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South America |
Costa Rica | Cuba |Guatemala, Honduras, Belize | Mexico |Panama |
Costa Rica
Costa Rica is another place I visited with my friend Peter Salvia. We got in to San Jose after a red eye flight and picked up a rental car. We basically did a circle tour of the northwest corner of the country. We spent a couple of days around Arenal, hiked in the jungle and saw the volcano. We had 3 days in Tamarindo, where we took a boat trip through the Mangrove swamps. This was so interesting I talked a kid into meeting at 6:00 am the next day for another boat tour. There is so much more to see early in the morning and I like to be out when there are not a lot of other people. One afternoon in Tamarindo local middle school marching band came to the hotel and put on a concert for the guests. This was a blast, all of the kids wanted me to take their picture. We also went to a national park, Rincon de la Vieja, where we basically had the park to ourselves. It was great hiking, wading through streams, spotting howler monkeys and beautiful butterflies. We tried to get to the Monteverde cloud forest but the road was washed out less than 10 miles from the entrance. This was particularly disappointing as we had already driven and hour and a half. We stayed in a small town and had a few beers at a local bar trying to speak with the people there. San Jose can be a fun place, along with a lot of nightlife there is a great gold Museum.
One experience I will always remember about Costa Rica.
One night in Tamarindo we went to watch the sea turtles come on shore and lay eggs. This is a very organized adventure, with lots of rules to keep the turtles from getting upset. Even with the crowds and the people directing you every step this is one of those things you always remember seeing. Back to Top | See the Photos
Cuba
Cuba is a very interesting place to visit, not quite like anywhere I have been before. It is more expensive than it seems like it should be and can be hard with all the hustle. There is great music (at so many places), lots of mojitos and even a non smoker like me enjoyed a couple of cigars. I booked my trip from Panama and could not figure out how to reserve a Casa Particular so I stayed at the Hotel National, expensive but nice. I would not stay there again, just too removed from Cuba. It is a safe place so I walked everywhere, even at night, and saw a lot of the not tourist places that way. Two places I would recommend, for music - Casa las Musica. Hard to get to from the city center, I took a taxi and was glad I did as I would never have found it. In addition to a big bar with live music they have a CD store. The other is a Paladare (a house with a small restaurant) called Cactus 88. This was the best place I ate in Cuba, really good food (not cheap but none of the Paladares are) and good service. Plus beautiful women working there.
>One experience I will always remember about Cuba.
I stopped at a place called the Palacio de la Artesania, a small shopping place with a bar a cigar shop and music. One afternoon there was a small jazz band playing and after I bought one of their CDs they played whatever I wanted, it was like a private concert.
Guatemala/Honduras/Belize
I had just returned from the Philippines the day before I went to Guatemala and had picked up a bad stomach virus. The only thing worse than getting sick while traveling is starting out sick. Guatemala City at night and got up early to drive to Honduras. It was hot, traffic was terrible and I felt bad. Not a great way to travel. In spite of this I made it to Copan Ruinas with no problems. The ruins at Copan were nice but not outstanding. I enjoyed the stone carvings a lot but always felt they did not compare to what I had seen in Asia. On the drive back I made two detours, one to see the church at Esquipulas. Although it is a beautiful church it was not worth the time I lost. The second was to drive back on a dirt road through Salama and Rabinal. This was a great trip, basically out in the middle of nowhere but I misjudged the time it would take and did not have time to stop and take pictures. It is only 100 miles but took over four hours. I missed some great photo opportunities but saw a lot of territory and different people.
The next morning I hopped a flight to Tikal. These were the ruins I really wanted to see. There are so many great ruins and they are located in the middle of the jungle. This means that you get to see lots of birds and monkeys in addition to the temples. Of course the fact that this is such a pretty place means that thousands of people go there. The only way to really enjoy the place is to get up early and go as soon as they let you in. For 2 days I was there at 5:30 AM and left at 10:00. I took a lot of side trips to see the smaller ruins but nothing really compares to Tikal.
