What The Hell Were We Thinking?
Last week in Tortuguero was one of these moments again where Allison and I just shook our heads and wondered: “What the hell were we thinking?” We were going to the rain forest and were surprised that we were rained on. We learned that it’s a bad idea to go to the rain forest without at least an umbrella. Even if you are from Seattle and are somewhat used to rain, I don’t think Seattle has ever had rain like we had in Tortuguero. Another not so bright moment was when we were stopped at a blockade near Oaxaca, Mexico and decided to follow a local guy who told us he knew a way around the road block. He led us to a group of guys with machetes and shovels who turned out to create some sort of road in the woods for us, but when we first saw them we weren’t really sure what their intentions were. In 95 degree weather I ended up driving the Yodavan through terrain that most SUVs would struggle with, including a river. This definitely wasn’t one of our brightest moments.
I also didn’t feel too intelligent at the Mexican – Guatemalan border. For some reason I was under the impression that if I needed Guatemalan money (Quetzals) I would probably find an ATM of at least a bank at the border. The only opportunity to change money was with some con-artists with big bundles of money who offered to change our left over pesos. I never trusted these guys, but at this border we were so unprepared that we barely even knew the name of the currency and the exchange rate and we didn’t even have a clue what the bills looked like. That’s bad!! We needed some Quetzals for the border crossing and we just had to take a chance and have some guy change money for us. I exchanged 200 Pesos (US $20) and had absolutely no idea what I would get in return. It turned out that we just got enough for the border crossing and 2 beers before we found an ATM.
I am sure there were more moments of limited intelligence on our trip and I will make sure to continue to share them in our blog, because in retrospect the things that didn’t go as planned are the most memorable ones and also the funniest. Overall I think we are doing pretty well. Most people would have to agree with that too, unless you are one of the people who think that our trip itself was a bad idea. But if you know me, even if we had all stayed at home, I’d still be constantly running into situations in which afterwards all I can do is shake my head and wonder “what the hell was I thinking”. At least these stories from the road are a little more interesting.
Tags: Costa Rica, Guatemala, Mexico, Mexico-Guatemala, Oaxaca, Strikes, Travel
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