From Deadhorse Down

Day 83 – Antigua, GU

Day 83 – Antigua, GU     11/12/10     Mileage: 0

Last day of school (for now) today and despite what I think was a good effort I’m still struggling with even the most basic conversation. The students had another “recital” and mine was a recipe for cocadas…a local favorite similar to macaroons. So after bidding farewell to Christina and Probigua, I went back to the hotel to study before dinner. I actually had dinner plans tonight, not with some hot Latin number, but with two of my classmates…Max (from Zurich, Switzerland) and Alan (from Bavaria in southern Germany). I had mentioned to Max that I love fondue and have several fondue pots from Switzerland…and even a Swissmar raclette grill. Well, he saw an ad for a restaurant in Antigua that had Swiss fondue, so he proposed we give it a try. It was a short walk from the Black Cat to Cafe Teatro which is a very quaint place.

L to R: Alan, me and Max

The cool mountain air and setting also seemed to make fondue a more appropriate dinner choice than one might think. It also of course helps that we stumbled into the one place in Antigua that is owned by a Swiss ex-pat!

 Alan, the owner of Cafe Teatro has been living in Antigua for 11 years and is originally from Lozan, Switzerland!

Me and Alan, the owner of Cafe Teatro

Needless to say the fondue was excellent, and I even learned something new! Just before the fondue was finished, Alan (the owner) came over and asked if we’d like a raw egg. Max said yes and Alan cracked an egg into what was left of the fondue which gave us a few more savory bites. It was an awesome meal and great fun, and what would make it perfect was of course to cap it off with a nice strong schnapps! Well, unfortunately Alan didn’t have any on hand but Max asked what he would recommend as an alternate digestive, and he recommended…tequila! Lol! Well, we are still in Central America after all, so you work with what you got.

After we finished sipping our top shelf tequila, we said auf wiedersehen to Alan and Cafe Teatro and went out for a beer. We ended up in Cafe No Se where we had another couple of beers before sampling what Café No Se is really known for…mescal! The owner has his own mescal distillery in southern Mexico and he imports it. We tried 3 ages…joven (non-aged), 6 months and 1 year. There was quite a taste difference between the 3 which was interesting, but neither of us really cared for it much. I also bumped in Caroline who was there with some other Peace Corp friends.

We chatted for a bit and she helped me with my Spanish…it seems I learn better with a few drinks in me! Lol. After that it was back to the Black Cat to call it a night.

Day 82 – Antigua, GU

Day 82 – Antigua, GU 11/11/10 Mileage: 0

It was another regular day at school today followed by more studying in the afternoon. I also met 2 younger gals from the Peace Corp who were in town for a meeting and also staying at the Black Cat. Caroline and Rachel have been in Guatemala for 8 months and will be for around 2 years in total. They live in remote villages (on their own!) helping and teaching the indigenous people. They were nice enough to invite me to dinner, so I joined them. Working in remote villages, the “menu” is of course very limited so they were looking to splurge on a good dinner and settled on a very nice Italian place.

We decided to split a bottle of wine, which I ordered from the waiter American style…by butchering the name and pointing to it when he didn’t understand. He then came back at me with muy rapido espanol and I didn’t catch a word of it, so the gals (with their Spanish prowess) had to intervene and help with the translation. Oh well, so much for chivalry. Anyway, the dinner was great and where else can you get a petite filet mignon with gnocchi and a bottle of wine for $21….not in New York!

Back at the Black Cat, Caroline and Rachel went back out for desert and I had a beer with some of the other travelers who were heading north and gave me some great info on Honduras. After that I retired to my room to study for a bit before calling it a night.

Day 81 – Antigua, GU

Day  81 – Antigua, GU     11/10/10     Mileage: 0

There’s nothing to write home about today really…the usual day of school, studying and a little walk around the park. At night I had a light “Lenny” dinner of hummus, warm pita and a beer at a great restaurant/bar/book store called the Rainbow Café. It was open mic night and one young guy did an excellent job with some acoustic folk songs.

Inside the Rainbow Cafe...

The center of the bar is open to the sky and they had a little fire going…a really cool scene to break the monotony of studying for an hour. Alas, it was time to head back to the room for more Spanish and to research my next move…

Day 79-80 – Antigua, GU

Day 79-80 – Antigua, GU     11/8-9/10     Mileage: 0

 It was back to school today for more Spanish lessons with Christina. The Fuego Volcano put on quite a show which we could see right from the school patio! That’s definitely something you don’t see every day in New Jersey, but here you do!

