HOME!!!!

Well, I've been home for about a week now, but the excitement has yet to wear off. Little things...getting text messages, jumping in my car to go where ever (and whenever) I please, running in shorts and a sports bra past three separate groups of construction workers and not getting a second glance (oh, it's so nice to be invisible again)...I just can't get enough of it. I've spent the last week at Laurel's house, trying to get my life back in order. I have spent a good amount of time on the phone with varying insurance companies and in my bank branch ironing a few things out. I'm enjoying hanging out with old friends and trying to get back in shape. Contrary to popular belief, climbing mountains doesn't do much for your aerobic fitness...

All said and done, I traveled for 180 days. Six months, exactly. I visited 8 countries (I'm not counting my 12 hours in Costa Rica) and 43 cities. Here are some end of trip stats:

Bus Rides: 45
Hours spent on Buses: 449.5 (18.72 days, 10.5% of my trip)
Flights: 8
Money Stolen (and returned): $2002.56
Passport Stamps: 32
Visitors: 6
Ounces Sunblock Used: 17.6
Ounces Shampoo Used: 5 (gross...that's only 3 mini travel bottles)

Some of you may remember my plan from my very first post. It was an efficient, complete circle of the continent. There is a a saying... If you want to make South America laugh, tell it your plans. I had the unique opportunity to practice boundless patience, for six straight months, dealing with the laid back manana, manana... culture Latin Americans so love. Despite my good intentions, here is what my itinerary actually looked like: a zig zagging, circle running, multi-leg mess.

Looking back on my trip, I had some of the toughest and most uncomfortable experiences of my life...but also some of the most exhilarating. New friends and and old (thank you to all my visitors, I'm not sure I could have done it without you) defined every city and country I visited. And as much as I enjoyed the wild-and-craziness of South America, I realized I really do love the good 'ol US of A.

It's good to go, and it sure is good to be home. :-D

A little R&R

With my final days ticking away, I have been taking a little time to relax before heading home. While in Granada, I went out on a day trip to what I think is the nicest lake in Central America (as opposed to the largest, Lago Nicaragua). The lake is a volcanic crater, called Laguna Apoyo. Clear waters, a super steep lead in, and no motorized boats make this a very relaxing place to hang out. The hostel I visited had tubes, kayaks, and a floating dock to enjoy the sun, and plenty of hammocks and deck chairs to enjoy the shade.

Back in Granada, I treated myself to a massage and a cursory exploration of the city before heading to Managua. All I have planned for tomorrow is a trip to the market. Since I´m leaving tomorrow, I figured it just about time for me to start buying souveniers. :-)

Isla de Ometepe

After leaving Angel in Panama, I got on the bus for San Jose, Costa Rica. I spent all of 12 hours in the capital, catching the 6am bus bound for Managua, Nicaragua. Thirty km past the frustratingly slow border crossing, I got off the bus in the teeny town of Rivas. From there, it was only a taxi ride and an hour or so on a boat until I was on Isla de Ometepe, a rather large volcanic island in the middle of Lago de Nicaragua, the biggest fresh water lake in Central America (while it is 1/7 the size of Lake Michigan, it´s still pretty big). Ometepe is formed by two volcanoes rising out of the water which are joined by an isthmus formed by lava flows.

My first full day on the island I spent climbing Volcan Conception, which is a nearly perfect conical volcano. I hired a guide and got a private tour up the mountain. After close to 2 hours of strenuous hiking, we reached the lookout point for a beautiful, sweeping view of...gray. Lots of gray. Turns out it´s just about always cloudy up there, especially in the rainy season (which is now). We were also treated to a good bit of gale force winds, which nearly blew me off the mountain a couple of times. Admitting defeat, we descended the mountain at a near run (it´s easier like that, I swear). We shaved a good 45 minutes off the usual hike time, since I was eager to get to the top as early as possible (hoping to miss the clouds), and just as eager to get back down. The wildlife on the trail was pretty cool, though. There were lots of howler monkeys (which sound like a mix between a T-Rex and a really big gorilla) and beautiful birds.

The second day I decided to tour the island by renting a dirt bike ($25 a day!). I had an awesome time with it, and ended up riding for about 10 hours. The roads on the island were abominable. There was one paved road, connecting the two major cities, but it only serviced one half of the island. The whole half of the island with the other volcano on it had terribly rutted, rock (and boulder) strewn dirt roads. It was slow and rough going, but a lot of fun. For about 5km I got to ride on a wind swept deserted beach. I then had the pleasure of getting stuck several times trying to get off the beach up the soft, sandy, hill (good thing dirt bikes are light!).

