Pacific Dreams

Driving North in Central America

2008-09-18T10:21:00.002-07:00

Ginette did all the planning for the trip. The plan worked well. See the earlier posts in this blog for day-by-day details.

April 13: We left Playas del Coco in Costa Rica at 8 AM and reached border at 10 AM. It took an hour on the Costa Rican side of the border and another hour on the Nicaraguan side to pay all the fees and get the paper work done. By 3 PM we reached the beautiful city of Granada, Nicaragua where we stayed.

April 14: We toured Granada. We love this city.

April 15: Granada at 8 AM and by 1:20 PM we reached the Nicaragua – Honduras frontier. By 3 PM we were in Honduras. The crossing cost us about $90. At 3:30 PM we stopped in the little town of Danli, Honduras and found a room at the Hotel La Esperanza (Hope Hotel).

April 16: There is not much to see in Danli. We were up early and headed for capital city of Honduras, Tegicugulpa could not be avoided; we feared having to go through it. Surprise! The city had some good expressways and we stumbled upon one that took us through the city in 15 minutes. We were really lost as we left Teguicugulpa but we kept heading north and did just fine. Be 3 PM we reached the little town of La Esperanza. This is a tough little town high in the mountains. I liked it. We found a good hotel.

April 17: We headed northwest on gravel roads and reached Gracias by lunchtime. After 92 more miles on great road, we stopped for the night at Copan Ruinas, site of one of the largest Myan ruins.

April 18: We remained in Copan Ruinas all day; lots to see and do.

April 19: Copan Ruinas, Honduras is only 6 miles from the Guatemalan border. The crossing required only 55 minutes. Winding mountain roads, good two lane roads take us to the outskirts of Guatemala City (“Guat City”) by noon. We dreaded crossing Guat City but there were no real choices (all roads lead to Guat City). That afternoon we found a great place to overnight in Parramos, Guatemala.

April 20: We quickly arrived in Antigua, Guatemala. Northern Guatemala is our favorite place.

April 21: Today’s destination was Panajachel on the edge of the great Lake Atitlan.

April 22: Chichicastenango is our destination, a day trip. Great place on market day, Sunday. We returned to Panajachel for the night.

April 23: Long drive today from Guatemala to San Cristobal de las Casas, Mexico via Huehuetenango and La Mesilla.

April 24: We started at San Cristobal and it took all day to get to Palenque, a distance of 132 miles (213 km). That gave us an average speed of 29 miles per hour (46 k/hr).

April 25: We visited the Mayan ruins at Palenque. By 11 AM we left and headed for Veracruz. We covered almost 400 miles in the afternoon, averaging about 65 mph and often running along at 80 mph.

April 26: Veracruz to Tampico

April 27: Tampico to Brownsville, Texas.

15 days, a great trip!

Driving South In Central America

2008-09-18T10:21:00.001-07:00

January 2007

We started at Brownsville Texas because this border crossing does not allow commercial trucks and is thus not too congested. We wanted to skirt around Mexico City at all costs.

Our objective was to reach Costa Rica as quickly as possible, doing almost no sight seeing. Ginette did all of the planning. See the earliest posts in this blog for day-by-day details.

Jan 7: This morning, we crossed into Mexico at Brownsville, stayed overnight in Tampico. Great city. In Mexico, when you cross from one Mexican state to another you will find an army check point. When these check points see you are a tourist, they generally wave you right through without stopping. They seem more intent on checking the local people.

Jan 8: We stayed over night at Veracruz. Driving through Mexico altered my image of Mexico. Mexico is now a modern state. It has a strong middle class. Things work in Mexico. The old images of Mexico that I developed from films have been broken.

Jan 9: cut across Mexico to the Pacific coast (bypassing Mixico City) overnight at a little place, Tuxtla Gutierrez

Jan 10: Then we started up into the southern Mountains, staying overnight at San Cristebal. This is a beautiful city. I would like to return here.

Jan 11 We crossed into Guatemala at La Mesilla and reached Huehuetenango for the night. We got into a grid lock coming into Huehue and we got lost coming out of Huehue.

Jan 12 We crossed into El Salvador.

Jan 13 Crossed into Honduras and stayed overnight in northern Nicaragua, Choluteca I think.

Jan 14 Crossed into Costa Rica and reached Playas del Coco at 4:30 pm

7 day transit. Not bad for gringos!

Driving Central America - General Concerns

2008-09-18T10:21:00.000-07:00

We drove to Costa Rica and back. Friends thought we were crazy; they wanted us to carry guns ! (We did not but did carry a big can of pepper spray.) We had a great time. Our Spanish was very limited but people went out of their way to help us. We would do this again if time permitted.

Here are some general observations.

Walking across a Central American border is one thing, but driving your car across is another. Each border is concerned about two things: 1) did you steal the car 2) are you going to bring the car into the country to sell it without paying the import tax. So you cannot take a rental car or someone else’s car. Bring your title for the car. If the title shows that you have an unpaid bank loan for the car, get permission from the bank in written Spanish. The normal procedure is to stamp your passport when you enter a country saying you came in with a car and then stamp your passport when you exit the country to say you exited with the same care you arrived with.

Your North American car insurance always stops covering you as soon as you cross into Mexico. Use the Internet to find someone like Sanborn who can provide insurance. Do this a month before you cross into Mexico.

You cannot drive at night, never, ever. It is too dangerous. Most roads are two lane affairs with no centerline painted, no road edge marking, and no shoulder. When there is no shoulder, cars and trucks that break down are just sitting there in the dark waiting for you to come along. Cattle and bicycle riders with no lights are on the road. Road signs are missing or difficult to see. Don’t drive at night. So start early each day and by 4 PM, start looking for a place to stay for the night. There are almost no motels; everyone uses hotels in cities.

