Nicaragua!

The last few weeks have been a bit of a blur. We are on a hot trail to Colombia! After 5 months in Central America, we have a taste for the South and are heading there soon.

For now, we wanted to post some highlights from Nicaragua. We didn't spend a lot of time in Nicaragua, but we did manage to visit two nice colonial towns. We needed to recharge our batteries a bit after spending a lot of money and energy in Scuba mode.

Leon and Granada are two old, very touristed towns in Nicaragua. Both feature enormous churches, pretty town squares, and Euro-American-Tourist-coffeehouses. Leon has a history of liberalism and is crumbling and beautiful in a very different way than Granada, which is freshly painted and flat out gorgeous. Pictures will be uploaded in the next few days. They are both great towns for lounging around and soaking up a sunny day with a solid caffeine buzz. Kendra caught up on school work and Rich was lazy and lazy some more.

One fun thing you can do in Nicaragua is strap yourself to a wooden board and haul-ass down a volcano. Not wanting to pass this opportunity up, we donned sweet Volcano Boarding jumpsuits, high school science class goggles, and took our turn sliding down Cerro Negro outside of Leon. A good time was had by all and ashburn was limited to a minimum. In case you're wondering, Rich won the race to the bottom even after taking a tumble or two with his warped board.

And, just to be sure, we definitely felt as ridiculous as we looked wearing the green Nascar outfits. Good times.

As for now, we're hanging in Panama City. More info on this and one epic bus trip coming soon to your favorite blog...

Honduran Highlights

Our map is finally fully up to date and a LOT of pictures have been added for your viewing pleasure.

Honduras was a bit of a whirlwind. After spending a lot of time in both rural and mountainous areas, we had a craving for the coast. We hightailed it all the way across the country - twice - but in the meantime managed to have an adventure or two. We arrived in Tela, a small beachtown hoping to kick back on some beautiful white sand carribean beaches. What we found in Tela was a hot, dirty beach with a bit of an attitude problem. So we hit the road again - albeit one beautiful sunset and a delicious pizza later - and intended to head for our real goal in Honduras: The Bay Island of Utila. But first we took a detour to La Ceiba.

While La Ceiba is, well, ugly as hell frankly, it´s incredibly close to the gorgeous National Park Pico Bonito. So we delayed our island gratification by doing 2 activities we had been wanting to do since our trip started: Whitewater rafting and ziplining.


Our rafting trip was several hours down a beautiful river surrounding by huge boulders and beautiful rainforest. It was definitely one of the highlights of our trip. Guided by the military-like commands of our guides, we encountered rapids as big as Class 4 (Class 5 are the biggest), and had a wonderful time alternating between smooth relaxing floating and vicious paddling through rapids and hydraulics. Only one of us managed to fall out and almost kill themselves, try to guess which one! Ziplining is an activity that is really booming down here in Central America. For those of you who don´t know, it involves climbing to the top of a tall tree in the rainforest, hooking yourself onto a thin cable, and hurling yourself hundreds of feet across the forest to a platform waiting for you at a tree on the other end. While we had a great time, we admit we expected a bit more of an adrenaline rush and preferred the rafting which we hope to do again soon.

But the real highlight of Honduras was SCUBA Diving on Utila. Utila is the smallest of the 3 Bay Islands, and is home to dozens of ludicrously cheap diveshops, a few restaurants, and not much else. It´s only 4km long and only has 2 streets. It´s full of tourists but still feels incredibly low key. The water surrounding Utila is crystal clear and runs about 84 degrees farenheit almost year-round. When the weather really heats up (which it does bigtime), you take a dip and cool yourself off and stare down into 30 feet of water and can still see the bottom. When you´re not diving, you swing in your hammock and watch the sea and the sunset, occasionally stirring to eat fish pulled from the water just a few hours ago... not a bad lifestyle if you ask us! Before diving, we spent 3 glorious days doing nothing but sitting in a hammock, staring at the turquoise water, and drinking island drinks.

The barrier reef in the Carribean Sea off of the Bay Islands is considered one of the top SCUBA Diving sites in the world. After we had our fill of relaxation - it´s hard work to relax so much - we signed up for a 4 day SCUBA Diving certification course. We learned to dive and recorded 7 different dives at a maximum depth of 60 feet. While both of us are a bit out of our element in the water as opposed to when we´re in a hammock, we managed to float effortlessly among the gorgeous coral reef, encountering dolphins, eagle rays, seahorses, puffer fish, and all sorts of colorful sea creatures. We also saw some of the sea´s oddest creatures, including a Southern Stargazer, who buries himself under the sand in the ocean by vibrating his body... a hilarious and effective defense mechanism.

Rafting, ziplining, diving... not a bad week at the office.

El Salvador War History: El Mozote

El Salvador is just 18 years removed from a brutal Civil War. International travelers are now just starting to visit the country again. The war was between the Salvadorian government and a rebel group known as the FMLN which was an umbrella of political groups fighting to end the repression of the poor in El Salvador. After 18 years and over 75,000 deaths, the Civil War ended, the FMLN was molded into a legitimate political party, and a general peace has persisted. There is an incredibly long history that led up to the war, too much to describe here, so please keep that in mind. We also have been amazed at the Salvadorian people, their resilience, and their eagerness for others to learn about their country both the good and bad.

Many visitors, us included, are interested in the history of the war. We have visited several sites and learned a lot about the conflict, but we came to Perquin - a small mountain town near the Honduran border - to visit an area that experienced some of the heaviest activity both prior to and during the war. In addition to the war museum and several old battle sites, we came to visit the site of one of the war´s greatest atrocities: the massacre at El Mozote. Keep in mind this is sensitive to read and for us, was very sensitive to visit.

