Uvita
This is a small town on the pacific coast, right next to the "Parque Marina Ballena" and this is Ballena as in whale. I saw none though, I did not feel like going on another tour after Tortuguero and I have been on a whale watching tour before.I went to the beach and snorkeled a bit instead. The beach was empty, apart from a few local families and snorkeling was nice, though I am spoiled from Utila, which was like snorkeling in an aquarium. Because of the rainy season there also was quite a bit of sand in the water.
The Pacific is a lot wilder than the Carribean and seeing a thundersorm gathering over the beach was quite a sight.
Tortuguero
For the hardcore traveller Tortuguero might be too touristy.Yes, the main economy in the town is to cater to travellers who come to see the turtles and row canoes through the rainforest to see wildlife. If you are looking for an isolated "unspoiled" from modern life jungle village you are in the wrong place.
Apart from the obvious drawbacks of romanticising poverty, criticising the tourist industry in Tortuguero is hard after passing hundreds of hectars of banana plantations (courtesy of Chiquita) and seeing the remnants of the old saw mill from the time the lumbar industry was the main industry in Tortuguero.
Additionally I met one of the guides on the bus, a very enthusiastic 26 year old, named Mauricio, who had grown up in Tortuguero and new everything about the history, the jungle, animals and combining it with his stories of growing up there and rambling in the jungle as soon as he could walk. Now I know that it is possible to make ants fight each other, but not the bull ant as it will sting you. And five of these can kill a toddler, so the sting will land you in hospital.
Anyway, seeing a local obviously enjoying showing a traveller his hometown made me feel more like a visitor and less like a tourist. Additionally, snubbing Tortuguero is really stupid, the place is awesome, we saw crocodiles launching on the river just from the boat to the village. To see smaller wildlife than crocodiles it does make sense to have a guide, though. Especially with iguanas finding them in a tree is a bit like "Where is Waldo?"
To see the turtles nest a guide is required, so that one does not disturb them too much. Man, it is hard to be a women when one happens to be a turtle.
One has to heave 10 kilo of oneself onto the beach, crawl around to find a good spot to nest while trying not to get eaten by jaguars, dig a hole with tiny flippers, lay about 90 eggs, which is so painful that one falls into a trance, meanwhile being poked by scientists, cover the eggs and dig another hole to fool predators, crawl back to the sea and look forward to having to do all of this again next year.
All the men have to do is 5 min of fun. Although this is a guess, I have no insight into turtle sex, how does that actually work with all the shell around them?
Ometepe
My time in Ometepe is a good example of the good and bad of traveling alone.I arrived somewhat shaken, having feed the fishes on the boat (the lake is almost like a sea, and it was windy) and at the wrong place. I figured it would not make much of a difference, but boy was I wrong.
The room was so expensive, I thought they were talking in Cordoba when they were quoting dollar prices (why does everyone cite dollar prices, this is Nicaragua and I'm not from the US). I noticed when I was paying, but I thought, hey a luxury room for 3 nights, lets treat myself. Yeah, cold water, no air con I really don't know what I paid for. It was not the service. Anyway, the real downside of the place was that there was no one there. One night I was the only guest and this place was in a nature park, so no neighbours either.
This was really hard, not that I was afraid, but I felt a bit like the last human on earth. It was an effort to motivate myself to go and see something, not unlike the last three years.
However, I did not while away at the beach feeling sorry for myself, but got a bike to hunt some petroglyphs and a waterfall. The service being as it was in that place the bike was broken, namely the brakes, which I noticed after 3km, when it started going downhill. I had gone uphill for the last half an hour in the strong late morning sun and really did not feel like returning, just to probably get no or an as shitty bike.
So I went on and made it to the petroglyphs just in time for the rain. I scurried from tree to tree looking at the geometrical carvings of the petroglyphs. The view on the volcano past flowers was pretty.
