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North & Central America
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North & Central America

This is the first part of our adventures travelling around the world. This trip is in our Toyota 76 series LandCruiser. Read more
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  • LandCruiser CoupleNorth & Central AmericaTraveler

    Camp #85 - Ometepe Island

    March 13, 2023 in Nicaragua ⋅ 🌧 27 °C

    Ometepe Island. Where we met @overlandsite and caught up with @venjatravel again.

    This camp site was pretty cheap. I think we paid just under $18 for for two nights camping and dinner for two one night with a beer.

    You could rent kayaks from the restaurant and go paddle around, which we didn't do, but everybody else did.    Read more

  • LandCruiser CoupleNorth & Central AmericaTraveler
    1

    Chocolate plantation and factory tour

    March 14, 2023 in Nicaragua ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    $20usd each (I never understand why people charge in a currency that isn't theirs)

    This tour was just short of three hours long. Justin, our tour guide who lives and works at the plantation really lows cocoa and chocolate. At the end there was some chocolate tasting, however it's another spiritual hippie place, so it's all dark vegan chocolate and as they are small sample size bites that are stored in the fridge, they melt almost instant when you pick them up due to how hot it is outside.

    Located in a hostel, with a lot of spiritual yogi's turn up. It's certainly not our vibe of people, but it was a way to spend a few hours on Ometepe Island (which was pointed out to us on the tour, is an infinity shaped island)    Read more

  • LandCruiser CoupleNorth & Central AmericaTraveler

    Getting the ferry back to mainland

    March 15, 2023 in Nicaragua ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    Booking the ferry back to mainland Nicaragua.

    We got up and left camp first thing as we wanted to get to the ferry terminal and book a crossing for the day, but also get breakfast before our crossing.

    After our breakfast whilst heading back to the ferry shop? To get tickets for @overlandsite, our friends @venjatravel appeared to get their tickets.

    A bit of miscommunication happened and @venjatravel and @overlandsite were told they had to pay more before getting on the boat, because they had large vehicle (although not really any larger than ours, so not to sure what happened)

    During the crossing, we all managed to get a bit sun burned up on the sun deck, this wasn't a smart day for any of us!    Read more

  • LandCruiser CoupleNorth & Central AmericaTraveler

    Camp #86 - Popoyo

    March 15, 2023 in Nicaragua ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C

    Back to Popoyo we go, this time as a crowd.

    We had a wonderful first evening with everybody having fun on the new body board that Ferenc (@overlandsite) bought after we got off the ferry.

    We spent a couple of nights here before heading towards the Costa Rican border.

    Ooh interestingly, the outside toilet had a toilet seat bolted into the pit toilet. The outside shower was incredible. I didn't see what the inside toilet and shower because they wanted to charge $20 a night if you used it vs $10/night without.    Read more

  • LandCruiser CoupleNorth & Central AmericaTraveler

    Exit Nicaragua

    March 17, 2023 in Nicaragua ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    The process of leaving Nicaragua.
    First you pull up and get an exit slip that you need to fill in.
    Whilst getting the slip you're harassed by loads of local fixers trying to help you, but once you drive off to the building they leave you alone.

    First off, you go into immigration where you need to pay $1 per a person to enter? Then you go to the immigration booth and have to pay $3 per person to exit the country. Here they will only take USD and not their local currency which is weird considering we aren't bordering a country which spends USD (officially) at all.

    After your exit stamp is given you need to go to a vehicle inspection booth. You hand them your paper work to exit, and they come and check your vehicle. The guy didn't like that we had a dash camera and kept covering it with his finger. We were asked at least two times if we had a drone. "no".

    After they sign this paper work, it's into the customs building to get the temporary import permit cancelled. Unfortunately we got into the line with about a dozen people in front of us. Everything so far had taken 20 minutes but here we'd spend an hour. Fortunately @overlandsite had arrived at the border and joined the line a little behind us, so we could chat as we went through. This customs booth was for both people processing temporary import permits to enter Nicaragua as well as exit which is what held us up.

