January 14- 27

Hola from Guatemala!

On our way to the Mexican migracion office a man on a motorcycle pulled up to our window offering his help. Ben told him "NO GRACIAS" politely at first however, after the sixth time started getting frustrated. It's hard enough trying to drive our big Homey through the chaotic streets, let alone with a guy on a motorcyle accosting you. The motorcyclist pulled ahead and continued to lead us to the border, even though there were obvious signs directing us. When we arrived at the migracion office, the man was waiting for us with a smile. He pulled out two forms of identification, and we understood "oh!! he works here, he was on his way to work and simply wanted to help a couple gringos." He began leading us through the hoops. First, we cancelled our Mexican tourist permits, then on our way to the Guatemalan border. We went through formalities for about an hour, and began to suspect our happy helper was going to rip us off. Ben kept an eye on him the entire time, and caught him 3 times trying to over charge us!!! With ourselves, the dog, and the vehicle permitted the man then demanded $150 US dollars. NO WAY JOSE!!! With our pathetic Spanish we told him he was a robber and we would only pay 100 Quetzales which is about $13 US. Long story short, after much negotiation we agreed upon 125 Quetzales, really a fair price for his work, because we would have had no idea what to do or where to go!!


We made our way through the maze of streets and came out to highway headed for Xela (Quetzaltenango) The scenery immediately changed from that of Mexico and became very lush and mountainous. We were automatically attracted to the area. You wouldnt believe the fields where these people grow their crops. Straight up the sides of the mountains, where no tractor could ever go! We meandered through small villages surrounded by steep corn fields. It is like no place we've ever seen. We climbed and climbed and climbed (it is extremely steep and bumpy) into the mountains of Guatemala pushing on to the famous market in Chichicastenango, which began early the next morning. After missing a turn and continuing in the wrong direction for what seemed like forever on a terrible road undergoing construction, we realized our mistake, and turned back.


We made it to Chichi just before dark. We pulled into the only place that could accomodate us that night, a nasty gas station parking lot, that also doubled as the public bathroom :(
However, it was affordable and we were only staying one night. We spent the next day wondering through the crowds of people and the numerous market vendors and their interesting crafts.
So much color and creativity, however things did begin to look the same. After a long day at the market it was getting late so we decided to stay over one more night and leave early in the morning for lake Atitlan.
While Emily was boiling water for tea and Ben was about to warm up the rig, we let Sadie out to do her business, just like every morning. Not more than thirty seconds had gone by before Emily stepped out to call Sadie inside, but she was no where to be found. We immediately ran up and down the surrounding streets calling and whistling however there was no sign of Sadie. We gathered from the parking lot attendant that another dog had approached Sadie and bit at her, spooked Sadie took off running.
Long story short, we spent the next 3 days searching the streets on foot and on bike, posting flyers and even advertising on the local radio station.
All the while parked in the nasty parking lot :( We felt like we had exhausted all of our options and had searched everywhere possible, by the end of the 3rd day neither of us felt comfortable remaining in the town. It was very difficult to leave (we felt like we should give our dog more time) however we felt as though we needed to move on. The first week was really rough on us, and we miss Sadie terribly (she had become another member of our family) but we are doing much better now.

We are currently at Panajachel near Lake Atitlan. We decided to enroll in a two week Spanish course that is 4 hours a day of one on one instruction. We found a nice place to park for a couple weeks with the local market, our school, and the lake nearby, we have plenty to keep us busy. It's a blast cruising our bikes down the cobblestone streets, here theres more bikes and people filling the streets than cars. Each day after Spanish class we ride to the market for our fresh produce, bread, and local cheese, meander through the crafts spilling into the streets, and stroll along the lake front. One day while on a school field trip to the local ceramic factory, Emily was pulled inside of a little shop and dressed in traditional garb! The clothing is very different than what we're used to. We have been eating the most delicious fresh fruit salads however we are rather surprised at the cost! Its not as economical as we had expected, it seems like tropical fruit here is almost as much as it is at home. But it is more tasty and fresh. Its hard to understand how these people make a living when gas and food are just as expensive and wages are a fraction of what we make in the states.

We spent the last weekend backpacking around several villages on the lake. We figured it would be a good way to celebrate Ben's birthday which wasnt so fun in Chichi. We hopped on a small boat packed with people and rode 15 minutes to the next village. From there we hiked along a tiny goat trail following the cliffs edge overlooking the beautiful scenery of the lake. The terrain was rather gnarly and being our first hike we were pretty beat. We found a nice secluded camping spot on the point of a cliff with an amazing view.
After setting up camp we spent our evening touring the eclectic village of San Marcos. We popped into a brick oven pizza shop for dinner, we thought this would be a good time to celebrate and enjoy our first meal out at an official restaurant with walls. The next morning we woke to an amazing choir of tropical birds, much different from the songs at home. The lake and the surrounding volcanoes were clear as a bell and so peaceful. We hiked into town and enjoyed a birthday breakfast in a beautiful garden. It was absolutely delicious, and made us somewhat homesick. We miss the Pancake House! :) After lounging beside the water we packed up camp and took another lancha (boat) back to Homey.

Upon completion of our schooling, we plan on visiting the Tikal ruins in northern Guatemala, then on to Belize. We hear there are amazing coral reefs as well as expansive white beaches. We are missing the ocean! We're looking forward to getting into the Carribbean groove. We'll let you know how it is!

