Computer problems!

We are in Xela, Guatemala and will be here for the next few months. We rented a room and we think John just got a job at a bakery. We are having problems with the computer, so we will post a blog as soon as we can. ciao ciao kindra and john

Week Eleven, Watch Out Guatemala!

Week 11

Look Out Guatemala, Here We Come!

June 1^st-7th

(a.The road least taken!) (b.The highest pyramid at Tikal)

Day 71, Mon: San Ignacio, Belize

On Monday morning John, Itai, Marcus and Kindra did the morning yoga. After that we went into town to do internet, and have a little pizza. Kindra went to the market for a few needed items while John worked on posting the blog for last week. The internet connections in Belize are few and far between and it was difficult to get a good consistent connection. We spent the majority of the day in town, then later that afternoon Kindra did some laundry and John tried to prepare for the border crossing into Guatemala. Our new friends, Aviv and Itai, were making hummus that night for dinner so we were excited to have one of our favorite dishes, prepared by folks who know it well! John was able to gain a little bit of insight into what we could expect the following day and it seemed that crossing into Guatemala would be pretty straight forward. We were also feeling a lot more confident with our new caravan. Aviv and Itai’s hummus was amazing they did the most wonderful job presentation, 4 or 5 different types of hummus and Theo made a delicious homemade pita to go with the meal. We all ate like kings and for dessert Kindra made a fruit salad fit for the Gods! We all relaxed that evening and went to bed early in preparation for the next day’s travel to Tikal, in Guatemala.

(a.Tree top room at Parrot Nest) (b.Dinning area at Parrot Nest)

Day 72, Tues: Tikal, Guatemala

Again on Tuesday morning, John, Itai, Marcus and 4 travelers from New York City all practiced yoga together. The practice has becoming a ritual around the Parrot Nest and the folks from New York inquired the evening before about seeing us and if they could join. Kindra prepared the camper and the truck while John led his first group, over 3 people, in a Bikram session of yoga. After the Yoga and a small breakfast, we all took some group photos and gave hugs to our wonderful hosts Marcus and Theo. Our stay in Belize wouldn’t have been as enjoyable had it not been for these two wonderful people and we are ever grateful for their kindness and hospitality… (the free tour to the Rio on Pools, Rio Frio Cave and Big Rock x2, opening your home to us, coffee in the morning, the list goes on and on) we love you guys! We will see you on our way back north, if not sooner. Heading out of Bullet Tree and San Ignacio we stopped at the market and then drove toward the Belize/Guatemalan border, only 30 minutes away. A quick stop at the exit office of the Belizean border, some money exchange, and we were on to the fumigation stop in Guatemala. It was more of a misting than anything and we were not sure that the spray would have killed even the smallest of pests living in, on or around the truck and camper. All in all, the rest of the border was simple and after a quick inspection of the truck and a vehicle permit we were done in less than an hour. Wallace was our biggest concern especially with his purple hinny… we were afraid the border crossing animal control people would be suspicious. No problem though and with all our paperwork they barley even looked at him. It was only a couple hours to Tikal and we were hoping to see the ruins that day, but were disappointed to find out that no dogs were allowed past the gate entrance to the park, where we heard there was cheap camping. We went back into the closest town where we had seen some camping areas and found a nice place to stay for the evening, El Paraiso. We walked into town to do a little internet and bought their first Guatemalan tortillas! Hooray! The little shop was a house down a small street with 4 young ladies pressing balls of freshly mashed maize into patties with their hands and cooking the dough on a large fire heated plate. Unlike the tortillarias in Mexico where the make them mainly by machine. The young girls handed John the hottest bag of 30 tortillas ever (too hot even for the local starving dog to eat) for 2.50q (around 30 cents). For dinner that night we made a fajita grill with beans, tofu and the tortillas. After dinner John and Itai got some good travel info from some other Israelis staying at the campground. There was a neighbor boy who took interest in Wallace and came around the fence to pet him. Once he got closer we could see that he had Downs Syndrome. He stayed and played with Wallace for at least 3 hours. The Isreali folks we were talking to earlier had said that was the first time the saw him smile all week. In the end the kids older sister had to drag him away crying… he was grabbing onto trees the whole way home. It was so sweet to see how Wallace had brightened his day. Our first night in Guatemala was very nice and good vibes were all around.

