vagablonding

For breakfast on Friday, April 1st (called Town Fools Day here), I had a seasonal fruit plate ($4) from Foster’s, it wasn’t very good, and coffee of course.

At 9:00am Elena and I went to Anemona Divers to go scuba diving! We did the Introductory Dive down to 20 feet for $54 ($60 without the Foster’s discount). First we learned the hand signs, then we took a boat to the beach in front of Infinity Bay Resort and practiced with breathing underwater. When we had that down we swam out to the dive site. It was incredibly beautiful, and so much fun! This is going to be one of my new favorite things for sure. We were under for a total of 40 minutes.

Can you find the turtle?

We went to Foster’s for lunch and I had nachos which were mega tasty ($6). The afternoon was filled with swimming and beach lounging. There are no cruise ships on Friday or Saturday,  making the beach empty and peaceful. Later in the afternoon we napped. When we woke we went for a walk down the beach and down a road into the “town” of West Bay. We went to some shops and I bought sunglasses cause mine broke ($10), a beautiful beaded bracelet ($9), postcards (2 for $1) and soft serve ice cream ($2). I talked to some local ex-pats about places to stay longer term because I might want to come back soon.

The evening was spent swimming and having dinner and drinks at Foster’s. A little later we walked down to Bananarama to listen to their live music. Unfortunately, this guy also didn’t know Caribbean Queen *sigh*. We listened for a bit and gave him a tip, then headed back to Foster’s and I read in the hammock on the deck before bed.

On Thursday, March 31st, I woke at 7 and a few minutes later a man selling empanadas stopped by, so we bought 3 for breakfast for $5. They were just ok. Went and got coffee at Foster’s after that. I got too hot so I jumped in the ocean. It’s so nice to be able to do that!

Later in the morning we took a water taxi to the town of West End for $3 each. We walked around for about an hour. It was incredibly hot so we kept ducking into souvenir shops for the AC. Eventually we stopped at a restaurant / yoga studio called Earth Mama’s for lunch. I wasn’t hungry but Elena got a coconut curry chicken salad wrap with fried plantain chips ($7.85) and mom had a mimosa and a fiesta shrimp salad ($8.50). I tried mom’s salad and it was delicious! Elena also really liked her food, so definitely stop by this place if you’re in West End.

After that we souvenir shopped a bit. I bought a very cool wooden purse made on the mainland for $15 (down from $20) and a pretty abalone and bead bracelette for $6 (down from $8).

Around 1pm we took the water taxi back to West Bay for 50 limpiras / $3 per person.

We were hot and tired so the rest of the day was spent swimming and sunbathing. Somewhere in there I bought beers again from guy with the cooler from yesterday. I bought 5 for $10 and he told me “pumpkin, you hurt my soul!” I guess I drive a hard bargain.

Foster’s has been building this deck thing for the last 2 days to extend their dining area and they finished it tonight for their live music performance. For dinner we ordered 2 lobster specials which each had 2 lobster tails and 2 sides ($12 per plate). It was very very tasty and more than enough food for 3 people.

After dinner we had happy hour drinks while the band played. They were quite good and we all danced a lot. Towards the end of the night a young Honduran guy with a woman bought drinks for me mom and Elena. We thought it was just because they enjoyed the entertainment of us dancing, but in reality the man wanted to pick up on me and Elena. The woman he was with came over and told us all about it, she was pretty hilarious. Apparently the guy was a Honduran millionaire in the making looking for a gringo girl. I could have had a stake in millions of dollars worth of Honduran cows so I hear… no thanks, I’ll keep my fantastic gringo boyfriend and his cow-sized cat thankyouverymuch. 🙂

We had a very fun evening and danced until about 9:30. My feet were hurting by the end. The band didnt know Caribbean Queen, that was the only disappointment, oh well.

Tomorrow we’re going Scuba Diving!

We left San Francisco at 1:30am on Tuesday, March 29th, and touched our toes to West Bay beach around noon the same day. The journey, hazy in memory, consisted of 3 flights and 2 very brief layovers in San Salvador, El Salvador, and San Pedro Sula, Honduras. There was also airplane food french toast somewhere in there.

Upon checking in at Foster’s we found that we had been upgraded to a 2 bedroom, 3 bed unit with lots of stairs (we were upgraded because the gentleman who booked this room couldn’t do stairs and needed our single level cabana.)

