Selected Posts
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I didn't get charged any exit tax in Panama, but I paid about the same for my onward ticket which the Costa Rican guards didn't even ask forHellooooooooo Costa Rica!
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The tricky bit is, this actually is the official Costa Rican exit tax office (according to my map app)Seems Legit
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Almost 24 hours exactly after I set off from Puerto Lara, I'm finally here and ready fot a shower and a sleepRolling Up to the Caribbean
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Mirador Piedra Cocles
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Mirador Piedra Cocles #2
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Beach Walk
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I've Graduated from Showering with a Coconut Shell to Showering out of a Cement-y Conch
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Better to Have a Plan and Not Need It, I Guess
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¡Chili Guaros!
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There Are Spider Webs Up to the Power Lines
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Jolly Pleasant Cycle Ride to Manzanillo
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I only realised the date yesterday, and as luck would have it there's an Irish pub across the road from my hostel...🍀 Día de San Patricio 🍀
Fill to me the parting glass/And drink a health whate'er befalls/And gently rise and softly call/Goodnight and joy be to you all
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Nice View from My Hostel Window
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I've only been back in this country for a few days and I've already bust a hole in my wallet trying to fit all these massive coins in itLook at This Pirate Doubloon Nonsense
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5 Hours on the Bus Without a Seat (Again)
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If by ‘uneventful’ you mean ‘I accidentally followed a group of Venezuelans on a lengthy hike around the border wall, and then realised I had accidentally snuck into Nicaragua.’Another Uneventful Border Crossing
The Immigration girl was very nice though and sent me back to Costa Rica the short way to get my exit docs sorted.
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Here I am; Lake NicaraguaHello Muddah, Hello Fadduh
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The Phrase
Taking a Boat Downriver
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Perhaps My Prettiest Hostel Balcony View Yet
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...but what a lovely street it isThis Town Only Has One Street
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Riverside Path
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A Massive Cock
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The horror, the horrorCanoeing Downriver
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Stopped for a Paddle
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Shine on you crazy yellow diamond.When All the Other Trees Zig, You Zag Baby
[Photo credit: Heike Schneider]
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The Daisy is the Hope of the Grass
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Sunset Castillo
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Through the Window
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Castillo View #1
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Thank God for burst modeCatching a Text-based Flag Perfectly Mid-flap So as to be Readable: Quite Tricky
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El Castillo
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Castillo View #2
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Castillo View #3
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Castillo Library
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Castillo View #4
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I Think I'm Slightly Addicted to This American Life
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Nicaragua, prepare to get documented.I Finally Figured Out How to Update OpenStreetMap Data from the Mobile App.
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Hehehehe
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The First Step is the Easiest...
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Longbird is Looooooong
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Boat Grove
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Untitled
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Snappin' Snaps
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And trying to decide if it's a good idea to go on an overnight hike without sleepingAfter a Whole Night of Chicken Buses, I'm Finally in León
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I Think We All Know How That Decision Went
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But that turned out well, because I got to volcano boarding on my first day of work insteadActually, I Slept Through the Departure of the Overnight Trip
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Wholesome Group Shot
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En Route to El Hoyo
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El Hoyo Sunrise
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Along the Shores of Lake Asososca
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And, as far as I can tell, still (partially) active as suchMy Home for the Next Month
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Telica Sunrise
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View from León Cathedral
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Sunset from León Cathedral
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Trees Die on Their Feet
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Telica Hike
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Cerro Negro Ridge
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Another Day, Another Beach Sunset
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El Hoyo Sunrise
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Cathedral Roof Team Selfie
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Glad that's all cleared upAhhh, So I Have to Trust My Way up the Staircase of Compassion In Order to Share Knowledge
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6 months in, and I've come down with a rough ol' case of man flu; I'm sure hiking up volcanoes every day isn't helping my recovery.Finally Got Sick
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Peparing Dinner by Fairylight on Top of El Hoyo
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Living. The. Dream.Drinking Cheap Rum Out of Sweetcorn Tins
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El Hoyo Campsite
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Lake Asososca Gang
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Cresting the Cerro Negro Ridge
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Every photo I took that day looked like something from the Everest summit that year when a bunch of people died queueingCerro Negro Congestion
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Best Roommates
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Freshly laid this morning, just look at their little umbilical cordsNew Roommates!
