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    sau nice, hau mal paar Reisetipps für Kanada nähe Vancouver raus ;-) will da dieses Jahr hin

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      In der Ecke war ich leider noch nicht! Sorry :)

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        Live #26, Xela & Volcan Santa Maria, Guatemala



        12/01/2015 It’s my second day at beautiful Lake Yojoa and I will check out the PANCAM National Park today before heading down south to Tegucigalpa via Comayagua. Today’s live update is from another location that was added to my journey last minute: Xela, short for Quetzaltenango. I would stay here for over a week to do a short spanish course and also to climb Volcan Santa Maria.

        Getting there was pretty fun on the steep and serpentine road from San Pedro at Lake Atitlan in a Chicken Bus. I have met some people before that came down here with their own modified US school truck and they had been stuck in exactly this area for a few times because of it’s narrowness on the steep passage. Upon arrival in Xela, I waited at Casa Seibel to get picked up by Couchsurfer Becky, who owns a spanish school called Forest Academy, providing me with a teacher for a 25 hour class over the next week. She came together with her frien Moses, who would take good care of me in the following day and even let me sleep at his place. I was surrounded by nice people and could concentrate on my bad spanish :)

        I had 1on1 classes from 10AM to 3PM each day and since my spanish was very basic, we had to cover exactly those first and overall did not have enough time to go into the past or future tenses. I thought that it would still be better than nothing and gave it a try. In the End, my spanish did not improve a lot, but this is not because of the teacher but more due to the fact that I am just a bad student, failing to look into my sheets ever since the course ended. I’m just so busy with traveling itself! Besides the spanish class, I also had enough time to check out Xela, a really nice city that still has a local feel to it and I had a lot of great people around me to enjoy the evenings as well. I will never forget the disappointment when I first saw the so called “climbing gym” or the moment we squeezed nine people into a small car!

        Climbing Volcan Santa Maria was another thing on my ToDo list. The volcan offers a view on another active volcano, Santiaguito, and we were able to do the hike during full moon, starting at 1AM. It was pretty rainy and cloudy throughout the complete hike up to the 3770m high summit, but nevertheless I enjoyed it and was especially pleased by the moments the sun finally broke through the clouds momentarily after reaching the top. We also had a few eruptions of nearby Santiaguito and could see Volcan Fuego erupting far in the back as well. I tried to capture everything with my camera, even though it was a pretty hard task without gloves and freezing temperatures at the top. Back to Casa Seibel, which is a really nice play to stay while in Xela by the way, it was time for some relaxation from the hike before moving on to the touristic hotspot and former capital of Guatemala: Antigua.

        >> Pictures

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          Live #27, Antigua, Guatemala



          14/01/2015 Today I will try to explore the Somoto Canyon in Nicaragua on my own without a guide and hopefully I will still be able to see some cool views! A lack of time due to my transportation to Esteli is preventing me to join a group that will do the six hour tour later. But for now, I hope you enjoy this quick update from the former Capital of Guatemala: Antigua Guatemala.

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            Video from Caye Caulker, Belize



            This Video is actually pretty short – just under ten minutes! Check out how I was swimming with Sharks along with some Snorkeling in the Hol Chan Marine Reserve. And don’t forget to Go Slow… since we are talking about Caye Caulker in Belize

            https://vimeo.com/116928793


            Have fun! :)

            Kommentar


              One of the highlights of my trip so far! Hope you like it :)

              Live #28, Volcán Acatenango, Guatemala
              (click link for pictures)



              19/01/2015 Time for a new Live Update after finishing some videos. Sadly Vimeo causes problems with Copyright violations, so I might have to look out for another platform. If you have some suggestions, put it in the comments please! Currently I am in Granada, Nicaragua and will head to Isla de Ometepe tomorrow morning. This update will be the last from Guatemala and it is safe to say that climbing the 3,976m Volcán Acatenango was one of the highlights of my trip so far. Getting to the top requires some effort, but the reward is incredible: Witnessing the super active Volcán de Fuego right in front of you during night, erupting car-sized rocks every 5-10 minutes.

