Travel in Central America – Unlisted prices
My wife and I took our honeymoon to Central America in the summer of 2010. The first half of the trip was only vaguely planned (if at all) and we flew by the seat of our pants. I documented as much of the costs for travel that I could because we had a hard time figuring out a lot of the costs during our planning of the trip. Most things just weren’t listed anywhere. So this list is in chronological order of our trip. Any place where no local currency is listed, it means we paid in US Dollars. Feel free to make any corrections or share your own experiences in the comments.
| Local | in Dollars | Distance | Time | |
| San Pedro Sula Airport to Puerto Cortez by taxi * | $50 | 34 mi | 1 hour | |
| Puerto Cortez to Puerto Barrios by taxi *2 | $60 | 65 mi? | 2.5 hours | |
| Puerto Barrios to Rio Hondo by bus | Q.40 | $5 each | 99 mi | 3.5 hours |
| Rio Hondo to Chiquimula | Q.10 | $1.25 each | 29 mi | 1.5 hours |
| Chiquimula to Salvador Frontera by van taxi *3 | Q.15 | $1.80 each | 30 mi | 2 hours |
| Frontera to Metapan by bus | $0.50 each | 7 mi | 1 hour | |
| Metapan to San Salvador by (nice express) bus | $2.50 each | 70 mi | 4.5 hours? | |
| San Salvador to Belize City – Taca Airlines *4 | $400 | 272 mi | 1 hour | |
| Dangriga to Placencia by plane | $46 each | 31 mi | 15 mins | |
| Placencia to Independence by water taxi *5 | B$10 each | $5 each | 3.5 mi | 10mins |
| Independence to Punta Gorda by bus (James line) | B$10 each | $5 each | 62.5 mi | 2 hours |
| Departure Tax *6 | B$37.50 each | $18.75 each | ||
| Punta Gorda to Puerto Barrios by boat | B$50 each | $25 each | 31 mi | 1.5 hours |
| Puerto Barrios to Frontera by van taxi | Q15 each | $1.80 each | 25 mi? | 1 hour |
| Frontera to Puerto Cortez by bus | L20 each | $1 each | 40 mi? | 2 hours |
| Puerto Cortez to San Pedro Sula by taxi | L600 | $30 | 34 mi | 45mins |
| Hotel Terrazas *7 | L400 | $20 | ||
| San Pedro Sula to Airport by taxi | L200 | $10 | 20 mi | 30mins |
| Total *8 | - | $797.20 | 853 mi | 25.2 hours |
* – $50 was a bit steep, but they kind of have you at a disadvantage because you’re at the airport outside of town and you just want to get going.
*2 – A guy named Flash drove us all the way to Puerto Barrios. Great nice guy. Was a little pushy when selling us the trip, but in the end it was direct and he was leaving right away. Spoke great English and was very funny. It really allowed us to ask a lot of questions about Honduras as we drove through the countryside.
*3 – What we didn’t realize was that the Salvador border (Frontera) was the end of the line for the day and would not have any hotels, motels or hostels… at all. We asked the young guys at the border gate if any more buses were coming that night or if there was any place to stay and they said no to both. But they understood the predicament we’d gotten ourselves into and they opened up the holding cell [video] across the street for us to stay in. It had a bare mattress and a toilet. Also there was a family cafe nearby that allowed us to purchase a late meal and pretty much sit down to eat dinner with their family long after official cafe hours were over. We conversed in broken Spanish while a game of soccer played on a fuzzy television in the corner.
*4 – After about 12 hours of traveling on hot crowded buses the day before, we weren’t very excited to do it all again and potentially miss the start of our “Relaxation Phase” of our trip. So we bit the bullet and got a flight to Belize. Taca is one of the only airlines that flies between destinations within Central America. So they don’t really have reason to try to accommodate anyone with lower prices or specials.
*5 – The Hokey Pokey was our water taxi. And they actually do have some information on this site: http://www.guidetobelize.info/en/travel/belize-water-taxi-timetable-guide.shtml#independence-belize-placencia-watertaxi
*6 Required departure tax when leaving Belize
*7 Great Value Hotel in San Pedro Sula [video]. A guy we met on one of the many buses we rode, Jose, suggested this hotel and it was great. I don’t think you can find it online anywhere (not that I’ve found yet), but it was a great deal.
Hotel Terrazas
6a Av entre 4a & 5a Calle
Phone: +504 550 3108
L400 ($20) / night
Internet, TV, A/C
We heard there was great breakfast at the restaurant on the first floor too, but we didn’t check it out.
*8 – Totals are not necessarily perfectly accurate. And the time does not include waiting during bus changes, overnight stays, etc – Just travel time.
