Touring news
Freddie Dew was riding his bike in Central America when the coronavirus outbreak changed everything ...
This is what it's Liketo travel when the COVID-19crisis hit.
Iwas in Nicaragua and hopping lazily between the Pacific and Caribbean Coast on my way north. Over the last few weeks the Covid-19 crisis had felt like nothing more than just another distant disease to be checked in on once a week. But things were about to change... and fast.
CALM BEFORE THE STORM
After spending several nights camping on the tranquil waters of Laguna de Apoyo in Nicaragua I was ready for a change of scenery and m aybe even a bed for th e night.
I was on my 2010 Hond a Transalp, accompani ed by fellow traveller Roger from Catalunia on his Africa Twin classic.
We crossed into Honduras with no problems, and decided to cross the country (only 140km) to the El Salvador border.
Covid-19 was still far from our thoughts as we checked out of Honduras and coasted along the bridge into El Salvador. That was until we saw all the border staffwearing gloves and masks , and taking temperature s.
We pulled up and walked to th e immigration window. Our passports were taken and we were left waiting for nearly an hour as our stamps were inspected. The results were in. I had been on the road since October 2019. It was now March 11, 2020, which meant I had been outside of any regions considered coron avirus hot spot s for nearly five months . Roger, on the oth er hand , had only left Spain thr ee weeks previously, so was considered a risk.
Hours of explanation and attempted reasoning changed nothing. It was time to split. I felt terrible, but Roger had no choice but to head to the beach for a week and try again when his passport dates were correct .
DARK CLOUDS ON THE HORIZON
That evening I pulled into a sweet little Italian-run B&B in San Miguel. The owner was very interested to hear how the border was as she had heard it had now gone into complete lockdown. No one in or out. I had just made it through, by a few hours it seemed! This was not good news for Roger, however.
I decided to hit the road the next morning. Things with the outbreak were now moving fast. I needed to get to a comfortable place, preferably on a beach, to hole up. Hammock Plantation on Playa El Palmarcito seemed to be the perfect spot.
There were a number of campers there with registrations from all over so I knew they would have some up-to-date info. The news wasn 't good. Honduras had now closed its borders cutting the road south. As for the road north into Guatemala, things seemed unclear. It seemed to be a case-by-case entry.
UMBRELLAS OUT
I toyed with the idea of joining an Italian couple, Guido and Francesca, who had been heading south, but were now planning to turn back and drive north to try and leave their campervan with friends in Mexico, and fly home from there.
Mexico was a tempti ng prospect for me. It was certainly large enough to kill a few months if all the land borders started to close, but in the end I decided to first see how the Italians faired. That night I got a phone call from an exhausted Guido. He said emphatically: "Stay were you are, do not even attempt Guatemala:'
It sounded like a nightmare. After seven hours on the border they had finally made it through - but not without a fight. If they had been checked out of El Salvador and then rejected entry to Guatemala they would have faced 31 days of government quarantine upon re-entry. Eventually they had been stamped into Guatemala, but there was disagreement between officials. At one point, one even took a pen and scribbled out their new entry stamp. I have been in 44 countries with my Transalp and I have never heard of that happening! In the end they managed to swing it by having Canadian residency. A loophole , you might say!
Over the phone, Guido said: "Unless you speak perfect Spanish and are as desperate as us, forget it, hunker down where you are:' That was advice I was happy with. We still had a good crowd in the hostel and if I got bored I would hit the road and explore El Salvador for a few weeks or months. However long it took!
That spirit lasted a few more nights, until I released all the other Europea ns in the hostel were preparing to leave. They were all being called home by their governments. At th is point I started to worry. I didn't
want to be locked down in an empty hostel. Where's the fun in that. Especially if I can't leave or ride my bike in the evenings!
THE STORM GATHERS
I decided I would try and get out. The owner of the hostel said I could leave the bike with him. Sorted! It just needed water- and salt-proofing first as I didn't want the coastal climate to destroy it while I was gone.
With my tickets booked back to London, me and six others headed to San Salvador Airport. Tensions were high. Planes were getting delayed or cancelled everywhere. To make matters worse the airport was closing at midnight for a minimum of two weeks. This was going to be our one chance. Everybody in the airport was now staring at our European faces like we had single-handedly started this infection ourselves. It was starting to become very uncomfortable.
Thankfully, I was one of the three of us who managed to make it out. The rest were heading back to the hostel with cancelled flights.
It was all very strange. I was planning to be in the USA this summer, exploring Yosemite and the Californian coast. I hadn't expected to be back in the UK or to see my family so soon.
I was relieved, as I started to realise the implication this was going to have across the world. The Nicaraguan Government was denying the outbreak was even real. When your population realises it's being lied to things can easily turn violent.
Not to mention when people start to lose their jobs and still have to provide for their family. There is no government -backed wages guarantee - only survival of the fittest. Not somewhere you want to be perceived as a 'rich gringo'.
SEEKING SHELTER
As I write this I still have a number of motorcycle companions stuck around the world.
Roger is still in Honduras. All airports are closed so he is hoping the Spanish Government will be able to repatriate him on a private charter flight.
Sven, a German riding companion of mine, is currently stuck in Bolivia unable to enter Brazil, Chile, Argentina or even return to Peru. This is the story in many cases.
I just hope everyone trapped abroad will make it home safely and we can all get back to riding together soon. Stay safe everyone - home and abroad.