Its been two weeks since our last post. I don´t know how time has slipped by that fast! We`ve been busy here in Nicaragua...well not busy...but we`ve been on the move a lot and where we have stayed have been more or less remote little fincas and ranchos where we have been busy - swimming and lying in hammocks etc. Without photos this post will likely be a lot less interesting than it could be (also because Tor is sick today and it is just me writing, it will also probably be a lot less funny than it could be). Hopefully by next week we will have our new card reader and will be able to post a bunch of photos at once.
After spending a couple of days in Leon we headed into northeastern, or highland, Nicaragua. In this land of coffee we hiked our way up from Yuccul to the Finca Esperanza Verde outside of Matagalpa. Four kilometers isn´t such a hard hike and even four kilometers uphill is ok, but four kilometers uphill with our packs on really made us realize just how out of shape we are! The finca was such a special place though, serving coffee grown and processed on site, having tons of hiking trails, a waterfall complete with swimming hole, toucans, mat mats, howler monkeys and even sloths! It was all very tranquillo except for the little run in that we had with the monkeys...A big male was letting us know we were in his territory, making short calls and such, so Torrie, of course, had to call back to him. Then the male started rubbing and pounding his chest...and of course...so did Tor. Then the big male stands up on his branch and shakes his alpha male testicles at us...and of course..no no, luckily Tor didn´t do this back, though he may have tried, but then the male monkey sort of charged us from the tree and I finally convinced him that maybe, maybe we should just keep walking.
Our run-in with the sloth was much less eventful. The sloth slept and slept and then finally woke up and scratched its bum for a few mintues before falling back asleep. Fun fact: the spanish name for a sloth - perisoso- translates literally to `a lazy´.We went back 5 hours later just to see if the sloth would still be there and sure enough it was, still fast asleep. Perisoso.
After the Finca we went to what must be the Momostenango of Nicargua, quickly left, and then headed to the Tisey Nature Reserve, outside of Esteli, where we happily met up with some friends. There were two definite highlights at Tisey. The first being that the quiet little posada where we stayed serves soup on Sunday. We didn´t realize the significance of this when they told us until Sunday rolled around and all sorts of locals and Nacionales from as far as Managua rolled in for soup...and rum. What goes better with soup than rum? Apparently nothing.
The second highlight, and a reason for anyone visiting Nicaragua to detour up to the north-east, was the Galleria de Arte Jalacate. The Lonely Planet is spot on here, Alberto the artist really does skip through his garden despite being close to eighty, jumping up steep paths to explain to you (well, if you can understand his fast, semi-eccentric spanish) the meaning of his art and culture. It is even more exciting because he is also reciting poetry and chain-smoking all the while. As our British friend with us summed it up, it was `brilliant´.
Somoto Canyon was another highly, highly reccommendable adventure, but one that would definitely not pass Canadian safety standards. We swam our way 2km through the narrow canyon whose steep walls hold small rapids, waterfalls and deep pools. Tor, much braver than I, jumped from 15m into a pool. After my 11m jump at Semuc Champey in Guatemala I realized that jumping from heights in a bikini is not highly adviseable, unless you don`t mind not being able to sit down, or walk, for a couple of days afterwards.
Most recently, we stayed three days at the Rancho Esperanzo on the northern Consiguina Peninsula. Back on the coast it was so hot and glorious that we have both finally managed to get some colour back on our skin after our long stint in the cool Guatemalan, and then Nicaraguan, highlands. Hopefully, after a few more days in the sun at Laguna de Apoyo where we will go tomorrow we will actually look like we`ve been to Central America. Right now we are stationed in Masaya. It is a nice city with lots of artesans and a very, very cool Volcano than is still smoking (we visited the crater yesterday). Luckily for Torrance, most of the arts made in Nicaragua are ceramics and big hammocks so I can`t even try to justify buying anything.
Ok, that is all for now. Thanks for reading!
