Maria

Wow, what happened after Ketevara was extreme. It proved to me that this world is a lot smaller then we think and that when things need to happen, they will.

Directly after Ed drove away in his cab to go to work I sat down in the town square and wrote my diary. Many people walked by, including some tourist guys, waving hello.
The next morning George (a guy, 24 from the big 60ft Black Swan, a custom boat) and I went to this tranquil beach with a killer wave……….in the right season. The Rip Curl competition was held here last year, barrels high and perfect would brake onto shore, giving the guys long rides and perfect chances. George had two magazines with pictures, but none of them would tell you where it was. Which was good; at this point in time there is absolutely nothing at this beach beside some surfers and a palapa with taco’s and cold beer. We all think that within a few years it will be crowded and a hot-spot for surfers.

So I did my second session surfing here. George had a short board which I borrowed and he and a girl, Zypher, 20, from BC but living in Costa Rica, gave me instructions.
It was at the palapa, during lunch, that three guys came down and started mixing with us. They turned out to be on a trip from Vancouver to Panama. Four guys in a Volvo station Wagon, named Maria. The stories they told were hilarious and it sounded like a wild ride. Their friend was fixing Maria at the moment, which was a hard thing to do cause there are no Volvo’s in Central America.
We left that afternoon with an invitation for everyone to come to the marina at seven for some drinks in town.

Just in time those guys came walking down the dock that evening, George, Samuel and I were just on our way out. Their fourth friend, who is the drive behind this whole trip, was there too. He looked familiar to me, especially when he introduced himself: ‘Hello, I’m Rodolfo.’ ‘Mmm, that’s…..’ ‘What, tell me?’ ‘Nha, that can’t be, I met this rafting and kayaking guy 15 months ago in Vancouver, he lives there and his name is Rodolfo too.’ ‘Yeah, that’s me!’ And then it became more and more obvious it was him. He had seen me yesterday in the square and had thought I looked really familiar, but when I didn’t react when he said hello, he though he was wrong.
It was so funny, how does life give you those chances. I had only met him for two days those 15 months ago; we had hanged out with three other people from a rafting company while the World-Championships-Fireworks went off in Vancouver. Even then he had told me about this trip he wanted to do with four friends down the coast. All to promote his organization: ‘Free Flowing Rivers’ ‘Damn those Dams’. He’s been working on it the last year, living in Europe, and now he is doing it, taking off with three guys he didn’t know until a few days before the trip.
The goal of the trip is to make people aware of ‘Free Flowing Rivers’ and to create sport activities in little towns in Central America. Everywhere where he goes he lays out his plan for next year: to come back for several weeks and teach kids sports they normally would never get the chance to do, like kayaking, rock climbing, surfing and mountain biking.

The whole night we hang out, told wicked stories and hammocked away. With as a result that I got invited to come along………. ‘Whaa, yes man.’ Thank you life, for giving me those crazy cool offers and opportunities.

Rodolfo, 25 from Chilli, Steve, 28 from Victoria, Brandon, 24 from Ontario and Andy, 22 from Vancouver. Four guys in a Volvo Station wagon, painted in all colours of the rainbow, tagged with hundreds of autographs, proverbs and slogans. All collected from the people met along the way.
I could not believe the perfect luck I had, getting a ride South with them and creating a crazy time.

One more day of surfing and cooking/sleeping on Ketevara passed before we left on our adventure.
Maria was gorgeous; so much character and personality in one car. Her back was extremely low to the ground because of all the shit and the three people in the back seat that every time we bumped a tope (speed bump) her whole bottom would scrape over the top. And trust me, there are A LOT of topes in Central America. The whole town would watch when we came by and hollered our loud cheers.

Its gonna be so hard to describe this ride. I have no idea if you can imagine five people in a low car, loaded with backpacks and two surfboards and a white-water kayak on top. Sometimes we would sit in the window or on the hood. We would say hola to everyone and wave to anyone. When we got hungry we would stop at the smallest comedor, the car would empty and Rodolfo would order a table full with delicious food. Those people would run to feed the big hungry guys and probably had the biggest sale of the day.

We drove like this a lot, changing seats (Brandon most of the time in the front because he was our giant), talking, reading, trying to find one or two songs on the radio and watching the towns and vista’s go by. Beautiful views with mountain valleys, high and cloudy. Towns with kids that make you stop and sell the best tamales and oranges.

Our destination was Palenque, a town close to the Mayan temples of Palenque.
Those temples and ruins are one of the best in the Mayan history. They were first occupied around 100 BC but its prime time was around AD 600 – 700. Around 900 it was abandoned and sat hidden by jungle for centuries. In 1773 a Spanish pries led a trip here and excavations began. Now beautiful, spiritual and magical temples rise up into the sky from well groomed, green grass fields.

The two days we were here were epic. Maybe one day I will tell you the whole story in detail, but for now you have to be satisfied with small peeks into dream world.

Early in the morning, some fireflies still flickering around, swaying in my hammock, I woke up the other: ‘Its time, let’s get started!’ We drank the cold of dawn away with warm tea and headed up the hill for our encounter, already having way too much fun.

Trying to be in front of the other tourist we walked fast into the grounds. All the Mayan people were setting up shop, souvenirs in baskets on their heads and blankets spread out on the ground.

