Costa Rica is renown for being a magnet for Americans, obviously meaning it's the last place that I would want to be hanging around for too long. It's also a complete rip off compared to the rest of Central America's countries, which I think proves Americans are the ones who set the Gringo standard, and just love to be ripped off. Despite this, San Jose, the capital, really struck me as quite an interesting place. Streets lined with all types of tranny prostitutes, a whole lot of really cool street art, and a subtle hint of violence looming in the air were just some of the eerie and peculiar things that can turn another boring city into exactly the opposite.

We arrived in San Jose only minutes before midnight, and stumbled into Tranquillo hostel, instantly drawn in by the relaxed and welcoming vibes. A few people from Byron were having a jam in the foyer, with the sound of the familiar but almost forgotten didgeridoo vibrating down the hallway and out into the silent streets. We straightaway felt at home.

Tranquillo Hostel

Another reason why Ness and I fell in love with this wayward city? More Ropa Americana's. In my opinion the only good thing that's ever come out of America, besides Johnny Depp. We spent a whole day frolicking around the somewhat contemporary streets of San Jose, in and out of every thrift store we could find. Every time we walked into a store our hearts would be thumping from desire - there was just too much good stuff to take in. Obviously, this was our version of the finest of heavens, and of course we did go a little overboard with our spendings, resulting in us both leaving a ridiculous pile of old but eternally loved clothes behind at the hostel for others to have a chance to enjoy.

Two days in San Jose proved to be enough, so we packed up our things and were bound again for the bright and beautiful Caribbean coast. Puerto Veijo was the desired destination, another gorgeous coastal town with the right kind of laid-back attitude. Our home for the next three days was Rocking J's, one of those hostels that really stands out from the rest. Covered head to toe in mosaic tiles, enlightening quotations, and more abstract art that you could poke a stick at, this place was hands down my favourite hostel to date.

One of the best things about Puerto Viejo are the miles and miles of beach stretching along the coast in both directions from the middle. Another plus, our hostel had a prime beachfront location. A 10 minute walk through down an ambient shady path lead us to the always picture perfect white sand beaches of the Caribbean. Five minutes at this pristine beach and we all knew how hard it was going to be to leave.


We spent the afternoon doing what all travellers learn to do so well... nothing. We laid on the green grass all afternoon smoking doobies, drinking rum, and having the best conversations about life and its mysterious ways. That's another thing that you often find yourself frequently doing whilst travelling, getting in depth with the best kind of thoughts about life, and reflecting on all it's glory. Unhappy days generally don't exist whilst you happen to be living the dream in paradise.


After a delicious taco dinner at the hostel restaurant, Ness and I set off into town to satisfy one of our many stoner traditions: eating snickers. At about 9pm and half way into town we were stopped by the owner of a Greek restaurant who seemed ready to do just about anything to get us to come into his restaurant for dinner. First he gave us samples of his delicious tapas food, and said we could eat as much as we wanted for half the price, only $6 each. We refused his kind offer, over and over again having to inform him we'd already eaten. ''Ok ok ok, what if I give you free alcohol, and you can both eat for $3 each.'' He obviously couldn't take a hint and we tried apologising again and walking away.

''OKAY,'' he shouted after us ''what if you both eat and drink here for free, and just leave my staff a tip.'' This was evidently an offer that full bellies aside, we obviously could not refuse. So we ate a scrumptious second dinner for the evening, whilst being entertained by a middle aged crazy American hippie who seemed to be on the run from something, who had countless card tricks and lame jokes for our amusement. We left what we thought was a rather generous tip of $2 for the waiter, and set off home. We were so ridiculously full on the walk back that we both ended up leaving a trail of spew behind us... Only to make room for more beer of course.

More updates to come!
xxxxx

Nicaragua

Granada

I left Utila alone, as Ness was already in Leon in Nicaragua so I was keen to catch up with her. I arrived in Granada a day before Ness and Eddie, and was totally exhausted from over 25hrs of travel, and a sleepover in a hostel that looked more like a psych ward in the dirty capital of Nicaragua.

