Jul

2010

Nicaragua

By time we had made it through our hellish day of Honduras, it was pretty late at night. At the Nicaraguan border they told us there was a hotel just a few miles down the road, so we drove on with our one headlamp, and pulled into the first hotel that we found. When we pulled in we saw two other cars of travelers that we had met at the Honduran border were there as well. One car belongs to a cool group of guys from Argentina. The five of them are driving from the US back to Argentina, surfing and sightseeing along the way. The other car belonged to two girls from the US who were driving to Panama.

At the hotel, we sat around talking about our border experiences and our traveling experiences in general. After our day with the corrupt Hondurans, it was nice to see other travellers with similar experiences. On a funny side note, Luis was kind enough to lock the keys in our hotel room. He went to the manager and asked if she had a spare, in a very friendly way she said “No, but don’t worry.” She walked to the room, proceeded to remove the air conditioning unit from the wall, stuck her hand in and opened the door. We all looked at each other and in our exhaustion laughed heartily for a few minutes.

The next morning we all went our separate ways. We were the last to get on the road, and after driving for about an hour and half, we came upon two traffic cops who immediately waved us to the side of the road. As we were pulling over, we were surprised to see our Argentinean friends already pulled over, and they seemed to be in the middle of a heated argument with one of the cops. The other cop immediately came to our window and informed us that we had passed on a double line which is illegal and that we had to pay a fine. We got out of the car to see what was going on, and after talking with the other guys we soon found out that they were in the same boat. They had argued with the cop for a while before we had arrived over the same violation, and had insisted that the cop write them a ticket if they had to pay a fine rather than paying on the spot. The harassed cop was just then writing the ticket. Seeing that we knew the guys that were the object of his ire, the cop didn’t even bother talking to us about our situation, he just wrote us the same ticket and informed us that we would have to drive back to the town we had passed (about 20 minutes back the way we had come), go to the bank and pay the fine, then turn around and bring the receipt back to him, at which time he would return the drivers licenses which he was holding on to. It all made for a pretty hilarious situation, because after our experience at the border the day before we weren’t in the most lenient frame of mind towards cops, and as the cop was writing the tickets we all continued to harass him a bit, taking out our cameras and taking photos of them and pointin out to him every time a car passed on the double lane (which happens often). I don’t think the cops were very happy to be dealing with us.

The harassed cop writing out our ticket.

Once Luis and on of the Argentinians returned from paying the fine, we continued as a convoy to Granada. We made it there by early afternoon after only having one more run in with Nicaragua’s finest (this time we weren’t doing anything illegal, the cop just wanted money and we refused to give it so he let us go). We were on a tight schedule due to the fact that we had to meet friends in Costa Rica so we didn’t have time linger in this beautiful city. Granada is a very quaint city, located on Lake Nicaragua. There is a beautiful big park in the center of town, full of trees and plenty of benches to sit and take in the scene, which is surrounded by the old church and other colonial buildings. We walked around a bit in the evening and enjoyed the atmosphere of the old town. The next morning before we left we walked down to the lake. The lake is so big it looks more like the ocean and even has small waves like the ocean.

That day we headed south and out to the coast to the town of San Juan del Sur. We had read that this was a nice beach town and a popular surf spot. When we arrived in San Juan del Sur, we weren’t all that impressed. The town looked like it had been too developed for tourist standards and expat residences. We decided to head north along the coast to find a place to camp. We ended up driving about 15 miles or so north to Playa Matilda. It is a tiny area with no stores or big fancy hotels, but it has a beautiful beach and coastline, and around the point is a good surf break. We were able to camp across from a hostel right on the beach. That night was nature night at the beach, as we were treated to the sight of different size and kinds of crabs running around the beach and cicadas molting everywhere. The cicadas look like little aliens being born as they molt out of their skins, a little freaky looking. Apparently that night was cicada molting fest, because the next morning we found there discarded skins hanging everywhere, including the tires of the Landcruiser.

After only a couple of days in this beautiful country, we had to make a break for Costa Rica to meet our friends. So we found ourselves at yet another border crossing the next morning. The paper work for getting out of Nicaragua turned out to be pretty easy, but getting to the border in the first place was quite a challenge. Starting about 5 miles (yes you read that right, 5 miles) from the border, there were semis lined up and parked on the road blocking the lane to the border. We ended up driving the last 5 miles on the wrong lane, constantly diving in and out of the parked trucks to avoid oncoming traffic. I couldn’t believe how long the line of trucks was. Those poor truck drivers must have to sit there for days before they finally make it across the border. And we thought our 9 hours at the Honduran border was bad!

The line of semi trucks stretched out at the border waiting there turn.

By Lacey | Posted in Nothing yet... | Tagged blogsherpa, Granada, Nicaragua, Playa Matilda, San Juan del Sur | Comments (1)

Jul

2010

One Year on the Road! Our First Anniversary.

One year on the road. Can you believe it?

Exactly one year ago today we got rid of anything that would not fit into The Landcruiser and moved out of our beautiful wreck of a house. One year ago we said farewell to our friends and neighbors. We have been living out of the Landcruiser for one year. Living on the road, driving around the United States, Mexico and all of Central America for the last year. 9 countries and 8 border crossings in one year. Redundant? Yes, I know, but we can hardly believe it has been that long, it seems like our going away party at Humboldt Brews was just yesterday.

When we left our home in Arcata, California on July 18th 2009 the plan was to drive to Ushuaia, Argentina and back “home” to Arcata in a year and a half. Plans change, or maybe they evolve. However you look at it, our plans are definitely changing as time goes by, almost daily.

In the last year we have visited some beautiful places, been amazed by different cultures (alive and extinct), we have met some amazing people, made new friends and some strangers, had some sublime meals and loved every minute of it (well almost every minute!). The truth is The Landcruiser has become “home” and we are still in Central America even though the original plan called for us to be headed back to California by now. Don’t get us wrong we have no intention of not finishing our “Americas trip.” We have just decided to go a little slower. We have adopted the nomadic lifestyle, become vagabonds, or another way to put it is we have become the transients that so annoyed us in Arcata (well, maybe not that bad!).