(a.Pac Man John) (b.El Paraiso, near Tikal)

Day 73, Wed: Santa Elena, Guatemala

On Wednesday we got up around 5am and headed to Tikal. We left little Wallace with the owners of the campground. We had asked them the night before if they would mind watching him for the morning and they were happy to do so. Tikal is a truly amazing site; we were both amazed at the size of some of the larger temples, John especially as it was his first large Mayan ruins site (about 3 times the size of Palenque). A couple of incredible things about these Mayan sites is how they constructed the larger structures. After doing some reading we realized that each temple is actually a temple built on a temple built on a temple and in their hay day they were painted with brilliant shades of white or red, depending on the temple. We spent the morning exploring the massive sight, climbing up several of the towering structures that gave us the most beautiful views of the surrounding northern Guatemalan jungles. It was a bit pricey to get into the park, but on this day we were graced by some other bonus items. Along the way we saw at least 2 or 3 large groups of howler and spider monkeys moving in the trees above us, a nice bonus. Then just before exiting we spotted another wild creature called a tepasquin (or something like that) it looks kind of like a raccoon and an anteater. We were so close to it and it wasn’t even scared of us. It was a nice day to explore the park and after we headed south towards Flores. We arrived in Flores around 3 pm and we found a nice camp spot just out of town in Santa Elena (thanks to our ‘99 days to panama’ book and the GPS). Flores is a cute little town on an island on the lake, very charming and nice scenery, but hard to drive there because the roads are small and torn up due to repairs. We decided to split from Itai and Aviv till later that night when we would meet in town for dinner. From the camp sight we took a small tuk tuk taxi into town so as not to do any unnecessary driving. After meeting up with our friends we found a nice little place to have dinner… they even let Wallace in with us. This would only be our 2^nd time eating out. After dinner we stopped and had some ice cream before getting a taxi home to the truck and camper. We agreed to meet the next morning to get an early start to Coban and Lanquin, where we got a tip about some amazing pools called Samuc Champey.

Day 74, Thurs: Grutas de Languin, Guatemala

Thursday we headed out towards Lanquin… little did we know how poor the road we would travel on would be. A 4 hour drive turned into an 8 hour journey (flashbacks of the Baja). A side from the 10 to 15 mph speeds for more than 6 hours and the flat tire around dusk, the trip was a joy. Seriously, we were able to see some of the most magnificent views and vistas of the trip thus far. We were able to see a part of Guatemala that most people never get to see because we have our own vehicle and our choice of the northern driving route. As we passed slowly through the mountain towns between Flores and Coban (on a road that was in the process of becoming a highway) local villagers would come out of there small village houses to stare, smile, laugh, wave, holler and yell out “GRINGOS!” at us. It was quite and experience and from a cultural stand point, awakening. We wondered how many non-Guatemalans these people had seen, much less a small caravan of white people and a pug dog! It was a bit of a hectic drive and we pulled into the Lanquin cave campground just after dark, happy to see the overnight guards there as we were not sure of the camping situation in the country.

( Flat tire on a bad road!)