Nicaragua was the first place that I stumbled across a Ropa Americana store - they are Latin America's version of op shops, and all the clothes are sent down from America as donations. Because there is not one trendy local getting around Nicaragua, all the amazing op shop finds must have been sitting there for years, and are just waiting to be snapped up. Such a gold mine for the best vintage finds, and it's all so ridiculously cheap!

Granada is a really gorgeous little city with a whole lot of charm. When Ness and Eddie finally arrived we did a bit of exploring, but decided we were definitely overdue for big catch ups, and an equally large night out on the town. One bottle of Rum down and Eddie was destined for bed, so Ness and I went out to take on Granada alone. We'd read in the lonely planet that there were some nice bars by a lake, so we tried to make a cab driver take us to there. The little Spanish we scraped together between us didn't do us too well at all. We would have been saying something along the lines of 'fiesta' and chucking in a few swimming motions. Even though Lago is Spanish for lake, Ness was throwing out some word starting with K, so the cab driver ended up taking us to this strange place called Kayak, which was completely dead bar.

Next to it however we heard some pumping music so decided to very drunkenly stumble into this hilarious bar full of locals. We pretty much didn't get off the dance floor the whole night, and made dancing partners with some 40-odd-year-olds, who teared up the dance floor with us til the early hours of the morning. The music at this place was probably the best part - it was the ultimate mix of 90's cringe songs mixed together by a terrible DJ who obviously didn't even pass grade two.

A local chick must have been off put by my enthralling dance moves, after thumping into me with her over sized booty a few times I was sure she was ready to smack my face in, so we decided it was time to leave. The cabbie taking us home took us down the most dingy unlit dirt road, and Ness and I both thought we were done for. We drunkenly and half jokingly screamed at him several times that 'We're gonna fuck you up motherfucker!!' In fits of laughter I told Ness to zip up her bag cause it was on, and we were totally ready to cause some damage to this creep. Luckily it was a false alarm and we made it home safely at sunrise, ready to nurse the following day some of the worst hangovers of the trip.

Next stop in Nicaragua was San Juan, which didn't really float our boat all too much. Nonetheless, we met up with the Aussie guys I'd met in Utila and together we explored what San Juan had to offer, and found the most amazing pool that overlooked the whole town, and had the best views of the ocean. We spent the afternoon there drinking beers in preparation for another one of those a little to large but always the best nights out on the town.


With the beaches being overly average and the locals almost creepy, we decided to head to the American filled land of Costa Rica. More on that later..
xxx

Utila

After hearing about Utila, the drinking island with a diving problem, I couldn't think of anything better than escaping solo for a few days to get my diving ticket in paradise. A 4am wake up and 2km walk with my oh-so heavy backpack, I was bound for Honduras. This was going to be my first taste of travelling alone, and I was excited to see what was to come.

My bus over the boarder was something I won't forget. The second class buses are always packed to the rafters, and on this trip I found myself with a 6-year-old Honduran beauty perched on my lap, next to her mum and little brother. Language barrier aside, I found myself in fits of laughter for the whole trip, simply overjoyed with the company of her adorable self. We eventually made what I consider a mighty trade: she gave me some of her marshmellows in exchange for one of my ipod earphones.

I don't think she'd ever seen an ipod before, and she instantly fell in love. Trying to think of what music she would enjoy the most, I obviously firstly chose Spice Girls, which was a big hit. I found myself travelling for the next 3 hours listening to an array of horrible yet hilarious 90's pop songs, the kind I myself even wondered why in god's name where they even on my ipod in the first place! I was sad to see the little beauty go, but on departure she gave me the most compelling hug and kiss, saying more than any language could ever interpret, and sending goosebumps down my spine.

I arrived on the coast of Honduras, and had to wait overnight before catching a ferry over to Utilia. I somehow found myself wound up with a half-tard 30-something IT German weirdo, who made claims to me that 'Alternative music has killed the live music scene,' even though the stupid dinosaur he couldn't name for me one alternative band, besides Nirvana, that he has listened to. I was so close to poisoning his soup with ratsak that night.

