I went on a CTC tour to Central America in February. It was my first tour and I really enjoyed it. Peter and Linda Cox were fantastic tour leaders and the group I was with were with were great company. I was the youngest by several years (about 19 in fact). It was a supported tour so we had a local guide with a van who carried the luggage and stopped at certain points to do a head count and top up our water bottles.
Day 1 - Travelling
London Heathrow - Miami.
Flight was delayed member of the cabin crew injured themselves whilst preparing for take-off. Had to wait for a replacement.
Day 2 - Travelling
Miami – Belize
All bags and bikes arrived safely. We were met at the airport by staff from the Black Orchid Resort where we were staying at Burrell Boom.
Day was spent putting bikes together and getting to know one another. All but one bike survived. The gear hanger was bent. One of the staff members managed to carefully straighten the hanger using a vice.
Day 3 - Burrell Boom, Belize (20 miles)
Ride to the Community Baboon Sanctuary and back. They were actually Black Howler Monkeys but the locals called them baboons http://www.howlermonkeys.org/
We were all woken up about 5am by them and had no idea what was making the noise. I thought it was some kind of wild pig to begin with. I’ve found a clip on youtube of the noise they make;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SV22Ua3zwN4
Day 4 – Burrell Boom – Gales Point, Belize ( 50 miles)
We stopped off at Belize Zoo on the way to Gales Point. The zoo was very interesting and the staff were very informative. I held a snake.
http://www.belizezoo.org/
The roads were terrible, and the weather was boiling hot, one of the hottest days we had so it was really hard going. It was basically all stones, dirt and sand. The roads were used by big lorries which kicked up a load of dust when they passed. This made it hard to see and the dust often got in your eyes.
I also had a puncture. We stopped to eat some of the oranges we had collected (the roads were so bumpy that they fell off the back of the orange trucks. We found loads and they were much nicer than shop bought oranges). There was a big bang and then a hiss of escaping air. Queue people all going “oooooooo” and inspecting their bikes. I was the unlucky one. I think a combination of the heat and perhaps too much pressure in the tyre caused the tube to fail.
Gales Point looked very poor - lots of shanty looking properties with burnt out cars and rubbish on the road leading up to the lodge we were staying at. People were all friendly and the food was nice. We only spent one night at the lodge and left first thing in the morning so never really had a chance to form a more favourable opinion of the place as it was getting dark by the time we arrived and we were all tired and hungry with sore bums and had no hot water or lights in our room as they were broken.
Day 5 – Gales Point – Hopkins Village (35 miles)
More of the same roads. Arrived at Hopkins Village around 3pm. The resort was a stone’s throw away from the beach and was lovely.
Day 6 – Hopkins Village
Rest day. Went on a boat trip to South Water Caye and did a spot of snorkelling. Successfully burnt my bum.
Day 7 – Hopkins – St Margaret’s, Hummingbird Highway (45 miles)
Stayed at a nice little place called Yamwits Lodge. Got excited at the sight of tarmac. The Hummingbird Highway was okay, traffic fairly light.
Day 8 – St Margaret’s – Cristo Rey (45 miles)
Combination of tarmac and the usual “off road”. Quite a nice cycle ride, the terrain getting a bit hillier.
In the morning we stopped off at St Herman’s cave (http://www.showcaves.com/english/bz/caves/StHermans.html) which was amazing. I couldn’t see much as my torch was damaged on the flight over, so I had to stay close to the person in front and hope I didn’t fall over.
Day 9 – Cristo Rey (33 miles)
Rest day. I decided to cycle to the Mountain Pine Ridge to see the 1,000ft falls. I couldn’t find the falls anywhere despite the signposts so I headed back. Usual bad roads and my water bottle fell off due to the vibrations so naturally I cycled over it and lost the last of my water.
Some of the group went to San Ignacio to watch the start of a local bicycle race. Some of the others actually found a local all day football tournament to watch in the village.
Day 10 – Cristo Rey
Rest Day. Went canoeing and to the Rainforest Medicine Trail. The canoeing was fun but I confess I found the Medicine Trail a bit boring (http://www.chaacreek.com/tours-activities/onsite/medicine/) . The guide wasn’t as engaging as the one at the Baboon sanctuary. Some of the group actually wandered off and stayed by the pool it was that much fun.
Day 11 – Cristo Rey – Yaxha, Guatemala (40 miles).
Guatemala actually had a fantastic tarmac road so naturally we all got excited when we saw it. It was under construction still in parts so we still had bad bits but it wasn’t too bad.
The border crossing from Belize into Guatemala was a faff, and didn’t seem to be too hot on security. I don’t know whether it was because we were a large group and our guide sorted everything out for us but no bags were checked or anything. It cost $37.50 to cross.
Guatemala was a lot cooler and far hillier. Some of the group were chased by dogs. I got snotted on by a calf that veered off towards us when some cowboys were herding cattle down the road. Small children shouted gringo at us a lot.
We stayed at an ecological lodge. It was very basic but different in a nice way. It was in the jungle and we were terrorised by small insects and kept awake by the Howler Monkeys again. They only had electric 3 hrs in the evening and only had cold water. We had to use candles at night which was a novelty. I was disappointed that they had a toilet that flushed; I expected one of the toilets that you wee in and the chuck a cup of sawdust in.
