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Published: January 3rd 2006
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White Hill River
Near La Fortuna, Costa Rica OK Andrew is here today and helping, I am typing!
28/12/05 and 29/12/05 - Granada (hot, hot, hot!)
Day one we walked around and admired the magnificent and colourful Spanish colonial buildings. We spoke to a guy at a church, Iglesia de Merced, and he said we could climb the bell tower for a donation. The view at the top was absolutely spectacular and we could see Lago Nicaragua. We also climbed out on the roof because we were alone. The church was built in the early 1500s and is absolutely beautiful itself.
Night - had "mojitos" with the group - rum, sugar, soda, mint, ice - and at some point in the evening I decided cooling off in the baby jesus fountain would be a good idea.
Day two we decided to navigate our own way to a nearby village, Masaya, without anyone in a group. This is was a very interesting experience with little Spanish but we survived and did some shopping.
We cooled off in another Spanish fountain near our hotel - this one you were allowed to swim in - and it was so nice. It had original Spanish tiles and a
sculpture of a lion's head at one end.
30/12/05 Long travel day. This was quite interesting - we took 6 buses to Comayagua in Honduras from Nicaragua. We taught the locals some European manners - if you push in, we will form a human barrier to stop you from getting in, even if you have paid the required bribe. (We only did this after an hour of not moving).
I didn't know what to expect when entering Honduras but I didn't expect the smell of Xmas trees to come pouring in through the window. Somewhere over the border, conifers totally dominate tropical vegetation, and it is sort of odd. Like at the beach yesterday, it was really hot, the sand is white, the water is crystal clear... and then you have Christmas trees behind you!
Tegucialpa, which we drove through, was fascinating, with houses stacked up against huge, steep hills. It was highly developed with every chain store under the sun.
At Tegucialpa we missed our connecting bus and lost four group members, but the people showed up and we booked a private bus. They stacked the luggage on the roof so high it was about the same height as the van again. Centre of gravity must work differently in the northern hemisphere.... or not
31/12/05
Another 5 hours on a bus and 2 hours on a ferry. Everyone got wet on the ferry.
Roatan is spectacular. The Brits seems to have a habit of dumping people they don't want in paradise. There was an uprising a few hundred years ago by the enslaved Jamaicans, so Brits simply dropped them off at an uninhabited island - Roatan. That sure showed them. Anyway that's why there's lots of blacks here and they all speak English (yay!)
NYE was awesome. We had a great dinner - Andrew had lobster and I had crab, and it was delicious. We went out to bar afterwards and it was so much fun. It was full of Americans and they had that New York guy on TV doing the countdown and they played that all aquantaince be forgot song at midnight. Girls were dancing on the bar and I am so sure it was not the first time for them!
On our way home we discovered that in the northern hemisphere the saucepan is upside down and looks like a train driver's hat. That really hurt my brain especially while it is being so lazy on holidays.
1/1/06 Spent the day at West Bay Beach, apparently the most beautiful beach on Roatan. It was pretty spectacular. What made it really nice is all the shade they have at the beach under palms, so you can actually stay there for hours and not get too hot.
A Swedish guy told us the water is cold and we were really looking forward to cooling off. Unfortunately the Swedes, although it may seem odd, apparently don't know what cold is, and the water was lukewarm.
2/1/06 Really really fun day! We hired mini motor bikes and drove all around the island. We went with a German couple who we get on really well with. I have liked them ever since I found out they were doctors who smoke. We snuck into two resorts and did a bit of the lazy thing at the beach, using the resort facilities of course. We had lunch at one of the highest points on the island where you could admire both "sides" of the island while eating. It was pretty nice! We drove right to the other end of the island where there are two shipwrecks and a "Little Venice" - a whole suburb built out on top of the water.
Night - dinner at a household restaurant. Service v. slow but the food was beautiful.
Our hotel room is gorgeous and we have a king size bed with a mirror at the head. Also have Fox on TV which is our never-ending supply of the latest Law and Order and Curb your Enthusiasm! It also has an air-con which is a welcome relief after not having one at Granada, where we had to make ourselves so tired that we would fall asleep.
Interesting: in the Northern Hemisphere, I sleep better than Andrew and he is very jealous.
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