Having left Central America, we thought we´d share a few of the random observations that we made during the past two and a half months.
Now any conversation engaged in with a local usually involved a question relating to where we are from. Over our time in Central America, three standard repsonses were prevalent to the news that we were from New Zealand:
1. Anchor Butter,
2. Big mountains, in Europe (maybe Switzerland), and our favoutie
3. Mucho Leché (lots of milk)
Having spent a bit of time in buses, one thing that stood out was the prevalence of vendors who´d board buses to sell their wares. This was first noiticed in Jamaica during a crazy mini bus trip across the island (just the 26 of us in a 15 seater). At the station, we were approached at the window by people selling everything from water and snacks to DVD cleaning kits. By the time we left Central America, it was natural to expect a bus to pick up a couple of vendors at one toll station and to drop them at the next one, 60 kms down the road, after they´d had an opportunity to pass off some wares to the travellers seated in the bus.
Spending over 70 hours on buses in the region also saw us cross over some 2,500 judder bars. Now Blenheim attracts a bit of criticism for it´s standard response to traffic engineering issues - build another roundabout (even if it is through the main trunk line). Well it appears that the traffic engineers in Central America are also short sighted in their responce to traffic issues, with the stock standard response being to build more judder bars. You will find these every coouple of kilometres along the main motorway, and if the bus driver isn´t alert, it makes for an interesting encounter at 100 kmph, as we found out in Gautemala when Mat found himself flung from his seat, to the roof and back down into the isle.
Travelling by bus allowed us to see a lot of the country side which, for the most part, was littered with rubbish (even in the US). The clever individual in Aotearoa in the 80´s that came up with the ´Keep New Zealand Beautiful´ campaign needs to be admitted toi the New Zealand Order of Merit because we now appreciate even more the simple addage of putting ones rubbish in the bin.
While travelling, we were imparted with some great advice by a seasoned traveller named Flash. When it comes to eating local food (we´re talking dirt cheap from the street side), Flash has gone 4 years without falling ill once. He attributes this fantastic record to washing meals down with a bottle of coke - if it can rot your teeth, it can kill any germ you´ve just consumed!
Now any conversation engaged in with a local usually involved a question relating to where we are from. Over our time in Central America, three standard repsonses were prevalent to the news that we were from New Zealand:
1. Anchor Butter,
2. Big mountains, in Europe (maybe Switzerland), and our favoutie
3. Mucho Leché (lots of milk)
Having spent a bit of time in buses, one thing that stood out was the prevalence of vendors who´d board buses to sell their wares. This was first noiticed in Jamaica during a crazy mini bus trip across the island (just the 26 of us in a 15 seater). At the station, we were approached at the window by people selling everything from water and snacks to DVD cleaning kits. By the time we left Central America, it was natural to expect a bus to pick up a couple of vendors at one toll station and to drop them at the next one, 60 kms down the road, after they´d had an opportunity to pass off some wares to the travellers seated in the bus.
Spending over 70 hours on buses in the region also saw us cross over some 2,500 judder bars. Now Blenheim attracts a bit of criticism for it´s standard response to traffic engineering issues - build another roundabout (even if it is through the main trunk line). Well it appears that the traffic engineers in Central America are also short sighted in their responce to traffic issues, with the stock standard response being to build more judder bars. You will find these every coouple of kilometres along the main motorway, and if the bus driver isn´t alert, it makes for an interesting encounter at 100 kmph, as we found out in Gautemala when Mat found himself flung from his seat, to the roof and back down into the isle.
Travelling by bus allowed us to see a lot of the country side which, for the most part, was littered with rubbish (even in the US). The clever individual in Aotearoa in the 80´s that came up with the ´Keep New Zealand Beautiful´ campaign needs to be admitted toi the New Zealand Order of Merit because we now appreciate even more the simple addage of putting ones rubbish in the bin.
While travelling, we were imparted with some great advice by a seasoned traveller named Flash. When it comes to eating local food (we´re talking dirt cheap from the street side), Flash has gone 4 years without falling ill once. He attributes this fantastic record to washing meals down with a bottle of coke - if it can rot your teeth, it can kill any germ you´ve just consumed!
Thankfully, Central America loves it´s glass bottles of coke which we´ve added to the order with any dodgy looking feed. And God Bless Central America too for sticking with the glass bottle option - it is the only way to drink coke. And when we say glass bottles, we´re not talking about the 250ml variety found only in ponsy cafes in New Zealand for $3 - we´re talking up to a litre in size for no more than $1.
We´re getting better at ordering meals, but one thing alluded us completely during our Central American meal experiences - ordering an entree. Despite all our efforts, any percieved entree would be served either at the same time as the main fare, though in more instances, after the main fare. Nothing like a dozen wantans after your friied rice and ice cream dessert!
We´re getting better at ordering meals, but one thing alluded us completely during our Central American meal experiences - ordering an entree. Despite all our efforts, any percieved entree would be served either at the same time as the main fare, though in more instances, after the main fare. Nothing like a dozen wantans after your friied rice and ice cream dessert!
And now, to some ´Weary Traveller Oscars´...
$2 McChicken Tuesday Oscar for Cheapest Feed - Pan con Lechon (Pork sammies), Cuba. That´ll be US$0.04 a hit thanks.
Bevan Moriaty Oscar for Most Prevalent E-Mailer - Facebook (73 e-mails and counting). We´ve had friend requests, been poked, had a pie thrown at us and had our wall written on? We ignored the first friend request only to be lambasted by that friend (Señor Sinclair) and now just click yes to everyone of them. We will get onboard the ´Facebook´revolution in London...
Bradgelina Oscar for Best Place to Adopt a Kid - San Cristobal de las Casas, Mexico.
Telecom Oscar for Best Way To Communicate - Skype. Free, easy to use and available everywhere so far.
LTSA Oscar for Dodgiest Bus Trip - Kingston to Ocho Rios, Jamaica. Sure, squeeze another one in mon!
The ´I Can´t Believe It´s Not Butter´ Oscar for Biggest Load of Bull Proven True - Klausiano Pavarotii, Dive Instructor in Playa del Carmen, Mexico and confirmed heir to the Bayer Asprin fortune.
The Christchurch Polytechnic Oscar for Best Street Perfroming Effort - Father and son in Mexico City trying to juggle rings of fire on a rubbish bin pushed into the middle of a five lane road during the red light segments.
The ´I Can´t Believe It´s Not Butter´ Oscar for Biggest Load of Bull Proven True - Klausiano Pavarotii, Dive Instructor in Playa del Carmen, Mexico and confirmed heir to the Bayer Asprin fortune.
The Christchurch Polytechnic Oscar for Best Street Perfroming Effort - Father and son in Mexico City trying to juggle rings of fire on a rubbish bin pushed into the middle of a five lane road during the red light segments.
Pipi Foundation Waste of Money Oscar - CARICOM Visa to enter Jamaica. NZ$300 and wasn't even checked by customs.
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