The other side of Central America

I must say, this trip already has been filled with highlights, but finishing my journey through Nicaragua, I can add a couple more on the list. After getting enough of my enforced laid back lifestyle in Granada, I took the ferry to Isla de Ometepe, a volcanic island in Lago de Nicaragua, one of the biggest lakes in Central America. Arriving there, for the very first time on this trip, I was confronted by a place that's almost untouched by major tourism. So not too many people around, unspoiled magnificent nature, but also pretty rough, little infstracture and no roads that name worthy. Anyways, it was an interesting experience to just let luck and coincidence play their part, and get on a pickup passing by, together with 4 other backpackers I met on the boat. The ride costed us 1 euro each, the extra dust we got for free. It took us in total 2 hours to get to the nearest village, and from there we made it to the Finca Magdalena, a cooperative coffee plantation, that hosts groups of volunteers that come to work there, and small flocks of backpackers as well. Accomodation was pretty basic (with other uninvited guests such as tarantula spiders in the showers, roaches and flying ants) but very cheap (1.5 euro for a night!), so no complaints there! Got some very good food and home grown organic coffee as well. Anyways, after nearly a week of dolce far niente, I was in for a challenge, and so were my travel companions, so the next day we hiked all the way up Volcan Maderas (1394 m), through an amazingly beautiful cloud forest, on a trail of tree trunks, ankle deep in mud. We sweated our asses off in the damp of the thickly covered woods, slipped and slided off rocks, but also saw some very cool things such as howler monkeys, all kinds of tropical flowers, wicked butterflies, humming birds and cacao trees. We thought the hike would take us 5 hours in total, but with all the stops and the difficult final descend (in complete alpine style!), the whole muddy adventure took us 9 hours! And optimistic as we were, we didn't even bother to bring along food, just water. Luckily, we met some Canadians down at the crater lake, and they split one sandwich and 3 cookies with the 4 of us. Yiehaa! Well, needless to say we were DEAD MEAT by the time we made it back down (just before sunset), but the awesome veggie soup and lots of french fries saved our day. That night, I went to bed at 8pm and slept for 11 hours. I thought I was going to be stiff as a stick the day after, but apparently, this body has more energy in it than I assumed, so at 8am, we hopped on the ONLY local bus, cramped ourselves together and bumped our way back to the ferry. And eversince, I have been enjoying the good life at the beach again (this time on the Pacific side), filling my days swinging my hammock, drinking ice cold Toña beer and Flor de Caña rum, some bodyboarding (when the surf is on) and playing hips of Kanasta (a dangerously addictive Aussie card game) with my refound mates Lara and Eddie. The beach here at Bahia de Majagual (south of San Juan del Sur) is a real beauty, totally different from any Caribbean beach, a lot more rugged and rocky. And very hot! People say this place looks like California before people came, and maybe that's why more and more Americans come down here to buy land and put up a resort or a backpackers' place of their own. Nicaragua is certainly something else than the rest of Central America, less touristy for sure, very cheap too, and for those who don't mind the dust and like to rough it up a bit, it's a total must! I already have to say goodbye to this place, because in no more than 2 days, my girlfriend Leen will touch down at the airport in San Jose, Costa Rica!Until then or later, surf on!

