two milestones today:
1) the car reached 151,000 miles
2) i entered honduras (below)

Honduras auto immigration sucks. every country has written laws and practiced laws…so when you enter any border, you really have no clue what to expect. instead, you basically do what the person tells you to do…and try to speak to a few different people so that you can compare stories. in all countries, so far, immigration has been easy (too easy?): it usually takes about 10min, and costs $10-30. in honduras, though, it’s completely idiotic.
1) you arrive at the honduras border, and a guard points you which buiding to drive to. you park there.
2) a man looks over your vehicle really quickly. he stamps your passport (with a vehicle stamp).
3) you walk to another building and get the immigration stamp for yourself. here you pay $3 US….or in my case…all the cash i had easily accessible…42 Lempira + $1 (which is about $3 US….actually, a bit more). i still don’t understand why they don’t have atm’s at any of the borders. it seems like such a great business opportunity for the banks..
4)you go back to the car immigration, get a custodian, who sits in your car….and you drive together 40 miles to the first city (puerto cortes).
5) the custodian directs you to an ugly building with no signs. you enter, and they look at your passport some more.
6) you walk next door, and sit in an office for 45min, while they xerox your license plate (you have to remove it from the car), car registration & title, passport, etc. they even use a typewriter. you get another stamp, plus a form.
7) you pay them $30….and the custodian about $25. 8) you assume that everything’s legit…and that the $60 was well spent. you also hope that you don’t have to repeat this if you only leave the country for a few days and then return.

so that’s more or less how honduras welcomes you. you pay a bunch of money, drive a total stranger for 1hr (custodians are obligatory, apparently), sit in an unmarked building for another hour or two, and then finally get to leave. the best part, was the lady who processed the stuff in the building. she was really nice. at first, a bit annoyed, because we got there about 3:30…and everything closes at 4pm (plus, it was friday). however, she took care of everything and was a really nice woman. she’s also one of the first strangers i’ve met who seems to have her life in order. she has 2 kids, both went to college and both have good jobs. this seems so different from all the ‘tragic’ stories people say about how it’s hard to live, they have 10 siblings, etc. it was nice to see someone who seems to have stuff figured out.

from there, i went to playa coca cola. yes, that coke; and, yes, everyone calls it that. i think they have a bottling plant here….but as you can see from the sign, they’ve (legally?) branded the beach as such. the hotel i’m at now, prince wilson is quite nice. for $25 it has internet, pool, clean room, parking, and good service. i’m afraid, though, honduras is more expensive than guatemala.

finca el paraiso is a small waterfall/spring about 30min west of rio dulce. it’s really beautiful and kinda unique. after a 5min hike through the forest, you enter upon a small waterfall (the rainy season just started) which pours into a natural pool. the waterfall is so hot that it actually steams (see pic…that’s not just mist). above that pool is a cold pool.
unfortunately, with a cut up foot, i didnt want to risk infections. hopefully next time.

the missionaries who were hitching a ride were so moved by the scenery and the local kids that they decded to spend a few days there. back on my own again. if you’re wondering about the missionaries….when i drove into belize, i spent the night in san ignasio. there, i met a couple who are doing a similar trip, only by bus. they asked to hitch a ride, and did so for a few days. their purpose is two fold…to lend a helping hand…and to spread the word of jesus. their first goal is unequivacly noble….their second a bit more open to discussion. however, that whole debate about religion, converting and evolution is probably not for this blog.
although, maybe it is….since it’s a huge part of latin america — churches are everywhere and much of guatemalan radio is religious: kinda funny…gutemalan radio ads are relatively often pro-christianity, mexican ads were mostly raising awareness of how to prevent swine flu…..one is advertising that jesus will save you…the other is saying that science will protect you. the sad thing with both, though, is that many people will follow both forms of information blindly, without really understanding the reasoning. this can obviously lead to serious harm (religious wars & drug-resistant TB). but, as i said, i don’t want to offend anybody….so i better stop here.

back at cornelio’s house in rio dulce!…didn’t have time to make it to el estor. hopefully tomorrow a quick trip to finca el paraiso (alexis’ recommendation) and then honduras! below is my summary of belize.

note: this was all written before a kid snuck into my room in hopkins, belize at 3am, and stole my wallet (this event will not be posted, but if interested, you can contact me directly, beto@sentradiaries.com):
well, 2 quick days in belize and i’m out. belize is a tiny country, but it’s still hard to summrize it after such a short stay — and my comments may be off. i also missed the islands, which are the destination for belize.
driving in belize is for the most part good. the signs are clear, the roads are mostly good. some tourist spots (barton creek, hopkins) have rough dirt roads….but maybe that also adds to the charm? driving in the country seems very much like driving in rural america…only with a different environment (different trees, more humid, etc). overall, driving here is fine. nothing to write home about….although i guess i just did.
belize as a tourist destination is prob easier than other countries, because they speak english. but i dont enjoy it that much. naturally, most places i’ve seen are tourist destinations….but here they feel like businesses. well…it’s actually more of the expats that open businesses here, that ruin the vibe. the locals tend to be very friendly….and when you’re with them, money seems secondary. granted they need to make a living, but — as in guatemala — having a good time is more important. however, the expats here charge way too much for services and are much stricter. here’s an example: at the hotel i stayed at in san ignasio (run by a brit), i had to leave a $10 deposit for a towel. in hopkins (local run), i paid several hours after i got the key, i played with the kids and the neighbor showed me how to prepare a coconut. in a german-run place in hopkins, the owner was very….well, german. nice, but curt and with overpriced services (relative to belize).
as with many places, with increased tourism come foreigners and international investments….which alter the original feel (for both good and bad). for a young traveler looking for culture and adventure, belize is very ‘vanilla’. for older travelers who want an easy vacation in a tropical place, belize and hawaii are both nice.

