Depart for Costa Rica

We are hoping to leave El Salvador tomorrow morning providing conditions over the entrance bar are suitable.

It is about 250nm to Costa Rica - so should take us 2 days. We are sailing directly to Playa Coco in Costa Rica and sailing past Nicaragua as we did some land travel there (will be a report on the blog when we get a chance).

El Salvador to Nicaragua - Road trip

El Salvador to Nicaragua - Road trip

We discussed having a quick peak at Nicaragua via a road trip rather than calling into the country whilst sailing down towards Costa Rica. Whilst the road trip meant a long ride to get to our destination, having the boat in a secure anchorage and friends keeping an eye out for us was comforting. So here we are, sitting on a King Quality bus going in the opposite direction to our last trip.

When we purchased our tickets (some 12hrs before the bus was due to depart) we were informed the bus was running 2.5hrs late. I did wonder how they knew that far in advance. We arrived at the depot half an hour early as requested, without any form of communication from staff we waited a further 2 hours in a hot stuffy waiting room which is designed to ensure all passengers get their 10 years dose of bus exhaust fumes in a very short period. It is basically a tunnel underground, open at both ends for the bus to enter and exit – a waiting room in the center to catch the fumes.

Shortly after we departed the air conditioning was turned off and only hot dusty air was blowing through the tiny air vents above our head. Shortly after that they ceased all air flow. The bus did not have any opening windows so there we sat sweltering for 10 hours. It was inhumane treatment and life threatening to the elderly, young and ill. No water was offered and when the bus did stop our door was kept firmly shut so passengers would not get off to get a breath of fresh air as it took too long to get them all boarded again. The driver did stop for 10 mins at a service station café – this was around morning tea time – we had no idea that it would be the only stop of the entire trip.

Customs and immigration officials entered our bus at the Honduras boarder as we had to travel through Honduras for a short period of time to get to the Nicaragua boarder. The officials collected their fee for our 1 hour drive through visit. The Hondurian officials were literally dripping with sweat – stinging their eyes and drenching their uniforms. The sympathetic looks we received said it all. The toilet had the only tiny opening window so Don stood in the stairwell holding the toilet door open to allow a tiny amount of air flow from the window. He was a hero to all on the bus!!!

We arrived in Managua around 9pm and having read that this country is much safer without the crime rate of Guatemala we decided to walk the 600mtrs to our accommodation. Hummm apparently that was not the thing to do. We took the long way around (by accident) but arrived without incident. Our accommodation was very very basic but despite the heat we slept like babies. Up and ready early the next morning our host would not allow us to walk back up to the bus depot, she insisted it was not safe. We had read the various leaflets, in large black letters, advising;

. to take taxis everywhere whilst in this particular zone;

. have a taxi take you to the ATM and wait for you so you can climb directly into the cab and he can drive off. This is to prevent being robbed shortly afterward;

. don’t go out with a large amount of cash;

. leave extra money and passports in Hotel.

Needless to say, we caught a taxi via an ATM to our bus. The usual bus hustlers pushed and pulled us into a very nice clean comfortable bus which had the engine running and moving forward – have I mentioned this is a ploy to get more customers??? The drivers rev the engine loudly and make several false starts leading people to believe that are leaving now so they choose this particular bus over the next one – we are awake to all their tricks now – being seasoned travelers !! Also gringos don’t get change for their fare – change only goes to locals. The amount is usually minimal but there is a principle in there somewhere. We were glad to leave the city for Granada.

Our accommodation in Granada was similar to a hot box – Don was not impressed – a tin ceiling and a wall that ran the entire length of a supermarket car park – both heated up and in turn cooked our bed which felt like lying on an electric blanket switched on to 3. Many cold showers were taken during the course of the day – I did some washing and it dried within minutes in our room. We hid until the sun began to drop then went out exploring this pretty town. Highly decorated horses and carriages are the main transport, many horses look emaciated – very sad. 

