Karen's last Central America travelogue installment - part 4

Goodbye Belize, Hola Mexico!

It seems like nothing stops in Mexico. Yet we are managing to maintain the "go slow" creed we learned in Belize. Found a lovely garden hotel in Tulum town on the east coast of Mexico, along the Carribean Sea. It has cheap cabanas (bungalows), hammocks, shared bathrooms and some stalwarts living there (or rather escaping their past lives in North America). Although called Ranchos Tranquilos, the all-night truck route took the 'tranquilos' out of it. Nevertheless, we enjoyed it, as free breakfast was pancakes! We visited the famous Chichen Itza without a tour. Heavily bombarded with tourists, and touts peddaling their souvenier wares. The main temple was literally awesome, with the blue sky background. Nova bought a book with pictures and descriptions and we learned all about this ancient Mayan ruin site that won the National Georgraphic's 7th New Wonder of the World. Such a special place it is, that we saw a guy propse to his girlfriend... how sweet and romantic.

Tulum is part of the Mayan Riviera - famous for it's beaches (most popular being Cancun - our final destination). Neither Nova, nor I are particularly good at sitting still for long periods of time, but we rose to the challenge and gave ourselves a day at the beach. Beautiful clean and fine sand and clear gentle blue-green water. Tulum also has ancient ruins overlooking the beach; visible in the distance. That's as close as we got to it. We'd already seen two of the best and we were 'ruined' out.

The next day, Monday, we did a tour of the Sian Ka'an Biosphere Park. After pancakes, our bus collected us and we drove past the beach-hotel-zone and into the 5,000 hectare park. Our young Brazilian/Mexican guide - Rene, explained the mangroves, the various trees, terminte mounds and birds. A mosi-infested walking track ended at a pretty dock on the lagoon, where a leathery-skinned man was awaiting on an outboard motorboat. We motored across the the huge lagoon for about 15km and then wound through the tight bends of canals between large expanses of Red Mangroves and Black Mangroeves. Mangroves are like sea grass or reeds that randomly grow up to three feet deep in water. Somewhere in the midst of these canals is a tiny island where a small ancient Mayan ruin can be found. It was either a religious building or a tax collection point, archeologists are not quite sure. With requisite life jackets, we jumped into the crystal clear fresh water and floated downstream for more than a kilometre, seeing birdlife up close and enjoying the refreshing coolness of the water in the middle of the hot day. Lunch was a Mexican feast at CESiak - The Centre of Ecology Sian Ka'an. This is a privately funded organisation with a centre of research, an eco-hotel and a restaurant. After lunch we swam in a cenote - a waterhole in the limestone base that makes up most of the land in the areas. It was peaceful and a beautiful setting, even though the water was brackish, combining fresh water of the lagoon and salt water from the Carribean Sea.

Being our spontaneous selves we decided to return to the lovely CESiak centre to stay the night after collecting our bags from Tulum town. We got Cabana 4, atop a sand dune overlooking the beach. On one side of the us was beach, on the other was the lagoon and mangroves. Our cabana was actually an army style tent on a platform with a thatched roof. It was quite luxurious inside with large beds, candle-lanterns and no electricity, communal eco-bathrooms. We slept with all the windows of the tent open and could only hear the crashing of the waves and wind in the palm trees. We awoke at 10pm to meet our guide for a turtle-watching walk along the beach.

Turtles

From May to September, female turtles all over the world, come on to beach and hatch their eggs. We listened to our expert guides talk passionately about turtles, explain mating, hatching and survival processes. As it was still a little early to go out and search for them, we went back to bed and were awoken about 2am for a two hour beach soujourn under beautiful a star filled sky with the yellow moon rising slowly.