The Fuego Volcano spewing ash....wow!

After school I was off to meet up with Chris and Dave from the local motorcycle touring company. ..Moto Café.

The Moto Cafe...

Chris was going to take me over to a local welder to get my right side engine guard repaired and assist with the language barrier.

The KLR at the welder, waiting for a bit of surgery...

After arriving at the welder, Chris explained to him what I wanted which was a big help, because there was no way I was going to be able to discuss the finer points of metal welding with my limited pigeon spanish.

The before shot. The weld at the junction split all the way around, so I needed the welder to run two beads around the joint to re-join it.

The KLR under the knife so to speak...

Day 77-78 – Antigua, GU

Day 77-78 – Antigua, GU     11/6-7/10     Mileage: 0

 This morning I updated the blog and did some studying on the rooftop patio. Over breakfast I had a nice conversation with a Canadian couple traveling through Central America from Panama to Belize and back.

Susan and Tyler from Canada

We had a good laugh about doing the trip in a tuk-tuk, which sounds like an absolute blast…I love the premise. Later that morning two guys staying at the hotel returned from the market with a cow eyeball and a cooked iguana. I was not going to miss out on this spectacle and it did not disappoint.

Cow eyeball anyone....anyone?

Just in case you would like to know how the locals enjoy their cow eyeballs…take one raw cow eye, slice the cornea open and suck out the gelatinous fluid in the center. Bon appetite!

First you slice the cornea...

Then you suck out the jelly inside....he's enjoying it it seems! Not.

Mmmm, mmm good...

Well done!

They only had one cow eyeball, but there was some leftover iguana…so I had a go at it. Well, it does have the texture of chewy chicken, but tastes like bad fish. Palatable, but certainly not appetizing!

How do you like your iguana?

That night I went for an early dinner back to the Travelers Menu and had another great conversation with Jerome. If you find yourself in Antigua, The Travelers Menu is a great, inexpensive and cozy place for dinner and a drink.

The Traveler's Menu in Antigua....a cozy little spot for dinner and drinks...

Inside the Traveler's Menu...

After that it was back to the room for more studying before turning in. Sunday I spent most of the day studying. I did take a little walk in the afternoon to the central park to listen to some street musicians, but was right back to the hotel to try and shoehorn more Spanish into my unwilling brain.

Day 76 – Antigua, GU

Day 76 – Antigua, GU     11/05/10     Mileage: 0

After another great breakfast at the Black Cat, it was of to school to butcher more espanol.

Another great breakfast at the Black Cat...

This morning each student had to do a presentation about the fruit we purchased in the market yesterday. Oh joy, now I get to embarrass myself in front of not only Christina but the entire school.

Setting up for the fruit demonstration and sampling...

This is an ayote, and it, ummm, tastes about as good as it looks...

This is a chirimoya, and once you get past the seeds and how it looks it is quite good...

After my torturous oratory recital on fruit and a bit more studying, I was paroled for the weekend. In the afternoon I hiked up to the Cerro de la Cruz which is a small park overlooking Antigua and the Aqua Volcano.

They do like the bare breast fountain motif here...

View of Antigua and the Agua Volcano from Cerro de la Cruz...

Another view from Cerro de la Cruz...

The view from up there was great and well worth the effort. I grabbed a quick bite on the way back to the hotel where I settled in to study for a few hours. At night I went for a few drinks at Café No Se where I met Harold from Norway.

Harold and the local fire water...

He’s a really nice guy and chatted for a quite a while. He talked his company into letting him take a 6 month sabbatical, so he’s in town relaxing and learning some Spanish.

Quezalteca Especial.....ooooph...

We drank some of the local fire water called Quezalteca Especial, and I can assure you there is nothing (e)special about it!

On beer in Guatemala…

So as I’m sure you all know, I’m a big fan of good beer, and that is the one thing that Guatemala lacks. A bar might have only 6 or 8 beers to choose from, mostly Guatemalan with 1 or 2 Mexican beers The ubiquitous beer down here is Gallo and I would liken it to Budweiser. Bravia and Victoria are two of the other big ones and they are also so so at best. Moza is a nice German style bock beer from Guatemala, but a bit too sweet to drink more than one or two. Corona is widely available as well but is more expensive being an import. Nothing is on draft here, everything is in bottles…12oz or litre size.

Alejandra told me a great joke about the local beer…

“What does Bravia have in common with having sex in a canoe? ”
“A: They are both f-cking close to water.”

