Ometepe - it's all action!

Ometepe is the world's largest fresh-water island. Situated near to the centre of Lago de Nicaragua, with an area of 3000 square miles, it has two volcanos (where doesn't?!) and, according to our guide book, is home to the kindest people in Nicaragua. Volcanos yes, but the kindest people? I'm not so sure. From a tourist perspective you're treated as an inconvenience, whether it be in hostels, shops or restaurants. I'm sure that no malice is intended, but being nice to the customer just isn't something rated highly out here. It is one of the few things in which they don't seem to want to follow the USA's lead.

  This is not to say that Ometepe is a particularly unkind place, or for that matter, Nicaragua. This applies to all of Mexico and Central America so far. And don't get me wrong, we've met some truely lovely people on our travels. But when it comes to service, perhaps it was not the Spanish who got here first, but the French! They must have rocked up, trained up the locals in customer care and quietly slipped out the side door before anyone noticed.

Certainly in restaurants the French theory fits. If you behave like a Parisian, be rude, cold and stoney-faced, you get a much improved level of service. I've tried it. However, I've always been of the opinion its a risky business being rude to someone who is about to prepare your food!

Anyway, back to Ometepe. The people were no friendlier. The theory in the guide book is that they are kind because the island did not suffer the effects of Rebellion or Civil War. I find that a pretty weak theory given that the island is only an hour's boat ride from the mainland, which it relies on for produce.

The island is widely thought of as a place to relax and do nothing. However, there is so much to do. There're two volcanos to climb for a start - if you've never experienced a cloud forest before, you must climb through one!  There is a 110m waterfall, natural cool springs, a lagoon, forests and beaches, some of which require a good bit of hiking to get to. We chose to climb Volcan Maderas to get a good look at a cloud forest. The volcano's crater is filled with water so there's an opportunity to swim after the climb.

 The volcano itself was fantastic. Halfway up the 1300m assent, we entered the cloud. The many howler monkeys could be heard and it wasn't long before we got a glimpse of some. The noise they make is more of a growl than a howl, making them sound a great deal bigger than they are. The climb was tough at times but rewarding. Unfortunately there are no views from the top or from the lake at this time of year. When we were just about to swim in the lake, it rained heavily and it was seriously cold! We were wimps and hid under the trees!

The only negative part of the trip was our guide, a local called William. He was helpful and kind up until the point where we booked on the tour and parted with our cash, the night before. From then on he was just plain annoying and aggravating. I could write a blog dedicated solely to William. But here's a summary. Firstly he told us it wasn't going to be muddy. It was. We were caked in mud by the end. Secondly, he told us the climb wasn't steep.

It was vertical at some points. Thirdly, at 4.30 am in the morning on the bus there, he tried to get us to pay for his bus ticket. We were already paying him generously to be our guide. Fourthly, at the top of the climb, he wanted to have some of our lunch. A packed lunch that he suggested we buy from the hostel the night before. Where was his packed lunch? Never mind, I'll just steal some from my customers, he must have thought. More crucially, he didn't act like a guide, despite his supposed eight years experience at it. The walk back down was almost slower than the way up. The path was muddy, full of slippery rocks, and steep. You had to watch your every step. William just raced off and left us. At this point, I just wished we'd done this on our own to start with! Call that the final straw. We let him know what we thought of his "guiding" and from then on he sulked and didn't talk to us the entire way down. Oh well, at least now we can have a good laugh about it!

We stayed in a village called Altagracia, a tiny place with not much going on. It is peaceful (except the cockerels - how does anyone put up with owning a cockerel?) and has a main square which is being dug up and remodeled at the moment. Our guide book said it was the place to go, but Moyogalpa (where the dock is) seemed to have much more about it. Since when has our guide book ever been right?!

 Overall, Ometepe wasn't as idyllic as I'd hoped but it's still a wonderful place to visit - even if only to see the way the sun sets behind the volcano - (see above).

Granada - Laguna de Apoyo

Whilst in Granada you can take a popular day trip to Laguna de Apoyo. Here, at some point in the past, a volcano blew its top leaving behind a huge crater that has filled with fresh water. And the bonus is the lake has a sulphur content that keeps away mosquitoes. Don't worry, it doesn't smell!

