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Parrita
We return to Parrita where we spend 15 days by the Pacific Ocean.
It is hot 35° , and rains almost every day in the late afternoon. The rainy season has begun.
Here we find our seafood restaurant and the Scarlet macaws. But not as many people as the other years.
We continue our odyssey to Panama earlier in our schedule. Our boat is advanced by 10 days and scheduled for May 15.
When we leave, we notice that the cabin heating radiator is leaking ... Although we ha dit repaired in 2019 in Guatemala .... We stop in Uvita at a mechanic who can not repair immediately but offers to disconnect it since we do not need heating in these areas .... We are OK and will have it repaired properly in Colombia.
Last night in Costa Rica at "La Ciudad Neily" in a hotel parking lot.
Border crossing Nicaragua/ Costa Rica
Before we reach the border we collect our linen.
We cross all of Nicaragua using the very busy "Transamerican" as it is the weekend and Easter Week
The exit from Nicaragua is quite easy, we are late afternoon and the border post is almost empty .
Only remark : as in our other border crossing : no information on the procedures to follow ... We go from one office to the other… We avoid the scanner (see the notebooks of Nicaragua)
The entry to Costa Rica is made with some difficulties.
Immigration registration is quite fast but we get only 30 days visa instead of 90 days. Not too many explanations
We buy our insurance and register the vehicle.
This last step is more complicated. We have to go back to immigration to look for an employee to pre-fill out the paper file and check the camper.
Then back to customs where everything is recorded on computer!!! what efficiency.
We thought we would spend a few days on one of our favorite beach near "La Cruz" but this one is now forbidden for camping. It is late and we spend the night in the parking lot of a restaurant.
Previously, we purchased a SIM card and some food.
Leon
On the way to "Babette and Jean Jacques"
On the way we stop at Leon to do the refueling and the laundry.
Once at the campsite, it turns out that the access is impossible for camper .... And that the other parking lots are not reachable.
We decide to find refuge elsewhere but before we spend a good time in the restaurant with our friends ... Nice reunion and exchange of information for the future.
We join Leon city to spend the night before heading for the border.
San Miguel
Nicaragua is requesting a PCR test of less than 72 hours to enter the country. By calculating the distance to Costa Rica, our test must be done in El Salvador.
We choose a large city near the border (San Miguel) and look for a laboratory of analysis .... It’s Sunday and without the internet it’s getting difficult; we’re really dependent on wifi .... How did we do it before?
Simply by asking the locals, which encouraged contact.
We spot the central hospital which unfortunately only does "antigenic" tests. Through a pharmacy we get an address of a laboratory that is open.
We decide to do our test immediately for an internet result at 6 pm.
What to do in the meantime? Go to the seaside? Yes, good idea .... it’s still 40° in the shade
The locations we have pointed out are disappointing ... It will only be a break for lunch and we go backr to San Miguel.
The access road is of course jammed by renovation works ... Are we damned ?.
We park next to the laboratory to have internet (code obtained in the morning) and the waiting begins.
It’s hot and night is falling.
We need potabe water ... We saw carafons at the Uno station.
We leave the laboratory without our results and head to the service station.
The carafons are not for sale but we can take water from the tap .... It’s super nice and we can also spend the night there and have internet .... Lucky, at the shop we buy a can of drinking water
Tests Result: negative ... We can continue our journey.
Guatemala/El Savador border crossing
Early waking, we leave at 8:00 am.
We are anxious for the rest of the journey .... Will we still be driving on poorly maintained roads .... Are we going to be in unexplained traffic jams ... Are we going to take hours for few kilometers?
We are surprised .... to reach the border, little traffic, a few four-lane sections and a normal cruising speed.
Strengthened by our "forgetfulness" of Mexico, we reread the steps to be carried out for the crossing of this border.
Before arriving at the border we overtake a line of trucks stopped for 2 km.
We are forced to take the opposite lane to overtake them and park in the ditch when a vehicle or truck arrives ahead of us ... A real pleasure for the driver.
We need a copy of the "TIP" for customs clearance ...impossible ... There is a power outage in the village .... A gag ... no!!!
We record our passenger exit and then the exit of the vehicle without a copy that will be made by the teller.
