Travels of the Bay family and the Yoda Van

The following is a guest entry from our nephew Justin (aka Jazzy-Fizzle) who came to visit us in April.  His original post in German is the previous entry.  This was translated into English by his Aunt, Allison.

When I first thought about coming to visit my Uncle, Allison and their kids I was totally excited.  Two months before school vacation I started to get serious about visiting them (after Uncle told me about all about spring break, alcohol sluts, etc.)  I finally found a flight from Stuttgart to Cancun, with a layover in Amsterdam.  My Mom brought me to the airport at 4:30 in the morning.  She was very worried about me, but (on the outside) I remained super cool.  Honestly, I was just as nervous as she was. 

I arrived in Cancun after a 3 hour plane delay in Amsterdam and they were anxiously awaiting my arrival.  First I had to change clothes because I still had on a thick sweater and heavy black pants.  After a few hugs we went straight to the car, where a cooler full of beer was waiting. 

 We didn’t stay in Cancun, but rather drove 100 km south to our camp ground at Xpu-Ha.  I’m not sure if was due to the alcohol, but it was a dream.  We camped right on the beach, had hammocks under palm trees, coolers full with beer, and more.  We stayed there 4 days and when Semana Santa started, the camp ground got very full and I was very hopeful that I would get to meet some alcohol sluts.  Unfortunately we never did find any, but it wasn’t because I wasn’t trying.  Usually I would go with Julian who is a babe magnet.  One time I went searching with Uncle and we looked up onto a balcony and there was one hot Mexican girl.  I’m not sure why (maybe it was due to all the beer) but later I just went straight up to her balcony and yelled out “Hola!”  She came out and wanted to talk to me.  It really wasn’t easy since she didn’t speak English and I don’t speak any Spanish.  But even still we managed to have a “conversation” for about 20 minutes.  When I was back at the Yoda Van Uncle and Allison were sitting there, drinking wine, as if they knew nothing of what had just transpired. 

At this campsite Julian was allowed to pee on a tree right next to the van when he had to go to the bathroom.  This turned out to be a big mistake because later Julian would pull down his pants and start to pee no matter where we were! 

On Monday we continued on to Guatemala where we camped in front of a restaurant.  There really wasn’t anything special about this place except for the night watchman:

The next day we drove to Tikal.  That night was very short because we had to get up at 4:30 in the morning.  Just after 4:00 AM we heard all this howling – but it wasn’t my Uncle it was the monkeys.  The tour we took was very interesting.  We saw monkeys.  They almost pooped on Allison’s head, but at least she stepped it in afterwards.  My Uncle almost cried for joy when he saw a toucan, and I was crying because I had to carry one of their kids on my back for nearly 5 hours. On our way to Finca Ixobel we had a small break down.  We changed the fuel filter at a gas station in 35 degree weather.  During that time I was able to use my new favorite word “Tranquilo” at least 100 times.Finca Ixobel was very nice – especially the food there.  But the best thing about this place was the happy hour.  One evening Allison put the kids to bed while my Uncle and I went to happy hour.  He did something really dumb while we were there.  He said “Why don’t you go talk to that girl that is sitting at the bar.”  We went up to her and what does he do?  He sits right in between her and me!  Anyway, we drank a few cocktails and went back to the van.  Later I went back to happy hour with Allison. 

On the way back to Mexico my Uncle just about had a heart attack when it took us nearly 2 hours to get out of the Zona Libre (the duty-free area between Belize and Mexico).  Then when we finally got to the border they pulled us out and wanted us to pay again.  He was not being “tranquilo” at all.  Since my Uncle was in danger of keeling over due to a heart attack Allison had to do the rest of the driving that day.  We arrived back in Xpu-Ha and I discovered a couple of very cute girls when I took my cousin (the magnet) for a walk on the beach.  Someone told me that she was going to stay for a couple of days, but that evening when her Dad started to pack the car it became clear that was going to leave the next day.  My drunk Uncle then came up with a brilliant idea – he said I should let all the air out of the tires of their trailer.  Of course I did it.  When I woke up the next morning they were driving off with flat tires.  (It’s their own fault they didn’t check the tires!) 

The last 3 nights we spent about 80 km south of Cancun.  We had a swimming pool right on the beach.  By this time I wasn’t as concerned with meeting women, probably because of all the disappointments up until then.  I played volleyball every day, and my Uncle and Allison even played one afternoon.  I saw how much my Uncle is like my mother.  He just hates losing and if he doesn’t give it his 100% he is in a bad mood. 

On the way to the airport they told me that they were hiding behind a palm tree, watching me that night that I was “talking” to the woman up on the balcony.  It was very hard for me to say goodbye to them since I had so much fun with them and I have a lot of studying to do when I get back to Germany.  My Uncle said I should go out into the red-light district in Amsterdam during my layover.  The woman at the information desk in the Amsterdam airport said she didn’t think that was such a good idea since I only had 4 hours. 

Once I was back in Germany I had a lot of stories to tell.  We drank ~150 liters of beer und chewed 500 grams of Skoal.  By now I’ve totally annoyed everyone with my new favorite word “tranquilo”.  I hope I can come visit you guys again soon.

