Friday, March 04, 2011
Calgary
Lauren and I are back in Calgary and getting settled. Lauren has a full time teaching job at a private school and I am an environmental planner with TERA Environmental Consultants. We have a great place in Ramsay and are happy to be settled for a while. It feels good to be grounded. BUT, that doesn't mean we don't have travel plans for the future!! Stay tuned...
Monday, January 19, 2009
Friday, January 16, 2009
Well I have been working for 2 weeks now and things are going fairly well. This week I didn't get much done because I was doing a Scuba Diving course and I got a tour of the Port Honduras Marine Reserve. The management plan I am working on is for the reserve so its good I was able to check it out. That is where we went diving as well. There are a bunch of Mangrove and Islands out on the ocean. Its really beautiful. Now I am working at the Tour Agency and looking after that for the weekend as well as working on the Management Plan. Sooo, all is well in Punta Gorda.
Lauren is doing well. Her teaching can be difficult at times because the kids can be little brats and its hard to come up with teaching materials so she is making everything herself. All in all she is learning a lot and 'toughening' up too.
We have some plans for traveling in the months to come so that is fun to think about. We are going to go to Antigua in Guatemala for Easter Break. I guess it is amazing there. They make these red carpets that fill the streets and march down them with crosses screaming and crying. Pretty crazy stuff. It would be amazing to see. Lauren gets 2 weeks off of school so that is why we want to go. After the trip we want to go to Mexico City. We are not that far and plane tickets within Mexico are cheap apparently. I have always wanted to visit Mexico City and travelers tell us that it is amazing to see and there is so much culture there.
Well that is all for now. Chau!
Matt
Tuesday, January 06, 2009
Saturday, January 03, 2009
In Belize
Well Lauren and I are in Belize now. We actually just arrived in PG (Punta Gorda) today and got our apartment. It is nice and little. Just what we need. It is right on the ocean as well. We have a hammock overlooking it on the balcony.
We had an amazing week with Dave and Chels on the islands of Belize. First we spend the first 3 nights on Ambergris Caye and spend New Years there and then we went to Caye Caulker. We shared our hostels and that was a blast. We snorkeled, biked, drank, and relaxed. The weather was amazing as well. Couldn't have asked for a better trip with them. We left them today which was sad but all good things must come to an end.
Anyway, we are heading to get some water and food for the apartment. Hope everyone is well. Lauren and I both start work on Monday so I will keep you updated. We are both a little nervous but excited.
Matt
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Belize Trip
My fiancee Lauren and I are leaving to Belize on December 28th, 2008 till May 21, 2009 and I am beginning a new set of blogging related to my work in Belize. We are arriving in Punta Gorda on January 3rd after a small bit of traveling. On January 5th Lauren and I are beginning our work, Lauren as a grade 2 teacher and I am volunteering with an NGO called TIDE (Toledo Institute for Development and Environment). As of now I have been assigned a couple of projects. One is researching and vamping a management plan for an area called Port Honduras Marine Reserve and the other is organizing and planning a soccer tournament for children where they are required to submit an environmental project in order to enter the tournament. I am really excited to begin working and to work on an area that I am passionate about. On this blog I am going to talk about some of my work and our trip in Belize.
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Chiloe and Puerto Varas
Volcan Osorno (I got to the snow)Well just recently I went on a little trip to 3/4 of the way down south of Chile. To give you and idea Valparaiso is right in the middle and i went a quarter of the way down and that is 18 hours on bus.... so i flew!
I ended up going solo because me and my roomates all decided to do different things. I wanted to go to Buenos Aires with Jay (Brother) and Borja, Marta and others wanted to go to Bueanos Aires then. It couldnt have worked out better and I had an amazing time solo.
First I went to Chiloe. It is the second largest island in Souther America. This part of Chile is totally different then the rest. The atmosphere is way more laid back, it is green everywhere and people (i thought) tend to be nicer. I went to a beautiful little town called Castro. There is a lot of history on this Island and it shows everywhere from the old old churches to the boats in the harbour. It is a large fishing community. I had fresh salmon almost every night. It was amazing. Apperently Chile is one of the largest exporters of Salmon in the world. They are right behind Norway. So that part of the trip was great. I also went on a hike on a National Park in Chiloe that was medioker actually.
Next I took a ferry off the Island and stayed at a beautiful little town called Puerto Varas. It reminded me of a little Banff. It is right around a lot of Mountains and Volcanos and it is sooo amazing. I stayed at a cool little French owned hostal and from there I went to the Park everyday and did trekks. I also went white water rafting. It was a lot of fun. I also went in Peru and this was so much better. The rapids were high level 3 to 4 (it goes to 5 and the absolute highest is 6 (experts). So it was good. I think I am ready for level 4. I am going to try and go in Canada because apparently we have amazing rapids that i have never checked out. I met some great people... guy from Ecuador (Alex), Irish couple (Mick and Terra) and a Chilean couple. It is sure easy to meet people when solo. Oh I almost forgot. I hiked up a Volcano called Volcan Osorno. It was so amazing. I was the only one on the mountain and it was breathtaking. Very peaceful experience for me (it is the picture at the top, i got to the snow).