My first stop was to la Cascada de San Ramon, a waterfall that was a 3 km hike from an eco-reserve. Turns out there is a road that goes up the first two kilometers of the hike, and the owner invited me to take the bike up there. The "road" was some serious rough going. And I thought the island roads were bad. This thing had a super steep grade, loose rocks, and plants growing all over it. It was certainly a test of skill (and hey, I only laid the bike down once, that´s not too bad, eh?). As I was going up these hills I was thinking to myself (too late, of course), am I ever going to get back down this?? The 1km hike turned out to be a pretty tough one, and after losing my way a couple times I finally found the 35m waterfall. Taking stock of the situation, I was over an hour´s hike from any form of civilization, on an island, in the middle of Nicaragua, and was covered in sweat. So, I did the only reasonable thing: got naked and took a shower in the waterfall. Good thing those two large groups I passed on the way back down weren´t a little quicker...

The next stop was to see the Petroglyphs, 4000 year old remnants of the indiginous culture that once inhabited the island. When I finally found them, they were on a random farmer´s land, under his mango tree, and absolutely covered in mango splatters and bird poop. He was actually using one of the petroglyphs as a place to store his saddle, when not in use. Following the Petroglyphs was the Ojo de Agua (a volcano fed clear water spring), and the Punta de Jesus Maria (a narrow black sand peninsula that juts out into the lake), before returning to town. A full day of sight seeing, and I think I hit all the tourist points on the island.

Now I´m in Granada, realizing for the first time that only having 4 days of my trip left leaves some logistical challenges for fitting in about 6 days worth of sights before heading out.

Panamanian Highlands

After some hang out and do nothing time on the San Blas islands, we set off for the Panamanian "mountains". Okay, Panamanian Mountain. The highest point is a lone volcano, a respectable 3,474 meters to the summit. From the top, you can see both the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans. But, we did not and will not climb Volcan Barú. We did, however, ride horses. In the rain. A lot of rain, with some lightning and thunder and a little bit of galloping through the mud. The weather here is really predictable. It rains every afternoon from 1pm to 6pm. However, we didn´t understand that fully until we had planned our little outing for the hours of 1pm to 6pm. Oh well, lessons learned. We rode our horses, got real wet, but had a good time. Even the bone chilling damp was forgotten when we took a dip in the hot springs. Hot springs, as usual, were down a 5 mile road, across a raging river (twice), through two construction sites, and on some guy´s property (who showed up carrying a machete and a pink umbrella). All in all, it was an enjoyable experience (where is the fun if you have no obstacles to overcome?).

A bit more hiking this morning (careful to avoid that rain, now, every day, 1pm...) and a lazy afternoon later, we are gearing up for our last day together tomorrow. (See picture to see Angel´s feelings on that subject.) Maybe she will perk up a bit drinking some of the world´s best coffee (Panamanian coffee from this region has been voted the best in the world, or so they say).

Panamanian Paradise

Desitination one in Panama: San Blas Islands. Shortly after arriving in Panama City, Angel and I left on the early morning (5am) jeep to the other side of Panama, where we crossed the jungle on a bumpy single lane road, forded a 3 foot river (it reached the hood of the 4x4 truck, it was pretty high), and arrived at a insect infested little boat landing at a river. Onto the boat, up the river, which dumped out into the Caribbean ocean. After some faltering from the engine (uh oh!) we eventually picked up speed and headed out through the sprinkling of islands that were visible in the near and distant horizon. We pulled up to the dirtiest, most crowded island I could imagine, no beach in sight. Trying desperately to hold on to my determination to enter the islands with no expectations, I tried to look for a silver lining. Failing to find one at arriving at this floating dump, I was immensely relieved to learn we were just picking up some gas (hence the faltering engine). Whew! We cruised past beautiful, teeny little caribbean gems, white sand beaches ringing small stands of palm trees. As we came up to a particularly pretty little island with a few cabañas on it, I hoped we would stop. Sure enough, we soon beached on a stunning white sand beach.

Three days of lounging ensued. I read 500 pages, got a little tanner, did a fair bit of sleeping. Pretty relaxing, at least for me. I don´t think that the 4 out of 6 people in our group (Angel included) who got sick (food poisoning? Who knows..) thought it was exactly paradise. However, I think I might have gotten sea-fooded out a bit (one meal was literally buckets of lobster, king prawns, and giant crab). Back on main land now after 3 days on the islands. Today we are celebrating Angel´s birthday (July 8th) since she will be leaving before it, and I won´t be back in the states yet. Pedicures, baked goods, a nice dinner, and some Media y Media (a trick I learned in Argentina, half white wine and half champagne) should round out a nice last day in Panama City. Off to northern Panama to climb some mountains (hey, I didn´t get that pedicure for nothing), and then Angel and I will part ways...at least for a week or so. :-)

So here is the Island story, part II. Mariel has got part I down for you. :-)

San Blas: 378 islands strewn about the Caribbean side of Panama, near Colombia. At least 370 of them are covered in palm trees hanging lazily over the calm ocean. They are, as they sound, a backpackers dream. For $30/night one can have a private cabaña, eat lobster and huge crabs at prepared meals, and lay out on the beach all day long. Paradise. The Islands are owned by the Indigenous tribe Kuna Yala, which are dark brown people who average 5 feet tall, with great white straight teeth (at least most of them...) They sure do pretty well of their tourist visitors! The islands don´t have fresh water on them, so that gets boated in every day from the river on the mainland.

