Beach near Tulum

Beach near Tulum
Originally uploaded by binobitz.

Magical nights amidst friends and amazing views. It is an amazing place to be this Yucatan Penisula.

Tulum

WOW #@
Originally uploaded by binobitz.

It speaks for itself.

WWOOFin

WWOOFin
Originally uploaded by binobitz.

Mike, Roberto, Victor, Devin, Nicolas, and Andrew. This is the goupe that has assembled in Puerto Morelos. What great people. Victor is paart oener of the land and helps us with our tasks during the day. Mike is a traveler from New Castle, England, and has been working here for about 3 weeks. Andrew is from Qubec Canada and we picked him up because he was walking into Puerto Morelos and looked like he needed a ride. He begins to tell us he is going around Mexico staying on eco-vilages too. So we all moved rocks all day and had a lot of fun.

The Palapa we are staying in

The Palapa we are staying in
Originally uploaded by binobitz.

Here on Goyos property we are staying in these wonderful Palapas. It is absolutly beautiful. The space is in the jungle and we find a new species of bug every hour. We can hang the hammacks we got inside the Palapas and really take it easy after a hard days work. (Guess what we are still moving rocks, what a coinsidence.)

On the road to the Yucatan

It has been three days of constant driving. We wake up early like 6am every morning, pack the van and are on the road by 7am. Then we drive all day until about 4 or 5 and start looking for a good place to sleep. Day one you already know about. Day two we get up and say goodbye to the nearbye horse set off on the road and we get really good at passing big trucks through traffic. On the way a nearbye volcano is smoking. Nobody seemed alamed so we took it lightly. (But how beautiful it looked.) We drove all the way down passing Puebla to the point where Mexico is the skinniest. We dicide that if we get to the beach we should not have any more problems because all of the beaches in Mexico are public. We find this really big city that looks a lot like gringolandia so we try to drive to the outskirts but there is no use. So we end up finding a little neighborhood that is in construction right next to the beach. We agree that this is where we will stay and go to look around. We ask some local construction workers if it will be ok to sleep here. THey say probably but the police to patrol this area. Great!! So after cooking some food we try to go to bed in the intense humidity. Nick and I wake up to four cops walking up to the van. Here we go again. I steped outside the van to talk to them and the asked for our passports. After that they really had nothing they could do so the guy asks for some money for coffee. I play it of like I don{t understand him and say. "No tomo cafe gracias" He gets frustraited and says a couple more things before they all leave. We go back to sleep, if you want to call swating moquitos and sweating all night sleep. The next day of driving is absolutly magical. We choose to take the northern route towards Merida along the rim of the western side of the Yucatan. I have never been to the tropics and GOD is it beautiful. We take a mid day dip in the ocean and keep on truckin. Have a great meal at a little restaurant in Champeton. THen set out to look for a place to sleep on the beach in between Champeton and Campeche. What a spot. RIght on the water trees all around and little fish jumping out of the water. We see iguanas and every kind of seabird you can imagine. Night comes and so do the bugs. We all go for the water because that is where they can not bite you. To our amazement we find special little plankton that light up when we move. Along with the fireflies and shooting stars we each have to pinch ourselves and eachother to make sure we are not dreaming. WOW what a spot.

Did I dream that or did it really happen?

We left the Tolantango hotsprings overlooking an expansive gorge to start our trip towards the Yucatan. We are driving small roads so to go around Mexico city. Everthing is going smoothly untill we hit an extensive traffic jam that seems to go on for miles. We move at snail pace for about 3-4 hours in which it begins to get dark. Not wanting to drive at night again especially the small roads we put our heads together and come up with a plan. We turn around and remebering there was a restaurant just a little ways back we go there. Upon ariving we agree that we will ask whoever is inside if we can park behind their bulding and sleep the night. Nobody answers. The sun is sinking quickly and its getting dark. We pull the van behind the building and make dinner. It seems that the building is desserted at the moment so we decide to just go to sleep and get up as early as possible. Or so we thought.
I wake up to Nick saying "wake up Roberto we are getting rousted"
"What"
"Dogs, guys with guns their knocking on the van door."
I get up and am only in my underwear and open the door.
"Hola, que pasa"
"Este property es privado"
I continue to say "mucho lo siento" which is the wrong way to say I am very sorry and I explain about the traffic and that we had no place to go. There is a huge truck with its lights on three police officers with guns and one guy who ownes the place all looking at me in my underwear. They hear my story and go and talk to eachother. That is when the owner comes to me shakes my hand and saysm "Cuando Salimos"
"Ahora tu queres"
" NO esta bein, en la manana por favor."
"Si por su puesto"
The owener walks away and the cop say to me "Tienes permisso"
Those words sounder like angels singing. He told me to calm down and go back to sleep. I could not believe it. When I woke up this morning I still thought, was that a dream or did it really happen?