Dinner was a lively affair – loud music coming from utes, children in dress up clothes doing tricks for money, every hawker imaginable passed by our table (which unfortunately was on the street as inside is too hot) which became annoying – every mouthful was interrupted with a continuous “no gracias”. Some of these hawkers were very persistent and had to be encouraged to leave by the staff. One enterprising fella pretended to want to polish my sandals but was really asking for my left over meal – I had a large serving of hot chips that I had not touched so not liking waste I bundled them up when the waiter was not about and he put them in his shoe polish box – not being happy with my chips he proceeded to paw at the leftover bits of batter from my fish which totally grossed me – he was short shifted by the staff !!! I suppose I shouldn’t have encouraged him but I don’t believe anyone else saw what was going on and my chips would have ended up in a bin. Our restaurant was of the Irish Murphy type boasting the best fish and chips in town. The front cover of their menu talked about the beggars – children in particular. The local children are often forced into begging by parents – some children are even hired by other adults (earning money for their parents) and forced out into the street to beg. The information went on to request visitors not to give the children any money not matter how dirty or hungry they look or pleading they do – they are trained to look and act like that. They ensure all visitors that there is a “soup kitchen” available that feeds healthy food to all hungry children and beds are available also. The common trend is for these children to be kept from school in order to beg and end up drug addicts. The story made sense, and ensured all visitors that Nicaragua is taking care of its children and programs are in place for them – by giving them money we are actually encouraging the child abuse. One little fellow, about 5 years old, jumped on our bus clapped out a tune and sang his little heart out – he was very good and very practiced at giving “gringos” that cute smile whilst holding his hand out – he got to Don who had to give him some small change for his efforts. No parents were in sight and I worried about how he was going to find his way back home.

Early start the following morning to catch a bus to Rivas, taxi to San Jorge then ferry to the island of Ometepe. Ometepe is on Lago Nicaragua, Central America's largest lake. The lake measures 177 km long and 58 km wide. Ometepe is an island formed by twin volcanoes arising out of the lake. Volcano Concepcion rises 1610m above the lake and Maderas 1394m. Lava flows created an isthmus between the two. Concepcion is still active with it last major eruption in 1957. There are many beautiful hikes to waterfalls, rivers, beaches etc – a place that time forgot. We had a good view of Volcano Conception on the ferry ride across – she erupted twice spewing billowy gray cloud high up above her summit. It was spectacular. When at the accommodation I noticed my white sun hat had gone moldy – I was amazed as I had not noticed it previously – then the French/Canadian caretaker was telling us about the eruption and how dangerous it is if there were any climbers on the volcano at the time. He looked at me and said to expect lots of ash – and that is when I looked at myself – my white t-shirt was covered in small black dots – volcanic ash – so that is what had happened to my hat. It is everywhere, in the screw cap of our drink bottle, inside books in backpacks – every surface is covered in fine ash and grit – yuk !!! The road we are going on tomorrow is so rough that it takes an hour to go 10km and the entire trip will take 4 hrs – can’t wait for that one !!!

That trip was exactly what it claimed to be, slow – the bus did not go over 20km per hour – my suspicion is it did not have any brakes so thankfully it was reasonably flat the whole way. Altragrassi is a small town at the half way mark and the bus stops there for an hour before attacking the really rough section of road. The bus made sure it parked on a hill, with large wooden chocks under all wheels (cementing my belief that it did not have brakes) so it could roll start.

Merida was our destination – a tiny town with a couple of accommodation choices. The place we stayed at was lovely, a beach with kayaks, horses available for hire at $5 per hour (with guide), hikes to the volcanoes, waterfalls etc. Paradise. The accommodation also offered buffet breakfast and dinner – all you can eat, a choice of over 8 different dishes all for $4 – oh freshly made fruit juice included. The food was healthy, fresh and very good. A great place to recharge batteries. There were more English speaking people on this island than we have come across anywhere else in our travels in Central America. 

 The hotel supported the local school in their environment studies – concrete round tables have been made with a concrete pillar type central post supporting a circular concrete top 

surrounded by 8 concrete pillar type seats. The centre of the table post and each seat is filled with plastic bags and squashed bottles. Am amazing effort and lesson in recycling plastic bottles for the children.

