San Juan Del Sur, Nicaragua, The best place in the world (so far)

Yesterday was Valentines Day, and my suprise was that I got to sleep in. When I woke up I went for breakfast with Greg, Priya, and Fanny (our swedish friend). Our New Yorker friends met us and I had the best egg and bean burrito thus far. We explored the town and decided to cook a huge fish taco feast for dinner. Greg was tired from a 10km run down the beach so I went to the market to price out some ingredients while he had a nap. I ended up buying 6 tomatoes, 6 limes, a clove of garlic, 2 avacados, a chile, a jalapeño, 20 tortillas, beans, rice, cilantro and sour cream for 8 dollars. All that was left was the fish. I woke Greg up and we went for margaritas. We asked our waiter where we could buy a fish, and he told us there was a market down the beach a ways, or that the fishermen came back at 4pm. We walked to the market but all they had was tuna so we decided to take our chances with the fishermen. To no avail, we hiked up to the mirador (spanish for lookout) to this huge jesus statue overlooking the bay. It was a steep hike but we made it for sunset and it was incredible!! You could see all the way to Costa Rica! The view of the town was amazing. If my forehead wasnt so scabby the pictures would be a lot nicer. On the way back down we crossed the suspension bridge, which, when lit up at night looked like a mini version of the golden gate. We were still fish-less and had people expecting us so we stopped in at a fish and chip shop on the way back home. Turned out the guy was from Galiano Island and his girlfriends mom had fish we could buy. We walked a ways down the road and paid 12 bucks for 6 pounds!! We all feasted and went the beach for some shenanigans. Vodka is $4 for 40oz. so we bought 3 between the 12 of us. We tried not to drink too much because I was still sunburned and didnt want to feel too terrible (plus it was valentines day so the real reason we snuck away was for some much needed privacy). We went to bed around 1. This morning I woke up at a nice 9am and went to the usual brekfast place, Cafe Barrios. Greg wanted to surf but we decided to do something different so we hired a boat ($90 for 3 hours) and 9 of us went to a beautiful beach an hour or so away. Joe caught his first fish on the way(!) which we will barbeque up tonight. The sunset was incredible! Our hostel has become like a family and it will be hard to leave. Greg and I went and bought a poutine at the fish and chips shop to thank the Galiano fellow for the fish. The local beer here in Nicaragua is ´Victoria´ what a coincidence!? Tomorrow us an a couple of new found friends will travel to Granada, then back on Friday for the surf competition and reggae festival. It could be ridiculously hard to leave this place.

 The church on Sunday. We sat outside and listened to the locals sing. It was beauitiful. Notice the moon up there?

 The Parque Central.

 Home, Casa Oro. Best place in the world.

 My sunburn. SLLLOWWWWLLLYYYYY getting better.

 The Jesus statue we hiked to at the top of the hill.

The chapel at the base of giant Jesus.

 This one is awesome.

 Town.

 Our familia before the boat. Julia, Joe, Fanny, Julias boyfriend, Allie and her sister, Me, Greg, Israel and Priya.

 Joes first fish!!!

Playas del Coco, Costa Rica to San Juan Del Sur, Nicaragua

Hola Amigos!!
We arrived in Costa Rica safe and sound with Priya in tow after a lonnggg greyhound bus ride and 2 flights. Everything went as planned! It was hard to sleep, but I finally did. I woke up as we were flying over the mesoamerican reef, in Belize. It was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.

We stayed at a little hotel called the Aserradero. It was pretty pricey but nice enough for the night. The next morning we took a bus for an hour to the beach, Playas del Coco. The hostel we were supposed to stay was no longer there. We must have looked a little lost because this great Italian man, Walter, took us to his friends house where she was renting basic rooms for 10 bucks a piece. We decided to hit the beach, sans sunscreen, for a midday swim. Bad idea. We met a couple guys, Willy and Gerry, snorkelling and decided to spend happy hour with them. Happy hour turned into a 14 hour drink your face off binge but we managed to get up at 6.30 to go hike in Rincon de la Vieja with them. We saw a miniature volcano, boiling mud pits, and beautiful rivers. We were ssuuuppper hungover so decided to take it easy that day and just walked the beach after our hike. I got a reaaallly bad sunburn, my forehead is just one huge blister and my nose as well. Dont know what I was thinking going without sunscreen! We went to bed early. This morning we caught 2 buses to the border, which was mental, then splurged on a $20 taxi to San Juan Del Sur. We are staying in this sweet hostel with free internet, kitchen, hammocks, yoga tomorrow! and rooftop patio. The food and cervesas are cheaper and the beach is gorgeous! Anyways we are off to the beach! Love and miss you all! Wish you were here!

