MA to AZ and beyond

[rob cote]

Thursday morning I spent a little bit of time sketching up a part for our friend to 3D print. We've ultimately decided to roof-mount our Starlink on our van because setting it up all the time is really annoying. And then the cord is constantly underfoot if we have the doors closed. If we modify it and glue it to the roof, it's just always ready to be used. We'll be using the same mounting scheme as Everlanders which they've graciously provided the 3D print files for free online. Our friend Mike has a printer (actually, he's used it to print himself a second printer, so he has two, currently) and offered to create the parts for us. One concern we have is what do we do if we are parked under trees and we need internet access? So, I've come up with a slight modification to Everlanders'ses's mounting configuration whereby we can retain use of the leg. I dunno if it will work, but I had Mike print this additional part and maybe it will, who knows:



By the time I sent the print file over to Mike, Mandy was about ready to go, so we tucked in Loki and headed out into town. We'd Ialready visited the market, but Thursday is one of THE days (also Sundays), so we figured we'd go back to see what it was really about. We'd read it was one of the biggest markets in all of Central America, so we were actually overprepared. We'd been to Oaxaca, you recall. This was nothing like that. That's not to say it was small, but we were expecting way more chaos. The Chichi market was quite mellow by comparison. I was getting a little sick of sunblocking my head all the time, and then worrying about if I'd need to reapply before we got home or should I bring it, etc. So, we were on the hunt for a hat for me. We'd already looked in a few spots, but I didn't really find anything I loved. Then, we came to a guy selling handcrafted leather ball caps. They appeared to be really well made, and I got to shake the hand that made them. I couldn't have much of a conversation with the guy, but he seemed really nice. I think it was ~$30US, which is a bit more than I was hoping to pay, but I'm happy with it. It's a great hat.



We continued on. We got a glass of fresh-squeezed orange (??) juice. I'm not certain it was an orange. It had a greenish-yellowy skin, but the inside was light orange. It tasted like an orange/lemon mixture. It was good! I think the fruit has a name, and it's probably a hybrid of the two fruits we already know, but I forget. Anyway. Then, we got a tamale. It was bad. It had pork inside but it was full of tiny bones! I didn't even know porks had so many small bones. It was a pain to spit out bones with every bite. I mean, the flavor was decent, but it was way more hassle than it was worth. Am I supposed to just eat the bones? I'd rather not? We took the good with the bad and kept wandering. Eventually, we spotted a breakfast place. Well, we were kind of just standing around, taking it all in, and a nice lady asked us if we wanted breakfast? So, we were just like sure what the heck let's do it. We got fried chicken, french fries, vegetables, beans, I don't even know what else. The fried chicken and the french fries were SO GOOD. The rest was decent, but the fried foods cast a big shadow. We haven't had anything fried in a long time, and it hit the spot. We shared a coke and watched them work the tiny kitchen they'd set up on the sidewalk. It constantly amazes me the quality of stuff people can create with such minimal tools and space. These ladies had two propane burners, a couple folding tables, and a tarp tied up overhead. No menu, no restaurant name, no oven or dishwasher, yet the food would shame a lot of established chain restaurants with hundreds of locations and thousands of employees! THESE are the people who should be making food for the masses, instead of what we actually have.



We continued our walk around. We got a few pieces of produce we needed along the way. Always tomatoes and avocado to make guacamole. Tortillas, of course. Mangoes because they're just so good. Then, we were feeling a coffee, so we searched for a cafe online. Mandy was like "it's this way" and started walking. Immediately, I saw a sign for a cafe, and I was like okay but this one's right here. So, we went there instead. We had to climb a couple flights of stairs to actually get to the cafe - Atrio K'pe - which was a little bit odd; the second floor was totally vacant. But we found it. We each ordered a mocha which is a thing that you can't really get in the states. At least, we've never seen one there. We tend towards mocha while we're in a place where they're a thing because they're so good. There's a chocolate product that's designed specifically for the drink. It seems like it probably has more sugar than regular eating or baking chocolate, which probably helps it dissolve in hot water easier. And then they mix it into coffee, obviously. It's like a sweet, chocolatey coffee. Try it sometime. We headed up to their roof deck to enjoy our coffees and a great view of the city.



Mandy had read that the cemetery in town was a popular spot to check out. I thought it was odd, but we went anyways. The burial plots are mostly mausoleums. They're mostly painted pretty vibrant colors, which is neat. Kind of unique. I felt out of place most of the time we were walking around there, though. Someone tried to sell us handcrafted flutes and percussive instruments somewhat aggressively. There were a couple of open-air structures with smoking charcoal and feral dogs around. I don't know what they had been burning there, but I had one guess. Like I said, I thought it was odd, but we went anyways. We left after not very long. It felt intrusive. We headed back home to hang out with Loki for the afternoon. We took him for a walk around to get his energy out. Then we were pretty beat from walking, so we hung out near the van and relaxed for the night.

 

[rob cote]

Friday it was time to say goodbye to Chichicastenango and do some more driving. We were pretty excited for this day because we were actually going back to Lake Atitlan, where we'd been several years ago. It's a special place for us because it's where we got engaged in 2016. Plus, it's just an amazing location. Previously, we'd stayed in San Marcos, but we remembered the last leg of that drive (as passengers) was pretty insane. It looked less intense to drive into Panajachel, so we went there instead this time. It's still a pretty twisty road, but there are far fewer switchbacks on the way down to the water. A combination of engine and regular braking got us all the way down safely without any issues.



We found a spot to stay on the front lawn of a hotel that was absolutely gorgeous. We checked in and ended up moving a couple times because I was misunderstanding what they were telling me about where we should park. There was a helicopter parked on the lawn nearby which took off shortly after we arrived. It seemed something of a spectacle, because all the staff stopped what they were doing to watch. As a former aviation industry person, I always watch a helicopter. I was able to grab a pretty excellent still from a short video I recorded.



Then, we all took a walk into town. We didn't really have much of a mission, other than to stretch the legs and get some groceries. Always groceries. Mandy stayed outside with Loki and I got what we needed. While I was in there, a lady tried to sell her some banana bread which Mandy has been dying to get again, but I had the only money between us at that moment. Her stash was locked up in the van. Last time we were at the lake, we were out to lunch in San Pedro and a woman convinced us to buy a whole loaf of chocolate banana bread and it was insanely good. She was so disappointed that she wasn't able to buy another loaf. I missed the whole thing.





Afterwards, we walked back home and hung out relaxing on the lawn. Mostly just observing the view. It's such a view, it really takes a while to take it all in. It's a tough one to beat. There's the lake and the volcanoes, and the clouds, and the sky, and the jungle. It's beautiful. Eventually some clouds rolled in from behind us, down the mountain towards the lake and threatened rain. Ultimately, it was an empty threat and we stayed dry. Just a little added drama. The hotel just down the road a bit further, perhaps even next door (it's hard to tell), had been setting up for an event all afternoon. It turned out to be a wedding between Emily and Nick. Congrats you guys! What that meant for us was free music all night. After dark, there was a sudden display of fireworks, so we herded Loki inside the van quickly. Little more added drama. He handled it quite well, actually, but we figured it best to get him inside where it's a teensy bit quieter at least. Historically, he's managed far worse with fireworks. Once we were all in, we just chilled for the rest of the night for simplicity's sake.

