What Will They Find

Bugaboos to the Bobbie Burns Canada

ma_and_pa — Sun, 3 Aug 2008 01:40:00 GMT

You can hear them before you see them the whop whop of the helicopter rotors, the anticipation builds as the wind from the blades pushes against you and you lean into it. The adventure began on a helipad near Golden, British Columbia, everyone is gathered in groups; transferred up to the Bobbie Burns Lodge. The helicopter rises into the air and you are surrounded by a wall of noise, overwhelmed by the landscape; snow peaked mountains, seemingly endless forests interspersed with Alpine meadows and high mountain streams, glacier lakes of a blue so turquoise it seems unreal. This is adventure was organized through Canadian Mountain holidays, an outdoor adventure company that focuses on Heli-sking in the winter and hiking in the summer months. The Bobbie Burns are a beautiful sub-range of the Columbias. The lodges are beautifully situated in isolated valleys, offering all the amenities such as Jacuzzis, sauna, steam rooms, gourmet meals, rooms with incredible views, a full bar, massages but what makes the experience so wonderful is the amazingly friendly, knowledgeable, helpful staff. Our group spent a week hiking and staying in two lodges the Bobbie Burns and the Bugaboos each wonderful in its own right. For both lodges our schedule was the same we woke up early for stretching class and after an amazing and varied buffet breakfast we fixed our own bag lunches with sandwiches, dried fruit, chocolate, carrot and celery sticks, fresh fruit, and sometimes little extras like sardines or mixed nuts. We would then head out in groups sometimes as a family and other times according to desired difficulty to board the helicopter and be ferried to a remote location to start our hiking. The scenery was spectacular and the difficulty ranged from easy to rather challenging. We would spend the entire day hiking, having lunch n a remote spot usually with an incredible view. In the afternoon we would be flown back to the lodge where there were snacks, cheese plates, nachos, or other such goodies awaiting. Before dinner there was time to relax in the sauna or get a massage or simply sit by the fire with a good book. The dinner was a gourmet affair, followed by a marvelous dessert. After dinner we played board games or just chatted until we fell into bed exhausted but happy. One of both Amy and Turgay’s favorite days out was the day that along with Hillary, Josh and Katie they did the Via Ferrata, a series of suspension bridges, permanent climbing lines and a very long repel from near the summit of Mount Nimbus. This type of climbing is based on the system used to transport troops over the Dolomites during the First World War. It is a very safe system as you are always hooked to a cable but it is an extremely exposed climb and can be very challenging to pretty terrifying at times, but the feeling at the end although you are battered and bruised is total exhilaration. Our final day hiking in the Bobbie Burns was spent near the Columbia Glacier; it is amazing to witness the awesome power of ice. We also flew down to take a look at a river that flows from beneath a glacier forming a beautiful ice cave. After a quick snack we all went down to the valley to do the adventure trail where we all tried our hand a zip lining, ate wild strawberries and took a beautiful hike through the woods along a river. The day we moved to the Bugaboo lodge was another memorable hike as a whole family on Grizzly ridge. It was absolutely freezing, windy with snow falling horizontally; not prepared for the cold or the wind and everyone had to scramble to get themselves and the kids ready and keep Aiden from blowing off the mountain. Our Guide Jasper was wonderful getting us out of the wind and finding places for us to play games and keep warm until the helicopter could come and get us. Our family, being who they are did the Hokey Pokey and turned themselves about. Later that same afternoon those of us who had continued hiking were lucky enough to spot a mother bear and her two cubs though they quickly (and thankfully) ran away from us. The Bugaboo Lodge is as beautiful as well situated as the other lodges but has the added bonus of a climbing wall in its stairwell that reaches from the ground floor to the third floor ceiling. All of the kids gave it a try and most everyone made it to the top. Amy and Hillary formed an addiction of sorts to it and tried all the routes, finally succeeding to climb them all even the most difficult though the effort was great. Everyone goodbye at the lodge after breakfast on our final morning and took the final helicopter ride down to the helipad. Amy, Turgay, Josh and Merrilee all piled into Merrilee’s car for the drive back to Bellingham which they managed to do in the same day. We want to thank all of the staff at both lodges and CMH for everything; with special thanks to Bruce and Karl for not losing any of us on the Via Ferrata and to Jasper, Paul and Mary Beth for being such sports and putting up with our whole family and a special thank you to Mikey for showing us his Blue Steel. Also a thank you to all the office staff at CMH you may be behind the scenes but the work you put into to organizing all of us was very much appreciated. We want to thank Amy's Tante for giving us our Family Ties T-shirts, they are wonderful momentos of the trip. Our biggest thank you goes out to Merrilee (AKA Mom) for bringing all of us along with you on this wonderful adventure and of course to the late great Freddy Kullman for starting what looks to be a family tradition 10 years ago with the families first Heli-Hiking adventure.

Calgary and Banff Canada

ma_and_pa — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 01:42:00 GMT

Calgary is a small town that’s become a big city of just over one million people; it is a clean city of curiously empty streets and a great deal of construction projects. We arrived in the evening and this was our first couchsurfing destination (for more info on the couchsurfing project please visit their website www.couchsurfing.org). We stayed in a house in a nice residential area just outside of downtown, with hosts Jenni and Greg. We were able to walk all over the downtown area, Calgary Olympic Park, the Prince Island Park, the rather small but still nice Chinatown and other sites. Being a relatively modern and young city Calgary doesn’t offer much in historical sites but it’s bike and walking trails by the river and its many parks scattered around make it a pleasant city for exploring. The thing that left the largest impression on Amy was the extensive outdoor sculpture collection and the giant dandelions. There was a Folk Festival on at the time in Prince Island Park and had we had more time we would have done as our host Greg does every year and volunteered (thus gaining free entrance in exchange for a few hours of work) because the ticket price was far out of our budget range. We did discover however that you could hear and watch the concert on the big screens from across the river so we got to watch the Carolina Chocolate Drops. We spent two days exploring the city and after two and a half months in mostly small towns across Central America we indulged in the modern city life, new release movies (Batman Dark Night), microbrews and endless selections of toiletries. Our last night we had beers with Jenni and another couchsurfing host at a local Cowboy/Rock bar, the couchsurfing community is very strong in Calgary with a lot of organized events and meetings. Jenni was kind enough to get up early and drop us at the airport on her way to work so we could catch the airport shuttle to Banff, where we were going to hook up with Amy’s family for a Heli-Hiking trip in the Canadian Rockies. Banff is a tourist town in the most literal sense of the word, it was developed in the late 19th century after the railroad arrived and then further developed with the opening of the road in 1912. It is without question the most popular tourist destination in Canada. It is in one word spectacular. Set in Banff national park it is surrounded by soaring mountains, emerald forests and bubbling hot springs. We only spent a day and a night in Banff but it is somewhere we would definitely return to in the future. It is here that we met up with Amy’s family her mother Merrilee, Aunt Cynthia (Tante), brother Josh, Sister Hillary, Brother in law Victor, Merit Sister Katie, Cousin Mark, Mark’s better half Patty, nieces Abigail and Juliet and last but not least Nephew Aiden. After a raucous dinner in the local pizzeria and an early night we all set out together early in the morning to start our Heli Hiking adventure.