 You can book yourself on a tour to the lake with most hostels ($12- $17), however if you want to conserve money, you can make your own way there. Information on how to do so is sparse, but you can jump on a bus to either Masaya or Managua and, so long as you jump off at the right point, you can get close. We asked our bus conductor to let us know when to jump off, however, he forgot and we ended up almost in Managua. Great.

By catching a bus back the way we came, we found that there is a direct bus to the lake from Masaya bus station. So all in all it took us 3 buses, but we were ahead of the game $2 versus $34 so far.

The bus stopped at a sign pointing towards a steep and narrow path down into the crater. Once on the lake shore we were at a bit of a loss. We could get the bathers on and have a dip, but we had come a long way for just a quick swim. And the shore consisted of half a meter of mud between the water and the trees. Hmm. In these situations all you can do is pick a direction and go. We hadn’t found a map of the lake, but there had to be somewhere you could rent a kayak or something. We chose left and after a 500m walk found Posada Ecological, a restaurant/hotel that half answered our prayers. It had one kayak and one pedalo (they called it a bicicletta) plus some inflatable rings. A one-man kayak you have to rule out if there are two of you. The two-seater pedalo would have been ideal, but it was extortionate for an hour’s rental. There is something wrong about hiring a pedalo for a good deal more than the cost of your hotel room!

So rubber rings it was. There was one condition though. We had to promise to spend at least $10 each in the restaurant afterwards. This meant that as soon as we were out of the lake, we had menus thrust upon us every five minutes. Maybe we don’t look trustworthy, but after cooling off and relaxing in the lake, the last thing I’d want to do is run away from angry Nicaraguan wait staff up a steep volcano crater!

We had no problem spending the $20 quota, unfortunately on very average food.

The lake itself is clear and dark blue and a sure way to beat the humidity. Well worth a trip, though unless you have a map or directions, it’s probably worth taking one of the tours. 

Granada and Archipielago Las Isletas

Having spent some time in Leon and Granada, it is clear that Nicaragua possesses some beautiful towns with many attractive colonial buildings. Have a look at Viva for some quality blogging on Leon! Check out Viva!

Granada, in particular, has some beautiful buildings and from La Mercad Church bell tower you can get a magnificent bird’s eye view of the city, which we happened to time extremely well with the sunset. However, unfortunately we didn’t have ear defenders when they came to ring the bell!

We stayed first at Hostel Oasis, which has a pool and is a carbon copy of Lazybones Hostel in Leon. All the amenities were on a par with what you’d expect for the price ($19 for a double room and shared bath) however, the room was far too hot at night. Were it not for the quantities of rum consumed, I don’t think I would have slept at all! They do have air-conditioned rooms, but obviously at a price. The next day, too hungover to ask about A/C, we moved to Hostel Chelero, which was basic, a little cooler, and cheaper too ($15 for 2).

The city has a pretty Central Square (what city worth its salt doesn’t?) and the architecture gives it a very European feel.

There is a bustling market, if you like that kind of thing, and if you fancy a trip around the many tiny islands on Lago Nicaragua, you can get a taxi from Parque Central ($1.50) to one of the many lanchas by the lake shore. They’ll take you on an hour’s boat ride. Expect little white-faced monkeys (Cara Blancas), a wide variety of birds, and a nose around some rich people’s island pads. Of course, money doesn’t buy you taste, but it can buy you a small island with which to put something ugly on!

I'm not sure how much he paid...

El Salvador - like Marmite?

When heading south from Mexico (by land) it's pretty easy to go through each Central American country - perhaps with the exception of Belize, which I really wouldn't miss, by the way - whether you stop at each one or not. So we thought it'd be a shame to skip El Salvador. I put it like that because since the start of our travels we hadn't received one glowing report about the country. We did not hear anyone say, "Oh you simply cannot miss blah, west of blah blah in El Salvador", or, "You'd be foolish to miss the fantastic views of Valley Blah". Travellers are always full of advice they must impart. It can border on annoying, but most of the time it's pretty useful, if you pick and choose to whom you listen. No such advice for El Salvador, but we thought we'd go anyway. When in Rome...

