Afterthought

2008-04-27T13:44:00.000-07:00

Night falls on Isla Taboga as Arielle Nickolisen gazes into the Pacicic Ocean. The glow you see is caused by hundreds of ships, all waiting at the entrance of the canal.

- M. Charles of the National Geographic

Sunset at Isla Taboga, Panama

Sunrise at Isla Taboga, Panama

The Panamal Canal

We thought our body odor was just as impressive as the canal.

We left Panama today and tomorrow we´ll head to a place called Rancho Mastatal in Costa Rica. If all goes as planned we´ll spend our remaining two weeks of the trip volunteering there.

If you´d like to check it out here´s the link: www.ranchomastatal.com We think this will be a good place to stretch before coming back home. Perhaps a routine and some discipline will be beneficial. There isn´t any internet there and the phone is only used for emergencies so the chances of us updating the blog or emailing anyone will be slim.

Thank you for tuning in, we´ll see you soon.

South to Panama City

2008-04-21T17:02:00.000-07:00

Panama Bay

The book said there were 250 species of animals,
however they failed to mention Tarzan

View of Panama City from Mirador (Look Out)

Clinton, Ari, and Mitch...and our 2 Sailor Friends

Leon, Nica

Leon, Nicaragua - Parque Central at sunset

Night view from our Hostal La Clinica

Somoto hike

Somoto Canyon, Northwest Nicaragua

Utila Tease (Utilities)

2008-04-11T15:15:00.000-07:00

The Caribbean

The Dive School put on a BBQ

Ari and Mitch coping with island fever

San Pedro Sula, Honduras

Monkeys

View from the ruins

The Copan Ruins

Clinton and Brett playing guitar in Copan Ruinas, Honduras

Utila, which once was called Utilla.

2008-04-10T16:39:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone,

We apologize for not keeping an updated blog. Our past few weeks have managed to slip through our sweaty little fingers and into the white sands of the Caribbean. We made it across Honduras, and out to the Bay Island of Utila. For the last week our concentration has been becoming the PADI Open Water Scuba Divers, that as of yesterday we officially are!! We spent a few days studying our books, passed a few exams, and made it down to 70 feet today. Its a whole new world under the sea, the colors and sealife are almost unexplainable! We've seen sting rays, barracudas, a few giant seas slugs, an eel, and the best of all......a little tiny seahorse! Also we got to dive to two different ship wrecks today, which was pretty interesting and a bit eerie.
We took time today to explore the island and headed to the fresh water and bat caves. Its was nice to get off our beach bums and get some exercise. Its been so hot and sunny that getting out during the day can sometimes be a chore.

We really wanted to get something new up becuase it feels like we've been detached from our cyber world lately. Internet costs on an island can really rack up. We have hopes to get some pictures up soon.

A Week In El Salvador

2008-03-26T14:26:00.001-07:00

Arty, USA
Convicted of: False Information, Excess Fatigue

Frescalada Ensalada, USA
Convicted of: Looking far too interested

McClintock, USA
Convicted of: Public Indecency, Sarcasim

Clinton´s Guitarra, Guatemala
Convicted of: Noise Violation

Self Titled, USA
Convicted of: Ruining our trip

Dan Harris, New Zealand
Convicted of: Lude and rigid body movements, Excess use of ¨Eh?¨

Laguna Verde, El Salvador: The team at it´s prime

The Salvadorians took us in with open arms, despite our racial handicap. They are a warm hearted and helpful bunch. In Guatemala, we found ourselves a Kiwi named Dan. He proved himself useful even though we couldn´t always understand him. After a few weeks we convinced him to greet Brett at the airport for us. Brett emerged from his flight and complied with our transient Kiwi with surprising ease.
We spent only a few nights in San Salvador and visited Laguna Verde, the town with the highest elevation in El Salvador. After hitching a ride down the hill we left Dan on the roadside and sped off towards the Pacific coast to El Tunco. The Beach boasted black sands and warm water, it was beautiful.
Yesterday we took a bus back to San Salvador and from there a bus to La Entrada. From La Entrada we thought we could scrounge together a ride to Copan Ruinas, which is nestled right next to the Copan Mayan Ruins. While en route, on a Hounduran mountain top, in the wind and rain, at night, our bus failed to enter a gear and rolled backwards and crunched into a semi truck. We sat for an hour while Hondurans and Salvadorians worked together to redirect traffic. Our guide book whispered to us ¨Something must have gone wrong if you´re spending the night in La Entrada...¨ Sure enough, we got a hotel in La Entrada.
Today we arrived in Copan Ruinas, Honduras and tomorrow we plan to visit the ruins.

On the Road again......Soon.