What does this all mean? Who knows. At the very least it means our adventure towards Ushuaia has been extended at the very least another year and a half! Yes, December 2011 in Argentina. What happens between now and there, could be anyone’s guess. The only certainties we have are that we have some amazing countries left to visit and the fact that our plans will continue to evolve

This is by no means an accurate map or an accurate representation of our route, but it is not far from the truth...

By Luis | Posted in Nothing yet... | Comments (2)

Jul

2010

Honduras Border Crossing – The Gauntlet

We love being on the road. Driving through North and Central America has been a wonderful experience and most definitely a once in a lifetime opportunity, but there is one thing we always dread… Borders. No, not the bookstore chain, actual imaginary lines delimiting where one country ends and another one starts. There is a particular brand of bureaucracy that takes place when you are leaving/entering a country. A certain je ne sais quoi that takes over border and customs officials.

To be perfectly honest until NOW (NOW meaning the border between El Salvador with Honduras) our border crossings have been slow, but harmless. Until NOW we have not met corruption at its finest, bordering on sadism. Yes, that bad. I guess it was time for us to get our dose of the BB’s. What are BB’s? Border bastards. We follow the adventures of Rick and Kathy Howe of the Travelin’ Tortuga. A couple of years ago Kathy started referring to border officials as Border Bastards. First time we read this term we thought it was rather harsh, but here we are wholeheartedly adopting the term.

Let’s start from the beginning of our BB experience. As we planned for this particular adventure we decided not to visit Honduras, not because we do not like the country (we had a wonderful time in Honduras a few years ago), but because Honduras has a bad reputation for being a corrupt gauntlet for international drivers. Avoiding corrupt cops seems reasonable to us. The issue at hand is that Honduras spans from the Caribbean to the Pacific; therefore, there is no way to drive through Central America without “visiting” Honduras. Keeping this un-avoidability in mind we decided to cross Honduras on the west coast where there is only a small sliver of Honduras.

After spending a few lovely days at the Azul Surf Club, in El Cuco, El Salvador, we decided it was time to head south to Nicaragua. We got up early-ish and headed for the border. Leaving El Salvador was relatively painless, less than a half hour and we were out of the country. Then we made our first mistake of the day. We hired a “helper” or “Tramitante.” A tramitante is a person that runs around and supposedly helps you run the gauntlet of paperwork at borders for a small fee or a tip. We have never done this before and we had at some point tacitly decided not to ever do it. However, having heard Honduras was particularly rough on vehicle crossings, and hearing the tramitantes tell us they could get us through in less than an hour, we went against our better judgement and hired one. Strike One. With our helper in tow we crossed the bridge into Honduras where a young police officer pulled us over and demanded our paperwork (before arriving at customs). This is where the S#%T hit the fan. The smart young officer found a “discrepancy” on the title of our vehicle. For some reason California DMV has an expiration date on the title (the pink slip, not the registration, the title. The title is good for the life of the vehicle (or until it is sold). This detail was all this young entrepreneur needed to detain us and impound the Landcruiser unless we paid him $50, of course! Strike Two.

Within minutes the entire police force and the customs officials knew that there was a nice juicy loophole in the paperwork of a certain Gringo registered Landcruiser. The fine young cop must have spread the word via Text and perhaps our “friendly” helper spread the word as well. Needless to say, the rest of the day went down hill from that point on. It is really hard and irritating to remember and describe what happened this scorchingly hot and humid day at the border. 9 hours! That’s right 9 hours of frustration. At first we were trying to adhere to our “smile, be friendly and take it like a champ” attitude, but after 5 hours, 2 cab rides back to an ATM in El Salvador and by the end of a 2 hour lunch break of the customs officials I was loudly cursing at everybody and the thought crossed our minds that I might be lynched right here in Honduras. Lacey was trying to figure out how on earth she would tell my family

Our “helper” had suddenly turned into 2 helpers without us realizing what was going on. While one ran around pretending to help me, the other stayed with Lacey and the Landcruiser. Unbeknownst to me Lacey’s companion was a true creep. Lacey later informed me that he hit on her and harrased her for a while and after pretending not to understand him for the greater part of the afternoon, she finally cracked and loudly and profanely told him what she thought of him. He finally slithered away and left her in relative peace. Lacey decided that telling me at that point would not be wise in my current and seemingly permanent state of irascibility. After she told me the following day I agreed with her decision. I can just read the headlines: “U.S. citizen lynched at a small border town of Honduras after he shouted profanities at the entire police department and the customs officials in town… Oh, and he murdered a “tramitante” for hitting on his traveling companion.”

The reason our day stretched for so long boils down to the fact that we refused to dish out an inordinately high payola the customs official in charge wanted. We could have just paid and probably been through in a short amount of time, but they wanted too much. Greedy cheeky monkeys. We met a European couple driving a nice car that paid (in excess of $200) and were through in a matter of 45 minutes, but we could not bring ourselves to do that… well in the end we caved. I even called the U.S. Embassy, they kindly informed me there was nothing they could do. After more than hours of indignation I went, with my metaphoric tail between my legs, to our helper and told him I would pay. As if to keep some sense of honor I lowered the bribe about 10% whooopee-de-doo.

That was not the end of it. Oh no, how could it be. Our permit was not to enter Honduras, but to drive through the country. In order to make sure we complied we were mandated to take an escort with us. WITH us! Unless everything in the Landcruiser is carefully re-organized we have no backseat, just tons of stuff. How where we going to fit a passenger at this point I had no idea. To make things worse, we met our escort all 5’5″ and 325lbs of him! We incredulously looked at the customs official showed him the inside of the Landcruiser and asked him: “Where, pray tell, are we going to stuff this portly gentleman?” He replied without skipping a heartbeat by telling us “skinny” Lacey could fit somewhere in there if the escort sat in the front passenger seat. Lacey nearly had a conniption, it was awesome because that had been my state most of the afternoon. Needless to say, there is nothing better than a pissed off woman to grease some wheels. Within a few minutes a skinny young man was assigned as our escort. Lacey should have done all the paperwork!

