Wednesday, 28 May 2008
Happy 3rd Anniversary to US!
Today is our third wedding anniversary:) We were out so late last night seeing George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic last night to celebrate my brother's 26th birthday, that we decided to just take advantage of this lovely weather and relax on the boat and enjoy the gorgeous lake tonight with my parents. Gosh I can hardly believe 3 years has already gone by:) I think this travel has brought us even closer together - it's great to be married to your best friend - that's for sure. Love ya Murray:)
Saturday, 24 May 2008
U.S.A
Back in Minnesota - YAY!
I have:
1. already been to target - gotta love those giant super targets
2. enjoyed having more than 5 t-shirts to wear!!
3. loved eating without fear of another stomach bug
4. loved the MN great spring weather!
the last Central America blog will happen when we get time - since we are so busy relaxing - that may be awhile:)
I have:
1. already been to target - gotta love those giant super targets
2. enjoyed having more than 5 t-shirts to wear!!
3. loved eating without fear of another stomach bug
4. loved the MN great spring weather!
the last Central America blog will happen when we get time - since we are so busy relaxing - that may be awhile:)
Saturday, 17 May 2008
Ruins, Birds, Monkeys and Hot Liquid Magma
Now, first a few old videos (since I have just figured out that you now have to upload directly onto blogger!!)
Steve hiking across the swamp on our jungle trek in Ecuador
Steve with a lizard earring
Day 168 – April 14 (cont.)
Wow Panama City airport likes to rip you off! They charged us $41 USD EACH just to leave the airport! Amazing! (Granted it IS a nice airport, but still….)
We arrived in Panama City at 6pm and made our way to our hotel. We decided to have a relaxing night in. So we just popped some popcorn (in our room’s microwave – wow first time we have had THAT is a long long time) and we watched a movie on our laptop – lovely!
The lovely view from our room of the hotel pool and the entrance to the Panama Canal
Day 169 – April 15
Today we got a cab to Aldbrook Mall – we got there for the 10am opening and set on our mission to find a Central America lonely planet book and a new camera.
Me getting crushed by a hippo in the mall
Eventually we did find the book, but the camera was a no go. Like we heard, they WERE cheaper than in South America, but there were still WAY too much more than what we would pay in America. So we didn’t buy one. Instead we had lunch, shopped and went to a movie (Fool’s Gold). It was a nice relaxing day (with air conditioning – yay).
And we saw some interesting….. mannequins
Wow those look real….hmmmm – we did get a good laugh though from looking at the displays since ALL of the mannequins had boobs like this – wow.
That evening we had dinner at TGI Friday’s (which was attached to our hotel – very exciting). Disappointingly, the food was rubbish. Really bad. Oh well. At least we had a huge comfy hotel room to go back to (there’s something to say for a bit of luxury – that’s for sure)!
Day 170 – April 16
Today we our tourist day!
We started the day by getting a cab to the Miraflores Locks
Located just outside Panama City is the Miraflores Locks Visitors’ Centre
There are some great viewing platforms from which you can watch ships passing through the locks
The gate shown here is over 7 stories tall – massive! An average 36 ships a day pass through the canal with an average fee of $18,000 USD (ships pay according to their weight). With the passage of each ship, a staggering 52 million gallons of fresh water is released into the ocean.
Over $200 million USD a year is spent on maintenance of the locks. The highest fee paid by a ship using the Panama Canal was a Norwegian vessel that recently paid $313,000 to pass through the canal.
This little train is a Mitsubishi/Kawasaki towing train. It goes 5mph and each unit costs $21 million USD.
The Canal operated 24/7, 365 days a year and it has 28 tugboats that assist the ships in and out of the locks. Each tugboat costs $5.8 million USD.
Murray and I at the Panama Canal Miraflores Locks
We really enjoyed our visit to the lock. IT was interesting to watch ships pass through, and the museum and short film was excellent!
Afterwards we caught a local (US school) bus further inland to the Summit Botanical Gardens & Zoo which established a small zoo to help American soldiers identify tropical animals while they were out in the field.
We were thrilled to get to see an ocelot snoozing in a tree – gorgeous
We also saw the hard to spot Harpy Eagle – but he was too far away to get any good photos of him.
We also saw some cool hanging nests
Looks like he has another piece of straw to add to the nest in his beak
Peeking his head out of the nest (they build them like this to try and stop birds with long beaks like toucans from stealing their eggs)
Flying off
The lovely flower Bala de Canon has a lovely aroma
A cute little grasshopper on the Bala’s petals
Overall the zoo was – just ok. We saw a few cool things, but it wasn’t very well maintained, and the cages for some of the animals were way too small. But for just a $1USD entrance fee, I guess you can’t really complain!
When we finished up we went out to the bus stop and caught another chicken bus back to Aldbrook mall, then grabbed a cab to Casco Viejo (Old Compound).
At the tip of the point is Plaza de Francia – which displays large stone tablets and statues dictating the story of the French role in the construction of the canal. The plaza is dedicated to the memory of the 22,000 workers, most of them from France, Guadeloupe and Martinique, who died trying to create a canal (most died from malaria and yellow fever).
Following the destruction of the old city in 1671, the Spanish moved their city 8km southwest to a rock peninsula, which was easier to defend as the reefs prevented ships from approaching the city except at high tide.
The new city was also easy to defend as it was surrounded by a massive wall, which is how Casco Viejo (Old Compound) got its name.
In 1904, at the time construction began on the Panama Canal, all of Panama City existed where Casco Viejo stands today.
A view of the new city – El Cangrejo (the banking district) from the old city.
Me posing on the Paseo las Bovedas – this esplanade runs along the top of the sea wall built by the Spanish to protect the city.
When we were finished exploring we caught a cab back to hotel. We had a lovely swim in the pool, enjoying the last of the day’s sun and then we decided to go for a walk down the causeway (which we were told was safe to walk at night). At the Pacific entrance to the Panama Canal, a 2km pal tree-lined calzada (causeway) connects the four small island of Naos, Culebra, Perico and Flamenco to the mainland. It was indeed safe, tons of people were out running, walking their dogs & kids, and just enjoying a leisurely stroll like us.
We had a great view of the Bridge of the Americas as we left our hotel
We ended up having dinner at the first island, as it was QUITE a long walk. We had a nice meal, and then cabbed it back to the hotel to pack.
I must say we have got QUITE good at packing! (although we are BEYOND sick with it!!)
Day 171 – April 17
We got a cab at 7:30 to the airport for our flight at 10am to Cancun, Mexico. We arrived in Cancun after a pretty short flight (just over 2 hours) and then got a cab to the docks and a ferry out to Isla Mujeres, a 12km long island just 25 minutes from Cancun via ferry.
The gorgeous looking water we could see from the ferry- so clear and stunning blue
Our hotel, the Avalon Reef Club, was an older hotel – but wow did it have an amazing setting. Set out on a peninsula – only connected to the main island by a wooden bridge. Our room had views of the rough ocean – gorgeous. We got checked in by 4pm and quickly got on our swimsuits and went down to the sheltered beach on the island side of the hotel.
Me showing off the hotel
After a nice relaxing dip in the ocean, we went into town to look for somewhere nice to eat. We ended up at a cute little restaurant called Comono and had some GREAT food. Guacamole & chips, awesome prawns in chili sauce, and a salad. We quick popped in to check out a few things on the net, and then made our way back to the hotel.
On the way we were stopped by a guy who saw we had a dolphin brochure with us. He proceeded to tell us how if we went down to take a look at a hotel in the Riviera Maya the next day, that he would as a thank you give us vouchers for a free dolphin experience. We doubted the prices he was telling us for the dolphin excursion, so we went to another internet place to check, and yup he was right – quite expensive! So we went back to him and signed up to a half day tour of a resort, in exchange for dolphins (we are backpackers after all – and even if we had to sit through some sort of sales pitch – free is still free)!
Day 172 – April 18
Today we had a great buffet breakfast at the hotel. You can do all inclusive (for food & drink) at this place, but we decided to just shell out for the room and the breakfast. And wow was it worth it. Not the best buffet I have ever seen, but 1000% better than most of our free breakfasts in South America. We each chose ingredients for our personal omelets, filled up on fresh fruits, ordered a fresh smoothie and had a mimosa – lovely!
Then it was time to get down to the docks to meet Omar (the guy who sold us the ‘tour’ at 8:45) to catch the ferry to the mainland at 9. We got into a van, with 2 other Americans and we made our way down to the Mayan Hotel – about and hour south of Cancun. When we got there they quickly ferried us into the sales office, and assigned us a guide. Hmmmm turns out they were actually selling time shares – um not what we were expecting – but we went with it. He gave us a tour of the property (lovely actually), a look at one of the suites, and then we went for (another) buffet breakfast.
And WOW now that is what you call a buffet – like 5 star compared to the 2-3 star buffet we had at our own hotel. I had mostly fruit, since I was still so full. But I admit I did eat a bunch of bacon and one pancake as well (so I could try the mango syrup – yummm).
After breakfast, he brought us back to the ballroom ‘sales room’ and proceeded to show us why it would be cheaper for us in the long run to buy into a time share (worldwide) rather than book and pay for our own holidays. He went on, and on, and on, and on (British guy from Essex) and we listened patiently. But then he pushed for an answer and we said no.
Although it does sound good (don’t all good sales pitches?) we are not the sort of people who would EVER say yes and sign up to pay $90,000 for something after only having heard about it for 2 hours! He got super frustrated with us, and kept sweetening the deal, but we just said no, and no, and no. Murray even said – look we do think it sounds like an interesting idea, but we cannot decide this today. Do you have a package of info or something that we could take with us to think about and then get back to you in a week or 2? The answer was no. Today or nothing.
Ok then – nothing thanks! He passed us off to the guy who he said would give us our free dolphin trip, and that guy proceeded to pitch us again (although this time with quite bad English skills) and sweeten the deal to ridiculous proportions (but sorry we still aren’t willing to put down even $1 today ok)! Exasperated, he finally gave up on us too, and we finally got our voucher for the dolphins. We were put into a cab with a lovely couple from Michigan, and laughed with them about all the ridiculous sales pitches all the way back to Cancun. We got back to the island in the early afternoon, and decided that rather than rushing to the dolphin place – that we’d just take it easy for the rest of the day instead.
Lovely view of the beachfront on Isla Mujeres
We popped by a popular pizza restaurant in town and shared a pizza and a banana split for lunch, booked our dolphin experience for the next day, and went back to the hotel.
Someone was tired! Snoozin’ island style
The whole day had been pretty cloudy (we were glad for that – didn’t feel like a wasted day then) so we just went up to our room, and laid down to watch TV (well, I did – Murray worked on the blog photos). It was so comfy and lovely in our room, and the weather was so rubbish outside, that we decided just to order room service! We shared a yummy sandwich, packed a bit, and watched a new episode of ER – great eveningJ
Day 173 – April 19
Ahhh we had a lovely little sleep in, another GREAT buffet, packed, checked out of our room, stored the bags with the desk, and then went out to the pool to relax. After bobbing in the pool for awhile, we decided to wander down to the edge of the hotel property where there is a sheltered rock formation called the King’s bath. It was lovely and had a TON of fish, so we explored the area for a bit. Eventually we decided to head into town, and after a bit of a wonder we caught a cab to the Dolphin Discovery place. We signed in, then set back to relax for awhile until it was our turn.
At 2:30 we signed in, got our lifejackets and a briefing, and then headed down to the docks. We met our dolphin Picasso, who did a few tricks for our group, then it was time to walk down onto the submerged platform. Picasso worked his way through the line giving each of us…….
A kiss
And a dance!
We also got the chance to feel his back, fins and belly as he allowed the trainer to slowly drag him in front of us for a close view. We also went out into the center of the enclosure and laughed as he turned around in the water as we did, jumped right in front of us, and super quickly swam past us. We had a great time! Picasso is a male dolphin in his 20’s. Our trainer told us that in the wild dolphins live to around 25, but in captivity they live to about 50 (because of no predators and better food). We had SUCH a great time!
Oh and a dolphin story I read that I thought was fascinating!! A couple of years ago, the US Navy decided to slim its experimental dolphins to facilitate their deep dive research. The dolphins’ daily fish intake was reduced, but, to their amazement, one of the animals did not lose any weight. After looking into the matter, they discovered that the dolphin would take some of its food to one of the corners of the enclosure net and, through a small hole; it used it to bail more fish, thus counteracting his imposed diet. Amazing!
When the experience was over, we caught a cab back to our hotel, got our bags, and went back to catch the ferry to Cancun. We got a cab to our next GAP hotel and got settled in, ready for the 7pm welcome meeting. We met our guide Trevor (from California) and our group, had a bit of a briefing about the upcoming trip, and then went out to dinner together at a local Mexican restaurant. The new group seems nice – and we are looking forward to seeing a bit of Central America with them!
