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South & Central America
  • Ruth Snow
Mei – Nov 2015

South & Central America

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  • Ruth SnowSouth & Central AmericaRuth Snow

    On the road again

    15 Oktober 2015, Honduras ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    After a welcome break from moving around lots over the last couple of weeks, it was time to get back on the road. We got the 6:30am Viana bus (365L, 3 hrs) to San Pedro Sula. We were given the first class fluffy blankets and I slept the whole way. We put Hannah in a taxi to the airport and waved a sad farewell :(

    Then we got the 10:20am Hedman Alas bus (395L, 3 hrs) to Copan near the border of Guatemala. This is supposed to be the best bus company in Honduras but it was freezing with no blankets, the tv broke and the snack was a pitifully small bag of crisps. Viana was much better, but they don't go to Copan unfortunately. The bus man took a shine to Anna and kept hovering creepily each time he came by.

    On arrival in Copan we were squeezed into a tuktuk for 20L each with another lady and all our bags for the short ride to Hostel Marjenny ($30). We had a brief rest whilst we waited for the rain to stop, Anna had a coffee, and then we went for a wander around Copan. Copan is a pretty, little town with big, coloured cobblestone roads. Surprisingly we didn't see many other tourists but this seems to be the general rule for most of our travels.

    We went back to the room and read for a while before going to British Colonial House for dinner (391L). I had Thai red tofu curry which was delicious and had tons of much needed veggies after the last few nights of stodge. Anna had peanut noodles, which seemed to be lacking any peanuts! When she was about half-way through the mayonnaise noodles, the owner came out with a dish of peanut butter and said he'd just tasted the sauce and realised it was lacking something! It still didn't taste that great once Anna mixed in the PB. He apologised again when we left and said his head chef was in Roatan training new staff.

    We went back to the room and had cold showers (not much fun when the ambient temperature is low - I wore my jumper to dinner). Then we were plunged into darkness when the power cut out about 9pm - presumably for the whole town. Wifi was out as well so after reading a bit by torch light I went to sleep and had a lovely 10 hours sleep. It was raining really heavily every time I woke up.    Baca selengkapnya

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  • Ruth SnowSouth & Central AmericaRuth Snow

    Copan ruins

    16 Oktober 2015, Honduras ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    The breakfast was fried plantain and baleadas which were too big to finish. We tried the two ATMs in town but both were Visa-only so we couldn't get any money out. Luckily we have some dollars left.

    We walked the 1km to the main Copan ruins and were able to pay the $15 entry fee by credit card. On entering the complex, we were deafened by the squawks of scarlet macaws, the national bird of Honduras - there were loads of red, blue and yellow coloured birds in the trees above us. Sadly we'd only bought Anna's phone so couldn't get a decent photo. We also saw a ‘guinea pig on stilts’, first named during our trip to Mexico a few years ago.

    We wandered around the ruins for about 3 hours. They aren't as impressive as Chichen Itza but they do have the advantage that you are allowed to climb on them. They date back to the Mayan period when rulers were called things like 18 Rabbit and Moon Jaguar. Some of the ruins, such as the big stairway, are covered by a huge tarp to protect it from weathering. Apart from a school group which we kept our distance from, there were only a handful of tourists around. The majority of the time we seemed to have the place to ourselves giving the place a lovely, tranquil feel. It was a drizzly day and we had our ponchos and umbrellas out for most of it. Neither of us had thought to put on bug spray and we both got thoroughly munched :( We saw some tiny toads and a squirrel plus some bright yellow birds - maybe Quetzals?

    When we thought we had seen everything we headed back to the entrance and headed down a side road looking for guinea pigs on stilts. A lady told us to follow her and led us to an info display and a whole load of more ruins! The place could really do with some signposts and maps!!

    On our return to the main entrance we noticed a couple of the macaws were on the feeding troughs (they run a breeding program). We tiptoed over in the hope we might get a closer photo. They didn't seem to mind us getting right up to them as they munched happily on their fruit - until Anna took her hood down for a selfie and they took flight. A few of them did fly-bys right over our heads which was pretty awesome.

    We left the park and looked for a few trails that were on the big map. A lady told us they were muddy and said we could see some other ruins as part of our ticket. We walked a further mile away from town (along the yellow brick road) and came to Las Sepulchras. We walked through the woods and came across some more ruins - smaller, residential areas for the commoners. We were the only ones there, until 3 machete-laden men joined the path behind us! Luckily they were just finishing work and not trying to rob us. One of the sites near the entrance was being excavated and we couldn't go in. A man came and told us very proudly he was in the National Geographic for the 5 year project.

    We walked back, exhausted from a day's wandering. We had some nachos in the hostel bar and then washed off all the mud in the shower which was hot today :)

    After a rest, and once the rain had died down, we went on one of Anna's quests to find a bar...after 10 minutes of searching we found it - one door up from our hostel! Sol De Copan is a German microbrewery so Anna was in heaven. We seemed to have found the local gringo hangout as a huge group of Americans was there plus some other tourists. We didn't fancy the German stodgy-sounding food and so shared some baleadas and great chips. I beat the drunkard at chess 3 times and then we headed back.

    Some Hondurans had arrived for the weekend and were playing music really loudly, jumping in the pool and generally making a huge racket. Thankfully by midnight they had quietened down mostly so Anna didn't have to go stomping out and shout at them.    Baca selengkapnya

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  • Ruth SnowSouth & Central AmericaRuth Snow
    1

    Guatemala

    17 Oktober 2015, Guatemala ⋅ 🌧 18 °C

    10Q = 80p.

    After breakfast we went for a wander around the town to stretch our legs and then hung out in the hostel until midday. A shuttle van arrived to take us to Antigua, Guatemala ($25). We shortly arrived at the border, got our stamps quickly, changed our last few Lempiras into Quetzals and carried on our way up the single lane, windy roads, frequently getting stuck behind slow lorries. We stopped at a garage to fix the breaks! and then were back on the road. Shortly before Guatemala City the roads turned into 3 lane highways but we couldn't go too fast because of the pouring rain. Then we hit GC traffic which took a while to get through - why they time it to hit rush hour I'm not sure.

    The shuttle had no headrests and wasn't overly comfy for our 7 hour journey but it was half the price of the Hedman Alas bus. We were accompanied by a kiwi guy, 2 Lithuanian girls who seemed a bit snooty, and 2 ladies, a Brit and a Honduran, who both lived in Utila, plus a little dog. They were hilarious and had lots of funny stories which kept us entertained once it grew too dark to read our books.

    We arrived in Antigua at 7pm. The others hadn't booked anywhere and were turned down in the first place they tried. They tried ours but it was also full. Thankfully we had booked in at Hotel Las Piletas ($28) and were greeted by a lovely guy who showed us to our small, but nice room.

    We dumped our stuff and headed to the main square to get cash out. There was some sort of celebration going on with lots of people, fireworks and lanterns being lit. We didn't stick around as we were starving. We headed to a place we'd seen on our way to the hotel, Toko Baru - cheap and full of gringos which is always a sign you've stumbled onto something good. I had falafel which was good and far too much, but the humus wasn't great. Anna had tandoori chicken which was lacking any tandoori but was still tasty (78Q). We went back to the hotel and had a lovely hot shower and an early night. Antigua is at 1,400m so it's a bit chilly - jumpers required at night - and we have blankets for the first time in ages!    Baca selengkapnya

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  • Ruth SnowSouth & Central AmericaRuth Snow

    Christmas shopping in Antigua

    18 Oktober 2015, Guatemala ⋅ 🌧 18 °C

    After a blissful, long sleep (for me; Anna woke up at 6am!) I woke up to continuing drizzly rain. We stayed in bed and munched our granola we had bought for Roatan but never ate. The rain continued...and continued…it almost felt like we were in the UK.

