Stuck in central Honduras

The beach in Masca

I wish there would be more exciting news but here we are, still stuck, ten days since our little mountain escapade. After two days making the emergency repairs in the suburbs of San Pedro, we were able to leave and reach the coast, but the mechanical shape of the truck was not reinsuring, and I decided we had to bring the truck to a professional mechanic.

River in the rain forest

On the coast, we spent two days at George’s place, a friend from Brooklyn who lives with his wife Clara in Masca, on the Caribbean coast. George is deeply involved in the community down there, and also represents the Global Block Foundation in Central and South America.

Georges and Nick meets in Masca

We were able to relax a bit, went to the beach and in the rainforest, but were restless because of the state of our vehicle, and anxious to have a definitive word about what had to be done.
The coast is very interesting with its banana-export ports, but also Garifuna villages. The black ethnic Garifunas are believed to live in central america long before the arrival of Europeans. At some point, Hispanic ships carrying enslaved West Africans added to the local population.

On Monday, we decided to backtrack to San Pedro Sula, and visit the Toyota dealership. When we arrived there, we were informed they would not look at any U.S. vehicles, for political reason. Surprised by this – but of course, we are used to surprises by now – we found the address of another shop where an ex-Toyota staffer is a mechanic.
When we got there, they told us we had nothing to worry about, and that the car will be ready in two-days. That was ten days ago.
We left the car, packed bags, and took the bus to go to stay at Antonio, a friend of my New York buddy Sergio from the New York Times.
Antonio lives in Las Minas, one hour east of San Pedro, close to El Progreso.
From there, every day our problems became more complicated. Chases for parts, delays, and of course an inflating bill were making every day a disappointment. As of today Saturday, we still have not much ideawhen we will finally get our ride back. We are still tracking down a transmission part, which is supposed to be the last, but who knows. In addition, the repair budget already took a serious hit.

Antonio's family and friend

Thanks to Antonio, Thelma his wife and their friend, we still had chances to enjoy our stay. We went out with Antonio’s friend, and I was able to try meat specialties as well as many Honduras beers. We also got cigars and coffee, and took advantage of the countryside around the house.
But now it seems that we may have to let our plans to be in Costa Rica by Christmas on the drawing board. Especially if the part we are supposed to get on Monday doesn’t fit the truck, which may happen with our recent luck. But if it does, we should be in the capital by Wednesday, pass the Nicaragua border Thursday, and be very close to Costa Rica by Friday.

And who cares if we are still in this fine country for Christmas, as long as we can be back on the road, have a good meal and maybe smoke one of these Honduras cigars…
Who knows, maybe I should just live in Honduras for the rest of my life, since we already enjoy fame in San Pedro, where we were featured in the local newspaper.