Refusing Complacency: Adios Guate

The shuttle was supposed to be picking us up at 8am from El Retiro for Flores, Guatemala seven hours further north. I went to reception at 7:00 to make sure the protest had cleared and the shuttle would be arriving at eight. Though the girl at the desk didn’t speak any English, she understood my Spanglish! She called the driver who said everything was go! At 8:00 we were ready and waiting. At 8:30, we were a little worried. At 9:00, we had just about decided to go back to the cabin. We waited around a little longer and finally at 9:35 he showed up with a full bus! We settle in for the next 7 hours, in terribly uncomfortable seats.

About halfway there, the driver leaned out of the window and hollered at a pedestrian, “Para Flores?” . What?? Did I just hear him right? He was asking if he was on the road to Flores. The driver asked for directions over 10 times. It became a joke in the bus. Every time he asked, we all broke out in laughter. We learned later that originally the other riders were picked up at 8, then after leaving were told the bus was being rerouted and they would have to wait for another bus. The driver started pulling luggage off the rack, in the middle of nowhere on a random road, before the riders demanded to at least be taken back to town if they weren’t going to Flores. That’s why he was late picking us up, but I’m glad I missed that part. The driver even had the nerve to ask for a tip when he got our stuff off the bus, we had to just laugh. Finally we made it to Flores, and found an awesome hostel. Flores is an island in Lago de Peten Itza. It is the closest interesting city to Tikal, famous Mayan ruins. We stayed at Casa del Lacandon. We had a private balcony that overlooked the lake, the room was bright and clean. It was a great place to end our time in Guatemala!

The protest we had heard about lasted only a day. Yet after learning of why they were protesting, I wouldn’t blame them for holding it every day. The transportation system in Guatemala is set up to accommodate the various needs of a decently poor population. The bus system is undergoing a change to automatic cards for payment. You buy credits on a travel card, swipe it on any bus and climb on. The cards come in multiples of 100Q, 200Q, and 500Q. However, they are nonrefundable and non reloadable. So if the trip you want to take costs 150Q, you have to buy a 200Q card, yet you get no change. You are stuck with 50Q on a card. Each ride uses only one card (you can’t use multiple cards for 1 fare). This seems like theft to me. They should be protesting this! How much money is going to be wasted because the leftover cards can’t be used? Most Guatemalans don’t have an extra 50Q lying about that can be stored on a card .What if they need that 150Q ticket everyday for market or work? In just a week, that’s 5 cards used, all with extra money that can only be used for fares under 50Q. I hope they stop this bus card deal!

We met a tourguide name Alvero in Flores. He told us about the spots around the lake worth visiting. We had no plans for our first full day there so we opted to go to the zoo, just a short boat ride away. The zoo was small but the animals seemed to mostly be in good open habitats. A lot of the animals were from the wildlife refuge and rehabilitation center, another short boat ride away. We saw a jaguar, puma, macaw, wild boars, a tiny fox and lots more. We got to actually feed the spider monkeys. Alvaro suggested chips, we grabbed regular; he said the monkeys prefer the cheese chips, ha! It was so cool feeling the monkeys’ hands grab the food. We would put it out of their reach and they would grab it with their tails. It was awesome!

The next day we caught a tour bus at 4:30am to Tikal, an amazing Mayan settlement over 2700 years old. At one time there were 100,000 people living in and around Tikal. We climbed temples over 61 meters high. It was amazing to be high in this tower, looking over the top canopy of thick dense jungle. You can see two other temples towering over the jungle, it is an amazing site! We took tons of pictures and our guide Ceaser told us all about the history. After spending 4hours climbing buildings thousands of years old and hearing howler monkeys in the trees around the complexes, it was time for our canopy tour!

We zip-lined over 1km, through the top of the jungle canopy. It was exhilarating! There were 8 segments and our guides showed us how to zip upside down. The views were amazing! Jay and I both had a blast! We took tons of pics and videos! What a way to end Guatemala! I was sad to think this was our last day in this beautiful, vibrant, welcoming country! We went back and took a nap and had a nice dinner. To get back to Mexico the next day, we had a long day of travel by bus-boat-bus to Palenque.

The next morning the van was about thirty mins late, it was supposed to arrive at 5am. Luckily there were only a few people on this trip so we had the whole back row to ourselves. We tried to sleep, but the first 5 hour ride was down a dusty, bumpy, dirt road. We finally made it to Bethel, where the Guatemalan immigration office is. They stamped our passports. We were once again in passport purgatory, out of Guatemala, yet not in Mexico. The bus drove us a few blocks to a smushy, dirt path next to a muddy river bank. We climbed into the boat and settled in for the crisp boat ride to Mexican immigration. Indiginous women were washing clothes and children randomly along the bank. We got to Mexico, and walked a couple hundred meters to the office. I was worried because I didn’t know exactly what Oscar needed to have to enter back into Mexico. Thankfully the guy behind the desk waved my question off when I began to ask. Simple enough. We filled out our tourist cards and began the next leg of the trip by bus to Palenque, more beautiful ruins in Mexico. A couple hours later, we were in a cab from the bus station heading back into the jungle. The best places to stay in Palenque are near the ruins, deep in the jungle. The whole area was busy with tourists. We found a cheap, but less than pleasant place for the night. We ate at Don Muchos, a huge open air place with a cool band. Every table was full, tons of people. We went back to the room to try to rest from the days travels. You would think being so far away in the jungle it would be quiet and peaceful, but it was terribly loud! Every hostal was blaring their own annoying music. It was weird to be in the dense jungle and hear electronic music coming from the trees.

Palenque was grand! We didn’t want to pay for a guide so we just used our book’s section about the main temples and buildings in Palenque. It was remarkable how well preserved it all is compared to other ruins we had seen. It is all well-manicured and marked with paved paths and signs, much different from the jungles of Tikal. We saw an ancient toilet, and posed accordingly for pictures! Jay bought me the coolest present for Christmas there! There is a beautiful waterfall in Palenque, in the midst of the densest jungle of the site. The museum had tons of artifacts, but most of the info was in Spanish.

Our bus was leaving at 5:30 that afternoon, so we checked out of the hostel and grabbed a cab to town. There are about 739 roasted chicken eateries in Palenque, so we hopped in one, and ate like a local. We visited the pathetic square and tried to tire Oscar out for the trip back to Zipolite. We had about 13 hours of bussing to get back, but that is too much at once for Oscar. So we took an afternoon/night bus to Juchitan, Mexico. We took a short break at the bus station, for Oscar to walk around. I hate putting him in a kennel under a bus for so long! (We are now trying to find a way around a bus on the way home!) Finally, we arrived in Pochutla, Sunday December 4^th. It was hard to believe we had been in Guatemala for a month; it is the size of Louisiana, yet a month wasn’t long enough to see it all!

Wow! Guatemala was amazing! This entire trip has been mindblowing! I can’t believe we will be home this week. I can’t wait to see everyone, and to sleep in MY bed!! I’ll be posting just two more blogs: one about Christmas and our adventures here in Zipolite, and one final send off blog! We leave here in Zipolite on Monday, Jan 23 and will make it back to Gulf Shores on Thu, Jan 26. If ya’ll know about any jobs, please let us know (even though it’s a little painful to think about work right now) haha! We’ll both be looking when we return.