Ok, here we go again...

One thing about travel, especially world travel is it becomes a drive, a huge need. After my first real international trip (Costa Rica in 2001), I felt like my passport was frustrated, and so was I! We went to Ireland and France a few years later: tremendous times! Since then, our experiences have been pretty huge. Here comes another big adventure... but there are never enough! So here we go to Central America. Again, we visited Costa Rica in 2001, right after the 9/11 attacks. It was the best thing we could have done for ourselves at the time. The combination of a different culture and totally different ecosystems really distracted us from the extremely despairing mood in the U.S. at the time. Costa Rica abounded in wild places, and prided itself on being a peaceful, egalitarian culture... one of the hopeful signs in the developing world. I have not had time to research it in depth, but it appears, from a superficial look, that many American and European expats have settled there, and have set up gated communities, malls, golf courses, etc. Sighhh. Some of our beloved places may have changed a lot. Still... there are others. We plan to visit some of the more remote and undeveloped parts of the country, especially the Oso Peninsula/Corcovada National Park area. People have worked hard to preserve this area, and we will send reports from there. One thing is we will be there in rainy season, which will make it difficult to do serious treks into the jungle there and elsewhere. But who knows what we will do??? We will also visit Nicaragua. I have never been to this country, but Kate spent time there during the 1980s. We plan to visit the village where she lived and helped build a school. We also plan to see some other fine places. From everything I have seem, Nicaragua will be beautiful, and welcoming. Daniel Ortega is, again, the president. Intriguing, but we have heard from others that there is corruption in his party. Sighhh. Still... it is intriguing that cooperatives abound in Nicaragua... they do in Costa Rica as well. We also hope to make it to northern Panama. We know relatively little about Panama, but judging from some research, it is unbelievably beautiful. Also, it sounds like indigenous communities are involved in preserving wild ecosystems. I do hope we can discover what is happening here. There will also be adventures in Pennsylvania afterwards... details to follow. I used to know quite a bit about Central American history... some folks reading this will know more than I do. I will share thoughts, and hope others will as well. I have been glancing at some summaries; I am sure more ideas will occur to me when I am there. Oh yes, if anyone is wondering... these are considered the reasonably safe countries in Central America. Honduras and Guatamala appear to be experiencing drug violence and other disturbances. And there is our beloved Mexico, which is experiencing a major trajedy (the drug cartel wars)... ... so we expect to be safe. We do know how to watch for danger, and will be avoiding large cities. We will visit a few medium sized ones, but know (as Oaklanders!) how to watch out. So here we goo... expect more next weekend. Our first stop will actually be to see Kate's brother and his wife in Texas for a few days; we will fly south from there. So expect more next weekend, if not before. Adios para ahora!