Rest of Central America

After Chris and Erin’s wedding, we lost some of our blogging mojo, but here is a quick wrap-up of the rest of our Central America trip; Nicaragua, Honduras, and Guatemala.


- Hiking, kayaks, and riding horses with birds and monkeys at Charco Verde on Isla de Ometepe on Giant Lake Nicaragua; reminder there is more to riding a horse than left, right, and stop. Vana gets a bad case of traveler’s shoulder from pulling her busted suitcase down the dirt road.


- catching our breath in pleasant Granada, Nicaragua; beautiful Hotel El Club, one of our best finds yet.



- The joy of family food and hobbies; Aneilka’s Mom’s tamales and her Dad’s farm in Managua.

tamales in Nicaragua style - Nicamale!

New life on the farm

- Tagging along with two Israeli dive instructors from Managua to Utila, Honduras, and receiving expert travel assistance by skiff when the ferry is broken.


- Diving the crystal blue Caribbean on the north shore of Utila, with the sun and surf crashing above. Dive masters debate the names of fish while Vana edits pictures in the seaside bar.

puffer fish with crazy eye color

Shirmps

sea horse

giant moray

nudibrach

night dive

- Mayan ruins, friendly locals, and street eats in Copan, Honduras. - Scoping out the Spanish school scene in Antigua, Guatemala; loving the Yellow House with cheap clean rooms and awesome breakfast.


- after Kevin left. I studied Spanish in Antigua, Guatemala for 6 weeks. I had an amazing time there, made friends with locals and other international students! me gusta Antigua y Guatemala!

learning how to make tortilla from locals

mis amigos

hiking on active volcano, Pacaya. Amazing experience!

lovin Antigua

party in El Salvador during x'mas

Costa Rica

Nov 18 Bocas del Toro to San Jose, Costa Rica by land

Today we take boat, taxi, and 4 buses to get to San Jose, Costa Rica. We arrive in the evening and check into the Hostel Pangea in Amor, just north of downtown. The hostel is American gringo city, packed with Lonely Planet readers.

boat, taxi, bus, bus, border by foot, bus, bus, taxi

Nov 19, San Jose, Costa Rica

Today, we walk around town, visit a museum, and check out downtown and the Central Market.

museum

tasty eats in a soda in the Central Market

Nov 20 San Jose, Costa Rica

Today, we take a terrible and expensive tour to Volcano Poais.

Unfortunately, the volcano is covered in thick rain clouds, and we can’t see anything. Our guide is crap and doesn’t make any effort to explain any interesting plants or anything. It wouldn’t happen in Ecuador! The second stop is to a coffee plantation, and again our tour guide disappoints.

The best part of the tour is running into Erin’s Mom, Marty, and family at the volcano; a true gringo trail moment!

hiking in the rain in Volcano Poais park

coffee plantation

Nov 21-28 Montezuma, Costa Rica

Chris Robertson’s wedding, snorkeling, diving, surfing, canopy tour.

To Montezuma by Erin and Chris wedding bus and ferry

Chris & Erin's beautiful wedding, no reasons for head scratching!

snorkeling

diving

canopy tour

tasty Mahi Mahi

surfing

lots of cool wild life in Montezuma!

CLICK HERE to see Chris & Erin's beautiful wedding.

CLICK HERE to see more wild life in Montezuma.

CLICK HERE to see snorkeling pictures.

CLICK HERE to see diving pictures.

Nov 28-29, Montezuma travel north to Isla de Ometepe, Nicaragua

We find Costa Rica expensive and touristy, and decide to pass through after the wedding. We only have a few weeks left on our trip, with several important stops to make.

We travel two days from Montezuma to Isla de Ometepe, Nicaragua, with a stay in Liberia, Costa Rica. The border crossing is a little messy with touts running around confusing things. Also, for some reason they require a copy of Vana’s passport because she was born in China. We arrive on the island with no problems and stay the night at the American Café and Hotel in Moyogalpa.

Bus, boat, taxi, bus, bus, taxi, hotel, taxi, bus, border by foot, bus, taxi, boat