Let the challenge begin

Welcome, Welcome!! I should probably change that to say challenges. My brain is exploding with things/emotions/people that I need to address before I leave, which is exactly a week from tomorrow-yikes!! There are still flights to be booked, activities to plan, malaria pills to be taken, clothes to be bought, people to say bye to...all while still suffering from the wrath of my oral surgeon, who apparently had no mercy while pulling out my poor little wisdom teeth.

But the reason I decided to create what is probably my 5th or 6th attempt at having a blog was not to complain but rather do two things

1) Keep ya'll updated with pictures and cool stories.

2) Try to convince people to join up with Rachel, Dana and I as we trek through the following countries: Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Honduras, Costa Rica, Panama and Peru

The three of us were fortunate to have that experience that pretty much every kid has when they see a globe for the first time. You know, the one where you lay a map out, close your eyes and randomly point at a geographic region and then daydream about all the cool/weird/crazy stuff that you could do if went there. So yah, maybe it was a bit more strategic, but it was basically the same idea with each country that we were going to be in...and then we connected the all dots into one marvelous 4-month journey. So here it is...for anyone who wants to get away...to the coolest places ever...with the coolest people ever.

Aug 15 - arrive in Flores, Guatemala. We'll be learning/teaching at ecoescuela-espanol.org for three weeks, living with Mayan families, heading towards fluent in Spanish!

Sept 5/6 - heading to Belize via San Ygnacio, where ecoadventurish stuff is way rad, and jaguars are chilling on your porch. Then off to Caye Caulker, a beautiful island out in the Carib. Belize peeps speak English (former british colony) and Garifuna, and are this crazy Rasta mestizo mixing, reggae blasting, dread swinging, hippie people. Also in Belize we'll be visiting Dangriga, where hammocks outnumber humans, possibly Placencia, some jaguar sanctuaries, etc.

Sept 17/18-heading back to Guatemala City and Antigua, a beautiful colonial spanish language school type city, and also to Lake Atitlan, with volcanos and mayan villages and kayaks and fun stuff.

Sept 24 - Heading to El Salvador, hitting some sweet beaches, then Lago de Ipango, a rad crater lake, climing El Poy, and then crossing the border to Honduras byyyyy

Oct 1- checking out the ruinas at Copan, and then bussing it to San Pedro and La Ceiba, and the Bay Islands, the cheapest diving certification on the planet, snorkeling among whale sharks, and all night dancing. Robinson Crusoe shipwrecked here in 1659. Tiiiight!!!

Oct 8 - Bussing it to Managua, Nicaragua, hitting up Granada, Isla de Omtepe, with two volcanoes and the world’s only freshwater sharks (sharks are rad!) and then maybe working to stay overnight at a coffee finca. We’ll check out some rad petroglyphs, and then head into Costa Rica!

Oct 15/16 – viva costa rica! Playa del Coco, Hermosa, and Tamarindo await us! (surfers surfers surfers, surfers all the time!) and then watching turtles lay eggs on the black sand beaches of Ostinal, before relaxing along the Nicoya coastal towns of Santa Teresa, Mal Pais, and the hippie town of Montezuma. Cool beaches, snorkeling, waterfall hikes, mellow vibe, getting lost in bonfires and drum circles, etc. Then its ferry/bus time up to Santa Elena and the cloud forest reserves of Monteverde. Definitely doing some ziplining, maybe some cave exploring, and general wondering of nature.

Oct 29/30 -heading into San Jose, probably doing some laundry and checking of email and civilizing of ourselves at this point, and it might be a great time for someone to fly in and join us! (hint hint) before we head up to the live active volcano of Arenal. we’ll stay at a hotel with hot springs and swim-up bars with views of lava spewing up from the very core of the earth! (and I will try to resist the urge to say “liquid hot magma!” every five minutes)

Nov 2/3- heading back into San Jose and then bussing it back to the Caribbean coast to check out Tortuguero island, snorkeling, coral reefs and reggae vibes of Puerto Limon and Cahuita. Party it up in Talamanca before heading across to Panama.Nov 10/11 Cross the Panama border and head straight to Bocas del Toro, staying at La Loma Jungle Lodge, and partying with the many tourists and funloving panamanians we’re hoping we’ll hook up with for hiking journeys, surfing, kayaking, and snorkeling at Cayo Zapatillos. Definitely spending some quality time here!We’ll grab out Panama hats and climb the volcano in the town of David, keeping an eye out for those elusive quetzals in the cloud forests. Then down into the Azuero Peninsula, the traditional heartland of Panama, with all the bullfighting, drinking, traditional tipico musica, religious processions, and drinking we can handle. Survey the outlying towns for an idea of rural Panama life, use a horse as our mode of transport, and snorkel among the turtles (turtles are a huge theme on this trip. im thinking about buying one.)

Head towards Panama City around Nov 19/20, check out the indigenous islands of San Blas, and then get some more beach time before checking out the canal in all its lock-y wonder. We’ll be around to celebrate Panama’s independence from Spain on November 28….I’m expecting good things from that day.

Dec 3 – fly to Lima, Peru! Ironically, our flight goes from Panama City to Miami Florida to Lima. I think we’ll eat McDonalds or something and drink a BudLight and call people. Have your phones ready on December 3.

Alright PERU! We’ve got two weeks here. Lets make it count!Our plan as of now is to spend a day or two in Lima and the artist colony funtown of Miraflores, maybe catching a bus to go see the Nasca lines, and Isla Ballestros I think its called, where there is a colony of penguins living next to flamingos and sea lions and you can see ocean petroglyphs or something crazy. Then we’re going to fly to Cuzco, acclimate there for a few days, its also a pretty fun town with outlying ruins and relaxing resort stuff if you want, and then climb the incan trail and checking out Macchu! we’re looking into booking a four day hike. Then we’ll come back down to Cuzco, head to Lake Titicaca and hang out among the locals there on the floating islands, do some more exploring.

Dec 17- Sad and tearful goodbyes to Dana and Rachel as I seperate from them and go visit fam in Colombia

Dec 23- HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!...but more importantly WELCOME HOME!! =)


As Rachel -who was nice enough to type the itinerary up- says, we're still working out all the kinks (like how to avoid chicken buses that might fall off cliffs, the federalis, memorizing the national beers of each country, etc.) but its going to be amazing, so if you are still reading this far, come join us!!