Horseback rides and finding Yoda in the jungle by Brad

Today was a day that I think is safe to say we were both waiting for, for along time. Fortunatley we were able to share this experience with our friend DJ from Los Angeles.



Like any horse trip, there is always one horse that cannot keep up with the others. Unfortunatley DJ had that horse.

Jana and I were taking turns leading the pack of four. Who would have known that Jana was such a natural on horseback. I assumed she was a wrangler in a past life. I on the other hand had my horse in a hot gallop uphill, not knowing that it would come back to haunt me towards the end of the journey. I was throwing my trustworthy "sv eeeah, sv eeeeah" that I picked up from the old western flicks I used to watch with my dad.



I packed a bag full of peanut butter and guava jam with a full loaf of bread plus as many other unkown goodies from the snack rack at the local store.



The day was beautiful and so much fun, unfortunatley the clouds never parted to give us that amazing ocean view that our guide had in mind. But I'm convinced we will have to do it again in order to enjoy that view.



note to self: Learn how to ride a horse down hill with out hurting your jewels.

New Lessons by Brad

We didn't know what to expect before we arrived at the finca.



Yet when we arrived we were surprised to find that the 40 foot semi truck trailer which we thought had been converted into a nice and comfy home, was no where near in living condition. Did I mention that the truck had been severly burnt in a fire in the past.



The next 4 days would consist of 12-16 hour days of building a new home. We started with the deck, then we framed the walls inside, then we cut the door to the deck, than a window. We prepped all the electricity, we applied the drywall. Slowly but surely the trailer was beginning to look liveable.

We quickly ran out of time as Bernardo and Lorianna had buses and planes to catch back to the states. I was faced with the challenge of finishing the work we started and of course hadn't started.



My first project was finishing the walls inside, then the plumbing, indoor and out, then the rain gutters, then the erosion control to make sure the trailer didn't wash away into the jungle.


Needless to say these were all projects that I have never done before and I surprised myself after I had carried each one out.



Every day is a busy day when you don't have a toilet and you wash yourself and your dishes with a hose that sticks out of a 30 gallon tank that is on a tower that stands taller than the house. Fortunately we have neighbors that are kind and allow us to fill our tank with the water from their spicket.

The life we are living now is much different than the life I have lived for the last 28 years. I thank god everday for the things I have taken for granted my entire life. Thank you mom and dad as well.

What a lesson in life this trip has become.


Chow

Driving through El Salvador and Honduras

We crossed into El Salvador on the Central America Carraterra 2. This border was relatively mellow but the El Salvadorian border town immediately following is definitely a little sketch.

I had a 14 year old kid in rags handle our crossing paperwork and by the time we finished crossing night had already fallen.

We stuck to our guidelines and decided that there would be no driving at night in El Salvador. There really isn´t anything at the border and the road from the border is deserted for miles.

This left only one option, my little border boy.... I´m going to let Brad take it from here...


... Hey folks, this is where it gets a little weird, so try and stick it out with me.
Like Jana said driving in El Salvador at night is not an option; the gangs control the streets, not the cops.
It was dark by the time we finished up at the border and we asked our border boy if he knew of a place close by that was safe. He literally walked us another 50 feet past the border and got us a room with gated parking for the truck.
Well this hotel wasn't really a hotel, I think it is safe to say that one day this was a working hotel. However, nowadays it is more of an orphanage for kids who don't have a place to call home, or for kids from out of town that are working the border.
This place did not even have keys for the rooms. The toilets did not work, and the shower just barely trickled water. I would have avoided the shower all together, but I was as ripe as a banana ready for cooking. There was blood on one wall and fairy tales written on all the walls in Spanish.I think they were there to keep us safe.
Neither of us slept well, but come dawn the next morning we were off again with Honduras on the mind.
El Salvador was beautiful and rich with coast line. I wish we had time to stay and surf, but we had a time frame to stick to so we just kept on trucking.
Now for Honduras, this will be short and sweet as we both would be happy if we never had to drive through or spend any time in Honduras again.
I have never seen a country that is so corrupt. This country has many problems right now and poverty is a very big issue along with hunger and of course theft. With that said, the govt officials are the ones to watch out for. I am thankful I brought some nudie magazines along strictly to pay off the corrupt officials. I had 2 policia threaten to cut up my drivers license if I did not give them $20. After I explained that we spent all of our money to get into the country, I was able to pass them a few mags and get back on the road.
Sorry there are no photos from this leg of the trip, all of our electronic equipment was hidden in deep in the truck, with hopes that we would have it when we left the country.
If you ever find yourself in this country at bight and don't know where to stay, let me know and I will set you up, but for now I don't want to think about this day.

Till next time.

Guatemala to El Salvador

Debra, Gary, and choosing caravan partners ---

Due to the chaos surrounding the vehicle exit requirements, and the ensuing wild goose chase through Tapachula, we quickly found ourselves in this border town at dusk (which I have coined the "witching hour") and ducked into a legitimate, incognito hotel with secure parking before the vampires came out to suck gringo blood.


The next morning we pulled up to the Banjercito office (see previous blog) behind a black 2004 Mustang with Nevada plates. What a couple of tools, right?

Enter Debra and Gary, whose names and vehicle descriptions have been changed to protect their conspicuously fugitive identites.

Gary: Hey there! Where you headed to? Costa Rica? Let me guess, English teachers, right?

Brad: Uh, no, just travelling.

Gary: Yeah, I'm headed down to teach English with my wife, we're totally sick of the states. Yeah, she just couldn't live without her Mustang.

