September 2011
1 post
Been a long time...new blog
check out my Asian adventures:
www.nodogplease.com
March 2011
6 posts
Great Hiking in El Chalten
El Chalten is surprisingly wonderful. We hadn’t really looked at pictures beforehand; we just decided to show up and see what it was like. El Chalten’s national park, which lies right on the edge of the tiny little mountain town, is extremely well kept and the trails are meticulously maintained. The best part…the park is free! Jenny and I did a hike called Loma del Pleigue Tombado. The map...
The Giant Perito Moreno Glacier
I think today was the best day of the trip. We went to visit Parque Nacional de Los Glaciares for a peek of the Perito Moreno Glacier. The park consists of these nice, modern, bridge-like walkways that line the mountain slope directly across from the river and the glacier; quite impressive. These bridges have lookout points and balconies, so no matter where you are, you’re gong to get an amazing...
El Bolson. The land of milk and honey.
After Bariloche, we took a quick 2-hour bus ride to a little town called El Bolsón. This magical town charmed Jenny and I from the first moment we arrived. How could you not love a place that offers sunny weather, jagged mountains sweeping across the horizon, miniature ponies in the park, and artisanal ice cream in fruit flavors never before heard of?!
Move over Blue Bell, Jauja Ice Cream could...
Beautiful Bariloche
Patagonia, known for its gorgeous mountains and glacial lakes, has been a highlight on the trip so far. We started our Patagonian adventure in San Carlos de Bariloche, a cute village right on the shore of Lake Nahuel Huapi.
Bariloche’s main cathedral.
Strolling down the streets, the town has such a European look and feel, you can’t help but question where you are. Jenny kept...
Mucho Vino en Mendoza
A quick overnight bus ride from Salta, and we were in Mendoza, the land of great Argentine wine.
Our main activity in this area was going on a famous bike and wine tour. Our tour company, Mr. Hugo’s Bike Rentals, was just our style. Mr. Hugo is pretty straightforward: you give his wife about $7, she gives you a decent bike and a map, and he gives at least 2 giant plastic cups of wine before you...
February 2011
20 posts
Giant Juice Boxes in Salta
After a grueling 13-hour bus ride (3 of which we were parked at the border), Jenny and I needed to blow off some steam. What better way than to get weird and get wasted? For those Arrested Development fans out there, Jenny and I located the largest juice boxes known to man (2 bucks for a whole liter of red wine), used her knife to poke a hole in the top, and happily sipped wine out of a...
River Crossing with a Bike
While in San Pedro de Atacama, we decided to rent a couple mountain bikes so we could visit ruins situated about 3km/1mile from town. Seemed easy enough, we thought. No one mentioned to us that there were a couple rivers between us and these ruins! We found out the hard way.
Once on the other side, we washed the sticky clay like mud from our feet, and put our shoes back on. I thought ‘ok good,...
Static Electricity in Valle de la Luna
I must say, Chile has not been a favorite on this trip, nor my last trip to South America, mainly due to cost. Cost-wise it’s on par with the US, but with way less quality. Therefore, we haven’t been eating out or doing a whole lot. But, in San Pedro de Atacama, there’s no way to sit still. Natural beauty surrounds you and going on a tour is unavoidable.
Despite the clouds, our tour of Valle de la...
Llama Rescue in Lauca
From the little altiplano pueblo of Putre, one can see a huge snow-covered mountain towering high above. Just outside Putre, lies Parque Nacional Lauca.
Village of Putre.
Lauca, a breathtakingly beautiful park near the Bolivian border, is filled with unique wildlife, plants and spectacular views. Our tour began early, around 7:30, and we drove from Putre (11,500 feet) through low hanging clouds...
Mummies in Arica, Chile
Arica was a strange place. The beach is unimpressive and the food is nothing special. The one cool thing we did was go to the Museum of , which was run by the local university. The museum showcases the Chinchorro Mummies, which are said to be the oldest mummies in the world. The ones pictures below are over 6,000 years old. They have burial masks made of clay. Their bodies were preserved by...
A day in Arequipa, Peru
After Costa Rica and Panama, with Julia, I headed back down to South America, where Jenny had been traveling with her parents. We decided to meet in Arica, in northern Chile, so I flew into Arequipa, Peru and then took a bus to the border the next day.