Day 75 – Antigua, GU

Day 75 – Antigua, GU     11/4/10     Mileage: 0

 To make up for the lack of pictures yesterday, I made an effort to take lots of pictures today. Here are some overdue pictures of my $18 room.

My room at the Black Cat...

Plush, no....but it is only $18 and I didn't come to Antigua to sit in the room all day!

Looking into my room from the center courtyard...

The breakfast is great and included with the room!

The Black Cat's little bar/restaurant...

The Black Cat's co-owner, Alejandra...

Over breakfast (which is included!)  I had a nice conversation with Alejandra, the Black Cat’s co-owner, who gave me some good travel info and recommendations.

On the way to school...

After my delicious breakfast, it was off to school to torture Christina for another 4 hours.

Me maestro, Christina...

Today we took a field trip to the local produce market, which is like a farmer’s market at home but 10 times the size.

On the way to the market...

It was awesome…the market was huge and the amount and quality of the produce was unbelievable! There were fruits, vegetables and other produce ranging from the familiar to the truly bizarre.

The market in Antigua...

El mercado mas grande!

Holy frijoles!

Every kind of farm produce was there...

Meat, it's what's for dinner...

The inside of a granadilla. Kind of looks like and has the texture of fish guts...but it does taste good.

Fresh pollo.....

The Elegante Vegas barber shop...

Nester and his Vegas barber shop...

My quick and cheap lunch...

This local fellow must have hit happy hour a bit too hard...

Me and Charley...

Me and Alejandra..

Hanging at the Black Cat...

Day 74 – Antigua, GU

Day 74 – Antigua, GU     11/3/10     Mileage: 0

 School day numero dos and I was surprised to see Christina had returned instead of running for the hills. We sat down and soon after the massacre continued. I could see her wince with each clumsy and painful pronunciation, but she hung in there. After two hours we had a 30 minute cease fire so she could catch her breath and I could reload for my next linguistic barrage. After another 90 minutes of verb tense and vocabulary bungling, the school bell rang and a truce was called until tomorrow. After school I had a quick bite for lunch before returning to the hotel to use the wifi to download some language software and update the blog. Once that was done I wandered out for dinner and found a little taco stand where I had 4 authentic tacos with all the fixins for $3. Belly filled to the rim, I (not surprisingly) had a hankering for a beer(s) to wash down the tacos. I found a place that had Moza, which is a Guatemalan bock beer that is quite good. After 4 of those and some good conversation with the bartender (Jerome, an ex-pat from the US) and an Irish gal (Amy) sitting next to me, I packed it in. Sorry for the lack of pictures, I forgot to put the memory card in my camera this morning! I will make up for it tomorrow when I try to do some day in the life pics…

Day 73 – Antigua, GU

Day 73 – Antigua, GU     11/02/10     Mileage: 0

 School day…crap! Today was my first day in Spanish School and class starts at 8, so I was up and out the door at 7:30 for the short walk to Probigua…the name of my school. Antigua is known for Spanish schools which are numerous and inexpensive…which is why I chose to study here.

Probigua Spanish School...

The "classroom" is actually an outside covered patio with a garden in the back...pretty cool!

My school costs $125 per week for 4 hours per day of 1 on 1 instruction….that’s pretty good! I met my instructor, Christina, and before we even sat down she went right in on me in Spanish: Buenas dias, como te llama? To which I said…no thanks I had coffee. She chuckled and shook her head as she realized that she had her work cut out for her. I was surprised that she didn’t speak any more English than I spoke Spanish. But then again, I wasn’t there to learn English…I was there to learn Spanish and I was after all in a Spanish immersion school. So, on with the immersion I went, and after 4 hours of butchering every word and phrase in my kindergarten Spanish book, the language massacre mercifully ended. Christina said there was still hope for me, but I’m sure she says that to all the gringos. I said adios to Christina and went back to El Gato Negro to lick my mental wounds. I also worked on the blog and made some calls home on Skype before heading out to find dinner.

Tienda's are basically convenience stores, and I passed "Tienda Shalom" while walking around. Do they sell matzah there...I wonder?

