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Travel Update #43 |
Hello from Nicaragua! 🇳🇮 |
We made it to Nicaragua! It’s really surreal to have driven to the tropical-backpacker part of Central America! This week we also visited three countries in three days!! 😄 |
El Tunco |
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After leaving Santa Ana in El Salvador, we headed down to the beach! We spent a few days camping at a small hostel, and we even did some surfing! We were joined by some friends we’d met in Guatemala (totally unplanned), and we enjoyed some more delicious Pupusas. |
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Laguna de Alegria |
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It was really hot on the coast, so we headed back into the mountains to visit a lake in an old volcanic crater! It was beautiful and the temperature was perfect. We hiked around the crater, and enjoyed camping in the beautiful natural landscape. |
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Honduras |
We’re excited for Nicaragua, and we need to be in Costa Rica by early March, so it was time to say goodbye to El Salvador. To get to Nicaragua, we have to cross a small section of Honduras (the country stretches from the Caribbean to the Pacific). This was one of the countries that we’ve been a bit apprehensive about. But our time here was pleasantly uneventful. |
Like all borders since leaving Mexico, entering into Honduras was a bit hectic. |
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We finished our crossing in the early afternoon, and drove just over half way to the Nicaraguan border. If you’d asked us five years ago if we’d ever thought we’d one day wake up at a Honduran gas station, we’d have said heck no! But that’s exactly what we did, and it really wasn’t so bad 😅 |
We had an early start, and drove the last few hours to the Nicaragua border. |
Nicaragua Border Crossing |
We’d heard a lot of horror stories about crossing the border into Nicaragua. They’re very strict, can spend hours searching your vehicle, and just the day before, they denied friends of ours from Vancouver entry because they didn’t think their vehicle title was authentic. |
On top of that, every country has different requirements for importing dogs, so it can be a challenge. |
Luckily, we didn’t have any issues, and we’re now the proud owners of a 30-day tourist visa for Nicaragua! |
Somoto Canyon |
We entered Nicaragua in an area of granite mountains that connects the North American Rockies to the South American Andes. Conveniently, the region’s top tourist attraction was nearby. |
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We spent a few days camped at a local family run farm. This was the perfect spot to recover from the chaotic border crossings. We also ran into more friends here (the ones from Vancouver, they made it!)! |
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After a day, we took a tour through Somoto Canyon. Traversing the canyon involved hiking, swimming, cliff jumping, and one small boat ride. It was a really cool experience! |
Nicaraguan Highlands |
We left Somoto and went into the highland coffee region. We’re currently camped at a beautiful coffee finca (farm) in the cloud forest. The daily high is 23*C and the grounds are covered in tropical birds, flowers, and friendly dogs! It’s a nice place to be! |
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What’s Next |
Once we leave the highlands we’ll be heading to Leon, a fun colonial city and one of the biggest cities in Nicaragua. From there, we plan to visit a few more nearby Volcanoes. |
What’s New |
We’ve uploaded our next video in our Mainland Mexico series. We return to the van after visiting Canada for a few weeks and jump straight back into vanlife in Mainland México, which turned out to be rather challenging! |
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That’s all from us this week!
Hayley, Jake and Finnley 🐾 |
P.S. If you know of anyone who would like to receive our updates as we head south, please forward this email on to them so they can use this link to sign up to receive our email 😁👍
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Driven: 20,620 km / 12,807 miles |
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