The Travel Chronicles

I did a couple of video clips on this trip and I have a couple of funny video from last year (3wks hoping around Brazil).

 Here is my “final testiment” last year when I went hang gliding in Rio:

CLICK HERE FOR Final Testament Video Link

And riding buses in Nicaragua..you never know what some people will bring along the ride:

CLICK HERE FOR Nicaragua Bus Link

Well guys just wanted to let you know I back home.  I had a great time traveling about with lots of stories to tell.

Just wanted to share some more pics of Salvador…here is one i ripped off

 The lighthouse in the center is where the New Year’s eve and New Year’s Day concerts are held.  I love this pic because it shows you how you are never far from the beach in Salvador.

Here is me with Paulo a bahian here for New Year’s Eve and Carnival.. thanks for the beer!!

Here is me and Sinval, the owner of the section of the social beach where we hung out…I should have asked to see if I could have bought a t-shirt:

 Special thanks to meu herói…you know who you are

Hey everyone…I haven’t been doing tourisy stuff this trip. I have been just chilling on the beach everyday. New Years Eve was incredible as usual!! Check out my roomates before we went out, the one on the left is one of our bahian friends:

I had a late late night(lol). Did you know that the moon sets here the same way as the sun. It even turns yellow as it sets into the ocean. After midnight there is a fireworks show from barges in the ocean…then I ran into the ocean to take a midnight swim.

When I came out a priestess bless me and anointed me with this great smelling oil. You won’t believe the tan lines I have…I’m literally a “Sexual Chocalate”…check out those tan lines…this was in the Pelerino(sp??) historic district at a concert:

Tuesday nights   are really hoping there…they had like 6 different concerts going on at the same time…so you know it was really packed.

We had a really fun time at the beach hanging with our Bahian friends constant drinks and laughs..heres  me with crazy Diego:

And heres one walking back to the condo:

I had a great time traveling I can~t believe I only have one full day left.  Im leaving the morning of the 5th and I´ll definetly treasure the great times I had.  Maybe I´ll post another entry…if not call me for the real details when I get home :0

Hey guys!!

 I have spent everyday at the beach here in Salvador.  I am even running into people I met last year!!  Me and on of my flatmates Nigel spent the past 5 hours just sunning and swimming on the very crowed beach of Porto Barra.  Yesterday me and one of my bahian pals (thats someone from Salvador) went to this very chill spot…hardly no one was there!!

 Salvador is surrounded by three side by ocean so there are plenty of beaches to go see.  This guy named Sinval sells beach chairs and umbrellas.  He really took care of Nigel and me.  He even said tomorrow I don~t even had to pay for my chair (which costs 2 Reals or 1 doller) or umbrella (which costs 3 Reals or 1.50 US dollars).  I got vendors to sell my grilled cheese, shrimp, water and coconut ice cream. 

One of the people from the UK never stepped foot on the beach so we took her today and she loves it.  In fact she said “Candis, please get me tomorrow!!”

This trip to Brazil this time seems so familar.  Im know the customs and how to haggle things down.    However speaking spanish in Nicaragua has my Portuguese sounding terrible.  I am speaking with a spanish accent!!

 Here are some pics from yesterday at the chill beach at sunset.

I wore this loong skirt to the beach so I could lay on it…when I shook off the sand one of my friends just had to take a picture:

 Well gotta run…have to rinse this sand off me now.  And Feliz Ano Nueve (Happy New Years)!!

Just wanted to drop a note to let you know that I make it to Brazil. I had to fly back to the US in Houston then fly to Sao Paulo in Brazil then fly this brazilian airline to Salvador. That all took 36 hours!!

I had to haggle with the taxi driver because he wanted me to pay 75 Reals!! You shouldn~t pay no more than 50 Reals from the airport. We finally agreed on 40 Reals.

I met my british friends whom Im sharing a rented condo with and went out to celebrate my arrival.

Well sorry guys no pics…Im going to a calm beach and relax today. Posts coming maybe an a day or so.

As you can see, Nicaragua is a beautifully place with warm people.  I had to say goodbye to Nneka this morning which really was a bummer.  She took a picture of us before I got on the plane though:

And as I flew away I looked out of the window and saw the lakes and volcanoes Nicaragua is famous for – this is a pic of Volcanoe Masalya which as you can see is active.  In fact it blows smoke and gas out everyday and is a common sight:

That wraps up my Nicaragua recap…stay turned for Brazil 🙂

The last day Nneka’s host parents took me on a drive around the countryside outside of Managua.  We hit up several little towns and on the way I got some wonderfull scenic views:

They visited thier godson whose father is a farmer.  He grows, coffee, banannas and pineapples.  This region of Nicaragua is known as the Valley of the Pineapples.  Here is me with the farmer with my pineapple I picked myself as well as a view of the Pineapple Valley:

We also saw a Laguna whose water is kept warm by the volcanic activity.  This was Sandino’s favorite place to meditate:

We also visited his birthplace.

Christmas is really celebrated on Christmas Eve. Me and sis headed back to Managua to join the host family for the celebrations. Presents are opened at midnight and dinner is served later in the evenign (around 10pm). While waiting finger food is available to keep the munchies away while people set off fireworks. Everybody has a Nativity scene. This is the prettiest one I saw:

They also have this folklore that’s performed evry year for Christmas. The neighbors even held a version of this performance Click on the link below to see a video of the performance…sorry that it’s so dark but hey it’s 11:30 pm!

CLICK HERE FOR Christmas Video Link

Grenada was a cute little historic town.  It is actually considered the oldest city in the new world!!  It has been rebuilt for eathquake damage and fires.  Even a dude from Tennesse was a dictator here before he lost a war and decide to leave the town blazing.  Despite of all this the city has managed to rebuilt its old world charm and is quite walkable:

I also hung out at this place for lunch that had a crazy sign:

Well guys I’m swinging back to the US for a long layover to visit one of my college friends. The next couple of posts will be recaps of Nicaragua.

A\If some of you didn’t know, Ortega was re-elected as Nicaragua’s president. He is well known in the civil war the ravaged the country in the 80’s. The people I talked to are cautionsly optimistic while some are exicted. I guess a wait and see approach will have to take place. Here is a road sign left from the election(I think it’s weird the party’s color is pink):

As my sis said “Who know a bycycle could be a family car!!”  I’ve seen four people on one bike!!  One on the handlebars, 1 on the crossbar, 1 on the seat and one in the rear.  Even though I could get the on film…here is a two seater:

Speaking of transportation, they use our school buses and transportation between cities.  Don’t get it twisted there are nicer buses for longer trips, but this is the norm for 1-2 hour jaunts.  They paint them fancy colors, throw some rims on and roll out: