Bye-Bye Dreaddies...

well.. was a black day in the history of dreadlocks, but actually was a welcomed change in the end ;)

it was just hopeless to win the battle against lice in such a thick and lush jungle of hairs on my head. Nits (eggs) hidden in big stems and dozens (probably not hundreds ;) of small little animals, feeding on my scalp.
another issue was that through very few maintenance over the last four months, my dreads got really, really out of shape. Once more, depends a lot of your hairtype how your dreaddies grow and how much maintenance you have to give.. but straight, fine hair is not the easiest way to go ;)
what happens is that if you don´t roll them daily (or every couple of days), to stretch them out, hairs get pulled back, what produces thin parts in the tips where they break, is messing up your tips by pulling them to "clumps" and the pulled back hair forms knots along your dreads :-/
so afterwards I can say, at a certain point, my hair was looking pretty awesome! (after I was investing dozens of hours of work to make them ;) but on long term, I can´t keep up with that. I´m just not the person who spends a lot of time to fix me up ;) hehe :) ..I mean, shower and shave and maybe some gel on my hair, but everything that passes this slight ammount of time is like ironing clothes ;) hehe :)
then I thought, it might be shocking after such a long time having long hair and having dreads, to get it cut shortly.. but no, actually it´s not! :) in fact, looks pretty awesome! :D went back to the old and known style of cut I had for a long time in Switzerland and after the dread-lady opened me my stumps (that hurt quite a bit), I got the best treatment ever from a hairdresser! :D including massage and two washes.. was three years ago that I went to a hair stylist ;) hihi :)
the only thing that sucks a bit is that I sent back home my streetfighter helmet (that would now fit perfectly again and looks a hundred times more badass than the one I use here.. will see if I need a new one.. maybe buy even in Venezuela, because everything so cheap ;) took probably 1.5 hours to cut and undo and was 10 bucks and then 8 bucks for the wash, cut, wash and massage :)
furthermore I appreciate the "filthy" work they did.. I´m sure the dread-lady had to get rid of more than a lice under her finger nails :-/ some fell on the floor, others were climbing on the dead rastas, looking for my scalp (bastard will sufficate or die starving in this plastic bag). Still got them sealed up, but will probably not do a lot with them.. maybe keep the nicest one as a souvenir, but what stays is the experience and some crazy pictures to show my kids ;) hihi :)
life is change
now once cleared the battle field, the little suckers on my head are probably already gone or will be soon.. now the pesticide actually reaches them and the nits can be picked out easily.. after the whole procedure and cutting off 97% of my hair, I still found five lice scratching me and took out more than 20 nits with my bare hands :-/ so having rasta takes the problem to a whole new level.. people soak their hair in petroleum jelly and use vinagre, tea tree oil, showercaps and repeat the procedure over 2-3 weeks to break the spawning cycle.. that´s way too much work to me and especially not traveling and moving from place to place. And as I´m not Samson, I don´t loose my super powers by cutting off my hair ;) hahaha :D ;)

I made my way back to Higuerote yesterday and will have a day for myself today.. my friend asked me to go on the beach with her and her friends, but I´m not too much of a beach person and after being dragged along the last days, I enjoy to be a bit more independent again :)

you will hear from me soon...

..ready..set..GO!!!

where to start? where to start??

first of all, I´m still alive ;) and I´m now qualified to jump out of a plane by myself ;) hehe :) ..it´s soooo totally AWESOME!!! like sex, just different ;) hihi ;))

well.. I´ll have to edit this entry, because just 5 min left, but let´s use the time :)

so I got up early on Saturday morning and got briefed about parachutes, emergency procedures and some other stuff you have to know if you want to jump out of planes ;)
skipped the second Tandem jump and jumped with two instructors instead, having a radio, so they can advise me if I have any problems landing.. but it´s easier than it looks ;) hihi :) just have to wait long enough to flare (full breaking, just 2m above the ground, to land softly on the grass :)
only thing was that we were getting into a cloud and didn´t react quick enough on the "pull-chute-now" sign, so one of the instructors did this for me (felt a bit dramatic ;) but let me pass to the next level.. anyway, broke the school record with making six AFF jumps within one day and get the graduation :D :D haha ;) seems I got a little skydiver in me ;) just needed seven jumps to complete the whole program and was mostly a step ahead, already practising some exercises of the next jump.. because the big planes they have take you to 13 500 feet and this gives you a good 55seconds of free falling, before reaching the 5500ft mark, where you pull the chute as a student.

..to be continued soon..

so here we are again :) ..I´m in the middle of figuring out, how far I want to go with my license.. it´s a messy thing, because ever country handles it differently and Switzerland doesn´t give me credits for the US-License and so on :P

so the six jumps of the day bring you from stabilizing, over horizontal turns to front- and backflip to the delta (as they do it in the movies to dive down faster and to deplace horizontally :) was really fun to practise and to jump with Luis, a real nice instructor! just should have eaten a little bit more during the day, made the whole program on a coffe, a juice and an "Arepa" (tasty corn puffer with cheese and ham). So I got pretty low on blood suger in the end ;) and was starving when I finally eat a sandwich after graduation :)

I changed my mind to stay for another weekend to continue my course, but as they tell me in Switzerland, doesn´t make sense to make the A-License here.. just have to figure out how to conserve my skydive-booklet as a proof that I made the AFF course. But it´s a really good dropzone, good planes and above all, really skilled people that help you out with whatever you need and can answer every question you have.. so I really try to get back on the week-end and have some more fun in the air :)

I had then on Sunday another six jumps.. number one was my first solo-jump.. step out of the plane and feel free, just you and the sky :D haha ;) it´s not that you´d be flying, but falling with style! ;) haha :D
I´m telling you, it still freaks me kinda out to stand up in the plane and walk to the door (it´s the back of the plane, that´s completely open, showing you how high up you are or how far down it goes, if you fall over the edge ;) and my brain instinctively wants to protect me from falling to death ;) hihi :) then walking to the edge, looking down and jumping out into the element of air :D
had then three couch jumps, where I learned to fall faster and slower (to adjust your relative position to other skydivers to make figures later on in the air) and to move forward (by stretching out your legs and taking your hands a little bit back). after this I made one jump that´s called: Hop´n´Pop, where you jump at 5000ft and pull your chute immediately after being stabilized. For once, I was the first guy leaving the plane ;) passed this level as well and had a last "fun-dive" where I jumped out of the plane with a tripple front-flip, stabilezed, then backflip, the some spinnings and a delta in the end, pulling the chute later at 4500ft (with some more jumps, I lower the hight to 3500ft, the normal hight for pulling a chute.. but as newbie, it´s a little bit higher, so you got more time in there´s an emergency.. well.. I know the drill to liberate the primary chute and pull the secondary chute if it has to be (and they always work :).
I actually had a low-speed incidenct on my 3rd jump :P a little line twist (the strings are twisted up above your head.. so the chute is not controllable, but it´s easy resolvable. You pull the strings apart with your hand and turn your body to untwist the lines and then you make the standard check if your chute is maneuvrable. Glad they told me how to do that before my first jump on my own ;) hihi :)
but even in this situation, I remained calm and solved the problem :)

then another reason to go back on the weekend was the good treat I had from the people of the dropzone.. one guy made a little movie for me and burned it on a DVD, another invited me at his place (a really luxury, super stylish appartment he has ;) and had good times there! then I got a ride to Caracas on Sunday night and spent yesterday with a girl that I met at the drop zone.. gonna call her later on and let´s see what we´re doing today :) unfortunately she lifes with other people and can´t have me staying at her place, but she showed me the center of the city yesterday and it was good fun! :D learned something about Simon Bolivar, their liberator and national hero and ended up in a luxury hotel that costs me 25 bucks the night ;)

I will try to find somebody who can fix my dreads today and got some more strong pesticide to kill remaining bugs on my head (I really hate such strong stuff, but gonna make a last effort to get rid of them.. itchy feeling on your head sucks ;) hehe :)
then I have to call a friend to sell him my dollars (changing in a bank sucks) and have to think about how many more jumps I gonna make at the week-end. It´s all pretty costly (for not being accepted in Switzerland anyway) but on the other hand, really don´t like the idea to not being registered anywhere :-/

so yes.. one more time being totally undecided ;) and just going with the flow.. let´s see what the day holds for me (and worst case, there is a bike waiting for me in Colombia ;) hihi :) :D ahhhhh.. LIFE IS JUST GREAT!!!!
hope can upload my movie to facebook, so you guys can have a look at it how I´m falling downward with 220km/h ;)

be well and be happy! over and out :)

HOLY COW!!! ..it´s happening!!

oh my f**king god.. you wouldn´t belive what crazy experience it is to jump out of a plane at 13500ft hight.. *MUHAHAHA*

so well.. first I was waiting for 5 hours until they started sending people and sent me up with the last flight.. but had some nice conversations and checked out the skydiving school.. I really like it! :D well.. Giancarlo, the big man on the place is not the type of "you´re my super best friend" but he complies with what we were talking about and I was jumping anyway with one of his instructors.. awesome guy!!

so let me tell you about this.. first of all, the bad news is that they only work on weekends, but the good news is that I can make the whole course this weekend! :D ;) so for once I had a really good timing to arrive on Thursday and have my first tandem jump on Friday to make the rest of the nine jumps on Saturday and Sunday :D

first I was a bit overwhelmed.. it´s my first jump ever and you´re supposed to make a lot of stuff in the air and pull the chute by yourself, but was REALLY cool!

so guess what.. it was not perfect, but it was remarkably good what I did in the air, so tomorrow instead of a second tandem jump I got my own chute and two instructors holding me in the air ;) was an anxious feeling standing in the plane, backdoor open, plane in an upward angle and you not attached to anything.. but then sit on the instructors lap ;) and get attached to the guy with the chute ;) walking together to the door, facing inside the plane then it starts:
Instructor ready? "ready", strech your legs, then bend your knees and jump backward, making the "arc" (pushing your pelvis down to be stabilized in the air).
then I was for a few seconds just "holy fuck.. you´re freefalling over the beach", but didn´t take long to get my thougths straight and the drill kicked in: checking altimeter - make three theoretical pulls of the chute (just touching the instructors hand on the activation ball) - check altimeter - make 360° turn left - check altimeter - make 360° turn right - check altimeter - wait for 6000ft - continously watching altimeter until 5500ft then sign activation of parachute and grap the ball for real and "weeeeeeee!" hanging in the air - check parachute correctly open - watch left - turn left to check maneuvrabilty - same right side - then pull both lines to break - chute working fine, heading direction dropzone and maintain correct hights and positions (all pretty easy to learn ;) just some number and marks.