On my last day I drove to Belize to see the temple Xunantunich. The temple is ok, the real high light is the hiking in the park around the temple. This little taste of Belize was just enough to make me want to go back and spend more time there.
One experience that I will always remember about Guatemala.
I wanted to avoid the crowds at Tikal so I drove north to Uaxactun. I did not have a map and took a wrong turn. All of the roads were very bad, 4x4 required. I had a four-wheel drive but it was raining hard and I got really stuck in the mud. I tried for 30 minutes to get going, even leaving the jeep running and in gear while I pushed. Just as I was thinking I had a long walk ahead of me a couple of brothers who were out hunting came by. They not only helped me get out of the mud but also took me to the ruins and acted as my guides.
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Mexico
I have been to Mexico several times, mostly trips down to one of the resorts on the Pacific side. One trip that I took was very different, when I drove down the Baja coast to see Grey Whales during the breeding season. It was an adventure in many ways. I drove down the western coast, stopping to hike in the snow at Sierra San Pedro Martir National Park, and spent a cold night sleeping in the truck. I then drove to San Ignacio and camped just out of town. I took my time on the way, stopping at several little towns on the beach. I don't remember what was going on but I had to stop at several army checkpoints and my car truck was searched a couple of times. I woke up early and drove a beat up dirt road to the Bay of San Ignacio. Here there were several companies offering boat tours to see the whales. The California Grey Whales breed in the bays along the Mexico coast in the winter and when you got out on the water you see whales every where you look. It is a much different experience than whale watching along the California coast, where you are thrilled to see a fluke 500 yards away. Here the whales come up to the boat, often mother and baby. They swim under the boat and will actually come close enough to be touched.
On the way north I drove up the Sea of Cortez side camping in the desert. I stopped on the other side of the Sierra San Pedro Martir National Park and hiked part way up the canyon. This was a real hard hike, hot with lots of cactus. The stream that is fed by the snows from the mountain disappears under ground in the middle of this desert. I happened to be there the week prior to the Baja off road race and these monster 4x4 trucks would blast by me in practice runs. In spite of this I had a great desert experience.
One experience I will always remember about Mexico.
I have always loved all birds of prey, looking for hawks, eagles and falcons wherever I travel. Coming out of the desert at San Ignacio in the evening I spotted a hawk on top of a big cactus eating a lizard. This is one of my favorite pictures, with the sun behind the hawk.
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Panama
Panama is one of those places where I feel like I just touched a small part of what there is to see and do there. I only had 10 days, spent 4 in Darian at an Embera village, 2 days on San Blas and a couple of days kicking around Panama City (including the canal). The time at the Embera village was great although the travel time to get there was rough. I really do not recommend going if you cannot get on the flight from Panama City to La Palma. It is a slow 6 hour drive and there is not much to see. After La Palma it is a 2 or 3 hour boat ride to the village where I stayed (Mogue). This was a real village, after a short time the people warmed up to me and I felt very comfortable there. One of the reasons I went to Darian was to see the Harpy Eagle and here I had mixed success. I was able to see, observe and photograph a young (maybe 8 months) Harpy Eagle but only got to see the adult in the distance. Even after two hikes out to the nest. Still, while we were waiting for the mother we saw many other bird and butterflies. We got rained on both days hiking back but that is to be expected in June. San Blas was a different experience. I stayed at a hotel, but it was not much different than the hut in Darian. Went snorkeling a couple of times, ate well and generally relaxed. Met some nice people there which made it fun and in general it was very relaxing. Did meet some Kuna people but did not get to know them like the Embera people.
One experience I will always remember about Panama.
One night (it happened to be my birthday) the village women and girls put on a traditional dance for me. Sometimes these can be touristy but this one was a lot of fun and very good dancing. Really a lot of fun to see and nice how all the young girls participate and learn the dance.
