Central America - Best served with cerveza and a Slice of Lime

After an over night stay in Antigua we book a 22 hour journey starting with a shuttle from Antigua to Guatemala city and then a Tica bus which will take us via El Salvador and Honduras to Managua, Nicaragua and then transfer to another shuttle to our final destination being San Juan Del Sur. The Cost of all the transport was $390 u.s (split by three people) yet a majority of the cost was a private taxi from Managua to San Juan Del Sur, as we arrived at 2am with nowhere to stay. After a long commute we finally make it to the Naked Tiger Hostel in the early hours of 4am. As soon as we arrive at the Naked Tiger Hostel, we grab a key and head straight to bed for a nights rest ($7p.n) so we can start fresh tomorrow.

As we wake in the morning, I make my way outside to the pool, which overlooks a stunning view of San Juan Del Sur. The Naked tiger Hostel is situated on a hilltop approximately 5 km from the town square and has everything you need to get you through your day, from a nice clean pool to reasonable food, Surfboard rental, great staff and a free shuttle to and from town every hour. We stayed at the Naked tiger hostel for 3 nights and then moved onto another location in town for another 5 nights (just for a bit of space). Also while staying at the Naked Tiger make sure you see the hotel next door which is amazing, and has a small house monkey named Buzz jumping around, defiantly something to check out.

The Only problem with San Juan del Sur, is that the town is not actually based on a surf beach, the surf is 10km either way via bitumen and dirt road (Maderas or Hermosa), which isn’t something to die in the ditch about, yet it just takes a lot longer to get ready and sometimes you miss the best parts of the day waiting for a shuttle as taxis are quite expensive.

So while in san Juan I recommend checking out the following places:

Pelican Eyes - Lounge around in their infinity pool and enjoy some amazing food or cocktails (little pricey, yet defiantly worth it)

Playa Hermosa & Playa Maderas - Check out the surf beaches of San Juan Del Sur

Alamos Car Rental - Hire a car for the day and check out San Juan Del Sur ($70 per day)

Rodeo - Bull Rodeo every sunday which is 2 km from town ($4 entry)

Jesus - Take the walk unto Jesus for an amazing view of the bay ($2 entry at the gate)

Release turtles - release some baby turtles in the wild at Playa Hermosa

Burger Place - the most amazing burgers I've ever had

Well thats it from me.... Until next time

View of San Pedro

After an amazing time in Antigua we arrange for a shuttle to take us to our next destinationthrough the mountains of Guatemala to Lago de Atitlan (Lake Atitlan). During the trip we pass through many towns until we reach the hills surrounding the lake, which is approximately 500m above San Pedro and slowly make our way down the windy roads. When descending you notice that the lake is shaped by many hills, cliff faces and three volcanos, as well as many villages, in which Maya culture is still prevalent and traditional dress is worn.

Amy and I had come to Lago de Atitlan for many reasons including Spanish lessons, horse riding through the mountains, kayaking on Lago de Atitlan, volunteering, motor biking around the lake and the opportunity to see the Chi Chi markets.

Zoola Hostel Pool

Lounge area Zoola Hostel

So we arrive around sunset and make our way to our accommodation Hostel Zoola, which sits right on the lake. For $5 each per night, Zoola gave us a place to rest our head in close proximity to town. There were a few problems, which I would eventually find out. Every second night a DJ would play trance music of the same beat from 8pm until 2am, which was extremely loud; and when your room is close to the bar it becomes a real problem. DEFINATLY a downfall! All in all, the food was good, it wasn’t the cleanest hostel, but I guess sometimes you get what you pay for and besides, they did have a million dollar view of the lake! (And great happy hour deals!)

Two of three volcanos on the lake

The first morning we awake, Amy and I make our way around town to enquire about Española Esquela (Spanish school) and had one recommendation being Casa Rosario (http://www.casarosario.com/) from a friend. So we speak with a funny Guatemalan man Vincente who is the husband of Rosario (the owner) and organise some one on one spanish lessons for 5 days. The classes were very intensive, yet Amy and I benefited so much from learning at Casa Rosario and would defiantly recommend the school to anyone who is considering developing their Spanish.

View from the hostel

As Spanish lessons were in the morning, this gave Amy and I free time in the afternoon to enjoy many things around town. I very soon learn that storms quickly sweep through San Pedro in the afternoons during wet season so its best to do outdoor activities in the morning. But the sooner we accepted that it was going to rain most days after Spanish school, the sooner we got on and did something else, rain or shine.

The first day in town we rented a kayak and went for a paddle up the lake, which developed into a rather wet adventure as a storm quickly swept through San Pedro, which was kind of expected.

Local fisherman

The following day we did a four hour tour on horseback through the mountains which was great, very cheap (approximately $5); yet the poor horses looked like they hadn’t been fed in a year. Nonetheless we still got on their poor broken backs and had a good time. (We just allowed them to stop wherever possible and eat grass as we felt so bad!) Ohhh yes, and it rained again. A warning on Guatemalan Horses: before we left for the ride Amy managed to ask the tour leader (In a sentence she had practiced all day for the occasion) for “2 crazy horses for Adam and Josh and some peaceful horses for the girls”. That backfired when Josh’s horse reared up mid ride and kicked Amy square in the shin. Thank god the horse wasn’t at full brute strength or we could have had a real problem! We later heard stories of people being bucked off etc.. if only we had been warned before the ride! Nothing a beer and an ice pack couldn’t fix anyway…

Our horse ride through the mountains

Following the horsehide I arranged an hour and a half hot stone and reflexology massage just on my back and feet which did me wonders, especially after two snowboarding seasons and a separated shoulder, the massage therapist did a great job.

The lads from paint my future

Another afternoon a friend of mine and I hired motorbikes for two hours and went around the lake to some other sites around san pedro and took some great photographs while Amy did a two hour oil painting class with a local artist.

Amy in front of the log fire in
our private dining area

Then on the last spare day Amy and I did some volunteering with a painting school for underprivileged children at Paint my Future (www.paintmyfuture.com). This class was for three hours and we helped some of the kids do some painting (even though they paint better then me). I would recommend this as a place to try out for one day, as it was totally different to what I expected. And as a bonus, we had the opportunity to purchase some local artwork for $100.

Cut throat shave... Amazing

Leaving San Pedro with strong Spanish bargaining skills we headed to the largest markets in Guatemala in Chi Chi to meet some friends. We had a great time here, I had a cut throat shave in a local barber and we had an amazing dinner and wine in a little hotel in a private room with a log fire. Bought a few little trinkets and wandered around for hours.

View of Lake Atitlan

Due to internet problems however we never found our friends and a word to the wise; this town is alive with travellers on a Sunday but come 5pm they have all left and what we would have found out if we had researched properly is that there are no shuttles running the next day. Come morning the town was empty with us being the only gringos in sight… needless to say it was an expensive private car trip back out to Antigua- although more comfortable than 18 people crammed into a shuttle!

Until Next Time!!!! Adios