Miraflor
Our first stop in Nicaragua was a town called Esteli where a swimming pool complex made the ideal stop over for the night. In the morning after checking out the fairly nondescript town of Estelli we headed North on a rough dirt road to the mountain region of Miraflor. The road from Estelli is unpaved and in the dry season is pretty rough in parts but does not need 4 wheel drive – some bits are very steep though and pretty rocky.
The Area Protegida Miraflor is an upland area ranging from 800m to 1400m which is a mix of farmland and primary forest. The way of life here is much as it has been for the last 100 years and the horse is the major form of transport.
We had read online about a small Finca called Lindos Ojos. This has some 10 rooms and is run by an expat German guy. When we arrived we were welcomed to camp on the lawn out front which we managed after negotiating the very tight entrance gate.
As soon as we arrived Sarah got chatting with one of the guides and arranged for us to do a horse ride to a local waterfall. Those who know me will also know my aversion to horses but I agreed anyway.
The horses were in good condition and very responsive. On the way out we took it very easy as we rode down the main highway – a narrow dirt road. The waterfall itself was fairly small but pretty and had a fairly cool pool where I went for a quick dip.
The way back to the finca was much more interesting as Sarah decided to go for a bit of a canter. Her horse decided that this meant a full gallop and it went tearing away down the road. She couldn’t stop it and just had to hold on and wait for it to slow down. At one stage she flew past a group of local lads who shouted “Yee ha” as she went past.
The guide and I trotted after her and finally caught up at which stage the guide informed Sarah that the horse was “loco” and laughed ! We made it back without too much misadventure after this.
Once back at the finca we had a communal dinner with the other guest which was nice particularly as one of the other couples were British. We hadn’t seen anyone British for some time.
The next morning we arranged a guided walk through the local forest which was really interesting. At one stage the guide asked us to stop and then pointed to a very poisonous Coral Snake which was crossing the path in front of us. The phrase “Red on Yellow kill a fella” went through our heads when we saw it.
The area is very beautiful and there is a really good mix of small holdings of coffee, cocoa and undeveloped forest. One of the best features is the sheer size of some of the trees – they dwarf the biggest Oak in the UK.
On the walk about we stopped off at a pretty cool tree house. As we climbed up and in we startled a woman who was asleep on a bed in there but our guide seemed to think this was fine and led us out to the viewpoint.
Honduras – Nicaragua (El Espino)
We found this to be one of the easiest borders that we done in Central America. We had decided to arrive early so we could drive through the remaining 80k of Honduras before the cops were on the prowl. This paid off as we didn’t get stopped in the morning and we arrived at the border at 8.00am.
Everything was pretty quiet and we were the only vehicle on the Honduras side. Instead of the normal scrum of tramitadores only one guy came up to us offering to help. He had decent English – we thought we knew what we were doing but he helped us anyway.
First step is to go to pull up at a rope across the road where there is a small blue hut. I think this is new and has replaced a wooden shack. The first thing that you have to get done is to get this guy to sign off on your Vehicle Import Permit. He needs a copy of your driver’s licence, passport, registration and the original vehicle import permit.
When we arrived the guy in the booth was out to breakfast so we went to Migracion first. This is on the left hand side of the big yellow building. We had to hand over our passports and then we got stuck for a USD3 exit fee each. We got our passports stamped and then back to the booth at the rope.
The guy in the booth had reappeared and he came out checked our VIN number. He then stamped our Import Permit. Next stop is the aduana part of the main building. You can drive and park outside the main building at this point.
Instead of going in the main doors which are marked Aduana you need to go to the right and you’ll find a window into the customs office. Hand over your import permit here .#
Hanging round at this point will probably be some money changers – we got a good rate of 22 Cordovas to the USD (the actual mid market rate was 23 at the time we hit the border).
We paid our helper USD2.50 as he hadn’t done too much
At this point we were free to go and hit the Nicaraguan side of the border. We drove out of Honduras and then quickly came to a stop by a small blue and yellow hut. This is the fumigation facility. You will have your wheels sprayed and then have to pay the man in the hut – he will also need your licence plate number. It cost us USD5 for fumigation but there is a price list posted on the hut and smaller vehicles are less.
After this drive a couple of hundred metres and park on the left hand side of a large circular blue and white building. This houses customs. It used to house immigration as well but this has now moved to a small building across the road on the left hand side of the big building.
