It has been a crazy couple of weeks
here in Central America. We apologize for the lack of updates, the
wifi we have found down here has been rather unreliable.
Our story left off as we were heading to the quaint little town of Bacalar which is nestled in on a beautiful, turquoise lagoon. At our beachside hostel we met some fellow travelers and shared stories and advise while enjoying some delicious food. After waking up and emerging from our bug-netted beds, we set sail for San Ignacio, Belize. 30 minutes of riding brought us to our first Central American Border crossing. Would we be arrested on sight? Perhaps publicly beaten to make an example to other would be travelers? Despite all of the horror stories we heard the crossing only took about an hour and we were on our way. Belize is a rather small country so we were able to cross most of it in a day and arrive in San Ignacio to find an empty hostel to call home.
The next morning Shaun and Chris went on a tour of the ATM caves that reside nearby. The tour involved a 1 hour drive, 45 minute hike and 3 hours of walking/crawling/swimming through a cave. This cave became famous because of the ancient Mayans who would go deep into it to make human sacrifices to the rain god in an attempt to end droughts. Of course no tour is complete without a car crash so as we were winding down a narrow dirt road a massive oncoming dump-truck decided to play a game of chicken. As the vehicles neared, our van began to shudder and jump violently throughout the entire length of the truck. The end of the battle was signaled by one last jolt as the rear bumper was ripped off. A few kind words were exchanged between drivers, pictures were taken, and we were on our way.
The hike gave way to the entrance of the cave as we all put on helmets and checked our headlamps. The cave fluctuated between tiny, jagged corridors barley big enough to fit through and massive caverns covered in shimmering stalactites. The deeper we went the more Mayan artifacts we found, mostly bowls and bloodletting dishes. After climbing a ladder and entering another cavern we came across some human remains. There was only one fully intact skeleton that was at the very back of the cave because many of them were washed away by the waters. Mayans would drug their sacrifices and lead them into the cave to be offered to their gods. Thankfully there was no drought occurring so everyone in our group emerged unharmed.
Our story left off as we were heading to the quaint little town of Bacalar which is nestled in on a beautiful, turquoise lagoon. At our beachside hostel we met some fellow travelers and shared stories and advise while enjoying some delicious food. After waking up and emerging from our bug-netted beds, we set sail for San Ignacio, Belize. 30 minutes of riding brought us to our first Central American Border crossing. Would we be arrested on sight? Perhaps publicly beaten to make an example to other would be travelers? Despite all of the horror stories we heard the crossing only took about an hour and we were on our way. Belize is a rather small country so we were able to cross most of it in a day and arrive in San Ignacio to find an empty hostel to call home.
The next morning Shaun and Chris went on a tour of the ATM caves that reside nearby. The tour involved a 1 hour drive, 45 minute hike and 3 hours of walking/crawling/swimming through a cave. This cave became famous because of the ancient Mayans who would go deep into it to make human sacrifices to the rain god in an attempt to end droughts. Of course no tour is complete without a car crash so as we were winding down a narrow dirt road a massive oncoming dump-truck decided to play a game of chicken. As the vehicles neared, our van began to shudder and jump violently throughout the entire length of the truck. The end of the battle was signaled by one last jolt as the rear bumper was ripped off. A few kind words were exchanged between drivers, pictures were taken, and we were on our way.
The hike gave way to the entrance of the cave as we all put on helmets and checked our headlamps. The cave fluctuated between tiny, jagged corridors barley big enough to fit through and massive caverns covered in shimmering stalactites. The deeper we went the more Mayan artifacts we found, mostly bowls and bloodletting dishes. After climbing a ladder and entering another cavern we came across some human remains. There was only one fully intact skeleton that was at the very back of the cave because many of them were washed away by the waters. Mayans would drug their sacrifices and lead them into the cave to be offered to their gods. Thankfully there was no drought occurring so everyone in our group emerged unharmed.
Getting into Guatemala was not quite a
seamless as we had hoped. This border was a chaotic scene with
hundreds of people running around and and an endless stream of
vehicles honking and squeezing by. After four hours of jumping from
window to window, getting copies, signatures, and sweating in the 95
degree heat we were granted permission to enter the pearly gates of
Guatemala.
Our first stop at Tikal, the largest Mayan ruins in Central America was incredible. We arrived late so we had the entire park to ourselves (minus the monkeys). These ruins were massive! Most of the guards had left by that point so we could climb all over and conduct a self guided sunset tour of the area. We had to camp at Tikal in a field just outside of the park. If you have never heard the jungle at night, it is quite a sound to behold! At one point I thought we may have been moved to a zoo.
