2007 Trek: Mexico & Central America.

Next Tuesday, February 6th, I'll be on a plane to Cancún, Quintana Roo, Mexico; I'll first be staying at the Oasis Viva Cancún "All Inclusive" resort, for a little R&R, before taking a twenty-one day trek throughout the Yucatán peninsula. The five days prior to the excursion will be primarily spent in the "Hotel Zone" of Cancún, where I'll be par-taying like a rockstar. The trek, however, is really the highlight of the trip.

Sponsored by a company called Trek America, the twenty-one day trek, titled "Mayan Explorer"--will feature various stops in Mexico and Guatemala, and brief stops in Belize and Honduras. No, I'm not doing this in order to find the spirit of Mel Gibson (cf., Apocalypto); I am doing this, however, because I feel it will be a unique opportunity to directly witness the remains of a highly influential civilization, long extinct, to meet and learn from the current, local inhabitants and to learn about a geography I'm not as informed about as I'd like to be. The trek will also serve to essentially cut me off from the world as I know it--something I've had the desire to do for some time now.

Fortunately, Trek America strongly follows the Leave No Trace principles of outdoor ethics, so the bulk of the night stops will be camping at state and national parks, as opposed to staying in hotels. We will also be dealing directly with local inhabitants and/or local businesses to ensure we give something back to the culture and region we are visiting. The idea, then, is to preserve both the environment and the local economy of a particular region.

The trek itinerary (night stops) is as follows:

1. Mérida
2. Palenque
3. Palenque
4. San Cristóbal de las Casas
5. San Cristóbal de las Casas
6. Huehuetenango
   
7. Panajachel
8. Panajachel
9. Antigua
   
10. Antigua
11. Antigua
12. Copán, Honduras
13. Río Dulce
14. Poptún
15. Poptún
16. Tikal
17. Tikal
18. Caye Caulker
    
19. Caye Caulker
20. Tulum
    
21. Cancún

I fully intend to amend and revise this blog post with a detailed log of my trip, along with pictures, upon my return.

And here are the pics (with descriptions and captions!):

Tulum & Playa del Carmen, Mexico

Caye Caulker, Belize

Tikal, Guatemala

Rio Dulce & Poptún, Guatemala

Copán, Honduras

Antigua, Guatemala

Panajachel, Guatemala

Cascades El Chiflón, Mexico

San Cristóbal de las Casas, Mexico

Palenque, Misol-Há & Agua Azul, Mexico

Chichen Itza & Mérida, Mexico

Cancún, Mexico