So after a somewhat large amount of travelling, I finally made it to Utila! I chose Alton's dive school for my week long diving adventure, simply for it's jetty. Rolling out of bed pretty much onto the boat was also a plus, but the jetty really topped it. Words can't quite describe this, pictures can speak these 1000 words for me:

Utila was nothing short of amazing. On arrival I instantly sunk into one of the hammocks, only to hear a familiar accent coming from behind me, belonging to four Aussie guys. Jarrod, Mitch, Ben and Troy, all from Sydney, were my company for the next week. There's something about Australian's that as a fellow Aussie you just can't not love. I'm pretty sure it comes down to having a laid back dry sense of humour, plus being able to give and take a joke without qualms. I laughed how stoked they were to hear things come out of my mouth that reminded them so much of home. Just little things, like 'No biggie,' 'Old mate' and 'Ohh have you got sand in your vagina.'

Diving is one of those things that you can't help but fall madly in love with. It's your ticket to explore the unknown world that lies beneath the ocean bed, full of creatures that live a life we could never fully understand or even try to imagine. The colours, the corals, the fish, everything about this contrary world never ceases to amaze me, and every dive I did I fell deeper and deeper in love with the oceans mysterious ways.

I enjoyed my week with these guys nearly as much as I enjoyed diving itself. From getting stoned and daring each other to 'eat a dog and shit a kitchen,' to doing flips of the end of the jetty, we partied pretty hard, and had a lot of laughs. One particular favourite day was out on the Keys A chef from Altons had organised this day for months. $25 dollars bought you unlimited food, alcohol, weed, and a shitload of fun on a beautiful little Caribbean island off Utilia. The staff had the day planned perfectly, with reggae music pumping and the sun blaring, we bathed in the pristine waters, eating the most delicious fish and pork whilst drinking ourselves to a new level of stupidity. We all agreed it was easily the best Sunday we've ever had.

The best Sunday ever.

After a fabulous week away in a little slice of Caribbean paradise, I was off to meet Ness and Eddie again in Nicaragua, for some more wonderful adventures. More on that later.

Adios x

Okay, so in truth I have been dreading updating this blog, mostly due to my knowledge of how much ground I have covered and have failed to write about.. But some things just have to be done, so I've melted into in the comfiest couch, peppermint tea in hand, all the way down in Panama in Luna's loony Castle, ready to slog out a few of these oh-so belated words.

Caye Caulker

Leaving Adam and Hortle behind in Tulum wasn't quite the easiest thing to do, but alas, an even smaller division of the Cabo crew progressed (finally) out of Mexico, and into the surprisingly different world of Belize. Driving through the litter-filled streets of Belize City, and in truth the whole of Central America, makes me realise how lucky we are to live in such a beautiful country like Australia. Don't get me wrong, because this side of the world is nothing short of beautiful, except for the piles of rubbish that're as common as aids in Africa.

Luckily, Caye Caulker, not Belize City, was our destination. After a lengthy hungover bus ride and boat trip we finally arrived on the island of Caye Caulker. No doubt, this amazing reggae Caribbean island was well worth the trip.

Every single person we encountered seemed to be easygoing, and one thing is for sure, Caye Caulker definitely pulses to a reggae beat. The local Rastas were warmly welcomed us to their little slice of Caribbean heaven, and we all instantly fell in love with the place. With both of the hostels on this tiny island being fully booked, we were taken to the dark and dingy end of town where we found our home for the next two nights.... 'Home' maybe not quite a fitting word for this place - the run down little cabanas we slept in resembled a prison cell with some flashy linen to boot. The sulfur water smelled a treat - there's nothing quite like showering in what smells like two days of meals that someone just flushed down in the toilet next to you.

Jetty hangs

The three days we spent on Caye Caulker went a little too quickly for my liking. Nonetheless, activities were plentiful, with some epic 'mini beach' hangs, jetty parties, and a lot of intoxication. On the second night team 'Wound Lovers' (Mooney Ness and myself) played a drunken game of trivia at a sports bar, funnily enough we later found out (about three weeks later in fact) that two hilarious Londoners 'Just the Two of us' (Luke and James) that we would later befriend in Nicaragua were playing on the table beside us! Due to bad weather we had to leave earlier than expected, cause their ain't much to do in paradise when it's raining.

