PanAmerican Hwy 2008

Coming to an end February 28, 2009

2009-02-28T11:14:00.000-08:00

I'm having difficulty starting this blog today - so I'll just spit it out....We're going home!

Ricardo and I are moving back to the Great White North, I'm leaving on Tuesday and Ricardo shortly afterwards. We haven't taken this decision lightly and we know we are letting down more than a few people who had plans to come and visit us down here in Chile but we got to do what we got to do and that's what we're doing.

My last week was luckily full of travel, family and friends here in Chile. A good reminder of how important people can be even when they live so far away.

3 Things I'll miss about Chile

1. the ice cream (hands down latin america takes the cake in terms of ice cream - european gelato you've got nothing)

2. an overwhelming abundance of fresh fruits and vegetables for an insanely cheap price (just look around the grocery store to see where all the stuff comes from - CHILE!)

3. hearing and practicing spanish

3 Things I won't miss about Chile

1. the smog (and I was told it is better in the summer than in the winter - too bad I won't get to experience the asthma like symptoms:()

2. hugging and kissing on the cheek to EVERYONE you meet (something in my north american made body does not want to get used to this invasion of my personal space)

3. seeing the miserable lives of the numerous street dogs clinging to a undignified existence in this world (thank you Asha for opening my eyes a little more kindly all the living creatures in this world) I can't wait to get home and spend a day at the beach with my best four legged friend!

All in all I have to say this experience has been one of education and inspiration - I mean we actually did it we drove from Canada to Chile because we thought we could?!?!?! Maybe there is more to this world than meets the eye?

So this is it I'm not sure I'll write again maybe I'll start something different but at some point the journey's got to end - at least it was a great one!

With all my love to my friends and family

Promised Pics February 20, 2009

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This is in the Teleferico overlooking Santiago

Cerro San Cristibal with it's beautiful flowers in bloom

The view from near the top of the Funicular

Riding up in the Funicular

Ricardo's uncle BBQing Chilean style - it's wild boar!?!

Catching up, Santiago February 18, 2009

2009-02-18T16:18:00.000-08:00

OK I admit I've been very neglectful and after promising pictures to boot! Well I will upload some photos tomorrow so never fear my integrity has not completely disintegrated. This past week has been a little busy and we've been enjoying the moments. I mean what else can you do right?

We took off from the smog infested city for valentines day and drove to the coast - our favorite little sleepy beach town called Maitencillo where we basked in the sun watching the brave dip their toes in the ice cold water caressing the sand. Mostly everyone IN the water had their wetsuits on. I have not succumb to putting my wetsuit on again, it's still too soon for me and I'm clinging to my fondest wetsuitless days riding the waves.....ahhhh to be back in Central America again.

I've been bumped up yet another spanish grade I can say I'm proud to be in class "2B". It feels like quite the accomplishment but I'm not so crazy about my new instructors they took the fun out of learning spanish and put the confusion back in?!?!

Ricardo still walks me to school every morning hand in hand and the other day he picked me up from school and we spent the day taking the Funicular up to cerro San Cristibal, we've been here before but after 6 years you can see how the city has grown and changed, and the Teleferico down which is like a ski gondola with great views although it is quite the sweat box when the temperature outside is over 30 degrees:(

When all is said and done at the end of the day I really have no excuses for not posting more regularly I'm just hoping you all love me enough to forgive me:)

2009-02-07T03:34:00.001-08:00

News from the other side of the world, unless of course you live in the Southern Hemisphere.

My day down here goes something like this:

Wake up around 8am, make coffee and breakfast yell to Ricardo "breakfast is ready" and once he drags his slow sleepy feet up the stairs and sits down at the table we eat breakfast together. One of the nice things about living down here and not having to rush off early in the morning is we actually get to eat together which means we talk more. Afterwards I spend my dutiful time on the computer before getting ready and setting off for school. Ricardo walks with me to school every morning - I don't get molested as much this way and it reminds me every day just how much we're in love after 8 years of relationship. Aww that was sappy I'm not usually sapping I'll try to keep it to a minimum I don't want this blog going all romantic novelish!

When I get to school I have 4 hours of spanish classes with some pretty interesting characters from all over the world who each have their own unique and complicated life histories and adventures, this keeps me entertained so much the four hours usually zip by. Then I walk home alone (it is only about a 15 minutes walk). By the time I get home it's close to 2pm at this point I have neglected my digestive system and there is almost always rumblings and rumors about a full out war so I feed it to keep the peace. Once the devouring has been completed the rest of the day is up for grabs with a tummy full of nutritious food and armed with the power of slightly more intelligible spanish skills I feel like a conquistador, minus all the indigenous slaughtering that is. I do things like; go to the gym, search out more Starbucks locations (vital to my continuing survival), trade my english novels for new/used ones, and I always do my homework.

In the evening the best part of the day here in Santiago when the sun starts to set around 8pm and the heat starts to subside we are usually out and about doing whatever has come up in the day, because something always comes up. Like yesterday Ricardo's aunt phoned to remind us of lunch today - yup another epic Chilean 6 hour eating ordeal and no I did not eat dinner last night nor will I eat breakfast today - but we didn't even know it was planned in the first place!

And finally our heads usually land softly but firmly on our pillows around midnight to drift off into the land of dreaminess until the blissful sounds of buzzing disturb us into another day.

So that's it folks now you know how the story goes. In the next few days I'm going camera armed to take some shots of the city - look for some results at the beginning of next week.

Ice creamless in Sanitago

2009-02-01T14:10:00.000-08:00

Today is day 8 I'm writing because it's a pivotal day for me, my nerves are shot, the withdrawl is in full tilt today it is now 7pm and I figure if I stay in the house until bed my chances are better of successfully completing another day of the ice cream fast. Who knows what will happen tomorrow on my walk to and from spanish classes I'm focusing on the here and now....22 more days to go - whoever invented ice cream is a bastard (only for today) - I'm just glad I never tried smoking or drugs.