A border crossing in Central America takes an average of 2 hours. We did one in 30 minutes but plan on them taking as much as 3 hours. The border offices often will close at sundown. And they often close between noon and one for lunch. So if arrive at a border at 4PM and cannot complete the paperwork, you will have to return the next day. That is not good because border crossings are generally in remote locations and the village that has developed around the crossing is not a pretty sight. You probably will not want to stay there overnight. The typical crossing is much different from a US border crossing. I works like this: as you leave country A you go through a gate into a “no mans land” where you first park and go country A’s immigration office to get your passport stamped and possibly pay an exit fee. Cash is required. Then you drive a short distance to country B’s offices where you park again. Go to country B’s immigration office to get your passport stamped and possibly pay an entrance fee. Sometimes a payment must be made to the local bank because the government people are not allowed to handle cash. Then you have to deal with your car and luggage at customs (a different building). If you have dogs with you as we did you have to see the agriculture people and get your doggy health papers stamped. Finally, you drive away through another gate that marks the exit from the “no man’s land” where a guard will check all your papers one more time before allowing you to pass.

Stay out of cities if you are in a hurry. City streets are generally unnamed, unmarked, narrow, congested, and run in crazy directions. Detailed maps are not available anywhere. If you get lost in a city, flag down a taxi and offer them $5 to lead you to where you want to go.

Highway signs are few and far between. Take a GPS. The GPS will not have detailed maps of the cities (at least not at this time) but it will give you a lot of confidence that you will get to your destination.

We were seldom sure of how much distance we could cover so we never made hotel reservations in advance. In addition, we were traveling with two dogs. Most Central Americans believe (not incorrectly) that dogs are dirty and should live outside. So finding a hotel that would allow the dogs to enter was tough and often forced us to take some not so attractive rooms.

December 2007

2007-12-31T12:22:00.000-08:00

Last year we arrived in Coco about mid-January and we came by car. This year we traveled by plane and arrived the last week of November. Everything went as planned. The only exciting part was our packaging our two dogs into kennels and handing them over to Delta Airlines for their travel as 4th class passengers (in the cargo hold); they seemed to have no problems with the trip (Ginette, however, required sedation, the kind that comes in a martini glass!!!)

The weather has been so mild! The temperature seldom gets over 90F (32C)and it drops to 68F (20C)at night. No air-conditioning is required, the windows are always open. We had a few little rain showers. During the month we added two ceiling fans the living-dining room to make sure the air is always moving.

Our big tropical garden was almost complete last year. This month we had to replace a lot of plants and reinstall the watering system. All is lush now. We have only to attend to the constant weeding; if you add a little water to the abundant sunshine here then everything (including the weeds) grows quickly. The attached photo shows Salvador and his crew installing plants.

For Christmas gifts, Ginette and I made cookies, lots of cookies, sugar and butter cookies with candied ginger on top. Christmas here is not too big an affair. But many Costa Ricans come from San Jose to spend the holidays at the shore so there are lots of folks in town. We went to Mass Christmas Eve in the local Catholic church with some of our Tico friends. And on Christmas Day we attended an Episcopal Mass in a local restaurant/bar run by some new gringo friends. Lots of ex pats attended and we had a great pot luck brunch after Mass. A fine group of people, all so laid back.

Some of our Costa Rican friends invited us for a post-Christmas neighborhood supper in the middle of the road not far from our home. Nice dinner, someone had a guitar and a good tenor voice for traditional Spanish songs. The teenage girls played pop Latin music. Gifts were exchanged. Beautiful people! The photo at the right shows Esteban and his sister Kelly during a visit to our house.

Last night we had friends over for dinner. The sword fish and rice and beans were almost ready; we were having a before dinner glass of wine when the electric power died. Lanterns were lit. Then the water died! So, we finished the wine by lantern light and then went outside to look at the stars. Here the stars are always pretty bright but last night with the whole town in darkness, the sky was full of bright diamonds. Being part of this rural life on the Pacific coast makes us all stand in awe of so many great things including the small kindnesses of the people here. Love it! Pura vida!

Coming Full Circuit

2007-05-01T19:30:00.000-07:00

To the right is a photo of a peach shaped water tower that for years has sat along side I-85 in South Carolina. When driving the interstate highways the distractions are few.

We are in Greensboro, North Carolina tonight; only 7 hours of driving remain before reaching the Philadelphia area. By the time we reach home in Drummondville, Quebec we will have covered 10,000 miles: 5,000 from Quebec to Costa Rica and 5,000 miles back. We are ready to do it again. It was a good trip.

Ginette studied the maps and the guide books and selected great routes. Each day's travel had to ensure that we could reach a city where it was likely that a hotel could be found and all border crossings had to take place before 2pm.

Road signs in Central America are few and our Spanish skills not the strongest. It could have been easy to get lost. However, before leaving on this adventure we purchased a hand-held GPS device, a Garmin Etrex Vista Cx. It became a great friend, always at our side. It cost $329 US. We would not want to make the trip without it. The device comes with "base maps" meaning basic maps. For Mexico and Central America these "base maps" are the only maps available for the the GPS but these were enough to show us our position on any of the major roads.

Houston to Mobile

2007-05-01T06:02:00.000-07:00

Everyone passing through the Houston area should stop in and ask my brother-in-law Larry for a bit of his key lime pie; it is the best of its kind. Mary and Larry took great care of us; they are always wonderful company. Our dogs and their dogs had fun together. Only Senor Gato, the cat, disapproved of our presence.

We stayed overnight in Mobile. Today we want to reach Charlotte, North Carolina. We are just driving hard and fast now. The super highways are fast but leave little to see.

Tropic of Cancer and the US of A

2007-04-27T19:29:00.000-07:00

Today we getting close to the US/Mexico border when we saw this big yellow ball marking the Tropic of Cancer. North of this line there is no way, no time when the sun can ever be directly over your head. South of this line (down to the Tropic of Capricorn) the sun will, at some time in the year, be directly over your head. Big deal you say, but every globe of the earth in the world has the Tropic of Cancer, the Equator, and the Tropic of Capricorn marked on it. Any way, it was fun to stop in the middle of no where for the photo.

