Central American
Travels 2002
In summer 2002 i travelled
in Central America managing to see the countries Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras,
and Guatemala. I started in Costa Rica where i did a canopy tour and saw the
Pacific Ocean. I then headed northwest first to Nicaragua where I took a few
weeks of Spanish lessons, living with a really nice family. Then in Honduras
i took diving lessons and got my advanced diving licence and got to see coral,
dolphins, and a shipwreck all for the first time. In Guatemala i went to the
Ancient Mayan site of Tikal after spending a couple days waiting for Paramilitary
protesters to stop blocking the roads. And then saw some amazing volcanos in
southern Guatemala, also managing to pick up the Cyclospora parasite. I then
flew back down to Costa Rica where i saw some wild life both in the jungle and
on the streets of the capital of San Jose. Here are some hightlights.
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Church in Granada. |
| Volcano Mumbacho
in Granada. |
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Church in Leon is the biggest in
Central America. |
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Orange Fanta! My favorite Pop
in the World which is non-existant in North America for some reason.
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| A fantastic Colombian Soap Opera/Sitcom
that is called "Pedro El Escamoso". All about a guy with an
amazing mullet, cowboy boots, that works as a Limo Driver. |
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Aguilla Ship Wreck that i got to
swim into. Very big thrill! |
| Squirrel Fish. Very scary
looking fish but also only about 10 centimetres long. |
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Queen Fish with a very nice almost
flourescent blue and yellow colourings. |
| These yellow fish follow the divers
almost swimming like in a school a fish. Probably looking for food though. |
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Flores is a little island town
that is where i got stranded for 2 days as i waited for protesting Paramilitaries
to stop blocking the roads. Especially the ones on the way to Tikal.
Also picked up Cyclospora parasite
here. Hmm... a pair of Paras!
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View of Tikal from atop Temple
4 looking at Temples 1,2, and 3.
Also look for this shot in Star
Wars of the Rebel Base on Yavin 4.
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Temple 2 has got great views of
the Great Plaza, the jungle life, and birds. |
| Temple 1 and the Great Plaza as
seen from on top of Temple 2. |
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Tunnels dug by archaeologists revealed
four similar pyramids beneath the outer face, the earliest dates from
700 BC, making the pyramid the oldest Mayan structure in Tikal. |
| It was nice to see a very
visible aboriginal population in Guatemala and hear them speaking their
native language. I did not take this photo but i did spend a fair amount
of time with them haggling for some really nice materials and even got
a shirt for myself. The background of this webpage is of Lago de Atitlan
in Southern Guatemala where the Highland Maya live like the one in this
photo. |
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Central America is a bird watcher's
dream and has more than a thousand species of birds. I got to see 2. A
Toucan and something that had a yellowtail, which i have taken to calling
a Yellowtail bird. |
| Spider Monkeys swinging in trees
overhead was cool, saw them at Tikal in Guatemala and near Volcano Arenal
in Costa Rica. |
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Volcano Arenal in Costa
Rica has been active and erupting regularly since 1968. It is very close
to the town where i stayed for 2 nights and paid about a dollar a night
but the room came with a very persistent cockroach. |