All good things come to an end

So i guess this is it. The end of the trip.
Today is Monday 30th August and tomorrow ill be heading back to the land of cream teas and the queen, after over half a year half way across the world. Crazy.

I best your bursting to know what ive been up to in last 3weeks (or whatever)...maybe...so here it is.

My stay in Managua (capital of nicaragua) was suprisingly good (although i was staying with some rediculously boring australians) because we met some nice locals and had great food. This made me think about how you have to check places for yourself rather than completely relying on other folks opinions (everyone i met said Managua was real bad).
I then (after a amazingly long boarder crossing, but helped by two excellent canadians) made it into Costa Rica! The famous country of rainforests, beaches and dinosaurs.
Costa Ricas incredible. Its got an amazingly amount of national parks and biological reserves. Theres a large amount of americans tourists and expats in the expected places, but once you get away its perfect.
Stayed in Liberia for a night because i had to (where after i asked the hostel man where i could eat for muy barato (cheap), he gave me a 20min speech about how costa ricans are rich and all walk around in fred perry tshirts and i will have to get used to spending more. I got a meal for C1500 ($3) in the chinese).
I then made my way to Monte Verde. This is this amazing little town in the middle of cloudforest. The most popular thing to do there is ziplining, so naturally i had to do it. Really incredible times; attached to the wire, zipping over and through beautiful cloud forest. There was an especially memorable wire called 'The Superman'. Your attached by a harness on your back and feet so your lying in the air facing the ground. You then speed for 1km insanely high on this cable, but you cant see it and it was the most incredible feeling. The closest to flying im probably ever going to get...

When we got back (me and some cool folk from the ziplining) we hiked through the forest to a massive tree which was completely hollow on the inside with the roots forming a crazy maze/ladder in place of a trunk. i climbed up to the top. I felt like i was in Pans Labyrinth...amazing.

I then went on a nighthike in the Monte Verde cloudforest reserve, where we saw massive tarantulas, frogs, salamanders...


Next morning i was feeling educational so i went on a coffee farm tour which sure was coffee tastic (the best part of the tour was seeing a hummingbird).


I then headed to Alajuela where i stayed in a great hostel which was also an art studio and met some great germans, costa ricans and yanks. From alajuela its easy to get to Volcan Poas (the volcano you can drive to). After a testing 5 minute hike the crater was covered in cloud, but when it cleared it was incredible. Its got a acidy green crater lake which is bubbling and steaming furiously. It looked kind of like the beginning of life (or what i expect the beginning of life looked like).
There was a weird moment. whilst i was marveling at the crater, an american family were arguing about something hilariously stupid not even noticing the fact that there was an incredibly beautiful, natural masterpiece a few meters away. Due to the fact that i havent argued with anyone in 6.5months i found this strange behaviour, and i decided then that im never going to argue again.


Stayed in Sab Jose for a night in an excellent hostel with a swimming pool and rooftop bar. Met some brilliant folk- american girl i met in monte verde, and an English drama teacher and irish tour guide who together were taking 12 16yo's through central america. Very interesting, nice folk (they bought me beers and kept saying how everyone should be doing what im doing). After a 8 hour bus ride and a boat i arrived in Peninsula de Osa (the Osa Peninsula). I was there because i had heard from the mouths of several travellers that Corcovado National Park was the place to be. Corcovado is an area on the Osa Peninsula which was called 'the most bio-diverse place in the world' by national geographic. Its an area of primary tropical rainforest and beaches. After arranging with the hostel owners friend to guide us, i embarkked on a 4 day treck with a indian photographer, mexican and a german into the wild.

We all had to carry our food, clothes and water on our backs which made the trek even tougher. On the first day we walked only 2 hours to the first ranger station, but this was our entrance into the tropical rainforest and it was absolutely amazing.

The most pristine, dense rainforest ive seen, packed full of so much life its hard to handle- in this two hours we saw toucans, squirrel monkeys, hummingbirds, 'michael jackson birds', leafcutter and army ants, toads, spiders, snakes, parrots and many many other bird species (some endemic to Costa Rica). Also GLASS FROGS! These are amazing- you turn one upside down and its skin in translucent so you can see its heart beating.

