The Guatemalan Chronicles - Day 1

Departed for Fredericton Airport from my place at 4AM. It was -14°C, i.e., colder than a witch's tit. Check-in went smooth at YFC, as always, and we departed for Toronto about fifteen minutes late...as always.

Tense moments at YYZ; we landed and spent almost a full thirty minutes waiting for a gate. I only had about an hour to make my connection. Add it up: fifteen minutes late for departing + 30 minutes waiting for a gate + 10 minutes of shenanigans of getting off the plane = one sprinting Mat.

But I made the flight to Mexico City. And surprisingly, so did my bag.

After clearing customs in MEX, I had four hours or so to kill until my flight to Guatemala City. I celebrated the 24°C weather by sitting outside for most of that time. Terminal 2 at MEX is pretty damn nice. 

Outside MEX Terminal-2

I also indulged in the traditional Mexican cuisine of "greasy pizza by the slice in the food court" and an ice-cold Coca.

Soon enough it was time to head through security & to board the plane. This part wasn't overly fun. 

As usual, I was traveling with my four-piece rods & reels in my Orvis rod case. It's never been questioned that it's a carry-on; however, sometimes I tell a fib to the airline agents & say it's a clarinet because they never have an issue with a classical musician, but sometimes look funny at an angler. 

I'm headed through security with the rod case and, of course, they need to look at it. They make me take all the rods out of the socks, one at a time, to look at them up close. After a few questions and some more glancing, they let me go through.

BUT...then this Mexican hobbit of a woman in a security uniform runs up to me at the gate, a solid five minutes after the fact, and proceeds to tell me I can't bring my rod case on the plane. I politely tell her she's wrong (this doesn't go over well) and I had carried the same case through security in Cancun last month. No dice. Back to the security checkpoint I go.

The argument escalates when I ask them to either show me their regulations (I can't read Spanish, so not sure where I was heading with that) or to speak to a supervisor, i.e., the person who let me through the first time. They give me zilch. 

So back to the airline counter, where I threw $20 US to the shrink-wrap dude to wrap my rod case up solidly, and I hoped for the best. Back through security and onto the plane...and we're off.

I always seem to snap pictures from the plane. I don't know why, but I do. This trip was no different.

Mexican Marines

Random snow-capped volcano

Clouds

Sunset over the Pacific

Customs & immigration in Guatemala was a piece of cake; they had separate lines for residents and foreigners...and only 7 of us gringo-types were on that flight. A few cursory questions, passport stamped, and I made it to Guatemala!

My bags were quickly picked up (rod case intact, too), and then I was off to my hostel for the night.

Jon & Salty were picking me up early to head to the coast, plus the long day wiped me out. I'm typically a laissez-faire traveler, because I know how anything to do with air travel is more likely than not to get fucked up...but I found the Toronto sprint and the Mexican carry-on argument pretty annoying & tiring.

I was asleep by 9PM. Delightful.

Next up: Day 2, starring a missing Salty and The Puma...