1
Dec

Tikal Basecamp #1 – El Remate, Guatemala

Posted on December 1st, 2011 :: Posted in 2012 calendar, Archaeology Site, Boutique Hotel, Central America, Guatemala, Horseback Riding, Lake, Mayan, Ruins

If you want to visit Tikal National Park and archaeological site (and you do) there are two basecamp options for travelers: Flores or El Remate. We spent time in both towns. We’ll tell you all about Flores in our next post. For now, we’re focusing on El Remate on Lake Peten Itza which we believe is emerging as the better of the two options.

Sunset over Lake Peten Itza as seen from El Remate, Guatemala.

El Remate is a chill, lakeside village near the Biotopo Cerro Cauhi which has a growing list of budget and mid-range accommodations and a few solid economical eating options. El Remate is also closer to Tikal than Flores is, making your trip to the dramatic remains of this Mayan city shorter and cheaper. It has the look and feel of what Panajachel on Lake Atitlan might have been like 30 years ago.

Sleeping in El Remate

El Remate has a small selection of the usual passably clean hostels and dumpy guest houses. But if you have few more quetzales to rub together El Remate also offers some real values for money, all on the north side of the lake.

Looking down at Lake Peten Itza while horseback riding in the hills above El Remate, Guatemala.

Mon Ami had nice-looking stand alone bungalows in a quiet back garden for around US$20, but we didn’t stay there because we were being hosted at Posada del Cerro (300Q doubles, or about US$36, including breakfast featuring homemade bread) which turned out to be as interesting and worthy as we hoped it would.

Owned by a German biologist and community organizer named George and his Brazilian wife Raimunda, Posada del Cerro opened in 2008 right next to the entrance to Biotopo Cerro Cauhi. The Posada has seven rooms and bungalows, two charming apartments with kitchenettes and one guesthouse with seven beds. Each one of them contains no less than five different types of local woods, some of them costing more than $25 per foot on the open market. These gorgeous woods (yellow, toffee, dark chocolate) were used in building construction and in the clean, crisp furniture–much of it designed and created by George.

Our room at the charmingly hand-crafted Posada del Cerro boutique guesthouse in El Remate, Guatemala.

Rooms are minimal, homey and stylish–like an IKEA catalog (utilitarian design, primary colors) in the jungle and the place reminded us a bit of a budget version of Verana boutique hotel in Mexico. Excellent home cooked meals are available (often eaten with George and his family) and there’s WiFi throughout and good views of the lake from some rooms. Check the mattresses before settling on a room, however. They’re all new and clean but some are very, very hard.

A romantic open-air loft room at Posada del Cerro boutique guesthouse in El Remate, Guatemala.

Right across the road there’s even a lovely dock jutting into the blue/green water of the surprisingly long and clear Lake Peten Itza, perfect for a cooling swim.

Karen starting the day off right at Palomino Ranch Hotel with two of her favorite things: coffee and a horse.

A slightly splurgier accommodation option in El Remate is Palomino Ranch Hotel (400Q doubles, or about US$50). The place has a dude-ranch-meets-hacienda vibe and a swimming pool with a horsehead tiled into the bottom. There’s also a stable full of real horses–appaloosas, quarter horses, palominos and even a cremello stallion–a horse that’s pure white with blue eyes and whose genes guarantee to produce a palomino (beige coat with white mane and tail) foal when bred with a chestnut mare. It’s genetic magic.

Palomino Ranch owner Arturo Iriarte has been passionate about horses since he worked on his dad’s ranch as a child. Looking at him at the ranch you’d never guess he owns an advertising business in Guatemala City. Arturo’s well-trained horses (overseen by maestro de caballos Jose) were a pleasure to ride.

Maestro de caballos Jose with the distinctive cremello stallion at Palomino Ranch Hotel in El Remate, Guatemala.

Us riding around Lake Peten Itza with gorgeous horses from Palomino Ranch Hotel in El Remate, Guatemala.

Arturo also owns a chunk of land near his hotel that’s dotted with unearthed Mayan ruins and abuts the neighboring Biotopo Cerro Cauhi which means he has fantastic, essentially private trails as well. Riding through these steep, jungly hills (150 Q or US$20 for three hours) we got great views out over Lake Peten Itza and ample opportunities to dismount and wander through areas full of the remains of small Mayan settlements, mostly untouched by archaeologists and unvisited by tourists.

Owner Arturo Iriarte showing off the jumping skills of one of his horses at Palomino Ranch Hotel in El Remate, Guatemala.

Palomino Ranch Hotel owner Arturo Iriarte in the saddle.