When I got back to my bike a horse was fastened next to it. It was saddled and clearly waiting for its rider. I wanted to pet it, but it started showing signs of fear. Horses in Central America a poor creatures. I haven't seen where the hip bones did not show as did the ribs with a lot of them. I saw the pull carriages in the heat, carry sacks and sacks of farming products and more than once two grown people were riding on one horse. And I never saw a horse that was not afraid of me, there is none of the natural, "nammi" expecting curiosity of Icelandic horses. I wish I had had a carrot in my pocket.
Thanks to the brakes I had to walk a lot and I did not make it to the waterfall. It was getting dark quickly, which meant riding the bike started to be impossible (of course it had no lights, no lights and no brakes is a dangerous combination). At some point the bus passed me. I waved and jumped and shouted, but it did not see me in the dark. A cab did see me. The driver looked at me, broken down bike, girl walking alone in the dark and tripled the price. Sometimes it is good that my Spanish is not good enough for cursing. I decided after walking that much I can walk the rest. Some guy saw me walking and asked what was wrong. A friendly soul I thought, until he said it is a long way and he cold walk with me, putting his arm around me. Sometimes guys are not aware how creepy they can appear to women. Again, my Spanish was fortunately only good enough for a "No, go away".
After a time a farmer appeared, also on a bike, also asking me what was wrong. He shared his flashlight with me and walked with me to the local hangout of his community. There he made everyone look at the bike, trying to fix the brakes. They gave up and we all had a beer together instead, making laborious conversation about their small community and families in Las Ramos. This time I wished my Spanish was better. A middle aged couple decided to drive me and my bike home, declining money when I offered them.
This is pretty much typical for traveling alone. Days can be difficult, but I always end up hanging with interesting and friendly local people, learning more about the country than I would in a group or even one other person.
When I came back to the main town I could not face taking the ferry yet, and as I had had to wait long for the bus it was a bit late to go to Costa Rica anyway. So I got a CHEAP bed in town, went to the internet and send a " hello world are you out there" to Iceland and spent some happy time chatting to friends.
Back at the hostel after watching an amazing sunset on the lake, I met a group of thrown together travelers, who had gotten cheap but good rum. We shared stories, drunk Cuba Libres until the roosters started crowing. Maybe I was not the last human on earth after all.
losses
I have been on the road for three months now, half the time I planned for the trip. Time to count some of my losses. I have the tendency to lose or brake the expensive things, or the ones difficult to replace. A list!1. white long sleeve top; I forgot that my hair was still giving off colour, so when I washed it while showering it stained redish/orangy. I replaced it with a shirt from a Microbrewery in Oregon :)
2. clothes line (not that dramatic) left it hanging in the trees on a campground in Oregon
3. ukulele (very sad) forgot it was on top of my scooter when driving off, it fell down and the neck broke off somewhere in California
4. blue top; I actually did not lose that but donated it to the kitten I found in the rain near Palenque
5. hiking trousers and socks; forgot it in a hostel in Samuc Champey. It had taken me ages to find the perfect hiking trousers, now I was down to 1 trousers...
6. A bra in Antigua. I really don’t know how I lost it, maybe some pervert took it :)
7. my good rainjacket in Grenada; this is the heaviest loss, I believe a good rainjacket is essential and I have not found any store selling good ones anywhere yet (hope for Panam City). Additionally, I did not lose it, but it got stolen.
Ok, I did forget it in the internet cafe for 5 min, which was enough for the streetkid sitting next to me (they play computer games, too, yay for globalisation...). I guess he needed it more than me though I doubt he has an idea how much it was worth (the only gear I had bought in Iceland, dead expensive).
I tried finding him, consulting other streetkids, thinking I might be able to buy it back, but either they did not want to rat their friend out and only made a show of walking with me through the city and look for him, or he was hiding. Anyway, the older of the two (13) gave me a friendship band to console me and they both got a coke out of it for helping me. And who can say they hung out with two streetkids in Grenada? I file that episode under cultural experience....
8. My other hiking trousers ripped at the knee when I fell down at the border to Costa Rica, if I go on like this I might arrive naked in Tierra del Fuego.