Entering Europe...surprisingly nice!!

Leaving Honduras and the developing world in general is kind of surreal. I look forward to Europe, but ina totally different way.

The flight to Atlanta goes without a hitch. Having heard so many bad stories about immigration nazis I am more than a little surprised when the cheery middle aged white fella I see plays an April fools day prank on me, saying my new chip passport mustn’t be formatted properly. I almost fall for it!

From there on in I lurk around the airport for 3 hours, as my next flight is running late. The place is bloody huge. Six terminals, spotlessly clean and everybody who works there is black. It doesn’t feel so different from Honduras after all, at least the coloured workers. I want to spend a $1 coin from Ecuador, and get tripped up with the tax situation.. a 99c ice cream turns into $1.08. Doh! Going to spend my now more change, I realize I don’t have enough for anything. Out of nowhere the workers pull coins out of their own pockets to help me out! Bizzarree.. maybe the US of A is not such a bad place after all.

The flight across the atlantic goes quick enogh I guess. Into Paris though I way clearly not going to catch my connecting flight to Madrid. This means I have to que up with almost the entire plane for 2 hours to organize another. I explain to the kid who serves me I actually need to get to Dublin, and will now miss my Ryanair flighth. He is all too good about it and reroutes me straight to Dublin, no problems at all.

I have three hours to spend till I have to check in. Noticing the Air France 1st class lounge in the corner, I decide to bluff my way in, seeing as their delay caused my extended stay here. I walk up to the desk, passport in hand and look like I belong towards the five (no less) staff staring at me. This clearly has an effect cos they smile at me… and I walse on thru the door.

The first three mins I wait to get rumbled. Everybody else is wearing a suit, and I am in traveling clothes… Somewhat startlingly nobody challenges me. So I make good use of the internet and bar service. I don’t want to drink too much so… a glass of Bollinger ($100 a bottle in NZ), 2 beers, and 6 self poured bourbon and cokes later I am pretty content. Unfortunately the lounge only has snax for food (bloody palpers).. but I nod “merci”as I wander out the door… sweet!

It is lucky that I got on line though, cos I find a new email from Brad in Dublin, whom I am staying with. His work has called him away.. he is in Zurich till Thursday eve… and today is monday!! His flatmates are being sports though, and say I can still stay there. This works out pretty well, cos I get to sleep in his bed. And indeed I do sleep well.

Flatmates turn out to be sisters Deidre and Katie, who are both good sorts, and over the next few days I see the sights of Dublin… in the SUN!! Four days in a row, no less… And everybody grizzles about how wet it is here… Admittedly it is bloody freezing at night though.

The guiness factory is pretty cool. The old buildings and general layout is nice. Trinity College is massive, and totally enclosed. The whole city is very well set up for tourists, with excellent signage, etc. But most of all I am amused by the people in general. Compared to South America, there is just so much money floating around. No surprises there, but walking thru the large shopping malls and streets hearing kids grizzle at parents to buy them more (and more) is a bit startling. As is the clothing and general appearance of everyone. Loads of makeup and flash haircuts, and trendy clothes of course.

The other interesting thing I note is the number of eastern Europeans, recent immigrants since the EU opened up. I had read about this previously, but am still amazed that you can hear their various languages everywhere, and see specialized food shops even.

Other missions accomplished are receiving a box of my stuff from wanaka (just in time), and swapping my Ozzy driving licence for a local one.

Whn Brad gets back it is the night before Good Friday so we go out for a few drinks. And a few on Friday night too. His mate Tim is over from London too, just to add to the party. Prices are even more scarey than I expected. A four drinks round hits 28 Euros!!! That’s well over my daily budget for the last six months….

Luckily, we spend our one day together (Friday) actually doing something. That being hearding out to the sea at Howth. Again, the sun is shining, so its all very nice.

Flying to London on Saturday, I am amazed to see that Heathrow airport treats Dublin as a domestic flight. No immigration, customs or problems. Very nice. The tube to Jon and Fi’s is quick, and Jon and I enjoy a few beers that night with his local friends.

The next day is also perfectly sunny. The three of us go bike riding, and even play a little hacki sac.

Monday and Tues are in class, starting the training trip with Topdeck, then wed us drivers take off to Holland. More about TT in the next post…. Maybe…

final thoughts on Central America, and off to Europe

Central America has been a bit different to South America.

We really rushed thru, so this is just a few 1st impressions really.

People here are not as honest. The taxi drivers, bus conductors, money changers etc all seem a lot more into the concept of rippng gringos off. Especialy the taxi drivers. I have almost given up catching them, sick of being told to pay several dollars to go just up the road.

Peple here look different too. A lot more of a moix, and lots of West Indians with very dark skin. A lot of them are big, which makes for a change where in South America I was constantly the tallest person.

it is similarly dirty and warmer for sure.

Going to Europe will be quite a shock to the system.... I hope!!

I am hoping that time in Europe will make the filth, heat, poverty etc which is all part of life over here, seem interesting again. As with previous trips to developing nations, I find it all becomes very normal way too quickly.

God willing I wont spend the same money in a month of Europe that i have in the last six in South and Central America. Will keep this site posted....

Great diving, sad to say goodbye

After saying goodbye to Sara I bus thru to Trujillio. This takes all day and is damn boring. Especialy after La Ceiba, when i get on a chicken bus.. which takes 3 hours to travel 120km. Not good.

My main aim in Trujilio is to catch a ferry out to the island of Guaranja. If it even goes.. nobody seems sure if it does or not... By the time i arrive its 9.30pm and hosing with rain. I am exhausted after getting up at 3.30 this morning, and crash hard in the first place i see.

Next morning... its still raining. Hard. Real hard. I have a TV in my room for a change so i watch some Hollywood nonsense till it settles. The town itself is much smaller than i expected. After a look around, and a walk on the supposedly perfect beach.. which seems pretty average.. I decide to walk out to the Casa Kiwi, a backpackers lodge. I figure the owner is from home and might offer some insights to living here.

As it turns out she is away for the day, but a couple around my age from Queenstown are doing some work there for free board. We spend most of the day chatting, which is nice.

By evening I decide I am actualy more interested in returning to Utila for more diving, than going to Guaranja. This is pushed on by the revelatin that the next ferry isnt for 3 more days.

So the next day I am away (in the rain again) by a direct bus this time, and onto the ferry for Utila in the late arvo.

Returning to Paradise Divers feels ike coming home. Sandra and Tullio (DMs), Jason from Canada, Dave from Wales all greet me enthusisticly which is very warming.

