We spent many a lovely day in Dominical! Had some new friends camp with us, some awesome Ticos: Fer and Carlos. And some friends visiting from Virginia: Cameron, Will and Zac. A tico from Montverde, ..... tagged along with them to the beach for a couple days. Sean went surfing with him a bunch. They were staying up at Will's familys' cabin a bit up the road from town but ..... eventually succumbed to the ocean and stayed in the hammock with us on the beach! There were many a bonfire on the beach. We had to scavenge the beach for firewood everynight and driftwood burns fast so it never lasted too long. Dead palm tree leaves burn bright and fast so lots of bright and hot bursts with burning embers in between made for something lovely to stare at. Besides the immense amount of stars! We watched the sunset over the ocean every night.

One Saturday there was a skateboard competition in the back of the beach bar Tortilla Flats. They started with kids under 6 who were pushed back and forth on the ramp by their parents. SO cute! Then older kids who seriously rocked it on the ramp! Then a few locals and professional skateboarders who were in from a neighbouring town where they were building a skate ramp for the community. I thoroughly enjoyed myself watching the sexy, sweaty, shirtless skaters!! hahah It has also been just as enjoyable watching the cute surfer boys! :)

I went to yoga one morning at this incredible open air studio that had one whole wall open to the forest, a tall slanted ceiling, a mirror wall and bamboo walls. Loved it! The teacher was so great, she came around to push my hips down when I was in a relaxing child pose after a challenging pose. And when we were in corpse pose she came to each of us and gently pressed on our shoulders and arms with lavender oil. <3 That night we made a huge feast with our friends from Virginia who were destined to leave the next day. We bought some locally fresh caught fish from a little shop down the road and made shish ka bobs with sliced onion and potato in foil. YUM!
Here we are the next day:

There was this huge iguana that lived around us on the beach. I call him BIGUANA! He came really close to my tent one day and I stared at him from a little hole at my door. I was so close I could see him breathing. He was very blue around his head and shoulders.

Here is our kitty that adopted us. We called her Tica. She is pregnant. Loves to sleep in the van!

We went for a walk one evening and found a HUGE dead turtle! So sad because we think it is because of the fishing boats that are just combing the ocean floor then throw whatever they can't sell back into the ocean dead from sitting on the boat out of the water for so long. It may also have been that it crawled onto the beach and died... not sure. But the ticos were telling us that there is that problem with the fishing boats.

One thing that I forgot to mention... In one of the entries from Pheonix I said that I had something to tell that I would mention later. We attended a sweatlodge and during the sweat I was blessed with a spirit name: Pouring Life! One night recently we were burning candles for light and I took this picture with really makes me think of Pouring Life. I see the red candle hands up to the heavens pouring life down into the pool of the infinite universe with white light cascading down as well to mix in a beautiful symbiosis of love, life and light!

A few days ago we all agreed to go our separate ways. I was interested in exploring more places in my time here. I would rather of not left while we were trying to sell the van but this is how it worked out. We had some possible buyers but they backed out in the end unfortunately. If it comes down to it I'm sure they can take the van to a used car salesman and get something for it. We also got some numbers of people who would keep it on their property and we could use it if we came back... Sarah and Eric are still in Dominical as far as I know and possibly flying out soon. Thank you so much for the incredible adventure guys! It was an experience I will never forget and will cherish forever!! Sean and I tried our best to fit what we could in our bags and gave away the rest. We all packed too many things because we had the freedom of the van to carry our stuff! It is really unfortunate because the boys had many tools that they brought that they couldn't take back with them... I fit what i needed to in my bag but it is really heavy. So I am still trying to get rid of more stuff day by day. Sean and I caught a bus to Quepos then waited a while for the bus to Puntarenas. The bus was slow but it was nice to sit and watch the world go by in some quiet reflection. 

We met a nice girl who was going to a friends farm near Puntarenas that we had met briefly at the festival as well. She came up to us during the ride from Quepos to Puntarenas just checking that we still ahd our computer because she saw a guy sweating profusely with a computer. We still had our computer so figured all was ok. When we got to Jaco an older Italian man who had also come from Dominical was getting his stuff from up top and was frantically looking around. He was looking for his computer! So I guess that guy had stolen his computer but had gotten off the bus long ago. Too bad we didn't think to check with him. We had heard that we need to watch our stuff on the bus but after this took it more seriously!

We spent the night in Puntarenas where I had the worst sleep ever on a horrible bed! I was so looking forward to a sleep in a bed. Oh well. We took the ferry the next morning, then the bus to Montezuma. We've been staying in a hostel here for the last couple days enjoying a better bed! The people here are a bit more friendly it seems, I've met more people here than I did in Dominical. It's smaller with two little streets of shops and a few hostels right on the beach (where we are). The beaches have many rocks which is beautiful to watch the surf splash up on them; and the sand is almost white from all the crushed shells. I've found many beautiful shells and am making some jewelry from them!

