These kids were gathering fire wood for the stove at home, work starts at an early age in Guatemala. They were stoked that we gave them some cookies.
This suspension bridge just outside of Panajachel, Guatemala was the temporary remedy from a land slide in june. Sweet crossing but looking down was chilling
The Boys 3 all got guitars and now we have a makshift band on the go, I am the weak link
Cycling back to Antigua looking at Fuego and Acatenango volcanoes wich we would climb again a few days later.
Having a one dollar breakfast in Guatemala
At Maya Pedal, this fair trade and fair commerce literature was in the kitchen. Awesome to see it.
anti coca cola
The main part of the shop at Maya Pedal. Bruce the Kiwi and jeff working some things out.
The idea machine for my bici liquadora, bike blenders!
So Maya Pedal gets donated bikes from the states and repairs them with volunteer staff and sells them very cheap for locals. This drives the real passion of making Bici Maquinas (bike machines) for local folks who are either forward thinking or have no electricity. Here are a blender, and two corn mills and shuckers.
Sonia was having fun in Maya Pedal setting up her bike so she can roll with us NOW WE ARE 5!
Craig on the roof of Maya Pedal about to do some pull ups
Jason Cool Breeze Volk scouring Maya Pedal for parts to build sonia´s ride. lots of work
The first time we have been FIVE
This mural on the facade of Maya Pedal is RAD!
The Cool Breeze showin off his hard work! Parts from 39 bikes!
Jeff AKA john travolta about to hit Mono Loco and pimp the Guate ladies
Working with the boys at Maya Pedal to deliver a corn miller in San Andres
Working out the kinks on the mill, the Maya Pedal volunteers in the back ground are Julian (austrian), Eric (a.k.a. mariposa from NYC), and Bruce (New Zeland)
That is a lot of corn bro!
Bruce rockin the mill!
I was at MP a few days to make a blender for my bike, ready for its first test
some fruit
ready to ride and blend
Ready to drink now
Showing some folks in Antigua, they clapped and cheered, it was awesome
They were reluctant to try it
It looks a little funny but we can make so much
This was our first salad dressing the boys were so pumped
Rigged a stand with bar stools and bamboo
We did an overnight climb on fuego, I just had to do it again and the volcano was going off in a major way. Early morning we climbed up the final approach to the crater where Bruce and Jason stayed back and I had to confront the beast. I found a rock to hide behind and being about 100 meters from the erruption point and waited for it to errupt. When it errupted rocks shot out as big as my head and made whizing sounds demonstrating their speed. At first I looked up to try and dodge the rocks but they soon became too numerous to follow and just got down behind my rock safe place covered my head and waited. A rock landed near my foot and was glowing lava and almost burned my skin! As soon as the rocks let up I ran down a rockslide so fast with my heart thumping and adrenaline going strong and said that I have confronted the volcano and am ok with it now. That is the best mountain experience EVER for me, and will be hard to beat!
It was blowing hard all day but this was when we were hiking out and blew BIG
Craig maxin
Falic?
lots of trash in Guate
Huge Cieba tree (mohogany)sp?
taking a boat to get through the mangroves in southern Guate.
Awesome bus in El Salvador
Who is this Cool Customer?
Super funny signs in this town
Beautiful color in the cemetaries in El Sal
Nearing full moon over a volcano in El Sal
This little house is made of cobb and plastic bottles it was so cool and the floor was all bottle caps, the old woman told me she made all of it, rare in a macho culture, she made a cobb oven too.
Craig en route to the BIZEACH!
This little boat carried all five of us across an estuary and saved a long climb and many hours in Southern El Salvador
re grouping after boat ride
Mobbin down the packed sand this was so rad.
Not just a full moon skinny dip but a solstice and full moon and night after an eclipse. we were on a great desolate beach here tannin my flourescent white ass. Shortly before the swim we noticed that endangered turtle eggs on the beach were being eaten by dogs! absolut travesty and we were heart broken
Another estuary we needed to cross. A man came up to us and told us we should not wade across because of the rays in the water. we told him we had no money, he said he did not ask for money but we should get in his boat. It was a short ride but a wild scene 5 bikes and 5 people in a canoe I thought we were going to flip
Whoa mama!
so, we were trying to get a boat from El Sal to Nicaragua and it was a huge undertaking if I had less spanish ability I do not think it would have worked. We had to coordinate with the captain and the immigration office, it took a long time and we decided to stock up for the ride with a case of Coronas and ice in Jasons pannier, he looks pleased, doesn{t he?
our boat to cross the Gulf of fonseca
direct sun is murder so we covered up!
Birds all over but you can not really see em in the photo
So we drank a case of beer... craig had stage fright
I almost fell in!
Immigration in Nicaragua, amazing.
We decided to camp on the pier of immigration. one of the best camp nights so far
at immigration
Sunset wow!
Camp at dawn
Sunrise over gulf of fonseca
Cristmas eve in Nicaragua, super nice people and not exactly metropolitan
dusty
Hot as hell down here for Chistmas
Craig said he was the happiest guy alive! over... and over... and....over again
Nicaragua traffic
Chokin a chicken
Dead venomous snake
good eats, enchilada
This will make you regular, for sure
Things from Nicaragua are called Nica, so Beer Nica
Yea just chillin shirtless, it is hot hot hot, a few hours later in a city called chinandega a traffic cop told me to wear a shirt and we sort of had a small altercation about it, he did not need to be so rude, besides it is f{n hot!
Supposed to meet peeps in a town, runnin late so I hopped a truck but they were going too slow so i got this express
Sonia rolling smooth
Jason setting up a joke nicely, so you can lead what to water?
Craig a.k.a. naked guy, eating food. a lot of food
Gotta mill that stuff
Naked baby checkin Jasons stickers
Jason the "Cool Breeze"
From Leon we rode to a volcano for an easy 3hr climb. Amazing sunset, we were hanging out with Rochelle an australian sheila down for some volcano exploration
Sunrise from what we thought was the summit
OOPS! that is the summit and the crater. Breathtaking!
Horses near the crater, just eatin grass
Rochelle had been collecting flowers along the trek and threw em in to the crater as an offering. We did not want to get too close loose rocks falling will seal the deal and you see your death coming for a long fall into lava.
Flowers into the abyss
dirty feet
Three of us summited so we should try again to get all of us up there.
Jeff and Rochelle with the crater, wow
This message about living life was on the weather station on the summit. My senitments exactly!
Omlettes a la Rochelle, with beer of course
