Chocolate, Chocolate and More Chocolate!

Hello All---
Today we went on a tour of a chocolate tour that was very interesting.  The chocolate was more gritty than Hershey's.  They showed us all how the machines worked and how they packaged them and how they shelled the cocoa beans---all in Spanish and of course we went to school. 
Tomorrow we are off to Managua to do shopping and to buy bus tickets to CR.  Then we are going to visit the island of Ometepe the next day.  Things are going to be busy....we still have school tomorrow in the AM and then a bus to Managua.
Rose is looking forward to seeing Jasmine....(and everyone else!).  Me too.
Talk to you later,
Michele & Rose

Honduras Electric Company

Thought I'd share this for all the electricians around.  This is the wiring throughout the capital city of Tegucigalpa Honduras.  About every 1/2 block or so there was one of these, sometimes right off next to someone's balcony.  I'm thinking the residents just string up lines themselves and take it for free, either that or they just have terrible planning.  Wow!!

Rose has found Heaven (or her version of it!)

Hello All--
We are staying at a hostel called La Buena Onda in Matagalpa, Nicaragua.  Rose is loving it because she found $7 Hollister and Abercrombie T-shirts!! They also have a pet rabbit at our new place and that sealed the deal.  Don't tell Jasmine that Rose is cheating on her.  She has been feeding it Ritz crackers all day and petting it.  We enrolled in school and are starting tomorrow at 8am.  Today we shopped til we dropped. 
Michele and Rose

Traveling,Traveling, Traveling

Hello Everyone,


We are on the move again. Today we got up and went to see a dolphin show and then packed your bags to get on the ferry (not so much vomit this time but we had better spots on the boat but the lady behind me puked any way :( nasty!!! ) The we rode on a bus for 2 1/2 hr Central America time, So it actually took 5 hr. Now we are in San Pedro Sula, Honduras.

Tomorrow we are getting up at 4 and getting on the tica bus for hopefully 12 hr (not 14 like last time) to get to Matagalpa, Nicaragua.

Rose (Mom too!!!)

Roatan

Hey Y'all

We are in Roatan Honduras right now by the beach. Very very very very hot and humid. I am looking at the TV and theres a geco on it Funny right. We are thinking about staying here for about a week. We wount be able to check e mail or blog very often because we dont have wifi. So we will try our best to do so. thinking about going snorkaling tomoro.

Getting here was horrible. We to a bus from Granada at 3 am to Managua to get on the bus at 5 am to go to San Pedro Sula. It took 14 hrs on that bus aut 15 hr total that day. Then next day we got up at 4am and went to the bus station to get on the bus at 5am to go to the port. It took 3 1/2 hrs to get there.Then we to the fairy for 1 1/2 hrs. There was people puking it was sooooooo ruff. Back and forth side to side for a hr omg it was horrible. Every time it got realy bad it was like a vomit fest. Luckly we did not vomit, barff, puke, throw up, spew or any other way you can say.


Sendin all my love home,
Rose  (Mom too)

Forgive the spelling -Rose

Off to Honduras!

Hello All--
Today it rained most of the day but that didn't stop us from going to Laguna de Apoyo to see it and go swimming.  The lake was so clear we could see our feet when the water was chest high for us.  We took pictures of our feet to prove it.  We went kayaking for a while and sat in some inner tubes, all in the rain!
Tomorrow we are off to San Pedro Sula in Honduras to get to Roatan Island there.  It's a 12 hour bus ride there and then another 3 hour bus ride and a 2 hour ferry the next day.  Uf!  We have to get up at 3am to catch a taxi to the bus in Managua so we better get packed.
Michele and Rose

                         This is us today canoeing.(sorry about the spelling) Our arms will hurt tomorrow!!!! :)

        This is the Magic flower. It looks like a long skinny fruit and when you shake it, it opens into a flower.

We went to the Masaya Volcano Crater and 5 other volcanoes in another really old giant one. So a long time ago there was a big huge volcano that blew up. Now in the middle is 5 other craters inside it that blew up. That's the best I can describe it.

So the plan for tomorrow is to go to this lake named Apoyo and go swimming there!!! Sounds like lots of fun!! :)

- Rosie (and Mom!)

San Jose

We are back in San Jose at Hostel Pangea and I am watching Rose and Grandma play pool while I blog.  Today we went to the Insect World Exhibit and the Orchid Place.  Rose is turning into a bug lover and we had to use magnifying glasses to see some of the orchids they were so small.  Some of them even smelled like chocolate (much better than the stinkbugs at Insect World).  We are pretty tired after our 4 1/2 hour bus ride.  It has been raining pretty hard since about noon today and we are all damp and cold.  Tomorrow we are planning on hitting a museum and going shopping before Grandma gets a shuttle to the airport on Monday. 

