CENTRAL AMERICA BACKPACKING TRIP | Ep1: Mexico & Belize

[Music] my name is Carl Watson and for the next six weeks I'm gonna be backpacking through Central America super excited to be here because this place is unreal now Central America has a huge backpacking seen every year it attracts countless visitors to experience his beaches jungles reefs volcanoes as well as its vibrant culture and fascinating history all right we have made it to Sekou display Pete's abandoned for over 900 years so I'm going to be traveling by myself starting in Cancun Mexico what we're doing today is gonna check out some the cenotes then I'll be working my way down the Caribbean coast island hopping through Belize five miles of coral reef everybody and then I'll be heading inland across the rainforest mountains of Guatemala this place is insane now I'm gonna show you the complete backpacking experience from the amazing friends you'll make to the often tiring and painful journeys been a long day that we've made it to the hospital finally to the hostels you'll stay at including the good is so beautiful it's almost like a five-star resort the bad pretty grim and it smells like sewage and the ugly i'll sleeping up there and then a couple came in and had sex right up there just there and of course there's the incredible new experiences you'll get to have along the way my team is here to show you guys a good time I'm just gonna go cook some washed fellows in the volcano I'll be right back [Music] right quick geography lesson so this is the Americans this is the continent of North America this is the continent of South America this is the country of the United States of America and this is the region of Central America that I'll be traveling through now Mexico isn't part of Central America but when people talk about traveling through Central America they usually include the south of Mexico especially the Yucatan Peninsula since Cancun is often the easiest and cheapest place to fly to and that's where I'll be starting my trip however this is actually the second time of been to Cancun the first was a couple of years ago let me just rewind a second I work in London as a freelance video editor been doing that for 11 years and a few years ago I started filming my trips whilst as a way just to have something more creative to do have a something fun to let it just give myself a souvenir of the trip and then I started putting them on YouTube but then the YouTube thing started taking off and my sister professional and hobby videos started meeting in the middle so my first paid trip away was to Cancun so a couple of years back I was in my clients office just sitting there editing away and then my boss said to me I'll Carl what are you doing next week and I was like well you've booked me to come and edit here and she went well we need to want to go to Cancun and shoot a promo video for a week would you be interested in doing that I was like what kind of question is that of course I want to want to do that but then she said here's the catch though it's gonna be a bit skanky because we need you to go on film spring break and I was like that sounds amazing [Music] but I wasn't just out there to film the parties the whole point of the video was to show what else there is to do in the region so I got to visit chitin itza one of the seven wonders of the world spent a day hanging out on a limb of humerus then I moved down to Playa del Carmen really fun little town where I got to do a day trip down to a kuma beach and swim with some sea turtles moving on from here I got to check out the coba ruins [Music] then I finished up seen small ruins in the town of Tulum and so now over two years later I'm gonna be heading back out there and this time you know I'm not working for a client I'm just paint this trip out my own pocket like most my trips are and like the majority of normal human beings too so when we find the Cancun and then just heading straight down it alone and basically picking up where I left off [Music] all right what we're doing today is hiring out bikes you're gonna check out some the cenotes so me into your home who's behind the camera right now oh there he is I met Jarrod year ago to Austin Australia and now we've gotten to each other here in Mexico so yeah gonna be a fun day out cenote is a natural sinkhole and we were told at a hostel that is about 2,000 of them around to them so today I'm gonna try and see to the first up being the grand cenote which is one of the most popular ones in the area all right the first thing I'll say of the holiday looks pretty beautiful Instagram boyfriend's already hard at work today god bless him [Music] how does a cop it is absolutely viewed it's just so crystal clear so refreshing okay [Music] what do you think [Applause] [Music] yeah you get down GG fastest freshwater [Music] some engine get down pretty quick when you try to come back up right how you start coming back up like I'm not the top yeah but yeah but I start coming up not realizing like how that can cause the rocks under the surface and after swim out yes it's cool I wanted to say this definitely exceeds expectations just be good but this is unreal [Music] just got a quick interview of