Eileen Carter
****September 2010****EileenCarter
I'll be in Europe from September 18th until October 10th. I start in London and I'll visit Stonehenge too before making a brief stop in Paris. Then I am off to Germany for two weeks. Cross your fingers for nice weather, good food and some fun with a new language!
Eileen
**************December 2008*******************
I'll be in Central America from December 5th to mid January!
I start with a night flight on December 5th, arriving in Panama December 6th! I spend a few days in Panama City to acclimatize, and then I move on to Boquette and Bocas del Toro. Next, I cross the border into Costa Rica, heading to San Jose, Monte Verde and Santa Elena. After that I head into Nicarauga to Rivas and Granada.
El Salvador is the next stop, and I intend to spend some time in some small villages - not sure of where, before moving into Honduras to Copan Ruinas. Then Antigua, Gautemala, and Lake Aitlan, Flores and Tikal. I'll cross the border into Belize and visit Tulum. After that, I'll cross into Mexico, visiting Chichen Itza, before heading to Mexico City. I'll stop in a number of places as I head north from there to San Diego.
From San Diego I head to LA and then to Tehachapi, California where I'll spend a couple of days soaring with Skylark North and their Grob G103, DG1000 and ASK-21! And then it will be finally time to return to the rain and wind of home!
I'm doing all of this by bus! In Central America and Mexico, I intend to travel mostly on the 1960's converted school buses known as Chicken Busses. They are exceptionally cheap (long trips for 2-3 dollars) and a good way to see local flavour. I'm staying mostly in hostels, which are often as low as $3 per night! I am also doing a bit of hospitality club stuff, staying with locals in their homes.
All in all, it should be a FANTASTIC trip. I haven't done a really big trip since India 3 years ago, and I've been itching for an adventure.
Merry Christmas in advance!
I hope you like my blog!
Eileen
Travel Blog Posts
January 8th 2009
Saturday I woke early to catch the 7:15 am bus to Chichen Itza. I was looking forward to a nice hot shower, but was upset to discover that the water wasn't working. I got ready without it, and tried out my spanish by complaining at the front desk and trying to get some of my money back (after all, I had paid for a room with a bathroom....). No luck though, the guy firgured that since the entire hotel didn't have water (not just my room), then I shouldn't get any money back. Slightly peeved (and smelly) I left and caught my bus. Along the way I met a nice young couple from the USA, and sat beside a friendly Italian guy. The bus dropped us off along the highway, and we hiked in to the ... read more
New Years and entering Mexico
Published: January 3rd 2009North America » Mexico » Yucatán » Valladolid
January 2nd 2009
Well, I am back in North America! Mexico anyways :) December 31st turned out to be a beautiful day, and I really enjoyed spending it with Megan. We had lunch at a cute cafe south of the hostel, enjoying the two-for-one special on the pina coladas ;) After we got our errands done and had lunch, we headed off in search of the Cake Lady. The Cake Lady is this marvellous woman who bakes cakes in the morning, and sells them from a push cart in the afternoon and early evening. She makes all kinds of cakes and pies - key lime, coconut and chocolate pies, and chocolate fudge cake, with chocolate or caramel icing. There are also brownies! She sells them for 4-5 Belize dollars, or about $2-$2.50 USD. They are so delicious, that I ... read more
Celebrating the New Year in Caye Caulker
Published: December 31st 2008Central America Caribbean » Belize » Belize Barrier Reef » Caye Caulker
January 1st 2009
The water taxi to Belize took about an hour. Leaving from a dock in Belize City, it eased through a tight canal with boats of all sorts on both sides, and passed shops that cater to the many cruiseships that arrive in the area, before taking to more open water at a higher speed. The water was not to rough, and the sun was out, so it was a pleasant trip in the 75 foot, passenger only, motor boat. We arrived in the afternoon sun at a older wooden dock and walked a few feet to the shore. The girls waited for their luggage, which was following on a second boat due to lack of room, and I hurried to Tina's backpackers, right near the dock, to check if there was space. There wasn't, and the ... read more
Tikal, Guatemala and arriving in Belize
Published: December 30th 2008Central America Caribbean » Guatemala » Petén Region » Flores
December 28th 2008
My day started early Friday morning, with a 5 am wakeup to try and race Fabien for the shower. I got there first and soaked in the warm water. You never know when you'll get a hot shower in Central America! I'm not such a princess that I need hot water....but it sure is more pleasant! The shuttle arrived right at 6am, and Charlotte, Fabien and I climbed in. We picked up an Italian named Michael, before hitting the road. It was a short trip to the Honduras/Guatemalan border, and the crossing was easy. Other than the officials and money changers, no one else seemed to be there. Even the money changers sounded sleepy as they hounded us to switch our lempiras for quetzals. The others lay down and slept as our driver wound through the ... read more
Christmas in Copan
