The Jungle Blog

Well, it's been a little over a week now, and I thought I'd like to share what we've been up to since we returned home.

For one thing, the return itself was a little bit of a gong show. We left San Cristobal on the Sunday, a little sad to leave but it was necessary. We hailed a cab to the collectivo's, and the driver offered to take us right to the Tuxtla airport. We were in no hurry though, and declined his offer. Surprisingly enough, a collectivo was headed out to Tuxtla in five minutes, so we hopped on and went to town. Once we reached the town, we got off at a stop where taxi drivers took passengers to the airport, for considerably less than what the San Cristobal driver was offering. We hopped on, and chatted up the nice driver, who gave us a mango (a big yellow one) from his mango tree. In the airport, we spent our time looking over our bags, receiving our tickets, and meandering towards the main waiting area.

So, there we sat in the area, and Jay decided to look at our ticket. I was marvelling at the lack of people in the airport and the beautiful view ahead. Jay says, "Tess, what time is it?" It was 1:33. Jay shows me the ticket, which reads 13:40... not the 3:40pm I thought the flight was leaving at! Shocked, Jay and I look over to the one plane about to leave, and walk towards it and show the only woman in the terminal our tickets. She quickly ushers us into the plane, and we leave five minutes later! Our hearts begin to race, we were about to watch our flight take off with our luggage... and without us! We decided that that was our karma from the dog rescuing that allowed this kind of luck to occur.

By 6pm we were in Tijuana, after a layover in Mexico City. We took a taxi to a hotel listed in our guidebook, and rather uneventfully slept the night (all of our tequila that we packed away was unharmed from the first flight, too.)

The next morning we needed to make it to San Diego, since our flight left at 4pm for Edmonton. We checked and repacked our multitude of bags, being hampered down with souvenirs can be very taxing on the back! We had breakfast on Ave. Revolution (costing us far more than many days worth of food in the rest of Mexico), and returning to the hotel to check out and prepare to walk to the border. Eleven blocks, two screaming arms and two burning backs later, we were in a three block lineup to cross to the 'good ol' USA. At this point I felt very pissed off at the Americans, who treat the Mexicans like crap. We heard many interesting stories, and I think my favour lies with the colourful country I was leaving behind.

Anyway, an hour later we were in the States, and several hours, two planes and a wedding magazine later, we landed at 10:32 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. We were the last to leave the plane, retrieve our gear, and pay our duty on the tequila that managed to make it through checked luggage intact (good packing, Jay!). Finally, we walked through the welcome doors to see Jay's Mom, brother + girlfriend, Dad, dog, and my Mom and Dad. Tearful welcomes and hugs followed, and we split up for the first time in two months to separate beds, in which I slept only for a fitful three and a half hours. We were home.

So, what has happened since? Well, probably due to the overwhelming stress of returning, lack of sleep and maybe some blueberry punch I immediately fell sick with the flu the next evening, and spent more time in the bathroom than my bed. The next day I was two pounds lighter, and I figured that at least I had jump started my 'bridal diet'.

My mother and Jay and I have also looked over a billion wedding locations, and we've decided on the MacDonald Hotel, which is only the classiest venue in town, albeit the most expensive. Still, we wanted a fall wedding where we had a fantastic view, and not only was the Mac the only venue of the sort available on the date we wanted (Oct 07), but it's also the one that fits the most people, the most beautiful venue, and has the bonus of a suite for the bride and groom overnight. Pretty nice, if you ask me!

Jay and I have also moved into a new apartment. It's really nice, it is a 2 bedroom with hardwood floors, ceramic tiles and new fixtures. Unfortunately it has a really small kitchen, but it's only temporary accommodations and the benefits to being here far outweigh the negatives. We're quite happy. I also have two job interviews that would use my degree coming up this week, wish me luck!

Anyways, this is the last blog entry, so I hope you've enjoyed our travels!

