Team Equipt's "Central America Expedition"
- Thread starter benedmonson
- Start date
benedmonson
Disabled Adventurer
Team Equipt's "Expedition Mundo Maya"
We are now in Xcalak, Mexico which is on the border of Belize and doing a little relaxing. It has been a very busy 5 weeks and we decided that it was time to lay on the beach for a few days before we start to explore southern Mexico and it's Mayan Ruins. This town only has an average internet speed of 8/KB's per second so I only got one image uploaded from the past weeks photos. Once we get a better connection I have lots more to show!:sombrero:
Here is a boondocking spot that we found on Corozal Bay in Belize. This is no photoshop and all in camera. I did a very long exposure for the star trail and then used our Snowpeak Hozuki lights to paint the truck, beach and trees to look like daylight. I hope to do more of these throughout the trip when I have the chance. We also shared the coordinates of this great camp with our friends at "Home on the Highway" and they reported back that they had a great time there!
We are now in Xcalak, Mexico which is on the border of Belize and doing a little relaxing. It has been a very busy 5 weeks and we decided that it was time to lay on the beach for a few days before we start to explore southern Mexico and it's Mayan Ruins. This town only has an average internet speed of 8/KB's per second so I only got one image uploaded from the past weeks photos. Once we get a better connection I have lots more to show!:sombrero:
Here is a boondocking spot that we found on Corozal Bay in Belize. This is no photoshop and all in camera. I did a very long exposure for the star trail and then used our Snowpeak Hozuki lights to paint the truck, beach and trees to look like daylight. I hope to do more of these throughout the trip when I have the chance. We also shared the coordinates of this great camp with our friends at "Home on the Highway" and they reported back that they had a great time there!
targa88
Explorer
Our first night at the campgrounds near the Yaxha Ruins just over the border in Guatemala. This is where "Survivor Guatemala" was shot.
Ben,
Great shots/story - this one is brilliant.
Safe travels
benedmonson
Disabled Adventurer
Team Equipt's "Expedition Mundo Maya"
@Lance and Colin, Thank you!!! I'm glad people enjoy seeing things thru my eyes!
I'm currently setting in front of two huge blue steel doors that are the guard the entrance to the Lubricantes y Filtros De Quintana Roo. Mobil Super building in Chetumal, MX trying to upload tons of new images, but can only get about 35K speeds
Funny thing is we pulled into the Mobil Oil distributor here in Chetumal this morning while searching for some 15/40 wt. oil and made an instant friendship right on the spot with Milo who is the owners son. A few hours later we are having lunch with Milo and his family and then his assistant took us all over town to look for a new windshield for Lucy, get laundry done, car wash, provisions and more..... Traveling in other countries is fun, but when you get to meet and spend time with the locals it is like getting a key to unlock the hidden door. We now have plans to come back and stay at the families home and Milo's mother who is a regionally known Mexican Chef is going to prepare a fiesta for us!:sombrero:
Milo would love to meet and help all of our friends/overlanders who are passing thru Chetumal. He can help with finding things and give advice on where to get the coldest beer at the best price!
GPS Coordinates:
N 18.51731º
W088.28727º
Carlos, Beverly, Lola and Milo at the counter of the Lubricantes Shop in Chetumal. iPhone pic
@Lance and Colin, Thank you!!! I'm glad people enjoy seeing things thru my eyes!
I'm currently setting in front of two huge blue steel doors that are the guard the entrance to the Lubricantes y Filtros De Quintana Roo. Mobil Super building in Chetumal, MX trying to upload tons of new images, but can only get about 35K speeds
Funny thing is we pulled into the Mobil Oil distributor here in Chetumal this morning while searching for some 15/40 wt. oil and made an instant friendship right on the spot with Milo who is the owners son. A few hours later we are having lunch with Milo and his family and then his assistant took us all over town to look for a new windshield for Lucy, get laundry done, car wash, provisions and more..... Traveling in other countries is fun, but when you get to meet and spend time with the locals it is like getting a key to unlock the hidden door. We now have plans to come back and stay at the families home and Milo's mother who is a regionally known Mexican Chef is going to prepare a fiesta for us!:sombrero:Milo would love to meet and help all of our friends/overlanders who are passing thru Chetumal. He can help with finding things and give advice on where to get the coldest beer at the best price!
