"The best journeys are not always in straight lines"
10th February 2010
After spending the last 4 months in Hawkes Bay this was our last for nine months and Colin and I spent it ticking of a very long “to do list” before packing our back packs for our next big OE experience and heading out to Napier airport.
It had been a sad enough day saying goodbye to our dears Colin and Jan Belk, Uncle Ross, Aunty Coral, Vicki and Neil Tucker, a friend who is dying of cancer, let alone farwelling Janelle, Kiel, Amanda, Hunter & Annie, who came to the airport to and say goodbye.
At 8.00 p.m. we flew to Auckland and on arrival were informed that the flight from Auckland to LA had been delayed five hours so the signs to start this “trip of a lifetime” weren’t that encouraging. It got worse because on arrival into LA we rushed to book into American Airlines for the flight to Miami then onto Cancun, Mexico but were told that we didn’t even have a booking for the first leg of the flight and tickets couldn’t be issued. Fortunately we struck a very helpful young Taiwanese woman who managed to get us on a flight from LA to Dallas then Dallas to Cancun.....34 hours from time of departure in NZ to time of arrival at the destination!!!!!!! Hopefully the next nine months of travel plans isn’t going to be dotted with too many of these types of hiccups!!!!!
11th February 2010
Our transfer collected us from the airport at 11.30 a.m. and delivered us to Hotel El Elefante, Playa de Carmen around 12.30 p.m. The rest of the afternoon was spent sleeping before exploring in the late afternoon.
Playa de Carmen, originally a small fishing town, is a balneario resort city just south of Cancún on the coast of the Caribbean Sea, in the northeast of the Mexican state of Quintana Roo. It is named after the patron saint of Cancun, Our Lady of Mount Carme.
The first recorded visitors to the beaches of what is now Playa del Carmen came during the Early Classic Period (a.d. 300-600) of the Mayan civilization. Then called Xaman-Ha, or "waters of the north," Playa del Carmen was a rest stop of sorts for travelers making their way from the great cities of the Mayan world to the island of Cozumel, an island across the Cozumel Channel and world famous scuba diving destination.
Today Playa del Carmen, or just "Playa" as it is colloquially referred to, is the center of the Riviera Maya concept, which runs from south of Cancún to Tulum and the Sian Ka'an biosphere reserve.
Playa is a stop for several cruise ships which dock at the nearby Calica quarry docks, about six miles south of the city. The Xcaret Eco Park, a Mexican-themed "eco-archaeological park", is a popular tourist destination located just south of the town in Xcaret (pronounced "shkar-et"). Tourist activity in Playa del Carmen centers on Fifth Avenue, stretching from Calle 1 Norte until Calle 40, a pedestrian walkway located just one or two blocks inland from the beach. This walkway is lined with hundreds of shops, bars and restaurants.
12th February 2011
We woke to a dull wet day but undeterred we headed out late morning to have a late brunch at a nearby smoothie bar where we also cleared our emails.
The day was spent chilling out in town, buying a few grociers and talking with the locals.
At 6.00 p.m. we had our first Intrepid meeting where we met our leader Juan Carlos and the other 15 members of our group who would be travelling with us for the next 4 weeks. After informal introductions were made we all walked to the nearby Babes restaurant for a meal of Thai food before heading to bed around 10.00 p.m.
13th February 2011
Today we travelled 1 ½ hours by bus south of Playa del Carmen to Tulum.
Tulum is the site of a Pre-Columbian Maya walled city serving as a major port for Cobá. The ruins are located on 12-meter (39 ft) cliffs, along the east coast of the Yucatán Peninsula on the Caribbean Sea in the state of Quintana Roo, Mexico.
Tulum was at its height between the 13th-15th centuries and managed to survive about 70 years after the Spanish began occupying Mexico. Old World diseases brought by the Spanish settlers appear to have been the cause of its demise. One of the best-preserved coastal Maya sites, Tulum is today a popular site for tourists.
The Maya site may have been formerly also known by the name Zama, meaning city of Dawn and stands on a bluff facing east and the Caribbean Sea. Tulum is also the Yucatan Mayan word for fence or wall (or trench), and the walls surrounding the site allowed the Tulum fort to serve as a defense against invasion. It had access to both land and sea trade routes which made it an extremely important trade hub, especially for the obsidian trade. From the numerous depictions in murals and other works around the site, Tulum appears to have been an important site for the worship of the Diving or Descending god.
14th February 2011
It was a beautiful day in Tulum this morning so around 9.30 a.m. Colin, Jin, Roz & I headed out to the Gran Cenote.