Wait, you did not think that was the end of it, did you? We still had to drive the gauntlet through corruption highway. Let’s make this short and sweet. 7 times! We were pulled over 7 times in a 100 mile drive. Remember the young cop at the border, well he was kind enough to spread the word of our presence to the entire police force. Luckily, the escort vouched for us and we got away with minimal hassle at 6 of the 7 stops. What happened at the 7th stop? Well, the cherry on top of our banana split of a day. After 9 hours at the border and a couple of hours driving through the country night had arrived. Yes, night falls pretty early the closer you get to the Equator and yes we broke our “No Driving at Night” rule. What happened next was a result of my neglect of common maintenance and nearly 10 months of no night driving. The drivers side headlight of the Landcruiser was out, and a very happy Hondurean cop noticed it. After he pulled us over (for the 7th time that day and within sight of the Nicaraguan border) I wanted out of this god forsaken country. He wanted 50 bucks! I just could not handle it anymore. If a cop pulls me over with no reason other than I am a tourist I can be as righteous as I want, because in the end I know I am right. When I am actually breaking a law, things are different. So for the 3rd Strike of the day I buckled nearly immediately. I said 20 bucks and a flashlight. He said: “Gracias.”

At this point in the day we would have been happy to have any kind of encounter with border officials that cost us less than Honduras. We very happy to leave Honduras and pleasantly surprised after a very free, very cordial 10 minute border crossing into Nicaragua.

Lessons learned:

Agree with Travelin’ Tortuga and their BB term
Never, ever, hire a tramitante
Lacey needs to do paperwork and BB dealings from now on, she is a lot more intimidating than Luis (no matter how tattoed, military veteran or bearded he is)
Have every single bit of paperwork in immaculate order, T’s crossed and I’s dotted.
Check all required safety equipment and vehicle systems regularly, but especially before border crossings (headlights, turn signals, fire-extinguisher, safety triangles, etc.)
Luis needs to attend anger control classes at some point

By Luis | Posted in Nothing yet... | Tagged blogsherpa, border crossings, El Salvador-Honduras border, honduras border | Comments (7)

Jun

2010

Playa El Tunco, Parque Nacional Cerro Verde, and El Pital

Leaving El Imposible, we decided it had been too long since we relaxed on the beach and so headed to Playa El Tunco on the Pacific Coast.

El Tunco is a laid back fishing and surfing community with beautiful black sand beaches, and according to the multitude of surfers hanging out there, some killer breaks. Upon our arrival at the beach we also met up with the melting heat/humidity that is to become our friend for a good portion of the trip. We found a place that would let us camp near the beach, but when we got out of the truck it was hot, humid and there was no breeze to speak of. We felt like at any minute we would look down to see our bodies becoming little puddles on the ground. We made a quick decision and decided to treat ourselves to some air conditioning, so yeah we wimped out . We are going to have to get used to this heat and humidity soon or else it will take a heavy toll on our budget.

El Salvador as we found out has some world class surf waves, and a growing population of surfers (tourists and local). We hung out for a few days, thought about taking up surfing a few times (but still haven’t taken the bait), tried in vain to get used to the heat, and checked out the beautiful black sand beaches. One night while having a few drinks with some friends we met, a storm rolled in and all of a sudden we felt like we were in a hurricane with wind whipping rain all over the place and the palm trees swaying away, horizontal rain defying gravity. Coming from the north coast of California, we like to think we know what rain is all about; however, tropical rain storms are a whole other breed. We were waiting for the news forecaster in a yellow poncho to show up any minute with a microphone in hand and the news crews to get some footage in the rain in front of the wind whipped palms and tell us about the oncoming hurricane.

The climate and geography in El Salvador make it a land of contrasts. Along the coast you’ll find hot and humid beaches, and within a short drive can climb up one of the country’s many volcanos and find yourself in a cool lush climate. Leaving the beach, we headed back up into the mountains to Parque Nacional Cerro Verde, headquarters of 3 of El Salvador’s many volcanos. We could feel the air getting cooler as we drove up the mountain, and by time we made it to the top, we found ourselves surrounded in thick fog and a lush green forest. It was so foggy we almost ran over the guy at the entrance station because we couldn’t see him standing in the middle of the road. It was an amazing change in weather going from melting humid heat to thick cool fog all within the space of a few hours. The Cerro Verde park is absolutely beautiful and the views of the volcanos were stunning. There is a tourist police headquarters at the park and we ended up talking with the second in command there for quite a while. He was a really cool guy, we talked about history, politics and he gave us tips on good places to go within El Salvador.

The next morning the fog was still laying thick around the tops of the volcanos, but we decided to hike one of the volcanos anyways. After a really long hike down the volcano we were camped on (the whole way thinking that is was going to be hell coming back up), we came out of the thick forest onto an old lava flow. Looming before us was the cinder cone we were going to climb: Volcan Izalco. The volcano was straight up, loose dirt and rocks. The climb almost killed Luis, and both of us had a heavy dose of reality of how not in shape we really are (despite trying to convince ourselves to the contrary on a daily basis). The views from the top are reportedly totally amazing; however, due to the fog we couldn’t see much. One cool thing about the Volcan Izalco is that there are spots where pure steam is blowing out of the mountain. You can sit up there and it is like sitting in a sauna, the typical sulfur odor present in most active volcanoes is simply not here. It probably would have been more appreciated if we weren’t already drenched in sweat from the hike up, but cool nonetheless. On the way down negotiating all the loose rock and steep incline, it was hard to stay on our feet. Luis ended up doing a long stretch sliding on his ass and when he finally recovered he realized he’d torn the ass out of his favorite pants!