Day 174 – April 20
Today we caught the 8am bus to Playa del Carmen. It was quite a short ride, then we walked to our hotel, checked in, and Murray and I headed off to air conditioned heaven – Wal-Mart (lol). We spent a bit of time in there, picking up some essentials we had run out of (like 40spf lip sunblock and some snacks for the bus). Afterwards we headed down to the beach – and WOW was it hot!!
The beach really is lovely!
After awhile in the sun we had to get some shade. We had a corona at a very overpriced place on the beach, so that we could enjoy the view which was great for people watching. Afterwards we went back to the hotel to rest until dinner time. Trevor took us all out to a very local place –that had great food (lots of lovely grilled vegetables – yummm). Good to get to know the group a bit better as well.
Day 175 – April 21
Today we were up and down at the dive shop by 8 for the dive we had booked in Playa del Carmen. After getting kitted up, we headed out with our dive master and 3 other guys to our fist dive site. Unfortunately there was a ship stuck off the peninsula near xcaret which meant that a few of the best sites were closed off, but we still managed to find a good one.
The ship that was stuck on the reef – duh! Not good!
The guy had told us it was a slow ascent (we were doing this dive for Murray to test out his ears before we shelled out the big bucks in Belize for the blue hole) but once we got in we had to go down right away, because of the rough water and the strong current. Murray wasn’t able to get down in time, so the dive master sent him back to the boat/. Apparently the current was too strong for him to follow us higher up and take his time coming down. I continued on with the group and saw
a lot of fish
Self portrait (you can’t really tell I am TRYING to smile here! Difficult with the regulator!)
And we spotted one lone turtle which we got quite close to!!!
On our way to the second dive site we saw a bunch of canoes going by. Our guide said they were following the Mayan tradition where once in every woman’s life time (on this date of the year) they must paddle out to the island of Cozumel (16 miles). Interesting!
Our second dive site was closer to the dock at Playa del Carmen – right in the reef. Murray decided against going, because one of his ears was still not clearing and was quite painful.
I saw a southern ray – the dive master told us she was actually pregnant
And that you could see the babies moving under her skin?? I didn’t see that! But I think maybe you can spot the ‘bump’ in this photo??
This guy looks VERY serious
The good thing about the reef was that there was a TON of fish hanging about
Really cool looking
And then I saw a huge moray eel swim by
I wasn’t about to go too close – but I enjoyed watching him from a distance
Our dive master wanted a close pic…
So he took the camera and stuck it right in the eel’s face for a photo – SCARY! (those things bite!)
I also saw a few barracudas. Not a bad dive (although I hate diving without Murray – bummer).
After the dives, we went back to shower, then took our laptop out to find some wifi. We stopped at subway first for lunch (yumm) and then we went to starbucks for a cold drink and free wi-fi (do you think this part of Mexico is just a BIT Americanized? Ha ha). I had a super yummy frapachino, and we checked out emails and enjoyed the cold blast of air conditioning and leather lounges.
After that, we wandered back down to the beach, and found some very reasonable sun loungers with an umbrella to rent (only $4 for the day)! Along with a waiter who brought us ice cold coronas. We both thoroughly relaxed for the rest of the afternoon – it was SO wonderful!
And when we got back we found this lovely towel arrangement on our bed – ha ha – cute!
We met the group for dinner at 7, and Trevor took us to a funky little place.
It was a Combi (VW) van
that had been converted into a little food stall (Emma and Ron putting in their orders)
too cute!
Also across the road was a place that sold takeaway AMAZING slices of pizza.
Ron pointing out how terrific the pizza is
It also helped that they had this giant container of yummy chili flakes!
A fun, cheap, meal! We then made plans to meet up again at 9, and head down to the ‘Blue Parrot’ which was advertising free drinks for ladies night! We got there just after 9, and all of us girls lined up for our free cocktail (not a huge selection on the ‘free’ list – but not bad). We found a really cool lounge area upstairs from the bar (I think it was the VIP place for busy nights). And then we just sat around and chatted, watched the dance floor from above, and relaxed. Close to 12 we heard a commotion below, so we peeked down and saw that the beach was roped off in front of the bar for a fire show! A whole team of dancers performed quite a long show with flaming sticks, hoola hoops, balls on strings, etc. It was really cool looking, on the beach, in the dark! We watch the show until it was over at 12, then some of us went back to the hotel to try and get some sleep!
Day 176 – April 22
EARLY morning – we had to be up and ready to walk to the bus station by 5:45 am!!! We got a 4 hour bus South (and we had a fab chicken taco thing at one of the stops), then had to catch another bus – our first chicken bus to the Belizean border.
The chicken buses are really just old US school buses – SO uncomfortable –I think everyone’s bum was numb by the time we got to the border (don’t I just look thrilled in this photo?)
At the Mexican exit border, they fleeced us by forcing each of us to pay $10USD (but what can you do?) and then we were allowed across. We crossed into Belize with no dramas, and then got back onto our chicken bus all the rest of the way to Belize City. It stopped a lot for people to hop on and off. And we were oh so thrilled when it got so crowded that guys starting coming in the back emergency door, then proceed to sit or stand on our backpacks!!!
Eventually we got to Belize City at 4pm.
We headed down to the dock
Waiting with all 12 of our backpacks at the dock
Where we got onto a ‘water taxi’ (just a boat with WAY too many people squished on it) that would take us to Caye Caulker.
Denise & Me holding onto our bags as a group of school kids read their textbooks
Eventually we arrived at Caye Caulker and headed down the beach to check into our hotel (we had to laugh because the hotel ‘office’ was a guy sitting on a golf cart – ha!)
We were right by the beach with an awesome breeze thank goodness
Me posing at our hotel – very hot & sunny
A little guy who went scooting by us on the beach
Looking back towards the main water taxi dock
‘Downtown’ Caye Caulker
We love this sigh!!! ‘Happy hour til Everybody Happy’ too funny!!
That sign really portrays just how laid back the island residents are. I was surprised to see that everyone here speaks with an English (granted, a very accented Jamaican sounded English) and that everyone was BEYOND nice! Emma in our group got yelled at by a guy to ‘chill out’ because she was ‘walking too fast’ and needed to ‘take it easy’ ha ha! I love it!
We had a nice fish & prawn dinner and then went back to get some exhausted (and well rested cause of the breeze) sleep!
Day 177 – April 23
Today we met up at 8:45 to go and get some breakfast before our snorkeling trip.
We tried the local brekkie favorite fry jacks (just like a large triangle shaped donut really – but great with syrup)
At 10 we went to the snorkel office to get kitted up. Then it was time to board our sailing boat and head out to our first snorkel spot - Coral Gardens. It was a nice spot, a few fish and lots of lovely coral.
Then we went to the next spot, Shark & Ray alley.
The sharks swarmed around the boat as soon as we arrived and the captain started throwing them hunks of fish.
We saw this gorgeous HUGE ray
Me snorkeling (in a t-shirt so I wouldn’t get burnt to a crisp!)
Some gorgeous little blue fish
And gorgeous coral
I love this little blue fish against the coral
We also went to one last snorkeling spot – a wide gap in the coral where all the large rays, fish, sharks, etc swim through to the other side.
A Massive grouper – wow he was big
And a lovely little turtle
And another massive ray
Me waiting to get back on the boat
A gorgeous huge … ray swam by – check out that amazing long tail
We also saw a HUGE barracuda
Scary teeth!!
This guy had a chunk taken out of him – ouch!
It was a GREAT afternoon of snorkeling – so many amazing sites!!
Unfortunately Denise got stung by a jelly fish on her arm as we were waiting to get into the boat, but they had some alcohol to stop the sting so she ended up being ok.
On the way back we cruised around enjoying the rum punch and homemade prawn ceviche & tortilla chips (just tasted like prawn salsa – but nice).
The rum punch was excellent
As we came to towards the end of our tour, we passed through what they call ‘the Split’ where the island was split apart after Hurricane Hattie. As we passed through the split we saw the bar at the end of the island. Natalie looked at me and said hey let’s jump off. So we did! We swam the short distance to the bar, then looked back and saw Murray and Seb jump off too – fun! We played around at the bar – enjoying the gorgeous water and the diving board until the rest of the group arrived (with out stuff), then had a fun time hanging out there for awhile.
Emma, Denise, Natalie & Me
Murray diving off into the Split
(we decided to leave diving the blue hole until another trip – once Murray’s ears get sorted out. But we definitely will be back!!)
Day 178 – April 24
We got up early, and the two of us found a cute little breakfast place for fresh fruit and fresh juices (lovely).
We packed up our stuff, and moved everything out by 10 (as requested) and then Murray and I took a leisurely stroll down to the end of the island.
Wow does this hammock look relaxing
This is the very popular (and really yummy) hot sauce that is popular in Belize
It really is such a lovely place – check out that water!
Back at the bar where we were the previous night – gorgeous views
A couple snuggling in the water – just looks like paradise
The diving board at the bar
And a little warning
Gotta love the thatch roof on a BOAT! Cute
Gorgeous view from the diving board of the split
We got a few pics, and then sought shelter from the boiling hot sun at a restaurant and had a bit to eat before heading back to the hotel.
Hammocks really are the ultimate in island relaxation
We had some (ok) nachos that came out looking quite interesting! (they did taste better than they look!)
Murray showing off his Belikin Beer cup (with diet coke in it lol)
A lot of the hotels had these little platforms by the docks with hammocks!
Me & Murray relaxing on a water bench
Then it was time to head out. We all grabbed our bags, got back on the ‘water taxi’ and made our way back to Belize City.
Some random guy, Me & Emma waiting for the water taxi to arrive.
Crowded in the water taxi – they really pack everyone in!
We caught a chicken bus for 3 hours to San Ignacio, and luckily the bus dropped us off RIGHT at our hotel!
One funny story from the ride. At one of the stops a lady came onto the bus trying to sell hamburgers. Eventually she got down to just having one left so she started SINGING ‘Hello tourists, welcome to my country, would you like to buy a hamburger?’ We all laughed a bit, she was so sweet and nice. Then she spotted Murray with his head down reading a book, and she started flirting with him, trying to get him to buy the burger to no avail. It was so sweet though – she started singing to him about how handsome he is, and how I don’t mind him flirting, etc etc – the group thought that was pretty funny!
We did manage to buy this fantastic ice cream sandwich – fantastic!
The chicken bus stopped briefly at our lodge ‘Trek Stop’ and we very quickly grabbed our bags out of the back before it sped off. We all sat down in the lounge area while John, the kooky owner of the eco lodge (who is originally from Michigan) told us how the place works (compost toilets, rain water only showers) and what was free (the butterfly house, golf Frisbee, and lots of books in English).
Then he showed us our cabins, which were small (well, I guess ours wasn’t that small, but cute – we had a small double bed and then bunk beds which worked well for our bags)!
Back in the lounge I told John I was from Minnesota and he asked me where abouts exactly, cause his Mother is from Minnesota. I laughed and said oh it’s such a small town, most Minnesotans don’t even know where it is. Then he told me where his mother was from, and OH MY GOSH – it is the city where I grew up!!! I could hardly believe it. His father had lived in the old folk’s home across the lake from us for years, and his mother had lived near the lake. I even recognized the surname; I went to school with a guy who had that name (which is quite unusual).
So after all that ‘wow it’s a small world’ talk a few of us walked down to check out the river. It was a bit brown looking, and down river from the town (which hints maybe not the cleanest….) so we only went for a short swim (and did NOT duck our heads underwater at all). Then we went back to relax, had a few cold (really cheap!!) beers and a heavy pasta dinner (not nice, but cheap and convenient since we ate at the lodge).
Bit of a drama in our room when it was time for bed. We had a few wasps buzzing around that just would NOT go away. I kept picking this one up (well, with a cup and a piece of paper) off the floor and putting him outside, but he KEPT on coming back! When we laid down to sleep he landed ON MY FACE – and that was it. The light came out and he got smushed. We had another one buzzing around as well that Murray jumped all over the room trying to smush, but he was just to quick and the ceilings were too high to get him, so eventually we just gave up and eventually he took off and left us alone!
Day 179 – April 25
We were up and ready to go on our tour by 8. They gave us our bag lunches, and then we were off to explore the ATM (Actun Tunichil Muknal) cave. We drove an hour in the van, and then we arrived at the spot where we would start our trek.
We walked for about an hour, including 3 (fairly shallow but slippery) river crossings
Me & Denise crossing the river
It was quite pretty
Hiking off to the cave entrance
This is the seed from a local tree that is SUPER soft. The locals use it to stuff pillows and blankets.
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Eventually we arrived at the entrance to the cave.
I managed to sit our backpack down on an ant hill…
thankfully noticing before they attacked our lunches (*sigh*). We wedged the bag up in a tree, then Murray and I decided to test out the water
and OH MY GOSH it was freezing cold!
Eventually the guide got the headlamps hooked up to all of our helmets, and it was time to set off.
Denise, Jill and I in the cave
The cave is 4 miles long in total, but we only trekked back about a half a mile. Although it felt MUCH longer!
For the first part we had to swim in, and then scramble up on a ledge and switch on our head lamps.
