Vote for (San) Pedro.

¡Hola!

This past week in San Pedro has been a good one for me. I've managed to have a conversation in (admittedly halting) Spanish. I can't say that I've been discussing the finer points of Guatemalan literature, but I can certainly understand a lot more now and hopefully respond with something not entirely incorrect. My biggest problem is digging up French verbs and using them in Spanish. This is not always entirely unsuccessful, but there are usually small differences which make a big difference in meaning. C'est la vida.

Anyway, my teacher is called Délia and we've been getting on pretty well so far. I have pages and pages of vocab to learn, but I think I'm getting the hang of the grammar rules. So far we're still in the present tense for the most part, but that's hard enough! Anyway, hopefully if I can grasp some more vocab and practice more I'll be able to figure out what the hell everyone's saying :-)

This weekend we joined a group of fellow students from the school for another spot of zip-lining. This time the zip lines were positioned over a huge canyon! Despite only having two lines it was a great experience because the views were so spectacular! On the second line we got to go upside down if we wanted (in a superman-style position) and despite forgetting our camera (doh!) we did manage to get some pictures off another student's camera. These will be posted as soon as I can figure out how to get our wee laptop connected to the net.

Next week we'll be studying in the afternoon instead of the mornings which means no more 6:30am alarms thanks very much! Hopefully it'll mean we can sleep a little later and wake up more refreshed.

Finally, great news from Macclesfield Town - a nervy 1-0 win at Chesterfield means that there will be League 2 football at the Moss Rose next season! Come on you Silkmen!

More soon!

San Pedro - Semana Uno

From Antigua, we got a mini-bus to Panajachel on the huge Lake Atitlan. Getting to Panajachel involved roads winding through mountains, with sheer cliffs to one side. I was sitting in the front with the driver, and the views were gorgeous but terrifying! We were relieved to get to Panajachel safely. Then it was a ride in a wee speed boat to San Pedro La Laguna, on the other side of the lake.

When we stepped onto the dock, a person offered to take us to our school because he happens to work there. I'm not sure if that's true, but the way to the school includes lots of turns and little alleyways, so there's no way we could have gotten there easily on our own! We checked in at the office and were told to wait for someone from our homestay family to come get us. Oh, we were also informed that our five hour-lessons would begin each day at 8am. Expletives came to mind! And not in Spanish! Och, well. We decided to give it a go.

After a wee while, Jose showed up. He's rather quiet but really nice and is used to guests speaking little or no Spanish. He took us through all those turns and little alleyways back to the dock and further on, about a 15-minute walk from the school. Just when we were wondering if he actually lives in San Pedro, we arrived at his home and our residence for the next week (possibly more). We met his two-year-old son Felix, but his wife Maria was at work.

Their house is fascinating. From the street, there's a dirt lane leading to the house. It all looks very ramshackle outside, but inside there are beautiful tiles on the floors and three large bedrooms. The kitchen is upstairs on what appears to be an unfinished level of the building. It's all quite basic, but what's there is very comfortable. Most importantly, the family are extremely nice and friendly. They're quick to laugh and very sweet together. They love having students because they earn some extra money for it but also because they enjoy speaking to students, and most of the time students are great with Felix. When students are great with Felix, the parents get a wee break, and Felix learns from the students. This two-year-old speaks a smattering of Spanish, the local Maya language, English, and French. Plus he's adorable, so it's all good.

We have a pretty set schedule here. Monday to Friday we have classes from 8am to 1pm at the school. In the house, we have breakfast at 7am, lunch at 1:30pm, and dinner at 7pm. The food has been excellent so far, and we've had something different for each meal. We vowed to eat anything vegetarian that we're offered, and so far it hasn't been any sort of challenge. We've been given some completely non-native things like Greek salad, spagetti, and pizza, which was surprising. One dinner was more traditional: scrambled eggs (which would be meat instead normally) and lots of beans with some tortillas on the side. I really enjoy trying the more traditional foods, but once in a while the non-native stuff is appreciated! We wash the dishes as often as they'll allow, and Chris has put in quite a bit of time playing with Felix. Other than that, they don't really let us chip in with any work around the house. Plus they act as Spanish teachers, correcting us when we're wrong and encouraging us to practice what we learn.

