New Trip. I'm excited to do this one as it takes me down into Guatemala, Honduras and Belize. I did lead this trip last year, but as it was the "Virgin Voyage" of the trip (the first time that it was offered) and my first time to Honduras and most of the places in Guatemala. This time should be better because I'm more familiar with the locations and the activities.
FEB. 11 - Merida, Mexico - Chichen Itza, Cenotes
12 - Palenque, Mexico - Driving
13 - Palenque, Mexico - Palenque Ruins, Misol-ha
14 - San Cristobal, Mexico - Agua Azul
15 - San Cristobal, Mexico - Indian Village Tour
16 - Chiapas, Mexico - El Chiflon Waterfalls, Lagos de Colon
17 - Lago Atitlan, Guate - Panajachel
18 - Lago Atitlan, Guate - Lago Atitlan Boat Tour
19 - Antigua, Guate - Chichicastenango Market
20 - Antigua, Guate - Climb Volcano Pacaya
21 - Copan, Honduras - Driving
22 - Copan, Honduras - Copan Ruins, Macaw Mountain Bird Reserve
23 - Rio Dulce, Guate - Hot Springs Waterfall
24 - Poptun, Guate - Finca Ixobel
25 - Poptun, Guate - Various Activities (Cave trips, Horses)
26 - Tikal, Guate - Tikal Ruins
27 - Caye Caulker, Belize - The Island
28 - Caye Caulker, Belize - Snorkelling trip, Shark & Ray Alley
March 1- Xpu-ha, Mexico - Driving
2 - Xpu-ha, Mexico - Tulum Ruins and Cavern Snorkelling
3 - Cancun, Mexico - Jungle ATV's and Goodbye
Definately excited about a lot of things on this trip. El Chiflon is a series of huge waterfalls in Chiapas that nobody I know or work with have visited and it's supposed to be spectacular. Also I have never climbed the volcano in Antigua and I've heard it's incredible. Spending a couple of days in Copan will be nice as well as the last time I only was there overnight. I always enjoy Snorkelling in Caye Caulker, the ATV's (which I did for the first time on my last trip and it was awesome), the hot springs waterfall... actually most of the activities and places on the trip are great.
The group seems good.. I'll post an update of their names, nationalities, etc. in a day or two.
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Xcalak: Heaven and Hell
So I recently had a week off between my last trip and the one that I am currently doing. It was nice to have a little bit of time off... lot's of stress in my life and also I didn't have time to get things as organized as I would have liked to prior to my first trip (curses OCD!). Spent the first couple of days off relaxing and getting things organized. On Wednesday of last week though Steve "Boos-bi" (another guide) and I decided to take a little bit of time to cruise south and relax a bit. We both wanted to check out Xcalak , a small fishing village located on the most south-eastern point on the Yucatan Pennisula... so southern that it is actually located south of the border of Belize-Mexico. It's located on a small strip of land that stretches south and eventually becomes the islands (cayes) of Belize. Xcalak is known to have get snorkelling and diving and with a couple of days free we figured it would be a great time to check it out.
The journey from Xpu-ha took about 5 hours and the roads were surprisingly in good shape. The road from Majahual to Xcalak is 70 kilometers - a paved 1.5 lane skinny jungle road that pushes though thick swampland. When we arrived we figured that we'd find a place to camp, but the town was so small that there wasn't even a campground. Really aren't even many hotels, mostly just rooms available for rent in the local's homes. We pulled up the the local (only) restaurant and met a few "extranjeros" that we in town to dive. The food (conch and fish) was incredible and we planted ourselves down for a few beers.
About 5 beers later we were all chatting when the door popped open and 2 middle aged couples burst through. "Hey... who's got the tour van... are you the guides?", one of the couples asked. Turns out that the guy (Bob - or "Wogs" to his tour guide buddies) used to work for the same company that we work for from 1981-1988. He knew our boss and some other friends and they were really excited to meet some new guides! Turns out that they have a place in Xcalak (right on the coast) and they invited us to come up and spend the night. We jumped in the van and drove 7 bumpy miles up the dirt road to their house. Spent the night drinking rum and beers and talking about shared friends and the "guiding life"... good times.
