El Chirripó, on top of Costa Rica

I had big expectations vis-à-vis Costa Rica. The country is a leader in the fields of sustainable development, protection of the environment and the preservation of biodiversity. The Costa Rican society has also chosen a development model as interesting as original in the region. In 1949, Costa Rica took the path of demilitarization. Since then, it has donated the equivalent of its defense budget on education. It is the only Central American country that has not had a civil war, revolution or dictatorship for over half a century. A cause and effect?...

Eventually I only spent a couple of days in the country. Why? First, because I had trouble (even failed) to make contact with local people. My indirect contacts and CouchSurfing didn't work as expected. Secondly, because Costa Rica is THE touristic country in the region, and I try instead to flee that kind of people and places that are dedicated to them. Finally, because the standard of living in Costa Rica is much higher than the country that I recently crossed.

Nevertheless, I managed to take refuge in the mountains for a few days of hiking. More specifically, I was in Chirripó National Park. From its 3,820 m (12,530 ft), it is the highest peak in Central America after Volcán Tajumulco (4,220 m, in Guatemala). I met a group of Costa Rican lads with whom I climbed the summit at dawn. And a small group of five French, including Antoine, also long-term traveler, who I will probably meet further south in a few months.

And now, on my way to Panama!

A journey to the center of the Americas

Can you name the 7 Central American countries? In the order I crossed them, here they are: Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama. Except from Belize and the Nicaraguan Caribbean coast (English-speaking), Spanish is the main language.

Distance Guatemala City - San Juan del Sur: 1,040 km (645 mi)

From Guatemala City, I took a bus to San Salvador ... in El Salvador. There, I was supposed to spend only one evening and night at Alba's, a friend of Claire, one of my friends in France. Because of / Thanks to the bus company, I extended my stay 24 hours Salvadoran. I was unable to get on the bus due to the closure of check-in five minutes before my arrival. And when it is 5 am and the bus is in front of you, your mood could be... #@ù%£!!

But it allowed me to spend a day with Alba and her family, discovering San Salvador and falling under the charm of Salvadoran cuisine. I will keep a delicious memory of pupusas, national specialties which look like pancakes made of corn or rice flour (I will not deny that I preferred those with rice flour, I seriously begins to saturate maize) and stuffed with cheese, mashed beans or meat and vegetables. Yummy! And another local delicacy: empanadas, fried balls of mashed plantains stuffed with a cream. I continued discovering new tropical fruits and vegetables. This time was the yuca, cousin of the potato, which can be mashed and fried. Loved it!

I ended up taking my bus to Nicaragua. It crossed southern Honduras before arriving in Managua, capital of Nicaragua. The town itself is nothing special. In his defense it was destroyed by two earthquakes in 1931 and 1972. So there is no much more historical centre to admire. But the city is no less impressive, surrounded by five volcanoes, in the city, and from the top it seems that forest is everywhere over non rebuilt spaces of old Managua and new parts of it. I learned a lot about the country with her parents Denis: politics, religion, environment, etc.

In Managua, I should have met Savant, a Nepalese I met at Tikal (in northern Guatemala) to go together to Granada, on Lake Nicaragua. However Nicaraguan customs did not want to issue him a visa. He is therefore stuck in Honduras. What a pity!...

So I went alone to explore Granada and it sprawling market. Early in the morning, I tasted the joys of eating a bit cooked on fire place, at the time the market slowly comes alive. On my way to San Juan del Sur, I met Patrick (from Canada) in the bus. At the last moment I decided to accompany him on Ometepe Island for a closer look at the volcanoes of the island in the middle of Lake Nicaragua. And I finally finished in San Juan del Sur, where I spent my last Nicaraguan night before crossing the border with Costa Rica today.

Two weeks in Guatemala

End of two weeks in Guatemala. Time to think about what I want to remember and to select some photos.

Firstly Guatemala, in general, is not a dangerous country. I have to admit that I thought about going directly from Mexico to Costa Rica, due to alarmist advice from Mexican people. But eventually, I did the same as before crossing the US-Mexico border: I listened to what they told me but I crossed the border anyway. And I am happy I did it!

