Pastures new - El Salvador and Honduras

 After a week teaching in La Candelaria I needed a drink so, in my final night in Guatemala, I had a few cans of Gallo to unwind. 

 For the last week I've been making steady progress east through the Central American isthmus. Hopping from town to town, it's been a series of gentle rides, rarely covering more than 40 miles in a day.

   Leaving the coast I took a boat from Monterrico to La Avellana, a short cut to propel me towards the border. The short journey took me through mangroves with exotic herons and kingfishers visible from the boat.         

 It's been a fantastic, tranquil week on the bike. I knew very little about El Salvador before I arrived, just that it used the US dollar, it's the most densely populated Central American state and that it was embroiled in violent civil conflict in the 1980s. Unfortunately it still has a reputation for crime and violence and 12th January was the first day in more than two years without a homicide. This appears to put tourists off; many backpackers I met in Guatemala were planning to fly to Nicaragua to skip El Salvador and Honduras. What a pity, there're missing out on two countries with great scenery, shy but welcoming people and undeveloped places not yet affected by the usual trappings of tourism.

Also, it is very important to add that, I have heard of no account of tourists being affected by violence, this is gang and drug related and tourists are not a target. Come and visit these places if you wish to get off the beaten track! 

 Lago de Coatepeque, a volcanic lake in the southern extension of the Sierra de Madre. On the Pacific side of this mountain range the climate was humid and tropical supporting lush vegetation whereas, passing to the landward side, in the rain shadow of the mountains the climate was dry supporting pine forests. Humid or dry, the temperature soars in the middle of the day.

 This environmental problem does regularly detract from the beauty of the rides - rubbish strewn across the verges. There appears to be a massive lack of education; I frequently see people simply dropping their litter in the streets or cans/plastic bottles being hurled from buses.

I rarely take a plastic bag from shops and sometimes get strange looks when I say ''Sin bolsa por favor.'' It's just not customary to refuse a bag.     

 As mentioned  earlier, this part of the world is off the tourist trail and hardly abounding with touristic sights or activities. For me, this is much of the charm. However, each town's modest attractions tend to include plazas and churches, a focal point for the community.

 My stay in El Salvador was short and sweet, just four days. Between Metapan and Citala I found a dirt track that took me high through the pine clad hills before descending to the border with Honduras. Echoes of the Great Divide Trail in the States.

   As I took a picture of this stationary bus the driver jumped off for a quick chat. Having lived in the States he knew a bit of English and was keen to practice.    

 My photos don't really do the scenery justice but, trust me, the hills of Western Honduras are really lovely.   

 I knew my first full day riding in Honduras was going to be a tough one, the first 13 miles were up all the way, a 4000ft rise. I never really recovered in the remaining 43 miles!

It didn't help that my card got blocked on arrival here so I had to faff about in the morning phoning the bank to unblock the card then getting cash out. This delayed my start so I couldn't take full advantage of the early morning cool.

  At least the road was pretty decent and wide. I often think that, better than GDP per capita, life expectancy or birth rate, a country's level of development should be measured by a 'Driving Quality Index.' Honduras would score a measly 3 in my book. ''Few roads signs, rarely observed. Mobile phone used by drivers most of the time. Consideration to other road users perceived as a sign of weakness.''

 

After about 40 miles I was really struggling with the heat and climbs. A guardian angel in a pick-up offered me a ride and I wavered for a moment, I was ready to break my 'do it under my own steam' rule. But I was not led into temptation and battled on. On the point of collapse I stopped at a roadside shop to stock up on water, all they had was Coca-Cola, something I usually try to avoid as much as possible. I went for the 2 litre bottle and promptly downed the first litre! 

As a coping strategy for the final push onto Santa Rosa de Copan, I decided to stop every mile for a little break and a glug of the remaining sugary tooth-rot. I just about made it into town, 8000ft of climbing for the day.  

 These moments make the tough rides worth it. Showered and stretched, I always feel a tremendous sense of wellbeing and serenity after preceding hardship. The coffee tastes all the richer for having truly suffered to truly earn it. 

