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Jan Henle

Joined August 2022 Message
  • TravelerExploring the Americas
    Day59

    ++ Germany++ Home

    October 8 in Germany ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    Home. Five countries, 59 days, 58 times eggs for breakfast, 29 different accomodations, 7 flights, 5100 km in buses, 500km on boats, 80km in trains, 960000 steps (says Esther's phone), 3800 pictures (that will be fun to sort), 14 servings of ceviche, 7 dives, 37 exclamations of Esther that she is too old for that shit, 127 churches that Jan really wanted to see.
    It was a packed trip, but exactly as we had hoped; nothing big went wrong (only the missed paragliding in Atitlán was a shame). We feel like we now have a much better understanding of South, Central and southern North America (we learned calling Mexico part of central America is punishable by law) - and it felt all so good to get out of Europe after all that COVID.
    We are happy to see friends and family again, but as always, you return from a trip with a bucket list that is longer than when you left, so our next trip is hopefully coming soon.    Read more

     
  • TravelerExploring the Americas
    Day58

    Mexico City V: Roma, Condesa, Av Reforma

    October 7 in Mexico ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    On our last day, we had no fixed plans, but only walked around the trendy neighborhoods of Roma and Condesa. This is where many expats live and where cool restaurants and cafés abound. While not as busy as expected (I guess it only gets busy after dark), we were surprised by the number of parks and the number of trees in the streets. Mexico City (at least the areas we saw) really is by far the greenest city we've ever been to - not at all what we expected.
    Since we still had some time left before we needed to head to the airport, we took an Uber to the plaza de le revolución with its famous monument and then walked back down Avenida de la reforma, the main street that we had already passed many times but never had taken the time for to explore. Many statues, monuments but also protest camps that gave an overview about the diversity of Mexican culture.
    Then it was time to say goodbye and head to the airport for the flight back to Germany.    Read more

     
  • TravelerExploring the Americas
    Day57

    Mexico City IV: Coyoacán

    October 6 in Mexico ⋅ 🌧 19 °C
    1

    Today, we took a longer ride out south to the bohemian arts quarter of Coyoacán, where Frida Kahlo used to live. With low buildings and tree shaded alleyways, it seems almost like a village in the city.
    After a hearty breakfast (no more scrambled eggs and no more tacos please), we explored the quarter a bit. At noon, we had tickets to enter the Frida Kahlo museum. The building - the blue house where she actually lived - was beautiful, however both Esther and I are not the greatest admirers of her art itself.
    In the afternoon, we had booked a food tour with our great guide Rosa, who showed us all Coyoacán has to offer. Which is essentially tacos in all shapes and forms and fillings. We still had a great time as we also felt like we got to know the area a lot better.    Read more

    Traveler

    Das sieht ja alles sehr interessant aus. hoffentlich hat es auch geschmeckt.

    10/9/22Reply
     
  • TravelerExploring the Americas
    Day56

    Mexico City III: Teotihuacan & Garibaldi

    October 5 in Mexico ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C
    1

    The last early rise of our trip. We caught a 5:30am shuttle that would take us out to Teotihuacan, the ancient temple city near Mexico City with its famous pyramids. Based on recommendations from fellow travelers, we opted to explore the site with a hot air balloon ride from above. Truly majestic, how the Ballons slowly rise from the ground. The ascent then was slow and without any shaking. Initially, I was a little afraid, but then got used to being in the air in this small basket.
    It was a little cloudy, which made for a great sunrise and atmosphere and we were lucky to at least catch a glimpse of the pyramids through the fog.
    Back on ground, we then walked through the complex (unfortunately you're not allowed to climb the pyramids anymore). Quite impressive considering they are almost 2000 years old - understandable that the civilizations that followed the initial builders (such as the Aztecs) continued worshipping these majestic buildings.
    After a rest when we returned to to the City, we had one more agenda item: Plaza Garibaldi - famous for its mariachi bands. We had dinner at a friend's recommended restaurant and asked for a song - as is the custom. While we both won't become the biggest fans, we were happy we experienced this part of Mexican culture.    Read more

    Traveler

    wow 😍

    10/6/22Reply
     
  • TravelerExploring the Americas
    Day55

    Mexico City II: Polanco

    October 4 in Mexico ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    On our first full day, we explored the rich and fancy neighborhood of Polanco. After breakfast in a cool bookshop, we walked down tree covered lanes, watching dog sitters and posh cars going by.
    We needled back to avenida de la reforma, the green main street, which is not only a main thoroughfare, but is also lined by wide park like sidewalks. Nearby was the Museo de la Antropología - apparently one of Mexicos best museums. A huge, modern museum showing the history of mankind and Mexicos many pre-Spanish cilivizations; we focused on Teotihuacan, mexica/Aztec and Maya.
    Our brains filled to the brim, we relaxed in the Bosque de Chapultepec, Mexico Citys Central Park. In the middle of the park you find the namesake castle, which was surprisingly gorgeous even by European standards and had spectacular views over modern Mexico City.
    We then walked over to the more hipster neighborhood of Condesa to have a contrast to Polanco, but due to rain, we didn't do much more than a late lunch. Save it for another day.    Read more