Leaving Tikal behind we rode the winding mountain roads all day to get to Rio Dulce where we found a relaxing little hostel only accessible by boat. We paid some family 25 Quezales ($3) to watch our bikes for a couple of days and took a 5 minute boat ride to the Kangaroo hostel. It was a fantastic place to stay! We highly recommended if you happen to find yourself in the area. On our day off here we took some colectivos (private shuttles) to local hot springs and found a canoe ride through a towering canyon. On the way back we found a colectivo but it was completely full. The definition of a full vehicle is very different in Central America than it is in North America. If there is enough room for you to lift your arms, then there is is room for 12 more people to pile in. So we looked at the luggage rack on the top and pointed and the driver gave a nod so we hopped on. 30 minutes of weaving through mountains while clinging to the top of a van and we were back in town. The smell of adventure was thick in the air. Of course we negotiated a bit of a discount.
Sadly we had to leave Rio Dulce behind and head for the Honduras border. After arriving at the border we were told that we were missing an exit stamp from Guatemala so we had to backtrack 10km to find a small booth to get our passports stamped. Then when we returned the customs officer had gone on a lunch break. Long story short, we had to hang out near the window for over 5 hours because the “system was down”. But the wait was worth it as Honduras has the most enjoyable roads for riding motorcycles that we have seen on this trip. We rode for over 9 hours and the bikes were constantly leaning into gentle curves that cut through the mountain ranges and grazing fields.
After spending a couple of days traveling through Honduras, we came to the Nicaraguan border. As soon as we pulled up, a flock of people surrounded us and our motorcycles and started to speak rapid Spanish to us. Thankfully there was one person who spoke English as well and he helped us get around to all of the randomly scattered booths and stamp locations. Everyone we met was very friendly and willing to help.
After leaving the border we rode for a little over 4 hours in torrential rain to reach the colonial city of Leon. When we arrived it took about an hour of looking to find a hostel with open space. Finally we drug our soaking wet gear and bodies into the Tortuga Booluda hostel. It was almost instantly lights out when we hit the beds. Now we are using their Wifi to update our followers and reconnect with home. In a couple hours we will catch a shuttle to go sandboard down Cerro Negro, a nearby volcano. Sorry for the long-winded post, it has been a long couple of weeks. We are just getting adjusted to traveling through Central America, Costa Rica awaits for tomorrow! Cheers!
Our first stop at Tikal, the largest Mayan ruins in Central America was incredible. We arrived late so we had the entire park to ourselves (minus the monkeys). These ruins were massive! Most of the guards had left by that point so we could climb all over and conduct a self guided sunset tour of the area. We had to camp at Tikal in a field just outside of the park. If you have never heard the jungle at night, it is quite a sound to behold! At one point I thought we may have been moved to a zoo.
Leaving Tikal behind we rode the winding mountain roads all day to get to Rio Dulce where we found a relaxing little hostel only accessible by boat. We paid some family 25 Quezales ($3) to watch our bikes for a couple of days and took a 5 minute boat ride to the Kangaroo hostel. It was a fantastic place to stay! We highly recommended if you happen to find yourself in the area. On our day off here we took some colectivos (private shuttles) to local hot springs and found a canoe ride through a towering canyon. On the way back we found a colectivo but it was completely full. The definition of a full vehicle is very different in Central America than it is in North America. If there is enough room for you to lift your arms, then there is is room for 12 more people to pile in. So we looked at the luggage rack on the top and pointed and the driver gave a nod so we hopped on. 30 minutes of weaving through mountains while clinging to the top of a van and we were back in town. The smell of adventure was thick in the air. Of course we negotiated a bit of a discount.
Sadly we had to leave Rio Dulce behind and head for the Honduras border. After arriving at the border we were told that we were missing an exit stamp from Guatemala so we had to backtrack 10km to find a small booth to get our passports stamped. Then when we returned the customs officer had gone on a lunch break. Long story short, we had to hang out near the window for over 5 hours because the “system was down”. But the wait was worth it as Honduras has the most enjoyable roads for riding motorcycles that we have seen on this trip. We rode for over 9 hours and the bikes were constantly leaning into gentle curves that cut through the mountain ranges and grazing fields.
After spending a couple of days traveling through Honduras, we came to the Nicaraguan border. As soon as we pulled up, a flock of people surrounded us and our motorcycles and started to speak rapid Spanish to us. Thankfully there was one person who spoke English as well and he helped us get around to all of the randomly scattered booths and stamp locations. Everyone we met was very friendly and willing to help.
After leaving the border we rode for a little over 4 hours in torrential rain to reach the colonial city of Leon. When we arrived it took about an hour of looking to find a hostel with open space. Finally we drug our soaking wet gear and bodies into the Tortuga Booluda hostel. It was almost instantly lights out when we hit the beds. Now we are using their Wifi to update our followers and reconnect with home. In a couple hours we will catch a shuttle to go sandboard down Cerro Negro, a nearby volcano. Sorry for the long-winded post, it has been a long couple of weeks. We are just getting adjusted to traveling through Central America, Costa Rica awaits for tomorrow! Cheers!
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