Bandito country and Tikal

Our night bus adventure through bandito country began with our shuttle to Guatemala City... nothing like weaving through hundreds of vehicles at 80 miles an hour with no seatbelts! Luckily we made it safely to the bus station. After Josh helped the other shuttle passengers get their lugguge down, we headed inside and got our tickets. As soon as we sat down, a bus driver came up to us. "Flores?" he asked. "Si" He explained to us, from what we could understand, that we couldn't bring our bags on board and had to check them. We took out what we wanted on board and then checked our bags. But we soon found that that wasn't such a great idea: there were TWO buses to Flores, and the bus driver who hadn't looked at our tickets, had just checked our bags on the wrong bus, the one that was leaving a half hour earlier. After a difficult conversation made up of Spanglish and hand signaling, we were allowed to pick out our bags. Josh jumped into the bowels of the bus, recovered our bags, and, phew... crisis averted.

We arrived at Flores right before sunrise.  I was a little disoreinted when I got off the bus. Probably from the sleeping pills.  I didn't believe it when we were told we were already in Flores. We watched the sun rise from over the lake and jungle, a truly beautiful sight.  The fog gave dimension to the multiple layers of forest and mountain. From the shore we could see mothers and fathers paddling their children to school.  Others were fishing for the day's food.  We soon found ourselves taking in the beauty of the lake and sunrise from a little cafe called Cool Beans.  We each had a Mocha, which was about par for what I have had in Central America.  I then had an omelet with cheese and ham, hashbrowns, and toast. A little local hot sauce and I was off.  Amanda had a bowl of fresh fruits, yogurt, and graola(Which was also good). With the food and view it was paradise indeed.

After a fight with a rooster for our food (a cock fight, if you will) and chatting with a German fellow, we decided to figure out the trek to Tikal.  After a short walk and conversation we found ourselves a shuttle to Tikal and back, plus the trip back to Antigua.

We then boarded our shuttle to Tikal. On the way we got a history lesson on the site and of the Mayan people who called it home.   Our guide Chino gave us an overwhelming amount of information on Mayan history; it was too much to take it all in, but we couldn't help but be striken by how passionate he was about the history of his Mayan ancestors.

We got our room at Jungle Lodge room c-6.  A small room with a bed and shelving for clothes, nothing great for the price but the scenery and wildlife makes up for it... and finally, hot showers!

Around three o'clock we headed down to the ticket booth to get our tickets for the park. We had to wait until 3:30 because tickets bought after 3:30 were good for the next morning as well. As soon as we had our tickets inhand, we traveled down the dirt path, heading deeper and deeper into the rainforest. We trekked immediately towards the Grand Plaza and Temples I and II. The first glimpse of Temple 1 seemed surreal. Once upon a time, it was just a picture, and finally it was right in front of us.

We walked around the Grand Plaza, taking plenty of photos and video. Luckily, there weren't many other tourists  (or guards...no guards), so we practically had the place to ourselves. After climbing around the North Acropolis, we ascended Temple II which gave us a stunning view of the entire plaza.

Our next stop was to the Grandaddy of all the temples: Temple IV. We hiked past Temple III.  

More to come....

Landed in Guatemala

We are on the ground and in Antigua.  I must say this is one, if not the most beautiful place I have ever been.  The old cobblestone streets weave through the city with cars, tuk tuks, and horses rolling noisily on top. Old Spanish cathedrals and colorful buildings are found every which direction.  We arrived at Villa Esthela, a lucky find in the world in hostels. A 360 degree view of three Antiguan volcanoes awaited us on Villa Esthela's rooftop bar, along with some hammocks.  After a short walk we saw the parks that were packed full of Sunday's best.

Amanda went for a nap while I decided to explore the city deeper, and with my camera.  The sun was getting lower and created beautiful shadows.  The vibe of the city felt very kind.  People would smile or say hello as they passed.  Some of the people were in traditional outfit, not sure if a Sunday thing or everyday.  After my walk I headed back to the room.

We watched the Superbowl through our wifi, with the help of Michael's Slingbox account.  After the first half we went to Monoloco (the crazy monkey)  They had the game on and it was filled with football fans.  We soon found out that there was more Steelers fans than Packer fans, but they would shut up soon.  Bedtime after the big win.