    At midday Anna was getting antsy for her coffee fix so we headed out in search of a cafe. We found one off the main square - Cafe Condesa - which is a huge old colonial house with a courtyard which used to be home to successive Counts. Apparently one of them found the butler with his wife in a compromising position and so buried the butler alive! Anna had her first taste of Guatemalan coffee (good but a bit burnt) and I had the most amazing hot chocolate ever (30Q).

    Since it was Sunday, we headed to the markets for some Christmas shopping! We got a bit lost and saw quite a lot of Antigua which is a beautiful town with cobbled streets, surrounded by volcanoes (sadly couldn't see much of them through the clouds today). It was the capital until the 18th century when they moved it to GC due to Antigua being continually destroyed by a series of earthquakes. Much of it has been rebuilt but there is still a lovely crumbly, old feel to the place.

    We bargained (best was from 150 down to 25) with the traders who mostly seemed to have native roots and were from the highlands. We haven't seen much evidence of the native people since Bolivia / Peru so it’s lovely to see again. We came back laden with presents which somehow will be squeezed into our bags. On our return to the main square, a band started playing made up of lots of men in shiny silver suits. The drizzle, which had briefly stopped, resumed and the crowd was a sea of brollies.

    We went back to the room to dry off a little before heading out to dinner. The rain had stopped and we checked out several recommended places; most were a bit pricey and didn't look that great. We ended up at El Faro (lighthouse) and had veggie burritos, chips, salad and tamarind juice (70Q). Great food and great service.

    Two things made us chuckle today: Antigua has a penchant for fountains with mermaids that have water shooting out of their nipples! And policemen wear fluorescent jackets saying PMT on the back.    Baca selengkapnya

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  • Ruth SnowSouth & Central AmericaRuth Snow

    Rain, rain, go away

    19 Oktober 2015, Guatemala ⋅ 🌧 17 °C

    We awoke to more rain...heavier than yesterday, not torrential but constant. Our roof is leaking, half the hotel is leaking. Per the hotel guy “it’s not made for so much rain!”.

    We hid inside until Anna needed her coffee, then headed to Dona Luisa, famous for it's amazing banana bread. The bakery and cafe are set in a colonial house with a courtyard; this one having two floors which is unusual in view of all the earthquakes. Anna's coffee was very good, my hot chocolate was good but not as amazing as yesterday’s. We were given half a loaf of the banana bread which was nice but I prefer my own! And Anna had cinnamon toast with maple syrup which wasn't a patch on Utila’s cinnamon rolls (52Q).

    We trudged to the market to buy Anna an umbrella for 20Q which has barely survived the day! The rain continued…all the roads have rivers running down the middle...the drains are gushing. We passed some very lovely buildings. We noted today how there is no litter anywhere and all the electricity cables must be underground rather than a zillion wires hanging everywhere as per most places this side of the world. It would be lovely to see it in the sunshine! We also came across the Easter parade floats which included many gory statues of Jesus. After a quick stop at the supermarket to pick up some fruit we headed back to the warmth of our room. And there we stayed reading / writing until dinner time!

    It was still raining. We headed to the Rainbow Cafe and both had falafel which was amazing (136Q). Despite wearing jumpers we were both cold from having wet legs and feet. I chose mint tea to warm me up, Anna chose beer!

    We were planning on moving on tomorrow. Not because we have seen everything, but because we have given up. We wanted to do the $10 roast your marshmallows on a volcano tour plus Anna has waited until here for her coffee tour. However, it seems we are a little stranded! According to our hotel guy, the roads aren't safe to travel on due to fear of landslides - on our way here we saw huge chunks of boulders on some of the roads. As well as Guatemala, Belize and SE Mexico (ie our next destinations) are also suffering from heavy rain. The wet season has been unusually dry and it's now near the end and all coming at once! He recommended we hang around and see how the roads are tomorrow. We have a nice room, good wifi, Netflix, hot shower (apart from it smokes if you stay in it too long!), and a multitude of cafes and restaurants to test so I think it's a good place to wait it out.    Baca selengkapnya

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  • Ruth SnowSouth & Central AmericaRuth Snow

    Sunshine and coffee

    20 Oktober 2015, Guatemala ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    We awoke to the strange sound of no rain! Yey!! I sent Anna off on the 9am coffee tour of Finca Filadelfia (145Q). They run a free pickup from town and she was the only person there so got a private tour! She came back buzzing - in more ways than one, having seen the plantation and the drying, sorting and roasting process. Plus a few free samples.

    I meanwhile went for a wander to see the sights of Antigua sans rain. The puddles had virtually disappeared, people were out everywhere, the coloured houses looked vibrant and the crumbly old magnificent structures looked, well, still crumbly. Plus you could clearly see the three volcanoes: Agua, Pacaya and Fuego. Fuego (fire) was smoking away - apparently lava is visible at night but so far we've been thwarted by clouds :(

    Once Anna was back, I took her to the chocolate museum which I had visited earlier and we had a yummy truffle each.Then we walked up the hill to a lookout which gave a great view of the town with Agua as the backdrop. We then booked a bus for tomorrow, had some mango and pineapple and sat in the main square people watching (it was a public holiday so very busy).

    Anna wanted a hot chocolate so we went to the chocolate museum where they were doing 2 for 15Q which is a good deal, however when we got the drinks they were disgusting! Turns out it was cacao rather than chocolate but it tastes like dishwater. The nice waiter brought us more cacao to give it more flavour but this and a ton of sugar couldn't disguise the burnt yucky taste! We didn't drink them, but at least the brownie was good. We went back to Cafe Condesa for 2 more hot chocs, which weren't quite as amazing as the one I had on Sunday but were still pretty great. We sat in the pretty courtyard reading / writing for a couple of hours.

    Continuing our falafel tour of Antigua we went to Zoola for dinner (98Q) which has typical sit-on-the-floor-on-cushions type seating. The falafel was in wraps rather than pitas and whilst not presented as nicely as last night's, it had a lovely tangy sauce so it's a close call as to which is the best falafel joint in town (there are also a few others we didn't try so it's my kind of place). My mint tea was infinitely better at Zoola and it was cheaper too.

    We paid our hotel bill - the friendly hotel owner had given us a big discount on our last three nights (which we hadn't booked) which saved us about $30 which was very lovely of him. He also gave us a free beer each - well two for Anna, one of which was a local dark beer so she was very happy!

    Tomorrow we head north to the top of the country to Flores for the Tikal ruins. The tour agencies tried to convince us to get a night bus but we never end up sleeping that well and didn't fancy passing through GC at night. Plus we prefer to see the country as we pass through it. Our original plan was to first go to Lake Atitlan, a couple of hours from here, but the road is possibly blocked by landslides and it won't be much fun if the forecasted rain occurs. We were then going to go to Semuc Champney, some beautiful rivers, in the middle of the country. Again the road is supposedly blocked and the foreign office is reporting increased robberies due to this. Plus if it rains, they won't look so beautiful. So best be safe and hightail it to the top of the country!    Baca selengkapnya

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  • Ruth SnowSouth & Central AmericaRuth Snow

    A traumatic trip North

    21 Oktober 2015, Guatemala ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    We were picked up at 9am in a shuttle and taken to GC. It didn't take long to reach the outskirts but took another hour to drop people off at the airport and then the bus stop. We got to see quite a bit of GC - there were some lovely statues and colourful houses but mostly it just looks like a huge, sprawling mess with tons of traffic.

