22 November 2009
The extreme canopy up in one of the cloud forests above monteverde was awesome. We did 16 cables of varying lengths of ziplining, aswell as an abseil and tarzan swing through the forest and cloud. The longest was 1 km which is like a dream for me as a kid (1km flying fox). We couldnt see the ends of the cables through the cloud and got up to some massive speeds above the canopies over the massive valleys. The tarzan swing was the best where we must have gone from 0-60km/ph in 4 seconds as we jumped off the platform, talk about loose my stomach, it was kind of like a horisontal bungy.
Made it to the capital San Jose today as we are going to skip the national parks because of the constant rain and head to the carribean coast.
wont get a chance to put photos up on blog until get home, they are real awesome though
Monteverde Cloud forest
21 November 2009
We continued along the gringo trail on the jeep/boat/jeep across lake arenal to monteverde. The weather seemed to clear up until we arrived at the monteverde cloud forest (most famous cloud forest in the world) which was covered in heavily raining cloud.....surprise, surprise. We got drenched and didnt see more than a small viper snake and a white blank at the lookouts. Luckily we missed the early bus back to the town as the sun come out for awhile and we spotted a family of white faced monkeys playing around in the canopy.
We also did a frog tour where we saw some cool tropical rain forest frogs and returned at night to see the nocturnal species jumping around. The serpeterium was alos cool which had all these crazy snakes, lizards and turtles found in costa rica. We even got to hold a MASSIVE boa constrictor (even Karen held him)and see a snake eat a live mouse.
We continued along the gringo trail on the jeep/boat/jeep across lake arenal to monteverde. The weather seemed to clear up until we arrived at the monteverde cloud forest (most famous cloud forest in the world) which was covered in heavily raining cloud.....surprise, surprise. We got drenched and didnt see more than a small viper snake and a white blank at the lookouts. Luckily we missed the early bus back to the town as the sun come out for awhile and we spotted a family of white faced monkeys playing around in the canopy.
We also did a frog tour where we saw some cool tropical rain forest frogs and returned at night to see the nocturnal species jumping around. The serpeterium was alos cool which had all these crazy snakes, lizards and turtles found in costa rica. We even got to hold a MASSIVE boa constrictor (even Karen held him)and see a snake eat a live mouse.
Baldi hot springs
19 November 2009
Since arriving in La Fortuna 2 days ago it hasnt stopped raining which put us shit out of luck for having any sort of chance of seeing views of Volcan de Arenal (hasnt been seen in over 2 weeks because of rain and cloud)
So we did the next best thing and spent the day at the best hot water springs we have ever been too. Baldi is a paradise with 26 different hot pools ranging from 30 to 67 degrees celius as well as 2 big water slides. Some had waterfalls, others fountains, some bubbles, and others were bar pools. We spent the day pool hopping and trying to get the most air on the water slides. We finished the day off with a full on buffet with chocolate fountain and strawberries for desert
Since arriving in La Fortuna 2 days ago it hasnt stopped raining which put us shit out of luck for having any sort of chance of seeing views of Volcan de Arenal (hasnt been seen in over 2 weeks because of rain and cloud)
So we did the next best thing and spent the day at the best hot water springs we have ever been too. Baldi is a paradise with 26 different hot pools ranging from 30 to 67 degrees celius as well as 2 big water slides. Some had waterfalls, others fountains, some bubbles, and others were bar pools. We spent the day pool hopping and trying to get the most air on the water slides. We finished the day off with a full on buffet with chocolate fountain and strawberries for desert
Crossing into Costa Rica
17 November 2009
The only way to cross the border into Costa Rica in this remote area is by boat. After clearing immigration we hopped on a little narrow boat that took us the 1.5hrs through the rain forest and jungle to Los Chiles, Costa Rica.
We decided to follow the gringo trail and headed to La Fortuna in search of seeing the world famous Volcan de Arenal. The changes once arriving in Costa Rica were crazy: the chicken buses turned to big comfortable double deckers, dust roads to tarseal, markets turned to actual shops and buildings and the constant harrassment and begging disappeared.
The only way to cross the border into Costa Rica in this remote area is by boat. After clearing immigration we hopped on a little narrow boat that took us the 1.5hrs through the rain forest and jungle to Los Chiles, Costa Rica.
