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Published: April 19th 2006
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Finca Magdalena
Dave¨s going to build us a house like this... Hello!
We've had a very busy few weeks travelling up through Central America. Our last efforts were from Costa Rica and since then we have travelled up through Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, Belize and we're currently in Mejico, country number 13 - phew!!
Nicaragua: We headed straight for Granada, rather than Managua (the capital for all you pub quizzers and v dubious). Granada is a very nice colonial town on the shores of Lake Nicaragua. From there we visited Isla Ometepe in the middle of the lake. Now you woudn't think a boat ride across a lake would be that bad - but this one was something else... I deteriorated into silence and Dave feared for his life as the waves rolled over the front of the 2 storey boat... The island was lovely and the locals v friendly. We stayed at Finca Magdalena a cooperative-run farm which produced coffee and fruit. On the second day we decided to climb up volcano Maderas. This was a hellish uphill climb for 3 hours in a foot of mud in the middle of a cloud forest. The descent took even longer and the mud is still with us....
Honduras: We then took
a mammoth journey all the way across Honduras to the beautiful Bay Islands in the Carribean Sea. The one reason for people coming here is to learn to dive. Litle did we know that this would be like going back to school!! We completed our lessons, homework and our exercises and before we knew it we were PADI Openwater divers!! Hooray. We went on a couple of dives in the beautifully clear waters and saw loads of fish, coral and mad underwater stuff including, Green Moray Eel, Barracudas, Angel fish, a Southern Stargazer and loads more. We loved it and now can understand the excitement of our diving friends back home.
Dragging ourselves away from the very horizontal island life we headed to Copan the first of our Mayan sites. This is one of the less well known sites but was well worth the trip. The carvings and buildings were really impressive and well preserved. We are now experts on the rulers of the Mayan empire in particular the life and times of one Mr. 18 Rabbit!
Guatemala: This large country by C. America standards has loads to offer. As it was approaching Easter we chose to head
18 Rabbit
He¨s got a lot to teach Tony B for Antigua. They celebrate Easter in a big way. On Palm Sunday one of the Churches paraded a huge float around on the shoulders of 80 men in shepherds costumes for 12 hours, whilst being kept in line by Roman Centurions. The float is carried over beautifully crafted carpets of dyed sawdust and flowers. Not as bizarre as it sounds this parade was very moving and extremely colourful. The all day event was helped along by lots of incence and loads of food.
We then took our lives in our hands and caught à series of 'Chicken Buses'- the celebrated and feared local transport of Guatemala. The ability of bus conductors to cram people in to buses is phenomenal - on one journey I counted 110 people and 3 turkeys!! We went to Santiago Atitlan on Lake Atitlan. Another crazy boat journey, which landed us in another crazy place. The Easter celebrations here are different from anywhere else in the world, mainly due to the fact the the main personage is not Jesus of Nazareth, but a man named Maximon!! I say man, he is in fact a 3 foot manekin, with a cigar in his mouth. This effigy
is paraded around town, given time to rest, bought new clothes and spoken about as if he lives. We don't want to cast nustertiums about this age old custom - it was a real experience to be part of, we only wish that we could have stayed until Good Friday when apparently he...... The villlage was a really cool place to spend a few days, the locals have their own very unique traditional dress and Spanish is only spoken by the younger generation.
Next stop Chichicastenango, for the largest market in Guatemala - a bit overwhelming but some more colourful and musical easter celebrations. With a briefstop in Guatemala City (average of 13 murders/day) we took a horrendous hot and cramped journey to Tikal in the North-east of the country. Tikal - the ancient Mayan capital set in the jungle was great with the added bonus of loads of wildlife. The enormous pyramids can be seen above the tree canopy for miles around.
Guatemala is another place where we could have spent much more time getting to know the culture with all its fine textiles, distinct people and ways of life.
Belize: Who knew that Belize was an english speaking country, or that it claims to be part of the Commonwealth? Well, not us. However, this became very clear at the border with the chaos of previous borders gone and an efficient organised queuing system in place. We headed to the 'Cayes,' small very low lying islands in the Carribean. We snorkelled with Sharks and Rays, sunbathed and enjoyed the island lifestyle with reggae and BBQ on every corner. Finding it relatively expensive compared to its neighbours, even for the now obligatory rice and beans combo, we headed ever north towards Mexico!
4 very different countries all of which we have really enjoyed.
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