We in Ahrangewok mon (Orangewalk, Belize)

First border crossing, originally uploaded by sanuzbord.

Ok, so no luck with my ATM card, luckily Leah's will cover us, enough about that.

Back to the story...

We arrived in Chetumal and stayed the night talking with Luis and learning spanish sayings. We had a lot of fun with him and he was a great host.

The next morning we headed for the fishing terminal in downtown Chetumal to catch a boat to Sarteneja, Belize. After we had arranged a ride we headed to the migracion office to get our passports stamped for exit. As we pulled up in front of the office a "real" biker pulled up next to us and said hola. From the first glance we could tell that he was a bike tourist, even without his panniers on (the front rack is a dead giveaway). We tried our Spanish on him and it was clear that he was a foreigner because he didn't understand us. We soon found out that he was actually Mexican from Guadalajara and had ridden from Chicago. He is doing his ride to Tierra del Fuego to raise money and awareness for the Jesus Guadalupe Foundation (an organization that assists illegal immigrants in the US with funding college). He invited us to stay in the village he was staying in while he was volunteering with a local university. We gladly accepted and headed out to Laguna Guerrero which also happens to be the home of Daniel, the friendly manatee (so friendly that if you are lucky enough to get in the water with him he hugs you - as much as a manatee can). Well, as we have seen happen in the past, one night turned into one week and we so enjoyed our time with Isai, the bike tourist, that we now have a new travelling companion for a bit, he even doubles as a Spanish tutor!

We headed out to Orangewalk, Belize from Laguna Guerrero and made it as far as San Jose where I got a flat tire at dusk. We needed a place to stay in this town of a few hundred so we asked some folks with a large yard if we could camp there. Benita Pat was the matriarch of the family and hosted us ever so graciously with garnaches and conversation (in Spanish with a Kriol accent and lots of "ahhuhs, verdads and siiiiii's".

Internet's closing, time to go.
Peace out.

Never thought we´d still be in Mexico at this point...

Friends in Bacalar-- Gunnar, Jaqueliene, Jacqui, Leah, David, originally uploaded by sanuzbord.

Well, it´s not that we haven´t left Mexico, we did, yesterday. We just returned to Mexico today for a couple of reasons, but mainly just one. In classic David fashion I went and left my ATM card in the machine in Chetumal and we came back to see if we could get it, we´ll find out tomorrow and head back to Orangewalk, Belice tomorrow.


We never anticipated being in Mexico this long, but we purposely have avoided any detailed planning so that we may take advantage of all opportunities we come across, obviously we have had many, thus our current presence in Mexico.


So, a little about our stay in Bacalar...


We planned to stay only 2 days or so in Bacalar at Villas Ecotucan, but after we arrived there, checked out the digs and stayed there a day, we decided it was going to be a little longer, and just as before in Tixkokob we kept finding reasons to stay just a little longer. Villas Ecotucan is owned by a local man, Arturo who is married to a Canadian woman and they really like biking. For this reason they have opened Villas Ecotucan, right on the water of beautiful Laguna Bacalar, up for free camping to "real" bikers such as ourselves. It is run by a German"family", Jaqueliene, Gunnar, and Boy (the hunting dog), who all were very gracious hosts and good company. We were camping right near the water, making our dinners and buying our awesome breakfasts, cooked by Jaqueline, for M$20 ea. We stayed an entire week. Our days were absolutely packed with reading, swimming, journaling, card playing, it was tough to find time to rest in there.


On Valentines Day we met Jimmy and Jacqui from Portland, Oregon but now residents of Bacalar. After chatting with them for a bit they invited us to go out sailing later that afternoon. It´s tough to turn down an offer of sunset sailing so a couple of hours later we were crusing along in Laguna Bacalar. Promptly after Jimmy handed me the rudder, we stopped making any forward progress as I had run us aground. Luckily Laguna Bacalar´s bottom is all soft lime mud and no damage was done and a freindship was forged. We rode home in the dark for the first time since leaving the US and it was a little scary on the main highway. We weren´t sure whether our red blinking lights were a good thing, letting people know we were there, or whether they were advertizing, "Hey we´re gringos with money, come get us!!!" Thankgoodness for the bright moon beause we didn´t bring flashlights but we arrived "home" safe and sound.