the turtle here how's your day at the grand cenote guy cranston our date has been absolutely gorgeous such a beautiful spot it's so refreshing swim through water turtles everywhere fish loving [Music] we're in Snell teen number two not quite as impressive as a grand cenote but you can jump in through his little holes here I'm not doing it Jerome did it though a little bit smacked your leg on the rock how's the action replay this little fruit shakes some ice for your leg yeah finally got some and a banana milkshakes the main and it's so good so refreshing muchas gracias my needles what's your name cool yes this your bar yeah we're beginning with this juice bar yeah assembly we work our butts off here nice and we'll come back in December as well and kill you can die with alcohol or you can kill with juices so the hostel we're staying at is called mammoth home which a few friends had recommend it to me and this place says without a doubt the best hostel breakfast you'll ever taste seriously if they serve this in a cafe in London it would cost more than it does to stay here for the night and like any good hostel get organized there's plenty of days out and activities for you to get involved with alright today we are doing the cenote tour with the hostels we've got a big fan we are lots of drinks just getting [ __ ] up there a lovely day together can be good by staying to them [Music] we're on the hospital day out in the cenote and Yasmina works at hostels going to be on camera to tell us all about it my name is kiss me and I am from Sweden and Morocco and Egypt how I am born or raised in Sweden my mom is Marathi and my dad is no yes my mom is broken sounds out a few drinks alright so today we are at Cecilia family which is clear waters in Mayan and it is one of the newest to notice and I asked statue representative which is a Mayan princess than giving an offering because for the Mayan they had to make an offering to each to not be that they discovered before because they were that the cenotes is connected to the underworld so I asked their men that explained to me about it it's not negative but first mi where the dead resigns and where the spirits are and that the spirit is also part of our world but that we cannot see so for the Mayans and it's very important that all the realities all different senses are in harmony with each other and that will show each other that mutual respect [Music] awesome she's a natural man I'm not sure absolute nacho you'll just fall over again [Music] and show us the supplies known alcoholic drinks okay set up for the day everyone this is an applause the class [Music] what's their plan for this evening even though the hostel was having a flip cup night none of the volunteers there knew how to play it as since Yasmin had kindly shared with me her knowledge of Mayan culture and history is felt only fair for me to reciprocate and share my knowledge of flip cup so good yeah the rule is you have two teams everyone has a glass okay everyone has a shot of beer and basically it's a race between your two teams so if you miss them again and then as soon as he drunk a shot of beer you have to flip it so it lands the other side like that and then it moves on to the next person they take this shot and it's just a race between the two teams easiest game ever way better beer pong just waking up involved more people what we do now drop the beer into the cup like so just a shot that's all we need not getting carried away we start [Music] [Applause] and so that's [ __ ] up the rest of the evening spent playing the standard hostel pre night out games well well [Music] had an awesome time in Tulum it's such a fun town we had such a great group of people at the hospital so it's just a fantastic start to my trip in the morning I was heading to my next stop the small town of Bakalar which is just a simple three-hour bus journey down the coast is good stuff just pull across the border to Belize and so it's basically tiny little place on Lake bacala and so a couple nights here beforehand please Friday because today's Wednesday I think yeah I'm status hostel yak lake house beautiful place and then tomorrow gonna head out and boat on a day tour around the lakes and beautiful spots yeah trips probably starting now having a great time and it's gonna be nice chilly bring him back I woke up to a very windy day that didn't stop us from going out on the boat to see the highlights of Lake back [Music] first stop was cenote Negril at the edge of the cenote the water is just one and a half meters deep and then it steeply drops down to a depth of 180 meters it's like a standard apparently the Mayans used to sacrifice children here I tied stones to their feet and dropping them to the bottom of the cenote something we weren't too keen on re-enacting today [Music] next place he went to wasn't just a good spot to chill out at but was also home to the oldest living things on the planet these rock like structures are called stromatolites they're formed by bacteria the first known organisms to photosynthesis and produce free oxygen they say all right we're now heading across the lagoon to the Pirates canal which as the name suggests was a route used by pirates