Vamos........

So, we made it to Nicuagara!

Since the last update we have crossed the Belize/Guatemala border, visited El Remate, Tikal, Semuc Champney, Antigua, Lake Atilan, Guatemala City (briefly in transit),  Sans Salvador in El Savador (for one night in transit), travelled through Honduras (on the Tica Bus) and are now in Leon, Nicuagara. 

It`s been a busy week and Squirrel and Toad have been busy getting some camera time in so that you can all enjoy some pictures of where we`ve visited! There are quite a few…….even a couple of me this time as well, looking so fetching!

My Spanglish is improving and sounds a little more Spanish than it did, although I still suffer from several `lost words` as my vocabulary needs some serious work. Squirrel and Toad thought they had found the answer at Tikal, but I think someone had just lost a letter?! 

With all the walking, swimming and general exercise we`re doing I think my bum will look slightly better on the beach in Rio than it would have when we left home too, a very important consideration and one which I am much happier about now! All the girls reading this will know where I am coming from. If anyone except my dad, Alice and Malc are actually reading this, I only have 3 followers!!

Guatemala and Nicuagara both have several active volcanos, so we toasted marshmallows over what I can only describe as a hot hole on Volcan Pakaya and boarded down Volcan Negro, two very different experiences!

Semuc Champney was a real highlight from the last week, we met some great people there and the place itself is beautiful. Its a huge system of waterfalls in the middle of the jungle/hillside. Malc met Fanny and Aaron who are fellow Spurs supporters and we travelled down to Antigua and Lago de Atilan with Lena and Dennis, which was fantastic. Its been a great week, despite having to trek to Pana, across the lake from San Pedro in Lake Atilan, just to see if they had electricity so that Malc could watch the Spurs match......... To be honest, I didnt really mind as we ended up shopping with Dennis and Lena, which was fun and it was good to visit Pana too. 

Can anyone spot any bats in the cave at Lanquin? There were swarms of them, but I think Squirrel and Toad must have scared them off. 

Anyway, my time on the net is up again and so im signing off, Im knackered after boarding today (we did it twice so we had to walk up the volcano twice) and I had to go to bed at 630 last night to recover from the epic, no sleep, journey from Guatemala! A 5am start in Lake Atilan, followed by a 145am start in El Salvador and not much sleep at all inbetween for me....

Dinner time now and since we didnt have dinner last night I think we are going to treat ourselves and eat in the hostel bar instead of at a local street stall. Although I love the street food here, it is my favourite way to eat and YUMMY!

Lake at El Remate

There were bats in here.......

Active Volcano.....Volcan Pakaya

The view from Volcan Pakaya

Lago de Atilan

The Tica Bus

Volcano boarding in Leon....Volcano Negro

Nice outfit.....

Temple 5 at Tikal

Missing words in Tikal..........

A near miss with the Guatemalan Turkeys

The view from Temple 1 at Tikal, no ewoks here but lots of jungle

Temple 3 and the grand plaza

Semuc Champney........beautiful

An update from me this time!

So, the main reason for this blog is so that we can share our trip with people (assuming there is an audience......) and document our travels so we can read back over what we wrote and jog our some what middle aged brains when we get home! That in mind this entry is a summary of all we have done so far, just so I don't forget, as well as an update from today.

I think it's Tuesday the 8th today, I'm slightly out of sync with days and dates, and so far we have taken in Cancun, Isla Mujeres, Chitchen-Itza, Tulum, Chetamul, Caye Caulker and San Ignacio via Belize City.

Outside of the temples Caye Caulker has been an amazing highlight. I really do think I have fallen in love with the place. One day I will have to get back to Belize and dive the Blue hole, as well as visiting a bit more of the south coast, we'd have loved to have done that this time but with such a tight timeline and so many countries to see, it just hasn't been feasible!

