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Published: November 4th 2006
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We left you a somewhere in San Pedro, Guatemala rght around the beginning of the "gringo trail". Normally we like trails, fun little adventures in the woods to get away people. Now it is one big adventure trying to avoid the trail. And so we find ourselves in Granada, Nicaragua...the jackpot of gringo-ville.
We've broken some records, stories deserving to be told. One being our grandest collectivo ride. Transportion seems to bring us great entertainment. Coban, Gautemala (central highlands) to Lanquin, Gautemala (deep,central low-lands). 2 hours. 12 passenger Toyota mini-van, 23 people, 300 lb. driver, 1 man that urinated, 2 dead turkeys, and 24 pigs on top.
Needless to say our final destination, Semuc Champey, priceless. We stayed at Las Marias on the shore of the Rio Cahabon. Up the river from us was a scene out of a forest fairytail. Brilliant, turquoise pools with cascading falls...surrounded by jungle. The river plunges undergound, under a giant slab of limestone, and explodes out some 300 meters later with brut force. Nearby the mountains are filled with underground rivers, creating an intricate system of caves. We were wet the whole time. After swimming and exploring the pools, for 3 bucks we were
blindly led into a huge cave by a local kid for a two hour tour. This would scream law-suit in the States. No check of swim ability, or waiver-signing. We were armed only with one candle and off we went swimming narrow passages, crossing rivers on rope ladders, all the while pulling out some technical climbing moves on wet rock. It was real-life Indiana Jones, minus the Nazis. This is where you'll notice Landon deep in seance.
The road then took us to the Mayan ruins of Tikal. We hiked in at 4.00 am and watched the sunrise from Tower IV. An amazing display of history amongst the sights and sounds of the waking jungle. Fortunately we had the only sunrise that week. Howler monkeys calling and mist rising, it was an eary, peaceful show. We were able to see 3 towers, and a pyramid in the distance. Later we hiked through a jungle maze seeing other towers, pyramids, and temples. It was a glimpse of a mighty civilization and their amazing, hand-carried stone city. All without the invention of the wheel. We felt miniscule being there. After the park tour, a stop on the gringo trail, we spent
Maresa
my shadow can read the night on the island of Flores. And we were Belize bound the next day.
Belize was short-lived but left us with some good feelings. The pace of life was nice and slow...really slow. Our first stop on the Carribbean and it rained our entire 24 hour stay in the country. The garifuna, carribbean accents were funky-great. Don't know how all the Chinese got there...or the cheesy american country music on the buses. Beautiful, lush countryside although much of it was clear cut for massive citrus tree production. When we think of Belize a rasta-dude on an old beach cruiser, carrying an umbrella riding through a sandy, carribbean town comes to mind. Unfortunately the price increase and the rain chased us on to Honduras pretty quick.
Ahh, bitter-sweet Honduras. We arrived via a one hour rainy, stormy boat ride into Puerto Barrios. Not exactly your Jimmy Buffet port town. Due to the storm and immense amounts of rain we waded through the streets and the power was out all night. Our next stop was the sleepy beach town of Omoa. Here we drank Imperials and ate coconut grilled fish on the shores of the Carribbean at last. A
great place but our first taste of Honduras beach towns. It wasn't the white sands we imagined so the beach tour continued. We had an eventful ride along the coast, first missing our Tela stop, then backtracking we boarded a bus headed for the bus graveyard. But, this was no problem as the driver got out and simply jimmied the drive shaft with a screwdriver and piece of rubber. We had a short stay in Tela and poached some sand in front of a nice hotel where the help constantly raked the empty beach clean of plastic soley for us. This was the only stretch of mainland Honduras beach that was not littered with plastic and trash.
On up the coast we got stuck in La Ceiba, waiting for a response from our so-called friend somewhere on the island of Roatan. La Ceiba was a city moving a little too fast for us. Somtime ago we had make a contact in the states with a lady who lived on the island. She offered us her cabana after a few drinks and said that if we made it there to look her up. We did, and after three days in
Tikal, Guatemala
say cheese, Tikal. the city not hearing from her we risked the prices and took the boat out to find her. All the while we pictured her rolling out the red carpet and serving us lobster as we strolled in from the beach. It is amazing what the imagination can do. We found her by phone, only after she gave us the wrong directions. Then, she was too busy to talk to us but mentioned her cabana was under construction and recommended us a fablous hotel for 30 bucks. We explained that 10 dollars was our budget, and at that, she put her nose in the air. We didn´t talk to her again, but we didn´t let that bring us down. We settled for a dingy hostel in West Bay and enjoyed ourselves immensely. The beaches were pristine and post-card perfect. 3 of the 4 days we were virtually alone, and one day we lived it up Carnival Cruise Line style. It was endless entertainment watching a whole cruise line take over the beach. Unfortunately Maresa got bit by a nasty bug and lost control of all bodily functions. There´s nothing like sitting on a 90 degree beach, next to 80 degree turquoise
Granada, Nicaragua
hacky with the locals water, with a 100 degree fever. Following that was a bathroom debachery we won´t go into. Though it was not what we expected, Roatan was a truely amazing place complete with the world´s second largest barrier reef. Snorkeling and swimming were great although when we return we won´t waste our time looking for lost connections... we will dive instead.
Anxious to leave Honduras we had to bare a night in the big ugly capitol before making the Nicaragua border the next day. It has been a relief to be in Nicaragua where the beaches are clean and the people are wonderful. For 4 days we enjoyed the northern pacific coast line in a town called Las Penitas, hardly big enough to call a town. We checked out Leon, Granada, bussed as fast as we could through Managua and are now settled in San Juan Del Sur. Landon continues to throw money into bike parts. We tried to rent bikes to go to the next beach but upon test-ride the derailer busted. And of course it was our fault since we touched it last. We tried to explain that the thing was a piece of crap to begin with...but no
Granada, Nicaragua
one of the many colonial churches luck. We left the place with no bikes, but bought them a new $3 derailer. Otherwise, this is a great place where we have been thinking about our friends often, as you all would love it here. So we plan to stay awhile, however as with all great places, it´s been discovered and is on the fast track to overpopulation. Nicaragua has been very interesting because of the upcoming presidential elections. Everyone is showing there support for one of the many canidates. Marches, protests, and poltical propaganda has given us a unique look into Nica culture.
Back to the business of traveling for us and happy weekend to all you who work. We would love to hear from everyone if you have the time. Peace and fried chicken grease.
note...this computer fuzzed up all the pictures, doesn´t do justice.
Landon and Maresa
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buckley
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wow. honestly you guys are my heros. you both are way too cute! doing it all, seeing it all, experienceing it all together!! no better way---you guys know whats really important....im so glad you guys in my life!!!! seeeee you aspen the after season! cheers, bucky hugs