Flores

Just like good company, a good hostel can definitely make or break your trip. Walking into Los Amigo's Hostel in Flores meant only good things. The tranquil vibes surrounding the place act as some kind of intense muscle relaxant, and you find your self wanting nothing more than curling up in a hammock with a good book in hand. The hostel's ridiculous vegetarian restaurant was honestly good enough to put you off meat for life.

Tikal ruins are one of the things that every second traveller tells you that you need to see, and after witnessing them I can now confess that I have become one of those highly recommending travellers. The jungle surrounding the ruins was just as fascinating at the ruins themselves, and we had an excellent tour guide Louie showing us the ins and and outs of this beautiful world.

Easily the most interesting part of our tour was learning that the ruins are located in what now happens to be a national park. Around about half of the pyramids and ruins had been uncovered so far, with the remaining few still being covered by vegetation. We also learned this was a pretty big problem for the archaeologists... to uncover one of the hidden pyramids takes about 10 years. They need to research what animals live in the vegetation and trees covering the pyramid, and are not allowed to cut down any of the trees - they have to wait for them to fall down naturally! There was so much more insanely interesting things about this Mayan community, but it really is one of those things you have to experience for yourself to truly appreciate.

Cabo Baby on top of the highest pyramid.

Ness Mooney and Eddie went on to explore the rest of Guatemala, and I decided on a solo adventure that included getting my diving ticket in Honduras. More on that later.

x x x

More Mexican Adventures..

San Cristobal

Our last sleepless big night out in Puerto Escondido meant one - or I should say several - bad things for me. I arrived in San Cristobal sick as a dog. Riddled with a runny nose, chest infection, sore throat and a fever, I knew I had no choice but to rest up for a few days. This worst thing about this combination is that resting and travelling often don't go hand in hand.

Still, whilst I was getting down the the sickness, I got to explore to some extent the beautiful cobbled streets of San Cristobal. There's something in the air in this gorgeous town that allows you to soak up its serenity in the most ambient way.

Travelling alongside the better half of the Cabo Crew, we set off to explore the local markets. Mesmerised by the selection of unbelievable trinkets, we managed to spend hours on end strolling down each isle, returning to every stall at least three times to make sure we hadn't missed anything.

San Cristobal Markets

Ness and I both decided we would each love a hammock to accompany us for the rest of our journey, so after much deliberation we decided on the most gorgeous natural cotton hammocks - for the small price of $20! These hammocks are to die for. The minute you lie inside it it seems to wrap you up in all it's glory... 10 seconds in and you've already completely melted into it - allowing it to satisfy all your senses the way a good hammock should. Takes me a good hour to get out of the damn thing!

Palenque

On the way to Palanque, we stopped in at Misol-ha to check out the jungle waterfall, and also at Agua Azul to see the stunning cascades and for a dip in the pristine water. We had the most amazing day lounging around in the cool water, and the clear blue skies next to the luscious green trees and stunning aqua water meant it was rather hard to leave this glorious land!

Agua Azul

We eventually arrived in Palenque that afternoon, and settled in quite well to our new forest hideout - the gorgeous Jungle Palace. The six of us booked a cabana right by the lake, and had three days to explore the everything Palenque had to offer.

Unfortunately at this point I was smack bang in the middle of my sickness, but in between countless lie-downs I got to see exactly what this amazing place had to offer... and I think I can vouch for everyone when I say we all loved every single bit of it!

Nestled in the depths of the jungle were Palenque's ruins, with stunning temples set upon the greenest of grass these were some of the best ruins we had come across. We got a local guide, John, to give us a tour through the jungle where we ate termites, climbed vines, swam in hidden waterfalls, and smoked a plant that the Mayans believed was the same as marijuana. Definitely a major highlight of the trip so far!

Tulum

After being told Tulum was home to the one of the top 10 beaches of the world, we knew this was a place we couldn't miss. Sure enough, we were greeted by sugar white sand, jade-green water, palm trees galore and bright sunlight.

Without a doubt, the ocean is the best food for the soul. After a particularly amazing day at the beach, my health was back to top-notch, which calls for nothing short of a celebration! The mini Cabo Baby crew had somewhat reunited, and somehow, after a few too many beers, one of the guys came up with the marvelous idea that we all play spin the bottle.

