Tjarda de Rooij Photography
- The Central America journey -
The journey
For that first trip the thought of going by myself as a 19 year old was a little scary. When I was planning that trip I came across a Dutch company that specializes in language vacations. Going with them meant more security because a lot of the things where arranged for me. I decided to book with them and to go to Guatemala. On arrival I was picked up from the airport and dropped of at my guesthouse. There I got information about where my school was and a map of the city. I went to school 5 days a week for 4 hours a day. Ideal with that school was that I got to learn Spanish one on one. One teacher for one Student. In the spare time I had in the weekends and after school I went on little day or weekend trips with other travelers I met at school. The places I’ve been to where beautiful and a lot of fun. When I got home I started saving up right away for my next trip. Now that I had experienced traveling ‘alone’ I was ready to go Backpacking. Six years after the first trip I was finally about to go back.
"the most biologically intense place on Earth in terms of biodiversity"
My second journey started in Costa Rica and I had to make my way up to Mexico to fly back home. Costa Rica was at the top of my list because of its amazing biodiversity. Starting here I had the change of staying longer if I wanted to and so I did. Because the Capital lies in the middle of the country it doesn’t matter in which order you go and see things. If you look at the map it looks more like a web than a circle. I started on the pacific side at Manuel Antonio. Determent to see as much animals as possible I went to many Natural parks and nature reserves. Manuel Antonio was the first. This lovely but crowded park has lots to offer. It’s small in size but animals are abundant. After seeing that park I was very exited to go and see more of the country. Unfortunately I lost my memory card where I stored all the pictures of my first week and thereby lost a couple of amazing shots. My next stop was Drake Bay. Drake bay is located close to the Corcovado National Park. This park was at the top of my list of must go to places. Reason for that is because national geographic has called it "the most biologically intense place on Earth in terms of biodiversity". When I first read that I got very exited and finally getting there I was ready to go explore! Only problem is that going to the park itself is insanely expensive and being a backpacker high prices scare me off. The cheapest option is a 2 hour guided hike including a long boat ride to the park and back. They call that a daytrip and ask 90 US dollars for that. After thinking it over for a couple of days I finally went and did it thinking I would probably never return to this place and I would hate myself for not going. The amount of animals and animal species I saw in those 2 hours was unbelievable up to the point of feeling like your walking in a zoo. It felt kind of unnatural seeing that much! The other 8 days I spend in Drake bay I used to explore the amazing area around the village. I went on many walks and was treated with seeing some beautiful animals. During my time there I got to see animals like Toucans, scarlet macaws, hummingbirds, kingfishers, poison dart frogs, snakes, a anteater, peccary’s, a Tapir and sharks. just to name a few.
After a short visit to Guatemala I went to Belize. Again because of time but also because Belize is expensive I made just one stop. I went to Caye Caulker for some more underwater fun. I went on a insanely prices 60 US dollar snorkeling trip but I luckily also got to see some cool stuff. On that trip I swam with big Stingrays, Sea turtles, moray eels and best of all, with lots of Nurse sharks!
When I arrived on the Island I met two girls that also had to get to Cancun to catch a flight so I decided to stick with them for a while. Our next stop was Lake Bacalar in Mexico. Crossing the border into Mexico meant I now set food in all 8 countries of Central America! After relaxing at the beautiful blue lake we went to Tulum. Another city with ancient mayan ruins just around the corner. From here I went on a couple daytrips. I went hiking in the gorgeous Sian Ka’an reserve, saw the amazing maya cities Tulum, Cobá and Chichén Itza and dove the incredibly beautiful Sac Actun cave System.
"far from safe!"