5 Essentials for Wet Camping
I haven’t done as much camping as I’d like to over the last couple of years, but the times that I have gotten out with nature it’s been on some pretty wet days. I certainly enjoy camping on mild days in the late summer when lakes are warm, but evening temperatures are low enough that you still enjoy the warmth of your sleeping bag. However, camping in wet rainy weather is a different type of enjoyment. When wet camping I enjoy the challenge of trying to make it comfortable despite the elements. Here are 5 things that I’ve discovered to help immensely when camping in the rain.
1. Tarp(s)
Nothing is more useful when you get to your camp site and it is raining… or pouring. With some creative positioning and helpful tree placements, you can get some water shed for your tents and even for your fire area (just make sure the smoke has an outlet). Be aware of the slope of the ground you’re on. Try not to shed water onto a slope that will drain back into your main camp area.
2. Rope
I can’t express how useful a good length of rope can be while camping. Aside from normal uses – Tying food in a tree away from animals, hanging trash bags, tying up larger cords of firewood to carry back to camp, line for drying clothes or shoes – It is essential for creating good water sheds for your camp by tying well-placed (and properly angled) tarps.
3. Hatchet
I say hatchet only because they’re smaller than axes (allegedly) and thus easily to tote along. I don’t suggest cutting down trees and chopping up the forest with your trusty hatchet, but hacking off a couple bushy pine branches can be a great fire cover if you’re needing to cook or keep warm in a heavier rain.
Also, hatchets can be nice to have in case all you can find as far as firewood goes is some larger dead branches lying around. Remember, a well-built fire stays lit, burns evenly and doesn’t need constant readjustments. Cut your wood to suit your fire.
4. Waterproof Footwear
Whether it’s sandals, flip-flops, lake shoes or Vibrams Five Fingers just get some kind of footwear that isn’t going to weigh 10lbs when it gets wet. Take in to account your environment. If you’re in more of a rocky terrain, I’d suggest something that will protect your feet a bit better (ie – something closed-toed). Just realize that in most wet camping conditions, slip-on waterproof footwear will save you a few headaches. Tennis shoes are possibly the worst. They get water logged and heavy. If they get muddy there’s no easy way to clean them. You can get caught in the rain longer or letting rain into the tent longer if you’re messing with getting shoes on and off.
Caution: Combinations of Hatchet and Open-Toed Shoes is not advised.
5. Dry Fire Ingredients
It is sometimes overlooked, but if your camp area has gotten a lot of rain you will be hard-pressed to find dry wood anywhere. Rather than spend $10 on a cord of dry firewood at the convenience store 15 miles down the road – you can get a fire going if you have something dry to start it with. I don’t suggest soaking your wet firewood in lighter fluid, but I’m not going to say that wouldn’t work – It’s just cheating in my opinion. Bring along a newspaper and you’ll be able to get started. If you can find some dead grass or leaves they can do ok as kindling even if they’re a little bit wet. It’s important to build your fire right though. You want to protect your kindling and try to harness all the flames that it gives off. First to help dry out the other wood and then to get it burning. One large piece of wood that has started burning will help you more than 20 newspapers.
Bonus: Blanket or Towel
Although packing a blanket or towel can take up some precious space in your gear, when wet camping – you won’t regret it when you’ve got something to dry your head and feet once you’re snuggled into the tent.
Why I will never use Expedia again
I’ve been a big fan of online purchasing for a long time. Year after year, the process just keeps getting better and, perhaps more importantly, easier. Some things make a lot of sense to buy online – computer products, software, non-tailored clothing – you can almost always find much better deals and a much wider variety if you do your shopping online. Other things such as travel, food, and other try-before-you-buy type items require a much more complex process to successfully offer online, but with all the technology improvements over the last few years even these complex items can be obtained over the internet.
I can’t remember the last time I didn’t purchase my plane tickets online — you might not either. Many moons ago, Travelocity had a pretty good corner on the online travel market. If anyone remembers their DreamMaps, you’ll know what I’m talking about. Select your departure city and then just browse the globe speckled with prices and find some amazing deal to some exotic destination. I don’t know why they ever took it down.
Skipping ahead, Orbitz and Kayak have really never let me down. Priceline has given me some great deals on a few hotel rooms, but I’ve never successfully gotten a good airfare deal through them. Bing Travel (Farecast) and Cheap Tickets get an honorable mention, but the online travel giants of years past have failed to keep up. Travelocity never has the best price anymore so I rarely even check their site. Last (and possibly least), the one with my favorite jingle of all – Expedia “dot cooooooooom” – has become my foe…
My wife and I are leaving for our honeymoon to Central America…
I booked a room for one night at the Maya Colonial Hotel less than 24 hours in advance – no option to purchase trip protection insurance, so, obviously, I didn’t (but I would’ve if I could have)…
We miss our first flight which means that we will miss our connecting once-a-day flight to Honduras and, you guessed it, miss our hotel reservation. So I call Expedia looking forward to a pleasant experience that makes booking with online travel giants the way to go…
On hold for 45 minutes… carrying my phone around the airport on speakerphone waiting for someone to pickup… no answer… it’s time to board the plane so I have to hang up.
