The Fool On The Hill

So, how did it go, then? Well, as you can see by the picture it was a tad tiring, in fact the most exhausting trip so far. Maybe I'm getting old but inexplicably I had made life hard for myself and chosen lots of hotels on the top of  hills and many in out-of-the way places which needed a lot of walking to get anywhere. Then my stomach didn't feel too bright for long periods because of the strange food I was eating and the biggest headache of all was the need to reorganise in the middle of the trip because I was refused entry to the US of A because I didn't have an ESTA. They wouldn't even let me on the plane. This needed me to reroute at great expense and I sadly missed out on Jamaica where I really wanted to see the Bob Marley Museum and sing "No Woman No Cry".. But it's an ill wind etc and at least it meant that I could spend more time in Panama which I liked very much.

So where did you go exactly, you ask? The eventual route after the change in Santo Domingo was; Paris, Guadaloupe, Barbados, Grenada, Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic, Panama, Costa Rica, Colombia, Ecuador, Chile, and Sao Paulo and Rio in Brazil.

So swiftly on to the details.  After meeting two very friendly girls on a lovely day in Petra last year I just  had to go to see their home island of Guadaloupe in the Caribbean. No I didn't, they live somewhere else now but they told me it was a very nice place and they were right! And also after finding a bargain flight at 149 euros, one way from Paris, I couldn't resist it. OK, the catch was hand luggage only so a tad short on the clothes front and more seriously books for the trip and to my regret no in-flight food either. So while everyone else was eating I had to wait to buy a pretty appalling toasted thing, I hope they had better.

The island of Guadaloupe is shaped like a butterfly with two wings laid flat. But whereas the right wing is flat, the left one is mountainous and has a wonderful rain forest with waterfalls and dark walks among the trees. There's good roads although the traffic can be horrendous at rush-hour and the only drawback is the hotels. I booked four and the only two that I could find and actually slept in were where the owner collected me from the airport. The others were simply impossible to find. Which normally wouldn't be a problem but on the whole of Guadeloupe I only found one (1) hotel.... In fact, I was told later, that Pointe a Pitre, the capital, only has one hotel and I never saw it. So on the first night after spending 3 or 4 hours searching and after a long 24 hour day, I gave up looking for the booked flat in the country and at around midnight I had to drive to a resort up the coast to find the splendid Hotel La Maison Creole.

And what a lovely place it was. At breakfast I thought I was in paradise what with all the wonderful trees surrounding the lovely garden and full of beautiful little blue birds.

After wonderful Guadeloupe we flew the 400 km south to Barbados. Oddly enough, Guadeloupe despite its Spanish name is absolutely French and not a lot of people understand English while Barbados, the most Western island in the Caribbean, is the complete  opposite with cricket grounds and all day English Breakfast. And while nobody speaks French there the local dialect is so strong that it's sometimes hard to understand their pigeon english. I had a stroll with a 90 year old local and I couldn't understand more than a couple of words.
Unfortunately, this was one of those places where my gaf, a little flat in a quiet suburb, was miles from anywhere and I had chosen not to hire a car. OK, there was a small supermarket 5 mins away but policed, I can't think of a better word, by one of the most miserable woman I've met in my life. She was black, huge and stroppy and her  daughters were half-sized clones. "Don't put money in your mouth" was one phrase she used to me, well shouted at me, more like. Yes, she had a point and it takes more than that to put me off a place or even people for that matter. Bridgetown, a town with a nice bridge, was nearly an hour walking down the hill so the walk back was a struggle. 

Next I caught the dinky little LIAT Embrarer to Grenada, which like everywhere in the Caribbean, has lovely white beaches although I decided to stay in St.Georges the capital where there's locals and fewer tourists. In fact the place is so small that I asked the local shopkeeper which way was St. Georges and she told me "This IS St. Georges".

But the first thing you notice about Grenada is the noise! There seems to be parties going on everywhere, there's gospel singing from the churches, reggae music from the boats in the harbour, strimmers cutting the grass because everyone took a pride in their garden and lastly the constant chirping of birds and insects. To get you in the mood of the place as soon as you arrive, right outside the small airport and attached to the Terminal building is a Very Large Loudspeaker  blaring out Reggae music. Yes, a great welcome you might say and yes it has its plus side in welcoming you to the eternal party that seems to go on in Grenada every day. The down side however, is that it's attached to the building right next to the only place where you can find people to answer your questions.  The woman sat behind the desk in the open air couldn't hear my question as the music was a couple of feet above her head. So I had to shout, "WHERE IS THE LOST LUGGAGE OFFICE?"  She replied but I couldn't hear a word. "WHAT?". "XXXXXXGLASS DOORSXXXXXXXXEND" and she pointed to another part of the building. "OK, THANKS"

On the plane I had wondered to myself why everyone was struggling onto the plane in Barbados with enormous bags of luggage but I got my answer at Grenada airport. Only six or so bags appeared and as you may have already guessed my luggage was not among them and I had hung around the airport waiting for the next flight hoping it would appear to order to save having to come back to the airport. But, no.

So no Alex (my new small bag, the lovable Eva stayed at home), but what I did find in the Terminal was an awful lot of dogs, a dozen or so with their female owners waiting in the terminal building. It seemed very strange as all the owners were clearly not waiting for someone but were holding plane tickets. To add to the mystery the girls were all americans. Intrigued by this I asked the taxi driver. They are all students studying at the St.Georges School of Medicine he told me. There's over 7000 students there and they are allowed to bring their dogs to keep them company. 