    We then got the 11am Linea Dorada bus to Flores ($45 for shuttle and bus) - unexpectedly spacious and comfy though no TVs to entertain us. The roads were single lane and windy at times, with green mountains either side. We were supposed to arrive about 7pm. At around half 5, just as the sun was setting we came to a halt behind a queue of traffic...and there we stayed! We've no idea if it was an accident or landslide or something else. We were fully expecting to be stuck all night and with a young boy running around and playing his pan pipes in our ears really loudly, I expected I might have to murder someone.

    Thankfully, after 3 hours we slowly got going. The rest of the journey was painfully slow as we crawled along behind the other vehicles but we slept most of the way. Finally we got to Santa Elena sometime after midnight. We collected our bags and found that they were dripping wet :(

    An aggressive taxi driver tried to charge us 100Q for the 2km ride to Flores. We couldn't see another taxi so asked the bus driver and he said it should be 40Q and the taxi driver begrudgingly agreed, then drove like a bat out of hell to our hotel within about 1 minute!

    Strangely there were still a fair few people sat in plastic chairs in the middle of the street, not doing much. We rang the doorbell of Green World Hotel (183Q) and thankfully a sleepy lady in her pajamas let us in. She didn't have a record of our reservation but showed us to a murky room with a cockroach munching on the soap on the bed. Once she’d gone we realised it didn't have the terrace and lake view I'd booked but we didn't want to disturb her again and were just happy to have a roof over our head.

    After a hot shower and spreading out all our wet stuff, we finally got to sleep at about 2am.    Baca selengkapnya

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  • Ruth SnowSouth & Central AmericaRuth Snow

    Flores

    22 Oktober 2015, Guatemala ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    Anna woke up at 9am and found out that breakfast was soon stopping so woke me up. I got up and stepped out the door to be greeted by the most beautiful view of the lake right across the road from the back of the hotel (hadn't noticed last night). We had breakfast of bread, beans and banana (plus the standard egg neither of us can eat). A different receptionist was on and happily gave us the key to the room with a terrace and lake view, a much brighter, airier room. Easily the best room in the place.

    After a rest for Anna to ‘wake up’ we went for an explore. Still hungry from our lack of food yesterday, I got a lovely coconut ice cream (9Q) and then we walked around Flores which is a small island connected to the mainland by a 500m causeway. It's a really beautiful little place, one we weren't expecting. Anna was searching for an iced coffee (despite already having 2 cups with breakfast) so we ended up in Cool Beans cafe and shared some nachos.

    We had to walk back across the bridge to the mainland to find an ATM that worked. My Caxton card finally worked for the first time in over a month - yey! Then we booked our tour tomorrow and journey to Belize the following day.

    We got a small boat (40Q return for both) to a tiny island about 500m in front of our hotel which has a museum (20Q) and a few houses on it. The museum is just a tiny room full of lots of Mayan artifacts and some old radio equipment. I lost interest after 10 minutes and played with the cat ‘curator’. We were the only ones there and had an amazing, cold, humongous coconut for 5Q each. Since they were so cheap and good I had another one. Our young boat man picked us up and took us back and there was a loud procession of vehicles promoting candidates for the upcoming election. Interestingly they were mostly full of young people.

    We checked out a few restaurants but they were quite pricey and nothing special. A guy groped Anna's bum in one and we promptly left (after she yelled at him) to avoid smacking him in the face. The guys here are a bit odd - very stary; the coffee tour guy apparently warned Anna about them. We ended up getting some street food to share - drinks, soft & hard rolled tacos, plus some open tacos with unknown toppings (one apparently was ceviche, which I liked). Nothing amazing but filling and all for 25Q with a view of the sun setting over the lake.

    We fetched Anna a beer from the supermarket to add to her collection of lids and then tried to get an early night in preparation for our early start tomorrow.    Baca selengkapnya

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  • Ruth SnowSouth & Central AmericaRuth Snow

    Tikal

    23 Oktober 2015, Guatemala ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

    We got up begrudgingly for our 3am shuttle for the hour-long ride to Tikal (85Q). The 250Q entrance fee is 100Q extra for early entry (though our guide purchased them and we never saw the ticket so I'm not convinced he didn't pocket the difference). The shuttle & tour cost us 85Q - an American guy paid 120Q for the same thing, which he'd talked down from 150; pays to be a grubby backpacker!

    Our group of 8 (apparently grows to 50 in high season) walked a fair way in the dark through the jungle following our guide's torchlight, stumbling over tree roots and rocks. Passing through the main plaza, we saw temples 1 and 2 eerily poking out of the dark. Then we climbed the 186 wooden steps up the side of temple 4 and waited in silence with about 30 other gringos for the sunrise. Sadly the jungle mist occluded any views, which is apparently very common. However, right on cue, the dawn chorus burst into life and we listened to some of the 400 species of birds chatter away, mixed with the panting noises of spider monkeys. The dominant sound, however, was the howler monkeys which make the most almighty roaring monster noises to mark their territory upon waking.

    Our guide then took us on a brief tour before leaving us to take some of our group back to the start for their bus to Belize. We thought we were getting a 4 hour tour so Anna was a bit disappointed, however, I was relieved as he wasn't very interesting. We were then free to explore at our leisure. The place was deserted and we barely saw anyone the whole time until we started to leave and saw a few small tour groups arriving.

    One of the most important Mayan sites, it is a huge site of which only 20% has been excavated, the rest is just mounds buried under vegetation. It seems far bigger than Chichen Itza but has less variety and detail. There are about 5 huge, solid temples, a few smaller ones and some other residential places that have been cleaned up. The fact that you can climb up and explore most of it makes it a lot of fun and it's jungle setting is magnificent. We saw monkey cats, guinea pigs on stilts, howler and spider monkeys (our first spiders) and lots of birds including toucans. The site is 16km2 and we haven't slept properly for 3 nights so by 10am we were flagging and headed back for a drink and got the 11am shuttle back.

    For lunch, we went to a cute place overlooking the lake and I had some tiny, rubbish falafel compensated by tasty fries. Anna's mushroom burger was much better as were some refreshing watermelon, ginger and lemon smoothies (158Q).

    We then chilled out in our hot room for most of the afternoon, trying to avoid the invading ants. We only moved to get huge ice creams and then to our terrace to check out the most stunning sunset - a perfectly flat lake reflecting a rainbow, then golden sky.

    In our hot and tired states we were both craving junk food and aircon so lazily got a tuktuk (10Q) for the 10 min walk across the bridge to Burger King. Anna went for some retail therapy (excuse to buy a beer) and I went to bed early.    Baca selengkapnya

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  • Ruth SnowSouth & Central AmericaRuth Snow

    Belize: Caye Caulker

    24 Oktober 2015, Belize ⋅ ⛅ 32 °C

    3B = £1. English is the first language.

    Feeling fully refreshed after a good sleep, we got up at 7am for our 7:30am shuttle to Belize. It arrived empty half an hour late, we picked up 2 other couples and off we went for the border. We ate our packed breakfast which the hotel had kindly given us again - cheese and ham sandwich plus an apple juice, which is better than their sit-down breakfast.

    We travelled for a couple of hours, crossed the border quickly and then travelled a further couple of hours to Belize City, which seemed a very lovely place, all colourful and no high rises. We waited an hour for the next boat and both had our favourite foods - Indian curry for Anna and ice cream for me. The boat took about 45 minutes and we were on the island by 2pm. Shuttle and boat cost 180Q total.

    We checked into the Tropical Paradise Hotel. At 90B it’s a bit more than we'd usually pay but there weren't any budget options we fancied. Turns out it’s a lovely place and well worth the money. We have a spacious, modern cabin a stone's throw from the sea with aircon, hot water and even a bath!