After returning to camp we decided to follow the advice of our cop friend and moved to a small campground next to Cerro Verde at the base of Volcan Santa Ana, and were rewarded with a clear morning and a spectacular view of Volcan Izalco on one side and Volcan Santa Ana on the other.

Another recommendation from our cop friend at Cerro Verde was a visit to El Pital, which is the highest peak in El Salvador and is supposed to be a beautiful place to camp (we also liked the idea of staying at the higher elevations after our brief encounter with the heat in El Tunco). We made a stop in Suchitoto and parked at a balneario (a public pool) that let us camp and use their pool. We were back into the heat again so the pool was heaven on earth. That is until we jumped in and the water was the same temperature as the air! Oh well sometimes getting wet just to wash off the layer of sweat is worth it. The moon did not bring a break from the heat, but the darkness did bring one of the most wonderful sights we have had on the trip. Thousands of fireflies filled the night, no exaggeration. We have both seen many fireflies, but never this many. It was like looking at a very beautiful starry night but around the grass and trees. We wish we could have somehow taken a picture of this.

The road up to El Pital was insane! It wound straight up the hillside, so steep, we were lucky to get out of second gear. The last part of the road was pot holed and so steep we had to put the Landcruiser in 4 wheel drive low just to climb up. We finally made it to the top and what an amazing place it was. We found a nice little place to camp, overlooking the valley so far below. We are finding that we are here in the wrong time of year because all of the tall peaks and volcanos are perpetually shrouded in fog all day. From what everybody keeps saying, during the dry season (November through April) the views are amazing. From what little we could see through the fog, the views would’ve definitely been amazing.

El Salvador is turning out to be yet another wonderful country… do you see a trend here?

By Lacey | Posted in Nothing yet... | Tagged blogsherpa, El Pital, el salvador, Parque Nacional Cerro Verde, Playa El Tunco, Volcan Izalco | Comments (5)

May

2010

Parque Nacional El Imposible – El Salvador

Parque Nacional El Imposible was our first pleasant surprise in El Salvador. We had heard about this fairly new reserve from several blogs and from our friends at Lonely Planet and we decided to spend a few days hiking there. We like the name El Imposible (The Impossible) a lot; there is a Mission Impossible ring to it. It turns out it was named for a precarious gorge which claimed the lives of many folk in the past. The gorge has since been bridged, and the impossible has become the possible, but the name still stands. El Imposible has only been around since 1989, it extends for 38.20 square kilometres and the park has altitudes that range between 250 meters (820 feet) and 1,425 meters (4,600 feet) above sea level.

The park is run by a non-profit Salvadorean group called SalvaNatura. We got in contact with them because we had read that tickets need to be obtained in advance; however, this is not the case. You may purchase tickets at the park and camping, showers and toilets are available and quite nice. The SalvaNatura people are extremely friendly and helpful. They are fighting against all odds to save this small section of forest, which is the last remaining significant stand of tropical forest in northern El Salvador. They have to contend with poachers, coffee plantation owners and local tourists who are still getting used to a lower impact camping style. It is very hard to implement a protected area when some locals see the area as a great hunting ground, fishing area and a source of good clean water for their fields. With salt water intrusion becoming a significant problem in all of the low lying coastal areas, protection of the watershed is becoming more important than ever. This large stand of forest is also very important in protecting all of the many species of birds, plants and animals that can be found here. SalvaNatura is doing a great job here at El Imposible, but there is a lot of work ahead of them.

The road that leads to the park is just south of the town of Cara Sucia (Dirty Face), it is a fairly steep and sometimes pretty rough dirt road. It can be done in a 2 wheel drive vehicle, but decent clearance is a must. If the road is wet it could get pretty nasty. The dirt road will take you to the town of San Benito and it ends at the park. There is a small “Eco-Hostel” not far from the park in case you do not want to camp which is also run by Salvanatura.

The visitors center has a small museum that gives you some background on the history of the park, its significance and even some descriptions of the local flora and its medicinal uses.

Our camp set-up next to the visitors center at El Imposible

The view from the lookout tower right next to our campsite. Sadly it is very hazy and there is a lot of smoke from all the fires in the area, but in the distance you can see the surf and the ocean.

We fell in love with this place immediately. It feels like you are millions of miles away from civilization (and maybe we were). There are all kinds of birds, insects and animals that surround even the visitors center and just a few minutes walk away from the visitors center, you are immersed in jungle, surrounded by tons of big trees and vegetation. One plant that really intrigued us was the Strangler, it is a tree that envelops an existing tree until it basically kills it and takes over its place leaving a hollow area were the original tree stood. It is pretty amazing to see it taking down some of the huge trees in the forest.

The Strangler just grows around a tree and takes over, eventually killing its "host". It is an impressive sight.

We decided to do a day hike down to some petroglyph rocks and one of the many beautiful creeks that flow througth the preserve. We saw a ton of animals and insects we had never seen before and we even saw the famous Gibnut, remember that rodent that we had for lunch in Belize? They are pretty cute, and we even felt a little guilty for a few minutes, but it WAS tasty We even found the seeds and seed pods of most trees at El Imposible fascinating, just look at some of the photos below and you will hopefully understand.

There are many hikes at El Imposible, but if you only have time for one we recommend the Piedra Sellada trail. It should be a 4 and a half to five hour relatively strenuous hike, but well worth it… at the end of the hike you are rewarded by a wonderful rock formation covered in carvings done by an ancient culture, some say Mayan, but many disagree (including our guides). After examining the carvings there is a wonderful spring fed pool that is the perfect spot for a picnic and a relaxing break from the hike. There are some giant crawfish/dads in the water that are almost as large as a lobster (they are protected, otherwise they would have been our dinner). What a great hike!

