Summary of Travels

I not really sure where to begin since I haven´t written in so long. I had the intention to write every few days, but traveling got the best of me. It was a similar case with my journal. Every major trip I take starts well, writing daily, taking down the details, and then something happens… anything. I lose a pen, or can´t find a computer, or more commonly I get lazy. Once I miss a few entries I internally think F@#K it. So I´m not going to retell every adventure and every person I met…cause that would be impossible. So much has happened since the last entry, not to mention 3 countries. I´m now in Guatemala and have been here for about 3 weeks. After Volcano boarding I worked on a coffee farm in the mountains of Nicaragua for a couple days and then headed towards Honduras.

In Honduras the highlight was scuba diving in Utilia Island. Utilia hosts some of the best and cheapest diving in the world. It is also famous for whale shark, although I was not lucky enough to witness one. I did my advanced course and took part in several extra fun dives. The dive center I stayed at was crazy to say the least. The dive shop, Priadise Divers, had awesome staff from around the world and the other travels were great. The vibe in Utilia is definitely a backpacker vibe. The nightlife is kickin , tons of cheap eats, and everyone loves diving. A typical day would be to wake up with a slight hangover around 7 am go for a morning and afternoon dive, come back for lunch, grab a beer, go out for dinner and drinks and stubble back to bed around 3 am and get ready to dive in the mourning. The reef system is fantastic, tons of coral and large fish. I saw the largest spotted eagle ray EVER. There are also ship wrecks and cool dives such a night dives available at your request.

After Honduras I went to El Salvador. At this point I have been traveling with a buddy from Atlanta. Mike and I connected right away and had similar interested and more importantly heading in the same direction. Most people we talked to were scared of El Salvador and choose not to go there. El Salvador has a reputation of being a dangerous and violent. Most of this comes from the not so long ago civil war, the political situation with the FLMN and people who have never been there. My friends and I spent almost 2 weeks there, including ample time in San Salvador. I feel comfortable saying I never felt more comfortable in any other country. Although the country does indeed have very serious political issues, especially with an important election coming up the people are extremely friendly and helpful. I spent a few days on the southern coast at Playa Zonte surfing in the very large surf…too big for me, but it was still fun. We also went to San Salvador for a few days. I met up with a good friend, Lily, who I met in Korea while teaching. She is now in the peace corps in El Salvador. The highlight of El Salvador and maybe the whole trip was the crazy heavy metal festival that I went to. My friend Steven from Montreal, told us about this poster he saw on the street and since I can never turn down a festival I said I was happy to join some friends and venture to this unknown place. It is extremely difficult to explain the intensity of the concert without being there or seeing my footage, but man oh man it was great. About 1000 misfit kids and adults from the city all gather for this annual metal fest. This concert had no rules and the 11 or so bands were pumping out bone crushing sounds for 9 straight hours. Look for the video later. Other cool things in El Salvador was Suhitoto with was the stronghold of the FLMN and is still a very politally active place. The conversations with the local were amazing. Anyone above the age of 20 saw the war or very active in the fighting or the political aspect of the war. One man in particular taught us a lot about the history. This man had bullet wounds all over his body and was very much part of the cause. Also the food in El Salvador is good…papusas anyone.

After El Salvador Mike and I made our way up to Guatemala. We stopped in Monterico with is the only good beach on the pacific side. After we headed to Antigua and chilled out there for a few days. While in Antigua we went to Pacaya Volcano. This Volcano is active…very active and it has streaming lava. Literally streaming lava. Regardless on how safe it is the guides let you get as close as you want to the lava. As you walk on the volcano the soft stone is breaking and through the cracks you can see rivers of steaming lava. People roasted marshmallows, lit cigarettes, cooked food among other things on the lava. I would have to say it was one of the most amazing natural things I have seen. Just to give you an idea of how hot is was, several people just in my group had the bottom of there shoes melted.

After Antigua, I went to Lake Atilan. If you ever go to Guatemala and only have a week this is where you spend it. This Lake is rich wih Mayan cultural and is surrounded by small towns. The two major towns are called San Pedro and San Marcos. San Pedro has a very hippie and bohemian vibe while San Marcos is very chilled out and people flock to this town that enjoy yoga and spiritual things. San Pedro is a party town with very little police presence and a lot of foreigners, so you can use you imagination in the activities that take place. I ran into a lot of people I met from pervious cities and countries. San Pedro is the type of city where you find many travelers calling their new found town home.

After the Lake I went to a huge market called Chi Chi with my new friend Djina, pronounced Gina from Holland. Djina is my new travel partner since Mike and I went separate ways. After the market we continued to Lanquin and the Semuc Champey. If it is not should be considered one of the wonders of the world. Semuc boosts turquoise colored pools and waterfalls intermixed with massive cave systems surrounded by lush jungle. It was truly a magical place.

