As we take off for Central America (this time to Costa Rica), we think back to our first visit to the region a couple of years ago: Antigua, Guatemala.

Although Antigua has a reputation for being touristy, we found that it wasn't too difficult to get lost and find a slice of authentic Guatemalan life. One of our favorite places to do this: Antigua's central market.

Walk past the front section of the market, past the souvenirs and freshly cut fruit intended for gringos, and just keep going back, back — deep into the market, maybe even into the adjacent back parking lot areas where on weekends vendors come from neighboring villages.

It's beyond this first scratch where you'll find it: real life.

As you take a spin around you'll see activity and people bustling about in every corner, from the woman making purple corn tortillas to women selling piles of mangoes, peppers and strawberries on the ground. You'll notice that some women are dressed in traje (traditional dress), something you see across Guatemala. If you stick around long enough you might even catch a Mariachi band roaming the place.

So when people suggest that Antigua is too touristy, our advice: go deep, get lost at the market — so lost that you might even have to ask for directions to find your way out just like we did..

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Have you ever returned to a country and felt you were visiting for the first time, the experiences and locations so utterly different than before?

That was our recent visit to Nicaragua.

This time around, just a couple of weeks ago, we visited Nicaragua with fresh eyes. We spent time on its Pacific Coast for the first time. The country – its landscapes, nature, and people – surprised me. Sure, I enjoyed our first visit, but I honestly didn’t remember Nicaragua being quite this beautiful.

Here are just a few of the memories from our twelve days in the western part of the country — most of our days on the Pacific Coast at Morgan's Rock Ecolodge with two days on an isleta on Lake Nicaragua at Jicaro Ecolodge.

Fourteen Memories from Nicaragua's Pacific Coast and Lake Nicaragua

1. Sunset: Mother Nature's daily show

2. Taking to the hills on horseback

3. Walks on the beach

4. Fresh lobster ceviche right on the boat

5. Meeting a howler monkey family on the way to breakfast

6. Boogie boarding competition on the beach

7. Morning coffee with a view

8. Learning to milk a cow

9. Purisima celebration and Nicaraguan hospitality

10. Nicaraguan Food

Another thing that surprised us on this visit: the quality of Nicaraguan beef. If you're a meat eater, give it a try, especially churrasco style beef served thinly sliced, grilled and often with a chimichurri sauce.

11. Early morning kayak ride on Lake Nicaragua

12. Bird puns

“I've done a lot in life. Although not everything has gone quite as I had planned, I can say I have no egrets.”

Groans. Smiles and laughter, too.

13. Catching my first tuna, old school style

Maybe I should try fishing more often.

14. Oh, and did we mention the sunsets?

So, did Nicaragua surprise you like it surprised us?

The post Nicaragua Vacation Refresh: Fourteen Memories appeared first on Uncornered Market.

Stand in the middle of the Grand Plaza between Temple I and Temple II at Tikal, Guatemala and imagine what life must have been like in this Mayan city over 1,200 years ago when Tikal was at its peak. The size of the temples and surrounding acropolis indicate that this must have been a rich and sophisticated city-state. Yet the ruins are only partially exposed and understood, as thick rain forest still covers most of the park.

And the grand mystery remains: Why was Tikal abandoned in 900 AD?

We can't answer that question, but we can give a sense of what it's like to sit in the middle of the Grand Plaza and wonder.

Advice for visiting Tikal Mayan Ruins

If you're visiting the Tikal ruins from Guatemala, you have a couple of options.

1. Day Trip from Flores: It is possible to visit Tikal as a day trip from Flores. Most travel agents in town sell round-trip bus tickets to and from town (around $7.50 round-trip) and you hop on whenever it suits you. If you chose this route, try to get on one of the first buses in the morning; you'll be able to enjoy the park in the early morning light before it the becomes stiflingly hot and humid.

2. Camp at the Park Entrance: There are a couple of hotels at the entrance to the National Park. However, their prices tend to be on the high side for budget travelers. We rented a tent (complete with an air mattress) from Jaguar Inn for around $25 for the night. If you wish to camp but don't have your own equipment, there is also a campground in the area that supposedly rents camping equipment. In any case, spending the night in the park will allow you to enjoy the light and cool weather of the early morning and enter the grounds before the late-morning onslaught of the crowds and buses.

Additionally, you'll get a full appreciation for the wildlife in the neighboring rain forest. We originally mistook the eerie nighttime sounds of the howler monkeys for growling jaguars — added a bit of “holy sh*t!” to our night, to put it mildly. You'll also be treated to the full-blown wake-up call of a birdsong symphony in the morning.

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“For safety reasons, we'll need to go in groups of at least four to the cemetery,” our Spanish language teacher informed us.

“Why,” we wondered. “Are the dead coming back to life?”

Just the opposite: the morning spent with our Spanish teachers at the Cementario General in Xela (Queztaltenango) turned out to be one of our most remarkable.

Although not quite as polished as Recoleta Cemetery in Buenos Aires, Xela's Cemetario General gets the nod for the colorful and visually eclectic. It also provides a glance into Guatemala's socioeconomic structure and how the delicate balance of merging Mayan beliefs with more recent Catholic traditions plays out in the way that Guatemalans honor their dead.

Perhaps we have as much to learn about other cultures from their cemeteries as we do from their streets.

In spite of all this, we highly recommend making the effort to visit this stunningly beautiful place.

Find a hotel in Xela (Quetzaltenango), Guatemala

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What is Central American food? Which dishes and street food should you seek out and what sort of flavors and spices might you find when you visit Central America? Our Central American Food guide shares of the best dishes and street food we found during the five months we traveled through Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Costa Rica. ¡Buen provecho!