Yes, go on. What do you do in Rome?

First of all, if you've been living it up on $9 a night (for two) for a place to rest your head and eating so many juicy steaks you're almost craving rice and beans, then El Salvador will provide a nasty shock to the system. Your dollar - they use USD - will not go far.

Next, the capital city San Salvador. Geographically it makes an ideal place to base yourself and explore what the country has to offer. It's a pretty small country, although it has a larger population than its vastly bigger neighbour, Honduras. San Salvador isn't a safe place. At least that's what everybody says when you go there. After dark, the central part of the city is not the place to be if you're a tourist - unless you fancy engaging with the gang culture, and my knowledge of hippity hoppity (or whatever these crazy kids listen to) just isn't good enough! The after-dark warning reminded me of the film The Lost Boys, and the inevitability of the sun setting and the vampires coming out!

Anyway, the two areas strongly suggested for tourist stays are west of Boulevar de los Heroes and the Zona Rosa, the former being a strange plastic bubble of US takeaways and the latter the most expensive part of town. Take your pick. Perhaps I'll put my hat on backwards, clip on a rat's tail and give the city centre a try!

In the city centre there are no particularly outstanding monuments, buildings or landmarks. Obviously being European, we're spoilt for all that jazz! However, a visit to the market provides an extremely chaotic experience. I'm not a big fan of markets unless I have something to buy (men don't browse) but witnessing the industriousness of the people was fascinating. This is a place where someone will board a bus to sell chocolate, and give a five minute speech bestowing the qualities of this particular brand. So you can imagine what the market is like! The enthusiasm for which they go about their business was great to observe.

But stray away from the busy streets and you get a feel for the after-dark scenario. On the way to the Ticabus office, a guy crossed the road to walk and talk with us. Nothing too unusual in most places, but here it wasn't clear if he was begging or about to mug us. There were enough shifty characters around sizing you up to make the pulse quicken a tad.

Tackling the bus system was just as much fun as the market. After waiting in various places for a while (there didn't seem to be bus stops as such), we eventually managed to jump on a moving bus which took us back to the plastic bubble. By that stage, there were enough friendly smiles to counter the gangster vibe earlier on.

Clearly San Salvador isn't for everyone. You either enjoy such scenarios or you don't. But if the country is to compete with its neighbours and get a slice of the tourist dollar, it needs to make its capital city safe. Perhaps, surfing aside, the country's assets just aren't unique enough to expect people to risk their safety.
If you're travelling on a budget or against the clock, there are plenty of better places to be.

In and out of Guatemala City

Our attempt to get to El Salvador from Guatemala would have been full of confusion and frustration were it not for Marina, a Spanish force of nature, who happened to be on our bus from San Pedro. Amid the chaos of shouting and bag grabbing, as we entered Guatemala City, we found that we shared the aim to get to San Salvador. From then on Marina took control, smiling and chatting to overly touchy-feely men, she guided us through the city. And this enabled us to follow and take in the congested, industrial and smoggy centre of Guatemala’s capital.

These Guatemalans, they really don’t like to give you an answer related to your question. That is until you’ve asked it at least four times! With our limited Spanish, we’d have been totally lost. As it was, even Marina (did I mention she’s Spanish?) was having difficulty.

The crux of the problem is that there are several bus terminals that operate a service to San Salvador. Some go once a day, some twice. Getting the relevant information isn’t all that easy. Or, you can go with one of the guys hassling you and telling you that their way is cheaper. What they don’t want to say is that they don’t go further than the border. And do you really need to be trying to sort out transport at the El Salvador border in the dark? No.

Of course, for a good few Quetzales, you could get a taxi and let them take you to the bus station. But that just wouldn’t be any fun now would it?!

In all seriousness, if you find yourself needing to do that very journey and your Spanish isn’t fluent, getting a taxi is the best way. From what we found there are four main bus companies: Melva International, Ticabus, King Quality and Pulmantur. Ticabus goes once a day and the other twice. I’d put some addresses down here too, but my research pulled up at least two different addresses for each one!