 Santa Rosa de Copan

 So this is where it comes from. Coffee beans drying out in the searing midday heat.

 Honduras health and safety, plug sockets in the shower.

 

 These river scenes are very pretty but also mark the lowest point in the valley. The only way is up....

And the same goes for the fundraising. The total is rising steadily and I'm nearly 80% of the way to my £2000 target. Thank you so much for the donations, it's going to a great cause and provides wonderful motivation in the tougher moments (another hard ride lined up tomorrow!).

If I hit my £2000 target I'll push the target up to £3000, please help!

Paradise Lost? Volunteering on the Pacific Coast

Following the volcano trek I took a days rest in Antigua and, truth be told, I was chomping at the bit to continue south. Two days ride in the cooler climes of mountain roads would see me reach El Salvador, making actual and, as importantly, psychological progress in my journey through the Central American countries. However, I had a long standing commitment to spend a week on the coast, volunteering as an English teacher in a primary school.

 So, riding from the volcanic mountains of Antigua I exchanged the agreeably crisp days and chilly nights for the heat of the coast and, inevitably, mosquitoes. How I detest the bitey little buggers! 

After more days off the bike I felt a bit rusty but, riding downhill, in one section of my 70 mile journey I recorded the fastest 40km/25 miles of the trip, taking just 1h14m. Don't be too impressed, gravity did the work, not me. 

 My home for the next week was La Candelaria, a small community 8km west of the tourist town of Monterrico. I had a homestay lined up, living with Hilda, a fisherman, his wife, Mierna, and three kids, Jose, Alejandra and Danilo.

What a change in pace it was to stay here. Time moves slowly; one of my great pleasures of the stay was to lie in the hammock, reading. Occasionally I felt a little guilt for my idle hammock stints as Mierna was constantly cooking, cleaning, collecting firewood for the stove and managing the kids. I did try to lend a hand at times with tasks such as the washing up and shifting firewood. I also unselfishly made sure my plate was always left clean ready to be washed and a couple of times walked all of 100m to buy beer to go with lunch. A heroic contribution.

 Lots of fish consumed this week and, for once in this trip, I believe I've put on weight.    

     

 Another great pleasure was evening visits to the beach for an hour of reading, journal writing or podcast listening before watching the sunset over the Pacific. The grey beaches were often deserted, my only company seabirds - squadrons of pelicans overhead, sandpipers skipping along the shoreline, always just out of reach of the waves and the occasional malevolent, marauding frigate bird far out at sea.

 

  While I always endeavour to write an upbeat blog which frames my experiences as positively as possible I have to be honest about the teaching, it was really hard work! (though this class pictured was the exception, a dream to work with)

    I suspected/feared my first day might pan out as it did, in typically unstructured Guatemalan fashion. I walked down to the school with Jorge, the project coordinator, to meet the teachers and work out a schedule. Hardly had we done this then I was introduced to a class and the teacher immediately said to me ''Te dejo a enseñar la clase de inglés.'' I'll leave you to teach an English lesson. No planning time, no period of acclimatisation, straight in at the deep end!      

 I have had stints of teaching primary level English in other volunteering placements in Africa and while living in Japan but, even so, being thrust into the classroom so suddenly was challenging. At least for the first lesson the class teacher stayed in the room, in lessons two and three the class teachers were out the door before I could say ''My name is Daniel.'' And the battle began. Trying to deliver a lesson on the hoof, switching between delivering instructions in English and Spanish and being the behaviour manager of, at first, surprisingly restless classes was, let's say, demanding.  

 At least the lessons were short, 30-40 minutes each (the variation in timings caused further confusion to me). And, for all the restlessness of the classes, there wasn't an ounce of malice in the students, just a lack of attention and, amongst a few, a lack of interest. 6 months out of the classroom, maybe I've just lost my touch. Maybe I never had it...