Then we proceeded to climb, swim and wade our way through the water filled cave – deeper and deeper into the darkness (kinda scary)! Our guide stopped now and then to show us interested stalagmites, stalactites, and what he called stalagfights (where they were about to meet up). We also saw some fruit bats which got all freaked out by our headlamps!
Me posing as a floating head in the cave (gosh it was dark!!)
Murray, Me, Jill & Denise posing for a pic
Eventually we arrived at the entrance to the area where the Maya archaeological site had been found. We had to climb up a steep rock to the entrance where we had to leave our shoes and bags and put on socks (so that the natural oils on our feet wouldn’t damage the cave).
Right away we saw pottery
ALL over the place!
The Mayans believed that the world was made up of a three-layered domain. All three domains were thought to be alive and imbued with sacred power. The starry arch of heaven, the stony middle world of earth made to flower and bear fruit. And the dark waters of the underworld below. The underworld was known as Xibalba, the fearful world beneath the face of the earth. The Maya understood Xibalba as the parallel unseen other world into which the king and other shamans could pass in ecstatic trance. This is the ‘realm’ that we hiked back into the cave to explore.
Some of it was marked with just a small piece of orange tape – to draw our attention so we wouldn’t step on anything.
Apparently the cave has been left exactly as it was discovered –nothing has been removed or moved – which we found fascinating.
Amazing stalactite and stalagmite formations
Then we entered the chamber where sacrifices happened. Our guide told us about how the Maya would come to the cave to do blood sacrifices (where they would pierce themselves with the prongs from stings rays – usually through their chin up into their mouth) in order to appease the gods. They would bleed into a bowl, and then burn it. But also – human sacrifices were done in this cave
and we got to see 6 of the 15 petrified remains that are in the cave. Babies, women, men – all sorts of people were sacrificed, and here it was not done willingly. We heard gruesome stories about how the Maya believe that the longer a person suffered, the happier the gods would be. So often they would pull out a piece of a person’s spinal cord so they were paralyzed, but still alive. Horrendous.
The most amazing remain was the last one.
We had to climb up a (scary shaky) ladder to a little area where you could see a full skeleton.
She indeed had a piece of her spinal column missing, and they guess she was in her 20’s when she was sacrificed.
The tour was great, and the artifacts and petrified remains were really interesting, but once we were done looking around we all started dreading having to get back into that COLD water to walk the half mile back out. But we did it, and like usually happens – the way back felt much faster than the way in.
The water was CHILLY!
Murray looking a bit cold
Me swimming out of the cave at the end of the tour
Murray posing for one last pic at the entrance to the ATM cave, which is located on the Tapir Mountain Reserve
When we got out we all grabbed our lunches and went up to the picnic tables to eat.
Afterwards we walked back to the van. Awaiting us was a huge plateful of fresh pineapple, watermelon, and chips and salsa! We weren’t exactly hungry anymore, but who can say no to lovely fresh fruit?
We spotted this cute little guy while we were snacking
So we ate as much as we could, then hopped back in the van for the ride back to trek stop. I spent the rest of the afternoon on the wi-fi working on the blog, while Murray chilled out. We had an ok chicken stir fry for dinner, then all sat around and watch the movie Dodgeball on the one TV at the whole lodge (that movie is SO funny)!
Day 180 – April 26
We slept in, had a nice cooked breakfast, and I finished blogging. Cabs arrived to pick us all up at 12:30 and we were off for the Guatemalan border. Once we crossed the border Trevor managed to secure a private mini bus for just us, and we took that to the island of Flores (arriving at about 3:30).
The bags were a BIT precarious on the top though! Not big enough for 12 big backpacks really! That’s our guide Trevor’s bag hanging off the side.
At one point during the ride we heard Malcolm at the back of the bus yell BAG as Emma’s backpack came loose and flew off into the road. We backed up, collected it, and tried to strap it on tighter – drama!
We checked into our rooms (overjoyed to have our own bathrooms, TV and air-conditioning) then went to the one ATM on the island to get some local money (Quetzals). We booked and paid for our tour the next day, then went back to our awesome (though bug filled) air conditioned room for some r&r.
Lauren checking out the view from our hotel
Flores is located on an island in Lago de Peten Itza (which is 12 km long and 3 km wide)
It was to Lake Peten Itza region, that the descendants of the Maya of Chichen Itza immigrated, moving here from Mexico several centuries after the collapse of the great Maya cities in the Yucatan. These descendants founded the island of Flores and lived here for about four hundred years, isolate and forgotten by the rest of the country. The city was officially founded by the Spanish in 1700 after they conquered the locals and the city.
In the evening we met up with the group and went out for a very average dinner (our ‘Italian Salad’ was just chopped up tomatoes and grated cheese – bleh). Then it was early to bed in prep for our VERY early morning coming up!
Day 181 – April 27
Today we got up at 3:30 am to get on a private bus that would take us Tikal, a Maya site located deep in the jungle. Tikal is the largest excavated Mayan Ruin site in the Americas. Nestled in the jungle, Tikal is a spiritual area with impressive temples – call it the New York of the ancient Mundo Maya.
We arrived around 5 and made our way in the dark (thanks to our headlamps) to Temple IV to watch the sunrise.
The Maya settled here in 700 BC, perhaps because Tikal is set on a low hill above the surrounding ground, but also because of the abundance of flint which was used to make spearheads, arrows, etc.
By AD 250 Tikal had become an important, heavily populated religious, cultural and commercial city.
You can just see some of the temple poking out of the mist here
By the middle of the 6th century, Tikal sprawled over 30 sq. km and had a population of perhaps 100,000.
It was amazing to watch the sun rise, and listen to the jungle waking up (birds starting to squawk, monkeys starting to yell to one another, etc.
We even had this AMAZING first wild view of Toucans – just gorgeous
These holes are scattered around the site – they were used for storing food away from the hot sun
After the sun came up, we began our tour of the big sites at Tikal
The first site we saw was Templo del Talud-Tablero, part of El Mundo Perdido (the lost world – a complex of 38 structures).
Me climbing up Templo del Talud-Tablero (Temple of the Three Rooms)
Lovely views all around
A view through the jungle of the pyramid, which is 32m high and 80m along its base
Some of the stonework was fixed up to give us a better idea of what it would have looked like in it’s hey day
But some of it is still in pretty good shape
Looking back on Templo del Talud-Tablero – an early Classic structure
Quite striking how the temples are right in the midst of the jungle
Some other structures which are part of El Mundo Perdido
We could JUST see through the trees the top of Templo III
Next we went to look at the Plaza del los Siete Templos (Plaza of the 7 Temples)
The little temples, clustered together (and only partially excavated) were built in late-Classic times, though the structures beneath go back at least a millennium.
The Maya believed that the world would end in 2012, and the center temple will be destroyed when that happens – remains to be seen I guess!
Here is one of the yet to be uncovered temples (amazing huh!)
We stood listening to our guide outside the 7 temples, which rummaging through the piles of dirt that archaeologists had excavated. I managed to find a tiny piece of pottery that I stuck in my pocket to keep (you can only just barely tell it was molded clay – but still kinda cool).
Next on the list was the striking Temple V
You are only allowed to climb up this side staircase
The view from the top of Temple V was amazing
Temple 5 is 58m high and was built around AD 700. Unlike the other great temples, this one has rounded corners, and one tiny room at the top.
Me working my way up the ladder (thank goodness for the intermediate platforms all the way up or there is NO way I would have gone!!)
Next we made our way over to the Great Plaza
Murray and I posing in front of Temple II
The North Acropolis is made up of about 100 structures and dates back as far as 400 BC.
A view of the Plaza and Temple 1 from the North Acropolis (this is the famous view in all the postcards)
One interesting fact that our guide told us, is that ONLY Guatemalan archaeologists are now allowed on the site. This is because when the University of Pennsylvania came to do excavation work here, they stole a lot of important artifacts and took them out of the country.
Also, our guide told us just how inaccurate Mel Gibson’s Apocalypto movie is. Mayans did sacrifices only on the ground, NOT on temples. They only performed ceremonies on the temples.
Another interesting fact was that they used stingray spines for ritual bloodletting ceremonies
After we finished our tour, we went back to Temple IV to get a few clear photos (without the morning fog). Here you can see Temple ! and II on the left, and Temple V on the right
The views were just gorgeous – the towering pyramids poking above the jungle’s green canopy to catch the sun
Murray and I at Tikal
Then we went exploring a bit, looking for animals. We first came across this common local animal called a Pisote (coatis – a tropical mammal related to a raccoon)
And we got up close and personal with some GORGEOUS Toucans (keel-billed toucan???)
They are really SO hard to spot, we got so lucky to get close to this guy
We also spotted this unusual bird who looks like he dipped his bill in red ink
This is how we usually spotted Toucans – deep in the jungle!
And WOW can they howl!
Toucan Sam perhaps? These guys just remind me so much of fruit loops.
We realized just how lucky we were to have so many amazing spottings of these gorgeous birds – wow.
Gorgeous palm shot – love the shadows
We also heard, and then spotted this cute little woodpecker
He has a lovely little profile
Me playing navigator with our book
And then we spotted this little guy – gorgeous red chest
He was really SO colorful
And this very odd looking great curassow???????
Ewww I think it looks like he has tumors on his head
Odd, odd, odd
You can tell he’s related to a peacock
We also spotted some more hanging nests – quite inventive of the birds!
This is the guy who lives in the hanging nest
He has beautiful coloring
This guy has a gorgeous yellow belly
Back at Temple I
Temple I, the temple of the Grand Jaguar, was built for King Moon Double Comb (gotta love that name). It was erected over his tomb by his son, who succeeded to the throne in 734.
Part of the North Acropolis . The elaborate buildings built on top of other older strucrtur4es, added sanctity and power to their temples.
Another coatis, who was scavenging around for food
Odd looking things, and quite big!
Chewing away at something?
At the top of Temple I (which is 44m high) there is a small enclosure of three rooms covered by an arch. The lofty roof comb was originally adorned with reliefs and bright paint, perhaps symbolizing the 13 realms of the Maya heaven.
This is a photo of a postcard we bought that shows what the temples probably would have looked like, and what they looked like when they were discovered in 1848.
When we finally finished our tour of Tikal, we met up with the group for lunch before heading back to Flores.
From left and clockwise: Natalie, Ron, Pascal, Seb, Penelope, Emma, Jill, Denise, Malcom, Lauren, Jay & Me
We got back to Flores by 3pm, absolutely exhausted (a 3am wake up call is DARN early if you ask me)! So we just rested in our room with air con TV until dinner time. Then the two of us went out to a place called Captain Tortuga (turtle) where we had a fabulous pizza and AMAZING home made frozen cocktails! Lovely.
Day 183 – April 28
We were up and packed, ready to head out by 9 for Rio Dulce.
Once again the bags were not really fitting, so at our first rest stop Trevor got up on top to try and tie them down a bit better.
We were short 3 seats (since the driver brought his girlfriend and another girl – huh?) so two people in our group had to sit on the floor, while the other hanger on girl stood the entire time! Geez.
We got to Fronteras, had a quick lunch, and then caught boats across to our jungle lodge Hacienda Tijax.
Seb & Me relaxing as they sorted out our rooms at the lodge
This 500 acre hacienda is a really lovely place to stay – we loved the wooden walkways they had to every part of the complex.
We were thrilled that we got one of the cabins actually ON the dock!
Welcome to my lovely dock home –he he. The lodge is located at the east end of the Lago de Izabal, where it empties into the Rio Dulce.
It had QUITE the view! Lots of amazing sail boats were tied up outside. The US coast guard says that this is the safest place on the western Caribbean for boats during hurricane season.
Murray then found his first tick on his thigh – as this was his first tick ever – of course he took a photo
And a lovely after shot –nice huh? We tried burning it to get it to let go, but he would just bite down harder. So eventually Murray just dug him out – gross.
This is the lodge’s dining room – I love how well it fits in with the surroundings
We then spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing in the lovely pool with our ice cold beers – lovely.
That evening we had a GREAT lasagna for dinner, and had a few drinks with the group before heading to bed.
Day 183 – April 29
Today we had a lovely cooked breakfast (great veggie omelet and fresh juice) before catching out tour boat to head off to explore the area.
Our first stop was El Castillo de San Felipe.
It was built in 1652 to keep pirates from looting the villages and commercial caravans of Izabal
Although id deterred buccaneers a bit, a pirate force captured and burned the fortress in 1686. The present fort was reconstructed in 1956.
Me on the boat – it had quite a big engine and could really move!
Next stop was bird island
Lots of unusual looking birds were around
And beautiful water flowers
The cranes were stunning
We especially liked this guy, walking along the lily pads in Biotopo Chocon Machacas reserve – full of mangroves and water lilies
The 7600 hectare reserve was established to protect the river, mangrove swaps and the manatees that inhabit the waters.
We were amazed to hear the fact that these lily flowers only blossom for one day!
Then they fade away and others appear.