 

[rob cote]

Saturday, we went for a walk towards the other end of the road. Away from town. I think it dead ends somewhere at the foot of the mountain. We didn't quite get that far, but we picked up a bunch of trash along the way. And we got Loki a little bit tired-out so we could set him up inside the van. He watched our YouTube channel so he could hear us talking the whole time, and he had some snacks and a good breeze off the lake. It wasn't forecast to be very hot. We left him all set up and walked down to the docks in Pana. We caught a boat taxi there to San Marcos. We wanted to see how things had changed since we were last there.



Of course, we had to stop at every stop along the way, so the ride over took about an hour. But one thing that had changed we noticed straight away - we paid after getting off the taxi whereas on our last visit, we had to pay before getting on. It used to be locals paid one (lower) rate and we had to pay the "gringo tax". It was obviously a heavily racist policy, as it relied on the taxi operators determining your fee based on what you looked like. So, on the one hand it's great that it's gone, but on the other hand...now everyone pays the same higher rate. I just hope that it isn't too much for the locals. Maybe that's me being racist, assuming they're poorer. I don't really know the situation, but the cost of living seems much lower than in the states, for example, so I use that as a guide.

Anyways! We got to San Marcos, paid to get off the docks, and wandered into town. There were no children trying to get us to buy their stuff right away. That was a relief, because it's uncomfortable to tell them no when they're obviously working hard at crafting things and selling them. So maybe the rising tide has raised all the ships, and they no longer have to hustle? It would be great if they could just get to be children. We walked through all the shops to the center of town and headed out the dirt road towards Tzununa. We were curious to find the spot we'd stayed last time around although we ultimately couldn't find it. We had used a flag next to the burned-out truck as our landmark to find our way "home" each day when we stayed there back in 2016. The truck and flag were gone, and a lot of new buildings were up so it looked quite different from our memories. The walk was hot, and we picked up a doggy-friend along the way. We gave her some water and a name - Hazel, and she followed us all the way out and back into town.



We lost Hazel when we went into a restaurant to get some lunch, but we made some new friends. We met Jerome and Alice, who are headed to Patagonia backpacking. They've just been catching buses and planes to make their way south along a similar route as us, but with a totally different experience. We arrived as they were finishing their lunch, so they didn't stick around terribly long, but it was lovely chatting. We had a burrito each at Konojel and they were REALLY good. Something we've learned along our way is that what we call a "burrito" in America, is actually a super burro. A true burrito is much smaller. And now that I know that, the name makes so much more sense. I think an actual burrito typically only has the meat in it, and sauce? The addition of rice and beans and whatever else turns it into a super burro. Anyway, Konojel makes a super burro, but calls it a burrito, which was a relief, because we were hungry!

Afterwards, Mandy wanted to check out some of the stores in more detail, so we wandered about. Ultimately, I got some shorts because I'd found a hole in a compromising location in one of my existing pair, so they needed to be swapped out for new ones. Mandy got nothing, but she likes the looking part more than I do, so we all won. We were going to go swimming by the park just outside of town, but we'd heard from some friends who were staying in San Marcos that the diving platforms had been removed. I decided we should boycott it on principle. To be honest, Mandy was probably not going to swim anyways, so it was my decision to make. I was somewhat hot out, but I survived without swimming.



We ended up chance-encountering the very same friend who told us about the docks being removed. We found TJ in the center of town totally by accident. We'd met him and his wife, Terry, on the coast in Mexico that absurdly hot and humid night in Chiapas. We talked to TJ for a while just standing there on the sidewalk. Probably an hour or more. Eventually, it was time to part ways, but we'd come up with a tentative plan to meet up with them again soon. We headed back down to the docks to catch a boat back to Panajachel and Loki.

The ride was pretty uneventful, just scenic. I always enjoy the water taxi rides. I love being out on a boat; it's calming. We headed straight home once we got to the other side and disembarked. We let Loki out and spent the rest of the afternoon and night hanging out with him, just chilling on the lawn. We debated going swimming in the pool, but ultimately didn't. It had cooled off to the point where the pool water was no longer an attractive refreshement from the heat of the day. Loki made some sort-of friends with the random dogs milling about the hotel's lawn. He didn't really play with them much, but he wasn't mad at them for coming around, either.

 

[rob cote]

Sunday morning, our batteries were a bit low from cooking several times without running the van's engine. Not a problem, we'll just plug in the van. Except, first we had to move the van a bit closer to the outlets. We have a really short extension cord, for space savings. Generally, it works, and generally we don't even need it. We pulled over and plugged in and went about our business of chilling. I forget why, but I had to open the rear doors for something. Perhaps just ventilation. In any event, when I pulled the lock pin for the bike rack, it bit me. Like, electrically. You know the feeling. Well, hopefully you don't, but probably a lot of you do. 120VAC is just like an annoying kind of bite. It doesn't really hurt. And sometimes you can't quite tell if it's not just a pinched nerve. I unplugged the van straight away.



I probably would have just assumed something was wrong with the van, but I immediately remembered a comment from David and Rachel. We met them just after crossing to the mainland in Mexico. They're in a slide-in camper in a pickup truck. They were plugged into shore power at the campground we were at that day and got electrocuted when they tried to open their camper door. They discovered that the power supply there had no ground, and that was causing the issue. It was early in the morning and I was still working on my coffee, so it took all that to really look at the wiring and see that it was only two wires. I pulled out my multimeter and confirmed that the wiring was sketchy. I finished my coffee and then things started working. I found a piece of bent rebar on the ground nearby, so I shoved it into the dirt. Then, I dug out a length of wire I have with an alligator clip on it. Normally, I use it to jumpstart our house batteries from the van's battery if they get too dead. By "normally" I mean, I've had to once. But that's the main reason for having that wire. Anyway. I stuck that onto the ground post of our shore power connection and plugged the van back in. After that, it was only about 3V to ground, whereas it was about 55V without the ground rod. No more bite when I touched the bike rack.



We let the van continue to charge while we were nearby, but whenever we took walks around with Loki I made sure to unplug it. Just in case. I'm not an elektrishen. But it was mostly a chill day at the hotel. There was a little girl's birthday party around the pool so there were a bunch of people around. It was hot outside, though, so we eventually made our way into the pool to cool off. Loki stayed in the van, but he wasn't feeling it so we didn't have very long in the pool before he started yelling at us. We hopped back out and let him out again. I think he does better alone in the van if he can't see us. But that's okay. We spent the afternoon hanging out with him outside. A quick dip in the pool was enough for us anyway.



