Videos of Our Quito Apartment: Ecuador

The three things we don't like about our apartment in Quito:

It's a bit noisy
It doesn't have an oven
It doesn't have a washer and a dryer.

Otherwise, we LOVE this place.

So, we've made 2 videos to show our apartment in Quito. Hope you enjoy! (And if you want, there's room for you to come and visit - Hint! Hint!)

Continue reading "Videos of Our Quito Apartment: Ecuador" »

Torpedos de Ruidoso: Our earplugs

Funny story: just three weeks ago in Panama City, we thought ruidoso (in Spanish) meant quiet or quietness...

We thought it meant quiet because earplugs are called torpedos de ruidoso.

So when we were in Panama City we thanked the Hotel Santana staff member for moving us to a room that was more ruidoso (thinking we were saying we appreciated a quieter room).

The lady laughed and left our more "ruidoso" room.

I'll come back to that in a minute.

While we've been traveling, we've noticed central and South America are pretty noisy places.

Continue reading "Torpedos de Ruidoso: Our earplugs" »

Cuatro Rosas

Every Friday in our Spanish classes, Jonathan and I have to try to decipher the words to a song in Spanish by a guy from Colombia.

It's a listening and comprehension exercise.

For those of you who know Jonathan even remotely well, you already know that listening to a song over and over and over (seriously about 15 times) is as close to torture as it gets for him.

He's been singing this song ever since.

I just thought I'd share it with you, so that if you hear him singing a song in "some weirder foreign language", you'll know what it is.

I'm a visual person. He's strongly auditory.

He is much better at this activity than I am. I don't think it would matter what language a song were in, he'd still be better at it than me.

Spanish Doesn't Come Naturally, That's For Sure

Learning a new language is not natural.

In the category of *language*, I would include HTML, Spanish, business language, and geometry.

This is about my efforts at learning the language of Spanish.

I was super frustrated in Spanish class this past Wednesday. It felt like high school pre-calculus all over again.

I just don't get Spanish yet...

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Happy Valentine's Day from Quito, Ecuador

Carrie and I started dating on February 14, 2002, three days after we met.

So Valentine's Day is very special for us.

We like to celebrate Valentine's Day by cooking each other dinner.

We'll be making chicken parmesan and having pasta with homemade sauce, followed by a dessert of no-bake cookies.

Yummy!

For lunch, we went out to a little Italian cafe' close by here and ate like a king and queen for less than $14 (including tax + tip).

The place was all decorated in Valentine's Day decor... made it a really fun lunch date.

It's also carneval (Car nuh vahl) here in Quito (and all over Ecuador - and the world really), so we got sprayed with a little water from the back of a pickup truck on the way to the store today.

More about Carneval in another post.

How about you? What did you do for Valentine's Day?

Teleferiqo, a gondola to 13,340 ft. in Quito, Ecuador

A Morning at 13,340 ft.

Today Jonathan and I met up with our friends Alex and Kyra (whom we met at the language school). We decided that it would be a great day to go up Pichincha Volcano via the Teleferiqo.

El TelefériQo comes from teleférico (gondola) and Quito.

The TelefériQo takes you from the west of Quito up the mountain.

Continue reading "Teleferiqo, a gondola to 13,340 ft. in Quito, Ecuador" »

Weird Food: Eating Cuy (Guinea Pig) in Quito, Ecuador

On a Friday afternoon after Spanish class, Carrie and I paid $5 to take part in a tradition that is one of the 5 things you must do while in Ecuador.

These pictures are from the tradition of eating cuy, or guinea pig.

WARNING:This post contains some pretty graphic pictures of dead and cooking animals that still look like guinea pigs.

If you're okay with that, continue on.

I've got a video of this experience as well, so be sure to check that out below. Before the video though, here are a few of the pictures from us cooking and eating cuy.

Continue reading "Weird Food: Eating Cuy (Guinea Pig) in Quito, Ecuador" »

Quito, Ecuador: Day 2

Today we went to check out our Spanish school (Simon Bolivar), and practice getting there, since we weren't sure exactly how to do that.

Paolo told us that there is a government-sponsored bus that runs down a main road (6. de Diciembre). This bus costs only $0.25 per person, per ride. However, it only stops at designated stops.

There are other busses that run a similar route and will stop anywhere, but those are a bit more confusing if you don't know exactly where you're going. And they take longer.

So, when we got to the bus stop, we hopped up on the platform (directly from the road) thinking that we paid on the bus. We were wrong.

The bus security guard came up to us and said that we needed to go through the turn styles, and pay there. Oops. He escorted us back to the booth and watched very carefully that we did as we were told.

The challenge though, is that we didn't know where the bus would stop, and where the closest stop to our school would be. We were just hoping that we would recognize street names as we drove past them.

At one point, we thought we'd gone too far, so we got off. After we left the bus stop, and checked our map (given to us by Javier yesterday), we realized that we were only about half way there.

So we had to get back on the bus, and pay again.

The next time we got off the bus, we were at the right place. Exactly. The bus stopped right at the street we needed!

So we started walking to the school. We got a few blocks and realized we'd gone the wrong way. No big deal, but we were already late meeting Pablo there.

Apparently being late is a bigger deal in Ecuador that it was anywhere in Central America. But, Pablo loaned us his cell phone, and we settled up on the groceries he bought us yesterday.

Once at the school, Sophia showed us around and gave us a welcome packet. We'll start classes on Monday.

Arriving in Quito, Ecuador and checking in to our apartment

Last night, Jonathan and I arranged for a taxi to come pick us up at 5:30am. We were told that we needed to get to the airport (Panama City Tocuman International) 3 hours before our flight. We thought that that sounded early, so we opted for 2 ½ hours early.

We were too early.

Check in took approximately 6 minutes, and security took even less. So, we were left with plenty of time to wander the airport.

We went to a small café (the only one we saw in the airport) for a cappuccino. We each ordered one. We thought that they were on the expensive side ($2.50 / 8 oz.), but thought that since we were in Panama home to excellent coffee, that we would go ahead and enjoy a last cup of Panamanian coffee.

Unfortunately, the coffee was not good. Not good at all. It was a waste of $5.

Then we went and boarded our plane. To Costa Rica. Yes, we had to fly from Panama to Costa Rica before flying to Ecuador.

(There is no way by land from Panama to South America. The highway doesn't go through an area called The Darien Gap. The Darien Gap is home to a vast jungle, and many indigenous people of Panama. There are several reasons why there is no road connecting Panama with Colombia. One reason is the jungle. Apparently the jungle can overgrow the highway faster than they can build it. Another reason is drug trafficking. The Panamanians didn't want an easy way for drugs to come into Panama from Colombia.)

Traveling through Costa Rica was no problem at all. We didn't have to stop for customs or anything. I was expecting the same process there as what happens even just passing through the United States.

When we went to pick up our bags from baggage claim, we noticed that they had dogs. The dogs weren't just there smelling the bags.

Oh no, they were walking over everyone's bag as it went around the conveyor belt.

As we left, we were hoping that the representative from our Spanish School would be there to pick us up, as transportation from the airport is included in the price. But, we hadn't confirmed it, so we weren't sure

Luckily, Xavier was there holding a sign with our names. We gave him the address for the apartment that we found.

Javier dropped us off at Finlandia 443 30 minutes early. We waited outside for Paolo to show up. But, he was already there.

When Paolo came down, he said that he wasn't expecting us until 5 because he thought our plane arrived at 3. So, we weren't just 30 minutes early, we were 2 ½ hours early. That's unheard of here!

He was willing to let us come up and see the apartment anyway. It's great! It's on the 8th floor, and has 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, a big kitchen, and a balcony overlooking a large park...all for $20 / day ($600 / month). Awesome!

Paolo was nice enough to take us to the grocery store so we could get set up. Unfortunately, we'd forgotten to bring our money with us, so he even bought us a few groceries (we paid him back the next day). He's a really nice guy.

Our first day in Quito was really good. We're looking forward to spending the next month here, learning Spanish and exploring Ecuador.

Anyone have any suggestions for what we should see / do in Ecuador?

Panama Viejo and Casco Viejo in Panama City, Panama are not the same thing

Panama Viejo and Casco Viejo in Panama City, Panama are not the same thing...

I don't know why, but for some reason, I thought that Panama Viejo (old town Panama City) was Casco Viejo. I was wrong.

This morning, Jonathan and I decided to go see Panama Viejo and then have lunch at one of the many new and fun places in Casco Viejo.

Casco Viejo is also called Antiguo Viejo, as you'll see in the video below.

We grabbed a taxi right out front of our hotel (Hotel Santana), and were taken to Panama Viejo. Our driver also told us where it was safe and where it wasn't if we wanted to walk around the old city.

Continue reading "Panama Viejo and Casco Viejo in Panama City, Panama are not the same thing" »

The Panama Canal at Miraflores

The Panama Canal at Miraflores

For some reason, whenever I hear of the Panama Canal I think of "Arsenic and Old Lace".

Teddy says "I'm going to the basement to dig the Panama Canal!"

I love that show...

No trip to Panama, especially Panama City, would be complete without a trip to the canal.

We didn't really make it work last time we were here (as we just passed through Panama City), but this time we knew we'd go.

Our overnight bus arrived into Panama City from David at 6:00am - exactly on time!

There are some crazy buses in Panama (all over Central America)!

From there we went to our hotel, and they let us check in super early, which was great!

So, we were able to grab a nap.

I read that there is a restaurant in the visitor's center of the canal, so we decided to go there, have lunch, and watch a few ships pass through.

It was awesome! The food was ok, not the best (and pretty pricey), but good enough.

Continue reading "The Panama Canal at Miraflores" »

Playa Las Olas and La Barqueta: A Day at Panama's Beach

Getting to the beach at Playa Barqueta (or) Playa Las Olas, Panama is relatively straight-forward (for a place that doesn't really have streets labeled that well).

You take the road from the Panamerican Highway into David that would take you to the David airport, and then follow the signs to las Olas.

(There are signs to Las Olas all the way, but in David, the sign and the turn is easy to miss. Heading to the airport, you take a right at the private Catholic School for boys - a 3 story building at a non-descript intersection before the turn to the airport), and then follow the road.

Las Olas/Playa Barqueta is a condominium beach resort and hotel which also has some lots and condos for sale right on the beach (from $239,000 to upwards of $400,000).

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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:

Continue reading "Podcast #5: The Northern Part of Central America" »

Video: Monkeys At The Mayan Ruins of Tikal

This short video of spider monkeys (monkeying around) was taken on Dec. 15 when we visited the Mayan Ruins at Tikal, Guatemala.

Watch as the adult monkey leaps out and grabs a branch so that the baby spider monkey can crawl across it's back to the other tree.

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.

Tikal Mayan Ruins at Tikal, Guatemala (Lots of Photos)

We will be posting our thoughts on Tikal park and the Tikal Mayan ruins very soon...

For now, we're just posting some of our favorite pictures.

In 2 days, we took over 130 photos of the amazing ruins at Tikal.

Suffice it to say that we loved our visit to the Mayan Ruins in Tikal, Guatemala and will have more to say (in this post) soon.

For now, we hope you enjoy the visuals from a place that is being restored... a city that is over 1,000 years old and is being dug out of the jungle so that it will be preserved in it's best state for future generations.

Continue reading "Tikal Mayan Ruins at Tikal, Guatemala (Lots of Photos)" »

Wanted: Great Travel Agent

I feel bad for the Germans whom we met today, Thomas and Kristin, who got to listen to us complain about the confusion caused by...

I have no idea what it's been caused by actually. Perhaps different expectations and/or understandings about the travels we booked through plus Travel in Antigua, Guatemala.

Thomas and Kristin met and saw us at the height of our frustration.

Three times in our travels in the last few years, Carrie and I have used travel agents. Three times it has turned out creating frustrating results.

In my mind, in 2009, in an era when anyone can do their own research and make their own reservations online, (or via phone) directly with providers of services, the role of a travel agent is to make things easier and less expensive (since they should be able to pass along discounted prices and connections they have worked to build).

Perhaps the travel agents we have used don't view their role this way, but at this point, I don't envision us ever hiring a travel agent again.

In short, here is the gist.

Continue reading "Wanted: Great Travel Agent" »

Chichicastenango on Market Day (AKA: We ARE The Giants from the North)

Did you grow up hearing tales about Giants from the North? I know I did. I've even heard them referenced in numerous movies and children's fairy tales.

I was never too concerned about giants though (it was vampires that terrified - terrify - me).

Today I learned something about myself.

The reason that I was never afraid of giants is because I am one.

I am a Giant from the North.

Continue reading "Chichicastenango on Market Day (AKA: We ARE The Giants from the North)" »

The Most Terrifying Ride Of My Life...(So Far)

Today, Jonathan and I had booked a trip to Lake Atitlan. We used Plus Travel (please see this post for more information on Plus Travel in Antigua, Guatemala).

Our trip included: shuttle ride from Antigua to Panajachel, a boat tour of 3 cities on Lake Atitlan, a hotel in Panajachel, shuttle to Chichicastenago, and a shuttle back to Antigua.

I'll talk about the rest later, but I want to take just a minute and tell you about the shuttle ride from Antigua to Panajachel. Why? Because I'm still alive to tell the tale.

Continue reading "The Most Terrifying Ride Of My Life...(So Far)" »

3 city boat tour around Lake Atitlan, Guatemala

Jonathan keeps calling the cities around the lake "islands". I think that's cute.

We're finally off to the first city on our tour: San Marcos.

We get off the boat, and we're told we have an hour to see the town. That doesn't sound like much time to explore a whole town.

It's too much. Really.

But we did find a little amphitheater where Jonathan put on a show for me.

We get back on the boat, exactly on time, and are driven to San Pedro a little bit further around the lake.

Again, we're only given an hour to see this town. So, we grab a Tuk-Tuk, and ask for a tour.

The driver is great. He's really friendly and fun. He's more than willing to talk about what we're seeing, so that we actually know what's going on.

We also learned that he's only 15 years old! 15 and spending his Christmas vacation DRIVING to make money.

Continue reading "3 city boat tour around Lake Atitlan, Guatemala" »

Hurry up and wait.

Just a head's up...the following is a bit of a rant.

I already talked about our crazy driver from Antigua, Guatemala to Panajachel, Guatemala. But, what I didn't say, was why he might have been such a maniac.

When we finally arrived in Panajachel, on the shores of Lake Atitlan, he took us to our hotel. We were basically thrown a room key and remote control, and told to be back at the van ASAP.

Well, before either of us has had time to do anything (go to the bathroom after a long and very stressful trip maybe), the driver lays on the horn of the van.

We rush out, and we're driving (crazily again) to the dock. The dock is only 4 blocks away. We could have walked.

Continue reading "Hurry up and wait." »

Volcan Pacaya, near Antigua, Guatemala (Lava roasted marshmallows anyone?)

We'd heard the rumors.

We'd even seen the pictures.

And, yes, it is true.

There is a place where you can hike to the top of a volcano and see the lava pouring down over the side.

How can you pass up an opportunity like that?

Sure, it has its dangers...Vesuvius anyone?

We knew that it would be safe for us, and something we just had to do. So, at 2:30pm, we were off.

Continue reading "Volcan Pacaya, near Antigua, Guatemala (Lava roasted marshmallows anyone?)" »

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.

Continue reading "Geckos, Roosters, Fireworks, Car Alarms, Children, Dogs, Sneezing, Parades and Bells, Doorbells, and Construction" »

Casa De Cafe, Copan Ruins

Missed writing last night because I was so tired. We caught the bus from Guatemala City to Copan, Honduras, at 5 AM from a hotel that was about 6 blocks away from our hotel (Hotel Dai Nonni). The shuttle picked us up at the Westin Camino Real, where we didn´t stay due to cost of the rooms, but it looked nice from the outside. We spent the morning head bobbing in the back of a 15 passenger van , sort of pretending to sleep, because every time the driver went careening around a curve, I nearly fell off of my seat.
We got to Copan about 10:00 AM where we stayed at the Casa de Café, Copan. We got settled in our room (and got some yummy tea from our hosts for the day/evening at the hotel, and then walked about a mile to the Copan Mayan Ruins.

We walked back to the town and stopped at the shotgun-guarded ATM.
People have said how huge the structures are which were built by ancient civilizations. I´ve been to Stonehenge in England. I´ve walked through St. Peter´s in Rome. I´ve been to Mesa Verde in Colorado, USA. But I was not prepared for the massive nature of what exists at Copan. And people say that the society which lived at Copan is small compared to the society which lived at Tikal. So now I´m looking forward even more to seeing Tikal.
At Copan, there is an amazing staircase which upon first look appears to be an amazing set of stairs made from limestone and sandstone.

After looking at them for a minute though, it becomes apparent that each stone was carved into a symbol and the staircase itself can then be read. It´s the long form story of the recorded history of the people who lived at this place from around 100-1100 AD.

Why did they die out? Where did they go? What gave them the idea to carve stones so precisely and build structures like they did at Copan? Why had I never Heard of or seen pictures of this place? Are Mayan ruins really so plentiful?
A thousand other questions eked their way into my mind throughout the four hours we spent wandering through the ruins at Copan.
For foreigners, the ruins cost $15 per person. It seemed expensive at the time of purchase, but was absolutely worth it.
My recommendation - take the tour at Copan Ruins even though it costs more.
We ate pupusas at at a café in Honduras in the afternoon (full lunch cost $4.33 for both of us), and fell asleep at 5:30 at Casa de Café. Woke up at 9:45

An evening in Copan, Honduras and current events (and travel safety) discussion with a local

Jonathan and I really needed a nap yesterday.

We got back to Casa de la Cafe after the ruins closed, at about 5:30 last night. We decided to just lie down for awhile.

4 hours later, we woke up. By that time, almost everything in town had closed (the internet cafe, and most restaurants).

We had a good talk with Cid about the current state of affairs in Honduras. We also got to hear his perspective on the situation.

It´s always interesting to talk politics. So, here is the run down from a native Honduran:

The President who was kicked out of the country (wearing nothing but his jammies) was becoming good friends with Caesar Chavez over in Venezuela.

He was also trying to institute some very socialistic policies into the government of Honduras (think WWII). He also tried to illegally extend his election term.

The people didn´t like that. So, they kicked him out.

Continue reading "An evening in Copan, Honduras and current events (and travel safety) discussion with a local" »

Copan, Honduras: Mayan Ruins

With all we have heard about political unrest and the lack of safety in Honduras, we were not sure if it was a country we were going to visit on this trip.

After lots of research, Jonathan and I decided that it would be very safe for us to travel to Copan.

Copan is one of the safest places in Honduras, and it is really easy to get to without passing through any of the "bad" areas.

