Home on the Highway - San Francisco to Ushuaia in an 87 4Runner.

[defrag4]

Howdy folks! Figured it was about time to get this thread going. After saving and planning this trip for the past 3 years, Lauren and I are set to leave TODAY for the first leg of our Pan-American journey. :wings:

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We are leaving from San Francisco to travel back to our home-state of Florida to say adios to our family and friends, from there we will trek back to Texas and cross the border into Mexico. DESTINATION: USHUAIA, ARGENTINA :costumed-smiley-007
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We have no set plans, No real set destination other than getting to the bottom. Our timeline for the trip is at least 1 year. We are planning to extend the trip by hooking up with volunteer organizations, couchsurfing, and house-sitting when possible. We have modified my 87 4Runner into a quasi-camper with most of the luxuries of home. ie: Bed, Stove, Shower, 110v etc.

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The truck is fitted to tackle some serious off-roading, we look forward to exploring tons of backroads and trails all up and down Central/South America. Any suggestions on places to go, people to see, beers to drink will be appreciated!

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I am still waiting to pick up our truck from the 4x4 shop today where they are mounting a rear-swingout for 2 jerry cans, Our lease is up and my last day of work was yesterday so we are OUTTA HERE as soon as we get the truck.

We are going to take about 2 weeks or so to drive from Northern California to Florida. Lauren has never seen much of Utah, Nevada, Colorado so I believe we will be journeying that way. We plan to just look at the atlas and pick out national/state parks/monuments/forests to camp at along the way. Again we are open to ANYTHING so throw up your suggestions.

SO EXCITED!!!


Here is our blog with more information, feel free to subscribe and follow us on the facebook

http://homeonthehighway.com

Thanks,
James

[98roamer]

Congratulations! Keep us posted along the way, be careful and enjoy!

[ExploringNH]

Yes!

I am looking forward to following along. I think your plan is a good plan. The places I have enjoyed the most have been recommended by locals or other people and not chosen out of a guidebook.

[Project510]

Good luck on your trip! Safe travels! Look forward to your updates!

Is there a thread on here as far as prep for the trip, vehicle build etc?

[defrag4]

Good luck on your trip! Safe travels! Look forward to your updates!

Is there a thread on here as far as prep for the trip, vehicle build etc?

THanks bud, Here is my thread from when I got the truck up until now, Im actually at the 4x4 shop right now putting the finishing touches on. Ill have more updates soon

http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/50765-New-to-me-87-4Runner-4x4-SR5-22RE-5spd

[haven]

defrag4, Thanks for your detailed vehicle prep writup. Now that you're on the road, I hope you'll remind us to check your blog periodically so we can follow your adventures.

[Whitey]

Will you be traveling through North Texas?

[rockandroll]

¡Buen Viaje!

If you do Baja don't miss Playa Tecalote outside of La Paz. It was described to us as a "real life Corona commercial" and didn't disappoint.

It's free boondocking and described in the Church's camping guide

[clcoyle]

Looking forward to following your progress.

[FireFinder]

Looking forward to the awesome write-ups.

I've got two suggestions for things to see: me and me catching a redfish in Mosquito Lagoon.

I'll see if I can find another chauffeur for you...

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Safe travels bud.

[Christian P.]

Awesome! Congratulations on your departure, this is really exciting.

[defrag4]

November 1st came and went, we were antsy to get going but the world had other plans. Luckily we only ended up two days behind “schedule”, which I am now declaring as a dirty word. Schedules are for people who have someplace to be.

Darren and Marc at Any7 got the truck all finished up, they did a great job putting our ideas for the truck into action. We picked it up and headed home to cram all worldly possessions into the back.

Thanks guys!
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Luckily this process only took about 30 minutes. Impressive! We bid our landlords and our cabin farewell and headed out the door. It was too late to actually make it anywhere and the truck was too full of crap to camp in the back. Darren let us crash on his couch for the night, the first of many couch surfing experience to come I am sure.

Re-arranged the back of the truck in the morning and hit the road. Our destination for the night was the Sierra mountains.

Excitedly we headed off into the rolling foothills of the Sierras.
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The clouds looming overhead did not look very inviting, and as we approached the mountain range we saw signs stating the most of the mountain passes were closed. I thought this was odd since I was just up here last weekend and there wasn't any snow on the ground. Cranked up the weather report on the radio…

WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY – SNOW STORM APPROACHING EASTERN SIERRAS AT 730PM – 8 INCHES OF SNOW AND 75 MPH WINDS EXPECTED AT 8000FT.

Perfect, so pretty much exactly where we were heading? Looks like our “schedule” is about to change again. A quick look at the map and we decide we are going to go up and over the Sierra range and camp at a ghost town called Bodie on the eastern-side foothills. The storm was not scheduled to hit until 730, was only 430 at the time. We were about 2 hours from the other side. No problemo. We press on determined to beat the storm.

Not much time for pictures this visit to the Sierras.
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Approaching 8000FT
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Making good time, should make it easily before the storm hits. …until
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What the hell!? Construction delays on the Carson pass! A bunch of bozos trying to build a road as the storm approaches, A long line of trucks idling waiting for the road to clear. The white flakes starting to fall and winds picking up!

Eventually we make it over and haul *** down to Bodie as the storm picks up gusto. We find a side-road up in the hills and setup camp for the night as the storm set in. It’s going to be a cold one…

DAMN! 11F at 830AM, Had to have got down to 5F or so overnight
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We awake to all the windows completely iced over, rear window and side windows frozen up, only way out of the truck is to move all the crap piled in the front back onto our bed and then climb out the front seats.

Iced over
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She still started on first crank!
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Froze our *** off trying to repack the truck in 11F weather, headed into town to grab a coffee then headed south. We wanted to check out the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest. Home to the oldest living things in the world.
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Weather was still crappy but we knew if we waited any longer they would shut the road down (We have tried 3 times to get up here, every time it has been closed due to inclement weather/snowed out roads)

Road to nowhere?
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The ancient bristlecone pines are only found in the highest elevations of the Inyo forest, from 8000-12000ft these beasts have lived for over 4000 years. Older than the next oldest living thing by over 1000 years! I had to see them!

Conditions worsening, 4Runner can take it. My buddy Jimbo gave me my first 4x4 lessons driving in a damn Sierra blizzard, I think I can handle a little powdering.
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Made it!
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Quick poses! too cold to hang around
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Back to the truck and crank the damn heater up!
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Drove back out of the park and camped on another backroad near the back entrance to Death Valley

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Not a bad sight to wake up too.
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Headed up the backroad into Saline Valley, Death Valley National Park
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blech, cooties!
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DV has some of the most breathtaking scenery in the U.S, the weather/light was crap most of the day so I couldn't get very good pics.
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Abandoned homestead
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Stopped for some lunch, you can somewhat see our current “organization” system. Still a work in progress.
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Saline Valley Rd.
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Part of the old trolley system that carted salt from the Saline valley up and over the mountains to Bishop, CA. quite a feat in its day.
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Driving down Saline Valleys dirt roads was a blast. The new OME suspension ate it up! I could haul *** now over every type of rock, pothole, dip, whatever. The suspension ate it up and asked for more. I am really happy with it, Thanks again to Any7 Offroad for putting it all together for us.
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Riding down the road we came across a Toyota FJ60 broken down on the side of the road. Not being one to leave a fellow Toyota behind we pulled over to see what was up.

Hmmm… 20 year old spare didn't cut the mustard in Death Valley?
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Turns out these guys were from LA and were out here cruising for the weekend headed to the Hot springs. They caught a flat the day before and the spare blew out them just a mile down the road. They had been stuck there for about 24 hours now.

At least they had a nice view…
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10 minutes with the plug kit and the punctured tire was repaired, took about another 3 hours wrestling with the jack and the stock sagged out springs to get the blown out spare off. Luckily they had beer, which is about all it takes to keep me around for 3 hours.

Stock spare off, not enough clearance to mount the fixed tire though.
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Gotta air it down! Ladies… We need your butts.
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With the tire aired down we were able to clear the lugs, get it bolted on and air it back up. Back on the road!

We set our separate ways and setup camp somewhere down in the valley.
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Woke up in the morning, pack the truck up and headed out. Destination Las Vegas.

Joshua Trees in DV.
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Lauren says this is where Dr. Seuss came to write his books, the truffala tree looks oddly similar to the Joshua Tree
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Off out the valley, into Nevada.

Reason #1 why Nevada rocks! Was paying ~$4/gal in CA.
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We are now lying in bed in a hotel in Las Vegas, couldn't pass up the cheap deal and a hot shower! The adventure continues…

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For better pics of the Sierras and Death Valley, check out some of our older trips here.

http://homeonthehighway.com/other-trips/death-valley/

http://homeonthehighway.com/other-trips/rae-lakes-loop/

[defrag4]

I am having some issues with the truck though, looks like when the motor got rebuilt they put a O'Reillys thermostat in there instead of the dual-spring OEM one so I am getting tempature overshoot constantly, espciailly in this cold weather, the block cools down instantly and the thermostat slams shut until the truck is practically overheating, then it drops back down to normal temp, i gotta keep the RPMs up the keep the temp up to prevent the thermo from slamming. Calling the Las Vegas Toyota dealer in the AM, hopefully the have the thermo in stock, if not Ill call ahead to my next town and have them order it for me.

Also looks like I am seeping oil from the oil pan gasket and possibly someplace else, I thought I saw some red ATF fluid under the truck at one gas station but have not seen it since.

Going to give everything a scrubdown tomorrow and evaluate, anyone know know a spot in Las Vegas that I could get some work done if need be?

[FireFinder]

Nice job on building up those Karma points!

[Soobarubin]

I'm SO looking forward to reading this thread, subscribed for sure! I'm planning the same trip with the same truck, only I'm headed North from Idaho!
Keep up with the pictures please! :)

-Jaren

[defrag4]

Alrighty, found a dealer in St. George, Utah that ordered me the t-stat going to check everything out here today, if we look good I am planning to drive the Tuweep trail down to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, then head back to St. George to pick up the part tomorrow.

[Ruined Adventures]

Alrighty, found a dealer in St. George, Utah that ordered me the t-stat going to check everything out here today, if we look good I am planning to drive the Tuweep trail down to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, then head back to St. George to pick up the part tomorrow.
It's been ages since I've been thru St. George, but for some reason I always thought of it being the real-life location for Joe Dirt's "Silvertown"...

Keep it up! Glad to hear you guys are hitting up the North Rim, looking forward to seeing more.

[defrag4]

Dual-stage T-stat fixed the overheating issue right up, Sorry to the St. George NAPA for spilling 1/2 gallon of coolant on your lot! Took 90-miles of backroads to Toroweap overlook on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, camped there last night and woke up to epic views of the canyon. Just got to Zion N.P. its dark but the moon is full and illuminating giant canyon walls all around us, cant wait till sunrise!

[1leglance]

It really sounds like you guys are enjoying the drive and dealing well with the issues of life on the road.
Thanks for taking the time to update us along the way.

[6string]

Some friends and I will be traveling through MX, GT, and BZ for a few weeks starting next month. I'll keep an eye on your travels. We'd love to link up with you guys while we're down there.

You're an inspiration! Congrats on getting started. Wish you well, friends.

Wes

[defrag4]

The Colorado Plateau is a geographic region of the U.S which covers over 130,000 sq miles of land shared between Arizona, Utah, New Mexico, and Colorado. This area has the greatest concentration of National Parks in the U.S and it is easy to see why. Developed over billions of years and uplifted and modified by faults and receding oceans this area is chock full of geological, ecological, and historical splendor. We had a blast.

Leaving Las Vegas!
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Our night in Vegas was spent mostly holed up in our room enjoying the HEAT! and updating the blog. We did make it down for a few drinks and some midway games at Circus Circus

Lauren won a Rhino, He got some free drinks
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Headed up to St. George, Utah and camped off some forest road.

Our first taste of red dirt
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Snow Canyon State Park, St. George Utah
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Since leaving the Bay, we have been having overheating issues, the thermostat on the truck has been malfunctioning. I had read about this issue in the past happening with your standard Autozone thermostats and knew it was fixed by getting the expensive Toyota OEM dual-stage thermostat.

$45 later and 1/2 gallon of coolant onto the NAPA parking lot and we were fixed up, issue solved, no more overheating.

Off to the Grand Canyon! We read about a 90-mile backroad from St. George to a remote area of the Grand Canyon National Park called the “Toroweap Overlook”. Talked to a few people in town who said that it would be snowed and we would not be able to make it up and over the Mount Trumball pass. We’re used to naysayers and of course headed off anyway, the 4runner could make it.

Sunset on the Toroweap Rd.
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Nightfall hit by the time we made up to the mountain pass, It was covered in snow and mud, I had a blast mashing through it all in 2 wheel drive, slipping and sliding all over the place and making a big ol’ mess of the truck.

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Eventually made it to the campground, setup shop and went to sleep. Awoke in the morning completely alone and surrounded by the majesty of the red rocks and Grand Canyon.
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Headed out on a hike to the Toroweap Overlook, no one around for miles but us and the canyon. No guardrails, no tourists, just the way we like it.
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Played around in the Canyon for a while, then headed off again back to Utah. Headed to Zion National Park.

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Spotted some Coyotes
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We arrived in Zion in the middle of the night, awoke surrounded by huge canyon walls and beautiful CLEAR weather! Something we have been lacking most of the trip.
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Spent most of the day hiking around Zion, then headed off to explore more of Southern Utah.

Headed to Bryce Canyon. Amazing Scenery of course.
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Bryce Canyon was pretty well snowed out when we got there, Still checked it out.
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Spent most of the time running out the overlook then back to the car, was about 30F outside at the time! Too cold for this Florida boy.
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From Bryce we headed down another backroad towards Capitol Reef National Park, sun went down and we setup another freezing camp. Awoke in the morning to frost covering the truck once again and dreary cloud cover.
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The beautiful dirt road through Capitol Reef made up for the weather. This is a great drive and there was no one out here but us. We enjoyed taking our time cruising through this beautiful place.
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Eventually the dirt road led us to Glen Canyon National Recreation area, which is home to most of Lake Powell. Similar to Hetch Hetchy in the Sierras, a environmental tragedy took place here where we dammed up the Colorado River and flooded the majestic Glen Canyon to increase water supply to the surrounding area. The created reservoir was named Lake Powell after one of my heroes.
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We hit the highway once again and headed towards the 4x4’er mecca. AKA MOAB, UTAH!
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Got to Moab in the middle of the night, shacked up in a cheap motel. I thought I had heard some strange noises coming from our trash bag we had been carrying since Grand Canyon. Messed around for a bit with it and didn’t see anything, figured I was just crazy. Next morning Lauren is doing Yoga and hears the same noises coming from the bag. We snatched it up and dumped it into the bathtub to investigate.

HITCHHIKER!
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Screaming like little girls and dancing around the room in our underwear trying to catch him but he ended up escaping somewhere in the motel room. Sorry Motel6!

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ow that our adrenaline was pumping it was time to go beat on the truck some. We headed to the “Poison Spider 4x4 Trail” to try our luck and see how far we could make it. Lauren has never been 4wheeling before and was pretty much peeing her pants the entire time as we drove all over this place. The 4Runner with little 31 inch tires and open differentials is still a pretty capable machine.

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After mashing around in Moab for most of the day we were headed up to Grand Junction, CO. An awesome guy from MarlinCrawler forums had offered to help us fix up a few issues with the truck that we did not have the tools or knowledge to tackle ourselves.

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Drove around Colorado National Monument looking for a campspot, eventually found some dirt road that we took, kept getting higher and higher into the mountain. Eventually we were driving through deep snow in the middle of no where, figured we should turn around. Well the rear wheels dropped into a icy rut and we were stuck. 30 minutes of winching later we were turned around and headed back down the road. The Smittybuilt winch is no longer a virgin and it worked like a champ!

[defrag4]

Next morning headed over to Phillip’s shop in Grand Junction. The shops name is Karnage Fabrication, Phillip knows Toyota’s like the back of his hand. He has owned over 50 of them and had ours torn apart and fixed back up in no time. This guy was a lifesaver, The Toyota community is an great group and I feel honored to have met such an awesome guy and his beautiful family. We replaced the oil pan cork gasket with the proper sealant, fixed up a leaky inner shat oil seal, and replaced the failing AUTO hubs with some beefy AISIN manual hubs. Thanks again Phil, you are our hero! And Thanks to Sean and Ace for grabbing some much needed parts. It was great to meet all of you!

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Lauren and Phil’s daughter became bestest of friends.
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4x4 Fabrication/Arts and Crafts. Karnage Fabrication has it all!
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Headed off today for Vail to meet up with one of my dad’s old friends. Speaking of which… I should probably get on the horn and let him know were coming!

[defrag4]

Some friends and I will be traveling through MX, GT, and BZ for a few weeks starting next month. I'll keep an eye on your travels. We'd love to link up with you guys while we're down there.

You're an inspiration! Congrats on getting started. Wish you well, friends.

Wes

thanks for the well wishes, we may see you down there!

[defrag4]

It really sounds like you guys are enjoying the drive and dealing well with the issues of life on the road.
Thanks for taking the time to update us along the way.

ya buddy, ill take fixing up my truck and dealing with cold weather over sitting droning away in some florescent lit cubicle any day of the week!

[ab1985]

Awesome trip so far, and this is just the shake down run, right? Keep the updates coming and be safe!

[defrag4]

yep just ironing out the issues and getting everything solid before we head south

[Project510]

Awesome photos! Thanks for sharing the trip!

[fatrat]

I just book marked your blog & am looking forward to following your adventure!

[Scott Brady]

We would love to have you stop by Prescott and the ExPo / Overland Journal HQ. We have a place to camp, warm shop to work on the truck and cold beer.

Thanks for posting the updates, I look forward to following the progress.

[FireFinder]

ya buddy, ill take fixing up my truck and dealing with cold weather over sitting droning away in some florescent lit cubicle any day of the week!

I read this while droning away in my florescent cubicle.

[Byways]

I'm with ya all the way!

[bernardbarbour]

He he he very funny. I envy you guys! If your route takes you through Georgia, I'm in Augusta and welcome you guys to stop by. I too am preparing to hit the road in my 1994 TLC in May. Headed to all points central and south america. Great trip reports.... keep em coming. Happy Trails

[defrag4]

With Thanksgiving quickly approaching we had to step our game up. No more dilly dallying! We still have a few obligations to our parental units to uphold and one of them was Thanksgiving dinner in Florida. Unfortunately this means we had to pick up the pace from Colorado to Florida in order to hit our deadline. We missed a lot of great stuff and look forward to coming back someday to revisit lots of sites along the way. Luckily we have lots of friends along the way to stop in and crash for the night. Less camping shots on this post.

Heading out from Moab towards Colorado. We stopped off in Beaver Creek, CO to visit an old friend. Tommy is one of my dads best friends and basically an uncle to me and my brothers. It was great catching up with him and nice to get out of the cold for a bit. Tommy is a wild man, loves deep-sea diving, heli-skiing, dragracing, and basically raising hell. When I was younger he gave me my first job, let me get away with all my shenanigans, and was there to kick my *** when I needed it. A good guy indeed.

Beaver Creek, Nice little ski town. Still needs more snow to get pumping.
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Fellow hellraisers
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A little further up the mountain, Vail, CO had runs open and people skiing.
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From Beaver Creek we stopped in Denver to see another old friend. We all call him Howie, I think his real name is Chris. But he has always been Howie to us. I met Howie back during my brief-stint with college. A lifetime friend and accomplice, how we got away with 1/2 the stuff we pulled I will never know. We stopped in unexpectedly and they were planning to go to a concert that night.

We tagged along planning to buy tickets and join them.

BOO! Sold out!
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Oh well, old friends can still party down together; show or no show. We easily scalped his tickets. Howie and his girlfriend Courtney made a $50 profit! Headed across the street to imbibe for a bit….

Came back later to at least try to get a poster… and discovered the box office selling some last minute tickets for $20 a pop! SCORE!