San Pedro - Lake Atitlan

Despite the current problems with the lake it really is a wonderful place to spend some time. We chose San Pedro, one of the larger towns, with 13,000 inhabitants. Actually, first we ended up being in San Marcos. Our driver decided that was where the majority of people in the minibus wanted to go, therefore that was where he would drive to. Never mind that the bus had San Pedro written on the side, or that our tickets said San Pedro on them!

The town has a definite divide. On the shore front it is heavily geared towards tourism. There are plenty of cafes and places to book activities. If you go up the hill away from the lake, you see the real town and get a feel for the standard of living - most houses are concrete with corrugated iron roofs. The superior quality buildings are of course the churches. But they have a football pitch in a reasonable condition which boasts some impressive background views.

Back down on the tourist side of things there are many hotels, some with lake views. We chose a very basic one (£6 a night and home to more spiders than my Dad's shed!) but the lake view made it worth it and the family running the place were very friendly.

The ex-pat influence of San Pedro can be seen most of all when looking for a place to eat. There is a grand choice of restaurants and bars, most of which adopt a chill-out mood and all having a happy hour or two at some point in the evening. In fact it works out very well. You can hop from one happy hour to another until hopping turns to staggering. Two rum and cokes for less than £1 is quite dangerous!
The food, though, is of high quality and large in portion. For some reason Thai green curry was a popular dish at most places.

The highlight of the place has to be the opportunity to climb Volcan San Pedro. We didn't think too much about it before booking. We didn't pay much attention to how far it was or how high we'd climb. A couple of days of no exercise and lots of food meant that we just wanted a physical challenge. And we got one! see vivalatinamerica!

The views were probably the best I've ever seen. And because we'd put in 3 and a half hours of solid climbing, I'm glad I can say that!
After our descent, we'd earned some time to relax and definitely earned a few beers. There was only one place for it, La Piscina. Another ex-pat run joint, it had a decent sized swimming pool, a BBQ, live music and a lively bar. A great place to spend Sunday afternoon in the sun, if you've just climbed a volcano or not!

Er, Houston...

The alarm bells should be ringing loud and clear in the offices of Guatemala's government. The country's best asset (sorry all you Mayans out there, but I reckon it even beats Semuc Champey, let alone Tikal) is turning brown and smelly. And when I say smelly, I'm talking dog poo smelly!

This is a fairly recent problem, but its a monstrosity of a problem and its happening to Lake Atitlan, some four hours west of Guatemala city. The problem may have been brewing for some time - or at least it smells that way! The lake is about 50 km in circumference and is surrounded by a breathtaking mix of tiny villages dwarfed by beautiful volcanos, creating some of the best views I have ever seen.

But compare the lake to a large bowl of water, like when you fill a kitchen sink. After you wash your dishes, the water is no longer clear. That may not be a scientifically correct analogy, but according to the local gringo ex-pats living in San Pedro, the lake is being used for all sorts of things it really shouldn't. We heard a few explanations; the (real) locals wash their clothes in it, thereby rinsing detergent phosphates into the lake. One town was ordered to clean its drainage system, so decided to use vast quantities of bleach which ended up where? Yep, the lake. And, probably worst of all, raw sewage is being pumped into it. Mmm, fancy a swim? Each village is supposed to have its own foul water treatment system, but some apparently don't. One bar owner even told us that Guatemala city's sewage ends up in here. Perhaps that one's a little far fetched!

Whatever the cause for the problem, it needs sorting fast. Tourist numbers have already dropped and the villagers are beginning to struggle. Even nearby Antigua are telling people not to visit, which seems a pretty self-destructive thing to do. Many people visit Antigua on the way to the lake.

The brown colour that has appeared is in fact a type of blue-green algae. Thankfully its not actual sewage, but the algae has 'bloomed' and risen to the surface and worse than how it looks, it is toxic. And, if you value your health, that means no swimming, kayaking or plain jumping into the lake, something that us gringos like to do a lot of.

In all seriousness, if nothing is done to change the situation (I'm hoping the lake can be cured), the ex-pats will probably leave. But they can go somewhere else.  The real losers in this situation would be the local inhabitants of Lake Atitlan. It really is a truly beautiful place  - and I'll show it in a better light in my next blog - it just needs some TLC.

