Villa Esthela is the hostel I am currently staying at in Antigua. It is about 7 or so blocks from the center of town, which I enjoy. As I mentioned before, the night of my arrival they had overbooked the dorm room and I was put in a private. Daniella (the owner I think) was very apologetic and gave me a single room for the night for the same price. Can't complain there. Now after a few nights staying in the dorm, I have decided I quite like Villa Esthela. It is definitely not what you would call a party hostel by any means, but its nice. There is a rooftop terrace that is simply gorgeous and offers an amazing view of the volcanoes surrounding Antigua. There is a bar on the roof as well, but it hasn't been open at all during my stay.
So far at Villa Esthela I have met some pretty cool people. All Australians actually. One girl was traveling on her own, she was doing a worldwide trip by herself. She's headed back home within a month or two though I believe. The two of us went exploring in the marketplace. Of course we didn't explore the whole market, it is HUGE. I've been there twice now and I'd be surprised if I've seen even half of it. We stuck to the used clothes, since she was low on her supply after forgetting some clean laundry at one of the other hostels she had stayed at. I needed to get some clothes for my volunteer program. I am going to be volunteering at a girls orphanage that is highly religious, so I would need to be a bit more conservative than I had originally been told. We spent a few hours digging through tables and tables of assorted clothes. No organization whatsoever, everything was just thrown together in large heaps. There are clothes hung up around the tables as well, but these are more expensive. And by that I mean that they cost anywhere from around 60 cents to $1.50. The clothes heaped on the tables start at 1 Quetzal, which is about 12 cents. After spending a couple hours digging through everything, I emerged with a cardigan, a light sweatshirt, a tee-shirt, a skirt and a dress. My grand total was less than a dollar. Not bad right? We also grabbed some fruit before we left. Watermelon and Pineapple: the snacks of champions.
I've also met a group of three Aussies that are somewhere in month 5 of an 18 month world trip. I am so jealous. I'm actually going to be hiking the local active volcano with them later today. That's pretty exciting for me, since I've always tried to fit a volcano hike into one of my Costa Rica trips but it never seems to work out. The girl in the group was telling me about a program they are going to do in Bolivia once they make it down there. It is a large cat rescue program and you have to volunteer for a minimum of a month. You basically get assigned to one cat during your stay, and you are responsible for everything regarding that cat. You have to exercise it, feed it, clean up after it etc. The program has definitely made it onto my bucket list. She had heard about it from an English girl they met in Poland. I love that part of traveling, where you just meet and talk to other travelers. Its a great way to hear about programs or opportunities that you may never have thought of before, and who knows, it may change the whole course of your trip.
