47 Days

Tuesday:  Waking up at the Blue Conga after staying at places that were not so nice was delightful.  They served us breakfast outside under a big shelter that had cute little tables and stools that looked like tree trunks.  Breakfast each morning consisted of eggs and toast, a fruit plate (which was always made up so nicely) coffee and orange juice.  It was always just the perfect amount.  Not too much to make you feel stuffed, but just enough to satisfy and get you going for the day.

We had talked to the owner of the hotel the day before and were convinced that we should visit the Jaguar Rescue Center.  So, we got up and went to the 9am tour so that we wouldn't waste our whole day away.  We got to see all kinds of snakes, monkeys, sloths, butterflies, little alligator things, and a margay (endangered cat).  The funniest part of the morning was that Dan would tell us an interesting fact about one of the animals or something he had read, and then 10 seconds later the guide would say verbatim what Dan had just told us.  Hopefully she didn't think we were laughing at her :/

All of the animals there had been brought because they were hurt or had been abandoned as babies.  The people at the Jaguar Rescue Center help to get the animals back on their feet and teach them how to survive on their own.  Once they are old enough, they are taken back out into the Costa Rican Rain Forest.

Don't worry, He's in a cage!

Isn't this guy cute! (The lady was our guide)

Sloths are the weirdest animal...and yes they do move THAT slowly!

I really wanted a butterfly to land on my finger.

All morning had been kind of cloudy, but after lunch the sun came out so we headed to the beach.  We drove to one beach and then hiked through a rain forest for about 30 minutes to the beach we had been at the night before, Punta Uva.  It was beautiful seeing the beach from on top of the Point.  (Why the place is called "Punta" Uva)  For the rest of the afternoon we just played in the water, and relaxed on the beach.  There was also a tire swing on a tree right behind where we were, so I took full advantage.  If you didn't know, swinging used to be one of my favorite things to do.  As I found out from the tire swing, it still is!

Kristi, Me, Jess: On our way to the Beach!

Once it started getting dark, we headed home and showered up.  We didn't know where we wanted to go to dinner, so we just started walking along the beach road.  We entered and left a few places and finally ended up at a great little "soda" (little restaurant).  The food was delicious and the price we perfect!  While we were waiting for our food, Jess, Kristi and I walked over to the store next door to do a little browsing.  I tried on a dress (I really wanted to buy one all week), but Jess said she didn't think it was the best color for me.  I wanted to try on another one, but when I looked at the tag and saw the size I was shocked....XL.  It fit too.  They didn't have many more XL sizes, at least none in the colors I liked.  Something must be wrong when I am wearing a XL.

We walked home happy and full.  First full day in Puerto Viejo was wonderful!

51 Days

View from the second floor of The Blue Conga(that's our car)

And so we continue...

Monday:  After a loud and pretty vulgar night (like I said, we could hear the people at the bar), we woke up and packed up our things.  Kristi, Matt and I walked to Economy Rent-a-Car at 7 am, to pick up the car we had previously reserved.  It was under my name and credit card so I had to go, Kristi is the only one who speaks fluent Spanish and Matt was going to be the main driver.  It ended up taking a little longer than planned to pick up the car, but we ended up getting back to Galileo's to pick up Dan and Jess around 8:30am.  They had everything packed and ready, so we hopped in our Hyundai Elantra and navigated our way out of the city.

Once we found our way out of San Jose, we basically had to stay on one road the whole way.  It was such a great drive: the scenery was beautiful, mostly Rain forest on either side, the air was cool and the sun was shining.  It was very relaxing.  Not to mention, the roads were nicely paved and marked and generally pot hole free, which was quite the change of pace from Tegucigalpa.  We arrived in Puerto Viejo around 1pm, after stopping once to go to the bathroom, and once to buy a watermelon on the side of the road.

