RVing Thru Central America by Raymondo y Marsia - San Jose to San Jose y Beyond

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January 19th, 2010 (Our 47th Anniversary)

We have set up this blog to chronicle our travels thru Central America by RV. The subtitle of our blog will be San Jose to San Jose and beyond.

First, let me introduce ourselves. We are Ray and Marcia from San Jose, California. While we think of ourselves as a middle age couple, we are actually both now drawing Social Security. We are traveling with our cat Furgie in a Dodge pick-up we call Rambo and a Host camper named LunaSea. Those of you who followed our blog www.travelblog.org/bloggers/lunasea last year know that we traveled the circumference of Mexico by ourselves, trying to stop at todo las playas (all the beaches). Again, we will use the Spanish derivation of our names, Raymondo and Marsia and since I now know better, I am spelling my name as it is pronounced and would be spelled in Spanish.

Our Spanish is quite a bit better than when we started out last year. We picked up some Spanish during those ten weeks in Mexico. This past October, we sucked it up and ponied up the near $500 for Rosetta Stone’s Latin Spanish. Before we left, I managed to get thru about half of the first of the three CD set. They also offer an advanced two CD course so you can imagine how little I can speak. Ray did not get as far as I did.

We have followed the same route and even stayed in the same campgrounds as last year so we have not written about the early part of our trip thru Mexico except for boating on Lake Catemaco which we were not able to do last year due to weather conditions and revisiting the falls.

We are traveling with another couple John and Johnette from Wisconsin. We met online when John posted questions regarding RVing in Central America on a web site which I frequent www.rv.net. The site has a forum dedicated to traveling in Central and South America. When I first saw his posting I practically hyperventilated, calling out to Raymondo, asking him for his permission to ask John if we could accompany him. Their intention was just to travel to Costa Rica; however, since these countries are all so small, we hope to make it all the way to the Darien Gap in Panama.

John and Johnette also drive a Dodge pick-up. Although they usually tow a 5th wheel, they bought a 26 foot travel trailer for this trip. Their pick-up is nearly new as their previous truck was stolen in Laredo, Texas last year while John was eating breakfast. By the time they got it back it wasn’t fit to keep so they traded it in before heading home.

We have wanted to travel to Central America since attending a lecture given by Dr. John and Harriet Halkyard at an RV rally about five years ago. In fact, initially we intended to travel to Central America last year but after reading a few chapters of John and Harriet’s book, 99 Days to Panama, we determined that we were unprepared for such a trip because we only speak poquito (minimal) Spanish and unlike Mexico, Central America has virtually no campgrounds so we will have to boondock, RV parlance for camping at beaches and other nonofficial sites, most of the time. Many RVers do this as a matter of course in the U.S. and Canada. We do not. Hopefully, we will be following in John and Harriet’s footsteps. No doubt, dumping our holding tanks and security will be our biggest issues for this trip. In addition to their book, we will use Lonely Planet’s Central America on a Shoe String and Let’s Go Mexico on a Budget. The Let’s Go series was initially published by a group of Harvard students whose motto is the less you spend the more you experience on your trip. We will also use the Traveler’s Guide to Mexican Camping (now in its 4th edition) by Mike and Terry Church thru Guatemala.

John and Johnette have a couple of travel books too but there are not many guide books for Central America. They are avid bird watchers and have called our attention to many birds which they do not recognize. Hopefully, they will be able to find an English language bird book for C.A.

So, getting back to John and Johnette, the four of us talked on a speaker phone and determined that we were compatible enough to spend three to four months together. Because they live so far out in the country, they do not have phone service at their home so Johnette and I communicated mostly via text. She is very fast. I am not. John and Johnette are an amazing couple. They are both 56. We celebrated John’s birthday on Jan 11th. He is a retired deputy sheriff. After he retired, with the exception of having someone pour their basement, they built their own home themselves, doing all of the plumbing, electrical and everything. John’s resourcefulness has already come in handy. He repaired a water leak on a neighbor’s motor home a couple days ago, saving those folks from giving up their trip and heading back home to Quebec. John and Johnette have a dog and a cat, horses and chickens for pets and eggs. Johnette doesn’t have a grey hair on her head. She has only been to a beauty parlor once in her lifetime. She wears her long blond hair in a braid all the way down her back. Like me, she grew up dirt poor on a farm without indoor plumbing so we have a lot in common. John and Ray both have rural roots but their early lives were not as harsh. All of us can empathize with the poverty we see here in Mexico.

