visibly annoyed that we showed up. They woke up the pharmacist who took some blood, told us that I didn’t have dengue and sent us home. No investigation into what it would have been. Just told us to go away. Later we found out that you can’t test positive for Dengue until after 6 days of fever. The next day I went to a different pharmacist down the street from our hostel and asked for antibiotics because I thought maybe I had an infection or something. They gave them to me without question or explanation of any side effects or anything. I later found out that you can get as much of anything you want from any pharmacy here – for example a guy from our Spanish classes bought 20 or more vicodin, valium, oxycotin and some other mystery drugs that are apparently stronger than all of those. He bought them all at once and took most of them in one day. Apparently this is one reason that a lot of people come to Montañita. The doctor recommended that I return for monitoring in a few days, however when we did return, no one there could find any record of me ever being there so after A LOT of persuasion we got them to run some new tests that we took with us and emailed to our health insurance providers in Canada. Luckily google gave us the heads up on my symptoms and nothing suggested the dangerous type of dengue (the one where you haemorrhage and your insides turn to mush) so I just had to wait it out. After 12 days of fever between 101-104°F I finally awoke without a fever. For the next three days I had random full body hive flare-ups which google alerted us was normal for the recovery stage of Dengue. It took another few days before I was able to eat a full meal again and about two weeks before the nausea finally left (now). Unfortunately my opinion of Montañita is not too good, likely in part based on the fact that I felt like crap the whole time we were there. However I did manage to attend 20 hours of Spanish lessons at Montañita Spanish School, which were very good, and we did a couple of smaller day excursions as well. I just had to get out of the hostel we were staying in. "Six days, 228 miles, a close grizzly encounter, way too much sun, an incredible thunderstorm, and a constant feeling of awe - this was a trip we'll both remember for a lifetime." We spent the last four days hiking and nature watching in Corcovado, the largest of Costa Rica’s National Parks and reportedly one of the most biologically diverse places on the planet. We saw a ton of cool creatures, took over a thousand photos & over an hour of video footage, ate a ridiculous amount of tuna and peanut butter, worked the hell out of our legs, and returned to civilization the dirtiest and smelliest we’ve ever been. All in all, a great success in our book. =) We spent three nights at Sirena Ranger Station, deep in the heart of the park. To get there, we took what I’ll now term a “potato bus” (more on this later) from Puerto Jimenez to the end of the road at Carate, then hiked a beautiful 20 km along the Pacific coast, at times working our way up and around large rock outcrops or wading through streams and rivers. When we had originally gotten our park permits and spoken with the park staff in Jimenez, we were told we’d need to be on the trails by 6am in order to hit the final river crossing (at the Rio Claro) during low tide - crossing at high tide is not recommended, partly due to dangerous currents that could suck you out into the ocean, and partly because the deeper waters allow bull sharks and crocodiles to make their way up the river to feed on fish (or unlucky tourists). We thought we’d take this fairly seriously, and decided to catch the bus to Carate the night before the hike to allow us to get a nice, early start. Our original plan was to arrive in Carate and find a nice secluded spot to pitch a tent, probably somewhere along the beach. As we were boarding the “bus” from Jimenez, however, we bumped into a couple frazzled-looking backpackers first words to us were, “DON’T CAMP ON THE BEACH!” – they had just returned to town after having their bags stolen from them while camping on the beach in Carate the night before. Yikes – we rode to Carate, and with only a couple hours of daylight to spare and no real idea where we’d end up spending the night, we began our trek down the beach. We were starting to get a bit worried after about 45 minutes in, until we noticed a quaint little property just off the beach with a perfectly mown lawn, impeccably kept gardens, and a few small huts – where the hell were we?? We wandered in and struck up a conversation with the only guy in sight, an older gentleman named Bob who quickly realized we were in a bit of a pickle and said he had no problem with us pitching our tent on the grass. It turned out that he and his son Kelly were on vacation from Northern California, spending a week of it on the property which was owned by a friend of a friend of theirs. In no time, Bob and Kelly were sharing with us their dinner of beans & rice (what else), some great conversation (did you guys know about this Ison comet that’s approaching extremely close to Earth?), and even the last of their special stash (which we smoked from their little seashell pipe). Chelsea and I felt like we’d stumbled into some fairytale paradise, and were happy to contribute one of our very precious chocolate covered coffee beans and a Snickers bar, which we all shared for dessert. An unexpected but most excellent evening!
