Post Hot Dog day was a ride to Matapan and along the new supermoto race track return, at Matapan we pulled into the Pollo Compero for a coffee and # ones, the coffee to be fair was good and we sat in air conditioning which was luxury, upon going to leave we went to pay and the waitress said gratis, seems they thought highly of us and our politeness and smiles so the manager gave us coffee :clap.

Thank you Mr.Manager, quite unexpected so a free plug for Pollo Compero in Central America, free Wifi, air con, clean toilets WITH toilet paper (coffee may not always be free tho) :evil ... sorry

The naked 9 fiddy sun bathing while we coffee up



This is my free coffee look ..... kinda like Terminator forging a (stupid) grin



Free plug for the good guys



Our return leg toward home base was a brand new road beautifully paved and through some neat countryside ... then back towards San Salvador and across to our turn which takes us back up another world class supermoto track/road to the Volcan and home.

I was just waiting for Rossi to pass around the outside





Passing several signs we felt safe as the sign says "no hunting" ..... it didn’t day no hunting travellers but hey 8-) what a great day out.



More terrible roads with outstanding views



Back to Mario hill and down to the cafe to do some ride reports and upload photos...later that night finished off with a few grogs

At the cafe they have a zip line which was cool



The radio and telephone, looking yesteryear but all new, still cool just the same.





That night the lightning Gods put on a real show for us, one of many, the Gods used so much power that Santa Telca went dark for about an hour with a power cut that knocked down the power to the whole town.

Lightning through the clouds, this is around 9.30 pm on a pitch black and very wet night.





Finally the ghosty shot looking through the branches, the light behind the trees is actually the light from the lightning beyond, this shot was at about 11.30 pm pitch black and raining heavily.

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Cheers Andi & Ellen .... https://twomotokiwis.blogspot.com/ Two Moto Kiwis Alaska - Argentina - April 2012 -> Somewhere

Next day we woke up to a beautiful day after a wild night of lighting and thunder and seriously heavy rain making its mark on the access road up and carving some good ruts in it.... as I discovered on the way down .... no problem to the mighty Mayan!!:rofl

We rode across the Volcan and out north and picked up where we left off on the supermoto highway, from there we turned right and down toward to lake to catch the ferry crossing, this is a stunning part of the country and a very enjoyable ride indeed.





Arriving at the docking point at San Francisco Lempa on lake Embalse Cerron Grande we were the only ones there, the price went from $6 to $7 to $10 when the lady told the ferry operator the bike was grande (big) .... at that rate of change it would be cheaper to get a helicopter.:rofl



We decided to do it rather than ride back, so we sat down, bought a watermelon and scoffed into it, soon after a car arrives so our price went back down to $6 ... then another car arrives but the base price is $4 for the moto and $1 each person.

Finally the ferry turns up ... all aboard, Maya has a AZ plate on her and one of the guys from one car was from Phoenix and asked which part of AZ we were from 8-) .... I shoulda said Bevans.



So much interest when we said New Zealand and conversations were rolling with one guy very interested in the bike.... it was a nice feeling chatting in English and some Spanish especially learning moto style words you don’t get in class.



The big dude holding the handlebars was fascinated by Maya



Arriving at the docking point at Suchitoto we rode off the ferry and up to Suchitoto township for lunch.



The exit ramp was lumpy, wet, greasy, stoney ... everything we all love :clap



As above I rode off the ferry and over the greasy rougher stuff solo then waited for my photographer, again beautiful setting.



Lunch stop in Suchitoto, street lunch as the town square was being revamped.



Very nice older town



The mission from here was to get to Marios workshop to change Mayas oil, we had ordered 15 - 50 Motul fully synthetic fresh blood, this will see us through the rest of Central America and beyond, at nearly 5000km the old oil was black although gear shifting etc was still fine so the Central American heat takes its toll on oil with the bike running hotter in the 35 - 40 degree daytime temps.

Interestingly the engine is quieter with 20 - 50 GTX dinosaur oil in than the fully synthetic 15 - 50 Motul....even after nearly 5000 km on it!!