Mariel and I went to the Island that is meant for couples. It is quiet, good food, private cabanas. Pretty awesome. I guess we are pretty antisocial. However, we were antisocial with two other antisocial couples so I guess that makes us a big social group of antisocialites. I think we all slept about 14 hours a day, waking at 5:45 and napping most of the day which of course tired us out for the 8:30pm bedtime. Very relaxing.

And then here is why Mariel wanted me to write my own blog about this...I got pretty ill on the first night, then it kept going from there. Of the 6 of us, Mariel and another girl Jen were the only ones not to get sick. Nothing that can´t be cured by some good water and clean food, can´t heal. Good thing I´ve brought my cipro! I´m on the mend now and my birthday pedicure present from mariel is just the start to a wonderful day in Panama before we head off to Boquete to see some volcanos. Then its home for me in just a few days!

Cartagena...and More Mud

Didn´t think this would happen, but even after 5 days of trekking (slipping, sliding, eating, climbing, and being absolutely positively covered) in it, we voluntarily (even paid money) wanted to get in a little more mud. Although the presentation was way cooler (a 26m tall, over 2000m deep vat of silky gray mud), the end effect was the same: I had mud in places I don´t want to think about, let alone mention.

Floating, sort of, since it´s not like you can swim in the stuff, was an eerie sensation. You could stand upright, suspended 2000m over who knows what below you, and still only be submerged to your chest. Moving was a communal effort, with one person grabbing a nearby structural pole and helping along the poor soul who got stuck in the middle. A nice dunk in a fluorescent green lagoon afterwards to get "clean" (until the thorough scrubbing in the real shower back at the hotel), and we were on our way, one mud volcano experience richer.

Shocked to realize I only have 2.5 weeks left of my trip... Tomorrow we fly to Panama. On to new and exciting things!

Into the Heart of the Jungle (Sort of....)

Not traveling alone: not only do I not get bored, I don´t even have to update my own blog! Woohoo! Here is the rundown of the 5 day jungle trek we just got back from, from Angel´s perspective.

The Lost City trek: 5 days of slipping and sliding through mud, wading through rivers, and just generally tromping through the jungle. This seemed like a really good way to spend a good chunk of my vacation. We quickly figured out the routine: The mornings are an early riser at around 5:45 (at least for Mariel and I) and included a gigantic breakfast of either 3-5 cups of fruit or a 4 egg omlett with 1/2 cup of cheese (which I found out after a day of bumbly stomach) and 3 pieces of white toast (smothered in butter). This, of course, we were all ravenous for and ate up and asked for seconds. There was so much food the whole trek and wow did we eat a lot! Mornings were sunny and pleasant and it is when we did the most hiking. Every afternoon, however, at 3:30pm like clockwork the storms rolled in. Sometimes they lasted for two hours, sometimes for 10 hours. Pretty awesome feeling to sit in a hammock and watch the rain pelt the already soaked jungle floor knowing nothing is expected of you but to stumble over to the table when dinner is ready. One night I had to share that rain soaked experience with a mouse that decided to crawl over my head. It's not the best thing to wake up to a mouse in your hair at 1am....trust me.

Of course it was beautiful too! But like most beautiful things, very difficult to photograph. Being in the Jungle is like being in a busy subway but the people are trees and the trash on the ground are countless worker ants. The sound on the speaker announcing the next train is the buzz of mosquitos awaiting to attack if you weren´t lucky enough to remember repellent. I got a few good photos of the scenery, and even better photos of the military. Up until we reached the lost city, three days hike in, I had been slightly worried about all the military walking around Santa Marta and the rest of Columbia. They are slightly intimidating, and since I´m in columbia, very freaky when they are carrying a gun. Then we met the poor kids who are forced to join the military at 18 and were then put on a mountain in the jungle with no one to talk to. They looooved the gringos.

The lost city: Apparently this city was used by the Tairona people from 700AD-1400AD, when the Spanish came and wiped them all out with disease. The Spanish never made it up to the mountain (they were probably disuaded by the 2000 moss covered slippery oddly shaped steps that lead to the city) but the disease was spread through trade with other non-lost city dwelling Taironians. The place was gorgeous and apparently very rich. When someone discovered it in the late 20´s, the archeologists found a crap load of gold. Taironians didn´t believe gold to be a precious stone, so they just had it in their houses ready to be robbed 600 years down the road.

We were promised an english speaking guide, but in true south american fashion, the dude spoke really fast spanish and not a lick of english. His favorite things to say were "this is very complicated", "This is very important", "No problem! relax!" (that last one would be when Mariel and I were complaining about his lack of plan). It was an interesting group. One dude even walked the whole thing barefoot. I´m curious to see what types of infections he gets in the next weeks...gross!

Its been 10 days now in Columbia. Its a great country! I haven´t felt scared yet and the weather is awesome. Do I actually have to go back to work at the end of this?