Archive for the El Salvador Category

Welcome to Panama!

Here’s a short video showing the street flooding from our hotel in El Salvador and the celebration after the Costa Ricans won their match against Greece in a penalty shootout.

Our last night on the road en route to our house sitting gig in Panama was spent on Costa Rica’s hot, steamy pacific coast. After setting up camp we spent the afternoon playing in the sand on the beach.

Playing on the beach in Costa Rica

Playing on the beach in Costa Rica

Our campsite amongst the palms

Our campsite amongst the palms

The next morning we set out early, hoping to cross the border into Panama and be in Boquete in time to watch the USA-Belgium soccer match. The Panama border went much like the rest of them and took about two hours. At many of the borders, especially the more chaotic ones, there are “helpers.” These are guys who look for tourists like us and help find all of the various offices, inspectors, and stamps needed to successfully navigate the border formalities.

The helpers range from outright crooks to great guys. Sometimes it’s worth getting one just to keep the others from hassling you. Elias, the helper I got for Panama, was great. He was calm and didn’t try to hurry things along, which can be stressful when you’re trying to make sure you don’t lose track of all of the different bits of paper you’re carrying around.

Bienvenidos a Panama!

Bienvenidos a Panama!

Elias helped us navigate the process and saved us lots of time. He knew we needed a particular stamp on a particular form from an un-marked office up some stairs. When we got there no one was in the office, so Elias reached in the window and grabbed the stamp and stamped the paper himself. He said the woman who works in that office leaves the stamp accessible so he can do that. He said she was probably out watching the soccer match.

Border formalities completed, and after driving through the fumigation station, we were on our way. It took us about 2 hours to reach Boquete. As we turned inland and climbed into the hills we were happy to notice things cooling off outside!

Boquete is an expat haven set in a beautiful valley filled with coffee plantations. The valley looks vaguely Swiss as you enter. We found Will and Cate, who are currently renting the house we will be sitting, in a bar watching the football match in town. We joined them and had a late lunch in the bar while cheering on the USA.

Our temporary abode

Our temporary abode

Will and Cate left for Uruguay, where they are thinking of moving next, two days later. We moved in and made ourselves at home.

Boquete is very much an expat enclave. It was recently rated the #4 place in the world to retire, and is home to many gringos and some super-expensive houses. The difference between Boquete and Panajachel (in Guatemala) is that in Pana you always know you’re in Central America and are sometimes surprised by little reminders of home. Here it feels like you’re living in a small town in the US, and sometimes you get reminded that you’re not. But there’s lots to do in the area and we’re looking forward to a couple of weeks of exploring before it’s time to move on once again!

The town's central plaza

The town’s central plaza

The valley is lush and tropical, but its high elevation keeps the climate cool.

The valley is lush and tropical, but its high elevation keeps the climate cool.

The wet climate means lots of rivers and creeks.

The wet climate means lots of rivers and creeks.

On Saturday we went on a whitewater rafting trip. Quinn really enjoyed the first half, but 3 hours on the river proved a little much for him.

On Saturday we went on a whitewater rafting trip. Quinn really enjoyed the first half, but 3 hours on the river proved a little much for him.

We saw squirrel monkeys, cormorants, and egrets along the river.

We saw squirrel monkeys, cormorants, and egrets along the river.

Our lunch stop featured lots of great rocks to play with.

Our lunch stop featured lots of great rocks to play with.

One year anniversary

June 27, 2013 was the day that we finally had everything moved out of our house in Denver and hit the road in our van. Up until last week, we had only been to four countries, not including the USA. Over the past week we’ve doubled that!

We have to admit that the frequent border crossings are getting a bit old. They all seem to take about 2 hours, and involve a fair bit of stress worrying about whether you’ve gotten all of the proper pieces of paper and still remember where they all are.

But as I write this we’re sitting at the Lake Arenal Brewery in Costa Rica enjoying the first real micro-brewed beer we’ve had since leaving San Diego 7 months ago. Yay! But I get ahead of myself; that’s the subject of a future post!

Shortly after we posted the last web update from San Miguel, El Salvador, it started to rain, hard. In no time the street in front of our hotel turned into a river about a foot deep, and we were glad we had a room on the second floor.

This guy's getting wet.

This guy’s getting wet.

Many overlanders choose to cross Honduras in a single day, because it is supposedly the most dangerous country in Central America. We choose to follow the same path, but only because our schedule for arriving at our house sitting assignment in Panama doesn’t allow for quite as much time sightseeing as we might like. We crossed from El Salvador to Honduras at about 10am, and by 3pm we were in Nicaragua.

