We arrived at around 10PM, touching down right on time. I was ever so ready for a few days of doing nothing. Two friends were flying down from Seattle on the 29th, and that meant that we had several days to hang out. I put in a lot of time by the pool. A lot of time. It was fantastic. I did very little besides go to the coffee shop, and hang out by the pool. Two other residents invited us over for drinks on Tuesday. Gene and Tina float between Turkey, Taiwan, China and La Paz. It was great to [View Full Entry]

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The property manager for Justin's parents condo invited the 4 of us to head out and explore the Espiritos Santos Islands off of La Paz. The trip was not cheap, costing about $50 USD. However, it was a lot of fun. Heading over, we attracted the attention of a pod of dolphins, which then proceeded to swim along side the boat and playfully jump right next to us. I enjoyed being right next to (6ft away) the airborne mammals. Exploring some caves by boat were also on the itinerary. As we pulled out of the caves, we saw some 'flying rays' [View Full Entry]

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We decided to head over to Todos Santos and Playa Cerritos for a day trip to check out the pacific side of Baja. It takes about an hour from La Paz. We walked around, checked out the very chic town, and took a quick look into the hotel California, which was famous for something. The street we were on had more tourists than locals on it, complete with Viagra dispensing pharmacies. We ate some great fish tacos a few blocks toward the beach, and then headed out to Playa Cerritos to spend the day on the much cooler pacific side. Justin [View Full Entry]

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Oh, never in my travels has a day started so normally and ended with so many 'memorable moments'. Quick run down and then the story. 1. Protests / Riots in Western Guatemala block the roads 2. Justin decides to check out one of the protests, and our bus takes off leaving him there 3. Our bags get stolen 4. I realize that Justin left his passport on the bus, thereby limiting my options to go tho the airport without him 5. I wait at the border crossing hoping that Justin can make it in time 6. Justin shows up, we have [View Full Entry]

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In all honesty, I really felt like our travel came to a close with our hike up the volcano and the day trip from Antigua. By the time we got to Lago de Atitlan, I was ready to curl up in a hammock, read, get caught up on e-mails and relax. It was a great place for that. The town is very low key. Lots of Spanish schools, which ironically meant that everyone spoke a little English. We stayed at the Hotel Sakcari . Nice place with nice rooms. My time there consisted of doing very little. We hung out at [View Full Entry]

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After leaving Guata, our night consisted of bar hopping in Antigua. The family that hosted us after the Expeditors office freak out lives in San Lucas, which is about 15 minutes from Antigua. Mom, Dad, Pamela, Tatiana and their sister live in a very gracious town home (gated community). The Dad usually works as a architect, but with the slowdown of the economy, he is focusing on helping his wife run her catering business. It was great to chat with the family over breakfast (we sat around the table for about two hours). In the afternoon, we drove out to a [View Full Entry]

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By far the most memorable day trip of this journey has been the hike up Pacaya to see the flowing lava (only somedays is there lava flowing, we got there on a good day). Other than the Lava, what made the trip the most memorable was the preparedness of some of the other travelers. I will refer to them as the President of the Valley Girls of Southern California and the future leader of Blondes of Briton respectively. The first gal was staying at our hostel. I was browsing the net in the lobby when she arrived from the airport. This [View Full Entry]

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We swung up to San Salvador to visit my buddy Toby, who I met and got to know during my Semester in Egypt . He instructed us to go to a donut shop in 'Mexicano', and to give him a call once we arrived. After a slight delay with a hearing impaired taxi driver who did not know there was a donut shop in that part of town, we did arrive and give him a call (I usually just pay people to use their cell phones). He then took us one by one on his motorcycle to his new place. He [View Full Entry]

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It was a few hour bus ride from San Salvador to Guata (as the locals call it). Toby had recommended we take one of the express buses, and we went with a company that had departures every hour and a half. He had mentioned that the other buses 'Take forever'. For Toby to take the more expensive option, the cheaper one must be really bad. I had heard that Guata was not he safest city in the region, so I booked us into a more expensive lodging option, $18 for the room @ the Hotel Colonial . It had nice ambiance, [View Full Entry]

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On Toby's day off, we took a trip over to the twin volcanoes of Santa Ana . Since his work (ANADES) was taking some supplies over that part of the country, we were able to get a ride to the feeder road. Justin and I rode in the bed of the pickup, which was really nice. When it is summer, riding in the back is better than in the cab with A/C. We caught the bus that goes to the foot of the mountain, and then shortly thereafter some contractors gave us a lift in the bed of a large truck, [View Full Entry]

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