There's not a lot really known about Central American food. Mexican food, sure. But what about the food just south of it?

Central American Food: The Basics

The prevailing spirit of the food there is captured quite nicely by plato tipico, the ubiquitous phrase scrawled on sandwich boards across the region.

And what does a typical Central American plate consist of, you ask? It varies almost imperceptibly as one crosses borders: wash basin soup, a chunk of fried meat, rice or potatoes, beans and corn tortillas — all in a spice orientation that cries out for the nearest bottle of hot sauce.

But there were good food moments during the months we spent traveling through in Central America. And some very tasty, genuine ones at that.

From pupusas to pepian, here are some of the best Central American street food and dishes.

Note: We do not cover Mexican food as part of this Central American food article. Why? Well, Mexico is technically part of North America. Additionally, although Mexican cuisine influences and is connected to the cuisines of its cousins further south, it deserves its own article. If you are curious about Mexican food, check out our article on Oaxacan cuisine.

Central American Street Food and Snacks

Pupusas: The Salvadoran Staple

Although the pupusa (stuffed tortilla fried on a griddle) hails from El Salvador, it is standard fare across Central America. The dough is made from moist, freshly ground corn. Fillings vary, but bean paste and cheese are typical.

Best pupusa:Pupusa competition is fierce, but a street stall in Juayua, El Salvador takes the prize. Take a seat at one of the rickety tables behind the grill and enjoy pupusas filled with a combination of bean, cheese and a dab of chicharron (pork rind) paste. Pile on generous helpings of curtido (slightly pickled cabbage topping) and hot sauce. Four pupusas for $0.80 makes for an inexpensive and filling meal.

Baleadas: The Honduran Standard

After two months of eating corn tortillas in Guatemala, we welcomed a change of grain in Honduras. Baleadas, stuffed wheat flour tortillas, are thicker and less symmetric than their Mexican cousins and are most often spread with a thin layer of refried beans, shredded cheese, and sour cream before being turned over into a half moon. In the morning, scrambled eggs are tossed in for an ideal breakfast comfort food creation.

Best baleadas: A small no-name cafe on the main square in La Esperanza, Honduras. The stand at the very back of the market in Copan Ruinas, Honduras is pretty good, too.

Taco Guatemalteco vs. Taco Nicaraguense

Each country features a different take on the taco, but Guatemala's tacos chapines (or tacos Guatemaltecos) proved the tastiest in the region. Shredded pork or chicken cooked au jus on a comal, served in between sauce-soaked corn tortillas, topped with cabbage salad, lime juice and hot sauce.

Versus the Nicaraguan taco – shredded meat and mayonnaise stuffed into a thick rolled tortilla, deep-fried and topped with cabbage and thin sour cream. There is no contest.

Best street taco: Unable to resist following the local crowd, we disregarded our Guatemalan host family's warning about eating on the street at Democracia market in Xela, Guatemala. Five quetzals ($0.70) for a large taco serving with four tortillas. Fresh, delicious…and no stomach ills.

Best sit-down tacos: Doña Berta in Xela, Guatemala. What puts this joint at the top of the list? Its condiments. Four varieties of salsas featuring every desired level of heat. Nine quetzals ($1.20) for three chicken tacos. At 10 Avenida and 6 Calle.

Enchilada

In Guatemala, a fried tortilla topped with all manner of ground meat and colorful vegetables and — brace yourself — mayonnaise! And if you are thinking to yourself “this looks a lot like a tostada to me,” you are not alone.

Chuchito

Guatemalan corn tamale roasted in a corn husk. Something like a Mexican tamale, but often much drier and doorstop-like, particularly after languishing atop hot coals for hours.

Chile Relleno

The fried, stuffed pepper staple. A sweet pepper stuffed with shredded meat and vegetables, covered and fried in batter. Smothered in tomato sauce and, in Guatemala, stuffed between tortillas.

Taquito

Taquitos are essentially rolled corn tortillas stuffed with meat or beans. Usually, it is then fried to give the tortilla a crispy texture. Rather addictive.

Tamales

Guatemalan tamales are composed of ground rice meal and served warm in a plantain leaf. For the most authentic, grab a few for a sunrise street breakfast at the San Francisco El Alto market. Nicaraguan tamalas, known affectionately as “Nicatamales” are made in a similar way and are rather delicious as well.

Anafres

A Honduran dish composed of giant tortilla chips, bean fondue and cheese. A very exotic Honduran way of saying “big tortilla chips and bean dip.”

Vigoron

A Nicaraguan fritanga favorite of steamed yucca, topped with chicharron (pork rinds) and cabbage.

Shrimp Ceviche

Yes, we know. The real ceviche is in Peru. But there's this happy dude named Chon on the fringes of Antigua, Guatemala who knows how to mix it up with just the right combination of lime juice, salsa picante, vinegar, and English sauce (Worcestershire more or less). Look for him in front of El Calvario church, suspend your bias and ignore the fact that eating shrimp out of a plastic cooler sounds dicey.

If you miss Chon, check out Carolina cevicheria in the underground food court beneath the main market in Xela. Good licuados (shakes), too.

Favorite Central American Dishes and Meals

Tapado

Every now and then, a Central American dish will inspire you to find the nearest kitchen so you can attempt it yourself. That's tapado, a Garifuna-influenced coconut milk-based soup stuffed full of seafood (crab, conch, whole fish, sea snails and shrimp), green plantains and fresh herbs (basil, cilantro, parsley).

Our favorite tapado was served by Antijitos Gaby in Livingston, Guatemala. It's so loaded, so rich that one bowl ($8) will feed two people for the entire day.

