La Isla de Ometepe, La Finca El Zopilote

One of many beautiful sunsets looking out at Volcan Concepcion

I have spent 12 days on the island of Ometepe in Lake Nicaragua. For the first 6 days (not including Sunday) I volunteered in the garden in exchange for a free lunch. The garden is entirely run by volunteers so it´s pretty small, very little direction and therefore very little to do. But when I was working I made a compost mixture, prepared beds, thinned and reorganized overgrown tomato plants, watered, sprayed neem oil, and made cob for a cob bench.

Looking down on the garden. On the right is a gray water filter system.

One day Paul and Travis, the other volunteers and Cristiano and Daniela the Italian owners and I all hiked up the volcano to the ´water project´. After hiking up for 2 hours we arrived at the water project where 20 workers were creating a 4km long water pipe. They set up a dam, and a water filter and will bring water down to the community from way up in the hills. It was incredible to see the things they carried up on their backs- cement, heavy pipes, tree limbs, etc. They were using tree limbs to hoist up the pipes. It was really incredible to watch (all the boys attempted to help but I stayed out of the way). I must say I felt a little out of place being the only woman where all these men were hard at work.

Men at work

After work I have enjoyed spending my time with all the other guests at the hostel. There is a great lookout (mirador) built at the top of the property with a great view for sunsets and star gazing. There´s also a nice beach to sunbathe and swim in the fresh water lake. Three times a week it´s pizza night! The Italians built a pizza oven and serve up amazing Italian style pizza. I have helped out 2 of the nights, serving pizza to guests (and therefore earning a free pizza!) On other days I have checked out the area surrounding the hostel. There are several other farms nearby that I have visited. Most days I make a trip down the hill to one of the little stands to buy tomatoes, onions, cucumbers, eggs and things... the food available is very limited on the island so I am reduced to eating beans a rice very very often.

Just another day at the beach

My friend Sarah, whom I met in Costa Rica met up with me at Zopilote on Saturday. On Sunday, Sarah, Paul, Lisa and I climbed the smaller of the two volcanoes on the island- Volcan Maderas. It took 8 hours round trip and it was grueling. Once we got to the top it was all worth it though. The view was incredible and the feeling of accomplishment grand. We were very lucky to find sunshine when we reached the top (normally there's a thick cloud cover); so we sunbathed by the lake before heading back.

Enjoying a bird's eye view

Sarah (Quebec), Lisa (Germany), Paul (Denver) and I by the lake in the crater of Volcano Maderas

After a day of recovery Sarah and I left Ometepe en route to the Pacific coast. I really enjoyed my time at Zopilote and will miss all the wonderful people I met there, but I'm glad to be near the ocean again. We took a little boat, called a lancha, from the island and the ride was terrible. It was so windy and the lake (more like an ocean) was incredibly rocky. I thought we were going to capsize many times. Sarah and I started out by sitting on the bow of the boat, but after a massive wave soaked us we moved inside downstairs. At one point we came across an abandoned fishing boat with no oars and no one inside. The crew decided to rescue the fishing boat so one guy jumped into the torrential lake and swam to the boat and tied a rope to it. Then as we began towing the tiny boat our boat really started to rock. That's when Sarah and I began strapping our passports and money on us, preparing to go overboard. We never did capsize, but it was all very exciting (and a bit terrifying).

Distressed passengers below deck

After the boat ride (which was preceded by a bus ride) Sarah and I opted to take a taxi the rest of the way. We arrived in San Juan del Sur safe and sound and exhausted. We watched the sunset then enjoyed some fish tacos and mojitos in our hostel's roof top bar. The plan for the week: beach!Sunset in San Juan del Sur

Costa Rica Pictures

¡Adios America!

Playa Langosta in Tamarindo

Howler monkeys in the trees!
Hostel where I stayed in Tamarindo ´La botella de leche´
My Tamarindo crew Sarah from Quebec, Mike from BC, Andrew from BC and Eric from Miami

En route to la Isla de Ometepe in Nicaragua. I´ve spent the past week close to the smaller of the two volcanoes.

The dorm where I am sleeping while working on la finca Zopilote
http://www.ometepezopilote.com/

The journey continues.. Costa Rica!