The last couple weeks with my parents have been a blast, trying to make the most of their time in Costa Rica. While we had a great time showing them around and going on a variety of day adventures, their visit also came with some new challenges for Chelsea and I – namely finding the best cheap red wine for my mom and an appropriate substitute for my dad’s usual “blue drinks” (VEX electric lemonade vodka coolers). Their visit also meant a nice change for us – a couple weeks of eating better food, staying in fancy-schmancy rental properties (with hot showers, hooray!), and the experience of Costa Rican driving with our rental car. The first week we stayed at a condo in Playas Del Coco, about an hours’ drive south of Tamarindo. The guy who drove us into town introduced the place as “a drinking town with a fishing problem” and we quickly saw why. The main part of town was a stretch of road packed with restaurants and bars, each with large signs boasting their “happy hour” deals. One bar on the far end of the beach had a “wall of fame”, showcasing their current record-holders for the most beers drank in a single day – one of whom we were told was a ninety pound Canadian chica who slammed back 30 or more beers and still managed to head out to go dancing afterward. Way to represent! The main beach at Coco was packed with fishermen and their rigs, as well as local kids playing football (soccer) and random dogs running amuck. We spent a few days relaxing at Playa del Coco and a couple of the neighboring beaches, at each new location sampling their Pina Colada in Chelsea’s extensive search for the very best. My dad and I also managed to pack in a morning of ocean fishing, which was a nice treat. Our boat was followed by a couple pods of spotted dolphins, and we managed to catch (although we did very little of the actual fishing part) a beautiful mahi-mahi, which took us a few meals to eat our share of. We also spent an afternoon relaxing and surfing at Playa Grande (thanks Christie & Sebsters for the recommendation!) which was by far the highlight of the week for us. The waves were perfect for learning and we all (except for the mimsy) had some success catching some gnarly surf (but limited success in picking up on the surfer lingo). Although Playas del Coco was not exactly the nicest beach or town we’ve seen so far, it was great to spend the week relaxing, eating, drinking, playing cards and catching up with the parents. The next week we spent at an awesome rental house in Neuvo Arenal, which was recommended to us by April’s parents (thanks Janice & Gord!). The house was gorgeous, complete with two king-size beds, an extra bedroom, four washrooms, a swimming pool, beautiful garden & terrace, and fully-stocked kitchen (with a blender for mastering our Pina Colada skills). We did a lot of driving around to check out the sights, which were incredible. We spent an afternoon hiking around Arenal Volcano, during which my mom impressed us all with her rock-hopping skills. We awoke every morning to howling monkeys (which to us sound more like pissed-off dinosaurs than monkeys), though we didn’t see any until our drive back to the airport on the final day. The two weeks flew right by, and we were sad to see my parents off. We also can’t believe it’s already December – it will be tough for us to be away from our families over Christmas. Some of the highlights of the last couple weeks: - exploring random dirt roads in our rental golf cart - feeding the mocking-jays at Playa Ocotal - Scuba diving at Playas del Coco and experiencing the intense chill of the thermoclines - catching mad curls at Playa Grande in Tamarindo - fishing for mahi-mahi at Playas del Coco - searching for the best pina colada, and finally achieving perfection for ourselves - hiking through the jungle around Arenal Volcano - relaxing in the hot springs river near La Fortuna - driving along a random gravel road and spotting spider monkeys - playing lots of card games and learning a new game together (All Fours) - horseback riding around the hills near Nuevo Arenal Thanks again, Mimsy & Pimsy, for coming to see us! Hope to see you in Africa next year! =) Pura Vida, Mandrew & Chelsea Week 1 - Playas Del Coco To open in a new window click here Week 2 - NuevO Arenal To open in a new window click here
We spent the last week or so hanging out and scuba diving in the awesome little island of Utila, Honduras (just west of Roatan). It is a vibrant, colourful, friendly place where you begin to recognize people after just one or two days on the tiny Caribbean island. We both loved the chill and safe atmosphere, though getting to the island is another story... We made our way from Jinotega to Tegucigalpa on the chicken bus (basically a souped up school bus) with one overnight stop in Ocotal, a border town in northern Nicaragua. The bus trip was surprisingly easy - we're definitely getting the hang of this! From there, to save time we chose to catch a relatively cheap flight, stopping over in La Ceiba, a small town on the northern coast of Honduras. This is where things got interesting. We were lead from our first plane (large enough to fit around 40 passengers), shoved down the runway, and packed into a small Cessna with barely room enough for us, three other passengers, and the pilot. With six people and a whack of luggage, we were surprised the plane even took off! Without any attempt at a weight balance or safety talk, we proceeded to take off