Jurassic Park-minus the dinosaurs

Ometepe Island looks and feels like Jurassic Park. It is two Volcanos attached by a narrow isthmus situated in Lake Nicaragua. It takes an hour on the ferry from Granada and we had a huge rain storm while crossing. This was uncomfortable but fortuitous as we had the most amazing view of the Conception Volcano (still active) with a rainbow.

Sadly the awesome photo with the rainbow is on my camera-but you can see the faint start of it on the left hand side. We stayed in a hotel in cabins right on the lake and it was wonderful to sit on our little balconies watching the storm across the lake. There may have been a drink or two as well.....

(The ingredients for the local cocktail)

The next day four of us had chose to accompany a local guide called Willmore on a full day if adventure. We were in very safe hands as he was the Captain of the local volcano evacuation team, the head of the rescue team and had been on 4 national geographic documentaries filmed on the island. He was fantastic with impeccable English, a passion for wildlife and conservation and there wasn't a plant or animal he didn't know. We walked half way up the volcano to a view point. This was bloody horrible as it was about 90-95% humidity and three hours long. I actually had to ring my Tshirt out-gross. We made it and the view was worth it!!!

Next stop was lunch-to try to dry off- followed by a trip to the 'beach'. It's very bizarre as it looks like a beach but the water is fresh. We were walking along when about 6 horses came down and went for a frolick and a drink. A very bizarre sight and I had a moment of panic they were going to make themselves sick as I forgot it was not salt water. They then just wandered back up to their field. Very well trained!

The rest of the day involved feeding monkeys pork rind (!) and stopping the American tourists feeding them chocolate biscuits (Go Willmore!), a swim in the natural springs, a trip to the oldest church on the island which featured a Jesus statue wearing the most bizarre outfit I've ever seen-it was almost like something from Mardi Gras with his lovely red and gold Cuban heeled sandles.....And it also housed a colony of vampire bats.....

All finished up with a walk in a nature reserve which just about finished us all off! We did see some Howler Monkeys and a heap of birds. Willmore had a crack at trying to wind the males up which just resulted in one of them weeing at us. Sadly I can't upload the video of this.....something to look forward to on my return! A quick UNO tournament rounded up an awesome stay on Jurassic Park...with no Tyrannosaurus related fatalities. 

Granada-not to be confused with Granola

This has been the first place that I thought 'I could live here'. A calm, relaxed feel with wonderfully colourful streets, lovely people and right on the edge of Lake Nicaragua-which is ENORMOUS. You can't see the other side when standing on the shore. We were all quite excited about our incidental upgrade and were keen to do a full day tour the next day that had been highly recommended and everyone sighned up except one lady who was keen to do some serious shopping. I had one task in mind in Granada and that was colourful bird whistles. I had seen Pip's and had some serious envy so I was keen to sort that out. 

We had the most awesome waffle breakfast and was picked up by our guide Ramon (yes-another Ramon). Now-if there was an award for the nicest man in Nicaragua I'm pretty sure Ramon would win it. Born in Granada but bought up in the states (they fled the civil war) Ramon has an unprecedented passion for Granada. We had an awesome day that included a trip to the Masaya Volcano that is still active, a visit to the local markets, a delicious local lunch, a visit to a ceramic school (birds purchased!!!), a swim in the volcanic lake followed by a riverboat cruise around the little islands dotted on the edge of the lake. Our driver Mario was also awesome and was so concerned over the remnants of my cough he went and got me cough lollies. Bless his little cotton socks.  There was a brief upset when I 'lost' my phone-actually Ramon and Mario were more upset than me-which resulted in some wifi 'find my iPhone' and embarrassingly it was found in a side pocket of my bag. Woops. Lill-you would be so proud as I was most upset about not being able to blog and for losing my photos!!!!

Weird giant chairs-probably a good idea not to drink too much

Hotel upgrade!

We got back exhausted after a long but fruitful day which resulted in 4 bird whistles and a whole heap of ceramics which are going to be a pain to lug around and frankly a miracle if they arrive home not broken!!!!! I'm not sure what happened but it was just too much to resist!!!!

