A Tribe of their own

One of the reasons why I personally like travelling so much (aside from the evolving scenery and sense of discovery, which rank top on the list) is the transient, non-committal feeling of it all. I like the constant shift between being here and being gone, being part of a defining moment in time and taking off before the moment loses its magic, the feeling that any of these haphazard, kindergarden-constructed days could change your life. The sense of freedom and wonder is exhilirating, addictive. Because of the fleeting feeling travel necessitates, it is unusual and more concrete when you get to experience moments within a group. The combined energy of the tribe opens a whole other universe of potential.

First encounter camping at Lake Peten. Sunrise at El Encantandero campsite

Westwards across Lake Peten.

We had a feeling like this between Christmas and New Years when we stayed in Flores, a heritage island in Lake Peten where the little Spanish stone houses were built on top of an old Mayan city. Cobblestone roads, colonial houses painted in M&M colours, flowerpots on the balconies... you get the picture. And in this charming town, in one of the colourful houses is Los Amigos Hostel, complete with a garden courtyard, yummy restaurant, bookshelves, a parrot a cat and a sausage dog, oversized pillows and plenty of hammocks. And a resident community of travelling macrame artists (the kind my sister would call nasty-ass-cracker-backbackers, complete with dreadlocks and flappy hemp pants), who loved the place so much that they have been stationed in the same hammocks and pillows for over 3 weeks working away at bracelets, necklaces, earrings and the like. This groups became our tribe, no thanks to the fact that Vinko picked up some macrame skills in Cancun and was keen to expand his repertoire (191 things you didn't know about Vinko!) We didn't quite join in the Kumbaja singing on the last night, but I was genuinely sad to part with these people three days later.

But we were barely on the road when we met the first member of another phantom tribe we belong to: the Crazy People on Bicycles Tribe. Everywhere we have been so far, the people who weren't utterly shocked at our travel methods were the ones who had encountered a bike tourist before. We keep hearing about this mysterious Swiss guy who always seems to be 2 weeks ahead of us, or another couple from 2 years ago. And more are coming out of the woodwork weekly, for example a Cairo to Cape Town rider raising funds for Tour d'Afrique Foundation. We were starting to doubt the authenticity of the rumours since we have not met any other cyclists. But on our way out of Flores we met Anna, an Aussie going all the way from Alaska to Argentina on bicycle. She's been going for about 18 months now, and has covered over 22,000km. With our day-glo orange milk crates and clearly ghetto arrangement of bags, it was no wonder that she could barely contain laughter. It was both an inspiring and intimidating first encounter with the phantom tribe.

Our current tribe is the community in the small village of San Andres, where we are living while struggling to get a grip on the Spanish language. We love it here. A bundle of colourful houses with rusty tin roofs tumble down the green mountain, connected by impossibly steep roads and hidden cobblestone stairways that usually lead nowhere but will dead-end with a spectacular view of the lake below. In the oppressive midday heat (welcome to winter in Peten province!) it's a ghost town - save for some feral dogs skulking around - but at sundown kids spill out onto the roads to play football, neighbours sit on front steps to share jokes and a lone fisherman cuts across the violet, pink and orange surface.

Streetscape, San Jose (2km from our house)

Sunset from Ni'Tun Ecolodge, New Years Eve

San Jose, about 2km east along the lake from San Andres

Our host family through the Eco-Escuala de Espanol program is Don Carmen and Dona Rosa Chabin. The family currently has 8 members living here, although some other rooms around us are rented out to include another 6 or so people milling around at the call of the rooster, which never fails to be at some random hour like 3am. We have our own little bungalow (glorified play hut), which looks across the short side of a 5x10m courtyard into the "open-plan" hand-wash laundry. Behind that is the "semi-open-plan" kitchen where Darling makes over 100 tortillas on the fire every day to feed the hungry masses. A cold shower ensures that everyone gets 2 showers daily without a line up. It's an ideal detour into village living for us, although the communal nature means that we are all sharing the same common cold now. I guess it comes with the (tribal) territory.

Part of laundry day (everyday) - this sweet arrangement is right under our window

Off the Beaten Track

To follow in the tradition of sharing bike travel tips which helped us out greatly on this adventure, this page is a collection of links to our blog posts containing information on some of the trickier routes we took on our travels, most of these are not available online and some not even from the local community. These will be useful as travel guides for anyone wishing to cycle through the same routes in Central America we took on our trip.

