We set off from Panama City on October 9th to
begin our voyage up the west coast of Central America. We weren’t sure what to expect in terms of
weather as the grib files showed little to no wind all the way up to
Mexico. The coastal land and sea
breezes, which don’t show up on these offshore forecasts, might allow us to
sail some, but we couldn’t count on them.
There are several ports along the coast where we could take on fuel and
get some rest if needed, so we decided to just play it by ear in terms of when
and where we would stop. We hoped to eke
out enough mileage to at least make it to northern Costa Rica, 550 miles away, on
our first leg.
The course from Panama City took us first south toward Punta
Mala, and conditions were beautiful with winds NW 12-15 and flat seas. This was short-lived, and only eight hours
later, we had to fire up the engine and motor sail. The winds were right on our nose as we
rounded Punta Mala, and we bashed into five foot seas for the next 12 hours.
During day two, the seas calmed, and the wind was WSW at 5
knots, just off the nose enough to motor sail as we began to turn slightly to
the NW. As we neared Costa Rica, our
speed increased thanks to a boost from the current. This allowed us to run the engine at a lower
RPM and still average 5.5 knots, meaning our fuel should last longer. Nonetheless, we set our course for Marina
Papagayo to be on the safe side and top off our diesel. Although the sailing so far was lousy, after
several months in the Caribbean, it was nice to be back in the Pacific again,
where the sea life is abundant. Fish and
rays jumped out of the water all around us, dolphins played near the bow of the
boat, and we saw plenty of turtles and sea snakes in the water as well. It was time to do a little fishing, and
Andrew caught a small tuna shortly after he put the line in the water.
The weather was the same every day. Hot with clear skies during the day, and then
clouds would start to fill in just in time for a beautiful sunset. A few hours later thunderstorms began to roll
out to sea, and our night watches were spent trying to avoid them and crossing
our fingers that the lightning would miss us.
The morning of day four was the by far the most frightening
squall we’ve experienced. Of course, it
hit when we near a fishing boat, the only other boat we had seen since Panama
City. We were motor-sailing with a
double-reefed main when the winds kicked up to 40 knots and sheets of rain
pelted the decks. We quickly lost sight
of the fishing boat or anything else past 50 yards. Lightning was crashing down all around us,
with deafening cracks of thunder sounding instantly, verifying just how close
those bolts were to us. We left the
engine running in forward, with just enough speed to keep our bow into the wind
and fore reach slowly, while we both cowered on the cabin sole hoping to avoid
arcing bolts of lightning if Saviah was struck.
An hour later, the skies cleared, and we could breathe easier until the
next evening.
After four days, we rounded the northwest coast of Costa
Rica and into the Golfo de Papagayo. We
only had so much time to spend in Central America, and if the weather was good,
our plan was to skip Costa Rica all together.
There are some amazing sites to see in the country, but it is really
expensive, there are reports of crime in many of the anchorages, and clearing
in and out is a hassle. We hoped to make
a quick stop at the fuel dock to top up our fuel tanks and continue on to El
Salvador.
We hailed Marina Papagayo on the VHF and asked if we could
take on fuel. They said we would need to
clear into the country first before we could take on fuel. The nearest port that could do customs
clearance was El Coco, 5 miles away, where we would have to anchor out and row
in, walk around to all the offices and pay hundreds of dollars. Clearance here is an all-day process, leaving
Saviah unattended in an anchorage with a history of boat break-ins while owners
are on shore. The marina also told us
there would be a 48-hour quarantine, apparently a new regulation, and after
that we would be allowed to take on fuel.
Then we would need a repeat trip to El Coco, walk around to the offices,
and pay more money to check out.
This was going to cost us several days and quite a bit of
money, just to get fuel. Because of such
a favorable current, we still had an eighth of a tank of fuel left. We wouldn’t make it to El Salvador, but there
is a marina and fuel dock in northern Nicaragua, 150 miles away. If the calm seas and favorable current
continued, and we had a little wind, we could make it.
