baja scott
New member
El Mirador
Thanks for your service, and looking forward to the rest of your story!
Thanks for your service, and looking forward to the rest of your story!
Into the heart of darkness - El Mirador with NLX
- Thread starter overlander
- Start date
its 3:40 am whee im at, and im reading your posts like a novel i cant put down only to realize the novel isnt finished yet and theremaining pages are blank... I feel amped about the read and pissed at the same time that i cant continue on.... DAMN YOU!
just kidding. thanks for the adventure.... It's def. in my bucket list...
just kidding. thanks for the adventure.... It's def. in my bucket list...
overlander
Expedition Leader
Just got back from Africa and will try to make some progress this weekend!
overlander
Expedition Leader
Well, it's about time to get back to this story. I've been prompted by several members, and in the interest of posterity, I'm going to see it thru!
So a hearty breakfast of scrambled eggs, ham and toast we decide it’s time to move on to the Dos Lagunas campsite - our destination for the day. We pack all the gear up and head out again into the oblivion of the jungle. I can imagine what it must be like for a sardine as it is sucked into a whale’s mouth. It doesn’t take long at all, maybe 10 minutes max, before the first fallen vines and branches once again slow our progress. With a renewed energy, each time we stop, Byron is passing me with his jungle enthusiasm, machete in hand, before I can even reach the door latch to get out.
Shortly after we left the clearing, the talking Garmin lady voice began her recurring announcement that we’ve lost our satellite reception. I forgot to mention this earlier in the story, but GPS is not welcome in the jungle. We spent a majority of our trail time in the jungle with this image on the GPS.
This is the lesson for all of us to make sure you always have a paper map, compass and the skills to use them. Only occasionally when the opportunity presented itself in the random clearing that we would be able to confirm our location with a satellite lock.
So the morning progressed with the familiar cycle of drive, stop, assess, chop, clear, debug, remount, and drive. When we did get a bit of road ahead of us, James and Graham were able to make an insanely high rate of speed. It is just amazing watching them drive on these jungle trails. 15-20 mph doesn’t seem like much unless your on a road that allows for 6-18 inchess of clearance on either side of a Land Rover (with the side mirrors folded mind you), then it feels like you are on a colossus rollercoaster ride that goes on for hours. If you remember this jungle ride from Jurassic Park, let me tell you that is not the jungle, it’s Hollywood.
Look how wide that jungle trail is in that scene…I don’t think so. An added measure of excitement is that when the trails do get narrow with dense foliage, they can hide…things. We found that out later in this story.
At some point after noon, we finally reached a T intersection guiding usinto Dos Lagunas.
So a hearty breakfast of scrambled eggs, ham and toast we decide it’s time to move on to the Dos Lagunas campsite - our destination for the day. We pack all the gear up and head out again into the oblivion of the jungle. I can imagine what it must be like for a sardine as it is sucked into a whale’s mouth. It doesn’t take long at all, maybe 10 minutes max, before the first fallen vines and branches once again slow our progress. With a renewed energy, each time we stop, Byron is passing me with his jungle enthusiasm, machete in hand, before I can even reach the door latch to get out.
Shortly after we left the clearing, the talking Garmin lady voice began her recurring announcement that we’ve lost our satellite reception. I forgot to mention this earlier in the story, but GPS is not welcome in the jungle. We spent a majority of our trail time in the jungle with this image on the GPS.
This is the lesson for all of us to make sure you always have a paper map, compass and the skills to use them. Only occasionally when the opportunity presented itself in the random clearing that we would be able to confirm our location with a satellite lock.
So the morning progressed with the familiar cycle of drive, stop, assess, chop, clear, debug, remount, and drive. When we did get a bit of road ahead of us, James and Graham were able to make an insanely high rate of speed. It is just amazing watching them drive on these jungle trails. 15-20 mph doesn’t seem like much unless your on a road that allows for 6-18 inchess of clearance on either side of a Land Rover (with the side mirrors folded mind you), then it feels like you are on a colossus rollercoaster ride that goes on for hours. If you remember this jungle ride from Jurassic Park, let me tell you that is not the jungle, it’s Hollywood.
Look how wide that jungle trail is in that scene…I don’t think so. An added measure of excitement is that when the trails do get narrow with dense foliage, they can hide…things. We found that out later in this story.
