Rio Dulce, Guatemala

May 29-31

Rio Dulce is down the river from Livingston. The town itself isn't huge, but most of the hotels and hostels are spread out across both sides of the river, most of them only accessible by boat.

I made it to Rio Dulce late in the afternoon, with just enough time for a kayak. I paddled down the river until I found the castle.

When I came back I had a little swim, including a few jumps from the rope. I later found out that a crocodile lives in this water! Eek.

I met a bunch of people at the hostel and we played cards for a few hours before settling in to watch a movie for the evening!

Next day, I headed off with Seth (Aussie) and Mackenzie (American) who I'd met at the hostel. We took a bus to Agua Caliento - which translates to 'hot water'. Here we found an amazing waterfall with a huge pool to swim in at the bottom. The water in the pool was really warm. The water coming from the waterfall was HOT! So hot that you wouldn't want to be under it for very long.

There were sections where you could go under the waterfalls and into little caves, just shallow enough to stand. In the caves it felt like a sauna, because of the hot water coming down from the waterfalls. Upon exploring further we found more caves, where some of the water gushing down was hot and some of the water was cold. I'm not entirely sure why this is, as it all seemed to be coming from the same place! Strange! 

We climbed up the side of the waterfall and found hot springs up the top. The water was scorching hot. I couldn't dip my fingers in for more than a split second. The water goes from the springs down into the falls, so I guess it's marginally cooler once it gets down the bottom. We were also told that the mud up there was great for exfoliating...so we covered ourselves! 

Once we'd explored every inch of Agua Caliento, we went back out to the road and waited at the bus stop to make our way to Boqueron, a canyon. Before long a truckie pulled over and offered us a ride! It was much more spacious than it looked. Seth took the front seat and Mackenzie and I sat in the back..in what seemed to be his bed! The whole time he drove with one hand on the phone, one hand on the gear stick and one elbow on the wheel. Always safe driving in Guatemala...

The canyon was really cool - absolutely huge! Pictures don't do this place justice at all because you'd never be able to capture how high the cliff edges go up. We hopped in a canoe and paddled down the canyon until it reached a couple of boulders blocking the way, then explored a little further by foot. 

After all this, we were pretty exhausted. We spent the evening chilling out at the hostel with a few drinks and some more card games.

Time to go learn some Spanish! 

MUUUUUUDDDD!!!!

Livingston, Guatemala

May 28-29

Livingston is a really interesting place... A strange mix of Guatemala and Belize - which are such different places. It is a little town situated right where the river meets the sea, up on the Carribean coast. However the beaches are disgusting- incredibly littered. There are some nicer ones slightly out of town. One pretty cool thing about Livingston is that it's only accessible by boat, there are no roads leading out. 

My first afternoon in Livingston I got my bearings and relaxed in a hammock (had to get out of the sun..so hot!)

In the morning I went on a little boat tour. Being on my own, I was hoping (and assuming) that I would meet other people on this tour - but I was the only one! First I was taken to Seven Altars which was a bit like Semuc Champey but not as impressive. There were a series of little pools connected by waterfalls. A nice walk!

Then we went to Playa Blanca (meaning 'white beach' because of the sand) It was certainly much nicer than the beaches in Livingston, largely because it is regularly cleaned - for this reason you have to pay an entrance fee. I had a wander along the water and it is quite clear where the maintenance stops! So much litter...

Returning around lunchtime, I decided there wasn't much else to see in Livingston & organised to get a boat that afternoon to Rio Dulce, which is just down the river. I was told it was a 'scenic' boat that made a few stops, but I think I was on the return trip, with all the people who'd already done the sights... So it just went straight to Rio Dulce. Quite pretty though, going through the jungle by boat!

Placencia, Belize

May 25-28

Matthias and I both needed to get to the south of Belize to find our next destinations, so we thought we'd have a stop on the way - and decided on Placencia because we were told there would be beautiful beaches and a chance to swim with whale sharks!

The journey from Caye Caulker to Placencia has got to rank as the worst yet. It is not particularly far but was incredibly difficult. It involved lots of waiting, an hour of standing on a hot and crowded bus, far too much walking with my far too heavy bag (yes, it would seem I overpacked) and to top it all off..my watch went missing somewhere along the way! Either somehow stolen off my wrist or just fallen off. Hurrah!

However... Upon arriving we found a great hostel and met some really nice people. We spent the evening playing cards with others at the hostel. The rule was that the winner got to slap the loser with talcom powder at the end of each game! So...of course, I got a lovely slap of talc from Matthias. 

We wanted to go snorkelling the next day, but apparently it was too windy, which meant the water was too choppy. We also found out you can only see whale sharks at full moon..which it wasn't! Boo. Instead, we relaxed on the beach, swimming and reading our books. When we discovered that we were getting burnt despite our 50+ sunscreen, we headed back to relax in the hammocks at our hostel. 

