Scuba...Jac!

We arrived in Utila after a questionable "ferry" ride, where they handed out barf bags to anyone who wanted one.  After stepping off the ferry (and kissing the sweet, sweet ground) I immediately knew I was going to like this small town island.  The main mode of transportation:  you own dang feet.  There were plenty of taxis (tuk-tuks), golfcarts, motor bikes, and 4 wheelers to go around...but with a town that size, it's just as easy to walk.

We set up in an apartment/small house owned by a wonderful lady named Fern.  Sean has stayed at her properties during his previous visits, so we were able to land the "friend discount"...$6/night per person...I'd say that's a pretty reasonable price for a fully furnished place!

My first Honduran food experience:  the baleada.  Beans, lettuce, tomato, egg, onion, chicken, parmesean, and "special sauce" (which made the meal!!)..spread onto a tortilla, folded in half and cooked ($3).  It sounds basic enough...but the pure deliciousness of this food lead me back to it every other day for 3 weeks.  And when we weren't eating baleadas, there was no shortage of restauraunts and street stands.  

We had pizza from Pizza Nut:

Crepes from the French crepe guy:

A steak dinner for Sean's birthday:

And of course...

But my absolute FAVORITE part of this island....

SCUBA diving!  I've wanted to get my SCUBA certification for...pshhh...a long time.  Now, on the one of the worlds largest coral reefs, I would take the plunge into the deep(ish) blue.   I went to Utila Dive Center (UDC) where Sean did his dive master a few years back.  The dive mantra:  kill only time, take only memories, leave only bubles.  The "dry class" was easy...watch videos, fill out chapter reviews, take chapter quizzes and one final exam.  But the underwater class was nothing short of amazing!  The instructors, Stacey and Thérèse, did a fantastic job explaining all of the hand signs and skills before we got into the water.  Once we were underwater, they went through each skill before testing us, one by one.  It was such a cool and calm environment.  I mean...we were UNDERWATER.  Ahh...I love it!!  So I completed my open water, diving at sites with a small ship wreck, coral walls, swim throughs, and fish.  Tons of fish.  A hawksbill sea turtle!!  Sting rays.  Morrays.  SHARKS (just kidding).  But, the water was warm and the visibility was great!  

I loved it so much, that I went on (along with 2 other classmates) to complete my advanced open water.  This required 5 aditional dives:  deep (we went to a larger shipwreck...100 ft down), buoyancy (helps you learn to control your body more),  navigation (underwater with a compass=seriously fun), drift diving (diving in a current is ultimately lazy..the boat drops you at one point and picks you up down the way), and night diving (that. was. awesome!).  Along with the purchase of my courses, I got 4 free dives...one of those was on the north side of the island.  These sites were even more stunning (is that possible??)!  In addition to the awesomeness...many times (with a bit of a tip for their troubles) the boat captain will take everyone out to look for (and snorkle with) whale sharks or dolphins.  We had reports of a whale shark after my very first dive...the captain was awesome enough to locate it...but I barely missed seeing it!    

Anyways.  I have a new found passion...and I can't wait to dive at sites around the world!  But...back to Utila.  We spent some time at UDC, jumping off the top level of the dock and swimming around.

And snorkling off the coast...That was pretty amazing!  We walked in from a small private mini-dock, making our way out to the coral.  This was what it looked like along the way...

And this is what it looked like when we got there...

an angel fish...

a trumpet fish...

I could carry on with these pictures all day, but I'm sure you have better things to do.  But, I love the water, and that's that!  

Utila is a beautiful place.  Aside from the 2 main island activities (drinking and diving), there are fresh water caves, an iguana station, botanical gardens, a small beach, and hiking to pumpkin hill (the only hill on the island-providing amazing panoramic views).  I look forward to returning!

~Jac

The Wheels on the Bus

The original plan was to get up to Guatemala to see the Mayan Ruins of Tekal.  That didn't quite work out.  After spending a couple of hours staring at maps and researching our various options, we decided that a 3 day trip was not worth the 1 day of sight seeing.  Hopefully next time, Tekal!

Instead, we decided to stay in Nicaragua an extra day, heading to the beaches of Las Penitas for a night.  The views were amazing (of course).  We enjoyed a $5 dinner at a beach front restaurant and watched the sun set over the Pacific.

