Valladolid, México

The vacancy crunch in Tulum preceding the New Years had me worried, so I booked ahead. I was relieved to hear that the hostel I was staying at had some potluck/party plans for the evening.

All along the road for the last couple days, I had seen these old scarecrows sitting on porches, many of them nursing empty bottles of beer. On New Year´s Eve I learned that they are a Mexican tradition, stuffed (naturally) with fireworks and burned at the stroke of midnight. The group of residents at our hostel joined together in a town square to set off the hotel´s dummy, signifying the old year that was about to pass.

So many burning dummies! So loud!

As usual, I got along quite well with the other hostel residents. In this case, I was living with Miche, a civil engineer from Germany, and Phil, a mechanical engineer from the states. We were joined later by another mechanical engineer. Just like Cal Poly all over again

Resident engineers. So smart.

The next morning I wandered around and helped myself to an enormous plate of ceviche de camarones. Its simply cooked, shelled shrimp, mixed with diced onions and tomatoes, and garnished with cilantro, salt, pepper, lime juice, vegetable oil, and worchestershire sauce. Served cold, and great for hot days. Super delicious, and apparently also great hangover food. The number of people filtering through during late-morning new year´s day was staggering.

Must make more at home.

Valladolid is home to a great number of cenotes in the area. So I saw almost all of them. By bike, and accompanied by a couple more Germans, of course!

Cenote Zaci, in town. It´s wild that this enormous hole (up to 100m deep) fits on a city block and is surrounded by buildings

Zaci

Samulá

Typical Mexican roadside sign: Colonial churches, indigenous handicrafts, cenotes, and food ahead.

New Year´s Day Eve outside of my last cenote of the day.

Coba, Mexico

Stopped at the tiny town of Coba on my way through to Valladolid. This town is home to an alligator-infested lake. Its name comes from the Mayan for  `turbulent waters´ for the same reason.

The attraction here is another group of impressive ruins in the same jungle-surrounded tune as Tikal. These jungles are much more like a dry forest, and the park is much smaller, taking me only 2.5 hours to see in its entirity.

The ruins are home to a number of impressive stelae, as well as a well-kept ball but small ball court with hieroglyphs. The best part is perhaps the scalable pyramid of 46m. Unlike the scaffolding at Tikal, this pyramid allows you to climb up the aged steps to the top.

The grounds are level enough that the bicycle rental service at the gate makes a lot of business.

Ball court, maybe 15´ tall. There is a hieroglypic panel below the torus.

Pyramid to climb

Fossilized shells in the sandstone(?) on the way up.

Gorgeous view from the top.

After the park I waited around town for a collectivo share taxi to Valladolid for New Year´s. During my wait I conversed with a local woman in Spanish for a good half-hour, then a large family from Utah, and then a couple Mayan men on my bus. It was good to have a lot of extra time to be able to interact with more people.

Tulum, Mexico

I traveled with Andy from Germany/Caye Caulker to Tulum in Mexico, via chicken bus. These repurposed American school buses are quite cheap, and great to look at from the outside due to their outrageous paint jobs and lights. On the inside they are usually cramped. They have been the backbone of my travels througout Central America.

Tulum boasts the most scenically-located Mayan ruins, as they are not ten feet, 3m, from the water. It was also completely overrun with tourists by the time we pedaled out there on our rental bikes from town. Nevertheless, the ruins were quite nice, as was the tiny attached beach.

The largest temple, against a stormy sky.

The wind did most of the work over the lifetime of this tree.

A reptilian inhabitant, guarding the ruins from the sea.

After the ruins, we biked around the other side of the coast, which is completely packed with boutique hotels, spas, and restaurants. A very younger-richer-couple sort of place. Andy was fascinated by all of the attention to detail that the restaurants could afford easily with their exhorbitant price list, and he had to take photos of every place

Andy was in his element.

Pooch, same stop.

Last quick stop was a cenote, or exposed limestone cavern. Word on the street that the Yucatán peninsula formed over 10,000 of these guys as a result of the meteor impact off the coast of Chicxulub. That one may have had something to do with the end of the dinosaurs, but it seems that tourists and Mexicans alike are more interested in just swiming in their pristine waters. I had to share my swimming space with cave divers and bats.

Find hole in ground. Fill with tourists. Profit. 

Finished off the day with a Mexican meat plate. Forgot the name, but it was excellent.

