Orange Walk and Lamanai - 19th to 21st November

We arrived into Orange Walk in the middle of a tropical storm so we were absolutely drenched through. As was all our stuff in our not-so waterproof bags. We spent the rest of the day drying off in our hotel on the river, hoping it wouldn`t flood, and eating the most delicious burritos. 

The next day we took a river boat 30 miles downstream to visit the Mayan ruins at Lamanai. On the way down we saw lots of crocodiles and a few spider monkeys. The spotting was helped by an older tourist screaming at anything and everything she saw, usually making it fly/swim/run away. The ruins were amazing, especially the temple with huge sculptures of faces on it. We also got to climb 60m up another one and could see all over the jungle, which was brilliant as lots of the sites don`t let you up the original steps anymore.

The trip back was very exciting. Halfway down the engine cut out and we were floating powerless down the river, waiting for a phone, any phone, to come into signal. Luckily we avoided crocodiles and jaguars and were rescued after a harrowing 40 minutes!

Caye Caulker - 17th to 19th November

We spent 3 days on Caye Caulker, a tiny island an hour boat trip away from Belize City. Really beautiful and completely different from the rest of our trip - completely Caribbean and tropical. We spent the first couple of days sunning ourselves on the surprisingly small beach which was nice but not very peaceful as were surrounded by American tourists shouting at each other about how drunk they were. Ben managed to get his hair cut by a gangster from Belize who also, uninvitedly, shaped his beard and sideburns - a bit Craig David. But he then shaved it off properly as too embarrassed.

 The next day we went on a snorkel trip to the reef in the Hol Chan reserve. At the first site the boat was immediately swarmed by sharks and stingrays and our fantastic, but incredibly chilled, guide Jerry jumped in and attracted more by throwing them sardines. We slighltly hesitatingly jumped in after him and Anna swam straight to Jerry and didn`t let go of him the whole time we were in the water. Saw lots and lots of fish and coral on the other two snorkels, as well as a green turtle and some dolphins too. We sailed home with bottomless rum punch and fresh ceviche served by the captain Jahlee. Amazing. Even if it did actually rain torrentially the whole day.



San Ignacio - 14th to 16th November

Being very adventurous people, we decided to go down a 5km long cave to see some Mayan skeletons, broken pots and generally try to be brave. Anna did try hard but the sight of catfish in the same water as her did terrify her slightly. As the cave has a river going through it we had to swim and wade the majority of the way to reach the main cavern where the human sacrifices took place.

We spent two and a half hours exploring with our brilliant guide Ben (who kept reassuring us that he was trained in cave rescue) and saw loads of skulls and pots crystalised by the cave water dripping on them, the best being the `Crystal Princess`, a sacrificial victim whose skeleton was (despite the slightly dull photo above) completely glittery and intact. Also there were lots of beautiful rock formations and crystals. Anna`s favourite bit was lunch and the chocolate banana cake.

Flores - 10th to 13th November

We stayed for three nights on the shore of Lake Peten Itza, near Flores in northern Guatemala, in a really stunning hotel with amazing views over the lake and howler monkeys in the trees.

We had an incredible day at the ruins of Tikal, a huge Mayan city. Our guide Jesus was really interesting and managed to show us loads of wildlife as well. The site is deep in the rainforest and only a small proportion is excavated so it is all surrounded by the jungle with lots of monkeys everywhere.

The next day we headed on to Belize where we said goodbye to Julie and Paul. Now need to decide what to do in Belize.

Coban - 8th to 9th November

From Lake Atitlan we drove north to Coban so that we could visit the natural pools at Semuc Champey and the caves at Lanquin. The day start with an unexpectedly steep 45 minute climb up hills and wooden staircases to get to a viewing platform overlooking the 13 pools where we took lots of photos and got daubed involuntarily with mayan war paint. Once down at the river, we could see it disappearing underground which leaves only a trickle of water on top to make the pools. Very beautiful.

We had a quick dip in the water -  rather cold and Julie was encouraged in by local Guatemalan children splashing her! Also lots of fish nibbling on our toes. Then we headed back to minibus and onto the caves at Lanquin. Absolutely incredible and huge with lots of stalagmites and tites and a very slippery walkway all the way to the bottom. Rudy the guide showed us where some French explorers headed off down for 21 days and still couldn’t find the end of the caves.

Antigua and Lake Atitlan, Guatemala - 1st to 7th November

Now in Central America, which is a nice change. We met Ben`s parents on Tuesday in Antigua, a beautiful old colonial town near the capital. Lots of fun things to do, including a tour of a coffee plantation where, suprisingly, we learnt all about coffee, but also zip-lined our way down the mountain. Really fun despite the rain. Incredible views and lots of tarzan-like yelps!

Apart from that, we ate lots of delicious food, especially the loaf of banana bread we munched our way through (not quite in one sitting), and fun sight-seeing on a walking tour around the centre.

 

Next we headed to Jaibailito, on the shores of Lake Atitlan. We stayed in a lovely lodge with gorgeous lake views and delicious home cooked dinners. On our first day, we took a boat to a couple of other villages around the lake with Terje the Norwegian hotel owner. At one of them we visited the bizarre statue of a local saint called Maximon, who is dressed in local Guatemalan clothes and moved from house to house each year. Having been led down a rather dodgy-looking back alley we poured some whisky into his mouth after he`d been tenderly tilted backwards and bibbed, and then lit a cigarette for him and placed it between his wooden lips. Very weird.

The following day Julie and Anna went to a big local market which was fantastic and the boys climbed all 3000m of San Pedro volcano - an extreme way to avoid shopping! Whilst they had incredible views from the top, they are now a bit stiff.