Day 5: Catemaco to Calderitas, Mexico

The lakeside streets of Catamaco at sunrise

We wake at 6:30. After bidding Juan Carlos farewell we head for Palenque, winding up through the mountains, leaving Catamaco below. Eventually the road opens up and we start making great time. These roads are the best yet. We arrive at the turnoff for Palenque in the early afternoon- the ruins only twenty minutes south. We pull over to discuss our options. I was planning on staying the night at the Maya Bell, but we've arrived here much faster than I anticipated. My maps did not prepare me for the improved roads we've been enjoying. If these roads hold out, we can make the Belizean border by sundown. After several minutes of deliberation we decide to bypass the ruins and make a run for it.

Immediately we make a wrong turn into Azatlan, run an Alto (stop) sign, and go the wrong way down a one-way street. A police officer on foot stops us immediately. Chaos ensues. Eventually we get the idea and turn around. The cop was a kind- he could have really stuck it to us.

We are stopped three times today for inspection. During the first stop, an agent with a pistol searches intently all around the truck. Inside he combs through the debris in the floorboards looking for seeds, outside he bangs on the body panels looking for hidden stashes. He is friendly but all business. The last inspections are more serious. The people are still just as friendly as can be, but they have bigger guns, there are more of them, and they search more intently. Fortunately our Spanish is getting much better. We are encouraged by the ease with which we now communicate.

Pedro seems to be getting tired but is doing well. The rack and cap are holding up well under the constant pounding, but the rear suspension seems to be sagging, for the rear tires sometimes hit the body when we climb off the back side of the larger speed bumps. Also, there is a clanking noise in the left rear wheel (I think it's inside the brake drum) that seems to be getting louder. I'm not sure about that, though- it might just be that I hear it more because of the bad roads.

We get ripped off twice at gas stations today. Once is when we get short-changed, the second time is when I'm lied to about the quantity of gasoline pumped into our truck. This at a Pemex station just as we enter the Yucatan. The Mayan-looking attendant turns off the pump and sets back the dial before I can read it and asks for N$120. That's 60 liters, and my tank (I later verify) only holds at the very most 40 liters. This won't happen again. I practice yelling in Spanish.

The roads are alternately 120kph and 60kph, with huge car-sized ruts and tire-sized potholes. Topes continue to take their toll. Sean crests a hill and hits an unmarked one at 40+ kph that sends us airborne. Poor Pedro.

We make great time driving straight-as-an-arrow lengths of 186 through the states of Campeche and Quintana Roo. We stop once in the middle of the deserted road so I can take a picture (photo left). While stretching my legs, I discover that one of the water containers sprung a leak and emptied itself as we drove. Now we're down to two and a half containers of purified water. Two days ago we had five. We aren't going to make it.

We enter the small city of Chetumal at sundown. Studying our ever-helpful Sanborn's guide, we choose a promising trailer park in Calderitas, a town just North of Chetumal. The sky is black by the time we find Calderitas. Eventually we find the park and are delighted when we park the tired truck with its back end practically hanging over the Caribbean ocean. Many pictures will be taken of this place tomorrow. The cool wind is blowing hard enough that we will leave the hatch open all night and not need to worry about mosquitoes.

Again, I am running out of ways to express the beauty and magic of this country. Sean and I agree that no words will make people understand what it is like to be making this journey.

Tomorrow we enter Belize.

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