The Grand Cenote is a large beautiful garden cenote with gentle white sand beach type areas along with easily accessible caves for snorkeling and diving. It has a circumference area of 202 meters and is surrounded by natural rock and gardens.
At the Gran Cenote we swam and snorkeled and while doing so saw large stalactites and stalagmites of all shapes and sizes up close. The clear turquoise water enabled us to see schools of fish, a turtle and depths to 10 meters.
At the Gran Cenote we swam and snorkeled and while doing so saw large stalactites and stalagmites of all shapes and sizes up close. The clear turquoise water enabled us to see schools of fish, a turtle and depths to 10 meters.
After spending the morning at the Gran Cenote we returned to Tulum to have lunch before taking a taxi back to Papayas Playa where we had a very quiet time catching up on the diary, downloading and naming photos.
Early evening the group went into Tulum for dinner.
15th February 2011
Mid morning we left Tulum and travelled to Belize, a laid back Creole dominated area in Central America that covers approximately 23,000 kms.
At Belize bus terminal we took a short taxi ride to the harbour where the group passed through immigration then boarded a water taxi bound for San Pedro then Caye Caulker.
Caye Caulker is a small limestone coral island off the coast of Belize in the Carribbean Sea measuring about 5 miles (north to south) by less than 1 mile (east to west). The town on the island is known by the name Caye Caulker Village, Some have said the island's name is derived from the practice of caulking or sealing the seams in wooden boats to make them watertight, due to the high number of shipwrights on the island.
The island is basically a sand bar over a limestone shelf where underwater caves are found in the limestone. A narrow waterway known as “the Split” divides the island in two. Some people state that the Split was created by Hurricane Hattie in 1961 which devastated Belize City; however villagers who actually hand dredged it maintain that it is largely a man-made feature. Hurricane Hattie did open a passage a few inches deep and this made a practical water way between the west and east sides of the island, intended at first for dugout canoes. The increased flow of tidal water has naturally dredged the opening to 20 feet (6.1 m) deep until larger boats can now easily pass. The natural erosion continues to this day and threatens the soft sand banks of the waterway.
In recent years the island has become a popular destination for backpackers and other tourists. There are over 30 tiny hotels, and a number of restaurants and shops.
16th February 2011
Today the group embarked on a six hour snorkelling tour from Caye Caulker to Holchan Reserve on the reef. The Holchan Reserve, the second largest reef in the world (Great Barrier being the largest), is the oldest reserve on the reef.
On our first stop we snorkelled for about an hour in crystal clear, turquoise water, which enabled us to see a variety of fish of all shapes, sizes and colour, however the coral here wasn’t as colourful as we had been told.
The second stopping point of the tour gave us the opportunity to swim with the stingrays and nurse sharks. In this area there was a vast number of fish but the coral was more alive with colour.
Around mid day we took a short boat road of five minutes to swim with a lone turtle....amazing experience.
The third and final stop was on the reef where we were given an hour to explore the waters on our own and here we were rewarded with lots of fish species and coloured coral.
The group all agreed that the Holchan Reserve reef experience was better than the Barrier Reef in Australia!!!
We returned to Caye Caulker mid afternoon to shower then head to The Spit for sunset followed by a fish barbecue meal at Rosie’s Restaurant.
17th February 2011
Today we sadly left Caye Caulker by water taxi then take a bus to San Ignacio near the western border between Belize and Guatamala.
San Ignacio (known locally as Cayo) and sister-town, Santa Elena make up Belize's second largest urban area. The two towns are separated by the Macal River and Belize's only suspension bridge, the one-lane Hawksworth Bridge built in 1949. Together the towns have a combined population of about 20,000 including: Creole, Mestizo (Spanish-Maya), Lebanese, Chinese, Mennonite, Maya and other cultures.
Teeming with archaeologists, peace corps workers, North American retirees and thrill seekers, "Cayo" is a unique blend of America's Old West and tropical backwater with frontier-like wooden shops on narrow streets and hospitable townspeople mingling in restaurants and bars.
The bus arrived in San Ignacio around 5.30 so we immediately collected our bags and walked to our accommodation. At 6.00 p.m. we went on an orientation walk of the town, which included booking a day tour to Actun Tunichil Muknal Cave.
Our group ended the day by eating a delicious meal of authentic Mexican food at Eva’s Restaurant.
18th February 2011
Today was a very early start as eight of us from the Intrepid group meet at Mayawalk Tours to head off on our cave adventure.
We spent an hour and a half travelling to the Actun Tunichil Muknal Cave set amongst the lush rain forest of the Maya Mountains, another 40 minutes walking through forest and rivers to reach the entrance of the cave.
