Utah to Costa Rica Road Trip

We stopped at a gas station in this beautiful country (after driving past an LDS church!) before crossing the Guatemalan border. There were two boys trying to “sell” things, but mostly busied themselves with asking us to give them our stuff. They asked Greg to give them his mountain bike, which was strapped to the back of our vehicle, and asked me for our volleyball. This was actually the first time we have encountered this annoying behavior- thankfully. Greg kindly told them no way would he give them his bike, it was his favorite and cost dos mil dolares (about $20,000 pesos). That blew their mind I think.

When we arrived at the border, I was a little nervous. First of all, we were followed through town by some men on motorcycles who wanted to help us through the crossing for a propina (tip). We weren’t sure if we should trust them or not, so Greg tried to ignore them, but they were very persistent and followed him through the whole process. In the end they were very helpful, and we probably wouldn’t have made it through without them because the customs office was closed, but our new friends negotiated a way for us to get in anyway. After we were in Guatemala, they got a paper for us that we did need to have, some permission slip, but told us it cost $180 dollars. Greg laughed, and gave them $12 instead (who knows if it really cost anything, but that was their propina).

We still have no passports for the three children, and no birth certificate for Kimball. …

I must say that I was afraid when we entered into Guatemala. We were in a new country, and were unsure what to expect from the people. My first impression was that everyone was staring at us and many people tried to ask us for money, and the driving was a little crazier. I realize now that my fear was unfounded, and based more on my uncertainty of what to expect, anticipating the worst. Nevertheless, the fear was very real at the time, and being insecure in this new land, we decided it would be best to head to Guatemala City where we know we could find a nice hotel. This meant driving at night, but in our current state of anxiety we decided a moving target was better than a stationary one.

Believe me, it was an experience in itself, and not one I recommend to the faint at heart. There are people walking all over on the side of the road, and of course the same crazy driving, which is a little scarier at night. The roads were still really good though, with only a few potholes.

We arrived safe and sound around 10:30 pm, which ended up being 9:30 pm because somewhere we changed time. We found an excellent hotel (somehow) called The Conquistador. It was beautiful, the nicest (as far as décor, building and furnishing quality) that we have stayed in so far- but it was only $80 per room! Each room had three beds, two queen size and one twin. We had room to spare. The best thing was the rooms had carpet! That is something I haven’t seen since Tucson, AZ. It was a very luxurious place.

This morning we awoke to the view of a gigantic city, and an excellent continental breakfast, before we started on our way to Honduras! The most exciting thing on our drive was the dead horse on the side of the road that was being eaten by vultures! The people let there livestock roam freely all over, they are often grazing on the side of the road; horses, cows, pigs, goats, whatever, sometimes roaming in the road. I guess this poor horse got hit by a car, and now is vulture food.

Oh wait, there was another exciting thing! Often along the road there will be roadside stands selling the locally grown produce, etc. like mangos when we drive through all the mango orchards, or coconuts or watermelon, even honey sometimes. There will be a whole row of stands, all selling the exact same thing- either all mangos, or all watermelon, or all honey. Well we drove through a town that was selling grapes, cold grapes and grape juice. We decided to stop and get some- they gave us our grape juice in an old coca-cola bottle, and when I went to take a drink, I got a big whiff of…wine! Kevin was happy to taste it for us, and suggested that we not give it to the kids! I dumped it out a few miles down the road instead.

Next stop, Honduras!

Still Livin’ the Dream!