Chan Chan (sun sun)

Today we visited the Chan Chan ruins... from the time period 600-900 AC. These ruins, and "palaces" were amazing. Most of it is in bad shape, but some they have restored to their original glory. Literally the bus dropped us off on the side of the road, and it felt like the middle of nowhere in the desert...then you look across the highway and there are all these half walls. Once you drive inside the ruins, you walk through a maze of corridors, pathways and ramps to walk around this place. It spands over 14 km, although most of the tour takes place in only a small part. We were amazed at how insignifcant we felt, walking around these cerimonial grounds.

Hauchaca...chu-baca, huh?

We are back on the beach again my friends...it is not quite as nice as Costa Rica yet, but we are hoping it will improve. We arrived yesterday, Sunday, and it was PACKED. Every Trujillean in the area flocked to the ocean yesterday, on like 2 feet of sand! All you could see was a sea of black heads and brown skin... also its the tail end of Carnival in the area, so they had a big music stage bumpin some latin american beats, and there was some kind of dance off going on as well. Needless to say it made me wanna shake my hips... haha
Andrew has also rented another surfboard while we are here, and he hit the waves earlier this afternoon...while I have been planted infront of the computer trying to sync my iPod to some music...big pain in the arse! Tomorrow though I will take surfing lessons in the morning...so we will see how that goes. Maybe soon we can be catching waves together! haha Um, maybe not! lol

Onwards and Upwards

We boarded our first "bus-cama" a few nights ago to get to Trujillo. It was the PIMPIEST bus ever, really I could not believe it. First of all you are greated by this "flight attendant" type woman, dressed in costume with a a party hat and all. Then you climb these stairs to the upper deck, where you sink into these easy-boy recliner chairs. There is a traytop table, like on an airplane, your seat almost reclines back to lying down, and there is a video screen every few aisles. About 15 mins into the ride, the lady brings around a free snack, and then a free drink. Then an english movie began... it is better than flying, I swear!
So we arrived in Trujillo at 7am the following morning, dreary eyed we took a cab to our hostel which was ridiculously cheap...I think most of the cab rides we took while we were there were around $1! That afternoon we went to Hacua de la Sol y Luna...these amazing ruins from about 500 AC, during the Moche culture. I will not bore you with details, but these ruins were pretty fantastic...paintings that have survived desert conditions, graves, and full stuctures still exist. Stay tuned for pics... :D

Peruvian It Up...

Well after our day of luxury we did infact get on a plane the next day and fly to Lima...and can I just say that we loved it! We stayed in Miraflores (thanks for the recommendation Timbo), which is this hip, trendy, full of energy, part of the city...it was great! We ate at European style cafes, strolled around the neat and cute streets and oogled at all the great architecture. I could not believe how many cool looking buildings we saw with crown molding, hip accents and vibrant colors. It definitely was not the Lima we were expecting. We did manage to do a ruin tour, courtesy of South American Explorers. These ruins were crazy though, as they were right in the middle of the city...you climbed this pyramid and all you see in is high rises all around. Apparently 50 years ago when the development began, no one noticed that they were tearing down ancient bricks to put up their trendy walls...oops!
We also saw a movie while we were in town, the new Jude Law flick, not bad...it was just divine to see something mainstream, and feel like a part of the current world again for a few hours. We saw the movie at this mall called Larcomar, which is built right into the side of a cliff overlooking the ocean, for a mall, it is a pretty sweet location. We also broke down and did some shopping while we were there, and we both got a few new things to add to our meagar repetoire of clothes...thank goodness! lol :D
We also took some time to visit the Museo de la Nacion while we were there. We wanted to get a grasp of the range of different cultures, and time periods that existed before the Incas, since we will be seeing a lot of these ruins as we travel up the coast. It was a very good thing to do because when we left, we atleast had some sense of time frames for all these different "mini cultures" we will be learning about.
Also, I have to admit I made Andrew go to GREAT extremes to buy a new iPod while we were in town...taking cabs all across the city to find a store that carried the one I wanted. He was a very good sport though, secretely I think he is glad he will not have to share anymore! haha Just kidding...

Dreams Really Do Come True...

