I had no idea the past two weeks would be so action- packed! It is definitely time to ease it up a bit, travel like a normal person who goes and visits museums and little towns and simply goes for long walks. Today I reunite with Yael!! I'm so excited; we will travel together for maybe another three weeks or so, something I have been looking forward to since we parted.
When I last wrote I was in Granada, Nicaragua, a beautiful little colonialesque city, but lacking in the chocolate department. Deprived, I went from store to store asking for chocolate only to be informed from the main grocer that THERE IS NO CHOCOLATE. Can you believe it? I was in shock...I was happy to learn that the guy was wrong when I stumbled upon a pulperia (tiny tienda) who ironically had the goods. Aside from visiting the nearby, incredible Masaya markets and visiting Volcano Mombacha, I spent most of my time in the city partying with a my Frenchy (aka. Vanessa). In line with my chocolate obsession at the time, she taught me how to make raw, seriously dark, chocolate from scratch, cocoa beans and all, at the hostel...can't wait to go home and try to make it by myself.
After Granada I traveled a few hours to Leon, another famous city in Nicaragua. While it may not be as aesthetically pleasing as Granada, it was my favorite of the two. Leon has character...plus, I stayed at an awesome, cheap hostel with TV and nice folk. Thrill, or major scare, of Leon: Nute went rolling down yet another volcano. Big Foot Hostel is the only hostel in Leon that offers volcano boarding off the side of a black gravel, active volcano, Cerro Negro. You basically sit on a board and fly down the side of the volcano at a 40 degree angle, at speeds up to 60km/hr. Before we got to the point where we went boarding, we hiked up the volcano to one of the most impressive views I have seen (you could see old lava having spilled into nearby forestry, obvious evidence of an explosion not THAT long ago). We also ran into the crater itself, a mission that brought multi- colored, hot rocks, lots of sulfur, and steam oozing everywhere. The thought of, 'what the hell am I doing?' crossed my mind, but like a little schoolgirl I figured if everyone else was doing it, what the hey.
So in other words, everything up to the actual boarding was super cool. And don't get me wrong, most people LOVE the boarding, it's just that most people don't experience the kind of fall I did. I panicked at high speed and tried to slow myself down, only to fly off my board and go rolling, uncontrollably down the volcano. Obviously, I am okay, but I think I was lucky. Our guide, having seen the fall from afar, rushed in with his truck (we were supposed to walk to our exit; his truck wasn't supposed to be there) thinking it was an emergency, that I had broken my arm or leg or worse. He looked in my direction and was like, "How do you look okay? Something should be broken, or your face should be all cut up!" I was told that he hadn't seen a fall like that in months...I was a bit robbed of my pride, especially that night when the drunken talk of the evening was how I got "hammered." One guy actually has footage of my fall- it looks Jackass worthy if I do say so myself.
While there were jokes about the whole thing, I think I truly had been shaken, for I felt a bit under the weather the next day on my way to La Ceiba, Honduras. But what I found in Honduras was my reward. I had been wanting to take a trip into Eastern Honduras, into La Moskitia, a remarkably large expanse of mainly untouched jungle, and an opportunity presented itself. In all, I took a five day trip into the area, realizing after the fact that it took two days just to get in and another two just to get out. I payed serious dues for my DAY in La Moskitia; the journey was by no means easy. The worst part of getting there and back was an awful, awful 5 hour pickup, sitting on a wooden plank (no more than 5 inches wide) over pot- holed roads in the baking sun. That is probably the worst journey I have EVER taken. My poor, sore bum. The nice bit, however, was driving along the Caribbean shore for nearly an hour right before sunset.
La Moskitia as a whole was a wonderful experience, so beautiful, so void of tourists. In those five days, we spent hours upon hours in canoes along the Rio Plátano, immersed in jungle- it was such a unique lifestyle. It was here that I bathed in a river for the first time (it was the cleanest option). And the seemingly "in the middle of nowhere" towns we visited along the way (Los Palacios, Raista, Las Marias, etc.) brought with them the most intriguing culture/people/languages. What a special place.
My final struggle in these past two weeks was with getting my advanced diving certification in the Bay Islands of Honduras (in the north). I arrived in Utila, the cheaper and more eclectic of the two main islands, not looking forward to the diving AT ALL. I forced myself to go through with the whole deal, to sign up for the course and just do it, but I was dreading it (fear sucks!). While I was already a certified PADI diver, it had been nearly four years since I received my certification, and I was just not comfortable with being that deep under water. The whole point of the advanced course was to get me more comfortable with diving in general, which is why I made myself do it.
Now all I can say is, "Wow!" It is amazing how things can turn around, how you can be so upset and negative about something that ends up surprising you in the most amazing way. I never thought I would be writing this today, but my four days at Utila (a place I wanted to bail on) were some of the best days of my entire trip. My accommodation on the dock itself, the other divers, my instructor, Scuba T (Tom), and the other staff were absolutely exceptional. The staff was full of laughter and knowledge- it was such a great time. I loved waking up right in front of the sea, eating breakfast along the water, and later, reading a book at sunset in the same spot. In regards to the diving, for the first time I did a deep dive, wreck dive and night dive (the whole night thing made me nervous about this one, but like everything else, it turned out well). And now...I am officially advanced PADI certified, which really just means I am now certified to dive to 100 feet instead of just 60.
Even now, while writing about Utila, I am smiling. :) It was hard to leave but I did. I left Utila to Copán to see the Copán Ruins (Mayan ruins that were alright, but not amazing) for a couple days, entertained by an Israeli guy I met along the way. We parted yesterday as I finally left Honduras and entered Guatemala to meet Yael and see the ruins at Tikal on our way to Belize. Yesterday was my first day in Guatemala...it feels like an accomplishment to have made it so far north from Panama.
I hope to greet you again from the ever- so- special, Mexico.
"Those who are willing to be vulnerable move among mysteries."
-Theodore Roethke
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