Dieser Eintrag ist ein Gasteintrag von unserem Neffen Justin (genannt Jazzy-Fizzle) der uns in April besuchte.

Als ich zum ersten mal hörte das ich Onkel, Allison und die Kinder besuchen kommen könnte war ich total begeistert. Zwei Monate vor den Ferien wurde es dann ernst, nachdem mich Onkel schon total heiß gemacht hatte. (spring brake, alkohol schlampen usw.) Endlich fand ich einen Flug von Stuttgart über Amsterdam nach Cancun. Meine Mutter brachte mich um 4.30 uhr in der Nacht zum Flughafen. Sie machte sich natürlich einen haufen sorgen, aber ich war natülich ganz cool( äußerlich), innerlich hatte ich aber mindestens genauso viel schiss. In Cancun angekommen mit 3 Stunden verspätung, warteten sie schon sehnsüchtig. Ich musste mich erst einmal im Flughafen umziehen da ich immer noch einen dicken Pully und eine dicke schwarze Hose anhatte. Ein paar Umarmungen und dann ging es direkt zum Auto. Dort wartete schon ein Cooler voll mit Bier.

Wir blieben nicht in Cancun sondern fuhren 100 km weiter zu unserem Camping platz Xpu-Ha. Ich weiß nicht ob es am Alkohol lag, aber es wie ein Traum. Wir Campten direkt am Strand, Hängematte unter Palmen, Cooler voll mit Bier usw. Dort blieben wir noch 4 Tage und als Samana Santa anfing und der Campingplatz plötzlich völlig voll war, war die Hoffnung groß das auch ein paar Alkohol Schlampen dabei sein würden, doch so richtige Schlampen gab es dann doch nicht. Trotzdem war ich immer auf der Suche, meistens mit dem Julian, der ist nämlich wie ein Magnet. Einmal ging ich dann mit Onkel, wir schaute hoch zu einem Balkon und dort stand ein heiße Mexikanerin. Ich weiß nicht an was es lag, wahrscheinlich wieder am Alkoholeinfluss, doch ich ging später noch einmal zum Balkon und schrie einfach “Olla“!, sie kam raus und wollte sich mit mir unterhalten, doch es viel nicht leicht den sie konnte kein Englisch und ich konnte kein Spanisch. Trotzdem hinderte das uns nich 20min. zu “reden“. Wieder zurück am Yoda Van saßen Onkel und Allison und tranken Wein, taten so als wäre nichts gewesen. Am Xpu-Ha durfte Julian immer an einen Baum pinkeln direkt neben dem Van, was sich als sehr schlimmen Fehler herausstellte denn immer wenn Julian musste, zog er die Hose runter und fing an zu Pinkeln, egal wo wir waren. Am Montag fuhren wir dann weiter nach Guatemala, wo wir vor einem Restaurant Campten. Es gab nichts besonderes an diesem Abend außer der Wachmann, aber seht selbst.

Am nächsten Tag fuhren wir nach Tikal. Die nächste Nacht  war nur kurz, da wir um 4.30 Uhr schon wieder aufstehen mussten. Um kurz nach 4 Uhr war das Geschrei dann groß. Es lag nichts herum, also konnte es nicht der Onkel gewesen sein, es waren die Affen. Die Tour die wir machten war sehr interessant, wir sahen Affen, die Allison fast auf den Kopf gekackt hatten(fast), aber dafür ist sie reingetreten. Onkel heulte fast vor Freude als er ein Tocan gesehen hatte und ich heulte fast weil ich 5 Stunden ein Kind auf dem Rücken tragen musste. Auf dem Weg zur Finka Isalbell hatten wir dann eine Autopanne. Bis wir den Benzinfilter ausgewechselt hatten , in 35 Grad, ist mein neues lieblingswort Tranquillo ungefähr 100 mal gefallen. Finka Isabell war sehr schön, vor allem das Essen. Doch das Beste war die Happy Hour. Abents brachte Allison die Kinder ins Bett, während ich und Onkel zur Happy hour gingen. Dort machte Onkel einen entscheidenten Fehler. Er sagte: “Hol dir die wo an der Bar sitzt!“ Wir gingen hin und Onkel stzte sich zwischen uns!!!! Egal, wir tranken ein paar Cocktails und gingen zurück zum Van, später ging ich dann noch mal mit Allison. Auf dem Weg zurück nach Mexiko bekam Onkel fast einen Herz entfarkt als wir fast 2 stunden gebraucht hatten um aus Zona Libre raus zu kommen, dann als wir an der Grenze zu Mexiko zahlen mussten. Er war gar nicht Tranquillo! Da Onkel Herz entfarkt gefährdet war musste Allison weiter fahren. Wieder angekommen in Xpu-Ha gab es wieder ein paar hüpsche Mädels, ich entdeckte sie als ich mit dem Magnet über den Strand lief. Eine sagte sie würde noch einen Tag bleiben. Abends packte ihr Vater dann das Auto, also war klar das sie morgens fahren würden. Onkel kam dann auf eine sehr gute Idee, unter Alkohol Einfluss, ich sollte doch die Luft aus dem Anhänger Reifen lassen. Was ich dann auch tat. Morgens als ich aufwachte fuhren sie los, mit platten Reifen.( selber Schuld).Die letzten 3 Nächte verbrachten wir dann noch 80 km südlich von Cancun. Wir hatten eine Swimmingpool direkt am Meer. Frauen spielten dort nicht mehr eine so große Rolle, wahrscheinlich wegen den vielen Enttäuschungen. Ich ging jeden Tag Volleyball spielen, einmal gingen Onkel und Allison auch mit. Ich erkannte das Onkel in diesem Fall sehr meiner Mutter ähnelt, denn er kann nicht verlieren und wenn er nicht 100 % gegeben hat sonst ist er schlecht drauf. Auf dem Weg zum Flughafen erzählten sie mir dann auch das sie sich hinter einer Palme versteckt hatten als ich mit der Frau am Balkon “redete“. Der Abschied am Flughafen viel mir ziemlich schwer, da ich sehr viel spaß hatte und weil ich zu Hause in Deutschland für die Prüfungen lernen musste. Onkel meinte noch das ich unbedingt ins Rot Licht Viertel gehen sollte in Amsterdam. Die Frau an der Flughafeninformation hielt das aber nicht für sehr gut, da ich nur 4 Stunden Aufenthalt hatte. Wieder in Deutschland hatte ich sehr viel zu erzählen. Wir hatten ungefähr 150 Liter Bier und 500gr. Skoal verdrückt. Außerdem nervt das Wort Tranquillo schon jeden. Ich hoffe das ich euch schon bald wieder besuchen kann. 