GPS Coordinates:
N 18.51731º
W088.28727º
Carlos, Beverly, Lola and Milo at the counter of the Lubricantes Shop in Chetumal. iPhone pic
benedmonson
Disabled Adventurer
Team Equipt's "Expedition Mundo Maya"
After leaving Honduras in the rear view mirror we wondered up through Guatemala and wanted to make an attempt at Naranjo Ruins which are located in the Yaxha National Park Area near the Belize border. We arrived and camped late at our usual spot right on the laguna. This is where we mounted our attack along with our friends from No Limit Expeditions a few weeks earlier. On that attempt we were headed through some very dense jungle with a destination of the Nakum Ruins. Although we weren't successful we did have an epic time with some deep nasty mud and several snakes! The Naranjo Ruins are located near the others, but on a little bit higher ground. We started off our journey knowing that we would have to turn back about midday no matter where we were. This would put us in Belize by late afternoon where we had an appointment to pick up our dogs from the kennel (very loose use of the word).
Immediately the jungle became dense as during the wet season there is no traffic at all using this trail.
Beverly took the lead in Lucy and Paul waited an obstacle behind until the front vehicle made it to solid ground. There were not a lot of opportunities to winch out forward on most of the mud holes, so a rear winch was the best response to a stuck truck.
A little over 3 KM's in Beverly and Lucy found the bottom of a very deep hole. She would've made it with a little more momentum, but was trying to go slow and smooth as to preserve her favorite Land Cruiser!:snorkel:
Beverly knew the drill and hooked up Paul's synthetic winch cable and looked good doing it in her ExOfficio digs.....
It only took a small tug and Lucy was free to try the obstacle on a different line, we did not come here to go around!!!
With a little more mo and the line that she originally wanted to take, Beverly made it with ease.
It was cool working with all of the shadows in the jungle tracks, not something we see much of in the southwest of the U.S.!
After some tight line driving with barely inches on either side we made it through the swamp area and to the higher part of the drive, but still had to turn around as we ran out of time. Naranjo will have to wait until next trip.
There are so many off-road tracks to take throughout the jungle down here. One just needs plenty of time, fuel and patience.
After leaving Honduras in the rear view mirror we wondered up through Guatemala and wanted to make an attempt at Naranjo Ruins which are located in the Yaxha National Park Area near the Belize border. We arrived and camped late at our usual spot right on the laguna. This is where we mounted our attack along with our friends from No Limit Expeditions a few weeks earlier. On that attempt we were headed through some very dense jungle with a destination of the Nakum Ruins. Although we weren't successful we did have an epic time with some deep nasty mud and several snakes! The Naranjo Ruins are located near the others, but on a little bit higher ground. We started off our journey knowing that we would have to turn back about midday no matter where we were. This would put us in Belize by late afternoon where we had an appointment to pick up our dogs from the kennel (very loose use of the word).
Immediately the jungle became dense as during the wet season there is no traffic at all using this trail.
Beverly took the lead in Lucy and Paul waited an obstacle behind until the front vehicle made it to solid ground. There were not a lot of opportunities to winch out forward on most of the mud holes, so a rear winch was the best response to a stuck truck.
A little over 3 KM's in Beverly and Lucy found the bottom of a very deep hole. She would've made it with a little more momentum, but was trying to go slow and smooth as to preserve her favorite Land Cruiser!:snorkel:
Beverly knew the drill and hooked up Paul's synthetic winch cable and looked good doing it in her ExOfficio digs.....
It only took a small tug and Lucy was free to try the obstacle on a different line, we did not come here to go around!!!
With a little more mo and the line that she originally wanted to take, Beverly made it with ease.
It was cool working with all of the shadows in the jungle tracks, not something we see much of in the southwest of the U.S.!
After some tight line driving with barely inches on either side we made it through the swamp area and to the higher part of the drive, but still had to turn around as we ran out of time. Naranjo will have to wait until next trip.
There are so many off-road tracks to take throughout the jungle down here. One just needs plenty of time, fuel and patience.
benedmonson
Disabled Adventurer
Team Equipt's "Expedition Mundo Maya"
Once we turned on the track to Naranjo Ruins we exited beautiful Guatemala and entered Belize. We first had to get our dogs from a british lady who had been keeping them for about two weeks. It was funny that she made us sign paperwork that laid out the things that could go wrong with their stay at her kennel. These things included crocodiles, jaguars, snakes and others. This explained why she was building a new fence that would cover the top of her kennel!:Wow1:
She also told us that she had recently lost two dogs to the crocs that were playing in the river just down the dirt path. We asked her not to let our dogs out of the house if at all possible....
