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Leaving Puerto Escondido

Sunday, February 15th, 2009

Folks this morning we are pulling up stakes in Puerto and heading for Acapulco. We plan to spend a couple three days there shopping for a new camera and a new aux battery. Wal Mart & Costco are our targets. Over that last few days here we’ve been relaxing, swimming, hanging out with old & new friends and watching the sunset on the beach. Last Wednesday we got to the Blues Festival again to see Chris Cotton a 16 year old guitarist from Toronto who’s gonna be the next Johnny Lang and Johnny Max, blues vocalist also from Toronto. Friday evening there was the yearly Swill beach party put on by the local gringo contingency to raise money for some of community who are sick with MS and other problems. They barbecued a 500 lb pig and had condiments up the wazoo – great deserts too. 200 pesos a ticket and all you could eat. Drinks were extra but cheap. They did a chicken shit bingo where folks bought a number for 100 pesos, then the put a lethargic chicken in a pen where all the numbers where and the number the chicken shit won won a prize. They did this three times, 2000, 2000 and 2500 pesos. The Mexicans present seem to be the big winners. There were door prizes also and our buddy Vito won the first one, a nice plastic market bag from the place that supplied the pig ! Woo hoo ! Three bands played all night till around 3am and THERE WAS a party on the beach ! So, that’s all the excitement from Puerto and now we’re back in the camper and on the road.

Adios,

Frank, Rita & Hunter

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Puerto Escondido – update

Tuesday, February 3rd, 2009

Folks, sorry for the delay in writing but we have been busy and no time or connection to post any messages. Very hot day and I’m in an Internet cafe on Playa Zicatella. Far too hot for the beach, Rita’s napping. We spent a week or less in the new visitors quarters of our friend’s Gord & Joanne’s new house roaming around with them and visiting. Sunday we moved out to a rental Cabana on Playa Zicatella where we will stay until the 14th. Then head further north. Lot’s happening here. A fellow Westy traveller from Toronto who bought a Westy out of Ottawa, Jim Phelaen, and left for Panama the week before us, showed up at Gord & Joanne’s a few days ago. Back from Panama so quickly ! Well, it was noce to finally meet him. He needed some work so I stepped in and got the van back in shape to return to Toronto. He’s still here for a few days getting a dent repaired after trying to squeeze between two trucks at the Guatamala boarder ! Then Saturday night we all went off the the Puerto Blues Festival, http://www.zicatela.net/puertoblues/09/en/, to see a good line up of performers topped off by David Rotundo from Toronto. So, who else shows up ? Vito, our friend from Bacalar. So what a night that was. Plus we met up with Pierre & Charlote on the dance floor, from Quebec, who sold their Westy and are on a big BMW motorcycle. We won a rib diner at the raffle, drank way too many beers, had a great time listened & danced to David and will go back next Saturday night for the next show ! Monday Gord & I took his Kayaks out on a nice quiet Laguna about a 1/2 hour north of here. Lot’s of birds and quiet water until some water skiers showed up. So now I’m back in our Cabana as the Internet cafe just has the plug pulled by the electricians. It’s a nice air conditioned cabana on Playa Zicatella. Passing hot winter days typing up this message. Soon will head for the Playa and sunset rituals and then try to hook up with Vito for super. He’s in Edda’s campground and cabanas up on the hill just behind us. Still no photos to share, cannot find a camera under $200 ! YIKES ! The cell phone camera pics do not look so good on the comuter so that’s not going to work. We hope to find a replacement at the Wal Mart or COSTCO in Acapulco.

Adios,

Frank, Rita & Hunter

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Puerto Escondido

Wednesday, January 28th, 2009

Folks, we are now in Puerto Escondido staying in the second floor loft of our friends, Gord & Joanne’s, new house overlooking Playa Zicatella. We got here yesterday and we’re off now for a swim and to meet some others. Puerto Escondido Blues Festival is still on so looks like we will see Danny Marks Saturday night. More later – gotta run now.