At some point after noon, we finally reached a T intersection guiding usinto Dos Lagunas.
overlander
Expedition Leader
After the turn, about 30 minutes later we broke out of the jungle and arrived at the entrance! Hurray! My stomach said to me “it’s about damn time!” and I agreed with it. A quick group picture at the entrance sign….
…and the next entrance sign
…and we arrive into the campground!
As you arrive, you see the ranger station on the right. This is manned by rangers year round..and this is pretty remote for these guys!
There is also male and female showers fed by the lake via an electric pump (no hot water though).
And here is one of the two laguns. From the campsite, you can’t see the second lagun, despite the name.
Next to the ranger station at the edge of the lagun is a dock, which immediately calls to anyone who has been under the canopy as long as we have.
However, next to the dock is a sign. For those of you that don’t read Spanish, let me translate it for you: “
Stay the hell out of the water!”. You’ll see why later.
…and the next entrance sign
…and we arrive into the campground!
As you arrive, you see the ranger station on the right. This is manned by rangers year round..and this is pretty remote for these guys!
There is also male and female showers fed by the lake via an electric pump (no hot water though).
And here is one of the two laguns. From the campsite, you can’t see the second lagun, despite the name.
Next to the ranger station at the edge of the lagun is a dock, which immediately calls to anyone who has been under the canopy as long as we have.
However, next to the dock is a sign. For those of you that don’t read Spanish, let me translate it for you: “
Stay the hell out of the water!”. You’ll see why later.
overlander
Expedition Leader
Well it’s time for lunch and setting up the encampment. We work together as a much more efficient team, knowing the standard that NLX uses (which I have since shamelessly emulated with my own gear). Tables, chairs, whip open the rear door of Remus. Some crackers, a little tuna, some capers, this, that and the other things and wha’lah! A delicious lunch snack dish! (sorry no pics). James is REALLY, REALLY good with food BTW. After lunch, we move from hasty to deliberate encampment. We setup the awesome Snow Peak free standing dining awning, the rest of the tables, dinner place settings and then the question comes up, “what do we want to sleep in?”. You see, NLX brought the S.A. ground tents which we slept in the night before, but they also brought the jungle hammocks because part of this trip would be by foot and mule during the Mirador leg. Since James and Graham had both stated the night prior that they exclusively sleep in their jungle hammocks, Bill, Lee and I decided to try it. Bill had some initial apprehension and deliberated at first about the tent before giving in to peer pressure. I think he was concerned about sleeping in the middle of the jungle in what in his mind was a "glorious presentation of a human food bag" to the local wildlife. I on the other hand had my jungle hammock for years (purchased years ago for a trip to Costa Rico that was never used) and never slept in it, so curiosity at what I could be missing out on was overwhelming me anyway. So we took our hammocks and set them up. The edge of the campsite clearing on the opposite end of the lake was ideal for hammocks, with interspersed trees but cleared ground.
After setup when all was done, we all returned to the dining tables, broke out the beer and scotch, and resuming what was quickly becoming a trip tradition of lighting a fatty up in a classic colonial expedition tradition of tobacco, spirits and fellowship! In my opinion, my favorite part of an amazing day! Without the distractions of modern society, you have basically three choices of entertainment: conversation, reading or making oneself busy with some task. Clearly, conversation was the choice with scotch and cigars, so we chatted about this, that and the other thing for the remainder of the day. Somewhere around mid-day, Karl fired up the Pinz sound system with some German opera, and I think we all were shocked out how appropriate and complimenting it was to the quiet sounds of the deep, remote jungle we were in. It was like being dropped on the set of “out of Africa”.
Here’s a picture of me, having the best birthday moment EVER!
Once again Graham demonstrates his superiority over all of us in his ability to maintain an ash!
As evening rolled in, a flock of wild turkeys wandered into the campsite clearing, passing by our dining area.
So we lounged for the remainder of the day until night fall, and then James quietly left the table and began the transformation, every so professionally, from host to chef. As our first night was a hasty snack due to the late arrival in camp, this would be our first experience with the well known tasty delights of James. Graham brought the entrees to the table, and I have to say, we were quite impressed with not only the meal, but the display as well! Tonight’s dish was sautéed shrimp with a sort of delicious C.A. version of grits, and it was delicious. It’s amazing how well you can live in the middle of nowhere with 3 expedition fridges!