In El Mozote in 1981, Salvadorian government soldiers swarmed the small, poor isolated village of El Mozote. They separated the men, women, and children and proceeded to torture and kill over 800 innocent civilians. The massacre was part of many similar events undertaken by deathsquads which were part of what the Salvadorian government called ¨Take the Water From the Fish¨ as well as ¨Razed Earth,¨ tactics used to terrorize the poorer populace and deter them from joining the rebellion.

El Mozote is little more than a few small wood, tin, and cement houses along with a tiny town square. In the town square there is a church and the attached parish was destroyed during the war. In the square, there is a memorial with a sculpture and a wall listing the names of hundreds of the victims, they are separated by family on individual wooden squares. There is also a grave plot for one family, chosen to be symbolically represent all the other victims whose bodies were never recovered and therefore not able to be buried.

Next to the church is where the greatest atrocity was found: the bodies of 146 people, 131 of them children stacked into a tiny room in the former parish. Part of the parish floor still remains, parts of which are black from where it was set on fire. They have turned the yard into ¨The Garden of the Innocents,¨ an incredibly beautiful memorial to the victims, especially the children. It is incredibly well done, rife with symbolism. There´s a beautiful mural of children playing under the stars and being lifted into heaven, several commemorative plaques, and a beautiful garden. Broken glass rebuilt into hearts and globes.

We were guided through these memorials by a local volunteer, an older woman who was clearly moved even though she sees the memorials every day. After the memorials, a local teenager walked us through town, showing us remaining structures covered in bullet holes and old bomb craters. He also pointed out the hill where women and children were taken away from the men to be tortured. The trees in town are young because almost the entire town was razed with bombs and fire. The boy was too young to remember, but he told us he had lost 4 aunts and uncles and 16 cousins in the massacre.

For us, it was almost too much to comprehend why people do things like this to each other. While waiting for the bus we had lengthy conversations about serious issues. Learning about events like these makes you realize how lucky you are to be who you are, and where you are. As hard as it was to hear these stories, we were happy to have seen the memorials, and to write about them so that the stories of the victims and their memories survive.

What Happens to Your Old School Bus When it Dies?

Just to give everyone an update, tonight is our last night in El Salvador. Currently we are in Perquin, which we will post about in the next few days. Pictures have been updated. We have loved our time in El Salvador, but are also excited about heading into Honduras. We are particularly excited to head over to the Caribbean coast, since we have spent so much time up in the mountains. We are looking forward to resting next to the beach for a while with tropical drinks in hand. As much fun as we have been having lately, we are definitely tired from all of the buses that we have been taking to move from place to place. In fact, in the last three days we have taken 7 chicken buses, 1 micro bus, and two pickup trucks. It can be hard work when you are on Permacation.

Since we have reached Belize, our travel has consisted of several main types of transport. In order of frequency of use: 1. Chicken Bus (recommissioned US school bus), 2. Microbus (small as a minivan or even slightly larger seating 8-20 people depending on stacking of passengers), 3. Pullman-Especials (on rare occasion you find ¨real¨ passenger buses with more comfortable seats, costs a little more but is always worth it), 4. Pickup Truck (sometimes with handrails, sometimes you just hold on to the side), 5. Boats, and 6. Tuktuks (called by different names in different places, but they are the small taxis that fit 2-3 people in a makeshift scooter).

¨Chicken Buses¨ are legend in Central America. They are an essential part of the local and traveler experience. We thought it would be fun to share a little bit about riding in Chicken Buses, because the occasional picture in our album does not fully convey the experience.

The Basics: Chicken Buses, and yes, that is their real name, are old school buses that the US, and Canada to a lesser degree, have given or sold to central american countries. Sometimes you can still see the old district number or a sports sticker that gives away the bus´ original home. They are not only the cheapest public transportation, in many areas they are the only option. Bus companies take pride in their buses; they will repaint them, add loud stereo systems, chrome grills, loud truck horns, and even lights inside and out to ¨pimp out¨ their bus. The best companies add good overhead racks and reupholster the seats. From a passenger´s perspective, it is always better to catch an old school bus for junior high or high school than one for elementary school. Otherwise, you will end up with less than desired leg room. Watch out for the wheel well!

The basics of riding on the bus are a little different depending on area. In Guatemala, there is always an ¨ayudante¨ (helper) who will throw, literally, your bag on the roof of the bus. You then climb into the bus from the front or the back and hopefully find a seat. The ayudante will come by and collect your money later in the ride. However, buses in El Salvador often do not have racks on the top of the bus or in the bus, so our bags end up in our lap or next to the driver. Some buses we have come across here do not have an ayudante and you pay the driver up front, go through a turnstile and then fight your way back toward the back. We have come to love the ayudante as he tells us when to get off and lifts our bags for us. These buses get pretty packed and the ayudante moves traffic along. It it not uncommon to see people sitting 3 (or even 4) to a bench. Children go on laps and never get seats. We ourselves have had people sit on us, have sat on old tires in the back, and have held onto the tiniest edge to rest on. Those who are much larger than us will even sit in the aisle, a little bit of cheek on each nearby bench! In short, thousands of safety violations occur every ride.

As we mentioned earlier these buses are the only means of transportation in some areas. This means that you see some odd things being transported. Here are some we thought you might find as interesting as we did. Chickens. Yes, usually in boxes when they are small, occasionally, however you will see a large one. Produce of all kinds that are lifted to the top of the bus on people´s heads or backs. A kitty in a bag in a basket, very sad. Mysterious leaking box in the rack over our heads. Small potted trees. 10 bird cages. Turkey in a bag with his head sticking out.

Chicken buses are legendary in Central America and with good reason, they are the primary means of transportation for many many residents and for cheap travelers like us! They can be both fun and exhausting, but are always entertaining.