Jason has been thinking about doing the rescue diver course, so I agree to do it with him. At $199US, and $60US for the first aid course, it wont get any cheaper anywhere else, and I still think of going thru Dive Master at some stage.

The course is run by Tullio. I like the guys cos hes laid back and fun etc, but i do question his teaching ability a bit. His explanations are a bit flakey sometimes, and most questions I have get answered with "dont worry about it" ... But as it turns out it is pretty straight forward and I do get some benefit, thinking about what to do in a bad situation.

After seven nights on the island the day finaly comes to leave. I genuinely dont want to go. I have felt more at home here, than anywhere else we went on the trip. Staying around and doing the DM exam is pretty tempting. But I have flights paid for and people to meet in Europe before returning to South America. So with almost a small tear in my eye I get on the 2pm ferry, then catch the boring bus back to San Pedro Sula.

On Sunday the 1st of April, I write this blog, then go to the airport, a bit bemused that I am returnign to the "civilized world" again... I really hoipe it wont be too bloody cold ! (and expensive!!).. fingers crossed..

Honduras, from bad to great

11-22 March 207

Somewhere along the way into Honduras I get sick. It’s a long day, changing busses several times in high heat. By the time we get to San Pedro Sula its 9pm, and I collapse straight into bed. At the time I assume it is just tiredness.

The next moring we are on another bus for 3 hours to Copan, and its then I realize something is wrong. I have no energy and am stiff all over. Sara has escaped it as ñeaves me to it. For the next thre days I eat no more than a couple of pieces of bread each day. Not good.

I am particularly put out cos we are leaving soon! And I almost never get sick, so when I do I don’t seem to handle it well.

We do manage to see the ruins at least. Maybe its my condidtion, but they do not impress me much. They are small and the ¨amazing¨ detail of the carvings seems to be missed by me. In fact most of the better pieces are replicas!! We are shocked at having to pay $15 US each to get in!! And the guide stings us another $7 each, even after teaming up with some travelers… ouch!

So we bus back to SPS then onto La Ceiba. Having to cab the transfers between bus stops is highly frustrating.. they charge ridiculous gringo prices and get surly at the concept of bargaining. We get on the ferry to Utilla just on time…

Utila has the reputation of being the cheapest place in the world to get dive certifications. And the water is warm and clear. It’s a tall order, but it does indeed come true. We speak to a few dive shops and end up going with the skankiest, cheapest and most laid back one, Paradise Divers.

Its so cheap Sara ends up doing her Advanced Course for all of $210US, including 2 free fun dives and free accom. I am happy with 10 fun dives for $150!!

The accom is basic, which is fine, but the location between two loud discos could be better! The best two dives are a night dive where we see an enormous King Crab, and a wreck dive which is surrounded by massive fish. The instructor takes photos with his very flash 10mpx camera (I didn’t know such high definition existed yet!), which are too big to post here, but look fantastic.

The island itself is basically one small town. Only 2 roads and quite crowded. Not quite what we expected, but pretty cool.

On the last two days we decide to check out the next island over. Roatan. The big interest here is the current real estate frenzy. We fly there (as a treat!) and hire a car at $45US a day. This is a budget blower, but allows us to have a good look around.

The East end is much less developed, and super laid back. We stay at a private cottage on the beach. Costing $50, its steep but is very nice. We organize this thru the Windsong restaurant, where the local gringos have a great yarn to us about living on the island, then one goes and pays for our dinner!!!

The West end is very expensive, and while very commercial, no where near as ¨civilized¨as we expected. It still has sand roads etc. We eat a flash lobster dinner on the beach which is nice, fully aware that we wont see each other for ages very soon.

Back at SPS for a night it pours with rain. It’s a 3.30am start to get Sara on her flight. Its an emotional farewell, and we both hope that the next 6 months will deliver to each of us what we are looking for.

178 days on the road together. Its been a great trip….

Nicaragua, highs and lows..

8-10 March 2007

Crossing into Nicaragua we get hit by our first true scam on the entire tyip. Its not a good way to enter a country…

Having been told there is no bank there to change money, I use a street trader. I am dead tired after the long bus ride yesterday and not thinking straight. The exchange rate is 18 Cordobas to 1USD. I change $40 and just cant seem to do the arithmetic in my head. Getting frustrated I cant find my calculator, and believe the money changers one. Something feels wrong but we trade $40. About a minute later I finaly click. He has used a rigged calculator and short changed us by almost $25…..

I am furious. More at myself than him. We try to find him but he has disappeared. His friends say that hes not their friend when we ask them. After 10 mins we give up. This leaves me fuming for days
On a positive side the process of immigration is quite straight forward, which is an improvement on the minimum of two hours stated in our guide book.

The book also says positive things about the Pacific side beach town of San Huan del Sur, which is not too far away.

Unfortunately the book is wrong again.

The place is far from awesome, but is amazingly expensive. The dorms cost &US a head, and we finaly get a double for $15. The most we have ever paid till this point os $13, and even that was an exception…. Normaly we are under $10. This is concerning cos Nicaragua is supposedly the cheapest country in all of Latin America, ie Central and South America…

Amusement comes from the huge plethora of real estate shops. All in English and quoting incredible costs. Condos nowhere near the (dirty) beach come in at $250,000 USD… and the average wage for most people living here is $3 per day!!! Total ridiculous.

The other amusement comes from a mad Canadian who owns a seafood restaurant, Captain Barneys. He states that his beer battered fish and chops are the best in the world. He will make them for us, and we only have to pay half price. Or they will be free if we don’t like them. Then he throws in a milkshake for free. And of course tells his life story. Admitedly the fish is very nice, we finaly prise ourselves away later in the afternoon… hes as mad as a snake…

Climbing the high hill gives a great view over town and the coast line. We see an amazing sunset (the first in the entire trip) and are met by an El Salvedorian, who is drunk as a skunk and mad as a hatter. In a small world curiosity.. he is the business partner of the restauranteer!!

We had planned to stay here for 2 nights, but on the strength of this arvo, amusing as it has been, we decide to boost tomorrow morning.

The day of travel is not so long, but is soured by the second scam attempt in 2 days, this time in the dirty great capital of Managua. We have to taxi from one bus terminal to the other. A taxi driver agrees to 15 cordobas, then moments later his friend jumps in the front seat. As we pass a gas station he says I need gas money. I give him the agreed 15 cords while his friend gives him150. He then tells us that 15 was the agreed price just to get into the car, and travel was additional. I am still fuming about the border scam and tell him to get fucked. This turns into a screaming match, while Sara tries to be the voice of reason. The two of them threaten to drive off with our bags as soon as we get out. They then say lets go to the police station. We says that’s a good idea, noting that we are driving past a gaggle of cops and not stopping. In the end after five full minutes of this he gets out pulls our bags from the trunk and throws them on the ground. All but one that is, speeding off with it.