Pepian

Holiday-time often makes for some of the best eating. In Guatemala, Semana Santa (Holy Week) is no exception. Special breads, dishes, sweets and drinks are all prepared for the week-long festivities.

Best of all these dishes: pepian, a dish of lightly-browned chicken served in a rich sauce of roasted sesame seeds, squash seeds, tomatoes and dried chili peppers.

Once we learned how to make pepian with our Spanish teachers in Xela, we sampled it whenever we had the chance. But the first taste was the best; no others approached the depth of the sauce shepherded in the tiny kitchen of our Spanish language school. Check out the recipe and video showing how we prepared it.

Gallo Pinto

The unofficial national dish of Costa Rica, but variations of it can be found across Central American. Gallo pinto (spotted rooster) is essentially rice and beans (usually black beans) cooked together. It's often eaten at breakfast, but we've eaten it at every time of the day in Costa Rica.

Fish Tacos

Although fish tacos are also adopted from Mexican cuisine, that doesn't make them any less tasty in Central America. Some of the best fish tacos we came across was in Manuel Antonia in Costa Rica at Cafe Milagro. The Pacific coast of Nicaragua comes in as a close second for Central American fish tacos.

Casado

This is another typical Costa Rican meal of rice, black beans, fried plantains, fresh vegetable salad, and corn tortilla, accompanied by some sort of grilled or fried meat or seafood. This is often what you'll find as the lunch special at local restaurants where you'll be able to choose which type of meat to go with your meal.

Central American Seafood

Central America, full of lakes and flanked by the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, has an odd relationship with seafood. Perhaps, like coffee, all the good fish is exported. Or maybe the waters have been polluted and over-fished. Whatever the cause, seafood is not the people's food. It's neither plentiful nor inexpensive.

But there are always bright spots.

Just when you've thrown in the kitchen towel in your quest for something edible in Nicaragua, you'll stumble over the fish at Monkey Island Guest House on Isla de Ometepe. Rubbed and grilled…just nice.

Another place to go for good seafood (as well as other meat and vegetarian dishes) is the regular weekend food festival (La Feria Gastronomica) in Juayua, El Salvador. Although Juayua is not on the coast, it's still pretty close to the water so the seafood is fresh. We got a plate could of freshly grilled prawns with green onions, rice, and other fixings.

Condiments and Hot Sauce

Coban Chili Sauce

Most restaurant tables in Central America feature a bottle of commercial hot sauce whose red fluorescence often draws doubts as to the organic nature of its composition. Enter coban chili sauce from Coban, Guatemala.

This is real honest-to-goodness chili sauce — as in roasted, crushed Coban peppers mixed with a little oil. We wondered, if only for a moment, whether we were back in Asia. Then we ate rice, beans and tortillas; our whereabouts were clear again.

Commercial Hot Sauce

As for the commercial stuff, you've got your choice. Picamas red, Picamas green, Lizano and all those odd, vinegary Honduran tabasco sauces. Which one do we recommend carrying in your backpack? Picamas red from Guatemala.

Avocado

Is avocado a condiment? In our world, sometimes yes. The ideal topping for any Central American meal.

Best Coffee in Central America

The story of coffee in Central America is simple: the good stuff is packaged for export. With a few exceptions, what's left to consume are the dregs.

Coffee plantations are strewn across Central America, but you won't often find folks drinking much of their local joe. The pleasant exception: La Esperanza, Honduras. Coffee beans of all varieties are sold at the local market — some raw, some roasted. And stalls inside the market serve up decent, strong cups of coffee for $0.20.

Best barrista coffee

One of the by-products of the Spanish language student base in Xela, Guatemala: coffee shops to keep students buzzing on caffeine. The best cup: $1 café cortado at Memories Coffee Shop (and toy museum) on 15 Avenida 3-64.

Central American Beer

The argument over the best beer in Central America is about as relevant as the discourse on the best wine in the Czech Republic.

Most Central American beers are some form of a very light pilsener (think Gallo, Salva Vida, La Victoria, Toña). But Moza, Guatemala's darker and bitter brew is the exception and perhaps the most interesting of the bunch. Of the regular brews circulating, Port Royal from Honduras gets our nod for most drinkable.

Beer distributors in Central America are remarkable for their distribution efficiency. Even the smallest, most remote tiendas (shops) feature industrial-strength refrigerators set below freezing so bottles give off satisfying plumes of frost when they hit that hot, humid Central American air.

We know, we know. What about Panama and Belize? When we get around to visiting them (after South America), we’ll be sure to give them their due. Until then, we focus on the CA-4 (Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, and Nicaragua) plus Costa Rica.

The post Central American Food: 15+ Best Foods in Central America appeared first on Uncornered Market.

As we close out our reflections on Central America (don't worry, food comes next), we are reminded of the places and moments — the good, the bad, the idiosyncratic, the illustrative — from our zigzag chicken bus journey across Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and Nicaragua.

Let's dig in.

1. Best Cemetery – Xela, Guatemala

A school trip to the cemetery? Sounds morbid, doesn't it? Not if you're visiting the public cemetery in Xela (Quetzaltenango). Almost all the graves are built above ground; the wealthy hire artists to build impressive mausoleums while ordinary folks rent space in concrete drawer-like chambers.

The result is an an eye-catching panorama of colors and shapes and a walk through Xela's history. If you are studying Spanish in Xela, consider taking your teacher for a walk to the cemetery. It will make for great conversational practice and photography.

2. Most Grueling Bus Ride – Marcala, Honduras to Perquin, El Salvador

A hole in the bus floor, roads washing away before our eyes. The only improvement made to our bus in the last 30 years: a stereo system playing the same two songs on infinite repeat. After its suspension – a Rube Goldberg reinforcement of rope and wooden shims – collapsed en route, the driver tied it all back together with chains purchased in the village where we broke down. 45 kilometers (25 miles) in 4.5 hours.