Our room is on the second floor, has lovely views of the ocean from both the master bedroom and the upstairs loft bedroom, plus a full kitchen which is currently housing only my beer and protein bars, but may get some use if we happen upon a grocery store. The beds are comfy, there are lots of fans and 2 air-conditioners, the shower is hot and strong, and there are cute bats that live outside under the overhang of the roof. The very best part is, of course, the hammock on our deck. I’ve already logged a couple hours reading in it.

We had lunch at Foster’s when we arrived, I had a quesadilla for $6 and a lime margarita for $5. After lunch Elena and I spent an hour or 2 swimming down the beach quite a ways and walking back. The beach was really crowded with cruise shippers, who usually swarm the place from noon until 3 or 4 pm. When they’re gone it’s really quite peaceful.

When the crowds left we sunbathed for a bit then had 2 for 1 drinks at Foster’s before turning in early.

On Wednesday, March 30th, I woke up at 7 and took some pictures before having breakfast at Foster’s. I split a veggie omelet with mom for $6, and had coffee with refills for $1. The omelet was really good, full of spicy veggies and cheese, and came with potatoes and toast.

There are cute stray kittens here, we fed this one some of Elena’s breakfast.

Mom and Elena rented snorkel gear from Anemona Divers for $10 each. Anemona Divers is affiliated with Foster’s and they offer a 10% discount to Foster’s guests. We snorkeled for a long while at the southwest end of the beach. We got in the ocean in front of Infinity Bay Resort, but the best snorkeling was by the rocks beyond the southwest tip of the beach. I saw a lot of beautiful coral formations and some interesting fish that were new to me, but all in all the snorkeling was better on Gili Air.

This fish was as big as my torso!

At one point I was swarmed by a school of fish for 3 minutes, very cool!

After snorkeling I lunched on a protein bar and a lime strawberry margarita ($5) at Foster’s, then relaxed in the hammock and read while mom and Elena napped. The backs of my legs started to feel irritated and when I looked at them I discovered a sunburn 🙁

Back on the beach I bought 3 imperial beers for $5 from a man with a cooler who called me pumpkin. His deal was 2 for $5, but I promised to be a repeat customer if he gave me 3 for $5 and he did.  The people here are all very sweet and friendly.

Back to the hammock with my beer and book while mom and Elena snorkeled again. I wanted to go with them but no can do with a sunburn :/

When they returned from their second snorkel trip we went to Las Rocas Resort’s restaurant for dinner where they give you one free teeny tiny cheese pizza slice from 4-5 everyday, plus 2 for 1 cocktails! 2 cocktails and a tiny piece of pizza is plenty of dinner for me, so it was a good deal.

Tomorrow we’re going to check out the town of West End, and on Friday Elena and I are going scuba diving!

Hello friends,

Tonight I leave on another vagablonding adventure with my mom and sister. We’re headed to Roatan, a small island off the coast of Honduras. I’m super excited, I hear there is excellent surfing, and my sister and I are going to try scuba diving!

It’s going to be a very short trip, only about 5 days, but it will be a nice break. Looking forward to the sunshine, warm water, and beautiful scenery 🙂

I’ll keep you updated, so check back soon for a new post.

All you gotta do is go to the lonely planet shop, put a book in your cart, then enter the promo code “4JULY” and the USA Guidebook with appear for free in your cart! Pretty good deal. Better hurry though, the offer is only good until June 25th or while supplies last.

I’ve been wanting to learn Spanish for a while now, and in looking online for helpful resources I came across this huge library of the US Government’s Foreign Service Institute Language Courses available to download for free. The Foreign Service Institute is the US Government’s training institution for diplomats and other foreign service personnel. There are materials for over 40 languages, and the amount of material for the more widely spoken languages is quite impressive! Available for download are mp3s and PDF lessons including student workbooks and instructor’s manuals. Check it out here: Foreign Service Institute Language Courses. I hope some of you find this helpful! Please leave a comment if you know of any more language learning resources to help me learn Spanish 🙂

Today is Earth Day, the day we reflect on our impact on the world. This Earth Day is extra special because it’s the 40th anniversary of the first Earth Day in 1970. As world travelers, we often have a close up perspective of the damage we as humans are doing to the planet. Many forms of travel and tourism are only adding to the problem. Here are 10 tips for traveling greener that I hope we can all adopt, at least some of the time.

