Leaving Mexico behind, we were ready to embark on a new border crossing into the little known country of Belize, formerly known as British Honduras. We later found out that Belize is a relatively new sovereign nation, having gained its independence in 1981. After a fumigation of the van and finding Belize dollars (2:1 to the dollar), we made our way into the quaint town of Corozal for the night.
Back from a wonderful adventure in Cuba, we were excited to be back with our trusty Koru. He had a good and safe rest while in Cuba, and we were all ready to continue onward. Sarah’s father and step-mother were planning a trip to the Cancun area a week later, so we decided to take a lap around the northern end of the Yucatan to kill some time until they arrived. Our intended route would lead us on the famed…
After leaving the beautiful city of Trinidad, we made our way up to the mountains behind the city into Parque Natural Topes de Collantes. We went on an amazing hike that led us into a really cool slot canyon/cave made of limestone with great pools for swimming and even some climbing around. This was definitely one of the unexpected highlights of the trip.
“We are and should be Socialists” Departing Havana, we made our way to the town of Matanzas. We’d read about a rumba festival during the time we were visiting, so we gladly planned a stop there. Upon arrival we quickly learned that we were falsely informed by the lonely planet guide book. Matanzas is definitely known for its rumba festivals, but they occur regularly and almost every weekend, but we were there on a Monday so we were going to miss out….
With Koru safely parked with some of our new replacement items (computer, grill, kindles etc..) from the break-in thanks to superhero Cole who brought them for us from Colorado, we left Cancun bright and early in the morning for our 7am flight with much anticipation for the once untouchable Cuba. To the great unknown, a place paused in time, a chance for unexpected discovery.
Moving our way through the sea level highways of south central Mexico, we couldn’t be more excited to get our hands on some fresh seafood. A local friend from Guadalajara had keened us in on a special place to get oysters where a large fresh water lagoon met the ocean. We stopped at a roadside vendor to buy 40 oysters fully shucked for about $4. We then stopped to get some homemade cocktail sauce from a nearby restaurant and we…
City life was fun, but we were more than ready to head out and explore the vast mountains outside of the city. With Mexico City sitting at an already impressive 8000 feet, it didn’t take long to reach the foothills of the incredible volcanic mountains and Mexico’s first national park just east of the city.
With a long day planned to drive towards big ‘ol Mexico City, known as the districto federal or DF to the locals, we knew a stop was needed to grab some food. In a random small town we stopped and made our way to a standard market and found ourselves looking for something prepared and not just groceries. Finding ourselves all the way in the back, a promising stand with cocteles stood in front of us. We sat down and…
Earlier in the trip while we were climbing in northern Mexico, some locals had made mention of a huge monolith with multi-pitch climbing near the pueblo of Bernal, in the state of Queretaro. Since it was more or less on our way, we knew it would be our next stop. Once we spotted the large monolith (Peña de Bernal) from the highway, we were blown away by the size and were excited to be climbing again. We later found out…
After leaving the wonderful pueblo of Guanajauto and wishing farewell to our new traveling friends, we were off to San Miguel de Allende and Dolores Hidalgo, both very important stops along the route of Mexico’s independence. Dolores Hidalgo is where the first ‘El Grito’ took place in 1810 at the beginning of Mexico’s revolution for independence. It is also currently known for its high quality of ice cream which of course we planned to seek out. 🙂