Punta Allen to Felipe Carrillo Puerto (Mexico)
This is a detailed description of the much mystical road that goes through the heart of Sian Kaán connecting the Punta Allen peninsula and the inland town of Felipe Carrillo Puerto.
- 75km through Sian Kaan
- The lookout tower
- Caseta Santa Teresa
- Pictures
- Detail Map



Felipe Carrillo Puerto to Bacalar and beyond (Mexico)
The newly upgraded federal highway heading South out of Carrillo has made traveling this route a lot safer and quicker for bikers.

The highway from Felipe Carrillo Puerto all the way to the border of Belize was upgraded less than a year ago. As a result it was pretty easy and safe for us to take the federal route with a two meter wide shoulder on the side. The road was exactly the same as from Cancun down to Tulum.


- Maya ruin on the side of the road in Limones


Corozal to Sarteneja (Belize)
We took a quick boat transfer to reach Sarteneja which enables us to ride to Orange Walk via a less major road.

We took a boat from Corozal to Sarteneja to check it out and avoid the main road to Orange Walk, this route should be nicer and more interesting.


- 7am boat from dock
- $40 belize for person and transport of bike (just seat is $25)
- 35 minute ride


More interesting roads to come...

Places We Stayed

Along the road we ended up in a number of different places, some were an utter delight to rest for the night and others somewhat different. Below is a list of all the places we stayed that are worthy a mention. Obviously we stayed at the ecolodges listed elsewhere on our site too, but these have a special page just for themselves - click here to read about them

Accommodation by Country:
Mexico (Quintana Roo)
Belize
Guatemala
El Salvador
Nicaragua

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Mexico (Quintana Roo)
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Playa del Carmen

Las Ruinas, Playa del Carmen

(review on Trip Advisor)

This is a lovely little place that caters for campers and is located right on the beach in the centre of town. Should I say more? Well yes actually, they had showers (both inside and outside for when you needed to rinse off some sand from the beach), toilets and even an easy access outdoor sink with a mirror. You could camp under a solid roof or simply sleep in a hammock located in the same area. Easy, clean, no fuss, perfectly located and even economic - it cost us 100 pesos a night for the tent. A tip - for cheap and good food or drink, stay off the main drag in town, this place is designed for getting money out of tourists. Just around the corner and right down on the beach is a great place to eat and drink, La Torreta.

Tulum

Santa Fe Cabañas, Tulum Beach

One of the cabaña sites worst hit by hurricanes - they lost all but their main house on the beach. We were able to camp here and find a nice spot just a little better shielded from the ocean winds. The staff here were really friendly and helpful which made the 150 peso a night camping fee much more tolerable. Plus they had a full bathroom block similar to what you find in Western style camp grounds. Their kitchen seemed to serve up nice food but since we were on a very tight budget we prepared our own meals with groceries bought from town (it was only a 10 minute bike ride away). The best part is the beach is gorgeous and this is as close as you can get to the Tulum ruins - we could see some of the main buildings when wading in the water. 

Xamach
Xamach Dos - Trip Advisor review...

(review on Trip Advisor)

Felipe Carrillo Puerto

Hotel Maria Isabel, Felipe Carrillo Puerto

One After riding through Sian Kaan for two days, we arrived in Carrillo and felt we deserved to treat ourselves to a proper shower and a comfy bed. There really aren't too many accommodation options in this town, but we checked out two. Both are located along Avenue Benito Juarez, the first was Hotel San Ignacio which is located on the block just after Calle 61 and it was 400 pesos for the night which was a bit pricey for us. Hotel Maria Isabela is just on the corner of Calle 61, we stayed there as the price was right, the staff member on duty was friendly and everything was clean and comfortable. The cost was 300 pesos per room per night. Indeed we were happy with everything apart from having a terrible nights sleep due to excessive noise made by the staff; either loud TV in the front room (we were the closest), loud conversations with guests and friends right in the lobby, and finally the cars starting right next to our window at 4am. To say the excessive noise lasted all through the night is not an exaggeration, we are not picky types seeing as just having a shower available is normally a luxury. In retrospect it was probably just a bad experience just due to where our room was located, and we did have a choice for this. It was right off the lobby, closest to the front office and next to a side driveway come parking bay. Nevertheless, if you decide to stay here prepare in advance with ear-plugs as the noise generally in the town is loud all night long, they say the town never sleeps and indeed neither will you if you don't bring any along.