We loved Ramon so much that 5 of us chose to employ him for a two hour horse drawn tour of the city the next day before leaving for Ometepe. We learnt all about the history of the city from the arrival of the Spanish to the civil war. My fav was a trip to the cemetery but I didn't take any photos on my iPhone as I wasn't sure Ramon's nerves would hold out if I 'lost' it again. However-I did take a photo of the church that is still black from when William Wallace the American Phillibuster burnt the city to the ground.

Next stop Ometepe!!

Roatan Baby

Before I say anything I just want to say this:

And this

Sorry.

This is a bittersweet entry as while still having a fantastic time I managed to pick up a nasty chest infection which sentenced me to bed for a day and a half on the most beautiful tropical island. Then had some horrible news from home which just was devastating but everyone was really fantastic and looked after me delivering cold drinks, food and just a little company when I wasn't passed out. Thanks to my GP who had the foresight to prescribe me some antibiotics to take as she thought my chest sounded tight last time I went two weeks before leaving and was worried I'd get an infection while away....(if anyone wants her details she's in the city and awesome and I'm happy to pass them on!) Day three of my illness left me with cabin fever (although my fever was down-it's a very bizarre feeling to be bitterly cold under two blankets when it's 32 with 90% humidity!) and I headed off to the beach in the afternoon. There is not much to say that is not said better by the picture that I showed off first.

Sadly this was our last afternoon on the beach but I'm glad I didn't miss out completely. It was also fortuitous to have been sick at this point of the trip as it was the one place we had two full free days in. We stayed in an awesome hotel with our own balconies and hammocks so I was able to drag myself out of bed and lie in my hammock (tough I know!)

(View from my hammock)

I wasn't the only one ill and we later found out that there has been a viral outbreak in Honduras-I was just unlucky that it spread to my chest.

Anyway-enough of that...I'm on the mend and I know the family is all together helping each other in Australia and that is the most comforting thing.

We had an early departure (5:30) from Roatan as it was going to be a big two days of travel to get to Nicaragua. The first day involved a 1.5 hr ferry ride followed by 8 hrs in the bus. We have been lucky enough to have our own locally owned minivan with the most awesome driver Ramon. The driving here is about a 7.5 on the IBTAB (International Bus Travel Anxiety Barometer) with some really amazing trucks overtaking trucks on hairpin bends etc but Ramon was cautious, considerate and cheerful (3 C-words you like to hear about a driver). We loved him!! The scenery going through Honduras is lush and tropical. There are sections of dense foliage on rolling hills with coffee and palm oil plantations dotted through. Small towns are all quite similar with little roadside stalls selling fruit, cold drinks and tortillas to the many truck drivers passing along the road.

We arrived in Comoyagua, which is about half way betweeb Roatan and the Nicuaraguan border,at about 5 in the evening to the sounds of some pumping Latino hip hop and reggaton as directly across from our hotel there was a whole team of graffiti artists spraying a wall. We went for a quick wander around town which proved to have a very pretty town square (seems to be the thing around here) but we all felt a bit uncomfortable as we were attracting a lot of attention and lots of people had guns so we retreated to a restaurant for dinner and back to our noisy hotel.

After a hot and noisy night we stumbled back on the bus for another 12 hour trip to Granada in Nicaragua. Thank god for podcasts!!! We arrived in Granada Nicaragua after a stress free trip over the border. We were horrified to learn that Ramon had to drive back to Honduras that night-16 hours!!! So we stocked him up with chips, biscuits, coke and a fat tip!! 

Sadly, we arrived to find our hotel in darkness as they had lost power-which meant an upgrade to a better hotel with a pool!!! Woo hoo! Things are looking up!!

Over and out.

Ps sorry for delay-really struggled to get anything done while crook and we have had intermittent Internet xxx

Something awesome I forgot....

Shit. I'm not sure this is allowed but I forgot to mention something from NYC that made everything alright (better than the Crack Pie). I really should write these things down so that I don't forget to put them in as it might be too late but I wanted to include it (also now creating quite an anti-climax).

