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The drive to Caracol and how I killed the SUV
05.01
Day 10 We checked out of our beach bungalows in Placencia and got a quick bite at the local hot dog stand. It was good. In the car, Amy couldn't find her camera she used to take pictures of the whale sharks. We searched around for a little bit and eventually found it in the car. Onward to San Ignacio.

The drive along the Hummingbird Hwy was beautiful; lush green rain forests, Maya mountains, and a sample of the Belizean culture along the roadside. Children were playing in school, farmers driving their tractors, and people walking down the road. Large road bumps with street signs that look like boobs are frequent along the Hummingbird Hwy. It was great Jeremy was in the front with his camera to take most of the pictures on the road.

When we arrived at San Ignacio, we dropped by Martha's Guesthouse for a bite to eat. It was delicious to say the least. After lunch we checked in and dropped off our luggage at Log Cab-Inn. By this time, we were running a little late in order to make it to the Caracol ruins. It was a 60 mile drive which is 90 percent unpaved road. I didn't want to drive it at night.

The road wasn't too bad of condition. At parts it was narrow and sometimes steep. I turned on 4wd for more traction because of my paranoia flipping cars and falling off cliffs. After about 50 miles, the road was paved. I increased speed and switched the 4wd shifter to 2wd. Sometime later, I looked in my rear view mirror and noticed some smoke coming out of the car. Everyone else then looked back and I all could see was a thick smoke screen coming from the car. I quickly pulled to the side of the road.

We opened up the hood of the car and a billow of smoke rose. Just at that time, a car driving the opposite direction noticed our dilemma and decided to stop and help. The man looked under the hood and noticed a lot of oil splattered around the engine; we were burning oil. He said we should try to drive to the ranger station at Caracol about a mile away.

I cautiously drove down the road toward Caracol. While driving, we heard a loud bang in the transmission. I immediately steered the car to the side of the road. The car seemed to run so we continued driving to Caracol.

The radio at the ranger station was the only communication we had to Budget and Log Cab-Inn. Even though the car could drive, we didn't want to risk getting stuck in the middle of nowehere in the middle of the night, with no way of contacting others. We arranged to have Budget drive a car to us to swap. It was estimated to take them a few hours to reach us so in the meantime we toured Caracol.

Caracol was big, beautiful, and fun to explore. We were the only tourists there. In addition to seeing lots of stone rock, I found molted snake skin and Jeremy saw two bats. To get back to our cabin quicker, we decided to drive back as far as we could since there was only one way in. Budget Rental sent two trucks and a few people who saw us on the road driving back. We stopped and swapped cars. By the time we got back to Log Cab-Inn, it was dark.

We parked near the main outdoor dining area and noticed some familiar voices. It was Dave, Shannon, and Dave's mom! We caught up on what happened the past few days over some rum and cokes. The bar ran out of rum, so Dave generously offered his large bottle. We finished his entire bottle. By the end of the night, just about everyone was drunk, especially Dave. Good times.

Copyright © 2005, Jason Jue