THE LAST POST - A LOOK BACK

Throughout the trip we kept track of every penny spent.  Bank fees, food, toll charges, a square of toilet paper - you name it, we know how much it cost us.  And now I need to make use of those numbers.  So here for you, in no particular order, is a little bit of this and a little bit of that.

TOTAL COST IN FUEL 
$2750.80 for the land rover
$464.74 for the stupid uhaul (and thats from Washington, (at the Canada border) to Edmonton
GRAND TOTAL IN FUEL SPENT $3215.54

OVERALL MPG
20.32 for the land rover

OIL CHANGES
5

FLAT TIRES
1

EVERY CENT SPENT ON THE LAND ROVER THROUGHOUT THE YEAR
$3740.80 - this number hurts

WHAT WENT WRONG WITH THE LAND ROVER
broken rear differential x 2, throttle cable snapped x 2, clutch failed, 10 bushing failings, windshield wiper blew off, 1 flat tire, wheel alignment was off and ruined 4 tires, fuel shut off failed (can't turn the truck off), replaced 2 glow plugs, broken headlight, steering box leaked out all of its oil, muffler blown, emergency brake caught on fire, speedometer failed, roof rack broke in 3 places, electrical shorts causing headlights not to work, replaced 2 shocks, blew all fuses in a rainstorm, lots of mold and lots of ants

NUMBER OF TIMES WE SAID THE WORD 'DIFF'
one million

a common occurrence 

MOST EXPENSIVE DIESEL
Belize - it worked out to be about $1.39L or $5.25G

CHEAPEST DIESEL
Mexico - when we first entered Mexico it was about $0.64L or $2.42G (December 2010)
By the time we left it had gone up a bit to about $0.82L or $3.10G (September 2011)
This was by far the cheapest fuel of anywhere we had been.

TOTAL AMOUNT OF KILOMETERS/MILES DRIVEN
26007 km or 16160 miles

TOTAL AMOUNT SPENT ON TOLL ROADS
$286.27 (just Mexico)

TOTAL AMOUNT SPENT ON BORDERS
$1050.50 - this includes $200 USD to cross Guatemala in one day, a years worth of Mexican auto insurance, border helpers etc.  This is for 17 border crossings (entry and exit).  The most expensive border was Mexico, our first entry cost us $329.80.  Its high because of the insurance, $239 for one year.

NUMBER OF PHOTOS KEPT
7567 - I'm sure we deleted at least that many too

NUMBER OF DAYS ON THE ROAD
364

NUMBER OF FIGHTS
Strangely enough, we didn't fight very much - and we were together 24/7.  And we always had things to talk about.  We did have to give each other space at times,  Justin would go work on the land rover and I would read a book.

BRIBES ASKED
0
In a way, we feel cheated out of an experience.  We were prepared for whatever they threw at us but it just didn't happen.  What am I complaining about!

BRIBES GIVEN
1
To speed along the process Justin put a $5 in each of our passports so we could get ahead of a long line of people exiting Nicaragua.  It worked and likely saved us hours of waiting.

TIMES SICK WITH COLDS
I had 5 and Justin had 4 in about 6 months time.  I think it was due mainly to bad air conditioning.

TIMES SICK WITH A  "______REVENGE" SORT OF SICKNESS
Not many times at all.  Besides all the colds we had at the beginning of the trip we were hardly sick.    We ate everything they tell you not to eat.  We had unpeeled vegetables, we ate from street vendors and had ice cubes without the holes. We did take Dukoral before we left and we also had it brought down to us twice, so that could have something to do with it.

NUMBER OF BANDAIDS USED
We don't have an exact amount, but it had to of been over 50.  We were always getting banged up.  We had a well stocked first aid kit that was always getting used.

WHO HAD THE MOST MOSQUITO BITES
Nadine
We were bitten relentlessly.  My legs are full of scars.  I think we both spent the year scratching!  I believe the amount of bites we were getting was the only reason we kept taking our malaria medication. This is where some of the excessive bandaid use comes in as Justin was very afraid of the potential of a bot fly laying eggs in an open wound, so he kept them covered!

BEST FOOD OF THE TRIP
Turkey filled Christmas tamales we had in the Baja.  We had tamales throughout the trip but nothing compared to these.  Honorable mention goes to the lady selling fish tacos by the ocean, in Sayulita.

the tamales were made by Albertos (above) wife and her family

WORST FOOD OF THE TRIP
So hard to pick.  Mine was a piece of bread that had about an inch of sardines on it and olives.  Justins was grilled cactus and mystery meat.

now doesn't that just get the juices flowing?