Movin' On

After living like Dukes and Duchesses for the past two weeks we are venturing on to a few natural hot springs. We have been treated very well by the locals here in San Miguel de Allende, and we will truely miss them. Mike and Nancy Hooper took us in the moment we entered the town. These two have become an extended family of ours as well as their friends they introduced us to. The morning gatherings at La Ventana will never be forgotten. George, John, Mike, Russell are just a few entertaining characters that we have enjoyed sharing stories with. A few words of good advice has sent us on our way inspired and determined. Thank You for the warm welcoming into Mexico.

Finding the Gente

As we were finishing our dinner of tacos, cooked from the back of a VW bus, Devin comes down the stairs and says "do you guys hear that."
"Do we hear what"
"The drumming, its so loud, turn off the music"
As we turn the music off it is clear that there is some serious drumming going on. We quickly finish our food and I grab my drum, Nick grads the skateboard, and Devin grabs the handheld camera. We take off and follow the sound until it is right in front of us. Affrican drummers and fire dancing in the middle of the street. Absolutely breathtaking. I sit down immidiately and start drumming, there are only four drummers and about 20 people all around us. Another fire dancer starts spinning and the crowd erupts. What a moment. The night continued and we met each of the drummers, Arnorfu the leader and his younger brother Andres, Andrew the American who grew up in Mexico, and Coral the beautiful fire dancing gypsy. We all talked and moved the drumming indoors to this ladies house where the biggest drum along started. Everyone in the entire house was playing something. Weather it was a bottle to blow into or hit with a fork, pots and pans came out, people chanting, two drums and a whole lot of clapping hands. What a bohemian night. That is how you celebrate life. We are having them over for dinner tonight and continue the friendship. Its good to find your gente. (people, brethren, companeros, friends, amigos, brothers, sisters, like minded individuals...)

The shower at the first farm

The shower at the first farm
Originally uploaded by binobitz.

This is the site where the last shower was taken over 5 days ago. Cold water and a good breeze to make it extra nice. This is the life we came here to live. You have to rough it sometimes and it makes us all feel stronger and more adventurous for the next couple of months.

Thank you Dennis Barry

Since the moment we left California we have utilized all the equipment that Highland Hiking owner Dennis Barry donated to Organic Travels. The sleeping bags have been the most practical in terms of compactablity and warmth. Not only have the water resistant sleeping bags been a blessing during the rain storms, but the comfort they have brought to our sleeping quarters have kept us slightly more sane. The quick and easy pop-up tent has not been used yet, considering the stormy weather we have recently been engulfed in, but as we move closer to the beaches the intention is to sleep outside as much as possible. Thank you for durable equipment you provided for Organic Travels. We will keep this blog updated as to how the equipment is working. Thank you again Senior Barry

Under Attack in San Miguel De Allende

Over the past few days it has been raining cats and dogs here in San Miguel. Thankfully we devised a way to stay dry and sane at the same time. On the compound that we are staying in there is an overhang that allows us to put all of our clothes there without getting wet, as well the other things that we brought with us that are not necessary to have readily available in the van. This way it frees up space in the van so there is room for the three of us and some amount of mobility. As well we created an overhang with the back door of the van and a tarp which makes a nice little area to cook in while the other two are within the van. This has been the M.O. for the last three days of rain. The real attack came yesterday when these really loud BOOMS started happening. I thought shit man take cover we are under attack, but as I approached a childrens playground everyone seemed traquil and peaceful. WOW it must take a lot to unsettle these people. The bangs continued into the evening and didn't end until 12:00am. We asked our friends this morning, "what was that it was so loud." They only replied by saying, "what those little bangs, oh that was nothing." I guess there are some things we have to get used to.
Roberto

A la Casa De Grace y George

A la Casa De Grace y George
Originally uploaded by binobitz.

The family foto, with only a handful of the dogs. This is Gace and George our great hosts in texas. Here we really got ready to embark into Mexico and were taken suck good care of.

Happy Campers

Happy Campers
Originally uploaded by binobitz.

In the morning at the Natural building camp, Karacadir. After breakfast we moved rocks and got bitten by more mosquitos than you could ever imagine. Nick put up with it well and we are all proud of him. Life is good spirits are high and we are all laughing a lot.

onward into Mexico

Approaching Texas I begin to think to myself what am I doing! Why Texas, I have heard nothing but bad things about Texas. But alas it is the faster route and cheaper. As we arrive to our destination, which was already set up because of connections in SB, we are greeted by ten dogs and one jolly older gentleman with a head lamp and some seriously sleepy eyes. He shows us to our little cabin which would be our home for the next couple of days. Just south of San Antonio live our hosts George Thompson and Grace Lovelace. Two radical old revolutionaries who inspire us with words of wisdom and methods of self sustainability. Grace makes her own clothes with sheep's wool and other cloths on the property. She also makes soap, cheese(from goats), and tends to the garden planting seeds and weeding. George is the backbone of the compound as he does all the little things that need to be done when the day begins and before the day is done. They house us, feed us, and let us use what ever we might need as we are getting ready to cross the border. I got some great preliminary footage here with one on one conversations with Grace in the garden and the two of them talking about what inspired them to live this way. So when it was time to leave it was a bit hard because we had actually gotten very close in those 4 days.