    I promptly planted myself on one of the nearby sunbeds on the ‘beach’ which is more concrete as there is no real sand on the island. For once it was the perfect sunbaking conditions with a strong breeze making the temperature ideal. Anna went off in search of her caffeine fix and then joined me. Some locals set up camp next to us with a large bottle of rum and a cooler full of ice. They invited us to watch them play in their band that evening.

    The sun disappeared behind the houses just after 4pm so we went for a wander around the small island. It's a beautiful place full of coloured, shabby wooden houses with a lovely vibe. We caught some of the sunset, spoke to some tour people and finally found an ATM (Caxton succeeded again). A random man offered to let us go watch him catch lobster and do some fishing for a tiny contribution of $100 each!! Both of our jaws dropped and we made our excuses. He later found us in the restaurant and invited us to dinner (well Anna mainly; I think I'd alienated myself when I told him I preferred to see fishes in the sea rather than murder them!). The men here are certainly friendly and stoking our egos. An old man tried to grind up dancing next to me and nearly got smacked by Anna!

    We had feared Belize was going to be uber expensive, especially in view of hotel prices, however there is a lot of cheap food options and the snorkelling tours are pretty reasonable. We had dinner at La Cubana and had mains, 3 rum punches and chocolate cake for 15B each (£5!). Anna had fish and I had salad, with coconut rice, beans and garlic bread.

    There was a big, lively political parade whilst we were dining and then they all congregated in the outdoor basketball court waiting for the party to begin. The band wasn't playing so we went back to the room for a while. We went out later and they still weren't playing so perhaps they got too drunk. We did however find our drunken fisherman friend, even more drunk and regaling us with the slowest story ever. Anna, buoyed on by her rums and 2 of mine seemed to enjoy encouraging his storytelling. He repeated his invite to dinner but we suspect he won't remember a thing tomorrow.    Baca selengkapnya

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  • Ruth SnowSouth & Central AmericaRuth Snow

    Dolphins, turtles, rays, sharks...wow!

    25 Oktober 2015, Belize ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    We had pancakes and fruit for breakfast with a sea view at Brisas del Mar (28B). We then talked to a guy from Reef Friendly Tours about a snorkelling tour. It wasn’t as cheap (130B) as some but advertised itself as eco-friendly and doesn't feed or touch the animals. We were very happy with this as we'd spoken to a big, sunburnt American customer yesterday at another place who thought the tour was amazing ‘cos they held the rays up for photos!’. We arranged to go tomorrow but then some other people turned up and he asked if we could go in half an hour. We grabbed our stuff and climbed aboard the small boat with another couple who were a little odd and seemed to love PDAs.

    We drove through the Split, a narrow gap caused by a hurricane, which separates the island from it's northern half. After getting some fuel, we headed towards Ambergris Caye (where the rich people go), which is pronounced similar to hamburger in their Jamaican-esque accents which made me chuckle.

    On our way I spotted a pod of dolphins and we stopped and watched them for a few minutes. After half an hour, we reached our first snorkelling spot: Hol Chan Marine Reserve where our guide, Alex, paid the ranger who was bobbing about in his boat. Alex led us and pointed out lots of things. There were tons of big jacks hanging around the boat, we saw 3 turtles, stingrays, an eagle ray, a swimming green moray eel, barracuda, a baby lionfish, plus tons of other fish and coral. Alex showed us a cool swim-through which was quite deep so nobody apart from me went through - it was fun and full of fish. Despite it being a guided tour, Alex didn't bother getting in the water at the next 3 stops! We didn't mind though, I prefer to explore on my own.

    Next, we went to Shark & Ray Alley. As soon as the boat pulled up a ton of brown nurse sharks surrounded the boat in a frenzy. Many of the boats feed them so they are now ‘trained’ to seek out boats. We jumped in and Alex drove the boat around us which kept them close to us. It was the most amazing experience being surrounded by 30 plus sharks, some up to 4m long. They are bottom feeders so completely harmless and we never felt afraid. Alex then moored up so they spread out more but it was pretty easy to find a huge bunch of them - the water was only about 5m deep. We also saw some Southern stingrays and a turtle.

    We had some watermelon and then went to a cargo wreck that has been sunk in really shallow water. It didn't seem to have a front to the boat and looked almost more like a platform, but did have layers and ladders. There was some coral but not many fish and the visibility wasn't great so we didn't stay too long.

    Our last stop was at Coral Garden. The visibility was rubbish due to too much rain water recently and the coral was dead in parts. A disappointing end but frankly we'd seen so much we couldn't care less. We got out, munched on some pineapple and headed home.

    We went out for an early dinner as we were starving. We wandered along the back streets and came to a cute little shack called Meldy’s. We had happy hour caipirinhas and Anna had conch in a coconut sauce and I had a veggie burrito the size of my arm!!

    Shattered, we dragged ourselves back to our room. Our cold water suddenly stopped and the toilet wouldn't refill. We couldn't find anyone about to help us and the other loos by the beach were locked so we had to fill the tank with hot water manually.    Baca selengkapnya

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  • Ruth SnowSouth & Central AmericaRuth Snow

    More sharks and rays

    26 Oktober 2015, Belize ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    We moved rooms this morning as ours was booked and we wanted to extend our stay. Our new hut is 4 back from the beach but bigger and with a stronger shower. Plus seems to have a functional, non-leaking toilet!

    We went to the bakery and bought 4 cinnamon rolls for 1B each. Not quite as good as Utila’s but very close and a bit bigger. Then, just after 10am we went back to the snorkel tour shop and had to wait while Anna had her caffeine fix before heading out. Today we were doing the reef straight off Caye Caulker, a 5 min boat ride away so it was cheaper (70B). The water is extremely shallow, about 5ft deep, so it's the most beautiful clear turquoise colour I've ever seen.

    Our first site was Ray & Shark Alley (diff to yesterday). There were tons of stingrays, which was slightly frightening since the water was so shallow and you couldn't get out their way easily. At first we only saw a few sharks at once, but then a small boat came and about 20 of them flocked after it so we managed to follow them for quite a while. We also saw a barracuda and some big pufferfish.

    Then we drove a minute to our next site: CC southern channel. Alex guided us and we saw barracuda, flamingo tongued sea slugs, parrot fish, angel fish, tons of coral and a huge lobster. Again the water was beautifully clear and the coral looked lovely.

    Our last site was a further minute away: Coral Garden. We went in alone and saw millions of tiny fish at the surface, 2 sharks hiding under the coral and more barracuda. We munched on some oranges and headed back to shore. Another fabulous day of snorkelling! We saw a couple of small boats rammed full of tourists. Apparently they are from the cruise ships and all have to wear life jackets. We were very grateful for our private tour today!

    We were back by 1:30pm - the heat of the day - so stayed inside for an hour or so. We went for ice creams and Anna tried her first Belizean beer. I laid in the sun whilst Anna hid inside. Then we went to wander around and check out the sunset. We looked at numerous places for dinner until settling on Enjoy, which was cheaper than most on the main strip and offered proper, local veggie food! Plus it had swings instead of seats at the bar! Anna had jerk snapper and I had a jerk veggie kebab. Both came with coconut rice, garlic bread and mine with tons of sautéed veggies. It was the most lovely, delicious spicy food I've had in ages. I couldn't manage it all which seemed a travesty. The price also included some fruit for dessert and a rum punch each (41B). We saw Lou and Spanky, kiwis that we met in Utila, who've followed a similar route to us.    Baca selengkapnya

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  • Ruth SnowSouth & Central AmericaRuth Snow

    Chillin in da Caribbean

    27 Oktober 2015, Belize ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    We had a lazy morning, munched some granola and sat outside reading. We headed out to get Anna her iced coffee, me a not great coconut and a fruit smoothie to share (4,5,5B). It was absolutely roasting and we were hot and sweaty when we returned so jumped off the dock into the sea.