This is your first stop to get your passports stamped. We had to pay $12 each for our tourist cards. This part was very straight forward.
Next stop is the customs window in the circular building (to the right). Here we had to wait awhile because the clerk was busy. There was no queue though.
While we were waiting a man with a clipboard came over and offered to sell us insurance. The insurance is mandatory and costs a set $12 for a month. He filled out the forms for us and gave us the insurance documents.
The customs guy needed a copy of our vehicle registration, driving licence and my original passport. With these he filled out the import form – he did come out and do a vehicle inspection briefly and check the VIN number. The photocopy booth is in the customs building which is convenient and sensible – why can’t all borders be like this !
Once we had the permit the last step was to get the police to sign off on it. They need copies of the permit, driving licences and passports of the drivers. They are situated in a small building to the left of the migracion building. The police just sign off the permit and didn’t require to see the vehicle.
Once all this is done you can drive to the exit are where another man stops you. You have to give him a copy of your import permit which he will check and then you are free to go.
Crossing Honduras
The Pan-American in Honduras is really bad with lots of potholes. This is by far the worst stretch of the road that we have come across in any country.
Honduran police are notorious for stopping travellers driving on the stretch of road between El Salvador and Nicaragua and we had gone less than 30km before being stopped.
In fact we passed a couple of motorbike cops who had stopped a truck and as soon as we passed them had a feeling that we would be seeing them again. Only about 2 minutes later they came cruising past and waved us over to the side of the road.
It didn’t take long for one of them to get to the point and tell me that I owed a USD100 fine. He then explained to me that the reason why was that we didn’t have any reflective tape on the front of the truck. I told him that our front number plate was reflective and refused to pay. After about 10 minutes of back and forth where I alternated between telling him I didn’t understand and I wasn’t going to pay he handed me back my licence and told us to get on our way.
We had decided to drive only to Choluteca as we couldn’t face two border crossings in one day. There is a hotel here where you can stay in the car park and use their pool. Very welcome as the temperature here was hot.
The next morning we stated very early and drove towards the Nicaraguan border. This involves going up into the mountains and we didn’t see any cops – I think it was too early for them to be up. The turn up into the mountains is also onto a much quieter road with virtually no trucks and no potholes. Its still officially the PanAm but most traffic stays in the lowlands.
When we reached the border crossing it was 8am and pretty cool – nice !
El Salvador – Honduras (Amatillo)
This has the reputation as one of the most stressful border crossings in Central America. We had heard that it is much quieter on a Sunday so we decided that it would be better to cross on a Sunday. This also means that payments can be made to direct to the officials rather than having to pay at the banks.
The first stop is a small shack on the right where you need to get your vehicle permit cancelled. At this point we were jumped on by a whole bunch of tramitadors so we picked one who spoke good English and asked him to help us through the process.
This border is a bit of a Xerox party and after you have your permit cancelled you need to make 5 copies of it. This can be done in a small shack next to the official shack.
After this get back in your vehicle and drive along the road. There is a shiny new bridge to the right but you need to turn away from this to the left. The new bridge is only for Trucks.
You will arrive at a big blue and white building which you shoud park on the right off. This is El Salvador immigration. There is a window for Migracion which you should visit and get your passports stamped.
Once this is done get back In drive over the bridge. Before you cross the bridge an official will take a copy of you cancelled vehicle permit.
The next building you will see is a big and old blue and white building which is the Honduras side of the border crossing. You should park to the left of this building outside a low slung white building that looks a little derelict.
First stop was to go into the derelict looking building where there is an office on the right just inside the door. They are refurbishing this building but it looks like it might be a long time. In the office was a woman sitting behind and she was Aduana and responsible for issuing the import permit for the truck.
I gave her copies of the vehicle registration, my passport and drivers licence and the originals. She had a lot of difficulty filling out the paperwork. This is where our tramitador earnt his money and he went to another office and fetched a massive customs manual which enabled her to look up the codes necessary to process our vehicle. We have found being British can be a problem at borders as Britain can be listed as many things: England, UK, United Kingdom, EU: UK etc. and they are not used to processing British vehicles. Patience is usually rewarded though. It also doesn’t help that our vehicle is a DAF which is not a common vehicle make over here.
Out tramitador at this stage suggested we should bribe the customs woman for doing her job but we declined.