We had also heard that it is best to visit the ruins at Copan before visiting Tikal, Guatemala. (Something about visiting Copan being anti-climactic after seeing Tikal.) So, we found a shuttle between Guatemala City and Copan.

We left our hotel at 4:30am (yep, AM) to walk (yes...we walked through Guatemala City) the 6 blocks (see - not far) to where the shuttle would pick us up.

After about 5 hours in the shuttle (more on shuttles later), and a very easy border crossing (where, sadly, we received no stamps, just a little slip of paper) we were in Honduras.

Continue reading "Copan, Honduras: Mayan Ruins" »

Notes From Hotel Dai Nonni

Hotel Dai Nonni
Guatemala City

Met owner of Hotel Dai Nonni. Very nice. Very nice hotel if a bit overpriced, but was worth it for a quiet, nice room with HOT showers, and lunch packed for us for our early morning the next day.

TicaBus from San Salvador to Guatemala City - first impressions of Guatemala City - big, sprawling, more modern, at least in appearance, than any other city we´ve been in, in central America, except Panama City.

Taxi driver (even though we had pre-arranged that it would cost only $5 for both of us from TicaBus to the hotel), tried (after we were in the taxi with him) to get us to travel with him or his connections to other tourist destinations in Guatemala.

Then he tried to get us to change hotels, telling us we were in a bad, ugly neighborhood. When we said no, he literally stopped all conversation with us.

He then struggled to find our hotel (even though he had said he knew where it was). He stopped and asked for directions twice.

He got us to the hotel, and made up something about having to charge us $15. We refused. I conveyed that he had said $5... he insisted on $15 (we had been in the taxi less than 15 minutes (with two stops).

After we refused, he backed off to $10, saying something else about meaning $5 per person, which was just a lie since he told me at the TicaBus terminal it was $5 ¨para los dos¨.

Continue reading "Notes From Hotel Dai Nonni" »

Thoughts From El Salvador (2)

10:45 PM
Hotel Novo Apart

Verb of the day - Pensar - to think
Penso (pensarme) - I think
Pensamos - we think

Notes:

Met Gerard Akse from Holland
- Helped him with email issue, had great conversation over dinner.

Met Josue (our surprisingly 23 year old) taxi driver who took us to Puerto del Diablo, where he hiked with us to the top. He also took us to have traditional El Salvadorean food - Pupusa (a thick corn tortilla filled with whatever you want to put in it - cheese, chicken, etc.)


Took Taxi back to hotel.

Took additional taxi to Museo Antrrpologico, which was pretty interesting. It would be even more interesting, I´m sure, if my Spanish were better.

There was a mummified Mayan person there in a glass case which was rather surprising and a bit shocking since I was in the room for a while before I noticed it.

Continue reading "Thoughts From El Salvador (2)" »

Novo Apart Hotel in San Salvador, El Salvador

The Novo Apart hotel is appropriately named. It´s apart from the main part of the city while still being a part of the city. The rooms at Novo Apart are also set up to be like apartments.

The beds at Hotel Novo Apart were comfortable and the shower was warm. Not hot, but it was definitely a warm shower for the entire duration of my 8 minute shower, something I´ve discovered to be a bit of a novelty in Central America.

My favorite part of Novo Apart Hotel was the breakfast (Desayuno: dess - eye - you - no in Spanish). They had cook-to-order omlettes (a treat we haven´t had since hotel Aranjuez in Costa Rica), fried yucca with spicy salsa, watermelon, bread, fresh squeezed orange juice, and plantain sweetened and with cinnamon.

People do a lot with plantain in central America. It´s fun to discover all kinds of new options for things we can do with food when we get to a place where we`ll be cooking again.

We could have cooked at our kitchen at Novo Apart... there were dishes and a pan and a stove, but we were only in San Salvador for 1 day and 2 nights so we wanted to maximize our time in seeing the city.

Continue reading "Novo Apart Hotel in San Salvador, El Salvador" »

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.

Continue reading "Thoughts From El Salvador" »

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 frmo 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.

Continue reading "Tica Bus takes us from Managua, Nicaragua to San Salvador, El Salvador" »

Cigars, a Cemetery, and an old Compound

Today Jonathan and I set out to buy our Tica Bus tickets. On the walk there, Jonathan got distracted (which is quite usual). He was peeking into someone`s windows. I didn't think that this was the best idea, so I kept walking.

It turns out that he was peeking into a cigar rolling facility. One of the workers came out and asked if we would like to look around and have a small tour. We couldn´t pass that up!

For once, I was actually pleased that Jonathan got distracted - and was snooping.

The tour was brief, but we learned that each cigar has at least 5 leaves rolled together. They are then pressed for at least 5 minutes per side in a press built especially for cigars.

Then, they are given to a woman, and only a woman.

Only a woman can put the decorative leaf finish on the cigars. Why? Because a woman is more aesthetically able to do this part of the job. It´s really amazing to see one come together.

We were told that each person could make about 500 cigars per day.

That´s a lot of cigars.

We had so much fun at Mombacho Cigars that we wish we knew someone who smoked. They would have made a great gift. (But, actually, we´re thankful that we know all non-smokers.)

Then, our guide asked us if we would like to try rolling our own. Of course we took her up on that suggestion as well!

It was really fun. But, the professional roller got us started. Then, they said that if we waited, we could take them with us!

After rolling our cigars, they pressed them for us, and put the finishing touches on them. We didn´t have to pay for them. All we had to do was tip the workers.

Our guide then gave us some more recommendations for what to see our last day in Granada. She suggested we visit the old fort and the cemetery.

She had really great suggestions, so we knew we´d be missing out if we didn´t take her up on those ideas as well.

Off we went to the fort. It´s just like it sounds. An old fort. This one has a bunch of watch towers that you can climb up (for free), and get a great view of the city.

There´s also an old cannon in the middle. They left the old walls around it. It´s crazy how they built a fort with walls that were at least 3 feet thick.

Next we walked to the cemetery. What makes the cemetery in Granada, Nicaragua unique? It´s all above ground - similar to Recoletta Cemetery in Buenos Aires.

From there we were went back to our original mission for the day: Tica Bus. The station in Granada is walking distance from any part of the city center, and really easy to find.

Tica Bus is an international bus company that runs all the way from Panama City to Mexico. From our experience so far, they´re good quality, and relatively in expensive considering the distance.

Here are the tickets we bought:
Managua, Nicaragua to San Salvador, El Salvador
San Salvador, El Salvador to Guatemala City, Guatemala
Guatemala City, Guatemala to Managua, Nicaragua
Granada, Nicaragua to San Jose, Costa Rica

All in all, that´s about 41 hours on a bus. But, by the time all is said and done here in Central America, we´ll have been on a long-distance (not city) bus for over 65 hours! Yeaouch...

It´s a good thing that all our touristy activities ended up being free today, since we spent a fair amount on bus tickets to get us around and through Central America from now until December 21st. Actually, $282 for both of us isn´t so bad at all to travel all that way.

Carrie at the top of La Merced church

Granada from top of La Merced church

La Merced church from top of La Merced church

Carrie and Jonathan at La Merced church with Granada in background

How we got the picture of us at La Merced church

The little tripod we used to take this picture (as well as LOTS of other pictures) is called the GorillaPod.

We LOVE the GorillaPod!

Continue reading "Cigars, a Cemetery, and an old Compound" »

Hotel Angela - Bocas Town, Isla Colon, Bocas del Toro, Panama

Jonathan and I were looking for one thing in a hotel when we decided to go to Bocas. Air Conditioning. Hotel Angela had it, and was located right on the water, so we booked a few nights there.

Hotel Angela is a little bit off the beaten path (as far as downtown Bocas is), and it is a really nice place to stay.

At first we were given (at our request), room 1 with 2 single beds. Jonatahn and I don't mind sleeping in separate twin beds, and we thought we'd be able to push them together. When we got there, however, we soon discovered that that wouldn't be possible. The room was barely big enough for the two beds and our two suitcases.

After one night in that room, Claudio (the owner), offered that we could move to a bigger room. He gave us room 4 which has two double beds in it. It still has air conditioning, so we took advantage of the room. I highly recommend that you request room 4 when you go to Hotel Angela. It's further back from the office, and the room and bathroom are both large and very comfortable.

Hotel Angela, like I said, is built right next to the water. The restaurant in the back of the hotel is actually a dock. It's really fantastic to get to sit on the water and drink a beer at the end of the day, or enjoy breakfast there as well. Breakfast is included in the price of the hotel, and it was a nice breakfast of coffee, eggs, and fruit.

Claudio is a wonderful man, and we really enjoyed getting to know him during our stay at Hotel Angela. (In fact, we liked him and Hotel Angela, and Bocas so much that we kept extending our stay.)

Hotel Terrasol in Granada, Nicaragua: a great hotel in Granada

Hotel Terrasol in Granada, Nicaragua

Run by Victor and Kattya, a couple of locals who lived in the United States for over 10 years, Hotel TerraSol has been a great place for us to stay while we've been in Granada, Nicaragua.

Terrasol is about 4 blocks walking to the central park in Granada, and just two blocks from the tallest tower on the La Merced church in Granada, where you can overlook the entire city for a measly 20 Cordoba ($1) entry fee.

Despite this close proximity to everything, Hotel Terrasol is quiet in the evenings, and a great place to launch from for touristy activities during the day.

Victor was also a corporate chef during their time in the US (in California) and the meals he cooks in the restaurant downstairs are really delicious (think gourmet) and inexpensive.

Continue reading "Hotel Terrasol in Granada, Nicaragua: a great hotel in Granada" »

Volcano Masaya, Masaya, Nicaragua

We've all heard stories of people who go to see a volcano. Some go to see the vegetation, some go to study it, and some go who are just curious.

If curiosity is what you're looking for, then Volcano Masaya is the one for you.

The entrance fee is only (US$4).

They'll even take you up to the crater in a truck.

At Volcano Masaya, you can actually go all the way to the edge of this active volcano.

If you're (un)lucky, you might even get to see lava as you look down into the crater.

That's what we did today. Jonathan and I met up with our friend, Martin, for a day at Volcano Masaya.

It was a really great day.

We learned that the most major eruption was in 1772, and it nearly destroyed all the towns at the base of the mountain. But, that's not the most interesting thing we learned.

Apparently, in the 1500s, the Spanish came to volcano Masaya. During that time, they were able to see the lava in the crater.

They saw so much lava, that they thought that they were looking at the "gates of hell".

So, they put up a giant cross at the top of the crater to protect themselves. (You can still see the cross today, and even hike up to it.)

We went up to the top. After all, that's where the best viewing is. We stayed up there for about 20 minutes.

There was a lot of smoke issuing from the crater. It was so thick that we couldn't see any of the lava at the bottom. In fact, my throat still burns a little from it 9 hours later.

We also hiked the 20 minutes to see the other crater of the volcano. This one is extinct, so it's covered with vegetation, and is stunningly beautiful.

On the way down, we stopped by the little museum to learn some more about the volcano.

From there we went back into Masaya to check out the artisan's market that we didn't get to see yesterday.

It's in an old fort (supposedly built to protect the people from William Walker and other pirates).

Hello Pirates. (Hey Kevin and Annmarie!)

We were able to find some good things here in this market, but I can't tell you what they are. Some of you may be seeing them in a few weeks as Christmas gifts, and I gotta keep them a secret.

But, I won't keep the fantastic artisan's market (Mercado Viejo) in Masaya, Nicaragua a secret.

In fact, I won't keep Nicaragua a secret. It's fabulous here.

Hmmmm...maybe I should keep that secret.

Continue reading "Volcano Masaya, Masaya, Nicaragua" »

Blind Massage in Granada, Nicaragua

I've never had a massage from a blind person.

Actually, I've never before had massage from a person who primarily only speaks Spanish.

So, getting massage from a blind, Spanish speaking massage therapist was a fun experience.

What made it even more fun?

Continue reading "Blind Massage in Granada, Nicaragua" »

Granada, Nicaragua: First Impressions

I'd heard good things about Granada, Nicaragua. But most of the descriptions I've heard of it say that it is a "colonial city". I didn't really know what that meant.

I expected to see a lot of colonial-style architecture. What Jonathan and I got upon our arrival in Granada was a very pleasant surprise.

We got off the Tica Bus in Managua, Nicaragua (the capital). From there we took the "express" bus to Granada. This bus ride cost each of us a whopping US$ 1.75 for an hour ride.

We didn't know exactly where Hotel Terrasol was, so we were dropped off at Central Park - right in front of a beautiful cathedral.

The park was surrounded by horse-drawn carriages. And lots of street vendors of all sorts - food, crafts, cigarettes, you name it.

We grabbed a taxi to our hotel. We were greeted by name when we entered, and given our pick of the rooms. We'd left our (very heavy by this point) bags downstairs, and they were brought up by the very nice hotel boy.

Our room has air conditioning. This was mandatory for us here in Nicaragua. It's much hotter here than it was in Costa Rica or Panama.

We decided to take advantage of the day and check out the town. A quick glance at the map told us we were walking distance to anything we wanted to see.

On our way to the cathedral in central park, we saw another church. This one appears to be nearly in ruins, but their bell tower is in tact and study looking.

We saw that it was only US$ 1 to go to the top, and that they have the best view in town. We couldn't pass it up.

It was spectacular! We could see all the major landmarks, and the lake. We could even hear the clock tick, and the bells chime on the hour. The bell tower is a must-do activity for anyone in Granada.

From there we went to the park to look around. Then something wonderful happened. We got hungry!

This is the first time that we've been hungry since we were in Bocas Del Toro (nearly 2 months ago). We stopped for some paninis at Café Europa.

The food was excellent, the drinks were cold, and the atmosphere was fun. What more can you ask for?

We walked around the town some more after that. What a great place Granada is. It's beautiful, safe, and always something to do and look at.

Also, Nicaragua is cheap! This was a nice change after coming from Costa Rica. Here we can buy sandwiches, dessert, and drinks for under $13.

We spent some time in the cathedral and the walking plaza and then it was back to Hotel Terrasol for a delicious dinner and early to bed.

La Paz Waterfall Gardens: Waterfalls Near Poas Volcano

La Paz Waterfall Gardens (includes waterfalls - $35/each for non-nationals - $70 total.).

La Paz Waterfall Gardens is not only a set of gardens and waterfalls, it's also a small zoo with monkeys, birds (including toucans), jungle cats, frogs, and my favorite part of all, a butterfly house.

Carrie and I are not big fans of going to zoos. Though we think in concept they're a good idea to get people interested in conservation and to make people aware of what exists in the world, for ourselves, we'd just rather find a way to go see the animals in the wild. But not all people are thinking that way, so it's good that the opportunity exists in many cities around the world in the form of a zoo.

Anyway, because the road was closed due to an earthquake from a year or so ago, the only way to see the waterfalls was to pay to go through the gardens/zoo.

Continue reading "La Paz Waterfall Gardens: Waterfalls Near Poas Volcano" »

Poas Volcano and National Park: Costa Rica's Poas Volcano

Today was a great day in Costa Rica.

We spent some money to do it, but we got to the top of Poas Volcano (our second day attempting to see Poas).

On the way up the volcano, we got some very good advice from the driver of a tour minibus who had stopped his bus so tourists could take pictures of a natural sloth he spotted.

We stopped and took pictures of the sloth as well.

This Poas guide's advice: if it's rainy in the morning on the top of Volcano Poas (regardless of what the weather is doing elsewhere in the country), go to La Paz waterfall gardens or do zip lines first, and then go to the top of the volcano.

So we took his advice. (More on La Paz Waterfall Gardens in a bit.)

We got to the first crater of Poas at the right time for the sky to be clear and to see the whole crater ($10/person +$2/car for non-nationals).

We learned some interesting factoids about Poas that I would like to share, just in case you want to come to Volcano Poas as well.

Continue reading "Poas Volcano and National Park: Costa Rica's Poas Volcano" »

Crazy Costa Rica: Ruminations on Costa Rica

Irazu Volcano and National park, where we tried to go today but didn't see much due to fog:
http://www.costarica-nationalparks.com/irazuvolcanonationalpark.html
http://www.costaricamap-online.com/php/map03/map03map.html

Guayabo National Monument, where we did go today even though we got there shortly after it was closed, but didn't see much due to pouring rain:
http://www.costarica-nationalparks.com/guayabonationalmonument.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guayabo_National_Monument

Costa Rica. Ah, Costa Rica

This might become a bit of a rant. If you're not up for that, this particular post may not be for you.

Looking at the past couple of days, I feel like one good thing I can say is "At least nothing bad happened."

And I think it's terrible to have that be one of the primary thoughts in my mind about a country which clearly has a lot to offer.

While venting these thoughts about Costa Rica on Facebook, I was a little disappointed.

Someone said I sounded like a typical American with my complaints about things not going according to plan or schedule.

I'm familiar with the "typical American," also known as the "ugly American."

It's the first time I've been aware that something I've been talking about with regard to our travels has come across that way. Hopefully it's the last time I'll come across as a typical American in a negative context, and I'll definitely be more aware of that going forward.

At the same time, I have felt frustrated or annoyed nearly every day we've been in Costa Rica, while not at all in Panama. The first week at Hotel Aranjuez in San Jose, the second week at La Tortuga Feliz, the turtle project near Bataan (south of Tortuguero), the third week in Puerto Viejo, and now, this week, outside of San Jose.

One good thing I can say about Costa Rica is that the people we've met here have been really nice.

None of this is a reflection on them.

Here's what I'm running up against, I think, in thinking about Costa Rica...

Continue reading "Crazy Costa Rica: Ruminations on Costa Rica" »

Thanksgiving in San Jose, Costa Rica

It's always more fun to celebrate Thanksgiving with other people than by yourself. This year, Jonathan and I decided that we would invite Kattya and Ricardo over for Thanksgiving dinner.

They couldn't make it on Thursday night, so we had Thanksgiving on Friday instead.

One thing about traveling is that you have to be flexible with what you can and can't find in a grocery store. Our menu was a bit different than "normal".

We had a roasted chicken (We couldn't find turkey anywhere, so Jonathan roasted a chicken), mashed potatoes (made by Jonathan - and they were absolutely fabulous), green bean casserole (which I made from scratch with fresh green beans and a béchamel sauce, and canned mushrooms since I have yet to see any raw mushrooms in any grocery store), stuffing (again made from scratch with what I was able to find in the store), and an apple pie.

It might sound pretty traditional to you, except that there wasn't a turkey. But, remember we're not at our home, so everything has to be made with what we have at hand.

This means that the pie and green bean casserole were made in cooking pots, and that I used a water bottle as a rolling pin. Have you ever had to use a plastic bottle as a rolling pin? It works, but it's not easy.

