Dance till you drop in Antigua
After the homestay it’s back to Antigua and our hotel from home, Casa Familia for 2 nights. Here, we say goodbye to old friends; Aussies, Penny & Lach are off to start a new chapter in Canada; Barbara will return to Santander in Spain; Swiss Roland will continue his Central American adventure without us. Ernie will also be abandoning us to return home.
But we also have reason to celebrate, as both Wendy and Barbara have birthdays, so there is a surprise birthday party to organise.
First things first, I need to post my hammock so it’s off to the post office. Yes, no problem to post it, she says, as long as it is <1m. Unfortunately, mine is 1.05m. Posting is out of the question. Oh no!
As I head back to the hotel, the heavens open, as if to confirm my misery at the thought of lugging my hammock all over Central America. At least I won’t want for a bed at night!
But I can’t be downhearted for long, as Martin has taken on the impossible task of teaching us how to sizzle at salsa so we can hit the nightclubs of Antigua. We gather in his garage which has a full width mirror pinned to the wall. The door is open so that passersby can participate in the fun. There are 5 of us girls and Roland, ready and eager. Martin smiles sweetly and swivels his hips as he executes a perfect pivot on one foot to demonstrate how easy it is. ‘Uno, dos, tres, quattro’ he chimes, slinking sexily forward, smiling indulgently at our reflections in the mirror. We stumble after him, shuffling madly and falling into each other as we go, unsure whether to glare our feet into action or look in the mirror, inevitably mixing our left & rights. Two hours later we’re ready for our night on the town!
A birthday piñata has been acquired in honour of Barbara & Wendy’s birthday. A what? Well, for anyone not in the know (which included me) a piñata is a papier mache dressed cartoon character which is filled with presents(usually sweets). They come in various sizes but ours is about a metre tall, not something you can hide in your handbag. Pinatas are normally suspended from the ceiling and the guest of honour has to take a symbolic hammer and hit the piñata until the it splits and the sweets fall out for the other guests to collect. Our mission, should we choose to accept it, is it to get the piñata to the birthday venue and dress the table before the other guests and birthday girls get there. Caroline, Katja & I take our job seriously & decide the only way to do this is by tuk tuk. Unfortunately, the cobbled and potholed streets of Antigua were not designed with tuk tuks in mind, and tuk tuks were not designed to take 3 people and a huge piñata. By the time we reach the Rainbow Cafe I swear every pothole and cobble is etched by a bruise on my arse. We get the table set with party hats and glitter just in time for the others arriving. Each of the birthday girls has a special birthday tiara. Barbara and Wendy are overwhelmed and close to tears. Wendy makes her speech of appreciation “It’s a thousand times more than I expected from any of you” she gushes. Hmmm..... After dinner we set off in search of a salsa bar to show off our new expertise. Well, actually we set off to the Irish bar but that is too packed so we move to the salsa bar next door. It all looks very professional but we refuse to be fazed by it. Caroline and Roland decide to kick off on the main dance floor. Two minutes later they are back looking completely dejected... Laughed off the dance floor by the locals. We move on to another club which also appears to packed and find a space at the back. At least we recognise the music.. and the locals aren’t laughing at us. It’s time to dance the night away....
Sunday is our last day with Ernie. Barbara, Katja, Manu, Penny & Lach are also leaving us. After the hilarity of the night before, it’s a fairly subdued morning. Caroline & I miss breakfast at Fernandos and decide to go looking for Bistrot Cinqo, as recommended in the bible, Lonely PLanet. Wandering around the town on a Sunday is not an unpleasant experience. All the locals are out in their finery, heading for church. It’s an interesting city tour, but 2 hours later we are starving and no closer to locating our target eatery. We ask a policeman who tells us ‘Two blocks on the left”. Two blocks on the left later, we find another policeman ‘Never heard of it but the street you want is two blocks further back”. Two blocks further back, we find ourselves in front of the hospital where a policewoman is attending a man who has obviously just come off his motorbike and hurt his arm. There is the wail of a siren and an ambulance screeches to a halt, followed by a couple of policemen on motorbikes. I’m almost certain it would have been quicker and easier for him to walk across the road to the hospital but who knows... We walk on and find another policewoman. “Ah yes” she says ,”Two blocks on the right” BY now, we are dying of starvation and dehydration. But this time, we find it. In fact we have been circling around it for the past 2 hours. A quick look at the menu, tells us this place should not be in LP’s Guide to Central America on a Shoestring, but in their Blow the Budget’ alternative, but we are too hungry to start looking for something else. Fortunately the Eggs Florentine is to die for... we nearly did.
That evening we are to meet our new guide, David, and our new travel companions, Lucy, Louise, Amanda, Nathalie, Pum and Rowan. David is a sharp contrast to the extrovert and wacky Ernie. Quiet and reserved, he starts off by telling us how dangerous the trip will be, and that we should expect to be robbed at every opportunity. He explains that his only role is to get us from A to B and provide a hotel. We should not expect anything more. It’s such a change from Ernie, who could not do enough to make our holiday fun, comfortable and entertaining. After terrifying several of the girls David offers to take us to a typical restaurant, frequented by locals. Restaurant Typico is not particularly welcoming. A tv on the wall is blaring out mindless music and the waiter seems a little reluctant to take our orders. There is little on the menu that is tempting but Caroline decides to try local ‘chipperones’, supposedly a sort of pork scratchings and I order the liver and onions. By the time everyone else has had their meal, I’m kind of glad mine hasn’t turned up. The chipperones turned out to be just fat, and several of the others have left in disgust to go to Mac Donalds for something they can eat. David, is unhelpful and unapologetic for not explaining in advance what to expect. We head back to Rainbow Cafe where at least I know I can get something good to eat and as soon as we are there he disappears. It’s not a good start for the group.