GEAR CHECK 04! Lets talk lighting! In the cooking picture you can see James cooking under the lighting of a Goal Zero Light-a-life. James and Graham raved about these and it is amazing how bright they are for a LED light. Amazing! On my purchase list. This is the perfect light for cooking. On the table are 3 Snow Peak Hozuki lanterns. The provided a great ambience to our dining, and Graham demonstrated the amazing different functions, to include the candle flicker mode! NLX has a dedicated pelican case that they keep all their LED lighting in which I'm a fan of. Modular packing is the way to go. Everyday I learn more time proven "best practices" that I want to emulate. NLX are masters of balancing luxury safari style camping with modular highly mobile and expeditious packing.
The evening ended with James and Graham sharing their personal stash of the best rum on the planet (and now my favorite liquor!), Ron Zacapa! Sweet ambrosia!
Somewhere around 10ish, we all called it a day. Early morning wakeup tomorrow to push on to our first Mayan ruins! Here’s the map of our progress so far.
After setup when all was done, we all returned to the dining tables, broke out the beer and scotch, and resuming what was quickly becoming a trip tradition of lighting a fatty up in a classic colonial expedition tradition of tobacco, spirits and fellowship! In my opinion, my favorite part of an amazing day! Without the distractions of modern society, you have basically three choices of entertainment: conversation, reading or making oneself busy with some task. Clearly, conversation was the choice with scotch and cigars, so we chatted about this, that and the other thing for the remainder of the day. Somewhere around mid-day, Karl fired up the Pinz sound system with some German opera, and I think we all were shocked out how appropriate and complimenting it was to the quiet sounds of the deep, remote jungle we were in. It was like being dropped on the set of “out of Africa”.
Here’s a picture of me, having the best birthday moment EVER!
Once again Graham demonstrates his superiority over all of us in his ability to maintain an ash!
As evening rolled in, a flock of wild turkeys wandered into the campsite clearing, passing by our dining area.
So we lounged for the remainder of the day until night fall, and then James quietly left the table and began the transformation, every so professionally, from host to chef. As our first night was a hasty snack due to the late arrival in camp, this would be our first experience with the well known tasty delights of James. Graham brought the entrees to the table, and I have to say, we were quite impressed with not only the meal, but the display as well! Tonight’s dish was sautéed shrimp with a sort of delicious C.A. version of grits, and it was delicious. It’s amazing how well you can live in the middle of nowhere with 3 expedition fridges!
GEAR CHECK 04! Lets talk lighting! In the cooking picture you can see James cooking under the lighting of a Goal Zero Light-a-life. James and Graham raved about these and it is amazing how bright they are for a LED light. Amazing! On my purchase list. This is the perfect light for cooking. On the table are 3 Snow Peak Hozuki lanterns. The provided a great ambience to our dining, and Graham demonstrated the amazing different functions, to include the candle flicker mode! NLX has a dedicated pelican case that they keep all their LED lighting in which I'm a fan of. Modular packing is the way to go. Everyday I learn more time proven "best practices" that I want to emulate. NLX are masters of balancing luxury safari style camping with modular highly mobile and expeditious packing.
The evening ended with James and Graham sharing their personal stash of the best rum on the planet (and now my favorite liquor!), Ron Zacapa! Sweet ambrosia!
Somewhere around 10ish, we all called it a day. Early morning wakeup tomorrow to push on to our first Mayan ruins! Here’s the map of our progress so far.
baja scott
New member
Guatemala
Great! Been waiting for the rest of the story!
Great! Been waiting for the rest of the story!
overlander
Expedition Leader
Good job getting registered Lee!
