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 Tuscon - Tapachula 3.476 km. and Tapachula - Yaviza 2.653 km.
 

November 2nd
Temperature +27 till + 33 degrees Celsius

The other three cars arrived yesterday shortly after us and our reunion was completed! Today we had to be in Acapulco in time in order to enable Erwin "Yellow banana" to catch his plane back home. The roads were two-lane all the time and we had to struggle our way through numerous little places alongside our route. There were lots of "Topes" (concrete bumps across the road) each time we approached an area with pedestrians. These topes are very efficient for the pedestrians, because they are that high that each time one is forced to an almost complete stop. Sometimes we missed the signs and our cars got almost airborne then and our luggage was traveling its own way through our cars. Funny, but I'm sure not highly appreciated by the tyres and suspension of our cars. We had to pass a large military colonne and we all cut through it which very exciting manoevres that can be seen later on our video. One of our cars has two cameras fixed on the dashboard and video-recording equipment in stalled. Most of the times the cameras are running, so imagine how many tapes we already have shot! In time we reached Acapulco and we delivered our "Yellow banana" In Acapulco, the pearl of the Mexican Pacific coast we found Brisas, a beautiful leading hotel of the world and we all got luxury rooms with private pools. Quite a possitive shock after the truckers treatments we had experienced the past few days. Good food, good wine and last but not least the nightlife you can expect in resorts like this!



Bye Bye Erwin
Bye Bye Erwin
November 3rd
Temperature + 27 till + 32 degrees Celsius

After an excellent night in our comfortable rooms, we faced aday without driving. We had to wait to meet Floiris Kluck, honorair consul of the Netherlands, who was scheduled to fly in at 05.30 pm. Floris will join our group all the way down to Panama and it is expected that his 30 years "Latino-experience" will be of great help in crossing the numerous borders in Central America and in solving unexpected problems. Some of us went out for swimming with the Dolfins, others decided to absorb some sunshine. In the evening we all enyoed listening to the stories about Central America told by Floris. It was decide to leave the next day around noon, to start the real tough part of this region.

Sportsman of the team
Sportsman of the team


November 4th
Temperatuire +32 till +27 degrees Celsius

We managed to get on the road again at 01.00 pm. Today we had two "Rookies", Floris our consul and Jentje an invitee of "Peppi & Kokki". The start of both these rookies was impressive. After 5 km in Acapulco Floris, who was the navigator today, already got lost, but - it has to be mentioned as well - finally he succeeded in pointing all our noses in the good direction. The roads were more crowded than before and became more narrow almost after each curve. After one hour already Floris wanted to stop for a drink, because of his own "Happy Hour". Since we ignored his Happy Hour suggestion, Floris had to repeat his request several times. This made us decide that from now on Floris' nickname was born: Happy Hour. The sun disappeared, so did our discipline once again and the Cayennes were dancing on the curvy route. No time for the driver to close his eyes for a quick moment and to take a nap (!) because curves, long runs, topes and the traffic would punish a moment of weak attention immediately. Never seen so many cadavers of dogs, donkeys and cows alongside the route…..the silent proves of the "war" on these roads. Just before darkness we found our place for the night, Hotel Santa Fe.

Our second rookie, Jent, proved that Murphy's Law was also applicable here in Mexico. In some way he managed to get his Cayenne completely locked with the keys in and the engine still running!!! A local graduate of the C.T.A. (Car Thief Academy) was recommended to us by hotel management and within 15 minutes the expert arrived with his tools. Amazing to whitness how this graduate with just some large flexible iron (breinaalden) succeeded in opening the right front window and to beat with these most primitive tools the advanced high technique of the Cayenne!

Looks like there is still some work to do for the technicians of Porsche!!! Wonder when their spaceship finally will land. After opening the Cayenne the graduate made a quick study of the car, in order to be able to share his new knowledge with other alumni from this C.T.A. Great first impressions from our Rookies. Santa Fe did have champagne and with three bottles of Moet and Veuve Cliquot, Jent bought of further punishment of the group. Our first rain during the trip, heavy tropical, was also a fact and we all enjoyed dinner sitting on Sant Fe's terrace on the beach. At a reasonable time we started sleeping and tomorrow morning we will get up at 05.00 am to leave at 06.00 am, because we want to reach Guatemala City before dark. Quite a challenge. The picture shows the Graduate with his "tools" and our happy rookie Jentje.

Our graduated car thief
Our graduated car thief


November 5th
Temperature +35 till 19 degrees Celsius 982 km

We knew it should be tough today and that was unfortunately completely true! We drove from 07.00 am till 10.00 pm with no stops other than the fuel-ones. The first part of our route through the mountains alongside the Pacific coast offered us narrow roads with lots of sharp curves, holes and of course the famous topes (verkeersdrempels). The Cayennes were feeling at home under these conditions and thanks the PSM (Porsche stability Management) we could drive with high speed. Burning our tyres we managed to stay on the road, though sometimes really at the edge of car and human capacities. Great fun! We had one flat tyre again caused by a piece of stone. One of our cars was stopped by the police, not for violating the law, but for satisfying the private interest of the police officer. Crossing the border with Guatemala went smoothly and thanks to our consul the paperwork was completed in one hour.Despite darkness, lots of vehicles without lights, pedestrians and cattle on the road and heavy rainfall, we decided to reach Guatemala city anyhow. The last three hours were heavy, but we managed to reach our destination where we were welcomed with champagne in the hotel Quinta Real. Again one of the best places in town.

Borderformalities
Borderformalities


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