Around dinner time, we were trying to figure out what to do. We wanted to check out more of Pana; we hadn't really spent much time in town other than to grab groceries and a taxi. So, once it had cooled down outside, we setup Loki with all his favorite things (dinner and snacks), and we walked into town to find dinner. We wandered a bit first, until we figured out what we wanted to eat, which was ultimately pizza. We hadn't had a good pizza in quite a while. Tlayuda definitely doesn't count. We went to Ricassoli Pizza Steakhouse on Calle Santander because they had a sign indicating wood-fired pizzas. We ordered one that was like all of the meats, and a beer, because pizza and beer is an excellent combo. The pizza was great! We haven't had a thick crust pizza in a long time, usually we get a flatbread if given the choice. It was super filling, though, so we took some to go. By the time we finished, it was dark out, but the streets were still busy so we kind of meandered. Eventually, we made it out to the main road which took us back home to Loki. We were thinking of going for a night swim when we got there, but ultimately just dipped our legs in for a while which was enough to cool us down from the hike home. Then, we went to sleep.

 

[rob cote]

Monday was time to say goodbye to the lake, again. We packed up our things, unplugged our sketchy wiring and tucked it away. We hit the road out of Panajachel, not the same way we arrived. The road was windy but not very intense. Just really scenic. We scaled a couple minor mountain passes and snaked our way eastward to Antigua. This was another "return" type stop on our trail. We went to Antigua for New Year's Eve in 2016. It was absolute mayhem then, but we really enjoyed it. Children lighting off fireworks in the streets everywhere, and no way to tell if it wasn't actually gunfire. It was a real culture shock for us then, but it's been radically normalized for us now, having been in Mexico and Guatemala for quite some time.





We parked at Verde Eventos in a quiet little corner of the city and took a walk around with Loki for a while. On our way out, we talked briefly with our neighbors Danica and Jared. We made our way to Fernando's Cafe - a lovely little coffee shop where Mandy insists they make the greatest mochas she's ever had. I got one, too, to see what the hype is about. It's good, but I think they're all about as good as each other. It doesn't particularly stand out to me against any of the other mochas I've had. I know that makes it sound bad, but it's not.

We wandered around somewhat aimlessly for quite a while trying to find a restaurant we call "Gloria's". It's a spot we went to forever ago when we were last in Antigua. Literally, a hole in the wall. I don't even think there was a door. There definitely wasn't a sign. When you walked in, immediately on the right was the charcoal grill and the rest of the kitchen. We ordered two tacos for Mandy and a burrito for me. What we received was two PLATES OF TACOS (3 each) and a burrito. I'm sure it was my terrible Spanish that messed something up. But we ate all of it anyways because it was amazing. But that was all 7 years ago. We had a vague idea in our memories of where the place was relative to the city, so we wandered up and down streets we thought it might have been on, looking for a hole with no door, and a kitchen just inside. We just wanted some more of the best tacos we've ever eaten. But it wasn't in the cards for us. I guess it's gone. We miss you, Gloria (or whatever your name may be).



Dejected, we returned home. Starving to DEATH! Not really. But we disappointedly cooked our own dinner. Not really that, either. We were just happy to be back in Antigua because it's such a lovely city. It doesn't feel like a city, and that's the key. Maybe it's just a town, I don't know. There aren't any high rises, it doesn't spread very far. But it used to be the capitol city, so it has a lot of infrastructure. And it has a large market. It's a hub for bus transport. But all the roads are cobblestone, and a lot of the broken old structures still stand as a reminder. And it's just beautiful to me. We hung out for the night inside the wall of the events center gardens and just relaxed.

 

[rob cote]

Tuesday morning, we didn't really have any plans. We took the opportunity to top off our water tanks at the spigot nearby. While Mandy manned the hose, I pulled out some tools and the jack to rotate the tires. I think the last rotation was way back in Texas. You guys can scroll back and let me know. Mandy insists she doesn't remember the campground, but I can picture it clearly. We've had the conversation a few times now, but I'm certain it exists. Anyway, I always forget the order when I start, but I think I end up rotating in the same order. Spare to right rear, right rear to left front, left front to right front, right front to left rear, left rear to spare. Like a ribbon shape, if viewed from the top, kinda. Then I had to adjust pressures because they're different front and back. This is something I've been meaning to ask forever but I always forget. Our front sway bar bushings have looked like this since the van was new, is it normal:



We hung out after that, just killing time. Jared and Danica were heading out, but they stopped by on their way to check out our van. They had flown to Panama and purchased a Lexus SUV, then fitted it with a rooftop tent, suspension upgrades, and other modifications, to drive north. So, we were heading opposite directions and swapped stories and recommendations about the respective roads ahead. They ended up hanging out for quite a while but eventually had to hit the road back towards Montana.

We had a minor mission at that point. First, a little background information. In order to cut the leg off the Starlink, I need to cut off the ethernet cable because it's integrated into the leg. Then, of course, it will need to be spliced back together so it can connect to the router again. So, I need to crimp on a couple RJ45 connectors and get a union. Finding RJ45 crimpers and connectors is not straightforward in Guatemala. Most hardware stores have stuff more associated with constructing buildings rather than networks. Electronics stores generally focus on computer repair or cell phone sales. Neither has a strong association with making ethernet cables. But I had time before getting to Panama, where I will receive the rest of the hardware to make the modifications, so I figured it'd be a good place to look.

Additionally, I bought South America maps for our in-dash Mercedes navigation system. Since we've been outside North America, the system has been useless. Since it's way better than Android Auto, we figured we should get it back up and running. In order to do that, I needed a way to get the maps stored on a flash drive and connected via a USB-C connection in the dash. We don't own a USB-C flash drive, and I figured that would be an impossible find around here, so I added to my list some way to connect USB-A to USB-C. I figured an adapter cord was a maybe, but also probably a long shot.



But that was our goal. I figured Office Depot would be the best bet, so we headed there. I looked over every product they had, and the only thing that was a maybe was a USB hub. I thought perhaps I could make it work with one of the cords we already had in the van. Just down the street from there was a tiny computer repair shop called Compu-Byte. By some miracle, they had one RJ45 crimper on the rack. Score! No connectors, though. I told the guy behind the counter I needed a few, and he said he'd have them in tomorrow. Maybe it was just his voice, but he seemed super excited the whole time we were talking. Really friendly, and really helpful. I made a note and told him I'd be back. Just not tomorrow, but I left that part out.



The next thing we had to do was get Mandy and Loki back to the van so I could set back out on my own to Ox Expeditions for a pre-hike meeting. I found their location, right near where we'd just been at Office Depot, and arrived just in time. Myself and about 30 others checked in and listened to a brief talk about all the gear we would need, what we'd be able to borrow, and what we should expect for the hike up Acatenango. By all accounts, it would be hard. But I had everything on the list of necessities, so after the meeting, I hurried home to pack for the morning. Most of the stuff I needed to bring was clothes and water. I pulled out everything while Mandy set to work sanitizing 4L of water and filling my pack's bladder. I stuffed everything in the bag and then I discovered a USB-A to USB-C converter that we had the whole time.