Volcan Pacaya - 23000 years and still erupting

Ever climbed a volcano that's still erupting? Well if you fancy it then come to Guatemala, they let you do anything dangerous here. We're in Antigua, which is a beautiful city in the central highlands of Guatemala and one of the things that makes it so beautiful is because its surrounded by volcanos - a pretty magical sight when you look out of the window in the morning!

Pacaya is the volcano that currently has a bit of action going on - the three surrounding Antigua are just sitting there looking nice - but its only an hour or so away, so you can do a climb of it in half a day with a guided tour.

The economical tours run twice a day; one leaving at 6am and the other at 2pm. They both have their pros and cons. For example, if you go at 6am, you're more likely to get the best of the clear skies, as it often clouds over in the afternoon. If you decide to go at 2pm, you'll do the climb to the top in the light, but it will be dark when you come down. Seeing molten lava move in the dark is very tempting, but in many people's opinion, is outweighed by the prospect of climbing down in the dark!

We chose the morning option, and I have to say I was very glad we did. Continuing the theme of a lack of health and safety, coming down the mountain in the dark is just not a mouthwatering prospect.

Here's why. You start the walking tour along with 12 or so other people in your group (hopefully ending with the same number!) at 1900m and its a 2 kilometer walk to take you to the peak, at 2550m. The walk is steep at times and the first half is through the forest, which can be done with a fair amount of ease. With  the second part, it starts to become challenging. First of all you have to walk on volcanic ash, which is rather like black sand. As anyone knows from walking on a beach, you expend more energy trying to get somewhere than on hard ground. But, by the time you reach the ash, the amazing scenery has come into view. You can get a good look at Volcan de Agua, behind it a small glimpse of Antigua, but looking up at the peak of Pacaya with the fast moving clouds sometimes enveloping it, was the most special.

As you get closer to the top, despite the strong winds, it starts to get warmer. Smoke pours out of various holes and the terrain starts to change. No longer do you have to contend with ash, you now have to climb over lava thats just a few days old. The lava rocks felt very crispy under foot and looked a bit like wire wool. You certainly wouldn't want to fall on it as it was razor sharp. You could see the glow of the lava only a few feet under your own!

But the best bit came next. Our guide hopped over the rocks to one side to get a view of what the lava was doing today. Luckily, today it wasn't advancing down from the peak towards us! We climbed on further and came within 10 meters of a lava river. Glowing orange, large chunks of the volcano were slowly moving off the edge. I'd never seen rocks that big move on their own! The whole area around us was in motion. Thankfully a pretty slow motion, but when you see rocks nearby cracking and splitting before your eyes, you want to keep your wits about you!

With traveling rocks beneath us, we couldn't stay up there for too long, so next came the descent back down. Again, not easy. At times you were sliding down the ash, as it was too steep to walk. I was certainly glad not to be doing that in the dark! I found the easiest way was to get into a crouched position, like if you were on a surf board, and glide down.

We reached the bottom with the same number of people in our group. The worst of the injuries a few cuts and grazes - the americans promising not to sue!

I had no idea Guatemala would be so action packed. Climbing Pacaya is one of those annoyingly put phrases: a must-do.

Semuc Champey

Semuc Champey, in the middle of Guatemala is a place not to be missed. It is located in a valley with steep forest clad walls overlooking several natural crystalline spring water pools. There is a natural limestone bridge below which there is a 40ft waterfall flowing into the Cahabon river. As if thats not enough to keep you entertained, the river also flows through caves, which you can enter at your own risk!

And aside from the beautiful scenery, taking risks seemed to be very much what Semuc Champey was all about. But that was largely because we were on a tour and us Gringos need some adventure along with the nice views, it seems!

The day long tour left Lanquin (a town 10Km or so down the road), consisted of three guides and  started with a plop into the Cahabon river. A rope swing had been fixed to the trees on the river bed, and who can't resist swinging out over river, doing a summersault and dropping into the fast current? Well, I couldn't anyway!

