The Central American Adventure Swine Flu Break '09 is over...Well we have the weekend yet, but the travels are done. If you don't want to read a novel then you'll have to skim!
Tuesday morning we (and when I say we it is me and 6 other teachers, who none of them I really knew a whole lot. One of them is my roommate Steph but even then we have known each other for a month...) packed up our backpacks/duffel bags and headed down on the rapidito. Bus #1. We then got taxis to a bus that would bring us to Choluteca, Honduras. Bus #2 On Bus #2 we enjoyed the views of Honduras. The rolling green hills, the cows on the side of the road, a semi that had flipped over, rivers and curvy roads. Upon arriving in Choluteca we got in a microbus to take us to the border. Bus #3. We ate our knees for this short ride. The people were friendly and helped us when the van stopped. When the van stopped I felt like a piece of meat being swarmed by flies. Men wanted to change my money, they wanted to bring me to the border on a bike taxi, they wanted to sell me food and drinks...We were 7 and they were probably 27. We were a bit out numbered and really didn't know what to do. So one of the ladies that had been in the microbus helped us get good rates on the bike taxis and they brought us where we needed to go. We took care of the border crossing and then we got on a bus to Leon, Nicaragua. The people on the bus were very friendly and wanted to know who we were and where we were going...We had to stop at a check point which is very common in Central America. People cannot travel illegally through these countries. We discovered it appeared that we were travelling illegally. For some reason they had not stamped our passports when we came into Nicaragua. After a bit of discussion they let us go and wished us luck getting out of the country. Great way to start the trip! Well we would just cross that bridge when it came. Bus #4 is what we call a chicken bus. What is a chicken bus? It is a school bus that transports people and livestock from point A to B. No there were not chickens on the bus, but it could have happened! It was about 8 when we finally got to Leon and in Central America it gets dark at 6. We had no clue where we were going to stay and as we got off the bus a couple told us to follow them and they would show us a good hotel. And that they did. $6 a person with a bathroom in each room...not bad. We found some gallo pinto (rice and beans) sold by a lady sitting out on the sidewalk. It hit the spot.
Day 2 - The morning was spent walking around, exchanging money, sweating buckets, and eating breakfast. We ate at a nice little restaurant that the food is displayed in a big glass case...fried chicken, fried fish, rice and beans, taquitos, pancakes with cheese...you know typical breakfast items. And they take it right from the case and buen provecho. It was delicious! After breakfast we took a camioneta to a bus that would take us to a beach. What is a camioneta? It is a truck that serves the same purpose as a bus. It is covered in the back and you sit on the benches or stand in the middle. For about $0.10 you can get where you need to go. Again people were interested in what we were doing and where we were going and they recommended a beach called Benitas. They showed us exactly where to catch the bus and so we took bus #4 to Benitas. Along the way we probably backed up and turned around 5 times. It was a very accommodating bus to where people needed to be dropped off. We got dropped off in paradise. Benitas is a beautiful beach with hostels and hotels lining water front. It isn't resorty or touristy, just accommodating. So we paid our $6 per person and stayed at a great hostel that was on the beach. We played in the water, read on the beach, talked to the local kids trying to sell us jewelry and just enjoyed the afternoon. The sunset was gorgeous. The stars were AMAZING. The hostel also was a restaurant and I ordered fish. I was served a whole fish, eyeballs and all. It was some of the best fish I have ever eaten. It was a relaxing peaceful night.
Day #3 Nicaragua is hot. By 6 AM the sun is up and it is already hot. So we had an early start to our day. It was a lazy morning of staring into the ocean, eating breakfast, walking on the rocks, and finally leaving around 10:30. We took a bus back to Leon bus #5. Rode again in a camioneta. And got on a bus to Managua. Bus #6. The Nicaraguan landscape is beautiful. There are volcanoes jutting out of the green fields. The sky is a pure blue and the land is lush and green. Upon arrival in Managua we weren't really sure where to go. People were telling us different things, taxis wanted to bring us places. Finally we got two taxis that would bring us to where we could catch a bus to Rivas, a border town. The bus station was overwhelming, everyone wanted us on their bus, but we found where we needed to go and crammed onto the bus, bus #7. And when I say cram it means 2-3 people in a seat, people standing in the aisle...No personal space on these buses. We arrived in Rivas around 5 so we could actually walk around trying to find a decent hostel. I am not really sure if a decent hostel existed in this town. We checked out 4-5 and finally settled for one. It seemed to be okay until we realized the water didn't really work in 2 of the rooms, there were bedbugs...but we were on an adventure. We ate at a nice restaurant and enjoyed the night lounging at smaller restaurant where we met a man named Fidel. While talking to Fidel we discovered he worked at the border and he said he would escort us across in the morning. Remember how I said they had wished us luck on getting out of the country? Our luck, our angel, was Fidel.
