Now that we are all master canoeists we headed back to Barton Creek for a day to sort out our kit for out first trek. The Indian Creek trek would be completed with Marcos and would involve some caving and a tour of an archaeological chamber. We set off bright and early to start, met Marcos and headed into the Jungle. After asking Marcos a few questions to practice what a guide should know before undertaking a trek we walked off into the Jungle. Very quickly this walk became a light jog which we managed to somehow keep up for the remainder of the trip.
Peter and Ralph very quickly learnt why a machete was not necessary on the trek finding themselves becoming tangled with every low branch and vine. Luckily, the quick pace allowed them to use their momentum to power through these obstacles.
Just before lunch we came to our first major obstacle; a collapsed bridge between two rock faces. While Marcos skipped merrily along an old fallen tree trunk, Colin and Myles opted to shimmy along the trunk and Pete and Ralph went for the climb down, climb up approach. We all made it across although Myles nearly came a cropper when he decided to get off the tree trunk too early with nothing to stand on. We marched on until our first camp which was quickly set up, cooked food and broke the record for the earliest night of our trip so far.
We awoke the next morning, broke camp and after finding our pace from the previous day we raced towards our cave. Marcos took us deep into the cave to show us some ancient Mayan treasures and to tell us about the Mayan history of Belize. After a couple of hours we saw the light of day again, fully informed about the Mayan Cosmic Tree and one particular ruler, “Big, Strong, Fiery Jaguar Paw”.
A couple of hours into the afternoon we came across our second major obstacle, another collapsed bridge. Although there was another convenient fallen tree which we could use what lay below was less inviting than before – a muddy, stagnant river. Macros once again danced across and Colin bravely stood up to go second. A successful start caused his pace to quicken but then, much to everyone but Colin great amusement, SNAP! Colin was in. Despite this meaning we would all have to wade through the mud, seeing our esteemed leader gracefully swan dive into the thick mud was well worth it. It took a couple of minutes for Marcos to stop laughing and then we continued. The last obstacle of the trip was a cave we had to pass through – no problem except for one hole the exact size for a 34 inch waist. This meant we could all fit (just) and proved great fun although Pete quickly learnt not to get stuck as Colin began to play the drums on his helmet.
We camped that night at ´5 blue lakes’, an area with perfectly blue lakes in which we could swim which was very welcome after our two day run. Hammocks were filled again quickly as well all caught some sleep ready for our bus rush in the morning.
Reaching the bus we became the first group to complete the trek without losing at least 1 member to a CASEVAC. Colin also informed us at this point that the trek was usually completed over 5 days, not two – at least that explained why we were shattered. After a quick breakfast in Belmopan we headed back to San Ignacio to prepare for our reccee in Guatemala the next week.
Another early start saw us reach the Guatemalan/Belize border around 9 am where we started to look for a bus. The entire week was in Pete, Myles and Ralph´s hands so Colin and Jade stood back while we tried to negotiate bus fares on the famous Central American Chicken Buses. A bus was found but just before we got on Jade managed to get stung by a Scorpion making the journey all the more exciting. Bearing the pain she jumped on anyway and we all headed to Flores, our base for the reccee.
Flores is a very pretty island situated in the middle of a large lake but we were here to work so after briefly admiring the view we cracked on searching around for guides to lead our El Mirador trek. The trek would take us to an undisturbed and massive (10 square miles) ancient Mayan city boasting the highest pyramid in the Mayan world; La Danta. We therefore needed a guide worthy of the trek and after a day in Flores we decided that we needed to head out to Carmelita, the last village before the trek begins into the jungle.
This trip, without doubt, provided the best day of the expedition so far. After waking up at 4am to catch the 5am bus we quickly realised that this would be no normal journey. The bus should have been scrapped at least 10 years ago but somehow a lot of TLC was holding it together. It was probably only an hour on the bus until it broke down! The bus crew of two mechanics and a driver (3 out of only 12 or so seats) jumped out to fix it. Somehow they were successful and we continued on our way, off the road an onto the track that would take us the rest of the way. 2 hours later however we came across another problem; a hill. We should mention at this point that another Hurricane, Richard, passed over the area the previous night and so that roads were in a pretty awful state. Being westerners we jumped out of the bus to walk up the hill and to avoid certain death but all the locals remained inside, not bothered by their impending doom. After a few attempts the bus got stuck half way up and eventually the locals piled out and we all began pushing it up. This took the best part of an hour and a lot of hard work but eventually the bus summated the massive 15 meter peak and we continued our journey.
We arrived in Carmelita after 6 hours and very quickly found a guide after talking to his father on the bus. Despite the 6 hour journey the meeting lasted only 45 minutes, in which time we had all the information we needed. This meant we could catch the same bus home and we set out expecting another 6 hours of the TLC held together bus. However, this trip was more successful, the only problem being a quick tyre change, and we were back inside 4 hours.
We spent the next day nursing rattled bones, meeting another guide (the brother of the one from the day before) and thinking about the budget, rations and logistics of the upcoming trek. We also managed to find some time to swim in the lake as it was easily the hottest day we have spent in Central America so far. In the evening we were greeted with the good news that another guide had returned our emails. This guide was a South African ex commando who now worked in the area as a Mayan expert and guide. We all went to sleep happy with our range of choices ready to write the report the next day and to enjoy our last day on the tranquil island of Flores. Next, 10 days of rescue training with Marcos!
