Wow, what a fantastic journey.... I left LA in August 2000, circled around the US by car, then bussed thru Mexico and Central America, reaching Panama in July 2001. Here are the highlights and a top 50 list.
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Wow, what a fantastic journey.... I left LA in August 2000, circled around the US by car, then bussed thru Mexico and Central America, reaching Panama in July 2001. Here are the highlights and a top 50 list. |
| The Highlights: |
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First, I camped with 23,000 other weirdos in the Nevada desert at the spectacle that is Burning Man, and then camped by myself in the lonely mountains of Colorado. In Toronto and New York, I took in witty comedy theatre. I picked apples in the New England autum and feasted on beignets and Cajun-charred shrimp in New Orleans. In Mexico, I walked the burgeoning streets of the world's most populous city (Mexico City) and thru the abandoned ruins of ancient civilizations. I explored the musty depths of a Mayan ceremonial cave in Belize and scaled the dusty rock of the Santa Maria volcano in Guatemala. In Honduras, I SCUBA dove with graceful sea turtles and whalesharks. I hung out with vagabond surfers in EL Salvador. In Nicaragua, I retraced the 6000 year-old footprints of a band of aboriginal americans. I treked thru the Osa penninsula of southern Costa Rica encountering scarlet macaws, monkeys, a tapir, and rescued a stranded sea turtle. And in Panama, I traversed one of the engineering wonders of the 20th century: the Canal. What did you do this year?
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| The 50 most memorable (not always pleasant) events of my trip:
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1) developing strong feelings for someone special 2) seeing so many old friends 3) dramatic Lago Atitlan and the magic Iguana 4) hiking into the Corcovado nation park on the Osa penninsula and seeing a tapir, monkeys, a sea turtle, scarlet macaaws, lizzards, etc. 5) the ancient ruins sites of Monte Albán, Teotihuacán, Palenque, Chichén Itzá, Uxmal, Copán, and Tikal 6) the cobblestone streets and classic arches of all those colonial cities 7) riding bikes thru the autumn leaves with my nieces 8) being robbed to within a half-inch of my life on the beach in Tela 9) the surreal Monarch butterfly sanctuary 10) doing my SCUBA certification and diving with sea turtles and whalesharks at the tropical paradise of Utila 11) finding crusty skeletons in the Cave of the Stone Sepulcre 12) the winding streets of Guanajuato; the megalopolis of México City; funky Belize City 13) watching a momma and baby manatee eat sea grass 14) swinging in the hammocks on Zipolite beach in México 15) the peaceful mountain village of Nebaj 16) the spectacle that is Burning Man 17) riding the Barranca del Cobre railway thru the incredible Copper Canon 18) the colorful indigenous clothing of Guatemala 19) seeing Chicago from the observatory deck of the Handcock building 20) being adopted by two wonderful families in San Pedro Sula, and San Jose, CR 21) boating thru the grand Panama Canal 22) horseback riding to the Mayan village of San Juan Chamula in Chiapas 23) the view from the top of the Santa Maria volcano 24) sliding thru the treetops as a one-man cable car in the Santa Elena reserve in Costa Rica 25) relaxing at the family cabin on a lake in Vermont 26) adopting Calla, the street dog 27) the dramatic mountains of México, Guatemala, El Sálvador, and Costa Rica 28) looking for history in 6000-year-old footprints in Managua 29) conoeing across lake Coatépeque 30) laughing at a Second City show in Toronto 31) the Don Quijote museum in Guanajuato 32) the vibrancy of a people with so many reasons to give up (El Salvador) 33) working in New York as a computer animator (thanks Jason!) 34) relaxing at Surfcamp Horizonte 35) seeing a Quetzal in the La Tigra national park 36) swinging in a cable car above the city of Zacatecas 37) spicey street hamburgers in the town square of Durango 38) the festively painted cemetery at Chichicastenango 39) touring the fifth floor of the Texas Book Depository and crying 40) discussing WWII submarine stories with Jan, the Dutchman, who was there 41) camping in the lonely mountains of Colorado 42) ceviche on the beach in Mazatlán 43) dark coffee and powdery beignets in New Orleans 44) bathing in the burning hot springs at Fuentes Gorginas 45) seeing the quake damage in El Salvador 46) seeing the breathtaking works of art at the Frick museum in New York 47) all that time on chicken busses! 48) touring the US embasy in San Jose 49) spicey chicken mole in Puebla 50) El Tule, the largest tree in the Western Hemisphere
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