In the afternoon we ran into an American couple that we met on the journey down. They were staying in a rather nice apartment and invited us to come round for a BBQ dinner. And it was delicious!

On our last day in Placencia we got to snorkel! The plan was to go to Silk Cayes, where there are lots of TURTLES! The boat ride out there was interesting! It was still mad windy, so the waves were enormous. We would bang down so hard after flying over a wave that one man fell off his seat. Twice... There were some parts where I'm pretty sure we were completely airborne!! After a good 40 minutes of this, the captain told us we were only half way and it was only going to get rougher, so he'd recommend we go to a different (closer) island - where we would not see turtles but would still get to snorkel. Everyone agreed that this was a better option. 

I didn't have a camera (as it broke a short while ago) so I am stealing pictures from google to show off how beautiful this place was. Soft white sand, clear blue water... Lined with Palm trees, decorated with conch shells... And no bigger than a football field. 

The island was surrounded by coral reefs, which our guide showed us around. Almost immediately he said he spotted a lobster, tucked away in the coral. None of us could see it so he poked his snorkel in to try and coax it out... Then out swims a SHARK!!! I got the absolute shock of a lifetime - apparently my scream was audible even underwater through my snorkel. Apparently the nurse sharks eat lobster, hence why he was in there. Eventually the lobster came out - he was huuuuge. We saw a bunch more along the way, as well as a ridiculous amount of beautifully colourful fish. 

After lunch and another snorkel we headed back, stopping off at Tranquillo Bar on the way. This place was reeeeally cool! It's a bar accessible only by boat. You can order your drink and sit out on a variety of inflatables on the water. While we were there we saw a spotted eagle ray swimming below us! 

 

That evening we got a ferry and a bus to Punta Gorda, where we stayed overnight in order to get the first ferry out in the morning.

Matthias and I boarded a tiny little 20-seater boat to get to Guatemala. About half way across, the skies turned very dark and they quickly got a few pieces of tarp out, so that each row could huddle under one through the short downpour.

I am very glad to be back in Guatemala, but with Matthias off to Honduras I've lost my whole travel crew! Time to explore on my own :)

Caye Caulker, Belize

May 22-25

Ryoko, Matthias and I crossed the border by foot into Belize. Upon arriving into Belize City, which appears to be rather dodgy, we took a ferry to the island of Caye Caulker. Apparently Caye Caulker used to be just one island, but some years ago a hurricane ripped through it and split it in two! The area where the two island split is, quite logically, called 'The Split!' The northern island doesn't have much on it at all. The southern island, where we stayed, was very touristy! At The Split there was a huge bar, mostly only busy during the day. There were also some very skilled people kite surfing and windsurfing around this area. Tourist hot spot.

We spent our first afternoon walking around the island. It is tiny! You can walk East to West in about one minute and north to south in a bit less than 10. Our hostel is right on the water, with a little private beach and deck area. I stepped in the water and could see that there were lots of fish. And then I noticed  MASSIVE stingray coming my way. Naturally, I screamed and ran out of the water! He was incredibly close and would have probably brushed over my toes had I not screamed and scared him away. Eek. It was then that I decided a kayak was a better option than a swim! We paddled around for a while before we came back to watch the sunset. We managed to see the stingray again - multiple stingrays infact! We reckon they're at least 1.5 - 2m in width. Massive.

The following day we went snorkelling! Having run away screaming from a stingray the previous day, I'm not sure why I thought this was a good idea!! It was just the three of us with a guide, a nice small group! The boat took us out to our first stop, the channel, where we swam through the beautiful coral reefs. We saw all kinds of colourful fish, but the most exciting animal by far was the EELS. The guide pointed out the first one, hiding under some coral. He clapped his hands to try and coax him out. Then the eel started swimming straight at him! Eeeeeek. It was so close. Scary. But very cool. We also spotted our first shark! This was equally cool, but less scary because he didn't come too close. He was just chilling down on the ground. Matthias even give him a little pat! We also held star fish, sea eggs, sea urchins and conch (which we had eaten for dinner the previous night without any idea what it actually was)

 

The next stop was 'Shark Ray Alley'....oh god. I was absolutely 100% shitting myself and contemplating not even getting in the water! But I somehow mustered up the courage to hop in (holding Ryoko's hand very tight!) They throw food into the water to attract the sharks, so when we first got in there were TONS of them fighting over the food. Then when the food ran out they spread out a bit more. 

Eventually I got used to them and ended up getting veryyy close to both sharks and stingrays. The sharks were about 2m and the stringrays max 1m- not as big as the ones we spotted the day before! They don't seem to even care that you're in the water, they swam right by us, so close that Matthias touched one of the stringrays! I really didn't know if I'd enjoy this, but I LOVED it.