I stuck it on the flash drive with the updated map data and uploaded it to the van. We were massively disappointed to discover that the South America maps - which specifically state as included "Central America" - don't show Guatemala. Nor do they show Nicaragua, El Salvador or Honduras. Apparently, "Central America" only means Panama and Costa Rica. So, the navigation will continue to be useless for quite a while yet. After that loss, I was ready to get into bed somewhat early. I wanted to get as much rest as possible and be ready to get up at 5:30am.

 

[rob cote]

Wednesday morning, I got up early. Well, around about my normal wake-up time. But rather than do nothing for a little while first, I got moving straight away. I took a shower, ate a snack and packed a whole bunch of last-minute things I'd forgotten the night before. I said bye to Mandy and Loki and set off back to Ox Expedition headquarters. It's only a few blocks away. Once there, shortly before 7:00am, I continued waking up as other hikers began trickling in. We all loaded our packs into one of three vans and picked seats. We were whisked across town to a cafe. I don't know the name of the place, because I was just following everyone else inside. There, we were served a hearty breakfast and coffee. It had clearly all been organized ahead of time, for such a large group of people. The food was served quickly, and it was quite good. We had plenty of time to relax and begin to get to know each other during and after the meal. It was not rushed at all.

Our guide, Lonzo, rounded us all up after everyone was finished. Time to go! We all herded back out to the vans, resumed our former seats, and took a ride out of Antigua. For me, it was all familiar roads, as we had just driven into town the same way two days ago. Well, we had been traveling the opposite direction, but I was seated backwards in the van, so it looked very familiar. After about an hour, we arrived at the trailhead and unloaded on the side of the road. Those that needed to used the toilet as everyone was gearing up. Then, without any fanfare, we began walking.

Pretty much as soon as we stepped off the pavement, we were climbing a steep hill. I think there may have been two tour groups setting out at the same time, and there were also people trickling down the hill so it was pretty crowded. I accelerated a touch, just to get some space around me on the trail, but as I approached a nice open gap, one of the guides barked "tranquilo, amigo". Slow down. Chill out. So, I just fell in line instead. We walked through really steep farmland for a while - maybe 45 minutes or so - and it was pretty tough. I thought how wild a commute to work it must be for the farmers here. They have to hike all this way to then go to work! But then, we had some porters with us who live in the town - some hikers chose to pay them to carry their packs up the hill - and they were so used to the terrain it was not any effort for them to hike up. I just felt so out of shape. The porters were in skinny jeans and skate shoes, laughing and having a grand old time with their friends. Which was awesome, don't get me wrong, I definitely enjoyed to see them having fun. It just made me feel so sloppy for the amount of effort it took, even with more comfortable hiking gear. Oh, and most of the porters were carrying two packs to double their money.

We stopped at a restaurant towards the top of the farmland for a bit. There was a tienda as well. I just had some water, caught my breath, and chatted with other hikers. The breaks were frequent and long. I usually don't stop because it's tough to get going again. If I do stop, it's usually very brief. But I appreciated the forced breaks. Of course, with a group so large, we could only move as quickly as the slowest hiker so as not to leave anyone behind. I wasn't the slowest one, so I got to enjoy some downtime at each stop and actually catch my breath and cool off some. I usually just try to get it over with as quickly as possible.

We continued hiking from the restaurant and into a much wetter region. It was a mountainous jungle with really thick vegetation and undergrowth. The land was perhaps a bit steeper, but at least we came to some switchbacks. We made several stops as we climbed. Some were at random flat spots with a little clearing, but there were also a few tiendas in the middle of the trail which was interesting. Convenient if you realized you were missing something. Seems like a troublesome location for keeping stocked, but as I said, a lot of people that live nearby hike the mountain nearly every day, and it's not as much of a challenge after the first few hundred hikes, I guess.



Around 2:30 or so, we finally arrived at base camp. Kind of a misnomer, since it's situated much closer to the summit than the base. Ox Expeditions has some cabins on the mountain here, which have sleeping bags and mattress pads already in them, so we didn't have to carry those items up the hill, which was nice. We picked cabins and spots within and rested a while outside. The views from the camp perfectly frame the volcano, Fuego. We all stared at it a while. Some people had planned ahead to do an additional hike, down a valley about 300m and then back up the other side to a shoulder of the volcano. At base camp, the opportunity was opened up to everyone in case they felt like going. It's easier to decide from there since you can see almost the whole hike and get an idea of how much effort it will take compared to how much you have left in you. I couldn't decide, so I told the group I needed someone to decide for me. "Let's go!" was one woman's immediate reply. Alright then. I put on some layers, stuffed snacks in my pockets, and tried to prepare mentally for it.

We set out around 4:00. The hike down was about an hour, as was the hike up the other side. It wasn't terrible climbing; more or less the same as we'd been doing all day. When we crested the ridge, we encountered about 30-40mph constant winds and we were completely inside the clouds. The idea was to watch the sun set and then see the lava flows out of the volcano, which are much more visible at night. What we actually saw was pretty much grey the entire time. But at least there was a bitter wind whipping us constantly. HA! At one point, the couple next to me (we were all huddled together downwind of a tiny ridge to block some of the wind and sand) wanted to get a photo from the top. The top of the hike, not the top of the volcano, of course. Bryce passed me his phone and he and Cassie got engaged right there! I can't say it was scenic, but they were really happy so that was fun.



We hung out a while longer, about an hour total sitting in the cold, waiting. Eventually, the clouds thinned slightly, and we saw a few eruptions before starting to hike back to camp. Once we started moving downhill, I warmed up enough to be comfortable. It was about an hour down and back up in the dark. We arrived back to camp around 9:00-9:30 and a hot pasta dinner was ready for us. The portions were huge, but I found room for all of it. I figured I'd need it to survive the next day. We had a little wine and wound down around the fire before one by one heading off to bed.



It was a short, fitful night of sleep.

 

[rob cote]

Thursday morning one of the cabin-mates' alarm rang at 3:30am. About 5 hours after I'd laid down. No one moved and I was so thankful. I thought I could doze off for just a couple more minutes. Then, the volcano erupted and everyone expressed their awe and then we were all fully awake. Time to get moving. The hike would begin around 4:00, so I emptied my pack except for the essentials I'd need for the summit (mainly water). I inhaled some snacks and the last of my electrolytic water and made my way to the common area.



Once everyone was ready and in line, we set off up the hill. Some chose not to hike the summit for sunrise. I think mainly due to exhaustion. One woman told me her only goal had been to hike Fuego, which she accomplished the night before, so skipped the summit hike. I think it was about another 600m elevation to the top from base camp? Something like that. It certainly wasn't easy. It was the steepest section of the hike, and as such the surface was loose. Constantly sliding down and having to re-take a step adds to the effort. Plus, I'm just accustomed to being asleep - or at least still in bed not moving - at 5:00 in the morning. Definitely not hiking a 13,000 foot mountain. The last 50 yards was a real struggle but being able to see the end helped me push through.



The view. I don't know what else to say about it.