After saying goodbye to MacDad was heading home still with my hangover to pack and get my 1 1/2 hours sleep when as we were coming up First Avenue there was a humongous Drag Queen dressed as Roller Skating Barbie on a child's pink Barbie BMX complete with purple and pink handlebar streamers cycling up the bike lane. He/she was about 5cm from the ground but was absolutely fanging it up the road. The taxi driver and I were in hysterics laughing but I just couldn't get my phone out in time. Only in New York ladies and gentlemen, only in New York.

¡Bienvenido!

Ladies and Gentlemen- I made it. I have landed in Central America (It is most definitely not Barbados). I managed to get myself from Guatemala City to Antigua without being mugged, shot or traumatized in any way, shape or form. The worst thing that happened was that I had to wait 5 minutes for the other passenger to finish his ciggie before we could leave. I was most relieved as was feeling very nervous as the taxi driver who took me to the airport had said to me that he recently went and was mugged and he is even from there. The lady at check in told me to be careful and not to trust anyone, the guy at security told me to wear my crappiest clothes and no Jewelry and Lonely Planet said murders had recently escalated from 2000 to over 6000 per year. Great. On top of the last little bit of hangover, 1 1/2hrs sleep and a 1:30am start (is that even counted as a start??) I was feeling pretty excited and pumped about the upcoming  adventures.....

However despite being only 45 minutes drive away Antigua is a beautiful town with cobble stoned streets, teeney weeney people in colourful outfits and houses and churches that look like something from a film set. I half expected Antonio Banderas in a Zoro outfit to go running past brandishing a sword with Catherine Zeta Jones slung over his shoulder. Or hopefully maybe even me. Unfortunately due to the above mentioned recommendations from the helpful United staff I was too nervous to get my phone out to take some photos so you will just have to google it. Sorry. First day nerves I think.

I met the Intrepid group in dribs and drabs and found them to be on the whole welcoming and friendly (what a relief). We range in age from 19-83 (!!!) and come from NZ, Switzerland, Germany, Australia and the UK. We had a debrief and welcoming as 2/3 of the group have been travelling for a month already and there were 5 newbies joining. That made me a bit anxious as they are already very close but they have been great in including those that joined with me.

First adventure started with a trip to the post office to attempt to post some boots purchased in NYC. Was feeling confident as I set off with Val, Kathleen and Michaela. Luckily Michaela had gone the sat before and knew where it was. We had an hour before our bus was due to depart. First problem occurred when my boots didn't fit into the box. Luckily a supermarket close by provided a bigger box. Second problem occurred when she announced that we had to wrap our boxes in brown paper. So off we went to look for a stationary shop. When we found it I managed to describe what we needed. Finally we made it back and we were all frantically wrapping. We used all the tape in the post office and the poor lady got so frazzled by us she fell off her chair. Really. At last after filling out three forms the boxes were ready. I'm not even entirely convinced it is going to arrive but I was not prepared to lug the boots around. We had the poor lady smiling by the end and we had a good laugh. All of this pushed my crappy Spanish to the limit as no one spoke any English at all. 

On the bus we jumped for a long day of  traveling to Honduras. We had to drive back through Guatemala City which meant we all shared the worst statistics we had read or the worst things we had heard which culminated in Ernesto our guide admitting that in the 6 months he lived there he had to take a different route to work everyday and that he was mugged twice-once at gunpoint and once at knife point. We were all relieved to be driving past and not stopping. We arrived in Honduras at 5 in the evening in a town called Copan which is the site of some amazing Mayan ruins. A quick walk around town (it took 15 minutes) proved it again to be a picturesque and relaxed town. No guns. Phew. I sat in the main square with the kids running around and the men in their cowboy hats and boots (main uniform here is cowboy boots, hat, jeans and a shirt) and really enjoyed the atmosphere. Just realised the lovely photo I took was on my camera. Sorry.

The next day was a free day to do what we liked. Four of us chose to have a guided tour of the ruins. Julio Ceasar (yes that's right) was our guide and he was great. He had worked for 17 years on the excavation and restoration of the site and was a fountain of knowledge. 