The next day we took the horses along the shores of nearby Lake Salpetén then looped back to the Ixlu archaeological site. The remains of this Mayan civilization have been excavated (and are probably being meticulously raked and swept by the devoted care taker even as we speak). Riding around and amongst the hulking structures added a fresh layer of adventure to the site. There’s just something cool about signing the visitor book at an archaeological site from horseback.

Jose, Palomino Ranch Hotel's maestro de caballos, takes a break.

Eating in El Remate

Mon Ami, which had the bungalows in the garden which we mentioned before, is also known for it’s food which was much better than average and very reasonably priced. One warning: Don’t get hoodwinked by their less-than-clear sign about internet charges. The 10Q (about US$1.25) amount posted is PER HOUR even though that’s not mentioned on the sign…

Two places that caught our eye but we never got the chance to try are Sugar Sap, an open-air cafe with homemade desserts and what looked (and smelled) like real coffee (located near Mon Ami) and Las Orquídeas (also near Mon Ami) where people swear by the pizza.

The crystal clear waters of Lake Peten Itza at El Remate in Guatemala.

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10
Aug

Tiny Town – Belmopan, Belize

Posted on August 10th, 2011 :: Posted in Belize, Horseback Riding, National Park

With a population of around 20,000, Belmopan is one of the smallest national capital cities in the world. Its name is a mash up of “Belize” and Mopan (the name of the area’s main river) and it’s home to Guanacaste National Park, the nation’s first and smallest national park at just 250,000 square yards. A trail winding through the park’s patch of jungle can be walked in less than 20 minutes.

You can extend your visa in Belmopan and get a delicious and affordable typical meal at Caladium Restaurant which is a great place to see the amazing cultural diversity in Belize come together as Mennonites, Garufinas, Ladinos and expats from all walks of life come together for a meal. You can also get a good cup of coffee and some world class wings (and other international foods you might be craving) at Perk Up Coffee and Wine Bar, along with the requisite java house Wi-Fi.

Karen in her favorite place in the world (on a horse) during a ride at Banana Bank Lodge in Belize.

We passed through Belmopan in order to get to nearby Banana Bank Lodge & Jungle Equestrian Adventure, the country’s first and largest horseback riding operation with nearly 100 horses (all bred and trained on the property) and more than 4,000 acres of land including jungle, stretches of river, cultivated fields and large stands of teak.

Banana Bank, which can be booked through Hidden Trails, was created by artist Carolyn Carr and her husband, rancher John Carr who pioneered cattle ranching in Belize after setting on the land here decades ago.

Anything that has the words “equestrian adventure” right in the name is a magnet for Karen so we headed there to do some riding. With so many horses it’s easy for John and his local wranglers to match the right horse to the right rider. Our horses were well-behaved and responsive and we had a lot of fun on them through varied terrain where we were able to spot toucans, howler monkeys and a big scary-looking snake.

This year Banana Bank began offering a brand new ride called Surf & Turf (US$310). Partnering with Tropic Airlines, this day-long, one-of-a-kind ride starts with a 30 minute flight along the coast from the island of Ambergris Caye to Belmopan (that’s the surf part). Once on the tarmac, guests are picked up on horseback (the turf part). All saddled up, the ride tours through Belmopan then along the banks of the Mopan river. A picnic lunch, swim in the river and return ride to the airport round out the day before the coastal flight back to Ambergris Caye.

The art and ag influences at Banana Bank converge to create an eclectic lodge with a very wide range of accommodation options from two bedroom thatch-roof cabanas to private rooms to a large dorm. All of the wood in the construction was harvested off the property and Carolyn’s art is sprinkled throughout. There’s also a large pool that was designed in the shape of the Golden Mean (also called the Golden Ratio or the Golden Spiral, an equation that helps explain natural shapes and beauty.

However, horses aren’t the only animals at Banana Bank.

Primate meets primate: Eric with one of the spider monkeys at Banana Bank Lodge.

Carolyn and John have amassed a mini-menagerie on the grounds of the lodge including two spider monkeys (one friendly, one not so much) and an enormous aviary which houses dozens of exotic birds including macaws, parrots and a cranky little aracai (a sort of mini toucan).

Feathers. Art you can fly with.

Ever seen inside an aracari's bill/mouth? Now you have.

Then there’s the jaguar. Tikatoo came to Banana Bank as a cub after the owners got a call from a local forestry official who said the cub had been found abandoned in the jungle. He’d heard that Banana Bank had a jaguar enclosure (it was built to house a previously rescued jaguar named Tika who had recently died). After some repairs and upgrades to the enclosure, Banana Bank gave the orphaned jaguar a home.

