Sunday Around the World

Remember the time I said, "we heard the Isle is kind of a pain to get to"...ahh, those were the days of just saying those words and not really experiencing the reality.  Here are all the types of transportation that took us from the beach to Ometepe: -horse -mini boat -taxi (equipped with the best 90's jams and booming bass) -mini bus (just a quick 4 hour trip!) -taxi -ferry (me: "what time does the ferry leave?"  ferry captain: "eh...I don't know, maybe 2pm, but maybe not with the wind, so maybe 4pm but maybe a little earlier if we are ready and the boat is working, but maybe not at all") -shuttle bus -20 minute walk up a dark, rock path  -WE MADE IT!! My horse taxi First mini-boat We had literally no plan once we got onto the ferry, we got as far as knowing we had to take the ferry, and then beyond that I guess we figured a plan would just create itself and take us somewhere amazing.  It's worked so far so why change it up?  While on our hik...

Whoa, blogging and keeping up with life in general isn't the easiest when our locations decide to take it back to 2008 when backpackers didn't come with their IPhone 5's and Ipads and there was no wifi.  But, I guess I can trade wifi for some delicious waves, sand that will never come out of my hair, and darker versions of my freckles.   The moment we got back from conquering the volcano hike, we decided to use the last moments of energy and make the move to the beach.  We thought, eh, maybe a taxi ride and then we can fall into a hammock somewhere and nurse our blisters from the hike.  Well, the route to our next hostel didn't prove to be so dreamy.  After a 45 minute taxi ride to a mystery bar somewhere, we loaded ourselves and our bags into a tiny little boat in the pitch black.  The boat ride under the stars was magic until we were dropped on another beach and told to walk 20 minutes...that way.  So after 2 days of hiking up and down volcanos I fou...

Our first real stop in Nicaragua will be Leon.  If you can believe, cause I couldn't, we hopped on another bus just a few hours off our Breaking Bad 18 hour busride.  Smashed in the back of a 14-person mini-van we took the 2 hour trip from Managua, Nicaragua to the second largest city, Leon.  The big reason we headed north to Leon is because Michael found a tour group that leads overnight camping/hiking trips.  I had decided a while back that I needed to throw myself into something uber physical and outside my comfort zone; because clearly roaches, food poisoning and caves haven't been enough.  We spent a few nights in Leon just bouncing around; it's a cute colonial city with 10 churches in a 5 block radius and its own skate park.  Skate park?? WOWWW!!  I know, its not a ton to report on, but we did enjoy a beer on a roof.  One of the churches with its historic lighting Sunset over a skate park Our hike started on the third day at 7:00am.  I ...

I would like to extend some very important thank you's: The first is to Richard Seiler (Michael's wundahful father) who allowed us to tap into his Netflix account. The second is to the creators of Breaking Bad. The third is to the genius who decided to grace the King Quality bus line with shotty, but workable wifi. Our 18-hour busride was semi-manageable because of all these factors.  We splurged for the top of the line bus to take us from Guatemala City to Managua, Nicaragua and one of the perks, besides the questionable meat dish and hot dog they served, was that our buses (there were 3) came with wifi that allowed us to watch 8 episodes of Breaking Bad while cruising through Honduras and El Salvador.  Granted, every 5 minutes we had to do the dance of pausing while it buffered, shutting down the app and stroking the IPad for good luck that our saving grace show would come back on.   Holding the IPad, praying it would stop buffering and give me Walt back. It wasn't actu...

Guatemala you have been good to us!  You were full of some of the most gorgeous landscapes, natural springs, hostels with lots  of little multi-legged friends and delish beans and rice.   We have spent 3+ weeks here and gotten a nice full plate of what Guat dishes out.  But, it is time to move on to a new love: Nicaragua!   We finished up our week on Lake Atitlan and had an amazing time in our massive house on the hill.  I will say, I am sad to go because this house had the most unreal views I have ever lived with and it was fun to bounce around each town by boat.   But, the hike up to the house left me without breath for a few minutes and every night we shared our home with a little guy we like to call Jeffrey: a massive spider that sat watching us and who we hoped would just sit tight on his wall.  The house is yours, Jeffrey.  We give up.   Our final breakfast on the patio.  Ugh.  On a hike up to the Yoga Forest.  So ze...

So, you have two choices of transportation here at Lake Atitlan: a rickety boat crammed full of hippies and locals that will leave you as drenched as sitting in front of sprinklers for an hour, OR your little feetsies.  Yesterday, we decided that the latter of the two would be our method of transportation to walk from our little town of Jaibailito to the hippie-mecca of San Marcos.   To get anywhere outside our town you can either walk to the right for 3 hours or to the left for about 30 minutes.  Oh, and these aren't just little skips down the path of flowers.  These are hikes where hands are necessary to pull you up a rock face and balance is appreciated on some skinny paths.  DAD: I have great balance and I wear sunscreen and a hat the whole time.   We made the journey up and down valleys and mountains to get to San Marcos.  Yes, I was sweating and panting for most of it, but the views were so worth it on the water breaks. One of the staircases...

On the move again!  After our rush of adrenaline on New Years in Antigua, we made the trek west to the beautiful sites of Lake Atitlan.   Before I tell you about the Lake, I just want to show some gorgeous shots of our final home in Antigua: EarthLodge.  It is set, wait for it, in front of a few volcanoes and looks over the town of Antigua.  We got some good hiking in and good use of the hammock in our treehouse. After saying goodbye to our house in the trees we jumped on another bus, this one boasted one flat tire and some questionable driving skills through the mountains to get us to the lake.   The Lake sits in between 3 different volcanoes and all around it are several towns, all of them with different personalities and vibes.  And I do mean viiiiibes maaaaan.  The Lake has attracted many hippie yogies over the year, so I have seen several heads of multi-colored dreads and patchouli wafts through the air as I walk by people wishing me Namaste. ...