Crannster
Theresa Crann and Dave Allcorn Joined: February 14th 2008
Logged in: February 20th 2012
Logged in: February 20th 2012
Travel Blog Posts
Tikal Temple
Hola! Tikal Mayan ruins were nothing short of spectacular. The ruins are amazing - as is the setting! Set deep in the jungle and sprawled over 25 square miles you walk through a series of trails to each site whilst monkeys and birds sit above you in the canopy. The excavation work that has been put into recovering such an interesting settlement has been in itself amazing. Imagine having to remove centuries of the rainforest growth in the blistering heat and humidity, when all you have is a machete? Many Mayan sites have been dated between 2000 years BC to 900 years AD, or later until the Spanish arrived in the 1500's or so. There are periods of classification during this time to indicate the type of building style they used, the style of ceramics they ... read more
View from our room
Hola amigos! We made a stop in Lanquin to see some really cool caves. The lights were not functional that day (nor were they functional for the last few months, we reckon), so we relied on our head lamps for light. Slowly, but surely, we clambered over slippery rocks and a couple of dodgy ladders in the total darkness, viewing some amazing rock formations inside. The caves are relatively unexplored and continue for several miles in a maze of caverns and tunnels, although we only made it in a few hundred yards. We waited by the cave entrance until sunset and watched bats fly out of the cave by the thousands. Against the twightlight sky, we could make out their flight patterns of swooping and darting everywhere. Such amazing creatures. Only a few miles from Lanquin ... read more
Between the rocks
Hola, Entry from Theresa: As Dave was enjoying his hike in the Altitudes of "way too high for Theresa to handle", I had some time to catch up on emails, watch TV, and read. Nebaj was a bit of a hole in that it rained every day, it was mucky and dirty, only about 10 C, and close to zero at night, and no place had any heat, or closed doors. I wore my thermal underwear and multiple layers all day and went to the only nice restaurant in town, on a daily basis. I was on first name basis with the waiters by the time Dave returned, 3 days later. Whilst checking emails, I had a time-line due to my hands freezing, so I lasted about 40 minutes. In the hotel room, the room was ... read more
Hauling Firewood
Hola Amigos. Entry by Dave: I decided to check out the Cuchumatane Mountains for myself by taking a guided hike from Nebaj to Todos Santos Cuchumatan. The route is about 40 kms or so and almost entirely above 2500 metres. I enjoyed the hike very much, even though the rain persisted for a decent chunk of the time. The scenery was varied as we walked along small dirt roads and trails through farmland, small villages, dense cloudforest and desolate plateaus. We slept and ate at local Ixil family homes along the way, and played games and shared stories with the many kids that lived in these houses. The photos will tell the story of the walk, which I thoroughly enjoyed, but I would like to share a story of what happened afterwards! After eating a late ... read more
Who? Buhas!
Hola Amigos. We have completed our two weeks of Spanish school and have left the gorgeous lake area, and apparently we have left the nice weather at the lake!? We have some fond memories of our brief home in Panajachel and of our lovely neighbours and friends. We had a few days at the end of our schooling to explore a little more of the area so here are a few more pictures of Atitlan. We will miss Dina´s Chocolates, and I´m sure Dina will miss our regular visits? We will "miss" telling the dodgy dudes that we don´t need a boat ride! And a great big thanks to Fran and Connie, who made is feel like family in our cosy little neighbourhood. Dave and Theresa.... read more
The View from School.
Hola nuestros amigos! In our previous entry, there were a few people who had questions about the lake level and why it was so high. This area has been experiencing higher than average temperatures and longer rainy seasons in the last few years, and as there is no outlet for the lake. It has continued to get deeper as the amount of rainfall is more than the rate of evaporation. Historically, the lake has been up to 70 metres shallower than today and there are some Mayan ruins on what were islands, now submerged under water. As this is Lake Atitlan - the ruins have been christened "Atitlantis". We have spent a week at a Spanish school in Pana and have enjoyed every minute of it! Our Spanish has definitely improved. The school offers extra-curricular activities ... read more
Parque Central
Hola Amigos The night before leaving Punta Gorda, Belize we were watching an episode of ´The Big Bang Theory´. We both love that show! However, the next morning there was a big bang reality when Theresa whacked her head on the springy shelf and catapulted the TV across the room. It was quite the crash! As Dave rushed to the room, he found Theresa curled up holding her head, and a TV faced down on the floor with glass everywhere. Quite the scene! There was no yellow tape for this crime scene, but we prevailed. We had a word with the owner and he wanted us to replace it. So we found a small store that sold goggle boxes, bought one, then hauled it up the street in a great big box. These events all occured ... read more
Snowy Egret.
Happy 2012 to all our blog readers! We were greeted into Belize in English, Spanish, Creole, Q'eqchi' and several other Mayan languages. As we got off a somewhat overcrowded ex-American yellow school bus in Orange Walk a nice gentleman with his wife and daughter ask us if we were looking for somewhere cheap to stay and offered us a ride to his friends hotel. He dropped us off and wished us happy travels. This kind of encounter has happened several times in almost every place we've been in this small nation. F.Y.I., The Hotel in Orange Walk was indeed very cheap (and clean), but 'basic' barely touches the edges when trying to describe this place... we especially will have fond memories of the sink built under the shower and we will remember our special stance so ... read more
Mayan ruins in Tulum
Hola Amigos. So, we decided to go to Mexico! We got a steal of a deal on a one-way flight from Winnipeg to Cancun. The sunshine and the heat has been very much welcomed as we´ve ventured around the beautiful Yucatan Peninsula. There are many fascinating Mayan Ruins in this area and we have enjoyed wandering through some of these mysterious sites. The Mayan civilizations were amongst the most developed and advanced in the Americas, with huge stone pyramids, temples and stadiums, which were all extremely well built and engineered. We are still trying to wrap our heads around the ritualistic human sacrifices -much like the Incas- but cutting out the heart of the victim was apparently the Mayan thing to do. We had an entire philosophical discussion on what makes us do the rituals we ... read more
Thin Bear
Hey Folks. Just the other day, I was on the ground working out at the lodge when I had a wee visit from one of our furry friends. We get bears at the lodge all the time as they check it out and hang around for a few hours before moving on, but this time he decided to check me out instead! He appeared out of nowhere (like bears often do) and stood looking at me from about 15 - 20 ft. I pumped a slug into the chamber of the 12 gauge and had my finger on the trigger as I walked back to the vehicle whilst pointing the gun at the bear the whole time. It was an odd experience! I was thinking "are you gonna eat me or are you gonna just stand ... read more
Where we've lived 
Where we've been 