She also came out and did a vehicle inspection including looking inside. This was quick and not very onerous.
The process of getting the import permit took over an hour and this was on a Sunday where there was really no one else around and no queue for Aduana. When we finally had the visa it was only for 3 days. The tramitador had told me that at one stage it looked like we were only going to get a 7 hour transit visa. The 3 days wasn’t a problem for us as we only intended to spend one night but be aware of how long you are getting. This permit was also really expensive and we paid USD37 for it. We had to pay in Honduran currency. The tramitador tried to rip us off at this stage by suggesting that is was USD45 and that is how much we should change.
After she finally issued the permit we went to a copy shop the other side of the road to take some copies of it.
The immigration office is an unmarked door within the old blue and white building. Hand your passport to someone in here, along with USD3 each for the tourist visa and you will get a stamped passport back. There was no paperwork to be filled out here.
After this we drove to the exit where we had to hand over a copy of the import permit and then one last thing was fumigation which cost USD3. Again the tramitador tried to rip us off and told us it was USD6 and then acted all confused when I said it was only 3. You have got to watch these guys. Anyway we paid him USD5 because he had helped with the import permit and we were in Honduras.
Laguna de Alegria
After the heat of Suchitoto we wanted a night in the mountains so we headed along the Panamericana towards the highest town in El Salvador, Alegria. The drive from the Panamerican into the mountains was very pretty on a good paved road. In fact the roads in El Salvador have been very good, few potholes and almost everything is paved. 
We reached the small town of Alegria at just over 1000m and drove through and up a very steep and cobbled road to the crater of the Tecapa Volcano. This is called the Laguna de Alegria and is a popular tourist spot. We paid the $1 entry fee and this entitled us to camp the night there. The water of the lake is a vibrant green and the water itself is a bit sulphurous. 
Just down from where we parked up there was a vendor under a tarp selling Pupusas which are the national dish of El Salvador. We tried this tortilla wrapped potato, cheese and meat pasty and it was very tasty – $1 for three. 
The night at the laguna was very quiet and cool and we woke refreshed in the morning ready to leave El Salvador and head into Honduras. 
Suchitoto
Suchitoto is one of the prettiest little tourist towns in El Salvador and is a short drive inland from San Salvador. We managed to negotiate our way around the San Salvador ring road and from there it is only a short hop down a good road to the town of Suchitoto on the banks of Lake Suchitlan.
We drove through the town itself and down towards the lake as we knew there was a restaurant with Swimming pool that allowed camping for a nominal fee. After arriving at El Mangal restaurant we hopped straight in the pool as it was blisteringly hot. In fact this was the hottest place that we had been. The sun was unbearable at the hottest part of the day – generally between 2pm and 3pm.
We walked down to the lake and the tourist centre there. There are lake tours available but at USD20 each for an hour this seemed way overpriced so we passed.
The next morning we caught the bus into town (all of 60c each) and wandered round the town for a couple of hours. To be honest there wasn’t that much to see. We did wander into the museum of money which had money from countries all around the world but this didn’t hold our interest for too long.
Cerro Verde
After the heat of El TUnco our weekend break was up in the mountains at an altitude of 2000m. We drove up to the National park of Cerro Verde which is a collection of three large volcanos.
The change in temperature was immediate. Falling from the mid 30’s down to the mid 20’s. We arrived at Cerro Verde late in the afternoon and arranged to camp there for the night. This a great campsite which is completely silent at night and even has access to power.
The only way to hike the volcanoes in the park is to go on an organised hike which start from the parking lot at 11am. We had decided to climb Santa Ana which is 2381m high. Santa Ana last erupted in 2005 when it killed people with massive boulders thrown from the crater. The other major volcano here is called Irazu and is a bare cinder cone which isn’t as rewarding to climb but is a classic volcano shape.
We were soon setting out with a guide who couldn’t have been older than 14 and two policeman to guard the group. There have been violent robberies in this area.
The hike first descended the side of the volcano we were on and the views were obscured by cloud which was rolling in and out. Then there was a slog up Santa Ana itself. It took 2 hours to walk to our destination which was a the beautiful crater lake of the Santa Ana volcano. There was a slight sulphurous smell and the waters of the lake were a vibrant green. Unfortunately the views off the volcano were obscured by cloud.