And my very favorite parts of Thanksgiving meal were unavailable: cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes, and pumpkin pie. The rest of it is good, but without the cranberries, sweet potatoes, and pumpkin pie, it's just dinner...not Thanksgiving dinner.

When Kattya and Ricardo arrived, we learned that it was Ricardo's first Thanksgiving. We were very happy to get to celebrate with him.

Anyway, it was really fun. And the plus side to not being able to find turkey is that the whole meal took under 2 hours to prepare and cook. Not bad.

Poas Volcano and La Paz Waterfall, take one

We knew after yesterday's troubles, how to properly configure the GPS and how it was of dire importance that we know how to get somewhere by ourselves, rather than relying only on GPS.

So this morning we set off for Volcan Poas. This was a relatively easy drive (compared to yesterday, anything would b)e. But, we managed to get to the top of Poas in about 2 hours (again, an hour longer than what people say, but we've decided to just add an hour on to what everyone says).

The roads to Poas are better, but that doesn't mean that they're good by any means. And, we had to drive through Alejuela. I don't think that there's a non-busy street in that place. It was crazy crowded.

Anyway, when we reached the top of Poas, the guard at the gate told us that there was a storm, and we wouldn't be able to see anything. It was up to us if we wanted to pay the $10 per person plus $2 for the car. We asked if it would be like that all day. He said it was a storm, so it wouldn't clear.

We thanked him for his honestly and left. Again. Just like we did yesterday at Volcano Irazu.

Continue reading "Poas Volcano and La Paz Waterfall, take one" »

Adventures with GPS in Costa Rica

To see how we got in (and out of) the following, please read the whole post - it's a long one. In fact, it's probably the longest post I've ever written.

*A 6 hour day that really took 12 hours
*Irazu Volcano
*The bumpiest road ever traveled
*Guayabo National Monument (after it was closed)
*A car-swallowing mud pit
*Fog so thick we couldn't see the end of the car
*A road that ends by dropping off a cliff
*A dead end road just before where we need to be
*11 hours in the car for 20 minutes of tourism

Continue reading "Adventures with GPS in Costa Rica" »

We're Thankful for Amazing People Around The World

It's truly WONDERFUL how many amazing people we've met.

Kattya and her Boyfriend went out of their way to take us to Fiesta De La Maiz on Sunday, and even bought us breakfast (just the second day we were renting from Kattya in San Jose).

Rob bought us dinner only meeting us for the second time, and really is a great new friend.

Vicky bought us lunch and invited us into her home to eat dinner, use her Internet, and play cards. We're enjoying getting to know her.

Dave and Cora broke bread with us over some wonderful meals, and also invited us to come back and house-sit for them (which we are going to take them up on). This friendship is just beginning.

Carlos slowed down his Spanish and spoke deliberately and clearly so that we could understand him (first time a local has really made an effort at that for us). We're looking forward to having dinner/lunch with him when we're back in Boquete housesitting.

Danny took us around in his truck one afternoon, sharing stories and background on the Boquete valley that we don't think could have come to us as completely from any other person.

Chris let us borrow his car and drew us amazing maps so we could get to Caldera hot springs.

Dan let us stay in his guest house in Playa Coronado and introduced us to his circle of friends, as well as made an extra trip to Panama City so we could return the rental car and still have a ride back to Playa Coronado.

We're enjoying all the people we're meeting in the places we've been so far. Thank-you to all of you who have made our travel absolutely incredible!

We're thankful for everyone who made the effort to come to our wedding two years ago -- especially those of you who came from abroad. We know that it was probably not easy to get to Colorado Springs from far-flung parts of the planet, so thank you.

We're thankful for the unique gifts of the talented people working with us as contractors in their areas of specialty (thank-you Lindsey W, Lisa C, Bobbie A, Christine B, Julie R, Andy N, and Lindsey S).

We're very thankful for our truly amazing family and friends, you make our lives more exciting, wonderful, and easier.

We're also thankful for the Internet, without which, our lives would be dramatically different.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Continue reading "We're Thankful for Amazing People Around The World" »

The touristy side of San Jose, Costa Rica

We thought that since we're staying just outside of San Jose, that we should really see the main tourist sites.

We walked from the condo to the bus stop, which is about a 25 minute walk. We actually went to the wrong one first, but we asked the guy waiting, and he pointed us a few blocks away to the right bus stop.

An interesting thing about bus stops and, well, everything really in Costa Rica, there are no signs. You just have to know that you're at the right stop. There are also no schedules posted for when the buses will come.

But one came, and we got on. It was only $0.75 each for us to ride into downtown San Jose. The ride itself was only about 45 minutes. But, we did get to see this couple across the aisle who was totally making out. The whole way. I didn't know people actually kissed like that. Yikes.

The bus dropped us off, and thanks to the handy dandy map from Hotel Aranjuez, we knew where to go to see the National Theatre.

We see it, and try to take a nice picture of it, but there are trees in the way, then a big crane comes. So, we don't quite get the picture we envisioned, but c'est la Vie (or in Costa Rica: pura vida).

Continue reading "The touristy side of San Jose, Costa Rica" »

Travel Podcast #3 - San Jose, Costa Rica

As we are traveling the world, Carrie and I are doing a weekly travel podcast

Who knows? Maybe thousands of years from now aliens will hear this and realize they've found something truly unique.

In any case, here's Podcast #3, where we talk about:

- Bad jokes
- Healing bites
- Funny Stomachs
- Filete
- Deciding to stay in Boquete a couple days extra
- A coffee tour
- An afternoon driving around Boquete with Danny Higgins
- Hibiscus devouring carpenter ants
- Hotel Madrid, David, lunch with the Vicky's and dinner with Rob
- TicaBus and Tracopa
- San Jose, Kattya and her boyfriend, our condo for the week, and the Fiesta De La Maiz

Continue reading "Travel Podcast #3 - San Jose, Costa Rica" »

La Fiesta Del Maiz: A San Jose, Costa Rican Corn Party

La Fiesta Del Maiz
(CORN PARTY!)

On our first morning back in San Jose, Kattya and Ricardo took us to Fiesta De La Maiz.

Ricardo told me that La Fiesta Del Maiz was started by a guy who (sometime around 30 years ago) began selling corn (maiz) on the side of the road. He sold his corn still in the husks and roasted on a grill.

That was a new concept when he started doing it here in Costa Rica.

Today, it's a pretty normal thing to see.

Anyway, he turned his one-man corn party into a full-blown restaurant called La Fiesta Del Maiz.

This corn party features traditional Costa Rican cuisine (Casados, Pinto Gallo, and Platanos Fritos o Dulces (Fried or sweet plantain)- see pictures below), the most delicious rice pudding and horchata we've ever had, and, of course, lots of yummy stuff made out of corn (corn bread, corn pancakes, and corn tortillas).

Continue reading "La Fiesta Del Maiz: A San Jose, Costa Rican Corn Party" »

David, Panama to San Jose, Costa Rica on Tracopa

By Bus from San José, Costa Rica to David, Panama through Paso Canoas

We've heard that three different companies make the journey from David, Panama to San Jose, Costa Rica. Panaline, Ticabus and Tracopa.

However, we are not sure if Panaline is even in business anymore since their web site has never worked. They might just not have a web site... we really don't know.

In any case, to see bus schedules and prices, you can visit these two sites for TicaBus and Tracopa.
http://www.ticabus.com/ing_flotilla.html
http://www.tracopacr.com/rutas.html (Spanish only)

We also found a web site through the Lonely Planet travel forums. It aggregates the bus schedules into one place and has been very helpful (once we figured out how to use it).
http://www.thebusschedule.com/pa/index.php

it shows that Panaline is still in business (+507-314-6383), but we didn't take (or even call) Panaline. We wanted to take TicaBus, but we discovered in David that the only place to get a ticket on TicaBus is at their office which is somewhere at a grocery store on the InterAmericana Highway.

Continue reading "David, Panama to San Jose, Costa Rica on Tracopa" »

Café Ruiz Coffee Tour in Boquete, Panama

Yesterday, Jonathan and I took a tour of Café Ruiz here in Boquete, Panama. Café Ruiz is one of the largest Boquete based coffee companies in Panama. They are also one of the best coffee producers around (based on my taste testing of 7 different Boquete coffees).

We showed up for our scheduled 9am tour right on time. It turned out that we were the only ones on the tour that morning. (Café Ruiz has two tour times: 9am and 1pm. You need to sign up for them at least one day in advance.) That meant that we got a private tour! (The private tour was really great, but we're pretty sure that they charged us more since it was just the two of us.)

Our guide, Carlos, took us to one of the coffee fincas where Café Ruiz grows coffee. On this finca (farm), there is also one of their 3 processing plants. The first bit of our tour was Carlos educating us on coffee production, as well as a bit of history on Café Ruiz.

Continue reading "Café Ruiz Coffee Tour in Boquete, Panama" »

Our Storage Unit

I meant to post this sooner, but found the pictures while at the Hotel Aranjuez in San Jose and thought that I would schedule it to post ahead of time.

Before leaving on our travel (and actually when we started renting out our house in April), we moved a lot of our things into a storage unit.

It is climate controlled and we pay for it on a monthly basis. It's 10' x 5' x 14' tall. (For our metric minded friends, that's 3m x 2.6m x 4.6m tall.)

We thought this would be enough space for all of our things.

Continue reading "Our Storage Unit" »

The end of an era...

"I guess this is goodbye old pal. You've been a perfect friend..."

We're saying goodbye to a loyal friend today. After meeting in 2006, this friend has been with us over 4 continents, through countless birthdays and holidays, many adventures, and even the occasional witness to future blackmail activities (Zach...), in fact, this friend has been with us for close to 10,000 events in the past 3.5 years.

Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of our lost friend. Why, because it's...

Our camera. Yes, after being bumped and bruised, scratched, and scraped our camera has finally given in. What was the breaking point? Well, for this camel-no camera- it was not straw, but sand. After a short drop on the beach of the turtle project, the lens cover has given up, and now refuses to open. We were able to coax it open for the last month, but now it refuses all attempts.

But, there's good in all things right? I was going to ask for a new camera for me for Christmas anyway, so we get to celebrate Christmas early. Our gift to ourselves? This new camera we plan on purchasing at some point soon..

Our old Nikon coolpix was so good to us, that we're going to be brand loyal and get this newer version. Can you believe that it costs us the same now for a much better camera as we got then? Funny how things work out that way. Our biggest challenge now is deciding whether to buy it now, and if we do, how to get it to us here in Central America (wherever we are then), or deciding to wait until Christmas to buy it and pick it up.

Travel Podcast #2 - Boquete, Panama

As we are traveling the world, Carrie and I are doing a weekly travel podcast

Who knows? Maybe thousands of years from now aliens will hear this and realize they've found something truly unique.

In any case, here's Podcast #2, where we talk about our adventures in Boquete, Panama!

Listen to the podcast or download it below.

Continue reading "Travel Podcast #2 - Boquete, Panama" »

How To Sprout Orchids From Orchid Plants

How to grow new orchids from orchid plants

In this video, Cora Kent shows us her HUGE orchid plants and how to grow new orchids simply by breaking off the plants at the bulbs.

This is part of a series of videos with BoqueteGourmet.com. BoqueteGourmet.com is the web site of Cora Kent (who owns the Boquete Casita we are renting while we're here in Boquete.

How To Peel A Frozen Banana: Using Bananas From the Freezer

Got bananas going bad? No problem. Just freeze the bananas and use them in smoothies.

This video shows how to do it.

Thaw the banana for 5-10 minutes, then just cut off both ends of the banana and cut down the whole banana lengthwise. After that, just remove the peel half in one piece.

FatFree.com says the following about banana selection:

If you put a bright yellow fresh ripe banana in the freezer and try to peel it frozen, the skin will stick to it and will be a fight to the finish to get it off -- it at all. I have found that placing prime candidates (already ripe or slightly over-ripe) in the freezer and letting them freeze until they are black (about a week), then using them when needed, works great.

Voila. Frozen bananas for use in smoothies.

Continue reading "How To Peel A Frozen Banana: Using Bananas From the Freezer" »

Mi Jardin es Su Jardin, Boquete, Panama

(My garden is your garden)

Today, Jonathan and I walked into town. Our first stop was at Mi Jardin es Su Jardin. We learned from our taxi driver, Danny, that Mi Jardin es Su Jardin, is actually a man's own personal garden. He is 99 years old, and still goes for a daily drive around Boquete in his Lexus.

But, he loves gardens so much, that he had one created.

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How to Make The Best Banana Daquiri: Frozen Banana Daquiris

How to make the world's best banana daquiris (at least the best banana daquiris I've had).

Could have something to do with the bananas direct from the trees and the limes direct from the trees.

I really enjoyed these banana daquiris. Even if your ingredients are from the grocery store, you're likely to enjoy them as well.

We had to try three different daquiri recipes to find the ones that were the best, so you get the benefits of our tasting (which was really difficult for us - hope you catch the sarcasm).

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Caldera Hot Springs: A Natural *Spa* in Caldera, Panama

Carrie and I went to Caldera yesterday.

Caldera is a little town (like maybe 500 people) about 30 minutes (by car) away from Boquete.

We actually had talked about going to the Caldera hot springs before coming to Boquete, and both of us thought it really sounded like a fun thing to do.

But taking a taxi there would be expensive. There was also an option to go to the Caldera hot springs through a language school we were looking at, but that trip would have cost $35/person, which seemed a little pricey to go sit in some naturally hot water.

But every Tuesday, here in Boquete, there's a meeting where the local gringos get together and learn about what's going on, what's available, and it's kind of a swap meet as well (with books, crafts, and food for sale).

Caveat: On the way out the door yesterday I noticed that the carpenter ants were carrying pieces of something pink. (So far, they've been carrying only green - pieces of leaves.)

The night before, we had beautiful hibiscus flowers outside our door.

This morning, there is one sole survivor.

In less than 12 hours, the colony of ants made minced meat out of about 10 huge hibiscus flowers.

Anyway, back to the gringos meeting in Boquete...

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What can you buy for $2.50?

As much as we've been saying that the prices aren't really that much cheaper here (at least not where we've been so far), I now know that it depends on what you are getting, and where you're getting it.

The other day, Jonathan and I went into town for a few things. Jonathan needed a USB wireless port for his computer (as his internal wireless just went out). He was also in desperate need of a haircut. (You've all seen the pictures; it was getting way too long.) So, our friend Cora was going that way, and gave us a ride into town, and to the local "computer" store. They didn't have much there, but they did have what we needed. So, we bought it. It cost $25.00. I know that you can get cheaper ones, and probably better quality ones for less than that in the States, but it works, and we needed it now.

From there, Cora took us to the grocery store, but on the way she pointed out the local market. It's where the farmer's take their crops to sell them. She told us that we'd probably find fresher produce there and that it would cost less than buying it at the store. We love our vegetables, and I was really excited to see what the farmers grew, and get it straight from them. So, we went there first.

At first, I only saw one booth, and thought that it was only one farmer who came to sell his stuff, and if he didn't have it, then we were out of luck. But, then I turned the corner. The building kept going and going. There were probably 10-15 farmers selling their goods. And they looked fantastic! So, we got what we needed. (Now that we know where the market is, we can get fresh produce whenever we need it.) Here's what we got: 1 pineapple, 2 red peppers, 1 kilo of green beans (that's 2.2 pounds), 1 Mexican squash, 4 limes, 1 eggplant, 2 of the biggest green onions I've ever seen, 1 red onion, and ½ a kilo (so, 1 pound) of pure sugar freshly made from sugar cane. All of that cost us $2.50! I used to keep track of the sale papers, and buy red peppers in bulk when they went on sale for $1 each. I don't know how much they cost here, but I do know where I'm buying my produce from now on.

The best part about the produce - it's so fresh! It tastes so much better than what we buy in the grocery store. Odds are it was picked that morning, and I got to eat it for dinner that night.

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Boquete, Panama: The Vacation Rental Casita That Is Our For Now Home

The Vacation Rental we found in Boquete, Panama - where we're living right now. Hope you enjoy the tour of our vacation rental home away from home.

(Even though we're not "on vacation", 'vacation rental in Boquete, Panama' are the words I typed into Google to find this excellent place.)

More info soon via text, but for now, this video will show you around where we're staying here just outside of Boquete!

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Panamanian Coffees...which is really the best Panama Coffee? Part 3

Café Rico. Remember what I said about Café Don Pepe? Well, Café Rico is about one step above that. It was smoky (again) and very very bitter. I didn't manage to get through a whole cup. Wow. It's a good thing that each of these little samples only cost 15-20 cents each. All I can say is that I'm both really glad to be tasting all of the coffees, and really unhappy to have to go through the bad ones in order to find the good ones. Hopefully they're out there somewhere. No, hopefully, they're hiding in one of these little packets yet to be tasted. If you're going to suffer through coffee just for the experience, then give Café Rico a try. If, however, you actually enjoy a good cup of coffee that doesn't taste like someone blew their cigarette smoke into it, avoid Café Rico. Please coffee gods, send some good coffee my way.

Here's the order so far (from best to worst):
Café Del Fino
Café Rico
Café Don Pepe

Panamanian Coffees...which is really the best Panama Coffee? Part 2

Panamanian Coffees...which is really the best Panama Coffee?

I don't know the answer to which one is the best yet. However, I can tell you which one is the worst. Café Don Pepe is without a doubt the worst coffee I've ever had. It's even worse than Starbucks. I'm glad it was the first one I tried so that I had no where to go but up. Café Don Pepe smelled like smoke. Now, I do enjoy a nice smokey wine from time to time, but smokey coffee? Yuck. But, I thought that I should still taste a cup. I can't judge based only on smell. After all, if we all did that, no one would ever eat a passion fruit. (Have you ever smelled one of those? They reek, but they taste soooo good.)

Anyway, I tasted my first sip of Don Pepe and thought, well, milk and a bit of sugar will help. No. I wasted a perfectly good dollup of milk in this nastiness that they pass off as coffee. Not only did it smell like cigarette smoke, but it tasted like it too. I don't think there's anything I could have added to make it taste good. I tried another couple of sips, and finally poured the remaining out when my mouth tasted like I'd smoked a cigarette. I had to brush my teeth to try to get rid of it, and even that didn't work completely. Yuck. Café Don Pepe should be renamed to Café Don't Partake.

Making Tea in Boquete, Panama

Yesterday afternoon, Jonathan and I took the bus to Boquete. The bus station was only a block away from the Hotel Madrid where we stayed for two nights in David ($38 / night). It was an easy walk, as for once, it wasn't raining. Luckily, we arrived at the station as a bus to Boquete was loading. Busses are scheduled to depart David to Boquete every 30 minutes from 6:00am to 9:00pm. But, really, they leave whenever they're full. So, we were able to leave only a few minutes after arriving at the station.

