Because We Can

Every evening we get our “next day” card from Richard. It tells what we need to know and what to have with us for the following day. This was the one we received last evening for today. What was not included, but was something we knew, it was going to be many hours on the bus leaving El Salvador, passing through a corner of Guatemala and ending up just across the border in Honduras. The $3, in US currency no less, was for our entrance into Honduras. Those of you who have spent hours riding in a bus know it is anything but relaxing. You have to be tough to be a traveler, though I will say Linda sure knows how to cope with a long bus ride, she takes a long nap during the ride. Luggage lined hallway. A better bird photo today. This one looks like a dove to me. There are also grackles here, and they are just as ungainly as their Rio Grand Valley counterparts. Buying things to give to people in the small country villages during our travel. Most of them live on $1.25 a day, so Richard asked ...

Writer’s Note: There may be some “Cliff Notes” posts in the future because our days are exceedingly long and fully packed and our nights are short meaning there is very little time for writing. The result may be fewer words, words I want to write so I can tell what happened. Guess the photos will have to tell more of the story as was the case with yesterday’s post. I could have written an article describing everything about our serendipitous encounter with the wood cutter. Such is Life. One other thing. Regarding that unidentified bird from the previous post. I asked a well known El Salvadoran bird expert who just happened to be our guide, Ben, what it was. He said it sounded almostexactly like the well known Parte Amarilla No Nombre Mirlo. And dear readers, that is why you read Bob’s Blog, your trusted source in all things travel. At least five days a week in our normal life Linda fixes a morning drink that I have dubbed “green goo” because of the kale in it. This is the Salvadoran v...

Our local El Salvador guide, Ben, doing what he does so very well, make both the day ahead and his country sound like the best ever. As you might notice, we four tour members have finished eating. Ben on the other never seems to notice his food has gotten cold, he is that excited about what he does. It is guides like Ben that have made us true believers in O.A.T. tours. Black Christ on the cross. To make a long story short, it was one of those answers to, if He is the God of everyone why is his skin white while ours is dark? Linda thought seeing eggs and toilet paper sitting out next to each other in the market was strange, so she took a photo of it. I have a fairly good idea of what will happen if I don’t post it, especially since she told me all about right after she took the photo. Sometimes husbands have to do things even if they don’t have a clue as to why they really should. Clueless Bob. Street food lesson courtesy of Richard. It is mango season. A plastic bag filled with a slic...

I have been remiss in not posting food photos. What person in their right mind writing about their travel would have so few food photos as I have been guilty of not posting since the start of our Central American adventure. Bad Bob. Lorenzo, the hotel greeter and moocher. He was an absolute gentleman, merely sitting on the chair while looking at you until you gave in a placed a morsel of food on the ground. What a great way to start the day. Back of a “chicken bus” as seen though the windshield of our van. For those of you who have Netflix, you might want to watch the documentary “La Camioneta” which tells the story one of these buses from its sale at auction in Pennsylvania to its conversion into a “chicken bus” in Guatemala. We watched it before we left for this tour and it was very good. Sorry we don’t remember whether it was in English or we had to turn on subtitles as we watch so many foreign  language films and series. And please don’t get me started on Turkish dramas, which...