     
  • TravelerExploring the Americas
    Day54

    ++ Mexico ++ Mexico City I: Downtown

    October 3 in Mexico ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    After a surprisingly comfortable night, we took an early flight from Chetumal to Mexico City, our final base on this trip. Since we couldn't check in yet, we went out to get our first fill of yummy tacos. Afterwards, we drove into the historic center downtown to take part in a free walking tour, which took us from the main square/cathedral, via the old Aztec temples, old catholic convents and along beautiful streets, the golden post office, the blue tiles casa azulejos up to the Torre latinoamericana.
    After a dinner inside casa azulejos, we finally called it a day.
    Despite quite some construction and many main sights curtained off (fearing protest assemblies), we had a great first impression of Mexico and it's capital.    Read more

    Disfrutan DF❤️ [Charlotte]

    10/6/22Reply
    Traveler

    Ja, wir sind kräftig am entfruchten:)

    10/6/22Reply
     
  • TravelerExploring the Americas
    Day53

    Lamanai

    October 2 in Belize ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    We started early to catch the 6:30am boat back to the mainland. There, we got picked up by our guide to drive 1h up to the town of Orange Walk (yes, Belize towns have funny names, such as Indian Church, fire burn, shipyard, Honey camp). There, we got on a speed boat that would take us up the New River for 1.5h to the Mayan ruins of Lamanai, one of the prime archaeological sites in Belize.
    The ruins did not even come close to Tikal a few days before, but had some interesting face carvings. The highlight was the trip down the river with mangroves on both sides all along the ways, even spotted a baby crocodile, some birds, bats and fish.
    Back in Orange Walk, we caught a public bus to the Mexican border. From the nearest town, we then took a taxi to the actual border. The crossing was a little strange, as we had to walk through 1km of no man's land - apparently no one crosses late in the day without his own car. Also no ATM or exchange at the border. Luckily our hotel was in walking distance to the border, so we got us our first Mexican dinner and finally got to the hotel - which even had a pool. Bliss after a sweaty day.    Read more

     
  • TravelerExploring the Americas
    Day53

    Caye Caulker III: Blue Hole

    October 2, Caribbean Sea ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    After a day in the hammock (something didn't agree with my stomach, so yesterday we did nothing apart from a yoga session in the morning), today was gonna be the great day, i.e. the reason why Esther wanted to come to Belize: Dive the blue hole.
    The blue hole is a perfectly circular 300m wide, 130m deep underwater hole inside one of the atolls off the Belize coast - declared one of the world's best dive sites in the 1970s. Considering its fame, it was hard to find a tour operator to take us there, as it's apparently off-season right now. We set out at 6am for the two hour boat ride (it's 80km off shore) and jumped in. You go to the hole's sides, where you find impressive stalactites at a depth of 40m. Quite an alien landscape, fascinating to see, unfortunately too dark to take good pictures.
    However, we had two more reef dives in the atoll to follow. Once again a lot of corals and fish. Between dives, we had lunch on one of the islands - half moon caye, where we saw frigate birds and red footed boobies (Galapagos déjà-vu). All in all, a long, expensive but definitely worthy trip.    Read more

     
  • TravelerExploring the Americas
    Day50

    Caye Caulker I: Esmeralda Dive

    September 29 in Belize ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    Today was our first dive on Caye Caulker at the Esmeralda dive site, which is actually near San Pedro (Caye Caulker's rival sister island - walking around this rather busy island a bit between both dives, we were happy we had chosen Caulker as a base). The Belize Barrier Reef is actually the largest in the northern hemisphere, so we saw a lot of colorful reefs, sharks and many other fish.
    In the mood, the dive was then followed by fresh lobster on the beach.    Read more

    Hallo, ihr Lieben, ich dachte immer, Hummer gibt es nur in kühlen Gewässern. Solange die Haie so klein sind, müssen wir uns ja nicht für euch fürchten. LG Mama [Henle]

    10/1/22Reply
     
  • TravelerExploring the Americas
    Day49

    ++ Belize ++ Flores to Caye Caulker

    September 28 in Belize ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    Another early rise in order to catch the bus from Flores to cross the border and then go straight to the beautiful Carribean island of Caye Caulker.
    The border was quite straightforward (we almost forgot to get the Guatemalan exit stamp) and we arrived early in the biggest city, Belize City (if you can count 65000 inhabitants a city) in order to catch an early boat to Caye Caulker.
    We had truly arrived in the Carribean, with a relaxed vibe and beach galore. Unfortunately, the change in weather didn't sit well with us, so we mostly wasted the rest of the day away in our hammocks.    Read more

    Traveler

    Aber ihr Lieben. Mal Hängematte ist doch auch nicht schlecht. Oooohhmmm üben!

    9/30/22Reply
    Traveler

    Trazmhaft, da war ich 2014😀

    10/1/22Reply
     

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