We went to the waterfalls just a short walk outside of town and on the way we had our first sighting of wild monkeys! Black ones with long fuzzy tails they used to climb. And a little baby too!! The waterfalls were awesome, we played in the the spray of the falls and jumped off some cliffs into the refreshing, cool water.

So today we are off down the beach to a little place where they let you camp. I think we will stay here for the rest of the week and on Saturday there is a little market for a couple hours that I would like to set up my jewelry and try and sell a few. Then I would like to go to Monteverde where there is two cloud forests (rainforests way up in the mountains you are always in the clouds) to hike around a couple days. Then off to Ometepe, Nicaragua where I think I am going to volunteer at a spiritual community called InanItah for about a month. 

Blessings! Until next time...

PURA VIDA!

46day I think?! lost count.

Hola!
So we made it to Costa Rica! It took a long time at the border since we caught it at a time when everyone was trying to cross over. We waited in a really long line up but met some awesome people that were also headed to the festival coming from Ometepe, Nicaragua. It was nice to engage in some conversation with some liked-minded people in english! We finally got out of there and tried to drive to San Jose as quick as possible to meet Joey and Lisa who were flying in at around 930pm. It wasn't so far to drive and we thought we would make it in no time but it was slow going because of a one lane highway and as soon as it got dark there was no way we were passing anyone so we just stayed behind a huge truck and managed to make it to the airport at 930 exactly! We waited for our friends and started playing this horrible game where everyone took turns exclaiming: "OooH! There they are!" and everyone would look and get all excited, but really they weren't there. We ended up playing this until 1am! Turns out they missed a connecting flight because of weather and they were delayed until noon the next day. It was hard for us to figure this out with no internet or phone. Eventually we just parked somewhere for the night with a new friend we met at the airport who slept in the front seat. It was great to finally meet up with Joey and Lisa the next day! We took off right away towards Uvita and the Envision festival driving up through windy mountain ranges. I think we were about 3000 feet near the top. And drove past some valleys high in the mountains with beautiful pristine lakes, clouds and mist. At one point we had to stop and unload all of what was stored in the top front as the board was sagging from all the alcohol and beer we stored there!!

We had some trouble with the brakes of the van at the bottom of the hill and percariously pulled up to the festival. (The boys later bled the brakes and they are now working fine). We tried to set up camp under the canopy of a big tree but quickly moved after Lisa met a massive spider! There were spiders and fire ants all over. When I woke up I could see tons of spider webs in the grasses shining in the sun. I had to throw a few out of the tent... who knows how many I didn't see. We all got bit several times by the ants. It was hard to stay out of the way of their little ant highways! I was really sick this first night (and still have a cough almost 2 weeks later) and went to bed early after checking out a bit of circus/fire performance. The days at the festival were stifling hot! I wanted to attend more workshops but it was almost impossible in the heat! It forced us to wake up early even though were camped in the shade and we practically ran to the beach or waterfalls everyday. Security was blocking us from walking to the nearest beach because they said there were animals that would bite in the river you had to wade through to get there. So we drove with two ticos (locals) to a beautiful deserted beach. It was the first time in the water in Costa. It is SO WARM!
At low tide, almost hot! It was a peaceful place to swim and play.

 A while later (during the day, not after this pic was taken) I went in to swim on my own and went in to my stomach and swam about. A wave came in and suddenly I couldn't touch the ground anymore. I swam to shore and expected to touch right away but could not for a long time. I was getting tired of swimming and can't really swim exceptionally well so I panicked and started yelling for help. Everyone was quite far away so I don't think anyone heard me. I let some big waves push me in and was finally able to touch. I had a hard time catching my breath and shakily made my way back up the beach. I let everyone know what happened and that if someone wants to go swimming on their own it would be good if someone else kept a close eye on the one swimming. I passed out in the van. It took me a long time to get over the fact that I felt so close to being taken away by the ocean but I am much more cautious swimming now and definetly learnt my lesson. I just wish I wouldn't of had to learn that way. I am here and OK!
The festival was lots of fun! So many amazing artists and the festival landscape was so creatively set up! It was hard to stay awake after each day of brutal sun and I went to sleep earlier than I would've liked everyday and so missed a few djs I wanted to see. But so awesome!!! There were workshops during the day then an opening ceremony every day at 6; yoga to the Earth Harp a wonderful goddess played. It's hard for me to explain so watch this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJUZGy26_Uk
Then music all night!

One day during the fest we went to some waterfalls! You could slide down the waterfall into the pool below or walk down the river to some pools in the sunshine below. Someone brought a cooler full of this beautiful mud that they shared with everyone there and we all covered ourselves in this greyish-blue clay/mud! It was so soothing for the bug bites and was a great exfoliant! We let it dry and jumped into the cool pools. It was the cleanest we felt in a while!

The best performance of the weekend I think was by Lunar Fire, check it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtUX354ol7s

We left on Monday morning and drove with 3 other amigos to a little beach town not far called Dominical. We had trouble getting their as the brakes kept on being engaged! We pretty much crawled along. The van finally made it and the boys worked on it the next couple days and they bled the brakes and now they work fine! We found an incredible spot to camp on the beach.

