Isla Roatan, Honduras

Pirates, Parrots and Monkeys:
By Chris Millikan
For seven glorious days, Carnival’s Valor drops my hubby and me at a series of hot-hot-hot Caribbean ports for sunny adventures. Isla Roatan, a tropical island 30 miles off the northern Honduran mainland is no different. First glimpsed from our balcony, this emerald isle sparkles in the morning sun, and buzzes with construction of its new cruise ship terminal.

Flamboyantly costumed and masked Garifuna performers welcome us ashore, dancing wildly and chanting to frenetic drum music from their African heritage. Like us, everyone stops for photos!
With a couple of adventurous friends in tow, we dodge waiting tour buses and craft market frenzy, eager to explore beyond this bustling pier. Quickly striking a deal with David, a 16-year-old guide, we taxi northward from Coxen Hole, the island’s most populated town.

Driver Luis speaks only Spanish; David speaks excellent English, guiding visitors like us by day and attending school at night. When asked about the remarkable traditional dancers at the pier, David explains, “Long ago local natives and shipwrecked Africans intermarried, creating a new culture. Nowadays, about 200,000 Garifuna live in the Caribbean, mainly in Honduras, Belize and Guatemala.”
(to be continued)

Curacao 5

Hato Caves

Fun for the Whole Family
If you’d like to venture into a cavern, take a tour of Hoto Caves. They are open daily except Monday. Guided tours will take the family through the stalactite and stalagmite-filled rooms, several of which include pools and waterfalls.

A definite winner with the kids, the Sea Aquarium is one of the Caribbean’s finest marine exhibits. There are local fish, coral and sponges but it is the outdoor tanks with sharks, sea turtles and stingrays that really captivate. Want to swim with the fishes? At the Curacao Dolphin Academy, you can swim, snorkel and even dive with these special creatures.

Pull your head up out of that sugary white sand and take the family to the Curacao Ostrich Farm with a population of over 600 birds, one of the biggest farms outside of Africa. Kids (of all ages) are fascinated to view how ostriches live and breed.

As our Curacao travels came to an end, I’m happy to report that at Angelica’s Kitchen I did learn to blanch and, in fact, all of my cooking buddies did a great job with their assigned dishes. Cooking together, messing up, laughing a lot, making new friends, and ultimately turning out a darn good meal is an experience I’d highly recommend. Leaving Angelica’s we felt sated, convivial, and very Bon-Bini-ed - a memorable Curacao experience!

Curacao 4

During colonial times, a good part of the merchant class that moved to Curacao was comprised of Sephardic Jews looking for religious freedom. Our tour included a visit to The Jewish Cultural Museum which housed a fascinating display of objects illustrating the customs and traditions of these early settlers and the history of a community going back hundreds of years. The museum is a part of the oldest synagogue in continuous use in the Western Hemisphere - Mikve Israel Emanuel - a wondrous building to behold.

Our stay at the Kura Hulanda Hotel was special. Our rooms were furnished with hand-carved mahogany and teak furniture and was surrounded by attractive bluestone walkways, boutiques, restaurants and sculpture gardens, all done in 18 th and 19 th century Dutch colonial style.

There are two spectacular pools, including a grotto surrounded by natural rock formations and fed by a calming waterfall. On its site is the Kura Hulanda Museum, a beautifully-curated, anthropological gem that focuses on the predominant cultures of Curacao, exhibiting the trans-Atlantic slave trade in its totality. There is a vast collection of artifacts from Continental Africa, the largest of its kind in the Caribbean. We found one of the more remarkable pieces in the museum’s garden - a standing woman sculpture, one side of her face beautiful and beguiling, and the other side displaying the continent of Africa.
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Curacao 3

