Swerved in Guatemala

Man I am tired. My last post was hastily sent in a fog of birthday celebration that lasted for a couple of days too long. I am beginning to recover, but it is going to take a few days. I somehow got up in time to catch the water taxi over to Rio Dulce the day after my birthday so that I could catch the 8 hour Chicken Bus to Antigua.

None the less I will try to catch up, forgive me if I repeat a couple of things. I will begin at the beginning. We left Playa very early for a 10 hour bus ride to Belize City. The first half of the trip was spent on the ultra luxurious Aldo buses that run all over Mexico. The bus dropped us near the border to Belize where I experienced my first chicken bus. This one was not too bad it was more like riding in an old Greyhound and was not too crowded. More on that later though. We arrived in Belize City and quickly jumped into a water taxi headed for Caye Caulker. An hour later we arrived. Caye Caulker is unlike any other beach town that I have seen in the world. There are no tall condos or hotels, The entire town is basically 3 parallel road each about 3 miles long with a separate block carved through by about 10 intersecting street. Most of the tourist activity took place on the one road that ran parallel to the North facing side of the island. We stayed in a very basic place right on the beach. The moment that I set foot on the island I could tell that life here was very simple and very slow. It was absolutely the case. There are actually signs in several places that read “go slow man.” If you walked down the street too hastily or rode a bike through town too quickly the natives would remind you or even stop you and order you to go slow man. The first night we ate at a shack on th e road called Jolly Roger's Grill. His grill was a long cylinder that used to be a natural gas tank. Three choices were all that was offered Lobster, Fish, (no particular variety just whatever came in that day) or chicken. Served with rice and beans, rum punch, and dessert. Although it took an hour and a half to get it, that was probably my most memorable meal thus far. I had the lobster.

The next day I took my first dive as a certified PADI Open Water Diver. I was confident that my experience in the Cenote and the pool had prepared me so well that I was ready to go out on my own. Long story short, I got lost from the group and thought for a moment that I would be lost at sea, got sea sick, and my ears are still not quite right. Needless to say, I am no longer quite as confident about my diving skills. The dive itself was amazing. Belize has the world second largest barrier reef and it is definitely a place that I will return to further explore.

After a very short two nights in Caye Caulker we once again boarded the water taxi for our six hour chicken bus ride to San Ignacio. This bus was somewhat more authentic. It was a 1968 Blue Bird whose former life was as a school bus in the States. I sat to a very nice woman from a village between BC and SI. It was a chicken bus though. I didn't mind the crowd on the bus as much as the frequent stops. Rather than keeping regular bus stops, the stopped whenever someone stood on the side of the road and held their arm out. So every 100 yards or so we would stop to let someone on or off. The chicken bus took 7 hours to get to SI from BC if we had a private van it would have taken 3 hours.

When the chicken bus finally dropped us off on the side of the road we hiked a half mile or so to our hotel, the Trek Stop. The TS is owned and operated by John and Diane ( I didn't get their last names) to former college professor who retired about ten years ago to Belize. The is tucked away in the jungle and consisted of about ten small cabins, a common area with a small kitchen, a small restaurant, an eco museum, public showers, and my favorite, the composting toilets. Aside from the lack of indoor plumbing, I found the place really quaint and peaceful. We met with the guides from the tour company and chose to visit the ATM cave.

Unbelievable, is the only word to describe the cave. We drove about an hour and a half to the park. Hiked for about fourty five minutes to reach the mouth of the cave. The vast majority of the cave has a stream running through it so we spent much of our time wading or swimming in the temperate water. Once we reached the area that held the Mayan Artifacts we took our shoes off and walked to the rest of the cave in our socks so that the oils from our skin did not affect the permeability of the limestone. A short, but very painful climb brought us to a very large room inside the cave. They called it the ballroom because the stalactites and stalagmites resembled chandeliers and candelabras. It was in this room that many of the artifact lay as they had for over 1000 years. It was unbelievable to see all these pots strewn throughout, but it was a little unnerving as well. The cave was completely dark and you could not see anything outside the beam of your head lamp. One false step meant crushing a priceless artifact. The highlight of the cave was the completely preserved remains of a woman who had been sacrificed in the cave. It was a bit eerie, but very interesting. And once you got used to it, the water wasn't that cold.

There are several other caves and interesting things to do in the San Ignacio area, but we did not have time. Our next destination was Flores, Guatemala. The island city was a place where many of the Mayans of the region inhabited after their fall from grace. It was there that the Spaniards settled to convert the natives to Christianity. We had come to Flores for a very specific visit to Tikal. Perhaps the most famous of all of the Mayan ruins. At this point, I feel like a Mayan ruin expert. I have visited every major site in Mexico. I could identify the specific types of artwork and architecture. So my thought going in to Tikal was yet another harrowing hike to the top of a pyramid. See a couple of ball fields and that was that. I couldn't have been more wrong. Tikal is massive. The site encompasses about 400 acres. At its height, it held over 180,000 inhabitants. Only about 10 percent of the ruins have been excavated. What is excavated is incredible. The temples cut through the jungle canopy like arms reaching to the gods. (That was a group effort metaphor thanks to Harley, Anne and Kevin for your collaboration.)

When we got back to the hotel. Mauricio had a paper mache devil ready to burn for the Dia Diablo celebration that is carried out throughout Guatemala on December 7 at 6:00 pm. You burn the devil and whatever other bad things that have haunted you during the year. After we burned our devil we drank Gallos and danced in the street with the locals while dodging exploding fireworks. That is another side bar that I have forgotten to mention about Guatemala they are constantly firing off fireworks. There is no rhyme or reason, so if you ever come here don't be alarmed.

Well, I hope that this recap is a better description of what has been happening. I have been in a couple of other places, but I will save those stories for next time.

Please give me some feedback or questions about details I may have left out. There is a lot more to tell about these places, but typing on this tiny keyboard is arduous and it takes me forever. So if there is anything else you want to know just ask.

Until next time,

Vagabond