it was so fantastically super thrilling!!!! that I felt so happy, to already have started this course! :D MUHAHAHAHA!!! jajaja.. badass Markus.. another expensive hobby to spend money on ;) hihihih :)
but yes.. it´s really, really cool! and I´m pretty pround on my first performance.. didn´t even know how it feels to fall (your cheeks are looking funny in the wind ;) and this is why I can do so many things in my life: willpower, focus and concentration! to react on new situations.
I beg this would be a fantastic manager-training (better than swimming with sharks ;) to test and improve your mental abilities.

compared to paragliding you don´t stay for a long time in the air but you jump out of a plane (sweeeeeeet!). So for both sports being so totally different, I want to make the paraglide license as well ;) skydiving is the adrenaline junkie sport! :D then steering your chute is not really complicated and for equipment got so much better over the years it´s just your cockyness that can kill you (so always keep the respect for it!).
but then it´s as diving.. you get a license in 2-3 days, but then you have to practise. I mean, it´s no rocket science and you can learn all you have to know easily, but then you have to practise to gain experience.

so this is definitively a WOW-thing of my trip! :D just a shame, that it will cost me a lot of money if I want to get to the 200 jump mark to start with wingsuits ;) hihihihi :) jajaja..leveling up over time I guess ;)

that´s it for now.. gonna let you know how the next two days are.. looking forward to tomorrow. it´s gonna be FULL ON! :D

hear from me soon.. "weeeeeeeeeee!" ;)

..here we are..

oh boy.. finally found an internet place and glad to write down some stuff, before I met my skydive instructor..

so I "catapulted" myself deeply into Venezuela, a socialist country that is still in pretty bad shape (30 millions living here and I´ve seen A LOT of brick houses, strongly looking like slums). The president and lots of citizens are not huge fans of foreigners or are just not used to tourism (so you are not very good received compared to other countries I visited.. actually, almost every country I visited exept for Vietnam ;) hehe :) well.. the experience might change or I might be back in Colombia soon.. always worth to take a breath of different air ;)

I had a beautiful ride over the mountains from Bucaramanga to Cucuta, just started 30 minutes too early. So I got into heavy rain and was wet (and freezing!!) while riding to the top of the mountain (3700 m.a.s.l.). But then finally the sun came out and I got dried and enjoyed the breath taking view over mountains and hills. I managed to change some money and find (finally) a place to leave my bike for 14 days. It´s an expensive hotel, where I got a good feeling to leave the bike. First I tried different parking lots and motels, but didn´t find a satisfying vibe or an enough attended place to leave my bike behind.. so I was driving back and forth until I completed my mission ;) would have been easier, if I would have known, that the bus I have to take to Caracas leaves in Venezuela and not Colombia. I almost passed the frontier without knowing ;) so I took a taxi from the hotel over the boarder to get all my stamps and end up at a place, where public transport leaves to the next bigger city (where the night buses leave). The taxi was 15 USD because still Colombia.. then here in Venezuela, traveling costs are super low! :) was 1 USD to get to San Cristobal (1.5 hrs) and then 10 USD to get to Caracas (15 hrs) where the biggest challenge was sleeping in the not too comfortable seats :-/
then I got checked by the police, had to get out and they wanted to see my backpack (was so deeply burried that they didn´t get it out ;) but were asking nasty questions about how much money I carry and what type of bills I have. Got somewhat upset.. never happened to me and I hope I don´t get bothered any more by the police. I think, it was a good idea to leave the bike in Colombia.. here they call it "matracar" and means, they`re looking hard to find something to get money of you :(((
then I had to take another local bus in Caracas to change terminal and another 2hr bus to get to Higuerote.. all in all like 15 USD ;) hehe :) then the taxi here in town charged me 2 USD for just some blocks.. next time I´ll be walking here.
I thought I will take some Ibuprofan 200mg to get rid of my back pain (feeling it since starting the trip into the jungle), but it`s a lot of drugs and so far I can stand the pain. So I keep the pill for another moment ;) in the morning I can´t even tie my shoes without warming up my back and finding some way to bend down :( but yeah.. don´t want to complain too much here ;) hehe :)

another nasty, nasty thing is lices in my hair :((( yes, somebody told me this 10 days ago, but I didn´t have time to take care of it, instead was scratching my hair like a lousy dog :( well.. another experience with dreads. No idea where I got those little suckers, but I started already the chemical warfare on my head and hope they will be extinct soon!! (yesterday in the bus I scratched out 2 eggs and 3 lices.. eggs are black small spots with a little tail that pop when squished between the finger nails and lice you don´t wanna see ;)
well.. that´s not all of it.. for not having taken care of my dreads for the last 3 months (too much work), they got in pretty bad shape and the lice-cure makes it even worse :( furthermore there are thin parts along the dreads because hair got probably pulled back, leaving weak parts. I lost a few centimeters in 3 dreads lately, but looks as there would be some bigger parts to fall off in the next weeks.. AAAARGH!!! yes, that what you get if you make dreads with a type of hair as mine (thin and pretty straight). So now I´m thinking about to make a last big effort (killing bugs and fixing it up.. means, going to a hairdresser to get the roots crochet together and the loose hair taken in). Yes.. the roots look also ugly, because if you don´t roll them from time to time and crochet them together, they get kinda entangled, but in a squished form.. so yes, having nice looking dreads takes a lot of time :-/
I really wanted to keep them until the end of this trip.. furthermore I just sent the bad-ass looking street fighter helmet home, because couldn´t waer it with dreads and I fear if I cut them off, the helmet I`m wearing now will be sitting very loose on my head :-//
so the plan is to make a last big effort to save my hair and then if this doesn´t work, cut them off and go back to easy-style ;) hehe :)

what more to tell.. so Venezuela is not the friendliest country, but met already really awesome people! (very helpful ones). Haven´t seen tough lots of pretty women. There are some, but very, very few and no really stunning ones ;) (and I thought there was a miss universe from Venezuela). Well.. gonna figure out more this week-end, how the ladies are here in Venezuela ;)
but the country is very conservative and yes.. socialist. Lot´s of police and control and because they don´t get their paychecks always at the end of the month, it´s even worse (they might try to get the money from somewhere else..).
the food isn´t especially tasty neither, but you get around.. the big coffees are small and the small ones are almost invisible ;) hehe :) it´s because I heard they drink a lot of coffee, but just very little at the time. (about the food: liked it much more in Asia.. I think Asian food is great!! :D

so yes.. up up and away to the airport and then I got an update for how long I will stay (have to stay) in Venezuela before I can get my bike and my stuff (left a lot in Bucaramanga, so I didn´t have to cross the mountains with all my luggage). Still missing Colombia, but I guess, it´s getting better here in Venezuela.. it´s always the same if you come into a new country you´ve never been before: it takes you some time to get used to it and start loving it. But then it´s also a great thing!! ..for you out there not knowing these countries yet, you still can experience the same thing, while for me it would be going back to a place that´s already connected to some experience and impressions.

ah yes.. changing money is an issue here.. apparently banks don´t sell dollars and change them to a very bad exchange rate (1:4/1:5 instead of 1:8) but there are some people interested buying dolars, so I should be fine to change some more money (of course still loosing a little bit in the exchange). And I heard if you get money from the ATM, they charge you a lot, but a lot of taxes on it, if you´re a foreigner.. so I don´t even want to try, to not have a bad experience checking my expenses online later..

thank you Mom for being back home and helping me with online payments for courses!! :D

ok.. hear from me soon.. live out of Venezuela ;) hehe :)
big hug to all of you and missing you!!

-=The Lost City=-

well.. maybe I shouldn´t make so many small entries, but I´m paranoid, I would loose it if there´s a power down ;)

so this trip takes you five days through the jungle, over mountains and across rivers (many!) to get to the lost city that founded the center of the Tyrona tribe 500 years ago. There are so many things I want to tell about that adventure.. first of all, there were wonderful people in our group! we had fantastic vibes and I haven´t heard people complaining or being grumpy (and it was a really tough hike). Then the people guiding us were incredible lovely and always giving a helping hand! their engagement can easily measure with a high end place as an expensive life-aboard.. and they spreaded mighty good vibes!! heard a lot about the Indian culture, the jungle and even the situation of the cocaine production.
I´ll upload some pictures of the hike later on.. there are some really good ones :) So we got broad to the "end of the road" somewhere in the mountains and started then hiking uphill :) of course we got a pouring, but really pouring rain for a good while, so everybody got soaked and muddy. Was wonderful to get to the camp (shelter, hammocks, food) and get a hot chocolate and change to dry clothes (some people got even those wet :-/ but stayed calm :) I had one set for walking that never dried in the wet ambient and a dry set for sleeping with long pants (still got some nasty flee bites at my legs :-/
so the people guiding us, also cook and serve food and it was super tasty, what we eat throughout the whole trip! the hiking was mostly dry but there were also some river crossing, where you had to fight against the current, holding on to a rope to not be taken by the strong river! :) to go back, we even took the high route.. an Indiana Jones platform on a rope (see pictures later on ;)
We met one of the Shamans along the way.. the Kogi (native people) live still very simple and survive with agriculture and farming in the mountainous area further away from the beach.
500 years ago, they fought the Spanish people but lost then over 100 years too many people to illness and fled further up to the mountains (where today still "virgin-villages" exist).
Then at the second morning you can get a little introduction how to make cocaine :) well.. just to the "pasta", the first 2 of 3 steps. They charge you 15 USD and then they take you to a small tent in the jungle, the "laboratory" ;)
it´s all pretty simple.. you take 12kg of coca leaves and grind it with 2.5kg of salt. Then you add 1.5kg Sodium to it to get the juice out. The juice stays in a barrel for 24hrs, together with 20lt of gasoline, 2lt of water and some sulfuric acid. Later on neutralizing acid with base and add another liquid to it (highly illegal in Colombia). they get it from a plant, KaliumMagnesiumOxid (something like that). You mix it, until it get´s a crust.. filtrate it through a sheet and get some clear liquid. This one get´s mixed once more with sodium and filtrated another time.. voila: what you get is the "pasta", that will be further refined by the guerilla and brought abroad (loosing 20% of weight in the process).
so a gram of good cocaine costs in Colombia about 15 USD (85% pure) but the guy who makes it, sells the pasta for 1200 USD, gaining about 500 USD for his work (rest is cost of materials). There are the Paramilitar and the Guerillias still producing cocaine in huge quantities (must be HUUUGE quantities).
These camps I heard can be as 6 day hikes inside the jungle and the work is very risky. Food has to be brought in with mules, pasta taken out for refining. Men and Women working there, never leaving the place, living in fear of an attack of the government or an enemy group! really hard life :( it´s amazing how this can exist.. it´s all so clandestine, but still pretty big set up.. and of course, a lot of corruption!

the way out is the toughest part, because it takes you 3 1/2 days to get there and then 1 1/2 day to get out :P but we all made it! was sometimes really meditative to walk through the jungle :)

the city itself consist only out of terraces, because this is where they put their wooden huts on ;) hehe :) it´s said that still a lot of treasure can be found, but it´s forbidden to search for it anymore (legacy of the Kogi).
We´ve seen some beautiful butterflies, moths and a big spider :) and had (when not just pouring) good view over the hills and vallies.. was a wonderful hike, challenging and fulfilling, interesting and inspiring! :D

Once back in Taganga, I prepared my bike and went out for a while.. just a mellow night ;) but still.. can´t complain about absence of being interesting to other people ;) don´t know if this is Colombia or a South American thing, but I really enjoy being here on my own ;) hehehe :)))
was just a bit hangovery the next morning and drove from Taganga to Aquachica, where I spent last night (finally watching cartoons on cable again ;) hihi :)
oh.. and I met also a guy who teaches Paragliding.. it´s as cheap as 800 USD and includes accommodation. I really HAVE TO DO IT!! :D let´s check if it´s valid in Switzerland and then it´s better than just go for once Paragliding.. get the license :)) so but one thing at the time.. I finally reached this morning the other guy in Venezuela with the skydiving.