Orange is the new….well, Orange
At least on this day. The people of Curacao wear many bright colors but on April 30 of each year, it’s orange or nothing. The bright hue is the national color of The Netherlands and this date marks the Queen’s birthday, so Celebration Time is On! The atmosphere was festive as we danced in the street to the rhythms of calypso, meringue, tango, reggae and salsa. Although I found myself with not a stitch of orange clothing, I joined the thousands of revelers and made do with a bright, exotic orange flower stuck behind my ear. It worked.
Taking the Plunge
After the swinging, hectic celebration of Queen’s Day, I awoke to the sound of the ocean softly beckoning outside my window. It was a call I had to answer, opting for a day of lazing on sparkling white sand of the iconic Avila Hotel and trying out my new snorkel gear. The water was warm as a bath and of a blue so luminous it defied description, making the view below a colorful romp with the myriad fishes that swim near the shore. Snorkeling is right up my particular alley – not scary, yet allowing me to feel I’m doing something really adventurous. However, for those of you who want to delve deeper, you should know that Curacao is a scuba diving paradise, among the best in the world with 165 dive locations, and a chance to view endangered coral reefs and ancient ship wrecks. That evening, we dined at Belle Terrace, Avila’s seaside restaurant, serenaded by a trio playing traditional island songs and sitting under a huge silver globe. Can that really be the moon? Yes, it was.
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Curacao 2

Bon Bini!
What makes Curacao unique and special among the Caribbean islands? Naturally there’s the transparent turquoise sea, the soft white sand, the ubiquitous palm trees swaying in the breeze. So, the difference? In a word: Authenticity. And, accomplishing the seeming impossible, Curacao still feels undiscovered, almost like an exclusive hideaway that only you were smart enough to find. It has a heritage both European and African. Spanish, Dutch, British, African and Jewish settlers have each added their own distinct flavor and today more than 50 nationalities are represented here. On my visit I heard a profusion of languages and islanders frequently greeted us with a lusty Bon Bin! which means welcome in Papiamentu, the local language.

We took a tour of Willemstad, Curacao’s capital city and a UNESCO World Heritage site. Row upon row of candy-colored houses – pink, green, yellow, turquoise - gave the town a pretty, fairytale look. The homes featured pitched gables, shady verandas, jalousie windows and many were covered with cascading bougainvillea, a flowering plant that’s considered good luck. In fact, on New Year’s Eve, people use the flowers to make a fragrant water to wash down their houses, thus insuring a fortuitous new year.
(to be continued)

CURACAO

Where Northern Europe meets the Southern Caribbean
by Barbara Barton Sloane

“Blanch your plantains!” our instructor commands in a no-foolin’-around voice. Blanch? “What does blanch mean?” I furtively whisper to Julia, my partner in this off-the-wall adventure. You see, we were cooking for our supper in Angelica’s Kitchen where our group of intrepid travelers has come for a lesson in traditional cuisine. Having already had a rather lengthy lesson in the art of knife-handling, and inhaling the ambrosial aromas wafting forth from boiling cauldrons, we looked forward to an evening that would end in a memory-making meal or – at the very least- an edible one.

A group of us, journalists all, are visiting Curacao, an island rich in history. Settled by natives of South America, in 1499 the Spanish arrived and, in 1634, the Dutch defeated them to stake their claim to the island. It is the largest and most populous of the three ABC islands of the Lesser Antilles: Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao. It is under 3 hours flight time from Miami and a mere 35 miles north of Venezuela.

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Nicaragua

After 2 days of travelling by bus, I arrived in another beach town called San Juan del Sur with 2 Aussie girls in tow, whose Spanish is about as good as my Russian, so I became their translator/guide for the journey. We cleared customs and whizzed on to San Juan in a taxi and arrived to a rousing reception at a hostel run by a lovely Aussie couple which had a great view of San Juan as we were up in the mountains. ( I have never before been high fived on arrival at any hostel). By this time everyone knew my name as I had booked ahead, so the word was out, Michael Jackson was arriving!!! The hostel also has a pet spider monkey called Buzz, whose hobbies include attacking, biting, swinging, scratching its bum and sleeping. But what a cool monkey, You could watch it for hours, it was more entertaining than Michael Mcintyre, which isnt saying much I know... I spent a good few days here relaxing, swimming, tanning and eating good tucker. It was kind of like being on holiday with your family (if you actually like your family), everyone ate together, drank together and had some good banter.