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The Absolute State of This Volunteer House
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My now-17,000-locations-long trip is clearly pushing against the limits of what my tracking app can handle, so expect less regular updates from hereon out as I get fed up with it constantly crashingWe Are Encountering Technical Difficulties
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Fun Fact: Occasionally People Ride Motorcycles Through Our Accommodation and Dining Areas
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Da Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na... Bat Cave!
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Tan Precioso
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The End of a Hard Day's Telica-ing
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Hitchhiker
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A Boy and His Dog
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Traffic Obstruction Encountered
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When you wish upon a sarnieeeee 🎶Cute Spanish Typos
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The other damaged buildings have been restored. Was this one missed, or left as a reminder? Or to send a message?Unrepaired Bullet Holes from 2018
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This mural depicts the dragon of the USA, through the CIA and the Guardia Nacional (GN, the militia of the US-backed Somoza dictatorship prior to its overthrow in 1979), oppressing the people of Nicaragua. On the left, a builder climbs towards the Nicaraguan Constitution while the right depicts a Sandinista guerrilla, a campesino (farmer) and a student, the three core constinuencies of the revolution. The 'ABC' refers to the Nicaraguan Literacy Campaign, and the ballot box represents the Nicaraguan people's (oft-thwarted) dreams of democracy.León Street Mural
Propaganda, to be sure, and the FSLN certainly have their own skeleton-filled closets, but it's also a pretty accurate summation of the 20th century for Nicaragua. The US brutalised this country for well over a century, whether in the form of William Walker, the Somoza dictatorship or Reagan's backing of the Contras following the revolution.
And however much the Revolution has been betrayed today, there is no denying the genuine achievements of the FSLN, particularly early on. The Literacy Campaign directly involved a fifth of the country's population and lowered the illiteracy rate from 50–90% by 35–55% (depending on area). Nicaraguans can still access free healthcare and education (including university) today, though there are of course caveats and the quality reflects Nicaragua's reality as the second-poorest country in the Western hemisphere (after Haiti).
All this makes the current course of the revolution, and the current state of Nicaragua, particularly tragic. But our walking tour guide was optimistic: with its young population, bountiful natural resources and an often-demonstrated resilience, he looked forward to a near future when he could introduce tourists to thebest of times
in Nicaragua.
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Only cost me $5 for the privilege, and I had to drink it out of this ‘Manchester bellend’-style glassware.My First Proper Beer in 6 Months
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Biting Off More Than He Can Chew
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Get Out of My Laundry
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Kittens in a Tree
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El Hoyo Sulphur Vent
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Above the El Hoyo Crater
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Personality Test: Are You a ‘Coffee with Milk’ or a ‘Milk with Coffee’ Kinda Hombre?
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That's One Way to Keep Your Football Pitch Grass Cut
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An interesting comment to hear given that my next stop after Nicaragua is, um, CubaNicaragua Will Be the Next Cuba
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There's such a weird siege mentality to the expat architecture here that I haven't seen anywhere else in Central AmericaPop Quiz: Is This a Fortress or an Expat-owned Coffee Shop?
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Dinner with a View
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Imagine you're just living here in your little Nicaraguan fishing village when, suddenly, some shitty expat shows up, buys up some prime beachfront property, erects a massive imposing wall around it and then tops the wall with a bunch of broken glass bottles.Get the Molotovs
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Dinner with Juli
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El Tránsito Sunset
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Nica Ingenuity: Air Conditioning
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Room for One More
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Has Science Gone Too Far?
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We've had lots of adventures and many nice brews together, but unfortunately I've not used you once this trip and you're just a little too bulky and awkward to fit inside my bag for the flights. Plus, I think you were only a tenner from Mountain Warehouse.Farewell, Erstwhile Thermos
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Nicaraguan border checkpoint: big concrete building surrounded by nothing.Gotta Love the Jarring Shift in Foliage Density Coming Back to Costa Rica from Either of its Neighbours
Costa Rican border checkpoint about 50m away: series of small building nestled within jungle -
It's 23:30 local time and my flight isn't until 06:00, so it looks like I'm sleeping on these lovely cold tiles tonight because there's not an item of furniture in this whole place!I Learnt Nothing from Florida Fort Lauderdale
