Cahuita

Flying through Costa Rica due to its price level and the fact that it is absolutely filled with unfortunately loud people [OK, Americans] on 2 week holidays. Last stop Cahuita, which is on the Carribean coast and has a very mellow Rasta & Ganja vibe. It also sports a nifty national park filled to the gills with monkeys and crabs (not together). I also happened upon a lonely racoon and a timid Koati.
Whilst shuffling downtown on my final day someone taps me on the shoulder and says "Andrew". After about a second of unrecognition I finally realise it was an ex-school colleague who I hadn't seen in night on 22 years. Small world.

Santa Elena / Monteverde, Costa Rica

Up in the cloud forest in the middle of Costa Rica, Monteverde is wetter than a waterpark and quite a bit of fun. Stayed in a great hostel called Pension Santa Elena, where everyone was a cool as a polar bears' toenails and liked to have a drink and chill out on the deck at night. Unfortunately Costa Rican prices induce stay at home drinking as the bars charge an extortinate 2 dollars a beer. Did the usual thing of flying through the canopy on a wire which was a lovely way of working off a mild hangover.
Also spent a couple of hours in the rain forest looking for wildlife, but other than a couple of Germans saw nada and got absolutely soaking wet.

San Juan Del Sur

San Juan is the Nicaraguan riveria. Beach, surfing and cheap booze. Just about everything your average tourist needs to keep them happy.
My stay was uneventful until the last night where I was accousted by a rather forthright tranny and then had to scale the walls and roof of my hostel, where the owner had decided to lock up and not answer my knocks. Teetering on a Nicarguan rooftop whilst being completely intoxicated is a great way to get sober...

Worn out

It's tough on the road.

3 dollar Mexican Flip Flops RIP.

Photies

Some shots of Little Corn Island
Granada
And some fantastic ones (if I do say so myself) of Isla Ometepe

Isla Ometepe

Volcanoes: Cool
Volcano in the middle of a lake: Supercool
Two volcanoes in the middle of a lake: Knock me over and call me Dr. Evil cool...

Yes, Isla Ometepe is actually two volcanoes joined by a smallish causeway in the middle of a lake. I would say the journey from Granada to Merida, Ometepe is about 70km as the crow flies, but the journey took at least 12 hours. The main reason being that the ferry over to the island chugs along like an asthmatic geriatric and the roads on the island are glorified dirt tracks. But after the long journey arriving at Hacienda Merida was priceless. Situated on the lake, with palm trees, monkeys and crocodiles I just managed to catch a sunset right in front of the volcano. Eat your heart out Mastercard.

Granada

You can see the connections to Spain in Nica. Two of their biggest towns are called Leon and Granada and their currency is called a Cordoba.

Granada is as close to Europe as you are going to get in Central America. Cobblestone streets, shady parks and even cafes and bars with outside seating, something otherwise unheard of down here. Even in oh-so-touristy Antigua.

All this of course encourages masses of tourists. I don't really know why, as it is basically like any mid sized town in southern Europe. Something a group of Spanish doctors brought home to me whilst diving on little corn. They were only on holidays for two weeks in Nica and I asked them had they been to Leon or Granada. They replied with humour that if they wanted cobblestones, churches and parks then they would have stayed at home.

Nonetheless Granada is undoubtedly lovely, situated on Lago de Nicaragua, which is the largest lake in Central America and one of the 20 largest in the world. The pace is slow and it is fantastic to see as the evening breaks families sitting in chairs outside their houses, kids playing contentedly with each other till the wee small hours. Something which apparently shocks Americans.

But again the curse of tourism is evident. Prices are high and begging quite prevalent.

Oh well, nowhere is perfect.

