Buffalo, New York

Most famous for their food *Chicken Wings and weather *Snow, lots and lots of snow. Buffalo is located on Lake Erie, on the Western side of New York. It is a whopping 7 hour car ride to get to NYC.

I have spent most of my life living in Buffalo, and I can easily say it has grown over the years. Buffalo has everything you want for a quick and cheap vacation (well, during the summer at least). With cheap and delicious food at almost every corner, you cant go wrong!

Located on Lake Erie, Buffalo boarders Canada. A quick drive over the Rainbow or Peace bridge and you an find yourself in another beautiful country. Niagara Falls (tho I do say, the Canada side has out done the US) should be on your list-to-do’s. The breathtaking waterfalls are what many consider one of the World Wonders. They offer restaurants, tours, viewpoints along with a park that you can walk or bike down side-by-side the falls.

Niagara Falls in December.

Chicken. Wings. Buffalo is known for their chicken wings around the world. Growing up, and always having them readily available, I did not realize how bad people can butcher this easy and delicious treat. The best local places for true Buffalo Wings include; Bar Bill, Gabriel’s Gate, Imperial Pizza Doc Sullivans, and Kelly’s Korner.

During the summer months Buffalo has outdoor activities such as kayaking, bike rentals, outdoor live concerts, comedy shows, and endless pubs and restaurants. The local paper called The Gusto is a great go-to to plan your stay and participate in local festivals.

 

Cartagena, Colombia

Colombia… Oh Colombia. How much you have brought me!

Alright! Getting in… There are two safe ways of getting into Colombia; boat (Great options from San Blas, Panama as long as its the RIGHT SEASON) and flying. Theres this little southern part of Panama called Darien that is full of thick jungle and savage people making it a clear detour by means of bus or car. Just dont do it.

When flying, you do need to screen shot a fake flight out of Colombia. This was the second (?) time in all of Central America that I was questioned about having an exit flight out of their country. Sidenote: The Airport does not have wifi, and you need to print your boarding pass before you get to the airport or they charge you about $20 USD to do such there. Hard copies are the only thing accepted. Screenshots of exit flights work just fine, I didnt purchase a flight for that.

Flying into Colombia was a few hour journey without any problems. Arriving in Cartagena, a beautiful city surrounded by the Ocean, Wall, many beautiful boldly painted Colonial houses and cobblestone streets. It is breathtaking. Literally. Its like 40 c. (104 d) Its soooo hot!

 

 

Brief History of the Wall: 1500s Spanish came and took over a Caribbean town.. In the 16th Century they (Spanish) built a giant cement wall around the town (Known as Old Town) for protection from the French. It then became a slave trade hub. Years later they wanted their independence from Spain.  Around 1921 they declared  their independence and still are a huge hub for Colombia.

Anyway, Cartagena is amazing. Its Old Spanish architecture is breathtaking. The colored buildings and doors are enough to occupy you for days!

Theres endless restaurants and American food for everyone with a soft stomach. The street foods was divine, hamburgers, pizza, sausage, and grilled meats were just a few that I had to make choices on. They also have a wonderful Bakery that serves about everything you can dream of. From pizza pockets, to cookies, rolls, sweets, you name it and they have it for you!

Staying in the wall and a bit on the outskirts, you should look to spend a few days. If you’re a shopper, you could spend 3-5. They have MANY high end shops. But for the typical backpacker, its a good spot to charge up, meet new people, have an AC hostel, and get ready for the dessert, jungle, ocean, or mountains, afterall, you’re in Colombia and they have it ALL!

Panama City

Panama City’s 12 hour bus ride wasn’t the worst but also wasn’t the best. Not sleeping much due to it being -12 on the bus, watching a terrifying German movie series and the person behind me not letting me put my seat back I did not sleep.

Arriving (with the rain following me) at around 4am I hailed a taxi to take me to the hostel I looked up. Little to our knowledge it apparently is closed or just underground. Driving back and forth down a road endless (in my broken Spanish) just asked if he knows a decent one to go to, he brought me to CocoLoco which was my new home for a few weeks.

