Ahhhh Antigua! Possibly (most likely), our favorite city in all of Guatemala. There is so much to see and do here. Countless restaurants, coffee farms, historic churches, and buildings, entertainment, and cobblestone streets! This is a place you could move to or visit, experience history, modern amenities, and everything in between. We have been here 5 or 6 times, and each time is more fun than the last. We find something new each time.
Our first week in Mexico has been an adventure! We have experienced the mountains, jungles, and beaches. Temperatures are at both ends of the scale. It makes it fun to pack for!
Our first stop after climbing the rocks at El Potero Chico was a small town called Parras de la Fuente.
border, we made good time driving through Spanish Lookout ( a primarily Mennonite community), and then on to Placencia, a great beach town.
We spent a few days catching up with some friends in Placencia. We also took the time to put our extra belongings in a storage unit. The plan was to head South through Central America. Anything that wasn’t needed along the trip was going to be left for later. We had packed an overland fridge on the plane, so I was looking forward to setting it up. You just can’t beat having access to ice cold drinks and food available whenever you want it.
One of our friends who lives in Chicago, also owns a few condos on the beach in a upscale resort called Belize Ocean club. He offered to let us stay in one of the condos for the 5 days we were preparing for our trip. We were spoiled with all of the amenities and things to do at the resort. It was so nice staying right on the beach and having spectacular sunrises each morning, from our balcony, overlooking the Caribbean.
We visited some of our favorite restaurants, like Mangos and the Placencia Hotel. Belize Ocean club features a pool party on the beach each Sunday afternoon. The live DJ entertained the guests, spinning dance tunes pool side. They also offer free use of their kayaks, and other beach toys. All in all, it is an event that the locals and visitors enjoy each week.
We stopped by the church we attend in Placencia on Sunday evening and had a great time seeing a lot of our friends there. Although it just wasn’t the same, with a few other friends who were not there. It was nice to be welcomed back and missed by everyone.
This time around, we didn’t do much site seeing as we were focusing on getting ready for the exciting trip we had planned. The loose plans, including traveling through Guatamala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and possibly as far as the Panama Canal. We planned to travel with Bernard and Tammy, some friends that we had traveled with before. Each couple has a Land Rover outfitted for overland journeys, including rooftop tents. It is nice to caravan for any potential break down and safety issues.
Finally we were ready! It was going to be tough leaving the luxury accommodations we had been spoiled staying in, and exchanging it for the roof top lifestyle, but the trip was going to be one in a lifetime. So we hit the road, and headed towards the border of Belize and Guatemala.
Our GPS coordinates took us within 100 yards of the first nights stop over, San Ignacio. We pulled into the grass parking area and was promptly greeted by the owner, Xavier. He told us to make ourselves at home. Due to the upcoming festivities, Belize National day, the campgrounds was fuel. of people cooking, playing, and lounging. We were told not to worry, the people would be leaving in a few hours. It was pretty cool to see the locals interacting with their families, a water balloon fight, dogs chasing each h other, and the men sleeping lazily in the hammocks under the palapa.
We were told of a good restaurant where we could walk to for some lunch. It was excellent food, good prices, and friendly service. The waitress told us we were just in time to enjoy the parade that would be going through town. We finished up, and headed back towards our campsite, as the parade would pass right by us there. As an added extra bonus, we were conveniently located across the street from the town market. We perused the fruits and vegetables and waited for the parade to start. The locals began pouring in, lining the sides of the streets in anticipation of the festivities. We walked back across the street to a “fast food” joint and ordered a water.
The parade waltzed by with people dressed up, flags waiving every where, and lots of laughter and fun. It was quite short by the standard of parades I was used to ,but it was fun any way.
We settled back into the campsite, now much quieter with the local families having left. The owner introduced to some of his friends that were visiting, and we shared off road stories, and their adventures of driving Land rovers in the wild Belize wilderness. We all sat under the palapa roof, which included electricity to plug our fans in for sleeping, and WiFi.
Getting hungry again, we decided to order a pizza from a Facebook friend that delivered pizzas in San Ignacio. They made a special pizza and delivered it after hours to our campsite, where we finally met them in person, and enjoyed some conversation. Finally, we were able try some of this self proclaimed’, best pizza in Belize. We were not disappointed, it was very good, and hit the spot.