The country offered me first the spectacle of the Mayan site of Tikal in the north. Lost in the jungle, the ancient city erects its pyramids above the canopy. The vast site is mostly still covered by virgin forest and only the most important remains have been unearthed. And another UNESCO World Heritage Site that I can check! Nature-wise it is the kingdom of monkeys, insects and animals of all kinds, even one that I am not able to identify. I had the chance to join Tikal: I learned that 24 hours after my departure from Tulum (on the Caribbean coast of Mexico) a hurricane would have prevented me from joining the Northern Guatemala through Belize.

After Tikal, I went to live five days at the heart of a local community, Pinpin, in Western Guatemala. There, Nico and Elsa welcomed me and allowed to live this unique experience. If you missed an episode, you can see all the photos and read the last post on Pinpin.

Then still remained three steps. Despite an undercast weather, Lake Atitlán unveiled volcanoes that surround it. I could climb Volcán San Pedro and had the chance to have a small window in the clouds once arrived up there, just to reward a more than early wake-up and an ascent of 1,500 meters. I left the lake under showers and ended up completely packed for the worst chicken-bus ride in contemporary history!

Antigua. Another beautiful colonial city. Another World Heritage site. I am almost ashamed to say that I tend to get used to those place. I still was impressed by the volcanoes that surround it (some in activity!). I will mostly remember my host, Cesar, and my reunion with Anne, the German traveler with whom I already spent time in Merida and Tulum, in Mexico.

Finally, the last step was the city of Guatemala (Ciudad de Guatemala in Spanish). Let's be honest: it's very ugly, polluted, and soulless. The city dethrones the ones of Chihuahua and Acapulco at the top of my list of places I didn't like. And the beautiful interior of the cathedral cannot make you forget the rest of the city. Safety seems pretty low also. Downtown, most buildings have barbed wire between the ground floor and first floor. In the suburb, the houses are entrenched behind high walls themselves surmounted by barbed wire or an electric fence (if not both). You'd think the city is under siege, ready to battle hordes of looters, rapists, and thugs. Not very attractive. Fortunately, I was very well received by Axel who made me forget the gloomy side of this ghost town after sunset.

Those fifteen days were pretty busy. And so was my stomach. I tasted the Guatemalan cuisine with the same pleasure as his Mexican counterpart. Plantain appeared, rice and beans are still there, but chile gradually disappears. We always eat as much corn tortillas. To my delight, the coffee is much better than in Mexico. I tasted caldos, the broths of vegetable stock with chicken or beef. I also tasted (and enjoyed, I admit) the revolcado, this soup with lots of small pieces of pig's head: tongue, cheeks, snout, eyes, etc.. But the best of the best is atole, a hot drink made from sweet rice flour. A treat!

As a reminder, you will find portraits of people encountered in the portrait gallery in the Photos page.

Life in Pinpin and the surrounding communities

So much to tell about those five days in Pinpin that I don't know where to start. Perhaps simply by thanking Elsa and Nico who hosted me and without whom I would not have lived in the heart of a local Guatemalan community. It's been a complete immersion in their daily live. Quickly, to present them to you, Elsa and Nico are a French couple. They left in March to volunteer a year in Guatemala. They are networking in partner associations of the CCFD-Terre Solidaire (French development NGO) in the fields of agroecology and women's rights.

I can now describe the environment. Pinpin is a small community in Los Altos (the Highlands), the mountainous region of western Guatemala. In the region of the Highlands, the Guatemalan Indian customs and traditions remain fairly present, even if they are diluted over time. We are still under the tropics, and it's still the rainy season (June-September). At an elevation of 2,400 m / 7,900 ft, depending on time of day, it is above the clouds ... or just below!

Pinpin and other communities are among the most remote of the country (10-hour bus ride to reach the capital). On the border with Chiapas (Mexico) there is a small road that serves the main villages, from which then routes to smaller communities in the valleys, or higher in the mountains. Few have a vehicle, then public transportation is the only alternative. To travel on the main road, you take the “chicken bus”, these old North America school buses repainted in bright colors. Inside it is crowding up (much like chickens in a coop to the market – hence the name, I think!). But that all goes well, we are surrounded by religious images or slogans such as "Jesus te acompañe" or "Dios te bendiga" ("Let Jesus be with you" or "God bless you"). I tested for you: these buses are a ruggedness! Then to join communities, we boarded on a colectivo that takes the form of a taxi or mini-van.

