From San Ignacio (Belize) I crossed the border into Guatemala and arrived at the Yaxha National Park. I had no expectation except to have a camp spot and I am glad to say my expectations were greatly exceeded. I was quite impressed by the Mayan ruins and the beauty of the lake and surrounding jungle. I got a great camp spot on the lake front that included cold showers and a fire pit nearby. Again, I saw a lot of wildlife and birds including Toucans, LBJ’s (my best birder humor), Howler and Spider monkeys, pacas, coatamundies???, and a small fox to name a few of the critters I can identify. I stayed as long as my groceries and water lasted and then continued on to Tikal a couple of days later.
In my opinion, Tikal is the most impressive ruins between Mexico and Copan in Honduras. The site is huge, the climbs are scary, the views are amazing, the jungle is alive, the atmosphere was mysterious and the camping was adequate (the shower was filthy). The only change I could recall from my previous trip here years ago is the addition of wooden stairs/ladders climbing the larger temples. Some climbs are not for the faint of heart. I defiantly had the heeby jeebys on temple 5. I stayed in Tikal long enough to explore the ruins, breath the air, search for wildlife, damn near break my neck, and to lose my newly prescribed, overpriced eye glasses (that’s 2 days). After Tikal I spent a half day in Flores unsuccessfully trying to get gas for cooking. Finally concerned that I may end up on a back road somewhere at night I left for the lake near Sayaxche without propane. When I got there it didn’t feel right. The spot I found at the lake was just a dead end road with no designated place to park except, perhaps in a farmer’s field. The town I drove through on the way to the lake seemed off too. On the way in I saw a young albino girl sweeping the veranda of their shack. On the way out I swear I saw a scene out of the movie ‘Deliverance’… An older man was rocking his chair on the same veranda where I saw the girl earlier. He had a cigarette hanging from his mouth, and he was looking at me as if to say ‘What the #$%&*@%*& are you looking at?’ Leaving the yard and now walking in the middle of the road were 3 children. The same young albino girl was holding the hand of an older girl who appeared to have downs syndrome. The third child was a boy with obvious mental and physical defects. They were not inclined to move from the middle of the road and the boy menacingly hobbled to the window to beg. He had a very angry feel about him. I gave him a couple of coins and left town. I feel a little guilty/judgmental about my conclusion but regardless I’ll just say this… ‘incest is not best!’
After this I headed further south down the road to Aguateca. After driving 20 minutes off the main road to find this place I was starting to get concerned that I was going to repeat the events from earlier in the day. I finally pulled into a small store selling corn and sodas to ask for directions. I got lucky and a lady there was previously from the USA and could speak really good English. I had arrived at the right location but they informed me that I couldn’t go into the park with my car. There was a school out front and I asked if it would be ok to park there for the night. They insisted that I park at the store instead. I had to put on a show and set up the van and the kitchen so my hosts (and half the town) could see what I was up to. They were impressed by the kitchen and the bed but really impressed by the awning and my meat thermometer. They had a stack of wood and I asked if I could buy some because I was out of propane. They responded by letting me cook in their kitchen. I ate at their table and promptly started a fight between the cat and the dog by feeding them under the table. It was vicious and I was quite embarrassed. They responded by kicking the dog. It wasn’t long before we had attracted all of the neighbors who were curious about the gringo and his carro casa (motorhome). The porch was filled with no less than 30 people young and old. All the boys checked out the van and my bicycle and all the young girls seemed to giggle and blush when I smiled at them. Later, the TV was turned on and we all watched some farfetched American hero movie in Spanish. I had been carrying a pack of jiffy popcorn since it was given to me by a church group last September in California, and this popcorn finally found its destiny in the very dirty hands of some young Guatemalan kids. After the movie I could hear the voices of people singing and a guitar playing. I stepped out into the dark night to listen when a young boy noticed my actions and asked if I want to see the music. We went to the next house down the hill and slipped into the back of the congregation. Church was being held with a group of about 20 followers. I was told that church was held every night until midnight… it was 10:00. I prayed for a way out but God choose to ignore me this time. I listened to the music and said a prayer when people bowed to do so. Suddenly I was starting to pick up words I understood… Canadiense, loco, soletario, viaje, carro, Sur America…. He turned to me and asked me if I knew Jesus… I responded with ‘Jesus es mi amigo.’ (Obviously somebody important is my friend or I would not have made it out of the last town…) He asked me a few questions about my trip and I tried to respond in Spanish. There were a few Spanish ‘amen’s and halleluiahs’. I got off the hook eventually and the groups went back to song and prayer. After a while people would go to the front and ask for the groups prayers or sing a song of dedication. Finally, (and I could feel it coming) I was asked if I wanted to come to the front and share a few words… I spoke mostly in English and asked the speaker to translate for me. I just told them that I was on a journey and trying to safely find my way. I thanked God, asked for His guidance, and asked for their prayers. It was a very interesting day and a very cultural experience.The next morning I headed to Coban after a failed attempt to get into the caves at Candelaria. If it was dry I may have made it to the caves but it was pouring, and I didn’t want to end up stuck or broke down in the middle of this road in the jungle.
