Tikal - GUATEMALA. A step into the past exploring the Mayan ruins

Travel tips for Tikal (Flores), Guatemala.

• To visit the mayan site of Tikal it is best to stay in Flores. The bus will drop you off at Santa Elena and you will have to catch a tuk tuk or taxi to Flores, a 5 minute ride which cost 20 local currency.
• We stayed at Los Amigos hostel, which has a good vibe and also a good tour agency. Although there are plenty of other places to stay in Flores
• Flores has a wide range of restaurants. There is only one cash point which is the supermarket located on the second street opposite the lake.
• The day tour to the Tikal ruins is great, there are a couple of options, sunrise and sunset, and both have great reviews. The cost for the tour is around 150 quetzals and another 150 for the entrance. It is slightly more for the sunrise.
• Flores there is not much else to do, other than swim in the lake and relax. 
• Los Amigos can arrange bus tickets out of Flores for reasonable prices, although there are many tour companies offering so it is possible to get a better deal if you have time.
• If you are heading to Semuc Champey, Los Amigos will book you a bed at Zephyr lodge hoste (which is one of the best hostels we have stayed at) as it is very difficult to get a reservation.

Stepping into the lives of the Mayan people

After a horrendous journey on a very local bus, where the driver decided to play his crappy music at top volume whilst the whole bus tried to sleep, we landed in Santa Elena where we caught a taxi to our Los Amigos Hostel. As it was early, around 6am, the room wasn´t ready however we took advantage of the hammocks where we slept until we were awoken to say our bed was ready. Still exhausted we slept in until around 2pm, a first since the beginning of our travels.

Flores is itself is a small island set around a small lake, making it look like a mini lake Zug, not quite as beautiful though. The main reason for coming here is that Tikal, around 50km away, is one of the biggest and well kept sites to see Mayan ruins, dating back as far as the 4th century BC. The site itself was abandoned in around the 10th century and as to why this happened is still a mystery. What was left behind is a series of vast temples, built for the monarchy at the time as tombs, with many other buildings around the site. It has also been classified as the centre of the Mayan empire which spans as far as Mexico and southern Central America, it´s location and size giving it that status.

A 3D map of the Tikal ruins

Amazingly the whole site is now covered in thick jungle, with trees and wildlife completely covering the ruins, only to be found by archaeologists in the middle of the 20th century. Having seen Machu Pichu and the Lost City in Colombia we had no expectation of the site as we hadn't really seen any photographs. 

We head off with our group and our guide, a primary teacher turned tour guide briefed us on the rules of his tour and it felt like we were back at school for the day. Very enthusiastically he guides us through a map of all the temples, the dates they were built and the supposed reasons, as we look at the map we 
now get an idea of the grandness of this site and 
how it must of looked when the site was 
completely clear of the dense jungle.

Our excellent guide Marcos

A half an hour later and a lot learnt from our teacher we head off to view the first of the smaller temples. It´s amazing to think that these temples were all built such a long time ago, and their alignment to the suns position is one of the main reasons the Mayans built the temples, with all of the fronts facing north. As we head through the dense forest we come across various wildlife including howler and spider monkeys and various other creepy crawlies. 

As we see the first temple we are struck by its size and the sheer man power it must have taken to build these, stone after stone after stone meticulously laid to form the structures, all for the worship and tombs of former kings or queens. This is one of the smaller temples and it still impresses. We head off to temple two and again are surprised by its size and the condition. it was quite easy to imagine the full site full of people.

We head round the further temples with the last the most majestic and highset, at over 70m tall, from the top you can see all the way to Mexico, Belize and the Pacific ocean. Whilst the jungle covers most of the temples you can still see two popping through the tree lines.

Here are some of the pics from our day at the site. The site really is worth a visit.

Gorgeous Granada. NICARAGUA.

Travel tips for Granada, Nicaragua.

• There are plenty of hostels in the area, Oasis is good for all round travelers  two doors down is Amigos which is slightly cheaper and more chilled.
• Be wary of your stuff on the streets at night it can be a bit dodgy. Common sense.
• Head to the lake and there is a long strip of bars and restaurants which gets crowded at night with locals and also street performers.
• A must is Masaya market, catch a local bus from the small station (ask where in hotel). The market is huge and very local so no tourist tat!!
• If you want to visit Laguna de Apoyo (another must) you can catch a chicken bus to Masaya and then to the lagoon, you will have to walk a while though to get to the lake. The other option is to catch a taxi or the best which is what we did for $12 each is to go to Hostel Labrador and catch a lift there and back to a hotel on the lake where you can use the kayaks and tubes for free. Take food and your own booze as it is expensive to eat at the hotel. 