Frank, Rita & Hunter

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Zipolete

Sunday, January 25th, 2009

Folks, yes we are now camped out on the Beach for the the very first time in Zipolete with all the naked old folks ! We packed up all our stuff once again this morning and headed up the coast to explore Playa Angele, Zipolete, Mazunte, etc. So, finding a spot ON THE BEACH these day is not easy but we did it. Behind a Palapa and a bunch of cabanas up on stilts we are pretty much on the beach without getting wet. Set up a bit and went for a swim then watched our first sunset on the Pacific. That is the best, all the other spots cannot hold up to the west coast beach scene and all the other stuff we have seen was sure good BUT and I do mean BUT, The west coast of Mexico is by far our favorite, especially when we can get to camp ON THE BEACH ! So, now it’s 8:45 pm and we’re in a beach bar with Internet having coffee cognac, tea for Rita and a chocolate crepe with great music in the background or maybe it’s the foreground. Still no pics to offer as our camera is still kaput and we have not found a cheap new one. So what about Haultulco ? It was OK, nice campsite but too far from the beach for me. We met lots of nice folks including a couple from Switzerland and Germany who were back packing in Argentina and got fed up carrying all there stuff and bought a Brazilian Bay window bus, fixed it up as a camper and headed north. They are planing to go to Alaska then across Canada and may wind up in our back yard when we get home. Then there was Hymee & Barbara Jean from no where as they have been living in their 1982 aircooled Westy for the last ten years. We sort of knew about each other but have never met. They are good friends of Tony and are headed over to see him and camp in his back yard for awhile. Hymee was pround to show off his BusFusion T-Shirt when he saw us ! And so there were many others we met in Haultulco from Quebec and Ontario so also made many new friends and met old ones. BUT, after a week there it was time to move on. So, here we are in Zipolete and will stay until it’s time to go to Puerto Escondido and see what is going on there.

Adios,

Frank, Rita & Hunter

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Hualtulco

Thursday, January 22nd, 2009

Folks, we are now in Hualtulco a few hours south of Puerto Escondido, just in case you don’t know where Hualtulco is. Since we left San Cristobal monday morning we have not had Internet so this will be a catch up story. Saturday we visited the Indian villages of Chumula and Zinacantan just outside of San Cristobal by taking a tour with a guide who was from this area and he knew his stuff which made it very interesting. Amazing how many indigenous descendants of the Mayans that are still living out in the Mexican countryside much as they did for centuries. Out of San Cristobal we descended the mountains into the clouds, literally, to the town of Chiapa de Corzo. That decent was absolutely, bar none, one of the most spectacular mountain descents we have ever done. New four lane pavement for over 60 km. At Chiapa we made our way through the village celebrations of Saint San Sebastion which were just getting under way to the Embarkadero, {warf), where we embarked on a boat ride up the Sumadero Cannon, for some three hours. This is a trip of a life time and we highly recommend you take this trip some time in your life. The cannon is huge and long, the water deep as it is backed up by a dam where we went to and made our turn-around. The river from there heads south into Guatemala then out to the gulf of Mexico. We saw Crocodiles and Monkeys along with numerous birds. Unfortunately we have NO pictures to share with you as our camera has broken as a result of getting wet in Palenque. So the best we can offer you is to look at this Internet site, Click here: Sumidero Canyon Mexico Sumidero Eco Park, about the Sumidero Cannon. We hope to purchase a new camera as soon as we can find a one ! Meanwhile we’re using the cell phone camera and hopefully some of those photos will be below. When we arrived in Chiapa it was the first day of a week long celebration of Saint San Sebastian and there was a party going on. Luckily we were able to boon dock camp at the Embarkadero so we got to spend the evening exploring the festivities in town and along the Malecon. Tuesday January 20 was to be the grand day of San Sebastion but we opted to keep on with our travels and off we went Monday morning to the nearby large city of Tuxtla Gutierrez to see their Zoo. Well, that was not to be as the Zoo is closed on Mondays as we were informed as we drove up to the gate. So after some pondering of to stay and spend more time at Chiapa and the festival then see the Zoo or keep on moving we decided to keep on with our journey to the Pacific coast and some warm beach weather. We drove on down the mountains to Tapanatepec where we got ourselves a nice motel room for the night with HOT water showers and got ourselves cleaned up for the first time in weeks ! Looking at our maps we see that Hualtuco is within a few hours reach, supposedly a good cheap campground there near the beach so we decide to head there. So that’s were we are now and low and behold it’s not too bad, a free WiFi connection coming from one of the many expensive resorts up the hill overlooking the camp and beach. The beach is a short walk through the bushes and has a very steep sand bank and big waves. We may go in for a swim today. There is one other Vanagon Westy camper here, folks from the Okanogen area of BC who we met last year. Their van has a thermostat problem and they were very happy to see me yesterday. So looks like I have another job lined up. A few other folks in bigger RVs from Ontario and Quebec, one couple from Smiths Falls just down the road from Almonte so that was a surprise. They hosted a happy hour at their site at 5 yesterday and that was a pleasant affair meeting our new neighbours. So, we’re here for a few days maybe more then up the coast to Puerto Escondido where we will stay for a bit and visit with our friends Gord & Joannne. We will stop along the way at Playa Angel, Mazunte, and Zipolite for a few days. The adventures continue.