Day 4. After a hot, bedbuggy, loud, restless night we were on the road by 7. Fidel accompanied us on the chicken bus to the border, bus #8. Guided us where we needed to go. Made sure they let us out of the country no problem and into Costa Rica. An answer to prayer! We ate breakfast with him and then said our thanks and good-byes. We had made it to Costa Rica. We took bus #9 to a town along the coast, where very friendly and helpful people helped us find a bus to Quepos which is where the beach Manuel Antonio is. So bus #10 was probably one third gringos due to the fact that Quepos is a very popular tourist destination. We had to stand for about half of the ride. The view from this bus windows were again volcanoes, rain forests, monkeys, crocodiles, and heavy rainfall. We arrived in Quepos by 7 that night and ran through the rain to Hotel Sanchez. We rented a little house and ate some dinner and called it a night.
Day 5. Beach day! We took bus #11 to Manuel Antonio, only a 10 minute bus ride. And we laid on the beach for about 6 hours. We were entertained by men playing soccer on the beach, people learning how to surf, and the vast array of people of different cultures. And we all got a little color, for better or for worse! Not much to be said of this day, but playing in the water, reading, eating peanut butter sandwiches and simply relaxing. Took the bus back, bus #12 and that evening we ate some pizza, sat around and chatted and Stephanie and I made plans for the rest of the trip.
Day 6. As the rest of the group was sick of travelling and didn't want to go any further south, and Stephanie and I wanted to keep going, we parted ways. Steph and I got a morning bus to San Jose, bus #13. We were hoping to get a bus at noon to take us to Panama City, and we did in fact make it to San Jose to get that bus. So we hopped on a Tica Bus, which is equivalent to Grey Hound buses, and began our journey to Panama. Bus #14= AC, reclining seats, bathroom, and movies. Much different than the buses we had been taking, but with 2 white girls travelling the safest way to go. The bus to Panama city took about 15 hours. The border crossing was entertaining as we needed to go to one window after an other getting different papers etc. It was very nice to have the bus company direct us in what we needed to do. I can't really tell you what the country side of Panama looks like because it was dark by the time we got there. We slept as well as one could on the bus and got into Panama City around 3:30 AM.
Day 7. Upon arriving in the bus station we were shocked by how big it was. We felt like we were in Europe. It was modern and it had multiple food courts and stores...Hundreds of buses pass through it daily. Being that it was 3:30 in the morning it was pretty quiet there. We sprawled out on some chairs and fell asleep only to have a security man nudge us awake telling us we couldn't lay down. So we had to sleep sitting up! By about 7 the place started to get busier. We bought our returning bus ticket, to leave at 11 that night and then found a bus that would take us to the Panama Canal. Again we were absolutely packed on this bus, people hanging out the door...Bus #15 brought us to a place where we could walk to the canal. So what does the Panama Canal look like? It looks like a river cutting through green foresty land, and it has barges trudging up and down it. It was pretty spectacular. We viewed the canal from the Miraflores Locks. There are 3 sets of locks on the Canal. We were fortunate enough to see 2 barges pass through the locks. If you don't know what locks are, google it! There was also a visitor's center where we could watch a video on the canal and walk through exhibits telling the history, the wildlife, the operations, and the future of the canal. It was truly fascinating, and a dream come true to be able to see the canal. After spending a few hours at the canal we headed back to the bus station and ate and read and people watched and were more than ready to get back on the bus and out of the station. So by 11 that night we were on the road again, but #16.
Day 8. Again I cannot tell you want Panama looks like because we travelled through it in the night and not only was it dark, I was sleeping! We did the whole border thing again, slept, watched the movies being played...and we arrived in San Jose, Costa Rica by mid afternoon. After not showering for a few days and sleeping on buses and freshening up as much as you can in a bus station we were ready for a bed and a shower. Day 8 also happened to be Independence Day in Costa Rica. We saw no celebrations and we saw a lot of closed restaurants and hotels. However, about 100 feet from the bus terminal we stumbled across a hostel. It had a shower, a bed, and a TV. It was glorious.
Day 9. Bus to Managua, Nicaragua, bus #17. Not much to be said...The border was crazy busy so it took a couple hours to cross. The country side was beautiful. A common site along the road is cows being herded. Occasionally the bus would have to come to complete stops as to allow cows to cross the road. Managua is not the safest city so we were thankful that there was a hotel and a cafe in the bus terminal. So we enjoyed those accommodations and slept our last night on the adventure.
Day 10. We had to be up around 3:45 as we had to check in around 4 for our bus at 5. So it was a rather early morning. But we were on the home stretch which we were thankful for. So we boarded the bus to Tegucigalpa, bus #18 the final bus. Again not a whole lot to say. We crossed the border no problem. We got into Tegus around noon, we got a taxi and were home by 1. We were ready to be home. Our clothes were not clean smelling anymore, and as much as I loved seeing the country side, I am fine with not getting on a bus tomorrow! All in all it was a wonderful trip and I am grateful I had the opportunity to go!