Which brings me to the lessons. The school is really cool. It's owned and operated by the teachers themselves, so they have a real interest in making it thrive. Classes are all one-on-one. There's a large garden overlooking the lake and the surrounding mountains and volcanoes, and there are several covered tables spread throughout the garden. So at any time, there can be about 20 teachers with students. We can look at gorgeous scenery while we learn Spanish. Tough life!

Chris's teacher is called Delia, and he'll post next so he can describe how his experience is going. My teacher is called Lorenzo, and according to our homestay family he's a director of the school. We each had to take a wee test at the start so the teachers can determine our level of Spanish. I took the test, and Lorenzo and I talked a fair bit so he could determine just how bad my Spanish is. He asked me what specific goals I have in mind so he could develop a plan, and off we went! Each morning, we talk a lot, or at least he talks a lot. I can understand well what he says, but when it's time for me to respond, I sound completely incompetent (no surprises there). He writes down info as we go along, and then we converse to incorporate the things in each lesson. He tells me a lot about Central American politics, and I do my best to steer him away from talking about American politics. Each day he assigns me homework from a thick notebook, which is really useful.

It's only our fourth day at the school, but we've already learned a lot. We've signed on for another week at the school and for the homestay, so we've got lots more time for learning and exploring San Pedro and surrounds. So far we haven't done any of the tourist stuff here: kayaking on the lake, climbing the volcanoes, hiking in the mountains, visiting other pueblos, checking out local markets, even watching free movies on offer in a few pubs/restaurants in San Pedro. There's plenty to choose from, but so far we've been too knackered to take advantage. Next week our classes will be in the afternoon, so hopefully that will help. We shall see!

Antigua

From Lanquin, we got an 8-hour mini-bus ride to Antigua. The bus ride was cool because we'd already travelled with some of our fellow passengers. So we could exchange tales and recommendations. The lowlight was struggling through traffic in Guatemala City while we gaped at all the American businesses and big city-ness. We'd all come from lovely Tikal and Lanquin, small places with no huge businesses, let alone McDonalds or suchlike. We were all glad to whiz through as quickly as the traffic would allow!

Upon entering Antigua, a few of us remarked that it was like being back in San Cristobal, Mexico. It's very picturesque: lots of cobbled streets, alleyways, plazas, old churches, and colourful little buildings. Plus there are huge volcanoes looming over the city, very dramatic. We walked around a fair bit with our packs on before we found a hostel with rooms available. Then we found a restaurant that a fellow traveller recommended; she mentioned it has the best brownies, so I had to verify this for myself!

Halfway through our dinner there, I started to feel unwell. Cue three days of sickness for me! I reckon it was the mouthfuls of water I took in when I jumped into the river from the swing in Lanquin. No matter, it was past time I got sick in Latin America. Luckily Chris didn't. I was stuck in our hostel room nearly the whole time, but he managed to get out for dinner a couple times with some other travellers we'd met in Lanquin. Our final night in Antigua, I felt well enough to return to that restaurant and have that brownie. I can report that it was excellent. I could only eat a few bites of it (that proves how unwell I was!), but it was heavenly. Plus a band was playing while we were there, and they were amazing. These guys could each play panpipes and various guitars at the same time and switch to flutes or whistle or sing when required. We left feeling very happy.

The next day we had to make our way to San Pedro la Laguna, on Lake Atitlan. We didn't see nearly enough of Antigua, so we plan to return at some point. If nothing else, we need to climb the active Pacaya volcano there. Bring it on!!!

I can't finish this post without mentioning the extreme kindness of our Antigua hostel owner. She was terribly sympathetic and kept offering me tea and bread to calm the stomach. I wound up having some of the tea, and sure enough it was soothing. So after nearly 34 years of not drinking tea (not counting the herbal kinds), I became a tea-drinker in Antigua! I have her to thank for that, for watching over me, for checking on me when Chris was out for dinners, and for talking to me in Spanish nice and slowly. ¡Muchas gracias, señora!

Quick update

OK this'll be quick due to the limits of time, but I feel that leaving a gap here for too long looks slightly worrying.

Those who have been following our progress will probably know that we've been planning to learn some Spanish here in Guatemala. We are currently in San Pedro doing just that.

