We spent four days in the Cayo District of Belize in the town of San Ignacio. From San Ignacio we visited two Mayan ruin sites, Xunantnich and Cahal Pech, and Chuck went on a cave tour of Actun Tunichil Muknal. Actun Tunichil Muknal is about 12 miles and 45 minutes driving time from San Ignacio. Tours are advertised throughout town and they depart daily from multiple locations. After the ride from town, which crossed two rivers, you then cross three more on foot. Next is a 35 minute walk through the jungle to the mouth of the cave, which also [View Full Entry]

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Our travels to and through Mexico and Central America are going great! We have had some requests regarding what IT is like down here. "IT" being prices, peoples and places, cities and streets, all of the everyday things. Many things stand out as different, but just as many things are much the same. For example... Different things are: a cows head on the shoulder of a highway; no idea where the body was or how the head got there without the body. having to stop and wait for a pig, chickens, a herd of cattle, turkeys, iguanas, humans or damn lazy [View Full Entry]

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Wednesday, January 21st we drove north to the Peten, which is the largest, most visited, and least populated department (similar to a state) in all of Guatemala. Our first stop was the archaeological site of Ixcun, accessed through the town of Dolores. The town has a small museum featuring a collection of pre-Hispanic artifacts from the region. Admission was minimal. To get to Ixcun, one must drive about 18 kilometers out of town along a dirt road passing cattle farms and country homes. There are no restored structures at Ixcun; all of the remains were in complete ruin except a [View Full Entry]

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Tikal is a national park and pre-Hispanic Mayan ruin site in the northern Guatemalan department of El Peten. The park and ruin site is easily accessible by private vehicle, bus or tour group from cities throughout Guatemala, Belize and Mexico. Upon entering the park, vehicles must register at the entrance gate. Within the park there are three hotels and a camping area with bathrooms, wash area and cold showers. Camping was about $4 USD per person per night. Electricity (limited to the hotels, restaurants and shops) is only on within the park from about 5:30 until 9pm. At night at [View Full Entry]

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Hey kids! And, happy first birthday to Eddie (here they say feliz cumpleanos)!!! Since I last wrote we have been travelling through Guatemala; Honduras too, but I was not feeling well so I stayed in the van when we were there. We visited Lake Atitlan in the highlands, Lake Izabal not far from the Caribbean, and Lake Peten Itza in the north. We entered Guatemala in the highlands; this is where the tall mountains and volcanoes are located. This is also where Lake Atitlan is and when we were in this area we stayed in the town of Panajachel. It was [View Full Entry]

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We arrived to the border between El Peten, Guatemala and Cayo, Belize at about 4pm on Tuesday the 27th of January. We should have arrived earlier, but sometimes life gets in the way of plans. We exited out of Guatemala, paid to have our van fumigated for a cost of under $10 USD and proceeded to the Belizean immigration and customs. Immigration was simple. Customs took a bit more time since the customs official needed to see all of our papers, fill out all of his, and inspect our vehicle before allowing us to enter the country. After going through immigration [View Full Entry]

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After leaving Honduras we were traveling to El Peten, the northernmost region of Guatemala. Our first stop (just south of the Peten) was the Lago Izabal and Rio Dulce area. We had been in the rain for four days and at least two more rainy days were forecasted to come. We decided that if we were going to be stuck in a hotel, it should be a nice hotel with internet, comfortable bed, hot water, bar and restaurant. We splurged and checked into the resort hotel, Mansion del Rio on Saturday the 17th of January for two nights. Mansion del Rio [View Full Entry]

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El Tajin is an archaeological site located near the town of Papantla, Veracruz, Mexico. This was the first archaeological zone we visited on our trip. El Tajin is in good condition and certainly worth a visit, although locating the site is not an altogether easy task and finding your way back is a bit more difficult yet. The site can be thoroughly appreciated in half a day, and because it is somewhat off the beaten path it is not overcrowded by tour groups and vendors. El Tajin is considered to be of the Totonac indigenous culture. The name El Tajin means [View Full Entry]

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Friday the 16th of January we arrived to Omoa, a town on the coast of Northern Honduras. After one day on the beach in the rain we decided to move on and headed back to Guatemala. We have three different maps that cover the border area of Guatemala and Honduras. All three maps are different. We were looking to cross from Honduras to Guatemala at the northern most point accessible by vehicle because our plan was to go from the Honduras coast to Lake Izabal, Guatemala. According to our guidebooks and two of our maps the problem would be in driving [View Full Entry]

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The Mayan ruins of Copan are located one kilometer outside of the town of Copan Ruinas on the road towards Lago Yojoa and San Pedro Sula. This archaeological park is relatively more expensive than other Mayan sites, but it is well maintained, researched and presented to visitors through the extensive structures, monuments, and historical and cultural interpretations. Admission into the ruins was $15 USD per person, another $15 for the museum, and $7 for the onsite tunnels. All are worth the price. Also within the park is a restaurant, two gift shops, bathrooms, and about a dozen macaws [View Full Entry]

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