So the plan is as followed (incredible how easy it turns always out when it´s time):
I made it today to Bucaramanga, but the buses leave from Cucutan that lies another 4-5 hours from here. So I want to start early morning tomorrow and leave some stuff here (travel light over the mountains, coming back here anyway). Then find over there a place to store the bike for 10 days and get a bus to Caracas, where I should be picked up by the dropzone people. Making my AFF in Higuerote and maybe some extra jumps. Then coming back to Cucutan, picking up bike, coming back here to Bucaramanga, picking up stuff and then go for the Paraglide license (that´s also just right here, so why not just do it ;) hehe :) seems, there will be a few weeks flying high!! :D

the ride here was really beautiful! goes up in the mountains and Bucaramanga is just built in the hills (or mountains, referring the temperatures of the shower ;), lying over them as a patchworked blanked.. lots of curves (fun driving, but careful). and other curves that are less dangerous and belong to the Colombianas ;) hehe :) ..you just have to LOVE Colombia!!!
met also a quite high concentration of Swiss people here (why?? coke? ;) and some of them were traveling in groups and appeared almost as Isreali people do.. closed to the rest of the world and speaking some rare, rough language ;)

The people here are really friendly and I got even accompanied by a police force on bikes to get down to the city :D haha :)) was really fun! they advised me rather to stay here in town for the night and I drove down with them.. they had their flashing lights on and were signing cars to slow down or signing the back man when to follow and when not (in the dangerous passing maneuvers they did ;) I wouldn´t have driven that way next to cops if I would not had to follow them ;)
Colombia is a really nice country (enjoying also the fruit juices! :) only toilet seats and shower heads are not developed here ;)

hmm.. now I´m sure I left out a lot, but I´m done for the moment with writing.. most of all what I want to say is: I´M HAVING A BLAST DOWN HERE!!!! :D hahaha :D

..continuation..

and drove into the park to the parking lot (they charge you quite some extra, but better than walking ;). I caught up with my friends and we arrived at the second (of two) campsites just after getting dark. The hammocks and tents were expensive, as the food that wasn´t spectacular neither, but the place is really nice (and a lot of walking) and later on, when we all together went chilling on the beach, we heard a noise from behind us and as somebody shines light to that direction, we saw a man tall alligator lying on the beach!!! :D we were just "holy shit! ..so glad this is happening!" :D of course, nobody had a cam, but we stared at it for a minute before it turned around and left in the small river and the mangroves :)
then the next day, without having a plan (because I´m not the beach person) I just wandered around and met a girl from Switzerland :) we spent then 3 days together, whereof one day I was looking after her, while she had some issues with her stomach and then she spent a day looking after me, while I had the same thing ;) but I´m really happy, we met!! was a wonderful time! (very mixed with languages ;) hehe :) there was also a BBQ at a friends place.. a guy that has the same name as I do, plays guitar and has dreads and I met him the first day I arrived and helped me out a great deal! :) so I was happy to return a bit of the favor by paying some chicken and veggies and beer ;) (food actually really cheap!)
I´m eating really yummi here! :) and everything not too fancy is also pretty cheap (you get a good meal for 5 USD or less).
then, just getting better, I managed to hop on a tour to the lost city..

Full On! :D

phew.. I´d wish I would have had time earlier to write some of my stories down, but well, let´s see if I can still wrap it up somehow ;) hehe :)

the castillo is a really impressive fortress, that hold about 2000 men and 74 cannons.. would have loved to have seen this in action ;) of course my cam died after I took the first two pictures, so there won´t be too many of it ;) hehe :) it`s still an incredible lookout- and sniper position :D and parts of it are connected with tunnels. So really worth to check it out!

in the afternoon I went to the mud volcano to have a mud bath for as cheap as 2.50 USD. It´s good for the skin they say and it´s most of all a lot of fun to float in fine sucky mud ;) hehe :) met even there nice people and had good conversations!

then at night was this special bus that locals take to see the city and drink :P well.. I just made it one station to the old town and escaped then walking back home to the hostal and it´s bar *phew* couldn´t stand the loud music anymore and to listen to the animator in front :P but yeah.. the way locals party in their holidays ;)

so I started the next day to go to Taganga, a little village at the beach, surrounded by mountains. Friends of mine were heading there with a bus and I enjoyed a fantastic ride (finally on the road again!!!) through Colombia. The streets are in good shape (few holes), there is not too much traffic (so you can easily pass other cars and trucks) and the landscape is really pretty! :D
along the coast to Taganga, after asking a few times for the way ;) our supposed meeting point was fully booked, so I ended up at another place with totally awesome people working there! :) had all to be like that! haha ;)
the place is so small, I met all my friends and we had a little party in the backyard of their hotel. Left the group later to go out, just to find myself dancing Raegeton with a Colombian hotty ;) (it´s basically screwing on the dancefloor :P but yeah.. thought why not.. despite HATING that music ;) so we ended up after some adventurous journeys in my room that we didn´t leave for 24hrs, together with other fine Colombian goods ;)) definitively one of my crazier experiences ;) we spend another morning together having yummi food and walking along the beach on some mountain hill. Then having lunch I met my friends again and they were about to go to Tyrona National Park (beautiful beaches). So I spontaneously decided to tag along and bought water and food..

..on the road again :D

hey there! :)

..I got an idea of Colombia already and I´m getting back to my adventurous spirit, ready to see much more of the world! :))
I had to get my bike off the boat and then go to customs and get some paperwork done.. took us two hours (a German fellow named Manfred was helping me for 35 dollars and I was happy this has been done so many times :) because loading off the bike on a peer is kind of illegal, but it´s waaay easier than getting it out of the harbor (harbor fees etc..). Then I needed another insurance (after Colombia finally the one is running that I bought month ago! :P ..met just today another Swiss guy on a R1200 and he never had one.. seems it´s possible as well. Because you don´t want to use it anyway and if you use it, you just can hope they pay and they pay a fair ammount.. so I don´t intend to figure out ;)
in Cartagena I checked out the "castillo" a fort that was used to defend the city from attacks over land..

..to be continued.. going for dinner *hungry*

..pass the Darian into Colombia.. :)

dear friends and family! :)

this morning I set my foot onto South American ground and started so the third part of my trip.. I`m still a bit organizing stuff here and getting ideas where to go in Colombia, but I´m happy that I made it and tomorrow morning I`ll get the bike off the boat, showing it to customs and then I`ll be on the road again! :)

well.. for my skydive project in Venezuela it seems that I have to take a flight to Caracas and back, leaving the bike in Colombia. As I heard, Venezuela is not really safe and I don´t want to get into troubles with corrupt policemen on the road and even going there by bus seems to be a hassle (even if bus is safe, it still would be 30hrs of Busride.. if this is true, I rather pay some dollars to get there and back smoothly :) but because it´s a national holiday today, I have to wait until tomorrow to set this up.

so I got my bike early in the morning and made it without problems to the caribbean coast. There were some mountains, but the fan started and seemed to work well.. so no overheating so far. It will still take some more hundreds of kilometers to regain my full confidance into it.. I was then a bit early and went over to a small Kuna island, having lunch and a beer and spent the rest of the time waiting on the peer, playing guitar and singing :D
at around 5 o`clock Fritz and his crew arrived and some local Kuna helped to load the bike and I had dinner with the people on board, waiting for the rest to arrive the next morning. We expected another 10 people but instead there were 15 and we were pretty packed on that boat (well, it was OK in the end, but the mix of passengers could have been different.. there were all guys exept for one girl from Switzerland (the most reserved girl I`ve ever met :P and so the level of testosteron was on the upper limit ;) hehe :)
Fritz himself is also quite a special guy.. there is not a single day where he wouldn`t curse his employee Luis (a really awesome Colombian guy!!) yelling at him for not much of a reason :-/ I don`t share his ideas about life.. he got bitter over time, is getting divorced from his wife and has another life partner on boat (where he probably has many girls in his life for convenience that he buys for little money down here in South America :-/ yeah.. not really my world.. but hey, he also let us guests have our way and you can party and do whatever you want on that boat, as long you don´t set it on fire ;)

the trip was really nice! ..OK, there was no wind to sail down to Cartagena, so the engines were running for 36 hours, while driving down, but we had a good time (and lots of rum ;) hehe :) we stopped at some of the San Blas islands (see pictures) and went snorkeling there.. I´ve seen a shark, two rays, walking sea stars and did some apnoe-diving.. it´s always fun!! :D especially being 10m below surface and looking up through all the water masses! :D
we also caught a shark over night.. not really sure if this is allowed and I had my remorses eating it, but the shark curry on the second day was really tasty! so I take this as a once-in-my-lifetime-experience and yes, it was pretty exciting to get it out (just for them being in extinction I can´t really stand for it). Furthermore really pretty animals, gliding through the sea.. so they should be admired instead of hunted!
I met cool people along the way.. was tough a bit upset the second morning, when I figured out that some half-baked moron threw my mask over board (well, wasn´t around any more and I bet somebody knows more about it).. too bad, I made my Open Water with it and it was 80 USD.. money I´d like to save, especially because it was not my fault and the duchebag who did it didn´t have the balls to tell me! :P and then I´ve also seen that somebody just took of my tabacco and supplies.. this really pissed me off for ruining all the thrust I had into this bunch of people! but then I had to sort it out in my head, speak it out loudly (let them know about my frustration! :) and then letting it go, because there is nothing else you can do about and you don´t want to let it ruin your day.. so another experience that let´s me grow in life! :)
I first suspected a guy who was really, really drunk, making a lot of noise and trouble at night and then the next morning firing an emergency flare gun out of a window (stupid-stupid-stupid) and I avoided the guy for the rest of the trip.. but then the last night we talked together about all this stuff and I´m not sure if he has something to do with the things happened.. at least he gave me a lot of credits for who I am and for what I do :) so I felt I was kinda putting him back and judging more than I should on this very first day.. but yes, at least we had some deep talk in the end ;) hehe :) on certain discussions I just didn´t want to participate for being too much "macho" but I had a great time on the boat.. lying around in the "trampolin" (a net inbetween the two bodies of the ship) and listening to some sweet psy trance tunes, doing some contact juggling and talking to people :) poeple enjoyed me playing didgeridoo and we had some nice jams on that boat. (no reading books.. it´s not really my thing. I don´t have to be traveling for doing this..)