    After hiding in the aircon for a bit we headed to the bakery for a cinnamon roll and a ‘cookie’ which was sort of shortbread with sprinkles and jam. Then we settled at Sip N Dip, a colourful dock with seating and ladders so you can pop in and out of the water to cool off. Anna tried 2 more beers whilst I had 2 ice creams - one was chocolate fudge brownie which was absolutely amazing. Once the sun had gone, we went home to change and then came out for the sunset at the Split which wasn't great and the sand flies were out in force as there was no wind.

    We went to Aladdin’s for dinner and had lamb and falafel wraps, iced tea and sour sop (a nice local fruit smoothie) for 41B. It was probably the best falafel wrap I've had on all our travels so far...absolutely perfect! The poor lady then told us how her ex boyfriend was trying to destroy her business / life and she had to go to court soon - Latino men don't seem to make great partners from what we've heard. As we were having dinner we saw a bright red, huge, full moon rise out of the sea! It slowly turned to orange and then normal moon colour as it rose higher. An amazing sight I don't think I've seen before.

    Quote of the day from a rasta man: Slow down or you'll get a speeding ticket! Hannah will attest to the fact that we walk pretty slowly these days. We don't seem to be able to walk down the main strip without everyone wanting to talk to us. It already feels like we know half the people here and has such a lovely vibe. Definitely my favourite place so far.    Baca selengkapnya

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  • Ruth SnowSouth & Central AmericaRuth Snow

    More chillin

    28 Oktober 2015, Belize ⋅ ⛅ 32 °C

    We had another lazy morning, searching for our next accommodation which Anna (who is in now charge of planning, eek) has left to the last minute. Eventually we chose somewhere and then headed out for coffee and juice, bought our boat tickets for tomorrow and then had an ice cream.

    We chilled in the room and then chilled on the beach and then chilled on the dock and had a swim. Ah it's a hard life living in paradise.

    We collected some falafel for our lunch tomorrow and then some goods for the bakery for breakfast - if we are delayed this time, we'll be prepared!! We were going to buy baked goods from the huge man with a ridiculously high pitched voice who peddles his goods on a bike each night but they were 4B each! That's 4 cinnamon rolls!

    Fully stocked for tomorrow, we went to Enjoy for dinner again. Anna had the same; I had the creole veggie kebab which was lovely though not quite as amazing as the jerk version. Anna spent most of the night laughing at me for not being able to say snorkel in a Belizean accent - I sound Irish instead.

    We're very sad to be leaving Belize… it's been one of our favourite places with such a lovely vibe - if you can avoid the drunken men and the crazy swerving cyclists!    Baca selengkapnya

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  • Ruth SnowSouth & Central AmericaRuth Snow

    Our final country! Mexico!

    30 Oktober 2015, Meksiko ⋅ ⛅ 1 °C

    We got the 8am boat back to Belize City ($15). The boat looked full with about 20 people left on the dock but they managed to squeeze them in somehow until we were squished like sardines. Anna's regular iced coffee man had evidently overslept so she couldn't get her fix. She was caffeine-less until Chetumal but didn't turn into a monster for once.

    There’s little info online on buses to Mexico. We knew there was a night bus direct to Tulum but a lady on CC had told us there was one in the morning. When we got to the mainland they told us there wasn't one until 1pm which was $25 to Chetumal. Not wanting to wait around for 4 hours, we decided to save some money and look for a chicken bus. We got a taxi to the bus terminal (8B), where a chicken bus showed up almost instantly to Chetumal. We climbed aboard and it was pretty comfy and not too hot for the 4 hour journey (15B).

    The landscape was flat with grass, palm trees and sugar-cane plantations on single roads. At the Belizean border we all jumped off for a stamp. As tourists, we had to pay $18 departure tax. Only 3 of us got back on the bus (no idea where everybody else went!) and we drove a surprisingly long way to the Mexican side. There we got off, got our stamps and put our luggage through a scanner - I was questioned for dodgy looking items but he was satisfied with my Christmas presents explanation without having to unpack it all.

    Mexico is like a completely different place with it’s 3 lane roads and clean, Americanised shops at the side. Shortly after the border, we arrived in Chetumal. Despite it being in Mexico, all the lamp posts where we were dropped off had Belice (Belize) written on them. Must be some weird overlapping territory thing? Explains why the buses cross the border. It seems apt that our first and last border crosses have been done on chicken buses.

    The taxi driver even wanted Belizean dollars but we only had US as Anna had given our last 4 to the bus guy. The taxi took us to the nearby ADO terminal ($2) where we were able to pay in US dollars for our tickets to Tulum ($13). We'd gone forward an hour so we only had an hour and a bit to wait until our bus (which aren't quite as regular as we'd been told!). The terminal had free wifi to keep us entertained.

    We boarded the Mayab bus at 4:45pm, which wasn't quite as nice as we'd hoped - slight upgrade from a chicken bus with proper seats and aircon but certainly not modern and no toilets. It stopped a fair bit too and by the end of the 4 hour journey our bums were slightly numb! It was mainly a 2 lane highway with grass / bushes either side and not much to see.

    We walked to our AirBnB place and were shown around by Donaji who was lovely and gave us a map and told us where to visit etc. It's a small 2 bed apartment in the centre of town and at only $23, is a lot better value than any we found on Bookings.

    The hotel that we stayed at on our first visit to Mexico 3 yrs is apparently 5 minutes drive from here. We did look into going back for a night or two but it's really pricey. It'll be lovely to go back to the stretch of beach we got engaged on and see the area from a backpacker’s viewpoint.    Baca selengkapnya

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  • Ruth SnowSouth & Central AmericaRuth Snow

    Tulum: spoiled by seaweed

    31 Oktober 2015, Meksiko ⋅ ☀️ 12 °C

    After a bit of searching for breakfast, we chose a mid-range place where the local policemen were eating: La Querida. Anna had a stack of 3 huge pancakes whilst I had a humungous fruit platter (168P). Absolutely stuffed, we looked in a few shops and then sought refuge in our aircon room.

    We headed out again and had some fabulous proper gelato - spicy chocolate for me, Cappuccino for Anna - from Panna e Cioccolato (35P each). Then we went to the bus stop Dona had told us and there was a bus due and people waiting, however it didn't turn up, so we went onto the main Avenida as we'd seen tons of collectivo vans but they were all going to Playa del Carmen, not playa, the beach. We walked back to the bus stop and there was a bus waiting. We hopped on and paid 10P each to the grumpy driver. After 10 mins he indicated we should get off. We were in front of the sea but there was no beach. Unsure which way to go, we decided to head back the way we'd come in search of one of the public beaches on the map. After almost an hour of walking in the heat, we found Playa Paraiso, which means paradise…but there was no paradise...where were the white sand beaches and turquoise sea we remembered?? Instead there was a huge strip of thick brown seaweed lining the shore, mixed with rubbish. The sea looked a bit cleaner but not overly inviting. According to various internet reviews, the seaweed has been plaguing the area for quite a while and they can't use heavy machinery for fear of disturbing turtle nests :(

    Deeply saddened, we went in search of a coconut - Tulum was where our coconut obsession began 3 years ago so we had high hopes. The first boy tried to charge us 70P! We stalked off in disgust. The next man tried to charge us 50, saying they don't have many naturally growing in the area. We got him down to 40 which is still more than we’re used to paying. It was pretty disappointing...hardly any water and a bit fizzy. He chopped it open and added lemon juice and some sweet spices but it wasn't great :(

    Determined to improve on the day we found a bit of beach where most of the seaweed has been cleared and lay out our towels for a spot of sunbathing. Five minutes later it tipped it down and we ran for cover under a nearby parasol :(

    The skies looked stormy and we thought about heading home, but a rainbow appeared and then within 10 minutes the sun was back out and we had an hour of lying in the sun. We both braved the sea briefly but it wasn't that nice.