The locals wash clothes in small huts mounted in the lake – an endless supply of fresh water ! The clothes lines are barbed wire on bamboo poles.

We had planned on catching a ferry from Merida to San Carlos which is in the lower western corner of Nicaragua. From there we hoped to catch a ferry which travels from the Pacific side to the Atlantic side of Nicaragua via a river. Don did a bit more research and the 14hr overnight ferry trip from Ometepe to San Carlos was suppose to have hammocks to sleep in but on further research apparently you had to get their early to mark out your bit of hard bench for the night or byo hammock. That was enough to turn Don off – we turned tail and headed back to the boat. We may try to do the river trip once we arrive in Costa Rica – it appears a lot easier to reach San Carlos from that side.

We began our trip back to the boat, this time catching a freight ferry rather than the passenger type. This wooden boat had gaps between the planking – free air conditioning??? and a definite starboard list. Whilst waiting for the waves to capsize our ancient ferry I constantly made plans on which hole (for there were many) would be best to leap from when the time came to abandon ship. It turned out it was not necessary. On the way back to Managua we stopped at Reserva Natural Volcan Mombacho. 

The last recorded erruption was in 1570 but the volcano is still active and sends up a warning smoke signal now and then. We participated in a quick tour through lava tunnels and met a rather fat bat – the guide had nicknamed him Poo (as in Poo bear), then a climb to the top of the lookout to see the cauldron The sulphur gas was strong and little time was spent in this area. One particular guide told us the story of when he first began showing people through caves he went the extra mile and took his group further into the cave to show them the bats while sleeping. He proudly shone a torch on the bats and woke them up. The bats proceeded to fall to the ground. Apparently they had not processed food enough to sustain energy to fly therefore when woken with a bright light tried to fly and fell to the ground. The guide was deeply embarrassed and never disturbed the bats again.

We spent the night in a very ordinary hostel near the Tica bus station – up at 4am to catch the bus back to El Salvador – a bit apprehensive after the bus ride from hell to get there, much to our relief the a/c was functioning on the return trip. We arrived in San Salvador too late to catch a bus down to Bahia del Sol so spent our last night in the city – even though we stayed at our usual favorite hotel, I received many bites presumably from bed bugs – Don not a single one !

Copan to San Salvador

Copan to San Salvador

5/03/2010

Getting back to the boat was relatively easy - we caught the chicken bus to La Entrada, upon alighting we were accosted by a dozen bus hawkers all yelling to try to drown out their opponents encouraging us to get on their bus.  One enterprising fellow entered the bus via the back door and tried to grab my backpack so I would follow him to his bus!!!  We pushed and shoved our way through and when we got on another chicken bus the crowd yelled and slapped the hawker belonging to that bus on the back - he had won this time !!!  Off we went to Santa Rosa de Copan.  From there we were able to catch a fast and direct coach to San Salvador and having arrived earlier than originally thought we did a bit of shopping and caught the local chicken bus back to Bahia de Sol.  That was the undoing of a reasonable day - the local bus had the music at decibels that would shatter glass and heavy metal with lots of bass that permeated through the floor, up through our bottoms and rattled our teeth - 2.5 hrs of that and Don was about to kill someone.  Thankfully the bus was so crowded that he couldn't move.  

The boat was safe and sound when we returned - our friend Jan had become worried about us as we had told her we planned to be away for about a week and it was now 2 weeks - she was going to try and contact us via mobile phone and if unsuccessful contact the embassy - we have never had anyone waiting for us to come back - was kinda nice.  Jan's concern originated from a couple and their young son that never returned to their boat after leaving for a similar trip - they had been killed in a chicken bus crash and it took some time for identification and people to realize they had a boat in El Salvador.

We are now seasoned travelers in Central American countries - if I had to choose one area to visit I would certainly choose Guatamala - I loved the place and the people despite the dire warnings.  If anyone wishes to visit this country may I suggest you take me along as your guide - from the mistakes we have made I would save you so much money that I would be worth my weight in gold (well Quetzals !).  The country is extremely inexpensive to travel through if you wish to do it using local accommodation and local transport - that is the only way if you want to get a feel for the country rather than check out the swimming pools and bars at a large hotel which you could do in Queensland.  You can easily do it under $25 per day.  That includes accommodation, food and travel on local buses.  The shuttle buses are a little more expensive.