Santa Elena Monteverde Costa Rica

ma_and_pa — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 01:36:00 GMT

Walter Ferguson - "National Park" [audio:http://whatwilltheyfind.com/wp-content/uploads/audio/Walter Ferguson - National Park.mp3] Santa Elena is a Tico (Costa Rica) town founded sometime in the 1930s by loggers and farmers; it adjoins the Quaker town of Monteverde which was founded in 1951 by Quaker pacifists who had been jailed in the U.S. for refusing to be drafted into the Korean War. This Quaker immigration changed the area forever; they set up dairy farming while preserving large tracts of cloud forests. Cloud forests are rain forests that are generally swathed in mist or clouds. In 1983 National Geographic printed an article and photographs of the area and the tourist movement was born. Monteverde is home to the Quakers and upscale resorts and restaurants, while Santa Elena has more budget accommodations and eateries, though a new large mall is under construction and threatens to change the feel of this small community forever. After checking into our hotel the Quetzal Inn in Santa Elena because our original choice of Pension Santa Elena was fully booked we grabbed a burrito for lunch and headed out to explore the area. We passed many attractions, the butterfly museum, the insect museum, the orchid museum but after the rest of Central America we found the prices very high so we just kept walking. We ended up walking all the way to Monteverde (not really that far only about 20 minutes) where we found Michelle and Maggie’s hotel along with Michelle, Maggie and Corey. They were heading out for a tour so we made plans for dinner later that evening. Despite the fact it had started to rain Amy and Turgay decided to continue their exploration of the area and we continued on down the road. Amy spotted a sign along the side of the road for a waterfall and being unable to resist waterfalls encouraged Turgay to go along the trail to see it. After entering the trail and paying their entrance fee it began to pour rain but they persevered and half climbed half slid their way down to somewhere near the waterfall. The water having risen with the rain caused them to decide to view the waterfall from a distance; it just seemed the sensible thing to do. Now soaked to the bone Amy and Turgay were still unswayed from their goal of the Monteverde dairy to taste some of the famous cheese and ice cream, unfortunately when they arrived it was closed. On the way back they passed a bakery and partook of refreshments (pie and tea). They met Michelle, Maggie and Corey for dinner at a Tapas bar Chimera which proved to be very good. The next day after planning to meet up again for dinner and a breakfast of really good pastries (especially the pineapple) and croissants at Bakery Jimanez, we went to the Santa Elena Cloud Forest Reserve. This reserve is at a slightly higher elevation than its more famous neighbor Monteverde but it boasts 12km of trails and considerably less tourists. We saw a great deal of butterflies and hummingbirds and mist shrouded trees and while beautiful was somewhat less populated by animals than they had expected. They did see a wild boar, however how wild it was is up for debate as it was hanging out in the parking lot of the reserve letting people pet it. All in all it was a beautiful setting and a good hike. They returned to Santa Elena and then met up with their friends again for a pizza dinner at Pizzeria de Johnny, which despite the name is a rather upscale Italian restaurant, well upscale to our recent standards. Amy and Turgay said goodbye to their friends and headed back into Santa Elena and bought their bus tickets for the next morning. The next day after checking out of our hotel and returning to the bakery Jimanez we found out that due to heavy rains and washed out roads our bus would not be coming today and maybe not tomorrow. Having checked out of our hotel we found a cheaper option for the night Cabines Vista al Golfo and spent the afternoon and evening just hanging out. The next morning the bus was a go so they caught it to the San Jose airport, their flight wasn’t leaving until the next day so they took a cab (the driver got a speeding ticket along the way but was unfazed as his brother in-law was the mayor or something of the sort) into Alujela, a town much closer to the airport than San Jose and spent the night there before taking a flight to Calgary Canada.