Day 75 & 76, Fri & Sat.: Samuc Champey, Guatemala

On Friday morning John woke early to fix (for good) the flat tire that went flat again during the night. After a nice breakfast we had the local tour guide, an 11 year old Guatemalan boy named Chrisanto, take us though the Gruta de Lanquin. It was very cool for John’s first enclosed caving experience. There were a lot of huge stalactites and stalagmites in the shape of different animals along with some mall limestone crystal formations. Walking though the cave only took about an hour, and after a dip in the frigid waters of the river and a little lunch we packed up and headed towards Coban and Samuc Champey. The drive was only about 15-20 miles away although again we had to travel on some pretty “unfinished” roads, so it took us a couple of hours! We pulled into the small camping area before dark and Itai gave us a little lesson on the history and current events of Israel… very informative and helpful for both of us since they would mention certain things that we couldn’t understand without knowing a bit of their background. I should mention that since beginning our Guatemalan journey with our new friends we have been taking turns cooking dinner for each other and on this evening it was our turn to cook. We made a red curry that would have melted the face off of even the most seasoned spicy food eater….whoops! John overdid it on the curry paste for sure. Our dinner guest’s didn’t complain and we all had clear sinuses afterwards. That night after having our first 4 person dinner party in the camper we watched the movie Slum Dog Millionaire together. It’s pretty cool to be miles away from civilization and still be able to watch a movie with friends…. ahhhh the comfort of the camper never ceases to amaze us!

(Crisanto, our 11 yr old tour guide) (Just after a tour through the cave)

The next morning we took our time getting ourselves together. We packed lunch and headed down to the pools for a hike and a swim. Before hiking down to the pools we ran into our little tour guide friend from Lanquin, Chrisanto, and he offered again his guide services and we thankfully accepted. Although we probably did not need a guide, it was nice to have a little companion with us and he was fun to be around. The hike around the falls was really something and again we saw a few howler monkeys. It was a very steep climb that took about a half hour. The viewpoint on the hillside of Samuc Champey was breathtaking and John had never seen anything quite so impressive. From above on the mountain side looking down on the pools they look like a terrace of crystal clear blue green pools with mineral rock formations in the middle and on the sides, like little islands and peninsulas. Getting closer to the pools we could see that the river actually runs through a cave beneath the pools and the pools are formed by the small amount of water from the same river that trickles over the ground above the cave. Down stream we could see the mouth of the cave where the powerful river gushes out of the hillside and the calm clear pools above. It’s an incredible place… one of the wonders of the world for sure (at least for us)! We swam, ate lunch, and returned to the camp spot to check on Wallace, who was not allowed in the park so we left him in the camper. When we returned we played a few rounds of the “dice” game (thanks Tana) with some local boys who were thrilled to have some attention paid to them. Itai and John headed back down to the pools for a second dip and on the way back ran into Kindra. So we (John and Kindra) finished off the day with yet another swim in the pools.

(Can you find the butterfly? It's yellow)

Day 78, Sun: Coban, Guatemala

We intended on driving all the way to Antigua, but making it out of the canyon area took us the better part of the day. We stopped in town again to do a bit of internet, have breakfast, and buy a few items at the local outdoor street market. On our way south to Coban, while driving, John spotted our friends Grace and Rance from the Baja. They’re not that hard to miss in their bright teal blue 70’s VW van with surfboards on the roof and 3 dogs in the back. We stopped to have a little reunion on the side of the street. They were heading the opposite direction towards Tikal (where we had already been), but we got some good tips on a nice little park outside of Coban where we could camp for the night. As we drove through Coban we realized there was no way we would make it to Antigua this day and we decided to check out the park. It turned out to be a sweet little spot right on the outskirts of the city. We parked the vehicles in a playground area where some local families were celebrating various occasions (a birthday and maybe a wedding reception). The local kids were smacking the piñata and diving for the candy. We all had some lunch in the pick nick area then set up our hammocks and took long siestas. There is usually some light rain in the morning to afternoon that occurs in this region all year long that the locals call “chipichipi”, which we were awaked by as we were fast asleep in the hammock. We thoroughly enjoyed the drops of cool mountain afternoon rain… what a nice way to wake up.

