We couldn't believe how lucky we were when we turned up to my Auntie Karens and her husband Lorne's magnificent house in Managua, Nicaragua. We spent the first two days with them getting treated to amazing food and a few of the local sights including Granada on the shores of Lake Nicaragua and Volcan Masaya with its overwhelmingly smoky crater. Then during the second night Karen and Lorne left for a wedding in Canada, trusting us with their four bedroom house, maid and pool boy. As they walked out the door we were given the keys to the Rav4 and specifically told not to replace anything we used. When my parents heard about this they were worried we would never leave, and really in the twelve days we were there we hardly left the house. We only ventured out for food and it was bliss. We may not have seen as much of Managua as we could have but there's only so many sights you can see before everything becomes mundane and you need some time out. This would be our second stop of the trip both times thanks to the wonderful Karen and Lorne who had also housed us in Bolivia. Without them we would never had had the chance to recharge our travel batteries and we thank them the world over!
On Sunday the 15th of September we finally left Managua and by this time we had organised and backed-up over two thousand photos, written three blogs and planned how we would continue to travel whilst having no money (meaning faster and stopping to work in the US). We had also spent a fair amount of time watching Team New Zealand compete in the 34th Americas Cup sailing race. But despite TNZ coming very close, the winner of the famous mug remained unknown, so more racing was to come. During the following week we would spend even more time looking for wifi so we could keep watching.
Not far out of Managua while driving well under the speed limit we were stopped by two scruffy Policemen on a motorbike. The whole thing felt suspiciously like a bribe from the start but when they told us to follow them then stopped under a tree and started saying that the GPS was "prohibito" before starting the whole 'ticket' thing, we knew they were full of it. Will saw an opportunity to grab his licence back from the unarmed policeman and we took off to freedom. They looked stunned but didn't follow us. We could have left the licence, it was fake anyway but we had heard we might be needing it again soon in the notorious stretch across Honduras and they certainly weren't easy to make good copies of.
Later that afternoon we arrived in the colonial town of Leon with the idea that we would go sandboarding down nearby Cerro Negro. Previously my Aunty Karen had badly broken her shoulder doing this but not to worry. As usual we were unprepared even after so long with the internet so we drove round in a few circles before finally finding a hostel who confirmed we could hire boards at the park entry and camp inside the park. The road there was busy with animal traffic and was not suitable for city dwelling vehicles, still with only 2wd a few times Will had to put his foot down to ensure the momentum kept us moving through some deep mud puddles. When we arrived the laid back park ranger gave us our tickets and boards then we drove into the black gravel lava at the base of the hill. Too eager to look for the track we puffed our way straight up the face; every time we put two steps forward we went one step backwards in the soft pebble scree. At the top the view of the black lava with smoking vents against the lush green of the surrounding mountains was fantastic but we could see a band of rain heading our way. There are no photos of us boarding down the hill because a few minutes later the heavens opened up and bucketed down on us. There wasn't much to do other than make the most of it so after the run down wet, sticky and sandy we climbed straight back up the face of Cerro Negro. This time a little slower as our energy was fading as fast as the light. The second run down proved tame as the boards obviously need to be resurfaced between each run otherwise they barley move. Back at the car, in a rare moment of preplanning we had filled the solar shower in Managua thus we could 'de-sand' before cooking dinner and climbing into bed to watch a movie.
Not far out of Managua while driving well under the speed limit we were stopped by two scruffy Policemen on a motorbike. The whole thing felt suspiciously like a bribe from the start but when they told us to follow them then stopped under a tree and started saying that the GPS was "prohibito" before starting the whole 'ticket' thing, we knew they were full of it. Will saw an opportunity to grab his licence back from the unarmed policeman and we took off to freedom. They looked stunned but didn't follow us. We could have left the licence, it was fake anyway but we had heard we might be needing it again soon in the notorious stretch across Honduras and they certainly weren't easy to make good copies of.
Later that afternoon we arrived in the colonial town of Leon with the idea that we would go sandboarding down nearby Cerro Negro. Previously my Aunty Karen had badly broken her shoulder doing this but not to worry. As usual we were unprepared even after so long with the internet so we drove round in a few circles before finally finding a hostel who confirmed we could hire boards at the park entry and camp inside the park. The road there was busy with animal traffic and was not suitable for city dwelling vehicles, still with only 2wd a few times Will had to put his foot down to ensure the momentum kept us moving through some deep mud puddles. When we arrived the laid back park ranger gave us our tickets and boards then we drove into the black gravel lava at the base of the hill. Too eager to look for the track we puffed our way straight up the face; every time we put two steps forward we went one step backwards in the soft pebble scree. At the top the view of the black lava with smoking vents against the lush green of the surrounding mountains was fantastic but we could see a band of rain heading our way. There are no photos of us boarding down the hill because a few minutes later the heavens opened up and bucketed down on us. There wasn't much to do other than make the most of it so after the run down wet, sticky and sandy we climbed straight back up the face of Cerro Negro. This time a little slower as our energy was fading as fast as the light. The second run down proved tame as the boards obviously need to be resurfaced between each run otherwise they barley move. Back at the car, in a rare moment of preplanning we had filled the solar shower in Managua thus we could 'de-sand' before cooking dinner and climbing into bed to watch a movie.