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Had a blast at the show, made some new friends at Howie’s local watering hole, had a Taylor Swift karaoke contest (Don’t ask!), and hit the hay.

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Woke up hazy the next morning, headed over to the Red Rocks. Red Rocks is a naturally occurring amphitheater in the huge boulders/cliffs outside Denver. It is a beautiful place to see a concert, unfortunately they were closed for the season but you can still mill around the place and check it out.

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Scooted down from Denver towards Texas. Stopped for the night and camped on some BLM land just outside of Great Sand Dunes National Park. Courtney had mentioned that we should come here and see the dunes.

Woke up in the AM and checked out the park. If I have not mentioned this yet, if you plan on visiting more than 2 or 3 National Parks a year it is definitely worth picking up an America: The Beautiful” Annual Access pass. I have used this thing at least 20+ times this year, it is a one-time fee of $80 but it gets you into all National/Federal Parks/Monuments/Recreation/Seashore areas. I have saved around $300 in park fees so far this year by getting this pass. You can pick it up at any national park or order it online. It is a painless and quick process. Definitely worth it if you love our nations parks as much as we do.

Great Sand Dunes National Park contains the tallest sand dunes in North America. They have been swept down from the mountains across the San Luis Valley and pushed up against the edge of the Sangre De Cristo mountain range where they have grown and grown for ages.

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Found a 4x4 road that took us along the backside of the dunes up into the mountain. Aside from Death Valley this is the only national park I have found that had legit 4x4 roads. We aired down and mashed around in the sand for a while.

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[defrag4]

After playing around in the sandbox we headed south again, down into New Mexico, camped out on some more BLM land somewhere near the Texas border. Caught a beautiful sunset then drifted off to sleep in the truck.
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Eastbound and down, made it to TEXAS!
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Lauren saw her first tumbleweed, it was a beast!
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My grandfolks live in a small town near Grandbury, TX. My family has lived on this land since the civil war days. Stopped in for the night to say howdy. There are also lots of fossils and dinosaur artifacts in the area, we went to the state Dinosaur Park to check out some tracks.

Grandpa and I in front of the old stone house my grandma was born in. New roof upgrade obviously.
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Dino footprint, unfortunately the river was muddy and we couldn't see most of the prints. Still pretty cool.
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We had to hike quite a bit to get out to the footprints through some pretty rugged terrain. My grandparents are almost 80 and did it with no sweat. Its true! Everything is tougher in Texas. Love you guys!

Headed out from there, South bound. We could feel humidity starting to pick up in the air and finally started to shed some layers. Getting closer to home!!!

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Stopped somewhere in Davey Crockett National Forest for night and caught another beautiful Texas sunset.
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Woke among among the tall lanky southern pines of the forest. It got pretty humid overnite, rained a bit too. I have a big ol’ trucker fan that I need to hook up to help get a nice breeze going for these muggy nights.

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Hit the highway, We were boogying now. Still decided to take the scenic route all through Southern Louisiana along the Gulf Coast. It had been almost 2 years since we have seen her waters.

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Caught a ferry to get to the otherside of the canal, met a nice couple on the ferry who have traveled all around California to many of the same places we just came from. Was nice talking to you guys!

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Things were starting to get familiar, spanish moss hangs lazily from swamp oaks.
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This coastal drive was beautiful, we went through lots of little small towns which sadly had no remains of their original structures. Almost every single structure has been blown away in storms and replaced with mobile/prefabbed homes. I do admire the resilience of the people to return to the decimated area though.

“Cajun Highrise”
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Stopped for the night with Lauren’s aunt in New Orleans, had some killer seafood for dinner and hung out with her soccer playing micro-dog, Dixie Deux

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[defrag4]

Headed out the next morning, cut to Alabama and drove down to Dauphine Island to take another coastal route along the Gulf Coast.

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Caught another Ferry from Dauphine Island over to Gulf Shores.
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Please make a U-Turn when possible!!
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Pressing on through the night, we ran into a horrible thunderstorm, sheets of rain, and huge puddles. YEP, MUST BE…

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[Ruined Adventures]

Sorry to hear you had to make the drive thru West Texas...at least there were tumbleweeds to spice up the scenery :sombrero:

[defrag4]

dont forget the beautiful oil jacks!

first made it down there overnite, couldnt see much, all of sudden the unmistakable smell of oil filled the cab and I thought I blew something up :Wow1:

pulled over expecting to see the engine bay covered in oil... the headlights shined onto a monster yard full of oil jacks/oil containers. wheew :smiley_drive:

[RMP&O]

Really great trip report! Great photos and great writing....I am enjoying it.

If you continue like this your Latin America reports will be fantastic!

cheers

[ab1985]

Awesome awesome awesome! Keep the updates coming!

[LaOutbackTrail]

You passed through this neck of the woods without saying hi??? I mean hell, think of all the free beer you missed out on!

[defrag4]

sorry bud, missed alot of folks I should have stopped in to see

next time!

[6string]

What's your schedule for southbound? Our two-truck convoy will pass the Brownsville gate on the morning of the 18th. Any hope to see you guys somewhere in the central mtns that week?

[ab1985]

Hope everything is well with you and your trip!

[defrag4]

Hey 6STring, That is about the time we plan on crossing as well. Ill send you an email

[colodak]

Bristlecone Pine's also occur in Colorado, Bristlecone Pine scenic area above the town of Alma, beautiful things to see.

[GregB_00XJ]

Oh great... another adventure to follow.

Kidding. Looks like you guys are set up for one sweet adventure. All the best...will be following along. Nice shots and words to match, great work so far. Looking forward to the next installment!
Greg

[6string]

Hey 6STring, That is about the time we plan on crossing as well. Ill send you an email

We're going to be in Laredo on Saturday night in prep for an early Sunday crossing on Bridge II. We'll run the 57 down to Matahuala, at least, that day.

You're welcome to cozy up with us for as much of that as you'd like, if it suits your desires and schedule, as well. Lemme know and we can exchange phone numbers.

Hope to see you this weekend! If not, maybe we'll see you further south a bit later. If not at all, well, then you guys stay safe and have fun!! We'll be following your blog!

Wes

[LaOutbackTrail]

We're going to be in Laredo on Saturday night in prep for an early Sunday crossing on Bridge II. We'll run the 57 down to Matahuala, at least, that day.

You're welcome to cozy up with us for as much of that as you'd like, if it suits your desires and schedule, as well. Lemme know and we can exchange phone numbers.

Hope to see you this weekend! If not, maybe we'll see you further south a bit later. If not at all, well, then you guys stay safe and have fun!! We'll be following your blog!

Wes

Hey Defrag and Wes, Just outside of Matehuala is the mining town of Real de Catorce. I HIGHLY recommend you going around Matehuala and staying the night in Real de 14. Camp across from the old monastery/mission on far northwest side of town- ask one of the cops in town permission. Beautiful little town. Then take the back way out, via the southwest corner. This will take you down to another hwy where you can continue south. May be a bit out of the way but definitely worth it! The town of Cedral on the way to Real de Catorce has a cool vibe as well. A good place to grab lunch (AND GAS!) before heading to R14.

Btw the only good thing about Matehuala is that they have a Wal-Mart... :P

[6string]

Gosh, Scott. :Wow1: That place looks incredible! Thanks so much for the tip!

[Djlarroc]

Great trip! Subscribed....

[defrag4]

Howdy folks, new post up on the blog. Check it out http://homeonthehighway.com


Sorry it has been so long since our last post, things have been busy on the Home on the Highway front. When we last left you we had just entered Florida right around Thanksgiving time. We spent the holiday bouncing between our two parents houses and seeing friends anywhere and everywhere in between.

Beautiful Ladies, Impressive genes!
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Vacation Dad! and his beautiful daughters out for a pleasure cruise on their boat.
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You get two opinions of Florida, those who think it is a tropical paradise and others who think its nothing but a muggy retirement home. Like most things in life, Florida is all about the timing, and November is PRIME TIME for adventuring in our homestate. The mercury drops, humidity vanishes, bugs and tourists are banished, and we get to enjoy these pristine months in shorts and t-shirts relaxing on the beach while the rest of the country is bundled up fighting off Jack Frost. Needless to say, I love Florida.

November? Yep!

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After we wrapped up Thanksgiving in Tampa with Lauren’s folks we headed down to Miami for a bit to hang out with my family. First order of business… FISHING. My crazy Uncle Wendell was happy to take the family out for a day of hunting dolphins. My Uncle is a true Old man of the Sea, not a lick of electronics to be found on the boat, no fancy GPS, no fish finder, none of the gauges actually work, hell I don’t even think there was a UHF radio on the thing. We fish by sight, smell, and feel out here.

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My brother Jonathan and Mama Dukes, 80’s stylin on the fishing trip
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FISH ON!
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Nice little Dolphin, To take the skunk off the boat
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Laurens turn at bat
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Sushi time! Blackfin on the menu
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Put a few more in the boat and headed back in for dinner.
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Happy Captain and Crew!
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Next day we headed on down to the Florida Keys, one of my favorite places on earth. My folks have had a timeshare down in Key Largo forever and I have been exploring these mangrove waters as long as I can remember. I love it down here. Old Florida still survives in places like these.

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Mom, Daddio, and yours truly.
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Continue Reading.... http://homeonthehighway.com

[defrag4]

Looks like we are actually going to be crossing at Ojinaga, Mexico and head over to the west coast area of the mainland. We want to backpack around Copper Canyon for a bit.

[G_fresh]

Looks like we are actually going to be crossing at Ojinaga, Mexico and head over to the west coast area of the mainland. We want to backpack around Copper Canyon for a bit.

Take a look at my trip report if you want some fresh advice on local conditions:

http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=69986

Been reading your thread. Keep it up!

[defrag4]

Whats up guys! Merry Christmas! Just got done wheeling for 4 days in Big Bend National Park backcountry, I ended up busting up my rear swingout hitch pin mount, one of my jerry can mounts, and somehow jammed my rear leafspring pack through the corner of my fuel tank, also seem to be leaking a bit of fuel from somewhere around the injector closest to the radiator. (Did I mention I was gettin it!?)

We were planning to cross at Ojinaga but now we are in El Paso, TX where we are camped out in front of 4WheelParts waiting for it to open tomorrow. PLan to buy a new Jerry Can mount in the morning and hopefully find a good fab shop/mechanic in the area to help me with my other issues.

Anyone know somebody in the El Paso area who could help us out? Need a bit of welding and some mechanical help! Thanks fellers

[Ruined Adventures]

I ended up busting up my rear swingout hitch pin mount, one of my jerry can mounts, and somehow jammed my rear leafspring pack through the corner of my fuel tank, also seem to be leaking a bit of fuel from somewhere around the injector closest to the radiator. (Did I mention I was gettin it!?)
What??? Sorry to hear that bud. Did the hitch pin mount have anything to do with our modifying it? Oops. Any pictures/video of said "gettin it"?

So is your fuel tank leaking too? If that fuel tank has a small enough leak, you can rub a bar of soap on the tank to temporarily plug it.

[defrag4]

ha nah it wasnt due to the modification, it was due to me backing up into a lightpole and completly fubaring the jerry can mount, which in turn caused the swingout to stick out at a funny angle on the hitchpin, add in the stress of bombing the backroads of BigBend and I ended up busting off the tabs for the hitch pin. Tank actually seems OK, been keeping on eye on it and it doesnt appear to be leaking, were posted up in the parking lot of a RedRoof Inn stealing internets and will be hitting up the 4WheelParts in the morning for a new mount and leads on someplace to fab up some more tabs.

Pics to come soon!

[FireFinder]

Glad to hear you're having some fun out in the backcountry. Get back on the road soon!

[defrag4]

All fixed up! Thanks to Little 4x4 Shop in El Paso, handling some last minute business tonight and hitting the Juarez border in the morning, going to shoot down the highway a bit then start cutting over towards Creel, MX ("The Gateway to the Copper Canyon")

[NothingClever]

You guys are doing GREAT !!

Keep up the good work. I look forward to your updates.

[Djlarroc]

Nice to hear you're making it into Mexico. The Creel area is absolutely gorgeous!!

Can't wait to see the pics. Good luck!

[atancreti]

Good luck in mexico! Are you taking any toys *guns* just encase you need protection?

[muchosdiaz]

NO GUNS IN MEXICO!!!!

The bad guys get all the guns. If they catch you in Mexico with a gun you will spend the rest of your life in a hell hole of a Mexican Prison!!!!!

[defrag4]

My friends, It was getting to the point that we thought we would never actually make it into Mexico. Our journey across the U.S. of A was only supposed to last a month then we were supposed to cross the border to be in Mexico by early December. Well…Christmas came and went and we found ourselves in Big Bend National Park , South Texas. We could actually SEE Mexico across the Rio Grande but we were not yet in it! Oh well, you know how plans go. No regrets! The gods may have wanted us to stay state-side with a seemingly never ending “TO-DO LIST” but our will is strong, we preserved and now we are sitting at a bar looking out over the Sea of Cortez in lovely Mazaltan, MX.

When we last left each other we had just arrived to our good friends and fellow PanAm travelers house “Ruined Adventures” in Ausin, TX. Brenton and I spent most of the week tearing into the truck in what seemed like a never ending battle of fixes while Lauren and Shannon ran all over town tracking down bits and bobs and widdling down our TO-DO list.

Swapping out the CV axle, luckily Brenton had a spare on hand. We almost dropped the truck on our heads a few times but managed to get it swapped out. Quite a pain in the arse!

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Ruined Adventures have the best setup for overland preparation, Brenton and Shannon live in a badass warehouse/loft with every tool imaginable to tackle any problems that you can throw at them. Brenton had an extra Hi-Lift too (Think a huge car-jack on crack, used for all kinds of things on the trail) here he is rigging up a mount on our rear swingout to place the unwieldy jack. Thanks to Ruined Adventures for really helping us out on our final prep for the trip.

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They are hitting the road on January 29th and will be crusing Baja before shipping over to the mainland, You will definetly be seeing them in future blog posts. You can follow their adventures on their own blog at http://ruinedadventures.com

Thanks a lot guys! See you soon!

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Our plan from Austin was to head south to Big Bend National Park, scope it out for a few days and then cross into Mexico at a border called Ojinaga. We hit the road, fixed up and ready for action!

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Made it to Big Bend in the middle of the night, not exactly sure where to camp we just drove about 15 miles down some dirt road and pulled off to the side, setup camp and went to sleep… Awoke in the morning to some pissed off park rangers who slapped me with a $175 ticket for “driving off-road”… Our first ticket in almost 2 months, that’s a record for me! Not to be discouraged we went up the rangers office, figured out the deal and secured a permit for a few days of “legal backcountry camping”

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Hit the backroads of Big Bend. (I forgot to mention I managed to back into a lightpole somewhere in between Austin and Big Bend, completey fubaring one of our jerry can holders and throwing off the alignment of the bumper and hitchpin, I rigged it up with some bungee cords and kept on trucking, hoping it would hold.)

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The Park guide warned us of the “dangerous black gap 4x4 road” the park ranger highly advised we go around the long way around… I pointed to our truck outside and he said “oh.” and that was the end of that. The road wasn’t too treacherous, I didn’t actually need 4x4 at all but high clearance and a truck that can take a good beating was a necessity. I would imagine if it rained and this whole dirt road turned to mud it would be a different story altogether.

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After cruising the desert for a few hours we made it to our backcountry campsite. Tally #2 (great campsite, We recommend it if you head out this way.)

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Setup shop just as the sun went down, beautiful sunset from our home for the next few days.

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Lauren busted out the park map and found a nice 10-mile day-hike for us from our campsite up to the top of a canyon overlooking the Rio Grande river and the elusive country called Mexico. We woke up to constant howling 20-30mph winds but an otherwise clear day. We suited up and hit the trail.

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Lauren made a new tree-friend, she has lots of tree-friends

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Made it to the top, with the winds gusting at 20-30 it was a little sketchy getting too close to the edge but a photo-op was necessary!

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Long way down, you can see the Rio Grande here, and our first glimpse of Mexico since our baja trip. So close! Yet so far…

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Got back to camp, exhausted and windburned but we heard tell of a natural hotspring a little further up the road. We hauled *** through the desert hoping to make it to the hotspring before nightfall. We got there just as the sun went down, everyone was gone and we realxed our bones in the 105F water, we had all to ourselves. Gazing at the stars, listening to the spring run into the river alongside. Perfecto.

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Woke up the next morning to overcast skies and cold cold weather. Looks like all those winds were blowing in a storm. We headed out of the backcountry, Lauren’s dad had promised her a Christmas gift of a hotel room, we figured now was the time to take him up on it since it was Christmas eve and started snowing outside!

Lauren hanging out in front of the Big Bend lodge, our warm home for the night.

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Little different scene than when we last saw this photo!

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The snow covered park was gorgeous, a completely different experience than when we were first here a few days ago.

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Cactus + Snow? This does not compute!

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As the sun set over the mountains I realized it was a white Christmas! The first one either of us has had in a long long time. Merry Christmas!

[defrag4]

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Rested up for the night, woke up on Christmas day and headed out. I had done some serious damage to our already damaged hitchmount bouncing along the backroads of Big Bend. I completely sheered off the actual mount and had secured the swingout with zipties. Needed to get this fixed before we attempted the rough roads of Mexico. Unfortunately for us, Big Bend is in the middle of nowhere, closet town was 100 miles away with no real services to speak of, plus it was Christmas day. Everything was closed.

Beautiful but desolate drive along Texas Highway 90

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Aliens!?

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Weird stuff out here…

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Like a designer Prada store in the middle of friggin nowhere???

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We decided to head to El Paso, TX, a 300-mile detour, but a necessary one. We arrived in the middle of the night and guerrilla camped in a parking lot somewhere waiting for the morning light. I had found a “4 Wheel Parts” and hoped they would have the parts and services that I needed.

4 Wheel Parts turned out to be useless (Surprise, surprise…) but I got the internet and found a real 4x4 shop up the street a ways. A “Little” 4x4 Shop just outside of El Paso, TX had everything we needed and got us fixed up with a beefier mount and new jerry can holder. Big thanks to Roger and the guys for getting us in and out quickly! If any of you West Texas guys need 4x4 work done or any parts for Jeeps this is your man. His place was a mecca of everything Jeep.

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We got fixed up and were ready to hit the border but it was already 3PM, figuring it would be wise to wait to cross until the next morning we spent another night in a random parking lot working on our Spanish and getting amped to finally be in Mexico!

Note: There are no pictures for a while, We were a bit stressed out with the crossing and taking pictures of the whole ordeal was far from our mind.

Next morning, We punched “border crossing” into the GPS and took a drive towards Ave of Americas which led us to a little border crossing. There was literally no one there but a little lady. I asked her in my craptastic spanish if there was an aduana (customs office) there and a banjercito (Mexican govt bank) where we needed to get our vehicle permit. We think she said No but unsure we just drove in anyway. No inspection, no dogs, no questions, no nothing. It was like going through a stop sign in the middle of an intersection.. and we were now in Mexico. That was easy enough.

Except we still needed to get our visa and vehicle permit, attempting to navigate our way around Ciudad Juarez proved to be a fruitless effort. We decided to cross BACK into the USA and go to a larger border crossing which hopefully would have the offices we needed.

Crossing back into the US we waited in line for about an hour, got to the guard, who berated us with a bunch of questions and accusations then threatened to search our truck, and then eventually let us back in. We flipped a U-Turn and drove right back to the border crossing to get BACK into Mexico. Again hassled a bunch more by US border patrol, more threats, more questions, and eventually let through.

We found the customs office easily this time and the Mexican customs official was very helpful and spoke english. We received our 180-day permit for our actual persons and he gave us directions to the Banjecrito which turned out was 30 miles down the road towards Chihuahua. We drove through Juarez, which looked a lot like a crappy version of any U.S suburban city. Applebees, Chilis, Burger King etc. just the signs were in spanish. Eventually making our way onto the highway and cruised 30 miles toward the Banjercito which was clearly marked in english and spanish. Pulled over, parked the car, and headed inside where we found more helpful people who spoke at least a little english to help us make some copies and get our Mexican vehicle permit. We paid a fee for the permit and placed a $200 deposit down which will be refunded when we leave Mexico.