San Pedro is a nice little place and the school is going pretty well so far. More details will be forthcoming, but due to time constraints I'll just say that we're both fine and everything is going very well.

Hasta luego!

Lanquin etc.

Apparently Lanquin is "on everyone's list in Guatemala" according to Lonely Planet - although I'm not sure LP are to be entirely trusted... But still, we ventured forth so that we could view the legendary pools of Semuc Champey, stay in the legendary 'El Retiro' hostel and view the not exactly legendary, but at least renowned, bats.

The 6 hour bus ride wound up taking 8 (a common theme in Central America it seems) so when we got there we were tired and hungry - but at least we met some nice people on the bus, including some Peace Corps volunteers from North Carolina, a couple from London and Phil - a retired photography enthusiast from Canada. We were lucky to get a twin room as the El Retiro hostel was pretty full. We did find a cat asleep in a basket at reception - which we took as a good sign. It was also a slice of good fortune that we were in time for dinner which consisted of bean soup and lasagna. We signed up for a tour the next day and promptly collapsed.


The next morning we woke up early so we would have time for brekkie and possibly to change rooms from a twin to a double in time for our 9:30 tour. Luckily, everything worked out and not even a long breakfast queue could hold us up for long. So we set off with about 14 others (including the indomitable Phil the Canadian) to see the marvelous pools for ourselves.

On our way we introduced ourselves to our fellow truck-mates Erin, Bobby, Steven, Colin & (the half-German, half-Iranian) Marian. The previously mentioned Phil made up our octet.

First stop on the tour was the rope swing. Most of us took a turn on the swing, dropping off the end into the frigid river - some with more elan than others. Luckily we both managed to avoid the 'windmill arms followed by belly flop' fate of some of our fellow thrill-seekers. Tracy, being adept at hurling herself off great heights with no thought for her personal safety needed no second invitations. Next stop was the nearby caves. We negotiated these without too much difficulty and although there were a few stalactites and formations, it was nothing even close to Actun Tunichil Muknal and given their lack of conservation advice (we weren't advised not to touch the formations, they handed out candles to us all) I doubt there'll be much to see before too long. After that we leisurely drifted downriver on inner tubes to relax from our cave exertions.

Exciting as these activities were, they were merely the warm-up for the tour's main event - the pools of Semuc Champey. We'd heard that the best idea was to climb up to "el mirador" - the look-out point which is situated on a high cliff overlooking the pools - before descending to the pools themselves for a post climb cooling plunge into the pools themselves. When we finally reached the look-out after a long arduous climb, we realised why these pools are so famous. The view is spectacular! We spent a long time up there taking pictures of the pools, ourselves and each other, but after a while the heat of the climb got the better of us and we made our way down to the pools - stopping on the way to see where the raging river drops beneath the limestone shelf which holds up the pools.



I can't really describe the feeling of swimming in the pools themselves. It seems like a guilty pleasure because I'd bet that if they were somewhere more environmentally conscious then there would be some good ecological reason why it would be banned and the whole place would be fenced off. However, this is Guatemala after all - and local people have been swimming (and washing and god knows what else) in these pools for years and so I guess they think that a few extra tourists won't hurt too much. We saw a few local men (or at least Guatemalans) around the pools - some were swimming, some seemed more interested in watching foreign girls frolicking around in bikinis than anything else... Can't blame them too much I guess.

Anyway, our tour drew to a close with a bridge jump. Following my exploits in New Zealand (see earlier posts for details: August or September I think...) I decided that I'd have a look down and either jump or give it up as a bad job. When the time came, I chickened out and decided that discretion was the better part of valor and stayed planted very firmly on terra firma. The members of our group who did 'take the plunge' reported that it was very enjoyable and some even did it again. I found out later that some people had problems with their ears later on that evening, so maybe I had the last laugh after all. I do kinda wish I'd just jumped though... Bravest (or perhaps maddest) of all was the local guy who demonstrated where we should jump to by climbing up onto the suspension cables of the bridge and walking along them like a circus performer before plunging (from an extra couple of metres of height) into the river below.

As we wound our weary way back home, we asked the driver if he could get us over to the "batcave". Lanquin caves are home to thousands of bats who make a nightly exodus from their cave to find food. Apparently the sight is awesome and something we didn't want to miss but we were running out of time (and money) and so we were determined to make our way south the next day. Luckily we found someone who could take us (and for only 20Q which is a steal!) and although we weren't able to explore the caves at all, we did manage to catch the bat show.


