This was my morning ride.

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Breakfast was 1 1/2 Q

After my morning ride through the mini ruins in Ushatoon, I take off for Tikai to see the tourist Ruins. The road is 23K long with only Jungle between the two towns. I happen to have my helmet camera on and am giving my two cents about a speed limit sign I just saw on the side of the road. I was explaining how I think the speed limit signs here in Central America are more to let people know that it is dangerous to go much faster, but in America the only thing a speed limit sign means is if you go faster you get a ticket. Besides I will probably not see any cars for the entire 23K of the road. I end my self dialogue and go around a corner. The camera is still rolling.

I SEE A JAGUAR!!!!

It is crossing the road about 100 yards up. Then it is gone. It was probably a 1 second sighting. Two if I was lucky, but who am I kidding I am extreemly lucky. A wild Jaguar sighting is very rare. They are an illusive animal. I stop at the spot where I think it crossed. There is no way I can find tracks. The road is hard packed clay, and I could be looking 10 yards up or down from where it crossed.
I take off the helmet cam and check the footage only to hear my reaction of the Jaguar but see no Jaguar. The camera is so wide angle, that there is nothing to be see that far down the road. Maybe when it’s on a computer screen I can make out a speck. (Later I put it on the computer there may be a tiny speck but it could also just be dark shaddowing or my imagination) The lens is just too wide angle and I was too far away from it to see it on the Camera. I enter the ruins with a smile on my face. My first day to Tikai and I have already seen a Jaguar, this is going to be a good day!

This is the first Temple I come across. It was the furthest away down a trail about 1/2 mile.

I find a vine hanging from the Jungle canopy. Self photo time.

I bet I can get higher. 20 second timer.

I bet I can still get higher.

Higher yet? I try, but by know I have run out of energy. I can’t climb any higher in 20 seconds.

The simple things amaze me like these vines that look exactly like rope.

You can’t ride the Husky on these paths, but it would be fun.

I have not seen any photos of the ruins or looked at any brochures. It is a suprise to me to see how big this thing is. This is cool.

Man it would be cool to climb up there. I see some stairs, but it’s probably just for staff and maintaince. Then I see this sign! You have not idea how happy I was to see this. They are going to let me climb up it.

The view from the top is hard to put into perspective.

View from the top, but look at those thunder clouds. Time to scrambled down the stairs before they get slippery.

Everyone huddles under a palapa. It rains hard for 30 minutes then turns in to a light sprinkle for another half hour. It is only the second time it has rained during my trip.

Guatemalan Park Rangers

This is one of the two hotels on site. It costs $65 USD per night

While that may not sound like much to you, The place I stayed at in Ushatoon 23K down the road cost me $3.50 USD

The nice place does come with views of monkeys though!

Interesting, I’ll go this way.

It was just chilling in the pond. I bet the photoshop guys can figure out how long it is.

I started throwing sticks at it to get some action. For some reason crocadiles are more interesting when they are moving around. After a while, it swam towards my sticks I was throwing.

I meet this guy the day before, and hung out with him for a while. He is living out of his truck, he has been for the last 15 years or so. Africa, Alaska, South America, etc. I can’t remember it all. He is the most traveled person I know. The truck is set-up perfectly. It is a 1988 Toyota Land Cruiser. Diesel, with only 350,000 miles on it so far. But don’t worry the engines are expected to go to 600,000 miles with only oil changes. He tells me that the vehicle is available in every country except America and one other. America never get the good vehicles. (google VW Lupo) It easily gets 70 mpg but it can’t pass American emissions. somehow the big SUV’s and Trucks that get 10-15 mpg can pass emissions. Something is off here, but I am done with my rant now.

He has a solor panel on the roof which is always enough to charge his laptop, camera, and run a small refrigerator. He has lived in remote places in africa for a few months at a time. Drive in, live, drive out. He was a really cool guy.

It is getting dark so I take the road back to Ushatoon for the night. It is raining and the clay is so slippery. I am still only using my back brake due to my front rotor being cracked. The back wheel starts to slide when I slow down for a mud puddle. I can not stop the bike from righting its tracks. I slide sideways, and tip over at a walking pace. The first “crash” of the trip. The first time the bike has been down. I pick it up, everthing is fine. Those hardgaurds are so good. I stay behind a local for the rest of the drive. His headlight doesn’t work, so he uses my light. It is pitch black when we pull into town. I havn’t no idea how he would have made it without me following him. He ends up staying at the same place I do. He has a wife there and a kid in one of the tiny rooms. I ask him about his headlight and he justs laughs.

Bed time.

I wake up from my hostel in Flores and take my time getting around going to Tikal. I get a lead that if I show up after 3:00 p.m. your entry fee covers the next day too. I hear firecrackers in the street and find this parade marching across the bridge into Flores.

The whole town is showing up for this, I don’t know where all these people are coming from?

This guys job is to light the fireworks.

This kid was scooping up all the duds.

Ok, enough of this, I’m going to Tikal now. I meet these guys who are from Nebraska I think. They want a photo for the blog, so I make them sit on the bike for it. They were pretty concerned about not touching each other and insisted that they were close enough, just shoot the photo. We were all laughing pretty hard. It was one of those you had to be there type thing.