By Luis | Posted in Nothing yet... | Tagged blogsherpa, el salvador, parque nacional el imposible, salvanatura | Comments (0)

May

2010

Guatemala-El Salvador Border crossing at La Hachadura

The Guatemala- El Salvador border crossing was our first bad border crossing experience. Compared to other horrible tales we have heard of or read about it does not seem that bad, but it was a 4 hour PITA ordeal. It is amazing what a little bit of power will do to some people’s ego. Think about your worst experience at any bureaucratic establishment (say the DMV) and raise to it to the 10th power… and the hardest part is having to smile throughout the whole process, because any hint of loosing your temper can only result in longer delays.

We arrive at the border at 9:00AM to find a very long line of trucks driving into and leaving El Salvador, total chaos. Trucks passing trucks, trucks blocking the road and not a single cop in sight. Lacey stays in the car as I try to avoid the (very) insistent group of guys that offer to help me through the paperwork on the Guatemala side. After many “no, gracias” from me all but one guy leaves, and this one persistent s.o.b. never left my side. I even told him I had no money and would give him none for his troubles. He kept “helping” me anyways. Let me walk you through our wonderful morning (especially for anybody planning this particular border crossing). Immigration was a piece of cake, the gentleman looked at our passports, did who knows what on a computer, stamped the exit stamp, and handed the passports back and said thank you. The truck on the other hand… well not so simple. We keep several good quality color copies of all our papers (license, registration, passports, etc.), but you still need more copies of random things like the vehicle import paperwork (even though it comes in triplicate) and the passport page that has your vehicle info stamped on it. That is no big deal really, except when you go to the window and wait in line and watch 10 of these guys sitting in AC walking around acting busy, but doing nothing. It really starts to get on your nerves (definitely on my nerves). I saw one of the customs officers, inside the wonderfully cool office, checking out his Facebook page while we (me and a dozen truck drivers) waited in insane heat and humidity! After taking my paperwork, TWO agents stared at them for 20 minutes and had mini conferences with other agents. One of them finally asked me to meet him by the car. I met him by the door and when he opened the door from his air conditioned office he cringed at the heat, looked at the car and asked: “Is that it?” Yes. “OK.” Another few conferences with the other agent and the stamps came out… ahhh, the sweet sound of a stamp full of ink on paperwork. By the way, the guy who was “helping” me still expected money, I gave him none, but I thanked him for his kind help.

On to the El Salvador bureaucracy. The truck queue was even longer once across the border. We parked at the end of the line and stared in disbelief at its length. A truck driver smiled at us and said: “just drive on the oncoming traffic lane and cut, tourists are different than truckers.” I thanked him and followed his advice against my better judgment. In the middle of a two way bridge (in other words blocking oncoming traffic) a soldier stopped and told me to turn around and get my ass back to the end of the line. At least he was nice about it, but when I proceeded to turn around a friendly immigration officer told us to just go through and park at the immigration offices. Hoping the soldier would relent we went ahead into El Salvador and parked. Once again immigration for Lacey and myself was simple and fairly quick (even though I had to help the immigration officer find the Guatemalan intake stamp in our passports). The truck import was once again the issue on this side of the border. It took nearly 3 hours for this one step, 3 hours! I have no idea how hot it was, but it was hot and humid. I mean Satan’s crotch hot and humid (not that I have ever been there). In the meantime I guess you could say I tried to go with the flow and enjoyed people watching in the heat. I got to hang out with a group of rowdy potty mouthed truck drivers that were actually quite funny. The ladies bathroom was right next to our line and I saw this one woman go into the bathroom followed a few seconds later by a man, after some time the man would come out and later the lady. While I waited in line this happened no less than 3 times with the same woman yet different men. The world’s oldest profession? She was not the only one making money there, I saw quite a few officers making quick slick exchanges with truck drivers for what seemed to be more prompt processing of their paperwork. I can’t say I actually saw any cash being exchanged, maybe it was just dodgy looking handshakes.

The customs guys did a little of their sitting on our paperwork for a while and one of them finally came out and gave the Landcruiser the once over. Nothing thorough, more of a “hmmm, it is hot out here let’s make this snappy” kind of a deal. In the meantime poor Lacey was sitting and sweating by the Landcruiser reading her trusty Kindle, being stared at by all passersby for who knows what reason. An hour later we were finally on our way. I think we were lucky though because I saw the same officer order a family to completely empty their fully loaded pick up truck and he went through every item…

BTW for further and more detailed info on this border crossing, check Alisa’s post at MotoAdventureGal

By Luis | Posted in Nothing yet... | Tagged blogsherpa, border crossing, Guatemala-El Salvador | Comments (4)

May

2010

Mexico Food Post

We love food. Truly, deeply love food of all kinds. After spending four and a half months in Mexico we saw beautiful places, met wonderful people, but what we may miss the most is the food of Mexico. I salivate and cry just thinking of some of the dishes we savored at some places we may never visit again.

This post we are dedicating to some of these places and some of the food we experienced throughout Mexico, but keep in mind we have so many experiences and photos of food in Mexico that we don’t have enough space to share them all. There are too many good places to talk about in one post, some are mentioned in earlier posts such as the tamales in the outskirts of Ensenada, in La Paz we enjoyed the best fish and shrimp tacos, the symphony that is the ceviche at Mariscos del Pacifico in Los Mochis, goat birria at Birrieria San Blas in Los Mochis as well, and so on and so forth. What we will try to do here is mention a few we did not mention in prior posts.

Let’s start with tacos. Tacos are perhaps the best known food of Mexico (in my humble opinion) and there are a thousand variations and not just the toppings, but the tortilla used as well. Toppings range from flying ants to any part of a beef’s head, really any protein you can think of can be a topping. Above the protein topping there can be just as many variations, but the most common one we saw included (but not limited to) onions and cilantro. We had good tacos almost everywhere in Mexico, but I must say my personal favorites were in San Miguel de Allende about 2 blocks from El Jardin at a stand that only opens at night.

