We left Guatemala and sped through the next three countries.  We had to be in Panama City to fly home mid-June and wanted to spend some time in Costa Rica, so that, along with the van developing a clutch problem, meant that we had to limit our time here. In Guatemala we had the luxury of being in the mountains at around 5,000ft but we soon found ourselves at no more than 500ft with 30°+ tropical climates and sleepless nights due to heat and humidity.

The roads on the whole were in reasonable condition and we found ourselves sharing the carriageway with every type of vehicle including animal drawn carts.  We only bought fuel once and that was in El Salvador where we could still buy ultra low sulphur diesel.  The cost was around 78p a litre. 

Water was a little trickier but we filled up a couple of times in El Salvador which we made last until Costa Rica. 

El Salvador

We entered El Salvador without too much trouble and headed into the rolling hills where we spent a couple of nights surrounded by coffee plantations.  

We had done very little hiking in recent months having decided we weren’t fit enough to take on the volcanoes in Guatemala, we opted to do the Santa Ana volcano in western El Salvador.  We met up with our German friends Boris and Tanja to do the early morning hike up to the top of the volcano – it took a couple of hours to get there but well worth it! 

We then had an uneventful journey across the country but not stopping to explore anywhere. 

Places stayed:

Buena Vista Camping, Juayua:  US$30 pn.  RV/camper parking is on a large open concrete area formerly used for drying coffee beans.  Breakfast is included and provided in the restaurant next to a small garden centre and beyond that building is a camping and glamping area with toilets and showers.  It’s a short walk into the town of Juayua. 

Casa de Cristal, near Santa Ana: US$7.50 pn.  Large uneven grass area with showers and toilets a short way away.  A great place from which to start the Santa Ana volcano hike and the views were definitely better here than from Cerro Verde.

Cerro Verde Car Park, near Santa Ana:  US$1 pn plus national park entry fee of $6 each.  The car park is surrounded by a few restaurants and souvenir shops so it’s busy during the day but quiet at night.  No facilities once everywhere closes.  There are walks from the ranger hut but all need guides.

Finca Macedonia, San Miguel Tepezontes: US$5 pppn. A  restaurant and small camping area in the hills surrounding Lake Ilopango. Toilets onsite and a shower in the owner’s house available.  The restaurant is definitely worth a visit for the pupusas. 

Truck stop at border with Honduras: US$3 pn. Large gravel lot used as a rest point for trucks crossing the border.  Nothing there but quieter than expected as we parked up as far from the entrance as was possible.

Honduras

Following tit-for-tat action between the UK and Honduran governments, we had to get a tourist visa for Honduras despite it being a CA4 country for which we didn’t need one.  In Guatemala we submitted reams of online documents to the Honduran Embassy and a week attended the embassy in person to get the visa and collect our passport the same day.

Although we had a 30 day tourist visa, a miscommunication at the border meant we ended up with a 3 day transit visa so it was just as well that we hadn’t intended to see anything!  Our only brief stop was in the town of Choluteca and the DHL office to hand over our drone as they are not permitted in Nicaragua; DHL Choluteca have a well oiled service shipping drones and other electronic equipment over Nicaragua for collection in Costa Rica. 

We spent one night in a truck stop just before crossing into Nicaragua and it was pretty much the same as the one in El Salvador. 

Nicaragua 

Our most eventful border crossings since we started this journey were in entering and exiting Nicaragua!  All the borders we’ve crossed so far seemed to have been job creation schemes, high on bureaucracy and low on logic, but in this instance we also had to deal with a list of prohibited items.  We knew about drones but there was a lot of Spanglish back and forth between us and customs to ensure we retained ownership of our kitchen knives and ancient walkie talkies! 

On our way south through the country was when we first had a clutch problem.  The van was still drivable so we continued to a campsite where there was a highly rated mechanic nearby.  We contacted him and he said he would come to us but after five days of waiting, and a quick check by another local mechanic we decided to push on to Costa Rica where we knew we could definitely get to a Mercedes garage, even if on the back of a tow truck.  Having hung around so long for the original mechanic we didn’t get to see too much other than the campsite!

Campsite used:

Southern Nights Hotel and Camping, San Jorge: $15 pn including EHU. Large area at the back of the hotel with five concrete pads for RVs and campers. Each pad is huge and has its own electric point and concrete table and benches. Non-potable water.  Showers and toilets available. Right on the bank of Lake Nicaragua and easy access to the ferry terminal for the island of Ometepe.