After a semi restless night sleeping in the tents, due to some residual partying in the streets (mainly loud music in the distance), we got up and began taking camp down. I decided to go for a run around town, and then we stopped at a taco stand that offered breakfast burritos. With camp packed up, and our bellies full, we set out for the border crossing a few miles away.
We flew back into Cancun, Mexico to reunite with our overland outfitted Landrover. A friend had let us leave it at her house for the two months while we were back visiting the States. When we finally pulled up to see it in good condition and ready to go, my heart leapt!
We were definitely ready to get back on the road. We loaded up our luggage, and new over lander fridge/freezer we had brought on the plane, hopped in, turned the key, nothing. I mean absolutely nothing. There wasn’t a light on the dash or overhead. How could this be? We had installed not one, but two batteries before our previous trip.
Fortunately, we had installed a dual battery system, so that in the event one battery was drained, the other could still start the engine. I popped the hood, and turned the other battery back on. HONK, HONK, HONK! The alarm was going off. Well after a little playing around with resetting the alarm, all was well and we were able to start the car. There was no indication of any tampering with the vehicle. I am so glad we had that back up battery. I will have to look into why one of the batteries was dead though. All I found suspicious so far, was a couple of bare wires that had heated up running my off road lights.
We said our good byes and hopped on the road headed to Chetumal Mexico. This is a town in Mexico on the border of Belize. Our plan was to drive the 5 hours and stay the night before crossing the border to Belize in the morning. The only drawback, was after playing around with the battery issue, we didn’t set out until 3 pm. It gets dark this time of year around 7 pm. I am not fond of driving after dark in Mexico, largely due to the poorly lit roads, unmarked traffic lanes, bicycles, and pedestrians, not to mention, the riff Raff like to come out at night also. We pressed on without any delays or incidences. The roads were very smooth and well marked. Being this is such a touristy side of Mexico, the roads were wide, well maintained, and marked. This was a pleasant surprise, compared to many. We stopped for gas at the Pemex. They did not accept credit cards at this location, though many do throughout Mexico. Fortunately we were able to find an ATM or “cajero” inside the OXXO, a national convenience store. The ATM fee was steep, $69.90 pesos (about $5.00 U.S.).
Back on the road, it was smooth sailing’ and very little traffic by this time. For the majority of the trip, the roads were 4 lanes wide with a divided highway. A fair amount of section in the middle was only 2 lanes. It was getting to be around 7 pm, and dusk was setting in quickly. You could see the sky, but darkness was closing in. I have to admit, you hear so many times, “don’t travel on the roads after dark in Mexico”. It almost builds an anxiety inside if you are caught out in the dark. We still had about an hour of travel left, so it was wearing a little on me. Do we try to find somewhere closer to stop, or press on to our know destination? We chose the latter. I’m glad we did. The roads were really impressive, with reflectors marking the lanes, reflective signs, and no pot holes! The traffic was enough not to feel alone and desolate. We can do this!
We rolled into Chetumal a little after 8 pm. There was lots of activity, as it was Saturday night. Vendors offering grilled food, and other goodies along the streets, along bright decorative displays overhead on the street lamps, of “Viva Mexico”. September is the month of Mexican Independence, so the fiestas had already started. We did it! We had travelled the roads of Mexico after dark and survived! I really don’t recommend it due to the reasons mentioned before, however, it was good to know it didn’t mean instantaneous disaster.
We had already had a hotel picked out from our last visit, called Hotel Marlone. For one reason, it is a very nice facility with some English speaking employees. The other reason, we had left two of our phone chargers in the room, and hoped to retrieve them on this trip. They also have a secure gated courtyard to park in. We were not disappointed when we arrived. We were greeted by some friendly smiling faces, directing us into our parking spot, and offering to check us in.
After locating the English speaking manager, we were given our phone chargers. She had remembered speaking to us two months prior and labled and set them aside. She also informed us that they were setting up for a private party, that she was sure would be a very loud fiesta. She offered us a room up on the 3rd level, but she was confident we would hear the party goers from our room. She offered to let us leave our vehicle secured and stay at their sister property across the street, which we did. A/C, hot showers, nice room, and WiFi! Well most of that was true….while we did see a WiFi connection, we never were able to connect. Oh well, one night without being connected, wouldn’t kill us. Tomorrow morning, we cross the border. Watch for the next post as I will give the play by play on getting out of Mexico and into Belize, hassle free.
Posted by Scott Woodhams
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