When we were about 15-20 minutes outside of Puerto Viejo, the road ran parallel to the ocean and we just cruised along.  It was absolutely beautiful. Driving into the little town of Puerto Viejo was so exciting.  It was a little hippy town, where people just relax, go to the beach, surf, ride bikes, (probably quite a bit of drugs) and just enjoy the warm sun.  There were people everywhere, and little shops and restaurants lined the street.  Our hotel was just a little ways out of the center of town.  We could walk there in about 6 or 7 minutes.  We were glad to be out of the hustle and bustle, because I'm sure it got pretty loud and crazy at night.

Inside our room, yes there were mosquito nets on a couple of the beds!

Our balcony, hammock and all!

View from our Room

Eating the watermelon Matt bought on the side of the road

Jess, me and Krist getting ready to head to the beach!

Once we found our hotel, The Blue Conga, we couldn't have been happier.  It was a well kept place, with clean beds, water you could drink, and the lady who ran the place was charming.  We settled in and quickly decided that we wanted to go out to the beach as soon as possible (at least I did).  We changed, lotioned up, and walked into town.  We found a little restaurant where we grabbed lunch, because we figured we'd get hungry as soon as we went out on the beach.  Grabbing lunch, turned into an hour and a half ordeal, but the food was delicious and we were all happy to just relax and enjoy the Bohemian atmosphere.  I'm sorry to say the meal ended abruptly when Matt noticed he had ants crawling all over him.  Apparently he had put his bag on an ant hill and they had completely covered his backpack and him.  After a lot of swatting and careful ant removal, we paid and started our journey to the beach.

At this point, it was about 4:30 so our time was short.  We went to a beautiful beach called Punta Uva.  It was about a 10 minute drive in the other direction from our hotel.  We got there just as the sun was setting and the view was amazing.  Punta means "point", and there was a large point covered in trees and wildlife that the sun set behind.  Gorgeous.

Sunset at Punta Uva

Jess and I at Punta Uva

Even though it wasn't hot, we all got in the warm Caribbean water.  We threw around a Frisbee for a while, which I am not very good at, and then just hung out in the water.  The ocean was crystal and you could see the sandy floor clearly.  Once the sun was almost completely gone, we grabbed our towels and headed back to the car.

Five sandy, wet people and only one bathroom.  We definitely did some waiting, but again, we were on vacation and it just didn't seem to matter.  Our room was small, especially because it was supposed to be a two person room originally and we managed to fit five people, all with our own single bed.  Not much walking around room, but we got pretty close:)

After showers, we headed back into town, to a restaurant that was supposed to have "The Best Pizza in Town.  Jess, Kristi and I split a Hawaiian Pizza, which I thought was pretty good.  No one seemed to think it was "the Best" though.  We played cards for a little while, but quickly realized that we were all exhausted and headed back to the hotel.  Around 9:30pm we all went to bed.  Yes, 9:30pm. (We are all teachers, remember?)

Day 3 was great and now my appetite was wet for more sand and sun.  (Keep reading, because my favorite day is coming up soon!)

52 Days

Sunday: We woke up in just enough time to brush our teeth and run out the door to the bus station.  Thank goodness the bus left on time (6 am) because we were in for quite a drive. We arrived at the border of Nicaragua and Costa Rica at about 9 am.  Everything had gone pretty smoothly up until this point, and we felt like we were making great time.  Something about getting across those borders is really sticky though.  Costa Rica is particularly picky because apparently a lot of Nicaraguans try to cross the border illegally.  Anyways, we sat outside at the border, waiting for the guy to finish up with customs and stuff.  My face actually got a little burnt just waiting outside. 

I decided to make the most of getting a chance to get off of the bus and use the bathroom, because no one likes to use the hot, smelly one on the back of the bus.  There was a long line of ladies waiting to use the restroom, and you had to pay to get a wad of toilet paper.  After waiting about 10 minutes I made my way into the (also hot and smelly) bathroom.  As I neared my turn, I saw ladies coming out of the stalls and grabbing an old milk container with the top cut off to scoop water from big barrels.  Then they would pour the water down the toilet to get everything to go down.  And then, if that isn't bad enough, the same water used to flush the toilets was used to wash your hands. Ewwy.  I was pretty grossed out, but I did what I had to do and got out of that bathroom as quickly as possible.  