down the little runway. This was a far cry from any flying we've done in little planes with Chelsea's brother Shawn, where he goes through his full safety checklist, provides a headset, ensures we wear seatbelts, etc., but no worries - it was really just a short hop over from the mainland. Everything was smooth during takeoff and I felt fine until the door right beside me popped open just as the plane left the ground! I managed to get it closed again, though for the rest of the flight I wouldn't let go of the seat in front of me for fear of an exciting but very final skydive (did I mention my seatbelt wouldn't do up?) Once we landed (and after a couple more battles with the plane door) we caught a cab into town, got settled into our hostel and immediately fell in love with the place. Basically a single narrow road along part of the coast, the town of Utila seems to consist mainly of bars, restaurants, dive shops, houses, and hostels. The people are a weird mix of locals of either Caribbean or Spanish descent, backpackers, scuba enthusiasts, and retired ex-pats. It was a great pastime to sit on a patio and watch as guys on motorcycles weaved their way through the mass of cyclists, pedestrians, and retirees riding around in golf carts. We rented bikes one day and in the span of a few hours were able to make our way around most of the island, save for some of the rougher & muddier dirt roads. We were lucky and managed to score a room at Rubi's Hostel, recommended to us by our new Turkish friend Ozgar who we met in the airport at Tegucigalpa. He was flying to Roatan for one night and catching a ferry to Utila the next day, so he asked us to reserve him a room if we stayed there (even though at the time we didn't know his name). Rubi's was great! Very simple and affordable ($20/night for both of us), but clean, and located close to everything. We even had hot showers, which was a nice treat after returning from a night dive or being soaked in one of the many downpours (rainy season, sigh). The main attraction for us, of course, was the scuba diving. We'd read that it was possible to dive with whale sharks, which would have been incredible. Unfortunately, we missed them by just a couple days (a pretty big storm on our first night drove them further out to sea). All in all, though, the diving was great. Lots of large & colourful coral formations, plenty of sea life, and nice, warm water (28 degrees celsius). We did seven dives while there, including a night dive. It's always great to be able to see how strange and different things are at night - parrotfish awkwardly sleeping on the seabed, lobster & shrimp emerging from their hiding places inside the coral, and one of my favourite parts - the tiny bioluminescent plankton that are everywhere but invisible until disturbed. Near the end of our dive we gathered on a patch of sand, covered our flashlights and waved our hands around, watching as the tiny glowing specs appeared out of nowhere. It was an added bonus to witness the water and sky above occasionally light up from a nearby thunderstorm. It was all quite magical. Lucky for us, Ozgar generously lent us his underwater camera for a couple of dives so we were able to get some cool photos and videos. We both felt very much like Monsieur Cousteau by the end of the week, and will likely have an undersea documentary in the works before too long. =) After Utila, we'll be making our way back down to Costa Rica to hang out with my parents for a couple weeks (assuming we survive the flight). Pura Vida, Mandrew To open in a new window click here
We spent five nights in Leon (including one night camping on an active volcano!) and loved every minute of it! After spending lots of time in the rainforest and on a beach, we thought it was time to see a little culture. Leon is pretty small but has a great market and a ton of history. It isn’t as touristy as other cities either, which made it attractive for us. We stayed at Sonati, an interesting hostel run by a volunteer organization that gives environmental tours to backpackers and educates the local children in Leon. On our first day we split up and explored the city by ourselves. I was so stinkin' hot I decided to buy a dress that was much much cooler than my yoga pants and t-shirt. Andrew explored the markets and churches. It was a nice relaxing day. The next day we decided to take a tour with the Sonati group. Johnny, a German dude who just so happened to turn 20 that day, was our tour guide on a daylong kayak trip through the mangrove forest! Two other volunteers from the hostel joined in the fun for the day, Simon, another Sonati guide, and Emma the awesome receptionist, which made the trip extra fun. We left around 7:00am on foot from the hostel and walked a block or so before catching a local... truck-thing… It was supposed to be a bus but apparently when they are short on busses they use pick-up trucks with canopies on the back and jam a TON of people in. So we jumped on while it was basically still moving and I nearly fell out when they gunned it, thinking we were all secure (though they do this ALL THE TIME). From there we switched to a real bus that was a little less crowded (but not by much) and had a bunch of people wandering through the aisle selling food and drinks. You can buy just about anything from your seat on any bus in Nicaragua, it seems. At bus stops sometimes people will board the bus from the front with a basket of baked goods