La Fortuna and Arenal Costa Rica

ma_and_pa — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 01:36:00 GMT

La Fortuna was a sleepy farming town until it was “discovered” and now the grid of streets are lined with hotels, hostels, tour operators and souvenir shops. The main attraction of the area is its proximity to the Arenal Volcano and the relative affordability when compared with the surrounding resorts. The moment we stepped off the bus we knew we were where the tourists were, for the first time since the trip began every step we took someone was trying to sell us a tour or help us find a room. Once we got off the main street this stopped and we were able to find our hotel with no problem. After a brief rest Amy and Turgay decided to go out a splurge on dinner, at Don Rufino’s. They came back to the room with rave reviews but a lighter wallet. The next morning after a leisurely start to the day with breakfast at Vienna Café and a wander around the town we decided to take a walk, this walk got longer and longer after we decided to keep going to La Catarata de Fortuna (the waterfall of Fortune), a 7km uphill walk. As the walk progressed what had started as a gentle sprinkling of rain turned into a torrential downpour which lasted the entire rest of the walk. They took shelter at a roadside stand where a family had set up a cold water and cold coconut business, after having a coconut and feeling fortified against the rain they continued on (Amy really likes waterfalls). Along the way we saw a wood sculpting studio, had the artists been selling any of the pieces that were in the parking lot in front of the store I’m sure Amy would have convinced Turgay that they couldn’t live without one of them, lucky for them only the pieces in the store were for sale, and while very beautiful they were not as moving as the others. Finally they arrived at the waterfall, paid their entrance fees and walked down to the falls. There are two separate waterfalls, the main one falls 70m into a sheer canyon set in the jungle and covered in bromeliads. The setting was beautiful and despite being soaking wet the whole walk was well worth it. Amy tried to go swimming but was quickly deterred by the temperature of the water (it was freezing). After returning to the welcome center Amy and Turgay hooked up with another couple and shared a taxi back to La Fortuna. After a very hot shower and some dry clothes they headed out for some dinner where the discovered the delicious and very affordable Soda El Rio, this restaurant specializes in basic fare of rice, beans, vegetable, meats, fried plantains and shredded cabbage. They served no alcohol but did have delicious fruit shakes with either ice and water or ice and milk. Turgay and Amy decided that they wouldn’t take the traditional tour out to the volcano to view the lava flow from a distance of 5 km or so, which after their experience at Pacaya in Guatemala, lava from that far away just didn’t excite. Instead they decided to go canoeing on the San Carlos River. Their guide Carlos (just a coincidence) and driver were excellent making for a wonderful experience. They pointed out two toed sloths, monkeys, caymans (alligators), the blue-jeans frog, iguanas and a multitude of birds. It was an easy paddle down the river to where it joined with the Rio San Carlos and to our exit point where we were served fresh fruit and water. On the way back to the hotel we stopped at a bridge near a restaurant where people feed the iguanas the trees and the underside of the bridge where covered in large somewhat hefty iguanas. Friends of Amy’s from New Orleans were also in the area at this time, Michelle, Maggie and Corey were staying at a resort near La Fortuna but since they were all heading to the Santa Elena/Mounteverde area the next day everyone decided it would be easier to find each other there. Amy and Turgay signed up for a Jeep-Boat-Jeep trip from La Fortuna across Lake Arenal and on to Santa Elena. This “Jeep-Boat-Jeep” trip proved to be a minivan-boat-minivan trip; it was however through picturesque countryside, the boat trip across the lake afforded wonderful views the Arenal Volcano and the surrounding pastureland. We were lucky enough to get Speed Racer as our second minibus driver making the trip that much more exciting.

-La Fortuna Arenal-

{La Fortuna Arenal}

Liberia Costa Rica

ma_and_pa — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 01:32:00 GMT

Liberia, located in north western Costa Rica is a provincial capital and ranching town of about 45,000 people. Though it had little to offer in the way of tourist attractions, we loved Liberia for its slow paced tree lined streets where everyone sits and chats in the Park Central at sunset. There is a small street Calle Real that has several old colonial style houses, as well as a house that is completely covered on the outside with news articles relating to the town. After our long border crossing day we grabbed a quick but tasty pizza at Toscano before checking into our hotel, Hotel de Casona and calling it an early night. We planned to stay only one night but after having an excellent breakfast in Café Liberia and missing the bus to our next destination or rather the bus to catch the bus we decided to stay another night, our original hotel was full so we moved to Hospedeja Casa Vieja and after checking in and resting from the heat, we returned to Café Liberia for more of the good food and free Wi-Fi. We wandered the streets of this town in the evening sitting in the Park Central to listen to the birds and watch the people. The next morning, very early we boarded the bus to Canas and from Canas we caught a minibus to Tilaran. We had a wait of several hours in Tilaran and spent the time wandering the town, using the internet and having pastries and croissants at Mus Anni, a Costa Rican bakery chain (very good pastries). Finally we boarded the bus to La Fortuna; the ride was along a winding road that hugs the shores of Lake Arenal and was shared with many cows. On the way into town we had our first view of the Arenal Volcano, the active volcano that is the major tourist attraction of this area before finally arriving in La Fortuna and checking into our hotel, The Mayol Lodge.

La Isla Ometepe Nicaragua

ma_and_pa — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 01:33:00 GMT

La Isla Omotepe, an Island created by twin volcanoes that through eruptions formed an isthmus between themselves, is situated in Lake Nicaragua although here due to the vastness of the lake you feel that you are on the ocean. The ferry ride over to the island was interesting to say the least, a small ferry transporting locals, tourists, motorbikes, chickens, and goods We choose to stay in the port town of Moyogalpa, while not the most picturesque town we only planned to stay the night and take a trekking tour around the island the next day. Our hotel, Hotel Omotepetl, while definitely not the Ritz it was decent accommodations and was well situated near the dock. It was Sunday and all the caballos were in town from the surrounding villages parading through the streets, on horeback and in trucks. Later we went to Yogi’s, a cafe and internet café, and met its eccentric owner, an US expat who has lived and traveled all over Central America, he told us some stories about the places he has lived as well as about being an Army Radio operator whose job it was to listen to Russian radio transmissions. That night we went to sleep early in preparation for our trekking the next day, but it didn’t last long, some of the others hotel guests who had partaken of the fruit of the vine or something else were confused about which room they were staying in and though the management tried to stop them the 4th, 5th and 6th time they kept trying to open our door or knocking on it or arguing in front of it or sleeping in the chair outside it. This whole experience kind of soured us on La Isla Omotepe and being exhausted the next day we couldn’t go on a tour and had no desire to climb the volcano, so after breakfast we boarded the ferry and returned back to San Jorge. At the dock we got a good price on Taxi to the border, where we had the joy and pleasure of getting our Nicaraguan exit visas( to say that it is unorganized and chaotic would be putting it nicely) and then waiting in a very long line (and finally line hopping) to get our Costa Rican Entrance stamps. We met up with two Dutch girls traveling in the same direction and decided after seeing the 200 or more people waiting in line for the bus, to share a taxi with them to Liberia.

