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South America Backpacking Trip
  • Zach Henshall
  • Charlotte Fricker
  • Zach Henshall
  • Charlotte Fricker

South America Backpacking Trip

Our first backpacking trip. A few months touring the most spectacular locations of South and Central America! Weiterlesen
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  • South America Backpacking Trip

    Day tripping.... Chichen Itza & more!

    5. März 2020 in Mexiko ⋅ ☀️ 34 °C

    Today we visited Chichén Itzá, another one of Yucatán's incredible Mayan ruins. It's one of the largest, and arguably most famous, ancient cities. The site is absolutely huge! In our 2 hour visit we probably only managed to see about 10 percent of the massive 26km squared complex but what we did see was truly amazing.
    We started the day at a nearby cenote. These are underground lakes where the waters are usually really clear and ice cold ❄☃️ due to the lack of exposure from the surface. This one was particularly popular and full of tourists but it was still pretty cool to swim in it and bask in the thin beam of sunlight that shone through a hole in the roof of the cave.
    Afterwards we headed to the ruins where we had a guided tour of the archaeological site. The main square is dominated by the famous Temple of KuKulcan, named after one of the most worshipped Gods in the Mayan religion. The temple itself is incredibly impressive but it became even more so after our guide explained a few of the architectural features. The entire temple is orientated in such a way that around the summer and winter solstices a shadow is cast across the stairs that gives the appearance of a snake (a symbol of Kukulcan) moving up or down the staircases. Also the stairs themselves are built smaller at the bottom and larger towards the top, removing the natural perspective so all the steps look the same size, it's quite weird 😂 This also creates a strange echo, when you clap at the bottom of the stairs the echo it creates is a high pitched squawk that sounds like a bird! More strange acoustic engineering is apparent in the Great ball court, a 150m long stadium where the Mayans played literal life-or-death ball games in which the captain of the losers (or winners? Depends on who you ask) was sacrificed to the gods! The walls of the stadium are angled inwards so that even in such an open space the sound carries all the way across the court. Our guide demonstrated this by walking away from us while talking, we could still hear him clearly all the way at the other side!
    I could write pages and pages about this incredible site, there's just so much facinating history in each building, but I've gone on for long enough already so I'll just end it here 😂    Weiterlesen

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  • South America Backpacking Trip

    Tulum Mayan Ruins & Turtle Beach

    6. März 2020 in Mexiko ⋅ 🌧 27 °C

    Today we visited the Mayan ruins of tulum, which is deemed one of the most important historical sites within Mayan history. The reason the Mayan settled here by the coast line was to make import and export easy between the carribbean islands, with alot of trading taking place, on what is now a reserved habit beach for turtles to raise their young, before they swim out to sea. Unfortunately when we saw the beach their is no turtles this time of year, but probably a good job as we noticed while looking down from the main fort on the cliff edge we could see alot of plastic and aluminium waste washed up on the turtle beach! 😢 Which doesn't surprise me as there is soo much tourism within tulum and definitely on the beach front. Before turtle season they clean the beach of waste ready for their arrival 😊 it was amazing to see the Mayan ruins over such a beautiful setting, so not surprised the Mayan wanted to stay here, with the blue water and white sands. On our travels we were greeted with the presence of many land iguanas, and safe to say it's mating season 😂Weiterlesen

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  • South America Backpacking Trip