Then, we were led into the caves, armed with nothing but candles. Yes, there were no headlamps provided here. You were expected to wade and at times swim deep into the dark cave and keep your candle lit. I felt like the Statue of Liberty! We climbed up ladders, over rocks and then came to a gushing waterfall. There were two options; take the ladder to the left or climb up through the waterfall on a knotted rope. Feeling in an adventurous mood, I took the rope option and was faced with a powerful torrent of water battering my face as I climbed up. And refreshing it was too!

Next we came to a dark corner of the cave where we discovered the thing being encouraged was climbing up the rocks on the side and jumping off into a (hopefully) deep pool of water. All this practically in the dark too! It had to be done though. What company would let their customers do this in Europe or come to think of it, most places in the world? Another reason it had to be done. Take that, health and safety brigade!

Our group consisted of at least 30 or so tourists, and to their credit, the guides shepherded us all around with ease. For the most part, being in such a big group was neither annoying or slow going.

We made it out of the cave, and with a taste for jumping off things, went to the 40 ft waterfall. In order to jump off it, you had to swim across some seriously strong currents and climb a rock face. Though this time the risk had been slightly mitigated as there was a rope pulled across to grab on to, lest you get swept away down the rapids!

Enough of the adrenaline filled stuff, next was a leisurely float down the river on a rubber tube. Its the best way to move on water, surely.

Rounding off the day was a hike up to the viewpoint over the spring water pools, before hike back down to have a swim in them. I'm sure it gets much better than that!

Coban and a seriously classy restaurant

Back in Guatemala and halfway through a long day of sitting in cramped minibuses, it was clear that reaching our favoured destination, Lanquin, was going to be a very tall order. Although Guatemala is nothing like as big as Mexico, getting around takes longer than you think. The roads have to zig-zag up and down mountains and even if they have tarmac on them, it takes a while. Plus you have to factor in stops and the sometimes agonisingly slow speed of Guatemalan life! Though this is all made up for by the stunning scenery.

So, a change of plan it was. Having lunch in the town of Sayaxche, with one eye on a fight between two locals, it was time to give in and head for Coban. It was, we were told, the better bet as the road to Lanquin is unpaved, would take another ten hours and is unsafe after dark.

Five hours later, we rolled into very wet Coban and picked a place called Casa D' Acuna to stay. As ever, you rely on a couple of sentences from a guide book to make your decisions on accommodation and as a result, never know what to expect. Well, it turned out we couldn't have wished for a better place! Clean, friendly and with all the services you need, Casa Acuna was a little haven. And very reasonably priced too. It came with free wireless Internet and a speedy laundry service and our room cost us only 100 Quetzales (about £8).

However, the best thing about the place was the restaurant. Adjoining the hostel, El Bistro served generous portions of delicious food biased towards an Italian cuisine. The service was impeccable, the staff genuinely friendly - and waited patiently while you tried some Spanish with them. And if thats not enough, they have a large selection of homemade cakes to further expand the waistline. Central America really does have a sweet tooth!

One last Belizean adventure

Unsure of whether or not to push on back into Guatemala, we convinced ourselves that there was probably one more thing not to miss in Belize - and that's the second largest coral reef in the world! And perhaps we shouldn't miss Belize City either. After all, it is not possible to know Belize without seeing it's largest city, according to our book. Besides, to get to the reef you must take a boat from Belize City to one of the cayes, so two birds with one stone, we went to Ambergris Caye.

The boat ride is speedy and didn't feel like the one and a half hours it took. By the time we arrived it was dark and we set about finding a place to stay, missing the ease of Stuart's car with every step! Unfortunately, like most of Belize, Ambergris Caye offers little in the way of budget stays. For some reason a dive will still cost you at least £20 ($32 US). In Mexico that would buy you a luxurious honeymoon sweet with free foot massages! So we took the best 'dive' we could, but at least it came with a fan. Plus it was better than the one down the road that was host to a load of British squaddies! Regardless of where you are, you can do without that.