Getting the job done was easy, both screens were pretty clean, both magnets had virtually nothing on them and the main filter was also very clean which is very comforting given her start with us.

I washed the Scotts washable filter and two screens and back in they went followed closely by new blood.

Big thanks to Mario for getting the oil in for us and allowing us some space to do the change, although he has very competent mechanics I still prefer to do it myself so I know it has been done and cleaned well...piece of mind for me.

WOH HOH .. good to go!!:freaky

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Cheers Andi & Ellen .... https://twomotokiwis.blogspot.com/ Two Moto Kiwis Alaska - Argentina - April 2012 -> Somewhere

Greetings all, well I have to say I have a love hate relationship with Guatemala, to be clearer on that I love Guatemala but I still hate hospitals.

The medical treatment I received for my ribs was excellent and my nurse was yummy so that was good, I just hate visiting hospitals so on this next leg of the journey we are staying right out of them.

This is my happy happy joy joy hospital photo



So starting from the beginning, entry in to Guatemala was not really smooth with the big fat customs guy leaving for his lunch break while 90 % of the way through our paper work, a small bell rang and he just left the building and no one would say he had gone to lunch for an hour, so we and many other behind us were left standing wondering what was going on.

If they had said lunch time then sweet we would have got some lunch but it seemed to be a secret and they seemed proud to make it a secret and just hold everyone up ..... not good tourism relations and that guy really should get another job, apart from his secret unexplained exit the process was straight forward.

We both love Guatemala, it is the start of the Jurassic Park section of Central America and we found every bit of it excellent.

Sumec Champey is our favourite location in Guatemala .....the place is nothing short of stunning.



We took up Spanish lessons in Xela and this has provided an excellent base to start with but we need a little more practice and hopefully with immersion this will help.

I was lucky enough to hang with what car?? (Juan) and we did a big boys day out to Tajumulco Volcan which was great, we rode up to about 3400 metres (11200ft), thanks mate it was a sanity break from Spanish lessons!!!



We also had the pleasure of meeting Guaterider and Mrs.Guaterider Julio and Luisa in Antigua, even tho he rides a BMW he is still a great guy.

Richard Chang from Guate City (GC) took us from Antigua to GC which was really cool unfortunately the crash bringing that to an early finish ... that is where the I hate hospitals comes in.

I had the three hour ride to GC in the back of a heavily sprung ambulance and I felt every toppe and bump from Palin to GC.

Having four breaks in the ribs things were crunching around, it would be fair to say it was slightly painful and at one point I had tears rolling down my face and I just wanted to go home, if I could have pushed the escape button and be back in New Zealand in one piece right then I would have done it. No other way to explain the value of home comfort, I was not happy.

With the confirmation of broken ribs from X Ray they said nothing they could do, having had broken ribs prior I knew what I was in for so we bought some tape and taped me up BIG time for support and this worked very well.

Me doing some electrical work on Richard wee Honda, I was going mad so had to do something, note the strapping on my back to hold me together., sorry Mike no girl bum shots :eek1



Enter in to the equation Victor who is a good friend of Richards in GC, he had offered us to stay with him but by the time we arrived at his place he had inadvertently picked up a broken whiteyfoo patient more than a RTW traveller.

So our three days turned into two weeks, Victor your blood is worth bottling mate, you are a true gentleman and a welcoming host, we didn’t know how we could reciprocate being in our position.

We then headed back to Antigua, funny thing was prior leaving Antigua to go to GC we had talked about extending our stay in Guatemala ..... irony is turning up back in Antigua not quite in one piece but we got to enjoy it for another month and do more Spanish so we had a bonus there.

Not long after we went back to Antigua Gene and Neda arrived and Gene was kind enough to bring Maya back from GC to Antigua as I could not ride her, thanks mate, the ADV tree works well.



This then provided a great platform for a few social nights of international travellers, we were also joined by Phil and Jane so we had quite the gathering for a short time.



Upon leaving Antigua when I was ready to ride again we then spent the last weekend back at Victors as RTW travellers and not broken patients, we had organised a ride with his cuzzies on the Sunday so that was cool.

