Our original plan had been to make our way north through Honduras and into El Salvador for a little more surfing before heading into Guatemala. I have heard so many wonderful things about Guatemala and really enjoyed what little I saw on my last trip a year ago. We had planned to spend several weeks there visiting Antigua, Lake Atitlan, scaling volcanoes, and checking out the ruins of Tikal. But the scales were tipping for heading south. On June 29 a military coup ousted President Zelaya from Honduras. One side asserts it was required by law as Zelaya was violating the law, the other side claims the military ouster was unconstitutional. Political problems seem to be running rampant in several Latin American countries. Any visit to El Salvador requires passage through Honduras and several times since the ouster we have heard that the borders have been randomly closed and road blocks are all over the place. Then there was the issue of a big swell in El Salvador - big out of our league big. And then the fact that we had stayed in Nicaragua much longer than we anticipated and were hoping to make it to South America, Bolivia that is before trekking becomes too unbearably cold. The result is an about face, local chicken bus to Managua where we anxiously took a taxi to the Tica Bus office from the bus station - paying double the going rate to be assured that it would be a directivo and only the 2 of us (no stops and no other passengers). It was extortion of an additional 5 dollars but better than the added risk of a taxi kidnapping and several ATM withdrawals. For added safety I insisted that my bag be in the back with me and John sat in the front. Although if they were bold enough they could still manage a kidnapping but we'd see it coming and they'd have a hard time getting in the car.
From there it was a 5 hour trip across the border and to Liberia,CR. The border crossing went smoothly and they didn't even ask us to show proof of departure from Costa Rica like they had when we left LAX originally bound for Costa Rica. As a consolation prize we are planning one final week of surfing and then onto to Panama. With any luck we will see Guatamala at the end of our trip.