BAM! We and the truck were perfectly legal now to be in Mexico for the next 180-days. Game on.

We hit the highway again, our destination was a place called “Copper Canyon” which is up in the mountain range called “Sierra Del Occidental” of North West Mexico

Better get used to life in the slowlane and converting MPH to KMH.

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Happy to be in Mexico! FINNALY!
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Headed to the mountains.

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We drove higher and higher up into the mountain range, Desert scrub was replaced by tall pines and the weather cooled off dramatically. We found a little side road that we followed for a bit and tucked up among the pines to camp. Our first night in Mexico, reminded us a lot of our many nights spent up in the California Sierra mountains.

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Delicious dinner of 99c Lipton Mexican rice and bagged tuna fish. Only the finest for Home on the Highway. It was awesome washed down with a few Tecates.

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Packed up and hit the road in the morning, we were going to a town called Creel, MX which is considered “The Gateway to Copper Canyon”

Passed many small logging towns along the way.

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Lunch time!

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We wound further and further up into the mountain range, it was a long but beautiful drive.

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Burro friends

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Eventually we made it to Creel!

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....Read more on the blog http://homeonthehighway.com

[Djlarroc]

Great post! Glad you guys made it in safe, the Mexican borders are all crazy. I have been to just about all of them while visiting family.

Have fun in Chihuahua. Beatufitul place. Are you guys planning on going into Durango? It's a very mountainous state. There is a section of highway called "El Espinazo del Diablo"... the devil's backbone. Beautiful scenery, and a bit scary at times. You'll probably love it haha. It takes you southwest towards the coast, into the State of Sinaloa. Right at about Mazatlan. My parents are from there, so I know the area very well.

Good luck on the rest of your trip!

[defrag4]

Hey Djlarroc, glad you liked it! The backroad we took across the Sierra Madres Occidental make the devils backbone look like a chicken bone! I had to have the truck in 4LO 75% of the time to keep from sliding down the insanely steep skree/dirt/rock combo straight off the side of a 7000ft cliff! Note: this went on for at least 60 miles as we wound from 9000+ft to the bottom of the mountain range. It was insane and fun as hell!

[Djlarroc]

Hahaha.. I think I remember that road as well. I remember once, when I was about 8, we went from Durango to Sinaloa. The drive was pretty scary, and we camped a night or 2. Probably the same road, or nearby.

[98roamer]

Hey wait, you are going to Mexico? :)

Glad you're over the border and well on your way. Those are some beautiful pictures, it's great to truly see the culture of Mexico off the tourist path. Be safe, keep up the fun and enjoy the time together. Thanks for posting.

[defrag4]

Posting up in Moreila, MX, headed to the Monarch butterfly reserve tomorrow after checking out the city and taking a break from the road. We traveled down the Pacific coast primarily, got ate alive in San Blas by No-Seeums/Sand Flies, I must have over 200 bites. The mosquito net didnt do a damn thing to stop them, I could see them land on it and just walk right through. Need to upgrade STAT! Beautiful time otherwise, lots of driving on deserted beaches, only had to dig myself out of the sand once. Next time ill air down BEFORE i get stuck haha

[Ruined Adventures]

lots of driving on deserted beaches, only had to dig myself out of the sand once. Next time ill air down BEFORE i get stuck haha
if airing down doesn't do the trick and you're REALLY stuck, you can winch off your spare tire buried DEEP in the sand. Obviously a last resort, and obviously you want the tire buried pretty well because you don't want a spare tire flying at you!

[defrag4]

good idea, never thought of that!

[defrag4]

Hey guys, Things are going good here in Moreilas, MX. We are just about to head out from here up into the mountains to check out the Monarch Butterfly reservations. Apparently there are millions of these guys all over the place up there. From then we are headed to Mexico City!

We have been getting lots of requests on how we actually setup and organized the interior of the truck, This is Laurens department and she just put up a new post on how we manage it. Check it out!

http://homeonthehighway.com/everything-you-need-and-nothing-you-dont

Sleep mode, activate!
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[FireFinder]

My favorite part is the L.E.D. mood lighting.

[Cruiser Jimmy]

Great adventure guys. Have fun.

[defrag4]

Howdy again friends, Its been a while since our last post. Been busy criss-crossing Mexico. When we last left off we were in a beautiful port town on the Pacific Ocean called Mazatlan. Now I am posting from the opposite side of Mexico, sitting on the Gulf of Mexico down near the Isthmus of Mexico. We have traveled over 2000 miles and had many great adventures along the way.

Leaving Mazatlan we cruised down the Pacific Coast for a while, we were enjoying the beach views and fresh mariscos (seafood). We saw a small beach town on the map by the name of San Blas. Drove on down the road to check it out.

The highway cut inland for a while and then curved back to the coast, when we approached the coastline this time the landscape had started to turn into marshland.

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We reached San Blas, Mexico and drove right out to the beach, We got there about an hour before sunset, busted out some beers and enjoyed the view.

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Another beautiful sunset… We found a little restaurant on the beach and sat down for dinner. The beachside palapa started to fill with acrid smoke, we looked around and noticed all the palapas were belching out this smoke. It smelled a lot like citronella, and within a few seconds we realized why. We were getting eaten ALIVE by no-seeums (tiny biting insects) The restaurants did all they could to quell the flood of fly's but there was no hope. We inhaled our food and made a beeline to the truck. We discussed our options for camping that night and figured if we got out onto the beach into the breeze and setup our bug net we would be OK.

Wrong! We drove out onto the beach, bugs didn’t seem to bad. We setup our bug net around our sleeping area and passed out. Woke up in the middle of the night getting attacked by thousands of no-seeums, turns out they took a meal break and were back for seconds. They were so small they just waltzed right through our net, gave a laugh at our weak protection, and started chomping on our bodies. With not many options we buried our heads under the covers and roughed it out for the night.

When I finally poked my head out from under the covers there were thousands of dead bugs around me and tons more alive flying around my head. I jumped out of the truck and found Lauren on the beach who gave me the “Lets get the HELL outta here look!”

Read more on the blog... http://homeonthehighway.com/cruising-the-mexican-coastline/

[dbfj60]

Wow, looks like a great time. Can't wait to see the rest of it on the way into South America. My wife and I have dreams of doing the same thing someday in my Land Cruiser. Stay safe and have fun!

[defrag4]

thansk bud, the Fj60 is a great platform to do it in!

[defrag4]

After we got our share of the beach scene we cut inland, Destination: Butterfly Kingdom.

If you haven't guessed by now we are kind of nerds. Back home we had seen a few nature documentaries on the mass migration of the Monarch butterflies. Each year the Monarch butterflies begin a huge southward migration from as far north as Canada all the way south to Mexico. This incredible journey is over 4000 miles and spans generations of Monarchs to reach its completion every year. Millions of butterflies arrive in the Michoacán highland forests of Mexico every year for the winter before turning around and heading back north for the summer. It just so happened we were here during the right months. We had to see it!

As we cut in from the coastline through the states of Jalisco we started encountering some wonderful mountain scenery and idealic farmland. Jalisco is known as the homeland of Tequila and agave farms abound. We also saw a few huge volcanoes.

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Morelia is a beautiful Spanish colonial city. They have retained a lot of the architecture from the cities founding back in the 1500’s. We found it to be a wonderful town and spent a few days exploring the city alongside other Mexican tourists. I think we were the only gringos in town.

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We then headed to the Monarch Butterfly Reserve. There were so many butterflies you could literally hear them flying around bumping into each other above our heads.

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Read more on the blog... http://homeonthehighway.com/morelia-mexico-and-the-monarch-butterfly-reserve

[defrag4]

Just posted our trip report from Mexico City as well

Double Update Goodness!


After experiencing the majesty of the butterfly kingdom we pointed our truck towards another sort of mystical place. Mexico City. Originally we had planned to skip Mexico City due to reports of violence, crime, high traffic, smog etc etc etc. However, during our few weeks traveling the country we have come to realize that 99% of things we had heard about Mexico were bull****, so we changed our minds and we are glad we did! We ended up spending 5 days in this diverse place and barely began to touch the surface. We also partied our faces off and put a sizable dent in our Mexico budget, well worth it…

We left the highlands of Michoacán and headed towards the mountain-ringed metropolis of Mexico City. Greater Mexico City with its population of <strong>22+ MILLION</strong> is the largest metropolitan area in the western hemisphere and the 2nd largest in the world. This place is DENSE. As we broke through the mountain tree line we saw an endless sea of concrete and buildings. Wow

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We had made a friend off the internet who graciously offered to let us stay at his place, arrange us a safe spot for the truck, and be our tourguide for the duration of our visit. Note: I made these arrangements at 9PM the night before our arrival, We were lucky to find such a grand host!

We punched his address into the GPS and drove into the jungle. We tirelessly fought across the city streets making headway towards his barrio (neighborhood). The GPS said it should take 20 minutes to arrive, it ended up taking us around 3 hours. The GPS did not account for 1-way streets, curbs, and the constant reconstruction that takes place on the mean streets of Distrito Federal. Luckily we had mentally prepared ourselves for this and took it in stride, rather enjoying the wild west style of driving in the city. It’s a no-holds barred grudge match, kill or be killed, not for the feint of heart. I loved it.

We eventually arrived at Adrian’s place where he introduced us to his grandma and aunt, showed us our room, and took us to his uncles parking lot where we were able to stash the truck for a few days.

Our Mexico City adventure HQ

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Wasting no time, Adrian said lets hit the city! We threw down our stuff and headed out, grabbed a cab, to a bus, bus to a train, and popped out in the middle of downtown Mexico City about 20 minutes later. The public transportation in Mexico City is cheap and reliable, bus ride was 5 pesos and I believe the train was a similar price.

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Our first spot to check out was the Monumento a la Revolucion. A gigantic monument in the middle of downtown dedicated to the Mexican Revolution and the heroes who were involved in the movement. There is an elevator to the top and we headed up for a view of the city.

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EL Angel
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Headed to the bars to cap off our first night in D.F., lots of cool spots and plenty of hip young people out enjoying a night on the town.

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and BACON WRAPPED HOTDOGS!!11 (Hotdog guy was not amused with my antics)

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Woke up the next morning and headed to the Zocolo, Mexico City’s main historic square. This is where the capital building, cathedral, and Tenochtitlan ruins are located. Fun Facts, Mexico City is built ontop of the capital of the Aztec nation originally constructed in the 12th century. The whole region was once a marshy area with scattered lakes. These lakes were slowly drained and built upon over the centuries. The city is seeing the effects of building on this soft lakebed soil. The entire place is slowly sinking into the ground.

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Read more on the blog... http://homeonthehighway.com/adventures-in-mexico-city/

[bigmex]

What a great adventure. Love reading your blog. Safe travels.

[Chicle]

Loving the pictures! Can't wait to see the pics from the Yucatan!

[defrag4]

thanks guys, trucks going to the shop tomorrow here in Cancun to get the oil pan resealed (hopefully the 3rd time is a charm!) and CV boot fixed up, other than that, truck is running great!

[nwoods]

This is a fantastic adventure. Love your photos, love your brief but witty writing style. Nice catch with Lauren too.
I want to take the PanAm from California down to Costa Rica

[Djlarroc]

great updates!! glad to hear you guys are having such a great time.

good thing you guys had Adrian! otherwise, your DF trip could've been terrible. i know it's pretty brutal down there.

[Ruined Adventures]

um, CV boot? Tell me it's not the one we replaced...I was hoping the spare would last you longer than that!

[defrag4]

ha yep, the very same one!

Actually we couldnt get a new CV axle till Friday and the mechanic couldnt just fix the boot till later in the week so we hit the road once more, with the hubs unlocked its not spinning so nothing critical yet. Surprisingly few older toyotas in Mexico, the mechanic said they didst really start to import them till 9 or so years ago. However he said they were much more common in Central/South America, were headed to Belize and then to Guatemala where hopefully we can find some parts and good mechanic. Im actually about to make a post here and a Guatemalan 4x4 board to see if we can find someone.

Also our gas tank issue has gotten worse, with no problems since Texas I had mainly forgotten about it. Yesterday we loaded down with 15 gallons of water which compressed the rear springs low enough to push the perch through the protruding lip of the side of the tank when hitting some potholes. We now have a steady drip leaking out of the side seam of the tank. Figure we will keep it 1/2 full until we can get it fixed up. I am thinking we can JB weld it back together once it gets low enough to stop dripping everywhere, my attempt to JBweld over the dripping gasoline was in vain. Perhaps I should have gotten that damn overload spring after all....

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[LaOutbackTrail]

Fix your leak, then get under there and determine if you can scootch the gas tank over just enough to clear your suspension. You may need to widen the holes or make new brackets. You shouldn't need much more clearance!

Good luck!

[defrag4]

Randomly ran into Team Equipt ( http://www.equipt1.com/ ) while searching for a campsite in Bakalar near the Mexico/Belize border. Had a great night swapping stories, drinking beers, and drooling over their gear. Great guys, lady, and dogs! It was a pleasure hanging out. We couldnt have had a more perfect campspot right on the beauitufl crsytal clear freshwater lagoon. Took a swim in the morning in the lukewarm waters... We crossed over to Belize yesterday with no problems whatsover. No fees for visas or vehicle permit. $5 US for fumigation and $23 for 2 weeks of insurance. Had a lobster dinner and feel asleep on the shores of the Gulf Coast. Loving Belize so far!

JB Weld fixed up the leak, Looks like you can flip the bolt around and get enough clearance. Need to drop the tank to get the bolt in the other way though, for now I just removed the bolt and am babying the truck, so far so good. The bracket is on there good, I beat it with a hammer and prybar trying to remove it so I could slide it back to clear the bolt, didn't budge.

Will look into relocating/modifying the tank a bit when we get some resources.

[TerryD]

Great read! Just finished the thread and will be heading to the blog shortly. That bracket is simply for holding the spring pack aligned and it provides no function beyond that and limiting the amount of droop you have in the rear. You can remove the bolt for the time being until you have a chance to put it back in, but I doubt you will ever miss it. I ran my XJ without one in the rear packs for a couple years and I have a friend with a F150 truggy that's been without those bolts for about 6 years now. We even bent the ears of that bracket out a little bit on his to help it re-align after being flexed.

Looking forward to more updates!

Terry

[defrag4]

Thanks for the info Terry, I feel better knowing the damn thing is not going to come apart some how!

[defrag4]

New update on the blog: http://homeonthehighway.com/accidentes-in-oaxaca/

We waved goodbye to Mexico City as we climbed up and out of the smog-choked valley into the highlands. We were headed towards Oaxaca, we had been communicating with a volunteer organization there and planned to spend a week or two assisting them. There were a few sites along the way to see first.

First stop was a small town named Cholula, just outside of Puebla, MX. Home to the 2nd largest pyramid in the world (by volume). Sounded like something we had to check out. When we arrived in town we expected to see a huge Egyptian style pyramid dominating the landscape, instead what we found was a huge hill with a giant church on top of it. Can this be it?? Looking at the signs, sure enough, that was it. We stowed our King Tut costumes and went to check it out anyway.

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The church turned out be about 600 years old and was a magnificent structure. Missionaries had built it on top of the highest point in town, not realizing they were constructing on top of ancient buried ruins. By the time the ruins were discovered the church had so much history and relevance they could not remove it. Excavation of the ruins are still in progress at the bottom of the hill. Walking the excavated perimeter and looking up towards the church you can see this really was a huge pyramid at one point.

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We spied some street vendors selling all kinds of fruits and snacks. Getting a closer look I saw some sort of weird bbq bug they had. Turns out they were grasshoppers, yum! Lauren opted for peanuts while I chowed down on some grasshoppers with salt and lime. Crunchy and delicious! If you come across some, eat up.

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Leaving the pyramid and grasshopper delights behind we headed further south towards Oaxaca, eventually winding up into a national park whose landscape was half mountains/half desert. A weird but beautiful place with thousands of cactus rolling over the mountains. We camped here for the night.

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*CAUTION: LONG STORY WITH NO PICS*

We finally arrived in Oaxaca City, but without our phone or internet we had no way to contact our host. Downtown Oaxaca is a tight maze of one-way streets, tons of foot traffic, and lots of cabs, trucks, and motorcycles all jockeying for pole position. We drove around for about an hour in an attempt to find a hostel in our guidebook. Eventually we gave up and decided to just park and look around. Easier said than done… after 30 minutes of driving in circles (Reminds me of living in San Francisco…) I finally spot a parking spot and my instincts kick in. THIS IS MY SPOT!!! I throw it in reverse to start parallel parking, crazy Mexicans are wiggling their way behind my truck as I'm backing into the spot, I finally assert my position and the coast is clear to reverse.

BAM!

Maybe not so clear after all… turns out another guy didn’t agree with my “asserted position” and tried to wiggle behind. I clipped his taillight which shattered all over the street. Grand… This should be interesting. I jump out to survey the damage, busted taillight and some scuff marks on his fender. OK, not to bad I think. We start to converse (AKA He speaks to me in Spanish and I stand there with a dumb look on my face saying “si, si, si” over and over) eventually he says something about the policia, (I know that word!) not wanting to get the cops involved I told him that I would rather just pay him cash right now. He says he's not sure how much it would cost to get fixed and says we should go to a bodyshop for an estimate. Not exactly in the power position here I say OK, we jump back in our trucks and I follow him on a 45-minute joyride to the outskirts of town wondering just how much these guys are going to take me for…

We get to the bodyshop, where an old man with gold rimmed teeth comes out and starts running his hands all over the rear of the truck. Pointing at every ding and dent on the thing with dollar signs in his eyes. Oh man… I am screwed. They converse back and forth for a while about where to get parts, paint, etc etc. Finally they come to an agreement, the guy turns to me and says it will cost 2 Mil pesos. 2 MILLION PESOS!?!?

Turns out 2 Mil is actually 2000 pesos, around $175 US. I am sure this same minimal damage would have ended up costing me upwards of 1K in the states so I quickly agree to the price. We drive up to the ATM, the guy gets out of his car and starts talking to us again in Spanish. Great, here comes the rub, I think to myself… I am not sure exactly what he wants but we eventually figure out he is saying that he could probably save us some money if we went somewhere else to get another quote. Wow, I had this guy pegged all wrong, he was actually trying to save us money not extort it from us. Feeling guilty and not really wanting to go on another tour of Oaxaca, I told him I am happy to give him 2000 pesos, he thought we were dumb but agreed. 2000 pesos exchanged and we were back on the road. Escaping our first (and hopefully last) accident on this trip only $175 lighter in the pocket. Everything went better than expected.

Frustrated, overheated, and our budget burned up for the week. We said screw it and left Oaxaca in the rearview. We hope to return someday as we heard this was a wonderful city, maybe I will just find a parking spot on the outskirts of town next time…

We headed west up and over a mountain range from Oaxaca towards the Isthmus of Mexico and the Yucatan peninsula.

We wound up near the top of the mountain and found an amazing campsite down a small dirtpath. Secluded, beautiful, and quiet, just what we needed after a hectic day in Oaxaca.

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We watched the clouds roll in over the mountainous valley below and the sun set on another day in paradise. Sometimes we have to stop and remind ourselves what really matters, Will we remember that $175 and this frustrating day in 3 months? Or will we remember this beautiful spot on our amazing adventure together?

Its easy to let your “problems” melt away with scenes like this.

http://homeonthehighway.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/IMG_6481-Large_thumb.jpg

http://homeonthehighway.com/accidentes-in-oaxaca/

[Ruined Adventures]

Glad to hear you guys made the best out of your chaotic day. Still sounds like it was a positive experience, minus the $175...think of it as paying $175 for this beautiful picture of your view, and the most-expensive campsite ever. :sombrero:

[benedmonson]

Great thread, subscribed! It was awesome meeting you guys at Bacalar. I'll post the photos of you two when I can.

