Hi everyone...we're back!!
I thought I'd start this review with an overview of the tour and then go into a bit more detail. Overall it was a very good tour and I enjoyed it very much. However, it was not without its frustrations and disappointments (more about this later) and if it is to continue, I think it does require some tweaking and an overhaul. It was a very busy tour, with many one day overnight stops (especially in the first half) and we found all the time on the bus tiring. Due to unforeseen circumstances three travelling days were much longer than expected and this certainly didn't help matters. There were 20 in the group and on the whole we got on extremely well - they were a great bunch of travelling companions! It was great to catch up with some familiar faces that I had met on previous tours. Freddy Morgan, the tour manager, was superb and he did all he possibly could to ensure that we got the best out of the holiday. He is a credit to JY and has worked with the company for 23 years. His experience and professionalism shone through and at various times he saved the tour from disaster. He was extremely thoughtful and checked with each of us daily, to ensure we were happy and enjoying ourselves. One day he bought us all fruit when there was none available at breakfast and I think this sums up well his whole approach to being a tour manager. He also had a great sense of humour, with was needed at times!!
The weather was generally very good, with it being cooler than expected during the first week. We had showers the day we were at Tikal, but apart from that it was generally sunny, with the odd overcast day. It was cool in the mountains at San Cristobel, so bring a jumper and fleece/jacket with you just in case! The sun was very strong and most of us got a bit burnt at times, so be careful to put on loads of suncream! The hotels were excellent throughout, apart from Belize, and we stayed in some fabulous colonial style hotels, which were wonderful. All had US style sockets, but not all the rooms had safes, so make sure you bring a lock for your case. The ladies asked me to point out that not all the rooms had hairdryers! The food varied from inedible/poor (mainly in Mexico) to excellent, with most meals being acceptable rather than good. We did have a number of fantastic meals, with made up for the rest! Beer was cheap and wine varied from being reasonably priced to exorbitant, so be careful! All the coaches we were on were very comfortable and one of the highlights of the tour for me was travelling on various forms of transport – including a tuk-tuk, pick-up truck, speedboat, horse, canoe and pirate ship!! Mosquitoes were not a major problem, although most of us got a few bites. We were advised there was no need to use DEET in the mountains, but that was where I got my first bites so I'd say use it throughout if you want to be on the safe side. Unfortunately we saw very little wildlife on the tour and felt that the itinerary had perhaps oversold this aspect of the holiday! A few people had upset stomachs for a day or two, but no one was seriously ill or missed out on anything as a result. Water was easily available in the hotels or at comfort stops (and on the bus in Guatemala). It was easy to change currency in the hotels and Freddy arranged a stop at currency exchanges when necessary. Most places accepted US dollars and gave the change in local currency or dollars, or a mixture of the two! So now for a bit more detail….
Mexico
On arrival, we travelled to Cancun, which is a bit like a mini-Vegas-by-the-sea. This was just an overnight stop, albeit in an excellent hotel. The next day we travelled though flat scenery to Chichen Itza (or Chicken Pizza as we liked to call it), which was great to see but perhaps because it was so familiar to many of us we felt a little underwhelmed by the visit. I liked the Sacred Cenote and for me it was the highlight. Then we travelled to Campeche, which is a well preserved colonial town with brightly coloured houses and well worth a visit. The next day, we travelled to Palenque and stayed in another excellent hotel. We visited the Mayan site there, in the jungle, and it was superb. The consensus in the group was that we much preferred it, in a natural setting, to Chichen Itza. Freddy then had a wonderful surprise for us – a visit to the Agua Azul waterfalls. This was not officially on the itinerary and we all enjoyed stunning views of the beautiful deep blue waters.
