We passed through the Belize-Guatemala border quickly and with ease. For any other overlanders with kids, surprisingly when we asked we didn't have to pay the departure fee for Belize for either of the girls. We also didn't get asked to pay the much debated "fee" of 20Q for entering Guatemala but we did get charged 50Q for the bridge crossing straight after the border. We found an ATM at a Texaco 500m along the main road and Steve walked back to town to get a Tigo Internet card for his iPad. The whole thing took a total of 2 hours.
Our first stop in Guatemala was the famed Mayan ruins at Tikal. The most impressive parts are the hugely high temple pyramids. They can be seen poking out way above the jungle canopy, when you are sitting at the top of another of them. Until they built skyscrapers in the US, they were the highest structures in Mesoamerica.
Arriving at the gate in time for the afternoon entry at 4, gave us just a few minutes when we reached the site half an hour later, to quickly park up at the Jaguar Inn's car park. We took one look at the waterlogged campground and decided a night on muddy gravel would be better. There has been a lot of rain recently, even for the jungle and the forecast was not good. Although we know that the truck can pull out of most boggy situations, weighing ten and a half tonnes it isn't always very pretty. One of our fellow overlanders who were a few days behind us for a while, joked that they had tracked our muddy tire tracks at lots of campsites.
Our aim was to reach the top of furthest pyramid in time to watch sunset over the other pyramids sticking out of the jungle. It was a quick march through the darkening forest on a sticky mud path. We had a quick stop at the top only to realise the sun was setting in the other direction but it still was impressive. We then made our way back in the almost pitch black, hoping we were not going to make any wrong turns. Sometimes the girls just surprise us with their tenacity, although they moaned all the way there, they chattered away happily on our quick, slippery exit in the dark surrounded by the growing sounds of the nighttime jungle.
The following morning we went back in to have a better look around. The ruins are very spread out in thick jungle and as well as the impressive pyramids there were lots of other palaces and temples. There was also a wild group of about 20 coatimundis foraging for insects in the undergrowth. They were completely at ease around people but were not begging for food.
We retraced our steps back to the lakeside at El Remate for the night. We'd been recommended a place to camp on the road by the lake, just outside the Biotopo reserve. We'd checked out the other camping options but they were all too small or boggy. We are not natural boondockers (staying the night in a place without paying), we feel more comfortable about security in campsites or similar and are happy to contribute to the local economy. However we asked at the reserve and they were ok about it, there were also several policemen around and they said it was absolutely fine. Once we had settled in, we heard the rumble of buses. Two former repainted US school buses, a common form of transport here had pulled up beside us. There was a group of 100 people in their early 20's from different parts of the Latin American and Europe travelling together sponsored by a Spanish bank. They then set up some tents and went in some cabins nearby. So we felt far more comfortable.
After a quick grocery run in Saint Elena, we headed south to Finca Ixobel a former farm in the jungle now run as an ecolodge. The campsite again was a washout but we parked up next to the lodge. We were not the only ones with mud issues though. We were woken up at 2.30am by a pick-up parked a foot away from the truck, just below the window by our bed. He was completely stuck and spent what seemed like hours revving the engine and trying to get out. Luckily, before we had to volunteer to help just so we could get back to sleep, he found a couple of friends to push him out. Quite what they were going in the middle of the night on a quiet farm, we never found out. The extreme mud made the long jungle walks rather unattractive but the sun came out in time for a two hour horse ride in the afternoon.
When we woke up the next morning the rain was back. Undeterred we still went for the boat trip. The rain just got heavier. Still the boat did the 2 hour cruise in the rain. We could see that on another day it would have been very pretty but instead we were just getting wet. Along the way there was a fort, great wildlife and some hot springs but it all got a bit lost in the rain.
Fortunately the boat had plastic tarpaulins and we were able to wrap ourselves in these to keep a bit dry.
When we arrived in Livingston it was still raining so with 2 hours to kill we headed straight to a restaurant for some lunch where we tried the local speciality Tapado.
After that it was another wet ride back to Rio Dulce. Arriving back at the truck we changed ourselves out of our wet clothes and locked ourselves away in the truck for the rest of the day watching movies.
The next day we had a long drive to Antigua. As we left the coast and headed up into the highlands the clouds cleared and the sun came out. We also took the opportunity to have the truck washed to get rid of all the mud as there were young lads with power washes along the side of the road.
In Antigua everyone camps in the grounds of the Tourist Police. There are not many facilities and it is a bit run down but it is right in the middle of town and it is free. When we arrived in Antigua we were stopped by the police from entering the town as it is an old colonial town with cobbled streets so they do not want big trucks driving around. However they only wanted to take down our details and then we were given a police escort to the campsite.
At the campsite there were a number of other overlanding vehicles including our Brazilian friends Andre, Marcia and Olivia. The kids were soon playing happily with each other whilst we were catching up on each other's trips.
Antigua is a beautiful old colonial town surrounded by volcanos. It used to be the Spanish capital in Guatemala but was largely destroyed by an earthquake. It has been restored and whilst it is a bit touristy it is nice to spend some time where there is plenty to do as well as having a lot of home comforts and good food to hand. It is at over 1500 m in the highlands so is a bit cooler, however more importantly it is sunny and dry and biting insect free. This immediately lifted our moods and we knew we would enjoy our next few days in Antigua.
The next morning we set out to discover the town. We spent a pleasant morning wandering around the old cobbled streets, looking at the churches, many still half destroyed from earthquakes and having lunch in a nice cafe.
Guatemala is famous for its colourful old buses and we saw many of these on the streets of Antigua.
That evening we went out for sushi with our Brazilian friends to say good bye as they were leaving for El Salvador the next morning.
As for us we had to be up at 5 the next morning as we had a volcano to climb. A minibus picked us up from the campground at 6 and whilst initially it was nice to have someone else do the driving for a change I think I prefer driving myself as it's much safer. We traveled to Volcano Pacayu where we hiked for about 2 hours to over 2250m up to the lava field. You can not go right to the top as it is still smoking. Along the way we had fabulous views of the other volcanos nearby.
The girls did a great job hiking and we hardly slowed the group we were with down at all. At the top there were vents with hot air coming out so it was possible to toast marshmallows in them.
After the exertions of climbing a volcano before 9 in the morning we spent the afternoon relaxing. We have great views from the top of our truck at the campsite of the volcanos around Antigua.
Even if the campsite views themselves leave a little to be desired.