We spent the next couple days relaxing in our hammocks, swimming in the ocean and hanging around the site. Joey and Lisa took surfing lessons. Eric bought a used surf board. We did some yoga. Had a few campfires. Joey and Lisa treated us to dinner at Tortilla Flats one night. (Thank youuuu!!)One night Sean and I went to a bar called Maracatu and saw this wonderful audio/visual performance by "the Yes Tribe" Our new doggy friend accompanied us to the bar and then hung around at the bar with us! She waited until we went home and happily trotted back home with us. One day we drove to another beach down the road for a little visit to get away from the brutal humongous waves that had been at Dominical for the last couple days from the full moon. There was such a high tide one day that Joey found some fish that had been thrown up on shore by the waves from the fishing boats. We asked if we could eat them but a tico (local) told us they were endangered and poisonous!

The morning after Sean and I took a walk along the beach at low tide. We found 11 beautiful sand dollars!! Later, Sarah and I got coconuts for everyone and we squeezed some limes and rum in them and sipped to our delight!

We met an awesome dude from Switzerland that camped near us for one night that was riding his bicycle from Mexico to Panama!!! Everyone we meet looks at us like we're crazy when we say we drove from Canada but I think this guy really takes the cake!

Nearing the end of Joey and Lisa's visit, we took a trip to Manuel Antonio Wildlife Refuge. We drove the van up this massive hill and it lost so much power that we all had to get out and push! It helped the van a bit further but it eventually stopped near the top of the hill while it steamed and smoked like crazy!! Sean and I were stuck on the side of the road with no shoes and I had no glasses to see. Sean had badly burnt the bottom of his foot from pushing the van on the hot concrete! There were tons of cars that got stuck behind the van  and someone towed the van up the hill enough to get out of the way. But then Sean and I were stuck on the side of the road in the shade for a while not knowing what was going on! We saw a fire truck go by us and I had visions of the van engulfed in flames. Sarah brought our shoes down for us eventually and I walked up to see the van still intact. Joey and Lisa got a hotel room where the van stopped which was conveniently at a part of the hill where there was a beautiful view of the northwest coast of Costa Rica... you could see for miles! Sean stayed at the hotel while we all went to the wildlife refuge. Joey and Lisa payed for a tour while Eric, Sarah and I just walked around. We saw a sloth lazing in a tree!! Sarah and I walked to the top of a path that gave us another beautiful view, this time of the southeast coast. So we saw down both coasts! It was really nice to finally go for a good hike. We walked down to a nice beach and took a swim. It was nice to get a relaxed swim in away from the crazy waves that had been at Dominical. At the hotel we were relaxing by the pool under some mango trees! Little ones kept on falling all around, they smelled so incredible! YUM!

We've seen some incredible sunsets here... life is good!

Thanks for coming to visit Joey and Lisa!! So great to spend some time with you guys here. We are back in Dominical in our same great campspot. We got new neighbours; a couple that drove from Quebec! Last night we had a campfire and some cool cats came along. A girl was playing the violin, a few people played my Dad's guitar and sang and Eric and Sean played a makeshift bass made out of a big bucket, a bamboo stick and a long string!! SO epic! We gathered quite an awesome crew around the fire last night. It was nice to meet more people and listen to music. yey!

Since the last entry>>>We drove a short distance to the border of Guatemala very early. We tried to book it as fast as we could through Guatemala as we heard it is quite dangerous... even more so than Mexico since they don't have much of a police force and lots of gang activity who apparently live in the jungle and will bombard your car if you stop along the highway. I'm sure it would be a wrong place wrong time kind of thing but we didn't want to take the chance. We just about made it through but night time fell upon us when we were a short distance away from the border. We got our first hotel room of the trip in Esquiplala which was much needed after some sleepless and humid nights. We were able to park the van in a gated parking lot and enjoyed some down time in the rooms watching spanish dubbed TV and some pizza! Honestly, out of all the little street meat vendors in the middle of no where and all the food we've been eatting, the pizza was the worst on my stomach! There were tons of ppl driving around in motorcycles, dirt bikes and 4x4s since I guess they have no real vehicle laws. It felt a little Mad Max.
Guatemala was the most beautiful country to drive through yet in my opinion. I spent all day staring out the window at the landscape rolling by. Saw banana trees full of nanners for the first time, incredible rolling hills and valleys with thick vegetation! We were going fast to get as far as we could that day. Got a little more interesting since it was now down to a one lane highway so we had to work on passing ppl when we could. The highway was very curvy and lots of up and down. In the first part of the road there were large sections of highway that was unpaved. We thought we were in for this sort of driving the whole way but there ended up only being two big sections that were like that, thank goodness!
This is where we started giving away our duffel bag full of toys and trinkets for the kids. Mostly at borders where the kids are hustling along side their parents. And to some policia and other adults for their little ninos and ninas (boys and girls). Tons of ppl ride bikes and they sit their little kids sideways in front of them on the bar and they hold on to the handlebars!! Similarly they let their kids sit on their laps as they are driving in cars. I have not seen one carseat in a car, not even for little babies! I guess they can't afford them here and have not been given enough education about driving safety. I thought that they would try and be as careful as they could with seatbelts as everyone drives so loco!? There are taxis with motorbike or pedal bike fronts and a little bench in the back to get driven around in.