    Last day in Tulum! Snorkeling

    7. März 2020 in Mexiko ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    As we love the nature and animals, we thought it would be a good idea to try out a snorkeling boat trip that went from tulum beach out to the world's 2nd largest barrier reef! 😀 As we weren't close to the beach we took a local collectivo (mini bus for anyone who flags one down 👍) and walked from tulum mayan ruins site, which is right next to the stretch of beach we needed to be on for our tour. We got to the beach on a partically windy day so braced ourselves for just bobbing along in the water once out there! It took no more than 5 minutes to reach the reef from the beach, as we all got ready to depart the boat with our snorkeling gear, flippers and LIFE JACKETS 😢😳🤔..... I think its a big deal in México to wear life jackets for anything involving water it would seem, probably with the high tourism and maybe there was that one person that ruined it for everyone else and touched a turtle 🐢 😂 so now everyone must wear them to stop us diving down to touch the marine life or get to close, and also there is the danger of drowning too, to consider lol 😂 So after departing the boat we began to swim with our guide in search of marine life. The coral reefs were beautiful with lots of bright colours and fish hiding, as we floated past on our life jackets and with the strong currents. We got to see the green sea turtles again, which never gets old 😊😀 were one of our group members decided it was a good time to use his flippers near the turtle as it swam up towards the surface, he accidentally kicked it in the face 😔😢 that was a real low point to witness, but it was ok luckily 😓 after the drama we swam on, and just before we had to get back on the boat we witnessed 3 sting rays swimming together, and we followed them in the direction of our boat. Another amazing snorkeling experience 😍 as it was our last night in Tulum we decided to get dressed up and go for moijtos at a cool little bar, complete with its own VW beetle inside and it seemed to be jazz night too!Weiterlesen

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  • South America Backpacking Trip

    Holbox Island.. First day

    8. März 2020 in Mexiko ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    So we got recommended to come to Holbox Island by many travellers along our way through Mexico, so we thought why not!... I mean this place is amazing we loved it as soon as we got here. It took 3hrs on the bus from Tulum to a small port town called Chiqulia, where we bought our tickets to board a 30minute boat across to Holbox. We arrived to sandy streets, golf cars (cars are not allowed on the island) and such beautiful views everywhere we looked! 😍👌😊 We got taxied via golf car to our hostel, which was located just off the main beach front and 2 minutes walk into the main town centre where there are lovely bars, restaurants, gift shops and swings/hammocks everywhere you look.... It's a hipsters paradise 😘😍😂 on the first day we just took a walk around the town (which is very small) and on the beach front. We ended up in hammocks for the afternoon and swimming in the sea, before heading out to a lovely pizza place called 'Roots' which is known for the islands best Pizzas (especially the Lobster pizza 😀, which we didn't get.... The first night!) its set in a tropical garden with fairy lights, more hammocks 😂 and live music most nights.Weiterlesen

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    Holbox island adventures on bikes

    9. März 2020 in Mexiko ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    Today we hired some bikes to explore the town and places outside of the town. We headed in the direction of Punto Coco beach which is home to alot of wildlife, if you go looking. Including a crocodile 🐊 reserve at furthest point of the island as you start to head into the wetlands. Also early in the morning you can see flamingos in the shallow waters at Punto Coco beach along with many other bird species 😁🐦 we passed through beautiful flora and fauna, and made stops at different beaches along the front. The island has alot of art and graffiti mixed in with the natural scenery, so we also made sure we looked out for secret paintings that they are often hidden in strange places 😊😉Weiterlesen

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    Holbox Island adventures on bikes pt2

    9. März 2020 in Mexiko ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    More of our bike tour towards and at Punto Coco beach. We spent most of the day here sunbathing and cycling around to different view points of the peninsula 😍 We also could walk from one beach right across to another within the bay as the water isn't deep until you get out to the open sea, which is situated around the other side of Punto Coco. Its also the place where you can see the bioluminescent algae late at night, but the moon was at it's brightest throughout our stay plus we had had our fair share of being eaten alive by mosquitos and sand flies, so we decided to stay put 😂 on our way back from the peninsula we decided to stop off at 'lizard rock' which we had visited earlier that day, to watch the beautiful sunset without being too far to the town its crowded with all the spring breakers lol! So we ended up having the sunset pretty much to ourselves that day 😊🌅👌Weiterlesen

