Haircuts and Surfing!

Haircut

Dave got a hair cut! Yes, his golden locks are gone. Well they aren't gone, just shorter.
It happened when we were in Granada about two weeks ago with the sun beating down and bouncing off the colonial buildings. The heat drove him to it.

We walked into a barber shop, and after 15 minutes and two dollars, I couldn't recognize him from the back!

Surfing

I am learning to surf! Dave tried to teach me in El Salvador, but the conditions were rough. Although we had a good time, not much progress was made.
After evesdropping on a lesson yesterday, at a beach near San Juan del Sur (they set up right by me, I couldn't not watch and listen), I was ready to try again. The water was warmer than it was in Popoyo and the waves were nice little ones for me, and hardly anyone else was in the water. I had a great time and Dave said I did well.

I wrote this post after we surfed in the morning, but the internet was slow and the photos wouldn't load, so we went back to the beach for the afternoon. On the way home in the afternoon we were robbed. Dave wrote a detailed account, but as far as I remember, we were not the last car out of there, otherwise it is spot on. Bottom line, we lost 80 bucks and Dave's laptop. Neither of us was hurt. I was scared, but have just about recovered and am only slightly jumpy.

We are in Heredia, Costa Rica. It is near San Jose and the airport. In a few hours we are going to pick up Robbie and his girlfriend and head to the beach near Nosara, where we have rented a house for the week.

Dave also has a new computer, we are calling him Acerito, because it is a tiny little Acer computer. It is great, only problem it is a Spanish XP, so we get to practice our Spanish when we try to set up a new program.

Playa Popoyo

Just a quick note to say we are safe, sound, and happy in Playa Popoyo, Nicaragua. Nicaragua has been fun so far, minus the two speeding tickets. First time we saw someone using a radar gun, it was pointed straight at us!

Dave is surfing; I'm reading lots of books and magazines.

More updates/ catch-up soon...

Our Actual Location

While my blog is nearly a week behind, we are actually in Esteli, Nicaragua. Headed further southwest today, towards Granada.

More posts coming soon. I figured out I type them when we don't have internet then post when we do. It makes it somewhat quicker, but many thanks are owed to Dave for waiting patiently while I fritter time away on here.

Mom's Visit

After welcoming Mom, we loaded up and headed for the coast.


It was a four hour drive to La Ceiba, and we got in just before dark. The original plan was to spend the night, and take the morning ferry to Roatan. But we woke up and it was rainy and the clouds stretched out over the water towards the islands. We checked the weather forecast and it confirmed lots of rain that day out on Roatan.

Cangrejal River

We decided to wait a day for the weather to clear out on the island and instead headed up the Cangrejal River to Omega Lodge and Tours near Pico Bonito National Park. We got the last room in the guesthouse and signed up for an afternoon rafting trip. Our intrepid guide Miles took us down some fun rapids and past giant boulders.

At one point all three of us were thrown from the boat, but aside from a few bruises, it was good fun.
Dave's long hair worked well with the helmet.

Mom jumped off a big rock


I tried to but chickened-out.


Dave jumped too, but went too fast for me to get a video.


The lodge was full of interesting people, most notably our new friend and temporary stalker, John, who followed us out to Roatan. While the area around the lodge is beautiful, and if our visit was any indication the people staying there are generally awesome, and the rafting is fun, the food alone is reason to get out there for dinner if you are in the area. Specifically, order the spatzel. But not just any spatzel, spatzel baked into cheesy-greatness. It makes mac-n-cheese look lame. You can get it with crispy bacon, you are a fool if you skip the bacon, the crispy salty pork perfectly compliments the cheese and spatzel. It is gluttonous, so if you ever go take someone with you so it can be shared. Also, go ahead and end with the homemade chocolate and coconut ice-creams, they are nearly as good as the popsicles in Suchitoto, nearly.

In the morning we hiked up to the waterfall in Pico Bonito National Park. The first step is to cross the suspension bridge over the river.


About three and a half hours round-trip through the forest on the other side of the bridge takes you to the falls and back. It was great to get a close-up of the falls we had seen while driving up to the lodge and rafting down the river. See Dave's blog for more pics.

After the hike and a cold shower (no hot water at Omega Lodge) we drove into La Ceiba to catch the 4:30 pm ferry.

I would prefer not remember the hour and fifteen minutes I spent with my head between my legs crossing to Roatan. No one was sad for the ride to be over, and all three of us were happy to not have needed the little baggies one crew-member walked around handing out.