So after a buffet dinner (entertainment provided unwittingly by Ana and Dominga) and a ropey night's sleep - and another sighting of 'Ben Iffleck' - we caught our bus to Antigua the next morning.

Sunrise at Tikal

We made it to Guatemala! Woo-hoo! John, our host in San Ignacio, warned us that upon entering Guatemala, the border patrol would probably ask for an entrance fee but that if we ask for a receipt, they'd let us through with no fee (ie it's a scam). Sure enough, two Canadians entering Guatemala before us were asked for a fee. I shot forward and told them to ask for a receipt, but it was too late; they'd already handed over 20 quetzales. The immigration guy pleaded ignorance in quick Spanish...we're out of receipts, sorry. Yeah, right! He could most likely understand everything we said in English to the Canadians because he didn't try asking us for the fee. The cheek!

Anyway, we got a combi to Flores, near Tikal. We meant to go to El Remate, which is apparently smaller and artsy, but there was some confusion about availability of ATMs, so we wound up stopping in Flores. It's a lovely town with lots of cobbled streets and little alleys. We signed up for a sunrise tour of Tikal the next day, leaving at 3am. 3am!!! Then we discovered two restaurants serving falafel! Heaven! That was lunch and dinner sorted. It was really hot that day, so we wound up sampling limonada at various places as well as some GORGEOUS margaritas with lots of sugar. Bliss! Our hotel room overlooks the lake by which Flores is situated, and lightening illuminated the sky and lake as we fell asleep.



That night, we woke up at 2:30am and got ready. Our guide Chico was actually a wee bit early in picking us up, and he was a man of few words. There were six of us on the tour, and we were all pretty tired but psyched. It took an hour to drive to Tikal and then another hour or so of waiting and hiking through jungle paths to get to templo cuatro. There are wooden steps to get up and down the temple to help preserve the temple itself. We were the first tour group to get up there, so we got great seats on the stone steps, overlooking a massive jungle canopy with other temples sticking up above it. Such an amazing sight. As it got lighter, we could see more and hear more as animals began their day. We could hear loads of birds as well as howler monkeys growling, very eerie. We were especially thrilled to see a toucan in the trees, as well as a big scorpion earlier on our hike to the temple.

By 6:15am, it was light. We had some snacks while Chico told about the Mayans and Tikal itself. He loves Mayan history and has lots of pictures to go along with the info. The man of few words could barely get all the words out when he was on the right topic! It was fascinating. We then walked around much of the uncovered buildings in Tikal. They reckon about 80% of the city is still covered, and most of what they've uncovered isn't fully reconstructed. It's a gorgeous site, and we were really glad to be there. Plus we avoided the worst heat and crowds by getting there so early.



We left Tikal at 11am and headed back to Flores. We were all falling asleep on the drive back! We just managed to eat some lunch back in Flores before crashing for about 16 hours. Our marathon sleep ended at about 8:30am this morning, when we discovered that the bus we want to get leaves at 9am each morning. We missed that one, so we plan to get it tomorrow morning. So today we'll chill and figure out what all we want to do in Guatemala. We need to report to the language school on Sunday, 20 April, but in the meantime there's plenty to do and see...

Manatees and more & Bye bye Belize.

From San Ignacio it was a mere hop skip & a jump back to Caye Caulker (well, a bus a taxi and a boat, but hey...). We approached Chocolate's place with trepidation - worried that all the people that he said would go had all backed out - but we were told that barring weather problems it was all go!



That pretty much guaranteed that the weather would be bad. Which it was. The wind was a little to strong for optimal viewing, but we all decided to go anyway because we wouldn't have another chance. In the end we did see a few manatees, but they mainly just popped up to the surface for a quick breath before heading down to the bottom. The only times we got a good view was when we were lucky enough to find one in shallow water, but he didn't much care for us following him, so we left him alone. Nevertheless, we had a great time and all the other people in the boat were a good laugh and despite the less than perfect conditions a good time was had by all.

So, having spotted some manatees our time in Belize could come to an end. We dropped by San Ignacio on the way out, eating curry and having a last Belikin. We're now in Guatemala and will be headed for Tikal tomorrow.

