A Snapshot of Central America; Surviving Without AC

From the cold touristy South, to the hot unpredictable Central America, we made it to Costa Rica after 2 days of flying.

We left Quito enthusiastic and eager to reach our next stop: Costa Rica! With 2 stop overs in Bogota, Columbia and Panama City, we were ready for the 26 hour marathon of pure hell.

#travelhobo

On arriving in Panama City we pulled on our matching llama socks and set up camp for our night sleeping on the airport floor; free accomodation and unlimited AC. We wondered why we hadn’t done it before.

That was until the cleaning lady came round with her monstrosity of a hoover at 4 am. For the amount of time she took,  we could have eaten our breakfast off the floor.

The next morning we headed to the departure boards, bleary eyed, still half asleep and in desperate need of clean clothes. Our next flight wasn’t listed anywhere…

It was cancelled.

After raised voices and angered gesturing, we had bagged a new flight, food vouchers and more quality time spent in Panama City airport.

COSTA RICA

Arriving in San Jose was a relief – we had completed the first stage of our trip and we were about to embark on an adventure,  visiting some of the top murder capitals in the world.

Overly conscious about the security reputation of Central America, we had hid our values everywhere – bra, security belt,  pockets.

The green landscape was stained with little houses protected with bars and alarm systems. Even our hostel in Alajuela, a little town outside the airport, was bolted with steel gates.

The next morning, as we got a bus to La Fortuna, we could see straight away a huge difference between South and Central America. The buses were much older, more expensive and AC was a luxury long gone.

The town of La Fortuna surrounds the volcano Arenal, which used to be active until 2012, and is now a mecca for jungle and animal lovers.

We used our time here to relax by the pool with the local Iguanas and tucans, which just kept casually stopping by to chill next to us.

We went horse riding in the jungle, swam in amazing hot springs of a resort and hiked to a waterfall with a tarzan swing 😉 #bucketlist

We learned a lot about the past and present history of Costa Rica, thanks to the amazing tour guide that worked in our lodge! (Contact us for more info 😉

Costa Rica had surprisingly bad city connections on public buses.  Taking in consideration how touristy the country is, it took us by surprise that to go from LA fortuna to Tamarindo, we would need 4 buses and 2 days of travelling for a distance of roughly 300 km! But we made it, and arriving to the Pacific coast of Costa Rica was for sure one of the highlight moments of our trip!

Tamarindo or “Tamagringo” was a little paradise,  with dusty roads and fruit juice stands everywhere. We took our 3 days there to try our hand at surfing, trying desperately not to accept defeat when we spent more time falling off than perfecting the ultimate ‘surfer girl’ look.  Not  long enough, but we had a pretty good snapshot of the country and we were ready for our next stop!

Practicing balancing on the board!

NICARAGUA

After taking a couple of international buses across the borders, we wanted to experience a border crossing purely using chicken buses…

We reached the border after 4 hours of buses and a car lift from a stranger (sorry mum!). Once over the border, we jumped on yet another chicken bus to Antigua, where we were immediately struck by how friendly the locals were.  They were enthusiastic to interact with us, helping us out with our luggage and directions. When it was time for us to exit the bus, now full to the rafters with passengers and women selling plastic bags of fizzy drinks, the locals helped pass our backpacks out the window of the bus on to the highway!

We bagged a tuk tuk from the highway and headed to Granada, where we immediately fell in love with this colonial town!  It was for sure one of the most gorgeous cities we had seen so far!

We visited cathedrals, ate in the local markets and swam in a crater, at the famous Lake Apoyo.

Heading to Masaya, we had the opportunity of spending a few days with a local volunteering project, around environmental protection and preservation, sponsored by Progressio. Staying with a local family, we experienced what feels like to live with no running water, bucket showers, no AC and no fan. Again, we were amazingly surprised by how friendly everyone was, and how happy they were to see foreigners taking part in local projects. A excellent intro to the Nicaraguan socio-economic reality.