overlander
Expedition Leader
26 Feb 2012- Day 5
Awoke early to the sounds of the jungle and a fog about the lake. What a great sleep I had in the hammock; much better than I had thought. I have an older design Hennessy jungle hammock and everybody else had the newer models, but they were all great. Not having to worry about the snakes and scorpions on the ground easily adds an extra hour or so to my sleep, and the thought of them on the ground when I get out of the hammock adds another 30 minutes as well, but eventually the bladder wins the argument. To use a military term TTP (tactic, technique or procedure) I developed in the jungle was to put my pelican case right under the opening of my hammock that I can use as a raised platform to put my boots on, and to step on barefoot when I get in and out. Those Pelican cases continue to provide so many unanticipated benefits. Throwing my boots on unlaced and taking care of business at the jungle wall under the dim light of my headlamp, I wander back to my toiletry case, brush my teeth and then head over to the dining table. In an expo camp, the dining table is also the living room, entertaining room, study, bar and library. It’s a portable estate really. As I approach the table area under the now erected Snow Peak awning, I can hear some rattling in the back of the 110. It’s Graham and James, already up and at it, beginning the process of camp breakfast. Each day forward I am still amazed that they have the willpower to treat this as a business the way they do, with the discipline to ensure that coffee is made for the guests as they awake. You’d think that the advice of Ron Zacapa from the night before would remind them to hit the snooze button at least once when they woke up. The NLX preferred choice of making coffee when the camp kitchen is setup is by propane 2 burner stove, and so it is not long before the coffee press is set on the table by Graham as the morning light begins to illuminate our surroundings. Once again, after a cup of this coffee, I just reaffirm to myself that nobody in the United States seems to know how to make coffee. Gas station coffee in Central America seems to be better than what the best barista can muster back home.
Having a great cup of coffee at first light in the depth of the Central American jungle. There is nowhere I would rather be right now. This moment is my soul.
Once the rest of the group has joined us at the table, James and Graham serve a hearty man breakfast of eggs and such, followed by some light conversation. But it isn’t long before James cracks the whip in his subtle way and say it’s time to get going. We have a long ride ahead of us through some of the least traveled jungle trails in the Peten today. Our destination objective…the yet to be excavated ruins of Naaxtun.
Awoke early to the sounds of the jungle and a fog about the lake. What a great sleep I had in the hammock; much better than I had thought. I have an older design Hennessy jungle hammock and everybody else had the newer models, but they were all great. Not having to worry about the snakes and scorpions on the ground easily adds an extra hour or so to my sleep, and the thought of them on the ground when I get out of the hammock adds another 30 minutes as well, but eventually the bladder wins the argument. To use a military term TTP (tactic, technique or procedure) I developed in the jungle was to put my pelican case right under the opening of my hammock that I can use as a raised platform to put my boots on, and to step on barefoot when I get in and out. Those Pelican cases continue to provide so many unanticipated benefits. Throwing my boots on unlaced and taking care of business at the jungle wall under the dim light of my headlamp, I wander back to my toiletry case, brush my teeth and then head over to the dining table. In an expo camp, the dining table is also the living room, entertaining room, study, bar and library. It’s a portable estate really. As I approach the table area under the now erected Snow Peak awning, I can hear some rattling in the back of the 110. It’s Graham and James, already up and at it, beginning the process of camp breakfast. Each day forward I am still amazed that they have the willpower to treat this as a business the way they do, with the discipline to ensure that coffee is made for the guests as they awake. You’d think that the advice of Ron Zacapa from the night before would remind them to hit the snooze button at least once when they woke up. The NLX preferred choice of making coffee when the camp kitchen is setup is by propane 2 burner stove, and so it is not long before the coffee press is set on the table by Graham as the morning light begins to illuminate our surroundings. Once again, after a cup of this coffee, I just reaffirm to myself that nobody in the United States seems to know how to make coffee. Gas station coffee in Central America seems to be better than what the best barista can muster back home.
Having a great cup of coffee at first light in the depth of the Central American jungle. There is nowhere I would rather be right now. This moment is my soul.
Once the rest of the group has joined us at the table, James and Graham serve a hearty man breakfast of eggs and such, followed by some light conversation. But it isn’t long before James cracks the whip in his subtle way and say it’s time to get going. We have a long ride ahead of us through some of the least traveled jungle trails in the Peten today. Our destination objective…the yet to be excavated ruins of Naaxtun.
overlander
Expedition Leader
So after we all pack up our personal gear, we gather back at the dining area to begin breaking down all the site gear for loadup. As we’re doing this, someone calls out “Hey, there’s a dead baby boa over here!”. It was found in the space between our site and the ranger station by the water, which is the clearing where other vehicles would pass through if they were transiting the campground to continue North into the jungle.