what more.. that`s about it.. was walking around in the old town today, making some pictures and just uploaded them in Picasa. So I will add some comments to them and log out.. eventually completing the boat trip the next day, if write-worthy things come to my mind ;) hehe :)

be well out there and my best blessings from South America!!!

the Panama Canal

hey.. it's still the same session as my last blog, but I wrote so much that I wanted to publish it before loosing it in a silly way ;) hehe ;)

so yes.. about the Panama Canal.. I didn't really know anything about it, but for me as engineer it's a totally fascinating construction! :) they have several gates to bring ships up and down from sea-level to the level of the lake. It's all super simple.. gravity and water does the job.. no pumps, just a huge discharge of water into the ocean, every time a ship passes. But it seems, that their Eco system holds that much water and with a lot of supervision, planning, artificial lakes they make it happen..
so in short (my Mom wanted to know this ;) hehe ;) the French tried it in 1880 and made quite some work but didn't finish, because of yellow fever and huge losses of workers. Then the Americans picked it up 1904 and finished 1914, blowing through a huge, massive rock and with a lot of vehicles and ships and trains to make such a construction happen (e.g. making the lake deep enough for the vessels).
then there are some interesting facts as it just was giving to Panama at the end of 1999. Since then this country is growing extremely! they built a lot of skyscrapers since then and if you look at the city skyline, every second one is just being built right now.. so I heard improved education and the infrastructure of the country. They are growing a lot these days.. also making an other gate for bigger ships to keep up with globalization and the demand for bigger ships and loads.
the new gates will operate with three pools that hold 60% of the water while operating the locks (ahh.. that was the word.. locks! not gates :P ;)
all simple but nice and needs a lot of engineering work, people thinking and afterward even a lot more people maintaining it. Reminded me my time in Itaipu, a big hydro power plant where also water and massive constructions come together..
will upload some pictures of it.. was watching from the viewing platform as a big ship came in.. and they have a nice museum that shows also some wildlife of the region and a obviously very old movie about the Canal.. a very impressive construction! ..and even more impressing that it provides more of 50% of the income of the country.. so Panama can't complain. You can even drink the tab water here in the city :D
this year the 1 000 000st ship will pass (I thought, you should just wait in the queue with a small boat and then make it happen that you're the one ;) hehe :)
so the operation is simple.. ship comes in, gate closes, water level gets equalized through gravitation with the other part of the lock and then gate opens, ship moves on and the procedure get's repeated for the difference of height is too much for just one lock (that's what I'd say why they have several..)
I'm glad I made it happen to see it! :) was tough 14 dollars more expensive, because I did go by myself with a taxi, because putting in to the last day without coordinating with other travelers here.. but was good anyway! :) meeting taxi drivers is always interesting ;) hehe :)

well.. I guess that's it.. my wrist is already hurting and I'm more that ready to go to bed.. was a great time here in Panama city and I thought back to the moment in Honduras where I thought.. Nicaragua, Costa Rica.. and then Panama still to go, and I kinda wanted to be in South America for Panama was so far away and I didn't know what experience it will hold (was actually about to cross it very quickly.. but sooo happy I enjoyed it in the same deep profound way as the other countries of Central America! :D ..so never anticipate. PARTICIPATE! :)

all the best and hear from me when I arrive in Colombia! :))))

..continuation ;)

wellwell.. sorry, I just met this guy from Bocas and they were 3 guys in a dorm with 2 double beds, so for me being on the waiting list, he invited me to crush in their place what sounded waaaay better than the couch or cinema room ;)
what followed was one of the more crazy experiences, because after half an hour trying to sleep he came upstairs with a friend and we had some after hour !P
I got then finally a couple hours of sleep and organized some stuff in the afternoon. Made a bag with things that I didn't really use and sent it home for 100 bucks :P was 12 kg and I shouldn't complain, but once more it are material things that incapacitate us and take so much effort and money to maintain. Was tough an interesting experience, because they had to wrap it into parcel paper (what was done in a flower store around the corner) and then putting the 20 5-dollar stamps on, together with paperwork and a sticker with a barcode.. I'm sure it will arrive :D haha ;)

then lucky me figured out this Friday that on Saturday is this Psy-Trance party on the beach, two hours outside of Panama city (was the girl from the reception at the hostel I'm staying that was telling me, when I asked for electronic music to go out ;) what good Karma!! and good timing! :D there are just very few parties of that kind and it took her an hour to figure out, chatting with friends, where it was.

I went out for a little warm up on Friday and finally got to bed at 9am after a lot of party, meeting cool people, contact juggling and even more crazy, experimenting stuff ;) was REALLY good! so I didn't get too much sleep before I packed a small bag with contact ball and my fire-fans, buying water, booze and fruits (to survive the night ;) and went to the terminal and on my journey. tried to sleep in the bus but didn't really work :P was then walking to this mystical place and figured out, it's on a asphalted place of an abandoned hotel with view on the beach :D arrived there early, met the people and then got smoothly into this very beautiful, small, familiar party! :)) here it's as Switzerland was 10 years ago.. just very small, but rising, the vibe of this scene and special, heartful and spiritual people! :D I was spinning fire and despite of the music was a bit hard for my taste during the night, I was dancing a lot and hat LOOOOOOTS of fun! :D met awesome people, hanging out on the beach, enjoying this blistering moment of being at a party that reminds me back home :))
went back to the city to chill out with a friend I met and had the best treat you could wish for! :) after I felt so much for a change, I really got it and I mean TOTALLY! life embraces you, gives you everything you could ever ask for and things happen without having to exhaust yourself.. WOW! what an experience!! I'm so glad I made it to this place! HAHA :D
so I was a night in Lunas Castle, a very popular hostel in the old town of Panama. I really love it for having such a good atmosphere as lots of beautiful painting (freaky art! ;) and sculptures out of scrap metal. There are a lot of people and if you don't have a reservation, you end up on the waiting list.. but hey.. PingPong table, cinema room, bar attached to the hostel and lots of common living space to hang out, including the "Fort Krishna" a crows nest between the two livings, accessed by a almost invisible ladder.. you may just guess, what was going on up there ;) hihihi ;))
ahhh.. good times!

next to this I was organizing my motorcycle stuff.. I was there already three times and finally today I got everything done the way I wanted.. the fan seems to work (lets touch wood, because tomorrow it will have it's field test) and it seems to be in a good state (even if I missed the BMW factory sheet that tells you all the data.. it's not North America anymore ;) they fixed mirrors, lights and some small stuff, made a service and I bought spare sprockets and chain, because I will have to change it before Patagonia. There is another small part that can be fixed for cheaper and a 200 dollar tire, that has to fit on the back (sending a bag home and getting a tire in exchange :P well, won't be for very long..
I had to push pretty hard (calling a lot, going there, talking to people..) to get all this done but yes, it's possible.. just don't expect it happens by itself ;) hehe :) so the spares were actually pretty expensive.. then all the other items.. factory test did cost (of course, I should know.. we sold them very expensive at my former employer ;) hehe :) the valves were to tightened, what made a strange sound when I first started it after they told me it's ready.. so I thought this problem would be fixed on their behalf but actually not :P well.. got a good deal after all and I think the work isn't overpriced.. it's still BMW. but original parts are the killer.. and I heard that further down they have higher import taxes, so things could be even more expensive. Therefore I bought some stuff here to not repeat the story in Mexico ;) will see if I'm right ;) hehe :)
so yeah.. bill paid, bike packed, tomorrow early morning I go with a bus to the store and then up-up-and-away :D finally riding again!!
so the all-in-all including trip down on a sailboat, bike fixed, spare parts and bag sent home is probably 2.5 grand, what is still for me a lot of money.. buy hey, I guess it fits somewhere in and you shouldn't be to delicate about money in life ;) hehe :)
I met at the BMW shop a guy from Mazedonia that travels all over the world.. really impressive! he's riding a lot tough.. couldn't do that.. rather stay and get know the place. but OK.. he made it also down on the east side of Africa (seems to be the safer side), but they tried to kill him anyway three times.. a Masai in the desert and a Machete-Guy who gave him a scare over his left eye (as Luke Skywalker in Star Wars 3.. I tell you guys.. if I would have a scare in my face, it should be one like this.. it looked sooooo badass! HAHA :)))
so the conclusion of the story: don't do Africa by yourself! (So I probably won't push my luck with doing something more than just this continent at this moment.. :)

..busrides suck! :P

phew.. made it to Panama city.. in a night bus :P it's kinda good, because you don't "loose" a whole day, but then my back hurts so much and can't really sleep well. Was waking up all the time, sliding down on the seat that couldn't be put horizontal.. at least I'm here and will pick up my stuff soon and spend the weekend going out in Panama city.
I really, really, REALLY felt as I have to leave on Bocas. The last two days I was not truly happy anymore and even small things ruined my mood, so I figured out it's time for a change ;) hehe :)
on the other hand, with all the people I said good bye (including the diveshop I was working for a couple of days) were very good vibes! it's so funny.. seems that every traveler knows that feeling and when I said how urgent I feel to make a move, they all understood :) hehe :)
so a week is OK, 10 days is doable but more than that is simply too much hanging out for me.. I'm an adventurer and I like to face challenges every day and being filled up with things that happen in my life and places as Bocas just don't do that.
It was nevertheless a wonderful time I had in this place. Hold it's challenges anyway and I met a lot of cool people (and some really ennoying ones :P

..to be continued..

..Murky Waters..

