Exotic Endeavours

Gallery: Belize

seths-pad — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 12:11:00 GMT

Belize

You better Belize it!!

seths-pad — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 11:44:00 GMT

After a 4 hour bus ride through the jungles of Belize arrived at Belize city where i took a 1 hr ferry ride to Caye Caulker, an island just off the coast of Belize. Here my friend Jody met me and got me settled into my hostel that was situated right on the beach. The island was gorgeous, white sand beaches and crystal clear blue water. The worlds 2nd largest barrier reef is located here off the coast of Belize. My first full day i took a day long snorkelling tour on a sail boat. We went to three different marine parks along the barrier reef. During my time diving i saw sea turtles, Baracuda, Sharks, Goliath groupers, corals, etc. it was great, ohh yeah and sting rays !

The next day i wanted to go night diving, but they would only take me if i set up a group. so i scrounged the island for some adventurous people. First i made my friend Jody sign up and 2 other friends i had met the day before. We left at about 7pm in the dark and boated out for about half an hour into the pitch dark ocean. The starts were so bright but still it was FREAKY as all get out. Once we arrived at the buoy indicating we were in the marine park our dive operator instructed us to get our gear on and jump in!.. because it was my idea i had to go first, my original excitement turned to extreme fear as i watched the dark shawdows of sharks and rays circle our little boat.

I jumped in struggling to catch my breath, as i reached for my flash light and shawn it into the deep all i could see were eyes and fins and bubble swimming away. Our guide dived in and told us to follow him , he slowly guided us for 2 hours through the reef from DEEP water to Very shallow where the reef was just about touching us. As i swam i was swarmed by 1000s of small fish all attracted to me because the blood sucking blood worms hanging off my googles and in my hair. These womrs when pushed or eaten would expel glowing substances at times the whole reef was lit with bright green and blue light. 3 species of lobsters were busy eating, parrot fish were alseep in there mucous cocoons, Nocternal species of sharks were out hunting there dinner.

I called for the group to stop and turn of there lights, half way into our dive. We all floated in a group in the pur darkness, then we all started splashing about, the water became completely luminescent it was magical!!!...

This was the most exciting day of my life i think!! We slowy made our way to shore in the boat watching shooting stars.

Beleive in Belize

Gallery: Guatemala

seths-pad — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 11:25:00 GMT

Guatemala

Tikal, Entering the MAYAN world.

seths-pad — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 07:58:00 GMT

After a qucik 4 hour bus ride back to Antigua and a 1hour ride to Guatemala city, i took 1hr flight to Flores. From Flores i took a taxi through the night to a small town 45mins from the Tikal ruins site.

My first full day here i went to a bio adventure park where i went on a hanging bridges , self guided tour. I saw the elusive yellow trogon closely related to the almost extinct Quetzal. Also many spider monkeys, Toucans, and other forest creautres.

The next day i awoke at 3am and jumped in a shuttle to the Tikal ruins. We arrived at Tikal a lil before 4am. There was about 100 of us tired tourists. We then hiked through the darkness for 1 hour. The jungle roared with haunting sounds i can´t even begin to explain how amazing this was. The howlder monkeys howling at full volume from the dark bushes lining the dirt path. The scream of vulutres and the occasional roar of a ticked of Margay , puma or Jaguar. We eventually made it to the tallest temple at Tikal we then climbed up the the precarious steps to the top where the group watched the sunrise over the 14 000 mayan ruins that lay here. I had a tarantula sitting beside me enjoying the view.

What an amazing place .. just check out my pics. I can´t forget to tell you about the tarntula i found in my bed he was sooo cute i´ll post his pics too.

Peace Seth.

Atitlan

seths-pad — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 07:50:00 GMT

After a 4 hour bus ride north of Antigua i arrived at Lago Atitlan, a Moderatley sized lake surrounded by volcanoes and many villages. Atitlan is famous for maintaining its idegnous cultures all 27 of them found here. I stayed in the small town of San pedro, where there were no roads just small paths between stores, hotels, schools etc.

The hotel i stayed at was very nice sporting an amazing view of the crystal clear blue water of the lake. My 2nd day at in San pedro i rented a horse and road half way up the volcano for a few hours and took my horse to the volcanic sand beach for a quick dip. On the 3rd day i woke up at 5 am and took my horse back out and rode up a differnt volcano and watched the sunrise. It was very nice the village dogs decided to follow me up so i had quite the gang. The trail was quite trecherous and my horse slipped quite a few times leaving us both a bit shook up.