We crossed the border with ease. There were lots of cars coming across. No one checked us for anything. No one looked at more than the covers of our passports. Their greatest concern was that we paid $2.50 liquor tax on the two bottles we were bring in. Kiss Homeland security goodbye for the moment.

It was a bit shocking to see with fresh eyes just how wide and how smooth the US highways could be compared with all we had seen over the last four months.

We are off to Houston to visit my sister Mary and her husband Larry. We should be in Cherry Hill next weekend.

Veracruz to Tampico

2007-04-26T16:47:00.000-07:00

Veracruz is a busy sea port with a lot of equipment supporting oil rigs out in the Golf. The Mexican navy was also very evident; they have a big base there.

Leaving Veracruz we turned the corner on the Golf of Mexico and began a more northerly trek following the Golf coast. Just outside of Tampico, the first motel we tried took us in (no disguises were required!).

Tomorrow we run up to the border at Matamoros, Mexico and cross over to Brownsville, Texas. All this driving is getting a bit old and we are running out of clean clothes.

Palenque Ruins and Mexico to Veracruz

2007-04-26T16:24:00.000-07:00

Wednesday night I created an entry for the blog but Google.com ate it! Something went wrong in Google land. Let's catch up.

Wednesday morning was spent visiting the Mayan ruins outside of Palenque. Beautiful place it was. The whole place was green and tranquil. We walked through some of the darkest and thickest jungle I have ever seen to visit some parts. The place was well landscaped. Many of the Mayan residential areas were partially restored.

We could not spend much time there so by 11 AM we scooped up the dogs and luggage from the hotel and drove toward Veracruze on the Golfo de Mexico. Suprise! Super highways almost all the way. We covered almost 400 miles in the afternoon, averaging about 65 mph and often running along at 80 mph. Some sections of the road were the equal of any superhighway in North America. Best of all NO FMT's !

It was 40 degrees C (104 degrees F) out on the highway.

We rolled into Veracruz in the early evening and started looking for a hotel that would take dogs. After several rejections Ginette broke into tears in the lobby of Hotel X (we are not allowed to use the real name of the hotel). Just then the owner of the hotel came by and said we could stay but no one was to know that dogs were in the hotel; when we took the dogs out of the room they would have to be wrapped up in disguise!

It was a nice hotel.

FMT Rant

2007-04-24T17:41:00.000-07:00

Another day of nothing but travel. We started at San Cristobal and it took all day to get to Palenque, a distance of 132 miles (213 km). That gave us an average speed of 29 miles per hour (46 k/hr). The slow speed is due to the fact that we were cutting through the mountains. We woke up with 60 degree F temperature in San Cristobal because we were at 6,805 feet. The trip ended at 213 feet in Palenque close to the Caribbean coast and a temperature of 99 degrees F. But, most frustrating were the hundreds of speed bumps or FMTs (Mexican Topes) we encountered. In some places the FMTs were in groups of 5 spread over 500 yards; in other places they suddenly appeared out of nowhere for no apparent reason. About 66% had warning signs and the rest did not. The FMTs are big enough that you have to come to a full stop and creep very slowly over them. Driving faster than 30 mile per hour is not practical because any discoloring on the road could be an FMT or just a shadow. Rant, rant rant.

The things are really out of control here. No other country in our travels has allowed the indiscriminate use of these things. FMT !

There are plenty of good hotels around however the good hotels do not look kindly on our two dogs being in their guest rooms. For tonight we have another $20 hotel. This one is worth $20 but not $21. This one has a toilet and shower in the room but no shower curtain and no toilet seat. No air conditioning.

We see the Mayan ruins at Palenque tomorrow morning and then head north along the Caribbean coast. Houston will be a welcome rest stop this weekend!!!

San Cristobal de las Casas, Mexico

2007-04-23T19:22:00.000-07:00

Long drive today from Guatemala to San Cristobal de las Casas, Mexico. Overpriced $20 hotel tonight.
Off to see some Mayan ruins someplace (Palenque) tomorrow.

Chichicastenango, Guatemala

2007-04-22T15:31:00.000-07:00

Before breakfast we walked the dogs from our hotel down to Lake Atitlan’s edge. Surprise! The air had been cleared by last night’s rain and we could see all three of the volcanoes that surround the lake. One of the photos here shows the lake with two volcanoes.

Soon as breakfast was over we left the dogs at the hotel and went for a one-hour drive over a mountain to the town of Chichicastenango (place where you can find the chichicaste plant). We went hoping to attend Mass at St. Thomas church and knowing that today was a market day for the town. It is one of the most exciting places we have been.

We approached the church and there were wonderful and strange things going on about the church steps. The church is very old and filled with Mayan people and incense and candles and the sound of a marimba. It was a very holy place and a moving Mass. A guide we hired later told us that the church shares its place with Mayan shamans. The shamans performed ceremonies with candles and incense (lots of it!) down the center of the church and on the church steps.

A big crowd gathered after Mass around the baptismal fount. We watched as long as we could. At the same time the shamans were performing on the great church steps.

The market was huge and jammed up against the church steps. There were gringos wandering about but this was no market for tourists. Everything from woven products to yarn to fresh meats and corn were sold along with odds and ends of electrical things and farm tools. The crowds were great and the little Mayan people just shoved everyone around the alleys like debris on a river. Great place!!!

Click on a photo to enlarge it a bit.

Tomorrow we start a long drive that will take us across the border to Mexico.

