Jan 11

We headed to the Guatemalan coast to find the El Paredón surf camp that we read about on the Internet. After we ended up in a Guatemala naval base and a few guys with guns, we gave up and drove back to Sipacate, where we found Rancho Cabrillo. Tito, who ferries guests from the parking area, across the river, to the surf break, invited us to camp for free in his lot. In appreciation, we gave all the kids caps from Internet companies. We felt like we made friends for life.

Marty surfed the break a bit the next morning, and then we packed up and headed to El Salvador. Just a few clicks past the border, we found El Zonte and stayed one night at Horizonte Surf Camp (N 13°29.758 W 089°26.359 - turn right at KM 53) owned by Saboro and Carol. It's an inexpensive, clean place to say.

Entering Nicaragua, the roads were so horrible, that young boys were filling the pot holes with dirt and rock in exchange for a tip. We threw a Rangers cap out the window for one boy and got a thumbs up from him in return.

Jan 13

Marty drove all day through Nicaragua. We were on a mission to get to Mal Pais, where Marty's good friend, Eric works and lives. There were many police inspections along the way, one in Nicaragua which included a fine for our bike rack sticking out too much on the drivers side. However, everybody was all smiles when the cops got away with $20 U.S. and we got on with our trip.

Using the map on our Surf Report, we used all four wheels to navigate through some fun dirt roads on the southern part of the Puntarenas peninsula. I can't imagine how they manage during the rainy season. Although we didn't find Eric until the next morning, we found a great place to camp. For only $3.00 U.S. per person per day, we have a beach front camp spot, trees to hang our hammocks, toilets, showers and howler monkeys in the trees. We are just a short bike ride from a few small super markets. So we decided to give Rover a nice long break and arranged to stay a month at Roca Mar.

We settled quickly into a daily routine: waken by roosters, surf the morning swell, ride our bikes to the market in search of ice, take an afternoon nap, play some Scrabble or go fishing, surf another evening sesssion, and then make some dinner and a bomb fire for the night.