libre in Cuba

the last stop of my trip was Cuba. I arrived in Havana and spent some days exploring the beautiful old city while trying to get a grip for this special country, that's so different from the rest and which I found very difficult to understand.

going on to Trinidad for some more colonial highlights and green mountains I was still struggling with the ideology and the reality, but found the people everywhere to be very hospitable and happy enough.

for some more beach days and a bit of party-time I decided to go to Varadero, stayed in the retro Internacional Hotel and got my final tan on the dream-white beach with turquoise water, enjoying life and thanking heaven for all the incredible opportunities and this trip in particular, before I eventually flew back to Europe.

living la vida local

after 2 days in Cahuita on the Carribbean coast it felt like I've lived here for years.
people are friendly and interested to get to know you, so each night you end up with new friends as you sip your sun-downer in the evening breeze.


every day Jenny and I ride our bicycles along the coastal road back and forth to the town centre, smiling and waving to the locals, hang out on the porch in our hammocks and enjoy the company of our various neighbours, ranging from the super-chilled sloth on the mango tree to a little rodent and birds stealing sweet fruits from the banana bunch.

today

- I have been travelling for exactly 3 months.
- I saw the Pacific Ocean for the last time, and had to watch helplessly and shocked from the beach as someone drowned in the waves.
- I saw huge life alligators for the first time.

what a day...

orchid superstars

in Monteverde I visited the local orchid garden and was impressed by the great variety of orchids collected from the cloudforest area nearby.

generally, the orchids here were a lot smaller than the ones I had seen before but their scents were incredible....

imagine beautiful tiny flowers smelling of vanilla, mint, pepper, lemon and much more!

who wants to go to the seaside

during semana santa I got to spend a few days on the beach!

the lago nicaragua is a huge lake with a volcanic island in the middle, where life is quiet and seems to be uneventful, making it a perfect get-away.

the scenery is very beautiful and I enjoyed a couple of relaxed days in great company before I went to the pacific ocean for more intakes of sunshine, sand, surf and salty water....

Volcano Close-Up

Finally I got a volcano. A real one. And really close.

Walking over black lava rubble up the volcano to get close to the glowing red, super-hot lava was pretty exciting! Especially because we kept hearing some explosions behind the mountains of black lava stone.



And then we saw the lava stream, flowing fast downhill, making the air whir with heat.



The closer we got the more we could feel the heat and with the wind coming from the opposite direction we also caught a fair amount of sulfur vapor before we left the hot ground and made our way back to safer areas...



Thanks to Kaddi, Victor and Leah for taking me!

NYC love

What an amazing city! New York is everything I expected and even more...

absolutely fabulous weather, blue sky and sunshine over Manhattan - what more do you want for your first trip to the big apple coinciding with a special birthday?

I was thrilled to see my favorite person again after more than two months and excited to meet up with very good friends who travelled all the way from Germany to celebrate with me!

there is sooo much to do and see in NY, so the days were packed with activities: a stroll in sunny Central Park, watching the St. Patrick's Day Parade on 5th Avenue, a boat trip to Staten Island, a visit to the Met, a walk over Williamsburg Bridge, a very special concert in Carnegie Hall, and lots of other fun things...

of course, time was too short... so I definitely have to come back to spend more hours inhaling the energy and exploring all the different parts of the most interesting city!



more pics to come soon