Semuc Champey was not in our original plan, as it seemed to be somewhat out of the way and far to get to, but the curiousness and the adventurer in us got the better of us, so off we set on yet another day of shuttles and buses and pick-up trucks. As usual the shuttles always have space for one so this time there was even a wooden chair in the isle for that extra lucky extra person. Maria as usual did the manly role of making sure the luggage had been placed onto the shuttle, whilst I made sure we [View Full Entry]

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We arrived in Antigua on a beautiful sunny day with clear blue skies which enabled us to see this gorgeous city in the clutches of several active volcanoes. It was a stunning sight seeing this compact yet large colonial city, with its cobbled street and lovely squares with its cold air, but yet inviting atmosphere. It was easy to understand why so many eager Spanish students choose this city for their experience  We found the yellow house in Antigua and decided to stay there for 2 nights. We shared a room with another girl, who was not the least happy [View Full Entry]

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We arrived in Panacachel by shuttle this time. The view of Lake Atitlan was amazing even on a hazy day like this. The lake was rough looking but even so this place gave me a tranquillity I had been looking for, for some time now. I felt so relaxed here, so in touch with myself, and totally at ease. We had decided to stay in Santa Cruz at the Iguana perdida; a small hostel on the bank of the lake. We had a great fish dinner waiting for our boat. It was a fabulous meal served to us by the owner [View Full Entry]

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We came back from the ruins absolutely knackered but we decided to hop on the night bus to Xela or Quetzaltenango as it is formally known as. I was going here for one thing and one thing only; to get a new backpack. My backpack was starting to fall apart so I thought it would be best to get a new one before I found myself in the slightly awkward situation of having everything scattered all over the road! Maria had decided to come with me if I accompanied her to Utila Islands in Honduras. We had booked our ticket at [View Full Entry]

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We got up at the ungodly time of 3 in the morning to get on the 4 o clock bus to go to Tikal. I am not made for rising before the sun! I mean seriously how good company can one be at that time of the middle of the night anyway!!! We walked down to the bus stop and waited patiently (you need plenty of patience if you are travelling in Latin America). One bus passé (full), another one came, stopped and left without us (full), so we were told a third one would arrive, and it did an hour [View Full Entry]

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Our shuttle driver was very helpful and made for a very quick border crossing! As we hopped along the extremely bumpy road on our way to Flores there was a continuous flow of animals in the road and the driver told us that due to the fact that many people do not own land here they buy animals and let them loose to grace by the side of the roads. We arrived in Flores by late evening, and just driving into the village situated on a lake I got good vibes. It was so peaceful and picturesque with little coloured colonial [View Full Entry]

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Maria, Sarah and I looked for accommodation, and what we found was ok for one night, but it reminded me of a rat hole! Placencia was not a place we wanted to stick around so we headed for the town of San Ignacio on the Guatemalan border. We drove through Belize seeing the lush green countryside as well as the dodgy looking towns of Belmopan, Dangriga. We rode the chicken bus from one place to the other and everywhere we looked we could see poverty unfortunately. We arrived at San Ignacio by mid day, a little but busy town filled with [View Full Entry]

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As I turned up for the briefing I saw the 14 other passengers for the first time as well as saying hello to the three crew members. Firstly we were informed that due to still bad weather we would be using a 35 foot sail boat in stead but not too worry as there would be space for everyone, and taking one glance at the boat, I knew that was a lie. I turned up at the dock at 7 sharp as I was told, had breakfast and waited patiently until 10 before the boat took off. During breakfast I met [View Full Entry]

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As I sat on my last chicken bus in Mexico and my first chicken bus in Belize I was excited at the prospect of warmer days, meeting new people and a new and different culture. I arrived in Curazal, the first big town across the border greeted by a mix of Creole and Mestizo. The people here were friendly, but I was fascinated to see that these Caribbean people did not seem to have the same relationship to music as I had seen elsewhere in the Caribbean. It was strange to hear English all around me again, and even stranger to [View Full Entry]

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The bus ride became a long sleepless one as we got pulled over a few times by the military to check passengers and luggage, and as morning fell and we though we could finally get some hours sleep, our bus broke down forcing us to rub the sleep out of our eyes yet again to move our bones and bags to another bus. I arrived in Tulum a little delayed but that did not matter, I had met three travellers on the bus and we all decided to get a cabin on the beach together. We arrived at Mariachi’s on the [View Full Entry]

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