I have a rule that I don’t leave a place until I have posted pics and blogged about it. I broke that rule about 10 days ago. You see, the day I headed to Semuc Champey, I was writing an infringement analysis process test that the engineers in India took today. I was on course to write 30 questions a day, when I left on the 7 hour jungle drive to Semuc from Antigua, Guatemala. Upon arrival at the El Portal Inn, at the entrance to Semuc, I learned that the hostel only had 4 hours of electricity per day. My computer batteries were dead from writing questions on the drive there, and there was no power on arrival, so I lost two days of work. You can’t bring your B game when you work with ... read more

Last night I went scuba diving on my first night dive. As luck would have it, the plankton was bioluminescent. This means that 50 feet below the surface, when we turned off our underwater lights, we were surrounded by natural lights in the form of glowing plankton. Imagine the brightest starry night you have ever experienced in your life, out in the middle nowhere, with no city lights and no moon at all. The stars were so bright, they all looked like north stars. That is how bright the glowing plankton was. Now imagine that you can touch the stars. You can reach out grab the stars and hold them in your hands. From the ocean bottom all the way to the surface, you are gliding through these beautiful bright stars that you can reach out ... read more

I just landed in Managua, Nicaragua. I flew in this morning from San Jose, Costa Rica. Now I am on a dirt road in the taxi to Granada, Nicaragua. The windows are down because the taxi doesn’t have air conditioning, but the temperature is pleasantly warm. The wind is blowing in my hair. The driver has a cassette player that is playing Rod Stewart at full volume. The driver is singing along at the top of his lungs, “If you want my body and you think I’m sexy, come on baby let me know.” It is a good thing I like the song, and his voice isn’t all bad. I don’t know all the words, but I am helping him with the chorus. From the looks I am getting in the rear view mirror, I may ... read more

After 2 weeks near San Jose in a burb called Escazu, I decided it was time to head to the beach to pick a possible base to travel from while I explore Central America. Here are the major choices I found along the way: Playa de Coco: Gorgeous countryside and beaches. Medium in terms of human development; small in size, walkable, quaint. A few people going late into the night, but more relaxed in general. Playa de Tamarinda: Gorgeous countryside and beaches. More developed, more restaurant choices, more first world visitors. Suitable for people who want to dance all night, and maybe skinny dip to cool off after. Jaco: Eww. Big rocky, littered beaches. Major human development. Some obvious prostitution, major foreign influences, higher crime, less quaint. The crowd approaches what we would call “trailer park” ... read more

Okay, so a good friend of mine, not on facebook, just pointed out the obvious to me … I have been in Costa Rica for 3 weeks, and I haven’t posted anything on my travel blog. I am going to play the “one sentence” game since I don’t have time to write much right now. San Jose: More beautiful and livable than I expected. Escazu: Less Costa Rican, more Americanized? High prices. Cleaner and more organized than other suburbs of San Jose? More likely to encounter English speakers, and less likely to experience how locals live. Comfort living for travel phobes?... read more