Granada Nicaragua

ma_and_pa — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 01:30:00 GMT

Situated on the shores of Lake Nicaragua (also known as Lake Cocibolca) at the foot of the Monbacho Volcano, Granada is Nicaragua’s oldest colonial city and probably isn’t largest tourist draw. Despite the touristic nature of the city we all loved Granada; there is a life and vibrancy to this city, you want to stay just a little bit longer, explore it a bit more. The colorfully painted colonial style buildings in what makes up the heart of the old city are organized like all Central American towns around a park central with a cathedral. The park central is the heart of the town full of people walking, children playing, lovers whispering, and tourists gawking. The first afternoon in Granda after checking in to our hotel, Hotel Hospideja Cocibolca, we simply wandered around looking at the architecture, sampling the cafes, checking email and getting our laundry done. The second day also centered around walking and food; after lunch, coffee and the internet at El Tercer Ojo, a very good café with free Wi-Fi we went to the Muse de los Tres Mundos. Muse de los Tres Mundos is housed in La Casa de los Leones (house of the lions) named for the magnificent and enormous doorway adorned with two carved lions that stands as the front of the building. This doorway is the only original standing part of the building that burned in 1856 with much of the city during the retreat of William Walker. La Casa de los Leones is home to galleries, concert space, practice space and residences for visiting artists. There are permanent studios in the back of the building where we met Memo Barratta a very talented and friendly artist, in the gallery while we were visiting there was a black and white photography exhibit showing the works of Oscar Naverette and an opera practice in the front rooms. After a coffee break and a snack at the Euro Café we returned to the museum for a guitar concert. The concert featured classical guitarists from Central America, as well as a Swedish group of young musicians “Grupo La Volta”, they played many different stringed instruments from around the world as well as bottles and brooms during their section of the concert. This concert was part of the first annual classical guitar festival which traveled to cities in Central America. After the concert we went to Mona Lisa for Turgay’s favorite pizza so far on this trip. The next day we visited the Iglesia de San Francisco the museum contained in this complex houses both religious and cultural artifacts, showing the life of the ancient people. At the rear of the museum are basalt figures carved between 800 and 1200 AD by the inhabitants of Isla Zapatera in Lake Nicaragua. After the museum we had brunch at Kathy’s Waffle House, this café in extremely popular with tourists, locals and expats. We ate on the veranda outside with a view of Iglesia de San Francisco and the street life going by; horse drawn carriages, a few goats and a group of musicians who stopped and entertained a local family. After brunch we went to Garden Café to use their Wi-Fi and to have some refreshments. This café is situated around a central garden courtyard with hammocks hung near the tables on the veranda, we were just getting ready to leave when the skies opened up and it poured. After the downpour we walked to the Lake and strolled along the banks of this enormous lake where along with locals and tourists, live stock was grazing. We stayed down by the lake until the mosquitoes proved too much for Amy and we all headed back into town. We went back to El Tecer Ojo to work on the Blog and have a snack. Our time in the café just got longer and longer and we ended up having dinner there, the food was very good. On our final morning in Granada we had breakfast at Kathy’s Waffle House again before catching the bus to Rivas (well almost catching the bus we had to wait another two hours for the next one). We shared a taxi to the pier at San Jorge where we caught the ferry to La Isla Omotepe

Little Corn Island Nicaragua

ma_and_pa — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 01:30:00 GMT

Little Corn is a small Caribbean island located about 70 km off the coast of Nicaragua. The population is only about 700 and the atmosphere is very laid back. It is not as inexpensive as many of the other places we have traveled so far but it was well worth the expense. There is little to do on this small island besides lay on the beach or go diving. Amy and Turgay had come here for the diving as it had come highly recommended by instructors at their last diving school, they weren’t disappointed. There are two dive shops on Little Corn and they choose the one recommended, Dolphin Dive. After speaking with the instructors there, Karl and Adam, they decided to go ahead and do their advanced open water certification, which consists of five dives; three required a deep dive (30m), an underwater navigation dive, a night dive, and two of your choice, they chose an underwater naturalist dive and a performance buoyancy dive. During the peak performance buoyancy dive they had to accomplish different tasks underwater suck as knocking over weights set up on the bottom in a sandy spot. But they had to knock over the weights with their chins (not as easy as it sounds with all that diving gear on). After passing the buoyancy dive they had time left over on the dive and went through a series of coral tunnels where they saw some glassy sweepers, a school of which seemed to have one mind and turn in unison. On the night dive they saw an octopus, a giant barracuda (2.5m though Amy swears it was 3m) and spiny lobsters. Amy loved those dives too but her ultimate favorite was the underwater naturalist where they took identification cards with them on the dive and identified different fish and coral while diving. She liked the time they took looking closely at the coral and trying to determine which fish was which. Finally on their underwater navigation dive Amy finally saw her first sharks, four nurse sharks. We spent our evenings just hanging out and studying for our diving tests. Although the diving was the highlight of the trip the food at the Cuban restaurant Habana Libre, came in a close second. The choices were few but the food was delicious; either beef in special sauce or catch of the day and sometimes lobster in either garlic sauce or Cuban sauce. This small restaurant is run by a Cuban national who immigrated to Nicaragua about 8 years ago and his partner is a Nicaraguan native. Together they make an incredible team and some memorable meals. After 4days on the island they decided to return to the mainland, repeating the previous process but with a much drier panga ride. After arriving in Managua we took a taxi to the bus depot to catch a mini bus to Granada. The hawks for the buses were very aggressive each trying to take the luggage and put it into their vehicle. This was a bit overwhelming after the peace and quiet of the islands but Amy and Turgay got control of their own luggage and chose the minibus that looked the nicest. After a 45 minute ride along the Interamericana Highway and we arrived in Granada.