Antigua Guatemala

seths-pad — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 06:38:00 GMT

After doing laundry in Grenada i set out for Guatemala. The bus left from Managua so i had to spend the entire day there. It was the most ugly city i have ever seen. It was basically a giant garbage dump that millions of people lived in. The entire journey to Antigua took 32hrs !!!! On the way there we passed through honduras and El Salvador. Antigua is the old Guatamala city but due to Earth Quakes and political unrest it was moved 50 kms away. Antigua is a gorgeous small town surrounded by many volcanoes. The streets are filled with mayan farmers selling fresh goods and souveniers. The city is full of ruins from before the earth quake. On my second full day here i took a shuttle to Volcan paya where a group of us rode and hiked and climbed up to near the top where the lava was flowing. Posinous gasses seaped out of the crevices so one had to be careful no to breath to deeply. Here ontop of the volcanoe we roasted marshmellows and melted our shoes!

Volcan Ometepe

seths-pad — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 04:41:00 GMT

After a great time in Grenada felipe and i headed to two vocanoes in the middle of lake Nicarugua called Ometepe. One of the volcanoes , volcan concheal is still alive. We stayed at a very nice hotel on the shore of the lake. Our first full day we rented horses for a short ride then decided to venture up the volcanoe on mountain bike. The blistering afternoon heat ensured that we used up all our water on the way up the volcano. After nearly summitting it was 6pm and we were exhuasted! We then rode our bikes down the steep, rocky , twisty trail down the volcanoe(IN THE DARK WITH NO HEAD PROTECTION). Our 2nd full day we rented horses again and rode along the beach for a few hours. It was so much fun gallopping at full speed, jumping over drift wood and trotting through streams and lagoons. We took our horses with us to a fancy restruant where they enjoyed a rest under a palm tree and we enjoyed banana , curry , chicken shikibobs. What a beautiful place ometepe was, the people seem really be happy there, i even noticed the free range farm animals to be enjoying their life too!

on the day of my birthday we left the island on a ferry early in the morning and headed to rivas so Felipe could start his long journey back to San jose. We were both very sad to depart, but he is on his way to spending 3 weeks in europe and me i have so much more to see.

Gallery: Nicaragua

seths-pad — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 05:22:00 GMT

Nicaragua

Grenada Nicarugua

seths-pad — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 05:07:00 GMT

After a great time in Montezuma we took a bus back to Belen and the next morning at 5 am woke up to head off to Nicarugua. Our bus was only a portion full so Felipe and i took advantage stretched our bodies across 2 rows of seats only to be awakened by people needing to pass by to go to the bano. The border was a little sketchy but we made it through. Evnetually after riding a few busses and taxis we arrived at our hostel in Granada. The hostel was beautiful , with a restruant, swimming pool, and net cafe. Our first full day here we went on a Zip line tour on the side of mombacho Volcano and for the 2nd half of the day we took the Opera tour. The opera tour was a crazy nicaruguan women singing opera about the history of the town and country and we also took a boat around the 300 islands in and around lago de nicarugua.

Mlontezuma

seths-pad — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 11:52:00 GMT

After a full day of bussing we arrived in the nicoya pennisula, on the pacific, it is quite amazing to go from the carribean to the pacific in one day. Our first day in montezuma we lounged around the beach and attempted to swim in the treacherous waters of the pacific. the waves were so enormous they would knock you over and drag you along the stoney bottom very scary stuff. In the evening we hired a guide and headed up to a waterfall in the jungle. Due to heavy rains the river was rushing and we had to tredge through rapids and scale sheer rock walls. Once we arrived at the water fall we climbed up the side of the falls and cliff dived or cliff belly flopped . The 2nd day we headed to rain song a wild animal rehab centre. It was so much fun, you can just walk into the cages full of crazy jungle animals, i got to cuddle 4 porcupines, a squirrel, monkeys, skunks, possums, toucans,, parrots, wild boars, pacas, and the cutest baby ant eater that we got to take for a walk so he could feed on delicious ants. What a great experience once the animals are rehabbed they are released. From here we took a quick stomp in cano blanco park and then bussed back to san jose for one nights rest before nicarauga.

Tortuguerro

seths-pad — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 23:27:00 GMT

I waited in Belen for Felipes arrival for 2 days. Our first day we journied to san jose to take the bus to the carribean unfortunatly we missed it by 5 minutes so we had to stay in a scary hostel downtown. In the morning we bussed for 4 hours then took a 2 hour boat ride through the swamps to the small town of tortuguerro. This place is famous for the large amounts of nesting sea turtles. The first full day we rented a kayak at 6am and paddled are way into the estuaries of the park. It was beautiful old growth jungle filled with monkeys, flocks of parrots of all types , river turtles and crocodiles etc. We kayaked for about 6 hours and saw so much , at one point a green viper slithered froma small island onto my crotch area, when i flipped out and it did as well and swam to land.We also found a crocodile nest so i decided to take the oppurtunity to snorkel with the crocs. It seemed like a good idea but as i entered the murkey muddy waters and became engulfed by darkness and sludge and water creatures i had a panic attack of sorts.