Roatan

We stayed at Posada Las Orchedias on the far end of West End. The view was great, the room beautiful and full of building defects and staffed by less-than-friendly women. It was quiet and the hammock was nice, and it was right next door to Sea Grapes Plantation and their dive shop.

After an over-rated breakfast at Rudy’s, definitely NOT the best banana pancakes on the island (Dave wants me to mention that he loved his granola, fruit and yogurt), we looked for a dive shop. I did an afternoon dive with Pura Vida, and mom did a refresher dive with West End Divers. The entire next day we dove with Pura Vida as well. Mom did two dives, I did all three. The next two days we dove with Seagrapes. Both shops were good, but very different in style. I would recommend either.

The diving was amazing. I saw at least one sea turtle on every dive. Lots of Queen Angel fish, lots of Black Angel fish, barracudas, two spotted eagle rays, trigger fish, puffer fish, box fish, cow fish, anomies, huge barrel sponges, tall purple sponges, giant fan coral… While it is obvious the reef sees a lot of visitors, the diving was enjoyable with lots to see.

Dave, the non-diver, spent lots of time reading and did some snorkeling.

He got to use my camera, because we were always going deeper than 30ft, the maximum depth my camera stays water-proof.
Here is some of his fine work. There is more over on his blog, as well as video.

Me giving the ok on the descent to Blue Channel


Mom and I at the shallow, inland side, of Blue Channel.


Post-dive interview with Dave


Roatan was expensive. If you aren’t going for diving, I would probably suggest finding another beach that is a little more off-the-beaten-path and where you can get quality food at reasonable prices instead of reasonable food at quality prices. Noteable good food that didn’t cost as much as a dive was
1. the set breakfasts (between 75 and 90L) and lunch sandwiches (around 115L) at The Beach House. But not the bakery items, just the restaurant dishes.
2. the Sunday bbq lunch across from Woody’s grocery
3. the meatloaf and mashed potatoes lunch from the soft-serve ice-cream place across from The Beach House. Every week-day they have a different hot lunch option for 100L. The meatloaf was Mondays and it was tasty and filling.

We took the 2 pm ferry back, and sat downstairs. Mom and Dave were fine on the ride, and they think sitting downstairs helped. I still felt awful for most of the time.

After finding the car safe-and-sound we paid for the parking, loaded up, and headed towards Tela, about an hour and a half drive down the coast towards San Pedro Sula. Tela was much more pleasant than La Ceiba, as far as the town. I hear there is lots of bird watching around there. We stayed at the Mayan Vista hotel, and enjoyed the views of Tela bay and some reasonably priced food. The next morning we headed in to San Pedro Sula. There were a few stops along the way. One for mom to buy some bananas to snack on, one for mom to buy a hammock and some local honey, and one for lunch at a Baleada stand on the highway. Baleadas are a Honduran snack food of a flour tortialla filled with beans and cheese then folded and lightly grilled. Not like a quesadilla because there is just a little cheese and it is the crumbled kind, not the melty-gooy-deliciousness kind.

Copan Ruinas

We crossed into Honduras at the eerily quiet border-crossing of El Poy. After paying 40 usd to bring the car in and showing our passports to the El Salvador officials who told us that the Honduras immigration guys were at lunch but to go on through, we were into Honduras.

We drove through the mountains and ranches to Gracias, Copan. Exhausted we enjoyed a business-traveler’s hotel and slept for a long time. In the morning we headed towards Copan Ruinas, with a stop at the hot springs near Gracias. They were warm springs and it was Sunday. This meant it was rather busy. In particular it was patronized by two little kids who loved to cannon-ball people. They got us, then set their sights on a group of three grandmother-aged women. We left quickly and headed to Copan Ruinas.

We stayed at Brisas de Copan the first night. A great little bargain of a hotel, one block from the square, with a little parking area, hot water showers, nice staff, and spotlessly clean. For 20 usd it was unbeatable, especially compared to the other 5 rooms we looked at around town.

The next morning we walked to the ruins. They are not large like other well known Mayan sites, but they are peaceful and picturesque, especially since we had them nearly to ourselves to explore.

Dave imitates Mayan sculpture surprisingly well.

That afternoon we got intouch with Dona Flavia. In addition to being the proprietress of the enchanted Hacienda San Lucas on hill above the valley, she is also the future-mother-in-law of the dear Sara Maunder, a friend from GGU. Sara put us in touch with Flavia. I can’t think of a better in-law pair; both are generous-of-spirit, vivacious, and simply lovely individuals. Flavia was the most gracious of hostesses and treated us like family.

