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Central and South American Adventure


Eric Hall

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Had a great experience today at Triumph Guatemala. I met the owner and a few other riders while I got my second oil change. Had lunch, made new friends, got tons of great advice.

 

Did an interview too with Moto Bici Run magazine. Not sure when they will have it up but here’s a link to their current issue. Kind of like an Upshift Online format

 

https://www.yumpu.com/es/document/read/64879055/moto-y-bici-46ava-web

Lo

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I stayed a few days in Antigua. Nice place but was in very much a budget hostel for $10/night. Bathroom was downstairs and had no sink so I brushed my teeth and washed my hands in the “pila” or outside wash basin typically used for laundry.

One night I ended up hanging out with some expats but I didn’t really like the vibe. I decided to head back and see San Marcos on the lake for a few more days until some stuff I ordered arrives in Guatemala City.

FYI, some of these aren’t my photos

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After six days in San Marco I’d had my fill of new age yoga types so I returned to Antigua to wait for a package from the States.

It arrived in FL on the 30th but they waited a week to ask me for the invoice... which was inside the box the whole time. So wasted about a week there.

Ready now to move south. I was going to head over to San Pedro, Honduras to help out Eduardo with Motorrad Angels with the hurricane relief efforts but he says all the supplies have been distributed. Then he messaged me saying covid is peaking there and his family is paranoid about having guests now.

So I will head into El Salvador instead and hug the coast this time. It’s hot and humid and I haven’t really had to deal that much with it other than Mazatlan but I hear it’s a good ride.

Saw a sculpture Sandro must have modeled for

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My first “adventure?”

I guess I’ve had a few other small ones but this one is the most annoying.

I need a covid test to get into El Salvador and the one I had they rejected because it wasn’t from a Guatemala lab. It’s from a Colombian lab and I just edited the dates lol. I’ve had covid already so I can’t see spending money on unnecessary tests.

So no lab at the border so I ride up to Moyuta. $115 and takes 4 days. F that. Cisco says there’s on in Jalapa.

I get to Jalapa and the test is $193 and takes a day but about the same as the $115 four day test considering hotels and food.
So I want the $193 test but they can’t do it until 3:00 and that means no results until 3:00 the next day.

Technically I’m in the country illegally since they stamped me out yesterday. And since I came over from the El Salvador immigration technically I would have needed ANOTHER covid test to get back in Guatemala.

But luckily I didn’t get stuck in no man’s land and think I will be fine. I don’t have to go through any checkpoint to leave Guatemala and El Salvador won’t care.

So turns out there was a test for “just” $77 and a six hour wait but had to ride back to Guatemala City. I did that then rode back to the border, waited for my results, printed them out then crossed the border around 8:00 last night.

Thanks to Jose Pinto of Azimut Tours who told me about that place and got me a discount.

Would not recommend riding at night. Everyone thought I had my hi beams on so when they flashed their brights at me I gave them the full fury of my Cyclops ADV LED’s . They’re probably still applying aloe vera gel to their faces this morning. Ay Dios mío!!!

Luckily made it to El Tunco and found a decent surf hostel here called Rancho Dylan. Will meet the Touratech/Heidenau guy Mario for lunch shortly.

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El Tunco was extremely seductive! I did two nights at that other hostel then moved to another next to the beach for just $25/night. Met a guy from SoCal killing time while on furlough from an airline gig. He just surfs everyday and is loving it.

I got back together with Mario and his friends and am staying with his family in San Salvador. He is a super nice guy and knows a lot about motos and the industry. He’s the local Touratech and Heidenau guy and has another business on the side.

We did a ride to a volcanic crater and then lots of bench racing with other riders over some really nice Salvadoran run and coconut water. Had some pupusas too which are like a quesadilla.

Turns out I have to apply a week in advance online to get into Nicaragua so I got that form sent this morning so I can go there next week.