Matthias and I agree on this – Taxco is one of the neatest cities we’ve seen in Mexico.  It did kind of suck that it took us so long to get there from Cuernavaca, but once we were there we were happy to be there.  We drove up through the mountains along long-windy roads and when we rounded the last corner Taxco appears in front of you.  The city is built into the mountain and reminded us on Monaco.  Instead of the typical grid-system the streets snake up and down the mountain.  All the buildings are painted white and red and you have some spectacular views of the surrounding mountains from the town.

When we first got there we drove through a lot of the town to find a parking garage.  Once we had parked we started wandering through the streets and peeked into a few churches.  We also stopped for lunch where we had the comida corrida.  (Comida corrida is a set meal that many restaurants offer.  It usually starts with soup and then is followed by a plate with rice, beans, maybe salad and one entrée.)  Matthias chose a pork chop that was really delicious and I ordered green enchiladas, which turned out to be the best green enchiladas I’ve ever had in my life.  We also had a really delicious home-made chicken soup.  It just couldn’t have been a nicer lunch. 

On the way home we decided to take the toll road for part of the way.  Luckily we were able to take just a small section that got us through the slowest section of road much faster.  We stopped for ice cream and then picked up our clothes from the laundry which had been folded so nicely and smelled so clean.  The day in Taxco and the drive home just went so smoothly and we all enjoyed it.

In Cuernavaca we had the number of a friend of a friend and got in touch with her.  We spent a very interesting evening with her and her daughter and her family.  It turns out Frances’ daughter had been to Seattle one Christmas to visit our friend Caroline.  Since Caroline and her family come over to our house for Christmas it was quite a coincidence when we realized that I had actually met Jade about 18 years ago.  They were a very interesting family and also world travelers.  Frances was born in the states and has lived there on and off, but she has lived in Mexico most of her life.  Jade was born in Mexico but also lived in Spain.  Her husband Vania was born in France, then lived in China and later moved to Mexico.  He has two native languages – Spanish and Russian (his mother was Russian) but also speaks amazing English and who knows how many other languages.  They have been thinking about doing a longer trip in South America and were very interested to hear our stories about traveling long-term with kids.  They let us stay in their guest room and we had a great Mexican dinner and a nice evening talking with them.

We spent 4 nights around Cuernavaca but it is time to move on.  Cuernavaca is just a bit south of our next destination – the largest city in the world: Mexico City.

On several occasions in this blog I have mentioned that I am getting tired of seeing more stuff. I have seen more things in the last 9 months that I ever will be able to process. And I am getting tired of packing in and packing out. I don’t want to go back to Seattle yet, but I don’t want to pack in and out for a while. And even though Mexico is a beautiful country, I am not interested anymore in “just another colonial town”. At this point of our trip we have seen so many colonial towns that to me they all start to be alike. A few pink and blue buildings, a nice city square (Zocalo), a few churches with a little bit of history. No thanks. I am done. I have seen too much in the last 9 months I want to rest and relax. That’s why I can’t wait to get to Ajijic (near Guadalajara) where we will be staying for 5 – 6 weeks. There is not a whole lot to see and do in Ajijic, but it will be home for over 1 month. We’ll have an apartment and will hopefully be able to send the kids to kindergarten there.