I checked out the security factors in Guatamala before we set out - after reading them out to Don each meal time I almost had him worried too.  I suppose it is a case of one bad apple .......

Apparently the thieves watch internet cafes, when they sight a tourist with their own laptop leave the premises they follow them and rob them.  They also target airports and international bus terminals - a taxi from these depots is the only way to go.

Here are some of the comments listed in Embassy websites :-

July 2009  The U.S. Embassy has learned that two separate groups of tourists have been attacked this month while hiking the Acatenango Volcano in Chimaltenango. The circumstances of both attacks are similar: a group of armed gunmen, upwards of six, targeted the groups to rob them of valuables. There was an attempted sexual assault during at least one of the attacks and armed escorts accompanying the tourists were shot in the other. Guatemala continues to experience a significant escalation in the level of violent crime. The U.S. Embassy urges all U.S. citizens to take appropriate precautions.

07 Dec 2009  U.S. citizens are strongly discouraged from transiting outside of Guatemala City after dark and that includes Antigua as well. Keep in mind that abductions, home invasion robberies, burglaries and car-jackings are often preceded by surveillance of the intended victim. Criminals look for vulnerabilities to exploit before they strike, including time/place predictability, therefore you are vulnerable when arriving at and departing from your residence. All U.S. citizens are urged to maintain situational awareness and vary routes and times as much as possible.

In light of the high crime rate in Guatemala and the expected spike in criminal activity during the upcoming holiday season, the U.S. Embassy provides the following personal security guidance. All U.S. citizens are reminded of violent criminal activity along the Carretera El Salvador (Inter-Americana) including homicides, car-jackings

and kidnappings. The overwhelming majority of these crimes take place at night. The Embassy's Security Office strongly discourages travel by U.S. Mission employees along Carretera El Salvador east of kilometer 13 (Colegio Maya) between the hours of 9:00pm and 6:00am.

U.S. citizens are reminded of violent highway robberies along National Route #14 between Antigua and Escuintla, along Route #4 on the south side and west shores of Lake Atitlan between San Lucas Toliman and Chacala, and on Route #11 on the east shore between San Lucas Toliman Embassy of the United States of America

Guatemala City, Guatemala and CA-1. Routes #4 and #11 should be avoided. Embassy personnel have been advised to use CA-1 through Solola when visiting Lake Atitlan.

Virulent rumors of child stealing and murder for organ harvesting continue to be reported in several different areas of Guatemala frequented by American tourists. Frustration over crime and a lack of appropriate judicial remedies have led to violent incidents of vigilantism. In 2007, numerous Guatemalan citizens were lynched for suspicion of child stealing, and three local women who had allegedly facilitated foreign adoptions were attacked by a mob that accused them of kidnapping and killing a girl whose mutilated remains were found near Camotan, Chiquimula (near the Honduran border on the main road leading to the Copan Mayan ruins). In reaction to unconfirmed reports of babies being kidnapped in the El Golfete area of the Rio Dulce (near Livingston, Izabal), residents of small villages in the area remain mobilized and suspicious of all outsiders, including foreigners. Rumors of foreigners stealing Guatemalan children have also surfaced in the area surrounding the Tajumulco Volcano in the Department of San Marcos.

Also in 2007, two foreigners (including an American citizen) and a Guatemalan kayaking on a river near Chicaman, Quiche were accused of stealing children and seized by a 500-person mob (estimated). Although threatened, the individuals were not physically attacked. The incident occurred after the group had been talking and joking with a local boy on the river bank. In Sayaxche, Petén, rumors escalated into mob action against a Guatemalan couple believed to be involved in child stealing. The husband was beaten and burned to death, and the wife threatened, but was eventually turned over to the police. A local American resident was also seized and threatened with death when he tried to intervene with the mob. In the same area, a family of American tourists, along with several Guatemalan motorists, was held overnight at a road blockade for possible use as human shields. Mobs have also targeted police, resulting in delayed or ineffective responses by law enforcement.