(Itah and Aviv pitched their tent in the playground)

Our first week in Guatemala has been great! It’s so nice to have our little caravan. We feel a lot safer going with some other people and pooling our resources. Besides that they are such nice company and we all get along great together! Much love for our friends and family… we always have you on our minds! Thanks for all of the love and support.

peace and love

John and Kindra

Week Ten, Island Fun and Waterfalls

Week 10

Belize

May 25^th – May 31^st

(John and Wallace on the dock @C.C)

Day 64, Mon.: ‘Parrot Nest’ Bullet Tree, San Ignacio, Belize

It is holiday in Belize and we decided it would be best if we didn’t try and travel to the islands until Tuesday. We hung around ‘Parrot Nest’ (the place we have been camping at… wonderful place!) practiced a bit of yoga, did our laundry, swam in the river, and did some journaling and blogging. One of the dogs here at the Parrot Nest recently had a litter of 10 puppies so Wallace enjoyed frolicking with the little guys. The better part of the day was mostly spent relaxing, later in the day Kindra got out all her jewelry making supplies and worked with Theo’s daughter and little friend making necklaces, bracelets and anklets. Of course as everyone watches the process they ask her if she can make something for them. Jasmina, one of the girls staying at the ‘Parrot Nest’, really liked one of Kindra's necklaces and purchased it from her. Our new friend Skip was also interested in some of the turquoise pieces Kindra had in her stock and commissioned her to make him a necklace. It turned out beautifully and is testament to her “on the spot” jewelry making skills. That night we made a batch of ‘sopa de fideo’ for everyone, it was a big hit and everyone really liked it (Thanks for the recipe Chuck/Dad!).

Day 65 & 66, Tues. & Wed: Caye (pronounced ‘key’) Caulker

On Tuesday we packed up to go to Caye Caulker (a small island off the coast of Belize) for the next couple of days. Skip was nice enough to give us a ride all the way into Belize City, so we were able to leave the truck and camper at Parrots Nest…Sweet! Before leaving San Ignacio we stopped at the local French bakery and picked up some breakfast pastries, cinnamon buns, cheese croissants, and a loaf of sourdough bread for the trip. It was about and hour and a half drive from San Ignacio into Belize City, where Skip dropped us off right at the ferry station and we said our goodbyes as he would be returning to the states for a month before retuning to Belize to live permanently. (Thanks again for everything Skip, we’ll miss ya). The next ferry out to Caye Caulker left at noon so that gave John an hour to buy some local produce on the street (mame fruit, an avocado, and some other small local fruit), while Kindra and Wallace sat in the nicely air conditioned water ferry station. We boarded the boat… our second water journey of the trip. The ferry from the city to island was about 45 min long and very beautiful. Heading out towards the island we passed off-shore mangroves and reefs along the way. When we got to the Caye, we were greeted by a slew of men offering places to stay and golf cart taxis, all of which we turned down. We had a couple of places recommended to us to stay but had to investigate whether or not they would allow us to stay with Wallace. The first hostel we stopped at called Tina’s Backpackers hostel turned our little travel companion down and we headed down the road to another spot called Bella’s. The girl at Bella’s initially said they did not allow pets but after a little convincing that Wallace was a well behaved boy and we were responsible pet owners, she agreed to let us stay. Bella’s had a communal kitchen, with a fridge, cable TV and 2 shared bathrooms and showers. Another bonus of this hostel was free access to two canoes that we could paddle around the island and then snorkel anywhere our hearts desired. After we got settled we strapped the little boy’s life preserver on and paddled down to the split of the island where we did some snorkeling/swimming. Caye Caulker used to be one island until a hurricane split it in half, on the northern part of the island, where now a host of marine life lives and there is some good snorkeling. We found a spot on the edge of a cement structure to tie up the canoe. The structure was only about 10 feet tall and it looked as though it was some sort of wall or walkway before the hurricane came through and knocked out parts of it. Not only did it make for a great place for people to bath on, but it was also an artificial reef for a bunch of the fish. We were just out in front of a touristy bar where there are benches in the water for people to sit on. One of the local Garifunas (African population) was putting dead fish in his mouth and letting the birds swoop down and grab it. He offered for other people to come down and do the same, but they just held it in their hand. After being around fresh water for the last few weeks it was a bit of a shock to get a mouthful of the super salty ocean water. We both agreed that so far we prefer the tropical lagoons and rivers of Belize and Mexico to the salty ocean. After paddling the canoe back to Bellas, we walked down to the local grocery store to buy some supplies for dinner, lunch and breakfast for the next morning. We used the communal kitchen to cook up some dinner, relaxed and watched a movie on…..that’s right cable TV; it was a nice treat as we have not seen any TV in months.

