11th to 13th January Playa del Carmen

We had a lovely breakfast of fruit, yoghurt,  granola and toast with coffee and orange juice in the restaurant at our hotel before setting off with Sharon and Smokey to purchase our bus tickets for the transfer to Cancun. Over these three days we walked up and down 5th avenue, the pedestrian street both by ourselves and with Chris and Sharon and also with Smokey. 5th avenue is lined with restaurants and tack tourist shops all viing for the tourist dollar. We also took a few walks along the beach. We found a good juice bar and went back a couple of times for beetroot, carrot, cucumber, apple, agave and ginger juices, mmmm. Over the days we said good bye to our fellow travelers as they made their way home.

Our Central American trip is now at an end and we are ready to head home via Dallas. Summing up our Central American trip.  It was very fast paced and on occasions not enough time to see all there was to see, sometimes not even enough time to catch your breath. The ruins were amazing and we enjoyed them immensely. All the locals we interacted with were welcoming and friendly especially our home stay hosts. We are very pleased we were able to see this part of the world.

9th & 10th January, Tulum

At 7:30am we set off for the water taxi to San Pedro where we had to complete our Belize departure formalities. This involved lining up to pay our port tax, lining up again to pay our departure tax then another counter to have our passports stamped. Bureaucracy at its best. Back on the boat it was a 2 hour ride to Chetumal where once we exited the boat we had to line up single file with our bags in a line about 1m away. A guy in army fatigues then walked down the line of bags with a sniffer dog and back again. Luckily no bag was singled out, everyone was good to go. Then it was the Bureaucracy thing again lining up to receive an immigration form and lining up once more once we had filled it out. It was a short taxi ride to the bus terminal where we caught the 1pm bus to Tulum, a 4 hour journey. It was a 2nd class bus which took longer than the first class as we had to stop along the way to pick up and set down passengers. As it was late in the afternoon when we arrived the two of us set off by ourselves for a dinner of Nachos to the sound of a chainsaw in the background. They were building an awning across the street from the Restaurant. The lovely friendly waiter made our meal very enjoyable.

Child on 4hr bus trip

On the morning of the 10th we had breakfast in the hotel restaurant then set off with Stephanie, Josh and Katie on our bikes to the ruins. We were on cruiser bikes with no gears but the bike path was relatively flat. We stopped of to have a look at the beach on our way there, dipping our toes in the cool clear water. Once at the ruins there were huge crowds of people and as we were not on a tour we had to line up for our tickets which took about 15 minutes. Once inside we checked out the fantastic views along the coast and what is left of the structures of Tulum. The main building El Castillo (the castle) as named by the Spanish, is the main draw card of the site. Tulum was on the major trading route along the coast between Maya settlements.

Once we exited the site we jumped on our bikes and head back to the beach. We all had to do quick change wrapped in a towel to put our swimming costumes on. This was quite difficult as the wind was very strong. The water was beautiful and we spent about an hour frolicking in the surf. Stephanie decided to stay a little longer so the four of us head back to the hotel to shower and get something to eat before we had to leave at 3pm. Just before we were served our lunch the heavens opened so we moved from our position under a sun shade to the inside of the cafe. By the time we had finished the rain had stopped and the sun was back out.

Our afternoon bus to Playa del Carmen was very comfortable and only around 1 1/2 hours. After check-in we set off walking down 5th avenue stopping along the way to look in the shops full of bright coloured objects. We had dinner at a Taco restaurant then made our way back to the hotel noticing the huge number of people on the pedestrian street.

6th to 8th January 2013, Caye Caulker

The part of the group that was left headed back to the boarder in a van so that we could catch the public bus from its first stop. That way we all had a seat. By the time we reached San Ignacio all the seats were full. The bus was like an old American school bus with wide seats but not alot of leg room if you had long legs, not a problem for Catriona. The bus trip to Belize City took around 3 hours and then we had a short taxi ride to the dock for our 1 hour water taxi ride to Caye Caulker. After checking into our hotel we bumped into John and Katie and Josh who were heading out on an afternoon snorkeling trip. The rest of us had lunch and drinks at a waterfront Cuban restaurant that specialised in pork. It was a delicious lunch in a lovely location.

