Volcan Pacaya

That was amazing! I have just returned to Antigua after spending the day climbing Volcan Pacaya. Tiff, Raechel and I left Lake Atitlan yesterday morning and met up with Amanda again here in Antigua. We all left together at the crack of sparrows this morning to head out to the volcano. The park provided us with a guide but his lack of English wasn´t going to help much. Fortunately for us though, Tiff is a highly qualified geologist! Not a bad lad to have along when climbing an active volcano...

Tiff, Raechel and Amanda on their way back down the lava field

The volcano has erupted a number of times in the last few years but is currently just steaming with some parasitic (out of the side of the cone) lava flows. The climb up isn´t too strenuous, though we did march up in a hurry as I need the exercise in order to compete with Jen and Peter on the ski slopes of Colorado later this week. Towards the top though you reach the lava fields. The lava has mostly cooled but some vents do still appear so it gets pretty toasty up there. In patches the red hot lava even bubbles up! Most spectacular though was the real life lava flow down the side of the cone. That has to be one of the most awesome experiences I´ve ever had, I just loved it.

Anyone got any marshmallows? The lava bubbling up beneath our feet.

The lava flows mere yards away.

The view from Pacaya across to some other volcanoes.

I have two full days left in Antigua before I fly out to the States. This town looks seriously beautiful with its cobblestone streets and colonial architecture. There must also be a hundred very old churches in town. I´ll have to explore. Watch this space.

The streets of Antigua at dawn, with volcan Agua behind.

Santa Cruz

I'm now at the Iguana Perdida hostel in the village of Santa Cruz on the northern side of the lake. This place is even more chilled than San Pedro but also even more picturesque. I took a hike up the mountain behind the hostel yesterday afternoon to take some photos only to discover on my return that my camera has been set on its lowest resolution for the last week or so. Oops. So my apologies if some of the pics I've loaded don't enlarge too well. I wondered why they all loaded so fast!

I also got up for the sunrise this morning only to find it rises behind some mountains around the corner so I couldn't even see it... I obviously haven't been drinking enough of the local coffee! But I took some high res pictures anyway.

The lake at dawn

The first water taxi of the day heads for Santa Cruz

The view from the hostel about an hour ago, the volcano on the left is actually three in a line... beautiful!

This afternoon Tiff and I are keen to go do some cliff jumping... it looks pretty high though!

San Pedro la Laguna

I´m just about to leave San Pedro to head across the lake to another village called Santa Cruz. This place has been super chilled and it sounds like Santa Cruz will be even more so.

The view from the village. I haven´t captured my quintessential Atitlan shot yet, but the view of the volcanoes from Santa Cruz should be amazing

We´ve spent a lot of time just lounging around taking in the amazing scenery, enjoying the great local coffee and finally doing some laundry! One interesting aspect of the town though has been the coffee production. Small farms all around the lake send their beans to San Pedro to make Cafe del Lago, which by my reckoning is pretty good stuff.

Washing some coffee beans in San Pedro

I´m keen to do a spot of fishing and maybe hire a kayak to explore more of the lake tomorrow. But now I must run or I´ll miss my boat...

I was backing up some photos and found this one from one of my many bus rides. I quite like it...

Semuc Champey

I'm back from the wilds, am actually now in Panajachel on the shores of Lago de Atitlan (but that will have to be saved for the next post).

After my last post I stayed one more night in Flores (Raechel and Tiff got waylaid but I met up with an Aussie and some Israelis) and then took a bus to Coban the next morning. On the bus I met Lynnae and Amanda from Arizona and we stayed one night in Coban where the Aussie (another Amanda) met us. From Copan we bounced along country roads through the beautiful Guatemalan highlands to Semuc Champey. Raechel and Tiff joined us there that night after bussing all the way from Tikal.

A stall at a market in Coban

Semuc Champey is a natural wonder tucked away in the mountains. The river at this point plunges underground only to reappear a couple of hundred metres further down. Small streams, however, fill beautiful pools along the bridge above the underground torrent. Its very difficult to describe or capture, but undeniably beautiful in person.

A view of Semuc from the cliffs above. These are the pools along the natural 'bridge'.

Where the river disappears underground.

Amanda, Stephanie (Switzerland), Raechel, Tiff, Lynnae and Amanda (Aus) enjoying the pools

Yesterday Raechel, Tiff, the Aussie Amanda and I travelled from Semuc at 5am via Coban, Guatemala City and Antigua to here. We plan to cross the lake to the village of San Pedro later this morning.

