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SOUTH AMERICA – Hannah’s blog

Central America – a spicy tale from Mexico to Panama.

Mexico

After six months from the time of booking, we finally arrived in Mexico City on the 25^th of October 2011. Our prior judgment of Mexico City was that it would be teeming with people, congestion and tainted with pollution, however we were both pleasantly surprised. Once dumping our bags at our hostel we wandered around the city, instead of every new sidewalk overflowing with rubbish as we expected, they were instead overflowing with police and security guards, guarding everything from banks to bakeries! (This was soon to be an on-going theme throughout Central America’s capital cities). Every alley we passed overflowed with street markets selling everything you can think of, from plasma televisions to fluffy robotic rabbits to chilly/salt covered fruits. The food stalls were what attracted, and kept us living off street food for the entire stretch of Central America, the fruits were colourful and the tacos were hot! Often the street food has been more flavoursome (and much cheaper) than any restaurant we have been in, therefore every time we arrived at a new city from here on, we dedicated the first day to a “food day” eating every interesting edible thing we could find, which consequently has been some of our favourite days. We carried on in true tourist style around Mexico City visiting Cathedrals, Museum’s, Parks and riding on the subway which was 6p a ticket! However we soon got itchy feet and wanted to move on, as it didn’t feel like we were quite travelling yet (probably more down to the fact that all our clothes were new and clean and we had accidently booked the matrimonial sweet in our hostel!)

The Mexican people are exactly what you’d expect them to be like, the women are beautiful with long jet black hair in no particular style and have a dark caramel complexion, the men are rotund and have adopted the fashion of rolling up their T-shirts to show off who can get the biggest belly. Everyone permanently has either a taco/fried food in hand or is drinking out of a plastic bag filled with natural fruit juice or coke. The clothes here resemble what you would wear if you were fourteen, jeans with diamantes down the side and tight t-shirts with American slogans and crude phrases on them – needless to say there was no blending in here.

We took our first overnight bus ride to the city of Oaxaca (pronounced Wa-hacka). Oaxaca is vibrant, colonial and laid back so it was already a good change of pace from Mexico City. We were in Oaxaca during “ Day of the Dead” similar to Halloween, except it has a religious background that hasn’t been overrun by sweets and chocolate….yet! It is a festival where locals celebrate friends and family members who have passed away. People congregate by the graves of the deceased, bringing with them food and wine, singing and sharing memories…..with the occasion child dressed as a pumpkin jumping up and down on a tomb!

Just outside of Oaxaca, 3200 metres above sea level are a few remote villages based in the mountains. Instead of taking an organised tour around these, we decided that we could do it alone (….well Ross decided!). We left our rucksacks at our hostel and took a jerky second class bus ride up the mountain, two hours later arriving at the first community. The road ended here so we started our first 5km hike to the next village, the sun was hot and we both felt the affect of the altitude, but the view over the mountains was incredible and kept us lifting our feet. Once we arrived, we really felt like we were in the middle of nowhere, the village seemed deserted and had an undisturbed feel about it. Even the locals had seemed to desert the place, it really looked like a tumble-weed would roll on by at any given moment. However with a stroke of luck we found somewhere to stay, which we were pretty sure was a room of an abandoned school. Feeling like we needed to find some sort of existence we set off to the next village, this time an 8km walk. The trail was mountainous and I soon regretted not trying on my hiking boots beforehand. Within an hour of avoiding the phrase “I told you so” from Ross, I gave in and reluctantly let Ross cut off the end of my new boots with a pen knife (I think I regretted more wearing luminous green festival socks that day). The next village was pretty much the same, with small shacks bordered with small plots of crops and vegetables, but again no people! Realising that the walk had taken a lot longer than expected we soon had to turn back to arrive at the first village in total darkness. That night we spent in the abandoned mountain village was eerie, like the setting of a scary movie, dogs barked throughout the night, and the open windows crashed against the walls of the school all night long- needless to say Ross slept like a baby and I was imagining scenes from the Blare Witch Project!

Next stop was an eight hour bus ride to the coast. Puerto Escondido is a lazy beach town, occupied by sun worshippers and surfers, all seeming to have entered the competition of who can get the longest dreadlocks! This was a place to relax and watch the world go by, which Ross and I managed to do one day before we got restless and wanted to move on. We took a short ‘Collectivo’ (a truck that picks up workmen) to the smaller village called Mazunte to see if we could see a bit more of the “real” Mexico, however it was even lazier than Escondido!! Nevertheless all was worth it as we went on a tour that night with two other fidgety travellers to watch thousands of sea turtles hatch from their eggs, a truly memorable experience as the four of us stood alone on the beach under the stars with tiny turtles wiggling across our toes to reach the sea shore, I felt like we were in a David Attenborough documentary!!