(Meet Coco)

The city has sky scrapers the size of NYC and everything anyone would need, included designer clothing for the rich and famous. It was quite the change. Being the first “proper” city, (outside of San Jose), I did my fair Dat is walking around in the malls on a rainy day. I also did my share of jogging down board walks, and most importantly, pool hoping in 5 star hotels in which I most decently did not stay in.

Pool ranking went as the following:

#3 Trump tower; limited sun light, and Trump owns it. Easy to get into, WiFi needs a code and doesn’t work on the east end of the pool.

#2 Sortis; decent food, good WiFi (need to ask for code), towel service, charging station, and beds to lay on in the water! Pools decent but not that much of a vibe.

#1 Hard Rock Cafe; great view, full bar and food, free towels, HOT TUBS 4!, but difficult to get into on weekends. $45 entry if you don’t make up a room number, sneak in and find 9 crazy, fun, handsome Canadian Lebanese boys that adopt you and have your back.

After shopping, breaking into pools, playing with a Monkey, long runs every morning, finding a yellow fever shot (nightmare), I finally decided to go to the Panama Canal. It was soo cool, (sarcasm) here are pictures you can google the rest.

Other note worthy places: Old town, a 30 min bike from downtown you come into a colonial town; Casco Viejo. It’s beautiful and was the original Panama City up until pirates took it over. Not kidding. Full of coffee houses, apartments, bars, small shops and restaurants, it’s a beautiful place to walk around, take a tour or just sit and enjoy the views. They have several roof top bars and it turns into a hipster paradise in the night with every type of bar you can imagine!

Fish Market- this is located just before where Casco Viejo and New Panama City meet. Here you can watch fishermen toss fresh catch to the locals and go inside (wear a nose plug) the giant two story fish market to buy whatever you fancy. They also have a line of market restaurants with everything prepared for you to order from!

Avenida Balboa; this is a stretch along the waterway for bikers, walkers, runners and food venders. It also offers a great view of the city.

(This photo was a fail; trying to “hold” the city after a 2.5 hour run because I forgot my ID To rent a bike to get here)

Bocas Del Toro

Bocas del toro is made up of several islands. Know for it’s “Filthy Friday” island hoping party it has quite the amount of visitors. Knowing this, why not spend New Years there?!

Rolling in on a bus to the main land and then taking a boat to the main island, and another to the island I stayed on it was about a 6 hour journey.

With a clear sky and not much day light left I wandered the beach to find beautiful palms and endless views. Absolutely breath taking. I stayed at Aqua lounge the first few nights there, and had an amazing sleep. The hostel is built above the water on a standing dock (which hindsight part of the dance floor fell though 3 days later, no one was hurt) reguardless best sleep ever. It was also pretty cheap costing about $13 a night with breaky included. They also had a hot bartender, and JJ the chef who randomly loved buffalo and had a gallon of franks red hot, so I loved him too.

The party was great, the people were friendly and the weather was great for the first two nights (and for my filthy friday).

During the time here I also thought it was a good idea to ride bikes to Estrella playa? A 20k one way ride on shitty bikes (my chain popped off about 10 times and it took about 2.5 hours to get there going up steep jungle hills) it was a good time and at least I got some good pictures out of it. I caught the bus back to town and slept good that night.

The following days were not as beautiful, having to find a new hostel because they were over booked, we walked in upon a hostel Diamond, in the main island full of Argentinians, regatón and fun. After partying, finding the most amazing (Westernied shops, real cheese, green veggies, TURKEY) it was a good time!

Another day my gals decided to go diving and I joined them to snorkel while they went down under. The weather wasn’t the best so our views weren’t either but, it was still a fun time and killed a rainy day.

