Nearing The End (Mercifully)

After Costa Rica we caught a taxi up into Nicaragua. We negotiated with a few cab drivers and one guy said he would take us for a lot less than the others. The other guys freaked out and told us the guy didn’t have a cab license and was driving without insurance which is why he was taking us for so cheap. We didn’t really care and the guy said it’d be fine. About 30 mins into our drive through the cops pulled us over and gave the guy a huge ticket, sucks for him. He had to head into some town and get some day insurance to keep taking us to the border, dude had a bad day. 

Our route in Nicaragua was San Juan Del Sur – Ometepe – Granada – Little Corn Island – Leon. San Juan was the first stop and probably one of the most hyped up spots we’d heard about in Central America but I didn’t really care for it. It had nice beaches and good surfing which we did a couple times but the place was a zoo with college kids who just wanted to drink their faces off and sleep all day. I guess that’s what you do when you’re on vacation though! I personally couldn’t wait for our next stop but I think Brit liked going out to the bars with people for once (boring non-drinker boyfriend, I know). So we stayed there a few days in the loudest/most party hostel ever and then packed up and headed for Ometepe. 

For those that don’t know Ometepe is a volcanic island in the middle of Lake Nicaragua. Our plan was to hike the volcano but once we got there and saw the thing Brit really didn’t feel like it, and neither did I to tell the truth. We linked up with some people from Colorado who convinced me to do it though and we planned a trek for a couple days later. In the meantime, we spent our days wandering around the town and going on mini-hikes. We rented motorbikes one day and rode across the whole island. We ended up at Ojo de Agua which is a very cool lagoon/swimming hole in the middle of the island with rope swings and diving boards. We hung out there most of the day before riding to the other side of the island and checking out some beaches. 

I got up early on the day of the volcano hike and grabbed my gear. We met out guide and got the bus to the base of the volcano. We hiked for about an hour into the forest when we came across some monkeys. I went to grab my camera and take some flicks and…uh oh, not in any of my pockets or in my bag. I started freakin’ out cause we hadn’t backed up our photos from that camera since Bali. I told my guide I had to backtrack to look for it but the other guys wanted to press on so I had to leave them. This ended up with me wandering in the forest looking for my camera for hours. I eventually got super lost in the woods and ended up in small little farming towns asking people for directions. Finally, I ended up on a main road and just started walking. I waved down a bus and jumped on, luckily it got me where I needed to go. Once back at the hostel Brit wasn’t very pleased with me and we spent the rest of the day putting up posters and searching for the camera. We spent another day or two extra on the island hoping it would turn up but no luck. Which is why we have limited photos of most of Central America and no pictures of our day in Tokyo! Bummer, but at least we still had our nice SLR camera. 

We grabbed the ferry back and jumped on another bus to Granada. Probably the most popular city in Nicaragua. We spent our first day or so just wandering around checking out all the cool buildings and alleyways. Our hostel had a pool which was nice so we spent a lot of time there swimming and hanging in the hammocks. Next day we did more of the same and then went on a volcano trek in the evening. We got to see the active volcano and then go clambering through some bat filled caves. That day I noticed my ear kept bleeding and we were having to clean it up a bunch. Thought it was nothing but then woke up in the morning with blood covering my entire pillow! We’d planned on doing a trip to a nearby lake that day but thought I should get my ear checked out. We ended up at some very sketchy hospital and got rushed into the ER. The Doc checked me out and let me know (in Spanish) that I had some type of bug in my ear! The leaned me over and with a huge syringe started pounding some type of solution in my ear over and over again. It made me super dizzy and unbalanced and to top it off they rushed some guy in who was completely busted up and were trying to get an IV in him but screwed it up so his blood was just squirting all over the place near me. I almost passed out but luckily kept it together and they got the bug out eventually. That afternoon we headed out to some market towns and did a bit of shopping before heading back to the hostel. 

Next day we went to the nearby lake/lagoon thing and spent the day swimming and kayaking. The water was crazy warm and I just wanted to swim all day but wasn’t allowed because of some drops I was having to put in my ear after the bug ordeal. This was the last day in Granada and tomorrow we would head out to Little Corn Island. 

We got a cab to Managua where we would catch a local flight to Big Corn, then a boat to Little Corn. We met some girls from Edmonton on the flight over and we all cruised around the island looking for a place to all stay together. We decided on a place called “Cool Spot.” The days on Little Corn were all blended together because we were there about a week and did so much lounging on the beach in the sun. We had really good weather the entire time and we both agreed it was one of our favorite spots we’d ever been! While we were there we went snorkeling, diving, hiking, swimming, tree climbing, clubbing, and even did some yoga classes at a studio on the beach. The snorkeling and diving was sweet, saw a bunch of sharks, rays, giant lobsters and turtles. The food there was also delicious, 2-3 different styles of lobster tail and all the sides for about $10! 

We were both sad to leave Little Corn and wanted to stay another week but had flights to catch in the next couple days! It was such a cool island though, it was so small so there was no cars and you could walk around the whole place in a few hours. It was probably our best time in Central America, just cruising on the beach and drinking out of coconuts. Good times. 

