A Travel Story by Chris Smith and Liz Peel
It is with extremely mixed emotions that I am able to tell you we have resumed our trip and are now in Florida preparing the bike for the next leg of the trip, to Canada.
Well, we've been in Mexico for just a little under a week (at time of writing this). Without wishing to sound smug I'm writing this sitting with a beer beside me and looking out over the most idyllic bay I have ever seen (no exaggeration). Picture desert mountains of burnt umber and sage leading down to a perfect golden beach encircling almost completely a bay of deepest turquoise blue so still you'd think you could walk on the water. We have a room in a guest house and our door opens out onto that beach. We've been here two days and we haven't seen anyone else on this beach yet.
Its been a while since our last 'group update' and I guess for some people this will be your first update as you were foolish enough to give us your email address when we bumped into each other on the road somewhere! It seems that everywhere we go we keep meeting people, having a few beers or a meal together or on occasions spending several days together. This trip of ours is turning out to be quite a social epic and is all the richer for it.
We have spent the first few days getting used to America and driving on the other side. We left LA virtually straight away and headed over the mountains to Joshua Tree National Park, out in the Mojave desert. The scenery is incredible, I have never experienced a desert before and it is so vast here. The mountains just go on and on. We camped in the NP for 1 night but it was so cold, we had to find a motel the next night. The weather there is so extreme, intense bright days with deep blue sky and very cold nights, it even snowed on the mountain tops.
I never thought I'd say this but we've been feeling a bit 'treed out'. Since Canada we've seen nothing but trees, EVERYWHERE. We're ready for a change of scene and not being ones to do things by halves Death Valley seemed like a place that would be that change. We've ridden through a few desert areas on this trip and love them. Every desert has its own character and mood and the more time we spend in them the more we appreciate them. In Sequoia NP we met Mark, a lone biker from New Mexico, taking some time off work to ride around the country and have a break.
Its only been a month or so since we came back into the States but it feels like an awful lot longer. Since getting a caution for speeding we've completely ignored it and ridden round the country like to people possessed to take in all the sites we can as we head south for the sun. We pretty much rode through Washington State without stopping until we hit Oregon. Oregon must be one of the best kept secrets in the States as no one told us how beautiful it is. The coastal road (Highway 101) is spectacular all the way to California.
After a tough time back in the UK we crossed the Atlantic once again to resume 'The Trip'. Landing in Miami we stayed a few lovely days with Chris's brother and family bringing the bike out of hibernation and doing the Florida tourist bit which was just what we needed. Florida has no shortage of things to do but Disneyland and beaches aren't us so its an advantage having family there who know what we like and came up trumps every time.
We've just spent a month or so in British Colombia and it seems like five minutes. Our time there was packed with doing stuff, seeing stuff and at times seeing absolutely nothing at all through the rain. As we expected it was pretty cold up North but it was worth it. We got there just that little bit too late to get as far North in Canada as we'd have liked but that's life. We just made the most of where we could get to.
In an attempt to be unpredictable we thought we'd send another update before you were expecting it! Since the 'Copper Canyon Update' we've, well, been back to the Copper Canyon. It was so good we decided to visit the Southern end of the canyon chains once we had got our new tire in Chihuahua. The Southern end of the canyons is every bit as fantastic as the Northern end but the canyon walls are a little more shear. We rode the bike along yet another dirt road for 20 kilometres or so to a look-out point in the middle of nowhere.
Weve been in Mexico for a week today. In some ways it feels like weve been here for ages and in others its like we just got here yesterday. Crossing the boarder from the US was really easy. We were even made to feel welcome, unlike US immigration! It was a real culture shock for us when we got here though. We knew it would be but even so it was supprising just how different Mexico is from England or even the bits of the US I/weve seen. The towns are something else. Its a bit like a really busy city imediately after a bomb blast.
We've finally got the bike now. It took a while ( a week late) but it arrived in one piece. US Customs was a doddle, signed a few pieces of paper, swore to be good and rode off into the sunset!
Well, we didn't expect to writing another update quite so soon but we've seen so much in the last few days that we thought we'd do one before we forgot just what we have done. After waiting out the weather in Jackson Hole, Wyoming we decided to bite the bullet and ride on to the Great Teton National Park and then to Yellowstone. As soon as we cocked a leg over the bike the inevitable happened. The weather got worse. The only reason we know we rode through the Great Teton National Park was the fact that the Ranger at the entrance gate asked to see our National Parks Pass.
We only plan to spend eight days or so in Belize. Yeh right!!!!!!!!!! having come into Belize on the 3rd January we were looking forward to nothing more than seeing Camille and Alex (our friends from England) and seeing a little of the country before riding onto Guatemala in a little over a week. Boy has that all changed. We did indeed meet Camille and Alex and had a fantastic time with them seeing and doing so many things but one of those things has lead to an unexpected outcome.
Having seen several Maya ruins and loved every minute of it we moved on to the coast for Christmas. We were going to go to Belize for Christmas but as we got closer and talked to more and more people about where to go we soon realised that Belize could be more expensive than our budget would allow so we made other plans. Again having asked around for recommendations and with time running out we found ourselves in Mahahual on the Costa Maya a little above Belize and right on the coast but still in Mexico.
At the time of sending our last update we had just arrived in San Christobal Del Las Casas having ridden 2500 miles in a little over a week. We were riding hard so we could spend Christmas in Belize but still have time to take in the sights of Southern Mexico and the Maya World. On reaching San Christobal Del Las Casas we couldn't believe our luck. We'd arrived just prior to the weekend celebrations of the Pilgrimage to the Virgin of Guadeloupe.
On the 28th November we came back into Mexico south of Tucson and it was like coming home. The Mexican Immigration Officer sat and chatted to us for a while and showed us good places to stay on the map in his office. Stamping our visas came second to giving us a warm welcome. That's Mexico. Since crossing the border by and large its been hard riding south to get to the Yucatan and then on to Belize for Christmas. Even though for the most part we've just been riding rather than exploring we've still been having a great time.
It hasn't been too long since our last update but it feels like a lot longer than it actually is since we temporarily parked the bike up, adapting to being in one place for a while has taken a bit of effort. No longer getting up every morning and packing our gear onto the bike to ride off round the next unknown bend feels odd. Instead we find ourselves planning a different form of logistics for each day. Are the machetes sharp? Is GPS working and will we be able to carry enough water for our next foray into the jungle?
The situations we find ourselves in on this trip of ours never ceases to amaze us. There we were, all geared up for a leisurely ride round Central America only to find that within a week of actually entering the first of the 7 Central America countries we find ourselves being hijacked by a conservation organisation called Wildtracks. Upon arriving here we found ourselves reeling somewhat from the abrupt change in our situation but it hasn't taken us long to settle in and feel at home. Wildtracks consists of a select motley crew of volunteers and staff.
Well, life remains surreal for us in Belize. Our work completed for Wildtracks (the conservation organisation we were working for) it was time to move on. We were both ready to move too. Despite all the good times and the worthwhile work we were feeling the need to crank up the bike and ride again.