After about three more days of the rain i was ready to leave, buying a $40 ticket to Panama City (1.5 hour boat ride, 10 min cab ride, and 12h bus ride) But, the island wasn’t ready for me to leave. With the storm hitting and the water being so fierce, they closed down all boats to and from the main land. This was just after two boats overturned with a boatload (ha.. everyone was safe so this pun is fine) of people who had to swim to a close island. The following day I took the fairy (which was as big as the Statin Island fairy) to the main land and continued my journey to the Big City.

Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica

Puerto Viejo is a small beach surf town located on the Caribbean coast. It’s full of Jamaican food, music, and fun. Taking a direct bus from San José will set you back about $40 and 7 hours if my memory serves me right? (Posting this about a month after.. guilt)

The first night I hostel shopped for a bit but after realizing how heavy my pack is getting to be and how hot it was, I quickly went (a longgg walk and a bit out the outskirts of town) to Selina’s (which is a bit of a chain ran hostel that I stayed in, in Tamarindo, San José and now Aqui. The room was a bit pricey for being holiday season (December 23-27) and through Christmas. Costing about $25 a night it is a pricey hostel, but offers a nice size kitchen, pool, beach, and hot water (which was the most valuable thing).

The first night I went out to a local bar know as Rage Bar for all the right reason, 100s of Rasta men, regatón blasting and for my luck, ladies night.. Similar to Iguanas in SJDS, ladies drink for free. They’re also not shy on the pouring here. It was a good time with lots of dancing, and never hanging an empty drink even after ladies night concluded… what nice locals. 😉

After my gal Ailish hitched a front seat (handlebars) ride home, I decided I should just run next to them. Surprised with my efforts we made it back around the same time and I burned off all the calories I drank (maybe…)

Just Oscar and I

The following day I ventured out to the beach which had lava black sand and was quite small. Not the best to surf in as per the waves we’re closing out and their was 100 learners all over the water I decided to watch the Future Kelly Slaters.

Town is cute and small with all your little tourist shops, small tiendas, and anything you’d really need for basic living.

Street meat was okay, but no one had topped Ronda’s Pollo loco in SJDS.

The following days in PV I spent in the hostel; looking at monkeys in the trees and at wild sloths, along with puking and shitting my brains out. Apparently the hostels gift to everyone was some kind of virus, MEERY CHRISTMAS!!!

San José, Costa Rica

San José is the Capital of Costa Rica and is located smack dab in the middle of the country. It’s a $10, 7 hour bus ride from Tamarindo. The city is pretty spread out and quite large in retrospect to where I’ve been lately. They have all the shops you can think of and every brand you’re use to.

It’s also as cold as buffalo. Okay, maybe not in the winter, but, coming from 85, to 65 was a big change. I was able to wear my sweat shirt and jeans for the first time this trip, thank god because carrying them around has been werq.

The first night I had a hot shower for the first time in 5 months? Which was amazing. The bathroom was the size of my bedroom in my apartment in Nica. I could seriously live in there. *sidenote drinks were $8 each.. so, obviously we went for the corner store bottle and made our own.

After a hot shower 🙂 I met some of the bunk mates from all over the world… then went to the bar to have a drink and find out what to do in the city from the locals that worked there. I easily made friends with a few of the bartenders and a very nice Mexican man by the name of Jose Ricky Martín. Ricky and I decided to go out and make the bartenders come with us. We walked a handful of blocks through the town, (sidenote: which they told us not to do if we were alone), and made it to a place called California. Home away from home?

California is an amazing market looking multi bar square with several different rooms (around 5?) each with their own DJ and type of music. It was a lot of fun, and turns out Ricky Martín is a good dancer, go figure with a name like that. After a few more beers and dancing for hours we all made our way back to the hostel. Also, Ricky currently lives in Charlotte, NC, so he’s basically like family. I look 10/10 I know. Thank you for the photo skillz, Irish.

My next day I did a walking tour of the city which is not anything to go nuts over, but it was nice. It was good to take a break from t he beach and be back in a city for a bit. The Graffiti art was my favorite. Also, sitting in a park watching all the street venders wrap their goods up and run (I mean literally RUN) when they see cops was also a tasty treat. It’s illegal to sell on the streets without a permit but, the cops aren’t chasing anyone with 20 fake Michale Kors bags.

