Clay's Summer Adventure2005

Monday, August 15, 2005


Corn Island was the perfect place to end my trip. I spent time relaxing on the beach, diving, and exploring the island. For as beautiful as it was, we were some of the only tourists. The remoteness, the tropical beaches, and getting to spend some time hanging out with my sister made the trip really special; I can�t think of a better way to end it. I am in Managua today then flying to Dallas on Tuesday before going down to Houston on Wednesday. Thanks to everyone who has been following my trip and I hope that you will send me an email or call me sometime once I am back in the states. Posted by Picasa


One of the days on Big Corn I went out diving with one of the people from my sister�s group. We took a long boat ride out in a panga to a rock outcropping in the middle of the ocean. The dive was great, we saw sharks, barracuda, rays, eels, and tons of other fish.  Posted by Picasa


So, flying out the the Corn Islands was an adventure. We took a small plane, a really small plane, from Managua out the the island. As you can see in the picture, I had a nice view of the cockpit and busied myself watching the storm radar. Apparently they were not that concerned with hijackers getting ahold of the plane, presumably because the only building that it could have brought down would be an outhouse. Posted by Picasa

Thursday, August 11, 2005


Yesterday I met up with my sister who has been working in Nicaragua all summer as a project supervisor for Amigos de las Americas. She and the other supervisors had about 45 high school kids in Granada for their debriefing from the summer. All of the vols go home today and my sister, the other staff, and I are going out the Corn Islands in the Caribbean for a few days before flying home.

Wednesday, August 10, 2005


I went diving in a freshwater lake that is in the bottom of a volcanic crater outside Granada. The dive was a little different than a normal pleasure dive though because I was helping some researchers to spear fish for a study that they were doing. Apparently the government introduced a fish into the lake and with it a parasite that east the eyes of one particular native species. This made them easier to spear, but it was really sad to see all the blind fish.

Sunday, August 07, 2005


So my good luck of accidentally being in a town when they are having a festival continues. Today in Granada I was here for there running of the bulls. Ok, so there were only 5 but when you mix several thousand spectators, a couple hundred cowboys on horseback, lots of firecrackers, absolutely no fences, and 5 scared bulls, and turn them all lose on the central streets of a colonial town it makes for a good time. Oh, and I got to see a police officer tazer a guy who was misbehaving.


While in Granada I took a tour of the small islands near the town that were formed by a volcanic explosion thousands of years ago. We went out in kayaks that our guide had made himself and were mostly stable and leak proof. The trip was great because we got to see all sorts of birds and wildlife, even a rattlesnake.


After Leon I headed down to Granada, the other of Nicaragua´s old Colonial towns. Unlike Leon, Granada is somewhat of a tourist area. The town has a very nice colonial charm to it and is dominated in the background by a large dormant volcano. The central park is great, with a lot of shady trees and great people watching.


I spent my first few days in Nicaragua in Leon, It was a really nice town with what is allegedly the most impressive church in Central America. Now, I have not been everywhere in Central America but I certainly hope it is not the most impressive church. I mean it was nice and was very large inside but lacking in impressiveness. I just thought the blueness of the sky was amazing in this picture.

Thursday, August 04, 2005

On to Nicaragua, country # 12

I did my last two dives in Utila Tuesday morning (1 very deep to 150 feet, a PADI no-no but really fun) and then caught the afternoon ferry back to the mainland. After a day an a half of taking: ferry / taxi / bus / taxi / very cheap hotel (similar to prison cell) / taxi / bus / taxi / microbus / taxi, I arrived in Leon, Nicaragua. I am going to spend a few days here and then go down to Granada to meet up with my sister and all of her Amigos.