Six guys and three girls, the odds were on our side, meaning we got to see countless guy-on-guy pashes. Yep, tounge and all! I don't think I have ever seen so many guys get so into a game of spin the bottle, most of them having no qualms about kissing another guy with a lil bit of passion. I don't think I have ever laughed so hard in my life! Simple pleasures in life are by far the best kind...

On our last day in Tulum we spent the day snorkeling at the Grand Cenotes, such a magical place. We had several tea parties on the bottom underwater, and then ventured into the cave area. We found out you could dive under and look for little air pockets (sometimes it would be a trick though, and there was no air, and you'd just come up and whack your head. Then you'd be completely out of breath and have to go back under to find a different air pocket!) Eventually we found a big enough one to host four of us for a mini cave party, plus some bats as well.

Cenotes in Tulum

That's about all I can manage for an update for now! But that's Mexico done and dusted. I'll update on Belize and Honduras another time! Right now I'm in Nicaragua waiting for Ness and Eddie to join me in the pouring rain!

Big love x x x

Puerto Escondido

One of the best parts about Puerto Escondido for me was the arrival. After getting a taxi down to our hostel, I was immediately greeted by a heavily intoxicated old Mexican guy. He introduced himself as 'Indigo' and tried to carry my 15kg backpack down the steps to the hostel for me. Quite a funny thing to watch the little old fella struggle so much with my bag, swaying from a wall to a tree, to almost falling over several times. He didn't speak much english but managed to sign language a bong with his hands, apologising for being so high. HA, such a legend. He then tried his hardest to get me down to his shop to buy some boardshorts, ha ha. ¨I gotsa red ones day same as dis¨ he informed me, pointing to my dress. I wish I had taken a photo of him, such an interesting character.

Walking up the stairs of Mayflower, the hostel, I felt that rush of excitement flow through my blood. Even at a first glance Ness and I could tell this place was going to be amazing. Hammocks, painted walls, and plants galore.. a total Mexican paradise! With double beds and a whole dorm room to ourselves, we both knew Puerto was going to hold us captive for quite a few days.

To top it off, above the hostel there was a fantastic deck area overlooking the ocean, along with a great big table - the perfect kind to drink around... Something we did a little too often really. But one day in and we managed to form the greatest crew - the Cabo Baby crew - right up there on that deck. The amount of absolute nonsense spoken around that table for the days we were there would honestly blow any one's mind.

Another oh-so great thing about Puerto... an ounce of weed was a mere $200 pesos, not even $20 for us. It seemed every time you finished smoking a monster joint someone had already lit another. This sort of behaviour tends to lead to two things: eating, and siesta´s. I must admit, siesta's really did get the best of me, sometimes 'napping' at 5pm would turn into a deep sleep, and I'd often find myself not waking up til 10am the next day. Pretty sure ¨I feel a siesta coming on¨ came out of everyone's mouth at least twice a day.

Travelling during the 'low' season rocks! Everything is cheaper, and we pretty much had the town and the beaches to ourselves. We got to know a few of the locals, and formed a tight bond with our new travelling buddies - Craig, Nick, Alex, Mooney, Eddie and Adam. Two Aussies, three Tassies, and a Kiwi. You can only imagine the amount of sheep rooting/inbred jokes getting around.

Going out in Puerto was always a blast - as long the yearning desire for a siesta wasn't playing on the back of your mind. One of the rather large nights we had out Alex Nick and I ventured off to see what the town had to offer. It's quite easy to get free shots just by getting chummy with every bar tender we came across. Mind you, I am talking about horrible, horrible cheap tequila, so you can imagine what kind of night this evolved into.........

A few friends from back home, Cuss, Jacko and Mal were surprise visitors to the Mayflower the following day. It's crazy how you can be right over the other side of the world and still run into people you know. Nonetheless, a celebration was in order. Ha, actually something that's brilliant about travelling - how you lose track of days, and how you find a different reason why we have to fiesta every night. "It's Nick's last night, we have to have some drinks," or "Craig passed his Scuba licence, we better celebrate," or the old favourite, "It's a Friday night, we've all worked soo hard this week."

