Well, we arrived late last night at about 10pm. Amazingly the flights went as planned and not a single problem along the way. Even the taxi journey from the airport went well. The first hotel we tryed being full was the only hicup and after only a couple more minutes searching we found a pretty nice place with aircon of sorts and collapsed into bed.
Today had a lazy start and an even lazier middle as Fi is suffering in the heat so we have sought out the air conditioning of an internet cafe in a shopping mall.
Going to have a couple of days here in Panama City, which seems fairly nice, and then hopefully take a look at the "Big Ditch".
16th of April 2006
Panama City, Panama
So we´re still here. A relaxing couple of days to begin with pottering round the City. Ambled over to the old city, (thats just the old city, not the old old city which we should be going to see today). Was a bit of a mixture of beautiful fixed up colonial buildings amongst decaying ruins and slums, very wierd. Managed to talk our way past the guard of the Presidential Palace so got to wander up to the front and have a peek in at the collection of herons, bit like a tropical tower of London!
Nice sunset over the City that evening and after eating and being denied alcohol cos it was Good Friday we stumbled out into the street to find the Good Friday procession in full swing. thousands of people from the churches in the City dressed up representing numerous parts of the Bible.
Next morning was an early start (I reckon we might be using ´that´phrase quite a bit again!) as we headed to Flamenco Island Marina to catch our boat the Pacific Queen. The day was then spent sailing down the Panama Canal feeling like a little dot amongst all the huge container ships. Quite an interseting experience being raised and lowered in the series of locks and travelling from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic in the space of 8 hours. Was strange to see the little islands in Gatun Lake that used to be mountain tops before they flooded half the country in order to have enough water to supply the locks. Quite a sacrifice but seeing as the canal cleared a 1 billion dollar profit for the country last year I think they´ve come to terms with it.
Planning to head North tomorrow (if any buses are running on Easter Monday) to Bocas del Toro in search of tropical beaches and poison arrow frogs. Will let you know how it goes soon.
21st of April 2006
Puerto Limon, Costa Rica
The last few days have been nice and chilled, as if you'd expect any thing less from us. Caught a bus out of the City and headed North to the town of David. Twas a 7 hour journey so arrived just as it was getting dark. Seeing as I'd picked the place in Panama City, Fi was going to pick the next place we stayed. Decided on somewhere at random and got dropped at the door by the cab driver. FI takes a quick look round the place while I wait with the bags and soon she returns giving the thumbs up. ''it's half the price of the last place we stayed'' she exclaims, I soon discover why. The room is basically a wooden box, the internal temperature of which is the same as your average kitchen oven, with the noisiest fan in history and some sort of bouncy trampoline trying to disguuise itself as a bed. Thats the last time she gets to pick the room! Still it was a place to lay our heads and once we got rid of the cockroaches it wasn't too bad. Venturing out we found a nice little bar tucked away in the backstreets and had a couple of beers along with possibly the biggest plate of noodles I've ever seen, took both of us to finish it off.
Next morning saw another bus journey heading across the country this time, taking us up and over the mountains of the continental divide. After dropping down to the Atlantic coast we hopped on a water taxi and headed for the town of Bocas del Toro in the archipeligo of the same name. It's a small group of mangrove fringed islands with the houses of the main town standing on wooden stilts at the waters edge. Took a boat tour yesterday calling at a number of different places round the islands; 1) Dolphin Bay delivered what it promised and it was pretty cool watching the dolphins jump and play in the wake of the speedboat as we sped round and round in circles. 2) Coral Cay, again, exactly what it says on the tin. Plenty of time spent snorkelling amongst hundreds of fishes and beautiful, brightly coloured coral. 3) Red Frog Beach, this is where things went south, not a single frog to be seen. We did see a dog though, maybe the sign-writer misheard or something. Anyway the dog seemed to enjoy the leftovers from our lunch. Then after calling in at another bar overhanging the water for a couple of afternoon cervezas we headed back to the hotel to find that we had no water. Excellent, I was really looking forward to spending the evening covered in sand, which was good cos thats what we had to do. After waiting a couple of hours and still no sign of water we headed out for some alcohol therapy and meeting up with a couple of americans, Jim and Ken, we drank and ate till we didn't really care that we smelt like a couple of sea lions any more. Yesterday morning we headed to the North of Isla Colon and spent the day on a deserted beach, fringed with palm trees and clear calm waters, and in true British fashion I ended up looking like a tomato! Managed to round off the look by scratching myself to pieces climbing up the palm trees. It did mean we had fresh coconuts to snack on though so was worth the climb.
This morning after a hot and humid nights (non)-sleep we caught a water taxi back to the mainland and with flashbacks to our South American adventure we approached with trepedation our first border crossing of this trip. Everything ran nice and smoothly though and with the help of an 8 year old kid who told us his name was Okey Dokey we found the bus we wanted and soon found ourselves in the town of Puerto Limon. The plan for tomorrow is to head up into the Tortuguero National Park so we´ll see how that goes.
24th of April 2006
San Jose, Costa Rica
In case you were interested; You can catch a boat at Tortuguero and travel along the rivers to Pavona. Then catch a bus to take you to the town of Cariari where you change buses and two hours later you´re in the capital of Costa Rica. Well that´s the route we took but i´m sure it´s not the only way to San Jose! Thank you, thank you, I´m here all week. Come on, who actually didn´t see that one coming.
So we´re now here in San Jose taking a couple of days to chill out by the pool and get ourselves back together after a few early starts and covering some long distances.
Back in Puerto Limon we managed to survive a night in one of the noisiest towns we´ve ever been to. Ridiculously loud busses, clubs, bars, cars driving around with 3ft high speakers strapped to the roof, the whole place was just an assault on the senses.
Anyway, making our escape early the next morning we got to the town of Moin which is a major port on the caribbean coast but is also the entrance to the canals with serve as highways for the smaller villages dotted throughout the Costa Rican rain forest. Finding a boat we headed up through the canals for about four hours spotting birds, monkeys and crocodiles along the way. Arriving in Tortuguero we aquired some accomodation and set about finding info on the main reason for our coming here, the turtle nesting sites on the beach. From June to October this place is crowded with thousands of Green turtles all scrambling up the beach to lay their eggs. This time of year however is usually the Leatherback turtle season. After speaking to the conservationists we discovered that this has not been a good year for Leatherbacks as their numbers are getting less and less. Undetered we arranged a guide and in the middle of the night found ourselves stumbling along the beach in the pitch black. White light torches are not allowed as they confuse the turtles so with only the faint glow from the guides red torch we made our way up the coast stumbling over rocks, driftwood and quite possibly a turtle or two for all I could see. Alas the pesky leatherback managed to evade us once again. We missed you in French Guyana and then again in Costa Rica but one day we´ll get you my friend, one day! Came across a few tracks and some fresh nesting sites so there were turtles around but with 22 miles of protected beach to choose from they timed it well to avoid us. So collapsing into bed tired and aching after walking miles on soft sand we had about a minutes sleep before the alarn went off at 5.30am so we could go on a canoe tour through the waterways. Why these jungle animals can´t keep more sociable hours I´ve no idea. Picking up our paddles and making our way along we had a pretty succesful time of it; birds galore, howler monkeys howling, spider monkeys spidering, caymens, otters and poison arrow frogs. Only thing we missed that we wanted to see was a sloth. Guess they were just too quick for us.
After the trip we packed up our bags and were back on a boat of the motor variety before making our way to San Jose. Have found a nice hostel and we are now trying to decide where to head next. Going to see the Pacific coast at some point and have a few other things we´d like to do, just got to decide in what order. Thankfully the city is at a little bit of altitude so its a bit cooler than what we´ve had to deal with in the last couple of weeks. It´s nice to not be covered in sweat all the time!
27th of April 2006
Santa Elena, Costa Rica
After a couple of days chilling out in San Jose we finally decided on a route and then managed to miss the bus we wanted by 4 minutes. The last bus of the day. So after a slight detour we eventually made it to the town of La Fortuna which was scarily similar to Pucon in Chile. Nice relaxed one-street town, with a comfortable, chilled out hostel. Oh yeah and both of em towered over by a huge active volcano!