San Ignacio

From the Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary, we got a taxi back to Maya Centre. While we waited for a bus to go past, we phoned Chocolate's place in Caye Caulker and were told that they had no one signed up for a tour over the next few days, so we decided to head to San Ignacio instead. There are various wildlife parks seemingly accessible from there that sounded good, so we wanted to give them a try. We got a bus to Belmopan and then another to San Ignacio (along with the three students from Vermont, returning to their school).

We headed to a guest house we picked out of the list in our guidebook, J & R's Guest House. The owners are John and Rosa, and they're lovely. Rosa speaks more Spanish than English, so she was happy that we can speak some Spanish, and we appreciated the practice. After dumping our stuff, we had a gorgeous dinner at a restaurant with loads of veggie options and the most heavenly, ice-cold, freshly-squeezed orange juice. Bliss!

We then went in search of information about these other wildlife areas we'd read about. It turns out that they ones we're interested in are all closed to the public. Boo!!! Och, well. We booked a tour to Actun Tunichil Muknal (or ATM cave, as it's commonly called), a limestone cave with Mayan artifacts and skeletal remains. We were told it's a Belize experience not to be missed, so we figured we should give it a go.

As we were walking back to the guest house, we saw some cats at a neighbor's house. A man walked out of the house and spotted us staring into his yard, so I said to him that we liked his cats. He was really friendly, and he wound up showing us the six precious wee kittens that one of his cats had a couple weeks ago! We were delighted. So cute! That really made our day.

The next day was our tour of the ATM cave. The cave is really special, and great care is taken to preserve it. Each tour group can only have 8 people maximum. We drove for about an hour, and then we hiked for about 45 minutes through the jungle to the cave entrance. Our tour guide loves this cave and Mayan history, and he had our group hold back until the 3 or 4 other groups had gone into the cave so we wouldn't feel hurried by groups coming in behind us. (Groups are staggered.) We wound up spending about 3 hours in the cave.

After donning helmets and headlights, we swam through gorgeous cold water to get into the cave. Then it was walking/swimming through water and scrambling over rocks to get further inside. We saw lots of lovely rock formations, some of them sparking with mineral deposits. But the best part was getting to a large dry chamber with pottery remains scattered all throughout. We had to take our shoes off at the entrance to the dry chamber and walk around in socks so that we'd take care where we stepped. All pottery fragments are left in situ; excavation has been avoided so as not to disrupt what was a sacred place to the Mayans long ago. There are also skeletons to be seen in the chamber, some scattered (perhaps by water) and some intact. It's believed that the pottery and skeletons were all from sacrifices. It was fascinating. We've seen various caves with cool formations, and we've seen Mayan ruins. But this was our first cave with Mayan artifacts inside. We really enjoyed the tour, learned a lot about the Mayans who lived and still live in Belize, and got to know some of the other people on the tour.

When we got back to San Ignacio, we made plans to have dinner with an English couple on the tour. First, though, we were on a mission to do laundry. It was desperate by this point. Our clothes were so saturated with sunblock, insect repellent, sweat, and sea water, hand-washing just wasn't good enough. We asked John and Rosa at the guest house if they could recommend a laundromat, and John took us to one operated by his friend. (It was a bit disturbing that he drove us there even though it would only take 2 minutes to walk there, but he insisted!) It was late, but they were fine with us dropping off the clothes then and picking them up after dinner. Perfect!

We met up with James and Charlotte from the tour, and we wound up in a group of 9 people at a Sri Lankan restaurant. We had a lovely time and lovely veggie curry. It's great to meet other travelers, hear their stories, and exchange tips on places/activities. And luckily the laundry people didn't mind us getting back there at 10pm to pick up our clothes!

The next morning we weren't sure what to do. But when we phoned Chocolate's place in Caye Caulker, his wife Annie told us they might have a tour going in 2 days! Time to head back to CC...

Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary

We were very excited about this destination, having read somewhere that tapirs can be seen in the area. From Caye Caulker, we got the water taxi back to Belize City, then a bus down to Maya Centre. From there, we had to get a taxi to the sanctuary headquarters. The taxi driver, Julian, is a guide also so we arranged for him to return later for a night tour.