Punta Allen
Serenidad Shardon, Punta Allen
We camped on the beach in one of the staff members backyards for 100 pesos a night.

Punta Allen

Serenidad Shardon, Punta Allen

We camped on the beach in one of the staff members backyards for 100 pesos a night.

Hotel Posada Melodia - Playa Del Carmen

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Belize
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Backpackers Paradise - Sarteneja (review on Trip Advisor)
Lamanai Riverside Retreat - Orange Walk Town (review on Trip Advisor)
Crooked Tree Lodge - Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary (review on Trip Advisor)
Ruby's Guest House - San Pedro on Ambergis Caye
Yuma's House - Caye Caulker
Seaspray Hotel - Placencia
Parrot Nest Lodge - San Ignacio (review on Trip Advisor)

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Guatemala
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Peten:
Ecolodge El Sombrero - Laguna Yaxha in Peten (review on Trip Advisor)
Youth Hostel Los Amigos - Flores (review on Trip Advisor)
Nitun Private Reserve - Lago Peten Itza (review on Trip Advisor)
El Encantandero - Jobompiche on Lago Peten Itza

Rio Dulce and Livingston:
Isla Xalaja - Rio Dulce (review on Trip Advisor)
Hotel Casa Perico - Rio Dulce (review on Trip Advisor)
Hotel Backpackers - Rio Dulce
Garden Gate Guest House - Livingston (review on Trip Advisor)

Lanquin and Semuc Champey:
Zephyr Lodge - Lanquin (review on Trip Advisor)
El Portal - Semuc Champey (review on Trip Advisor)

Antigua:
The Yellow House - Antigua
Posada el Viajero - Antigua (review on Trip Advisor)
Hotel la Casa de Don Ismael - Antigua (review on Trip Advisor)

Lake Atitlan:
Hotel El Arbol - San Marcos La Laguna (review on Trip Advisor)
Hotel Aaculaax - San Marcos La Laguna (review on Trip Advisor)

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El Salvador
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Horizontes Surf Camp - El Zonte
Villa Veronica - San Salvador

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Nicaragua
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Matagalpa and around:
Selva Negra - Matagalpa

Granada:
Hotel Valeria - Granada
Hostel Oasis - Granada

Pacific Coast Beaches:
Villa Jiquelite - Limon
Buena Onda - Limon
La Terrazza - San Juan del Sur
Buena Vista Surf Club - Playa Maderas


More to come...

Bikes and Equipment

The first thing we should explain is that no single method of travel, packing or financial planning for a trip like this is equally suitable for everyone. That being said, for our trip we decided to purchase our "hard equipment" once the trip got under way from Cancun in Mexico. By hard equipment, we refer to the bikes themselves, cooking and cleaning utensils, ingredients, food, and pretty much anything else that can be used up in under a month or so.

We strongly encourage anyone planning on starting a trip like ours to decide exactly what things they are willing to compromise on and also take into account the likely conditions of their mode of travel in their region of travel choice. For example, buying and fully equipping your bikes back home will save you a lot of hassle and will undoubtedly avoid any uncertainty about what you will be able to find once you arrive at your first destination. However, this will probably cost more money first of all, and in some cases equipment you buy at home may not be repairable abroad or the parts which might need replacement might not be available where you are heading. Ofcourse one major thing to keep in mind is that anything that is more advanced and you pay more for at home, you will probably be precious about on your trip. Take some time to consider how many such items you would like to take with you and how it may impact upon your travel freedom and overall peace of mind.

The last thing to mention is that we were able to pack fairly lightly on each bike because there were two of us. For obvious reasons some things were only needed in singles e.g. tent, 4L water bottle, cooker stove, tarp, tools, water filter pump, etc. just to name a few. If you plan on traveling by your self, either find a crazy friend to join you or plan on packing much, much lighter than this.


Ok, enough about introductions - here is all the info on bicycles and our equipment list below.



The Bikes

As we mentioned above we decided to buy our bikes in Mexico once we had arrived in Cancun. We knew that buying the bikes in Canada (where we boarded our flights from) would likely cost much more money and we´re uncertain whether we would be able to find parts and the technical knowledge to repair more advanced bicycles on our trip if something were to go wrong. We also decide to find our means of actually carrying stuff on the bikes once we got there, so having bikes from Canada may limit our choices in terms of what and how we can fit on them once we got to Cancun. In summary, simple and cost effective was our approach for pretty much anything bike related.


