Last night

Today we woke up and found a shuttle back to Antigua that leaves at 1pm. Then we went to breakfast at our favorite spot, Cafe Atitlan had some delicious french toast, with fruit and fried plantains. After that we headed out on the choppy lake, (of course every other day its flat and smooth) in a 2 person kayak and battled some serious waves, while the locals cracked up at us trying to get our strokes down and maneuver the kayak in the right direction.

After about an hour of kayaking we headed back to land and walked around town for one last time before our shuttle to Antigua.

The other side

Today I woke up and went for a run, then I did a yoga class that was held at our hostel by the pool. It was amazing. The morning was beautiful and the class was nice and relaxing. Not very often you can do an hour of yoga for 10Q ($1.28US), outside, by a pool, on a lake, with beautiful, natural surroundings.

Then we headed out on a boat to cross Lake Atitlan to go to a different area called San Marcos. This is a very chill area that people go to the beach to swim and cliff jump. I gained enough courage to jump off a cliff and it ended up being a lot of fun.

After hanging around San Marcos for a bit we took the boat back to San Pedro and went back to the hostel and hung out. It feels so nice not knowing what time it is and not having to be somewhere at a certain time. I just hung out in the lounge area and listened to music then, we went to a cafe and chilled some more.

After that we went to dinner and the restaurant was doing dinner and a movie again. We cuddled up on our lounge sofa area and watched 127 hours with James Franco, great flick, good times.

I love it so much here, I can't imagine going back to the hustle and bustle of NYC, where everyone is constantly worried about time and money.

Don't worry about a thing

Today we woke up, got some breakfast at a local cafe, then went horseback riding at 10am for 3 hours. We trekked through the streets, mountains, hills, dirt roads and to the beach then back. It was such a good time and the horses were so well-behaved. It being my first time I wasn’t even really afraid once I got used to the horse, Cinnamon. The instructor showed us the main directions on how to turn the horse left, right, stop, go and faster, and a few times we got the horses in a gallop, it was awesome.

Then we came back to our hostel, I got in the pool, we hung out for a bit, then went to get lunch. I got this awesome gigantic burrito with fresh made guacamole on the side, for about $3US.... crazy!

For dinner we headed out to a restaurant on the lake, for dinner and a movie. Pretty nice.

This is life

Today we woke up early went out by the pool for a bit then hung around the lounge area and talked to some people before heading to an amazing breakfast on the lake.

After breakfast we went by a couple of schools to try to volunteer, but all the places said they only take long term volunteers, which was pretty disappointing. Then we walked around the town for a bit everyone is incredibly nice here, you don't walk by someone without saying “hola.”

At night we went out for a walk and ran into a local we had met earlier who was having free salsa lessons at his restaurant. We stopped in for a bit and learned some new moves and practiced one on one for a bit before grabbing some dinner and heading back to our hostel.

Now were are just hanging out relaxing, tomorrow we are going horseback riding on the beach. I am loving this place and everything is so incredibly cheap its insane!

San Pedro, Lake Atitlan

Today we woke up, and headed out to get some coffee and walk around before our 2:00pm shuttle to Lake Atitlan, San Pedro. We walked around the market which was packed because it was a weekend, they were selling lots of fruits, veggies and other local foods. We ate at the market for 15Q each which is a little under 2US. We got chicken, rice, and a salad, which was like potato salad and tortillas, all very yummy.

We got on the overcrowded shuttle and arrived at the Lake in about 3 hours. The view coming down the hill to the bottom of San Pedro was breathtaking. The place where we are staying is awesome, it has a pool overlooking the lake, a beautiful lounge area almost like a meditation zone, its very relaxing and has a spiritual feel to it. In Hebrew the name means “a place to relax”...I can deal with that!

For dinner we shared a monkey salad and a chicken curry club sandwich.... huge and delicious! Then we were just hanging out in the common area and locals were coming around selling things and this lady with homemade apple crumble, chocolate cake and banana cake came by. You better believe we treated ourselves to a very moist piece of chocolate cake... possibly the best I've ever had!

Antigua

Today we walked around Antigua for most of day, just wandering down the picturesque streets and looking at the beautiful buildings. We went to the local food market where we got Pepian de Res which is a popular local food. It was like beef, potato and rice in a delicious somewhat spicey sauce. So good! We walked around some more to the central park, churches and market where they were selling mangos, avacado, shoe shines, toys and other artisanal things.

Then we walked to a popular cafe and got the homemade banana bread that everyone was raving about for obvious reasons!

