Accessible Everything - An accessible & inclusive travel blog for people with disabilities

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Lucas “LazyLegz” Patuelli

Back in Nicaragua

By Craig Grimes

Well folks, after almost a month in Europe I’m finally back in Nicaragua and the weather is fantastic and hot to say the least. Whilst in Europe I didn’t have much time to update Accessible Everything, but now I should be back on the case.

Some of the things that I will be writing about will be:

Barcelona

A project with Play&Tour to create an MP3 Audio-Guide to Barcelona specifically aimed at people with physical disabilities.
GoCar, a 3 wheeled car GPS Guided Tour that can be used by people with physical disabilities.
A meeting with the Catalan Association of the Blind and Visually impaired with a view to bringing a small group of Spanish people with visual impairments to Nicaragua to undertake a responsible travel holiday.

United Kingdom

A review of a presentation that I did at Leeds Metropolitan University to Responsible Travel lecturers and Masters students about Inclusive Responsible Travel for people with disabilities.
A review of the Euston Premier Inn, London.
Although it’s been there for years, I also went on the London Eye for the first time, so I’ll be writing a short piece about that experience.

International

Traveling from the UK to Nicaragua with Continental Airways

Older stories that I never got around to Writing!

More about my trip to Guatemala Easter 2008
Hotel and destination reviews from India 2008

This week

Today I’m heading to Managua as tomorrow is the opening of the Central American Travel Market. More info to come in the next few days.

Posted in Guatemala, Spain, Conferences, Guided Tours, India, Blind, United Kingdom, Barcelona, Central America, Nicaragua, Flying, Public Transport, Accommodation, Travel | No Comments

Antigua, Guatemala - Antigua “Sin Barreras” (Happy Birthday Josefina!)

By Craig Grimes

Friday 14th March 2008

Normally when I’m using a level access shower I sit on a plastic patio chair as I find them stable and easy to transfer in and out of. I’d asked the hotel to provide one, but instead they provided me with a plastic buffet which was no use whatsoever so I jumped out of my chair onto the floor and that’s where I showered. Luckily the floor wasn’t too bad so it wasn’t all that disgusting.

After my new shower experience, I went out with the girls and helped them explore a little with all of my whole two days worth of experience……. Firstly we did the typical Craig thing and wandered around looking at the various churches and the main archway in Antigua. We also came across the “Antigua Sin Barreras” (without barriers) signs in the streets indicating dropped kerbs for wheelchair users, how you are supposed to get across the cobbled street easily to the other side is anybody’s guess, but the intentions are there.

After the square we went to Antigua’s market, where the access was quite good (apart from a couple of steps) as the floor was well paved.

Surprisingly, after the market, we carried on wandering around, popped back to the hotel to meet Edurne and then….. kept on wandering around and bumped into Easter procession.

After sooooooo much wandering I began to get tired and so I chilled out in the Kafka bar (mentioned yesterday) to have a couple of cuba libres and try to get information for the rest of our trip. Whilst I was relaxing and making notes and friends the girls came across an Easter concert in the Central Square and a couple of Soldiers…..

The girls came back to find me and after a swift drink we went out to celebrate Josefina’s birthday at a Japenese restaurant and another couple of drinks before going wearily back to our hotel.

Posted in Antigua, Guatemala, Accommodation, Central America, Travel | No Comments

Antigua, Guatemala - A day of Rest

By Craig Grimes

Thursday 13th March 2008

This day was pretty much a rest day and chilling out after a tough Wednesday while waiting for Laia, Roser and Josefina to arrive. I got up and left Edurne’s hotel and went down the street until I came to the end where I stumbled across a small café/community centre. Although the front of the building was a café offering food and drinks to the general public, it was also kind of a community centre where people could take art and music classes. It was a strange kind of mix, where in the café area they were selling art and musical instruments, a bizarre accompaniment to hamburgers.

Afterwards, I continued my aimless wandering and exploring looking for a bank to change money and after a few hours I got bored so I went back to the Black Cat to have a beer. While I was there I met a group of 4 backpackers, 2 from Canada, 1 from Holland and 1 from N. Ireland, we sat around talking and exchanging travel stories until I decided it was time to go see if the girls had arrived from Nicaragua.