in the 17th century to raid the town of backlog very warm what are you doing tell us what you're doing say with a beer after a short but sweet and very windy tour you made our way back to the hostel for a chilled afternoon yeah this hospital at Lake House is super nice the rooms are amazing with ourselves big lockers here sturdy bunk beds you don't wake it on up getting it out of bed which is always good but it's nice to show you a good hostel because I think watch me please especially Colca the quality hostels is gonna go down so at this place called mango eat chilli that a summer miss Carmichael has been completely vegan restaurant now I'm not a vegan right in this place you know paper straws these plastic cups aren't plastic made for biodegradable materials that's a good place to go this burger looks absolutely gorgeous there is a gorgeous restaurant and hostel just over there some port right behind this amazing view of the lake back that's a good place to come [Music] well good morning from bacala we decided to get up for sunrise this morning or I say we Jerome decided I forgot and he woke me up which is good of him it's a beautiful chill that morning it's the last comments been here so far it's been so windy last couple of days calmest the Lakers beat yeah it's a bit of a bit of nice chill-out time here actually there's lots more doing back as I've lost for a beat Oz and some temples and all that stuff but it's such a chill out place it's hard to motivate yourself to do anything so I'm glad I got out in the lake yesterday but right now I'm just gonna go for a morning swim [Music] [Applause] [Music] it was great to start the day out with something so relaxing because we had a long travel day ahead of us heading to Key Colker in Belize which means getting a bus to the border town of Chetumal and a water taxi to San Pedro in Belize then another water taxi to Key culture where we should arrive about 6 p.m. tonight stage one taxi to the bus station [Applause] alright stay to the journey you've got our bus tickets jet tonight 40 minutes in there then the next stage attacks it to the ferry terminal all right we have made it to the ferry terminal just go and occupy a taxi you got tickets sorted here and get ourself to Belize [Music] a nice surprise your immigration a 533 pesos as well 20 quid to get out the country all right we're about to pour the 90-minute but at the San Pedro and the sniffer dogs come round when I was about actually to put the bags down and now this day had begun pretty smoothly yeah that's the last word I'd use to describe this poacher now I gotta go through immigration they go back on the boat and two key copra these are the shinny bits of traveling I always always said the worst part about traveling is the actual travelling its how these crappy befo J's all the [ __ ] sort of bureaucracy and the customer stuff sucks the fun out of it just waiting and the scorching hot Sun for immigration made for immigration to forms to fill out - please dollars 50 - a few of the stickers and things but when she met through now we'll get back on our favorite boat all right so they aspirate it stub then it gave us the other place no like yeah just go over that's it uses have a good setup top for the neck concerning something into the video so yeah [Music] [Music] all right we've made it to T colca it's a nice quick sort of sunset cruise for us wind blowing had cleared out sinuses Jenny [Music] manor girl is a day of travel it's been a long day but we've made it to the hostel finally we were pretty starving after the long day so he went straight out to get some food with Cato and Philip who we met on the journey here [Music] okay we're in G kolka the motto for this place is go slow that's exactly what we do it's gonna have four nights here I'm spending an entire week here and so basically we're just to round out for a few days you might go through a snorkeling trip maybe this scuba diving trip as well but today to relax in and then drums take this little burrito stall here in Safari the best burrito yeah that burrito there's a bit different than usual is not yeah so we're gonna get some beers hang out by the split or just just chill out and just go slow [Music] [Applause] kuroh was that [Music] [Applause] it's evening here in Kew Colca and Jerome's chest tube we go to a bar on the corner and apparently the easiest way to get there is in these canoes so we're going to round in these waters which have alligators in we saw a baby alligator there last night so maybe we'll see one today whilst we've gone round hopefully we won't fall in see the butter made it got ourselves a lovely little spot I'd watch the sunset to make sure we clear back before it gets fully taco I was wondering where we're going so these are two Dutch friends who've made --get oh I reckon she's really good accents there's gonna demonstrate them right now okay London accent go okay give us your Australian accent turn on a [ __ ] on the barbie Oh am i right sorry I explained to her last night just how awful they were and she sounds like she's having a stroke but she continues to persist with your amazing accenting the best person ever well done she kinda sounds like Dorian