| April 22 - Liberia, Costa Rica
Buenas, We are now in Liberia, Costa Rica, a district capital with nothing going on but reputedly the best internet cafe in all of CR. We are headed to Nicaragua and are excited to leave Costa Rica and get on with our trip. On April 11 every traveller's nightmare happened to us...We got robbed. We were sitting sipping cerveza on what we thought was the most beautiful beach in all of Costa Rica, I got up to go get my some money from the truck, when I got there all the doors were locked but something was missing...everything. I staggered back to the table obviously ashen as Sarah immediately asked "What's Wrong", then I said something marvellously cliched like "it's gone...it's all gone" dropping my head in my hands in despair. I assure you it was all very dramatic. Apparently some Tico Thieves broke into our rental car and took our backpacks, our tent and even Chappy's thermarest. Of course this was the one time we hadn't taken the day back with us so they got our Passports, Money and Credit Cards too. Somehow they managed to miss the iPod in the glovebox and we had our digital camera with us (so you're all subjected to witnessing the rest of the trip). I guess we just got complacent. We've managed to cobble our trip back together, new passports, new credit cards and on the plus side (for Chappy) we got to go shopping for new clothes. I hadn't envisioned the Multi Plazza in San Jose as part of our itinerary but we've spent more time there than on the beach in the last week. We are now travelling with a single bag and a healthy paranoia, heading to Nicaragua, Honduras, Belize & Guatemala, for some more adventures! We have some pre-robbery pictures and I've fixed the link to Macchu Picchu so you can all enjoy the carefree glint in our eyes. Take care everyone and wish us luck! Pat April 8, 2005 - Playa Samara, Costa Rica Buenas, Chappy and I are now tooling around the Peninsula De Nicoya on the Pacific side of Costa Rica in a little rental 4wd called Ignis. She's a bit of skank (the car, not Chappy) but she's done pretty well riding the dirt roads. We started on the Carribean side at P?uerto Viejo De Talamanca, quite the handle but it does boast some beautiful beaches, great food and some of the only surfable breaks on the Carribean, however this also tends to attract an inordinate number of Ferrel Hippies, yikes. Due to the over abundance of dreadlocks we headed to Panama and Bocas Del Toro, an archipeligo of beautiful islands with whitesand beaches and markedly less dirties around. We have some pics for you to peruse, and I have also, finally, gotten my butt in gear and finished the Peruvian Inka Trail and Macchu Picchu pics (see below). Happy birthday to Ian and Lori and my wee nephew Balen who will be 3 on April 10th, the future king of Bongo Bong. Ciao, Pat March 1, 2005 - Puno, Peru Hola, So Bolivia has been great, We've spent 2+ weeks here and seen Deserts, Volcanoes, Salt Flats, Jungles, Lakes and Rivers. It is probably the poorest place I have ever travelled but what it lacks in creature comforts it makes up for in scenery and the opportunity to do whatever you want. The favourite saying of most tour operators here is "Todo es posible, Nada es seguro". Which loosely translated means "Everything is possible, nothing is certain". This applies entirely to this land locked country. People here tend to tell you what you want to hear just to please you. They'll promise you that you'll get what you're after (such as a plane back to La Paz), but in reality it's always a bit more complicated. After the fifth or sixth time hearing their little catch phrase it becomes more and more infuriating, to the point of intolerable. Bolivia was cheap though, you can�t find any one item that costs over $5. Seriously, meals, accomodation, buses, trains, souvenirs, everything is less that $5 a piece. Except tours which cost the kingly sum of $20-$25 per day which includes meals, transport & accomodation. As our friend Shane wisely opined "Bolivia is free Man. They're giving it away". Alrighty, after my lacklustre effort last entry we've got some great pics lined up in Bolivia 1 & 2. I hope you enjoy them. Ciao, Pato February 18, 2005 - La Paz, Bolivia Hola Todos! Having left the beauty and beaches of Brasil I am now in Bolivia where we begin what we consider the 3rd leg of our trip. It�s nice to get back to some real travelling. Since leaving Curitiba we made our way along the Brazilian coast getting our last taste of the beautiful beachs before descending into the hedonistic revelery of Carnaval, where the Cariocas and hundreds of thousands of tourists try to expunge their last sins before lent. From Rio we flew directly to La Paz in Bolivia, at 3,600m we expected some altitude