HONDURAS & EL SALVADOR

We smoothly avoided the bad boys of Central America by taking a direct bus from Managua (Nicaragua) to San Salvador.  On an “executive class” bus that had no AC, we enjoyed 12 hours of travelling under 35 degrees, looking out the landscape of Honduras. As expected, the country was very sparse, where for miles you’d see only a few houses and fields upon fields covered in waste.

As we reached the border into El Salvador, we were all marched off the bus (bearing in mind it had now reached nearly midnight). We were lined up in a brightly lit warehouse as a sniffer dog, that looked more like it was searching for someone’s sandwich than drugs, made its way through us. The officers in charge said nothing and just paced up and down menacingly. Occasionally one of the passengers got taken away to a private room for further questioning.

Freya had cocaine sweets in her bag (for altitude sickness!!) and unsure of the laws in the country, there was a moment when we thought they’d cart us off for smuggling candy!

We finally arrived in to San Salvador at 2 am, showered, crashed in the hostel and bagged a quick nap, before waking up at 4.30am that same day to head back to the bus station to catch our bus to Guatemala City!

It was a hell of a journey,  probably the worse bus journey we had to do and one of the most expensive ones!
#whatdoesn’tkillyoumakesyoustronger

GUATEMALA

We started off our trip in Antigua, the ‘sister’ of the colonial Granada, not wanting to spend any time in Guatemala City (another murder capital of the world!). The city was a maze of cobblestone streets, quaint colourful churches and lively markets, all at the base of a volcano.

After Antigua, we headed to a small, hippy village on the serene Lake Atitlan, equipped with the ultimate way to relax; hammocks. The other villages around the lake were filled with mediation, energy healing and sun and moon courses, specially designed for the ‘granola backpackers’.

N.B. ‘Granolas’ (a word we acquired this trip) are individuals with questionable hygiene habits, a distaste for shaving, hippy-ish tendencies and are constantly on a quest to find themselves and become closer with Mother Nature.

Our last stop in Guatemala were the famous Tikal ruins, a Mayan complex of temples, ritual sites and diverse wildlife. Listening to our guide, we couldn’t decide which indigenous group was worse; the Incas or the Mayans! The Incas, throughout South America, had sacrificed children to the mountain gods. The Mayans made offerings of human hearts to their Gods!

That night in the hostel we were also introduced to terrifying howler monkeys. From our cabin in the hills, we were surrounded by the sounds of hideous and spine-chilling shrieking, unlike anything we had heard before. Sleep didn’t come easily.

BELIZE

“Coconut bread! Cinnamon buns! Freshly baked… they’re HOT!” These were the words, said in a deep warm Jamaican accent, that would sound throughout the whole beach every afternoon without fail. From our hammocks we’d watch travellers sprinting out of their hostels towards ‘Cinnamon Bun Man’ as they heard him bumping along the beach with the trolley of freshly baked goods.

Intending to stay in Caye Caulker just three days, we extended it to five – our longest stay in one place yet! The pace of life was lethargic and peaceful and the island was a backpacker’s mecca, scattered with colourful beach hut styled hostels, palm trees and the friendly dark skinned faces of the locals.

There were even trips out to see the turtles on the protected reefs!

MEXICO

Our last stop in Central America! We headed to Isla Mujeres, an island off the mainland of Cancun, in search of tacos, guacamole and a hammock on the beach (Belize had ruined us!).

The ocean was a patchwork of vivid blues, with waves breaking far out to sea on the coral reefs.

We knew from the moment we saw those waters that Mexico would leave us with a serious #travelsnob complex about beautiful tropical islands.

N.B. #travelsnob – a travelled individual who isn’t able to appreciate places as much if they have already experienced something better.

After Mexico,  there was only one country left on our travels…

CUBA!

Cat and Freya’s Top Travel Tip
#5 If travelling on long buses in Central America with no AC, don’t wear elephant pants. Your legs will get stuck to the seat and when you go to stand up, it’s not a given that your trousers will go with you.

3… 2… 1… LOOK!

We had woken up at 4.30am, ready to see the sunrise over Machu Picchu through our bleary eyes.