The volcano, Arenal, is a bit different to Villarica as it doesn´t have the standard crater style but is constantly errupting through fissures and cracks on its side. Booking onto a tour we walked through the rain forrest to within maybe a mile of the base at which point you could hear rocks (the solidified lava) tumbling down the slope above. Unfortunatly we couldn´t see this as the fecking volcano was covered in cloud. The plan was to wait for darkness where it was hoped we´d be able to see the red lava glowing through the cloud. No problem, we can wait an hour or so. Then it started raining. Then absolutely pissing it down. Damn you South America!!!! Sapping all our luck so we´ve got none for this trip! No turtles, no sloths, no red frogs, no lava, at this rate we´ll be packing up and going home soon.
Abandonning our soggy view point we walked back through the forest and back onto the bus and headed back to town. I think we´ve managed to get used to the driving style here but even so when the driver slammed on the brakes and lurched to the side of the road it did take us a bit by surprise. Before we had time to complain the guide pointed out the silhoette of the volcano to our right where huge rivers of lava were flowing down!!!
Getting out of the bus we stood at the road side (avoiding all the other vehicles screeching to a halt) and watched the light show in amazement as the lava lit up the night sky. With cloud still surrounding the top it was pretty cool the way it glowed a bright red colour, reflecting the lava beneath.
After the excitement we then had the relaxing part, a trip to the hot springs! Three hours lounging in ever increasing temperature pools, although we abstained from the ones at 67 degrees C, I´ve seen what happens to lobsters in the pot.
Once they finally extracted us from the pools we headed back to the hostel happy that our luck seems to be finally changing for the better.
This morning via a couple of bus journeys and a boat trip across the lake beneath the volcano we made it to the town of Santa Elena. The afternoons activity was a trip to a butterfly farm where we got to see a number of the brightly coloured species from the area. There was also a ´bugs and insects´ section with the highlight being a couple of tarantulas which I got hold and Fiona didn´t scream the place down or run 400 miles from, so pretty good all round.
Tomorrow the plan is to take a trip round the rain forest canopy, an update to follow.
2nd of May 2006
Santa Teresa, Costa Rica
Well it´s been a few days but I think I´ve now got about enough strength to type an update. The canopying we did in Santa Elena was fantastic fun. Zipping between trees along cables some of which were nearly a kilometre long and nearly a 100 metres above the ground!!! The highlight of the day had to be the tarzan swing though. Standing on a platform high up in the canopy with a single rope attached to your wiast before launching yourself into space and after skimming the ground arcing up the other side. You then ended up swinging back and forth till the guys decided you´d lost enough momentum whereupon they´d sling another rope round your middle bringing you to a gut rib breaking halt. Was great fun although if anyone is planning to visit the area to see any wildlife in the near future I´m afraid you´re going to be disappointed, Fiona´s scream as she leapt off the platform has scared everything away for a five mile radius.
After returning back to the hostel we set off in the search of sustinance towards the local cheese factory, Fionas choice obviously. After an hour long walk down a hot dusty road we arrived at the factory to find the tour we wanted to go on, along with the free samples had finished for the day. Turning around we trudged back the way we came although we did manage to snag some free samples of Costa Rican coffee along the way.
Back at the hostel after sampling the owners truly lethal moonshine concoction he´d been brewing in milk cartons we spent the evening chatting with a couple of Canadian lads who were staying in the same place. We also had a visit from Tim and Vanessa who´d been on the canopy trip with us. A couple of Americans taking a short break in Costa Rica, they had the forsight to book a 4x4 to get themselves around and realising we were heading in the same direction they very kindly offered us a lift. So next morning instead of having to catch the stupidly early 6am bus we rolled out of bed at 8 and straight into a comfy, air conditioned Suzuki. The trip down from the mountains was fairly straight forward and we made it to the port of Punta Arenas in next to no time. Unfortunatly it still wasn´t early enough as we were presented with a huge queue of cars already infront of us waiting for the ferry. That´ll be why the bus sets off at 6 then! The situation wasn´t helped by the kid who kept trying to talk us out of queuing for the ferry we wanted and buy a ticket on his mates going in the opposite direction. After politely telling him no, firmly telling him no, then angrily telling him to get lost I thought Tim was gonna kick this kids ass when he had the nerve to ask for a tip after all his help. Joining the end of a veeeeeery long line we sat back to wait and see which ferry we would make it onto. It was now half ten, the first ferry was setting off and it would be back again in two hours. Two hours passed surprisingly quickly and we crept forward, though not far enough and we watched another boat sail over the horizon. A slightly longer two hours passed although we did venture out in search of food, before hastily retreating back to the comfort of air-con. Rolling forward again we were getting closer and closer to the ferry ramp. Five cars in front of us, the ferry looking pretty full. Four cars in front, it´s looking fairly packed now. Three cars in front, surely they can´t fit any more on. Apparently they can´t and we watch yet another boat disappear. Still, this meant by half four we were straight onto the boat and settled down for the hour and a half crossing. Fiona´s brain went into overdrive during the trip as we got chatting to a german guy who´d moved out here to build, rennovate and basically make money from property. You could see her eyes gleaming at the thought of how much painting a Costa Rican fixer upper would need!
Back on dry land we jumped back in the car for what the book described as a two hour bone-shaking ride. 45 minutes later we were checking into our hotel in the town of Montezuma, I like how this guy drives! Not able to stretch our budget to match the guys choice of hotel we took the baking hot cabin while they took the air conditioned room. So we were pretty chuffed the next morning when they invited us over to spend the day by their pool. Nestled in the trees, just off the beach this pool with its tumbling waterfall was a little oasis from the stifling heat of the Pacific coast.
Later in the day it was time for us to say our good byes as we would be heading on to the West coast of the peninsuar to continue our travels and they settled down in a tropical paradise to spend their last couple of days relaxing before flying home. Although not before being our personal chauffers one last time and taking us down the road to the next town. They´ve really made me change my impression of yanks (only joking, thanks guys we had a blast).
So after waving them off we tryed to check into the Santa Teresa Spanish and Surf camp for a week of water sports and improving our horrible language skills. Unfortuantly two hours later with night having fallen we were still trying to check in. Giving it up as a bad job we walked up the raod to find alternative accomodation. This presented itself in the form of a brand new hostel run by an Argentinan couple who gave us a room and within half an hour had found us a spanish teacher and a surfing instructor. How´s that for service! So it was with great regret that in the morning after a nice breakfast of jam smothered toast and numerous cups of coffee we packed our bags and left. Nothing wrong with the hostel it´s just that five minutes down the road we found a hotel with a double room, air-con and a pool for 15 dollars a night, which was cheaper than the dorm beds. And two days later this is where we still are thank god. Carrying our bags between three different accommodations in the space of a day, in this heat was beginning to get a bit much to bear!
So what have we been up to the last couple of days you ask. Oh, you didn´t ask, well I´m gonna tell you anyway. To be honest, if you weren´t asking then what are you doing still reading this? Get off the computer and go outside and interact with some real live people. Sorry, I think it´s the heat getting to me. Anyway for the last two days we´ve been exhausting ourselves both mentally and physically. I´ve beeing doing my best impression of a cat in a washing machine during my surf lessons. It´s hard work that paddling lark, I´m used to taking the chair-lift back up once I´ve finished a run! Have managed to catch a few good waves though and over the next few days with a bit of practice hopefully I´ll not look quite so much like the off balance fool I do at the moment. Brah. Fi on the other hand has been staying dry although this is all relative what with the amount of sweat pouring out of her by the end of her yoga classes. After walking a couple of miles up the baking beach she partakes in what can only be described as some sort of masachistic game of twister before stumbling back the two miles to collapse in a heap in the air-conditioned room. To be honest I think I´m better off out there in the spin cycle!
As if thats not enough we then have to both drag ourselves from our slumber and look wide awake for our spanish classes. Quite a lot of "I go", "we go", "he/she goes" which you just about get the hang of before they bring out the list of all the exceptions to the rules. At this point my head pops and I´m ready for bed. Still, with another three days of classes we might be able to hold a conversation by the end of it, or at least ensure the food which turns up in resteraunts is not quite the unexpected surprise it sometimes is.
That´ll do for now, I´ve got to go rest my brain. Like I said, we´ll be here for a few more days until we both collapse from exhaustion and then we´ll start moving North again.
8th of May 2006
Merida, Ometepe Island, Nicaragua.
