When first we got Rusty in February 2016 he was not keen on rain. In fact he would run for cover at the first signs of damp and I attributed his horror of rain to his months spent surviving on the run in the Everglades. His eventual rescuers took this photo of him after they saw him for months avoiding getting shot by angry farmers who don’t like strays being dumped in the Redlands of Homestead.
Of course after he had lived with us for a while he got used to being dried and getting on his bed to recover from encounters with rain. Here in Central America he positively revels in the cold damp wind and rain blown up our volcanic campground by Tropical Storm Pilar.
This for me has been a tropical storm of firsts: first time I’ve been cold, up a mountain, and confined to a van for three days and nights because of hurricane conditions. The damned storm has stalled off the coast of El Salvador and dropped inches of rain daily causing flooding, land slides (“derrumbes”) and the usual accompaniment of fallen trees and wires and failed cellphone service (thank you Starlink).
The worst of the rain hit the south of the country but we got our share up on our hill. We made hot drinks, idled the engine to make electricity and heat and watched a TV series on the laptop. It is a series called The Sinner set in Maine but reminds me of Bloodline set in the Keys.
We didn’t just slack either, with immense patience we filled out the application form to enter Nicaragua. They want the ID card number of the person hosting us…shades of the Soviet Union so when I found they wouldn’t let me proceed without it I wrote 123456789 in the box!
The Germans and Austrians camped with us insisted we get together to celebrate my Halloween birthday so we rented a cabana which had electricity for a while but also had a very serviceable gas stove and functioning flush toilet. We hardcore overlanders needed nothing more.
Cold cuts, smoked pork chops and air fried potatoes with a chocolate cake without candies. “We couldn’t find 66,” they said. I guess I’m past the age of blowing out flames especially at 6,000 feet of altitude.
The cooks: Layne with Mattias.
It was a good evening and Rusty sat out the celebration in style. But with no desire to pose for the camera.
Red wine and mezcal (from Oaxaca) do not lead to an early morning but when I did wake at 6:30 am on Wednesday, day three of Pilar, Rusty was ready to walk. So walk we did.
The wind honked in gusts, not as hard as the day and night before, and with the wind horizontal rain slashed. I hid behind tree trunks, he paid no attention.
One of the local dogs, well protected by husky fur joined us and to my surprise Rusty welcomed him with a briskly wagging tail.
Rusty was in the mood to explore so he led us out of the gates and turned left as though he knew exactly where he wanted to go. The snack bar was firmly closed.
He went up a stream bed that is still dry surprisingly after the rains. The two dogs ducked into the bushes and I waited in the stream bed for them to reappear.
Rusty burst out and raced past me to the light of day on the road and I followed rather more slowly and carefully with the husky eventually appearing as well.
Rusty then led us into an abandoned field for some more damp exploration for reasons unknown to me, or the husky who hung back. It was about now I started thinking back to the little bundle of joy who used to be afraid of the rain.
I was wearing a t-shirt as I saw no point in getting more clothes wet so I was decidedly ready to get back to GANNET2.
Rusty made us take a wide arc back to the comforts of home and I was pleased to see him enjoying himself and feeling confident enough to explore. He also greatly enjoys a rundown with his towel.
I caught a glimpse of the sun through the clouds so I have hopes the slashing wind and rain will subside before dark this Wednesday. The others are talking of leaving to explore but with our experience of downed trees and power lines after tropical storms we plan to stay out till Thursday morning not least because GANNET2 is quite comfortable and dry even in this weather. The Austrians are squashed into a small Volkswagen which without the poptop up, impossible in these winds, leaves them hunched over in their not entirely comfortable wet weather home.
Besides, they are here to explore and they should.
We will catch up with them later down the road not least because we plan to share a container in Panama to cross the Darien Gap to Colombia. A co photo from a friend in the mountains south of us, clearing trees:
Mattias and Silvia will be taking off too but for us one more day stationary works for us.