Love, Tess

We hopped the border. It wasn't fun, but it needed to be done. Now, we were back in Palenque, with two new American (San Diegan) friends, and I needed to find a way to convert my 20$ worth of Quetzals into Pesos, as there were no moneychangers on the Mexican side of the border and we had run out of time to get our money changed on the Guatemalan side because I was arguing with the border control officer. Anyway, no banks in Palenque would change Quetzals, only American Dollars and Pesos. I found that to be a. slightly reminiscent of Tijuana and b. a little weird considering we were only a few hours away from the border. Finally, I found a tour company willing to change, but only at a rate of 1:1. That was like, a 30% cut! I ditched out of there, frustrated and unhappy.

I joined Jay and our new, funny American buddies at the local Torta establishment. We sipped fruity licuados and compared travel plans. Eventually, since everybody who is anybody stays in El Panchan if they're a backpacker, we all shared a taxi ride to the establishment. Since we had heard (and then confirmed) by other travellers that El Panchan was experiencing sewage issues, Jay and I split and hopped back across the street to El Jaguar, and re-rented the Tulum cabin, where we had stayed when we visited Palenque and got engaged in Agua Azul. Awww, it seems so long ago! I had devised a good way to convert my Quetzals, too: After we settled and got our packs off, I crossed the street to El Panchan and the Don Muchos restaurant, and beginning at the back of the establishment, asked people if they were headed to Guatemala, since most backpackers have either just returned or are leaving for Tikal. Scoring on the first couple of German girls, I managed to get almost the same rate as the moneychangers were offering on the other side, and they in return received some advice from you-know-who on just about every place they were travelling to that I had visited. I feel so, well, experienced!

We had inquired before catching the taxi at a collectivo site about collectivo trips to San Cristobal de Las Casas, and they apparently left at 5 and 6am respectively. Well, Jay and I woke up at 5am, and packed quickly and were out on the road to catch a bus into town at 5:30. Unfortunately, because the ruins don't open until 6, no vans began travelling until five minutes to. Jay and I were a little concerned since we were a few kilometers from the collectivos with heavy backpacks on and didn't know about this nonservice. We were more than a little concerned when we finally caught the 5:55am van to town. We arrived at the collectivos at 6:05, and luckily they had not left yet, and as soon as we got into the van they left for Ocosingo, halfway to San Cristobal. When we got to Ocosingo, we got on another collectivo and by 11:30 we were back once again.

Jay and I have been staying in the Posada Mexico this time around, a HI international hostel. It's a beautiful Hostel, with gardens, a full breakfast included, free internet for 1/2 hour a day, hammocks, libraries, a kitchen, and many spaces and beanbag chairs to chill on. Did we chill, though? Maybe Jay for a bit, but not me. I shopped!

Shopping is so much fun in San Cristobal de Las Casas. Not only do they have many funky and interesting shops to peruse, but there's a covered artisans market (with sweets, too!) and the absolutely fantastic outdoors handicraft market, with Indigenas and dreadlocked hippies selling hammocks, stone daggers, handwoven tapestries, all sorts of clothing, jewelry, baskets, pottery, stuffed animals, leather briefcases, wooden masks, ceramic figures, woven dolls, and paintings, just to name a few. Everyday I would peruse the aisles of stalls and wares and sometimes I'd buy things, and other times I'd compare work and prices. Everything was open to haggling, but I didn't want to haggle too toughly - sometimes an item that took 10 hours to weave is worth the 5$CDN that they´re asking for. In any case, I had a purpose this time, to buy gifts for all my friends and family, as well as pick up any items I meant to have when I returned.

Sometimes I didn't even need to go to the markets - yesterday, as I was admiring Jay's packing abilities (he has bought some nice presents for his friends but needs to take good care of them since they will be in our checked luggage - I am NOT saying what he got!), and a Chamulan woman carrying loads of belts and bags entered our hostel and approached us, selling some adorable items at a price I couldn't refuse. I bought out almost her entire stock of the one item (not revealing what they are!), and had a nice conversation with the elderly lady, whose name was Maria. Unfortunately, I ran into her again today, and she said she didn't recognize me. I believe she may have a touch of the senility bug.