Ben and Em

January 5 -13

We have spent the last week driving through palm groves and the beautiful, lush, mountainous terrain of the mainland. Our goal has been to put as many miles on as possible, eager to reach the Guatemalan border. We made several beach stops along the way, some secluded we had all to ourselves, others discovered.

In Puerto Vallarta we stopped in a local marine supply store and Ben got a sweet spear gun for his birthday. He's looking forward to paying it off with fresh fish.

We made a one night stop in a small ocean side town called Tenacatita with palapas and hammocks lining the beach. The next day we found a secluded beach (without a map in front of us, we cant recall the name) There were several abondoned buildings, it looked like a hotel/resort that never took off. What a treat though! Our own private beach stretching on for miles, we strolled the beach at sunset, then enjoyed a campfire of driftwood and coconut husks.

We spent a few days in Puerto Escondido, a world renowned surf spot. We lounged on the beach reading and watching the expert surfers. Ben also got his broken fin replaced on his surfboard, at a sweet makeshift repair shop.

Our most recent adventure was in Tehuantepec. While we were stocking up on produce at the local open air market, a woman befriended us and offered to show us around town. We were delighted to experience real Mexican culture. We attended a wedding fiesta, where the groomsmen made sure we had plenty of refreshments! Very friendly and accepting peoples :) We tasted of the local cuisine made by the Indians of the area, had our first elotes (corn), and later that night ate at a familys "restaurant" set up outside their front door, in the village of San Blas. We had a rough time navigating Homey through the tight, people and taxi stuffed streets. You should have seen the looks on the locals faces! They must not see many gringos, especially not in RVs. We camped out that night in one of the Catholic Iglesias (churches) parking lots.

The next morning we travelled onward to the city of Tapachula, about 20km from the Guatemalan border. We visited the consulate of Guatemala and stocked up on free tourist info as well as handy maps. Now we are making final preparations for our border crossing tomorrow morning. We are looking into Spanish schools in Quetzeltenango and Lake Atitlan in Guatemala. We plan on attending for a week or two. We need to better our communication skills!

Mexico has certainly been a good learning experience for us. We are getting much better at navigating the pot hole and tope (speed bump) filled roads, which often times are without signage. We'll be posting our next blog from Guatemala, all of our love!
Ben and Em

December 20 - January 4

Our first day south of La Paz we spent in a small town called El Pescadero. There was a quaint rv park La Serena with beautiful palm trees, flowers, and nice clean bathrooms. That evening we rode our bikes to the local Sandbar to listen to some reggae tunes. We arrived around 8, expecting (as it is in Idaho) that the music had already started, but found out parties dont get started until at least 10pm in mexico...by the time the band started playing (they were very good!) we were pooped, and didnt last long...it gets dark so early, we're getting accustomed to early bedtime. The next morning we shared a cantoloupe for breakfast with a friendly woman, Pat, from Santa Cruz. She told us we couldnt miss Todos Santos, so we made it our next destination.

We spent the afternoon touring the dusty streets of Todos, admiring the many art galleries and authentic crafts. We stopped into one shop, Ben interested in the odd bottles of a mysterious liquor. The sweet shop owner allowed us to taste the drink, Ben loved it, Em thought it was weird. We noticed a whole wall full of blankets and the woman along with her lovely daughter Dulce, helped as we unfolded a dozen of them looking for just the right one.... At last we found one, this thing is authentic, it still smelled like a sheep :) Very soft, and very warm cozy wool.

We made our way to Cerritos beach, a popular surf spot. After searching out the coast, we found a spot to unroll our full setup. We popped up our gazebo, hung a laundry line, unstrapped the surf boards and settled into our temporary home. It didnt take us long to meet many new friends. The first day out surfing we bumped into a couple from Wyoming and Janine offered her expertise on surfing to Em. In no time she was riding the white water of the waves :) Everyone camped out there was so friendly.

We met Brad, Nick, Charlie, Rachel, and Elizabeth from Colorado, and Sarah and David from San Fran. We enjoyed beach volleyball, surfing, kayaking, biking, reading and many communal meals with our new friends. Christmas evening we all got together, each one contributing to our Christmas feast around the campfire. We talked and told stories well into the night.
We were quite satisfied with our warm, breezy, beachy Christmas :)

We spent nearly 2 weeks at Cerritos. We caught glimpes of whales, watched a seal surfing a wave, and saw sting rays "flying" out of the water just off shore. We really enjoyed our time settled in and relaxing, we feel totally rejuvinated and ready to explore on. We bid our friends farewell on January 2nd and headed north to Tecolote beach in La Paz. The following morning we drove to the ferry terminal and were pleasantly surprised to discover an alternate company offering MUCH more affordable rides to Mazatlan. At 4pm the ferry departed from La Paz toward Mazatlan. We spent our 16 hour ride reading, cooking, and visiting with Harris a photographer from LA who is riding his motorcycle to Central America. We enjoyed the ride, we even spotted dolphins swimming along the bow as the sun was rising the next morning. The ship docked on the mainland by 8:30am and a long day of travelling landed us in Rincon de Guayabitos about 90 miles north of Puerto Vallarta. We nestled for the evening into a small park and enjoyed a hot shower. We're ready to put some miles on tomorrow. We'll keep you posted.

All of our love! Ben and Em :)