Day 82 – Monday, September 16, 2013

Today started off as a great day but unfortunately we received word part way through the day that Julie’s Uncle Herb had passed away this morning after a courageous battle with cancer. Herb was not only a favourite uncle but a good friend. Julie and I, along with our kids, spent some great times with Herb and Lynne travelling the west or visiting them in British Columbia. Julie’s parents were able to join us on many of those adventures. We travelled with them on the Dhe Cho loop through Alberta, NWT, and BC in 2004. Our family also has great memories of our trip to the Queen Charlotte Islands with them from 2001. We had many other adventures with Herb and Lynne that have created some wonderful memories for our whole family. We will miss you Uncle Herb! Julie notes “Not much I can add to that. Many tears have been shed.”

We arose early this morning to catch our flight from Guatemala City to Flores to visit the Mayan site, Tikal. After a 1 hour and 10 minute flight we drove the remaining 60 kilometres to Tikal with our tour guide. We spent most of the day touring and climbing the ancient ruins of Tikal. We got word of Uncle Herb at the top of a Mayan temple; a very spiritual place; and were able to say our goodbyes to a really great guy.

Tikal is in the lowlands of Guatemala, not far from Belize, and it is much warmer and humid here than the highlands of Amatitlan. Julie notes “Our tour guide, Manuel, was very knowledgeable and in extremely good shape for any age but we are guessing he was in his 60s. Reminded me of Frank. The difference being we really liked Manuel. J We had 2 other English speaking couples in our group, from New Jersey and California. We bonded out in the humidity. Especially if you stood or sat too close to each other.”

Our tour included an overnight stay in the Hotel Tikal Inn within the National Park. It was a little more rustic than the Barcelo, let’s say, but clean and quite adequate. We had a private bungalow that only had power twice a day from the generator to add to the ambience. We had supper and drinks in the restaurant and a nice swim in the outdoor pool. We were able to see some different wildlife in the park and around the hotel – but none in our room to Julie’s pleasure. Julie notes “Just one animal to contend with if you get my drift. But it is literally a jungle out there and I was happy to keep it out there. I had Brad shaking curtains and peeking under stuff on recommendations from one hotel reviewer who found both a tarantula and a scorpion in their room. That’s at least 8 too many hairy legs in one room.”

The view of Guatemala from the air.

Our plane. The pilot is giving the thumbs up from the cockpit.

Some of the sites in Tikal. Julie notes “The first climb. Looks easy enough. Phewf! And that’s just the first of many. Those Mayans must’ve had excellent cardio function and the legs of Arnold Schwarzenegger. That explains some of the human shapes depicted in their carvings.”

Julie notes “Brad found out the hard way that these are not ancient Mayan urinals but actually alters to different gods. It may piss down rain on us later thanks to Brad and that big pop he had on the bus ride here. Uncle Herb would like that story.”

 

Julie notes “The KindasortaGuineaPig of Tikal.”

Julie doing one of the jungle hikes. Julie notes “Oh my god is that a spider web, what touched me, was that a spider web? Actually I only did the freak out dance once when some ants were angry I was standing on their trail. Jungle trekking lesson numero uno – always let several people hike ahead of you to clear spider webs but probably just anger the snakes. This ain’t no Jungle Book Mogli.”

A spider monkey throwing avocadoes at us. Julie notes “They throw the hard unripe avocados, they’re no dummies. I was blessed with a shower of hard unripe small plums. I say blessed because there are worse things they could be aiming at us. Mesmerizing to watch though, but keep an eye on the tree limbs above you.”

Julie notes “This shot is dedicated to Uncle Herb. This was where we heard the news and I think I can see you waving from that temple over there on your way up to that welcoming committee in the heavens. May you find gold every time you pan and may your adventures and jokes and tinkering and stories resume now that you are free of that stupid cancer.”

Don’t turn your back on her at the top of a pyramid. Julie notes “Too many witnesses. And there are some Mayan beliefs that there is a bevy of virgins awaiting the sacrificed males in the afterlife. That sounds like something he would like so I shall continue to make life here on earth with me a living hell, I mean living heck of a good time.”

My Mayan Goddess of strength. Julie notes “Yes in more ways than one. I was beyond Goddess perspiration and well into jungle sweaty.”

Julie notes “These are the native wingydingdo, not to be confused with the monkeys who wingdodotoo. We actually can’t remember the names but we do have written down somewhere.”

Celebrating the last big climb of the day. Julie notes “I think he is singing ‘Hey, hey I’m a monkey, people say I monkey around, but I’m too busy climbing pyramids to put anybody down.’ Just a guess. What do you think?”

The Grand Plaza.

We are hot, sweaty and tired but still give Tikal a definite thumbs up. Julie notes “Does this temple make my butt look big? Don’t answer that. I won’t care about witnesses next time.”

Julie notes “My favourite temple. Just because it was.”

…over and out for today, the muleskinner and his Mayan goddess sidekick.

Miss you Uncle Herb and thinking of you Aunt Lynne and family. Julie notes “More tears.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day 81 – Sunday, September 15, 2013

Today is our 34^th wedding anniversary. We were married in the Moscow United Church on September 15, 1979. Julie notes “Obviously he robbed the cradle. I’ve been telling folks, quite convincingly I think, that I am only 35.”