I could say that all I have done is shop (Jay may attest to that, he himself did a lot of reading, finishing his book, and sometimes he shopped too), but that would be lying. On Thursday Jay and I took a morning jaunt to the indigenous village of Tenejapa, where the women wear colourful ribbons in their braids and men wear long sheepskin tunics, and men of power also have a ribboned sombrero, a long rosary necklace adorned with coins, and a staff of power, in addition to hiking boots. All of them also wear a woven red purse worn diagonally across their bodies, and in the market I found a very nice one and picked up one for myself, of course. Jay found half a rotiserri chicken, and we found a spot to sit and let him eat it. As we were sitting, an amazingly skinny dog came up to us, no doubt lured by the smell of the chicken. It was very scared, deathly skinny, and had a thick wire tied tightly around its neck. It ate a small piece of chicken Jay passed to it, and we figured it wasn't starving because it was sick, but because it couldn't swallow food properly. Jay sacrificed half of his food trying to encourage the pretty faced dog to let him remove the wire. Finally, as I fed the pup small amounts, Jay was able to convince the dog to let him work on the wire and after some manipulating got it off the dog's neck. We hope that may have saved the dog's life, and Karma points to Jay!

Although the pickings other than the purse at the Tenejapa market were slim, we were very happy we had travelled there, as we were not only the only tourists in the area but had a chance to view the amazing outfits worn. Unfortunately, indigenas do not like to have their photos taken (they believe it steals their soul), and the one group of men who I asked to take their photo agreed only if I paid them 200 pesos, which was far too much. So I took no photos, but I did find an appropriate postcard to show when I arrive home.

This morning, Jay and I took another tour, this time an organized one to the Cañon de Sumidero, which is a large, deep canyon home to many birds and animals, including vultures, herons, monkeys and crocodiles. We set off in a lancha boat and the driver pointed out many and more of these creatures, including some of the largest crocs I have ever seen! There was a particular cliff face over a kilometer high, and a waterfall location where the rocks and lichens have formed the shape of a 'Christmas Tree', or spruce, a cave that contained a shrine to the Virgen of Guadalupe, and a large hydroelectric dam that supplies 25% of Mexico's power. Impressive. After the boat ride we stopped for lunch in Chiapa de Corzo, which features not only amazing heat (overwhelming, actually, it was probably 36 degrees out there compared to the comfortable 25 of the highland San Cristobal), but a unique moorish town square that contains a brick structure that looks like the crown of a castle, and a brick clocktower. We had a great lunch of beef stew in the market, and returned to San Cristobal tired. But, I was ready for more shopping, and that I did!

So, tomorrow at noon we are leaving San Cristobal for the Tuxtla Airport, to fly to Tijuana. We were going to sleep in San Diego, but it's half the price in TJ, so we'll remain there until Monday morning and cross the border then, saving us 25$ or so. Then it's home, and with that comes new jobs, a new apartment, and wedding planning! We will be more than a little busy!

And, perhaps the next post will be the last post. Or, maybe I'll post an epilogue. We'll see!

Much love, Tess (Please revisit the last few posts to see our photos, finally posted!)

So, in the last week Jay and I have manipulated our way through three different countries. Three different currencies. Two Languages. In only a few days we´ll be headed to our fourth... mixed feelings! On one hand I´m extremely excited to be returning back to my family, friends and I´ll be bearing all these gifts and stories and I can´t wait to share everything in person. Not to mention, getting the wedding planned out and moving into new accomodations and looking for a good paying job (hopefully teaching positions too!)... things will be very busy, and very exciting.

On the other hand, we have done so much in our two months here, learned so much (I can speak four languages conversationally now! Hah! I even learned how to say Hello in Mayan!), experienced so much. I know that I´m going to be missing out on so many enriching experiences that I would have received from my time spent further in Belize, Guatemala, and any other country we may have reached. However, this does present the necessity to return to these countries, and hell, I´m not even 25 yet; I have lots of time.