              I arranged the overnight tour to climb Volcán Acatenango from Antigua and got a decent last minute deal. The good news was that the other two people in the group cancelled, so it was just me and the guide! I got picked up in town and was transferred to the guide’s private house close to the Volcanoes entrance trail. Having a local guide actually helps against the occasional robberies, which only target tour companies that are not supporting the local guides and thereby the community’s job industry. At least that is what the owner of the company I used told me. Another group just got back from the mountain and was waiting for my car for a ride back into town. They told me I’d better have a sleeping bag and good jacket because it was so cold on the top.

              My guide Eddie and I started walking up the street for a few minutes to reach the path leading to the Volcano. His dog Tarzan joined us all the way and was a fast and pleasant third member of the team, not slowing us down or being annoying like other people could have been :) It just takes five minutes walking on a gravel path until we reach the first group gasping for air. It was pretty hot that day and the gravel makes it hard to walk, but I was still very surprised to see the first girl crying out of exhaustion after a distance that took us just five minutes to walk! Anyway, I was looking forward to the rest as the climb was supposed to be one of the hardest you can do in the country.

              Passing one resting point after the other and actually only using one of them for ten minutes, we make it to the summit of Volcán Acatenango in just 3 1/2 hours. It was great to have a good and fast guide with me and being in a good shape as well as the mountain really will challenge you, especially if you do not rest a lot in between. I could feel my heart pumping really hard on the last steep gravel part up the top, each step sliding down half of the previous step again. It’s been a while that a mountain required this kind of effort and I really liked it! Once on the top, we waited for all the clouds to disappear until I could finally see (and not just hear) the first eruption of Fuego just meters away.

              Luckily the clouds vanished even more and I could get some great shots of the crater and the landscape around us before we were running / skiing down the gravel on the other side to reach the camp spot, which was already prepared by Eddie’s dad. Just before we got there, Eddie climbed a high tree to cut off branches with his Machete for our bonfire. Having it set up, I felt in great company and even part of the family by now, even though my Spanish is not good and all of them spoke no English at all, we still found a way to communicate, sometimes using a stick to sketch drawings in the ground

              As it got dark, the real show started. Volcán de Fuego showed off his angry face and instead of grey smoke in front of blue sky and white clouds, we would now witness a red and yellow light show in the pitch black darkness every 5-10 minutes. Surprised by how active that Volcano actually was, it produced really big explosion every 20 minutes or so. The view on Volcán de Agua to our left side of the camp spot was great too, being surrounded by all the yellow lights of the cities such as Antigua and even Guatemala City in the back. But back to the main attraction! I switched my location to get rid of some trees in front of me and spent ten minutes looking for a good spot to sit down and lay my camera on something to do long exposure shots. I eventually found a cut-off tree that would suit me as a natural tripod and even though it was very tiny and I had troubles to keep my camera on it, I still managed to get a few decent shots.

              Spending three hours just sitting and watching Fuego errupt, I finally made it into my tent. I could still hear all the eruptions from there and in a reflex, would constantly open my tent to check if it might be an even bigger one than before. Eventually, I had to force myself to get some sleep around 1AM though, having had one great new experience that I will never forget in my life. I woke up just in time for a nice sunset and after breakfast, headed down together with Eddie and Tarzan while his dad stayed at the camp spot to clear the fire. It only took us 1 1/2 hours to return to his house, resulting in a pretty long two hour wait to get me picked up since we were just way too early. Eddie’s place and lovely family made my wait very pleasant though and I enjoyed the view on Lake Atitlan’s Volcanoes in the distant while having a nice hot tea…

              Pictures >> Link

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                will das Video sehen.... youtube privat mode? :P

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                  Hm machen die da nichts mit den copyrighted songs oder wie? Habs jetzt mal auf einer anderen Plattform hochgeladen, leider kann ich es von dort nicht direkt auf meinen blog einbetten aber immerhin sollte es anschaubar sein!