We left the hostel, excited beyond words, only to realise that it was pissing it down with rain.

We made the spontaneous decision to buy ponchos; caving to the ‘ultimate tourist look’. It was a rip off, but it would save the make up we’d plastered on for the Facebook picture.

We jumped on the bus full of bedraggled travellers  and trundled up the mountain path to the site of a Wonder of the World.

We had been told to visit the Guardhouse for the best view, and as we reached the ledge looking out over the entirety of the Inca complex, we kept our eyes glued to the floor.

We shuffled closer to the edge.

Three…
Two…
One…

LOOK UP!

It was so surreal staring at a site so iconic, so well known and documented and on so many bucket lists. For a moment, all we could do was look in awe.

We didn’t care anymore about the rain, the cold, or the fog, it all amounted to the view in front of us. The mist coming through the ruins left us to wonder what lay behind the rest of the blanketed mountain. The clouds lingered around the tops of the surrounding mountain peaks, making it look as though they were smoking; ablaze.

The entire scene was eerie and magical.

Machu Picchu is definitely a place to be visited during your lifetime. And we got there just in time.

Sadly, there will come a point where the site is closed to tourists, with the weight of visitors walking the ruins causing the site to begin to sink.

So while this Wonder remains open, go and take in the mystical mountains and the impecable Inca architecture, and cave to the ultimate tourist look.

Cat and Freya’s Top Travel Tip:
#4 Fashion is overrated when you’re traveling. Deal with it.

Cat and Freya’s Top 5 (Worst) Bus Journeys

Instead of spending the day at the markets,  jump on a bus and the markets come to you. We’ve been offered everything from one dollar fried plantain chips to watches to fresh watermelon.

The buses are definitely an experience to tick off the bucket list.

Here are our top five worst bus journeys we took throughout South America!

5. Mancora to Cuenca (Ecuadorian border crossing)

This border crossing was renowned for being one of the most dangerous in South America for travellers. Knowing this, we bought an overnight bus ticket with Azuay and rolled into the border crossing near 3am, hugging our backpacks and with passports safely secured under numerous layers.

We didn’t relax until we finally reached Cuenca.

On reflection, this was one of the nicest border crossings so far. The Peruvian  Exit and the Ecuadorian Entrance were even under the same roof! We just wouldn’t admit it until we’d reached the safety of the hostel.

It just goes to show, you should never be too quick to judge!

4. Arequipa to Cusco, Peru

So, when you travel in South America you quickly familiarise yourself with the bus company  Cruz der Sur. It’s not perfect, but compared to UK buses, it’s absolute luxury and for a very reasonable price. We used this company for our overnight bus journey to Cusco, with what we expected to be a great journey with a meal included and movies all night…  Or so we hoped for!

The journey turned out to be muscle breaking. After 10 hours, Freya couldn’t move and Cat could barely open her eyes from lack of sleep.

Overnight buses suck.  You wake up aching all over,  delirious from exhaustion and entirely willing to spend a ridiculous amount on comfort food when you get in.

Which we… ehm… definitely didn’t do.

After this journey,  we treated ourselves to a flight from Cusco to Lima…

3. Cuenca to Ambato, Ecuador

Jumping on the bus, we were thrilled to realise they’d given us seats right at the front of the bus.

That thought didn’t last too long.

The bus stopped every few minutes, picking up roadside stragglers, a guy with his TV, a women cradling a crate of eggs the size of her and entire families, with babies and toddlers hanging from every spare shoulder that didn’t have a bag slung over it.

As these various people piled on the already heaving bus, they had to go directly past us.

After the first hour, Freya had bruises on her side from babies swinging into her like monkeys, or maybe from the sack of potatoes someone carried on and knocked into her with. Or the tarpaulin sheet full of plantains that had been dragged past us…

The twisty, winding roads didn’t help and having a local fall into our laps certainly wasn’t part of the deal either.

We finally arrived in Ambato, where we were quite literally dropped on the side of a highway. With help from locals, we figured out that we needed to look for a yellow bus.

