Nicaraguan Adventure - Day 3: a Leon! (12/29/10)

Had breakfast at the hostel and headed out towards Leon. Upon checking out, we pay our tab (137$ - for 2 people eating, drinking, sleeping, etc. not too bad) and get on the bus back to Leon. From the bus station, we get a cab to Via Via hostel, who actually kept the reservation I made and checked us in to the El Hoyo room (350C or 17$ a night). We put our names down for a sand-boarding trek with quetzal trekkers and then go change cash. Have lunch at the hostel while looking at places to eat and drink while in Leon. We hang out and L takes my Sudoku book (I taught him how to do it in LP) as he is now obsessed. We hang out a bit having some drinks before showering and heading out to explore a little bit and get some dinner. 

I believe this is the main cathedral in Leon. It was a huge, beautiful church near the center of town. 

Little area near the cathedral with a miniature Jesus statue in the little fountain looking thing behind me

We got thirsty as we walked around town so we settled into a random hole in the wall place and had a beer watching people walk to work and hang out nearby. 

One of my MOs when I travel is to check out local places of worship. This was the inside of a church that was allowing people to enter. So pristine and beautiful.

Outside of the church we went into. The outside is as fabulous as the inside was.

Wind up going to Taquezal which is having karaoke tonight (Wednesday seems to be Karaoke night in Leon as we saw many places with it walking around). After dinner, Luis takes some shots for some friends back home so he lines up whiskey, tequila, and vodka shots and proceeds to take them, struggling after the second one as one should. During dinner we noticed giant dressed creatures walking around on stilts with kids escorting them banging on drums. 

Having dinner at a cafe having karaoke night so I get a sippy drink.

Time to eat dinner. Looks tasty. If you noticed I am not currently eating for this picture. I am a quick learner.

Apparently tonight there was a contest of sorts for these giant mannequin things. After dinner, we find Olla Queada, a bar that Jill recommended as they had a live band on Wednesday nights. The band was good, playing American music, and the crowd seemed to be enjoying themselves. Have a few beers there hanging out and enjoying the music before making our way back to the hostel to get some sleep for tomorrow's excursion.

One of the mannequin ladies we saw running around the streets. More of them would appear over the next few days.

Nicaraguan Adventure - Day 2: Chilling on the beach in paradise (12/28/10)

Thinking I slept in (L tells me its 10:20 when its actually 730) I get up to have breakfast (eggs w/ onion/tomato, rice and beans, juice). When we finish eating, we go for a walk up and down the beach which is gorgeous. We then get back to the hostel to make sure we are there to receive L's bag when the airline delivers it. We play some games and have a beer with lunch, where his bag arrives while waiting on our food. Once he has his clothes, we change into our swimsuits and go for another walk on the beach before going into the water to swim/body-board for a while.

Good morning. I had to explain to Luis there was more to the beach than the hostel's bar. hahah just kidding, he is trying to order breakfast (maybe?).

We are exploring the beach area. It was high tide as this area during low tide is barren. Kinda cool that you can come walking by here and see boats sitting in the sand sometimes and in water others. 

This was the hostel's entrance to the beach. I took my cousin's kid's flat Stanley on this trip so he appears in a few of these pictures.  

Get back to the hostel and grab a drink while we shower before heading out to dinner at Olazul which was recommended online but the address that was given to us was incorrect so we go to La Palmera instead. La Palmera was more pricey and not as good as our hostel's food, however it is a nice place with view of the pool. 

Sunset on the beach. Not a bad deal to be able to see this every night.

Should not have put the whole thing in my mouth with Luis holding a camera. Dont know what I was eating but clearly I enjoyed it.

Luis learned from my mistake and waited for the picture to be taken before eating his food. Touche sir!

We get back to our hostel for some drinks on our deck and after spending some time up there, the security guard comes up and we chat for a bit. We then see the family we saw on the bus the other day from Managua and say hey. We go by to see if they want to play some cards, Wendy comes out but Jill and her boy-toy stay in. We play some rounds of rummy before turning in for the night.