We drove to Honduras border. Things were starting to get really exciting at the borders because you have coyotes approaching you as you drive up acting like they work for the border trying to show you where to go and how to do it all efficiently. We found out at one of these borders the hard way that they look and act official but they are not and even tho it helps you out to get things done a little quicker and clearer, it's best to just figure it out on your own and not pay him the ridiculous price he's asking for. Besides, after all the borders we've gone through we kind of got it down and know how to work our way around. Although it does get more confusing the further we go. Honduras was by far the most confusing... they all took their time in processing our paper work and never pointed us in the right direction and we had to double back  for a lot of things. Eric has been really awesome and getting all the stuff done for the van since it's in his name, it's just a lot of work and I commend him on being so awesome!
 After getting through the Honduras border we got lost in the little towns. Everyone was really nice about directing us where to go although their directions were pretty poor.We ended up driving to El Salvador border by accident. We turned around and got back on track going up the Honduras mountains. We lost a hubcap on a big pothole and I watched it roll down the hill. It was so steep driving up the mountains that the van slowed pretty much to a stop. It didn't have enough power to make it 3000 feet up so we turned around and headed back for El Salvador.  Drove by some beautiful volcanoes just after San Salvadore. My first time seeing a volcano! We stayed in a cool hotel in a small town where we kicked back in an open air space with some picnic tables; she served us beers and we watched  a spanish dubbed Fast and Furious movie. There was no running water in the room and we saw a cockroach in the shower area!!! My first real cockroach experience!

 Left early in the morning. They took us aside at the El Salvador border to talk to us. I guess at the Guatemala border the immigration officer asked for a bribe. we didn't give it to him so he marked Eric's passport for 30 day tourist card and the other 3 of us with 3 days. At the other borders the officers were trying to question us about it but we thought that stamp meant just for Guatemala but it is actually for all 4 countries (Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and Nicaragua have some sort of border agreement).At first we were thinking it was something really serious. Would we go to jail or be deported? But turns out we would just have to pay a fee and do a bunch of paperwork to extend the visas.Yet they were still suggesting we try and make it through Honduras (150k) and Nicaragua (420 k) So we jumped in the car to attempt! We would have made it if we didnt have to spend another long time at the Honduras border on the other side of El Salvador.We ended up staying Here we emptied a lot of the contents of our duffel bag we brought from Zoe's Thrift store who generously donated a bag filled with toys and trinkets. I gave away one or two things and in no time there were tons of kids around talking fast and vying for something in the bag. I gave a few things to each person but they all were coming back for more and more. We finally had to shooo them away so that we could go get our stuff done at the border. We got there around noon and they were on their lunch break! More waiting... Here is Sarah with a selection of the huge amount of bills we got! So much changing of money. In these smaller countries it's with guys with wads of cash on either side of the border, no money exchange.

We booked it through Honduras as fast as we could through the horrible potholes! We jarred the fridge loose from the wall on one of them. It was another intense drive. As soon as we got to Nicaragua the roads were way better and it was smoother sailing. We drove by some more cool volcanos, one that seemed like it was smoking and active. We were about to stop somewhere in one of the cities in Nicaragua when we went past some policia who looked like they were pulling us over. Turns out they were just looking for a ride to the next town after their shift! A whole bunch tried to pile in our van but we had to tell them only 2 more people could come. It was after dark and we usually don't like driving at that time but we figured it would be ok if we got pulled over with policia in our car. :D One of them directed us towards a nice Mission Hotel. They wanted $20 a night per person. We said we couldn't afford it and they graciously gave it to us for $10 a night each! It included a nice breakfast the next morning. There were some beautiful birds kept around by the hotel. Sad to see them in cages... but I think they are well taken care of. So we didn't make it over the border in the time we gave us but went early the next morning and we ended up not having an issue at all! We were definetely worried we would have to pay a lot.

We made it to COSTA RICA BABY! woooooOOoooO! Next up: Envision Fest and Dominical playa camping! We're in Dominical at the moment taking it easy... living slow. Hope all of you are well. LOVES!