Allison is different. She wants to see it all. Maybe it’s because she keeps reading our travel guide while I am driving and knows a lot more than I do, or she has a better brain that can soak in many more things than my brain can, but she doesn’t seem to want to rest. Maybe she is afraid she is missing something. I really don’t know.

This has become an issue of many discussions for us. She wants to sightsee, I don’t. After a few very long days in the car I was glad to have a couple of days near Cuernavaca at the same place. We had a nice campsite and life was good again and when Allison said that there is a very nice colonial town less than 50 miles away I agreed that it could make a nice daytrip. Only after I noticed that the roads were so bad that the 45 miles would take us almost 2 hours in the car I was less excited. 2 hours to get there 2 hours to return to see a couple of pink churches!!! My mood started to get worse by the mile. But then a great thing happened. It turned out that Taxco wasn’t just another colonial town. It was just amazing and beautiful. I wish I had the words to describe Taxco, but I want to leave this up for Allison or a good travel guide. They have much better words than I do.  To me it was just what I needed. We were seeing something totally new, nothing at all like we have seen on our trip at all. And these moments are becoming rare, but when they do happen, they are all the more special. Thanks you again Taxco.

Once we left Xpu-Ha we had a lot of driving ahead of us to get off the Yucatan.  Our next major stop was the city of Oaxaca located in the state of Oaxaca, which was about 1500 kilometers away.  The morning we left Xpu-Ha we set the alarm clock for 5:00 AM and were on the road by 6:00 AM.  We were hoping to get a couple of hours of driving in before the kids woke up.  Our plan was to drive all day long and get as far as we possibly could.  Instead of having an entire week where all we did was spend in the car we decided to spend 2 or 3 killer days in the car and get the long drive over with as fast as possible. 

The first day we made it over 600 kilometers.  We stopped at town of Isla Iguadas which is on the Gulf coast of Mexico.  Once we got to Gulf Coast the land turned into grassy marshes and there were lots of military checkpoints and police controls.  We speculate that a lot of drugs might come in this way.  The campsite was right on the beach.  We had a nice dinner, a bottle of wine and went to bed early.  The next day we got up at the same time and we on the road by 6:00 AM again.  That day we made it all the way to Tuxtepec (another 600+ km driving day), which put us around 225 km from Oaxaca. 

Early in the morning we stopped to get gas and were victims of the stupid gringo rip-off trick some of the attendants play at gas stations.  It goes like this: We pull up to the gas station, give the attendant our key and ask him to fill up it.  We asked a question about directions and the other attendants start coming over and talk to us.  The guy takes the nozzle out of gas tank and shows me the total 60 Pesos.  I look at him, tell him “Oh no.  We wanted it full, not just 60 pesos.”  He points to the total again and sets it back to zero.  I did happen to notice that it said 60 pesos, but it also said 0 liters.  I thought it was funny but didn’t really register what he was doing.  He puts the nozzle back in the tank and lets it fill up all the way.  In the end he wanted 235 pesos for the full tank of gas, plus 60 for the first amount he supposedly filled first.  But really what happened was when he first started filling, he waited until we started talking, stopped filling, and just acted like he was topping it off to the amount of 60 pesos.  (He probably only really filled a liter or two.)  Then he set the pump to 60 pesos and made sure we saw the amount.  It only really occurred to me what had happened after we paid and were on our way.  I was so pissed when I realized what had happened.  Normally we are careful and watch the attendants because we have heard lots of stories about this kind of thing.  We let our guard down for a second and that was what happened.  When Justin was here we had Matthias to talk to the attendants, Justin to watch the pump and guy filling up the tank and me to watch the kids.  I just can’t wait for someone to try it again with us.  I’m going to give the next guy who tries this with us a big piece of my mind!

The last stretch of road was only 225 km, but it took us about 6 hours.  We started near sea level, drove up to over 9000 feet, down to about 5000, up to about 8000 and then finally back to around 5500 feet, the altitude of Oaxaca.  It was a twisty curvy 2-lane mountain road.  At times the drive was absolutely beautiful.  It did put the Yoda Van to the test once again.  We were glad to be there and decided to stay in Oaxaca for the next 3 nights.

Oaxaca was nice, although I think in the end Matthias could have done without a stop there.  It is very nice city, but he wasn’t all that impressed with it.  We spent one day walking around town and went to the dual-language story time at the Oaxaca library.  It was great for William and Julian and we seek out these kinds of activities for the kids in every larger town we visit.  After walking around the center of town we went to the market and had a great cheap lunch of mole negro, chilquiles and tlayudas.  I thought the vendors in Acapulco were pushy.  While we were eating in this market we were never left alone for more than 15 seconds at a time by people selling bookmarks, clay turtles and everything else you could imagine.  The next day we went back to the center of town.  It was Dia del Nino and there were supposed to be lots of activities for kids.  Unfortunately we didn’t find so much other than a puppet show, a couple of people handing out candy, and a bunch of easels set up for kids to paint.  Even though our experiences weren’t all that different from those in other cities, we still were able to enjoy Oaxaca in very child-friendly ways and soak up a bit of life in the center of town.