And we saw this poor little guy...

The next morning we were up at 5 to start our journey to Honduras.  The trip to the boarder was fairly routine:  chicken bus to Leòn, taxi to the other bus station in town, shuttle to Chinandega, bus to the boarder.  This is where the real fun began...We were met off the bus by loads of pedi taxi drivers going on and on about how long the walk across the boarder would be.  We decided to "splurge" for once and go for it...Of course, they said they worked for tips only...but we agreed on a tip of 20 cordobas (less than $1) each before loading into the pedi taxi.  After barely making it up a small hill, our driver (bike rider?) quickly enlisted the help of one of his friends, splitting us into 2 seperate pedi-taxis.  The guys took us (very slowly) to the first office where they waited outside while we got our exit stamps.  We climbed back in and they peddled us across the boarder to the next office.  Overall, this could have gone faster if we had walked...but let's be real, it was only $1.  We got our entry fees and stamps taken care of and we were off again.  As they were peddling us to our bus, Sean's driver mentioned something about us giving a nice tip.  Sean gave a nod and mentioned the 25 again...Then this guy says "yeah, 20 dollars"....

"20 dollars??? NO!  20 cordobas"

At this point the guy has stopped peddaling, I am somewhat comprehending the conversation taking place in Spanish, and Sean is getting into it with this guy.  We hop out of the taxis and grab the bags..while the guy is still going on and on about how we owe $20 each.  (Has he seriously gone mad??)  Sean yells some not nice things at him, tells him he is crazy, and puts the money we agreed to on the seat and we walk off.  They try to follow us with the pedi-taxis, still shouting about 20 dollars, but their bikes (ahem, physical condition) stands no chance against our speed walking.  And so...we made it to Honduras with a little more trouble than usual.

We hopped on a 2 hour bus to Tegucigalpa (the capital), and another to San Pedro Sula (google that now, please), where we would be spending the night.  Now, if this is where the story ended, I'd call that a fairly successful trip...but of course, it gets better (worse?).  As I've mentioned in previous posts, the bus drivers in Central America are a little....fast.  We were sitting in the last row of the bus, elevated slightly above the rest of the seats, giving us a perfect view of the passengers in front of us and the scenery outside.  The mountains off in the distance provided a scenic landscape as the sun went down and we made our way through more windy roads in Honduras. 

The darker the sky got, the crazier the driver got.  Eventually we pulled over and the driver hopped out, with a new one replacing him.  That explained it...it was the end of his shift and he was in a hurry to get home, right?  About 30 minutes down the road, Sean actually mentioned that the new driver seemed much more sensible.  True.  At that point.  Not long after, he gradually picked up speed...weaving in and out of lanes, passing in no passing zones, hardly even tapping the breaks.  I'm convinced that we were up on two wheels at several different points in time.  The bus started swaying from side to side as we changed lanes, and people...LOCALS...started to get a little nervous.  These are people that ride these buses on a normal basis.  These buses don't phase them.  They were nervous.  We felt like the bus was losing control!  Passengers started yelling out for the driver to slow down.  One lady yelled "VERY FAST"...The driver slowed, putting everyone at ease.  The rest of the ride (thank God) was a little less frightening.  Although he still occassionally whipped around blind corners, the wheels never left the ground and we arrived in San Pedro Sula with semi-clean underwear.

We caught a taxi and went to our hostel.  We were hungry, and tired, and glad to be alive.  We dropped our bags in our room and ventured out into the night rain to find some food...Wendys....then went back, showered, and relaxed before bed.  As we were sitting in the dorm, browsing the web, Sean told me to google San Pedro Sula...so I did.  And that's how I found out that we would be staying the night in the murder capital of the world.  Good.  Luckily we were at a nice hostel in a nice neighborhood, with plenty of barbed wire and security cameras and guard dogs.  We survived the night...got a shuttle (THAT was another rip off) to the bus station in the morning and caught a 3.5 hour bus to La Ceba.  

Sitting on the bus...stopped in a small town on the side of the road...passangers get on and off.  I ask Sean how much longer we have, he says it's probably no more than 30 minutes.  20 minutes down the road, one of the "bus helpers" comes by and asks where we were going....then informs us that La Ceba is the town we just passed through.  HAHA! Awesome.  We get off the bus in the middle of nowhere and within a minute, were picked up by a bus going the opposite direction.  We made it to the Ferry called Princess iv...AKA...the vomit commet.  Last year, Sean actually witnessed a man projectile vomit into his wife's face on this thing.