The place that I stayed was right ont he dock, so I could walk 50 feet in the morning and be on the dive boat. Tha staff at the shop was super friendly and very laid back. Since I had a lot more experience than most of the fun divers there, I hung out with the other divemasters a lot. I also got an offer to come back and work for a couple months sometime but I don�t think that can happen any time in the forseeable future. Posted by Picasa


The diving was great on Utila. I spent 5 days and did a total of 15 dives in beautiful water with white-sand beaches. It was super hot and humid there so I spent as much time as possible underwater trying to cool off. I happened to be on the island the weekend that they had their Carnival celebration, so the Saturday night that I was there had a parade and lots of street parties that went late into the night. There are only about 6000 residents on the island and I think every one of them was out that night. Posted by Picasa

Friday, July 29, 2005

Copan and Scuba Diving in Honduras

After a day in Antigua I left on a very early bus to Copan Ruins in Honduras. I got in early in the morning and saw the ruins in 2 hours. They were really amazing, very detailed in their stone carvings. Unfortunately, my camera batteries died and I did not have time to buy new ones and go back, so I have only memories and no photos.

I saw that I had no time to go back because after those two hours I grabbed a bus to La Cieba on the northern coast of Honduras. Then next morning I got on a ferry out to Utila Island and I was scuba diving by the early afternoon. I plan to stay here and dive for at least 3 or 4 more days. The Internet is slow and expensive here so I will not be posting pictures until mid next week sometime. Until then I am going to try to spend as much time underwater as possible. Ummmmm Nitrogen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tuesday, July 26, 2005


I had read in my guidebook about climbing this volcano and it said that it could be dangerous at times and you had to check with the locals. I figured since our guide was going, that was good enough for me. Apparently the officials felt differently. I asked our guide later as we were peering into the crater, looking at lava, and heating our hands over a plume of hot gas escaping from a large crevice, "when was the last time that this volcano shot rocks in the air?" He replied confidently that it had been about 3 months. I was not so confident. Posted by Picasa


As usual, I did not sit around long once I got into Antigua. While I was out looking for breakfast I found a travel agency that had a last minute cancellation for a tour to an active volcano. So I called the hotel and told them that I was going to be checking in later in the day and I jumped into the tour van. This is the volcano that we climbed up, the summit is about 2500 m (about 8000ft). Posted by Picasa


So I decided to go to Antigua Guatemala on a whim and caught an overnight bus. The trip itself would not have been bad if I had not gotten seated next to the biggest Guatemalan that I had ever seen. He was seriously about 1.6 normal Guatemalan, or 1.35 American (at the current exchange rates). That part aside, Antigua is a really beautiful city with a wonderful history. I snapped this picture on the way to my hotel at about 7am. Posted by Picasa

Monday, July 25, 2005


One of the mysteries of Tikal is what happened to the Maya civilization. There seems to be no reason why a culture that was obviously thriving disappeared over 100 years ago. I have my own theory that they were carried off by the ravenous mosquitoes that prowl the site even to this day, still thirsty for blood. Posted by Picasa


One of the most amazing things about Tikal is that the ruins are partially obscured by the jungle. Centuries-old trees grow out of ancient ruins and monkeys, birds, and other animals howl in the distance. Posted by Picasa


From Belize, I went to Tikal ruins in Northern Guatemala. The place absolutely blew my mind. There was no amazing vantage like at Machu Picchu but there is something particularly stunning about giant stone pyramids rising from the floor of a tropical jungle. It also helps that most of the work done by the Maya here predates Machu Picchu by over 1000 years. Posted by Picasa


Ok, so it is not that amazing of a picture, but I felt that I had to post something from Belize, even if I was only there for about 10 hours. Woo Hoo, first time on the Caribbean. ALSO: I want to apologize for the title on the previous post, it seemed like a good idea at the time, but in hindsight is completely lame. Posted by Picasa

Saturday, July 23, 2005

Five for Flying

I leave Panama tomorrow morning really early, so I think that means a night sleeping in the airport. My flight leaves at 6am, stops in Costa Rica, change planes in El Salvador, arrive in Belize, see Belize City, then catch a bus to Flores in Guatamala. That´s 5 countries in one day, although I am not sure the two in the middle really count.


