So, we had an exciting week. I'll start with the end, a story which some of you are already far too familiar with. We finished an awesome week on Ometepe Island, Nicaragua, with a sour note when my SPOT gps device was stolen late our last night. I foolishly left it out of my sight in front of our hostel while I was trying to send a check in/ok message. (For those of you who don't know, the SPOT is a small GPS unit that only sends messages - we generally use it to send ok messages that email a list of family with a our coordinates and a link to where we are located. It's a nice way to keep in touch and show where we are. However, if you get into trouble, you push a different button - either the one that emails your family with a "Please send help immediately, we're in trouble" message, or the one that contacts the emergency services in whatever country you're in, telling them to come to your aid right away.) After the unit was stolen (around midnight) I felt stupid for having left it outside, and, exhausty-face after being up since 5 that morning, didn't think through possible consequences. We left at 6 the next morning for Costa Rica, and I figured I would call SPOT as soon as I got to reliable internet and cancel my service.
That evening, we arrived in San Jose after a full day of travel. The internet wasn't working at our hostel, so we weren't able to check email until later. When we did, we discovered lots of panicked emails from our families. Whoever had stolen the SPOT started pushing buttons around 3, and managed to send two "911, please help immediately" messages. As we had failed to tell anyone that the SPOT had been stolen, everyone thought something terrible occured. As we pieced together the story afterwards, we were very impressed by how effective the SPOT message was! Our parents had called everyone they could think of (the embassies, the military, the police, every hostel on the island), and people came out in force on Ometepe looking for us. We heard several stories about ourselves that weren't true (someone saw us climbing the volcano without a guide, we'd made reservations at a hotel and never showed up - though that ended up being a different Matthew), but none of the hostels (even the ones we stayed at) remembered us! We think that maybe this is because everyone was asking about a couple, and we traveled with a friend all week. In any case, whoever stole my SPOT caused a lot of excitement, and far too much worry. We feel terrible, but are glad to know how effective it was. We loved Ometepe and were planning to go back, but now we'll have to see if they'll even let us back on the island after the uproar we caused...
Ok, that's enough for one post. We'll write another about all of the fun things we did on the island. Thanks again for the outpouring of support, we love you all and are sorry to have caused so much stress!
That evening, we arrived in San Jose after a full day of travel. The internet wasn't working at our hostel, so we weren't able to check email until later. When we did, we discovered lots of panicked emails from our families. Whoever had stolen the SPOT started pushing buttons around 3, and managed to send two "911, please help immediately" messages. As we had failed to tell anyone that the SPOT had been stolen, everyone thought something terrible occured. As we pieced together the story afterwards, we were very impressed by how effective the SPOT message was! Our parents had called everyone they could think of (the embassies, the military, the police, every hostel on the island), and people came out in force on Ometepe looking for us. We heard several stories about ourselves that weren't true (someone saw us climbing the volcano without a guide, we'd made reservations at a hotel and never showed up - though that ended up being a different Matthew), but none of the hostels (even the ones we stayed at) remembered us! We think that maybe this is because everyone was asking about a couple, and we traveled with a friend all week. In any case, whoever stole my SPOT caused a lot of excitement, and far too much worry. We feel terrible, but are glad to know how effective it was. We loved Ometepe and were planning to go back, but now we'll have to see if they'll even let us back on the island after the uproar we caused...
Ok, that's enough for one post. We'll write another about all of the fun things we did on the island. Thanks again for the outpouring of support, we love you all and are sorry to have caused so much stress!
ok, now tell the REAL story of your kidnapping adventures :) I am sure you have pix to backup your story :)
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