                  Live #29, Santa Ana, Chalchuapa & Volcan Izalco, El Salvador



                  22/01/2015 I will probably have no internet tomorrow since I am going to climb Volcán Concepción on Ometepe in Nicaragua tonight starting at 4AM and afterwards will make my way to Tamarindo in Costa Rica to hopefully see some Leatherback Sea Turtles! Changing countries is also the theme of this live update, reporting “live” from El Salvador from the first time. Roughly a week before Christmas, I started my trip in Santa Ana, climbed Volcán Izalco and stayed with a pretty cool Couchsurfing host and radio moderator in Chalchuapa!

                  El Salvador is one of those countries that does not receive a lot of tourists compared to Central American standards. Maybe that was one of the reasons why I liked it! Especially getting into the El Imposible National Park was a great experience, but more on that in the upcoming updates :) Since I only had limited time in the country, I decided to concentrate on the west part and started in Santa Ana. Crossing the border took a while since I was part of a big bus (120Q) and had to wait until everyone was done with immigration. Arriving late in the night and with a two hour delay, I got dropped off with only one other passenger while the rest continued onwards to the capital. The guy told me that I should not walk alone in this part of the town late in the evening. I knew El Salvador had some areas you better avoid, so I was happy to hear him offer his companionship – at least to the point when he suddenly turned right and told me that I have to keep on going straight :)

                  One of the things I wanted to do was climbing Volcan Santa Ana and luckily, my Couchsurfing host Alexis joined me for that! The way it works is that you show up at the entry point and get a local police escort there, otherwise you are not allowed to get in. When we arrived, there was a big group already but all of them wanted to climb Volcan Izalco, located just next to Volcan Santa Ana. No police men were left and we were “forced” to join them as well, since no one else wanted to join us.

                  In the end, I actually enjoyed Volcan Izalco quiet a lot! It is steaming all over the place and has some really hot spots, also hiking up in the black lava stone field was pretty cool too. We enjoyed the nice view on Volcan Santa Ana and other peaks around us and only had a hard time walking up to the entrance again. Unfortunately, I was not able to compare it to Santa Ana (which has a lagoon in the crater) now but maybe you have the chance to do both when you are around :)

                  After the hike, we drove back to Alexis’ hometown of Chalchuapa. I really enjoyed this place and its very quiet atmosphere, it even has a small set of Maya ruins in the middle of the town! We had some great local food and beer in the evening and thanks to Alexis, I had a perfect start in El Salvador!

                  >> Pictures

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                    Live #30, Juayua, El Salvador



                    25/01/2015 I am in Costa Rica now and had an amazing time watching turtles lay their eggs at a bear near Tamarindo last night. Sadly, we didn’t see any babies hatching or a giant leatherback crawling by! Heading towards Monteverde now, I quickly want to get out another update for you guys from Juayua, El Salvador, one of the prettiest village I have encountered so far with a beautiful set of waterfalls just 20 minutes walking away.

                    The Ruta de la Flores was not as impressive as people on the Internet said it was but nevertheless, a nice path to enter Juayua for sure. I stayed in Hosteal Meceza and it has been one of the or maybe even THE nicest place I have ever stayed it. The british owner is a great guy and he put so much love and detail into his place, you can spend hours just looking at the different things he placed in his house and garden. The village didn’t feel touristic at all and the people there seemed to be even a bit more friendlier than elsewhere.

                    A must do activity is hiking the very close by Las Chorros Waterfalls. Just 20 minutes out, you will find yourself in a series of three waterfalls with nice clear and fresh water to swim in. In the upper one, I was even alone for a while before a group of locals arrived. Tourists were nowhere to be seen when I visited this place. A creepy looking guy prevented me to take a swim in the biggest waterfall, constantly looking and me and my camera in a way I was not comfortable leaving it alone. Back at the hostel, I prepared three huge sandwiches, which after just turning away for ten seconds, two of them were instantly consumed by the dog there, so be careful with your food if you should go there too! :)

                    >> Pictures

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                      The Stone Man Alberto Gutierrez in Estelí, Nicaragua



