Nicaragua - Honduras - El Salvador.
May 2011.
We enter Nicaragua.
Willing to join the U.S. as soon as possible, we decide to cross the country full throttle.
After driving late at night, we set our camp into a small forest.
We are waken up at 5 am by a patrol of the army, followed by the police
The problem is that we are near a military base.
They suspect that we are spies, especially since we have a GPS !!!
After one hour of discussion, they decide to take us to the police station for further checks.
Along the way, our convoy is stopped by a man: "Hey the one from Marseilles, you have any problems?"
Patrice is a French guy, living in Nicaragua for 10 years. He knows the police chief and offers us his help.
As we are finally suspected of traffic of children, they bring the migration police in order to verify our identities!
One hour later, thankfully everything is fixed.
Patrice invites us to drink a coffee in his house.
He came to Nicaragua as part of an NGO, and has since been converted into gold digger!
After a good shower, children are delighted to play with the same games as at home.
Thank you Patrice for your help and your hospitality. If we were not behind schedule we would have stayed longer.
Nicaragua, the last socialist country in Central America, seems pretty poor.
But the end of our journey is going smoothly.
Arriving in Honduras, we must wait until the head of the customs service has finished his lunch.
We take the opportunity to do the same.
In this country, there is a police control every 10 kilometers, and they have a very bad reputation amongst travellers.
As it should, we end up getting arrested.
And we face a well-established corruption choreography.
One of the children does not have his seat belt, it's very very bad ...
Look at the highway code, it'll cost you $ 200.
But there are ways to find a agreement ... It is not nice?
As it is Saturday afternoon, and he must pay the fine in a bank to retrieve our driving license, we have no choice but to pay.
Matthew, who does not lack nerve, does not hesitate to tell these gentlemen that they are the shame of their country!
Is it really forbidden in Honduras to drive without a safety belt?
We are happy to arrive in El Salvador.
But our case is a problem at customs: "Vehicles with the steering wheel on the right side are not allowed to enter El Salvador."
What's all this about? We ask to see the corresponding legislation.
Meanwhile, children play in the customs warehouse.
We watch the passengers of a bus being searched by anti narco controls.
Tugdual explains in Spanish our adventure to a Customs officer.
Children watch the trucks being emptied for customs inspection.
We keep on complaining about Europe, but Schengen is not that bad!
Until the case unravels, we spend the night in the parking lot of the customs, among the truckers.
At morning, a solution is found.
A policeman will accompany us to the border with Guatemala.
We cross El Salvador without stopping once!