Tikatoo is all grown up now and she’s quite a charmer. It took about 30 seconds for Eric to fall in love and the following pictures are a mere fraction of the number of shots he took of her during our stay.

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28
Mar

Big Tree, Big Festival, Big Ride – Tlacoluca Valley, Oaxaca State, Mexico

Posted on March 28th, 2011 :: Posted in Festivals/Celebrations, Horseback Riding, Mexico, Parade, Town, video

The Titanic Tule Tree

About five miles outside the city of Oaxaca is the tiny town of Tule–home to one humongous tree. The Tule Tree is nearly 120 feet in circumference (including its many buttresses), somewhere between 119 and 141 feet tall (depending on whose measurements you believe) and is said to be the “stoutest” tree in the world.

The Tule Tree is so massive that it was originally believed to be multiple trees but DNA testing (they do that on trees?) proved it to be a single tree that’s been slowly growing for between 1,200 and 3,000 years (its exact age has proved elusive).

In 2001 the Tule Tree was submitted for consideration as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. So far, nothing. But never mind. The Tule Tree gets plenty of love from the locals who festoon it with Christmas tree decorations, stuffed animals, clothes, you name it.

From a distance the massive Tule Tree looks like a mini forest.

You pass the town of Tule on your way from Oaxaca city to the Mitla and Yagul archaeological sites and it makes a pleasant break. We can recommend Restaurante Tule for lunch. The name is not very imaginative, but the beer is cold and the food is good.

Yes, that's ONE tree. Note the tiny people on the right for scale

Tlacolula Festivities

Our time in Oaxaca coincided with the annual Feast of the Christ of Tlacolula in the town of Tlacolula for which the valley is named (or vice versa, we’re not sure). The festival (like most in Mexico) is a multi-day affair and we caught the Candelaria parade through town featuring what seemed like the entire town dressed up as one religious icon or another. The paraders ambled from church to church, stopping at each to perform a brief devotion. It was like a beer and tequila fueled connect-the-dots of the towns most sacred places.

A big-head paper mache figure in the Candelaria parade celebrating the Feast of Christ of Tlacolula.

Women parading with floral arrangements on their heads which spell out the town name as part of the Feast of Christ of Tlacolula.

Check out our video, below, and see the paper mache and floral costumes and processions of the Candelaria in Tlacoula in action.

Rancho Pitaya Horseback Riding

Maybe the greatest way to appreciate the beauty of the Tlacolula Valley is on horseback and we know just the people to make it happen. Mary Jane Gagnier used to run Casa Sagrada, a well-known guesthouse and horse ranch in Teotitlán del Valle. For reasons that are neither here nor there, she is no longer associated with Casa Sagrada. But that’s good news because she, along with her partner Bobby Ortiz, has taken the opportunity to create a new and improved riding operation and guest house just a few miles away.

Meandering through the column cactus and the picturesque hillsides of the Tlacoluca Valley during a day of horseback riding with Mary Jane Gagnier and Bobby Ortiz of Rancho Pitaya near Oaxaca city.

It’s called Rancho Pitaya and it’s got three rooms in a traditionally constructed adobe lodge, each with a huge private patio with views of the valley plus hand painted tiles and convenient kitchenettes. Rancho Pitaya also has an open air gourmet kitchen with a chef on hand. This is good because you’ll be working up an appetite out there on the trail.

Both Mary Jane and Bobby are accomplished horsemen and both excel at competitive endurance racing (basically an overland marathon for horse and human). Do not miss a chance to get Bobby talking about his days as a jockey (if he doesn’t bring it up, prod him for the “monkey” story). And don’t say no to one of Mary Jane’s margaritas. Mary Jane is also a published author on Oaxacan culture including the food and the rug weaving which the valley is famous for.

Meandering through the column cactus and the picturesque hillsides of the Tlacoluca Valley during a day of horseback riding with Mary Jane Geiger and Bobby Ortiz of Rancho Pitaya near Oaxaca city.

Mary Jane and Bobby (along with chief handler Gregorio Morales) have carefully built a stable of more than 10 horses that are fit and extremely well-trained but not lobotomized. During our all-too-brief outing Karen rode WMA Zebulon (aka Zeb) and Eric rode Chocolate (a sweet, sweet stallion) and they proved strong, agile and responsive on trails that wound through stands of column cactus,around and over green hillsides and through still, dry canyons. Just a joy to ride–especially in the super-light, super-flexible synthetic endurance saddles Mary Jane and Bobby use and especially in this gorgeous valley.

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