    We got a taxi home (70P), showered and then headed to El Rincon Chiapaneco, a cheap place recommended by our host. I had a veggie quesadilla which was nice, Anna had a carb fest of nachos which were a bit sloppy and some weird cheese on toast thing. We couldn't argue with the price (95P) but we were a bit disappointed with our first taste of local, Mexican fare...for starters, it wasn't very spicy!!

    Afterwards, we went to the main square where there was an exhibition of beautifully decorated altars for the Day of the Dead celebrations. Some ladies dressed up as Catrina the skeleton went around to each one and seemed to bless each altar. There was a lovely atmosphere with many girls having painted faces, a big crowd and games of football and basketball in the background. We had a Marquesita (20P), which is a very thin, crispy pancake rolled up (sugar, water, flour) - we had nutella on ours; she tried to convince us to have cheese in it as well but we said no!

    On our way home we picked up a huge thing of water (5L) for 20P - cheapest yet. There is a ginormous water container at the house but it's empty and our hosts have been at work all day.    Baca selengkapnya

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  • Ruth SnowSouth & Central AmericaRuth Snow

    Tulum ruins and a ton of cycling

    1 November 2015, Meksiko ⋅ ☁️ 11 °C

    We got up earlyish (8am) and went to a bakery to get a coffee and croissants - I had a chocolate one which strangely had cheese and ham in it?! Then we went to the bike shop Dona had recommended us and we'd checked out last night but it was closed so we walked to another one and got a nice upright, no brakes (pedal backwards) bike for 80P each. After I nearly flattened Anna (she suddenly stopped when there was no traffic to stop for), we got the hang of it and cycled the 10 mins to Tulum ruins.

    We paid the 64P entrance fee and wandered around. Last time we came it was stiflingly hot and we ran from one shade patch to the next. Today was very windy so it was much more pleasant to wander around, even if the sea didn't look as stunning. They are beautiful ruins right on the cliff-edge - definitely some of my favourite. The tide was in and the waves were crazy so swimming below the ruins was off limits :( didn't look at all inviting!

    Then we went in search of our ‘original’ coconut, which started our obsession. Success! We found our man and had one each for 50P, which he then chopped and mixed with salt, chili flakes and lime juice - as amazing as we remembered. We also saw the crazy Mayan ‘maypole’ men which I had somehow missed last time - 4 men climb a pole, wrap rope around themselves and swing round and round upside down, whilst playing their instruments.

    We got back on our bikes and cycled the 10km along the beach hotels (where the rich people go) to the other end of the beach where Dona said there was a free cenote. Turns out it wasn't free (50P). I had a quick peek and it looked like a mosquito-ridden mangrove swamp! We went next door which was a nicer spa place at the same price (or free with a $90 massage!) It was the same swamp and whilst the water did look clear, it was deserted and Anna noticed a sign saying beware of the crocs! Despite being hot and sweaty, we weren't that desperate! We stopped further down the road for a quick drink to keep us going and come up with a new plan.

    We cycled back to town for an ice cream. We had planned to go the Gran cenote which was 4km away but there was no cycle path on a busy road. Instead we ditched the bikes, went to the supermarket and collapsed back at home exhausted, with slightly pink arms and tender bums! (Even though the saddles were old-school and nicely padded). We chatted to Dona’s husband Rodrigo who was feeling poorly. He told us the seaweed had been an on-off problem for 8 months and is a Caribbean-wide problem with the tourist industry starting to suffer. We've been lucky to not really suffer badly from it on our travels up until this point. Apparently most of the Caribbean islands are knee-deep in the stuff! We introduced him to Marmite which he wasn't overly keen on.

    We looked at a load of places for dinner including a Mexican buffet that had burgers and spaghetti in it and not a taco in sight! We ended up at a cheap, busy, brightly coloured quick street food type place called La Chiapaneca. I had 3 veggie tacos and ruined them by adding far too much hot sauce. Anna, the piggy, had 3 pork tacos and 2 pork tostadas. With drinks, it was only 86P - very cheap and very tasty! To cool my burning mouth we had to get an ice cream. I had ferrero rocher flavour which I wasn't so keen on whilst Anna had a pistachio one dipped in chocolate and crushed pistachios which was amazing.

    We couldn't see anything public going on for Halloween but there were lots of kids dressed up trick or treating around the restaurants, including one vampire who flew through the door rather dangerously on a scooter. Some of the beach hotels hold parties but I think they are more for the tourists. We have higher hopes for the next 2 nights which is when the Mexican festival begins.    Baca selengkapnya

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  • Ruth SnowSouth & Central AmericaRuth Snow

    Coba ruins

    2 November 2015, Meksiko ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    After a quick breakfast of melon and granola and chatting to D & R, we rushed to the bus station and got there just before a huge queue of people turned up and got our tickets just as the bus was turning up (10:10am; ADO; 66P each way).

    Forty five minutes later, we arrived at the Coba ruins and paid the 64P entry. There are 3 main groups of structures, spread out over about 6km. You can hire bikes or men to cycle you around but we chose to walk. The ruins are set in the jungle, the shade providing welcome relief from the sun but it was still very humid.

    They are a big set of ruins, which are usually overlooked due to the proximity of Tulum and Chichen Itsa. You can climb to the top of the main temple which gives an amazing view of untouched jungle as far as the eye can see. Going down is a bit more scary as the steps are a bit slippery, especially in my worn-out flip flops! Luckily there is a rope to hold onto if needed. Apart from the usual pyramid temples, there is a small ball court, a few short tunnels (one with a tiny bat inside) and some sculptured stones which have mostly faded.

    After 3 hours we were done and went for lunch at the restaurant which is surprisingly reasonably priced. I had quesadillas and Anna had a salad made less healthy by lashings of bacon, cheese and croutons! (180P).

    We got the 3:10pm bus back (there's only one bus back), had an ice cream and washed off the jungle sweat. We had dinner at the same place as last night, looked around the shops and saw some kids dressed up forming a procession behind the ice cream car which was blaring music. Apart from a few small altars here and there, there were no other festivities. Apparently a lot of Tulum’s residents weren't born here so there is less of a family feel which is what the festival is all about.    Baca selengkapnya

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  • Ruth SnowSouth & Central AmericaRuth Snow

    Akumal Bay & Dos Ojos cenote

    3 November 2015, Meksiko ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    We got up at 7am and jumped in one of the collectivo minivans that run regularly from Tulum to Playa del Carmen, mainly for locals. At 30P each, I think they likely overcharged us but it's still a bargain and far cheaper than taxis. They dropped us off on the exit road and we walked the 5 minutes to Akumal Bay.

    I was worried it would also be ruined by seaweed and be a disappointment compared to our last visit but it was as beautiful as ever. There is a ton of seaweed, but they work hard to clean out the rubbish and the water is still very clear and blue and there's no bad smell.

