Into the heart of darkness - El Mirador with NLX

overlander

Expedition Leader
As El Hefe walks towards us with a few of his bumbling posse henchmen with him, Graham tells us to hang by the Defenders, and calls for Byron to join him. They meet the group mid-way and begin having what appeared to be a calm conversation in Spanish. After a few dramatic pauses, a lot of hand waving and pointing all over the place, they break. James and Byron come back down and brief us on what transpired. Apparently, El Hefe challenged James with his right to access the Naxxtun site. Although James had government permission to be there, it is highly restricted and El Hefe has some local authority (although not enough to trump the permission James has). Since it was 2012 with the Mayan calendar on the worlds mind, there was a large Guatemala government focus to highlight Guatemala as a travel destination. El Hefe was leading a team with some Journalists in a convoy of Hiluxes to the Naaxtun site, which was the same team that had passed us on the first trail day. James’ gut told him that El Hefe was likely either trying to show bravado to the journalist team in his authority, or that he was trying to exploit a bribe. Either way, it didn’t work. James, who is very well connected to the Guatemala government due to his business, as well as Byron who owns a 4WD center in Guatemala City and is part of the countries 4WD club, were way to savvy for our little friend.
More interestingly, through the discussion, they learned that El Hefe was taking the journalists to Naaxtun to do some filming for the government marketing effort. After they had passed us, one of the Hiluxes carrying the female journalists broke down in the middle of the jungle somewhere along the way, so they were actually returning for parts, supplies or something. Not exactly sure what. They didn’t have the seats to bring everyone out, so some of the crew, including the female journalists had been left in, if I recall correctly, a chicalera camp until they could return for them. What a debacle! Those are some lucky ladies there. Land Rover 1, Toyota 0. I know it’s a rare event, but I couldn’t help but think of the cliché “slow and steady wins the race!” There’s something to say for winching over an obstacle in a controlled manner versus throttle and bravado when you are far from civilization.

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They continue past us, and with that, we pack up and continue on our merry way with renewed confidence.

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A few downed trees here, a few dropped vines there, and soon, just as James had expected, we see the first sign of the Naaxtun government campsite used for site survey.

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As we approach, we are pleased to see that we are alone! We find a nice clearing to the left as we enter and park the Rovers. All of our clothes are pretty much soaked at this point, and there’s a bit of sun in the clearing that’s making it through the canopy overhead. What a treat to get some sun after 2 days in the darkness! First priority is lunch!

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squint

Adventurer
I am really enjoying this read and you are doing a good job reviewing the gear as well. I was nearby this area in Guatemala a few years back so it is nice to hear your perspective. Anxiously awaiting your next post!
 

overlander

Expedition Leader
Thanks Greg! There was a lot of lessons learned not only about best practices, but also about gear and I"m going to try and hit as much of them up as I can before this story is over. If I miss it during the story I'll summarize at the end. I have over 50 pictures to upload from this day alone to tell the whole story, so thanks for your patience. I'm finding the biggest delay is getting the picture manager for this forum to cooperate. It takes a while to upload and then sort them in an order that tells the story. The picture manager renames them all which is a PITA!
 

overlander

Expedition Leader
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Moving a bit slowly as the kilometers of trail are starting to wear on the spring in our step, we begin unloading the gear necessary for lunch. It began with a delicious cerveza, and then the tables and chairs. Did I mention what a luxury it is to have fridge in every vehicle? There isn't much that comes close to an ice cold beer at the end of the trail on a hot day.

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NLX keeps the set of chairs in Romulus behind the 2nd row seats, and as I'm sifting through the back of the Defender, I notice that the organization of my personal equipment is beginning to become haphazard, in contrast to the disciplined load plan of the NLX camp gear. I'm realizing I'm getting a bit lazy and that more effort is needed during load ups or I'm going to start losing things in the field.
10 minutes later we're setup with a minimal configuration for a leisurely lunch in the sun, and James and Graham start pulling out all the food. While that is happening, I decided to take some wet clothes that I had washed in the shower back in Dos Lagunas and hang them on a wooden contraption of unknown purpose that had been built in the vicinity of our campsite in the hopes that the sun will dry them out today. Given how little direct sunlight we'll have on this trip, and not knowing when I would have another chance to do laundry, I was hoping for some major progress, but not optimistic given the humidity. That done, it was time to join the lunch and get my eat on!

