Canadian Nomad

My journey to Costa Rica was a very interesting . The first 6 hours or so were fine, I slept for the most part.

When we stopped in Nicaragua to pick up some more passengers and I had a fellow Canadian, older gentleman sit next to me. What I had in store for the next 6 hours I was not prepared for. Turns out this man was “bi-polar”! Lucky me, he had been on anti-psychotics since 1980 but then 10 days ago decided to stop taking them! FANTASTIC. He was always kind to me, but when the music was too loud and the bus attendant wouldn’t turn it down, he’d lose it. Swearing, talking about strangling their necks and so on. I edged closer to the window at this point just waiting for him to turn on me. He was constantly talking to me while I was trying to watch movies on my laptop, listen to music or sleep. Most of the time, he was trying to get me to calm him down about loud music . Then when it came time to pay the Nicaraguan border fee he only had two out of the three dollars due, I lent him $1 to help him out. Then at the Costa Rican border, they had already rejected him once before and now they were trying to do it again because he did not have proof of a return flight to Canada. So he pulls me over and is trying to get me to translate and explain to him what he has to do to get across the border. He needed to buy a $20 return ticket to Nicaragua, but he obviously didn’t have the money. So he asked me for it, well by asked I mean begged. He was very scared and didn’t have anyone else to help him. I gave him the $20 to buy the ticket. He was so thank ful and was asking how he could repay me. I just said “pay it forward”.

I got dropped off in Punterenas later that night. Kind of scary being on the side of the road alone at night but I grabbed a cab to the ferry to Paquera. I was worried what I was going to do once I got there as it was very late at night and the buses had stopped running to Cabuya. I chatted up a man on the ferry and he offered to give me a ride more than half way there. Score! Once he dropped me off I caught another cab up to Rainsong Sanctuary. A girl named Cher met me outside and helped bring my bags inside. They had set up a bed for me, outside, with the dog. Once again, lucky me.

I woke up in the morning to a baby monkey crying next to my bed . It was the first time I got to hold a baby monkey that day. There are two baby howler monkeys, Evie and Frannie, that have been orphaned due to electrocution. The older howler monkey, Mona, is here because an alpha male from her pack beat her and her tail was lost in the process. I also get to feed and play with raccoons, porcupines, turtles, parrots and toucans.

Later another volunteer, Kristi (same name and from Vancouver too…creepy) waled me up to the long-term volunteer lodging at the farm. It is….RUSTIC to say the least. There was just three of us staying at the moment. Kristi was sleeping in a hammock and the other girl, Jackie, had the one real bed in the room. They offered me a mattress on the floor or Jackie’s little blue crap hammock. I took the hammockso I wasn’t on the floor with the jungle creatures. Our little lodge does not have walls and is very open, therefore little creatures can get in quite easily. Ah, home sweet(?) home.

Tags: bi polar, cabuya, costa rica, home, howler monkey, montezuma, Nicaragua, paquera, pay it forward, porcupine, punterenas, raccoon, rustic, Tica bus, Travel, white faced monkey
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Finally off Utila and I could not be happier. Once I got to La Ceiba I caught up with Noemi who had left a day earlier. We had a great girls night in a hotel with pizza, beer and ice cream. She left early the next morning so I got in contact with Angel and he kidnapped me back to the jungle. Though I didn’t put up much of a fight! Angel took me on all the tours at Jungle River Lodge.

The first day we went canopying and had a hoot!! The next day was also incredible. We started by going white water rafting. Angel knew I have been rafting a few times and seeing how I wasn’t a paying customer I got to be the guinea pig for the raft guide he was training. When we came to a point in the river, Angel looked at me and said “if anything happens, swim to the left”. I yelled at him for saying that for now we were jinxed. Sure enough, next thing I know I was scrambling for air after the raft flipped. Not only did we flip but when I fell in, my bikini bottoms came undone! So now I am trying to keep my head above water, my bikini bottoms on and avoid any rocks. I have fallen out of a raft before but nothing like this. I was pretty scared. After we got to safety and finished our trip, Angel took me on hike to a waterfall. But he didn’t take me on the route the tourists take, oh no. He had me jumping off cliffs into the river, swimming through rapids, wading through water up to my waist, climbing slippery rocks and dodging army ants. It was definitely a real adventure. He was walking along catching toads and other various creatures. I was jealous so I caught him a lizard which he put on his hat and kept for the rest of the walk.

That night Angel and I were bored so we decided we’d split up and see who could catch the most geckos. I unfortunately lost, but I also didn’t grow up in the jungle catching them daily. He put one up to my cheek to make it “kiss” and the little bugger bit me! Then he made another bite my leg as well! I was not impressed!

On the third day we went canopying again and Angel insisted that I eat termites. He stuck his hand into the termites nest and grabbed a few. He held two in between his forefingers and put them into my mouth; they didn’t really move and freak me out as much as I thought they would. I just chewed them up as fast as I could and to my surprise they taste like carrots! After canopying I helped the boys out cleaning helmets, we took all of them apart and put them into bleach. We scrubbed them right down until they looked new again.

I woke up the following day and when I came downstairs I was shocked to see a familiar face!! Imran, a friend from Utila, had come to the jungle with some friends to do some rafting. After they finished that afternoon, we all hiked back to the waterfall. His friend, Rich was like a little kid once he got there. His smile was ear to ear and he was in awe of this feat of Mother Nature. We all jumped in and took a million pictures of ourselves playing in the falls.

Imran and Rich the next day decided I was going with them to Copan. I knew it was going to be hard leaving the jungle. The guys that work there had made me feel like family. As I was saying my goodbyes I was trying my hardest to keep it together. Though once I got to the jeep to take us back to the city I burst into tears. It was the hardest goodbye I’ve had to deal with since I’ve started this trip. The jungle was the first place that made me feel at home, and I had to leave that behind. I was lucky to have Rich and Imran with me to keep me together. I don’t think I could have done it alone.

Tags: adventure, Canopying, Friends, Geckos, Hiking, Honduras, Jungle, La Ceiba, Lizards, Rafting, Travel
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We made our way from Zihuatanejo to San Pedro, it was a 36 hour trip. Once we arrived in San Pedro we quickly realized it was not the place for us. After staying one night in San Pedro we made an early departure to Caye Caulker. The second my foot hit the dock I knew I was where I should be. Kyle and I got settled at Tina’s Hostel, and then I made my way out for a walk. I got quite a bit of attention from the guys in town, and it was actually quite refreshing knowing what they were saying opposed to being in Mexico and having no clue. While I was on my walk I made friends with a local who pointed out some great spots for good eats and just good fun. He suggested I go to the Lazy Lizard for the sunset. Kyle and I proceeded to do so.

Once we got the Lazy Lizard we decided to go our separate ways, as it is easier to meet people that way. I was quickly noticed by an Aussie guy who brought me over to his group of friend he had made. We chatted for a while, made some other friends and headed back to the hostel for a few more drinks. It was a really amazing night. I became very close with one of the guys I met the night before, Erik, and we decided to do a tour together. We took the full day tour with Raggamuffin Tours (more…)

Tags: Caye Caulker, Guatemala, Manatees, Moray Eel, Raggamuffin Tours, Rum Punch, San Pedro, Socializing, Sting Ray, Tina's Hostel, Travel
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