When we arrived in Nicaragua we didn't know that they were inventing new sports by the day. With more localized volcanoes in one location than anywhere in the world, Leon Nicaragua is the perfect place to do what they call volcano boarding. Basically you sit on a wooden plank with a solid metal plate attached to the bottom. Then for more fluid and fast motion they glue on smooth counter top plastic to make you go super fast. When arriving at the hostel Bigfoot, we noticed on the chalk board that the record was 87 km/hr. We had to try this!



A group of 20 people were picked up on an oversized cattle truck where they hearded us into our seats and then unloaded us at the base of a cinder cone volcano that is still active. Yes...still active, maybe we would be boarding faster than we thought if this thing starts to blow! We continued to hike for 30 minutes to climb to the top of the 700 meter volcano. The group suited up in orange coveralls provided by the staff and we couldn't forget the chemical goggles they provided or we might lose an eye from flying rocks and dust on the way down. In groups of two we all cheered as people went racing down the volcano face sitting on their boards and holding onto a makeshift rope attached to it. Your only hope for steering and breaking is using your feet. This tactic can also be your mistake as you could crash instantly by planting your feet too hard as some people found out.


When you start you don't know what to expect. Dirt and rocks are flying everywhere, in you eyes, nose, mouth and ears. Derek took a good bruiser to the head that drew blood and some people ended up scraped and bloodied from their wipeouts. Even at your fastest, you really are not going as fast as you think. The experienced guides only got up to 76 km/hr but they looked like a blazing dirt trail coming down the mountain.





When done we all hopped back up into the cattle truck where everyone was grinning ear to ear with beers in hand celebrating our victorious attempts at volcano boarding.

Slowly but surely we continue to make our way south. Over the past two days we jumped from Guatemala, through Honduras and into Nicaragua.

Our last location in Guatemala was a unknown resort for 10 U.S. a night. We were departing from San Pedro on Lake Atitlan in Guatemala and were trying to head South but somehow ended up northwest and we were not going to make the border crossing before night fall so we decided to bunk up in this resort. Around 7 o´clock that evening loud bangs were heard out in the street, along with thousands of people running. The police were firing tear gas into a crowd to disperse them. Luckily for us, armed guards and a 15 foot fence kept everyone out. It was quick to find out what the riot was all about, power. The prices in the area continue to rise and the people are fed up with it all, but it didn´t look like things got too out of hand.
The following day we made our way to Honduras which opened up a whole new can of worms in terms of our annoyance with the border crossings. When we got there we had to wait over two hours because the staff was on lunch and they get to decide how long they want to take to eat. Every border crossing seems to be chaotic down here. As soon as you pull up in your car there are ¨guides¨trying to jump inside your car so you will pay them a tip for their services to get through the border which as we have found out is never a fast process. We are starting to get annoyed with everyone asking for free handouts and the obvious conmen who try to rip us off at every opportunity. Do we sound like experienced travellers now or what! The guides are useful in their own way but they do not help make the process any faster. All we want is someone to point out where the immigration and customs counters are because they are never well marked and there are tons of people and building selling things which confuse the issue.

After getting through the Guatemalan border into Honduras we were hounded by the police at three different stops. Luckily we were only stopped at these three because we passed through 12 of them. Honduras police are notorious for trying to bribe people and even rip off the locals. Of course, us being white and in a foreign car they thought they were going to get a free pay day. We had other plans though. Our encounters went like this I will write it in english for you:

´This might get annoying´

Good day officer how are you.
Good can you give me license registration and passport.
Ok here you go.
Where are you going.
We are heading straigt to Nicaragua.
Oh, well do you have a traffic triangle or fire extinguisher in your car

No, officer we dont and at the border no one at the border said anything about them. Do the customs officials know we are supposed to have one?

Well, it doesn´t matter you are violating the law and this is an infraction, you will have to pay a fine.

We apologize officer, but how are we supposed to know about this law if even the border official inspecting the car does not inform us or tell us we are already breaking the law. We are new to this country and want to follow the law and enjoy ourselves, but this is making it difficult to do so. Can we buy the following items in the next town.