Ha, today has been quite the day...
We arrived at the airport this afternoon, prepared to board our plane to Lima, but when we got to the front of the line the woman asked us if we'd be willing to leave the following day instead. She said the airline would cover our hotel that night, food for the next two days, a $200 travel voucher, and taxi's to and from the airport... us being the starving and poor backpackers we are, we were AMPED at the chance! I mean c'mon, a FREE night in an actual hotel room, with our own TV, a HOT shower, access to a jacuzzi that isn't filled with grubby travelers, free internet, a gym and the best part...FREE happy hour from 5 to 6pm! We actually didn't figure out all our perks until we arrived at our hotel...which I might add is a Best Western.. but we were lovin' it when we read about all we were going to be enjoying in the next 24 hours. The icing on the cake was that we found out the restaurant we were going to be eating at for the next three straight meals was, believe it or not, DENNY'S!! So here we are in Costa Rica, staying at a Best Western, eating at Dennys! We couldn't contain our laughter at times once we realized what was taking place...it literally all of a sudden felt as though we'd stepped out of our vacation and had been plopped into someone elses! When we went to lunch earlier, Andrew and I couldn't stop looking at each other laughing...as the local costa rican's are walking past us with our "boca burgers" and fries, muttering to themselves about the typical americans that are eating there... little do they know, we are anything but! haha
Anyways...needless to say we are going to live it up while we are here. Andrew's already headed off to check out the gym, and I'm going to make the most of our personal TV to catch some movies. Then we well meet up for some free drinks in a bit... ahhh, such is the life of the starving and poor backpackers eh... lol haha

Montezuma's Revenge...

After surfing it up in Mal Pais, we headed to Montezuma... this little beach and fishing villiage we had passed along the way to Mal Pais. It was the cutest little town, with colorful buildings and thatched roof restaurants and bars right on the ocean. We stayed the first night at this hostel right on the beach, and we spent our first afternoon in the lounge chairs and hammocks chilling out. Then that night they hosted a big mahi mahi bake, where we ate our fill of fresh mahi mahi that had been caught that afternoon, for only $6 each! Yowza... yum, yum!
The next day we hiked to these amazing waterfalls where you could swim and climb up to a rock and jump off. We enjoyed watching this group of Italians climb up, get scared and hangout for a minute, and then scream as they jumped off the rock...it was very entertaining! lol Then after the waterfall we walked back through town, to this beautiful beach with the warmest water we'd swam in yet. It was divine!

The next morning though, it was time to go... heading back to San Jose for our flight to Lima. While we were waiting for our bus though, there was an iguana sunning itself on the restaurant across from us... who had come our from his hiding place to bid us good travels! lol teehee

Surfin' Safari...

So after we left the mountains of Monteverde, we went back to sea level to hit up the pacific side of Costa Rica... it was a LONG day that began at 5 am, but we arrived in Mal Pais in one piece...along with the hordes of other surfers as well.
We bumbled into Mal Pais after about 12 hours of traveling, only to find that every cheap hostel had been taken by some long, blonde haired, Jonny Utah knockoff, surfer dude...so we had to spring for a more "comfy" place to stay for two nights. It ended up being a wise decision though, since we got AC...which was a lifesaver in that heat...and hot showers for the first time in weeks... we hadn't even unpacked before Andrew had scoped the nearest surf shop for a board rental and some wax, in order to hit the waves first thing the following morning.
...and hit the waves he did at 6 am the next two days, catching some "wicked swells" with the locals... it wasn't all peachy keen though, as he did admit to getting dumped a few times as well. But he was in good spirits about it all, and just enjoyed being out there among 'em!
As for Mal Pais, the city, we weren't too impressed... it's full of a bunch of poser, surfers and surfettes who stroll around in their outfits staring down the tourists who have come onto their turf...AND everything was very overpriced, for our "comfy" hostel, to our mediocre food...even the local beer that has been cheap everywhere, was twice the price! WTF... we thought surfers were poor... lol

Monteverde, Zippin' Good Times!

Monteverde was a cute little moutain town, that reminded us of Northern Cali with it's trees, and the cute little restaurants and art galleries nestled in amongst them. The only thing we didn't care for was the layer of dust ALL our clothes and shoes received since the roads are all dirt and people insist on driving like maniacs and kick up a ton of it into the air. The first night we arrived our skin and hair had literally changed color because of it...ewwww!

We did do the most amazing zip line tour here through the canopy of the cloud forest! We zipped on over 16 lines, with platforms high in the trees...zipping through branches and over valleys, we were like birds! lol PLUS we did a free fall rapel, AND a tarzan swing... the tarzan swing was almost more fun that the zip line since you're rocketed off the platform out far into the forest and get to yell at the top of your lungs, I think Andrew swung the farthest of our whole group! We took some video while we were zipping around and are trying to figure out how we can share the good times... so stay tuned! haha

Feliz St Valentino´s dia

Hi yáll it´s bonza saying a quick happy valentine´s day, we are sending hugs and kisses to family and friends..

