Galapacos: Seals, Sharks and Boobies.

Apologies to all avid blog readers, I`m sorry for the delay in telling you all about adventures south of the Equator.

So, the question for today is, can you go to the Galapacos without having to thieve from the very strigent budget? Is the ROI positive?

Lets get this straight, the Galapacos is expensive, but its brilliant! We made a few adjustments to the budget to funnel a little extra to Decembers budget and it was well worth it! We went, we swam with seals, hammerhead sharks and penguins and were still able to afford to go on holding hands throughout South America.

So for starters when going to the Galapacos you have to get a three hour flight from the mainland to get out to these tiny volcanic islands in the middle of nowhere. A plane and not a 36 hour rickety bus? Yes please!

Despite all the cost fearmongering, this dynamic duo did everything we wanted to without having to call the IMF (International Mammy Fund) for a bailout. For starters, we met a nice man who had been on the flight and who offered us our own apartment complete with wifi (weak as it was), television, dvd player and kitchen all for the low low price of only 15$ per person. Considering all research points to accommodation at least 20-25$ per night for dorms, we were pretty chuffed. In general, all the accommodation is of a pretty high standard because land based tours have to compete with boat cruises, so you can do very well in terms of finding somewhere to stay even in the supposed high season.

There are heaps of fun things to do on your own in the Galapacos, like a trip to the Charles Darwin Centre where you can meet the saddest Turtle in the whole world. His name is Lonely George and he is the last of the turtles from Isla Pina in the galapacos. He is litterally the only one of his kind. Thanks to those loveable rogue pirates who used to eat turtles and all the introduced species destroying turtle nests and habitats, 70 year old George is the last of his kind. George isn`t the oldest turtle in the research centre, and he isn`t the biggest either, he`s just the only one left.

After visiting George, you can wander off down to Tortuga Bay which is the softest whitest most beautiful beach in the world. Its also home to a load of marine Iguana`s and blue footed boobies. You walk about 2.5km down a path lined wth cactus and finches and you arrive and a surfers heaven and a paradise beach. No wonder turtles like to lay their eggs in the sand dunes at the back of the beach.

When we were in the Galapacos, we made a decision not to go on a cruise and to visit what islands we could by ourselves. Instead of an 8 day cruise, we did 8 dives from two different islands. The water is cold, and the diving is unbelievable. You hear the guide`s rattle and look up, there`s a seal swimming by. Look back again, there`s a hammerhead shark. If you see one of those, look up, look around, do a full 360, because when you do you`ll realise that there`s probably about 20 or 30 swimming around you. If it were possible for your jaw to drop to the ground in sheer awe as Manta Ray`s the length of a table glide by, it would!

Some of the diving isn`t easy, you can spend most of your time stuck holding a rock trying not to get pulled into the school of sharks by the current. Also, the diving isn`t cheap, but if you shop around the dive shops you can get better deals, they don`t all charge the same price. I was definately wishing I had my drysuit, all this warm water diving has me spoilt, I can`t handle the 18 degree water anymore.

Once we had spent a few days exploring Isla Santa Cruz, we got on the fast boat to Isabela and booked straight into a hostel under contsruction. The owner was slowly building his hostel and most of it is still a small building site at the moment.

Our first stop on Isalbela, Volcano Sierra Negro. A recently active volcano who`s lava flow cooled only 3 years ago. Its not a particularly high volcano, and its not a difficult walk to the top, but the crater is just over 10km wide, and as you go up and around it, the scenery changes dramatically. On the walk up the volcano, the guide points out plants endemic to the Galapacos and the introduced fruit bushes that are taking over and strangling them. The green is vivid. After we stop for lunch, we move on to Volcan Chico which is a series of volcanoes that go right down to the coast of the island. You feel like you`ve stepped into the Land Before Time and any minute a T-Rex is going to come charging after a herd of Stegasoraus. The quiet around the innermost part of Volcan Chico is deafening. There`s no life in the rocks yet. It was only about 5 years ago that it errupted and lava seeped down to the bay below. There are no plants, no insects, no birds, nothing. Since the island is by law mostly uninhabited, there is no sign of any kind of civilisation anywhere. Not only that, but you can actually see down to the point where the Equator passes through the top of the island. You`re litterally standing in the Southern hemisphere on a volcano, looking at volcanoes on the northern hemisphere. I`m not sure how many places in the world you can do that.

One of the cooler things to do while in Isabela, is to go on a tour of the bay. The bay is literally the harbour where the boats come in. Its so protected and shallow though that it takes any captain a lot of patience and great skill to get in and out. Not only that, but seals think its a great place to hang out since its so shallow, not many sharks. You can snorkel with baby seals while they try to impress you with their spins and then snort bubbles at you when you`re simply not as fast as they are. You drive by blue footed boobies and penguins hanging out on the lava rocks. You walk around to pools where sharks like to hang out for a few zzz`z and get trapped when the tide goes out. You might be lucky enough to catch 10 or 15 sharks taking a cat nap there. One of the best parts though, is snorkelling over to the car wash. There`s a particular lagoon formed when the tide goes out, and that`s where the cleaner fish like to hang out. Coming up to mating season, in preparation for their big night out, you can find 15 or 20 turtles hanging out about 4 meters down, sitting on the sand waiting their turn to get cleaned up and dolled up for their upcoming big night out.