Jungle River Lodge

ma_and_pa — Sun, 6 Jul 2008 01:27:00 GMT

We took a taxi up to the Jungle River Lodge on the Rio Cangrejal in the rainforest of the coast of Honduras. This rustic lodge offers eco adventure tours, including rafting, hiking, and canopy zip line tours. After checking in and signing up for a Zip line tour the next day, we went down to the river and thought about swimming but instead we all decided on a walk along the road through the jungle. Pa' and I had a great view of the jungle scenery from Turgay's pocket. There are many species of birds in this part of the jungle and we spent a long time watching them, especially a certain bird which has a technique for whistling that involves swinging upside down around a tree branch. We returned to the lodge when we all ralized that Pa' was no longer in the pocket with me, Amy and Turgay spent several minutes backtracking in order to find him again. He was in the road not much worse for the adventure only a little dusty. Back safe and sound at the lodge in the evening Amy and Turgay enjoyed a set menu for dinner that everyone ate together, family style. It was here after dinner, that Amy finally declared all out war on ants. She had been battling her conscience about killing the ants that were continuously taking up residence in her backpack and had been shaking them out and brushing them off but not killing them. That was until, on the way to their room that night two very large ants bit her toe. This was it, the last straw and now there is no ant in her hotel room or luggage that is safe from her wrath. The next morning after breakfast Amy and Turgay went zip-lining. For those unfamiliar with zip-lines, they are steel cables suspended between two platforms; here those platforms are in the jungle canopy. There is a trolley from which a person (zipist) is suspended by a line attached to a harness. After locking onto the trolley the zipist releases the cable and they proceed down to the next platform. It can be fast or really fast depending on the cable and how much you use your gloved hand as a brake. Amy and Turgay loved it, though Amy was a little nervous on the first and second zip-line. This zip line course consisted of nine platforms and eight cables the longest 20 meters in length crossing high over the river. After finishing the zip line tour which also included a hike in the jungle and an introduction to the traditional medicinal properties of the plants there, they returned to the lodge and were lucky enough to catch a ride back into the city. The ride ended up going to mall in La Ceiba, where after stocking up on essentials like bananas ad toothpaste Amy and Turgay headed to the bus station to board a bus for San Pedro Sula. We arrived into San Pedro Sula in the early evening and checked into our hotel which by chance was near the mall. After two months without a mall, two in one day was something of a novelty. We decided to have a look around and were lucky enough to find Turgay’s favorite tennis shoes, a discontinued model of New Balance, on sale at a sport shoe store. All in all though our time there was short we liked San Pedro Sula. We woke up very early the next morning to catch the bus to Managua, as they have no night buses in Central America we spent the entire day on the bus crossing the border into Nicaragua and arriving into Managua in the late afternoon. Only staying the night in Managua, we decided to stay near the bus station. Although convenient it was not the nicest neighborhood and is probably not a good representation of the city. We woke up early the next morning and headed to the airport to board a small La Costena Airlines plane to Big Corn Island, we bought the tickets at the airport that morning and took the 40 min. flight to Bluefields where after a brief touchdown we flew another half and hour before touching down in Big Corn. A brief taxi ride to the dock and half an hour panga ride deposited us on the dock of Little Corn Island. A panga is a small open air speed boat used to transport people and goods. They can be bumpy and wet and this one was wet because the skies opened up on us as we pulled into the dock.

Utila Honduras

ma_and_pa — Sat, 5 Jul 2008 01:26:00 GMT

The Bay Islands lay 50km off the Caribbean coast of Honduras along the second largest barrier reef in the world. Utila, the most affordable of the three islands, is one of the least expensive places in the world to learn to dive. Amy and Turgay decided to do their PADI open water certification here and took their course from the Bay Island College of Diving. We stayed at the Seaside Inn for three nights and thankfully that was all (it had a few cleanliness issues but a very nice staff). We moved on to Rubi’s Inn which is the cleanest hotel yet run by absolutely the friendliest and most helpful couple. Amy and Turgay seemed to be hooked on diving now especially after their first dive in the open water. With all the time they had on the Island they had a chance to get to know the local restaurants very well. First among their favorites was Skid Row for lunch where they had only Chicken or Veggie wraps or burritos or two kinds of sandwiches. Sometimes a limited menu is the best, do what you do best. Another favorite was Evelyn's a grill and barbeque restaurant with tables arranged on the veranda. Everything they tried there was delicious. The best pizza was to be found at PizzaNut in part of the CocoNut restaurant and bar. Turgay really liked RJ's grill but Amy didn't eat there beacause she was ill. Amy finally went to the doctor on Monday morning after trying to get it out of her system for four days. Dr. John the recommended doctor on Utila, seemed to be a legend in his own mind. Amy and the other patients waited outside on the front porch of his clinic for 5 hours while he was two and a half hours late arriving, though in all fairness there is a sign posted stating “I’m not late your early” and he proceeded to take 40 minutes with each patient. Amy is all for thoroughness, but to a point. When she finally got into see him he mostly talked about himself and then prescribed the same antibiotics that we already had in our medicine bag. To see some pictures of Dr. John from the about Utila website click this link. On Wednesday, Amy finally recovered enough to feel up to the ferry ride back to the mainland. After checking out of the hotel and almost taking the room key with them, the owner was kind enough to rush them down to the dock on his golf cart; only to find out the ferry was out of commission. At first the ferry was going to be late, then it would probably be repaired by the afternoon and finally it wasn’t today and maybe not tomorrow. (Island time) We had checked out so we decided to look for another hotel for a change of scenery and since the next day was Turgay's birthday. We choose the Jade Sea Horse, this hotel is a collection of cabins set in a garden. The garden is a work of art, a compilation of mosaics, found objects, glass walls and wooden pagodas. Each cabin is unique in structure and décor all with interesting details and quirky originality. And if that wasn’t enough the hotel is also home to the very popular Treetanic bar, built near the entrance to the hotel in a tree offering views over the whole garden. This is a must see if you ever find yourself in Utila. The following morning well mid-morning another ferry was pulled into service from a different island ferry route and we finally made it off of Utila and back to La Ceiba.