We went out to Xunantinich today (I think that is how it's spelt, but challenge anyone out there to pronounce it right first time), which was great. More Mayan piles of rubble C :-) We even got to see a troupe of Howler Monkey's in the wild and alledgedly the site is the only location in the world, where Howler Monkeys and Spider Monkeys live in harmony with one another. One of the Howler monkey troupes has even adopted a young male Spider monkey, which we are told is unheard of. Are there any zoologists out there who know whether this is indeed true?!!

The bus trip back from the site was interesting, we had the pleasure of sitting with the local drunk in a bus shelter. He had been drinking overproof white rum all morning and as his first language was spanish all he really said to us was thank you very much and kept shaking our hands, priceless! His drinking mate turned up just as we got on the bus, so I think it was an afternoon full of 'red cap overproof rum' on the agenda too.....rock on the old Guatemalan at the bus stop :-)

Malc looks bored out of his brain waiting for me to finish this update, so I'll sign off now. We're off to spend the rest of our afternoon planning the rest of our trip out, so that we know we've got enough days to fit everything we want to do in and fight about what we don't do if we haven't! The place we are staying is fantastic, it's a small guest house call J&R's and is owned by a 75 year old couple called John and Rosa, they are so friendly and welcoming it's brilliant. I quite enjoyed my first cup of coffee in a week this morning too!

Off over the Belize/Guatemala border tomorrow and then onto Tikal. I'm sure Mr Squirrel and Miss Toad will have many stories to tell after that, so the next update might well be handed back over to them.

A few photos below for those of you who don't want to read and just want to look at the pictures!!! ;-)

Jesus Christ Lizard

Sunset in Caye Caulker

Made in Middlesborough  (this ones for Grandad)

Howler Monkey!

 

Continuing the adventures of.....Mr Squirrel and Miss Toad (not Mrs!)

Miss Toad here... we accompanied Nicole on her trip to Shark Alley (Caye Caulker, Belize) and actually got to see a nursing shark and some sting rays!!!

I was very pleased with Mr Squirrel, as he quit practicing his jazz hands for a minute and took this photo, it's very hard to use a camera when you're a toad with strictly no arms to speak of......

After our amazing trip (during which we were pleased not to be dinner) we thought it was time for a well deserved rest and had a day sunbathing on the jetties/beaches around town.

We found a great little food shack that made fresh tortillas, tacos and Salsa for lunch, and both Mr Squirrel and I are in agreement that they are the best Taco's we have ever eaten.

I got a little sunburnt and had crispy legs by the end of the day, but Mr Squirrel managed to convince me to stay out and watch sunset; as you can see it was a beautiful end to a very chilled day.

Today we experienced our first real local bus journey to San Ignacio on the western side of Belize and it was great fun, despite the teenage boys playing gangster rap from their phones at full volume. Tomorrow we're off to see some Belizian Mayan ruins......a different twist on Mayan rubble Nicole says....

Belize - Caye Caulker rocks!

Just a quick update for you all, Squirrel and toad send their apologies, they won't be appearing today as toad is slightly sun burnt and refuses to pose for any pictures! I'll see what I can do about that later....

We're on an island in Belize called Caye Caulker, where we snorkelled with rays and sharks yesterday, and actually got to hold them in the wild!! Our boat driver Sean was totally at home with them, it was incredible. I think that is one experience that I will never forget. We were surrounded by about 30 rays (no exaggeration) and probably 6-7 nursing sharks.

The area the sharks and rays gather in is called Shark alley by the locals and developed because the fishermen used to clean their catches there. The fishermen don't go there now but the rays and the sharks still gather there and get fed by the tour guides instead!!  The reef here is the second largest in the world, second only to the great barrier, so we saw Moray eels, lion fish, parrot fish and a whole host of other amazing marine life yesterday too.
 
I met a 76 year old Canadian backpacker on the beach this morning who has just spent 6 weeks backpacking from Panama, what a guy! If I am doing this when I am 76 I will be over the moon!