We crossed the Gulf of Papagayo in flat calm conditions, and
by sunset, we were sailing as the NE winds filled in at 10-15 knots. It only lasted six hours but did save us some
fuel. The next day we kept the RPM’s
low as we motor-sailed slowly along the coast of Nicaragua, enjoying views of the
dozens of volcanoes that line the Pacific Coast.
We approached the narrow entrance to the estuary in
northwest Nicaragua where the Marina Puesta Del Sol is located, just as the sun
was going down and with the engine running on fumes. If we were 20 minutes later, we wouldn’t have
had enough light to make the entrance.
We followed the channel markers into the marina as the last of the
twilight faded. It was nice to be back
in port again. We enjoyed burgers at the
restaurant before crashing hard, exhausted after our six day passage.
The marina is part of a nice resort with several pools, a private
beach and a restaurant. There were no
other guests in the marina or at the resort, so we had the place to ourselves
and access to all of the amenities. The
staff was very helpful and the morning after we arrived, they arranged for
customs and immigration officials to drive out from another town to clear us in
right at the marina. This was much
easier and significantly less costly than Costa Rica.
We decided to do some land travel, and the first thing on
the list was to hike up one of the nearby volcanos. Unfortunately, the trails were closed for the
rainy season, so we opted for a quick trip into the city of Leon instead. We took a cab into nearby Chinandega and from
there we caught the bus to Leon, a colonial city a couple hours away.
Leon was founded in 1524 and was the capital of Nicaragua
until 1857. There are quite a few
historic buildings and churches here, including the main cathedral, which is
the biggest in Central America. There
are supposed to be a couple of good museums, which were closed for renovation
during our stay, but we still enjoyed walking around and checking out the town,
happy to be off the boat for a little while.
After a few days, we caught the bus back to Chinandega,
where we had to change bus terminals. Unsure
of the terminal location or which bus to catch, we were lucky to recognize one
of the resort employees and asked if we could tag along. She got on one of the bicycle taxis and we
joined her. These three wheel bicycle
taxis were a main form of transportation in Leon as well. It felt strange and very lazy for the three
of us to be peddled across town on the front of a bike, but that is the way
people here get around.
Back aboard Saviah, we were ready to move on and checked the
weather, which looked fine for another leg north. Although the marina was nice, it was also a
bit isolated. There isn’t a town nearby,
so no place to get groceries, and there were no other cruisers to hang out
with. So we had the marina call the
customs guys back to clear us out, did some laundry and topped off our fuel
tanks. We got our papers around 4 pm
and, set sail for Bahia del Sol, El Salvador, 107 miles away.
A few hours later, we found ourselves in the middle of a
squall with 30 knots of SE wind, lightning, and choppy seas. It only lasted two hours, but the choppy seas
stayed with us for several hours, causing us to roll heavily with no wind to
keep our sails full. After that, it was
an uneventful trip, and we made it to the harbor entrance at 3 pm, an hour
before high tide.
Our late afternoon departure from Nicaragua was coordinated
with the high tide in Bahia del Sol at 4 pm.
Since the entrance to the protected estuary involves crossing a sand bar
with a 12 foot deep channel that moves during the year, it must be done at high
tide and with a local pilot that guides you in.
When we were just outside the estuary, we radioed the marina and
requested a pilot boat. It was about an
hour before high tide, and we drifted in front of the large breakers guarding
the entrance. They looked daunting, and
we didn’t see any indication of a channel.
Around 4:30 pm, the pilot boat arrived, and we battened down
all the hatches and portlights. Andrew
manned the helm, while Di communicated with the pilot on the VHF. We sat just beyond the breaking waves for a
few minutes, while the pilot watched the wave sets, looking for a group of
smaller waves. Fast powerboats can get
over the sandbar between waves, but these waves will catch us over the course
of the transit and so it is best to wait for a smaller set.