We decided to follow the gringo trail and headed to La Fortuna in search of seeing the world famous Volcan de Arenal. The changes once arriving in Costa Rica were crazy: the chicken buses turned to big comfortable double deckers, dust roads to tarseal, markets turned to actual shops and buildings and the constant harrassment and begging disappeared.
Rio San Juan & El Castillo
16 November 2009
Everything in our trip has been starting to repeat itself so we decided to try something different. After an overnight ferry across the lake to San Carlos we caught a boat down Rio San Juan to a big castle in El Castillo. The castle dominating the hill overlooking the biggest rapids on the river were used to fight off pirates heading up from the Carribien. This massive stretch of water was used for transport throughout Nicaragua and was almost made into a canal for passage between the oceans instead of Panama canal.
The coolest thing was our hostel. It was actually held up by posts over the river so I threw my rod basically out of our bedroom window on the second storey and had a fish haha. I joined the locals kids drifting down the river several times and we just chilled out in the middle of nowhere.
Everything in our trip has been starting to repeat itself so we decided to try something different. After an overnight ferry across the lake to San Carlos we caught a boat down Rio San Juan to a big castle in El Castillo. The castle dominating the hill overlooking the biggest rapids on the river were used to fight off pirates heading up from the Carribien. This massive stretch of water was used for transport throughout Nicaragua and was almost made into a canal for passage between the oceans instead of Panama canal.
The coolest thing was our hostel. It was actually held up by posts over the river so I threw my rod basically out of our bedroom window on the second storey and had a fish haha. I joined the locals kids drifting down the river several times and we just chilled out in the middle of nowhere.
Isla de Ometepe
14 November 2009
From the beach we went to Lago de Nicaragua and caught a ferry to Isla de Ometepe.
What a cool place, 2 volcanoes have formed in the middle of the lake joining together to create some wicked terrain.
The ride over was crazy as it was so windy there was even surf. A long bumpy ride in a tourist van got us to Balgue where we stayed at the base of Volcan de Maderas on a really relaxed coffee farm. We saw the workers using the machines to take of the shells and where they dried the beans.
Being right on the edge fo the forest we headed out early for the 8 hour return climb up maderas. The forest was incredible and changed from dry tropical foreat to rain forest and then cloud forest. We saw heaps of monkeys, big blue butterflies and peligrifes (ancient inscribed rocks)all the way up. The top of the mountain was covered in cloud like it is most of the year so there was no view but it was cool to go for a swim in the crater lake and to have made it through the mud.
The next mission was Volcan de Conception on the other side of the island, unlike the dormant Maderas, Conception is very active, extremely steep, and has only a little forest at the base, then grassland followed by slippery scree. Karen wasnt keen fo this one so I headed out alone on the 4.30am bus for Altagracia. I found a guide and we started climbing the almost vertical face. The guide only took me to half way as the huge increase in sulpur gases in the crater have indicated a big eruption very soon(the last one was last year). So I pushed on by myself somehow finding the faint paths and finding the strength to get to the top. Every so often the cloud cleared and I got a wicked view of everything. Somehow to made the top and the ground was steaming hot, sulphur gases were speying out and the wind was up at 70+ km/hr. The adrenalin was pumping so hard I made the normal 12hr climb in 7hrs : ) I was stoked.
From the beach we went to Lago de Nicaragua and caught a ferry to Isla de Ometepe.
What a cool place, 2 volcanoes have formed in the middle of the lake joining together to create some wicked terrain.
The ride over was crazy as it was so windy there was even surf. A long bumpy ride in a tourist van got us to Balgue where we stayed at the base of Volcan de Maderas on a really relaxed coffee farm. We saw the workers using the machines to take of the shells and where they dried the beans.
Being right on the edge fo the forest we headed out early for the 8 hour return climb up maderas. The forest was incredible and changed from dry tropical foreat to rain forest and then cloud forest. We saw heaps of monkeys, big blue butterflies and peligrifes (ancient inscribed rocks)all the way up. The top of the mountain was covered in cloud like it is most of the year so there was no view but it was cool to go for a swim in the crater lake and to have made it through the mud.
