Thursday, June 11, 2009 We left Miraflores to make our way south on the Panamerican Highway to Ica. We finally made it into the desert. It is quite amazing. The photos do not give justice to the scenery. It is much like you would see on television. We are amazed!!! We made it to Ica around 6 PM and the people that work at the Cruz del Sur bus station told us that we should not stay in Ica because it is very dangerous for foreigners. So they whisked us away to Huacachina, a better place about 5 minutes away. Once we got there, our driver proceeded to sell us every tour that was available. I felt very misguided. I am sure that it was a big scam. Oh well, we are going to stay in ... read more

We made it to Lima last night around 11pm. The flight was delayed in Fort Lauderdale for about an hour. We were worried that our driver would not be at the airport when we made it through customs. Once off of the plane we were sent through immigration which took forever. Every airport worker had a mask on. It was overkill. Macayla said she felt like a germ waiting to infect. I guess they are really scared of the swine flu. We finally made it through immigration and then customs. There was a man in a full suit holding a sign with my name on it and Macayla started calling him Mr. Fancy Pants. We assumed he was our driver but he called someone to pick us up and take us to our hostal El Patio. ... read more

Today is my last day of an amazing trip. We had a rough start to our morning since our hostel had no rooms for us tonight. I hate having to move hostels, but we did. We traversed across town with packs in our backs to find a hostel closer to the airport. That was a mess. Went to one hostel and it only had dorm rooms and was looking for a private room so that I would not bug anyone when we had to get ready to leave at 3 AM. Decided to try another location and got lost. Directions were given but they were not very clear. So we finally found the hostel just in time to leave for the canopy/zip-line tour at Vocan Poas. I thought we should take a taxi to Alajuela since ... read more

Got up early this morning to make our last destination before heading back to Costa Rica. We did want to go on to Leon but time is running out. Got to Granada around noon and went directly to the Old Market in Masaya. Very famous for their handy crafts, mainly woodwork and carvings. I, of course, forgot my camera and did not get any photos. We wanted to buy some souvenirs here but the items were more expensive than in town because it is a big shopping area for foreigners. So I think we will stop buy some local markets before leaving tomorrow to get our souvenirs. We are going back to San Jose tomorrow and then Saturday we are spending the day doing a zip-line tour. Very excited about that, cannot wait. It is hard ... read more

Still not in Nicaragua due to a lot of travel issues. We made it to Montezuma after dark last night and it was another mad dash to find a place to stay. We were turned down at our first choice and then just went to the closest place available. Macayla did not want to walk to the one I would have chosen as the next best because it was a little further away. So we stayed at Pencion Jenny which was terrible. The beds were awful and I had the creeps. It was a terrible night but it was only $8 eachl. I am getting tired of really crappy places. I have stayed in much better for not much more. As soon as I woke up this morning (7 am), we packed in a hurry and ... read more