Nothing in excess is healthy - that's my motto for this fast!

Stationary in Santiago

2009-01-29T15:39:00.000-08:00

Today I realized I am not traveling anymore! What a bummer:(

Now I'm a resident (temporarily of course) of a country I can't yet speak the language well enough to get into conversations deeper than an immature 10 year - at least I've moved up from the 5 year old status I felt I earned in Costa Rica. So, I contemplated what this actually means to my life in the relatively near future and came to this shocking conclusion: not f@cking much.

Let's see I came from a country born from immigrants and blossoming in multiculturalism - seems like I'm not the only person in the world going or gone through this type of experience. Ahhhhhhh perspective is a blessing some of the time.

On a good note I was kicked up into a more intermediate spanish class. Seems I've learned a thing or two in the last few months but I'm keeping my ego in check daily with the strange head-cocked confused looks I get when trying to actually use my spanish outside of the classroom. I am starting to understand Chileans don't speak caveman spanish and they actually expect me to use other tenses other than the present?!?! I like to live in the here and now why doesn't anyone understand that?

Entonces chicos, siempre considere perspectiva!

Gringa in Santiago

2009-01-26T09:58:00.000-08:00

Ok so we have been in Chile since the 6th of January and today was my first day of spanish classes at VIA Spanish which, luckily is only about a 20 minute walk away! My most loving husband walked me to my first day of school and came back to pick me up - it was sweet:) I discovered that I am not the worst spanish speaker in the world which is the way I have been feeling since we got to this fast speaking, slang slurring country. I actually understand my slow speaking animated teacher thus have increased my confidence a notch.

Now you might be asking "what is life like in Santiago for a gringa". Oh and I epitomize the concept of gringa with my white skin (even with a four month tan) and blonde hair. Most people start speaking to me in english right away....."excuzzze me senorita where are you frem?" I get this question countless times a day. Since I stand out like a sore thumb, actually more like a infected pus spewing thumb at times, people STARE a lot and this makes me a little uncomfortable so I tried waving hoping they might feel embarrassed and look away but quickly realized it works more like an invitation to come closer. Needless to say I have abandoned this technique for the far superior stare at the ground technique or talk rapidly in english to Ricardo technique.

I have found and actually mapped out the locations of over 11 Starbucks in Santiago so I can continue to support my addiction to coffee in the land of instant fresh ground is like gold. I decided to take control of the ice cream addiction - it was way out of hand - and am currently on day 3 of my ice cream fast. The goal is 30 days ice creamless; I will keep you updated on the struggle.

Finally yesterday we attended our first Chilean lunch at Ricardo's god parents house. Here's the thing about being invited to lunch to prepare for this you must not eat for at least 24hrs before. You must like to eat a lot of meat, potatoes and rice and be prepared for at least 6 hours of eating continuously with your drink being refilled even if still half full; therefore, afterwards it is very difficult to get up from the table or move at all. Chileans so not take "no por favor" as a response. The tactic is to eat very, very slowly and push the food around the plate this way they can only fill your plate when there is room:)

Entonces amigos hasta leugo de Chile

Kimberlee

PHOTOS of Machu Picchu

2009-01-19T05:38:00.000-08:00

January 15, 2009 La Serena

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Paris had landed and efforts are being made to resusitate her back into action. I truly believe she is need of a good rest and relaxation period and is just asserting her feminine need to be heard! I hear you Paris!

As for Ricardo and I, I think it took us a couple of days for the new found home country to sink in. We were racing to get to appointments on time - in South America we had somehow forgotten the ¨must be 30 mintues late¨rule.....go figure! Now we are slow as turtles - god bless turtles! and muster ourselve out of bed around 9 or 10 am - even me the 0600 girl. I´m fighting to find some purpose for the day already as my old workaholic self is just as restless as ever I´m looking forward to reaching Santiago and starting spanish lessons which will be occupying 4 hours of time a day. Now I just have to figure out what to do with the 20 other hours in the day!?!?

I will be posting more pics soon just can´t connect our laptop at the moment - be patient - be still - be one with the silence:)

January 13, 2008 La Serena Chile

2009-01-13T05:33:00.000-08:00

First apologies for the deliquency on the blog writing. But I´m here now! We have made it to Chile all the way to Ricardo´s mom´s house in La Serena which has felt great to be in a house and do laundry and make food in a kitchen - it´s the little things you miss the most. Our journey here was not without some final drama. We drove into Chile int he evening and spent the first night at a Copec gas station in Arica the most northernly Chilean town. The next morning we left and headed to Iquiqui a few hours south after doing some errands we headed off toward San Pedro in the Atacama desert only along the way we ran out of gas in the dark in the middle of the desert not the most ideal situation. Luckily we were only 5 mintues from a another Copec so Ricardo hoped a ride with a truck and hitched back. We pulled into the Copec for the night to sleep along with a bunch of truckers. Woke up the next day and to our surprise Paris refused the start. And so the drama begins - or did it begin with the running out of gas in the middle of the desert? Eventually we tow her to a little town int eh desert with a mechanic reccommended bythe police. I steer Paris while Ricardo tows with a little pickup truck with a rope less than a meter long. It was a LONG 70kms I think I have some gray hair now:( Two days the mechanic works on her and nothing - nothing she starts but seems unmotivated to go anywhere. Maybe we forgot to tell her we wanted to get all the way to Santiago and she thought the job was done? Anyways to make the long story shorter we have put her in thebelly of a truck and she will be arriving in La Serena tomorrow and straight to a mechanic apparently Paris´lack of motivation to continue has something to do with what the mechanics call the ¨fuel injection¨.

SO Ricardo and I uncerimonously arrived afetr a 17hours bus ride fromthe north at 6am to La Serena wher we fell into bed and slept for a few more hours. It wasn´t the happily ever after in Chile ending we had planned but we are here and trying to figure out what to do next!

