January 6 & 7, 2012 - Crossing the borders are always a challenge. Yesterday going from Costa Rica back into Nicaragua proved to be one of the worst. We had no slow downs at all in CR but then we got in the line of the guy who could only seem to process one person for every 10 the guy in the next line did. We spent close to two hours in line only to find out we needed $12.00 each and had no money to give them. Sterling went back into Costa Rica and found an ATM that accepted Master Card. The vast majority only accept Visa, and I always thought MC was every where you wanted to be. So much for that slogan. After waiting in line for 2 hours, I momentarily freaked with Sterling in another country and me without a passport because they wouldn’t give it back to me without the $12.
Well, once we got back in we decided to go back to San Juan Del Sur and climb to the top of the gigantic Jesus Christ statue that over-looked the bay. It was spectacular and it was nice to get out of the Peace Mobil and stretch our legs. We then decided to drive the coastal route which is really just a pot-holed, washboard, dirt road but we found a great surf spot with a hostel and 2 bars and spectacular rugged pristine waterfront. We took a nice walk on the beach which was quite unusual with a black rock formation intertwined with the beach. We laid in hammocks, shared a $7. pizza and gave thanks for flush toilets.
We woke and drove out of the jungle of Costa Rica today. Back into stretches of very rural humble homes into huge sprawling cities. It was our first rainy day since we first arrived in Mexico and had the torrential downpour on Thanksgiving. Many days we just get a shower but this must have been a front coming through because it’s turned a bit colder and I actually got out a thin jacket today, January 7th. I got out my wool slippers and a short sleeve sweater yesterday. This is considered their dry season, it rains about 7 months a year in Costa Rica and Panama. Sure not what I’m looking for.
Both Panama and Costa Rica are very expensive for this area of the world. Most of the poorer countries use United States Dollars for stability, but both Panama and Costa Rica want you to only use their money and they don’t mind charging you just exactly what they think you can afford which quite often is more then you would expect in the US. We needed to get back into some poorer countries to make our funds last.
The Internet is great for sharing so many things, but of course all the words I can use don’t begin to describe the little things that make the tropical experience the magnificent journey that it is. Fleeting things like an ocean breeze, wild-flowers, spectacular butterflies, fascinating insects, both aromatic and nasty smells, signs, graffiti, the tanned, buff fella warming up on the beach before surfing, the delicious fresh fruit we gobble at every chance, especially the pineapples. I especially love seeing the laundry hanging out on all the clotheslines, fences or bushes every morning.
The brakes were really squealing today so we finally stopped to deal with them and also an oil change as we’ve gone over 8,000 miles now, but we got stuck in the bay so had to let air out of our tires to get out and then pump them up again but first we waited for the mechanic who had to arrive and hopefully help us with our brakes which he couldn’t, so now we use second gear more then ever. We’ve run out of LP gas for a few days now so no fridge, no stove, makes our eating a bit more challenging. Oy vie - there’s always something when you’re traveling.
The oil change was just outside of Managua which is the capital of Nicaragua although it was leveled by an earthquake in 1972 and is now just new, crappy sprawl because they lack money and the city lacks any history or colonial architecture or really anything you could grab on to and call nice, and I think I stretch pretty far when I say nice. As you’ll see in the pictures, the most interesting thing we could find to photograph was the blue overstuffed Toyota pick-up with wicked neon tires, tons of graffiti and the old church which is being re-rehabilitated at last after being left in decline for 30 years but they didn’t want us to photograph the progress. There’s really very little reason to ever go to Managua if you’re offered the opportunity. We got stuck in a traffic jam to boot.
Nicaragua is pretty small and we drove right through to the other side but went to a different smaller border as they’re much easier to deal with. We’re glad to report Socialist, Christian and very well loved Daniel Ortega won the election since we visited earlier in December and they are now replacing the “Elect Daniel” billboards with thank you celebratory billboards.
Anyways as we approached the border Nic/Hondorus border we had to laugh as three tractor trailers we’re headed into Nicaragua and they had to make a lane for us to get through which was just two GIANT potholes and a rope between two orange cones. Apparently Hondorus has been especially hard hit with the lack of tourism which has been sweeping the globe in the last two or 3 years so they were all happy to see us and laughed when we took pictures. We made friends and exchanged cards with a number of the border rats which are what we call the brokers who try to help you in exchange for a tip. Today in Ocotol Hondorus they were very helpful, friendly and cute and actually earned the $10 for helping.
All of these Mexican and Central Americans have wonderful thick, jet black hair that doesn’t go gray until very late in life. I don’t understand why young American men are growing bald in such high numbers. Is it our ball caps or something in our water or food?
Every bar or restaurant are named after a female person, much like we do with Ships but tonite we ate at a joint called Restaurant Rosie that had 3 young mares playing in the field, blooming hot pink, rose bushes that were 5 feet tall and just as we were finishing a beautiful rainbow with the most vibrant colors we’ve ever seen hovered above us. We drove out into the countryside where the cows, horses, goats and pigs still out-number the people and found a large level cleared lot we could park in for the night. +PEACE
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