Friday, May 4, 2007
Back in Costa Rica, Back to Blackouts and Rain
I am back in Costa Rica after a nine hour bus ride from the colonial town of Granada, Nicaragua. I am welcomed by electrical blackouts (¨planned¨ power outages by the monopoly country-owned electric company ICE to ¨conserve energy¨) and constant rain. Back in the hills of Hereida, I am back to my accustomed routine of 7am wakeup calls, freshly made juice spiked with Flor de Cana (Nicaraguan rum), sliced mangoes, and a good book...that lasts for a solid hour and a half before I get antsy and head into town to use the Internet. I´m leaving for Panama tomorrow, I´ve decided.
Tuesday, May 1, 2007
Isla de Ometepe, Nicaragua
It is hard to believe that after witnessing such disparity on the ride from Playa Venecia to Merida, that safely locked behind the yellow gates of Hacienda Menda lays wireless internet, river-rock built showers, and lakeside view cabins with beautiful hand-made hammocks. Secluded in our lakeside hostel resort, the travelers marvel at the heavenly conditions. I pay US$8/night for my room – the most expensive of all the options.
The travelers I met are in their twenties, either traveling solo or in pair. The solo ones have teamed up with other solo travelers, increasing strength in language abilities and discounts. I am the short-term traveler, with my three weeks and three countries. Others have a time frame of six weeks, five months, indefinitely...or "until the money runs out." Unlike me and my centralized location in Heredia/San Joe, Costa, they have started in the north in either Mexico or Honduras making their way south to pass Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama and into South America. Among them, I don't feel so much like an outsider in my vagabond ways: living out of my camping backpack and hand washing my clothes. Together, we are friends amongst the 5.5% unemployment population in our developed countries - too independent and carefree to be strapped to any desk job.
The lake here is reminiscent of a sea with its rough waves and long sandy coastline. Horses, chickens, pigs, dogs are let to run loose. The chickens walk freely amid the dogs at Hacienda Merida – where I stayed my last two nights on the island. I will miss this island when I am safely back in my air-conditioned bus to San Jose, Costa Rica. I will miss its brightly hand-woven hammocks, scenic landscape views, banana tree fields, dirt roads, slow pace of life, freshly made tamarindo juice, curious faces, and sparse English phrases…and maybe, just maybe even the roster that crows all hours of the night and early morning.
Additional photos:
The travelers I met are in their twenties, either traveling solo or in pair. The solo ones have teamed up with other solo travelers, increasing strength in language abilities and discounts. I am the short-term traveler, with my three weeks and three countries. Others have a time frame of six weeks, five months, indefinitely...or "until the money runs out." Unlike me and my centralized location in Heredia/San Joe, Costa, they have started in the north in either Mexico or Honduras making their way south to pass Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama and into South America. Among them, I don't feel so much like an outsider in my vagabond ways: living out of my camping backpack and hand washing my clothes. Together, we are friends amongst the 5.5% unemployment population in our developed countries - too independent and carefree to be strapped to any desk job. The lake here is reminiscent of a sea with its rough waves and long sandy coastline. Horses, chickens, pigs, dogs are let to run loose. The chickens walk freely amid the dogs at Hacienda Merida – where I stayed my last two nights on the island. I will miss this island when I am safely back in my air-conditioned bus to San Jose, Costa Rica. I will miss its brightly hand-woven hammocks, scenic landscape views, banana tree fields, dirt roads, slow pace of life, freshly made tamarindo juice, curious faces, and sparse English phrases…and maybe, just maybe even the roster that crows all hours of the night and early morning.
Additional photos:
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