The next morning we woke up and Bob and Carol had the whole day planned out. They made a spectacular breakfast and then we geared up to go snorkelling. We jumped in 3 kayaks and paddled out to the reef. The beach on the coast of Xcalak isn't nearly as nice as the wide, sandy beach near Tulum... but the reef is much more vibrant and alive. The coral was very colorful and there was an abundance. There was also a heck of a lot more sealife.
Bob and Carol's Beach House
The Xcalak Waterfront
In the afternoon we went down the beach to Carol's sister's house and played boche ball. It was nice to walk the beach some and see some of the houses on the water. Xcalak is still a pretty simple community - just the small village and the waterfront homes north of town. There is no electricity so all the homes use generators or solar power and the water system is a cistern that catches rainwater. Despite the lack of modern anemities, Bob and Carol's house was really nice and Carol's sister's house was gi-normous. Most of the property on the water was foreign owned (Canadian and US) and the homes seemed to be retirement dream homes or small occupancy hotels. Although it is a paradise, they do have a few problems that plague the community - theft. Several of the homes have been robbed over the past couple of years. People coming at night, slicing through screens and crawling through windows and casing the place... often times while the owner is home in bed. Really brazen! So Carol warned us to take our valubles out of the van and store them in the "Bodega" - a locked closet in the house.
That night Bob grilled up some pork and we spent the evening having a couple of beers and playing dominoes. I had never played before so it was fun to learn - Carol was talkin' a lot of smack but I managed to give it back and then win the second game! Yeaher! We all went to bed about 10. Steve and I slept downstairs and we were both chillin' in our beds for a couple of hours read and messing around with our computers. At about 1am I was about to pass out when I heard Steve yell "HEY - RATITO". I didn't know what was up but then he busted into the room and said that he had been laying in his bed when all of a sudden a little Mayan dude popped his head up to the window and started peering around. Steve was in bed about 2 feet away staring right at him. When he yelled he saw 2 guys sprint down away and down the beach at full speed.
Figured we should check the van, so I looked outside at it and it appeared to be fine. Steve needed something out of it so I tossed him the keys and he went outside. About a minute later I hear Steve say "Dude, you got jacked!". By this point Bob and Carol were up too and we went to the van and sure enough they had broke in. They had smashed a back window on the side of the van that was not facing the house and had tossed the whole thing. There was stuff everywhere. They stole my car stereo, Steve's guitar, Steve's cell phone, my leatherman, and a bunch of other miscellanous things that we failed to bring in the house. They failed to find a couple of things (my wallet, a camera and all the stuff I have stored behind the back seat of the van) but they had gotten away with a lot! How had they broken the window and ransacked the van without us hearing a thing? We were pissed off and confused. Bob and Carol ran to the neighbors to send a call out on the marine radio and I sorted through my stuff to see what they had gotten away with. When they returned we tried to figure out what to do and decided against trying to chase the guys down. It had almost be 1/2 since they ran down the beach and who knew if they had any weapons, etc. So I gathered EVERYTHING out of the van and hauled it in and had a beer. While we were sitting in the kitchen Carol told us about the last time that she got robbed and pointed out the window that they had come through... then we noticed the the screen had been cut again and it appeared as if they had tried to enter the house again! It was hard to pass out because I imagined every little sound to be a Mayan theif crawling through the window.
JACKED!
The Hole Where My Radio Used to Be
The next morning we woke up and got ready to head up to Majahual to make a police report when the neighbor dropped in to tell us that one of the theives had been caught. Apparently they robbed us and then afterwards continued to make their way south on the road back to town, robbing hotels and residences all along the way. At 4 in the morning a guy that lives where the road enters town heard someone downstairs in his house and went to go check it out. He caught the guy crawling back out his fence. When he went to go check on his truck he saw a truck rolling slow down the road and when it passed he recognized that it was the (3) theives and jumped in his car and chased them. At this point a police car rolled up and they stopped the truck a couple 100 meters down the road. Only one of the 3 was left but there was a bunch of stuff in the truck that they had stolen.