The pilot gave us some general instructions and after a few
minutes told us to follow him forward at full throttle. Andrew pushed the engine up to 2,500 RPMs to
keep our speed up. Six waves caught us
during our bar crossing, and Saviah rose up the front side and surfed down the
back. It was a bit of a fight to keep
her perpendicular to the waves so we wouldn’t get knocked over, but Andrew did
a nice job of holding our course, and it was a big relief to have crossed the bar
and reach the flat waters of the estuary.
Of course, getting in is the easy part, and we wondered what it would be
like going into the waves on the way out.
We motored another half mile into the estuary and pulled
into a slip at the marina. We were
welcomed by a big group of people, including marina staff, the port captain, an
immigration officer, Bill who heads up the El Salvador Rally and several other
cruisers as well. The first order of
business was to complete our clearance, which was quick and easy with the
officials located on site.
It was slack tide when we arrived, so in the middle of the
night, we were surprised to wake to the sound of rushing water. When we looked outside, the water was flowing
so fast by the docks that it sounded like rapids. We later heard that the current reaches up to
4 knots in the estuary. We were glad to
be tied up to the dock. Although there
is a decent anchorage in the estuary, getting to and from shore would have been
a real chore in that current with no outboard on our dinghy. The marina was also relatively inexpensive
and a good spot to leave the boat for some inland travel that we were planning.
The marina in Bahia del Sol is also part of a resort, and we
again had access to all the amenities like pools and restaurants. We spent our first week working on a few boat
projects, cooling off at the pool, and planning our inland trip. There was also
a good group of cruisers there that met at the pool every afternoon, and we
enjoyed hanging out with them.
After a week in the marina, we packed our backpacks and
headed off on the bus to San Salvador.
This was supposed to be a short stop before catching another bus into
Honduras, but we had the first of many scheduling problems on this trip. The bus we were planning on taking wouldn’t
arrive for another couple days, so we decided to make the most of it and look
around the city.
San Salvador is the capital of El Salvador and has a
population of around 1.8 million people. Pollution is pretty bad here, and crime is
also a major problem. It wasn’t very
high on our list of places to visit, but we decided to see the sites since we
had time to kill. Our hotel was half a
mile away from the downtown area, so we walked over to check out the Plaza
Barrios with the Catedral Metropolitana across the street. We also walked around the nearby Plaza
Libertad and spent some time at the Central Mercado a few blocks away. Here you can get just about anything from the
hundreds of little stalls that line the streets. We definitely stood out like a sore thumb. People looked at us like they had never seen
another tourist before, and we didn’t see any others while we were there. After a few hours, we had enough and decided
to see some of the sites outside the city.
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| San Salvador |
Just outside of town, there are ruins from two ancient Mayan
cities. There was an English speaking
taxi driver that was recommended by some other cruisers, and we arranged with
him ahead of time to take us around. On
our arrival, we were told it was his day off.
We bartered for a while with a few other drivers and eventually found
one to take us for a reasonable price.
Our first stop was Joya de Cerén, a small settlement that
was buried under ash in AD 595, after the eruption of a nearby volcano. There was a small museum there that did a
good job of documenting the history of the place and had some interesting
artifacts as well. The actual site
itself was not much to see. There were
some small structures that had been uncovered by archaeologists, but they were
fenced off and you couldn’t get very close.
So after about half an hour of walking around, we were off again.
The next stop was the Ruinas de San Andrés, another Mayan
settlement. We were more optimistic
about this site, which was occupied from AD 600-900 and once was the home for
12,000 people. It was only recently
discovered in 1977, when a large courtyard with a subterranean section was
unearthed. Unfortunately, this site was
also a little disappointing. It turns
out that the subterranean section was closed off and most of the structures are
still buried. So, it was back to the
hotel after a not so exciting day of sightseeing.
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| Joya de Cerén and Ruines de San Andrés |
The next day, we hired another taxi and headed about ten
miles outside of town to see the Puerta del Diablo (Devil’s Door) and the small
nearby town of Panchimalco. Puerta Del Diablo
is two giant boulders with several trails for hiking. From the top, there were great views of the
surrounding volcanoes and all the way to the Pacific Ocean. We spent an hour hiking and were a bit
surprised when our taxi driver decided to hike with us. He had on dress shoes,
slacks and a white shirt, not a good combination for these muddy trails.