The place is just a street cart that does not look like much and may scare a lot of non-street food addicts out there, but please if you are ever in San Miguel stop by and savor the goodness. The cart is about ten feet long maybe twelve and from opening to close there are four guys behind the “counter” pumping out food with a robotic efficiency that would impress Gordon Ramsey. These four guys each have a station, adobada station, asada and chorizo station, cabeza station, and assembly station. A well oiled machine, all four guys would take orders at the same time from dozens of customers and no order went ignored, it was amazing. The flavors of the toppings on these 4 to 5 inch tacos are rich and perfectly seasoned. I think my record was 8 or 9 tacos on one visit. God, I miss that place.

THE Taco stand. Yes it is that busy from opening 'til close.

Taco stand in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico from Lost World Expedition on Vimeo.

Carnitas… ahhhhh divine swine. I dig the swine, it sure ain’t kosher but I love it and carnitas is pork prepared in one of its tastiest (and unhealthiest) ways. Unhealthy you say? Well this ain’t your typical roasted pork. The traditional way to cook carnitas is in a copper pot. Lard is used to cook the pork. Once the lard is boiling lighlty, pork and spices are added. Next comes the simmering of the meat until tender over a very low heat. Once appropriate tenderness is achieved, the heat is turned up and the outside of the pork begins to crisp. The carnitas can then be shredded and served to its faithful followers. The town of Quiroga calls itself the Mexican Capital of Carnitas and after eating there we must agree. If you do visit Quiroga prepare yourself for a spectacle, dozens of street vendors have mounds of cooked pork on display. These mounds may not look appetizing to some, but it is juicy and tender pork heaven. As you walk by all vendors will offer you big chunky samples of their carnitas and in fact you may have a completely full stomach by the time you come around to deciding which vendor to buy from. Being the gluttons we are we decided to eat after the rounds. We settled for Carmelo’s Carnita’s, in part due to Carmelo’s charismatic personality. You can order no fat at all called masizo (solid) or a mix of fat (skin and plain old fat), or a mix of fat and solid meat (surtida). I like the flavor of the skin so a mixta or surtida is my preffered choice. How I yearn for a big plate of carnitas with some corn tortillas.

The big mound of pork... I know it does not look all that appetizing, but the aroma and the taste will take you to a special place

Las Carnitas de Carmelo, quite possibly one of the best meals I had in all of Mexico. You can order by the pound or tacos.

Oaxaca. Oaxaca is perhaps the foremost mentioned state when Mexican food is discussed and by our experience this is well deserved. The food we enjoyed in Oaxaca City wether it be street food or avant-garde food with traditional ingredients was outstanding. In Oaxaca we found two restaurants that we especially enjoyed thanks to the wonderful website called OneForkOneSpoon written by Grace Meng(a must read for anyone that loves food, especially you Laura!). Two of her suggestions were: La Biznaga and La Olla.

Grace described La Biznaga simply as “perfection” and it really is. We had two meals at La Biznaga and they were delicious and in a wonderful setting with impeccable service. My favorite dish there included an ingredient I had never heard of: Huitlacoche. The word huitlacoche comes from the Nahuatl language and it translates to “ravens excrement.” Yep, it kinda looks like it as well, but it has a rich and complex flavor. Huitlacoche is actually a fungus that infects corn and it basically replaces the normal kernels of the cobs with large distorted tumors analogous to mushrooms. Does not sound that good, but it added lots of love to my dish. La Biznaga is good because it uses traditional ingredients with respect, but the dishes they present are modern, elegant and tasty.

La Biznaga appettizers, the cone with the red top is filled with jamaica flowers (Hibiscus). They are lovely and bitter. The bottle of seasonal Noche Buena beer was quite good.

La Biznaga, filet mignon with goat cheese and huitlacoche. Does not look like much, but it was scrumptious

Lacey's dish: Smoked gouda stuffed chicken with a chili apple sauce.

At La Olla they stick to more traditional dishes and we really enjoyed it. Lacey and I were both introduced to the wonders of chapulines at La Olla. I ordered a sampler dish with some of the typical Oaxacan dishes and one of them was a ripe tomato cored and stuffed with petite chapulines. Chapulines are grasshoppers that are dried or fried, sometimes they are seasoned with tomato and chiles and they are infused with rich flavor. We really liked them.

Sample platter at La Olla. Soda water lemonade, cafe de olla, chicharron, and all kinds of other goodies including the famous and delicious Oaxaca cheese.

In Oaxaca I finally tried a mole negro that I truly liked. I have tried mole negro in many restaurants in the U.S. that generally did not impress, none of them were bad they just were not good (well some of them WERE bad). At Tamales Mina we had Chicken Tamales with Mole Negro that were truly manna from Heaven. I was making semi orgasmic sounds the whole time I ate my tamal much to the discomfort of fellow customers (and readers I am sure). The texture, depth and levels of flavors in a properly cooked mole negro are truly an art form that is hard to replicate. More power to you if you can. I am afraid to even try.

The famous Tamales de Mina stand has been opening evenings next to the Zocalo for generations.

The famous Tamales de Mina. One is the chicken with mole negro mentioned above and the other is a chicken with a very spicy but flavorful salsa verde (spicy enough to bring tears to Lacey's eyes). My words cannot begin to describe the savory sweet goodnes of these tamales.

By Luis | Posted in Nothing yet... | Tagged blogsherpa, carnitas, huitlacoche, Mexican food, tacos, tamales | Comments (0)

May

2010

Antigua and Panajachel Plus More Misadventures of Luis :)

Well, ladies and gentlemen Luis has done it again! Following the misadventures of this space case zen master is hilarious and sad. Some of you may remember some of the prior “incidents” he brought to this adventure of ours e.g.: The fuel tank full of gasoline in our diesel burning vehicle (Link), the near expedition killer that was the backing up into a huge boulder (Link), among others… well this time Luis FORGOT our wonderful camera in a tuk-tuk (a small motorcycle type taxi) our souvenir machine is gone! In the camera memory banks lay the photos for our last week or maybe two! Yes, this translates into a post with very few photos. Sorry.

