Delayed. Twice.

There are a multitude of things that I want to write about our plane travels.
The way Michael and I look at each other as we head to the check in desk dragging the surfboards behind us - 'Do you think they'll charge us this time?'
Or the time I was called into a smoky room in Indonesia, by a man in uniform and told that the surfboards were too big to fit on the plane - they squeezed them in.
But it wasn't until our travel took us through US that we had our worst airline experiences.

TWICE, in the space of 7 days.

We flew from El Salvador to Philadelphia with Delta ($170 for the surfboards, thank you very much - a new record in obnoxious charges, especially considering the most we've been charged by ANY other airline, and only on one occasion, is $50). Our connection was in Atlanta, and according to the itinerary we had 1 hour and 28 minutes to clear immigration, collect our bags, and re-check them on the domestic leg of the flight - hmmm.
I asked the Delta staff if this would be possible, and they assured me that Atlanta airport would process us rapidly and speed us towards Philly in the blink of an eye.
We landed, ran to immigration, ran to our bags, pushed our way through customs, rechecked our bags with a guy called Hagen - a special moment when he and Michael bonded over a shared name. And decided that they must be cousins. And he promised to get our bags to Philly.
We made it to the gate, we made it on the plane and we took off. And then the cabin wouldn't pressurize, and so we turned around and headed back to Atlanta. They finally canceled the flight 5 hours after the scheduled departure time, and we shuffled off to the Holiday Inn for some sleep. It was 2am. We had 3 hours to sleep before we had to get up and head back to the airport for our re-scheduled departure to Philadelphia.
Delta bought us dinner, breakfast and a night at a hotel - which is more than can be said for United....

Our Philadelphia to DC flight was running behind schedule, but we were assured on numerous occasions by the Philadelphia ground staff that everyone would make their connections. We didn't. More running through airport corridors, a dramatic collision as I rounded the corner, and we arrived at the gate for London, to see the airplane sitting there & the doors closing. Our seats had been given to standby passengers and they were not letting us board. This time we got to spend the night in DC, except this time United didn't pick up the tab. In fact they did absolutely nothing, except re-book us on the next flight. Our initial flight was delayed due to weather, and according to United this is out of their control (yes, I understand that) and therefore they are not responsible for the missed connections (not so sure I understand this part).... We were told it was the fault of the ground staff in Philly - who should not have promised that we would make our connection.
So, a night at Marriott this time, Wendys for dinner and a feeling that the US airlines are really going to have to get their shit together soon.

Random update...

Sorry sorry sorry... I know I just haven't kept up the blogging pace since we've been in Central America. I don't know what happened. I just can't seem to focus on writing anything down, probably because I'm too busy at the beach, or having a cool drink in the shade.
We're in El Tunco at the mo, on the coast of El Salvador. It's a small town, with not much to do except surf or hit the beach - which suits me fine. Pauly Paul (Michael's dad) is here for the next week, and tomorrow we're going to head inland and explore some coffee plantations.
We're coming towards the end of our travels, and recently Michael and I have found ourselves thinking about all of the things we've seen, all the places we've been and all the long and painful bus rides we've taken. For the record, the worlds worst bus rides were in Laos where an average speed of 25km per hour (15 miles an hour), along with the bags of rice and chickens makes covering distances tedious.
On August 7th we are flying to Philadelphia to spend some time with the Lil Red Yeti. After that we're flying to London, where I will finally get to meet the very cute India (my niece) and hang with the rest of the family. We're going to spend a couple of months in Europe (wouldn't you?) before we finally board the plane that will deliver us to Los Angeles in October.
We're excited for this last stage of our trip. We can't wait to see family and friends, and we're ready to stick in one place for a while (I am so over the unpacking /packing thing)... See you soon!

El Gigante, Nicaragua

We've spent the last 10 days in El Gigante. Much of the time has been spent at the beach - surfing and relaxing! For the first 5 days we were joined by Christine & Mike.
It was fun to have some more beach time together, and for Michael to continue his surf lessons!
El Gigante is a peaceful fishing village with a couple of places to eat, one small store and a lot of domestic animals wandering the streets. My favorite beach is Amarrila - it's a 15 minute walk away, and when we get there I usually have it all to myself. On the way to the beach I pass the ladies at the pump on laundry day, Juan Carlos' house, stopping for a chat to discuss his technique for fixing his fishing nets. Of course I have to fight off the mosquitoes on the rain logged road, but the beach itself is bug free.

