Another trip between Georgia and the New York farm

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Its unusual that I make the trip this late in the year. Although it is highly unlikely it would snow (and bring the road salt and all the other bad stuff). It is often rainy. I had excellent weather. The main objective was to bring the brush hog up and mow trails. The trails have been disapearing and there are a number of bush islands appearing everywhere a small finish mower can't do the job. The tractor worked well. Back up over a multiflora rose bush with the brush hog up and drop it down and take care of business --at least for another couple of year or so. I spent many hours years ago yanking these things out of the ground with tractor and chain which yields a more satisfactory long term outcome. I will be doing the same with the largest ones for sure. I understand that these bushes were originally planted as a natural fence. Animals and humans alike don't like the thorns. They are invasive.
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We are back from Central America, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. It was a very good trip, most excellent. Overall, we had only pleasant surprises, an excellent hotel in Guatemala City, fantastic experience with Mayans, active volcanoes, boats, islands, and we learned much about the area. We started in San Jose, Costa Rica and took a bus to Managua, Nicaragua. It was 10 hours of riding and a 5 hour delay at the border for immigration and customs. One of the pics shows the "Passport control" process for our bus. In Nicaragua, we spent time on Lake Nicaragua and Ometepe island. We got to peer deep into the earth at bubbling lava in Masaya volcano. We flew from Managua to San Salvador, El Salvador. We visited the Mayan pyramid at Tazumal and the archeological site found at Joya de Ceren. We also went to the city of Granada. Then we flew to Guatemala City. We took a long day trip crossing the Honduran border to visit the Mayan pyramid at Copan. lastly,we went to Atitlan Lake and visted the "modern" Mayan town of Santiago Atitlan.


It was fitting that I watched the movie "American Made" on the flight back to Atlanta (2nd time). The film was largely filmed in Atlanta and Georgia. Pilots I know were extras in the movie.

Here are a few pics as I start to sort.




Comments

omegax said…
Lovely pictures Sir. Any idea what caused the delay at the border and did you use any specific travel agency? I might want to follow your path in future and it would help to know :)
6:45 PM
Charles said…
Omegax, The delay at the border was a combination of things 1.) Not being super freindly neighbors 2.) Holiday season and lots of guest workers returning up north after working in Costa Rica. 3.) crossing not well equipped/organized for efficient processing.

We did not use a specific travel agent. We did hire drivers and guides in different countries, but it was ad hoc.

It is a really interesting trip.
5:29 AM
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