Tikal

As I mentioned yesterday, I caught a bus out to the Mayan ruins of Tikal early this morning. Wow, it was a truly memorable day. It was a pity the weather wasn't great today but getting there before the crowds was an inspired move. I got to cover almost the whole complex in one day - which is a lot by the way. It also meant I could climb the temples and chill there alone and watch the parrots and toucans circle below. Awesome!

I could launch into my version of the history of the Mayan people here but I think I'll let some photos do the talking.

An early morning view from the top of Temple IV looking out across the jungle with Temples I and II on the left and Temple III on the right.

This is the view from the top of the Great Pyramid looking at Temples I and II again. I sat here for ages listening to the howler monkeys and watching the parrots below me.

Temple V before attempting the climb to the top.

And the way back down Temple V. Dad's vertigo would love this stuff...

I obviously have many more photos but I really think its one of those 'you have to be there' things...

Raechel and Tiff are apparently arriving here today so maybe I can enjoy dinner by the lake without feeling like a Nigel. Then I think I'll head to the coffee region of Coban tomorrow before heading to Semuc Champey for the waterfalls and caves.

Oh, and Rich sent me a photo from our time surfing in Nosara. I added it to that post...

Into Guatemala

I've managed to get my ugly self across the border and into Guatemala. Phew! What a day... I left Placencia in southern Belize at 6.30am this morning. First move was to take a ferry across the Placencia lagoon to Independance. A brisk walk took me up to the main highway and from their I got a 4hr bus up to the capital, Belmopan. From Belmopan it was another couple of hours across to Benque where I got a taxi to the border post. After walking across the border another 3hr minbus trip landed me where I am now, Flores in northern Guatemala.

This is a seriously beautiful little town. It's set on an island in the middle of a huge lake with one bridge connecting it to the mainland. All the restaurants are on the water and I enjoyed a stroll between them on the cobblestone streets. Does make me a bit envious of those people not travelling alone though!

Tomorrow I'm off the see the ruins of the great Maya city of Tikal. My shuttle leaves at 5am so its gonna be another long day, but I'm really looking forward to it.

I omitted to include any photos in my last post so here we are...

I found this in Puerto Cortes. I'm glad as I wasn't too sure where I was going myself...

I spent 4 hours waiting for my boat (thats the one in the picture) to Belize to leave. I got to bond with the local fishermen though...

I loved this sign in Placencia... Notice the ground too, the whole town is built on sand.

That's Phil, a guy I met on the boat over from Honduras. Pretty much sums up what there is to do in Placencia...

Talking Chinese in Placencia

Yesterday I caught the boat from Puerto Cortes in Honduras across the Caribbean sea to Placencia in Belize. It was such an amazing ride as the sea was dead flat and we passed countless tiny little atolls with palm trees etc.

I'm only staying here till tomorrow morning and then I'm making my way up north and across the border into Guatemala. Belize is very beautiful it seems, but it is duly expensive. I think the fact that its english speaking has drawn countless american tourists and that has ramped up the prices. I was planning on heading out to Caye Caulker, an island off northern Belize, but it seems like it'll be a lot like Utila but much more pricey. This just means I have a little more time for Guatemala - but still only two weeks for what looks like a very interesting country.

Placencia has been an awesome stop though with very beautiful beaches and friendly Carib people. Not to mention the uber cheap rum specials at the beach bars! I'll post some pics at a later date. I linked up with yet another Canadian for my time here and we've had a chilled but good jol. We've just had our second meal at a Chinese restaurant here... Their food is by far the cheapest in town - and really good. I think the owners got the shock of their lives when I started ordering in Mandarin. I was pleasantly surprised by the number of their questions I could answer. Respect to my teacher Joan Zhang in Joburg!

I'll hopefully reach Flores in northern Guatemala tomorrow night and will update you all from there. Happy Valentines Day!

Verdict time again

I´m going to have to cheat here a bit as I didn´t really see much of the country as a whole, rather just Utila and a night on either side. But I´ll give my all powerful opinion anyway...

Value for money 6/10
Honduras is definitely cheaper than Costa Rica. That said, Utila is pretty remote and thus wasn´t as cheap as I´d hoped.

Natural wonders 6/10
Utila was really beautiful, don´t get me wrong. It just wasn´t the tropical paradise I´d expected. The reefs and visibility were outstanding, however, so I still rate the place pretty highly.

The people 8/10
Those Caribbean folk are seriously friendly. And they speak English (in their own way...). The staff at the dive centre were fantastic too.

Backpackability 8/10
Getting around the country is cheap and efficient, the ferries run smoothly and accommodation is reasonably cheap as is food.