Putting the Pack in Backpack

I packed my bag yesterday and decided to share with everyone what I've decided to bring, since this is ultimately a huge question. I hope this will help me in future trips, things I should have brought, things i wish i didn't bring so I spent a couple week narrowing down the list of things to bring. I actually decided I was not bringing ANYTHING unnecessary. Being a girl its hard to pack because there's all these things you want to bring, all these things you don't need to bring, and all these things that are just impractical. Not to mention the limited space. But for 3 months, I'd say I've done well.
My backpack is a 40 litre Osprey Stratos.
Ive taken it to Mexico and Costa Rica, both shorter trips but it has done well so far.

I also have a 4L hydra pack that sits nicely in the mesh liner against my back.
First aid is important. A lot of things you wont use, but they are important to have, just in case.

In my first aide kit (and its mostly for two people);
4 months of birth control
Asst. Band aids
Tiger Balm
Tums
Antacids
Tweezers
Excedrin for migraine relief
Tylenol
2 packs neocitran
Motrin
Gravol
Cold pills nighttime relief
1 tube of superglue (for gluing together skin as opposed to sewing)
IBUProfen
Benadryl itch relief
Bug spray containing 30 DEET
Sunscreen
Dental floss
Visine
Q-tips
Hand sanitizer
Sewing needle and thread
Malaria pills (prescription included)
Travellers diarrhea pills (Prescription included)
Nail clippers
Green tea
and about 30 tampons.
I heard they are hard to find being in Catholic countries.
Most of it fit in a small Ziploc bag.

The next thing was toiletries. Being a girl I wanted to pack my Dior bronzer and lip gloss, bring expensive mascara. But I decided to only bring 2 tubes of mascara, one waterproof, one not. I figured my expensive makeup would just get ruined anyways. A little bronzer cant be too expensive.

The bare essentials for 3 months. I am bringing;
10 plastic disposable razors
shaving cream
baby powder (keeps your clothes smelling fresh)
shampoo
conditioner
face wash
body wash
deodorant
15 skin care towelettes
10 pantyliners
tissues
mosquito repellent (more of it, in a travel size bottle)
toothbrush
toothpaste
hairbrush
aloe vera gel
chap stick
hair elastics and bobby pins
mascara (2 tubes, 1 waterproof)

It all ended up fitting in my Dakine toiletries kit.

Clothing was the hardest thing for me to pack. I kept narrowing it down over a few days to things I really needed and what was truly comfortable. Nothing too big that I might wear and nothing just cause it would look cute. I was surprised how little I ended up deciding on.

One pair of long linen pants
One thin long sleeve with hood
2 bathing suits
1 pair of boardshorts
5 pairs of shorts
1 yoga capri
4 t-shirts
5 tanks
1 romper
1 dress
7 pairs undies
3 sports bras
1 regular bra
2 pairs of socks
runners

4 garbage bags (for various reasons, ponchos, backpack covers, dirty launder separator)
4 Ziplocs
umbrella
headlamp
bandanas
sun hat
pillowcase
sarong
sleeping mask
watch
flashlight
batteries
binoculars
universal sink plug
rope
laundry detergent
camera
camera case
removable hard drive
battery charger
USB cord
extra memory sticks

Sanuks
flip flops (for dodgy showers, and of course, the beach)
sunglasses
snorkel (its expensive to always rent)
luggage locks
carry on bag
change purse
ear plugs
Central America guide
Spanish pocket phrasebook
money belt
pen
journal
mosquito coils
photocopies of virtually everything in a document folder
visa
drivers license
passport
vaccine certificate
flight itinerary
greyhound tickets
insurance
cash
debit
Our flight friends itinerary

Well tomorrow its off to Kamloops until Wednesday when we bus from Merrit to Seattle and fly out at midnight on Wednesday. Next post should be in paradise!!

why Central America?

Central America is the little tiny waist line that connects North and South America. It consists of Panama (which we are skipping this time), Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Belize. We chose Central America to backpack mainly because it's cheap, hot and beautiful and I love Spanish countries. In this trip, we will learn to dive on Utila, in the Bay Islands of Honduras, learn spanish for a week or two in San Pedro La Laguna on Lago de Atitlan in Guatemala, and dive the famous Blue Hole of Belize.

Everytime I decide to go anywhere, people always want to tell you not to go. They always want to believe that they know more about somewhere they've never been than you do. "It's not safe", "You'll get robbed", "Watch out for __________(insert a million different embellished scenarios here)" I know my friends and family worry about me but the truth is, I don't want fear of the unknown to ever hold me back. Too many people live this way, deciding to believe something is too scary, or too difficult, or too much pressure, than to actually just DO IT. Too many people come up with excuses, and say they will but never get around to it.

The route we have planned is only a guideline to the places I would like to see. Since Greg doesnt care what we do, as long as it involves fun, and Priya just joined us because Australia is flooding, none of us really have any expectations. Just to meet the people in our destiny, and to go. Just go. "YOU DON'T HAVE A PLAN?" No, we dont. "You don't have anywhere to stay?" No, we dont. We learned when we backpacked Mexico last January to "trust in good fortune". So that is what we are gonna do.