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!