Initially, they also planned to bring their dog and cat with them but were deterred by their veterinarian who after billing them for $400 in services to prepare the animals for the trip determined that it would be too risky to bring them. We faced the same daunting task of getting Furgie’s paperwork in order but our vet was more compliant. To cover all bases, I ordered country specific bi-lingual forms from pettravel.com and obtained the required USDA pet immigration form. In addition to all of these forms, Furgie had to have shots we’ve never heard of and although it was still current in the U.S., she needed an updated rabies shot. We then needed to have her paperwork signed off by a USDA veterinarian. There are only three in California. Fortunately for us there is one in South San Francisco. We then needed to take the paperwork to the Guatemalan embassy in San Francisco, drop it off and pick it up the next day. Even though they knew that we lived over fifty miles away, there was no way that the papers could be signed that day! So far, Furgie’s immigration costs have been about $150. All of this is to prevent the mangy mongrels in these countries from “getting something” from our sissy purebred house cat. Based on John and Harriet’s experiences traveling with their dog, our hassles are not over with yet. In fact, John asked one of the border officials about this issue and was told “but these are local dogs”. We will report on ours and Furgie’s experiences at the various border crossings.

After the long drive across the miserably cold and windy southwest, we met John and Johnette at McAllen, Texas where we crossed the border after picking up our Central American insurance papers from Charles Nelson, one of the few agents who sell this insurance. We understated the value of our rig but three months of insurance in Central America still cost over $1500 in addition to an annual policy for $600 to cover the rig for the time we are in Mexico. Mr. Nelson told us that he sells quite a few policies to folks traveling to South America as well. He lived in Guatemala for several years and has traveled extensively throughout Central America. He suggested several places we should visit. Interestingly, the only company that underwrites Central and South American insurance for Americans is AIU, a subsidiary of AIG - the company that the Federal government bailed out to the tune of billions of dollars just last year.

We crossed the Mexican border at McAllen along with a 12 rig RV caravan from Quebec. As these motor homes were all in the $250K+ range, our pitiful rigs were overlooked so we were just waved on after a cursory glance at our passports by the Mexican authorities. We had obtained a ten-year vehicle permit for our truck last year but John, not knowing any better, failed to obtain a vehicle permit for his new truck and we all failed to get our immigration papers at the border. This is going to be interesting when we attempt to leave the country after not officially ever entering.

We drove along the Gulfo de Mexico as far as Catemaco before heading south. Until our second day in Catemaco, the weather was not good so we moved pretty fast. We did take a somewhat cold and miserable boat trip across the lake to see a group of red faced Changoes (which my Let’s Go Mexico book describes as a type of baboon called mandrills in English). Because we forgot to bring hostess gifts of bananas or oranges, the monkeys didn’t pay much attention to us but we got a few decent photos. There are supposedly seven of them. We saw five. They are not indigenous to Mexico. They were brought over here by the University of Veracruz in 1979 as an experiment to see if they could survive in this environment. We were told they were sterilized and have not reproduced. Because of the spookiness of the often foggy lake and the number of medicinal plants growing in the area, Catemaco is known for brujeria (witchcraft).

We revisited the Cascada del Salto de Eylpantla (water falls) with John and Johnette and a Quebecois couple who we met at our campground. They went on the boat trip with us as well.

The four of us were the only Americans at the campground. Another Canadian couple, a former Dr. and nurse team, organized a pot-luck. As most of our neighbors were Canadians, the health care controversy naturally came up. We had spent two weeks in Canada last summer and again we were told that Canadians are generally pleased with their health care system and resent the mischaracterization of it in our media. Our doctor friend and his wife had lived in Marin County for eight years. He worked at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) hospital so I believe he is uniquely qualified to compare the two systems. After returning to Canada, he left medicine and studied welding and became a machinist because his medical specialty was too heart breaking as it was his duty to tell patients that they had minimal chances of surviving their cancer. Besides that, he said a good machinist with his own business can make more money than a doctor working for a clinic and then he can sell his business for a lot of money when it comes time to retire whereas the doctor walks away with nothing but maybe a pension.