I was very sorry to leave there but am now in Granada, which is a lovely town. Not sure where my next stop is but probably north of Nicaragua, I have been told there is a place where you can throw yourself off a volcano on some sort of board... sounds very cultural!

Sorry to have droned on but I could have said a hell of a lot more, this was really just to let people know where I am, I will post photos on facebook later on.

And just to let you know, Daan is back in Holland and recovering well! Hooray!

Daan

Costa Rica - Puerto Viejo

By this time my dutch friends had abandoned me and I travelled to Puerto Viejo. A stunning little beach town, where you can cycle around to your hearts content. This is where I experienced my first earthquake!! Luckily the quake was miles away but we felt some tremors in the hostel and we were put on tsunami alert for an hour or so, it was very exciting indeed!

Even though I I met up with my Hawaiian friend Nick who I met in Bocas and a Spanish girl, Marta, who is living in Puerto Viejo teaching kids. Highlights of Puerto Viejo included kayaking down a river, where I saw lots of turtles and howler monkeys, more snorkelling in the ocean, visiting an animal refuge, frisbee on the beach, and a big night out which involved some sort of tequila competition, I am pretty sure I lost.... I should also point out that the hostel I stayed in I got loads of free stuff from the owners, coffees, cakes, snacks, etc, I shold also point out that they are very camp, thank God I didnt have to give them anything in return!!!!

See you soon amigos

Daan

Colombia to Nicaragua 3

Bocas del Torro - what a strange place!!! Lots of little islands with no beaches, and you have to take water taxis to get around.

After a few days of Daan moping around we took him to the hospital, well I call it a hospital, I have seen cleaner floors in an outside toilet in Thailand. Taking of toilets, they had one in reception, yes, in reception!!!!!! An actual toilet by the desk, obviously it wasnt attached to anything.... and it had a broom sticking out the top of it. Anyway Daan got his results back after 5 hours of messing about and we all went back to the hostel to celebrate, I mean look after him. My only foray to an island was to do some snorkelling but there were so many jellyfish that we had to abandon the trip and go for a beer, which was just as well because we found a midget selling lobsters and had a lovely dinner!
See you soon amigos
Daan
 

Colombia to Nicaragua 2

San Blas - Captain Sym (from England) took me and 8 other travellers from New Zealand, UK, Italy, Ireland & Holland to the ideallic San Blas islands, the first 2 days were a bit sketchy for me being out in the ocean in a sail boat, even though it was a smooth crossing it didnt feel smooth at the time! We spent 3 days island hopping, playing volleyball and getting drunk, its a tough life! Sym cooked up a storm in the kitchen and was a great captain, he was more of a kid than us travellers, and he got us to Panama, no problemos!!

Panama - Most of us went together to Panama City for a few days. One of the Dutch guys (Daan) wasnt feeling too great, little did we know he had dengue fever! I didnt do much in Panama City, I didnt even see the canal, to be honest there wasnt that much to do, so me and the dutch boys headed off to a little place called Bocas del Torro on an overnight bus where the air conditioning was outrageously cold but the Junior Bocas baseball team kept us amused for the journey!
foto: Janin
(to be continued)

Mexico - Uxmal, Yaxchilan, Tulum

 

Colombia to Nicaragua

Dengue fever, earthquakes and cheeky monkeys

Hola from Nicaragua!
Its about time I got off my butt and wrote a blog for you all. It´s been a busy 5 weeks or so, I have covered 4 countries and am currently in a colonial town called Granada in Nicaragua in a hostel run by a gay Liverpudlian!
So lets start from the beginning!!