The first of the two greenback turtles was incredible. 112cm long by 105cm wide, estimated at 70 to 75 years old. This beautiful sea creature had walked about 20 meters from the shore and dug a big hole where she began to lay thousands of eggs. The eggs take about 60 to 65 days to hatch and it's likely that only one out these thousand will survive. It can take up to three hours for the turtle to come up the beach, lay the eggs and burry them, then turn around and return into the water. She moves slowly as she weighs at least 100 to 150kg. A baby turtle will survive only on the amniotic fluids for the first five days after hatching while it makes its way down the beach, out and over the reef to hopefully catch the favourable current to travel the world (a bit like Nova and I). Research shows that the surviving female turtle will return to the same beach where she was hatched to lay her own eggs. In order to lay eggs, she copulates with up to five male turtles. She has five compartments where she can store sperm from the differnt males and she can choose whose sperm to use to fertilize her eggs - some from one, some from another - mix and match!

The second green turtle... (Americans call them Green Turtles because of their green backs; Mexicans call them White Turtles because their bellies are white)... was slightly smaller at 105cm long, estimated to be 55 to 57 years old. We actually saw the eggs as she was laying them, golf ball size and slimy looking. Then we got sand flicked in our faces as she covered the eggs first with her hind legs and then her front legs. Upon inspection, the researchers and volunteers check for tags in the webbing of their front legs. This turtle had never been tagged so we watched the experts do this. It is important for their survival and protection. She flinched a little but they spoke kindly to her while doing it. They also checked her shell and found the right shoulder damaged slightly, indicating the spot where the male turtle grabs on tightly during copulation. Copulation can last up to 48 hours, hence the damage to her shell and flesh (and imagine the exhaustion!). It was an emotional time seeing these turtles in their natural environment. And to do so with experts who are so passionate about protecting them. We were both moved.

It was a tough decision if we should leave this beautiful sanctuary or stay another night. Our trip was coming to an end. To avoid a rush panic, we decided to head to Cancun for two nights.

For some, Cancun is a beautiful package holiday destination filled with bikini-clad young Americans, chain restaurants and Hooters Bars. To us, the hotels were ugly and built right up to the waters-edge ruining the beauty of the aquamarine waters of this once small fishing village on the Carribean Sea. Luckily we found an oasis of a hotel in downtown Cancun (after some traumatic shopping around) with a pretty garden and a pool. We have been spoilt in the beauty of the places we have stayed over the past three weeks. Our good fortune though, once again found us a quiet spot on the sand today where we could dip in the water and top up our tans. Some shopping and local food and drink for dinner followed by a fabulous night swim in our hotel pool topped off the day fantastically.

This entire trip has been outstanding, filled with great weather, excellent accomodation, easy transport and our safety has never been compromised. We've gotten along famously and met some lovely people along the way. This is what it means to be a traveller and not a tourist. To explore, support local economy, view the beauty of our world and leave without leaving too much of a footprint.

Karen in Central America - part 3

Nightlife

Nightlife is not the purpose of this trip. Our nightlife has taken the form of going to sleep ridiculously early and getting up before the roosters for a bus ride.

On Monday we took a 3.30am shuttle to the ancient Mayan acheological ruins of Tikal. Tikal is part of the one million hectare Mya Biosphere Reserve, which, when combined with adjoining reserves in Mexico and Belize, totals more than two million hectares. This region of Guatemala is called El Peten, the northeastern 'department'. It's landscape is mostly dense jungle. Tikal used to be jungle before the Mayans came in and cleared a huge area to settle and subsequently build sonte ceremonial structures (between 700 BC and 200 BC). It peaked again about 250 AD when it flourished as a big city. In the following six or seven centuries it became a powerful kingdom. And then came my favourite King: Moon Double Comb, aka Ah Cacau (Lord Chocolate!) Most of the temple ruins are from his reign. All of this was rediscovered in the mid to late 1800s and sponsorship today from the Guatemalan government, Spain, Uni of Pennsylvania and others allow continuing exporation and restoration.