I have a rare explosion of extreme anger around now. Not pretty at all.

Then as we walk 200m back to the bus station, the cabs drives past us and throws the bag on the ground. It has been opened of course, and there is nothing of value in it. I am amazed that they gave it back though, and this eases my temper a little at least….

The drive to Leon takes 1 hour and I have mellowed by then. We get thru to the Big Foot Hostel no problems, and check in to their newest room, finished about 5 mins ago!

The operator here is Darren, an ex Oz Experience driver, who a mutual friend of ours told me about. We came here wanting to gain some insight into running a hostel in this part of the world, and Daz is more than forthcoming. He has a pretty sweet setup, and his Volcano Boarding trip is fun too. Basicaly we walk up a small volcano, run down into the center, climb back up, and slide down the side on homemade sleds. The speed of the sleds is pretty quick if you don’t brake. I highly appreciate the goggles and overalls, and am amazed that these are a very new addition!

Daz also takes us down to the beach to check out a surf comp. The beach is nicer than San Juan at least, and the water is amazingly warmer. Leon itself though doesn’t do much for us, and tempting as it is to stay there and hang with him, we decide to move on again. Sara has read about the Copan ruins in Honduras, and we are now going to try and sqeeze them into our busy schedule..

Zipping over Panama & Costa Rica

6-7 March 2007

The Panama Canal has been something I really wanted to see on this trip. Preferably sailing thru it. But by the time we arrive in Colon we are running short on time, and getting line handler positions at short notice requires quite a lot of luck. We ask around, and are told later in the week is fine, but not tomorrow. We are a bit over sailing just now anyway.

So we cab out to the Gatum locks. It is a scerene experience. The filling and draining of each lock is much quiter than I expected. As is the sight of HUGE freighters getting pulled thru by mechanical mules.

Panama uses the US dollar as official currency. That’s all fine, but paying $5 to see the locks is a bit rude!

We stay for a couple of hours then catch a late arvo bus over to Panama city. We stay in the old town which is like a giant construction site, with money coming from somewhere to return it to its former glory. What has been finished is nice indeed, but on nowhere near the same scale as Cartagena. In the middle of it all we find a Portugese restaurant. Its looks flasher than any we have visted in the entire trip, but we decide to go for it anyway. Excellent food, and a good bottle of wine later we are happy, but $65US poorer…

We are so short of time now we have to plan ahead. From here we want to see Leon, and an ex Oz Experience driver´s hostel, and the Bay Islands for some diving. This means bypassing the rest of Panama and all of Costa Rica. A shame, but they can be done on another trip…

So we spend a day organizing… I do manage to find a cheap flight to Madrid, but flights to anywhere in Central America are just extortionate. $350US one way!! This means we have to catch a bloody night bus.. never good.

At least the bus is pretty comfortable I guess. I don’t really sleep and feel like a zombie as we cross into Costa Rica at 5am. It is amusing that the border guards on the CR side don’t wear any form of uniform. 1^st place in the world I have seen this. And CR is supposed to be the most advance country in the region…

After 17 hours on the bus we get to the capital of San Jose. Its supposed to be pretty uninteresting, so we literally jump on another bus within 5 mins. And another 4 hours of travel. In the small town of Liberia its amusing to see quite a few other gringos, and loads of trendy surf shops…

Two beers over dinner almost sends me to sleep immediately, so after 21 hours of almost continuous bus travel we sleep well…

Sailing to Panama

26 feb - 4 March 2007

As we sail towards Panama, things start well enough. On day one the five of us talk away the arvo, getting to know each other a bit better. Mark, from Whales looks like he is mid 20´s. His subject matter is normally crap like meeting the Sweedish volleyball team out here etc, which makes him sound even younger. Somewhat incredulously he is 40. Brian and Jamie are an odd couple it seems. They both escaped reality in their early 30´s and have lived on boats ever since. By the end of 6 days, we realize thy are pretty over it.

And that’s exactly how they sail, like it’s a chore…. Using auto pilot is fine I supposed, and bitching about the unexpected head wind is normal too I guess. But neither seems to be having much fun.

In general it appears they desperately needed the money, which is why we are here, but they really didn’t appreciate crowding their boat. The water supply becomes a constant nagg, and we virtually run out of food before the trip is over…

We do stop in a couple of nice little anchorages and enjoy the warm water. Unfortunately the snorkeling over ¨reefs¨ turns out to be reefs of sand and weed, not too interesting. A couple of nice BBQs off the back of the boat are nice too.

One positive thing we gain is an appreciation of whether we could live like this. I ask Brian loads of technical questions about buying a boat, maintaining it, and what to do to pass the time. In the end we conclude that we are too young and active to sail around the world just now. There is a lot of nothing time, and most of the other boaties are retired, and conversation just isn’t us.

On the 2^nd to last night we stop at the tiny town of Portabello, in Panama. By sheer chance their carnival is on, and its heaving. It turns out that Brian and Jamie are shocking racists and grizzle that there are too many blacks… the warning from other boaties anchored there about a psychotic Frenchman who tried to firebomb three boats last night is concerning, and gives Brian the perfect excuse to insist we return to the boat within the hour. This pisses us off quite badly cos the fest is in full swing with huge black people dressed as dragons and dancing wildly to some bloody awful music.

And getting into Colon, Panama, we get to see how busy the port really is. Very. Huge tankes everywhere. Quite cool.

Checking into Panama immigration the next morning we have to trot to several different offices. Its no real drama, but Brian again insists its all the fault of the blacks. Unbelievable. We aren’t that sad to say good bye to them….. oh well…

final thoughts on Colombia

So as we leave Colombia, by sailboat, I reflect. Colombia is pretty sweet. Very different from how the media portrays it like a warzone, but also not as incredibly friendly as travelers are currently trying to promote.

Its surprising how easy it is to get used to a huge military and security presence. Opening bags to be inspected every time you enter a shop or train becomes normal too.

The people are a lot more motivated and generally intelligent than in other countries we have visited recently. This does make a nice change!

Travel domestically is expensive. Busses are pretty comfy though.