Watch the video below if you don’t believe us.

3. Most Heavily Armed Ice Cream Parlors – Guatemala

Guns bristle on the streets of Central America, but where else will you find ice cream parlors guarded by men with double-barreled shotguns? That would be Guatemala.

4. Most Relatives Living in Maryland – El Salvador

We don't kid. We are here to report that almost everyone in El Salvador has a relative living in the U.S. state of Maryland.

Maybe the relatives' reports back to the homeland have something to do with #6?

5. Best Market – Antigua and San Francisco El Alto, Guatemala

Antigua gets the award for its color and accessibility. San Francisco El Alto for its animals.

“Antigua? But it’s such a touristy town.”

Agreed. However, if you venture back into the market past the souvenir and pirated DVD stands on Saturday, you'll find an engaging Guatemalan fruit, vegetable and flower market that is both colorful and friendly.

Who doesn’t love an animal market? Squealing pigs, braying sheep, stubborn cows, aggressive geese, rambunctious puppies. The best one in this part of the world can be found in San Francisco El Alto in Guatemala's western highlands.

Our advice: arrive Thursday evening and get up on market day at 5:30 AM to enjoy the scene as people pour in from the hills. Some animals are said to trade hands two or three times until they end up with their final buyer who will take them home.

6. Most Copiously Supplied Toilet Paper – El Salvador

Now what would a collection of superlative impressions be without a dose of scatological humor?

It was our impression that Salvadoran guest houses — from the most inviting to the most grim — seemed to enjoy refreshing our toilet paper well beyond our needs. Our room may not have been cleaned, but two fresh rolls appeared daily.

We wonder: what gave Salvadoran hotel staff the impression that gringos need at least one roll of toilet paper per person per day?

7. Most Ridiculous Swine Flu Inspection Question – Honduras

Particularly in Honduras, we were scanned, questioned and otherwise perfunctorily inspected regarding whether or not we had been within a breath of H1N1, the dreaded swine flu.

But of all the questions posed to us, this was by far the most absurd:
Q: “Have you been around anyone coughing?”
A: “Try every bus in Central America!”

We applaud Honduras' efforts to control swine flu, but how about a question that wouldn't result in the entire country's quarantine?

8. Most Beautiful Sunrise – El Hoyo Volcano, Nicaragua

The reward of climbing two volcanoes in one day: a clear sunrise view of Lake Nicaragua, the surrounding volcanoes, and a rainbow. Almost too perfect to be real.

Check out the panorama photo at the bottom of: Are We Too Old To Be Climbing Volcanoes.

9. Most Bizarre Quote – Guatemala

After hiking four hours straight uphill en route from Xela to Lake Atitlan, you too might find the following quote from our Quetzal Trekkers guide amusing: “In Panama I met this crazy Indian. He lectured me about God and after three days he tried to touch my ass.”

10. Most Sobering Quote – Guatemala

“It’s easier to build roads than it is to fix education.” A Guatemalan friend explains her government’s approach of demonstrating “progress” during election time while avoiding long-term solutions that address the country’s ills.

11. Most Absurd Reason to Stop a Bus – Rio Dulce to Flores, Guatemala

Under the guise of a police stop, our bus from Rio Dulce to Flores pulled over and all passengers were forced to exit.

The reason: our bus required a new sticker indicating its destination. As the sticker artisan proudly affixed his work — a giant flaming “Flores” the entire width of the windshield — over 70 people were kept waiting for 20 minutes. As he hand-ironed the air bubbles, the sticker man asked us our opinion.

“Bonito!” (beautiful), of course.

He flashed us a proud, gold-toothed smile and we were on our way.

12. Best “Power to the People” Moment – Nicaragua

Our bicycle rickshaw driver on the Honduras-Nicaragua border had his friend pose as a bus ticket salesman to swindle extra money from us. It worked. That is, until the Nicaraguan women on our bus got involved. They refused to let it slide and demanded that the real ticket guy chase the scam artist down.

He did. And we got our money back, to applause.

13. Best Chicken Bus Souvenir We Didn't Buy – Guatemala

Long-distance buses in Central America resemble little WalMarts on wheels. Vendors course the aisles selling anything and everything: hand-whittled back scratchers, cheap pens, cheaper razors, magic markers, snake oil and all manner of pills and elixirs to fix what ails the body from the fried snacks hawked on board.

So what's the best thing we didn't buy? Spirograph. Yes, the old childhood favorite that hails from the pre-video game era.

The vendors hawking Spirograph do so with an energy that implies it was invented yesterday. No shortage of miracle-inducing promises either, including that your child will ace all of his classes. Loved the demonstrations, too.

14. Most Frightening Boat Ride – Livingston to Puerto Barrios, Guatemala

Cue “the Minnow would be lost” theme song from Gilligan’s Island.

As the clouds darkened, the captain of our 12-person lancha (boat) passed up a thick plastic sheet. We put it on our laps: “How nice of him to think of us.” Then he yelled, “Put the whole thing on you! Now!!”

In seconds, we were met by a wall of rain and harrowing swells. The remaining thirty minutes passed in a dark, choppy blur as we huddled under our plastic covering and weathered the storm.

15. Most Animated Chicken Bus Preachers – Guatemala

The long-winded fervor with which Guatemalan evangelical preachers, worn bibles in hand, take to the aisles of their country's chicken buses is impressive.

There exists some divine irony though: the oft-repeated phrase “Gracias a dios.” (thanks to God) begins to sound a lot like “Gracias, adios.” (Thank you, goodbye.)

