During Semana Santa, Easter Week, I took off on a road trip to the Caribbean coast of Guatemala to connect with five friends from school. It was about a five hour drive to Puerto Barrios where I left my car for two nights in a parking lot for $10 and hopped a 30 minute ferry to Livingston.The ferry brought me right up to the dock of La Casa Rosada, where I saw Amanda and Roxy sunbathing. Our place was beautiful and all for $8/person!
The following day we took off for one of the cayos (keys) of Belize. It was gorgeous - crystal blue waters, checking out sting rays while snorkeling and a small island to ourselves.
The ride over there was a bit insane - just over two hours of bone-crunching wave surfing where I got quite the squat workout to protect my unborn child, but the return trip was better.
After a few days in Livingstone, I headed back to my car and drove another 3 hours to meet my former co-worker Danna in Flores. The roads all the way were paved and smooth sailing, for the most part.
I arrived in Flores just in time to see Danna, as she had estimated her time of arrival at 3pm from Mexico. She came in a bit late, but Flores is a small island in the middle of a lake and it was easy to run into one another.
We checked into our cheap guest house - night two brought some water into our room, but nothing we couldn't handle. The blasting fireworks in the middle of the night and the mariachi band that fired up at 4am were less than desirable, but morning finally came and we were off to Tikal to check out the pyramids.
We spent little time in Tikal due to the scorching heat, but we got a small idea of the place and decided to head to Belize and check out the jungle and a few plants. Here's where the real adventure began.Danna had just got done telling me what a planner I am and how organized I was when I broke the news that we were on a road trip with no spare tire. Not so well planned. I told her I'd never had a flat and really, what are the odds??
Ten minutes later, she was in the middle of a story when I looked at her and said, "I don't mean to frighten you, but..." She immediately thought I was looking in the rear-view mirror at a truckload of men with guns, but I continued, "...I think we have a flat." "No way."
We pulled over and sure enough, the back. passenger side tire was flat. I hopped on the phone to tell my friend, Julio, who was in town from Chicago visiting his parents who recently retired in Guatemala City. He was a bit concerned, but we flagged down a few motorists to see if we could get any help.
The biggest disappointment: a man from Arizona about my dad's age traveling with his daughter about my age. I explained that we had no spare and asked if he had one. He said no, sorry, good luck and off he went down the road!! He didn't even offer to bring us to the border to get a new tire - what a jerk! I can't see my dad EVER leaving two women in the middle of nowhere Guatemala with a flat tire!
We flagged down another car and it was a super nice 27 year old guy from Amatitlan, Guatemala with his wife heading to Belize. He was going to give us his spare, which was a "real" tire, but it didn't fit quite right, so he drove me to the border with my bad tire and we stopped at a Pinchazo - tire repair shop - for a new one.Danna waited back at the car with the cute family whose hut we got a flat in front of. They brought her fruit off their trees and told her all about their life, their worries, their happiness and health.
Meanwhile, I hopped in the tire guy's truck for a ride back to my car for 100 Quetzales ($12 US). Only 10km in, his truck overheated! I wasn't sure it was legit car trouble or if this guy was going to attack me, so I called Julio and told the guy that I had friends who were driving to meet me at the car from Tikal. I was also plotting in my head as to how I'd use my glass, soda bottle to wrap him over the head, if need be.
As it turns out, he was a good guy who hooked me up with another passer-by for a ride to my car. The nice man from the hut put the new tire on and sent us on our way. Mom, dad and the four kids stood on the roadside waving and wishing us well.
We met a lot of good people that day.
We decided to skip Belize and head back to the city, arriving around 3pm. It was nice to be home. I really love the city.
The following day we headed to Antigua to do a little shopping in the colonial town before calling it a trip. I had a great week - another adventure with a happy ending!