One funny thing was the bus rides.  The bus rides themselves weren’t all that eventful, but the amount they charged was.  We had 4 different bus rides and each time it cost a different amount.  The first time we paid 12 pesos, the next time we paid 9, then 11 and finally 7.  It turns out the real price is 3.50 per person, and children are supposed to pay.  I can see charging us 7, because kids often don’t pay in Mexico, but what about the other 3 amounts?  Who knows?  That’s just Mexico.

The highlight for me was definitely our lunches.  The food the first day in the market was so delicious (except for the tlayuda) and also cheap.  The second day we went back to a smoky hall in the market where they were selling meat off the grill.  The hall was lined with tapered stands of meat and sausages.  At one end there were tables for people to sit.  You ordered meet from one person, drinks from another, tortillas from another and condiments (grilled onions, guacamole, salsa and avocados) from yet another vendor.  I don’t know of anyplace in the states where I can get food like this in that way.  Most of it was a bit on the salty side but the experience alone was satisfying enough.

When we left Oaxaca we had one more early morning departure.  This time we got up at 5:00 AM and were on the road by 5:45.  Our goal was either Puebla or Cuernavaca.  We stopped in a town outside of Puebla, called Cholula where there is large church built on top of the tallest ancient pyramid in the western hemisphere.  We made it all the way to the Cuernavaca area where we found a great campsite in the middle of a water park.  We went swimming that afternoon and threw some meat on the grill back at our campsite.  There is one of the suspension bridges that we had to cross to get to the pool.  It was very rickety and a few of the boards were missing here and there.  I was a little scared while walking on it, but then I am afraid of heights and walking over an unstable bridge over a river really makes me uneasy.  Then I thought “Well, there are so many families here and lots of kids, they wouldn’t have this bridge here if it wasn’t safe.”  But then I stopped and though, wait a minute, this is Mexico.  “Look after yourself and your offspring” is a better motto to have here.  Who knows if this bridge is safe, this is Mexico!  Ahh Mexico.  I love it!

Of all of the places we’ve visited so far the campsite at Xpu-Ha has to be one of my favorites.  It is also one of the places where I could imagine spending a lot of time each year.  If it had been up to me I would have spent another month there, but Matthias was getting a little antsy and ready to move on, so we did.  We do have a lot of miles to drive so I understand why it was a good idea to leave.  One of Matthias’ favorite sayings is that it is best to leave the party when it’s at its peak.  He does have a good point because now I’m left with great memories and no regrets.

There is a 4-lane highway that goes down the coast of the Yucatan peninsula from Cancun to Tulum.  This area is called the Riviera Maya and it is one resort after another.  About 70 kilometers south of Cancun there is an area called Xpu-Ha.  A little dirt road goes from the main road down to the Bonanza camping grounds – one of the last non-resort and family-run sections of beach.  The campground is right on the beach and when you first drive in you drive onto the most perfect white sand you have ever seen.  There are no lines or barriers or individual campsites anywhere.  There are just a bunch of palm trees, and a few campers nestled in amongst them.  There are 2 full-time campers who have RVs parked there the entire year.  There is another woman who comes down for 6 months out of the year and a handful of others that keep coming and going throughout the year.  The last time we left this campground there were only 4 other people staying their besides us. 

The beach was also amazing: perfect white sand, crystal clear waters and just the perfect temperature.  The first time we had been there we met a Swiss couple and she went out snorkeling every morning.  There are tons of places in the area where you can pay to go snorkeling.  But here all you had to do was walk out there and you had some of the best snorkeling I’ve done in my life.  The last couple of times I went out I got so lucky and we had very clear water and a nice sunny day – perfect conditions for snorkeling.  Just a short ways down the beach there are only rocks, but right out in front of our campsite there were some very nice coral reefs.  I saw all sorts of different fish and some of the most vibrant colors.  The highlight was definitely the 2 manta rays I saw.  They have a triangular shaped body and at the back edge I believe they were about 4-5 feet wide.  They have a disproportionately long tail-like thing behind them that just kept going and going and going.  The first one swam by me about 10 feet away.  The next one was farther away.  I wish I had gotten a better look at each of them, but both times I was so freaked out and scared I bolted for the shore as fast as I could.  All I could think of was the crocodile hunter and how was killed by one of them.  Or was that a sting ray?  Or are manta rays and sting rays the same thing?  I still don’t know, but it was really an amazing experience to see such enormous fish that close.

During our last stay there we also met a great couple – Josh and Anna.  They live in California, he is American and she is German, and they had just begun their road trip.  They are coming through Mexico and heading into Central America next.  They were more like-minded travelers and we had lots of fun and things to talk about.  Somewhere on their trip they started playing Bacchi Ball, but with oranges and one lime.  You throw out a lime and each player gets two oranges and the object is to get your orange to land as close to the lime as possible.  They play this game in Italy and France (there it is called Boules, I think).  We would play with them when the sun was beginning to set, and after the game was over we took the oranges, pressed them, mixed them with tequila and had cocktails.  It was great fun for us and Julian and William also loved playing too.  They read books with William and Julian, went swimming with us and even watched them for a while so Matthias and I could go to the beach by ourselves.   The afternoon after our first night of heavy drinking she had made a huge batch of her specialty “Borracho Nachos” (borracho is Spanish for ‘drunk’) – the perfect hangover cure.  The next couple of days all shared cooking duties and had great dinners together.  They picked stuff up for us from town and we did the same for them.  It was sad to leave them but we are excited to hear how their travels continue and where they end up.