Perhaps I'm not being fair to Ambergris Caye. Its got plenty going for it if you want to dive or snorkel. There are many restaurants and bars and it has a bank too, which you'll need. As our budget just won't stretch to diving lessons, we opted for snorkeling. We'll learn to dive and come back when we're rich. The coral reef was amazing though. We went to Shark Ray Alley and got in amongst the sting rays and sharks, just hoping they weren't too hungry. The sting rays are huge here, and the sharks are big enough to do you some serious damage if they felt like it. Well worth the trip, but it was over far too quickly.

The snorkeling was the highlight. Belize City was the low-light. On our return to the mainland, we intended to stay in the city for a night and relax before heading back to Guatemala. Belize City has a population of about 70,000 and is the largest in Belize which gives an idea of how small the country is. It was almost completely destroyed by a hurricane in the 60's and has been struck continuously since, and also by fires as recent as 2004. So, its not the prettiest of places (Aside from the harbour - top picture) and maybe it's had some rotten luck.

But, even in this horrible sweaty dump of a place (I'm not going to bother to try to be nice here) we couldn't find cheap accommodation. The supposedly cheapest place in town was run by some aging hippy types (yeah, clean sheets) and they wanted $50 USD for a room. FIFTY?! Clearly the years of smoking too much has taken its toll! This is Belize City, and this is a shabby run down guesthouse. I don't care how many 'good vibes man' there were, we were out of there. I just wish I had been brave enough to get my camera out and get some shots of this town. Maybe I can say I 'really know' Belize now. Whatever, I prefer my first impressions of the country.

We retreated to San Ignacio for a night, and thoroughly enjoyable it was too. Seriously, I'm not precious and I really don't mind slumming it for a bit, bit not at stupidly high prices. That's not how it works. Still, eight days in Belize and I reckon we crammed in a fair old lot!

Punta Gorda and around

Stuart was heading for Punta Gorda, about as far south as you can go, so we thought we'd join him. Jasmin had taken an early bus to Dangriga to meet with a friend and generally get back to her travels (and probably drink less as a result!), so it was just the three of us.

Again, having a car meant we could do as we pleased, so we set off to find a little bit of Mayan culture in the form of a ruin and several tiny villages outside Punta Gorda. Visiting these villages, we were about as remote as you can get in Belize, but not so remote Coca Cola haven't got in on the act and put up a few signs! Come to think of it, is there anywhere they haven't been?

As we drove through, one thing there were plenty of were school children. They were busy walking, running for cover in the rain or just sitting watching us drive by. Shouldn't they be in school? Or was it lunch break? Seemed like a long lunch break to me. Anyway, they all had uniforms which is something all the countries we've been to are quite big on, no matter what the quality of the education.

Feeling the need for more adventure, we left the car and headed into the jungle to find a cave which apparently has Mayan paintings in. We found the river and the cave, but there was a small problem. If there are any paintings to see in a cave, you need some light to see them. Caves are very dark and we didn't have headlamps.
Oh well, we still swam into the cave mouth, just for the fun of it!

Punta Gorda (above), a port town and route to Guatemala and Honduras, has a nice feel to it. Many of the clap-board houses on stilts look like they would fall down with a minor gust of wind! The only thing that would make it better is a few more people. Like most places in Belize, there aren't a right lot of people around. Still, it did us just fine for the night and in the morning we found a place that served tea and scrambled eggs. (not the place below!)

Belize all to ourselves!

If climbing through caves isn't your idea of a good time, then there's an alternative called Cave Tubing. Just like at all good theme parks, you can sit yourself on an inflatable rubber ring and let the current whisk you off. Only here the river is real and so are the caves you float into! The flow of the river was pretty gentle on the day we went, and at times, pretty shallow. "Raise your butts, unless you want a butt massage" we were told. It turns out, a butt massage was unavoidable at some stages along the way!

This was part of our days journey from San Ignacio to Placencia - Belize's only beach resort on a peninsular jutting out on the east coast. Keeping alive the spirit of the ATM tour (only minus one Italian), Stuart drove us around in search of fun things to do on the way, and Cave Tubing was certainly one of them! We found ourselves a freelance guide at a fraction of the cost and he took us on a short walk through the jungle until it was time to plop ourselves onto a rubber ring and float away. Very relaxing!

We also stopped by a place called Blue Hole - which was just that. A gorgeous pool of blue water above a hole which is presumably a cave entrance. (we ignored the sign!)