It's a small operation for such a large area. The headquarters consist of a small visitor centre and a few different types of accommodation. We got one of four rooms in a wee rustic cabin. It was cheap, but is has no ventilation/fans (no electricity) and LOTS of bugs. It's a cabin in the middle of the jungle. We got eaten alive by various biting creatures, and the heat and humidity were nearly unbearable, but never mind! There were only three other people in the cabin, and it turned out they're all uni students from Vermont, studying for a term in San Ignacio. What amazed us is that one of them knows my cousins in Vermont! (Hello, Bosworths!) What a small world!

It soon got dark, so we headed out to await Julian for our night walk. We were happy to see lots of stars overhead as well as some fireflies! One firefly was drawn to Chris's headlight. We couldn't believe it when we got a good look at him (the firefly, not Chris!)...he was more like a beetle then a fly, a lot larger than we expected.

Julian showed up, and we set off. We spent a little over three hours walking around. Julian knew that our main priority was to see tapirs, so he took us towards the river for our best chance to spot them. We didn't manage to see any, but we did see their footprints in the mud as well as plants they'd munched on. There were four times we turned off our lights for about 10 minutes, staying still and quiet to listen to all the animal activity but also in the hope that when the lights were turned back on animals would be nearby and easy to spot. The sounds were amazing. We could hear jaguars calling out, large rodents gnawing off seed coverings, mice jumping about in the undergrowth, birds calling, even big bats flying right by our heads (with a wonderful breeze when they did). We saw some cool spiders, lizards, leaf-cutter ants, mice, and an animal that was either a paca or a cat (not sure, but its eyes were freaky red!). It was a cool experience.

The next day we hiked to some double waterfalls. It wasn't a long hike but was all uphill in the end. We got to a great lookout point and enjoyed the view while we caught our breath and tried not to melt. Then we took a downhill trail to the falls themselves. They were two sets of falls, each with a lovely pool for swimming. The water was so cold and refreshing, we couldn't resist a swim. Gorgeous! Then it was uphill again to return to the main trail; it was so hard to leave that cold water behind! I was thrilled with how much the hike reminded me of family trips to Mentone and hiking to Bell's Rock. Memories!

We spent the second night in the cabin but decided to move on the next morning; it was just too hot and humid, the bugs were really getting to us (including ticks – disgusting creatures!!!), and we hadn't managed to spot any tapirs. We loved knowing that so many animals were in that area around us, but they didn't want to be spotted by us. Fair enough! We'll see if we can manage to spot tapirs elsewhere. In the meantime, we'll head back to Caye Caulker if Chocolate has a tour lined up...

Belize Tidbits

Hello! Before we move on from Caye Caulker, I want to note a few things I don't want to forget about Belize...

When we arrived in Orange Walk, our first stop in Belize, I was amazed with how friendly and helpful the locals were. Twice we stopped to get our bearings and work out how to find a bank and accommodation, and each time a random local passing by asked us if we needed help. Each of them gave us directions and then moved along, no ulterior motives, just being helpful. That was much appreciated. When we found the accommodation we were looking for, the locals there were so helpful and friendly too. There were no rooms left, but they set up a tent for us. While we hung out waiting for the tent to be set up, other locals introduced themselves to us, Oscar the bartender showed us how to make the local hangover cure, and I got to hear Maná, a Mexican group I hadn't heard since my uni days. Brilliant! And that night we had the best nachos ever. Ah.......

I'm loving the flour tortillas here, completely different from the flour tortillas in Mexico and anywhere else we've had them. They're thicker and tastier and make the best breakfast burritos. Lovin it! I'm also loving the buses in Belize, old school buses from America. They may take ages to get up hills, but once they're going a good speed, the ventilation is gorgeous with all the windows open!

The wildlife is amazing down here. Iff has already mentioned some, but a few others have stood out for me. During our boat ride to the Lamanai ruins, we saw Jesus Christ lizards, the ones who can walk on water. On our way back to land after snorkelling off Caye Caulker, I happened to be watching the side of the boat when two bottlenose dolphins appeared briefly. Gorgeous! During the snorkelling, I was so happy to see turtles and a (what seemed to be) family of three sharks. And we're loving all the pelicans and frigate birds (thanks for that info, James!) all around the coast. It's so wonderful to see them soar in the breeze and to feel that breeze while we're at it. We could really do without all the biting insects, but the rest of the wildlife is just thrilling. And in our guest house in Belize City, when we used the owner's washing machine, we got to play with their tiny puppy, who was absolutely precious and easily could have fit in my pocket. Genius!!!

