Monday, January 31, 2011

Where the Wild Things Are

We are loving Guatemala! The people are so nice, and we feel very safe. The most dangerous thing appears to be the driving, and I'm not talking about traffic. Although you won't find many helpful road signs in Guatemala, you'll find plenty of warnings about Where The Wild Things Are.





Saturday, January 29, 2011

Give a Holla' Guatemala

We've said goodbye to Belize and crossed the border into Guatemala. We've gone back and forth on this country. Originally we planned to spend a few weeks here. But in Mexico we heard reports that it was rapidly becoming unsafe so we decided to drive straight through (there is no way south without going through Guatemala, so no detours possible). Recently we've talked to some travelers who said it was fine. So now we've decided to feel it out as we go.  If the vibe is good we'll explore, if not we'll head to El Salvador. We think it's going to be ok here. We heard crazy reports about how dangerous Mexico was, but with a little common sense and by following our intuition we were just fine. There is no doubt there are problems in these countries though.

So what is going on in Guatemala exactly? Where to start. Back in 1954 the good old USA, supporting the interest of big business such as United Fruit, orchestrated an invasion of Guatemala in one of the first documented covert CIA operations. Violence and oppression ensued fueling the formation of guerilla groups that led to a civil war that killed over 200,000 Guatemalans. Adding insult to injury, the US backed a crazy evangelical Christian, President Rios Montt. He initiated a "scorch earth" policy, burning 400 villages and killing 15,000 mayan men. (Thanks CIA. You rule).  Needless to say the country was bent after that war ended. There were other sick things going on as well. The CIA funded an experiment where we infected 696 Guatemalans with syphilis for "scientific research". Seriously. Google it. It's amazing to me that Guatemala allows Americans into the country today.

Today,  the drug war in Mexico is creating a new shit storm in a still recovering war-torn Guatemala. The Zetas are the most targeted Gulf cartel in Mexico's war on drugs. They have migrated across the border to avoid the crack down from the military. They've started taking over areas in Guatemala and forcing locals to join their group. In December the Guatemalan government declared themselves a state under siege and they launched an offensive against the Zetas. And all this because the USA really likes to snort, shoot, and smoke drugs. We create an enormous demand having only 5% of the worlds population yet consuming 60% of the worlds illegal drugs. What a frikin mess. (I really need to get around to writing my drug war post).

You know, the more we travel the more we learn about the things they never teach you in 8th grade social studies. It's really sad what our government has done, and what they continue to do today. When will it end?

Anyway, we're here feeling it out. We're being very safe. If things don't feel good we'll book it to El Salvador. One thing is for sure though. It's starting to feel like we're a long ways away from the USA. TREE

Stevie adds the flag of Guatemala onto the Sprinter. It's getting colorful back there!

The Sprinter is not liking the roads of Central America so far (Father, everything is running smooth with the van though)...

How the hell do people get around when there isn't one single road sign? I don't even think this road is on the map babe! We lost!

Crossing over from Belize, we'll visit the ruins at Tikal and then head to the town of Flores. From there we'll work our way southwest towards El Salvador. Estimated time in Guatemala is 5-10 days. Although these countries are tiny, it can take a long time to drive anywhere. See photos above...

Friday, January 28, 2011

Western Belize - A Paradise

We spent the last couple days exploring Western Belize over by the Guatemalan border. It is quite a change from the turquoise blue caribbean coastline. We're seeing lush green jungles, highland pine forests, deep limestone caves, and beautiful waterfalls. And last night we ran into Chad and Emily, a couple we met all the way back in Baja! They are also heading south. It is great to see them again.

Overall we've really enjoyed the country of Belize. It's completely different from anything we expected. It's diverse in people and in landscape. The roads are pretty good, although narrow. We loved the beer but thought the food was average. The prices were higher than Mexico but still a bit cheaper than the US. The vibe is mellow and laid back. The best part about Belize is by far the people. They are SO nice and friendly. We've enjoyed our stay but we're ready to move back into a spanish speaking country. Next up is Guatemala! We cross the border tomorrow. TREE

Stevie and Kiki hiking through the lush jungle...

Stevie and Kiki heading into the Saint Hermans Cave in the Blue Hole Reserve...

Wow, this cave was huge. I was scoping all kinds of climbing potential. Steep tufa climbing on limestone, my favorite! This cave was used by the Mayan Indians.

Stevie crouching down as the ceiling drops. We turned our headlamps off and it was pitch black and kinda scary...

Taking a dip in a sink hole in the jungle...

Just another truck pulling a trailer of cows with a bunch of guys riding on top...