Well after our holiday within a holiday we've finally hit the road again. It was pretty cool to settle in one place for a while. I guess the Spanish lessons maybe went better than expected as we didn't spend all the lessons in a state of complete confusion. whether our new found knowledge of all the -er, -ir and -or verbs will help us in the real world is yet to be determined! So the surfing then, well if any of you have seen the photos; yes I know the board is big enough to put most ocean going liners to shame. Yes I know it says Ocean Butterfly on it. And yes I know it's pink but remember, Keanu Reeves started out on a pink board in Point Break. So all I need now is a young surfer chick to teach me how to ride for a day and magically I'll become an amazing surfer. No problem. Oh speaking of surfer chicks we were quite impressed to see the amount of girl surfers there are. That was until we sat down on the beach for a while and discovered there are two distint varieties. There are girl surfers and then there are girl surfers. Type A are usually decent surfers out there putting a lot of the lads to shame. Type B you'll see walking along the beach in a teeny tiny bikini with a short board tucked under their arm. They'll sit on the beach for a bit, sunning their bronzed body and contemplating the waves, waiting for their set. They'll then paddle out, oh maybe 15 or 20 metres from the beach, boogie board back in on the tail end of a small wave. Flick their slightly damp hair over their shoulders and then sit back down on the beach again in the hope that some toned surfer dude might spot them and take em out for a drink. Very funny to watch these 'Bettys' as the locals have dubbed them.
As for my surfing well it got slightly better although was restricted slightly due to the swells we were getting. That's ocean swells by the way, not any of my numerous injuries. Oh and I've now discovered why all surfers have these heavily tanned bodies, it's to cover up all the friggin bruises they have from where they've been thumped by the board or dragged along the ocean bottom. Anyway after a couple of good days paddling out and dropping in on some of the medium sized waves I was feeling fairly confident till my attempts to paddle out on the following day. With most of the advanced surfers being able to duck through the bigger waves and me on my long board having to roll through the waves I was losing ground as quickly as I was paddling out. After battling valiantly for a hour and getting nowhere slowly I decided to call it quits and joined the Bettys on the beach. That night in the hostel we got chatting to an American lad who had come down to Costa Rica specifically for the surf who'd also had a fairly unpreductive day, "Although that was down to the 15 foot waves I was having to battle through" he added. Ahhhh, so that would be why me and HMS Ocean Butterfly were not having a good time of it. Oh yeah, and in case any of you were wondering, after standing on a bee on the beach, the resulting hugely swollen and throbbing foot will not improve your balance on a surfboard in any way!
So all in all we had a pretty cool time of it in Santa Teresa and boarding the bus at 7am on Sunday morning we were quite sad to leave the place. After spending the night in Liberia in the north we finally said goodbye to Costa Rica and crossed over into Nicaragua, pausing momentarily to get skanked by the money changer at the border.
After a very bumpy and dusty two hour minibus ride we've made it to the town of Merida on Ometepe Island in the middle of Lake Nicaragua. Going to be here for a couple of days riding horses and paddling kayaks, basically anything that's going help me from looking like such a floundering fool the next time I try and paddle a surfboard!
13th of May 2006
Leon, Nicaragua.
So Ometepe Island then. Probably one of Nicaragua´s most popular destinations due to all the travellers coming here to climb the magnificant Volcan Concepcion. A perfect cone of a volcano which on a clear day you can see both the Pacific and Caribbean from the top. So how was the view, not a clue, far too damn hot for climbing bloody mountains. Instead we spent a couple of days swimming in the lake, lounging in hammocks and refreshing ourselves underneath waterfalls. Well that was once we´d found the waterfall after a couple of hours on a bumpy horse (I swear the suspension was knackered on mine) and then a half hour hike which turned into an hours hike and half an hours climb due to a slight wrong turn. We were in desperate need of the cooling waterfall shower by the time we got there!
After cantering back on the horses (I had to wait a couple of times for Fi to catch up but I´m sure she´ll get the hang of this riding lark with a bit of practice) we spent the rest of the day relaxing by the lake.
Next morning, along with about half a dozen others from the hacienda we had stayed in, we were given a guided tour of the Island. Lowlights included; the coffee plantation which had no visable coffee plants, the petroglyphs (ancient stone carvings) which at a rough guess I´d say were done circa last tuesday by an 8 year old girl, a scrappy looking beach, in fact by the time we´d got to the green lagoon me and Fi opted to save the entrance fee and spend it on ice cream instead. Judging by the reaction of the others to the "brown pond" we chose wisely!
The one decent thing about the trip, besides it working out cheaper than getting the bus or a cab back to the port where we were dropped at the end of the day, was the trip to the ojo de agua or eye of water. We were not holding out much hope after the previous attractions but we paid our dollar and set out across the cow field. Thankfully a pleasent surprise awaited us in the form of ice cold, crystal clear waters in the shade of palm trees. Once we´d cooled down for a bit it was time to warm up again as we all took turns launching ourselves like tarzan on a rope swing before splashing down into the water.
After catching the boat back to the mainland we all went our seperate ways so that by nightfall it was just me and Fi arriving in a rain soaked Granada. By morning the sun was out again so we got to explore probably the prettiest town in Nicaragua. Loads of beautiful, colourful colonial houses, all with their little hidden courtyards. A bit of a contrast to the town of Masaya where we arrived next. The artesania market was quite nice to amble round but as we learnt in south america, artesania translates as "expensive tat". In search of a bargain we headed away from the tourist area and came across little workshops where people were actually weaving the hammocks and chairs. Was good fun wandering in and out of all the studios chatting to the craftsmen and seeing all the slightly different variations. Needless to say I´m now carrying about another 5 kilograms strapped to the outside of my pack. She couldn´t have picked one of the painted feathers as a souvenir, oh no, she had to go with the 20 square foot of weaving complete with 5 foot poles at either end. Cheers Fi.
That night we decided to attend the local Thursday night fiesta which turned out to be almost as big as disappointment as the petroglyphs. I´ve never heard John Lennon´s ´Imagine´ butchered quite so badly before, but give a 12 year old a trombone and I guess that is what´s going to happen.
Next morning we caught the bus to Lago de Apoyo, according to the guide book ´a volcanic crater filled with crystal clear waters, perfect for swimming in or relaxing by´. We really need to stop taking the guidebook seriously! Admittedly from the top of the crater where the bus dropped us the lagoon did look pretty nice. By the time we´d walked the couple of miles down to the waters edge (along with the bloody hammock strapped to my back) we were in desperate need of cooling off so donning swiming costumes me jumped into what turned out to be warm, slightly murky water with brown rocks floating in it. Well they looked like floating brown rocks and yes we know rocks don´t float but we weren´t going to get any closer to check em out.
A little disappointed we decided the trip was worthwhile after all when the evening came and we sat beside the lagoon with an ice cold beer watching the full moon reflecting in the water.
Then this morning after a nice fruit breakfast (along with the compulsory rice and beans) we set off what we were expecting to be a pretty complicated route of numerous bus journeys and taxi journeys across cities. Thankfully everything went smoothly due to the help of a couple of Nicaraguan clowns. I´m not being disparaging here, they literally were a couple of clowns with faces painted, baggy pants and everything. Thankfully they were heading in the same direction we were so we could follow them from bus to bus. Now Nicaraguan bus terminals are a bit of a zoo at the best of times but it´s fairly easy to keep track of the guy with the blue hair and his mate in a polka dot hat.
So now here we are in the town of Leon in the north of Nicaragua. Mission Impossible 3 and the cinema´s air-con was a nice distraction from the midday heat but tomorrow I think we´ll be back on the road again, heading towards Honduras.
23rd of May 2006
Utila, The Bay Islands, Honduras.