We left and drove up to Majahual to write a report and to see if any of the stuff in the van was ours. When we got there the cops showed us the truck and sure enough our stuff was piled high in the back. They had most of the stuff - the radio, Steve's phone and guitar, my binoculars... but some stuff was missing still. They had the suspect in cuffs and we all had to pile into a small room with him and wait to talk to the cops... and wait and wait and wait... and wait. We were there from 9am until 6pm doing basically nothing but waiting to write a report. The cops were really inefficient and they definately were not maximizing their time. In fact at one point the suspect was in cuffs on the floor looking into a corner while one of the cops played "Doom" on the computer with volume at maximum... the gunshots and screams of dying ghoulies was echoing throughout the concrete bunker. At the same time the other cop picked up Steve's guitar that they had recovered and started playing while the female midget lawyer that had one leg 4 inches shorter than the other and a shoe to compensate for it hobbled around smoking cigarettes... it was definately surreal. All the while we just waited... and the waiting got a little bit annoying knowing that these guys were sitting around doing nothing. We just wanted our shit back so we could roll back up to Cancun, get a new window and the radio installed and start planning our trips.
The Thief's Truck... Or At Least The One He Was Driving
It Was Most Likely Stolen. Notice Katana Swords Painted On
The Door - Awesome!
The Machete I Found In The Theif's Ride.
Good Thing We Didn't Chase Them Down!
We finally got out of the station after about 8 hours of nothing. But I had my police report and my stuff... so I was happy. Drove up to Xpu-ha and just crashed!
The next day, the day before the trip, was rough. We spent the whole day that we had planned on preparing for our trips at the police station and now had only one day to do it plus fix the window and stereo. It was a loooong day as well but I finished all my stuff and was fresh for the next day when I had to meet my group.
The journey from Xpu-ha took about 5 hours and the roads were surprisingly in good shape. The road from Majahual to Xcalak is 70 kilometers - a paved 1.5 lane skinny jungle road that pushes though thick swampland. When we arrived we figured that we'd find a place to camp, but the town was so small that there wasn't even a campground. Really aren't even many hotels, mostly just rooms available for rent in the local's homes. We pulled up the the local (only) restaurant and met a few "extranjeros" that we in town to dive. The food (conch and fish) was incredible and we planted ourselves down for a few beers.
About 5 beers later we were all chatting when the door popped open and 2 middle aged couples burst through. "Hey... who's got the tour van... are you the guides?", one of the couples asked. Turns out that the guy (Bob - or "Wogs" to his tour guide buddies) used to work for the same company that we work for from 1981-1988. He knew our boss and some other friends and they were really excited to meet some new guides! Turns out that they have a place in Xcalak (right on the coast) and they invited us to come up and spend the night. We jumped in the van and drove 7 bumpy miles up the dirt road to their house. Spent the night drinking rum and beers and talking about shared friends and the "guiding life"... good times.
The next morning we woke up and Bob and Carol had the whole day planned out. They made a spectacular breakfast and then we geared up to go snorkelling. We jumped in 3 kayaks and paddled out to the reef. The beach on the coast of Xcalak isn't nearly as nice as the wide, sandy beach near Tulum... but the reef is much more vibrant and alive. The coral was very colorful and there was an abundance. There was also a heck of a lot more sealife.
Bob, Carol & Busby
Bob and Carol's Beach House
The Xcalak WaterfrontThat night Bob grilled up some pork and we spent the evening having a couple of beers and playing dominoes. I had never played before so it was fun to learn - Carol was talkin' a lot of smack but I managed to give it back and then win the second game! Yeaher! We all went to bed about 10. Steve and I slept downstairs and we were both chillin' in our beds for a couple of hours read and messing around with our computers. At about 1am I was about to pass out when I heard Steve yell "HEY - RATITO". I didn't know what was up but then he busted into the room and said that he had been laying in his bed when all of a sudden a little Mayan dude popped his head up to the window and started peering around. Steve was in bed about 2 feet away staring right at him. When he yelled he saw 2 guys sprint down away and down the beach at full speed.
Figured we should check the van, so I looked outside at it and it appeared to be fine. Steve needed something out of it so I tossed him the keys and he went outside. About a minute later I hear Steve say "Dude, you got jacked!". By this point Bob and Carol were up too and we went to the van and sure enough they had broke in. They had smashed a back window on the side of the van that was not facing the house and had tossed the whole thing. There was stuff everywhere. They stole my car stereo, Steve's guitar, Steve's cell phone, my leatherman, and a bunch of other miscellanous things that we failed to bring in the house. They failed to find a couple of things (my wallet, a camera and all the stuff I have stored behind the back seat of the van) but they had gotten away with a lot! How had they broken the window and ransacked the van without us hearing a thing? We were pissed off and confused. Bob and Carol ran to the neighbors to send a call out on the marine radio and I sorted through my stuff to see what they had gotten away with. When they returned we tried to figure out what to do and decided against trying to chase the guys down. It had almost be 1/2 since they ran down the beach and who knew if they had any weapons, etc. So I gathered EVERYTHING out of the van and hauled it in and had a beer. While we were sitting in the kitchen Carol told us about the last time that she got robbed and pointed out the window that they had come through... then we noticed the the screen had been cut again and it appeared as if they had tried to enter the house again! It was hard to pass out because I imagined every little sound to be a Mayan theif crawling through the window.