What have we done so far? Let me recap the highlights:

1. The San Diego Zoo - checked off the lifelist!
2. High-fiving a wild adult Gray Whale in Guerrero Negro
3. Observed ancient cave paintings in the middle of the Desert
4. Watched Jay catch his first fish - and release it
5. Observed Jay consume his first donkey - and not release it
6. Slept overnight in a ferry and waking to watch the sunrise over the Sea of Cortez
7. Learn about the finer aspects of Soccer and how it can consume an entire populace, more than any NHL finals could
8. Eat filet mignon with my Uncle Bob in the Center of Mexico
9. Spend $6 on real silver and turquoise earrings
10. See a Dali Exhibit, and a Diego Rivera exhibit in one go
11. Witness thousands of butterflies in the middle of a high mountain pine forest float around me
12. Climb the Temple of the Sun and the Temple of the Moon, and mourn as the Sun overwhelmed and scorched my neck
13. Be present in a mayan church where Jesus lies in a coffin and families sacrifice chickens and belch coca cola
14. Marvel at the jungle-enveloped ruins of Palenque and attempt to read ancient mayan inscriptions
15. Get ENGAGED! underneath a thousand waterfalls in Agua Azul
16. Participate in the exciting festivities that is Carnaval in Campeche
17. Explore rivers of Flamingos and gorge on stuffed squid on the beaches of Celestun
18. Explore rivers of Fat Americans and gorge on jam sandwiches on the beaches of Isla Mujeres
19. Delight in the all-inclusive snorkelling and food eating and hammock lying in Xel-Ha
20. GHOST RIDER in Chetumal!
21. Witnessing crocodiles and Jabiru storks and hiking up pyramids off the New River in Lamanai, Belize
22. Tikal.

Tikal... Well, before I get to Tikal, let me share the border crossing firstly. After leaving the internet cafe in San Ignacio, we hopped in a shared taxi cab to the border crossing, and once we got there we realized how we had forgotten to take out enough money in San Ignacio because we spend half of it on Rum instead. How dumb is that? Anyway, we had just enough to make it over the border (after paying the exit fees, etc.) to Guatemala. Immediately upon crossing the border we went to get our passport stamped for entry and the man behind the counter asked for 10 Quetzals (the Guatemalan currency) as a fee. My book said that there were no official fees but they tend to charge anyway, and I asked for a receipt. The man hesitated, and put the books in reach after stamping them. I grabbed them both and took off without paying the fare - what was he going to do? Immediately we were bombarded by 6 year old children hawking taxi rides for 40US to Flores... can these kids even be allowed to drive? Anyway, it was a ridiculous fare, so we told them no, many many times (they continued to follow us anyway) and we walked across a bridge over a beautiful river where it appeared the entire border town took to swimming in in the middle of the afternoons, it was full of people playing in the waters.

We were continuously offered rides to Flores from everybody, and we continued to ignore them, and began to resent border towns and the people who prey on the ignorant. Case in point - We finally found a collectivo that would take us to El Remate (halfway between Flores and Tikal, we were trying to get to Tikal to be in the site at the first opening of the gates) for 20 Quetzals each, which was all that we had left. They picked us up and a couple of other tourists and other Guatemalans and nicely let us hit an ATM as well, providing some well needed money. Jay and I sat in the front of the Collectivo, and good thing too, because in Guatemala the 1 seat 1 person rule doesn´t apply, they will stuff in as many people as there is volume in the minivan, regardless of whether people are hanging out the windows or on the roof or whatever.
We were finally dropped off in El Remate, and the other english speaking couple was too. They asked me how much we paid for the ride, and they told us they had been cheated, and paid 100 Quetzals. They tried to argue with the Collectivo guy but it was no use and the van sped off. Who knows, perhaps the locals only paid 10 Quetzals each?

Anyway, Jay didn´t want to stay in El Remate, he wanted to find a more expensive room right outside the gates of Tikal, except there were no more busses headed to Tikal (we missed the last one, according to the local trinket selling children). However, there was a woodcarving artisan shop right across the street from us that I wanted to check out, and I went and left Jay briefly, and was informed by the shopkeeper that there were 5am collectivos that travelled to the ruins site, that didn´t open until 6am anyway. I went back to inform Jay and meanwhile he had been discovered by a driver who was selling Jay a room in a nearby hotel for 50quetzals (approximately 7$). Jay was leery, but I insisted that rooms in Guatemala were cheaper than the $40US he wanted to spend in Tikal, and convinced him to let us check it out, to his dismay. Luckily for both of us though, the room was actually quite nice, so we agreed to take it, and we were then also informed about a sunrise tour to Tikal that allowed one to enter the gates before the official opening in order to watch the sunrise. After interviewing the guide directly in his home across the street, we agreed it would be a good idea.