Day 1 - Travelling
London Heathrow - Miami.
Flight was delayed member of the cabin crew injured themselves whilst preparing for take-off. Had to wait for a replacement.
Day 2 - Travelling
Miami – Belize
All bags and bikes arrived safely. We were met at the airport by staff from the Black Orchid Resort where we were staying at Burrell Boom.
Day was spent putting bikes together and getting to know one another. All but one bike survived. The gear hanger was bent. One of the staff members managed to carefully straighten the hanger using a vice.
Day 3 - Burrell Boom, Belize (20 miles)
Ride to the Community Baboon Sanctuary and back. They were actually Black Howler Monkeys but the locals called them baboons http://www.howlermonkeys.org/
We were all woken up about 5am by them and had no idea what was making the noise. I thought it was some kind of wild pig to begin with. I’ve found a clip on youtube of the noise they make;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SV22Ua3zwN4
Day 4 – Burrell Boom – Gales Point, Belize ( 50 miles)
We stopped off at Belize Zoo on the way to Gales Point. The zoo was very interesting and the staff were very informative. I held a snake.
http://www.belizezoo.org/
The roads were terrible, and the weather was boiling hot, one of the hottest days we had so it was really hard going. It was basically all stones, dirt and sand. The roads were used by big lorries which kicked up a load of dust when they passed. This made it hard to see and the dust often got in your eyes.
I also had a puncture. We stopped to eat some of the oranges we had collected (the roads were so bumpy that they fell off the back of the orange trucks. We found loads and they were much nicer than shop bought oranges). There was a big bang and then a hiss of escaping air. Queue people all going “oooooooo” and inspecting their bikes. I was the unlucky one. I think a combination of the heat and perhaps too much pressure in the tyre caused the tube to fail.
Gales Point looked very poor - lots of shanty looking properties with burnt out cars and rubbish on the road leading up to the lodge we were staying at. People were all friendly and the food was nice. We only spent one night at the lodge and left first thing in the morning so never really had a chance to form a more favourable opinion of the place as it was getting dark by the time we arrived and we were all tired and hungry with sore bums and had no hot water or lights in our room as they were broken.
Day 5 – Gales Point – Hopkins Village (35 miles)
More of the same roads. Arrived at Hopkins Village around 3pm. The resort was a stone’s throw away from the beach and was lovely.
Day 6 – Hopkins Village
Rest day. Went on a boat trip to South Water Caye and did a spot of snorkelling. Successfully burnt my bum.
Day 7 – Hopkins – St Margaret’s, Hummingbird Highway (45 miles)
Stayed at a nice little place called Yamwits Lodge. Got excited at the sight of tarmac. The Hummingbird Highway was okay, traffic fairly light.
Day 8 – St Margaret’s – Cristo Rey (45 miles)
Combination of tarmac and the usual “off road”. Quite a nice cycle ride, the terrain getting a bit hillier.
In the morning we stopped off at St Herman’s cave (http://www.showcaves.com/english/bz/caves/StHermans.html) which was amazing. I couldn’t see much as my torch was damaged on the flight over, so I had to stay close to the person in front and hope I didn’t fall over.
Day 9 – Cristo Rey (33 miles)
Rest day. I decided to cycle to the Mountain Pine Ridge to see the 1,000ft falls. I couldn’t find the falls anywhere despite the signposts so I headed back. Usual bad roads and my water bottle fell off due to the vibrations so naturally I cycled over it and lost the last of my water.
Some of the group went to San Ignacio to watch the start of a local bicycle race. Some of the others actually found a local all day football tournament to watch in the village.
Day 10 – Cristo Rey
Rest Day. Went canoeing and to the Rainforest Medicine Trail. The canoeing was fun but I confess I found the Medicine Trail a bit boring (http://www.chaacreek.com/tours-activities/onsite/medicine/) . The guide wasn’t as engaging as the one at the Baboon sanctuary. Some of the group actually wandered off and stayed by the pool it was that much fun.
Day 11 – Cristo Rey – Yaxha, Guatemala (40 miles).
Guatemala actually had a fantastic tarmac road so naturally we all got excited when we saw it. It was under construction still in parts so we still had bad bits but it wasn’t too bad.
The border crossing from Belize into Guatemala was a faff, and didn’t seem to be too hot on security. I don’t know whether it was because we were a large group and our guide sorted everything out for us but no bags were checked or anything. It cost $37.50 to cross.
Guatemala was a lot cooler and far hillier. Some of the group were chased by dogs. I got snotted on by a calf that veered off towards us when some cowboys were herding cattle down the road. Small children shouted gringo at us a lot.
We stayed at an ecological lodge. It was very basic but different in a nice way. It was in the jungle and we were terrorised by small insects and kept awake by the Howler Monkeys again. They only had electric 3 hrs in the evening and only had cold water. We had to use candles at night which was a novelty. I was disappointed that they had a toilet that flushed; I expected one of the toilets that you wee in and the chuck a cup of sawdust in.