I only had one day in Arequipa and hardly any money (I realized I had left my debit card in an ATM in the Lima airport), so I raided some...
Julia & Julie in Costa Rica and Panama
Hitting the road again was hard after being home for only a few short days. Luckily, my good friend Julia distracted me from feeling sad, and accompanied me back to Costa Rica and then to Panama. It rained (of course) for the first part of our trip, but we made due and spent our time indulging ourselves at some of the local restaurants.
On the way back from breakfast one morning, we glanced over...
Happy Birthday Mom!
The trip with TJ went by much too fast, as I suspected it would. The silver lining was getting to go home for a week to surprise my mom for her 60th birthday!
I couldn’t just let my wonderful Mom turn 60 without me there. In fact, before I even left on this trip back in September, I bought a plane ticket home, in hopes of surprising her. My dad, brother, sister, and sister-in-law did a wonderful...
Ziplining, orchids, and poisonous snakes
Monteverde was amazing. The town itself was cute and the views were breathtaking.
We went to this giant outdoor adventure theme park called Selvatura, and did a 2 hour ziplining tour. I thought it was going to be scary at first, but it wasn’t; I am sure my even my Mom could do it. There were 13 platforms, the last of which was the most spectacular. Because it was so long (over 3000 ft!), it...
Happy 2011!
We rented a house just outside of Montezuma Beach and did some cool side trips from there.
The view from our back door.
During low tide, we were able to walk to ‘cemetary island’ just off the coast. The whole island was full of unique tombstones, some dating back several hundred years. Kinda cool, kinda spooky.
Our snorkeling side trip was fantastic. The bright tropical fish swam so close, I...
Christmas in Costa Rica
TJ and I’s Costa Rica trip got off to a bumpy start. Poor TJ got to the airport extra early and paid $40 extra to sit in row #1 on the plane. He was the first through immigration and the first to show up at the baggage carousel. His bag never showed up, and he ended up being the last to leave. How does Frontier Airlines lose 2 bags on a DIRECT flight?! The baggage ticket that they gave him in...
gabrielarivero asked: i love your blog, you are living my dream. honestly.
but how do you pay for all of your necessities? and where you stay and all of that stuff.
but how do you pay for all of your necessities? and where you stay and all of that stuff.
The Best Sunset Spot in Nicaragua
San Juan del Sur is a fun beach town (although the beach right in town is kind of polluted), where surfing and sunbathing can easily take up days or weeks, if you’re not careful. You should also watch out for surfboard shots. Too many of these will lead to you barfing while video chatting with your boyfriend. Shitshow, I know. At least I had a baggie.
Playa Maderas, where we spent our beachtime,...
Magical Island of Ometepe
Isla de Ometepe was one of my favorite spots on the trip so far. It consists of two islands, each with their own volcano, joined by a small isthmus. We took the ferry from Granada, and enjoyed the sunset along the way.
Our first (and subsequently, only) activity while on the island was to hike the Maderas Volcano. It’s the smaller of the two volcanoes, but still took us 9 hours to finish! The...
One night in a treehouse
We only spent one night at this treehouse (too many weird people…like the girl who told me she has ‘spent the majority of her life fighting negative energy’), but it was still pretty cool. It was off-season when we were there, but during the on-season, this treehouse is also a nature reserve for red-tree frogs.
Weird place, weird people, but the views were great and the...
Masaya Volcano...definitely not extinct!
Just outside Granada is Volcan Masaya, one of the world’s few active volcanoes that you can walk right up to its edge and peer down into it. There haven’t been lava flows for a couple hundred years, but there is a lot of sulfuric gas floating out from it. When the Spanish arrived, they called it La Boca del Infierno ‘the mouth of hell’ and eventually placed a large cross overlooking the volcano in...
Want to own your own island?
After seeing Las Isletas from afar, we took a 2-hour boat tour to get a closer look. The 365-island chain was creating about 20,00 years ago when the Mombacho Volcano erupted and spewed out its core into the lake. On the tour, we learned that some of Nicaragua’s richest families own their own islands with houses on them. Some of the islands are for sale; for only $285,000 USD, one could be...