Lovely
Lots of cute little birds around
Baywatch – on guard
They really do look like lifeguards keeping a lookout
This guy had MASSIVE feet
makes it easier to walk on the lily pads I guess!
A cute little girl in a canoe was playing around
What a cutie
We stopped at this little place for fresh coconut juice and spotted this BABY in a hammock – wow!
TOO cute! Playing on the dock
Doing some washing
And having a juice box – this little girl was so darling
The home next door to where we stopped for coconuts
A guy padding through the marsh
There were lots of gorgeous structures on the water
Next stop was at natural hot spring. It was bizarre because it was only boiling hot for the first few inches of water, everything below that was chilly!
We waved to all the amazing boats and catamarans that went past – man that’s the life!
Some others had more modest river transport
After traveling down the river for a bit through Cueva de la Vaca (a steep walled gorge) we finally arrived in Livingston – and we were greeted by these (still used) bird covered fishing boats
Squawking away
In town they had a terrible little enclosure with a few crocodiles hanging out
Cool back pic
And his nose (looks kinda piggy tome)
There was also a few turtles swimming about in the disgusting water
We thought this was HILARIOUS! I cannot imagine riding a scooter with an umbrella – wow!
Located at the end of the Rio Dulce and is unconnected by road from the rest of the country. The Garifuna (people of Livingston) are descendants of Africans brought to the New World as slaves.
Me exploring Livingston’s one main street
We had lunch at a place called the Happy Fish – Murray and I tried the ceviche for a starter, which was a bit disappointing as it seems that ceviche in this country is really just like a fish salsa. Still tasted lovely though!
Viscili showing off the GIANT prawn he got in his special seafood soup.
This local specialty is called Tapado Garifuna
It is the sopa de la region
With a whole fish, prawns, crab, plantains and an amazing coconut based soup!
Murray liked his fish
Boney!
Not a whole lot of meat on this fish, but nice nevertheless
The boney shell plate – wow!
A picture of a map of the area – you can see where we stayed – Hacienda Tijax (just by where the red line crosses the river). You can also spot Livingston on the top right of the map.
On the way back we stopped one more time at bird island and Murray caught this amazing shot of a bird with a fish in his beak.
Then we rested all day, used the wi-fi we managed to pick up in our little cabin, and had another lovely meal in the lodge’s restaurant.
Day 184 – April 30
We left early on the boat to a decent, but no leg room, ‘upgraded’ bus that would take us all the way to Antigua. Luckily it wasn’t crowded, so we all got 2 seats to ourselves for the 6 hour journey. After we got there and checked in, we headed out in search of a late lunch.
This was one of the road side ‘restaurants’ that we stopped at. Hmmm I think not.
We thought this sign was quite bizarre! There are SO many cowboy type guys in Guatemala and you see SO many of them with handguns shoved into the waist band of their jeans!! Thus the need for this ‘no armas’ sign!
A typical Guatemalan car – probably because a tank of gas is equivalent to about a week’s wages in these parts.
Me walking back into Antigua’s central area to explore.
There were HUGE lines for the ATMs – we found out later it was because the next day was a bank holiday.
Antigua’s setting is gorgeous, nestled between three volcanoes, and its streetscapes offers photo opportunities at every turn.
Jill and I walking back towards the hotel.
Antigua was founded in 1543 and served as the colonial capital for 233 years.
The capital was moved to Guatemala City in 1776 after Antigua was razed in the earthquake of 1773.
We managed to find a FANTASIC bagel shop and shared a cream cheese and veggie topped bagel sandwich, as well as a smoked salmon and capers sandwich – gorgeous! A few hours later we headed out to a German restaurant called Weiner for a huge portion of wiener schnitzel. Not bad!
Day 185 – May1
Today we met at 6:25 in the morning to store our big bags, and headed off to catch a bus out to Lake Atitlan.
Us waiting for the bus….. that never showed up!
So eventually we had to move on, and make our way down to the chicken buses.
Me about to board a chicken bus
Fancy paint jobs
Man it was PACKED! At least 3 people jammed into every small seat.
Looks like all modes of transport were packed – could they FIT any more people into the back of this truck? Geez!
We finally arrived at our mid way stop of Chicicastenango.
We were amazed by how much this lady was carrying on the top of her head
Heading down towards the markets
Maya traders from outlying villages come to Chichi to be part of one of Guatemala’s largest indigenous market
A hat lady
All of these beautiful tapestries are handmade – just gorgeous
Wow those are some heavy looking head loads!
A lady trying to sell a tapestry to a gringo – these ladies walk around with tons of the tapestries piled on their heads trying to sell to tourists on the street
American tourists you think? He he – ok I know we wear a lot of khaki too but….
I love this photo – Mother and daughter carrying loads to the market
There are food stalls all over the place as well
And ladies selling fresh fruit
Beading is a big thing here – so many beautifully beaded bracelets!!
And gorgeous handmade baskets – if only they would fit in a backpack
Is that blanket for shade? Hmmm I’m not sure
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How CUTE are these!!!
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Markets, markets – the town is PACKED with them!
When we finally were marketed out we met up with Trevor at a café breakfast and
A GORGEOUS café latte – yumm
We saw this guy as we were leaving town – WOW that is a massive load – looks awful!
Then we got a private transfer (HOORAY!! Can you tell everyone is happy??) the rest of the way to Panajachel
Back row: Penelope, Viscili, Pascal, Denise
Middle: Emma, Jay & Lauren
Front: Trevor, Me & Jill
We arrived in Panajachel late in the afternoon, and after ALL those transfers we were completely exhausted. Murray and I did a little walk around town with Seb and Emma, and then we had an ok group dinner out at a steak place.
Day 186 – May 2
Ahhh we had a nice sleep in today, sort of, until we were woken up by a rooster crowing like crazy at 7am!
We went out for a lovely breakfast at a place facing the water which was a great way to start the day
Interesting breakfast of fried plantains (bananas), refried beans, one piece of bacon (we asked for tocino – bacon with our meal and got ONE piece, and eggs). Nice, but unusual breakfast for sure!
But the view of Lago de Atitlan and the volcanoes that surround the lake was amazing!
The lake is surrounded by small villages, so we caught a water taxi out to see one
When we arrived at one of the villages, Santiago Atitlan, we immediately had a guy following us, telling us we MUST do a tuk tuk tower of the top 5 sites of the village.
We agreed, since the price was right, and – why not?
Our tuk tuk driver told us these people were all hitching a ride back to their homes just outside of Santiago
The laundry lookout (mirador), as he called it – had a nice view of Volcano San Pedro
Me in our tuk tuk at the mirador
Murray took this photo to show the traditional clothing of the men in the village – we LOVED their long shorts and sashes – very cool!
Next stop was a Memorial Park (2 Dec, 1990)
And then we went to the site where an avalanche killed hundreds of people just three years ago. It happened at night, so a lot of people were asleep in their beds when they were buried by the avalanche. They say the avalanche happened because of deforestation, which caused the ground to just slide away. The entire small village was covered in dirt – it was quite sad that while we were looking at the site a group of children who are orphans of the avalanche came up to our tuk tuk. Sad.
Next stop was to see Maximon. Maximon (mah-shee-mohn) who is paraded around during Semana Santa (Easter celebrations). The rest of the year he resides with a caretaker, receiving offerings. He changes houses every year to maintain the local balance of power.
Me walking up to the house Maximon is ‘living in’ this year to check him out
You can kinda see him here on the right. He is a wooden figure draped in colorful scarves and smoking a fat cigar. We managed to visit while a lady was asking for blessings, and making offerings to him.
It really was quite a bizarre site. He is in a tiny room, with Christmas lights hanging all over the place playing a loud version of silent night. The room was filled with incense and there was a large statue of Jesus lying in a glass coffin near the entrance to the room (I guess Jesus and the statues of saints in the room act as Maximon’s guardians). Apparently his favorite gifts are cigars and rum. Interesting.
Our last stop of the day was to see church. Here are two guys chatting in their traditional garb in the church’s square.
The church was – ok. Not great enough for any pics.
On our way back we noticed this advertisement for the most popular Guatemalan rum that we had sampled. It is SUPER cheap and is known as firewater. (It is like $1USD for half a liter – cheap!)
That concluded our tour. We walked back through the markets, and then went down to wait for a boat to take us back to Panajachel.
While we were waiting (for AGES – until the boat filled up with enough people for them to justify the trip) a little boy came and sat down to chat. He didn’t try to sell us anything – just wanted to chat. So we asked him as many questions as we could in Spanish (like why he wasn’t in school today – he said today was a school holiday – ah ok). Eventually we saw him sell a frozen juice lolly to someone, so we asked what flavors he had – and we bought 2 (and oh my gosh they were GREAT – fresh frozen fruit juice pops). He was really SO SO sweet, it totally made our day to chat to this smiling happy lovely young guy (he’s 9).
Me with my strawberry pop and Salvador – what a sweetie
On the way back we saw these guys paddling a typical fishing boat of the area. Apparently a lot of fish live in this lake.
Dinner anyone? Cute little stall – but um – no.
We had dinner at a Thai place, and while we were waiting this lovely guy came up offering to make us personalized pens. We were amazed by his skill and ordered one!
That set off the previously very skeptical group, and I think in total our table got about a dozen pens! Cool souvenir though!
After dinner we went out for drinks at a local place.
Trevor, Murray & Seb getting ready to take tequila shot
And lick
And drink
And lime!
It was a good night, fun!
Day 187 – May 3
I woke up today by having to run to the bathroom to throw up. Lovely. I threw up once more before we got in the bus to head back to Antigua. It HAD to be the Thai! Murray also felt a bit unwell, as did a few others. I guess it was just my stomach that couldn’t hold it in.
We did stop at a mirador for a great view of the lake.
Lake Atitlan is one of the most beautiful spots in Guatemala. Twelve native villages, blue/gray mountains and three volcanoes line the shores of this lake creating a great mix of natural beauty and traditional culture.
Pied piper Trevor – so cute how all the kids crowded around him (since he was the only one of us speaking fluent Spanish to them).
Our bus back to Antigua (a private one thank goodness) took only 2 ½ hours (and we only had to stop once for me to throw up – not bad). When we got back I spent the rest of the day in bed, I couldn’t even hold down a sip of water. Luckily Emma had some pills that make you stop vomiting so you don’t become totally dehydrated. I threw up the first one (because I had to take it with a sip of water), but eventually I was able to hold down a second and a bit of water (thank goodness cause I was SO SO thirsty)!! Anyhow, enough gross stories.
Murray ran errands (and saw some security guards holding onto their massive machine guns with one hand, and ice cream cones in the other – ha ha)! And then he went out to eat with a few people, I just could not even LOOK at food. Me, bed and tv – that was my day!
Oh and he got this shot of the cute (but yappy) little dogs at our hotel. This is their home upstairs at the hotel – no wonder we could hear them yapping in the morning!
Day 188 – May 4
We slept in today, and for the first time in over 24 hours I finally ate! We went to the bagel place and had a great mix of granola, fruit and yogurt. Then we did a bit of shopping, and went back to get ready for our 2pm pickup for our tour!
On the way I stopped in to get my tooth fixed – just cause the place looked SO nice
We rented sticks off of our guide, then we set off to hike up to see Volcan Pacaya
First we came across some old hard lava
A view of Volcan Agua – the volcano that looms over Antigua – but is unsafe to climb
Murray, Me & Lava
And then………. our first VERY exciting glimpse of HOT LIQUID MAGMA!
Me & Lava
Some guy walking across the GREAT expanse of lava – amazing looking
Volcan Pacaya is the only active volcano near Antigua
And it is 2552m tall
I don’t know how this silly dog made it all the way out there – it must have cut up his paws – the lava is SO rough and sharp! But he obviously loved to curl up on the warm rock:)
The heat was intense because we could get SO close to the lava
It felt like standing in a SUPER hot sauna, nearly unbearable in some places
Me & Magma
It was SO hot I could barely stand there long enough to take a photo!
Murray checking out the lava
We got SO close to it – eeeeek!
A chunk falling off in front of us! It really was moving along – cool to watch.
And a bit more
If you flip over a bit of the ‘rock’ we were walking on, it is totally hollow underneath and you can sometimes SEE the lava moving! Thus why it was SO hot while we were walking around
We hiked up one hill to see a river of lava bubbling by – it looked SO amazing
Murray roasting some marshmallows over the hot liquid magma
And me – saying HURRY MURRAY it is HOT!!!
The roasted marshmallows were YUMMY!
There was just tons of these lava rivers – gosh how cool does that look – this is NOT zoomed in – we were THAT close!!
SEE! We could only hold the pose for about 5 seconds, then you had run back away from the heat!
Me & Murray with hot liquid magma
Someone stuck their walking stick in the lava river and pulled out this bit of burning rock – wow how amazing is that!
And one last shot as we walked out to leave
We walked down in the dark (thank goodness we brought out head lamps!) and eventually got back to our hotel in Antigua at 9:30pm. We went out to find what was left of our group (who hadn’t gone back for the night), said hello, realized the kitchen at that place was closed, and went off to find ourselves some MUCH needed dinner. We had a terrible pasta dinner at the only place still open in town, then went back to meet the group just as they were walking back. Said goodbye to a few people (this is the end of the first leg of the tour – only 5 of us and our guide are continuing on) and went back to pack and sleep!