or other treats and walk to the back trying to sell, advertising their goods quickly and loudly kind of like an auctioneer. Then when they get to the back they hang out until the next stop and get off. It is very interesting! We’ve seen them sell everything from baked things, ice-cream, corn-on-the-cob, little plastic bags of juice, razors, nail clippers, hammocks, DVD’s, SIM cards, and even pharmaceuticals. Anyways, I digress, so we get to the kayak place around nine, get in our kayaks and off we go! It was so gorgeous! But after an hour or so we started thinking it might be fun to check out some of the little channels that branch off of the main river, something Johnny had never done before, and it turned out to be super awesome! We dragged ourselves through the narrow mangrove channels by pulling on the roots ahead of ourselves and came out into some neat ponds with birds, bugs, crabs and even a raccoon in one spot. At lunchtime we made it back to the main channel and stopped off at a beach spot to chillax, eat a bunch, and swim in the ocean. It was an awesome day! And to top it off, when we got back to the hostel, everyone that was staying there, and more (probably 20 people or more!) decided to throw Johnny a surprise birthday party! Emma and I made up a delicious chickpea salad thing, and Andrew did a couple of beer runs to contribute (20 cordobas, about $0.80 for a LITRE of beer!). The dinner was great, and the company was even greater! After dinner and a bunch of drinks I decided to call it a night but Andrew stayed out and played Flinky-Ball, a German drinking game that sounds a lot like dodgeball. The next morning we got up and packed our bags for a two-day trek up Telica, an active volcano in the area. People were a bit hung over so we got a later start than we had planned, but we picked up a few more hikers, which was great! We had Johnny and Simon again, our friend Devon who we had hiked La Conception with on Isla de Ometepe a few weeks earlier, and a girl named Anna who arrived at the hostel the night before and after some consideration we had convinced to come along. It was a 15min walk to the bus station, then an hour-long bus ride to the starting trail. The hike was incredible! We started out at some boiling mud pots that smelled like sulfur then headed up a dried riverbed/ cattle trail and up over some farmland. It wasn’t until after lunch that we started the climb. I made a bad decision to eat two peanut butter sandwiches even though I don’t like peanut butter, because I was so hungry by the time we stopped for lunch. Unfortunately the steep hill with a nasty peanut butter filled stomach was not so pleasant. I managed to keep it all down but couldn’t stand the sight of peanut butter for the rest of the trip, and that’s almost the only thing we brought… (I traded for other things). Once we made it to the cone, the view was surreal! A massive smoking cone sprouting out of the hillside and a frozen lava river spilled over the top. We quickly set up our tents as we had less than an hour before sundown, and then headed up to check out the cone! It was loud, like a jet engine but muted. The cone was about 1km across and maybe that deep. We stood and crouched on the edge, literally where the ground cuts deep into the engine below. Yes we did acknowledge how dangerous it was there, but how could you resist! Deep in the center of the pit was a fiery glowing red hole with smoke spewing out. After staring at the lava hole for some time, mesmerized, we got up and walked to the other side of the cone to watch the sunset before heading back for dinner (a delicious homemade Dutch veggie mush dish made by Simon and Johnny) and topped it off with some roasted marshmallows at the campfire. The next morning was equally awesome, we woke up early to see the sun rise (4:30) then hiked back up to the cone for another look before cruising around to a bat cave that Simon found one time when he was guiding another group up there. It was neat-o! And then we headed back down the volcano. The hike back was fun and quick, but everyone’s legs were happy for the break by the time we got on the bus to go home. So while our cultural visit to Leon itself was a little short, we got to see some super neat things, meet some new friends, as well as an “old” friend, Devon. After Leon we hoped back on the Chicken Bus and headed to Jinotega to stay on a finca/ nature retreat called La Biosfera, about two and a half hours north of Leon. We found La Biosfera on helpx.org while looking for another place to do some volunteering, and chose it partly because there is a bat cave there, and partly because it sounds very unique! Hope everyone is well at home! I would like to congratulate my Dad and Carolyn on a successful hunting and fishing year! They finally got two moose and 27 Coho salmon! Of course it isn't all for them as there were others in the group to split with, but the freezer is full this winter which is awesome! We are also getting excited to spend two weeks with Donna and Jim (Mandrew's parents) who will be heading to Costa Rica on Nov 11th! Can't wait to see you!! Love, Chelsea To open in a new window click here