Flavia invited us to dinner and to experience an evening up at the hacienda. It is a unique jewel of a place. On the land is Los Sapos, a small site that is part of the larger system of ruins throughout the valley. We enjoyed a late-afternoon, bird-song filled, walk to Los Sapos, and spotted a few birds along the way.

The evening at the Hacienda was illuminated with candle-light, further adding to the beauty and peacefulness. We had a macadamia-corn soup that was the most delicious dish we’ve eaten on the trip. It was creamy in consistency, but light on the palate, with finely ground macadamia nuts waiting on the bottom. The entire meal was delicious. For dinner we sat with a family from San Francisco. By total coincidence the dad works with Paul, Flavia’s son/ Sara’s fiancé, in San Francisco. The mom and dad were visiting Raphael, their son, who has been working in Trujillo for nearly two years as a Peace Corp volunteer. Their company was equal in quality with the meal.

Morning at Hacienda San Lucas


The next morning we enjoyed breakfast before walking back into town for the car. From there we were back on the road to San Pedro Sula to pick up Mom from the airport. It was an uneventful drive, except for the cattle drive in the road. Our original plan was to just wait for it to pass us, but a minibus came along and showed us how to handle it Honduras-style.

On Top of El Salvador

A little over 2700m high is Cerro El Pital, the highest point in El Salvador. It is very close to the Honduran border and the crossing at El Poy. We left Suchitoto and headed for the area, originally intending to stay in La Palma, which had been described as very picturesque with lots of local artisans. La Palma was cute, but after the enthusiasm we had for Suchitoto it was a bit of a let down, so we decided to head up to Cerro El Pital and camp.

There is a paved road that goes nearly all the way to the top, and a gravel road that takes you within spittin’ distance of the summit. It is a winding and severely steep road with beautiful views while you worry about on-coming traffic and over-heating the engine. Well very beautiful views for me, and Dave worrying about the vehicular concerns.

12 usd was entry to the park and camping for the night for the two of us. We found a cliff-side spot as the afternoon light faded towards a sunset.

Dave admires the view from our camping spot.


Then we set up to cook dinner and opened a bottle of wine. We enjoyed a glass of Tempranillo and watched the sun set into the clouds that were drifting in to surround us for the night.


The clouds made me pull on the most layers of clothes this whole trip.

We enjoyed dinner by lantern-light and had the company of the most amazing moth.

The picture fails to do it justice. The wings were neon blue and transparent only when it was very close to the lantern.

After cleaning up from dinner we made popcorn and crawled into the van to watch Milk. We both really enjoyed the movie. I won’t say more because I am at a loss for anything but clichés to describe my reaction, and the awards and reviews and publicity it received are widely available with a google search.

The next morning we headed for the very top, a whole 15 minutes walk. In the parking lot we saw a group of 10 to 15 Salvadorans holding a horn (think cow horn you can blow and make noise), wooden bow with wooden arrows, two small plastic swords, a bottle of wine, a bottle of oil, a couple of guitars and a few backpacks. They went one direction; we went the other and didn’t think anything of it. I assumed they were having a picnic.

We topped out El Salvador just as the clouds started to roll in, so there wasn’t much in the way of a view. Then we headed for the giant boulder that sticks out the side of the mountain just down from the summit. We took a trail through the cloud-forest of tall trees dripping bromilidads and coated with moss. Then we heard strange sounds: yelling, moaning, and guitar. We stopped and peered through the forest, listening and trying to decide what to do.

**Warning, this could be loud if you have your speakers turned up**


We could make out a few of the exclamations, including “Amen” “Hallelujah” “Power of Jesus Christ”. When the singing/chanting/yelling died down, we started moving down the trail and intersected with the group near the fallen tree that acts as a bridge to the boulder.

They were all very friendly and encouraged us to wait a few minutes until they were done crossing and then come across ourselves to check-out the rock. We said we didn’t want to interrupt, they assured us it was no problem, they just needed a few minutes first. So we stood back about 10 feet and tried not to feel like we were invading. They poured oil and wine on a spot on the tree, read some bible verses, talked about having power over sin and Satan, then started crossing over the spot. The ones with swords hit it with the swords and yelled at the spot. Others stomped on it before they crossed. All but one of the group went across. The woman that stayed was probably in her mid 60s. Before we crossed we talked to her just a little.

