After leaving Granada, we headed towards the border with Honduras. On the way, we wanted to see ancient two thousand years ago footprints, left by a group of people in volcanic mud. This is one of the unique attractions in Nicaragua. Unfortunately, we could not admire them. The Archaeological Museum is located in a poor district of the country's capital, Managua. When we got there, it turned out that the museum was behind the wall, the gate was closed, and many locals were lazily pacing on the streets around. We were clearly a sensation. There was no point in parking the car there, we did not feel safe.

There were two borders planned for tomorrow, so we wanted to get as close to the first one as possible. Someone recommended us to spend the night in the village of Villanueva. It turned out to be a very poor household, the backyard of a Franco-Nicaraguan family, where we could camp. People choose to live in unexpected places. We parked next to the shed that was their home with a rusty truck in front of it. After a traditional spaghetti dinner, which we prepared ourselves, we went to sleep in our comfortable and clean rooftop tent.

The Frenchman sincerely enjoyed our visit. He did not ask for any money. We were very grateful to him for his kindness and as a gesture of gratitude we left small gifts for kids and the whole family before leaving in the morning. We left early. Borders, as always, are a test of patience. Having an experience already, we tried to manage the entire process as best we could. Unfortunately, on the first border, we waited in a long queue to get a stamp in our passports. To this must be added the necessary formalities for Balios, two and a half hours in total. From Nicaragua we crossed a patch of Honduras, finally the second border and we were in El Salvador.

It is not easy to find a good place to camp while traveling in El Salvador. Equipped with the knowledge of other overlanders, we went directly from the border to Laguna de Alegría. From the main road we had a steep climb. It was worth it. At 1,400 m / 4,600 ft, we experienced a breathtaking view of the surrounding volcanoes, but we were not there yet. We had to go inside a volcanic cone. Once inside, we had the entire crater with steep, high walls surrounding us all to ourselves.

It is rare to be inside a deep crater, even less often you can see a turquoise lake in it. The dormant volcano Tecapa hides the beautiful Alegria Lagoon. Thanks to the minerals found in volcanic clay, the water has a brilliant green color. Being in a crater filled with a lake, I felt like an ant in a huge basin. What an experience to spend a night in the crater.