Belize

Hey Guys

We have just spent an excellent 11 days in Belize. This place is such a culturally diverse country from Mennonites (Belize Armish of German decent), Creoles (mixture of British pirates and African slaves), Mayans, Garifunas (Black Caribs), Mestizos (European and indigenious ancestory), Chinese, Japanese to expats, to plenty of social aid workers and of course your fair share of travellers. All Belizeans have adopted a GO SLOW way of life. From the old US school buses which make their way between every town (can´t quite call them cities) to the golf carts replacing cars on some of the cayes to the single speed bicycles and eventually to the barefooted rusta selling local art at the GO SLOW Art Gallery (which has not been condusive to the mad rush that Shands and I are supposedly in!)

We started in Orange Walk in North Belize where we took an awesome boat river trip up the New River which is flanked by jungle either side to explore the mayan ruins of Lamanai. We got to see and feed Spider Monkeys and treated to the screeching of the Howler Monkeys. From Orange Walk we headed to Caye Caulker - an island just off the coast from Belize City(!) where the mad rush seemed to start. We went snorkling with sting rays, turtles and nurse sharks on the barrier reef (the second biggest in the world)on a ruggamuffin sail boat where we were force feed rum punch on the sail back to land. The next day my ear infection was gone so we got to dive the Blue Hole which is not quite as glamorous as it is made out to be. You have to first survive the tortuous 2 hr boat ride on a boat with 3x200 V6 engines skimming across the open ocean. At the Blue Hole we dropped 40m and got to see the stalactites and mites which were formed when this part of the ocean was above sea level. Also got to see some sharks on the decent which no one else seemed to notice because they were all newly certified Open Water divers dropping to 40ms and all looking a bit narc-ed. One guy didn´t even notice his eyes being sucked from his head and came up with 2 black eyes from the mask squeeze! The 2 following dives were amazing and we got to explore some uninhabited islands. Unfortunately we didn´t get to see any manatees (sea cows)while in Belize - so guess we will have to come back.

After rushing around our 0.8km x 0.3km island for a week we moved approximately 30 mins boat ride north to Ambergris Caye and chilled in the town of San Pedro for a couple more days. The pommy dude who ran the hotel we stayed at used to live in Wimbledon Park Road when he lived in the UK - small world. We even got treated to the re-run of the Tri-nations game. Hopefully we get to catch this weeks game somewhere in Guatemala - doubtful.

From the Cayes, Shands and I headed westwards across the country to a small town called San Ignacio which only took 3 hours. In San Ignacio we went on a jungle hike where we explored Actun Tunichil Muknal (ATM) - the old Mayan Caves. Al/V/Liese/La if you in the region you must do this - its even worth a trip to the region. You get to go 800m into a 5.9km caving system. Its like the Cango Caves but 10x better. There is fresh water flowing through most parts and the only light is from your head lamp so you have to swim through some of the caves. Once in the main rooms of the cave you get to view ancient Mayan artifacts and human remains which have never been moved. It felt like we were Indian Jones for the day!

Unfortunately our time in Belize was short lived we really loved the country - it was also so good to be able to communicate in English again and interact with the locals more but now its on to Guatemala (which was not even on the schedule orginally).

Belize round up below.

Belize Round Up

Greg´s favourite place: Caye Caulker
Shandy´s favourite place: Caye Caulker
Distance travelled: 300km, 180 miles
Flights taken: 0
Food: 9/10 (the food is to die for doll)
Average price of beer: BZ$5; $2.5; 1.6 pound, R21

- Skype, Marlboro Lights and international beers are all illegal
- There are more Belizeans living in the US than in Belize
- Belize is the same size as Wales
- Travel Hints: Stop walking so fast!

Photos 4

Caye Caulker Island, Belize



Day snorkling on the sail boat









Caye Caulker - there are no cars only golf carts




Bar in Caye Caulker with all the seating in the water




Caye Caulker




This crocodile doesn't have any teeth so the local restaurant on the river gives it their scraps


Spider Monkeys on the New River, Orange Walk, Belize




Fisherman on the New River, Belize




Our home in Tulum, Mexico




Cruise ship leaving Cozumel

Mexico Round Up

Greg's favourite place: Cozumel and Puerto Escondido
Shandy's favourite place: Cozumel
Distance travelled: 3,000 miles; 4,800km
Flights taken: 0
Food: 7.5/10 (fresh fruit and veg is really good)
Average price of beer: 20 Pesos; $1.5; 95p; R12.50

- They don't pay tax on food bought in the supermarket
- They all shorter than Shands
- Certain parts of Mexico couldn't be bothered with daylight saving. So no one really knows what the actual time is....no one really cares!!
- They are a very arty country
- They have a better run bus system than Transport for London

Photos 3

Agua-Azul & Masol-Ha waterfalls in Palenque















Palenque ruins










Watching the storm approach from our hotel in Cancun




Sunset in Cozumel




Cruising the island of Cozumel

Puerto Escondido to Cozumel

Ola Folks,

We have been on quite an adventure since Greg last wrote - bascially from the east coast of Mexico to the west coast.

We spent a few more days in Puerto Escondido before moving just an hour down the coast to Mazunte. This is probably the most hippish place I have ever seen. There is a bunch of Europeans living there who look like they arrived in the 60s and got stuck. We didnt really fit in - we werent stoned, didnt have dreadlocks and had showered in the last week. Anyway it was a very chilled out few days and they do have a good turtle sanctuary which we got to look round.

From Mazunte we left the coast for San Cristobal followed by Palenque both situated in the middle of Mexico mainly in the jungle. We spent the days touring canyons, waterfalls and ruins. If anyone ever comes to Mexico, Palenque is a must stop. The Mayan ruins fall over 15 square km in dense jungle and are beathtaking!!

After a bit of culture, it was time to get back to the beach so we took the 13 hr bus trip from Palenque to Cancun where we booked ourselves into a nice hotel (much to the Minister of Finance´s dismay) for the weekend and just sat-stare-swim (repeat). Cancun is just a big playground and there is anything and everything there for the Americans to play nicely!

We quickly moved on to the island of Cozumel eager to start some diving which looks really good and the Caribbean sea is so clear so visability should be good.

We are probably only going to spend another week in Mexico before we head down into Belize but have loved every minute (except the bus rides) of it. I never had an opinion of Mexican people before we arrived but have been overwhelmed by how humble and kind they have been.

Anyway until next time....