Upon our arrival to the National Park, we were ordered to run through the now rainforest (even though the guide books call it jungle, it is actually rainforest) for about 1.5km to Temple IV (built by Lord Chocolate about 741AD). The pressure was on to get to the top in time for sunrise. It was a spectacular morning, clear and bright - one of the best in days. A steep wooden staircase took us near to the top of the 64 meter structure. There we sat wtih abated breath for the sun to appear in the horizon. Actually, there was a lot of heavy breathing from the large group pooped from the sprint and climb. A gaggle of noisy Israeli backpackers had to be shooshed so we could more appreciate and meditate with the experience. The sounds of the jungle were screaming - monkeys, parrots, toucans and other animals arising with the sun. Seeing Toucans was a real highlight, along with Tarantula spider, Pisotes (Coatis, like racoons), Howler and Spider Monkeys. Unfortunately we didnt get to see a Jaguar. We had an excellent tour guide, Luis Antonio Oliveros, a famous birdwatcher. After the magical sunrise and chaning colours of the morning, we had a three hour tour of the ruins. Nova and I decided to stay in the park for the rest of the day and explore. Of course we had a leisurely brung at the nearby hotel, Jaguar Inn, and had a ball wondering along the paths of the park, fighting off mosquitos and biting flies, photographing trees, roots, insects, ruins and eachother, and battling the heat. After 10 hours there, we returned to Flores - a tiny island in the middle of Lake Peten Itza. A beautiful sunset over the lake was a treat.

Go Slow

Another early morning took us across the border into Belize. We were sad to say goodbye to Guatemala as we´d had such a great time there. Along the way we drove through a very poor rural area on a half-sealed road. Every animal seemed to be free-range: chickens, horses, dogs and cows. A dodgy scam at the border crossing sees foreingers forking over 10 Quetzales (about USD$1.50) each for a non-existant, unofficial and receiptless departure fee. Nova managed to get a discount though!

After a quick wander around downtown English-speaking Belize City, we transferred by boat to Caye Caulker. This beautiful little island (pron´d: Key Corker) is only about 6.5km long by 600 metres wide. It was originally much larger until Hurricane Hattie split the island in two a few years ago. There is a bar and tables at the tip of Caye Caulker where the Hurricane left a pleasant little beach.

The motto for this place is "Go Slow!" We were often stopped and asked why were were walking so fast. Nova quick-wittedly responded with "we´re hungry!" The atmosphere is relaxed and easy going in a Carribean way (after all, it is in the Carribean Sea). For three days and nights we had it tough - sitting on the dock overlooking the gorgeous blue green sea; jumping in the water for a swim when it got too hot; sipping rum cocktails listening to reggae music; eating freshly caught lobster cooked on the bbq (lobster season opened a couple of days before we arrived); sleeping in (except for Nova who had an early morning dive at the world famous Blue Hole). I spent an entire day doing literally nothing. Intentions were to shop a little, read a lot, write a little, drink a lot and sort out our next travel plan. Well, you know me... got talking to a lovely Canadian couple - tram drivers in Toronto - and before I knew it, I had their entire life stories going back three generations. We sat a Femi´s on a lovely deck for the whole afternoon drinking fruit cocktails and rum cocktails in the warm breeze. Nova had made dinner arrangements with some fellow divers, I invited the talkative Canadians and we were a party of seven that night eating lobster again.

Thursday was our sailing and snorkelling trip. It was fantastic. Our local crew sailed us to three famous Marine Reserves including Hol Chan, where we viewed stunning colourful fish and pretty coral. Highlights wer ethe turtles and sting rays, but equally exciting was our face-to-face introduction to a Manatee (a mammal like a sea cow). No one else but Nova and I saw it up close. It was enormous, probably at least six feet long and really fat. When it saw us, we stopped dead in our tracks and stared at it, and he/she stared right back at us before slowly coming closer for a better look at us. I freaked out a little and backpaddled behind Nova for protection while she tried to keep me calm. Wow! The Manatee was much more beautiful in real life than some of the ugly postcards of this threatened species. The piece-de´resistance was definitely swimming with the Nurse Sharks. At the third and final location for the day I found myself sitting on the edge of our sail boat, flippers on, mask and snorkel at the ready, and about to jump into shark-infested waters! I figured it was better not to dwell too much on this thought, so I jumped in. I´d never done guided snorkelling before and I was entranced. Our crew leader managed to catch a hold of a Nurse shark about a meter long so we could all touch it. Considering there are quite a few companies running these trips, sometimes twice a day, I got the distinct feeling that much of the sea life was used to our leaders bringing tourists to gak at them. Especially when the sting rays would approach them and hug them, knowing they´d get a treat (a dead fish). Our next reward (yes, it keeps getting better) was freshly made cerviche directly from a beautiful conker, and rum cocktails in the afternoon sunshine on our sail back to the island. We invited some of our fellow, now drunken, snorkel trip friends to join us for dinner. It was superb. Yes we had lobster again. I couldnt have been more relaxed.