The bus is an old US school bus. Most of the local buses we've seen here in Panama have been that. But, some of the owners of the bus like to get creative and paint flashy designs and maybe even add flashing lights and neon to their bus. (We saw a bunch of these the night we arrived in Panama City. We don't have pictures of any yet, since it was too dark to take any.) Our bus for this trip though was just plain white.

The ride was pretty uneventful. It's 45 minutes, and a steady climb uphill (up-volcano that is). And the main stop in Boquete is the park. Though this park doesn't have much grass, it's just a gazebo (large and covered which came in handy since it was raining), and a few paths. From here I ran to the grocery store to pick up a few basics for dinner (bread, cheese, cucumbers, and tomatoes). Then we found a taxi and were on our way.

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More Parades! Mes De La Patria - Panama

Carrie was already awake, but I woke up today to the sound of drumming!

To be honest, in that space between sleeping and waking, I thought it was construction going on somewhere.

But to be here for two days of parades. How fun!

The shower in our room faces the street where the parade is happening (about 1/2 block away) so I had great parade music for my shower this morning!

The TV here is showing the parades from Panama City (complete with an announcer whose voice is as grating as Joan Rivers) and they are calling it Mes De La Patria, which literally translated means Month of the Country.

Here are some pictures from this morning's parade.

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Happy Panamanian Independence Day!

11/03/2009
11:02 AM
Hotel Madrid
David, Panama

HAPPY Independence Day!

Today, November 3rd, is celebrated as independence day in Panama. We were already awake at 9 AM with the parade started, so after some quick morning phone calls back to the states, we headed out to check out the parade.

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Leaving Playa Coronado: Panama City to David, Panama

11:42 PM
David, Panama

Wait a minute!

We don't have to leave Panama. We can go LOTS of places in Panama we haven't seen yet!

Somehow, since we were riding with Dan, we were thinking we would have to leave Panama and go back to Costa Rica (since Dan was going to Costa Rica anyway), but we had the realization that there's plenty of Panama we haven't seen.

We realized last night that we would be driving close to many of the areas we'd like to see while we were traveling with Dan on the way to Costa Rica.

One of the towns we would be traveling through would be David (Pronounced: Dah - veed), in order to see some of the volcanoes and coffee/fruit plantations in the north and western parts of Panama.

Ergo, maybe Dan could drop us off?

Continue reading "Leaving Playa Coronado: Panama City to David, Panama" »

Halloween With Americans In Panama

Spanish word of the day: Baile - To Dance

Use: I got to dance with Dan's wife Rilda (She's Panamanian but has a Portuguese name) at the Halloween party, and I was having the hardest time remembering this word. I've put it here to remember what the word is for "to dance" in Spanish.

Baile.

I'm excited to see the Panama Canal tomorrow (from the ground - already saw it from the air flying in), and Panama City.

But we'll leave Panama the following day on Monday November 2nd with Dan because he's traveling to Costa Rica.

Again, as in Bocas Del Toro just a couple of days ago, I find myself disappointed to be leaving so soon.

And it's not like we have to leave. We could stay here with Dan and Rilda in Playa Coronado (even though they wouldn't be here) and then take the rental car back on the evening of the 3rd and stay in Panama City for an evening or two. Then figure out how to get to San Jose from Panama City (probably by Tica Bus).

But Dan is going on Nov. 2nd.

It seems like a really great way to get to Costa Rica since he's going anyway and we can ride along, help him pay for gas, and help us get where we're ultimately going anyway.

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Leaving Bocas Del Toro

I'm sad to be leaving Bocas Del Toro.

It would be great to spend more time at this little island paradise.

If we spent more time here, we'd love to get to know Claudio better (the owner of Hotel Angela), we would be meeting more people and shutting down the bar Toro Loco more frequently, Carrie would take Thai cooking lessons from the lady who owns the Thai restaurant above Starfleet SCUBA (where we never got to eat because we didn't know they were only open for dinner and kept trying to go there for lunch - but it has an amazing reputation).

All of these would be part of the unique life we would experience on this tropical island that, while touristy, still seems to retain much of it's local flavor and culture.

Bocas Del Toro will always be the place we got to do our first open water SCUBA, the place we met Kristyn and Dax, and the place where (nearly four weeks into traveling,) we finally started feeling like it was going to be alright to travel the world for a year or two.

I know mentally that there are nice places to be and that getting through the rough spots is part of the journey, but it was nice to have gotten through some rough spots and to arrive somewhere we felt like we really wanted to stay.

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Uh-Oh. Power Outage?

9:45 PM
Bocas Del Toro, Panama
Hotel Angela

We heard the rain pouring down from outside of our room, but as we have no outside windows, we didn't know how hard it was raining. So I thought I would go out to the back of Hotel Angela to check it out. (By the way, if you didn't read my other post talking about Hotel Angela, the back of the hotel is a dock on water so clear you can see the starfish at the bottom of the water, which is10-15 feet below you.) Carrie was with me.

We couldn't even go out on to the back dock of the hotel, for fear that we might be battered into oblivion by the force of the rain. I have only ever seen rain like that one other time - in China during a monsoon... literally anything that's in the rain is blowing sideways - people, trees, cars, boats, small family pets, etc.

We're here in the off season, so tonight (Wednesday night) we're the only guests here at Hotel Angela.

I noticed that water was streaming through a window left open by someone on the second floor in the stairwell (the hotel is just 2 stories).. I thought maybe no one else would go up there to close it, so I went up to close the window (call it my good deed for the day).

No sooner had I gotten the window closed than everything went completely black.

Power outage...

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Scuba certified and a perfect airline

We're certified in SCUBA! We finished our last two open water dives on Monday. It was great. Now we're really looking forward to going and scubaing for fun instead of for a class.

In fact, we like that idea so much, and this little bit of Panama so much, that we decided to stay here a couple of days longer than planned.

Bocas Del Toro is a bit of an island paradise. Who wouldn't want to stay?

I remembered to bring the defog for my mask this time, so that made it much much more enjoyable. We got to see lots of great sea critters including a bright green eel (with yellow spots), an endangered fish, and lots more. We also did a small navigation "test" as part of our certification. We were given a compass and told to swim away from our instructor for 15 kick-cycles (just an up-down motion of kicking your feet), and then turn around and come back. We passed.

We're even more excited to scuba now!

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Swim With the Fishies

Jonathan and I are here in Bocas del Toro, Panama - an island in the Caribbean side of Panama, not far from Costa Rica. It's a beautiful island, though a bit touristy in nature, but at least not as drug induced as Puerto Viejo.

Back in early August, we started getting scuba certified. But, we chose not to do the open water dives (in Aurora Reservoir) since we knew we were going to be this way around this time of year. So, today we did our first two open water dives in Panama.

We're going through a company called Starfleet Scuba. They came highly recommended to us by everyone. Anyone who knew anything about scuba recommended them. We checked them out, and quickly booked our dives. For just $30 more per person, we're diving in the warm waters of the Caribbean rather than the nastiness that is Aurora Reservoir.

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Oh Wonder of Wonders! AC, Hot Showers, and Crossing the Sixaola Bridge Into Panama

9:30 PM (Local time - now on Central time)
Bocas Del Toro, Panama
Hotel Angela

I would say that the hotels we stayed at in Puerto Viejo - both Cabinas Guarana, and Cabinas Casa Verde, were nicer than the room we have here at Hotel Angela in Bocas Del Toro. However, there are two key differences. Hot showers and air conditioning.

Oh wonder of wonders!

I know air conditioning eats electricity, and I know that some air conditioners create environmental challenges.

Even knowing these things, it's like heaven to be sleeping in an air conditioned room after 3 weeks of hot humid climates without a/c. The crazy thing is that in most areas of the world, including here in Panama (though maybe not on this island - depending on where the water table sits), it would be possible to construct natural air conditioning using the air 6 feet below the surface.

But I'm digressing a bit.

The air conditioning for our little room here is GREAT!

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Crossing Over...

Wow, the bridge between Costa Rica and Panama at Sixaola definitely made me fear for my life.

So, to leave Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica and travel to Bocas del Toro, Panama, we took a shuttle for $28.00 + per person. (Definitely worth the money - I'd have no idea how to get to where we were going without it.)

Anyway, I know that Jonathan already talked about most of this, but I do want to say a few things about the "bridge".

The shuttle leaves us off to get our "stamps out" of Costa Rica. Then we cross the bridge over the river Sixaola to get into Panama.

At first the bridge is nothing to look at, but then you realize that you HAVE to look at it continuously as you're crossing, otherwise it's possible that you'll fall through.

I'm not kidding on this.

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Leaving Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica for Bocas Del Toro, Panama

We're actually not so sad to leave Puerto Viejo.

It seems like a fun little seaside town if you're into loud parties and drugs, but with the incredible day getting to hang out with sloths yesterday, and, learning about chocolate at its source, we're ready to move forward.

There's the call of someplace new... and we have our Scuba certification to finish, and Bocas del Toro is supposed to have some really great Scuba adventures.

So off we go.

Follow the map again from upper left to lower right to see where we're going.

We are very excited about arriving, though the getting there may bring some of its own stories (we've heard that crossing the border can be an interesting experience, so we'll let you know when crossing the Panamanian border from Costa Rica goes smoothly).

Shortchanged for $2.68 In Puerto Viejo

10:22 PM
Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica
Cabinas Guarana

Being Shortchanged

After another delicious breakfast this morning at Bread and Chocolate, we came back to pack up and move to another hotel, Cabinas Guarana. We decided to try a different hotel here in Puerto Viejo, for use of the Internet and just to try some place different.

Despite the loud noises of construction and other people here at Casa Verde, I fell asleep in the hammock for about an hour, when Carrie came by to tell me that we needed to check out in 15 minutes.

This means I slept for a little over an hour. I was really surprised I slept that long in the hammock.

We packed up and moved our bags the 3 blocks to Cabinas Guarana. (The three blocks is dirt/gravel/rock roads, so it felt a bit longer than 3 blocks, especially with as hot and humid as it was today.) But, no big deal. Checked in to Cabinas Guarana, where the Internet speed is very fast (at least so far).

Met a guy today who calls himself Pedro... think it's actually Peter because I heard someone else call him Peter. He's from Canada, but lived in Thailand for 5 years, and now owns a shop here. He seems like a nice enough guy.

He offered us some friendly advice, and we got to chatting about needing to arrange transport to Bocas del Toro. He said he could do that for us, and told us where his shop was. It was all very low pressure. And I'm probably playing this up to be more than it actually is - just was a good reminder to me to keep my radar up for anything funny. In any case, we ended up going to his store, and arranging for transportation to Bocas del Toro, but had forgotten our passports and wanted to pay in Colones. So we asked him what the exchange rate was. 590 was his response.

This would be pretty good actually, if we were paying in US dollars... but since we would be paying in Colones, it works to his advantage. He's basically charging us more than the going rate for Colones, because we're paying in Colones. But the actual exchange is 567 today, and most places are at 575 or so. The difference between 575 and 590 is about US$.03. So even though he's charging a bit more to accept local currency, it's really not a big deal.

I went and got our passports (since we needed them in order to arrange transport), and got cash from the ATM. I went back to his shop to finish filling out the form and make payment. I reminded him I was paying in Colones. Carrie and I had figured out that at 590 Colones, the total for our transportation should be 33,040 Colones. ($28 *590 *2). Pedro/Peter came up with a total of 33,320. I asked him about it and he said that the going rate was 595.

I told him that just an hour earlier he had quoted 590 and even that seemed high. He said that his co-worker had been to the bank and the rate was 595, and that it would work out better for me this way. (Again, it would work out better if I was paying in dollars adjusted for Colones, but he was simply using a made up exchange rate as a way to charge me more.)

Continue reading "Shortchanged for $2.68 In Puerto Viejo" »

Leaving La Tortuga Feliz: Bataan to Puerto Viejo

If all has gone according to plan, right about now, we are leaving the turtle project at La Tortuga Feliz and are headed back to Bataan.

At the time I wrote this (on October 9th) and scheduled it to post today, I did not yet know how, but knew that we would be traveling somehow today from Bataan to Puerto Viejo (on the Caribbean Coast).

So, that's probably what we're up to right now, going from the upper left of this map to the lower right.

We've found a cute little hotel in Puerto Viejo, very close to the ocean. From what we've heard, Puerto Viejo is also home to some of the best surfing in the Caribbean.

Hopefully I'll have a more "live" update for you later on tonight when we get into the hotel, which is supposed to have a very good and fast Internet connection.

Oh, and stay tuned... tomorrow we're going to be on a tour where we'll
- hang out with sloths at a rescue center (they look so cute in the pictures),
- go to a waterfall
- watch cacao being turned into chocolate

Should be a FANTASTIC day!

Cabinas Casa Verde and Breakfast: Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica

Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica
Cabinas Casa Verde
7:45 AM

The high pitched hum thing is back again this morning, though seems to be a bit less frequent than yesterday. I woke up itching again, and was awake in the middle of the night when the power went out for about 20 seconds. I think that's a pretty common occurrence here as there's a sign in the shower saying that in case of power outages, there will be no water.

We had a really mellow day yesterday. Walked to the grocery store (about 5 blocks from Cabinas Casa Verde) and bought some bread and cheese, found out what the llavanderia charges (1000 Colones per Kilo of laundry - about $1/pound of clothes - washed, dried, folded). Not as cheap as Argentina, but nothing here (in Costa Rica) has been very inexpensive, so not a big deal. Carrie said yesterday "I don't really care what it costs. I just want to have clean clothes again." (This was pretty odd to hear from Carrie who is always the more money saving person in our relationship.) I wholeheartedly agreed with her as far as just wanting clean clothes.

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Cabinas Casa Verde: Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica

Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica
Cabinas Casa Verde
7:30 AM

Spanish verb of the day: llavender (yay-vahn-dare: to wash - clothes in particular). Even though we didn't wear many clothes at La Tortuga Feliz, pretty much everything in our suitcases needs to be washed. We found a llavanderia very close by to Cabinas Casa Verde. We're not sure yet if we take our clothes there to be washed or if it's more of a Laundromat. Will find out today.

9 hours of sleep later here at Cabinas Casa Verde, and I find that I am still feeling completely exhausted. Woke up a couple of times in the middle of the night and noticed I was scratching my bites from La Tortuga Feliz. Not sure if I was doing that in my sleep as well.

Turning on my computer, I've smashed about 12 ants already this morning. They're little tiny ants - about the size of two pinheads put together. I didn't know they were there until I turned on the computer. They may be inside of my computer as well... turning it on is the best way I can think of to get them out of there... the heat inside my computer should push them out (I hope), and then from now on, I'll always just store my computer and other electronics in a Ziploc bag while they're not in use. All it takes is one ant who sees that some copper or silica would be a nice addition to his home, and one little nibble from that ant on a small wire...

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Limon, Costa Rica

9:30 AM - at a bus stop
Limon, Costa Rica

Spanish word of the day: Gentes (hen tayse). Use: had to sit on my bags on the bus because it was so overcrowded. The lady I gave up my seat for was telling off the bus driver on our behalf. He just kept picking up more and more people. I didn't understand all of it, but I understood enough of her Spanish to understand she was saying things like, "We are people (Gentes). Not animals. What's your name? I'm going to report you in Limon."

Thought from the most crowded bus ride I've ever been on in my life so far: Costa Rica must be 50% forest/jungle, 10% city, and 40% banana plantation. There are SO many banana trees here.

Impression of Puerto Limon, Costa Rica
Picture Manhattan car traffic, add Bourbon street crowds, put them all on a street outside a small but relatively busy bus station, and you'll have an idea of what we got off of the bus into in Puerto Limon.

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Should You Come To La Tortuga Feliz?

Day 7

Saying for the day: "Circumstances don't make the man, they just reveal him to himself."

Since we're not working any more shifts at the hatchery or the beach, we can now announce the Total Turtle Tally:
Carrie: 61 + 73 + 1 Adult = 135
Jonathan: 119 + 73 = 192

Turtle Time! Carrie and I worked the evening shift together last night from 6:00PM-10:00PM. 73 turtles hatched from one nest!

It's the first time Carrie and I have had babies together!

Started off the day washing last night's coffee mugs and dishes that people didn't do yesterday (they were supposed to).

Carrie and I have dish and kitchen duty today (our last day), so we are doing dishes for 18, three times, today. It's been a long time since I've washed dishes for that many people. It reminds me of working for campus catering at UNC, the job I consider the worst job I ever had.

There's no refrigeration here, so we get dinner, as well as the next day's breakfast and lunch, delivered to us daily from a boat. (It also brings soda and snacks to sell to us and some of the locals/guides.) La Tortuga Feliz has the right to patrol + police the 4+ km of beaches here on the sandbar island, but other people live on this island here as well, so this is the daily delivery of stuff for everyone here.

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It's Turtle Time! Hatching Turtles at La Tortuga Feliz

8:30 AM
Day 6 at La Tortuga Feliz

Turtle time!
Turtle Tally:
Jonathan: 119 babies (3+63+53) + 0 big + 12 Exhumation
Carrie: 61 babies +1 big + 1 baby in egg

Got to the hatchery with Zoe at 10:00PM. Neil had released a nest during his shift, but one more had just come up, so we let it go. Another one came up on a check around 11:00, so Zoe released that one.

About midnight, Zoe was making a round through the hatchery and yelled back to me, "Ay Jon, we've got 'bout 25 over here!"

So we started taking those out and measured and released 60 turtles. It was fun to hear their shells clicking together (they don't really make sound, other than the little peeps coming from one that got stuck in the fence - we got it out,) and see so many at once. They are so strong at birth. It's amazing to know that the turtle nest is 1 1/2 - 2 feet deep, and the turtles come inching their way out of the dirt, little heads first going side to side, side to side, then front flippers come out of the dirt, and within seconds there's a whole little turtle above the ground. Fantastic. Holding them to measure them, it's really possible to feel their strength as the only way to hold them for sure is on the sides, otherwise they can easily wiggle away from you with their front flippers.

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How Many Liters In A Kilometer

Patrolled the beach last night with Neil and our guide Carlos last night from 10:00PM-2:00AM. Saw turtle tracks up the beach and back to the ocean, but no eggs and no turtle. Last night was the clearest I have ever seen the constellation Orion. I could see the whole thing clearly including Orion's head, which I don't have any memory of actually having seen. Absolutely amazing!

Had a great conversation with Neil. Came up with good/funny things to put on T-Shirts.