On my way out of the Black Cat I realised that my worst dreams had come true and that it was raining. I’d already thought about the issues of trying to get around Antigua when the cobbles were wet and it was just as bad as I thought it would be! Just trying to get from one side of the street to the other was a complete nightmare, slipping, sliding and stumbling all over the place. Luckily for me a youngish Guatamalan guy (in his mid 20’s) saw me struggling and ask me if I needed help. As he helped me we got chatting and, although this isn’t very advisable, (what can I say, he seemed and was harmless) he accompanied me back to Edurne’s hotel. I say it isn’t advisable because you never know what can happen in a strange country when you meet someone you don’t know on the street. In this case, he was just a genuine person that was trying to help, and after meeting up with the girls, he helped us take all of our bags to the new hotel, Amigos 3.

Meeting up with the girls that had arrived from Nicaragua was great in so many ways, firstly because it meant that I didn’t have to relay on strangers to help me in the street and secondly because I could move into our new building site hotel which was slightly more accessible. To say thank you to our new found friend, we took him out for a cocktail when we had dinner and after we went looking for a night cap. We came across another place which turned out to be the Kafka Hostel on 6th Avenue Norte, No.40. I’d already heard about the hostel but hadn’t managed to find it and although it had a step to get into, I could easily get into the women’s’ WC without any problems. The ambience was great, lots of young friendly travelers and staff with great music, I really recommend popping in if you get the chance.

That was about the end of the evening, a couple of Cuba Libres and off to bed. I took very few photos in the first couple of days that I was in Guatemala, but now the photo fest begins………

Posted in Antigua, Guatemala, Accommodation, Central America, Travel | No Comments

Antigua, Guatemala - The search for an accessible hotel

By Craig Grimes

Wednseday 12th March 2008

The first thing that hit me in the face (thankfully not literally) as I went out of the hotel door on Wednesday morning was the cobbles… The streets in Antigua are basically all cobbled, not just your standard annoying cobbles either, super irritating cobbles made of volcanic rock that are spread just far enough apart to get your casters stuck in and very slippery when wet as I found out the following day.

Below: Antigua Cobbles and a “Chicken Bus”

As I was wandering around by myself trying to find a hotel the situation with the streets made it even harder. This combined with the blistering sun made the whole experience exhausting. We had decided that our budget for the day was $20 per day for everything including, food, accommodation and any travel costs (We soon found this impossible upped the budget to $30 per day), so finding a relatively accessible hotel within our price range and that had availability the week before Easter proved very hard. After going to a few hotels and finding the price way too high or that they were fully booked I decided to stop of for a well earned breakfast.

I found a small arched entrance and decided to investigate the café inside, there were two small steps to get into the courtyard but then there was a level area where I could sit. The courtyard to the café (Rick’s Bar) was beautiful with plants and trees all around. There were a small group of 3 Americans sat having breakfast too and so I decided to ask them where they were staying and if the hotel had availability. They were very helpful and after another coffee I set off to the hotel where they were staying. Once at the hotel, it turned out that they were also fully booked, but they had another hotel that wasn’t yet open but there were willing to rent me rooms. I decided to investigate and went with the owners to the potential building site.

We entered through a garage door into the area that would eventually be the reception and towards the back of the building. Although the rooms were basic, they were clean and already had beds in them, the kitchen didn’t have anything, but they offered to put in a fridge and a cooker if we stayed. The bathroom wasn’t big enough for my wheelchair so I couldn’t shut the door behind me, but I figured that I could jump across from the WC into the shower and that it would be good enough for a couple of days. I told the owners that I’d go back with Edurne later in the day so that she could approve my chosen hotel.

