Thoughts After Seven Months of Travel

It seems a shame to me that in the last 7 months, we didn’t see more, do more, meet more people.

We had plans to do and accomplish different things, and I kind of feel like we planned to do *more*) during the past 7 months of our lives.

My friend Patrick Shaw says that people greatly overestimate what they can do in a year, but greatly underestimate what they can do in ten years.

So maybe we should talk in ten years.

But thinking about it, I realize that we did do a LOT over the past 7 months in central and south America, and laid a foundation for coming back to this part of the world throughout our lives.

However, we had plans.

This post talks about what we had planned to do versus what we did.

(I have written this post to remember what we planned to do, actually did and didn’t do, and also should help others traveling through Central and South America to discover some great places and things to experience.)

Lakes:
We didn’t see lake Titicaca (Bolivia), or Lake Nicaragua.
But we did get to see the beauty of Lake Atitlan (Guatemala).

Islands:
We didn’t see the Galapagos Islands (Ecuador), Isla del Omitepe (Nicaragua), or the San Blas Islands (Panama).
But we learned to SCUBA off of Isla Colon (Panama) in a town called Bocas Del Toro.

Animals:
We didn’t get to see whales or dolphins.
But we helped guard baby turtles and were part of their introduction into the world.  We saw monkeys in lots of places throughout central America; saw llamas mating; hummingbirds and butterflies in Mindo, Ecuador; and many other animals and critters.  We loved the variety of animals we saw, even if the insects were sometimes disturbing.

Language and culture:
We didn’t spend time living in an indigenous community, (though we spent lots of time around indigenous people).
But we speak Spanish pretty well now.  (Thanks Maribel!)  We speak well enough to be well understood, to receive compliments on how good our Spanish is, and to understand even difficult topics like politics and religion.

Business:
Because of taking Spanish class every day, and the time involved with both planning and getting from place to place, we didn’t grow our business in the way that we wanted to.
But I know 100% that our videos and written reviews of the places we’ve stayed in Antigua, Guatemala; Boquete, Panama; Quito, Ecuador, and Cuenca, Ecuador; have resulted in more bookings for the owners of those places.  Our knowledge of marketing on the Internet has helped other people to grow their businesses.  That’s exciting to me.

Ancient Cultures and Civilizations:
We didn’t get to San Augustin, Colombia; or in Peru – the Ruins of Kuelap, Macchu Picchu (due to flooding in March), or the tomb of Sipan near Chiclayo. But we saw the remnants of powerful and amazing ancient civilizations at Copan, Honduras; Tikal, Guatemala; Guayabo National Park, Costa Rica; Ingapirca, Ecuador; Cuenca, Ecuador; and Cajamarca, Peru.

Land Travel:
We did not see Belize; visit Santiago, Chile; return to Buenos Aires, Argentina; nor did we get to most of the countries in South America.
But we saw every land country in Central America (except Belize); went to or near the top of five volcanoes in three countries (Irazu and Poas, Costa Rica; Pacaya, Guatemala; Masaya, Nicaragua; and Cotopaxi, Ecuador); we covered thousands of miles by bus, plane, car, in the water, and on foot; saw amazing markets at Saquisili and Otavalo, Ecuador, and at Chichicastenengo, Guatemala; got to the capital cities of Guatemala (Guatemala City), Nicaragua (Managua), El Salvador (San Salvador), Costa Rica (San Jose), Panama (Panama City), Ecuador (Quito), and Peru (Lima); and met many amazing people along the way.

Personal Growth:
I’ve recognized and let go of some of my own ethnocentricity (which I didn’t know I had); become a Spanish speaker; learned that the jungle is a great place for me to visit, but for short-term visits only; and have learned that even though the longest we’ve been apart in the last 7 months is 4 hours, Carrie and I love and appreciate each other as much or more now that we ever have before.

I feel like a year or more could be spent exploring just Ecuador and Peru, with a mention to the lifetime that could be spent exploring Colombia and the other countries in South America.

I do think that these are areas which we will return to at some (as yet undetermined) future point in our lives.

At the same time, 7 months in central and South America has given me an even greater appreciation for the country I call home, the place where I grew up.

The United States of America is a place where stores almost always have change for a $20 bill, many stores are open 24-7, the bathrooms nearly always have tissue paper and toilet seats, and the spirit of the people, more than anywhere else I’ve ever been, says both in word and in action, “we can do it if we’ll just work hard at it.”

I am so grateful for the opportunities provided by our travels of the last seven months, and I’m very grateful as well for the opportunities and life I’ve been able to have growing up and living in the United States.

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Questions And Answers About Granada, Nicaragua

A visitor to our website sent me a few emails with a bunch of questions about Granada, Nicaragua, so I’ve decided to answer them here in a separate post.

