Thursday Ceibal, river trip, and road to Coban

January 14^th:  Thursday The Hursts and I went to breakfast at 7:00am.  The rest of our group either wanted to wash their hair or sleep-in.  We met our guide and boat captain at 8:00am and walked one block to the river.  We all climbed into the aluminum boat and we headed up the river.  It took just over an hour to reach the place on the river where you had to climb up the muddy river bank. 

The water was really calm as we headed up the river for our hour ride to Ceibal.

There was a haze over the jungle.

The jungle was very dense.

The morning mist didn't burn off until we were on our way back.

The hike up the bank was muddy and slippery.

 Video of the river.

The climb-hike up to the ruins was on a muddy, uphill trail through dense jungle.  All the rocks and steps, when there were steps, were covered in moss.  You had to be very careful.

Welcome to National Park Ceibal

The trail to the ruins was muddy and slippery.

Sometimes the trail was covered by trees that had fallen down.

You had to be careful there were many things to trip on.  I had sprained my ankle a few days before and it was still really tender.

The trail had steps in some spots, but they were covered in moss and very slippery.

It took us over an hour to hike into the ruins.

One of the many Ceiba trees we passed.

We made it and we were a little bit disappointed.  There was not a lot to see.  But we all decided that the adventure of the hike in was what was worth the time and effort.  We didn’t spend a lot of time looking around because we wanted to leave around 1:00pm and drive to Coban.  We had told the boatman that we wanted to be back to Sayaxche between 12:00/12:30. 

This site is famous for it's stelas.

 

 

 

They were good, but not as good as the ones in Quirigua.

This was one of the two buildings that had been restored.

The hike out was even slower than the hike in.  Going downhill proved to be more difficult.  We all made it and were settled in the boat and on our way back down the river.

The jungle was dense and we could hear howler monkeys most of the time.

Lots of interesting mushrooms.

More mushrooms.

After slowing down to take pictures of a crocodile, the motor on the boat started acting up.  We were still 45 minutes from Sayaxche.  Apparently the water pump on the outboard stopped working and the engine was overheating.  I had my phone, but it only had  a 2% charge.  We tried to call the owner of the boat, but he did not answer.  Dawn (Sister Hurst) pulled out a battery and a cord and I was able to charge my phone enough to make some more calls.  We had called the temple security the night before to let them know where we would be staying.  I had given them the number of the hotel.  I called them and got the number.  We called and our guide talked to the gal there and she went and found the owner of the boat and made arrangements for them to come and get us.  We still had to sit and wait for over an hour for them to arrive.  They finally arrived with a different motor and they swapped out motors.  We were finally on our way back only to run out of gas 300 yards from the shore.  Alejandro shook the gas can and the engine started back up and we made it.

Muddy shoes and muddy pants after our hike in the jungle.

The river was calm and you could see the reflection of the trees and the sky on the water.

I couldn't get over how beautiful the reflection was.

This guy was sun bathing.  No one swims in this river.

Changing out the motor.

When the motor was working it was smooth sailing.

The selfie I took and posted on Instagram.

We arrived about 2:30pm.  We knew it was about a 3 ½ hour drive to Coban.  We didn’t want to have to drive after dark.  The roads can be dangerous and the speed bumps are hard enough to see during the day.  We decided to try and make it to Coban.  We grabbed some fried chicken and tortillas and eat in the car on our way.  We arrived just as it was getting dark.  We had called ahead and found a room, but we couldn’t find the hotel.  We called them back and had a taxi driver talk to them and then we followed him to the hotel.  It was right by the market and bus station.  But it was ok and for $28.00 per room it seemed like a deal. 

Our room in Coban.

We got settled and went for a walk to find ice cream.  The market was alive and fun to walk through.  We had a number of tender mercies today and felt very blessed to be safe and sound in Coban.