Category Archives: Mexico

Budget: Money Talk – Colombia 2009

Below is how money was spent for my 10 months trip across Latin America (Aug 2009 to June 2010). Colombia was the first country, then I went up to Mexico and visited Cuba. I didn’t really do a estimation of how much I should spend. I just went with the flow. Now, I’m much better in creating a budget and sticking to it. I stayed in Colombia for 4 months and took Spanish classes for 3 months at two different institutions. I also took Spanish classes at Nicaragua and Guatemala. Some countries were cheaper than others. By far, Costa Rica, Belize, Mexico and Cuba were the most expensive. Those were the countries where I had to be very strict on how I spent money. Whereas, in countries such as Honduras and Nicaragua, I could afford to pay more for better hostels, take more comfortable buses and eat at nicer places. Panama and Colombia are in the middle tier, sometimes I enjoyed ‘luxury’, other times I was careful on what I spent money on. Below, you will find a breakdown on how money was spent in general and by country/city. Oh, a good amount went towards ATM and Credit Card transaction fees.

Country	Total USD	Per Day (USD)	Duration
Colombia	$5,914.78	$53	16 Weeks
Panama	$1,148	$32.8	5 Weeks
Costa Rica	$294	$49	6 days
Nicaragua	$1,679.29	$50	5 Weeks
Honduras	$1,110.69	$26.4	6 Weeks
El Salvador	$255.48	$36.5	1 Week
Guatemala	$951.13	$45	3 Weeks
Belize	$277	$40	1 Week
Mexico	$902.54	$44	3 Weeks
Cuba	$910	$65	2 Weeks
Sub Total	$13,442.91
Ticket	$1,490.50
Shots & other travel gears	$1,138.06		Included Backpack, medications, travel insurance e.t.c
Total	$16,071.47
			Ticket was Multi-city:First leg:* Atlanta – Miami – Medellin (Colombia). Second Leg: Cartagena (Colombia) – Panama City. Third Leg: Mexico City – Havana (Cuba) – Panama City – Guatemala City. Fourth Leg: Mexico City – Houston (Texas, USA)

Colombia 2009: Aug 13 to Dec 12, 2009

Colombia	USD	Duration
Medellin	$4,862.78	3 Months
Bogota	$200	5 Days
Cali & Buenaventura	$540	2 Weeks
Cartagena	$312	1 Week
Total	$5,914.78	4 Months

Medellin: Breakdown	USD	Duration
Spanish classes	$1,572	7 Weeks
Home stay (2 meals per day, Laundry & Internet)	$1,540	8 Weeks
Belly Dancing	$103
Student Visa	$150
Others (Food, Entertainment, Weekend trips, Tours, In-City transportation)	$1,497.78
Total	$4,862.78

Panama (Panama City, Bocas, David, Playa Las Lajas & San Blas)	USD 1148
Other (Hostel, food, drinks, transportation, e.t.c)	$1,076
ATM fee	$73

Costa Rica (Puerto Viejo & San Jose)	USD 294
Other (Hostel, food, drinks, transportation, e.t.c)	$280
ATM fee	$14

Nicaragua (Managua, Leon, San Juan del Sur, Playa Popoyo, Isla Ometepe, Corn Islands & Granada)	USD 1679.29
ATM fee	$86.21
Domestic Flight	$171.33
Spanish class & Homestay	$260
Fedex Shipment to the USA	$221.83
Other (Hostel, food, drinks, transportation, e.t.c)	$939.92

Honduras (La Ceiba, San Pedro Sula, Copan, Sambo Creek, Tela)	USD 1110.69
ATM fee	$56.80
Other (Hostel, weekend trip, food, drinks, transportation, e.t.c)	$673.89
Room & Board	$380

El Salvador (San Salvador, Playa El Tunco & Mozote)	USD 225.48
ATM fee	$5.48
Other (Hostel, food, drinks, transportation, e.t.c)	$250

Guatemala (Antigua, Lago Atitlan & Xela)	USD 951.13
ATM fee	$20.99
Other (Hostel, food, drinks, transportation, e.t.c)	$815.14
Spanish class	$115