The constant sight-seeing and the major lack of a plan these days is getting a bit old, but at Xpu-Ha it didn’t seem to bother me.  I was content to spend a day without any sort of plan.  There is all sorts of stuff to do: go for a swim, dig in the sand, lay in the hammock and read, play soccer with the kids, go into town to do some grocery shopping.  In paradise, that is more than enough to keep me busy.  

One of the most beautiful aspects of our trip is the fact that we can be so spontaneous.  We can change plans at a moment’s notice, go wherever we want, take as much time as we feel like, etc.  If we are tired of tired of driving, we can just stay put.  We are not bound by vacation schedules, return flights or two weeks of vacation per year.  Except for a few instances where we had to meet someone at a certain date we have been able to travel this way for our entire trip.  We’ve met a lot of people on the amazing beaches of the Yucatan who are only there for a week.  I’ve realized that it is a true luxury to be able to travel as we are and stay longer if we want to, or even be able to just come back since we hadn’t had enough.

After Justin left we headed straight out of town and two days later we were in Merida.  Once Matthias had recovered from Dengue we decided to head back to the coast.  It was over 300 kilometers back to the coast, but I really didn’t mind since it is such an amazing place.  Our real motivation to return was to get a flight to Cuba.  Going to Cuba was something I have wanted to do for a long time.  Flights to Cuba are fairly cheap if you fly out of Cancun.  We had a couple of offers from travel agents in Merida, but thought we’d head to Cancun to see if we could come up with a better deal and organize a place to leave the van. 

When we were in Merida we just couldn’t decide if we wanted to go to Cuba or not.  First we thought through the risk factor and the fact that the US Government says that no American citizens or permanent residents are allowed to go.  We know quite a few Americans that have traveled to Cuba and in the end we decided that we would be willing to take that risk.  Next we thought through the money issue.  Even if flights are fairly cheap there are four of us and it would easy cost us around $1500 for a 5 day visit.  In the end we figured that the experience of going to Cuba was worth that and we never would get it any cheaper anyways.  We also struggled with the fact that Matthias and I are getting sort of tired of seeing new things.  We’ve been traveling for almost 9 months now and have seen a whole lot of great places.  But I think we are becoming over saturated and are getting to a point where we can’t process or appreciate too much more new stuff.

Now the problem was this – we had spent 7 days in Merida taking it easy, hanging out, and being spontaneous.  Then we spent another day on a spontaneous drive to back to the coast.  Then another day in Playa del Carmen shopping randomly and looking for travel agencies.  Through all this spontaneity/indecisiveness we had just wasted a week and a half.  Then if you want to book a ticket you always book about 4 days in advance, so if we were going to book, we’d have to wait at least another 4 days before we could fly.  (At least that would leave us a lot more time to be spontaneous.)  Through all this we changed our minds at least 20 times.  At one point during all this hemming and hawing we were driving on this nice road with lots of beautiful butterflies and Matthias said “These butterflies are so annoying.”  I knew this man had reached his breaking point when little fluttering butterflies were pissing him off. 

Eventually I asked Matthias what the rush was and why we couldn’t just take it easy and hang out on the beach until we figure out what it was we wanted to do.  I never would have thought I’d say this at this point in the trip but Matthias is right – we are running out of time.  William starts school in September and we’d like to be back at the beginning of August.  We’d also like to spend 2 or 3 weeks in California, and a good week or two on the Baja.  We’ll be house-sitting near Guadalajara for about a month (although we’d like to stay more like 2 months).  Where we are on the coast is about 4500 kilometers from Tijuana which means we have a LOT of driving ahead of us.  If you start calculating backwards, we really don’t have much time.  So for now we are back on the beach.  It is beautiful and a great place to be, but I have this feeling that our trip to Cuba is slowly slipping away. 

Dengue fever (IPA: [‘deŋgeɪ]) and dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) are acute febrile diseases, found in the tropics, with a geographical spread similar to malaria.
  I swear, I think I just got over Dengue Fever. At least I had some of the symptoms typical for Dengue: flu-like symptoms, severe muscle and bone pain, nausea and all kinds of other nasty stuff. It also lasted only less than 7 days like most of the 10 – 100 million cases of Dengue fever every year. Contrary to popular belief, Dengue fever is not that nasty killing disease. It kills less people than the common flu, so I guess I am not sure if I am a real “Survivor”.
 

Anyways, it was our travel agent who claimed to have had Dengue 4 times.  After we had known him for approximately 20 minutes he had heard my entire medical history and he knew that it must be Dengue fever.  Then he offered us some kick-ass deals on flights to Cuba.  I think he must be right.  After all he is the same person who told us that it’s not really a problem for Americans to go there as long as you don’t tell anyone.  But that is an entirely different blog that I already started a few days ago.  The title of that blog is “WHY?”

