
December 2016: the year ends
December was a while ago, but I was a bit busy having people visit me. So here is the summary of the last month of 2016 and month number 9 of this trip. I headed from Guatemala to El Salvador with a quick sprint through Honduras I ended in Nicaragua. El Salvador and Honduras were supposed to be the “scary” countries of this trip (together with Colombia). Even though I can’t say much about Honduras because I was only there for a few hours El Salvador was great. I have not felt unsafe at all.
The Good
- Relaxing time on the coast of El Salvador with Mike and Lyndsay
- The spare part delivery seems to have fixed all problems
- My Parents and Jasper visiting in Nicaragua
The Bad
- The weekends of van terror continued. This time my brakes and throttle cable died in two subsequent weekends
The Unforgettable
- Crossing from El Salvador to Honduras to Nicaragua in one day is something I will never forget
The Stats
- No days: 31 (317 total)
- No. km: 1752 (38855 total)
- Countries: Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua
- No. Border crossings: 3
- No. of places stayed at: 18 (12 campsites, 6 hostels)
- Hikes: 40km height difference 1048m
- Books: 2
- Movies: 1
- New Beers: 16
- Photos: 997
- Weather:
- Days: warmest 34 coldest 23, average 30
- Nights: warmest 24, coldest 17, average 22
It’s clear I spend most time at the coast with the temperatures never dropping under 17C and an average day temperature of 30C! I also spend quite some time at hostels/hotels this was mostly in the week with my family. My family visiting was also a good boost to my beer numbers.
Daily costs for December
- Campsites: 5 Euro per night (plan was 10)
- Food: 5 Euro per day (plan was 6)
- Fun: 4 Euro per day (plan was 5)
- Total: 14 Euro per day (plan was 21)
Whoah! El Salvador was awesome cheap. Also my parents coming was a big reduction in my spending (thanks!)
Overall driving (9 months):
- Distance: 38855 (plan was 40914)
- Fuel costs: 62 cents/l (plan was 62 cents/l)
- Efficiency: 11.1 km/l (plan was 10.5 km/l)
Another month with below planned kilometers. The Central American lands are narrow enough that I really can’t detour much. Even though I did drive up and down Costa Rica twice.
Other costs:
- I ordered 110 EUR worth of spare parts in NL that my parents brought. But those parts would have been way more expensive if I would have bought them here.
- Honduras charges 41 USD for car import, a bit steep for the 4 hours I was in the country
And we’re off to January! Enjoy the New Year!
Hoi Maarten,
Ik moet je nu eeveen een mailtje schrijven. Ad wilde van mij weer allerlei dingen weten van je. Toen heb ik hem gezegd zelf te gaan kijken. Ik kom net terug van het zwemmen met je moeder en zit Ad al vanaf half negen foto’s van je te kijken. Hij heeft zelfs nog niet de moeite genomen om een bakje koffie te nemen. Zo ken je Ad weer hij kan er niet genoeg van krijgen. Ik lees steeds al je verhalen en van je moeder heb ik ook gehoord dat jullie hebben genoten. Je bent echt een reis aan het maken , die echt heel bijzonder is. Ik verheug me op al je verdere belevenisen. Succes met het verschepen van de Van.
Dikke knuffel van ons
Haha ik wist niet dat mn verhalen zo verslavend waren. Leuk dat jullie alles lezen!