After we had soaked up the sun, sea and sand, we took a few collectivo’s and a twelve hour bus ride to San Cristobal. San Cristobal is set up in a gorgeous highland valley surrounded by pine forests. The city itself has a real colonial feel, with cobbled streets and markets where original Mexican customs are still going strong. Of course not missing out on our “food day”, we wandered the streets gorging on the traditional fiery tacos, quesadias (a deep fried fajita with cheese filling) and sopas (a pizza style dish using tortillas as a base). Even the desserts here have the option of having a chilli on top! That night at Hostel “Rossco’s” (can’t think why we chose it??) we met Matt, a comical camp Canadian who along with the rest of the hostel sat round the fire, drinking the first of many “boxed wines”, playing games into the night and introducing the game ‘Spoons’. The next few days were full of excursions. Ross, Matt and I went to visit the Sumidero Canyon, a narrow river with 1km high cliff face on each side. We also went to Chiflon Waterfall (once again over 1 km high), we went to the top to stand on a platform underneath the pressure of the cascade and after getting drenched on the walk down I stepped into a huge pile of wet cement…..shoes number two ruined!!

Along with Matt and three lively Irish guys, we got the hot six hour collectivo to Palenque. We came here to visit the first of the many Mayan ruins scattered around Central America.  Palenque is a small town situation in the jungle, the reason why it exists is purely because of the ruins. We stayed in a small shack a few minutes’ walk from the ruins, surrounded by the dense jungle with resident howler monkeys that seemed to be having a constant argument of who was the loudest. That night we sat out in the jungle drinking and playing card games listening to the sounds of the jungle wondering if the ruins could top this! The Mayan ruins are made up of temples and pyramids that are scattered around the jungle all aligned in connection with the constellations, forming a community. The biggest temples were used to worship the Gods and make human sacrifices of prisoners, virgins and children, luckily none of us were all three!  We had to stay in Palenque longer than expected as I had to get my final Rabies Vaccination – the only word I can use for the hospital was ‘grim’! The floor was filthy and thick with watery mud and most of the walls were half painted and half stained….let’s just say I will never complain about the NHS again!

To finish off our time In Palenque and Mexico we went on a tour of local waterfalls with a lively English couple living in Ibiza. We spent a beautiful day swimming in the warm waterfalls, swinging across the pools on ropes and swings and exploring behind the cascades (of course with a corona or two). This is when the first mishap of the trip happened! Ross decided it would be a good idea to hang our bag high in a tree next to the waterfall while we swam (Katie and I were lying on the rocks imitating mermaids at this point!). The bag slipped off the tree and fell into the water with all our belongings including passports, camera’s and our hard-drive inside. Luckily Andrew was a good swimmer, as he kindly swam against the currents and got to the bag before it could be completely submerged! Items were still intact apart from the camera which is now a bit temperamental and we have to shake it to try and make the flash work! Oops

NEXT MONTH – GUATEMALA

Churchill, Manitoba is renowned as the ‘Polar Bear Capital of the World’ and each autumn bears gather along the water’s edge waiting for the sea ice to form. On this tour you will spend two full days on the tundra tracking and observing the majestic polar bear.
Prepare to be wowed! You’ll spend two full days on the tundra tracking and observing the majestic polar bear. Each day you’ll explore more of the Hudson Bay coastline. Along the way, your drive/guide will help you look for arctic fox, arctic hare, camouflaged ptarmigan and, if you are lucky, the snowy owl and gyrafalcon.

The Lazy Bear Lodge operates several tundra vehicles which drive into the Churchill Wildlife Management Area. Sometimes curiosity gets the best of the polar bears and they will come right alongside the vehicles to sneak a peek at their visitors. Although as many as 40 people can be accommodated in the vehicles most group sizes are limited to 25 guests for comfort and convenience.

During your stay the Lodge, the Cultural and Heritage Tour will take you to historic Cape Merry, the Polar Bear Jail and several sites and short hikes along the coastline. Dog sled tours and helicopters tours of the nearby Hudson Bay and Cape Churchill areas are also available at an additional cost

Tour Itinerary:
Day 1 Winnipeg: arrive at the airport and transfer (included) to your overnight hotel.
Day 2 Churchill: this morning transfer (included) to the airport and check in early for your flight to Churchill and then transfer to the Lazy Bear Lodge for a 3-night stay.
Day 3 Bear Viewing: enjoy a tundra vehicle excursion with a naturalist tour guide. Lunch, beverages and snack provided.
Day 4 Bear viewing: enjoy a 3-hour Cultural and Heritage Tour of the Churchill area including historic Cape merry and the Polar Bear Jail.
Day 5 Bear Viewing: another tundra vehicle excursion with a naturalist tour guide. Lunch, beverages and snack provided. Then transfer to the airport for your return flight to Winnipeg where you will be transferred to your overnight hotel.
Day 6 End of Tour: your tour concludes following check out from your hotel and transfer (included) to the airport.

Package Includes: Return airfare between Winnipeg and Churchill 2 nights’ accommodation in Winnipeg 3 nights’ accommodation at the Lazy Bear Lodge 3 breakfasts in Churchill 2 breakfasts in Winnipeg 1 gourmet dinner in Churchill 3-hour Cultural and Heritage Tour in Churchill Transfers as mentioned