ROBBERIES, PICKPOCKETS AND THAT SORT OF THING
1- 1/4
The truck was broken into, in Costa Rica.  In California, someone tried to steal the 2 jerry cans off of the roof of the truck. When they realized they were empty, they left them.

NUMBER OF DIFFERENT PLACES WE STAYED
110
We had 3 long term stays of a month or more, other than that it was usually about 1-3 days in each spot. We've included in this number sleeping at gas stations and on ferries.

QUESTION MOST ASKED OF US
You drove through Mexico?

It is always asked with wide eyes and in a tone of shock.  And it isn't just people from Canada or the States asking us, its also everyone from all of the other countries we've been to too.  On another note, something we noticed, is that each country thinks that the neighbouring country to it, is too dangerous to travel to. In Guatemala the people would tell us don't go to El Salvador - its too dangerous and the people from El Salvador would tell us the same thing about Guatemala.

SCARIEST MOMENTS
For myself, it was being clobbered by a wave and it flipping and flopping me all the way to shore.  I couldn't get myself out of it and I remained a little afraid of the ocean for the rest of the trip.
For Justin, it was when the diff broke.

AMOUNT SPENT ON LAUNDRY
$174.83
Having your laundry done is actually really cheap, about $12 for a months worth (thats what we would average).  We actually didn't do laundry very often.  We would wear our clothes until we couldn't wear them anymore.  Sometimes they would get washed in the sink and sometimes we would end up buying whatever we needed out of necessity (not often).  We were always happy when we had freshly laundered clothing. This number is high because of the coin machines we used in the States.

AMOUNT SPENT ON ACCOMMODATIONS
$15563.18
This number is a killer.  When we planned this trip, we thought we would be sleeping in the truck for the most part.  When we decided to bring Anna, we knew we would be in hotels.  We tried to keep it as cheap as we could but whenever you add in air-conditioning the price goes up.  We stayed in a range of places, from your cheap $20 a night room to about $80 a night for something really fancy.

this was one of my favorite hotels, definitely out of budget at $80.83 a day

AMOUNT SPENT ON OTHER TYPES OF TRANSPORTATION
$1911.04
This number includes the ferry to the mainland from Baja ($315.83 total), 2 other ferries, lots of cab rides, buses, tuk tuks, tips for people who led us places when we were lost, boats and parking because I didn't have a better category to put it in.  It also includes $1147.72 that we paid to U-haul.

WE COULD NOT OF DONE THE TRIP WITHOUT
Gatorade and Powerade
We had about 3 months of insane temperatures.  The heat just really did us in, we never thought in a million years that we would of been so affected by it.  Water just did not do it.  Then at one point we started to drink about 5 Gatorades a day - each!  And that worked, our heads cleared and we just generally felt better. We drank so many that we would have to force them down.  I can't imagine how much we spent on these - regardless it was worth it.

we also lived on ice cream

air conditioning!

WHAT WE TALKED ABOUT THE MOST
Absolutely, without a doubt, at some point everyday we would talk about BUGS.  Usually ants.

NUMBER OF POUNDS THAT JUSTIN LOST
about 50

FAVORITE PLACES
We both love the Pacific coast of Mexico the best.  As for things to see we both loved swimming in the underground cenotes in the Yucatan.  Our favorite thing to do was always to just wander up and down the streets and check places out or to sit in the square and people watch.

THE BEST KITTY CAT EVER
That would be our 18 year old Annabell.  It was a tough decision to bring her, she has some medical issues and we weren't sure how she would handle it.   And really, who brings their cats places?  We knew that this was not a normal thing to do!  But hey, she thrived.  The heat was good for her old achy bones and she was able to chase cockroaches.  She didn't exactly make any friends but she did put a smile on a lot of peoples faces.  She was good for us too.  We're both really happy we brought her.

MOST DIFFICULT ITEM TO FIND IN CENTRAL AMERICA
Cat litter.  Easy enough to find in Mexico but it took until Costa Rica to find it again and that was at a vet. They look at you crazy when you are try to explain what you want, they tell you that a cat just goes outside. Oh, and they always want to know if she has had babies.

Anna and Justin sharing a meal

and the big one......

THE TOTAL AMOUNT SPENT 
$48140.51
That's it, that's all, that's everything!  Way, way higher then we ever thought it would be.  About $10000 over.  When you add up all the mini disasters we've had, it about works out.  If it wasn't for those though, what would we of written about?