Michele

Hello Everyone, 

Yesterday we went to the Monteverde Cloud Forest and Rose found a puppy and he was so lovey.  She held him while we looked at the butterfly gallery.  They had some feeders set up and there were tons of hummingbirds fighting for space.  The owner eventually came to take the dog away.

We went tot he frog pond at night and saw lots of frogs.  This is a red eyed tree frog, but we also saw poison dart frogs, but these were pretty cool too.

We hiked a trail by ourselves.  This is Mom and Rose at the lookout at the farthest point. 

We spotted a black guan and her baby all by ourselves.  Then we had to watch them until we had the perfect shot.

The hummingbird gallery had probably about 100 hummingbirds flitting around.  It was a challenge trying to get them on camera, but they were so cool that we stayed a long time.

At the butterfly tent, Grandma was well liked in her Estes Park shirt.  She had 2 or three different ones land on her shirt and on her head.

We are all so tired!  We have been walking non-stop since we arrived in Monteverde there is so much to do.  We have seen so many animals.  We walked in the forest at night with flashlights (and a guide) and saw a couple of sloths, a pit viper, a tarantula the size of a small dinner plate and lots of bugs, spiders, etc.  Tomorrow we are heading back to San Jose on the 2:30 bus from Monteverde.  I think Grandma is ready to come home and missing Gpa.  We went on a coffee tour and a cheese factory tour too.

Michele, Rose & Grandma

Zip Line

Hello Everyone,

Rose sailing into the last stop

Grandma ziplining down to the next platform.

Grandma did the Tarzan Swing and here she is at the very top of the arc

Yeah!  We made it intact!

Yesterday we went ziplining in the canopy outside of la Fortuna, closer to the Arenal Volcano.  There were about 15 lines that we went on and a Tarzan Swing close to the end.  Everyone did the swing and even Grandma (and mom) did the Tarzan Swing.  Mom injured a tree on the way into one of the platforms, but we are pretty sure that the tree will recover.  Braking is more difficult that it looks.  In the afternoon we went to the local river for a swim, but it started raining and we had to walk back about 30 minutes in the rain.  At about 4 we went to Baldi Hot Springs, which is heated by the Volcano, for a buffet and a soak in their many hot pools of all different temperatures.  There were waterfalls and it was a great night.  We stayed until about 8:30pm.  Rose said it was fun and make sure to do the Tarzan Swing.

Mom, Grandma & Mom

We're Here

Hey everyone,

We are in in La Fortuna at Arenal Backpacker's. Its hot here and its in the mountains. We are by a Volcano that is covered in clouds so we cant see it right now.  We are staying in a tent. We just spent the last 2 days rideing busses for 9 hours total. NOW WE ARE GOING SWIMMING!!!!!!!!

--Rose

More Pics

Today we are headed to San Jose to the hostel pangea.  We hear it has a pool, should be much cooler than here.  Michele, Rose & Gma

Hello All--
Yesterday we went snorkeling by ourselves in Punta Uva.  We rented equipment from el Arrecife restaurant and went out for about 2 1/2 hours.  The ocean is very calm and clear.  We saw a manta ray and a tuna (we think) that was as big as Grandma.  We drank Cokes on the beach and got a little bit sunburned.  We are pretty tired today from swimming around so long.  We went bracelet shopping after we came back and ate dinner.
Pura Vida,
Michele, Rose and Grandma

Underwater camera bag works great with Rose's digital camera!  Did we mention it's HOT here!
Michele, Rose and Grandma

Snorkeling and Dolphin Watching in Puerto Viejo

Hello All---
We are really HOT here in Puerto Viejo and it is very humid.  Today we went snorkeling and dolphin watching with a couple from here.  They took us out in their boat with just 2 other people and we went on a nature hike and saw dolphins right up next to the boat.  The coral here is not as pretty as Belize, but we saw plenty of fish.  Tomorrow we are going to another beach to try it out on our own.

Did we mention that it is HOOOOOT here!

Alajuela

Hello All--

Today we arrived in San Jose and are staying in a hostel in Alajuela, which is very close to the airport. We are really tired its only 6 and going to bed, but its almost dark here. We showed G-ma her first real market. This is a picture of us in from of a mossy wall, when we were walking around town. We are going to Punta Uva tomorrow. We are staying in a dorm for 4 with a girl from Florida who is leaving tomorrow.
-Rose, Mom and Grandma

Bags Packed 10:50PM

Grandma's is red...Mom's is purple and Rose's is orange!  I finally finished typing mine up at about 10:30 and we have to leave for the airport at 3:30AM...better get to bed.  Michele

E-mail subscription

If you put your e-mail address in the white box on top and click submit, you will receive e-mails when we update with a feed if you want to follow us.  Just trying to get all set up to go.

Procrastination

We still have tons to do for our trip and I am putting all of it off.  Woke up this AM and realized that I only have 3 days to get it all done...Yikes!