[fatrat]

I love reading your updates & talk about your travels / show your pics to my friends all the time. Never stop exploring, be safe, & keep blogging your travels! ;)

[defrag4]

Sorry it has been so long since we have updated, We have been caught up in a whirlwind of travel lately. (This is a good thing!) We have now settled down in a beautiful place called San Pedro De Laguna, Guatemala. We found a great spanish school that rents out nice little cabanas for $25 a week! We are right on the water and loving it here. I am lounging in the shady hammock outside, typing this up and listening to the birds chirp in the trees. Behind us about 100 yards is gigantic lagoon ringed by 3 massive dormant volcano mountains. Have we found paradise already!? Perhaps… Needless to say we have decided to stay here for a month taking spanish lessons and slowing down the pace.

Now back to our regular scheduled programing!

After our hectic day in Oaxaca we decided to put some miles down. My friend Doug runs a community center for a small barrio in Cancun. We had told him we were going to stop by and help him out so we set our sights for the tip of the Yucatan peninsula. As we descended from the top of the Oaxcan mountain range towards the isthmus of Mexico the change was immediately apparent. The pine trees gave way to jungle and the the cool dry air was now thick with humidity. Toto…We’re not in Kansas anymore.

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On our way up to Cancun we stopped into the city of Villahermosa. A primarily industrial city with not much in the way of scenery. However it did have a nice museum/zoo combo that sounded interesting. The “Parque Mueso La Venta” combined both native Yucatan animals and excavated artifacts from the nearby Olmec ruins of La Venta into one attraction. Plus it was only $3 which the budget surely appreciates.

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Yucatan Crocodiles. Vicious little guys. Note the croc is already missing one foot.
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Lauren goes to the bathroom and when she gets back she hurriedly tells me “I think something escaped from the zoo!” and drags me to come look. Figuring she has been standing in the sun too long I reluctantly follow, and sure enough… something did escape!

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or so we thought… We went and grabbed some employees and drug them over to look. They just took a glance at this obviously escaped zoo convict and started laughing. Ummm… hello? Aren't you going to put it back in the cage!? Well… it turns out these odd looking foreign creatures are basically a Yucatan raccoon and are more of a pest than a zoo exhibit. As we walked around the rest of the zoo we ended up seeing tons of them digging and climbing all around in the jungle. Man… we are such gringos.

The Olmec artifacts were very interesting, the La Venta ruins site is just up the road from Villahermosa. In the 1950’s they were planning to bulldoze the ruin area for crop land. An archeologist took charge, relocated most of the ruins to Villahermosa, and started the “Museo Venta” to educate people on the ruins site and Olmec heritage.

Magnificent Olmec heads weighing over 9 tons.
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Growing up in Florida I have seen my fair share of Gators, I've seen the “World’s Largest Gator” at least 4 different times in 4 different tourist traps. But I think I may have finally found the actual “Worlds Biggest Gator”. Rumor has it that this thing eats Coatimundi’s by the bakers dozen, as the zoo keepers try to rid the park of the pests they toss them into the gator pit for dinner. He was a BEAST. I would say easily 17ft-20ft long.

Note the turtles in the pic are huge snapping turtles, not any baby sized Red Slider nonsense.
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We packed up from Villahermosa and headed deeper into the Peninsula. We have visited a few ruins on the trip so far but we have heard that “Palenque” was one of the larger more magnificent ruins in Mexico. After learning about the Mayan Emperor Pakal, his tomb, and his jade mask in Mexico City, we were excited to see where it was all discovered.

The Palenque ruins were discovered in the 1800’s, explored and excavated over the centuries by a few different archeological groups. It is a beautiful Mayan site set deep in the jungle. They have done a great job with the excavation and restoration. The site and grounds are wonderful to tour around.

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Although the site has been worked on for 200 some years, It wasn’t until the 1950’s that Alberto Lluhlier discovered Pakal’s tomb buried deep inside the temple. When he removed the (7 ton!) sarcophagus lid he discovered Pakal’s body dyed a deep maroon red and covered in magnificent jade jewelry. It was one of the largest archeological discoveries ever made on the Yucatan peninsula.

Pakal’s temple

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I heard heard rumor that there were Mayan bathrooms at the site. I think this is a ancient Mayan ****tter. Either that or I just desecrated thousands of years of history to make a poop joke.

http://homeonthehighway.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/IMG_6750_thumb.jpg

Read more on the blog... http://homeonthehighway.com/getting-mighty-jungley-out-here/

[haven]

Thanks for the many updates. So much to see, and you're still in Mexico!

http://homeonthehighway.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/IMG_6673_thumb.jpg

This guy is a Coatimundi, a relative of the north american Raccoon, as you said. You'll see them regularly on your journey. They live in tropical woodlands from southern Arizona all the way down to northern Argentina. Like the Raccoon, the Coati is a scavenger, willing to eat just about anything. They often hang around campgrounds and parks looking for a handout. They're wild animals, and capable of inflicting a serious bite if they decide they want your sandwich. So it's best to be cautious with them nearby.

[southfarms]

I am LOVING this! Please keep it coming .

Stephen

[mervifwdc]

Great trip! Love that big gator they throw all the pests to :-)

Merv.

[dorton]

This is awesome! I just liked it on Facebook.
Keep the updates and photos coming.

[SlowChevy07]

Awesome adventure. Have fun and be safe!!!!

[Ryan1975]

OT FTW.

[lostworldexpedition]

So glad you went to Corazon Maya! Lacey did her Spanish lessons there as well. If you avoid hanging out in the Americanized side of town you will learn a lot of Spanish :) revisiting vicariously through you, Gracias!

[defrag4]

Hey Luis, We are really digging it here, $3 at the mercado buys 3-5 days worth of grocerys, $25 a week for our cabana. Just started classes yesterday and we are loving it. Gotta run!

[Djlarroc]

Great updates! Thanks! Be safe!

[BeratE]

The trip sounds awesome, and its good to see you guys seem to have the attitude to make it through some of the more obnoxious borders that you have coming up without letting it really bug you too much. Best of luck

Oh and btw, quit running into things! ;)

[defrag4]

I spent 20 minutes trying to come up with a clever title, not much rhymes with Yucatan. I thought maybe YuCAtaN DO IT! but then gave up on that. I considered making up a fictional character named “Yucatan Dan” who lives in the jungle and grants 3 wishes to lost gringos. “I wish for 20 gallons of DEET bugspray…” Perhaps “Doin our thang in the Yucatang”… I don’t know! I have spanish class in 30 minutes and need to get this post done. Focus James!

We pushed further down the Caribbean coast headed towards a concentration of Mayan ruins called “The Ruta Puuc”. The Ruta Puuc is about 25 miles of backroad that connect 6 different Mayan ruins together. In Mayan times there was actually a road of limestone running through the jungle connecting many of the large sites. Unfortunately this road is long gone and were stuck to boring ol’ tarmac.

We drove on and on through the jungle on the paved roads eventually arriving near the Mayan site of Uxmal. The Sun was setting and we needed to find a camping site quick. We pulled our usual maneuver of scoping out the surrounding areas for cutty backroads, eventually finding one that looked good and turned off into the deep jungle.

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We followed this trail for miles, passing 2 small bee farms and not much else. Intrigued as to what the hell this random road in the jungle leads to we pushed on further. Slowly the road deteriorates to little more than a single track ATV trail. After 10 miles of slow going through the jungle we stumble upon a very small, very creepy camp.

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Hmmm… Skulls, dirty old clothes, random stick structures, 15 miles deep in the jungle. Me thinks we should NOT camp here.

Next morning we woke up and headed to Uxmal. Uxmal is a magnificent Mayan site. Estimated to have supported over 15,000 inhabits at its height in 900 A.D. or so. The site is one of the finest examples of Mayan construction, relying on precisely cut stone blocks for the exterior of the buildings rather than plaster which wears away quickly.

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The carvings here were still in great shape and easily recognizable.

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The site is surrounded by dense jungle as far as the eye can see, we were driving around somewhere in that mess the day before.

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They had a wonderfully intact ancient mayan ball court as well.

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The “goal”. I believe the way the game is played is the players are allowed to use any part of there body aside from there hands and feet. The game is over when someone sends the ball through the hoop. Rumor has it that the captain of the losing team is sacrificed. Now that’s some team motivation!

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They also had this weird shrine to penises, or is it penii?

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Fractals everywhere, endlessly repeating patterns, the Mayans were definitely spacing out on something…

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We spent about 1/2 of the day touring Uxmal then headed down the road towards another site named “Kabah”

Kabah is home to the “Codz Poop”…

Surprisingly enough. to me, Codz Poop is in fact not petrified Mayan doo, but in fact a hugely impressive “Palace of Masks”. The entire face of the building is compiled of hundreds of repeating “Chac Mool” (The Rain God) carvings.

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Read the whole story on the blog Home on the Highway (http://homeonthehighway.com)

[defrag4]

The trip sounds awesome, and its good to see you guys seem to have the attitude to make it through some of the more obnoxious borders that you have coming up without letting it really bug you too much. Best of luck

Oh and btw, quit running into things! ;)

ha tell me about it!

[Esmi]

I spent 20 minutes trying to come up with a clever title, ...

"Catch me if Yucatan" is yours, gratis, from me, as a small token of my large gratitude for you sharing your trip with us.

I am digging every entry. You've gotta post more frequently -- too long to wait!

[defrag4]

"Catch me if Yucatan" is yours, gratis, from me, as a small token of my large gratitude for you sharing your trip with us.

I am digging every entry. You've gotta post more frequently -- too long to wait!

sunnuvab! thats a good one

Were caught up to right on the Mexico/Belize border now, should have Belize blog up next week. Were in Guatemala now hanging out in San Pedro taking spanish lessons so I have no excuse not to write

[defrag4]

It seems obligatory for all overlanders to write a “Reflections on Mexico” post after their travels through the country are completed. Not only for collecting their own thoughts but also to share the truth about this “dangerous” country. While Lauren and I were preparing for this trip many people thought we were insane. Oddly, It wasn’t for the fact that we were planning to drive 25,000 miles to the bottom of the world. We were primarily labeled insane for simply wanting to drive into Mexico.

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“Cant you just skip Mexico?”

“Have you thought about shipping around Mexico straight to South America?”

“I have heard/read/seen that you are going to be beheaded, raped, robbed, scammed, schemed, murdered, sold into slavery; the instant you step across the border to Mexico.”

Honestly, I cannot really blame them. The media blasts us with reports of daily beheadings, bodies lining the streets, downright bloodbaths. Momentarily while preparing for the trip we would feel a shimmer of trepidation as well. What if our years of research, planning, and reports from people who are actually IN Mexico were wrong and they were all right? Would there be banditos waiting to have their way with our innocent American flesh?

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We pushed aside these fears and stood strong, after all… hard facts beat out hearsay everyday.

There is no doubt that there is truly a war going on in Mexico. A bloody drug war, a struggle for power between the all-powerful gangs and the quickly dwindling police and military forces of Mexico. However this war is concentrated primarily to the border areas and rarely involves anyone that is not poking their nose where it shouldn’t belong. I will leave my opinions on America’s drug/immigration policies being a primarily catalyst for this war for another time…

The MAJORITY of Mexico is a beautiful, peaceful, tranquil place. We found plenty of farmers/fisherman/working class people quietly going about their business. We found zero insane banditos hellbent on attacking innocent gringos. We primarily encountered children laughing and playing in the streets, women washing clothes and making fresh tortillas by the roadside, and hombres walking their cows from field to field.

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We also found lots of police and military checkpoints searching for drugs and guns along our way. We saw 50-cal machine guns mounted to police truck cabs. It was not rare to be shopping in a supermarket picking up some milk next to a sawed-off shotgun wielding security guard. However after the initial “gun shock” wears off these things start to just be part of the routine.

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Never in our entire month journey all throughout the far corners of Mexico did we ever feel remotely in danger. Lost, confused, frustrated, yes. In danger? Never.

Mexico is getting a raw deal. There are tons of RV parks, campgrounds, and other tourist attractions that are drying up and going to waste down here. The media has put a downright HALT to peoples plans to visit this beautiful country. Every single traveler we ran into had the same story to tell, zero problems whatsoever, great people, great food. We are here to tell you, do not be afraid. It is a wonderful place, full of wonderful people, with a rich and vibrant culture.

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Fear is a strangle-hold on life, Do not let the fear of the unknown keep you from exploring outside your comfort zone. We have found that good research, a sharp mind, and a easy smile will keep you out of trouble 99% of the time.

Next time you hear someone talking about how dangerous Mexico is, Ask them the last time they were there? And then… point them to our blog.

http://homeonthehighway.com

[tikirob]

Well said! I tell people that I want to travel to Mexico and I get the same responses! Again well said! Enjoy yourselves!

[ab1985]

Those are great words of advice. I truly believe the world would be a better place without 24 hours news networks.

[nwoods]

Excellent post. I really enjoy your writing. I've been wanting to comment directly on your blog, but have been unable to figure out how (I don't have a Facebook account). I am really, really, really enjoying your adventure report, along with Team Equipt's, but man, is there some sort of conspiracy about posting a few occasional swimsuit photos? Both of these threads post these awesome beaches, and talk about the swimming, and have attractive women along, and yet somehow, there's never a camera around??? LOL!

[nasko]

hey mate, I am enjoying your pics and the writing. That being said, there were a number of Canadian tourists killed in Mexico, my very close friends had their car stolen at gun point, my friend's sister-in-law children were kidnapped. It is all relative. My friends lived in Torreon (my buddy's father-in-law owns a farm there) but recently moved back to Toronto, as they definitely did not feel safe there.

[defrag4]

You shouldnt need any facebook account, just type the comment, click POST AS and choose Guest. That should let you post without needing to sign up for anything. Let me know if its not working

[defrag4]

hey mate, I am enjoying your pics and the writing. That being said, there were a number of Canadian tourists killed in Mexico, my very close friends had their car stolen at gun point, my friend's sister-in-law children were kidnapped. It is all relative. My friends lived in Torreon (my buddy's father-in-law owns a farm there) but recently moved back to Toronto, as they definitely did not feel safe there.

understood

[Clark White]

I love your post about Mexico! Just spent almost all of January there, and even ran into cartel folk twice, and they were nothing but smiles, waives, and friendliness. Made it clear we were in the wrong place, but were not a threat unless we had continued to be stupid. No doubt innocents get caught in the crossfire from time to time, but like you said, if you keep your nose where it should be, you will most likely be just fine. Beautiful people and country, love your report!

Clark

[Ruined Adventures]

:clapsmile

[upcountry]

hey mate, I am enjoying your pics and the writing. That being said, there were a number of Canadian tourists killed in Mexico, my very close friends had their car stolen at gun point, my friend's sister-in-law children were kidnapped. It is all relative. My friends lived in Torreon (my buddy's father-in-law owns a farm there) but recently moved back to Toronto, as they definitely did not feel safe there.

Defrag4 - Thank you for the thread, for the real experience documentation of life on the road in Mexico.


Nasko-

My first question is have you ever been to Mexico?

As far as violence goes, it's all around you. Either live with it and enjoy life with a risk that you might be exposed to it, or stay home and miss out on lifes adventure.


Back to the thread, I look forward to more posts from Defrag4! You guys are awesome. Love the creepy campsite post.

[defrag4]

Defrag4 - Thank you for the thread, for the real experience documentation of life on the road in Mexico.


Back to the thread, I look forward to more posts from Defrag4! You guys are awesome. Love the creepy campsite post.

thanks brotherman, lots more to come!

[nasko]

I do not want to sidetrack the thread, as I love the pics and the writing, just wanted to share some other real life experiences. Thankfully, Defrag4 and Lauren had a great experience and are enjoying their travel.
(If you really want me to share the specifics I could, just not in this thread)
Cheers and Happy travels

[jds0912]

Next time you hear someone talking about how dangerous Mexico is, Ask them the last time they were there? And then… point them to our blog.

http://homeonthehighway.com
:clapsmile


I do not want to sidetrack the thread, as I love the pics and the writing, just wanted to share some other real life experiences. Thankfully, Defrag4 and Lauren had a great experience and are enjoying their travel.
(If you really want me to share the specifics I could, just not in this thread)
Cheers and Happy travels

:beer:

Awesome, awesome post defrag. Living in Baltimore City I see every day how badly the media (and Hollywood) can warp people's perceptions. I can’t tell you how many times I've taken someone to Baltimore and heard them say, "Oh, this is pretty nice, actually". "Man on Fire” and "The Wire" do not reflect 95% of actual life in Mexico or Bmore respectively.

[defrag4]

:clapsmile
:beer:
Awesome, awesome post defrag. Living in Baltimore City I see every day how badly the media (and Hollywood) can warp people's perceptions. I can’t tell you how many times I've taken someone to Baltimore and heard them say, "Oh, this is pretty nice, actually". "Man on Fire” and "The Wire" do not reflect 95% of actual life in Mexico or Bmore respectively.

Ha, I lived in Northern VA for a summer and traveled up to "Bodymore, Murdaland" all the time to go to Orioles games, hang out with some friends attending art school there, nothing but great experiences. Even partied it up at Brian Billicks estate and got to wear the superbowl ring. :Wow1:

Now if I was scared of going to Baltimore would that ever happened?

ps: i love the Wire!

[defrag4]

After a great night in Bakalar, Mexico we headed south to the Belize/Mexico border. Unsure of what to expect we checked out our friends “Life Remotely” (http://liferemotely.com) blog who recently crossed the border and posted a great detailed report explaining the crossing in detail.

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It turned out to be a simple affair. We found the Mexican customs office, relinquished our Mexican visas and stopped at the Banjercito to check-out the truck. We received an exit stamp in our passport and they removed our Mexican vehicle import sticker from the trucks windshield. We were officially in “No Mans Land”. The area that exists while you are checked out from one country but not checked into the next. You may know it by the term “duty-free zone”. They had a large mall here where you could pick up cheap booze, cigarettes, and crappy knock-off brand name clothes.

After stocking up on junk we hit the Belize border. We had just learned the day before that Belize’s official language is actually English. Quite a surprise to us. It took a while to get used to saying, Thank you, instead of Gracias and Yes, instead of Si. But man were we happy to finally be able to have a full-on conversation with people instead of standing there like idiots trying to communicate.

The check-in process to Belize was simple, a few stamps in the passport, a cursory check of the vehicle and we were in. Welcome to Belize! We picked up vehicle insurance just past the border, $23 for 2 weeks.

While we were in Bakalar we met up with "Team Equipt" (http://equipt1.com) who gave us the line on a great campsite just past the Belize border, We headed off towards the GPS coords. The road was not on our map but Ben assured me, we could make it. ;)

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Cruising down the road we hit a river with a ferry crossing. This was no ordinary ferry, an ancient hand-cranked job which looked as if it would sink at any moment. (I later learned that it actually did sink about 3 weeks before…) It could hold about 3 cars at a time, apparently it runs 24/7. The conductor sleeps on a wooden bench in the ferry.
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We met some cool Mennonites ("http://www.northernbelize.com/cult_mennonite.html) on the ferry who were partying it up, we shared a few beers while we took turns cranking the ferry across the river. Hard working farming folk, there is a large Mennonite community in Belize. Apparently they got fed up with U.S religious policy and a large population relocated to Belize in the 1950s. Most are still very religious leading an almost Amish lifestyle, preferring horsedrawn buggies to automobiles. We met some of the more "progressive”boys. Ha!
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We crossed the river, continued down the road, eventually hitting another hand-cranked ferry.
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Pressing on towards the GPS coords we eventually found the spot. And it was worth every mile! Thanks again <a href="http://equipt1.com" target="_blank[/img]Team Equipt</a[/img]! We enjoyed this secluded beach cove all to ourselves. We stayed here for 2 days not seeing a soul, soaking up the sun and waves.
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From our cove we headed towards a small town in Northern Belize by the name of Sartenja. Sartenja, Belize is home to the “Backpackers Paradise” (http://backpackers.bluegreenbelize.com) A great little hostel/restaurant run by an amazing French and Swiss couple. They have carved out their own little piece of paradise here. They rent out cabins, tents, and hammocks to travelers for great rates. Natalie also can cook like nobodies business, we had amazing French/Belizean fusion meals for dinner every night.

