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.