A Nicaraguan night story

Well, after a very hot and tiring journey of 2 days, we made it alright to Granada, Nicaragua. Alright is maybe a little exaggerated, because Lara, Eddie and especially myself had our share of classic travel troubles on this one. First of all, I was smart enough to put my travel alarm to 4.45 PM instead of AM, so we nearly missed our ferry to the main land from Roatan! And evenmore, in the rush to get all my stuff in less than 5 min (I used to think I was good at it, but now I think again!), I left my MP3 player in the dorm where I was staying... I found out in the taxi, but it was already too late to get back. So after moving lakes and volcanoes arriving in Tegucigalpa (the Honduras' capital - never go there unless you REALLY have to, it's nothing but misery and crime) to get a phone that was working, I eventually got in touch with the hotel, and no kidding, they had found it and were keeping a hold onto it! They're even prepared to mail it home to Belgium! Well, if it ever gets there, I'll change my mind about Central American efficiency and work ethics for sure! Anyways, I say this on a slight ironic and etnocentric tone, because the rest of the journey was quite something totally 'Latino flavored' as well. Like I said, Tegucigalpa wasn't much, not even for the crooks, but most for the overfriendliness of the hotel staff at the San Pedro hostal : Eddie, Lara and me held points on how many smiles we could score with the ladies, I won with 3 (mind you, all in the morning!). I think they had vinegar for breakfast. Somehow, it reminded me a lot of Roatan hotel people, do they even bother? It almost seems they don't like business, or they got bored with it a very long time ago. Maybe it's because I am travelling with two very outspoken 'no nonsense' Aussies, but at times I also just get fed up with too many slow and inefficient people around here. Sometimes it's just surrealistic : a place promisingly called Todo de pollo in Tegus didn't have any chicken, just ice cream! So then, just desperate, we ended up in a Chinese restaurant, which turned out to have yummie 'huuuge poorrtions' (dixit Eddie). Other annoyances are usually hanging around like mosquitos when you cross borders : a classic hassle trick of most bus 'guides' is to come round for the passports and tell you that you have to pay X $ at the border. Try it yourself, pass with your own passport to get your stamps, and you will find out they more or less overcharge a whole bus of 50 people about 5$ per person! Easy money! And the thing is, when they find out you found out, they get into all kind of excuses and apologies. Like they charge that extra money for 'quick service'. Pathetic. Oh well! Luckily, there's always a way around these things, a beer and laugh usually does it. And all the other good travel experiences and smiles you get outweigh by far the annoying ones. But it's a FACT : not soccer but CORRUPTION is sport number 1 around here.Anyways, like I said, there are so many other very good things here, that work very well, such as the Internet for example : at the Bearded Monkey, where I am staying, you can call to Europe over the Internet for no more than 20 eurocent a minute! On a perfect line. The food is often yummie. Busses are good as well, have been eversince Mexico. And then Nicaragua! Surprising beauty of the rich colonial town of Granada (founded by the Spanish in 1524), much like other 'old' cities such as Antigua, San Cristobal or Campeche. Nice and hot! And blessed with a great heritage of the Sandinistas, namely free health care for everyone! Something I was confronted with the first night I was here, after falling out my 2m high bunk bed (I was dreaming I was going to be crushed by a huge bus so I jumped away - must be those fricking malaria pills), hitting my head against a locker and busting my back pretty bad on the hard tile floor. Apparently, I was out of it all for a minute or two, and by the time the others in the dorm had woken up and put the light on, I was moaning in foetus position, covered in blood. It all looked a lot worse than it actually was, because by the time they got me into the ambulance and to the hospital, I sort of knew I didn't have anything serious. In the end, they cleaned out my head wound (which didn't need any stitching) and took 2 X-rays of my back (with a brand new SIEMENS machine), and the Cuban doctor told me I was fine. Just take it easy and rest, and that was it. And I even didn't have to pay anything! Viva la Revolucion! The American and Israeli girl who were with me (the Israeli girl gave me first aid, she just got out of two years of military service, so she has seen worse) were even more astonished than I was. So, for the moment, I am walking around like a 80 year old, living on a strict backpacker's diet of hammock rest, pool, scrabble, NBA basketball on satellite TV, rental movies, painkillers, lovely Latinas serving me food, beer and internet. Life could be worse hehe. My next move will be when my back is a full 100% again, I don't want to go moaning when Leen gets to Costa Rica in another 10 days. Hopefully, by the weekend, I will be able to get my backpack on again, and head down to Isla de Ometepe, the nature pearl of Nicaragua. And then after that some more beach with Eddie, maybe surf some if my back is up to it. Take care!