After Little Corn we flew back into Managua but had a day or two to burn before we flew out to Florida. Instead of hanging around there we headed into Leon which was a cooler town with a bit more to offer. We spent out last couple days in Nicaragua there cruising the city checking out the local markets, shops and architecture. It wouldn’t be a trip though without me getting sick so the second last night there I woke up in the middle of the night COVERED in rashy/welt looking things that were so insanely sore and itchy I couldn’t move. I had to run to the hostel bathroom at about 3am and spent a good hour in there puking and having wicked diarrhea. I got back to the room and told Brit, she didn’t believe me and then looked at my rashy body said “that sucks” and went back to sleep. I eventually fell back asleep and in the morning I was completely back to normal, whatever I had it was in and out in a flash. 

Our last day in Nicaragua we just got up and caught our last bus back to Managua for our flight to Miami! We would be getting picked up by our friend Aly who we traveled with in Laos and Bali and staying with her for the first bit before heading to Disneyworld! Can’t wait. 

As always thanks for checking this out, hope you enjoyed it and if you didn’t…I don’t even care. 

-          Dan 

The Trip Begins Again: Panama & Costa Rica

So the last trip update I made was Indonesia (Bali & Gili Islands) and our one day in Toyko, it’s been so long since then that I can barely remember the order we did things let alone anything that happened…it’s all just a big blur now. Luckily Brit kept a daily journal of the trip so I can use that to jog my memory a bit.

After a looooong journey we finally touched down in Panama. We were exhausted a jetlagged so we crashed at our hostel and didn’t wake up till like 6pm the next day…Well looks like the first day in Panama was a wash. On our first actual day we got a driver and checked out the famous canal which actually wasn’t so exciting. Our driver then took us up to the top of a mountain to take pictures of the city. He took us all over the place including outlying little marina islands and the old town. In the end he scammed us though and charged us way more than we agreed. We spent a lot of time in Panama City trying to send packages home full of souvenirs and gifts. The language barrier was very difficult and getting things sent was exhausting. After a few days we’d had enough of the big city and caught a bus out to Boquete which was a more laid back mountain town known for its hikes, hot springs and coffee. 

We had a stopover in a city called David which was uneventful. In Boquete we met a couple from the US (Amber & Johnny) who took us out to some natural hot springs which we spent the day lounging in. The following day we went on a long hike into the mountains to find a waterfall that you can apparently swim in. No swimming when we found it but we had a shower under the falls. On the way back we hitched a ride with a couple who was driving the mountains. The following day we caught another bus which was going to take us to Bocas Del Toro. 

Bocas is a small archipelago with a few small towns spread out across different islands. You need to take water-taxis to get from place to place which was equally fun and annoying. Brit and I opted to stay on Red Frog Beach which was much quieter and out of the way than some of the other islands/beaches. Our hostel was super nice and we pretty much had the beach all to ourselves but we were away from the party and restaurants of the other islands. We spent most of the days lounging on the beach and met up again with Amber & Johnny to hang out jumping in the waves, playing pool & games at our resort/hostel place and finding crazy bugs (beetles the size of kittens). Brit and I accidentally flooded our shower somehow and totally fucked the room we were in. Hostel people weren’t too happy about that…We went to the main island a couple nights to party with Amber & Johnny and met another couple who were on our flight and were wondering why we were already so tanned before we even landed in Panama. 

That was it for Panama and we headed across the border (literally walked across from Bocas) into Costa Rica. We caught a ride into Puerto Viejo and went to a place called Rockin J’s that was a hammock hotel a bit outside of town. It was a long walk with all the bags and some local guy accosting us trying to get us to go to his hotel instead. Rockin J’s was…weird. Just a large covered area with tons of hammocks hanging in it. You didn’t get a room just a hammock and a locker. Brit wasn’t feeling that so we opted for one of the few private rooms instead. Puerto Viejo was super nice and we rented bikes to ride around to all the super nice beaches. We found some sloths and went to a chocolate plantation where we sampled some brownies (not that kind). Brit refused to go in the water and I was upset cause I was also solo while she read on the beach. I told her we were on some of the nicest beaches she’ll ever see and needed to at least come in so I dragged her in once which was a bad idea as we got smashed by a huge wave that knocked Brits top off and washed her up on shore, much to the enjoyment and laughter of an old US couple nearby. 

From Puerto we grabbed a bus into San Jose for the night. San Jose was a pretty grubby place, we went out for the night with a couple who was staying at our hostel but the girl pulled a Dan and randomly got sick, puked all over. We had to get her back so that ended the night pretty quick. Next day we headed out to Quepos so we could check out Manuel Antonio National Park. Quepos was quiet with not much to do so we played with the dogs at our hostel, went in the pool and enjoyed the theatre room they had. In the morning we went to Manuel Antonio and realized we should have stayed in that town as it was much cooler with nicer beaches and more to do. In the park we saw tons of animals, sloths, raccoons, lizards, bugs, monkeys, etc. The beaches were also super nice but we mostly hiked around looking for wildlife. We spent another day in Quepos before heading out to Monteverde. 