I went to a few stores but didn’t get anything seeing as though my bag weighs as much as an over weight toddler already.

“When you smile, all the Ratas come out”

I was able to take a few Christmas style photos and before I Knew it I was off to hot weather and beaches yet again!

Also we ate a slice of pizza the size of our heads which was delish.

And the hostel had a puppy that I stole everyday all day.

San Juan Del Sur Sunday Funday

If SJDS is known for anything it’s their beautiful beaches and their Sunday funday Pool crawl. Though you can find a party any day, anywhere in this beach town, they go all out on their SundayFunday and bring it to another level. A $30 (USD) gets you admission in, a tank top, several shitty shots, rides to and from the 4 bars and a night you probably won’t remember.

If you missed out partying in college, or just would like to relive it, this is your place. Though I have went to only 2/11 of the Sunday’s I’ve been here I’m pretty sure I have seen it all and I don’t feel as if I need to go to anymore. From people completely passed out, to skinny dipping, cat fights, make out seasons, you name it and it’s there.

Surprisingly, I haven’t seen any fights or major injuries and I’m happy for that. After being here for weeks, I’ve figured out the best way to partake without having to spend your whole day drinking.. meeting all of the locos at the last bar to people watch the beauty alcohol has on the human body over long periods of time without food or water.

Cheers to SundayFunday and the people who can partake weekly, may the force be with you. You can most likely find me at the beach and local bar on a Sunday.

Tamarindo, Costa Rico

Tamarindo is a 7 hour two bus journey from SJDS. Though the busses were quite comfortable, and I had more than enough Christmas movies downloaded it was the longest and hardest bus ride I’ve been on.

Entering the decent sized beach town, all I could notice was how many corporations were there and how much I disliked it. Passing Subways, Starbucks, Firestone’s and several other chains made me miss SJDS more. The hostel I stayed at (Selina) was a 2 min walk off the beach and had a great pool and hang out area. It had a breakfast buffet for $5 usd as well, over all it was clean and the people were friendly.

Walking around town and checking out the surf was the next thing to do. The beach was absolutely packed and the waves were hit or miss. I decided to wait until the morning to get a board.

Surfing was quite the challenge. There were many first timers out there that had no idea what they are doing (not that I’m seasoned, but I’m not going to let my own board blow me in the face from a wave). I was determined to look like a pro, and it forced me to practice my carving.

I was also able to hit up a small market which was actually pretty cool. It was the best thing that the town had to offer for me. Though, I admit I did not give it a fare chance seeing as though it was the first stop from SJDS where I left my heart..

Life in SJDS

Life in SJDS isn’t like anywhere I’ve ever been. The chill vibe with some of the most intelligent, interesting and intellectual people I’ve ever met. Most everyone that was born and raised in SJDS has been nothing but helpful, polite and genuine.

From the staff at Casa Oro which is now like a family to me, to the locals who sell vases, sunglasses, guards at the ATMS, and the shameless yelling taxi drivers, I have appreciated a laugh and conversation with all.

Some of the best people I’ve meet have been in the water where I struggle to paddle enough to catch a wave. Even with language barriers this town has a way to communicate and show compassion to visitors.

::Food::

Pollo Loco, best rankings;

Overall best: Small place around the corner from the church, comes with real salad (lettuce!) rice, fries, and grilled chicken.

Big Ronda’s Market Chichén (may have changed the name to what I call her) best chicken and rice, salad needs help.

Kandys chicken cerca de Pachamamas hostel and the park, best salad and chips, cheapest price.

Pizza:

Bienvenida a su Pizza, located down the street from the church this pizza is created right by the hands of an Italian man who drives an hour away to get the ingredients for his handmade sausage which is to die for. He was the first pizza shop open in SJDS and has been proudly open for over 20 years. Good price, best pizza!

La Verricha (sp?) Coming in at number two is the pizzeria on the main strip. Though the dough is a little too thin for my liking the toppings and cheese makeup for it. Prices are a little more steep due to the location but over all a decent pie.

