Unpacking the Green Tortoise at Our First Night's Camp
Introduction
This is my journal from a January 1998 overland trip from Guatemala through southern Mexico on a hippie bus with the legendary Green Tortoise. I was 22 years old and traveling solo for the first time in Central America.
We covered roughly 1,500 miles on rough roads, alternating between camping, night drives, and occasional hotels through Chiapas and the Yucatán Peninsula, Guatemala, and parts of Belize.
At the time, I did not fully understand the historical context. We were moving through Guatemala shortly after the Peace Accords and through Chiapas in the lingering shadow of the Zapatista uprising, before smartphones. I did not even know what email was then. It was a completely different era of exploration: no phones, no maps in your pocket, no way to check anything in real time. Trips like this feel rare now, and I am grateful to have had that unstructured, unpolished experience.
Here are excerpts from my journal.
Arrival in Guatemala
I arrived in Guatemala City around 10:45 p.m. with no local currency or quetzales. Everything was closed. I asked a guard with a semi automatic weapon if he spoke English. He did not.
Luckily, another man who resembled a frog overheard me and decided to help. He said it was dangerous to be there alone at night. Frog man exchanged $25 for me, spoke with a cab driver, and wrote down the cab number. The driver took the mountain turns fast until we reached Antigua. I spent the night at Villa San Francisco, woken up by cars speeding down the narrow street all night.
Boarding the Green Tortoise
I met the first of the group downstairs. Oh my God, I thought, they are all old. "Arriving inspired, not dog tired" was the first thing I saw written on the back of the Green Tortoise.
We met the drivers, Jim and Ace, and sprawled out on the busy bus. We headed into the mountains toward our first set of ruins for lunch…avocado sandwiches while skinny little dogs and children sat close by. We drove on to Lake Atitlan, where Jim bargained with a hotel owner to allow us to camp on his lawn. Ace made killer cheese pasta and garlic bread. After dinner, we sat around drinking brandy.
Volcano Hike
We woke up at 6:00 for cereal breakfast. Kid, Sam, Liane, and I spent an hour bargaining for a boat ride across to San Pedro. Once across, a group of boys offered to take us to the top of the volcano. It turned out to be one of the best, most challenging hikes I have ever done.
Our guide, Moses, used his machete to make staffs for us to walk with. At the top, we had an amazing view of the whole lake. Liane and Sam were in excellent shape. I was pretty slow going because I had a respiratory infection, but it felt good to take deep breaths. On the way down, I took big leaps down the steep trail. Back in Panajachel, I got my clothes laundered by hand and went into the adobe style sauna.
Fuentes Georginas Hot Springs
We drove up a narrow, winding mountain road to the hot springs. Jim parked next to the pools. After a special dinner of vegetable tempura with rice and sake, candles and lanterns were brought down to the hot springs, and we all got in. We told dirty jokes late into the night.
The next morning, a large boulder from a landslide blocked the road. Jim pulled out shovels and sledgehammers. We piled rocks along the collapsing edge and chipped away at the boulder. Jim gunned the bus and made it through while we cheered.
Border Crossing and Chiapas
Jim bribed a man and got us across the border into Mexico. We arrived in San Cristóbal de las Casas late that evening…a charming place with beautiful architecture and shops. Ann, Sam, Liane, and I shared a hotel room with thick wooden doors, white stucco walls, and a balcony overlooking the Zocalo.
Ruins, Waterfalls, and the Coast
We moved quickly through Chiapas and the Yucatan:
Agua Azul and Misol Ha: Bright blue, fast moving water cutting through the jungle, and a waterfall featured in the movie Predator.
Palenque and Calakmul: I flew above the ruins on an ultralight, circling over jungle canopy and stone structures. Calakmul was remote and deep in the jungle with very few people around.
Chetumal and Bacalar: We rode in the back of a dump truck and a chicken bus that blew a tire, then swam in clear lakes and cenotes.
The Caribbean Coast: We visited beach ruins at Tulum, took the ferry to Cozumel to ride bikes, and spent a full day lounging under palm trees at Xpu Ha going through our journals.
I eventually left the group at Chichen Itza, taking a bus toward Cancun. I missed my flight and spent the night at the airport talking with a friendly security guard who wanted to practice his English, before catching my flight home the next day.
Retrospective
Looking at this journal now at age 50, I am so proud of 22 year old Shawn and so glad I took that first international trip solo. I will never forget the jungles, rivers, and ancient ruins where we slept with no rules.
We were all very nimble and flexible on this trip. I did not think much about logistics or safety, which is crazy! I am especially grateful that man helped me out in Guatemala City when I landed at night with no local currency. That could have gone so badly.
I am glad I wrote it all down. I did not even bring a camera on this trip. These photos were all taken by fellow travelers who were kind enough to take them and share them with me.
