Im back now and just been looking over accounts to get a breakdown of the costs over the past 5 months in Central America, written some tips too. Boring unless you're going to go.
Flights were $900 for round trip to Managua(nicaragua) from Edinburgh.
I took $350 to Nicaragua on January the 7th [new year rickshawing monies] and that lasted until the 26th of feb when I took out another $100 and started travelling north to Guatemala,. With 7 weeks of free accomodation at Casas de la Esperanza, I must have spent the rest on food for communal dinners, spanish lessons[10 hours,where i learned nothing because it was too hot] and rum. Then I booked a couple of hostels online [hostelbookers.com or hostelworld.com are decent sites] one in Leon, and in Esteli and Somoto we just found a place that looked good or near the bus station. In Somoto we decided on a price before trying the beds in the hostel, turned out we were sleeping on what felt like tables covered in sheets.
In Tegucigalpa Honduras we stayed in a couchsurfers accomodation and in with Copan ruinas I took out another $100. On the 8th of March I took another $100 in Guatemala taking it to about $650 for the 2 months in Nicaragua and traveling to Guatemala with some sightseeing.
In Guatemala I stayed in a homestay and had spanish classes for a Month, which was about $160 for a week, and including rum smoothies and travelling a bit at weekends, I spent about $900 that month, so starting to loosen up a bit there.
In Honduran Mosquita most of the money was spent on transport because the builders gave me free accommodation and food in Tuntuntarra. Wampusirpi was $5 a night in a clean private room, although no electricity. The flight cost $55 one way and I was cutting it fine for getting back to Managua the next week.
It cost around £2300 for the 5 months including return flights to central america.
Contacts - The only reason I went to Casas de la Esperanza was because I knew someone who had been there before. Although I don't know how he survived for 6 months without speaking much Spanish, I only managed 7 weeks. The reason I went to El Nuhal in Guatemala was because it was recommended by a friend I met in Nicaragua. The Mosquita I only knew because my uncle had been there in the 90's and told me to go. I would never have gone on a whim, because there is not a tourist set-up at all. MOPAWI told me how to get there and gave me suggestions for how I could spend my time.
People - Its important to speak a little spanish so I would have started in Xela if I had known this. Its cooler there and easier to learn. I had vitually no spanish in Nicaragua and it was futile going to the School there as it was too hot to learn. I also think they have a different meaning to non-profit at the school I went too, so I lasted about 10 hours. In the other school El Nuhal in Xela, it was really well organised a they cared a bit more about their students. I got 80 hours there, which is a good base for basic vocab and grammar. The people there are and good bunch. In Honduras I recieved a lot of generosity in terms of free accommodation and a lot of the time the builders wouldn't let me pay for food. I didn't really get to know any Nicaraguans but they seemed a good bunch.
Money - Dollars are weaker than Sterling , Xetzals weaker at about 7 to a dollar, Lempira even weaker at 18 to a dollar, and Cordobas at about 21:$1. But depends where you go. Really touristy places like the Bay Islands Honduras, and really remote places like the Mosquita region will still be expensive because they have an economy disconnected from the rest of the country. My visa debit card worked everywhere and only charged about 5 quid every time, which is fine if you're taking $200. Any trouble and you can use money sending companies, but not Western Union because they charge 20%!
Products - Guatemala has some of the best hand-made stuff you can buy and if you pay a little more you an get quality belts and fabrics. Try and buy it off the people that make it as opposed to the middlemen in the market. Theres plenty of cheap stuff too, my cheap belt is falling apart after 3 months and im wishing I hadn't been so tight fisted, because the good products are really quality. You can get cheap good string hammock from Nicaragua but I didn't see much else.
Food - Lots of fried stuff, beans, tortillas. Theres no olive oil though its all palm oil or from maiz and that was kind of sickly towards the end. You can get some good fish and shrimp on the carribean cost and a fresh lobster (if its not between breeding season feb-may). The thing I will miss is communal cooking in the casas de la esperanza charity, because you got the day off and had to make an effort it usually ended up being delicious. And Italians and Spanish are generally awesome cooks.