And that is that for part 1 of our Central America journeys!
Steve hiking across the swamp on our jungle trek in Ecuador
Steve with a lizard earring
Day 168 – April 14 (cont.)
Wow Panama City airport likes to rip you off! They charged us $41 USD EACH just to leave the airport! Amazing! (Granted it IS a nice airport, but still….)
We arrived in Panama City at 6pm and made our way to our hotel. We decided to have a relaxing night in. So we just popped some popcorn (in our room’s microwave – wow first time we have had THAT is a long long time) and we watched a movie on our laptop – lovely!
The lovely view from our room of the hotel pool and the entrance to the Panama Canal
Day 169 – April 15
Today we got a cab to Aldbrook Mall – we got there for the 10am opening and set on our mission to find a Central America lonely planet book and a new camera.
Me getting crushed by a hippo in the mall
Eventually we did find the book, but the camera was a no go. Like we heard, they WERE cheaper than in South America, but there were still WAY too much more than what we would pay in America. So we didn’t buy one. Instead we had lunch, shopped and went to a movie (Fool’s Gold). It was a nice relaxing day (with air conditioning – yay).
And we saw some interesting….. mannequins
Wow those look real….hmmmm – we did get a good laugh though from looking at the displays since ALL of the mannequins had boobs like this – wow.
That evening we had dinner at TGI Friday’s (which was attached to our hotel – very exciting). Disappointingly, the food was rubbish. Really bad. Oh well. At least we had a huge comfy hotel room to go back to (there’s something to say for a bit of luxury – that’s for sure)!
Day 170 – April 16
Today we our tourist day!
We started the day by getting a cab to the Miraflores Locks
Located just outside Panama City is the Miraflores Locks Visitors’ Centre
There are some great viewing platforms from which you can watch ships passing through the locks
The gate shown here is over 7 stories tall – massive! An average 36 ships a day pass through the canal with an average fee of $18,000 USD (ships pay according to their weight). With the passage of each ship, a staggering 52 million gallons of fresh water is released into the ocean.
Over $200 million USD a year is spent on maintenance of the locks. The highest fee paid by a ship using the Panama Canal was a Norwegian vessel that recently paid $313,000 to pass through the canal.
This little train is a Mitsubishi/Kawasaki towing train. It goes 5mph and each unit costs $21 million USD.
The Canal operated 24/7, 365 days a year and it has 28 tugboats that assist the ships in and out of the locks. Each tugboat costs $5.8 million USD.
Murray and I at the Panama Canal Miraflores Locks
We really enjoyed our visit to the lock. IT was interesting to watch ships pass through, and the museum and short film was excellent!
Afterwards we caught a local (US school) bus further inland to the Summit Botanical Gardens & Zoo which established a small zoo to help American soldiers identify tropical animals while they were out in the field.
We were thrilled to get to see an ocelot snoozing in a tree – gorgeous
We also saw the hard to spot Harpy Eagle – but he was too far away to get any good photos of him.
We also saw some cool hanging nests
Looks like he has another piece of straw to add to the nest in his beak
Peeking his head out of the nest (they build them like this to try and stop birds with long beaks like toucans from stealing their eggs)
Flying off
The lovely flower Bala de Canon has a lovely aroma
A cute little grasshopper on the Bala’s petals
Overall the zoo was – just ok. We saw a few cool things, but it wasn’t very well maintained, and the cages for some of the animals were way too small. But for just a $1USD entrance fee, I guess you can’t really complain!
When we finished up we went out to the bus stop and caught another chicken bus back to Aldbrook mall, then grabbed a cab to Casco Viejo (Old Compound).
At the tip of the point is Plaza de Francia – which displays large stone tablets and statues dictating the story of the French role in the construction of the canal. The plaza is dedicated to the memory of the 22,000 workers, most of them from France, Guadeloupe and Martinique, who died trying to create a canal (most died from malaria and yellow fever).
Following the destruction of the old city in 1671, the Spanish moved their city 8km southwest to a rock peninsula, which was easier to defend as the reefs prevented ships from approaching the city except at high tide.
The new city was also easy to defend as it was surrounded by a massive wall, which is how Casco Viejo (Old Compound) got its name.
In 1904, at the time construction began on the Panama Canal, all of Panama City existed where Casco Viejo stands today.
A view of the new city – El Cangrejo (the banking district) from the old city.
Me posing on the Paseo las Bovedas – this esplanade runs along the top of the sea wall built by the Spanish to protect the city.
When we were finished exploring we caught a cab back to hotel. We had a lovely swim in the pool, enjoying the last of the day’s sun and then we decided to go for a walk down the causeway (which we were told was safe to walk at night). At the Pacific entrance to the Panama Canal, a 2km pal tree-lined calzada (causeway) connects the four small island of Naos, Culebra, Perico and Flamenco to the mainland. It was indeed safe, tons of people were out running, walking their dogs & kids, and just enjoying a leisurely stroll like us.
We had a great view of the Bridge of the Americas as we left our hotel
We ended up having dinner at the first island, as it was QUITE a long walk. We had a nice meal, and then cabbed it back to the hotel to pack.
I must say we have got QUITE good at packing! (although we are BEYOND sick with it!!)
Day 171 – April 17
We got a cab at 7:30 to the airport for our flight at 10am to Cancun, Mexico. We arrived in Cancun after a pretty short flight (just over 2 hours) and then got a cab to the docks and a ferry out to Isla Mujeres, a 12km long island just 25 minutes from Cancun via ferry.
The gorgeous looking water we could see from the ferry- so clear and stunning blue
Our hotel, the Avalon Reef Club, was an older hotel – but wow did it have an amazing setting. Set out on a peninsula – only connected to the main island by a wooden bridge. Our room had views of the rough ocean – gorgeous. We got checked in by 4pm and quickly got on our swimsuits and went down to the sheltered beach on the island side of the hotel.
Me showing off the hotel
After a nice relaxing dip in the ocean, we went into town to look for somewhere nice to eat. We ended up at a cute little restaurant called Comono and had some GREAT food. Guacamole & chips, awesome prawns in chili sauce, and a salad. We quick popped in to check out a few things on the net, and then made our way back to the hotel.
On the way we were stopped by a guy who saw we had a dolphin brochure with us. He proceeded to tell us how if we went down to take a look at a hotel in the Riviera Maya the next day, that he would as a thank you give us vouchers for a free dolphin experience. We doubted the prices he was telling us for the dolphin excursion, so we went to another internet place to check, and yup he was right – quite expensive! So we went back to him and signed up to a half day tour of a resort, in exchange for dolphins (we are backpackers after all – and even if we had to sit through some sort of sales pitch – free is still free)!
Day 172 – April 18
Today we had a great buffet breakfast at the hotel. You can do all inclusive (for food & drink) at this place, but we decided to just shell out for the room and the breakfast. And wow was it worth it. Not the best buffet I have ever seen, but 1000% better than most of our free breakfasts in South America. We each chose ingredients for our personal omelets, filled up on fresh fruits, ordered a fresh smoothie and had a mimosa – lovely!
Then it was time to get down to the docks to meet Omar (the guy who sold us the ‘tour’ at 8:45) to catch the ferry to the mainland at 9. We got into a van, with 2 other Americans and we made our way down to the Mayan Hotel – about and hour south of Cancun. When we got there they quickly ferried us into the sales office, and assigned us a guide. Hmmmm turns out they were actually selling time shares – um not what we were expecting – but we went with it. He gave us a tour of the property (lovely actually), a look at one of the suites, and then we went for (another) buffet breakfast.
And WOW now that is what you call a buffet – like 5 star compared to the 2-3 star buffet we had at our own hotel. I had mostly fruit, since I was still so full. But I admit I did eat a bunch of bacon and one pancake as well (so I could try the mango syrup – yummm).
After breakfast, he brought us back to the ballroom ‘sales room’ and proceeded to show us why it would be cheaper for us in the long run to buy into a time share (worldwide) rather than book and pay for our own holidays. He went on, and on, and on, and on (British guy from Essex) and we listened patiently. But then he pushed for an answer and we said no.
Although it does sound good (don’t all good sales pitches?) we are not the sort of people who would EVER say yes and sign up to pay $90,000 for something after only having heard about it for 2 hours! He got super frustrated with us, and kept sweetening the deal, but we just said no, and no, and no. Murray even said – look we do think it sounds like an interesting idea, but we cannot decide this today. Do you have a package of info or something that we could take with us to think about and then get back to you in a week or 2? The answer was no. Today or nothing.
Ok then – nothing thanks! He passed us off to the guy who he said would give us our free dolphin trip, and that guy proceeded to pitch us again (although this time with quite bad English skills) and sweeten the deal to ridiculous proportions (but sorry we still aren’t willing to put down even $1 today ok)! Exasperated, he finally gave up on us too, and we finally got our voucher for the dolphins. We were put into a cab with a lovely couple from Michigan, and laughed with them about all the ridiculous sales pitches all the way back to Cancun. We got back to the island in the early afternoon, and decided that rather than rushing to the dolphin place – that we’d just take it easy for the rest of the day instead.
Lovely view of the beachfront on Isla Mujeres
We popped by a popular pizza restaurant in town and shared a pizza and a banana split for lunch, booked our dolphin experience for the next day, and went back to the hotel.
Someone was tired! Snoozin’ island style
The whole day had been pretty cloudy (we were glad for that – didn’t feel like a wasted day then) so we just went up to our room, and laid down to watch TV (well, I did – Murray worked on the blog photos). It was so comfy and lovely in our room, and the weather was so rubbish outside, that we decided just to order room service! We shared a yummy sandwich, packed a bit, and watched a new episode of ER – great eveningJ
Day 173 – April 19
Ahhh we had a lovely little sleep in, another GREAT buffet, packed, checked out of our room, stored the bags with the desk, and then went out to the pool to relax. After bobbing in the pool for awhile, we decided to wander down to the edge of the hotel property where there is a sheltered rock formation called the King’s bath. It was lovely and had a TON of fish, so we explored the area for a bit. Eventually we decided to head into town, and after a bit of a wonder we caught a cab to the Dolphin Discovery place. We signed in, then set back to relax for awhile until it was our turn.
At 2:30 we signed in, got our lifejackets and a briefing, and then headed down to the docks. We met our dolphin Picasso, who did a few tricks for our group, then it was time to walk down onto the submerged platform. Picasso worked his way through the line giving each of us…….
A kiss
And a dance!
We also got the chance to feel his back, fins and belly as he allowed the trainer to slowly drag him in front of us for a close view. We also went out into the center of the enclosure and laughed as he turned around in the water as we did, jumped right in front of us, and super quickly swam past us. We had a great time! Picasso is a male dolphin in his 20’s. Our trainer told us that in the wild dolphins live to around 25, but in captivity they live to about 50 (because of no predators and better food). We had SUCH a great time!
Oh and a dolphin story I read that I thought was fascinating!! A couple of years ago, the US Navy decided to slim its experimental dolphins to facilitate their deep dive research. The dolphins’ daily fish intake was reduced, but, to their amazement, one of the animals did not lose any weight. After looking into the matter, they discovered that the dolphin would take some of its food to one of the corners of the enclosure net and, through a small hole; it used it to bail more fish, thus counteracting his imposed diet. Amazing!
When the experience was over, we caught a cab back to our hotel, got our bags, and went back to catch the ferry to Cancun. We got a cab to our next GAP hotel and got settled in, ready for the 7pm welcome meeting. We met our guide Trevor (from California) and our group, had a bit of a briefing about the upcoming trip, and then went out to dinner together at a local Mexican restaurant. The new group seems nice – and we are looking forward to seeing a bit of Central America with them!
Day 174 – April 20
Today we caught the 8am bus to Playa del Carmen. It was quite a short ride, then we walked to our hotel, checked in, and Murray and I headed off to air conditioned heaven – Wal-Mart (lol). We spent a bit of time in there, picking up some essentials we had run out of (like 40spf lip sunblock and some snacks for the bus). Afterwards we headed down to the beach – and WOW was it hot!!
The beach really is lovely!
After awhile in the sun we had to get some shade. We had a corona at a very overpriced place on the beach, so that we could enjoy the view which was great for people watching. Afterwards we went back to the hotel to rest until dinner time. Trevor took us all out to a very local place –that had great food (lots of lovely grilled vegetables – yummm). Good to get to know the group a bit better as well.
Day 175 – April 21
Today we were up and down at the dive shop by 8 for the dive we had booked in Playa del Carmen. After getting kitted up, we headed out with our dive master and 3 other guys to our fist dive site. Unfortunately there was a ship stuck off the peninsula near xcaret which meant that a few of the best sites were closed off, but we still managed to find a good one.
The ship that was stuck on the reef – duh! Not good!