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As each day passes, it seems the comradery gets stronger as each of our true personalities surfaces. We are all kindred spirits with the same values, and that builds for strong fellowship. Every meal is becoming a fellowship of the rectangular table, and it is not long into the lunch before someone declares the smoking lamp is lit. As enthusiastic as I am about that declaration, I ponder how long the cigar rations will last at this rate. Drawing on my Ghurka, my mind then begins to wonder how many historic expeditions had deliberate group conversations about the rationing of their vices?

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overlander

Expedition Leader
To all reading this thread, I apologize for this story taking so long to complete. I write it in my limited time. This story will go through 4th of March 2012 when we fly out. This is not the ending! Stay tuned.
 

overlander

Expedition Leader
After lunch we all put the finishing touches on uncompleted camp setup, and then James and Graham gathered us together under the awning to share the game plan. Our next objective was to gear up for a 30 minutes hike along a jungle path to go explore the still unexcavated ancient Mayan site of Naaxtun. After several days of serious 4WD travel, I was ready to stretch the legs and see things by foot, as was everybody. I returned to my gear, packed up a few necessities, filled my hydration pack with bottled water and put on my gators. Now I was ready to go.
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When everyone was set, James lead us off the West, close to where we had entered the site. The trail followed along the road for about 100 meters than turned straight into the jungle growth, straddling the side of a climbing spur line ascending gradually in altitude.

As the growth thickened, the sunlight we had now grown accustomed to was diminished to fragmented sun rays finding their way through small opening in the canopy above. As we walked, I could here the sounds of the jungle in a way you could never appreciate mounted in a vehicle. My mind took notice of the complete lack of menacing insects once again that I had so expected in preparing for this trip. Weeks before the trip, I had treated all my clothing in military permethrin kits I had left over from my first deployment, and I had also packed several cans of Deep Woods Off in my pelican case for the trip. Despite all my prepping, I had yet to use any of the DEET, and to date, I had yet to see a single mosquito. Even the flies seemed docile around here. It’s as if they had never been swatted before. Just amazing. As I walked, I thought about the malaria plague that the French and American’s had to overcome not far South of here to build the Panama Canal, and I wondered why conditions were so different here.

At some point into the hike, maybe 10 minutes or so, Graham, who is walking in front of me points out a hole on the side of the trail, maybe a few meters deep, semi-covered in growth. He tells me that it is one of the first signs of Mayan ruins, and I quickly realize that it takes some experience to be able to recognize a ruin site in it’s untouched state. I had never seen an unexcavated archeological site before. This was definitely getting interesting, and I thought about how fortunate I was to see something so pure, without all the exploitation that normally accompanies mega-tourist attractions.

The trail began to get much steeper, and the ridge line above quickly came into view. Off to the right of the apex, James points out a dark solid figure at the top. It’s the first ruin structure! I begin to have mixed emotions about wanting to see pigmy tribesman with poisonous blow darts popping up on our flanks. Hmm, I’m thinking not. Let’s leave that for Hollywood.
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When we finally get to the base of the first ruin, we all stop, a bit out of breath from the ascent. Committed to capturing the moment, I motivate Bill and Lee to join me in climbing to the base of the ruin structure, which is a bit further up the hill off the trail.
Once we got to the structure, up close we could see the remnants of original Mayan art and symbols engraved in the structures outer walls. I think about how we have just joined such a small group of modern humans that have had the opportunity to see these. NLX sure did deliver the goods.

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From up on top of this particular ruin, I can now see many other similar ruins throughout the side, that had been previously disguised by the jungle growth. It now becomes apparent that this was a large Mayan city and there is so much more to explore!
 

hoffwil

New member
Keep it coming Mark and don't forget about those damned spider monkeys! Hey, Arctic trip is going to be fun but may have less to write about...no snakes, spiders, spider monkeys...all good by me...I guess we will have to worry about wolves though...
 

Elbee

Adventurer
In post #7 why is the guy wearing military ID or CAC card and badge holder? Is he trying to look like some civilian contractor or 'operator' and trying be all "************"?
 

overlander

Expedition Leader
that's me and no. that was my military neck wallet and it was probably out because i had just pulled money out of it. I use a neck wallet when traveling for theft security and wasn't aware it was out for that pic. i don't want to look military at all for trips so that was an oversight.
 

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