On Tuesday, after the classes, I asked the principal for the next days plan. She told me the teachers had a meeting, there were no classes and I was free. I'd barely turned away before a broad smile broke out across my face and I walked out muttering ''The reprieve, the reprieve.'' just about under my breath.

 Jorge is aware of some of the issues and soon the school will move to new premises. Here the volunteering project will have its own dedicated English teaching room decorated with posters and pictures promoting the language. The change in environment should make a big difference to the atmosphere in which students learn English and hopefully improve their application and progress.

Also, I should add that, by the end if the week the students had gotten used to me and were more compliant and engaged. My reprimands in Spanish had improved too, the ''I'm an unpaid volunteer here to try and help you.'' line was one of the more effective ones.

 For all its challenges, I'm glad I took the time to volunteer to teach. It's entirely within the spirit of the charity aspect of my trip, fundraising for OXFAM to help fund grassroots development projects. I ride away with a feeling of relief at finishing the job and satisfaction, hard-earned, at having got through the A curious dichotomy but ultimately rewarding. Also, deep down, I know that the biggest problem with my volunteering stint is that I've done it as a short term 'add-on' to my journey whereas to make a real difference I would have needed to stay longer making a bigger commitment to the project. 

 

 On fundraising, last week I received an email from JustGiving informing me that my OXFAM page was in the top 5% top earners in 2016. Result! And it's down to you as I know many of the blog readers are also donators. However, I've still got a way to go to reach my target so why not make contribution to fight poverty? The address is at the top of the blog or simply click on the JustGiving button. 

 

    

Firework Show - Volcán Acatenango

 In Antigua I stayed in OX Hostel - Outdoor Excursions. They kindly allow cycle tourists a free nights stay to help smooth our path. Antigua is a beautiful little town with well preserved colonial architecture, great views of volcanoes and very good coffee. All very attractive to me but, hot in the heels of the Volcán Taculmulco trek, my priority here was to arrange an ascent of Volcán Acatenango. The volcano in the background here is Volcán de Agua.

 I was able to arrange a trek through OX hostel and joined a group for a two day excursion to Acatenango. 

 Acatenango is the sister volcano to Fuego, the volcano I had seen erupting distantly on my first trek. This time we were able to enjoy the eruptions at close hand. The roar of each eruption created a very powerful sensation, the sound of the Earth's internal mechanics releasing pressure and material from the crater. By day, if you looked closely, you could see volcanic bombs being ejected with Fuego's every belch.   

 By night the show was just stunning. The eruption of lava glowed bright, a spectacular firework show of burning rocks showering through the sky then rolling down the volcano sides. Every eruption elicited a cheer from our group; an exhilarating experience for all of us, geography teachers or not.

 The scene at sunset, Volcan de Agua to the left, Fuego to the right.

 The best 10 quetzales we could have spent. For about £1 each this guy collected and sold us some firewood. 

 Temperatures plummeted after sunset and we huddled around the fire sharing travel stories and playing games. As a cycle tourist it was nice to be able to describe a different kind of adventure to the backpacking norm.   

 I hadn't expected much sleep so was glad to have drifted off a little and not feel cold. Sharing a tent and body heat helps here, the frequent roars from Fuego and, at one point, earth tremors were less conducive to sleep! 4am soon came around and we began the ascent  to the top of Acatenango, 3976 metres. The loose volcanic material, altitude and precipitous slopes made for a challenging climb. No doubts that this was a harder trek than the higher Taculmulco ascent. 

 The summit was a bleak moonscape with biting winds and a wind chill factor surely below freezing. I struggled to take pictures so cold was it to remove my gloves. This is a view towards Lago Atitlan with the moon illuminating the night sky.  

 Sunrise over Volcán de Agua. About one minute after sunrise the group was pleading to our guide to make the descent back to base camp and warmer temperatures. I fully supported the decision to return, the cold was unbearable!  

 Our camp dog, Henry, who helped hoover up our leftover breakfast.    