Unfortunately Victor had a binning on his bike and broke two bones in his leg .... and he rode home ..... I am feeling like a girl now taking an ambulance.



So very quickly it turned around that we were there to help Victor and reciprocate with help for him in his time in need, so yet again our stay we extended to help Victor as he couldn’t drive so what comes around goes around, coupled with that our cable and pinlock insert that we ordered 6 weeks earlier had not arrived so we extended our VISA’s and TVIP, Victor needed help so that concluded it it was worth staying on to help, I became a personal driver to help him get about for that following week then his cuzzy was going to take over.

Funny how things can change in an instant, seems to be the basis of our travels.

The Bike

So we got a lot of parts out of the USA and sent to Julios in Antigua, these were the final mop up after the shitty purchase issues we had, thanks Julio, again you made life easy for us.

Maya is all good barring any issues from riding but oil changes are netting nothing unusual which is great and now we have our washable filters etc working for us.



I am looking forward to wearing shit out now as that means we are travelling!!!

Us

Across the board we have been good, life has been treating us well but it was a difficult time for us with me being broken and I have to admit I probably don’t make the model patient.

Ellen did well to see me through the hard time of the first couple of weeks of the ribs including a couple unwanted sneezes bringing tears and crying and not being able to breath .... it was hard for both of us at this time ..... and with all the drugs there was no drinking so a double wammy.

Ellen also tortured the guys with her sushi making several batches for the team to scoff.



So at the end of Guatemala we still live and we are still in love and we have realized a few things,

I don’t bounce like I used to
Gene likes KTMs
I still hate hospitals
Fresh fruit from the eternal garden of Guatemala is world class
Guatemala is somewhat of an adventure biker paradise
We still hate mozzies
Guatemalans love blowing shit up

Where does this leave us now?, well since the beginning of our trip we have lost 18 weeks to failures in just 13 moths, 6 weeks to Suzuki failures, 6 weeks to Ellens crash and now 6 weeks to my ribs, we are now miles behind where we thought we were going to be ... who cares.

We are lucky enough to have the time, not many people get to travel for 18 weeks let alone have 18 weeks off the road within a trip.

Now things come in threes so they say so from here on in our trip will be boring with no more BIG issues but we promise to do our best for photos and writing ...maybe some more bum shots for Mike.

I am very glad I could not push that escape button as I would have regretted it, like all horror moments there is always a silver lining born to see you through and yet again people went out of their way in our time of need so just when you say to yourself well how the hell is this going to unfold ... it just does and unfolds with bonuses.

I don’t suggest for a moment you rush out and break your ribs tho .... it is not recommended.....however these are :rofl



So to finish up, thanks to all in Guatemala, luv to all, Andi & Ellen

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Cheers Andi & Ellen .... https://twomotokiwis.blogspot.com/ Two Moto Kiwis Alaska - Argentina - April 2012 -> Somewhere

Saturday morning, was a little gloomy but still rideable, after a quick chat with Mario we put the trip back one hour and it was improving by the minute.

We rode a combo of beatutiful main roads and some interesting back roads that looked like patchwork in corn paddocks





Destination and half way point was Lago de Coatepeque, a crater lake, this was decided because I had an urge for #2’s and they had great coffee so that was that.



This is a bit fluffy sorry guys



Part of the lake from the view point



We bought coffees and a small cake each shouting Mario for his kindness and generosity.

Two fine young gentlemen :rofl





The lake is absolutely stunning, although the sun wasn’t out the views were outstanding and the water very calm.



A short day out with a nice amount of riding in and another nice look around El Salvador.

The previous afternoon we did some photos with the kids and we had two printed out for the family which was cool...plenty of room on Maya for more :rofl



Thanks again to Mario, local knowledge is something you can’t buy with maps and GPS.

Now ..... The Final Night

That evening Mario had organized with the family to come up to Finca Tepeyac which is Marios plantation and we were going to have a feed and drinks.