We go back to El Salvador without going through immigration. The visa obtained in Guatemala covers El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua. One step less.
For the “TIP” it is another question ... Computer or internet failure at customs .... It is noon and we are asked to come back around 2pm
The fiesta goes on!!!! We have the impression that it is rather lunch time.
After lunch, under a blazing sun, we head to customs. We come across a « beginner » according to "Tramitores" or negotiators ... this is our chance.
2 hours later we take the road back to the capital San Salvador where we find refuge in a multi-purpose park open all night.
Border crossing Salvador/ Honduras and Honduras/ Nicaragua
A long day awaits us: two borders to cross ... Honduras only represents 130 km.
Before leaving San Miguel, Christophe tries to print our tests results for the passage in Nicaragua and as often hotels do it with pleasure ...
We are heading to the border crossing on a busy road but at a normal speed.
As usual we have to climb a long line of trucks to reach the border and the exit formalities are fast.
We cross the bridge that separates the two countries and before the barrier we are controlled.
We are asked for our passports, the pre-registration is done the day before on the internet and printed at the hotel and especially a PCR test .... not mandatory in Honduras ...!!
We park in front of the immigration and customs building.
The immigration employee claims 3 USD per person for the tax. We give him 10 USD but he has no change!!! Yet we are not the first to enter Honduras this morning!!!
We insist and ask to see his superior ... answer " I am the superior " .... Finally we find a money-changer whom we ask to change .... very kind gentleman.
Same for the TIP, the employee has no change .... Incredible ! and we go back to see the street money-changer
Welcome to Honduras.
We had not kept an unforgettable memory of this country and this is confirmed.
The crossing goes without incident and the exit too.
The entry to Nicaragua is longer.
At the first check point, the employee asks Chirstophe for the original PCR test. He replied that it was an orignal but printed in black and white ... We were not going to ask the hotel for colour copies.
She refuses ... he insists and finally she asks for the proof of payment that Christophe had the good idea to ask the laboratory.
That’s a good start ... We move on to fumigation and direction the immigration office, then customs.
We are received by a charming woman who asks us a lot of questions about the reason of our trip and the cities where we think we will stop. Finally she gives our passports to a check-in counter.
Vehicle registration is done quite easily and quickly.
We return to Nicargua and head towards Playa Barca de Oro where Babette and Jean Jacques are waiting for us.
We are exhausted by these border crossings (4 hours), the kilometers travelled and the heat.
We stop at 100 km from our destination on the parking lot of a park that welcomes us with pleasure.
Mexico/Guatemala border crossing
Pleasant night in a camping spot but where the owners were non-existent.
We have an exhausting day ahead.
It takes us 4 hours to do the formalities. Having crossed so many borders, we should be professionals... But we’re not!!
The exit from Mexico went quickly, small check up of the "TIP of the vehicle" and we head towards the Guatemala border.
As in all the borders, we are hasseled by guys who want to help us for the dfferent steps.
We have to fight all the time but we managed to get rid of them.(the most aggressive ones being the young children)
The border is crowded with vehicles parked everywhere, shops, people, etc ...
We are not allowed at the immigration office, ... We forgot our exit stamp from Mexico!!! How stupid!!!
We find a parking lot and return by foot to Mexico where a tourist bus arrives in front of us ... and seeing how fast the employees work, the waiting is going to be long. Very hot outside : 39°
Passport checked and stamped ... Back to Guatemala.
Immigration takes 2 minutes by presenting passport and health pass.
We pick up the camper and we park along the customs’s office to get the "TIP" of the vehicle.
The very friendly employee, takes a total of two hours to have it done ... Despite computerisation, countless copies or photocopies are edited and verified. The "paper" budget of the Ministry of Immigration must be huge.
In addition, Christophe has to go back to immigration to get a form to fill out, that the employee forgot to give us (very qualified staff!!!) and he has to pay a tax to the bank, which has a power outage ... A nightmare!!!
We’re heading out of the border post to Costa Rica.
The roads of poor quality are congested and it takes us 4 h 30 to drive 117 km ...... You can imagine that this was a ordeal.
It is early night and we find with difficulty a service station to spend the night there .... Traffic jams in both directions will end at midnight.
ROAD BOOK 107
MAVROS ODYSSEE