1. Start with your home
Most people don’t think about the resources being used in their home while they’re not there. To reduce energy consumption in your home while you’re away be sure to unplug all unused appliances, turn off the AC/heat, and turn your water heater to the “vacation” or lowest setting.

2. Leave no trace
As travelers, we should practice Leave No Trace everywhere we go. No matter if you’re camping, staying in a hostel, or living in an apartment for 2 months – if it came with you, it should leave with you. Even better: try to leave every place even more clean and devoid of trash than you found it.

3. Use a reusable water bottle
Plastic water bottles account for 1.5 million tons of plastic waste a year. That’s 3 billion (3,000,000,000) pounds, or 1,360,777,110 kg, of plastic. Over 80% of that is simply thrown away, even though the plastic used for water bottles is highly recyclable. It is incredibly important that we avoid using plastic water bottles, and instead use reusable water bottles, or water bottles with filters.

4. Green your transport
The amount of fuel we use and the emissions our transport produces can almost always be reduced by thinking ahead and altering our habits when traveling. Walk or ride a bike whenever possible. Take public transportation instead of a cab. Take the train instead of the plane. When you do fly, keep your electricity use to a minimum and pack lighter bags to help conserve fuel. Keep your window shade closed to help regulate the cabin temperature. Book all your tickets electronically to avoid excess paper usage.

5. Conserve resources in your hotel or hostel
We often forget that our actions in our room away from home have a big impact on local resources. To green your hotel stay, try the following: hang and reuse your towel, don’t have your linens changed, avoid using the travel sized shampoos and soaps (bring your own instead), and turn off the AC/heat and unplug appliances and lamps when you’re not in your room.

6. Use less water
Water is a resource we are constantly taking for granted because it seems unlimited if we’re not thinking about it, when in fact we are using up the world’s fresh water at an alarming rate. To conserve water, try the following tips. Take shorter showers by soaping up with the water off. Don’t leave the water running when brushing your teeth. Wash your own clothes by filling the sink with soapy water and scrubbing your clothes in it, then rinse them in a sink of clean water.

7. Avoid anything disposable
There is a reusable replacement for almost anything disposable. Instead of regular batteries, use rechargeable batteries. Buy a digital camera instead of using a disposable camera or a film camera. Again, use a reusable water bottle instead of buying bottled water.

8. Reduce paper usage
Paper is another thing we take for granted. Reduce your paper usage by avoiding napkins or only using half a napkin instead of the whole thing. When you wash your hands let them air dry instead of using paper towels. Take only brochures you actually plan on using, and if possible give them back when you’re done.

9. Don’t use plastic bags
Plastic bags are a huge contributor to pollution around the globe. Massive amounts of wildlife die daily due to ingestion of plastic bags. Animals also get entangled in them resulting in loss of limbs and death. Plastic bags are made with petroleum, one of world’s finite natural resources we are depleting the fastest. To combat this, carry a reusable sack with you to the market and don’t let anyone give you a plastic bag.

10. Be careful with our oceans
Pollution of our oceans and damage to our reefs is a problem that is spiraling out of control. One easy thing you can do to help reduce ocean pollution is to apply your sunscreen at least 20 minutes before you get in the water. If you don’t wait 20 minutes, most of the sunscreen will rinse off into the ocean. Even better is to buy a reef-friendly sunscreen that is biodegradable. Also be careful to never step or stand on coral. Coral is composed of tiny living organisms that can be killed when you step on them.

I hope you will keep these tips in mind, not just on Earth Day, but on every day. The more care we take with our environment, the bigger the positive impact we can have.

Brilliant! Why hasn’t anyone made a jacket like this yet?!

Credit & Copyright: Marco Fulle (Stromboli Online)

Credit & Copyright: AP Photo/Brynjar Gauti

Many European travelers are currently stranded due to the eruption of Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokull volcano (I have no idea how to pronounce that…) Because of this, Lonely Planet has decided to offer FREE iPhone guides for 13 different European cities. The guides are free to download until Thursday, 22 April. You can get them on the iTunes app store, just click the link below for the city guide you need:

• Amsterdam
• Barcelona
• Berlin
• Budapest
• Copenhagen
• Istanbul
• London
• Moscow
• Munich
• Paris
• Rome
• Stockholm
• Vienna

As promised, here’s the video of me eating a fried spider in Cambodia 🙂

More videos from Cambodia, Indonesia, and Costa Rica to come soon!