Quirks

For a small, relatively homogenous area with a common history, Central America has quite a few country specific quirks, for example:
* As opposed to most countries I know, Nicaraguan taxi drivers do not consider one passenger as a ride. They will stop and pick other people up who are going in [very] vaguely the same direction. Quite frustrating when you are going to the airport and the driver picks up a woman, does a u-turn on the airport road to drop her home with the shopping
* The supermarkets of coastal Belize & Panama are mainly owned by Chinese people. I believe they were "imported" 100 years ago to build the canal and hack down forest, but true to their industrious nature they have bought up the supermarkets. They still speak Chinese and there is Chinese music on the stereo, not to mention a great selection of noodles and exotic produce for sale in their stores. Their Spanish and English is rudimentary.
* There are indigenous people all over Central America, from Mexico down to Panama. But it is only in Guatemala where for some reason they are completely in the majority (outside the capital).
* Everyone loves their local music. From Reggaeton in Belize to Merengue in Mexico. But in El Salvador you are more likely to hear Bonnie Tyler (aside: if I hear "Total Eclipse of the Heart" one more time I will scream) and Tina Turner on the radio.
* Most of Central America, like their southern neighbours is soccer mad, but Nicaragua and Panama are more into baseball. In every dusty field in Honduras the local kids will be playing with a football. Cross the border to Nicaragua and they are all throwing baseballs at each other. Must look into the incidences of broken windows down here.
* Belize, Honduras and Guatemala are all gun toting. Every largish store and petrol station is protected by a guy with a shotgun. A lot of chaps stroll around with a pistol strapped to their side. In Nicaragua there are none or are at least invisible. Which is born out by the Bush mantra "arm 'em to ensure mutual safety" defeating homicide statistics on Wikipedia. El Salvador, Honduras & Guatemala high up, Nicaragua well down. [Mothers please do not read].
* Food is fairly standard here. Fried chicken, hamburgers, fish. But every county has their local fast food. In Mexico it is the ubiquitous Taco, filled with chicken, pork, tripe, or most commonly beef. In Honduras the national fast food is the Baleada. A bit like a large taco, covered in ground beef, fried beans, eggs and cheese. Or whatever the chef finds hanging around. Finally in El Salvador it is the ever present Pupusa. Either filled with cheese, pork rind or beans.

Little Corn Island

After the stresses and strains of drinking in Leon it was time to get airborn again and head out to the Corn Islands.
Departing from Managua's domestic terminal (Total number of gates: 1) one jumps on a propeller driven island hopper which chugs up into the air and flies along at cloud level for an hour or so. Then it rapidly descends into Bluefields (an old pirate town, where they still have a maypole celebration every May, true to their English heritage) to drop off a couple of people before stuggling down the runway again to head over to Big Corn Island.
The island slowly becomes visible and is surrounded by the most beautiful turquoise waters and massive coral reefs, which are also visible from the plane as dark splotches beneath the water. A brief taxi ride and a 20 minute boat ride and final destination: Little Corn Island is reached.
Little Corn has no bank, no roads, no cars, no electricity during the day and is if not entirely off the beaten track very close to the edge of it. Accomodation is rudimentary - beach side bungalow, bed, mosquito net, plastic chair. But Carlito runs a great place and cooks up a storm in the kitchen.
I spent a week there and apart from 5 dives and lots of beer I can't really tell you what I did. But whatever it was it was damn enjoyable.

Leon, Nicaragua

Another herculian effort saw me visit 3 countries in one day, leaving Alegria at 7am and reaching Leon at 5pm after passing through Honduras on the way. Only four busses, one minivan and a cycle rickshaw were needed to complete the journey.
Leon is one of Nicaragua's colonial towns and has some great nightlife. It is a student town and quite touristy, but they manage to mix extremely well, which is quite uncommon. Normally bars are either full of gringos or locals but in Leon the two coexist peacefully, the wonders of alcohol making univeral understanding a piece of cake.
The other item of note in Leon is a volcano close to town with slopes covered in fine ash/rock, which makes it quite suitable for sliding down on your ass. Cerro Negro is also a new volcano, arising out of the ground only a hundred or so years ago. The hike up is tough, but the views are amazing. With all photos taken and sights absorbed it was time to suit up in a Beastie Boys ¨Intergalactic¨ painters outfit, complete with googles and locate my arse on a piece of plywood with some metal nailed to the base. Then all I had to do was point the contraption down the 41 degree slopes of the mountain and let gravity do the rest. 54 seconds later and covered in volcano bits I arrived at the bottom and promtly crashed harmlessly into a boulder.

Photos

The El Salvador 1 Degree of Seperation Project

You've all heard of the six degrees of separation theory, but in an unusual natural quirk, in El Savaldor it is actually one degree of seperation. Yes, that means everybody knows each other here. It's like when someone says "Oh, you are from Ireland, you MUST know Paddy Murphy". And you do.
It started off in San Salvador - Rudi the owner of the Irish pub El Arpa Irlandes recommended the hostal Escencia Natural in El Zonte where he often goes at the weekend. Whilst in Suchitoto, Richard the owner of the El Gringo, said to stay in Casa Frolaz in Santa Ana with Javier. While climbing Izalco, one of the tourist police used to work in Suchitoto and knew Richard and Rene, the owner of Vistaconga tours there. And Javier in Santa Ana knew everyone in the entire country. Probably on a first name basis.