When we`d explored Isabela including checking out Flamingo hot spots, (the birds rather than the nightclubs) we made our way over to Isla San Cristobal. Chilled out, popular with surfers and sea lions, its actually the capital of the Galapacos, even though its a smaller town. We went all around Cristobal, everywhere we were allowed. There were sealions everywhere from park benches to the locals boats. The locals got so desperate in their attempt to keep the sealions out, that they started putting barbed wire around their boats.

The sealions as a rule are very cool They`re not terribly aggressive, but you would definately know when you`ve gotten to close. Generally, the biggest, grumpiest bull seal on the beach will waddle up to you and shout furiously. I`ve seen people not being able to get into the water because a bull seal was blocking their path. We also watched as one poor man who was trying to get an artistic shot of a baby seal was chased down the beach by a bull seal. The man was trying to keep his camera from falling into the water while holding onto his shorts which were now somewhere around his knees and all the time the bull seal shouted and chased him down the beach. Kodak moment if ever I saw one.

So, the Galapacos has penguins, famingoes, boobies, turtles, more turtles, sharks and some of the most beautiful beaches in the world. You can surf, dive, snorkell and hike. Its a place like nowhere else in the world and it is spectacular. If ever you get the chance to go, do it! You won't be disappointed.

La Ciudad Perdida, Alterna-trekking.

Let me ask you a few questions: Do you like hiking? Do you like jungles? Tired of the `regular` Machu Pichu with its 3,000 visitors a day? Well, I have the answer for you, and it is The Lost City.

So we´re in Colombia, its fabulous, Shakira Shakira all around. Colombia is home to pretty much every kind of adventure sport you can  possibly imagine. Paragliding, horseback riding, diving, white water rafting, the list goes on. Its also where the Tayrona indians, who were erradicated by the conquistadors in the 1500´s/1600´s built their spectacular city. The city which is perched on top of breath taking mountains and surrounded by jungle from all sides, has become known as La Ciudad Perdida or The Lost City.

Why the ominous name? Well, the only way to reach the Lost City, is mans oldest form of transport. There is no short way around, no back door entrance, the only way up is using the old fashioned way, your two feet. Potentially you could do what we did which was get a donkey to carry the heavy stuff, while we carried ourselves, but I´ll tell you more about that later.

So we were settled into the sea side fishing village of Taganga met up when we met up with our travel buddies, the wonderful Nath and Mel. Reunions over, we decided the time had come to wander off into the Jungle to see where the Tayrona indians built their fortress!

Day One:
Our first day was pretty relaxed. Archie, our guide to the Lost City picked us up in an aging 4X4 and we started out. 2 hours by regular road, and then another hour and a half on a dirt track that was more river than road in most places.

Where is the road I hear you ask? Well, I asked myself the same thing once or twice also.

We reached the end of the line for the 4X4, which is a tiny town in the middle of nowhere. Everyone knows each other and driving through the town took nearly as long as the drive there as we had to stop and say hi to everyone as we passed through!

After a dignified lunch of sandwiches and the sun high in the sky overhead, we were on our way. We had been told that we would have to walk through rivers and mud and that we were going to get wet. But I honestly didn´t expect to get so wet so soon. Within the first half an hour we were at our first river, wading through it, the water well past our knees in places. I, being the princess that I am, refused to get my good hiking boots wet as I wanted to wear them in the evenings. So I held everyone up at every river to change into my sandals for the river crossing. I didn´t feel bad about it in the evenings when everyone else´s shoes were wet and mine were lovely and dry.

After about an hour of walking through jungle and fording rivers, we came to our first stop. A watering hole where we were able to jump into the river to cool off. Which we were all happy to do as the heat was definately on. When we continued our walk, we were signifcantly slower than when we had started. We were climbing up up up a hairpin trail where the mud was the colour of rusted iron. We had to weave our way up the trail letting the occasional donkey pass us by as we trugded along, pretty much in silence. (The donkeys had the thankless task of carrying the food.)

Now, Archie our fearless leader, was there when they first started excavating the site in the 1980`s, and he`s been a guide up to the Lost City for a long time now. Which means, not only does he know his stuff and every indigenous person along the way, he´s also not as fit as he once was. Archie, is slowing down a little. We were pretty happy about that though, because the trail was tough.

When Archie sat down outside a house with a beautiful garden, we all greatefully followed his lead. The owner of the house was a little old lady who couldn´t have left her garden in at least 15 years, there´s no way she would have make it back up the hill without bringing on some kind of heart attack. The lovely lady gave us a big smile and a bag full of oranges from her trees, personally, I´ve never been as happy to see an orange before. The wonderful thing about having a guide who´s soft around the middle, is that you can be pretty sure you´re going to be well fed.

We continued up the winding trail that was growing redder and redder. Every so often I´d look behind and wonder how we´d made it up this far. I could never bring myself to look ahead in case I got disheartened by the sight of the mountain above us that we had to climb. After three hours of up and down (with mostly up) we arrived at our first camp sight, sweaty, disgusting and happy! Our bed for the night, was a hammock. Our entertainment, was cards by candlelight. Our spirits, were high. We had made it through the first day and we were still alive!

Just before dinner, a conspiratorial Archie came and asked us if we wanted to learn about cocaine production. He said that there was a chico who would show us for the low price of 30,000 pesos (11 euros).  Myself, Ian, Nath and two dutch guys decided that when in Rome, learn about cocaine. Which meant getting up at 5.30am the next morning to see what all this cocaine jazz is all about anyway.

