Central America

I think a blog is supposed to keep a regular update of what I'm doing. Well i seem to have missed a few countries or so. Its Christmas now and Central America has come and gone. I've been through Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama. In a few days I'll be in Colombia, South America....





Guatemala

The last time i wrote, i was on my way from Mexico to Guatemala. The normal way is by road in the south or the north, but another route takes you to a couple of interesting Mayan sites on the river Rio Usumacinta, and then across the water border into Guatemala. The border facilities are basic, not even a set up of steps up the slippery mud bank, and you don't complete formalities until you take a bus ride 5km along a bumpy jungly gravel road.

The reason for this adventurous route is to gain easy access to Tikal, one of the premier Mayan sites in Central America.  Towering pyramids poking through the jungle, howler monkeys swinging through the branches, and brightly coloured parrots squawking in the morning, and millennia old ceremonial temples. After a 5am bus to the ruins, it was great to be one of the first to enter the park and see a few animals that would surely disappear into the bushes as soon as the tour groups arrived.

Tikal

Tikal

After relaxing at Tres Amigos hostel for the rest of the day i took a night bus "best avoided due to bandits and accidents" to Guatemala city, 10 hours to the south. Then one of the most interesting 'chicken bus' rides i have ever taken, to Antigua. Unfortunately no photos, but try imagining rows of seats on a bus with imaginary seats stuck in the middle of the rows. Once the real rows were filled up 2 more people were wedged into the space between them, so tightly that they didn't need real seats to sit down, suspended by each other with bent knees in sitting positions. The only problem was that when anyone got on or off, all the spaces that had filled up so far had to un-wedge themselves and let the people through, then re-wedge to sit down again. Is that clear?! Well, you had to be there, it was very funny!

The funny bus took me to Antigua, a town famous for Semana Santa, Holy Week celebrations. I hope to get back here in April for this very colourful, religious festival. For now though, i spent a few days walking around the town and up and down one of its volcanoes - Volcan Agua (3766m). The weather was great and the town pretty, but when i climbed Agua, a cloud developed near the top and i couldn't even see my feet, let alone the city below. I decided to turn round as it was already dark and starting to rain, and not being the highest peak in the country (one i will get to in April) i didn't feel too bad about descending early. I got down at 9pm and hitch a ride back down to Antigua. don't try this at home kids! And was picked up by a family who took me straight into Parque central without saying a word, or asking for money. Just very nice hospitality.

Antigua

Antigua

The next destination and a new country was El Salvador, supposedly extremely dangerous, not just, very dangerous like Guatemala. First i had to negotiate Guatemala city to get a bus to the border, unfortunately i took a shuttle bus (which i thought would be quicker and safer, albeit more expensive) which recommended i go to the Tika bus company to go the rest of the way. When we turned up i they told me the next bus would be the next day, and even though it was in the middle of nowhere, the shuttle driver just wanted to dump me there and fend for myself. Luckily a Swiss woman was able to persuade him in Spanish, to take me to a different station in the centre to look for a connection. After that my basic spanish was able to find my way to place that would take me across the border. 

El Salvador

Five hours later i was in Santa Ana, in the dark, walking through a closed market to a cheap hotel. After a few minutes i passed two heavily armed policemen, which made me feel a lot safer. The hotel, which was no longer cheap, was at least welcoming, and can even be enjoyed by the hour for those in a hurry. According to my guide book (Lonely Planet) an 8.30am bus would take me to Santa Ana Volcano which could be climbed, accompanied by armed policemen and a guide, at 11am only.

Be careful not to miss this bus, the book says, as its the only one that will get you to the entrance on time. So, i get up at 7am, even though i hate mornings, have breakfast, and get to the station 15 minutes early, only to find the times have changed and i have missed the bus which left at 8am.  I go back to my hotel :( and ask if there is another way to get there. The owner runs to the station to find out and comes back with no good news. But he offers to drive me and catch up with the bus only for the price of petrol. I look at the sky which is already clouding over and decide to wait until tomorrow. I go to my room already stocked with food for the day out and read up on all the South America country guides (only half believing the information now!)  I have 23 1/2 hours until the next bus. At least there are volcano paintings on the room walls to keep me motivated :)

The next day is cloudy too, but its a novelty to be taken up a mountain by police with machine guns. Tourists used to be robbed hiking here, so, for our own protection, we go prepared, with more than a swiss army knife!  When we get to the top the sky above the crater is clear and gleaming sunshine is lighting up the turquoise green lake at the bottom. Its worth the wait, and the effort.