I carried on roaming the streets of Antigua and asked at a few more hotels and hostels but nothing came up, however I came across another great little place. Bacchus, wine, cigar and martina bar is located on 3rd Calle Poniente, No. 12 where they have wine and cigars from pretty much all over the world. After a glass of red, interesting conversation with the Canadian owner (who advised me to try the Black Cat Hostel) and an elderly Mexican customer I carried on my journey to look for the Black Cat, although the hostel was totally inaccessible I decided to stay and have a quick beer there. They advised me to try the Jungle Party Hostel, so I popped in there on the way back to Edurne’s hotel. The hostel really wasn’t my cup of tea, rooms with two bunk-beds in and I could only see 1 shared bathroom for the whole hostel with 2 showers and 2 toilets (1 of which was out of order) and the price was higher than what I’d been quoted at the building site hotel which will be called Amigos 3 when it’s open.

After meeting up with Edurne, we went together to Amigos 3, negotiated the price down slightly and agreed with the owners that we needed 2 rooms for 2 nights starting from the day after. Business was concluded and we went back to Edurnes hotel, had dinner and then crashed after an exhausting day of cobble hopping…..

Posted in Antigua, Guatemala, Accommodation, Central America, Travel | No Comments

Getting to Guatemala from Nicaragua

By Craig Grimes

Tuesday 11th March 2008

As mentioned in my previous post “Traveling to Guatemala” we left home in Matagalpa, Nicaragua at about 3am with Geni (a colleague of Edurne’s) and our driver to Sébaco in order to meet our bus at 3.45am. The journey to Sébaco was uneventful and we arrived at the petrol station where the coach stops in plenty of time and unloaded our bags. After about a 20 minute wait, we saw the bus approaching and then drive straight past us at high speed! We couldn’t believe that it didn’t stop and stood shell shocked for a few seconds before quickly mobilising, throwing the bags back into the pick up truck and the chase was on!

We had to catch the bus at it’s next scheduled stop in Estelí otherwise we would have to chase it all the way to the Nicaraguan border. Our driver in the pick up put his foot down but the speeding bus was nowhere to be seen. When we got to Estelí, we managed to find the bus at the petrol station and our driver strategically parked the 4 x 4 in front of the coach so that it couldn’t escape. It turned out that there had been a problem with the travel agent and even though we had our ticket, we weren’t on the manifesto of passengers so the coach driver didn’t know he had to stop in Sébaco. After showing the driver our tickets he agreed to allow us to travel, at which point his assistant turned, looked at me and said “Is he traveling too?” in a surprised tone…..

It was decided that the best way to get me onto the “Kings Quality” bus was if I got onto someone’s back and they carried me up, a technique which, in short, didn’t work and was never repeated! After lots of fumbling and a close call, they managed to plonk me in a seat unharmed and then we were off. The trip up to Guatemala seemed to pass fairly quickly even though it was about 13 hours, I thought that I was going to see El Slavador through the window of the coach but managed to sleep through most of the country! The difference between the infrastructure of roads in Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala became quickly apparent as they are much better than in Nicaragua in general. There were actually dual carriage ways and smooth road surfaces!

On arrival in Guatemala City we were supposed to be met by other delegates of the meeting that Geni and Edurne were attending to take us to Antigua, but they were nowhere to be seen. After a few phone calls it was established that there were on their way and we waited patiently until they arrived an hour later. Trying to leave Guatemala City was even worse than trying to get into it due to the evening rush hour traffic. I hadn’t been in a city for over 5 months and the whole experience was overwhelming and a bit stressful. There were cars, buses and motorbikes all over the place, beeping their horns and generally just mayhem and anarchy every way you looked. The contrast between the wealthy and the poor in Guatemala City is striking, in the suburbs there are massive Condo complexes, surrounded by high walls and barbed wire with 24 hour security, McDonald’s, Zara and Pizza Huts fill American style shopping malls which are brand-names I hadn’t seen since leaving Barcelona. Crossing the city you see the old abandoned train lines, shanty style houses made of wood and corrugated iron and people cooking on open fires within a stones-throw of the shopping malls, probably a very typical Central American capital city, of which, I have little experience.

Once in Antigua we were exhausted, the original plan was that I would look for a hotel on the day we arrived, but I ended up crashing in Geni and Edurne’s room as it was getting too late to start wandering around Antigua. It was a welcome relief, but as the shower and toilet weren’t particularly accessible, I would have to try to find another hotel the following day.