16. Best Waterfall – Finca El Paraiso

We usually don't mix waterfalls and superlatives, but Finca El Paraiso features an unforgettable nature-made combination of a thermal sulfuric waterfall spilling into a pool of cool, clear water. Commune with nature and a pleasant mix of tourists and leisure-seeking locals spreading themselves with the curative mud that lines the bottom of the lagoon.

To get there, take a minibus from Rio Dulce one hour and walk 15 minutes until you reach paradise.

17. Worst Hotel – La Esperanza, Honduras

If the movie Hostel were filmed in Central America, Hotel Urquia would provide the set. We watched the attendant clean our room, but the dark, leprous walls and prolific spider webs lent our dank quarters a slasher-film quality. The blankets looked like they might get up and walk out on their own. Adding insult to injury, the $14 price tag could fetch us relatively luxurious accommodation in many parts of Asia.

18. Best “We Are About to Be Eaten” Moment – Tikal, Guatemala

On the edge of Tikal National Park, we were jolted from our slumber at 2 A.M. by what sounded like jaguars howling outside our tent. We stiffened, trying to determine if they were getting any closer.

What we would do if a jaguar jumped on us?

We later found out that the ominous sounds were made by Tikal’s own howler monkeys. From their perches in the tree tops, they serenade the park all day, all night. Although we didn't get much sleep, we recommend tenting in Tikal.

———-

We know, we know. What about Costa Rica, Panama and Belize? When we get around to visiting them (after South America), we’ll be sure to give them their due. Until then, we focus on the CA-4 (Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, and Nicaragua).

The post The Golden Plantain Awards: Central America’s Best and Worst appeared first on Uncornered Market.

As we travel, it's common for locals the world over to ask us where we are from. In Asia, the response “The United States” was usually sufficient. In Europe, they didn't ask; they assumed.

Not so in Central America. People were curious to know the states and often the towns and cities where we grew up, where we have lived. After sharing our details, it wasn't uncommon to hear: “I had a cousin who lived there“, “Oh, I lived [nearby] for 15 years” or “My brother lives there.”

Geography matters; that’s a given. But conversations in Central America serve up a reality check on how connected the United States and its neighbors to the south really are. Discussions on the street frequently offer another side of the immigration story, of those who have returned — by force or by choice — but have spouses and children that remain in the U.S.

Here are a few representative snapshots, including some humorous quotes in difficult situations.

“My Kids are Hicks.”

Deep in the recesses of the main market in Antigua, Guatemala, we ask the price of papayas and pineapples in our broken Spanish. The vendor, who calls himself T.C., responds in perfect American-accented English.

He explains: “I lived in the States – mostly in Kentucky – for 15 years. Yeah, my kids are hicks.”

His story: he married an American, his kids are American, but he was an illegal citizen and was deported three years ago. Now he's juggling several jobs in Antigua – including selling fruit at the market – while he gathers the paperwork necessary to return legally to the U.S.

“I really like Bryn Mawr Girls.”

On our return from the market in Xela (Queztaltenango), Guatemala, we dropped in a local bar for a Saturday afternoon beer. We meet Eric (his Americanized name), a Xela native who tells us about dating a girl from Bryn Mawr (ironically, Audrey's mother's alma mater).

“I really like Bryn Mawr girls,” he offered wistfully while recalling some classes he sat in on.

In an effort to make it to college, he managed to get GEDs in five different states (New York, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Florida). So it's easy to collect high school diplomas, but what's the most difficult aspect of living in the United States?

“I love Philadelphia. But the problem in the States is that everyone sees your skin and thinks you're Mexican.”

“In the U.S., a contract is a contract”

While we were mashed between crowds during Semana Santa (Holy Week) in Antigua, Guatemala, we began talking to an older Guatemalan man who had lived in Miami for 25 years.

“I returned to Antigua to run a business and retire. If you just want to retire, living in Antigua is easy. Running a business here is difficult. In the U.S., a contract is a contract. Here, nothing is clear. An employee just stole an $80,000 piece of equipment from me. But I have to be careful about going after him to make sure he doesn't have mafia behind him. I don't want to end up dead.”

Readjusting to life – and business – back home is not always easy.

“I was once a Diamond Cab driver.”

We enter a very local, untouristed market in La Esperanza, Honduras and someone yells out “Hello! How are you?” We turn around to find a man selling medicines from a cardboard box.

Juan lived in the U.S. for three years, in three different cities. At one point, he was a Diamond Cab driver in Washington, DC. Now sells blister pack medicines out of a cardboard box. He was remarkably optimistic: “Business is better here in La Esperanza than in Marcala, my hometown. More people, more traffic.”

Maybe our paths crossed in a DC cab years ago. We'll never know.

“Iowa? Boy, is it cold there!”

In Juayua, El Salvador we were approached by a vendor selling wooden lizards. His interest: to practice his English.

“I lived in Iowa for several years. Boy, is it COLD there! When I returned to El Salvador, everyone thought I was rich. The gangs in my hometown of Santa Ana told me I had to pay them $3,000 or I'd be in trouble. So I took my mother with me to Guatemala for three months to protect her from the gangs. Now it's OK and we're back in Santa Ana.”

We don’t know the circumstances of his return El Salvador (was it by choice or deportation?). Regardless, imagine returning home to gangs demanding money and threatening your family.

“I used to own two houses in Michigan.”

On a bus from Suchitoto, El Salvador we met Jorge. He had lived in the U.S. for 11 years. After eight years, he attempted to renew his work permit, but his application was rejected. At this point, he was already married to an American citizen and had two children. He decided to stay illegally, taking lesser paid jobs. Three years later he was deported.