But we also have reason to celebrate, as both Wendy and Barbara have birthdays, so there is a surprise birthday party to organise.
First things first, I need to post my hammock so it’s off to the post office. Yes, no problem to post it, she says, as long as it is <1m. Unfortunately, mine is 1.05m. Posting is out of the question. Oh no!
As I head back to the hotel, the heavens open, as if to confirm my misery at the thought of lugging my hammock all over Central America. At least I won’t want for a bed at night!
But I can’t be downhearted for long, as Martin has taken on the impossible task of teaching us how to sizzle at salsa so we can hit the nightclubs of Antigua. We gather in his garage which has a full width mirror pinned to the wall. The door is open so that passersby can participate in the fun. There are 5 of us girls and Roland, ready and eager. Martin smiles sweetly and swivels his hips as he executes a perfect pivot on one foot to demonstrate how easy it is. ‘Uno, dos, tres, quattro’ he chimes, slinking sexily forward, smiling indulgently at our reflections in the mirror. We stumble after him, shuffling madly and falling into each other as we go, unsure whether to glare our feet into action or look in the mirror, inevitably mixing our left & rights. Two hours later we’re ready for our night on the town!
A birthday piñata has been acquired in honour of Barbara & Wendy’s birthday. A what? Well, for anyone not in the know (which included me) a piñata is a papier mache dressed cartoon character which is filled with presents(usually sweets). They come in various sizes but ours is about a metre tall, not something you can hide in your handbag. Pinatas are normally suspended from the ceiling and the guest of honour has to take a symbolic hammer and hit the piñata until the it splits and the sweets fall out for the other guests to collect. Our mission, should we choose to accept it, is it to get the piñata to the birthday venue and dress the table before the other guests and birthday girls get there. Caroline, Katja & I take our job seriously & decide the only way to do this is by tuk tuk. Unfortunately, the cobbled and potholed streets of Antigua were not designed with tuk tuks in mind, and tuk tuks were not designed to take 3 people and a huge piñata. By the time we reach the Rainbow Cafe I swear every pothole and cobble is etched by a bruise on my arse. We get the table set with party hats and glitter just in time for the others arriving. Each of the birthday girls has a special birthday tiara. Barbara and Wendy are overwhelmed and close to tears. Wendy makes her speech of appreciation “It’s a thousand times more than I expected from any of you” she gushes. Hmmm..... After dinner we set off in search of a salsa bar to show off our new expertise. Well, actually we set off to the Irish bar but that is too packed so we move to the salsa bar next door. It all looks very professional but we refuse to be fazed by it. Caroline and Roland decide to kick off on the main dance floor. Two minutes later they are back looking completely dejected... Laughed off the dance floor by the locals. We move on to another club which also appears to packed and find a space at the back. At least we recognise the music.. and the locals aren’t laughing at us. It’s time to dance the night away....
Sunday is our last day with Ernie. Barbara, Katja, Manu, Penny & Lach are also leaving us. After the hilarity of the night before, it’s a fairly subdued morning. Caroline & I miss breakfast at Fernandos and decide to go looking for Bistrot Cinqo, as recommended in the bible, Lonely PLanet. Wandering around the town on a Sunday is not an unpleasant experience. All the locals are out in their finery, heading for church. It’s an interesting city tour, but 2 hours later we are starving and no closer to locating our target eatery. We ask a policeman who tells us ‘Two blocks on the left”. Two blocks on the left later, we find another policeman ‘Never heard of it but the street you want is two blocks further back”. Two blocks further back, we find ourselves in front of the hospital where a policewoman is attending a man who has obviously just come off his motorbike and hurt his arm. There is the wail of a siren and an ambulance screeches to a halt, followed by a couple of policemen on motorbikes. I’m almost certain it would have been quicker and easier for him to walk across the road to the hospital but who knows... We walk on and find another policewoman. “Ah yes” she says ,”Two blocks on the right” BY now, we are dying of starvation and dehydration. But this time, we find it. In fact we have been circling around it for the past 2 hours. A quick look at the menu, tells us this place should not be in LP’s Guide to Central America on a Shoestring, but in their Blow the Budget’ alternative, but we are too hungry to start looking for something else. Fortunately the Eggs Florentine is to die for... we nearly did.
That evening we are to meet our new guide, David, and our new travel companions, Lucy, Louise, Amanda, Nathalie, Pum and Rowan. David is a sharp contrast to the extrovert and wacky Ernie. Quiet and reserved, he starts off by telling us how dangerous the trip will be, and that we should expect to be robbed at every opportunity. He explains that his only role is to get us from A to B and provide a hotel. We should not expect anything more. It’s such a change from Ernie, who could not do enough to make our holiday fun, comfortable and entertaining. After terrifying several of the girls David offers to take us to a typical restaurant, frequented by locals. Restaurant Typico is not particularly welcoming. A tv on the wall is blaring out mindless music and the waiter seems a little reluctant to take our orders. There is little on the menu that is tempting but Caroline decides to try local ‘chipperones’, supposedly a sort of pork scratchings and I order the liver and onions. By the time everyone else has had their meal, I’m kind of glad mine hasn’t turned up. The chipperones turned out to be just fat, and several of the others have left in disgust to go to Mac Donalds for something they can eat. David, is unhelpful and unapologetic for not explaining in advance what to expect. We head back to Rainbow Cafe where at least I know I can get something good to eat and as soon as we are there he disappears. It’s not a good start for the group.
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