Day Two:
Up we get with first light and follow a friendly looking Colombian guy further down into the jungle. He takes us to a little tent by a river that would be absolutely impossible to find if you didn´t already know where it was. Now, he wouldn´t tell us his name, and he wouldnt let us take pictures of his face, but he did show us all about the first stage of production of cocaine. We sat and watched as he added chemical after chemical to a pile of leaves that was smouldering. Everything from water and petrol to caustic soda and sulfuric acid went into this concoction.

It reminded me a little of a cookery show, after showing us how they mash up the leaves, he produced a bottle with some already made up saying `here´s one I made earlier´. 20 minutes later the paste is ready to go. The smell from the whole production would burn you nose, the leaves that were still smoking ten minutes later leave you questioning some people´s sanity for actually putting that up their nose!

Not only did we talk about how its made, but our friend also told us about the effect its had on the local people. About how they had nothing else and so had to grow coco leaves, make paste and sell it to paramilitaries. He told us how the government has basically bought out the local growers and paid them to grow anything else, banana´s and coffee being the most usual replacement crops. But our cocaine guide here wasn´t the only one to tell us about the effect that drugs have had on Colombia. A Colombian friend told us that only in the last six years is it possible to travel overland to the capital from the coast. Any buses making the trip were likely to be shot to shreds either by paramilitaries or terrorist organisations. Can you imagine not being able to drive from Cork to Dublin? Colombia is a much safer place, and probably the friendliest country we´ve been in, but the drug trade has a lot to answer for here.

Enough about the evil of drugs in Colombia, so after our mornings lesson in chemistry, we headed off for camp two. This was a two and a half hour hike, more ups and downs, and not terribly horrific. When we got to camp two, we couldn´t believe it had only taken so little time. I myself was just delighted that I wasn´t stiff and sore from the previous day.

Camp two was pretty much the same as camp one, hammocks and candles all around with a few small differences. Camp two is actually run by an indigenous family, so there were kids walking around in potato sacks and everyone has a handbag with them at all times (they don´t have any pockets). Their clothes are cream cloth that are either worn in a giant t-shirt fashion, ala sack of potatoes or the men have pants under the potato sack. The indigenous people are paid for each person that passes through on the lost city trek, so they actually do quite well out of it. The people themselves also don´t normally live in the type of camp that they run in camp two. Normally they are nomads, but they have 250 bronze age style huts scattered around the jungle for religious ceremonies and business purposes. There were a few times that they would power on past us as they were on they way to one place or another. There is no keeping up with an indigenous person in the jungle, its just not possible.

The other thing that camp two had that camp one didn´t, was a big river where you could go swimming and jumping off rocks. Well, we swam in the cold water and jumped off rocks to cool down from the hike. The only thing about it, is that you can´t really go after half two in the afternoon because once the rain comes in, the river becomes dangerous and you can´t swim. As it was, I walked to far into the middle of the river and found it very difficult to get back out to the edge!

After our refreshing dip in the icey cold river, we headed back to camp, for tea, hot chocolate and dinner. By the time 7pm came, everyone was ready to crash. It was pitch black outside and your body was telling you it was past midnight, even though your watch was telling you its only tea time. Everyone went to bed early, becuase everyone had to be up early!

Day Three:
On day three, we had our first really big hike. We walked for 5 and a half hours up and down hill, across rivers, through the jungle (again, it was mostly up!). In total we had to cross 5 rivers to get to the base camp. In some places there was a rope tied across the river that you could hold on to to get you across. In other places, there was a cage that could be pulled across using a complicated system of levers and pulleys. Archie said it was only used when the river was so high that it was too dangerous to cross on foot. Personally, I think he didn´t want to have to pull us across. And still, I refused to get my good hiking boots wet, and I took them off at every river.

On the way we passed through the villages of the indigenous people. When we finally got to the base camp and saw the sign that said ´Ciudad Perdida 1km´ we were pretty excited. The next day would see us at the top of the mountain actually in the Lost City.

Day Four:
This was a tough day actually. We got up at 5ish, standard for the lost city trek really. Crossed the river at least 6 times, again, standard lost city trek. (Mel actually hitched a ride across the river on the shoulders of one of the guides.) After walking up the river for little over a half hour, Archie pointed out where the stairs to the Lost City began. It took me a while to be able to see where he was pointing though, because the stairs are a little overgrown.

We bravely began the final part of the trek up to the Lost City, climbing a total of 1,200 steps to reach the top. It takes a good 45mins, and I think the term ´steps´ is a bit loose really considering some of what they call steps are more boulder than step. Once I saw that first section of wall and I knew I was there, I ran the rest of the way up. Getting to the top, I was pretty happy with myself. I was there, I had made it and it was worth it. As we walked through the parts of the city that are open to the public, Archie would explain a little bit about the history of the city, about the culture of the Tayrona Indians who lived there, and about the excavation process.

As you walk from one part of the city to the next, the sense of awe grows. You start off climbing the stairs that are closed in with jungle all around. When you get to the first section and the jungle opens up a little, you see the first of the circular structures that are sprinkled all around the city. As you press further into the city, the areas open up even further and you can see jungle covered mountains and valleys on all sides. The sight of the waterfall on the mountain behind the highest of the circular platforms with the High Shamans chair at the base is breathtaking.