We soaked it all in for about a half hour or so. It felt like less time waiting to hike down than the night previous. Maybe it just seemed that way because it was slightly warmer. I was so worn out from the exertion, the sandblasting, the wind-whipping, and the cold that I just wanted it to be over. The hike down felt instantaneous. We took a different route than where others were hiking up, and we all immediately developed a sort of run/slide technique that covered huge distances with minimal effort, fast. Our shoes completely filled with volcanic gravel and sand, but none of us cared. We'd deal with that later. What took about two hours to go up, we covered in about 20 minutes or so going down.

Back at base camp, we all congregated at the eating area, and I put in as much breakfast as I could fit. The chocolate bread was delicious, and an English muffin with Nutella added some more sweetness. I've never had so many carbs in 24 hours. I didn't even care. We all packed up our belongings from our cabins and made sure everything was out. We divided up the communal food containers and each carried our share back down. We had a while to hang out after breakfast while people were preparing for the down hike at their own rates. By the time we got back down to base camp around 7:00am the porters had already arrived to help people carry their packs downhill. Those guys are crazy hikers.



I'm not sure what time we started hiking down, but it went by fast. A large part of it was the gravity assist, but I'm sure the pure exhaustion was a factor, too. We still took breaks, but none of us needed them as often or for as long. We just ensured that the group stayed together, and hustled down to the road. We got back out to pavement around 11:00am and a few of us found beers for sale at the trail head. It wasn't great, but it was so good! If you've hiked a hard one, you know what I mean. We piled back into the buses and had a near-silent ride back to Antigua. We were all beat.

Once there, Mandy had to meet me with cash so I could pay my remaining balance. She walked over with Loki, I paid, and we slowly made our way back home. I was sluggish. And ready to just crash. I took a shower almost immediately back at the van. Of course, our neighbors wanted to know all about it, and whether I'd recommend they hike it. Not the best time to advertise a hike. I was like, well, it was really hard and I want to die, it was frigid in the wind, every part of me is full of sand, but the view is neat.



After a shower I probably could have used a second one. I felt better, but still just felt like sitting for a few weeks. I got a couple hours, at least. Terry and TJ had arrived in my absence, so at least Mandy had some friendly faces to hang out with for a while. We spent the afternoon hanging with them until dinner time. I wanted to find a rooftop bar where we could have a beer and see the volcano erupting. I thought it would be neat to have the alternative perspective. The four of us wandered around the city for a while, with me falling way behind but doing my best to keep up. Eventually, we found Aqua Antigua, which is a gorgeous restaurant. I was probably way too underdressed, but nobody seemed to care. We went upstairs, which took me a while, and got a table and a round of beers. We shared a pizza, too, because we were all just a little bit hungry. We couldn't see the volcano at all, but we got to see the periodic eruptions which was quite satisfying. My chair was pointed right towards the summit, so suddenly the night sky would develop an explosion of orange every 5 minutes or so. My legs still hurt, but it helped some.

Afterwards, I shuffled my way back home and we went straight to bed. It had been an incredibly long day.

 

[rob cote]

Friday I slept in. Until like 6:30. Which is late, for me. We didn't really have any plans for the day, which was great, because I just wanted a chill day to recover. We eventually took a walk around town. Before long, we found ourselves back at Fernando's Cafe. Gotta get those mochas. Mandy mentioned that she'd been handed a small paper the previous day for a massage offer, and that I should use it. I ultimately decided not to go to the place she received the advertisement for, but scheduled one for 11:00am at Bamboo Spa. That gave us time to return to Compu-Byte to pick up RJ45 crimpers and connectors, as well as Office Depot to return the USB hub that didn't work to upload van maps. I walked back to the van with Mandy and Loki, then set out on my own to get a deep tissue massage for an hour. It wasn't the greatest massage I've ever had, but it was awesome, especially after a tough hike the day before. Definitely a good strategy moving forward, to schedule a massage after a hike.

Afterwards, we just chilled at Verde Eventos near the van. We tried to come up with a plan. On the side over the past couple weeks, Mandy had been looking backwards at our spending for the past several months. Compiling all the spending data into one central location, verifying purchases, tabulating cash expenses, etc. It's a mountain of work. But it's necessary to ensure we're living within our planned budget. We're not. I don't think we're living very lavish on a day-to-day basis, but we have a lot of one-time expenses. We had to buy our cell phones to switch carriers. One month, Loki had a vet visit for vaccines, health certificate, medicines, etc. We did a bunch of van maintenance on month. One thousand-dollar day in a month puts us way over budget. All our research ahead of completing the van conversion, based on other peoples' blogs and whatnot, suggested $100/day average is a good ballpark to live comfortably and cover expenses like ferries, tolls, emergencies, etc. A lot of people were doing it for a bit less than that, so $100/day seemed like a conservative estimate. We used that and saved ourselves enough for about a year and a half of travel, perhaps a bit more than that. We didn't want to return to the states after driving to Patagonia with an empty fuel tank, refrigerator, and bank account. We wanted to have a bit to live on while we figured out how to return to earning money.

We weren't planning to rely on making money through social media or anything while we traveled; if it happened, great, but if not, we'd still have enough. Turns out we're not that popular, which is fine. But it turns out this is way more expensive than we hoped. We're spending about $200/day when we account for all the one-time expenses. It seems ignorant to exclude those things and much safer to just assume every month will have something crop up. Additionally, shipping around the Darien Gap from Panama to Colombia has quadrupled in price. We originally saw quotes for around $1500US for vehicles similar in size to ours, each way. Mandy obtained a quote recently for our specific vehicle to the tune of $6000US. $12000 for the round trip is a large chunk of our budget. Projecting forwards, if we paid for a round trip around the Darien Gap, that would leave us with enough two-hundred-dollar days to last about six months. That's about when we planned to get to Patagonia. Obviously, running out of money there isn't really an option. I mean, it is, but it's a dumb one.

We essentially spent the night discussing all of that. And the following day. Our neighbors on the other side from Terry and TJ were Marcus and Julie, who we met briefly outside Oaxaca. They've been travelling for about nine years in their Iveco, and have been all over the place. We talked to them for a while to get some information about places between Guatemala and Panama. The verdict was that it'd be hot at any lower elevations. And increasing heat over the next couple months. The climate in Antigua was perfect. We could stand warmer, but a lot of the places in Honduras and Nicaragua were forecast to be around 100F every day. Our comfort is a concern, but Loki's much more so. He can't just take off his coat. And since he doesn't have a say, we can't just tell him to deal with it. It seems mean.

We didn't make any decisions, but we just talked out all of our concerns, thoughts, ideas, whathaveyous. We tried to map a route that would be a comfortable temperature each night for sleeping which is a lot of work. First you have to find a place that's a reasonable driving distance and time, then check the weather there, then see if there's a place to park overnight there. Or find a parking place, and see if it's driveable in a day, and then check the weather. The trouble with it is that we want to stay at higher elevations, which means all the roads are twisty mountain roads. Which means we cover less ground in a day than on straight roads.

Another thought which carried weight was we have to be in Panama City on April 29 to meet my sister, right? So, should we just hang around Antigua or slowly creep south until the "last minute" and then drive quickly through to Panama City? We booked an AirBnb there for a few nights while family is around so that we could have an air-conditioned space to keep Loki in case they want to go out to a non-dog-friendly place or activity during the days. And since we knew it'd be hot, so we could be comfortable for sleeping. But then if we were going to just fly through all the way to Panama City, what's even the point? Why not literally fly there and back?