Yes still at the border, but Jess had a frisbee in her backpack, so we tossed it around for a while and a Nicaraguan/Costa Rican (?) boy joined us.  He watched for a few minutes as we played and then hopped right in and laughed and ran around with us.  It helped pass the time, and eventually (2.5 hours later) we got back on the bus.  Then went across the border, got off again to unload all of our luggage, and then got back on to ride the rest of the way.  Thank goodness we didn't hit anymore traffic or run into anymore hang-ups.  We arrived in San Jose, Costa Rica around 5 pm, which made for a long day, but we were glad to finally get there.

First things first,  find our hostel for the night. We didn't stay in San Jose the whole time, just for one night, and then we made our way to the coast (which will come later).  Anyways, the taxi drivers, were swarming, so we found one who would take all five of us and headed to Galileo's Hostel.  We didn't know much about the place, just that it was fairly close to the bus station and another cheap night.

Side note:  I'm not sure how familiar you are with hostels, but here's the low down.  Some can be pretty nice (almost like a bed and breakfast) while some can be downright disgusting: just a bunch of beds in a big room to lay your head, and maybe running water to clean off. 

Anyways, Galileo's was a decent place, but if you can't tell from the pictures below, I'll describe the atmosphere.  As soon as we walked in, we saw a sign that read "Smoking Marajuana on the premises is prohibited", right beside a sign that said "We will hold your drugs at the front desk if you have any."  What had I gotten myself into?  We all just kinda looked around at each other and knew we were out of our comfort zone.  The people were nice, just different than us, and we had a private room (except for Matt) to keep all of our stuff secure.  Our room was right above the 24 hour bar, so there was quite a ruckus all night long, but thank goodness I am a heavy sleeper (some of the others weren't quite so lucky)! The showers were clean and warm, and I just tried not to think about all of the people who had probably slept on the bed before me. 

Community Bathroom

 Crazy Chandelier as soon as you walked in

A big chalkboard on the wall...anyone could write on it

Stairway up to our bedroom

The Alcohol Selection

Day 2 was successful.  A lot of riding and waiting, but we were now that much closer to relaxing on the beach!

53 Days

Back from Costa Rica safe and sound!  We got back into Tegus today around 12:30pm and after 2 full days of traveling we were ecstatic to see the bus station and the busy, dirty city as we hopped off of the bus.

I'll tell you about the first few days and then safe the rest for later.  The trip lasted nine days: 4.5 traveling and 4.5 on vacation.  I'd say this is a pretty unbalanced trip, but it was definitely worth it. 

We'll go one day at a time.  That way, I'll be sure to include all of the details from each day.  Each day was different, but very fun.  I hope you enjoy reading. 

Jess and I managed to pack all of our stuff in one suitcase!

Saturday: Our bus was supposed to leave at 9am, but we ended up sitting around the bus station for a couple hours instead.  So at 10:30am we pulled out of the city and started on our way to Managua, Nicaragua.  The bus we took was pretty nice: bathroom, tv and air conditioning.  Going across the border wasn't too bad in Nicaragua.  The bus company takes everyone's passport and customs form to speed along the process.  We have to take all of our luggage out so that it can be "checked", although once they saw the color of our skin they passed us right along without even looking at our bags.

Kristi was my bus buddy

Not sure what this was for?

We arrived in Managua around 7:00pm starving.  Kristi had reserved us a room for the night at a nearby hostel, but we were unsure of exactly how to get there.  As we walked out of the bus station carrying all of our luggage, a sweet Nicaraguan lady held a piece of paper with "Kristi Kerekes" written on it.  She was there to show us exactly where to go.  We hauled our stuff and followed her for about a 20 second walk to our hostel.  It was on the exact same block as the bus station, which was really nice since we had to leave at 5am on Sunday morning. 