Jan 2 2009 REVISITED Re: Dec 31 2008 It Started and Ended with Potatoes

2009-01-02T14:31:00.000-08:00

To all those who have secretely muttered something along the lines of ´lucky bastards`while reading this blog, you´re going to like this entry.

To bring you up to speed our mission was to get to Cusco to get to Machupicchu, Peru. That was going to take about 3 days from the coast.
So first day (Dec 29), we drove up and up and up on a really good highway. We reached our elevation peak of 4800m at which we stopped for Kim to take a picture of Paris. To not waste time she decided to run back to the van about 20m away. When she arrived she had the biggest head rush of all time and was heavily panting. That did not go away she had a horrible night and the next day she felt a huge migrain and now understands, she says, why people can´t come to work when they have one.
On this day, day2, we entered a town (Ayachuco) where the paved road unexpectedly ended and gave way to a winding dirt road. We were told it would be for about four hours, little did we know it was going to be for the next two days... 370 km of dirt road with sharp curves, steep up and downhills!!! So needless to say day two ended on a dirt road in the dark in some little village. Exhausted.
We didn´t know where we were but we stayed in somebody´s driveway that didn´t have tire tracks so we figured we wouldn´t be in the way. This was in a small, small indigenous village called Airabamba Baja. Pay attention, this is important.

And so we began December 31st. We woke up in the van heard some kid outside, he was startled when we came out and several localsfolk were admiring the van. ¨Que bonito el carro!¨ they would say.
A couple of the townswomen said come over for breakfast just down the road. And we did. And it was incredible! There we were in a little adobe (mud brick) house with many guinea pig and little kids running around accepting steamed cowmilk with oatmeal, cheese and baked potatoes for breakfast. We shared a lot with the family, learned about their way of living and we explained ours and our trip. We felt bad about not being able to finish all the potatoes they put on our plates, but it was A LOT of potatoes really. And really, how many baked potatoes can you scarf down first thing in the morning? No biggie. It was an amazing experience and an unexpected one but it was time to hit the road, so we gave them a few gifts of appreciation and were on our way. We returned to our van Paris. She started, then stalled and never started again. We tried to be cool but really we were freaking out cuz we were in the middle of nowhere with a van that wouldn´t turn on! This had happened to us before in California and I was afraid it was the relay switch. So the town didn´t have a mechanic but it did have many eager taxibuses willing to ¨tow¨ us to the next town.

And so with a single rope Paris was hauled to the next town. The trip was one for the books because we only had a bout 2m clearance to the back of the ¨tow truck¨ which of course had no working brake lights so it was a lot of close calls. On the downhills he would untie me and I would go in neutral downhill. We did a whole mountain face just on neutral and the little brakes we have left!

We arrived to the next town and fortunately the mechanic really knew his stuff and we were on our way by noon. High altitudes do funny things to your car. About four more hours and we FINALLY made it back to paved roads we were so extatic. We vroomvroomed our way up other mountains all the way to Cusco.

We arrived in Cusco at about 10 o clock at night and it was raining and very very busy with the whole new year looming. Now Cusco is a very touristy town with lots of nightlife and streets as narrow as Paris I´m not kidding. Add new yars buzz and rain to that? It wa sperfect chaos. And in these roads taxis were running in both directions such that if two were going up and one was coming down, the down guy lost and had to reverse outta the way. We didn´t know where our resereved hostal was but we did give a local a ride so he could help us. We finally arrived at the said hotel and it was sketchsville. We were guided to a overnight parking lot in the rain and taxied our way back to the hostel, hotel whatever you wanna call it. They let us into our room and we didn´t say it but were both thibnking it. THIS PLACE SUCKS. There was a knock a t the door and I thought it was to give us our towels ( I can hope right?) actually it was the owner lady saying she lost our reservation she thought were somebody else so we were out. Fine I said I´m not gonna fight to stay in the place but for your mistake the least you could do is let us leave our bags here while we find another place. Actually, she said, the couple with the reservation is outside waiting to get in. Well, I thought, it´s not their fault so fine we put our bags in the office with Kim guarding them.

And this was the icing on the cake: The same owner lady that had said sorry no space actually had the nerve to say "Well, I can make some space in the office for you too, so that you're not offended". Yeah thanks lady I'll pass. "Oh well no problem the place next door should shve room but just for one night then you come back here tomorrow!"... The nerve...

Now let´s recap here people. It´s 11pm on new year´s eve we´ve been travelling uphill on dirt for three days,we´re very wet , very cold from the rain and have no place to stay. Earlier that day I asked Kim how she wanted to end the year. To which she replied ¨happy¨. And I thought to myself I just wanna end it with a nice place to rest my head. HAHAHAHA!

So at 11:07pm I´m out on the streets in the rain looking a place, any place that has a aroom available for that night. Place is filled with young tourists laughing and begginning their shennainags and there I am deperate for a place while Kim´s alone in a crappy hotel office guarding hte bags waiting for me to get back.
Before midnite we were in another place that was not great but at least quiet. And Kim is very very upset. I tried my best to cheer her u. She said how she missed home and Sage and Diesel. That is how we ended 2008.

That ended kind of gloomy. I forgot to mention that after midnight I went down the streets to a street vendor I had seen. I asked for "dos jot dogs (2 hot dogs)" And he gave me this strange, technichally a hot dog but yummy nonetheless sandwiches. Then as we were eating them in the room we realized it even had frrench fries in it(!). So Kim made the observation "we started the day with potatoes and ended the day with potatoes".

The next morning we went for coffee, found a new hotel and had a laugh at the previous day. What more could we do?