Cartagena... just beautiful

from Wed 21 Feb 2007

After a long 13 hour bus ride to Cartagena we arrive around 9pm, and taxi thru to the closest cheap (ie rough) part of town to the centre. The people are the first thig we notice. Its like being in Africa. Or Jamacia at least, loads of very dark skin. We have been looking forward to the Carribean for a long time so this is very encouraging.

A few drinks in the Havana Bar close to our chosen budget hotel are well deserved. The old boy who gyrates periodicaly to the load Cuban rythems is quite a sight too.

Next day we arise to some lovely heat. At last!! Our plan is to cruise for a couple of days then start the organisation drama of moving over to Panama, by sail boat or plane.We dont want a repeat of Medellin where we spent ages faffing about with such practicalities.

But in a lucky move wealmost stumble on to the local yatch club within 10 mins of leaving the house. And sure enough there is a sign for crew wanted. 5 mins later we find the captain and his wife, Brian and Jamie of ¨Cats Paws¨. They have been living out of boats for over 26 years (cool) and are quick to admit they dont normaly take passengers, unlike others who regularly make the crossing for financial gain (normaly smuggling drugs underneath the backpackers on board).

They seem cool, and their 40 ft boat is very nice indeed. THey are looking for 3 or 4 to pay the trip (which they are doing anyway..) and charge the standard $250US, expecting to take 5 or 6 days. As it happens our third crew member also shows up in the form of Welshman Mark. And just like that, its all on. We agree to meet tomorrow to buy provisions and set off on Monday. We are stoked that the organisation was so easy, and hope that dynamics between us all go well...

The next three days we cruise around Cartagena, enjoying the sun and beautiful architecture. Just like the guide books say, its like a time warp back to the 1600´s with all the Spanish building still very well intact.

A bit of beach time is had, over on the rich end of town. It feels like Surfers Paradise, with loads of high rise apartment blocks and hotels, all looking very new and polished.

The touristy nature of the centre or old town takes a bit of getting used to. We havent seen this type of thing since Cusco in Peru. Loads of touts hassling us, and restaurants that charge the bloody earth. We decide to sit in the main tourist restaurant square and treat ourselves to a couple of overpriced drinks to ge the ambience. One corona cost 6,000p... to put it in perspective a set menu lunch will cost around 4,000p ..and thats two courses and a drink...

We talk quite a bit about how we perceive our Co captains to behave with guests for the first time, and eventualy decide just to hope for the best.

Central America here we come!!

Medellin.. funny times in the big city

18 Feb 2007

After a long and boring bus ride to get to Medellin we are frustrated straight away with an idiot taxi driver who doesnt know his way, and drives around in circles. Luckily things get better, though there are a few highs and lows over the next couple of days.

Our hostel of choice for a change si a real hostel, instead of the usual dodgy local hotel. We decide to go for this beacuase it is called the Black Sheep, has the exact same logo as the 2 hostels of the same name in NZ, and is run by a kiwi. I assume it will be somebody from Queenstown, possibly the previous owner of the Black Sheep hostel there who sold a couple of years ago.

But wouldnt you know it, Kelvin the owner just liked the name Black Sheep, did an internet seacrh and stole their logo! Classic! He jokes that if they want to sue him they´d better be patient!

His story is quite interesteing to us, who are still keeping an eye out for a new home in paradise (wherever that might be).. He was travelling thru, walked past an open home ona saturday morning and just like that was in business. Admittedly the house couldnt be much more suited to becoming a hostel. Its perfect.. big, loads of rooms and bathrooms etc. Admittedly it is not the cleanest place we have stayed. A few more little touches would make it so much better...

Medellin itself has around 2 million people. We are staying in quite obviously the wealty part of town. The streets are wide with trees planted, the houses are huge, and it is very clean.

Catching the flash metro train later in the day we realise that the same ticket can take us up into the hills, on the newly installed gondola. Its quite cool using a skifield gondola for public transport, and certainly cheaper than all the tourist orientated gondolas seen around the world. Once we ascend steeply we start to realise why it is not billed as a tourist attraction in its own right.

We are lookiing down on South Central L.A, or some other rough arsed latino area as fabled by Hollywood. It seems so out of character to be in a brand new gondola looking down on it all. At the top we realise that most travellers just stay in and head back down to afluency. But we want to get to where we think we will get a better vantage point over the center.

As we walk around the steep hillside we get a lot of strange looks from the locals. Many are quite aggressive. For literally the first time in over five months I feel slightly at risk, as we are sized up by a large group of loitering 20 something blokes. There are loads of people, mostly teeneagers just loitering, looking like they are waiting for an excuse to start a fight. It is a far far cry from the other side of town where we are living.

Nothing untoward happens to us, and I spend a lot of time later considering why I felt a bit edgy. Without a doubt we have walked thru poorer neighbourhoods in parts of Bolivia and Peru. But there the locals looked at us wearily, not aggresssively. They were considerably smaller than me, and i just couldnt be threated by their traditional costume. I cant help but wonder if my concern today was thru that Holywood familiarity of the faces and costume we saw, and the association of violence that such movies portray. Hmmm...

Back in town we visit the local museum to see more Botero fat people art. Out fron there are fatty bronze statues everywhere. they obviously love him here! We eventualy have to leave the museum in a hurry after get caught taking a photo of an incredible painting that looks exactly like a photograph. The security girl gets really upset and storms off to ¨tell the curator¨ .... doh!

But too much of our time in Medellin is spent trying to organise our onwards travel from Colombia up to Central America. The guide book has set us up with the idea of visiting San Andreas Island, then moving on to Central from there. We spend ages on the net and visiting travel agents. It appears that flying on to Central is no longer the best option, cos West Carribean Airlines shut recently... after crashing 2 of their planes and killling everybody. But the option of a cheap package holiday starts sounding appealing. One of the bonuses is that we can fly from Medellin to the island, then return to Cartagena, avoiding a 13 hour bus ride between the two. The package holidays include everything including unlimited alcahol and cigarrettes. We dont smoke, and are drinking little these days, but its amusing all the same.

In the end it all falls thru at hte final hour. The agent has us booked for the next morning, and we return to the hostel to collect travellers cheques to pay. We have to rush cos the agency is about to close. In a fluster we enter, only to find the dozy cow hadnt properly booked us, and the next departure is in 4 days..... too late for us.

The next day we do the 13 hour bus ride. The scenery is beautiful.. very like NZ rural, but it is long and boring. And we cant help butthink ¨shouldnt we be on a beach sipping (free) cocktails right now...¨

Solento, cold and like NZ.. lovely

15 Feb 2007


I wrote a huge blog yesterday about our trip up to chilly solento. Then the computer crashed, AND I LOST IT ALL. NOT STOKED, CANT BE ARSED REWITING IT NOW, SO ONTO NEXT ONE ...