i’m afriad the gps may be off here, for some reason i’m not reaching a clear signal from the beach of hopkins. the drive here is mostly good, but turns to dirt at the end. no worse than the offroads i’ve done so far.
hopkins is a nice little beach town. the water is incredibly warm, although a bit choppy. the beaches are very small (it’s also high tide) and bottles/trash line the tideline. it’s ashame that littering is an issue here too….you’d expect the hotel owners to clean their beaches.
the highlight has to be the neighbor who taught me how to get and cut coconuts. he has an 8′ long piece of iron (the end is bent….so it looks like a big metal cane), which is used to snag the coconut. then using a machete, i cut off the top (it took him 30sec….me about 5min). the coconut prob had 1-2L of water….it was great! i then played a bit with the neighboring kids. it was fun, until one of them ran into a tree and cut her lip….and cried.

dangriga is more of a town than a city…and feels very caribbean. that’s because the people who settled here were originally slaves from the islands….and so most people are black, and speak their own unique language (a mix of french, spanish, englsh) — this language is only spoken here and in neighboring areas of guatemala and honduras.
dangriga is a nice town, and contrary to what another contact (jonathan from san ignasio) mentioned, the people seem very friendly.

today, the three of us (i picked up two other travelers who are busing it to argentina) drove to blue hole, which is in the center of the country…and supposedly one of the highlights of belize. unfortunately, the sediment has still not settled from the last earthquake in northern honduras, so it was more of a brown hole…but still nice.
the trouble was we took the wrong path, and chose one that was swarming with mosquitos. at one point, there were probably 10 on me….and 30 hovering around. not pleasant.
there’s also a cave there which is cool….but lanquin and barton were cooler. (picscoming later)

been sitting here at a local restaurant for the last few hours (long enough to hear the cd loop three times) — updating the website and talking to a few other travelers. in fact, i just met two travelers who also want to get to argentina! they’re doing the trip on buses, though, and plan on taking ~1 year. tomorrow, they’re hitching a ride on the sentra to blue hole, dangriga and then hopkins. another couple is headed to guatemala, so i might give them a ride sometime during this trip too.
san ignasio is a little town which doesn’t offer much, but it is nice, clean and seems safe. aro)und san ignacio or archaeological sites, caves, etc.

since i don’t have any pics of here, here’s a chance to talk a bit about guatemalan driving. it seems that most of the country has either no signs or really confusing signs (see pic). it seems that most guatemalans don’t drive very much and that directions are passed down through oral tradition. EXAMPLE: one way streets are almost always unmarked. I wonder if gps navigation will become ubiquitous enough to bypass signs….in much the same way that many developing countries are bypassing landlines (using cell phones instead).

note: gps is off

today, i woke up early in tikal…and drove to belize (per YOUR votes). Belize is the first country i haven’t had to pay to enter…what a relief! plus it’s nice to hear some english. i did leave my guatemalan immigration papers with jose, an official at the border….so hopefully he doesn’t lose them.
next, i found a guide to take me to barton creek. it’s about a 7 miles drive through pretty rough terrain. so rough, that one of the rubber straps holding the exhaust pipe broke, and my exhaust pipe now has another leak. oh well.
barton creek is pretty awesome. because we didn’t want to test my sentra too much…we didn’t cross the final stream, instead walking the finall 500m to an awesome cave. you rent a canoe for $15 US, then paddle down the cave ~1 mile. it’s really tranquil, beautiful cool water…and a great experience. plus the guide, sandro (who used to be a postman here…and knows everyone), introduced me to green (unripe) mango — it’s actually surprisingly good…kinda sour, a slight mango taste, but texture like an apple.

the entrance to tikal is cool — it clearly distinguishes that you are entering a special place. the guard at the front gate gives you a small receipt with the time on it…and then you drive another 20 min @ 30mph…after which they check the time (to make sure you didn’t speed) and then you park, pay admission, etc. All along the drive up here, they also have signs about every 100m saying watch out for animals and yellow hazard signs with pictures of monkeys, snakes, turkeys, etc. it’s a good (and subtle) way to get you hyped up for tikal.
tikal itself is quite large, with tons of ruins throughout the park. unfortunately, because of the climate/trees, most of the ruins are….well….ruined. most of the large temples/pyramids have been rebuilt. although it’s impressive, i was in more awe of the mayan ruins in mexico’s yucatan.
one very cool thing here, is that there are birds, monkeys and other animals which can be easily seen. at one point, with monkeys overhead, i inquired what kind of fruit the monkey’s were dropping all around us. turns out it wasn’t fruit…and i quickly departed.
per alexis’ recommendation, i then rented a hammock, and slept in tikal. the hammock is pretty awesome, and probably one of the best deals in tikal — $8 US for a hammock, moquito net and really clean bathrooms. you get to hear/see all sorts of animas at night…from fireflies to monkeys.

guatemala, you cruel temptress. i love the landscape, the people are awesome and it’s cheap. but the sentra hasn’t had as pleasant an experience.

today i got a flat tire on the road from flores to tikal. not sure what caused it, as there was nothing but a hole in the tire. anyway, i patched it with my nifty tire plug kit….which only took 5min to do….but then took 15min pumping of the tire. anyway, it’s held great so far (this post is written almost 36 hrs later).

flat tire