26 de Diciembre 2010

Well, last night was quite a Christmas. The hostile sorta banded together later in the evening and had some fun together. We played several rounds of a game called Werewolves, a murder mystery type game where a group of 8 or more draw cards and play against each other, werewolves vs. villagers to see who will survive. As people got bored and left, we adapted into another group game called Assessin - sorta along the same principle, a group has one assassin and one cop and as people die in the group the cop needs to figure out the assassins identity. Anyway, it was pretty fun, especially considering the motley crew assembled in Caye Caulker on Christmas night.

As little groups took off to bed or headed to bars, there was a small bunch of us who stuck around to play a bit of cards. Because we all didnt understand the rules 100%, we played one open hand to illustrate the rules before setting into the real game. Just as we were starting the game, a massive wind swept through - overtaking the island and gaining in intensity. The problem is the hostile wasnt equipped with real walls, they are constructed out of chicken screen and mosquito netting, so when the wind picks up its more like a wind tunnel. Seeing as cards was out of the question, I stepped outside just in time to feel a few rain drops coming down. I ran to the clothes lines, grabbed the freshly washed (and dried) clothes, just as it started to unleash a massive downpour - dumping rain. I ran back to my shack listening to the rain and wind howling and wondering if my little structure would sustain the force.

Mari and I packed our bags that night during the storm in preperation for our early morning departure, and laid down to sleep just after midnight knowing we had to be up before 6 am to eat and catch the 7 am ferry. Inevitably, it was a restless, sleepless night as the rain and wind pounded and tortured our little structure. It was a beautiful display of force, and an interesting insight into island weather.

In the morning, we:

• Caught the 45 minute ferry from Caye Caulker to Belize city ($10 each)
• Then split a taxi with another Seattlite towards the Belize City Bus Terminal ($1.50 each)
• Bought tickets for the 3 hour bus ride from Belize City to the Belizean border town called Benque Viejo del Carmen ($4 each)
• Crossed the border - (Belize exit fee = $20 each) (Guatemala entrance fee = $2.50 each)
• Caught the 2 hour shuttle from the Guatemala border to Flores ($3 each)

We are officially in Guatemala! We rolled in after a long day of traveling with little sleep. Found some food (Burritos and Enchiladas and beer), and are getting ready for bed. We have an early morning scheduled for tomorrow as well. At 4:30 am, a shuttle is scheduled to whisk us away to Tikal first thing in the morning. Hopefully we can catch a sunrise, and if that fails at least we beat the crowds. It wasnt my prime choice for a departure time, but it didnt seem like we had a ton of options.

Wishing the best to you - Travis

Literature and Guidebooks

In preperation for our trip Mari and I have been hitting the Goodwill in search of travel books. Not that we have been vigilant about making stops to comb through the varied collection they have there, but we have gone a handful of times already and picked up a few great gems that we hope will help along the way.

As our trip starts in the Yucatan Peninsula area of Mexico, we will start there. The Lonely Planet's "La Ruta Maya". A guide to Mayan ruins throughout the Yucatan, Guatamala and Belize. Although this book was published in 1991, I think it will be really useful as it has a wonderfully detailed section explaining the history of the Mayan civilization and culture as well as all the major sites in each of the three areas.




But, just in case, we also have this more up to date version as well. The Lonely Planet's "Belize Guatamala & Yucatan". Maybe this is for the northward traveler, as it looks like they just swapped the order of the locations on the cover.

"Belize Guatamala & Yucatan" was published in 2001. 10 years more recent than La Ruta Maya. I havent looked through this one yet, but I assume it gives alot of the same information from La Ruta Maya. Hopefully between the two we can varify proper information along the way.

Once we hit the Caribbean Coast and kick back a bit in Cancun, the next book will come in handy - Chicki Mallan's Cancun Handbook. Although seriously outdated (1994) this book gives backgrounds, nature explanations, and location insights on the places in and around Cancun. This seems like a great book to get the ball rolling.

After we leave Mexico and head into Belize and Guatamala, we have the two books outlined above as well as our newest purchase - The Lonely Planet's "Central America on a shoestring". After finding many of the Goodwill purchases with copyrights back in the early 90's, we decided to splurge at Barnes and Noble and pick up a more recent travel guide. In many places, this book will be our travel bible. I expect this book will get many miles.

Published in 2007, Central America on a shoestring offers more up to date information researched by "travel experts" in the not too distant past. This will be a good way for us to double check some of the more in depth information covered in the older site specific books.

These books are about half of our collection so far, but seeing as though our trip starts in these areas I figured I would start here as well. I was trying to pre-read the books to cram large amounts of information into my head so I wouldnt have to lug all of them along on the trip. But I quickly learned that each one is a mini encyclopedia of necessary information. I have given up the thought of leaving them behind and now know they will be close companions on this journey.