Hola! Again
Yesterday, Friday (I think) was an uneventful day of travel including cross the border into Mexico, missing our bus because we didnt change our clocks, dodgy tummies and itchy mosquito bites. But we arrived late and in one piece to the southern part of the Mayan Riveria - Tulum where it is hot and touristy. Today we joined the throngs of tourists at Chichen Itza, a very famous Mayan ruin site, more architectually intact than Tikal in Guatemala, but not nearly as beautiful in it´s location. Beef tacos for dinner, for a true Mexican experience. Spanish and Spanglish is coming back into use now.

Less than a week to go now.

Hasta Luego
Karen

Central America part 2

The Lonely Planet Guide, aka The Bible has warnings on every page for Guatemala. Amidst all the dangers of this country, sadly we passed a dreadful accident on our way to Semuc Champey. A huge colourful crowd of townfolk had gathered along the steep winding road to gawk at the crushed vehicle that seemingly took a descending turn too fast, rammed the guardrail and plummented at least 100 meters into a valley in the middle of this village. We also stopped for a requisite ´sticky-beak´. An hour or so later, our comfortable ride on smooth pothole-free roads suddenly morphed into a narrow dirt track winding precariously downhill through a lush and beautiful valley towards Lanquin.

Far along the way of our eight hour journey, we picked up a handlful of seemingly middle-class (for this region) kids who sang Spanish songs at the back of the eighteen-seater minibus. Until then it was just Nova, the driver and I. He was very friendly. He even took us to visit his wife and daughter at their home in Coban and Nova gave the little one some pens and paper she had with her. Many of the local people we have encountered here dont speak English. Thank goodness Nova speaks some Spanish. I am managing to get by on the little I remember from the two courses I took years ago.

The Guatemalan people, with Mayan descent, have round faces, a box-like structure and cafe-con-leche skin, with thick, shiny black hair. I am yet to see a bald man. They are friendly in a shy way and extremely polite with kind smiles. Even the machette-toting teenagers - boys and girls alike. We akso saw a tiny child with a machette-knife almost half his size. Wrinkled, tiny old women with huge burdens literally on their heads, colourful skirts of local weave wrapped around their waists. A very interesting race.

Friday the thirteenth - a good luck day I think. I spent a couple of hours perched on a private dock on River Cohabon at a rustic, somewhat primitive lodge called Las Marias. The sounds of birds and insects, as well as the gentle running water of the river, eventually combined with the Mex-American who came to share this tranquility. The ride here was spectatuclar. Our cameras cannot do it justice. The last nine kilometers getting here were spent in the back of a pick-up truck, hanging on for dear life with our backpacks and some locals. We bumped over potholes and the through forest-like terrain until reaching this little piece of paradise.

Semuc Champey is a beautiful spot with cascading waterfalls and perfect, blue-green pools. The water is clear and we swam with all the tiny fish, using goggles to get the best veiw. Unfortunately it started to rain just as we arrived, but we were lucky to have completed the steep 1.2km hike to the view point at the top of the mountain in a measly half an hour in the dry heat just before that. (The sign says it takes one hour fifteen minutes!). The rain didnt stop us as we figured we were wet already.

The morning was spent touring the Las Marias caves. The adrenalin rush began with a swing and jump into the river. I was kinda scared, but did it anyway. Hmmm, I didnt really want to let go, and that resulted in a minor rope burn. Nothing serious. Luckily we spent the next couple of hours in the cool water underground, where our Spanish guide led the way with his headlamp and we struggled to keep our candles lit whilst swimming through these caves. There were bats and stalacmites and slippery rocks and waterfalls and metals ladders to climb and descend. It was great fun. That night we had dinner with a rather large crowd for this tranquil hideaway (about 20 people), and a Mariamba band played local music for us and some of us danced the Merenge.