-How many liters in a kilometer?
-My butt is wet.
-They need and they deserve and I have so I give.

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Thud, Thud, Thud

Writing under the solar powered light at the main hacienda
Took dinner over to Carrie who is guarding at the school. Stupid cat wouldn't leave us alone - kept jumping up on the table and on us trying to eat our food. Finally resorted to feeding it from the cat food supply here at the school, which gave us about 3 minutes to eat in peace, until it came back, apparently finished that quickly with everything I gave it. It is nursing 4 kittens at the moment, so no surprise that it's so persistent, but I guess the food I gave it must have eased it's hunger, because even though it's hovering, it's staying away at the required distance of the unopened umbrella and my arm.

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Raking Leaves And Tarantula At La Tortuga Feliz

I just learned that actually (for Carrie) there were 4 turtles in 1 nest, 43 in another, plus 2 in another.

Turtle Tally:

Carrie: 49+1 Adult
Jonathan: 0

Did a turtle exhumation for two man-made nests. (Exhumation is digging up a nest which has already hatched to find any that didn't come up as well as any unhatched or diseased/rotting nests.)

The little turtle hatchlings are really cute and it's amazing to watch them being removed from deep holes in the ground, already flipping, ready to head out to the ocean.

The turtle tracks left on the shore are also very cute.

I haven't seen any adult turtles, but hope to in our time here. If I don't see them here (Carrie already saw one), perhaps we'll see one while SCUBAing, or maybe when we visit the Galapagos Islands?

On a completely different note: My alarm clock sort of works, and sort of doesn't. Bought it brand new in Bataan. Was complaining a bit about it, and it became a topic for discussion here at the project. It's interesting that Americans go some place like the dollar store to buy things that are inherently throw away items. Most of those items are made in China, Taiwan, India, etc.

Robert (managing the project) says that the items that are rejected in the manufacturing process due to shoddy workmanship or otherwise poor quality are sold and shipped to Central America, where people buy them, and as a result have no idea what it means to have quality products. It's apparently not uncommon to buy something here, have it not work, take it back for a replacement, have the replacement not work, etc. etc. etc. until you eventually just give up and get your money back, or simply give up.

I don't know if that's 100% true, but if it is, who is buying and reselling that stuff here in Central America to the stores where people shop? Buying defective stuff in bulk, at the same cheap prices and selling at the same cost or even slightly more than what it's sold for at the Dollar Store in the US only works if people here are open to buying defective stuff and paying high prices for it. But then what about the individual stores selling it? Do they just get stuck with the junky merchandise? Wouldn't they think to source quality stuff themselves?

Continue reading "Raking Leaves And Tarantula At La Tortuga Feliz" »

Carrie's Baby Turtles at La Tortuga Feliz

Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad!

Rain. Lots and lots and lots of rain.
"Guarding" at the school.

Turtle Tally:
Carrie: 43 + 1 Adult
Jonathan: 0

Went on turtle walk last night with guide CJ from 8:00PM-12:00AM. Had a good talk with CJ. 17 years old and already working here for two years. Slept until 8:00 when woken up by Carmen to go to hatchery. Was at school from 8:00AM-12:00PM

Nothing to do really but sit in a hammock and write. Forgot about (didn't really know about) guard duty this morning, so was looking forward to finally getting some sleep. But no worries. Was woken up by Carmen (from Germany) to remind me. Glad she did, otherwise Amalee (from France, living in Ireland) would just have been sitting here and waiting a long time.

Carrie took someone's shift at the hatchery last night and helped release 40+ baby turtles. I went on patrol and met CJ (already mentioned, and it's Miguel actually, but he's named after his father, so they referred to him as Miguelito for his whole life and now that he's growing up, he wants to go by something other than little Miguel, understandably). CJ seems wise beyond his years as a 17 year old.

Continue reading "Carrie's Baby Turtles at La Tortuga Feliz" »

Kayaking at La Tortuga Feliz

Happy Birthday Brian! (Brian's my brother. Today's his birthday.)

Did you know?:
Sand temperature is the major determining factor in what gender a turtle will be. Higher temperatures generally result in females, while lower temperatures result in males.

Sitting in a hammock which hits the ground except when I hold it up with my feet.

Slept last night from 10:30PM until 1 AM when Carrie came back from her walking shift. Fell back asleep. Alarm clock (purchased in Bataan yesterday) didn't work. Someone came by and woke me up at 2:15. Sat at turtle hatchery with Jean from Ireland from 2:30AM-6:00AM. No turtles hatched or came up, but great talk with Jean from Ireland and amazing stars.

(Weird to watch chickens come to pick bugs off of the beach - belong to someone who lives there on the island)

Watched sky become lighter at daybreak. Didn't go back to sleep. Jean made me a cup of tea which I really appreciated.

Took canoe/kayak out on the canal. Learned how kayaking works as I'd never done it before and had a one-sided oar instead of a 2-sided paddle. Saw amazing and huge blue-pink spider (turned out to be a crab), fantastic colors and huge.

Continue reading "Kayaking at La Tortuga Feliz" »

La Tortuga Feliz: First Impressions

La Tortuga Feliz (Near Bataan, Costa Rica)

First Impressions

This is a far cry and major departure from San Jose. Wow. I knew I'd be leaving the city and wanted to, but this is even more rustic than I had imagined.

Continue reading "La Tortuga Feliz: First Impressions" »

Santa Teresita: Going to Church in San Jose, Costa Rica

It's interesting how religion is such an idosynchrosy.

At the same time it brings people together, it divides people.

Brings people together:
I can be at a Catholic mass in Denver, Colorado, USA - or - Munich, Germany - or - in the case of today, San Jose, Costa Rica, and I can understand what's going on and be a part of something MUCH larger than me and where I am, even though I don't know the language of the mass.

Divides people:
This goes without saying really, for anyone who knows any of their history, but to reiterate:
- Catholicism/Christianity has been used as a way to enslave and kill millions of people throughout history.
- Catholics and Protestants in Ireland have been fighting for hundreds of years.
- Extremism exists in nearly every major religion today and is used as the reason for many of the current global conflicts (which are actually much more about economics - but I digress.)

I'm not sure how to reconcile the conflict of knowing all of this about organized religion, and yet having relied on my faith in times of difficulty, and relied on the religion I was raised in to make new places more familiar.

Continue reading "Santa Teresita: Going to Church in San Jose, Costa Rica" »

A Town Without Direction

Happy Birthday to Jonathan's brother, Brian, whose birthday is today!

One interesting thing we've noticed about being in Costa Rica so far is that there are no street signs. You might think that this would be difficult only if you are driving a car.

Not true.

No signs means that as we are walking to find something (anything) (everything) - grocery store, restaurant, museum, library, etc - we have to memorize landmarks so that we can find our way back to our hotel / apartment. This is not as easy as it sounds when almost everything looks the same. Most of the time we end up counting blocks. It goes something like this:

Continue reading "A Town Without Direction" »

October 8, 2009: Spanish Verb and Cafe Mundo

Spanish word of the day - llevar (yay vahr) : Carrie could do the phoenitics better, but I'm writing this post.

llevar = to take = to transport

Context: Carrie and I were out to eat lunch yesterday at Cafe Mundo (which was great by the way), and had food left over.

I asked, "Tiene una casilla para..." (Do you have a bag for...)

And I couldn't remember what the word was for "to take"

So our waitress told us the word.

Llevar.

So now you know too.

Here's the location of Cafe Mundo on our map of San Jose. It was easy walking distance from Hotel Aranjuez.

View Central America 2009 in a larger map

Here's the fun circus looking bag we got.

We also got yummy breads as appetizer before lunch at Cafe Mundo.

Yes, but Where Exactly In Costa Rica Are You?

Where exactly In San Jose are you?"

Someone asked me that today.

Rather than tell her, I decided I would show her, and show you too, through the magic of Google Maps.

Here's a map of landmarks we're finding in the area we're at right now. If you can find the bed icon, you've found where we are right now.

Continue reading "Yes, but Where Exactly In Costa Rica Are You?" »

24 Hours In Costa Rica: Most Common Questions

We've gotten a lot of questions from the people we've been talking to back home in the past 24 hours.

The most common 4 questions, and our answers, are posted below.

- What are you doing in Costa Rica?
- How's your place?
- What time is it there?
- What's the weather like?

Continue reading "24 Hours In Costa Rica: Most Common Questions" »

Longing For the Unfamiliar

Longing for the Unfamiliar

We've come to expect, whenever we're in a big city, that it is not quiet.

So we anticipated this morning, our first morning in San Jose, Costa Rica, that there would be a fair amount of city noises (cars, construction, people yelling outside, dogs barking, car alarms, etc.)

Continue reading "Longing For the Unfamiliar" »

Safe in Costa Rica at Hotel Aranjuez

This is a very quick message just to let everyone know that our world travel has officially begun.

I wanted to ramp up to this more, and talk more about why and how we're doing what we're doing, but other things became more pressing over the past 6-7 weeks.

However, we are safe and sound at our place for the next 8 days...

Hotel Aranjuez in San Jose, Costa Rica.

The picture next to this post is one that someone else took of the place where the breakfast is served... costs $7 if you're renting one of the apartments but is free if you are at the hotel.

We are in a Superior Studio apartment here at the Hotel Aranjuez, so we'll likely be paying for the breakfast a couple or few days or maybe every day depending on how good breakfast is and what else is available in the area - or how much we want to cook breakfast.

Continue reading "Safe in Costa Rica at Hotel Aranjuez" »

Some of Us Have to Work

Be forewarned that much of this is a bit of a rant.

As Carrie and I get ready to embark on this world travel, and tell people about what we're going to be doing for the next 3 months (the only portion of our travels we've planned so far), there is a phrase I hear voiced over and over that drives me a little nuts.

The phrase is this:

"Some of us have to work."

That's usually preceded by the phrase "Wow, that sounds rough."

And then is followed by the equivalent of "Some of us have to work."

It's usually said with jealousy in mind, and most people say something along with it like, "One of these days you'll get serious and actually start earning some real money in a real job."

(I've heard variations of this in the past week from people I know well.)

I'm not here to compare how hard we work with other people.

I'm also willing to admit that some of our success has been that we've been in the right places at the right times.

Some call this luck. And there's some truth to that.

But I've also heard it said that luck is where preparation meets opportunity.

I also appreciate that Carrie and I have had a head start over other people in that we have strong, supportive families who have set us up for success in life.

Our families haven't always understood what we've been doing, but they've been supportive.

But we have struggles too, which we've learned from and which we apply as lessons in our business and life.

Carrie's dad died when she was 12.

At 20, I was $10,000 in credit card debt, lying to everyone I cared about at the time, and had a really nice car... which I was in debt for, and oh yah... it didn't have a heater and frequently (like every day) died on the side of the road. I got good at fixing that car with plastic grocery bags and plastic newspaper bags, because even though they melted easily, at least they were free.

And we still have what most people would consider to be some significant debt today.

We've just learned how to manage it, direct it, and ultimately, we are using debt to our advantage.

Anyway, I'm digressing a bit.

We have struggles like everyone else.

We work hard like everyone else (well, maybe not everyone else, but I won't go there at the moment either).

1% of what we've built up to this point has been having good ideas.

99% of what we're able to do now has been simple hard work that's allowed us to get here.

ALL of what we're able to do now has been because we've each spent the past 10 years (6 ½ years of it together), changing our thinking about:
- what "work" is
- what travel means
- how to set and achieve goals
- how to be of service to others
- what we want to do in the world
- how to generate income passively and residually
- what's important to us as individuals and as a couple
- how to have open discussions about difficult topics like finances
- etc. etc. etc.

Just to set the record straight, I'm working harder now than I ever have.

I'm spending more time on the computer, more time on the phone, and more time just getting things done than I can remember doing in my work life at any point in the past.

I easily work 60-70 hours/week, especially right now.

And, as long as we have an Internet connection, regardless of where we are in the world, I will continue to work hard.

I think I can safely say that Carrie will too.

Our businesses that we've built allow us to do that, because we've designed them so that we can work on them from anywhere in the world.

But it's been difficult, and continues to have it's challenges on a daily basis.

We work to learn what we need to, so that we can overcome those challenges and become everything we can for ourselves and for the world.

A friend, Patrick Shaw, said recently "The greatest reward in life is living up to the expectations you have of yourself."

We continue to have higher and higher expectations of ourselves, and that's what's allowing us to embark on this journey which many people have told us would be "impossible" for them.

(They also said the same thing three years ago when we told them we were going to Africa to climb Mount Kilimanjaro - a 6 week travel which, when we came home, we were nearly $20,000 in debt from. We went "too soon", and did what many people think of as "impossible".)

And so there are some people who use this phrase "some of us have to work" as a way to vent frustration in a socially acceptable way.

"Some of us have to work" comes across to me as an excuse for not taking action on creating the life of your dreams.

In our case, we want to travel the world.

Travel takes money.

Money that comes in while you're doing something else i.e. travel (in our case) is called passive cash flow.

Money that comes in from something you've done in the past but are still being paid for is called residual cash flow.

We've worked very hard to learn everything we can about passive and residual cash flow.

We've built and supported multiple streams of cash flow since 2003.

Many of them still pay us, and we continue to build them, especially focusing on PPL in the last month and a half.

However, there have been many projects which have cost more than they've paid back.
(That's another topic for another day as well.)

I'm not here to judge anyone's way of living their life.

I'm also not going to tell anyone how they should be earning income.

I personally believe that passive income allows you more freedom and flexibility to pursue whatever you want in life.

And I would believe that, because that has been my experience in life.

There is (without a doubt) value in physical labor, and value in taking part in a larger project, larger product, and in contributing to someone else's vision.

All I'm saying is that "some of us have to work" sounds like a judgment being passed on the way I've chosen to live my life, and the way Carrie and I have chosen to live our lives together.

If you see something that someone else has, it is possible that the reason you don't have it is because you either don't believe that you have the skills or knowledge to accomplish it, or simply haven't taken action on the skills and knowledge you do have.

If you don't have what you want, you're either not doing the right things to get you there, or not doing the right things enough. (Okay, that will also lead to a different topic for a different time.)

I frequently (like several times a day) feel like I need to be taking more action on what I know, in order to be of service to more people and in order to get our income to the level I want it to be at.

(There are lots of different thoughts here in this mini-rant.)

For now, I'll just say this.

Yes, our business allows us to work from anywhere.

Yes, that's infinitely cool.

Yes, I consider myself very fortunate to have learned a lot of these lessons at a young age.

But learning these lessons has meant getting past a lot of obstacles.

One of those obstacles has been people (some of them close) who tell us things like:

"You're just a kid! What do you know?" (When I was trying to share an Internet marketing concept with someone *for free* a couple of years ago.)

"Well, I'm going to go back to my REAL job now." (Someone told me that after I shared PPL with them)

"What's it like to be on permanent vacation?" (From a close relative - directed at Carrie)

"Why don't you go get a REAL job" (From someone whose opinion I actually respected before this comment.)

"Wow. You aren't teaching any more? And you're building a business? That's a HUGE risk. I mean, really, really, really risky." (3 really's, from a close relative.)

"You sure your business things aren't going to fall apart while you're traveling?" (From a close relative)

There are hundreds of comments we've received like this while attempting to share good information with people and/or attempting to include them in what we're doing.

These comments may be well intentioned, but on the receiving end, they are obstacles.

Look, if you want to have passive/residual income, you will have to work at it daily like anything else.

(You decide what you want to do: travel the world, stay home with your kids, give more to your church, etc., and then you work at it daily.)

Initially you can start with 30 minutes/day.

Our vehicles for passive cash flow have been, and will continue to be, Internet Marketing and PPL.

If you want to learn Internet Marketing, I teach what I know through www.ThreeMoneyMethods.com

If you want to work with us with PPL, go here to learn what we do.

If those aren't your vehicles, go find vehicles that will work for you.

Just make sure that your vehicle has the ability to put you in the right place at the right time.

And if you see people who have what you want in life, chances are very good that you should be including them as "us" in your "some of us have to work" statement.

As for me, that little voice in the back of my head which tells me I should be accomplishing something is telling me I need to be doing something productive now.

After all, some of us do have to work...

The Lonely Planet Blogger Awards: Indie Travel Podcast

Earlier this year, Lonely Planet (the well-known travel guide company) announced nominations were open in their first ever blogging awards. Now the nominations are closed and five blogs are up for the vote in each category to decide Lonely Planet's travel blogs of the year.

Continue reading "The Lonely Planet Blogger Awards: Indie Travel Podcast" »

The Island Reef Job: How Many Videos Did You Submit?

In total, 5 videos.

Two videos were submitted using Carrie's two email addresses, two using my email addresses, and one using our support email address for GreenJoyment.

I know this may have increased their workload a bit at Queensland Tourism's offices (reviewing 5 minutes of video instead of 1 minute), but I read/heard in an interview on the Indie Travel Podcast, that they would accept all applications, even multiples from the same person, as long as they came from different email addresses.

I took that as an open invitation... hopefully that was a good opinion to arrive at.

We'll find out soon enough!

So over the course of the past few weeks, we've made 5 videos, each approaching us, the island reef job, and the reef from a different perspective.

Here are the videos, in the order we submitted them...

Continue reading "The Island Reef Job: How Many Videos Did You Submit?" »

Stingray Migration Pictures

Stingray migration

I supposed it's possible that this is a hoax email, but just the thought of being around to see something this magnificent made it necessary to post anyway.

Looking like giant leaves floating in the sea, thousands of Golden Rays are seen here gathering off the coast of Mexico . The spectacular scene was captured as the magnificent creatures made one of their biannual mass migrations to more agreeable waters.

Gliding silently beneath the waves, they turned vast areas of blue water to gold off the northern tip of the Yucatan Peninsula.

Sandra Critelli, an amateur photographer, stumbled across the phenomenon while looking for whale sharks.

She said: 'It was an unreal image, very difficult to describe. The surface of the water was covered by warm and different shades of gold and looked like a bed of autumn leaves gently moved by the wind.

Continue reading "Stingray Migration Pictures" »

Top 10: Unique Churches of the World

This came to us in the form of an email from our Texas friend Renee.

And it reminded us, there's so much more to see in the world.

With as much traveling as we've already done, we've really only just begun. Many of these have now been added to our list of places still to see.

Here they are, the top 10 most unique churches in the world.

Continue reading "Top 10: Unique Churches of the World" »

Merry Christmas

We want to wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas!

We got back home to Colorado late on the 23rd, and are spending today with Jonathan's side of the family. We'll go to Pueblo tomorrow to spend the day with Carrie's side of the family.

All the best to you and your family this Christmas Day, 2008.