Belize (San Iganacio, Hopkins & Caye Caulker)	USD 277
ATM fee	$5
Other (Hostel, food, drinks, transportation, e.t.c)	$272

Mexico (Mexico City, Tulum, Merida, Oaxaca, Palenque & San Cristobal de las Casas)	USD 902.54
ATM fee	$10
Tour – (Chichen Itza)	$35
Other (Hostel, food, drinks, transportation, e.t.c)	$857.54

Cuba (Havana, Santa Clara & Trinidad)	USD 910
ATM fee	$10
Other (Hostel, food, drinks, transportation, e.t.c)	$900

Posted on August 1, 2010 | Aside

After 10 months, 10 countries and 52 cities

Jun 28

Posted by The Adventures of a Nigerian-American

It’s a week today since I got back to the United States. I left La Ceiba for Copan 2 weeks ago and then went to Guatemala for a night to get the bus to Mexico. The journey to Mexico was stressful, it took longer than normal because of floods & road closure as a result of the bad weather. But after a full day on the road, I got to Mexico City a day before my flight to the United States. I was happy to be back in Mexico City. I spent the day walking around the downtown area and did some last minute shopping.

FIFA has a fan centre in downtown Mexico City. The centre is open stage with a Big screen to watch the match and live bands play also -its free and safe…….Now that am back to the states, I’m busy preparing for my move to Ithaca, New York -I’ll be driving there with a friend so technically my trip is not over!!!!

So my favorite countries are (1 being the best and 10 being the least)
1. Colombia                          6. Guatemala
2. Honduras                         7. Mexico
3. Belize                                8. Cuba
4. Nicaragua                        9. Costa Rica

5. Panama 10. El Salvador

Favorite cities

My top 10 favorite cities/towns
1. Cali, Colombia                              6. Mexico City, Mexico
2. La Ceiba, Honduras                    7. Leon, Nicaragua
3. Caye Caulker, Belize                   8. Quetzaltenango (Xela), Guatemala
4. Panama City, Panama                9. Havana, Cuba
5. Medellin, Colombia             10. Bocas del Toro, Panama

Least 5 favorite cities/town
1. San Salvador, El Salvador
2. Granada, Nicaragua
3. Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica
4. Playa el Tunco, El Salvador
5. Trinidad, Cuba

I’m extremely glad I was able to do this trip – it did change some of my views on certain cultures and issues and it definitely widen my horizon. I met a lot of great people, did a lot of wonderful things, visited some of the world finest Mayan Archeology sites, tried new food (I now love Bagels and Ravioli), got sick twice, took belly dancing classes, acquire a taste for some of the world’s best Ron (in my opinion -Flor de Cana & Havana Rum) and hitchhiked .

Some of the things I would do differently next time are to pack more lightly and bank with Citibank. Citibank has branches in every country in Central America and Colombia -if I banked with them I would have saved lots of money from ATM charges when I took out money from the ATM.

Now am just glad to be back, it was a great feeling going to my former job and seeing my co-workers and students. Now am getting ready for Atlanta, Georgia – my niece is going to be 1, it will be July 4 next weekend and I’ll be seeing my mum and sister & brother in law.

I have no regrets and I’ll do this all over again. Many thanks to everybody that read my blogs, all the wonderful people I met. I hope you stay true to your words when you said ‘my house is your house’ because am coming to visit your town/country one day.

Yeah, I have more trips in the planning stage. I intend to visit my country -Nigeria and if possible Germany, Togo & Ghana this December and for next summer I’m thinking South America – Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Argentina and Brazil. So yes, more blogs will be on the way……..

Posted in Honduras, Mexico, U.S.A

Mexxxico!!!!!!!

Apr 9

Posted by The Adventures of a Nigerian-American

I had my picture taken by a photographer. I met this photographer guy from the States while I was strolling the streets of Oaxaca. He wanted to take pictures of me and use it for some exhibition. I agreed. He promised to send the photos to me but I still haven’t received it. After 4 days in Oaxaca, I left to Mexico City aka ‘El D.F’ -the capital of Mexico.