Another update, another country. The last week has been a bit of a mixture. It began with us moving pretty fast and covering the full height of Honduras by bus, but the last few days have been spent on the Caribbean Island of Utila so have been fairly chilled. But back to the start. From Leon it looked like a nice short hop to the border with Honduras, how wrong we were. With Minja, a Finnish girl we ended up travelling with and a real live moomin (they're not as scary in real life), we boarded numerous rickety looking buses for some very slow, bumpy journeys before eventually making it to the town of Ocotal in the very North of Nicaragua by early evening. Despite the ticket touts at the bus station assuring us the border would still be open if we paid them money and got on their bus right now, we had our doubts and instead plumped for a comfy bed for the night. Taking a wander into town in search of food we spotted a nice looking place. We took five minutes to walk round the park then headed back for some dinner, only to find a bus load of american missionaries lined up outside. Having found nowhere else to eat in the small town we had to join the queue, damn americans! Admittedly it was pretty nice chicken and rice but not really worth the half hour wait. Fi and Minja fortified themselves with two huge icecreams on the walk home. After watching a really, really terrible film about sharks and a baking hot nights sleep we were ready to move on again in the morning. Another rickety bus journey later we were at the border and after the usual amount of times standing in queues we were into our 4th different country of the trip. If you ever find yourself at the Los Manos border crossing between Nicaragua and Honduras Fi definatly recomends the little shack on the right for the best breakfast pancakes in the continent.
After a very, very rickety bus journey we ended up enjoying the sights of yet another remote and dusty bus station for a few hours until the direct bus to Tegucigalpa turned up. The use of the word direct in Central America varies somewhat from the use back home. Here it would appear to mean that you only have to change buses once to get to your final destination! Finally we arrived in the capital of Honduras and after trawling through a number of very ropey looking hotels we eventually found somewhere half decent looking. Next morning we said goodbye to Minja who was heading North. We were also heading North but wanted to try and suss out if a national flight up to the Bay Islands would work out better value than a day on a bus, plus the Champions League Final was on telly about midday.
After finding out that flights were expensive and infrequent we opted for the arse numbing bus journey. So at 6am we found ourselves at the bus station and about 8 hours later we were on the Caribbean coast. A short, but ridiculously expensive, ferry journey later we were on Utila, a small island only 3 miles by 8 miles in size just of the North coast.
From there we took a boat to the even smaller island of Jewel Cay, a tiny speck of land inhabited by a fishing community which you can walk the length of in less than two minutes. And that's where we have spent the last 5 days, during which we have both completed our Advanced Open Water diving courses. First day we did a bit of a refresher to make sure we remembered what did what, a few simple things like which pipe to suck on to get air etc. Then it was onto the dives. The course is basically designed to improve your diving skill in certain areas so on our first day we did a deep dive to 120ft and then a navigation dive which involved us using a compass to go round in circles and eventually find our way back to the boat. Which we managed thankfully. The dives were pretty cool but the highlight of the day was during our surface interval between dives. Surfacing from the deep dive the captain of the boat, Luis, told us he had spotted a tuna boil in the distance. This is when tuna fish are in a feeding frenzy on the surface trying to eat all the plankton, thus making the water look like it's boiling. Along with the tuna you sometimes get bigger predators there to feed as well so donning masks and flippers and grabbing the camera we sat on the edge of the boat as we approached the boil. It was then the shout went up from Luis ''Whale Shark!!!'' and with that a huge mouth rose out of the water just in front of us. With that we were in the water and once the bubbles had cleared we were face to face with this eight metre long behemoth. In all the confusion i managed to switch my camera from photo to video mode so took me a few seconds to figure out what the hell was going on by which point he'd dived back down to the ocean's depths. Climbing back onto the boat I was a tad disappointed that I'd not got a decent picture but at the same time fairly amazed I'd been that close to such a huge creature. It wasn't long till we spotted another boil and set off in pursuit. Determined to get a good pic this time I made sure the camera was on the right setting so after hitting the water all I had to do was click the button. Oh yeah and then turn the camera back on again cos it had automatically shut itself off. Damn, damn, damn and all I got was a hazy shot as he dove down again. Heading back to the boat I was almost there when I heard shouts from Luis who was hanging upside down from the ladder with his face in the water. Plunging my head back into the blue I nearly shat myself as the huge shark rose up from the depths directly below me. Managing to steady my nerve, as well as the camera, I held my breath as he swam right up to the boat, pretty much planting a kiss on luis, before gliding past me within touching distance and then diving back down again. Lifting my head from the water with a huge grin on my face I turned to see Fi next to me with an equally huge grin on her face and we could both hear the whoops coming from the boat as a very grateful Luis escaped his romantic encounter unscathed! All in all, a pretty cool day of diving.
By the following morning we'd well and truly got into island life. There we're three places where you could obtain food, the breakfast place with great pancakes and pastelitos, the dinner (lunch) place with delicious fish burgers and the tea (dinner) place with a bit of everything including ice cold beers. Most evenings were spent sat out on the dock with a beer in hand watching the sun set on the horizon with stingrays drifting by in the water below. It's a pretty chilled out place to relax for a few days if not a little strange to get used to. With the mixture in origins of the people that live here it still freaks you out a bit when a small, eight year old white girl with long blonde hair speaks to you in a full blown caribbean accent that Bob Marley would be proud of!
During the day we did two more of out course dives. The buoyancy course invovled us hoveing upside down in the water then swimming on our backs through hoops, all good fun. Then seeing as we had spent a load of cash on the waterproof housing for our camera we thought it best we do the photography course to figure out how to use it properly and avoid for example jumping into the water with the camera turned off or having it on the wrong setting! After a relaxing afternoon lounging around and waiting for the sun to set it was time to get suited up again for our third dive of the day, the night dive. Fi was apprehensive to say the least which wasn't helped in the slightest by the thousands of tiny fish and blood worms which swarmed to our lights the second we hopped into the water. For some reason Scott our instructor and Paul the other guy on our dive were left completely alone by the fish where as me and Fi had them for company the entire dive. And unlike in the daytime they weren't keeping their distance either, they were wriggling over your fingers which were holding the torch, banging into your face and basically being a right royal pain in the arse. Not to mention the friggin jelly fish which managed to sting me on the face at the very start of the dive. We did manage to see some pretty cool things such as the big eyed porcupine fish and a huge octopus but our view was hampered all the time by the swarm around us. The only time we couldn't see em was when we sat on the bottom and turned our lights off. Now we couldn't see them but we could still definatly feel them and sitting there under metres of water in the pitch black being hit in the face by thousands of unseen, wriggling, slimy creatures is the stuff nightmares are made off. In fact I think this nightmare was specifically made for Fiona, someone who is not a big fan of the dark, confined spaces or small fishes! Thankfully after a couple of minutes in the dark the bombardment subsided and so did our heartbeats and Fi's grip on my hand. It was then time for the cool stuff such as the phosforescence glowing in the water evertime to moved your hand or the flashes of lightning as a tropical storm raged over our heads. So overal quite an experience although I'm fairly certain it's one Fiona won't be in a hurry to repeat.
In order to get over the ordeal we took some time off from diving the following day and instead worked on topping up our tans and improving our snorkling skills. So we're up to today already. This morning we loaded up the dive boat as usual and headed back towards Utila to dive a couple of wrecks. Was good fun swimming round these huge coral covered vessels resting on the ocean floor. And now we're back on Utila again for one last night of island life before we hit the road again. Would love to stay a bit longer but if we don't get going now I don't think we'd ever leave. We don't actually have a clue where we're going to go next but hopefully by the next update we'll have sussed that out!
1st of June 2006
Sonsonate, El Salvador.
Woah, has it been a week already!?!? Time is really flying by now. So we´re in yet another country now and much to my disappointment as a fan of the band Athlete, we took the bus and didn´t fly here. Anyway we managed to drag ourselves away from Utila, and Fi literally managed to drag herself off one of the roughest ferry crossings in history. Unfortunatly for her she was too busy watching the bottom of a plastic bag to see the spinner dolphins playing in the waves the boat was making.
Safely back on shore we had a bit of a mammoth bus journey across the country all the way to the town of Copan near the border with Guatemala. Copan is the site of one of the largest collection of Mayan ruins in Central America so we planned to get a reasonably early start in the morning to avoid the crowds. After an unplanned lie in and a leisurely breakfast we set off for the ruins in a tuk tuk, a cheaper version of a taxi. Basically a Honda Cub 50 moped but with two wheels and a bench strapped to the back Ranks just above pedestrian, but below horse in the road hierachy system. Anyway, getting to the ruins about nine in the morning we were pleasently surprised to see we pretty much had the place to ourselves. Wandering round in the bright sunshine amongst the ancient temples was pretty cool. The most restored structures at the front of the site were pretty impressive but what was also interesting was to explore further into the trees to find more and more ruins yet to be restored. In the past few hundred years the jungle has managed to reclaim a lot!