Big Bogota, cruising...

Bogota turns out to be a city with massive contrasts. Rich and poor in particular, though these elemnts of socioty are quite physicaly separated for a change. The North is loaded. Seriously. We go out on a thursday night for dinner up there and feel shabby to the point of embarressment. Everybody is cruising in suits and it looks like the moddle of flasher end London.

The South is so poor we dont have any reason to go there, and La Candalaria, the center is busy and full on.

The first 8 days we spend in Carlos and Angelas flat. Its a pretty sizeable spot, and comes complete with two power book mac computers, high speed internet, cable TV, drum kit and guitars in music room, and six cats. Having said all that, it somehow feels like an arty student flat.

Notthat we complain (apart form the cats which are constantly under our feet)... its free!! And the location is right between the center and the North, so depending if we turn left or right we end up in very opposing spots.

We visit the salt cathedral 50km to the North one days, and its pretty impressive. Theres a massive rock salt mine dug horizontaly into the hill, and a clever architect has used the enterance to do the 15 stations etc.

We spent ages in Bogota.. i will continue this later...

Tehredentro, underground toombs, and great people

The drive from San Augustine takes most of the day and several connections. Again, we see first hand that transport is not cheap in this country. After two share taxis over the hills we get to the big smoke. Then straight into an old bus with only 3 others on it.

Those Mexican saddles yesterday must have transferred weight into funny places, cos both of our backs are stff and painful. We bump along the shitty road, but really enjoy the view. We travel alongside a river in a deep valley. Its green and grassy, just like NZ. A half hour stop is made in a small town at a dead end in the hills. Its market day so the small square is quite busy. A crazy man with the meanest hunch back Ive ever seen runs around drunk checking our tyres and so on. Everybody ignores him. Another soon to be passengers stands out too. Hes the first really tall person Ive seen in SA, and has the meanest curly mullet ever. Billy ray Cyrus would be envious...

From here we back track a bit, then climb higher. Finaly we get dropped at the road side, 2km from the start of our destination town, which is also a dead end road.

The American boys gave us some names, so we check into their reccommended basic hotel run by a lovely couple who look like they are approaching 90. The town (or this section of it, as it turns out) is all of 100m long, with maybe 8 buildings. We eat some dinner and say hi to Fabian, the midget guide who came reccommended.

The next day we have barely got out of bed when Fabien finds us in the hostel and asks if we would like to join three others on a day tour. We´d kind of decided against a guide put hes quite pushy....

It turns out to be a very good decision.

We are with three othere, a Colombian couple our age, and a Swiss dude. The day starts with a pretty serious climb straight up a huge hill. Now when I say Frabien is a midget, thats quite literal.- Hes a dwarf, or small person, as i believe the new PC term is. Now I´m not overly fit at this moment, but when Fabien starts at a cracking pace, I am bloody determined not to be outpaced by a f%$king dwarf! The two of us surge ahead of the others, but its only me whos sweating profusely..

Later in the day I learn that he thought it was me egging him on by chasing his heels. Angela and Carlos from Bogota reckon we look like the fellowship of the ring with a hobbit leading us..

The tombs themselves are pretty interesting. they are all the same basic design, with a spiral staircase heading down to enter, and a circular cavern where they put the urns of ashes. They were another culture that mysteriously dissappeared in the 9th century, and again most of the ideas about the toombs are just theories. But its a great day out.

In the eve we eat dinner at Fabiens small cafe, and wouldnt you know it, his wife is a midget too! We have some good laughs, cos they are lovely people. When his wife puts her foot alongside mine, its halerious. Further experiments show the length of my hand is almost twice that of her foot!

In a remarkable show of generosity, Carlos and Angela decide to donate us the use of their flat in Bogota until they return in a week. We are stunned by this trust and generosity.

Between the four Col-o-mbians we have met today, -we are now understanding why so many travellers rave about how the poeple here are so lovely.

2 great days in San Augustin

11,12 Jan 2007

Once up and mobile we decide to go straight to the archeological park, where the famous stone statues are.

Once there we are met by Carlos the guide. He speaks excellent English but quotes us 30,000 for his services.. along with the 7,000 entrance each. We hum and har, then say so. But once entering the park and just staring dumbly at the staues, I change my mind and we return to find him.

By this time he has found two young American guys, but we agree to all go together. Carlos turns out to be an incredible character. His guiding is supposed to last 2,5 hours, but we spend the entire day with him. Admittedly we spend the latter part of the day discussing life in Colmbia, buying land in Colombia, and his aspirations more than the actual acheology.

Once he hears that I too am a tour guide he takes quite a shine to me, and he actively tells me that Colombia needs more foreign investment in the tourism sector. Hes almost read my mind, cos Im constantly looking for opportunity, and before I know it he has me talking to locals about buying land nearby. One character tells me his 2.5ha farm with all services will set me back around $17,000US. I hesitate, and he almost immediately follows up ¨but you can haggle¨... Interesting.

Carlos himself is pretty well read at 29. He quotes passages from ¨rich dad, poor dad¨and says he wants to be the richest man in Colombia. Thats why he hasnt married yet. Hes pretty intense....

As for the actual archeology, there are hundreds of statues of heads that were buried by an ancient civilization that dissappeared around 900 ad. Nothing is kown about them as fact, but the various theories extrapolated from the statues are pretty interesting. Of particular note is a small waterfall feature with carvings. The water passes thru carved channels etc, and makes quite an impresive sight.

The next day we go horse riding, again with the Americans, after negotiating a better deal with 4 of us. The horses are on a ¨Mexican Mount¨which is new to both me and Sara. Shes too used to British mounts and doesnt like it. I though, really do enjoy it. The saddle is further forward and its easier to get my legs around his gut. This beomes important, cos these horses just want to gallop... hard. Theres a few steeps which are thankfully taken slowly, but in general we motor. Its great fun.

Along the way we check out a few more statues, some with colour which is pretty cool. The guide is pretty hopeless, but we heard most of the archeological history yesterday.

In the eve we consider staying for another day, but now our hearts are set on the Carribean, so we decide to bail in the morning.

the slow road to San Augustin

10 Jan 2007

After doing little in Popayan yesterday we decide to move on to a town with attractions. The ride to San Augustin is only 100km, yet costs 25,000 pesos... And somehow it is going to take us 6 hours...

