New York City
I had a brief layover in NYC and saw an amazing view from the air. Manhattan was incredible. Landmark after landmark. Walked past the Ed Sullivan, along Broadway to Time Square. Then on the way back I drove past Yankee Stadium, saw Shea Stadium and more what NYC has to offer. Would certainly go back and the brief bit I saw of it I really enjoyed.
Panama
The first thing I noticed about Panama was the colorful chicken buses. Old America school buses decked out in some funky colors. Panama City was hot and sticky but was safe and easy to get around. Lots of swanky apartment buildings with rich expats. Seeing the canal was the highlight of the trip. Just a turn of the century marvel of engineering. I got to see one of the big container ships pass through the canal. Big bastard with an incredible amount of cargo. I went into the canal simulator to see if I could navigate the locks and get my ship through. Failed miserably and did about 3 billion dollars with of damage.
Costa Rica
It was lashing rain in San Juan so I was a bit anxious to get the Atlantic Coast for some SCUBA Diving. I took an old bus on some bumpy roads to get to Punta Uva. I was amazed how lush and thick the rainforest and jungle were. Some dude got off the bus and it seems like the jungle just swallowed him up. Very neat. I arrived late at night and ended up staying on a hammock for the night. Found a place the next day and just lazed around for a few days. I was staying right on the beach hanging out with a bunch of dope smoking rastas. I went on a canopy tour of the rain forest. This was ok but certainly nothing that was an adrenaline rush. I did see ants the size of ride on mower. Apparently their sting hurts like a bastard.
After a few days I went SCUBA diving. I should have seen the signs that something could have gone wrong. Crappy equipment and real no interest from the owners regarding safety. On the second dive of the day I was 25m downs and had a complete equipment failure. No air in the first stage and none in the second. Diving buddy was no where to be seen so I had to do an emergency ascent to the surface. Dropped my weight belt and up I went. They could hear me coughing under the water and dove in to manually inflate my bcd. They also had the emergency equipment ready to go but I did not need it. I do believe that I came extremely close to drowning and was very lucky to have my lungs explode and not to get the bends.
Torteguero was absolutely amazing. Thick jungle/rainforest. Monkeys, Crocs, bats, sloths, toucans and parrots were just some of the animals that you get to see. I just missed seeing a crocodile nap a bird of all things on the beach. Hearing the howler monkeys was so funny. I enjoyed it every time that I heard it.
At night, in the teaming rain we went to see one of the turtle beaches. A 150 kg turtle saunter up the beach, lay about 150 ping pong size eggs, bury them and make his way back to the ocean. I went to see one of the volcanoes but it was raining so much that I basically saw nothing.
I really didn’t give Limon or San Juan much of a chance. I just found them to be ordinary, hot and sticky cities. San Juan did have one of the best hostels that I have ever stayed in.
Houston
In the middle of my hitch off I had to go to Houston for a course. It was nice to have some 5 Star luxury in the middle of a back packing trip. What a great city Houston is. Very friendly people, lots to do and the best pub ever. The Flying Saucer. I really enjoyed going there (again and again). I went to see a ball game at Minute Made Park and it was great to Craig Biggio play.
Nicaragua
I think people still think of Nicaragua as a county run by a military junta. Images of Danielle Ortega in combat fatigues. He is a kinder, gentler lefty now and there is relatively low crime. The people are very friendly and it is incredibly cheap there.
I landed in Managua and spent of couple of nights there. It was ok but has all the marking of a 3rd world city. I was warned about the crime but did not have a problem. I met up with a rich America doctor and ended up staying at his place for 2 weeks in San Juan Del Sur. He asked me what I was doing in Nicaragua and I told him that I was going to purchase land and it turns out that he is a large land owner there. He showed me around and it was a very relaxing time.
I looked at many plots of land and condos and decided to purchase a place in San Juan Del Sur that I call Rancho Relaxo (stole that from the Simpsons). It will be a great place when completed. Smack dab on a really nice beach. It will be ready in May of 08.
I tried surfing and thought I was the bomb because I got up on the board the very first time. It was nothing but luck as I really sucked after that. It is a lot of work when you don’t know what you are doing. After the incident in Costa Rica I was a little nervous about diving again but I am usually pretty comfortable in the water so I went diving again but without any incidents.
I spent a lot of time hanging out, playing scrabble and looking at properties. When I go back down I will definitely check out more of the country.
|  | 
|