Listen to this! >>>Found on my ipod that I got from Tyler. Wonderful music to listen to driving thru the mexican country side! Son de Madera. Thanks Tyler. luvs!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75QPFSAPMOY&feature=related

Wow, it's been a long time since I've updated. It's been harder and harder to find internet on the road and I'm sure I wont find it for a couple weeks now too. Hopefully this all makes sense cause Sarah and I tag teamed in writing this. Enjoy!
So we spent two days in Mazatlan parked just off the beach. We had fun playing in the ocean and got pummeled by a few crazy waves. I saw a huge fish jump when I was watching from the beach! Around here was my first time seeing coconuts growing wild on the tree. There are huge pelicans everywhere, we even saw a big dead one washed up on the beach. I've never seen so many hawks in my life as I have on this trip. They are everywhere on the highway just sailing around. We tried to go check out the first day of the Mazatlan carnivale but ended up getting there when it ended. So we took our first taxi of the trip back to the van which was open sides, kinda like a super golf cart. It was a good thing we caught it because there was a big downpour of rain but some of us still got wet because of the open sides. We got ripped off for the price I'm sure and definetely got our first taste of the tourist price. There are wonderful little restaurants right on the beach with palm tree roofs and sandy floors. We saw some beautiful beach sunsets! <3

Written by Sarah----->

 Mazatlan to Guadalajara was a crazy drive up a mountain range through some heavy rain. Eric is a Mexican driver, he's gots da skills. Here instead of signs to reduce speeds through school zones and small towns their are these massive speed bumps (topes). Topes seem to also be stray dogs around here. We've been feeding them some granola bars we don't seem to be eating but the further south we go it seems that some people need them also. From Guadalajara we travelled to Toluca and met up with a couchersurfer named Cindy who helped us with some spanish, fed us breakfast at her home, and told me about her faith in the universe. Toluca was beautiful, an old Mexican town outside of Mexico City with tons of old cathedrals, houses built into the hillsides, and a giant mountain with snowy peaks. The houses were numbered something like 157, 30, 378 on one side of the street and 78, 173, 2 on the other side, lacking street names, one-way signs, and such. Eric and Sean are masters of going with the flow and we found Cindy's house in no time. Cindy, Jenni, and I headed to our first Mexican market in the morning where we bought local bananas, huge avocadas, some cactus, and other things for our eating adventures. (Jenni and I have been rocking meal times. I am really enjoying the creative outlet.) At the market we were oogled by the locals who seemed very curious and a little weary of us. Cindy informed us that not too many foreigners stay in Toluca. We bought about five bags of groceries for about $15. 

From Toluca we headed towards Mexico City. The teacher we stayed with in Culiacan told us that Mexico City was built when an eagle was spotted eating a snake, which is very important in Mexican culture. From there the epicenter of Mexico formed and Mexico City is just called Mexico by the people. We were lost in the masses of streets, vehicles, pedestrians/haukers/performers, and tall buildings trying to use the sun through the clouds at high noon to orient ourselves. Sean was on it. He found a compass and we quickly headed out of the madness. We were headed to Vera Cruz but it was a steep climb, many cars did not make it through the intense heat, evidence was scattered along the shoulders of the highway. Marley was tired and we drove through the thickest fog I have ever seen as dusk came and went. The semi trucks in the right lanes didn't even have lights, for the most part. So we decided to stay in Cordoba where we just took it easy and headed to Ciudad del Carmen in the morning.

There are so many beautiful flowers showing up on the trees as we drive. Bright yellow, then little purples ones, beautiful pink and then just so many colors as it started to get really lush. I am enjoying all the foliage. There are people all along the highway selling whatever they can at the toll stations and in little towns. We're stayed away from it all so as not to get sick from the local food. We had to stop for one of the first times on the road to fix Marley (the van) his hubcap needed to be partly taken off cause it had been clapping around a lot but it was great that we stopped because we realised the exhaust pipe had fallen down. The boys rigged it up with some mexican barbed wire from the fence we were by and some duct tape. lol! Whatever works! We've also seen some guys chopping at the plants along the highway with machetes! eeee! Reaching the end of Mexico we saw a bunch of marshland getting closer to the sea. So interesting to see the change from desert to marsh.

Cuidad del Carmen was a TRIP all in its own. The toll highways we had travelled on for our whole journey through Mexico thus far ceased to exist. The scenery was becoming greener, more lush and we were headed from 3000ft in elevation down to sea level. We were tailed by a federali and then pulled over for our liscense plate not being visible (it is slightly covered by a hose on the back). There was a language barrier and we were set free. 

About an hour later, we came upon a military check point right before the bridge we had to take to the island of Carmen City. At this point we were becoming accustomed to military men and federalis looking bad ass with their straight faces and machine guns in hand but experienced no issues other than brief questioning . Marley had a speedy entrance into the the dark and we were immediately pulled over and asked to exnay the vehicle. Again, a language barrier was present yet we seemed to get by. They searched our vehicle while Jenni and I were fawned over for our hair and tattoos. Mexican men seem to love women and are very charming and witty. I guess we had our own charm because Jenni ended up dancing and singing with the men and their machine guns, we took pictures, and again were set free.
They thouroughly searched our van; we were all really freaked out even though we have nothing illegal. It was really tense until they started touching Jennis dreads and then they saw her ID and asked her Jennifer? Jennifer Lopez? and she sung a bit of one of her songs. Then one of the guys played a song on his phone and she started dancing. She ended up dancing it up with a bunch of scary guys with machine guns! Talk about making a tense situation so relaxed! We posed for a pic with them.