But first, the story: We hired a tuk-tuk to take us from our campsite on the outskirts of Panajachel (Pana), Lake Atitlan, Guatemala to take us into town. On the way photos were being snapped and upon arrival to Pana Luis set the camera down and reached into his pocket for the fare (20 Quetzales~$2.50), needless to say… the camera was on the seat as the tuk-tuk left us in town. A few minutes later Luis realized what he had done and ran back to the corner where we were left off as if the driver would be there patiently waiting for our return. Yeah right. We sat at that corner cursing and lamenting the loss for a while when we had the incredibly pointless idea of sitting there checking all the tuk-tuks that drove by hoping to see our driver. We found out that Pana has 160 registered tuk-tuks and we kept a check list of all the numbers we saw. After a couple of hours (yes, you read that right) we had counted 135 tuk-tuks! Alas, none of them was our former ride. We then had another “great” idea: a public service announcement about a reward on the camera. We went to the local radio station and they were more than happy to oblige. With our hopes not quite high we went back to our campsite and waited in vain for our camera to show up. No happy ending to this story. Luis has done it again. Sorry.

A tally of our losses this trip so far: Lacey’s beloved Chaco sandals, Luis’ pillow (yes his pillow sans pillowcase!) was stolen, Luis’ beloved Benchmade folding knive, and a towel Luis had appropriated from a hotel was stolen from us and now our very handy camera is now in the list.

Now back to our regular adventures:
We spent some time in Antigua, revisiting this wonderful town. Antigua is a very affluent and touristy historical town (historical as in post-spanish colonization) that somehow retains a lot of charm, much like San Miguel de Allende or San Cristobal de las Casas. The wonderfully preserved and restored houses are quite a sight and most of them have one of our favorite features in a house: the inner courtyard. While there we did our thing, what is our thing you ask? We get up in the morning drink coffee and then proceed to walk aimlessly around town for hours, sometimes all day. No particular destination just anywhere your feet may take you (or your nose and stomach if food may be involved). One day as we walked around we spotted a beautiful Nissan Patrol all decked out in “Expedition” gear. Luis approached the vehicle in the peculiar way most men would check out a beautiful woman. It is a nice rig he told the owner, John. It turns out John and his wife Anita were about to embark in an America’s drive as well. Small world and how nice to meet fellow “overlanders.”

John and Anita's droolworthy rig. Love this diesel Nissan Patrol ready for overland travel and adventure.

Meeting John led us to meet another John who owns a wonderful food establishment in Antigua “Epicure.” Epicure has a deli and a restaurant that are amazingly good. Everything is made in house; cheeses, salami, hams, breads, jams, preserves you name it, John and his folk at Epicure make it and they grow almost everything that is used in the establishment, how cool is that. Where did that Saltimboca chicken come from, it is delicious? “Oh, we raise the chicken.” The pork for that Coppa? “We raise the pork as well.” The tuna surely, not the tuna? “No, we don’t raise the tuna, but it was delivered this morning from the coast!” Wow. This is our kind of place. The dishes although not Guatemalan, where outstanding and the prices although not really in our budget, quite reasonable for what you got. Are we taking to much space from this post for this you ask? It was that good.

The beautiful town of antigua from the top of the hill. The volcano looming in the distance.

Love the colonial architecture and colors

We love the inner courtyards in colonial style houses. All the rooms face the courtyard.

: Guate’s famous chicken buses, colorful, fast and furious.

We like Antigua, even with its insane amount of tourists. We camped for FREE at the tourist police station which is housed in the ruins of an old hospital. Pretty secure. We walked every day and took in the scenery and the fine food for a few days before moving on to Lake Atitlan. The beautiful lake surrounded by volcanoes. We have spent some time there in the past, but we enjoyed it immensely once again (even with our lost camera incident).

By Luis | Posted in Nothing yet... | Tagged Antigua, blogsherpa, lost camera, Luis Misadventures, Panajachel | Comments (4)

Apr

2010

Into Guatemala-Finca Ixobel to Semuc Champey

Leaving Belize, we headed into Guatemala crossing the border near San Ignacio. The border crossing was fairly straightforward: Check out of Belize and get the vehicle stamp in Luis’ passport canceled, then head into Guatemala to get the stamps and vehicle papers there. It was nice and easy and within a half hour we were on the road again.

We had already been to Flores and Tikal on a previous trip so we decided to bypass the northern Peten and headed straight to Finca Ixobel near Poptun for a few days. Finca Ixobel is a long standing travelers’ stop in the area and really the only reason to be stopping in Poptun. They offer camping, rooms in little “treehouses” (more like little shacks on stilts), or dorm rooms, private rooms and even small cabanas. They also have a delicious restaurant/bakery and offer a nice place to relax for a few days or even take some of the tours they offer.

Our main reason for stopping at Finca Ixobel was more of a nostalgic one. We had stayed here for a few days three years ago while backpacking around Guatemala. During our stay we met a few couples that were driving the Americas in their own vehicles. After talking with these folks we decided that was what we should be doing and the roots of our idea for Lost World Expedition began to take hold. Three years of planning and here we are again, pretty excited to be back at Finca Ixobel, living the dream that had started here. The funny part is that it rained for a good part of our stay and it was raining the last time we were here as well. Maybe our memories of the place are destined to include the wet and rain!

From Poptun we headed over to Lanquin and Semuc Champey. It is a long drive on dirt roads the whole way there, but the surrounding countryside is quite beautiful. The road would wind up a steep hillside only to get to the top and drop back down to get ready to climb another. In every little village we drove through, little kids would come running out to the road and yell “Gringo, Gringo!” It was pretty funny and we couldn’t figure out if this was an insult or if they just didn’t see many gringos passing through very often. Whichever the case they were so cute we couldn’t take offense anyways.