The weather has been warm and sunny in the mornings with rain and thunderstorms in the afternoons, then usually dry again by evening. This afternoon we arrived in Flores after a very long and uneventful bus ride. The climate is different here as we move north and eastward and it is hot and humid here. An early night for us as we have a few days of very early starts ahead of us. Tikal tomorrow and then on to Belize for some diving and snorkelling.

Love Karen

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A travelogue from Karen in Central America - part 1

You know when you are sitting in front of a dying bonfire and the coals are red hot. Well, imagine being as small as a marshmallow and sitting on the edge of the fire pit... that´s what it was like a few hundred meters from the top of the active volcano Placaya, a few hours drive out of Antigua, Guatemala. For those who may not know, I spontaneously booked a trip to Central America for three weeks and arrived on Monday afternoon. I met up with my old friend Nova from Melbourne and we will spend the next adventure-filled three weeks travelling this dangerous, but stunning part of the world.

The steep hike up the 2550 meter high volcano was breathless, but the experience of hiking on the volcanic molten rock was incredible. I admit, I was terrified. We jumped and hopped over soft rocks and rubble, some hollow, some hot and very sharp. We gazed at the hot lava flowing only meters from where we stood, and watched as boulders crashed onto one another. We felt the heat coming from beneath our feet. I was thankful for deciding to bring my hiking boots. There were two guys in our group who did this hike in their flip flops (thongs). Even our guide was stupified by this and shook his head. Despite the minimal safety instructions, all in Spanish, it was exhilarating. The experience was comparable to that of ice climbing on Fox Glacier in New Zealand this past January.

Upon our return to Antigua, we explored this 16th century colonial town, once the capital of Central America before the devastating earthquakes in the 1700s. Then we packed our bags for a windy and scenic shuttle bus ride to Panajachel, where we got on a tiny, rickety and crammed boat across Lago de Atitlan to the village of San Marcos del Laguna. It was a very stormy and wet ride, but we somehow made it safely to this hippy village and checked into a gorgeous villa set in lush gardens. Met some lovely people over a vegetarian dinner and crashed for the night. Early the next morning we did a fabulous two hour yoga class in an outdoor setting followed by a lazy lunch at a beautiful hillside hotel where sat in the sun and planned the rest of the trip. We had a swim in the lake before the daily afternoon rains, had a siesta and dinner before crashing again from jet lag and travel exhaustion.

Today we arose early to catch a shuttle to Chichicastenango (Chichi), famous for being the largest and most colourful market in all of Central America. The ride was scenic and the market was fun, eating local foods, buying knickknacks and fresh mangos and avocados. We returned to Antigua in the late afternoon, explored more this gorgeous town and learned about the unique jade stone from Guatemala. We have met some lovely people so far, everyone generous on sharing their tips on where to go, how to get there and where to stay.

We´ve had warm mornings and rainy afternoons and evenings. Everything is lush and green and beautiful. I am still pinching myself to make sure I am really here. Onwards to Semuc Champney tomorrow - an eight hour bus ride.

Stay tuned for my next installment.

Love Karen

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Quick mid year update June 2008

My life has taken another crazy turn. I have met a great guy, named Antony. He is a policeman. We met off jdate (yes, I know!!!). Last weekend he took me out on his motorbike and it was soooo much fun. The week before we went out for dinner and cocktails. Each time I see him, I like him even more.. a bit scary for me. We are going to spend tomorrow together (while I try to pack) and then go see SATC at the movies.

Also, spoke to Nova last Saturday and she left for Cuba on Sunday. I decided to go meet her in Guatemala and backpack Central America with her (Guatemala, Belize and Mexico) for three weeks. I leave on Sunday afternoon. Very excited and nervous, coz hardly done any research - only booked the ticket on Tuesday.

In the meantime I have found a job. Starting on June 30, I will be working for a company called IBF Forum (www.ibforum.com) as the Executive Asst to the CEO. Great opportunities to help grow and develop the business. I am excited. Great pay. Close to home (10mins on the bus, or I can walk) and five weeks of holidays. Working out of the CEO's home.