With love,
Lisa and Torrance
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Monday, May 16, 2011
On the road again: a brief disaster and then onto Nicaragua
We had intentions of writing a blog last Friday, to update on our adventures in highland Guatemala and our glorious beach days in El Salvador, but sadly we were stopped in our tracks when we realized that our camera and an embarassing number of bank cards had been stolen.
It was a moment we had anticipated, prepared for mentally even, but still it rocked our world. The worst part was that never, in our whole trip, had so many of our valuables been in a single place (a pretty little camera case) at one time. We´d just been to the internet cafe and then were distracted by a game of our beloved card game - Yanif. Somehow, only a few meters away from us, our camera must have been spotted by a passerby and stealthily snatched
It was a tough blow for us, but at least (Emily) our ice cream wasn´t stolen at the same time - only our USB with ALL of our photos backed up, in addition to the camera and bank cards. Ugh.
Although the camera incident left a somewhat bitter taste in our mouth (we´d planned to go surfing that afternoon but instead had to call Canada and cancel cards!!!), we still left El Salvador on a positive note. Playa El Tunco is a glorious beach town, there were some tasty treats to be had at the street food stalls, and we were reunited after nearly 10 weeks with our beloved Pacific Ocean (Tor was very near tears). Even better than simply the Pacific, it was the Pacific at 23 degrees celsius, the most refreshing swim you could ask for! The town is cruisey ( this time the lonely planet writer´s were right - there is no better word). Not a lot happening outside of the surfing and burrito eating scene. And the people of the town are what really makes it shine. After our day of crisis the local friends we´d made couldn´t have felt more bad that something like that had happened in their town.
A free postcard later (the guy, Ivan at Surfo´s who´d helped us to arrange our bus to Nicaragua felt that we´d had such a tough day that he wanted to do something nice) we left El Tunco and made our way to Nicaragua.
We rode with a bus line called King Quality, and we felt like actual Kings. We felt like we were cheating on our dear friends the Chicken Buses, but it was a (not overly expensive) way to get from San Salvador to Leon (Nicaragua) with both border crossings in about 8 hours, which is otherwise impossible. We´ve spent a few days in Leon bathing in our own sweat (the humidity feels like getting hit in the chest by an Orca´s tail) and loving every minute of it. Several ice showers a day are necessary. Leon is beautiful, and on our first morning here we woke up to an email from Sarah and Simon (some Kiwi travel friends from a few weeks ago) who confirmed that yes, we had transfered ALL of our pictures to their laptop when we´d all stayed together. Technology has really come through in a big way (what do you think of that Pete, ya caveman?), so a big thanks to it and to Sarah and Simon. You guys saved us.
After a few days here in Leon the plan is to head northeast into the mountains, for a week or so of fun involving some combination of the following: small villages, coffee farms, jungle parks, waterfalls, hiking, etc.
We´ll hope to update you on these adventures on our next highly anticipated (haha) blog post. We do have Tor´s camera, but at present we don´t have a way to get those pictures onto a computer. We´re working on it.
Miss you all!
Love Lisa and Tor
It was a moment we had anticipated, prepared for mentally even, but still it rocked our world. The worst part was that never, in our whole trip, had so many of our valuables been in a single place (a pretty little camera case) at one time. We´d just been to the internet cafe and then were distracted by a game of our beloved card game - Yanif. Somehow, only a few meters away from us, our camera must have been spotted by a passerby and stealthily snatched
It was a tough blow for us, but at least (Emily) our ice cream wasn´t stolen at the same time - only our USB with ALL of our photos backed up, in addition to the camera and bank cards. Ugh.
Although the camera incident left a somewhat bitter taste in our mouth (we´d planned to go surfing that afternoon but instead had to call Canada and cancel cards!!!), we still left El Salvador on a positive note. Playa El Tunco is a glorious beach town, there were some tasty treats to be had at the street food stalls, and we were reunited after nearly 10 weeks with our beloved Pacific Ocean (Tor was very near tears). Even better than simply the Pacific, it was the Pacific at 23 degrees celsius, the most refreshing swim you could ask for! The town is cruisey ( this time the lonely planet writer´s were right - there is no better word). Not a lot happening outside of the surfing and burrito eating scene. And the people of the town are what really makes it shine. After our day of crisis the local friends we´d made couldn´t have felt more bad that something like that had happened in their town.