    Finally paper work all cancelled, it is time to drive across into Costa Rica and pick up their process to enter.    Read more

  • LandCruiser CoupleNorth & Central AmericaTraveler

    Entering Costa Rica 🇨🇷

    March 17, 2023 in Costa Rica ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

    Entering Costa Rica

    We got to the aduana (customs 🛃) to buy insurance, that all went smoothly (around $49usd for a month of insurance) and then you get your temporary import permit, unfortunately the woman processing this was on lunch, so we had to wait for 35 minutes for her to get back to do the paper work.

    In total the whole process of leaving Nicaragua and entering Costa Rica today took around 2 and a half hours. Probably our longest border crossing yet!    Read more

  • LandCruiser CoupleNorth & Central AmericaTraveler

    Operation tow @overlandsite

    March 17, 2023 in Costa Rica ⋅ 🌧 29 °C

    We got into the town of Liberia and were taking a look around Walmart for a late lunch and to get a gauge on how expensive food is in Costa Rica compared to previous countries when Ferenc (@overlandsite) started to call us and see if we were still around.

    They were 33km up the road towards the Costa Rican border and their clutch cable had snapped, so they couldn't drive. Thankfully they made it into one of the few laybys around.

    We finalised our purchases, turned around and drove back to pick them up and tow them back into Liberia to a LandRover specialist mechanic they had found online.

    Thankfully @overlandsite are sponsored by ARB and had a lovely ARB recovery strap that we could use as I didn't bring any recovery gear on our trip, hoping that as a Toyota it'd be fine for the trip.    Read more

  • LandCruiser CoupleNorth & Central AmericaTraveler

    Camp #87 - first night in Costa Rica

    March 17, 2023 in Costa Rica ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C

    After operation recover @overlandsite and tow them into Libería, Costa Rica, we hit the road. It was a little later than we had planned, so we decided to skip the night on the coast and find somewhere before dark. This place was 20 minutes away, so we headed here.
    $10 USD for the night and we got here in perfect time as the sun set behind the clouds giving an erry orange glow to everything. We setup and sat outside listening to all the wildlife. We think we can hear a parrot of some sort and monkeys, as well as all the usual types of flying bugs, moths, etc coming to us and the light.    Read more

  • LandCruiser CoupleNorth & Central AmericaTraveler
    111

    Camp #88 - Avellanas

    March 18, 2023 in Costa Rica

    $10 for the night
    Near the beach, we tried to have a surf, but the waves weren't great.

    We did manage to get up and go for a morning run along the beach though

    In the bar next door we saw a few monkeys and they had knocked a few mangos down, which I swiftly picked up and enjoyed. Costa Rica is expensive, so whenever I can find a free mango that looks in good condition, I'm taking it!Read more

  • LandCruiser CoupleNorth & Central AmericaTraveler

    Camp #89 - Los Cocos (Sámara)

    March 19, 2023 in Costa Rica ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

    10,000 colones for the night

    We had planned to spend a night here but ended up spending 3 here.
    Eduardo was the guy who lived on site and he was really nice. He made sure everything was packed away at night so nobody had anything stolen and he even stored our surfboards inside his tiny house so we didn't need to worry about them being taken as "those look like expensive surfboards" in his words.

    We enjoyed the long (3.5km ish) beach with a either a run or walk on every morning.

    The outdoor showers here were great as well.

    One night a group of American girls who were bike packing appeared and slept in a tent. However there was nowhere to store their bikes. So Eduardo tied up his dog outside their tent for the night. We can only assume that was to keep watch, which was pretty sweet.

    Right on the surf, we really enjoyed this camp site.    Read more

  • LandCruiser CoupleNorth & Central AmericaTraveler

    Not Camp #90

    March 22, 2023 in Costa Rica ⋅ ☀️ 33 °C

    We pulled up here to camp the night. But after 3 hours it was still just us here, so we decided to move on south.

