Week 11
Look Out Guatemala, Here We Come!
June 1st-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 2nd 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
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