Blogs from Central America Caribbean - page 2147

Mmmm...Guatemala. At this moment I feel that I might be beginning to have a love affair with this country. "Third time´s a charm," right? Even though I am blasting through here at lightning speed and visiting cities I´ve already seen, I am totally captivated. Not that Guatemala is an idyllic paradise...its flaws are perhaps even more glaring because of the extreme beauty that it contrasts...but it is impossible not to be won over by this country. Both Antigua and Xela are colonial cities with all the European charm of cobblestoned streets, Baroque facades, lively plazas, and flowering gardens artistically adorned with sculptures and fountains. The central plazas at night, with the uplighting on the grandiose cathedrals, columned walkways, and pillared municipal buildings, hold a certain romanticism -- enhanced by the occasional horse-drawn buggy strolling by and ... read more

When the rocks started to fly, I thought for sure Willy would be pissed. As it turned out... well, here's what happened. Adventures on the south east side of Aruba require a certain amount of improvisation. This morning we decided we would head out into the "cunucu," or countryside, for a little picnic during the afternoon hours. Normally it would be too hot for this but Willy, my local friend, insisted he knew a spot that had interesting caves in which we could stay out of the worst of the sun. (Willy is an older fellow who worked on and near the ocean his whole life. He is originally from Holland and decided to retire to Aruba where he bought a little house.) So, at Willy's behest a bunch of us packed coolers full of food ... read more

a lil photo album... read more

My first nice, air conditioned bus ride in Central America was completely empty except for myself and Mike and unfortunately, it made me sick! I don´t know if it was entering a confined, far too air conditioned space after weeks of heat, the winding moutain roads, or the blue gatorade and salty plaintain chips I had downed just before climbing aboard, but for the first time on this trip, I threw up, twice! I felt much better afterwords though, and enjoyed our whirlwind trip through El Salvador, the tiniest but most populated country in Central America. We left Honduras, cut though Guatemala briefly and entered into El Salvador, stopping for every border crossing and for the police several times along the way. Hondurans and Salvadorans have a long and checkered past and apparently the Salvadoran police ... read more

It´s funny how when you´re traveling alone, you never really are.... I had barely left my cozy room with Matt and Maggie, when I met Mike on the ferry from Utila to La Ceiba. Mike just finished two years in the Peace Corps in Nicaragua and is traveling back to California overland. We chatted for most of the ferry ride and somehow I convinced him that he should come to Copan with me, though I had barely decided so myself just the day before. Mike and I jumped in a taxi and two buses and about seven hours later, we felt like we had known each other for years. We got to Copan and got a room together, asking repeatedly for two separate beds. We joked that the hotel owners probably thought Mike had messed up ... read more