    As soon as we arrived on the nice and empty beach a tour guide pounced on us and told us we had to hire life jackets to be allowed to swim in the marked bay (new since our last visit). We refused and Anna went in first and swam around the boats instead, which was a little risky with some moving about. As she came out the lifeguard came and told her to swim in the marked bay and the life jacket rule was nonsense. By this point I'd also seen some locals go in without them on (the tour boys don't try it on with the locals funnily enough).

    Whilst I lay in the cool morning sun, Anna went back in and saw some turtles and stingrays. Then I went in for an hour and saw about 9 turtles, some rays and some pufferfish. The water was lovely and clear. Anna went back in and saw a small eagle ray which let her follow it for ages (sadly she’d forgotten the camera that time!).

    The beach soon filled up with people and lots of tour groups came and went - none stayed very long. Why you'd choose to swim in a huge group and surround the poor creatures rather than get a 1-on-1 experience where you won't disturb them is beyond me. Several times a lazy tour guide would see me with a turtle and yell at the top of his lungs and a swarm of splashing lifejackets would appear. But mostly I managed to avoid them and as the day went on it didn't get much busier - the tour groups were well spread out.

    By 11am we were starving and went to Turtle Bay bakery and shared a cinnamon roll and coffee / pecan cake. Anna filled up on coffee whilst I downed some cool iced tea. Afterwards, we both went back in but the visibility wasn't as good and more seaweed had moved in.

    Just after 2pm we walked back to the highway and got a collectivo to Dos Ojos cenote (20P), which was about 1km from the hotel we stayed in last time (we had no idea this treasure was there then or that there were so many cenotes nearby). We paid our 200P fee and were then told it was a 2.5km walk away! Hot and mozzy-bitten by the time we arrived, we jumped straight into the first of 2 pools. One is a lighter pool, the other is darker but they are quite similar. Both are big pools within caves with stalagmites and stalactites and huge pieces of rocks under the water as if there’s been an earthquake. And some bats. And a few small fish. The freezing freshwater is crystal clear and absolutely magical where shards of sunlight hit it. The cave system is huge and we saw only a small part of it. You can venture into it further with a guide and flashlights, or you can dive through some of the caves.

    By 4:30pm we were done and started the walk back. Thankfully, a lovely guy in a pick-up yelled at us to get in the back and gave us a very bouncy ride to the entrance. There, we got a collectivo back to Tulum (25P).

    Starving after our ton of exercise and fuelled only by cheetos, we headed straight for dinner. We went to a tiny place we'd seen by the bike shop that gave us soup, falafel and a Jamaica (hibiscus) tea for 70P. It was all amazing! Then she gave us 2 skeleton biscuits for 15P each which her friend had made - we were very excited as we'd failed to find these elsewhere. We then headed for our final ice creams before heading back for an early night.

    Sadly we haven't seen much in the way of public celebrations or parades for Day of the Dead. Everybody we ask says they don't have a clue if / when / where any celebrations are being held. There are some parties but it's more for Halloween and we can only assume that any DOTD celebrations are more private affairs.    Baca selengkapnya

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  • Ruth SnowSouth & Central AmericaRuth Snow

    Isla Holbox

    4 November 2015, Meksiko ⋅ ☀️ 11 °C

    We said goodbye to Dona and went to the bakery - everything at this one was about 6P (compared to 35P at the other one) so we stocked up! Then we got the 8:10am bus (ADO; 272P) to Chiquila, which took 3.5 hours. It dropped us off right at the dock and we all jumped on the ferry (100P), which left shortly after. Twenty minutes later we were at our destination: Isla Holbox (pronounced holbosh), which is north of Cancun, in the Gulf of Mexico.

    I think the bus journey is a new route; Holbox used to be more of a mission to get to, which means it's still very underdeveloped. The island is 40 by 2km and only a small part is inhabited. There are no big hotels and no cars on the sandy streets, just golf carts. From mid July to mid Sept they have whale sharks...and according to a diver on Roatan, there are tons of them, it's guaranteed to see them during this time so we'll definitely be back to do this!!

    We got a taxi (a pimped up golf cart) for the short journey to our hotel as it was so hot (30P). The roads are full of huge puddles / lakes as there's been a storm recently. We checked into Casa Del Viento (750P) which took a while as the wifi was down so the lady wasn't quite sure where to put us. She ended up putting us in a superior room which is huge and beautiful with a hammock inside!!

    We went for a wander to wake Anna up with a huge iced coffee at Colibri (30P), got me some ice cream at Porque no? (Why not?; 20P per scoop; average taste) and then some cheetos for a bargain 5P per bag and some stale pretzel m&ms.

    Anna swung in the hammock whilst I went to read on the beach just down the road from our hotel. It is beautiful and seems to be unaffected by the seaweed plague. Anna came to join me once it had started to cool down and then we went for a sunset walk. We stopped to chat to a tour guy and as soon as the sun was gone the mozzies came out in force and we ran back to the hotel - they must be loving the stagnant puddle water!

    I had a lovely long hot shower (only cold at last place) in the huge shower and then we went out searching for dinner. Dona and the secretary had recommended a place but it was closed today. Most of the other places seemed overpriced and touristy. We ended up at Taco Queto, a fast food type Mexican eatery, full of locals. I had a mushroom quesadilla which was lovely but small so had a second. Anna ordered the big nachos and had a huge dish with half a pig on top! (165P). We grabbed some dark choc m&ms (also out of date!) and a beer and retreated for an early night.

    I had just started to doze off when Anna’s screams woke me up...a flying ant had startled her! I got up to find a swarm of them by the door and bathroom. I tried to shoo them out with a towel but to no avail, then I tried to batter them with the towel but they are resilient little buggers. I decided the zapper bat was the most humane method and fried the poor things. The room then smelt of barbecued ants! We then spotted a firefly flashing green on the wall - we let him be as he was pretty and not trying to crawl on us.    Baca selengkapnya

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  • Ruth SnowSouth & Central AmericaRuth Snow

    Day of the Dead beer

    5 November 2015, Meksiko ⋅ 🌙 16 °C

    After a lie-in we went to a small place called Lemoncito by the main square for breakfast. Anna had 3 pancakes with nutella AND maple syrup. I had a huge bowl of fruit with yog and granola, of which I swapped a bit for a yummy pancake. With coffee, and Jamaica tea for me, it was only 60P each.

    As we were walking to breakfast, Anna noted she had a scratch on her sunglasses. I commented that we'd done very well to last our whole travels without breaking them...less than a minute later, as I went to take them off inside, mine suddenly snapped for no apparent reason!!! Luckily I have some fetching blue tape so they'll hopefully survive the last fortnight. My flip-flops are also on their last legs :( As are most of my clothes!

    It was a bit overcast so we had a very lazy day of swinging in the hammock in our room and reading. We ventured out for an ice cream and cheetos but that was about it. As it brightened up I went to lie on the beach for some late afternoon sun. Anna came out to join me an hour later and the sun promptly disappeared! We went for a long walk along the beach and then as the sun went down we used the wifi which is only available in the common areas and were attacked by mozzies :( I think they are worse here than Utila!

    We went to the same place for dinner. I had quesadillas, Anna had a sort of Mexican fondue which was essentially a massive load of cheese, some bacon and soft tacos.

    We tried the only ATM on the island but it was broken. We then found the holy grail of beer for Anna, a Day of the Dead Porter beer! She was very very excited!!    Baca selengkapnya

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  • Ruth SnowSouth & Central AmericaRuth Snow

    Time to start on the Ark

    6 November 2015, Meksiko ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    I was woken up at about 7am by the pouring rain and Anna jumping outside to rescue our drying sarongs - now drenched. After some more sleep we went back to the same place for breakfast. The roads were even more flooded today so getting anywhere was a bit of an obstacle course.

