18 October 2010

Just outside of La Libertad the road diverted because the bridge was out. Immediately my car was swarmed by young boys who showed me the way to go. Two of the boys jumped onto my rear bumper as I drove slowly down a rocky dirt road. A little further down the road went right and left. Another group of young boys ran up to the car. One group said go left, another right. I went right but had to turn around because there was a ditch in the road. So this group of about ten young boys guided me as I forded the car across a shallow yet rapid creek. Probably two feet deep and one hundred feet wide. Thankfully the car made it. They swarmed the car again asking for money so I gave their leader a five dollar bill and told them to split it amongst themselves. Now that I think about it, that probably won’t happen. Where would they split it up? There’s no bank nearby. But I didn’t have any ones.

I got lost on the way to Costa del Sol and had to ask directions and backtrack. For fifteen miles the ocean is hidden behind a monolithic wall of hotels and resorts. Though I did find a street to park along and walk to the beach. The beach here is littered with all kinds of trash and dead fish. There  is litter everywhere in Central America. I’ve seen more than a few people toss trash out of their cars. Between the resorts and the ocean is a barrier of thatched dwellings. Fishing boats, hanging clothes, shit, trash, and the smell of fish dominate the alleyways between these shacks.

I rented a cheap room for twenty dollars. The owner speaks English. I went for a longer walk on the beach and then to a tiny roadside restaurant just up from the hotel. Carne salada and two cokes, $2.50. Before I left La Libertad I stopped at a grocery store and bought crackers and cookies and used the ATM. Surprisingly the ATM worked. Even though it as the same bank branch as yesterday. The gas gauge is broken. This is why I ran out of gas yesterday. I just need to be aware of how much I fill up each time and my mileage so that it doesn’t happen again. 

I arranged to have my laundry done at the hotel and headed to the end of the road at Playa la Puntilla. I was approached right away by a guy who led me to a parking lot but I didn’t have to pay because I bought a bottle of water from the restaurant he works for. I walked down the beach a bit then walked back and took a boat ride around the Estero de Jaltapaque. The guide ran up to me as I was walking and he said twenty-five dollars for a boat tour. I hesitated and said no because I didn’t want to take a tour but he dropped the price to fifteen dollars so I accepted his offer. We rode up to a hotel where lots of Americans come to fish (saw a boat with a confederate flag) then over to an island where a lot of white birds were nesting and squawking about noisily. After the tour I headed back to where my car was parked and had fish for dinner before returning to the hotel.

My clothes were hanging up and the manager once more offered to get me a girl before he left. It was only four dollars for the wash. The lady did it all by hand. I walked along the beach as the sun set far away in the west. Makeshift goals made using long shiny logs were set up and all the kids were playing soccer. On the way back some children said “Hola, Santa.” I didn’t see the sun set because there were too many clouds.

Next door to the hotel is an open air prophetic ministry. They were having a service. There are graffiti images of Che Guevera everywhere.