The dead snake then triggers my faint memory of hearing some vehicles passing through the area in convoy during the early AM hours as I lay in my hammock. It is the realization that we are not alone, which is an easy state of mind to slip into within darkness of the Peten. I failed to mention previously that there are a few rangers that are stationed at this extremely remote outpost, and they have very spartan living quarters on the 2nd floor of the ranger station. They are extremely friendly and seem to be happy despite being up there for weeks if not months at a time. We say goodbye to them after we load up, and after a intervehicular comms check on the NLX commercial radios, James and I take the lead heading into a previously unobserved small break in the jungle edge on the North side of the campground. As we roll, James says his goal is to get to the site by lunch time. Sounds like a good goal to me! The Peten always gets a vote though, so let’s consider it a stretch goal.
As we begin down the jungle trail, James picks up a pretty good pace, moving at what seemed like lightning speed to me. The conditions on the trail in the first 10 minutes are fantastic, from a traction standpoint. Solid ground allows for 3rd and 4th gear to be used in low range, and as mentioned before James sure knows how to drive. These trails are much narrower than the trail getting into this campground, which became clearly obvious that they are even less traveled than the prior days trails into the campground. For the first 20-30 minutes, I would guess there is no more than 6” of clearance on either side of the Defenders, and Defenders are pretty narrow as it is. Being a military officer, I think about what it would be like to try and maneuver a US military unit through here, and I laugh to myself. The HMMVW would not have been able to make it through the first 500 meters of the jungle from 2 days ago, without widening the trail through it’s entire length (with few exceptions).
Moving along along at 15-20 mph with no clearance, my mind drifts to a different thought. The sensation of the climbing and descents along the area topography, and the side to side swaying of the Defender as it weaves along, reminds me of the exact feeling I used to get long ago at amusement parks riding roller coaster type rides. Then I laugh to myself about that feeling you get at the end of the ride when you say to yourself “Hey that was a blast but it was so short!”. This ride with NLX last on average about 8-10 hours a day!
After what seemed to be an amazingly long run of speed into the jungle, we come up to our first fallen vines. After the last 2 days, I was lulled into thinking that was a thing of the past. We short hault, and once again, I can’t even unbuckle my seatbelt before Byron comes whizzing by with his machete and cuts the overhead vines impeding our progress. Then it occurs to me, “those vehicles came through here last night, how can there be these vines here this low? Do they just move them or cut them, or do the vines actually drop on a daily-hourly basis around here?”. With no answers to my questions, we continue on, only to come upon more dropped vines and trees every 5-10 minutes or so. Well, at least we haven’t hit any mud! I can tell that we are increasing to some extend up in elevation and coming out of the watershed that we’ve been in last 2 days. I suspect this is why the amount of mud has decreased so dramatically.
After about an hour or so into the trail, we reach a major T intersection with a sign indicating go right for Naaxtun.
Fresh tracks in front of us lead the way right, and we are reminded again that we are not alone. Someone notices off the road a large mound of earth 30 meters into the jungle. James tells us that it is one of many unexcavated Mayan structures that we’ll start seeing along the way. My inner Indiana Jones has now taken over my body with an almost uncontrollable curiosity that is only tamed by Dr. Jone’s very reasonable and pragmatic issue with snakes. I’m visualizing a golden idol sitting on an alter merely a few short steps from where I’m standing, with a Fer De Lance wrapped around it waiting for me to come and get it. Once again, I compare my current situation to being on dirt roads in Iraq where undocumented land mines are supposed to be, and complete overcoming my curiosity with rational thought. “Nothing to see here, move along everyone!” I quickly say to myself.
I’m a few paces away from the 110, and as I turn around to remount, I see James and Graham at the front left of the vehicle by my door. The raised air intake (aka snorke) mounted on the side intake has been claimed by the jungle path, a good example of the narrowness of the trail. NLX has ROW (rest of world) Defenders that typically have side intakes, and this is a good example of the risk involved with anything mounted on the sides of the vehicles in this type of environment. Throughout the course of this trip, I am observing for lessons learned about gear and vehicle configuration for dense jungle terrain to apply when I return home, and I am glad that the North American Spec Defenders like my own have wing top intakes, so this particular situation would not have been a risk for my snorkel. It’s amazing how these little things matter. Our conversation on the matter is broken by Karl and Byron walking up to us from their trailing position. They announce that they have lost a side mirror off the Pinz. Apparently, the Mayan Gods overwatching the Peten have a road tax. We spend about 15 minutes walking the trail back to see if we can find any of the lost parts, but to no avail. Returning, we mount up and continue on our way.