You wouldn't believe me if I told you how crazy this ride actually is, so I will leave that to your imagination...but we survived, vomit free.  AND NOW...FINALLY....we are in Utila.  A backpacker's paradise.

~Jac

     

Ometepe, Nicaragua

My first experience with a chicken bus was..neat.  Chicken buses are the main mode of public transport in many Central American countries.  What exactly IS a chicken bus, you ask?  Well...it's a school bus. Literally. Normally a retired school bus from America with some additions, including a roof rack, interior ceiling racks, and sometimes huge speakers.  Many of them are painted bright colors and have the name of their permanent route written on them.  

The buses seem to be run by 2 or sometimes 3 people:  the driver, and a helper or 2.  The helpers are in charge of collecting money, and getting people and supplies (backpacks, baskets, whatever people are transporting) on and off the bus.  The driver speeds down the roads, honking and swerving around slower traffic and frequently slamming on the breaks to pick up passengers on the side of the road.  When someone needs to be dropped off, they (or the "helper) whistle loudly and the bus comes to a quick halt again. The system seems to be very efficient - I might even consider hiring some of these guys to run some school bus routes if that was my department!

So - we took a chicken bus to Rivas, where we caught a taxi to the dock and walked the plank onto the ferry.

The ferry set off for a nice, slow ride across Lake Nicaragua to the island of Ometepe.  The lake is the largest in Central America, making the views from the ferry look like that of a vast ocean.  The hour long ride provided wonderful views of Ometepe, the world's largest volcanic island inside a fresh water lake (2 volcanos).  Arriving in Moyogalpo, we caught a taxi to our hostel, Zopilote, in Santa Cruz.  The hostel was a bit of a hike from the main road, but was set right in the middle of nature.  Our dorm was a little 2 story hut on stilts.

..and the bathrooms were...........earthy.  Most of the plumbing in Central America is not strong enough to handle toilet paper being flushed, so a bin is always provided next to the toilet for paper.  (yeah, that took a little getting use to) But these toilets were closer to a porta-potty.  They were composting toilets - which required a couple cups of saw dust after each use to help in the decomposition process.  

But the property offered several nature paths and a couple of observation decks with a spectacular view of the smaller volcano, Maderas.

That afternoon we met several people, including a German couple, one of Sean's friends from years ago (small world), and a couple of older guys from Florida.  For dinner, we all sat around eating too much pizza, drinking beer, and sharing random stories about life and travels.  

The next day, we chose life over death (not to climb the volcanos) and opted for the less strenuous San Ramon Waterfall.  We met up with the German couple from the night before and rented bikes (since we missed the early bus) for a "short ride" to San Ramon, while 2 others decided to wait around until they could rent a motor bike.  Off we went...on mountain bikes...for a 1.5 hour ride up and down the steep hills of the unpaved roads between Santa Cruz and San Ramon.  I think we can all agree that this wasn't the best idea ever...

But the scenery was nice....and despite having to stop and walk up several hills, we made it to the base of San Ramon.  Except - then we had to hike another 1.5 hours.  1.5 hours to go 3k.  That's the kind of incline we are talking about here.  My buns were burning from the bike ride, my legs were burning from the hike.  Up we went...The trail started off nicely, but eventually turned to rock, and then to river bed.  

At one point we stopped to admire a waterfall we could see way higher up...obviously we weren't going that high.  But we were.

And then...we arrived.

The 160 ft waterfall has a small, shallow, freezing cold pool at the bottom.  We all jumped in and welcomed the coolness after our 3 hour adventure of dirt and sweat.  We laughed and enjoyed a snack...

...but we stopped laughing as soon as we realized we were only half way done.  The hike back was easier, as expected.  We were able to enjoy the kaleidoscopes of butterflies

and the views of Lake Nicaragua

...making it off the mountain in an hour, just before a thick cloud covered the top.  The ride back was easier for me than expected.  I shot ahead of the others- a new found energy helped me cruise to the top of the hills, only walking up 3, and my lack of decent breaks kept me from slowing while going back down the hills.  We made it back in once piece, took a much needed shower, and relaxed for the rest of the day.