Paradise is just next door

Jezus, we hit the jackpot straight on I guess coming to the Bay Island of Roatan! It rained here the whole month of January (yes, for 30 straight days!), and the day we got here, it got sunny and eversince, the blue skies and tropical temperatures have made it paradise. Getting here wasn't that simple though, well it envolved taking another chicken bus or two, then a ferry for 2 hours (we could have taken the plane but that would have been 3 times as expensive), and then finally a taxi that we had to bargain down from 8$ to 2$. And getting into West Bay at 7 at night wasn't exactly the easiest thing either, since all hotels seem to live on a very much Caribbean time schedule, literaly closing their place at 6.30 pm ! So, my travel mate Tom, myself and new made Aussie friend Eddie (we met him on the boat) ended up walking around for 2 hours, finally settling for the nearest thing that comes close to a 'shithole', but that was alright : cheap, a bed, a fan (God it is HOT here, even at night!) and heaven thanks only for one night. The morning after, at the very christian hour of 7.50 am, we were already signing up for a sweet room at Chillies, a superbe place : a place to hang my hammock, beers for not even one euro, a kitchen (which comes in super handy and cheap, pinchy backpackers as we are) and most of all, clean showers and bathrooms. At the other place we didn't even bother, as it was infested with roaches, mosquitos and sandflies. Anyways, this being the only setback...once you get yourself settled, and the sun is out, this place is fucking heaven! And darn cheap too, I couldn't believe it, especially for the diving! And there are some really cool beaches here, and wicked reefs to dive off. The only annoyance are the bugs, mosquitos and sandflies alike, but we found out that a yummie mix of insect repellent (lots of DEET), cactus juice (what the locals use) and baby oil does the trick. The sandflies get stuck in the baby oil and drown. But asides of going through this beauty treatment every day, there is nothing here you could possibly worry about. Unless you burn your back off, what luckily didn't happen, thanks to the nuclear power solar cream my mom's beautyshop sells.All you do is just wave at one the boat dudes, take a water taxi and get your ass in the white sand of West Bay Beach, overlooking pristine turquoise clear water (it's like a swimming pool, but better!), gaze at fat US tourists snorkeling in a life suit...and you are happy for the rest of the day! Well, sort of, because I miss my girlfriend Leen like crazy here...this place would certainly even be better off with her hanging around as well. Just another 2 weeks and 4 exams to go... Mmm, but I am sure this will roll out fine too, just like all the rest has uptil now. Well, knock on wood and just keep my eyes wide open and my mind fresh...that and some beer at night is all we need to stay alert hehe. And just like at other places, things just seem to happen when they need to : this noon, walking to the internet shop to chat with Leen (this place only charges 12 euro for 2 weeks of unlimited satellite speed Internet access!), I met Mickey at the Coconut Tree dive shop who got me a full CD of underwater pics! I was surprised he actually got it, I just asked the shop just the day before if they had pics to sell, and the day after, for a bribe of a sixpack of Salva Vida, I get a CD full! So I put a nice selection of stuff I saw underwater online as well, just check the pics section for more tropical colors, fishies and wicked coral formations! Many thanks to Ruth and Mickey at Coconut Tree Divers ! They're the best, and jee, that for only 12 euro a tank ! So I am getting to the end of this stay, yes sweet songs don't last long they say, but I guess I am just going to catch some more tunes further down into Central America. A storm is supposed to come in on Sunday, so time to move on! Tom is gone back home to Canada, but I will probably hook up with Eddie and his 'all the way from Melbourne, arrived this Monday' girlfriend Lara, hitting some surf beaches at the Pacific in Nicaragua.The next report will be from a less tropical and totally different location, a couple of bus days down south. But every day on the road gets me closer to Costa Rica and Leen, so I am travelling with a smile on my face ! CYA around, and enjoy the first flowers of spring! (my mom tells me they're out)