The guy had told us it was a slow ascent (we were doing this dive for Murray to test out his ears before we shelled out the big bucks in Belize for the blue hole) but once we got in we had to go down right away, because of the rough water and the strong current. Murray wasn’t able to get down in time, so the dive master sent him back to the boat/. Apparently the current was too strong for him to follow us higher up and take his time coming down. I continued on with the group and saw
a lot of fish
Self portrait (you can’t really tell I am TRYING to smile here! Difficult with the regulator!)
And we spotted one lone turtle which we got quite close to!!!
On our way to the second dive site we saw a bunch of canoes going by. Our guide said they were following the Mayan tradition where once in every woman’s life time (on this date of the year) they must paddle out to the island of Cozumel (16 miles). Interesting!
Our second dive site was closer to the dock at Playa del Carmen – right in the reef. Murray decided against going, because one of his ears was still not clearing and was quite painful.
I saw a southern ray – the dive master told us she was actually pregnant
And that you could see the babies moving under her skin?? I didn’t see that! But I think maybe you can spot the ‘bump’ in this photo??
This guy looks VERY serious
The good thing about the reef was that there was a TON of fish hanging about
Really cool looking
And then I saw a huge moray eel swim by
I wasn’t about to go too close – but I enjoyed watching him from a distance
Our dive master wanted a close pic…
So he took the camera and stuck it right in the eel’s face for a photo – SCARY! (those things bite!)
I also saw a few barracudas. Not a bad dive (although I hate diving without Murray – bummer).
After the dives, we went back to shower, then took our laptop out to find some wifi. We stopped at subway first for lunch (yumm) and then we went to starbucks for a cold drink and free wi-fi (do you think this part of Mexico is just a BIT Americanized? Ha ha). I had a super yummy frapachino, and we checked out emails and enjoyed the cold blast of air conditioning and leather lounges.
After that, we wandered back down to the beach, and found some very reasonable sun loungers with an umbrella to rent (only $4 for the day)! Along with a waiter who brought us ice cold coronas. We both thoroughly relaxed for the rest of the afternoon – it was SO wonderful!
And when we got back we found this lovely towel arrangement on our bed – ha ha – cute!
We met the group for dinner at 7, and Trevor took us to a funky little place.
It was a Combi (VW) van
that had been converted into a little food stall (Emma and Ron putting in their orders)
too cute!
Also across the road was a place that sold takeaway AMAZING slices of pizza.
Ron pointing out how terrific the pizza is
It also helped that they had this giant container of yummy chili flakes!
A fun, cheap, meal! We then made plans to meet up again at 9, and head down to the ‘Blue Parrot’ which was advertising free drinks for ladies night! We got there just after 9, and all of us girls lined up for our free cocktail (not a huge selection on the ‘free’ list – but not bad). We found a really cool lounge area upstairs from the bar (I think it was the VIP place for busy nights). And then we just sat around and chatted, watched the dance floor from above, and relaxed. Close to 12 we heard a commotion below, so we peeked down and saw that the beach was roped off in front of the bar for a fire show! A whole team of dancers performed quite a long show with flaming sticks, hoola hoops, balls on strings, etc. It was really cool looking, on the beach, in the dark! We watch the show until it was over at 12, then some of us went back to the hotel to try and get some sleep!
Day 176 – April 22
EARLY morning – we had to be up and ready to walk to the bus station by 5:45 am!!! We got a 4 hour bus South (and we had a fab chicken taco thing at one of the stops), then had to catch another bus – our first chicken bus to the Belizean border.
The chicken buses are really just old US school buses – SO uncomfortable –I think everyone’s bum was numb by the time we got to the border (don’t I just look thrilled in this photo?)
At the Mexican exit border, they fleeced us by forcing each of us to pay $10USD (but what can you do?) and then we were allowed across. We crossed into Belize with no dramas, and then got back onto our chicken bus all the rest of the way to Belize City. It stopped a lot for people to hop on and off. And we were oh so thrilled when it got so crowded that guys starting coming in the back emergency door, then proceed to sit or stand on our backpacks!!!
Eventually we got to Belize City at 4pm.
We headed down to the dock
Waiting with all 12 of our backpacks at the dock
Where we got onto a ‘water taxi’ (just a boat with WAY too many people squished on it) that would take us to Caye Caulker.
Denise & Me holding onto our bags as a group of school kids read their textbooks
Eventually we arrived at Caye Caulker and headed down the beach to check into our hotel (we had to laugh because the hotel ‘office’ was a guy sitting on a golf cart – ha!)
We were right by the beach with an awesome breeze thank goodness
Me posing at our hotel – very hot & sunny
A little guy who went scooting by us on the beach
Looking back towards the main water taxi dock
‘Downtown’ Caye Caulker
We love this sigh!!! ‘Happy hour til Everybody Happy’ too funny!!
That sign really portrays just how laid back the island residents are. I was surprised to see that everyone here speaks with an English (granted, a very accented Jamaican sounded English) and that everyone was BEYOND nice! Emma in our group got yelled at by a guy to ‘chill out’ because she was ‘walking too fast’ and needed to ‘take it easy’ ha ha! I love it!
We had a nice fish & prawn dinner and then went back to get some exhausted (and well rested cause of the breeze) sleep!
Day 177 – April 23
Today we met up at 8:45 to go and get some breakfast before our snorkeling trip.
We tried the local brekkie favorite fry jacks (just like a large triangle shaped donut really – but great with syrup)
At 10 we went to the snorkel office to get kitted up. Then it was time to board our sailing boat and head out to our first snorkel spot - Coral Gardens. It was a nice spot, a few fish and lots of lovely coral.
Then we went to the next spot, Shark & Ray alley.
The sharks swarmed around the boat as soon as we arrived and the captain started throwing them hunks of fish.
We saw this gorgeous HUGE ray
Me snorkeling (in a t-shirt so I wouldn’t get burnt to a crisp!)
Some gorgeous little blue fish
And gorgeous coral
I love this little blue fish against the coral
We also went to one last snorkeling spot – a wide gap in the coral where all the large rays, fish, sharks, etc swim through to the other side.
A Massive grouper – wow he was big
And a lovely little turtle
And another massive ray
Me waiting to get back on the boat
A gorgeous huge … ray swam by – check out that amazing long tail
We also saw a HUGE barracuda
Scary teeth!!
This guy had a chunk taken out of him – ouch!
It was a GREAT afternoon of snorkeling – so many amazing sites!!
Unfortunately Denise got stung by a jelly fish on her arm as we were waiting to get into the boat, but they had some alcohol to stop the sting so she ended up being ok.
On the way back we cruised around enjoying the rum punch and homemade prawn ceviche & tortilla chips (just tasted like prawn salsa – but nice).
The rum punch was excellent
As we came to towards the end of our tour, we passed through what they call ‘the Split’ where the island was split apart after Hurricane Hattie. As we passed through the split we saw the bar at the end of the island. Natalie looked at me and said hey let’s jump off. So we did! We swam the short distance to the bar, then looked back and saw Murray and Seb jump off too – fun! We played around at the bar – enjoying the gorgeous water and the diving board until the rest of the group arrived (with out stuff), then had a fun time hanging out there for awhile.
Emma, Denise, Natalie & Me
Murray diving off into the Split
(we decided to leave diving the blue hole until another trip – once Murray’s ears get sorted out. But we definitely will be back!!)
Day 178 – April 24
We got up early, and the two of us found a cute little breakfast place for fresh fruit and fresh juices (lovely).
We packed up our stuff, and moved everything out by 10 (as requested) and then Murray and I took a leisurely stroll down to the end of the island.
Wow does this hammock look relaxing
This is the very popular (and really yummy) hot sauce that is popular in Belize
It really is such a lovely place – check out that water!
Back at the bar where we were the previous night – gorgeous views
A couple snuggling in the water – just looks like paradise
The diving board at the bar
And a little warning
Gotta love the thatch roof on a BOAT! Cute
Gorgeous view from the diving board of the split
We got a few pics, and then sought shelter from the boiling hot sun at a restaurant and had a bit to eat before heading back to the hotel.
Hammocks really are the ultimate in island relaxation
We had some (ok) nachos that came out looking quite interesting! (they did taste better than they look!)
Murray showing off his Belikin Beer cup (with diet coke in it lol)
A lot of the hotels had these little platforms by the docks with hammocks!
Me & Murray relaxing on a water bench
Then it was time to head out. We all grabbed our bags, got back on the ‘water taxi’ and made our way back to Belize City.
Some random guy, Me & Emma waiting for the water taxi to arrive.
Crowded in the water taxi – they really pack everyone in!
We caught a chicken bus for 3 hours to San Ignacio, and luckily the bus dropped us off RIGHT at our hotel!
One funny story from the ride. At one of the stops a lady came onto the bus trying to sell hamburgers. Eventually she got down to just having one left so she started SINGING ‘Hello tourists, welcome to my country, would you like to buy a hamburger?’ We all laughed a bit, she was so sweet and nice. Then she spotted Murray with his head down reading a book, and she started flirting with him, trying to get him to buy the burger to no avail. It was so sweet though – she started singing to him about how handsome he is, and how I don’t mind him flirting, etc etc – the group thought that was pretty funny!
We did manage to buy this fantastic ice cream sandwich – fantastic!
The chicken bus stopped briefly at our lodge ‘Trek Stop’ and we very quickly grabbed our bags out of the back before it sped off. We all sat down in the lounge area while John, the kooky owner of the eco lodge (who is originally from Michigan) told us how the place works (compost toilets, rain water only showers) and what was free (the butterfly house, golf Frisbee, and lots of books in English).
Then he showed us our cabins, which were small (well, I guess ours wasn’t that small, but cute – we had a small double bed and then bunk beds which worked well for our bags)!
Back in the lounge I told John I was from Minnesota and he asked me where abouts exactly, cause his Mother is from Minnesota. I laughed and said oh it’s such a small town, most Minnesotans don’t even know where it is. Then he told me where his mother was from, and OH MY GOSH – it is the city where I grew up!!! I could hardly believe it. His father had lived in the old folk’s home across the lake from us for years, and his mother had lived near the lake. I even recognized the surname; I went to school with a guy who had that name (which is quite unusual).
So after all that ‘wow it’s a small world’ talk a few of us walked down to check out the river. It was a bit brown looking, and down river from the town (which hints maybe not the cleanest….) so we only went for a short swim (and did NOT duck our heads underwater at all). Then we went back to relax, had a few cold (really cheap!!) beers and a heavy pasta dinner (not nice, but cheap and convenient since we ate at the lodge).
Bit of a drama in our room when it was time for bed. We had a few wasps buzzing around that just would NOT go away. I kept picking this one up (well, with a cup and a piece of paper) off the floor and putting him outside, but he KEPT on coming back! When we laid down to sleep he landed ON MY FACE – and that was it. The light came out and he got smushed. We had another one buzzing around as well that Murray jumped all over the room trying to smush, but he was just to quick and the ceilings were too high to get him, so eventually we just gave up and eventually he took off and left us alone!
Day 179 – April 25
We were up and ready to go on our tour by 8. They gave us our bag lunches, and then we were off to explore the ATM (Actun Tunichil Muknal) cave. We drove an hour in the van, and then we arrived at the spot where we would start our trek.
We walked for about an hour, including 3 (fairly shallow but slippery) river crossings
Me & Denise crossing the river
It was quite pretty
Hiking off to the cave entrance
This is the seed from a local tree that is SUPER soft. The locals use it to stuff pillows and blankets.
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Eventually we arrived at the entrance to the cave.
I managed to sit our backpack down on an ant hill…
thankfully noticing before they attacked our lunches (*sigh*). We wedged the bag up in a tree, then Murray and I decided to test out the water
and OH MY GOSH it was freezing cold!
Eventually the guide got the headlamps hooked up to all of our helmets, and it was time to set off.
Denise, Jill and I in the cave
The cave is 4 miles long in total, but we only trekked back about a half a mile. Although it felt MUCH longer!
For the first part we had to swim in, and then scramble up on a ledge and switch on our head lamps.
Then we proceeded to climb, swim and wade our way through the water filled cave – deeper and deeper into the darkness (kinda scary)! Our guide stopped now and then to show us interested stalagmites, stalactites, and what he called stalagfights (where they were about to meet up). We also saw some fruit bats which got all freaked out by our headlamps!
Me posing as a floating head in the cave (gosh it was dark!!)
Murray, Me, Jill & Denise posing for a pic
Eventually we arrived at the entrance to the area where the Maya archaeological site had been found. We had to climb up a steep rock to the entrance where we had to leave our shoes and bags and put on socks (so that the natural oils on our feet wouldn’t damage the cave).
Right away we saw pottery
ALL over the place!
The Mayans believed that the world was made up of a three-layered domain. All three domains were thought to be alive and imbued with sacred power. The starry arch of heaven, the stony middle world of earth made to flower and bear fruit. And the dark waters of the underworld below. The underworld was known as Xibalba, the fearful world beneath the face of the earth. The Maya understood Xibalba as the parallel unseen other world into which the king and other shamans could pass in ecstatic trance. This is the ‘realm’ that we hiked back into the cave to explore.