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

We Be Livin In Da Moment Mon

Our time in Belize has been a lesson in living in the moment.  Looking back, I realize that this lesson was foreshadowed at the border when the guy at the car insurance booth told us that Kriol, one of Belize's many languages, doesn't use overt verb tense markers in speech that distinguish past from present; meaning, everything seems to happen in the present--even yesterday.

Then we had the whole van debacle where we tried to have the tires rotated but wound up with a broken van that pulls hard to the right due to possible bent tie rods. Anyone that knows Tree knows that this was a fist-shaking to the heavens unjust turn of fate. Tree is the type of person who crosses his Ts and dots his Is.  He makes sure that this family is prepared by getting in front of problems before they occur—hence the tire rotation. So, to have the tire guys break the van and leave us stranded in Belize for up to two weeks while we frantically try to find foreign tie rods and a Mercedes mechanic was quite a blow. This incident was not in the plan. Defeated, my sweet hubby-to-be looked at me and said, “I just wanted to be a good fiancĂ© and a good father. But now I’ve totally Mosquito Coasted this family...Are we still going upstream mother?”  To which I replied, “Yes, dear. Yes we are.”

With nothing to do but wait, the next day we went diving. I haven’t been diving since our awesome trip to Cozumel last April with John Sr. and Diane, so I was a little nervous about braving the depths again. For some reason, my mind likes to envision all the possible things that could go wrong when I’m 100 feet underwater.  This is what it’s like to be me diving:

Where’s Tree? Oh there he is, right next to me.  Can a mask implode? It’s been baking in the rocket box for months now. Is this damn thing on tight enough? I’m afraid to touch it. What if I have to vomit? Gross. What if Tree gets eaten by a shark? That one over there looks hungry.  Where’s Tree? Oh there he is, right next to me. What if I run out of air and Tree doesn’t understand my hand signal because Mr. Stop Worrying and Just Relax refuses to go over the safety manual with me! What’s my air at now? Oh my god, I’ve sucked up half my tank in five minutes. Breathe slow, in out in out in out. That’s too fast, breathe long, iiinnnnn ouuttttttttttttttttt, crap I feel like that’s using more air than before.  

This goes on and on until I finally get sick of hearing myself babble and I tell myself to shut up and just look around.  Oh, wow, a fishy! And that of course is when I calm down, breathe right, and actually enjoy the experience. It feels good to be present and aware, and it feels bad to go round the mad merry-go-round of the mind. Most of the time, I find that the things that I’m afraid of exist only in my head, anyway, which makes me wonder, how often does my mind’s commentary rob me of the joy of living? 

The next day, Tree went into Belize City to take the Sprinter to get a second and third opinion, and you’ll never believe what happened. They rebalanced the tires and Presto! The van is fixed! No broken tie rods, no busted ball bearings, no Argentina or Bust! board hanging from Kiki’s neck.  The family is mobile again.

I’m really proud of all of us. When we thought that the van was broken, and that our plans were seriously delayed, we didn’t crumble. We took everything in stride, we kept dealing with the task at hand, and we never stopped enjoying the moment. That is the key to happy living in Sprinter Life. -Stevie

Monday, January 24, 2011

Man Down - Sprinter is on Injured Reserve

What the F@CK is this. I never saw this in the Drive to the Tip of South America brochure!

The Sprinter is on injured reserve. We are stranded in Belize. Here is what we know as of Monday, 4:05pm.

The Lead Up - Over the three and a half months in Mexico, we drove over approximately 2,250 topes (mexican speed bumps, learn more here). Some were hit at high speed. The van bottomed out once.

The Incident - On our way to Belize City we stopped to have the tires rotated. The less than competent tire shop employees dropped the Sprinter off the jacks.

The Current Symptoms - The van immediately pulls to the right when driven. When jacked up, both front wheels wobble when bolted on.

The Diagnosis - Bent tie rods on both sides, 1 possible bent wheel, possible wheel bearings shot.

The Recovery Plan - Tomorrow I will infiltrate Belize City looking for an auto repair shop that can work on a Mercedes Sprinter. Hopefully I'll be able to find a reputable shop. I will relocate the van from the airport to this location. I will secure a shipping address and research all the customs issues with sending parts from the US to Belize. Meanwhile my father will drive from the Florida Keys to Miami to purchase needed parts. Once the address is secured and customs are dialed he will Fedex the parts to Belize. Hopefully installation goes smoothly. Turn time, 1-2 weeks.

The Cons:
-We've temporarily lost our home.
-In an effort to bolster the local phone companies, the government of Belize has blocked Skype, making it very hard to trouble shoot this over the phone to the US.
-We're now having to spend way more time and money in Belize than planned.