The bridge over the city lit up just as we began to cross. It was stunning. Immediately, we were pulled over by some policia on the other other side of the bridge. Marley had a headlight out. Eric again worked some magic and we were directed to an Auto Zone we could visit in the morning. We decided to park our van at the first hotel on the right so that we could unwind, indulge in some tequila and a night swim. We discovered a nice beach by Restaraunte Marino where we met some liquored up locals who loved to talk and practice their english. We were told to watch our tequila if the policers decided to bother us and offered us some rum. 
We heard some rustling behind us, hid the bottle, and were greeted by two polisos. Long story short, Jenni and I posed for some pictures and we got by for the fourth time unscathed and no less broke though we think they were asking for a bribe at some point during the interaction. We decided to spend the following day on the island. The daylight revealed loads of garbage, murkey waters, and oil wells of the shores. We spent the morning by the sea and did some travelling chores during the afternoon such as getting oil, tracking down water, airing out the van, and finding a cleanish bathroom to take a showerish in.

We checked out Marley's air conditioning. Marley was not impressed and overheated on us. Luckily we were able to push the van back into a safe parking place, one turn away from a busy road during rush hour. The street in front of us was filled with bustling floats and decked out sound system trucks preparing for the Carnaval (a Mexican street festival lasting 15 days). It was perfect timing as seems to be the way with us. We were as much an attraction ourselves as they were for us because Ciudad del Carmen is not a tourista town. We parked on the beach after the Carnaval and spent the night. 
In the middle of the night, we were awoken by more policias. Luckily, they were the polisos from the previous night. They recognized Sean, showed him some pictures from the previous night, chuckled and warned us about the gangs, and again let us be. 

The next day we took off over the bridge and off the island looking forward to Belize. Along the road Eric spotted some ruins that weren’t too far from the road. The Balamku ruins were about two thousand years old and quite a site. It was nice to get out of Marley and stretch our legs hiking up the tall stone stairs. We were allowed into one of the temples where some carved stone deities had been preserved. Below them were rooms for sacrificial animal slayings.

The next day we took off over the bridge and off the island looking forward to Belize. We loaded up on mas cervezas, more delicious 100% agave tikillya, some cigarellos, and agua for about thirty dollares. We made it to the Mexico/Belize border after spending diez dias en Mexico. We were greeted by a friendly Mexican man who informed us that the bank was closed for the day and we would have to come back manyana to collect the $300 vehicle deposit. We then exited Mexico and were informed that we could not bring beer or any fruits or veggies into the country. The nice Belizian lady at the border told us that we had no time limit and therefor could eat our vegetables and drink our beer before crossing the border. We had a fiesta in the free zone. Eric drove the van through and Jenni, Sean, and I walked quietly past the sleepy border 'guards'.

We spent the night in Corozal parked on a grassy beach under a giant umbrella tree beside the choppy sea. I woke up early, read my book on the ledge, and watched the sun rise. The sea in Belize is green. We met some Belizian locals by the water. Belizians are bilingual for the most part, speaking in both english and espanol. Beautiful rastas are plentiful in Belize. 

Early afternoon lolled by and we headed back to the border to retrieve the vehicle deposit. Sean, Jenni, and I chilled in the Belizian border parking lot near some rastas washing cars, in the shade. Eric went back solo, as you have to pay a tax to leave the country. We were 'officially' welcomed to Belize by a rasta's poetic words, "Where the people are free, by the Carreeb Sea". Eric and Marley came back to Belize, we shared some beers with new friends and headed to Belize City.  LOVE, Sarah.

By Jenni---->

Drove on to Belize City and went to the fish market on the river where we watched them scale, gut and chop up the fish. Scales were flying everywhere! I would normally be gagging at stuff like this since I've developed a weak stomach but I watch on in awe! We got two nice fresh fish still with the head and tails. Went to the veggie market... yummy! I ended up accidentally putting rubbing alcohol on my dinner because I thought it was vinegar and had to force myself to puke up my food. Unfortunate because it was a great meal and it freaked us all out because its a poison!! ugghh. We parked the van at the Raddison Hotel where they had a sweet outside bar and crazy loud awesome reggae and dancehall. We've had ppl husstling us all the time in Belize, ppl must think we're rich cause we're white. We've been getting this a bit but I think it will be a lot from now on. So many RASTAS here! YEY! They are nice and all are so laid back. Some talk so much tho! It's been really hard getting away from some of them. I am ok with saying goodbye but everyone else seems to be easily roped into intense conversations. :P

We are now in Belmopan, Belize which is much more chill place. We wanted to spend more time here but unfortunately we are finding that we have not much time to relax. We are either on the road driving during the day or doing chores whenever we have some extra time which leads to just driving and chores! We have had some time to enjoy, but mostly at night. It's hard to drive through these beautiful places and not stop to hike or explore, but we have to deal with these delays that we've had along the road. We are off to drive thru Guatemala tomorrow, then El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua in the next couple days. It will be great when we get to Costa Rica where we can finally park our butts and bust out the camping gear.

