Notes from the Road - Central America - June 10, 2003 We thought it was about that time to send a note to friends updating our travels. Currently we are in Austin taking a little break from traveling so that Dave can study and take the GMAT exam and Marisa is helping plan the rest of our travels. In early July we're off to Europe/ Turkey to be followed by Africa and finished up in SE Asia in January/February of 2004. Last time we wrote way back in January, we were completing our tour of the South Island of New Zealand in our van Stella. After heading home for a month worth of visiting with family in Seattle/Dallas, our dog, a few friends, and selling our beloved VW van Heimo (we toured the U.S. in Heimo), we were very psyched to get back on the road and continue our journey to Central America. We were looking forward to getting back to a single 25lb backpack and nothing else. Simplicity at it's finest. 1st STOP: BELIZE We got exactly what we wished for upon our arrival in Belize - Simplicity. Arriving into the small international airport in Belize rendered our first much anticipated dose of culture shock. It started with the shabby 70īs family truckster (station wagon complete with bumpersticker from some Texas suburban high school) that took us through the hard scrabble town of Belize City to the water taxi ride to Ambergris Caye, our final destination about 1.5 hours by boat from Belize city. The 32 foot water taxi with 20 seats was stuffed with a few other tourists and 30 native folks plus their weekly groceries, wares, and small kids. Our adventures were only just beginning! We were fortunate to arrive on Ambergris Caye for the end of Carnival and Belize National Elections, so the place was filled with people partying hard for both causes. In honor of Carnival, most folks were drinking heavily while trying to outrun the gangs of school-aged kids running around hitting everyone in sight with paint bombs- coke bottles filled with water based paint. FUN! Our snorkeling experiences confirmed that Belize is a scuba diverīs paradise, an expensive habit that we havenīt taken up as of yet. Both the fishies and coral, as well as the beaches and water were amazing! 2nd STOP: GUATEMALA MAYAN RUINS OF TIKAL We made it to the ancient (700AD) Mayan ruins of Tikal after a long bus ride from Belize City. The day was spent walking amidst the grounds (encompassing over 9000 buildings) and seeing whatīs been unearthed in the past 50 years or so. Our day in Tikal was definitely worth the sucky bus ride.. After our exhausting day climbing the temples in the hot sun, we traveled the 8 hours to a very dirty, extremely polluted and poor Guatemala City with some our new friends Will and Arabella that we met in Tikal and were thankful that they knew enough Spanish to get us all on the Chicken Bus to Antigua before dark (lots of banditos near the bus station). Riding the chicken bus was like being in the front seat of a an Indy car during rush hour traffic. CRAZY!!! ANTIGUA We arrived in Antigua ready to start Spanish School for two weeks. Itīs so frustrating not being able to communicate with people and our 1st week of Spanish School along with living with a family this week has taken us from zero Spanish knowledge to being able to participate in dinner table conversations. WHEW!!! Our brains hurt!! We finished off our time in Antigua by climbing a volcano, hanging out with our friends Will and Arabella and practicing our Spanish with our host family. Antigua is apparently the most well preserved Spanish Colonial town in Central America. It is immaculate, the buildings are colorful, usually thereīs an amazingly lush courtyard with a fountain visible through most doorways, and the old, wood doors are beautiful. We wished our photos had turned out better as we didn't quite do justice to the vibrant colors and architecture of the area. Next week we headed off to Lago de Atitlan (think the beauty of Lake Tahoe) for glimpse of some small village and native market life in the highlands of Guatemala armed with our passable Spanish. After that, we head over to the Mexican border to start the next part of our Central American journey 3rd STOP: MEXICO PACIFIC BEACH TOWNS Our first stop after an overnight bus ride from the border was the resort area of Huatulco. After a nice stay on the beach in relative luxury compared to our travels in Guatemala we moved up the coast to the small fishing villages of Puerto Angel and our new favorite beach escape of San Agustinillo. After a couple of days in Puerto Angel, we moved up the coast a few kilometers to San Agustinillo. We hung out for about a week at taking advantage of no crowds, sitting in hammocks, swimming and playing in the surf at the perfect beach, lots of fresh fish and of course ice cold cervezas. Speaking of hammocks our one souvenir from Central America was an amazing double sized hammock made by a collective of artists who live in San Agustinillo. It was a few bucks more than the ones available to tourists everywhere, but it was well worth it. When we get done with traveling and get a place to live we'll be searching for two perfect trees to hang it between. We were sad to pack up and catch the bus to Our experiences only scratched the surface in Central America. Weīre looking forward to digging deeper sometime in the future. Send us a note to say "Hi" if you have some extra time!!!!!!