The officer thinks about it and we argue back and forth in a polite manner for 5 minutes until he decides I am not going to give him any money and he lets us go. We got stopped and went through the same thing 3 more times that day. And no, we did not buy a triangle and fire extinguisher because it is just flat out bull shit to get us to pay them money. If it weren´t that it would be somehting else. Polite refusal to these con artists is our method. Luckily we know spanish so we can politely argue and get away with it. The other thing is, if they write us a ticket, we just wouldn´t pay it because we are off to the next country anyway and this car will never be back to Honduras anyhow.

This is one instance of many police encounters we have had, but they are men with some morals, and the longer you argue, the more guilty they feel about trying to take money from you.

After these encounters with Honduras police, it put a sour taste in our mouth for Honduras so we decided to move on into Nicaragua the same day. The border crossing took 2.5 hours with the same crap about going on lunch, needing a bribe to make the process go faster. Our greatest weapon is patience as we dont pay any bribes. Michael´s charm is also a great asset as he met a lady in the customs office for the car. She was going on lunch but with charm and wit, he won her over to fill out the necessary paperwork so we could get out of there. Same border crap, different country. Finally we entered Nicaragua.

We had a full load going to Lanquin, Jolanda, Ari and Bart, all from Holland and all ready to get out of the cramped car. The first third of road to Lanquin was paved and rather good for driving. After that the road started to change from good to bad to worse. More than a couple of times our car was bottomed completely out and we more or less ‘bicycled’ ol’ Duro (Ol’ toughy) on two wheels to get some tight spots. After Mirador when our guide called us Duro (In Spanish meaning having endurance and tough) we decided our car had earned the name. A narrow, windy zigzagged route through the mountains; around every corner it seemed were men with machetes and women with stacks of wood strapped to their backs. At one point we decide to break and at least take a group photo of the epic excursion. Lucky us, we had four Germans following close behind, who were glad to take a photo for us.

Two couples, one from Germany and the other from Switzerland. A Volkswagen van shipped from Germany along with a Land Cruiser retrofitted with beefed up suspension, exhaust, fuel tank, 200 gallon water tank and sleeper canopy welded to the frame; the ultimate off road travel utility vehicle. If only we had more time and money!!!

We finally made it to Lanquin and found ourselves turned around again due to no signs, roads without names and one way streets (though it doesn’t matter in CA if you drive down them the wrong way) We dodged a few passed out drunks in the middle of the street and found the alley way leading to the paradise hostel owned by another Dutchmen, called Zephyr, located on the hill.
The next day we were already off to the caves for some “Cave exploring” at Semuc Champey, so we booked a guide who gave us a candle and match and we hiked for hours. No, a little more than that, though we did get a candle and a guide. There were about 20 of us from Israel to Slovenia, a mixed breed of folks with mixed conceptions on what the trip was going to entail. Really it was awesome, with stalactites hanging from the ceiling and an eerie ancient feeling from the ancient Mayan past. Mike would say “a site to behold if one could ever behold something like I am beholding” and Derek would say “a mythical landscape, if this place were a movie it would be the wizard of ozz” so there you have it. If this doesn’t make any sense at all just wait for the pics to be uploaded.


After the caves we hiked to pools of water that cascaded from one pool to another down the side of the mountain. We were able to relax and swim and play in them cliff diving, bathing, and enjoying nature. A really beautiful spot, we were glad that we went.


We were also able to swing on a huge rope swing out into the middle of the river. The swing probably launched us out 20 feet in the air some people belly flopping, others quite gracefully landed in the water.

In Flores, Guatemala, we stayed at the Hostel Los Amigos. The first night we arrived there we heard about the locally famed "El Mirador"! What is this you say...it is the best kept secret in Guatemala as far as ruins are concerned. Apparently deep deep in the jungle there are ruins everywhere waiting to be uncovered. Some of you may have heard of Tikal but this is something much bigger and more amazing. In 2000 B.C. this civilization they are calling El Mirador was a thriving society of a couple hundred thousand inhabitants. This is three thousand years before any other ancient civilization reached their climax. El Mirador also has the largest pyramid in volume in the world. To see this amazing city we would have trek through the Guatemalan jungle for 5 days. 2 days to get there, 1 day to explore all the ruins and 2 days for the return journey. How could we pass up such an awesome opportunity.




