Team Equipt's "Central America Expedition"

[benedmonson]

We here at Equipt Expedition Outfitters are preparing our lists and checking them twice! Paul May, Beverly Edmonson and myself will be leaving for a two month trip down into the jungles of Central America Dec. 29th 2011. Accompanying us will be our two 4 legged friends "Jackson" the border collie and "Desi" the black lab. We will be taking Paul's 98 100 Series Land Cruiser and our 97 80 Series Land Cruiser otherwise known as "Lucy."
Our loose itinerary is very loose:
1. Our plans are to drive hard and head south down the Gulf of Mexico until we get Chiapas where we will visit Palenque and San Cristobal as well as other surrounding areas.
2. We will be joining James & Angela Brown on the "Ruins & Rainforests" No Limit Expedition from Jan. 14th-23rd. We will arrive at their home in Antigua a few days early to prepare the trucks and hangout in a beautiful Guatemalan city. Video from last trip: http://www.nolimitx.com/no-limit-exp...012-SOLD-OUT-7
3. Next we will have a little more than a week to play around in the Peten before heading up Cancun to pick up Heather May for 2 weeks of fun in the sand! We will be camping and visiting white sandy Gold Coast Beaches, Cenote's and Mayan Ruins all over Quintana Roo and Yucatan.
4. We will then head down to Costa De Cocos for some world class Bone, Tarpon and Permit fishing on the fly. David and Ilana are great hosts at this Jimmy Buffet like palapa style lodge right on the Caribbean Sea...
5. Who Knows???

Suggestions or comments gladly accepted......

[cruiseroutfit]

Very jealous!

Spent a few weeks in Guatemala years ago and would love to go back, be safe down there and enjoy the trip!

[RMP&O]

Sounds fun!

Make sure you have all the right documnets for your dogs. USDA APHIS form is the most important. It takes some time to get it back from the USDA so do not slack on this till the last minute.

I suggest you stop off at the Caves Branch in Belize. It is right along the Hummingbird HWY between Dangriga and Belmopan. If you like outdoor stuff you will not be disappointed there. If you want to do something really exciting in Belize, contact Island Expeditions. The river trips they do down the MoHo River is outstanding, one of the funnest trips I have done in Belize. If you are scuba divers, Off The Wall located on the Glovers Reef Atoll is hard to beat. They only accept very small groups and you stay on a 10ish acre island that is a true eco-resort. A week out there will run over $1,000 though. Jim and Kendra who run Off The Wall are outstanding people though and their island paradise is well worth a visit.

A really great drive in Guatemala is the Pan Am from Antigua to the Mexico border. You can do this drive easily in one day but I would plan on at least 2 days (or more) so you have a chance to see a lot. Sunday is the best day to be on top of the mountains as that is when the market is. If you are in eastern Guatemala I also highly recommend a stop at Finca Ixobel which is near the town of Poptun. It is an awesome place and a good stop off for the night if you are headed north or south in eastern Guatemala. Rio Dulce is a more popular stop in eastern Guatemala but I found Finca Ixobel to be an outstanding place tha is very cheap. If you like rum, well then trying Zacapa while in Guatemala is a must. I think it is some of the best rum on the planet.

Down the Gulf Coast can be tricky, at least without GPS. If you have GPS or the Mexico Atlas it shouldn't be to hard. Really watch out for cops around Veracruz & Tampico. Both cities can be bypassed but the bypasses are not clearly marked and easily missed. If you hit the border at Brownsvile early a good stop for the first night is along the Emerald Coast. Or you can make it almost to Veracruz in the first day if you push really hard. Comitan is also a great place to stay in Chiapas with lot's of good cheap accomidations. Or of course San Cristobal is nice too. If yo have a little time in Southern Mexico, it is just a half day or so drive to the Mex200 and the Pacific coast. Well worth a visit to Puerto Escondido and surrounding areas and easy to kill a few days or more here.

Have fun, stay safe and do a trip report!

[Dgurley2000]

Sounds like a fun trip!

[mep1811]

I'd start reading the Border Beat and Blog del Narco to get intell on current Narco Terrorist situation. Also keep in mind that there is no such thing as rule of law or legitimate security forces just two different sides on the Narco war.

[Equipt]

Great information guys. Thanks for the insight. We're getting pretty excited about this adventure. Our travels down the Baja Peninsula last January gave us the bug to make it an annual activity for us. Heading to Central America made sense. I am really looking forward to experiencing this region. The sites and history of the area is quite intriguing to me, and I am looking forward to some jungle travel as well. We will be posting a great deal, and actually producing our January newsletter "The Sojournal" while we are down there. Please sign up on our site, if you haven't already. We are going to try to Spot post our location live too.

Keep the suggestions coming. They are much appreciated. Right now, it is vehicle prep time! Lot of little things to sort out. My largest prep task is changing out all the major hoses on the truck. I have a little over 237K, and haven't changed a hose yet. At least that I remember. Plus a full shake down of vehicle, to hopefully mitigate any "middle of nowhere" vehicle experiences. Also dialing in a bunch of new gear. We are taking a complete Snow Peak set up with us this year. We love the quality, and we'll put it through the long distance test.

Cheers,

[Dgurley2000]

Right now, it is vehicle prep time! Lot of little things to sort out.

Cheers,

Paul - are you taking your vehicle on the Ruins and Rainforests trip? If so, what tire are you planning on using?

[Equipt]

Hi David,

Yes, we are tagging along at the back of the group. I am running BFG All-Terrains, 295-75-16s. I believe they will be fine. We'll see.

Cheers,

[Dgurley2000]

Hi David,

Yes, we are tagging along at the back of the group. I am running BFG All-Terrains, 295-75-16s. I believe they will be fine. We'll see.

Cheers,

That's good to know. From what I was reading it sounded like mud terrain tires make the going a lot easier on the jungle tracks.

[6string]

David, I'll have the same tire as Paul in a 315/70r17. Hopeful things dry out: I hear it's still very wet right now. We may not make it too far into the jungle on our trip!

Paul, Ben et al: Safe travels, gents. We'll be in touch. Hopefully we bump into y'all.