Hi there :)

well.. being in the shop at a sunny, warm day and having time to write a few lines in my blog :) was diving this morning and was fun! :) even tough there was not too much to see and many people were just beginners (so it´s mostly not a pure fun dive ;). I made up my plans.. I´ll stay here for the weekend and will start partying hard soon ;) I arranged everything for further down and hence I can´t pick up my bike on Sunday, it will be Monday and Saturday will be a wild night, a thrilling ride, ending Bocas with a big BLAST! :D haha ;) then I guess it will be a bit more mellow.. chilling.. relaxing.. recovering.. regenerating and detoxicating ;)
at the moment I´m not doing too much here in the shop and I feel I don´t want to spend the whole day here (for I don´t earn any money anyway ;) hihi :) but the people are nice and it´s a good spot for meeting people! I´m suffering today, because the little restaurant/cafe that goes with the shop is closed and I´m craving for good food and yummi milkshakes ;) hehe :) so tomorrow I guess..
hmm.. well.. not too much to say (as always if you´re for too long in a place where there`s just drinking and partying ;) and sorry.. laying on the beach, but that doesn´t count for me.. don´t like doing that for too much (couple of days a year is OK ;) ..tonight I should get a first shot for my tattoo-extension.. yes, right.. I want to get something new on this trip and met this awesome tattoo-guy (his name is also "Guy" ;) hehe :) and he´s really talented. So for those who know my tattoo, a tribal dragon, forming a Yin-Yang and holding a ball in his claw, I´d like to have the white part of the Yin-Yang filled out with some colors, giving it a background. As a firing ball or sun, eclipsing behind the ball and touching the sea.. so I expect many beautiful colors arising out of the union of fire and water :D reflecting as well my starsign and ascendent ;) ..it will be painful :´-/ but looking forward to get it! :)
I keep meeting a lot of people (and forgetting their name :P and I really enjoy being in such a vibe! :D ..yesterday was just a mellow, slow night.. so I think about to stay up a lil´ bit longer tonight ;) hehe :)
sending you my best blessings and hear soon from me! :)

Bocas del Toro.. partying without end :P

hey fellow pilgrims and interested readers ;) hehe :)

it`s quite a while, I haven`t been posting anymore.. well.. most of the things happened are just not the things I`d write in a blog.. as the insane ammount of parties, booze and substances experienced here ;)

I spent just a full day at Boquete, hiking a little bit but then moved on.. it`s too rainy at the moment, otherwise would be beautiful to spend some days hiking in the mountains :)

I´m glad I took the decision to move on.. it was a 6-7hr trip and I was happy to arrive sometime before it got dark here. I anchored in this hostal called "Mondo Taitu" that I`ve been mentioned in a Lonely Planet before. It`s really popular, lot`s of people staying there and it holds one of the four bars of this island.. so it`s kinda having a bed in a dorm, attached to the bar where you get drunk at night ;) hehe :) yes.. it was almost a full week of lots of partying.. and then recovering for some days, changing to a lower gear to save some energy for the rest of my time here ;) hehe :)

so after one week here I know shit lot of people! :D I hear my name whenever I walk down a street (me on the other side really suck with keeping all their names in my memory :P but I appreciate the vibe! :) I like these people and it seems, they do like me ;) hehe :) so I`m enjoying a certain popularity that unfortunately didn`t prevent of me being single.. but hey.. whatever.. I guess that`s the price I pay for doing the stuff I want to do and going the way I want to go. So it`s somehow less likely to meet people on the same plane.. but if it happens, then it`s really great (ask my ex-girlfriends ;) hihi :)
here is every night somewhere ladies night and lots of party (well.. many times it`s awful sound! :P like Raeggeton :((( but there are nice tracks of electronic music amongst them, where I juggle on with my ball.. just for pure fun! :D

I went to some beaches.. was practicing with stick and balls, was playing didgeridoo with other people, having nice jams here! :) rented out a bycicle and was cycling a bit on the island and one day, I went with friends on a remote island, where I was walking around the island and having a great trip! ;)
so all in all, can`t complain.. was just that living for the night life after a while get`s tyring and not all that fulfilling..

so I got myself here a job as divemaster :D well.. it`s for so short time, it`s more for the purpose to give me something to do and get some free diving over the next days :) but hey, it`s a nice activity! :)
yesterday I went for two dives out.. well, the guys were finishing their courses, so wasn´t just pure fundiving. the visibility is just 10m, but it`s nice to dive anyway (just not the spot where I would stay forever to dive ;) but I hope to see the wreck and the wall they have here soon. At the very moment, the boss just left me in charge of the shop, what is actually pretty cool.. well, not that cool as going out to dive with the other people, but still.. why not :) (I assume though he left me here in charge that he can go with the others and surf :P hehe ;) ;)
was cleaning up their docks underwater.. got four bags of trash, broken glass and other stuff out that was making the confined diving sessions for new students less enjoyable (was really needed).

and then I was of course planning for my trip further down.. that`s the reason, why I`m still here in Bocas.. next possible transport is the 1st of July and this gives me another week here, before I take a night bus to Panama, pick up bike, send packet home, see Panama canal and write to my mom how it is ;) and get to the shipping place, where I´m gonna "seaborne" my bike :D ;) hehe :)
so they should be able to fix my bike.. it`s gonna be a bit costly but as long it`s perfectly fine then, I`m happy :) so I await a final confirmation.. should be ready tomorrow, but I`d like to have new tyres on it as well and they should anyway keep it until I get to Panama city. After I was calling so many times to speed up the process, finally it`s the shipping date that delays my trip.
best option I have is 800USD for me and the bike, a 5 day sailing trip from San Blas to Cartagena.. it`s for sure the most fun way to get down! :) there are some cheaper options, but require more time and are less safe (cheap boat from some harbor in Panama). Shipping in a container is also costly.. I heard 500 USD and I just got more expensive offers when I tried to find a cargo company. If it would just be me, I could get a flight for 140 USD I heard.. but yeah.. traveling with a motorcycle can be more complicated.. luckily there is only 1 Darian Gap.. HAHA :D
so everything can be organized and arranged.. the price for service will be around 1600 USD I guess.. pretty expensive, but it`s mostly because of pricy original BMW parts and not for the work. So there is no negotiating about discount and for having had the experience, better change it now than post-poning it to further down. The parts are really hard to get, depending on what you need :-/ therefore probably new tyres as well (not asking around in Colombia to figure out that they might be unavailable or more expensive..)
price includes also new sprockets and chain (chain I´m gonna think about to buy it right away.. it`s 180 USD :P
what more.. so I´m sitting here at the computer of this diveshop, planning my trip down.. making some phone calls and writing emails and next to it, partying to a certain extent and enjoying Bocas del Toro :)
it´s a really good feeling to know so many people here!! I feel having good Karma and feel so loved by life that it`s easy to love back! :D
so also sending out my love to you!! :)
..and hey Renzo: NICE ONE!! I`ve seen pictures of your trip and got almost homesick, wanting go back to Alaska and Canada, riding these wonderful roads again! :D haha! :)

..Panama by bus..

yes, you read right.. how is this possible¡?¿

well.. of course it was already too late yesterday to evade the rain :P if I used the words "soaked" and "wet" before, then I´m sorry, because it set a new limit on the scale yesterday :P
I just kept going, felt if I sit out the rain, I might never arrive (and it kept raining the whole afternoon indeed). So I faced all the rain, shouted out loudly and finally gave up, because it was too strong.. actually, I was riding up this mountain on a dirt road that almost turned into a river, when it started to rain really, really hard and how could it be different, the overheating lamp went on :( I stopped the bike, slided 10m backwards because it was too steep to stop and finally it tipped over into the mud.. I had to release my frustration with a loud scream and then I unfolded the tarp and waited 15 min under the tarp, covering me and the bike.. didn´t stop raining of course, but went a bit back. I continued and had to stop another time, pouring water over my engine and finally riding down on the other side, I´ve seen a sign of the place I wanted to visit.
Finca Bella Vista.. treehouse community (actually, I don´t know how many tree houses they have, but I´ve visited one of them and it was really cool! :D
so getting there I couldn´t do anything else than paying the 40 USD for the cabin they offered me. Was also a nice one.. cozy bed, on the river, everything really nicely set up! they have a pretty big piece of land, kinda rainforest with a lot of trails and a river flowing through. I was happy to get into some dry things and luckily one of the owners was there, so I could actually check in (would have sucked to get there and nobody is around :P
hmm... then on the other hand, there were no tourists anyway. I feel it doesn´t matter what I do, I end up by myself because it´s off-season and these places you best visit with your mate or friends. So I hiked a bit on their land (many jungle trails) and got to this super wicked tree house. Two levels with sight on the river with a waterfall. Downstairs there´s a small kitchen corner and a couch forming a living room and upstairs is a veranda and a king size bed (have to go back for honeymoon! :) and a sit on toilet and a shower.. really super, super cool! :D must cost a bit though to stay there and it´s really remote (carrying all your food to this place and some bottles of wine ;) but I enjoyed the view from the top floor and spent a little while there, before I walked back. There would been other cabins (other tree houses?) and I think if it´s high season, you might meet cool people hanging out there! :)
in the evening I had dinner with the owners (young couple) and a guy who just moved down to this place (why not.. if you live somewhere out in nowhere, then it´s a good call! :) was a nice evening.. having a few shots and talking a bit before going to bed (being tired again ;)
got up as normal lately at 5.30am and made my bike ready.. made it to the boarder crossing and it just costed time (and 16 USD for another insurance) but no other costs and I was pretty relaxed. I get more used to it, I guess ;) had to wait in line on both sides but at least it was a small place, so I could watch over my bike and was talking to a guy from Bolivia :)

then driving into Panama I got really bad overheating problems.. had to drive at least 100km/h to cool the bike down and I figured out quickly that I won´t make 600km with that condition. hmm... so I stayed calm and looked for a solution (after I made up my mind to drive straigt and fast to Panama city to get my bike fixed). There were not too many options but in no time I got a place where I could send my bike to Panama.. it´s 50 dollars (cheap if you ask me) and 60 dollars to get it delivered to the BMW shop. I could finally make the deposit of 200USD, so they would order my spare part. it happens with DHL now and they pay the additional cost (thank you so much, after I try to get this done for four weeks). So my bike should be at the shop tomorrow, the fan in 7-10 days and soon I should have a price what it will cost all in all. I will show up in Panama city in about 7-10 days, shipping some stuff home that I don´t want to carry any more, figuring out how and where to ship my bike down to Colombia (or Venezuela?) and getting my bike, hopefully 100% fixed up and ready for the rest of my trip.
after sending all my stuff in the afternoon, I got a bus to Boquete and will spend a few days here, eventually hiking another volcano ;) (I love volcanos! :D
the weather is changing.. raining at the moment in the later afternoon, but hopefully I will have some more sunny days (at least I don´t have to drive in the rain ;)
after here I will go to Bocas de Toro, where I heard is a lot of party and I think, I can easily stay a few days there before going to Panama.
so in the end, the plan came up very spontaneously and it´s very OK like that (maybe I should live cheap to cover my repair costs ;) but it´s good to see Boquete and Bocas del Toro, they have been quite recommended to me after all (and I wouldn´t have done it with driving my crippled bike to the shop).

Panama is really nice (first impression). Nice people and way more affordable than Costa Rica.. let´s see what experiences are waiting for me here :)
gonna keep you posted! :D cu all and have a great time!!