Once we get going it becomes obvious why. The road is rough as, and we move at an average speed of 20km/hr. I know this for fact as public service vehicals here have to display the speedo for all to see. It just makes it more frustrating!!!

On a good note though, we dont get ambushed by guerrilas, which was a very serious probability 2 years ago. And the scenery is amazing... its just like NZ!!! To start its bright green fields with cows, then as we climb high we get into thick rain forrest exactly like the West Coast. It brings me memories of Franz Josef... which is what basicaly paid for this trip... sweet..

After almost 8 hours we get in. The Israeli boys came yesterday and we bump ino them almost straight away. They reccommend a pizza restaurant, and indeed the pizza is bloody HUGE!

We choose a basic but friendly place to stay 20 mins walk up the hill, and plan for some horse riding and stone statue watching tomorrow..

on to Popoyan

8,9 Jan 2007

Getting out of Pastos proovs to be a mission. We havent realised what a big deal the festival here was, and the bus station is crowded beyond capacity with all the Colombian heading home. The busses are beyond full. Not good.

After queing for a while Sara talks to some others in line who come up with a plan. If we can get 11 of us we can hire our own mini van. We pull it off, but it costs us 45,000 each. Ouch (again)...

The ride is 7 hours, and the van is small. But we meet 3 Israeli kids unlike any I have met before. Naturaly, they have just finished their army time, but are actualy nice guys! We yarn for ages about where we've all been. They are coming down so we swap notes. I also ask them a lot of questions about life in Israel, the army etc. And their answers are honest and very interesting.

We all stay at a simple hostel in Popoyan. Again, the town is all but closed, but we find a cheap spot for a small dinner

The highlight of the night is in the huge Exito supermarket.For a prize they have a very cool electic assisteded bycicle. Its shaped like a chopper... and I love it!! I take a photo... and get told off by the security guards..(???)

Amazing church.. thru to not amazing town

7 Jan 2007

Having seen photos of the nearby Las Lajas church we are pretty excited to be going there today. Its Sunday, and a long weekend, so its going to be crowded. The hotel owner says the cheapest way there is to catch a local bus to the top of the hill, then walk down the last 3kms.

Of course, he insists, we will have to use a taxi to get back. When we ask what wrong with the bus to come back he looks at us like we are mad and says, but you would have to walk up the hill first.....

Sure enough, its packed. All Colombians, we are the only foreigners.(again). And yes, it is bloody beautiful. Pure Gothic style, and on a cliff over a river, with a massive brick bridge to connect. It looks like something out of a ferry tale. We take a quick look inside with the crowds ofworshippers, and enter the museum underneath the church, complete with two scarey stuffed animals.

These mutants are displayed as evidence of Gods wrath. A goat with two heads, and a sheep with 4 front legs. Siamese twins perhaps???

We take loads of photos, then finaly walk up the hill. Its pretty warm by now (after a chilly morning), maybe we should have cabbed it.

Back in town we grab a fruit smoothie, which sets us back 5000 pesos...$2.25US each..... and feel a pinch of concern about costs in Colombia, which we have aleady heard are higher than where we camne from.

The bus thru to Pastos confirms it. 6000 each for a two hour ride... its not a total fortune, but certainly more than before.

Pastos feels weird. Its a medium sized city centre, but is totaly deserted, and very dusty, despite being all sealed roads. We discover later that the famous carnival finished last night. The dust we see is flour which everybody throws at each other, and everybody is now in bed recovering....

We finaly find an open diner for a very basic (and expensive) lasagne, and crash.

Into COLOMBIA.. at last!

6 Jan 2007

We start the day early, and are at he South American Exploers club just as they open to see if the Colombia guidebook is still there. The othe two travellers bookstores we visited yesterday arvo told us that Colombia guidebooks are in hot demand over here, so we're not hopeful.

Yet sure enough there it is. We manage to convince the boy to swap our Peru Lonelyplanet for it. Its a good deal for them, its a LP, which are more po. The manager we spoke to the other day said she'd do the swap AND $5... so i guess we got off lightly this morning..
pular, and its almost brand new. The Footprints we pick up is fromm 2000ad, and is pretty shabby

Straight onto a bus to the North we bypass Ovantalo, with its famour markets (we've seen plently alread) and other sights which are evidently very popular for travellers in the north. We have heard so many great things about Colombia, and have been really looking forward to this moment for ages. The bus ride is long, and we get to the border town around 4pm.

The one attraction here according to the guidebooks is the cemetry... and its cool shaped trees. This might sound a bit lame, but we wander there to check, and are actualy bloody impressed. Its huge and the upkeep must take forever. Shapes of animals, geometric patterns etc. The locals call it a cemetry so beautiful it makes you want to die there. Not too sure about that.. but its certainly pretty cool.

A short mini van to the border itself where we have to que for half an hour to exit. Getting in to Colombia takes all of 30 seconds though, and all the issues of absolutely requiring an onward ticket (which we dont have) seem to have been forgotten.

Its dark by now and we mini van thru to Ipliales, find a hostel and crash alsmost immediately.

Finaly we are here...

The REAL middle of the World

5 Jan 2007

The standard "must do" day trip from Quito is to head 45 mins Norht of the city and see the monument to the Equator... the reason behind this countries name.

Now I'll be brief. We bus it out there, pay outragous entrance fee, take photos "on the line" as you do... and are generaly pretty unimpressed. There are other special interest rooms here, but they all cost extra too. A tourist scam.

I am amused at the concept of weighing yourself ON the equitor. Because right on the spot there is a perfect balance of the North and South Coriolis effects.. you weigh less. Cool. SoI get weighed and indeed it says I am down to 85.5kg... from 92 when i left NZ. (Less beer might have helped recently too, just thinking about it..) Evidently the effect for my weight has dropped 2.5kg, so I guess I'm still 88kg.... not bad..

So things are slightly looking up. Next door though is a little museum... which turns out to be Excellent!!! The family who oned the land there decided to set up a museum a few years ago, mostly about native cultures etc. By co incidence GPS was developed a few years later. And then by an extroidinary stroke of luck, the US miliatary were nearby on excercise, testing their new fangled GPS system (well before they went public).

Wouldnt you know it... the Ecuadorian government had blown it when they erected the statue.. and put it in the wrong place! Halarious.... It is actualy on the property of the private museum! What a windfall! We learn all of this cos the nice girl who shows us around eventualy admits to being the daughter of the owner, and once that secret is out she spills on the whole history.

They have set up some cool experiments to show the lack of coriolis effect. Hardest is balancing an egg on a nail head. Quite tricky but we both pull it off, and even get a certificate for doing so!