I call Expedia again after we land… on hold for 30 minutes… a guy picks up so I explain the situation. He is a nice customer service guy so he listens and explains that he will try to reach the hotel… puts me on hold, tries to call hotel… 15 minutes go by… I get disconnected… have to call back and wait on hold again for 25 minutes… again, carrying my phone around waiting for hold music to end and a person to pickup…
Finally get through. This time, I give the guy my number right away so he can call me back if we get disconnected. Explain the situation again, he puts me on hold… I wait 15 minutes… he can’t get a hold of the hotel. (To those of you that want to bash me for being disappointed with Expedia, please know that at this point I was only upset with the hotel)
So this guy, also a nice customer service guy, explains that he understands the situation and since we can’t reach the hotel he will submit a cancellation request to them right away. He then also puts me at ease and assures me that everything should be fine and to contact Expedia if I find that the hotel still charges me and they will take care of it. Great.
My wife and I go and have a great and adventurous honeymoon…
10 days later… returned from the honeymoon, checking my bank statement and notice that I got charged for the hotel room. So, as the nice customer service guy said to do, I call Expedia… wait on hold for a while (no surprise)… talk to a lady and explain the situation… She looks up the itinerary number, reads the notes, calls the hotel. When she gets back on the line, she tells me that they never received any cancellation request, so that’s why they charged me. I wasn’t even in their country, much less at their hotel, but since the reservation was not cancelled, they charged me. At this point, it’s upsetting, but I assume this is when Expedia will apologize and take responsibility to get me credited back for the mistake. Expedia lady doesn’t offer an apology that apparently they didn’t handle it correctly, she apologizes that I have to pay for a room that I never stayed in – almost like a “Sorry, better luck next time.” I try to stay calm and explain that I don’t think that is right. She tells me I can speak to the manager of the hotel if I call back the next day at 10 am (which would be Monday and I would be at work) – I tell her that won’t be possible and that I need Expedia to take care of this for me… she puts me on hold and gets her supervisor.
The supervisor was nothing more than an “I’m sorry, but we won’t help you” man. I made sure that he understood the circumstances. He said because I tried to cancel within 24 hours of the reservation time that I would still be charged. I asked him if he knew when I made the reservation. He looked it up… made the reservation less that 24 hours in advance. So I asked him if there were any exceptions to that rule considering that I never would’ve had the chance to cancel more than 24 hours in advance AND I canceled within 6 hours of making the reservation in the first place. He didn’t seem to have an answer but merely responded with, “Well, you clicked that you agreed to the Terms and Conditions, so there’s nothing I can do to help you.”
I clarified, “So you are ok with the fact that Expedia helped me lose $100 on a hotel room that I never stayed in?”
His response after a long pause, “Uh… I guess you are entitled to your own opinion.”
Later he says, “I’m sorry sir there’s nothing we can do for you, you checked the box agreeing to the terms and conditions.”
I re-stated, “There’s nothing you will do. There is plenty you can do, but you won’t. I’d really like for you to help me out, but you do not want to.”
Before we got off the phone, I made sure that he (and whoever reviews the call later) knew that, “I will never use Expedia again.”
In the end, I’m glad it was only $100. I don’t have any reason to believe they would have done any more to help me out if it had been $1000 or even more.
Sidenote: I have had last minute itinerary changes and canceled flights before when using Orbitz. When I called them to get assistance they were always very helpful and understanding. They seem to truly understand the chaos that traveling can be and they’ve positioned themselves to be a help in those times… not add to the misery. Thanks Orbitz.
Word to all service-offering companies: Don’t use your terms and conditions to legally screw your customers out of their money.
Others that have been screwed by Expedia:
http://www.marketingshift.com/2005/12/expedia-dot-scam.cfm – I really hope Team Expedia comments on my blog.
http://worstcustomerservice.wordpress.com/2008/04/17/bad-customer-service-expedia/
St Peter and Paul Cathedral
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We are seeing history that long out dates the United States as a country (even the slightest idea of the United States) by several hundred years. This cathedral is the oldest cathedral in all of Poland. It was build around 968 AD. For reference, this was before Leif Eriksson discovered North America.
We walked across town to this cathedral on All Saints Day (Nov 1) and prayed there. In one of the side rooms of the sanctuary, the ceiling had been recovered / preserved with the original fresco that was painted on it around the time of it being built. A 1000 year old painted ceiling, astounding.
* This is from a series of posts from thomasrye.com/travel when Levi Manning and I traveled to Europe.