We enjoyed the warm sunshine today in the RV Park full of families celebrating Guatemala Independence Day. We made friends with one large extended family who were very interested in the RV and our travels. We showed them, in small groups, the interior of our camper. Julie notes “Once again Brad’s unit draws the attention of young and old. At one border crossing even a traveling circus was awed by it. They wanted to sign up Brad and his unit to the greatest show on earth. Unfortunately they weren’t in need for a bearded lady so we declined. There will be other circuses. ”

We also showed them the picture books we have of our family, friends, city, animals, and our adventures. Freddy, the spokesman for the family, brought me over an ice cold Gallo (Guatemalan beer) at 10:00 in the morning. A great way to start our anniversary. Julie notes “I was offered grapetti gaseosa grape pop, and not a big jug of wine as I had hoped to start off my anniversary.” We gave the kids a big bag of candy and the adults some Grande Prairie souvenir pins. At about 1:00 PM they brought each of us a plate of typical Guatemalan BBQ food; grilled chicken, beef, sausage, potatoes, beans, guacamole, and tortillas. It was excellent and the woman had prepared all of this on a small charcoal grill. She fed 10 or 15 people. (Julie notes “Plus 2 gringos!”) Amazing.

Our van picked us up at 2:00 PM and drove us to our beautiful hotel in Guatemala City, the Barcelo. The hotel was a top pick on trip advisor and we were not disappointed when we arrived. We ordered a bottle of wine, Julie enjoyed the real bathtub (Julie notes “Not quite the Trump tub, but a good soak nonetheless.”), we watched some TV, and tried to decide on a place for dinner. Julie notes “Believe it or not, but 99.9% of the channels in the 2 hotels we’ve stayed at are Espanola. Crazy eh? There is one CNN station (showing us over and over again the bad weather heading towards both sides of Mexico) and 1 comedy station that has Spanish subtitles for a few shows. Who knew we’d be so excited to watch ‘Friends’ re-runs?” About 7:00 PM we went to the Japanese restaurant, Kyoto, located in our hotel. Julie had the lobster teppanyaki and I had the assorted sushi, sashimi, and maki plate. We both started with a bowl of the best miso soup we have ever had. It was all delicious and a great celebration of our anniversary.

Our new Guatemalan friends. Julie notes “Just your typical family – funny, interested, caring and happy to share and try to communicate. The 4 women’s names all began with the letter ‘M’. Which made them giggle when Brad figured that out. The fellow in the back with the mustache brought Brad a 2^nd cerveza with a long story in Spanish. Either he has been sober for 3 years and he doesn’t get drunk under the table anymore or the more probable story, you have to drink alcohol under the table as it is not allowed in these parks and maybe you’ll go to jail for 3 years. Something was happening with 3 years anyway.”

My new amigo and I enjoying a Gallo. He reminds me of some of my Grande Prairie amigos who have the same outlook on life. J

This little girl enjoyed the natural warm water, heated by the nearby volcanos, more than the 7 large pools and waterslides nearby. Typical kid. Julie notes “She reminded me of a little someone back in Edmonton. So I only took about a hundred pictures of her.”

The extended family on the other side of us were celebrating a first birthday with a couple of piñatas. The one of Mario was really well done. They had him set up so they could pull him back and forth on a rope while all the young to old “kids” took turns swinging wildly with a piñata bat. They were having a great time.

Our delicious lunch provided by our new friends.

The happy good looking couple in the Kyoto restaurant. Julie notes “We can actually say the ‘happiest, best looking couple’ as we were the only couple in there, at least when this picture was taken.”

The meal! Yummy stuff.

And finally, how our guide may look at the end of this trip. J Julie notes “L”

…this is one day Julie is adding to the “good” list. For some reason, there is lots of room to add things on that side of the list. …over and out, the muleskinner and his official sidekick of 34 years.

Julie notes “I think I get to count these last few months as double so it just feels like it’s been 35 years. Of gloriousness of course. (pretend that this J is winking).

PS Happy Independence Day Guatemala and your other Central American cousins! Your country pride has been very noticeable these past few days.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day 80 – Saturday, September 14, 2013

Today I had to finalize our travel plans including flights, guides, hotels, and car services. Guatemala apparently needs a signature on file for credit card transactions. This meant finding a telefax machine. You would think that should be an easy task wouldn’t you? We also had to send some email and make some phone calls and I felt that I had already overextended the graciousness of our RV Park staff. The RV Park wifi hasn’t been available for a few days. We headed in to the Amatitlan mall complex to conduct this business. The first stop was breakfast at the fast food chain, Pollo Campera, because they offer free wifi. Their wifi was also unavailable but it was fun watching Julie ask for a table for two for breakfast in Spanish. The hostess actually laughed out loud, I think, and called for an English speaking helper. J Julie notes “‘Desayuno por dos.’ Sounded perfect in my head. But perhaps comes out as some kind of joke when mangled with a Canuck accent. It sure made her giggle. Then the English speaking waitress kept saying ‘Oh, you speak Espanol!’ in an encouraging way when we threw around the few words that come automatically now. People are eager to help but we’ve forgotten by the time they’ve finished talking.”