He explained: “I used to have two houses in Michigan, but one foreclosed because we couldn't afford it. My children have visited El Salvador once in the last three years. It's difficult with their school schedule.”

Like so many others, he's trying to get his paperwork in order so he can rejoin his family.

The post Central America: Immigration Stories appeared first on Uncornered Market.

We usually share photos to better relate our experiences and provide a more personal look at a country and its culture. Here we do the same, but we add a cautionary tale.

Aside from the garden-variety border scam (from which a group of righteous Nicaraguan women saved us), our time in Nicaragua was pleasant and relatively hassle-free: climbing volcanoes, enjoying colonial cities, visiting revolution and martyrs' museums, relaxing on a volcanic island, and meeting microfinance clients outside of the capital city.

After our visit, we fortunately had little first-hand experience to refute the prevailing guidebook wisdom suggesting that Nicaragua is the safest country to visit in Central America.

Then a few weeks ago we received a message from Nikol and Martin, a Czech couple we became friends with while trekking Nicaragua’s El Hoyo and Cerro Negro volcanoes. The joy of receiving a message from fellow travelers we really connected with (as it happens, we lived just blocks from one another in Prague) was quickly replaced by shock. Their story knocked the wind out of us:

…after Granada we wanted to go to Rivas…one lady asked us where we were going and said she was going in the same direction. She showed us the bus terminal. When we reached the station, she asked us if we wanted to share a taxi to Rivas; there was a car, she asked the price. (1st mistake: we did not check if it was a real taxi and didn’t mark license plate; 2nd mistake: our bags were put behind the seat, not in the trunk). We sat in the back with the lady and driver… on the way to Rivas he took another guy and he sat with us in the back and after a while another guy came in on the front seat… so we did not have any bad feeling … we were talking with all of them…suddenly the car turned down a quiet street and the guy from the front seat pointed a knife at us and screamed ‘DINEROS!’ (MONEY!)
 
…they caught our hands and legs, put something over our heads, punched Martin a few times and started to search us. We did not have lot of money, even on the credit card, so they were getting more and more upset. They drove with us for two hours and went through our backpacks (behind the seats) and took our clothes, trekking shoes, camera, books, all the souvenirs, cell phone, diary, everything. After 2 hours they kicked us out with our day bags, passports and 400 Cordobas ($20) twenty kilometers from Managua.
 
Some locals took us to a Christian community so we contacted my sister through Skype. The rest of our trip we used Western Union.

Nikol and Martin are experienced travelers. They speak Spanish and have seen their share of scams and adventure (for example, Nikol traveled around Northern India on a motorbike). Their story hit very close to home. The thought that it could have easily been us haunted us for days.

Sure, you could argue that no one should take shared taxis, or that you should write down the license plate number of every one you take. But the reality is that after spending months in Central America without any problems, it's easy to become accustomed to doing what the locals do, including taking shared taxis and becoming friendly with people you meet on the street.

You become comfortable, you tire, you trust (and you want to trust); you let your guard down. You find yourself at the intersection of fatigue, trust and vulnerability. As long-term travelers, we have all been there. What separated their fate from ours was fortune and timing.

The reality is that Nikol's and Martin's experience could have happened in any number of countries. Nicaragua, like anywhere else, is not beyond crime and violence particularly where poverty, money and tourists intersect.

——–

So what does this story have to do with photos from Nicaragua?

Nikol’s message to us ended with:

Please, if by any chance, we can see more pictures from your trip it would be just perfect for us to have something to look through at home and to show to our friends.

So we dedicate these photo sets to Nikol and Martin and the photos they weren't able to bring home.

Enjoy the natural, architectural and human beauty of Nicaragua in the photos below.

Granada, Esteli, Rivas, and Isla de Ometepe

Climbing Volcanoes in Nicaragua

Microfinance in Masaya

Lazing in Leon

Sunrise in the Valley, El Hoyo Volcano.

The post For Our Friends Robbed at Knifepoint: Nicaragua Photos appeared first on Uncornered Market.

El Salvador is one of those places I recall from my childhood, but for all the “wrong” reasons. Newscasts in the 1980s equated the country with menacing jungles, death squads and guerrillas. Our recent conversations suggest that for many, El Salvador's image as dangerous and gun-prone persists today.

So we wanted to see El Salvador for ourselves and perhaps dislodge some of those lingering perceptions. Our itinerary was simple: Perquin to better understand the civil war that plagued the country from 1980 to 1992; Santa Ana as a transit point; Juayua for its weekend food festival and coffee plantations; and Alegria for a look at life in the hills.

Our focus: the people we would meet along the way.

Perquin

Only 45 km and a mere five hour chicken bus ride from Marcala, Honduras, Perquin appears a simple town in the middle of the lush hills along the Rio Sapo. It's difficult to imagine all-out civil war in a place that now exudes such innocence. School girls played football (soccer) on the main square and bright, cheerful murals adorned the town. But this area saw heavy armed conflict since it played host to the headquarters of the FMLN (Farabundo Marti National Liberation Forces) resistance during the civil war.

A young, barefoot girl of no more than eight years guided us through the “guerrilla camp” adjacent the war museum. Her memorized explanations of the mines, tunnels and guns (which were American, which were Soviet) added a surreal element to the visit.

A short walk through the woods was all we needed to imagine how hellish the fighting must have been. The environment — heat, humidity, rain, mud and insects — were just the beginning. Mines could easily be hidden anywhere in the thickness of jungle. Hideouts were limitless. When someone says “War is hell,” places like this spring to mind.

Our visit underscored that El Salvador's civil conflict was surrounded by a fog of Cold War geopolitics so complex that we struggle to fully understand it even today.

Unfortunately, this is a common theme throughout Central America.

