2024.1.26-2.29 Central America summary: Costa Rica + Nicaragua + Honduras

My favorites:

• Masaya Volcano's red lava - Nicaragua
• Somoto Canyon swim and hike - Nicaragua
• Volcano boarding at Cerro Negro - Nicaragua
• Coral reef at West End on Ruantan - Honduras

Positive:

• Everyone is super nice, I felt very safe
• Tour guides in Costa Rica and Yojoa are knowledgable

Negative:

• Too damn hot, not all hotels offer AC. Temperature in the hill towns is tolerable.
• So much trash.
• Police search in Honduras.
• People take too much sugary drinks.
• Costa Rica is expensive. But offers well established tourism infrastructure.
• Ruantan in Honduras is expensive because it's frequented by cruise ships.

Lessons:

• Costa Rice is proabably better with a rental car.
• Honduras is not as dangerous as rumored. I heard 7 waterfall hike is worthy of my time.
• Use ATM machines in or outside of a bank during business hours, so in case of errors.

2024.2.26-29 Honduras 2: The Bay Islands

2/26, day 32 Monday. La Ceiba
The town La Ceiba looks quite nice, nestle between mountains and Carribean. We were dropped off next to the harbor. I haven't bought any ferry ticket yet, because I didn't know when we'd arrive. Buying online is cheaper than buying here at their offices. There are two main operators, similar price. Galaxy Save and Dream Ferry. Had to pay a port fee first, before they'll let you on.

I managed to get on the 8:30am ferry at the nick of time to the island of Roatán. The ferry is large, modern, has AC, quite smooth. Fast. It takes ~1.5 hours.

Roatán

It was raining when we arrived ~10am, but it soon stopped. The left side on the photo is our boat. The right side is a sinking ship, not sure of what era. Walked out of the terminal area on to the main street. Waited in front of a large convenient store for the bus. There is no sign. There was another lady waiting, so I figured that was a good location.

Coxen Hole, is not big, but full of tiny streets. When people started getting off the bus (a minivan), I got off too. Asked for the bus to the West End, where my hotel is (and most of the hotels are). It was busy. Took awhile to drop off my bag as the hotel was busy handling a group of divers. It is also a tour operator and a restaurant. Yes, I have AC. Today is Monday, so I did some work.

Before the sun set, I walked about the neighborhood. Bustling with tourists. Everything is quoted in US$, more or less the same price as in US. Sandy beach, reef close by. Many vacation homes. At Half Moon Bay, one guard in a complex with a few 2 story single family houses (sitting right on reef) showed me around some property (from the outside). Maybe he was bored. This complex is called Coral Vistas. You can rent them at www.roatanvacatonrentals.com.

Joined a bunch of people to this deck to wait for the sunset. One guy brought a guitar and played. The deck left is the water taxi to West Bay. The evening is bustling. Restaurants and bars hawking for tourists.

2/27, day 33, Tuesday.
;"> Walked left along the water, hoping to get to West Bay. There's a trail on the map. I turned around at the rock cliff. Later, met people who waded around (maybe at lower tide). Instead, I took to the road in the center of the island. Not very pleasant, but allowed me to check out the treed interior. Also at higher elevation and I could see both coasts. I think I saw the island of Utila. Even saw a home with solar roof. Saw a zip line operation. Some guy gave me a ride for the last mile or so.

West Bay is very pretty, coral right next to the beach. Emeral colored water. I dumped my bag on the rock here at the west end of the beach, snorkeled here. Some tourists bought feed, and spread in the water, thus attracted a lot of fish. Quite relaxing. Still some shade to hide in. ~10am, I took a water taxi back to hotel.

Beforethe sunset, I went out again. Checked out another neighborhood. Watched a pelican diving. Saw a coati. More trash. Back to the same deck for sunset.

2/28, day 34, Wednesday. Moved to Sandy Bay.
Checked out Anthony's Key Resort and Roatan Institute for Marine Sciences (more like an aquarium). Dolphin swim out in the open playing by instructions. Diving operation, nice looking restaurant and lodging.