The next mission was Volcan de Conception on the other side of the island, unlike the dormant Maderas, Conception is very active, extremely steep, and has only a little forest at the base, then grassland followed by slippery scree. Karen wasnt keen fo this one so I headed out alone on the 4.30am bus for Altagracia. I found a guide and we started climbing the almost vertical face. The guide only took me to half way as the huge increase in sulpur gases in the crater have indicated a big eruption very soon(the last one was last year). So I pushed on by myself somehow finding the faint paths and finding the strength to get to the top. Every so often the cloud cleared and I got a wicked view of everything. Somehow to made the top and the ground was steaming hot, sulphur gases were speying out and the wind was up at 70+ km/hr. The adrenalin was pumping so hard I made the normal 12hr climb in 7hrs : ) I was stoked.
The beach - San Juan de Sur
12 November 2009
After leaving Matagalpa we spent the night and checked out the huge tourist markets in Masaya. The next morning we headed to Granada but decided not to do another volcano tour and carried on south, straight to the beach. Here we found expensive hotels, expensive restaurantes, and average beaches. We went out to a beach for a day that lonely planet had recomended for snorkling, the beach was O.K but visability was bad so we didn't see much in the water. The most exciting thing was the jumping rock cod in the rock pools.
After leaving Matagalpa we spent the night and checked out the huge tourist markets in Masaya. The next morning we headed to Granada but decided not to do another volcano tour and carried on south, straight to the beach. Here we found expensive hotels, expensive restaurantes, and average beaches. We went out to a beach for a day that lonely planet had recomended for snorkling, the beach was O.K but visability was bad so we didn't see much in the water. The most exciting thing was the jumping rock cod in the rock pools.
Coffee farm and forest in Matagalpa
10 November 2009
Matagalpa is known for its coffee farms and rainforest. On the first day we were there we did a walk through the forest at a coffee farm just out of town, we decided to save the coffee tour for the next day though. This proved to be a bad decision as we paid $20 for what we thought was a half day tour of a coffee farm including a walk though the forest. What we got was a 22 year old guide straight out of tourism school who took us on a walk to a waterfall and a view of the town which would have been nice without the annoying guide. We then went on to the coffee farm where we walked a few minutes into the farm, our giude pointed out a coffee tree and told us the tour was over and how did we like it?! Needless to say we were dissapointed and pissed off.
Matagalpa is known for its coffee farms and rainforest. On the first day we were there we did a walk through the forest at a coffee farm just out of town, we decided to save the coffee tour for the next day though. This proved to be a bad decision as we paid $20 for what we thought was a half day tour of a coffee farm including a walk though the forest. What we got was a 22 year old guide straight out of tourism school who took us on a walk to a waterfall and a view of the town which would have been nice without the annoying guide. We then went on to the coffee farm where we walked a few minutes into the farm, our giude pointed out a coffee tree and told us the tour was over and how did we like it?! Needless to say we were dissapointed and pissed off.
2 day trek Volcan de Telica
8 November 2009
We woke to the sound of rain in the morning, but were optimistic it would clear before we started our hike. We went with Quetzaltrekers a non profit organisation run by voluteers so our guides were 2 girls from Austria. To our shock they insisted we each carry 9 liters of water! So with very heavy packs we caught a local bus and started our walk, we managed to get about an hour into it before the rain returned and it didn't really stop until the evening. The crater of this volcano is very deep with bubbling lava at the bottom and very steep sides that you can lye down and peer over if you can handle chocking on sulpher gas occasionally. Unfortunalely, although we tried twice that evening, all we saw was cloud. Luckily we managed to get a fire going and we had a nice dinner and roasted marshmellows. In the morning we got up to see the sunrise but once again we only saw cloud. It did clear up enough for us to see a small part of the crater and we walked back down with sunshine. We saw some bubbling mud pools and headed back to Leon.
We woke to the sound of rain in the morning, but were optimistic it would clear before we started our hike. We went with Quetzaltrekers a non profit organisation run by voluteers so our guides were 2 girls from Austria. To our shock they insisted we each carry 9 liters of water! So with very heavy packs we caught a local bus and started our walk, we managed to get about an hour into it before the rain returned and it didn't really stop until the evening. The crater of this volcano is very deep with bubbling lava at the bottom and very steep sides that you can lye down and peer over if you can handle chocking on sulpher gas occasionally. Unfortunalely, although we tried twice that evening, all we saw was cloud. Luckily we managed to get a fire going and we had a nice dinner and roasted marshmellows. In the morning we got up to see the sunrise but once again we only saw cloud. It did clear up enough for us to see a small part of the crater and we walked back down with sunshine. We saw some bubbling mud pools and headed back to Leon.