In fact these students, or rather their predecessor's at the school, were given as the reason for the 1983 invasion of of Grenada by the americans.  "They could be seized as hostages" was Reagan's lame excuse for his rescue mission. Wiki will tell you rather sadly that 24 civilians died, just in case they became communists apparently.

After the noise of Grenada it was off to the Dominican Republic and an extended stay in the capital Santo Domingo. This is a very lively, pleasant place with loads of things going on and lots of history. Raw is the word I chose to describe it and strangely enough it occurred to me that it felt like the place to die... 

Well, clearly that didn't happen but the whole place had a vibe to it, an emotive rawness and I'm not just thinking of the young girls who walk beside you offering "to talk". It had Art Galleries and pictures and paintings everywhere, of red trees in particular. I then found my first bookshop of the tour albeit a tad on the small size. And lovely little "O-Zone" places. These are little oasis in the town where you can relax, feel at home and enjoy the atmosphere of the place. I  have named these places after the surprising O-Zone in the middle of Khartoum that I saw last year. 

La Cafeteria!

To start with there's dozens of cafes in the Old Colonial Zone and you can go to the Hard Rock and get bored out of your skull if you like but for me it had to be the intriguing La Cafeteria in El Conde, the main drag. This is the locals local and is surrounded  by boring upmarket cafes with their neat little cake shelves. Meanwhile the Cafeteria is pure theatre and I went there every day for a late breakfast although I had to leave once because the coffee machine wouldn't start. The cafe has a long counter and with loads of tables but only two women working there. The cook Sonia, who was always there, busy over the stove behind the counter, and a helper who was different every day! Sonia had it easy(!) while the helper has to do a dozen things at once, taking the orders, dishing out the grub and coffee and then collecting the cash. So halfway through your order cooking on the stove she would ask "onions?" or "ice in the orange?" But its organised slick and there's no mistakes. It was the highlight of my 6 night, extended, stay.

Panama City

So there you have it  - as I had been refused an ESTA before travelling  - because I had been to the fantastic Sudan last year -  (america v Sudan; no contest really)  I was refused enter to the US - and therefore sadly no Bob Marley Museum as I had planned to transit in Miami en-route to Jamaica. Well, good riddance was all I can say and we moved on to a more enlightened country in Panama, shown on the right. Yes, lots of skyscrapers, banks and hotels and more banks, everyone is allowed in and its just the place to hide your illicit millions, Maybe that's why they allow anybody in?

The picture above is the Pacific side of the country and the airport is over there beyond these big buildings. The Canal is behind us and that is where I was staying. So a 30 min drive right through the city to get to my hotel. And must admit it was quite a pleasant drive, wondering how we were going to get through all that concrete.

The Balboa Guest House, Panama

To be close to the action around the canal I had chosen a hotel at the foot of Cerro Ancon but the taxi driver and myself were rather surprised by what we found at Calle de los Cruces 2311a. Could this Greek temple with striking white pillars outside really be the Balboa Inn? It was definitely the address on the booking  form but after the problems with hotels in Guadaloupe I began anticipating more trouble. It was baking hot and it took ages before anyone answered the door.  
But my fears were unfounded, it was really a private house that had been converted into a Guest House and its location is perfect as it's right next to the old american canal zone with its very tasty two storey Government colonial buildings. And as you can see you really feel in the middle of a jungle over your breakfast and it was charming place to stay.

So the first thing you have to do the next morning is climb Cerro Ancon to grab the view! Only 199m but its hot and humid and full of snakes,,,, The road curves around the hill as you climb so it takes an age but the views are fantastic.
And once at the top, it really felt like a magic place; on one side the Pacific Ocean and on the other the Canal and below you the small Albrook airport with little planes flying below to land. I stood there for ages mesmerised by the views and the coming and goings of planes and boats.

The Panama Canal

And this is the view from the Visitor Centre at Miraflores Lock. These boats are Huge and its eerie the way they descend slowly 26 meters or so before your very eyes before they continue their journey. Because Panama is so mountainous, the easiest way to built the canal  was to create an artificial lake, Gatun Lake, in the middle and raise the ships up to it and then lower them again at the exit.

So on to Costa Rica to see the famous Rain Forest.  Planning was a tad loose here and I took a bit of a stab in the dark to see a place called Monteverde. Yes, its very busy with tourists, trails, etc but a little disappointing. On the left is the main event, a jungle walk over dozens of hanging bridges. I timed it right (as you can see!) but while the tourists had left so to had all the animals!. In the 90 mins trek I saw/heard 1 (one) little bird and no more. My theory for this strange absence was the Zip lining craze. Every couple of minutes some fool would shriek over my head whooping it up. If I was a bird such behaviour would force me to live somewhere else. It is also one of the most windiest places I have come across. although I was lucky the week before my arrival it was twice as bad.

So on to Quito, which used to have one of most dangerous airports in the world, it being in the middle of the city and surrounded by mountains. Five years ago a new airport was built and although it seems really empty its planned to attract a million tourists a year. One drawback is the distance. It's 18 kilometres as the crow flies, but due to the mountains, 43 by car or bus.  And when you arrive in town you'll have the same problems - its hilly and you'll need to be fit to walk around. Streets can be steep and then because of increased fuel prices the streets are blocked with protesters and riot police. 

Montevideo is a very pleasant, laid back place where the hotel staff call you by your name and where it feels almost like Italy. Everyone says Caio, Caio and the coffee is good too. And it has more bookshops that the other 15 places added together and English books too.