The dead snake then triggers my faint memory of hearing some vehicles passing through the area in convoy during the early AM hours as I lay in my hammock. It is the realization that we are not alone, which is an easy state of mind to slip into within darkness of the Peten. I failed to mention previously that there are a few rangers that are stationed at this extremely remote outpost, and they have very spartan living quarters on the 2nd floor of the ranger station. They are extremely friendly and seem to be happy despite being up there for weeks if not months at a time. We say goodbye to them after we load up, and after a intervehicular comms check on the NLX commercial radios, James and I take the lead heading into a previously unobserved small break in the jungle edge on the North side of the campground. As we roll, James says his goal is to get to the site by lunch time. Sounds like a good goal to me! The Peten always gets a vote though, so let’s consider it a stretch goal.
As we begin down the jungle trail, James picks up a pretty good pace, moving at what seemed like lightning speed to me. The conditions on the trail in the first 10 minutes are fantastic, from a traction standpoint. Solid ground allows for 3rd and 4th gear to be used in low range, and as mentioned before James sure knows how to drive. These trails are much narrower than the trail getting into this campground, which became clearly obvious that they are even less traveled than the prior days trails into the campground. For the first 20-30 minutes, I would guess there is no more than 6” of clearance on either side of the Defenders, and Defenders are pretty narrow as it is. Being a military officer, I think about what it would be like to try and maneuver a US military unit through here, and I laugh to myself. The HMMVW would not have been able to make it through the first 500 meters of the jungle from 2 days ago, without widening the trail through it’s entire length (with few exceptions).
Moving along along at 15-20 mph with no clearance, my mind drifts to a different thought. The sensation of the climbing and descents along the area topography, and the side to side swaying of the Defender as it weaves along, reminds me of the exact feeling I used to get long ago at amusement parks riding roller coaster type rides. Then I laugh to myself about that feeling you get at the end of the ride when you say to yourself “Hey that was a blast but it was so short!”. This ride with NLX last on average about 8-10 hours a day!
After what seemed to be an amazingly long run of speed into the jungle, we come up to our first fallen vines. After the last 2 days, I was lulled into thinking that was a thing of the past. We short hault, and once again, I can’t even unbuckle my seatbelt before Byron comes whizzing by with his machete and cuts the overhead vines impeding our progress. Then it occurs to me, “those vehicles came through here last night, how can there be these vines here this low? Do they just move them or cut them, or do the vines actually drop on a daily-hourly basis around here?”. With no answers to my questions, we continue on, only to come upon more dropped vines and trees every 5-10 minutes or so. Well, at least we haven’t hit any mud! I can tell that we are increasing to some extend up in elevation and coming out of the watershed that we’ve been in last 2 days. I suspect this is why the amount of mud has decreased so dramatically.
After about an hour or so into the trail, we reach a major T intersection with a sign indicating go right for Naaxtun.
Fresh tracks in front of us lead the way right, and we are reminded again that we are not alone. Someone notices off the road a large mound of earth 30 meters into the jungle. James tells us that it is one of many unexcavated Mayan structures that we’ll start seeing along the way. My inner Indiana Jones has now taken over my body with an almost uncontrollable curiosity that is only tamed by Dr. Jone’s very reasonable and pragmatic issue with snakes. I’m visualizing a golden idol sitting on an alter merely a few short steps from where I’m standing, with a Fer De Lance wrapped around it waiting for me to come and get it. Once again, I compare my current situation to being on dirt roads in Iraq where undocumented land mines are supposed to be, and complete overcoming my curiosity with rational thought. “Nothing to see here, move along everyone!” I quickly say to myself.