Transport - Its good to talk to people to find the best ways to get around. Chicken busses [old US school busses with new paint jobs] are safe and great for getting around and theres faster shuttles too. But that was in Nicaragua and some places in Guatemala, I wouldn't take one in the capital cities of Honduras or Guatemala as theres more crime there. A collectivo[Taxis with multiple fares] in Nica around town can be as little as 50 cent but sometimes its a crush if theres a few different people in it. I started getting little planes around the mosquita region as boat travel was just as expensive and it was close to my flight home.
Accomodation - There are decent hostels in the main towns and cities and plenty of nasty hostels to so just ask to see the room first. Paying around $5 for shared accomodation. I prefer to stay in one place and have a base than keep moving around constantly. That way you can get to know people a little better rather than just passing though countless hostels.
Animals - If i had a better camera with a decent lens I could have taken some more decent photos. I did see a spider monkey in the end.
Hygene - Talcum powder is the solution to sweaty feet.
http://www.casas-de-la-esperanza.org/
http://www.languageselnahual.com/
http://www.mopawi.org/
Monday, 31 May 2010
Friday, 21 May 2010
chocolate factory and fishing
Finally back in Puerta Lempira, electricity, internet, cars etc..I missed the plane on Wednesday morning due to mucho sickiness and have been waiting in Wampusirpi since then. Mostly fishing in the rio patuca, which is the longest in Honduras [well except the rio coco but thats in Nicaragua too-the frontera that divides the countries]. You can travel all the way up the rio patuca to Tegucigalpa el capital, but unfortunately my cigars and laptop were here in Puerta Lempira so had to return.
Wampusirpi is a 30 minute plane ride from Puerta Lempira. Which takes you over the marshes and pine savanas, and into the tropical zone of the Mosquita. It rains a lot because it's "winter" here [from feb-may], and usually starts around 11 in the morning until 4 or 5 in the afternoon. The river is dirty now because of the rain, and also upriver theres gold mining and timber deforesting with fills the river with soil. So if you come here for fishing come in the summer months when the water is clear! I cought 3 catfish (which is another sign of dirty water because they eat anything) and one baby rommel i think. All I needed was a line, hook and some bait! no rods here.
I stayed in a hostel for $5 a night and $2.50 for meals. Although I still had the devil in my stomache until wendesday when i discovered pepto-bismol, so didn't eat much. Theres hardly any fruit and veg in winter here because the rain detroys a lot of it, so not much variation in the food. I did get a nice steak yesterday but I can't wait until i get home to some European food. The owner was called Rocky and I also met a kid with the name Michael Jackson, I think Indigenous peoples take the names of western stuff and use it without having to worry about getting slagged.
Wampu is beside the River patuca and is bigger than Tuntuntarra; the houses are closer together, it feels more like a town. It has a parque central with basket ball court beside the telecoms tower and catholic church. The minister, padre Josue, has been here for 23 years, originally from Catalonia, Spain. He has a chocolate factory here[awesome] so i returned with a kilo of pure and a kilo of powdered [without oil] organic mosquita chocolate.
I spent a lot of time with ICF, which is a goverment organisation similar to the forrestry commission. They also try to protect the endangered wildlife and provent illegal export of exotic animals. One Jaguar was killed when I was there so there was some arguments between the locals. Sometimes the jaguars kill the cows and sometimes it´s just for the price of the fur, but from the locals I spoke to, if they see a wild animal they're probably going to try and kill it. There's some hostility towards the ICF in terms of trying to enforce those sorts of laws because the people have been here longer. I went on a couple of day trips with ICF up and down the river and saw different communities. Krausirpi upriver has a race of asian looking people called the Awak, and they speak a different language to mosquita, theres only about 3000 people. They go upriver to look for gold for a month and then return to Krausirpi, so it was quite quiet when I visited. Downriver we visited a cacao fermenting farm, which smelled like hot chocolate, [to sell to switzerland], and further down a village called Pimiento where the president of the farmers co-operative lives.