Was the waterfall worth the 3 hours of biking and 2.5 hours of hiking?  Sure.  But I wouldn't opt to do it again.  Perhaps one OR the other, but not in combination with eachother.  My legs are burning just THINKING about it!

~Jac

  

Sand Boarding - Leòn, Nicaragua

We happened to choose a holiday to travel to our next destination: Leòn.  Not the best idea.  The morning of our departure from Ometepe, the island buses weren't running their usual route.  Luckily there were 8 of us leaving at the same time so we were able to get a minibus to the ferry.  Then the 6 of us going to Managua squeezed into one very small taxi that would drop us off near the chicken bus station (despite asking for the Collectivo instead).

We ran up to the bus as it was pulling out of the lot.  They swung the back door open and threw our bags on, ushering us in quickly to the last remaining seats, scattering us throughout the bus.  I was in the very last seat on the bus - next to a nice lady on my left, the aisle on my right, and a couple, presumably in their 40's, across from me.  One of the bus workers planted himself in the aisle, leaning on the back door of the bus...perfect position for talking to me.  I used this as a good opportunity to practice my spanish:

"I'm from the United States"

"Yes, that is my boyfriend up there"

"No, thank you.  I have a boyfriend"

"No photos, please"

He finally accepted my rejection and eventually chatted up S, apparently trying to figure out which of the gringas was available.  The back door of the bus also kept randomly swining open as we were driving 80 mph down the road. No big deal.

4 of us (us and a couple from Holland) continued on to Leòn via collectivo, similar to a van-type shuttle which takes a direct route to the destination, unlike the popular chicken buses.  We were dropped off and refused a taxi ride to our hostel, where all of us would be staying.  My American map reading skills came in handy, figuring out exactly where we were..which at that time happened to be on the corner of 3rd and 3rd.  We made it the 1.5 miles to our hostel, Lazybones, and got settled in before heading out for dinner and a night time walk with the Holland couple.  

We took the following day to walk around the city.  The Independance Day holiday meant festivities throughout the city....and we saw another marching band!  This time it consited of drums and a section of very enthusiastic guiro players.  

The city is full of gorgeous churches - apparently several of them are connected by a tunnel systel under the city.  The Cathedral of Leòn is the largest cathedral of Central America.

...and the bells are still rung by hand...

One of the things Leòn is popular for is the volcano boarding.  We couldn't come here without trying it! We decided to go with a tour company (Quetzal Trekkers) that is run completely by volunteers...all profits made go to locally run projects working with desadvantaged youth.  The guide even RUNS down the mountain instead of boarding, to save on the cost of renting a board ($4).  Plus I got a "free" shirt.  We set out with our guide and a Canadian couple for the hike up the volcano, Cerro Negro - a black, rocky volcano surrounded by a lush green landscape.  

The 45 minute hike to the top was a bit of a challenge - the rock was quite slippery in places, the sun was blaring down, and the path was on a constant incline, and we were lugging boards up with us.  The top provided gorgeous views of the surrounding valleys, as well as the several surrounding volcanoes.

A volcano in the distance with steam coming out of the crater..

The heat coming out of the ground was intense!  Cerro Negro errupts once every 8 or so years...but despite being closed down several weeks ago because of earthquakes in the area, the last erruption was 14 years ago.  

After taking in the scenic views, we headed over to "suit up" for the volcano boarding.  Protective suits, goggles, and gloves.  It was nothing short of attractive.

The steep-ness from the top made the mountain seem a little intimidating, but the ride down was awesome!  We sat on the back of the boards, grabbing the rope and leaning back as far as possible for speed.  It took a little getting use to - balance, lean back, steer, get up and dump the rocks off, try again.  The first run was a rush!  The wind (dirt) blowing through your hair, rocks in your shoes, sand in the mouth...it's the stuff dreams are made of and it HAD to be done again.  We made our way up the mountain again and went for a 2nd run....this time we were well practiced in the proper methods and flew down the mountain without problems!  By the end of it, Sean and one of the Canadians looked like they had spent the day in the coal mines...and my hair felt like I had used an entire can of hairspray. Totally worth it! We had lunch (delicious veggie burritos) and headed back to town.

I can now check volcano boarding off the bucket list...eventhough I was unaware it was ever there in the first place!

~Jac