This message is a little late in getting posted and much has transpired since I wrote it. But had two mechanic jobs to look after and then there was way too much action here so no time to edit and post. Later more details will come.

There are no pics as this connection is too slow to upload them – Sorry ! They will be uploaded when we have a better connection.

Adios,

Frank, Rita & Hunter

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Palenque and on to San Cristobal

Friday, January 16th, 2009

Folks, we are now in San Cristobal camped out in the very nice and QUIET campground behind the Bonampak Hotel with a bunch of other big rigs. We spent Wednesday exploring Palenque in the rain. Thursday morning Jerry said his goodbyes and headed for home we’re gonna miss him, Duke and Meeka. Rita, Hunter & I are now on our own. We slowly packed up all our wet things, went into Palenque Centro to do some Internet and shopping then set out for San Cristobal. Along the way we stopped at a giant waterfall, Cascacada Misol-Ha, see the photo below. Rain pretty much the whole way through the mountains. And speaking of mountains these ones are impressive with great vistas in a jungle forest setting and the numerous villages along the way are interesting nestled up there. AND, the number of Topes is, well, overwhelming. I don’t think we have EVER encounter this number of Topes on such a short stretch of road before. Nevertheless, by late that evening we found ourselves in San Cristobal, found this campsite with Internet, IN THE VAN. We spent the day today exploring the Mercado and bought many things including another Hammock, that’s the third one. One in Coba, one at the jail in Chetumal and one here ! YIKES ! Hammock testing at BusFusion ? So, now I’m uploading lots of photos here and on Picasa since we have such a good FREE Internet connection. So, you will all have something to do rather than worry about us in Mexico and you in the cold and snow.

Frank, Rita & Hunter

Jerry leaving

Volkswagen camper from Brazil

Palenque Mayan Ruins

Giant plant seen at Palenque

Rita at Palenque

Cascada Misol-Ha

Mercado in San Cristobal

More photos here:

Mahahual: http://picasaweb.google.ca/FCondelli/Mahahaul?authkey=jZiKp-Kv0Lc#

Coba: http://picasaweb.google.ca/FCondelli/Coba?authkey=Itm6adSQytA#

Palenque: http://picasaweb.google.ca/FCondelli/Palenque?authkey=ZHsMOMmk92E#

Cascada Misol-Ha: http://picasaweb.google.ca/FCondelli/CascadaMisolHa?authkey=DyY_qyV-ob0#