                      28/01/2015 The 15th of January has been a very special day for me. I met 75 year old Alberto Gutierrez, also known as the Stone Man, in his beautiful home deep in the Tisey Estanzuela Natural Reserve. He has been carving stones there for almost half of his life and will proudly present his work, should you make the effort of paying him a visit. It is not the easiest place to find and certainly off the beaten path, but if you ever get near Estelí on your Nicaragua trip, I would highly recommend to make this experience on your own. If not, just check out my report, pictures and the video here :)

                      About three months ago, I started to research Nicaragua and stumbled upon Nomadic Matt’s post about Alberto. What I have read was so fascinating that I had no other choice than putting it on my list. Now I can proudly say that I am yet another person privileged enough to meet this character. To be more precise, I am number 61 in his most recent visitor book. Only about 1000 people have met him ever since he received his first guest in 2006. Fellow bloggers have documented their time with Alberto, providing great information on how to reach him (such as yet another Matt right here) and thereby making it easier for all of us to get there. In my case, it was really easy thanks to my Couchsurfing host Jhon. This is my story of meeting Alberto…

                      I arrived in Estelí in the pouring rain and while I had no intentions of doing any sightseeing here, I couldn’t wait to get out to Tisey, hunting down the Stone Man Alberto Gutierrez. Getting deeper into the Tisey Estanzuela Natural Reserve, my Couchsurfing Host and I got both more excited the closer we got. One of his friends knew Alberto, so we had a good idea how to get there. You first drive into La Garnacha and follow a dirt road until you see a sign saying “Bienvenidos. Finca: El J Lacate, Dist 1Km”. You then cross the gate and keep on walking down the hill for about twenty minutes until you reach his home with a sign saying “Bienvenidos A Galeria Esculturas en Piedras”. Just go in and call out for him!

                      Alberto is growing all kinds of fruits on his property and will probably give you some of it too, we got some lemons. If you are lucky you might also get a pineapple :) For the next hour, he showed us around all his stone carvings. It starts off with bits and pieces until you eventually get to the top of a hill with a nice viewpoint, featuring the highlights such as an huge Elephant! He started his work 38 years ago on October 17th, 1977 and since then is carving different landscapes, animals and historical moments into all kinds of stones. I was surprised by seeing the World Trade Center as one of his sculptures!

                      All of his work has been done with the same tools: two metal chisels and a hammer. He also has a fixed schedule, only working between 6AM – 9AM, enabling him to greet visitors coming during the day. He was also featured in a documentary, which resulted in his bigger popularity, but visiting him still feels like a very unique and special thing to do! I have read that he would be too proud to accept money from his guests, this apparently has changed now since he gladly accepted ours :) I also gave him some sunglasses from Ray Ban, which he really seemed to like and they suited him much better than me :)

                      >> Pictures and Video (If vimeo is not causing troubles again!)

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                        Live #31, El Imposible National Park, El Salvador



                        30/01/2015 I nearly blacked out in a packed train in Costa Rica’s Capital San José yesterday; guess my immune system was down after the small fever I had the day before. But now I feel much better after 2 days of resting in Casa Mariposa, just next to the Chirripó National Park. I actually feel so good again that I will attempt what promises to be one of the hardest hikes so far: 40km to 3727m high Cerro Chirripó in a single day, starting this midnight! But before I try this (the guides might send me back as I have no permit), please enjoy the last live update from my short visit of El Salvador. Visiting the El Imposible National Park was the main reason for my visit and trekking through the jungle and seven waterfalls was simply amazing!

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                          Live #32, Macaw Mountain, Copan Ruinas, Honduras



                          02/02/2015 I am just about to head into Corcovado National Park to our Lodge in the jungle. Since their website states that they don’t even electricity over there, I figured to give you guys another update while I am waiting for the bus in Puerto Jimenez. Actually it’s the very first one from Honduras! Coming in from Guatemala, the first town on my route was beautiful Copan Ruinas, named after the very close by Maya ruins. On my first day there, I started off with a really cool activity: visiting the Macaw Mountain with their amazing display of Parrots, Tucans, Macaws and other birds :)

                          Copan Ruinas is covered in cobblestone streets and ranks in the top 3 of my favorite villages visited on this trip so far. Juayua is still no.1 on that list, partly also because Copan Ruinas draws in many more tourists. I came without any reservations and the only hostel I had gathered some information before was fully booked. I ended up staying in Don Moises for the first night, located very close to the center. It has a really cheap restaurant for food just in front, providing excellent value for the money spent.

