Hiking to Nowhere

Jim and I spent five days last week hiking to El Mirador, the oldest and largest Mayan ruin in the world. Because the site is in the middle of nowhere, one has to hike two days to get there. And since one does not want to live there, one also must hike two days back to catch a bus to the real world. That left us with one day of exploring the ruins, which was enough because not much is excavated. What we did see were the tops of several temples. The temples each have three stories; usually only the highest story is excavated. Since the land around the ruins is flat, we had amazing views on all sides once we climbed to the top.

Getting to the site caused us much pain and suffering. First we had to buy food for the five days. Our guide wanted seven bags of rice and six rolls of toilet paper. Hmmmmm. After some respectful complaining (since we were paying after all), we ended up with six bags of rice and four rolls of toilet paper. We only used two bags of rice and one roll of toilet paper. There was also pasta, canned sausages, tomato sauce, eggs, and tortillas. We bought all those items within reason so we had very little or none remaining. Considering we were in the middle of nowhere, we ate very well! And to our guide's credit, he made some marvelous meals over the camp fire.

Thankfully, a mule carried all our food and bedding, so Jim and I only had to carry our packs. That was good since we had to wear rain boots because the ground was so muddy. Of course, the boots had terrible support and killed the feet. Half-way through the first day of hiking and only 10 miles into the 38 mile trip (one way), Jim and I would make comments like, "I can't feel my legs any more," I can't wait to sit on a bus--even that chicken bus--because I will be sitting down," and "I am considering breaking my own legs so I have to ride on the mule." The return trip was less painful, or maybe we were just more tolerant of the pain.

One of the bright sides was that Jim loves to have access to ample snacks for any trying situation. I managed to carry most of the snacks in my pack, and since I had no fear of gaining weight after hiking 80 miles round trip, I had no problem with lightening my backpack along the way!

Off Into the Great Blue Yonder

We are about to begin the last, and probably craziest, stop on the tour--a place called El Mirador. El Mirador, or ¨the big M¨ is the largest city built by the Mayans and is a circular city 26 km in diameter. It is only partially excavated, so many of the ruins are under 1800 years of dirt, rock, and vegetation. Under normal circumstances, one must find the one or two daily buses that make the trip to Carmelita, the northernmost town in Guatemala, to begin a 5-day hike to El Mirador


In order to get there from diving in Honduras we needed to do the following:

-catch the 6:20am boat from Utila to the Honduran mainland
-ride the 8:30 bus to San Pedro Sula, purportedly the drug capital of Central America
-wander around the mall and happen upon the 12:30 bus to Puerto Cortes, the largest Caribbean port in Honduras
-have a 3-course meal at the dining palace that is Pizza Hut abroad.
-barely make the 3:30 bus that actually left at 3:15 for the border. After crawling through the dirt roads of two surprisingly large towns, arrive a quarter of a mile from the border.In ironic tribute to the Texas-Mexico border, two Americans walked the Honduras-Guatemala border as it was getting dark.
-after a bit of negociating in Spanish, hire a private shuttle to the main road.
-around 6:15, catch a collectivo full of children for Morales and get dropped off at a rest stop
-hang out at the rest stop and eat Magnum ice cream bars until the7:30 bus to Flores shows up. We sweet-talk the driver into giving us a ride.
-catch a midnight taxi in Flores to an ATM and then a hotel. On the brightside, the hotel was $6 for both of us. On the dark side, we definitely received what we paid for. Seth guarantees he felt 4 distinct springs in the matress.
-woke up at 4am to start walking to bus station. Fortunately a taxi picked us up to relieve some absurd sketchiness.
-waited until 5:15 to find that the 5am bus was broken and was not going to Carmelita--the town closest to El Mirador
-after buying mud boots and lots of snacks we are waiting for the 12:45 bus. Wish us luck!

In the Jungle, the mighty Jungle

One of the ups of spending a week in the jungle was the wildlife we saw and heard. Okay, seeing the wildlife was amazing, hearing them was not so great.

Every morning the monkeys woke us up with their howling. Not the howling of a screaming baby, but deep, full-throated yells that echoed through the jungle. And of course the monkeys wanted to see who could make the most noise. During the day, however, the monkeys were usually quiet. We often saw them sitting in trees watching us.

One day Jim and I saw parrots flying around a clearing. They were not very close, but we could see the bright, flashy green as they zipped by. At the foot of the mountain some of the residents have parrots that repeat "Hola" and "Buenas Dias" over and over. That sounds annoying, so thankfully that is something I have only been told.

While working one day, I saw blue butterflys several times over the course of the afternoon. I am use to the orange and black butterflys of New York, so these deep, rich blue ones were enough excitment for me to make Jim look too!

We have seen the biggest caterpillars ever here too. They are thick, have stripes, and about four inches long. When you look at them you think, "Wow! You are big!"

Of course, there are lots of bugs and spiders. One of the other workers has bites all over. Her lower back is currently covered with little red mountains. She is also afraid of all creatures that crawl. One evening a spider plopped down in front of me. I was tired and didn´t react right away. If fact, the spider and I stared at each other, and then, without moving, I said, "Look at this spider in front of me." Barely had the words left my mouth before the other girl bolted up in her chair and yelled with fright. The spider did no more harm and Jim flicked it away.

The Food Psychic

Two nights ago, after a long day of work, Seth and I read for a little bit before climbing into the sheetless, pillowless size full bed we share. My initial bitterness has worn off a bit, especially after discovering that my hammock keeps me warm at night.

"Okay Jimmy, now do you want to know what time it is?" Seth asked for the second time.

I prepared myself mentally for some absurdly early hour because there is not too much to do in the jungle after the sun goes down.

8:30pm. The sadest part is we fell asleep almost instantly. I don^t think I have ever been to bed this early voluntarily, unless my memories of being 10 years old are patently false.

The good part was that when the roosters and howler monkeys woke us up at 5am, we were well rested. By the time we hike up the mountain to the top treehouse to eat breakfast, we are very much awake and ready for work.

Seth and I are the first volunteers to sucessfully convince the hostel owners, Fred and Chad, that we actually knew enough about carpentry to have an independent construction project, building the showers. Fred told us, "Usually when people ask ¨What do you mean by square?¨ I send them down to move mud." Thanks Dad, we´re alot cleaner cause you taught us how to saw and make little marks on wood with a pencil ...

As to my predicition for the future, here it is: when Seth and I leave this lovely air-conditioned internet cafe and ride the bus 20 minutes to the middle of nowhere, hike up the mountain, and sit down for dinner, I absolutely guarantee we will eat beans and rice.

I have never met the lady who cooks us 3 meals a day for 50 Cordovas each (about $2.50), but I know she will give us rice and beans. Again. Just like every other meal.