I was actually quite tired of the half-finished hotel that I had stayed in the previous night, so for the next one I checked out and made a reservation with a camping establishment on the beach. Seeing as I had no gear and rain seemed imminent, I was given a hammock slung under the roof of the restaurant not 100 paces from the water.

My digs on the beach. Heaven, save for the mosquitos.

Sunrise the next morning. Nummy

Caye Caulker, Belize

From Flores, I took a bus the day after Tikal to head to the border with Belize. Made the crossing without a hitch, and were dropped off at the busy pier for a water taxi to a nearby snorkel/hangout spot.

Instantly as we crossed the border into Belize, people began speaking English more, now with a creole accent. It was as if we were not even in Central America any more. A lot more folks from the States as well.

I arrived on the caye just as a storm was coming in, and friendly, dread-sporting Gilbert led me to my hostel. I wandered around and found an incredible bakery with fresh Creole buns (spiced with raisins and cinnamon) and a next door a great little Cuban coffee shop. I learned that cuban espresso has a paste of brown sugar and coffee in the bottom, and is made from Cuban beans of course. Quite good!

That night I reserved a night snorkeling trip for the next day, and found some of the best lobster I have ever had, grilled outdoors and served with rice and vegetables. Amazing, and cheap too, 2 tails for $9.

The beach, from Front Street

The backyard of our hostel, on the hostel boat. Andy from Germany accompanied me on a little paddling tour through the mangroves.

Eventually the time came for the night snorkeling trip. It was actually an unusual trip for Tsunami Adventures, in that in addition to night snorkeling, the trip began with a trip to Shark-Ray Alley. Both creatures (of the Nurse and Bat varieties, respectively) are very up-front, thanks to fish-filled conch shells dropped by the guides into the 5´ water. I was able to dive down and pet everything down there, including a couple roaming conches.

As the sun set we relocated to deeper waters to see the aquatic nightlife, including many lobsters, a giant crab, sleeping parrotfish, an eel, a cuttlefish, and bioluminescent worms--turn your light off when they get near or they reportedly will latch on and try to suck your blood!

Our final destination for the snorkel trip was by boat, thankfully; we used our high-powered flashlights to look for the eyeshine of crocodiles lurking in the mangroves around the caye. I had the privilege of finding the first glowing red eye, not a half mile from our hostel.

Sunset: Time to jump in!

Tikal, Guatemala

Took an overnight bus on Dec 25 from Antigua to Flores, since the Christmas holiday transportation jam was finally ending. Flores is a quaint little island in the middle of the Lago Petén Itzá, and the perfect leaping-off point for a trip to the Ruins of Tikal. I had enough time in the morning to throw my bag in the hostel locker and grab the earliest bus to the ruins some 25 km away.

Tikal has been my favorite of the ruins because much of it remains shrouded in jungle. There are many opportunities to see the temples as they appeared to the first explorers to the region.

My first glimpse of the ruins.

A couple of the dozens of foraging coati on the grounds. No begging, but quite accustomed to human presence.

Temple 1, the most prominent of the bunch

The view from the top of Temple IV, with Temples I and II visible in the distance in the jungle

This tree is a Ceiba, a species believed by the Maya to be the axis of the world.

Couldn´t resist the low-hanging vines. Just watch out for the nearby beehive!

Stelae and their respective sacrifical altars in front of a temple.

One of the temples in Group Q, way out on an unvisited corner of the park. Awesome.

Cuidado, Cocodrilos!

Feliz Navidad!

About time I mentioned the festivities and traditions down here:

According to our tour guide Neddy on the Volcán Pacaya hike, Guatemalans celebrate on Christmas Eve by eating special Christmas tamales and imbibing on tequila-spiked punch made from tropical fruits. Due to hangovers christmas morning is relatively quiet and most businesses are closed.

What we did instead:
Together with my Oregonian compadres we organized a tiny gift exchange. I found Guatemalan egg nog (!) at the supermarket, along with a sweet raisin Christmas loaf. The others found hats and shawls for each other. I ended up with an awesome trucker hat with the logo of one of the better beers here, Gallo. I'm very thankful for it.

Christmas eve dinner we found at a family-run Italian place on the Parque Central. I ordered and enjoyed a traditional Mayan spicy turkey stew called Kak'ik. Super delicious. Would have put me to sleep, were it not for the hours of fireworks everyone is so fond of here.

