March 4, 2006
hola, de nicaragua.....i,m writing from granada today, where it,s very hot and humid. the only thing to do this afternoon is to sit in the common area of the pensione and wait out the sun (and sweat out my hangover). siesta was invented for a reason.
i know i,ve emailed some of you already with a few notes on my trip so far, but i wanted to send out something to everyone recapping the last couple of weeks, which have been awesome. it,s a bit long so if any of you choose not to read it and instead print it out for god knows what other uses, well then, go screw. seriously though, i,m no poet so my apologies in advance if it gets boring or seems repetitious. minstrels travel, not write. and play lutes too.
so here goes....
i started my trip in Costa Rica on 2-17, with Hal and Heller. To begin with, Costa Rica is a really scenic country, from tropical beaches to highland pastures to mountain rain forests, it,s got it all in a relatively small package, which makes it very accessible. we started out the first 3 days in playa del coco (the pacific coast of CR) to do some diving. on the dives we saw some very large sting rays and schools of hundreds of cow nosed rays (3 ft across) -- they blocked out the sun under the water! -- it was amazing. also a couple of white tip reef sharks, a seahorse, and large schools of jacks. (here we are in front of the dive shop)
Tres mas?
on monday we went from the pacific coast up into the mountains to see arenal volcano. we had quite an adventure on the drive up -- the roads, if you can call them that, are just dirt tracks with huge rocks and potholes. no joke but i dont think it,s actually possible to build a "road" and have it turn out as bad as these do.
(below, raccoons)
anyway, we had a couple of solid days as we stayed right literally next to the volcano and the day we checked in (mon) was clear so we got some amazing shots of the steam and smoke coming out of the top; we also heard it belching a little. or maybe that was just me.
next we went white water rafting. we learned a few things that day.....never go rafting when the river is too low. first off, you get stuck quite a bit which means you are not rafting so much as playing human pinball. secondly, don,t go with a guide who, before you start the trip, argues with the other 2 guides vehemently about who draws the short straw to take 6 people. bad idea. needless to say, we were 6 in our boat. finally, when your guide tells you to get down in the center of the boat going over a rapid, instead of paddling, don,t listen to him/her. completely ignore all commands, use your instincts and you,ll be fine.
(on the right, our fearless leader)
basically, we got stuck swamped and flipped in about the first 5 minutes of a 2 hour trip and that was a bit intense. we all swallowed a lot of water (which of course meets all environmental standards) and took the best water slide ride of our lives. luckily we came out with only some minor cuts bumps and bruises, hal especially. contrary to popular belief and standard physics principles, hal,s breasts did nothing to keep him above the water.
(the rafting crew)
wed we drove up further into the mountains and the scenery here was hillside cow pastures, very breezy and cool and steep rolling farm land. the locals wear cowboy hats. bueno.
we did some zip lines up in the forest, some over half a mile long and over 400 feet high. very big rush, especially for me and hal who are a little nervous about heights. i was surprised because hal didn,t try to remind me that he,s "taller" than me.
Tres mas!
after the highlands we drove down the pacific coast to a national park called manuel antonio, which is a big nature preserve. the park is set on a peninsula and has lots of protected beaches and hiking trails that can be explored. we spent most of our days on one particular beach that was right out of a postcard.
it is difficult to capture in words, but try to imagine lounging on a pristine white sand beach under the shade of an overhanging branch of the jungle canopy just behind your shoulder, the gentle waves of clear bathwarm water lapping your feet, so salty you float in the cove for hours. picture also monkeys springing through the trees overhead, coming down to pose for a picture or, if you are not careful, to rummage through your bags, as a 2 foot iguana walks past your towel.
needless to say it was a really cool way to spend a few days, not to mention the bars there had nice happy hour specials.
one of the coolest parts of the trip occurred on the drive down to manuel antonio. about half way through a 5 hour drive we stopped on a bridge overlooking a shallow river. a quick jaunt from where our car was parked brought us on to the overpass and looking over the edge in amazement. below us were dozens of crocodiles of all sizes sunning themselves all around the bridge and on the shores of the river, ranging from one meter to over 15 feet long and over 1000 lbs.! we watched as the crocs wrestled with each other, hunted birds on the shore and swam in the river. it was something right out of the discovery channel; our jaws never got off the floor until we left an hour later.
on sunday i drove hal and brian to the airport in san jose and then headed in to the city for a day or so to catch up on sleep, get my bearings and set up my bus ride to nicaragua. san jose is a big city and while some parts are unsafe, it is not as notorious as some of the other central american capitals. the only drawback is that there is not much in the way of true tourist attractions in the city, so there was not much to occupy my time, other than getting my piss on early and often. i used my 2 days to catch up on few hours of sleep and emails, and to start the second phase of my trip.
anyway, after my uneventful start to the week, on tuesday i got up at 4:30 a.m. to catch my bus to granada nicaragua. till the day was all said and done, between travel time and the interminable border crossing, i finally got to my new hostel at 4 p.m. a LONG day.
granada itself is a really beautiful old colonial city next to lake nicaragua, which is a huge freshwater lake created by volcanos over many thousands of years. the old part of the city was founded in 1524 and retains a great deal of old architecture and character.
there are, as you might imagine, many many historic churches, one of which was converted into a museum on nicaraguan history and culture. i saw many petroglyphs dating to the ancient indigenous people who settled in the area starting around 1000 bc. not a shabby place to spend my beday, i have to say.
(above and left, the museum and petroglyphs)
the hostel i am staying in is fantastic. very cheap ($7-nt for a single room), really good food and music, and lots of interesting travelers. also an amazing kitchen. i thought id lose weight on this trip but i won,t so long as i am here. in the few days i,ve been here i,ve also met some locals as well -- i actually went to the opening night of a new bar right around the corner of the place i,m staying and was DJing for a little while.
(above, playing pool and bartime at the bearded monkey. at right, my spanish teacher anjelica)
the main reason i am here is to study spanish, and it was one of the things i have been looking forward to a great deal on my trip. my first classes were thursday and friday and my teacher is really great fun. bascially we just sit there shooting the shit in a combo of spanish and english. i am not sure if it,s the atmosphere of the city, or the friendliness of the people, but i feel very comfortable here and i think it is making it a little easier to learn than i thought it might be.
during my time here i plan on making a few day trips to some surrounding sights. tomorrow i am planning on hiking mombacho, a dormant volcano that sits a mere 10 kms from the city. there are supposed to be some very good views of the city and the countryside, as well as trails through the jungle and all the way up to the crater. should be fun and it will also be good to get some real physical activity in.
anyway, lots and lots of partying going on, and lord only knows what kind of condition i,ll be in if i stay a full 2 weeks. at least i,ll know how to say fat drunk and happy in spanish (that,s soy gordo, borracho y feliz for those of you counting at home).
well, that,s it for now. thanks to everyone who sent along birthday wishes; it was really nice to get your notes being so far from home. till the next round...
manana,
el hahmano
below are some maps of costa rica
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