Lunch of ceviche and a veggetarian baleada (of cheese and avocado) at a restaurant on the beach, using up my Lempira. I don't have enough to buy a drink. Went back to the hotel to work for the rest of the afternoon, before emergying out for sunset. The afternoon here is too warm for me. At least AC in the room.

2/29, day 35, Thursday. Last day.
Went to the beach, walked to the 2 reef blocks sticking out of water. Only saw 1 fish. Water is too shallow. Disappointed. Biten by a dog. In front of my hotel, talked to a young guy sitting in the shade. He said there're a lot of fish just beyound the piers. So I went to the piers. True. Many fishes. Not too many varieties. But colorful. Water is to my chest, so easy to rest.

After breakfast, I worked until 10am then checked out. 12 minutes wait for a bus. This van has AC running. 25 min to Coxen Hole.

Walked by a few shops, checking out souveniors. Somewhat cheaper than on the beach. You can pay US$. Bought bananas with my last L15 in the small "supermarket". Bank doesn't convert Limpera to USD. Found a plaza named Plaza Taiwan. Not sure how it got its name. The coast here isn't too bad, but no one swims here. Saw a big cruise ship.

Walked ~1 mile to the airport. Did see 2 backpackers walking the opposite direction.

Custom is fast: 6 windows. The runway is right by the water. Good view of the island as my plane took off. Nice to have a window seat. We flew over many islands. The most impressive are: Turneffe Atoll and Ambergris Caye. Arrived in Houston before 3pm.

Going through US customs is slow: only 5 windows open, maybe 15 closed in this large room. Sun set on my way home. Arrived in rainy Seattle, chilly. The cool air felt so good.

Summary
Honduras is not as dangerous as I imagined. Too many police seemingly stop random people without any good reason. I very much like Yojoa. The guide is professional and knowledgable, speaks good English. The Bay Islands are pretty, but too touristy. My back injury haunted me for a year!

2024.2.23-25 Honduras 1: Lake Yojoa

Honduras has a bad rep. I booked 3 nights at the highly rated D&D Brewry and paid transportation to and from the hotel. So, more of less staying in a tourist cacoon. However, ...

2/23, day 29, Friday.
Honduras border control is busy. 4 ACs, none working. Long lines, only 3 out of 11 windows are processing. The rest have employees sitting there, but not sure what they do. The security person at the gate told me and others to line in front of window #1. By the time, it was my turn, the officer turned me away. It's a window for senior, handicapped and family travel with little kids. Had to queu up at the end of another line. Paid $3. I had only $5 nothes, was given 2 $1 coins. I was done at 11am. 3 hours before my scheduled pickup.

Outside has a bit of breeze, so not too bad in the shade. Saw this interesting Jicaro tree. Seems common here. Converted my leftover 27 Cordoba to 17 Lempira. A girl came begging for money. She does this to everyone. She bought a coke with her earning and shared with her brother and mom. 3 stray dogs. They don't like totilla that I gave them. I exchanged my 2 dollar coins from the aduana to Limpera, but they only worth 20 each.

Around 12, a long line filed out of a big bus to the customs. 2 girls wore puffy jackets!

2pm, no shuttle. I asked one lady (one of the many who sells drinks and food outside of the border control buildings) to message my hotel on Whatsapp. No shuttle. Seems there was a car breakdown, or maybe because I was the only customer, and not worth their trouble? It would be a ~7 hour drive. I was told to get to their capital Tegucigalpa, and someone can pick me up there.

L20 TUK-TUK to the nearest town. Shared with one flamboyant girl who speaks good English. L50 bus to Choluteca. On the way, stopped by police, they interegated me and the girl who did the translation. Where and when I'd be in the country. I showed them the printed return ticket, hotel reservation. We had to take all our belongs down to the officer. Another good thing not to carry much luggage. They didn't even open my bag. The whole bus waited for us. I'm the only tourist on this bus. Later, saw a different bus, all occupants were outside standing by the road. They are all black. I was told they work in the farms, illegally.