Originally uploaded by m_hagen

Mmm Ceviche...

We were invited to join a fishing trip, so at 6am we were on the beach and ready to go.
It was my first time fishing, really fishing. I've done some 'casting' in my time - from the beaches in Australia, but never been out with the professionals and actually caught anything!
It was amazing. We caught 7 tuna, 4 jacks and I landed a mackerel that was turned into a delicious ceviche for our evening appetizer!
We don't have use of a kitchen, so we couldn't cook the tuna ourselves. Instead, we did the next best thing and took them to La Gaviota where the cook marinaded them and threw them on the grill.
There's nothing like eating freshly caught fish. Especially when you caught it yourself!

Bocas del Toro

We made our way from Santa Catalina to the town of David, near the border with Costa Rica. Our plan was to catch the early morning bus into Costa Rica, but somehow we got waylaid.... Instead we caught a bus to Amirante in Northern Panama, and from there hopped on a water taxi to Isla Colon in Bocas del Toro.
We had no idea what to expect, and were a little worried that the island would be very touristy. However, we were pleasantly surprised to find that despite having everything a tourist could want or need, the town has retained that laid back Carribbean feel.
The main form of transport is the water taxi, which we used to explore some of the local beaches.
We met up with some friends, and together took a taxi that dropped the surfers at Wizards beach. Trish and I then headed further up the coast to Polo Beach for some sublime snorkling. Despite the number of tourists in town it was so easy for us to find a completely deserted beach, with a jungle backdrop and beautiful yellow sand.
The visability was not as great as Coiba, but there was still an amazing variety of fish and some beautiful coral.

Two Years....

It's been two years since Michael and I boarded our first flight on this adventure of ours. Tonight we are going out to celebrate.
Tomorrow we're on the bus again, skipping into Costa Rica on our way North.

I promise that I will do some 'catch up' posting some time within the next couple of days... We have been having fun with friends and relaxing at the beach!

Underwater fun

An hour and a half by boat from Santa Catalina is Coiba Island. The largest island in Central America. From 1919 until 2004 Coiba was home to a prison therefore access to the island was restricted. Because of this, the islands natural resources have survived almost untouched.
We snorkled in two locations just off the Northern tip of the island, and it was some of the best snorkling that I have ever done. We saw multiple species of fish, too numerous to count, swam with turtles and even got to hang with a couple of white tip sharks, who despite being smaller than Jaws still move in that 'sharky' kinda way.

Friends..

Originally uploaded by ladyhedda

We met up with Christine and Mike in Quito on our last night, and together we hopped onto a plane in the morning - destination: Cartagena.

The old city of Cartagena is built on an island, and at one time was surrounded completely by fortified walls. It's a beautiful city, with narrow streets and colonial buildings that provide lots of charm. The music here is distinctly different from the rest of South America, with a strong Caribbean influence in the beats that vibrate into the early hours from the bar under our hostal room.

Mitad del Mundo...

Originally uploaded by ladyhedda

Just North of Quito is the Mitad del Mundo - Middle of the World. It's not known as the Equator here, as the Spanish word for Equator is Equador, and we're in Equador, so that would be confusing.

We flew South of the Equator on April 1st, 2007 - 14 and a half months ago. We have both ventured into the Northern Hemisphere during that time (Michael to Sumatra, me to Malaysia and on a whistle stop trip to LA and London). However, the majority of our time has been spend 'Down South'. I have loved being 'Down South'. The stars are different. We saw the Big Dipper for the first time in nearly a year just recently. I was happy to see the stars that made me think of home.

Just South of the Equator

Another long day on buses, I know you want to hear about it...
We left Lobitos at 10am. The combi gods were shining on us as we departed after only a 15 minute wait. We bounced our way to Talara for the last time, passing the fishing boats, the fish processing plants and finally the new boats being built. In Talara we walked the 2 blocks to the bus station, and got ourselves onto the 11.30am bus - how's that for a connection, only a 30 minute wait!
It was a 2 hour ride North to Mancora (touristy beach town) where we grabbed lunch and then hopped into another combi for the 2 hour trip to Tumbes. In Tumbes the nice combi driver dropped us off at the CIFA office, avoiding the 4 long blocks we were going to walk. At CIFA we were able to get seats on the 4.15pm departure to Guayaquil in Ecuador. We crossed the border and arrived in Guayaquil at 10pm, where we ate dinner and got seats on the 11.20pm bus to Quito. We arrived in Quito at 8.30am, 2 combis, 3 buses and 22 and a half hours later.