People here have nothing and its really poor, the work is to survive and there are no companies to employ people. The government have stopped the schools for the moment due to some re-organisation of funding because Mosquita teachers need much more to get around on the boats, they get 15,000 lempira for a month. The previous government, before they stole all the money, sold rights to companies to pump oil in the area but because there are indigenous communities here they have to consult an international organisation, and the people of the laguna area, before anything can happen. There have been 4 presidents in 6 months here. 1 galon of petrol here is 100 lempira, about $5 dollars. A house with land $2000. One of the guys I spoke to had gone to the states to work for a while, and I asked if he was gonna go back, no, no, he said, I was deported. Apparently 1 plane full of illegal workers leaves honduras every day to follow the American dream. I said he needs to sell stuff to the locals for extra cash [he was from La Cieba], so next month he'll bring mobiles to sell. If you're staying in a place for a while its good to sell stuff (like the builders in Tuntuntarra) because you get to meet local people, and trade brings change, money and inspiration. Books would be useful here too because theres no library, only some national geographics in the ICF office.
If I come back here i'll bring a better camera, and would love to take a guide through the jungle for a month, or go up the river patuca to Palestine and Tegucigalpa to pan for gold. But alas I need to return. The race is on for my flight from Managua, Nicaragua on Wednesday. Starting with a pickup at 5 tomorrow to the rio coco, a boat across the frontera, a car to Guapan, a bus to Puerta Cabeza in Nicaragua..then 22 hours in bus to Managua and a taxi to and from Granada to pick up some stuff I left at Casas de la Esperanza. If I miss my flight I guess i'll stay here..
Wampusirpi is a 30 minute plane ride from Puerta Lempira. Which takes you over the marshes and pine savanas, and into the tropical zone of the Mosquita. It rains a lot because it's "winter" here [from feb-may], and usually starts around 11 in the morning until 4 or 5 in the afternoon. The river is dirty now because of the rain, and also upriver theres gold mining and timber deforesting with fills the river with soil. So if you come here for fishing come in the summer months when the water is clear! I cought 3 catfish (which is another sign of dirty water because they eat anything) and one baby rommel i think. All I needed was a line, hook and some bait! no rods here.
I stayed in a hostel for $5 a night and $2.50 for meals. Although I still had the devil in my stomache until wendesday when i discovered pepto-bismol, so didn't eat much. Theres hardly any fruit and veg in winter here because the rain detroys a lot of it, so not much variation in the food. I did get a nice steak yesterday but I can't wait until i get home to some European food. The owner was called Rocky and I also met a kid with the name Michael Jackson, I think Indigenous peoples take the names of western stuff and use it without having to worry about getting slagged.
Wampu is beside the River patuca and is bigger than Tuntuntarra; the houses are closer together, it feels more like a town. It has a parque central with basket ball court beside the telecoms tower and catholic church. The minister, padre Josue, has been here for 23 years, originally from Catalonia, Spain. He has a chocolate factory here[awesome] so i returned with a kilo of pure and a kilo of powdered [without oil] organic mosquita chocolate.
I spent a lot of time with ICF, which is a goverment organisation similar to the forrestry commission. They also try to protect the endangered wildlife and provent illegal export of exotic animals. One Jaguar was killed when I was there so there was some arguments between the locals. Sometimes the jaguars kill the cows and sometimes it´s just for the price of the fur, but from the locals I spoke to, if they see a wild animal they're probably going to try and kill it. There's some hostility towards the ICF in terms of trying to enforce those sorts of laws because the people have been here longer. I went on a couple of day trips with ICF up and down the river and saw different communities. Krausirpi upriver has a race of asian looking people called the Awak, and they speak a different language to mosquita, theres only about 3000 people. They go upriver to look for gold for a month and then return to Krausirpi, so it was quite quiet when I visited. Downriver we visited a cacao fermenting farm, which smelled like hot chocolate, [to sell to switzerland], and further down a village called Pimiento where the president of the farmers co-operative lives.
People here have nothing and its really poor, the work is to survive and there are no companies to employ people. The government have stopped the schools for the moment due to some re-organisation of funding because Mosquita teachers need much more to get around on the boats, they get 15,000 lempira for a month. The previous government, before they stole all the money, sold rights to companies to pump oil in the area but because there are indigenous communities here they have to consult an international organisation, and the people of the laguna area, before anything can happen. There have been 4 presidents in 6 months here. 1 galon of petrol here is 100 lempira, about $5 dollars. A house with land $2000. One of the guys I spoke to had gone to the states to work for a while, and I asked if he was gonna go back, no, no, he said, I was deported. Apparently 1 plane full of illegal workers leaves honduras every day to follow the American dream. I said he needs to sell stuff to the locals for extra cash [he was from La Cieba], so next month he'll bring mobiles to sell. If you're staying in a place for a while its good to sell stuff (like the builders in Tuntuntarra) because you get to meet local people, and trade brings change, money and inspiration. Books would be useful here too because theres no library, only some national geographics in the ICF office.