It was getting pretty hot by the time we finished and I was feeling quite pleased as can now recite the last 16 Kings from that region. I'm sure that will come in handy at a trivia night at some point. Val and I headed off to the coffee shop and then to find some lunch. We managed to find our way to the markets where there were a whole heap of little hole in the wall restaurants. We found a very friendly lady who made us a delicious lunch of Balledas which are kind of a cross between an omelette and a quesadilla and a plate of Plantanos Fritos. Now I'm not sure how many of you have had Plantanos Fritos but its like crack on a plate. Very addictive and absolutely delicious. Plantains are like giant bananas that taste really crap if you eat them raw but AMAZING once you have fried them and served them with bean dip and cream. A bit like Banana Nachos. Hang on-not sure that sounds as good as I meant! Trust me-they are awesome. Now Val is a very lovely English lady and we had a grandmother-type Honduran lady sitting at the end of our table watching the proceedings, so Val, being the generous and kind person she is, offered her a plantain. As quick as a snake she darted out and took the whole plate. She was definitely much quicker than she looked and we were both very startled. She then put the plate on her lap under the table and proceeded to polish it off. Well, I was having none of that as I was bloody enjoying those plantains so I stuck out my fork and in Spanish asked if I could have another one. Pretty much 'No' was the answer that I got. The cheek of it! We all ended up in hysterics (we had accrued another member of our group -Jay- at this point). Never again!

Next stop was Macaw Mountain which is a sanctuary for birds that were seized or rescued from poachers and private residences. We saw Macaw's, heaps of different parrots, Owls and hawks. The group that went in the morning managed to get some photos with the birds and I was hoping to get a comical photo with a macaw on my head for the blog but we got there a bit late so you will just have to settle for a comical photo of me driving a tuktuk (bizarrely the main mode of transport here). Our tuktuk driver was called Nolan and he was a machine! It was probably a blessing in disguise as they all ended up with huge holes in their t-shirts from the birds claws.

Happy Hour with $2 Daiqiri's wrapped up a really wonderful day. Woohoo!

Next stop Roatan!

A Lesson Learnt....

Well-the verdict is in. I would still move to New York in a heartbeat. I know it's not everyone's cup of tea but I love it. It's alive and it has an energy all of its own. It was just a shame I was only there for less than 72 hours. It was an even bigger shame that I spent at least 15 of those hours with the worst hangover I've had in ages. The lesson learnt was that if a large Danish man challenges you to a drinking game that involves double shots of whiskey and not using your hands-say No. Immediately. Don't even consider it because you will pay. In the form of a wasted day in NYC. Well-it wasn't completely wasted as I spent a lovely day with MacDad but my tasks that had been set were not completed. I didn't make it to Sephora for my makeup bonanza as we were worried if someone came at me too quickly with a lipstick I might vomit on then. I had to leave Anthroplogie before checking out the homewares or trying on everything for the same reason. I couldn't stomach a pastrami from Katz's Deli and I didn't get to send a random boy in the army a salami. Devastated!!!! Serves you right Miss Shugg. I did however-managed to squeeze in some Crack Pie from Momofuku much later in the evening.

We retreated back to MacDads apartment for a lie down before attempting to visit a craft shop I was very excited about-only to have a massive storm break just as we were heading off. Not my day! We miraculously found a cab and decided chances of getting another were slim to none so we made him wait while I zoomed around the shop absolutely saturated filling in my orders! It was probably a good thing as I could have gone ballistic in there (Crampage Take Two). To further compound things my flight left at 5:15am and my car picked me up at 2am as United Airways told me I would need 3 hours for checking in. When I got to the airport at 2:40 the check in wasn't even open and didn't open until 3:30.....

Sigh.

We live and learn! It was still great and so good to see MacDad in action in NYC-I believe it might be her spiritual home. So-thanks very much MacDad for an awesome two days-up until said incident I was having a ball out with you and Geordie. I will be back and this time I'm steering well clear of any whiskey wielding Danish Men.

ps I'll email you my list of makeup requests....

Just at the airport and next stop Guatemala where the scary bit begins..... Woop woop!

Pps saw this sign outside a bar-thought it summed the city up:

A Battle, A Wedding and A Crisis Averted

Old Blighty-how I've missed you!!

I think it was a good plan to have let 4 years past before returning as it stopped me from randomly bursting into tears at the sight of a double decker bus, a fluttering Union Jack, at the whiff of cod and chips with vinegar and at the sound of the woman who does the voice over on BBC One. I love Melbourne but I do miss London. Especially my family. I miss them the most. Actually my family and Portuguese Custard Tarts. Not to pick favourites.....

