Moving north

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We left Roatan early as scheduled and made our way towards Rio Dulce in eastern Guatemala. We went through the Entre Rios border crossing but unfortunately we found out that the paperwork needed to legally enter the country with a car could only be done in Puerto Barrios, 45 minutes from the border post. We left Matt´s passport hostage and went to do the required work. After two hours and six lineups, we returned, got the passport back, and we were officially back in Guatemala.

After spending the night in Rio Dulce and deciding not to do the long boat trip to Livingston and back, we headed up some backroad to Lago Isabal. We found some interesting little resort towns and enjoyed a relaxing brunch by the lake.

We made our way back to Guatemala City and decided to spend the last day before Lana´s departure in the city. The city was full of celebrations, as the weekend before Easter seems to be a big event. We had a lot of interesting observations in the Parque Central as it was packed and people here are very interesting to watch. We were amazed at how many folks belong to the four-foot club, as adults both male and female tend to be very short. Lana kept remarking how she felt like a giant for the first time in her life!

After dropping Lana safely off at the airport, we were lucky enough to follow an obliging lady in a Mercedes through the hundred turns required to exit the city and get onto the main highway to Esquintla and north to Mexico. Now begins the long drive home.

We spent a day near Puerto Arista in Chiapas and decided to make the isthmus cutoff to the Gulf of Mexico south of Veracruz. The countryside on the Monte Pie loop was magnificent, and Matt got to swim in the Pacific and Atlantic (sort of) in the same 24 hour period.

We made a quick one-day stop in Mexico City and after having to pay a $90 bribe for going through a red light, decided to head north to Durango, and perhaps spend the several days that we saved in the Copper Canyon area again. We arrived in Durango today, and spent an enjoyable evening with my cousin-in-law Graciela, her sister Carmen, and some of Carmen´s family. We hope to see some of the other ´relatives´ tomorrow, and then continue northbound.

One more week to go and it´s hard to believe ten weeks have gone by already. I checked the weather at home and I don´t know if we are quite ready for anything but shorts temperatures!

Anyway, until next time.........Grant

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Photos

Second-worst room on the trip!
Needless to say, Lana is no longer with us!

Mural on the wall of our motel halfway between San Luis Potosi and Zacatecas
A welcome sight as it was already dark and we were still driving