Panajachel, Guatemala

2007-04-21T15:32:00.000-07:00

Today’s destination was Panajachel on the edge of the great Lake Atitlan. We left Antigua with no problems and traveled 109 miles over some super twisted roads. The roads were good two-lane highway without much traffic but the routes through the mountains required many sharp turns and switchbacks. We went as high as 8800 feet (65 degrees F) and then down to Lake Atitlan (5400). The lake is quite several miles wide. We wanted to see the three volcanic peaks that surround the lake but the air was thick and gray.

Panajachel is crammed with colorful vendors of Mayan crafts. Ginette was buying from one woman who had here woven products bundled on here head while carrying a baby on her back. Halfway into the sale her baby complained of hunger so he got one breast while she continued to show products.

The hotel here is great, a place of tranquility.

Antigua

2007-04-20T18:26:00.000-07:00

We set out in high spirits for Antigua. The road was brand new and in amazing shape. It suddenly (very suddenly with no warning) turned into a rough, skinny gravel road. Our GPS device suggested we were not on track. A passing truck driver told us we were driving up a volcano. With very little room to maneuver, we got the car turned around and headed back. No great loss. We found Antigua quickly. Fine place.

Antigua is criticized for being “too touristy”. But we found it to be a great place. Like Granada, Nicaragua, it is preserved as an example of colonial architecture. Like Granada, many shops, resturants, hotels, and homes are built around lush gardens. We found a good guide to take the dogs and us around the city on foot. By noon we found a hotel in the center of Antigua that would take the dogs. Many small shops with brightly colored things tugged on us until we purchased some nice things.

The temperature is 72 degrees F. We are 5,100 feet or 1557 meters above sea level.

29 miles covered today.

Guatemala Transit

2007-04-20T18:22:00.000-07:00

Copan Ruinas, Honduras is only 6 miles from the Guatemalan frontier so we arrived at the border by 8:30 AM. This is one of several borders where the two countries work together. We drive through one gate and we are in a neutral zone, we are neither in Honduras or Guatemala. The goal is a gate 100 meters away. The two countries have their offices combined in three buildings. Everyone is friendly. The cost to exit Honduras and enter Guatemala is less than $40. No one cares that we overstayed our visit to Honduras and are missing a Honduran entry stamp. Ginette wraps thing up in 55 minutes (a record!) while I keep the dogs happy. The attached photo shows Ginette walking about in the neutral zone.

Winding mountain roads, good two lane roads take us to the outskirts of Guatemala City (“Guat City”) by noon. We dreaded crossing Guat City but there were no real choices (all roads lead to Guat City). Bad, awful traffic, like Manhattan, New York but at 45 miles per hour. (I am too old to drive in Guat City ever again!) Auto and bus pollution spill out from every vehicle. Some how we scooted out with out a dent and with no blood on the fenders. As we got to the far side of the city we got a little lost but recovered well.

We found our way to the area of Chimaltenango with its mountains, winding roads, small farms and lots of Mayan descendents. Ginette found a quaint country inn called La Posada de mi Abuelo outside of Parramos, Guatemala. It was like an inn in the French countryside. We were the only guests. Our two dogs could run freely with the 5 dogs and 5 horses that lived there. Great black bean stew was served for dinner with a Chilean wine.

183 miles covered today.

Copan Ruinas

2007-04-18T16:40:00.000-07:00

We stayed in Copan Ruinas, Honduras all day. In the morning we hired a guide and went to the big Myan ruins. Fine place. The reconstruction is not nearly as complete as some of the temples we saw in Yucatan, Mexico. But the site housed a great covered museum setting that protected the most valuable pieces. What is special about the Copan ruins is the large number of well preserved carvings. Seems the stone here was better. Therefor, many details are well preserved. (Click on an image for a better view.)

In the afternoon we went to a place called Macaw Mountain. It was beautiful! We saw many big birds native to Central America in huge, attractive cages and then we were invited to an area where we could play with the birds. Great fun. Their website is macawmountain.com

Tomorrow morning we cross into Guatamala and continue north.

Copan, Honduras

2007-04-17T19:43:00.000-07:00

After breakfast we left La Esperanza heading north west. Immediatly we encountered rough gravel roads. For the first 4 hours of the day we covered only 48 miles, but they were interesting miles the road twisted, turned, and bounced endlessly.

By noon the road turned smooth and straight. We stopped for lunch in the town of Gracias. Our guide book says that the first Spanish explorers named it Gracias a Dios because the place was the first flat ground they had seen in weeks. In the town square we met a small group of great chicos. They played with our dogs, Davy and Scotty. One of the chicos was named David and got a lot of kidding from his amigos about having a dog's name. In the photo, that is David holding Davy's leash.

After 92 more miles on great road, we stopped for the night at Copan Ruinas, site of one of the largest Myan ruins. The town is cute. Tomorrow we tour the ruins.

Honduras

2007-04-16T16:27:00.000-07:00

Several times along the highway we saw this sign. We were afraid to stop and ask how big they had to get to warrant road sign.

In Danli, Honduras we met a group of 10 gringos in our hotel who were from a Methodist church in Boston; they came down to help with the building of a church in Danli. The hotel is named “La Esperanza”. It was not much and way over-priced at $36.

From the Hotel La Esperanza we drove to the town of La Esperanza. The first three-quarters of the trip we had excellent roads. The capital city of Honduras, Tegicugulpa could not be avoided; we feared having to go through it. Surprise! The city had some good expressways and we stumbled upon one that took us through the city in 15 minutes.

Next the road took us up into the mountains. We got as high as 6,000 feet and the temperature fell to 58 F / 14 C. We were in the clouds. Coffee could be seen growing under banana trees. Then we came to a part where the road was rough, the map dead wrong and the GPS had no details to offer. All of that frayed nerves and slowed us down. 3 PM came along and we found ourselves at La Esperanza (The Hope), a rough little town. The good news is that we discovered a real gem of a hotel! 190 miles today.

Leaving Granada

2007-04-15T16:20:00.000-07:00

Blogging is good if you can do it in a garden in Granada, Nicaragua accompanied by your Sweetie and a fine Nicaraguan cigar.

