The border

 Taking a break from Kilimanjaro I thought I would talk about other things I've done.  Instead of awesome adventures, I'd rather talk about screw ups, or near screw ups.  This would be a situation that I probably was in over my head.  Ended up ok, but probably dumb luck. New Years Eve 2022 Will and I flew to Belize.  Why Belize? It was a tropical escape in winter.  Instead of an island, this allowed us to have a beach escape along with mainland adventures.  One of which was Tikal.  Tikal was over the border in Guatemala. It is a huge ancient Mayan city in the jungle.  One of my prized books is a Lonely Planet list of the 500 best places to visit in the world.  So it seemed natural to add on to the Belize trip.

Quick background which is probably relevant.  South of the US border, the American mainland was divided between Portugal and Spain.  There are a few exceptions- 3 small countries in northeast South America, and Belize.  Belize wasn't really claimed by the British.  Like the British always seem to have done, they showed up.  It wasn't claimed as a colony. It wasn't considered particularly valuable land, so besides some half hearted efforts they weren't removed from the Spanish land. Eventually it did become a colony.  However, when Guatemala became liberated they never recognized the British claim.  To this day Guatemala considers Belize to be part of Guatemala.

To get to Tikal, we had two choices.  Perhaps the smarter way would be to join an organized tour and take a motorcoach in style.  Let someone else deal with the details.  Obviously this was not my choice.  Instead we would drive a rental car across a contested border into a nation I did not know the language.  

To be fair- I had my reasons.  First- we'd be able to spend the night.  This would giv, it didn't feel righte us more time.  We'd also be able to control what we did, and at our pace. And it would help us gain a better understanding of the country.  I've never done a bus tour- but it just seems like you don't really leave your bubble.

We weren't obviously the first tourists to do this.  First we had to pick a company that allowed this and have them prepare the paperwork needed. First we handled the Belize side.  Stop at 2 booths, pay the fee, stamp our passport and get into the car.  We had to get it sprayed and head into Guatemala.

Once in Guatemala we were adopted by a local who spoke English.  We changed money with us then walked us through the process.  I had read up on things, but no amount of reading really prepares you for the powerless feeling I had going through this. The border officials did not speak English and were not particularly interested in helping us.  We were at the mercy of our new friend.  He walked us through the lines and people to see and translated for us.  So far so good.  Then we needed to pay.  Here's where my suspicions went into overdrive.  He walked us outside and into a hut.  This was absolutely not an official building.  They seemed to be a small kitchen serving food.  I gave them the money I was told to, and given a receipt.  Although I had zero trust in the process- what was I going to do? Say no? Then what?  I would have to crash and burn I guess and start the process anew a little wiser.  I got the receipt and told to drive towards the heavily armed soldiers with the papers.  Again what choice did I have.  I tipped our guide and hoped for the best.  Surprisingly it worked.

Tikal was great.  We had a hotel on site.  The park is really in the jungle- not much around.  It was an excellent experience.  We did do a tour.  Our guide was fascinating.  I think in days past he was an active archeologist.  I think he had been on the wrong side of some revolutionary times.  Wasn't sure it was polite to ask too much.  He definitely had some ideas of how thing could be done better, but also the resignation of one who knows his opinion- even though he is better informed- isn't going to be listened to.  Anyway we saw some ruins, some monkeys, some coatis.  We had limited electricity and wifi.  We learned, and were on our way back the next day.  Heading back to Belize was simpler, but they wanted to look at our luggage.  Normally not a problem, but my suitcase self destructed during the process.  Ended up having to buy tape in Belize and wrapping it in tape.  Somehow it survived the flight home.  Next time I think I will avoid the disputed land border crossings in a rental car if I don't know the language, but we survived with a story to tell.