I left off last in Spain and that was back in December. Since then I spent 3 wonderful months at home enjoying comfort and luxury and my parent's wonderful company.

But alas, the time had come to leave the freezing winter and get to sunny, beautiful, Costa Rica. I left on February 27th. I flew into San Jose and spent the night at a very cute hostel run by two lovely Costa Ricans (Ticos). The following morning I decided to get out of the city (didn't explore it at all) and head straight to the beach. After a grueling 7 hour bus ride (no air conditioning) I made it to Tamarindo- home of the gringos (white people). There are many tourists here but the beaches are so nice that it doesn't really bother me much. I have spent the past week making friends, hanging out at the beach and by the pool at my hostel. Needless to say, I'm in heaven!

On Monday I will move north to Playas del Coco and then on to Nicaragua where I will be working on a permaculture farm on la Isla de Ometepe.

Apologies in advance because it is not likely that I will update the blog very much while down here. The beach is just too tempting!

Hasta luego!

Quick Re-cap

I have been terrible at updating the blog lately... seen a lot of places in a little time. So here's a quick re-cap of everywhere I've been in the last month:

But first, Das Boot in Germany! (no I did not order it... I just posed with it hehe)

Munich
I learned a lot about Hitler and the Holocaust. I visited a concentration camp, Dachau, as well as a few beer halls and a treasury full of jewels.

Entrance to Dachau Concentration Camp

Prague

I stayed at a wonderful hostel in Prague where I met many wonderful people. Prague was absolutely gorgeous. Because Hitler loved the city so much it remained pretty undamaged in WWII and it really shows. The buildings and the castle are mostly intact. I had the most incredible hot chocolate at a cute little family run cafe. It was more like drinking chocolate syrup and I of course had mine with chili pepper in it. The most amazing thing I did in Prague was see Don Giovanni at the theater where it was first preformed, conducted by Mozart himself in 1787.


Berlin

There was so much to see and do in Berlin. Most notable was wandering around admiring the street art. I also spent a very long day in the Deutche History Museum, where I learned all about the history of Germany from 100 B.C. to the present day. Also at the museum was a special exhibit all about HItler and the Nazi party. It is the first exhibit of it's kind- on that focuses on the Nazis rather than the sufferers of the Holocaust. I also learned a lot about Communism and the fall of the Berlin wall.

Location of many Nazi rallies

Amsterdam

In Amsterdam I met up with my friend Sophie whom I met in Munich, reunited with in Berlin and then hung out for a final time in Amsterdam. We rented bikes and rode around the city admiring the beautiful parks and tiny canal ridden streets. During a walking tour I saw the red light district, many coffee shops and a special celebration in the main square. In the Netherlands they believe that Saint Nicholas comes from Spain with his 'helpers'. The celebration involved singing dancing and everyone painted their faces black to represent the 'helpers'. A little racially unethical...but very interesting to see!



Bruges
Because I spent extra days in Munich, Prague and Berlin I only had 1 day to see Belgium and I chose to spend it in Bruges. And I'm so glad I did! It was a glorious sunny day in the beautiful medieval town of Bruges. The streets are lined with chocolate shops and lace shops. I went into every chocolate shop.. just to look... and smell. I treated myself to a waffle with powdered sugar and of course beer. I also wandered into a few cute Christmas shops. Overall just walking the streets was incredible because of the fall leaves and old buildings.


Barcelona

Though I spent 5 days in Barcelona, I didn't see as much as I should have because I was having a bit of an anti-tourism wind. After seeing so many places in such a short time I was a little burned out. Also the hostel where I stayed was incredibly comfortable with great staff, great guests and an endless supply of movies. However when I did get out I enjoyed the main boulevard La Rambla, the famous market La Boqueria, the Gothic quarter with many old buildings and churches and Park Guell. My favorite thing in Barcelona was Gaudi's famous unfinished cathedral- La Sagrada Familia. I have never seen anything like it- it was incredible. Though I was a terrible tourist in Barcelona, I did get a chance to experience the nightlife extensively. With my hostelmates I went to many different bars and clubs experiencing the scene like true Catalonians... leaving for the bar at 11:30pm, going to the clubs at 2am and partying until 6am. Que exhaustivo!