Now it´s January 2nd we´re about to hop on a train to Machupicchu and have seen many amazing ruin sites today already as a warm up. This year´s been filled withadventures too but that´s another entry.
Until next time!
Kim + Ricardo

December 28, 2008 Punta Hermosa Peru

2008-12-28T15:23:00.000-08:00

Christmas was great and thank you everyone for your warm wishes! We arrived to day in Punta Hermosa a small beach town a little south of Lima. We skipped Lima due to big city burnout and to give Ricardo a break from the hectic traffic in said big cities. Driving has been the name of the game for the past two days as we are trying our best to be near Cusco for the new year festivities. I can't wait to see Machu Pichu I currently dream about it on a regular basis.

So here is some thoughts on Peru thus far...there is some much sand here the desert was cool for the first hour but really the mountainous dunes get boring after awhile. The roads are well kept and Paris is thankful after the trecherous potholed piecemeal ashphalt called roads in Ecuador. We are however spending every bit of money on gas in the country it is the most expensive of the trip this far and since Peru is a fairly big country near the end of our trip our pocket books are feeling a little light:( However the food here is cheap and we've been devouring the ceviche (which they spell cebiche) when ever possible. Our addiction to ice cream has become a daily quest. they actually have a nice chocolate ice cream called "Sublime" here which quite accurately describes how I feel while eating my ice cream looking out the passenger side window....then when it's gone I want more and I think about until the next day - IT IS AN ADDICTION! (and I've dragged Ricardo down with me:)

I have also noticed that I have terrible mood swings regarding the amount of garbage lining the highways in the countries we have visited, except for Costa Rica which wasn't to bad. I swing back and forth between angry and infuriation. The amount of plastic garbage bags that are thrown out the window probably more than triples the amount of human beings living in Canada I am quite serious so PLEASE, PLEASE don't forget your cloth bags next time you go to the grocery store we are up against some serious polluters down here!

Mancora Peru December 24, 2008

2008-12-24T05:47:00.000-08:00

Today is Christmas Eve and we treated ourselves to a nice little hotel beach front with a spectacular little pool.

We've picked up all our necessary items (Baileys and wine) and the chef is planning the turkey roast for the guests, about 9 (Canadian, French, Peruvian). When we arrived yesterday both Ricardo and I commented on how relaxed we felt at this place so no doubt it will be a good Christmas as lately we are feeling the wrath of the road travel and two nights in one place will be a extra special comfort.

Contemplating on Christmas away from home always makes me a little home sick but this time I am really enjoying the lack of Christmas buzz and feeling rather detached from the whole process. Maybe I'm starting to really understand what Christmas is about since I really only miss the people aspect. Particularly the part when we all look around at each other in the morning on the 25th in our PJs and laugh at how tired we all look while reaching for our coffees and hot crossaints.

Alas while our family is spread all over the globe (Canada, Chile, Indonesia and here in Peru) I find myself wondering if it's possible to ever be all together for Christmas one year?

I'll settle for the thought that we are all connected in this universe and send out my positive energy and label it Christmas cheer:)

Feliz Navidad and Merry Christmas everyone one in the universe!

Cuena Ecuador December 21, 2008

2008-12-21T16:25:00.000-08:00

Hmm where do I start with this one.....well for starters it was amazing to see Paris at the port in Manta and then to jump in and drive off with not much hassle, well you can imagine how the reunion felt. With the three of us back together again we headed for the equator which was a hell of a drive. Ecuador has some pretty narly roads Paris was probably pleading for us to sent her back to the northern hemisphere. The equator was not too spectacular, but it was fun to jump back and forth between the hemispheres. I mean how often do you get to do that really?

Afterwards we headed back down South and took the Ruta de Sol (Route of the Sun) which was very nice and even managed to get in our first waves in the South American continent on this trip! We stopped in Monanita and took out the long board for an hour of waves riding and splashing about. The waves here are pretty small and will probably be for the rest of the trip since it's summer here. Although it doesn't fell like it today because we drove from the beach (27 degrees) into the Andes (15 degrees) and I'm freezing my tush off how do people live in this temperature?

The drive through the Andes is amazing the little towns are very full of life and colour and of course festivities for the Navidad season. Yesterday in Salinas Ricardo and I went to a free outdoor concert which started with a great Salsa band, some Rigaton which is a cross between rap with very dirty lyrics (which my husband wouldn't translate for me:() hip hop and ended with a girl pop band. Fortunately there was a ton of boobs and rump shaking on stage enough to get me through to the next year.

Some quick notes of observance:

Latin americans can move their body parts very fast

Our addiction to coconut ice cream is starting to become a problem

Ricardo has discovered green mangoes and now seeks them out with fervour

Driving form the beach to the mountains in one day is dumb and COLD!

Hope everyone has a great calm and relaxing holiday season

Guayaquil Ecuador December 16, 2008

2008-12-16T08:34:00.001-08:00

We landed in Ecuador on Sunday late in the night so yesterday we spent the day walking aorund the town and enjoying the malecon area. The malecon area is the waterfront and Guayaquil has one of the nicest waterfronts areas we have been to on this trip. Unfortunately it is on an inlet from the ocean and the water itself is very brown with lots of floating debris.

We got a great view from the top of the lighthouse climbing 444 stairs to

get there. Today we are headed to the museum of Anthropology and Contemporary Art. Basically we are waiting for the ship with Paris to arrive in Manta at which time we

will receive a piece of paper from the office here make our way via bus to Manta (approx. 4.5 hours) and extract Paris from the grips of the officials at the port in Manta!!! At this point we will be very happy and continue up to the equator:)

As for our final few days in Panama - well we spent the morning biking the cause

way which was built to connect three islands from the leftover dirt when the canal was built. We headed to the mall for a quick Christmas shopping session where Ricardo bought something for me and vice versa! In the meantime we couldn't keep our eyes off the mannequins in this mall. It was weird they were - well let's say very well endowed women and with the air conditioning on full strength - well I think I've painted the picture well enough. Actually it bordered on obscene?!?!