The next day was tough- we trekked for 9.5hours from Los Patos rangers station to Sirena station. Your not allowed to do this route without a guide because its too dangerous. It was rediculiously muddy. probably the most muddy ive ever been. also the most tired. For sure the hardest walk ive ever done- a long way involving climbing over fallen trees, jumping over mud baths, wading through rivers and dodging colonies of army ants. The rainforest is so humid you start sweating after walking for 3 minutes. Just absolutely amazing how much you see (as well as gigantic trees with such crazily winding buttress roots they look like theyve been carved but a carpenter)- blue morphus butterflies (bigger than my head), hummingbirds, spider monkeys (throwing sticks at us), howler monkeys, giant orb spiders, wild pigs, many more unbelievably big ants, lizards, bats (including a crazy species which has evolved suction cups so it can stick inside a rolled up leaf), coaties....the list goes on. Also saw tapir, puma and jaguar footprints (its nearly the real thing..!) Day three we hiked around the rangers station and found a sloth, a crocodile, snake, iguana, anteater and pretty much all the other things.




Wondered over to the beach and watched an amazing sunset over the rainforest. Just when i was wondering how this could get any better, a turtle swam out of the sea and wondered up the beach towards us. This place is truly magical.
That night we managed to find a red eye tree frog (symbol of costa rica) which confirmed that we were indeed in costa rica and the real deal rainforest.
The final day we trekked for 8.5hours back along the beach and rainforest to Carate. Stunning scenery of the sea, beach and then wall of dense rainforest. Scarlet Macaws, parrots, white faced cappachin monkeys and finally a tapir! It was very massive and looked like what would happen if an elephant mated with a anteater.
4 different species of monkey we saw. This i found particulaly incredible (amazing to watch how they act in the wild. their like small hairy stick chucking lizard eating humans).





The amount of things we saw living in this perfect tropical rainforest really makes you marvel at nature and all the crazy things there are out there. i feel very lucky that i went to this place which many people would make it a lifelong goal to get to (or pay a lot of money), also the fact that the others became great friends by the end made it even better (if this is possible). This has got to have been one of the highlights of my trip.
Stayed 2 more nights in a local town with the mexican and indian (they bought me meals, drinks and a snorkelling trip because their amazing people) and the brilliant guide (Nito- he knew whatever you asked him and was a genius at finding stuff (literally he would notice something you would never even see with binoculars). He also made all the animal noises so they would come closer (i felt like i was in a david attenborough programme)).
What made it even cooler was that apparently this was where they filmed Jurassic Park.

Left the excellent land of the Rich Coast and headed to Panama. Very untouristy country and really beautiful. Stopped off in Bocos del Toro (archipelago on the caribbean) where i stayed in one of the best hostels. Activities: Partying every night, sleeping, swimming (deliciously clear water), hiring a guy to boat us over to amazing beaches on little islands, eating free pancakes... Went to this amazing party at 'Aqua Lounge' where we had to get a boat to get there. It had a sea swimming pool and was literally on the sea. amazing. met some really brilliant people (swedes (who cooked great food for me), germans, english, australian...).



And now here i am in my final spot, Panama City, which is really nice! There are massive sky scrapers but also really nice colonial parks and buildings.

I cant believe this is the end of the road. I cant even remember what englands like anymore (its hot and sunny right?!).
I remember one thing Alaster (cousin) told me before i left was that the people you meet in each place decides your experience more than the place itself, and i definitely agree. Ive met some of the best people of my life in the last 6.5months, friends for life that ill never forgot am sure ill see in the future. Amazing to think that you can become such good friends with people you only for a week or two (or day). So interesting to chat to people from so many different countries and learn about their cultures. It does remind you that there are so many brilliant people out there, and this is a main reason as to why i just want to travel more and more now, ofcourse as well to discover more incredible places in the world.
The things ive done blows my mind- most of which i never thought id do, and i cant even imagine if i had decided to not have a gap year...

The weird thing is everyone can do this, just save up some money and go (maybe easier said than done but still), and i dont understand why everyone doesnt. It has been the journey of a lifetime. Exceeded all expectations. and i feel like the luckiest guy in the world.

Con mucho amor mi amigos,
Simon

Volcano Boarding, Motorbiking & Hammerhead Sharking...

Its been a while i admit, and after a worried email or ten from the mum ive decided to update..
ALOT has happened in the last few weeks, and its up there with the best time of the trip.
After more fun times in Leon, involving hilariously random theatre in the parque central, amazing 1.50pound breakfasts (called Tipico: Gallo Pinto (rice and beans), plantains, cheese, coffee), real cool dutch, swedish and isrealie folks...and ofcourse VOLCANO BOARDING! This was amazing. So we hiked up Volcan Cerro Negro which is completely black from all the ash (its very active) with our boards (planks of wood with some rope), trekked through the crater which was really incredible...sulphur smelling steam all around you, rising up from the ground.