We then tried to get a SIM card for our unlocked phone. The first vendor did not have the mini-SIM card we needed and pointed us to a different service provider who could help us. Off we went to find out that they would not open for 10 more minutes. (Julie notes “I was too slow getting the camera but in your mind’s eye imagine Brad, 6’1″, windmilling with the gun toting 5’0″ security guard asking about the opening time. Priceless.”) Remember, we are in bed early and up early and we get places before they open. That seems to be the local rhythm of life here. Merriam was very helpful and had cell phone and Internet access set up for us in no time. Phewf. Now we could email and phone various parties we needed to contact. We were getting closer to finalizing our plans but I still had to print a form, fill it out, and fax it to the tour operator. There was no office/Internet kiosk in the mall we were told. I went into one of the electronics stores and asked if they could help me print and fax a form. The manager agreed to print the form for me but they did not have a fax machine. One step down, one to go. After completing the form, I tried asking a few non-English speaking staff in various stores for assistance to Telefax a document for me. I was not successful until I met Caroline in ACE Hardware. Caroline could not fax it for me but agreed to scan it electronically for me so I could email it. Caroline is the Numero Uno ACE Hardware employee and I told her manager exactly that! Finally, we could complete our bookings. Another phone call to book a car service and a little more wifi at the food court to book a hotel and we were done. By then it was 1:00 PM so I had to have a hotdog in the food court to celebrate. Julie notes “He is my organizing windmilling super hero! His kryptonite just happens to be hot dogs. Good thing he isn’t like Samson of the Samson and Delilah fame, as he then went for a haircut. All his strength would’ve been zapped.”

We headed back to the RV Park for the rest of the day. It was another busy day with busloads of various groups enjoying the water park.

These guys were ready for rain carrying a large sheet of roofing material over their heads in the mall complex. Julie notes “We were glad the wind didn’t pick up. They’d be over in Oz by now.”

One of the groups enjoying a BBQ in the water park. Julie notes “Just like the Canadian BBQs, getting the grill going is an important job. Instead of hamburgers though, this guy cranked out a full course meal including at least 50 tortillas to go with the feast.”

…over and out, the muleskinner and his sidekick

Julie notes “So the National Horn Honking and Whistle Blowing competition continued today with the addition of more torch runners and some chanting. We asked an English speaking lad, who was with a church group that came by to chat, about it. He confirmed that it WAS celebration on behalf of Quent and Krista’s birthdays and culminates on our anniversary on the 15^th. Weird because we thought we had figured out that it was the work-up celebrations to the Guatemala Independence Day Holiday, on the 15^th. No time to worry about that though. What do you think Brad has cooked up for our 34^th anniversary? He is cleverly not sharing all of the details, perhaps as a surprise (or more likely in case things don’t go quite as planned). Either way works for me. (I have lists for recording both scenarios. Which one do you think is longer?)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day 79 – Friday, September 13, 2013

I spent most of today trying to book our next adventure. You will have to wait and see if I was successful or not. Julie notes “I am excited and nervous all at the same time. I wonder if it involves parking lots?”

We lazed around the RV Park eating unhealthy snacks most of the day in the drizzly cool weather. Julie read quite a bit and I used the Internet frequently trying to make arrangements. Julie notes “Hey Suze, I’m into my freebies on my Kobo that you loaded for me. Thanks! 1/3 of the way through my second Kobo book before I realized that I had already read it. Now because of my OCD I am forced to finish it. Luckily I can’t really remember how it goes but it just feels like vague déjà vu.”

The water park was busy today with busloads of kids arriving early this morning and spending the full day here having fun. There were at least 9 busses, maybe more. Some of the pools were packed in like sardines but everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves.

The question of the day is “What are these things you see for sale?” We think we have it figured out but want your ideas. We might bring one back for you if you’re right. Julie notes “Be sure to let us know what colour you want or there are the ‘paint your own’ if you are worried about it matching your other cement stuff.”

This guy tried keeping up with the kids playing soccer. Julie notes “I thought at first that he was cheating by hiding the ball under his shirt but then he started playing for the skins team.”

The old gardener is here every day bright and early working slow but steady keeping the place well groomed. Julie notes “I just want to say that I love this man. Pouring rain and he is draped in a garbage bag still working and keeping his underlings on point as well as directing big bus traffic off the grassy areas so they don’t make more ruts like you can see in the picture above. He packs in his own machete each day like many people we have seen as we travelled which brings me to travelling lesson #18 – I have never met a man (or woman) carrying a machete that I didn’t like.”

…over and out, the muleskinner and his sidekick

Julie notes “Hmmm no mention of the amazing supper I whipped up for him of weird, spicy beans on toast buttered with “Cremy light margirina” (no shade of Crayola yellow would describe the colour of this but it does have quite a waxy consistency like crayons), ‘sort of soft’ poached eggs and fried pink stuff that was called Jamonilla on the side of the can, my version of mystery meat. Altogether it was kind of home style tasty. Sort of.”