Tom Palmer from Motorrad Ángels may join me for a week there and a week in Costa Rica. Chris White is in Costa Rica and runs Elephant Moto tours so we will get to ha g out with him too.

This guy Guayo here looks just like El Chapo so that’s what he’s called now

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Great question! If it’s just using it with my phone and navigation I get something like 5 days. But if it’s for the camera then that might be less than a day depending on how often I use the camera.

I know a guy who has the camera set to “video packing” or something like that and he will plug a cord to a lithium battery in his pocket so it goes all day.

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FYI, got about 11,800 km on my trip so far.

I left El Salvador Sunday and headed for the border with Honduras. I was going to stay the night in Honduras near the Nicaraguan border but when I got there they were closed!

And I had to use a bathroom BAD! Oh well. Found a gas station down the road. My second bout of travelers diarrhea .

It was like 4:30 and the border was just a few miles so I decided to just go for it.

The reason I blew through Honduras so quick is my covid test was good good for 72 hours and needed to kill two birds with one stone. I was going to go to San Pedro to see a Motorrad Angels volunteer who is working on the hurricane relief but he said all the work is done and he said his family was nervous about covid.

Nicaragua is quite different. The immigration guy charged me $13 but wanted it in dollars and I’d just exchanged my dollars for cordobas 20 min earlier. They also don’t allow drones so, you know, I definitely don’t have that with me now .

I did manage to get hustled by a tramitador or processor. He said I could pay a small fee and avoid a covid scan of my bike that could take hours but there’s no scan, just a scam. The Nicaraguan processor was honest and I gave him $10.

A friend of a friend, Bayardo, met me at the border and we rode a short way to his place. Hospedajedonbayardo is the name. He has a hostel set up and does eco-tours of Canyon del Somoto. So I spent yesterday morning doing some canyoneering.

After that I rode to Estelí and was going to stay the night and tour a cigar factory but it was just 2:00 and I figured I could make Managua so I did that.

The highway police flagged me down and I played dumb like I didn’t speak Spanish so they waved me on. Not 5 min later another set of them flagged me down and said I’d passed the solid yellow line. Played dumb and they let me go again. The officer was just 23 years old!

Then three more times they tried flagging me down and I said to myself this is bs, I’m not stopping! Never pulled over once since Sep 28 and five times in one day?!!!

Id turn my head to the left as if I was looking at something really interesting on the other side of the road pretending I didn’t see them. If they chased me then fine, I’d stop but not to get shaked down or something.

So I told this to a guy here and he laughed. He said “I should have told you the speed limit here is just 80 kph and auxiliary lights are illegal!”

Okay. Well I know now

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San Juan del Sur and day 4 of diarrhea

So while I could easily fly to Costa Rica or even sail there, for some reason I can’t ride there.

Their land borders are closed due to covid restrictions until “at least February” which is for at least another five days or so.

I’m happy to chill here for that period but when this started I said to myself I’m happy to simply turn around and come home should I encounter any of this covid hysteria.

We have a vaccine now and death rates have also fallen and with the recent political changes it seems certain sectors are eager to dial back the fear factor a few notches. That leads me to think things may ease up soon but who knows?

All part of the adventure as they say.

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Caught the replay of you recent live stream. When you were talking about the frequent and excessive police stops in Nicaragua, I recalled reading the same thing, back in the late 90's, in the book the Investment Biker. This time the stops sound a little less threatening as you and friends have described. 

Was station in Panama back in the late 90's. Flew to El Sal to support some nation building with a National Guard unit. We had to fly ten miles off shore when we passed by Nicaragua. Don't recall where we were in El Sal but I recall hovering over a volcano while it was spewing a bit of steam. Thing was, there were foot prints up there!  😆

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Thanks buddy.

 

Gear had been great! Lots of ventilation and thankful I had it in heavy rain in Guatemala.

 

Their Carlsbad suit is perfect for here. I thin the Adventure and Badlands might be overkill.

 

You riding much? Peak season in CA now.

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