So Mexico Day 1! We try to cross the border somewhat early but that does not happen and we end up stuck at immigration trying to get my birth certificate sent to us via fax. Thankfully this whole situation worked it self out, with the help of Tina and mama, and we were on our way. The sun was already sinking and I was extremely nervous about driving at night. I had never been to Mexico and everyone said "don't drive at night." There was no option, we were behind schedule and needed to get some miles under our feet in Mexico. So nick and I drove the entire way to San Miguel De Allende in the middle of the night and it was an amazing adventure. Mexican truck drivers are fucking crazy! The drive was flawless though, mainly because we had so much mate, and we arrived at the crack of dawn seeing the city in its early morning hours.

What a magical city this is. So European and at the same time very gringo. (Don't forget there are Mexicans everywhere as well) We have one contact withing the city because of the permaculture network of Santa Barbara who I have been connected to because of my sustainability work. So the third person we see is this guy Mike Hooper. I made eye contact with him and he says to me "you must be the travelers from California" and I say "you must be Mike." Less than 15 minutes in town and we already feel welcome and offered a place to rest our feet. He takes us to his house, with one of the most amazing courtyards you have ever seen and we ate breakfast on the roof overlooking the whole city. What serendipity. Then he takes us all over town to meet the Jorge, who wants to take us to all the organic farms in the area because he knows all of them personally. Jorge own a little tienda called BEENATURAL. Then Mike takes us on a tour of the entire city. My god this city is beautiful. Everyone must come here at one point. Bosque and Tina you are off the hook and know what I am talking about. So it is an Artist community because three is a big art school here. This is still just the beginning because we have not even been to the farm we are staying at. They come and pick us up today and we will be staying there for about two weeks. My fingers hurt and I feel like going for a walk so that is all for now but stay tuned because this is just the beginning.

Serendipitous Travels

After much difficulty at the border and esperando we became so excited crossing the border that we didn't stop until San Miguel de Allende was in sight. As we came close to our destination there were four foot wildflowers as far as the eye could see which immediately awakened us from the all night excursion. Driving in San Miguel is similar to San Francisco with the steep hills, small lanes, and colorful buildings. Every door has its own character with different types of wood and different designs. This town is astounding! I wanna stay here forever. While admiring the town for all its wonders a man stopped us and asked us if we were from California. He just happens to be friends with a couple that we stayed with in San Antonio, and recognized us from our blogspot. Incredible! I guess we set the profile for typical Californians, especially with the surfboard at the top of the car. Serendipitous...everything is working out wonderfully.
Devin

San Antone yah know

Here we are amongst sheep, goats, dogs, cats, chickens and the occasional homosapian. We are now on our Second Organic farm and we have not even left the country. We are about 20 miles south of San Antonio Texas, on a hundred acre plot of land with an organic farm and more animals than I can even try to count. The weather is hot and humid and we are already happy about our haircuts. We drove in last night around 5am after Roberto(ME)drove all night, again. The mate is crucial for long drives. We were greeted by George, the owner of this beautiful property, and his many lovable dogs. He put us up in a cabin and showed us around a bit. The hospitality is absolutely heart warming. Who knew we that sharing a common ideal about life and its actions would connect us to such beautiful people. Now it is time for a nap and maybe a little goat herding if I get bored.

Texas Baby Texas

We made it to texas safely. Roberto drove all night during dessert lighting storms absolutely beautiful. We all shared an amazing sun rise together in Wilcox Arizona with sleepy eyes. Turned over driving to Nick and he had his way going at least 10-15 miles under the speed limit because of the amazing cruising ability of the van. We are now in El Paso on our way to an organic farm in south of San Antonio. Nick has been practicing drafting semi's. It is a way to cut down on gas, less wind resistence. Now we will go to the Border to figure all the things we will need before crossing in Laredo. Sprits are high and laughter is often be well everyone.

Cheers Dr. Bronners

Two cheers to Dr. Bronners for donating to our trip with its wonderful organic soaps of different tastes and flavors. Now we may be traveling, but we will be clean travelers with smells of tee-tree, almond and lavender. I am particularly impressed with their marketing scheme, both of their bumper stickers are messages toward a greater ideal. "Coexist" and "Commit random acts of kindness and senseless acts of beauty" what great words to put out into the world. Two Cheers to Dr. Bronners.