Swimming in an old volcano crater
Jenny and I wanted to check out the Laguna de Apoyo that we had seen a glimpse of from the top of Mombacho, so we grabbed a shuttle and headed out. We spent the day there and enjoyed every second of it. The Laguna de Apoyo was formed some 20,000 years ago, when a volcano imploded and left a crater, which eventually filled with water.
The deep, blue water in the Laguna is some of Nicaragua’s...
How To Make Chocolate!
After the breakfast buffet at the chocolate museum, I enrolled in a 2-hour chocolate making workshop. Best class I’ve ever taken; not only did I learn how to make my own chocolate, but we got to eat our chocolate at the end! It’s fairly simple, in fact. All you have to do is:
Get cacao beans and place them in a frying pan over heat for about 10-12 minutes, until you hear a crackling noise, like...
Buffets and Volcanoes...
While strolling around one afternoon, Jenny and I saw a flyer advertising Granada’s Chocolate Museum. Besides being intrigued by the idea of a whole museum being dedicated to chocolate, what really caught my eye was the ALL YOU CAN EAT BUFFET wording on the flyer. The very next morning, Jenny and I forked over $5 each…and boy did we get our money’s worth. We planned our strategy carefully. We went...
January 2011
3 posts
Gone to Granada
Jenny and I ended up spending a good amount of time in Granada, as there are many things to see and do. The city itself is another old colonial capitol, with bright colorful buildings and nice architecture.
It’s touristy, for sure, but it’s understandable, because there are many attractions to keep you busy. One of my favorite things about the city was seeing families of all ages gather in the...
Thanksgiving At The Beach
There is a great stretch of beach outside of Leon called Las Penitas. Jenny and I went there to relax and work on our tans. As it turned out, the hotel we stayed at was owned by an American couple from California. Jenny and I had planned on celebrating Thanksgiving with yet another plate of rice and beans, so we were thrilled to find out that the hotel owners were planning a huge Thanksgiving...
Somos Bandidas
After 3 days of lugging around our backpacks, dirty bus rides, getting dropped off on the side of the road, and staying in dirty border towns, Jenny and I decided to spend our first few days in Nicaragua relaxing in Leon. Leon is a safe, cute, colonial town that was once the capital of Nicaragua. We took refuge in our quasi-nice (‘nice’ is SUCH a relative term here) hotel room and enjoyed sitting...
December 2010
2 posts
School Buses and Fish Bones: Getting to Nicaragua
After 2 nights, we left Tela, Honduras, to make the LONG journey to Nicaragua. Jenny and I agreed that we wouldn’t travel at night for safety reasons, so that means trips tend to take a bit longer. Normally, this is no big deal…but this trip was especially arduous. In three days, we took 10 buses and 4 taxis and stayed in 2 weird hotels. One of our bus drivers had a beer opener hanging from the...
November 2010
14 posts
An afternoon at the farm in Antigua, Guatemala
Emma’s bikeshop, Don Quijote Cruisers (http://www.donquijotecruisers.com/casa.htm) , offers bike tours to an organic farm just outside of Antigua. We stopped by one afternoon and Alex, the owner, gave us a quick tour. All his produce gets bought by the nicest restaurants in town and he let us sample stuff along the way!
Check out pics of Caoba Organic Farm:
...
Lorenzo and the Macadamia Valhalla Nut Farm
Finca Valhalla is a short drive outside of Antigua. The owner is an eccentric gentleman named Lorenzo who runs the farm with his wife and adult son. Lorenzo is an former firefighter from California who has spent the last 34 years trying to make Guatemala a better place. This year alone he has already given away 350,000 macadamia nut trees to local people. He regaled us with stories of going...
Guatemala City Compound
While hanging out with my friend Emma, we went to stay with her boyfriend and his parents quite a bit. We lovingly call their house “The Compound”. They have a beautiful house on a hillside and have enough land for each of their 5 kids to build houses of their own. In addition to a beuatiful house, they have a goose pond and several awesome dogs. They are a great family and showed us...
October 2010
2 posts
““Viajar es vivir.” (To travel is to live)
—Maria Fernanda, a...”