..busy days..

phew.. here we are.. was quite busy the last days and finally I get to a computer to update the world ;) hehe :)

glad I made it here.. I got quite some problems with my bike. Changed oil yesterday after I checked it since a long time and figured out that it looks quite old already (then having bad feeling in my stomach riding further). Didn't take too long (but I had to push me anyway a bit to do it), costed though 25USD for the 2.5lt oil I needed.. quite expensive but hey, at least the engine runs smoother again. Point is, I will have it changed anyway (and the filter) in Panama city, where I kinda urge to get to. The guys have hopefully ordered my spare part fan after I called twice and wrote a bunch of emails. It's really annoying but I hope the order has been made, because otherwise I will be waiting a long time in the city to get my bike fixed.. I should have changed that fan long time ago. I'm now riding in the flat, along the cost.. going through the mountains was cooking my engine and I had to stop several times, pouring water over it to cool it down a bit. Was racing uphill with 50km/h on this unpaved, bumpy, stony road, but I had to get as much natural air cooling as possible. was a bit crazy to be honest.. Then the rear brake failed because was overheated :P damn.. luckily nothing happened, was also good luck. Used then the gears to break.. I think, there's something not good adjusted with the break disc and pads, but didn't have the place or energy to look at. it's just getting very hot now but still works.. another item for the fix-my-bike-list for Panama. Yes.. it really, really needs to get into a BMW bike hospital and even if it will cost between 1000 and 2000 USD, I will have it done (I'm more prepared now, since I know it will be expensive ;)

I had a busy day in Fortuna.. went to the volcano and hiked all the trails they got (they don't let you go up too far) and enjoyed having a bit of head space (even if I was worried with some things at the moment). Saw some stones rolling down the volcano (reason why you don't hike to close ;) and had a beautiful walk through rainforest. On my way back I stopped at a hot river and chilled in the water :D ..there are many resots with pools, but they cost some USD and the river is free and beautiful for being more natural!
went back to the hotel and was ready to spend the afternoon updating blog because it looked a lot like rain. to mention.. the day before getting there was a nice ride, but the last 5km it started raining (no, it was POURING!!) and I got soaked within minutes what ended in a drying session at this backpacker place. I got rooms offered until 55USD but found one with private bathroom for 8 bucks! :) so stayed gladly two nights there.
The afternoon was sunny then and a guy called "captain Bob" invited me to drive around and go for a cool down in a nearby river. He makes these trips with people if there's high season. So we got a couple of rum-coke and he brought me to this beautiful place on the river with small waterfall and a badass ropeswing!!! :D that I of course tried out twice without hurting myself ;) hehe :) really, really cool!!
and then we checked the lava flow at night of the volcano.. well, just saw some glowing rocks rolling down, but was nice to hang out a bit away from where all the tourist stand, having chairs and privacy. (I was so tired at this point, couldn't keep my eyes open ;) then we went back to the hot river a second time. It was night already and Bob got a flashlight to provide some ambiental light :) he took us to a place maybe 50m up the river, where it was even nicer to hang out and where a cold river joins the warm water flow (so you get a special hot-cold experience bathing at this place! :) there was also a friend of his along and in the end we had another beer at his fancy hotel place before I finally got a good sleep in my big bed ;)

the next morning I started early and went to the Venado Caves.. another hour ride from there, where I planned to play some didgeridoo in a closed space ;)
the guide charged me 15 dollars, but it would not have been possible to enter without one.. was super crazy!! :D haha :) needed the helmet and rubber boots that they provided and we were walking through water, crawling through the smallest imaginable spaces and I figured out that I'm don't have claustrophobia at all (otherwise you find it out in these small passages ;) hehe :) was BADASS cave!! really, really adventurous! at a point you had to go feet first, then pass your left arm and pull yourself through! (going to the limits! ;) and climbing up 7 meters in a place where you don't want to fall. oh my god.. just with the guides instructions I could make it, but reached the place where I was playing 15 minutes in total pitch black on my didge and it sounded AMAZING!! :D was blowing your mind to hear to these vibes! ;) I would have gotten lost a hundred times in this cave and was happy to have a guide.. that's really a cool experience! was in some caves but this one was really good! :D there are biiiiig spiders.. one species is called scorpion-spider and has clamps like a scorpion and the other one is a water spider that eats small fish. Then there were thousands of bats in this cave feeding on the small insects that live in this special eco system. We've seen some fossils.. like a small turtle shell sticking out of a stone. no pictures of that, but hell yes! what an experience!! :)

then I drove through the mountains to a place called Heredia, a bit further to a bar where there was a psy trance party at night. Well.. I don't know how long it lasted.. probably 3 or 4 oclock in the morning. the sound was just aweful!! but the party was good! :) met cool people and had fun! :) in the morning when I walked back home with somebody (I didn't dare to take my bike at this point), I completely blew it by not finding my place again.. we were really close, but I didn't know.. so she left me at a certain point being upset (what I can understand ;) and I walked all the way back, got my bike and found my place in no time (but too late for not going to bed alone :P ;P well.. that's life I guess.
slept from 6am to 12am, got up with a headache and made my way down to the next place where I could change oil. Oilchange and a greasy (yucci) breakfast and with asking many times for the way I managed to get to San Ignacio.. a dot on my map, where I thought might be nice to stay for a night. Well.. not too much going on there, but barely found a small room to stay (overpriced) and eat some dinner before going to bed at 6pm (very short day). Wasn't really in the mood to talk a lot to people and a guy was asking me one million questions.. was happy to sleep later on ;) here at this point I have to mention how friendly Costa Ricans are!! they really give a lot about to be friendly (as Buddhists ;) hehe :) this morning I was talking to a police man while waiting for the people from the Red Cross to show up (they stored my bike for free at their place :)
then came that ride through the mountains where I boiled almost my bike (and my nerves ;) ..was really nice through the mountains, but couldn't enjoy it too much.. had to have my eyes on the road and on the warning lamp for overheating :P hmm.. not too much more from here on. No ideas for Panama, but maybe get to the capital and do the service and then drive back up again if I want to see something more from this country.

hey.. I didn't mention that I learned how to free dive at Cocos Island. That was awesome!!! :D I was really afraid to go down deep without air, because you don't make it up in time again.. but the guys convinced me to try it (I don't like not to try things ;) hehe :) so I relaxed my body, took a few deep, enforced breaths and tried to get to the bottom.. took me three times to touch the ground and pick up a stone. The trick is also not to kick to much, but slow, pushing fin strikes that bring you down, equalizing your ears all the time! I think, it was about 15 meter! :D haha! was really a thrilling experience!!

OK.. here it started to rain slightly and I want to get another 50km further.. so I start before it gets too late ;) cu soon!

..back on the mainland again :D

phew.. what a trip! was not exactly the way I thought it would be, but I don't regret a single second of it!!

in the end, there were not many things left on the boat that could fail because kinda everything broke.. finally the compressor was the killer to stop the trip in the middle (well.. not the middle of the time, but middle of dives), but also there were issues with one of the dinghis, the sweet water system had a problem on the way home, the engines were not powerful enough and the diesel was bad quality, so they had to change filters 3 times. even the washing machine broke and flooded our room ;) well.. at least the ship didn't sink ;) *lol* ..nah, was not too bad.. though on the way I had some challenging moments. especially because the trip costed me some money and I wasn't really satisfied at this point. Also has to be mentioned that at the moment is the time of "El Nino" and the water temperature is waaay to high for big schools swimming around. So I've seen some of the hammerheads (what actually is very exciting if you haven't seen any at all before ;) hehe ;) but there were maybe 10 instead of 80.. so the next time I make sure the conditions are better for diving (means, much colder, so you freeze your ass off diving ;)
getting there was a pain in the ass.. 60 hours took the journey and mostly it was so wavy that everybody got seasick. I was mostly sleeping, laying flat in my bed and twice feeding fish over board :P but survived! just know, the next time I got plenty of seasick tablets with me! when I finally wanted some, they already run out (in no time they were all gone! :( so it was pretty tough.. it's kinda the feeling you get, when you're getting out of a rollercoaster.. but steady for 24 hours a day :P
the way back was much, much better.. and when you get off the boat after days of waving, you still feel waving because your center of equilibrium has somehow adapted to it ;)
the food was awesome (once we arrived I managed also to eat again ;) I got also really excited about the diving.. it's hard to not see a shark, when you jump into the water. Mostly whitetips that are about 1m50 but look pretty (well, I like bigger ones ;) during the night dives they were following a jackfish for the hunt and it was exciting to watch them.. was also the only thing to see next to some psychadelic looking sea cucumbers ;) then I saw a big manta ray passing for a few seconds (thank you dive buddy for pulling on my fin and pointing it out.. I would have totally missed it! ;) then on a couple occasions the hammerheads showed up! I hope that some people will upload on facebook and that I actually get their contacts in the end.. but we will see.. would be nice to point out a shark that I swam with! ;)
on the way back we got some dolphins swimming with the boat for a while (always nice!! :D so I had the best dives of my life out there even with compareble bad conditions and just have the dives.. and well.. a long trip there and back. next time I'd be more prepared to do things ;)
I had my guitar, didge and jews-harp with me and entertained people during the trip ;) they enjoyed! I heard a lot, but A LOT jokes about me, that came kinda out of a form of sympathy that sometimes still cost me a bit to not get too "spiky" about it. but yes.. I mean, I'm an accessible person and got really good connections with everybody and it was alone on the plane to meet all these people incredible fruitful! and a lot of us thought this.. so it was priceless to meet and know all these people a little better (because this is what you do if you stay 10 days on a small boat together ;) but yes.. five people from the states and seven Costa Ricans.. called "ticos" ;) and was fun with all of them! :D ..well.. OK, one guy from Holland that lives here for 18 years had a hard time.. he has quite an ego and is fighting with it plenty of moments. So in the end he couldn't take his car out because the old truck of Luciano (boss) broke down and he was about to sue the company because so pissed off (instead of taking things easier). So murphys law stroke him hard and for some reason also Luciano had to pay his share. Being on a boat with twelve disappointed, much paying customers and nothing he could do about (last leaving the scene ;)
but I met a lot of wonderful people on this trip!! there are people working on that boat that inspired me deeply with their selfless kind of being, their committment and their everlasting smile! and they did not only inspire me, but many! (that's the way it works in this world ;)
so during the trip and at our good bye party in a restaurant, drinking beer and having shots, many beautiful word has been spoken and people showed more of their feelings and gratefulness for each other! was just a wonderful moment under the influence of alcohol!! ;) hehe :)
well.. I'm sure I will add some more lines, but for the moment I have a break.. my inbox was flooded with spam and shit and I'm glad I could clean up a little ;)
so it was a bit costly, but in the end it's just money and I'm sure it won't be missing on the long run.. I got now an own divecomputer and well.. payed 100 USD for days I haven't spent on the island. but you never now if something is a curse or a blessing.. if Luciano stays in business (what I strongly hope) then I might have another chance to go out in October, November.. so let's see if this happens when the time comes (and El Nino is over hopefully).
I feel, I'm not done with Cocos Islands.. there is more to see and knowing one of the companies owner seems to help for future activities there ;)
went hiking on the island.. it's beautiful, but a very small place to stay there for a month, what volunteer people actually do..
so yeah.. hear from me soon! :)

..day "X" has come..