sickness and other complications after the hangovers subsided but have been fortunate and have felt no ill effects from the change. We just completed a 4 day tour of the Salt Flats in Uyuni and tomorrow we will bike down �The World�s Most Dangerous Road�. An ominous title to be sure but hopefully nothing nasty will happen. I apologize for the pictures in this installment as we�ve had some slight trouble with uploading some of the places we�ve been and many of the best shots of the partying in Rio were taken on a disposable that has yet to be developed (maybe I�ll wait until after lent). Anyhoo, I hope you enjoy the pics that are there. Ciao, Pato January 27, 2005 - Curitiba, Brasil Ola! Darryl and I have taken a quick break from our Beach Life along the east coast of Uruguay and south coast of Brasil to head inland to Foz De Igua�u. This falls puts all those leaky faucets in Chile to shame, it has (and I am quoting directly from the guidebook here) a million different waterfalls and a gagillion tonnes cubic metres of water flowing over it every day. Previously, we spent 5 days in Florianopolis, that may seem like a long stint compared to some of our other jaunts through the countryside but being the black hole that it is, we met many a weary gringo who had stopped counting the length of their stay at 1 month. I have also added Punta Del Diablo, the finale of our Uruguayan adventures, thanks to all the Tiburones for a great final night (Gracias a todos Los Tiburones por una gran noche final!). Chau, Pato January 18, 2005 - Florianopolis, Brasil Ola! We�ve successfully managed to enter our 4th country on our little journey and while it was the most difficult crossing yet, the beaches here promise to more than make up for it. I have now updated the site to the end of our stay in Buenos Aires and will shortly be adding a Uruguay page to show you all that Uruguay has to offer (surprisingly, it has a lot). Must now go and sample some Caipirinhas and local cuisine so I�ll leave you to the new pics. Ciao, Pato (that�s how Patricio�s are known in Argentina, apparently it means Duck). January 7, 2005 Buenos Aires, Argentina Feliz A�o Nueve Chicos! Well, I have spent about a week and a half here in Buenos Aires and have had a great time. Darryl and I are leaving for Montevideo, Uruguay tomorrow and will be heading up the east coast into Brazil over the next week or so. Buenos Aires has been great to us, well except for Darryl`s bowels, I took a spanish course which was a lot of fun and I think I really improved my spanish which had plateaued on the Patagonian Steppe. I will make a full installment soon but just wanted to say hello. Hasta Luego, Pat PS Hola a mis compa�eros del curso, estan volviendo a las clases proxima semana. December 28, 2004 - Bariloche, Argentina Hola Chicos! Today we are back in Bariloche where we spent Christmas a few days ago. Since I last wrote we have crossed the border into Argentina without too much difficulty (other than Darryl losing his entry card, which is apparently required for Exit also!). From Puerto Natales we took bussed it up to El Calafate to see the Perito Moreno Glacier, in Los Glaciares Nacional Parque. It is a huge iceflow that moves at an incredible rate, you can see the pictures of our adventures through the link below. After El Calafate, we had set our sights on reaching Bariloche for Christmas. We�d heard it� a fun town set on Lago Nahuel Huapi (pron: Nawell Wapi) in Argentina�s lake district with lots of mountain biking and other activities to distract us from the festivities (and walking bird) we were missing at home. Once their we rented some pimping mountain bikes and got in some great rides, so good in fact we decided to rent a car and we headed up to Villa de Angustura and San Martin de Los Andes. Both provided for the killer trails and some breathtaking scenery (and great swimming). Take a look at the pics below. Happy New Year everyone we�ll be thinking of you in B.A. Ciao, Pat PS Don�t forget about the guestbook, and for those of you following along at home I�ve added an Archives section to show you were we�ve spent each night. December 19, 2004 - Puerto Natales, Chile Hola, So Darryl and I have made it down to Puerto Natales in Patagonian Chile. We have had a great time getting here and since my last entry have been through the bottom of the Lake District (Valdivia, Puerto Varas and the Argentinian Border) and took a boat from Puerto Montt through the fiords to the be bottom of the continent. We have just finished a 3 day trek through Torres Del Paine National Park, one of the most spectacular treks on the continent. We will be leaving Chile shortly for El Calafate in Argentina. While we'll be going on to a country that has been described