It started off with a round of Sushi washed down with Rum and various treats





Sunday lunch was treat with Mario cooking up a storm with tacos, here he is masterchef San Salvador.



Mario took us up to his other coffee block which was a 4WD expedition in itself.

We all went for a short walk and looked at the coffee trees so a relaxing day all round.





That was our final night and day to spend it with Mario and his family was great.

Now Mario owns and runs Motorider in San Salvador, he has most things RTW travellers need and want including Heidenau tyres, Touratech gear, oils, filters, brake pads, chains and sprockets etc and large workshop area. He got the 15 - 50 Motul in for us no problem at all and allowed me to do the change (cos I like doing it).

So this is a shameless plug for a truly great guy who has helped out hundreds of travellers / bikers, if in El Salvador and needing stuff contact him and he can sort you out in a land where things are hard to find, again local knowledge is not something you can buy on maps and GPS.

Here are Motorider's coordinates to find the shop directly.
13°41'43.49"N
89°15'0.28"O



Next day was our trip to San Miguel to get close to the border in prep for our double border day which has seen me stressed over the reports and info coming back with people getting hammered.

The final descent down Mario hill ... unscathed :clap



A waterfall, not the usual type :rofl



Horrible roads



KTM bridge :evil



Adios to El Salvador, a fantastic place with fantastic people and thoroughly recommended to RTW travellers ... don't just ride straight through as you will miss a lot.

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Cheers Andi & Ellen .... https://twomotokiwis.blogspot.com/ Two Moto Kiwis Alaska - Argentina - April 2012 -> Somewhere

Ok, not a biggy this time, all I can say is GO THERE.

Take the great information and comradery offered by Mario and be prepared to enjoy yourself in a beautiful country.

The only bad thing about about El Salvador is having to leave and to be fair we loved our stay and travels around the country.

The Heart Speaks

Well that was kinda it, we only have praises and good things to say :

Again thanks Mario and fellas for making our stay excellent.

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Cheers Andi & Ellen .... https://twomotokiwis.blogspot.com/ Two Moto Kiwis Alaska - Argentina - April 2012 -> Somewhere

Very beautiful country by the look of it.great photo's as always.

Certainly is Noel, very well worth going to and looking around.

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Cheers Andi & Ellen .... https://twomotokiwis.blogspot.com/ Two Moto Kiwis Alaska - Argentina - April 2012 -> Somewhere

... that never happened!!! :eek1

For me I had been reading horror stories of the dreaded double crossing including corruption, lies, unnecessary hold ups and photocopying beyond belief, helpers who will torment you mentally and basically just a day out of your life.

So we are not far from the border filling up at the service station when a guy comes up and says hello where are you from ..... I can help you, Ellen says New Zealand and where are you from, he replied El Salvador, I work at the border .... ah ha ... we know you!!! ... the famous Jose ... at the service station!!!

No gracias, we can do it ourselves and that was the end of the chat with smiles etc.

On our way to the border a small bike fizzes past us, it was him.

Leaving El Salvador was easy except we missed one photo copy which we soon rectified .... then across to the dreaded bridge to the Honduran side ready for WW3.



We were greeted by the “officials” Jose and Ronnie, they were telling us what we needed to do, we still said no gracias.

Then we were greeted by the real officials in proper clothing and formal shirts.

They took us to customs and aduana offices and I was swamped by money changers, again I just replied no gracias with a smile and they almost went away.



Ellen was doing all the paperwork and running around / photocopying, Jose and Ronnie were standing there only 1.5 metres away like two loyal puppies and realising after about 20 minutes they were not going to get any money they left and even waved goodbye to me....too quick for the camera unfortunately.

I was having fun with the money changers with roars of laughter from both sides and at one stage I grabbed a huge wod of money off him after he was talking about quetzales (Guatemalan currency) where he said did I need 5 Q? and I swung it around on 5 Q! for the whole wod of cash .... funny enough that deal didn’t work for him and as quick as a bolt of lightning he realized I was pulling the piss and he said no I offer you 5Q for your Moto, ... I said I didn’t have the heart to rip him off .... again followed by roars of laughter from both sides, handshakes and away he went.:rofl

Maya waiting outside patiently



All in all apart from the ridiculous amount of paperwork the crossing went very smoothly and took 1 hour and twenty minutes and was almost enjoyable.