Boom, no sleep.

On Christmas day, I took advantage of the empty streets to get some great early-morning photos of the town. On the way back home, I ran into the dorm-mates and we headed to Christmas service at one of the churches.

Favorite coffee shop, &, located on the end of this red building.

Then Christmas day hike up to Cerro de la Cruz again. There were plenty of families out walking, and many of the women were in traditional dresses.

Merry Xmas 2012 

(From left to right: Antigua Guatemala, Volcán de Agua, me, Cerro de la Cruz)

I just got back from my Christmas day lunch of superb shrimp ceviche and banana-mango-papaya smoothie.

Muy delicioso. Ceviche is my favorite on this trip.

Antigua, Guatemala

Had lunch today of spicy cabbage on my Loroco (flower) and chicken pupusas, with one of my new Oregonian friends. I needed something to eat after surviving the winding and endless markets jam packed with Christmas shoppers. Only reason I was there in the first place was to get gifts for a little exchange with my dorm-mates with whom I will be doing a gift exchange. Seems appropriate to celebrate with those I'm currently living with.

This morning I saw off our other Canadian friend on her way down to San Pedro. We hiked up to Cerro de la Cruz for sandwiches and views of the town below the imposing Volcan de Agua. After that I headed over on another volcano, Pacaya, for a hike that ended up at a vent warm enough to roast marshmallows by the sunset. Yum at 2300 meters and a well/deserved treat after a whole day of hiking.

Front of one of the many churches: Iglessia y Convento de Nuestra Señora de la Merced

From the main street dotted with cafes. That's Volcan de Aguas behind the clocktower.

 

 

Also the paint scheme of the buildings in this town is tightly controlled. There are stores that sell the precise colors allowed. Interesting, colorful.

 

"End of the World" at Copán Ruinas, Honduras

One more easy border crossing and a couple buses later, assisted again by the extremely friendly drivers and ticket-guys to Copán Ruins, Honduras' premier Mayan city site, and a perfect place to celebrate the turning of the longest-running Mayan calendar.

We rolled into the small town to find it humming with activity, primarily from Centroamericanos and news reporters. Despite the surprising lack of enormous gringo delegation that we were expecting, it still took 5 or 6 hotels to find an open room; when we did, we were happy to find that the owner had not sent her prices through the roof.

The smallish town is perched on a hill not 700m from the ruins, and it contains a great central park that was packed with bands and audiences for the duration of our stay. Tourist bars were easy to find and easy to make friends at. Street vendors selling roast beef and pork for a few dollars kept us well fed.

The ruins, called the "Paris of the Mayan World" by some were quite impressive; the carvings' incredible relief means that despite its smaller size, the city retains much of its former glory. We both paid out of our noses to get in and be guided around, but the temples, stelae, and ornate hieroglyphic stairway made it worthwhile.

I was fascinated to learn that through the 16 kings of Copán (symbolized by a leaf-nosed bat hieroglyph), each would construct their temples and courtyards over those of his predecessor. Tunnels underneath the grounds gave a glimpse of some of the ornate stucco decorations on older temples.

We finished our tour of the city in time for the evening's celebrations: 13 B'aktun, or the first day of the new (largest) Mayan ~5125 year cycle of 13 B'aktuns. Their perception was that the previous world era ended at the end of the last 13 B'aktuns (3114 BC) and that the next would end today, Dec 21, 2012. Just a change in era, not an apocalypse. Read more here: Mesoamerican Long Count Calendar (Wikipedia). Festivities included a concert complete with Beethoven, tenors and sopranos, and colonial/mayan dance performances. The atmosphere was celebratory and optimistic and not at all fearful or reckless.

Early bus the next morning to Aaron's last stop, Antigua, Granada

EDIT: memory card devoured by computer...thats what I get for trying to upload 

San Salvador, El Salvador

We probably received the most warnings about El Salvador and its capital. Only saw a couple MS gang graffiti, and not nearly as many firearms as our guidebook had prepared us for. Nonetheless after dark everything gets locked up and its better to take a taxi.

We pulled in late at night and found that the best hostel in the book was actually only a block away from the bus terminal, and they happened to have an incredible diner attached, with camarones y carne asada (con gallo pinto, claro que si!) for $2 a plate.

