JB's 2009 Trip

Firstly, I was wrong about the Colts going undefeated! The Cowboys are playing great football at the moment, as were the Chargers towards the end of the regular season (unfortunately I wasn't able to catch a live game while in San Diego). Enough about football though ...

It was great catching up with more family in San Diego. I held my head up high in table tennis, tenpin bowling & golf but was completely outplayed by my uncle in our tennis game. A ton of practice is called for. Again, I had been to SD before so there wasn't much sight-seeing; aside from a few pubs! I continued to eat so well while the odd Mocha Frappe from Starbucks became a daily event.

I flew up to Toronto on Xmas day expecting the airports to be quiet but they were anything but. Nevertheless the flights went smoothly & I arrived to a fairly chillows -5C. I had a super time up north with the other side of the family & it was great to meet cousins - Jules was a phenomenal host while Marlie (13 mths old) is so so cute. While in Cananda I headed to Waterloo for a massive night with Hallsy & his mates; even catfish made an appearance, as well as to London to see my uncle for the 1st time in, I believe, 23 years!

If you're ever in Toronto, make sure you head to "Easy on the 5th", if you fancy dancing, & "Hemminways" in Yorkville if you are looking for a pub that's busy any night of the week. Before you think all I did was drink, I did see many of the sights; including a day at Niagra, a ride up the CN Tower (weather was sh*t!) & a visit to the Hockey Hall of Fame. I also enjoyed the "Dead Sea Scrolls" exhibition at the R.O.M.

It want to give a special shout out to Sharon's cooking - divine! I think her & my mom learnt how to cook together! Speaking of my mom's cooking, I can't wait for some roast chicken (the best in PE), some tongue in red sauce & some liver with my kitkah ...

The flights back were rather eventful & after missing my Miami connection due to delays in Toronto, I made it home after 11 (due back at 3). Hallsy said he would pick me up & I said that's awesome but make sure you ask Beto (Pablo) where you must drop me as I have no idea where I am living!

Turns out Beto has done a phenomenal job & we live on the beach only 20m from O-Bar. Well played my boy! The 1st week back has been, surprise surprise, rather large with many nights at O-Bar, the WNDC, the Jolly & then Aquabeach on Friday & Fidels on Sat where we performed our usual "Don't Stop Believing". After that I felt as if I was home ...

Last night I stayed in - 1st time since being back. The night before we went out at 12 - freaking madness! Heading out at midnight on a Monday ...

Time always flies when you're having fun & I can't believe that just over 4 mths ago I was making my way to Rio. There are too many highlights to pick just one but I am so chuffed I added Guatemala & Belize to the itineary. I've met so many great ppl, seen & done heaps & just had, as we say in SA, an absolute jol. It sucks to be back at work but it is great to see all my mates again & I know the next few mths will be a ton of fun.

Now I start planning for the big guy - a 16 mth trip through South Africa, Eastern Europe, London, Asia & NZ. A trip that includes (hopefully) following the Boks on their end of year tour. And 3 world cups ... football in SA, cricket in India & rugby in NZ. Good times!!

The week in Belize was great fun & the Caribbean feel only increased as we made our way to Caye Caulker (details below). And Ross was even served alcohol without being asked for I.D!

The 1st stop in Belize was the A.T.M caves in San Ignacio, which I highly recommend. The cave was once a Mayan ceremonial site and you see artefacts from their time - mostly pans but also human remains including a skull & a human skeleton. Aside from these incredible artefacts, the cave involves swimming in shoulder deep water, in places, & many narrow swim/walk throughs & it is a super experience all round.

While in San Ignacio, we spent a fair bit of time at the local pub during happy hour - you can't go wrong with B$2 (US$1) for a rum & coke. I particularly enjoyed the Spring Break stories from 1 local who explained that when walking on the beach, he had to walk in waist high water so as to remain undetected. A lot of information from someone you know for 2 hrs!

While at the bar, Ross & I had a brainwave - laugh off the Jaguar reserve we were planning to visit, the chances of seeing Jaguar are so remote, & head instead to Caye Caulker ( an island 45mins by boat from Belize City) for a weekend of partying & diving. What a phenomenal idea ...

Caye Caulker felt like Rum Point, with the local club feeling like a franchise of O-Bar (the only difference being that you could buy food inside the club. And it served Chinese, not pizza). I particularly enjoyed the karaoke on Sat night & brought the house down (I think anyway) with my Elvis double header of "Return to Sender" & "Suspicious Minds". Thankfully clubs don't close at midnight in Belize & the party at Oceanside went on well past that.

Aside from the partying at Oceanside, & the many "Panty-Rippers" at Lizards, I did get 3 dives in. I did a 2 tank dive to Turneffe North on Saturday; seeing 2 turtles, 2 green Moray eels, tons of lobster, a Baracuda & many others, & a 1 tank guy to the local reef on Sunday. It was great to dive outside of Cayman & the weekend overall was wicked.