After Tulum I was back on my own again and had time to make just 3 more stops. First being the Island of Cozumel for a last dive in the Caribbean. Here currents are strong what made Cozumel famous for it’s drift dives. Most times when you go diving in the Caribbean the boat is anchored and you dive in a circle and end up back at the boat. Because of the strong current at Cozumel the boat dumps you somewhere and you let the current take you. Getting back to the surface you inflate a dive flag and hope that the boat is near and able to find you. Diving in conditions like this can be dangerous and I got to experience that first hand. Luckily nothing bad happened but the conditions where far from safe! It all started before we went in the water. The day before I scouted the different dive shops in town to get a good price but also to find a shop that I could trust. The dive shop that I visited first and finally signed up with gave me advice to always make sure you dive in a group with 1 dive master to 4 fundivers. The day of the dive I went over to that shop and they assigned me to a friend of them because I was the only one that signed up that day. They assured me he was more then capable and that I was about to get a private dive. What they didn’t know was that there friend was also going to pass me on to another guy. Getting at the boat that became clear to me and before I knew it there where 7 other divers standing on shore next to me. And I only counted one dive master and one captain. So to get it in perspective, the dive shop got money from me but didn’t have to do anything, the friend made some money without doing anything and the other guy made some more money by taking on just one more in the group. And one dive master means less money to divide. Already paid for the dive and afraid not getting it back I decided to get on the boat anyway. The last two months I have been diving quit frequently so I wasn’t worried about myself that much. I was more worried about the others in the group. Some of them didn’t dive for 10 years and getting ready that became all the clearer. When we suited up they had no idea what part went where and once in the water they where all over the place hitting the coral with there fins and using there arms to get forward. Because it was a drift dive and because I was a beginner diver I decided to stay very close to our ONE dive master. On the first dive one of the group got out of air but we continued the dive anyway with him using the spare regulator of the dive master. On the second dive another one of the group started drifting off from the rest so the dive master went after him. They drifted off so far that they got out of our sight so now it was us 7 inexperienced divers floating around underwater. Just before I signaled the group that we should surface we saw them again and ended the dive. All with all it wasn’t a fun experience and luckily nobody got hurt. Getting back to the dive shop where I originally signed up with I told them everything. They where shocked hearing my story and where kind enough to give me a free dive. This time with them!
After that stressful experience I stopped at Playa del Carmen to chill on the beach for a day. The next day I took off to Holbox, my final stop before Cancun. Located just in the Golf of Mexico, Holbox with it’s pristine white beach, calm waters and laid-back vibe is perfect to sit back and do nothing all day. Being the adventurer that I am, everyday I would go and hike through the forest and along the beach surrounding the village. I didn’t see much animals but I was glad to add the Horseshoe Crab to my list. This living fossil dates back 450 millions years and although not dangerous it looks pretty badass. After 3.5 months and after enjoying my last days in paradise to the fullest it was time to get back home.
Looking back at these two trip it was an amazing experience with lots of beautiful memories. Although I have been to every country in Central America I haven’t seen enough and I’m definitely planning on going back! Hopefully soon!
The rest of my time in Costa Rica I visited more amazing places like Cahuita national park, Puerto Viejo, Tortuguero national park, Tamarindo, Rincon de la Vieja national park, Caño Negro wildlife Refuge and Monteverde. In between the weeks that I was in Costa Rica I went to Panama for six days. I was already close to the border and I heard of a place called Bocas del Toro where you can get your diving certificate for a good price. After being by myself almost the whole time because I was so focused with my photography it was nice being in a small diving class and having people around for a change. I had a lot of fun diving and partying but after I got my certificate it was time to start heading north. After being back in Costa Rica I slowly started making my way to Nicaragua. Just on the other side of the border my first stop in Nicaragua was San Juan del Sur. Being a real party town and surfing hotspot there was not much to do besides that. On arrival in my hostel I quickly made new friends and did just that… Party, surf a little and hang out on the beach or in a hammock in our hostel. The next couple of weeks I stayed with some of the group and visited places like Ometepe island, Granada, Rio San Juan and Léon.
After staying longer then planned in both Costa Rica and Nicaragua I needed to start heading north quicker and make fewer stops. Next country on the list was Honduras. To save time and because Honduras was at the time the most dangerous county of Central America I made just two stops. The first being the Island of Utila and the second being Copán. On Utila I got my second diving certificate, my PADI advanced open water. Armed with my Gopro I spend hours in the water snorkeling and diving and saw lots of cool stuff. From there I went straight to Copán. The one reason why tourists visit Copán is because of the Mayan ruins located just outside town. I already saw the ruins on my first trip 6 years ago and because I was only planning on staying 1 or 2 days I decided not to go there. Instead I went to a bird park. Besides the birds in the cages there was much more to see in the wild like countless butterflies, other insects and more birds. The next day I arranged a shuttle to get me to the Capital of Guatemala.
"familiar faces and familiar places"
Crossing the border I felt right at home again like I did 6 years ago. In the early evening I arrived in Antigua. The town where everything started. I contacted my former Spanish teacher and host family and met up with them again. Seeing them and walking around town many good memories came back. Unfortunately there was no time to linger on to long. I had to keep moving. I made my way up further north to Tikal. One of the biggest and most impressive Mayan cities. Again, I visited this place back on my first trip. The thing I didn’t do then but that was still on my list was to spend a night at the park. Hearing and seeing the jungle wake up in the early morning and being amongst the ruins of a ancient and once powerful civilization had to be a special moment and it was!
As told before I made 2 trips to Central America. The first time when I was 19 to learn Spanish for 8 weeks in Antigia, Guatemala and the second time when I was 26 to backpack through almost whole Central America. The map below shows the path that I took and all the things that I did along that path. Take a minute to take a look!
Click on the map to zoom in and navigate
Click on the map to enlarge the image