If you need somewhere to holiday, like snorkelling/diving or just relaxing rasta style, Caye Caulker should be on your list of places to come. I can't say enough nice things about this place, I think I'm in love! ;-)

Off to find Malc (who I have left sleeping) and some coffee now.....

Introducing.....Mr Squirrel and Mrs Toad!

Meet my little friends.........

Squirrel and Toad do Chitch-Itza

Tulum (another pile of rubble C!!)

Meet the local Fauna.......             

Chill out on the beach                   

It´s a bit boring when it´s all me, me, me, so I thought I´d perk my updates up with some news from Squirrel and Toad.

They´re having a great time so far, they were very good on the plane over and haven´t been too much bother, apart from Squirrel´s insistence on practicing his jazz hands and Toad´s bad efforts at catalogue poses (see above).

I think they´re off in a bar somewhere drinking Tequilla right now, I hope they make the bus to Belize tomorrow.......

We´re all very sad to leave Mexico behind already, but hopefully we´ll be back one day.

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Ummm, that pile of rubble......

17 hour flight = 1
Free trip to Chichen-Itza = 1 (no time shares bought.....)
Ferry rides = 2
Iguanas spotted = loads!!!
Tequilla shots = NADA
Bad piano recitals of Micheal Jackson songs = Sadly 1 (my ears are still bleeding)

So, we´ve arrived in Mexico and not to rub it in, but it´s hot, hot, hot :-)

We didn´t get to our hotel until midnight on the first night, as we spent some time at the airport signing up to a 90 minute time share ´presentation´ at a five star resort, on the understanding that we didn´t have to purchase anything and would get our taxi transfer from the airport reimbursed and a free trip to Chichen-Itza.......

7 hours later we were up and off to the ´presentation´ at said five star resort, as a result of which I would highly recommend the Grand Mayan Resort in the Playa de Carmen to anyone on a luxury budget. A free breakfast and some chatting about Greece, Albania and whether Chelsea or Man Utd play better football later (our ´guide´was Albanian but lived in Greece and had moved to Mexico...), we were being shown around luxury suites and being asked whether we would like to consider purchasing a luxury time share. If I could have raised $36,600 dollars for a time share in a luxury suite, that is twice the size of our flat in Crystal Palace I may well have done, however we settled for the reimbursed taxi fare and free trip!

By 13:00 the same day (still our first day in Mexico) we had caught the ferry to Isla Mujeres (Isand of Women) and were soaking up the rays on the beach by 14:30. I say soaking, but I think reflecting may actually have been a better description......

Yesterday was spent working on the still sorely lacking tans and spotting Iguanas in piles of concrete. Yep, we were hanging out by a big pile of concrete and no, we didn´t go to the turtle farm, obviously we go to all the top tourist attractions! ;-) Last night we had our first taste of Mexican street food, Chorizo tosadas, yum and I wasn´t sick today (ahhh hope that isn´t a jinx), hurray!

So, today.... well, to my good friend who I shall name only as C (and I do hope you are reading this), I think they´ve rebuilt that, um what did you say, ´pile of rubble´since you´ve been to Mexico, Chichen-Itza rocked! he he he, honestly, I love you C,that comment has made me chuckle all day long, especially as you were totally right on all other fronts, it was hot, hot, hot, there isn´t much shade, and it was full of an ínteresting collection of tourists, us included of course ;-)

We hopped off the tour at the end of the day and got a public bus from Chichen-Itza over to Tulum, where C will be especially pleased to hear, there are more piles of Mayan rubble for us to enjoy! I´ll make sure we get loads of top class pics to show you all, in slide show form obviously, and send out invites for a crisp, soft drink, sandals and socks, slide show party shortly........

Let us know how you all are, I´ll try and keep this updated as much as possible. Apologies for any shocking punctuation, it´s not my strong point when I´m lacking sleep (or ever really).

FYI, they have a bread here called Bimbo, described as big and white. I so want to find out which football team they sponsor and get a shirt!

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