out of contact, out of touch, in touch, in contact

i´m sitting at an air conditioned internet cafe at 830 pm in la fortuna, costa rica. this country has all the goods and niceties that i have been without for so long. but all for the better, do understand.
 
i have much to tell...but not much time to tell right now. all i can do is rattle off the places i visited and activities i did in the past five days
 
- stayed at a hippie commune
- ate homemade Nutella and organic bread
- was serenaded by brazillian fire dancers
- slept in a one person tent on only a wool blanket (in honor of colin)
- went for a dip in an amazing freshwater pool in the middle of nowhere
- took an overnight ferry ride from ometepe island to san carlos, nicaragua where i slept on a concrete deck and got absolutely no sleep
- cruised 46 km down the rio san juan and, after some dillydallying, found the jungle resort i paid $15-night to stay at.
- kayaked the sabalos river for about 5 km through both some virgin rain forest and cow and pig farms. i also saw turtles sunbathing, green iguanas, river otters, many water fowl, howler monkeys and baseball players post-gametime who stared me down the river.
- took a public boat to el castillo, where i met up with a long lost fellow swedish traveler, and we toured an ancient fortress where as recently as 1985 scores of people were killed in battle...and wound up getting misinformation on the public boat schedules and ended up stranded 25 km downriver from my resort. my saviors? two gringo sport-fishermen who just happened to stop off and get some beers. i hopped a ride in their speedboat and cruised back up the river in style, while they fished for the elusive sabalos fish...big ass fish.
 
well, then i took 2 very long boat rides and 2 very long bus rides and now i´m only halfway to liberia, costa rica...where i´ll fly home on tuesday.
 
any questions? just ask. i have to make a 800 word travel article out of this BY FRIDAY. anything particularly stand out?
 
take care all,
i am safe and healthy.
 
ciao
chuck

volcano bombs

so i hefted my body straight up a volcano yesterday. truly, since they don´t build switchbacks here...just straight up and up. but the first half is a pleasant jaunt through organic, shade grown coffee groves and then shade grown cocoa trees. halfway up the 5km trail the clouds move in and it´s a cloud forest, complete with drippy, mossy trees, jungle vines, mud holes, and the occasional box turtle (which we placed on a rock for its viewing pleasure). at the very top you descend this steep bank to get to a crater lake. again, it was shrouded in misty clouds, so i half expected an indigenous tribal chief to float across the pond in his pontoon boat and offer us McDonalds hamburgers.

i was in a pretty large group, along with a band of mischievious gun-toting and bomb-toting nicaraguan men. they set off two bombs...one at the halfway point up the trail and one at the crater lake´s edge. well, when i say ´bomb´i´m more likely thinking an M-80..or one of colin´s homemade bombs. and actually they were just really powerful mortars. but other than that, it was a nice, knee'crunching time to be had.

now i´m just relaxing on this huge porch in a hammock and hopefully my body will repair itself with all this mango and pineapple juice i´m drinking. later today me and a few fellows are moving to the farm next door where they have homemade bread (no more hot dog buns for bread!), peanut butter, chocolate, and free bananas. i have yet to eat a banana here. strange.

then on thursday i catch the ferry boat and take an overnight trip to the east side of Lake Nicaragua, where i take a public boat downriver to Boca de Sabalos and stay at the Sabalos Lodge ecolodge (google it).

signing off,
Charlos (it´s about as close to Charles as the Nicas can manage)

island dreaming

hello all,
i´m alive and safe and healthy and still no theft or buggery. well, the place i´m at now has a bug problem, but that will just have to be dealt with as i´m here for 3 days. check out  Finca Magdalena (google it) for info.

i spent the past couple of days on a nice, warm, tropical beach on Isla del Ometepe...at Hotel Charco Verde (you can google that too). where i did il dolce far niente (the sweetness of doing nothing), well aside from the short hikes to see the monkey family and their caps for sale and the sea kayak adventure around a cape to visit an island inhabited by one horse and many birds and a few stubborn mangos (well, luckily we brought our own).

i paid for everything with a credit card because it was damn expensive. i stayed at the chi chi place with the chi chi prices, but generally it was well worth it. now i´m at cheap place with cots and dirty sheets but at least the food is excellent...just had the chicken soup...which featured a little chicky (whole) stewed with broth and veggies...topped off with a mango juice.

tomorrow or the next day i will trek to the top of the volcano just behind the farm-hostel. its a 8 hour hike with a cloud forest and well, i´ll report back what i see. in the meantime i´m just going to lounge around and drink coffee and look at at the volcano across the isthmus..volcan conception....one of the finest mountains i´ve ever seen...sort of like mt. fuji but with a cloud top instead of snow top.

be cool.
stay in school.
if you want to get shot.

peace,
chuck

aqui! aqui!

Fun facts before you go to bed;

1. nicaraguans love their casinos. they especially love slot machines. i think it has something to do with the dream of getting rich in a piss poor country (by the way, mongolia is the only country i´ve been in that´s poorer... with qualifications). just across the street are plenty of slots and it´s packed. the other favorite pasttime appears to be playing soccer in front of hundred year old churches, having the goal be the front door and portico. there´s even a painted soccer field on the plaza, so i´m guessing the city encourages it. It´s a mix of sport and religion...quite a sight!

2. you must negotiate with the teenage kid who wants to speak english with you on a set price for companionship BEFORE he accompanies you through the local cathedrals and museums. you must also realize that what he considers a tour guide is really just a person who reads you the title cards, in spanish, so you don´t have to strain your eyes in the low light. he´ll demand an outstanding fee for this service. upwards of $4. you will only pay him $1.30, then take his picture.

3. while eating out alone, it is muy importante that you order a beverage called tiste. It´s a slushy corn meal sweet drink and it passes the time as you gaze out at the quiet street scene outside waiting for your fried fish and rice. and don´t eat the salad.

4. always have a 1 cordoba piece on your person for the sole reason of surrendering it upon some pestering lady´s request.

5. parakeets, when they congregate in a clump of palm trees, are the loudest godawful squawkfest you´ll ever hear.

Now, time for bed and dream of volcanoes.

signed,
chuck

granada

the only thing i have to report is that i saw a delivery truck out delivering Columbus Salame Company goods. it seems even their meat has been colonized.

i´m in granada, a relatively peaceful little labyrinth <compared to managua< and the hostel i´m staying at has free internet. go figure.

also< sweat is dripping down my arm.

ta ta from el tropico,
chuck

i'm alive and very very hot

Flew through a lightning storm this past evening, but made it to Managua, Nicaragua just fine. Kyra and her boyfriend were at the airport to pick me up.
Unfortunately Kyra can't come on any adventures this weekend, so I'm setting a new course. I'm heading to Granada tomorrow where I'll probably stay for 2 nights before
heading down to the Isla del Ometepe (an extra day ahead of schedule). I'll miss out on the Northern Highlands, but this way will be WAY less complex (though I'll only get to spend one evening with Kyra :(
 
It's actually raining here! THis is VERY RARE for Managua so the denizens here are extremely happy for some heat relief. It's about 85 degrees right now (at 11:19 PM !!).
 
 
I'm sooooo tired...
 
I'll email again from the fast connection in Granada (gringo-city from what I hear).
 
Til then, here's hoping I can navigate this labyrinth city tomorrow...
 
Take care ,
Chuck in the Tropics