Central America - My Journey

In addition to Belize, Guatemala, and Honduras, I also traveled to El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama in Central America. However, since I had less time in these countries due to my return flight from Panama City, I am combining all my activities from Honduras to Nicaragua in this one blog post.

The first thing I thought about when entering Honduras was: 'You are now entering the country with the world's third-highest murder rate.' Wherever you are, you should always keep this fact in mind. In Copán Ruinas, the first Honduran city I visited, I still felt relatively safe, even though I arrived after dark. Copán Ruinas is a beautiful little town where you can stroll through the streets. You can also reach ancient Mayan ruins on foot or by Tuc Tuc (mototaxi).

But you can also easily reach the ruins. On my second day in Honduras, I visited them. First, you have to pay the entrance fee for a huge park, where you first notice a variety of animals: when entering the entrance area, dozens of butterflies flew in front of me, which I had not seen sitting on the ground before. After registering with my ID card number in a book, I was finally allowed to pass the last barriers, from where you can already see various birds. Among them are colorful macaws, which were considered the holiest birds of the Maya and have resettled in this archaeological park. I especially liked them because I had never seen any in the wild before and I did not remember them being so big.

The ruins did not disappoint me either. On and beside a wide field with stone-carved human bodies, there were buildings and temples of different heights, most of which you could enter and climb. From the top, you had an even better and clearer view of the entire site, which, thanks to old trees whose thick roots meandered between the stones, left an almost magical impression.

The main reason I entered Honduras, however, was that the connections from Cobán to Honduras were much better developed than bus connections to El Salvador. However, I still traveled to El Salvador directly from Honduras. After countless transfers, I was able to have the final kilometers driven by taxi through the border crossing, as planned. However, the driver told me that the last bus on the El Salvador side had already left and that I would have to find accommodation near the border. Of course, I had not informed myself about this beforehand, as I firmly believed that I would still be able to travel to the capital San Salvador that evening. Consequently, the only hotel I could spontaneously find on the El Salvador side near the border was also very expensive. This even created the next problem: I had spent as much money on the taxi and hotel accommodation as I had planned for the whole way to San Salvador, and I had no cash left. Next problem: There was no ATM in the place where I had checked in. However, the hotel owner kindly offered to take the bus with me to the neighboring town the next morning and temporarily pay for my ticket until I could withdraw money there. Unfortunately, that did not help me much either, as I could not use my credit card at any of the four ATMs we found there, and the banks could not help us either. By now, I was on the verge of despair because I really did not want to stay in this small town, especially in this expensive (and shabby) hotel any longer. Coincidentally, at that moment, a friend of my companion drove by, offered to take us to a gas station where I could definitely withdraw money. However, this gas station was also a bit further away, and the driver also thought it necessary to have the car vacuumed first. Normally, this should not have bothered me because I was already grateful to have found someone who was willing to take me there. On the other hand, it drove me crazy to sit on a plastic chair while a stranger unnecessarily vacuumed the car, and we could not do anything to speed up the process, as he would be paid for his work and I was still not sure if I could finally withdraw money from this one ATM. In the end, it actually worked, and I finally had cash in my hands again. However, the hotel owner and my driver then demanded an outrageously high compensation from me, claiming that the bus ride to this gas station would have cost the same and that the gasoline was even more expensive. However, I did not want to argue with the two, as I had already felt uncomfortable in their presence the whole time, and I once again thought about the fact that El Salvador has the second-highest murder rate in the world. I had often heard stories of people quickly becoming aggressive seemingly over trivial things, and both of them did not make a very educated impression on me. My hotel owner had even asked me incomprehensibly why I did not have any children at my age (19!) and had told me that she did not even have a bank account, only cash. This has little to do with education, but she also did not understand anything I tried to explain to her in this context. In short, I was not sure if the two of them could become dangerous to me if I started to discuss the change. To take no risks, I handed over the money and then simply followed their recommendation, stood on the main road with my backpack, while the cars raced past me, and waited for the right bus. Unfortunately, only young men, who visibly had above-average money for Central American countries, stopped initially and wanted to take me with their sports cars. For my own safety, however, I always declined, and after some waiting time, my bus finally approached, which I brought to a stop with a thumbs-up sign. As expected, this one was much cheaper than what my previous drivers had claimed, and my arrival in the capital was secured.