We also had to consider that Panama City was about four weeks out. That meant returning through the same hot territory over the following four weeks. So, two months of heat until we could get back to Antigua where we know it's fairly comfortable. Perhaps a bit less than that. But the point being that if we just hustle to Panama City, the hot weather isn't suddenly over after that.

As you can see, there were a lot of points in favor of stopping our journey south. But there were also a lot of points for the other side. We're already this close to El Salvador and Honduras. Maybe it's worth it to continue. Other people are doing it and not dying of heat. We could just put in the extra effort and time to follow the mountain roads to stay cool. When will we have this opportunity again? Probably not soon. Who knows?

Saturday afternoon the discussion was still ongoing. We had laid out a ton of thoughts to each other. We'd absorbed as much as we could from the experts around us. I had a flashback to the hike - "I need someone else to decide for me". I had a thought; we had a bunch of 1 quetzal coins which are hefty. They have a nice large diameter. I felt like it would make for good flipping. So we assigned north to the republica side, south to the side that just looks like a signature. And we flipped for our future.

The coin said north.

 

[jgaz]

Again, thanks for your efforts posting this excellent trip report

 

[rob cote]

I kind of glossed over Saturday, but we didn't do much besides trying to figure out our lives. We walked through the market to get a few basics. I got some new sunglasses since I lost another pair by Lake Atitlan. No idea what happened to them; I was certain I left them on the counter when we went out to dinner and the next morning when I tried to find them, they were gone. The replacements are "Ray-Bans" and cost ~$9 so you know they're legit. We went to Cafe Cafe for breakfast which was really good - and filling, too. We spent a while at Verde Eventos, hanging out by the van with our neighbors.

Around dusk, things started going on around town. It was getting busier. Apparently, Easter is a really big deal in and around Antigua. The celebrations last over a week and people from all around the world come to visit. I guess that includes us, although it was just coincidental. We didn't plan to be here specifically for Easter celebrations. But we went out to see what's good with it anyways. We wandered around in search of the "carpets" that our neighbors had found. They're not truly carpets, but rather multi-colored sawdust arrangements in the streets. They're actually called alfombras and they're used to line the path of a procession through the town. We headed towards the Parque Central and reminisced on being there for New Years Eve from 2015 to 2016. It felt really different, but also somewhat the same. The streets were packed with people once again, but there weren't fireworks all over the place. Actually, there weren't any at all. We're overall much more comfortable in the city this time around anyways, having been in the region for quite some time now. The news really does a number on your perspective; they'd have you believe you're just going to be robbed and murdered for stepping into the country. They like to ignore that the very same can happen in the US, too. In general, people are good everywhere, and that's been our experience.



We wandered through the museum at the central park. It felt familiar once we were inside. We'd been there before. It was decorated different this time though; there were candles lit in all its nooks and crannies which gave a really interesting creepy-yet-romantic kind of feel. I can't really explain it. It's a strange museum because it's mostly broken from an earthquake, I believe. They've left all the rubble in place without trying to rebuild the structure. It's a cool experience. Recommended. We also witnessed at least some of the procession passing by the central park. It appeared to be just one parade float (? I'm not sure if that's what they call it here). A religious scene, carried very slowly down the streets by several people. There was a marching band following as well. It was pretty neat although we were completely out of touch with the significance of it all. We just observed.

We returned home and went to bed.

Sunday, we planned to leave town. It was kind of do-or-die time. That's dramatic, we weren't at risk of death, but if we didn't leave Sunday, we were slightly concerned about being able to leave at all during the following week. Early Sunday, people started flowing into Verde Eventos. It was converted to a public paid parking lot. As cars were trickling in, we took Loki for one last walk around. Just a couple blocks away, we stumbled upon several alfombras in various states of completion. We walked slowly to watch the process as we passed. It's almost like sandcastle-building: they're all similar, but unique; some much more intricate than others, but all beautiful. It seems like a nice family bonding kind of activity. They all cooperate to roll out the sawdust carpet, as it were, for the priests and whatnot.







By the time we got back to the van, the parking lot was much fuller, and traffic on the streets was getting pretty heavy. We said our goodbyes to our friends quickly, paid and thanked Isaac for our stay, and hit the road. And stopped. Right out of the gate was gridlock. At the first opportunity, I did a U-turn and headed INto the center of town. I thought it a bad idea, but it was the only direction there were no cars. Somehow, it was the right way. The police had carved out a path for cars exiting the town, which was brilliant. We exited Antigua in less than 10 minutes by cutting right through the center.

We took a mountain pass road north and east towards La Union Barrios. It's kind of in the middle of nowhere. We stopped at Posada Montana del Quetzal. It's a little hotel and restaurant establishment in the middle of a mountainous jungle. It's a pretty cool spot! We paid to park for the night, and then we met up with a couple from France who were traveling the opposite direction. They were headed out but stuck around a while to chat before leaving. Lovely meeting you, Katya and Andy! Afterwards, we took a little hike along the highway to a sweet little waterfall spot. I was feeling pretty crappy about our decision to turn north. It feels like giving up on something we've worked so hard towards for so long. I didn't really know how to deal with it. Still don't. Mandy helps though. If you don't have one, get yourself a Mandy. Highly recommended. I should have enjoyed the hike more, but it was tough at the time.

When we got back, we talked out the whole decision all over again. Should we actually go south instead, if this is what going north feels like? We rehashed all the points for both sides again. I think it reinforced that it's the best decision. And we agreed we're not giving up. We just need more money first, and the states is the best place for us to get it. We're still working out how exactly, but we'll figure something out. It felt a bit better afterwards. We'd heard from Katya and Andy that the food at the restaurant on site was good, so we figured we'd try it out instead of cooking and heating up the van. We left Loki inside and walked up the hill to the restaurant and were the only patrons inside. We feel like our timing is always off what everyone else is doing. Not sure if we're early or late, but it's on our time. I ordered a "plato tipico" which is literally "typical plate"; it had marinated pork, rice, carrots, and a stuffed pepper. It was excellent! Mandy got a similar plate, but with a 1/4 chicken instead of the pork, and no bell pepper. We were both impressed, but I think mine was a tiny bit better. They both came with a soup and a salad, too, and a basket of fresh tortillas that were perfect. For less than $10US, each. It's impossible to beat the food in Guatemala for quality and price. We've had one bad "meal" that was just a tamale, so not even a meal, really.

Anyway, the point is after dinner I was feeling an additional bit better. We went home to dog and bed.

 

[rob cote]

There wasn't much to see or do at Posada Montana del Quetzal, so Monday we left in the morning. We didn't stick around long. We drove to Coban. Along the way, we stopped for some groceries and cash at a cajero. We drove to Cooperativo Chicoj to park for the night. We spent the afternoon working on editing a video for YouTube, so we didn't do too much once we got there. We did arrange a tour of the coffee farm for the following day, though. Loki met all the miscellaneous dogs hanging out around the property. For the most part, they seemed to follow the rules he established about his van, and everyone got along. We cooked up some dinner and opened all the van's doors to let the cool evening air blow in before bed, so we could sleep comfortably.