fighting Nemo and she's trying to talk to the whale [Music] [Music] all right morning from the key cold cup come to ice and beans fruit shake started a the chairs today we go and stomping we are looking for a good snorkeling tour so just got on Google found the highest rates not until called caveman Stockman let's we're going out with them all day today and it's gonna be awesome obviously tons of wildlife so yeah that's the plan listen you the caveman then forgive but it's go gotta keep my team is here to show you guys a good thing we're gonna go to six three sites maybe eight different sites hopefully some turtles stingrays manatees awesome how long you been doing his tour I start about maybe six years no but I've been doing the job for about 30 odd years I've been a diet I was you know I stopped at I decided to do my own thing now I was working for a lot of people back in the big toe things have changed nice Eve money's on it all know to show the people I put them it's so boiling some just aren't ya didn't bring a GoPro though I got my call for my goal of the caveman is to make you happy at the end of the day respect they're good people nice somebody [Music] now you see this right here it is a very famous part of the island even though it's not there anyone know what the space between the island is called split who said it first get five points you said up there get three and who didn't get one split itself it was first doubled by the local fishermen to get from the east to the west side of the island if not you're talking about a couple miles around on both sides that's a lot of time a lot of money and a lot of you will so the local fishermen decided you know what let's just dig a small Channel we can get across but within time and all the strong current and the hurricane and not a famous split by the way around is a little bar that's for me and I never celebrate our birthday right we then sped off to our first snorkeling spot of the day coral gardens this is part of the Belize Barrier Reef which has the second largest coral reef system in the world beaten only by the Great Barrier Reef in Australia there's beautiful coral thing when you snorkeling is like if you just go slow and stop moving around then you start spotting all the different picture [Music] that's often oops watch something right I'll give you that one [Music] I'm going for the magnitude manatee now yeah looking for the Manatee they look so far that's all right here on the clear grid here this is where the Manitou animal hang out the brown all out there that's all the korells guys this is the north wall of the channel no luck spotting a manatee we moved on to our next north of site a sunken barge this barge has been sitting people for over 30 years guys has a lot of coral formations a lot of different types of corals this part was heading over to San Pedro gets too much water coming in cars as far she's saying nobody died a lot of the fishes you find them inside of the barge or underneath for around the body very difficult dr. paling doing that it wasn't a big enough gap really hope you guys weren't expecting the Titanic guys were just a hollow big iron bull at our next stop after much searching from the guides we finally came across a manatee drifted right [Music] we then moved on to Hall Chan Marine Park which is one of the most popular spots in the area as it's a natural break in the reef filled with wildlife that will enter swim in between in this area you guys will be getting that guided tour which means myself and Daniel will split the group in half two guys Daniel Andrew was so awesome really looked after us talks a lot about the reef and animals as well it's also a bit of an education on Dora so we'll ask you guys for your full attention all right so every fish in every quarry story told us what it was so we're just looking at pretty things we're learning about as well again like I mentioned earlier we're here to have fun I'm gonna kill anything okay [Music] we had one last spot to visit which was shark alley as the name suggests this was a great place to see lots of nurse sharks till the sharks end pretty sweet too variously they do feed them but I was asked them about the feeding them could see how to write about them feeding the whale sharks the Philippines but apparently it's different here because they're still go off and get their own food and travel around they don't just rely on the food from the boats here but I don't know I don't know [Music] I just got back from the day of snorkeling such a brilliant day out and we're so lucky were the wildlife so everything wanted to see sharks manatees turtles walk crystal-clear the call was amazing it was a busy day we've got a lot of packed in really really really great day so yeah I appreciate you guys hard-won long nice all right showed you the hostel at yak lake house that was a nice hostel this is more of an average one rooms a pretty classic their beds are pretty standard they're all right but the toilets let me show you this pretty grim and then the shower like [ __ ] it smells [ __ ] it smells like sewage pretty rough shower but it's still a very good hustle they got free breakfast every morning free rum and punch