After lunch we set off for a walk around the island with Sharon and Chris and made it to the split. The split is the point where the island was split in 1961 by a hurricane. We picked up the relaxed island vibe as we walked around. In the back streets we came across the power plant which looks temporary and is made up of 2 shipping containers with huge cables coming out of them. They run on diesel and make a huge amount of noise. Close by were the shanty shacks of some locals. We had afternoon drinks at the hotel with Sharon, Chris, Josh and Katie then headed off to dinner at Bamboozled, a sand floored restaurant by the water with swings for seats.

 

The two of us had breakfast at Glenda's, a small restaurant located in a house. At 10am we set off for our 1/2 day snorkeling trip, Sharon came along for the ride and only Chris, David and Catriona snorkeled. Our first stop was to swim around the coral and we saw many different types tropical fish. Our guide lured a green moray eel out from its hiding place with some food and it swam around the group trying to get more then went back into its hiding place. once back on the boat the guide handed out a laminated sheet with the pictures and names of the fish so we could identify what we had seen. Next stop was stingray alley. The water was very shallow and the nurse sharks and stingrays knew we were coming. Again the guide had food to keep them close by. We were there for around 45 minutes with the stingrays and sharks swimming around our legs, it was amazing. The guide even picked up a shark and let us feel it's pack and belly. He also let us feel a stingray as he was feeding it. At our last stop we were allowed to swim where ever we wanted around the reef. We had fun diving under the water following large and small fish and seeing the many different types of coral. It was a great morning out. We had lunch with Smokey and then headed up to the Split where David bought a bucket of 6 beers for 20 Belize dollars ($10US). We spent the rest of the afternoon there and were joined by Chris and Sharon, Josh and Katie and later on by Rob and Claire. The water was very warm and Catriona David and Chris ended up standing in the water having their drinks. The two of us had lovely seafood kebab dinner by ourselves at a small restaurant.

Our last day in Caye Caulker we had a relaxing day, did a little snorkeling on the leeward side of the island, and lunch with Chris and Sharon at Rainbow cafe over the water. At 4pm we met up with Smokey for a Sunset cruise. Most of the others in the group had canceled so it was just Chris, Sharon, David and Catriona with Smokey for the Cruise. It was a highlight of the trip sailing around Caye Caulker watching the sun go down over the Caribbean. The only downside was that we drank too much rum punch as we shared a gallon jug of it between the 4 of us. Once back on shore feeling very happy we met up with Josh and Katie who were having rum and cokes. We continued drinking with them and didn't end up making it to dinner.

4th & 5th January San Ignacio

We had a private van transfer from Flores to the Guatemala - Belize boarder which was on and off dirt road. The crossing was very relaxed and didn't take much time at all, which was a pleasant surprise considering it was raining. We picked up a new van on the Belize side of the boarder and headed for San Ignacio. When we arrived in San Ignacio it was raining quite heavily which made it tricky to get to our rooms without getting our bags wet. We checked in and then had our orientation tour of San Ignacio in the rain. After the orientation tour we had a drink at one of the bars before a rundown of the tour options for the next day and dinner with the group.

We decided on the Caracol tour along with Jo, Chris and Sharon. It involved a 3 hour drive on dirt road to the site that was quite an adventure in itself because of the rain. We had a very good guide and were lucky with the weather as every time we had the chance to climb the ruins it stopped raining. Not only were the ruins spectacular we also saw toucans, tiny bats and a scorpion. There were also pieces of broken pottery and stone tools scattered around the sight. Once we finished the tour of Caracol the rain didn't let up. We also stopped at Rio Frio cave and Rio on pools on the way back to San Ignacio and it was dark by the time we arrived. We found that Josh, Kate, Claire, Lorna and John had taken a private transfer to Caye Caulker earlier in the day as their activities had been canceled due to the rain.

