Prairies To Penguins Alberta to Argentina

The evaporating wet t shirt trick works well if you close up your riding jacket, otherwise the t shirt dries in about 15 minutes.

Thanks for the tip, I have given that some thought but never tried it yet. I'll give it a shot.

The wet shirt deal works far better in less humid, yet still hot, environments.
You'll need to soak it in ice water when riding in high humidity, and then the inevitable soggy waistline happens. And saggy too, if you are like me.

Down south I just run a gel ice-pack on back of my neck on long street rides. Fools my brain somehow and I get goosebumps. I keep a couple of spares in a thermos and refreeze them at night.
Wearing a light and breezy helmet helps too. Love Airoh helmets! Even prefer MX helmets down here as long as the speeds are under 160 kph.
In Mexico you need a Hayabusa on the coutas and a MX or Trials bike everywhere else! That's why I avoid the coutas and some of the fast libres, especially Hwy 30 between Torreon and Monclova. Ran the cruise at 200 kph and still kept getting passed.
None of my bikes go fast so now I take the burrow trails instead.

Day 36 Chetumal/Calderitas

Today I just lounged around the hotel and went for a walk along the waterfront. It’s pretty darn hot so spending too much time in the sun was not part of the plan today.

Dave, just curious but why are you not taking the bike into Guatemala and then continuing down to Honduras from there? Maybe it was stated somewhere else and I missed it but I'm confused why you're going back into Belize from Tikal.

That may create more problems than it solves

At the moment the heat is pretty dry but I'm not riding for the next 10 days. I expect the humidity will return in short order

the Hornet DS I have seems to be fairly good for venting. I haven't exceeded 120 kph on this trip, primarily because I think my top speed is 130

The reason for this is because my wife is meeting me in Belize for a 10 day mini vacation. We are doing a side trip to Guatemala but returning to Belize. I made all these plans assuming that i would just store the bike in Belize during this time. However I learned about the Belize import rules after all the reservations had been made and flights paid for. In 10 days after my wife returns home, I'll retrieve the bike and re-enter Belize on my way to Guatemala and beyond

Day 37 Chetumal/Calderitas

I divided my gear into two piles this morning. One pile is luggage for Belize and the other is staying with Skelly in Chetumal. I loaded the bike with the latter and prepared to ride the few blocks to where she'’ll stay for the next 11 days. I knew where to find Charles’s place because he had given me an exact GPS location. I had also scouted the location when I arrived two days ago. I was there in a few minutes and was invited in for a cup of coffee. I met my host’'s wife and friends of theirs who were visiting from Belize. We spent awhile visiting and I enjoyed a delicious piece of avocado fresh from the tree in the back yard. We moved Skelly into the back yard under cover and out of sight from the street. My gear was stowed inside the house and I locked everything up. I’m pretty confident it’s secure inside the fenced yard with two dogs on watch.

Tomorrow I catch a bus to Belize City and meet Wanitta at the airport. It’s going to be a long day for both of us but we are very excited to be having this little mini vacation. While in Belize I won’t be doing a daily update but perhaps I’ll get in a few posts over the next 11 days.

Makes sense! The two borders we did through that area (Belize-Guatemala @ Melcor de Menchos, Guatemala-Honduras @ Corinto) have been great compared to the experiences of others who go through San Salvador-Honduras(Choluteca).

Following with great interest !

Planning a similar trip next winter from Vancouver

Hopefully there is something helpful here. Feel free to shoot me any questions you may have.

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Love riding in Mexico...can't wait to go again!! Thanks for taking us along and enjoy your vacation in your vacation!!

I've done the wet shirt in Alberta and the Baja, and it was very pleasant in both. I didn't think it would make any difference what temperature the water was that you dunk it in......it very quickly equilibrates to some combination of your body and ambient temperature. I would say just use any temperature you like.

My sister and hubby have 22 acres in Belize on a jungle mountain near San Ignacio. They have a lovely home with a pool and recently added an outdoor kitchen for entertaining on the patio. There are ruins nearby. Let me know if you'll be that way. They beg for visitors from Canada/USA.

I most certainly will be passing through San Ignacio. I expect to be there Oct 11 or 12th. I would love to visit them.

I'll send her a message tonight and report back. I don't expect to hear back until tomorrow with respect to time zones. They do have internet in the jungle but it's getting late there. They would surly pick you up. They have a Toyota Tacoma and hubby recently bought himself a dual sport bike, maybe a Honda of some sort. I can't remember. A toy to plod and around and bomb into town for groceries.

Mexico Recap

After crossing into Mexico on September 1st I spent 29 days in Mexico. It has gone by so quickly and was wonderful. There is so much more of Mexico to see and I’ll be back for certain.
Here are some stats for my travel in Mexico (for you Vulcans out there)
Kilometers ridden: 5900km
Average km per day: 195km
Fuel used: 270 liters
Fuel consumption: 4.59l/100km
Fuel cost: $260 @ $0.95 per liter (All but one tankful using 87 Octane Magna)
Hotel costs: $656
Food (includes water and beer): $435
Total Cost (includes ferry, tire)(not including tourist visa, TVIP, bike insurance): $1960
Average cost per day: $67

Some thoughts

This is a large country. Taking the most direct route from Tecate, it is 4100km to where I am now. A month is certainly not enough time to see it all but I got a great glimpse of the place, the food and the people. Everyone I have met has been kind and helpful and at no time have I felt in danger or threatened. It is a country of contrast: dry desert to lush jungle; clean modern cities and littered broken down villages; poverty and wealth.

Two of the topics that went through my mind often as I rode along were litter and dogs. In some communities there is obvious pride in the cleanliness of the streets. In others piles of garbage lay in people’s front yards and beside their shops. Maybe I am naive but why can’t folks just take a few minutes and pick the junk up especially when it is right in front of you every day. Dogs are everywhere and many of them are strays. The look on their faces is so sad. They appear to be defeated, starving and tired. Many of them are sick and I saw countless dead on the road. The dogs that do have owners are well care for. I expect these observations will continue as I push onward.

A few other things. Every morning I was awakened by the sounds of roosters and sweeping. People love their chickens and their brooms.
The orange juice is phenomenal. Fresh squeezed everywhere you go.
Topes (speedbumps) and pot holes keep you on your toes.
Somewhere in Mexico I lost my ipod nano and a good set of earbuds.

There is so much more to say about this place, hopefully my posts have done a reasonable job describing what I have seen.

Great RR and great recap.

Looking forward to reading more about your adventures