We just left Cancun and made it to Merida near the Gulf of Mexico. Usually it’s Allison who is in charge of directions and our itinerary and I hardly ever look at a map, but the other day I took a glance and I noticed that Cancun is so close to Cuba, we could almost swim there. So we were seriously considering about breaking American law and travel freely.

The fact that Americans aren’t allowed to travel to Cuba strikes me as equally stupid as censoring live TV because of Janet Jackson’s nipple. It also reminds me of the other half of my own country when I grew up.

So can anyone please tell me “WHY”? What’s the deal here? If any lawyers are reading this blog please give us advice. What should we do? I am from a democratic country (Germany) and I am allowed to travel freely.  Our kids are both, American and German, but only William has a German passport. We never got one for Julian out of convenience. Are they allowed to go? And how about Allison? I once heard that traveling to Cuba is allowed, but not purchasing things there, because it’s considered “Trading with the enemy”. I have no idea if that’s true, but if it is, could I just invite Allison to Cuba, so she wouldn’t have to spend any of her own money there and what if she did do the unthinkable and break the law.  What should we do? We’d like to tell you about it in our blog, but we would have to lie and other than to our parents and our tax return we always tell the truth (almost at least).  It would be great to visit Cuba while Fidel is still alive, because I am sure Cuba will change a lot when he is gone.  If we do go I am not sure if we will ever able to tell you about it without the fear of prosecution.

Once we bid farewell to Jazzy-Fizzle we started driving west to Valladolid, where we spent one night in a hotel.  We figured out that we had been camping for a solid month without a break.  The kids had watched TV during that time once when we went to a friend’s hotel room for a couple of hours, but they were thrilled when they got to watch a few hours of Discovery Kids. 

The next day on our way out of town we stopped at Xkeken, which is a cenote just outside Valladolid.  Cenotes are these underground caves that were created millions of years ago when a meteor crashed into the earth.  The impact created lots of caves and tunnels, some of which are so long and deep that they have been found to empty out way into the ocean.  I’m not sure if there are more cenotes or Mayan ruins on the Yucatan.  You can hardly drive 10 kilometers without passing a sign to another cenote or Mayan ruin.  We climbed down the rocky stairwell into this cave with stalactites and beautiful blue water, where we jumped in for a quick swim. 

Next we drove by the ruins of Chichen Itza, but didn’t stop.  We continued to Merida, where the temperature was about 41º C (105º F) when we rolled into town.  The next two days were about that hot, and the “Feels Like” temperature listed in Yahoo was 44º C (111º F).  Luckily it has cooled off a bit and the temperatures are in the mid-90s.  Since it was just too hot to camp we found a nice hotel with parking, a pool, centrally located, free Wi-Fi, free breakfast and Discovery Kids. 

One of our main goals here in Merida was to pick up a good hammock.  Merida is famous for their hammocks and a good one should last years and years.  We did some searching around the market area and finally found a bunch of shops.  A good, large hammock goes for around $50, but it is something you will have for a very long time.  I guess you could say it is an investment.  After purchasing our hammocks we stopped at the market for some tacos and tortas – some of the most delicious food we’ve had in Mexico so far. 

Matthias has been feeling pretty lousy for the last couple of days.  He’s had headaches, hot flashes and has needed to stay very close to the bathroom.  We were in a travel agency yesterday and the guys helping us asked if he had Dengue.  Let’s hope not, but we are going to stock up on bug repellant and be more diligent about putting bug spray on now.  Once he is feeling better we are going to pack up and back-track to the coast of the Yucatan.  We just haven’t had enough beach time, and want to spend a couple more weeks playing in the sand and swimming, and maybe catch a few more games of volleyball with the retirees.  We figure while we are here we should take advantage of it and spend some more time on these fabulous beaches.

A couple of months ago when Matthias was talking to his family in Germany our nephew Justin (whose friends coined him the Snoop-lingo nickname Jazzy-Fizzle) said he wanted to come visit us during his spring break.  We looked for flights and he ended up getting a flight to none other than the Mecca of all spring breaks – Cancun, Mexico.

Justin is 16 and in the 10^th grade.  The last time we were in Germany was last year during the World Cup, almost a year ago.  Since we don’t get to see him all that much we were very excited that he was coming.  The day of his arrival we went to the grocery store and stocked up on the essential supplies for a spring break vacation – beer and ice.  We picked Jazzy-Fizzle up from the airport and had a cooler full of beers waiting for him in the car.

When we got back to our campsite Justin slipped right into the hammock with a beer in hand and relaxed into life on the Yucatan.  (By the way, the drinking age for beer and wine in Germany is 16, so as far as we were concerned, he’s legal.)   The next couple of days we spent swimming, snorkeling, hanging out on the beach and looking for cute girls.  One day Justin had seen an attractive woman up on a balcony and that night he decided to go over to her and yell “Hola!” at the top of his lungs.  She came out of her room, leaned chest first over her balcony and they just started talking.  She didn’t speak any English, and he doesn’t speak any Spanish, but I have the feeling that they both knew what each other was trying to say.  From a distance (crouched behind a coconut tree in the shadows of the moonlight) Matthias and I watched our nephew make his first acquaintance in Mexico – a 21-year old bombshell on the beach.