We awoke to the sounds of birds chirping at 6:30.  We went to the rooftop to see  what was happening in the city and saw the sun splashing the mountains with colorful oranges.  Volcano Pacaya was smoking early this morning.

We had to find a new hostel today so we cruised to the other side of town and grabbed Hostel 5.
Had a meal at Cafe La Esudilla $12 for fatijas and nachos with Pepsis.  The resturant was located outside in a garden.  The food was so good and we sat next to a beautiful water fountain.

We hopped into our shuttle for the Volcano and the journey began.  Our driver was like most drivers I have seen in Central America, driving somewhat crazy.  He passed cars with the engine screaming, around corners that fell 100's of feet. But he was always friendly with the other drivers, making a few short honks to signal hello.

We arrived at our volcano adventure and were immediately greeting by dozens of children carrying walking sticks. Before we had even exited the shuttle, they came up to the windows ready to make a sale. "You want stick? Stick for walking? Stick? 5 Quetzales." We and our fellow tourists politely declined, but they were insistent. As we began our hike, some of the local adults followed us as well with horses. "You want horse? Horse, no tire." We all said no at first, but they knew better and kept following us. It was only a matter of time before someone tired and gave in. A fellow "champione" (as our guide called us) decided to pay the money for the "horse taxi".

We continued our steep hike up the volcanic rocks and soot, stopping every so often for rest or a tidbit of knowledge from our guide. We finally reached the top of the hill next to the volcano. We had an incredible view of Guatemala city below as well as the volcano Pacaya and a couple of other volcanoes. Everyone took photos in attempt to capture and bring home the amazing scenery.

We then cautiously made our way down the hill to the base of Pacaya. Our guide pointed out how hot the rocks were there. Another "guide", the one leading the tourist on the horse, set up sticks and leaves on the rocks, and they almost immediately started a fire! After that we walked over the loose volcanic rock to what looked like a hole in the ground where there was some hot lava below. Our guide provided sticks, and those
who wanted could roast marshmallows over the lava. Amanda volunteered but passed on eating them. Our last stop was to a small, HOT volcanic cavern. It felt a bit like stepping into a warm oven. After that we sat out on the side of the volcano and watched the sun disappear behind the clouds and into the night. Our guide called out, "Championes!" and we made the hike back through the dark. (Luckily Josh brought flashlights. We lit the way for ourselves as well as other tourists who had found themselves without a torch.)

Amanda after she roasted some marshmellows

We were dropped off at the central park, which meant a short hike to our hostel. Luckily our hostel had a private bathroom because we both desperately needed showers. Amanda's feet were black with volcanic soot; it had gone straight through her shoes and socks. After the showers, we relaxed with a couple of Gallo cervesas. We considered going out for a bite to eat, but someone had locked up the hostel and because we were both tired after our volcanic hike, we decided to hit the hay.

We will now be grabbing a night bus through BANDITO country.  If you never hear from us again we are being used in human trafficking.  Onward we go.  Ciao.

Travel soon

In two short weeks I'll be in Guatemala seeing Tikal the great amazing Maya civilization. We are also going to Antigua the old capital of Guatemala. After Guatemala, I'll be heading to Italy to visit all the beautiful cities, eat amazing food and drink great espresso. I'll be posting from the streets, so stay tuned for photos and video.

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Garlic Beard

Garlic Beard was inspired by a nickname I received while cooking and having a beard.  It is developing into one the greatest animations ever, well maybe not but it is sure fun.  Here is a little teaser we made while working on the character.  It is only experimental hence the two different color hats.

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If anyone out there is interested in helping with voice, story or something else let me know.

It's been awhile.

I have been neglecting this poor guy for some time now, so here is a video of a backpacking trip from a few months ago.  
Lake Superior Trail from Josh Kufahl on Vimeo.


Here is a video from the California Classic.(A group of lake surfers camping and surfing for a week)


a pumpkin seed named charlie from Josh Kufahl on Vimeo.



New blog goal is to post once a week even if its horrible.  If you haven't heard of the Pretty Lights, its awesome music and free to download at www.prettylightsmusic.com

Birds

Here is a little fun I had with the D5000 and a 500mm lens with 2x teleconverter

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Huhot

I just caught the Huhot commercial on TV and remembered I gaffed and shot stills for it.  Here is the commercial.  DP was Tony Mata.

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