The Pros:
-At least this didn't happen in Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, or Nicaragua (4 places you don't want to break down).
-Being stranded on an island in Belize doesn't suck.
-At least it wasn't something with the engine.
-Belize is an english speaking country, making it easier to trouble shoot locally.
-I have an AMAZING father who is making making moves for the team back in the States. You're the best Dad!

So I'm not quite at the point where I'm ready to ask for my money back on the Sprinter Life World Tour, but I do intend to write the travel agency a nasty letter. They should clearly stipulate that bent tie rods may be the outcome of driving your mobile home over 2,250 topes. And I would certainly expect to see something in the brochure about letting an underpaid 19 year old stoned rasta boy use a hydraulic jack. Wish me luck tomorrow. Big city here I come. TREE

Sunday, January 23, 2011

On Vacation - Caye Caulker

We've decided to take a little vacation from the van and head out to an island off the coast of Belize for a few days. We left the Sprinter in the long term parking lot at the airport in Belize City for a whopping $4 per day. We spent another $7 each for a round trip ticket on a boat to Caye Caulker Island. Kiki got to ride for free. The 45 minute ride across the Caribbean Sea was Kiki's first boat trip. We love being able to take her everywhere we go. That is a luxury we never had backin the US.

This island is absolutely amazing. It's very small. There are no cars, but you can walk across it in 20 minutes or less. There are only 2 dirt roads in town and they are populated with hammocks, great little restaurants, bungalows, and lots of dreadlock rasta men. We've got good internet, which means I can work on Outdoorplay, so we'll probably lurk here for the week. Scuba diving is in the cards for sure. Stevie is excited for that. TREE

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Aloha Belize

Aloha Belize! Man it's great to be back in a country with toilet seats and friendly cops. Crossing the border yesterday was butter. We were a little nervous about Kiki getting in. According to the research we'd done, Belize is one of the more difficult dog crossing borders. Stevie had dotted all the i's and crossed all the t's. We had a current health certificate from Oaxaca and all Kiki's shot records. We had her doggie passport filled out and we had jumped through the hoops to get the official dog import permit signed, sealed and delivered from the government of Belize. We were ready!


When we arrived at customs Stevie was told to walk through while I drove the vehicle through a search station. I had all of Kiki's paperwork in a folder sitting on the dashboard ready to go. After pulling up to the checkpoint, a customs agent immediately jumped in the back of the van to inspect it. He pointed his finger toward the back of the cabin and yelled "What is that back there!" As he waved his finger I realized that he was pointing straight past Kiki at our bikes. I calmly said, "Those are bicycles sir." He replied in the same loud voice, "You can't sell those in Belize you know. Now move along!" As I drove off I realized there could be only one explanation for the bizarre episode I just witnessed. Kiki had pulled the Jedi mind trick on a uniformed customs agent. "These are not the droids you're looking for, ruff ruff, move along."  


We never had to show Stevie's hard earned doggie paper work to anyone. I felt bad since she put so much work into getting them ready, but I was happy there were no hassles! We performed our family ritual of collecting a small sample of soil into a vile. Then we added the Belize flag to the back of the Sprinter Van and drove off. TREE



Thursday, January 20, 2011

Goodbye Mexico!

We are finally preparing to leave Mexico and cross the border into Belize. On our final 8 hour drive across the southern border of Mexico heading east toward Belize I thought about our three and a half months here. When we crossed the border into Tijuana back on October 11th we had planned to rush through Mexico in 2-3 weeks. The American media machine had us so scared that we were half expecting to see gun fights as soon as we crossed the border. What we found instead was a country that left us dazzled. We immersed ourselves in Mexico and in return we were given a great gift. We saw Mexico's true nature. This is a country of proud, warm, helpful, hard working, stoic people. A country with magnificent colonial cities and ancient Indian ruins. There are lush jungles and rugged mountains. Beautiful deserts and warm oceans. We can honestly say that we love this country, and the people in it.

And to people back in the US we can only say one thing, DON'T BE AFRAID TO GO TO MEXICO. Yes, there is a war going on, but it is between the drug cartels and the government. The fear mongering US media is full of shit. All they care about is ratings, not facts. Most of the places we went were safe. Go to Mexico and talk to the people. See it for yourself. And then tell others what you find.

Let's also remember and acknowledge that the US consumes almost all of the drugs coming from Mexico. Our country's drug consumption is fueling the war. I think there is a better solution to the drug problem, but that's for another post which I plan to write later.