Day 1
We met early in the morning outside the hostel to load up in one of the Toyota shuttle vans. It didn't look like much but it was to take us three hours through the jungle to San Carmelita. During the three hours to San Carmelita, we drove on horrendous roads that would have stopped some of the U.S. off road pickups, but this little van kept putting along. With one flat tire and no other harm done, we arrived at San Carmelita in three hours where they loaded our gear onto mules along with 5 days worth of water equivalent to about 100 gallons. It was very humid here and hot. We did not want to risk dehydration with a group of about 10 people. Then, we were off into the jungle for a 5 hour hike. The terrain was relatively flat with some hills but the path was parched and torn up making every step a challenge as to where we should place our next foot step. We then arrived to a pleasant camp where we set up tents and had a dinner of potato soup with chicken and bread. Before going to bed, we explored some temples nearby which had been destroyed by grave robbers and climbed a pyramid for a great sunset. Sweaty and tired, the group retired to the tents which were a solid nylon fabric with no vent. With 100 percent humidity and the temperature around 80F, our clothes remained wet all night and the only thing allowing us to sleep was eventual exhaustion.







Day2
We hiked for 6 hours at a quickened pace as the whole group was excited to stop hiking and start exploring El Mirador. Along the way we continued to see temples robbed of all possessions and destroyed by the digging of grave robbers. Along the way we were told by our guide that the archeologist Richard Hanson who is in charge of the whole program may be here prepping for summer excavation. Little did we know that we would meet the archeologist in charge of the whole site.
That night on top of El Tigre (second tallest pyramid on the site) a film crew came up to the top. Behind them was a tall gringo who we started talking to. He explained that the Russian film crew was doing a special on Guatemala and El Mirador. He then went onto say that he was the director of the whole site archeological site, so that, of course, was the dead giveaway Richard Hanson was in front of us. He had been working on the site for the last thirty years. He's found multiple preclassical artifacts than anywhere and is still uncovering site after site of ancient hieroglyphics. That evening he gave us the opportunity to explore a temple that he recently excavated. This temple had one of the ancient Jaguar (Mayan deity) masks. He gave us a rundown of the structure on how it was built and that another structure was built over the top of it some years later confirming another group of people inhabited the area after the Mayans. We are probably some of the only tourists ever to be inside a mayan temple during an archeological phase…pretty cool! Richard Hanson was very nice and hospitable for giving us the opportunity to check out this temple.



Day 3
Day three was full of walking and climbing pyramids. Soaked with sweat and ambition to see more, we followed our fearless guide through the site of El Mirador. Be sure to check out the photos (if we can ever get a decent enough connection to load them up).
That night we decided to sleep outside, because drowning was an issue due to excessive sweating. The stars dazzled the sky and soon we fell asleep and once again woke up soaked in sweat.



Day 4/5
Rather then spend another day in the same pair of clothes soaked with sweat from the previous three days and nights the group decided to hike out of the jungle in one day. What normally takes two days to hike back to Carmelita was done in one. The 25 miles turned out to take 10 hours total walking time, which wasn’t bad for the group. By the end we were very thirsty and went to the nearest store for a cola drink and then some cervezas. Because we changed our schedule, we ended up sleeping in tents in a barn of the guide until we could catch a chicken bus the next morning. The next morning we caught the 5 o’clock chicken bus back to Flores and made our plans for Lanquin.

