OOOH LA LA TORTUGA

view of the volcano from the lagoon and from the mainland waiting for the ferry

11-25-06

Despite the smoldering volcano on the island Ometepe was a very relaxing and tranquil place. I brought my bike over with me on the ferry so I was able to explore the very remote island. Hikes up the volcanoes and kayak trips through the lagoons took up my days on the island, lots of howler and spider monkeys in the trees along with a wide assortment of tropical birds. A few days later on the ferry ride back I meet a very interesting lady named Stephanie on the boat. She is French lawyers who is in Nicaragua to oberserve and monitor the recent elections for the U.N. We soon docked on mainland said farewell and I set out for San Juan Del Sur








my bike on the ferry going to Ometepe









Later that day as I walked down the beach at San Juan Del Sur to my surprise and delight I saw Stephanie sitting at a table at a beachside bar looking very sad. I joined her at her table and asked if everything was okay. She told me she had come here to see the turtles come ashore to lay there eggs but the road out to the beach was to rough for a taxi and she had no way of getting there. I professed my love of turtles and told her I had come all the way down here to see the turtles as well and there was no way I was going to miss them and she was welcome to ride with me on my bike. So we made plans to meet and go together. As soon as I left her I went to find out what the hell this turtle business was all about. After asking around I learned that sea turtles from all over come to one particular beach about 15 miles south of town at playa La Flor to lay their eggs. The turtles arrive with the high tide which happens to be at 2 a.m. I than set out to find the beach. I was able to input the coordinates into my G.P.S and it eventually led me to the beach, I figured it best to go by myself during daylight to see what the road was like. It was a pretty rough dirt road with a small creek crossing and a medium sized river crossing that was about maximum depth for my bike. It would be a little challenging riding two up at night but was defiantly manageable. I met Stephanie at her hotel around 1 a.m. and we set off. The ride out there was very nice she got a little nervous crossing the larger of the two rivers but due to the darkness she didn’t see it coming until we were in the water and starting to cross, the more nervous she got the tighter she would hold on to me, so I made sure not to always take the most gentle route through the rough road. On the way back during daylight when she could see the river coming she choose to get off and wade across. I told her she was better of riding with me than taking her chances with the big crocodiles on the other shore, she chose the crocs but made it safely to the other side and so did I.













We arrived at the beach around 2 a.m. and it was absolutely amazing. It is a very desolate and pristine beach about a mile in length, two guys from the turtle conservation group were there but other than that we had the beach to ourselves. Hundreds and hundreds of huge turtles were crawling out of the surf. They would crawl the fifty or so feet to the soft sand above water line and with their flippers dig a hole. Once they had the hole about 12 inches deep they would lay their eggs in clutches of around 15 eggs. After they were done they would cover the eggs with sand and pack it down. All around the beach through the darkness you could hear the rhythmic gentle pounding of the sand along with the grunting the turtles pushing out the eggs it is a ritual that has been going on for millions of years and I felt blessed to be able to witness it. Exhausted from the events the turtles than would return to the sea and swim off. This went on all night long, the last of the turtles arriving about 5 a.m. The sunrise soon followed with the last of the few turtles. It was a memorable site to see the turtles returning to the sea in the early morning dawn after perpetuating their cycle of life. We spent the rest of the days exploring the remote beaches in the area before returning to town that afternoon.












grunting out some huevos






































After enjoying the wonderful surf for the next few days in San Juan Del Sur I said goodbye to my new friend Stephanie who was on her way to monitor the recent elections in Caracas Venezuela and I headed south to Costa Rica where I am at now. Tamarindo is a small surf town on the Nicoya Peninsula.

I was out surfing yesterday when I met some guys from California, turned out I had paddled with one of the on the south fork of the American River years ago (Harvey if your reading he was the guy who helped pull you out of the river) The rest of the guys were paddlers as well and it turned out we had a few mutual friends in the kayak world. They were all excellent surfers, they gave me quite a few pointers on surfing and I am now surfing pretty well or at least I don’t suck as bad as I did last week. So that’s where I am at now, I plan on surfing here for the next few days than south to near Jaco for some more surfing before heading into the mountains to kayak. Stay warm and don’t work to hard, take care until next post

11-30-06
Finally got the blog to take pictures, i was just kidding about the nude photos of me on the beach, you will have to go to my paysite for those. I am currently in San Jose, Costa Rica, dropped my bike of at the BMW dealership for service. Pick it up in the morning than off to Panama.