Copan Honduras

ma_and_pa — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 01:22:00 GMT

This small town of about 7000 is located in north central Honduras near the Mayan ruins of Copan. The white washed buildings with red tiled roofs along cobble stoned streets lend the town a wonderful atmosphere. We stayed in hotel Brisas de Copan, a small family run hotel with very clean rooms and Television in every room. Honduran cable is far superior to any we have encountered thus far showing good quality films on several channels at the same time. Turgay and Amy spent some time in Café Via Via watching Turkey and other teams play in the Euro 2008 soccer tournament Turkey won their match in penalties after scoring the tying goal in the final seconds of overtime. Only a one kilometer walk from town is the archeological site of Copan. This site is one of the most important sites of the ancient Mayan civilization. Though not cheap (about $22 for the site and museum) it is well worth the entrance fee. Sometimes referred to as the “Paris of the Mayan World”, Copan is home to many intricate sculptures and hieroglyphics. There are many impressive Stelae depicting the Mayan kings of Copan, the originals are found in the Copan museum near the entrance to the park. Also in the museum is a replica of the Rosario Temple which was discovered intact beneath a larger temple, through a series of archeological tunnels in 1989. This temple was so sacred that rather than destroy it the new temple was built over it thus preserving it. The most important ruin at Copan is the hieroglyphic stairway which relates the story of the kings of Copan. This site is well maintained, has a pleasant nature trail and is even home to a flock of scarlet Macaws. In the park central of Copan we listened to music in the evenings and wandered up and down the small cobbled streets. Near the town are a butterfly garden, Enchanted Wings, and a bird park, Macaw Mountain. The butterfly garden is only a few minute walk out of town and very informative with all stages of Butterfly development represented and a short tour included in the entrance fee. Macaw Mountain is a bit more expensive and is a 25 minute walk uphill out of town. The ticket covers an extensive personal guided tour and also allows you entrance to the park for three days. Macaw Mountain was established with rescued, injured and endangered birds. The setting is beautiful and there is a café which serves coffee that is grown, harvested, roasted and ground on the premises. We stayed for a total of three nights in Copan before boarding a bus to take us o the Caribbean coast of Honduras. The bus departed early in the morning and was by far the nicest and the coldest bus we had been on yet. The reason for the overactive air conditioning soon became clear, in each small town that we stopped they managed to pack more and more people on the bus until a bus with a seating capacity for about 50 people was carrying at least 100 people. As we made our way to San Pedro Sula we passed through beautiful countryside and despite the number of people on the bus it was a comfortable ride. In San Pedro at the main bus station (which is enormous) we were able to locate the onward bus to take us to La Ceiba from where we boarded a ferry to take us to the Island of Utila.

{Macaw Mountain Bird Park}

Copan Honduras

ma_and_pa — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 01:22:00 GMT

{Macaw Mountain Bird Park}

Rio Dulce Guatemala

ma_and_pa — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 01:23:00 GMT

Amy, Turgay, Chris, Pa’ and myself headed out early in the morning on a small boat from Livingston up the Rio Dulce (Sweet River) to a town that bears the same name. The banks of this scenic river are dotted with fishing villages and individual houses as well as the occasional Finca (a plantation usually turned over to tourism). As we traveled in our small boat up the river we were able to view the daily life of the people who make this river their home; laundry being washed, people out fishing or just traveling on the river to visit neighbors or head to the market. Following the river upstream we journeyed through both thick jungle and steep walled canyons before passing through two areas were the river opens up one being El Golfete and the other lake Izabel, both are home to many large yachts and sailboats as the U.S. Coast Guard has declared these ports the safest harbor in the Caribbean during hurricane season. At the entrance to Lake Izabel is the town of Rio Dulce (also known as Frontera) here the longest bridge in Central America spans the river, connecting the Peten region in the north with the rest of the country. This used to be the last outpost of civilization before a long difficult journey into the Peten region, thus the name Frontera, but with tourism and a new and greatly improved road system all of that has changed. Our boat took us out onto Lake Izabel for a view of the old Spanish fort that sits at the end of the town before finally dropping us off at our hotel. We decided to stay at the Hotel Backpacker’s which is owned and operated by Casa Guatemala, an orphanage. AThe proceeds from the stay and meals in the adjoining restaurant go to support the orphans and the orphanage. Although a great program if you plan on staying hear make sure you stay in the building that is separate from the kitchen facilities or you will be in for a rather warm and definitely odor filled night as we discovered. my and Turgay struck up a conversation with a Turk on the boat (the first Turk they had encountered on their travels) Gökçe was from Istanbul and after six weeks of studying Spanish was traveling all over Guatemala. They spent the afternoon and the evening chatting on the restaurants deck overlooking the river. The next morning after saying goodbye to Gökçe, we all (including Chris) walked across the bridge into town to catch our bus to the border of Honduras. Although the “direct” bus proved to be one bus and two minibuses each progressively smaller than the last, we all eventually made it across the border and boarded our final minibus for the day to the town of Copan Ruinus.

Livingston Guatemala

ma_and_pa — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 01:19:00 GMT

We arrived in Livingston to find that the hostel we were thinking of staying in was booked on our walk back toward the center of town we passed another small hotel, the Dolfin La Posada. It had a pool and looked extremely clean, after discovering it was only slightly over our normal budget we decided to stay there, it proved to be the nicest hotel we have stayed at in Central America. Livingston didn’t have a lot to recommend itself to either Amy or Turgay except the meal they had the first night. A traditional Garifuna (an ethnic group of mixed African and Caribbean origin who live primarily along the coast of central America) seafood stew called Tapado. This stew is served in enormous portions and is well worth the slightly expensive price (if you are on a tight budget it would easily feed two people).

A basic recipe follows: • 5 cloves of Garlic finely minced • 1 large onions diced • 3 or 4 sweet peppers • Half pound of small shrimp peeled and cleaned • 3 to 4 small cleaned fish (left whole, heads intact) • Several small crabs washed and cleaned • 1 pound of shellfish de-bearded and scrubbed (they used mussels) • 1.5 pounds of yucca, sliced and boiled • 2 to 3 sliced cooking bananas • 3 dry coconuts to make coconut milk, or the equivalent amount of tinned coconut milk about 3 cans • 1 Large bunch of cilantro Sauté onions in a large pot until translucent, Add peppers and garlic and continue to cook for a minute or 2 Place all the seafood into the pot with the onions etc and pour salted water over it till it is covered. Put it over a low flame, and when the water starts evaporating, add yucca and bananas. Add coconut milk and salt and pepper to taste. Leave to simmer 15-20 minutes without covering. In Livingston we also came across fellow traveler Chris again and made plans to travel from there to Rio Dulce together.