(disembarking the Caye Caulker Ferry)

(Our cabana @ Bella's on C.C)

(paddling around to the split on Caye Caulker free canoeing!)

The next morning we took Wallace out for a walk into the small town center and John got a cup of coffee at a little restaurant. We walked down the beach and through a small nature preserve, where some replanting of native plants and flora was taking place. After the walk John bought some fresh fruit (pineapple, watermelon, orange, and papaya) from a local woman who had it all cut up and ready to eat for breakfast. We spent the afternoon taking turns watching Wallace, snorkeling, napping and swimming. The water on the Caye is crystal clear, and both of us were able to see lots of tropical fish, star fish, sting rays and we kept our eyes out for the reef sharks that live by the split… no luck though… although maybe that’s a good thing! Even though they don’t hurt you it still freaks us out. Wallace enjoyed hanging out in the shade all day. We had a simple little lunch of bread from the French bakery, cheese and the local brand ‘Marie Sharps’ corn chips and habanera hot sauce. We seem to eat hot sauce these day’s like salsa. After coming back from the beach that afternoon we both showered and relaxed a bit before going to the store again for some supplies for dinner. We only brought a small amount of cash so we had to go with Mac n Cheese! We cooked dinner again at the hostel and watched a movie on TV. As we are on such a budget, “going out” in the evening is not really an option for us and we were content to just relax and chill at the hostel. Kindra made friends with some girls who had been traveling in Guatemala prior to Belize, and they all exchanged stories about traveling, dogs and bug bites. We both got more bug bites on the island than anywhere else on the trip so far. That night we had a bit of an interesting experience. In the middle of the night around 2am we were awakened by a strange shifting and movement of the Cabana we were staying in. Now normally this would have been cause for some real concern, but the night before we were awakened by a similar movement that we determined to be the couple in the room next to us “getting it on”. So we just thought it was a repeat of the first night and went back to sleep. Well, when we woke up the next morning the girls Kindra had been talking to the night before asked us if we felt the “earth move” last night? I said I had but I was sure it was the couple in the room next to us. We came to find out that it actually was a large earthquake on the mainland, hardest hitting in Honduras. Apparently the tremor was rather strong on the mainland of Belize as well. When we returned back to the Parrot Nest, Theo told us her whole house swayed for closed to 60 seconds!!! There is a crack on their ceiling that they don’t remember seeing there before.

(the split @ Caye Caulker)

(the view from the beach @ "the split" on C.C)

(John eating his new favorite fruit, mamae)

(Kindra w/ the local chips Marie Sharps)

(nice underwater shot @ the split C.C)

(Wallace likes the hammocks here too!)

(the sunset behind Bellas on Caye Caulker)

Day 67-70, Thur.- Sun: Bullet Tree, San Ignacio, Belize

We packed up on Thursday morning and caught the 10am ferry off the island back to Belize City. It was a hot day and when we arrived back on the mainland we promptly caught a taxi to the bus station and made it just in time to hop on the bus to San Ignacio. We boarded the bus and tried to relax during the ‘stop and go’ ride back to the Parrot Nest. The bus ride was anything but direct, as we stopped along the way to pick up and drop off other passengers and at one point picked up a whole load of students at the end of their school day on their way home. When we arrived back in San Ignacio, a friendly cabby took us by the produce market where we picked up some groceries on our way back to Bullet Tree (the small town where the Parrot Nest is located). It was nice to have the afternoon and daylight to get organized and rinsed off all the salt that still remained on us from the island, in the river (Even though we took showers on the island, the water that we showered with was even slightly salty so you never really felt clean). Some other guests had arrived at the ‘Nest’ while we were away and we sat and chatted with them before cooking dinner.