Wow, that was long. Not too many pics cause our cameras are dying and the internet sucks to upload! Whoever made it this far thru this entry should get a gold star. Wont update for another while as we are off to Envision festival in Costa as soon as we get there. Lisa and Joey are meeting up with us for the fest and some days of surfing, YAY! Will update after. Love you all!

HOLA! ¿Como estas?
Watch this---->
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KuDoyBqYpas

So you can click on the green play button on the picture slideshows where it will open up into a new page and you can flip through bigger versions of the pics or you can click anywhere but the green play button and it will let you click back and forth through the pics. Up to you.

Our days in Pheonix were relaxing as we hung out at David's house and soaked up our first real days of sun.
We took full advantage of the spacious kitchen and cooked some amazing meals. Sarah and I are a force to be reckoned with in the kitchen! One night when our host was away at Sedona I was in the backyard when I heard some guys walking up the street talking with each other. I thought nothing of it until when they were right on the other side of the fence from me I heard sudden shuffling and then running. One guy yelling for the others to back off and such. I stood there frozen trying to comprehend what was going on, then ran inside. Turns out a guy got jumped right behind me! The cops eventually came around and pulled their guns on who turned out to be the victim, he was just freaking out that they stole his bag. I'm just glad I wasn't stuck in the van while that happened, I would've had a front row seat for all the action. You know when you're in the ghetto when.....!!!

One of our weekday nights we snuck into our friend Allysa's hot tub at her old condo. Was much needed after many days and nights travelling and sleeping in the van. My hips are sore from the beds... they are comphy enough but not so great to sleep on your side. Another night we went to Allysa's wicked salon she owns and runs that is many shades of turqouise and packed full of awesome antiques. A rare pair of Ferrari record players and a massager that attatches to your hand among other rad things. Sarah and I were priviledged to sit in the salon chairs and get hair cuts from her. Going by a suggestion I made one day Sarah got an epic baddass half mohawk/mullet somethingorother.I took a quick turn in the chair (which was my first time in a salon chair getting my hair cut in almost 10 years!) and got her to re-shave the sides of my hair and give me some really short bangs. I trimmed away most of my loose hair and little dreads on the sides to lighten the load. David took up the reins and did a nice trim for Allysa as well.

Another night we were blessed with the opportunity to attend a special ceremony which I will talk about at a later date.

Sarah's passport finally showed up fourteensday, a week after we arrived in Pheonix. Thank you David, fellow room mates and friends for the incredible company, special experiences and all around awesomeness. Our trip would not have been the same without you! Thanks especially to the peeps of the house for letting us bum around for so long. love!

We took off from town the night we got the passport and drove a few hours to Tucson, AZ where the next day we enjoyed exploring through the largest gem show in the world! We arrived as it was kind of shutting down but still found some tents to enjoy. Saw some stones, fossils and gems I've never seen before and got some incredible prices on some that I've wanted. There were shows going on all over the city, in conference centers, on the streets and in little motel rooms! I was like a kid in a candy store, always meaning to leave but then seeing more I wanted to look at and never really able to tear myself away.
 That night we were fortunate to be around as the city was celebrating first Saturday like the first Friday in Pheonix. We enjoyed some great live music. Some blues legend that none of us can remember right now....

We drove off from Tucson early with the intention of crossing the mexican border. We got to Nogales with some errands to do (change canadian money, mexico insurance for the van, etc.) But no one would take Canadian money so we had to wait till the next day to exchange the money at a bank. We were able to park in a motel parking lot where we got an internet connection so we just chilled in the van watching videos and I downloaded a spanish language app. Got up early and got our errands done and went over the border. I was pretty agitated and anxious but as we drove further into the country I started to ease into everything and calm myself. We got tourist cards and insurance for the van a bit down the road. Driving into Mexico was a trip for the head because the difference between the two sides of the city of Nogales is very apparent. The mexican side immediately looked a lot more run down with little makeshift shacks for homes made of scrap
board and such. Poor people all sitting or walking along the highway looking for a bit of cash hoping to make their way into the US. There is garbage all along the highways everywhere here and in the cities as well. So many deterioated buildings and rubble everywhere.

We drove into Hermosillo this day where we tried out our skills at finding our way in a foreign country with no GPS which we were fortunate to use all through the US (thanks a bunch Ronit!!) We did a lot of U-turns and backtracking but eventually found our way to our couchsurfing host. Ibor took us to an awesome local university bar where every space on the walls were covered in fun art! He then took us to a nice restaurant where they specialise in tacos. He said this is where the best meat in Mexico is! It definetely was not dissapointing. SO YUMMY! I love all the different salsas and hot sauces.
We noticed that the walk signs here for pedestrians are particularly amusing!

We went back to Ibor's where he showed us some good spanish music
that he likes. Then he blew our minds by busting out his classical guitar!! WOW.

We drove a long day to make it to Culican and stayed with a lovely couchsurfer Quirino who teaches at a high school and university and his niece. Was so lovely to have a shower after 5 days! Thank you! We are now in Mazatlan where we spent the afternoon on the beach yesterday and I swam in the ocean for the first time I can remember!!!We made it le playa!!! (beach)

Excuse me in advance for the picture slideshows. I'm just trying to figure them out. But they will do for now.