Can't seem to leave.

Michael and I have been recovering from excessive bus travel. We're staying in a little town, on the ocean in the very North of Peru. The town is called Lobitos, and it's reached by a combi van from Talara, a 45 minute ride on dirt roads - 30 minutes if you get lucky and score a combi that can use more than just 2nd gear.
We've been staying with Darwin, his wife Naoini and their 19 month old son Miguelito. Naoini is an amazing cook, and Miguelito has been providing the entertainment.
I have been traveling into Talara on the combi daily to see a man about my back (more on that at a later date).... The combi vans leave Lobitos when they have enough passengers, 10 is the minimum number of adults (babies don't count) needed to make the driver switch on the engine. Each person walking in the direction of the combi becomes a potential passenger, maybe, just maybe they want to go to Talara too. Once the engine is on, we toot the horn, then we drive around the square, then we drive into Lobitos and circle the town - tooting the horn, then we drive over the hill to Nuevo Lobitos and circle there - more tooting, then, and only then, when we are absolutley sure that there are no more passengers to be russled up we hit the road to Talara.
Today I was waiting at the combi stop at 8.30am with two fishermen. The sun was getting hot, and the fish that were packed onto the roof were starting to leak fish juice inside the van, after half an hour a lady joined us, after another 30 minutes some more passengers climbed on board. We drove around Lobitos. At 10am, a hour and a half later, we hit the road with a full compliment of passengers, some fish and a box of Avon cosmetics.

Dinner for two and a bottle of champagne?

Last year Michael spent our Wedding Anniversary in East Timor, I spent it in West Timor. And this year?

Well, we got up at 6.30am, jumped a mototaxi to the bus station and caught the 7.30am bus from Pacasmayo to Chiclayo, 2 hours later we grabbed the bags from the bus, and threw them onto another bus for the 3 hour ride to Piura. In Piura we pulled them off the bus and dragged them a block to the next bus company where we boarded a bus to Talara - 2 hours. In Talara we headed to the local micro/combi van stop where they loaded boards on the top and we waited for the van to fill before it left for Lobitos. We arrived in Lobitos and spent the night in a room with bunkbeds and a plague of crickets. And when I say a plague of crickets I am not joking. They were everywhere, in everything and on everything. I estimated there were 200, Darrin said 100. If you average our guesses you are still talking about a lot of crickets jumping around you all night. And crickets are too similar to cockroaches for me to feel comfortable when I see them running around on the floor, and hiding under my pillow.

We have moved to alternative cricket free accomodation.

It never rains...

Chan Chan is the largest mud city in the world. It was once the capital of the Chimu Kingdom in Northern Peru. The Chimus believed that the earth was flat, and so they built Chan Chan at the edge of the sea to make travel to the afterlife easier. The site is made up of a series of temples, only one of which can be visited - Tschudi.
Tschudi is filled with images from the sea - fishing nets, sea otters, pelicans, fish all adorn the mud walls. It is these animals who, the Chimu's believed, will lead the dead to the afterlife.
The palace has only one entrance, and is surrounded by walls of mud that reach 12m in places. The weather in this part of Peru is consistent. Consistently dry. According to our guide it never rains here, except in an El Niño year. During the last El Niño it rained so much, and for so long that parts of the mud were washed away. They expect similar rains next year and are working hard to get the site covered, using scaffold and traditional cane roofs.

Huanchaco

After a miserable bus ride in economy (there were no good seats left) we arrived in Huanchaco. Michael and Darrin wasted no time in getting out in the waves in the local craft.

Huanchaco's reed boats (Caballito de Totora) are still used daily by fishermen laying their nets ofshore. It takes some experience to ride the rolling waves in one, it's not as easy as the fishermen make it look!

The town is filled with great seafood restaurants, and I have eaten Ceviche at every meal.