In Granada, the most common architectural design for homes calls for a two-story home built around an open courtyard garden. The portion of a home facing the street is kept plain with a fancy doorway. One of the photos here shows a garden through a door. The other photo shows a garden courtyard from above.

Nicaragua has no time for soccer; it’s all about baseball. Every small town in Central America is build around a soccer field except for Nicaragua. Canada donated a nice field for kids in Granada. When you see people sitting around on their doorstep listening to the radio, you can be sure they are listening to a ball game.

We left Granada at 8 AM and by 1:20 PM we reached the Nicaragua – Honduras frontier. The roads were smooth and well marked; traffic was light. We saw big rice fields and tobacco farms with their drying barns. The road took us up into the mountains.

By 3 PM we cleared the border $90 lighter. Don’t like it? Take a plane. It sure keeps the people of Central America from casually moving around. At 3:30 PM we stopped in the little town of Danli, Honduras and found a room at the Hotel La Esperanza (Hope Hotel). Tomorrow we have to make it through the capital city. What is the name of the capital of Honduras? A good Jeopardy question.

2007-04-14T14:17:00.000-07:00

We awoke Friday morning and the electricity and water were still off causing us to momentarily doubt the wisdom of God's plan for this city. We got the suitcases packed and house cleaned and then jumped into the car without a shower. Departure was at 8 AM.

By 10 AM we reached the Costa Rica – Nicaragua frontier. I took 60 minutes to do the paperwork required to get out of Costa Rica. 100 yards later we entered Nicaragua and spent the next hour and a half waiting in various lines for paperwork and paying fees, altogether normal in this part of the world. Everyone was professional and well organized. Still it is hot and frustrating.

Good roads (except for one stretch just before Granada), not much traffic. However, we stuck to the speed limit of 80 k/hr (50 mph). We arrived in Granada by 3 PM. Great place it is! The city has a long and wonderful reputation and seems to live up to it all. Granada is clean and organized. It feels very safe. But what knocks us over is the bright colors and great architecture.

We are staying at Hotel Kekoldi (www.kekoldi-nicaragua.com), a small hotel built around a garden and filled with artwork both modern and old. $40 per night. The two dogs are doing fine. They like the air-conditioning! Muy bien! Me gusto mucho.

We walked about and took a carriage ride around the city Saturday morning taking lots of photos. A few photos are included here. Click on one to get a larger image.

Naked In The Rain

2007-04-12T19:22:00.002-07:00

Our last night in Coco. We were waiting for the water to come back on so we could get cleaned up and go out to dinner. The water fails almost once a day here. Lots of water, they say, but the distribution system can not keep up with the explosive development. Now the first long rain in months starts. The power goes out. Everything is darker than the basement of Sacred Heart Church during Easter Vigil. Great, really great. Seriously, it is wonderful if you can relax and enjoy.

So after admiring the rain and the darkness, we got naked and found a place to sit in the back yard. We sat naked in the rain for an hour until we felt clean and cool. It was a rare experience! (No photos were taken to record the event.)

We found a restaurant in town that has wireless internet, good beer, sushi, and a great open-air space where we can smell the rain without getting our laptops wet. God is great!

Turning North

2007-04-12T16:59:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we brought out our suitcases and started packing. Immediately the two dogs got to thinking something was up. So they have been making every attempt to get into the car just in case we leave and forget to take them.

We leave tomorrow for the "far north". Sure hope the snow has melted! We are leaving a bit wiser in the ways of Central American travel, Ginette's command of Spanish is much stronger, and the car is not loaded down with "stuff".

Our schedule is below. It is subject to change due to whims, breakdowns, acts of God and the like. We are, after all, both unemployed at the moment and proud of it. (Ginette is a bit bored now and is ready to go back to work.)

April 13 Friday -Leave Coco, cross into Nicaragua, stay in Granada
April 14 Saturday -Tour around Granada
April 15 Sunday -Leave Granada for Honduras border, overnight in Danli Honduras
April 16 Monday -Drive to Copan in Honduras, try to overnight in Copan
April 17 Tuesday -Tour Mayan ruins in Copan
April 18 Wednesday -Leave Copan for Guatemala border
April 19 Thursday -Visit Antigua in Guatemala
April 20 Friday -Antigua and leave for Lake Atitlan
April 21 Saturday -Lake Atitlan
April 22 Sunday -Lake Atitlan
April 23 Monday -Leave Lake Atitlan for Mexican border
April 24 Tuesday -Drive to San Cristobal in the mountains of southern Mexico
April 25 Wednesday -Drive to Palenque, Mexico
April 26 Thursday -Drive the Caribbean coast of Mexico
April 27 Friday -Drive along the Caribbean coast of Mexico
April 28 Saturday -Cross into the US at Brownsville, Texas
April 29 Sunday -Drive to Houston and visit Mary and Larry
April 30 Monday -Stay in Houston
May 1 Tueday -Leave Houston for New Jersey
May 2 Wednesday -Drive to Knoxville TN
May 3 Thursday -Drive to Philadelphia
May 4 Friday -Visit friends around Cherry Hill
May 5 Saturday -Visit friends around Cherry Hill
May 6 Sunday -Mass at Sacred Heart in Camden
May 7 Monday -Drive to Drummondville, Quebec

Holy Week in Coco

2007-04-08T11:06:00.000-07:00

Holy Week is a national holiday in Costa Rica. Businesses all about CR close for the week. No alcohol is permitted to be sold on Holy Thursday and Good Friday. Many leave the big city (San Jose) and spend the week at the beach. Coco has been overflowing with Costa Ricans. I was taken aback at one point seeing a group of Costa Ricans gawking at some howler monkeys moving about in the trees above town; then I realized most Costa Ricans are city dwellers and seldom have the opportunity to come to a place like Coco. We are so so accustomed to life here we no longer stop for monkeys and lizards!

