When Alex and Michel enter the Toyota offices, many employees think something is wrong, we can see it in their looks. The manager and a number of other people in charge are present in the small office and that is surprising or is it attempted intimidation, who knows. Alex has been well briefed and the agreement is that Michel will not communicate directly with those responsible. After a half-hour conversation, no reproaches made, the workshop manager and the mechanic start working diligently to draw up an order list of the necessary parts for the gearbox. Then Michel has to place the order, via Luc in Merelbeke, in Dubai where Luc has connections from his former professional life. Together with the man who took over his business, the order is finalized. We now have to wait for our Dutch friend who will not return to work until 3 January.

On New Year’s Eve at 5 o’clock in the afternoon, we see how the transition of the year is going in Belgium via VRT Max. On January 2, we risk contacting Frans anyway and it works. Frans cannot deliver all the pieces, which makes us curse, but he does make a number list of the necessary pieces, without Frans we would be lost, which we will also order in Dubai. To reduce the price, the first order will be temporarily cancelled and the 2 orders will be shipped together. To relax a bit we rent a small Chevrolet for 2 days to do a few trips, we really want to see the sea at Paraiso.

After a trip of almost 2 hours we reach the coast and the disappointment is great when we see the torches of the oil refineries. We quickly have to come up with a plan B and so we end up at a fantastic lagoon with restaurants and a wonderful view. We pay 6 € for 20 oysters and they taste delicious. The fried pulpo and sea bass are also quite tasty and for dessert we want to see the sea. Not an easy task, the coast has been taken over by the oil industry, but a few kilometers further we can access a beach. The sea, dark and not blue, is not too rough and we take a small dip, to feel the water is very invigorating, never mind the fine black sand and the washed up kelp. We reach the loft before it is completely dark after a journey of 259 kilometers. The next morning we get up early and drive along a good road, lined by huge banana plantations, to Pueblo Magico Tapijulapa, a picturesque Mexican village, the white houses are beautifully decorated with lanterns.

Our next stop is a fantastic waterfall and then we drive to a balneario in the hope of swimming or at least paddling. After our meal and some exploration of the site, however, there is no time left for paddling, because we want to be home before dark. That night we are both plagued by food poisoning, Sunday we spend most of our time sleeping and hardly eat anything. The next few days are filled with visits to a shopping center, where there are also sales and three interesting museums. Roos learns a lot about the recent history in the museo de historia and about pre-Hispanic cultures in the museo antropologica and also about the noble art of growing and processing cocoa, something the Mayas were very skilled in.

Cocoa beans were more valuable to them than gold, only the elite were allowed to savour cocoa drinks.

The shipment of the parts is slowing down, there are problems at the border of Oman. Fortunately, we can use Alex’s car for a few days and we take a trip to the wetlands of Centla, a vast nature reserve where we make a nice boat trip on the river Grijalba and sail through an impressive red mangrove.

We see dozens of huge elegant black herons, cormorants and other water birds. The crocodiles are there but remain hidden under the surface of the water. We do see a sleeping crocodile along the hiking trail. The next day we drive to a recreation resort, But that is disappointing, it is neglected and there are no pumps to keep the pool water clean. We do not stay long.

A new week begins on January 15th and we still have no idea what the near future will bring.

Tomorrow the delivery could be in Dubai, but due to all the troubles in the region, we are not reassured.