That night was one of the colder nights we have experienced, and it rained and poured and we were convinced that the sunrise tour would be nixed due to the poor weather (we were supposed to be up and ready to go at 4am). At 3:30am we both got up to go across the street to let our guide know we were cancelling, and when we got out we realized the sound of the rain had been amplified by the roof, and it wasn´t that bad after all, and we actually did want to go. So, we made a mad dash, quickly got our gear packed, changed, brushed our teeth, and made it out in time to greet our guide who was none the wiser.

The tour was fantastic! The whole group (about 20 of us) made a mad dash to the other side of the site and the top of Pyramid 4 in order to watch the sun rise. Well, due to the precipitation there was no sunrise, but it was still awe-inspiring to watch the mists clear over the forests and the ruins that served as the backdrop to the landing in the Ewok planet in Return of the Jedi. We were surrounded by towering forest, pyramids, howler monkeys, toucans, parrots and our guide was excellent, giving us insider information regarding the history of the area, the local flora and fauna, and the excavation process. We spent over 4 hours there but that is definately a site we will need to return to, we did not get a chance to see enough, in my humble opinion.

Our guide nicely drove us to Flores (where we went to another ATM to pay him), and found a great hostel (again 50Qs) to sleep in. Flores, Guatemala is a beautiful little colonial town set in the middle of Lake Peten Itza, connected by a bridge to the dirtier and more commercial Santa Elena. We found a company that would take us to Mexico (Palenque) the next morning, and I enjoyed walking around the town and buying crafts and knickknacks. I always enjoy shopping.

The next morning at 5am we were picked up by a bus who promised an easy 8 hour journey by bus and boat across the border to Palenque. Well, it wasn´t that easy. The lancha boat driver apparently wasn´t paid, and the bus driver on the Mexican side hadn´t been paid either so the group was stranded at the border for over an hour, the man at the immigration office enforced an unofficial 45 quetzal exit fee, we didn´t have enough time to convert our quetzals into pesos so we were yet again with no money, and we arrived in Palenque exhausted and beaten. But we were back in Mexico! Hurrah!

Tomorrow, I will post up the pictures from the last few posts, and recount our final adventures in Mexico. Until then, Tess

Well, we are in San Ignacio, Cayo District, Belize right now, and in a couple of hours we will be making a break for it to the border, and to Tikal. We have spent 4 nights in Belize, and definately will be returning.

Things are winding down to a close, now, too. Since Jay and I decided to get married, things have been going on at home and we want to go back to help with the planning. Also, Jay decided last week he was tired of travelling too, so we thought perhaps we'd shorten the timespan from 2 months to 2 weeks. Now, we have one week left. We leave on March 11, and I don't think we'll be missing out, if anything, this just gives us more of an excuse to return back to these fantastic countries.

So, anyway. We woke up from Tulum and caught an early (I mean, EARLY - 6:30am!) bus to Chetumal, 10km from the Belize border, the very bottom of Mexico. As we rolled into the pretty capitol of Quintana Roo, we passed by a shopping mall and a movie theatre. Jay looked out the window and saw a listing for "something Fantasma" and knew it was Ghost Rider. He wanted to go see it before we went to Belize really badly, but I didn't think we'd have enough time. I really overestimated the size of Belize, though, and it turned out that it would be 1 1/2 hours sooner to hit our destination of Orange Walk, than I thought. So, we did some calculations, discovered there was a bus that ran at 3pm to Orange Walk and that Ghost Rider played at 11am. We hopped into a taxi to the theatre, and with 5 minutes to spare, we were watching GHOST RIDER! It was great, air-conditioned (in 35 degree heat that was well welcomed!), and we were even able to enjoy some chinese food in the food court before heading back to the bus station. Fantastic!

