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Apr

Wild Animal Encounters

Posted on April 17th, 2013 :: Posted in Animals, Belize, Central America, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, North America, USA

Spotting critters is a big goal and a definite highlight of our Trans-Americas Journey and we’ve had some amazing wild animal encounters as we’ve traveled through The Americas. Back in 2010 we put together a list of our top wild animal encounters to that point which included grizzlies in Alaska, scarlet macaws in Mexico and (almost wild) jaguars in Belize. On the eve of Earth Day we thought it was high time we updated that list to include the whale sharks, resplendent quetzal birds, hammerheads, turtles and so much more that we’ve seen since.

One of many red-eyed tree frogs that stared us down in Costa Rica.

See more of this adorable little guy and his other rainforest friends in our post from Rainforest Adventures in Costa Rica.

We were surrounded by hammerheads (and loved it) while scuba diving around Cocos Island in Costa Rica. Photo courtesy of the Undersea Hunter Group.

Hammerheads were just the beginning of our underwater wild animal encounters. Get the full sharky story in our Cocos Island post.

This male quetzal emerged from its nest inside a hollow tree trunk and posed for us on a nearby branch in the Chelemhá Cloud Forest Reserve in Guatemala.

Learn how you can visit this wonderful protected forest and lodge and bag your own quetzal sighting in our post from Chelemhá Cloud Forest Reserve in Guatemala.

Gentoo penguins proved they are even more adorable in person when we visited Antarctica.

We also sighted killer whales, chin strap penguins and crabeater seals in Antarctica. See them all in our photo-filled posts from Antarctica.

Swimming with Whale Sharks Isla Mujeres, Mexico

Small snorkeler with massive whale shark in the waters between Isla Mujeres and Isla Holbox off Cancun in Mexico where we also got in the water with these giants. Photo courtesy of Solo Buceo.

More whale shark details, including how to make sure sea sickness doesn’t ruin your encounter, are in our post about snorkeling with whale sharks near Cancun.

A herd of buffalo literally roamed through our campground in Badlands National Park.

Find out which campground and more in our Badlands National Park post.

We held life in the palms of our hands when we helped release baby olive ridley turtles near Barra de Santiago in El Salvador.

Watch these hatchlings scramble to the sea in our post from Barra de Santiago, El Slavador.

Black bear and cub Yellowstone National Park

A black bear and her cub explored downed trees in Yellowstone National Park.

See more bears and learn about the park’s wolf population too in our Yellowstone National Park post.

Hungry hummingbirds barely noticed we were there on a porch in Guatemala.

More amazing shots of these tiny stunners are in our photo essay of hummingbirds from Guatemala.

This young wolf seemed as curious about us as we were about it when our paths crossed on the Gunflint Trail in Minnesota.

See more in our Minnesota North Shore photo gallery. Read more in our Minnesota North Shore travel journals part 1 and part 2.

Harris Hawk Chucky - El Salvador Falconry

We had a wild animal encounter of a totally different kind when guide Roy Beers of Cadejo Adventures took us falconing with his Harris hawk, Chucky, in El Salvador.

Find out why hiking with a bird of prey is way cooler than normal hiking in our post about falconing in El Salvador.

A moose and her calf appeared around a bend during a hike in Grand Teton National Park.

See more in our Grand Teton National Park photo gallery.

We spent nearly an hour watching this female grizzly and her cub feast on blueberries in Denali National Park.

See more in our Denali National Park photo galleries – part 1, part 2, and part 3. Read more in our Denali National Park travel journals part 1, part 2 and part 3.

Muskox roamed the tundra on the North Slope in Alaska where we spotted them from a helicopter.

See more in our Deadhorse, Alaska photo gallery. Read more in our Deadhorse, Alaska travel journal.

This arctic fox already had its winter white coat on so it was easy to spot in the tundra of Alaska’s North Slope.

See more in our Dalton Highway photo gallery. Read more in our Dalton Highway travel journals part 1 and part 2.

Gray whales put on an impressive show for us in Baja.

We wandered among millions of migrating monarch butterflies near Valle de Bravo in Mexico.

See more from this epic annual migration in our monarch butterfly migration post.

Crocodiles of all sizes lazed near our boat as we traveled to La Tovara Springs in San Blas, Nayarit, Mexico.

See more in our San Blas, Mexico post.

Thousands of flamingos went about their strange pink business as we floated through the Rio Lagartos Biosphere Reserve in Mexico’s Yucatan State.

There are plenty more flamingo antics in our Rio Lagartos post.

We failed to find the whale sharks we were looking for during some scuba diving trips in Belize but a pod of bottlenose dolphins found us.

Learn more about our search for whale sharks in our post from Hopkins, Belize.

This spider monkey was just hanging out near Chan Chich Lodge in Gallon Jug, Belize.

See more in our post from Northern Belize.

A keel-billed toucan stayed put long enough for us to capture its impossibly long beak at La Milpa Field Station in Belize.

More toucans (and pygmy owls and laughing falcons and many other species) can be seen in our post about the birds of Belize.

Full disclosure: Tikatoo is not a wild jaguar but she is the closest we’ve come so far to seeing this elusive big cat in the jungle.

For more beauty shots of Tikatoo at her rescue home at Banana Bank Lodge check out our post from Belmopan, Belize.