San Cristobal: http://picasaweb.google.ca/FCondelli/SanChristobal?authkey=OuNb8kEGT84#

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Bacalar to Palenque

Thursday, January 15th, 2009

Folks, we, Jerry and the two dogs, Meeka & Duke and Rita, Hunter & I all packed up our stuff Tuesday morning and bid our hosts Tony and Elaine goodby and set out for Palenque in the RAIN ! Yes, it does rain in Mexico and that Tuesday was the rain day. Luckily it started just as we got everything packed. I had gone to town Monday to have my van washed as it was caked with mud from the road in and out of Punta Allen as it had rained heavily just before we went in and the road was a mess. So with a clean van and the rain coming on I got accused of bringing on the rain because I had washed my van – HOGWASH ! While I was out washing the van Rita had washed a pile of clothes in the Laguna and had them strung out on a line in Tony & Elaine’s yard trying to get them dry. With rain starting that afternoon they never did get dry and we had to pack them away wet for our trip to Palenque. Well, whatever it rained pretty much the whole way to Palenque sometimes quite hard as it was difficult to see the road. We stopped along the way once for fuel and once for lunch and to fill our water tank. As we came into Palenque the rain subsided and we thought we were gonna be good. Not to be, as we were in the local grocery stocking up on supplies and doing some Internet on a free WiFi from the parking lot it began to rain again as the sun was setting. We made our way in the dark out to the Mayabell campground a few km from the entrance of the Ruins and set up camp in the dark night rain. After getting set up we made ourselves a nice supper of chicken we had picked up at the grocery, met some other campers, went into the camp’s restaurant for some desert and to listen to some great live music. It was still raining, poured all night and by morning everything was soaking wet AND my camper was a muddy mess AGAIN. Coffee in the campers, off to the restaurant for breakfast and then we got dressed in our finest rain gear, took the collectivo bus up to the Ruins and spent a good part of the day exploring the Palenque Ruins in the rain. It’s an awesome site, in the jungle rainforest, in the rain ! Trees and plants larger than you can imagine. Streams running through the Ruins with huge waterfalls. And the Ruins themselves the most impressive and well preserved we have seen so far. An absolute must to see place. Walking back to our camp on the well laid out trails through the jungle was awesome but tiring. We stopped at the museum and gift shop then back to camp for a late lunch and siesta. The rain had stopped by then and now it’s all quiet as I type away here. Rita has gone off to bed. Jerry too as he will pack up and head on his way back home tomorrow morning bright and early. Rita & I will continue on towards San Christobal stopping along the way to see whatever we find in our path and try to dry out all the wet clothes we have since leaving Bacalar. Lots of photos of Palenque to come as soon as we have time to get them sized and uploaded. Stay tuned.

Adios,

Frank, Rita & Hunter

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Update from Punta Allen

Thursday, January 8th, 2009

Folks, this is our last day in Punta Allen. Tomorrow we will pack up and head back to Bacalar for a couple days. Meet up with Jerry & Kalie then head to Palenque. Punta Allen is a great spot if you like quiet and solitude. Not much goes on here at the end of this desolate 60 km penisula. There are bug problems however. Being surrounded by water on all sides, Mangroves everywhere, crocs, snakes, turtles and of course mosquitoes and sand flies. Bring lots of insect repellent, mosquito coil pics, citronella candles, etc., is all we can advise. We’re just about out and will be glad to get back to Bacalar and deal with ants ! For the last two days the wind has pretty much ceased so the bug problem has become worse. I’ve been out on the three piers, two on the Laguna side and one on the ocean side, fishing…….no luck. See lots of fish but they are not interested in my artificial lures. Need some real stuff like shrimp I guess. I have not taken the canoe out except for a short paddle. We are not really allowed to fish from our own boats but supposed to hire a guide and pay him to take us fishing. It’s because this area is in the protected Sian Ka’an Biosphere, http://www.cesiak.org/aboutsiankaan.htm, and there are LOTS of rules here, another problem ! Our campsite is at Serinidad Shardon, http://www.shardon.com, where Niki Allen the owner from Michigan has herself established a great campsite with rental cabanas and a swell beach. Our campsite is not on the ocean as it’s all soft sand but it’s just a hop skit and a jump away. We are parked under a great big shad tree and have moved the solar panel off the roof out into the open sun. Power here is limited in Punta Allen as it’s supplied by two generators, one is run daily from 10 AM to 2 PM and the other is run from 6 PM until midnight. Otherwise you must provide your own power ! Since Niki has no back up power her satellite Internet service is down when the town’s power is off. Rita has read just about every book she could lay her hands on and I have hiked & biked all the jungle trails. The other night we had a fine lobster diner with some friends we made back in Bacalar, Jessica and Daniel, from Calgary. They were camped here and since this place is renowned for the spiney back lobster we decided to make a feast for ourselves. We went to the fish coop and got four nice lobster tails and Rita, Daniel and Jessica made a fine diner for all of us. So, now we begin the chore of packing up all our stuff and head out to a new adventure in Palenque. Some photos from Punta Allen below for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy !

Adios,

Frank, Rita & Hunter

Weird tree roots in our campsite

Rita on the beach

Town main pier

lobster fishermen

Millitary in town

Hunter hunting a crab

A real house boat

Frank on the beach

Lobster diner with Jessica & Daniel

Lobster diner with Frank & Rita

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Mahahual and Coba to Punta Allen

Monday, January 5th, 2009

Folks this is a catch up of our adventures between leaving Bacalar and ending up in Punta Allen that I had no time to write about previously and no Internet connection until now.

As New Years Day was fast approaching as well as Bernard & Elena’s 11 am flight back to Toronto we packed up camp at Cocolitos on the Laguna in Bacalar and headed out to explore Mahahual and Coba in the few days they had left in Mexico. An few hours up the coast toward Cancun we find the turn off to Mahahual near the village of Limones. The road out to Mahahual is straight as an arrow and fairly new. We stop along the way to try and find some friends of Bernard, Daniel, from back in Quebec. He’s not there, we leave a note and on to Mahahual. Arriving near the end of the day we search out for accomadations and find ourselves with George and Madeline who have a nice casita for us for a couple of nights. Retired dive shop operators from Playa del Carmen, they have a secluded place down the beach from the centre of town. We stay there two nights explore the town that is being rebuilt after being completely destroyed by Hurricane Dean five years ago, then back on the road to see some Mayan ruins in Coba north of Tulum. We stop again to see if Daniel is around, no luck, so on we go. We get to Coba late in the day and again scramble for accomadations for ourselves. We find a small hotel, Sac-Bec, at the edge of town and a short walk to the ruins. The next day we spent the better part of the morning exploring the Coba ruins and impressive it was. This site is one still being uncovered and we get to see what the explorers saw before uncovering the buildings. Coba is huge and we were able to use our bikes to move around on the well groumed trails. There are bikes for rent and you must pay the same 30 Pesos to use your own. Bernard, Elena and I climbed the 42 meter high Nohock-Mul temple, the tallest in Northern Yucatan. Rita stayed down below. An awesome sight from above. After our explorations we went for lunch and some shopping at a nearby Batik shop and came away with some fine examples of local artesian’s work. We then packed up and headed for Tulum where we got a speeding ticket coming into Tulum at a well operated speed trap set up just for US. After some good bargaining by Bernard in his excellent Spanish we got off with a payout of 500 Pesos. Our first fine in three years driving around Mexico so not too too bad ! Stopping for grocery, banking and email pick up on a free Wifi at the intersection of the road from Coba and the Tulum highway we meet some friends we had met in Bacalar and they tell us of the great place they are staying at in Punta Allen. We decide to go there instead of Playa del Carmen as we had originally planned. We were out of propane on the Westy fridge tank but though we’d sure find propane in Tulum or on the road to Punta Allen. This never happened. We drove the 50 km of rough hard rutted dirt road well into darkness getting into Punta Allen around 9 pm. We found our friends and set up camp and a great wine party ensued with our host and new friends well into the night. The next day, New Years eve, we awaken to the fact it’s four hours from here to the Canacun Airport and Bernard & Elena’s flight out is at 11am. If we stay here and party New Years Eve here we will never make it. Around noon we pack up again leaving the canoe our tables & chairs, etc. behind expecting to be back here for the New Years Eve