Panama City December 12, 2008

2008-12-12T17:08:00.000-08:00

This update is long over due! We reached Panama a few days ago and spent some time getting the paper work ready to ship Paris to South America. Ricardo spent a whole day at the police station getting things signed with a whole bunch of really cranky/crying foreigners and he was the purest example of calmness...all those previous border crossings has him all "zen"ed out!

In the middle of the whole thing we quickly zipped out to watch a ship pass through the Panama Canal which was really cool. Then we had a good laugh later on when we realized we were an hour behind - therefore an hour late - for everything and ended up getting our papers at the same time as the people who arrived at 6am - we arrived at 10am which was actually 11am:)

When all that was done we headed out to the beach at San Carlos and spent a night eating great Mexican food in the most tranquilo (aka calm) town we have seen on this trip yet. Today on our way back to Panama city we discovered we (read: I) have a gift for making up rap songs in the van! Watch for our self titled debut album coming out early next year:)

When we arrived in Panama City we left Paris at the shipping port and hailed a cab to a nice hotel in the heart of Casinoville. Where I promptly got my wallet snatched by someone on the street and have spent the next fews hours calling credit card companies etc. Tomorrow we're heading out to San Felipe for the afternoon and keeping a close eye on our belongings!

December 6, 2008 Adidos Costa Rica!

2008-12-06T18:20:00.001-08:00

Today is our last full day in San Jose. This week we ventured again to the Pacific Coast, Playa Hermosa with it´s legendary consistent waves is was a big draw for Ricardo. We managed to get in a good session in the morning - by ¨we¨ I actually mean Ricardo because I now have another story about how I got pounded by the huge waves. I did enjoy watching some great surfing while munching on the advil!

On our way home we stopped by to see the crocodiles - from a safe distance - they are huge, but slow on land! Then we got a fly by from a toucan while driving it was fantastic. We ended the day at Zoo Ave in San Jose which is a Zoo mainly focused on conservation, breeding and release programs. They have repopulated some areas where deforestation and egg snatching have extinguished the population of many beautiful breeds of birds native to Costa Rica.

We have also got the opportunity to see the crater of the volcan Poas which is hard to glimpse due to the cloud cover. All in all I think we´ve been extremely lucky in the country with the fantastic people we know and the opportunities we have had.

December 1, 2008 San Jose Costa Rica

2008-12-01T18:06:00.000-08:00

We've just arrived back in San Jose from spending a few days in previously mentioned Tamarindo then Rincon de Vieja where we did get to see bubbling mud (see below photo),

lots of monkeys, a huge iguana, and much more before we headed to the Arenal Volcano area.

For starters we had put off going to La Fortuna the town closest to the volcano because they had serious rains from the hurricane hitting the Caribbean side of Costa Rica when we finally did arrive the weather was very cooperative we were able to see the top of the two basins for the two days we stayed.

Ricardo and I got a real treat when we saw a live toucan (twice) sitting in a tree. We also got an up close and personal look at a sloth in our friend's yard. Another highlight for me was going to the private natural hot springs with Ale and her mom - ladies night out - hmmm that pina colada was good! We were so relaxed we felt like jello.

Afterwards we picked up Ricardo and headed to see the volcanic lava spewing from the top of the active side of Arenal it was like a fire works finale, very cool. To top things off this morning we hiked down to a 70 meter waterfall where Ricardo took a quick dip in the cool waters before heading back to San Jose.

It seems like every where you turn in this country your eyes feast on amazing colours from the clearest blue waters to the brilliantly red flowers and the vibrant greens engulfing you it makes it very enjoyable even when your tired from all the hiking!

November 27 - Tamarindo, Costa Rica

2008-11-27T15:57:00.000-08:00

Today will be our third day in Tamarindo

A little surf town that everybody warned us is too americanized, all dingy and only ok.

But with all the bad rap it had we couldn't help but love it and give it high regards! It's not bad at all, guys. Plenty of surfing, plenty of hotels, things to do, shopping for the ladies, pricey food though. So tamarindo is just groovy with us. There's even monkeys on the trees off the road into town!

We absolutely love this country and we have had nothing short of a fantastic experience with the people we knew here who took us in as if we were already in the family. Muchas gracias y pura vida!

Tomorrow: maybe a national park with bubbling mud, then maybe a volcano

November 24, 2008 San Jose Costa Rica

2008-11-24T17:35:00.000-08:00

Wow we are doing so many things in a day here that this might be a big post! We went to Museo de Oro with mi amiga Ale her 2 yr old son Roberto and her 3 month old daughter Ana Maria - yup the kids came along too and Roberto loved it, riding on Ricardo's shoulders most of the way. The Museum is very good and we also took a brief tour of the currency display also which was very interesting.

We had a great lunch with Ale's family on Saturday Ricardo and I could barely breathe after the delicious home cooked meal. It had been awhile since we've had home cooking and we definitely took the opportunity to over indulge!

The next day we headed to the artisan area of Sarchi where we saw some amazing brightly painted art work on traditional ox carts, went to the workshops of the builders and had an

amazing seafood lunch all before talking my husband into buying a beautiful wooden rocking chair?!?! How we are going to manage with it in the van remains to be seen we're thinking about strapping it to the top of the van and offering some sort of extreme adventure tour - any takers?

Today we got to tour a coffee plantation which included a theatrical component and I got a free gift of a traditional hat for volunteering to learn how to "cup" a coffee! So far we are really enjoying Costa Rica the weather determines a lot of our plans last minute but there is no shortage of things to occupy your time with here. Our plans are to head out to the coast for a few days of sun and surf and hopefully the weather improves so we can take in a volcano and some tree top adventures in this tropical rainforest! That's it for now and a big thanks to all the people who are commenting it really is very nice to hear from you and to know someone is reading this.

