Because we spent so long in Guatemala waiting for parts, and then puled forward our shipping date, the rest of our Central America adventure had to be completed in 27 days. This is less time than we spent in Guatemala total, but we are making the most out of all of it! Ok, let’s get to some stats!
El Salvador:
El Salvador had a very different vibe than Guatemala, similar to crossing from Mexico into Belize. Fewer large walls and caged in stores, generally more relaxed.
Days in Country: Yes, just two days
Miles Driven: 284
Nights spent indoors: 1 of 2
Things we weren’t expecting: The boarder infrastructure was really modern, they even had a room for pumping! They use the US dollar, so that made everything easy. The roads were really great. The traffic in San Salvador, while being heavy, was very mellow and relaxed.
Things we didn’t enjoy: Historic San Salvador was a let down as it was really only one building. Papusas! This is the national food, but it just wasn’t for us. We tried several different places and couldn’t make it work.
Some things we recommend: We weren’t here long enough to have recommendations, but we plan to go back and explore the areas we missed this go around.
How we got here:
Honduras:
The people really made this country for us. The generosity, hospitality, kindness. The list is endless.
Days in Country: 8 days
Miles Driven: 735 miles
Nights spent indoors: 1
Things we weren’t expecting: The scale and detail of the Copan Ruins blew our minds. How different the vibe is from the countries before it, you can feel the economic changes from country to country. Everything here was a little tense, and we found out later that Honduras is in a downturn right now. Strangers were amazingly helpful and nice, but came across as a little prickly until you talk to them.
Things we didn’t enjoy: The drivers are crazy! In rural areas and in large cities, driving is just madness! Not having time to get out to some of the islands was a bummer for us, but hopefully on the way back we can make them a priority.
Some things we recommend:
Copan Ruins
Coca-Cola Hike
How we got here:
Nicaragua:
The vibe here was also tense. Or maybe that was just us after enduring the border crossing. It did feel like there was a much bigger split between have and have not here than we had seen in a long time. Many people warned us this was the poorest of the Central American countries and we may not want to spend much time here.
Days in Country: 2
Miles Driven: 253
Nights spent indoors: 0
Things we weren’t expecting: How nice the roads were, and how good the food was! If we go back, there will be a serious food tour.
Things we didn’t enjoy: The border crossings, we spent almost as much time there as we did in the entire country. If we can stomach the border again, there is so much of this country left for us to explore!
Some things we recommend: We didn’t spend enough time here to really experience anything.
How we got here:
Costa Rica:
The vibe here is the most relaxed of any of the countries so far. And as a whole the country felt very touristy, and much safer than previous countries.
Days in Country: 3 days was NOT enough
Miles Driven: 613 miles
Nights spent indoors: 1 very fancy night
Things we weren’t expecting: Driving was incredibly civilized here. There were more gringos here than anywhere else we have been by a lot. Also far fewer dogs roaming around. I think those two things are connected…The food is also quite good.
Things we didn’t enjoy: Once again, our time here was too short. There is an entire other coast line that we didn’t get to see! This would be a very easy country to spend much much too long in…
Some things we recommend: Again, we weren’t here long enough to have recommendations, but we plan to go back and explore the areas we missed this go around.
How we got here:
Panama:
Panama was a little bit hectic, very hurry up and wait while we got ready for shipping. Beyond that, Panama was pretty cool. The one beach we were able to visit was beautiful, and the people were very friendly. And of course they loved the truck. This was the most multicultural country so far.
Days in Country: 12 days
Miles Driven: 323,312-
Nights spent indoors: 5
Things we weren’t expecting: it feels like America here, very orderly driving and American style grocery stores. you can even pick up items from the hardware store without having someone unlock everything! The Panama Canal is insane. It’s like the Hoover Dam in terms of engineering feat, just amazing. The beaches are lovely, and we would have loved to spend more time exploring more of them. Flights to and from here are surprisingly cheap! That might be how we continue to explore the rest of Panama….And Korean food!! KoKo was extremely excited about that part.
Things we didn’t enjoy: The bacon is very undercooked, every time we ordered bacon we sent it back to be cooked longer. The uncertainty of when and how shipping the truck would work took a lot of our time here. If we had more information up front we would’ve been able to explore more than we ended up doing. There are also several islands we did not get to experience this time around.
Some things we recommend:
Panama Canals visitor center
Santa Catalina
How we got here:
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