A visit to the Orphanage

Hi friends and family...

Yes I have finally found a dry town in Central America where it seems that it hasnt been affected by the rain season....
I have found a little town on the Carribean coast called Puerto Viejo de Talamanca...

This morning was spent visiting the Jaguar Reserve Centre with all the little orphanes of the jungle. Any one who is going this way... this is a must... and its not in the lonely planet bible...

We spent the morning playing in a cage of about 10 howler monkey babies... which were orphaned by the non insulated electricity wires .....which killed their mothers..
They were so cute.. and cuddly... except when the peed on your head.

We played with baby sloths... poor unfortunate animals... they were not blessed with beauty....they were still sleeping with their teddy bears....
In the orphanage there were several snakes, wild cats, owls and the most beautiful frog I have ever seen in the world.... (yes Ben I finally found one to play with)....the red eye tree frog.....

I couldn't resist... I just had to share my baby photos with you all..

Love and hugs
katrina
Ps the head seemed to be missing his body.....I was not even going to ask how this guy got here.....

Costa Rica

Higuys

Well I am in Costa Rica....still in Central America...
This is a country in which I will never get bored of...its adventures include jungle hiking, a cast of exciting creatures, waterfalls and popular surf towns.
The waves are huge, the scenery is breath taking and the lifestyle is chilled out. The country attracts 1.5 million visitors per year.... I think half of them are Canadian students....

Ist stop is La Fontania.. to spot the tucans and watch the most active volcano in Costa Rica...at night... The picture I have attached of the volcano is not mine and I cant take credit for it... In fact the Arenal volcano was almost sleeping the night we were watching it... but the picture will give you an idea of what it looked like about 18 months ago when it was erupting at night. Hikers are not allowed to hike up it (so forget it Jan) as they have been killed from the explosions...

Then its off to the mountains in Central Costa Rica to Monteverde ...to the misty cloud forest reserves. When it was mentioned in National Geographic in 1983... the secret got out and now its a busy little town full of adventure tourists. This is where I..... with my new jungle buddys Cara and Morgan (yep more Canadian Students) spent the day hiking through the canopy and climbing suspension bridges (largest 57 met drop) and watching the zip liners wizzing past us. Shooting Steve Irvin footages was a blast....

Then the Flashpacker was back .....for a short revival stay at Tamiarindo.. the small town where Endless Summer 2 was filmed (for all you surf heads out there). A huge thank you to Nico and Miss Emily who opened their luxury condo and their hearts and hospitality to me during my relaxing stay in this small boutique village.

Montezumas was the next town..... not much to do in the rainy season...except dont jump the waterfalls as one poor USA back packer found it to be fatal.

Quepos was the next town where I kept bumping into more Canadians....what is with you guys..... dont you ever stay home....
We went hiking in the National Park, wading though flowing rivers and admiring beautiful waterfalls...We spent the day in 1625 ha of amazing wildlife park....spotting wild snakes, lizards, racoons, crabs, and white faced Capuchin monkeys... in which I fell in love with.

My day ended perfectly ....with my sunset buddy Ron (and USA history teacher )and I had drinks at El Avion ....watching the sunset over the Pacific. This bar was constructed from the body of a 1954 Farchild C123 aeroplane. It was purchased by the USA in 1980 and stay grounded due to the Iran Contra scandal.

Rainy season has set in ... what ever made me think of back packing Central America in the rainy season.....

from a very soaked Kat XXXXXXXXXXX

volcano surfing

Hi guys
It takes one comment by a passing traveller to plant the seed in my mind... "you should try volcano surfing.. its great.."

Extreme sports.. not my thing anymore after getting fished out of the Zambezi River in 1997..... whilst whitewater rafting in Africa.I cant surf or stand on a snow board.. out of the question....

But the damage is done...and the seed is planted... Anthony Robbins once said... "if you CANT then you MUST"....so yep it goes onto my 101 things to do when travelling list......maybe i will do it some day...

So I kept travelling... enter stage left.. one new travel buddy... Ben Kelly from England....and when we got to Leon in Nicaragua.. you know what was on the top of his list of things to do.............. VOLCANO SURFING....

Ben says... "you should do it".... and I feel sick at the thought of it..... but he books it anyway....

Now let me put you all in the picture of how this is going to work...
Take one live and active volcano called Cerro Negro which is 728m (2388ft) high... it has errupted 23 times.....usually every 7 years....
Its last erruption in 1999... when it burried a small town in 4 ft of volcano ash...
For all you maths geniuses out there... yes it is overdue by 4 years...

Somepeople have surfed it doing 80km per hour... someone has died climbing it and for those adrenaline junkies... Eric Barone tried to break a record riding his bike down ......it when he came off doing a mere 172KM or (107mph)and spent 3 months in hospital.
(check his crash out on u tube).

Anyway back to the picture..then take something that looks like a snow board(for standing) or a plank of wood with a rope (for sitting), a fireproof jumpsuit, a set of goggles, a set of elbow and knee pads and sit ontop of a active volcano and go as fast as you can down.... making it down to the bottom unscathed....
Now do you get the picture??????mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
Dam that list.......

Neverless I awoke at 6am in the morning.... felling sick and having visions of coming off and doing serious harm....
After putting on my favourite volcano surfing gym gear.... t shirt with FAITH printed on the front ......I spent the next 2 hours listening to every personal development track I had on my Ipod for facing fears....