I am currently in Cadiz, just came from Granada. I will write again soon!
Only 2 weeks left! Dios mio! No puedo creerlo!

Austria

Austria has been quite a shock to the system. The first 2 days were rainy and freezing. Considering I’ve spent most of the last 5 months on beaches, 7 degrees Celsius is extremely cold. But I’m getting used to it and Vienna was gorgeous. I absolutely loved Vienna. Because I loved it so much, I spent 4 nights there. My hostel was amazing. It felt like a ski lodge but was brand new. There were guitars and a piano for the guests to play as well as a guest kitchen stocked full of spices and tea and oils, a cute courtyard and a bar. I met some great people here including Lois from England, Andrew from Australia, Andrew from New Zealand, Tom from New York and Bruno from Chile. One rainy night Lois and the two Andrews and I took the subway across town to a bar: B52s. Most of the people in the bar were dressed like 50s greasers and the music was all 50s music. Very fun to dance to. I had lunch with Bruno at a café where we had salad and a traditional Austrian dish. The dish was very good; it consisted of bread made into dumplings and scrambled eggs.

New friends ready for a night out

I went to the Leopold museum which had a great variety of art work including paintings by Klimt. I spent a lot of time in Vienna just wandering around admiring the old buildings and the parks with beautiful autumn colored leaves. I really like Austrians. They are extremely logical and efficient. They enjoy the outdoors a lot and are always put together and respectful of each other.

Beautiful autumn leaves

Kiwi Andrew and I spent a wonderful sunny day exploring the gardens of Vienna. We walked around the gardens at the old Hofburg Palace (the summer residence of a rich family back in the day). We also enjoyed the Belvedere Gardens (quite similar to the Palace) and we took a tram ride around the city centre. One night both Andrews and another friend, Adelaide from Melbourne and I went to the Opera. The opera playing was Cardillac and I must be honest- I had no idea what the plot was while watching it. It was all in German. It was extremely exciting to see an opera and especially in Vienna which is renowned for music.

At the Hofburg Palace

Later, at the traveler’s shack (bar made for young tourists)I kicked the boys butts at foosball, pool and a game involving a hammer and nail. Before heading off to Salzburg, I visited the Fine Arts Museum where I admired paintings from a few centuries ago by artists including Rembrandt, Raphael, Velazquez, etc.

Sound of Music? when you know the note to sing, you can sing most anything.

In Salzburg I saw many beautiful gardens and churches and some very special places that were featured in the Sound of Music! I also spent some time learning about Motzart since he was born in Salzburg.

Salzburg

Wwoofing in Israel

Enthusiastically planting never-ending rows of garlic

For the past 3 weeks I have been wwoofing on a farm near Netanya (20km north of Tel Aviv). Every morning I woke up at 5am and started work at 5:30am. We took a break around 9 or 10am for breakfast, then worked till 1:30pm. It was a big change from my normal traveling routine. The farmer is Amir and he and his wife, Orit, have three kids: Gilad (14), Idan (11) and Imbal (11). Every day after work Orit made us a delicious lunch and she always made sure to make something vegetarian for me. My roommate was Gaby from South Africa. We got along fabulously. For the first week on the farm there were two other wwoofers, David from Germany and Patrick from New York. The last week on the farm two girls, Laura and Jas, from London volunteered on the farm.

The farm is located only 5km from the Mediterranean so some days after work Gaby and I would bike down to the beach. We also spent our evenings going on runs- something I hadn’t done in 6 months! The farm work consisted of mostly mundane tasks. We planted a lot of garlic. A LOT of Garlic. We planted garlic for at least 4 hours a day for 2 weeks. Some days we planted for 8 hours. We also washed and bagged lettuce, sheared and bagged corn, planted onions, and weeded strawberries. Exciting, I know.

Beach at Netanya

Amir’s policy on the farm was that if you don’t leave on the weekend you work. Quite a stupid policy for volunteers, but alas I had to comply. My first weekend away I went to Tiberias on the Sea of Galillee. It was a beautiful area. My second weekend away Gaby and I went even farther north to Qiryat Shmona near the Golan Heights. We spent most of our time at the Jordan River. The river was incredibly cold, but it was lovely to lie in the grass soaking up the sun then float down the river for awhile.