Hola amigos! Buenos nachos? (mmm nachos...) Just wanted to post a few photos from this past week and say hi! We've been hanging out at Camino del Gigante, a gringo hostel on a surf beach in Nicaragua. We meant to be here for just a couple of days but it looks like it has already been a week! And I think we might leave tomorrow if we can get our shiz together. Our last few days on Ometepe were pretty cool! We rented a scooter and spent a day checking out the Island on the brick roads (man that must have been a ton of work!). And for our last 2 days we painted a wall mural in one of the bedrooms in exchange for a few nights free at the hostel. We spent 11 hours total on the wall and I think it turned out quite well! The bottom of it looks a little weird, but we ran out of white paint so we had to do something down there. And our paint brushes were not the easiest to use, but we made do and had a blast! Andrew took a bunch of pictures so we could make a time-lapse video (coming shortly!) so it was like a double-whammy art project. When we decided to leave Ometepe, our friend Devon, who we met there, recommended Playa Gigante for our next stop. It is near Rivas and is a quiet little town with amazing beaches and surfing! We arrived by taxi (there are no busses to get here) which stopped in the middle of the town of Gigante. There are two restaurants (very expensive compared to Ometepe!) and one little corner store. When we got out of the taxi we saw a sign on a little building beside us that said hostel, so we went over and booked a room since we thought there was only one hostel in town. The price was good ($15/night) and the room was nice (our own private room with bathroom). But there was no hang out area, no table or chairs to use, no internet. All this was ok, since we were mostly going surfing, but it made making food a challenge, and was a bit uncomfortable to hang out at. Since it is so expensive here and we have all kinds of free time, we thought it would be nice to cook some of our own meals on our camping stove. So behind our hostel we found a round cable spool to use as a table, and some broken chairs to sit on, and we set up our kitchen in an abandoned shack behind our room. It was absolutely hilarious, but slightly uncomfortable. Andrew said he is glad I'm not a "Princess", referring to my willingness to eat badly cooked rice and beans off of a cable spool in an abandoned shack. But I'm pretty sure if that wasn't ok with it, that wouldn't make me a "Princess", so much as "a rational person"! Haha, it was all good though, I didn't mind one bit. After a couple of days we realized that there were no other people staying at our "hostel", and yet there were other backpackers in the area that we saw while surfing and wandering around town. After talking to a few people (who hadn't even heard of the place we were staying at!) and when we decided to find some internet, we discovered Camino del Gigante, a gringo hostel at the end of the beach, where all the backpackers and locals hang out. There's a bar, free internet, surfboards, slack lines, free coffee, hammocks, music all the time, comfy tables and chairs, directly on the beach, great food and more! We immediately went back and packed up all of our things from the first hostel, and moved over to Camino's. I admit, I feel a little bad about leaving the shack behind like that, but Camino's has been such a game changer! All of a sudden everything is easier and more enjoyable! And we got the exact same price as the other hostel. We still chill with the locals, and go surfing and exploring, and now we have a sweet-ass bar to chill out at when we get back, fresh coffee in the morning and other people to watch and hang with. A bunch of people that are staying here right now have been here for several months because every time they try to leave they just don't. And I can totally see why! Like I said earlier, we meant to leave a few times now but we keep putting it off for "just one more day"! Surfing has been great! At first, I was a little weary about it since I haven't done any surfing since Australia (2006) and I wasn't any good back then, so I knew it would be a steep and painful learning curve, again. The first day was a little difficult for me, getting used to wading through the crashing waves that pull you backward 3 steps every time you take 1 forward, and getting tumbled around in the waves when you fall off the board, sometimes face-planting into the sand if it gets too shallow. Andrew didn't show it, but I think he might have felt the same way, given a few comments he made after we showered off that day. The second day was much better! Aside from the bruises and board rash, the waves were less intimidating, and we both actually caught a few decent (by our standard) waves, stood up, and carved a little! Since then it has been something to look forward to. We might even go again today since it is potentially our "last day" here, or we might rent a kayack and check out one of the other bays since we haven't done that yet! Damn, as I write this I am saddened by the idea of leaving :p Our next stop will be Leon, Nicaragua. It is north of here and we will have to take a few busses I think, and maybe a taxi to get there, but it shouldn't be more than a few hours total. It is a fairly large city with some history and culture for us to learn about. Also there is another volcano there that we can apparently board down!!! There are some good nature hikes and outdoorsy things to do nearby, and the hostel we picked out looks really fun. We hope the internet there is good because Harrison's first birthday is on Sunday and we would love to facetime with him!!! Aparently he walked a few steps the other day! And I thought he said "hello" to me a few days ago, and then I realized it was just Kim being a ventriloquist which is easy to do over facetime :) We miss the little guy!!! And Everyone else at home! Any time any of you wants to come down, let us know!!! We will find the best spot to hang, just get a place ticket, we will do the rest! :D Love ya's! -Chelsea Last batch of Isla de Ometepe photos To open in a new window click here Playa Gigante photos To open in a new window click here