The U.S. Embassy has received reports, as recently as March 2009, of restless villagers in the Petén who are suspicious of anyone they believe to be involved in baby kidnapping and organ harvesting.

Avoid close contact with children, including taking photographs, especially in rural areas. Such contact can be viewed with deep alarm and may provoke panic and violence.

Recently a Chinese visitor had stopped to comfort a child that had fallen and was crying - he was shot and killed by the locals on the suspicion of child theft.

Flores to Copan, Honduras

Flores to Copan, Honduras

Tuesday 2/03/2010

We dragged ourselves out of bed at the totally unreasonable hour of 5.30am and walked down to the tourist office where we had booked our bus ride to Copan, Honduras - at least to the town nearest to the border.  Having been promised a ride in the owner's vehicle to the bus station (a few miles) and a direct 2nd class bus for the 5.5hr journey.  The bus was to include a toilet but not food or air-conditioning - oh well it has the important feature for someone with Montezuma's revenge (yet again!!).  

Now begins the day from hell - firstly the ride to the bus station was passed on to a local and probably homeless as he slept in his car.  The car was not road worthy - bits falling off everywhere.  Now to the bus - hummm - where do I begin.....  Firstly the picture showing the bus was taken when the bus was new - it is now 150 years old and had a very hard life.  Most buses have holes in the windscreen with cracks radiating out - I prefer to think of them as stone holes not bullet holes!!  This one was no exception - one of the holes was filled with some sort of black silicone (haven't they heard of gaffa tape??  We climbed on the bus in the dark of early morning and waited, and waited and waited.  The bus would not start and as seems to be the case worldwide many helpful rubberneckers turned up to offer their valuable advice.  The driver climbed into the engine, under the bus and into the side compartment.  Don was horrified when he saw the engine - you could not recognize any parts - just lots of oil and grease.  After attacking the motor with a 6ft x 2" metal pole the bus still would not start - why is it that men always resort to using a weapon on a motor that won't start ???  Must be something in their genes.  The pole was then used to bash a part under the bus (that is after the bus was jacked up by hand).  Finally after 1hr we all tried to push start the bus - forgetting that it was still jacked up - it came down with a loud thump and we kept pushing - and to our amazement it actually started.  We were off.  Our direct bus (only 4 documented stops) stopped at least 24 times.  

As daylight filtered through the grimy windows it revealed the bus more and more dilapidated, seats were grubby, torn and broken, the side panels were missing and filth everywhere - the local cheap chicken buses would have been better.  The windows did not open and as I was wondering what we do when the day warms up, I looked upward and sure enough there were two skylights without any covers at all - Don and I discussed what happens when it rains and shortly afterwards we found out - the rain comes down through the skylights then with the motion of the bus the rain fans out to cover most passengers - a free shower!!  Twice the driver went to eat and took over 20 mins (being careful to put a brick on the accelerator to keep the engine idling the whole time) - that would have been fine if he had told us so we could get off and use the toilets and get a coffee and sandwich - instead we waited and waited thinking he would be back any moment. They didn't lie about there being a toilet on the bus however they also made no claim as to its servicability - it was padlocked shut ! Our 5.5hr trip took 9hrs with no toilet or food stop (that we had known of).  Not good for a dicey stomach but we survived.  