But the funiest thing is watching the water go down the plug hole in a bath tub. Now I always thought it was Bullsh*t about it going down in oppossite directions. But wouldnt you know it... IT WORKS!!!!!! And when it is right on the equator there is no whirlpool at all.... I am genuienly impressed.

So we leave in a good mood. The day turned out well after all. As we board the bus I suddenly realise that the scales I stood on were NOT on the equator.. so does this mean I really weigh only 85kg?? I make to note to eat a decent dinner...

Quito

4 Jan 2007 - 5 jan 2007

As we rise relatively early in the morning we are very pleased to see blazing SUN! I was starting to wonder about its lack of appearance in this country. The hostel is slighly elevated so we can look down over the city, which is nice. Admitedly its a lot nicer after the layer of brown smog burns off. We decide that we'll change hostels and get a few errands done this morning.

Our main errand is toobtain a guide bok for Colombia. We go to the South American Explorers club, and get a mixed recption from the yanks who work there. THey have a 2nd hand guide book. Its a footprints... from 2000. Not too sure on that one. They too repeat the current staory doing the rounds that the latest Lonely Planet is a joke. (As it turns out I get to see this LP in about a week from now. Its unreal.. word for word from the shoestring guide from 2003.. no new info or nothing...)

Finding a hostel turns into a minor mission. The 1st place we walk into quotes us a good rate, then suddenly adds "it more if you want to stay the whoel night".... We say no to the by the hou/brothel... Finaly we give up on new town where supposed "most travellers" stay, and find a big deserted old hotel in the old town.

Its from here our day gets better. The old town is very impressive. Not much traffic and loads of beautiful old buildings. Again, the final appearance of some sun helps too.

There are loads of famous old churches, but its the HUGE Cathedral that grabs our attention. Going inside the church itself is almost spooky. Its roof is soo high above us and the tall walls are surprisingly featureless concrete. The Gargoyles on the outside are local animals instead of the usual dragons. There are Iguanas, Pelican etc and its a prett cool touch. For a couple of dollars we can climb the towers. THis turns out to be excellent. The access takes us on a thin boadwalk suspended literally over the churches massive high ceiling. The ladders for the final assent are pretty steep, with minimal guard rails. The view is great.. right over the city. Get some cool photos too...

While eating lunch we

notice a slighly random thing. The coke bottle I am drinking from. Over here they recycle the bottles, which can only be a good thing. But unlike home nowadays where the glass is melted and production starts over, here they just clean the bottle and refill it. All good. We notice my bottle looks very old and worn,a nd upon close inspection has the old logo. It also has a date.. Feb 1992!! Thats a lot of refills over 15 years!

In the eve we end up in the new town, right where we started thsi morning. Its remarkable how different it looks now after dark. The restaurants are full and theres lots of em. OIts al quite flash really, though its again more locals than foreigners. We go to an Indian place which looks authentica and serves food which looks great. Somewhat bizzarrely.. there is no spice in it at all.. so its a pretty bizzaree immitation of Indian food, despite it being Indians who run the show...

Train ride mishaps

3 Jan 2007

We made our way to Riobamba yesterday intent on riding the roof of the Devils Nose train. Its supposed to be an engineering masterpiece, with switchbacks allowing the train to shunt foward and back down a vertical cliff.

The mission starts suspisiously... The train itself is not being used just now, so we start the morning on a bus, at 7am. I didnt sleep well last night and pass out on this one instead. Its pretty odd cos i cant normally sleep on busses, and this one has us jammed into tiny little seats. (bloody midgets over here..). We get into a half way town at 9, and are told to wait till 11.15. Why we had to leave at 7am is anybodies guess...

The "train" is a bit of a joke really. Its only one "carriage" with its own engine, and looks more like a truck, which just happens to run on tracks. Its crowded so the roof space fills quick.. I just get a spot.

So down we go. I had immagined a seriously bloody huge drop when it cam eto the famous vertical section, where roof riding would be perilious (ie fun) with the possibility of slipping off resulting in a major fall. As it turns out there are all of three switchbacsks.. the total vert would be 150m at the most.... and being in a dinky one carriage vehical the shunting at each switchback takes all of five seconds.

I am not amused.

Sara though is fuming. Unfortunately this was my idea... the guidebooks made it out to be about 1000 times cooler than this. Buggar.

Back at the top we jump on the first bus we see to Quito, the Capital city. Evidently you drive past around 11 volcanoes on the stretch of road, several of them active and smoking. Yet again Ecuador treats us to a fine display of low clouds... quite normal it would seem. We do see one of the volcanoes in a rapid break in the clouds, and it is indeed snowy white and semetrical, like a bigger version of Ngarahue. If we were more enthused, and still had any warm clothes with us we should probably climb one of them. But at this point it doesnt feel like an encouraging idea.

Into Quito just after dark, and its immediately obvious that its bloody HUGE! Given that we passed straight thru Lima, and La Paz not being overly big, we realise this is our first genuine big city experience since Santiago, some months ago now. There is traffic everywhere and the bus station is like a small city in itself.

We jump on the tram, which is actualy a bus with its own private roads. Quite a cool concept really, with stations more like a train.

We stay in a "Swiss" hostel which is quite expensive for what it is. It somehow reminds me of some of the early hostels in NZ ten years ago, which is quite a nice memory jog. A dilapidated mansion with loads of rooms, and not enough bathrooms. Admittedly it has a bit of character. (Unlike the modern hostels in NZ which i have been complaining about for a few years now...)

We crash out after a quick pizza

Banos..nice

29 dec 2006 - 2 jan 2007

Its only a couple of hours to get to Banos. The town certainly has a nice reputation, so we are a bit excited to get there. This is Ecuadors premierre tourist destination, mostly for Ecuadorians. And being the weekend of New Years eve it is seriously packed. Its nice to feel the town buzzing, though the famous hot pools are rediculously packed to capacity when we visit in the evening.

We hope to see the volcano looing over the town, but its generaly clouded over. A pretty regular occurance in Ecuador it would seem...

The downhill biking to Puyo some 60km east is not quite what we expected. Theres quite a bit of uphill too! But we cant complain about hiring mountain bikes at $5 for a whoñe day. And they are brand new! Somewhat fortunately neither of us goes arse over tit with the brakes being rigged back to front.

Along the way I do a bridge swing set up by some local entrepaneurs. At around 30m its pretty tame having done so many bungeys back home, but for $10US its a very cheap thrill. I actualy go for the lesser done higher option. THis costs $15 cos they have to re rig the gear. I am most amused that they throw one of their own guys over to check its all working fine! It does..

