Journey Back Home: May 2005

Losing Time

So at this point we've come full circle having returned to Honduras. Everyone got a little time to visit friends and host families, not to mention one last final send off in Darren's home town of Santa Rosa de Copan which was a lot of fun (for some more than others). We only had a total of 4 days or so in which to do it so we pretty much blew through Honduras on our way back around. We're really starting to fear Mexico's immensity so, due to Brendan and Colin having weddings of good friends to attend and Darren with an inconceivable rush to get a real job, we've decided to cut both El Salvador and Belize (the two smallest countries on our trip) back to about two days each as well. Of course as you can see El Salvador and much of Guate has already been realized, we'll try harder in the future to be a little more current.

San Juan del Sur

warefall 4

waterfall 3

waterfall 2

Waterfall on Volcan Medreas, Ometepe, Nicaragua

Some of the puddles are really big

Stuck in the mud on the way to the waterfall (delay = about 4 hours)

Ferrying her over to Ometepe

Crossing back into Nicaragua

Volcan Arenal, Costa Rica

Wooking Pa Nub In All Da Wong Pwaces

Leaving for Honduras tomorrow after 6 days in Nicaragua. We divided up our time between the island of Ometepe in Lake Nicaragua and the beach town of San Juan del Sur on the Pacific Coast. Heading to the island of Ometepe we decided to ferry La Puta Madre (the car) over with us so we could cover more spots in less time. Unfortunately, our timing coincided with a tropical storm off the coast and we spent the majority of our time gettng wet. The first spot we tried to hit was the waterfall on Volcan Maderas. The weather was bad and our judgement was worse, so we ended up getting the car stuck for about 3 hours in the pouring rain. Luckily the locals helped us out and blazed a trail through a madarine tree farm and we were able to salvage the day and try again the following. We made it out with only paying 200 cordobas for some water pipes we broke and a couple lessons learned: 1) The rainy season...it´s very wet; 2) Driving up a mountain during a tropical storm is bad; 3) Relying on local opinion as to the driveability of local roads is a complete crapshoot. Heading to San Juan del Sur the weather improved markedly just in time to hit the beach and get some sun. Our first day we confirmed an earlier sighting in Costa Rica of the incredibly rare, though not-so-sought-after female dredlock mullet haircut. Unfortunately the specimen bolted before a clear picture could be taken. The next three days were spent soaking up rays, frolicking in the surf, and sweating ourselves to sleep at night.

Problematic Parts

So we had a slight change of plans, we were headed up to Fortuna to see the volcano but about 2 hours out of San Jose our brakes started failing coming down from the mountains. To top it off just after we dicided to call it quits for the day, due to a strong fear of dying, we got stuck in another 3 hour long traffic jam. Its not fun driving without brakes on an empty road but its a helluva lot worse when you´re bumper to bumper. Being Brendans bithday he started celebrating a little early in the back while we were stopped, we tried our best to catch up with him when we got into town but I don´t think we ever did. We were holed up for two days, in what turned out to be the really cool town of Quesada, while we got a local guy to work on the car. But its all good news, we got the brakes fixed, not to mention the gear that we were missing that runs out speedometer and odometer and we´re back on the road. So officially now we have travelled about 360 kilometers even though its unofficially more like 3860 km. but we´ll do a better rough estimate and let you know. So last night we went to some hotsprings near the volcano Arrenal, we didn´t get to do much else because of our little setback but it was cool nonetheless. Today we made it back into Nicaragua and ferried the car over to the volcanic island Ometepe. Which also marked the end of Colin´s driving marathon. The car is in Colin´s name so unfortunately, due to local laws, the nine or ten days we were in Costa Rica he was the only one able to drive. We just got in a few hours ago so we still haven´t seen all that much yet but apparently the town fair is going on tonight so it should be kinda cool. That´s all for now but we´ll keep you posted.

B had to celebrate his birthday by himself in the back of the car because an accident backed up the highway for about three hours

Tapir tracks (thats Darrens watch for scale) they´re bigger animals than we thought

the runway at the research station in Serena

eating off the land 1

parrots were everywhere

this is where we stayed in Leona

beach out to Serena

weird helicopter out in the middle of nowhere

San Jose, Part III

Location: We're back in San Jose, en route from the Osa Peninsula to La Fortuna, a town near the Arrenal Volcano. Vehicle Status: 3 out of 4 brakes are working; the clutch is fading; and we're leaking from every orifice, but at least in consistent quantities. Passenger Status: Chafed, wet and beginning to stink ... stink very bad. Colin doesn't understand how Darren's clothes can smell like ammonia (he secretly thinks Darren might not be exactly human). Kiki Status: Her hula skirt has been reattached without incident. Notes: Setting out from San Jose, we once again headed south through the cloud forrests in the mountains as we made our way towards the Osa Peninsula. Despite a near reoccurence of overheating and cracking our cylinder head and the canyon sized potholes encountered en route to Puerto Jimenez, we made it in one piece and in time to celebrate Colin's birthday (27, unemlployed and unmotivated - we're all very proud). The next day we left for the beaches and rainforrests found so readily on the peninsula. The first night we stayed in Leona, a nice place but still a six hour hike from the real reserve of Corcovado. Unfortunately after those exhausting six hours, much of which was on soft sandy beaches, we realized while in Serena, at the research station, that our schedule was pushing us out of Costa Rica sooner than we had hoped. So bright and early the next day we were back on the trail returning right back to the place we had come from the morning before. The park on the Osa Peninsula is a virtual cornocopia, a plethora if you will plant and animal life with a steady presentation of jungle meets ocean. Darren fell in love with the hermit crabs, Brendan the monkeys, and Colin the elusive tapir that orchestrated a night raid on our camp site. We were only in the park a total of 36 hours but in reference to its diversness it was honestly the most impressive thing any of us had seen. Just to give you guys an idea of whats out there, only a few of which are in the pictures, we saw: tiras, anteaters, howler, white faced, and spider monkey, pisote (analagous to raccons but with elongated faces), basilisk, parrots, and tons of other snakes, lizards, birds and crabs. A short trip but definately worth every minute. So now its on to the Volcano, which should be impressive and luckily in time to celebrate Brendans birthday, ,which is today. ** We should also take this time to mention that we've celebrated Darrens birthday while on this trip as well. We were on the canal up in the lake and therefore a little restricted on our celebrating capabilities but it was fun nonetheless. We the management apologize for not having mentioned this sooner.

San José, Costa Rica Part II

Location: En from Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica to the Osa Peninsula in southwestern Costa Rica. Vehicle Status: Running like a bucking pony (but a little slow on the inclines) Passenger Status: Colin and Darren peeling, Brendan tanned and toned. Kiki's Status: His/Her flamboyant living style is becoming a problem. The hot weather has provoked Kiki to shed the grass skirt, forcing us to cover her up with our palm tree shaped air freshener. Notes: 9 days, 1 canal, and two islands later, the foreign devils left Panama, having gorged themselves on a visual feast of Panama's natural spendor and turkey sandwiches. On the way to San José, the first bribe of the trip was handed out to a public official to keep him from impounding the car because Darren was caught driving at a checkpoint while Colin is the only one authorized to drive in Costa Rica. The guy wanted 40 bucks but Darren talked him down to 30.