party that we were told was going to happen. Off we go toward Cancun. We stop for lunch and a bottle of champaigne in Tulum, it’s now 4pm, and off we go to Playa del Carmen to find propane and a place to saty for the night as it becomes evident we will not make it back to Punta Allen tonight.. New years eve is not the time to find propane not a place to stay. It’s now 6 ~ 7 pm, we’re all tired and upset. Benard & Elena decide to go off on their own to find a place and Rita & I drive around trying to find a place to park the camper for the night, eventually choosing the back yard of a Pemex station halfway back to Tulum. No New Years Eve party for us ! A heavy rain ensues most of the night and we awake New Years Day to a soggy sight. Pack up again and off to Playa again only to find most everything is closed so no propane today either. We eventually decide to go to the beach front hotel, Los Pinos, that we were supposed to originally go to and meet up with Jerry. Getting into this place is a trip and a half. A very large resort built by some Spaniards have blocked of the access road to the small Mexican hotels on the beach. We find that access is by driving through the parking lot, behind the complex and then back onto the dirt access road. When we get to Los Pinos, no one is around. We hang around, make a small lunch, set up our new hammock we bough in Coba and relax. Enough of all the nonesense. Eventually the property managers show up and we are shown the room which Jerry had reserved for us. Some walks up and down the beach and diner in the resturant at Los Pinos is the one and only meal they had left, a large fish filet with some caseadias. Saturday morning we mull about thinking about what to do, wait for Jerry & Sofie or go off and find propane, groceries and head back tp Punta
Allen. We opt for the second option. The propane dealer ends up being a 15 km drive up a dirt road past the local jail. It takes another few hours to make the drive back and forth and fill the two propane tanks. That was a challenge well executed. Off to the local grocery, Sorrianna’s, and load up with groceries so when we get to Punta Allen we will not have to move for a few weeks ! Back up the road to Tulum past the Military check point again, they must be used to seeing us by now, then out of Tulum on the 50 km of rough dirt rutted road again. We get into Punta Allen around 4 PM and everyone is happy to see us. We were expected back for the New Years Eve party and our new friends were worried ! So……..now we’re in Punta Allen and we’re not moving for awhile ! Some photos below for your enjoyment !

Adios,

Frank, Rita & Hunter

Mahahual photos – click on them to enlarge

Our rental casa in Mahahual

Our rented casa in Mahahual

Rita reading on the porch of our rental in Mahahual

Frank on the porch of rental casa in Mahahual

Rita having early moring coffee in the kitchen unit in Mahahual

Bernard hammock testing in Mahahual

Elena on the beach in Mahahual

Mahahual town beach view

By the beach in Mahahual

Wrecked sailboat at Mahahual

Coba photos – click on them to enlarge

Nohock-Mul temple structure at Coba - 42 meters high

Descending Nohock-Mul

One of the main temples at Coba

Mayan ruins in the jungle at Coba

Bicycling at Coba

Frank & Rita at Coba

Batiks we purchased at Coba

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Photos from Punta Allen

Sunday, January 4th, 2009

Folks, here are a few photos of our campsite in Punta Allen. Can’t upload many as the satellite connection is slow to upload pics. Tried to get some from Mahaual and Coba uploaded yesterday and it was a chore to get four so I gave up. I may try again today to get more uploaded and write some story about our visit to Mahaual and Coba. Until then enjoy these pics from Punta Allen.

Adios,

Frank, Rita & Hunter