San Ignacio, Belize

You're not in Guatemala now, Dr Ropata.

Crossing off our 5th country, we arrived in Belize in the rain. This part of the tour is supposed to be all sunshine and relaxation after the hectic trip through Mexico, so we were worried when it rained for our entire bus ride across the border.

However, we had a plan - just about the only thing you can do while it's raining is drink tequila and play cards. We started in a hotel restaurant on the edge of San Ignacio, and didn't leave until we'd drunk them out of tequila. Did I mention that it was just 5 of us left? Yes, the others had all come to their senses and headed home to try and find some food, cards and perhaps some more tequila.

We, the less sensible ones, had stayed on, enjoying drinking under shelter and watching the rain and toucans in the trees. But, finally, we were forced to admit that we needed to get home, and headed out. And headed down the road, or what was left of it. The roads in Belize tend to be somewhat sandy, and with the amount of water falling, they were now almost entirely mud. But we didn't care - we were dancing and slipping and sliding and covered in white mud by the time we got home.

At some point we had arranged to go on a tour of the Macan river. There was rum involved in this decision, but it was one of the best trips I think we did. We canoed upriver for about 3 hours, guided by Daniel, who was an expert at spotting the wildlife. We (Hamish, Ruth and Sarah from our tour) were still hoping to see a banana-beaked toucan, but we only managed to see one of the other varieties (again!). What we did see were a lot of iguanas. One of them was bright orange, others were perched on the very edge of very tall trees hanging over the river - they like to get as exposed as possible so that they get as warm as possible. Hundreds of bats were sleeping under the overhanging rocks, and our guide enjoyed flicking water at them to make them fly around us...

The trip upriver (thanks almost entirely to Daniel and Hamish's arms) ended with a walk through the riverside village towards a little waterfall and pool area. We ate our lunch (the ubiquitous rice-and-beans and curried hotdog. Unusual) and then had a refreshing swim under the waterfall.

(Photo by Sarah Rackley)

Flores & Tikal Ruins, Guatemala

Flores is a sleepy little town on an island in a lake in Guatemala. There are amazing sunsets over the lake, and this was our base for our trip to the Tikal Ruins. Because of an accident on the road into Flores, we weren't able to leave in time to watch the sunrise over the ruins, but the sunrise the following morning (available from our balcony) was beautiful.

The Tikal ruins will be a familiar sight if you've watched Star Wars, but if, like me, you haven't, they are most famous for the jungle that surrounds them. Unlike the ruins we had seen earlier in our trip, these ruins are in the middle of a very green rainforest, filled with birds and animals. The Mayans cleared the land surrounding their buildings, and most of the ruins we visited had been cleared again, but Tikal is completely different.













We were lucky enough to see a bird in the Quetzal family - which includes the national bird of Guatemala (and the bird their currency is named after). Our guide was extremely good at hearing the birds (we also saw toucans, although not the most familar 'banana beak' toucans), and could hear the monkeys many minutes before the rest of our group. He also took us to some tiny monkeys, a crocodile trained to come at his call, and we could not avoid stepping into the path of hundreds of fire ants.


















The ruins are also quite different to some of the other ones, as you can walk freely on them, and even climb up to the top of several - although one in particular was an extremely steep climb, with extremely small steps. A challenge if you're not keen on heights.


















Tikal was a little surreal, and a really interesting place to walk around - having a guide was especially helpful as he was so informative about the land, the plants and the Mayans. A great way to finish our time in Guatemala!

Antigua, Guatemala

Antigua! Not as in 'and Barbuda', but Antigua, Guatemala, the UNESCO-declared World Heritage Centre, the city where the bars close at 10pm, the city surrounded by volcanoes, and our home for the next few days.

Our hotel came with a roof-top garden and several swing seats and an amazing view across to Volcan de Agua. Antigua is a really beautiful town with a lot of narrow streets and hidden shopfronts, with much of the city built in a very Arabic/Baroque style - lots of intricate window and door metalwork coverings, tiles, and brickwork. It's also home to the largest fountain in Latin America, and some really interesting little museums about the history of the town and Guatemala.


















Antigua has a unique liquor licensing system - all bars are to close at 10pm, unless you are a business owned by the Mayor. This means that we were drinking our mojitos very early! Our local was a small bar just off the main square, and it also doubled as our salsa club. Unfortunately, Hamish had to miss our first class as he was asleep in bed with a fever and feeling very ill, but he was completely better the next day - and ready to dance. Salsa is such a fun dance, and we all had a great time...














(photo from Victoria Clench)

Antigua has three volcanoes that surround the town, but there are many more nearby, and it was one of these, Volcan Pacaya, that we climbed during our stay. After an early start, we collected our climbing sticks from the young boys at the base of the mountain, and followed our guide up the mountain next to the volcano. This was a long, steady climb, on very dusty paths, and soon we were all very, very dirty. Once at the top of this mountain, we crossed over into the cooled lava at the base of the volcano and made our way towards a large group of people gathered around the area where the lava is flowing.

We had come prepared for this, and set up our frozen pizza (to be cooked in tinfoil), and marshmallows to be roasted on sticks collected on the way up. This was a delicious lunch, and just what we wanted after the morning's exercise!

...6 months on

Because of rather irregular internet while traveling through Guatemala and Belize, then not enough time in Vancouver and NYC, the last 3 weeks of our trip never made it onto our blog.

After being shamed by Hamish's grandmother for our laziness, I/we will attempt to finish up all of the draft entries we have, and perhaps even write some new ones about our adventures over the last few months. We are hampered by a slow internet connection at the moment, so there may not be very many photos until later.

Hamish returned to New Zealand from New York, and settled back into a very familiar routine of work and play, while I went on to London in search of a job. I stayed with friends for over a month, in Putney, before moving to Oval, south-west London. While Hamish was applying for his visa, I was applying to every agency and vacancy I could find, and still attempting to experience some of the lovely things London had to offer! In fact, within the first few days of arriving, I had booked a weekend in Madrid, gone to two galleries and museums and been shopping.

Once Hamish had his passport returned, with visa safely inside, we met in Paris for a week (including my birthday).



















And since then, we have been living and working in London (Hamish-with a permanent job, me-temping and from last week, a permanent job), with a few short breaks; a week in Italy with 3 friends being the most delightful!