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Published: December 17th 2007
A traditional pre flight beer
We arrived at Guatemala city airport hungry and thirsty and a bit worried about what the facilities were giong to be like. We needn´t have worried, there was a cafe, various rum shops, and ALL THE STAFF WERE LOVELY. US airports could learn a lot from Guatemala. Moza beer, pictured, is my new favourite beer in the world. Its a dark coloured lager that tastes vaguely of molasses. Yum.Hola Muchachos,
It was rather nice of Antigua to give us a proper send off: a bit of a fiesta at the Burning of the Devil festival (call me naive, but I reckon as the guy spends most of his time in the fiery pit, I´m not sure this is the best way to punish him - how about a cold shower?), followed by some very impressive fireworks from Volcan Fuego as we left. Driving off in a combi van as the volcano emitted vaguely pathetic puffs of volcanic ash and pumice, I was overtaken by the desire to don coconuts and feed Fuego with a reluctant virgin. Luckily for any neighbouring virginous volcano-fodder, we´d paid up for our fare in advance, and my new found frugal travelling side won out.
We've spent the last week laying low in an amazing Eco Hotel (called the Mariposa, or Butterfly) at the base of Volcan Masaya. I'm sorry if you're getting a bit tired of hearing about volcanoes, but hey, don't blame me, blame this very large fault line which ripples through Central America in much the same way that the M1 slices through the magnificent landscape of the East Midlands.
Me in the back of La Mariposa´s camioneta
with Glenda, a very nice lady from Montreal. The rainy season is just finishing in Nicaragua and we got soakerised on the way to the market in Masaya. Plus if you´re tired of volcanoes, you´re tired of life, which is my new found (and slightly plagiarised) mantra. They´re big, they´re impressive, and they´re not very subtle.
The main aim of this week was to 'consolidate' the Spanish we learned in Antigua, and then head on for some surfing fun in San Juan del Sur. Unfortunately we're having a bit too much fun at the Hotel Mariposa, and thus drowning in the Pacific Surf will need to wait for another week!
This amazing place is run by a fantastic and welcoming lady from England called Paulette, (who gets a lot of local kudos as she used to work in humble Brixton and lived for some time just up the road in Deptford). It´s a mix of (proper) eco hotel, Spanish school (complete with a cracking teacher called Bergman who, along with being a complete dude, has achieved the impossible of making me understand the subjunctive...), and thoroughly worthwhile place, doing lots of fantastic things for the local community. Nicaragua, whilst now completely peaceful (with about half the crime rate of the US), is still obviously really poor, with around 60% of people below the poverty line (living
Chocoyos
a local type of parakeet. These fellas have been rescued from lives in tiny cages and will eventually be released back to El Chocoyero, a local nature reserve where a lot of chocoyos hang out.
They´re remarkably similar to the ones that live in Brockwell Park! on 2 dollars a day or less).
Our daily lifestyle has been one of rising early (as the sodding roosters don't give you a moments rest), studying Spanish till midday (complete with conversation classes based mostly around the history and conflict of Nicaragua), followed by activities in the afternoon. These are all too numerous to mention here, but suffice to add I can now ride a freakin´horse, and can testify to the face that it´s physically impossible NOT to hum the theme from the lone ranger whilst doing so. Nicaraguan approach to a man who´s never been on a horse before? Give him the big one that likes to go in front. Fast. Helmets? For girls. Only not even for girls. Write. Proper. Sentences. Simon.
There are also a lot of animals here: cats, dogs, mammal type things with long tails that no-one can identify, horses, chickens and komodo dragons. Most of them have been rescued from the streets of Nicaragua, and they´re all now in rude health. Basically it is quite a top spot, which explains why we've been here longer than anywhere else!
I´ve not got much more to add really, other than if I
Chris, Si and me
and Chepito, Panuela and Coralie. and a big volcano. stay here for much longer my latent student communist side is going to come out again - vive la sandinistas! Ooh, and Kate, if you´re still with us, I saw 10(!) monkeys in the SAME TREE! Blinding folks, it doesn´t get much better than that.
Next step: Granada, for some birthday cocktails!
Love Si xxx
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Kate O'Connor
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10 monkeys in one tree - that surely should be the 8th wonder of the world. Do you think you could possibly just pop one of these little monkeys under your hat for me please xx