I like the many different links to other social networking sites on the bottom of your website. That is a very cool design the way they are all lined up next to each other. Is there a lot to do in Granada? What did you like about Granada? I hear it is totally different than Costa Rica; from what I hear it is cheaper than CR. Only way to find out is to visit. Do you think Granada would be good for a single man like me?

Thanks for the compliments on social networking buttons.  It’s a plugin for Wordpress.  I like it too. 

There’s a fair amount to do in Granada… the obligatory church surfing, cigar tour and cigar rolling, lots of bars/restaurants, and a lot that’s relatively close including a couple volcanoes, lake nicaragua (HUGE), isla del omitepe (google that one), and Leon is a great city about 3 hours away… lots to do there.

The capital, Managua, is pretty much a dangerous and relatively dirty city, best we can tell, but you go through there to get to Granada.

My impression of prices in Costa Rica is that they are almost as expensive as the US, without the infrastructure.

Good for a single man like you?  I’m not sure what you’re asking about there… I’m a married man, but if you’re asking if it would be easy to meet women, my impression is that it’s easy to meet women, especially if you’re from the states and the perception is that you have money…  That sort of start is not good for a lasting relationship, and not to be crass, but it’s  a pretty true statement.

Hope that’s helpful.  Please ask any other questions you have about Granada here, and I’ll do my best to answer them.

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(Not So) Frequently Asked Questions

Probably more often than I should, I check what words and phrases people have typed into Google to get to our web site.

Tracking what people want to know about is important if you want to be of service to others.

Also, it’s just fun to see what Google thinks CarrieAndJonathan.com is about.

Today, I want to share a tiny smattering of what I discovered people have been looking for, prior to landing on our site.

Also, I want to answer their questions.

These are all actual search phrases typed into Google by people before they landed on our site.

“what are chifles”/”what is an ecuadorian chifles”
Despite the funny English in this question, I am happy to respond to this one. In Ecuador, Chifles are chips made from thinly sliced green plantain.  They are very delicious.  We like chifles better than potato chips (which we don’t really like, so that’s a terrible comparison.  That previous sentence should say: We like chifles.)

“how far is it from david, panama to boquete, panama?“
Taking the local bus, it’s about 1 hour to Boquete from David, Panama, give or take 20 minutes.  Boquete is absolutely worth a visit for a few days, if not longer.

“are frozen bananas bad for you?”
Is frozen water bad for you?

“does it matter if you use yellow or green plantains when making patacones”
Yes, use green plantain. The yellow plantains won’t work for patacones.  They’re still delicious when fried, just not the right plantain to use for patacones.

“can you see lava masaya”
We weren’t able to see lava at Masaya volcano… lots of sulfuric ash spewing from the mouth of the volcano though.  You can, however, roast marshmallows over lava at Volcan Pacaya in Guatemala near Antigua.  (Take the marshmallows and a stick with you though.  There’s nothing except people renting out horses as taxis up the volcano, and kids selling walking sticks, once you get out to start your trek up the volcano).

“do ecuadors eat cuy/why do ecuadorians eat gineapig”
Yes EcuadorIANS do eat cuy.  Why they eat guinea pig is beyond me as I don’t like the flavor at all. Not all Ecuadorians eat guinea pig, but my guess is that many do because they like the flavor of it.  Others eat cuy as a social custom or tradition.

“does everyone in ecuador have a pet chicken”
No, just the people who live close to wherever you happen to be trying to sleep.

“how many mph can a koala run”
That is a good question… Maybe you should race one to find out.

Keep those Google visitors and random searches coming!

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Where Have You Been?

Carrie &Jonathon,

I’m confused looking at your site… you guys have traveld a lot looks like… where all have u been?

james

Hey James!

Well, we have done a lot of travel in the past, but since October, we’ve been

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Podcast #5: The Northern Part of Central America

In this podcast, we cover about 7 weeks of travel, from the time we left Granada, Nicaragua, early in December, through today, January 18.

Download the travel podcast MP3 here
We cover our travels through places and experiences like:

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Tourism Map of Central America: Our Map from 3 months of Travel

In three months, we visited 6 countries, covered over 2,500 land miles (mostly by bus) and saw some really amazing places.
We also met some truly fantastic people – both people who are involved in tourism as tourists and tourist guides, and people who are living their lives in the countries we visited.
This map is not yet 100% complete, but gives you an idea of the places we’ve been and what we’ve been up to.
If you’re looking to ride Ticabus or Tracopa and want to know exact locations, this map should be rather helpful for you.
Also, we’ve tried to put in all our hotel stays (Think we got them all on here) and will be linking from this map to the reviews on our site so that you can easily get to everything in one place.
This should help you know where to stay if you visit these countries.
If you’re going to Central America, we hope that this helps you to both find things you’d like to see and do, as well as to know where exactly those things to see and do are located.
If this map does prove helpful for you, please comment below and let us know!