Its so great just to be able to relax and not ever look at the time to be rushing off somewhere, tomorrow we are planning on heading out to Lake Atitlan which is supposed to be beautiful.

Guatemala- Antigua

Yesterday we woke up at 3am to get to the bus by 3:30 for our 4am bus out of Managua heading toward Guatemala. It ended up not being too bad, 16 hour ride, we went from Managua to Honduras to El Salvador, and ended up in Guatemala City. The bus was very nice, had a/c, tvs and lots of room. They fed us lunch and dinner which was luxury compared to our South American bus rides.

There was one odd thing about crossing the border here, they made us all get off and claim our luggage(normal). When the guard came over to your luggage you would have to take everything out and show him your belongings which all of the natives had to do. When he got to Adrienne and I, he asked us if we were American and when we said we were, he said we were fine and didn't need to show him our stuff... ummm weird right?

We arrived in Guatemala City around 9pm so then we took a taxi from there to Antigua which was about an hour away. We found a place to stay then went out to a great dinner at this very Middle Eastern type restaurant with beautiful décor, live music and delicious Greek salads. This town looks so beautiful I can't wait till tomorrow to explore!

Time to say goodbye

Today I woke up early to go for a run, keeping in mind I'm running the NYC half marathon in about a week. I ran on the beach, did some stretching and went for my last swim in Playa Maderas. Then we packed up and checked out, which we are very upset to be leaving. This place was so relaxing I definitely would want to come back here!

After checking out we took a shuttle to San Juan Del Sur, took a taxi to Rivas and from Rivas took the chicken bus to Managua all getting us closer to our destination of Guatemala. The chicken bus which is an old American school bus that they pack full with locals, some sit, some stand, sometimes there's chickens on it, sometimes the windows don't go down, ya know that kind of bus. We were on here for about 2 hours which ended up being not too bad except for the locals who jump on mid ride and try to sell you food and drinks while stepping on your feet when passing by.

When we got to Managua they dropped us off in the middle of a local market where we looked a bit out of place with our large packs so we quickly got a taxi to the bus station to book our ticket for tomorrow to Guatemala. We have read that Managua is not the safest of cities so we really have to be aware of our surroundings and protect our items. We booked our bus tickets for tomorrow morning at 3:30 am, the only time tomorrow, making a connection in El Salvador then heading to Guatemala, which should be about a 16 hour bus ride.

We went to a nearby mall earlier for lunch, (I know, I know a mall, but it was the only somewhat close/safe thing around) and before we left the owner of our place stopped us and would not let us leave with our purses on because we looked like tourists therefore making ourselves targets for theft, very nice man. Now we are hanging out in our room and going to get dinner later.

Walkin on Sunshine

(Written Tuesday Night)

Last night we went to dinner and hung out with a cool couple we met from Boston, after that we laid on the beach and watched the beautiful night sky full of stars, it was breathtaking. Then we headed to bed to get a good nights sleep for a busy day today. Today we woke up, headed down to the beach to catch the shuttle into San Juan Del Sur. Not a bad 25 minute ride in the a/c since we haven't been in cool air the whole time since we've been here (I'm not complaining... just stating). I am loving this hot beautiful weather, don't get me wrong.

When we got to SJDS, we went to breakfast again at the market for about $4US and got huevos rancheros, which ended up being a pretty big meal of eggs, salsa, rice and beans and bread. Then we walked around trying to figure out how we are getting from Nicaragua to Guatemala, talking to different travel guides and locals. We think we've come to the conclusion that we have to take a bus from SJDS to Rivas or Managua and figure it out from there.

In the meantime we went to an internet cafe to catch up on our emails, blogs etc, and we ran into some locals we have met while here. It's so nice cause they always stop to say hi and catch up. Everyone is so genuinely friendly here it's really cool to be around them. Its kinda funny cause when we ask them if they've ever been to the States if they have or haven't the one place they usually want to go is New York City, so we may have some Nica's couch surfing sometime in the future.

After that we did some shopping, bought some of the well known Nicaraguan rum, Flor de Cana. then headed back to Playa Maderas and walked to a nearby beach where the sunset is supposed to be and was just outstanding. We took lots of pics, I got in the ocean, then we headed back to get ready for dinner. We went to dinner down the road and got a delicious Nica dinner. For an appetizer we got tostones con queso, which is basically fried cheese on top of fried plantains and for dinner we got a platter of fish. A full large fish(similar to red snapper), (eyes, head, tail and all) rice, salad (which is like coleslaw without mayo) plantains and a beer... soooo good, all for about $7 US. Now we are hanging out in our hammocks catching up on our journals etc.