Published: December 30th 2008Central America Caribbean » Honduras » Western » Copán Ruinas
December 25th 2008
Merry Christmas from Honduras! As it turns out, this town doesn´t sleep on Christmas day! Almost everything seems to be open, and I´ve already been offered to go on a horse riding trip at least 4 times! I had forgetten to include a few details in yesterdays blog, so after I am done here I´m going to go back and fill those in....nothing major, but I am writing this mostly so I later re-read this and better remember my trip. Just thought I´d mention it, for those die hard fans out there (anyone? no? ....lol). Yesterday I left La Palma, El Salvador at about 930, and a chicken bus picked me up on the road right in front of the hotel. I had bought some more of those delicious cookies for the bus ride! I got ... read more
El Salvador and Merry Christmas
Published: December 24th 2008Central America Caribbean » El Salvador » Central » La Palma
December 24th 2008
Hi everyone! First, I´ll wish everyone a Merry Christmas, just in case (1) I have no internet access tomorrow and (2) some people don´t read all the way to the end of my blogs :) So, Merry Christmas/feliz navidad to you and your families! On Saturday I tried to stay up all night, but without any luck - I was dozing in a hammock, so I laid down for a few minutes sleep. I woke at about 2:45 and showered, packed, and was almost ready when the cab driver arrived. There were two other guys in the same cab, which was nice because we only paid $15 each instead of the $30 if it had been just me. They were Canadians too! We arrived in Managua at the Tica bus terminal just before 5am, and after ... read more
Isla de Ometepe, Nicaragua...in which I climb a volcano, am bit by a monkey and a mysterious bug, and I thwart a pickpocket...
Published: December 22nd 2008Central America Caribbean » Nicaragua » Southern Pacific Coast » Isla de Ometepe
December 20th 2008
¡Hola! San Juan del Sur was nice and warm and realxing! I spent another night there, and all though I had ambitious intentions of things to do and see, I ended up reading, napping and hanging out with Joanne and Eric! On Monday after I updated my blog, I walked around, trying to find the post office. ¨Por favor, donde esta el correo?¨ Everyone told me different directions, and I got so muddled. It took me about 30 minutes to find it (and this is a small town!), and it was Cerrado (closed), but would be open after lunch. Sweaty and hungry, I left and walked down the walkway beside the beach. The beach is a wide arc of lovely sand, with higher areas of rocks on either side, and lots of smaller boats anchored in ... read more
Monteverde, Costa Rica and arriving in Nicaragua
Published: December 16th 2008Central America Caribbean » Costa Rica » Puntarenas » Monteverde
December 16th 2008
Hello from the rainforest! Eric, Joanne and I left Pangea Hostel in San Jose early on Saturday morning and caught a cab to the bus station. Arriving just before 6am, we bought the $3 tickets to Monteverde, and found a nearby store selling breads and drinks. In the cool of the morning, we waited about 45 minutes for the bus. We also met another traveller, Andrew from Washington, DC, who was going to Monteverde too. The bus pulled out at 6:30 and was soon on its way through metro San Jose. It picked up several more passengers at stops in the city, before turning up into the hills. We made good time for the first few hours, on winding paved roads with great views towards the Nicoya peninsula and the Pacific ocean. I passed the time ... read more
Isla Colon and Crossing to Costa Rica
Published: December 16th 2008Central America Caribbean » Panama » Bocas Del Toro » Isla Colon
December 12th 2008
Tonight I am in San Jose, Costa Rica after a long bus ride from Bocas del Toro. On Thursday the sun brok through the clouds around noon and 6 of us haggled for a boat and snorkling gear to take us out to the other islands. For about $13 each, we got a boat and a guide and snorkel gear for 5 hours. We crossed a wide area of water and zipped in between some small island of brush along some canals. The first stop was Dolphin Bay, but we found no dolphins (they were reportedly on lunch break!) and after circling a bit, and seeing some coral, headed to a Cay where we found a palapa hut out over the water with a rickity narrow dock and cheap beer. We climbed down a ladder into ... read more
Boquete - Café, Español y árbols
Published: December 11th 2008Central America Caribbean » Panama » Bocas Del Toro » Isla Colon
December 11th 2008
¡Hola! This morning I am in Bocas Town, on Isla Colon, in the province of Bocas del Toro, Panama. Since I last wrote, I´ve had a lot of adventures! Tuesday morning I finished writing my blog just as Rachel woke, and after she showered we walked a few blocks to the main street. I popped into Habla Ya, a local spanish school, and was able to arrange for an hour long private lesson. Rachel was interested, and so we agreed to take the class together after having some breakfast. We ate a very Panamanian place, with small tables and a friendly young man who served us. Our lesson started at 10:15, and we had a great time with the teacher, who spoke little english. We first practiced the pronounciation of some survival spanish phrases (¨where is....?¨ ... read more
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