    Yesterday the cafe was empty, today it was packed! We waited outside a while until a table became free and then ordered 2 lots of pancakes (called hot cakes in Mexico). Instead of a small jug of nutella, the lady brought out an entire tub for us! Needless to say she received a good tip!

    We changed rooms to a non-superior one...but it still seems quite superior to us…instead of one huge bed we have two doubles and nicer soaps; but no hammock to swing in.

    The sky was still overcast so we figured we’d give it a while before deciding what to do. I fell back asleep (cramps day :( ) and shortly after waking, it started to pour with rain again - crazily heavily with a bit of thunder and lightning for good measure.

    When the rain eased up we ventured out for an early dinner and ended up at the market where Anna had a huge plate of ceviche and tostadas and I had some veggie soup and we shared a litre of pineapple juice (100, 60, 40P). The soup was quite plain but delicious and lovely to have a ton of goodness after the last couple of nights of cheese overload.

    We went back to the room and read the night away. It continued to rain on and off. The main road outside the hotel is now a complete river. If this continues I think we may need to start building an Ark!    Baca selengkapnya

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  • Ruth SnowSouth & Central AmericaRuth Snow

    Biting fish and scratched knees

    7 November 2015, Meksiko ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    It was drizzling most of the morning but we braved the rain to head out to share a fruit salad and more nutella pancakes. By midday the rain had turned to cloudy sunshine and I headed straight to the beach. Within an hour, just as Anna joined me, it became more overcast, but was still pleasant enough to stay and read / snooze for a few hours.

    Anna went in swimming but didn't last long as she said a fish kept slapping and then biting her! She then went off in search of cheetos but soon came back traumatised by a small scratch to her knee from slipping over in a puddle. I had to do the lunch run instead as she said she couldn't possibly manage now she was injured!

    We went for a long walk up the beach and were rewarded with the most magnificent sunset skies on our return. Absolutely stunning.

    For dinner we went to an Italian: Edelyn’s, where I had a huge bowl of tomato spaghetti served with a basket of about 6 slices of bread! Anna had some fish served with a huge basket of tacos plus a disgusting beer drink served with spicy tomato juice (240P). There seemed to be 2 different music tracks playing plus a band practising upstairs making our heads up funny.

    We noticed that the ATM was finally working but alas our card didn't work. Looks like we'll have to pay our hotel by paypal and incur a hefty fee :(

    Anna saw a small black scorpion on her way upstairs to collect some water. Apparently they are harmless. But if you see a white or yellow one: run!!!    Baca selengkapnya

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  • Ruth SnowSouth & Central AmericaRuth Snow

    Anna kicked a racoon

    8 November 2015, Meksiko ⋅ 🌧 5 °C

    Another drizzly day :( We went out for yoghurt in the rain, had to hide for a 2 min downpour, and then had it with granola and bananas for breakfast in our room (plus Anna ruined my healthy breakfast idea with a chocolate muffin!)

    We stayed inside reading and it eventually brightened up a bit. After lunch we headed out with the aim of walking along the beach around to Paraiso island. After 5 minutes of walking the beach was deserted and looked beautiful. We carried on, wading in the shallow waters around a few buildings where necessary. Then the mozzies came! Just a few at first. Then Anna said she looked up and saw a dozen on my back. I tried to shake them off but they were persistent. I wrapped my sarong around me and we headed off, batting them off. They seemed to multiply until literally a swarm was surrounding each of us.

    We were determined to carry on, having seen barely anything of the island yet and getting a bit cabin feverish. We came across a lagoon and about 20 bright pink flamingos. We waded towards them to try and escape the mozzies but they followed. The zoom on my camera decided this was a good time to stop working so I figured I'd wade out further to get closer to the flamingos but Anna had had enough of the mozzies and shrieked it was time to leave. We tried to run but the sand was covered in sharp shells so it was more of a quick shuffle as the swarms chased us.

    We both killed a good many of the buggers each but they kept on coming. We both had quite a lot of bites, though probably not as many as we expected. The swarm lessened but didn't leave us until we got back to the main beach which doesn't seem to suffer until nightfall (possibly because it is free of seaweed). We were both hot and itchy so went straight back and jumped in the hot shower. From experience, this plus a thorough soaping seems to reduce the itching; or we've become more immune to the bites.

    We hung out in the room but the banging from some renovations drove us out. We tried the Caxton card in the ATM, which I discovered still had a bit of money on it, and success! Along with our emergency dollars we have enough to avoid the paypal charges.

    We went for dinner at our usual breakfast haunt as we'd noticed last night it did dinner as well. Anna had a lovely salad with hibiscus dressing (85P). I asked for something veggie and got a ton of veggies, beans and rice plus a basket of tacos for just 65P. Amazing! We've discovered that most places don't have many veggie options on the menu but will usually make something up if we ask. This place is the only cheap eatery that does great food that we've found.

    We were due to stay another night here but the weather, building work and mozzies have put us off. We'd love to discover more of the island but after today's adventure we've ruled out any more exploring and the tours are quite pricey. So we've decided to leave early and head back to the Caribbean and if we don't like it there either we'll go back down to Akumal for a few days. We'd had a lot of recommendations for Holbox so we're pretty disappointed in our experience of it. I can see it's potential... we've just been unlucky with the weather. We hope to come back in dry season and see the whale sharks - it's such an easy trip from Cancun I'm sure we will.

    We picked up two more posh beers for Anna and headed back to play some chess. The drunkard beat me :( Anna went out to feed the stray cat that appeared yesterday and a racoon tried to steal it’s food. Anna instinctively kicked the racoon away to protect the cat but she needn't have worried, the cat held its own. The racoon continued to try and swipe the cat’s food but she hissed at it (the cat, not Anna). So we gave the racoon some cat treats and he happily gobbled them up. He was very tame and let us touch him but we didn't want to get too close in case he had any diseases. We've seen them before on the streets but never quite so close :)    Baca selengkapnya

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  • Ruth SnowSouth & Central AmericaRuth Snow

    Another day, another island

    9 November 2015, Meksiko ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    Typically, after deciding to leave, we wake up to beautiful sunshine! We had our final nutella pancakes, walked along the beach, packed our bags and got the 1pm ferry to Chiquila (100P), got on the waiting Mayab bus (100P) and 2.5 hours later were in Cancun.

    After a short hunt to find an ATM, we got a taxi to Puerto Juarez (80P) and jumped straight on a boat (146P return). During the twenty minute trip, we were serenaded by a great guitar player, which was a vast improvement on the lively but terrible guy on the first boat (though he did sing El taxi which earnt him bonus points).

    We arrived at Isla Mujeres and easily found Hotel D’Gomar (700P; reduced to 550P for extra days we stayed) as it's directly opposite the ferry terminal. It's one of the cheapest hotels on Booking but seems nice and clean if a bit tired and lacking any character.

    We dumped our bags and then set off to explore. It's a complete contrast to Holbox - very built up due to it's proximity to Cancun; paved roads (though mainly golf carts and mopeds), fancy restaurants, very clean and shiny and rammed full of Americans - it feels like we're in the US! All the workers speak to us in English and are happily surprised when we speak back in Spanish.

    The restaurants are much cheaper than feared. There are several beach-front ones which are surprisingly similar or cheaper than the masses on a long strip a few roads back. We went to Vinales, a deserted authentic Mexican place with a good veggie range. We both had yummy burritos, mine veggie, Anna's seafood plus a Corona and Jamaica tea (220P). Afterwards we continued exploring and found a really good gelato place which sadly closes tomorrow for a month :(

    Despite it being very touristy our first impressions of Mujeres is good...and fewer mozzies :)    Baca selengkapnya

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