Happy birthday to sista Sista! Did you know that your birthday coincides with the Guatemalan National horn honking and whistle blowing championships? True story. Apparently all vehicles are required to participate and there is a certain rhythm, similar to the hockey game organ tune and trust me some honkers are way better than others in both rhythm and fortitude and endurance. And then the people with whistles (who knew so many people had whistles, thought it was a lifeguard convention for a while there) play the same tune. Things seem to escalate in the afternoon. We have also noted people running with torches as this is all going on. More investigating required I think.”

“But back to your birthday, the iTunes were gearing up the night before your big day with Adam’s lovely piano rendition of ‘Yesterday’ and your beautiful recording of ‘Today’ that you did for mom’s service. The only thing missing was a song like ‘The Sun will come out Tomorrow”. The sun did not shine but John Denver gave his version of ‘Today’ and it hardly rained all day. So I hope your birthday was little like that too. Love and honk, honk-itty-honk honk from down under!”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day 78 – Thursday, September 12, 2013

I changed one of our automated mailer system settings to hopefully resolve the issues we’ve been experiencing with our notifications. We’re keeping our fingers crossed that the update notice for this post gets emailed.

It looks like we will be staying in this RV Park for a week or so. By the way, the park is in Guatemala, not Honduras, as yesterday’s title would have you believe. Julie notes “None of you get any bonus marks for pointing out that error. I guess if we really don’t know what country we are waking up in then how do we expect anyone else to keep track? But the money and the license plates don’t lie. This is Guatemala.”

After meeting with our guide we have come to a satisfactory agreement to stay here, where there are services, while he has a master cylinder shipped to Guatemala City. We should depart from here about September 18^th. Julie and I are making some tour plans and will use this as a base. Today we drove towards the Pacific to the Autosafari in Chapin, Guatemala. Before we could go on that adventure however, we had another adventure driving through the narrow busy streets of Amatitlan looking for a laundry service. It was a safari in itself. We did find an old rundown dirty place that we decided to forego for two reasons; one – it was too dirty and two – we didn’t think we could find our way back to pick up our clothes.

We went back to the shopping complex and had a hearty breakfast in a Mexican restaurant. Julie notes “I know! Confusing eh? We are eating at a Mexican restaurant while in Guatemala telling everyone we are in Honduras.”

Food was pretty good but the coffee was terrible. Oh, how I miss you Tim Horton. It was then off on our own to find the Autosafari Chapin. We managed to find it after a few wrong turns and more adventure driving in small towns. We toured the park in the pouring rain but were able to see most of the animals.

Finally, we went back to Amatitlan to give our closed laundry lady one more chance to get our business. Julie notes “Those of you who know Bradley well, know that once you get on ‘THE list’ he will die before he gives you anymore business. This was this lavanderia’s last chance or we would never grace her barred doorway ever again, even if we return in the future to Honduras, umm I mean Guatemala.”

What do you know? She was right there in the doorway as though she had been waiting for us! We figured out the details after English/Spanish help from a very nice young lady, Melanie, who saw the windmill action of our language exchange and stopped to help. The people here always seem very friendly and willing to help.

Is this laundry service ever open?

Melanie, our bilingual helper of windmill gringos. Julie notes “Not only can she speak English and Spanish she can translate windmill. I think as she walked off, I heard her humming ‘yes I know the windmill man…’ the folksong of Cousin Barb, origin. It is amazing how quickly the legend has spread country to country.”

Lost in Escuintla. Bet you can’t say that!

Friendly Escuintla onlookers watching the gringos drive by both ways.

Autosafari Chapin

Julie notes “These guys were roaming but in a fenced pond area to the right were a few of the ladies, I am guessing, plus the cutest baby, who went underwater for safety once we approached. All we could see were its twitching ears and nostrils as the mom pushed it across their pond.”

Julie notes “Even the giraffes opted for an umbrella on this rainy day.”

Julie notes “I think this guy is thinking ‘hmmm I see a nice steak on the hoof just next door for me and the missus for supper. You create a diversion honey and I’ll follow this guy out the gates to the antelope paddock.'”

…and we’re in the fog as the title implies. Julie notes “This tropical depression is getting a bit depressing tropically speaking. We’ve been forced to find our sweaters as temps have cooled to a brisk 18C or lower indoors. Wonderful sleeping conditions though and when you go to bed as early as we do, that is an important thing.”

…and the flooded aftermath. Julie notes “We opted out of driving through this puddle. Two bystanders gave us the ‘so-so’ hand movements and indicated above knee depth, after I asked them through gestures if we should drive through. No snorkel on Julie’s dually so we took a different course. Luckily this is the way to the Laundromat area and we have travelled there so many times Brad has the lay of land memorized. To me it’s just a lot tiny streets and colourful buildings and busses, approaching at alarming speeds with guys hanging out the doorways.”

…over and out, the muleskinner and his sidekick

Julie notes “Happy birthday baby brother! Hope it was a dandy and didn’t include too many bad smells or loud noises or drive by fruitings. (I know this is just wishful thinking. Unfortunately for Kelly, any day with Quent will include at least 2 of the above.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day 77 – Wednesday, September 11, 2013

We spent most of today looking for a laundry service that was open. We went to the same place 4 times and the lady was never there so we finally gave up for the day. We are getting down to the critical stage on the unmentionables however so we better find a laundry service tomorrow. Julie notes “Can’t really blame the lavenderia lady for hiding when the big truck stacked to ceiling with gringo undies pulls up in front of your shop. The locals going back and forth really tried to help us and kept telling us she was eating and to come back in an hour, in 10 minutes, at 2 o’clock, etc. She must owe them money and they want to keep her in business, something like our guide and us.”

