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Panama
Capital City: Panama City
Currency: Balboa |
Costa Rica
Capital City: San Jose
Currency: Colon |
Nicaragua
Capital City: Managua
Currency: Cordoba |
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Honduras
Capital City: Tegucigalpa
Currency: Lempira |
El Salvador
Capital City: San Salvador
Currency: US Dollars |
Guatemala
Capital City: Guatemala City
Currency: Quetzal |
Current location:Guatemala.
Kms cycled so far:
14,000 kms.
No. of punctures:
7 (Miss Jordan’s bike), 8 (Dave´s bike).
Problems with the bikes:
Miss Jordan’s bike: Broken chain, broken gear hanger and derailleur. New bottom bracket, springs on the hub broken. Tyre change.
Dave’s bike: Broken frame near to the gear hanger. Tyre change. Broken frame again in Central America.
Countries visited so far: Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala.
Dear Schools,
We hope that you had a fantastic summer holiday and that everyone is well rested and ready for the summer term.
Whilst you have been on holiday, Dave and I have continued cycling north. In July, we left South America behind and embarked on the second stage of our adventure. During the month of August we have been speeding through the smaller countries that make up Central America.
Did you know that Central America is made up of seven compact countries that link North America with South America? We are cycling along the west coast of Central America and so the only country that we will not be visiting is Belize.
If you look at a map of the Americas you will notice that Colombia joins Panama by a very small strip of land. That piece of land is called the Darien Gap. It is quite dangerous and very difficult to cross this section, as a result most people either fly or take a boat to Panama. We decided to take a boat across the Caribbean Sea.
PANAMA
The crossing took about four days and it was the most amazing experience. En route to Panama we stopped off at the San Blas Islands. A group of about 300 spectacular islands, some inhabited and some not. The islands are home to the Kuna Indians, a tribe of people who have managed to preserve many of their traditions. The Kuna live on the islands in bamboo huts and trade coconuts and textiles to make a living. Not many tourists visit the San Blas islands so we felt honoured to have the opportunity to visit and chat with them. We also exchanged a bag of rice for a coconut on one of the islands we visited.
A Kuna woman. Picture from www.galenfrysinger.com/americas/
The San Blas Islands, home to the Kuna Indians.
Another of our highlights was to cycle along part of the Panama canal. If you are interested in engineering, then the enormous canal will amaze you. The engineering feat was finished in the early 1900s and it cuts right across Panama from North to South. The idea of the canal was to allow trading ships a safer and quicker passage from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean, so that they did not have to go around Cape Horn, the tip of South America. We found out that all the cargo ships worldwide are built to fit the dimensions of the Panama Canal. We also discovered that all boats have to pay a fee to use the canal, depending on the weight of the vessel. The most expensive price anyone has paid to sail through the canal was a cruise ship who forked out $200,000. The lowest fee ever paid to use the Panama canal was $0.36, by a swimmer who wished to swim the entire length of the canal.
The Panama Canal
Interested to find out more about the canal? Why not check out Family on Bikes homeschooling page http://www.familyonbikes.org/educate/lessons/panama_canal.htm
COSTA RICA
Costa Rica was great for its diverse wildlife. It only took us about six days to cycle through the country, but in that time we saw sloths, wild monkeys, crocodiles and toads.
Crocodiles. It is a good thing we did not decide to camp beside the river!
NICARAGUA
Nicaragua is a very poor country and we were very privileged to stay with a Nicaraguan family on a farm and work beside them for a week. Did you know that Nicaragua is the second poorest country in the Western Hemisphere? The farmers only received $5 a day for their labour.
Miss Jordan with Norlan. Using the hammock as a swing was a favourite activity on the farm!
HONDURAS
In Honduras we visited a charity that is helping farmers to water their crops and give them seeds to grow. Honduras is a beautiful country, but suffers not only from flooding but droughts too.
Distributing a seed storage to remote communities in Honduras
GUATEMALA
Our favourite part of Central America is the country of Guatemala. At the moment we are helping out at Maya Pedal. This is an amazing organisation that uses recycled bicycle parts to build machines that are run only by pedal power. Not only are we learning how to make the machines, but we have used the bicycles to wash our clothes and make smoothies. The bikes are then sold or given to local communities who have no electricity.
Making a smoothie
Washing clothes
Why not check out their website www.mayapedal.org to see some of the machines that they are building.
WHAT NEXT?
Dave and I will stay on at Maya Pedal for a week as we are hoping to see the machines in action within the communities. After that we are looking forward to heading towards Mexico.
We hope you enjoyed this edition!
The Cycling Nomads.