Into Honduras and across the country to the next border at El Espino, passing through we took in the sites and to be fair it was much nicer than we imagined and the roads actually not to bad other than a couple of biggish potholes here and there.



The last part of the road heading up to the border was stunning with beautiful winding road in great condition (shown above), we arrived at the next border at 12.30 pm and everyone was at lunch, ..... so lunchtime it was.

Again an official came bounding up keen to help, I asked him if he worked for customs or was a helper, he showed me his official helper badge which I was throughly impressed with, again he said you pay me, we just said with a smile no gracias no dinero and as quick as a flash he ran off, maybe we just smelt bad.

So realizing we had entered lunch break mid ship we just joined in picking up some chicken and rice to munch on, it was soon enough 1.00 pm and the wheels of industry started turning again.

Ellen set off to do the paperwork while I guarded Maya, the helper came back over and we had a chat about life for a while (about 20 minutes) that was great cos I had nothing else to do, I did make sure he knew there were no consultancy fees on our chat and he was happy just to sit and chew the fat.

Leaving Honduras, easy, done in half and hour, then off to the Nicaraguan side.

We snuck down past all the trucks and Maya had a bubble bath of something useless, we exchanged $3.00 dollars for that then headed to the Nicaraguan immigration to do the usuals.

The insurance man was there as were money changers and more helpers, insurance being mandatory I set to and started getting that done while Ellen got us clocked in to Nicaragua, Maya the mighty monster was creating interest with the locals which was cool.

Very friendly and very helpful we were done in another half and hour plus our half hour lunch in Honduras.





After exiting El Salvador at 9.00am and entering Nicaragua home free at 2.08pm, across Honduras NOT one policeman in sight, no corruption or anything stupid so what I had been stressing about for months turned into a very pleasant day indeed, so much so we had enough time to find Vallardos house and get out canyoning for the afternoon ... that next.

Our experience for the day was excellent however Dick and Diane Hubbard from New Zealand had a gun pulled on them by officials but at the lower border.:eek1

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Cheers Andi & Ellen .... https://twomotokiwis.blogspot.com/ Two Moto Kiwis Alaska - Argentina - April 2012 -> Somewhere

So after an unusually easy double border day and entering Nicaragua at 2.08pm we found the canyon guide Bayardo Soliano who is an amigo of Mario from El Salvador.

Although he was out his good lady phoned him up and he was back in a flash.

After a quick discussion we established he has accommodation on site, can feed and water us and provide breakfast, perfect we didn’t even need to ride to the next town as they have everything in hand, it couldn’t get any better.....or could it?

The park



So off with the bikey gear and into canyoning lite weight stuff and we were off.



A 30 minute walk into the canyon, along the way Bayardo showing us the river that splits one way into Honduras and the other way into Nicaragua.



The first view of where we were heading too...



Down to the waters edge, on with the life jackets, out with the camera and a quick brush of the hair we took the plunge.





There was an assortment of rapids, smooth sections, rocks that were high enough to hit yer bum (sorry Mike ..but is wasn’t damaged) and torrents that would send you straight into rock faces as well as a coupla jumps from heights into ponds below.





Decent wee waterfalls



Smooth patches to relax



ADV salute just for you guys, this is commitment taking time out to remember you guys in times of hardship :rofl



The canyon is 200 metres vertical in places with huge rock faces looking back down at you.



The boss (well most of him) diving into one of the ponds from the rocks above



The whole trip was about 3.50 hour return back to home, on returning home they served up coffee and a great feed.



This food produced in their basic kitchen, these guys are fantastic cooks ... forget masterchef these are the real deal !!!:clap



Even time for a quick smile before two hungry kiwis dived in.. :evil



After tea I uploaded the photos to the lappy and the whole tribe sat around and checked out the afternoons shenanigans with Bayardo and the two foreigners, it was great fun.



