Nicaragua

I forgot how much we loved Nicaragua until we went back through the pictures. It`s such a beautiful country and the people there were some of the nicest we encountered in Central America. Unfortunately, what makes Nicaragua so different from neighboring countries is its extreme poverty. 80% of people in Nicaragua live on less than $2 a day. Obviously that money goes a lot further in Central America than it would in Canada or Australia, but it`s still ridiculously low. We noticed that change almost immediately after crossing the boarder from Honduras. The roads went from being reasonably well maintained to being littered with potholes. Our van was stopped by the police 4 times in just a couple of hours for passport checks and bribes. Like most impoverished countries we've visited, though, the people were happy and extremely helpful. 

Our first stop was the city of Leon which had a reputation for being a bit of a party spot. We arrived on the evening of Halloween and purposely avoided all bars. Drunk tourists are the worst, especially young drunk tourist. We had a quick supper and retreated to the safety of our quiet hostel. The next day we were desperate to escape the heat and luckily found a museum to hide in for a couple hours. We were surprised to find a huge collection of artwork from around the world. 

A church in Leon getting some much needed maintenance. 

Artwork by Central American artists on display inside the museum. 

Trying to cool down with an ice-coffee. 

Aaran getting a $2 haircut in Leon. 

Before going to Nicaragua we had a look at our budget and decided that we had just enough money to treat ourselves to a little vacation. From the capital, Managua, it was just a short plane ride to the beautiful paradise of Big Corn Island, a breathtaking Caribbean island that hasn't been overrun by tourists just yet. From there, we took a short boat ride to Little Corn Island, an even more secluded and wonderful location. The boat only leaves twice a day which limits the amount of tourists on the island at one time. Besides the deserted beaches and crystal clear waters, our main reason for visiting Little Corn was the super cheap diving. Aaran was able to get an 8 dive package for less than $25 a dive. Most places will give 2 dives for about $100. We decided to spend almost a week there, relaxing, eating seafood and swimming with entire stretches of beach to ourselves. 

Walking through the forest to find secluded beaches on the island.

No other humans around on our little stretch of paradise. 

Our Caribbean rundown fish stew made with fish straight off the boat. 

$7 lobster and coconut rice. So delicious we had it for lunch and dinner. 

Waiting for a flight back to the mainland on the beach. 

Our next stop in Nicaragua was the island of volcanic island of Ometepe. We stayed on an organic farm for the first 2 nights and moved to a small house on the lake for our last night. The farm was nice but it was a bit too crowded for us. We were paying about $6 each for accommodation so obviously there were no fans or air-conditioning. To cool down we spent almost every day at the Ojo de Agua, a big man-made hole, naturally filled with cold water trickling down from the volcano. It was a 7km walk each way to the pool but it was definitely worth the trouble. 

Walking to the Ojo de Agua.

Beautifully cold and clear water at the Ojo de Agua.

We spent entire days just reading and swimming at the pool. 

We really loved the everyday routine of being in Nicaragua. People are very laid-back and don't seem to be in much of a rush, but most importantly no one is trying to take advantage of you. In a lot of places bus or taxi drivers are constantly trying to rip you off. We didn't find that here. Transportation was cheap and very easy understand. When you're travelling long term you come to really appreciate it when a country is easy. You can leave a city and not have to stress too much about how to get to your next location. We also loved that Nicaragua had simple food. We could never really afford tourist restaurants so we would just go to the local small kitchen and order the meal of the day. It was always the same thing so we knew what to expect. Rice, beans and eggs for breakfast or rice, beans and chicken for lunch. 

Travelling on a local bus. 

Our favorite grocery store Pali. 

A birthday party for the daughter of our hosts in San Juan Del Sur. 

Aaran's first princess birthday party. 

Very basic accommodation in Nicaragua. This one was actually a bit fancy because they provided towels. 

Typical restaurant menu. 

Can`t resist a menu with poutine. 

Hostel book exchanges have provided us with hours of free entertainment. 

A typical Nicaraguan 'comida'. 