Wow factor 8/10
I don´t have to validate this one but I´m giving it a high score just because I had such a good time! Everyone on Utila was so friendly and the people I met were fantastic. then again maybe it was just the rum...

Total 36/50
Ah! A distinction for Honduras it seems...

Okay, that done, I am in a cyber cafe with a great connection so I´ll throw in some pics for you to peruse. I unfortunately lost a bunch of good ones somwhere between my own incompetence and my ipod´s malfunction.

Pidgeon Cay off Utila: a house and its driveway

Pidgeon Cay off Utila: some locals

Pidgeon Cay off Utila: I just had to throw in the ubiquitous kitchen sink...

My dive instructor Jen with Raechel and Tiff on our way to a dive

Barrelling to Belize

I´m stranded for the night. Dope.

Nah, its not that bad. I´m in a little port town called Puerto Cortes on the north coast of Honduras. I left Utila early this morning with a bunch of friends, Tiff and Raechel (from Cornwall, en route to live in Oz) who I met on the island, and the Swedish girls from Costa Rica, Hannah and Sarah. We travelled together as far as San Pedro Sula. From there they all headed to Copan to see the ruins and on to Guatemala but I decided to be different and try to get to Belize today. I fly out of Guatemala City at the end of the month so it sort of makes sense for me to loop around that way after Belize.

My guidebook mentioned that the boat to Placencia in Belize was today at 2pm. I thus flew from one bus to the next, was told the boat was leaving at 1pm, grabbed a taxi to immigration and then to the harbour making it at 12.59pm to find the boat actually only goes tomorrow. It would have been so perfect!

Instead I´m getting some time to myself to catch up on banking and other mundain tasks. But I am currently snacking on a strange local mix of thinly sliced, unripe mango covered in chilli sauce. And to think I could have missed out on that...

Whale sharks, bonefish and way too much rum...

This is my last day on Utila after an awesome week. I didn't really plan to stay this long but it was just so good to be staying in one place for a while. Tomorrow I'm taking the ferry back to mainland Honduras and then I'm going to start making my way north again towards Belize.

The last couple of days have been pretty busy. My dive course included 2 free fun dives so I did those on Thursday. The weather wasn't ideal so we didn't get to go round to the north side of the island as I'd hoped, but we did get to visit one of the small cays off the west end of Utila called Pidgeon Cay. The little islands are tiny so all the buildings are on stilts and it makes for a very quaint atmosphere. The lunch stop for fish burgers was a pretty cool way to pass the necessary surface interval between dives.

After so much diving a bunch of us decided to take the day off on Friday and we spent it on the beach just outside of town. Deck chairs in the sun mixed with a bit of snorkelling was a very cool way to spend the day. Yesterday I joined the whale shark research units trip out to find the whale sharks. But alas, we didn't find a single one. More cool spinner dolphins though. We drowned our sorrows with gusto last night though and today has been much the worse for it!

I actually took my raging hangover on a bonefishing trip today. I hired a local fisherman to drive me out to the flats to the north of the island with the hope of landing bagfuls of these elusive fish. I did manage to catch one but my thumping headache did its best to spoil the moment. I'm now going to have an evening siesta.

I'll try get this computer to stop misbehaving so I can add some photos but that may have to wait till another day...

No for Scuba Luben?

Yeah! I've just finished my Open Water Diver certification today here on Utila island in Honduras. I arrived on Monday morning and signed up at the Bay Islands College of Diving on a recommendation from a chap I met in Costa Rica, it turned out to be a good choice. The course costs around $200 but the school offers a room in their apartments for only $3 a night so it works out pretty cheap.


My instructor and I after my final qualifying dive.

I started my course straight away on Monday and finished all my theory and exams that afternoon. I was lucky in that the school wasn´t very busy when I signed up so I got my own private instructor, Jen. She allowed me to do all my confined dives on Tuesday morning and then head out to the reef that afternoon. I then had the last of my supervised reef dives this morning and got signed off. So now tomorrow I'm heading out to deeper water in search of whale sharks!

And we got to swim with dolphins during our surface time between dives today...

The whole experience has been pretty awesome. The island is very laid back and the Caribbean English they speak is so melodic. The place isn´t how I pictured it as there is no beach front but rather a series of dive centres and lodges cover the waterfront with their piers being the only access to the water. Still, it looks like a place I can spend some quality time in.