I know I was really looking forward to seeing Coban but after getting there I wasn’t sure why. It seemed so different from what I remembered. The streets seemed cluttered with signs, power lines, and grime. McDonalds and a megamall had moved in and it seemed like the old charm was buried a little deeper. I did manage to get out and see some sites around town and after a couple of days the town started to grow on me. Lanquin caves were dark, damp, slimy, and musty (go figger) but Semuc Champey was really cool.
Semuc Champey is a natural area in the cloud forest with the major attraction being the point where a small stream is tributary to a larger river. The stream fills a number of amazing pools in the limestone. It’s green, clean, cool, and refreshing. After a hot and humid climb to the mirador that overlooks the river valley, a dip in the pools was perfect. Barely upstream of the pools the larger river dives into a cave. The water was violent and I thought it was like the world’s largest toilet. A human body would be a very small turd and flushed very easily. The pools are directly above the underground river. The river joins the stream downstream of the pools in about 500 meters and below a small waterfall. When leaving Coban I drove right through the town of Tactic to get to Biotopo de Quetzal. I didn’t see a Quetzal but I had a great time looking for one. From the Biotopo I tried to make it to Antigua but only got as far as Guatemala City. It could have been interesting but I managed to find the ‘Shithole Hotel’ with good parking. When I went out for dinner I learned the hotel was sandwiched between a street filled with hookers and another street that is used as a public toilet. It was as bad as anything I can recall seeing in India. Dinner was good though. McDonalds provided breakfast and after surviving the night I headed to Antigua.
Antigua is great. I love this town. It is full of amazing restaurants, cafes, and bars. I tried to hit a different spot every night. Most places had amazing courtyards hidden in the back complete with arches, fountains, and gardens. The cities architecture is preserved in the colonial era and is really beautiful. There must be a lot of building restrictions to maintain its historical feel. Once again, I only planned to stay and study Spanish for a week but I made it two. I dropped in on some live music at different places with the highlight being when I identified the song ‘Barcelona Nights’ by Ottmar Liebert to the musician. He was quite impressed that I knew it and proceeded with a number of awesome flamenco tunes on his guitar. Most nights were spent on my own but there were a couple of nights out with my classmates Julie and Gloria and their friend Ziggy. Gloria and Julie are both from the UK and Ziggy is a German fella that spoke as much English as I did German. Amazingly Dean and Jeremiah (my cousins husband and son) spotted me in the Central Park and we spent the afternoon together wondering through the market. 
On the final weekend of my stay in Antigua and there was a Christian religious celebration… (help me out here Leslie)… where it was the 40 days leading up to Easter. I’ll have to do some reading but I think the thing is that Jesus was crucified on, or about, this time and was resurrected 40 days later on Easter???? 
Beginning in a small puebla about 2km outside of Antigua, there was a march down the streets lead by kids in Roman soldier costumes, followed by Christians and all there burning/smoking things, people carrying huge platforms with a religious event (good vs. evil) symbolized in paper-mache and flowers. This was followed by bands, smaller platforms (Mary or Jesus, or some other saint, or some symbol), and then finally the general population. Of course there were vendors selling everything from sodas to rattling Christians on a stick (I think they were filled with candy). The road on the parade route was decorated with colorful sawdust, flowers, fruit, and plants. There was a lot of dedication, time and money spent on these beautiful arrangements to have them finally walked on by the parade procession. I caught the parade first thing in the morning and I understood that it just grew in size as they spent the entire day marching through the streets ending up at the church in Antigua. It was very interesting to watch and I can only imagine how grand the procession would be on the Easter weekend.
After 2 weeks I got all I could handle with my Spanish lessons and I left town for Monterrico on the Pacific coast. When I was almost there the temperature gauge on my van started bouncing between the top and bottom of scale. After pulling out the books and doing some troubleshooting that left me with burns from my knuckles to my forearm I decided I had an electrical problem with the sensor. The electric radiator fans (separate sensor) seemed to be operating correctly and my overflow bottle was at normal levels. I limped into town and camped in the back of a hotels garden area and spent the next couple of days fooling with the van. I found some exposed wiring (the hard way… arcs and sparks) and cleaned that up but I think the arc caused some other damage as the gauge is on bottom.
The beach in Monterrico was insanely hot. The sand was black and I couldn’t walk on it without flip flops. The surf was angry and I didn’t dare go in above my knees. I watched a few people go in and wondered if they were going to come back to shore with their clothes torn from their bodies. Everyone came out of the water on all 4’s or on their asses. Other than working on the van I walked the beach, took a tour through the mangroves in a small boat, and enjoyed the hotels swimming pool. Two days later I left for the VW shop in Guatemala City for a service and a sensor.
By accident, I found the VW service shop easily. It was nearly the end of the day and they wanted to work on the van the next day once it was cooled down. Since they couldn’t recommend a hotel in the area they let me camp in the van in their parking lot. After meeting the guard dogs and bribing them with dog cookies and half of my dinner we got along just fine. Unfortunately that was the only highlight of this venture as $400.00 later I got a major service, new front brake pads and damage to the body of my van that affects closing the side door. The wieners used the bottom edge of the body panel to lift the van on the hoist which caused the bottom door runner to bow. I am pissed off and hanging out into next week while there auto body dude tries to fix it up. I would use serious profanity here but I know my nieces may be reading this.
Anyhow, another week behind schedule but I hope to cross into El Salvador early next week… Until then ‘Go Canada Go!’ Hockey gold or bust!