The early morning boat ride from Caye Caulker back to Chetumal Mexico was just as rough as it was getting there. Tossing and turning, but we were so tired from the night before that it didn’t make any difference. Once we made it back to the main land our car was found in great condition, nobody seemed to bother it luckily; so off to Belmopan, Belize. We made it to the border to find a pretty quiet border crossing, assistance from a local which consisted of pointing to the customs and immigration buildings. Based on previous stories told about the horrors of not having insurance in Belize we bought some for extra security. Right away the difference from Mexico to Belize was very different. Not so much in the topography, but the development of most of the area. Most of the small towns that we drove through didn’t have any sort of main street or center, but a small convenience store.
It took seven hours to drive from the border of Mexico to the capital city of Belize…Belmopan. Belmopan is literally the smallest capital city in the world we believe. A few years prior a hurricane (can’t recall the name) destroyed most of the government buildings in Belize City so all of them were moved to Belmopan. So scattered about were foreign embassies surrounded by Chinese restaurants and markets, with the largest building being a tire center and the tallest structure a cell tower.
We were planning on staying with a contact my aunt had made the previous year, but we arrived later than expected and made our way to Ian Anderson’s jungle resort about 12 miles outside of town. It was a hidden paradise right on the edge of a river. A view straight out of a Robert Frost poem; Peaceful. We found our bunks and made plans to go cave tubing the next morning.
It took the better part of two hours to find the “national park” to go cave tubing, which was worth driving to considering if we booked with a guide outside of the park it would have been $100. We were able to find a guide once we got there and managed to pay $20. The three hour tour led us to the ancient underworld of the Mayans. The Mayans traditionally would sacrifice the most biggest and strongest of their people because that was what their god wanted, the best. Given the dark eerie feeling of the slow moving water in these dark caves it wasn’t at all surprising that the Mayans used this area for such sacrifices.
Another night staying with a contact of Derek’s aunts we then took off the next morning towards Flores, Guatemala. Just west of Belmopan, the roads were pretty haggard, rocky, and rough and we found ourselves pulling a couple G’s after every dodged pothole. Just west of Belmopan we had heard about a Mennonite village that we should check out called the Spanish Lookout. The moment we turned right off the road, our car was happier than a goat in a paper factory, freshly paved road that hadn’t seen but maybe two cars. Come to find out, the Mennonites in the area have total control over the maintenance of their roads and you could see it also in the way they maintained their farms. Rolling green pastures with white picket fences dotted on the horizon. Spanish Outlook is totally self sustained, raising most of Belize’s meat and dairy products a place almost worth revisiting with its traditional simple way of living.

Oh yeah, not to forget the Voice of Holland Bart Van Overbeek was also with us for this entire journey…

Hey Ben, glad to hear you are following the blog. As far as our agenda is concerned we will be most likely wrapping up our travels in Argentina in mid June. But, as far as specific plans we only have a rough outline. We would love to meet up if you are around or we are around in South America. Also, pointers are always welcome. We will be in Columbia in a few weeks starting in Cartagena, so if you have some places we should see we are all ears. Also, we are planning on entering Brazil from Bolivia by train at the moment sometime in April. Cant get more specific than that, sorry.

Climbed a dormant volcano today in San Pedro de Laguna in Guatemala. The volcano was about 9500 ft according to my nifty watch...thanks Court! Our view of the Lake Atitlan was obstructed when we got to the top however because of the clouds rolling in later in the day. Would have been a spectacular view but we settled for a great view around 7000 ft. I guess we will wait for the good volcanoes that are still active in Nicaragua.

Hello dedicated readers! We are alive and well in Antigua Guatemala and we are continuing to work our way south. Our next stop will be El Salvador. We have stories and photos in the making. There is so much to do and so little time for the blog!

Today we are making our way to Lake Atitlan which by some people is called the most beautfil place in the world. Derek and Michael are skeptical since Derek is guiding in Alaska and Michael has extensively hiked the cascades and Olympic National Park. We will see if it holds its snuff. Then we will be surfing in El Salvador for a couple days.

We have been travelling with three Dutch people, Bart, Jolanda and Arja. They have been great friends and travelling companions. Although we lost Bart a couple days ago, Jo and Arj have decided to join us to Panama where they will start their return trip up the east coast of central america. We couldn't be more excited or happy to have them!