Similar to the Incas, the locals don´t seem to be pretty tall in stature but they build a hell of a lot of big steps, so after a lot of climbing up and down in what became the midday heat we decided to retreat to the shade for a cool drink We have yet to explore some of the other Mayan sites, which we hope to do in Guatemala, but if any of them offer the chance to sit in the shade of a tree, surrounded by ancient pyramids, sipping an ice cold drink and watching scarlet macaws swoop back and forth in the branches above then we´re going to be two happy people.
Feeling in a bit of a bird mood we spent the afternoon looking round Macaw Mountain, a reserve just a short tuk tuk ride from the ruins. Not only did we get the chance to hold and chat to a load more scarlet macaws (the national bird of Honduras) but we got to see a whole heap of other birds including parrots, hawks, owls and the ever so gorgeous tucans. All in all, a very pleasant day, so obviously it had to be followed to a hectic day of travelling involving numerous bus journeys a border crossing and the carrying of heavy bags. We did manage to have a nice end to the day though. Once we´d made it to the town of Suchitoto in El Salvador we we´re in dire need of a drink so dumping the bags in the hostel we set out along the cobbled streets to see what we could find. By the time darkness fell we found ourselves sat at our own private table in the bell tower of an old colonial resteraunt, trying the local brews whilst watching lightning flash in the sky above and reflecting in Lago Suchitlan below. Not a bad way to round off the day.
The capital city of San Salvador, as with most capitals in central america is a pretty bustling, hectic place so after a brief explore we were ready to leave. Although we did come across one of the most ´interesting´ churches I think we´ve ever been in and one that was apparently an inspiration for the very colourful Metroplitan Catherdral in Liverpool. Basically I think the best way to describe it is like an aircraft hanger in shape and size but with thousands of tiny shard shaped stained glass windows in the walls and roof. The inside was adorned with various metalic sculptures including sheep and one that looked like darth vaders arms. Strange, very strange.
Heading South we arrived at the Playa Sunzal on the Pacific coast, ready to give this surfing lark another shot. Having worked on my arms for the past few weeks, read numerous surfing magazines and books and after talking to and watching all the other surfers on the point break of El Tunco I paddled out confidently only to find out yet again how appaling I am at the sport.
After numerous falls, tumbles and near drownings the day was not entirely wasted when I managed to answer the age old question; what is harder, a fibreglass surfboard or the cartlidge in the human nose. The pain in my face as I struggled to the surface after yet another fall instantly told me that the sufboard is the easy winner. It struck me paddling in (thats a thought that struck me, not the surfboard again, that would be just careless) that splashing along on the board, trailing copias amounts of blood into the water that from below I probably resembled a very unwell seal and thus an easy target. Actually, looking back, what with the amount of sharks there are in the Pacific Ocean I should probably count my blessings and perhaps give up this stupid sport while I still have all my limbs intact.
Instead, what we did was travel a bit further down the coast to the town of Palmarcito to try surfing again on what was supposed to be a nice small beach with a decent beginner break to learn on. The nice small beach part was correct but although I´m daft enough to play the odds and take my chances with the sharks what I´m not willing to do, unlike the loacls, is surf down the face of a shorebreaking 20ft wave before launching myself off the board into about 2ft of water approximately a millisecond before I´m dashed upon the rocky shoreline. Thats just stupid! So although we had a couple of very nice, relaxing days sitting on the beach watching the other fools in the water I decided not to partake myself.
After a couple more buses this morning we are now in Sonsonate in the West of the country. Tomorrow we are hoping to head to Cerro Verde to see a volcano. Myabe if it´s cool and cloudy we might get off our lazy arses and actually climb this one.
5th of June 2006
Antigua, Guatemala.
So six dollars a night for a double room ain`t too bad. Private bathroom (one corner of the room had a curtain across it, behind which was a toilet and a water pipe sticking out of the wall), but it did have full cable hook up, or it did until the new El Presidente came on to all the government owned channels to broadcast his speech. He was obviously not allowed to take over the international cable stations though, but it didn`t stop him pulling the plug on them all leaving you with no choice but to watch him, or Cosmopolitan TV for some strange reason. Faced with the choice of speech we couldn`t understand (and war didn`t seem to be breaking out on the streets so we figured we weren`t missing anything too important) or 101 top male bodies we took it as our cue to go to bed for the night. Next morning with the temperate at a resonable level we set out towards Cerro Verde. We set out on another Chicken Bus journey, that`s what the local buses out here are called due to the fact the locals transport anything and everything on them which on most journeys usually includes a chicken or two. They`re basically third hand american school buses but seeing most of them are decorated in Brazilian colours we figured they`ve served their time there before being off handed to the Salvadorians. After confirming our destination with the conductor, paying him the fare to Cerro Verde and asking him if he`d let us know when we got to Cerro Verde he looked bashful then got the driver to slam on the brakes as we asked him if the sign we just passed said Cerro Verde on it. Another short bus journey, which we expected to take us to the national park somewhere near the summit, was prematurely halted as the bus did a u-turn and the driver told us this was as far up as he went. Still it can`t be that much further we thought. After walking up for 5kms we were still thinking it can`t be much further. Still it was a nice walk with I`m sure what would have been fantastic views across the lake below and the volcano above if there hadn`t been so much damn cloud around!
After a snack break and a bit more walking we were informed by a local policemen that the national park was in fact closed. We were a little unsure of his credebility as a policeman until he pointed to the "Policia Civil" sticker on his mountain bike. The fact that I had a "Police" sticker on my bike when I was 8 (and a siren that made real police car noises) meant I still wasn`t too sure but then again, maybe the police uniform of El Salvador is trackie bottoms and a Ronaldinho Barcelona shirt. Anyway, he informed us that the park was closed but we could carry on walking another few kilometers up to the gates to enjoy the view from there. As the view currently consisted of white nothingness we waited till he was out of sight then did a sharp about face! Not relishing the fact of having to traipse all the way back down for nothing we were pleased when three guys from the El Salvadorian equivalent of the Highways Agency, who were out checking on the state of the ever crumbling road, offered us a lift in the back of their pick-up truck. It turned out they were based just outside Sonsonate, the town we were staying in, so we got a lift most of the way home. Not sure how it would go down at home having a pickup truck bomb down the M6 with three people sitting in the breeze in the back, but apparently for the biggest road in El Salvador (A dual cariiage way I`ll have you know!) this is not a problem. The charity from the guys from Fovial basically summed up the Salvadorians. In a country with a lot less tourists than the others in the area the locals seem generally happy to see foreigners (and not just a walking dollar sign) and never waste an opotunity to try out their english, even if this is just saying hello or goodbye on the street. Some of them have still to learn which is which but the effort is always appreciated. Well except from the guys in the shops who have huge speakers outside them. We have back home as well, you know the type, generally a cheap clothing store with a guy shouting unintelligable things into a microphone about how great their sale is. Anyway, their shouts of "hello english people, welcome to my country" is all well and good but it does allow every theif, conman and street vendor for miles around to home in on us.
Picking up our bags from Sonsonate (after hiding in a cafe from the daily downpour then jumping the river/road en-route) we hopped on another bus to the town of Juayua which despite numerous attempts I don`t think either of us could pronounce properly (why-oo-ah in case you were interested). We stayed in a very nice hostel which had the most gorgeous boxer dog called Eddie. It was however pretty expensive so after one night (am sure you`d have stayed longer Ali) we made a break for the Guatemalan border. After the smoothest border crossing ever with no queues or even having to get our passport stamped (the two guys in uniforms stood under a plastic gazebo told us we didn`t need to) we were in Guatemala. Thankfully the slightly more official looking border guard, who was actually in an office made of bricks, backed up the story that the two countries are trialing a multi-country passport stamp and that we didn`t need to get one. After a bit of persuasion he did agree to stamp our passports purely as a souvenir but Fi was very grateful she was going to save a bit of space in her ever filling passport.
