Horizons Unlimited - The HUBB - Finding Freedom...World Wide Ride

Horizons Unlimited - The HUBB (https://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hubb/)

- Ride Tales (https://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hubb/ride-tales/)

- - Finding Freedom...World Wide Ride (https://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hubb/ride-tales/finding-freedom-world-wide-ride-65365)

30 km from Chetumal is the Laguna de Bacalar, which is actually a huge lake. We spent a lovely day here on the dock and swimming in the crystal clear blue water. It is a great place to make a pit stop on your way to Cancun or Playa del Carmen.

We hemmed and hawed about whether the hassles to get there were worth the trip. In the end Daniel won out since he has never been to the Caribbean before. We chose to make for Ambergris Caye and Tio Pil’s on the beach. Getting there is a bit like trains, planes, and automobiles. Finally after a 90 min ferry crossing we arrived if a bit late.

This is a very laid back place. People walk around without shoes and drive golf carts in town. This is a fab spot for enjoying rum punch and a lot of hammock time.

The big event of the island week is the “Chicken drop” on Thursday night. You buy a numbered square on the board of 100 squares for 1 Bz= .50$US and you wait for the chicken to “drop”.

We joined the local and rented a golf cart for the afternoon to explore as far north and south as we could go. The road is paved for about 1 km in each direction then its off roading in a golf cart. It had rained heavily the day before so there was some adventure for sure. The big highlight for us was a day sailing to the even more laid back island of Caye Caulker with stops to snorkel the reef and at shark ray alley.

A few more pics.

Check out our youtube video too.

Swimming with Sharks San Pedro, Belize - YouTube

Playa del Carmen/Cancun/Cozumel

We drove north up the coast to Playa del Carmen for some relaxation on the Beach. The sand is white and the ocean is azure blue. We frequented our favorite place El Fogan for amazing tacos. Daniel's cousin and her husband are living on Isla Mujeres so they met us for lunch in Cancun.

Our Mexico City BMW club friend Fred was in the ironman Cozumel so we took the ferry over to cheer him on and got wrapped up in the excitement and energy of the event.

The new Xplor park is a great way to spend a day. They have off road vehicles, 14 zip lines, and swimming and rafting in rivers running in underground caves. They also have beaches and hammocks to rest up on. Video pending :)

Leaving Playa we headed back towards Tulum and then on to the cute litte village of Piste in the central Yucatan. People are super friendly here. Looking at their signs you can see their sense of humor. We had some great meals at a small restaurant near the main square.

The main attraction here is the nearby ruins of the mayan city of Chichen Itza. This is on e of the most visited Mayan sites in Mexico. We luckily got there at 8 when it opened. This was before it got very hot and absolutely mobbed with people. We did find a German bike parked beside us, but we unfortunately never saw the rider.

Merida the Capital of the Yucatan

Driving thru the jungle from Piste to Merida we hardly saw another vehicle and luckily very few tope. This is a lovely small city with several nice squares and churches. This is the first place we have seen free public wifi in all of the parks. There is also free entrance to a number of museums and galleries. The Cathedral is all lite up at night and with the full moon it was spectacular.

30,000 Pink Flamingos

After leaving Merida we rode west to the coast of the Gulf of Mexico at Celustun. It is famous for Octopus hunting and the almost 30,000 pink flamingos that flock here. We saw a few birds from the bridge, but hired a boat for an hour tour of the estuary. This got us up close to the flamingos as well as herons, and huge Canadian pelicans. We also toured thru the mangrove forrest. The town itself has a chain of restaurants along the white sand beach where we had amazing prawns and ceviche.

We rode south and west again to Uxmal. Travelling on the back roads involved some pot hole dodging. Got to love an amazing drive thru the jungle on an almost deserted road. Dan was very uncharacteristically swerving on the road and it was not until he stopped a few minutes later that I found he got stung on the face by a bee that came thru the crack his viser was open. We managed to get a super deal at the Hacienda Uxmal which is located just outside the park. The next closest town is 14 km away, but there is a great little B&B there, the Pickled Onion run by Valerie a transplanted Brit. We had dinner there and enjoyed a traditional Yucatan meal Poc chuc or grilled pork steak with pickled onions of course. The ruins here are really amazing with very detailed facades. It was cool hiking thru the restored and unrestored parts of the site.You can even crawl into the pyramids to see the layers of building underneath. There was a huge number of very big iguanas all over too. After the moring in the hot sun, the best part was arriving back to the hotel and being treated to a cold limeade and a ice cold scented towel to freshen up with.

It was a short but fun drive to Campeche City the capital of the state.This place has a very European feel especially inside the ancient stone city walls where the building are all painted bright colours. It is also famous for amazing seafood. There are ruins of a number of the forts that defended the city. We visited the Fuerto San Miguel. We visited the lovely 17 th century Cathedral as well as a number of other churches in the city.

The remains of the old walls include the "Sea Gate" and the "Land Gate".The waterfront has a 3 km long walking, running, biking path along the sea shore.

Happy Holidays from Sara & Daniel @worldwideride.ca

Check out our Episode 2 video : Alaska to Alberta

Villahermosa and Tabasco