Wow, what a place, many of you have probably seen temples like these on discovery: Angkor Wat in Cambodia, the Tai Mahal in India, the Pyramids in Egypt and many more. But seeing it in real is definably an experience that should not be missed. The feel, the 360°C view, the sense the colours, it’s all massive, so much bigger than you think. It’s hard to imagine how those people lived back then, how life was formed around hard working people, great offerings, magic mushrooms and meditation. It was very special to sit on top of the temples and dream away with green, grey and blue colours, I wish I could share that view with everyone.

And all of this wrapped in dense jungle. I’ve seen many different types of forest in many different counties, but now I’m getting into the real world that can bear the name jungle. Gigantic fig trees, massive lianas, dens vegetation in every shade of green imaginable, here and there red, yellow, white and orange flowers, high humidity, soft ground, rotten compost, leaves as big as myself, sounds of humming, buzzing and zooming animals, holler monkeys in the distance and tons of birds which are hard to find in the branches above.

Walking amongst all this we got excited, feeling like monos back in nature we started to climb one of the massive fig tree. Its trunk so wide that you need at least four people holding hands to surround it, and totally dressed with other smaller trunks, different plants, tons of lianas and ants as big as my small toe. It was epic; I don’t think I’ve ever climbed a tree this extravagant, the guys think we got 200Ft up. After 30ft we could not see the ground anymore because of the vegetation. Covered in ‘stuff’ we climbed higher and higher hoping to see the temples from the top. Going down was even more fun, just hold onto a liana and let yourself slide down. Epic!

After some swimming in the pool at the camping, some lunch and more tea we had another adventure. I went on my own to discover beautiful waterfalls: water in milky-blue colours, falling from tableau in tableau, different shapes, heights and sizes, forming the most intricate and colourful details I’ve ever seen.

Walking back the second time was a bit different. Exiting the grounds I encountered my friends ones again, they were extremely pumped up and loud. Boy how much fun we had. A pickup truck swaying down the road was loaded with people. I don’t think I’ve ever seen 40 people in one pickup before. We hollered, yelled and run behind it and of course they stopped and let us on. Hanging on the back we made dangerous turns and extreme speeds. Those people know how to react….. most of the time.

Then something not so fun happened.

For security they have police at the bottom of the hill, so far we had waved friendly to them every time we passed, and they always wave friendly back, huge AK-47 in hand. This time we were loud and obnoxious and they stopped us. Rodolfo was the one they gave most attention, he was also the loudest. All the conversation went in Spanish, and later Rodolfo told us that we were pretty close to being dragged away. He had to unpack his whole backpack, and eventually Steve and I were asked to do so too. Going thru all my stuff, I (and the others too they confessed later on) shitted seven colours shit. Don’t imagine polite conversation and order. No, there was a lot of yelling, a lot of pointing, a lot of very angry looks and a lot of chaos. ‘We’re gonna get your ass in jail!’ and ‘You’re gonna loose all your money!’ were things that got said to Rodolfo.

They couldn’t find anything that was of any importance, so eventually Rodolfo told us to grab our stuff and just go. We half run away.

Boy, did I need a sit down after that. Never again please, but what a story. When I think about it today I can do nothing else then smile. All of us stayed so calm and unworried while we were all scared shitless. It’s a think that will stay with us for a long time. Epic!

I loved those days with the guys, I don’t think I’ve ever felt so lost and far away from home, my stuff spread all thru the car, a schedule that propelled us forward all the time and way to many new adventures and experiences to grasp without writing them down, something I had no time for. But one day it will be a story suitable for a book.

We visited more extremely gorgeous waterfalls and slept a night in the hammock in a park.

San Cristobal was a town full of tourists, indigenous people, handicrafts, cold temperatures (below freezing) and very good musicians. They even had throat singers; I think this type of ‘humming’ (it sounds like a didgeridoo) is originated in Tuva.

Lots of driving brought Maria and us to the border of Mexico and Guatemala: no problems here. With a stamp richer we cruised further into Central America, only stopping in Huahuatenango for some temples (not to be compared with Palenque) before reaching Antigua, a town extremely similar to San Cristobal.

Vulcan Pacaya, 2552m, is the only active one from the three that surround the city. Brandon and I booked a little tourist tour to have a look closer by.

I’ve seen lava rocks before, huge amounts, but nothing active. Wicked! My shoes were literally melting; you could smell the plastic. Red glowing hot rocks were setting our walking stick on fire! No flowing lava though, but I’m not sure if I would have wanted to see that, this scrambling over glowing rocks was hot enough. The sunset and views were once again magnificent.

It was the town of San Pedro that whispered me to stay for a while. My wish to understand and speak Spanish could be fulfilled here and it was time that I started to work on this.

So when Rodolfo started Maria to head back to Antigua (the others had staid in the city to party and catch up with internet while we explored this tranquil little town) I said goodbye with a turmoil of feelings. A new part was to begin and finally I was really on my own…….. at least that day, hahaha.

Who I met in San Pedro, and how the time here went waaaaaay too fast you will read soon but not now. It’s time to publish this exciting part to the site and call it a day.

Let me know where you are, have a good Christmas and talk to all of you in the future.

Love Mathu