Raw nature in Belize & Guatemala

From relaxed and beautiful Belize to the Mayan settlements and active volcanoes in Guatemala; this part of Central America really surprised us and we loved it! We drove from the north of Belize to the South of Guatemala and crossed both countries over the entire length. Along the way we enjoyed the great diversity of cultures, people, wildlife and of course nature!

What's in this update

• Belize
• The wild North of Guatemala & Tikal
• Hiking up volcanoes in Southern Guatemala
• What's next?

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Belize

Being sparsely populated & with a mixed origin population, we were not sure what to expect. Especially in the little villages. Along our trip, we had met several people who strongly disliked this part of Central America and advised against staying too long. We also knew about Belize’s statistics, where their murder rates is one of the highest per capita in the world, and violent crimes are common. However, on the other hand, we had read about the projects and efforts by the government to protect its wildlife and biodiversity, so we were too curious to skip this part of Central America. We crossed the border between Mexico and Belize and felt the change immediately; Belize felt very relaxed and had a sort of ‘island vibe’ over it. Not what we were expecting at all! 

A few days relaxing at this tropical beach at the Caribbean Sea

A groove-billed Ani foraging in the Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary

Our first stop was in a small village in the Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary, a swampy area full of wildlife all around and on a small island. When entering the village we spotted a few rusty Land Rovers that were left by the British from the time Belize achieved its independence, and met a wonderful guy that talked with a lot of passion about the birds in the area. He was smiling a lot, uncovering teeth’s of gold, and told us our Defender was his dream car and hoped to restore one in the future. He pointed us to a campsite where we could spot many birds and we soon found ourselves in what appeared to be one of the best places in Belize for bird watching! We walked around in the village and met the friendly locals that were just as curious about us as we were about them. It was also the first time in months where we felt comfortable enough to walk the streets with our long prime lenses again, which felt really good.

It is too much to write about all our experiences and adventures of Belize here, but in the course of a week we visited the enormous national parks, where the jaguars still roam the thick and tropical jungles. We followed some dirt trails to the Caribbean Sea and spent a few days under the waving palm trees watching the stingrays swimming in the shallow, warm water just off the beach. Belize really surprised us in a positive way and we never felt a moment unsafe. Yes, we briefly drove into some coastal cities where we clearly felt it wasn’t a great place to be, and we didn’t wild camp as well, but if you avoid the night and don’t do stupid things then Belize is a fantastic country for wildlife & bird photography!

The Belizean jungle; a very wild place!

A fresh paw print of a jaguar

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The wild North of Guatemala & Tikal

The rain was pouring down when we crossed the border into Guatemala. It was also here where we experienced the infamous Central American bureaucracy. Belize was a breeze to exit, but Guatemala was a different story. To get our car’s TIP, we had to make a copy of the new Guatemalan stamp in our passport. Even though the guy from customs literally sat next to a copy machine, he didn’t want to do it. So we had to get out into the rain and copy our passports in between the bananas at a vegetable vendor on the opposite side of the street, who had bought a copy machine as a side hustle for people like us. We got the paper and only had to pay the temporary import, but this also couldn’t be done at customs. So we had to walk 1 km uphill to a local bank to get a cheque. But not before we found an ATM, because the bank only accepted Quetzals - the local currency - in cash. Of course. But these are only small things that just take a little time and when this was all sorted out it was time to explore Guatemala with the first stop being Tikal; one of the largest ancient Mayan cities.

Endless view over the jungle of Tikal

A curious coati

Tikal is one of those rare places where you feel like you’ve stepped a few thousand years back in time. We camped right next to the settlement, meaning we got to experience the place without the loads of visitors that arrive during the day. At times, toucans flew over our heads, agouti’s were munching on the grass and coati’s regularly invaded the place. Add to that the ancient settlement, howler and spider monkeys in the trees, and views of an endless jungle all around. A promising starts of our Guatemalan adventure! 

We continued our drive South towards the city of Antigua. We came across remote Mayan settlements where people only spoke one of the Mayan languages, crossed rivers on sketchy looking ferries, slept in the middle of the jungle and drove up into the mountains to experience the rainy cloud forests. Every day, we had new sightings of animals we hadn’t seen before. We got visits from the stunning and curious Trogon’s and Motmot’s, had howler monkeys howling during the night right next to our car and had regular visits of agouti’s and coati’s. Without a doubt, this area is one of our favorite places we have visited on this journey so far!  

Waking up by the sound of howler monkeys in the morning

Deep in the mountains of Guatemala; Semuc Champey

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Hiking up volcanoes in Southern Guatemala

We drove down from the cloud forests and with every kilometer saw the colors change from green to yellow, with the temperature slowly creeping up from 15 to 40 degrees. The beautiful rivers changed their colors from turquoise to grey, filled with garbage. It was clear we had left rural Guatemala and had arrived in the populated area, where the Mayan influences gave way to the Spanish. We crossed the busy Guatamala city and drove to Antigua, the starting city of a famous hike up the Acatenango volcano from where you have close views of the erupting Fuego volcano. Unfortunately for us, volcano Fuego had stopped erupting after a massive eruption two weeks earlier. Nevertheless, we decided to hike up the Acatenango volcano to experience the breathtaking views from 4km altitude. The hike itself was demanding, due to a continuous incline of 1200 m, but much easier than some people on the internet want you to believe, and within 4 hours we reached our base camp where we would spend the night. We woke up at 4 am to hike the final stretch to the top in the hope to get a glimpse of the sunrise. The wind was howling and as we weren’t adjusted to the altitude it took us almost 2 hours to cover 300 meters in height. We eventually reached the top to find ourselves in 8 Beaufort winds and freezing rain. We had dressed for the cold, with thermal layers and all, but this really was something else. We literally felt the warmth escape our bodies and within 10 minutes an icy layer had formed on our jackets and we had to go down because we couldn’t handle the cold anymore. Nevertheless, it was an amazing experience with some incredible views we wouldn’t want to have missed for the world! 

Impressive views from our base camp

A smoking volcano

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What's next?

We drive into El Salvador, a country with a deadly history of gang violence and only safe to visit since a few years. We also find out about some problematic rules that forces us to split ways; Pleun is flying to Costa Rica from San Salvador and Martin is going by road through Honduras & Nicaragua to meet Pleun in San José, Costa Rica. An adventure within an adventure! 

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Until the next!