El D.F was great, I totally loved it – big cities simply make me happy. Anyways I got there on a Friday & went directly to Daniela’s house – she is the girl from Couchsurfing & I stayed with her for 4 days. She is amazing and her family is great too – they made me feel at home. That Friday was her birthday so I joined the party. The next day was her friends birthday at Xochomilco (colorful boats carnival), we had a blast. I went to yet another ruins – the sun & moon pyramids in Teotihuacan which is about 45 minutes away from Mexico City, I learned how to use the metro which is easy & very cheap. I just loved walking in the Downtown area which has everything.

My first stop in Mexico was Tulum – the ruins are smaller but surrounded by the beach, which makes it a spectacular place to visit. I stayed for just 1 day. Next to Merida – a beautiful city, there I took a tour to Chichen Itza, it is an okay ruins. The hostel I stayed in Merida is amazing – it had a swimming pool, girls only dorm and bathroom – I loved it. At the bus station for my bus to Palenque, I bummed into Adrian & Christof (the 2 Swiss I met in Panama & traveled with in Nicaragua). We stayed in an hotel in the jungle – it was awesome and Palenque is ‘el máximo (the best)’ ruins I have seen so far in Mexico – you can compare it to Tikal of Guatemala.

Then we went to San Critobal de las casas – a beautiful but VERY cold city, we couldn’t find a hostel. They were all full due to semana santa (Easter) however we ran into a woman that showed us to one – it was half the price of the average hostel and had the same amenities plus a VERY clean bathroom. I got sick while I was there, I swine flu – the Swiss boys took care of me. I also met with a girl from Couchsurfing (I had set up an account since last year but never used it), it was interesting, we went out for drinks and to the club and I will be using it more often now.

Now am at Oaxaca, equally beautiful but not as cold as San Cristobal. Today I went to yet another ruins with 2 girls from Holland – it was nice but small. Unfortunately, my pics from Belize, Tulum & Chichen Itza got erased from my camera. The only good thing is Pam took a lot of pictures from Belize so I can borrow some of hers.

Tomorrow I’ll be off to Mexico City and I’ll be surfing on a couch (my first real experience from Couchsurfing), I’m excited…..Oh another good news, I got response from graduate schools – I got accepted to Cornell, NYU, UW & 2 other school in Europe, now am down to deciding between Cornell or NYU!!! I’ll tell you about my Couchsurfing experience on the next blog – Adios…………..

: El D.F

Posted in Mexico

!Belizing it!

Apr 9

Posted by The Adventures of a Nigerian-American

Belize was nothing like I imagined it will be. I LOVED it and stayed more days than planned. On my second day, I met Barry who introduced me to some wonderful people. Together we had fun in Belize, we had lunch in a house in the middle of the sea (the house has a swimming pool right in the middle of the sea -amazing, right. The boys cooked and Kelly made the best pina coladas ever. The next day we visited San Pedro (that Island Madonna sang about – la Isla bonita) with Barry as our guide.

I rode with Kelly & Pam (2 of the wonderful people Barry introduced me to) in a rented car to San Ignacio, we went to the market on the Guatemala side of the border and drove to Hopkins. While there, I took a day visit to Dangriga with Isabelle (another of the great people I was introduced to -she has a tour company in Hopkins, so if you need one will put you through) and I saw a Nigerian (yes I was HAPPY, after 8 months on the road, it felt good to see one of us), they had a Nigerian church and stores that sell Nigerian movies (Nigerian movies are a big deal in Belize). It was sad to leave but definitely I will be going back – I loved everything about Belize and I stayed in a cool hostel right in front of the beach at Caye Caulker.

– Adios…………..

Posted in Belize, Mexico

The Adventures of a Nigerian-American

The Ongoing Appreciation of Diversity, Travel and Culture

Category Archives: Mexico

Budget: Money Talk – Colombia 2009

After 10 months, 10 countries and 52 cities

Mexxxico!!!!!!!

!Belizing it!

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