A clan of howler monkeys befriended us while we camped at Las Guacamayas in Chiapas, Mexico.

Learn how you can have your own howler encounter in our full Las Guacamayas post.

Wild scarlet macaws gorged themselves in a tree above our tent at Las Guacamayas in Chiapas.

Want your own face time with macaws? Check out our full Las Guacamayas post.

Photo of the Day: Semana Santa – Antigua, Guatemala

Posted on April 7th, 2012 :: Posted in Central America, Festivals/Celebrations, Guatemala, Photo of the Day, UNESCO Site

We spent last Easter in Antigua, Guatemala (along with about 200,000 other people) in the middle of one of the largest and most extravagant Semana Santa (Holy Week) celebrations in The Americas.

From Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday the cobble stone streets and historic churches of this colonial gem of a town are taken over by dozens of processions take place during all hours of the day and night featuring enormous wooden floats carried by up to 100 people at a time. Toss in vibrant street carpets hand-crafted out of dyed sawdust and flower petals (which are then destroyed under the passing feet of float bearers), special holiday foods and lots and lots of incense and you’ve got yourself one heck of an Easter celebration.

Eric took hundreds of photos during Semana Santa and you can see some of the best of them, and learn more about Semana Santa customs and events, in the full series of Semana Santa posts which we put up on our blog.

This photo, however, captures the essence of Semana Santa as 80 costumed men delicately maneuver a 5,000 pound float over a meticulously created carpet on its way out of incense-filled San Felipe Church. As Easter approaches, we wanted to share it.

Border Crossing 101: El Florido, Guatemala to Honduras

Posted on March 20th, 2012 :: Posted in Border Crossing 101, Central America, Guatemala, Honduras

Crossing Latin American international borders is rarely easy or pleasant (why do they always smell like pee and desperation?). Things are even more complicated when you’re driving across in your own vehicle as part of an overland road trip. We hope the information, below, helps you get prepared and travel across smoothly with or without a vehicle.

Date: June 8, 2011

From: El Florido, Guatemala

To: Honduras

Lay of the land: This border crossing, referred to as El Florido on both sides and used primarily by big rigs and day-trippers visiting the Copan archaeological site, is dusty and quiet. No touts, no hassles, no services, banks or other facilities. The immigration office on the Guatemala side is well-marked and efficient. A brand new immigration and customs building has been put up on the Honduran side. A charming Honduran customs agent named Fabricio handled our truck importation with an absolute minimum of hassle. He barely inspected the vehicle at all but he was a bit of a Chatty Cathy which ate up some time. Before we drove away Fabricio gave us his cell phone number in case we had any questions or problems in his country and he tipped us off about a German man making excellent small batch beer in the town of Copan Ruinas just a few miles away.

Honduras Border Crossing - El Florido

Elapsed time: 1.5 hours (mostly spent talking to Fabricio)

Fees: $3 per person for a Honduran visa; $35 for temporary importation of the truck into Honduras

Number of days they gave us: 90 days for us and for our truck. See warning below regarding CA-4 regulations for overland travelers.

Vehicle insurance requirements: We were not required to show proof of Honduran liability insurance and there was no place to buy insurance.

Where to fill up: Fill your tank before you leave Guatemala. Fuel is much more expensive in Honduras. If you’re headed to the El Florido border from Chiquimula, Guatemala the best place to fill up is the Shell station about a mile and a half before you reach the turn for El Florido. There’s no fuel immediately available on either side of this crossing.

Duty free finds: None

Need to know: Police officers in Honduras are serious about seat belts and you are required to carry reflective emergency triangles and a fire extinguisher in your vehicle (as is the rule in most of Latin America). We were pulled over about three miles into Honduras by cops looking for our front plate (we only have a back plate because a front plate won’t fit underneath our winch). The cops were not hassling us at all nor were they looking for a bribe. Once we showed them the temporary importation papers we’d just been given they explained that all vehicles registered in Honduras are required to have front and back plates then sent us on our way.

CA-4 warning: In 2006, El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Honduras joined together to create the so-called CA-4 (Central American 4) group of countries all honoring and enforcing one CA-4 visa governed by rules spelled out in the CA-4 Border Control Agreement.

Tourists are allowed to spend up to 90 days in total in any combination of the four participating countries and the clock starts ticking on your CA-4 visa the moment you step foot in any of the CA-4 countries.To complicate things further, in 2009 Honduras stopped honoring CA-4 regulations and started issuing its own 90 day visa. This means that you can spend 90 days in the other three CA-4 countries then enter Honduras and receive a new 90 day visa for that country.

But be warned: Honduras is completely surrounded by other CA-4 countries and, unless you fly, the only way out is overland. This requires entering one of the other CA-4 country which still abides by the 90 day limit starting when you first entered Central America. If you’ve used the 90 days Honduras give you, you will not be allowed to enter another CA-4 country overland.

We learned this the hard way after we spent almost three months in Guatemala, entered Honduras and got another 90 day visa and then tried to enter El Salvador which denied us entry because we’d (unwittingly) overstayed our allotted 90 days in the region as defined by the CA-4 regulations.

Overall border rating: Excellent. The El Florido crossing between Guatemala and Honduras was smoothly run, hassle-free and relatively quiet despite the presence of quite a few big rigs.