by other travellers (Viajeros) as the promised land for it's scenery, culture, value and world class steak we're a little sad to see the end of Chile. The people here while a bit reserved compared to other latin american nations, although we do find that the parks and walkways are full of young Chileno couples with no fear of PDAs (Public Displays of Affection). They are warm and helpful, it's been super safe and clean and the dogs roaming the street are really quite friendly once you give them a chance. Their food may not be world renowned but we've discovered the Pichanga, a mixture of pickled cucumber, cauliflower & onion, sliced weiners, sausage, ham, cheese and other assorted bits and pieces all served around midnite at bars throughout the country. Also, the national sauce is the patriotically titled, Aji Chileno, it's a bit like Franks Red Hot back home but with the consistency of seafood sauce, it spices up any sandwich, egg, pasta, rice, potato, chicken, pork, beef or seafood dish...trust me we've tried it with all of them. The new links have been installed and hopefully the pics are all there. Thanks to my competent (and good looking) bro who has added a guestbook so try it out and leave us a message (or just email me, if you're not down with the whole PDA thing) Hasta Luego, Pat |
| Patrick's Latin American Tour - Archives |
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| The Plan is as follows: South America for 4 Months: Chile Argentina Uruguay Brazil Paraguay Bolivia Peru Ecuador Central America for 2 Month (Con mi Bonita Novia) Costa Rica Nicaragua Honduras Belize Mexico Guatemala To Give you an idea of where we've been, here's a list of the places we've stayed each night since our departure from Toronto: |
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| December, 2004 Chile 1. Santiago 2. Horcon 3. Curico 4. Radal Siete Tazas, Valle de las Catas 5. Los Angeles 6. Pucon 7. Pucon 8. Pucon 9. Valdivia 10. Valdivia 11. Puerto Varas 12. Puerto Varas 13. Magallenes (Boat) 14. Magallenes 15. Magallenes 16. Torres Del Paine, Refugio Peduto 17. Torres Del Paine, Camp. Italiano 18. Torres Del Paine, Camp. Las Torres 19. Puerto Natales. Argentina 20. El Calafate 21. El Calafate 22. Comodoro Rivadavia 23. Commodoro - Bariloche (On A Bus) 24. Bariloche 25. Bariloche 26. Villa La Angostura 27. San Martin de Los Andes 28. Bariloche - Buenos Aires (OAB) 29. Buenos Aires 30. B.A. 31. B.A. |
| Past Entries: |
| January, 2005 Argentina 1. Buenos Aires (BA) 2. BA 3. BA 4. BA 5. BA 6. BA 7. BA Uruguay 8. Colonia 9. Montevideo 10. Punta Del Este 11. La Paloma 12. La Paloma 13. Punta Del Diablo 14. Punta Del Diablo 15. Punta Del Diablo Brasil 16. Chuy - Puerto Alegre (OAB) 17. Torres 18. Barra Da Lagoa, Florianopolis 19. Floripa 20. Floripa 21. Floripa 22. Floripa 23. Floripa - Foz De Iguazu, Argentina (OAB) 24. Foz De Iguazu 25. Foz De Iguazu 26. Foz De Iguazu - Curitiba, Brasil (OAB) 27. Curitiba 28. Curitiba - Paraty (OAB) 29. Paraty 30. Paraty 31. Ilha Grande |
| February, 2005 Brasil 1. Ilha Grande 2. Rio De Janeiro 3. Rio 4. Rio 5. Rio 6. Rio 7. Rio 8. Rio 9. Rio 10. Rio Bolivia 11. La Paz 12. La Paz 13. La Paz - Uyuni (On a Train �OAT�) 14. San Juan 15. Lagoa Colorada 16. Culpina K 17. Uyuni - La Paz (OAT) 18. La Paz 19. Coroico 20. Coroico - Rurrenabaque (OAB) 21. Rurre, Rio Yacuma 22. Rurre, Rio Yacuma 23. Rurre, Rio Yacuma 24. Rurre 25. La Paz 26. Isla Del Sol, Lake Titicaca 27.La Paz 28.La Paz |
| March, 2005 Peru 1. Puno 2. Arequipa 3. Chivay 4. Arequipa 5. Cusco 6. Cusco 7. Cusco 8. Cusco 9. Wayllabamba, Inka Trail 10. Pacamayo, Inka Trail 11. Winaywayna, Inka Trail 12. Aguas Calientes 13. Lima - Toronto (OAP) Canada 14 - 27. Toronto Costa Rica 28.San Jose 29. Puerto Viejo de Talamanca 30. Puerto Viejo Panama 31. Bocas Del Toro |
| April, 2005 Panama 1. Bocas Del Toro 2. Bocas Del Toro 3. Bocas Del Toro Costa Rica 4. San Jose 5. Playa Tambor 6. Montezuma 7. Playa Carillo 8. Samara 9. Samara 10. Samara 11. Playa Pelada 12. San Jose 13. San Jose 14. San Jose 15. Puerto Viejo De Talamanca 16. San Jose 17. Manuel Antonio 18. Manuel Antonio 19. Manuel Antonio 20. San Jose 21. Liberia Nicaragua 22. San Juan Del Sur 23. San Juan Del Sur 24. Playa Yankee 25. Granada 26. Granada 27. Granada 28. Granada 29. Granada 30. Isla De Ometepe |
| May, 2005 Nicaragua 1. Isla De Ometepe 2. Managua Honduras 3. Tegucigalpa 4. Copan Ruinas 5. Copan Ruinas Guatemala 6. Antigua 7. Antigua 8. Lago De Atitlan, Jaibalito 9. Jaibalito 10. Antigua - Flores (OAB) 11. Flores Mexico 12. Playa Del Carmen 13. Playa 14. Playa 15. Playa 16. Playa 17. Tulum 18. Tulum 19. Tulum 20. Tulum 21. Playa Del Carmen 22. Playa 23. Playa 24. Playa 25. Playa 26. Isla Mujeres 27. Isla Mujeres 28. Guate City 29. TORONTO! |