en route to Manizales

Crumbling homes cling onto impossible inclines as their deteriorating walls struggle to support their own weight. Our bus slingshots around switchback curves over the crest and down into the fog looming over the green valley. The sun breaks through casting golden highlights on the terraced mountain sides. The driver seems to have physic abilities to predict oncoming cars as the swerves to pass trucks on the two lane road with blind corners at every turn.

Encontramos ORO en Minca

Where to begin...

My day has started just before 7 am. I took the short and muddy walk down from La Casa de Andres to Oscar´s house to recieve some therapuetic Shiatsu. His porch not only overlooks Colombian jungle canopy but also Santa Marta. I much prefer the city from here.

Blink Think

It was but one inner moment
some small, spark of forlorn mysticism
that I began to come to
How in the tender, enticing, and fleeting aspects of time
the perceptions of humanity roll over each other, confront one another
to bespeak of a past long forgotton

As I sit among the swaying palm trees
the golden light glistens through the sharp leaves
I take in heavy breaths and exhale a deep, damp fog over myself
The crickets begin their songs and the town falls into a quiet slumber before the night owls
begin their screeching calls. High in the black sky the ancient navigators wink their eyes and I know now
this is the time when I will grow most.  My neck hairs prickle into dozens of bumps and my ideas ebb and flow
An enchanted garden planted within my soul stirs and all that lies before my eyes is wonder, excitement, and adventure.
Find yourself says I, accept a new way of living, untie those restless nots and let the inner troubles of your soul dissolve.

Yohan

.: out to sea with impetus :.

Capt. Arvid Mykjaland

The time is 4:37 am and we have all maybe slept for an hour at most. We crawl out of bed and go through our routine of packing our bags. This small ritual has become an art form, especially since everything we own is carried on our backs like turtles. If done incorrectly we feel more like donkeys.

Tip of the Iceberg

   Crossing back to Costa from Nicaragua required four buses, and a ferry ride...by 8am Steph and I were holding on for dear life off the back of a chicken bus literally overflowing with bodies headed for the boarder. Somehow they managed to stuff Katie into the 6 inches of cubic space remaining. The locals thought it was absolutely hilarious that the gringas had to hang off the side like regular ol nicas.

Adios Ometepe con agradecimiento...

 ¨Now that my heart is open it cannot get closed or broken.¨

-taken from Ivan in La Fortuna, Costa Rica

Even though there are times when this statement may not seem entirely true, there are experiences that continue to open our hearts and create space for more love and compassion.

El ultimo atardecer en Ometepe

"Out of the midst of the beautiful lake Nicaragua spring two magnificant pyramids, clad in the softest and richest green, all flecked with shadow and sunshine, whose summits pierce the billowy clouds. They look so isolated from the world and its turmoil, so tranquil, so dreamy, so steeped in slumber and eternal repose. What a life one might make among their shady forests, their sunny slopes, their breezy dells, after he had grown weary of the toil, anxiety and unrest of the busteling, driving world..."
             Mark Twain, 1867 'The Twin Mountains' on his trip to Ometepe

It is easy to forget that there is a world outside the island of Ometepe... The sun rises and sets, and the days pass with a fresh breath of tranquility. Digging in the dirt brings about a childlike nostalgia...memories of times when being covered in mud was an accomplishment to be proud of.

Ometepe: A Land of Wonder

                                                                             October 27, 2010           4:58 pm

We've just caught the ferry from Ometempe and we are headed towards the mainland of Nicaragua.  From atop the ferry, two breath taking views battle to captivate our senses: on one side we have the volcanic island of Ometepe located in the heart of Lake Nicaragua; on the other, the setting sun, lighting the sky with warm colors of orange and pink, like fresh brush strokes from the hands of an abstract artist.  The two volanoes that make up the island, Conception and Maderas, are often depicted as the breasts of a woman--pressumably Mother Nature who nourishes the land and the people.

Embracing rainy season & travel days...