When you look up to the highest platforms, you can see something moving. Its only when you stare for long enough that you can make out the camoflagoued figures of the Colombian army staring right back at you. They have big guns, I wouldn´t risk looking at them the wrong way. Ian tactfully stole one of their guns... well actually, the guy lent Ian his gun for a photo op. At this point I´d just like to mention that aside from our military entourage, there were 8 of us at the ruins and that´s including the 2 guides.

After thoroughly exploring the ruins, we headed back to camp for lunch before making the 5 hour hike back to camp 2. The next day was equally long with another 5 hour hike all the way back to the starting point.

All in all, the Lost City is specatular. Never will you have an entire City to yourself and never will the journey there be as rewarding. It was without a doubt one of the best things we´ve done while we`ve been away.

Sail Away, Sail Away, Sail Away!

When faced with the dilemma of how to get to Colombia from Panama, we looked at a few options. Overland is out because of terrorist activities and the sheer physical impossibility of crossing the Darien Gap. Flying is out because, well its expensive and we´re trying to do the whole year with no flights. This left us with the option of sailing.

To our minds it made perfect sense to sail, particularly since we wanted to visit the San Blas islands. The San Blas, while technically a part of Panama, are administered by the local indiginous people, the Kuna. The Kuna don´t like outside influences, so they make it somewhat difficult for people to visit. They charge an additional tourist tax and they also restrict where tourists can travel within the San Blas. Its not possible to live in the San Blas or to operate a business in the there unless you are Kuna. With the sailing trip, we would spend three days on different islands in the San Blas and cut out a lot of the difficulty associated with travelling there. Also, we would get the chance to sail the seven seas and pretend we were pirates.

On the recommendation of several travellers we met along the way, we booked in with the Austrian catamaran ´Fritz the Cat´. We made the right decision. Fritz is an ex-restaurant owner and definately knows how to cook a crab. He´s been sailing back and forth between Panama and Colombia for two and a half years, and he´s a most sea worthy captain. He also plays the trumpet and will go spearfishing for your dinner whenever possible. His catamaran was also used in the background of the filming of ´James Bond, Quantom of Solice´. As you can imagine, its a very nice boat.

So we got up on our day of departure at 5am and got into a 4x4 which took us up and down windy roads. It took us across some pretty rugged landscape to arrive in the Kuna-run port of Carti. Just to get into the Kuna territory, you have to pay 6$. Arrive we did in torrential rain, but we were definately excited. There were three Americans, two New Zealanders, three Canadians, one Quebecer, one Dutch guy, two Liverpudlians and the two of us. Plus one Colombian boat hand, the Captian and his significant other. It was a pretty well packed boat. Of course, this dynamic duo somehow managed to get the best room on the boat, en suite and everything!

On our arrival to the boat, it was pretty wet and miserable, so we weren´t too hopeful. But as soon as we got on board, our shoes were taken from us and we wouldn´t see them again for 5 days. Our bags were dumped somewhere and we were sat down at a table with freshly baked brown bread and a giant pot of tea.  That pot of tea was on the go the whole time we were on the boat, I was a happy chappy. One thing that you were never short of was food, and good food at that. There was always more, and every meal we had was delicious. Every time we´d eat we´d say, "Fritz, this is so good, its really delicious" to which he would respond, "You like it? I am so lucky! Ha Ha Ha!" (His laugh reminded me a little of the Count from Sesame Street.)
Once everyone arrived we hauled anchor and made our way to our first destination where Fritz organised all our passports and immigration nonsense. Easiest border crossing yet! Fritz actually has to soften up one of the officials with a bottle of Scotch every time he comes through. He says he doesn´t mind in the slightest, because at least things get done! We went for a swim and we motored on towards another group of islands where we spent the night. After a very civilised dinner, we went ashore for some beach volleyball and a few beers. Very relaxing.

The next two-ish days we spent by the lovely islands, the owner of which came on board and ate breakfast lunch and dinner with us every day. The way the Kuna run the San Blas is that certain families will have coconut rights over some islands and some people have fishing rights over some reefs. Well, our new Kuna friend, (who´s been working with Fritz ever since he started running this trip) took us out to his reef. One morning bright eyed and bushy tailed, we got into his little wooden dug out canoe and he took us to his Coral reef. To be honest, it was some of the best snorkelling ever.

The reef was beautiful and the life abundant. (Notice how I´m really streching my positive vocabulary from the last post). Our new guide showed us how to use the traditional Kuna method of catching lobster and crabs. Its basically a stick with a wire noose which you have to hook the lobster or crab on. Well dear readers, you´ll be happy to hear that for the first time ever in her short life, yours truely caught her own dinner. Yes, I hooked a HUGE kind crab. Although, if I´m really honest, myself and one of the Americans (BJ) worked as a team to catch the crab. And as soon as BJ went back to the boat to get the bag for the crab, I immediately wanted to throw him back. I felt really guilty. On the plus side, I didn´t have to cook him, Fritz took care of that. There´s nothing so tastey as dinner you´ve caught yourself! Our catch was pretty shameful in comparason to what our guide caught, he came back with several more crabs and a few lobsters to boot. He even brought a baby turtle back with him. Initially I was a bit worried that he was going to eat the turtle as we´ve seen done in other places, but no, he just wanted us to get a close up look. All in all, it was a sucessful fishing trip.