Carrie and Jonathan at the Nymphenburg Castle, the "summer" castle (because, you know.. everyone needs a summer castle AND a winter castle) of the Wittelsbach family 1700-1914.

Dachau: I saw Dachau today

I saw Dachau today.
The name of the place, Dachau, brings shivers, or tears, or pain, or hope, to those who know what happened there.

When you go to Dachau, you might want to take someone with you who will hold your hand. I felt like a little kid at times, and it's helpful to have someone standing by your side in a place where such dark things happened. I was honored and so appreciative of Carrie, standing by me, holding my hand.

Congratulations and thanks must go to the Germany of today, and to the survivors of these terrible places. Their courage, and their strength, allowed them to face this truth, so that others (like me) could experience and face these harsh realities of humanity even 75 years later.

A concentration camp memorial isn't something you want to do.

But I'm convinced after today that it's something every human should see with their own eyes, hear with their own ears, feel with their own hands, and tread lightly upon under their own feet.

Continue reading "Dachau: I saw Dachau today" »

Dachau: I saw Dachau today

I saw Dachau today.
The name of the place, Dachau, brings shivers, or tears, or pain, or hope, to those who know what happened there.

When you go to Dachau, you might want to take someone with you who will hold your hand. I felt like a little kid at times, and it's helpful to have someone standing by your side in a place where such dark things happened. I was honored and so appreciative of Carrie, standing by me, holding my hand.

Congratulations and thanks must go to the Germany of today, and to the survivors of these terrible places. Their courage, and their strength, allowed them to face this truth, so that others (like me) could experience and face these harsh realities of humanity even 75 years later.

A concentration camp memorial isn't something you want to do.

But I'm convinced after today that it's something every human should see with their own eyes, hear with their own ears, feel with their own hands, and tread lightly upon under their own feet.

Continue reading "Dachau: I saw Dachau today" »

An Andechs Brewery Pilgramage

You may, in fact, enjoy this entire story. However, the cliff notes are posted at the beginning, and the end, in summary form, for those who don't have time... and for your reading convenience. (We still hope you'll read the whole story.)

Summary:
Go to Andechs Brewery and monastery. Hike 4K uphill over snow and ice. (It actually is fun.) Drink beer. Drink beer. Eat food. Drink beer. Drink more beer. Meet fun old guy. Translate German, into German, for Jonathan. Take cab to Herrsching. Take train home. Go up the down escalator (unsuccessful). Run. Stop. Run. Stop. Run. Stop. Sleep.

And now, for the whole story...

When we were in Munich last year for our honeymoon, Jonathan and I (and Mara and Anne) took the free tour offered by New Europe. Our tour guide was Matt. Matt and his girlfriend met us for a beer later that night at the Andechs restaurant here in Munich. That's when we were introduced to Andechs beer. Thanks Matt!

So, when we came back to Munich this year, we thought it would be fun to go visit the Andechs brewery and monastery. (Yes, monks still make and brew and serve Andechs beer.) Andechs lies just outside of Munich, but the strassenbahn only goes as far as Herrshing (Andechs is about 4 kilometers further than Herrshing).

So, we decided that we would go. On our walk to the station to catch the strassenbahn, who do we run into walking down the street? Matt. As Matt says, "Big planet, small world." We tell him what we are up to, and ask him if he'd like to come. It doesn't work for Matt right now, but, we still chat with each other on the street for about an hour. (It was great to see you again Matt! Hopefully we'll cross paths again soon.) It's pretty cool to be walking down a neighborhood street in Munich, Germany and run into someone you know.

From there we hop on the S5 strassenbahn to Herrshing. It is about an hour ride, but it is fun to see the scenery and get outside the city. When we arrive in Herrshing, a woman stops us on the street and tells us that we should really go see the lake, because (in her opinion), it is the "only thing worth seeing in Herrsching". So, we turn around and walk back by the station and to the lake. We spend a few quiet minutes at the lake appreciating the sunset and being outside of the city. From there it is time to trek to Andechs.

Now, there is a bus that will take you from the Herrshing train station to Andechs. We just thought it would be nice to walk there. And it was. But, it is also up hill the entire way. And the path for us, is covered in snow and mostly ice. It makes for slower going than we expect. And, mind you, all we are following is a green triangle sticker stuck to the lamp posts that tells us which way to go.

But eventually, we run out of lamp posts.

So then, there are only trees.

Continue reading "An Andechs Brewery Pilgramage" »

Nighttime On The Roofs Of Munich

One of the best things about having friends all over the place, and staying with them when we travel, is that we inevitably meet some of their friends and contacts.

Here in Munich, we are staying at our friend Anne's place, while she is in New Zealand. (The free place to stay in Munich and the cheap airfare that Carrie found are actually what brought us here this time.) Her apartment is in an exceptionally great location (thank-you again Anne!) and we'll be posting our guide to Munich in map form (thanks to Google maps) very shortly.

As I was saying though, we get to meet our friends' friends and contacts, and here in Munich we've met Gero, Anne's boyfriend, and Christoph, Anne's roommate. Christoph works not far (at all) from here, working with the Boston Consulting Group.

Tonight, he was nice enough to take us over to the Munich office for the Boston Consulting Group (which is literally a 1 minute walk door to door), and he took us up to the roof of the building. We got a REALLY great nighttime view of Munich.

Continue reading "Nighttime On The Roofs Of Munich" »

1 Euro Museum Entrances

On Sundays, the Pinakothek museums in Munich offer reduced admission. Only 1 Euro. Jonathan and I decided to take advantage of this today, since they were only a few minutes walk from where we're staying.

We visited the Glyptothek Museum first (the museum that holds Greek and Roman Sculpture).

The building housing the Glyptothek is part of a squre that served as a favorite rally point for the 3rd Reich. They even put marble over all the grass so that they could march better. There was a challenge with this though. You'll find out in our video (coming soon).

Unfortuantely, during WWII, the buiding (and the art inside it) were destroyed. So, all the sculptures that had been taken from ancient Greece and ancient Rome were demolished. It took over 30 years for art historians, sculpturists, and volunteers to put everything back together again. Needless to say, some of the pieces didn't make it. But some of them did. It was pretty amazing to look around at the sculptures and see pictures of what they looked like before the bombing. Some of them looked drastically different, and some of them looked exactly the same.

From here we went over to the Alte Pinakothek. The Alte Pinakothek was also bombed during WWII. However, only a section was permanently damaged. The sides of the buiding are still original, even though the middle had to be rebuilt. This is the museum that is home to paintings. It houses over 800 paintings. Jonathan and I only had a little over an hour before they closed, so we only got through about half.

They definnitely make use of all their space in the Alte Pinakothek. Paintings are hung nearly to the ceiling, and even the hallways have been converted into galleries.

It was really cool to see some of the world's most famous paintings. I got to see the self portrait of Albrecht Duerer (the leading German artist of the Renaissance). Albrecht Duerer is also famous for being one of the first artists to sign his name to his work. Before him, work was done for (and therefore owned by) the church. In Duerer's earlier work, his signature (usually AD) is difficult to find. But it becomes more defined as time goes on.

If you ever find yourself in Munich, definitely take the time, and save the money by going on a Sunday, and visit the Pinakothek museums. You'll be walking right through history.

Sankt Nikolaus Tag (Saint Nicholas Day)

The tradition of Saint Nicholas Day, usually on the 6th of December, is a festival for children in many countries in Europe related to surviving legends of the saint, and particularly his reputation as a bringer of gifts.

In Germany, many children put a shoe outside the front door on the night of December 5th to December 6th. St. Nicholas fills the boot with gifts and sweets, and at the same time checks up on the children to see if they were good, polite and helpful the last year. If they were not, they will have a tree branch in their boots instead.

Keeping with tradition, Jonathan and I set our shoes outside on Sankt Nikolaus Tag. It appears that we were both very good so far this year.

Lebkuchen and chocolate for Carrie, and beer for Jonathan. Mmmmm.

Cool Stuff: Where The Hell Is Matt?

My brother Adam "introduced" us to Matt about two years ago (sometime right around our Kilimanjaro climb) when he sent us Matt's first video (below)

We already had plans of course for being world travelers in our life together, and had both done a fair amount of travel (with the time we each spent in Germany, my travel to Italy and France and China, our trip to Mexico together, etc.)...

Other than the fact that this is just cool, our interest in travel was the other reason Adam sent the video.

I say all that, to say that Matt's first video was interesting, encouraging, and quite inspiring to us.

Well, Matt's just completed a 2008 video of his world travels.

At this point, you may be asking "Who in the hell is this Matt? Do Carrie and Jonathan know him?"

Nope. Not yet.

But he's a guy who went on a world trip, and everywhere he went, he did this goofy dance.

He videoed the whole experience, spliced it together into one clip of him dancing at various world locations, sent it out to some people, and the video went viral, getting millions of views.

Stride Gum contacted him and said "How would you like to travel the world on our dime?"

He said "Okay!" (Who wouldn't?) And took another big trip around the world, doing the goofy dance everywhere he went, and posted the video up on YouTube and a bunch of other places online.

That's when we "met" Matt (back in 2006).

Maybe someday we'll actually get to meet him, but for now his story is awesome to us... that he took the trip, that he made the video, that Stride is a smart marketing company (see how many times I've mentioned Stride Gum in this post - maybe you had never heard of them before, but now you have)... just the whole thing is really fun and neat.

We hope it's inspirational and motivational for you too.

Alright. Without further ado, here are Matt's "Dancing" videos.

Continue reading "Cool Stuff: Where The Hell Is Matt?" »

El Cid: The Cancun, Mexico All-Inclusive Resort El Cid. A great Vacation Resort in Riviera Maya, Cancun, Mexico

Traveling to an all-inclusive in Cancun, Mexico, is a bit different kind of travel than Carrie and I normally go on.

Actually, an all-inclusive vacation package, in Mexico or anywhere else, is sort of the antithesis of a lot of the kinds of travel we've done.

But we spent 7 days at the El Cid Riviera Maya, near Cancun, Mexico, and it was all that an all-inclusive should be. Primarily, relaxing.

13 years ago, the six of us (Mom, Dad, Brian, Adam, Deanna, and I) all went to Mexico for a family vacation, before my brother Brian's senior year of high school.

This upcoming year will be Deanna's senior year, and in celebration of that, as well as to get everyone together, the now 9 of us (each of the brothers now has a wife or soon to be wife - hi Laura!) as well as Grandma and aunt Gail and Uncle Joe, all took some time off to head to a resort near Cancun called the El Cid.

This seven days was an awesome and relaxing time.

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The Last Time: Leaving Argentina and thoughts on "The Last Time"

Why does it sometimes take our leaving a place for us to appreciate the most mundane things about it?

This video is for a little side project I'm working on called Wisdomish, which is just a place for me to share thoughts in video form...

It's also the video I made to close out the videos I made for the time we spent in Buenos Aires in 2008.

Simply an awesome time, and one which was a good test to see if it would be possible to do the the kind of location-independent working and travel that Carrie and I want to do globally, as a lifestyle, sometime in late 2009/early 2010.

Would love any thoughts or comments on the video.

Tango In Buenos Aires: What About The Tango

We have linked to a few web sites (below) in English which talk about the tango experience in Buenos Aires, but we've really only seen Tango in a few places. Cafe Tortoni (where they put on a show for tourists), the San Telmo market and street fair (where they dance in the square with the purpose of getting you to come and do tango with them at a club/ballroom), and Confiteria Ideal.

Our favorite place was, by far, Confiteria Ideal. People actually go there to learn, meet new partners, make new friends, and generally have a good time.

We're sure there are other places to tango dance in Buenos Aires. In fact, there are probably hundreds of other places to dance tango, and learn tango, in the city - we just didn't visit those places.

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Mendoza, Argentina: Wine trip to Mendoza

BoRyan asked Carrie and I if we wanted to travel in Mendoza, Argentina with him.

So, for our last weekend in Argentina, we decided that we would leave Buenos Aires and head to Mendoza.

Why go to Mendoza? Because Mendoza is wine country: Argentina's equivalent of Napa valley.

And when in Rome, you do as the Romans, right? Well, when in Mendoza, you do as they do... which means enjoying wine.

We'll be adding pictures and text stories soon, but for now you can watch this video if you'd like to see what it was like in Mendoza, Argentina, (and to see how we got there).

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Vegetarian vexed while visiting Argentina

Meat Eaters' Paradise

Now I'm not 100% vegetarian. I still eat meat, just very occasionally. I do eat cheese and eggs on a regular basis though. Because I don't consider myself super strict when it comes to meat consumption, I can generally find a few vegetarian options (3 or more) on every menu, at least in the United States.

Here in Argentina, it's a different story. About 90% of the restaurants here do have an option for vegetarians. The challenge lies in that there is only ONE choice. (Even a majority of the salads here contain some form of meat.) So, if you're not feeling like spaghetti for the 3rd night in a row, then you're out of luck. For example, three of the last four restaurants we ate in offered only one vegetarian option. All of them were a variant of pasta. (Pumpkin ravioli is the most popular option.) I'm not a huge pasta eater. I like it occasionally, and usually for lunch. However, down here, I have eaten more pasta than probably anything else.

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Buenos Aires Is Burning: Smoke Is Everywhere

Okay, so it's not quite as dramatic as the subject line would suggest. But it is VERY smoky in Buenos Aires today. Seems that hundreds of thousands of acres of land are being cleared to the West and North of here (primarily along Route 9 (the route we took to Cordoba) from what we can understand with our limited Spanish) to make room for grazing cattle.

The land that was once used for cattle to graze is apparently now being used for Soybean production, so they need to have more land available for use.

Not really sure how all that works, or who controls what happens in the provinces outside of Buenos Aires. There is a 400 year old history of the provinces not really getting along with the city/province of Buenos Aires, so the provinces may not care that much if their smoke is engulfing Buenos Aires. Difficult to say really.

One thing is for sure. Carrie and I don't smoke, but our apartment smells like someone smokes, and the visibility here is pretty poor at the moment. The smoke got REALLY thick last night, and has done some clearing today, and hopefully the fires will die down so that we can be without smoke once again.

(More interesting news is coming soon from the variety of things we've been doing over the past few days, but just thought we'd update you on the latest in Buenos Aires.)

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Crazy Crunched Cockroach Continues to Crawl in Buenos Aires: Plus A Weekend In Cordoba

We had a cockroach in our apartment. It was big. Not huge, but big.

I suppose this comes with living in a big city.

But it was actually rather comical. I was sitting at the table in the main room, and Carrie was in the bedroom with the twin beds.

Suddenly I hear this "Whoa! Whoa! Yuck!"

Followed by a couple of swats with what sounded like a flip flop.

Jonathan: "You okay?"

Carrie: "Yep. Cockroach."

Jonathan: "Yuck. Big one?"

Carrie: "Uh-huh."

So I get up and go into the room where there is a cockroach which has clearly been smacked because it's sort of oozing. (Sorry to be gross.)

Carrie: "I'm just surprised how fast it moved!"

Jonathan: "You're sure it's dead?"

Carrie: "Yep. I heard it pop."

Jonathan: "Want me to throw it away?"

Carrie: "Yes, please."

Jonathan: "Sure it's dead?"

Carrie: "Yep."

So I moved a suitcase to get closer to pick it up. Despite the oozing nature of it, the thing took off and freaked both of us out.

So I asked Carrie for a bigger shoe.

Carrie: "But I heard it pop."

Jonathan: "I know. I saw it oozing."

A few solid heel swats later with a dress shoe, and the cockroach was definitely dead.

Mostly, he just freaked us out with his erratic moving. We didn't know just how crazily or fast a big cockroach moved.

I wrote a poem/limerick (below) in response to this incident.

Continue reading "Crazy Crunched Cockroach Continues to Crawl in Buenos Aires: Plus A Weekend In Cordoba" »

Buenos Aires: Galleria Jardin, The Botanical Garden Cats, San Telmo Market, and the Casa Rosada

So now that we've had a little time to get adjusted into our home for the rest of the time we'll be in Argentina (although we're still getting acclimated to our new surroundings... just takes a while to settle in), we are getting out to do some of the toursity things. Kevin and Annmarie are down here, and like us, they like to walk.

It's really the best way to see things, and really experience the place where you're at.

(Not to mention the health benefits of walking.)

So, this post will catch you up on what we've been up to over the past few days.

But first, since most of the visitors to our site are American (and Americans are notoriously bad at geography) and because it might help someone wanting to visit Buenos Aires, we'd like to offer a little refresher about where in the world we are, and familiarize you with the neighborhood a little bit.

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Buenos Aires Apartment: Troubles With Our Palermo, Buenos Aires Apartment

We're finally in an apartment in Buenos Aires that we REALLY like.

But up until now, we have been having some big issues with our Buenos Aires Apartments. We went through a real estate agent who is from Buenos Aires and is based out of Florida.

We told her that we wanted a nice place that was quiet (and obviously clean, if we were going to be paying $1400 or $1500/month for the time we were here).

The apartment we originally had reserved, we got talked out of and got talked into this one. We saw that it was on a busy street, so we asked (before confirming our reservation) if it would be noisy. The real estate agent confirmed that it would not be noisy.

When we got to the apartment, it was both noisy and dirty.

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10 FAQs about our stay in Buenos Aires (so far)

1. What's your apartment like?

We'll answer that soon...

2. What's the weather like? Is it summer there?

We're in the southern hemisphere, so the weather is the opposite season as the northern hemisphere. This means that it is just the beginning of fall down here. So, just as we were beginning to see the very first buds and even a flower or two right before we left Colorado, we are just beginning to see the leaves change colors and drop from the trees here in Argentina. The weather is still rather warm (high 70s to low 80s), and pleasant. It is definitely more humid here than in CO (but it's hard not to be).

March is the rainiest month here. We've experienced a few rainstorms. The rain here is very different. It comes down in sheets. It downpours for about 20-30 minutes, and then stops. It might do this 2 or 3 times during the night.

3. What's the food like?

Continue reading "10 FAQs about our stay in Buenos Aires (so far)" »

Buenos Aires: How Is This Possible?

We got and get a lot of questions about our travel to Buenos Aires.

"You're staying at like, a resort, right?"
"How did you get that much time off of work?"
"Do you have friends who are Argentinian?"
"I'm sorry...How many weeks did you say you're going for?"

Most of these questions revolve around the basic question that no one's really asked directly, which is:

"A six-week "vacation" in South America? How Is That Even Possible?

We hope that by our example, we inspire others to do similar things in their lives, but here's the real answer to the question no one's asking directly.

How Is This Possible?
-------------------

In a lot of ways, I don't really know what to tell people about the idea that we're spending a good deal of time here in Buenos Aires.