I settled at bar that happened to have an Adam Sandler movie playing on a TV behind the bar. The sound was off but there were Spanish subtitles. I sat there trying to read the subtitles with my newly acquired Spanish prowess, but only proved how far I had to go as I was the only one not howling in laughter. Just then the bartender asked: Hola amigo, como te llamas? Sure, I’ll have another beer…  😉

Day 72 – Antigua, GU

Day 72 – Antigua, GU     11/01/10     Mileage: 0

 I was up relatively early and walked to the center square for a coffee before returning to the Black Cat for breakfast. This morning I chose the “typical”,  which was scrambled eggs, beans, fresh farm cheese, avocado, tomato and whole wheat toast…also included with my $7 bunk room bed…amazing! Today I spent quite a while on the blog, did some laundry and taking a long walk around town.

I didn't take many (good) pictures today for some reason, so here is my one token shot of a rare sight in these parts....a Ducati Multistrada!

At night I also found a fun gringo bar called the Monoloco. Even the bar tenders were from the US and were it not for the bouncers sporting metal detectors to scan the patrons at the door, it could have easily been a sports bar in Denver. It was definitely surreal after weeks of only hearing Spanish. So after a proper gringo meal of beer and chicken fingers, I was off to the relative luxury of my single room!

Day 71 – Antigua, GU

Day 71 – Antigua, GU     10/31/10     Mileage: 0

 Today was going to be a good day, not because I had anything good planned, but because I had absolutely nothing planned. I had no “chores” that needed to be done, and no ware that I needed to be but right here, right now, right where I’m am. That is a great feeling for sure and I was basking in the freedom. After a great breakfast of fresh fruit, granola and yogurt with honey, (which came with my $7 bunk bed!) I was off to walk around town to see the parts of town I had yet to visit.

The town square...

The Cathedral on the town square...

One more of the Cathedral...

A random street in the town center..

Another street downtown with the ever visible Volcano Agua...

La Merced Church...

Along the way I was enjoying the Spanish colonial architecture and in particular the doors.

These doors are very real and very heavy!

Here's another...

....and another...

....sick of doors yet?

OK, last one...

Volcano Fuego also puffed out some smoke and ash which I could see right from town…pretty wild!!

Volcano Fuego puffing out some ash...cool!

Today was also the big Day of the Dead celebration and people all over town were making preparations for tonight’s celebration. After having lunch in a nice cafe, I went back to the hotel for some wifi and a shower. At sundown the festivities switched into high gear and there were people everywhere, many in costumes ranging from a simple mask to a movie worthy costume.

The street scene on Day of the Dead....now night of the dead I guess...

The pictures are not that good, but you get the idea...

There were Latin woman everywhere dressed as the hot nurse, the hot teacher, the hot school girl, the hot devil, the hot policia woman, the hot bar maid, the hot farm girl and every other occupation worthy of being sexed up. Some other notable costumes were 4 Chilean miners complete with headlamps, a Mad Hatter that could have walked off of a movie set and one group of guys all in drag that were hilarious. I stayed out as long as I could so as to delay the inevitable return to the bunk room. Thankfully tomorrow I can move to a single room with my own bathroom…ahhhh.

Day 70 – Antigua, GU

Day 70 – Antigua, GU     10/30/10     Mileage: Local miles

 Breakfast came with the room and like yesterday it was very good!

This the view of Volcano Agua from my 2nd floor hotel room window...

 The first chore for the day would be to box up the souvenirs Tracy and I had purchased and ship them back to the US. The hotel had a box that I could have from a flat screen TV they just installed, so that worked out. I first went to the Antigua post office and they quoted me $125 to ship the box to the US! Whoa! I politely declined and set off to find the DHL office, and they quoted me $275! I asked the DHL folks what the cheapest way to send the box was and they said the post office. So off I went back to the post office to ship our now very expensive bargains. Once that was done, I set about looking for an inexpensive room to hang my hat for the next week or two. I eventually settled on the Black Cat Inn and Hostel, which had single rooms for $18 per night including breakfast.

El Gato Negro...my home for the next week...or two...

El Gato Negro from across the street...

The roof-top patio at the El Gato Negro...with Volcano Agua in the background...

One more of the roof-top patio...

The center courtyard that the KLR will call home...

They were sold out of single rooms for tonight and tomorrow night and only had bunk room beds available, but then again it was only $7…also including breakfast! So, I booked the bunk room for the next two nights and a single room for the remainder of the week. Once I got the KLR and my gear over to my new digs, I went for a walk around town and took in the sights. For dinner I found a great little place called Bistro 5 Cinq and had a light dinner of manchego, marinated olives and 3 glasses of rioja.

Bistro 5 Cinq...

Afterwards it was back to the bunk room to be lulled to sleep by other people snoring and audible flatulence. All I can say is thank god for the rioja which made the ordeal more palatable…pardon the pun.