Tuesday, we had a tour scheduled for 8:00am. Or so we thought. It wasn't exactly clear to me, because my Spanish is bad. It could have been 9:00. When we'd scheduled it, we were like either is fine, somewhere around there, it's not important. But it seemed like they'd ultimately settled on 8:00, so we wandered out to the tour office then. There were a few people milling around, but no one seemed like they wanted to give us a tour, so we just occupied ourselves. Someone eventually approached us and was like what time do you want a tour? We said now is good and were introduced to Gladys.

Gladys gave us a tour in English and it was actually fascinating. Naturally, the tour started with beans. Gladys showed us how every bean is planted in a specific orientation by hand. They must be oriented just so, that the roots may grow straight down rather than having to find their way around. She told us a lot about growing coffee and how to identify the different types of plants around the property. Since it's a cooperative farm, it's all sectioned off and each plot is farmed by different people. They use avocado and banana trees, and a few others, for shade for the coffee plants. They can't use lemon trees because it affects the flavor of the coffee in a bad way. All the leaves and unused fruits are left to fall to the ground to fertilize the coffee. The sections of the farm are marked by a specific type of plant; I'm not sure what it's called, but it was reddish in color. Pretty distinct.



I asked Gladys if, since there are so many farmers working the 'same' land, is there any friendly kind of competition? In fact, there is. Every year, the farmer with the highest yield of coffee by weight gets some recognition. Additionally, the co-op as a whole had recently received the Cup of Excellence in a nationwide competition across all of Guatemala's coffee producers. Research shows they were ranked 27 for their honey process Caturra beans. I didn't even know what the difference was between washed process, honey, and natural before the tour. Now I know it refers to how the beans are dried - in the fruit, with the fruit removed, or totally washed clean. After the tour, we got to sample fresh-brewed coffee made from their washed and honey process beans, separately. We agreed the honey process smelled better, but had less flavor in the cup. Both were good, but we preferred the washed process coffee. Gladys told us that 100% of their honey and natural beans are exported to Japan and Taiwan, so if you're looking to try it, it seems more popular in those countries. She told us in the US, Blue Bottle Coffee sells their beans but under a different label, but I was unable to find any indication online that that's accurate. We thought it would be good to support them, so we bought a bag of coffee there. We hoped we could continue that support after leaving, but I'm not sure if we can buy their beans unless we return to that location which isn't sustainable long term. In any event, coffee just tastes better if you can walk the land it grew on and see the hands that picked it.





After our tour, Mandy tried on a dress in the store that she liked on the mannequin. It fit her really strangely, so she opted not to buy it. We returned to the van to put the finishing touches on our video and upload it. Even with Starlink, we find it takes a while to upload. It certainly helps, though, and when Google inevitably cuts off our cellular data, it'll be our only option. We cooked some dinner while calling some family, then relaxed outside until dark. Then, we moved the party inside for sleeping.

 

[rob cote]

Wednesday, we picked up laundry in town we'd dropped off the day prior. We are totally capable of doing it ourselves, but the only DIY options are real old school. Literally a cement sink with a cast-in washboard basin. It's been a month or two probably since we've seen a coin-operated dryer. It's tough to plan for drying clothes; we have to align weather with a place we're staying long enough to dry clothes, when we have a sufficient amount of dirty laundry to warrant washing in the first place, plus a place that has a spot to hang our clothesline. In other words, it's well worth it to just pay to have it washed, dried, and folded for us. It seems like that's the most-commonly available option around here, so we just go with the flow.



We drove out of Coban to Cuevas de Candelaria Mucbilha in Raxruha. That's a mouthful. Roughly transcribed, that's Candelaria Caves in the village of Mucbilha (which barely shows up on the map at all) in the town (I guess?) of Raxruha. The caves are a bit off the highway down a long and winding driveway. When we arrived, we were greeted straight away in the parking lot by a few people collecting money for parking. We asked if we could park overnight, which was no problem. They showed us to a different parking area, though. When we pulled into the grassy lot, we were almost immediately swarmed by all the village's children. We must have been such a spectacle.



We paid for parking overnight as well as a tubing tour the following morning at 9:00am. We tried to hang out outside the van afterwards, but the children kept slowly creeping closer and closer until they were inside my bubble. I had Mandy pass me the frisbee and I threw it to one of them. They threw it back and their eyes lit up. In no time at all, we had a giant circle of probably 15-20 kids throwing the frisbee around. By circle, I mean it was a completely disorganized mass of bodies. They were having SO MUCH FUN though. It was totally worth it. The funny thing is the frisbee we carry is a knitted piece (so it doesn't hurt if we get hit in the face and it doesn't do damage if it hits a van, for example) made in Guatemala. It's come full circle. It was nice to see them light up though. We lamented that we only had one frisbee and we weren't ready to part with it yet. If we'd had a spare, we would have immediately left it to those kids. They were really intrigued by Loki, too. And our chairs. As soon as we were out of the chairs, we never got another opportunity to sit in them. That's alright, the kids were so stoked.





In all of their playing, which continued all the way til dusk, there was never a fight. They got slightly aggressive a couple times, but they resolved it immediately each time. I was impressed. They're also bilingual, which is impressive. They were keen to learn a bit of English from Mandy, too. By the end of the day, we were both completely exhausted from running around, trying to do our best to communicate with them in Spanish, and we just had to call it as it started getting dark. We listened to the howler monkeys, at first not knowing what they were. I asked one of the kids what's making that crazy noise? "Mono". Mono is monkey, and we were able to sleuth out that they were howler monkeys through the internet. What a horrifying sound!! We reoriented the van slightly and had to ask the kids to get off our chairs so we could pack them away. We covered up all the windows and crashed into bed.

 

[rob cote]

Thursday, we had originally considered the possibility of staying another night. As much as we loved playing frisbee with the kids all day, it was absolutely exhausting, and we couldn't do another full day of that. So, we began to discuss alternatives in the morning as we walked Loki around. After he was walked out, we set him up for a couple hours inside the van. Then, we headed over to the equipment hut. We'd chatted with a man the previous day over lunch who said we 8:00 would be better for the tubing tour. I think. I don't really know. My Spanish is bad, I guess. I mean, I'm WAY better at listening and understanding than when we entered Mexico, but I'm still bad. I get usually get enough of the words or context to understand the meaning.



So, we were hanging out a little after 8:00am, and someone asked when we wanted to go tubing, and we were like, well now is good if that works? It worked, so they linked us up with Frankie. Frankie got us set up with life vests and headlamps and rubber inner tubes. We both got inners with the long stem, while Frankie got an outer with the short stem. He instructed us to put them in the water with the stems down and hop on top. He also told us we'd have to paddle because the river doesn't have much of a current. Of course, all the instructions were in Spanish. So, I think that's what he said. Clearly, we survived, so whatever that's worth. We began floating downstream, gazing up at the jungle. It's crazy to me how thick the undergrowth gets when there's enough water and sunlight for the plants to do their thing. We didn't really know what to expect; we were just taking it as it came.