The chicken buses in Guatemala it would appear are even slower than the ones in El Salvador, stopping at every single tree, rock or dirt track rather than every second one. Still after a very very long trip during which the driver seemed to know and wave to everyone (either that or he was crazy, in fact to be a bus driver in Guatemala you probably have to be), we eventually got to Guatemala City, a place we didn`t want to be as dusk settled in. Thankfully we transferred ourselves to a bus out of the place fairly sharpish and an hour later just as the sun was setting we arrived in Antigua. Getting slightly fed up with rice and tortillas, no time was wasted in searching out a decent resteraunt seeing as we had plenty of choice in this particular town. Fi opted for fondue where as I went for a mixed grill, apparently what Bill Clinton had when he ate here. Feel free to make up your own jokes about bills sausage etc etc. After downing a very nice bottle of wine wobbled our way back along the cobbled streets to our hotel only to find our key wasn`t working in the front door. After much trying of both keys in all the different locks we were still stood on the street much to the amusement of two lads sat across the road watching us. Pressing the intercom we were given instructions on which key it should be and which lock but still we just couldn`t get into the place. With the owner getting more and more frustrated but seemingly not keen on coming to open the door for us she asked what room we were in. "Room 10 we think" was the answer, to which she replied, they don`t have a room 10. It was at this point we noticed the almost identical hotel located next door to the one we were trying to force entry into. We could still hear the two lads laughing as we got into our room at the back of the hotel! Antigua is a beautiful colonial town which amongst buildings and courtyards also has something like 22 churches, 14 convents and 11 monasteries. During a long day of walking I don`t think we managed to take in all of them but we didn`t do too bad. A lot of them have been devestated by various earthquakes in the towns history but some of the ruins were more fascinating to look round than the restored buildings. Feeling suitably walked out, in true South American style we rounded off the evening with a parillada para dos (mixed grill for two this time) and managed to make it back to the right hotel first time.
24th of June 2006
Mexico City, Mexico.
Ok, so true to form I've taken far too damn long getting my arse in gear and writting these diary entries, can't believe it's been so long since I put the last one up. So what have we been up to then, well a hell of a lot, then not a lot at all. Back in Antigua, with our time in central america rapidly running out, we decided it might be best to come up with some sort of plan. Crazy I know, but it might just work. Looking at places we wanted to go to and things we wanted to do meant it was gonna get a bit hectic for the next few days so we braced ourselves for those much enjoyed "early starts".
First one was a perfectly respectable 6.30am alarm, followed by breakfast at the only place we could find open at that time in Antigua, McDonalds. Sorry. Then it was a ridiculously scary two hour mini bus ride to the town of Panajachel. It was impressive to see a man so dedicated to his job that he wasn't going to stop little things like double lines down the middle of the road, blind corners and oncoming juggernauts stop him from keeping to his schedule! From Panajachel we took a launch across Lake Atitlan to the town of San Marcos where after our nerve jangling bus journey we were in desperate need of relaxation and both eagerly signed up for a massage. An hour later with us both feeling much better it was time to head back across the lake and wait for our bus back to Antigua. During the half hour wait we were bombarded by locals trying to get us to buy their usually tacky wares and Fi was eventually worn down by one particulary persistant woman and bought some of her weaving to make her go away.
As the bus turned up and we saw it was the same driver as the morning we braced ourselves for an undoing of all the good the massages had done. Thankfully the journey back was a lot more tranquil, mainly due I think to the old Aussie guy sat at the front going ape shit at the driver after his first dangerous overtake, and then making his feelings known every time he sensed the driver thinking about another dodgy manouvre.
Next morning the alarm was moved forward to 4.30am in order to catch a 5am bus firstly back to Guatemala City and then up to the town of Coban about 4 hours North. From here it was a very cramped two hour journey to the town of Lanquin. We thought that the Guyanans knew how to pack a minibus but they've got nothing on the Guatamalans. 22 of us in a 15 seater bus, not forgetting the guy on the roof!
So it was with much relief when we peeled ourselves out at El Retiro in Lanquin. We aquired a little cabin on the banks of the river and spent the rest of the afternoon lounging around in hammocks with Fi getting absolutely rat arsed on her new discovery; Quebecs. In simple terms, double rum and Canada Dry, and half price for the happy (three) hour(s). Dragging her up for the relatively late start of 7am was no mean feat, especially once she'd discovered after promising pancakes and Nutella the resteraunt was unable to deliver. After making do with toast and peanut butter we piled ourselves into the back of a pickup and bumped along twelve miles of gravel road to Semuc Champey. From here we stripped down to our swimming gear and with candles in hand we descended into the local caves. Was a really great trip, wading along to begin with then swimming through the tunnels trying to keep your candle out of the water. After much water fall scrambling and jumping into deep dark pools we emerged back out into the sunlight and seeing as we were wet anyway took the oppotunity to launch ourselves off the bridge into the river 7 or 8 metres below. All good fun.
Feeling nicely refreshed we set off on what turned out to be a grueling climb up the side of the valley in order to reach the viewpoint high above Semuc Champey. This gave us a great view of final destination, a series of tranquil pools formed by a natural limestone bridge over the river. For a section of about 300 metres the thundering river disappears underground and is replaced by a series of shallow pools perfect for swimming or relaxing in. Baking hot after our trek we wasted no time in picking a pool and cooling down. After a good couple of hours relaxing it was time to head back to Lanquin and the day was rounded off with a tubing trip down the river followed by a few more Quebecs and a massive BBQ.
A 6.30am alarm roused us from our slumber and we piled onto a thankfully less busy mini bus for the return journey to Coban. From here we changed to another minibus and headed North for another 4 hours or so to the town of Flores. From here we had another hour and a half to Tikal in the far North of Guatemala. Tikal is the site of one of the largest Mayan settlements, the ancient race of Central Americans who began their building work around 600BC before suddenly disappearing around 800AD. Inbetween they managed to construct some pretty amazing temples and pyramids.
The 'thing' to do whilst here is apparently to see the sunrise over the temples. Unfortunatly for our now completely confused body clocks, sunrise is just before 6am so this meant a 4.30am alarm and a jungle trek before climbing up the 70 metre tall Temple IV and then sitting in the rain to wait for the sun to get it's lazy arse out of bed. Unfortunatly due to all the cloud, there was no sunrise in the classic sense of the word but it did get lighter and it was pretty cool to see the tops of the other temples appearing out of the mist. What was even better was the sounds from the jungle below as all the animals began waking up. The calls of the howler monkeys making it sound like we were in Jurassic Park or something.
The next few hours were spent wandering round the massive site climbing to the tops of other temples with pretty much the place to ourselves. Obviously no one else was stupid enough to get up that early in the rain, which thankfully for us had been burnt away by the ever increasing heat of the sun. So by 11am as we were heading back to town in the search of shade and breakfast/lunch we had succesfully avoided the hoards of tourists who were only now beginning to arrive.
Taking this as our cue, we found the next bus heading back to Flores. Then with careful planning and forethought, all be it with quite a bit of difficulty, we managed to aquire a hotel room with cable tv. We´re not normally huge tv watchers when we´re travelling but exceptions must be made for Englands opening game of the world cup, especially when it´s in the early hours of the morning before the bars are open. After all our preparations it was fairly disheartening to discover that instead of the numerous bus companies, offering many routes to Belize that we had been led to believe were in Flores, one of the companies appears to have bought out all the competition and then scrapped most of the buses. In fact there is now only one bus a day to Belize, and it´s at 5.30 in the morning, which pretty much scuppered any plans for watching an 8am footy game. So we set about changing our plans so we could catch the bus in the morning, which amongst other things involved a frantic dash across town in a tuc tuc in the torrential rain to retrieve our laundry before the laundrette closed for the night. Our original plan had been to pick it up in the morning, all nicely washed and dried, where as now we had to cart around a big bag of dirty, smelly and now pretty damp laundry. After failing miserably to get an early night we dragged ourselves up at 5am, not exactly feeling like a couple of rays of sunshine, and hoping that if the driver got a wriggle on we might make Belize for the second half. When it got to 6am and the bus had only just pulled up, never mind driven all round the town to pick up passengers, all hope of seeing the game was gone.
Feeling fairly hacked off as we finally reached the border our moods were not improved by the massive queue at the immigration window. What did improve the mood was the fact that the border officials had set up a tv in their office so they could watch the footy. In fact this was probably partly responsible for the massive queue. Anyway, due to some visa problems for a few of the europeans on our bus I´ve never been happier to be stuck at a border crossing for two hours, even if we did only win by a flukey own goal.