BUYA!! :D

tomorrow we leave for 10 days out in the Pacific Ocean.. haven´t been out that long in my life ever! ;) hehe :) will be so AWESOME!
today I got my staff uniform and I´m looking forward to meet the passengers tomorrow morning. In last second they make the Nitrox compressor work and we put in some new refridgerators to store food. The crew is the Captain, Machinist, Chief of decks, Assistant, 3 Divemaster a Chef and me :D haha :) it´s gonna be soooo good! eating nice food and checking out some of the best diving in this world!
I spent just 290 bucks today to get a divecomputer that´s mandatory to have but actually was about time to get one and it´s a pretty good offer (they go to 600 USD ;) and will do really good! On my level it kinda sucks to relay on the computer of your buddy (what you can´t really do, because of different dive profiles). So it´s good to have my own one :) the rest of the stuff I´m borrowing from the boat. I´m not sure if Luciano knew this all the time but I´m glad it works this way now (after I asked for BCD and Regulator ;) hehe :) I mean, I just don´t have the space to carry all this stuff along for just some short moments as this (as incredible and special they are ;)
after tonight I won´t party for 10 days and I think that´s also very nicely timed after the last days I had in Santa Theresa ;) hehe :)
what more.. got a nice bed with my own personal life jacket, I´m good friend of the Captain already and everybody seems to be really awesome! well.. the DMs I might to earn my respect first as I have no idea how diving out there will be.. might have strong currents and high waves, but yeah.. nothing too hard for me ;)
hear from me when I´m back, showing hopefully some stunning pictures (taken from the rest of the passengers that have cameras ;)

one more wish delivered by the universe! :)

Pura Vida!! (they say it all the time and it means "pure life") and represents the great attitude the people have here in Costa Rica! :)



now listen to this:

it´s totally the shit!! :D I was about to take the 11am ferry and make another loop through Costa Rica, because I felt so much turned down by life.. but then I talked to the owner of one of the three companies that go out to the Islas de Coco and the guy tells me that he finds me sympathetic and gives me the opportunity to go out and dive on the trip next week!!!! HAHAHAHA :D isn´t that just super great!! well, I still pay for my costs, that´s a hundred dollars a day (still my budget ;) and some park fees.. but hey.. diving with hammerheads! there´s no price for that! ;) I´ll also be helping on the boat with what I can.. I´m sure the experience will be unforgettable!! while being out I don´t have to take care of staying, food, going out.. so I save a good amount of money by being unable to spend ;) therefore I´m making a lot of party here in Santa Theresa ;) waves are not really good at the moment and it happened, that I went to bed the last days when the sun was rising ;) tonight won´t be different and tomorrow Saturday will also be a blast! ;)
met some fire spinners here and we will perform tonight (what hopefully provides me free drinks at the bar ;) and it´s always nice to make a little show! :)

so yes.. Sunday back to Puntarenas, Monday introduction of the boat and rules, getting my wetsuit and probably loading cargo. Then we drive 2 days out, will spend 6 days there, diving 4 times a day on Nitrox (I´m glad I have the license ;) hehe :) and then 2 days back (it´s about 500km out in the ocean). I think, I haven´t been out for so long on sea ever.. will be really cool! it´s a big, quite luxury boat and I´m looking forward to meet the passengers! :) there are just three companies who have the permits and boats to go out and the trips are very, very limited (so are the people who have seen this spot) ah dude, how blessed I am! ;) I´ll see that I get some good pictures of the dive to upload on Facebook ;)

so yeah.. here in Santa Catarina I feel good vibes! there is not a single bite of food I had that was not extraordinary delicious!! :) and I have a room with big bed, TV, fridge (fridge rules!! :) haha :D and private bathroom for 10 USD a day.. really cozy nice place to spend the next days until I leave the firm ground ;)
I met lots of nice people here and looking forward to go out again tonight! ;) comes all in phases, I guess.. sometimes I feel not like going out and doing all this stuff, but then sometimes I do and then I do it full-on! ;) haha :)

it´s really beautiful around here.. the roads leading to this place are not paved and it´s all a bit more rural and chill (even if it changed a lot over the last 15 years). It just has a good size for me now ;) haven´t taken a lot of pictures lately though. I think was more processing inner things and didn´t feel like taking pictures.. no worries, there will be some in the end ;) hehe :)

my friend Renzo from my former employer is waiting for his bike in Anchorage, after being inspired and just made it happen! Badass!! :) I´m sure he´ll have also a great time! :) won´t catch up with me probably ;)

yes.. that´s for you out there: JUST MAKE IT HAPPEN! because there is nobody else creating your life than you and the more you become aware of it, the better work things out. I felt almost my channeling efforts having been in vane, but then was the right time in the right spot and got a place on the boat :)
have a great time and hear from me! :)

..and all seemed to look that well..

heyhey :)

hmm.. before even more things happen (sorry, before I make them happen ;) I write some lines. So I was surfing and it was SOOO much fun!! :) in fact, will go again here in Costa Rica (anyway nothing else to do on a beach). Figured out that the first time I tried, I had a really bad board. So this time it was even easier and more fun! ;) living on the beach (or sailing), I will for sure ride some waves!! :)
met a guy from along the way and we hanged out together.. was nice to see a familiar face and we had a good time! :)
Then I crossed the boarder without having too much trouble. Spent though on both sides 10 dollars (a price I can accept, once it´s clear from the beginning). And yes, things run smoother if somebody get´s you through the paper work (I mean, I need anyway somebody to ask how all this works) ..furthermore they wouldn´t let you do it by yourself ;) took my about 2 hours and I was in Costa Rica. Got a free tourist travel map that´s just good enough to bring me across the country.

my first stop was in Tamarindo, where I was supposed to meet somebody.. wasn´t there then in the end, but I got a piercing in my lip ;) (no worries Mom, 1st) you can always take it out and 2nd) I just wanted the experience ;). But it will take some time to heal and I have still to get used to it (like it already a lot! :) now I have always something to play around with my tongue ;)
Tamarindo is pretty touristy but then also nice to run into some people and share stories.. I´ll be for sure back on the peninsula.
Left then Tamarindo and went to Puntarenas to find work as a divemaster. Well.. I might just round it up here. First it looked all good and I got really excited when the assistants where telling me that his boss is looking for somebody, but then when I talked to the person in charge, it´s not about to happen.
One thing is that I need a work Visa.. no visa, no work. But also no visa without a contract (so it´s a dog biting it´s tail). Then yes.. I have no experience with that job and with the environment. So I would have to be trained and so on and the other guy said, there would be again ships in September.. but that´s WAAAAAAY too far away for me. I would have to help with repairs on the boat at the dock and I think it would not be, what I expect. (I know, can´t expect to just get the cream ;) but then I rather pay for this trip any time in my life than sacrificing half a year of my life. Anyway.. going to speak personally to these people tomorrow, but gave up hope to get work here. If I would be retired in my country I could get residential papers or marrying a girl or having a baby with one ;) haha ;)) no worries, not real options to me ;)
I will also try further down, where there is another port where boat are.. then I have a couple of almost non-existent-chances, where I´m asking as well, just to have tried anything. Otherwise the plan B is made. It´s a ride (making a loop, because I´m all over the place) connecting some beaches, volcano, hot springs, tree house community and then to Panama.

I was at a Psy Trance Party on Saturday and it was just a BLAST! :) really super, super cool! beautiful spot! sky full of stars! lovely people, great sound, lot´s of party! met cool people from this community, got invited stuff and inspired a lot with my contact ball!
I´d wish to find work here, so I could be more on these parties! :) they have a small, but really nice community! was about time to shake my ass off at a party like that! :) and good to have your own ride, so I could just drive there and tarp my bike. got a pretty sunset and it the morning arrived mystical fog ;) It was dry the whole night, but when the people left and we started afterhour, it was rainy (what was not too bad, cooled a bit down and the place was the veranda of a house.
Only the end got as chaotic as it can.. I assumed I could stay over night, but the guy renting the place was not allowing it, so I had to leave the place when it was getting dark already and my light is broken at the moment.. so I ended up heading out, without knowing where there´s a place to stay close (there was none really close), getting dark, no light, no mirrors (broke off once more :P and it started to rain.. was really a leap of faith!
but then when I stopped to ask for the way, a couple on a motorcicle stopped and they escorted me to the next city, leaving me in a good spot with parking close by. My Saviours!! :D like angels, providing a helping hand from the universe! :)
so I could recover from being awake and partying for 36 hours and this morning I tried to get interviews for the job, just figuring out, that I was too excited about all this. Well.. I´m used to quick changes and I think it´s just another experience more, that helps increasing the quality of my life over time ;)
While this horror ride on my bike, I was so 100% sure to fix just everything in San Jose.. there are some minor things to fix, things to look at, adjust, just make it run a bit smoother.. But then when I saw the price of a simple service here, I almost passed out. You really don´t want to fix your bike in Costa Rica! the cooling fan is 200 USD more expensive than in Mexico (almost double price) and I think I could have payed up to 2000 USD for all the things I wanted to fix. I should have gotten than fan in Mexico (thought it will be cheaper further down), when it was 230 USD .. now they order one to Panama, that will be 330 USD and don´t dare to wait any longer to Colombia.. I mean, it will be anyway expensive, it´s just more expensive now than it was before. This is because Costa Rica has a lot of import taxes. So having a BMW is more than luxury! I heard, should be about half the price to do the things down in Panama.. well.. the parts will be costly anyway, but I got not much of a choice. So I calculate a bit more money to get it fixed and it will happen in about 3 weeks. There are not too many more riding days until I get down and I´ll make sure to not drive anymore when it´s dark and will probably super-glue a mirror back on, until I get it done properly. Too bad.. was looking forward to renew my bike, but CR is not an option.

hmm.. what more.. broken dreams of being divemaster here, bike that could not been fixed.. but then there are a lot of bright, shiny moments in my life and it´s interesting.. at least I´m not just drifting along, but trying to get things done and having a purpose in the day.

day by day.. will all be good! ;)

..Ometepe, Volcano Island..