That night we set sail for the open sea, and everyone had to take their turn at the helm. Now, this all sounds a bit more dramatic than it actually was. Fritz said the crossing was the smoothest he´s ever had. Well, there was no wind, so we motored the whole way. And the auto-pilot did all the hard stuff like navigating. All we really had to do was make sure there were no icebergs dead ahead. But we did it like hardened sea faring professionals! We looked port, we looked starbord, and never did we come anywhere near anything that could potentially cause damage or sink our fair vessel. In my head, I was a pirate ARRrrrrrgh. In reality, I was probably half asleep most of the time.

We spent a full day at sea, watching the endless horizon. We were joined on two occasions by dolphins. To pass the time, we played cards and catchphrase. Once or twice I would be sitting at the front of the boat and I´d look around and realise that there were ten people looking out over the sea and noone was saying anything. It was very very peaceful, and very quiet. We watched the sun go down over the open sea and everyone was snapping it because it really was a sight to be seen. We then had a large discussion about why sunsets are universally beautiful, which led in turn to many other odd conversations.

The other people on the boat were a pretty special bunch. It was a pretty rag tag group of people. The three Canadians were a family motor biking the whole way from Canada through South America. And Jing, the mom was I think the most perceptive person I´ve ever met. Really special lady. Ray, the Quebecer told us all about French Quebec and the culture there. I now have a burning desire to go visit it and see if everyone there is as friendly and as funny as Ray. But all in all, we met some very special people, they all make me smile.

We arrived into Colombia about 8 or so hours early. I went to sleep and there was nothing in sight, I woke up to this amazing skyline. It was really exciting. Not only was it new place day, it was also new country day, new continent day, new currency day AND best of all, New Guidebook day. Yes indeed, we´ve gone through a whole guidebook.

I´ll tell you all about Colombia shortly in the next post, but I think I´m in love with Colombia. Ahead we´ve got a 6 day hike through the jungle to the Lost City, we´ve got Colombia´s best National Park and also San Gil which is apparently adventure sport central of South America. Who knows, but the trip goes one and we´ll let you know all about it.

Carribean, Canals, and Catamarans...

In the famous words of Bono, HELLO HELLO! HOLA! I`m at a place called Vertigo!


When we left you last we were getting drenched in the mountains of Costa Rica. Since then we`ve been having quite the adventure. We`ve been to the carribean and back at least three times!

Moving swiftly along from our last meeting, we went to the Carribean for some much needed sun. We arrived at a place called Cahuita with the friendliest people I`ve ever met. On our way, we were misled by a gringo who was sending us the wrong way to the bus station. A taxi driver stopped his car in the middle of an intersection blocking off the traffic and gets out of his car to point us in the right direction. We were pretty unsure about this apparent mad man screaming that the bus station was 2 and half blocks in the opposite direction, but he was backed up by a woman who looked like a 90 year old prostitute. She came up to us, asked us what we were looking for and pointed us in the right direction. In the mean time, a man waiting for his bus offered to walk us down to the bus station. Like I said, friendly, helpful people.

They also seem to spend a lot of time stoned. Its not unusual to get a whiff of the whacky and look around to find a man bouncing his baby girl in one arm while handling a massive J in the other. The carribean is a pretty relaxed place all round.

Cahuita is an amazing beach town, relaxed, no fuss and best of all, beautiful beach and national park. We woke up in the morning to see a sloth hanging outside the kitchen window. We were greeted at lunch by a rhino bug the size of your face on a palm tree at lunch time and when we went for a walk through the beach and national park we saw monkeys, racoons and even more sloths. Its a pretty special place.

Hanging out on a palm tree.
When we eventually decided that the time had come to head to Panama, last stop on our Central American adventure, we headed for the infamous Bocas Del Toro. Entering Panama we had to cross a pretty shaky bridge that had huge holes in it and you couldn´t walk down the pedestrain acess because the handrails had fallen in. On the Panama side we were greeted by one of the most itimidating soliders I`ve ever come across, the guy was the size of a house and didn`t look like he`d ever heard a joke in his life. I`d say he cut fun out because it took time away from working out. This was our introduction to Panama.

When we got to Bocas after many the bus and boat, it wasn`t exactly what we were expecting. The beaches weren´t great, but the party definately was. After two very tiring days trying to keep up in Bocas, we headed for the chilled out Isla Bastimentos. Isla Bastimentos is pretty much the exact opposite of Bocas. Bastimentos has no cars, no roads and an amazing beach, Playa Wizard. Playa Wizards is hidden down a mud path through the jungle. We passed snakes on our way to the beach as well as guys on horseback carrying surf boards and ukeleles. No word of exaggeration, it was a kodak moment if ever I`ve seen one. By the time we got to the beach, I was covered in mud from head to toe. I slid the whole half hour hike to the beach, Ian laughed. But the beach was worth the wait and the walk. Pretty much deserted sandy beach that streched for miles. (Miles may be an exageration, but it was very big).

We spent a full day on a snorkelling trip visiting different reefs, watching dolphins, checking out the red poison dart frogs. After which we went for a well deserved Carribean dinner. Its very difficult to explain how friendly the carribeans are, but they genuinely want to know if you enjoyed your dinner. Food was amazing, I`m not sure what was in that carribean sauce, all the chicken lady would say that its that special carribean sauce!