Placencia Belize

ma_and_pa — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 01:19:00 GMT

We all caught a ride in pick up to a small hotel run by an American ex-pat, where we shared a bathroom ad a kitchen with Chris ad Maartje. The owner of the hotel was extremely nice and even did Amy and Turgay’s laundry for free. Placencia is a small town located on the southernmost tip of the Placencia peninsula. There is one main street for cars and a main pedestrian walkway that follows directly behind the row of hotels and restaurants lining the beach. It was a very cute town but we only stayed the night. We went to a sports bar and watched game 5 of the NBA Finals, the Lakers won but it was a good game. The next morning we got up early had breakfast, did a little bit of poking around the town and then headed to the Hokey Pokey Water Taxi stop to catch the next boat up the river to Mango Creek. It was a pleasant and quick 15 minute ride. We then walked up the road and caught a James Bus to Punta Gorda, where we planned to stay for the night. We weren’t really impressed with the town and by chance we discovered that there was an extra boat to Livingston, Guatemala via Punta Barrios. We managed to catch it and said goodbye to Belize and returned to Guatemala.

Sailing the Cayes Belize

ma_and_pa — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 01:15:00 GMT

We left early in the morning on Friday, taking all of our stuff that would need to be stowed on the boat and only taking a day pack for the next few days. After breakfast we boarded the Raga Queen run by Ragamuffin Tours and headed out sailing with a crew of three (Patrick, Ramsey and Dice) and a group of twelve others passengers not including Pa’ and myself. We took our first snorkeling break along the way to our overnight stop; Amy and Turgay were impressed with the beauty of the reef and the number of fish present. Next we sailed and motored our way to Rendezvous Key our home for the night. This small Caye (read tiny) is home to 9 palm trees and three small clumps of mangrove trees. Our gear and our group were ferried to the Caye in a small dingy and then we set up our tents for the night. Rum punch flowed and much conch ceviche was eaten before dinner was served. A small bonfire was built and maintained or rather increased to a large bonfire by one of the fellow passengers, James. Ally and James also provided a good deal of the entertainment that night, mostly with James’ stories. The next morning we all got up close to dawn and many of us went snorkeling along the beautiful reefs that surround Rendezvous Caye. There were many types of coral and different species of fish, to be seen in the crystalline waters. After snorkeling we packed up and had breakfast on board the Raga Queen before heading off for our second day of sailing.

The Underwater World	Turgay Catches A Barricuda
{The Underwater World}	{Turgay Catches A Barricuda}

The winds were not much in our favor today so we spent most of the day motoring rather than sailing. Amy and a fellow passenger Chris went fishing off the back of the boat. Chris handed the rod over to Turgay while he went to change into something with more sun protection, while he was gone Turgay managed to catch and reel in a good sized Barracuda. We had one snorkeling stop at a part of the reef not connected with any island and a swimming stop before reaching our destination for the night. Tobacco Caye is located closer to Belize near the town of Dangriga. It is home to a few small pensions and hotels with small cabins a restaurant and a bar. We ate our dinner on the dock next to the boat after setting up our camp in the center of the Caye, trying to avoid putting our tents under the coconut palms (for fear of falling coconuts). Amy woke up at dawn and went to watch the sunrise and take some photographs. She was able to take a few good photos before she returned to the tent at a full out run, having been swarmed by mosquitoes. After packing up and heading out for our last morning we had a snorkeling stop not near South Water Caye, a private island that we would have had to pay to just walk on the beach. The reefs here were full of larger fish, but with less variation in the coral than previous stops. Our final snorkeling stop of the trip was at Pelican Caye. Here the fresh water from the Sittee River mixed with the salt water forming a murkier mix. Amy and Turgay decided to forgo swimming or snorkeling here. Chris, another passenger, decided to snorkel the mangroves surrounding the Caye. He returned with reports of how spooky they were and the amazing swarms of mosquitoes and unsettling schools of fish he encountered.

After everyone boarded the boat again we headed back to the mainland on the way as we motored along we had two different dolphins catch a ride with us. The used the momentum created by the boat as it cuts through the water to propel them forward. Besides going up to the bow to look at the Dolphins, everyone did their best to stay in the shade for the rest of the trip as the sun was brutal and there was little or no breeze. We arrived in Placencia Belize in the early afternoon on Sunday, saying goodbye to our crew and fellow passengers. Amy, Turgay, Chris, Maartje, Pa' and I headed out to find a hotel together.

Caye Caulker Belize

ma_and_pa — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 01:13:00 GMT

We crossed the border into Belize walking over with all of our belongings and meeting the same bus on the other side. On the bus we passed through San Ignacio, it is one of the only places we didn’t stop that Amy says she really wishes we had visited. We arrived in Belize City (they call it a city but as Turgay says by Istanbul standards it is barely a neighborhood) in the early afternoon and got immediately on a departing boat for Caye Caulker. After a very fast 45 minute boat ride we arrived on this small island, and walking down the beach we found our hotel, purple bungalows we had seen during the boat ride. Caye Caulker is very laid back a great place to snorkel or just hand out in a hammock reading a good book. Amy and Turgay spent most of our time here walking up and down the island, eating shrimp sticks from the Shrimp Stick Man and some of the best cake ever from the Cake Man. The Cake Man arrives daily just before sunset and never makes it all the way into town before he has sold all his goodies. Amy and Turgay’s favorite was the coconut macaroon brownie. We also had a chance to watch two NBA games in the great atmosphere of the Barrier Reef Sports Bar where everyone was picking on everyone else and the insults were flowing but only in the best natured way. Also on our second day we were able to see Turkey beat the Swiss in soccer for part of the first round of the Euro 2008. On our second day on the island, we were considering a full day snorkeling trip when we stopped to talk to the people down at Ragamuffin tours and decided instead on a three day two night sailing/snorkeling trip that would take us to the southern tip of Belize, Placencia.

