La Catarata de Fortuna

Costa Rica time.

Not only had we gained a new travel buddy, Jack from Jersey, but also a new country and the wettest border crossing of my life. Drowned rat is the phrase.

If Ireland is the Emerald Isle, Costa Rica must be the CenAm equivalent yet packed with its Disneyland cast of colour and creatures.

We arrived in La Fortuna, Jack in tow, heading for Gringo Pete's hostel. Gringo Pete is strange. A mish mash of Ned Flanders and Stinky Pete the Prospector in Toy Story 2. Not the friendliest man but all the same worth writing about because of how weird and rude he was. You would ask him a question and he would respond with a sarcastic comment. Great! Anyway, the hostel was cool and we cooked a supreme home-made dinner for the three of us.

Pre-macho bike ride.

The spark of adventure beckoned. We hired bikes being warned it was 'hilly' but the waterfalls were worth every ounce of sweat. I questioned the hilliness to a stark Spanglish reply, "if you want to be macho." The inner competitor laughed that off as we smashed those Tico's hills.

The, fairly, arduous ride through green, green pastureland was presided over by the very active Volcan Arenal. It's perfect cone towered over it's domain, cycling to this backdrop was superb.

During the bike ride - fairly decent backdrop!

Arriving we were met by a steep monetary charge to see nature. (We knew we were in a developed country now.) To our surprise/ fortune, strangely an American couple decided to pay for the three of us to get in... everything is always better for free.

The mini-hike to the beautiful falls.

The waterfall eventually...

The ribbon of cascading pure vida water thundered through a beautiful canyon thick with papaya trees.

Awesome

Group pose

It's 70m fall was everything I wanted in a waterfall and the clear, cooling water was a joy to swim in. I was taken aback by it's beauty, the little boy leaping out as I swam and explored.

Refreshing, clear natural spring water

Our cameras clicked in unison with the Howler Monkeys as freshwater fish darted through us in the deep rapid pools. As we left my refreshed smile didn't; before gunning it down those macho hills.

La Fortuna town and Volcan Arenal. Slightly impressive.

The Land of Lakes and Volcanoes

Nicaragua:

The poorest but largest country in CenAm. This blog is packed full of colonial charm and surfing to the beat of Pacific breaks.

Leon, the left/ liberal city compared to, Granada, the right/ conservative city vied for my charms. I adored the rustic churches of Leon not the intense heat. I loved the cascade of colonial finesse in Granada. I preferred the latter but I fell ill in the former.



Rustic Leon and its volcanoes




Les Penitas, nr Leon.  We hit the pacific beaches and then a  huge storm "stormed" in. It was spectacular to say the least.

  

View from the largest Cathedral in CenAm, in Leon.

 

Cigar factory tour: Señior Elba and his award-winning, world famous cigars.





Cool Granada at night



Another impressive Cathedral in Granada

 

A bell in Leon

Volcanos and Bats:

As the sun set over the Nica plains, we took a tour up Volcan Masaya. Tonnes of sulphuric gas billowed out of the cavernous crater. We peered in as the eggy smell engulfed our senses. The slow rumbling of lava gave a small reality check that this thing was alive.



The active spiel

  

Masaya pumping out gas whilst grumbling away.

We descended underground into caves. All of a sudden the flurry of bats twirled around us, whisking steathily through the air, only missing you by a fraction of a millimetre. It reminded me of Bruce Wayne in Batman Begins and sure felt cool. We also saw a baby boa constrictor in the cave!

Bats at night!

Surfing en San Juan = FUN:

Slowish left and right breaks provided the setting for my first surf in Nicaragua. Smallish waves were aplenty, 4-5feet, to get my eye in. The awesomeness dude of the surf was exemplified by the chilled handful of other surfers all comparing scars whilst drinking beer and kicking back.



Surf time

  

Sun setting in San Juan del Sur. Cold beer, feet up and a great view, one happy person after a great days surf.

A night of rum with our new surf buddies and we headed to Costa Rica in entourage of 6 in search of bigger waves and hotter sun.



Packing some heat.

The tale of a shooting, Tony Montana ´coke´ and some unreal bbq pork ribs.......

60% of guns in El Salvaldor are illegally owned, we soon witnessed this.

Arriving into Santa Ana, El Salvador, we were greeted by a free lift in a police truck straight to our hostel, "safety first", apparently.

We chatted to locals for over 2 hours about life, movies, football (of course) and the rain in England!

Sunsetting over Santa Ana, El Salvador.

Casa Verde has to rate as one of the best hostels so far. We started ploughing through rum with our new dorm buddies, as Carlos the hostel owner became our guide/ chauffeur for the evening. Tonight was the huge 25 de Julio city fiesta.

Salsa, rum, beer, bbq ribs, hot dogs enlightened the latino-passione party atmosphere as 8 different stages pumped out music to the hordes in their thousands.

Pre-shooting at the fiesta with Carlos.

Lucia meeting the locals at the Ranchero party we crashed.

The shooting:

Our wide-eyed grins, dancing feet and jovial status was rapidly dispossessed as two gun shots, no more than twenty feet away, pierced the sky.