Debra: She's my high maintenance girlfriend. The roads have been a real bitch on her though... They're going to get better in Costa Rica, though.

At this point I'm thinking, what planet is this woman from, has she never seen the Volkswagon bug size potholes seeping throughout the Costa Rican roadways? And a Mustang? Please. We've designed our vehicle and packing job to be as low profile as possible which makes what is about to happen next all the more asinine.

Gary: So, you want to caravan down?

Brad: Uh, yeah, that'd be great.

I agreed as well and in hindsight I think I did so just to see what would happen next.

We later learned that the Mustang was recently purchased, that Gary was making payments on it and it didn't even have plates yet. Debra just had that Nevada plate on hand and threw it on so the federalis wouldn't think it was so bizarre that she's driving a $40,000 car without plates in southern Mexico... because that's totally normal, right? I mean I've got plates in the back of our truck from 5 states and 2 South American countries...


This sort of behavior appeared to be totally normal to Debra and Gary. In fact, Gary heartily informed us that he wasn't planning on actually paying for the car anyway. These sort of bizarre comments arose virtually every time we stopped the vehicles.

At one point, Gary asked if we wanted to share a hotel room with him because he was just too cheap to pair for one on their own. Then he did the unthinkable and actually stopped a ¨police officer¨for directions.



When we got to the El Salvador border at dusk. I was pissed. If I hadn´t been on the fence about sticking with these two, we would have been in a hotel by now safely watching telenovelas. When he said he didn´t want to pay for a border guide to get him into Nicaragua, we split, we were through the border as night fell and onto our next problem of finding a safe place to stay pronto. For all I know, Debra and Gary could still be at the Nicaraguan border.



The lesson here is to choose your caravan partners wisely. Just because someone speaks the same native language as you and is also driving south does not mean that you will be safer driving with them. Safety in numbers only applies to intelligent people.



The upside of Debra and Gary is that I might actually get to call someone in on America´s Most Wanted one day.

Barra de la cruz to the Guatemalan Border

From Barra de la Cruz we continued south towards Guatemala, spending a night in Tanola, Chiapas and unother unfortunate night in Tapachula at the Mexican-Guatamlan border.

Remember that vehicle permit sticker that we told you about back at the U.S.-Mexico border? It's the sticker you must have if you travel more than 22 miles into Mexico in every state other than Baja California... well, if you don't have this sticker removed by a Mexican offical and recieve vehicle exit paperwork, you run the risk of finding yourself in a world of hurt the next time you travel through Mexico with or without said vehicle.

One would think that this vehicle exit process could be handled at the border. It can't. So all of you travellers driving vehicles thorugh the Tapachula, Guatemalan border, I urge you to make the following mental notes.

A. Your vehicle permit must be removed at the Banjercito office located at the Mexican Immigration and Customs office on Mex Hwy 1. This office will be on the left hand side of the hwy as you enter Tapachula.

B. You must pay an exit tax before reaching the border. This can be done at almost any bank. The accepted banks are listed on the back of your aduanas form issued at point of entry. This fee can not be paid legally at the border. It can be paid illegally at the border through the use of a "guia."

We learned all of this over a 10 hour period after reaching the border, being turned around by a hoard of guias, and racing through Tapachula at 3 in the afternoon trying to get to a mystery office by 4pm. As anyone who had driven in Mexico or Central America already knows, there are next to no road signs or addresses. On top of that no one we spoke to, store owners, teachers, policia, etc. had ever heard of the office we were looking for.

And so our stay in Tapachula began...

Barra de la Who?

Mexico has a way of sinking its claws into you. We left Puerto Escondido on a Thursday and stopped driving only 2 hours later at a point break recently added to the list of "world class point breaks." In a perfect world, this is how our entire trip would have gone. Instead we powered through 4 countries in 4 days... but that's another blog.

Because this break is definitely no longer a secret on anybodys list, after much debate we'll let the cat out of the bag... It's Barra de la Cruz. It's a beautiful right point break that is heavily localized and rightfully so.


If you're into a little local action and you find yourself in this stretch of Mexico bring $2 US/per person to get through the beach gate, located approximately 1 km from the beach. If you're into staying the night and can dig a no frills atmosphere, we definitely recommend Pepe's Cabana's at only $6 US per night per person. The restaurant on the premises is equally economical and open for brekkie, lunch and dinner. The bonus of camping out at Pepe's is that your $6 fee includes your entrance to the beach.

Nicaragua - by Brad

Words can´t describe how good it felt to arrive in Nicaragua. The policia had smiles and one even said ¨Welcome to Nicaragua¨ as he handed back our paperwork and sent us on our way without even hinting at a bribe.

The volcanoes were amazing to watch on the horizons and our destination was closer than we anticipated. We topped off the gas tank (never let it get below a half tank, please!) and headed for the coast. Within an hour we reached the highly recommended Hotel Chancletas.

Not only was the water as warm as the average bath tub, but the waves were beautiful and plentiful. The locals working the hotel were friendly and always kept your beer cold and full. The food was delicious and we were excited to share this experience with new acquaintances and lounge in the many hammocks strewn across the property.

We met a couple from Los Angeles that was stoked to see our mad max surfari mobile. They have been building their own, from scratch, for the past two years. It pretty much puts ours to shame. If your interested in camper mobiles, you´ll definitely enjoy their blog The Super Camper.

So check out The Super Camper girl surfing! It's Holly Beck, cool, eh?

We stayed for 2 nights and 3 days and definitely could have stayed longer, but duty called and we had to head south to Bernardo and Lorianna´s finca.