Well that quick and brief summary of my past 6 weeks or so leads me to my current location which is Rio Dulce. Djina and I are going to travel to Livingston and then to Belize and Tikal and eventually head to Mexico and stay at my Aunt timeshare in Cancun for a week. I will try to be better at writing more regularly, but I make no promises.

Volcano Boarding

Ever heard of volcano boarding? Well it is a new activity developed by this Aussie guy who owes the hostel Big Foot in Leon, Nicaragua. About three years ago he opened a popular hostel in the center of the colonial city of Leon, Nicaragua. He and his girlfriend take tourists on daily trips to the local Cerro Negro volcano. Cerro Negro is a unique and young volcano. It is about 23 km away from Leon and erupts every few years. As you could guess from the name is a black and full of rocks ranging in size. There is no vegetation which provides great views of the surrounding countryside and other volcanoes. The hike is not too difficult, with the exception of some steep areas and the fact that there is no real path leading to the summit. The biggest challenge is the heat. During the short hour hike there is not escape from the beaming sun. Once on the top you can tour the surrounding around which includes two craters and sulfur raising from the rocks.

The volcano is only about 150 years old, making it the youngest in Nicaragua. Before the arrival of the volcano it was used as farmland and still to this day is private land. However, tourists are able to hike and use the volcano for a small entrance fee. But strangely enough the entrance fee doesn’t go to the family, rather half goes to this organization I still not understand, and the other half goes into fund to help the surrounding communities rebuild after the eruptions. Last time Cerro Nergo blew (1999) it covered houses as far as Leon. Keep in mind there are houses within a half mile of the active beast. So you can image that fund goes to good use.

Now to the fun part…volcano boarding. This is straight out of the Jackass TV series. After years of trail and error, mostly error the creator of volcano boarding finally developed a functional board that goes fairly straight and fast as hell down the slope of the volcano. Aiding in the speed is a plastic strip on the bottom of the board. This plastic strip must be replaced after each use. After a brief lesson its go time. My group was 9 people, all nervous as hell staring down a 450 meter slope full of rocks that got to the size of apples. Most of the instruction was highlighting how fast you could go and how the slightest movement of your hands or body would throw you off your board crashing on the black rocks. All of this was very comforting knowing that it is possible to go over 70 kmp. You can control you speed through a number of technical movements. But the most basic form of speed control is to lightly place your heals in the ground to create friction. The girls were forced to go first. Apparently previously guys would go first and they would have crazy crashes and the girls would be too scared to go. With that said all the girls went down slowly but successfully without too many crashes.

I was next and decided to go for it. As I sat on my board I look down and saw the others on the bottom of the volcano. Although they were tiny dots I could easily make they out due to the bright orange colored jumpsuits we used as minimum protection. I was ready to go; I closed my eyes, took a deep breath and said… READY. The guide then counted 3…2…1 GO!!! And gave me a huge push and I was off. I was cruising for about 10 seconds going fast as hell, doing great. I was going straight and in my head I though I had it is the bag. Then out of nowhere. I started curving to the right and within a split second I was flying in the air, off my board and my body crashed to the mass of the volcano. I shook the dust and small black pebbles out of my hair stood up in the middle of the slope grabbed my board and continued on. I never quite got my rhythm back but I had a good finish. Amazingly I only ended up only with cuts on my legs and hands. If anyone is coming to Leon, Nicaragua make sure you check out volcano boarding.

The rules of dancing

Salsa. Latinos eat, breathe and live it. Before my arrival I thought this was an exaggeration portrayed by countless movies and stereotypes. I was sure not everyone fueled themselves on the rhythms of Salsa in the vogue discos. Well, I was wrong. Everyone DOES dance salsa and they’re damn good at it too. Actually, they’re quite intimating if you aren’t the natural dancer as many here are. Most locals grow up listening to the music as a baby. During my homestay, and various parties at Ana´s house, I would see babies who would barely stand moving to the music with much more success then me.

Slasa to a foreigner can be quite a confusion form of communication and entertainment. Although it is all in the spirit of good fun, the very essence of the dance art is sensual and at times very intimate. It is common to see a couple dancing in what appears to be a very provocative and suggestive matter, only later to find out they are siblings or cousins. When it comes to dancing with girls you’re interested in, the confusion continues. The following is my first experience. It was around 11pm on Saturday night in Granada. Some buddies and I from the hostel headed to the disco. After a few Fora de cana (local rum) I got the courage to ask this cute girl to dance. The girl accepts and we head to the dance floor. Things are going good. The disco is pumping, the floor is full enough for me to subtlety filter in and utilized the few hours of dance classes I took. The girl is feeling the music, lots of body contact…things are good. The song finishes, the DJ spins another and this progression continues. After a few songs the DJ takes a break and everyone leaves the dance floor headed for a rest, or the bar. In my head although little words, English or Spanish were spoken I felt I could at least buy her a drink get her name, blah blah. As soon as the song finished she sat down at her original table with no vacant seats and that was it. All is good when it comes to dances, but man I was confused. But it was a good lesson, people down here just love to dance.