The road from La Tinta to Tactic is a long hot, steep dusty affair. It is dusk when we reach the junction with the main highway between Coban and Guatemala City but it is only 15 kilometres to the Quetzal Sanctury and I am keen to press on. My bike has been struggling toothlessly since [...]
Also tagged guatemalaI had been expecting to return to Carmelita the same way that I arrived but I learn that there is an alternative route which will not only take me past two more archaeological sites but is also in far better condition since it doesn’t get the same amount of mule traffic as the trail to [...]
Also tagged guatemala, injury, jungleLooking at my map, Isla Jaina catches my attention, for some reason. I know nothing of the place but the map indicates that there is an archeological site on the island – which is part of another biosphere reserve – at the end of a twenty kilometre dead end track.
I take the turnoff towards Isla [...]
The Yucatan Peninsula is topographically pretty bland, which is a polite way of saying flat (and, to some, verging on dull), but what it loses in terms of terrain, it more than makes up for it in terms of biodiversity. The coastal regions are made up of extensive wetlands which are home to an incredible [...]
Also tagged mexicoI finally reach the Gunahabibicanes Peninsula and head straight for the National Park Ecological Station for information.
The station manager opens our exchange by offering to buy my bike. I explain that without a bike my life wouldn’t actually function and that it wasn’t really just a bike but also my companion and friend. He looks [...]
Belize hasn’t entered my plans at all until now and the only thing I really know about the place is that it is nominally an English-speaking country and that Belize City has something of a nasty reputation. Casting my eyes over my map, I see about three major roads marked in the whole country and [...]
Also tagged belize, border crossings, dirt roadsThe road between Dos Lagunas and Rio Azul is considerably less demanding than the first leg of my jungle adventure and so it’s early afternoon when Rio Azul comes into view. Rio Azul is a much larger work camp than Dos Lagunas, with numerous cabins and buildings surrounding a large cleared area, but it is [...]
Also tagged border crossings, dirt roads, guatemala, jungle, ruinsI set off through the jungle and the road is manageable, if not relaxing. No one state lasts for so long that it is completely overwhelming.
So the day passes, negotiating patches of mud and fending off clouds of mosquitoes while toucans flap from tree to tree overhead, turkeys, guans and carassows stalk across the track [...]
Uaxactun is a mere 23 kilometres from Tikal on a beautifully surfaced gravel road and the only thing that momentarily impedes my progress is a thorn-induced puncture. When I arrive, on the basis of a last minute tip from an ex-pat German girl, living in El Remate, I seek out Antonio, who is one of [...]
Also tagged guatemala, people, ruinsI am trying to reach the border between Mexico and Guatemala but, on the spur of the moment, I pedal on straight past the turnoff to Frontera Echeverria on the Usumacinta River to make a quick visit to Bonampak, a Mayan archeological site in the middle of the jungle. It occurs to me that perhaps [...]
Also tagged jungle, magic, mexico, ruins