After few days at the beach, we eventually made it to Costa Rica. We left in the morning of Jan. 2nd, and it took us two hours to reach the border between Nicaragua and Costa Rica. Here, our worst border crossing was awaiting us. It took us more than five hours to go through.
The first line, Nicaragua side
Two hours to exit Nicaragua and do the exit papers for the vehicles (US$ 4 for everything), and three-and-an-half hour to do immigration and vehicle paperwork on the Costa Rica side.
This really was our worst border crossing. Before the trip, I read a lot about difficult crossing, and hours of waiting time. Because we only used very little crossing until now, it never took us more than an hour-and-an-half to do this necessary step for each country. The trouble here was a massive reflux of visitors coming back home after the holidays.
This time, it was more difficult. We reached on the Costa Rica side around 2 p.m., and the sun was high and strong. Lines were outside, and there was no shade. Multiple photocopies of everything were – as always – needed. We met a family of French people who are doing the trip Canada-Chile by road (blog here, in French). Like us, they will have to go around the Darien Gap, and we may meet later on in Panama.
Second line, Costa Rica immigration
Less than US$20 later, and as once again the sun was about to disappear, we were back on the road. I was now driving toward Tamarindo, on the Pacific side, where we were scheduled to meet with Steve and Jocelyn.
Steve invited us few days back, when he eared about our mechanical problems. Back in 2000, they did the trip with a land Cruiser between California and Costa Rica, where they finally decided to start a new life. You can check out their website here.
We arrived in town around 9 p.m., and quickly found the house, where we would be able to take advantage of luxuries we didn’t see in a while, including hot showers (last seen in Mexico) and a swimming pool (last seen while squatting the Best Western in Managua)
On our way to the beach with Steve and Jocelyn
In any case since we arrived Steve provided us great help with the car, and diagnosed some transmission problems that should be corrected before the end of the week. I cleaned up a little bit our truck, had some good food and nice nights of sleep.
The plan after that will be to go to the Arenal Volcano, come back on the Pacific side, and go south to Panama, where we should be next week.
On Sunday morning, we entered Managua, were a new type of problems was awaiting us. For the first time since the beginning of the trip, the police and their requests for bribes would become really annoying. In the few days we were in the city, we maybe got stopped 15 times. Carrying foreign plates is a real problem, and you get pulled over immediately as soon as they see you are from out of town. Already in Honduras, we got controlled a lot, but the cops got tired before me when I affected to not understand what they wanted. The only time we had to pay another bribe was in Mexico, when a cop asked us US$5 to buy a chicken. I gave him $2, and he was happy with it. Border crossing were always very transparent and simple, and we never had any questionable request for money, which make me think the situation really improved during the last few years, considering other traveler reports.
Nick and Nakor
In Managua, most of the time, we were able to get them out of our back, but it was really stressful at the end, enough to try to avoid the city if you don’t have anything specific to do there. Eventually, while leaving the city, I had to pay US$15 when they threatened to keep my driving license for three days.
But of course, we really needed our part, so there was no other choice than staying in the city. Sunday, on the third time we got stopped, and as the policeman was getting ready to give us a ticket for some imaginary infraction, a local guy stopped to help us out. As soon as he did, the police asked us to leave immediately, as the situation become less manageable when more people begin to argue.
Nakor, who will become our Managua connection, was curious about our trip and the reasons we were passing through the city. As soon as he knew about our car troubles, he offered to help, first by providing a place we could camp, and then by locating the part and a local guy who could put it on the truck.
We relaxed until the end of the day, cooked and slept, and at 8 the day after, we started looking for the axle housing. We managed to find a used one, but before to buy, decided to check out the price of a new one. Surprisingly enough, the price was the same, so we decided to go with the new one. After that, we went to drop the part at Nakor’s friend.
Mario, Nakor's friend, and his staff
He told us he could put the axle in the day after, which would only take him a day of work if we came at 7 a.m. We did, and at 10 p.m. Tuesday, we were ready to go. After a last night in Managua and some work on the car in the morning, we were on our way south, and went looking for a beach we could spend at least two days to celebrate the new year.
The beach
On our way down, we stopped at the main Nicaragua Lake, and enjoyed the sight of the volcanoes on Ometepe Island, in the middle of the salty lake. As the salt level was low, we decided to take advantage of it to clean up a bit. Half an hour after, we met people on the beach who offered to show us the way to a spot where we could camp on the beach, close to San Juan del Sur. It was perfect for us, as we wanted to avoid the very touristic town. 30 miles later, we found the perfect location north of the city.
The dusty trail leading to the beach
For few dollars, we got access to a small campground on the sand, with access to water, a shower and toilets. No Internet access unfortunately, which explain this late blog entry. We decided to stay two days, but eventually were there for three.
The Swiss team chose a Land Rover to go across the Americas
There were few travelers on the beach, including a Swiss couple driving through central and South America with a land rover. Most people were on the road for a long time. Few months, or few years. Everybody was happy to have found each other, and even me, usually looking forward to more quiet time, was happy to have company for New Year’s Eve. It was a long time we didn’t speak English and we could exchange travel experience and tips.
The seawater was warm there, and waves were big, attracting many surfers. On January 2, we would leave the beach and go south again, pass the Costa Rica border, and reach Tamarindo.
Mathilda beach campgroundNew year on the beach
We left a month-and-an-half ago, and covered 5,000 miles since New York. The last two weeks have been stressful with the car troubles, but we were able to get out of the first tricky situation. I know there will be more difficult time ahead, but hopefully, luck will be on my side. Happy new year to everybody in New York and Paris, happy new year to you all who are following our adventures, and happy, happy new year to all the people who helped us since we started this trip.