The “common area”. No shortage of hammocks to go around. Lauren and I spent most of our nights here lounging in the hammocks listening to the rain and crickets chirping outside.
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Read more on the blog... http://homeonthehighway.com (http://homeonthehighway.com)

[Esmi]

Really liking your trip reports.

FWIW: You need to cross-post James' party satchel in the Expo Bling thread. ;)

[ab1985]

Excellent update! Not sure if everyone realizes it (I know I didn't at first), but the blog has more pictures and details than the condensed updates that get posted here. Definitely worth checking out!

[defrag4]

Really liking your trip reports.

FWIW: You need to cross-post James' party satchel in the Expo Bling thread. ;)

See this guy knows whats up! Its a party satchel, not a beer purse!

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[defrag4]

We left Caye Caulker behind and headed back towards Sarteneja where we had left our truck. We took a quick pitstop in Ambergris Caye as we waited for the next ferry.

We made friends with a Coatimundi (You may remember these guys as “Crock Snacks” in Mexico. Now I feel kinda bad, they are awfully cute.

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We picked the truck up and headed deeper into the interior of Belize. We had heard good things about “The Belize Zoo” and went to check it out.
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The entry fee for the zoo was a bit steep ($15US per person??) but all the animals were rescues so we figured it was for a good cause. It turned out to be a great little zoo, with lots of native Belizean animals we have never seen before.

The Jabiru Stork, largest bird in Central/South America, 2nd largest wingspan in the world. Over 9ft wide!
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THE HARPY EAGLE! The largest and most powerful eagle in the Americas. This thing eats Coatimundis for lunch. (Coatis got it rough…) The harpy eagles are practically extinct in Central America due to deforestation.
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Harpy eagle attacking some poor zookeeper!
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Junior the jaguar, It was great how little concerns for safety the zoo had, You could stick you arm in the cages and pet the jaguar…
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Hahahaha, Lauren was shooting shots of this Tapir when all of the sudden it turned around and shot a 10FT firehose stream of urine (At least we hope it was urine…) all over her pants and shoes.
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After Lauren burned her clothes we jumped back in the truck and headed towards Barton Creek Outfitters. A small hostel deep in the jungle of Belize.

Adios pavement
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A fun river crossing
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More pictures and the rest of the story on the blog... http://homeonthehighway.com ("http://homeonthehighway.com)

[nwoods]

Excellent update! Not sure if everyone realizes it (I know I didn't at first), but the blog has more pictures and details than the condensed updates that get posted here. Definitely worth checking out!

Totally! He only wets your appetite here on ExPo, and provides a lot more on his blog. Like this little gem:

Check out that waterfall!
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[Broncers]

Junior the jaguar, It was great how little concerns for safety the zoo had, You could stick you arm in the cages and pet the jaguar…

I had to laugh when you posted this, 6 years ago when i was there the fence surrounding the Morlets Crocodile was about wait high. You could have reached over and touched his back.

[defrag4]

100% Guate? 100% Guatemalan! We knew nothing of the country before we arrived to its border but now having spent over a month here we feel that we have gone through a “Guatemorphosis” of sorts. Though we certainly stand out with our milk faces and our western clothes, we have been accepted into the population as voluntarily Guatemalans. We eat, work, and play like the Guats.

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No more grocery stores for us, We prefer now to get down and dirty in the mercados. Why pay $20 for a bag of groceries when we can get fresher, healthier items at the mercado for less than 1/4 of the price? Just close your eyes and think happy thoughts when your passing the “carniceria” (think 3rd world butcher shop, lots of meat parts hanging from hooks with plenty of flies)
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Who needs Pizza and hamburgers when you can pick up a delicious “Chuchito” for 1.50Q? (Less than a dime). Who needs a shrimp cocktail when we can have a bowl of “Ceviche Testiculos de Vaca” (Yes folks, cow testicle ceviche, and it is delicious!).
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We’ve traded our fancy Vodka/Gin and tonics for good ol’ fashion Guatemalan Quetzelteca (It’ll get ya drunk!)
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Need to haul a load of laundry or transport a busload of tamales? Balance all that junk up on your head like a real Guatemalan!
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No more taxis for us, Grab a Tuk-Tuk. The official in-town transportation of Guatemala.
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We’ve chosen our political parties, I've sided with "Lider" while Lauren’s stickin’ with SOY PATRIOTA.
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No more treadmills and stationary bikes for us. You need exercise? Speed-climb that 5000ft volcano! Instead of physical trainers we have machete wielding Guatemalan grandpas, trust me.. much more motivational than some bozo in spandex bicycle shorts.
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Pedro says “VAMOS!”. No mercy for these gringos.
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View from the top
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More pics and rest of the story on the blog http://homeonthehighway.com (http://homeonthehighway.com)

[Detslider]

Good stuff.
I was reading on your blog in the gear review section about your choice in stoves.
You're not having any trouble finding the small 5lb bottles?
I know propane is widely used in Central America but I don't remember seeing stores selling the small bottles when I was there.

[defrag4]

Weve actually been having some trouble tracking down the bottles in small towns, in the big cities they are pretty easy to find. Were stocking up next time we see them.

[defrag4]

It has been a while since we have done an update, We ended up spending the past 2 months in Guatemala soaking up the culture, slowing down our pace, and doing some much needed repairs to the truck. Life had been a bit hectic and I couldn’t muster up the energy to write a decent blog. We are now in Honduras, tucked somewhere up in the Pico Bonito National Park hiding from the craziness of Semana Santa (Holy Week). For the first time in a long time we find ourselves with nothing to do but listen to the crickets and frogs sing lullabies outside our truck. Perfect time to do some writing.

The border crossing from Belize into Guatemala was fairly uneventful. We went through the process of checking ourselves and the truck out of Belize. Got the truck fumigated, paid for new visas and a vehicle permit. All completed in our crappy spanish without the use of a tramidor (Tramidor: Dude who hangs around frontier borders helping/scamming confused gringos getting into the next country) thanks to our friends at <ahref="http://www.liferemotely.com">LifeRemotely</url> who posted a great explanation of the process, fees, and buildings. We spent 10 minutes in the car studying up and hit the booths, about 30 minutes later we had everything we needed. We were officially and legally now in Guatemala.

We spent all our money at the border and had nothing left. Our tank was on fumes. (We waited to fill up till Guatemala, Belize gas was at $6/gal)

We assumed (stupidly) that there would be a gas station and ATM somewhere near the border on the Guatemalan side. Well there was an ATM but it was empty. No cash. We tried to ask if there was another “cajero” nearby but our spanish is so bad we received nothing but confused stares. Oh well… hopefully there will be one further up the road. We placed our faith in the 4Runners crappy gas gauge being off and headed further down the highway. We have our 5-gallon reserve tank in case we ran out.

The section of Guatemala we entered is named Peten. Unknown to us at the time, It is a very sparsely populated section of Northern Guatemala. We drove past miles and miles of clearcut farmland, rolling green hills, and a few small pueblos with no services. Our destination for the first day was the Mayan ruins of Tikal.

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Eventually we arrived at Tikal, We never did pass an ATM or gas station for almost 60 miles. We tried to enter the park but they charge a ridiculously high price for entry ($~25US per person). We didn’t have enough dinero so we had no choice but to head out from Tikal to the next large town of Flores for some cash and gas.

Rolled into Flores sputtering, perfect timing, we found a nice gas station equipped with an ATM. Topped off our cash and our fuel tank. Headed back to Tikal.

We ran into our friends Paul/Susie again in Flores, they were also headed to Tikal. When we were both driving back to Tikal we passed our other friends Zack/Jill. Looks look we were all headed to the same place. We hit the entrance at the same time, just in time for Paul’s Trooper to start acting up. Not one to leave a man behind, we all set to diagnosing the problem in front of the Tikal park entrance.
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Eventually we tracked down the problem to fuel. Figuring it was bad gas, we drained the tank and used my jerry can of U.S gas to refill it. While not running completely right it seemed to be doing better. By this point it was around 6PM and the park had closed. Having no place to go (We were planning to camp inside the park) We asked the guards if we could just camp in the parking lot in front of the park. No problem they said. So we did. Howler and spider monkeys crawling through the trees above, Us stinking like gas below. Luckily we had booze, all was well in the world.

Next morning we woke up early, Paul/Susie headed to town to further diagnose their issue. The rest of us headed into Tikal.

First sign we saw warned us of a “Coati Crossing”.. I guess we are in the jungle after all.

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Tikal was like no other ruin we have visited thus far. The ruins are dispersed among deep jungle. You walk through 30 minutes of thick jungle canopy with monkeys howling overhead and then pop into a clearing with amazing ruins. It really gives you the feeling of discovering an ancient lost world.

Tikal is one of the largest sites of ancient pre-columbian Mayan civilizations. It was a hub for all surrounding Mayans civilizations, sort of a "capital" of the if you will. Estimations of population range from 10,000 to 90,000 inhabitants. Imagining a huge city of 90,000 milling around this place 2000 years ago is a surreal feeling.

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Excavation of the ruins are still in progress, Check out this motorcycle powered cart they use to ferry equipment to the top of the temple.

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More pics and detailed write-up on the blog (http://homeonthehighway.com)

[defrag4]

From Tikal we hit the road to San Pedro where we planned to take some spanish classes. Our friend Zach had given us some info on the highways down there. There appeared to be two roads that took you from Peten down deeper into Guatemala. One was supposedly a much more rough and tumble route while the other was a decently paved road. Zach in the AstroVan opted for the easy route. We of course choose the rough and tumble path.

Our road actually turned out to be pretty decently paved (We heard from Zach that he accidently chose the road of death and sent us on the good road, HAHA!). We drove through lots of little lakeside villages and saw some beautiful Guatemalan countryside.
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Our first introduction to Tuk-Tuks (The official in-town transportation of Guatemala)
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Eventually we arrived at a small town by the name of Sayaxche. Here the road dead-ended into a deep river. We queued up for the ferry crossing with a few other sleepy travelers.
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The ferry (which our friend Karina’s dad later informed us is installed/ran by the Guatemalan oil company) is an odd design. It has 2 outboard boat motors both on the same side of the boat. They work in perfect harmony to fight the rivers current and bring the ferry to its proper mooring point on the opposite bank of the river.
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We got a cursory check by the military while on the ferry. I think they just wanted to check out the truck. Eventually arriving safely to the other side. We pushed through the town and wound through towns of small highway-side villages.

Coming up over the top of a blind hill at 60MPH to find dogs, people, babies, fruit stands… It’s a good test of the brakes.
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The road was long and winding through the mountains. We were planning to stop in Coban, Guatemala for the night. Unfortunately the drive took much longer than we had planned. We were stuck driving at night through crazy mountain roads, in the rain, in the fog, with crappy headlights, and millions of people milling about on the sides of the road. Not a good situation. We made it to Coban and found the first motel we could.

We warmed up from the cold rain in the sketchy hot water shower. If you are sleepy in the morning just give the shower-head a tap. I guarantee a 110V shock will snap you out of your stupor!
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Hit the road the next morning. There was an easy looking highway that led down to San Pedro La Laguna and there was a much more exciting route that took us up into the Guatemalan highlands. We of course, took the more exciting route.

The asphalt quickly gave way to dirt road as we found ourselves climbing higher and higher into the mountains.
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We passed this statue of a Quetzal bird midway up the mountain. The Quetzal is the official bird of Guatemala and also the name of their currency. It is an extremely rare and prized bird. It has magnificent long green/blue tail feathers. It is very rare and seldom seen in Guatemala. It lives in the cloud forests high in the mountains. Which just so happened to be where we were unexpectedly headed…
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We pushed further and further up the dirt road. The clouds and fog grew thicker and thicker. Eventually we were driving through an actual cloud forest. Pretty amazing weather compared to the 85F and humid temps we experienced the same day at lower elevations.
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More pics and detailed writeup on the blog. http://homeonthehighway.com (http://homeonthehighway.com)

[defrag4]

San Pedro La Laguna, Guatemala is an interesting and beautiful place. The town sits on the volcano ringed Lago Atitlan (Lake Atitlan) at the base of the (now dormant) San Pedro volcano. It is populated bythe indeginous <em>Tz'utuhil </em>Mayan people who still work the land growing mainly onions and coffee beans for export.

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The town is made up of an odd mix of ancient Mayan culture, westernized Guatemala, and flat-out takeover by gringos. You can wake up in the morning and watch an 85-year old Mayan lady haul a 40LB load of onions on her head from her hand-planted farm near the lagoon, spend your afternoon sipping freshly grown/processed San Pedro coffee beans, and waste away the evening getting S-Faced with a 19-year backpacker from Idaho. All within 1/4 mile strip of lagoon-front land. We loved it for all of its faces but most importantly for the little piece of isolated paradise we found at the Corozan Maya Spanish school.
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We originally came into town actually searching for different spanish school altogether. We drove up and down the 1-way streets searching and searching for this other school. It was in our guide book, they said it was good! Where is it!?

During our frustrating search, time and time again we would pass this same little school sign. Eventually we said screw it, let check this place out. We were glad we did. What we discovered was a great spanish school that had everything an overlander could want. Secure parking, internet, and hot showers. Throw in a $25/week cabin with in-room propane stove and we were heaven. Classes were $75/week for 1-1 spanish school, the cheapest I have found in my research and our teachers were all amazing.

From the second we sat down to talk with Marta, the schools owner/operator, she made us feel welcome and at home. She spoke strictly in slow simple spanish terms that even we could understand with our horrible spanish. What the hell!? Are we talking in spanish already? This place<em> is</em> good! We signed up for 1 week of class straight away. We ended up staying for 4.

We relocated our clothes and essentials to our basic but comfy cabin. Complete with hammock out front.
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Eventually bringing the mattress from our truck into the cabin to supplement the school provided bed. (We sleep like kings in our truck, Why not bring it inside our new home?
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The accommodations were basic. A bed, a 2-burner propane stove, a few outlets, and a bare lightbulb. But what more do you really need? That’s all we have in our truck and we love it. We quickly settled in to our new cabin and started calling it home.

We made dinner from some leftovers we had in the truck and started preparing for our first day of spanish school. We were excited and intimidated. We spent the rest of night listening to our Pimsleur Audio books and running through Rosetta Stone lessons knowing we were woefully unprepared.

Next day we started classes. Marta assigned us each our own native San Pedro Mayan teacher.
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We walked down the path to our individual tranquil huts out by the lagoon and started our lessons.
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First thing was a pop-quiz. Oh great! I didn’t study for this! They wanted to gauge our skill level in spanish to get an idea of where to start the lessons. Needless to say I didn’t make it past NOMBRE/FECHA (Name and Date) (I guessed at FECHA…)

Lauren did a bit better, she made it to the second page before getting the glassy eyed stare of confusion.

Our teachers made no scene or judgements, just evaluated our positions and started right into the lessons. Our teachers spoke very slow, very clear spanish. We started with learning basic verbs and eventually moved onto to tenses, pronouns,conjugations, etc etc. All kinds of stuff. For 4 hours a day, 5 days a week. We would practice in the huts.

Some days class would fly by, other days we would beg for mercy “Por favor maestra, Mi cabeza esta lleno!” Please teacher, My head is full!

It was a calm relaxing atmosphere. Even though learning a new language is a challenge, it was hard to be stressed out in this environment.
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In the mornings before class we would lounge around studying, reading books, going on hikes, whatever we wanted to do. One of our favorite activities was exploring “El Mercado” The Market.

Here you can find pretty much anything the heart desires. All native, fresh, organically grown fruits and vegetables are available for a fraction (literally less than 1/4 the cost in the U.S.) of the price. Lauren and I would load up our bags with fruits and veggies. Never spending more than $3-5 for more than we could possibly eat in a week.
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More pics and details on the blog (http://homeonthehighway.com)

[Detslider]

Cool. Nice update.
What route are you taking to Nicaragua?

If you go west to San Pedro Sula then south past Lago Yojoa it all paved and busy.

You could go a much more rural route and continue east to Bontio Oriental then south to Juticalapa. The road that links those two is all dirt and very rural. No services other than a few pulperias.
It's a nice drive but, as in most cases, it shouldn't be done at night.

Let me know if you make it to Talanga and need a break, I can provide you a safe place to hang for a few days.

[defrag4]

Cool. Nice update.
What route are you taking to Nicaragua?

If you go west to San Pedro Sula then south past Lago Yojoa it all paved and busy.

You could go a much more rural route and continue east to Bontio Oriental then south to Juticalapa. The road that links those two is all dirt and very rural. No services other than a few pulperias.
It's a nice drive but, as in most cases, it shouldn't be done at night.

Let me know if you make it to Talanga and need a break, I can provide you a safe place to hang for a few days.

hey detslider, We are currently in Tocoa, Honduras. We just got done exploring out to the moskito coast via the coastal route through Bontio Oriental. We snapped a brakeline somewhere along the way and spent 3 days cruising the sand roads of Moskito coast using only the ebrake to stop!

Were holed up in Tocoa now waiting for parts store/mechanics to open so we can fix our brakes. Semana Santa is a rough week to break down on, going on 4 days now without a shop open. Luckily the liqour store is downstairs and always open :wings:

I think we are going to cross to Nicaragua at Las Manos, Seems like both of the decent sized crossings are on the other side of Tegu, so we are heading South/West from here soon towards the border.

[defrag4]

been cranking out the blogposts lately, trying to use this downtime for good instead of just evil!

Our alarm started ringing at 4:30AM… I felt my body panic in confusion. WORK!?

Nope. Just hiking a volcano today… whew.. that was close. I realized it was the first time I have woken up to an alarm in almost 5 months (Not that I am trying to rub it in or anything…)

I stumble around in the pitch-black cabin fumbling for the light-switch. I find it and listen to the groans from the Neel sisters. “5 more minutes?” Lauren asks. Nope! Not today, We gots to go.

Our destination for the day. The top of Volcan San Pedro on Lago Atitlan. It is the large volcano on the right-side of this pic. You can see the town of San Pedro down below it.
https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/s720x720/537027_261288940631001_163795383713691_584021_9637 72243_n.jpg

We load up the backpack with snacks/water, put on our hiking shoes and head up the road. The early morning darkness is chilly and foggy. There is Toyota pickup waiting for us, We load our gear inside and jump in the back. We get a good-grip onto the black steel coping lining the bed and hold on.

VAMOS!
http://homeonthehighway.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/IMG_8557_thumb.jpg

Lauren and fellow overlander Jill from Anywhere that’s Wild.
http://homeonthehighway.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/IMG_8559-Large_thumb.jpg

We wind our way through the silent streets of San Pedro picking up a few more hikers then start heading up the mountain to the trail head.

Eventually arriving at the the still pitch-black trailhead we crank up our headlamps/flashlights and hit the trail.

I read it was advised to use a guide on this trail due to some robberies/attacks on tourists a few years ago. Nowadays they have improved security and there is nothing much to worry about. However, the entry-price to the park included a tour guide so we took one. Our guide was named Pedro, I would put Pedro around 75 years old or so. He had 1-tooth and a big *** machete. My kinda guy.

Were hiking along in the dark single-file up a tight trail. It looks like we are hiking through some sort of coffee farm but it is too dark to tell. I am thinking to myself, damn it is kinda spooky out here… good place for robbers…

I hear someone from the back of the line scream “OH ****!” then I hear the distinct sound of metal on metal machete/machete clanging together. ITS HAPPENING!?

I turn around to witness the carnage and see my fellow hikers looking down the side of a steep rocky hillside at a very confused Pedro splayed out on the bottom. Looks like our guide misstepped and fell down the hill. What I originally heard was not the Pedro battling evil banditos but actually the sound of his machete clanging against the rocks as he rolled head over heels down the hill.