Tikal Flores Guatemala

ma_and_pa — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 01:13:00 GMT

We left Lanquin early in the morning heading off to Flores with a tourist minibus. We stopped briefly in Copan where Turgay and Amy found what they said was excellent banana bread. As we continued on the eight hour journey we came to a river at Sayaxche. There was no bridge and after getting out of the minibus we realized there was a “ferry” that would take us and the minibus across the river. It was probably the most basic car ferry that any of us had ever been on but the journey was without any problems and there were refreshments to be had in the form of green coconuts with straw stuck in them. We arrived in Flores in the late afternoon and took a look around. The park central was located in the center of the island or isthmus and was actually on the top of a hill. Here there were locals lounging and music playing as well as two separate games of soccer being played. The thing that Amy and Turgay remember best about Flores, where the giant water beetles that would fly into the side of buildings and end up on their backs all over the sidewalks and roadways. Being large beetles they were pretty much helpless on their backs with legs flailing in the air. After about the 50th of these roach like insects you started to get used to them. It seems that the locals find killing them great sport, although we didn't participate there were some older gentlemen who where killing them with great zeal. We returned to our hotel after an early dinner at Cool Beans cafe and booked a sunrise tour for Tikal the next morning. Tikal is an ancient Mayan city that was at its peak during the Mayan classical period and was one of the most important cities religiously and culturally for the Mayans. We were picked up by the bus at 3:30 in the morning and drove the hour and fifteen minutes from Flores and arrived at Tikal, climbing to the top of temple five just as the sun began to rise. We spent half an hour in silence as the sky turned shades of red, pink and orange and the jungle began to awaken around us. Mist rose over the top of the canopy while the calls of the Toucans and parrots mixed with those of the howler monkeys. After descending the temple we choose our guide, not the one we were actually supposed to b e with but the one that appealed to us most for his lively and animated explanation of Mayan culture and life in Tikal. Caesar (Email) really has a gift for the dramatic and is a wealth of knowledge about his people, the country and the past. Drawing on many sources and his education he was able to make the scene come alive for us. We spent the next four hours exploring the site climbing to the top of temples (one of the climbs up some of the steepest steps any of us had ever seen) ending our tour in the Grand Plaza in front of the Jaguar temple. After the tour we had a couple of hours to wander around on our own and we took the opportunity to walk over to temple 6, the temple of the inscriptions. On the way we were lucky enough to happen on a group of Coati about 30 with many young. We spent about 15 minutes among them and took many photographs. Among the other wildlife we encountered were some of the most aggressive and evil mosquitoes, Turgay has a scar on his hand to prove it. At the very end of our time in Tikal we looked to see if we could find the Crocodile in the small lake, but we didn’t see any evidence of any except the many warning signs. We headed back to Flores already having had a full day of hiking and sightseeing and it was only noon. Amy and Turgay spent the afternoon and evening in Cool Beans Café with a group of tourists hanging out talking about politics, sex and religion (all the subjects everyone warns you stay away from). The next morning we boarded another early bus to take us to Belize City to catch the boat to Caye Caulker.

Semuc Champey Lanquin Gutemala

ma_and_pa — Mon, 9 Jun 2008 01:10:00 GMT

The journey to Lanquin was a long one, we traveled all day beginning in San Pedro La Laguna traveling to Antigua and from there to Guatemala City followed by another journey to Coban and a final minibus ride over some paved and some unpaved roads to arrive at our destination. Lanquin, a small town in north central Guatemala, has a population composed mostly of indigenous people of Q’eqchi’ Maya descent. Having little to offer the traveler besides caverns, a few hotels and three or four restaurants, Lanquin is none the less located in a beautiful setting surrounded by mountains. Its main draw however is its proximity to Semuc Champey. Semuc Champey is located 11km to the south of Lanquín, in a valley with steep walls, surrounded by humid tropical forest and is a national park. Pools full of mountain spring water sit atop 300m long natural limestone bridge, formed by the Cahabón River which flows below it. At the end of the bridge, the water from the pools flows down 15 meters in a beautiful waterfall, to rejoin the river. We took a guided tour to Semuc Champey loading into a mini bus with a group of tourists and some locals, after filling all available seating in the minibus several more people sat on the roof, so that our view of the forest was framed by legs and feet. After arriving at the national park, the tour started with a short climb down to a look out where there is a view of the waterfall. Then we climbed and scrambled up and up a steep slippery trail for about 45 minutes to the top of the cliffs to have a bird’s eye view of the natural pools. After climbing and down we watched as the river rushed under the limestone with great power while above the pools we calm and the water flowed gentely, in the pools we were able to take a much needed and much deserved swim. The water was beautiful cool and clear, and the weather after the last two weeks of rain was perfect, sunny and bright. Following our swim Turgay and the group climbed down a rope ladder that had been lowered over the waterfall and into a cavern to have a view of the river from behind the rushing water. We waited up top with Amy who like us thought better of climbing over the side of a cliff in rushing water. We returned to Lanquin and after searching for an open restaurant and borrowing money from a fellow traveler (there are no ATMs in Lanquin) we were finally able to eat dinner. The next morning we headed out early to travel to Flores.

San Pedro La Laguna Guatemala

ma_and_pa — Fri, 6 Jun 2008 01:06:00 GMT

We arrived at Panajachel on the shores of Lake Atitlan in the Guatemalan highlands in the early afternoon and went straight down to the dock where after avoiding all the people trying to "help us" we boarded a boat that took us to the opposite shore of the Lake to San Pedro La Laguna. A small town with a population of approximately 13,000 people, on the Western shore of Lake Atitlan beneath the volcano which also bears its name, San Pedro La Laguna is inhabited primarily with Tz'utujil Mayan. Mostly subsistence farmers and fisherman there is also a growing ex-pat community. We stayed in a small hotel near the docks for the boats to Panajachel the first night. However after the construction that began at 6 in the morning and continued despite the pouring rain we choose to move to a hotel we had found during our wanderings the previous evening. Sen Pedro is famous for it's natural setting, hiking and kayaking opportunities. Due to the rain that fell heavily for six days straight we were unable to partake in these activities. Amy and Turgay spent most of the time preparing the web site and organizing the pictures they had taken up until this point. They fell in love with a restaurant there called Zoola (they told us it was the Hebrew word for relax) and spent a lot of time just hanging out. After six days Pa' and I finally said we didn't think it was going to stop raining any time soon, Amy and Turgay agreed and we all decided to move on to Lanquin and Semuc Champey.