Colombia - I spent just over a week here, going from Medellin to Bogota and on to Cartagena where I took a boat to Panama via the San Blas Islands. To be honest I didnt enjoy it as much as I thought I would, but I did have a great night out in Bogota with a few friends. Cartagena was scorchio and I was lucky to get on board a boat called the Gypsy Moth, luckily someone didnt turn up so I stole their place!
(to be continued)

Andean Mountain Bike Adventure 8

After my Skype with Erin, I wandered down to the Plaza Armas, in the centre of Cusco.
Even walking there was amazing. This is such an ancient city. I walked past carved stone doorways – imagine the stories if they could talk. The narrow cobbled streets have just enough room for a one-way car road and a narrow footpath on each side. Surrounding the plaza are flagstones worn smooth by 500 hundred years of foot traffic and the whole place just oozes history. The plaza itself is beautiful and is the beating heart of Cusco. It’s big enough to breathe and what’s nice is that the grassed parts are not fenced off, like many other towns. I really like it and with 500 year old churches on 2 sides, there’s a real sense of place.

I walked all 4 sides and what a change this place is from the places we’ve been staying in. Usually if I see a ‘gringo’, it’s a case of ‘which Bike Dreams person is that?’ as we’re the only non-Peruvians in town. Here in Cusco it’s Gringo Central! I perused the menus of the plaza tourist restaurants and they had all the usual suspects, only at 4 times the price. I ducked up a side street and not 10 metres from the plaza, ate in a little place for Peruvians. No English menus, in fact no English anything, but I know my way around a menu now, had some Spanish banter with the staff, and got what I wanted, and a juice too and for a quarter of the price just a few metres away.
Tomorrow we have a tour of the Sacred Valley before catching the train to Machu Picchu in the afternoon. We’re staying overnight, but that, dear readers will be my next blog.

Andean Mountain Bike Adventure 7

Limatambo to Cusco
I had the llama to give away, but before I did so, I shared a poem. It was a good chance for some fun with the group. i can't put it here as it was a bit risque. Look on Facebook, or email me and I'll send it to you.
Another hard but good day in the saddle. It was 1/3 less distance and climbing, but tacked onto yesterday, it seemed the same! Big climb to start, then the middle of the day was an undulating meander and quite pleasant. How's this cuy farm we passed. How cute does it look? Tasty! The first photo is Harry and the second is Ghily.

A short steep climb had me on the cusp of Cusco. I could see grey clouds brewing, so raced the storm down the hill into Cusco proper. It arrived once I was safely at our hotel. It has a nice courtyard with the rooms on 4 sides around it. It seems really nice, clean, well-kept and has a woman’s touch.
How good is this snack? It’s corn chips, potato chips, Twisties and one other thing, all in the one packet. Seriously moreish.
We had farewell drinks tonight for 3 of our riders who are leaving. They joined us at the beach in Huancayo and have been with us for a month.

Malcolm

(to be continued)

Andean Mountain Bike Adventure 6

After a few kilometres the road turned up a tributary of the river and I continued climbing towards Limatambo on my way to Cusco. The day had saved a 700m climb for the end when you’re most tired, but there were more challenges to come. I could see a storm up the valley in the direction I was heading and sure enough, I copped a downpour. I’d seen it coming and had my jacket on in time. Riding in the rain? Once you’re wet it’s okay. After 10 minutes or so, the rain stopped as quickly as it had started and the road was bone dry. If you lived here, your vegies had got nothing. The brewing grey clouds also brought wind and I had a headwind as I headed up the valley. I got dry again, but near to Limatambo it rained again. I rode 1 kilometre too far past where we were staying. Annoying at any time, doubly so when it’s raining. We’re camping in the grounds of a hostel, but for $4 I grabbed a warm dry bed instead of setting up my tent in the rain. Best $4 I've spent in awhile.

Cooked by the host with everything else by Kirstin, dinner tonight was guinea pig, or cuy as the locals call them. They’re not pets in South America, but just for food in the same way as we don’t keep pigs as pets. I’d had it when I was in SA in 2004, but we were all having it tonight, so I had it again. The verdict? Not a lot of meat for the amount of work. They’re all bone. A wise local said, ‘Never order cuy when you’re hungry.’ It takes so long to get bits and there really isn’t that much meat there. Contrary to what you might be thinking, they’re not a tourist novelty, but appear on many local menus throughout Ecuador, Peru and if I remember correctly, Bolivia too. They’re a good source of protein for the people here as they don’t take up much room and don’t have to be taken out to graze. The agricultural department have bred special fatter bigger ones for eating, apparently. Here are a few photos of our group dinner of cuy.