Next morning we headed out by local bus to the city center, where we checked out the national cathedral and a very interesting and beautiful rainbow-shaped church that looked like some soviet-bloc architectural monstrosity from the outside. All markets were great to walk through but worthless to tourists looking for souvenirs. It was great, however, being in such a "dangerous" country because all day we were the only gringos we saw

Later in the afternoon we took buses (with plenty of help from the ticket men on the bus--who would stop the whole vehicle to take the time to understand and explain how to get to where we wanted to go) to the National Anthropological Museum.

Guide included for free, supposedly in English but she switched to Spanish after the first sentence. As nice as all of the exhibits were, Aaron and I were focusing all of our attention on trying to understand what she was saying. Context helped a lot, but we went back to check out the Mayan Religion room, which was awesome.


Conclusion: Salvadoreans have been by far the most friendly, awesome people we have been hosted by in Central America. Don't skip it based on the bad things the news may be saying about it.

EDIT: Memory card died, lost photos. Check out pictures of Iglesia del Rosario in San Salvador to see the highlight of our day there.

Managua, Nicaragua

Had a great time trying to describe to the taxi driver that we wanted to go one of the sketchier neighborhoods and just be dropped off there. Fortunately we were armed with the knowledge of google maps and a general idea of our contact's place. Augustine, across from the truck lot, had what we needed to complete our mission for the new EWB nicraragua team.

With much difficulty in understanding, we established that we were there to take dimensions and pictures of the proposed new school site. Began digging a deep hole too to take some soil samples, while we used an incremented string to take the rough dimensions of the site.

Break of Coke (with sugar!) out of plastic bags...definitely had to relearn how to drink.

The team was able to tackle a day of measuring work easily.

 

Old Cal Poly EWB Project Site: I played a part in this health center's foundation. Good to be back.

Finished up and crashed for the night in Managua city in preparation for our bus the next morning...

Granada, Nicaragua

Lots of crazy buses until we made it in a very crammed local Toyota Cruiser to Granada. Arguably Nicaragua's most quaint colonial town, its studded with cobblestone streets, bright walls and terracotta roofs, and patrolled by horse-drawn buggies.

It was good to be back here as I had spent a day here during my freshman year EWB Nicaragua trip, on break from completing Cal Poly's foundation for the health center in Camilo Ortega outside of Managua, the capital.

Found a nice backpacker hostel and a couple of dorm beds for $6, then we cruised the strip downtown; its an extra cobbly street closed to traffic and instead filled with tables from the rows and rows of restaurants. Great food, washed down with a Nica Libre made with Nicaragua's own Flor de Cana rum.

The next day we walked the length of the town, checking out churces, forts, and the beach on Laguna de Masaya.

Overall a very nice place to crash, and very photogenic

Playa Del Coco, Costa Rica

Quick trip over to Playa del Coco on the Pacific coast, called that because the brown sand of the beach makes it look like chocolate. Awesome.

Dinner in town was raucous and overpriced on account of it being a tourist town for Ticos (Costa Ricans) as well as moneyed gringos. We found a hole in the wall burger joint that was popular with the locals for a plate of fried plantains and grilled succulent pork topped with salad. Headed to the least obnoxious bar to try a local beer and a guaro sour, made with cane-derived liquor. The writers of our Lonely Planet were raving about it. Pretty good.

Mmm. Chocolatey--At Playa Del Coco

The next morning we rented some snorkel gear and headed towards the tide pools at the north end of the beach (pictured). Not pictured is the incredible spread of wildlife we saw, including entire schools of fish, pufferfish, conchs, sea urchins, cowfish, little purple fish, a crab that looked like a rock, and a couple enormous stingrays. I got out relatively quickly after seeing those.

Parque Nacional Rincon de la Vieja, Costa Rica

After getting in to Liberia, a smaller town close to both the northern border with Nicaragua and the beaches, we took an early private bus the next morning for a lot of hiking, wildlife, waterfalls, and volcanic activity in this amazing national park.

The entire thing was well-kept and the paths well marked. Our first stop was the most amazing waterfall, just a 3 mile hike through monkey-patrolled forests.

Perfect for a swim!

Fuzzy ant

With that portion of the park done, we headed over to the side with more monkeys and volcanic activity, including mud pots, fumaroles, and boiling lakes.

One of the particularly smelly fumaroles, complete with boiling pool

The monkeys, not nearly as cheeky as the ones in India.

Almost ran into this guy guarding the fumaroles, 2.5 feet long!