I knew I liked this bar…. The Monoloco in Antigua, Guatemala

This one's for you Mick!

Day 69 – Guatemala City, GU to Antigua, GU

Day 69 – Guatemala City, GU to Antigua, GU     10/29/10     Mileage: 32

 Tracy had a 5:30am ride to the airport, so I walked her down to see her off. After she was on her way, I went back to the room to use the wifi and have breakfast which was included with the room (and was excellent!). Once the bike was packed, I was off back to Antigua where I would spend a week or two in a Spanish language school. In Antigua I went back to the hotel we stayed at two nights ago where I had also stashed my big yellow dry bag for the overnight run to Guatemala City.

Back at the Casa Florencia for one more night...

This time I was on the second floor which has a great view of Volcano Agua...

They gave me a great rate so I ended up staying there again. It was still well over my budget, so tomorrow I’d have to find cheaper digs. I had an early dinner in town and went back to the hotel to enjoy the plush room and wifi.

Day 68 – Antigua, GU to Guatemala City, GU

Day 68 – Antigua, GU to Guatemala City, GU     10/28/10     Mileage: 32

 Another beautiful morning in Antigua and after breakfast it was back to the artisan market to purchase (and haggle for) the last of the souvenirs.

I thought this was an interesting fountain inside the cafe we had breakfast.

And those of you who know me well know why... 😉

 Now it was back to Guatemala City so that Tracy could catch her 7am flight tomorrow morning.

Guatemala City from the mountain road high above the city...

Once settled into the hotel, we walked out to find an early dinner and a few drinks. Tracy also, not surprisingly, did a bit more shopping and, not surprisingly again, bought a new pair of shoes. Back at the hotel we used the wifi and went through the trip pictures, but later we were both hungry again and in the mood for pizza. It wasn’t that late, but the closest pizza joint that we knew would be open was….ummm…Pizza Hut! So, we capped off the night with an authentic, genuine, medium Pizza Hut supreme. I did at least drink Guatemalan beer with it…  😉

Day 67 – Antigua, GU

Day 67 – Antigua, GU     10/27/10     Mileage: 0

We were up and out fairly early and had a great breakfast in a cafe with a cute center courtyard. Next was to get signed up for a sunset hiking trip to the Pacaya volcano later this afternoon.

Walking around the streets of Antigua, with the Agua Volcano in the background...

There are tons of mopeds and small motorcycles around town and in Guatemala in general. They even have special parking for motos on most streets.

Tracy in front of the Arco de Santa Catalina...

Once that was done I went back to the room to catch up on the blog for a bit and Tracy did some shopping. We then went for a walk and to the artisan market for a bit of shopping before heading back to the hotel to be picked up for the ride to the Pacaya volcano.

It was raining hard on the way to Pacaya but luckily it stopped in time for the hike...

It took about an hour and a half to get there and we arrived at the base of the hike around 4pm. As soon as the door opened to the van we were bombarded by kids offering hiking sticks and “taxis”.

Sticks and taxis...

So, you might be wondering how a taxi was going to get up the side of a mountain? Well, what they call a taxi is actually a small horse. There were about 15 people in our group and nobody bought a stick or a taxi….at first. You see, the trail is very steep right out of the gate and the guide (who might be in cahoots) set a nice fast pace up the mountain side. All the while, kids on “taxis” are following close behind yelling “taxi, taxi” at the struggling gringos, just waiting for one of them to crack so they can sell you a taxi!

Tracy with the "taxis" in hot pursuit waiting for her to crack, but she didn't of course...

The gringo rest stop...where you had the opportunity to reconsider the purchase of a taxi!

Well, we all hung tough…all except a young strapping Israeli dude that is! Anyway, after an hour and half hike we arrived at a ridge around 600 feet below the summit cone. All along the way the views were great as we could see 3 other volcanoes poking through the clouds…one of which was putting on a show spewing ash and smoke.

A view across the clouds to 3 other volcanos. The two others are smaller to the left of the big one.

Here's a better shot of the two smaller (more distant) volcanos. The one spewing ash is called Fuego.

There were no running lava flows today, but this was an active volcano and there were several spots where cracks in the earth were putting out intense heat.

Me and Volcano Pacaya. The fellow in the picture with me is our guide.

Tracy and Pacaya...

One large crack you could look straight down at the red hot glowing lava 15 feet underground….amazing!!

The heat coming out of some of the cracks was intense!