Accommodation History
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Our accommodations in Poznan, Poland are quite comfortable. Thanks to Everett and Rhonda Tustin for graciously opening up their guest flat to us. The buildings here were built at the turn of the century, the last century, around 1908. In a few more months the buildings will be over 100 years old. They’ve seen a lot of history in those years. The building next door (on the left in the picture) has machine gun pock marks from World War 2 scattered up the outside walls. Down the street is the Teatr Nowy im. Tadeusza Łomnickiego, a very famous Polish Theatre.
Inside the apartment building are four floors of large flats with high ceilings. After opening the door with the right jostle of a skeleton key you will see that the ceilings are adorned with elaborate craftsmanship original to the building and quaint balconies that overlook a part of the city.
* This is from a series of posts from thomasrye.com/travel when Levi Manning and I traveled to Europe.
Connected City
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Poznan and Gdansk have great public transportation. Both cities make it easy for anyone to get around without a car. Taxis are always available though not the cheapest method of cross-city connection. There are trams running on every street almost. The secret is that the trams are on an honor system that most Poles don’t always hold to. Making an already inexpensive fare even cheaper – free. The trams have their own lanes in intersections and have to abide by traffic signals and even pedestrian awareness like cars. Polish people adhere to crosswalk signals pretty strictly, possibly because there is so much to be aware of if you’re thinking of crossing on red – cars, buses, trams, etc.
* This is from a series of posts from thomasrye.com/travel when Levi Manning and I traveled to Europe.
Solidarity
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On our second to last night in Gdansk we took a bus down to the Centre (Downtown). Our friends Wojtek (Voytek), Natalia and Thea (from the States) took us up to a hill that overlooked all of Gdansk. The city was lit up beautifully and showed an array of history across the cityscape. To the right in the picture you can see a few spires along Long Street. This is the oldest part of the city (established somewhere in the 10th Century). To the left are some more modern buildings and the shipyard of Poland’s biggest seaport. Gdansk is a conurbation of what is known here as Trójmiasto (Tricity) joining with Sopot and Gdynia.
This hill had a large cross at the top that is a part of a network of Solidarity crosses throughout Poland. Thousands were arrested and 80 were executed around 1970 during a protest of the communist regime. 80% of Polands workforce belonged to this movement that was born out of that sacrifice and their stand eventually led to semi-free elections in 1989.
* This is from a series of posts from thomasrye.com/travel when Levi Manning and I traveled to Europe.
The oversight that changed a day
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We’d left our bags at a 24-hour storage facility in the train station at St Pancras. We thought this would be a great way to tour around London and see the sights with a lighter load. This facility boldly advertised 24 HOUR storage, though it was only STAFFED until 10pm. The hours of operation were on a poorly inked stamp on our receipt, unnoticed until a random moment of review in the shadow of Tower Bridge… two minutes before our bags would be locked away until 7am the following morning.
First train to the airport we could catch would be 7:02am. Time to the airport: 45 minutes. Wizzair, our airline to Poland, has a strict policy of closing their check-in 40 minutes before take off. Our flight was at 8am. The outlook was grim. We discussed our options, mainly just different levels of worst-case-scenario ranging from £70 loss to £100+ loss. And all of them included a nights stay at the luxuriously drafty St Pancras train terminal.
* This is from a series of posts from thomasrye.com/travel when Levi Manning and I traveled to Europe.
This is London
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True to the end of the last post, the sights were seen. Three blocks walk from the cafe put us back on the Underground. After eight or nine stops on the circle line we arrived at Westminster station. It has, quite possibly the best exit in the city. You follow “Way Out” signs to the exit, walk up the steps to the street and then lay your head back on your shoulders to take in the 314ft, gargantuan Big Ben, poised in all it’s splendor directly across the street.
Then it was across the River Thames to see the Eye of London, around to Trafalgar Square, back on the Underground to Picadilly Circus, then to Tower Bridge. At exactly two to ten, Thomas had an epiphany.
“Hey Levi, when does the baggage storage place close?” … (continued next post)
* This is from a series of posts from thomasrye.com/travel when Levi Manning and I traveled to Europe.
Making our way
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Travel has been swift and smooth, though not without incident. Before leaving Kansas City, Thomas’ carry-on suffered a broken strap and he carried it like a sack of potatoes through to Minneapolis until they were able to improvise a repair using a spare carabiner. Levi was gently rebuked by a UK border security woman for the ragged state of his passport. “Passport been through the wash, love?” He meekly confessed that it had been, whereupon she informed him that this had nullified all the “over 300″ built-in security features and could allow anyone to use it by simply switching pictures.
After quite nearly not being admitted into the UK, we found our way to a local pub a block from the St Pancras station for some reasonably priced fish and chips.
Tonight will be filled with the obligatory London sights. Tomorrow, Poland.
* This is from a series of posts from thomasrye.com/travel when Levi Manning and I traveled to Europe.