DEVIL RAYS AND GUARDAIN ANGELS

Hawksbill turtle


Whale Shark



11-19-06

I caught the ferry to Utilla out of La Ceiba. The Volcanic island of Utilla is about 18 miles of the coast of Honduras. It is tiny flat island with a small volcano on one side and on the other a little village made up of mostly diving outfits and small hotels and a lot of bars. Seems like there are two things to do in Utilla dive and drink.
The diving is very good and very cheap. For about twenty dollars you can go on a two tank dive to some incredible sites. I stayed on Utilla for five days and did ten dives. The reef that makes up the island is the second largest in the world, it extends up past Tolum where I was at last month. The highlight of my dives occurred on the last day of diving. The area is the habitat of the elusive whale shark the largest fish in the world. We were diving at a wall that dropped from 20 ft to around 150 ft loaded with various tropical fish and coral. Out of the deep blue a large dark figure started to take shape as it got closer. It kept on getting bigger and bigger it finally came clear about 100 feet away. The whale shark was the size of a school bus. It swam parallel to the wall as it approached us. It opened its huge broad mouth that you could easily parked a car in and slowly swam by, it was a brilliant blue and covered in white spots. Myself and Jessica the other diver I was with swam underneath it and tagged along about fifteen feet below its belly for about five minutes. It was amazing to be swimming so close to such an enormous beast. The gigantic fish than turned and swam back into the vast blue abyss as were left mesmerized at the wall. A few moments later two large spotted rays came soaring past with wing spans of about eight feet. We swam over the wall and started back toward the boat when we encountered a group of turtles that joined and swam along with. When we got back to the boat Jessica and I just sat there in silence smiling I can’t imagine a better dive.
The last night on Utilla a magnificent storm rolled in. We were sitting on the deck of the Tranquilla Bar that sits on the harbor enjoying a cocktail and reliving our incredible days dive as well as watching the incredible lightning storm light up the sky as it approached the island, for several hours the sky light up in a celestial firework show. Bolts of lightning reached from the heavens and pounded the horizon line. The storm finally started to blow inland. First the winds kicked up followed by waves starting to rip through the once peaceful harbor, soon the waves were breaking up over the decking of the bar and sheets of rain were coming down almost vertically. All the locals did not appear to be worried the party seemed to be getting more festive they seemed to be welcoming the storm as it were an old friend coming back to the bar after a long absence.
The storm only slightly let up the following morning as I stood in the rain at 6:00 a.m. waiting for the ferry back to mainland. The seas looked pretty rough I defiantly had second thoughts about getting on the boat that day for the hour ride. As the ferry left the safety of the harbor it started rolling and pitching, about half the passengers were soon throwing up. I am very prone to sea sickness so I was just waiting for my stomach to start protesting the ride. Surprisingly I was fine, I didn’t even fell the least bit queasy. After an hour we soon found the safety of the harbor of La Cieba and I happily set foot on solid ground.