Next we decided to go further north to La Fortuna, a small town at the base of volcan Arenal.  We tried our luck with Couch Surfers and were fortunate to find Ivan, a gentle and spiritual thirty-two year old man originally from Mexico.  He was gracious enough to open up his one bedroom cabina to four girls, three Americans and one German.

Some beautiful people, places and ideas we've encountered along the way

Hmm...let's rewind to a few weeks ago, starting with Punta Uva.  It's the most exquisite beach pueblo located in the depths of the jungle.  The town is about 6km south of Puerto Viejo on the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica. A narrowly carved path that hardly accommodated the local bus guided us through lush, tropical rainforest and led us to Walaba Cabina, the most eccentrically decorated, quaint abode that would become our home for nearly a week. 

Empieza con Gratitud

Un día que camines agradecido es un día que progresa positivamente.

Cuando sinceramente valoras donde estás y lo que tienes- grandiosamente- se expanden todas las posibilidades.

Empieza con un pensamiento de gratitud y conéctate con la abundancia de la Creación que te rodea.

Siempre hay halgo por lo cual estar infinitamente agradecido. El simple acto de permanecer en agradecimiento activa un momentum productivo para el mundo.

Enfocando nuestras pensamientos en aspectos positivos de nuestra vida creas una influencia para que crezcan y se multipliquen.

... This was posted in our cabina in Punta Uva, and is a simple yet incredibly inspiring piece of advice for everyone...

Start with gratitude.

A day that begins with gratitude is a day that progresses positively.

When you sincerely appreciate where you are and what you have, you will greatly expand your own possibilities.

Start with a grateful thought and connect yourself with the abundance of Creation that surrounds you.

There is always something for which to be infinitely thankful. The simple act of being thankful ignites a productive momentum throughout the world.

Focusing our thoughts in the positive aspects of our lives creates an influence through which you can grow and multiply.

May your day be full of thankful thoughts and beautiful energy.

love to all,
j

Sobre Las Olas

Cahuita is a laid back little caribeño town in southern Costa Rica. We arrived as a group of five early friday morning after a five hour bus ride from San Jose. Fleeing the rain that is flooding the rest of the country, we welcomed the heat and sweat as we wandered through the dirt roads in search of lodging. To our delight we found some cabinas al frente del mar with a yard full of palm trees and hammocks! La Señora, Mercedes was a delightful woman as she sat on the porch sewing clothes for herself and children. The niños showed us their fresh catch for the day; langosta (lobster) as the gatos looked on expectantly.

Hola! I figured this would all feel real once I got to DIA, or when I was on the plane.  If not on the plane, then certainly when I landed.  But even as I am eating my diner of Casado (un plato tipico en Costa Rica) on an unnamed street corner, this all still feels like a dream.

In the beginning...

I would like to start by sharing an excerpt from a book I found randomly in a used book store a couple years ago... I feel it is very appropriate as we set out for the unknown...


"Travels with a Donkey" - Robert Louis Stevenson 1879


My Dear Sidney Colvin,


     The journey which this little book is to describe was very agreeable and fortunate for me. After an uncouth beginning, I had the best of luck to the end. But we are all travelers in what John Bunyan calls the wilderness of this world-- all too, travelers with a donkey; and the best that we find in our travels is an honest friend. He is a fortunate voyager who finds many. We travel, indeed, to find them. they are the end and the reward of life. They keep us worthy of ourselves; and when we are alone, we are only nearer to the absent.
     Every book is, in an intimate sense, a circular letter to the friends of him who writes it. They alone take his meaning; they find private messages, assurances of love, and expressions of gratitude, dropped for them in every corner. The public is but a generous patron who defrays the postage. Yet though the letter is directed to all, we have an old and kindly custom of addressing it on the outside to one. Of what shall a man be proud of if he is not proud of his friends? And so, my dear Sidney Colvin, it is with pride that I sign myself affectionately yours,
             R.L.S.      


..............................


So with this note we officially begin our journey. The rest is yet to come...