 Sedona, AZ. Took a nice hike around Bell Rock and climbed quite a bit up the rock to an area where they say there is an energy vortex. The juniper trees in the vortex areas are extremely twisted and the air feels a little abuzz. Sarah and I sat quietly on a rock in contemplation as the boys climbed as high as they could. It was treacherous climbing on the sandstone as parts of the rock break off pretty easily and pieces laying around are easy to slip on. It was so nice to get out of the van, get some quiet time and exercise.

On the way out we got a picture with a sign for Route 66! We were on a part where it merges with HWY 40 so not the real historic highway since there are only parts across the US of it.

We drove on that day to Pheonix, AZ and rolled up to our couchsurfer hosts' house to a friendly and lively group of people gathered around some sweet old school pinball machines used as tables. The house is full of random beautiful art with brick and plaster walls that are chipped away to show brick underneath or painted. An old jukebox in the corner that has no list of songs so you just punch in random numbers and you get old wailing country songs or 80's retro (the Ghostbusters theme song was a recurring one)

We walked a few blocks to an area they were holding an event "Art Walk" where the gallerys were open late and there was a street filled with vendors. There is a street of houses where most have been turned into coffee shops, gallerys, art/clothing retail, cafes, bars. I think it's a great idea to transform a house into a commercial business! Talk about a homey atmosphere! We've been just chilling out at the house here for a couple days, enjoying the beautiful weather.

We visited a place called Cosanti where this artist makes these beautiful wind chimes and bells. www.cosanti.com.

Sarah and I went on a walk today for a coffee and checked out all the street art and chanced upon an incredible labyrinth at a Trinity Church! Walking along it was calming and meditative.






<Found it interesting that we saw this on the ground. RELEASE THE FEAR!

More Photos!

This is Devin our friendly couch surfer friend and one of his three puppies we stayed with in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Our view from breakfast in Page, AZ.

Some good ol' fashioned pinball in Pheonix, AZ.

Chillin in the orb yard in the back of our friends house in Pheonix.  SAWEEET!!!!

Fivesday to ninesday!

ARIZONA! Finally we are somewhere warm! I busted out my sandals today for the first time.

On fivesday we passed away the day until Sarah arrived on the Greyhound back from Calgary and dealing with her passport issues. She had to apply for a new one and it was hectic but it seems like everything should work out. We got through the US border (although that was pretty nerve racking) and that was monumental for us! We drove through the night until about 7am. Slept a couple hours and drove all day till we arrived at Salt Lake City at 9pm on sixday. We stayed with a couchsurfer host (thanks Devin and puppies!) we were thankful to sleep inside as it was pretty chilly that night. He helped us get up early and we drove all day to get to Arizona.

 So grateful we got up early because we drove through Zion National Park just as the sun was setting. So beautiful! I wanted to go another route that was shorter but missed the turn off but I'm so glad because that meant we drove through this park! First time seeing a red road.

Drove on into a little town Page, Arizona. Slept in a Wal Mart parking lot again and woke up to this view>
Mini Grand Canyon!

This day we drove to Flagstaff, Arizona where Wal Mart employees helped us out to run an extension cord out their door so we could plug in for the night and use a heater!!! That saved our butt since it was super cold and snowy. I never thought we'd see snow in Arizona! Flagstaff is just super high elevation. We drove down from here to Sedona, Arizona. Took a nice hike around Bell Rock to an area with a calming energy vortex. More pics to come from that. We are now in Pheonix staying with some cool cats in an artsy funky communal house. Woke up to plus 22 degrees, we have now officially broken out our shorts!!
Life is hard.

FOURSDAY!

 Callisto Journeys Crew!

Sean, Jenni, Sarah & Eric

 View of the front of house

Back of house. PIMP MOBILE!

So here we are... today is foursday and we have been delayed in Lethbridge since onesday! We got to the border late onesday night and they took us into a locked cage to ask us questions. We were all silently freaking out wondering who was in trouble and why. It ended up that Sarah brought her passport she reported lost or stolen years ago. Once they figured out it was her own passport they were going to let her into the States anyways but we decided to drive back to Lethbridge so we could get a valid passport for her so we could go further than the States. We parked and slept in a Wal-Mart parking lot which was SO cold because of the insane wind here and the van is super drafty! The next night (twosday!) we parked our van in the backyard of a friend of Sarah's (thanks Trisha!)which blocked us from the wind and was much warmer. On threesday we met up with an wonderful couchsurfer Holly at the Penny coffee shop for a nice chat and coffee. Put Sarah on a Greyhound back to Calgs to deal with getting a valid passport. She's going to apply and come back to us tonight and we'll drive to Salt Lake City overnight. We'll get down to Arizona where we'll wait until her mom gets her passport and she will mail it to where we are. Might as well pass the time somewhere warm! Didn't get very far.... and we're trudging through much adversity to go on this trip, but nothing good comes for free. The beach and Callisto Crew are destined to be together!!