Actun Tunichil Muknal Cave (abbreviated to "ATM") is a Mayan sacrificial burial site near San Ignacio. The site is contained entirely within a cave system, and access to the relics is gained via some 500 metres of climbing over rocks, wading and swimming through water that is at times over 1.5 metres deep.
The cave was a sacred site for the Mayans and it contains many examples of pottery, ceramics and stoneware, as well as several sets of human sacrificial remains, one of which (known as the "Crystal Maiden") has been almost entirely covered in limestone crystals by the water in the cave.
We spent three hours in the cave before returning to San Ignacio late afternoon having showers then going for dinner at a nearby restaurant. Those we had gone to the caves went to bed early while the remainder of the Intrepid group partied on till around midnight.
19th February 2011
This morning we boarded a local bus and travelled to the border of Belize and Guatemala. After passing through immigration on both sides of the border we took a small private mini bus to the old world town of Flores, a 2 ½ hour journey.
Flores is situated on an island on Lake Petén Itzá and connected by a causeway to the other side where lie the twin towns Santa Elena and San Benito and all three are often referred to as Flores.
The Flores area was officially founded by the Spaniards in 1700 but had existed in various forms well before and at the time of conquest Flores was perhaps the last major functioning Maya ceremonial cente, it was covered in pyramids and temples, with idols everywhere. The God fearing Spanish soldiers destroyed these buildings and no trace remains. Tayasal’s Mayan fled into the jungle and are thought to have started anew, giving rise to the stories of the ‘lost’ Maya city.
Flores has long remained isolated with locals relying on subsistence farming of corn and beans and the gathering of chicle from nearby trees to produce gum. The city itself is a wonder - dense with colonial, red-roofed buildings, narrow cobblestone streets, a historic church and Spanish plaza, and resturants that are easy to stumble upon walking the city's charming streets.
Arriving early afternoon in Flores we booked into our accommodation, had a quick orientation walk of the town before having lunch at a restaurant overlooking the lake.
The rest of the afternoon was spent discovering the quaint little cobbles streets and alleyways then in the evening we had coffee at the funky backpackers hostel called Los Amigos, which was five minutes walking distance from the Green World Hotel where we were staying.
20th February 2011
At 5.00 am eleven of us departed from our hotel and took a 1 hour mini bus trip to Tikal.
Tikal (or Tik’al according to the modern Mayan orthography) is one of the largest archaeological sites and urban centres of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization. It is located in the archaeological region of the Petén Basin in what is now modern-day northern Guatemala. Situated in the department of El Petén, the central area of the site (16 kms sq) is part of Guatemala's 550 sq km Tikal National Park and in 1979 it was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Tikal was the capital of a conquest state that became one of the most powerful kingdoms of the ancient Maya. Though monumental architecture at the site dates back as far as the 4th century BC, Tikal reached its height during the Classic Period, ca. 200 to 900 AD. During this time, the city dominated much of the Maya region politically, economically, and militarily.
There is evidence that Tikal was conquered by Teotihuacan in the 4th century AD. Following the end of the Late Classic Period, no new major monuments were built at Tikal and there is evidence that elite palaces were burned. These events were coupled with a gradual population decline, culminating with the site’s abandonment by the end of the 10th century.
Our group and the guide spent five hours walking amongst the majestic structures of Tikal and being entertained by the variety of animals and birds that the park is home to.
Mid afternoon we arrived back at Flores and were in time to catch a delicious lunch at Los Amigos, clear emails and update the diary and download photos.
Much of the evening was spent socializing with the rest of the group and watching the sunset from the hotel’s rooftop.
21st February 2011
At mid morning the group caught a local bus to Rio Dulce, a journey of around 4 hours.
Río Dulce ("Sweet River") is a river in Guatemala, completely contained within the department of Izabel It is part of a lake and river system that has become a popular cruising sailboat destination.
The river begins at the point where it flows out of Lake Izabal and at the entrance to the river there is a small Spanish colonial fort, the Castillo de San Felipe, built to stop pirates entering the lake from the Caribbean when this part of Central America was an important shipping staging point.
Just after the river flows from Lake Izabal it is spanned by one of the biggest bridges in Central America. On one side of the bridge is the town of Fronteras, commonly referred to by the name Río Dulce, the local center of commerce for the area and on the other side is Rellenos.
Fronteras has a local vegetable market, attracting locals from the countryside who arrive in dugout canoes. Most of these boats are powered with Japanese outboard motors but many come to market day paddling these ‘cayucos’ by hand.