Nicaraguan Adventure - Day 1: Arriving into the country and to our first stop, Las Penitas (12/27/10)

Luis and I get into Managua after a normal, relatively short for international standards, flight. Get through immigration and realize L's bag didn't make it somehow (direct flight, don't know how you mess that up and just leave it in Houston). We arrange with customer service to deliver it to our hostel where we will be the next couple days and then head out to the bus station via a taxi (20$ - I read later that there are cheaper taxis elsewhere at the airport but we got to our bus in time so that's what matters I guess) that decided to break down on our way to the station (twice – first time locals helped get it going again, second time for good where our driver got another one for us). At the bus station we get in a large van (~12 of us) and head to Leon (~2$pp) where we get a cab (50C) to the bus station to get to Las Penitas. That bus was a yellow school bus (as many of the future ones will be) for 20C that took us to the coast, through El Poneloyn, to our hostel's town of Las Penitas. The beach community seems to be very laid back and friendly with people hanging out outside along the road and on the beaches in bars. When we get to our hostel (Hostelito y cafe Oasis), the driver signals to us to get out (good thing cause I couldn't see our hostel's sign, which was on the wall somewhere that you have to know where to look) and we check in. Turns out the reservation that I made was not received, but they had a queen room open anyways thank goodness – I think options were not too many in this area. We grab some beer to celebrate our arrival and the start of our adventures, however when I go to pay, I learn they just keep a tab and you pay for everything as you leave. 

We are on the bus on our way to the hostel. Has been years since I have been on a yellow school bus. Luis looking like a badass.

Cheers we made it to our hostel! Getting this trip started off right!

The people running it were incredibly friendly and patient as I would try and practice my Spanish on this trip with L helping out occasionally when I was in a rut. We check out the hostel and chill there for a bit while having some drinks (beers and some local rum, Flor de Cana) and dinner (double cheeseburgers and fresh fish ceviche). After dinner, we get some drinks and go out to the beach with some chairs to watch the water crash into the shore under the starlight. 

Our guide book and a local rum on a beach just hanging out. 

Us enjoying the relatively private beach of the hostel with a couple glasses of rum.

Luis and I enjoying a beer on the beach before going to explore the neighboring area. 

We finish our beers, and head down the street where we found another hostel and a taco shack. After trying to communicate to the taco shack people unsuccessfully, we go into the hostel (Playa Roca) to have a beer on their top deck and then head home around 10pm to turn in for the night.

Hanging on a hammock at the end of the night cause why not?

South Africa Trip Overview

Duration of trip - 6/1-21/2010
Countries visited - Germany, South Africa, Lesotho, and Netherlands

South Africa, I will be back. 

This has been my favorite trip I have taken even as of writing this overview (11/2015). South Africa is an amazing country that has so many options of activities to do, absolutely stunning landscapes, friendly people, and some recent history (which to me is way more interesting than ancient history) to learn about as you explore the area. Some things were very fortuitous (the annual wine festival, Brazilian beer tent invite, etc.) while others were unfortunate (waterfall overflowing in Lesotho, not getting to pet penguins, etc.) however on a whole, this trip was fantastic. Being able to go from shark diving, to ostrich riding, to elephant watching and bungee jumping in a matter of a few days is just spectacular. Having the opportunity to see a world cup match was pure icing on the cake. Jim did a great job putting the trip together, the 4 of us had a great time hanging out with each other, and, most importantly, it gave me a chance to travel with and forge many great memories with my older brother, which was a priceless experience in and of itself.

My older brother posing for the camera. Love this guy! Thank you for this amazing experience. 

I can easily recommend many of the places I have been for people to go, but this is one of those places I almost browbeat people to take a trip to if they are even remotely thinking about traveling.

South Africa Trip - Day 14-the end: Returning for our extended layover in AMS (6/17-21/10)

Fly first to Jo-berg then try to connect to our flight through Nigeria however there is a representative at the gate saying we need a special visa (US citizens only, literally no other country has this requirement) to transfer through the airport, and since we don't have it we cannot board. We try and figure out what is happening and to get my bag. Turns out they did not unpack my bag so it gets sent to Nigeria. We wound up getting a later flight directly to FRA (where the flight through Nigeria would eventually land). We actually land in FRA before our initial flight and then catch our original flight to AMS. After arriving in AMS we realize my bag didn't make the trip; turns out it got taken off the plane in Nigeria since I didn't make my connecting flight – I was not thrilled about this as I have heard stories about the airlines in Nigeria taking people's stuff from checked luggage and my bag had my souvenirs in it. We get picked up by S's friend and call the airline once we get in to have them get my bag to our address once they get it; until then I wear borrowed clothes from C, my bro's friend. We spend the next few days (my bag comes the next afternoon) exploring their city (Utrecht), watching the Dutch win a match in a local bar (crazy atmosphere, where even they had the bane of my world cup experience – the vuvuzella), going into Amsterdam to have some herring (whole fish – wasn't a fan but gotta try it) and try some Belgian beer from a pretty sweet beer bar, and eventually spend a day on a boat exploring the countryside which was beautiful and an incredible time. S and I say our goodbyes and make our ways back to our respective places (he goes back to work in KZ and I head home).

We are just chilling in the lounge trying to get out of South Africa. Having access to these lounges definitely helped with the travel experience.

Finally got into AMS and got on a bus from our friends' place to check out the town a little bit.