Some of it was marked with just a small piece of orange tape – to draw our attention so we wouldn’t step on anything.
Apparently the cave has been left exactly as it was discovered –nothing has been removed or moved – which we found fascinating.
Amazing stalactite and stalagmite formations
Then we entered the chamber where sacrifices happened. Our guide told us about how the Maya would come to the cave to do blood sacrifices (where they would pierce themselves with the prongs from stings rays – usually through their chin up into their mouth) in order to appease the gods. They would bleed into a bowl, and then burn it. But also – human sacrifices were done in this cave
and we got to see 6 of the 15 petrified remains that are in the cave. Babies, women, men – all sorts of people were sacrificed, and here it was not done willingly. We heard gruesome stories about how the Maya believe that the longer a person suffered, the happier the gods would be. So often they would pull out a piece of a person’s spinal cord so they were paralyzed, but still alive. Horrendous.
The most amazing remain was the last one.
We had to climb up a (scary shaky) ladder to a little area where you could see a full skeleton.
She indeed had a piece of her spinal column missing, and they guess she was in her 20’s when she was sacrificed.
The tour was great, and the artifacts and petrified remains were really interesting, but once we were done looking around we all started dreading having to get back into that COLD water to walk the half mile back out. But we did it, and like usually happens – the way back felt much faster than the way in.
The water was CHILLY!
Murray looking a bit cold
Me swimming out of the cave at the end of the tour
Murray posing for one last pic at the entrance to the ATM cave, which is located on the Tapir Mountain Reserve
When we got out we all grabbed our lunches and went up to the picnic tables to eat.
Afterwards we walked back to the van. Awaiting us was a huge plateful of fresh pineapple, watermelon, and chips and salsa! We weren’t exactly hungry anymore, but who can say no to lovely fresh fruit?
We spotted this cute little guy while we were snacking
So we ate as much as we could, then hopped back in the van for the ride back to trek stop. I spent the rest of the afternoon on the wi-fi working on the blog, while Murray chilled out. We had an ok chicken stir fry for dinner, then all sat around and watch the movie Dodgeball on the one TV at the whole lodge (that movie is SO funny)!
Day 180 – April 26
We slept in, had a nice cooked breakfast, and I finished blogging. Cabs arrived to pick us all up at 12:30 and we were off for the Guatemalan border. Once we crossed the border Trevor managed to secure a private mini bus for just us, and we took that to the island of Flores (arriving at about 3:30).
The bags were a BIT precarious on the top though! Not big enough for 12 big backpacks really! That’s our guide Trevor’s bag hanging off the side.
At one point during the ride we heard Malcolm at the back of the bus yell BAG as Emma’s backpack came loose and flew off into the road. We backed up, collected it, and tried to strap it on tighter – drama!
We checked into our rooms (overjoyed to have our own bathrooms, TV and air-conditioning) then went to the one ATM on the island to get some local money (Quetzals). We booked and paid for our tour the next day, then went back to our awesome (though bug filled) air conditioned room for some r&r.
Lauren checking out the view from our hotel
Flores is located on an island in Lago de Peten Itza (which is 12 km long and 3 km wide)
It was to Lake Peten Itza region, that the descendants of the Maya of Chichen Itza immigrated, moving here from Mexico several centuries after the collapse of the great Maya cities in the Yucatan. These descendants founded the island of Flores and lived here for about four hundred years, isolate and forgotten by the rest of the country. The city was officially founded by the Spanish in 1700 after they conquered the locals and the city.
In the evening we met up with the group and went out for a very average dinner (our ‘Italian Salad’ was just chopped up tomatoes and grated cheese – bleh). Then it was early to bed in prep for our VERY early morning coming up!
Day 181 – April 27
Today we got up at 3:30 am to get on a private bus that would take us Tikal, a Maya site located deep in the jungle. Tikal is the largest excavated Mayan Ruin site in the Americas. Nestled in the jungle, Tikal is a spiritual area with impressive temples – call it the New York of the ancient Mundo Maya.
We arrived around 5 and made our way in the dark (thanks to our headlamps) to Temple IV to watch the sunrise.
The Maya settled here in 700 BC, perhaps because Tikal is set on a low hill above the surrounding ground, but also because of the abundance of flint which was used to make spearheads, arrows, etc.
By AD 250 Tikal had become an important, heavily populated religious, cultural and commercial city.
You can just see some of the temple poking out of the mist here
By the middle of the 6th century, Tikal sprawled over 30 sq. km and had a population of perhaps 100,000.
It was amazing to watch the sun rise, and listen to the jungle waking up (birds starting to squawk, monkeys starting to yell to one another, etc.
We even had this AMAZING first wild view of Toucans – just gorgeous
These holes are scattered around the site – they were used for storing food away from the hot sun
After the sun came up, we began our tour of the big sites at Tikal
The first site we saw was Templo del Talud-Tablero, part of El Mundo Perdido (the lost world – a complex of 38 structures).
Me climbing up Templo del Talud-Tablero (Temple of the Three Rooms)
Lovely views all around
A view through the jungle of the pyramid, which is 32m high and 80m along its base
Some of the stonework was fixed up to give us a better idea of what it would have looked like in it’s hey day
But some of it is still in pretty good shape
Looking back on Templo del Talud-Tablero – an early Classic structure
Quite striking how the temples are right in the midst of the jungle
Some other structures which are part of El Mundo Perdido
We could JUST see through the trees the top of Templo III
Next we went to look at the Plaza del los Siete Templos (Plaza of the 7 Temples)
The little temples, clustered together (and only partially excavated) were built in late-Classic times, though the structures beneath go back at least a millennium.
The Maya believed that the world would end in 2012, and the center temple will be destroyed when that happens – remains to be seen I guess!
Here is one of the yet to be uncovered temples (amazing huh!)
We stood listening to our guide outside the 7 temples, which rummaging through the piles of dirt that archaeologists had excavated. I managed to find a tiny piece of pottery that I stuck in my pocket to keep (you can only just barely tell it was molded clay – but still kinda cool).
Next on the list was the striking Temple V
You are only allowed to climb up this side staircase
The view from the top of Temple V was amazing
Temple 5 is 58m high and was built around AD 700. Unlike the other great temples, this one has rounded corners, and one tiny room at the top.
Me working my way up the ladder (thank goodness for the intermediate platforms all the way up or there is NO way I would have gone!!)
Next we made our way over to the Great Plaza
Murray and I posing in front of Temple II
The North Acropolis is made up of about 100 structures and dates back as far as 400 BC.
A view of the Plaza and Temple 1 from the North Acropolis (this is the famous view in all the postcards)
One interesting fact that our guide told us, is that ONLY Guatemalan archaeologists are now allowed on the site. This is because when the University of Pennsylvania came to do excavation work here, they stole a lot of important artifacts and took them out of the country.
Also, our guide told us just how inaccurate Mel Gibson’s Apocalypto movie is. Mayans did sacrifices only on the ground, NOT on temples. They only performed ceremonies on the temples.
Another interesting fact was that they used stingray spines for ritual bloodletting ceremonies
After we finished our tour, we went back to Temple IV to get a few clear photos (without the morning fog). Here you can see Temple ! and II on the left, and Temple V on the right
The views were just gorgeous – the towering pyramids poking above the jungle’s green canopy to catch the sun
Murray and I at Tikal
Then we went exploring a bit, looking for animals. We first came across this common local animal called a Pisote (coatis – a tropical mammal related to a raccoon)
And we got up close and personal with some GORGEOUS Toucans (keel-billed toucan???)
They are really SO hard to spot, we got so lucky to get close to this guy
We also spotted this unusual bird who looks like he dipped his bill in red ink
This is how we usually spotted Toucans – deep in the jungle!
And then we heard some howling – from howler monkeys – so we followed the sound...
...until we found this guy!
There were two males – one on either side of the path, and they were screeching at each other SO loudly.
I think it sounded like a lion being tortured. Very loud and scary sounding.
We got SUCH amazing views of the guy – really an amazing and rare opportunity (we are the only two people in our whole group who saw howler monkeys)
Glancing at the sun –I love this photo
We stood and watched them for ages until our necks could take no more looking up into the canopy. It was this guy, a couple of females (one with a baby on her back), and a few juveniles who played around hopping from tree to tree.
This photo shows just how long their bodies are – I like he almost looks like a sloth – bizarre!
They are SO dexterous – great climbers
And WOW can they howl!
Toucan Sam perhaps? These guys just remind me so much of fruit loops.
We realized just how lucky we were to have so many amazing spottings of these gorgeous birds – wow.
Gorgeous palm shot – love the shadows
We also heard, and then spotted this cute little woodpecker
He has a lovely little profile
Me playing navigator with our book
And then we spotted this little guy – gorgeous red chest
He was really SO colorful
And this very odd looking great curassow???????
Ewww I think it looks like he has tumors on his head
Odd, odd, odd
You can tell he’s related to a peacock
We also spotted some more hanging nests – quite inventive of the birds!
This is the guy who lives in the hanging nest
He has beautiful coloring
This guy has a gorgeous yellow belly
Back at Temple I
Temple I, the temple of the Grand Jaguar, was built for King Moon Double Comb (gotta love that name). It was erected over his tomb by his son, who succeeded to the throne in 734.
Part of the North Acropolis . The elaborate buildings built on top of other older strucrtur4es, added sanctity and power to their temples.
Another coatis, who was scavenging around for food
Odd looking things, and quite big!
Chewing away at something?
At the top of Temple I (which is 44m high) there is a small enclosure of three rooms covered by an arch. The lofty roof comb was originally adorned with reliefs and bright paint, perhaps symbolizing the 13 realms of the Maya heaven.
This is a photo of a postcard we bought that shows what the temples probably would have looked like, and what they looked like when they were discovered in 1848.
When we finally finished our tour of Tikal, we met up with the group for lunch before heading back to Flores.
From left and clockwise: Natalie, Ron, Pascal, Seb, Penelope, Emma, Jill, Denise, Malcom, Lauren, Jay & Me
We got back to Flores by 3pm, absolutely exhausted (a 3am wake up call is DARN early if you ask me)! So we just rested in our room with air con TV until dinner time. Then the two of us went out to a place called Captain Tortuga (turtle) where we had a fabulous pizza and AMAZING home made frozen cocktails! Lovely.
Day 183 – April 28
We were up and packed, ready to head out by 9 for Rio Dulce.
Once again the bags were not really fitting, so at our first rest stop Trevor got up on top to try and tie them down a bit better.
We were short 3 seats (since the driver brought his girlfriend and another girl – huh?) so two people in our group had to sit on the floor, while the other hanger on girl stood the entire time! Geez.
We got to Fronteras, had a quick lunch, and then caught boats across to our jungle lodge Hacienda Tijax.
Seb & Me relaxing as they sorted out our rooms at the lodge
This 500 acre hacienda is a really lovely place to stay – we loved the wooden walkways they had to every part of the complex.
We were thrilled that we got one of the cabins actually ON the dock!
Welcome to my lovely dock home –he he. The lodge is located at the east end of the Lago de Izabal, where it empties into the Rio Dulce.
It had QUITE the view! Lots of amazing sail boats were tied up outside. The US coast guard says that this is the safest place on the western Caribbean for boats during hurricane season.
Murray then found his first tick on his thigh – as this was his first tick ever – of course he took a photo
And a lovely after shot –nice huh? We tried burning it to get it to let go, but he would just bite down harder. So eventually Murray just dug him out – gross.
This is the lodge’s dining room – I love how well it fits in with the surroundings
We then spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing in the lovely pool with our ice cold beers – lovely.
That evening we had a GREAT lasagna for dinner, and had a few drinks with the group before heading to bed.
Day 183 – April 29
Today we had a lovely cooked breakfast (great veggie omelet and fresh juice) before catching out tour boat to head off to explore the area.
Our first stop was El Castillo de San Felipe.
It was built in 1652 to keep pirates from looting the villages and commercial caravans of Izabal
Although id deterred buccaneers a bit, a pirate force captured and burned the fortress in 1686. The present fort was reconstructed in 1956.
Me on the boat – it had quite a big engine and could really move!
Next stop was bird island
Lots of unusual looking birds were around
And beautiful water flowers
The cranes were stunning
We especially liked this guy, walking along the lily pads in Biotopo Chocon Machacas reserve – full of mangroves and water lilies
The 7600 hectare reserve was established to protect the river, mangrove swaps and the manatees that inhabit the waters.
We were amazed to hear the fact that these lily flowers only blossom for one day!
Then they fade away and others appear.
Lovely
Lots of cute little birds around
Baywatch – on guard
They really do look like lifeguards keeping a lookout
This guy had MASSIVE feet
makes it easier to walk on the lily pads I guess!
A cute little girl in a canoe was playing around
What a cutie
We stopped at this little place for fresh coconut juice and spotted this BABY in a hammock – wow!