2008-03-18T20:06:00.000-07:00

Our week of school is out, now it's time for summer vacation. We said our goodbyes to San Pedro and our family and once again set our sails to Guatemala City . The city welcomed us with open arms, full of smog and shotguns. Now safe in the oasis know as Amy and Matt's apartment. Here we hide until Wednesday, cleaning our clothes and planning the decent into the unknown El Salvador.

It was a heart warming goodbye from San Pedro

2008-03-11T17:20:00.001-07:00

Custom signs for Earth Lodge

Antigua

Clinton in Guatemalan prison

Clinton: Jenga Fatality

Dinner for 20, and a couple weeks of dirty laundry...

2008-03-07T11:47:00.000-08:00

Postre Posse

Head Chef Ari, and fellow baker, Pan Man Dan

Our Salad Sous

The Handwashing Experience

Mitch enslaved to his dirty underpants as

Clinton practices his juggling techniques.

It's a tough life .

Earth Lodge Adventures

2008-03-05T15:03:00.000-08:00

Sunburns, High Altitude Hikes, and Temples.....

Chocolate, Vanilla, Strawberry

Mixco Viejo Ruins

Clinton preparing to be sacrificed

Quetzales, Quetzales, Quetzales

Home, Sweet Home

Bunk, Sweet Bunk

Night Vision

9 mile Trek

Our stay at Earth Lodge continues. We'll most likely be here until Saturday, then it's off to work (Spanish School). We've remained fairly active lately. For the past few days we've been hiking around the hostel and seeing the sights that are to be sought. Today we went to more Mayan ruins called Mixco Viejo. They aren't quite as big as Tikal but still impressive.

Nestled In The Hills

2008-03-01T14:14:00.000-08:00

Yellowhouse

Pacaya

Rope swing at Earth Lodge

View from Earth Lodge

Antigua treated us well, we ended up staying at a hostel there called Yellowhouse for two nights. We now reside at a hostel called Earth Lodge which sits in the hills above Antigua on a avacado farm. It's probably the most comfortable and hospitable place we've come across so far. The view is amazing, the people and employees are welcoming and the food is incredible. Instead of heading to Lake Atitlan for Spanish School we may be staying here for a few more days.

Keep the comments coming, we really enjoy reading them.

Fotos

2008-02-26T12:30:00.000-08:00

You can click on the pictures to make them bigger

Sunset In Flores

Guatemala City at night

On Saturday we made it to Semuc Champey and stayed at a hostel called Las Marias till Monday. Semuc Champey is a natural spring at the base of a valley. The force of the spring has carved out a land bridge and a series of pools. If you google it you'll see it, it's beautiful. During our stay we also took a candle lit tour of some nearby caves. Our tour was lead by Rojo, a fearless 4' 5" local teenager. His extreme case of the giggles would brandish his gold teeth and comfort our restless souls.

We are back in Guatemala City (Smog Kingdom) but we'll leave for Antigua today. We'll probably spend a couple days there and hopefully get around to hiking the volcano Pacaya. After Antigua we'll head to Lake Atitlan and begin Spanish school, we are all looking forward to it. A strict regiment of Spanish and avacados near the lake will be benificial. By then it will have been almost two weeks since we left our comfortable lives in Oregon. Familiarity is distant, we are now in control of our direction instead of letting our jobs and distractions tug us along.

A spelling error from our last blog: Tical is actually Tikal. We apologize, we were in a hurry.

Flores

2008-02-22T16:22:00.000-08:00

After 13.5 hours of mass transit and a death defying cab ride we spent our first night in Guatemala City at Ari's sister's apartment. The city is enormous as well as dangerous so we spent only one night. Tuesday we took off for a little place called Flores. We endured a 10 hour bus ride under a lunar eclipse, which spit us out in Flores at 5 AM. We've been staying at a hostel called Los Amigos since then. This morning we took a bus at 3 AM to Tical to see the Mayan ruins. Our tour started by catching the sunrise on "temple 4." It was pretty amazing to hear the jungle wake up below us. I think ferocious howler monkeys would be a pretty effective alarm in the morning. Tomorrow morning we are planning to go to "Semuc Champey" which is a pretty cool little park about 5 hours from Flores. That night, with any luck we'll stay at a place called Las Marias.

All together the trip has been pretty exciting. Althought I think we are all trying to grasp that we'll be living out of comfort for a while. We'll get used to it and we'll soak up as much as possible.

Much love to everyone, we'll try and write again soon.

ps to those of you who may have sent Mitch an email he has not been able to check his inbox for some reason, sorry.

Mental BackPacks

2008-02-15T09:13:00.001-08:00

There is a defining point in our timeline. This point will sever the comfort we experience in everyday life and in return dawns a waiting period wedged between our lives and the moment of our departure. It's a traveler's purgatory. It's the feeling you get when in the waiting room, only prolonged. Although it's no burden, no one is complaining. Let us pack mentally. We've been lending our time away for too long, from now on we'll live for ourselves and those we meet along the way.

- Mitch