A free postcard later (the guy, Ivan at Surfo´s who´d helped us to arrange our bus to Nicaragua felt that we´d had such a tough day that he wanted to do something nice) we left El Tunco and made our way to Nicaragua.
We rode with a bus line called King Quality, and we felt like actual Kings. We felt like we were cheating on our dear friends the Chicken Buses, but it was a (not overly expensive) way to get from San Salvador to Leon (Nicaragua) with both border crossings in about 8 hours, which is otherwise impossible. We´ve spent a few days in Leon bathing in our own sweat (the humidity feels like getting hit in the chest by an Orca´s tail) and loving every minute of it. Several ice showers a day are necessary. Leon is beautiful, and on our first morning here we woke up to an email from Sarah and Simon (some Kiwi travel friends from a few weeks ago) who confirmed that yes, we had transfered ALL of our pictures to their laptop when we´d all stayed together. Technology has really come through in a big way (what do you think of that Pete, ya caveman?), so a big thanks to it and to Sarah and Simon. You guys saved us.
After a few days here in Leon the plan is to head northeast into the mountains, for a week or so of fun involving some combination of the following: small villages, coffee farms, jungle parks, waterfalls, hiking, etc.
We´ll hope to update you on these adventures on our next highly anticipated (haha) blog post. We do have Tor´s camera, but at present we don´t have a way to get those pictures onto a computer. We´re working on it.
Miss you all!
Love Lisa and Tor
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Hello loyal blog followers:
Lisa is a little tired and so I have been nominated to write this post (plus, we´re starting to enjoy taking turns).
But she gets to help right? Yes. She is watching over my shoulder like a hawk.
Alright, so on our last post we´d just returned from the Lake for another week of studying Spanish here in Xela. It went really well, and we can now get by in most situations, and we hope to continue to improve our Spanish. I lived with my homestay family once again, which was great.
This city is absolutely wonderful, but we´ve finally decided to press on: we fear if we stay one week more we´ll fall too deeply in love with this city and will never be able to leave (which does not bode well for Wendy Coste and others). Here are a few pictures for a little snapshot of Xela:
Lisa is a little tired and so I have been nominated to write this post (plus, we´re starting to enjoy taking turns).
But she gets to help right? Yes. She is watching over my shoulder like a hawk.
Alright, so on our last post we´d just returned from the Lake for another week of studying Spanish here in Xela. It went really well, and we can now get by in most situations, and we hope to continue to improve our Spanish. I lived with my homestay family once again, which was great.
This city is absolutely wonderful, but we´ve finally decided to press on: we fear if we stay one week more we´ll fall too deeply in love with this city and will never be able to leave (which does not bode well for Wendy Coste and others). Here are a few pictures for a little snapshot of Xela:
Outside Mercado de Democracia
Church and Parque Central
We also had a mighty fight over whether or not we should buy this puppy:
He was pretty cute, but thankfully, I won.
After wrapping up our last week of Spanish (nosotros aprendimos mucho!) we decided to finish off our time in Xela and the western highlands with a bang: the overnight hike of Volcan Tajumulco, the highest peak in Central America!
Happily, the friends we´d made during our time in Xela (Miguel de Cervantes! Woot!) signed up to do the hike as well! The trip was incredible, a challenging hike, not so much in terms of technicality (though we did sport some sore legs afterwards), but the altitude really kicked our butts. Not being able to breath is definitely not in the top 10 sensations known to humans. The hike starts at 3000 meters above sea level, and ascends to the summit: 4222 meters above sea level.
