Nicas and Ticos

So where was I... After a short stay visiting churches and drinking beer in Granada I caught the chicken bus on up to León to catch up on my history. León was a major participant in the Sandinista movement and I spent a good deal of time there learning about the intriguing and controversial past of the FSLN party, including partaking in a ceremonial march to the barracks once held by Somoza. I'll spare you the history lesson, but it makes for some excellent reading, full of CIA conspiracies, illegal weapons trade, and passionate revolution. I also took some time to learn Nicaraguan billiards and see some bubbling pits of mud.


After León I shot down to the island of Ometepe in Lake Nicaragua. Ometepe is formed from two volcanic peaks whose lava flows have created a land bridge between them, and truly resembles something out of a fairy tale. One peak is very active with smoke often pouring out of the crater, while the other is covered in lush jungle with a swimmable lagoon at the top. After a short night of partying with some out of control Tazmanians I did a little makeshift camping around the coast, climbed to the lagoon, and spent some time on the beach watching futbol and relaxing. To save money and increase the excitement I have been avoiding guides on my travels and doing as many adventures on my own as possible, and Ometepe was perfect for the independent explorer. The island offered some excellent wildlife viewing, and was a nice segway into my short visit to Costa Rica.

A 10 hour boat ride across the lake brought me into Costa Rica where I had my first encounter with the criminal element. It seems that the entire country of Costa Rica has been conspiring to empty my bank account with $20 lunches and $8 bottles of water. Luckily I have been able to survive through camping and purifying my own water. However, even the atrocious prices cannot detract from the immense beauty and amazing wildlife of the Osa Peninsula. This peninsula in southwestern Costa Rica has a huge amount of biodiversity, and a few nights in the jungle offers some incredible encounters. I setup my hammock in the Corcovado national park and was immediately greeted by a flock of Scarlet Macaws. Another day on the trail provided 3 species of monkeys, anteaters, eagles, parrots and numerous other flora and fauna.

Now I am heading into Panama to prepare for my journey to Colombia. I am hoping to catch a yacht over to Cartagena, which I have heard is a 4-5 day voyage. This gives me about another 10 days before I should arrive in Panama City and I'm not sure where this time will be spent. But with any luck my next update will be from Colombia, and the soliloquy will become a duet.

Honduras in a Hurry

My original plan in Honduras was to head over to the remote La Moskitia region and visit some indigenous villages, but after looking at my calendar I realized I probably didn't have time to explore it properly. My back up plan led me to the popular Bay Islands in Honduras. I took a temporary break from my penny pinching ways and caught a ferry out to Utila to see what all the hype was about. The island was very clean and nice, but far too overrun with tourist establishments for my tastes. I attempted to go scuba diving, but a storm came and the trip was cancelled at the last minute, leaving nothing to do but drink cheap rum and watch world cup games. After a few days on the island I decided to return to the mainland and keep moving.

My next stop was the serene Lago de Yojoa in northern Honduras. At first I shot straight over to a little microbrewey run by a fellow Oregonian, but was discouraged to find out he was actually a beligerent drunk who just wanted to ramble on about US politics, so I quickly moved to a more low key location right on the lake. I spent a couple days canoeing and birdwatching in the nearby cloudforest, then hit the road again.

After stopping for a few days in the small town of San Marcos de Colon, I crossed into Nicaragua. Near Lago de Yojoa I had been doing a fair amount of hitchhiking to get from place to place, and once I entered Nicaragua I decided to try and thumb a ride and avoid the public transportation. The first trucker I asked offered me a ride and carried me all the way down to Managua, about 4 hours south. Since then I have been hitchhiking whenever possible, and have had a lot of fun riding in trucks full of pigs, 18 wheelers, or even sitting on racks of Pepsi 3 liters.

Now I am in Granada where I have been exploring the nearby volcanoes. The first one I visited was Volcan Masaya, which emits a constant cloud of steaming sulfuric fumes from one crater, and has a nice lush forest in the other crater. I also visited the Lago de Apoyo, a large lake in the middle of a crater where you can swim or just lounge in hammocks by the shore. My current plan is to continue the volcano tour with a few days in Leon and maybe a week or so on the island of Ometepe in Lake Nicaragua.

One recurring topic throughout my central american travels has been the new Arizona immigration law. The locals I meet along the way continually bring this up, and I have spent a good deal of time trying to explain to them how it got passed, and how it doesn't represent the feelings of most Americans. I can say from firsthand experience that the law is adding another large scar to the US' already questionable reputation abroad. While some lawmakers may try and argue that the law will remove illegal immigrants and return jobs to the US, it is most definitely angering the latin american world, which has always been immeasurably important to US prosperity. When you add in the obvious racism it seems clear that the law does not belong in the books, and will only serve to hurt our relationship with latinos abroad, and at home.