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Published: October 31st 2006
El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panamá
It was a shame that I flew through these places as I can’t say that I really visited them. Having said that I hadn’t any positive feedback about El Salvador or Nicaragua, so I wasn’t too upset about it. I wasn’t sure how long I’d stay in Costa Rica before I’d get to the final destination (in Central America) Panama.
Some have had white knuckle rides on this international Tica Bus but I have to say it was good to me. It’s been LONG, but it has felt safe and secure.
Man I got to get a camera I missed some really good shots of El Salvador, namely this nightclub which had groovy paintings of cats getting down and partying on its outside wall. I use the word groovy as it kind of reminded me of the Aristocats, so you can feel assured that I haven’t lost it with the English lingo. From El Salvador to Nicaragua I had two seats to myself, which meant I could sit crossed legged and almost directly face the big window that was framing the moving landscapes so well that I just had to tell myself to soak it in, can’t share this with you guys. I could go on about the greens, blues, greys but I can’t do it justice. My word this bus trip has at least allowed me to see some beautiful skies in the morning (sunrises I guess is what I’m saying). Something that I haven’t been able to urge myself out of bed to do too often.
My night in Nicaragua was fun and full of great photo opportunities. I was pretty much in the centre of Managua the capital and it has an amazing concert hall that is shaped like a conch shell made out of whipped ice-cream. There were other landmarks and of course the Lake, which were all good to see at night. I got a street cat from outside the bus station to be my guide, as he and everyone else kept reminded me that it’s very dangerous. He was literally called ‘the cat’, (el Gato) but I couldn’t understand why. His real name was Richard, he was a funny character, properly bold but properly shy at the same time. He thought that I would love the mall and kept telling that it was one of the beautiful things that I got to see only because I had his protection and guidance. It’s really funny to me that as a single woman travelling I have needed a man by my side to do certain things, a man to protect me from other men. I guess it’s not that funny.
Jeeezus, the journey from Nicaragua to Costa Rica was gruelling. It only really truly got to me around the 10th hour on the bus. I should have stayed a couple of days in Nicaragua just to shake of the previous 11hr bus ride. Something snapped in my head today and I thought, ‘I can’t take it any longer, this bus, the huge old guy half on top of me, the border and check point stops, the shit movies oh and the headache. Now I’m thinking why am I going here, why didn’t I stay there, what is the point? And then, finally we stop and I calmly get off and stand right back as the scrum for bags begins, I am starting to believe that only the English queue. Then I make my way through the pushy taxi drivers to the bus station to stop and decide which hotel and how to get there without being badgered and ripped off first (yes I am actually learning a thing or two). I kept trying to read my guide book on the coach but it sent me straight to sleep, unfortunately not for long enough.
My eyes fell on Kap’s Place, what a friendly bunch and a really nice room with bathroom, TV, free internet access, communal kitchen with free coffee and the widest range of herbal tea I’ve seen since I last visited my local health food shop in London. Oh and free breakfast. My taxi driver totally tried to rip me off (bags of attitude). Didn’t bank on me knowing the exchange rate or for that matter knowing how much the fair cost. Anyway I went to my room, breathed, took a shower… basically calmed the hell down, the next day I would do San Jose and more or less that’s what I did. I went to the historical museum and mooched around town taking mental pictures of sites I would later get a disposible camera to assist me documenting.
The following day I met up with Steve, one of the crew from Antigua Guatemala. He was the one that warned me off El Salvador, he had felt totally isolated the whole time he was there. He said even the locals asked him why he had bothered to come. We walked around town, had lunch and stuff and agreed that we both didn't think much of the place. He pointed out a few of the bars he had been too the night before with some people from his hostel. They all agreed that they were bars come brothels. The picture he drew of the fat old american men and the young girls made me feel sick and also glad I hadn't ventured into any of the drinking establishments.
I decided to get myself on a tour that allowed me to see some of the best that Costa Rica has to offer quickly. So I was off to La Fortuna, to see the waterfalls, do the Arenal volcano trek and watch lava flow, which was followed by a dip in the hot springs. All in all I spent two nights there, I enjoyed the hike to see the waterfall more than I did the hike up the volcano. I seem to be the only person who walked it, a couple of people went up on bikes and were in serious pain when they got there. I climbed down the path towards the waterfall looking forward to dipping in when I got there. I soon dipped straight back out as it was absolutely freezing, I got some respect for a couple of girls for going in at all though. Seeing the lava flow at night was pretty cool but it was raining and visibility wasn't at it's best. Still the hotsprings more than made up for it. There was something like 40 odd pools in this fancy spa and all of varying heat. There was one that would have bold the skin of you if you could actually get in it. A couple of the pools had bars in the middle, I don't understand where they think you could stash you cash. I thought they run a tab or something but oh no, they make you march your soggy arse back to the lockers to pay up there and then.
The next part of my tour was a boat ride across the man made lake/damn that lead us close to Montverde. My destination was Santa Elena, which was a nice triangle of a town, three road linking together at the corners. The locals are a cross between quakers, latinos and indigenous indians. There style has a kind of Cowboys in the cloud forest feel to it. The cloud forest is what I came for and I'd signed up to do the Canopy tour. I didn't know what that meant at the time so I was a wee bit nervous when the guide asked me to put on a harness and a hard hat for the tour. It turns out that I'd signed up for zip rides, a tarzan leap and walking on suspension bridges through the tops of a cloud forest
I did the most amazing zip rides whizzing through the tops of cloud forest, although a little bit nervous at first I was fine about the zips but I wasn't expecting the Tarzan jump, a real primal scream came out and I had a massive smile on my face for the rest of the day (glad to be alive). That's where I got talking to Jill, Julia and Al. My scream had put two of them off from doing the jump. We later went out and got very merry, chatting away we discovered that they knew Steve, the travelers world is smaller than you think.
Back to San Jo as I now call it and my smile left me. I had planned to meet up with Jill, Julia and Al but changed my mind after realising I would have to spend another day in the dreaded San Jo in order to go up to Tortuguera. Off to Panama for me!
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mauricio rivera
non-member comment
sorry you missed// El Slavador
I'm sorry you missed El Salvador land mark, lakes, rivers, and the mountains, next time you need to relax , and get more time and info about the places where you going. As a Salvadorean make me feel bad when you talk about my country that way. I can see you are a black woman with a little problem, but it is ok, you should go to you tube and check what we have on the most industrialized country in Central America, where people make three times everywhere in the region as a salary. SO get a life beauty... hasta la vista bb....