I go straight from the Volcano to San Salvador, the capital, again arriving at night. I'd already arranged to stay with local guy with couchsurfing (www.couchsurfing.com) and he was to pick me up when i arrived. I dont have a phone though so i asked a young guy, in spanish, if he knew when i could find a public phone, but he just gave me his phone and let me use i Alfredo had had a flat tire and couldn't pick me up, and it all got a bit complicated then, but in the end i found a taxi driver who called Alfredo and gave him directions. There was a dollar on the floor of the taxi when i got in, and when i arrived the driver overcharged me a dollar too. Karma.

My host was a professional tour guide, and he gave me a lot of great information, as well as a run down on the recent, bloody history of his country, which he himself lived through. Just like other places, for example Cambodia, that have gone through similar struggles, the people were incredibly friendly and showed no signs, openly at least, of what had happened during the revolution in the 80's.  Out of all the countries in Central America, El Salvador has to have the friendliest people by far. Everywhere i went someone would help me out. On the way to the bus station out of San Salvador 5 people told me how to find my way, and i hadn't even asked them for directions.

San Salvador

San Salvador

San Salvador

San Salvador

San Salvador

San Salvador

San Salvador

San Salvador

El Salvador is such a small country, and easy and cheap to get around ($1 for 2 hours on the bus) that you can do a lot in one day. Get up early to climb a volcano, see some museums in the morning, go to the beach in the afternoon, and come back to the city for dinner or shopping in evening.

My last stop was a trip to the highest peak in El Salvador, Cerro Pital (2700m) near the Honduran Border. I got there late though and ended up walking up in the dark and sleeping in the ticket office! then walking up before day break for the top. No good views though, thanks to the foggy weather. Going to the border of Honduras i took a ride in the back of a truck, standing room only with 20 other people.

Honduras

Crossing the border is about the easiest thing to do in Honduras, all bus rides seem to take hours more than they should and i spent probably half my waking hours here on public transport. Once you arrive there are some nice places, but it takes a lot of energy out of you just getting somewhere.

Copan Ruins, another Mayan site, was my favourite out of the five I went to. The carvings are far more detailed, and you can see more of the personality of the people who had carved them, compared to places like Tikal which only had step pyramids with much less character.

 

Gracias (thank you) is actually a small town with a high mountain, well at 2800m its the highest in Honduras. Its also a cloud forest, i don't know why they didn't go the whole hog and call it a rain forest, as it didn't stop raining the two days i was there. And even less views than in El Salvador. And no animals either, Central America is supposed to be one of the most bio-diverse places on earth, but after 2 months here, visiting 7 parks, and seeing nothing, I'm ready to go to Panama Zoo to see what i is supposed to be out there.

The next day i try to get to Teguchigalpa the capital of Honduras, it looks like an easy 3 hours east on the map, but after 9 hours travelling west, north, south and finally east, i still haven't made it, so stop at a lake/ birding centre, known worldwide, with two Americans that i climbed with at Gracias. They know a place to stay that is run by an American who has set up his own brewery near the lake, its also famous for their chocolate brownies, so i figure its a good a place as any to stop at.

In the morning we go for a walk to the lake, and see a few birds and leaf cutter ants making their way with their oversized prizes.

I finally get to the capital in the afternoon, and take a stroll around this gritty town which is heavily patrolled by police keeping their single tourist safe from the bad guys while he photographs their pretty churches during the day and into the night.

Nicaragua

Chinandega is the base for San Cristobal at only 1707m, Nicaragua's highest peak, or so i thought, I've just discovered there is a higher one at 2100m up in the north and not even mentioned in my guide book. Doh! I'll have to go back again!

The peak was small but very very long, especially as the bus driver dropped me off in the wrong place, adding a whole other volcano in the way of the one i was climbing. A kind farmer on a motorbike cut 2 hours of my walk, but 8 hours and a lot of bush whacking later, i was at the base of the volcano i meant to climb. Getting up from there was easy and a smoking crater greeted me at the top. The loose volcanic rock on the way down though was a nightmare and slipping down most of it cut my legs up, but nothing serious. The walk out was just as long and hard to find in the dark!

San Cristobal

San Cristobal

Leon and Granada are Nicaragua's two showcase colonial towns, very safe, very pretty and lots of churches! This is where the tours will take you and the country will look like a wonderful place from here!