My overall experience on the farm was good. I enjoyed staying in one place for three weeks, the work was not demanding, and I loved having the beach so close. The downsides were the weekend policy, the tedium of the tasks and the stinginess of the owners. We were only give certain foods and had to beg for fruit. There were two permanent workers from Thailand on the farm- Goon and Lompoon. They were incredibly nice and funny and made the work more enjoyable.

Gaby and the Thai's having dinner (pad thai)

During my stay on the farm I celebrated my 24^th birthday. The day was much like the others- worked 8 hours. For lunch Orit made me a carrot chocolate chip birthday cake and they gave me some Dead Sea lotions which were extremely nice. Gaby and I watched a movie and drank a glass of wine- too tired to do much else and knowing we had to get up at 5am the next day. The best part of my birthday was all of the messages I received wishing me a happy birthday. They made me feel special.

Jas and Laura packing lettuce (Gaby in the background is washing)

It was hard leaving Israel and therefore leaving summer. It was also hard because at the airport they are ridiculously strict (especially when you are leaving). As a female solo traveler I was asked many questions and every item in my bag was checked and swabbed. So much for my nice packing job. Alas I am out and in Vienna, Austria. It’s freezing here. But, I’m excited to continue my journey. Only 6 weeks left!

p.s. this was a double update since I'm so behind. see Ein Kerem and En Gedi below.

Ein Kerem and En Gedi

Ein Kerem

After Yom Kippur I traveled back to Jerusalem to a little town 20min from the city centre called Ein Kerem. There I stayed with my friend Aya whom I met working on the vineyard in Italy. Aya was house sitting for a painter (originally from New Jersey). The house was gorgeous and full of the woman’s paintings. I stayed in a room that was previously a watering hole. It resembled a cave and it was the coolest place in the house. I spent many days just hanging around the house reading, watching movies and making sushi. One night we did some Israeli folk dancing. Aya was under the impression that there would be a 30min demonstration before the dancing commenced. That didn’t exactly happen. When the dancing began it started slowly and we were able to follow along a little bit. As the night progressed the dancing got harder and harder and we were unable to keep up. It was incredible to watch around 50 people doing dance after dance- all different- and everyone knew all the steps! I don’t know how they managed to remember all that.

Aya (girl far left) and her friends at a cafe for coffee

Ein Kerem has a lovely church- the Church of the Visitation. Also nearby are lovely natural springs that Aya and I hiked to. We went to the market and to her friend’s houses and had an overall wonderful time. One day I took the bus to Bethlehem. There I saw where Jesus was born- at the Church of Nativity. Apparently Jesus was not born in a manger; he was born in a cave (or as Wikipedia says, a manger in a cave). The church was built in 535 and is therefore incredibly old and not so glorious anymore. I also saw the Milk Grotto Chapel- a cave like church where Mary, when breastfeeding Jesus spilled a drop of milk which turned the cave white. And last but not least I saw the Shepherd’s Field, where the Angels told the shepherds keeping watch over their sheep that Jesus was born. Getting into and out of Bethlehem required passing through security and border control (because Bethlehem is in Palestinian territory), but it was easy and I had no problems.

The very spot where Jesus was born (in a manger in a cave)

En Gedi

After En Kerem I made my way south to En Gedi on the Dead Sea! The water in the sea is so salty that nothing can live in the water and you can float on top of the water. The mud has lots of nutrients that are good for your skin, so I rubbed it all over my skin. Afterwards my skin was silky smooth. I also did some hiking near the Dead Sea. I hiked to a few waterfalls and pools. It was incredibly hot and so the water was very refreshing.

Next I headed down south to Eilat on the Red Sea. I was right on the border of Egypt. I didn’t go to Egypt because it’s not really safe for a girl to go alone. Eilat has lots of resorts and wasn’t really my cup of tea. The sea was nice and I always enjoy lying on the beach, but Eilat didn’t have much else to offer that I was interested in.

Covered in mud at the Dead Sea