Once there, I was able to recover from the hardships and learned that there would be a concert by Anuel AA and Karol G in the stadium directly opposite my hostel that same evening. I could actually hear everything from there, and I already knew some songs by both of them, which made me even more excited. At one point, I even considered buying a concert ticket at the box office. However, since I had not calculated how much money I still needed until my return flight, I decided not to expose myself to the danger of further periods of hunger and problems finding my way and enjoyed the music 'only' from the terrace. Another nice side effect of staying in a hostel right next to a filled stadium are the various food stalls lining the street. I could also stick to my personal limit of 1€ per meal there, which would never have been possible in Germany. During the day, I made friends with my hostel mates, who gave me a personal city tour and took me to the market. I read a lot from the hostel's bookshelf, which I had missed a lot before, and I listened to other roommates playing the piano and guitar, something I had not had the opportunity to do for a long time.

To illustrate my situation more precisely or possibly even dramatize it: I did not have a single song on my mobile phone for the whole six months, and I could not use my Spotify account either because, firstly, I had forgotten my password, and secondly, I realized too late that I had to change the country in my personal data to make music available again. Accordingly, I was grateful for any kind of music from the public, and I noticed how much you can miss not being able to listen to what and when you want. I quite liked the Salvadoran capital, although it was very littered in some places, and there was not much to do there. For me, it was primarily days of relaxation, and it was also nice to not walk alone through an unfamiliar area but to have company, even though they confirmed to me that local men look at me in a frightening and sometimes sick way. However, since they generally respect male companions, I was fortunately hardly approached by strangers, which would change in the next capitals.

The next place I visited in El Salvador was El Tunco, a small coastal town on the Pacific Ocean, which is especially suitable for surfers. Unfortunately, it was already raining heavily when I arrived there, and the hostel was poorly or not signposted at all, so I first stood in the wrong garden and called 'Hola?' Fortunately, I noticed this mistake before anyone else saw me, and I still found the right hostel. It was accessible through a huge mud puddle in which I sank and stood in up to my ankles.

The weather unfortunately did not improve in the following days, so I only have rainy memories of El Tunco. Nevertheless, I have only good memories of El Tunco, as I liked the narrow streets and the sweetly furnished shops and bars, and I enjoyed watching surfers ride the waves while the sea breeze blew through my hair, and coconut shells were lying on the way. However, if you are looking for beautiful beaches, you should look for accommodation in the neighboring town La Libertad, as El Tunco only has rocky coasts so far.

After El Salvador, it was time for Honduras again, which, when you look at a world map, is the only available land route if you are heading from Nicaragua towards Panama. This time, I went to the Honduran capital Tegucigalpa, much to my delight without any problems by bus and taxis. I can't tell you much about this city or my next stop, the Nicaraguan capital Managua, as I did not stay long in either place and only spent one night in each. However, I still would not recommend either of them, as I felt very unsafe. When I walked through the streets or the city center, I hardly dared to take out my phone to take pictures and always looked around three times to make sure no one was nearby and observing me. Even when taking the bus, locals warned me to count the money for a bus ticket as a safety measure and to store it in my pocket so that I absolutely did not have to take my wallet out of my pocket, as it can often be snatched out of your hand when paying on the bus. What you should get used to in all of Latin America and what you should definitely follow there is to memorize streets and the city map roughly in your head so as not to have to use your phone for orientation.

That sometimes made me sweat a lot because, of course, I had never walked through these streets before and had only come across their names for the first time. I also had some difficulties finding my way back to my hostel because I had not remembered the name of the district or the street, but I definitely had to cover the long distance by bus (it would have been possible by taxi as well, but bus tickets are much cheaper, and you learn over time how to live like locals). Fortunately, I still remembered a well-known statue near my hostel, whose name I came up with and which the bus driver knew as well, who let me off at a nearby bus stop. Otherwise, the streets were almost deserted, which contributes even more to your unease when you are alone. Nevertheless, nothing happened to me, and I was able to explore Managua and leave unharmed. I had been looking forward to my next destination for a while: the twin volcano island of Ometepe on Lake Nicaragua, which you can even clearly see on world maps.

I had imagined this place to be magical and special, but unfortunately, the rainy season overshadowed it for me, so my enthusiasm for climbing the two volcanoes also disappeared. So I mainly explored this island or the town of Moyogalpa on foot and tried to take beautiful pictures as best as I could. However, I am sure that it must be beautiful there during the dry season, and the island has even more to offer. However, I was only granted good weather and sunshine in Costa Rica.