every evening gets everyone together good social atmosphere and that's main thing you want so you know we're on the island you can't expect luxury and you know it does the job where you come here in low season you're gonna get your tropical storm I'm pretty hot comes in you gotta yep shelter first time it'll be fine you like and then I see my truck was tall mrs. huger over very quickly like it England we get through school my home pain all year whilst here just gets out ten billion dollars every night but tonight love tonight one these [Music] I'm running up great and it's delicious it's fresh now the same Hannibal's get it dog at a table [Music] just like in the battle but we'll get there in about half an hour three rubbin punch so food free drinks [Music] we get to go outside pretty much every evening on the island would start with sunset drinks at the split then we'd come back to the hostel for the cheap meal and free rum then everyone heads to the sports bar which is open till midnight if you want to keep going after that there's always the reggae bar that stays open even later but doing this night after night can take its toll so after spending an entire week on the island I was ready to move on alright so today I'm finally leaving key Colca heading out a three day boat tour with ragamuffin tours the boat tour will be taken as south cruising along the Belize Barrier Reef staying on to private islands and then finishing up in a town of Dan griga very excited to be moving on new group of people or new place refresh freestyle [Music] the second largest system in the world do with enthusiasm you know everybody so if you don't know where you are you're still yourself via four eight tons of fish so little stingrays well which is great and then just to get back to the boat everyone in Manatee thousand won that one to does three of them and like there's two swing errors came around that's why I'm sorry after Burma and I was right and then they all just turned around so I just stopped and they swam right underneath me magical moment match the mo humanity so that was awesome those are some big big ones those are like the biggest ones I've ever seen but we see these guys every week in key Kaka but like third time for me seeing them [Laughter] [Music] he kept cruising along by the reef towards the key we were staying on tonight but we still weren't actually sure what the difference between an island and a key was their boat surrounded by water an island is higher in altitude made from that volcanic situation a key is lower in altitude and always made of coral sand horses are Alan Milliken and Jerry Gough ski the ski well it used to be an old cemetery now it's just a spot first day visitors and overnight visitors as ourselves coming to believe what it is a natural phenomenon noticing the Sun build up itself there as the Sun began to set you were served up some ceviche which was freshly made from the lobster than one of the guides caught on our snorkel this morning hooked up fresh chefs at work amazing washing up video the sponge what hour is it it's happy hour on the boat if you don't know where you are you're still in believe probably car damage to the win last place to head tonight from the hot tiny private little island before we arrived in our private island or should say private key for the night captain Jerry wanting to see who was at pour the hot sauce challenge [Applause] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] all right just parked up on the boat this is our island for night rendezvous key private island all to ourselves we're literally in paradise set up our tent this is us for tonight there's no one else here just our group we're basically in the middle of the Caribbean sleeping right on the reef having the most continuous reef system in the world the current pushes sediment and Sun down this way so the key that we're going to sleep on sits just on top of the reef [Music] amazing perfect beautiful spot and I think these next three days are not going in the apse of the awesome has been a great start today so super excited to be here because this place is unreal [Music] to present dinner come on over guys mess in uniform captain Jerry for dinner we have some generalized land a chicken a big snapper rockfish coconut curry shrimp potatoes colors [Music] well good morning from paradise what a place this is to work away had a really good night's sleep virtually look forward to another awesome day of sailing snorkeling but yeah a lot of this Holly so FAR's felt like i'm like a beach holiday but now it feels like the adventures begun because you wake up an island like this pretty tough special our second day of the tour just carried on like yesterday it cruisin along side the Barrier Reef just relaxing soaking up the Sun stopping to go snorkeling having a few drinks and just loving life the fun shell that they're just sailing snow taking it easy before star heading into the jungles of Guatemala the guides also managed to catch us a few fish for us to eat tonight don't worry guys we got two more stuff I will get into the spearing stuff with you guys I am alright you want to be in the video talk to me Jerry you're fabulous really enjoying