Giant Spotted Ray



Reef Shark

















shots from top side

view from my room at Rubis Hotel






I left La Cieba early that morning with the intent to get as close to the Nicaraguan border as possible. Late in the afternoon I approached the capital of Honduras, Tegucigalpa a large nasty city. It was Friday around five and the traffic was at a standstill. I was trying to find a hotel before it got dark. From the road I couldn’t find a hotel and I was not making any progress into the city, the hotel district is located in the center of the city, I was not going to leave my bike in this hell hole of a city and search on foot, so I made the decision to try to push around the city and try to find a place on the outskirts on the way out of town. My G.P.S did a great job of helping me get back on the highway and around the city, due to the gridlock I did have to ride on sidewalks through a park and the wrong way down several streets but I was getting desperate to get out of the city before dark, Tegucigalpa is one the most dangerous spots in all of Central America and I was desperately trying to get out. The outskirts of the city were even scarier it was as if I was on the outskirts of hell itself and it was starting to get dark. I finally saw a hotel up ahead it was off the road and had what looked like garages under each of the rooms, it looked like a safe place. I pulled into the entrance and as I was getting off my bike and was immediately greeted by a man carrying a nikel plated assault shotgun he had two nine mm pistols stuck in his belt and one strapped to his ankles. I looked up on the roof and there were several men with automatic weapons patrolling on the roof. My heart was in my throat and I was thinking what the hell did I just stumbled into. The man introduced himself as Angel and as it turned out he just may have been one. I explained to him that I was just trying to find a room for the night before it got dark and I would gladly turn around and be on my way. Angel who turned out to speak perfect English told me as a man of God he could not let me go back on the street at this time of night, it was way to dangerous. I asked him if I could get a room for the night and he explained he only rents rooms by the hour for $10.00. It was quite an operation; the garages were so men could bring women to the hotel and hide thier cars in the garages while they were there. The customer pulls up and than pulls into an open garage parks and goes up the stairs that leads to the room, no one ever sees the people in the cars. I jokingly said it was odd a man of God would be running a whore house ( *note to myself, in the future do not joke with an angel carrying four weapons). He got a little mad at me and explained that God gave man free will and they themselves make their own choices and he does not supply women just the rooms. Angel explained to me that Friday was his busiest night. It was now 6 p.m. and dark it would not be light for another 12 hours. I was not happy with the prospect of paying $120.00 for a nights stay but what choice did I have. Angel brought me to a room, it really wasn’t too bad and very clean I was sure to bring my sleeping bag, there was no way i was crawling into the bed. He told me I could have it for $25 and explained to me he would lose money not having it for the night but God has told him to watch over me so that was what he was going to do. I was very grateful to have such a heavily armed angel to guard me and bike for the night. As I was sitting in my room starting to get hungry there was a knock on my door, Angel sent me up a chicken dinner, and warned me if I was to leave the hotel I would surely be robbed and killed on the street. I had no intention of leaving the safety of the room which was built as solid as a bunker. As I sat in my room enjoying my dinner I turned on the T.V. the only selections were various porn videos and CNN, I had a hard time following along in Spanish, the news that is, the porn was pretty easy to understand.
The place was hopping all night at one point there was a waiting line of cars forming for the next available open garage, and there were about thirty or so garages/rooms. Several time througout the night I was awoke to gunshots, thankfull none very close.
I woke early the next morning it was a tough decision but I decided not to stay a few more nights in this lovely resort. Angel greeted me early in the morning; I thanked him and his staff for guarding myself and my bike throughout the night and hit the road. After about ten minutes I started to leave the nasty slums behind they gave way to a beautiful mountain roads that lead me to the Nicaraguan border.

The border crossing was not as easy as my previous crossings, getting out of Honduras was easy but entering Nicaragua was not, it was very hectic, lots of crooked border guards, kids running around looking for a hand outs and shady looking characters eying up your every move. As I approached a crowd gathered around my bike. Hands were coming in form everywhere touching my bike, boxes and myself, I had to push everyone back, I told one teenage kid who seemed to have an honest looking face to watch my bike and I would pay him on my return. He happily accepted the job. It was a huge pain in the ass dealing with paper work, after about an hour in various lines in several different shacks arguing with multiple unscrupulous guards looking for bribes and false fees I finally got my papers in order, I kept on glancing over at my bike and my young guard seemed to be doing a good job of keeping the wolves at bay. My last stop was the police shack, after once again refusing to pay several false fees I was cleared to enter. I got back to my bike and paid my young motorcycle guard what I thought was about three dollars which he happily accepted with a wide smile, as I was driving down the road doing the math in my head, I had at he border converted my Honduran Limpers as well as my remaining Guatemalan Quetzals into Nicaraguan Córdobas at a good rate of 18 to the U.S. dollar but I had not given my young guard four dollars but about twenty five dollars, no wonder he had such a big smile on his face. Oh well I think he was the only person at the border who didn’t try to rip me off and he ended up with my money.
I am now in Granada, Nicaragua a small colonial city on the shores of Lake Nicaragua. The past has not been forgotten here. The city’s streets are packed with richly detailed colonial buildings, cathedrals and convents that make it Nicaragua’s most architecturally interesting town
Tomorrow I am taking a four hour ferry ride to Isla de Ometepe. Ometepe, was formed by two volcanoes Conception (5285 ft) and Maderas (4573 ft) that rose out of the water side by side. The volcanoes tower menacingly over the island’s villages that sit on the shores and shadows of the volcanoes.