A yellow bus that happened to just be pulling away from the main road… on the OTHER side of the highway.

It was time to put our fitness to the test and RUN!

2. Ambato to Baños,  Ecuador

“BANOS! BANOS!” We started yelling. We’d seen locals do it all the time to hail a bus so it was now or never. The conductor poked his head out the window.

“BANOS?”

“SI!”

The conductor jumped out of the bus whilst it was still moving and grabbed our bags off us, piling them into the bottom of the bus. Still running,  we threw ourselves onto the bus as it continued to pull away and collapsed on the stairs, both in absolute hysterics.

We couldn’t decide if it was nervous laughter, or just shock at the entirely ridiculous situation.

Either way, we were en route to Baños!

While Cat sat with the locals, Freya was “lucky” enough to get shotgun. There was a hidden ‘VIP seat’ next to the driver with full view of the road ahead and of the driver, permanently attached to his phone except when he needed to change caller.

In front of the bus was a yellow taxi with a driver that most probably drunk, given how little control he had to go in a straight line and how he nearly kept coliding into the sides of the twisty road.

It sounded like the pair of us after a few mojitos.

As the bus picked up speed and went to overtake the taxi, the taxi swerved again, very nearly making contact with the side of the bus… and the open door just inches away from Freya.

We forgot to mention… They don’t shut the doors on the buses. Then people can’t throw themselves on!

All the while, the driver was still attached to his phone. There is a reason why they don’t normally let you sit next to the driver. You finally see how bad their driving really is, and it makes you very reluctant to spend money on a bus again in the future.

We recorded a sample 😉

But the worst bus journey was…

1. Puno to Arequipa, Peru

There was a moment during the trip where the both of us debated whether or not to text friends and family.

After crossing the Bolivian border to Peru, we thought the worst was over; just a few more hours and we would arrive in Arequipa. We reached Puno,  a Peruvian city near the border where we had to swap buses. We were then herded from our comfortable tourist bus into a local ‘chicken bus’ stinking of fish, full of screaming children and with seats located directly next to the toilet. We stopped drinking water as soon as we caught a whiff.

As the bus strained up the twisty hills, the suspension groaning, we were regretting the big lunch we’d had before boarding. Did we need to get out and push?

It was getting dark outside.

We were leaving the towns and heading into the barren countryside of Peru, where there was nothing for miles except our rickety, aged bus that stank of fish and sewage that was getting worse inside the stuffy vehicle.

Then the lights of the bus flickered off, leaving us in pitch black darkness.

A wave of lightening crashed down, illuminating the desolate area around us. The baby in the back kept on screaming.

It felt like it was going to hit the bus.

The lightening became more frequent, followed by the ominous booming of thunder that shook our little chicken bus. The atmosphere on the bus was thick with suspense, not helped by the road bumps the driver failed to see with dimmed headlines as the bus almost became airborne.

The lightening didn’t stop till we arrived.

It took us a few days to recover before we could finally joke about the experience.

“What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger…”

Cat and Freya’s Top Travel Tip:
#3 Before every journey, expect the unexpected, fill your stomach and for Gods sake please empty your bladder.

The Ultimate Death Road

As with any unforgettable drunken night,  the next morning didn’t start off too well. Hungover and sleep deprived, we somehow forced ourselves on to a bus at 8am.

Prior to our night on the bar, we had signed up for a tour to an incredible mountain peak (Chacaltaya – without knowing a thing about it ), followed by what we long had waited to visit: the Moon Valley. When Neil Armstrong visited, he said the valley looked like ‘the surface of the moon.’

We got onto our bus, with a familiar Argentinian face from the previous day and began the ascent up to Chacaltaya .

At this stage Freya was trying to pass out to avoid feeling the motion of the bus and hoping to God she didn’t ‘chunder everywhere’. Cat was enjoying the views… until we hit the mountain roads.

You couldn’t call them roads.

As you looked out of the window, you couldn’t even see that ‘road’ our bus was supposed to be on. For all there was, was a sheer drop; terrifying, nauseating and the last thing we needed to ease our queasy stomachs.