Cancun turned out not to be the best place to purchase bikes for two reasons, the first is that pretty much everything is more expensive in Cancun than in any other nearest major town (Merida, Valladolid etc.), and the second being that Cancun is a major tourist destination and most local people work and live around this industry therefore there is generally a very small market for the kind of bikes and racks we were looking for in Cancun which meant that choices were limited.


There were a few bike shops in Cancun central which we were able to find with the help of a dear newly made friend and resident of Cancun, Jesus. We found the bikes we ended up buying at Hadad Bikes, which is located here. There was also another decent bike shop with many mountain bike choices, located here.


Our bikes were Mercurio, a Mexican brand whose home operation was located in Merida. The model was Urban Concept which was a good hybrid mix between mountain bike and road bike, these bikes are well designed for touring or transport riding which what we were looking for. The bikes alone cost us 2250 pesos each, and another few hundred pesos for all the other bits and pieces (rear rack, front basket, bottle holder, two spare tubes).


To carry all our equipment we modified the bikes a little. The first addition was a piece of decking plank which we purchased at Home Depot in Cancun (they also cut the plank to measure in store, this was very cheap even with the taxi cost included). We used a drill at Hadad Bikes to make holes in the piece of plank and zip-tied it to our rear rack - this was all to allow a plastic crate to sit more evenly on the back and to prolong its life. We bought the plastic crates from Wal Mart (there are more than a few in Cancun) for 140 pesos each and it turned out to be strong enough and the right size for all our stuff.


To tie down the crate to our adjusted rear bike rack, we used ockie straps (you might call these bungee chords - essentially they are those elastic things with hooks on both ends that your dad took on camping trips). Three pairs of straps were enough, and we decided that a well tied but temporary solution was better so that at times we could take off all our stuff from the bikes in simple chunks, leaving the bikes bare but being able to take all our stuff with us (storing it in our tent flaps, in a room, a locker etc.). Sometimes it just made life easier to take the stuff off and carry it a little across sand than to push the bikes all the way to where we were camping fully loaded.


The only other addition we made to the bikes was in Puerto Morelos, it turned out that the original rear rack was not enough on its own and over time for the ride from Cancun to Puerto Morelos (2 hours and 40 kms), the back load was almost touching the tires. We stayed two nights in Puerto Morelos where we spent a day finding someone to weld vertical steel support struts for the rear racks. Once this was done, these babies were tough and ready for the bumpy roads ahead.


All up our bikes had the following features and were able to carry around 25 kg of packing each pretty comfortably:

• Mercurio Urban Concept (26 inch wheel hybrid bikes with medium tires) - Hadad Bikes, Cancun
• Steel rear rack attached to seat shaft (reinforced with twisted iron vertical support struts welded on later) - Hadad Bikes, Cancun + Sirena Bikes, Puerto Morelos (we cut the vertical struts off another set of rear racks from this bike shop)
• Front steel cage baskets attached to the handle bars - Hadad Bikes, Cancun
• Steel bottle holder - Hadad Bikes, Cancun
• Rear timber plank attached to rack with zip ties - Home Depot, Cancun
• Large plastic crates (40 cm wide x 30 cm long x 30 cm deep) - Wal Mart, Cancun
• Ockie Straps (bungee chords) used for packed crate tie down - Canadian Tire, Calgary + Wal Mart, Cancun (needed a few more)
• Straping tape and piece of foam mattress - the handle bars were little hard for all the riding distance we had to cover so we improved the comfort by slicing a strip off our foam mattress´s and strapping it to the handles of each bike (much more comfortable and soft for all those hours of numb fingers)

That´s it for the bikes, now if you are interested read below what the bikes and all this setup gear was actually carrying.



Equipment List

The following list describes some shared items and some which each person carries for obvious reasons:

Bought in Canada or Australia - these things are intended to last the whole trip and more