Volcano boarding in Leon
6 November 2009
We did a volcano tour yesterday where we climbed up central americas youngest active volcano Cerro Negro. There was heaps of steam and you could see the fresh lava flows from when it eruped 3 years ago.
At the top we suited up in our protective suits and goggles and jumped on some sit on boards. The slope down the volcano was really scary and vertical. At the top I even had some nerves as I raced one of the other guys down. I went all out as they had a speed gun and everyday they would take the speeds of eeryone and had a record board. I had to beat 82km per hour to break the record, set by a German guy a month before which seemed crazy.
I got down the first half of the volcano really fast and then at the second half it dropped off even further and I picked up even more speed. My board started wobbling and then I lost control and went rolling down the scoria at 46km per hour (thats what the speed gun said anyway). I got away with only a few scrapes and bruises. One of the girls went hard and got up to 56km per hour and fall off at the very end rolling 10 metres past the board and she was going fast so I couldnt even imagine 82 km per hour.
We did a volcano tour yesterday where we climbed up central americas youngest active volcano Cerro Negro. There was heaps of steam and you could see the fresh lava flows from when it eruped 3 years ago.
At the top we suited up in our protective suits and goggles and jumped on some sit on boards. The slope down the volcano was really scary and vertical. At the top I even had some nerves as I raced one of the other guys down. I went all out as they had a speed gun and everyday they would take the speeds of eeryone and had a record board. I had to beat 82km per hour to break the record, set by a German guy a month before which seemed crazy.
I got down the first half of the volcano really fast and then at the second half it dropped off even further and I picked up even more speed. My board started wobbling and then I lost control and went rolling down the scoria at 46km per hour (thats what the speed gun said anyway). I got away with only a few scrapes and bruises. One of the girls went hard and got up to 56km per hour and fall off at the very end rolling 10 metres past the board and she was going fast so I couldnt even imagine 82 km per hour.
Capital of Nicaragua
4 November 2009
After a 10 hour ride on a Tica bus we arrived into Nicaraguans capital Managua.
It didnt take us long to realise how dodgy it was when the lady at the hotel, a local walking down the street and then an american in a car all stopped us and told us to get a taxi or we would be robbed at gunpoint in the first 10 minutes of arriving there. The city itself was very dirty but had some cool sites from where the old city centre was before the big earthquakes.
We checked out this place where these ancient footprints were excavated under 10metres of soil right on the lake. The mercado central was massive where you could buy anything
After a 10 hour ride on a Tica bus we arrived into Nicaraguans capital Managua.
It didnt take us long to realise how dodgy it was when the lady at the hotel, a local walking down the street and then an american in a car all stopped us and told us to get a taxi or we would be robbed at gunpoint in the first 10 minutes of arriving there. The city itself was very dirty but had some cool sites from where the old city centre was before the big earthquakes.
We checked out this place where these ancient footprints were excavated under 10metres of soil right on the lake. The mercado central was massive where you could buy anything
Beaches and Suchitoto
2 November 2009
We headed out to La Liberdad to check out El salvadors world famous surf beaches. All we found were some shit hole beaches covered in rubbish and pretty average surf, there were however some reasonable point breaks where surfers were getting some sweet rides.
Then we checked out Suchitoto a small town close to the capital. We checked out the lake and one of the waterfalls which it is famous for. Karen and I came down with some unkown diseases so we are recovering at the moment.
In the capital San Salvador which has a cool crazy vibe, with markets, churches and shops everywhere. Not a lot to do here so skipping the rest of the country and heading straight to Nicaragua.
We headed out to La Liberdad to check out El salvadors world famous surf beaches. All we found were some shit hole beaches covered in rubbish and pretty average surf, there were however some reasonable point breaks where surfers were getting some sweet rides.
Then we checked out Suchitoto a small town close to the capital. We checked out the lake and one of the waterfalls which it is famous for. Karen and I came down with some unkown diseases so we are recovering at the moment.
In the capital San Salvador which has a cool crazy vibe, with markets, churches and shops everywhere. Not a lot to do here so skipping the rest of the country and heading straight to Nicaragua.
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