Hi there :)

I´m here in San Juan del Sur, after I took the ferry over to the island of Ometepe (looks really nice with it´s two volcanos) and drove around to the more remote side close to a place called "Balague" where I stayed two nights at a coffee farm with accommodations. I hoped to run into a friend that I met Saturday night and even if she was in other things, we still felt our deep connection as when we met the first time in Semuk Champai, Guatemala. She and her companion just showed up after two days when I was about to leave and so only the stars know, if our paths will cross again (I really hope so!! sending out secret wishes to the universe)
I had to sort many things out in my head and didn´t feel too connected to the few other people that were around, but I guess, sometimes you have phases like that to process past experiences.
I hiked on the volcano Madera and did so in about half the time most people need to climb it ;) also didn´t take a guide along, because I really just wanted to be with myself, no guide, no big groups.. just me and the volcano ;) after half the way, you get into the cloud that forms around the top during the day.. so it becomes wet and a bit slippery, bigger rocks instead of a earth and roots. then you descend from the crest into the crater, where there is a small lagoon with about 200m diameter. It first was so foggy that I couldn´t see 20m out in the water, but then opened up a bit to take a picture showing the other side of it and it was all in all a really good hike, helping me solving some stuff and good excercise! :)
in the evening I tagged along with a multinational guy and two girls from Montreal to have a nocturne swim in the lake! :) was really nice! it´s pretty warm (because of it´s green-brownish color and the stars were shining lovely above :)
I realized in these days that some past things should remain past and that I should focus more on the way before me. I wished, I would have realized this long ago, but I guess it just takes time mostly to do so and I hope I advanced finally having freed myself from these things.

was riding then to the port, getting on the ferry again (it takes 1 hour to get to the mainland and it was cheap to bring the bike along and they attached it as well really good on the boat :)
yesterday I arrived in San Juan del Sur, checked a surfing beach (want to go surfing today! :) and drove to the boarder, walking over to Costa Rica to ask about a work visa and checked with Nicaragua about my resting days (won´t be a problem to leave the country.. can pay a dollar per day overstayed and won´t be many).
In fact, I´m leaving tomorrow, because there is a Psy Trance party in Costa Rica and I started my project to get a divemaster job there.. if there´s a way, I´ll make it! :D

Nicaragua is really small compared to other countries and the same is for Costa Rica.. I will probably drive all over the place trying to get my things done and it´s not too bad, because nothing is more than a day of riding.. :)
hear from me soon..

..last day in Granada..

not always the things work out the way you want and so I end up here with broken dreams and burning pain in my chest, that´s about to vanish as smoke in the wind..

still haven´t any pictures of this nice, colorful town and it´s churches.. somehow don´t feel as running around and capturing in with my cam just to upload in the internet. Was all in all very nice here.. interesting and intense times!!
I went to the Santiago Volcano close to Masaya, where sulfuric gases come out of a huge crater and where you can hike around the crater, enjoying a spectacular view (I hope the pics worked out) and I was also on the Mombacho Volcano close to here, where there is a rain forest on this 1000m high peak growing. It´s a nice clima up there.. not too hot and humid as rainforest is supposed to be ;) after big plans, I ended up there by myself and did the forbidden Puma trail (forbidden, because I didn´t have a 15USD guide with me ;) and basically run the 4km in half the time they calculate. Was a good workout and gave me some headspace. Mostly you are on jungle trails without having a lot of view or seeing wildlife, but there are some nice lookouts where´s it´s worth to stop for a while. Beautiful to watch over the flat country and seeing the beginning hills in the distance.

a reason to stay another day is the local fire spinning group that I met yesterday. Want to perform tonight as well and make some sound with my didge (they have flute and djembe). Otherwise I was busy with heart issues until yesterday.. so today I might just trip around the city and start drinking early ;) having a party Saturday and going to Ometepe Island tomorrow. Already packed up my stuff, but a day more or less never really mattered and here is for sure more going on to go out in the night.

fixing my bike was pretty easy.. I met this guy here that is just the pure Nicaraguan McGyver :) he was maybe not always as careful as I hoped, but he actually made a good job.. wielded my mirrors back on the screws (so no expensive screws, just a bit working time to pay :) and riveted my side case, painted the bike new (he was about to paint all of the metal frames, but I stopped him at a certain point.. ;) even if I have to admit, that the new hand painting looks better than before :)
I´m glad I could give some money to local people for such a great (and very much needed) service. I took the front cover apart and attached the lamp again and now I know how the beam can be adjusted to the street ;)
most impressing was his backyard, where it´s not adviced to enter without having a Tetanus shot ;) hehe :) there is rusty metal crap lying around all over the place but he got all the parts we needed out of it ;) yes.. glad I met this guy.. now I´m ready to roll again! :D
have to stop though in Costa Rica to get a new fan and fix my cooling system.. had to stop twice in the last days because the lamp came on :( hope this is not going to happen anymore.. especially not while riding with all my stuff through the mountains or having someone else on the bike.

well yes.. I think this is mostly what I´ve done here in the last days ;) there is of course always a lot more going on, but I wouldn´t want to have this blog too detailed.. just the most important things ;)

have a blissfull day and hear from me!

..lucky fools day..

Wow! ..exept for being blissed by love, I really experience everything down here! :)
I went to the "Black Hill", a volcano where you can run (or slide) down a sandy slope. Getting there I obviously used my bike and saved 23 dollars, having way more fun driving there, then changing my 50hp for 1 horse power and riding for 2km :) the guy had some BMW 650 experience and I galoped smiling past houses and families on the country side ;) after enjoying the nice view on the volcano I ran down in full speed (up: 25min, down:1.5min ;) and it happened that a short but strong rain started, so there were raindrops hitting the slope in a 90degree angle, what made a real good ambience for the thrilling way down :D
driving back to town was a bit more challenging by having different conditions after a bit of rain, but was still fun.. just sliding with the 200kg bike (and not dropping it once!! :D
spent time with friends in Leon and met some people from earlier on the trip. Was nice to say hello again! :) then I managed to get exiled from a hotel place.. long story.. stayed a night and needed more privacy, but still had friends and my bike there and the guy was, it´s OK you can be here but then behind my back advising people to kick me out and I just ignored this silly behaviour what brought it to the point where they didn´t like me too much anymore ;) but well.. it´s not too bad.. doesn´t mean to be exiled from a country ;)
after some other wild (and censored ;) adventures, I continued to Somoto, where I heard is a really nice canyon. On the way I stopped for a cheap and very tasty breakfast, having a deeply spiritual conversation with a 72 year old local man. It´s wunderful what set of mind some people have here!! :D
took then some dirt roads to Somoto (instead of going directly to Granada) and ended up taking a tour through the canyon with some local young guides. Normally I don´t like tours, but hearing about the development of their area, I really like to help them out with some money.. and you´d probably die doing it on your own ;) hehe :) I still felt kinda bad that they charged so few money.. I paid 10 bucks to go down this canyon.. swimming, climbing, jumping from a rock and another 10 to grapple three times from a 30-40m rock.. that was thrilling!! :D got better and better, but still not as in the movies ;) it´s a really beautiful peace of land, unfortunately not having pictures of it, because my battery died :P but there were 2 kids involved carrying the equipment forth and back and 2 other guides who came down with me the canyon, having a float with them to transport a dry box (with my dead cam ;P )
you have to go with feet first for not hitting rocks and at certain points you just lay on the back, see the steep walls, the blue sky above, clouds passing by and vultures making their circles. There are many wholes in the walls and bats fly close over the water, hunting insects. The area consists of two rivers flowing together and many beautiful hills, shining in fresh green, now as rain is falling over night (sometimes day ;) ..I heard, it started about 20 days ago and it´s waaaaay more beautiful than just having everything brownish dry. So from this aspect, being here in the rainy season isn´t all that bad.
I stayed then with a family, had simple but tasty food and learned about cultivating beans and rice and guess what, everything is just natural.. every egg, every single bean. Nothing has ever seen a can. It´s a very poor country, but people living mostly self sustaining and more natural than we city people do..
I went to bed early (what happened mostly in the last days.. also for having some inner issues to fix :-/ ) and the next morning we went riding, this time on top of the canyon, to three view points (miradores). The horse was just WONDERFUL!! well, at a certain point it tried to kick me, but missed or I was too quickly, so luckily it didn´t get me ;) but it was one of the most amazing horses I rode and if I wouldn´t have a bike, I think, I would have bought it!! :D haha! :D yes, we were running through these hills and stopped at some relativs place from the guide. They were working with a wooden plug and two oxes and I tried to manage that for a line, but it´s really hard work and the oxes have to be quite a bit animated.. otherwise they just stand around or run across the field ;)

so yes.. you out there.. if you like horses and want a special experience (maybe a future project of mine), come to Nicaragua, buy a really good horse for 300USD and a saddle for 100USD, put a fur of a sheep on top for being more comfi and then ride a month through Nicaragua on unpaved roads, through mountains, even into small towns and cities, because lots of people do here. everybody knows about horses and you get a vet in every small place, helping you out if it has to be. The country is very safe, people super friendly, food simple but good and for 2-4 weeks I could easily imagine to make an experience like that.. if I wouldn´t take off for diving on my next few holidays, then I would do the riding thing.. as I tried in Argentina ;) here it´s way more the place to do it! eventually you could even cross boarder to Costa Rica! :D yes.. this is another trip that I might do one day if I get bored over there.. just about my level of adventure ;)

then yesterday I had a super long day of riding.. first I managed to break both my mirrors off again (didn´t happen since Alaska) and some other stuff.. well, nothing that hasn´t fallen off already once on this trip, exept for the head light that is out of it´s socket.. will try to fix that here tomorrow in town. I don´t have a single scratch of it, thanks to my leather gloves (well, my palm hurts a bit from the impact, but really nothing to be worried about). It hurts a bit, because I know the adapter screw of the mirrors are 20 USD each and I probably have to see a dealership in Costa Rica, where it´s more expensive than in Colombia. Took then 50km to regain confidence in me and the bike and I´m happy the front fork isn´t bent, this would be a loooot of troubles!! so it was just one more experience and reminded me a bit to drive extra cautious, maybe applying some different technics on the road in the traffic.
then there was a police guy stopping me, telling me something about missing papers and fine and I was telling them that I paid for everything at the boarder and I don´t like to pay extra fine that is not necessary. Well, they let me go.. but you know, Panamericana.. the road where many bikers drive down and cops get some extra income. Hmmm.. let´s see how I handle it in the future. I´m not willed to pay, but might just ask for their boss in such a case.. because another tactic is not to speak spanish anymore or maybe just noting down their name and number and telling them to speak with their official :)
to get some more of Nicaragua and having a few kilometers more to ride, I made a little detour and wanted to reach Granada on a dirt road along the lake, but then when I crossed the first river, the local chief of police told me, that there are biiig mud holes and I will have a hard time to reach Granada.. too bad, thought it was all rocks and stones, not loose earth that becomes a swamp if it rains. The guy was really awesome.. helped me carrying my cargo over the river (unloaded the bike to cross), just to figure out on the other side, that I better turn around.. was then an extra 140km to take the other paved road, that I left despite of recommendations earlier. Well.. then in the end managed to arrive here in Granada. Probably going on a volcano today (because so nice weather) and doing repairs tomorrow.. might stay for another 2-3 nights here and then going to the island Ometepe and climb another volcano.. it´s fun!! :D
yes.. that´s probably most of it.. there are so many things that are not written down here, but still end up as being part of myself. All the people I met along the way, all the wonderful, inspiring conversations and blissful moments (when not freaked out by missing love :´( ..no worries, still a lot of pleasure in my life. It´s really nice if you have nothing to do but to be and to learn about the world. Everything is really cheap here, so I can go out and eat tasty or afford any other pleasure the world holds ;) you should check it out!!
Ok.. I´m off to see the area around.. hear soon from me! :)