Honduras & El Salvador

Central America is a relatively safe region to travel if you are vigilant. The two countries that we felt a bit uneasy about were Honduras and El Salvador. They don't have as much of an establish backpackers trail as the other countries in the region and their safely ratings are not great. Since we were delayed by a few weeks from because of my surgery, we decided to only spend a few days in each country. 

We took a shuttle from Antigua in Guatemala to the town of Copan in Honduras. I had read online that there was no cost to exit Guatemala since we already paid our tourist tax upon entry. When we got the border, the customs official  stamped our passports and asked us to pay $4 each. Hmm. Using the best Spanish we could muster we challenged him, knowing that there was no official fee to exit. He made up some reason, saying that because we were only going to Honduras for a few days that we had to pay a tax. An American man behind was telling us to stop making a fuss, if the official says there is a tax, then there must be a tax. Eventually they sent us to a different window where a younger man told us that we were right, there is nothing to pay and gave us our passports back. 

Zip-lining in Copan, Honduras. 

                                      

We only had a few days in Honduras so we decided to base ourselves in the small town of Copan near the border of Guatemala. The area is covered by forests and there are a lot of outdoor activities to choose from. We decided to go zip-lining because it was reasonably prices and would keep us out of the hot sun. Our guides came to pick us up in a truck and told us to sit in the back. The zip-lining course took about an hour to complete and it felt great to get some fresh air. No matter how small, most of the towns are hot and stuffy. On one of the last lines Aaran lost his hat to the jungle. We thought for sure we would never see it again, but once we got back to the base our guide set out with a machete to clear a path and went to retrieve it. 

Included in the tour was access to a bird rescue centre. There were hundreds of birds that had lost their homes due to deforestation. Others had been staved in houses where they were kept as pets. Aaran said hello when he approached one of the cages and the birds all replied "Hola". 

Heading out to the start of the zip-lining course. 

Birds at the rescue centre.

A beautiful Scarlet Macaw.

The main reason to visit the city of Copan is to visit its famous Mayan ruins. We thought that since we had seen most of the ruins of the Mayan empire that we should check these ones out as well. The thing that sets Copan apart from other Mayan sites is its impressive Hieroglyphic Stairway Plaza. The staircase is 100 metres wide and tells a story from nearly 2000 glyphs. 

The ruins of a staircase in the ruined city of Copan.

After doing a bit of a crash course in Mayan glyphs at the Copan museum we tried to identify images in the ruins. 

Copan is a small town and there really were not a lot of tourists around. That's why we were surprised to find really great coffee shops around. We were looking online for the best espresso in town when Aaran found a place that claimed to make delicious cheeses. We decided to go check it out and we very pleasantly surprised. We couldn't quite afford the $15 double cream brie, so we settled on a flavoured cream cheese. We couldn't find any crackers so we ate it with chips for dinner. 

So happy to find real, fresh cheese in a very unlikely place. 

We must have arrived just in time for the lychee harvest in Honduras. Every fruit stand was selling bags full of them for just a few dollars. 

Our next stop was El Salvador. After a lot of research we decided to spend a few days in the beach town of El Tunco. We had been in hot cities for a while and needed a bit of sea breeze. It's a lazy surf town packed with tourist and unfortunately a prime spot for drug tourism. We did our best to stay in populated areas when the sun went down. Our guesthouse had a pool and we almost always had it all to ourselves. We were hoping to save some money by cooking, but the kitchen was filthy so that plan was broken. Luckily we were able to find lots of cheap food in town. We basically spent our four days there just sitting by the pool, reading and eating pupusas. 

The pool at our guesthouse. 

The glorious pupusa. Dough stuffed with cheese or meat. 

Relaxing at our guesthouse. 

Beers at sunset. 

The sunsets in El Tunco were unbelievable. 

Someone cooking dinner on the side of the road. 

Enjoying the breeze. 

After our short stays in Honduras and El Salvador, it was off to Nicaragua. We don't really like speeding through countries so quickly but we keep telling ourselves that it's impossible to see everything. 

