August 12 – Today is my last day of vacation. I woke up early and talked to Jeroen and the kitties on skype. Then my mom called on skype and we talked for about two minutes before we started to argue about politics. I also called my grandma and chatted with her a bit. I met Kati at 9:30am for our farewell breakfast down at the Irish pub. I ordered a breakfast burrito and a peach banana drink. Yum and yum. Sour cream should accompany every breakfast. Here's to hoping I haven't gained too much weight on this trip. It was a nice breakfast and then Kati and I said our goodbyes. We had a nice time together and spending the last few days with her really was a great ending to my trip. Back at ... read more

August 9 – Holy crap it's hot. I got up at 7am, thinking I would leave at 8am and get an early start to Ometepe. I repacked the rest of my things and had some granola for breakfast. I talked to Gerry while I ate, and discovered that he bought a dog yesterday. It was a puppy and sleeping under the table. So cute. He will send it home at night with one of the girls who works there and it will be at the guesthouse in the day. So cute. So something to look forward to. I left just after 8am and walked to the bus station. I got there at 8:15 and was told the bus to Rivas leaves at 9:30. What a bummer. So much time to kill. It was cloudy, which was ... read more

Friday – I was up by 7:30am this morning and watched some of the Olympics again. I had breakfast in the courtyard just outside my door. It was a great bowl of fruit with a banana and two packages of Ritz crackers. The crackers were a strange addition but it was nice. I had a chat with some Kiwi girls while I ate and then finished packing up. I took a taxi to the minibus to Leon. It took forever and he drove super slow while he texted. Annoyingly, there was also a lot of God talk on the radio. I didn't have to wait long before the minibus was full and we left and we didn't stop along the way for other passengers. I guess this was the direct bus to Leon, very nice. It ... read more

August 2 - So the sleeping thing did not really work out last night. When I tried to sleep at 9:30, I knew I could only get six hours of sleep at a maximum, but I was still not tired enough so I just laid there for a while. Then the fan was just too loud, so I had to turn it off. Earplugs were out of the question in case I slept through my 3:30am wake up call. Not likely, but just in case. It didn't get too hot, so that was a plus. I slept a bit, but kept waking up. The last time was at 2:15am when I heard two guys talking and their tv on. They must have arrived late. By 2:45 I just decided to get up, work on my blog ... read more

August 1 - Today I slept until 7:30am (again!) and had a long skype call with Jeroen after breakfast. Then I went to try to find Carlos, the guy who runs the guesthouse. I think he said last night that he would take me to the bus station today. The cleaning lady called him and then he still wasn't there, so I explained again and he came. In the meantime, I spent about 30 minutes talking to a Canadian girl who arrived yesterday. She is far braver than me – she rented a car here. Scary. Carlos took me to the bus and then it took just over an hour and 85 cents to get to San Salvador. Then, it took 5 minutes and 5 dollars in a taxi to get to my guesthouse. I decided ... read more

July 27 - I didn't sleep well at all last night, even with earplugs. I guess it was because I knew I had to get up so early in the morning and I kept checking my watch for the time. At 4am I was up and I left just a few minutes too early. The taxi got me to the Tica Bus at 4:50am, 10 minutes before the place opened. Luckily the cab driver sat with me for a few minutes, until another girl showed up. The place opened up a few minutes later. We got on the road at 6am and I thought I would sleep all the way, like yesterday. But no. Maybe because yesterday was so hot and today the bus had air conditioning (first one). Who knows? But no sleep to be ... read more

July 26 - Not much to say about today. I didn't sleep well, got up at 4:45am and left at 5:45am to get a taxi to the ferry. The ferry was almost in the same place as the Carnival ship yesterday – there was a new ship there today. The ferry left at 7am and it was totally calm. Such a different experience that the ride over. I talked to a woman from Roatan who lives in the Cayman Islands for work for most of the ride. Then I had to get my luggage and a taxi to the bus for Tegucigalpa. It was leaving shortly afterwards, so that was good. From 9:30am until almost 2pm, I was mostly in a sleepy haze. Not quite asleep, but not quite awake. That really is a decent way ... read more

July 23 - I couldn't manage it, the relaxing. So not a good relaxer. I woke up at 6:30am and repacked, emailed, was sick, etc. The usual morning routine. So I started taking the meds for my stomach. Then I headed upstairs at 7:30 for breakfast and the woman who runs the hotel had already cooked it. Very nice. I waited at 8am for the cab driver who said he would be there, but by 8:10 I just found another, with the help of the same woman. At the port, I bought my round trip ticket for the ferry that would take me to Roatan. It came with a sea sickness tablet, which I almost took. Then I remembered that I have been on boats almost every day of this trip, sometimes several a day. And ... read more