JACKED!
The Hole Where My Radio Used to BeThe next morning we woke up and got ready to head up to Majahual to make a police report when the neighbor dropped in to tell us that one of the theives had been caught. Apparently they robbed us and then afterwards continued to make their way south on the road back to town, robbing hotels and residences all along the way. At 4 in the morning a guy that lives where the road enters town heard someone downstairs in his house and went to go check it out. He caught the guy crawling back out his fence. When he went to go check on his truck he saw a truck rolling slow down the road and when it passed he recognized that it was the (3) theives and jumped in his car and chased them. At this point a police car rolled up and they stopped the truck a couple 100 meters down the road. Only one of the 3 was left but there was a bunch of stuff in the truck that they had stolen.
We left and drove up to Majahual to write a report and to see if any of the stuff in the van was ours. When we got there the cops showed us the truck and sure enough our stuff was piled high in the back. They had most of the stuff - the radio, Steve's phone and guitar, my binoculars... but some stuff was missing still. They had the suspect in cuffs and we all had to pile into a small room with him and wait to talk to the cops... and wait and wait and wait... and wait. We were there from 9am until 6pm doing basically nothing but waiting to write a report. The cops were really inefficient and they definately were not maximizing their time. In fact at one point the suspect was in cuffs on the floor looking into a corner while one of the cops played "Doom" on the computer with volume at maximum... the gunshots and screams of dying ghoulies was echoing throughout the concrete bunker. At the same time the other cop picked up Steve's guitar that they had recovered and started playing while the female midget lawyer that had one leg 4 inches shorter than the other and a shoe to compensate for it hobbled around smoking cigarettes... it was definately surreal. All the while we just waited... and the waiting got a little bit annoying knowing that these guys were sitting around doing nothing. We just wanted our shit back so we could roll back up to Cancun, get a new window and the radio installed and start planning our trips.
The Thief's Truck... Or At Least The One He Was DrivingIt Was Most Likely Stolen. Notice Katana Swords Painted On
The Door - Awesome!
The Machete I Found In The Theif's Ride.Good Thing We Didn't Chase Them Down!
We finally got out of the station after about 8 hours of nothing. But I had my police report and my stuff... so I was happy. Drove up to Xpu-ha and just crashed!
The next day, the day before the trip, was rough. We spent the whole day that we had planned on preparing for our trips at the police station and now had only one day to do it plus fix the window and stereo. It was a loooong day as well but I finished all my stuff and was fresh for the next day when I had to meet my group.
Monday, February 12, 2007
Los Chongitos Parte Dos
Lalo on the Highwire. Lalo had a liking for my red Sharpie and asked me to give him a "tatuaje" (tatoo). So I summoned the street artist in me an conjured up a "conejito" tatoo for his arm and something Tupac for his chest.
THUG LIFE!
Now we're rollin' hard and ain't nobody frontin' with the Xpu-ha Click. Vive Falsetti, Lalo, Boos-bi and Gabi!Tuesday, February 06, 2007
Ya Basta!
Well... Finished up my first trip down here on Saturday. It was a fairly successful trip. I was a little unorganized due to not having been on the road for a while and personal life turbulance but despite those bumps in the road things ended up alright.
For the most part, the group was easy to please - very polite, very helpful, liked all the activities and were flexible. All with the exception of Mr. Boston I think was slightly clueless to the fact that his "nails-on-the-chalkboard" sense of humor and offensive comments were making him less and less popular with the group daily.
The last couple of days were pretty good... the group got to spend some time at the beach, even if it was so windy it felt like your face was getting sandblasted. I suppose a sandblasted beach day is better than the -20 degree weather afflicting most of the midwest at the moment!