If I come back here i'll bring a better camera, and would love to take a guide through the jungle for a month, or go up the river patuca to Palestine and Tegucigalpa to pan for gold. But alas I need to return. The race is on for my flight from Managua, Nicaragua on Wednesday. Starting with a pickup at 5 tomorrow to the rio coco, a boat across the frontera, a car to Guapan, a bus to Puerta Cabeza in Nicaragua..then 22 hours in bus to Managua and a taxi to and from Granada to pick up some stuff I left at Casas de la Esperanza. If I miss my flight I guess i'll stay here..
Friday, 7 May 2010
respeta la gente
This is the team of constructors in Tuntuntarra. Starting from the right;
The pastor gives a prayer most mornings and is also the clerk of works on site. Next is Richard the Batana farmer, which grows here very well and is the raw material for lots of pharmacuitical creams and beauty products. Another thing that MOPAWI are working on is the trade of Batana with companies in Europe. Hence the french woman here last week. He also has some funny T-shirts one of which says "I survived mardie-gras 97" with the catchphrase "what seems to be the problem officer?". I Can't pronounce the next guys name but he has silver teeth and his mum always comes to site and talks to me in Mosquita, and cristened me Powny (red in mosquita).
The guy in the pink shirt is the guy with two wives and 22 children and always takes a break to smoke a rolled up tobacco leaf. Miguel breaks into song frequently, "are you crying?" is what you say in Spanish when someone starts singing. Josue is always trying to talk football and my limited knowlege doesn't suffice, "Crouch-yeah he's English", or, "Tottenham Hotspurs-I've heard of them" [apparently they have Honduran players]. Isais and Kelly are my english students.
The family of constructors are from San Juan Cito near Tegucigalpa. Papa Miguel [sorry photo wont upload] is a reknowned builder in Honduras and is very thorough of the quality of everything, from the materials to the workers - he kept scalding me when I said I wasn't hungry. Miguel his son has worked on-site since the age of 12 and plays a good few tunes on the guitar, he looks a bit mexican too i think. I'm just trying to learn the lyrics to no vale nada la vida. Josue is the youngest and swaggers around working away steadily. In Tegucigalpa they work 5 days 7-4 and sat-sun if they want overtime. Josue spends the rest of the time playing football, pool, drinking a couple of beers and watching tv so pretty much the same as people in Europe. Josue and Miguel have moustaches which is a machitsta thing for respect, but papa Miguel doesn't need one, especially with his Rayban sunglasses. He has another son who works in the US as a mechanic who he hasn't seen for 3 years.
Beside the building is a Coconut field of 40 trees is being created which will start producing in 3 years. Apart from farming theres not much work around Tuntuntarra, its either farming, diving or transport; diving is for lobster and seafood for the Bay islands and transport can be people or goods. The rivers are very dry so its hard to get around at the moment. Its very very poor here and some people just do enough to subside. It's totally disconnected from the rest of honduras; I drove around huge palm plantations to the north in a half day pickup ride from Tocoa to get to the Gracias a Dios zone and theres a huge forest reserve the the west. It seems like another country; different language, food, people and transport. I hope the new building brings more education and money, if I return i'll bring more sunblock.
Now i'm in Puerta Lempira as was sick this last week so decided to go to the hospital after fighting stomach ache in Tuntuntarra. Free healthcare here and good Cuban Doctors so I was pleasantly suprised in the hospital. Puerta Lempira was used in the past as a drop off point for supplies for the Contra's fighting along the Rio Coco an in Nicaragua, which is why its quite developed. The MOPAWI offices are here and internet and a TV in my apartment (i havn't had a TV since January the 6th). I spent yesterday watching Indiana Jones[awesome], Sixth Sense ["veo personas muerte"] and Waterworld. My plan is for next week do a walk with guides of a mountain here if its possible, then go south on another pickup to Guapan across the Rio Coco to Puerta Cabeza in Nicaragua. Then across to Managua and home.
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