Drive down to Florida, drive down to Mexico for a two week trip and a 16 day trip

It has been a while since my last update, but I will try to remember all of the fun I had.
After the 20th of December, I spent a few days in Boston. Then I went to Connecticut with Dad, Elizabeth and Emily. We visited Lenny and Charlene and their kids in their new home. The neighborhood was covered in snow and looked cold through the window. From there, we drove down the east coast and got to Ocala, Florida eventually. From there, I took a bus down to Grandma and Grandpa's and then spent Christmas day finishing up a few projects in my mother's home.

On the 26th of December I flew back out to Los Angeles. I spent the next three days working in the office and also had a chance to visit with Gary and Marty. On the 30th, I left LA, and after a quick stop at Tiajuana to do some paper work, headed east. I spent the night near Tucson, Arizona. The next day I made it to El Paso, Texas, crossed over and started south. I spent New Year's Eve in my van behind a small restaurant in the middle of nowhere, Northern Mexico.
The next few days were spent heading south through the middle of Mexico. I went through cities I had never visited before, like Zacatecas, Aguascalientes, Chihauha, and Leon. I spent a night in Guanajuato and then went over to the nature preserve for the Mariposa Butterflys. I spent most of the day looking at the hundreds of thousands of butterflies, waiting for the sun to warm them up so they could fly around and look impressive.

The next day I made it to Mexico City and met my new group. There were only nine of them, but it was my first all female tour, not counting me. On the 7th of January, we visited the ruins at Teotihuacan and then drove all afternoon to Guanajuato. We camped there and then took a tour of the city the next day, before driving down to Patzcuaro. I relaxed the next morning and then we moved over to Angahuan, the closest surviving town to the Paracutin volcano.

Bright and early the next day, nearly everyone joined me for the hike to the top. It was fun as always and the best part was the run down the ash slope from the top. That night everyone was pretty tired and went to bed early. Our next stop was Guadalajara. We poked around town in the afternoon and then went out to camp. On Saturday, we took a tour of a tequila factory in Tequila and then went to the beach in Sayulita.

The next day a few of us took a hike up the beach and then we all went into Puerta Vallarta for a night on the town. When we left the club, we climbed up onto the roof of the van for a bit of dancing. A few other people joined us and had their photos taken while dancing on the roof of the van with us. The next day we took a boat trip to Islas Marietas. We had some fun snorkeling and whale watching. We had two big whales and one baby swim by the boat for a few minutes. Whales are always fun to watch.

The next day, after a late night of beach walking and sky gazing, we headed south to Melaque. The campground was no good for us, so we rented some rooms and finally got some beds. The following day was spent driving down the coast to Los Llanos. The drive took all day, then we camped on a nearly deserted beach and all went for a swim. After a few more hours of driving the next day, we made it to Acapulco.

We watched the cliff divers and I want to try it more than ever. Then we enjoyed a free day on the beach. On the 20th of January, we went to ride the jetboats. The ride was thrilling. Afterwards, we played on the climbing wall. That too is fun, and may be one of my next hobbies. We spent that night in Taxco, the silver town. After lunch the next day we headed on up to Mexico City and had a last night out on the town.

The trip was a lot of fun and now I had about a week to get to Cancun. Penny, a very nice Australian woman from my last trip, joined me for a bit of sightseeing in the Mexico City area. I wanted to take her up to the volcano and do some hiking, but the military turned us around because the volcano was a bit active. That afternoon, while driving away, we looked back and the volcano was indeed belching smoke. It was the most active it had been in a while and made the national news. After a night in a town with some hot springs, we moved over to a nice town at the bottom of some 400 meter cliffs. We had an enjoyable hike up to the top of the cliffs, where there was the remains of an ancient pyramid and farming area. The next day I dropped Penny off at the airport and started the big drive east.

Two days later I was on the beach and on the night of the 28th I met my new group. The next day, the six of them and I left Cancun and visited the ruins of Chichen Itza. After lunch we visited Cenote Il Kil. I had never been there before and it was great. It is very deep and we had to spiral down a tunnel to the bottom. Then we jumped in and swam around the natural spring in the jungle. We camped near Chichen Itza and then went to Merida the next day.