Very few of the folks on Holy Week holiday found their way into church. Attendance was no better that that of an "ordinary" Sunday. The liturgy was heavy with words from a book and very light on appeals to beauty and emotions. Still the core of the liturgical message came through. A core group of Christians witnessed the good news...Christ has risen...indeed He has risen!

Mind The Mangos

2007-04-07T10:41:00.000-07:00

We have no end of tropical fruits here, of course. We have several papaya trees in our yard. On the left is a photo of one of the trees as well as a photo of Ginette holding a couple of papayas. Bananas here are great because, purchased at the supermarket they are perfectly ripe the day you buy them and the day after. Avocados and cantaloupes are always ripe in the store also.

Mangos are something else. They grow by the hundreds on big (30 foot high) trees everywhere. They come crashing down when ripe. Makes a bit of a mess round about each tree. You just help your self to them. Most folks here have a handy fruit picker thing that lets you grab the fruit of your choice from high up in the tree.

Rain Fell

2007-04-06T12:22:00.000-07:00

It rained yesterday; remarkable because it has never rained here in Coco when we were here. We arrived in mid-January of 2007 to hard blue sky every day. Over the last two weeks we noticed clouds, a few at first and then some cloudy days. Now it rained, not much but it rained. Smelled pretty good. Perhaps it was a little joke from God as we had just installed a big water irrigation system for the garden the day before!

We expect more frequent rains in May. Generally the rains are not too heavy but the sky is frequently cloudy between May and November. That drops the average temperature from 97 to 92 and raises the humidity from 30 percent to 50 percent. Unlike North American weather, the weather here is quite constant, even boring. Constant hot and dry for several months and then cloudy and rainy for several months.

This is a hot climate but we have gotten used to it. We don't have air conditioning in the house but it is sometimes a great relief to get in the car and cool down with its air conditioner.

I am always in awe of the way nature adapts here. Dispite the many months without water many trees remain very green and flowering trees are to be seen everywhere. The photo above is the colorful scene in front of our house.

El Salvador

2007-01-24T19:42:00.000-08:00

Friday, January 12, 2006

We got on the road by 8:30 AM and by 10 AM we were at the El Salvador frontier. What fun. All of the frontiers follow the same pattern. You pull into a cluster of small buildings, people, buses, tractor-trailers, dogs, and horses. Young men flock to us in an effort to get us to employ them as guides through the local border crossing process. At some of the crossings the lads are licensed and most will speak a little English. We used them. Ginette did most of the contact work because her Spanish is a lot better than mine.

First you have to clear Immigration. That involves finding the correct office and paying a small fee and getting the passports stamped. Next the car has to be cleared because each border attempts to limit the ability of car thieves to move cars across borders. You have to find another office in another building and prove you own the car and sometimes pay another small fee. Fees are frequently paid to another office, the local branch of the country’s central bank. Now the passport is stamped to indicate that you are bringing in a car. This passport stamp must be cancelled when you exit the country. It is hot. Lines are long. Sometimes the officials require an hour to look over your documentation. Ah, now it is lunchtime and the border shuts down for an hour. Ok, now find the customs office and convince them you have nothing to pay (that was never a problem) and possibly have you belongings searched (never happened at any border for us). One more office…got to prove the two dogs are healthy and have their documentation stamped. And I forgot about the fumigation…got to have your car sprayed for bugs.

While Ginette is tending to all that, I am trying to keep the dogs from passing out…they need water and fresh air. A heard of goat, 12 of them, seemingly belonging to no one come wandering through. Our two dogs thing that is great! They want to try herding but the goat want none of it. Horse-drawn carts come through. Again, the dogs are impressed.

Two or three hours later we leave the cluster of offices and approach the “final checker” official who is blocking the road. There is always a “final checker” who looks over the paperwork and says go or go back. No problem…we are on our way.

Opps ! Car overheated. Turned off the air conditioner. Had to find water. Found a great gas station and good folks to put water into our parched car.

Fifteen minutes down the road a cop has set up a roadblock and is selectively stopping vehicles to check paperwork. Ah, he finds that we are missing one $10 stamp of some kind on the dogs’ papers and we will have to go back. Seems clear that he wants the $10 deposited in his pocket. Ginette refuses to pay; arguing in rough Spanish that we paid enough. 15 minutes of arguing later the cop gives up and lets us go. He seemed to be new at this stuff.

Great drive through El Salvador. You never know what you will find. Animals of all kinds wander on to the roadway. This is all ranch and farm country. Our two dogs loved the cattle drive we found ourselves behind. All their barking made us think seriously about letting them out of the car…forever. But we eventually passed the cattle drive. A little later a pig darted across the road just in front of us, like he was a squirrel!

One more police check at a roadblock. Nice people, papers all in order, thanks be to God.

Once more we got into a town big enough for a motel before the sun set and laid serious darkness upon us. And this motel accepted dogs; they had 6 dogs of their own. $17 per night. All the basics of a motel were there and not an inch more. Good people.

Driving Naked in Central America

2007-01-22T18:09:00.000-08:00

Thursday January 11
Photos of Huehuetenango

We had auto insurance in Mexico; Mexico demands it. We had arranged for the insurance over the Internet. But we could not get insurance for the rest of Central America. The guidebooks said we could get insurance at each border. Not so. At the Guatemala border people said to look for insurance in Huehuetenango. So we spent the morning looking for auto insurance. No way. “Go to Guatemala City”. BIG No way! So we made a run for El Salvador bare naked (insurance wise). The same story was repeated in El Salvador and Honduras; driving uninsured. Auto insurance is not mandatory in these countries but it felt dangerous for us to be without.