We packed it in not too late after having been in three countries on the day and done the canyoning, couldn’t fit much more in!!!

The following morning was a hearty breakfast that set us up for the day which was to travel to Leon and Bayardo said my parque impossible handle was inadequate and made me a new one, this dude is a machine.

From this



To this



Finally leaving from Bayardos house we set off to Leon.



Bit of a corny picture :rofl



So for any fello travellers wanting to do this go for it you will love it, here are the GPS Coords to their front door



These are his contact details.



Finally a short vid going down one section, I hope you have enjoyed reading cos we seriously enjoyed the afternoon out and writing about it.

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Cheers Andi & Ellen .... https://twomotokiwis.blogspot.com/ Two Moto Kiwis Alaska - Argentina - April 2012 -> Somewhere

The trip down to Leon was a cooker, an uneventful trip with only a few sights along the way like this local bus



Arriving in Leon it was very hot and very sticky ..... add to that a 950 cc heater under us it was nice to peel off the gear and turn into humans.

A decision was made to have an iced coffee and I was just parking Maya when we bumped into Simon and Julia from New Zealand .... a big surprise.

We organised to catch up with them for tea that night but in between time a cold coffee was in order.

While having the treat of a cold coffee mum nature chimed in and played a huge thunderstorm coupled with the heavy rain etc, quite spectacular really.

The hostel we stayed in that night turned out to be a shite place and not very nice, luckily we had organised to go and stay in Hostel Jurgen (Ride Nicaragua) also Werner and Claudia were also arriving so we had quite the gathering.

The following day Jurgen took us for a local ride, we headed out on normal streets that turned into sandpits, gravel and rocks through some very cool countryside and past local volcans.

Claudia modelling her riot gear :rofl





We ended up at Volcan Momotombo at a funny wee local bar on the edge of lake Managua, cold drinks were the order of the day after the silly photo session on the beach, getting back off the beach was bit of low key entertainment with squiggles and wobbles and some rooster tails thrown in.









At the local bar/tienda there was local music playing at about 140db through less than ideal quality speakers but that didn’t stop the locals getting up and dancing on the sandy floor, low impact natural surface that never wears out ... perfect, Jurgen was hit with the ladies with them wanting their photos taken with him.

Just when we thought the action was dying down the attention focused on the motos for an impromptu photo shoot for a combination of slinky girl photos and some family orientated shots, this time EVERYONE was in on it.



.....I am just the owner ... ignore me ... and she did rofl





Upon completion of the photo shoot we were given the royal sendoff with big waves and smiles ....it was quite cool actually....and we headed back to reality.

That evening was a nice round of stirfry provided by twomotokiwis followed by some Flores de Cana rum provided by Werner and Claudia ... good times, a half time change sides from the previous nights shenanigans.



The next morning was a fixit morning with our broken USB charger, we did get it fixed and sorted thanks to a local dude who Jurgen knows, if in Leon and you need something sorted Jurgen is ya man.

We then headed on on our merry way to Managua.

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Cheers Andi & Ellen .... https://twomotokiwis.blogspot.com/ Two Moto Kiwis Alaska - Argentina - April 2012 -> Somewhere

Page shortening post

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Cheers Andi & Ellen .... https://twomotokiwis.blogspot.com/ Two Moto Kiwis Alaska - Argentina - April 2012 -> Somewhere

Page shortening post again

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Cheers Andi & Ellen .... https://twomotokiwis.blogspot.com/ Two Moto Kiwis Alaska - Argentina - April 2012 -> Somewhere

Another one

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Cheers Andi & Ellen .... https://twomotokiwis.blogspot.com/ Two Moto Kiwis Alaska - Argentina - April 2012 -> Somewhere

Last one!!!

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Cheers Andi & Ellen .... https://twomotokiwis.blogspot.com/ Two Moto Kiwis Alaska - Argentina - April 2012 -> Somewhere

I lied .. one more

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Cheers Andi & Ellen .... https://twomotokiwis.blogspot.com/ Two Moto Kiwis Alaska - Argentina - April 2012 -> Somewhere