From Fronteras the river flows east for a couple of miles into a long narrow lake called El Golfete. This lake has an island and a large natural anchorage with a few houses and a couple of small businesses that line the shore.
El Golfete is about 10 miles (16 km) long and a couple of miles wide.
From El Golfete the river meanders for six miles (10 km) in a spectacular gorge with sides of up to 300 feet (91 m) and on either side are covered with teak, mahogany and palms. Wild flowers bloom throughout and howler monkeys and toucans can be seen.
The river enters the Caribbean Sea near the Garifuna town of Livingston.
We arrived into Rio Dulce at mid afternoon then took a small boat ride to our accommodation at El Torugal, which was right on the edges of the Rio Dulce River.
The rest of the day was spent exploring the hotel grounds, enjoying the beautiful water views from the balcony of the restaurant and deciding on what to do the following day.
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22nd February 2011 – Christchurch Earthquake
This morning Colin, Juan Carlos, Bex, Roz, Jim and I left El Tortugal on a river cruise to Livingstone.
Our first photo stop was at the fortress and castle of San felipe de Lara. This castle was built in 1652 to keep pirates from looting the villages and commercial caravans of Izabel.
From here we drove down the river passing numbers of expensive villas and boathouses until we got to a small family run business on the edge of the lake. It was here that the children from the family came out to greet us in their dugout canoes and to sell us their wares.
We stopped here to buy refreshments and take photos.
Our tour continued on down El Golfete passing the Biotopo Chocan Machacas, a 7600 hectare reserve established to protect the river, mangrove swamps and the manatees that inhabit the waters. Jaguars and tapirs live in the reserve as well but are rarely seen.
At this point we started to enter a steep walled gorge called Cuevo de la Vaca. The walls of the gorge were hung with jungle foliage and bromeliads and slowly opened to our first glimpse of Livingstone and the Caribbean Sea.
Livingstone has a population of around 26,000 people, is unconnected by road from the rest of |Guatemala. The town is made up of African, Indigena and European elements and has a reputation for drug trafficking.
We spent half an hour walking through Livingstone before returning to Rio Dulce via the San Guatemala Orphanage. There we spent ½ an hour touring the orphanage, meeting the children and taking their photos, which they just loved.
Our return to El Torgual was late afternoon.
23rd February 2011
Sadly at 7.30 a.m. this morning we said goodbye to El Tortugal, caught a water taxi to the bus station at Rio Dulce then a bsu to Antigua....a six hour journey.
Antigua, Guatemala’s tourism showpiece and former capital, was founded in 1543 and served as the colonial capital for 233 years. The capital was transferred to Guatemala in 1776 after Antigua was razed in the earthquake of July 1773. In 1994 the Legislative Assembly declared |Antigua a national monument and in 1979 UNESCO declared it a world heritage site.
Most of Antigua’s buildings were constructed during the 17th & 18th centuries, when the city was a rich Spanish outpost and the Catholic Church was ascending to power.
Antigua is 1500 meters above sea level and sits in the valley of San Panchoy. It boasts an astonishing catalogue of colonial relics in a magnificent setting with streetscapes of pastel facades under terracotta roofs that unfold amid three volcanoes:- Agua (3766m), Euego (3763m) and Acalenango (3976m).
The bus dropped us Guatemala City around 1.00 p.m. then another collected us shortly afterwards and transported the group to Antigua, arriving mid afternoon.
After booking into our accommodation at Casa en Familia Juan Carlos took us on an orientation walk of the area. We all agreed that this town of approximately 45,000 had a very special ambience so we spent the rest of the late afternoon, early evening exploring its streets and meeting the friendly locals.
24th February 2011
This morning we caught the bus, or ‘chicken bus’ as the locals prefer to call it, to Chichicastenango or Chici. The journey took us three hours over very windy, steep terrain and catching three different chicken buses before finally reaching our destination early afternoon.
At Chichicastenango we spent several hours wandering and exploring the many cobblestone streets and alleys at the busy local market overflowing with colourful handcrafts and intricate weavings.
Late afternoon we caught a chicken bus heading to San Jorge La Laguna but on our way we were delayed because an articulated unit’s suspension had collapsed on a very steep ‘u’ bend. The truck was left blocking traffic heading to and from Chichicastenango. After waiting in very long line of impatient drivers for 2 ½ hours and not moving very far Juan Carlos told us that we needed to walk several kms to the nearest town to try and find more transport. There we piled onto two open decked utes......a police Toyota and another wellsided one and travelled to the next major town. We continued our journey to San Jorge La Laguna by chicken bus, arriving at 8.00 p.m.