We choose a different route through Honduras in order to use a smaller border crossing in the highlands, and doing so afforded us the opportunity to see the amazing, verdant greenery of southern Honduras.

We choose a different route through Honduras in order to use a smaller border crossing in the highlands, and doing so afforded us the opportunity to see the amazing, verdant greenery of southern Honduras.

Our first thought on entering Nicaragua was, “Muy tranquilo.” Traffic was light, and the roads that we shared with donkey carts were good. We found a spot to camp not far from the border that first night.

The next day we went to Lago Apoyo where we spent two nights relaxing at a backpackers hangout by the lake. They had good food and the lake was plenty warm enough to swim in. We spent a very relaxing couple of days there.

Witt and Quinn enjoy the floating dock on Lago Apoyo

Witt and Quinn enjoy the floating dock on Lago Apoyo

Mom gives swimming lessons. Quinn has really taken to the water lately and is becoming quite a fish.

Mom gives swimming lessons. Quinn has really taken to the water lately and is becoming quite a fish.

Looking across the lake from the hostel's restaurant

Looking across the lake from the hostel’s restaurant

A rain storm interrupted our swimming one afternoon.

A rain storm interrupted our swimming one afternoon.

After the lake we went to Granada, which is a favorite destination of travelers and expats. It’s easy to see why. The feeling of tranquility continued, with light city traffic. We had no problem finding a place to park in the center of town, and spent a rainy morning exploring the city.

The central plaza in Granada

The central plaza in Granada

The town's old railroad station featured the first steam engine we've seen since California!

The town’s old railroad station featured the first steam engine we’ve seen since California!

We hired a guide to give us a tour of the town in a horse-drawn carriage

We hired a guide to give us a tour of the town in a horse-drawn carriage

Granada has a nice pedestrian street and several beautiful churches

Granada has a nice pedestrian street and several beautiful churches

We didn’t spend the night in Granada, opting instead to go to the nearby Masaya Volcano National Park. We were able to camp in the visitor’s center parking lot where we enjoyed a very quiet evening – no barking dogs!! The next morning we drove up to the rim of an active volcano. Seriously, a few years ago this thing spat out a rock that smashed someone’s car. There are signs advising you to back in so you can make a quick getaway if needed!

Volcan Masaya

Volcan Masaya

We did some short hikes around the volcano and left around mid-morning, headed for the beach. We’d heard that it was possible to see nesting turtles near the surf town of San Juan del Sur. That made a good starting point for the Costa Rican border the next day. It was a bit of an adventure to reach the turtle sanctuary, which is located 18km south of San Juan del Sur on a slow dirt road. They let us camp in the parking lot, and we spent the afternoon playing on the beach. The surf was gentle, and Quinn had a fantastic time playing in the waves. We all enjoyed the chance to cool off in the water.

Playing in the surf

Playing in the surf

Nicaraguan beach horses

Nicaraguan beach horses

That night we went out with Quinn’s headlamp (set to red, so as not to scare off the turtles), but unfortunately it was still early season and Quinn got bored of looking for turtles, so he and Jen headed back to the van. I stayed out and eventually one of the refuge’s employees found me and showed me to where a turtle was laying her eggs in the sand.

These are the same type of turtles that Quinn had released as babies back in Sayulita in January. Now it’s the beginning of their nesting season, where the females crawl up onto the beach to lay their eggs above high tide line. Without human intervention, the eggs would hatch 45 days later and the babies would dig themselves out of the sand and crawl to the ocean.

Now the turtles are endangered, and pretty much anywhere there are eggs laid there are people who collect them to allow them to hatch in captivity. I watched as the employee pulled about 50 eggs out from under the female and put them in a plastic bag to carry back to the hatchery where they were put in a big sack of sand to hatch. I found it somewhat disappointing that humans have to be involved in this process.

With only a few days left until we’re due in Panama, so tomorrow we head to the border of Costa Rica.

Leaving Guatemala or The Limits of Maps

Quinn’s last day at school was on a Wednesday, and with a long drive to Panama to complete by early July to take up our post as house sitters there, we thought about leaving Panajachel on Friday morning. But we couldn’t turn down an invitation to our friends Tony and Aimee’s house for one last Friday night party, so we decided to head out on Saturday morning.

Jen said the graduation ceremony at Quinn's school was quite moving.

Jen said the graduation ceremony at Quinn’s school was quite moving.

After graduation we went to have cake for lunch. Yum.

After graduation we went to have cake for lunch. Yum.

We spent Friday packing up the van. It’s always amazing to us how much stuff we can pull out of the van and how it all seems to fit back in once again. No wonder it’s so heavy!