On returning to the truck we decided to stay another night in Cerro Verde and enjoy the cool climate. In the morning there were clear skies and we could see all the way to the pacific coast.
After leaving Cerro Verde we visited Lago de Coatepeque and drove down to the lake. However the lake is completely surrounded by houses which are all walled off and we couldn’t find a place to get close to the lake other than a couple of unattractive looking restaurants.
We decided to head back to the beach !
Playa El Tunco
Our first full day in El Salvador we decided that we wanted to head to the beach. Just West of La Libertad (a town know for violent gangs) there are a number of beaches with small surf communities. We decided to go to El Tunco where there is a small street of bars and restaurants and a long beach with some sizeable surf.
On arrival we sussed out the little town and settled on staying at Roots Campground. The place wasn’t much but it was almost on the beach (you had to walk through a bar to get there) and we could get power for the truck. In the heat of this part of the world our fridge never turns off .
We spent 2 nights at El Tunco and then left for the weekend because it gets really busy with El Salvadorians, particularly at the bar next to our campground where they have parties at the weekend, but then came back the next week for another 4 nights.
In El Tunco I did a surf lesson with a local surfer dude. He spoke no English at all apart from some key words such as “paddle”. Well I managed to stand up a couple of times but I still haven’t mastered surfing.
We found a great little outdoor restaurant where you could eat with a big bottle of beer for $4 each. We didn’t do a lot of cooking in El Tunco !
As we head further South it is getting hotter and hotter. It makes you realise how important elevation is in getting cooler. We’re now starting to plan regular breaks at altitude to have a cool nights sleep !
Guatemala – El Salvador Border (La Hachadura)
The borders had all gone too easily up to now and we’d been beginning to think that the issues with borders might be all hype. Well this border proved us wrong. It took us 4.5 hours to get across both borders and into El Salvador and that was using Tramitadores (these are border crossing facilitators with a reputation for trying to rip you off) for help.
On arrival at the Guatemalan side of the border the first thing you encounter is an enormous line of trucks completely blocking your side of the highway. We already knew that you shouldn’t line up with the trucks so we started playing chicken down the wrong side of the highway. Everytime a truck came the other way we managed to tuck in somewhere and then make another 100m dash up the line before the next vehicle came our way.
Eventually we managed to enter the line about 5 trucks back from the border buildings. While playing this hopscotch we had a tramitador jump on the side of the truck and tell us that his help was necessary to survive the border process. We initially told him we didn’t need any help but fortunately he ignored us and proceeded to help us anyway. We agreed a fee of USD5 for his help at the Guatemalan border.
One of the key things if you employ a tramitador is don’t let them run off with your original paperwork and also make all the payments (and get a receipt) yourself.
The first thing that happens at the border is that you get your Vehicle import document stamped by an official at the side of the road. You then need to find somewhere to park that isn’t too in the way to do the rest of the processes.
The first of these is to take your passports to the immigration office. It only needs one person to do both passports. This is where our Tramitador started earning his money. There was a long queue at the exit side of immigration so he took me to the entry side and got our passports stamped there.
The next thing after this is to visit one of the photocopy places that are across the road from the border post. The photocopies are all about the vehicle export. You need 2 copies of your passport photo page plus the entry and exit stamps from Guatemala. Also you need 2 driving licence copies and a copy of the Temporary Import document with the stamp that you got at the start of the process. You also need 2 copies of your vehicle registration.
These copies are then put into two packs one with the original Import document and one with the copy.
Next stop is to go to Aduana. This is an unmarked office (well the door has a sign above it saying “Ingreso”) on the incoming side of the border. I’m not sure I would have found this without help. There is a security guard inside the door and you register your details with him and he will give you a piece of card with a number. You are now in a queue waiting for a customs agent – along with a whole load of truckers! Now I’m sure that someone somewhere was communicating numbers and that the queue was moving but I didn’t hear anything! After waiting for about 40 minutes it was our turn.
The customs guy took our paperwork and then we had to run around to the truck so he could check the VIN number against the plate in the door frame of the truck. Then we were back inside where he tapped away at a computer and then we were done.
You then have to drive forward – hand a guard the original of the Import document and then there is a 2km long queue of traffic to negotiate between the Guatemalan side of the border and the El Salvadorian. This is nose to tail trucks and there was no room for us to skirt up the sides. Keep alert though because cars can weave in and out and if you let the gap with the truck in front get big enough someone will pounce!