Gridlock in Huehue

2007-01-17T17:44:00.000-08:00

Huehuetenango is a town of about 200,000 in the mountains of Guatemala. We got into the city at about 3 PM and right away got into trouble. Grid-lock. The town is very, very old with streets going in all directions that were designed for horses and humans. Gridlock must happen frequently for as soon as it became clear that all the traffic was locked up, people around us calmly abandoned their cars and went for a cup of coffee. So civilized!

After about an hour the block cleared (the army came in to clear the traffic) and we looked for the tourist office. The tourist helped us find a hotel that would take dogs. People in this part of the world see dogs as dirty, wild things that no one wants in their house. We had more problems with finding the hotel what with the wandering, one-way streets and the traffic. The hotel turned out to be a great place…rustic, built on the side of a very steep hill. Guests stayed in little houses cut into the hillside above the hotel reception and restaurant.

In the morning we tried to get out of town but found ourselves going around in circles. We asked a taxi driver for advice and he offered to lead us out. He got us so far and told us the rest was a snap (in Spanish of course). Lost again. We asked for help and a guy got on his motor bike and led us out. Great fun.

Huehue is one place we to which we would like to return. But we vowed never again to go into anything other than a town with one street. The great cities like Guatemala City, and Managua would swallow us up.
They are throwing me out of here...internet cafe...no time for photos.

Home at Last

2007-01-17T15:03:00.000-08:00

We arrived Sunday night at 5:30 PM. Tired, happy, still married. We did think many times that the dogs should be quietly left along side the road some place. All in all, it was not a difficult trip. We had no real problems. 4,774 miles (7,684 km) in 13 day. We did almost no sight-seeing.

Tonight or tomorrow we will tell more about the trip and put some photos up.

Since we arrived we have been busy setting up housekeeping, buying tools, buying food, washing clothes and all those good things.

We hear that the weather up north has been bad. Want to get out of Dodge?

Culture Shock

2007-01-10T19:33:00.000-08:00

Wednesday, January 10

The drive through the mountains from San Cristebale de Las Casas to the Guatemalan border was filled with grand vistas...we were running in and out of the clouds. Mexico looking good.

Then we came to the Guatemalan border town of La Mesilla, highway CA1. Tiny place...try to find that on a map. Wow! The scene was right out of the TV series Deadwood. The money changer in the cowboy hat in the middle of the street looked just like the evil bar owner in Deadwood!

We got through just fine with no hitches despite the crazy, circus like atmosphere. We got out of there and ran to the Guatemalan city of Huehuetenango (the locals call it Huehue, sounds like way-way). Nice hotel and a good dinner.

Tuesday, January 9

2007-01-10T18:59:00.000-08:00

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
Today we left the very rural town of Cosamalopan and drove to San Cristebal de Las Casas, one of the most beautiful towns I have seen in Mexico.

For almost 100 miles we drove on...no we paid high tolls to drive on one of the worst roads and it was a divided superhighway. It was marked "under construction". That is Mexico's way of saying it has been totally neglected for years!
There is not much traffic on this road but potholes everywhere! All those potholes in Philadelphia...this is where Philadelphia sends them. On this road it is not all all shocking to see the on-coming traffic on the far right shoulder of the road ahead while we are driving on the far left (way left of what was the yellow line) looking for passage. We became accustomed to driving while centered on the yellow line. We became accustomed to driving anyplace we could. Everyone did it.

Few roads in Mexico are bad. This one was the exception.

Still, my overriding impression of Mexico is that of one big, green, throughly middle-class country. Most things in Mexico work just fine and the country is generally lovely.

This night we stayed in San Cristebal de Las Casas way up in the mountains. What a beauty! Located in the state of Chiapas the streets are full of faces from the great Olmec civilization. We had to rush through but I would love to return some day.

Edgy Driving

2007-01-08T19:43:00.001-08:00

Left Tampico at 8 AM. The first photo shows the very modern bridge across the bay at Tampico. 60 degrees F/ 16 degrees C in the morning. We drive through many rolling mountains. Many hills and valleys were covered in orange groves; everything was green, the orange harvest was in evidence everywhere. Big, big beautiful country.

We had a lot of bad roads in the morning (40 mph max). In the afternoon we had a lot of great roads (75 mph/ 120 k/h). Found those notorious topes (speed bumps). We had a few that were so big we scraped the bottom of the car no matter how slowly we crossed them. But they do the job. You see a sign that says 40 kph and you find a tope that ensures that you will wreck you car if you go faster than 40 kph. No cops required.

The driving is fun. It is not difficult but it keeps us on edge a bit since we have never driven in this country and we can only read half of the traffic signs. Well, we can read more than half of them by now; we are learning Spanish as we drive dictionary in one hand and map in the other.

We had our first cervasa (beer) since entering Mexico (sorry to say) at a truck stop this afternoon. Photos attached. Watched two hombres change truck tires on the side of the road with a 10 foot wrench; no air hammers required.

Sugar cane is king of the crops as we come through Veracruze on the coast and turn into the center of Mexico and it is being brought into market in huge trucks. We drove 387 miles today pulling into Cosamaloapan for the night behind a wagonload of sugar cane illuminated by flaming torches at each corner of the wagon.

We are at N 18 degrees, 21 minutes, 59 seconds and W 95 degrees, 48 minutes, 52 seconds for you Goggle Earth freaks. The plan for tomorrow is to get within an hour of the Guatemalan border.

Edgy Driving

2007-01-08T19:43:00.000-08:00

Down the Mexican Coast

2007-01-07T18:27:00.000-08:00

We crossed into Mexico without a hitch. Everyone was wonderfully helpful. We told them we wanted to declare somethings and showed them our manifest; the border officials said "move on...and oh, by the way, the Peros Bravo sign on your car is very funny". We asked where we should go to process the dogs and they said "you have papers for them?" and we said yes. The official said fine and walked away.

Sailing down the road was fun. The roads have been in great condition and well marked. The country looks vast and green and empty. Vast rancharos out there. 3,089 miles from Quebec now. 319 miles covered today.