This trip was worth every last penny.

To us, THIS WAS MONEY WELL SPENT!!!!!

This past year has been incredible -  its just too difficult to sum it up.  Good times or bad - it felt like this year was lived out fully.

Thanks to everyone who supported us, commented on the blog and emailed.  It really meant a lot to us!

Until next time...

WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE

When we booked our month long stay in Playa Grande, we had no idea what we were getting.  All we knew was that it had a kitchen, hot water, wifi, was cheap and most importantly close to the beach.  As we followed the signs into Playa Grande we wondered where the hell we were going, suddenly the jungle was closing in, the road was turning into rutted mud and was only as wide as the truck.  We thought we were staying in a town, boy were we wrong - we're in a gated ex-pat community, nestled into the jungle.

We ended up getting a whole lot more than we thought we would.  It had everything we mentioned above and one thing that we didn't know about - a MICROWAVE!  This meant popcorn.  Its these little unexpected things that makes us happy.  Annas even happy here, we haven't seen her relax this quick before.  We think its the couch.

This place has two rooms for rent and is attached to the owners home.  A three minute walk away is the beach and behind us is the jungle.  There are a couple of hotels and restaurants down the street, a very expensive corner store, some homes and thats about it.  This is not what we're used to.  Wheres the garbage, the stray dogs, music playing around the clock and just plain hustle and bustle.  It is so quiet.  Our first day we wondered if we would last a month.

our path to the beach

The first day here we heard the familiar roar of the howler monkeys and later saw them playing around in the trees.  (of course, we didn't have our camera)  Then that night, we experienced one of the most insane storms we had ever been in.  It all started with a clap of thunder and then the skies opened up and produced golf ball sized rain drops.  A massive tree fell on the neighbours house and then all we heard around us was trees falling in the jungle.  Suddenly, we both felt the hairs on our arms stand on end and then BOOM. Lightning struck somewhere close and turned night into day.  It made our hearts stop and took our breath away.  This particular storm turned into tropical cyclone Dora, when it got farther up the coast.  We can't imagine what it must be like to be in an actual cyclone.  As far as a tropical storm is concerned, this was nothing.  We don't ever want to find out what something would be.

after another rain storm - thats about 4" deep

We have seen and have been forced to interact with more creatures and insects than ever before.  Collisions with frogs happens daily, yesterday we had to get one out of our room after he hopped through my legs.  We had to give a wide berth to a six foot long big black snake.  We have run away from a cloud of strange iridescent mosquitoes.  We spent one day fighting off the mud wasps from nesting in our sliding patio door and we have to work around the spider community in our bathroom.  As well, we have been eye to eye with raccoons outside our door as they come investigate the recycling bin at night - they do not scare away.  In the morning, you can see the carnage of these cute halloween crabs that the raccoons have been feeding on. Not all of the bugs here scare us though.  When the power is out and the jungle is twinkling with fire flies  - it is the most amazing sight.

halloween crabs - they are so fun to watch

One morning we were awoken to a large boom.  Three seconds later, the bed started shaking - it felt like the room was moving a foot back and forth.  It was earthquake number four, for us.  This one only registered as a 4.9 but it felt more aggressive then the 5.5 one we had in Liberia.  I know these are small scale earthquakes but for two people from the prairies, they sure don't feel like it.

this picture is for our seashell loving, great niece, Kayla

taking the boat across the estuary 

We have travelled to Costa Rica twice before, both times in the dry season.  It was beautiful but it was brown.  To see this country in the rainy season is an entirely different experience.  It doesn't rain all day, everyday just here and there.  Its actually really refreshing and usually welcomed.  After the rain it does get really humid though and our clothes are always wet - whether it be from the rain or from sweating.  So if your ever planning a vacation to Costa Rica don't write off the rainy season - it is so incredibly beautiful this time of year.

So at the beginning of this post we wrote about wondering if we would make it a month.  We have been here over three weeks now and we are loving it.  Beach and surfing everyday and the odd itunes movie at night, fish from the fish guy and baked goods from the bakery that come right to our door - we just can't complain. And its not quiet here, living in the jungle is anything but.  We may not be getting much culture and our spanish is suffering but its really nice and relaxed here.  Good thing - we have four very important people on their way to see us and we have a feeling that they are going to be keeping us very busy.

we sit on this log every morning with a coffee and every night with a beer