We crossed the tree-trunk, Dave more gracefully than I, and walked around the rock, but the clouds had engulfed it and we couldn’t see anything. So we headed back.

Dave returns via the tree-trunk bridge.


As we were headed back across the group was increasing their activity with more call-and-answer yelling, waving flags, and blowing the cow-horn. Once we were back on the other side, we started talking to the woman who had stayed behind, singing while she was alone, and found out a little more about her and the group.

They were an evangelical church group from Sonsonate (near the start of the Routa de Las Flores) and had come up for the day. She was a retired dentist. Her mother is 90 and lives in San Francisco. She goes to visit once a year, but her mother is coming back to El Salvador to visit later this year. She asked us about our travels. And after a little more conversation about the USA, El Salvador, and the van, she hugged and kissed us good-bye.

As we drove down we passed people walking up towards the grounds at Cerro El Pital from small town where the paved road ends and the buses drop-off. It looked like most were going to camp for the night as they were carrying lots of supplies. Nearly everyone waved hello. More than one person shouted a greeting in English or Spanish. We had a few surf references and one teenager sang a little bit of “California Dreaming” to us.

The remarkable thing about El Salvador is that the tourist industry is largely based on Salvadoran participation. The infrastructure is there, moderately priced hotels providing clean and friendly service, food, hiking trails, signage; but the majority of users is Salvadoran instead of hordes of gringos. I don’t want to mislead, there were other gringos in most places. With the exception of Cerro El Pital, we always saw a handful of other gringos. El Tunco was mainly gringos, but there were multiple private clubs on the beachfront that were obviously for wealth Salvadorans during weekends and holidays.

Best Popsicles, EVER

La Tienda de la Abuela on the square next to the church in Suchitoto sells a multitude of different popsicles, all made at the store with fresh ingredients. With over 30 flavors to choose from, the range was daunting. Choices varied from Cuban mojito to traditional fruits to orange with chili powder and even Cerveza.
Dave had a creamy pistachio, with pistachio pieces in the bottom and I had an icy Cuban mojito full of flecks of mint.
We sat in the square to enjoy them.

It was a afternoon for a popsicle. The sun was shining, the birds were singing...
Then disaster struck!

It was so sad. The only consolation was that we had already decided to come back the next morning before leaving town so we could try more.

The next day I had Mora, similar to blackberry, and Dave had chocolate. His was creamy, more like the best fudgsicle he had ever had than a popsicle. Mine was tart enough to know that it was real fruit, not flavoring and dye.

Suchitoto

You can do it all in Suchitoto; eat, sleep, and drink.
Our favorite stop of the trip.
Yes La Mizata was a great beach, and I just experienced world-class diving in Roatan, and Lago Atitlan was postcard-pretty, BUT Suchitoto stands as the best-yet.

Suchitoto is north of San Salvador, towards Honduras. It is a colonial town overlooking Lago Suchitlan, a large man-made lake. It is in the mountains, but not high, so it is hot. The streets are cobblestone and the buildings white-washed. The square has an imposing church with the only sacred heart I've ever seen ontop of a building,

and La Tienda de La Abuela, which sells the best popsicles Dave or I ever had.

The area is left-leaning and the surrounding mountains were a FMLN stronghold during the war. There is a Presidential election in a few days and when we were there we missed a FMLN fundraising party by one day. Technically we weren't allowed to go anyway, although it's common for extraneros to go as guests. We spent two nights there, and weren't ready to leave. We just wandered the town, talked to people, and took a walk to the edge of the lake. We are thinking about a prolonged stop there during the return trip. There is so much more we want to see in the area, and the locals told us it is even prettier during the rainy season.

Dave at an outlook over the lake.


One great thing in Suchitoto is El Gringo. Robert from California. He has dual citizenship and has been living in El Salvador for 15 years. He is now married with kids and step-kids and his family runs a small hostel and restaurant. He provides great local insight and is just fun.

There is a community campaign against domestic violence and violence against women. There were signs, painted light posts, and this stencil that was near the door of most homes.

There were also lots of art galleries and cafes. We were told on the weekend it really gets going. Hopefully we'll get to experience that in a few months. But Suchitoto isn't all staged and perfect. There are also houses waiting for a new coat of stucco.


Suchitoto also introduced me to the rice pupusas. In the northern part of El Salvador, rice flour instead of masa is sometimes used. The rice flour makes it a little lighter, better suited for the squash filling. The masa is heartier and more filling. I could never decide which I preferred, so ordering one of each was the obvious solution.