What followed the weekend was 2 long days of travelling to get back to Guatemala City. Monday involved a 45min boat ride & a 7 hr bus ride while Tuesday's serving was 2 boat rides & 2 buses. I decided to head to Antigua on the Tues night to avoid spending a night in Guatemala City & it was a fun ride with the money guy trying to charge me Q20 for myself & Q29 for my bag. The rate is Q8/person & I was having none of it ... I had been travelling for too long to get scammed & I ended up paying the Q8.

From Guatemala I made my way to California to see, & meet, family. I write this from Kara's place on the beach in LA, drinking a superb bottle of "Magistrate" Merlot, only 4976 cases produced, after a super few days with the Bortz, & Silverman, clans. It has been so good to meet the new cousins, there are 5 of them & they are all divine, & catch up with the rest of the family after 8 yrs.

I have been to LA twice before so there hasn't been much sight-seeing. There has, though, been a ton of eating ... from all-you-can-eat Sushi & a breakfast of steak, eggs & fried tomatoes with uncle Joel, to the real deal biltong & droewors from the "Sausage Market" (thanks Greg).

Aside from seeing family, & eating, I drove a Bentley on the weekend, thanks Greg, busted out the plastic on Rodeo Drive, saw Aunt Becky from Full House at Mia's football game & enjoyed a ton of awesome sports channels. My favourite is channel 703-1: this channel switches back & forth between the football games as things happen so you never see a commercial. Ingenious!

Tomorrow I head off to San Diego to see the rest of the Bortz's & I hope to catch a Chargers game on the weekend. Speaking of football, great win for the 49-ers last night. And, for the record, I think the Colts will go undefeated this season!

The hike from Xela to San Pedro on Lake Atitlan was as awesome as everyone had told me & I highly recommend it if ever in Xela. We hiked through pine forest, corn fields & a host of villages & slept under the stars both nights, which was great. On our 2nd night, we slept in a lady's back garden & she very kindly made us a home made sauna, which did wonders for the extremely dirty JB!

The sunrise over the lake was spectacular, the best one of the trip by far, & I enjoyed a few days relaxing on the Lake after 6 days of hiking. San Pedro is a very chilled town & as one cannot swim in the lake at the moment, it is too dirty, there is not much to do. I had met some Americans on my trip, though, & we hung out together - as I said not much to do so we ate, slept & lazed about. I celebrated only my 2nd Thanksgiving dinner & enjoyed Turkey & all the fixings!

Around the town, they must grow a ton of bananas as I have never been offered so much banana bread in my life! Given that there were few ppl in town only magnified the situation & I must have been approached every 30 mins ... granted it was fantastic banana bread, not as good as Bev's, but there is only so much one can eat. I felt a bit like Forrest Gump when Bubba details what you can do with schrimp - there was banana bread plain, banana bread with choc, banana cookies ... & so on.

From San Pedro I headed to Lanquin, via Antigua, as I had heard about the pools at Semuc Chempey. I was hoping to make it in 1 day but the bus was a tad late in Antigua & we had to overnight in Coban. We found a very comfy hostel & it was all good. I made it through to Lanquin early Saturday & spent the weekend tubing down rivers, exploring caves & swimming in the gorgeous natural pools at Semuc Chempey. I also got to know the local rum very well ... good stuff. If you ever visit Semuc Chempey, be sure to stay at El Retiro - stunning setting, great hostel & some super people.

Next stop was Flores & the phenomenal Mayan ruins at Tikal. This was a definite highlight of the trip. I decided to go with a guide as I haven't bought a guide book for Guatemala, so I had very little info & I thought it would be pointless wandering about aimlessly, & Luis was absolutely brilliant - so informative, interesting & funny. I won't go into details here re the ruins but the pics on facebook do have comments if you are interested.

After a brief 2 days in Flores, be sure to stay at Los Amigos if in town, I made my way into Belize. As I crossed the border, it felt like I was back home - the way people talk, the weather, the music on the radio, the town itself & the colours ... it all feels very Caribbean. Even the potrait of the Queenie on the notes is the same! Good times.

I also love Caribbean humour. I am travelling with Ross whom I met at the hostel in Flores & he is very young (just out of school). When at the Belize border, the immigration official looks at him when taking his passport & says "You look like a kid, Mon". He then asked if he had his parents' permission to travel ... before bursting out in laughter. Ya Mon.

I arrived in Guatemala late Sunday night after a long day of travelling from Santiago & made a bee line for Antigua. Antigua is gorgeous (cobbled streets, stunning scenery all around & awesome coffee & ice cream shops) but very touristy. Nevertheless, I really enjoyed my few days there & it was an experience to climb the active Volcan Pucaya & be 1m from lava - something that would never be allowed in SA, the States etc.

As you exit the bus at the base of the volcano, you are hounded by kids trying to sell you sticks. One in particular caught my attention with his ¨you really should get one, the guide books recommend it¨! As we were heading up, there was 1 guy with a horse screaming ¨Taxi natural, Taxi natural¨!

I was due to leave Wednesday morning to Quezaltenengo (aka Xela) but Shane & I had a rather large evening on Tuesday drinking rum so I decided to stay an extra day to enjoy another phenomenal Black Cat (the hostel)breakfast. My decision may also have been influenced by the gorgeous weather as I was loving being back in flip-flops, shorts & a t-shirt.