    It wasn't a bad spot, as part of a surf school, however the surf didn't seem to be that great and we didn't have any phone signal to message the guy to see if he would arrive. So we enjoyed his hammocks for a couple of hours, used the toilet and took some drone shots before moving on. A beautiful spot to film with the drone for sure.Read more

  • LandCruiser CoupleNorth & Central AmericaTraveler

    Camp #90 - Santa Teresa

    March 22, 2023 in Costa Rica ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    Our actual camp site for the night. 14,000 colones for the night (7k each)

    We got here after a weird long day and we were both feeling a bit zonked out. I think I didn't eat enough food yesterday after running 10km and had an upset stomach from food somewhere, because of my upset stomach we didn't eat any lunch, so Laura was getting a bit hangry along with being hot and tired that we just got here and collapsed into our camp chairs and didn't take any photos.

    Unfortunately the owner wasn't here when we arrived, so his mate who lives there kind of showed us around. However it was a bit clicky, more of a long term RV style Park with a little corner for tourists who come and go. We were up and out by 7am and won't be staying another night. We heard loads about Santa Teresa online, but we don't really think it's our vibe.    Read more

  • LandCruiser CoupleNorth & Central AmericaTraveler

    Camp #91 - Eddy's bioluminescence

    March 23, 2023 in Costa Rica ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

    Eddy's bioluminescene tour, was also our camp site for the night.

    A goal of mine before this trip was to see bioluminescence. This was our second opportunity to see it. The first time we saw it was whilst doing our night dive in Utila, Honduras. However as it was a training dive for our Advanced Open Water, we weren't allowed to film, that and I don't think the GoPro would have picked up the bioluminescence as it wasn't that bright.

    This time around, we get to sit in a little motorboat and splash the water with a kayak paddle to cause the bioluminescence to show. Thankfully as I was sat in a boat, I had my camera to hand and was able to get some photos and videos of it. Another life goal completed.

    We were given the opportunity to swim in the water, however we were taken to a bit where there is supposed to be no crocodiles and the bioluminescence was very week there, so the opportunity didn't outweigh the risk of being eaten by crocodiles.

    After that we camped at the tour base. Lots of wildlife around, monkeys, parrots and other birds (and I'm sure crocodiles)    Read more

  • LandCruiser CoupleNorth & Central AmericaTraveler

    A little creature comforts

    March 25, 2023 in Costa Rica ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    After a few weeks of sleeping in really hot conditions, we both needed a break from it. So Laura found a cheap hotel with air conditioning for us to spend a couple of nights in.

    We were welcomed with a free smoothie. This was much needed. Also it poured down with rain (and we don't love camping in the rain) so that was a nice escape as well.Read more

  • LandCruiser CoupleNorth & Central AmericaTraveler

    Camp #95 - surf camp Guanico

    April 14, 2023 in Panama ⋅ ☁️ 32 °C

    $5pp/n
    Apparently $15 for the week to use the pool
    At least an hour and a half for two pizzas. Ordered at 6:55 and it came out at 8:47, so almost 2 hours. Worst bit was. There it was still under cooked and there is really nobody else here!

    We enjoyed the pool and there was a yoga studio which I spent 15 minutes in.

    On the morning of day three, we got up for me to run, and as I looked out at the beach from the tent, I saw a big lump. I ran down to it and it was a large turtle making it's way out to sea.

    I fell off a swing.    Read more

  • LandCruiser CoupleNorth & Central AmericaTraveler

    Camp #96 - windmill hostel

    April 16, 2023 in Panama ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C

    $20 a night in Valle de Antón.

    We ended up spending 3 nights here. It was much cooler than a lot of places we had slept in because it's higher in altitude.

    We managed to get a much needed wash of our bedsheets done and even had a quick dip in their pool.

    The town was nice and we managed to get some running in. However unfortunately Laura hurt her knee on a run, so had to skip the hiking that was available from the town.

    As a hostel, it was brilliant. It had 4 kitchens to use outside alone! So even though we had all our own stuff, we made some use of the facilties available on site.    Read more

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