Don Monchis is where you go for that quick slice of think frozen dough and a pile of toppings that give you that fill after a night of drinking. Their t-shirt logos also make anyone want to support them.

Barrios- breakfast is a great tasty treat that even caters to the visiting souls having an Americano; eggs, home fries, toast and bacon. Though their food is good and their coffee is even better, you pay for it.

Iguana- Pretty much nailed it over all. Their food is decent, similar to a local TGIF Friday’s or any popular chain restraint with decent prices and see below under bar specials. Also tasty and cheap breaky.

Sports Bar across Iguanas- got mottz sticks and thought I was going to die tho everyone else enjoyed their food. Also got kicked out once for acting like a chicken and walking around the restaurant.. it was a dare, come on guys. Probably not returning soon.

Dale Pues- decent food, Decent price, cool atmosphere, great waiter. Though I have never been blown away by anything there it’s been consistent and is good for sandwich. Salads maybe the best in town as well. Fun place to go to when your hungover and want a good hangout spot while eating.

Fish and Chips- let’s just say painfully grease central and will not be going back. Awesome kid running front desk tho. Props.

..::bars::..

Local Bar- My personal favorite and where I end up after going out anywhere else. It is exactly what I call it; bar where the locals hang out and beer is cheap. They have a disgusting bathroom but a jukebox to make up for it. They also give you a pea tree dish of peanuts which some days is VERY much needed. It’s also where I practice my borracho español (drunk Spanish while talking with locals).

Iguana- aka death trap. Here, as mentioned before has decent food and Ladies night.. which is obscene. Buy a 35q cup ($1usd) and DRINK FOR FREE FROM 8-10. That’s right. Throw them a $5 tip (or don’t) and drink for nothing for hours. Insane. How? No idea. I limit my time there for sure.

Loose Moose- new spot owned by a nice Canadian gal. Also home of $1 tequila shots. Apparently great poutine (sp? Gravy fries dish) but not my cup of tea so don’t know personally.

Pacha mama- fun party hostel where Sunday funday starts and they have amazing alcoholic slushies.

Arribas- 1/3 night clubs, where Sunday funday ends and shit gets sloppy.

LIT- best night club in town.. they have cages, black lights, glow in the dark paint, swings, poles, banging music, good looking bartenders, and blackout nights.

Crazy Crab- last night club that’s a little bit off the beating path but is huge and usually has good music with a DJ

Rojo Loco- small but fun bar on the water. Friends with some of the workers which makes it fun, chill vibes.

San Juan Del Sur Storm

San Juan Del Sur is located about 100km (2.5 hour drive in a car) south of Granada. It’s a quaint surfer town with the most amazing beaches, surf shops, parties and most important, the locals. Upon arriving we made it up to a hostel with two of the cutest dogs, two amazing pools, and a view you could not take your eyes off. The drive was a bit longer than expected due to awful weather. A storm was coming in and we had no idea what we were in for.

The wind picked up, the power went out and here we sat luckily with some generator power for a few hours a day and a crazy shuttle man that would drive us to town at night. Town was worse off than us, having limited power, more rain and water damage, and boats being washed up into the roads. It was a heartbreaking sight to see.

Making the best of it we ventured out to a bar called Parlour where we later became locals at. The vibe was good, the drinks were better and no one could complain about having spotty WiFi and a generator that powered banger songs.

After about four/five nights the city thankfully and finally got their power back. During these nights I moved from host to hostel due to a number of different reasons; no power, leaking buildings, no electricity, no water… until finally I found where I would stay for quite some time; Casa Oro.

Though no power was one of their bigger problems, the devastation of the storm left behind much more. Boats in the street, through restaurants, sunk, missing, you name it and it happened.

Watching the locals bond together and try to save and tie up as many boats as they could during the dangerous weather made my heart melt. It’s times like this where all people need to step up and help out however they can. This little town will become home to me because of the beautiful people within in.