That night we went on a turtle hike to the beach with a guide and watched giant green sea turtles lay their eggs in dug out nests on the beach. Theses turtles were atleast 400 lbs and were around 100 yrs old. It was magical to see these giants. We also found a giant hercules beetle and a very cute tarantula which i took the opportunity to pat.

After 2 days we took the ferry and bus back to san jose where we started the next leg of our journey.

Forest Of Dreams

seths-pad — Mon, 4 Aug 2008 13:33:00 GMT

Lyle and i made our way to Manuel Antonio, where we stayed at nice hotel on the beach, in the trees surrounding our room white face monkeys curiously played while throwing coconuts at us and the other guests. We rented 2 horses and had a guide take us into an old indian resreve where we hiked up the side of a mountain to a beautiful network of Waterfalls. Surrounding th falls were large amounts of poison arrow frogs. These little guys are just stunning you can check out their pics in my costa rica album. We rode our horses a few km´s through a stream filled with turtles, king fishers, and its share of crocodillians who i am coming to get quite comfortable with. The next day we went to the park our highlights included 5 sloths!, also a family group of monkeys that decided we looked friendly i got to touch one of the males! while the biologists looked at me horrified hehe. I am now back in San jose resting for 1 day before i head to the carribean coast to witness the sea turtles laying and hatching, and if i am lucky swim with manatees!

Infectious Infections

seths-pad — Fri, 1 Aug 2008 04:20:00 GMT

Its been a while since i journalled because i have been laying low hoping that i will fight ouf all these infections etc. I am now back in Costa rica in belen a small town outside of San Jose. Before leaving Panama I went to the grand opening of the new Chapel the latter day saints opened, 30million was the cost to build this behomoth. They welcomed the 100s of guests to see their brand new facility. First locking us in small rooms and making us watch videos then slowly taking us from room to room and explaining what the signifigance of each room had. All i can say is WOW that is wierd!!! They baptise their dead in this giant bath on the back of 6 golden cows! And don´t even get me started on the Celestial room!

I was lucky enough to visit a small carnival in panama city as well with local music and some bright costumes and of course lots of food! I convinced my panamanian friend Raffi to venture deep into the jungle on the carribean side of the country to visit with the Kuna people here. We had to leave at 5am in the morning from the Hostel, 2 other girls from Ireland joined us. The ride took us 4 hrs and was beyond bumpy. I suffered a semi black eye and severe back pain from laying on the floor and bumping around into people like a butterfly in a hurricane. The Kuna people were straight forward they took us to our very own island where we were served lunch and i snorkelled in the most elaborate coral reef i have ever laid eyes on. Lobsters, squid, jelly fish, urchins, sting rays, Dolphins all came over to greet me , at this point i didn´t care if had drown my fever ridden body i was in heaven.! The Kuna people served us whole lobsters and fish for dinner, gross i know. We slept in traditional huts thatched from palm husk and leaves.

The last week in Panama i just went to the movies with friends, and mosied around the American made Causeway and ohh yeah visited the panama canal what a bore. There were no animals!

I took the over night bus to san jose from panama city with Katie a friend i had met with the Kuna people on the islands of San Blas. We sat in that bus for over 20hrs! Ugh what a crazy ride! I now am awaiting for the arrival of my bestie Lyle who will fly in tonight for 5 days.

Stupid Flu.

seths-pad — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 05:39:00 GMT

Okay so for a few weeks now i have been sick. Its really awful being so sick in a foreign country and alone. Scary would be the word. I know that with me when i get sick i get really sick then they give me antibiotics which tend to turn my body into a vegetable for about a month as my immuno compromised system struggles to find some sort of balance. As i spend my days here at the hospital or in my jail cell of a hotel room i remain thankful that i am here in Panama and faithful that soon i will on the go again. I decided i must journal today because the events of last night were just so darn exciting. As my friends drove me back to Casco Viejo there was a police check point set up. We stopped as ussual and gave them our info. But this time there was a problem with my info apparently they did not like my copy of my passport. They instructed us to get of the car they then searched us on the side of the street and the car. After that they allowed my friends to get back in the car and they arrested me and cuffed me to the back of a police wagon. We drove to the police station where i was strip searched and spoken to in spanish so i dunno what they were saying lol. I was trembling in fear but continued to smile. They stuck in me a cell that was Packed full of guys i squished in my smile turned to a face of Oh my goodness do i ever need to go to the bathroom!!!! Let me out i have to go i have Dieariah!!!! listen to me ! ahhhh, What a nightmare i have to go ! Anyways soon after being locked up i was driven to the Tourist Police Jail and they took me to my hotel where they looked at my Original passport and apologised. They said i was a cool guy ?????

