In crossing the border from Mexico to Belize we open a new chapter in our travel diary: we have finally arrived in the so-called "Third World". Driving through Belize makes us feel like being in Africa. It starts with the language (English), the color of the skin (most people we see are of African descent) and the extremely relaxed atmosphere in the streets (see last post from November 25).
Due to the unbearably hot and humid weather conditions we don't spend much time at the Caribbean coast but limit ourselves to a short visit of Belize-City. The city has a bad reputation as far as safety is concerned, and is above all very dirty. The streets are covered with stinking sewage and garbage - but who cares!? It is much too hot to work anyway...!
The rolling hills of the western part of the country present a much nicer picture since the Mennonites have managed to convert the jungle into farmland. Happy cows graze under palm trees, happy backpackers drink beers in a bar, and we are happy too, because the local Land Rover garage (www.adventuretrex.com) confirms that our Archie is in top condition! So let's go to Guatemala!
Our Dutch friends (greetings to Nadia & Justus!) have told us their border crossing horror story, so we are prepared for the worst. But somehow we are lucky and deal successfully with all formalities within one hour (departure and payment of departure fee in Belize, entry and importation of Archie into Guatemala). From now on everybody speaks Spanish again and instead of the Belize Dollar the currency is called "quetzals". The road conditions are still 'adventurous' (to say the least), the indigenous people (mostly Maya) are still very friendly and the living conditions outside touristy places are heartbreaking.
In the evening we reach the Maya ruins of Tikal, the last ancient city on our list of "Big Five" (Palenque, Uxmal, Chichén Itzá, Tulum and Tikal). The site includes a hotel, a campground and a restaurant and is located in a protected jungle sanctuary.
It is a little eerie and beautiful at the same time to fall asleep in the middle of a wild jungle, to listen to the bloodfreezing screams of the howler-monkeys and to be woken up by noisy parrots. The next day our guide Hector manages to bring the ruins back to life with his interesting explanations - what a great conclusion of our tour through the world of the ancient Maya cultures!
While drinking a beer at the bar we meet a bunch of four motorcyclists (2 Germans, a Brit and one American). They are planing to travel all the way from Canada to Argentina in 6 month. It is fascinating to listen to their stories: while sleeping in his tent one of the guys was bitten by a snake but managed to drive himself to the hospital - already half numbed! I have a lot of respect for those really cool guys!
Our next destination is colonial Antigua, conveniently located next to the "Pan-American-Highway". A local bus masters the trip from Tikal to Antigua in a 9-hour-drive - that's impossible for us. The road winds from Tikal and Flores in a zig-zag back to the Caribbean coast, where we spend the night in a relaxed yachting club in Rio Dulce. We are in good company as sailors from all over the world wait here with their boats for the hurricane season to end (greetings to Tom and Wendy!).
On our way south we pass through immense banana plantations operated by US companies (Del Monte, Chiquita, Dole).
How people drive a car in this country is impossible to describe and the only way to survive is to be very very aware. I am convinced that no one ever took any driving lessons!
After we get lost in Guatemala City due to the absence of any street signs we finally reach the beautiful town of Antigua, picturesquely surrounded by three volcanos, one of them still active.
To escape the numerous other foreign tourists we decide to climb to the top of the nearby volcano 'Pacaya'. (The ascent starts at 1800m and stops at 2400m). Our guide who appears to be a little moody jumps up the volcano like a young mountain goat - we follow him in a snail's pace.
Memories of the movie "Lord of the rings" and "Mordor" come to our mind as we approach the crater. It is getting really warm up here, the lava (only a few days old) makes a cracking noise - a very hostile environment. It feels like walking on a huge BBQ grill.
All over sudden we feel a little eruption - even our grumpy guide turns pale. "Vamos vamos!" he screams and very quickly we stumble down the volcano. Apparently some other people got badly burned as they tried to grill some 'marshmallows' up here...
The soil of a volcano is perfect for a coffee plantation. Antigua is therefore surrounded by quite a few coffee estates. While we visit one of them we learn how a coffee plant grows and how a coffee bean is extracted from the red coffee cherry etc.
It is funny that after almost 40 years of heavy coffee consumption I just realized how much manual labor it takes to produce a good cup of coffee!
To recuperate from these exhausting activities, we take a break in the house of friends of friends next to the Lago de Atitlan. From here we will probably cross El Salvador and Honduras on the "Pan-Am" and meet Georges' colleagues in Nicaragua...
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