(Tarts!)

It's been a wonderful return to the city-although way too short. I had a lovely taxi driver who did a detour on a prepaid trip down my old street in Brixton to see my old house. Brixton has completely changed and is now gentrified complete with Hipsters and a food court in the old market. I still managed to spot a couple of my old favourite mens clothing stores (long live The Baron), Tube Station Evangelists, crazies and I'm sure the local drug dealers are still skulking around. Had two wonderful nights hanging out with my family before heading to the Big Event. Also, just a little bit of shopping.....

My cousins wedding was held at a wonderful spa retreat near Battle in Hastings. An old family friend organised a tour of Battle where in 1066 the reign of Anglo-Saxon rule was quashed by William The Conquerer. Embarrassingly our group of ten Australians at the beginning of the day were only able to offer up three things they knew about the Battle of Hastings 1) the French were involved (not quite correct) 2) it was in 1066 (thanks to the chef from Roller Door cafe) and 3) someone got shot in the eye. Julius did a great job and by the end of the day we were all experts on the subject. Favourite fact of the day: when William the Conquerer died he was so fat that when they were pushing him into his too-small crypt in France his stomach exploded. Fascinating.

(Battle Abbey)

Had a wonderful time at the wedding. Managed to find a cheap and cheerful fascinator so was feeling the part. Sadly it rained all day but the ceremony and reception were fantastic. We are very lucky to have Naomi joining our family. It was well worth 27 hours on the plane to see Erik's face when she came in. That and the seven layer cheese tower served as the 'wedding cake'. Big night had by all!

Sun was shining the next day for the all important cricket match. I sadly could not stay as was due to head back to Kent to see the family. It was Bank Holiday Weekend which traditionally should have the first bit of good weather in the lead up to summer. We were not disappointed! Had a wonderful English Seaside Experience which included Mini Golf, Fish and Chips with mushy peas, a 99'er (that's a soft serve with a flake for those that are also confused) and a wonderful pub meal in my Uncles favourite pub. Shock of the day came when I overheard a child ask his mum 'if that orange stuff is sand'....Yes son, it is.

 

Cried 4 times in one day saying goodbye to various family members and arrived back in London physically and emotionally wrecked. I must have looked sufficiently rubbish because three people offered to help me with my bags and someone offered me a seat! Cheered myself up with a delicious lunch at Moro followed by some drunk shopping. Luckily I decided buying the £230 necklace at the beginning of my trip was not a good idea. 

I'm now sitting on the tube heading to Heathrow to get my flight to NYC after 24 hours of frantically trying to catch up with as many people as possible-the woman at the tube station was amazed at how many stations I had touched on and off at. This cumilated in an awesome night drinking marghatitas and eating tacos with various friends and cousins because frankly-I'm not going to eat enough tacos in the next 6 weeks. Luckily writing this is distracting me as I've REALLY had enough of crying on public transport!!! 

As to the Crisis Averted- I swear this stuff only happens to me. Call it Shugg intuition or maybe just assuming the worst but for some reason at 10:30 on Sunday night I was feeling anxious about my flight to Guatemala on the following Sunday. So-got my ticket out and double checked-yes flying NYC to Antigua (the city where my tour starts) on sun at 8:30am. I then looked at the airport I was due to land in and thought the name wasn't particularly Latino sounding...so I googled it to find it located on a small island in the Caribbean. HOLY S@&T (actually I said something much worse but my gran is following this blog). Urgent email sent to travel agent who confirmed that yes she had accidentally booked me to fly to the country of Antigua. What frightens me the most is how far would I have gotten before I realised. Would I have boarded the plane? Would I have found out on arrival when I was welcomed to the Caribbean and I yelled back 'Baaacon' in shock. I don't know but I'm pretty sure that I would have probably vomited and most likely done something worse at the same time in pure fright. As I said before-A Crisis Averted. It's all fixed now and onward and upward.

Hopefully that's the worse thing that was going to happen. Hopefully....

Over and out.

(Ps that's the best cocktail I've had in ages-Rhurbarb and Ginger Sour at Gilbert and Scott)