Most people's lives are based around working a certain number of hours every week or every month at a JOB. That job is usually based in a specific location.

Emily and BoRyan (friends who are down here), are fortunate to have jobs with a company which allows them to work virtually.

But most people have that traditional job which requires that your life be structured around your work.

Continue reading "Buenos Aires: How Is This Possible?" »

Berlin: KaDeWe and Currywurst

Our last full day in Berlin (and our last full day outside of the US on our honeymoon), we went shopping at KaDeWe (kah - day - vay), not really to shop, but just to see one of the most famous department stores in Germany. It's kind of like going to Macy's in New York.

KaDeWe was setting up for the Christmas season, and it looked like it was really going to be a nice display.

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Berlin Tourism: New Berlin Tour Review And HotelQ Review

we walked from our hotel and went to see some sites closest to our hotel.

We saw a church which (as most buildings in Germany) was all but completely destroyed during the bombing which took place during World War Two. They left the entrance to the church as a memorial, and built a new church on the site, which has walls made up of mosaic blue glass, and has an absolutely amazing organ.

We also took the New Europe tour of Berlin. While our tour guide in Berlin wasn't as fun as Matt (the guide for our tour of Munich), he was incredibly knowledgeable.

Continue reading "Berlin Tourism: New Berlin Tour Review And HotelQ Review" »

Munich to Berlin: Traveling by Train In Germany

We were rather sad to leave Mara, Anja (ahn-yuh), and Anne (ahn-uh) in the morning at the train station in Munich. But we wanted to get to see some of Berlin on our honeymoon, and we wanted to end our honeymoon just the two of us, so we left from our awesome time in Munich and said goodbye.

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What's Up with The Beer Glasses? Munich Tourism: BMW Experience, The HofbrauHaus, and a Jolly Good Time

Carrie, Mara, Anna, and I wandered through the city of Munich, visiting an old (rebuilt) church, and an awesome lunch at a restaurant called (I've forgotten the name, but hopefully Carrie remembers).

We hope that this restaurant will find it's way to Colorado soon.

Later on in the day, we went to the BMW experience.

It was fun to go and see, but to be honest, it felt really hypey. The displays were cool, and it was neat to see the BMW's, but wandering around admiring swatches of leather and 9 different kinds of chrome plating wasn't all that exciting. Perhaps there was a guided tour we could have taken that would have made the BMW experience more interesting, but we didn't, and it wasn't all that exciting. We think you really can do the whole thing in about 20 minutes.

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Munich: Germany legends, Map, And Beer. A Festive Tour In Munich

Today, we took the city walking tour of Munich. If you go to visit Europe, we absolutely recommend walking tours for your first time in any city (which will familiarize you with the European city you are in, through the living history all around you.) One of the best tour companies we have discovered is New Europe tours.

Their tour guides work for tips only, which gives you the opportunity to take the tour before deciding how much to pay. Matt (actually an American living in Munich) gave us our tour of the city. Being someone who is fascinated with the history of Munich himself, he was absolutely fascinating to listen to, because of how he was able to synthesize so much information into a small amount of time, and add just the right amount of sarcastic wit to help you see the more negative aspects of history from a humorous and positive, while still respectful, perspective.

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Road trip through the Alps: Bergamo (Milan) Italy to Munich, Germany

If you have never taken a road trip, it is something you simply must do. Carrie and I have taken a couple of long road trips together, and we loved them - despite not loving all the time in the car, we got to stop and see a lot of fun things. (Caveat: It should go without saying, but if you are taking a road trip, take it with people whom you enjoy spending a LOT of time with.)

If you have never gotten to take a road trip across Europe, it's something you simply must do.

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Milan Italy: Tourism and Shopping Streets On A Great Day In Milan

Obviously being a historical city, Milan totally blew us away. We LOVED it! We tend to enjoy smaller, less touristy cities better, and even though Milan definitely did not fit that mold (it was basically a big crowded city), we definitely enjoyed seeing so many of the amazing things in this city.

Mara took us to the train and we rode it into the Milan train station. (We're not sure who was on the train before us, but the train sort of had a smell which reminded us of the smell that accompanied people who had spent too much time on Mount Kilimanjaro, going months without a bath (probably like us on day 8 of the climb). Stinky doesn't begin to describe it, but I digress...)

We got off the train in this phenomenally large train station. There was an odd art exhibit outside of the Milan train station, which we didn't take any pictures of, and I don't know if it will still be there when you go, but definitely go to the courtyard outside of the train station.

From there, we caught the subway to the Milan cathedral, which was just amazing. Carrie and I have both seen a fair number of cathedrals, but both of us agreed that this Milan's cathedral was of the most amazing. We primarily loved the cathedral for the stained glass windows, which we both took LOTS of pictures of.

WE SEE DEAD PEOPLE

One of the more amazing, as well as disturbing, portions of the cathedral are the altars that are dedicated to saints. This isn't out of the ordinary in Catholic cathedrals, but was the first time that either of us had seen hermetically sealed glass caskets where you can look in at the actual physical remains of the saint that the altar is dedicated to. While it does create an environment of respect and reverence, it simultaneously creates an atmosphere that is imposing and foreboding, and could easily give little children nightmares.

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Bergamo Italy Tourism: The Bergamo Tourist Day In The Cathedral and at the Castle

Today, we had a really nice (although very rainy) day in Bergamo. Our friend Mara lives really close to Bergamo, and we spent some time here, with Mara showing us all of the amazing sites.

Carrie and I agree that the cathedral in Bergamo was one of the nicest (if not the nicest) cathedral we have ever visited. Everything was guilded in gold, and being right next to a monastery, it was well cared for by the monks, and just had the feeling that there was a ton of history there. Plus, because there were so few people there, it gave a really cool and powerful ambiance to the place that really was very prayerful, like a church should be (but so often isn't).

There was also all of this elaborate wood paneling and woodwork throughout the church. Here's an example from one of the entrance doors.

We had a lot of fun just playing in the rain under our umbrellas as well.

The day was also filled with awesome food (how could a day in Italy not be, right?) Right after the cathedral, we went and had a hot chocolate at a café nearby the cathedral... what's crazy about the hot chocolate in Italy is that you really can't drink it because it's too thick. It's really like melted chocolate that's been heated up.

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Parmesan vs. Parmigiano Reggiano

Parmesan has been ruined forever.

That is, American Parmesan has been ruined for me forever. That is because Parmigiano Reggiano in Italy is something entirely different than American Parmesan cheese. I mean, the cheese we get from Sam's Club is pretty good, but it's definitely an imitation of the stuff we've eaten here in the northern part of Italy.

And if you're eating the pre-shredded stuff (or even better, the stuff that comes in the preprocessed can that is marketed as "finely grated Parmesean cheese"), and you don't want it to be spoiled for you, then I recommend staying as far away from this region of the world as you possibly can.

Really, the Parmigiano Reggiano alone is worth traveling here for.

Verona: Our Wonderful Day In Verona

We wrote our experiences of Verona separately (for no particular reason)... so today, you get to experience Verona through both of our eyes in one short post!

Verona: Jonathan's experience

To be honest, before going, I wasn't that excited about going to Verona. I knew it was a fabled city because of the story of Romeo and Juliet, but didn't know that Shakespeare's story actually came from such a cool city. There are a number of things to see and do in Verona, but let's get to the topic everyone would want to know about...

Did we see where Romeo met, courted, and eventually died with Juliet?

Well...

Here's the balcony of Juliet

The balcony of Juliet as it stands today is actually believed to be three sides of an ancient sarcophagus (read - built for a dead person), and the house of Juliet was actually the house of the family Capulletto (or something like that), so it's unclear if Shakespeare was inspired to write his story because there was actually a "Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet" or, if he created Romeo and Juliet after hearing about or seeing the house of Capulletto. Anyway, maybe I'm too practical in wanting the story to be true before buying into the whole story and getting really excited about seeing the lives and times of the lovers, but in my estimation, it was a bit of an overrated attraction. It was fun to go and see nonetheless.

We didn't see the tomb of Juliet (again, due to the fact that we don't know if the story is true, and so there are more interesting things to see).

So what was so cool about Verona? Nothing in particular, AND everything about it really... It's actually a city where people live, and have lives that aren't solely based around tourists coming to the city (which was how we felt in Venice - which is still a nice city though), and has some really great attractions... including the arena (www.arena.it), which is like a smaller version of the Coliseum, but what's really cool is that in summertime, it's still actively used for plays and shows.

How cool would it be to sit in an arena that was used in Roman times and actually see a show today, over 1,500 years later? (Personally, I think it would be cool to see a lion battling a person, like they used to do in Roman times, but maybe I only think that would be cool, and then once I saw it, I would think otherwise: probably a bit violent and gory to watch a lion mauling a person or vice-versa).

Verona is a city which has a beautiful compilation of churches and beautiful sights. There are three major castles, some very nice bridges, and neat little café's and pizza places.

One of these places is called Redemptore pizza.

It's called redemptore pizza because it's built inside of an old church. Redemptore = redemption in English - Redemption Pizza.

While we didn't actually eat at Redemption pizza, I thought that it would be funny if on the other side of town, there was a sinful pizza, so I asked Mara what the Italian word for sinful was.

Italian vocabulary: Picaminosa = (sinful)

The word is pronounced Pick - A - Me - Nosa

Carrie said, maybe that's why it's bad to pick your nose.

Because it's sinful.

Anyway, you probably would have had to have been there, but it was very funny at the time.

Verona was truly an awesome city. One which comes VERY highly recommended.

Continue reading "Verona: Our Wonderful Day In Verona" »

Bergamo to Venice: Our Guide and Day in Venice

Venice... ah Venice... the city of love, canals, and funny smells.

Venice was nice.

It is definitely a place everyone should see.

We're glad we went, and we enjoyed the time there. But to be honest, it felt a bit hyped and overrated at times.

We're here during a relatively low time of the year for tourism. However, the city is still overrun with people taking pictures of things.

One of the things they're taking pictures of is all the pigeons.

What are the pigeons doing?

Eating the crumbs of items which were dropped by tourists, who are eating stuff (and throwing stuff to the birds) which was made for tourists.

But we did have a great Venice guide in our friend Mara (who has been to Venice more than once before).

Continue reading "Bergamo to Venice: Our Guide and Day in Venice" »

From Bremen to Bergamo (Milan)

Because of the strike happening with the German train system, we were unable to take the train from Bad Zwischenahn into Bremen to catch our flight this morning. Sabine was nice enough to drive us to the Bremen airport, which was about an hour away. Thanks Sabine!

We flew from Bremen into Bergamo (marketed as Milan by Ryan Air) where Mara was kind enough to pick us up. It was my first time meeting her, and she and Jonathan hadn't seen each other for six years (since they studied together in Oldenburg).

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Bad Zwischenahn, Bremen, and the Twistringen Cemetery

On the 24th, we went into the town of Bad Zwischenahn, which is kind of a quiet little village in the wintertime and a well-visited lake/resort town in the summertime. (For those of you living in Colorado, who have been to Estes Park in both summer and wintertime, you know what we are talking about.)
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While Bad Zwischenahn is a nice town, we felt we saw the majority of it in under 30 minutes, so we took the train through Oldenburg (since we had been there the day previous), and went into the fabled town of Bremen.

If you haven't read the story of the Bremen Town Musicians (by the Brothers Grimm), you should. It's not the highlight of the Brothers' Grimm's tales, but is a fun and short read.

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Bad Zwischenahn and Oldenburg

Today, Carrie and I left from our wonderful time in Hammoor with Anne Link.

We traveled by train from Hamburg to Bad Zwischenahn, where Carrie's family picked us up.

Many people are surprised when we tell them that Carrie still has family in Germany. But...

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Exploring Hamburg

Today we went into Hamburg. Jonathan and I were fortunate once again to have Anne as our guide. I was still feeling quite tired, and found it sort of hard to focus still from our all-nighter a few nights ago. But I was still excited for the day that would come. On our way there we stopped by this castle in Ahrensburg.

We walked around the garden and took a quick peek inside.

From here we took the subway into Hamburg.

Continue reading "Exploring Hamburg" »

The Tower of London and Jack The Ripper

We left the flat and headed to Monument station, and walked across London Bridge. Now I had to have a picture of London bridge, because many people think that Tower Bridge (the unmistakable bridge in London) is actually London Bridge. But it's not. London Bridge is rather boring and unimpressive from a comparative perspective.

We walked across the bridge so that we could get to Borough Market, because we heard that it would be a really cool and authentic market in London.

We are so glad we went. Outside of being a really neat market, they were also having some sort of Spain celebration all weekend long, which meant that I got to have one of my favorite foods... samples!

Continue reading "The Tower of London and Jack The Ripper" »

Outside London Exploration

Carrie and I were both feeling like we were done with Britain and ready to move on to our next destination.

Not that London's not completely incredible... because it is, and we've really enjoyed our time here.

But after visiting the Tate Modern Museum (not that impressive for us), and having a really cool dinner last night (at Dans le Noir - VERY cool!), and meeting some really cool Londoners (thanks for the great time Suzanne and Dai),

and knowing that we're still slated for the Tower of London and the Jack the Ripper tour...

(is that enough prefacing for you?)

we were kind of feeling a bit done with London.

That is...

until we got out of London.

Which is what we did today, and now we just want to have a car here and drive all over the UK finding cool things to see. (Except that driving here is a bit nerve-wracking!)

Today, we went to the most amazing castle either one of us has ever been to... Windsor Castle.

I could bore you with a bunch of stats and figures about the castle, but then you're bound to be bored with this site and leave.

Suffice it to say that if you like history, and you like artchitecture, and you like art, and/or anything about the royal family (or, if you just want to be amazed by how extravagant royalty can be), then you must carve out more than an hour for visiting Windsor castle, because there's just no way it can be covered in such a short visit.

Just plan a whole day. It's worth it.

So, let's throw in a picture or two here, so you can see a bit of what we're talking about.

We rented a car today.

...which meant getting up a little earlier than usual and getting to Heathrow airport on the Underground (Subway).

So we got a little Peugot.

And while some people may think that it's difficult to drive on the other side of the road (coming from the US to England), it's really not that difficult at all.

Here are the driving instructions they don't give you at the car rental place:

1. Forget EVERYTHING you learned about driving in the US;
2. Let go of everything your intuition tells you to do;
3. Don't drive the car on the side of the road you think you should be on.

Do these things and you will do just great driving through the English countryside.

End of manual.

Or, you can attempt to drive like we do in most parts of the world, and end up with a nerve-wracked experience.

(Incidentally, we chose the second option - sort of by default?)

I got the hang of the driving after a bit, although it wasn't without its perils stories to follow at some later date.

So, the castle just blew our minds, and we really wished for more time here, but here are a couple of pictures.

Here's a shot through the castle moat - pretty cool that they've converted it into a nice garden and fountain

A really cool courtyard in the upper part of the 13 acre grounds of the castle.

So, after leaving ourselves just enough time to really want to come back to Windsor, we decided to drive to one of the world's most visited locations.

Stonehenge

It's really a big pile of rocks. But one of the cool things about visiting Stonehenge is that the place gives off a really cool kind of peaceful feeling and is a really great experience.

Our tip for this location is to get the guided audio tour. It really explains everything and... best of all... it's free! (You don't see anything that's free in England.)

So, this is us

And this is the pile of really neat rocks.

(This is one of our favorite pictures of the trip so far.)

And then, we debated. We knew there was this really cool cathedral in Salisbury, but it meant driving further away, again on the other side of the road... (and driving back in the dark on the London highways)

We decided to go, and we are VERY glad we did.

Salisbury Cathedral
Salisbury is a neat little town, and the cathedral there is AMAZING! If you get a chance, go see it.

You'll be able to see it from some distance away...

And here's the inside.

The nighttime drive back was easier than the rest of the drive, although it did involve a 2 minor mishaps in two different roundabouts and a wrong turn (which left us on the wrong side of the street), but all's well that ends well, and so hopefully we're leaving you feeling well.

We sure are feeling great!

Thank-you for following our travels and stay tuned for more!

The French are in the dark - literally and conceptually

When Jonathan returned from LA, he was really excited to take me to a few things in London. He learned about the cheese market at Borough Market (where we're going tomorrow), and this restaurant he wanted to go to. Almost the first thing that Jonathan did was make reservations for this restaurant.

He wanted it to be a surprise. Was it ever! The ambiance of the restaurant was incredible. Words cannot describe what it was like in there. So, we took a picure of what the inside looks like (we're not supposed to, so don't tell anyone).

Click here to see it.

Seriously, that is exactly what it was like. Click to read more about it... (WARNING: if you want to go to this restaurant, what follows does contain spoilers.)

Both Carrie and Jonathan recommend that if you're ever in Paris or London that you give this a try. It's amazing what you learn about others, and (more importantly) about yourself.

Continue reading "The French are in the dark - literally and conceptually" »

Exploring London (again)

I just got back from Los Angeles yesterday... or the day before, depending what time zone you live in.

In any case, I've been (back) here since Sunday.

I think Carrie is happy to have me back (really happy!), but I also think she enjoyed her time here in London as well.

The Altitude conference I went to in Los Angeles was truly amazing, and is the start of something that I feel will be a big movement for business in America... but I'll post about that on the Strive4impact blog at some point in the nearer future.

We are really...

Continue reading "Exploring London (again)" »

First Few Days of the Honeymoon

Once again, we want to thank all of you for helping to make our wedding so special, either by your attendance, or by all the things you did to make our wedding just perfect. Thank-you so much!

So... All of our wedding pictures are online. There is a fun slideshow (put together by Tom) at http://www.tomkphoto.com/0709cjk/slideshow/ and the gallery of photos is available at http://www.tomkphoto.com/0709cjk/gallery/.

Our first couple of days in London have been fabulous. We have an awesome flat where we are staying near the South Kensington underground (tube, subway, etc.) station. Thanks so much Dan and Jane! This place rocks.

So far we have seen: Buckingham Palace, where the Queen lives; Big Ben and the houses of Parliment; Westminster Abbey; Picadilly Circus (not really a circus, it's the Times Square of London); "The Merchant of Venice" performed in The Globe Theatre (awesome); Trafalgar Square; Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens; Kensington Palace (Princess Diana's favorite home); and St. Paul's Cathedral (amazing - the main church of the Church of England).

That's a "quick" run down of what we've seen so far. We'll post detailed thoughts and feelings on some of these places when we do a more detailed post. Here are a few picture highlights (clicking on the smaller pictures will show you the larger version)

Continue reading "First Few Days of the Honeymoon" »

Friday Five...

