He seemed confident that I was harmless and with that he waved us on and said goodbye, with a warning for us to keep a vigilant eye out for the suspects. The policeman eyed me up and down, as if looking to see whether I had any tattoos. Personally I couldn’t see the resemblance. “You look like this one.” He pointed at one particularly nasty-looking criminal with a facial tattoo. The policeman pulled out his smartphone and scrolled through some pictures. “This Englishman looks suspicious, I agree. He’d won the fella over in 10 seconds flat.Ī post shared by Levison Wood on at 6:37am PDTĪlberto laughed.

I felt sorry for him and so I couldn’t say no.”Īt that the policeman burst out laughing.

This mad Englishman has decided to walk in the midday sun and is making me go with him.

We’re a bit lost, you see, we’re trying to get to Belize with this rusty old tricycle. He did it with a charm and measured skill that I found impressive and reassuring. Luckily Alberto had noticed and turned around to come and save the day. I figured that he’d know the distance to the next country and it was something he could visualise, rather than confusing him with the concept of a 1,800-mile journey from Mexico to Colombia. People generally think you’re mad or stupid if you tell them you’re crossing an entire land mass on foot. I’d learnt from my years of expeditioning that it’s best to not give too much away. Alberto was some way ahead and the policeman got out with his hand firmly gripping a black pistol. One day, as we were pushing “the beast” down the main highway between Teabo and Xaya, a police car pulled over behind us with its lights flashing. If we spoke to anyone, they’d usually assume that our car had broken down and we needed help.ġ4 incredible Maya ruins you must see in your lifetime As we trundled through the remote villages and past the isolated farms of central Yucatan we were usually greeted with a curious wave or a grunt of disbelief.

There we were, two men plastered in sun cream and wearing Indiana Jones hats, walking down the road in the heat of the day. I suppose we must have looked like a right pair of oddballs. “Except we’re going in the wrong direction,” I said. Walking in the heat, pushing their bags like this.” He was clearly enjoying himself on the downhill as I jogged on behind. “After the train that takes all the illegal immigrants to America.” “I’m going to call it the beast,” said Alberto as he rolled down a slope, the wheels of our tricycle cum luggage carrier creaking as they wobbled. This extract from his new book gives a flavour of the adventures he encountered along the way In his latest challenge, the explorer Levison Wood journeys on foot through Central America.

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