On new years eve itself we hire some dirt bikes and head into the hill for the afternoon. This starts badly. We hire a quad for 4 hours, only to have it cut out within 10 mins and need to be crash started. We return it and get into a blazing argument with the owneres whether we should pay for the time we used. Poor sara has to do most of the explaining and in turn cops most of their abuse. Not good.

So back to our friendly (super friendly) bike hirers from yesterday who get us some decnt bikes, albeit a bit more expensive. I get a 2 wheel 250cc, and Sara gets a quad. The ride is very cool. We get right up into the hills and around the back and beyond. A lot of it looks surprisingly like NZ. But there the bikes would have cost a fortune, and come with all sorts of legal disclaimers, rules etc..

Come night time its heaving in town. 99.8% are Ecuadorians. For days now we have seen effigies made by locals of themselves and their friends (or enemies?) to burn tonite. Its all a bit massochistic really. We spend from 9pm till 11pm up one of the hills again, this time going up in a truck. the view over town is great once again. We have a few songs sung around a bonfire, and some nice warm sugar can drink, made terrible ifthe local alcahol is added.

Back in town the fireworks go off a couple of mins early, and the effigies are set alite. The town feels like it is being looted with a bonfire every 10 m or so. The official fireworks are big and high, but only one at a time, a display of the finacial differences between home and here. The locals set more off in the street. A blonde family (who look scandanavian) are the biggest pyros, throwing bangers, settingoff roman candles, and generaly casuing mayhem..especialy the father. Its a miracle no one gets burned...

We meet some others from NZ who we bumped into back in Cusco. Lurking around till 2am yarnign away, then beddie boos. A pretty mellow night in terms of drinking, but a nice way to start 2007 I´m sure..

The next day we head for the local zoo. We dont expect much so are pretty stoked to find a very cool set up, and some trippy animals. My absolute favourite are the Cappiburros. They are the world largest rodent, but look more like a cute guinea pig than a rat. And they are Bloody HUGE!! Weighing up to 50kg, and standing up to my knees. Thats a damn big hampster. Photos dont really do them justice unfortunately...

High hills to shithole city

28 Dec 2006

We take off around 10am. We are taking the direct but much less used ¨direct¨route up into the mountains, and the Latacunga loop. Our highest point will be around 3,900m.. the highest we´ve been since La Paz.

While Bolivia was certainly high, it wasnt overly cold. Somehow......despite being loads closer to the equator, its damn cold up here!!

The drive up is nice. The clouds hide a lot of the views, but sure enough the fields are green and rolling. The campesita clothing is back in as well. Its only the women folk who are really dressed traditional, and indeed it reminds us of Bolivia a lot.

Once we get off the bus we negotiate hard with a passing camion to take us 18km to the famous lagoon, the highest in the world. Its seriously cold now. We hadnt really expected this, and having posted opur warm clothes away from Cusco are now regretting theat decision...

The lagoon looks prett impressive, but with gray clouds overhead, freezing high winds, and few clothes to wear in the on and off rain, we cant quite find the enthusisam. So we take a few photos, have a blazing row over whethere we should stay or not and hope tomorrow the weather is better... then leave. Awesome...

Another camion, another bus, and into Latacunga around 7.30pm.

We find the cheapest hostel in town (which later deprives us of any sleep with the worst bed ever) and eat some hot chicken hoping to warm up a bit.

Its an odd wee town ,and I think we dont see any of its good points. MOst bizarre is that all the businesses in town are closed by 9pm. Totaly deserted like theres a cerfew. Not cool. We cant wait to leave...

bus racing..scarey stuff

28 Dec 06

As a ¨bus man¨I cant help but watch other bus drivers perform. Over here (and indeed all of the developing world in my experience) its always terrible. But our ride today is so full on its right up there with the psycos in India.

We are the only passengers for most of the journey due east inland. There is not one but two conductos, and along with the driver they are in a serious RUSH.... They actualy lean into corners.. Im amazed the bus doesnt skid off the road. (see driver banking his body nicely in photo.)

We fly around blind corners just praying that no one is coming the other way. The two condutors scan the horrizon while constantly screaming GO.. GO!!!

We are too nervous to comment, concerned that they might get even worse out of spite..

The highlight I have on video, and its impressive. We have been following another bus for maybe 7 mins. Its also going damn quick but its full of passengers so our guys are determined to overtake. Several attempts are aborted at the last moment, then they go.... and go.. we are neck in neck for over 40 seconds... driving well over 100 kms, around three blind corners.

Finaly our guys give up when a huge truck is seen aproaching us, also rather quickly. No sooner are we behind them the other bus violently skids across the road blocking it. Their driver and conductor gets out and a screaming match ensues. Both party blames the other fully. It finaly fizzles out, then as we drive off one of our conductors calls the police and complains that there is a dangerous bus on the road!!

And, yes I have all of that on camera.... a nice punch up finish would have been a better climax though!

We spend the night in a pretty average place called Quevedo. Supposedly the Asian capital of this country. We see all of two Asians.. who run the chinese restaurant where we have dinner...

Puerto Lopez

26 Dec 06

Puerto Lopez is only 1.5 hours north of our last beach, but feels completely different. Its bigger to start with. From a distance the beach looks great, but turns out to be covered in rubbish.. sigh.

The real reason to be here is to see the islands nearby, known as the poor mans Galapagos. We spent several hours recently trying to decide if the real thing was worth it. We were both keen, but it would have worked out at $1800 US for 8 days or so. Evidently the prices have gone up 25% in the last 12 months. So we figure that will be a mission for when we are sailing around the world in our own boat in 10 years or so.

Anyway, the Isla de Plata we end up flaggin as well, as we are met by a very charasmatic local named Winston Churchill (??). He has a trip to a nearer island where he insists we will have more time to snorkel etc due to its closer proximity. The snorkelling is qiuit fun, as is the fishing. Its most successful when i combine the two, and direct other peoples lines towards the fish as i snorkel above them.

We "catch" a turtle, which is just floating on the water surface. Unfortunately thats cos its dead... But I do see one swimming below me while snorkelling.. alive this time.

Admittedly out exploration of the island itself is a write off, and the promised cerviche lunch is bloody tiny! But we have a good time out, and our hostel is damn nice too..

The other phenomenon we see for the first time is a New Years Eve tradition here where all the town folk make effigies and faces of friends and family. Evidently they torch them at midnight on the 31st. Just now they look more amusing lining the streets..