Bahamas Experience Part 1
After 2 month Costa Rica and 1 week Nicaragua now 2 days in the Bahamas … what a change. Well what can I say I stayed at the Atlantis resort. For me a bit artificial and ridiculous overpriced. When booking a hotel expect to pay another 20-40% on taxes and extra fees … they get very creative here! Beside this I tried to make the best out of those two days and …
… I got the chance to hug and kiss a dolphin very humbled experience. I always wondered why they have such soft skin now I know … Every 2 hours they get rid off their old dead skin. Wow amazing! (Sorry no pictures from this experience, didn’t feel that 160$US was a fair price to get a couple of pictures)
Surf Nicaragua
Beside the humbled experience in helping to build a high school in a remote coastal region in Nicaragua with Surf For Life and Waves of Hope, I had time in the early morning to do some surfing.
Volcano Boarding in Nicaragua
Near Leon, Nicaragua I got the chance to participate at a Volcano Boarding. After a one hour drive from Leon we hiked one hour up the volcano. Then it was time to go 500 meter downhill. Wow what a great fun experience 
Here some impressions from the daytrip:
Helping to build a school in Nicaragua
In April I got the chance to participate at an volunteer project from “Surf for Life” and “Waves of Hope” in Nicaragua. Thank you for your continuous support and donation for this amazing project. Now that I have been there I can tell for sure that your donation will have a great positive impact on the community there in Nicaragua.
It was such an humbled experience to see how people, who have only little resources and infrastructure, try to improve there lives by education and working hard. In the community where the high school is now build there is currently no economic system (no supermarket, no other services were people could spend there earned money) so all the money is currently going to the city which doesn’t help the community. Unemployment in Nicaragua is between 50 and 80%(!!!) depending on the age group.
The new high-school is also used as a vocational training center to educate the students to become bakers, mechanics, hairstylists or organic farmers. Giving them the opportunity to grow their own economic community system in the future.
If you have the chance support Waves of Hope and thus this community. Great small things are happening here!
Monteverde
After La Fortuna I went with a Jeep-Boat-Jeep to Monteverde. A city famous for it’s cloud forest. Beside that it Monteverde offered an incredible Zip-Line experience and a hands on Coffee plantation tour. Great two days where I met again great people. Here some impressions:
La Fortuna
After 5 weeks in amazing Montezuma, I continued my journey in Costa Rica. This time to La Fortuna a region with a volcano. The first impression of La Fortuna was that the best time here is already over, maybe because the volcano is currently not active … But I went on a great hike and the nature was amazing again. In the evening I went to a Hot Spring which was nice Here some impressions:
Montezuma Day Trips
After staying in Montezuma for a couple of weeks I also did some day trips to the surrounding areas like: Montezuma Waterfalls (great 30min hike with a nice swim in cold water), Tortuga Island (nice day trip with the boat, saw some dolphins, snorkeling was ok but visibility not great), ”Fishing” Boat Trip (where we saw Manta Rays, Pelicans, Turtles), Cabo Blanco National Park (great 2 hour hike to a remote beach with a lot of Pelicans and Monkeys on the way). Here some impressions:
Yoga is awesome
In Montezuma the Spanish and Surf School “La Escuela del Sol” was offering Yoga classes (with two amazing teachers Dagmar and Silvia from Montezuma Yoga) and I though to give it a try for two weeks. And wow I was positively surprised from that experience.
Yoga is so amazing to strengthen your whole body, getting more flexible, practice your breathing, relax, meditate and probably a bunch more of amazing things it does to your body and soul.
Lollipop Moments
Traveling gives you time for inspiration and one of my sources are TED Talks at TED.com.
Here one gem I found recently, an inspiring 6min TED talk by Drew Dudley to see leadership as “Lollipop moments”.
Think about your “lollipop moments” How many have you created, acknowledged or thanked for?
One of my biggest lollipop moment was more a period when I was in high-school: I had this amazing computer science teacher and when the decision was to be made what to study it was computer science. More than 12 years later I got the chance to meet this very same teacher again and thanked him for his big influence he had in my life.
If somebody in your life has given you such lollipop moments and you haven’t told them, let them know!
Thursdays in Montezuma
Thursday night in Montezuma, Costa Rica and it is Reggae Night. The whole town seems to be looking forward this night and it is packed with locals and tourists alike, ready for the night out. At 10pm, before the party starts in Chico’s Bar, there is a Poi Fire Show at the town intersection (there is only one!) with some great and stunning performances.