this trip the xylophone everyone has a very sound for young Cobra fish for healthy nice I'm working you want in life she rides so everyone in life we are just approaching tobacco island and this is a place where we can stock up on some supplies for the evening we go to Dragon Island to hold it why not to back up where we go to rocket tonight yeah yeah this is basically what we're doing we're just kind of sailing through paradise take it easy prions maybe this rum and coke and he's Irish so you can guess the strength of it yeah oh yeah life's good my pregame okay tobacco island we're gonna explore it that's one end in the island I see other one okay watch this oh yeah it's Graham boyfriend what's those trials part two last night it went pretty well no I don't like spicy food so go try it again tonight with a different look so no no but her up Billy's hot sauce so we represent the insult of hot mama hot mamas because your mama's hot sauce I think the emoji soup was a fun thing [Applause] sure system all right before you have it sent among sea hold on Amiga I have to drag the boat at the same time we don't excuses one more from my home is home in fur color you don't have many homies gone hot mama is one on one [Music] [Applause] tonight we're sleeping between the reef and the Maya mountain everybody we got Esteban with the caretaker of the island alright we've arrived at Island number two we've been to other eyes but the second island were staying on which is ragga key this is where we're gonna be for two night it's a bit different it's one we're not camping we actually got dorm rooms they got solar-powered showers and even electricity so in terms of these three days I guess this is luxury we've got a really great mod the cruise fantastic cruise been awesome and the group's really starting to gel we've got a fantastic group here we've had two brilliant days of sailing around just hanging out snorkeling was it like having a dorm room above the sea he's not the guy that's is filming sorry all the fish we cooked today is barbecuing over there we got dining in this alone but you guys are a nice cool man all right good morning from ragged islands and played big nightly last night chef cooked some massive feast which spoiled mostly my support the food's been insane Chris the guys and I knocked out of park it was Sam's birthday drinks when I'm pretty late that's our last day today so we're gonna get back on the boat couple more snorkel slides and then yeah about half three we'll be heading back to mainland and it's also captain Jerry's birthday today what day is it today Jerry today is a very special day [Music] [Applause] so this is a final snorkeling spot at all and it looks absolutely perfect the color of this water is been safe some bluest water ever seen and a go for a swim right now this has definitely been the best bit from my trip so far rest has been fantastic but this has felt like a real adventure i'ma join freedom of it just have enjoying the clean away from everything amazing been underwater seeing the wildlife seen the beauty the coral the fishes and sitting outside of nature [Music] this trip cost a bit of money but this is exactly what one it has been worth every dollar cuz it's just sailing through paradise having the best time doesn't get much better than this [Music] every time I film this one wants to get involved what are you gonna say what are you gonna save yourself super set I don't went to me it was just a 30 minute water taxi back to the mainland and then from here a few of us head down to the small beach village of Hopkins it was a beautiful little place but a little bit dead this time of year plus the one thing that I wanted to do which was see the bioluminescence in the caves wasn't actually open in rainy season which I probably should have researched beforehand so now it was time for a change of scenery as I leave the beaches behind and head inland towards Guatemala Guatemala it's one of those mountains those volcanoes those jungles and experience nature for a different angle today we've hired up these two Jeeps we go on the road trips the biggest mine ruin in Belize wow that is impressive all right border crossing day it's been pretty painless so far the drives in it done we're nearly there find out what you got full flat rear tire all right what's the first days look champagne it's mom didn't reform toward this area with the hustle but my first day ie to get a tune yesterday I got ill so I've just been in bed for the last 24 hours I can't stay here I want to go see some of the seven bottom wall yeah I'm curious what's gonna happen x2 this trip [Music]

Channel: Karl Watson: Travel Documentaries

Views: 231,410

Keywords: adventure, backpacking, belize travel video, belize travel vlog, central america backpacking, central america travel, central america travel video, central america travel vlog, central america trip, karl watson, karl watson travel documentaries, mexico travel video, mexico travel vlog, solo backpacking, solo travel, solo travel central america, travel, travel central america, travel documentary, belize travel, mexico travel

Id: ix3HzPW2aTY

Length: 49min 19sec (2959 seconds)

Published: Fri Dec 14 2018