Arrived at 5pm in Choluteca, missed the last bus to Tegucigalpa (4:30pm-ish?). The girl at the terminal gave me WiFi password, so I could contact D&D. They will pick me up tmorrow morning.

Paid for 1 night at the closest hotel. L500. He would take USD at L24/$1. The bus terminal only takes USD at 22. The hotel has AC and wifi. The owner stopped me when I informed him my early departure, so I could chat with him. Interesting.

What a waste of time today.

2/24, day 30, Saturday.
Took the 3:30am bus to Tegu. On my way out of the hotel, slammed the iron gate on my finger! It hurted. The bus stopped at another town from 3:45-4am. This is a fancy big bus with AC, curtain, and WiFi. L132. It still picked up passengers on the way. Arrived at its own Tegu terminal outside of the town at 6:50. There's no terminal per say, just a bunch of buses at a street corner.

I now waited for another pickup from D&D Brewry. Luis arrive around 7:05 in a white mini-van. Tegucigalpa is hilly. Houses covering all the hills. 1.3 millions people. Saw pine trees along the way. Passed a couple of toll collections L22 (car) - L269 (semi).

I arrived at D&D ~9:45am. They upgraded my room. Waived the $40 pickup fee.

Lake Yojoa

This is one of the many eco-lodges in the area. They offer tent site, hostal rooms, standard and delux accommodations. My room is on the second floor of a 2-story building (one of the many), spacious, high ceiling, ceiling fan, private balcony.

At elevation 2300' (700m), finally, the temperature here is pleasant. I walked out for a short hike to Cerro Las Nalgas, a hill behind the village Los Naranjos next to the lodge. On the way, saw a family collecting some plant (shoot). Otherwise, I did encounter anyone to and from. Short, but quite rugged. On my way down, I slipped on some rock and hurted my back.

Rested for the rest of the afternoon, until my night tour. I was the only person. My guide told me to spray insect repellant. We walked to Bioparque Paradise. There's an entrance fee. I was given a wrist ribbon. Saw some large bamboo clusters, and people camping. First time I see actual campers. Saw many spiders, moths, a few frogs. I'm very surprised of so many spiders, large or small. Basically, anything shines in my headlamp turns out to be a spider. Saw an opposum, heard and maybe saw an armadillo. I was introduced to culantro - smell like cilantro.

2/25, day 31, Sunday. Bird tour at 6am.
Me and a young couple. Same guide. We stopped at his house first. It was still dark. His wife gave us coffee and biscuit. Then we walked to the canal. There, our guide picked a boat that had less water in it. Yes, all of them leaks. Off we went, along the canal, all the way to the lake. From time to time, he had to scoop water out of our boat.

We saw more birds along the canal, lined with tall trees. The lake is very pretty. But not many birds. Here's a list I noted down:

Great Kiskadee, Social Flycatcher, Crimson-collared Tanager, Montezuma Oropendola, Chestnut-headed Oropendola, Northern Waterthrush, Crested Caracara, Altamira Oriole, Gartered Trogon, Yellow-throated Euphonia, Gray Catbird, Belted Kingfisher, Ringed Kingfisher, Black Phoebe, Rufous-naped Wren, Masked Tityra, Ivory-billed Woodcreeper, Grey-breasted Martin Turquoise-browed Motmot, Melodious Blackbird, Green-backed Sparrow, Black-bellied Whistling Duck, Lesser Scaup, Squirrel Cuckoo, Golden-fronted Woodpecker, Keel-billed Toucan, Bare-throated Tiger Heron, Black-crowned Night Heron, Green Heron, Little Blue Heron, Limpkin, Ferruginous Pygmy Owl, Snail Kite, Purple Gallinule, Common Gallinule Northern Jacana, Wood Stork (a group, just arrived a week ago), Western Cattle Egret, Snowy Egret Osprey

I was only able to photograph the bigger birds. Did manage to see most of these.

On the way back, we stopped next to this big tree, to stretch our legs, and for our guide to smoke. Lots of trash. When we came back to dock, a group of people were sing after a baptise ceremony.