Guatemala

Guatemala is every backpacker's dream. The food is delicious, the people are friendly and transportation is efficient. It's also where we found some of the best coffee we've had since the start of the trip. We started our time in Guatemala on the island of Flores. We quickly realized that we couldn't get away with knowing only a few Spanish words for our next 4 months in Latin America. We decided to enrol in a much needed Spanish class. We booked 7 nights at a hostel in Flores and opted for an intensive 30 hour course. It was kind of nice to have a little routine for a while. Every morning we walked to the school and had 3 sessions of about 2 hours each. For lunch we walked up a hill and ate at a local restaurant that served huge portions for half the price of the tourist restaurants. There are no grocery stores on the island, so every night we walked across the bridge to buy fruit and jugs of water. 

The small town just across the bridge from Flores where we got our food and water supplies.

Daily food market just outside of Flores. 

 One of the main reasons to visit Flores is because of its proximity to the Mayan ruins of Tikal. They are one of the most important of the many ancient Mayan ruins in Central America. We found them much more impressive than the more popular ruins of Chichen Itza in Mexico. The temples and spread across a huge forest that takes about 3 hours to cross. We decided to save money and not go with a guide. We were happy with our decision when we saw that the guided groups only visited a fraction of the site. We also later heard that the guides have no training and often make up the information they give. 

Mayan glyphs in the ancient city of Tikal.

The impressive ruins of the Gran Plaza in Tikal. 

Beautiful ruins hiding among the trees. 

Visiting ruins

After our week-long stay in Flores we took an overnight bus all the way to the colonial city of Antigua. We heard that these buses could get pretty cold so we wore all of our warmest clothes. We still froze. The worst part is that there was a temperature gauge at the front of the bus, constantly reminding us that it was 11 degrees on board. We arrived to Antigua completely exhausted, but of course we couldn't check in to our room since it was 8am. We found a communal living room in the hostel and passed out until it was a more appropriate time to walk around the city. Unfortunately it rained almost the whole time we were in Antigua. Strangely enough it was the first time in 9 months that we were really rained in. We decided to take it easy went out for only a couple hours a day when there was a break in the rain. 

A short break in the rain. 

One of the many church ruins in Antigua. 

Antigua's food market, where we spent a couple hours waiting out the heavy rain. 

Our pupusa addiction started in Guatemala and continued into El Salvador. They are tortilla dough stuffed with cheese, beans or meat. 

One of the many churches in Antigua, also home to a small food market. 

Irresistible tostadas sold at a small market in front of the church.

From Antigua we took a small shuttle van to the lakeside town of Panajachel. Most people just stop here to get on a boat to the more popular lake towns, but we decided to stay the night. It was raining and we were feeling a bit drained from all the bad weather and long bus rides. On the way in, Aaran spotted a cafe with a very hipster looking barista sitting out front. As soon as we checked in to our hostel and dropped off our bags we headed to the coffee shop. The cafe is run by a group of young Koreans who roast their own coffee and are clearly very passionate about what they do. It was delicious. It was so delicious that we went there 3 times during our 16 hour stay in Panajachel. We even went back 4 days later after spending time in another small town on the lake. When we walked in the barista looked at us and said "One cappuccino, one double espresso?". He remembered our order, which is impressive considering the place is always packed. 

Cafe loco in Panajachel

                                      

There are a few towns on the lake where you can choose to hide out for a while on lake Atitlan. We decided on the small town of Santa Cruz, mainly because they have the only dive shop in the area. The lake sits at an elevation of over 1,500 meters which makes the dive a bit trickier than usual. Aaran decided to take the opportunity to take an altitude diving course. Another amazing thing about the lake is that it's framed by two volcanoes. While Aaran was out diving I sat around ready and enjoying the amazing view. 

The town of Santa Cruz can only be reached by boat. 

Our cabin on the lake. 

Heading our for a dive on Lake Atitlan.

Hostel dog. 

Amazing view of the lake from a hill in Santa Cruz. 

Before heading out to Honduras we had to spend another night in Antigua. Normally they have direct shuttles but we were there during the low season. We got lucky and the rain stopped while we were there. It gave us the chance to visit the places we didn't get to see the first time. We happily would have spent another few weeks in Guatemala, especially once we started feeling more comfortable to the Spanish. The great thing about this trip is that it's giving us good ideas for future vacations. By vacation I mean spending 3 weeks in one country, not what we're doing now.