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Many hellos my chums.
As I write to you I hope you are all enjoying your respective countries. Its, once again, time to write to you all about the countries I've been to. Lucky you.
When I signed off last time I was in Belize, but had only got as far as Honduras in the email. Well this time, I'm in Nicaragua and am going to see how much I can get through. I doubt it will get me up to date but I'll try.
Well an easy start for me is mainland Honduras. We only spent two nights here and they were both based in Copan. Copan is one of the best Mayan ruins sites. It also boasts, in my humble opinion, the best museum about the Mayans and there way of life. It was a long, hot, but very enjoyable day there. One of the other highlights of Copan is the Carnitas Nia Lola bar. Here they mix up some lethal Dakaries with local fruits (off the trees) and carry them over to on their heads. One of the waitresses had a really severe limp, so at times it had to be seen to be believed.
After Copan we spent the rest of our time in Honduras on the Caribbean island of Roatan. This island is literally a paradise. Its claims, justifiably, to have the best beaches in the Caribbean. The biggest problem with getting to this paradise is the ferry crossing from the mainland. Its was two hours of the biggest seas I think I’ve ever been in. I swear to you that approx. 80% of the people on the boat needed to use the sick bags provided. I report, with some pride, that none of the four confirmed English travelers on board had to be reacquainted with their breakfast. Once on dry land though you could tell it was instantly worth the effort.
* A brief aside to tell those of you who watch rubbish on TV to keep an eye out on the next American series of Temptation Island for yours truly. The latest series was being filmed on a resort just down the beach from us. And during one filming session we cruised on by in the background in a water taxi. (and just to ruin the potential enjoyment – it’s all fake! We saw the ‘cast’ reading their scripts).
This island offers some of the best, and cheapest, diving and snorkeling in the world. It’s got the world’s second largest barrier reef just a few minutes swim away. During my many snorkel excursions I saw all sorts of stuff including – Turtles, Eagle and Sting Rays, squid and more types of the most beautiful fish than I thought existed. It really is an inspirational place. So much so, we ended up staying for 8 nights when the original intention was 4. Oh well. While there we were lucky enough to catch up with Mike’s brother and sister in law (Jamie and Pippa). We spent many afternoon/evenings getting drunk, eating out and playing many, many games of uno. I ask you, does life really get any better? Before finishing off the Roatan story, a quick public congratulations to Pippa and Lauren who both went on to become Dive Masters after we left.
When we finally managed to drag ourselves off the Island it was to fly to Belize City. We had to take three different flights, on two separate planes, to get there. There isn’t too much pride in Atlantic Airlines it would seem, the second plane was full of bugs and cockroaches – and I doubt any of them had a ticket! We didn’t spend much time in the city, which isn’t too pretty (or safe), just long enough to get money and food. Or next stop….Caye Caulker, yet another Caribbean island paradise. Damn it sucks to be us. We managed to limit ourselves to only three nights there. There is so much cool stuff there. We went on Manatee watching trips, snorkeled in ‘Shark and Ray Alley’ (where huge stingrays literally swim up, and into, you (the Nurse sharks hung back a bit but were still cool)). That day we had lunch on a tiny Island called Goff’s Caye which is just big enough for some sand and about 5 palm trees – it was something special. While on Caye Caulker we also got really lucky. On the second evening on the island there was a total eclipse of the moon, and we were in one of the best places to see it.
Our next main port of call in Belize was the seaside town of Placencia. One the way down there though we stopped of for a few hours at the Belize Zoo. What a cool Zoo it is. They have scary creatures ranging from Crocodiles to Jaguars and the cutest little Kinkajous. The rest of the way to Placencia took us via Belmopan, Belize’s capital city. It’s got a population of only 8000 and is really quite a hole. The best way to describe Placencia is that it’s another Caribbean beach paradise. We stayed another 5 nights sunning ourselves and taking it easy. We meet some really cool people in this town. The majority of them I met on a Whale shark spotting trip which was kind off expensive which put off my traveling companions. Only one of our group saw one of the elusive beasts but it was a great day out none the less. The next few days were spent chilling out, drinking (and I’m not proud to admit karaoke) and relaxing with our new chums (one of them being Jim Morrison’s (yes, the one from the Doors) brother – and he acted like it!). It was good that I had them to hang out with as Mike and Lorelli were doing a lot of ‘playing house’ together, which is very cute indeed. The start of the rainy season really introduced itself to us with a bang in Placencia. We woke up one morning to a helluva rainstorm and two waterspouts zooming across the sea.
Before finally dragging ourselves, kicking and screaming, away from the Caribbean we had one more seaside port of call. The town of Punta Gorda. It’s a sleepy little town where the Belizean attitude of ‘It can wait till next month’ is taken to new heights. Its just one of those places where you could stick money to your clothes and have no fear if being robbed. The locals just couldn’t be bothered to waste their valuable energy. The main, dare I say only, reason for visiting PG was to meet up with my cousin Alice who is doing volunteer work in one of the nearby Mayan towns. We managed to meet up a have a good night. Although she didn’t supply some of the promised Marmite – I’m now almost completely out :) Also on the way to PG we met a Canadian fella called Zach. We have spent quite a lot of time traveling with him since and will get into future stories. Our last sea based adventure for a while was a nice days fishing and island hopping with Zach and two Americans we had met. Our guide even took us to the island where the park rangers watch for smugglers, illegal fishermen, and cheeky Guatemalans. At lunchtime we barbequed our fish and drank coconut milk on a secluded and uninhabited caye. What a day!
Our final Belizean place to stay was San Ignacio and the surrounding area. I will explain that. While in SI we booked a two day jungle/caving trip. It was awesome. While SI is full mostly of pot smoking/selling Rasta’s and the laziest shopkeepers in the world, there is one company – Maya Walk – that is run by ex-British soldier expats, who put on brilliant tours into nearby caves and the jungle. The tour we did involved a tour through the Actun Tunichil Muknal cave, which the Mayans believed was a doorway into the underworld. It is full of pottery and sacrifices and was a real chance to learn the Mayan beliefs. The three of us then spent the night camping in the jungle. It’s hard to explain the noises of the jungle to those who have never spent the night there. There is just constant sound and the darkest dark imaginable. The next day we toured through two ‘dry’ caves and visited some unexcavated Mayan buildings. It really was a great tour. For some snaps have a look at http://www.mayawalk.com/html/over_cave.html.
That was it for Belize. We headed out shortly afterwards to head back to Guatemala, but that will be another story. I've written loads and have to stop as I'm hungry. I've still got stories from Gautemala, El Salvador and Honduras again. I'll try to get through them soon.
Take care all, lots of love,
Rob.
xxx
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