I am writing from the hotel in Tampico and listening to a full, live dance band play latin dance tunes for some local dance club in the hotel...so civilized...so romantic. I am liking it. Ginette is liking it. The dogs are not so sure but are trying.

On to Vera Cruze tomorrow and turning over to the Pacific coast for the remainder of the trip. Come join us !

Brownsville Border Crossing

2007-01-06T19:18:00.000-08:00

We had breakfast with Mary, Larry, Margaret (Mary's daughter), Mary's two dogs, our two dogs, and one cat (Senior Gato, who belongs to no one). Delightful. By 9 AM we were on the road. 410 uneventful miles we arrived at Brownsville, Texas. A total of 2,770 miles so far. South Texas was vast. Great plowed fields that stretched to the horizon. Brownsville is a great town. There are so many Mexican faces and accents that it seems we have already crossed over. But most of the people in Brownsville have been here for generations.

Tomorrow morning we cross the border and will drive south through Ciudad Victoria and on to Tampico on the coast. We might be able to reach Poza Rica. Folks here tell us we can drive the length of Mexico in 3 days.

Dumb and dumber

2007-01-05T12:27:00.000-08:00

We left Hammond, LA (totally unmemorable town) and drove to Mary and Larry's home north of Houston. Lots of rain in LA...a squall ! We arrived and found that I had (oh no) left our laptop computer at the motel !!!

Well, check the web, call the motel...they had it; they were quite accustomed to dumb people leaving things behind. Checked the web again for UPS, called UPS in Hammond, they went to the motel and got the computer, packed it up and we had it the next day before 10:30 AM. Modern miracles ! How did they compensate for stupidity in the old days?

Larry fed us wonderfully. Mary and Larry's two dogs and a cat and our two dogs got along fine after some initial hissing.

Saturday morning, January 6 we set off for Brownsville Texas where we will stay over-night before facing the big frontier. We are told that most folks pass the length of Mexico in 3 days.

The long march

2007-01-04T05:09:00.000-08:00

Left Knoxville and got 150 miles away before we realized we left behind a bag...nothing important in it (except for passports!). So we had to turn about and get the bag. Cost us half a day.
We have been slashing south west across the country and are now in Baton Rouge, LA. Saw lots of cars, pine trees, and highway. But not many people.

Day 5

2007-01-02T20:07:00.000-08:00

Left Philly and friends and family for Knoxville, TN. Covered 665 miles for a total of 1215 from Quebec. It was uneventful...a forced march down interstate highways. Knoxville is bright, shiny, and reminds me of Atlanta 20 years ago...a go-go place.

New Years in Philly

2007-01-02T19:59:00.000-08:00

Days 2, 3, and 4 we spent celebrating New Years with friends and family in the Philadelphia area. We partied with the Bells, Branns, and the Bell-Branns. We celebrated mid-night Mass at Sacred Heart (Mass for Peace) on New Year's Eve. New Years day we partied with Christopher, Laura, and Daniel and many others at a great feast.

Day 1

2006-12-31T07:38:00.000-08:00

December 29, 2006: it is -16 degrees Celsius in Drummondville, Quebec as we squeezed all we could (including the two dogs) into our Nissan sedan. We headed south, crossed into the US (35 minutes to cross the border, no charges, no paperwork, just flash the passports). At the end of the first day we covered 550 easy miles and arrived at Chris and Laura's house. We will celebrate New Years with them and Daniel and friends.

December 15, 2006

2006-12-16T16:32:00.000-08:00

These two guys, Scotty and Davy, are coming with us to Costa Rica. Getting them there is going to be one of our biggest problems. We have to cross 7 borders with them one way and every border crossing requires us to check them in and check them out to say nothing of paying various fees.

They each got an inspection and vaccinations from our vet (Ginette's brother, Pierre). Each dog got two papers; we took those four documents to the Montreal office of Agriculture, Animal Export Control where they stamped and signed the 4 papers (at a cost of 80 $ ! ). Now we are attempting to have these papers "authenticated" (read "pay for more stamping) by the consuls of the various countries involved. Even with these papers in hand we understand that each border crossing will require more stamping and paying.

When asked why we are taking these dogs on the trip, Michael and Ginette can only shake their heads. "They are going to love chasing chickens."

November 2006

2006-12-16T14:32:00.000-08:00

We decided that flying to Costa Rica would be too simple; driving looked more interesting. So we purchased maps, a GPS, and an assortment of travel guides. The web was very useful in researching the trip.

We started packing up again, threatening our kids and Michael's sister in Houston with a stop-over, and putting together the documentation required.

We will drive from Quebec, Canada, through the USA, Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua to Costa Rica. Because road conditions are not all that good in many parts of Central America, we do not know how long it will take us to get there. Something like 3 weeks we guess.

Summer 2006

2006-12-16T14:22:00.000-08:00

After purchasing the house in Coco, we put our home of 23 years in Cherry Hill, New Jersey on the market. As soon as it sold we packed up, said "see you soon" to many friends and family particularly those at Sacred Heart Church, tossed the two dogs into the car and went up to Ginette's home town, Drummondville, Quebec to live with family for a few months. Ginette went to work at her first hospital, Montreal General.

March 2006

2006-12-15T16:41:00.000-08:00

After several annual trips to Costa Rica we decided we really liked the place and should settle there. It was the Pacific coast, the northwestern corner of Costa Rica that we liked. In March 2006 we found this house in Coco. It is about a mile inland from the beach.

The last time we looked, Coco had one bank, one supermarket, one hardware store and countless chickens, dogs, and monkeys. But Coco is growing. Gringos from all over the world are coming in. Construction (for better and worse) has been going on 7 days a week for sometime now.

If you use Google Earth you can see the house and the rest of Coco. Our house is at 10 degrees, 32 minutes, 11.4 seconds North and 85 degrees, 41 seconds, 19.2 West.