The next morning we woke up at 5am in order to arrive at the Honduras border before 9am. We were armed with multiple cans of coke to help sweet-talk any corrupt policemen and had the safety triangles within easy reach. Honduras is said to be a bit of a dangerous country with an even worse reputation especially for overlanders. Many opt to pass through it in one day by driving straight to El Salvador 150km away at the nearest point. The truth is its probably not as bad as everyone says especially if you keep out of the capital city Tegucigalpa and we had no trouble during our transit. Of the three check points only once did they check our documents and after doing so we got them back within the minute. We didn't need our cokes at all in the end and if it wasn't for the fact that we have a super tight budget to get us to the States we would have spent a week or so giving the place a chance.
Leaving Honduras was painless and entering El Salvador turned out to be one of our most enjoyable border crossings yet. It took about three hours but we met a French guy called Adrien traveling in an Argentinean Combi van. He was as nice as they come and offered us cold beers to drink in the sweltering heat. We also met an older Guatemalan man traveling by car with his Colombian friend who were very friendly and chatty. We all melted together in the sun until finally the Aduana had our car papers ready. Then we hit the road hoping to meet up with Adrien again in the beach town of El Esteron. We were heading to the coast in the hopes of being able to see a turtle laying its eggs and release some baby turtles into the ocean. In El Esteron for $5us we found a place to camp right on the beach but unfortunately discovered that at the sanctuary a few doors down they had had a celebration the previous night where they had also released all their baby turtles. Despite this we ended up staying two nights there as they had a 3G modem stick we used to watch two more Americas cup races. We won one but painfully lost the other. Also a Swiss couple in a Landcruiser camper with two large dogs arrived after the first night so we hungout with them and swapped stories and travel tips.
Leaving Honduras was painless and entering El Salvador turned out to be one of our most enjoyable border crossings yet. It took about three hours but we met a French guy called Adrien traveling in an Argentinean Combi van. He was as nice as they come and offered us cold beers to drink in the sweltering heat. We also met an older Guatemalan man traveling by car with his Colombian friend who were very friendly and chatty. We all melted together in the sun until finally the Aduana had our car papers ready. Then we hit the road hoping to meet up with Adrien again in the beach town of El Esteron. We were heading to the coast in the hopes of being able to see a turtle laying its eggs and release some baby turtles into the ocean. In El Esteron for $5us we found a place to camp right on the beach but unfortunately discovered that at the sanctuary a few doors down they had had a celebration the previous night where they had also released all their baby turtles. Despite this we ended up staying two nights there as they had a 3G modem stick we used to watch two more Americas cup races. We won one but painfully lost the other. Also a Swiss couple in a Landcruiser camper with two large dogs arrived after the first night so we hungout with them and swapped stories and travel tips.
El Salvador is such a small county you could drive across it in one day. We had budgeted for five but after talking to the Swiss they like many others spoke much more highly of Guatemala and recommended only one more spot called the Ruta del Flores (route of the flowers) in El Salvador. So on Wednesday the 18th we left the beach, lunched in the capital city of San Salvador then cruised on through to the Ruta del Flores. It was rainy season which also means low season; the only real reason tourists come to these countries in the low season is to see the turtles so the Ruta del Flores didn't really contain many flowers. None the less we stopped in at the town of Juayua and followed the Swiss recommended GPS points to a beautiful waterfall. They warned us about getting the Dodge stuck on the steep dirt track but after an enjoyable swim in the super clear cold water with some local kids we gunned the Dodge up the dry track no problem. Our next stop was in Concepción de Ataco a tourist town known for its street murals and fine tapestry work. Will and I walked around in the late afternoon sun with a bus load of Asian tourists who had pulled in next to us. We explored all the little pathways and courtyards and stumbled on some colourful sights. We weren't sure where to camp that night so pushed on towards the Guatemala border. Just outside of Ahuachapan we spied an empty looking hotel and restaurant and asked if we could eat at the restaurant then sleep in their car park 'gratis'. The manager agreed but wanted a tour of our car, we obliged then had a lovely dinner, we were the only ones there and he gave us the TV remote for some old episodes of Two and a Half Men.
In the morning we wondered what all the noise we could hear was. I popped my head out of the door and discovered that there was a large protest going on and that the road was blocked beginning on the left side of the driveway, thankfully though we needed to go right. We quietly and quikly arranged the car from sleeping to driving mode and I hastily drove out past the police officers while Will captured the action with the camera. Before long we arrived at the border where it took about two hours to enter Guatemala, it seemed like they had never processed a foreign car before as they kept asking each other questions about what they should do. At every border we have the same problem with our Chilean ownership paper having an extra -9 on the numberplate section which is different to the car. Eventually they always seem to decide that its ok and let us through.
Now in Guatemala we again hoped that we could see some turtles and that we would've by now won the Americas Cup. So we followed the road signs to the beach town of Monterrico even though Google maps showed the road ending at a river. Evidently it did end at a river and we had to take an old vehicle barge through the reedlands to the beach. In Monterrico we stayed at a beach front hostel named Jonny's Place in the otherwise empty dorm room. The guy at reception told us that they would be releasing turtles that night and that they had wifi. With all our bases covered we settled in for a few days.
Rochelle & Will
Rochelle & Will