Panic stricken people ran in horror as the gang, MS-18, took their hits. The Police stormed in, and within moments had captured 4 men; face-down on the concrete, guns to their head. We quickly sauntered right past the captured gang as Carlos drove us to another party; to safety.

The experience, if you call it that, is hard to articulate on paper let alone in your mind. Time froze as the horror on everyone's faces took full effect. In hindsight, it reminded me of an action movie as people fled. The worst part was upon the crowd rushing to the side of the street, everyone waited and I felt like we were sitting ducks.

Tony Montana:
It didn't stop there; we went to another ´ranchero´ party with Carlos, where a la Tony Montana, his friends had bags of coke spread on the table. Beer and ribs was our staple as we watched open-eyed as a new party enveloped. I tucked into the most delicious food as I swigged on my beer as the night slowly pettered away int oa mist of drunken haze. The music blurred into one and I awoke the next day feeling terrible, shaken and still shocked to have been so close to the shooting.

They say MS18 was set-up to rival the Mexican cartels. The drug underworld was very apparent.

Seeing the light in the strange but cool Cathedral in San Salvador.

Aptly describes the state of the infastructure of this country when this is a hospital.

The pork ribs:

Another satisifed fellow ´dutch´hostelete tucking into some divine party food

Simple things that make me happy. Cold beer and wonderfully marinated, succulent BBQ pork ribs. (Also relieved after the shooting).

Jungle is ´MASSIVE´

Stroll to the ruins

Wicked, Tikal is wicked. Although not in the Ali G sense, the little boy in you springs into life upon reaching the former Mayan stronghold as you find yourself humming the Indiana Jones theme.

The howling monkeys swing noisly from tree to tree creating the perfect jungle illusion. The towering Mayan pyramids poke towards the clouds as brightly coloured toucan & parrots squawk to the chorus of a new dawn.

Hazy morning as the clouds lifter above the canopy

The 0430 rise was starting to pay dividends. My night of hostel 'Gallo' drinking and karaoke 'rum' slash mini session on the drums was not. Tikal was the biggest and strongest Mayan city, perhaps aptly so as the grand visage of sleek, tall structures poke above the canopies of the jungle vegetarian.

Straddling the 64metre high Temple IV. Incredible view above the jungle.

We climbed Temple IV, all 64 metres, for a tranquil panorama of above-canopy plazas. Circumferenced by the peaceful air of jungle life all contributed to a spectacular experience; I ensured I logged the moment for future stressful times.

Local fauna

A smuttering of green

A Temple rising from the many trees.

The history geek in me took on a new level as our guide, wonderfully named Benni, narrated the Mayan way.

The searing heat and unbearable humidity strangely all contributed to a pre-classical period morning amongst our traveller friends (Dutch and Scottish this time). Now a long, hot chicken bus to the El Salvadoran frontera.

The main plaza temple

Just a little steep!

Maxing out in the main plaza, humidity unbearable, I am forcing out a sweaty smile.

Q15 meal. AMAZING about one sterling for a burrito, tostada mexican and tacos. I promise Im sweating this off....

'Dis is Caye Caulker man, no nosotros hablamos espanol aqui

Lazy days spent sunning and swimming

Clear skies, a change from Antiguan rainy season

View from the hotel veranda

10CC's dreadlock holiday blared out as we hopped off the boat onto the small island of Caye Caulker in the Caribbean sea, home to Joel Hodgson. Go Slow was the motto and slow it had to be in blazing heat.

Caye Caulker Main Street

The Split local bar

4 days were spent sunning (Brought would be Pedro) eating lobster and getting used to the cat calls of the locals. Alice B would have loved it-rasta!!







The highlights had to be the the sailing, cheap lobster, balmy sea and beautiful surroundings.

The place to hang out

Balmy seawater

Upon many a recommendation we set sail on a Ragamuffinboat north with our captain Jacob and first mate Chucky for snorkelling galore. First stop, a manatee, the huge beast of a sea cow meandering it's lumbering body though the sea without a ripple.

Rum, sea, sailing = relaxation

Chucky, first mate

Second stop, shark and stingray alley. Swimming with sharks and rays will always allow the risk adverse officer in you to assess but once snorkelling with these magnificent creatures it remains a wonderful memory. For clarity, they were nurse sharks, Heena 'Dangerous' Shah you would have been in your element! 4 to 5 feet shark here and some mammoth stingray and eagle stingrays to throw in.

Nurse Sharks

Birds-a-circling

Ceviche

Not a bad view, ay!

Third stop we saw turtles, grouper, barracudas, finding nemo (I've got one for you Aubin) and a flock of other bedazzling tropical fish. After a long day we set sail home to the sound of Uncle Marley, freshly caught ceviche and first class rum punch. Although, it seems rum headaches make me crave food like MEvry craves pies.

(Pre) Finally mastering how to snorkel, I was soo bad before.....!!!

Post

Post a cracking seafood galore lunch

The days blurred into one as the blissful sound of reggae and rum mixed the hazy sunshine with a delightful twist of azure, bathwater sea and many a friend to amuse oneself at dinner.

Posing just like Pablo Evry.

Westward facing fishing prime spot.

Grateful relaxation before the jungle of Tikal.