Anyway, we pushed on to the lovely town of Boquete. Boquete is a little town in the mountains where it rains a lot but the hiking is great and the people were friendly. We didn`t spend a whole lot of time in Boquete, all we really wanted to do there was this hiking trail which we`d heard wonderful things about. The Sendero del Quetzal. The walk up to the start of the trail nearly had us turning back, it was a very steep very windy road. Up and up and up we went until we thought we`d gone the wrong way. We asked the local goat herd who assured us it was only another 10 minutes up the raod.

A half hour later we made it to the start of the trail. We met one other person the 4 hours we were hiking. The trail crossed a fair few rivers and at one point we had no alternative other than to shimmey across a tree that had fallen across the river. It was by far the least walked trail we`ve come across. It was like something out of a horror film: Two hikers, on the trip of a lifetime. They think they`ve found paradise. They thought wrong. (Flashes to some dramatic music and shots of Anna and Ian running through the forest with looks of fear and terror.)  Luckily nothing untoward happened, we just had a thoroughly enjoyable walk through an amazing forest listening to howler moneys.

Once we got to Boquete we realised that we were going to have to speed up our trip through Panama in order to catch our boat to Catamaran to Columbia. We ended up rushing to Santa Catalina on the Pacific Coast so that we could dive the world famous Isla Coiba. Santa Catalina is a tiny beach town that becomes the centre of the surfing world once a year when it hosts the ISA World Surf Masters. That will give you a clue to the amzing surf on offer here. We were there at the wrong time of year for surfing, (they were too big) but we definately made it out to the Coiba National Park for some diving.

Now the lonely planet says very little about Santa Catalina and the Coiba National park, which from what I can tell is a big pity. Some people have described the diving in Coiba as rivalling the Galapacos or the Coco Islands. Not having dived either of those, I can`t compare, but it was very very good. The boat journey out takes an hour and you pass some of the most beautiful coastal landscapes I`ve ever seen.

Well after an hour´s boat drive we jumped into the water. We did two dives out there and saw a lot of cool stuff. Schools of barracuda, there were literally thousands of them, turtles (the first we´ve seen while diving on this trip), eels swiming around our fins, sharks swimming around our fins. I´ve never seen an eel swimming out in the open water before, here I saw maybe ten of them. There was a group of maybe 15 sharks swimming around us hunting something or other, completely unbothered by us or our bubbles. For those of you not into diving, sharks normally don´t like people, they usually get a little scared by them and they definately don´t like divers bubbles. All in all, the dives were pretty spectacular. The dive guide was another matter (our worst guide so far) actually he was down right dangerous and as for the gear, it wasn´t great either, in fact it was shit. All in all, a positive experience.

Well since we knew we were getting a boat to Colombia, we figured we should push on and head straight for the Capital. So off we went to Panama city. Panama city is probably the most cosmpolitan in the whole of Central America. The skyline is spectacular, skyscrapers the whole way down the coast line. Coming into Panama city you drive over a huge bridge that takes you across the Panama Canal, the view is something else.

What´s more is the personality of Panama city. The whole way across Central America, different places have had a different personality. Things like in Mexico city, everyone had the shiniest shoes no matter how much money they did or didn´t have. There were guys to shine your shoes on every street corner. In Guatemala, the street food vendors were something else. In Panama city, at every street corner there are at least 5 sets of women doing pedicures and manicures. Every single woman in Panama has the most elaborately painted toenails you´ve ever seen. They´re not just painted, they´re decoarted with intricate pictures and designs. Everyone sits down on the street corner getting their nails done exchanging gossip and having a good time. If the weather in Ireland were better, some enterprising person could make a fortune!

Anyway, we got up to lots in Panama city, it has a lot to offer. We went to casinos and won some money, we then went back to the casino and lost some money. We walked around the old walled part of the city. Some of the Casco Viejo as its called is being regenerated and its becoming fashionable, but walk two blocks in the wrong direction and  you´re asking to be robbed and potentially attacked. So its a fine line, but it is an absolutely enchanting place. (I´ve been running out of words to describe how cool some places are, and I haven´t used "enchanting" yet, suggestions for other positive adjectives would be greatly appreciated!)

But yes, the Casco Viejo is an enchanting place. The rest of the city is big skycrapers and shopping malls, but the Casco Viejo is quiet and reserved, and the buildings that have been restored are really impressive. Other than the old city, we also visited the famed Panama Canal. Ian was obviously in his element. We got out to the Miraflores locks right when a whole load of huge freight ships and car ferries were going through. The Panama Canal is very impressive, I know I say that about lots of things, but this is a canal that spans the width of Central America, divides a country in two and was built about 100 years ago. Impressive.

The last thing we did before leaving Panama was to take the train from Panama city on the pacific coast to Colon on the Carribean coast. We got up at 6 in the morning to get the train, so we were both pretty sleep. The only reason you get this train is for the journey, because the town of Colon is a bit of a kip. The train follows the Panama Canal the whole way so you get some brilliant views of the canal. Ian was delighted because you can see where they´re extending the canal and building the new locks. (Which incidently was why we weren´t able to dive the canal because of the dredging thats going on to widen it.)