I then pulled out every personal development tool I had available from Theta, Anthony Robbins, NLP, Demartini... including incantations and pattern interupts...
The bus soon picked us up and we were on our way..I sent the goddess to the spa for the day and Joan of Arch came out to play...there was just me and Robbie Williams present in the moment.

We soon arrived after 45 minutes to sign the register book....I am sure it was for body identification incase the volcano errupted when we were on it...so they could find us..... name.... nationality.... age.......it was at that point I was questioning as to whether I should lie about my age.....I am sure I still look 34?

We visited some reptile cages to fill in time (excellent pattern interupt by the universe) and the parkranger put a Boa Constrictor around my neck..... great..... if I wasnt going to die volcano surfing and I would be strangled by a snake before I even got there....

We put our back packs on with our survival gear..... grabbed our planks and started hiking up the volcano....Piece of cake you may say.....not exactly...

Backpack, plank of wood, no path, and about 100km winds (not quite... but almost).
The skill was not getting down the mountain alive on the board it was getting to the top of the mountain without being blown off....nothing quite like the sweet smell of sulpher to remind you that the volcano was still alive and kicking....

Then it was the moment I will never forget... standing in my overalls listing to Bitter Sweet Symphony on my Ipod and looking down the volcano.....what am I doing here....my heart was coming up to my throat....
Yep more incantations, pattern interupts and of course the infamous firwalking powermove...

And just as the universe likes pushing my buttons....bees everywhere....attracted to my pollen coloured jumpsuit. Now it was a moment of life and death....
For those who know me... I am highly allergic to bees... I couldnt get off that volcano fast enough.....

More incantations and I was off.. down the hill.. I managed to make it to the bottom unscathed and at the same time managed to stay seated on the plank of wood....
I think I had volcano ash in every exposed orifice... mouth.. ears and nose...

Thank you lines men... thank you ball boys and thank you to my boarding buddy.. Ben Kelly....
Tick number 56 off that list.....

kat

Corn Islands

Hi guys
Next... the Corn Islands...Nicaragua....
Little Corn Island... Population 700...a tiny unspoiled gem in the Carribean ideal for more diving....with deserted white sandy beaches....palm trees and national food .. local spiny lobsters caught straigth off the reef....and no cars... only foot traffic. To get there catch a small 18 seater plane to Big Corn and then a small but wet boat ride to the Island...

Typical day... diving..... hammocking and then cocktails at sunset....

I have a new travel buddy and we have hired a small fishermans hut on the beach...
it is just 2 metres from the water line... out backyard is the Carribean....

Diving was our highlight of the stay....with the night dive for 50 minutes in the middle of the ocean..
20 minutes was with torches off.... and boy its pretty dark out there with no light

Then we dived through the biolumessence.....now for anyone who hasnt experience this... its one of my top 5 highlights of my trip.... (if you have seen avatar then you will know what i mean)
Its the closest visual you will get to travelling through space....
the bio lum looked like stars in the universe with small structures looking like pearls of necklaces...it was unbelievable trippy... why do drugs when you can night dive..

The locals are great and I am limited in still practicing my spanish.. the event of the month was Triva night....which we were lucky enough to experience....
I am now better informed that the three countries in South America that the equator runs through are Equador,Colimbia and Brazil (thanks Ben). I am sure I can use this some where in my life...

Adios Amegos
Kat

The chicken bus

Hi guys

I was travelling to the Isla De Ometepe which is a huge lake in Nicaragua... and I was on a chicken bus.... and thought I would share my experience with you all.
Now for those who have travelled central america ... you will know that I mean....
and for those who havnt experienced a chicken bus... then something to look forward to for the bucket list.... to try at least once in your life.....

Take one USA defective unroadworthy yellow school bus...(the ones they have in the Simpsons) and sell it to a third world country like Nicaragua or Guatemala.. where lives arent worth as much in the western country....Paint it with bright colours so its no too obvious.....

Dont clean it for at least a year..... let alone service it for more....and pack it full of hot sweaty central americans.....on a humid day.....

If the passenger limit is 50.... then at least double it....with locals coming home from the markets with fruit and veges, tourists with backpacks and even cannisters of gasoline (but no chickens).

Now only 2 per seat is out the window...try 3 or four and some of them are actually leaning out the window because they cant fit in the cabin....
Closing the doors is not an option ... because at least 5 people are on the stairs half out the door... and hanging on for life....

Turn the temperature up to at least 35 degrees and make sure that no one has put on underarm deroderant that morning.... for women... it is required that you dont shave underarms (they will be inspected)...

With a dog fight to find the next available seat... yes I am finally seated....carefully watching that my back pack doesnt get stolen....
My seat is so low that my nose happens to be at crutch level of all the people standing........I am not even going there..... you dont want to know what happens if someone passes gas.....

Now the driver has just graduated from Kamikaze school of rollercoasters.....because you better hang on or you will be thrown off your seat.....
Next comes the conductor who has managed to crowd surf his way to collect the bus fare which is $1.

A mother gets on with a baby... she cant find a seat... so she passes her baby to a stranger....so babysitters are pleantyful here....

Your stop is coming up... so you manage to wade your way through the buses mosh pit to your back pack and alight.....you just want to pray and kiss the ground because the bus didnt roll off the cliff on the way to your destination... but cant because its it pouring rain.......you just found out that you are now backpacking in rainy season.

So next time you are pissed off with the transport system in your country... think of me...

kat
the ultimate journey