Mainland Mexico & Yucatán Peninsula

High mountains, pristine beaches, humid jungles and ancient temples. Mainland Mexico did not disappoint and we were eager to explore more of this massive country. After spending 5 weeks in Baja, we decided to skip the Pacific side and head further inland and drive towards the Gulf of Mexico. In this update, we drive from Sinaloa state to the Gulf of Mexico, which we followed to Belize.

What's in this update

• Crossing the mainland
• Welcome to the jungle
• The Yucatán Peninsula: we found wildlife again
• What's next?!

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Crossing the mainland

We jumped on a cargo ferry to Mazatlán and 16 hours later we found ourselves driving in the state of Sinaloa. Since a violent cartel war was going on in this state, we decided to make the most of our afternoon and drive South towards the calmer state of Nayarit. 

We hadn't left Mazatlán and within 10 minutes the first police car was tailing us and forcing us to stop. We had heard about the local cops, who stop cars with foreign plates to try to earn some extra money for themselves. We stopped our car at a narrow part of the highway and watched them walk towards us with their sunglasses and massive machine guns. Luckily, they weren’t really corrupt and after some small talk let us go. We continued our drive towards the city of Tepic and were amazed by the beauty of Sinaloa along the route. The mountains and tropical feel reminded us of some parts of Thailand. We never expected to see this kind of tropical landscape so far North.

The next morning, we continued to a place that was on our list for some time: the town of Tequila! We found a farm where we could stay for the night and had a tour through the agave fields, where we learned everything about the steps involved in the making of Tequila. After trying their four types of Tequila, we went back to our car to get some sleep. However… we quickly learned that sleeping isn’t prioritized in Mexico. For the third night in a row, we had one mediocre singer making a party for himself till deep into the night; and in Mexico they know how to party!

We got a tour on the Tequila farm of José

A lucky find: camping next to hummingbirds

The next morning we continued on the highway heading towards the Gulf of Mexico. Although there are plenty of things to see, we had to cross quite a few of ‘do not travel advisory’ regions and had noticed a very strong military presence in those areas. At times, we were overtaking 30 military trucks full of military. We also got 'the looks' by the locals when we were driving on some backroads in the 'do not travel' regions, which made us decide to move to calmer regions. We drove around 5-6 hours a day and stayed at some interesting locations relatively close to the highway. Unintentionally, we camped next to a beautiful garden full of hummingbirds and we drove into the mountains to enjoy some hot springs in the fresh mountain air. We were tempted to drive into Mexico City, but after having sleepless nights with people singing again, we decided to explore the jungle and search for its wildlife in the more remote corners of Mexico. 

Beautiful temples at El Tajín

The old colonial town of Tlacotalpan

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Welcome to the jungle

This was a big shock.. to our system and to the car. We drove from the cool and dry mountainous central part towards the humid and warm jungle at sea level in only an hour. The temperature rose from 25 degrees C to 36, with humidity jumping from 60% to a crazy 90%. We better get used to this, as it will be reality for the next few months when driving through Central America!

One of our first stops was the beautiful Mayan temple El Tajín, where we also had to pay entrance fee's for our camera's. That was something new.. Visiting on a Monday morning, we found ourselves alone in this beautiful site. We continued to the old Colonial village of Tlacotalpan, where we got introduced to the tropical rains. Soon after, we visited the famous Mayan complex of Palenque. We spotted howler monkeys and plenty of tropical birds, but with humidity levels nearing 90% and the intense heat made it quite unpleasant so it was time for some days relaxing at the Gulf of Mexico!

A ringed kingfisher & an endless jungle

Exploring the jungle tracks

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The Yucatán Peninsula; we found wildlife again

The Yucatán peninsula is known for being touristy with its luxury resorts, but this is only the small stretch between Cancún and Tulum. We did a complete loop following the coastline and were surprised by the large differences in people and development. Outside of the touristy areas, the peninsula is actually quite underdeveloped. This meant we got introduced to another side of Mexico; lots of garbage and the life of animals isn’t worth much. We found plastic literally everywhere; from the beaches, swamps, lagoons, etc.. Every little town had created its own garbage dump place, which was in either a lake or in a ditch next to the road. The only official garbage dump we saw was 10 meters away from the start of a bioreserve, which trash could freely travel with the wind into the lagoons. A sad thing to see. 

A raccoon looking for food near the old fishermen's ships

Beautiful but bumpy: also known as the 'worst road of Mexico'.

Nevertheless, we found some beautiful natural places with a healthy amount of wild- and birdlife. We felt comfortable enough to wild camp again - which we decided was not worth the risk in the rest of mainland Mexico - and it felt so nice. Just nature and its sounds, and apart from all the beautiful wildlife, no-one around. That had been a long time!

Our final days in Mexico were spent at the beach and near some crystal clear lagoons. As stories about our next country were all over the place, we had no idea what to expect and decided to relax a bit before we enter our first Central American country: Belize.

Enjoying a few days at the Caribbean sea

Watching pelicans crash into the ocean from our camp spot

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What's next?

Belize & Guatemala, where we get our first impressions of Central America. Tropical jungles, smoking volcanos, stunning tropical beaches and we visit one of the largest ancient Mayan settlements: Tikal. We can't wait to share our adventures of these beautiful countries with you!

Until the next!