5 "things" to see and do in Kentucky (that I've done so far)

5 nieces and nephews (Drew, Adam, Alyssa, Zach, & Emma)
4 nights of Yatzee (you win some; you lose some - big time)
3 books read (Scarlett - the sequel to Gone with the Wind, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, The Handmaid's Tale - currently reading, but will finish before I leave. And, just so you know that adds up to a total of ... 1,879 pages, Scarlett has 896, HP has 672, and The Handmaid's Tale has 311)
2 Library book sales (FUN!)
1 Swimming pool (more fun!)

Carrie's Visited Countries

I thought that since I'd posted how many states I've visited, I should post my countries visited too. Again, in order for me to have visited the country, I had to spend at least one night there (otherwise I could count our layover in Ethiopia). Hopefully I'll be able to add more countries to this soon. (I know it looks like I've been to Alaska, too bad I haven't YET.) How many countries have you visited?

I've been to 8 countries (man, I need to travel more!). How many have you been to? Click here to generate your own map, and please post it in the comments when you do!

Kevin's Climbing Everest!

Kevin Cherilla, our leader when we climbed Kilimanjaro, is on Everest now. He put together a blog so that we could read about his experiences while trying to summit the tallest mountain in the world. It really is a fun (and funny) read. If you'd like to check it out, here's the link: www.kcsummits.com/Everest_2007_Blog.html

Definitely go check it out if you've ever had even a little curiosity about what it's like to climb the highest mountain.

An Opportunity to Help A Kilimanjaro-Related Charity

I received this email today, and thought I could do the most good with it by sharing the information about it with visitors to our site.

Please read below.

--------------

Dear Jonathan

My name is Howard Chinner and I work in a voluntary capacity, assisting the trustees of Village Education Project (Kilimanjaro) - a charity which has benefited from your support.

If you would like to help the charity at no cost whatsoever, then I wonder if you would consider using 'everyclick' as your search engine for your internet searches.

This can be set up as your website search 'homepage' or you can just put 'everyclick' in your 'Favourites' list and use it as and when you like.

If you select Village Education Project (Kilimanjaro) as your chosen charity, then every time you use Everyclick the charity will receive a donation (a percentage of Everyclick's profit). This will paid monthly using Charities Aid Foundation.

If you would like to do this, and thereby help Village Education Project (Kilimanjaro) to get some extra income, please just click on the link below. You will then see a page with various blue icons. The easiest is to select the first from the left ["Become a registered supporter"] and become a registered supporter. You just enter the details requested and that is that. The only other thing is to start using Everyclick when you search on the internet - and the charity will benefit.

Many thanks indeed, and please copy this to your friends and colleagues to help Village Education Project (Kilimanjaro) even more.

Howard Chinner
Volunteer Assistant to the Trustees

EveryClick's Village Education Project at Kilimanjaro support page

Continue reading "An Opportunity to Help A Kilimanjaro-Related Charity" »

Carrie's visited states

I decided when I was ten years old, and realized that I had been to ten states, that I would visit all 50 states before I was 50 years old. I have a rule that I have to spend the night in the state or it doesn't count. It seems as if I'm making progress.


That's 33 states visited at age 25. How many states have you visited? Click here to generate your own map, and please post it in the comments!

Kilimanjaro Trip videos are live

I have been trying to get our Kilimanjaro videos edited and live almost since we got home last summer.

At least that's what I've been saying... In truth, video editing just takes a while, and can get tedious... so I've kind of spaced it out to not get burned out on creating the videos.

I've really enjoyed them, and am so glad that I took the time I did to edit them, as well as that we took the time on our trip to record our experiences. If you aren't doing this for yourself, I highly recommend at least once/year sitting down and reflecting over what...

Continue reading "Kilimanjaro Trip videos are live" »

Stratosphere Hotel and Casino. Las Vegas, Nevada

Stratosphere Hotel and Casino
Las Vegas, Nevada

When Jonathan and I decided to travel to Las Vegas, again, we decided that since there are so many different options for places to stay, we would try someplace new. We decided on the Stratosphere. We knew going into it that it was pretty far away from everything else on the strip, but we weren’t afraid of walking. The Stratosphere is also really close to the Sahara Monorail stop, so we knew we could always use that if our feet got tired. Our room was on the third floor, and we overlooked the employee entrance. Right outside our window were some of the lights that illuminate the building at night, and it was kind of hard to shut those out at night. The bed was nothing spectacular, but it wasn’t horrible either. It was pretty middle of the road. The bathroom, however, was super tiny. To close the door, we had to stand between the bathtub and the toilet. Also, the way the toilet flushed was pretty scary. You had to close the lid and step back before flushing for fear of being sucked down with it. While, the room itself was not so great, it was pretty good for the money we spent. We probably won’t stay here again, but that’s because it’s always nice to stay someplace new. We would recommend the hotel to those who are not traveling with young kids, and aren’t afraid of a bit of a walk everyday.

Overall Rating: 68 out of 135

Click here to see pictures of our room at the Stratosphere.

Continue reading "Stratosphere Hotel and Casino. Las Vegas, Nevada" »

Vino Bello Resort, Napa, California

There are a plethora of choices when looking for a place to stay in wine country California. Choices range from several bed and breakfast places, traditional hotels, and even condos. When we were traveling there, my sister and I decided to opt for the condo option, after much debate. We decided to give Vino Bello Resort a try. Boy, are we glad we did. We stayed in a studio, because that is what they had available at the time. They also offer one bedroom and two bedroom condos. Each condo included it’s own washer and dryer, fridge, microwave, toaster oven, and stovetop. The room also came with a complementary bottle of wine, and we received daily replenishments of soda and bottled water. The room had a plasma TV offering several channels to choose from, including the Food Network, and several movie channels. But, one of the best parts of all, was the bathroom. It had a giant soaking tub and shower. It was beautiful. The bed had feather pillows (a major plus!), and was super comfortable. To be honest, this is probably my all time favorite hotel I’ve ever stayed in!

Overall Rating: 117 out of 135

click here to see pictures! Vino Bello Resort, Napa, California.

Continue reading "Vino Bello Resort, Napa, California" »

Kilimanjaro: Climbing and Camping on Day 3

Day 3 on Kilimanjaro was amazingly beautiful, incredibly windy, and phenomenally scenic. The two videos below are from the climb, and you can also see all of our pictures from Day 3 of the climb up Mount Kilimanjaro by clicking here.

Again, the video may take a minute to load after you click play, and you may have to click play twice, depending on your computer. So please try clicking play twice... and then wait for a minute to see if the movie will load. If it doesn't, please try clicking play again.

Video 1 of Day 3 on Kilimanjaro

If you are having trouble with the above video (i.e. people on dial-up), you might try downloading it by using your right mouse button. Right Click here, and then choose "Save Target As". Save it on your computer, and then watch it from there.

Video 2 of Day 3 on Kilimanjaro

If you are having trouble with the above video (i.e. people on dial-up), you might try downloading it by using your right mouse button. Right Click here, and then choose "Save Target As". Save it on your computer, and then watch it from there.

Continue reading "Kilimanjaro: Climbing and Camping on Day 3" »

Day 5 - Museums and the Hope Diamond

Click the video below below to watch a video of our Day 5! Once you click play, it may take up to 1 minute to work.

Today, we went to see the National Museum of American History with the Thomas Edison Exhibit, (among many other amazing exhibits). We also went to The National Museum of Nature and the National Museum of Man. The Hope Diamond is hosted in the National Museum of Natural History, and since diamonds are a girl's best friend, we definitely had to go and see the fabled Hope Diamond.

We also went to eat Thai food with our new friend Steve, and we got some pictures of where we stayed with Yvette! Thanks so much Yvette!

You can watch day 5 (in the video below) and then you can see all of our pictures from June 15th here!

If you are having trouble with the above video (i.e. people on dial-up), you might try downloading it, by using your right mouse button. Right Click here, and then choose "Save Target As". Save it on your computer, and then watch it from there.

Don't forget, you can see all of our pictures from day five by clicking here!

Continue reading "Day 5 - Museums and the Hope Diamond" »

Our First Official "Tourist Day!"

Well, today markes the official start of our trip!

We were so excited that we decided to see EVERYTHING today! Well, not everything, or even close to everything... but here's the list...

The Library of Congress, Supreme Court Building, Union Station, Chinatown DC, Ford's Theater (where Lincoln was shot), The White House, The Lincoln Memorial, The Korean Memorial, World Wars I and II memorials, The Vietnam Memorial, and the Washington Monument.

As promised, I have added more about what the pictures actually are, and our stories of travel!

Click here now to check out our pictures and travel stories!.

And, if you want to check out our video from today, take a look.

Thanks for watching the video!

Now, click here and check out our pictures!

Continue reading "Our First Official "Tourist Day!"" »

Departing Denver and Figuring out Transportation

Just a little update on our travel and what we're up to now!

After pulling an all-nighter getting ready for the trip, my mom drove us to Denver International Airport, which was so cool, since it was her BIRTHDAY!!! Happy Birthday Mom!

Our flight left about 30 minutes late, and we spent the flight dozing in and out of consciousness. (Not really - but since we had only slept 5 hours in 50+, it felt a little like fading in and out of reality). We landed at Baltimore Washington Airport, where we rented a car and drove to Virginia.

We are safe and sound in Vienna, VA, where we are staying with some great friends, and have spent this morning figuring out the public transportation.

Here are the web sites we are using to figure out the local transit system:
http://www.wmata.com/metrorail/systemmap.cfm
http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov
http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/connector/pdf/425_427web.pdf

Why don't we just rent a car?

We could, but why waste all the excellent exposure opportunities for our sponsors!

So right before we left, we had a little celebration, and popped the cork on some champagne at about 2 AM - one VERY large company called us to say that they were going to be our largest supporter on the trip, and we are very excited to announce who they are to you - as we have with our other sponsors. BUT, we're just waiting to get all the tehnical details worked out (legal and whatnot), so that will wait for just a little longer.

Here are are the companies who are coming with us today -
www.OneLighthouse.com
www.SpeedyPin.com
www.GalleryRoadShow.com

And we thought we were prepared

The night before leaving for our big trip, Jonathan and I thought we were pretty well prepared. We had separated everything we needed into piles, one for him, and one for me. All that was left was to actually pack them. Because our trip ranges from the touristy to the adventurous, we had to pack for two trips. We have these big backpacks that are home to all of our Kilimanjaro gear. And now that they're packed, we're not opening them until we get to Africa. We did our gear checks both before packing, and as we packed, so we're sure we have everything. But, it was pretty interesting fitting 10 days worth of stuff for 5 climates, and sleeping bags and pads into one backpack. Then we moved on to packing for our tourist part of this trip. By this time it was pretty late, about 2:30am. Jonathan came into the bedroom, looks at me and says, "Do I need any sweaters?" Yes, Jonathan, we'll need lots of sweaters to visit NYC, DC, and Florida in June! Well, we were up all night getting ready, but we're here, and the only thing that was forgotten was a toothbrush.

Tanzania Visas and our passports

Remember how I said earlier that we had to put our passports in the mail for our Tanzania visit? Well, we got our passports back, and discovered why we had to put our passports in the mail. Much like what the Auslaenderbehoerde did with our Passports in Germany, the government of Tanzania actually sticks the visa right onto one of the pages of the passport.

I'll be posting pictures here shortly, but it's exciting to have the passports back and know that we're official!

11 days until we're actually going! Amazing!

Items received - sleeping pads, thermal water and trekking poles

Items have been coming to the door (or through the door), like crazy! After a trip to the Denver REI, where we purchased a couple more Nalgene bottles, some caribiners for clipping stuff onto our backpacks, and our headlamps, we went across the street to a place called the WILDERNESS EXCHANGE, which, if you live in or around Denver (or Colorado really) and are doing outdoorsy kinds of things, is worth a visit.

Their selection isn't as good as an REI or EMS, but many of their prices were better on a variety of outdoors gear. I got a couple pairs of wool socks, and Carrie and I both got our trekking poles there, for $20/pair, which is, BY FAR, the cheapest we've found to purchase trekking poles.

Much of what we ordered has come to the door as well... Our sleeping pads are currently spending the night overfilled with air (per the instructions the sleeping pads came with), so that they can get stretched and prepped for when we actually use them on the mountain. I was kind of thinking that sleeping pads might not be necessary, and they're probably not, unless you're the kind of person who doesn't sleep well on rocky surfaces - A.K.A. Jonathan and Carrie (and most North Americans...and Europeans...)

Another item which showed up is our thermal water carrier for our Nalgene bottles. Since water freezes at higher elevations (and colder temperatures), it's good for us to have these to prevent our water from freezing.

More stuff coming in the mail soon - and we'll be including pictures shortly!

Taking and making the time

I went for a bike ride today. Not really because I wanted to go for a bike ride, but because as part of training for Kilimanjaro, I've been doing 5+ miles (in about 55 minutes) on the stairmaster at the gym, and I wanted something different for working out.

There are some of the most amazing paved trails near our house. I knew they were there, but I had no idea how cool it was.

And I was able to take DVD's that Carrie had checked out from the library, back to the library, which is a little over 4 miles away (on a bike).

The 8+ mile round trip bike ride made me realize/reaffirm a couple of things.

- Inspiration is often found in the most likely places, so making the time to go to those places is important.
On my ride, I was next to a river, saw a dead mouse that the ants were recycling, saw a fire station in the distance where Smokey the bear was instructing little kids (Saying, I'm sure, the famous "Only you can prevent Forest Fires, Kids."), and an amazing amount of wildlife. Each place would have been a great place to stop, write some poetry, draw a sketch, or simply sit and be. But my goal for the day was a bike ride, so I let that be my inspiration.

- Americans make working out a PART of life. Europeans (and many other parts of the world) make working out a WAY of life. This is a huge distinction. Yesterday, when crossing one of the two major streets necessary to get to the bike path, a car totally ignored that I had the right of way as a bike (I even had the little white "Walk" guy). But he, eating his french fries (seriously), turned the corner without stopping or looking. Why? It simply didn't occur to him that there COULD be someone riding a bike there, because NO ONE usually is!
In Europe, a car can be zooming along at 35 miles an hour, but if you're in the crosswalk, they will screech their tires (if necessary) to stop from hitting you. Why? Because the person driving was that person on the bike or walking just two days ago.

I would estimate that 50% of our health problems (and some of the environmental problems too) that we face as Americans could be lessened or resolved if those of us who lived within biking/walking distance of our grocery stores and the other places we visit, would simply put on a backpack and bike to the grocery store, walk to get the mail (there's a guy on our street at the end of the culdesac who gets in his truck to drive 300 feet to the mailbox - seemingly every day), and do the everyday activities most of us do that are generally within 5 miles or less of our homes. This little thing would seem to make very little difference on a daily basis, but compounded over a series of years, would make a HUGE difference.

Here's the interesting thing. I was going to go to the gym yesterday. In the car, it takes me 15 minutes to get there and back, with stoplights. I work out for 55 minutes and have a 10 minute cooldown or do abdominal workout. Total workout time (incluing travel time) is generally 1 hour and 25-30 minutes.

Today, I returned the DVD's to the library, got in 8+ miles on the bike, had an awesome afternoon outdoors, and got a litle more tan. Total time round trip: 1 hour and 25 minutes.

Kilimanjaro2006 ranked in top sites online?

Here's something that is very cool!

Alexa is a web site that ranks traffic and trends online.  They have built an unparalleled database of information about web sites that includes statistics, related links and more. 

In the week of April 10th - April 17th, we were ranked in the top 100,000 sites on the Internet, ranking as high as 20,000.

Big deal, right?  Not that impressive, right?

Only to people who have never seen Alexa before.

The best way I can explain how cool this is, is to offer you a comparison.

Take a look at some of the companies we outranked or matched for performance.

Mitsubishi.com


Gillette.com

Foleys.com (Recently merged - been in the news a lot)

famousfootwear.com

Now admittedly, our graph drops off while these companies remain consistent.

But if we've gotten there once, and we know how to do it, we can definitely get there again.

These are all huge companies, all with huge advertising budgets.  Us, with a little web site, about our travel to Kilimanjaro, ranking in the top 100,000+ sites on the Internet!

And we haven't even left on our trip yet.

It's great to have marketing go according to plan. It's also great to know that we are offering significantly more than $100 worth of value for any company looking for additional exposure.

Climbing Kilimanjaro - Are You Ready

Probably the most common question we are asked about going to Kilimanjaro is "Are you ready?" I can see by our countdown clock on the web site that we have only 44 days until we leave for Kilimanjaro, and I can safely say that I absolutely, positively am 100% NOT AT ALL ready! But we're working on getting ready.

We're also in the process of making changes to the web site... so stay tuned for that...

Carrie said the other day to someone we were talking with that "Climbing Kilimanjaro is the kind of thing that you really can't be completely ready for. No matter how much you do, you can always say you wish you had done more preparing."

Continue reading "Climbing Kilimanjaro - Are You Ready" »

New Video and New auction

Because so many people requested it, we decided to open the auction to everyone, by making it only $100 to participate.

In other words we will promote your company on Kilimanjaro for only $100.

Watch the video below for more information (Let us know what you think too).

You can get to the auction by going to http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=9508930999

eBaying Kilimanjaro

So this is kind of cool! In our first 24 hours, we received over 200 visitors to our eBay auction. At this rate, over 2,000 people will visit our auction. I plan to have 100x that amount.

We'll see what happens!

Continue reading "eBaying Kilimanjaro" »

Flights

I just spent over an hour looking for flights. You can't really book directly from your hometown to Kilimanjaro International Airport (JRO), so you have to look in stages. For us, these stages consisted of from New York to Amsterdam, from Washington DC to Amsterdam, from New York to London, from Washington DC to London, from London to Amsterdam, and from Amsterdam to Kilimanjaro. Holy cow are flights expensive! I guess it doesn't really help that we're flying from the middle of June to the end of July -- peak travel season. But, I really thought our flights would be about half what they were (at least to/from Amsterdam). The cheapest combination I found was $1800.00 per person! Plus we already bought flights out to the east coast for over $220 per person. Over $2,000 just in flight costs. I wasn't expecting it to be over $1500 per person, so that came as a bit of a shock. I did put in a call to our leader's travel agent to see what prices she can come up with, but I'm a pretty good flight hunter, and I honestly don't know if she will be able to do any better. I certainly hope she can though.

Crazy video of African elephants fighting

We sincerely hope that on our trip, we will see some Elephants in their natural habitat. We may have to extend our trip and go on a safari in the Serengeti, in order to make this happen... or we may go to one of the smaller, lesser known parks nearby.

However, check out this video we found of elephants vying for position. Totally crazy!

Continue reading "Crazy video of African elephants fighting" »