We thoroughly enjoyed the party on Friday. Tony, by his own account, squeezed about 200 limes and made a huge pitcher of margaritas. They also put on a wonderful tostada bar, and everyone left happy and full.

The next morning after a nice pancake breakfast we were all set for a 10am departure when Quinn started complaining of a tummy ache. Normally those are no big deal, but by the time we were ready to leave he was laying in bed, almost asleep. This is very uncharacteristic Quinn behavior. Jen got ahold of the same doctor who had helped him with his ear infection the week before. We took him to see her and she determined that it wasn’t his appendix, which was our biggest concern. She said he was constipated, gave us some medicine, and suggested we stick with our plans to go to Antigua since there was a good hospital there that we could visit if he didn’t improve.

So at 1pm, with the afternoon rains threatening, we headed out for what we thought was going to be about a 2-hour drive along the scenic route to Antigua.

Someone should bring a film crew to Guatemala to document "Pimp my School Bus"

Someone should bring a film crew to Guatemala to document “Pimp my School Bus”

After traversing winding mountain roads for the better part of 2 hours, we came to the end of the road. Literally. Some farmers nearby said that there was another road we could take that would get us to Antigua, and with some trepidation we set off down that road, rather than the alternative of a 2-hour drive back to Pana to try again the next day.

The end of the road. So this is what the guidebooks mean when they say that roads can become impassible during the rainy season!

The end of the road. So this is what the guidebooks mean when they say that roads can become impassible during the rainy season!

Time to turn back...

Time to turn back…

After winding up and around steep dirt roads in the rain and fog for another 45 minutes we were relieved to find ourselves back on a paved road and on our way to Antigua, where we arrived just in time to walk into town for a very yummy dinner including Pipian Chicken and a “Plato Tipico.”

The alternate route. We stopped to ask about half a dozen people whether this was the way to Antigua, and they all said it was. So on we go!

The alternate route. We stopped to ask about half a dozen people whether this was the way to Antigua, and they all said it was. So on we go!

From what little we saw of Antigua, it seemed like a Guatemalan version of San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. Cobblestone streets, colorful buildings, and lots of gringos!

From what little we saw of Antigua, it seemed like a Guatemalan version of San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. Cobblestone streets, colorful buildings, and lots of gringos!

Although we would have liked to explore Antigua the next day we decided to push on, conscious of the 1000 miles and 5 countries we had to traverse over the next ten to twelve days.

We arrived at the border with El Salvador at about 1pm, and aside from some of the usual border crossing stressors and hassles, were on our way again at 3, hoping to make it to a campground in time to catch the USA-Portugal World Cup match at 4.

We had GPS coordinates for what another group of travelers called “The best kept secret in El Salvador,” a coffee plantation where we would be able to camp. The plantation (or Finca) was about 5 km off the road, right between two paved roads, with dirt roads leading to it from both directions. Unfortunately we choose poorly on which road to approach from.

These things are never as straightforward as they seem. The road starts out paved, and very slowly gets worse and worse so that you keep thinking, well, we’ve come this far, we can’t turn back now. But by this time you’re in 4-lo and people walking up the road are passing you. Then you look up and realize that the road on the map has to climb up and over the giant mountain range in front of you and you realize that you’re never going to make it to somewhere with a beer and a TV in time for the football game. That’s when you realize that it’s time to turn back before you break something on your truck.

Turn back we did and eventually found the “official” entrance to the campground off the other paved road, but we still had a chance to catch the second half of the game and so we decided to camp at another finca that was closer to the main road.

It was very nice, and we enjoyed a well-deserved meal and a couple of beers at the restaurant. The only disappointment was Portugal scoring a last-minute goal to end the match in a tie.

The lodge on the coffee plantation

The lodge on the coffee plantation

The next day we drove 4 hours more to arrive in San Miguel, near the border with Honduras. The finca of the previous night wasn’t set up for camping, and with the climate getting quite hot and sticky, we opted to stay at a hotel with a pool and air-con. We spent a relaxing afternoon playing in the pool, writing a web post, and watching football matches.

There was a giant TV set up in the central plaza in San Miguel, El Salvador, showing the world cup soccer matches.

There was a giant TV set up in the central plaza in San Miguel, El Salvador, showing the world cup soccer matches.

The San Miguel Cathedral

The San Miguel Cathedral

Our hotel in San Miguel was in sort of a gritty part of town across from the bus station, but it was clean and the pool was nice.

Our hotel in San Miguel was in sort of a gritty part of town across from the bus station, but it was clean and the pool was nice.