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Sorry for the late entry. Grab a cup of tea and a comfy chair for this read, it's a long one.
Rio Dulce, Guatemala (April 29/12)
I spent the day and evening in Gautemala City with my friends Alejita, Pablo, Alan, Mario and Nathaly before venturing out on my own once again. Pablo offered me a place to stay for the night and then drove me to the bus station for my early morning ride to Rio Dulce. Rio Dulce is at the edge of a lake (Lago de Izabul) and is considered one of the safest places on the Western Caribbean Coast to dock boats during hurricane season. Upon arrival in Rio Dulce I was approached by the typical salesman trying to convince me to go to one of the hostels that he gets commission for. I looked through his binder of laminated sheets and chose a spot that I remembered had been recommended by the Lonely Planet. I was escorted to the dock to wait for the boat to pick me up to take me across the lake. As I waited, I watched two young girls fishing with a hook and line, using bits of bread as
bait. The technique was quite fascinating as they were pulling up small fish with a quick flick of the wrist. I took a boat across the lake to a remote hostel tucked into the jungle that consisted of several cabins connected by boardwalks. I stayed for only one night as they were starting renovations the following day and all guests had to leave. It was a nice, quiet spot and all the fresh air allowed for a great sleep.
Livingston, Guatemala April 30/12)
The next day I was picked up from my hostel to go on the river boat tour to Livingston which included the potential of seeing manatees but to my disappointment me we were not lucky enough. Livingston can only be visited by boat and on the ride over I met a couple of Americans named Erin (teaching in Guatemala City) and Dardan (visiting Erin). Erin had been to Livingston before and walked me to my hostel before inviting me to explore the small town with them. There is a strong Garifuna (black Caribbean) culture in Livingston which had influenced a distinct difference in the food, music, language and dance than what I had witnessed in
Diana and I
We travelled with each other for nearly two weeks.the rest of Guatemala. In the evening during dinner we met an Israeli girl named Diana (little did I know, Diana would soon become my travel partner).
Copan, Honduras (May 1 & 2/12)
As I waited for the boat back to the mainland the next morning, Diana arrived for the same boat. We were both planning on crossing the border into Honduras to visit the Copan Ruins so we decided to travel together. Conveniently for me, Diana was fluent in Spanish so it made what could have been the longest and potentially scariest day of travel much more comfortable. Following our boat ride we required a taxi to take us to the bus which ended up being a "collectivo" (a 15 seater public van that is packed with more people than we could imagine to be possible with our understanding of personal space and safety). Fortunately for Diana and I, we got to ride the majority of the way in the front seat (I am fairly certain that my claustrophobia would not have allowed me to survive the ride if I had found myself in the back of the van). We had to transfer to another two collectivos
before finally arriving at the Guatemala/Honduras border. After paying our exit/entrance fees and having our passports stamped we caught yet another taxi the remainder of the way to Copan. I can safely assume that without Diana's help I would not have arrived at the proper destination and would have broken down into tears several times. Thanks Diana!
The next morning, Diana and I completed the 1 km trek outside of town to visit the famous Mayan ruins called Copan Ruinas. Upon arrival, we gathered up several visitors to split the cost of hiring a tour guide. During our exploration and explanation of the ruins, I saw a familiar face wandering the grounds. It was my Australian friend, Luke (one of the students I had met at the Spanish school in Antigua). As it turned out, Luke would be travelling a similar route through Central America and this would be the first of several times that we would cross paths. Following the completion of our tour, the tour guide offered to walk Diana and I back to town and gave us an extended tour of the town for free. Diana and I spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the
My Open Water Diving Class
Clockwise from front centre: Mark (instructor), Chris, Ayer, Omer, Diana, Gordon, Me, Chance, Steph, Carlos, Clara. city and I met Luke in the evening for some drinks.