21 de noviembre / San Jose, Costa Rica

2008-11-21T07:56:00.000-08:00

Ahhhh,

After 7 days of repairs in Leon, Niaragua, Paris was finally ready for the road again and we were on it. After a mere 3 hours at the border we entered Costa Rica yesterday and drove all the way to San Jose where Kim has reunited with a dear family friend which she hadn´t seen since she was 13.
Can´t tell you how nice it is to not look for accomodations for once!
We´ll be spending the next few weeks exploring this country and are very excited to be travelling again. It´s like ¨we´re WE again¨
Pictures? ahhh be patient 'cupdates coming soon!

November 19th, 2008 Leon Nicaragua

2008-11-19T06:24:00.000-08:00

We have been in Leon for 6 nights the longest we have stayed anywhere and we are more than ready to leave. Luckily for us Asha and Lee were here to keep us company and provide me with companionship when Ricardo was off taking care of business for Paris. We were also lucky Leon is about 30 minutes away from a surfable ocean and ventured that way twice during our stay here. This kept our mental stability in check. Leon does have much to offer and if we weren't so busy trying to get out of here we might have enjoyed it far more. Today we head for Granada to overnight before crossing the border into Costa Rica - finally.

I have to post this picture because we actually caught these fish ourselves and got to eat the Mackerel, the one I caught, (Ricardo's is a Barracuda) ceviche style - hmmmmm!

Leon Nicaragua November 16th, 2008

2008-11-16T04:56:00.000-08:00

Quick update: Paris' transmission needs an overhaul again so we'll be spending the next few days here before hitting the road to Costa Rica if all goes well. It wasn't in the original plans to stay here this long but we'll hit the beach today and make the best of it:)

Leon Nicaragua November 14th, 2008

2008-11-14T05:36:00.000-08:00

We arrived in Leon yesterday after spending 3 nights at Monty's Jiquilillo Surf camp in Jiquilillo Nicaragua. We had a good time touring the estuary with a young local guide Eddie who is a beam of environmental light in a country of garbage throwers and bush burners we wish Eddie all the best in trying to conserve a very vital part of the ecosystem in his community. We also assisted in feeding the village children lunch at the surf camp one afternoon and were totally enthralled with the two little puppies roaming around the camp.

As for the surf well to be honest it was a bit lacking which we have accepted to be part of the surfer's journey sometimes the waves just don't want to work for you but not for lack of trying on our part....honestly I did have a really great bonding session with my

long board Betty which we were in desperate need of and together we are looking into a more positive relationship in the future!

We also got to go fishing which Ricardo had never done and he landed a Barracuda very early in the trip which was quite a thrill and then I got to handle the rod and reeled in a Mackerel the length of my leg - and that's not even exaggerating it yet! When we got back to the camp the chef in the kitchen whipped us up some fresh Mackerel ceviche - it felt good to bring home the bacon, so to speak, and I'm sure the guests at the camp will be enjoying our fresh fish for the next few days:)

Also an honorable mention goes out to Tanya and Ann from BC and Lee and Asha from Nevada (who showed us there are actually cool Americans out there with a conscious)!!! We followed them to Leon and while they go out trekking up the side of a volcano this morning we are stuck going to the mechanic to fix a small (fingers crossed) problem with Paris....such is the life, although we are looking forward to getting to Costa Rica soon to meet up with Ale and her family and seeing some Volcanoes in that region.

November 7, 2008 La Libertad, El Salvador

2008-11-07T17:01:00.000-08:00

After leaving Panajachel near Lago de Atitlan we headed to Antigua which with all it's beautiful inner courtyards and cafes still doesn't add up to the prices they charge you. We ended up staying in bunk beds in a hostel - let's just say it's been awhile since I slept in a bunk bed. The next morning we got up early and hit the border to El Salvador which went way more smoothly, but way longer, than the Mexico/Guatemala border.

Once we got through we headed for Lago de Coatepeque which turned out to be another

beautiful lake and we stayed right on the lake in a great little hostel. After about an hour of swimming and relaxing by the lake I hit the van and started to puke my guts out - it didn't last too long although I'm not sure it's all out of my system yet. Right now I'm typing to you from the shores of the Pacific near La Libertad were El Salvador goes to surf and so do we!!!

So as Kim eats her dinner which we hope will stay down for at least a couple of hours I'll take over typing. The Lake yesterday was kick ass. It was like those places you see in movies of ancient china or something little docks in all levels with different settings. this one's a dining

room, this one is a hammock, this one has fuze ball. Yes it was very enjoyable while my wife was in the van puking. While there I chatted with some locals and they totally scribbled go-to places on our map. then today we intended to stay in the metrop

olitan capital, san salvador. we drove and drove trying to look for a hotel, any hotel when we realized do we really wanna stay in this town? we don't have to. so we didn't so we went to our next destination: the beach. the surf was big and we were on it. wife

here got more than a few scrapes going in and out of the rocks, plus her nausea kicked back in. in truth, la punta was consistent big right break, but it lacked in the fun factor somehow. so i'm hoping tomorrow morning will be better although no doubt it will be big)

We're looking forward to the destinations we have picked out in Nicaragua and then of course Costa Rica (greg, you should still join us) where we know some people.

All the best,

Us)

PS: who won the election in the States?

November 4, 2008 Lago Atitlan Guatemala

2008-11-04T13:26:00.000-08:00

We made it across the border! While I sweated in the car with all the little boys around asking for money Ricardo went to various agencies and got us through. Then we left and bid farewell to Mexico jus tin time to hit a strike on the road that kept us at a standstill for soemwhere between 4-5 hours - we lost track of the time.

Finally in the dark we made it to Lago Atital what a beautiful place. We spent the morning having a relaxing breakfast and then hopped on a boat to one of the Mayan villages on the lake, where we mostly shopped for some pretty things and bought some ice cream for one of the little girl street vendors - she was just so cute and her eyes lit up when the ice cream vendor opened the box so she could choose.

The children here are adorable and they love to play, wrestle, roll down hills of grass, and fly kites made out of garbage bags - how can you resist them. The women here laugh a lot and are always smiling and flirting with the mens it´s great. They also still wear a lot of the traditional Mayan clothing full of colour and texture. So far Guatemala has been great tomorrow after our laundry is done we will head for the big city of Antigua - maybe splurge on a hotel room!?!?!

