Mexico Return
February 2007
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Leaving Guatemala we crossed into Belize which was a bit strange since everyone speaks English and everything seemed to cost more. We got charged for the first time to bring Bruce in but didn’t have much of a choice. From the border we drove to San Ignacio and found the Inglewood Camping Grounds run by a very kind former engineer from California. The electrical system and Wi-Fi internet immediately tipped us off as to what type of engineer he was. We spent a couple days in San Ignacio doing laundry and making a plan. With the rain falling, the cost of everything being high and our short schedule, we decided to pretty much pass through and head for Mexico. Belize is beautiful but we think that you need a boat to really appreciate it so next time we will have to sail there.
Crossing from Belize to Mexico was great. We immediately found carne asada tacos and reminded ourselves of some of the things we missed about Mexico. The $30 per person exit fee for leaving Belize left a sour taste in our mouths and a smile on our faces as we watched the border shrink in our mirror. We drove up the coast to Tulum where we stopped and tried to call our buddy Omar on Cozumel to alert him that we were coming to see him. We spent a night in a crazy Disneyland-like trailer park near Playa Del Carmen called Paa Mul with over 50 giant RVs from the U.S. and Canada and some of the most luxurious hot showers we had experienced in a long time. The next morning we got a hold of Omar and caught the ferry to Cozumel to meet him. The next four days flew by as we visited with Omar and caught up on his travels to South America and back. He took us fishing, scuba diving with his dive shop, Deep Exposure Dive Center, and took us to all of his favorite local food spots. Cozumel is a really cool island if you get away from the main drag where all the cruise ship tourists and businesses are. The far side of the island is nearly uninhabited and even gets surf. Eric met a local guy named Nacho that Omar introduced us to who lent him a board and took him for a surf in the crystal clear blue Caribbean waters. The waves were a bit messy but actually really fun. We are now believers, you can surf on Cozumel.
After saying goodbye to Omar, we headed for the ruins of Chichen Itza where we camped for one night and spent a morning visiting the ruins. They are very neat ruins but we found ourselves a bit spoiled after seeing Tikal and Copan. We made it to Uxmal for the sound a light show which was really neat. They basically have all of these lighting effects set to a story about the ruins. It was a very different way to see the ruins albeit hard to photograph. The next day we went to the Grutas de Loltun where scientists have found evidence of human presence dating back to 15,000 B.C. After touring the caves we drove to Campeche and spent a night in a woman’s back yard that used to be a campground. She still allows people to camp in her yard and was extremely nice. She told us all about Campeche so we headed into the historic centro. We found the old Spanish walls, constructed to prevent pirates from sacking the city and the antique colonial city within reminiscent of Disneyland’s Pirates of the Caribbean ride. From Campeche, we drove six hours to Palenque were we checked out a camp spot knowing we would be returning with Sarah’s Dad, Darryl, and Step-Mom, Tina, in the next few days. We woke up and drove to San Cristobal via the mountainous road through the heart of Zapatista country.
The following day we picked Darryl and Tina up at the international airport in Tuxtla Gutierrez only about 30 minutes from San Cristobal. We were excited to see them and they were very excited to see us and have a chance to explore a part of Mexico they had always dreamed of seeing. Over the next week we visited all of the sites in and around San Cristobal including Zinacantan, San Juan Chamula, Na Bolom, the market and cathedrals. We stayed in a very cozy hotel called the Hotel Hacienda Don Juan. Each day we would have coffee and chat at this neat coffee shop we found when we were in San Cristobal on our way south six months ago. One of the highlights of the trip was visiting Palenque. The ruins of Palenque are more or less Mexico’s version of Tikal. Surrounded by jungle, the impressive structures and setting lend to a true taste of the Mayan world. After camping with Darryl and Tina in the van, we headed back to San Cristobal with stops to see the waterfalls of Misol-Ha and Agua Azul.
When we waved goodbye to Darryl and Tina we smiled thinking about all the great memories we made and wonderful places we visited in such a short time. So that pretty much brings us up to date. We are planning on spending the next few months exploring more of Mexico including Veracruz, the Mexico City area, Taxco, Patzcuaro and of course more surfing on the coast. We hope to see you all soon.
Que lo vaya bien,
Eric, Sarah and Bruce