After the hike we went into nearby Panchimalco, a historic town
established by the Spanish in the 18th century and occupied mostly
by descendants of indigenous Pipil Indians.
Once again, our taxi driver wouldn’t leave our side and stayed with us
as we toured a small museum and an old church.
He explained that the area is dangerous and wanted to make sure we were
safe. On the way back, we passed many
pupuserias lining the street and stopped at one of the most well-known ones for
lunch. At these stands they make pupusas,
which are thick corn or rice tortillas, stuffed with cheese, beans, and/or meat
and are the national dish of El Salvador.
We ate these almost every day during our stay.
After a few days, we caught our shuttle to Copan. We had the comfortable van all to ourselves,
and the trip took about five hours including a couple of stops. One stop to clear out of El Salvador and into
Guatemala, and another to clear out of Guatemala and into Honduras. We would have to repeat this procedure in
reverse on the way back. At this point,
we grew a little nervous about our passports, since we don’t have a big enough
blank space for another stamp and we would need at least ten more. We worried a little about this causing
problems on border crossings. Immigration
officials were telling us we needed more pages, but so far they were willing to
just stamp right over the others.
Hopefully this will continue.
We arrived in Copan Ruinas late that afternoon, and our
shuttle dropped us off at our hostel just in time for dinner. We instantly liked the small hilly town, with
cobblestone streets and adobe buildings.
It was only a ten minute walk from the Mayan ruins, and we looked
forward to exploring more on foot the next day.
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| Copán Ruinas |
The next morning we rose early and walked to the Copán ruins. The city was founded when one of the royal
Mayan families settled in the area around AD 426 and remained the site of one
of the most important Mayan civilizations for nearly four centuries afterword. At its peak, there were around 20,000 people
living in the 3,000 + structures around the main site. It was eventually
abandoned and reclaimed by the jungle for reasons unknown.
We had the place virtually to ourselves and spent most of
the day walking around the ruins and looking at the many statues and
hieroglyphics. Many of structures are
well preserved, although some have giant trees growing out of the sides, and roots
that have caused all sorts of damage.
The next day we came back again and hired a guide for a
short tour of the tunnels that run through a few of the structures. These tunnels were dug by archeologists to
see and study the different layers underneath.
It was really interesting and he explained how each of the 16 kings that
ruled the city was supposed to build over the remains of the previous city,
completely covering the old structures. As
the structures became larger and larger, it took longer for the new king to
build his city. On a few occasions, the
new king didn’t live very long, and they simply didn’t have time to rebuild.
Visiting the ruins was definitely a highlight of our time in
Central America. After a few days of
walking around the site, we decided to hop on a mototaxi and check out nearby
Macaw Mountain. This is a bird sanctuary
just outside of town where they have all sorts of local birds.
The sanctuary takes care of rescued, abandoned and
endangered birds, some of which are eventually released out into the wild
again. They had lots of macaws, toucans,
parrots, parakeets and many others. Some
of the birds are allowed out of their cages at feeding time and we happened to
walk by just in time. One of the guys
from the park asked Di if she wanted to hold a couple of the birds and pose for
a photo.
After three days in Copan, we were due to catch an early shuttle
back to San Salvador the next day. Unfortunately,
for lunch that day we picked the wrong place to enjoy some baleadas. This is a Honduran staple with beans and/or
meat in a flour tortilla, folded in a half and fried. Later that night we both ended up with food
poisoning. This was actually only the
second time for us to get sick, three and a half years into our trip, which
isn’t too bad.
When the bus driver showed up at 4 am, we were too sick to
even consider getting in a vehicle. The
next day, we looked for another bus to San Salvador, but learned that there
wasn’t one for another four days. We did
find another one going to Antigua, Guatemala leaving in two days. Even though this was the wrong direction,
they had daily busses from Antigua to San Salvador and it would end up being
faster. So we spent the next couple days
recovering and then headed west to Guatemala.