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Carrie’s Current countries visited

visited 15 states (6.66%)
Create your own visited map of The World
On our trip through Central America, I got to add 6 countries to my map of visited countries. It’s too bad not all of them have a stamp representation in my passport.
I’ve actually been to more countries that this, but I didn’t spend the night, so they don’t count. I’ve been to France numerous times when I lived in Germany, and I also drove through Austria. They’ll be added to the list sometime soon through.

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Geckos, Roosters, Fireworks, Car Alarms, Children, Dogs, Sneezing, Parades and Bells, Doorbells, and Construction

What can you really do about so much noise but laugh?
I’m a relatively light sleeper, and have learned to travel with earplugs. In fact, before departing on this part of our travel/working experience, Carrie and I bought a box of 500+ earplugs on Amazon.
We used some of these at La Tortuga Feliz and haven’t used them too much since. Not that we haven’t had occasion to. With the exception of Hotel Angela (where we had an interior room) and our time in Boquete, Panama, every morning and often in the middle of the night, I’ve been awoken by the sounds of roosters, children, fireworks, children, dogs, parades, or bells. In general, I find North Americans and American culture to be pretty noisy, but I’m finding Central Americans and Central America to be even noisier.
As I’m writing this, Carrie just woke up and asked me (first thing – not “good morning” or anything like that, but) “Is that a dog or a sick frog?”
In general, every city in Central America (and in Argentina) has some stray dogs which seem to do the majority of their barking between 9PM and 3AM. About 2:30 AM and continuing through to about 5:30 or 6:00 AM come the roosters. They continue throughout the day, but this is when the majority of their sounds occur. Roosters are PLENTIFUL in almost every place we’ve been in Central America, most of them sharing their calls LONG before I can see any sign of sunlight.
Then come the fireworks. I like fireworks as much as anyone, but regardless of where we have been (again excepting Boquete), there have been fireworks every day just before 6AM, just before 6PM, and frequently around noon. Sometimes they also get shot off for a few minutes at midnight.
Why so many fireworks? Well, apparently that’s what they do in Central America in December and January to celebrate Christmas. There’s even a saying in nicaragua which goes something along the lines of “a man always has money for beer and fireworks, even if he can’t afford to feed his own family.”
In Granada, Nicaragua, they have 9 days of celebrations for the Immaculate Conception of Jesus in which they revere statues of Mary and parade them through the town to the church. These are fun festivals which include candied apples, trinkets, and of course, fireworks.

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Thoughts From El Salvador

1:30 AM
Hotel Novo Apart
Quick thoughts since I’´m so very tired right now.

Today –> Granada –> Managua (UCA Bus Terminal) –> TAXI –> Managua Ticabus Terminal –> Through Honduras  –>  El Salvador (Ticabus) –> TAXI  –> Hotel Novo Apart

Traveling by public transport is cool, fun, interesting, and difficult.

Man snoring loudly on Ticabus

Carrie´s great story about 2 lemosn, 1 lime, a pomegranate tree, a telephone pole, and boys playing a game around the tree where they beat eachother with their shoes (ask her to tell the story some time)

Rest stop in El Salvador ha¨d Secrets of the MIllionaire MInd by T Harv Eker – been meaning to read the book, but didn´t even look at the price because all the other books an the same rack were way ´´over´´priced.  Only later did I realize the tragic irony of not buying a book that´s been mentioned to me multiple times, placed within easy reach (in El Salvador, of all places) and that it´s MY mind that needs changing, and the book will help me with that, and I didn´t buy it because it´s my mind that needs changing.  (The same thing that prevented the purchase is the exact reason (or at least a reason) why I need to buy the book.

Oh yeah, El Salvador uses the United States dollar as its currency.

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Tica Bus takes us from Managua, Nicaragua to San Salvador, El Salvador

Pictures coming soon… still posting on the run.
By this point, we’re pretty familiar with the bus system.  We like it, it´s a fun and inexpensive way to get around.

Today, our Ticabus (Ticabus is a bus company operating from Mexico to Panama)  took us from Managua, Nicaragua to San Salvador, El Salvador.  We got to Managua after another bus ride (on a locally owned express bus) from Granada to Managua (about an hour).

We arrived at the Tica Bus terminal 45 minutes early, as instructed.  However, our bus arrived 2 hours late.

To be fair, this is the first time that a scheduled bus has been late departing (at least one that we´ve been on).  Oh well.

After the Ticabus finally came, we got on.  Then we sat there for the next 11 hours.

Border crossings were interesting this time.  We never had to get off the bus.

For this trip, we crossed out of Nicaragua, and into Honduras.  At this border, the Honduras agent got on the bus and looked at all of our passports. No problem.

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