When you finally reach the El Salvador side of the border you will reach a fork in the road – one way is light traffic and the other heavy – take the light traffic route. You arrive at a large building on your right and there should be space to park right outside.
Our tramitador had accompanied us to this side for another USD5. While we needed him on the Guatemala side he was not so necessary on this side. Although for USD5 he did make life easier.
First stop is the immigration window which is a small hut at the near end of the building. It was a matter of minutes to have both our passports stamped. Then I had to take my passport, Vehicle registration document and stamped copy of the Guatemalan import document to the Aduana office. I then proceeded to wait at the window for a clerk to process my import for over an hour. There were people in the office and no-one was inclined to help. Your tramitador cannot help at this point as he isn’t allowed in the building. When someone finally came over he very irritatedly motioned for my documents and then went back to his desk. After a few minutes he swept out of the office without a word. Fortunately a trucker in the building told me that I had to go with him!
Outside he checked the VIN number of the truck and noted down a few things like how many doors it has and that it is diesel. Then handed me a form to go and get photocopied. There is a Photocopy place opposite customs in the same building but no one was there. My tramitador jogged off with me in tow down the road to a small shack with a photocopier in it. The copies were done and no money changed hands.
After this it was back to customs. I was feeling more pushy this time so I waited until the door to the office opened and then stuck my head through and handed the guy who had been dealing with me the docs. He did some processing then handed everything to a second guy who beckoned me to his window.
This guy checked everything the first guy had done while chatting to me in quite good English – although he wanted to talk about “my prime minister – Margaret Thatcher”! When he was done he handed me the Temporary import form for El Salvador.
When this guy was done we were nearly there. Just needed one copy of Temporary Import Permit and then we were good to go. This is when our tramitador tried to stiff us by offering to bribe the guard at the border gate to let us through in front of the trucks – he wanted USD20 for the privilege. We declined and drove to the gate where there were no trucks in the way. We handed the copy of our import form to the guard there and we were finally good to go. However we did have to pay USD5 for a contribution to the upkeep of the roads in El Salvador – we got a receipt though so I think it was legit. There was no requirement for fumigation.
All of this was in 40c heat and we were feeling fairly frazzled. We drove only a few miles before finding a petrol station where we could park for the night and relax !
One of the other crossings (Las Chinasmas) may be a better bet as commercial vehicles are banned from this crossing. We went to this one though because it meant less mileage for us.
Antigua
Antigua has the reputation of being a fantastic old colonial town. This has the impact of bringing lots of tourists which in turn has meant that the town has lost some of its character as coffee shops and trendy bars and restaurants move in. We have found lots more tourists in Guatemala than in Mexico – must be a result of the bad press that Mexico gets.
Our first challenge in Antigua was getting to a secure parking lot that we knew we could stay in overnight. The centre of Antigua is restricted for big vehicles and there is a heavy vehicles route around the outside of the centre. We took the best option which was to follow a chicken bus as we knew there was a parking place next to the bus terminal. As it turned out the secure parking was quite nice with a big lawn in the middle and we parked there for a couple of nights (for Q125 per night).
Throughout Antigua there are many ruined buildings, a result of numerous earthquakes over the years. When we reached the main square in the town there was a big band mostly composed of Xylophone players and a number of old women dancing round the square with each other.
We did take advantage of the nice restaurants and went out for a good dinner at a place called Cafe Bourbon. However our parking lot was locked at 8pm so we had to be back early which did limit our ability to enjoy the nightlife somewhat.
One interesting thing about Antigua was that it is home to perhaps the nicest McDonalds I have ever seen with a big flower filled courtyard and some outside sofa seating.
While in Antigua we booked a trip to climb the Pacaya volcano. This is a volcano that is intermittently active. We were pretty disappointed by the trek though. After walking uphill for just over an hour we reached the lava zone at the top which was devoid of all life. There were no views on the way up as everything was covered in cloud.
At the top the destination was a small crack in the rock which was hot inside and the party trick of the guide was toasting marshmallows. Pretty underwhelming ! Sat next to the crack was a guy who had set up a little shop selling jewellery that was made out of lava – he claimed to be the highest shop in central america ! On the way back down there was a break in the cloud and we had a view of some neighbouring volcanos.
FromAtoB 