As for Caye Caulker itself, my highlights were the gorgeous fresh juices (from the ladies who talk Spanish with us, a rarity in Belize), the wildlife, and talking to Chocolate, the manatee champion. Chocolate is a rather small, quiet person who dedicates his life to protecting manatees and their habitat, as well as educating people about both. This man has been in National Geographic and the Discovery Channel, he's managed to have the local manatees' home declared a sanctuary, he's just amazing in his efforts, and he happily talked to us in the street about it all. He's passionate but seems so low-key, an absolute inspiration, and I wish he would adopt us. :) More on him and the manatees later...

Caye Caulker (I)

Unfortunately I find myself struggling to catch up with my commitments. Belize isn't exactly full of fast reliable internet places, so I'm afraid I've been somewhat neglectful of the blog recently. Needless to say we're both well and happy enough with life here. We've met some great people and sen some wonderful things which I hope to catch you up on as soon as possible. Here's the first of what will hopefully be a few catch-up installments:

On of the first things we noticed upon arrival is that there seemed to be a huge selection of manatee tours. Regular readers of the blog will know that seeing manatees is something of a mission for us, so we were very excited to have another opportunity to see our favourite ocean dwelling mammal. After a couple of recommendations we finally arrived at the home of 'Chocolate' – the island's manatee expert. After hearing about his work with the local manatees and his role in setting up the nearby reserve we were determined to take his tour not ony due to his obvious love for and knowledge of the manatees themselves, but also because he made two manatee watching stops in the day instead of just one like the others. The difficulty was that there had to be at least 4 other like-minded individuals to make the trip worth doing and unfortunately despite having 3 others one day, we could never make the magic number of 6.

Frustrated in our attempts to see manatees, we signed up for a day's snorkelling. We stopped for three snokelling stops during which we spotted various types of multi-coloured fish as well as a couple of different types of sting rays and quite a few nurse sharks. The highlight of the trip was probably a beautiful spotted eagle ray. Unfortunately I forgot to reapply the sunblock and so by the evening my back and shoulders were something of a mess – bright, lobster red and painfully tender. Luckily our hostel had some aloe vera on hand which really helped, but I was unable to sleep on my back that night. So much for waterproof sunblock...

One night I was grabbed (literally) by our hostel neighbour “sharkbait' (or Al) who turned out to be a long time resident who'd just returned after 18 years back in his native Canada. He proceeded to tell me in detail about how the place had changed (mainly for the worse – but at least it wasn't as bad as San Pedro). He also illuminated his biker gang, street fighting, coke dealing (and that's not Coca-Cola folks) jail-time serving, local vigilante and part-time fisherman past. It's all part of traveling though – meeting the locals.

You'd better Belize it - and other postcard friendly puns...

Aiight.

Belize city isn't that far from Mexico geographically, but in terms of a vibe it seems much closer to Jamaica. English (or I'm told it's English anyway) is generally spoken - although most people seem to be a least basically bi-lingual - everyone seems to be listening to reggae and wearing Bob Marley t-shirts, bobbing their dread-locked heads in time and maintaining a very relaxed attitude to life. This is a slight exaggeration, but not much of one.

Oh - and everyone from the police to the beggars to the taxi drivers to the tat hawkers is incredibly nice and friendly - almost suspiciously so in fact. Basically you can either keep and eye one everyone all the time or just surrender to it and go wit' da flow mon. Not being quite able to cast caution to the wind so far it's easy to be suspicious, but everyone's been so disarmingly friendly, it's hard to maintain what is perhaps a healthy weariness and slight skepticism. I guess we'll just have to find the right balance. It's certainly going to be different from Mexico!

We reached Belize City on another 'chicken bus' (no chickens again). all the windows were open which caused a wonderful breeze but also created something of a wind-tunnel which completely ruined my recently styled hair.

So we're planning a trip out to tropical Caye Caulker later on. Hopefully there'll be somewhere for us to stay!