Not quite ready to leave this magical place, we postponed our departure for the Mexican holiday 'Cinco de Mayo' as another celebration was in order... ha ha. This was by far the most outrageous night to date. We headed down the road to the most fabulous Mexican Salsa bar, and it seemed everyone from Puerto was there. Dancing in the street, we were approached by what we like to call 'The Rabies Dogs.' Yep, the kind of dogs that come near you, and everyone tries not to look it in the eyes in fear that if you do so it will only venture closer. You're actually even afraid to kick it away. Rabies isn't cool. But we did make a song about it that was pretty cool.. Titled "I got rabies from mah doggie," (actually these were the only repetitive lyrics in the song) and sung to the tune of "la la bumba," it wasn't long before we had bongos as backups, and a rather large amount of people joining in on the adorable sing-along.

Alas, our time in Puerto had finally come to an end, but our new found family was yet to be separated. San Cristobal, Palanque, and Tulum were the next destination myself, Ness, Mooney, Alex, Adam and Eddie were bound for. I'll save all that for another entry however.

More news from over this side of the world... I've had a major change of plans. After some careful deliberation, I have decided my heart just isn't in Europe. The typical sightseeing and the whole European summer thing doesn't quite float my boat they way it does for others. On the other hand, the idea of a proper South America trip really gets my blood pumping. Plus with my budget, I'd be living like a queen compared to Europe! Ness, however, has her eyes on the Europe prize. So after Central we'll be parting ways, which was a really hard decision to make. There's just something about this land that is so completely overwhelming, and I'm not ready to leave. Everything about it - from the unbelievable picture perfect beaches to the luscious mountains and jungles, even the ruins, and the people - there is so much character in everything. Day after day it keeps getting better, just when you think you've reached the paramount. And I haven't even left Mexico yet!

From here, we're heading to an Island off of Belize, where I'm thinking about doing a diving course, then over to Guatemala to eat many 1 cent avocados, and potentially do a two week Spanish course and a home stay. What an experience that will be. Well that's my mammoth update for now!

Adios Amigos xxx

Mexico City

This place is a whole new world. Streets are busier, buildings form different shapes with more vibrant colours, and most importantly - and at long last - we soak up the golden suns' rays, almost overdosing on it in fear that it might fizzle up in any second and leave us in complete darkness.. Quite a step up from America's cold windy miserable weather I must say.

On arrival we head straight out to the colourful Sunday markets that line the busy streets of Mexico. And finally, we are surrounded by so much good food! It's quite an overwhelming feeling, wanting to eat everything this great city has to offer at lunchtime alone.

We made friends with a local Mexican guy, Marco, who was overly helpful and insightful. He pretty much acted as our tour guide for the days we spent in Mexico City. On our second day he took us to Xochimilco, which is a series of extended canals, and is all that remains of the ancient Lake Xochimilco.

Above are some of the boats, or trajineras, that we set sail down the canal aboard .. beer in hand of course. It was such a tranquil, mesmerising experience. A boat full of Mariachi's (Mexicana Singers) was joined to ours, and for a small price of $60 pesos a song, we were serenaded down the river, by beautiful traditional Mexican melodies, unable to wipe the smiles from our faces.

One of the most interesting things about Mexico is that an ancient prophecy predicted that the buildings of Mexico would all sink into the ground, and the temples and other ruins would all rise, and be resurrected. The amount of earthquakes Mexico encounter have led this propecy to come true! Mexico is sinking, and already many temples have been resurrected in their place. Even thinking about it sends shivers down my spine.

The rest of our time was spent adventuring around this glorious city. We explored the Teotihuacan Pyramids, and even managed to climb to the top of the Sun pyramid - extremely out of breath by the time we reached the top, however. Firey lungs aside, it was such a beautiful thing to be able to sit on top of the pyramid in the cool breeze, regaining our breath while we admired the ancient ruins that surrounded us.

Much to our disappointment, our hostel, 'Hotel Moneda' lacked a certain spark that a hostel should have, and our cold ridden bodies were yearning for the ocean. So after what seemed a short four days in Mexico City, we were destined for Puerto Escondido - after a hellish 17hr bus ride of course.

Our view on the bus for 17 hours... sick.

The adventures held in Puerto Escondido so far have easily been my favourite to date. I can't wait to tell you all about it... But right now the beach is calling my name.

x x