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    Holbox graffiti tour

    11. März 2020 in Mexiko ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    So a massive part of holbox was its street art and paintings that span all over the town and on the the beach areas. Everywhere you look there is amazing, colourful paintings to look at. Most of the cafes, restaurants and hostels have some form of creative artwork on the outside or inside. So we decided using our map (which shows where all the paintings are) to go on a morning walking to find them all, some weren't even on the map, as they were too new and some on the map were too hidden by overgrown trees or building work going on to photograph properly 😂Weiterlesen

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  • South America Backpacking Trip

    Holbox sand dunes walk

    11. März 2020 in Mexiko ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    We took a walk down the main beach hoping the tide would be far enough out to walk on the sand dunes, we were in luck after trying most other days we'd been here we could never hit it right. As the water here is soo shallow anyway we weren't in any danger of being stuck if the tide did start to come in 😊 we spent the late afternoon enjoying beers on our walk and then on our way back we enjoyed yet another beautiful sunset.Weiterlesen

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  • South America Backpacking Trip

    Anthropological Museum

    14. März 2020 in Mexiko ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    Today we spent a full day in Mexico city's anthropological museum, we intended on coming here on our first visit in February but we didn't have enough days in this amazing city 😊 and you really need a whole day here at least. It must be the largest museum we've ever been to. It literally takes you from the dawn of man right through to the modern day cultures of Mexico, visiting every civilization and culture in great detail. To be honest it was a little overwhelming 😂 However it was fascinating to learn about the rich history of central America, especially through the Mayan and Aztec eras. Before we went we knew there were once Mayans and probably at one point Aztecs as well, maybe at the same time? But we never imagined how complex each civilization was, and how many different civilizations inhabited Mexico that weren't the Mayans or the Aztecs (turns out the Aztecs aren't even a single group but several different ones that inhabited the South West of Mexico for several centuries) The number of artifacts they have from each one of these cultures is astounding. The most impressive being the famous Mayan calendar: A huge, circular, stone tablet that used to take center stage in the main square of what is now Mexico City.Weiterlesen

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    Teotihuacan ruines

    16. März 2020 in Mexiko ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    Today we visited Teotihuacán. Less famous than Chichén Itza (by that I mean we'd never heard of it 😅) it is actually the most important and largest pre-Columbian city in Mexico. Founded around 100BC, it supported a population of 125,000 people from various cultures. It isn't a Mayan or Aztec city but a multicultural city that later influenced the Maya and was a direct precursor to the Aztec culture.
    I would say it is by far the most impressive site we visited. All because of the (apparently) famous pyramids; the sun temple and the moon temple. The pyramid of the moon is situated at the end of a long stretch of buildings ominously known as "The Avenue of the Dead" 💀👻😵 It is a huge, imposing and dread-inducing structure. We find the archaeological sites fascinating but this was the first time we could really picture the essence of the city. It was easy to imagine the huge gatherings that happened there (I could almost hear the drums beating as we approached).
    At the other side of the Avenue of the Dead is the colossal pyramid of the Sun. At just over 65m high it is the 3rd largest pyramid in the world! And it definitely felt like it on the way up 😳 It is unknown why it was originally built, or what it was called, but the Aztecs named it the pyramid of the Sun and used it to worship Quetzalcoatl (Pronounced "Ket-tha'-coat-love") the Serpent god of the second Sun. However it may have also been used to worship Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli (Pronounced "incorrectly") who represents venus... and who may or may not be the same person as Quetzalcoatl. Honestly the religious aspects of the structures are way too complicated for us 😂 but the engineering and sheer size of the structures is absolutely incredible! Well worth the journey.    Weiterlesen

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    Teotihuacan ruines pt2

    16. März 2020 in Mexiko ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    More of our time at Teotihuacán, climbing the incredibly steep steps of the Pyramid of The Moon with an amazing view from the top, down the Avenue of The Dead! 😁☠️

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    Cancun beachin'