RIO CANGREJAL

11-12-06
The Rio Cangrejal is a few miles south of La Cieba. I originally met some locals who I saw driving down the road loaded with boats in the back of their truck. After talking with them they invited me to paddle with them the next day. They were a great group of guys but there paddling skills were terrible, we paddled the lower bottom section of the river which was an easy class three section and I think they swam more than they kayaked. It was still a fun afternoon on the river. As we approached the takeout I met a another couple of guys from Switzerland who caught up to us. After talking with them they invited me to run the upper class 5 section of the Cangrejal ( as long as I left my new found friends on the lower section). They had a friend of theirs that has a jungle lodge in the middle of the run were we would spend the night.
Lars and Bruno are from Interlaken Switzerland and very good paddlers. We arranged for a local to drive us the 20 miles up to the put in. They also arranged for a boat and gear from me, also from their friend who owned the jungle lodge. The river was flowing about 1500 c.f.s very steep boulder choked with lots of medium sized pool drop rapids, very much like the upper Taos box in New Mexico, but through the thick jungle. The water was a great temperature of about 80 degrees, no dry top needed!!! Lars and Bruno had been running the section all week so I was able to follow them and run their lines. There were a couple of big drops of about 10-15 feet that we stopped to scout on my behalf. It was a fun exciting section. About half way through the run we came to the Omega Jungle Lodge. It was a great set up right off the river, great food and plenty of cold beer. Cutting through the camp was a crystal clear mountain stream that pooled up creating several large pools ideal for a refreshing mid afternoon swim. The camp was built to accommodate their rafting customers but at the time there were none, just river guides and the couple who own the outfit. The guides were an interesting mix of river rats from New Zealand, Australia, Germany, Colorado, México and Costa Rica. It was a good crew and as usual they liked to party and tell river lies well into the night. The following morning we put back on the river and a few of the guides joined our group. There were some talented paddlers in the group all running very interesting lines down the lower section. I ended my streak of seven years without a swim trying to run a crazy line that Tim from New Zealand ran. The move was 8 foot drop with a boof over a sticky hole that I didn’t clear, I got worked for a short while in the sticky recirculating hole, pulled my skirt and then got maytagged for a short period than finally I was able to swim out to a big international applause, the only damage was to my ego and a small bruise to my pride and a broken helmet. Tim later told me at the takeout that after many tries it was his first time successfully making the move, than burst into a fit of laughter. It was a great time and thanks Lars and Bruno and the gang at Omega, except for Tim.







The seven year no swim streak just ended, hope I can go another seven years!! ,
check out the broken helmet hanging off my neck
Adios, See you down river

MOJITOS RUIN ME AT COPAN RUINAS

,

The alien spacecraft accelerated across the surface of foreign planet. The indigenous life forms just stood and looked dumbfounded as the space creature piloted his rocket sled through their primitive villages. The alien pilot was surprised to see such a reaction; this certainly could not be the first time these life forms have seen a space ship pass by. They stare in amazement at the odd complexion of the creature’s skin and unusual features. Even through his space helmet and suit the villagers can discern that his features are different from themselves they are amazed at the green hue of the pilots skin and the sheer size of the extraterrestrial being, he must be at least three times their size. The young offspring are the most curious but the elder life forms keep the young ones from getting to close, they seem to be able to communicate in some type of language the alien notices but he cannot comprehend any of it. All attempts of communication that the alien tries are fruitless. Either the creatures do not understand his methods of communicating or they just do not want to interact. The alien checks his flight instruments and keeps his course, he has other planets to discover.

This is how I felt as I traversed the mountain roads as I left Antigua. Instead of taking the main road I drove dirt roads through the indigenous Mayan villages. It was out of my way and the roads were rough but it was like going back in time or into another world. The villages are so different form our everyday life. As I came into the first village women were actually in the river doing their laundry, pounding their clothes on the boulders and spreading them out along the shore to dry the late morning sun. The houses were crude huts thatch huts. They were using simple tools farming their corn and beans in small patches carved out of the jungle. Small children worked along side the parents. There were more people without shoes than with, old women and small children carrying heavy bundles of wood on their backs. I saw one women who must have been in her 80’s humping a load of wood down the road that I’m not sure if I could have carried. It sure makes one appreciate the easy lifestyle that we take for granted on a daily basis.