We had a free afternoon in town and then went out for a bit of fun at a bar that evening. The next day we went to the ruins of Uxmal and then to the hidden jungle cenote where I can jump from the ceiling of the well, down to the water. Again, I was the only one to try the 15 meter drop. Everyone else took the ladder. From Uxmal, we cut across the Yucatan Peninsuala and spent the night in Bacalar. We took a boat trip to see a few more cenotes and some islands with birds. Our last stop on the boat trip was in a fresh water inlet with a lot of silt. The water was about knee deep, but in some places, you sank down into the silt. With enough bouncing, I could sink down to my chest.

Bright and early the next day we went into Chetumal so the two Japanese passengers could get visas for Belize. We found the home of the consular official, paid him a visit and $25 each and got some stamps for them. Then we went to the border and crossed over. It took us about five minutes to cross, and five hours for the van to cross. The border officials were being especially slow this day. Luckily, my passengers made friends easily and passed the time talking to the money changers. After our five hours in the hot tropical sun, we drove down to Belize City and took the water taxi to Caye Caulker, an island out near the reef.

Caye Caulker is a very relaxed place and we all loved it. It is very Caribbean. This was a great group to bring there. They got right into not wearing shoes and not rushing. At Wish Willy's restaurant, Maurice, the owner, came and sat down with us to talk. He asked if we wanted more beer. When some said "Yes" he said "Me too, get me one while you are up" Then he told us where the fridge was and let every one fend for themselves. There are no cars on the island and the streets are made of sand. Everyone drives little golf carts. I borrowed one for a while and had a great time tooling down the roads.

On our first full day there we went snorkeling. We went to where the nurse sharks and sting rays hang out. Our guide caught some with his bare hands and let us swim over and pet them. I got to hold one of the sharks. I have not done this trip in three years, and it was fun to go back and do some of my favorite things in Belize. The next day we went out to look for manatees. We did not have much luck in the morning, so we went over to a very tiny island for lunch and snorkeling. In the afternoon we went back to look for manatees. After freezing in a sudden downpour, we were rewarded and got some good views of a manatee.

Bright and early on the 5th of February, we took the water taxi back to Belize City, drove to San Ignacio, took a shuttle bus to the Guatemalan border, crossed over and took another shuttle over to the ruins of Tikal. We looked around the ruins a bit that afternoon and then tried to see sunrise the next day. It was very cloudy, and a bit rainy, so all we saw was the top of the big pyramid lost in fog. It was nice, but not a sunrise. We took a full day tour after that. Our guide showed us all the jungle plants, lots of the ruins, and we even saw some loud howler monkeys.
After a brief stop in the town of Flores, on the 7th, we went back to Belize and took David's Adventure Tours for a cave canoe trip. David, a cool rasta dude, was a bit disorganized, but eventually got everything together and we canoed into a long cavern and looked at all of the formations and bats. On the way back to town, his extremely overloaded van got stuck in the mud and needed a push. That put the adventure into the tour.

The next day we went up to where David lives. He has a small camping area on some unexcavated Mayan ruins. We climbed the hills that contain some ancient buildings and had a great view. Then we canoed down the river back to town and spent the afternoon in San Ignacio. On the 9th of February, we crossed back into Mexico in only two and a half hours and shot up the coast to Xpu-ha beach for some camping.

This is where I really came to appreciate my group. They were happy to sit on the beach for hours on end, with no planned activities what so ever. The first day we sat on the beach until mid-afternoon. Then we went into Playa del Carmen for dinner and drinks. The next day we visited the ruins of Tulum, and then spent the afternoon at camp. The following day, we spent the morning on the beach and moved to another beach for some kayaking in the afternoon. On the last day of the trip, we relaxed on the beach until after lunch and then drove up to Cancun and said goodbye.

This was a great group. Nearly every other meal we cooked was spaghetti, and they all loved garlic bread. Every time we made it, we made more and it was still never enough. One night we roasted whole cloves on the coals of our BBQ. Including the garlic bread that night, the seven of us polished off about seven bulbs of garlic. It was a great eating trip.

Yesterday, on my own, I saw a movie in Cancun and then moved down the coast to relax. I now have about a week off to hang out before my next trip starts on the 20th.