Utila, Honduras (May 3-13/12)
Diana and I set out for the Bay of Islands, specifically the island of Utila. Many tourists flock to the Bay of Islands as this is one of the cheapest places to get certified for scuba diving and gives divers the opportunity to dive at the second largest reef in the world. I thought it would be cool to "try" diving ONCE but before I knew it I had been convinced to take the Open Water Dive Course. My soon to be instructor, Mark, had sold his sales pitch and I had committed my time to the Parrots dive shop for the next four days. There were twelve of us from around the world; Diana, Omer, Ayer (Israel), Chance, Gordon (Canada), Chris (USA), Clara (Germany), Steph (Guatemala) and three Swedish boys (one was named Robin but I am unsure of the others). It was a large group made up of some really great people!
After several hours in the classroom learning how to scuba dive it was time to put what we had learned into practice. During our first time in the
water we jumped off the dock into three meters of shallow water to try some basic skills ie: switching from snorkel to regulator under water, filling our mask with water and emptying it, practicing breathing from our "buddies' extra regulator in case there is an instance when one of us run out of air. I panicked a little my first time under. The water was dirty as we had stirred up the bottom with our inexperience, the sound of my breath from the regulator sounded like Darth Vader, as I exhaled the bubbles floated up past my goggles further interrupting my vision, my teeth clenched the regulator so tightly (for fear that I would lose my air supply) that my jaw began to ache, and my eyes stung with salt water as we filled our masks for the drills. However, once we started practicing our drills I was able to take my mind off of the strange fact that I was breathing under water. Facing a fear and accomplishing a challenge gave me a boost in confidence and is what motivated me to deflate my BCD (Buoyancy Control Device) at the beginning of each dive and the courage to watch
the water rise up over my goggles until I was completely submerged.
After the completion of the open water course I was again, somehow convinced, to stay and complete the Advanced Diving course! Am I crazy? Do I really want to get into such an expensive hobby? What good is it to be a certified diver when I live in Saskatchewan! There are no good dive spots near home! Oh Crystal! Stop thinking so much! Are you having fun? Yes! So why stop now? Afterall, the cost of the course is pretty much what I would pay for the seven dives that are included anyways and the advanced course brings with it further challenges and exciting practice drills. And as an extra bonus, the Dive Masters are pretty nice to look at 😉 (Josh, Gaeton, Tboe). My Open Water diving buddy, Clara, and another class mate, Gordon, also took the advanced course with me.
With the Advanced Diving Certification, divers can increase their depth limit from 18 M to 30 M. On the first deep water dive we were expected to experience Nitrogen narcosis wich occurs when the increased Nitrogen levels in your blood give you the sensation
of being intoxicated. With the higher levels of nitrogen in your body it is essential that the diver does not rise to the surface too quickly for risk of decompression sickness. During the advanced course I got to experience a few more great underwater drills that challenged me even further. We practiced buoyancy drills which included swimming through hoops (first facing the ocean floor and than facing the surface ) and then swimming upside down in a head stand position and adjusting our buoyancy so that we could knock over weights set up on the ocean floor using only our regulators (mouth piece). Then we took off our flippers and ran along the ocean floor, towards our buddy, before pushing off eachother and completing a back flip. So cool! Next we practiced navigation drills using a compass,depth gage, and counting fin kicks. We had the opportunity to explore a ship wreck and to complete a dive during the night with only torches to light our underwater path. However, I much prefer diving during the day as the bright colored fish and coral is the most exciting part and is lost at night. Throughout both courses the dive masters were very
patient, encouraging, and professional.
On the last day on the island Chance (a classmate from my Open Water Course) and I rented bicycles and rode across the island to go snorkeling in some underground caves.
Teguciculpa, Honduras (May 13/12)
Both Chance and Clara were heading to the capital cities of Nicaragua and Costa Rica for their flights home and because my next stop would be Nicaragua the three of us decided to take the bus South together. It was nice to have a couple of people to travel with as Diana (we had travelled and roomed together for almost two full weeks) had to leave the island a few days earlier to catch her own flight home. After a long day of travelling on the bus it was necessary to spend one night in Honduras' capital, Tegucigalpa, as the next bus to Nicaragua does not leave until the morning. It is well known that there is alot of gang activity in Tegucigalpla and, to avoid the risk of being robbed or murdered, I remained in the room for the evening and only snuck out once for some Chinese food next door.