Thats my story..

Lame eh.....

P.S. I made it to the toilet :)

Gallery: Panama

seths-pad — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 08:51:00 GMT

Panama

Panama City

seths-pad — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 08:18:00 GMT

My week in uvita was nice though i didn't do any farm work i more lazed around the farm i was not feeling very energetic. I learned a few things about cooking though and some new jungle foods that i can eat. My new fav. food is Fruit of palm it tastes like sweet potato and spices mmmm and very filling. This fruit is suppose to be very healthy! While in uvita i went to the full moon party where all the locals come together and gossip and dance etc. was great meeting everyone. I met lots of cool people at the neighboring hostal and at my farm. because my friend cancelled his flight to visit me end of june i decided i would take this time to visit Panama city. I took a bus for 14 hours!!!! all the way to the city! The first night i stayed in a Mansion beside the canal this area was breath taking! Since then i have been staying casco veijo which is the oldest part of Panama city , colonial architecture and blown up buildings due to captain morgan igniting the cities gun powder stash in the 1600s. I really like this city the smog is not to bad, the locals are nice, and its just beautiful!

More to Come.

Finally in Uvita!

seths-pad — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 02:23:00 GMT

On Sunday arrived by bus in Uvita aroung 10pm at night the bus from San Jose took me about 8hrs. Ugh the roads are not paved so the bus drives slowly and because it is rainy season there are some major pot holes! Upon arriving in uvita i walked north a bit and stayed at El Toucan a hostel, i shared my room with two califorian girls we chatted until 1 am about global warming and why we belive it is so important to get out and explore the world while we still have one! Sorry about the run on sentences but my internet useage is timed haha so i am just typing like crazy! Yesterday i arrived at the farm i walked there in the hot after noon sun with all my bags... woooo i got heat stroke !! i spent most of the day in bed about to vomit! ugh... today i still feel really sick . right now on the farm there is 3 germans and 2 turks and apparently two guys from the USA will arrive tomorrow. I am hoping to work on growing and cultivating foods in the green house while many of the others are doing carpentry. The hostel that i stayed at offered me a position there which is exciting but its not an organic farm its just a place where i will meet cool people travelling! ugh... So here goes my farm stay , this round will be about 2 weeks then i will meet lyle in San jose for a 4 day resort stay! then back to the same farm or maybe a differnt one or perhaps i will head over the carribean and spend some time on the islands in a cabina.

Bussed out!

seths-pad — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 12:28:00 GMT

Yesterday we bussed from Tamarindo to Manuel Antonio. the ride took exactly 13hrs. It wouldn't be that bad accept that my legs don't fit in a costa rican bus at all!!! ugh.. Last night we had dinner in an old fighter plane that crashed 50 years ago and now is a really cool restaraunt. Today we went into Manuel antonio park and we saw TONS of monkeys a sloth, agoutis, lizards , snakes, Toucans just about everything!! We are staying in a beautiful hostel over looking the park and the ocean it is breath taking and only 12 $ a night and we have a pvt room! Tomorrow if i am still breathing i want to try surfing !

<the adventure continues

seths-pad — Mon, 9 Jun 2008 12:59:00 GMT

i left san jose after a great night of latin dancing with shivonne and johnny we were up until 3 am it was so much fun. we left on a bus to tamarindo the ride was about 6 hours and included a popped tire. here we are staying in a 2 bedroom cabin on the beach it is very commercial here just like wassaga in grand bend. we were lucky enough to go to a ranch today and ride horses through the mountains and also visited the tamarindo marine park.

Jet Leg

seths-pad — Wed, 4 Jun 2008 03:49:00 GMT

So Monday was the day from Hell i attempted to enjoy a whole day in downtown san jose. It did not go so smoothly i was utterly lost and the smog was causing me to nearly choke. I did how ever go to 3 museums which were semi interesting. My fav. part of the day was seeing 3 differnt species of parrots living in the busy city! so cute!! Yesterday i just walked around belen and went a few miles up the highway to a mall and saw a movie my body is so fatigued hopefully i will be over this soon. My highlight yesterday was running into a baby honey bear, i am not sure how they came upon this animal but i loveeeee honey bears hehe so i had to give it some cuddles!