We finally decided that a week of resting was enough and that Sunday was the day to move on, after the reggae party in Bacalar on Saturday, that is. As we were preparing to leave Villas Ecotucan we met Luis, a friend of Arturo´s, Jaqueliene and Gunnar´s (and Boy´s) who had biked up from Chetumal for the reggae paryt. Later that night we talked with Luis and decided that we would bike to Chetumal that the next day together. Luis asked if he might try my bike out, and I told him of course I would let him ride my bike, he had ridden up on a nice, light, mountain bike. The reggae party was fun and a good way to end our stay in Bacalar. Jaqueliene and Gunnar came as well as Jacqui (who had invited us to stay the night at their place for our departure in the morning.)


After Luis arrived in the morning we said goodbye to Jimmy, who wasn´t feeling to well with his earache. Jacqui accompanied us to Cenote Azul where we had a big breakfast before heading into what was to be our biggest headwind of the trip.


Overall we had a great time in Bacalar and as we left Leah and I both felt that we were leaving just as we had started to make some real friendships. Hopefully some day we will get back to Bacalar to see everyone again. We also want to thank everyone in Bacalar for your hospitality and sharing some time and energy with us, please know that it doesn´t go unappreciated.


So we headed off to Chetumal with Luis pedaling my bike and me on his. After a while, he wanted to pedal Leah´s bike th rest of the way. It was a fun but tough ride. We had planned to head to Belize that day but Luis invited us to stay the night at his house and leave for Belize the next day, of course we accepted. Luis was a gracious host and treated us to steaks and wine, both firsts since we arrived in Mexico. We really enjoyed our time with Luis.

Uh oh, the internet cafe is closing, time to stop the blog. Stay tuned for adventures with Manatees, machetes, barracudas, border crossings, and even our first "real" flat tire!!!

Still in Mexico-- Tixkokob to Bacalar

Taking our launcha across the laguna from Punta Allen to Playon, originally uploaded by sanuzbord.

Since Tixkokob, we have traveled many kilometers. We first went to Izamal, then Valladolid, Coba, Tulum (sort of), Punta Allen, the Sian Kaan Biosphere, Felipe Carillo Puerto, Los Limones, and now Bacalar (big breath). Granted, most of those places we only stayed one night in.

Izamal-- three nights. We met up with a friend of a friend (thanks Paul), Alfred, who owns the Macan Che B&B (beautiful place and great people). Through Alfred, we visited Oxwatz, a place with beautiful unrestored ruins, a very deep cenote, and some aguadas with crocodiles and all. The people in Izamal have been the most friendly and warm we have met yet (besides the Canuls of course), always greeting us, offering help, or at the least giving us a genuine smile.

Valladolid-- two nights. One LONG ride. 98 km from Izamal. Lots of gringos and activity. Obvious we are getting closer to the coast and the pina colada drinking, pool-side suntan loving tourists. Spent some time just resting, doing laundry, and grocery shopping.

Coba-- one night. Beautiful ride there on small paved road through the forest and a little town called Xuilub. On our way to Xuilub we came to an intersection and decided to ask the guys squatting on the corner which road to take. As soon as they all started talking at once, we clued in, observed the beers in their hands and shirt pockets, and the slurring of words, and realized that they were...well...SHIT-FACED. At 8am it was obvious they weren´t just getting the party started, it was carrying on from the previous night. As one of the men looked on the map for the town he was in (and was unable to find it even after David pointed it out to him), he asked for a pen to draw us a map. We politely declined and started rolling off before getting stuck in more incoherent conversation. In retrospect, we wish that we had allowed him to draw us a map, simly for the souvenir. In Xuilub, after sitting and resting for a bit and trying to ask for directions, we realized that most people over 40 don´t speak Spanish, only Mayan. We paid for our first ruins in Coba and spent the morning atop the highest pyramid in the northern Yucatan, watching birds and spotting other unexcavated pyramids all around us (which weren´t advertised). Here we also spotted our first Toucan and another brilliant bird (which we don´t know the name of).

Tulum (just South of actually)-- one night. After spending a few hours at the Coba ruins, we hit the road and a fierce headwind and headed for the coast. After getting to Tulum, we decided to try and find a place to camp just south of town, possibly in the Sian Kaan Biosphere. We rode into the Biosphere and found a beach to stay the night on. Not as lovely as it sounds as fine sand and lots of wind made for a restless night and some what crunchy meal.

Punta Allen-- one night. The road to Punta Allen was a beautiful dirt road through the palms (and wind when the palms thinned) with occasional views of the carribean coast and laguna on the other side as we were riding down a thin spit. Right after rolling into Punta Allen and realizing we couldn´t afford the hotels, we met David, our saving grace as we were not looking forward to camping another night on the windy sandy beach. He took us to his friends place (who just happened not to be there) where we camped for the night and headed off early the next morning.