We then began the long journey to San Cristobel. We were by now travelling through very isolated mountainous areas of Chiapas province, with more stunning scenery. All was well, as we made our way through countless twisty turns until we met oncoming traffic that kept on flashing their lights at us – in time we came to realise that the road ahead was blocked by protestors. Seemingly this happens from time to time, as the local Mayan people protest against their treatment by the government (we later learned that the previous blockade had been two weeks before). Our driver found a place to turn the coach around and we began to head in the opposite direction, with the intention of trying to find an alternative route. However a mile or two up the road, we came to a standstill as cars had stopped ahead of us – the road was now blocked in that direction too – we were trapped!! It was dark by this stage and we were apprehensive as we didn’t know what was happening. First of all our local guide, Francisco, went to talk to the protestors. He was gone a long time but eventually returned with no news. Then Freddy went off to negotiate with them; thankfully he is fluent in Spanish (he lives in Spain) and came back with good news – they were going to let us through! So after two hours we got through the blockade but the bad news was that we had to head back to Palenque – thankfully the hotel were able to accommodate us. We arrived there around midnight, exhausted and relieved. Freddy was our hero!
The next day we had a very long journey to arrive in San Cristobel by another route, to avoid the roadblock – we later discovered that the blockade had lasted a full 48 hours, so we were so relieved that we did not have to endure that without food or water or other facilities – it would have been a horrendous experience. Freddy managed to re-jig the itinerary, so we were still able to visit the Sumidero Canyon (a very enjoyable boat trip) and one of the indigenous villages, which has a unique church that blends Christian and Mayan beliefs to stunning effect with candles and flowers. In San Cristobel we stayed in another beautiful colonial hotel and had a great meal. Unfortunately one of the ladies in the group suffered a nasty fall and had to go to the hospital for stitches, but she was great in the way she handled the experience and was up for breakfast as usual the next day. We were a hardy bunch of travellers! The next day we headed to the border with Guatemala and our adventures continued….
Guatemala
It took us three hours to get through the border, including a very long and frustrating experience at the Mexican side, with the entry and exit queues both being handled by one uncooperative official! Eventually we were on our way through stunning mountain scenery as we made our way to Panajachel and the beautiful Lake Atitlan. I think all the group would agree that we much preferred Guatemala to Mexico – the scenery was so much nicer and the locals more friendly. We had a lovely boat trip on the Lake, the perfect antidote to a hectic few days activity. Next we journeyed to Antigua, another well preserved colonial town and we were lucky enough to be there on the first Sunday in Lent, when the tour had a colourful Lenten procession, with the roads decorated with floral designs, a very special experience. We enjoyed a walking tour of Antigua the next day and visited a coffee farm. The coffee in Guatemala was superb and they are very proud of it and claim it is the best in the world! The next day we went to visit the Pacaya volcano on horseback – you can walk up to the viewing point but all our group opted to go by horse as it is very rough underfoot and a long way uphill. We all walked back down (very carefully) after taking in the views. After a flight to Flores, we stayed in a great lodge and visited Tikal – we had a very long tour of the sites (too long in most people’s opinion!) and again saw very little wildlife. After that it was on to Belize…
Belize
Thankfully after an uneventful and brief border crossing we entered into Belize and it has a much more Caribbean flavour to it. The people are laid back and disorganized but quite charming. The hotel at San Ignacio was very basic, bordering on shabby and the only poor one we stayed in. The gardens were beautiful though. That afternoon we went to the Barton Creek cave and things took another unexpected turn. Freddy had told us we would have a guide in each canoe, but unfortunately that wasn’t the case – we had one between two or three canoes, which meant that some of the group had to paddle, which we did with mixed success. The cave itself was a bit disappointing – we didn’t see much “eerie remains of human bones and artefacts” (as the itinerary puts it), rather just seeing part of one skull perched high up on a rock and a bit of pottery. Half way through we had to turn the canoes around and make our way back, which again proved quite tricky. Unfortunately one of the canoes overturned and two of the group ended up in the water (thankfully it was only around four feet deep at that point, otherwise it could have been a much more serious episode). They took it in good spirits but I feel if we had had a guide in each boat it wouldn’t have happened. Finally we went by coach to Belize City and by high speed boat to San Pedro. Regular readers of the Community forum will know that a couple of us were concerned about the numerous hotel changes to this part of the itinerary but in the end the Banana Beach hotel was fine – the bathroom in my room could have done with refurbishment but it was acceptable. The restaurant there, Il Divino, was very good and we also found another excellent restaurant nearby for our second night (called Hidden Treasure – well worth a visit). Most people get around San Pedro by golf cart but the driving is crazy, so I recommend you get a taxi instead to head up to the town centre.
