One Week & Four Countries Later....

The last week has been a cross-section of countries and cultures that reminded me a bit of Mr. Toad's Wild Ride... without that whole blowing up and burning in hell part. In a very short time we have travelled from the soul of Semana Santa in Antigua, to some great surf in El Salvador. From there we cleared the skinny Pacific tip of Honduras on our way to the still bullet-riddled buildings of Nicaragua. Since we've done a lot in a very short time I will leave you with a few tidbits from each country just in case you ever travel in this area.


Guatemala
If you come across to very nice ex-Pats that are now running a down-to-earth retreat in the mountains above Antigua, stay with them for a few days. As Martha Stewart would say, eating gourmet food all day, sweating like hogs in a wood-fire sauna, and hanging out with some friendly Aussies is "a good thing". Especially when you can gaze in wonder at not one, but two volcanoes, while flying like Peter Pan on their rad swing.




El Savador
They are winning. A great country that is surprisingly modern and fast becoming way more comfortable for tourists. There is great surf around El Tunco and the moon rising over volcanoes is just an added plus. BTW if you are on the beach at Zunsal make sure you do something crazy like attack driftwood on the beach. It ensures that no one drops in on you in the surprisingly crowded and rather cut throat breaks.



Honduras
Get out as fast as you can, but while you are there here's a few good tips. If a rotten corrupt cop tries to collect a "multa" (i.e. bribe) because you don't have a reflective triangle for an emergencies, it's best to politely argue for a while and then convince him that your pack of glow sticks is signal flares. However, if you are driving along close to sunset and a group of about 15 dudes dressed in robes and masks that look exactly like Tuscan Raiders (thats for you Jim) it's best to slam the brakes, assess the situation, and then floor it while pretending to run them over if they don't move.

Nicaragua
It's prolly best to avoid talking politics at all unless you lean lefter than left, or you happen to have Joel Woodman with you for backup.


But to get an interesting perspective visit the Museum of Legends and Torture. It's a fabulous collection of Nicaraguan mythology and first hand accounts of the tortures done to dissenters during the Somosa dictatorship. The combo creates an obscene pairing of murals of various acts of torture and strange legends such as the Single-Teated Mujer, Headless Padre, and the Haunted Ox Cart.





We are now in Granada, one of the few places in Nicaragua that seems to have made a considerable comeback since the Contra-era. It's straight up cozy colonialism with horse drawn carraiges, old churches, and $10 surf and turf. Up next, a few days of surf in the Nicaraguan beach breaks and then we meet up with old friends for a week in Nosara, Costa Rica. We can't wait to see some smiling friendly faces, and show off our impressively inadequate Espanol.


- JJ