The drive was quick and largely uneventful, the weather was good, and we soon reached the Honduran border. I can sum up the entire process of leaving El Salvador and entering Honduras in one word; unpleasant. Not only did we have to negotiate the normal paperwork, we also had extremely unhelpful border guards who seemed intent on keeping as there for as long as possible. All we could do for much of the time was just wait, and just as darkness was approaching, they deemed it appropriate to let us through. We were driving in the dark again…great!

However, just on the other side of the border, we met Juan who is the manager if the Lufassa power plant; a large heavy oil burning power station providing some 33% of the Honduran electricity demand. Anyway, Juan kindly showed us the way to Lufassa which is where we would be spending the night. Upon arrival, we could make out some large and impressive-looking equipment through the dark, but the tour was reserved for the next day, and for now we had car charging and dinner as priorities!

With the car now on charge in an impressive looking workshop, we drove over to the local seafood restaurant where we feasted on shrimp and other delicacies from the ocean. The open restaurant looking out onto the river estuary was a perfect introduction to Honduras, and along with Juan and other members of the power plant management, we happily passed the night away.

After dinner, we were shown to our quarters at the power station. As a complete first, we actually slept in the crew quarters of the power station, and we were given a huge 3 bedroom apartment replete with kitchen all to ourselves! What fantastic hospitality! We went to bed shortly after wondering what was lying in store for us on the tour the following morning…

Here we spent a while showing the car to the staff, and after this we went in and gave a presentation on the project and trip to date with the media present as well. After this, we went out to the car with the aim of demonstrating it to the eagerly anticipating staff and media. But the car wouldn’t start. It was not exactly what we wanted to happen, least of all in front of the media’s cameras!

So we returned the car into the KPMG garage, and took off the bodywork to see what was going on. No matter what we did though, we couldn’t find anything wrong with the car in any of the systems. It was a bizarre state of affairs because if we connected the laptop to the onboard computer, we were able to start the car. The only cause of the problem we could think of was that the extreme humidity had somehow damaged one of the computer modules and it wasn’t allowing the car to boot up on its own.

So, in order to continue with our schedule of meeting another contingent of the San Salvadorian press, we rebuilt the car by 3.30pm, and drove it over to a smart department store which is one of KPMG’s clients. This was an enjoyable event, followed up with juice and donuts after which we headed back to the offices and continued diagnosing the car. With the cause of the problem isolated, and the knowledge that until we got a replacement CAN module we would have to start the car with the laptop, we downed our tools for the day and went for a shower to freshen up before dinner.

Dinner was a delicious affair, again in the company of KPMG, in a quiet and secluded restaurant in the heart of the city. During the dinner, we were regaled tales from Claudio and Kevin’s (another cameraman on the trip) careers as documentary filmmakers. I can honestly say I have never heard such a collection of captivating and incredible stories, and the entire table was the thoroughly enthralled! This made for a fantastically interesting dinner where we weren’t talking about ourselves for a change(!), and one has to wonder whether the documentary is being filmed the wrong way around!

So with dinner over and the clock ticking towards bedtime, we headed back to the hotel for what we thought would be our last night in San/El Salvador. However, the following morning we quickly realised that we wouldn’t be going anywhere; there was a large storm predicted, and the ominous looking clouds ahead looked as if they would give the little SRZero a tough time out on the Pan-American Highway. All the KPMG staff strongly advised us against leaving in this weather. We considered staying an extra day in San Salvador which although would push delay us in getting to other organised events, it would allow us time to spend on logistics as well as car related things.

So we took the opportunity to give the SRZero another inspection, and to mount spotlights onto the support van for extra visibility at night. All this engineering work went very well, and by 7pm we had made great progress. At this point, Edgar, an employee at KPMG and an absolute star in shuttling us around the city and helping us in all manner of things during our stay in El Salvador, invited us to play football with some other KPMG employees. We readily agreed, and before long, Andy, Toby and myself were on the AstroTurf, in the pouring rain, having a vigorous kick around with the KPMG guys. It was fantastic fun, and definitely the best exercise we had had in a very long time. After a quick dinner of pampoosas after the match (a local dish which was very filling) we headed back to the hotel for our final night in El Salvador.

All I can say is a massive thank you to the KPMG office for ensuring our stay here was comfortable, enjoyable, and very well catered for!

The drive to the border was short and uneventful, with the road both excellent and terrible in equal measure. It was raining very hard for much of the journey through Guatemala, but by now we had become confident in the SRZero’s ability to cope with the water, and so we were all very lighthearted as we were, for once, making very good time.

After a few hours of solid driving through the jungle, we saw a break in the trees as a wide valley crossed perpendicular to the road. The river gushing along the base of the valley formed the border between Guatemala and El Salvador, and the bridge we could see arching over the river was our way across. It was really quite dramatic what with the river, the clouds, the jungle, and the mountains of both countries looming overhead. There was just one last challenge for us before leaving Guatemalan soil, and that was a large and deep pool of water just at the beginning of the bridge…

As discussed in previous blogs and video posts, the SRZero and large pools of standing water are not the best of friends. Nonetheless, if we wanted to get across today, the car was going to have to man up and take it. Toby reversed the car a little to give it a bit of a run up, and then full steam ahead it ploughed through the water! The car whipped past the rest of the team waiting on the bridge, and water could be seen streaming out of every orifice. But, the SRZero still worked, and nobody was electrocuted!

The next challenge to face us was getting all 3 vehicles into El Salvador. With our passports quickly stamped, we began the long and extremely annoying process of filling in documents, taking them to another building, then taking something else to somebody else, and then finally ending up in an office where someone takes, and I’m not joking, over an hour to put what you have written on the form, into the computer. A handicapped snail could have entered in the data faster, and a process which could easily have been completed in 10 minutes ended up taking 2 hours! Nonetheless, they were only formalities to contend with, and we didn’t have any problems with getting ourselves and the vehicles through.

Throughout this whole process, the UMG staff patiently waited to ensure we got across the border and into the safe hands of our police escort. After saying goodbye to our hosts, the police, with sirens blaring, lead us full steam ahead until we reached a petrol station. Here we met with 2 cars that had been sent from KPMG, each equipped with their own flashing lights. And so, with the police car kneading the way, and the 2 KPMG cars blocking both lanes behind us, the convoy moved with rapid pace. On occasion, another car did manage to sneak into the convoy, and when they did, they were muscled off the road by the chase cars who then sped up and resumed their positions! We must have done someone good in our previous lives because this was super 5* treatment!

Another relief was the road conditions…they were flawless! And by flawless, I mean absolutely and completely smooth all the was into San Salvador. We had never seen anything like it, and it was an absolute pleasure to drive upon. After a few hours driving, we reached the city of San Salvador where upon, if we saw a red light, we were led straight through! It was like a police chase except we were chasing the police!

After a few more minutes, we were led into the secure office compound of KPMG El Salvador where, even though it was a Sunday night, there were loads of people waiting for us. It was a tremendous welcome, and we spent a while telling them about the project and how the trip had gone so far. It was a very family-orientated atmosphere, with the employees’ children running around, and we were made to genuinely feel at home.

After dinner and putting the car on charge, another thing KPMG had kindly organised for us, we were led to a small but very tasteful hotel where we were to stay for the next 2 nights. As it was still quite early, we were looking forward to our first night of sleep longer than 4 hours for quite a while, and before long, blissful sleep engulfed us all!