Although our time spent in Belize was brief, it was fun. We decided to explore some of the area up around Corozal Bay which would mean taking the hand cranked ferries.
Beverly loading Lucy up on the hand cranked ferry. The weight limit was 20,000 pounds and I'm pretty sure with our two land cruisers and the Dodge truck with a filled horse trailer went well above that!
Because there was so much weight they split us and put the loaded farm vehicle in the middle. Until they did this they couldn't get the ferry to budge.
I don't think this little old church lady was going to be much help either?:sombrero: The calendar was his motivation I'm thinking???
Once across we found some delicious conch at a little place called Donna's which was incredible! Afterwards we were rewarded with this great campsite. We were many miles from anybody and this was a good nights camp!
Once we turned on the track to Naranjo Ruins we exited beautiful Guatemala and entered Belize. We first had to get our dogs from a british lady who had been keeping them for about two weeks. It was funny that she made us sign paperwork that laid out the things that could go wrong with their stay at her kennel. These things included crocodiles, jaguars, snakes and others. This explained why she was building a new fence that would cover the top of her kennel!:Wow1:
She also told us that she had recently lost two dogs to the crocs that were playing in the river just down the dirt path. We asked her not to let our dogs out of the house if at all possible....
Although our time spent in Belize was brief, it was fun. We decided to explore some of the area up around Corozal Bay which would mean taking the hand cranked ferries.
Beverly loading Lucy up on the hand cranked ferry. The weight limit was 20,000 pounds and I'm pretty sure with our two land cruisers and the Dodge truck with a filled horse trailer went well above that!
Because there was so much weight they split us and put the loaded farm vehicle in the middle. Until they did this they couldn't get the ferry to budge.
I don't think this little old church lady was going to be much help either?:sombrero: The calendar was his motivation I'm thinking???
Once across we found some delicious conch at a little place called Donna's which was incredible! Afterwards we were rewarded with this great campsite. We were many miles from anybody and this was a good nights camp!
Thanks for the great write-up of what looks like a fabulous trip!
I'm curious about the narrow tracks you drove. The LC 100 series is 1940 mm wide, or about 76 inches, and has a turning circle of 40 feet. The typical USA full size pickup is 79 inches wide and has a turning circle also of about 40 feet. In your opinion, would the driver of a full size truck be at a disadvantage on these trails?
Maya Rally entrants want to know!
I'm curious about the narrow tracks you drove. The LC 100 series is 1940 mm wide, or about 76 inches, and has a turning circle of 40 feet. The typical USA full size pickup is 79 inches wide and has a turning circle also of about 40 feet. In your opinion, would the driver of a full size truck be at a disadvantage on these trails?
Maya Rally entrants want to know!
benedmonson
Disabled Adventurer
Haven, The turning radius hasn't been as important as the overall width of the vehicle. There have been many times where we didn't have inches to spare to get between a couple of give and take trees or other things lining the trail. Like any trip in a full size truck if you don't mind getting some scraping and or body damage then I'm sure you'll make it no problem. Remember though that these tracks are made and maintained by horses, walkers and some times a four wheeler. So they weren't designed for larger vehicles to start out with.
Hope this helps!
southfarms
New member
Outstanding! Thanks again for taking the time to share.
Stephen
Stephen
Wow, I really like the ferry photo... just 'says' travel in Latin America, lily pads and all!!! Excellent photos, as always, Mr. Edmonson!
Mauka2Makai
Explorer
Now that is living life... Thanks for sharing your folks journey and taking all these awesome photos. This thread is like a favorite book, I'm going to have to go through it again and again. Stay safe.
RichardT
Adventurer
overlander
Expedition Leader
My crew is next up with NLX! This is going to be awesome! I hope we get some camel trophy quality winching action!
gjackson
FRGS
Haven
In the mud in Central America you will find that throttle control is by far the best measure of whether a vehicle will make it through. Much less to do with vehicle dimensions and options and much more to do with driver ability. Rut cannot be avoided, but they can be overcome if driven correctly. Slow as possible fast as necessary just as Land Rover says, but with an eye to reading the terrain ahead, the quality of the mud, obstacles, both on the track and in the surrounding canopy. It's a very 3D world and one that takes a bit of practice to become competent in.
Dimensions will be more critical when considering the "hole" previous traffic has made in the jungle. Considering it was probably made by a Hilux that gives you an idea of how much cutting you'd have to do for a full size.
Cheers