November 2, 2008 - Tapachula Mexico

2008-11-02T11:44:00.000-08:00

So we've landed inches away from the border into Guatemala where we will be staying tonight while we tidy things up before crossing the border. Our last fews days in Mexico have been great! Ricardo even suggested and paid for us to have a couple of hours at a spa-like place in Huatulco 2hrs full of steam baths, aromatherapy, music therapy, hydrotherapy, mud baths and finished off with a nice relaxing massage - AND check this out ladies for both Ricardo and I it cost $45 - oh yeah eat your hearts out:) Our skin felt like butter afterwards!

October 30th, 2008 Puerto Escondido

2008-10-30T10:20:00.000-07:00

(Revelations:

In general, most mexicans don't drive all that bad.

There is minimal road rage in the States for the most part too.

I think the baja is overrated. South of Mazatlan is where it's at.

The human race should join the mosquitoes because let's face it - we can't beat em.

Having children is an important thing.

When you have a lot to lose, you lose a lot of opportunities.

Adaptability is a great travel trait.)

These words given to you by the zen master himself - Ricardo

So let's talk about the good stuff - Acapulco is the land of bad, bad, very bad cops who like to pull you over and demand money.....one thing to note if this happens to you send you wife/girlfriend/female companion in loaded with rage and tears would probably have helped spare no expense ladies let the mouth rip - these cops had no idea what to do with me and basically let us go the second time just to get rid of me - really!

After that we drove to Puerto Escondido and have had a great couple of days here with some small waves yesterday hit up with the long board and spent the day relaxing at the beach. Today we got up early got some offshore winds and moderate height waves, intermixed with a few bigger badder boys. Ricardo rode his boadyboard with class and pulled out the drop knee to impress me whenever I was looking. I on the other hand just got pumelled and tossed about like green salad. I managed to pull off ONE wave near the end and then got struck in the face and called it quits.

Today we are heading for Huatulco and hopefully some sailing time.

October 25, 2008 La Ticla

2008-10-25T12:39:00.001-07:00

La Ticla is a tiny town with lots of gringos due to the decent breaks at the playa. Ricardo went out when we got here this morning after spending the night free camping on the beach at Ojo de Agua. Today at La Ticla we are paying $5/person7night - not bad. I´m sidelined beachside with the cold Ricardo had a few days ago and a pinched nerve in my right shoulder from paddling Betty (aka long board) at Sayulita a few days ago. We´ve definately sweated our body weight and more in the past few days the mainland is a lot hotter than the Baja. Driving down Mex 200 is nice the hwy is narrow but lined with lots of green shrubs and beautiful flowers. The plan is that we keep heading south looking towards Puerto Escondito and Huatulco area before leaving Mexico for Guatemala.

Cilantro

2008-10-21T18:42:00.000-07:00

Just a quick blurb....love cilantro everyone must love it put it in your soup, in you sandwiches, salsa, buy it in large quantities, whatever it is in it makes everything taste so fresh and good.....truly:) Go people buy, buy!

October 20th, 2008 Mazatlan

2008-10-20T19:22:00.000-07:00

We felt like this was a bit of a turning point for our trip as we said goodbye to the Baja and drove onto the ferry for Mazatlan. (Actually, just like the first time we were in Baja five years ago, we had a heck of a time getting out of the baja. The first time we missed our flight. Damn those taxi drivers that charged $50 to the airport. This time our dear vessel, Paris, had some major over heating problems. It got resolved in the end for just under $200 but it took three days of some serious Ricardo walking phoning dealing guarding and some serious Kim waiting waiting packing and more waiting at a posada. We missed a few destinations but alas (hey that's first time i use that word!) paris now flows fine and dandy).

Anywho, the ferry - our first Mexican "cruise" was uneventful however I would describe it more like a freighter ferry than a passenger ferry - there were plenty of trucks and truck drivers around. Nothing like being one of a very few women on board and white skinned to boot but we did make friends with a guy named Checko (the first official, he's called. Actually he invited us to the bridge later on that night and it was so cool learning about navigation and vessel educational programs. We shared and compared GPS knowledge. i also learned about why a vessel is loaded and unloaded in a certain way) who loads and unloads all vehicles. he put our van right next to the railing on the top level so we had ocean front property and an amazing few from our kitchen/bedroom for the 18hr journey. Of course we slept most of the way since it was overnight but did manage to fully get to appreciate the beautiful sunset/rise.

In Mazatlan so far we done a lot of sweating - it's hot - we've hit the pool three time today and been in the ocean a couple of more on top of that. I caught a few great but quick rides on the beach about 2 blocks from our campground the break is fast and powerful but my boadyboarding skills continue to rise to the challenge:) (I thought Mazatlan was flat and no waves! So not the case i got absolutely pummelled today kinda in a bad way)

Now for something new - Ricardo is going to add his own flava' to the blog tonight......(actually i put it in brackets here and there)

October 17th, 2008 San Jose Del Cabo

2008-10-17T12:19:00.000-07:00

Well we made it from La Paz and hit a good day of swell on the beach at Costa Azul near San Jose Del Cabo before the surf got flat.....actually the ocean is doing a great impersination of a lake right now! Yesterday we spent the day having the van looked at due to coolant system malfunction and today we are receving the parts and doing repairs. Ahhh life on the road:)

We have been able to eat some wonderful meals in San Jose and retuned to a few of our favorite spots from our last trip here 5 years ago. Last night we treated ourselves to some great tamales and hot dogs off the street - I think we paid $5 for our meals and had some cervezas to boot.

If anyone decides to come down here anytime soon we highly reccomend the french bakery (I know we are in Mexcio) but this place has the best crepes and coconut ice cream around. Also we highly reccomend La Dolce Italiano restaurant which has the best calamari made with white wine sauce and they will let you bring your own bottle of wine in for a small fee (of course). So if you are following along at all we drank our Sonoma Valley wine with the unbelievably good calamari - it was great!