My bed for the night

Kristi posing...the yellow room beside her was the bathroom.

Excited to be off of the bus for a little while!

The hostel ended up being her family's house, and although that area is not particularly safe, I felt very secure staying with their family.  After we got our stuff settled and locked up in our rooms, we headed out to get some dinner.  We walked a couple of blocks and found a little place that served pretty typical Central American food.  Some had fish and rice and beans, but I opted for chicken.  Overall, a good dinner.  Our table was right beside the road, and Matt made a friend who was "patrolling" the street.  We had a little bit of food leftover, and he gobbled it all up. 

After dinner, we were all beat, so we headed back to the hostel, showered up, and hit the sack. Somehow, sleeping on the road is never quite as satisfying as sleeping in a bed.  One day in and halfway to our Caribbean destination!

61 Days

Jess and I managed to get all of our stuff packed in one suitcase.  Shorts, Tee's, Tanks, Bathing Suites and we are ready to go.  We'll be leaving in about 10 minutes to head to the bus station to enjoy a day and a half ride to Costa Rica.  We are suppose to arrive in San Jose, Costa Rica at 3:00 pm tomorrow afternoon, which means around 7:00 or 8:00 pm Honduran time.  It's going to be a long journey, but I'm looking forward to the beach, bike riding, hiking and relaxing that we are going to get to enjoy! 

Off with Jess, Kristi, Dan and Matt....Costa Rica here we come!

Happy Resurrection Sunday everyone!

63 Days

One of my favorite things during my day has come to be the time I spend with Andrea.  She comes to my room during her free period everyday (which is also my free period).  We just just sit and chat, listen to music, sometimes she helps me grade, or we both do work.  No matter what we do, I have grown to love her friendship.  I am so thankful for Andrea and her love for the Lord.  Seeing a high school girl so devoted to loving God is a beautiful thing.

Andrea and I

68 Days

Sitting here with Gabby, listening to Sara Bareilles.  We just put a puzzle of the United States together in 5 minutes and 26 seconds, and then quizzed each other on State Capitals.  I am a bit embarrassed to say that an 8 year old, who lives in Honduras. knows more than me.

My new goal: Learn ALL of the state capitals.  

Church tomorrow and then to Valle with Dan (Tao) and his parents!

71 Days

Boy, is it getting hot down here!  Two nights in a row now I have woken up covered in sweat.  I don't ever feel like I'm that hot when I get in bed, but when I wake up it's shocking how wet my pillow and sheets are.  Hopefully I'll get used to the warm weather and humidity so my nights won't be so soggy!

74 Days

The Island of Amapala

 
Yesterday we went to an Island off of the south-western coast of Honduras.  It was about a three hour bus ride, but it was nice because we left at 7:00 AM so the traffic wasn't bad at all.  We got to the coast around 10:00AM and then had to take a taxi boat out to the island.  Because there were about 20 of us, the boat was quite full and loaded down.   A few times, I was unsure if we would actually make it to the Island without capsizing.  After a very slow ride, we made it to a part of the Island called "Playa Grande".  The whole Island is a Volcano and its called Amapala.   We enjoyed several hours on the beach and in the water.  The sand was darker, but not quite a "black beach", and there was a cave that we went into (for only a second because there were bats).

What everyone else ate.  I passed!

I have now been in the Pacific Ocean, the Caribbean Sea and, of course, the Atlantic Ocean. 

Around 1:30 we hopped back on the water taxi and made our way to the mainland.  Josie and I were riding in the front and since it was going so slowly, we actually fell asleep leaning against the edge of the boat. 

Overall, it was fun day trip.  I got burnt, but not too bad, its almost all tan now.  I love going to the beach, even if just for a few hours!

76 Days

"I am fearfully and wonderfully made!"


Psalm 139