A few quick words on the habitat. The houses are of brick and mud, with roofs of palm leaves or dried zinc. One level, one room for living, others to sleep. Cooking is done on a wood stove that can also heat the house, because it's a bit chilly and very wet during the rainy season. The interior is minimalist but functional.

In communities, almost everything revolves around agriculture, for private use or for selling, door-to-door or on the markets of the region. The topography forces to cultivate lands in terrace, gained on the rainforest. Primarily, these are small crops of corn, the staple diet. But there are also all kinds of vegetables: beans, potatoes, carrots, cabbage, tomatoes, onions, etc.. Fruit trees also provide apricots, peaches, apples, etc.. Lower, approaching the coast, you will find coffee, bananas and cocoa. Each parcela also has few animals. Generally they are hens and chickens, pigs, cows, rabbits or goats.

Elevation (2,400 m / 7,900 ft in Pinpin), hilly environment, tropical vegetation and difficult access makes the work difficult. They often get up early to go and sell in markets. The return may be delayed until the production is sold. Some even walk cross the passes that lead to Chiapas, on the other side of Volcán Tacaná (4,093 m / 13,430 ft) to sell their products. And yet, this is not always enough to live, especially when families have up to ten children. They sometimes have to have odd jobs to supplement. And I got the impression that communities, where everyone is more or less cousin, also operate on the principle of solidarity and mutual assistance.

Generally local producers gather into associations, themselves gathered into red (network, in Spanish) at a regional level. Several advantages to this: exchanges of expertise, pooling resources, technical training, political representation, financing of infrastructure or equipment, etc.. Here agriculture is organic: organic matter is recovered, natural fertilizer is produced (made from ground, chicken droppings, compost), weeding by hand, avoiding hybrid seeds or GMOs. Nico brings his expertise to the Kuchub'al network, a fair trade association.

Society is traditionally patriarchal. Women have little say and yet, in addition to the daily work they perform alongside their husbands, they also charge of running the house (cooking, dishes, laundry, children to raise, animals to feed, etc.). When questioning women, often comes out a lake of self-esteem for most of them. They are unaware of their role and especially their importance within society or their families.

Here women's networks operate, educate, organize meetings and training. These are all areas where women can share, feel valued, learn to make new products for sale (jams, herbal ointments, etc..), or even hear for the first time about family planning. That's just the ground work of Elsa.

Everyday life seem a little hard-drive. But they also know how to party! I had the opportunity to attend a feria agricola -a fair- to celebrate two years of a small market in a remote community. We celebrated the success of this initiative, because it avoids the local producers traveling for hours to sell their products. Next to the market, on the small village square, a small band was installed. Among others, they were playing marimba, the Guatemala's traditional instrument that looks like a giant xylophone where at least four people play at once. Program of the fair: music, speeches, national anthem sang with hand over the heart before the flag (all children of school had the right to join us just for that), speeches again, music again, speeches again, everyone had its chance, including Nico. And as we are in Latin America, we ended up with a small mass, before sharing a meal: caldo de res, broth flavored with vegetables and beef, along with tamales, corn-based dough steamed in a leaf wrapper.

In addition, to celebrate Nico and Elsa's birthdays (both born in early August), the community of Pinpin had prepared a little surprise. They were had the speech of the president of the local association that ultimately left up to two musicians for a few songs accompanied by their guitars. It all ended with a good shared meal: caldo de pollo and tamales (same as the fair but this time with chicken) and of course birthday cakes. It is a tradition to eat a bit with your mouth directly, to allow fellows to crash your nose in the cream. A simple celebration in a unique atmosphere.

Well this was a small description, incomplete and fragmentary. But the important thing is that I could live it!

Race Info

Day 201. Kilometre 22,750 (Mile 14,135).