Leon

Leon

Leon

Leon

Leon

Leon

Granada

Granada

Granada

The beach town of San Juan del Sur is an easy stop on the way to Costa Rica. A lot of surfers hang out here, so the atmosphere is very relaxed and there are lots of bars and hostels to stay at. Just don't believe the taxi drivers when they say there are no more buses to wherever you are going, they are very friendly liars when it comes to business!

My final stop would be Lake Ometepe with a volcano capped island in the middle. The boat over and coming back was incredibly scenic, but i wanted to climb one of the volcanoes on the island during the day i would be there. Volcan Concepcion is deemed too dangerous to climb alone (at least that's what the locals tell you), so i had to hire a guide. He didn't turn up though so i left in not the best mood. What a waste, i should have just gone myself. At least the views from the boat were great!

Costa Rica

I knew Costa Rica was a premier destination for eco-tourism, but i didn't realise just how many national parks and attractions there would be here. I think it would take a month to see everything, so i decided to that i will come back another time and just climb the highs peak here. After a night out in San Jose, the capital (with a very large goth scene), i continued on the PanAmerican highway to Isidro del Gerado the base town for climbing Cerro Chirripo (3820m).

Hotel Chirripo - a nice big, clean room, with TV and wi-fi for $14, gave me views of the square and a huge parade and festival that was going on by coincidence. Fireworks until midnight kept me awake and then a 4 hour nap before taking the only bus which left at 5am!

Stupidly you have to get off the bus at the ranger station 2km before the trail to pay the park fee $10 and refuge $15, but the bus doesn't wait for you! Luckily two Americans with a rental car were paying at the same time and they gave me a ride to the top. I walked with them for the two days it took to get up and down Chirripo. Chuck from Ohio and his nephew Greg, a 24 year old fighter pilot in the US Navy!

Staying at the refuge was nice, it even had wi-fi at 3400m!! and yes i had my laptop with me! Annoyingly though the ranger had dated my receipt the incorrectly by 1 day, and the refuge warden wasn't at all understanding, but i wasn't about to be turned back after 7 hours walking uphill!

A late 4am start got me the final 5km to the top for sunrise (if only it had shown) but i managed to get a good view for about 5 minutes near the top, some nice summit pics and the most unusual rainbows I've ever seen. The long 20 kms trail brought me back to the end of my hike, and my comfortable hotel further down the road. 

Panama

Not much of a rest as, today my bus was even earlier at 4.45am and took me to the border of Costa Rica and Panama. Crossing would have been simple if the bus had not crossed the border before dropping people off. I went through all the formalities of getting into Panama, showing all my cash! and showing a ticket out of the country which was on my computer, so i had to open it up in front of everyone (not so safe at land borders!), and then told i didn't have a stamp out of Costa Rica. Some of the countries i have been through didn't have exit procedures so i assumed this was the same, but unfortunately i had to carry all my things back to Costa Rica, exit properly, then go back and do the same at the Panama border. Luckily i'd booked a flight out of Panama to Colombia, so didn't have to buy a useless ticket i wouldn't use like some Australians i met earlier.

Panama's highest peak is just across the border in Bouquete. I was hoping to get a rest before climbing Volcan Baru (3475m), but by 11pm i was joining a group of 6 backpackers make a moonlit midnight ascent. If they were going, i couldn't let them go without me!

Panama City

A trip to the Panama Canal, one of the world's greatest engineering feats, is a must see in Panama. You have to time it right though, the big ships only go through in the afternoon, and can be a huge disappointment if you miss this. 

Its incredible that we have been able to cut through a whole continent to enable cheap Chinese products to circulate the globe. Unfortunately, it also cuts through the land bridge for animals migrating and breeding through North and South America. A lot of animals wouldn't even exists if it weren't for the narrow passage linking these two continents.

Christmas Day 2010

Christmas in Panama is not to be recommended. I've been waiting 3 days for a restaurant to open, and had to cook spaghetti on Christmas Day which i bought in a Chinese supermarket :(  There are a few high end places in the hotels which stay open but nothing in the budget or middle range for travellers. Very unmemorable this year, except for the church outside my window less than 20 feet away, with Christmas songs coming over my balcony.

At least it has given me time to catch up with this blog and organise my photos a bit.

Tonight I'm off to Colombia, i was thinking about a 5 days boat trip from here to Cartagena but i would prefer to spend those 5 days seeing Colombia more than the open seas. I think my plan has paid off too, as a  lot of boats have been canceled with bad weather. I just hope the hurricane passing through doesn't upset the flight over.

Happy New Year!!!