So that was our trip to Panama. Come very shortly will be a post on our sailing trip to Colombia. In my opinion, the only way to travel to Colombia, is by Catamaran, but more on that next time. The jealously photos from the boat are pretty bad, so its going to have to be a whole post on its own!

Farewell Nicaragua, Hello Costa Rica.

At last check, we were in Granada enjoying the sites and sounds of a city more European than Central American. Currently, we´re wet and happy in Costa Rica. How did this happen I hear you ask, all will be revealed, we might even have some pictures of us in the blog! Dnnnn Dnnnn Dnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn...

So, leaving Granada, we got a bus and a Ferry to Isla Ometepe which is a volcanic island in the middle of Lake Nicaragua.

We had heard that there was a hostel run by an Irish guy there and it was supposed to be pretty good craic. We decided that we´d like to hear a familiar voice and off we went in the direction of Little
Morgan´s. We shared a taxi to the place with a bunch of Dutch girls (there was to be no bus for several hours.) On arriving to Little Morgan´s we were greeted by what can only be described as a biblical plague of flies.

Saioules (sic.) are little flies the size of a midgie fly and they live for a short 24 hours and then die. Upon dying the smell like rotting fish. When they are alive, the live in huge swarms and they get in your eyes, nose, mouth. In your clothes, they´re so small they fall through mosquito nets so your bed is constantly covered in a layer of them.

So, when we get to Little Morgans, we can´t really see or anything, we´re greeted by the lovely Tess who sends us up to the Mirador. The Mirador is a viewing tower, and because its a bit higher up, we were saved the worst of the flies. Unfortunately, we were stuck in the tower. So we quickly aquainted ourselves with the owner, Morgan and some of the other guests over a few bottle of beers. There was little else you could do but drink that first day. From the tower you could see big brown clouds of the flies coming in off the lake. You also got a spectacular view of the sunset which we definately took advantage of.

After a terrible night´s sleep eating flies, we decided the best thing to do would be to get up at 6.30am and climb the volcano from the bottom. With a pair of sore heads we headed up the volcano with a group of German guys and our guide. It was the first time we climbed a volcano from the very bottom, no lift to a starting point. The starting point is across the road from the hostel, right on the lake.

For the first time, we weren´t powering ahead of everyone else all the time! It was by far the hardest hike we´ve done so far. The path was muddy and slippy, it went up then down then up and then up again. Most of the time there was only space to walk single file, and I´ve never sweated so much in my life. The heat wasn´t as bad as it had been on other hikes, but the sheer physical exersion needed to get through the mud on a uphill climb was a lot.

We walked through people´s back gardens and banana plantations, through small rivers, cow paths and small mudflows! It was gruelling. Its exactly what I´d expect from hiking through a jungle, the guide literally had a machete for clearing the path ahead of us. There were howler monkeys growling down at us and humming birds zipping around us. The climb was breathtaking. Litterally, you were very much out of breath a lot of the way up!

Once you get to the very top, you´re not actually done yet because you climb down to a lake in the middle of the volcano.

The view is quite nice, and a few people were bold enough to swim in it. Personally, I just ate my sandwich and enjoyed the view, I was too relieved to move! the view of the lake is nice, but not exactly breathtaking. Its not what you get up at 6.30 and climb for 4 hours to see. After a healthy lunch of fly sandwiches, (a rat tried to steal Ian's sandwich), we started back down the volcano. Which actually meant climbing back up to the top and then back down. We were about half way down the volcano when we came to the view that you get up at 6.30 and climb for 6 hours to see.

Its a perfect view of the second volcano on the island with Lake Nicaragua on either side. At this point myself and Ian were way ahead of the group having regained our mojo over lunch. Ian came out of the undergrowth ahead of me and all I heard was ´Oh Wow!` I was wondering what Ian was seeing when I emerged from the jungle and was caught by the sight myself. ´Oh Wow!´  is an understatement. Every single person as they came through that path had the exact same reaction, allbeit in different languages, but the sentiment was the same. We sat there admiring the view for a half an hour unable to move.

On coming closer to home we realised that the flies were still hanging around the hostel in their millions. Brushing against a banana leaf would remind hundreds of them that they were still alive and all of a sudden you were surrounded by the little bastards again. Up your nose, in your eyes and ears, I don´t even want to tell you what the toilets and showers were like, needless to say there was a layer of rotting flies an inch thick covering everything. If the billions of flies didn´t get to you, the smell certainly would.

Our newest ozzy friends (Nathan & Melanie) had had enough and moved to a hostel on higher ground. Myself and Ian toughed it out for one more night but decided we were also fed up and arranged to meet the ozzies at the 7.30 bus to head to fairer shores.

After an extremely painless trip, we arrived at San Juan del Sur, a beach town on the pacific side of Nicaragua only a half hour from the Costa Rican border. We have no pictures from San Juan because we immediately fell into a pattern of surfing during the day, and playing cards and cooking at night. For three days we surfed and cooked and played cards with Nath and Mel. On the fourth day, while the two boys went off surfing, myself and Mel had a girlie day. We ate ice cream and decided where we would go in Costa Rica the next day. That evening we did something pretty special though. We all sat in the back of a pick up for an hour down dirt roads that are really more rivers. At 9.30ish we arrived at a beach that is also a turtle reserve.