Within a few kilometers of town is a waterfall. This time of year it is not running, but still worth a visit because it is full of hexagonal basalt columns. It is a little drive outside of town, also walking distance, and well worth a visit.
Of course Dave had to climb it, an urge I did not share.

Ruta de Las Flores and Santa Ana

In what seems like ages ago, we drove up from Costa de La Libertad into the mountains in western El Salvador to a winding road known as Ruta de Las Flores. It is a 36km road that connects a series of little colonial towns. For a few months a year the road is flanked by wild flowers (sadly not while we were there) and all year round there are lots of flower nurseries in the area.

The towns are a lot like Antigua Guatemala, minus the hordes of gringos and the ruins interspersed with the intact buildings. We spent the night in Juayua.
Without a map, we were at a loss for the location of the hotel we wanted. The solution was our standard one in El Salvador (well really anywhere, it just worked so well there), to pull over and ask a local. We asked two teenagers sitting in the plaza. At first they started giving us directions, then one hoped on his bike and said he would just show us. It wasn't far, but it is a great example of the hospitality and friendly spirit we encountered the whole time we were in El Salvador.

The higlight of Juayua, for me, was the pupusas. I love pupusas, and I hadn't been able to get any until Juayua. Pupusas are an evening food, and because we were on the beach without a restuarant, there were none to be had. But my routine of pupusas for dinner began in Juayua and continued through Suchitoto.

Pupusas are masa stuffed with beans or pork or squash or more creative fillings and cheese, then cooked on a grill-top. Two was always plenty to fill me up for the evening. With prices ranging from .40 to .60 usd each, pupusas are front runner for the best bang-for-my-buck of the trip.

Another highlight was the dairy shops. What's not to love? A whole store full of dairy with great signs.


The next morning we went to a series of waterfalls a few kilometers outside of town. If it wasn't for the open gash Dave had, we would have swam, instead we just waded around and enjoyed the scenery. It was a series of three sets waterfalls, all spilling straight out of the rocks. If you ever go, learn from my mistake-- take your swimsuit and leave your busted-headed boyfriend sitting on the edge while you enjoy the crystal-clear water.




After the waterfall we drove to Apaneca and Laguna Verde for a walk and a look at the pretty little green lagoon, then lunch on the square. The way to the lake is well signed, as is Las Vegas Blvd and a tribute to The King.
The roving reporter Dave brings you this update from Laguna Verde


We continued on to Ataco, the town furthest west on Ruta de Las Flores, and wished we wouldn't have eaten lunch in Apaneca. Ataco is a picturesque and quiet little town. The buildings are covered in bright colors and vibrant murals. We want to return on the weekend for a night, when things are hopping with the weekend visitors from San Salvador. I'm eying it as a stop on the return trip. In particular, this attractive little The Twins Pupuseria.

From Apaneca we headed to Santa Ana, old money seat of El Salvador. It was big, and our reason for stopping was sorbet without rival. At least that's what the sign said.
It was good icecream, and probably the best we had, technically. See the upcoming post on Suchitoto and the magical popsicles for why Sin Rivals wins on a technicality.

Fueled with icecream we undertook the task of finding what both of our tourist maps (one in LP guide, the other a free map we picked up along the way) showed to be a paved road running straight from Santa Ana to Suchitoto, where we wanted to spend the night. After asking for directions and following the signs we drove about 45 minutes without any other signs and felt like we were headed in the wrong way. So we pulled over to a police station on the side of the road and asked how to get to the town at the beginning of the road. The police sent us back in the direction we had come. Then after about an hour, we found ourselves back in Santa Ana! We looked at the round-about for an indicator, didn't see one, and voluntarily pulled into a police check point. It took three municipal police to explain to us that the road on our map didn't exist, and we had to go back the way we had originally gone, then north towards Suchitoto.

Two important lessons were learned during the wasted two and a half hours we spent driving in a circle:
1. Follow the signs, not the maps
2. In El Salvador, the sign will not be posted until you need it, so don't second guess and turn around just because you haven't seen a sign in an hour.

I Wanted to Post, But...

I really have been meaning to post, but we've been so busy having fun!

Quick update...

We are on the island of Roatan off the coast of Honduras. Did 9 fantastic dives with two great dive shops! Taking the 2pm ferry back to La Ceiba and headed towards San Pedro Sula to drop Mom back off at the airport. She has been here a week and flies home tomorrow.

Soon, very soon there will be pictures and more info! Take a look at Dave's blog for a little more info on what we've been doing...