(our home for the last 2 weeks, oh so nice!)

Friday we went into town in the morning, after doing some Bikram Yoga and a little swim in the river. We found a local Pizza restaurant that had free wifi internet and we ordered pizza (Our first time eating out since we have been on the trip). The food was great and after a half an hour or so of getting the wireless connection up and running, we managed to post the blog, respond to some emails, and do some couch surfing for Guatemala. While Kindra worked on the online stuff, John ran into a nice couple from Israel, Itai and Aviv, who are doing almost the same trip as us! The guy struck up a conversation with John about the truck and they got to talking, as it turned out they too were couch surfers and were looking for our contact Marcus and needed directions to the Parrot Nest! Among other similarities they too had stayed a couple of nights at Barton Creek Outpost (we were there a week ago) and they had also spent a night at ‘The Bosque” (Eco-community) in Mexico, just days before us. We got to talking and decided we would all caravan into Guatemala in the next couple of days. Before leaving town John walked up to the market for some fresh produce. That evening, Itai and Aviv made some delicious pasta sauce and we boiled some pasta noodles, grilled up some zucchini and garlic bread and all had dinner together.

( our new friends Itai and Aviv on our tubing excursion)

The next morning we did our morning Yoga together and went for a swim in the river. We (Itai, Aviv, Kindra and John) all went into town for the Saturday morning market where we all bought some produce, fresh peanut butter, and papoosas for lunch. We also filled our propane tank and stopped off for water before heading back to the Nest. This took most of the morning and afternoon so when we returned Kindra worked on drilling some holes in local seeds we have found here on the property, and John cleaned, organized and did some repairs on the camper. We all got our bathing suits on and decided to do a little tubing down the river… how relaxing and refreshing! The river flows at just the right speed; you get the maximum amount of tube time with a minimum amount of walking to get back to the house. That night Itai and Aviv cooked us all dinner. They made a delicious fresh vegetable/ginger stir-fry and rice, how nice to have someone cook for us 2 times in one day. We were happy to do the dishes as a trade off!!!

Sunday morning we (Marcus, Itai, John and Kindra) had ourselves a small Yoga class at 7:30. We did a Bikram series together and then swam in the river (again!). After some time lapsed photography of hair cutting on Itai and Marcus (Itai has a really nice camera that he did it with) Marcus, John, Kindra, Itai, Aviv, Theo, Chleo and Wallace all headed out to ‘Big Rock’ falls for lunch and swimming. Since it was a tight squeeze with everyone in Itai and Aviv’s 4 Runner, Marcus and John stood outside the car on the running rails and held on to the roof rack the rest of the way to the falls. Once again the falls were beautiful and we were happy to get to experience them a second time (with us being the only ones there). On our way back we stopped at the popular ‘soy’ ice cream shop that is only open 4 days a week for a few hours in the late afternoon. It was delicious! Kindra got orange and vanilla (like a creamcicle) and John got chocolate and vanilla soft serve. Yum!!! We got back to around 6 pm, and started to cook dinner in the camper for the CS’rs (Couch Surfers) as Theo’s kitchen was in use for her 8 other guests staying in rooms. And boy does it gets hot in the camper when you cook! After dinner, Marcus put up the “movie sheet screen” and we watched Monsters vs. Aliens, very funny!

All together the last couple of weeks here in Belize at Barton Creek and the Parrot Nest have been awesome. We have been so blessed to be invited to stay here and both feel so lucky to again be surrounded by such giving, peaceful, and loving people. It’s another example of our how our encounters with truly amazing people have enriched and made our trip so special. We look forward to traveling into Guatemala with our new friends, and waving a fond farewell to all of the friends we have made in Belize.

(some morning yoga all together...Breath!)


(on the way to the falls riding on the sides of the truck, natural AC baby)


(Theo and Chloe on the way home from the falls w/our little boy, he loves everyone)

(Aviv, John, Kindra, Chloe and Theo @ big rock falls)

peace and love,

Kindra, John and our confident little swimming pug (life jacket included) Wallace.