We spent our day at a canopy tour, zip lining, rapelling and tarzan swinging thru cloud forests in monteverde.. heather decided that we will celebrate v-day from now on, not with flowers and expensive dinners but going out and doing something extreme.. ha ha.. we´ll see what next year brings.. maybe i can show her how to wrestle a croc.. lol.

More New Photos on Flickr...

Hey All, we´ve uploaded some more shots from our adventures... check ´em out! :D
Click on the Costa Rica and Guatemala sets...enjoy!!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nimbinferal/sets

La Fortuna, Arenal Volcano

We left tortugeuro, again opting for the more expensive quicker route...we took a two hour canal ride were again we saw turtles, and BIG crocodiles this time and ended at a banana plantation. There we were picked up by Pura Vida tours and brought directly to La Fortuna. Our dutch friends opted for the long way around... they are still traveling even now! lol
So we arrived last night into La Fortuna, and the town is actually pretty cute. There are quite a few tourists, but the prices aren´t THAT bad for lodging and food. Infact we´ve been lucky enought to score a private room at Gringo Pete´s where we are only paying $5 each a night and we have a communal kitchen so we can cook our meals. This is good since everything we want to do here costs $15-$30 dollars. We´ve had to pick and choose our activities unfortunately since we can´t afford to do them all...
This morning we went to Catarata waterfalls which were awesome! You take a small hike down to the falls, and are rewarded there with the ability to swim in the pool and falls! The water was quite cold, but you can swim behind the falls and sit on some rocks and literally be right beneath the strong, loud water cascading down. It was pretty sweet...
Tonight we will venture close to Arenal volcano where we will try and see the lava flow at night, since it glows red and orange. After that we will go to Tabacon hot springs to sit in the hot pools and soak our sore muscles... it should be a real treat!

Tortuguero

Sadly, but with great excitement, we left the Carribean towns we came to adore and made our way up north to Tortuguero. We opted for the more expensive route of taking a 4 hour canal boat ride from Moin, instead of the bus. It was well worth the extra money though, as that canal tour was sweet. It felt like we had warped into an old tarzan movie, with all the vines, trees and wildlife that crept along the shores...
Tortuguero also has this "end of the world" feeling since you can only get there by boat and it doesn´t have any cars, or easy access to the outside world. We settled in at a great hostel, La Casarona and quickly felt right at home.
We ran into a dutch couple there, Natosha and Hanz who we´d met on the bus in Manzanillo and decided that we would hike Tortuguero Mountain with them that afternoon. We were suckered into using this tour guide named Gin, who ended up being a total RIPOFF! We pretty much hiked to the top and then back down, without more than a few tid bits here and there about the wildlife around us. I don´t think he offered one thing we hadn´t already seen or noticed without him... neeless to say we were all a bit peeved at giving him our money at the end of the hike. It was an amazing view at the top though, and we got to wear these fun rubber boots and play in the mud, so that made up for some of it!
The following morning, the four of us also decided to do a 6am canoe tour, and this made up for the hike. Our tour guide, Andres, was amazing... he taught us so much about their national forest, the trees, plants, and wildlife. We saw so many species of birds it was crazy, egrets, herrons, toucans, eagles, falcons, some I can´t even remember or pronounce. We saw turltes, Caimens (small crocodiles), monkeys, sloths, and an iguana up high in a tree. It was maginal being in this canoe sliding in and out of canals, going into the forest on the water and looking up at the tall trees above, it was out of this world! :D

Puerto Viejo

We explored more of the Carribean coast, while staying in Manzanillo... one town was called Puerto Viejo. This town felt like San Diego, Daytona, and Mexico all in one square mile. The streets were crawling with tourists, the restaurants were overpriced, and the shops were all selling t-shirts at ridiculous prices. There was one redeeming thing about this town though, they have the most spectacular home made macademia nut ice cream we have EVER eaten. It was definitely the highlight of the entire town...
There were however some pretty amazing beaches not far from there, so we took our time and explored those.
Cocles beach is known for having some of the best surfing, and even has life guards standing by to keep a watch on the crowds... unfortunately the tide and waves were a bit burely while we were there, but Andrew did make the most of the waves to do some kick ass body surfing.
Next was Punta Uva, this almost deserted beach stretched on for miles, with only a few people with dogs to interrupt the serenity. Here, I got turned upside down like the wash in the waves, and nearly lost my bikini, so I stuck to onshore entertainment for the rest of the day. :D
We also made a stop at Salsa Brava, one of the most well known spots for surfing on the entire coast... no surfers out that day, but we did kick back on the beach to read for a bit and enjoy the sunset at Standfords over a beer.