Soldiers with big guns wandered around us as we walked down the path to the beach. The soldiers weren´t there for our protection but for the turtle. This beach is where hundreds of thousands of endangered sea turtles come to nest every year. According to our guide, every species of sea turtle is currently endangered, and this particular beach is where thousands of Olive Ridley turtles nest.

As soon as we walked down the beach we could see an odd track in the sand that came from the sea and stopped at a big dark thing that we couldn´t really see properly. Following our guide, we came upon a turtle building her nest and laying her eggs. We sat there with her until she had finshed and watched as she closed in the nest and patted it down. That part was actually my favourite, she does a little dance on the top of the nest to make sure its well and truely covered and then does a dance around it to hide the nest a bit. Then she turns right around and heads back to the sea. Sea Turtles are surprisingly quick on the land, I mean, they´re completely helpless, but they´re a  lot faster than you´d imagine!

I don´t know how many people get to see turtles nesting, but I´m very lucky to be one of them. That night we watched two turtles nesting, and all in all, it was one of the coolest things I´ve ever seen. It wasn´t adrenaline pumping like some of the other things we´ve done. I think you might have to see it to understand what it feels like, its difficult to explain. In any case, although it was quite the expensive trip (30USD), it was worth every penny.

Here we say goodbye to Nicaragua and hello to Costa Rica. We walked the kilometer across the border, with the Nicaraguan governement wishing us well. As Mel pointed out, they´re probably obliged to wish you well at this point given the amount of money they take off you in immigration fees!

On arriving in Costa Rica, we headed straight for the beach town called Samara. I should also mention that by now we´ve adopted Nath and Mel as travelling companions. They´re headed the same way as us for the next while and they share the same love of cheap and cheerful travelling as well as card games.

When we fnially get to Samara after one taxi and three buses we all sit down for a well desereved break in a coffee shop. This is where we met the lovely ladies. The two ladies working at this coffee shop were the friendliest women you could ever meet, they were really concerned about where we were going to stay. When the two boys came back from scouting out all the local accommodation, they let us know that it was a good safe place to stay.

We ended up on a beach front dorm with our own balcony overlooking the bay. We spent the next few days in a familiar routine, surfing, cooking and playing cards. Although, the one night we broke out the catchphrase, things got out of hand, there was celebratory table dancing when Team Wo-Man kicked Team Man´s Ass twice in a row.

Ian and Nath were surfing constantly. I preferred playing in the waves being photographer to the surfers. I think the results were pretty good given that my camera is so rubbish that I was in the waves up to my waist to get a decent picture of surf pro O`Gorman.

Ian´s poor attempt at Surf Photography.

When we realised that the weather was not really holding up for us, we decided to head inland to Monte Verde. (Which incidentally means Green Hill in Spanish).

So as you may or may not realise, normally they way myself and Ian decide where to go is we talk to everyone we met and see what they say about a place. If we hear good things, we check out the guidebook and make our way there. The plan is very loose really, and we more or less go off of people´s suggestions. When we talked to people about Costa Rica, we heard two things. One, Costa Rica is very expensive and more importantly, every single person we talked to recommended was Zip Lining in Monte Verde. We have not been disappointed.

When we got to Monte Verde, we were greeted off the bus by the lovely Ronny who took us to his hostel ´Sleepers Sleep Cheaper´. Don´t be fooled by the name, its the best place we´ve stayed at so far, and definately the best value. We´ve been getting free breakfast, brilliant kitchen, free internet, television, blankets. And best of all, HOT SHOWERS! Travelling around, I´ve come to realise that the two things I take for granted the most at home are probably hot showers and washing machines.

Anyway, once in Monte Verde, not happy with your usual zip lining tours, we signed up for the Extremo Canopy tour. Extremo is not an exaggeration. Ian reckons its the single most fun thing we´ve done. So we got up early and headed to Extremo base camp and got all kitted up.


Anna and Ian kitted up.

Team Man kitted up.

Team Man on return.

Ian and Anna on return.

To say we got wet and muddy is something of an understatement. We went across 15 zipline cables, 1 tarzan swing, 1 rapel and one of those cables was in the fashion of superman. For those who don´t know what zip lining is, its basically attaching yourself to a cable with a complicated system of levers and pulleys and hurtling through the jungle very fast.  A tarzan swing is literally swinging like tarzan from a cable. A rapel is just jumping off a platform with a rope, and superman is where you go on the cables headfirst.

Why would you pay to do this to yourself I hear you ask? Well to be honest I asked myself that a fair few times too. There were times when I´ve never been so scared in my entire life, (Even more so than the wasp attack) and I literally had to be pused off a few of the ledges. I had a mantra that got me through some of the scarier zip lines `I´m very well tied in, I´m very well tied in, I´m very well tied in`.

Going along the zip lines, the mist was so heavy that you couldn´t see the ground or the cable, and when you were getting to the end of the cable, the ground would just come up out of nowhere at you very very fast! The best one was the superman. I can only describe it as flying. You literally feel like you´re soaring through the clouds flying. The superman cable is a kilometer long and its incredible. The adrenaline rush at the end left me somewhere between a fit of laghter and tears and definately all limbs shaking. It was a truely strange experience.

So that´s us for the moment. We´re heading to the Carribean side of Costa Rica tomorrow and from there we´ll be making our way to Panama. We´re sticking with the wonderful travel companions Nath and Mel for the next while, hopefully they´re not sick of us yet.