After the tour, I took a mini bus to Peňa Blanca, the nearest town. There, Waited 20 min for another bus. A 22 person van. L20. 13Km took an hour, to San Buenaventura, a busy town. On the way, passed a military out post. Walk an ugly road for 1.2km to the gate of Cataratas Pulhapanzak. L120 entrance. They sell zipline L400-600. Quite a few people swimming above the waterfall.

Waterfall is very pretty. Many braids. Need to walk quite a few steps to get down. At its downstream, there seems to have a dam (behind locked fence).

Waited 5 minutes before catching up a Mochita bus. The ayudante wanted L30 from me. I gave him L20. Saw some large pipe by the road. Not sure if it's water or gasoline.

Walked to Biopark Paradiso hoping to take a photo of those large bamboos during the day. The boy wouldn't let me in, even with my ribbon from last night.

2/26, day 32, Monday.
3:30am shuttle to La Ceiba, where I'll take a ferry to the Bay Islands. I wait at the gate, pitch dark. The driver came, and then, 2 more tourists. Lots of speed bumps. It's a long drive (~5 hours). Near La Ceiba, large fields of agave, some covered with dark mesh.

2024.2.20-23 Nicaragua 5: León

2/20, day 26, Tuesday.

Managua

Getting into Managua is quite scenic. You can see quite a few volcanos, Lake Managua (Lago Xolotlán) and the immense Lake Nicaragua (Lago Cocibolca). However, watching over the cockpit as it lands is a bit nerve-racking.

Managua is hot. 34°C. 10:20am. C2.5 bus #266, across the street from the airport. Taxis is C150 to the bus terminal. I got off in a wrong market. Ended walking quite a bit in the heat. Well, it gave me a glimpse of the city. It's not as bad as I read on Internet. Bustling, large, has multiple bus terminals. Seems quite safe. I asked a local for direction, and was given correct info. I arrived at UCA. Minivan only. Maybe better to take an expreso bus? But from where? My minivan doesn't have AC. The driver decided to stop at a roadside restaurant halfway to collect fare (and encourage you to buy food). C78. Otherwise, almost no stops.

León

Leon bus terminal is over a mile from city center. I took a bus. The assistant (ticket seller) insisted that I shall get off at Bigfoot Hostal. Still 10-15 min walk. Thank god my room has AC. I had informed my hostel (Wabi-Sabi) a week ago that I'd arrive 1 day earlier, and I was assured of my room (and AC). It turns out seeing that I'm just 1 person, they wanted my room (a double) for other people. I was put into a large room with 8 bunk beds and a large bathroom. Just me, for the same price I was quoted for 2 nights. Not a bad deal. $55.

Walked out ~5pm to the cathedral. Hot outside. There's nothing special of the interior. The main attraction is the roof, which is from a separate entrance and closes at 5:30pm. Had to buy a ticket inside the cathedral and then show it to the attendant at the gate. Sunset at Cathedral roof is a treat. Beautiful all around. The roof is larger than I thought. Can walk around to take in views from all directions. Quite a few mountains in the near distance. A little before 6pm, they started to chase us out. Shoes are not allowed (not sure why), even though the guards wear shoes. All tourists carry our shoes. Quite a lot of people. I had come off a railing a little too fast, and probably broke a toe. It ached for many weeks afterwards.

Back to work.

2/21, day 27, Wednesday. Tour volcano boarding at Cerro Negro ($25 + $5 park fee)
8am at Hostal Via Via, but the bus didn't leave until 8:40. The whole point of going with them is that their trip is advertised at 8am, instead of 9 from Bigfoot. This hostal is bustling. The large courtyard looks very nice. A tour operator here, selling not just tours, but also gears. For example, they recommand you buy a bandena to cover your face for this trip. 10 tourists. 2 guides, 1 excellent driver. A yellow school bus. Bad dirt road. At one point, it was a dance to negotiate the road with an ox cart. 9:40 at the 2nd gate, payment.