Help around the bus stations is excellent - all vying for passengers.  When we arrived in Chicquimula we intended to find a bathroom first, then food then check out the next shuttle bus ride to the border - the driver told a bus hawker where we wanted to go and the next thing he had hold of Don's backpack and was off - we chased him through the streets and when we caught up he was placing the backpack in a very full shuttle bus for us.  So much for the break I had been looking forward to.  The driver quoted us a rather inflated price for the ride but what can you do when you bag is on board with no hope of retrieving it.  The bus fees are never collected until a fair way along the road - when ours was collected the fare again rose - we got some sympathetic looks from the passengers who knew we were being ripped off but Don's arguments were ignored and not wanting to be put on the side of the road we shut up and put it down to experience.  We were put on the side of the road when another bus pulled up in front of our bus - this was the bus we should have got in the first place.  The hawker handed over a fraction of the money we had given him and off we went again.  When we reached the border we were targeted by another bus hawker who grabbed our bag and talking very quickly took off towards the immigration office.  He was a pain in the ?#$#?.  He grabbed our passports out of my hand and forced them onto the immigration officer who was still dealing with another customer and then proceeded to answer the questions for us.  Don got mad and overrode him.  The hawker had a bus waiting - they wait to be overfull before leaving and we were needed.  We turned around to see our bag disappearing in the distance again so off we went again - still without any break.  The shuttle bus was overfull - people hanging out the doors and sitting on top of each other.  I had the 2" of seat on the end next to a boy (around 10yrs) who was blind and looked very ill.  He slept fitfully most of the way holding a vomit bowl - every time he moved I inched away hoping not to be covered in whatever he may produce.  The poor little fellow was filthy in clothes that did not fit and a wooden stick to support himself.  He fell asleep on my shoulder and I fell in love with him - his grandfather was next to him and smiled beautifully at me - he was equally filthy with ill fitting clothes.  When they alighted the bus I noticed that the boy was blind in both eyes - knowing that the bowl may have been for begging.  I wish we could have given them some money but we had used all our Guatemalan Quetzals before the border and not obtained any Honduran Lempiras as yet.   

14 50 20 N 89 09 21 W

Arriving in Copan was exciting and such a relief - that is until our bus driver would not allow us to alight at the normal terminal but insist the driver take us a further 2 blocks so he could show us his family hotel which he assured us we would like to stay at.  Off our bag went again....the hotel was excellent and $16 per night for the two of us - not the cheapest around but it is very clean, has tv, a ceiling fan and a fan on a stick, bathroom was the best we have had so far - and hot water!!!!  The owner is lovely - he was quietly waiting outside that evening with a brand new blanket for our bed and in the morning when I opened the door there he was sitting patiently on a chair waiting for us to appear so he could deliver hot coffee - what a wonderful man.  I am sure we are paying more than normal for the accommodation to take in the hawker's tip but it is worth every cent to be able to help such a thoughtful man - oh and they clean the room every day and give us fresh towels - that has not happened before either.  I want to stay here forever !!!

Copan is safe, clean and beautiful little town.  We spent the following day looking around the town, checking out the places to eat, where Don finds his daily does of ice cream and of course the artisan shops for me.  

The next day we were off to the ruins - they were as interesting and spectacular as we had been led to believe.  The Mayans certainly built massive cities with intricate carvings.  It was as recent as 1989 that archeologists discovered the most recent tomb complete with jade, ceramic and  gold offerings.

Coban to Flores and Tikal

Coban to Flores and Tikal

1/03/2010

17 13 18 N 89 37 27 W

Our entire day was spent in a mini bus traveling from Coban to Flores.  Flores is a "frying pan" island on the Lago de Peten Itza.  It is very small and very pretty with cobble stone narrow streets mostly made up of restaurants, travel agencies and artisan shops.

We caught a shuttle bus to Tikal ruins site at 5am - the site opens at 6am and we wanted to see the sun rise over the temples.  The site closes before sunset which was a disappointment to us.  It was cool in the morning - a pleasant change from the heat we had become accustomed to.  

Tikal was wonderful, impressive, incredible, amazing etc etc - what can I say.  The archeological sites are hidden amongst the thick jungle through which climbs spider and howler monkeys - the latter seem to think it is a good idea to defecate on humans as they walk past as a territorial sign - Don and I walked around any paths with heavy branches overhead!!  We could see the result of some of the debris from missed targets !  We spent 6 hours exploring the ruins - there are very little restrictions to exploring this area - ruins can be explored thoroughly, pyramids climbed - there was one high temple where climbing was prevented - that measure taken after a few tourists fell to their deaths.  Some temples had makeshift steps connected to the top of the structure - these steps being rickardy to say the least. 

We were glad to have made the effort to endure the long journey and many hours of bus travel to see these ancient marvels.