As we came around a bend in the river, we saw a couple ladies washing their laundry on rocks along the shoreline. The rocks have a really weird texture - almost like Swiss cheese, with a bunch of small holes all over. I'm not sure how they get that way, exactly, but it seems like a perfect washboard texture. Guatemalans are nothing if not resourceful in using what they have around them to their advantage. Just after that, the river crashed into the side of a mountain. At least, it used to. Thousands of years ago, probably. But now there's a gaping hole in the side of the mountain and the river just cuts right underneath. We floated underneath the mountain and clicked on our headlamps to look all around the cave above us. It was...cavernous. Wow! How descriptive! It was way bigger than I expected actually. I started thinking of the forces acting on the rock around us which was a mistake. I quickly discarded that line of thinking. Instead, I just marveled at the shapes formed by the nature around us. It was so COOL!

We had to get out and walk a couple short distances where it was shallow. Frankie advised accordingly. He didn't mention (or seem to notice) how treacherous it was walking across the rocky bottom of the river in the dark. We took our time (he didn't) and didn't have any slips or missteps. We continued floating past a couple really impressive ventanas - or windows - to the outside. The scenery and greenery were just wild. The scope of everything was just immense. We felt so tiny. We ultimately floated for about an hour and a half. Frankie told us this is where it ends. The river doesn't end there, nor the caves. It continues for another 32km. I was like, yeah I'm good with floating that far, that's a bit much. We hiked up out of one of the ventanas and followed a trail through the village of Mucbilha back to our van. We returned our borrowed gear and thanked Frankie for the tour.



We let Loki out while we shuffled the van around to get it back onto the driveway to exit. Mandy and dog climbed back in, and we set off. The driveway is a little bit intense, actually. It's a pretty steep climb and pretty rocky. We conquered it in 2WD, but a decent amount of clearance is helpful to not drag any van bits. Once on pavement, we cruised. Franja Transversal del Norte was actually really nice pavement. We made our way to Las Conchas, intending to camp at Parque Natural Las Conchas. It seemed to be hosting some kind of event, because the entire road and the whole campground were packed with cars. We drove past without paying, then turned back after seeing how full it was. Just down the road a bit was a separate campground that was nearly empty. We asked if we could park there for the night, and they said sure. I'm pretty sure they said we had to leave by 7:00am. It seemed early, and I countered with 8 or 9 instead? They insisted on 7:00am, so we said okay, we'll make that work. I probably totally misunderstood, I dunno. My Spanish is bad, did I mention that?



We parked and got situated and wandered around a bit. The campground is right next to a little river that was perfect for wading through. It was only about knee-deep, the ideal temperature, and clear. Loki couldn't figure out how to get in; he's so particular about entering water, it has to be a gentle slope without waves. I figured it out for myself, though, so. We did a big loop and ended up back at the van where we shared the task of editing video and getting it setup to upload. As night fell halfway through our upload, we moved our Starlink to the roof of the van where it was totally obstructed. We were hopeful it might continue to work, but it didn't. We packed away everything else to minimize our morning effort before heading to bed.

 

[rob cote]

I'm so far behind, this is going to be a challenge.

Friday morning, we packed up early. It was probably lost in translation, but Thursday we thought we were told we had to leave by 7:00am. It wasn't a major hurdle, and we figured it best to assume we heard correctly, just so we didn't upset anyone. Or sleep in and get a knock to get up and leave. We drove away before 7, but it didn't really seem like anyone was around. Who knows what we actually were told. Someone who we've met travelling a couple times who is fluent in Spanish told us that Guatemalan Spanish is the most difficult to understand that they've encountered. She regularly has to ask people to slow down in their talking. That makes me feel a bit better about my ability to catch a quarter to a half of what's said to me.

Anyway, we hit the road and headed towards Belize. Specifically, the southwest corner of Belize. The drive brought us through new and different terrain. Eastern Guatemala is quite different from the west side; the mountains are smaller, and the trees are much more tropical. There are large fernlike trees, banana and plantain trees, and far fewer pines. Between the mountains there are broad stretches of flat land. It feels similar to what we think Thailand might be like based only on pictures we've seen. Once we got to the corner of Belize, we turned left and drove north, away from Belize and deeper into Guatemala. Perhaps soon, but not quite yet.

We drove to Finca Ixobel. Finca is farm, so it's Ixobel Farm, I guess if you wanted to translate it. We assume Ixobel is a name, perhaps a family name, and that it's pronounced Ishobel. X is a kind of wildcard in Spanish/Mayan areas. As far as I can tell, X can make the typical English X-sound, like "ecks" or "cks", or it can sound like an H, OR it can sound like "sh". I haven't come across any method of discerning which it's supposed to be. You have to just know.

At the gate, I guess my translating brain just shut off, I guess. I had to ask the guy there to repeat himself so many times and I still have next to no clue what he was saying. I felt bad, but he was such a champ, he didn't get frustrated at all. Ultimately, he realized I was never going to understand, and he just showed us where to park manually. We were shown a path which leads to a lagoon and a separate one that heads towards the restaurant, then left on our own. We got situated and took a walk. Since we had to leave our previous spot at 7, we arrived pretty early, around 8:30am. It was an oddity; we usually end up in a new place after lunchtime at the earliest. It wasn't a problem, just weird. We walked to the laguna because it sounded like a good idea. Since it was so early, everyone else was still waking up and we had the whole pond area to ourselves. I hopped in for a swim, and then I checked out the waterslide. It seemed robust enough, so I filled up the bucket, wet the slide and took it for a rip. It was actually way better than expected, so I did it again.



Afterwards, we made our way back to the van and began some relaxation. I wrote to you guys which took up a chunk of time. At some point while we were sitting around outside the van, we noticed a tick or two on us. We of course picked them off, but then we noticed more and more. We avoided the grass as much as possible, but it was hard to completely avoid it. We stayed vigilant and kept picking them off us all day. At some point, Will showed up and stopped by to say hi. Will is traveling alone from Washington D.C. in an SUV, and not 100% sure where he's ultimately going. It was lovely to chat with him, which ended up being for quite a while. During that time, Terry and TJ showed up as well. I'm not sure if that was planned or chance; Mandy has Terry's contact information, but I don't. Plus, I was driving for a chunk of the morning. Isn't it weird though, that the women always exchange contact information, but I've never been asked mine by anyone we've met along our way? I've also never asked anyone for theirs; it just doesn't occur to me to do so. Not good or bad, just odd.



We told Terry and TJ about the ticks and the pond and the slide. Eventually, night rolled around, but we wanted to catch up with them. We weren't keen on sitting outside in the grass, though. They invited us over, and Loki too. We expected him to want out after a few minutes, but we gave it a shot. He was surprisingly content to just pass out on their floor the whole time, which was great. We caught up with them for a couple hours before heading back to our van to do a tick check before bed.