Beautiful Granada - Rum, lakes and vintage clothing

We hop on a chicken bus to get to Granada, these buses are the cheapest way to travel in Nicaragua and are old American school buses that are pimped up with colourful paint and messages praising god and Jesus. The bus drops us all off in the middle of the road and the driver tells us to wait for another going directly to Granada. Not wanting to wait we catch a Thai tuck tuck, 4 in each with all our bags stuffed in. 

There´s two tuck tucks and we race all the way to Granada, with Ben taking a turn at the wheel of the tuck tuck. Granada is one of Nicaragua's colonial cities that has kept its style in abundance, holding together the Spanish architecture and the Nicaraguan flair of the people. 

There´s a good group of us travelling together, we all met at Ometepe, so we book into a hostel and pretty much take over the place. We head off for a walk around and already we get a good feeling from the place  it certainly has a good atmosphere and whilst we get a hot dog to fill our empty stomachs a huge procession is going on outside, which seems to have every school involved. they certainly know how to take over a place!!

That night we enjoy a pizza in the main street, a bit touristy, but still a nice evening drinking some red and white wine whilst watching various street performers do their thing, including one amazing little kid who out of palm leaves weaves within minutes amazing objects such as flowers, crickets and people. A talented young man but still he should be in bed ready for school the next day. A reminder that the gorgeous exterior of Granada still has its problem with poverty.

The next day we decide to head to Masaya where there is a huge market, a local one not a touristy one. We head off on the chicken bus and arrive to a hectic and busy hell hole of a market place, rubbish and old food all over hundreds of people bustling everywhere whilst the buses horns and sellers screams attack the ears. I look at Jo and think this authentic and definitely what we wanted to see, let´s hope we can see some random stuff for sale.

All happy on the chicken bus

Again the whole group is here and as soon as we make our way into the market we come across an area selling second hand clothes, or as we call it in Leeds, Vintage Shops whereby they charge extra because its cool! Not here, racks and racks of cool clothes all for less than a dollar. Jo is now in heaven, forgetting about the group, and now only thinking of how she will fit all this into her already full rucksack. The lads decide to be stupid and we all start looking for Hawaiian shirts, a pact we say, we all need to wear one for the rest of the market. The stall owners looking at us as if we are crazy we all purchase ridiculous shirts which we proudly parade walking round the rest of the market. 

Ben sporting his new shirt and the girls all smilling

Vintage heaven for some hell for others!

Having spent an hour or so just in the clothes part of the market we decide to head off and see the rest. It certainly local as there are no other tourists, selling anything you can think of from machetes to fake converse all stars. We hit the meat section, always a shock to the eyes and nose, but its too late in the day and it is near empty but the smell still lingering! As we walk through we hit the hairdresser isle where a band is playing whilst the women hairdressers dance around their customers. Completely random but still hilarious.

The band with hairdresser in full swing

After our  mad shop at the market we head off by local bus to the beautiful Lake de Apoyo, where we planned to spend the rest of the afternoon chilling out in the water and topping up our tans. Not wanting to do a proper tour we get dropped off at the top of the valley where we get a glimpse of the lake. We begin to head down the forested path as it gets steeper and steeper and trickier. Twenty minutes in and we begin to realise that the walk would take us more than the expected 20 minutes but more like 2 hours, and with there not being much daylight left we decide to head back to the hostel and head to the lake the next day, to get the most of the full day.

Driving the chicken bus, with new shirt and shorts!!

We stock up on the Flor De Cana rum and some grub and we head off to the hostel to cook ourselves some dinner and show off our recent purchases at the market. Jo cooks a delicious Thai Green Curry and after dinner we swiftly tuck into the bottle of rum, a 2 liter bottle polished off in no less than an hour and we´re in bed!!

The next morning we decide to pay for the tour to get to the lake, 8 of us get crammed into a jeep and off we head, an hour later we arrive at a very snazzy hotel which is situated right on the shore of the lake. We´re all glad as we decided to get the tour as the walk would have been pretty horrendous as the jeep struggled at some points with the steep slopes!!

All crammed into the Jeep

We don our bathing suits, purchase the beer and head for the beach where we have free access to kayaks and tubes to float about in the glorious lake surrounded by huge mountains. This is the life we all say to each other!

Jo enjoying a beer 

Me and Ben

Jumping Jo

Louise, march and Jo

Wide angle view of the lake

My turn to jump

The whole gang

The view of the lake from above 

After our day at the lake we headed to the local supermarket to stock up on a feast for the evening, fajitas mexican style and our liquid as per usual Flor de Cana rum!!

The next morning we all wake up with slight hangovers and we say our goodbyes as me and Jo head for another Chicken bus to take us further north in Nicaragua to Leon.

Lazing around in Leon - Nicaragua

Travel tips for Leon, Nicaragua.