We spent three days in Puerto Arista, Mexico at a quaint little fishing village just north of the Guatemalan border. The campground owners are Jose and his wife Petry. Petry is a local gal. She is a teacher and the principal at the elementary school. Jose is from Ontario but has been here for 36 years. The campground is very basic. We are intrigued by the plumbing system and the construction of his cabanas. The solar heated showers are operated by dual chains. You pull one for water and the other to turn the water off. Toilets are flushed with a hand made lever on a two inch pipe. Both work very well as the water pressure is tremendous. Reading Jose’s registration book dating back to 2004 was interesting. He has had guests from all over the world but only a few from the U.S. This is about to change as he is now listed in the aforementioned Church book. RVers in Mexico speak of this publication as “The Book” as if they were referring to the Bible, which I guess it is as we’ve all been “saved” by it at least a few times.

The temperature was in the mid to upper 80s but it cooled off at night so we slept well. The beach was wide with dark but not quite black sand and was muy caliente (very hot). On our first day there we walked the entire town in search of a Margarita. We finally found a hotel that had them on the menu but they were not very good but their large shrimp cocktails were delicious. This feast set us back about $20. One night I had plate of doce (twelve) very large shrimp in a spicy a la diabla (diabla meaning the devil) sauce for seventy-five pesos or $6.00. Everybody else had camerones de ajo (shrimp in garlic sauce) good but not nearly as many shrimp. We were joined by Mike, also from Ontario, who is touring the country on a Kawasaki 650. Mike lives near Jose’s hometown and they know some of the same people.

We had a minor (1 or 2) earthquake one day. As usual, I didn’t feel it but could see the leaves shaking and the pool water slosh. Johnette was sitting right beside me. She felt it. Being from Wisconsin, it was her first.

We celebrated our anniversary by eating tortas and tacos at a sidewalk plastic table in Ciudad (City of) Hildago just across the border from Guatemala. John and Johnette treated us. It was probably the most unique anniversary dinner we’ve ever had but at 7:30 the streets were all but rolled up and these ladies were the only ones still cooking. Our meal was delicious. We all forgot to bring cameras to record the event. Our cook/hostess only had sodas but told Ray that he could get cerveza (beer) and vino (wine which is pronounced bino) at tinda (shop) around the corner. Not knowing any better, Raymondo came back with his cerveza with limon y sal (lime and salt) but sin (without) alcohol. Actually, if I can find this N/A Sol with lime at home, it will become my new go-to drink because I don’t like soft drinks and water gets too boring. Unlike American N/A beer, this stuff appears not to even contain a trace of alcohol and it is a lot lighter tasting than O’Douls and the like. Johnette bought a couple packs of Pall Malls at the tienda. Her cigarettes only cost 24 pesos each (two bucks a pack).

About 25 miles from the border a couple of guys on a scooter offered their services to help us cross the border. We said “no gracias” but they pulled in front of us and led us along the road. When we pulled into a gas station they offered to negotiate for us to stay. Again, we said “no” and tried to arrange accommodations with the gas station. They turned us down so we accepted our new amigo, Ramon’s, offer to lead us into Cd. Hildago to find space behind the motel where we spent the night and to come back at 9:30 the next morning to lead us into Guatemala and help us with the bureaucracy. This, we are told is a common practice in all of the Central American countries. Ramon speaks excellent English. He and wife and three kids had lived in Manassas, Virginia for three years. His brother and sister are still there.

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Photos

Ray enjoying his camerones.
We picked up two kilos (over 4 lbs) of cooked shrimp at one of the many roadside stands for about $16.00.

John and Johnette
Celebrating his 56th B-day with Margaritas and empanadas. Well, not Johnette, she doesn’t drink.

Now that’s a lot of bull.
Both male and female brahmas are seen everywhere.

On the shore of Lake Catemaco.
Our boat driver said this home belongs to one of the richest guys in Mexico.

Doesn’t this look like a scene out of Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds?
No wonder the witches like it here.

All the better for walking on lily pads.
This bird had the biggest feet Johnette (an avid bird watcher) has ever seen on a bird.