The dirt roads finally gave way to pavement as I once again approached dreaded Guatemala City. It was actually much easier this time as I was able to use my G.P.S. to back track my route I took the previous week coming to Antigua. I was even able to see were I went wrong on my first trip through and adjust to stay on the proper course.
My destination was Copan Ruinas, Honduras. For those of you who are thinking I still should be in language school, your right, but I decided to drop out. After only two days of school, I had enough. I didn’t come all the way down here to sit in a class room. I enjoy learning Spanish but there is too much to see on my adventure and not enough time. My Spanish is coming along from my day to day interaction. I wish I had the time to sit in a classroom and learn more but I am lacking the time and patience. So where was I before I was so rudely interrupted, that’s right I was approaching the Honduras border at Floridio. I was a little apprehensive about crossing the border of all the bad stories I’ve heard of border crossings most involved Honduras. This was also my first border crossing alone, without Jay to assist in my translation. The crossing went extremely smoothly, I checked myself and my bike out of Guatemala and into Honduras no problem. I could finally see an improvement in my Spanish as I talked with the guards for quite a while, I told them stories of my trip and of Jay’s demise. They seemed to understand me and I was able to understand them and answer their questions. It was truly a great moment in my trip.

Copan Ruinas was just a short drive from the border. The town is located just down the road from the border. The town greeted me with open arms. Everyone I met in the town is extremely friendly. The town is made up of good fun loving people form all over the planet, It is kind of like Vail Valley with the thermostat cranked up. I even ran into a Jamaican-Hispanic version of Woody. Carnell owns a bar downtown and has an electric personality and a soothing way about him. It was relaxing listing to him spin tales with his jovial soothing Island accent, even if half the stories were bullshit. My second night in town we were getting pretty drunk at his bar it was just myself and a local X-patriot Danny who is the bars version of Cliff Clavin. Before we knew it the bar was packed both Carnell and I were wasted and he was the only one working. I decide to help him out I started doing cocktail service, than jumped behind the bar with him as he was getting weeded behind the bar. He is the self-proclaimed best mojito maker in the land, this constant bragging resulted in about 15 orders for mojitos, which are a huge pain in the ass to make from scratch. So as Carnell worked on the mojitos I took care of the rest of the drinks, I told him he should start bragging about his ability to open bottles of beer next time to make thing easier. It was a lot of fun to work behind the bar, and when we finally slowed down Carnell showed me his secret mojito recipie, and we commenced to drinking his bar dry of rum.
I woke early the next day to a pounding headache, my room stunk of rum but it had a nice minty aroma though, I vowed to never drink another mojito as long as I live as I rolled out of bed. I shook the cobwebs off and headed to the ruins. If I visit one more archeological sight on this trip I will qualify for an honorary degree in Meso-American Anthropolgy.
The ruins of Copan differ from that of Tikal, Palenque and Tolum, the buildings are not nearly as impressive. Copan is known for its sculpture and reliefs. What the Copan Mayans lacked in their ability to build huge structures was surpassed by their artisan and craftsmanship. The abundance of and the attention to detail on the stone carvings allowed archeologists to study the daily life, rituals and beliefs of the ancient Mayans. The way they dressed, their religious ceremonies, what they ate and much more is all clearly depicted in the numerous stone reliefs and sculptures. Many off the works pertain to their fascination with death and sacrifice. Stone skulls, mythical monsters and sacrificial alters were a very popular motif.
One of the most impressive buildings in Copan was the ball court, it was substantially bigger than any other site, It must have been the Superdome of the Mayan world in its time. It was adorned with huge stone macaws, the sacred bird of the Maya. Large numbers of wild macaws still inhabit the ruins and scare the hell out of you as they screech out as you round corners of he ruins.
I am currently in La Ceiba, Honduras now. I met some local paddlers and am going to run a few of the many whitewater rivers in the area for the next few days. I will than catch a short ferry ride to the bay islands of Utila and Roatan for some diving. I will be leaving my bike and most of my gear including my computer here in La Ceiba in safe storage so it will be a week or so before you here form me, so until than adios.