As for now, Adios Mexico. Thank you for the memories. Tomorrow we cross into Belize and begin our next adventure though Central America. TREE


Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Palenque - A Brown Powered World

Did you know that one single event probably changed the entire history of the world? At the time that Columbus arrived in the Americas in 1492, the vast majority of the entire worlds population lived here. There were cities larger than anything in Europe and the people had advanced mathematics, farming, art, and culture. How did a few hundred Spanish Conquistadors defeat a population of millions and millions of people? The answer is simple, SMALL POX. This European disease killed an estimated 95% of the population within 25 years. It was by far the fastest and largest decrease in Earths population EVER. Small Pox originated from domesticated animals. The Europeans were able to develop immunity to this disease over thousands of years. But the people in the Americas didn't have domesticated animals when Columbus arrived. A meteor that hit Earth long ago caused an ice age in North America which caused them to go extinct. The Indians never had the opportunity to develop immunity to these types of animal diseases. Now, just for a second imagine what the world would be like had that meteor never hit earth? The conquistadors and pilgrims could have easily been contained or repelled. There would have been no Christian missionaries, no Manifest Destiny, and no United States of America. Maybe we'd be learning to speak Aztec while picking strawberries and hoping no one asked for our papers. A brown powered world? We were probably only 1 meteor away.

Way down in the southern state of Chiapas Mexico a stones throw away from the Guatemalan border sits the ancient Mayan city of Palenque. At its height this was one of the most powerful cities in the world.


The Mayan people were famous inventors. All archeological data seems to indicate that they did indeed invent the original Stair Master


 Now thats a coffin! I wanted Stevie to pretend to climb in when the guard wasn't looking. That would have been a good photo. She was too CHICKEN!


The Mayan system of writing used symbols that created words, and when put together they created sentences and stories. I kindly translated this for Stevie after deciphering the Mayan alphabet over lunch. I think she was impressed. She digs me.

Yeah, I think I could see myself living in that house right over there. This is my kind of town...



Nope, I'm good babe, you go ahead and check that one out without me. I'll wait down here. Really... take pictures...


Tuesday, January 18, 2011

My Favorite City In Mexico - Oaxaca

Contrary to what Tree would have you believing, there is more to Oaxaca then just its mezcal. Don’t get me wrong, mezcal is huge, but it’s not everything. After having spent two full days at Casa Raab in front of my computer, I decided that I needed to get out and explore Oaxaca city.

Tree had a lot of Outdoorplay work to catch up on so I was alone in this mission. Rebecca was kind enough to give me a quick ride into the village of San Pablo Etla, where I caught a small moto taxi (picture a moped with a backseat) to the bus stop.  While I was waiting for the bus, a family came out of its house and insisted that I move into the shade and share a beer with them. For the next twenty minutes we discussed various topics, but mostly the conversation kept boomeranging back to mezcal. The husband and wife each seemed to have a different opinion about what the alcohol percentage should be and which one’s hometown makes it the best. To settle the argument, the wife thought that I should take a two-hour ride to her village in the hills, so I could in fact see for myself that she was right. Like I said, mezcal is huge, but I swear, it’s not everything.

Okay, so what is everything? It’s fresh cut flowers, fine art galleries, smart graffiti, street performers, intricate embroidery, wizard weaving, live music, morbid sculpture, hand-made animal toothpicks, a temperate climate, classic architecture, mole in multi colors, lively markets, green pottery, diverse peoples, grass root programs, and fried grasshoppers. Somehow, this landlocked city, surrounded by the Sierra Madre mountain range, sequestered away from its slicker, urban neighbors, appeals to my sense of the dirty, decadent, and divine (see pictures below). Despite its isolation and hovering geography, its cultural expression is more expansive and inspiring to me than any other part of Mexico. I walked around for hours soaking up the bright colors and bold flavors, and by the end of the day, I too felt bright and bold. Hell, I even ate a grasshopper.  

 Temple Santo Domingo 


The entire inside of the Temple is inlaid with gold


Gorgeous fresh cut flowers permeate the Zocolo (plaza) and markets

 Oaxaca is famous for its textiles (the women are AMAZING weavers and embroiders)

Graffiti portrait of Emiliano Zapata

Woman Shitting- framed in art gallery

Vagina made of thimbles- think about that

Familia de los Muertos

Oaxaca is famous for its Moles, a delicious sauce made of ground chocolate and chilies

Chocolate grinder, Assortment of chilies                                                                                                     



Fried Grasshopper, tastes like chicken 


Thank you again Tony and Rebecca for giving us an incredible room with a comfy bed and a wood burning fireplace, two fresh and delicious meals a day, an education in mezcal,  a Kiki repair kit, and hours of great conversation. We highly recommend Casa Raab if you're planning on being in the Oaxaca area.  Also, aside from running a palenque (mezcal distillery) and a bed and breakfast, Rebecca founded an animal rescue called the Megan House, www.meganhouse.org. She has placed over 600 dogs in the Oaxaca area, 10 of which live at Casa Raab along with horses, burros, cats, and a silly bunny. Donations are always needed and appreciated. Stevie

 
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