It may also have been influenced by the fact that our room had a new person in it - blonde Mara from Amsterdam ...

I did leave Thursday morning & decided to catch local chicken buses (so named becuase they transport ppl as well as chickens, goats etc.) & not the shuttle. You can catch shuttles all over the country, which I find very weird, and sad - you could get by without ever catching chicken buses. It is meant to be 2 buses from Antigua to Xela ( I learn later), but it took me took 4! I caught 1 to Chima & that´s when it went a little pear - I get dropped off at the side of the street and am directed across the road. I explain that I need to get to Xela & am told to board a certain bus. I ask agin - this is definitely going to Xela? Si, si comes the reply. An hr into the bus ride, the bus pulls over at the side of the street & the process repeats itself ... while on the 4th bus I realise this is probably not the direct route! Nevertheless, I made it & it was all good.

Riding a chicken bus is an experience & it´s imperative you hold on with both hands at all times to avoid flying off the seat as you round a bend.

On arrival in Xela, I headed to the various travel agencies to see what´s on offer, & to plan for the next few days, & decide to go all out - climb the active (& I am told, steep) Volcan Santa Maria on Friday, do an overnight hike to the highest pt in Central America on Sat (Volcan Tajamulco) & then the 3 day hike to Lake Atitlan on Monday morning. This involves a 5am start on Fri, 6am on Sat, 4.15am on Sunday (to summit in time for sunrise) & 7am on Mon ... fun & games!

Santa Maria was indeed rather steep but well worth it as you see 12 volcanos from the summit. After the morning´s 6 hr hike, I enjoyed soaking it up in the natural hot springs in the afternoon. The overnight hike to Volcan Tajamulco was absolutely brilliant - quite steep to begin with but only 4 hrs up so not too bad. We climbed up for sunset & were way above the clouds, which was awesome. We were up at 4.15am this morning to summit again in time for sunrise & it was spectacular - watching the sun come up over active, smoking volcanos was something else & if ever in Xela, I highly recommend it. ( I also recommend the helado, ice cream, shop at Parque Central - divine!).

Tomorrow morning I head off on a 3 day hike to Lake Atitlan, which I´ve heard is one of the best in the country. It is good to be trekking again.

PS - you know your hair is long when (a) your sunglasses get caught when you pull them off your head & (b) you have to move your hair out the way to put sunscreen on your ears.

I was spot on about the boat - it was lots of fun & I did get to know Chilean wine rather well after trying a few different types in 4 nights.

Overall, I think cruises probably aren´t my thing as I enjoy being active but that said, I really enjoyed this trip & am pleased I went. The boat itself was very comfortable (super comfy beds, room lockers, very clean etc.) and the food was really good - lots of variety & big portions. The meal times pretty much ran the show!

Aside from eating, there were some information talks (more on that later), a movie at night (local Chilean movies , which were informative & good) & a super fun bingo evening & disco on the last night. Goes without saying that JB was dancing his ass off! I caught up on plenty of reading, discovered how to play chess again (& realised that I am still not very good) & enjoyed some super Chilean wine. It was great having mates on board (ppl I had met at various places along my trip were on board) & I may be adding Hamburg & Berlin to my plans next year to visit Toby & Kendra.

Unfortunately the weather wasn´t great so for long periods we couldn´t see much above the fog but that which we did see was very pretty; including a massive glacier that is bigger than the big guy in Argentina &, obviously, fjords! The sun made an appearance on the last night & we enjoyed a few beers on deck at sunset.

There were talks on various topics each day and Marcello was great fun. While discussing glaciers, he kept reminding us that the bigger one is in Chile. He then says that the only problem with Argentina is the Argentinians! Lastly he pipes up that he has lots of friends in Argentina ... they are all from Chile!!

When discussing the wildlife, he talks about the eagles and how they swoop down, grab food & fly up. He then says there is 1 eagle that swoops down, walks for a bit & then starts to fly ... he must be from Argentina as he doesn´t quite get it!

After disembarking I enjoyed a divine lunch at the famous fish market in Angelmo (Puerto Montt) before spending the afternoon wandering about Puerto Varas. I was unsuccessful in my efforts to watch the Boks but from the reports I have read, I missed nothing (aside from a comical anthem). Today was spent wandering about Santiago (I enjoyed a nice walk up Cerro San Christobal) & now I sit at the airport.

It certainly has been a phenomenal 2.5 mths in Brazil, Argentina & Chile. Way too many highlights! As the pics show, it´s been one large party & I have met some super ppl (& seen & done so much). I definitely will be back at some point to spend 3 mths going north from Peru to Rio (through Ecuador, Colombia & northern Brazil). That likely won´t be for some time though - next up is the big guy through Eastern Europe & Asia.

Next stop - Guatemala. I have met so many ppl who rave about the country & I am looking fwd to heading back to Central America after visiting Costa Rica last year. I am sure there will be many more stories ... and a lot of rice and beans.