October 14, 2008 La Paz Mexico

2008-10-14T07:46:00.000-07:00

So we made it through the hurricane and headed south again - seems like we are always heading south - go figure. We have made it to La Paz and managed to book a reservation for the ferry to the mainland - Mazatland - for Sunday which means we have a couple of days to bum around the south tip of the Baja. Our Mexican Cruise to the mainland is 16hrs long and cost - a lot

Probably will be our first and only cruise....Yesterday we spent the afternoon at a beach outside of town relaxing a little after a long drive we played frisbee with the local kids in the nice warm shallow water - more just kept showing up and some of them could really wing it at you. Then relaxed on the beach to soak up some sun - for the first time really- and read a bit. Looking forward to catching some waves albeit fairly small if the swell report is right and doing more realxing on the beach.

PS if you are reading these post please comment so we know someone is out there

Hurricanes aren't so bad!

2008-10-11T19:16:00.000-07:00

Yup, we drove straight into Hurricane Norbert that hit the Baja today. We toughed it out in a nice hotel in Loreto with hot showers running water electricity and internet - not soo bad. Actually we were pretty lucky because we wokeup this morning on a secluded beach at 6am and got on the rode early because we had no idea there was a hurricane coming but we made it into Loreto about 10 minutes after the heavy rain started and the roads were just begining to flood. So far we have no plans or any idea of what to do next - stay tuned!

October 10, 2008 Mulege Mexico

2008-10-10T14:17:00.000-07:00

OK so how do I sum up the last few days. Well for starters we left the USA driving across the border into Mexico was so so easy we didn´t even have to stop! Actually we almost turned around and went back because it felt to simple. We have a temporary (10 year) permit for Paris she can stay in the country longer than us - hmmmm maybe she´ll think about retiring herself here one day. We´ve been steadily heading south staying here and there along the way headed out for some surf at El Rosario to find a great spot with decent waves for both Ricardo and I to hit on our bodyboards....actually I had the best wave of my life there and then promptly followed it up with the worst wipe out of my life. Unfortunately Ricardo only saw the wipeout one:(

We were just about to get dinner started on our secluded beach and tuck in for the night when the Military showed up. Ricardo turned on the charm and after a long 20 mins of chit chat and a few photo opps AND a box of Tim Tams - thank you Holly! they told us we would be safe as they were camping near by. Well nearby was actually only about 100 ft away which made us feel safe - I guess they want to keep an eye on us.

Today we are in Mulege and tomorrow we will be headed out to Scorpion Bay - google it for all ou surfers out there. It should be good and I´ll try to get some more photos up soon.

New pics at flickr.com/photos/kraraya

Addition to September 30th and October 01, 2008

2008-10-01T21:18:00.000-07:00

I had to add a second part to this day because it was really the best so far. After we left the cafe in Santa Rosa we headed for some wine tasting in the Sonoma Valley at Benziger Family Winery which as it turned out was the same estate Farley, Laura and I had toured on my 28th birthday trip. It is still beautiful, the tour was updated along with the winery and we walked out with a great Cab Sav for $40 that we are currently determining the best time for consumption. We continued on to the quaint little town of Sonoma and hit up the Sonoma cheese factory for some free cheese tastings of course picked up a nice block of cheese along with some smoked salmon and crackers for dinner then we headed around the plaza to the chocolate factory where we tasted some chocolate gnash with champange - see I told you it was a great day:)

And really ins't that what budget travelling is all about - the freebies!!!!

We then proceed to drive Paris over the Golden Gate bridge - also Ricardo's first time "look at the structures and the connections and whtacha ma callits and the......" I stopped understanding halfway through the first sentence. We ended up camping nect tot he beach at Halfmoon Bay stoked to see several places with some good surf along the way.

Segway to today - got up early for a nice run along the coast, surfed a longboard break at Pacifica and headed into Daly City for a few errands. Drove up to Santa Cruz and could not believe how many people can actually surf at one break at one time - and with sea lions all around too!!!

Tonight we're at a KOA living the life of luxury - just got out of the hot tub and thinking we'll go for a swim in the heated pool in the morning - oh yeah we're paying through our camping nose for this place - 2nd most expensive KOA to stay at in the country - better make the most of it:)

September 30th 2008 - California

2008-09-30T11:54:00.000-07:00

So we've made it as far south as Santa Rosa California where we are enjoying a nice healthy lunch and some free wireless:) It feels like we left Oregon ages ago and so far northern California has not provided much in the way of amazing experiences. Spent a couple of nights in various state parks and drove thru a giant redwood tree - actually Paris didn't fit so we had to walk thru instead:( Today we're off to taste some wines and drive the Golden Gate bridge which is actually red?

PS check out some photos at flickr.com/photos/kraraya/

Saturday September 27th

2008-09-27T11:29:00.000-07:00

For all those jealous types out there consider this: We spent our first night in a Walmart parking lot in Longview Washington. Although the atmosphere was lacking the lack of payment seemed to make up for it. We were careful not to park to close to the McDs drive thru and got a lovely spot next to 2 parking lot trees:) We wandered up the coast checking out Seaside Oregon and lunching at Ecola State park, caught a glimpse of a Gray whale at a roadside lookout and ended up at South Beach State Park which has WiFi for a nominal fee and much to my utter pleasure free HOT showers with - get this - good water pressure....ahhhh life on the road not so bad after all. Today we're off to checkout the dunes - check ya later dudes:)

Getting started

2008-09-18T09:05:00.000-07:00

Hi all!

Ricardo and I leave for our great adventure after spending a few days in Vancouver over this weekend. We hope you check in here from time to time to see where in the world we are and what exciting things we will be seeing and doing. This is my first blog ever so please don't expect too much:)