    18. März 2020 in Mexiko ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    So after many months of travelling, 5 to be exact it's come to a reluctant end due to the coronavirus making our original plans to fly to Australia and stay with friends for a month impossible 😭😔 we booked everything in advance but a few days before we were due to fly out from Mexico City, we heard Australia, and seems the rest of the world including the USA were imposing 14 day isolations and shutting borders, so after much thought and stress trying to cancel flights with hopes of refunds, we had to sadly scrap our plans and stay in Mexico until we can get a flight home to the UK! Which isn't all bad 😉 as we had 2 options; option 1: stay put in Mexico City for 6 more days until our flight home from Cancun or option 2: fly back to Cancun early and book an awesome hotel on the beach!! 😂😁 I mean I don't know about anyone else but Option 2 was 100% clear for us, even if Cancun is alittle like the Blackpool of Mexico 😂😂 luckily we did our research and we got a lovely hotel out from the centre, and party animals, with an amazing part of the beach... Calm and quite before we return to the apocalypse in 6 days! Our time here has been mainly eating (per usual) buffet breakfast.. Oh yes!! 😋 drinking cocktails on the beach and trying to forgot the panic that is going on in the world right now.Weiterlesen

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    Cancun beachin' pt2

    19. März 2020 in Mexiko ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    More of our beaching in Cancun, with a walk down the beach to check out the area..... Safe to report we have a good hotel here 😂😂

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    Cancun adventures

    20. März 2020 in Mexiko ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    So there isn't alot to do here in Cancun unless you want to spend alot of money, and tip atleast 20% 😂🤑 so alot of our time has been spent on the beach, drinking cocktails but also our shop bought tinnies and sometimes a pack lunch... Like true Yorkshire folk lol 😂😂 but we're still having a great time, trying to enjoy our last few days before heading home. We had to make it to Cancuns Hard Rock to check out their celeb gear and get our hands on the yummy Hard Rock food... As their onion rings are amazing 😋 although it was interesting seeing how different the centre was to where we're staying (glad we're not in the centre 😂). Yesterday we had a change and decided to spend sometime in the hotels swimming pool... As I was desparate for a proper swim... (plus I know all leisure centres will be closed on return to the UK 😔,so have to make the most of it now!) Last night we also found alittle local Mexican cafe down one of back alleys just outside the main 'Blackpool-esque' centre (don't worry no funny business haha 😂) , it was quiet but the food was delicious! I had the battered fish tacos with avocado, salad and cilhipole sauce and zach had a beef taco along with a gringas pastor, which is a large fried taco filled with seasoned kabab pork, and topped with fresh pineapple and corriander 🍍🌮😋😋. Today we yet again decided to have another sunbreathing and sea swimming day, but not before renting a jet-ski to have abit of fun on the water.... It definitely woke us up for the day 😂Weiterlesen

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    Cancun vía Toronto vía London then Home!

    23. März 2020 in England ⋅ ☀️ 9 °C

    So this is our last post, showing our journey to get back home 😊 it was a worrying time to return, but gladly our flights weren't cancelled. It was a beautiful return journey that took us over amazing views of the Caribbean sea and Gulf of Mexico 🇲🇽 its truly one of the most awesome views we've had on our flights (as alot were overnight 😂) and what better view to end our time in Latin America 😁 we made sure to make the most of the buffet breakfast at our hotel and we were on our long journey home! We made it to Toronto, and after many protocols in place to protect them from letting anyone in with the virus, we had 4 hours to kill in the airport, with its super modern tech to make orders, so we got right on it and ordered some beers! When we got on our flight it soon became apparent it would be a very quiet one with not many people at all, as we got told that it was an emergency flight to get people home before the company stopped flights completely for the lockdown period 🙄 so lucky that we managed to grab a flight that didn't get cancelled. We finally made it to UK soil.. Whoop, not before getting 2 national express buses to Manchester with alot of odd social distancing in place and a whole meltdown happening at London Victoria Station 😂😳🤔😯 we finally got to Manchester in the evening with welcoming smiley faces of Helen and Simon.. Thanks guys! 😁🤗 As for Australia.... Well definitely get there one day, until then that's all for now 😊 and thank you for following us on our epic journey, will see you all soon!Weiterlesen

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