The 36-day trip to Central America, beginning July 26th, included a 17-day tour with Intrepid Tours through Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica.
This was my third try to visit these countries.
In 2018, I canceled my solo trip due to big civil unrest in Nicaragua where over 140 student protestors were killed indiscriminately by police, and bands of thugs were boarding buses to rob people. I had planned to visit a friend of my brother and niece in Nicaragua, who owns a coffee plantation, but they escaped to California to wait out the craziness.
In 2021, I signed up for this same Intrepid Tour, but it was canceled because of the difficulties of the border crossing with the many changing COVID-19 requirements, the lack of tour buses, and the shutdown of many tourist activities.
Before joining Intrepid in Guatemala, I spent about 2 weeks visiting the Lake Atitlan area, Tikal ruins, and Antigua, Guatemala.
After the Intrepid tour ended in San Jose, Costa Rica, I spent another week in Jaco, a Pacific Ocean beach town, and San Jose.
On the way home, I spent a layover day touring downtown Mexico City before resuming my air travel with Aeromexico to Seattle on August 31, 2022.
Trip Cost
The cost was $4,086 for a daily cost of $114. Food costs were $1,118 for a daily cost of $31 per day. Lodging costs before and after the Intrepid Tour for 11 nights were $374 for a daily cost of $21 per night.
Selina Atitlan Hostel, Guatemala
Real Hotel in Leon, Nicaragua
Travel/tour costs were $2,594 including $1,635 for the 17-day Intrepid Tour, $623 for the United flight to Guatemala, and 41,600 Capital One points for the Aeromexico flight from Costa Rica to Seattle.
Other travel/tour costs of $450 included nine local tours—Tikal and Copan Ruins, volcano sledding, zip-lining, rafting, walking along suspension bridges, enjoying hot springs, visiting Sandinista guerilla camps, waterfalls, bird sanctuary, making pupusas, Granada area tour—city views, boating around islands, pottery school and shop, caldera lake resort, and night views of the magma filled Mayasa volcano.
Preparing for Cero Negro Volcano sledding
The remaining $500 of travel/tour expenses were for buses, tuk-tuks, taxis, boats, museum and park entrance fees, border crossing fees, and tour guides/drivers/hotel tips.
When I travel internationally I always take about $300 in USD and then rely on ATMs for funds. I recently got a Schwab ATM card which reimburses customers for all ATM bank charges and exchange fees. For this trip, Schwab reimbursed me $61.37 on these charges.
COVID 19 Restrictions Easing
This was my 5th international trip during the COVID-19 era. Although I still needed to upload my vaccination records to the United Air flight to Guatemala, and mask-wearing was done on planes, some buses, and the border immigration buildings, very few places required mask-wearing. Some restaurants had customers use hand sanitizers.
Our vaccination records were only checked when we traveled from El Salvador to Honduras where we had to log into a Honduran app on our cell phones.
During our Intrepid bus rides, we were asked to all wear masks and that lasted for a few days unless someone started coughing and that person was asked to mask up.
Border Crossing Challenges
During our Intrepid tour, we made six border crossings, some were quick, but most took time and patience, and some payments were for “expedited” service (bribe). All border crossings charged varying fees in USD, not the local currency.
On our first morning out, we left Antigua at 3:45AM because a planned demonstration that day would close the highway until 6PM. We beat the blockage by just 40 minutes.
When we crossed from Guatemala to Honduras, we each paid 10 Quetzals ($1.33) for “expedited service” so we did not have to take our luggage off the top of the bus. This was a quick border crossing.
When we crossed from El Salvador to Honduras, we had to provide proof of COVID-19 vaccination status and load the information into a Honduran app on our cellphones, and then pay a $3 exit fee.
When we crossed from Honduras to Nicaragua, we had to carry our luggage about 1/2 mile. Once in the A/C cooled immigration hall, we waited about 1 1/2 hours before putting our luggage through an X-ray machine and paying a $3 USD border fee. Dennis, our guide, said that the last time he came through, it took 3 hours.
Finally, when we crossed from Nicaragua to Costa Rica we again paid a $4 USD border exit fee and walked another 1/4 mile past two checkpoints before we got to the Costa Rica Immigration office where we had to show our departure air ticket from Costa Rica as a condition of entrance.
For travelers who plan to cross these many borders, be sure to take about $20 in one-dollar bills along with about another $200 USD in small denominations like $10s and $20s.
Homeless—Refugees
It was only when I arrived in San Jose, Costa Rica that I saw numerous homeless people and families that I saw sleeping along the sidewalks and families begging along the many walking streets. The hotel staff told me that most of these people were Nicaraguan refugees who received little or no Costa Rica government assistance because they lacked the status and paperwork that would allow them to work.
In our travels through the five countries, we did not see the homeless or refugees, but then we did not spend time in any of the largest cities of these countries.
Colorful Currency
Costa Rica's currency sets the standard for colorful and practical currency. Here are pictures of the most used currency from the smallest red 1,000 Colones to the largest in this picture the green 10,000 Colones. Although they are all the same height, the larger the denomination, the longer bill, which would be useful for visually impaired or blind people. Our US currency is so boring by comparison.
As boring as the USD is, it is the most popular currency throughout Central America except in very remote areas. El Salvador uses USD as its currency. Even many ATM machines gave me the choice of selecting USD or local currency.
Border crossing payments are in USD only.
Credit Card Usage
Most places I stayed at and ate at accepted credit cards without any extra service charge. A couple hostels I stay at wanted to add a 5% service charge to the bill if I were to use a credit card. In those cases, cash was king. The small local cafes and gift shops accepted cash only.
Tipping
Throughout Central America, a 10% Servicio or propina was almost always added to the restaurant or cafe. On a few occasions when paying with a credit card the 10% was not added, the server usually mentioned that there was no 10% tip added to the bill.
Delightful Food Choices
As you can see, my major trip expenses were for food. Here are some of the meals I enjoyed:
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Thanks Hoov for these details and pictures. Enjoyed the video of you on a long swing as well as the photos of adventures, foods and housing. The images are so familiar to our travel experiences with students over the decades at Whitworth. All good memories and deep learning.
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