Santa Ana

El Salvador's second largest city, Santa Ana, boasts a beautiful theater and an impressive cathedral with rose-colored pillars on its main square. Blah, blah, blah.

Drop the guidebook, grab your camera and go to the Santa Ana market. And take with a grain of salt the warnings given by well-meaning locals telling you how dangerous it is. Sure, keep your stuff close. But the Santa Ana market (and central bus station) is where you'll find action and people.

While waiting for the bus, I grabbed the camera and dove into the market for thirty minutes until the bus departed. Instead of finding danger there — as locals had warned — I found healthy curiosity, friendliness, and smiles. True, the bus station and market looked down-at-the-heels, but the people working inside were anything but.

I befriended a group of vendors selling everything from Corn Flakes to green beans. They begin their sell cycle in the bus parking lot. And once the buses start moving, they board at the front door and sell their way down the aisle with a rapid fire sales pitch, then hop off the back in a flash. This was an all ages show: this man who had seen much in his lifetime; 9-year old Avi who was just beginning hers; and a beautiful teenage girl who, in a parallel universe, would be a model.

At one point, I approached a group of people beckoning me to take their photograph. When I obliged and approached them, they played coy. I took a few more photos and showed them around. Everyone, myself included, had a great time.

Only when I exited and looked around did I realize I was shooting at the entrance to the public bathrooms.

Juayua and La Ruta de las Flores

Not quite a traditional festival but a brilliant marketing idea, the Juayua weekend food festival (feria gastronomica) attracts both foreign tourists and Salvadorans. That's part of its charm.

Much of the offer is a carnivore's delight: chorizo, longaniza sausage, steak, chicken, and even frog. For those of pescetarian persuasion, huge garlic prawns and grilled fish are also on offer. To wash it all down there's local coffee, beer and freshly squeezed juices.

The food isn't especially unique to El Salvador, but it's all fresh and not fried — a delight and a rarity in this part of the world. But it's the spirit of the day that makes it special: families gather at plastic tables, eat, and listen to cliché mariachi music and latino pop.

Our visit to nearby Ataco, another town along the Ruta de las Flores, coincided with a lunchtime swarm of school students. Children in scrubbed uniforms skipping home with friends and siblings lent the town a happy and hopeful feel.

The town's murals — painted on the sides of houses and businesses and even lightposts — underscored the upbeat.

Alegria

“Alegria is one of El Salvador's most picturesque towns.“

An uninformative, stale guidebook description of an El Salvadoran hill town if there ever was one. Writer's block or lazy plagiarism? Or maybe all the towns really do appear the same.

The town of Alegria was pleasant enough in a “picturesque” way, but the hike to Laguna Alegria (Lake Alegria) a few kilometers outside of town was even more enjoyable. Unbeknownst to us, it was Teacher's Day in the region and busloads decided to take a field trip to the lake on their day off. For good health measure, many took the opportunity to bag some chunks of sulfuric residue washed up onshore. It's good for the skin, we're told.

Teachers lined up to have their photo taken with us. Each time we finished one group, another was waiting. We were like movie stars. And in an ironic twist of events, we spent so much time in front of the camera that we forgot to take a photo ourselves. Sometimes it's better that way.

New Impressions of El Salvador

Although El Salvador's big cities do have their share of problems — including drug-related crime – we felt very safe traveling throughout the country. The Salvadorans we met — from the women running the public toilet at the Santa Ana market to the man on the city bus in San Salvador — lived up to their reputation (among travelers) as some of the friendliest folks in the region. Given the peaceful nature of everyone we met, it's hard to imagine Salvadorans at war.

We now have a new impression of El Salvador. We hope you do, too.

Practical Details for Traveling in El Salvador: Transportation, Accommodation and Wifi

Perquin: The few budget accommodation options here come in two categories: bleak and bleaker. Unwilling to double our budget and splurge at Hotel Perkin Lenca, we opted for La Posada de Don Manuel. It's family run and about 500 meters outside of town. The price ($16 for a double room) was high for what you got: a small, cement room with a very basic “must wear flip-flops” shared cold water bathroom. The unexpected silver lining: the best wireless internet (wifi) in all of El Salvador. It was bizarre to have such a speedy connection when we felt like we were in the middle of nowhere. Book a hotel in Perquin.

A note on the border crossing from Honduras: We are here to attest that it's possible to cross from Honduras to El Salvador (the other direction, which most travelers take, is well known to be a straightforward cross). We had no problems crossing from Marcala, Honduras to Perquin, El Salvador.

To do it, take the bus from Marcala, Honduras to San Miguel, El Salvador and request a stop in Perquin. The bus is rickety at best (the wood-and-rope suspension on ours broke half-way and required replacement with chains). If you cross from Honduras into El Salvador at this border crossing, a Honduran immigration officer will check your passport. However, you will not be stamped into El Salvador (El Salvador still does not have an immigration post at this border crossing).

Later, upon exiting El Salvador at El Amatillo, we were waved across the border by Salvadoran immigration officials without a passport check and without any notice of the fact that we were never stamped into their country. It was as if we were never in El Salvador. No problem since we are not obsessed with counting our passport stamps.

Santa Ana: Coming from Perquin, Casa Frolaz in Santa Ana was a breath of clean air. A well cared-for double room with a private bathroom runs $18-$20. There is also free wireless internet (wifi) and a massive DVD collection if you want to catch up on the latest movies. Book a hotel in Santa Ana.

Juayua: Hotel Anahuac is a bit pricier than most guest houses ($25 for a double room), but the rooms are very nice and tastefully decorated with cool artwork. Free wifi internet, too. Book a hotel in Juayua.