I get into the park, and buy my ticket. Most people head to the ruins now. I take the dirt road north. 30 some Kilometers is a small town called Ushatutun. Lonely Planet makes the road sound like only 4×4 vechicles can get through. Not the case, but it is quite a fun road.

Dinner was great, and I got a free spanish lesson. from this girl

The town doesn’t have any power during the day, but once it gets dark, they turn on the towns generator for two or three hours. Time to charge those helmet cam batteries!

This was a special night for some reason. They had a movie setup outside one of the buildings.

Tikal in the morning.

The ride to Guatemala is only a few hours and it is still early in the day. I stop at a welders to get my dirtbagz bracket welded.

I am out of Belize currency which is fine because everywhere takes American money for a fair exchange rate. My only money is a American $100 dollar bill. The repair is going to cost $5 USD but he doesn’t have American change to give me back. It would be all Belize which will be worthless to me in 2 hours when I hit the boarder. The zip ties seem to be working fine so I’ll get it welded in Guatemala. It’s probably cheaper there anyway.

An hour down the road I see the zoo so I stop by. It is $10 US but they don’t have American change for my 100. I think about sneaking in, then the girl at the counter says they take credit cards. No kidding I think. I havn’t used a credit card this entire trip. This is perfect. Right after she hands me the recipt I think, I should have gotten a bottle of water before she swiped the card. I am waterless and it’s getting hot. Here are the photos.

The poor guy was just pacing back and for the entire 5 mintues I was there. The cool thing about this zoo is all the animals were nursed back to health or abandoned and couldn’t live on their own anyway.

A lady was feeding this cat and making him roll over and give high fives.

By now I am really thirsty. The zoo won’t let me buy a water with my credit card. I find some Americans in the parking lot and bumb $2 US off them for a water. Thanks!!
I go back to the counter only to find that a bottle of water is $4 US. Are you kidding me? This is strange because all over Belize bottled water was the same price. I take off knowing that the first store I stop at it will be 75 cents. I find a gas station and am right. I buy two bottles for $1.50 US and continue to the boarder.

I pass this shady prison and think of my friend back in Belize city who spent a month here just a 10 days ago.

There are prisoners working the fields with machetes. I drive a ways past them, turn around and get out my camera for a drive by shot. The guys notice me and as I drive by are waving their arms and machetes telling me to stop. Yikes! I get out of there!

The last town before the boarder. It’s a one way bridge with the direction not in my favor. It took a bit of exploring to find the brige crossing the other way.

This is the other one way.

People were doing everything from washing their car, bike, doing laundry, swimming and watering their donkeys in this river.

It was pretty shallow and I scouted out a doable route for driving across it. My better Judgement told me not to and I continued on my way twards the boarder.

I wonder where that way goes?

At the boarder I have to use the money exchange guys. I only had that $100 USD bill on me. I had no idea what the fair exchange rate was. Lonely planet says it is 7.9 at the time of publishing. I imagine it is higher now. After my bargining exactly 30 Belize which the exchanger says I need for the exit tax and the rest in Guatemalan. My rate was 7.5 to 1 US. I walk to the counter and the young lady tells me I owe 35 and they only take belize. I smile real big and look concerned. I give her my 30 Belize and tell her that is all I have. She looks at her boss and they say it will be ok. She gives me a reciept and I go to the next booth. They stamp my passport and I cross the bridge. I am now in Guatemala.

The crossing here is pretty simple as well. Since I am a small motorcycle a worker waves me past the mandatory vechicle control spray. That saves me a few bucks. It was $5 in Belize. Mexico didn’t have one. I get copies made of my paperwork and pay a few fees.

This is the only road into guatemala and it is dirt. This is a good sign I love it.

The bike is gassed up and I take off aiming a main town near flores. Pleanty of daylight. I don’t want to drive at night in this country.

I stop for some delicious food. It is a wonderful to be back to Mexican food prices and standards. The food in Belize was expensive and not great.
Chicken Tacos with Lemon and a Coke. So good!

A guy was making snowcones so I got in on it.

Then these guys drive by and I flag them down.

It’s been a week so I don’t remeber their names or anything, but they had a pretty funny story. They were supposted to be riding South America right now. They are from Europe and had their bikes shipped to South America, but they ended up in Panama instead. Being the good natured guys they are they just went with it and drove north going to Mexico. One of those bikes is 25 years old. They loved their BMW’s. They told me about a cool route to take that involved a 25 Kilometer boat ride connecting 150 clicks of off road. They said flores was the name of the town where I should stay. It’s not to far down the road. They were only going this way, because they were denied crossing into Mexico at a remote broader crossing in the north that didn’t have the paperwork for vechicles. They had to drive to the Belize crossing and get the paperwork stamped and pay the fees then drive back. We part ways and I end up in Flores at a Hostel that costs me 25 Guat. Which is $3.50 and it has free highspeed wireless internet. I love Guatemala so far. It is cheap and Beautiful. I hope it is not dangerous like everyone says. We will see. I am going to have to be here longer than I thought. This rotor issue is turing out to be quite the hassle.