Manzanillo

So we did eventually tear ourselves away from Cahuita to head even farther south to this small town called Manzanillo...it had an "end of the world" feeling, as the road ends in the forest just beyond this town and doesn´t pick back up until Panama. We did arrive on a Sunday, which seemed to be the popular time to be there, as many families were BBQing and swimming in the ocean. We found a hostel right on the border of the forest, and were able to see sloths and monkeys right from our balcony.
Manzanillo sure cleared out mid week though, and we soon felt as though we were the only tourists around for miles (a great feeling by the way and hard to do in costa rica)...

Cahutia National Park

We did break away from our lazy beach days for one amazing hike through the local national forest. The trail followed the ocean part of the way and then twisted and turned into the forest... it was unbelievable the amount of wildlife we saw in only three hours. We saw two kinds of monkeys, spider and¨white faced"... the white faced ones were our favorite and so close to the trail that we could nearly touch them. We saw snakes, crabs, spiders, another sloth, and these gorgeous bright blue butterflies. It was like being at the zoo, it was so thick with animals, we had to keep telling ourselves that these animals were infact in there natural habitat.

Cahuita...

We had a great time hanging out on the beach in Cauhita for 5 days, lots of sun on both black and white sandy beaches, lots of time spent reading, hammock-ing, and just kickin´ back Carribean style! We tried out a few local spots for some great "camarones" (shrimp) at this local reggae joint and on friday night we even attempted the local "reggae night" at Coco´s bar. Wow, was that a scene...local town drunks, every local guy under 25 trying to pick up on the local tourist girls, and some unsuspecting bystanders like us wondering what we were doing there! It did make for some good people watching tho... and that same night, we even saw a sloth from our restaurant during dinner, walking along the telephone wire...crazy stuff! :D

Andrew´s Dad is Coming for a Visit...

So after some finagling with dates and travel details, Andrew´s dad is coming to meet up with us in Santiago, Chile for a week! We are very excited he´s going to join us, and Andrew´s has already figured out what we´re gonna do while he´s with us. We´re gonna check out a bohemian town on the coast called Valparaiso ... and go into a National Park, El Morado, for a few days of hiking and exploring!
.. GOOD TIMES, can´t wait! :D

Pura Vida! Costa Rica...

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Repeating our entry to Guatemala, we arrived at the airport, paid for an overpriced taxi to the bus station and took a long bus ride to a remote corner of the country. We arrived in Cahuita a bit wrecked after our 4am departure from Antigua... Cahuita is a small Caribean town flavoured by Jamaican Reggae influences. It's 2 dirt roads are packed with small resturants and shops all blarring Reggae 24/7. We found a great Cabina on the beach, rented bikes and a surfboard and plan to kick if for the next few days Caribean style.

Final thoughts on Guatemala...

We really loved Gautemala...it's diverse countryside, the friendliness of the Mayans and the wild animals we saw daily. We didn't expect to love it so much, and like we already said, wished we could have stayed longer to explore.
Some sad things that happened though were Andrew lost his head lamp AND his sunnies, and the worst of it all is that Heather lost her iPod, but Andrew has been generous enough to share his Rio for the long bus rides...
Before we flew out, we had a shopping spree at the Guatemalan airport! It was a hoot since we hadn't bought much since we arrived... we both got cheap ass watches at the duty free shop AND Andrew got a COOL ASS pair of sunnies for the rest of the trip... which he promises not to loose! Plus, in an ingenious moment we decided to buy some liquor for Costa Rica, so both Ron and Smirnoff made the flight with us!
Adios Guatemala!

On to Antigua...

So, most of Sunday was spent on buses, four to be exact... but we were determined to make it all the way to Antigua, so we could go to Pacaya, a local active volcano the following day.
Once we arrived, we fell in love with the cobblestone streets and Colonial architecture and decided we wanted to change our plane tickets and chillout for a few more days. After much mis communication and walking the length of the city multiple times we came to the disappointing conclusion that we were NOT gonna be able to change our flight for the next morning... and then realized we also had to get up at 3.30 am in order to get to the airpot! Ugh...
We did make the most of our last night in Antigua and in Gautemala though. We braved the local veggie market and bought fresh produce and pasta to make at our hostel that night... and what a last meal it was! Yum...yum...