I’m a few paces away from the 110, and as I turn around to remount, I see James and Graham at the front left of the vehicle by my door. The raised air intake (aka snorke) mounted on the side intake has been claimed by the jungle path, a good example of the narrowness of the trail. NLX has ROW (rest of world) Defenders that typically have side intakes, and this is a good example of the risk involved with anything mounted on the sides of the vehicles in this type of environment. Throughout the course of this trip, I am observing for lessons learned about gear and vehicle configuration for dense jungle terrain to apply when I return home, and I am glad that the North American Spec Defenders like my own have wing top intakes, so this particular situation would not have been a risk for my snorkel. It’s amazing how these little things matter. Our conversation on the matter is broken by Karl and Byron walking up to us from their trailing position. They announce that they have lost a side mirror off the Pinz. Apparently, the Mayan Gods overwatching the Peten have a road tax. We spend about 15 minutes walking the trail back to see if we can find any of the lost parts, but to no avail. Returning, we mount up and continue on our way.
overlander
Expedition Leader
Another 20 minutes onto this new trail, we start to see more Chicalero makeshift campsites, as well as cut marks on the gum trees where they harvest the sap. James and Graham are making note of them as candidates for future trips. It’s like documenting water wells in the Sahara, you never know when you’ll need one! Suddenly James calls to Graham on the radio “I think we’ll stop here!”.
For what, I’m not sure but I’m about to find out. We all get out and stretch a bit as James and Graham open up the back of Remus. To my surprise, out comes the Kelly Kettle! That can only mean one thing….coffee on the trail!!! I am elated. James sets up the Kelly on the ground between the vehicles, and adds water, then some fire starter wood into it to get things going. Graham pulls out the melamine mugs, coffee and a plastic tin of Biscotti. I’m still kicking myself for not photographing this moment because everyone’s face just lit up! American’s are so predictable. As smoke begins to rise from the Kelly, we begin standing around it and break into conversation like it was a campfire. I have got to get one of these things! The social value of the Kelly Kettle is the best kept secret about it that you’ll never get from an advertisement. Mere moments later, the freshly boiled water is poured into the French press, and I look back to see that everyone is now watching it, reminding me of vintage photos from 1950’s of families gathered around merely inches away from their black and white televisions watching history in the making. Graham begins to pour out the good stuff, and as I take my sip, once again I am sickened with wonder by how this cup of coffee, made on the ground in the middle of the jungle, can be so much better than the 5 dollar coffees back home. I take a bite of the Biscotti, and it was like a lite bulb going off. I have to have a full coffee kit and biscotti store in the back of my 110 back home! What a luxury this little treat was.
As we’re all giggling to ourselves and having our moment, we hear engines up ahead approaching from the other direction. There is a crest ahead, and as the lead vehicle appears, it is an all too familiar Hilux we’ve had a run in with before. It stops at the top, and out of the passenger side comes the one we didn’t want to see again: El Hefe. In a freak moment of ESP, we all look at each other surely thinking “Oh what now?”
For what, I’m not sure but I’m about to find out. We all get out and stretch a bit as James and Graham open up the back of Remus. To my surprise, out comes the Kelly Kettle! That can only mean one thing….coffee on the trail!!! I am elated. James sets up the Kelly on the ground between the vehicles, and adds water, then some fire starter wood into it to get things going. Graham pulls out the melamine mugs, coffee and a plastic tin of Biscotti. I’m still kicking myself for not photographing this moment because everyone’s face just lit up! American’s are so predictable. As smoke begins to rise from the Kelly, we begin standing around it and break into conversation like it was a campfire. I have got to get one of these things! The social value of the Kelly Kettle is the best kept secret about it that you’ll never get from an advertisement. Mere moments later, the freshly boiled water is poured into the French press, and I look back to see that everyone is now watching it, reminding me of vintage photos from 1950’s of families gathered around merely inches away from their black and white televisions watching history in the making. Graham begins to pour out the good stuff, and as I take my sip, once again I am sickened with wonder by how this cup of coffee, made on the ground in the middle of the jungle, can be so much better than the 5 dollar coffees back home. I take a bite of the Biscotti, and it was like a lite bulb going off. I have to have a full coffee kit and biscotti store in the back of my 110 back home! What a luxury this little treat was.
As we’re all giggling to ourselves and having our moment, we hear engines up ahead approaching from the other direction. There is a crest ahead, and as the lead vehicle appears, it is an all too familiar Hilux we’ve had a run in with before. It stops at the top, and out of the passenger side comes the one we didn’t want to see again: El Hefe. In a freak moment of ESP, we all look at each other surely thinking “Oh what now?”