We really enjoyed traveling in the small tourist vans that
go from place to place around Central America, and are both cheap and
comfortable. The weekend we left was the
Dia de las Muertas (Day of the Dead), which people celebrate in this part of
the world to honor their ancestors. We
passed several cemeteries, which were packed with families gathered around
gravesites. A few hours after we left,
we passed through the capital, Guatemala City and then on to nearby
Antigua.
We arrived after dark and had a hard time finding the hostel
where we had reservations. Antigua is
cold after sunset, and since it was an unplanned stop, so we didn’t have much
for warm clothes. After wandering around
for about 30 minutes we finally found our hostel, but they had rented our room
and didn’t have anything else available.
The manager walked us to the house next door where the family had a room
in the back for rent. It was not ideal,
especially since they didn’t have hot water, but it was late and we didn’t feel
like going door to door looking for another place to stay.
The next morning, we set out to see the city. We had a full day there before our bus left
for El Salvador the following morning, and we wanted to see as much of it as we
could. The city has an interesting
history. It was founded 1543, and served
as the colonial capital for 233 years until it was transferred to Guatemala
City in 1776. The move was due to an
earthquake in 1773 that destroyed much of the city. The town was slowly rebuilt, retaining much
of its traditional character, but there are still a few building that are ruins.
Antigua’s setting is gorgeous, nestled between three volcanoes. Most of the buildings that line the
cobblestone streets were constructed during the 17th and 18th centuries, when
the city was a rich Spanish outpost. Many
of them have been well preserved and there are also several impressive ruins
from the earthquake that are open to the public.
We spent most of our time walking around and hanging out in
the Parque Central, which was a nice place for people watching. It was especially interesting to see the
villagers that come into town to sell their crafts. Mostly, these where Mayan women wearing
colorful traditional clothes and bringing in their handmade textiles to sell. In fact, the majority of Guatemala’s
population is Mayan, and many of them still where the traditional dress and
speak one of about 20 different Mayan languages.
We liked Antigua and could have easily stayed another couple
days, but it was time to get back to the boat.
We took another small tourist van for the trip to La Libertad, El
Salvador. This area is on the coast and
a popular spot for backpackers who like to surf. After the rest of the passengers were dropped
off, our driver took us to a bus stop where we would need to take local busses
for the last stretch to the marina.
These were very crowded chicken busses, which are basically
old school busses painted in crazy colors with horns blaring. There were even guys sitting on the roof to
take your large luggage and give it back to you when you reached your
destination. There is always room for
one more, and just when you think you think there isn’t enough room for one
more, another five passengers get in. Our
first bus was to Comalapa, about 15 miles away, and we stood for the 45 minute
trip on a bus with three times more passengers than seats.
After that, we waited on a busy corner in Comalapa for about
an hour for our next bus. It was
definitely interesting watching the comings and goings in this town. The street vendors hop on every bus that
stops and try for a few minutes to sell their goods to people on these busses,
before jumping off down the road and walking back for the next one. There were also the delivery drivers who were
heavily armed, even if it was just a small soda delivery truck. Actually El Salvador is definitely the most
gun loving country we’ve visited. There
were machine gun wielding guards at just about every building, as well as
people who just had pistols tucked into their pants, no holster necessary.
We finally reached the marina 12 hours after leaving Antigua
and were happy to be back aboard Saviah.
The next day we checked the weather, which looked good for several
days. The marina was busy preparing for a
sport fishing tournament, and we would have to vacate our slip in a few days
anyway, so we decided to get moving. We
checked out of the country with the customs and immigration guys and
coordinated with the pilot boat for leaving the estuary at high tide that
afternoon. We scrambled to get
everything stowed and on November 5th, we bid farewell to El
Salvador and headed out for the 250 mile trip to Mexico.