The rest of the vacation would prove to be an endless pursuit of hot women.  It guided nearly all our decisions on where to stay and what to do.  Fortunately just a few days after he arrived was the beginning of Semana Santa, the holy week before Easter, or more importantly, the time of year when all Mexican families head to the beach.  There were several very adorable young women and we tracked them all up and down the beach.  Justin took lots of short walks around the campsite “just to see what was going on” and Julian (the blue-eyed, blonde hair Mexican magnet) became his new favorite cousin.

After many futile attempts at conversation and one enormous pyramid of empty beer cans we decided to head to the real pyramids of Tikal – ancient Mayan ruins in the jungle of Guatemala.  It was a really long drive, but in the end it proved to be worthwhile.  We camped right at the entrance to the ruins where we booked a sunrise tour for the following day.  We awoke at 3:30 the next morning to the sounds of howler monkeys and began our trek out to Temple 4 which we climbed and watched the sunrise with toucans swirling around us.  The tour was great, and Justin showed real amazement at the ruins.  We spent about 5 hours walking around Tikal, climbing ruins and listening to our guide.  Of course he giggled like a little girl when a monkey almost pooped on my head, but the fact that I stepped in monkey poop was a nice consolation for the near miss.

We also made a visit to Finca Ixobel which is just a bit south of Tikal.  We ended up running into a couple of Vanagon drivers that we had met in San Cristobal.  It was great to catch up with them since it had been about 3 or 4 weeks since we had seen them.  We camped there, went swimming in the pond, made a beer run in a tuk-tuk and hit the happy hour hard.  William and Julian were already in bed when happy hour started, so Matthias took Justin first, and later Justin and I went back for more.

After leaving Guatemala we had a long drive back to the Yucatan.  We spent one night in Belize and then braved the last stretch with lots of reggaeton music, which is all the rage in Mexico and Central America.  We made a quick stop in Tulum for beer and continued back to our campsite on the beach in Xpu-Ha.  We arrived back just at the tail end of Semana Santa and the girl situation had only gotten better since we left.  There were some very cute girls and Justin was brave enough to go over and meet her entire family.  Their small trailer was parked right next to our car and one night the father came over and started getting things ready to leave the next morning.  As soon as it was dark Jazzy-Fizzle went over to the trailer and let out all the air out of the tires.  The plan was to impede their departure, and eventually come to the rescue with our tire pump.  But at 7:00 the next morning we heard them climbing into their car and watched them drive off from inside the Yoda Van.  A few minutes later I peered around the corner, but they weren’t stopped anywhere on the road.  Who knows how far they made it or what happened to them. 

Jazzy-Fizzle also likes the Skoal.  He is a serious ice-hockey player, and even attends a boarding school so he can dedicate more time to his sport.  He and his teammates occasionally indulge in chew.  He was a good nephew and even showed his Aunt and Uncle how to chew.  In the evening we sat around talking and chewing.  We made sure he didn’t walk around too much while he was chewing, because I know with the size of the wad he had tucked under his lip he was sure to loose his balance and fall over.  By the end of the two weeks I was really starting to perfect my technique and was even able to spit just as quietly and Justin.  It’s probably good he was only here two weeks because that is the last thing I need is an enabler to get me hooked on chewing tobacco.

For the last 3 nights we moved to another campsite on the Yucatan.  The beach wasn’t quite as nice as the beach at Xpu-Ha, but we did have a swimming pool right at the beach.  And we were surprised by an unexpected highlight – volleyball games with the retirees.  The first day when we arrived Matthias was checking us in and walked by the volleyball court.  They said they needed another player so he sent Justin right over.  He joined their game right away and when he came back he just couldn’t say enough about how much fun he had.  He had fun listening to them complaining about their bum knees and bad backs, but also joking around and having fun.  They play every day at 3:00 and the next day Justin said he didn’t really care what we did that day as long as he could play volleyball with the old folks.  We ended up staying 2 more nights and on the final day Matthias, Justin and I all joined the game.  They all make their way over to the courts on their mopeds, golf carts or bicycles, and play in the direct sunlight (which isn’t easy when it is in the mid-90’s with high humidity).  But they were so low-key, and most of them are better volleyball players than I am.  Matthias wonders if Justin’s account of his vacation will stress the babes or the senior citizens. 

And today Jazzy-Fizzle’s Spring Break 2007 came to an end.  With pulsing livers we drove him to the airport, had one farewell beer and said our goodbyes.  It’s crazy how easy it is to get used to a 5^th person in the van.  I miss him tremendously and hope we get to see him again soon.  At least it will be hard for us to forget him for a while because we think of him every time William uses one of the many colorful expressions he picked up from his cousin (which, by the way, are not really appropriate for a 4 year old to have in their active vocabulary).  Next on our agenda: some serious de-tox.