And then we were in Belize, and after hearing from numerous other travellers throughout Central America about how much they hated Belize, how expensive it was and how they couldn´t wait to get out of the place, we were a little unsure what to expect. What we found was a charming little country (little being the word, this place is smaller than Wales), full of friendly helpful people and with a hell of a lot of interesting things to see and do. In fact, if it weren´t for all the damn bugs that infest the place and our rapidly diminishing travel time remaining, we may well have been there for a lot longer than the two weeks we eventually spent there.
After making our way from one side of the country to the other, a journey of about 2 hours, we found ourselves in Dangriga and from there we boarded the bus to Sitee River, or so we thought. What we actually did was board a bus which half an hour later dumped us on the main road in the middle of nowhere with the driver telling us we should be able to hitch a ride for four or five miles down a side road. "And then we´ll be in Sitee River?" we enquired, "oh no, that´s Hopkins, you should be able to get another lift from there to Sitee River though." Excellent, it´s only the middle of the day, about 35 degrees C and we´re lugging huge packs around on our backs, the idea of trudging along a deserted road trying to get a lift from the non-existant cars sounds like a great idea.
Eventually we struck lucky and after a couple of lifts we eventually made it to Sitee River, and promptly wished we hadn´t. Or at least we should have come clad in full bee keeper outfits to protect us from the billions of bugs that set about us the second we arrived. During the 5 minutes it took us to check into the guest house we both ended up getting so many bites it looked like we had chicken pox! And despite how smelly we were now becoming, showers were avoided in order to preserve the precious covering of deet we had applied to our skin, and also because of the fact that the shower looked like it belonged in a scene from 1950´s B-Movie where the cast are picked off one by one by swarms of killer insects.
Surviving the night by hiding under mosquito nets over our beds we packed up our bags and headed out to the dock to board the fantastic looking catamaran moored up there. We were therefore slightly disappointed when our bags were picked up and loaded onto the slightly tired looking and very small skiff moored next to the catamaran which had to undergo a good half hours worth of bailing before we were able to set off. Some people say it´s all about the journey and not the destination, in this case I think we can catagorically say that the cramped, bumpy and long journey out to sea was definatly outdone by the picture perfect caribbean island which was to be our home for the next 7 days.
It was tough but working together we managed to survive a week in a wooden cabin, with a palm leaf roof, built on stilts in the middle of a reef fringed lagoon. We also made do with the fresh coconuts we collected each day and the baracuda and mackral which had all of about 20 minutes between it swimming in the sea and ending up in our tummies. We even managed to force ourselves to go snorkelling every day amongst coral, sharks, rays, squid and thousands of fish.
I know, I know, it´s a dirty job, but somebody has to do it. All in all, we had a pretty fantastic time, and unlike th enumerous other "exclusive" resorts on some of Belize´s Islands, this one didn´t break the bank. This is due to Glover´s Reef, being owned by a barking mad old woman who I think has spent a little bit too long on the island. While the places around it have put in swimming pools, satellite tv etc etc thus driving up the cost, this place has pretty much stayed the same for the last 40 years, which means no running water, no electricity and very little contact with the outside world. What it did mean was we had a fantastic week of blissful peace and quiet, lounging around in hammocks, cooking our own food using the camping stove we´d been provided and finding our way to bed with the aid of candles and oil lamps. This was after we´d sat around on our deck drinking the rum we had brought along, staring up at the billions of stars in the night sky, mirrored by the phosphorescence twinkling in the water below our feet.
It was with great regret that we finally clambered back aboard the boat to the mainland at the end of the week. Wasting no time for the bugs to get a second go at us in Sitee River we headed straight out to Cockscomb Basin wildlife reserve. Although not quick enough as we saw the bus drive past the end of the lane as we were unloading our stuff from the boat and we were yet again forced to hitch in the mid-day heat. Still, we must be getting quite good at it, or if not that at least a little lucky as on the dead-end road to the wildlife reserve, which has very little traffic we managed to blag a lift from one of the researchers driving to work.
Cockscomb Basin is the only recognised Jaguar preserve in the world and despite the fact that these are very rare, reclusive, amazingly well camoflaged and nocturnal creatures it didn´t stop us from bumbling round the jungle in the hope of seeing one. We even went walking at night to increase our chances. Little tip for you, when walking at night in the middle of a tropical jungle, home to millions and millions of flying, buzzing, biting things which are all attracted by light, a head torch will only result in numerous facial injuries. Despite losing maybe two pints of blood, the walk itself was good fun and even though we didn´t get to see anything, the noises emminating from the jungle on either side of us were pretty amazing, if not a little worrying whenever something big and fast moving would crash through the undergrowth only a few feet away with you still unable to work out what the hell it was.
Still, we had a good time tubing down the river and swimming underneath waterfalls and we did manage to find Jaguar tracks. Think they were from an S-Type with Michellins on. But in all seriousness we did come across some Jaguar paw prints on one of our walks, but not the elusive cat itself.
For that we had to venture to Belize Zoo, a pretty small zoo as far as zoos go, but with some pretty funky animals. The jaguars were the star attractions but we were also taken with the tapirs (apparently it´s closest relatives are the rhino and horse, to be honest we thought it looked like a big pig but with a mini trunk) and the very cute and curious lesser anteater who had no trouble poking his long nose through the fence to get a better sniff of us, The monkeys put on a good show as usual and we were lucky enough to get to the crocodiles for feeding time.
From there we headed for Belize City and were lucky enough to make it just in time to catch the last water taxi of the day out to Caye Caulker, another one of Belize´s islands.
Here we spent another few days, although it was no where near as relaxing as our previous island adventure. This one was all about activities which we kicked off in style with a days scuba diving out at Lighthouse Reef. This included a dive in the world famous Blue Hole which despite the massive amount of hype it gets easily manages to live up to the claim of one of the best dive sites in the world. Previously an immense cavern, it is now a perfectly circular sinkhole after the roof of the cave collapsed due to the weight of the rising sea water when the last ice age ended. Diving down to 130ft you are presented with the amazing sight of massive underwater stalagtites hanging down from whats left of the roof. Swimming round the stalagtites is a pretty surreal experience especially as the water is so calm and clear due to it being protected by reef on all sides. Returning to the surface we were greeted by a group of reef sharks hanging out in the hole, one or two who gave us a very close inspection as they swam past. We were also acompanied on the dive by a number of huge groupers, who continuously mouthed silent instructions with their comedy oversized lips.
The two other dives of the day at half moon wall and long caye, saw us swimming amongst an unbelievable variety of coral and sponges, and a think its safe to say Fi pretty much filled the memory card taking a photos of every single variety. We also saved some rice from lunch which attracted the fish in their thousands when we started feeding them underwater, the hawksbill turtle we saw must have eaten earlier though as he didn´t pay us much attention.
What went down as Fiona´s highlight of the day though was fantastic amount of boobies on display. Immediatly taken with their Blue-Footed cousins in the Galapagos, she was eqaully impressed by the Red-Footed variety on Half Moon Caye.
Returning to Caye Caulker we booked ourselves onto a snorkelling tour for the following day before collapsing exhausted into bed. Next morning we ventured to the local bar for breakfast and football, making it just in time as the heavens opened just as we got there. Two hours of watching the USA being bad at a sport was enough time for the rain to finish and at ten o´clock we headed out with Carlos on his boat for a spot of swimming in the marine reserve of Hol Chan. First stop was Coral Garden where it was hoped we might have the chance of seeing Manatees. Unfortunatly for us, two sports fishing boats had decided this was a good spot for them to spend the morning driving up and down and despite searching we saw no signs of any manatees.
Moving on to site two we had a pretty amazing time watching nurse sharks and spotted eagle rays swimming around below us before having to make a break for the nearest island as another torrential downpour moved in. After a break for some lunch and the chance to watch the Brazil - Japan game (I love the way everything revolves around football down here!) we were back on the boat heading for shark and ray alley, so called because the fishermen used to dump the unwanted parts of their catch in this shallow channel, attracting all manner of hungry sea creatures. Splashing into the water we were immediatly greeted by a whole host of nurse sharks and a number of southern stingrays. Far from being afraid of the close proximity of humans, these creatures seem to thrive on it and they all move in for a good close look. So close in fact that Fi could tell you exactly what a stingray feels like. A squishy mushroom apparently.