 

2nd & 3rd January Tikal

The 2nd of January was another travel day. Clair decided to fly to Flores giving her an extra half day in Antigua to take a mountain bike tour. The rest of us left at 8am for the long drive to Flores via Guatemala city where we arrived around 4:30pm. We had our orientation walk and organised our tour to Tikal for the next day.

Flores is a town on an island joined to the mainland by a causeway. In the centre of the island is a hill with a church on top which is on one side of the main square. The streets are cobblestone and very rough to walk around on.

On the morning of our journey to Tikal we met the group at 5am to get to the ruins early. We had been told it was so we could see the sunrise but our guide for the day, Juan, advised we would have to be at the ruins by 5am and pay extra money if we had wanted to see the sunrise. Juan was an excellent guide explaining not only about the ruins but Mayan history and the local wildlife as well. We were able to climb many of the structures which afforded good views over the ruins. The last structure we climbed gave us views over the whole park, a view some may recognise from Star wars as the rebel base where you first encounter princess Leah.

We left the site at 12:30pm and headed back to Flores where we had lunch at cool bean cafe. In the evening we met up with Josh and Katie and had a drink at Sky Bar a 3rd floor terrace bar overlooking the lake. It started to rain while we were up there so we moved under cover and when the rain slowed we headed off to another restaurant overlooking the lake for dinner. The rain came bucketing down while we were eating and lucky for us it stopped by the time we were ready to walk back to the hotel for bed.

30th December 2012 to 1st January 2013 Antigua

We had breakfast with our host family before setting off to Chichistenango to check out the Sunday markets. Our host Father had warned us that they were very commercial and he was right. We found our way to the square and two of the Churches before heading to a coffee shop for coffee and hot chocolate with Sharon and Chris.

We arrived in Antigua in the afternoon and Smokey took us for an orientation walk through town, David stayed back in the room to rest. First stop was the La Merced church, then down the main street where we glimpsed our first ruin, Saint Catalina the result of the 1773 earthquake. They now store the huge life size stations of the cross that are carried around during their Easter celebrations. It was a slow journey down the street as there were many people out and about. We finished the tour in the central park and Chris, Sharon, Christiana and Catriona headed up to a rooftop cafe overlooking park. We Christiana, Joey and Chasta were leaving and we are gaining 3 new passengers for the last part of the journey.

We took it easy today as we new we had a big night coming up. We had breakfast at a coffee shop down the road from the hotel. They had a whole page with gluten free items which is the first gluten free things we have seen on our trip. After breakfast David rested at the hotel while Catriona had a massage. Then we wandered through the streets visiting the many churches and ruins of churches with Chris while Sharon had a massage. We met up with the rest of the group for our first meeting with the new people Claire, from London and Josh and Kate from Neutral Bay. Dinner was booked for 8:30pm so we set off to walk through the main street to check out what was going on. In the first part of the street there was a guy carrying a construction with fireworks taped to it and they were going off. Next we passed people carrying huge figures that they moved from side to side to make the arms swing to the music being played on xylophones. The mood was good and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. We arrived at the restaurant a little early so decided to have a drink while we waited. One drink turned into 3 as they couldn't get us a table. We ended up eating at around 11pm! After dinner Chasta and Joey headed back to the hotel and Catriona and David followed not long after. The fireworks started just before midnight with many people in different locations around the town setting off fireworks and crackers, the noise went on for hours and we ended up sleeping with earplugs in.

We managed to wake up in time for our 8am breakfast despite the bad nights sleep. We ate breakfast with John and Lorna and got ready to walk up to Cerro la Cruz which is a cross on a hill overlooking the city. The guy on the desk at teh hotel said it was not safe for just the two of us to go together so we organised to go with Lorna, John and Chris. It was a very steep walk up and we did see warning signs and also a few police cars and individual police along the route. The site had great views over the city and because of the police presence we felt very safe. We spent the rest of the day wandering around again looking at the sites and trying to find somewhere to have lunch. We had a drink with Sharon and Chris at the sky bar overlooking the city and then dinner in a little soup restaurant not far from the hotel.