We also went back to a very nice modern shopping area for groceries and had a hotdog and pop while we were there. Julie notes “American hotdog with lots of Guatemalan fixings. It was tasty. Also for those of you contemplating storing your fruit on the roof of your RV, Brad just found the mango that had fallen during our roof whilst ‘camping’ in the bomberos parking lot. It wasn’t a happy find. The car parked near us at the barnyard campground experienced a drive-by fruiting. And we had to buy new fruit.”

Otherwise, it was a pretty lazy day. I made an egg scramble with leftover steak, potatoes, and peppers for breakfast (Julie notes “He snuck the rest of the mystery meat into the works as well thinking I wouldn’t notice. But it turns out tarantula meat and eggs go nicely together) and cooked mushroom pasta for supper. Julie notes “Yummmy and nothing mysterious about it except for how he was able to whip that all up in this little kitchen. Although the dishes afterwards did tell some of the tale.”

It rained most of the afternoon and evening as is typical these days. Julie notes “Our guide/weather man says there is a tropical depression hanging over Guatemala, Mexico, etc. and here I just thought it was the proverbial black cloud following us around.”

A stinky fire was burning close to the RV Park making us hope the wind would keep the smoke away. Julie notes “No such luck so we went off on our laundry mission impossible. Things I’ve learned in a 3^rd world country #23 “You are never far away from an unpleasant smell or some very pleasant people.”

Searching for a laundry service in Amatitlan. Julie notes “Who knew doing the laundry could be such an adventure! Had 2 more pairs of soiled undies to throw into the works once we were done manoeuvering the streets I tell you in our quest for freshness.”

A soccer game in our RV/Water Park. Julie notes “Not the national team as you could probably tell by the skins and shirts uniforms. But they were having fun.”

Contemplating life or trying to decide what to make for supper? Julie notes “Or maybe hoping the soccer guys would ask him to play. But they didn’t. One disappointed little mule skinner for sure. I let him make supper for me to take his mind off of that.”

…that’s it for today folks, the muleskinner and his sidekick

Julie notes “Okay I reread last night’s wrap up words and I promise no more red wine induced self-pity. From now on just regular self-pity which is probably induced by that tropical depression. We’ll see how I feel once that lifts. Probably drier anyway.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day 76 – Tuesday, September 10, 2013

We’re not sure if our “automated” mailer is working properly. We apologize if you have not been receiving updates but we have no way of knowing who is receiving updates. At least, I haven’t figured out how to do that. If you read this and did not get an automated email (and you were on the automated email list) please let us know.

Today we drove over 250 km from our site near the Copan ruins in Honduras, crossed the border into Guatemala, and travelled through Guatemala City to the RV Park near Palin, Guatemala. We arrived around 5:00 PM after fuelling up and doing some grocery shopping. The RV Park is not too far from Guatemala City. We are at the same RV Park that I had stayed at when Julie was in Ontario; “Turicentro Automariscos” at KM 34.5 on the Carr Al Pacifico near Palin. The park has full hookups for the RV, natural hot pools, swimming pools, water slides, restaurant and lounge, snack bar, and iffy wifi (not to be confused with iffy wifey) near the main facility (but not from our site). Julie notes “The best part about it is it is quite clean and they are working on maintenance all the time. And we are situated right near the highway so still get to hear the trucks decelerating and ‘chicken buses’ honking their horns as they approach the 2 bus stops adjacent us in case we get too out of touch with reality.”

The border crossing was quite fast and efficient and was not too busy and they had lots of parking. It was a real treat compared to some others. Julie and I got lost in Guatemala City for a half an hour or so when we got separated from our guide in heavy traffic. We ended up mistakenly exiting the bypass we were on when 2 lanes went to the left, 2 straight, and 2 to the right. The bypass, we now know, is the 2 lanes to the left. (Julie notes “In case any of you guys plan to repeat this trip please note unless you plan on visiting the little area of El Nuevo.) It became quite obvious we were lost when the 2 lanes got narrower and narrower and the buildings were at the edge of the one lane road with narrow sidewalks. We had radio contact with our guide who was waiting up ahead on the bypass. After getting turned around and heading back to the bypass we figured out where we were and how to rectify our error and were on our way again. Julie notes “I did not take any pictures of where we ended up. I didn’t think that that would help calm the situation any. But it was kind of like one of our cab rides we’ve described but driving ourselves and not knowing where we could possibly turn the rig around. But squished in there were also some transports and cars and Brad wisely followed them and then did his ‘Windmill Gringo speak’ to a policeman who was standing at a minor accident scene on the highway and he got us pointed towards the correct turnabout. We would like to claim the award for the first of the group to get lost but first of all ‘we are the group’ and second of all, our guide has been lost a few times, difference was we were right behind, so we were lost together. I think there is a song there somewhere.”