And I guess my highlight of the second week came during the Jungle ATV tour in Playa del Carmen. A 2 hour tour of twisting trails through the Yucatecan Jungle with a stop at a really beautiful private cenote. I laid back the whole trip, distancing myself from the group and then would burn it to try and catch up... it was great. Even got some air on some rocks which I thought was pretty impressive for a novice quad-biker!
Anyways now it's a week off at the beach catching up on accounts and preparing for the next trip. Hope that everyone up north makes it through the week without their car battery dying or without losing any fingers to frostbite!
For the most part, the group was easy to please - very polite, very helpful, liked all the activities and were flexible. All with the exception of Mr. Boston I think was slightly clueless to the fact that his "nails-on-the-chalkboard" sense of humor and offensive comments were making him less and less popular with the group daily.
The last couple of days were pretty good... the group got to spend some time at the beach, even if it was so windy it felt like your face was getting sandblasted. I suppose a sandblasted beach day is better than the -20 degree weather afflicting most of the midwest at the moment!
And I guess my highlight of the second week came during the Jungle ATV tour in Playa del Carmen. A 2 hour tour of twisting trails through the Yucatecan Jungle with a stop at a really beautiful private cenote. I laid back the whole trip, distancing myself from the group and then would burn it to try and catch up... it was great. Even got some air on some rocks which I thought was pretty impressive for a novice quad-biker!
Anyways now it's a week off at the beach catching up on accounts and preparing for the next trip. Hope that everyone up north makes it through the week without their car battery dying or without losing any fingers to frostbite!
Dispatch From Calakmul - The Photos
A little sampling of the wildlife that we saw at Calakmul this time. Calakmul is one of the largest bioreserves in the Yucatan - over 750 hectacres about 40 kilometers south of the southern highway in the Yucatan. The ruins of Calakmul are centrally located in the reserve. Calakmul was one of the more important Mayan civilizations creating a partnership with Tikal at it's peak. Calakmul is one of the places in Mexico that you are still sure to see "jungle" wildlife. This past time we saw - Spider Monkeys, Howler Monkeys, Wild Turkeys, Tarantulas, Owls, Tucans, Parrots, A Small Jungle Cat (too far away to distinguish species) and several other bird and insect species. Just over a year ago I was travelling the 60 kilometer road to the ruins with my family when we saw a jaguar... definately a highlight of my career!
A Tarantula Crawling Out Of It's Lair
A Mama Howler Monkey Blazing a Path Through The Treetops
This Beetle Buzzed Onto a Pile Of Monkey Dung and Started Burrowing Into It. I'm Assuming it Was a Dung Beetle - Or Else it Had Some Wierd Fetish.
Friday, February 02, 2007
There's An Ant In My Mouth
That's right... you read it correctly. There's an ant in my mouth. I guess that's the price you pay when staying in a $15 a night room on the beach north of Tulum. I tried to find the source and traced it to a broken outlet that is the Holland Tunnel of ant entries. It's a regular ant interstate... a thick stream of jungle ants meandering it's way from the wall to one of the bed's in my room. What a pain!
I don't have any bug spray on hand so I did what any rational person would do to eliminate the situation.... I filled the entry hole with shampoo. I thought at first about spackling it with toothpaste but I figured that the ants would relish the sweet puddy. So bitter, soapy shampoo it was. It was a complete success... for 3 minutes. Then the ants pushed their anty little heads back through the chemical weaponry and pushed back to the bed.
I give up though. I realize that I will never beat mother nature... there are just some fights you can't win! That's why I've decided to sleep in the un-anty bed tonight.
Anyways, just about to fall asleep on......... never mind just DID fall asleep, so I before I sign off I want to say - I realize that most ofmy ffffffffffffffffff... to be continued when I'm concious.... Peace, Dave
I don't have any bug spray on hand so I did what any rational person would do to eliminate the situation.... I filled the entry hole with shampoo. I thought at first about spackling it with toothpaste but I figured that the ants would relish the sweet puddy. So bitter, soapy shampoo it was. It was a complete success... for 3 minutes. Then the ants pushed their anty little heads back through the chemical weaponry and pushed back to the bed.
I give up though. I realize that I will never beat mother nature... there are just some fights you can't win! That's why I've decided to sleep in the un-anty bed tonight.
Anyways, just about to fall asleep on......... never mind just DID fall asleep, so I before I sign off I want to say - I realize that most ofmy ffffffffffffffffff... to be continued when I'm concious.... Peace, Dave
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