It looked like mars. If you touch the floor you can easily burn yourself. the view from the top was really amazing (you could see a string of volcanoes in the distance, and also where the ash suddenly stops and a line of forest begins). We then grabbed our boards, put on gloves, goggles and a suit, and boarded down the ash on the side of the volcano. Rediculously fun, and i went pretty darn fast. Bits of ash flicking up in your face, racing down the side of an active volcano with one of the best views ive seen...(am i making you jelous yet?). For sure something i never thought id do!

I ended up next in Granada, and more gringoie city which is pretty much the same as Antigua (guatemala) but not quite so good. Had an excellent time though, partying with nice germans, canadians and taiwanese and swimming in the hotel pool next door (it was insanely hot here...literally rediculous). I then made my way to Isla de Ometepe which is a island in the middle on Lago de Nicaragua, made up of two volcanoes. Absolutely incredible place with incredibly picturesque views wherever your head turns. The first day i saw some sort of fiesta where cowboys were attempting to ride angry bulls, with local kids spitting and throwing litter on them. interesting. Then in a place nearby (Charo Verde) I went for a hike and bumped into a group of howler monkeys who let me have lunch with them (i didnt eat their monkey food). On the way back i met some great canadian women (at least 50..) who offered to buy me a beer (ended up being 2 beers and some cake), and we chatted about politics. These are the things that keeps us lone travellers going!
Next place on the island was Santo Domingo where i met some friends from Leon (the brilliant Dutch girls and an american guy i met in Xela), where we decided to rent motorbikes. The motorbike guy told us the basics (this is the clutch, this is the brake, these are the gears....go!) and you catch on very quickly (well i did, but then again i guess im english..). This has got to have been one of the funnest things of the trip so far. We biked all around the island, through mud puddles, over rocks, through fields....with locals staring at us (suprised that gringos can ride motorbikes too..!). it was suprising easy and with the views of the volcanoes, an unforgettable experience.

When we returned, there was the most amazing sunset, with everything a weirdly beautiful orange.


Next day, me, judith (german girl who was on my bike) and mike went to Merida (otherside of the island) to climb half way up Volcan Maderas to a waterfall. Really brilliant with the giant waterfall and howler monkeys everywhere.

I then went and spent a day on an organic farm, where i saw an amazing sunset from a watchtower (involving the sun setting over the side of Volcano Concepcion, and fireflys lighting up all around you) and worked on the farm for 20% off my bed.

The bread and mango chutney here was incredible.

I then came back to Managua (the capital) and flew on a small plane to the Corn Islands. these are these amazingly perfect caribbean islands off the north coast of Nicaraga. i stayed in a beach hut for C$100 a night, where if i walked 5 seconds from my door, i would be at the sea.
It looked like what you imagine paradise to look like...perfect white sand beaches, coconut palms hanging over, incredibly clear water which was almost warmer than outside.


Spent many a day lying on the beach, swimming in the sea, climbing up trees to collect coconuts and then banging them on rocks to drink the milk and eat the flesh. I met some really brilliant people here (Darius&Martius the germans, Julie&Sif the danish, Fabio the brazilian, Rebecca&Trish and some more canadians), and apart from collecting coconuts, bread fruit and sleeping, little was done.
Ate some great food though; Ron Don (the local speciality- fish soup with lobster, fish, shrimps, plantains, uka...), more lobster, coconut bread..... So much fresh seafood im suprised i dont look like some sort of fish (including 2 barracuda, a king fish and a spanish mackerel which we caught!). Actually one meal we had was the fresh fish we caught that day from the sea, bread fruit id picked that day from the tree, and plantains picked from the island. I love the caribbean.
We stayed on little corn the whole time (theres big corn aswell, which is where im typing this from) because its alot nicer. The atomosphere is so friendly and relaxed (oh you want to go fishing? go and talk to Elvis in Bridgets place..etc). So you get to know the locals very quickly (many friends including Coconut man, fishing man, empanada man and hammock man).
We also went snorkelling (as theres an amazing coral reef next to the island), and finally saw a HAMMERHEAD SHARK! Yeah! Ive finally conquered my shark fear! It was quite far beneath us, but looked so amazing (and you could still see it really clearly because the water is perfectly clear)- massive and worryingly powerful (considering we paddled out in just a canoe).
Also went on a night dive, which was absolutely insane. Its completely dark so you have a torch. Loads of lion fish, also octopus, and masssssive turtle... Also there was a thing called Bioluminescence which is basically when all the little algae lights up all around you and you feel like your swimming through the stars. Really incredible.


And now here i am on Big Corn waiting for my flight back to Managua and from there ill head down to Costa Rica (tomorrow). I have a rediculously short amount of time left, its too depressing to think about (although dont worry i am looking forward to seeing you england folks).

Update next from the Rainforest! Adios de Simòn