Since pictures tell a thousand words, I´ll let them do the talking. The final few hundred meters from our camp required a 4:00 am wake-up, and Lisa and I, ever the early risers (ha!) forgot our camera, and were unable to capture the spectacular sunrise from the top of Central America. Huge thanks to our friend Daniella, who shared her camera and pictures of the aforementioned glory.
Team Tajumulco disembarking the chicken bus (chicken bus madness is part of our everyday life here, so it´s nice to share)
Getting ready for the climb!
Us starting out (little did we know these would be our last semi-effective breaths for about 18 hours)
Oxygen, over and out.
Our friends (Rose, Wendy - from San Francisco, Canada - and Daniella) enjoying a well-earned hot chocolate at base camp.
Lisa at the lower peak, Cerro de Conception at sunset (I was not present due to the fact that I was dying of altitude sickness in my tent - luckily, I pulled through, thanks in no small part to the Starbursts in the medical kit. I had 50.)
The final few hundred meters at 4 in the morning were tough, but this sunrise was well worth it. What looks like a curved wisp of cloud near the middle of the shot is actually smoke from Volcan Fuego erupting!
The highest snuggle in Central America.
Me on the summit with an eruption cloud from Volcan Santiaguito in the background (the volcanoes were going bananas!)
The whole gang (me and Lis, Daniella, Wendy, Kevin and Rose) on the summit!
Lisa and I in our arctic gear (would you ever guess that that is Mexico in the background?)
Lisa warming up on the ridge of the crater.
Regrouping before the hike down (we are not sure why I am angry and Lisa is overflowing with glee like a chipmunk on valium)
I was feeling a little better, so I walked like an Egyptian the entire way down. Serious.
Tajamulco, conquered!
So that was Tajumulco, a wonderful experience (despite almost suffocating and or losing our lunches for a good portion of it) and a great way to wrap up our time in Xela. For anyone heading this way, we did the trek with Quetzaltrekkers, a volunteer guiding organization whose profits go towards a school and a scholarship fund for local children. The food was great and the guides did a good job with a big group (16 in total!). We highly recommend them.
After a rest day (and laundry, wholy cow), we finally decided to press on and say goodbye to Xela, our home away from home. With good friends, language schools, homestay families (que bueno, es muy amable!) and more chocolate and craft supplies per square meter than Santa´s workshop (a big bonus for Lis), it was tough to leave. But yesterday we were on the bus for Momostenango, a town known for its culture and the big, heavy woolen blankets (chamarras) made there.
Well. We hate to be blunt, but the town was a bit of a let down. More fried chicken than Colonel Sanders´ birthday party, and, despite what the crack squad over at Lonely Planet say ("dozens of little tables and shops selling the chamarras welcome you to watch the blankets being made"), not a blanket in sight. We took it as an extra recovery day, and, not having the courage to brave the culinary scene a second time, enjoyed a fine dinner of peanut butter sandwiches, watermelon, and Gallo. The one draw of Momo (one of the reasons we went there) is that it is midway between Xela and Huehuetenango, a gateway into the northern Quiche region. Only once we got to Momo, however, we found out that we needed to go all the way back to Xela to switch buses to Huehue, making Momo a completely out-of-the-way destination. This all sounds pretty negative but we made the best out of it, and actually had a pretty good time. Still, we don´t highly recommend Momostenango if you´re looking for some excitement. It´s a detour, definitely not on the way way to Huehue.
This morning we rode a succession of early morning chicken buses (more mellow compared to any other time of day) and wound up here in Chichicastenango, in Quiche department. Chichi is also known for its adherence to traditional Maya customs and has one of the biggest markets in the country (this comes from sources other than Lonely Planet, so it´s probably right). We´re spending today poking around town, and are really excited for market day tomorrow.
After a few days in Chichi we plan to head further north, towards Nebaj, and then, gradually (our usual pace) make our way back down, and southwest into El Salvador.
Thanks again for reading, and for the comments that you´ve been leaving, they mean a lot to us, and remind us that even in a land where Harper can win a majority (ugh!) there are wonderful and warmhearted people.
Love, Torrance and Lisa
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