The path was exactly like the famous Death Road, only this time instead of being on an off road mountain bike, we were in an unstable, rickety coach, keeled over from a hangover, listening to the sound of the tyres screaming against the snow as it crawled up the mountain.

We tried to take comfort in thinking that these people drive the same route everyday, so of course they knew what they’re doing.

Unbelievably, we somehow arrived to the top of Chacaltaya, a mountain once hugely important to physics for studying astrology and now one of the highest ski field in the whole world.

It was breathtaking.

We took in the view in absolute awe… until we stepped outside of the bus.

The altitude hit us like whiplash. 

We couldn’t breathe, we couldn’t keep our balance,  we could barely walk and we were freaking freezing because it was freaking snowing!

As one would expect at an altitude of 5700m! 

We knew it was lame, but there was no way we would be able to climb to the summit of Chacaltaya. Yes our pride was hurt as we saw the Canadian kids of our group bounding up the snowy tracks when we could barely walk, but we soon accepted our fate as we crashed on the warm sofas of the mountain restaurant.

It was time to try the famous coca tea. If this stuff helps with altitude,  we’re gonna down the whole pot.

And then we passed out for two hours.

Money well spent.

*

You can take some comfort in knowing that we didn’t have any other scary encounters for the following days, until…

Cat and Freya’s top travel tip:
#2 Before a hike, hydrate well, get a good night’s sleep and NEVER EVER GO BOOZING.

Cocaine, Culture and a “Cup of Tea”

Guidebooks, blogs and forums all warned us about the altitude of La Paz, standing at an outrageous 3640m. Freya being a skier and used to high altitudes, and Cat generally being a tough cookie, it didn’t even cross our minds.

It wasn’t until we were caught out of breath trying to climb the five flights of stairs to our hostel dorm room that we realised something wasn’t quite right. Yes, our fitness levels had plummeted after being on the road for so long and being lured into trying all the local delicacies. Yes, comfort eating had become a survival method to getting through long haul journeys.

But pausing for a rest on the second floor, we were going to need more than chocolate to get us through.

To the locals, their less than conventional cure was known as ‘mate de coca’. To us, it was tea with leaves from a cocaine plant, and apparently completely legal here!

We didn’t truly need a cup until the third day.

The first day in La Paz, we wandered around the amazingly cheap markets, treating ourselves to matching llama sweaters that appear to be the signature mark of a backpacker in South America.

On our second day, we visited the ruins of Tiwanaku, belonging to the first people that inhabited South America. This was 100 years before the first signs of the Incas, the biggest indigenous empire in South America. No one knows what happened to the Tiwanaku people.

We couldn’t just hit the shops and skip the culture.

That night we returned to the hostel. It started with Cat’s suggestion to venture up to the bar for ‘a cup of tea’. We had a tough hike planned for the next day. After meeting the manager of the bar, a fellow Portuguese (obviously kindred spirits with Cat), he began ordering shots and no budgeting backpacker says no to free shots. It didn’t take long for Cat to take over the DJ’s position and general management of the bar. Cat began serving drinks while the so called bar manager scrambled to take payment off everyone. Somehow, Freya always succeeded in avoiding that payment.

Two hours later, finding ourselves dancing on top of the bar with our newly made friends, we realised that we needed to start learning how to turn down freebies.

That thought was never more true when we woke up the next morning…

Cat and Freya’s top travel tip:
#1 Never drink alone. You need your friends there to document everything.

See you in Bolivia…

“See you in BOLIVIA…” It seemed ridiculous saying this to each other outside Starbucks, in Charring Cross. We’d been planning our trip to Latin America for years, and the thought it would become a reality hadn’t sunk in at all.

But screaming as we saw each other in a hostel reception in La Paz, Bolivia, it definitely wasn’t the whopping altitude of 3660m getting to us.

It was time to get our whirlwind of an adventure started.

Travelling from South, through Central to North America, hitting 12 countries, in just two and a half months. It all started in La  Paz on the 29th of March 2015…