We check over Pedro and find him surprisingly intact for a 75-year old man falling down a cliff. He quickly tires of our medical attention gains his composure and yells “VAMOS!”

Up we go.

As dawn breaks we make it to a small shelter with a nice look-out over the Lagoon and San Pedro lights below.
http://homeonthehighway.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/IMG_8561-Large_thumb.jpg

http://homeonthehighway.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/IMG_8562-Large_thumb.jpg

Sun coming up a bit, we can actually see the trail now.


The first 45-minutes were fairly easy going, we were crossing primarily sideways across the mountain. However once we started heading straight up the volcano I realized… I am outta shape. It has been a while since we had been on a real challenging hike and I was feeling it. Also, Carly, who just shipped in from sea-level Florida the day before, was not exactly prepared for this much climbing at 6000FT either. Pedro on the other-hand was a never-tiring billygoat and nipped our heels the entire time to climb faster. Not bad for a 75-year old man who just fell off a cliff…
[img]http://homeonthehighway.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/IMG_8598-Large_thumb.jpg

At first he had patient words of encouragement to speed us up…

“Es bueno por tu corazon!” (It’s good for your heart!)“
La Vista is muy bonito” (The view is very nice)

Eventually degrading into…
“Listo?” (Ready?)

And finally a flat-out
“VAMOS!” (Let’s go!)

“OK Pedro… OK Pedro…” Carly exclaims between winded breaths as we climb further up the mountain.

Lauren, of course, climbs straight up the mountain like she's on a leisurely stroll through the park.
http://homeonthehighway.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/IMG_8580-Large_thumb.jpg

We climb through lots of forest, coffee farms, corn plantations…
http://homeonthehighway.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/IMG_8637-Large_thumb.jpg
http://homeonthehighway.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/IMG_8588-Large_thumb.jpg

More pics and the rest of the story on the blog. http://homeonthehighway.com (http://homeonthehighway.com)

[defrag4]

been cranking out the blogposts lately, trying to use this downtime for good instead of just evil!

Our alarm started ringing at 4:30AM… I felt my body panic in confusion. WORK!?

Nope. Just hiking a volcano today… whew.. that was close. I realized it was the first time I have woken up to an alarm in almost 5 months (Not that I am trying to rub it in or anything…)

I stumble around in the pitch-black cabin fumbling for the light-switch. I find it and listen to the groans from the sisters. “5 more minutes?” Lauren asks. Nope! Not today, We gots to go.

Our destination for the day. The top of Volcan San Pedro on Lago Atitlan. It is the large volcano on the right-side of this pic. You can see the town of San Pedro down below it.
https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/s720x720/537027_261288940631001_163795383713691_584021_9637 72243_n.jpg

We load up the backpack with snacks/water, put on our hiking shoes and head up the road. The early morning darkness is chilly and foggy. There is Toyota pickup waiting for us, We load our gear inside and jump in the back. We get a good-grip onto the black steel coping lining the bed and hold on.

VAMOS!
http://homeonthehighway.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/IMG_8557_thumb.jpg

Lauren and fellow overlander Jill from Anywhere that’s Wild.
http://homeonthehighway.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/IMG_8559-Large_thumb.jpg

We wind our way through the silent streets of San Pedro picking up a few more hikers then start heading up the mountain to the trail head.

Eventually arriving at the the still pitch-black trailhead we crank up our headlamps/flashlights and hit the trail.

I read it was advised to use a guide on this trail due to some robberies/attacks on tourists a few years ago. Nowadays they have improved security and there is nothing much to worry about. However, the entry-price to the park included a tour guide so we took one. Our guide was named Pedro, I would put Pedro around 75 years old or so. He had 1-tooth and a big *** machete. My kinda guy.

Were hiking along in the dark single-file up a tight trail. It looks like we are hiking through some sort of coffee farm but it is too dark to tell. I am thinking to myself, damn it is kinda spooky out here… good place for robbers…

I hear someone from the back of the line scream “OH ****!” then I hear the distinct sound of metal on metal machete/machete clanging together. ITS HAPPENING!?

I turn around to witness the carnage and see my fellow hikers looking down the side of a steep rocky hillside at a very confused Pedro splayed out on the bottom. Looks like our guide misstepped and fell down the hill. What I originally heard was not the Pedro battling evil banditos but actually the sound of his machete clanging against the rocks as he rolled head over heels down the hill.

We check over Pedro and find him surprisingly intact for a 75-year old man falling down a cliff. He quickly tires of our medical attention gains his composure and yells “VAMOS!”

Up we go.

As dawn breaks we make it to a small shelter with a nice look-out over the Lagoon and San Pedro lights below.
http://homeonthehighway.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/IMG_8561-Large_thumb.jpg

http://homeonthehighway.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/IMG_8562-Large_thumb.jpg

Sun coming up a bit, we can actually see the trail now.
http://homeonthehighway.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/IMG_8576-Large_thumb.jpg

The first 45-minutes were fairly easy going, we were crossing primarily sideways across the mountain. However once we started heading straight up the volcano I realized… I am outta shape. It has been a while since we had been on a real challenging hike and I was feeling it. Also, Carly, who just shipped in from sea-level Florida the day before, was not exactly prepared for this much climbing at 6000FT either. Pedro on the other-hand was a never-tiring billygoat and nipped our heels the entire time to climb faster. Not bad for a 75-year old man who just fell off a cliff…
http://homeonthehighway.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/IMG_8598-Large_thumb.jpg

At first he had patient words of encouragement to speed us up…

“Es bueno por tu corazon!” (It’s good for your heart!)“
La Vista is muy bonito” (The view is very nice)

Eventually degrading into…
“Listo?” (Ready?)

And finally a flat-out
“VAMOS!” (Let’s go!)

“OK Pedro… OK Pedro…” Carly exclaims between winded breaths as we climb further up the mountain.

Lauren, of course, climbs straight up the mountain like she's on a leisurely stroll through the park.
http://homeonthehighway.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/IMG_8580-Large_thumb.jpg

We climb through lots of forest, coffee farms, corn plantations…
http://homeonthehighway.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/IMG_8637-Large_thumb.jpg
http://homeonthehighway.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/IMG_8588-Large_thumb.jpg

More pics and the rest of the story on the blog. http://homeonthehighway.com (http://homeonthehighway.com)

[atancreti]

Looks awesome!!!!! How long are you spending on your trip?!?!?!?!

[defrag4]

Looks awesome!!!!! How long are you spending on your trip?!?!?!?!

hmmm good question, originally we had planned on a year, now its almost 6-months and we are still in Honduras. Long way to go still! Probably just keep going till were outta cash

[24HOURSOFNEVADA]

Nice trip, I'm enjoying your Blog as well.

Next time your gas tank gives you trouble grate a bar of hand soap over the hole. It should hold for a while and hopefully prevent losing too much gas. It's an old desert racing trick.

[toymaster]

Weird stuff out here…

http://homeonthehighway.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/IMG_4529-Large_thumb1.jpg

That's not weird its just work. PM me if you want to know what it is....

[lostworldexpedition]

hmmm good question, originally we had planned on a year, now its almost 6-months and we are still in Honduras. Long way to go still! Probably just keep going till were outta cash

Sounds familiar :)

Loving the blogposts!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[bansil]

I know nothing beats a great teacher, I have to ask this:

Was the Rosetta Stone lessons worth buying and using in real life?

We have contemplated picking a set up, we just dont know if it would be a good ground breaker or a waste of time/money

TIA
And ya'lls journey is great, thankyou for the updates:ylsmoke:

[defrag4]

Carly spent the rest of the week hanging out with us and touring around San Pedro. One thing she wanted to do while in Guatemala was to visit some Mayan ruins. In a country where over 50% of the population is indigenous Mayan it would be sacrilege to not visit one of their ancient sites.

We got to googling and did tons of research searching for nearby ruins to check out but came up bupkis. During our search however, we did find the Iximché ruins just outside the town of Tecpan. I knew we passed Tecpan on the way to the airport in Guatemala City. We figured we could head out the night before Carly left, drive to Tecpan, wake up early, tour the ruins, and get Carly on a plane around noon. Sounds like a plan to me!

During our spanish class we told our teachers about our plans to drive to Tecpan that night.

“Oh, you picked a very special night to go to Iximche.”

“Por Que?”

“Tonight is the Mayan new year!, of course”

… Of course? Our teachers explained about the Mayan Haab calendar, the long count-calendar, Tzoltin, equinoxes etc etc. (http://www.yucatanadventure.com.mx/mayancalendar.htm) The Mayans expounded upon 5th century BC knowledge of time and came up with a system to track/predict important events long before they ever heard of a Roman/Julian/Gregorian calendar. It is actually a series of several different calendars combined into one all-encompassing date keeping system.Pretty cool and complicated stuff.

http://blog.onlineclock.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/mayan-long-count-calendar.jpg

Apparently it was so complicated that there were only a few people in ancient times who could actually understand it. These calendar readers were important nobleman in the Mayan society and worked closely with the ruling class. Mayan rulers used the power of the calendar to assert dominance and power over their cities/countrymen. If the king can predict what day the sun will be blocked by the moon, he must be talking to the gods and we should do what he says.

While I was very confused with the whole explanation (It’s hard enough explaining concepts of time in english, now try it in a language you can barely understand!) I managed to glean that tonight,March 21st, was an important night. Our teachers said the ruins will be open all night with shamans and elders performing rituals, blessings, and celebrating the new Mayan year. We were in for something special. Excited with the news we ran back to Carly. We packed her stuff and hit the road around 5PM for Tecpan.

The drive to Tecpan was uneventful. I was kind of hoping to see droves of natively dressed Mayans making a pilgrimage to the ruins. We drove through the sleepy town around 9PM and headed towards the ruins to check them out.

We arrived at the Iximche ruins.. A construction crew was busy building a stage for some reason, but no signs of any ceremonies. We wandered past the construction workers and into the actual ruins. No one was out checking any tickets or anything at this time of night. We ambled down the pathway until we realized we were actually walking on-top of Mayan ruins. It was so dark we couldn’t tell until we noticed the mud/brick walls and carved steps. Cool stuff, out here on our own ambling around ruins in the middle of the night.

There was no moon that night, It was pitch-black outside. Not sure if that happens every Mayan New Year or just a coincidence… With the accuracy of the Mayan calendars I am leaning towards it not being an accident.

We kept seeing small groups of people walking off into the woods. We asked a group if they were headed to the “ceremonias”, They said yes so we followed them down the random path.

As we walked the path we heard soft chanting steadily growing louder and louder. We pushed through some trees to a clearing to find this scene awaiting us…
http://homeonthehighway.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/IMG_8765-Large_thumb.jpg

Mildly intimidated we slowly worked our way into the circle. We were the only non-Mayans there. It was pretty obvious we were tourists but we did our best to be respectful and remain out of the way. The Mayans did not seem to mind us and were friendly. We were discreetly snapping photos under our shirts, eventually realizing that the other Mayans there were taking pictures of the whole process. Clearly this was a rare occasion and an experience for some of them as well.

The shamans were building the ceremonial circle when we first arrived. On top of a giant round stone platform they laid out an intricate circle design on the ground with sugar. Then layer by layer they started filling and building up the circle with various offerings. Cinnamon, honey, sugar, rice, maiz, avocados, coins, incense, candles, Quetzelteca!, beer, you name it. All things they were thankful for in the previous year. The entire time the shamans are chanting various prayers. This is all taking place in Mayan dialects so we have no idea what they were saying. The building of the circle was a beautiful and meticulous process.
http://homeonthehighway.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/IMG_8728-Large_thumb.jpg
http://homeonthehighway.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/IMG_8736-Large_thumb.jpg


After the circle was completed one of the elder shamans got up and gave a speech in Mayan and then translated it into spanish. I believe the jist was that it is important for the Mayan people to preserve their culture, teach it to the children, and educate others about it. He described things they were blessed with and things they had to look forward to in the coming year. He thanked everyone for coming to the ceremony and then got down from the platform.

The shaman headed back to the ceremonial circle and began to light the candles in the circle. Meticulously lighting each candle in a specific order North, South, East and West. Once all the ceremonial candles were lit he said another prayer and lit some small pieces of wood in the circle which set the entire thing ablaze in a huge fire.

Once the fire was going, he spoke with the other elders and said something in Mayan to the crowd. The entire crowd dropped to their knees all facing to the North and began chanting and praying. Not ones to be left standing around like a bunch of bozos we followed suit.
http://homeonthehighway.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/IMG_8744-Large_thumb.jpg
http://homeonthehighway.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/IMG_8741-Large_thumb.jpg

After praying and chanting for about 5 minutes in the North direction. Everyone leaned over and kissed the ground. And turned to the South. This process continued until we had prayed in all directions North, South, East, and West. Emotions were high, lots of people crying and whispering prayers. A very devout moment. We were privelged to be attending and witnessing such an event.

http://homeonthehighway.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/IMG_8745-Large_thumb.jpg
http://homeonthehighway.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/IMG_8749-Large_thumb.jpg
http://homeonthehighway.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/IMG_8747-Large_thumb.jpg

Eventually the prayers ended and the band struck up again, playing lively traditional music with flutes, drums, and marimbas. A few Guatemalan men and women danced what looked a helluva lot like an irish jig around the flames of the fire for a while. Everyone was pouring beer and quetzecal into the flames, as well as having a nip or two themselves. The men were smoking MASSIVE cigars. They were huge, as big around as a papertowel roll. The ladies were trying their best to light up cigarettes. (It was obvious none of them ever smoked as I watched them struggle with matches and trying to figure out how to light the cigarette, One lady set 1/2 the damn cigarette on fire in her hands and then started puffing on it!)

As the fire would die down someone would emerge with what I believe was sugar? and dump it all over the fire to bring the flames back. Eventually more wood was brought out to keep the party going.

So… Lauren, Carly, and I are standing around having a good ol’ time watching these Mayan’s party it up. Excitedly discussing our new once in a lifetime experience when all of the sudden we hear. SQWWAKK! The distinctive sound of a chicken. Uh oh…. Looks like the parties just getting started!
http://homeonthehighway.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/IMG_8756-Large_thumb.jpg

More pictures, VIDEOS, and the rest of the story at http://homeonthehighway.com (http://homeonthehighway.com)

[defrag4]

Oh and we just hit 500 "Likes" on facebook! Lets keep it rollin, If you havent Liked us, Do us a favor and spread the word. http://facebook.com/homeonthehighway

[defrag4]

I know nothing beats a great teacher, I have to ask this:

Was the Rosetta Stone lessons worth buying and using in real life?

We have contemplated picking a set up, we just dont know if it would be a good ground breaker or a waste of time/money

TIA
And ya'lls journey is great, thankyou for the updates:ylsmoke:

I honestly think your money would be better spent on a community college spanish course or finding a cheap tutor somewhere. The software is great but it is expensive as hell. If you have a nerdy friend somewhere they could probably track you down a free copy on the internet ;)

[defrag4]

Nice trip, I'm enjoying your Blog as well.

Next time your gas tank gives you trouble grate a bar of hand soap over the hole. It should hold for a while and hopefully prevent losing too much gas. It's an old desert racing trick.

Ha acutally tried that, the hole was too big and in too weird of a spot for the soap to do much of anything. It did make my gas puddle smell IrishSpring fresh though :costumed-smiley-007

[defrag4]

That's not weird its just work. PM me if you want to know what it is....
ALIENS

[bigmex]

That is so awesome that you guys were able to witness something like that. I wish I could be out exploring the world like your doing. Hopefully in 5-7 years.

[cc93cruiser]

Thanks for the updates, been checkin here and on MUD for the updates.. Be safe, and keep us posted..

[Detslider]

where did your posts on Honduras go?

[defrag4]

where did your posts on Honduras go?

Havent gotten to writing the Honduras blog yet, Its only on Facebook at the moment

[Detslider]

Weird. I thought I had read a post either here or on your blog about Honduras.

[TerryD]

I was on vacation last week and away from the computer so I've just browsed the pictures so far. I'll try to catch up on the reading this week! Looks like some interesting stuff! :sombrero:

[defrag4]

We spent 4 weeks in San Pedro La Laguna, Guatemala taking spanish school. It was a great learning experience and we really enjoyed slowing down our pace and getting to know one location intimately. However, after a month in one spot our brains were burned out on spanish and we were ready to move on.

Our last night at school they threw a big bash for all the students. We cooked up a traditional meal of Chuchitos and Jicacma tea. Laurens teacher loaned her a traditional mayan outfit for the event.
http://homeonthehighway.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/IMG_8843_thumb.jpg

The school got together and started cranking out Chuchitos (basically a Tamale with a lot less work) You take a ball of maiz flour and some oil, mash it up into a tortilla shape and fill it with some chicken/vegetables, close it up and wrap it in a leaf from a ear of corn.
http://homeonthehighway.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/IMG_8850-Large_thumb.jpg

Chuchitos ready for cooking
http://homeonthehighway.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/IMG_8859-Large_thumb.jpg

Throw them in a pot on top of the fire with a bit of water, steam for 45 minutes.
http://homeonthehighway.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/IMG_8862-Large_thumb.jpg

Serve with salsa and EAT!
http://homeonthehighway.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/IMG_8867-Large_thumb.jpg

For a beverage, take a pot of water, add a boatload of Jicama (Hibiscus) flowers, and some sugar. Heat for a while, add sugar, and serve. Jicama tea.
http://homeonthehighway.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/IMG_8917-Large_thumb.jpg

We are going to miss our cabin in San Pedro, but all good things must come to an end and the trip must continue!
http://homeonthehighway.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/IMG_8915-Large_thumb.jpg

We said goodbye to our teachers at Corazon Maya spanish school in San Pedro La Laguna, Guatemala. We became very good friends with our teachers. You spend 4 hours a day for 3 weeks talking to someone and you form bonds. We often wonder what our guatemalan teachers are up to these days…
http://homeonthehighway.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/IMG_8923-Large_thumb1.jpg

We said goodbye to our sweet *** cabin
http://homeonthehighway.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/IMG_8962-Large_thumb.jpg

And took in our last views of Lago Atitlan…
http://homeonthehighway.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/IMG_8975-Large_thumb1.jpg

Were off to Guatemala City to get some much needed repairs done to the truck (reoccurring theme??) and meet up with some friends.

[Toyotero]

Very cool man, Atitlan is one of the most beautiful areas of C.A. What a great place to spend a month :-D

BTW, hybiscus tea in Spanish is Agua de Jamaica (Jamaican water - pronounced "huh-my-kuh") made from 'flor de Jamaica" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hibiscus_tea). Jicama is a root/tuber, aka the Mexican Turnip. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pachyrhizus_erosus) :-)

[defrag4]

gracias for the correction amigo!

[defrag4]

We made some friends off the internet (surprise, surprise) who offered up their place for us to crash in Guatemala City while we got some 4runner repairs done (by another friend from the internet!). We pushed into Guat City with no real idea where we were going. Guatemala City is a crazy town, traffic is horrible, the streets are a maze, and the signage slim. After driving around in circles for a while, making a few payphone calls, and being lost for about 2 hours we finally found our way to our friend Julio’s place. Probably the nicest home we have seen so far in Central America.

http://homeonthehighway.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/IMG_9073-Large_thumb.jpg

Julio and his wife Karina welcome us into their home. We busted out the bottles of booze and became fast friends. They asked us what we missed most from the states. Our answers were… #1 Chinese Food. #2 Movie theaters. (It doesn’t take much to please us…)

That night we went to get some Chinese food. Wantons and Brahva beer!
http://homeonthehighway.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/DSCN2236-Large_thumb.jpg

Our new friends, Julio and Karina.
http://homeonthehighway.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/DSCN2240-Large_thumb.jpg

After stuffing our face we went to the movies and watched Girl with Dragon Tattoo (subtitled in spanish). In one fell swoop Julio and Karina satisfied our American desires. (Tickets were $2.50 each for a state of the art movie theater, Julio couldn’t believe we paid $10-$15 to see a movie in the states)

Next morning we took the truck to our mechanic Adrian in Guatemala City. I had a laundry list of things I needed done/fixed on the truck. Adrian said he would treat the truck as his own and we placed our baby in his hands.