Me admiring the beers at the Belgian beer bar we came to in AMS (I believe it was called gollem.

The AMS gang with our beers. Great time though that first day was brief as we had a full day of traveling under our belt when we got there.

Going back into AMS for the next day for a proper day of exploration and fun.

Saw these people on the water chilling in a recliner. Not sure exactly what was going on but I deemed it funny enough to capture and share.

Taking a boat tour of the canals and going through a small tunnel. Extremely pretty.

There was an old sail boat in the marina that we came across as part of the canal tour. I believe that building behind it is the maritime museum. 

Helping my friend out. The urinal we are using comes out of the ground at night so people have public restrooms to use during the times people go out. I love this idea and think more cities should adopt these in high concentrations of bars so people are not tempted to relieve themselves on buildings, fences, etc.

Sean got defeated by Craigy after we got back to his place. Oh what a night!

My bro and I standing in front of a pretty garden as we explored their area.

We are on a boat! We took a boat out for a bit to explore the inland waterways and go to a few towns.

Sean found a windmill. They are cool little buildings.

Dutch countryside. Not too shabby. 

Looks like we are coming up on civilization. Though didnt know people still lived in tents. Tents the size of houses.

Back in civilization at the next town. Those cars get awfully close to the water. Pretty towns abound.

My bro and I on the boat having a drink and enjoying the great day. This was the last day of the trip. The next day we were on planes back to our lives. Wonderful trip with a fantastic friend.

South Africa Trip - Day 13: Cape town waterfront exploration (6/16/10)

J and C leave to the airport to catch their flights back while S and I head to the waterfront to explore that area and get souvenirs. After doing some sight seeing and shopping, we stumble upon a microbrewery (Mitchelle's) where we try some non-lager beers while having some lunch. 

Stadium in Cape Town. Was really close to the water front area.

This bridge was an ordeal. It was the major crossing and it went up often. So you had to wait then run across when it was down if you wanted to get across. Cluster of people trying to cross over.

This was a ball floating in the water with people in it. It was like a paddle boat. 

Seals chilling on the docks. Seems like a nice day for laying out. I dont blame them.

Mitchelle's on the waterfront. Was a nice break from all the typical beers we had been drinking the whole trip. 

As we walk around, there are these advertising ladies from Brazil (the host nation of the next WC) offering us something, initially we are saying no, but then we listen to what they are saying and we say hell yes; they have been trying to get us to come to their hospitality tent with free food/drink and games. So we get to the tent with the tickets the lady gave us, and it is awesome; tons of Brazilian food and beer with foosball tables and video game soccer stations set up to play while you enjoy the hospitality (they even have TVs showing the WC games of course). We spent more time in there than I think either of us expected before heading back to the hostel to get some sleep for our flights back to AMS.

The Brazilian Fan Zone tent. Lets check it out.

No one here. I guess we can stay for a drink and check it out

Free food and drink is not too bad. People are starting to arrive and the live music is starting. Why not have another one or 2. 

My bro and I enjoying the last night in SA. 

South Africa Trip - Day 12: Returning to where it all started (6/15/10)

Today is a day for penguins!

Flew back to CT and then get down to Simon's town backpackers hostel down the coast from CT in what was a long and expensive cab ride. We check in, drop off our bags, and then head out to see the local penguin colony; I was super excited as it sounded like you get to mingle with penguins from what I read. We get there and it was not what I expected; its a park with elevated pathways that you have to stay on, however you do get to see many penguins, just don't get to get too close to them as I was hoping to.

The gang on the hostel balcony.

View from the hostel balcony. Not a bad view for our final stop.

Interesting street name. So we celebrated their openness.

We must be getting close.

Made it. Now lets try not to get too close. Your finger and wallet will both be hurt.

The penguins had these lil houses they could lay down in. Was cute.

Found a penguin I could pet. It wasnt as travel size as the other ones but it was a penguin :)

Me with all my lil penguins. Love them! I kept wondering if the 500R fine was worth just jumping over the railing and playing with the penguins until they came and stopped me. I did not do it, but I sure would love to.

After this we went down to the southern cape point (cape of good hope) and explored that area a bit before returning to the hostel to grab dinner down the street, have some beers and reminisce about the awesome trip we have finished as the others leave tomorrow.

They are excited they have baboons. I wonder where they are.

Oh there they are right in the middle of the street. Must have a death wish.  There were more up in the trees and what not as well. 

My bro and I at the Cape. We finally made it down here despite the baboons best efforts to stall us. 

Just a couple dudes enjoying the view of the southern point. 

Look at those clouds at the cape.

My bro and I down at the water's edge. 

View of the cape. Looks spectacular.

The gang at the Cape of Good Hope. Last picture of the trip of the 4 of us together.