The third stop was at the Coral Gardens. This was a shallow area with loads of coral. It was good to see all the coral up so close and we saw heaps of amazing fish.

 

  

Last stop before we headed back was to see the tarp. These were huuuge. The guide would throw food into the water and they would immediately snap it up, almost jumping out of the water in the process!

Unfortunately most of the rest of the time we had in Caye Caulker I was sick so I spent a lot of time lying in the hammocks at the hostel, under the shade. Not a bad spot to chill.

On our final morning in Caye Caulker, Ryoko departed early for Mexico. Matthias and I had a bit more time, so we squeezed in a kayak before heading to Placencia.

Flores & Tikal, Guatemala

May 19-22

Flores is a little island-town in the north of Guatemala. It is surrounded by a lake and just connected to the mainland by one bridge. It's very pretty and not too busy. Mostly tourists just go to Flores to get to Tikal.

When we got there, in the evening, we had a wander around and sampled some deliiiiicious street food and some happy hour cocktails. We spent the evening on the roof of our hostel, drinking and getting to know people from all over the world.

Our first day in Flores we spent mostly relaxing. In the morning, when it was already incredibly hot, I went for a swim.

In the afternoon Matthias and I walked all the way around the island. However, about half of it is underwater! Luckily only knee deep. The water levels must be rising. We had another swim and relaxed in the sun.

We got a boat across to a 'beach' (a little area with some nice little huts and chairs and tables, but not much sand..) to watch the sunset. The clouds got in the way...but it was still nice!

Very early the next morning we hopped on a bus to Tikal, in the hopes of  catching a nice sunrise. This is what we got:

Hmm. Just fog. Oh well! However, there were a few perks to getting there so early! Just as we drove into the park we saw a cougar running ahead of the bus! Very rare sighting apparently. We also saw crocodiles, raccoons, spider monkeys, howler monkeys (which sound like dinosaurs!) and a bunch of different birds. Being there early also meant that we beat the heat and the crowds.

After admiring the stunning sunrise we had a guide show us around the ruins. We climbed many temples and pyramids and explored the different resedential areas. The Mayans designed everything very carefully according to the sun and moon cycles. Some of the  buildings are still untouched since being built thousands of years ago, but many have been restored - partly for safety and partly so that you can see how it looked back then.

 

 

    

They also had underground 'houses' and 'supermarkets' which we got to explore. We had to crawl down on our knees, with a flashlight in hand, and mingle with the bats! Eek.

At one point our guide also found a MASSIVE tarantula which Corinna bravely put in her mouth! Matthias held it in his hands...and the tarantula pooped on him! Yuck.

 

Matthias, Jordan (a Canadian guy from our hostel) and I had a swim while we watched the sun set on our last night in Flores. It seems to always be very cloudy in the evenings in Flores but the sun was an incredibly bright red, making it a lovely sunset!

From here, our group splits! Ryoko, Matthias and I are heading to Belize to relax on the beach and Corinna is off to Mexico.

Semuc Champey, Guatemala

May 17-19

When speaking to people who are traveling through Guatemala, almost every single person says Semuc Champey is the highlight, so we had very high expectations... On the bus there (with Ryoko and Corina) we met Matthias who is from Germany. The four of us explored Semuc Champey together! We only had one full day there, so we tried to cram as much in as possible!

First stop was the caves. 

This was a lot of fun and a little bit scary (safety is never the priority here!) We walked and swam though the caves, each person with a candle in their hand to light the way. At times we climbed ladders and ropes, occasionally jumping or riding down 'natural slides' into the water. At one point we had to squeeze through a tiny gap, clinging to the guide for dear life, before he dropped us down into the water. 

Outside the caves there was a huge swing that went over the river. Too shallow to jump off it, but good fun.

Then we walked along the river to some waterfalls, where a few brave people rock-climbed to get a better view. We spent a while relaxing in the water and swimming under the waterfalls.

Next up was tubing! We hopped into our 'tubes' and floated down the beautiful green river. At one point locals (some of whom were children..) started throwing beers at us. They would say "Want a beer?" I would say "No thanks" ...and then they would hurtle one towards me anyway! 

 

After lunch, we hiked up to a viewpoint. It was about a million degrees at this point. The path was steep and (like most paths in Guatemala) not very stable. But the view was worth it!

We hiked back down to go for a swim. The water was incredible. Such a vibrant bluey-greeny colour, yet so clear. We moved about between the different pools, often jumping in - but sometimes sliding!

 

 

 

At one point, the guides took us to a teeny tiny little cave, that was only just big enough for us to pop our heads up in. 

In the evening we learnt a German card game and got free 'firewater' shots (a local rum-like liquor) for Corina's birthday!

A jam packed day! Excellent! And definitely the most beautiful spot in Guatemala so far.