Blogs from Central America Caribbean - page 1894

25.10.06 Als wir in Havana ankamen, lief alles unerwartet rasch ab. Adolfo bot mir ausserdem an, mich ins Zentrum mitzunehmen, womit ich mir bereits 15 Pesos Convertibles (CUC) sparen konnte. Anstatt seines Kollegen kam ihn seine Frau abholen. Doch statt sich zu freuen, sich nach zwei Monaten wieder zu sehen, hatten sie bereits von der ersten Minute an Auseinandersetzungen. Ob es unter anderem auch im Zusammenhang mit mir war, weiss ich nicht. Wir brachten das Gepaeck zum Auto und fuhren Richtung Stadt. Die beiden fuhren mich direkt zu einer Unterkunft, jedoch nicht ein offizielles Casa Particular. Diese ist ausserhalb der Stadt gelegen und ich wusste anfangs nicht, ob mich das nicht teurer kommt. Aber das Zimmer und die Person passten mir, also blieb ich. Ich verabschiedete mich von den beiden und erhielt sogar die Telefonnummer von ... read more

The gringo´s weekend I´m referring to is not my own, but our government´s in the early 1950´s. It refers to our meddling in the democracy of Guatemala that has had long-term catastrophic consequences. ¨How could you do this to us? What has been the purpose? For you it was a weekend, nothing more. For us it has been a lifetime--the lifetimes of two, three generations and how many more? Why do you gringos think, ¨It´s only little Guatemala, we can do what we want.¨ Why?¨ (son whose father was a supporter of Pres. Arbenz´s party. The father committed suicide.) In reality, it was more than a weekend. U.S. policy in Guatemala and the rest of central america has been to dominate it economically, politically, and militarily for a 100 years without exception. So in fact this ... read more

My past week was spent on the beautiful sunny Atlantic coast, which accommodated my first few days of no rain and blistering heat. My first stop was Cahuita, and on the way we stopped in Limon, a big port town, to take a break from the bus. We were getting off, when all of a sudden there was smoke everywhere, from behind which a group of riot police emerged herding us indoors. Turns out they were firing off tear gas at a bunch of protesters that were rioting against a pro-upper class government reform. After the chaos settled, and we were back on the bus, a local beside me explained that this makes him proud to be a Costa Rican, because they actually have the freedom to protest, where as neighbouring countries don´t have that same ... read more

So, on to Leon now! It took us 2 days to get there and to be honest we were a bit disappointed with our first place in Nicaragua after hearing so much good stuff about the country. To get there we had to do the trip in two journeys. The first got us to Chouluteca in Honduras where we stayed the night in another scummy yet extremely cheap room, but where we did manage to find a Pizza Hut!!! So we obviously chose to eat there…. The next day we got going early and got to Leon about 4 in the afternoon. It’s a really pretty town and very very cheap! We stayed at a place called Big Foot Hostel. It was the first time that we've stayed in a hostel like that. Our room was ... read more

Sandals, Negril...All Inclusive Fun for the Whole Family First some thoughts and opinions. As many of you know, I have no problem expressing how I feel about just about anything so bear with me as I express. I think that the Sandals all inclusive resort idea is a great one for certain types of people, people who have a hard time relaxing, people who like to drink, people who love partying and activities that involve groups of people, people who don't want to worry about budgeting throughout their vacation, and anyone looking for a little slice of Dirty Dancing. I for one am not one of these people. I enjoy freedom, good food, exciting new places, and new culture. Basically, Sandals is not really for me, but I will say that I had fun, the wedding ... read more