Malcolm

(to be continued)

Andean Mountain Bike Adventure 5

We've all heard of the urban myth that dog owners tend to look like their dogs. Well after seeing these 20 pictures below we can correctly assume that is no longer a myth.
 Part 4

Andean Mountain Bike Adventure 4

Apparently the self-adhesive patches I was sold are a waste of time. I gave up and put a new tube in. Earlier, Richard our bike mechanic had shown me how to adjust my disk brakes, which was good as he was long gone when I had to adjust the rear ones. Grrr. It was meant to be an afternoon off.
I went for a walk before dinner and it began with a BBQ chicken heart kebab – anticucho – from a street vendor. It was so good that after walking around the block, I bought another one. Hey! They’re only 20 cents each.

Dinner was at a reputable-looking place with tablecloths and cloth napkins. My medium-cooked Fillet Mignon was not. It was in fact a blue-cooked Scotch steak with mushroom sauce. Someone else with me ordered something different and got the same. How to make your menu look longer than it is.

Tonight I slept well until 2:10am when I woke with our 4th floor room shaking with music from a party in the basement. Midnight maybe, but 2am? I went downstairs dressed in no more than boxer shorts and a t-shirt and asked them to turn it down. After speaking to a few staff, I got the dad, who was throwing the party for his daughter’s 15th birthday. I explained the time and that there was a hotel full of people above who couldn’t sleep for the noise. He instructed the DJ to turn it down and I went back to bed. I could still hear the music but it was no longer intrusive.

Malcolm
photo: janin
(to be continued)

Look Like Dog Contest 3

We've all heard of the urban myth that dog owners tend to look like their dogs. Well after seeing these 20 pictures below we can correctly assume that is no longer a myth.
Part 

Look Like Dog Contest 2

We've all heard of the urban myth that dog owners tend to look like their dogs. Well after seeing these 20 pictures below we can correctly assume that is no longer a myth.
Part 2

Look Like Dog Contest 1

We've all heard of the urban myth that dog owners tend to look like their dogs. Well after seeing these 20 pictures below we can correctly assume that is no longer a myth.
Part 1

Eucalyptus forest bush camp to Abancay 3

I woke feeling much better. I have no idea what it was that made me feel crook. Today was a good profile, a day of two halves. How good are the mountain views?
We’d slept at 3500m and the day began with a 1700m nearly 40km unsealed road downhill ride to 1800m in the bottom of the valley. What was incredible was that from the top of the hill, you could see your day laid out in front of you with the down hill switch-backing to the bottom and then the road climbing up the other side of the valley to Abancay.
From the bottom of the valley it was a 15km climb to Abancay. I stopped at a car wash and used it at a bike wash. It was nice to de-mud my bike, ready for a service this arvo. Today was a short day, so we didn’t have a lunch stop, just soup and salad waiting for us at the hotel. I’m happy that our room is at the back, not facing the street. At 3pm, I went to the basement to do three things to my bike –
1) Change the tyres from off-road to road tyres
2) Clean the chain and sprockets and
3) Fit a new bottle holder.
All up the jobs should have taken no more than an hour. I was still there at 6pm in the dingy dungeon long after the last person had gone. Why? On pumping up the second tyre I could hear hissing air and sure enough, the tyre went flat. I took the tube out but could not find the hole, so put it back in the tyre, but it went flat again. I eventually found the hole, patched it but when I pumped up the tyre the patch leaked.
Malcolm
foto: janin
(to be continued)