Julie is now using our “good” full DSLR camera from the passenger’s seat because our smaller point and shoot Canon camera started over-exposing all of the pictures. It was good for a few laughs watching her try and hold the camera properly, use the viewfinder, and take a picture. I must say her co-ordination using a camera is not what the ergonomic designers had in mind. But once she got the hang of it, she was shooting pictures with great veracity. Julie notes “Ha! Brad thought he could cut down on the number of pictures I take by sabotaging my little camera. No such luck buddy boy. I do have a bruise on the bridge of my nose though from banging the camera lens into the side window. And the seatbelt doesn’t let me lean forward enough to get close to the wind shield. With my little camera I just held my long monkey arms out and clicked. But despite these new restraints on my photography style I just keep clicking away to the blog editor’s dismay. Also you will have to imagine all the amazing shots ‘that got away’ before I realized my tiny camera had crapped out. A herd of big horned cattle bearing down on us, stopping traffic, a horse stretching his tether out across our lane of highway refusing to move, cute kids, breathtaking scenery, plus the usual blurry, off kilter, no content ones that I’m famous for – award winning stuff for sure. I do have quite a few now of my knees and the truck floor as I was experimenting trying to see what the issue was. If you’d like to see those just let me know.”

We lit a charcoal BBQ, located at each site, and BBQ’d some steak and some mystery meat – I think it was pork? Julie notes “We’re pretty sure it was too big to be squirrel or iguana but it was in the beef section of the grocery store. We think. Could’ve been the monkey section. The signage wasn’t great.” We grilled some onions, red peppers, and had baked potatoes with sour cream. Mmmm good. Julie notes “Ditto that.”

Leaving a small town in the area near the Copan Ruins.

Typical countryside. Julie notes “Imagine the ‘clunk’ as I swing and hit the camera on the window.”

Part of the excellent freeway nearing Guatemala City. Julie notes “All of a sudden we were routed onto the oncoming lanes of traffic. There had been a mudslide on our side of the freeway that they were cleaning up. I was just glad the 3 or 5 little orange traffic cones they had at the other end of the detour was enough to keep the oncoming traffic from barrelling into our lane. How do you say Aaaaa!!! in Espanol?”

More countryside. Julie notes “It is a beautiful place and as you can imagine the roads do a lot of winding up, down and around. We were warned about runaway trucks and saw many breakdowns.”

Guatemala City. Julie notes “Imagine bicycling up there after working downtown. I’m out of breath just getting my helmet on.”

While we stopped in traffic, these two kids would not let Julie take their picture. They would smile and look at us and wave until Julie pointed a camera at them. They would sheepishly look away. Julie notes “Kids are kids wherever we go. They make the world go round. Plus they were probably wondering why I kept hitting my face on the camera and the camera on the window.”

…over and out, the muleskinner and his sidekick

Julie notes “‘Too ra loo ra loo ra’ played at supper time and made Brad reminiscent of Dad and I just cried a little. It is a weird world without them. I know they’d be very relieved we were headed back to the homeland and we also had some great upbeat songs yesterday like ‘Lord of the Dance’, ‘My Old Man’s a Dustman’, ‘If I had a Hammer’and the ‘MuleSkinner Blues’ to go with the happy thoughts.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day 75 – Monday, September 9, 2013

We left the tourist park around 7:00 AM this morning and headed for the Copan Ruins. We arrived here around 1:00 PM. We had a quick lunch in the cafeteria, hired an English speaking tour guide, Juan Carlos, and headed into the ruins, the underground areas, and finally the museum. They kicked us out of the museum at the 4:30 PM closing time. I was pretty much done but Julie was still busy reading every placard at each display. A typical museum process for us. Julie notes “Yes since he took me to a museum on our honeymoon we have known this may eventually be the straw that breaks this marriage’s back. At least I get my money’s worth and at least give the impression I am retaining some info so that I can then turn it into misinformation when I relay it to the next person. But I’m not the only one misinformed. Turns out the archeologists who reconstructed the famous Mayan hieroglyphic staircase here a few years back put it back in the wrong order. I guess there was no Mayan spell check back then. There is a Japanese team working on fixing the translation using computers. Now can you imagine the ‘lost in translation’ through many languages back to English?” Brad notes “Our Copan guide also informed us about life in Honduras. He told us that Honduras had beat Mexico 2-1 in the football game the other night, which was celebration we had heard, and would go on to play Panama. All the people of Honduras come together for football, kind of like hockey in Canada. Left wing and right wing politics are forgotten and the people are happy with the big win. The government, knowing the people were all happy, quickly raised taxes the next day. Things are the same wherever you go, I guess!”

We just about beat the afternoon rain but got drenched on our long walk back from the ruins to the museum. Oh well, it is a warm rain and I think it was time for Julie to have another shower anyways. Julie notes “Turns out maybe it wasn’t the barnyard we were getting a whiff of at the last campsite.”

Another good day. We made forward (er, maybe backwards?) progress towards our destination and took in an amazing site.

A scene along the highway travelling towards Copan.

This cute little old lady walked by us at one of our break stops with the yellow towel on her head and proceeded to sit down in front of this gas station store and watch life go by while doing some visiting.

Some shots from the Copan Ruins in Honduras. Julie notes “This is a grave marker. Which made it easier for the grave robbers unfortunately.”

