Colombia, Part I: Frustration and Fun

After a week’s delay for the RoRo’s arrival in Cartagena and another 3 long days of paperwork, the car is finally ours again!

Plaza Trinidad in Cartagena

Walled City in Cartagena

We enjoy our $0.25 coffees!

Motorcycle traffic stop

View as we reached the mountains before Yarumal

5 fire extinguishers later, our 2nd car fire was put out…..but caused much more damage this time around

Almost everything under the hood was damaged, and the car had to be towed 150 Km to Medellin

Ian replaced the majority of the wires, but unfortunately the fuel injection system was destroyed and (still) needs major professional work before the car will ever run again

Despite the let-down of another fire, we were lucky enough to become friends with the auto shop’s manager, Samuel, and his girlfriend, Carolina

Samuel and Carolina treated us to a typical Colombian dinner…plantains, potatoes, chorizo, arepas, and a fat piece of bacon!

And then we went to the club and attempted to salsa

Medellin at night

Same view by day

Since the car was held up, we decided to test out travel by motorcycle for a couple days

We rode the motorcycle to Guatape, which is famous for this immense rock

750 steps that are built in the rocks crevice, run to the very top

view from the top

The stairs down were completely separate and maze-like, including dead-ends

Giant moth that Maggy appreciates

We saw a poster that Robert Kiyosaki was going to speak in Medellin on the 26th. Unfortunately we missed his talk, but somehow managed to run into him at Pueblito Paisa the next day! Maggy celebrated this KP reunion in true spirit, running suit pants and all!

Look at the little ground dove! (smallest of the pigeon breed)

The Panama Canal and other Highlights

We enjoyed the cool weather of Boquete, which is high up in the mountains and perfect flannel weather

This rock structure was on the side of the road, just out of Boquete

….We had to go play on it

Tree carving in Boquete

More zoo pictures!

The coolest birdcage design yet to be discovered

And then we got caught in the daily downpour with this poor guy

Maggy takes lots of nature pictures

View of Panama City at a marina off of Amador Causeway

Maggy got to see the Panama Canal for the first time! A RoRo, ferry, and catamaran went through the locks together….the catamaran got worked when the RoRo started propulsion

View of the Miraflores set of locks from the balcony of the Panama Canal Museum

We snuck out to see the Panama Canal expansion project and got a couple pictures in before a security guard found us

The panama canal gates waiting to be installed

We were able to drive over the Gatun set of locks since a bridge is built right over one of the gates! ( So you can only drive when the locks are filling/emptying)

After days of paperwork and stress, the car was finally dropped off at the port and cleared for its shipment on a RoRo to Colombia where we will meet it. Our last night in Panama was spent in Casco Viejo

Costa Rica, Chica!

Well, the hermit crabs are happy…

Who knew we would end up here at a party? It was a wonderful place to watch the sunrise and see wild toucans!

Osa peninsula; there’s no electricity for miles, and the rainforest runs all the way up to the ocean!

Ian’s SUP suffered some damage after catching a tree and preventing him from sliding backwards off a cliff when the brakes locked. It was the first time we had to use the winch to get the car out of a sticky situation….and it worked!

Sunset in Pavones, Costa Rica, which is famous for its 2nd longest left-hand surf break in the world

Maggy calls them palm tree forests, Ian calls them palm tree plantations

As Ian says, “Isla de Ometepe is Dope” (doesn’t rhyme)

In Nicaragua — A typical camping spot

Ian finally got to use his kite board when we stayed on Isla de Ometepe

Sunset over Volcano Concepcion, the 2nd highest volcano in Nicaragua

We aren’t having the best of luck with fires. This time it was our stove… luckily we had replaced the used fire extinguisher

A statue of Jesus overlooks the surfing town of San Juan del Sur. Unfortunately for us, all but 2 of the beaches were closed during our stay because “Survivor” is being filmed there

Maggy found a friend in San Juan del Sur. It was bittersweet because no monkey deserves to be a pet, but all this little girl wanted was an infinite amount of affection

Maggy played with this white-faced capuchin monkey for a couple hours

El Imposible and the Rest of El Salvador

7km up the mountain on our way to El Imposible National Park, an electrical fire erupted under the hood. Luckily we both are trained firefighters and the fire was extinguished. Unluckily, the car was disabled, but with the help of all 20 local boys, we pushed it to the nearest (and only) driveway in miles. Even luckier, word got out, and the next day our two teenage mechanics showed up to fix all damage, complete with their Miley Cyrus tool bag.

Not a pretty sight

Giant toads make driving stressful at night

Instead of running away like most crabs, this one buried itself in the sand and displayed an enormous amount of self control by not moving, even when Maggy poked at it

The local’s catch of the day: stingrays, eels, and baby hammerhead sharks

We stumbled upon a sea turtle rescue sanctuary! Each nest had about 25 baby turtles

Crater del Volcan San Salvador

Bird of Paradise flower

The Café San Cristobal harvested its own coffee every Sunday

Coffee bean pods! When the pod ripens, it turns red

Café San Cristobal had an impressive view over all of San Salvador, stretching to the coast

Our final night in El Salvador was spent on the outskirts of Playa Tamarindo, within walking distance of its no longer functioning lighthouse

Guatemala: There and Back Again

Just after crossing over the border into Guatemala, we stopped on the side of the road for lunch. Lucky us, we were entertained by two mating turkeys!

The sickest 75hp azipods on the market

Our favorite coffee shop in Antigua — the Tretto Caffe

The best coffee we have ever had. Maggy’s was called café miel (a mixture of espresso, steamed milk, honey, and cinnamon). Ian’s mocha had a real block of dark chocolate melted into the espresso and steamed milk

View of one of the three volcanoes surrounding Antigua

Sadly, the car’s window was smashed and broken into during the last night of our stay in Antigua and final day of our journey through Guatemala

Beautiful view of the farmed hillsides

You Better Belize It!

We had to take two of these small man-powered ferries on our way to Sarteneja

A friendly hen tried to make herself at home in the car

We stumbled upon this brackish cenote in Sarteneja where “an alligator lives and where people have found human bones, either from the Mayan sacrifices or the hurricane.”

A “Banana Bird” nest, spotted from Mexico through Belize

A perfect place to camp for the night at Rio on Pools

A good shot

We spent a day making a trip to the National Belize Zoo. This guy was into playing games — every time you would turn to leave, he would come incredibly close to the netting, but when you turned around, he would retreat after only a couple seconds

This stork thought we were very interesting

Maggy’s favorite animal at the zoo was the Harpy Eagle…Its feet were as big as mine!

Caracol Ruins….we thought it was a good idea to race up these temple stairs. Also, you can see the Guatemala border, only about 3 miles away, from the top of the temple

Maggy found this guarding the Mayan tombs

We had a great time snorkeling the barrier reef in Caye Caulker

Can you find the little yellow fish?

Swimming with sharks

…and stingrays

Ian had a temper tantrum when he dropped his last doughnut in the sand, and even tried to blame Maggy for it!

Maggy found a hermit crab in Caye Caulker!

What a pretty view from our room

The Rio Frio Cave was enormous! Ian is standing at the mouth of the cave in this picture

View from inside Rio Frio Cave…Apparently it’s a thing to go tubing through the series of 9 caves in this area

Cicada tree

South of the Border

This sets the tone.

An example of the various obstacles we have run across on the roads.

Ian thought he would fit in better if he grew a “Mexican stache,” but I don’t think it worked. And for his personal enjoyment of torturing me, he would not stop saying, “I mustache you a question.”