Driving on the "highway" to Semuc Champey we were a little surprised when we passed this semi.

Another vehicle we passed on the way. The bus was soo full these guys had to ride on top!

We finally made our way to Semuc Champey and found a hostel right next door that let us camp in the front yard. The river that flows through the area is the same one that flows through Semuc Champey and there is a great little swimming hole. We enjoyed a nice dip in the water to wash off all the road dust from our long drive.

When we woke up our first morning there, we discovered we had another flat tire. After a bit of investigation we determined that the leak was not from the tire but there was a crack on the side of the wheel. This is the second time this has happened to us after a long drive on dirt roads (each time has been with a different tire). When we looked at our money stores to try to figure out what to do, we also discovered that we had forgotten to stop at an ATM on our way here (not that we passed any anyways) and were now out of money. The nearest ATM was 60km away and we needed money to buy another wheel, no tire to repair. However, we had driven all this way and REALLY wanted to check out Semuc Champey. We had a little bit of money left, but not enough to pay for camping for the night ($5). Luckily we found some helpful guests at the hostel who were willing to buy some ice cold cervezas off us. Maybe we should make a business out of peddling ice cold beer to weary travelers? Nah, we would probably drink it all before we could sell it!

At Semuc Champey, the Cahabon River runs through a deep canyon in the middle of a lush green jungle, with steep rock walls climbing up on both sides. A natural limestone bridge runs across the river, with some of the water flowing over the bridge and forming a series of beautifully colored, clear water pools, that cascade down the bridge. The majority of the river flows through a tunnel under the bridge and you can go stand at the edge and watch the water rushing under. It is a little scary standing there because the water is flowing so fast if you fall in, you’d be lucky if they are able to find your body. On the other end of the bridge the water that flows over the bridge cascades back down to join the rushing river as it exits from the underground tunnel. There are some cool caves that you “can” climb up under the waterfall as long as the guards don’t catch you (apparently a few folks have been injured while exploring). Luis says it is pretty awesome in the caves, but Lacey wouldn’t know because she wussed out and didn’t go.

We climbed up the practically vertical trail to the mirador, and were rewarded with an amazing view of the pools running through the jungle below. Afterwards we spent the rest of the day enjoying a swim in the beautiful pools and chatting with all the other travelers we met there and a few visiting Guatemalans.

By Lacey | Posted in Nothing yet... | Tagged blogsherpa, border crossing, Finca Ixobel, Guatemala, Poptun, Semuc Champey | Comments (2)

Apr

2010

Another week in Belize- Barton Creek Outpost, San Ignacio and Mountain Equestrian Trails

We headed into San Ignacio on the western edge of Belize. It was our intention to spend a few days in San Ignacio while we visited the Actun Tunichil Muknal (ATM) caves and then drive to the Caracol Mayan Ruins in the Pine Ridge Mountains… however, needless to say, like most of our plans it didn’t quite work out that way:)

We spent a couple of days in a campground just outside of San Ignacio called Inglewood Camping Grounds. We where in dire need of some electricity due to some technical issues relating to our solar charging system and this place was made to order for those needs. Inglewood is a very clean and well designed campground aimed directly at the RV crowd, but it worked out quite well for us. Comfortable and safe and with a very helpful owner (Greg).

The Actun Tunichil Muknal ATM caves are part natural wonder and part Mayan archeological site. The site consists of a large cave system with a river running through part of it. Throughout the cave system there are human remains as well as pottery from ancient Mayan times. The most famous remains in the cave system are those of a young girl now known as “The Crystal Maiden.” The Maiden’s bones have been completely calcified in a natural manner due to the environment of the cave, leaving them with a sparkling crystalized appearance.

The hike to the caves was was a great way to start out the tour, with river crossings through an amazing tropical forest. On the way Lacey and I munched on termites using a stick as a tool just like monkeys (see the pics). Monkey see, monkey do. We also know how to use tools To get into the caves you have to swim in, then you spend the rest of the time sometimes swimming, sometimes wading, and at some points completely out of the water. In order to preserve the site we had to use socks (no bare feet or sandals). Besides the Mayan remains and artifacts, the stalactite and stalagmite formations inside the cave are pretty amazing. We took some cool pictures, but the darkness and the wet environment made it hard to take “good” pics.

We had a wonderful Indian food dinner with Shana and her husband whose name escapes us (sorry), a couple we met during the ATM cave tour. The meal took forever to be served, but it was fresh and outstanding. The conversation with this couple was great and it helped ease the hunger pains from the long wait.

During an outing in San Ignacio we ran into Jim. Jim and his family run the Barton Creek Outpost and after he gave us a brief description of his place and without having to twist our arms we decided to stay at his place for a day or two (or five). Barton Creek is described by Lonely Planet guide books as: “Barton Creek is the sort of place you visit for a day and stay for a week” and this description could not be closer to the truth. It instantly feels like home and everyone staying there feels like an extended family. There are tons of hikes in the area, and a beautiful cave just a few minutes walk from the camping area. We happened to be here during Easter and were welcomed to a pig roast celebration complete with an easter egg hunt for the kids. All we can say is we REALLY enjoyed staying here!

Thanks to our stay at Barton Creek Outpost we met the owners of another place nearby: Mountain Equestrian Trails (MET) a place that caters to anyone with a love for riding horses. After a brief talk to our host Jim at Barton Creek, we were convinced we had to go on a nice long horseback ride to the Big Rock Waterfalls. Jim arranged everything and we were treated to an amazing day with the MET guys and their equine friends. As a disclaimer we will say that this was a rough rides for butts not used to riding regularly. Lacey and I were in pain for several days after the six and a half hour ride, but it was well worth it!