The bus ride up to Monteverde was quite eventful as it started off with a local guy getting on the bus with us and then threatening to shoot us in the face and kill everyone on the bus (including babies) if we didn’t give him money. We said no and the whole bus turned on him eventually kicking him off. The ride was a rough one up bumpy dirt roads but we made it. We stayed just a few days in Monteverde and the main highlight was the zip-lines. We went up on a cloudy day and it was only Brit and I on the tour. The guides seemed bummed they had to go out in the rain to do it just for us. Zip-lines were fun but not nearly as intense, high or long as the ones we did in Laos. Plus, the guides rushed us through like crazy the whole thing only took about an hour or maybe even less! At the end though there is a huge Tarzan swing (like bungee jumping but with a swing), Brit and I both did it and the guys said we could go again if we wanted for free since no one else was there. I opted for it but Brit said once was enough. 

We also went on a night walk through the jungle to see some wildlife. It was pretty fun but more organized than I expected (walking paths, lights, etc.) I thought it was going to be some real bush-wacker shit. We saw lots of snakes, frogs, owls, and sloths so it was worth it. Another day we went into the national park and hiked around all day. Brit didn’t like that…but it was cool to see the forest on our own. 

From Monteverde we made our way to Montezuma. Another beach town but this time on the Pacific side of the country. The trip involved a long bus ride, a ferry ride followed by another bus ride. Our hostel had no kitchen and Brit freaked out so to calm her down we went to a restaurant in town that plays movies and watched some chick-flick. Next day we headed to the beach and some dog wouldn’t leave me alone all day. Followed me around making me play fetch and even came in the water when I went swimming. We grabbed lunch at a pizza place and I clogged their toilet…no plunger so I had to tell them what I had done, very embarrassing. The following day we went to waterfall with a swimming hole. A storm the night before had stirred up the water so it was all murky when it is supposed to be crystal clear. Some local dude jumped the waterfall from the top which was probably around 80-90 feet. 

Our last stop in Costa Rica was Tamarindo (or Tamagringo as the locals called it). It’s pretty much the resorty, tourtisty town that the Americans come to Costa Rica for. Our hostel was cool, painted like a cow and had a nice pool. We met a guy from South Carolina who lived here and he showed us around. We spent pretty much all the days cruising the beaches and going in the pool. We went out to watch the Stanley Cup at a big bar with tons of other North Americans. After a few days of hanging here we were ready to hit the road again and got a cab that would take us to the Costa Rica/Nicaragua border!

This is getting way to long even for me haha so I’ll end it there. Panama and Costa Rica were both really good but we had been spoiled in Asia and Africa when it came to beaches and found ourselves comparing too often “it’s nice but not as nice as…” For what it was though it was really nice and fun. The most enjoyable part of being in those places were the people we met who instantly invited us out to what they were doing for the day or for drinks & dinner, without meeting all those people the trip wouldn’t have been nearly as fun as it was. 

The Comeback Trail

Wow it’s been a long time since I’ve updated this thing…last update was 2012 and it’s now 2015! Time is cruel.

I mainly stopped because my goal was to update this with trip updates to keep everyone back at home posted but I didn’t finish in time and everyone eventually heard all my travel stories so it seemed silly to write them on here. A few months went by back in 2012 and I kept going to update this but it seemed useless and I would only write a couple lines before quitting. I really wanted to finish the trip updates to have my year (or so) journey documented on here, if for no one else just for myself to go back and re-read something’s I may have forgot. Time just kept marching on and every time something exciting happened I’d come on here and go to post it but then feel weird about it because I still wanted to finish the post from the previous trip, I guess that was some sort of OCD kicking in. Anyway, the end result was this place never getting updated at all.

In addition to all that, whenever I did check this place my pictures were getting deleted or not showing up. That bummed me out because it took me forever with shitty internet to get those pics on here and having them all gone made me feel like all the work was fruitless, so I ended up not caring to post anything new or start a new blog somewhere else. After coming on here recently though most of my more “recent” photos reappeared, this gave me more of a push to update this thing…but with 3 years of stuff and a foggy memory it was still daunting to start.

I don’t know why but I checked my blog out today and am feeling rejuvenated to start writing again. Since I still want to finish my (not so) little trip updates I think that is where I will start before moving into more recent updates and adventures.

I know many of you (haha “many”) who read this (maybe my mom & dad) don’t care to hear stories over and over again I’m going to break my “catching up” posts into a few smaller posts so skip those if you are sick of me telling travel tales from years ago. My plan is:

End of the year long trip
Year between traveling and school
Philippines
This last year

Again, the main goal of this blog was for my own benefit so I could flick back and remember things I've done but in the process I know some of you have enjoyed reading, so if you want to continue reading on thanks for sticking with me!

Bonus random photo:

Drunk Friends

Dentyne Ice "Ice"

Rum in beer drop shot

Ramsay getting ratty

Con shreddin one out

Flute masters