Private Pools Await at Semuc Champey...

We packed onto a Chicken Bus bound for Semuc Champey, people were literally hanging out of the windows and doors as we drove the four hour bumpy road to our destination. We were surprised at how we even made it up several steep hills, without losing any people or luggage. We got to our hostel Las Marias right on the river...rather rustic but a beautiful setting no doubt. We hurridly put on our swimmers and hiked to Semuc Champey, eager to cool off after the long hot bus ride. We got there just as all the tour groups were leaving, and had the majestic, amazingly clear pools all to ourselves. The falls and pools were spectacular and worth the long bumpy ride.
After cleaning up back at our hostel, we headed down to a price fixed dinner that SUCKED... but what was cool, was the local Marimba band that came to play. So we enjoyed the music, chilled out and headed to bed.
The next day we decided to head right on out back to Coban, so that we could make the long trip down to Antigua in one day...

Coffee in Coban...

Coban is one of the 5 top coffee growing regions in Gautemala, due to it's high elevation. Most of the Fincas...plantations...are owned by Germans though, and there is a distinctive European flair to the whole city. We woke up early the following day and went on our own private tour of a near by Finca. We learned about how coffee grows on trees, and there are two beans to every fruit, and that it is ALL hand picked and sorted based on the quality of the bean... and much to our desperate need for a good cup of coffee, we were rewarded with one at the end of the tour.

Moving On Out...

Friday we bade fairwell to our family and Maestra's ...teachers... on out way down south. Upon leaving, we reflected that the gautemalans posses a genuine warmth and friendliness and we were sad to leave our new found friends behind.
On our way out, we stopped again in Flores to enjoy one last veggie sandwich at our favorite spot COOL BEANS before jumping on a microbus to Coban. The 5 hour bus ride wore thin as we were forced to listen to the antics of a bunch of morons crapping on like tool boxes in the back of the bus. We did arrive to Coban in once piece, although a bit dreary eyed and ready to relax.

Happy Austalia Day!

Also studying with us were four other students at Bio Itza...Andrew was lucky enough to find two other aussies to ring in Australia Day.
We had heard rumers around town that an Australian/Austrian/Kiwi/German lady owned a bar right outside of town. We finally solved that mystery when we stopped by after class one afternoon for a coffee and homework. She was a Kiwi who had moved to Australia...haha! Though it was the 25th in Gautemala, in Oz it was Australia Day. She sat down with us to have a chat and diveldged that she had a stash of vegimite in the back somewhere... so we made it a priority to stop back by later with the rest of our motely crew and have some beers to toast the special aussie day. After a few celebratory Gallo's, the staff surprised us with a home made vegimite pizza fresh from the oven. A fitting way for us to toast Australia day we must say!
CHEERS!

Back to School...

Monday we stared Spanish school at Escuela Bio Itza, in a small town called San Jose across the lake from Flores. It is peopled by Itza Mayans and backs onto Bio Itza national reserve park.
...so once we arrived in San Jose, it was straight to school for us! We met our teachers, Zoila and Sandra. We then had four hours of one on one instruction...very intense to say the least. Plus, the teachers don't speak any english, so you're forced to bumble your way through lessons passing the traslation dictionary back and forth... but all in all our first day of instruction went well.
After class we were taken to meet our Gautemalen host family, ironically named the Chans...the setting was extremely rustic, with pigs and chickens roaming the yard. We met our host mom, Linette, and she showed us to our quarters that we a but set off from the rest of the family's dwelling. She opened the padlock on our door to our new abode and what greeted us was a cement room with two very hard twin beds, a small desk, and thankfully a ceiling fan. Next came the bathroom and shower tour which consisted of two cement huts with tin roofs. The toilet was nothing more than a cement block with a hold in it! YIKES! We settled in as best we could and headed to the family kitchen for lunch. We discovered over the next week that lunch was easily the best meal of the day... with veggie soup, warm tortillas, tomaltios, papas fritas, salad, rice and numerous other vegetarian delights that Linette prepared for us.
In the afternooons the school organized many different activities, we hiked around their local ruins, we got a tour of the entire city, we went onto the lake and fished and we made soap for their local business. Throughout the week we learned much about the local flora and fauna, about how you can create glue by rubbing these two particular fruits together and how the towns people spent their days. Also, we got numerous leg and butt workouts, as San Jose is bulit on the side of a mountain... but all in good preparation for Machu Picchu. lol