• Getting here! From Granada you can take a cheap shuttle to Guatemala City, from within the same place where you get dropped off you can catch another cheap shuttle to Leon. All in all this takes about 5 hours.
• If you want a party hostel stay at Big Foot, alternatively you can stay at Viavia, it's across the road from big foot hostel, it's far nicer and the same price. 
• You can do volcano boarding
• Go to a cockfight if your there on a Sunday.
• Climb Tilica volcano if you want to see Lava.
• Getting to Guatemala- Big Foot hostel run direct shuttles to Antigua for $79.00. This is very expensive but hassle free. This is what we did but then later we heard there is a bus that goes over night for $25.00. A lot of people prefer the shuttle as the borders of Honduras and El Salvador have been deemed unsafe but from speaking to people that took the cheap bus, they said it was completely fine.    
• Eat the Menu del Dia at cheap restaurants. This normally comes with quite a big meal and a drink.

We spent 3 lazy days in Leon and used the time to catch up on our admin. Granada is a prettier town but Leon also has its charms with plenty of old colonial churches to visit. It also has a beach nearby if you want to relax by the beach or if you fancy a hard climb you can trek up to Tilica and see Lava. If your a bit of an adrenaline junky you can go Volcano boarding also. Because we are at the end of our travels we decided to do neither as we had already done sand boarding 3 times previously and climbed a Volcano and seen lava. Friends that have none these activities highly recommended them though. 

Instead we went to the cinema lots, mainly because that was the only way to escape the heat. Leon has a nice little cinema and prices are dirt cheap. We watched The Hangover 3 and Pacific Titans which is a terrible movie. During the day we walked around Leon and ate a lot of the fruits sold in the streets. Much like Asian countries they sell chopped up mangoes and guavas, sold with chili sauce and salt. Most westerners sneer at the thought of it but it is actually very nice. I was brought up in the Philippines so this sort of thing tickles my taste buds but even Michael has now got use to it and likes it. 

Because we were lazy there is not much to report and no pictures. 

 

Isla de Ometepe. Volcanic beauty on lake Nicaragua. NICARAGUA.

Top tips for Isla de Ometepi

• A good hostel with good vibe is Little Morgans in Santa Cruz, near Maderas Volcano, the prettier part of the island. Try the drinking challenge there if you dare. Rooms are simple but it is right on the lake and within really nice grounds. 
• There are plenty of other options of hostel around within a short 10-15 walk.
• The ferry to get there is very cheap, $2 at time of writing (July 13). It takes around an hour. 
• Taxis are fairly expensive, we paid $5 each to get from the port to the hostel.
• There is only 2 cashpoints in the main towns on the island, far from Little Morgans, so make sure you have enough cash or you will have to get a taxi.
• Rent a motorbike, $30 for the day, but be sure to carry your licence as police pulled us over, but with a small bribe we were off. 
• Visit the waterfall, climb at least one of the volcanoes, each are the same amount of walking. We climbed Maderas but we heard Conception is better. The guide Alexis from Little Morgans hostel is excellent.
• Visit the local mineral water pool, it{s in a fantastic setting and a nice day to relax, but only if it is sunny.

San Juan del Sur. NICARAGUA

Top tips for San Juan del Sur

• Hostel you have three choices. 1 Casa Oro, great breakfast and chilled out. 2. Pachamama, has a pool and gets a bit more lively at night (but still close to Casa Oro), or 3. Naked Tiger, which is slightly out of the way but has an awesome pool and setting, is also lively and also has free shuttles to San Juan.
• There are plenty of other hostels around but the above three are most popular.
• Book the turtle viewing at Casa Oro, the guide is excellent and knowledgeable. Do ask about conditions for the night, eg if there is full moon you may not see many. Also ask how many turtles were sighted the night before. 
• The beach at San Juan is pretty shoddy, but main hostels offer a shuttle service to nearby beaches which are prettier and better for surfing.
• Do the Sunday pool crawl if you are up for a party, book at Pachamama, it is $10 and you get a free vest. Drinks cost around 40-60 local currency. Sneak a bottle of rum with coke in to save money.
• Take your laundry to the laundrette yourself and not through the hostel it is cheaper that way.
• Most important of all, DRINK FLOR DE CANA rum, it is the best rum in South and Central America.
• If you are going to Lake Ometepe, you can catch a taxi for 4 for around $20 (45 minutes). Or you can get the chicken bus near the market, ask someone about which and what stops to get to San Jorge.

To Sea Turtle or to See no Turtle

After leaving Costly Rica we were finally at a place where our $40 a day budget would allow us to have some fun. San Juan del Sur is located closely to the Costa Rican border on the Pacific coast. A small beach town where people come to surf and turtles in their thousands come to lay their eggs on nearby beaches.

