None at all, good stuff is hard to come by though
Home on the Highway - San Francisco to Ushuaia, Argentina in an 87 4Runner
- Thread starter defrag4
- Start date
None at all, good stuff is hard to come by though
Dylan
Member
As Snoop would say, "Chuuuch!"
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.
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.
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!
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.
Harpy eagle attacking some poor zookeeper!
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…
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.
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
A fun river crossing
[url="http://homeonthehighway.com]More pictures and the rest of the story on the blog... http://homeonthehighway.com[/url]
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.
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.
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!
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.
Harpy eagle attacking some poor zookeeper!
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…
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.
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
A fun river crossing
[url="http://homeonthehighway.com]More pictures and the rest of the story on the blog... http://homeonthehighway.com[/url]
KidVermicious
New member
Unless I'm looking at it wrong, that coatimundi looks like he was making pretty good friends with you too!
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.
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)
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!).
We’ve traded our fancy Vodka/Gin and tonics for good ol’ fashion Guatemalan Quetzelteca (It’ll get ya drunk!)
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!
No more taxis for us, Grab a Tuk-Tuk. The official in-town transportation of Guatemala.
We’ve chosen our political parties, I've sided with "Lider" while Lauren’s stickin’ with SOY PATRIOTA.
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.
Pedro says “VAMOS!”. No mercy for these gringos.
View from the top
More pics and rest of the story on the blog http://homeonthehighway.com
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)
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!).
We’ve traded our fancy Vodka/Gin and tonics for good ol’ fashion Guatemalan Quetzelteca (It’ll get ya drunk!)
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!
No more taxis for us, Grab a Tuk-Tuk. The official in-town transportation of Guatemala.
We’ve chosen our political parties, I've sided with "Lider" while Lauren’s stickin’ with SOY PATRIOTA.
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.
Pedro says “VAMOS!”. No mercy for these gringos.
View from the top
More pics and rest of the story on the blog http://homeonthehighway.com
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 $6/gal)
We assumed (stupidly) that there would be a gas station and ATM somewhere near the border on the Guatemalan side. Well there was an ATM but it was empty. No cash. We tried to ask if there was another “cajero” nearby but our spanish is so bad we received nothing but confused stares. Oh well… hopefully there will be one further up the road. We placed our faith in the 4Runners crappy gas gauge being off and headed further down the highway. We have our 5-gallon reserve tank in case we ran out.
The section of Guatemala we entered is named Peten. Unknown to us at the time, It is a very sparsely populated section of Northern Guatemala. We drove past miles and miles of clearcut farmland, rolling green hills, and a few small pueblos with no services. Our destination for the first day was the Mayan ruins of Tikal.
[img]http://homeonthehighway.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/IMG_8204-Large_thumb.jpg
Eventually we arrived at Tikal, We never did pass an ATM or gas station for almost 60 miles. We tried to enter the park but they charge a ridiculously high price for entry ($~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.
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.
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.
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.
More pics and detailed write-up on the blog http://homeonthehighway.com
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 $6/gal)
We assumed (stupidly) that there would be a gas station and ATM somewhere near the border on the Guatemalan side. Well there was an ATM but it was empty. No cash. We tried to ask if there was another “cajero” nearby but our spanish is so bad we received nothing but confused stares. Oh well… hopefully there will be one further up the road. We placed our faith in the 4Runners crappy gas gauge being off and headed further down the highway. We have our 5-gallon reserve tank in case we ran out.
The section of Guatemala we entered is named Peten. Unknown to us at the time, It is a very sparsely populated section of Northern Guatemala. We drove past miles and miles of clearcut farmland, rolling green hills, and a few small pueblos with no services. Our destination for the first day was the Mayan ruins of Tikal.
[img]http://homeonthehighway.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/IMG_8204-Large_thumb.jpg
Eventually we arrived at Tikal, We never did pass an ATM or gas station for almost 60 miles. We tried to enter the park but they charge a ridiculously high price for entry ($~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.
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.
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.
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.
More pics and detailed write-up on the blog http://homeonthehighway.com
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.
Our first introduction to Tuk-Tuks (The official in-town transportation of Guatemala)
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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…
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.
More pics and detailed writeup on the blog. http://homeonthehighway.com
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.
Our first introduction to Tuk-Tuks (The official in-town transportation of Guatemala)
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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…
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.
More pics and detailed writeup on the blog. http://homeonthehighway.com
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
We walked down the path to our individual tranquil huts out by the lagoon and started our lessons.
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.
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.
More pics and details on the blog
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.
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.
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?
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.
We walked down the path to our individual tranquil huts out by the lagoon and started our lessons.
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.
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.
More pics and details on the blog
glad you like it. nice truck btw :thumb3:
PiTTdAwG72
New member
I know everyone keeps saying it but this is truly an awesome thread. I just wish I had the time, money, and balls to do what you are doing. I find myself telling people your story all the time. If you guys are ever in the Boise area hit me up I'd like to buy you a drink!
Anyway enough of the mushy stuff. I got a question for ya... You said, "doing some much needed repairs to the truck". What needed to be repaired? Lets hear the details. This is a Toyota fourm you know, not just a "Check out my truly incredible, don't you wish you were me, bad ass trip of a lifetime" fourm.
Anyway enough of the mushy stuff. I got a question for ya... You said, "doing some much needed repairs to the truck". What needed to be repaired? Lets hear the details. This is a Toyota fourm you know, not just a "Check out my truly incredible, don't you wish you were me, bad ass trip of a lifetime" fourm.
lol its coming it up soon in a future post but basically I added another overload leafspring, rebuilt the leaking power steering box/pump, replaced the oil pan gasket, had the gas tank notched and re-welded where the shackles had jammed into it causing it to leak, new front/rear brake shoes, and got the A/C fixed! 
When your power steering box/pump was leaking, did you happen to put power steering fluid in it? I did that to mine not knowing that you're supposed to put ATF in it. The power steering fluid shocks the old o-rings and seals and causes them to leak. Just throwing it out there in case you didn't know.
Thanks for the compliment on the truck. Yours is obviously doing you very well!
Also, I gotta ask... after seeing all those toyotas in that picture in your blog, how much were they going for? They seemed to be near mint for the age of them. I wish I could go down there and bring one back!
Thanks for the compliment on the truck. Yours is obviously doing you very well!
Also, I gotta ask... after seeing all those toyotas in that picture in your blog, how much were they going for? They seemed to be near mint for the age of them. I wish I could go down there and bring one back!
Its been leaking since I got the truck, I always just topped it off with ATF fluid and ignored it. The mechanic in GuatCity offered to rebuild it so I let him go for it. no more leaks :clap:
I asked about the prices, they range from $750 for a claptrapped rust bucket to $3-5K for a nice truck. Toyotas hold their value worldwide! :trophy:
Kel Varnsen
New member
awesome trip
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.
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!
Lauren and fellow overlander Jill from Anywhere that’s Wild.
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.
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…
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.
We climb through lots of forest, coffee farms, corn plantations…
More pics and the rest of the story on the blog. [url]http://homeonthehighway.com [/url]
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.
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!
Lauren and fellow overlander Jill from Anywhere that’s Wild.
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.
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…
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.
We climb through lots of forest, coffee farms, corn plantations…
More pics and the rest of the story on the blog. [url]http://homeonthehighway.com [/url]
Last edited:
thatoneguy
New member
Still following all the updates, amazing trip you guys are on. Me and a few friends own 1st gens, and I refer to your journey as the Greatest Thing Anyone Has Done With A 1st Gen.