Julie notes “You can’t see him but ‘Chuck-chuck’ (my Canuck-chuck spelling), the rain god was building behind us and loudly announcing his approach. Maybe not a good time to be holding my metal drink container up in the air, but Brad is taller than me and has that metal plate in his head.”

Macaws that are raised and released in the Copan Ruins site. Julie notes “The macaw was held in great esteem by the Mayans. They were linked to the sun god and there were many carvings and plaster statues of them throughout the ruins. They also have big beaks just like the elite royalty. From birth the wealthy elite used methods to flatten foreheads, protrude noses, cross eyes and fill their teeth with jade. If it weren’t for the jade teeth I almost had them convinced that I was reincarnated Mayan royalty or goddess. I would go by my old Kayaking Goddess title or perhaps Princess Canuck-chuck.”

This little girl, Carlita, posed for a picture. She is one of the children of the owners at our campsite across the road from the ruins. Julie notes “Her brother Brian came to the camper to practice his excellent English that he was learning in grade three. And also agreed to take a little bit of candy off of our hands.”

…over and out, the muleskinner and his sidekick.

Julie notes “Bob Dylan is singing ‘it’s not dark yet but it’s getting there’ so that means bedtime no matter what the clock says in whatever time zone we may be in. The humidity is high as it drizzles off and on but the temp is a pleasant 28 C. Nice sleeping weather.”

 

 

 

 

Day 74 – Sunday, September 8, 2013

We spent the day at the “Centro Turistico Pulhapanzak” – a tourist park with most of the amenities you would expect. Julie notes “It has a few extra ‘amenities’ as well. As I mentioned yesterday it over looked a small barn yard so when the breeze shifted Brad had something to blame the aromatics on. The funny clicking noise we heard the night before can be attributed to a large iguana spied in a nearby tree. We experienced one of the craziest thunderstorms in the night. Once again how can we always be at the epicentre? The camper rocked hard and often, from the thunder of course. Not for the reasons you guys are thinking. And speaking of rocking and rolling, the natural surroundings had a young couple doing what comes naturally in the backseat of a Mazda as we sat a few feet away. We escaped to the camper for lunch. ‘Afternoon Delight’ had played on the iTunes a day early I guess.”

We hiked to the base of the waterfalls and back. Took a short drive to another spot on the river to check out the scenery and generally had a nice relaxing day. We BBQ’d our last frozen Costco Belmont burgers for supper. I also BBQ’d some chicken thighs for tomorrows dinner. The burgers were delicious. Julie notes “I second that! Deeee-licious!”

We met a group of great people from Pennsylvania who were here with a couple local social workers to do some volunteer work for a week or so in some of the remote areas of Honduras. Julie had the brilliant idea to donate all of the children’s clothes, art supplies, books, and eyeglasses to them. They were thrilled and said we had hit all the marks with the stuff we had to donate. It was a great feeling to know it will go to good use. A big thank you Alison, our daughter-in-law, for collecting and donating all of the kid’s clothes.

The park entrance. Julie notes “This area has been kept very clean. A nice change and we complimented the staff for that.”

Our campsite. Julie notes “If you look closely you can see the cutter ant trail right behind the camper and very close to the shower area. If you’re standing on the rubber mat with the water on you’re pretty safe. If you are the guy assisting your lovely wife with the shower then there are likely 20 or 30 angry ants climbing on you. Everyone sing ‘The cutter ants go marching in a row, Hurrah, hurrah. The cutter ants go marching in a row, Hurrah, hurrah. The cutter ants go marching in a row, then they all stopped together to bite Brad’s toes Then he’s dancing and swearing and yelping in the rain, boom, boom, boom.’ Because the evening rainstorm was upon us. And then for good measure, I wouldn’t let him back into the camper, after his shower, birthday suit or not, until he had found my shampoo bottle that had dropped into the middle of the ant trail. One more time ‘The ants go marching…”

The waterfall. Julie notes “There was the option to zip line over the falls as part of our park admission fee but we decided once we glimpsed the seemingly skimpy zip line wire that we had already had enough on this trip.”

The soaked couple at the bottom of our hike. Julie notes “Should’ve waited and showered here but there were some bigger ants lurking around.”

The volunteer group from Pennsylvania and the 2 local social workers, ranging in age from 15 to 72.

A cool dead tree with a new plant growing from the top.

…over and out, the muleskinner and his sidekick

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day 73 – Saturday, September 7, 2013