This crack you could see the red hot glow of the lava. Of course it never comes out in the pictures...

Sunset on Pacaya...

The sunset was spectacular...

After enjoying a great sunset, it was time to hike back down…only this time it was dark. Luckily we had my headlamps, so it really wasn’t too bad. It took another hour and change to get back to Antigua, but we still had time to grab dinner before getting some much needed rest.

Day 66 – Santiago de Atitlan, GU to Antigua, GU

Day 66 – Santiago de Atitlan, GU to Antigua, GU     10/26/10     Mileage: 106

 The weather this morning was great and we had a nice breakfast on the patio overlooking the lake.

Me in front of the Toliman volcano from the Hotel Bamboo...

...and Tracy too.

After letting breakfast settle we took the hotels’ kayak for a quick spin which was good fun and provided spectacular views of the lake and surrounding mountains.

Kayaking on Lake Atitlan...

A nice setting to kayak for sure...

View of the Hotel Bamboo from the kayak...

Once the bike was packed, we rode over to Panajachel on the other side of the lake where we had a great lunch.

Lake Atitlan from the road to Panajachel...

Welcome to Panajachel!

Lunch in Panajachel on the north side of Lake Atitlan...

We took a quick spin around town before heading for our final destination today…Antigua, which is a cool Spanish colonial town. It took around two hours to get there and we pulled into town shortly before dark.

Antigua, Guatemala...

The Casa Florencia, our home base in Antigua...

After finding a room we set off to have dinner and settled on a place right on the town square called Chimino’s.

Chimino's is right on the town square in Antigua...

It was a fantastic dinner in a great setting complete with a very talented acoustic guitarist playing some Latin songs. Afterwards we walked around a bit more and capped off the night with desert and a glass of port.

Day 65 – Monterrico, GU to Santiago de Atitlan, GU

Day 65 – Monterrico, GU to Santiago de Atitlan, GU     10/25/10     Mileage: 113

The hotel cocina was buttoned up tight as we seemed to be the only guests…so we made the morning coffee on my backpacking stove and snacked on some tortillas I’ve been carrying. So after our “home cooked” breakfast, we set out for Santiago on the southern shore of Lake Atitlan. The condition of the roads deteriorated once we started up into the mountains, but that was inevitable.

Back on the dirt...

On the road to Santiago de Atitlan, we bottomed the bike on some nasty speed bumps...this wasn't one of them though.

Along the road to Santiago de Atitlan...

 We bottomed out the rear suspension a few times over some large speed bumps…even though I was going dead slow. The skid plate took some hits as did the center stand and lower rear suspension linkage, but it seems OK.

Looks like we're going to get wet...and we did. Fortunately it didn't last long.

We pulled into Santiago de Atitlan mid afternoon and tracked down lunch at the Hotel Bamboo which has a fantastic setting right on Lake Atitlan looking across the water at downtown Santiago.

Lunch at the Hotel Bamboo

Looking across the lake at downtown Santiago from the patio of the Hotel Bamboo...

Tracy had seen this place online as well and we decided to stay the night there. The room was $65 including breakfast…steep by Guatemala standards, but worth every penny.

The view from the landing in front of our room...not too shaby at all!

After lunch we took a manic tuk-tuk ride into town, walked around a bit, had a coffee and did some shopping.

Here's our tuk-tuk taxi...heading for downtown Santiago...

Tracy and the tuk-tuk...

Tracy on the hunt...

Day 64 – Monterrico, GU

Day 64 – Monterrico, GU     10/24/10     Mileage: Local miles

 We were up relatively early and after the morning coffee, I did some maintenance on the KLR. The air filter was long overdue (again) to be cleaned and I had a new swingarm chain slider to put on that Tracy brought me from the States.

Giving the KLR some much needed luv...

After I was done giving the KLR some love, we went into “town” for breakfast…huevos of course.

I had to dodge a pelican on the way to breakfast....that doesn't happen everyday for sure!

"Main street" Monterrico...

Around town in Monterrico...

Tracy getting her cookie fix...

The policia ride dual-sport motorcycles...cool!

We walked off the huevos around town and then took the KLR further up the coast to the town of Hawaii. Once back at the hotel we did more pool time and just chilled out.

The ocean was very rough and the waves were huge. Nobody was swimming and all you could do is wade in up to your knees or you might get sucked out to sea!

That night we walked back into town for dinner and followed that up with a drink at Johnny’s before packing it in.

Fish, it's what's for dinner...

The aftermath...