We knew we were in for a change when we saw the bus that would take us to Belize. Remember when you were in elementary school and you took the yellow school bus to school? Well, it's the same bus that takes you to Belize, only now it's named "VENUS" and is bright purple and orange, and 20 years older. Awesome. It drove us and about 20 other tourists to the border with Marley crooning at full capacity, and we waited in the most chill border lineup for 45 minutes while they asked us the routine "where are you going/staying" and issued us a 30 day visa. The bus waited for us, obviously not in a rush (We've come to the conclusion that "GO SLOW" is the Country motto), and less than 2 hours later we were in Orange Walk, Belize.

Orange Walk is possibly the most international small town I've even seen. Mennonites, Creole, Chinese, Mestizo and Tourists spice up the life, if not the food. Actually, the food in Belize is not quite up to the Mexican standards, with the local dishes consisting of rice and beans, and chicken, and panades (which are like empanadas but greasier). We stayed in the best hotel we've stayed in yet, St. Christophers, which was like any fancy hotel at home, and the next day we took a riverboat ride down the New River to Lamanai with Jungle River tours.

Mom, Dad, remember Tortuguero, all the streams and jungle and herons and birds? Here I went again... only I saw crocodiles, a Jabiru Stork (12ft wingspan and an endangered species!), and at the end of the ride was the interesting mayan ruins of Lamanai, which was the longest occupied mayan site in the whole world, remaining there until the 1800's! Out of 750 structures only 5 were excavated, but they were impressive none the less and we were lucky enough to see howler monkeys and a toucan there as well! It all culminated in a great tour, and the next day we took the bus to Bermudian Landing.

Bermudian Landing is a small village which first received electricity 7 years ago, and a paved road only 4 years ago. They had only 1 hotel open, and no restaurants. What they did have, however, was the community Baboon Sanctuary, where a collective of there and other towns live in harmony with the rare Black Howler Monkey, protecting them and the land where they live. We stayed at the Howler Monkey lodge in a room and the originator of the sanctuary, Fallot, invited us over for lunch before we went to see the monkeys, since Jay was starving! He served us a mountain of rice and beans, and at 4pm we went on a tour with Juliet, who showed us various medicinal plants, a hummingbird nest, and finally, the howlers themselves.

Although there are over 1600 monkeys in the sanctuary, the particular group near the town is very tame and in fact we were able to touch them and feed them bananas and play with them! There were 9 members of the group, including 2 brand new babies. It was very special! We had plans to leave the next morning, but the hotel had a pool and the sounds of the jungle, the lack of any traffic and the calmness and remoteness of the place convinced us to spend another day here doing absolutely nothing but swimming, reading, visiting the babboons again and chilling. Our hostess at the hotel made dinners upon request as well, so we wouldn't go hungry.

That evening too I took a nighttime tour with another local guide. Jay stayed behind so it was just him and I, and we saw a prehensile tailed porcupine, nightjars, heard armadillos, and he taught me about all sorts of jungle wisdom and remedies. At the end of the 3 hour personal tour we went to the local bar and they gave us a drink, local rum and coke. Wow, potent! Everybody in there spoke creole and it was interesting to listen to, sometimes you thought that you could understand what they were saying and other times, not at all. They didn't ask us to pay either, I looked at my guide and he was like " no man! I'm local here, you don't have to pay!". Seriously, I have never been to as chill a location as Belize!

As foretold, the next day Jay and I did nothing but swim, play cards, revisit the monkeys and eat amazing meals prepared by our hostess. We discovered however that the only way to leave town on Sundays was to drive or hitch, and so since we don't have a car to drive, we would have to hitch a ride... so this morning we did just that. Amazingly this seems to be quite normal in Belize, and we left Bermudian landing on the back of a pickup truck with 6 other people at 8 thirty to Burrell Boom, caught a minivan with another Canadian to Belmopan by 10am, and Finally by ourselves on the back of another pickup truck by 10:30, and we were in San Ignacio, where we are now, at Eva's Restaurant. I can safely say we have travelled halfway across Belize on the back of pickup trucks, it's great!

So, tonight we will try to be in Tikal. Tomorrow it's the ruins, and we'll be home on the 11th or the 12th. Posting soon,

Tess