Rafting Costa Rica

It may have been premature to do my Verdict two days before leaving the country, but hey, its a year of doing whatever I want eh? Yesterday I went rafting on the Pascua section of the Reventazon river. This is the biggest section they have in the country and it was a real blast, but I kept thinking how much these guides would sh*t themselves if they saw the Umko in flood!

Today I'm just chilling at the backpackers in San Jose before I fly tonight to Honduras. I got an email from the Swedish girls I went to La Fortuna with to say they're going to be on Utila later this week too. Will be nice to see some familiar faces but I'm sure I'll meet lots of new people before they arrive. I'm looking forward to some English speaking - even if it is Creole.

Thought I'd also give you a glimpse into the world of Costa Rican Roulette (otherwise known as taking a shower!). The showers here heat the water in the nozzle, thus exposing live wires all over the place! And to think we don't even see light switches inside the bathrooms at home.

The ablutions here have also been interesting. While most loos are flushing, they can't take toilet paper so it has to be put in a bin next to the loo. Yay for Cherry Blossom toilet spray!

On to the Bay Islands then...

The verdict

I´m leaving Costa Rica in a couple of days and as such its about time for the verdict on this country. I think I'll do a little rating system for each stop as I go this year.

Value for money 5/10
Costa Rica isn't cheap for central america. Everything you buy has 13% tax added plus another 10% service fee. Government is trying to service a large historical debt. A beer in a pub costs roughly 800 colones. Thats $1.60 or R11.50

Natural wonders 7/10
The country is beautiful. Fantastic beaches, volcanoes and wildlife. They also have tons of nature reserves.

The people 5/10
Despite not speaking much Spanish I found the locals very friendly and generally eager to help. Though often in search of a tip! The travellers in this country are predominantly North Americans on holiday for a couple of weeks however and the presence of so many Americans must rule against!

Backpackability 5/10
Every town has lots of hostels and cheapish restaurants. That said, the roads are a disaster and the buses take forever. So you can travel everywhere easily enough but any sort of comfort will set you back mucho dinero.

Wow factor 4/10
I've had a blast here. But in truth I think a lot of that is to do with the people I've met and not so much the place. Though I really enjoyed the Osa Peninsula for its remote beauty.

Total 26/50
An average score... hmmm... I wonder if that was rigged as this was the first stop? Lets see what Honduras has to offer next week!

La Pura Vida!

Wow! This travelling thing is a strange animal. Last you heard I was robbed, feeling bummed and heading back to San Jose. Well, a couple of hours after posting that Rich phoned me from Nosara to say he was feeling crap about having my camera stolen and wanted me to join him and his cousin up there. Their room was huge and there was tons of space. He even bought me a plane ticket to fly back to San Jose with them today. So yesterday I caught a shuttle up the Pacific coast to Samara, a little surfer town about 38km short of Nosara. Thats about as much as I'd planned the night before, I couldn't get one all the way to Nosara as Rich had done. Asking in Samara it turned out their was no bus up to Nosara and I'd have to hike 4km up to an intersection with the main road and hitch from there! What a day. It was 40 degrees and yet I loved it. I rode a klapped out old truck for a bit and then a guy in a bakkie gave me a lift to about 5km short of Nosara. From there it was another sweaty hike but I did spot an armidillo en route. The faces on the reception staff at the fancy hotel when this dusty backpacker arrived were something to behold!

We had a great dinner at a spot off the beach last night and watched a gorgeous Pacific sunset. Oh, and I bought a new pair of boardies, very porno but I dig them. This morning we hired surfboards and Rich set about teaching me the ropes. It didn't take long to learn to get up on the smaller waves but I spent the afternoon getting munched by the bigger stuff. The double rum and cokes at lunch obviously didn't help! But now I'm feeling like a tanned surfer bru and loving it. I'll have to get me a board later in the year in Bali.

We caught a 4pm flight back to San Jose that took less than an hour - a bus would have taken closer to 12 or more! I am now going to grab a quick bite to eat and then hit the sack exhausted. I'm meeting Rich and his cousin Bill for breakfast tomorrow as they're staying at a fancy hotel elsewhere. Thanks again to both of them for having me along in Nosara, it was so awesome and incredibly generous of both of them.

I need to do some shopping tomorrow in San Jose, mostly for a new camera. And I think I'll do a river rafting trip on Saturday. It doesn't look like I'll make it all the way to the Caribbean coast but I'll save that for the Honduras.

Sorry again for the lack of pictures but I'll edit this post with some when Bill emails them to me. Timmy with a surfboard (and the hair is getting longer...), damn I miss auditing!

Update - here's my first hey bru photo! Thanks Bill and Rich...