The old neighborhood in Panama is called the Casco Viejo and is very French-looking in places. While this picture is prety, most of the area is a dangerous slum, so nightfall was a definite cue to leave. Posted by Picasa


Once I got to Panama I met up with my mom and stepdad and their Amigos tour group. I got to feel like a tourist for a few days, traveling around in a group of 20, staying in nice hotels, and having good meals. One of the things we did was to visit the Panama Canal. It was one of those things that the Engineering nerd inside me compelled me to do. Pretty impressive to see the ships move through. I guess the canal charges an average of $150,000 for a ship to cross the whole way through. Posted by Picasa

Tuesday, July 19, 2005

My Camera Lives!!!

After a long day and a mix-up at the hostel involving my things being moved while I was gone, I dropped my camera hard on a concrete floor. There were no signs of life whatsoever and a terrifying thud-like rattle inside. I decided to sleep on it and worry about it the next day. This morning I performed emergency surgery with a fork, knife, coin and nail file. Somehow I managed to revive it and it appears to be working normally now. Tomorrow night I am off to Panama City by overnight bus.


At the volcano you could hear the explosions at the top and see rocks tumbling down the hillside. Later at night it was possible to see the rocks glowing as they were red hot. After the volcano I went to the nicest hot springs that I have been to in my life. There were 18 pools of different temperatures, all were made of natural rock and set in a beautifully-landscaped jungle setting.  Posted by Picasa


I went on a day trip to Volcan Arenal which is one of the most active volcanoes in the world. In Costa Rica, unlike other countries on my trip, there appears to be some concept of liability (note the sign at the entrance to the park).  Posted by Picasa


I arrived safe and sound in San Jose and spent several days exploring the city. Unfortunately it has been raining off and on every day so the sightseeing had to be done in the interludes between heavy spells of rain. San Jose has some nice places but not like many of the other cities I have been to. Posted by Picasa

Friday, July 15, 2005


One of the things on my "to do" list for South America was to cut my way through a jungle with a machete; mission accomplished. I was glad that it was only a 2-day tour though, I have never seen som many insects in my life and it was starting to creep me out a little. Tomorow morning I leave Ba�os very early and head back to Quito. From there, I fly to Costa Rica to spend the last four and a half weeks of my trip in Central America. Posted by Picasa


Also on the jungle tour, we stopped for a while at a waterfall to swim and cool off. I swam in my underwear, but seeing all the giant leaves was too tempting not to strip down and take a funny picture. Posted by Picasa


After a day of canyoning, I went on a 2-day jungle trek. Shooting a blowgun was one of many "unique" jungle experiences that I had. Others included a precarious canoe ride down a river, fighting with a monkey for my dinner, and being up to my shins in gooey mud. Posted by Picasa


One of the things that I did in Ba�os was to go canyoning. After getting dressed in a wetsuit, climbing gear, sandals, knee and elbow pads, and a helmet, we climbed a steep trail up a jungle hillside. The trail consisted of pulling yourself up by tree roots and vines and getting covered in lots of mud. Then from the top down we rappelled down 6 waterfalls. That would have been exciting on its own, but we were late because of some slow people in our group, so we statred the last one (250 ft) in almost total darkenss. By thte time I got to the bottom, I was seeing by moonlight and was happy to be done. Posted by Picasa

Tuesday, July 12, 2005

Banos

I am now in the town of Baños (Ec), after a bus ride filled with way too many "look we are there already!" jokes every time we passed a roadside rest area. Tomorrow I am going mountain biking and then canyoning and then into the jungle for a two-day tour/trek. I will post pics once I am back.


I FOUND SACAGAWEA AND SHE IS HIDING IN ECUADOR!!!! The somewhat defunct dollar coin that was released with much fanfare in the US in 2001 only to be forgotten by Americans who cannot get used to the idea of dollar coins, is alive and well in Ecuador. The offical currency of Ecuador is the US Dollar. Greenbacks are the paper money of choice and the coins are an eclectic mix of US money and Ecuadorian look-alikes. Posted by Picasa