Ruta de las Flores: If you have a bit more of a budget and wish to stay outside of Juayua, we recommend El Jardin de Celeste or Las Flores de Eloisa. We visited both on our return to Juayua from Ataco. Both feature beautiful garden settings and active nurseries. Very peaceful.

The post Traveling in Today’s El Salvador appeared first on Uncornered Market.

Our timing was again impeccable.

Honduras, a country we had just visited, experiences a military coup and begins to melt down just days after we leave its borders.

Nicaraguan newspapers go so as far as to headline “Blood Bath.” Nothing from our visit indicated how events would turn so suddenly. With the exception of a taxi driver in La Ceiba ranting about corruption across the political spectrum (a common taxi driver tirade the world over), politics didn't figure much in our other conversations.

You've probably seen the images on TV, websites and newspapers of riot police, protesters and barricades in Tegucigalpa, Honduras' capital city. But if you're curious as to what Honduras looks like without a coup, we share photos from our recent visit to the Ruta Lenca, the Mayan ruins at Copan and the bay island of Utila.

Ruta Lenca – Gracias, La Esperanza, Marcala

Our sojourn into the hills of Southwestern Honduras brought us in search of markets and indigenous culture. The Ruta Lenca (Route of the Lenca People) is apparently one of the country's few remaining pockets of indigenous culture. Although its landscape, and agriculture appear lush and appealing, the region is also one of Honduras' poorest.

When you consider the slow-going town of Gracias, you may find it difficult to believe that it was once the capital of all Spanish-controlled Central America. One woman active in the town's reconstruction and development explained: “We don't want Gracias to be another Antigua (Guatemala). We have a local culture and spirit that we want expressed. We don't want to be seen just as a city of old, pretty buildings.”

We, however, will always associate Gracias with the Honduras-USA football World Cup qualifier match of June 2009.

Our arrival in La Esperanza was timed for its Sunday market, the largest of the regional markets where locals descend from neighboring villages with their produce and goods. One part windblown, another part oasis and a whole lotta' cowtown, La Esperanza appears a concatenation of dusty street corners. From the town's edge, the weekly market sprawls from the hills to the main square as makeshift stalls unfold onto the town's unpaved streets. Women walk with buckets of goods balanced on their heads (how do they do that??), local farmers sell onions and avocados from sacks and plastic crates, people shade themselves from the sun with towels and cowboy hats, and vendors spread plastics and kitchen goods on the ground.

The Market-goers stream in from neighboring villages not only to buy and sell goods, but to exchange the latest news and information. The Lenca, one of Honduras' few remaining indigenous groups, actually call this area their home. They are a rather tiny ethnic minority, their facial structures and smaller physiques distinguishing them from the majority (90%) mestizo (those of mixed Spanish and indigenous heritage) population. Their appearance serves as a physical reminder of how the people living in this region centuries ago must have looked. Like any group of people with longstanding traditions, their lives and many of their livelihoods are attached to the market and the audible buzz of their activity fills every nook and cranny — inside, outside, covered and open.

During our visit to La Esperanza, we were the only gringos in town, and from the looks of things, we'd likely be some of the few if only travelers the town would see for weeks. If you happen to be crossing the land border from Honduras to El Salvador at Perquin, consider stopping off at La Esperanza for a day or two to take in the market to enjoy a low key Honduran hill town and some good, strong coffee in the covered market.

Marcala, an even smaller town tucked amidst coffee plantations and farmland, served as our final stop in Honduras before we crossed the border into El Salvador. A curious characteristic of this place: the visible presence of Chinese interests. The town featured a large gaudy Chinese restaurant whose grandeur was distinctly un-Central American and a bit misfit for the size of the town. Additionally, there were several large hotels built in the blue glass and concrete aesthetic we recognized from our time in China. Perhaps most interesting, the local cable service in our hotel room featured two CCTV (Chinese government-run television) channels, one in Chinese and the other in Spanish.

We are still puzzled as to what business interests attracted the Chinese businessmen to this town.

See more photos from the Ruta Lenca

Mayan Ruins of Copan

Although the Mayan ruins in Copan cannot compete for size with those in Tikal, Guatemala, they easily surpass them in the detail of their engravings and reliefs. Intricately carved stellae (holy statues) portray Mayan leaders from 800 years ago while history is told by the massive hieroglyph staircase.

A bonus of Copan ruins: you are welcomed into the park by a group of rambunctious scarlet macaws. We know the park feeds these birds to keep them around, but they are still really, really cool.

The small town of Copan Ruinas just a few minutes away has a strong tourism infrastructure due to its proximity to the ruins, but it still maintains a sleepy Honduran town feel.

The Copan Ruinas market is no different. From the reactions we received, it seems like not many gringos make it the extra few yards to the rear. Venture back for a plato tipico (local fare consisting of some sort of meat, beans, rice and tortilla) from a comedor (eatery) or fresh baleada (flour tortilla stuffed with beans, cheese and eggs) from the stand at the far right corner.

See more photos of Copan ruins and town

Bay Island of Utila

Scuba diving is what Utila is all about for most visitors. Although our visit was mostly about work, we took some time out for a few dives and to enjoy the beach. Utila is not a place you go to experience Honduran cultural immersion, but its clear, Caribbean waters and laid-back pace can become addictive.

See more photos from the Bay Island of Utila

Some readers have suggested that we will run out of places to see when we complete our journey. We have no fear of this. We tend to depart each country with some familiarity and an even longer list of places we'd like to explore upon our return. For Honduras, this includes its northern coastline and Moskitia (Mosquito Coast), home to the Garifuna among others.

The post Honduras Photos: From Mayan Ruins to Scuba Diving appeared first on Uncornered Market.