At San Jorge La Laguna town square we were introduced to our homestay family then walked to our accommodation where a lovely hot meal was awaiting us. Once we had been introduced to all of the Coroxon Pocop family (Cristina, Felipe, Ronald, Joshe) we ate dinner and exchanged pleasantries before heading off to bed after a long exhausting day.
25th February 2011
This morning Colin, Jim and I had breakfast with Cristina before walking to the town square to meet up with the rest of the Intrepid group.
At 9.00 a.m. we boarded the back of two Toyota utilities, which took us into Panajachel and Lake Atitlan.
Panajachel (Pana) is a town (of approximately 12,000) at an altitude of 5,240 ft in the southwestern Guatemalan Highlands. It serves as the administrative centre for the surrounding municipality of the same name.
The town of Panajachel is located on the shore of Lake Atitlán. It is surrounded by three volcanes – Toliman, Atitlan and San Pedro and it has become a centre for the tourist trade of the area as it provides a base for visitors crossing the lake to visit other towns and villages.
At Panajachel we boarded a small boat and headed out onto what is touted as the most beautiful lake in the world, Lake Atitlan, to visit San Juan, San Pedro and Santiago Atitlan.
Highlights of the day included:-
- Viewing colourful art at San Juan.
- Visiting a weaving co-operative that produces cotton products e.g. scarves, bags, table runners etc
- Being shown a coffee trees, it’s beans then drinking good coffee.
- Visiting the drinking and smoking Mayan idol Maximon.
- A visit to the Catholic Church, which gave us all an idea of the interesting mix of religions found around the lake
- Meeting a traditionally dressed Mayan woman who demonstrated how she assemblies her headdress.
- Walking the busy market streets of each town and looking at all their beautiful handcrafted textiles on display.
After dinner we showed our host family photos of our own family back in New Zealand and the places we had visited since arriving in Player de Carman two weeks ago.
26th February 2011
Arriving back in Antigua we had showers, sent our washing to the laundry and spent the rest of the afternoon repacking, downloading photos and updating our diary.
Early evening the group met and we all went out to a farewell dinner. This was the last evening we would all be together as some of the group is returning home and the rest are continuing to San Jose.
27th February 2011
It was an early start this morning as we left the hotel at 6.30 a.m. by mini bus to walk to the top of Pacaya Volcano.
Pacaya is an active complex volcano in Guatemala, which first erupted approximately 23,000 years ago and has erupted at least 23 times since the Spanish conquest of Guatemala. Pacaya rises to an elevation of 2,552 metres. After being dormant for a century, it erupted violently in 1965 and has been erupting continuously since then.
We arrived at the volcano around 8.00 a.m. and along with a guide began our ascent to the Pacay Volcan almost immediately.
Our guide led us up a trail to the East of the volcano and once at the top we were rewarded with wonderful views of the Pacaya Volcano and the valley below. As we walked further along the side of the volcano we noticed a great display of smoke and steam coming from the crater. Fortunately we all took plenty of photos as it wasn’t long before the volcano top was once again shrouded in mist.
We got back to the car park around 11.00 a.m. and to our accommodation by early afternoon.
28th February 2011
After a 9.00 a.m. start we travelled from Antigua by bus to Copan, Honduras (approx 6 hours). Along the way we passed through the wild dry countryside of Eastern Guatemala.
Copan is an archaeological site of the Maya civilization located in the west of Honduras, not far from the border with Guatemala and was the capital city of a major Classic period kingdom from the 5th to 9th centuries AD. It is situated in a fertile valley among foothills at 700 meters (2,300 ft) above mean sea level. The ruins of the site core of the city are located 1.6 kilometers (1 mi) from the modern village of Copán Ruinas.
In ancient times the town of Copan Ruins was known as Oxwitik. By the time the Spanish conquest of Honduras the town’s site had long been overgrown by rainforest but since the rediscovery of the enarby ruins it has grown and prospered.
The town of Copan has a population of around 39,000 people and with its sloping cobblestone streets, white abode buildings with red tile roofs and an attractive colonial church gives an aura of timeless peace. Coffee and cardamom plantations dot the surrounding area.
We checked into our accommodation at Hotel Calle Real around 3.00 p.m. then shortly after headed out on an orientation walk of the town.
Late afternoon we found a cool restaurant to eat a late lunch/early dinner in and it was here that we had a traditional anafres consisting of beans, chorizo sausage and cheese heated by fiery coals and eaten with large crunchy corn chips....delicious.