• Tent - Salewa Denali II (2.5 person dome shaped tent with extra side flaps, ours is an older model...maybe 2007)
• Sleeping Bag
• Sleeping foam mattress (open cell - 1/2 inch thick) - NOT WATERPROOF
• Thermarest self inflating mattress - MORE WATERPROOF
• Cooking Stove - MSR Dragonfly (Omni fuel, which means it burns anything; white gas, kerosene, diesel, aviation fuel, Unleaded Petrol)
• Fuel Canisters - 2 x MSR 600mL (you can fly with these only if they have never been used or appear so)
• Water Filter Pump - Katadyn Hiker (made in Switzerland and pumps 1L per minute at 0.3 microns with glass-fiber filter)
• Head Lamp - LED lights and 3 AAA batteries (we bought a backup pack of batteries)
• Torch Flashlight - LED lights and rechargeable (we bought this crazy little thing for $3 US in Vietnam from a random hole-in-a-wall electronics vendor in Nihn Binh, it plugs directly into a US socket for charging via slide out prongs which it does rapidly, it has two settings; normal torch and stand up lamp just by pressing the button again - it simply kicks ass, Chinese made!)
• Leatherman - Wave (no need to say more, very useful and powerful)
• Field Knife - Excalibur flip knife with leather pouch
• Permanent Marker - Black Sharpie (multi tip, useful for marking stuff)
• Bike Pump - Bontrager small but powerful hand pump
• Bike Tire Puncture Repair Kit - Mountain Equipment Co-op regular brand
• Bike Tool Set - small Mountain Equipment Co-op regular brand
• Padlocks - Two tough and big padlocks from Canadian Tire (for locking up bikes and whatever else)
• Bike Lock Cable - Canadian Tire, just cable and loops (we used the padlocks, more versatile this way)
• Waterproof Tarp - Small 3 x 3m from Canadian Tire
• Ockie straps (bungee chords) - Strong set of six 24 inch from Candian Tire (wish we got more)
• Water bottles - 3 x 750mL aluminium water bottles
• First Aid Kit - Small travel type, upgraded with some better band-aids and iodine solution
• Zip ties - 50 x long ones from Wal Mart (in all honesty we should have left them for Cancun - they have Wal Marts there)
• Pack of cards - this was really from Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam, but nonetheless important for passing time
• Multi Vitamins - Pack of 250 from London Drugs generic brand
• Clif Bars - 12 x Backup energy and nutrition bars, they are tasty and awesome and must be bought in North America
• Gshock Watch - Tough and reliable watch for keeping time and setting alarms
• Duct Tape - could have been bought in Cancun
• Strapping Tape - same as above (useful for injuries and improving the comfort of handle bars it turns out)
• Nylon Rope - same again (100 meters, waterproof and light weight but strong)
• Freezer Bags - tougher than basic zip-lock bags and keep things dry
• Pain Killers - Basic Ibuprofen
• Random lady products (obvious) and contact lens goodies (spare lenses and eye solution) - Colette took enough to cover a full year in case our plans changed (Colette requires prescription lenses and wished everyday to have had laser eye surgery instead of dealing with contact lenses and glasses on this trip)

Bought in Mexico - these things are usable items and were easy to get on Cancun or otherwise

• Cooking Pot - Found at Wal Mart in Cancun (this was just a very basic raw aluminium cooking pot, very light and cheap)
• Cooking Cups - We bought two from Wal Mart (same as above, the added bonus is that our cooker fits snugly inside one)
• Cutlery - Wal Mart (two spoons, forks and steak knifes, very cheap and simple)
• Spatula - Wal Mart (very cheap plastic type, its hybrid so works as ladle and spatula)
• Lighter - A trusty little Bic lighter from Wal Mart (always useful)
• Matches - put in zip-lock bags for keeping dry
  
• Zip-lock bags
• Garbage Bags - for keeping things dry and dust free (we wrapped our sleeping mats once rolled inside a bag for each ride)
• Dish-washing Liquid
• Soap
• Mosquito Repellent - DEET type for tropical insects (keep in mind not to use these often as they damage the environment, and their use is prohibited in all protected areas and when visiting cenotes)
• Suncream - 50 SPF (same as above, contain metal oxides)
• Fishing tackle - Bought in Punta Allen and comes in very handy when near the coast, should be thick line and suitable for beach fishing (fresh fish for dinner, yumm!)
• Powdered Cordial
• Salt Grinder
• Oil
• Herbal Tea - A nice alternative to just plain water sometimes and handy when you have to boil it anyway
• Rice
• Tiny Pasta
• Tomato Puree
• Garlic - may seem silly but it makes a big difference, and it´s super light
• Canned Tuna - good source of protein as back-up
  
• Other food stuff - we ate fresh produce whenever available, the above is mostly for backup or filler
• A stick - for warding off chasing dogs and hoisting up yer pirate flag (ARGH!)

So there it is folks, hope this helps or provides some guidance should you require any. Quite a lot of the things we bought prior to departing for our trip and those which were mentally prepared for finding once we got there came to mind due to other peoples bike travel blogs which we researched beforehand.