Andahuaylas to bush camp 2

Today I stopped often, but it wasn’t for photos.
I began today normally, had breakfast and was looking forward to the ride. It began with a 1200m / 38km climb straight up from the 2900 we’d slept at in Andahuaylas to a pass at 4100m. Then a downhill, then another climb and another downhill to our camp in the eucalyptus forest at nearly 3600m. Should have been a tough day but a goodie. Should have been.
Not long after starting, I felt sick and the more I rode, the worse it got. I’d have to stop and put my head on the handlebars until the nausea passed. Then I’d keep riding. By now I was the last person. There are half a dozen people usually slower than me, but they’d all baulked at the climb and jumped in the truck to lunch at the top. I wanted to do this ride, so persevered. I think it’s good training for life not to jump in the life raft at the first sign of trouble. I don’t expect my business or my marriage to be hassle-free, but I’m not going to bail out.
At 26km, the second truck, which had stocked up on food for tonight, passed me. That was my chance to bail, but I stuck at it as I had to now. I was so late into lunch that they came back to see if I was okay, which was nice. I didn’t eat lunch, just continued. The downhill was fine as I didn’t have to pedal, but as soon as the second climb came, my nausea returned. I got through it and the last 15km, although unpaved, had spectacular views and was downhill. I didn’t take many photos as although the mountains were stunning for us being here, it was hazy and it meant that only the first range showed up – poorly – in a photo and the five behind it disappearing into the distance weren’t on the photo. I took this photo to show how the whole area is cropped.
I saw something different today. A horse with curly hair. As I passed, I wondered why the horse looked different. Curliness is a relatively common genetic mutation and we’ve captured it with certain varieties of domestic pets, I’ve just never seen a curly horse. How's this cute piglet?
Campsite tonight is lovely. It’s a small grassy clearing amongst small gum trees on all sides. The Aussie contingent of Bike Dreams feels right at home.
What a cold evening! As soon as the sun went down, the temperature plummeted. Still feeling unwell, I spent the time until dinner laying in my tent, wondering if I would have dinner. The fire engine’s siren indicated dinner time and I decided to give it a go. I’m glad I did. Although I only had a small portion, Kirstin’s mushroom risotto with tender beef and stir-fried vegetables was delicious. Bush camps are usually AFDs for me and even with the red wine on the tables for Wilbert, the owner’s birthday, I was happy not to drink. I was on dinner dishes roster and it was so cold that I think we set a new record time and then dived into our tents. I had a warm night and a good sleep.
foto: janin
Malcolm
(to be continued)

Andahuaylas to Cusco

Lots of climbing, but spectacular mountains as a reward.
Rest day in Adahuaylas
What a noisy town. A hotel room with a balcony might also have a view, but it comes at a price. Noise. I was woken at 6:30 this morning with a truck going up and down the street honking it’s horn and ringing a loud bell. I thought, ‘What the?’ and stuck my head over the balcony to see what the commotion was all about. It was the rubbish truck letting people know it’s coming to collect the rubbish. Why not put it out the night before and sleep in peace? What about me? I don’t have any rubbish and I’m just trying to sleep! Unbelievable.
Mid-morning I set off wandering and before long, found the central plaza with the usual church on one side. From there I ended up at surprise, surprise – the markets. I bought a lovely mixed juice from a vendor there. 750ml of fresh juice for $1. I noticed on their menu – jugo con cervesa/juice with beer. On chatting to the juice ladies, they use a local stout and it’s popular. I told them that I like beer and I like juice, but I wish to keep them separate.
Lunch was at little eatery near the hotel and it was full of locals. Soup, main and dessert – a banana – and sweet tea and all for $2.50. The soup was delicious and didn’t have chicken feet in it.
My chicken main course came with a red vegetable on the side. Large chilli or small capsicum? Wow! Was it hot. It was worse than a chilli and it burnt my mouth for an hour.
This afternoon we had cake and drinks on the hotel top floor to celebrate Graeme and Suzanna’s birthdays today. Two different cakes, so of course we had to try both. I love the polar bear on top.
I had a different drink with dinner tonight. Chicha morada. It’s a sweet beverage made from the black corn you see in the markets. On a blind taste test, I’d have picked it as Ribena blackcurrant cordial. Nice though.
Malcolm
foto: janin 
(to be continued)