January 2014

So here we were, our backpacks dusted off for Stage 2 of our travels, 8 months to the day since we had left the UK. With my dad waving us off from the bus station in Guatemala City, we felt like we were embarking on a whole new trip…probably because the last two months had been so different to the rest of our time away, and the concept of backpacking again felt rather alien: "what, we now have to do our own washing / buy our own food / travel by public transport?" How on earth would we cope?

Our aim was to travel south from Guatemala, scooting through Central America until we hit Colombia in South America, where we planned to spend a bit more time. We had just a day in San Salvador, the capital of El Salvador, to take in the city's main sights: the Palacio Nacional, Plaza Barrios, Parque Libertad, and the psychedelic Iglesia El Rosario - the church's windows a rainbow of coloured glass. We also had time to sample the traditional 'papusa' - a deliciously unhealthy and typical food of El Salvador consisting of a tortilla filled with melted cheese (and/or refried beans and meat) which was grilled by street vendors dotted around San Salvador. Downtown San Salvador is quite colourful, with some parts verging on dodgy, but on the whole (and especially away from the centre) it felt more like an American city, with its wide boulevards and endless fast-food chains. So far, not so different from Guatemala City!

Our next stop was Managua (capital of Nicaragua), a 13-hour bus journey, via Honduras, which we spent mostly snoozing and admiring some very beautiful scenery out of the window. Very happily, our stay in Managua was well-timed to coincide with Simon's uncle Tim and his wife Jill who randomly happened to be in Nicaragua as well, on a visit with their Nicaraguan son-in-law and family. So we spent the next three days with them all, a merry troupe of 8 adults and 3 children, all travelling around in a hired minivan which they very kindly let us gatecrash, to see the surrounding sights of Managua. These included the Masaya volcano, the most heavily venting volcano in Nicaragua - often spewing rocks etc - so you are advised to park facing forward with keys in the ignition, away from the lip of the volcano, in case you have to make a quick escape from the erupting volcano - only in Central America! Even after having seen our fair share of volcanoes in Indonesia and Guatemala, it was still an impressive sight, with lots of sulphurous gases rising from the crater, hiding the lava bubbling down below. We also paid a visit to gorgeous Granada, the oldest colonial city in the country (founded in 1524) and Nicaragua's answer to Guatemala's Antigua: full of cobblestone streets, horse-drawn carriages, and beautifully restored colonial buildings and churches.

It was a wonderful few days, full of laughs, with Lombardo and his family showing us a great time (lot of large family gatherings in the evening, including karaoke and dancing) as we found ourselves once again embraced by some wonderful Latin hospitality. It was great spending time also with Simon's uncle and family (who we are more used to seeing in Sussex) and whose enthusiasm for Nicaragua and excitement at being in Central America was totally infectious. The only downside being that when we had to say goodbye to them as well we once again felt a bit morose at not being part of an entourage, or surrounded by people…now we really were on our own again!

Still it wasn't quite all bad of course…to cheer ourselves up we headed to San Juan del Sur, on Nicaragua's Pacific coast. We only planned to spend a couple of nights there but San Juan's reticent charm soon grew on us, and before we knew it we had been there a week. San Juan used to be a small fishing village but is now a small town which has grown up around a half-moon shaped beach, dotted with colourful clapboard houses. The town's mix of visiting surfer 'dudes' (American Spring Breakers) and surfer locals (eg the butcher in the market who had a surfboard tucked away behind the meat counter) lent to a very chilled out, easy place to hang around, which is why our departure date was always 'mañana mañana….'. A typical day consisted of a beach-side brunch, a potter around town, a walk along the beach, maybe a day trip to the prettier neighbouring beaches, and invariably a cold beer and great seafood - amazing fish tacos - in the balmy evenings. One day we treated ourselves to a day at the beautiful Pelican Eyes resort up the hill from the town and with amazing views over San Juan. It was way out of our budget to stay there, but a little splurge on lunch meant you could use their facilities for free so what with three infinity pools to choose from and a delicious lunch of ceviche and octopus carpaccio, we felt like rock stars for the day…all in the name of not making the return to backpacking so hard, of course.

Next stop was Santa Elena in central Costa Rica, after a rather epic journey from San Juan, arriving 11 hours, 6 buses and one taxi later. Arriving into the alpine village of Santa Elena was a very stark contrast to the Nicaraguan coast we had left behind, and the last two legs of the trip were up such a steep and remote road that it was difficult to imagine we would find anything there, let alone a village. The village provided a base though to visit the Santa Elena cloud forest, where we spent a good day walking through the 310 hectare reserve, wearing our fetching plastic ponchos to protect against the constant drizzle. It was a beautiful - if very muddy - trail, with hardly any other people, just massive trees, vines and leaves (some of which is primary rainforest). The forest is apparently full of birds, snakes and howler monkeys but we only heard them from a distance, that and the pitter patter of rain.

We were glad to have seen the cloud forest but equally glad to leave behind the cooler and wetter climate, and once again swapped our surroundings quickly enough as we headed to Puerto Viejo de Talamanca, on Costa Rica's Caribbean coast and near the border with Panama. Puerto Viejo was another good chill out place, much more rustic than San Juan, and home to an eclectic mix of West Indians, Latinos and 'gringos', with an equally laid back vibe, Caribbean-styley (possibly due to the rather consistent whiff of marijuana in the air). We spent just a couple of days there, before we headed on to Panama, as we'd had our fair share of relaxation of late, any more and we might have just stayed horizontal forever.

It was a short trip through Costa Rica, mainly because we knew it would be more expensive than the rest of Central America, but also because we thought our travels through its neighbouring countries would also not be too different to what was on show there. The Costa Ricans however really stuck out in terms of their friendliness (up there with Guatemalans in terms of the friendliest Central Americans), and their impressive efforts to make things go smoothly for tourists - mostly by means of the helpfulness of the locals, but one particular incident also sticks out. On our way to Puerto Viejo we had a quick stop in the capital, San José, and as we stepped off the bus we were greeted by two police, who seemed to stand guard as we all collected our luggage from the hold (San José bus terminal probably not being the nicest or safest place to hang around with all your belongings.) We were told to watch our bags at all times and to pretty much ignore anyone that talked to us there (the inference being that they would probably be after something), and then once we got back on another bus to Puerto Viejo, the same police handed all the passengers a 'Tourism Passport', courtesy of the Costa Rican Tourist Board, with some comical but well-meaning advice (eg always verify where the emergency exits are in any hotel or restaurant; wear comfortable clothes when bungee jumping and be sure to empty your pockets beforehand; etc). Like El Salvador and Nicaragua it would have been great to have had more time there, but at least we got a taste of each country, however brief.