 The group. Comprised of Brits, Italians, Aussies, Kiwis, Irish and an American. A wonderful group, if any of you are reading this, I really enjoyed your company! Connecting with the backpacker network from time to time provides a valuable opportunity for me to speak English and take a breather from Spanish. I enjoy speaking Spanish and it's pretty routine for me now but more complex ideas/emotions are hard to express so using my native language is a treat. 

By the way, the two Kiwis got engaged during the trek - the magical romance of the mountains! 

 Descent was easier than the ascent and we were down in about three hours. For all the cycling I'm doing I don't take these treks for granted and as I write this from the hostel in Antigua my legs are sore and aching; the luxury of time allows me another rest day.

Speaking with my young friend Dylan Lawrence this morning he asked me why have I been in Guatemala so long? He's right, I have been here a while but it's such a rewarding country to visit and I will spend one more week here down on the coast volunteering. In the ebb and flow of a long trip Guatemala will be a section of downtime which I hope to follow with a real push on through the rest of Central America. I will be making a beeline to Panama before moving on to Colombia, my entry point into South America. The adventure continues!

(recent soundtrack has been Prince, Whyte Horses, Debussy and Love)

Lake Atitlan - Guatemala or India?

 A week off the bike but I hadn't forgotten how to ride. A good job as the journey onwarda saw me rising to just below 10,000 ft before the descent down to Lake Atitlan. In the Highlands you frequently have good views of volcanoes strung along a rough line, Santa Maria's peak is just above the bank of clouds here. As you can see from my cheery expression is was nice to be back in the saddle.

 Collecting firewood, a common scene here. 90% of the gatherers I've seen are women.

 View descending to Atitlan. Note the switchbacks in the bottom right corner, glad I was coming down!    

 Home for a few nights. I brimmed with pride when other guests asked about my trip, "Yeah, ridden down from Canada, really, it's nothing. But let me describe it at length anyway." In actual fact they were as impressed or more impressed by the amount of food I am consuming. The avocados in particular are delicious here and I can't help but gorge myself on them.

 The main street in the village I stayed in, San Marcos La Laguna, is lined with murals.

 Mixture of indigenous and New Age imagery.

 It felt like I'd stepped out of Guatemala and entered India; at every turn were meditation centre, yoga studios and vegetarian cafes. At all times off the day there you could here the sounds of Eastern music, ambient music, bongos, didgeridoos. 

 This wall was made from plastic bottles stuffed with with other plastic waste, wrappers, bags etc. Sadly this management of rubbish is the exception rather than the norm; I regularly see waste strewn across the countryside. A combination of lack of resources and education creates a formidable challenge for the country.    

 Expat hippies selling handcrafted jewellery. There were some remarkable haircuts and clothing on display. 

 The dock at San Marcos, the easiest way to get around the lake is by boat.  

 One of the many cafes in the village. I didn't do much in my three days here but I did find the best cafe in town - great coffee and great music; amongst the Eastern sounds the occasional Nick Drake and Live tracks were dropped in.

 On Sunday I did manage a little trek around the northern edge of the lake. Yet more volcanoes in the background.

 A 5:30am get up this morning gave me time for a quick bowl of porridge before riding all of 2 minutes down to the dock to get the first boat of the day to Panajachel. It's been pretty windy of late and the water was pretty choppy, I and the bike are getting thrown around a bit but we're both made of stern stuff. 

 Ready to ride on from Panajachel to Antigua. Some steep slopes ahead of us, I had to weave across the road in places, making my own switchbacks to reduce the angle of ascent.

 But, a magical ride, passing through deep ravines and well forested lands with hardly a vehicle in sight for the first 20 miles. Rare for densely populated Guatemala.

 Where did the road go?

I'm now halfway through my trip, how well it's all panning out! Guatemala has been a wonderful country to explore and I'm glad to have lingered here and may do so for another two weeks or so. I suspect it may be the jewel in the crown of the Central American countries so, moving south, I shall probably pick up the pace again to push on to Panama. Beyond this, I have the Andes in my distant sights and hope to allocate a good chunk of time to explore this mighty mountain range.

So much to already reflect on, so much still to look forward to. I'm a lucky boy!