The great thing about all this is, there is hardly anyone around. Perhaps a combination of the recession and it being low season out here, but it is fantastic to have all these natural treasures to ourselves! Yes, it is more likely to rain, but I don't understand why more people don't come out at this time of year. Its hasn't rained all that much, and when it does, its not cold! Our guide on the Cave Tubing told us at high season they have about 400 people floating along. Now that definitely wouldn't be the same!

Oh, and the other great thing is traveling around by car. A big thank you to Stuart! Although an expensive way to travel around Belize (the petrol is extremely costly here), its certainly the best way to see what you what you want, when you want it.

We found Placencia after a few miles of terrible road and settled on staying at Deb and Dave's Last Resort. As last resorts go, it was pretty prefect. Lots of hot water, and our rooms opened onto an enclosed lounge area which was great for sitting and having a few beers. Plus the ONLY Halloween party in town was just across the boardwalk!

Can you Belize it? (that becomes addictive!)

I forgot to mention that when we arrived in Flores, literally two minutes later our friend Jasmin turned up at the same place. She planned to hop over to Belize straight from the Tikal trip, so we thought we’d join her.

We arrived in Belize somewhat stressed after an annoying border crossing – the Guatemala stamp thing caught up with us and we got fined. Add to that you cannot change money at the Guatemala/Belize border other than getting poor rates from dodgy guys who look like toads! But then the stress dissolved once the Caribbean vibe took over. Friendly people and reggae music. Its all you need!

Our first stop was San Ignacio, a small village about 30 mins drive from the border. There we stayed at a family run guesthouse, got showered and cracked open the rum. The world was a much better place!

The book mentioned Caving. What’s Caving? Another annoying word, like Birding? The three of us booked ourselves on a tour to Actun Tunichil Muknal (ATM) which is a tour which takes you 45 min hiking through the jungle, and then 3 ½ hours of swimming and climbing into a cave, where at the end you get to see original Mayan artefacts and skeletons. If that sounds cool, actually doing it was unbelievable!

Easily the best adventure I’ve ever been on. Swimming into the mouth of a cave and exploring up into the darkness was an exhilarating experience I’ll never forget. Also, playing notes on stalactites was something I didn’t know you could do. Our guide kept it very entertaining, but kept a check on reality – unlike at Tikal! At one point, waist deep in water, we all turned off our lights and put one hand on the shoulder of the person in front. Then we walked in total darkness, only hearing the odd bat squeak nearby. But it wasn’t claustrophobic or scary at any point. Just brilliant! 

The guide book didn’t sound all that enthusiastic about ATM, but if you’re anywhere near Belize, you’ve got to do it! How there aren’t any disclaimers to sign beforehand, I don’t know. If this place was anywhere else, it would be roped off and there would be no touching of anything, and most definitely no camera flashes. The health and safety brigade just haven’t reached Belize yet!

On the tour we met a fun Italian girl, who insects seemed to love, and an Australian guy (who lived in London for a long time and now lives in New York) called Stuart. After all using clay rocks to give ourselves war paint, we were officially bonded!

The next day, Staurt kindly lent us his 4x4 and while he took a tour over to Tikal for the day, Sophie, Jasmin and I caught a military convoy off to Caracol to see some more Mayan ruins. The military convoy has been in place for a couple of years and has put an end to Guatemalans nipping over to mug tourists. So, we became part of the rich and famous for a while and had an armed escort through the jungle. The terrain was rough and the speed kept high. You wouldn’t want to do it in anything other than a 4x4.

Mayan ruins are always impressive, but perhaps we’ve done enough of them for a little while. Mind you, this ruin was home to a Howler monkey called Jack, who was abandoned by his family and lives with the people who look after Caracol. Very cute and it was fun to watch him play fighting with the local dog! A monkey and a dog play fighting? Something you don’t see everyday!

On the way back we stopped off at Rio on Pools for a dip in the refreshing water. Thus far, Belize has been full of amazing adventures, great food and warm people. It comes at a financial cost though. Prices are often on a par with the UK, so our budget has taken a bit of a pounding!