Isla de Ometepe is very interesting so far! We are staying at a place called Yogi's Hostel which was recommended on wikitravel.org. When we got off the boat on the island, we were bombarded (as usual) by a bunch of people trying to get us to stay at their hostel or take their cab or buy their snacks, etc. And one hippie guy in particular tried to convince us to stay at his hostel, making it sound pretty awesome and much cheaper than the rest. The name of it was Hospedaje Central which rang a bell for us. During our research into where to stay (really just reading the wikitravel.org page for 5 minutes) we read about the Hospedage Central thinking it was a joke. Word for word the blurb on wikitravel.org was this: "Hospedaje Central, From Procredit Bank, 1 block south, ☎ 2569-4262. Very colorful and friendly atmosphere with free parking lot, internet service, dvd movies, laundry, volunteering opportunities, a restaurant and a bar. Unfortunately the owner is wanted by INTERPOL for Fraud, Kidnapping, etc. Dormitory is basic with bunk beds, its own toilet and shower, lockers and a safe available at reception. Rooms are clean, large, with new beds, fan or AC and private bathroom. However, some travellers report that, despite Lonely Planet's endorsement, theft is a problem, especially in the dormitory rooms where random locals wander in and out through three doors. And the bar/restaurant shares a filthy bathroom with guests and plays loud music until late at night. $2.50 hammock-$3.50 dorm-$5.50 to 9.50 for room." I admit I almost fell for the hippie's recommendation but Andrew insisted on sticking to our guns and heading to Yogi's Hostel. At Yogi's we met some other travellers and they brought up the topic of the criminals down the street. None of us really thought too much of it, thinking maybe it was just a rumour, or blown out of proportion. We actually ended up having dinner there the night before last because the food sounded so good. And it was! We were served by a SUPER creepy man, an equally creepy woman lit our candle when it got dark, and a bunch of other creepy people hung around at nearby tables having very deep conversations. The place was actually nicely decorated, very colourful and kind of reggae-ish. It did seem like a nice place to stay, if it weren't for the creepy people. When we got back to Yogi's we were chatting with Robinson, the owner, who sent us a link to a woman's blog. Apparently this woman stayed at Hospedaje Central a while back and started hearing rumours, so she began to look into it. She found out a ton of crazy things about these people and wrote this blog post about it, hoping to get them kicked off the island and hopefully Nicaragua altogether. They are hiding here because the Nicaraguan police are very understaffed and are unlikely to do anything about them. It is a very interesting read if you have a few minutes. These people (the ones that served us and the old guy sat beside us when we had dinner) basically are involved in a horrible cult, starving people to death and causing children to die of malnutrition and lack of medical care when they got sick. They also created false names and companies in order to get investor money so they could live lavishly. Very evil people. And now they are here in Nicaragua, trying to get travellers like us to stay at their nature retreat on the other side of this island, where you can "live like the natives", which is basically how they got people to enter their previous cults. Creeeeeeepy!!! Can't believe we met them and they are literally right down the street, four houses down. THANK YOU Wikitravel.org for giving us the heads up on this! We will continue to read you :) On another note, we have been doing well. Yesterday was our first full day on the island and we made good use of it, hiking Volcan Concepcion with Devon, a fellow backpacker from Yogi's. We hired a guide (Walter) who accompanied us and lead us to the top of the volcano. It was a pretty insane hike! Very very steep. It took us from 7:30 to 11:00 to reach the top, where the rocks we stood on were warm, and sulphur gasses were strong. We only stayed up there for a couple of minutes because the gasses could be dangerous, but it was so neat! It was very cloudy, of course, so we couldn't see too well, but that in itself was really cool. The hike back down was maybe even more difficult as we were literally sliding and surfing down loose basalt gravel and trying to avoid tumbling down the steep incline. It was definitely the most challenging hike we have done so far, in that it was the most dangerous! And totally worth it :) Today we will probably relax a bit, as our legs and knees in particular need some TLC. We may even rent a motorbike and check out the rest of the island! Ne neither of us has ever driven a motorbike, but you gotta start somewhere, right? Pura Vida everyone! -Chelsea :) To open the slideshow in another window click here
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