TOO cute! Playing on the dock
Doing some washing
And having a juice box – this little girl was so darling
The home next door to where we stopped for coconuts
A guy padding through the marsh
There were lots of gorgeous structures on the water
Next stop was at natural hot spring. It was bizarre because it was only boiling hot for the first few inches of water, everything below that was chilly!
We waved to all the amazing boats and catamarans that went past – man that’s the life!
Some others had more modest river transport
After traveling down the river for a bit through Cueva de la Vaca (a steep walled gorge) we finally arrived in Livingston – and we were greeted by these (still used) bird covered fishing boats
Squawking away
In town they had a terrible little enclosure with a few crocodiles hanging out
Cool back pic
And his nose (looks kinda piggy tome)
There was also a few turtles swimming about in the disgusting water
We thought this was HILARIOUS! I cannot imagine riding a scooter with an umbrella – wow!
Located at the end of the Rio Dulce and is unconnected by road from the rest of the country. The Garifuna (people of Livingston) are descendants of Africans brought to the New World as slaves.
Me exploring Livingston’s one main street
We had lunch at a place called the Happy Fish – Murray and I tried the ceviche for a starter, which was a bit disappointing as it seems that ceviche in this country is really just like a fish salsa. Still tasted lovely though!
Viscili showing off the GIANT prawn he got in his special seafood soup.
This local specialty is called Tapado Garifuna
It is the sopa de la region
With a whole fish, prawns, crab, plantains and an amazing coconut based soup!
Murray liked his fish
Boney!
Not a whole lot of meat on this fish, but nice nevertheless
The boney shell plate – wow!
A picture of a map of the area – you can see where we stayed – Hacienda Tijax (just by where the red line crosses the river). You can also spot Livingston on the top right of the map.
On the way back we stopped one more time at bird island and Murray caught this amazing shot of a bird with a fish in his beak.
Then we rested all day, used the wi-fi we managed to pick up in our little cabin, and had another lovely meal in the lodge’s restaurant.
Day 184 – April 30
We left early on the boat to a decent, but no leg room, ‘upgraded’ bus that would take us all the way to Antigua. Luckily it wasn’t crowded, so we all got 2 seats to ourselves for the 6 hour journey. After we got there and checked in, we headed out in search of a late lunch.
This was one of the road side ‘restaurants’ that we stopped at. Hmmm I think not.
We thought this sign was quite bizarre! There are SO many cowboy type guys in Guatemala and you see SO many of them with handguns shoved into the waist band of their jeans!! Thus the need for this ‘no armas’ sign!
A typical Guatemalan car – probably because a tank of gas is equivalent to about a week’s wages in these parts.
Me walking back into Antigua’s central area to explore.
There were HUGE lines for the ATMs – we found out later it was because the next day was a bank holiday.
Antigua’s setting is gorgeous, nestled between three volcanoes, and its streetscapes offers photo opportunities at every turn.
Jill and I walking back towards the hotel.
Antigua was founded in 1543 and served as the colonial capital for 233 years.
The capital was moved to Guatemala City in 1776 after Antigua was razed in the earthquake of 1773.
We managed to find a FANTASIC bagel shop and shared a cream cheese and veggie topped bagel sandwich, as well as a smoked salmon and capers sandwich – gorgeous! A few hours later we headed out to a German restaurant called Weiner for a huge portion of wiener schnitzel. Not bad!
Day 185 – May1
Today we met at 6:25 in the morning to store our big bags, and headed off to catch a bus out to Lake Atitlan.
Us waiting for the bus….. that never showed up!
So eventually we had to move on, and make our way down to the chicken buses.
Me about to board a chicken bus
Fancy paint jobs
Man it was PACKED! At least 3 people jammed into every small seat.
Looks like all modes of transport were packed – could they FIT any more people into the back of this truck? Geez!
We finally arrived at our mid way stop of Chicicastenango.
We were amazed by how much this lady was carrying on the top of her head
Heading down towards the markets
Maya traders from outlying villages come to Chichi to be part of one of Guatemala’s largest indigenous market
A hat lady
All of these beautiful tapestries are handmade – just gorgeous
Wow those are some heavy looking head loads!
A lady trying to sell a tapestry to a gringo – these ladies walk around with tons of the tapestries piled on their heads trying to sell to tourists on the street
American tourists you think? He he – ok I know we wear a lot of khaki too but….
I love this photo – Mother and daughter carrying loads to the market
There are food stalls all over the place as well
And ladies selling fresh fruit
Beading is a big thing here – so many beautifully beaded bracelets!!
And gorgeous handmade baskets – if only they would fit in a backpack
Is that blanket for shade? Hmmm I’m not sure
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How CUTE are these!!!
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Markets, markets – the town is PACKED with them!
When we finally were marketed out we met up with Trevor at a café breakfast and
A GORGEOUS café latte – yumm
We saw this guy as we were leaving town – WOW that is a massive load – looks awful!
Then we got a private transfer (HOORAY!! Can you tell everyone is happy??) the rest of the way to Panajachel
Back row: Penelope, Viscili, Pascal, Denise
Middle: Emma, Jay & Lauren
Front: Trevor, Me & Jill
We arrived in Panajachel late in the afternoon, and after ALL those transfers we were completely exhausted. Murray and I did a little walk around town with Seb and Emma, and then we had an ok group dinner out at a steak place.
Day 186 – May 2
Ahhh we had a nice sleep in today, sort of, until we were woken up by a rooster crowing like crazy at 7am!
We went out for a lovely breakfast at a place facing the water which was a great way to start the day
Interesting breakfast of fried plantains (bananas), refried beans, one piece of bacon (we asked for tocino – bacon with our meal and got ONE piece, and eggs). Nice, but unusual breakfast for sure!
But the view of Lago de Atitlan and the volcanoes that surround the lake was amazing!
The lake is surrounded by small villages, so we caught a water taxi out to see one
When we arrived at one of the villages, Santiago Atitlan, we immediately had a guy following us, telling us we MUST do a tuk tuk tower of the top 5 sites of the village.
We agreed, since the price was right, and – why not?
Our tuk tuk driver told us these people were all hitching a ride back to their homes just outside of Santiago
The laundry lookout (mirador), as he called it – had a nice view of Volcano San Pedro
Me in our tuk tuk at the mirador
Murray took this photo to show the traditional clothing of the men in the village – we LOVED their long shorts and sashes – very cool!
Next stop was a Memorial Park (2 Dec, 1990)
And then we went to the site where an avalanche killed hundreds of people just three years ago. It happened at night, so a lot of people were asleep in their beds when they were buried by the avalanche. They say the avalanche happened because of deforestation, which caused the ground to just slide away. The entire small village was covered in dirt – it was quite sad that while we were looking at the site a group of children who are orphans of the avalanche came up to our tuk tuk. Sad.
Next stop was to see Maximon. Maximon (mah-shee-mohn) who is paraded around during Semana Santa (Easter celebrations). The rest of the year he resides with a caretaker, receiving offerings. He changes houses every year to maintain the local balance of power.
Me walking up to the house Maximon is ‘living in’ this year to check him out
You can kinda see him here on the right. He is a wooden figure draped in colorful scarves and smoking a fat cigar. We managed to visit while a lady was asking for blessings, and making offerings to him.
It really was quite a bizarre site. He is in a tiny room, with Christmas lights hanging all over the place playing a loud version of silent night. The room was filled with incense and there was a large statue of Jesus lying in a glass coffin near the entrance to the room (I guess Jesus and the statues of saints in the room act as Maximon’s guardians). Apparently his favorite gifts are cigars and rum. Interesting.
Our last stop of the day was to see church. Here are two guys chatting in their traditional garb in the church’s square.
The church was – ok. Not great enough for any pics.
On our way back we noticed this advertisement for the most popular Guatemalan rum that we had sampled. It is SUPER cheap and is known as firewater. (It is like $1USD for half a liter – cheap!)
That concluded our tour. We walked back through the markets, and then went down to wait for a boat to take us back to Panajachel.
While we were waiting (for AGES – until the boat filled up with enough people for them to justify the trip) a little boy came and sat down to chat. He didn’t try to sell us anything – just wanted to chat. So we asked him as many questions as we could in Spanish (like why he wasn’t in school today – he said today was a school holiday – ah ok). Eventually we saw him sell a frozen juice lolly to someone, so we asked what flavors he had – and we bought 2 (and oh my gosh they were GREAT – fresh frozen fruit juice pops). He was really SO SO sweet, it totally made our day to chat to this smiling happy lovely young guy (he’s 9).
Me with my strawberry pop and Salvador – what a sweetie
On the way back we saw these guys paddling a typical fishing boat of the area. Apparently a lot of fish live in this lake.
Dinner anyone? Cute little stall – but um – no.
We had dinner at a Thai place, and while we were waiting this lovely guy came up offering to make us personalized pens. We were amazed by his skill and ordered one!
That set off the previously very skeptical group, and I think in total our table got about a dozen pens! Cool souvenir though!
After dinner we went out for drinks at a local place.
Trevor, Murray & Seb getting ready to take tequila shot
And lick
And drink
And lime!
It was a good night, fun!
Day 187 – May 3
I woke up today by having to run to the bathroom to throw up. Lovely. I threw up once more before we got in the bus to head back to Antigua. It HAD to be the Thai! Murray also felt a bit unwell, as did a few others. I guess it was just my stomach that couldn’t hold it in.
We did stop at a mirador for a great view of the lake.
Lake Atitlan is one of the most beautiful spots in Guatemala. Twelve native villages, blue/gray mountains and three volcanoes line the shores of this lake creating a great mix of natural beauty and traditional culture.
Pied piper Trevor – so cute how all the kids crowded around him (since he was the only one of us speaking fluent Spanish to them).
Our bus back to Antigua (a private one thank goodness) took only 2 ½ hours (and we only had to stop once for me to throw up – not bad). When we got back I spent the rest of the day in bed, I couldn’t even hold down a sip of water. Luckily Emma had some pills that make you stop vomiting so you don’t become totally dehydrated. I threw up the first one (because I had to take it with a sip of water), but eventually I was able to hold down a second and a bit of water (thank goodness cause I was SO SO thirsty)!! Anyhow, enough gross stories.
Murray ran errands (and saw some security guards holding onto their massive machine guns with one hand, and ice cream cones in the other – ha ha)! And then he went out to eat with a few people, I just could not even LOOK at food. Me, bed and tv – that was my day!
Oh and he got this shot of the cute (but yappy) little dogs at our hotel. This is their home upstairs at the hotel – no wonder we could hear them yapping in the morning!
Day 188 – May 4
We slept in today, and for the first time in over 24 hours I finally ate! We went to the bagel place and had a great mix of granola, fruit and yogurt. Then we did a bit of shopping, and went back to get ready for our 2pm pickup for our tour!
On the way I stopped in to get my tooth fixed – just cause the place looked SO nice
We rented sticks off of our guide, then we set off to hike up to see Volcan Pacaya
First we came across some old hard lava
A view of Volcan Agua – the volcano that looms over Antigua – but is unsafe to climb
Murray, Me & Lava
And then………. our first VERY exciting glimpse of HOT LIQUID MAGMA!
Me & Lava
Some guy walking across the GREAT expanse of lava – amazing looking
Volcan Pacaya is the only active volcano near Antigua
And it is 2552m tall
I don’t know how this silly dog made it all the way out there – it must have cut up his paws – the lava is SO rough and sharp! But he obviously loved to curl up on the warm rock:)
The heat was intense because we could get SO close to the lava
It felt like standing in a SUPER hot sauna, nearly unbearable in some places
Me & Magma
It was SO hot I could barely stand there long enough to take a photo!
Murray checking out the lava
We got SO close to it – eeeeek!
A chunk falling off in front of us! It really was moving along – cool to watch.
And a bit more
If you flip over a bit of the ‘rock’ we were walking on, it is totally hollow underneath and you can sometimes SEE the lava moving! Thus why it was SO hot while we were walking around
We hiked up one hill to see a river of lava bubbling by – it looked SO amazing
Murray roasting some marshmallows over the hot liquid magma
And me – saying HURRY MURRAY it is HOT!!!
The roasted marshmallows were YUMMY!
There was just tons of these lava rivers – gosh how cool does that look – this is NOT zoomed in – we were THAT close!!
SEE! We could only hold the pose for about 5 seconds, then you had run back away from the heat!
Me & Murray with hot liquid magma
Someone stuck their walking stick in the lava river and pulled out this bit of burning rock – wow how amazing is that!
And one last shot as we walked out to leave
We walked down in the dark (thank goodness we brought out head lamps!) and eventually got back to our hotel in Antigua at 9:30pm. We went out to find what was left of our group (who hadn’t gone back for the night), said hello, realized the kitchen at that place was closed, and went off to find ourselves some MUCH needed dinner. We had a terrible pasta dinner at the only place still open in town, then went back to meet the group just as they were walking back. Said goodbye to a few people (this is the end of the first leg of the tour – only 5 of us and our guide are continuing on) and went back to pack and sleep!
And that is that for part 1 of our Central America journeys!
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