                          After checking in, I stopped a Tuc Tuc in front of the Hostel and told him to bring me to Macaw Mountain. I would walk the way down again because getting there is all up hill! Not long after, I find myself in my bathing shorts talking to the receptionist, only to be told that the swimming hole there is closed! Well, it’s down to “only” watch the birds then. As time passed by, I was more and more amazed by those birds actually. They put up a circuit for everyone to follow and you see all kinds of Parrots and Macaws before heading into the Tucan cage. Having them so close was really nice as I only saw them inside a cage so far. One of them even landed on my hand, apparently being very interested in my plastic bag – or maybe the marsmallows inside? Other people got jealous and wanted a picture of them and the Tucan though, so my plastic bag was passed on to everyone but he would never sit on anyone elses arm :)

                          I walked the Sendero National Trail afterwards but other than walking through a lot of spider webs, nothing else really happened there. I would say you could skip that trail and head straight to the end point of the standard route instead. If you come to the right time, somebody will be there to place a Macaw on your head. I was there at the right time just before they would go to sleep and my Macaw friend was really active, screaming at me so we ended up in a little battle haha. Back in town, I naturally had to check out a German bar called “Sol de Copan”. The German owner imported everything he needs to brew his own beer there according to the German purity law. He served me a Christmas beer, which tasted like a normal lager though. Nothing special but it was nice to talk to an authentic German “Gastwirt” again :)

                          >> Pictures

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                            Live #33, Copan Ruinas, Honduras



                            04/02/2015 Seems like I was one of the first people to ever walk the brand new El Tigre Trek into Corcovado National Park, due to open this Thursday! We saw a lot of animals, including a Coral Snake, and didn’t even had to pay the 15$ entrance fee because of the fact that the trail is not open yet. This is the 2nd part of my Copan Ruinas Update, now actually reporting from the Maya ruins giving the town it’s name. Oh, and you will also see a lot of Scarlet Macaws again :) Have to keep it short though because I got a boat to catch in a few minutes!

                            Walking into the Copan Ruins was really nice as you will spend a good half hour to capture all the Scarlet Macaws on Photos and/or Video first. Entering the main square and heading towards the right, I quickly spotted to the first artifacts and sculptures. The site is known for having a lot of those and it actually gives it a special touch after all the other Maya ruins I visited before. The ruins itself in Copan were not as impressive as the ones of Calakmul, Tikal or Becan, but still rank upon my personal top 5 for sure. They also have some tunnels there to explore, however it was charged extra and due to the fact that those tunnels were dug by archaeologists and not the Maya themselves, it did not seem to terribly interesting to me.

                            After the ruins, I had another nice walk in the nature path just before the exit. It’s basically a big loop that will take you into the thicker forest close to the ruins. I saw a lot of cool trees, including the biggest Ceiba tree that I have seen so far, and a leaf that appeared to be hovering over the ground. No matter how close I was looking, I could not spot the spiderweb or whatever hold the leave up in the air. They also did a good job putting up a few signs every now and then to explain a bit about the Maya culture in this particular area. After saying good bye to the Macaws, I headed back to town and enjoyed a quiet night in the new place on the outskirts of town. Don Moises was nice for the first night, but unfortunately it is also located right next to the main bars in town, making it a bit harder to sleep.

                            >> Pictures

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                              Mit was wie einem Budget bezahlst du die ganze Weltreise?

                              Sorry falls das schon mal gefragt wurde

                              Kommentar


                                Zitat von Provieh
                                Mit was wie einem Budget bezahlst du die ganze Weltreise?

                                Sorry falls das schon mal gefragt wurde
                                Er hat schon genug gearbeitet.

                                Mit freundlichen Grüßen Tak3r

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