And then it was time to head for home although Carlos kept his word and on the way back we had a finally look for manatees again. Slipping into the water feeling like this was a token gesture to placate Fi we weren´t really holding out much hope of seeing anything, and as the sky´s were darkening again visibility was diminishing and we could barely make out the patch coral below us. In fact the coral which had been clearly visible earlier in the day was so fuzzy looking now that it actually looked manatee shaped. It wasn´t till we swam a bit further and the two lumps of manatee shaped coral started swimming towards us we realised we´d hit the jackpot. For the next 15 minutes we were completely mesmerised as this pair of huge prehistoric looking creatures looked like they were dancing in front of us. They floated below us, occasionally swimming up for a closer look with one gentle flick of their immense tails, until they finally drifted off into the gloom. Truly breathtaking.
Once more we headed back to town tired and happy and were soon sound asleep in our bed. After another breakfast and another footy game we were back on the boat to the mainland just as the heavens opened once again. Not to worry though, the boat crew were prepared and for the duration of the 45 minute journey about fifty of us huddled together in this open topped speedboat underneath a sheet of tarp that threatened to rip itself from our hands every second of the journey.
We discovered we could catch a bus to the Mexican border direct the ferry terminal which thankfully meant we didnt have to do any trekking with our bags in the torrential rain.
So farewell Belize and hola Mexico, although our time here is unfortunalty going to be brief as our remaining travel time is rapidly running out. Still, nine days for a country that is bigger than the rest of the Central American countries put together should be enough don´t ya think!?!?!
From the border town of Chetumal we found the bus we wanted. Well, when I say "bus we wanted" I don´t think either of us actually wanted to spend the next 22 hours sat in the same seats, but it was the bus we needed to get if we were going to start making tracks. And besides, it took about 16 hours of travel before we were finally out of the rain. Rainy season, what rainy season!
Arriving in Mexico City we were very grateful to be greeted by blue skys and a very nice climate. Oh and the thousands of people gathering on the streets for the Mexico - Argentina world cup game. Dumping our bags in a hotel we made our way to one of the main squares where a big screen had been set up for people to watch the game. Was quite an introduction to Mexico for us when only six minutes into the game Mexico took the lead and the whole city errupted. Unfortunatly as we English know only too well, such happiness against the Argies is usually short lived and a couple of hours later we left the square with the rest of the disappointed crowd.
3rd of July 2006
Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.
We had two or three fairly hectic days in Mexico City, but for very different reasons. On Sunday, after watching Englands appalling performance against Ecuador we set about discovering the City centre. Walked for miles and miles, taking in all number of cultural things including Churches, Catherdrals, the Presidential Palace before taking a trip to the top of the tallest building in latin america, the Torre Latinoamericana. Standing 44 floors above the streets you get a fantastic view of the whole city. So after being all cultured out, the following day we went to Six Flags Mexico. Basically a Mexican version of Alton Towers, but for 10 quid, with no queues and lovely hot sunshine to dry you off when you've just ridden the ''wild river'' rapids. We started the day wandering into basically an empty park and being on the first ride of the day, where after strapping ourselves in we were hoisted hundreds of feet into the air and then dropped straight down stopping just in time before we hit the bottom! And that pretty much set the tone for the rest of the day. With the park being so quiet we managed to get front row seats on all the big rollercoasters which was fantastic, although I don't think my ear drums will ever fully recover from being sat next to Fi! After being complete kids for most of the day we decided to continue the theme into the evening and on the way home from Six Flags we called in at the IMAX Cinema and had a tea of popcorn and Coke.
The next day it was back to culture again as we visited the ancient city of Teotihuacan. This is a massive site with the two main features being the Pyramid of the Sun and the Pyramid of the Moon. These are linked by the Avenue of the dead and the Pyramid of the Sun is actually the third largest pyramid on the face of the planet, so naturally we decided to climb it in the midday sun.
After heading back to Mexico city we stuffed ourselves silly on a chinese buffet and that pretty much killed us off for the rest of the day. Too full to do much else we retreated to our hotel and stood on the balcony supping Corona, watching the world go by.
Up early the following morning we left the hotel at 5.30am with all our bags in order to catch the metro to the bus station before rush hour. Unfortunatly it was at this point that we discovered that Mexico City doesn't have a rush hour, it is ridiculously busy at every hour of the day. So for the next half hour we crammed ourselves and our bags onto various trains and eventually emerged into the bus station, thankfully still with all our possessions. About seven hours later we found ourselves in the city of Guadalajara and after a quick change and a couple more hours on another bus we were in the town of Tequila. Feeling fairly knackered and with Fi suffering from the beginings of a cold we found ourselves some food in the form of probably the best burritos we've ever had and then collapsed into bed.
Next morning we had a very rare lie in and then took a wander through town to the Jose Cuervo tequila factory. They ran tours on the hour so we signed up for their 11am tour. By midday we'd both had about 10 shots of tequila each and were both feeling fairly wobbly. The tour was great fun. We got to see the entire tequila making process from the huge agave 'pinapples' (the base of a cactus type plant, weighing about 45kgs and about the size of a beach ball), to the initial white tequila (55% blow your head off stuff) and then all the various different blends and aged tequilas, and off course got to sample the product at all the different stages. The tour was finished off with frozen margaritas which pretty much finished us off. Thankfully our most difficult task for the rest of the day was having to make it to the bus station and from there we slept our way to the town of San Blas on the Pacific coast.
This was the first time we'd been back down at sea level for a while and we'd both forgotten how hot and humid it gets. By the time we'd walked to a hotel we were both horrible sweaty messes! We'd also forgotten about the bugs so after a 5 minute walk exploring the town we were both sprinting back to the hotel slapping our arms, legs and faces in the hugely entertaining for locals; ''get these mosquitos off me'' dance. The following day was spent on the beach either relaxing in hammocks, watching various world cup games, drinking or attempting to surf once again. The waves were definatly a better size this time but they were all closing out so I'm afraid I haven't attaind the status of god like surfer just yet. The next morning breakfast was obtained after finding a suitable place with cable tv in order for us to watch the England / Portugal game. And I think thats about all I need to say, I don't even like football anyway.
From San Blas we hopped on a bus back to Tepic where we changed to one of the worst buses we've been on for a nightbus journey up the coast to Los Mochis. Not only was the bus truly terrible but around midnight with everyone on the bus dozing as best they could in the arctic air conditioning, the driver in his infinite wisdom decided we all needed to be booted off so he could spend half an hour cleaning the bus. Cheers mate.
Finally we arrived tired and grumpy in Los Mochis and after a quick cab ride we got to the train station where we were just in time to catch the 6am train across to Chihuahua. Things were looking up as we boarded the first class carriage with massive comfy reclining seats and bang on time the train trundled out of the station, and then continued trundle at about 5 miles an hour until about 10am. Not to worry, we're in nice surroundings with decent views and good food so we got busy sitting back and enjoying the journey. By 1pm we arrived at the highlight of the journey as the train stopped at the viewpoint overlooking the Copper Canyon. The views were breathtaking and we had to drag ourselves away as the whistle called us back to the departing train. As normal happens after a highlight, things normal go down hill. We didn't realise just how down hill things were about to go. About half an hour later the train came to a stop. No real concern to begin with but after two hours of being just sat there we began asking questions. After being told numerous contrasting stories about broken tracks, having to wait for another train to pass, the journey being continued on a bus etc etc we were still sat there at 6pm. Finally a bus turned up and we were all driven to Chihuahua for about midnight. Spying a hostel across from the station we were told they had no rooms but the hotel next to them did so after the nightmare train journey and the bus journey the night before we were both asleep before our heads touched the pillow.
Next morning we set off in search of food and wandered past the hostel we had tried the night before. The lady running the place asked what we were looknig for and then invited us in to have breakfast with her and her husband. Then after breakfast her husband gave us a lift across town to the bus station. Was an excellent tonic to the nightmare we'd had the day before. From Chihuahua it was a four hour journey to Ciudad Juarez and the USA border and then that was it, our Central American adventure was over!
Details of our tip through the States can be found in the North American section of the website.
All content and photos are Copyright of Minglebox Enterprises 2006