Sian Kaan Biosphere-- one night. We left Punta Allen via a 10minute launcha (fishing boat) ride to get to Playon, across the laguna. From Playon we started the 70km dirt track through the monte (forest) of Sian Kaan to Felipe Carrillo Puerto. The ride was a beautiful one (are you noticing a theme yet?) We were serenated by birds, followed/led by butterflies, kamikazied by relentless flies (was it the same five constantly following us, or were there constantly new recruits as we moved along?), and jolted awake by potholes the size of cenotes. After only 25 km we reached our destination that David had been dreaming about since the night in Seattle that he read about it. A 60 foot watch tower above the monte canopy was to be our "post" for the rest of the day and that night. As we climbed the tower David got goosebumps because he was now realizing that this was it, we really are doing what we had dreamed about. Leah had goosbumps because 1 - she is deathly afraid of heights and 2 - the wind was blowing pretty fiercly (afact that hadn´t occured to us on the floor of the jungle) at the top. The top of the watch tower was only about 7x7 ft with a 2x2 ft hole cut out of one corner for entry. We spent the entire day up there listening for birds (for about 5 minutes), realizing that the wind was carrying all the jungle noise away so we proceeded to successfully use our shortwave radio. In doing so we learned three things...1- Heath Ledger died! 2- 90% of all English shortwave radio programs are evangelical christian programs. and 3 - The world is definitely going to end in 2011!!! We also found it funny that the only stations we found with news on American politics were the BBC and a news station out of the Netherlands.The night atop our post was a bit more pleasant as the wind died down and the sounds of the jungle emerged, including the humming of mosquitos, we set up the mosquito net (which also had a placebo effect for Leah leading her to believe we were less likely to roll off the edge and giving her a more restful night).

Felipo Carrillo Puerto - one night. After a beautiful sunrise atop our perch we headed off for Felipo where we basically ate, shopped (found peanut butter!), slept, and left early in the morning. Besides the consistenly expensive hotel rooms the most interesting thing about our experience there was our ceiling fan in our room. We turned in on to the lowest setting...nothing. Second lowest setting...nothing. Third lowest...we were instantly transported to the airport where a helicopter was getting ready to take off, needless to say we dared not try settings four or five! Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that it was only about 6 inches from my head - no jumping on the bed that night.

Los Limones - one night. The ride to Los Limones has been our longest ride to date. From Carrillo Puerto we headed out of town the only way possible, via the major highway. The highway is a major thouroughfare to Chetumal and Belize and the semis and buses were evidence ofthis. It wouldn´t have been such a bad ride except for the fact that the white line doubled as the shoulder and the road width was barely wide enough for two semis to pass without clipping mirrors. So, we did as Robert Frost did, and got off the main highway as soon as possible, 25km later. This put us on a 50km detour, 30 of which were dirt roads. We ended up with a grand total of 112km, but we lived to tell about it! Stayed in Los Limones, not much to say, just a small truck stop, but we ate our best food yet and payed less than $6 for TEN tacos piled high with delicious Yucatecan fare, AWESOME!

Bacalar-two nights, three nights? The highway from Los Limones to Bacalar was the same highway, but this time it had a shoulder the width of half of the highway previously. We met Jeff, a fellow bike tourist from Quebec, about halfway to Bacalar. As we stopped and talked on the side of the road he suddenly stared off into the distance and collapsed. Thank God he decided to do this when Leah the nurse was around and not while biking next to a passing semi. Leah assessed him and we made him drink and eat something and sat with him for a bit. He told us he felt stronger and better (and also looked much better and able to keep riding) and refused to let us escort him to the next town as he was going the opposite direction. In hindsight, we should have rode with him. Jeff, we hope you are doing okay. We are now in Bacalar a town on a beautiful lake (with seven colors - four of which we have seen so far.) We stayed the night last night in a public park and bathed in the lake this morning. As we sat on the dock Leah made an observation, "You know, when I was little there were these hippies that would come into the public parks and bathe in the free showers. I always thought, ´Those people are weird.´ Now I´m one of them." While waiting for our laundry to dry outside the laundromat (sometimes it´s too smelly to do by hand) today we met a woman that works at an eco resort 5km away that told us that the owners are really into biking and that all bike tourists are welcome to camp for free. So that is where we are headed right now. Check you later dudes.