The repairs ended up taking a while and we spent the next few weeks partying it up with Julio and Karina. We met all their friends and family and got to see a side of Guatemala City most travelers never see.
http://homeonthehighway.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/DSCN2260-Large_thumb.jpg

http://homeonthehighway.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/IMG_9066-Large_thumb.jpg

Guatemala Cities “Eiffel Tower”
http://homeonthehighway.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/IMG_9234-Large_thumb.jpg

The worlds biggest plate of Guatemalan typical snacks. Julio got very excited.
http://homeonthehighway.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/IMG_9239-Large_thumb.jpg

Capital building of Guatemala (The Green House)
http://homeonthehighway.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/IMG_9244-Large_thumb.jpg

Guachitos! Guatemalan Drunk food. Greasy delicious hamburgers served up till 4AM.
http://homeonthehighway.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/IMG_9068-Large_thumb.jpg

Old town Guatemala City
http://homeonthehighway.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/IMG_9011-Large_thumb.jpg

http://homeonthehighway.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/IMG_9015-Large_thumb.jpg

Read the rest of the story and see more pics on the blog at http://homeonthehighway.com (http://homeonthehighway.com)

[bansil]

:wings: Awesome!

[Falkon]

I want to be y'all when I grow up. Is it odd that I am older...?

[Esmi]

These guys have a "gas fund donation button" over on their website. If you like reading their tales of derring-do, and want to help keep them on the road, I suggest you go over there and show them some love.

[defrag4]

I want to be y'all when I grow up. Is it odd that I am older...?

lol young at heart, brother, young at heart!

[defrag4]

These guys have a "gas fund donation button" over on their website. If you like reading their tales of derring-do, and want to help keep them on the road, I suggest you go over there and show them some love.

thanks for the shameless plug! ;)

[defrag4]

Before our trip we researched all the countries we would be visiting on the PanAm. Overwhelmingly, overlanders reported the most issues with border crossings, corrupt cops, bribery, and theft in Honduras. From what we read the cops seem to like to play it fast and loose in Honduras with “official laws” changing daily or even in between car checkpoints...

We came prepared with our “Anti-Bribery toolkit". 3 reflective triangles, 1 fire extinguisher, roll of reflective tape, crappy porn mags and cheap cigarettes.

We mentally prepped ourselves for chaos and headed towards “El Florido”. We reached the border, nestled in a small valley between some large green hills.

What we found was not quite the insanity we expected. In fact it was actually a pretty sleepy frontera with just a few trucks idling about. Not a single scamming tramidor or corrupt official to be seen.
http://homeonthehighway.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/El-Florido-Large_thumb.jpg

Equipped with our new spanish skills we asked around a bit and figured out the process. We found the aduana office and talked with a customs official who took care of stamping our passports out of Guatemala and canceling our car permit. We gave him all the paperwork and just sat back, he ran around various offices taking care of everything for us. Gratis! (Free)

Well… that was easy. It must get crazy on the Honduras side right??

We get back in the truck, drive a few hundred feet down the road and park in front of the Honduras Customs office. A man in a customs shirt comes up to us and says he is headed to lunch... OK?

Apparently, the customs office closes daily for lunch. (OVERLANDING PROTIP: Get your border crossings done before 12:00PM)

The official instructed us to get our passports stamped into Honduras and then come back later to handle the truck paperwork. Alrighty… We didn’t really have much of a choice so we stamped into Honduras and headed over to the comedor (restaurant) to have some lunch.

We entered the small lunchroom and the customs official waved howdy to us over his bowl of soup. We spent an hour eating lunch with the entire customs office watching “Scrubs” dubbed in spanish on the lunchroom T.V.

FYI: I don’t think “Scrubs” style of humor translates to Central America… though that Zach Braff sure is dreamy.

When lunch was over we headed back with the customs official to the office. A bunch of stamps, bunch of copies, and we were in. No strange fees, no bribes. Easy. Just how we like it.

As long as you have plenty of time to hang out for lunch “El Florido” is a great border crossing.

Welcome to Honduras.
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I read somewhere that 75% of Honduras is on at least a 25% incline. I believe it, this country is full of rolling hills and mountains.
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Our first stop in Honduras was Copan Ruinas. We had heard tale of a bar there with a german owner who was brewing up 100% organic hefeweizen and other german beers. After drinking nothing but tasteless lagers for the past 5 months I was dying for a beer with some real flavor. Oh ya. I heard there were some Mayan ruins nearby too…

We pull into the city of Copan Ruinas and start asking beer questions, someone points us in the direction toSol De Copan, German Bar and Restaurant.
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We walked up and met Tomas outside smoking a cigarette, He saw our truck driving down the street with the California plates. He said “You guys must be thirsty?”
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We spent the rest of the entire day and evening hanging out with Tomas and making all kinds of new friends in Copan Ruinas. Once Tomas said we could just camp outside the bar we REALLY hit the sauce…

I don’t recall much from that night. I do remember we woke up the next morning in a fog. We drove 5 hazy minutes to the ruins, stepped outside the truck. Looked at the steep hike, looked at the hot sun, and then looked at each other… We jumped back in the A/C cooled truck and headed to the beach chugging water and tylenol the whole way.

Maybe next time Ruinas!

Up until Honduras the weather has been fairly mild, not too incredibly hot, not to cold. The instant we crossed into Honduras it started to heat up and humidify quickly. We thanked baby jesus that Adrian fixed our A/C in Guatemala City every time we stepped foot out of the truck into the inferno outside.

The palm-tree lined sandy shores of Tela, Honduras were more our speed on that hot day. We sat in the shade, ate fresh ceviche, and nursed our hangovers.

Sunset over the Caribbean. Tela, Honduras
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[defrag4]

Thoroughly relaxed and recovered from our hangovers we pushed towards La Ceiba, Honduras and Pico Bonito National Park.

Semana Santa (Holy Week) was rapidly approaching. During Semana Santa the entire latin american populace takes the week off and heads to the coastline to party it up. On the beaches of Tela we were sitting at ground-zero for the madness. The hotel owners all said we should get the hell out of dodge before Monday, every single hotel room was booked up for the next 8 days and people were flocking in by the thousands when we hit the road.

We headed for the hills! Specifically Pico Bonito national park located outside the town of La Ceiba, Honduras. We stopped by the grocery and stocked up on supplies. We were planning to be gone for at least a week up in the mountain, vowing only to come out once the madness had ended.
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The Rio Cangrejal winds through Pico Bonito park. Rio Cangrejal is known for its world-class white-water rafting.
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We followed dirt roads all throughout the park searching for free place to pirate camp. Unfortunately you had the river on one side and crazy dense jungle on the other. Not many opportunity's for camping. Beautiful country though.
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I had some fun mashing through some wild river crossings and getting some weird looks from kids wondering why this gringo is driving in their swimming holes.
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On the road we pass this hut slinging some sort of jungle hooch. We, of course, pulled over to have a taste.
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Guifiti/Gifiti is a Garifun native drink made out of sticks, herbs (including that good good), spices, and rum. It tastes like crap but they say its good for your health and vigor.
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Saluld!
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They also had this bottle of AIDS for sale. Surprisingly it was pretty damn good.
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Sun was starting to set and we still had not found a place to camp, We passed a few hostel/hotels on the way up the mountain so doubled-back to check them out.

We found a spot called “Omega Tours” who offer cabins/camping/rafting tours in Pico Bonito. $5 a night and they have a bar. Sold!
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More pics and the rest of the story on the blog at http://homeonthehighway.com (http://homeonthehighway.com)

[Ruined Adventures]

Hey dude, you double posted the Honduras border crossing! I can't believe you guys were right there and you skipped Copan...shame shame

[defrag4]

Hey dude, you double posted the Honduras border crossing! I can't believe you guys were right there and you skipped Copan...shame shame

woop, fixed.

ya ya ya.... :friday:

[defrag4]

We packed up our stuff from the “Omega Tours” in Pico Bonito and headed to town to stock up on supplies, gas, and cash. We were planning to drive out to the remote “Miskito Coast” and needed to be prepared for anything.

We load up the grocery cart with tons of food, water, beer etc. Hit the register and try to pay with our debit card. Lady tells me its not working for some reason… OK, try this one? Still not working… Great. OK Let me go pull some cash from the ATM.

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ATM is not working either. Crap. We try Lauren’s card, same thing. Nada. “Please contact your bank” UGH. Worst case scenario as we now have no money, no food, and no phone to call to figure out what is going on.

We apologize to the clerk and abandon our cart full of crap in the store, luckily we were in a mall and figured we could find a payphone/internet café to call the bank and see what was up. We went out to the truck and pilfered our last few bits of change from the ashtray to pay for a call.

We find an internet café which is setup for international dialing, after messing around for 20 minutes trying to dial a 1800 number (If you have ever tried to use a phone outside the country you will understand!) we finally get through. Then we end up waiting on hold for 45 minutes…. Lauren and I start to wonder if we have enough change to cover this damn call.

Finally an exasperated man picks up the line, Before I get a chance to say anything he yells “THE VISA NETWORK IS DOWN! YOU CANT USE YOUR CARD!”

Oh. Looks like we weren't the only ones with problems….

It turns out while we were staring blankly at the grocery store clerk and then confusedly stumbling from ATM to ATM with no success. The entire VISA network in the states was taking a 45-minute coffee break.

http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/4c34ce547f8b9ac9288e0300/visa.jpg

We hung up the phone, walked out to the ATM, and tried again. The sweet whiiir of cash being queued up was like music to our ears.

Life is all about timing my friends… 10 minutes earlier we would have had no problems getting cash, 45 minutes later the same. We just happened to arrive at the perfectly incorrect time.

Overlanding ProTip: We have a stash of US currency in the truck for emergencies like this, however the store did not take U.S. money. We now keep a little stash of local currency in the truck as well. You never know when your card is going to crap out on you.

[defrag4]

Stocked up, fueled up, and ready for adventure! We hit the road to the Moskito coast.

The directions we had were shaky at best and we ended up taking a wrong turn into a small sketchy neighborhood. Before I got a chance to turn around we found ourselves smack in the middle of a police-checkpoint in this barrio.

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The checkpoint was manned by 6 young fellas. They see us coming and pull me over. Young guy asks me the usual paperwork questions and then says he needs to search my truck... OK. We haven’t been asked to search our truck yet in Honduras so I thought it a bit odd.

Then he asks me to get out of the truck. Again odd, I haven't been asked to get out in quite some time either.

So I get out and he puts me up against the truck and gives me a crappy cursory pat-down. The first pat-down I have received since leaving the U.S. Obviously he wasn’t looking very hard since he doesn't notice I have a damn buck knife in my pocket. He starts asking me if I have drugs, where we are from, did we come here to buy drugs. We are conversing in spanish, I am telling him… No we are just lost, we are tourists bla bla blah.

He continues to search the truck, I roll down the rear-window, he opens the cooler and comes back around to the front of the truck. He then tells me “Having a cooler full of beer during Semana Santa is illegal...”

I say... Por Que? (Why?) and he says because the police say so...

So from this point on we know this guy is trying to take us for a bribe and we mentally shift gears.

As sick as it sounds… We have been preparing for this moment now for so long we are almost excited to get a chance to have a go at some corrupt cops. The game is a-foot!

He rechecks all of our papers and tells us our vehicle import papers are only good for Guatemala (which is bull****. Why would Honduran immigration give me an vehicle import document for Guatemala?) so I call him out on that in spanish. Surprised by our confidence. He moves on.

Then he says I need a front plate. I explain to him you do not need one in the United States and they do not issue you a front Honduran plate at the border, in spanish. He moves on again.

He starts saying I have drugs in the car, since I am from California and Californias love drugs! (I see our reputation precedes us…) I tell him we do not have any in spanish. He moves on.

The cop just keeps coming up random crap hoping we cave and just offer him cash. I keep calling him on his B.S. in spanish. He is almost smiling at this point, unable to keep the con alive and remain serious.

Eventually he just straight up starts asking for a bribe/regalo (gift). That is when we start playing the fool and immediately forget all the spanish we know….

Everything he asks now is met with a "no entiendo"(I dont understand)

He asks Lauren something, she replies “No entiendo”

We go back and forth for 10 more minutes with him asking me for a regalo and me saying <em>“no entiendo”</em>and talking to him about random nonsense in rapid fire english which really confuses him.

He keeps saying in frustration “You don’t understand my language!?”. Guess he forgot about the 1st half of our conversation that took place entirely in spanish…

Eventually he calls his buddy over who just tells him to knock it off. Young Cop #2 takes our paperwork from Young Cop #1 hands it to me and tells us to get going.

Home on the Highway-1 Honduran Corrupt Cop-0

While every case dealing with the police is different…we have found, as have most others, if you play along with the cop long enough, waste their time, or just downright confuse them. You can get out of most bribery incidents without paying a nickel.

NOTE: This was our first bribe attempt in over 5 months of travel and 20,000+ miles covered. The majority of police/military we have encountered have been friendly and helpful.

PS: He never did ask about our reflective triangles, fire extinguisher, or reflective tape!!!

[defrag4]

ATM disaster dodged, Corrupt cops deflected. What else could go wrong!?

We are climbing through the mountain passes of Honduras and I can tell the 4Runner is losing power. Not exactly sure what is going on I do what any proud Toyota owner would do and simply ignore it. Hell... She still runs don’t she?

Eventually we are coming through a construction zone near the top of a pass and I lose all momentum/power. The truck basically cuts out. The accelerator pedal pins flat to the floor and doesn't come back up.

We are smackdab in the middle of the construction zone. Huge dumptrucks and bulldozers battle it out with the mountainside all around us. It is at least 95F, hot, dusty, and LOUD.

We are stuck blocking the 1-lane of the passable highway with gigantic buses and semi-trucks all honking and trying to squeeze around us.

I jump out of the truck and pop the hood. Chaos everywhere. Tons of dust, huge loud tractors, people honking like crazy at us. I check the throttle cable and its all screwed up, sagging from the throttle body like a limp noodle.

I try to jerry rig it quickly. No go, It wont retract. Something is jamming. I pull out my tools and take it apart in the middle of the highway with people passing everywhere.

No wonder it wont retract... Line is frayed and jamming inside the throttle cable housing.
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Not going anywhere fast I decide to push the truck to the side of the road and assess the situation. I figured the cable had not yet broke and I could just remove the frayed wires and it would get me a little further. While I was working on this 2 random construction workers came over and started talking to us. They said they knew a mechanic in the next town and would be happy to give us both a ride. We locked up the truck and jumped into the construction workers truck.

They gave us a ride to town where the mechanic looked at the cable and said we needed a new one (you don’t say!?) He didn’t have one but knew there were parts stores in the next town. Back into the construction workers truck we go. Drove about 15 miles to the next town....

We searched from store to store. 83 throttle cable for a 22R motor, 88 throttle cable for a diesel Hilux, 22RE cable for a Corolla. No exact matches for a 87 4Runner 22RE. I figured I could make the 22R cable work but the parts guy insisted we need the right one.

The little town did not have the right cable but they assured us we could find one in San Pedro Sula (Large industrial town of Honduras). However the town was almost an hour away.

I started asking the guys if they knew a taxi that we could call to take us all the way to San Pedro. They said “Nonsense!” and off to San Pedro Sula we went, a 45-mile drive in the construction truck.

An hour later we arrive in San Pedro, same situation. Store to store to store with no exact match found. These guys have been helping me now for 3 hours in the hot as hades Honduran sun. We can barely speak to them, we have no idea what the hell is going on with our truck back at the construction site, and store after store turns us down. Our gracious construction workers are getting frustrated as well. I am wishing I just rigged my cable and ignored these guys, when all of the sudden I see a little hole-in-the-wall parts store "TOYOTA REPUESTOS IMPORTER". I jump out of the truck and run in with my cable, 30 seconds later I have an EXACT match 87 4Runner cable. We all rejoice and head back to the truck.

With the bad cable out.
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We put the new cable in. Success!!! Back in business. I offered to pay these guy for their gas/time (They drove over 60 miles and were with us for almost 5 hours) but they refused. They said to us…

"Today we help you, tomorrow maybe someone help us"

I forced a few cold coke-colas on them from our fridge, we gave them some hugs, thanks, and said goodbye.

Time and time again we say that the people of Mexico/Central America we meet are the nicest, friendliest, most giving people on earth. The people of Honduras live up this mantra as well. We have loved getting to know them and their beautiful country.

[nwoods]

That is so awesome!

[Ruined Adventures]

Overlanding ProTip: We have a stash of US currency in the truck for emergencies like this, however the store did not take U.S. money. We now keep a little stash of local currency in the truck as well. You never know when your card is going to crap out on you.
Good advice! Also a good idea to carry two cards of different carriers, ie Mastercard AND Visa. We wanted to open a Mastercard account just in case we had problems with our VISA, but we ran out of time. Oh well...we carry extra US cash and pesos in our safe just in case. It's already bailed us out of a couple embarrassing moments!

Glad to hear you guys stayed strong with la policia. We're still waiting for our chance to play "the game" with some cops :sombrero:

[jimny]

I hate the police of Latin America, always searching for money, in Colombia one time a police say me if don't give money he put me drugs in my bag a take me to the jail! of course is lie he only wanna money, don't be afraid and never show you nervous, maybe they let you go or have to pay a few money.

for example if they ask 30 dollars give only 10, this type of police are so pathetic you can ask for a discount jajaja

[bansil]

As usual a great read

You two realize you can't go home now:Wow1:...nope...never

There is something about the stories, the pictures...it's by far the best one:ylsmoke: on line

So you must continue around the world if you ever get to Ushuaia...this part of the story should be good for another year:Astrologist:...then across the water with you two

Safe travels to you:victory:

[gr1910]

let me know if you guys plan to stop by venezuela! i know its not very well advertised, but if you have someone to show you around you will have no problems at all!

[defrag4]

We had seen the movie "The Mosquito Coast"with Harrison Ford a few years ago that described this very remote undeveloped area of the northern Honduran coastline. We forgot all about it until we saw the name again in our Honduras guidebook. The Moskito Coast is described as the least developed area in all of Central America. With minimal roads, no services, and no tourist infrastructure. It sounded right up our alley.

We heard about a 4x4 trail that hugs the coastline out to a small Miskito village named “Pueblo Nuevo”. They said it was rough going, lots of beach/sand driving, river crossings, and no support out their if something was to go wrong. SOLD!

Winding through the hills towards the coastline
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The paved road gave way to dirt path on the way to the coast.
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Loads of Coconut/Date palms, Banana trees, all kinds of fruit trees. Dole/United Fruit Company/Chiquita Banana have had Honduras on lock for 50+ years. You can find various sides of the story, some people say they have exploited the people/land for profit, others say they took a malaria-infested swamp and turned it into livable habitat and provide a decent life for the people. Either way, They are here to stay. We passed mile after mile after mile of fruit trees. And thousands of people selling bushels of fresh off the tree (still green) bananas everywhere. You could buy a huge bushel of bananas (like 50 bananas) for $1.
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Dirt roads through mile after mile of plantation.
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Somewhere along the way on these horrible rutted roads, I go to push the brake pedal down and it hits the floor… Slowing to a stop, I jump out and find the front driver side brakeline pissing brake fluid and my front caliper bolt missing.

The caliper bolt had somehow rattled its way out allowing the caliper to rock back and forth eventually causing the brakeline to snap. 40 miles out into the bush with no brakes… We had the option to turn around and head back to civilization (Knowing that it was Semana Santa week and most shops would be closed) or just keep mashing it out towards the Miskito Coast using just the transmission and E-Brake to stop. What do you think we chose?
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Getting further and further from civilization we encounter lots of small Garifun/Miskito villages. Most people live in simple thatched roof mud huts out here. Very basic but they all seemed happy and smiled at us when we waved.