So now I am back in Valpo doing the school thing. I have received some marks back and I am doing very well actually. I was super nervous for a test that I had where I had to read and case study and write it in spanish but I was right around the class average. My other classes I think I am above class average. Good stuff. I think I just might receive my degree! haha.
Some bad news, my buddy Borja got robbed last night. He was walking with a friend and a couple guys held knives up to his throat and chest and they took his camera. The worst part is is that he doesnt have a lot of money to begin with, and just recently his old camera broke so he splurged and bought a new one and one week later... gone. Its a mighty shame. I feel bad for him.
My next trip is to the end of the world. As of now Borja and I are only going. Marta is thinking about it. We are going to a place called Punta Arenas and doing a trekk in what is considered one of the nicest national parks in latin america. I cant wait. If i had more time i think i would take a plane and go to Antartica because its close but I just cant do it. Ah well. Southern tip of Chile is good enough.
So I am home December 6th (48 days) and I think it will fly by. Jay is coming around the end of November, I think the 23rd after a hike at Machu Picchu on the Inca Trail. He is going to check out Valparaiso after because the art seen is amazing here and then we are checking out Buenas Aires Argentina for 4 or 5 days then coming home.
I am nervous to be grown up but excited to get back and see that girl of mine Lauren, i miss her like crazy. It was also be nice to see the family of course. So see you soon and stay posted amigos.
I ended up going solo because me and my roomates all decided to do different things. I wanted to go to Buenos Aires with Jay (Brother) and Borja, Marta and others wanted to go to Bueanos Aires then. It couldnt have worked out better and I had an amazing time solo.
First I went to Chiloe. It is the second largest island in Souther America. This part of Chile is totally different then the rest. The atmosphere is way more laid back, it is green everywhere and people (i thought) tend to be nicer. I went to a beautiful little town called Castro. There is a lot of history on this Island and it shows everywhere from the old old churches to the boats in the harbour. It is a large fishing community. I had fresh salmon almost every night. It was amazing. Apperently Chile is one of the largest exporters of Salmon in the world. They are right behind Norway. So that part of the trip was great. I also went on a hike on a National Park in Chiloe that was medioker actually.
Next I took a ferry off the Island and stayed at a beautiful little town called Puerto Varas. It reminded me of a little Banff. It is right around a lot of Mountains and Volcanos and it is sooo amazing. I stayed at a cool little French owned hostal and from there I went to the Park everyday and did trekks. I also went white water rafting. It was a lot of fun. I also went in Peru and this was so much better. The rapids were high level 3 to 4 (it goes to 5 and the absolute highest is 6 (experts). So it was good. I think I am ready for level 4. I am going to try and go in Canada because apparently we have amazing rapids that i have never checked out. I met some great people... guy from Ecuador (Alex), Irish couple (Mick and Terra) and a Chilean couple. It is sure easy to meet people when solo. Oh I almost forgot. I hiked up a Volcano called Volcan Osorno. It was so amazing. I was the only one on the mountain and it was breathtaking. Very peaceful experience for me (it is the picture at the top, i got to the snow).
So now I am back in Valpo doing the school thing. I have received some marks back and I am doing very well actually. I was super nervous for a test that I had where I had to read and case study and write it in spanish but I was right around the class average. My other classes I think I am above class average. Good stuff. I think I just might receive my degree! haha.
Some bad news, my buddy Borja got robbed last night. He was walking with a friend and a couple guys held knives up to his throat and chest and they took his camera. The worst part is is that he doesnt have a lot of money to begin with, and just recently his old camera broke so he splurged and bought a new one and one week later... gone. Its a mighty shame. I feel bad for him.
My next trip is to the end of the world. As of now Borja and I are only going. Marta is thinking about it. We are going to a place called Punta Arenas and doing a trekk in what is considered one of the nicest national parks in latin america. I cant wait. If i had more time i think i would take a plane and go to Antartica because its close but I just cant do it. Ah well. Southern tip of Chile is good enough.
So I am home December 6th (48 days) and I think it will fly by. Jay is coming around the end of November, I think the 23rd after a hike at Machu Picchu on the Inca Trail. He is going to check out Valparaiso after because the art seen is amazing here and then we are checking out Buenas Aires Argentina for 4 or 5 days then coming home.
I am nervous to be grown up but excited to get back and see that girl of mine Lauren, i miss her like crazy. It was also be nice to see the family of course. So see you soon and stay posted amigos.
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