Julie notes “Okay! Before we even start into the day, let me tell you about our night. You know those funny National Lampoon ish type movies, where it’s dark and the family finally picks a place to stop in an innocent looking spot. The sun comes up and they are actually in the middle of a wrecking yard, or a gorilla pen or as was in our case, party central for a national football game being held one street over. So yes it’s Friday night but it gets dark here early and yes we go to bed early and yes what I am about to describe took place between the seemingly civilized hours of 9 pm and 1 am but it was traumatic none the less. We’d been sleeping like babies for an hour or so enjoying this quite pleasant and quiet Pizza Hut parking lot in Danli, when an announcement of some sort was made over a loud speaker and a roar went up from a large crowd, a marching band started playing. Then more roaring of the crowd, more marching band, then every person in town who owned a truck, car, motor bike, bicycle, stroller, basically anything with wheels and a noise making device, started driving past blaring their horns, revving their engines and chanting. And let’s not forget the fireworks or perhaps random volleys of gun fire, we’re not sure which. In the background there were still the announcements and crowd roaring and I thought a demonstration of some sort was happening. But then we remembered we’d heard something about a big game but thought it was televised not actually happening right there. A group of fans took up the lawn right under the Pizza Hut sign waving large banners and revving up the fans that circled in their vehicles. The honking and yelling and chanting and random firework volleys plus parking lot dancing and my laughing (possibly hysterically, because really you can’t make this stuff up) died down after about an hour and a half. That was nice because then we could hear the real party music blaring from the field where more festivities were going on. Things seemed to wind down around 1 am. Let’s keep in mind our time change mix up from the yesterday morning and coupled with another noisy night and that may explain the following frayed nerves. Now back to Brad.”

After some heated debate with our guide about our next destination, we headed for Lake Yojoa in Honduras. Julie notes “I reminded Brad calmly that our guide DOES know how to point and say in Spanish ‘illegal alien’. We weren’t on the road for more than a few kms, smoke still issuing from Brad’s ears and excuses spewing from the 2 way radio when the iTunes came to the rescue with a Styx song, ‘Crystal Ball’. Brother in law, Ron will know this chorus being a Styx fan. ‘Tell me tell me, where I’m going, I don’t know where to go, Tell me tell me, where I’m going, I don’t know where I’ve been…’ It made us chuckle as it seemed like the perfect synopsis of our trip and the steam in the cab evaporated a bit.”

We first had to travel through the large city of Tegucigalpa. I don’t think that I had ever heard of this place but it appears to be a very large city. The traffic and roads were for the most part a nightmare. It is a crazy experience driving our big rig through the cities. Julie notes “My legs are still sore from backseat braking on our crazy Granada cab ride. I was literally weak in the knees after this experience. For countries that rely a lot on pedestrian, bicycle, horse and buggy transport they haven’t made allowances for protecting them from the busy traffic. We hold our breath each time we have to pass someone.” We made a stop for some groceries at a very modern grocery store. Then it was on to the freeway and stop and go traffic for miles and miles. Finally, we passed by the parade on the closed side of the freeway. Once out of the city, we travelled through some more very mountainous areas. The mountains and pine trees reminded us a bit of British Columbia. We stopped for a tour at the underground caves “Cuevas – Taulabe”. After the tour we travelled another hour or so until we reached a real campground for the night. We will spend tomorrow here hiking to the waterfalls and exploring another nearby river area.

Our pizza hut campground and the view we had of a large cross on a hill with a trail leading up to it. Julie notes “Looks innocent enough doesn’t it, but now you know the real story.”

Julie notes “Maybe it’s time for us to crawl up this hill and ask for forgiveness for whatever we’re being punished for. Couldn’t hurt? Well it would likely hurt. We’ll keep it in mind.”

Following a convoy of large trucks while being passed.

Driving in Tegucigalpa Julie notes “This was quite the place. You can see the houses hanging off the hills in the background of this picture. I have about 50 more of the amazing real-estate precariously hanging in these valleys if you’re interested. Brad can attest to that after sifting through 130 some pictures from today. And I wonder why the batteries keep dying.”

Very modern grocery store. Not really sure why I need to show you a picture of a grocery store but I guess it is the extreme contrast between abject poverty and apparent wealth that I find disturbing but interesting.

The freeway parade. Maybe this is where the kids from the border ended up? Julie notes “I did see a banner saying “Festival de Maize” so I am making a corny educated guess that this was what was going on. It may not have a kernel of truth in it though. Kids dressed in marching uniforms, pageant gowns, costumes from butterflies, lady bugs, lions, zebras and on, majorettes with pom poms and batons and gogo boots. I didn’t see anyone dressed as a cob of corn though, but there was one girl whose dress was made of colourful bottle labels and bottle tops. Not sure of the beverage. Hope it wasn’t cerveza and she had to help with collecting.”

A high mountain pass northbound through Hounduras.

The road we will follow through the mountains and many switchbacks but it is probably the best highway we have been on in all of Central America.

Pretty scared before entering the caves. Julie notes “Well I have to give him credit for not saying he encountered just one old bat in the caves. I bet he was thinking that though so I will add that to the stuff to hold against him.”

The caves.

…that’s it for today folks, the muleskinner and his sidekick

Julie notes “We are in an actual campground in Honduras, go figure. Not your typical Canadian campground, mind you. We do look out over a barnyard but it is forested and we sat out in the dark before supper watching an amazing firefly show, listening to crickets chirp and also something unidentifiable creature making a constant low noise. Pretty sure snakes or spiders don’t make that noise. And there is a really long bare trail just outside our door that leaf cutter ants have cleared and we’ve watched them haul their precarious huge loads back to their nest. Now I’m not an ant (I am just an aunt) but why wouldn’t they forage out in a circle from their nest instead of this long trail. I don’t know. What I do know is if you stand in their trail they will bite you. Okay here is to a good night’s sleep in the peaceful campground tonight.”