Guatemala "Chicken Bus" The Border at Floridido

CHICHICASTENANGO AND DIRTY COPS

Without those pesky child labor laws in my way down here I got these kids working for me for just about nothing

11-5-6
I am settled into Antigua, checked into a hotel right off the main plaza and a few blocks from my school I start tomorrow. My plan for the day was ride to the famous open air market in Chichicastenango or Chichi as it is called by the gringos who can’t get their mouth around the name of the town.
I stopped by the main plaza to pull some money out of the a.t.m. and was amazed at how many motorcycles were in the square today, Sunday must be the international bike touring day. I met quite a few riders form all over, most coming from Guatemala City on a day ride, and one Brit who was on journeys similar to mine. Several riders on Harleys few on B.M.W’s and quite a few various café racers, most of the local bikers are very wealthy, as bikes over 125cc are extremely expensive down here, as much as 25% higher than in the States. Bikers seem to have the same friendly disposition no matter where you are. Upon noticing my Colorado plate several groups gathered around me to find out who I was. They were all very interested in my bike and my story. It was hard to break away and get on the road, I was invited to ride with several groups but none were going in my intended direction. I did promise to meet one group next week, they said they have some really good off road stuff to show me.

I was about half way to Chichi enjoying the twisting mountain roads that surprisingly were in great shape. The sun had finally made an appearance for the first time in over a week. As I rounded a curve there were a group of police waving over vehicles. I pulled over and one of the cops approached me, he was very friendly asking about my bike and where I was from. I handed him my license and paperwork for my vehicle and he inspected my documents. He came back to me saying my paperwork was not in order, which knew was not true. The cop still very pleasant told me I would have to pay a $100 dollar fine. I asked him to explain to me what was not in order and he just kept on telling me there were problems. I have heard a lot of stories from other people in similar situations. My friend Dana told me if it ever happens call their bluff, refuse to pay it and tell them to go ahead and arrest you. I decided although reluctantly to play it out. I told the cop to arrest me and we could figure it out at the police station, than I held my breath waiting for his response. I was hoping he couldn’t see my knees shaking. He looked me up and down smiling and said how about $50, now I knew I had him. I responded how about nothing. He stopped smiling and handed me back my documents and told me I could go. I asked him if I could take a picture of him for my blog and he told me absolutely not, so I jumped on my bike and headed towards Chichi. Thanks Dana I owe you one!

The Market in Chichi was very interesting. Vibrantly colored textiles drape the booths creating the maze that I soon found myself lost in. The booths were packed so close together I soon lost all bearings and just wandered around the maze with no idea of my whereabouts. I passed down an endless number of multicolored corridors that seemed to never end. There were aisles of all sorts of fabrics, grains, nuts, fruits and veggies, walls of masks, bags, pottery, jade carvings, flutes, drums, cages of birds all sorts of goods.
The vendors are indigenous Mayans dressed in brilliantly colored clothes. As you pass the vendors they thrust their goods out at you and start in on a feverish sales pitch, Heated negotiations are taking place all around it was fun to sit back and watch the malay, If you showed any interest at all in their wares they would follow you around trying to coerce you into a sale, no is not accepted they just keep on plugging, they put the goods into your hands or drape them around your body in an effort to close the deal. Even a smile or eye contact with one of the vendors would result in a sales attack that would surpass any telemarketer I’ve ever encountered. I was half expecting some of them to try to get me to switch my long distance carrier or try to sell me a timeshare.
The Meat market was just down right scary, sides of beef and pork and other various beasts hung in the open air on hooks. The organs were displayed in front of the carcasses. Live turkeys and chickens were packed in small cages awaiting their fate making a huge commotion. Butchered chickens were put out on tables with not even an attempt to cool them down. I could go on but won’t. As you pass through the meat market it brings you into the food court, for some reason I had lost my appetite. The sound of the rhythmic pounding coming from the ladies making tortillas was almost musical. There must have been 50 women just pounding out dough and another 50 cooking them on hot griddles. After a couple of hours in the market I had seen enough, now if only I could find my way out and remember where I had parked my bike!
I finally found my way back to my bike and headed back over the 9000 foot pass to my new home in Antigua. Seeing it’s a school night and I should be in bed I will end my rambling.