San Pedro is a real Caribbean town, and although the beach is very narrow, the town itself has a lot of charm. Half the group went snorkelling to Hol Chan and they had a wonderful time – one experienced snorkeller said it was second only to the Galapagos in her experience! Four of us got a taxi to the town for a wander and had a very enjoyable lunch on the beachfront. The next day everything fell apart as we prepared to leave for our transfer back into Mexico – the local agent had gone AWOL and when she finally turned up, it transpired that instead of booking us to take the ferry to Chetumel, we had been booked to return by ferry to Belize City and go overland to our final destination. This added around four hours to an already long travelling day, with the result that we did not get to see the beachfront Mayan ruins at Tulum (which I was very disappointed about, as these were the ruins I had most been looking forward to seeing). Instead we had a mammoth journey to Puerto Morelos and our final hotel. We arrived there around 8.30pm totally wrecked, only to be faced with a complicated check-in procedure! This meant that we had no time at all to freshen up if we were to get to the restaurant in time for our farewell dinner. It was a mad rush, trying to find our rooms in a complex and enormous hotel. We just about made it in time for dinner, at which we made a presentation to Freddy in gratitude for all that he had done for us.
Puerto Morelos add-on
The next morning, the main tour group packed up and headed to the airport, while the seven of us doing the add-on had an excursion to Cozumel island – I had checked with Monty beforehand to find out what was involved on this excursion (and eventually, after several months, the local agents finally responded with some scant information). It was billed as a snorkelling trip, but there was much more to it than that. As I do not snorkel, I was in two minds whether to do the trip, which is why I asked for further information. Another member of the group was in the same position as myself and in the end we both went – and we were very glad we did. The seven of us had a wonderful day. As Freddy was going back with the main tour group, we were met at the hotel by a bus and driver. We did a couple of hotel pick-ups and then transferred by coach to Playa del Carmen (this was the original venue for the add-on, but it was transferred to Puerto Morelos as accommodation couldn’t be secured there). We then took a ferry to Cozumel and those of us on the top deck were treated to a fantastic band who sang well known Spanish songs (like “La Bamba”) and got us all in the party spirit! When we arrived on the island, our guide for the day brought us to the side of the dock where we were met by…a pirate ship!! A beautiful wooden boat, complete with a pirate crew, who took us out to sea once more for three separate snorkels. The crew were great fun and posed for photos in the costumes and got us up dancing! Complementary drinks were served (the margaritas were great!) and those of us who weren’t snorkelling took full advantage! Afterwards we were brought to a restaurant for a great lunch (finally, some good Mexican food!) and we had free time on the island to relax before heading back to the hotel. The next day we took it easy, three of us got a taxi to the town centre (very quiet, with lots of craft and souvenir shops) and had a lazy afternoon. We all met up for drinks and dinner later. We went to a show in the hotel that evening which was entertaining in a “so bad, it’s good” kind of way! Our hotel, the Ocean Coral and Turquesa was superb – intimidating at first as it is so huge, but with a great range of facilities and a brilliant buffet restaurant. It was my first “all inclusive” experience and I really enjoyed it. It was a great way to end a memorable holiday and I’m very glad I did the add-on, rather than having a rushed end to the tour.
So all-in-all, I thoroughly enjoyed this varied tour and I’m glad I did it. Given the problems JY had with the local agents in advance of the tour and the complexities involved while we were on it, I’m not sure whether it will be around for long – so if you have had your eye on it but were waiting for a review, I’d say it is an action packed itinerary to an unusual tourist destination – and go now while you can!! I hope the other forum regulars who were on this tour will add any bits I’ve left out – and of course, I’d be happy to answer any questions you may have. Finally, I’d say this tour is not suitable for anyone with limited mobility and you would need good energy levels to be able to handle it but it was all worth it in the end!!
Best wishes,
Bob
Hi Bob, thanks for such a detailed review. I had planned to do this trip in March this year but serious health problems last year held me back from booking it. I've decided to stick to Europe this year but have been giving serious thought to doing this trip next year. Your review is a great help in making my mind up.