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Couldn't find any place to camp so we rolled into a small village and ask around for place to stay. We find Don Tinos hospedaje (small hotel) for $5 a night. We met Tino himself who was a nice guy and it was getting dark, so we say OK.
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Things are a little rougher inside. Raggedy bed with roach guide on the wall. The roach guide did come in handy that night as we played “GUESS THAT BUG!” TV syndication rights in progress, back off FOX!
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I tried to crimp/JBweld the snapped brakeline so we could at least have 3 working brakes. It worked for a few minutes but after I bled the brakes and applied some real pressure to the crimp/JBweld it gave out spraying my eyes full of brake fluid (fun!)

Oh well. E-Brake still works!

We mash on further. Tino from the hotel tells us there is a road that leads deeper into the Miskito Coast but the road is completely sand and there is a "river crossing" we need to pass. OK, I can dig a river crossing. He says its difficult to pass the river if you don’t know where to cross. He assigns some random dude from the village to jump on the back of our truck to show us the way.

Our new guia (guide)
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We drive through the village and eventually out onto the beach, We drive through the deep sand for a ways when the truck stalls due to getting stuck in the sand. Homeboy jumps off the truck and starts running towards the ocean and taking off his pants. Lauren and I are thinking... What the hell? Did we just give this dude a ride to the ocean so he can go for a swim?

Eventually we realize this guy is fording some sort of underwater sandbar and trying to show us the way to drive across the damn ocean to get to the other side.

I look at Lauren and say.... Looks like were driving in the ocean! We get out and air down the tires to 10psi which frees us from the sand and we head to the start of this underwater sandbar. Homeboy runs back to guide us once more.

We drive into the ocean, water up to the hood of our lifted truck and this random Honduran kid swimming in front of the truck in the ocean.
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See more pics and read the rest of the story on the blog, http://homeonthehighway.com (http://homeonthehighway.com)

[LaOutbackTrail]

Hell yeah!!! I did some studies on the Moskito coast in college. Cool culture out there! I was going to go to the same area on a moto trip south... that never happened. One day! Thanks for sharing!

[BIGdaddy]

Just wanted to say, LOVE the pics and blog posts. thank you!

Your'alls great attitutudes and adventure spirit definitely comes through in your posts.

One question, I tried to watch the vid on your blog, but it was only 1 sec long when I visited a few minutes ago.

Is that it, just a "tidbit"? Would love to see more of that jaunt, but I def. understand if it's just simply a glimpse. :)

[toymaster]

I tried to crimp/JBweld the snapped brakeline so we could at least have 3 working brakes. It worked for a few minutes but after I bled the brakes and applied some real pressure to the crimp/JBweld it gave out spraying my eyes full of brake fluid (fun!)

At the risk of semi-teching your wonderful thread. A pair of vise grips or small c-clamp usually work in that situation. :safari-rig:

[BIGdaddy]

At the risk of semi-teching your wonderful thread. A pair of vise grips or small c-clamp usually work in that situation. :safari-rig:

x2...yup, i've seen a couple "three brake'd" rigs drive pretty close to stock on some rough terrain. One was clamped on the soft line, and one had some more extensive damage at the knuckle, so they just rolled the hard line a few times back on itself and clamped a vise-grip over the folds. Then they taped that to the axle...

[LaOutbackTrail]

Also, could you guys provide an approximate location with google maps for Pueblo Nuevo?

[Detslider]

I don't have access to good mapping software right now but this google maps link should answer LaOutback's question.
I'm pretty sure point A is the water crossing and Point B is the end of the road and village.
http://g.co/maps/7272c

If you look at the Departamento (state) border you can see you did make it to La Mosquitia but not by much.
Regardless it's farther than most people (including Hondurans) go and I'm impressed!

The policeman you encountered was no doubt seeking a bribe, but his questions of drugs weren't entirely unjustified; the Mosquitia coast is a frequent landing point for narco boats and semi-submersibles that launch from Colombia. It's known to be a dangerous and lawless place.

Again, awesome update, hope to be following in your tracks later this year!

[defrag4]

We camped out on the beach and did not a see a soul for most of the next day.

Later in the afternoon, 2 young guys came riding up on horses. We started talking and it turns out that one guy was from Belize (and spoke english) and the other dude was Garifun from the village just up the road. We shared some beers and became instant friends.
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We spent the rest of the day sharing stories, drinkin’, and riding their horses bareback on the beach. Kenry told us the last time he saw white people was over a year ago, another Californian (surprise, surprise) had backpacked his way down to the village.

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Eventually we run out of beer and they say we can buy more in their village which is about 5 miles up the beach. OFF WE GO! FOLLOW THAT HORSE!
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We parked in front of the village bar, headed inside to BOOMING reggae music and a handful of 5-10 year old kids doing some of the dirtiest dancing I have ever seen. It was hilarious. We picked up some more beer and on our way out a drunk dude tried to sell Lauren a dead iguana for dinner. I almost bought it (I've been trying to eat iguana this whole trip!) but my buddy said it wasn't a good tasting one.
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We headed back to the beach and continued the party. Our friends brought a bottle of Miskito hooch, which got us all pretty loopy. The stuff was straight fire water.

Not a bad spot to party at.
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After many beers and bottles of Miskito liquor I decided it would be a good idea to ride the horse again...

UP YOU GO!
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DOWN YOU GO!
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SUCCESS!
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We say goodnight to our friends, they pose for some stunna shots and rode off into the sunset.
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Another night in Paradise.
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See more pics and read the rest of the story on the blog, http://homeonthehighway.com (http://homeonthehighway.com)

[LaOutbackTrail]

Purely awesome, guys.

See everyone... you are able to go to "dangerous" areas and not get machete'd up by the locals!

Can't wait to see what Nicaragua has in store for you! I think you guys will love it there! Changes in Latitudes, changes in attitudes.

[defrag4]

Good advice! Also a good idea to carry two cards of different carriers, ie Mastercard AND Visa. We wanted to open a Mastercard account just in case we had problems with our VISA, but we ran out of time. Oh well...we carry extra US cash and pesos in our safe just in case. It's already bailed us out of a couple embarrassing moments!

Glad to hear you guys stayed strong with la policia. We're still waiting for our chance to play "the game" with some cops :sombrero:

hopefully your turn will never come! but if it does... your prepared!

[defrag4]

At the risk of semi-teching your wonderful thread. A pair of vise grips or small c-clamp usually work in that situation. :safari-rig:


thanks bud, Ive learned a lot about brake repair since this incident!

[defrag4]

Just wanted to say, LOVE the pics and blog posts. thank you!

Your'alls great attitutudes and adventure spirit definitely comes through in your posts.

One question, I tried to watch the vid on your blog, but it was only 1 sec long when I visited a few minutes ago.

Is that it, just a "tidbit"? Would love to see more of that jaunt, but I def. understand if it's just simply a glimpse. :)
Unforunately Lauren got too excited and had the camera in the wrong mode during the crossing, all we got was a 1 sec clip

[defrag4]

Hell yeah!!! I did some studies on the Moskito coast in college. Cool culture out there! I was going to go to the same area on a moto trip south... that never happened. One day! Thanks for sharing!

Get out there! I bet you could fit a Moto on the kayuk and bring the bike with you to even more remote places

[defrag4]

let me know if you guys plan to stop by venezuela! i know its not very well advertised, but if you have someone to show you around you will have no problems at all!


thanks gr, we are not sure if we are headed to Venezuela yet. The gas prices are enticing though... If we end up heading that way we will hit you up! thanks for the offer

[defrag4]

As usual a great read

You two realize you can't go home now:Wow1:...nope...never

There is something about the stories, the pictures...it's by far the best one:ylsmoke: on line

So you must continue around the world if you ever get to Ushuaia...this part of the story should be good for another year:Astrologist:...then across the water with you two

Safe travels to you:victory:


thanks bansil, we hope to continue around the world... need to save a little more money first ;)

[defrag4]

Purely awesome, guys.

See everyone... you are able to go to "dangerous" areas and not get machete'd up by the locals!

Can't wait to see what Nicaragua has in store for you! I think you guys will love it there! Changes in Latitudes, changes in attitudes.

Life would be boring without the locals, might as well stay home!

[defrag4]

I hate the police of Latin America, always searching for money, in Colombia one time a police say me if don't give money he put me drugs in my bag a take me to the jail! of course is lie he only wanna money, don't be afraid and never show you nervous, maybe they let you go or have to pay a few money.

for example if they ask 30 dollars give only 10, this type of police are so pathetic you can ask for a discount jajaja

lol thanks for the tips jimny!

[gr1910]

thanks gr, we are not sure if we are headed to Venezuela yet. The gas prices are enticing though... If we end up heading that way we will hit you up! thanks for the offer

the black market exchange rate is also very high right now... so everything is relatively cheap..! (about 9 bolivares per dolar)
google some of this stuff so you get exited on coming here !
Los Roques
Gran Sabana (a part of canaima national park, in the border with brasil, very camping friendly)
Angel Falls (tallest waterfall)
Aguaro Guariquito (national park)
morrocoy

[BIGdaddy]

Unforunately Lauren got too excited and had the camera in the wrong mode during the crossing, all we got was a 1 sec clip

haha, I figured. My wife does that all the time. No worries! Safe travels...

[defrag4]

Perhaps we were getting too big for our britches, perhaps we had one too many drinks the night before, and perhaps we did not bother to sit down and seriously study the Honduran/Nicaraguan border crossing. But here is a lesson on what NOT to do.

I went back and forth on sharing this story… Primarily out of amateur overlander shame and secondarily out of scaring the crap out of our parents. But here at Home on the Highway we like to share the UPS and DOWNS of the adventure. So here it is!

NOTE: There are no pictures to this post. During stressful times the last thing running through your mind is, “OH I SHOULD SNAP A PICTURE!” Sadly, once you look back these are the times you wish you had documented it via photos.
We arrived at the “El Espino” border from Honduras into Nicaragua. We had glanced over some border crossing info the night before but feeling confident enough with our Spanish and our prior border crossing experience we did not bother to study. We roughly calculated it would cost around $50 to complete the crossing and had that amount in Honduran Lempiras. Mistake #1. ALWAYS CARRY EXTRA CASH AND CLOSELY RESEARCH FEES BEFORE HAND

We arrive to the frontier road and find a chain strung across it. A government official sits lazily in an old run-down shack nearby. We are instantly bombarded by touts (border helpers) but we are prepared for this and ignore them. I grab our paperwork and make a beeline to the government shack.

I hand over our paperwork over to the government official to check it out, he, in turn, immediately hands it over to some random dude in a T-Shirt who proceeds to run off with it. Mistake #2 NEVER LET YOUR PAPERWORK OUT OF SIGHT

I ask the government official, “What the hell?”

Government official explains that I must to use this guy to get the process done…

Sensing the worst, I immediately run after him to find our paperwork. I find him in a another dirt-floor shack that has been rigged up with a copy machine. T-Shirt guy is happily making copies of all our paperwork.

I demand it all back from him, he refuses explaining that he is the official in charge of this process. Not exactly wanting to get into a brawl at the border… I reluctantly pay the copy man $5! for a fistful of copies and we go back to government official in the shack whom I apparently need to get a stamp from to cancel my Honduran import permit to move on with the border crossing process.

The entire time I am yelling about getting my damn paperwork back, so now T-Shirt guy and government official are both perturbed that this gringo is rocking the boat. They start running a scam demanding some bull**** receipt we were supposed to have from purchasing the original car import permit into Honduras over 3 weeks ago.

I told them we received no receipt and obviously we have paid since we had a legitimate car import permit.

They explained that if I did not have the original receipt then I would have to pay again.... $40 (Originally it was $25 when I paid crossing into Honduras from Guatemala…)

Realizing we are now deep into scam territory I start some scamming of my own…
I explain… “Ummm... OK I am happy to pay for the new receipt but I do not have enough cash right now.”

I told the government employee that I needed his official stamp to move on with the process, to the next country where I could use an ATM. He reluctantly agrees and stamps our paperwork. He tells his T-shirt buddy to stay with us to make sure I come back and pay him. Great… a new friend!

I jump back in the truck, Lauren who has been listening to all this going down, gives me the “What the hell are you doing!?” look…

T-Shirt guy runs ahead of the truck with our paperwork. By the time I catch up with him he has had our passports stamped out of Honduras (I pay his friend $10 in bribes... for this) It is normally free and I know this but I am all flustered and not thinking clearly at the time.

After checking out our passports T-shirt guy goes to check the car import permit out of Honduras. For this he actually did come in handy since the office was closed for lunch, I guess he knows the people that work there since he banged on the door and someone came and got him. They went inside for a few minutes and came back with our stuff. The import official wanted a bribe as well, Worrying about my dwindling bankroll, I told him I didn't have enough money but would come back later to pay...

We were now officially checked out of Honduras (Owing at least $60 in back-pay bribes) but now needed to check into Nicaragua.
At this point I now have T-shirt guy and 3 other touts following me around like sharks. I have screwed up. I am now a mark...

To enter into Nicaragua you are required to purchase car insurance and pay a per/person check-in visa fee. I needed to change my Honduran Lempiras into Nicaraguan Cordobas (Again, We did not check the exchange rate.. and lost about $5 in this process)
I pay the Nicaraguan customs guy for our visa stamps. He was actually very friendly and yelled at the touts to leave us alone.

We get our passports stamped and now our bodies are official in Nicaragua but the truck is still in limbo stuck between the 2 countries.

We need to buy insurance and get it inspected by customs to get the truck legally into the country.

Problem is after all Nicaraguan entry-fees, various bribes, and getting screwed on the exchange rate now we REALLY are tapped out of cash.

We do not have enough money to buy insurance AKA We cannot drive into Nicaragua.

This is when 3rd world shadiness comes in handy. I search around for a dude who sells insurance who also happens to know the Nicaraguan customs guy. I explain to him I do not have enough cash to buy insurance or pay for customs inspection. I need to get into Nicaragua to use an ATM and if he could help me I would pay him for his services.
So shady insurance guy writes us up an insurance policy and gets his customs friend to inspect my truck.

I tell shady insurance guy and customs guy that I will pay them for the insurance policy and bribes once I get some money.
OK. So now we have a Nicaraguan insurance policy, the truck is inspected and signed off by Nicaraguan customs. Our passports are officially stamped into Nicaragua. I have a long-line of people who are demanding payment for their “services”. Everyone involved is pissed off and I still have no money.

I talk with Shady insurance guy and he assures the angry mob (lead by damn T-Shirt guy from Honduras!) that he will go with me to the ATM and come back with money for everyone. He wants me to go on his motorcycle into town and leave my truck at the border.

I say “Screw that, You get in my truck and we will go into town together”

Lauren who is all kinds of pissed off at me and this whole situation now has to climb in the back and squeeze between all of our crap. The shady insurance guy gets in the front-seat of the 4Runner and we drive into Nicaragua...

We are are now driving in Nicaragua, the closet town with an ATM is about 20 miles away. Lauren and I are talking in English to each other trying to figure out if we are 100% legit in Nicaragua. I am wondering if maybe we need some other paperwork at the border.

We determine we do not need anything. If we were to kick this dude out of the car we would be 100% legal and all those other border scammers could go pound sand.

Now Shady Insurance guy was really the only dude who really helped me out, he fronted the $12 for insurance out of his own pocket. I did not want to screw him over completely.

We finally get to the ATM. I pull out cash, jump back in the truck and drive back down the road. We are headed back to the border. Shady insurance guy is totaling up all the money I owe the other scammers, It totaled up to $85, plus $12 for insurance.
Somewhere in between the border and the town I pull over the truck. Give the guy $20 and tell him to get out. He gives me a confused look and starts asking for more money.

I tell him that is all he is getting. He argues for a bit but then gives up and gets out of the truck.

We are finally 100% legal and alone in Nicaragua.

What a friggin' day.

[LaOutbackTrail]

Man... I'm too slow of a thinker and would have totally gotten scammed....:Wow1:

Great story though. Enjoy Nicaragua. When you get down to Lake Nicaragua, you can take a little ferry across and explore the two volcanoes. The islands are mostly used for agriculture (sugar cane mostly) and most of the roads were unpaved...

[ab1985]

So you paid $20 for a lesson you won't soon forget. Not bad IMO. Great recovery!

[Ruined Adventures]

Somewhere in between the border and the town I pull over the truck. Give the guy $20 and tell him to get out. He gives me a confused look and starts asking for more money.

I tell him that is all he is getting. He argues for a bit but then gives up and gets out of the truck.

Awkwaaaaard :sombrero:

[GregB_00XJ]

T Shirt guy is probably still pissed... good.

[defrag4]

Border fiasco behind us we drove deeper into Nicaragua. Nicaragua is the land of volcanoes. Pretty much everywhere you turned your head your eyes would meet at least one or two of them towering over the horizon. On the road to Leon we were passing many parks that looked good for camping.
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We turn down the road into one of the parks, A guard meets us at the gate. We tell him we want to camp near the Volcano. He seems confused but then explains there is a road that goes up the Volcano and points towards some farmers and their cows plying up some path.

We ask “Can we camp up there?” He says “Sure!”

So we headed off towards the “road”.

We end up in "traffic" behind a farmer, his horses and his young son. The "road" appears to be more of a cow path that farmers use to move their cattle from pasture to pasture.
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After slowly creeping behind this farmer up this horribly rutted and rocky path for about 15 minutes he stops and asks us what we are doing?
We tell him we are trying to drive up the Volcano to camp....

He says he has never seen anyone drive up this road and it gets pretty rough ahead. I ask him if he thinks its possible to continue, He replies “Maybe…”

We push on further up the volcano, the road continues to deteriorate the higher we get.
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I am mashing in 4x4 over huge boulders, the path is barely wide enough for the 4Runner to fit. I was having a blast tackling this challenging trail, letting the 4Runner do what she was born to do. The farmer is enjoying watching these crazy *** gringos drive up his volcano. Poor Lauren is bouncing all over the truck, worried about breaking our home while driving up this crazy path.

The farmer is now on-board with the adventure to drive up this Volcano. Him and his son are going up ahead of us clearing huge differential murdering boulders out of the way and helping me pick lines to climb up and over rocks, cliffs, and washes.
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After about an hour of mashing the living crap outta our truck we reach a point where we just cant clear the differentials any longer. The farmer looks heartbroken. He offers up his horse to Lauren and I to continue our journey. He wanted to take us back up to his ranch and to spend the night with him and his family.

We considered his offer. Unfortunately, the 4Runner was wedged in the cow path, Nothing else could fit through. I figured I should probably turn around and not leave my truck out here in the middle of nowhere blocking the way.

Sadly we had to say Thank you and Goodbye to our farmer friend and his son. We reversed in 4x4 for about 1/4 mile to a wide enough spot to turn around and start heading back down the mountain http://forums.offtopic.com/images/smilies/tear.gif
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Eventually we get back to the guard at the park gate. For some reason he was laughing his butt off when he saw us drive up… turns out that bastard knew it wasn't a trail for trucks! He was pretty impressed when we told him how far we got up though.

We caught a beautiful sunset that night as we drove into Leon, Nicaragua.
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I also got pulled over TWICE in one day in Managua for legitimate reasons. It appears Nicaraguans actually enforce laws of the road. Passing on a double-yellow and using a turn-lane to pass is illegal here…

I explained to the first cop I was just a dumb tourist and he left us off with a warning.

The second cop actually confiscated my license and was about escort us to the bank to pay our citation. Before he pulled off towards the bank he asked where we were going for the day. I explained we were trying to get to Volcano Masaya. He starts laughing and explains we are very lost and completely off-track. All of the sudden he gives me license back, tears up the ticket, then pulls out his motorcycle, stops traffic both directions in the 6-lane highway and gives us a police escort all the way across town to the correct highway to Volcan Masaya. Talk about a turn of events!!

Rest of the story, more pics, and videos on the blog at http://homeonthehighway.com/volcano-driving-in-nicaragua/ (http://homeonthehighway.com/volcano-driving-in-nicaragua)