As we weren't massive surfers we were keen to see some turtles hatching their eggs. Our hostel Casa Oro arranged a night tour which we decided to go on. We had our briefing meeting with our tour guide who had explained all about the turtles, their habits and of course their threat to existence.

The nesting site at La Flor wildlife site is one of seven sites in the world where the Olive Ridley turtle lay their eggs. The site is protected to ensure maximum survival rates for this endangered turtle. They are under huge threat, from overfishing, egg poachers, turtle hunters and also from various predators once they have hatched. Each turtle hatches around 100 eggs, and out of 1000 eggs hatched only one turtle will survive to a fully mature adult, who can live well over a hundred years old. So programmes and education like this are vital  to the survival of these animals.

The Olive Ridley turtle

The park itself was an hours drive away on a beautiful isolated beach. We had been told in our briefing that white light or cameras were an absolute no no as any light given off could scare the turtles as they come from the sea to lay their eggs.

As we reach the beach the moon is shinning at its brightest, not the best conditions for the turtles, already i had the feeling that we would be very lucky to see any turtles tonight! We spend the a couple of hours pacing the beach to see any willing turtles, but with the light shinning brightly from the moon it was looking bleaker and bleaker!

We did manage to get a glimpse of one turtle who had come out of the sea but immediately changed her mind and returned swiftly into the ocean under the breaking waves. It was not to be our night, as the group the night before had seen 5 turtles! In the months of September and October you can see up to 1000 at a time trying to find space to hatch their eggs.

Some of the eggs are taken from the beach and monitored

Our guide

The full moon hampering our night

Ann unhatched egg eaten by a predator, probably a sand crab

Crab crawled right passed me

So not the most succesful night but nonetheless a good experience and interesting insight into turtles and their SHY behaviour.

POOL PARTY TIME

San Juan del Sur is also known for its Sunday pool crawl where mainly all the travellers don their pool crawl vests and get shipped off by 4x4 to all the hostels with pools whilst wildly drinking and acting like idiots. So we decided we would join in and get involved. As we wait to be packed in the 4x4 all the locals stand and watch in amazement as the travelling herd gather for their piss up! What they must think of us I don't want to know! But we met a good group from our hostel so we knew we would have a good one!!

The gang

Typical Aussie

Waheyyy

Nice View

 A club 18 to 30 day with lots of beer consumed, wouldn't do it again but it was fun!!

The next day we chill at the beach with a slight hangover and then head off to Isla de Omotepi located on lake Nicaragua.

Beauty in San Juan

San Juan Beach

Bocas del Torro Panama to San Jose Costa Rica

I decided not to do an individual post for each of these places as we quickly went through them. Bocas del Torro is in Panama and situated close to the borders of Costa Rica. For travelers going north, this is the usual travel route. Bocas is a cluster of island reached my small boats called planchas. The main island to stay on is called Isla De Colon and it has its very own mini airport that flies directly to Panama City. Otherwise you can bus from Panama City, this takes around 9 hours.

Due to Michael being ill we did not manage to do much but there is many tours to do and most people go diving here. The island itself is pleasant with an African Caribbean feel. There are plenty of restaurants and bars so a good night out can definitely be had.

For the next stop we took the local bus to Puerto Viejo for $25.00. Puerto Viejo is another seaside town but in Costa Rica. There is beach there called Playa Negro because of the black sand. This place is much like Boccas, with nice restaurants and bars, albeit has a more relaxed feel. Costa Rica is very expensive which deters a lot of back backpackers. Its even been crowned the name of ´Costly Rica´ by travelers and rightly so as it is very, very expensive. The main currency taken is dollars so the prices are high, although they still take their own currency of colons, most prices are charged with dollars.

With this in mind we moved swiftly along this country, the next place we went to was the Capital, San Jose. Like most of the Central America cities this one was also not much to be desired. We stayed in a hostel that was way over prices and even the corner shop charged us $10.00 for 2 hot chocolates and a bottle of water. Quick to get to Nicaragua, the country we heard was very cheap, we cross the border. We did this the cheapest way as the main luxury bus was shaping up to be a lot more expensive. We took a bus to Penna Blancas from a bus station that soley runs buses for the border. Ask the taxi to take you to the bus station for Pennasand they will take you to the right one. Penna Blancas is the last stop before the Nicaraguan Border, from there you can get your exit stamp for Costa Rica then walk over to the Immigration Office for Nicaragua. We were charged $12.00 each entrance here but we had heard other not being charge, double check this before you get your stamp.

From here you can get to the seaside town of San Juan del Sur which is an hour by car. There are buses but the transport is limited, I would advise you to ask around at the border if anyone is heading the same way and share a taxi. Taxis should be no more than $5.00 each when shared with 3 or 4 people. Once in San Juan, stay at either Casa Oro or Pachamama as they do a great breakfast.