Posted in Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, Accommodation, Public Transport, Nicaragua, Central America, Travel | No Comments

Traveling to Guatemala

By Craig Grimes

Tomorrow, well actually, at about 4.00am in the morning Edurne and I begin our trip to Guatemala. The girls (Laia and Roser) are currently in León and will be meeting us in Antigua along with another friend (Josefina) on Thursday evening. It’s a bit of strange situation as Edurne will be in Antigua for meetings for 3 days and consequently she’ll be at one hotel with the other delegates and I’ll be at another by myself. We don’t expect to see each other much, if at all, until Friday evening. This gives me plenty of time to look into general access in Antigua and specific hotels.

After Antigua, we’re planning on going to Chichicastanango - Lago Artitlan - Rio Dulce (where we’ll catch a small boat to go through Lago de Isabul and down river) - Livingston. I think this is going to be quite a tough trip, especially as we have no hotels booked and I’m not really sure what to expect.

So we’re getting up at about 3.00am and going to Sébaco and catching a very inaccessible which goes though Honduras, El Salvador and onto Guatemala City, Guatemala with no bus changes. Then we have to catch another bus from Guatemala City to Antigua. The journey in total will take about 12 hours and we should arrive at about 5.00pm. It will be interesting for me to see the differences between the countries as we travel up through Central America. For a map of Guatemala please use this Lonely Planet link.

In preparation for the trip I’ve been doing some research on the internet, mainly trying to find hotels that look cheap and relatively accessible. I mainly looked at Antigua as this is the first place I’m going and I’ll be able to go to internet cafes whilst traveling to do more research for later in the trip. I searched using Google with phrases such as “Guatemala Disabled Travel Antigua” and “Guatemala Handicapped Antigua”. The usual problems arose while trying to find information about traveling for people with disabilities.

The guide books either say that it is very hard and don’t give any information to make it any easier or they give web addresses to general web pages about travel for people with disabilities, which while some if these pages are very good, they don’t have any information about Guatemala. Another really irritating thing that some web page owners do is write the names of every country and major city in the world hidden in the design of the page. We can’t see it, but the search engines can. Then when we search, our city comes up, their web page is at the top of the list, but there isn’t any of the information you’re actually looking for. A great way to get to the top of Google Rankings but very annoying, I was surprised at how many major travel agents for people with disabilities use this technique and in my opinion it wastes everybody’s time.

Here are some of the more useful things that came up:

www.conexion.com A wheelchair accessible internet cafe in Antigua. The owner is a wheelchair user and the guide books claim he is very helpful to disabled tourist. On the website there are a couple of expensive accessible hotels listed but you have to read the descriptions of all of them to see which might have access. The site doesn’t give any information about the type of access just “adapted rooms available.” I emailed them to ask about cheap accessible hotels in Antigua and they didn’t reply.

www.transitionsfoundation.com Transitions is an ONG that works with people with disabilities and at one was point linked to Conexión, but for whatever reason they seem to have gone their separate ways. I also emailed Transitions about meeting up with them and about accessible budget accommodation in Antigua. They emailed me back about meeting up but no mention about hotels.

www.guatemalastory.com This is the most useful website I found and although there isn’t any reference to disabled access whatsoever, there are lots of pictures so you can at least take a rough guess. One of the things I like about this site is that you can mark every hotel that you like the look of in a particular location and then they send you an email with a printable map with all of your chosen hotels and their contact details. Very clever! I also emailed Guatemala Story about a specific hotel and they didn’t get back to me either!

www.alfatravelguide.com A general page about hotels which also gives the usual “adapted rooms available” but no other information. Obviously, this phrase can mean almost anything, but at least it gives you a place to start.

www.aroundantigua.com A general travel site with info and hotel listings in and around Antigua.

www.larutamayaonline.com Another general travel site with info and hotel listings in and around Antigua.

The above listings were all I found really, nothing specific, but a good start to sorting out the trip. Now all I have to do is get there in one piece and hope that the hotel that I want to go to is accessible and has vacancies (maybe I should have booked my room in advance?!) I’ll write more about the hotel in Antigua and the trip up to Guatemala later in the week.

Until then, wish me luck……

Posted in Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, Accommodation, Public Transport, Nicaragua, Central America, Travel | No Comments