Leon, Nicaragua (May 14 &
15)
When I first arrived in Leon I was alone once again as my friends had continued on their journey South. However, it didn't take long before I recognized some familiar faces from the Parrots Dive shop in Utila. Guy and Dan (Israel) had stayed in a room right next door to Diana and I. The boys were very kind and invited me to join them for a movie in the evening.
On day two I hiked to the top of Cerro Negro-the most active volcano cone in the world and the youngest volcano in Central America, and once I reached the summit (725 metres) I planned on tobogganing down it. CNN ranked this activity as number 2 in the "Thrill Seeker's Bucket List: 50 experiences to try before you die", and it was ranked number 4 in the Readers Digest "10 death defying travel destinations". The volcano was black from the lava/ash from previous eruptions and there was steam rising from the crater. At the top, it was possible to feel the heat on the surface from the geothermal activity. We trekked for forty five minutes before tobogganing down the side of the volcano at a 41
degree angle. The record for fastest descent was 81 km an hour. I was a bit nervous to go too fast so I kept digging my heels into the rocks and only reached a speed of 37 km/h. I had bits of black volcano rock/ash in my teeth, my shoes, my shorts and all the dirt on my face left me with goggle marks.
A couple that I met during the volcano trek was heading to Granada the next morning so we arranged to meet and travel together. My new travel partners were Jason (New Zealand) and Luisa (Australia).
Granada, Nicaragua (May 16-19)
Upon arriving in Granada and checking into the hostel I again saw familiar faces from the bus ride from Teguciculpa to Leon a few days earlier. I was the only one to get off in Leon and everybody else had continued South and yet here we were in the same town at the same time and in the same hostal. Andrew (Canada), Seth (USA), and Hannah (England) joined Jason, Luisa and I to make up a great travel group for the next few days. We explored the city together, ate and drank together. Andrew, Jason, Luisa and I took a boat tour of Lake Nicaragua to view the 365 small islands called Las isletas. These islets came to exist after the eruption of Mombacho Volcano thousands of years ago which threw chunks of earth into the lake. The following day, "our group" visited another small isolated lake to relax and take in some sun.
San Juan Del Sur, Nicaragua (May 19-22)
I continued South on my own as my new friends headed in different directions. I arrived in San Juan Del Sur hoping for some great beaches and the possibility of surfing in the "surfers paradise", however, it ended up being a bit gloomy and I was too intimidated to try and surf. I managed to catch up with my friend Luke again (this was the third time I had met up with him on the road as I had seen him in Copan and Utila previously). One evening, while Luke and I were having dinner together on a patio, we saw a girl from our Spanish school in Antigua, Marina, walking down the street. It was an unexpected surprise and her and her friend ended up joining us for the rest of the evening. This was also the third time I ran into Guy and Dan since first meeting them in Utila (Leon, Granada, and now San Juan Del Sur). I had found myself on an unofficial backpackers path with familiar faces around every corner. I felt like I was a part of something bigger than myself. I had confidence that there were friends a couple days ahead of me that I could catch up to if I chose/needed to and that there were some people a few days behind that would catch up to me if I waited in the same spot for any length of time. I was no longer alone in Central America.
San Jose, Costa Rica (May 22/12)
I caught the bus with a guy named Jake to San Jose as we both had flights home the next morning. It is always nice to have someone to spend time with on long travel days and it was also great that Jake was able to speak some Spanish at the border crossing from Nicaragua to Costa Rica. My last night in Central America I did not sleep well as I didn’t want to miss my 4:30 a.m ride to the airport and I was excited to be going home.
I still cannot believe that I, Crystal Graham, was able to complete five months of independent travel. This concludes the first half of my adventures! Thanks for sticking it out!
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Mom
non-member comment
Once again Crystal you amaze me with your confidence, your ability to make the best of every situation, and your positive thoughts! You are truely a independant wonderful young women that I am so proud to have as a daughter! Continue with safe travels, and know that the love of so many go with you and your new travel companion...your sister!!!!