At the bottom of Cerro Negro, we were given a goggle, a bag with a yellow overall, and we had to carry a board ourselves, or pay $5 to have it carried for you. The board is wood, super heavy. It also catches wind (quite windy on the ridge) making it difficult to walk. I was knocked off my balance once. Hot, brutally sunny. Most of my group made it in decent time, except one girl had the guide carry her board.

We dumped our boards, and walked around the top, taking photos. Quite colorful rocks on the back side. Of course, we'd be sliding down the black gravel side towards the large parking lot. Then, we donned our yellow overall, covered our face, ear, and picked up a random board in the pile. Unfortunately, I took one with a very short leash. After a short instruction, we went sliding down the mountain one by one, generating clouds of dust. Mine, due to the short leash, was slow. Only at the steepest section, I could pick up a bit of speed. No much agrenaline going. Still it was fun. The two guides stood at different spots taking photos and videos for every client. Some flew down the mountain. Saw at 2 lost control (lost their boards). Once we stopped sliding, walked down carrying the board. The gravel is soft, feels like walking in sand. I would say, this is fairly safe.

Back at Via Via at 12:40. Some folks continued on with lunch and then a bus ride to the beach. I went back to work. Was able to join our standup meeting at 11PST.

At some point, I was disturbed by lots of drumming. Went out to checkout the commotion. It was a commemoration of Augusto Cesar Sandino and his fight against US occupation (killed 90 years ago today). Speeches, dances, at the cathedral square. Very lively. At one point, eveyone stood up and sang 2 songs together.

Another colorful sunset.

2/22, day 28, Thursday.
Up early for San Jacinto mud pool, a recommendation from the Polish tourists in my hostel (they rented a car). I took a bus and walked maybe half a mile. Got there ~7am. There's a village here. Not sure why anyone would live next to a furnace, especially in the hot part of a tropic country. Bubbling mud pools. Not a large area.

Back in town, still too early for museums. Checked out a few churches first. Nice buildings, but mostly simple inside (Mexican churches are a lot more beautiful). Some look abandonned.

Visited Casa Museo Archivo Ruben Dario, in the house where Ruben Dario lived as a child, and when he died. His life, manuscripts, photos, furniture, some procession, and books, even comic drawings. Geneology tree. Death mask. I was the only visitor today.

Fundacion Ortiz Gurdian (an art museum), Leon branch. I really like this museum, especially the buildings. It doesn't look much from the outside. It occupies houses on both side of the street. All single level, multiple rooms surrounding various leafy courtyards with water features, connected by nice corridors. Shutters blocking sun, both over the roof and vertically on the sunny sides of the courtyard. Even though no AC (only fans), the rooms are not too hot. Some classical European works (like Rambrandt, Picasso), more Latin American artists. I like this large landscape of blue on the far side of the wall in photo on the right.

2/23, day 29, Friday, going to Honduras. I have paid for a 2pm pickup at the border.
Left at 6:30am. Walked by Church Calvario (pretty outside, boring inside).

Microbus 19 passengers. Left 7:13 for Chinandega. I was the last passenger. C41 was collected before leaving.

8am arrived in Chinandega. The fat lady in front of me took me all the way to the mini van for Guasaule. There's of course a bus, which I could see as I got off this van. C66 at a ticket booth. 8:25am, we were full (18, no bench, a stool by the door) and headed out.

Arrived 9:50 in Guasaule, one of the many border crossing towns in Nicaragua. Lots of tricycle peddles want to take you to the frontera. It's maybe 100m.

The Nicaragua customs is in an airy building. AC. Clean. No one there. Had to ask where for the "migration" and where for X-ray the luggage. When I arrived, lots of machine, all shut off. Paid $3, got an receipt (a paper ticket slip). After the X-ray, someone scribble something on the back. Then walk to Honduras. On the way, some security guard asked for that little ticket. Again, tricycles try to take you there. This is a bit longer. Between the 2 countries, it's a long bridge full of semi-truck.

My favorites in Nicaragua::
Volcano Masaya, Somoto Canyon, the town of Leon.