Distance Oaxaca-Pinpin: 3,200 km (1,990 mi)

Back to Oaxaca (from my detour by the Pacific coast), I traveled to San Cristobal de Las Casas, in the Chiapas mountains, where I was hosted by Uriel, a friend of my scout friends in Oaxaca. From there I visited the Mayan site of Palenque. Then I went to Mérida, colonial city in the North of the Yucatán peninsula. From there, I visited Chichén Itza, where I met Arnaud and Sophie, a French couple who brought me to Tulum, with a stop in Valladolid. If you haven't seen them yet, you can have a look at my pictures of the Mayan sites of Palenque, Chichén Itzá and Tulum in the previous post.

Located on the Caribbean Sea, Tulum was my first step on the “Atlantic side”. It was also my last one in Mexico. I left Anne, a German girl who I knew from Mérida. We will probably meet again in Peru in a couple of months. For the moment, I leave Mexico. I really enjoyed the country. Little by little, I learnt a lot about the culture, the history, the language and the diversity of the country. I met great people on the road. And I enjoyed the Mexican cuisine very much. The country is very far from the cliché, it is very safe to move around and a lot of wonderful sites to visit.

From Tulum, I took a bus to Chetumal, on the border with Belize, and another one to Flores in Guatemala, via Belize City. That day, after three in six months, I was in three countries in six hours. Also that day, I lost an hour. Most of you will think it isn't information. But some of you will be surprised as I was. Indeed, going East would imply to gain an hour. But both Central and South Americas do not have daylight saving time.

From Flores, I could visit Tikal, a Mayan city lost in the jungle. I also met Savant, from Nepal, who travels in the same direction; I'll probably meet him again in Honduras in few days. Then I crossed the whole country, via Guatemala City, to reach Pinpin, near Tacaná and the volcano of the same name. Almost on the border with Chiapas, Mexico, I spend a few days with Nico and Elsa, a French couple, who work there. From Pinpin, I am going to Lake Atitlán to climb Volcán San Pedro. And I will visit the wonderful city of Antigua and Guatemala City.

Mayan sites of Yucatan

For once (or even forever!), let's forget our European perspective on History. The history of the Americas does not begin in 1492 with Christopher Columbus' "discovery". For several dozen of millennia, the continent has continuously known cultures and civilizations, be they Native American, Andean, Amazonian, or even Caribbean.

Mexico is no exception to the rule. It has a rich and complex history of ancient civilizations which followed one another in time and in territories which sometimes went South to Colombia and North to the United States. These civilizations are known to have left a significant legacy in the fields of science and art.

Few points in time and geography (source: Wikipedia). In recent weeks, I posted photos of Teotihuacán, the civilization of the same name, which has experienced significant development from the 2nd century BC to the 8th century AD. Its influence extended geographical mainly in the region of modern Mexico City.

Still in the area of Mexico City, the Aztec civilization developed later, from the 14th century AD. It "fell" with the arrival of the Conquistadors in the early 16th century. The Aztecs are also known as Mexicas, hence the current name of the country.

Further south, in the State of Oaxaca, the city of Monte Alban was founded by the Olmecs, present on the Gulf of Mexico coast and along the Pacific coast (States of Guerrero, Oaxaca and Chiapas) and down south to the current Costa Rica, from the 13th century to the 6th century BC. But the city of Monte Alban reached its peak during the Zapotec period, from the 6th century BC to the 8th century AD.

Finally, the Maya civilization extended from the 11th century BC to the 16th century AD. It occupied a territory that included the current State of Chiapas, Yucatan Peninsula, Guatemala and western regions of El Salvador and Honduras.

So now here are pictures of the Mayan sites of Palenque (Chiapas), Chichen Itza (State of Yucatan) and Tulum (State of Quintana Roo). Most of the remaining buildings emerging from the surrounding jungle are religious. Unfortunately, the houses that stretched around the temples have disappeared today. It is somewhat difficult to imagine life back then. But what remains worth seeing.

In addition to the pyramidal temples, there are still fields of juego de pelota (ballgame). This sport ritual was aiming at getting a latex ball in a vertical stone ring. It looked like basketball, except that the basket is rotated in the opposite direction (see photo at Chichen Itza), the players were passing the rubber ball only by bouncing them on hip and the captain of the winning team was beheaded, which was the highest honor.