Another land border – Guatemala into Belize then a week at leisure
Our transport arrived at the door of our guesthouse in El Ramate, Guatemala about 20 minutes late having come from Flores and as far as mini-buses go didn’t look too bad. We were pleased when they put our big bags in the back rather than up on the roof. The girls carried their bags on board and along with our day packs we found some seats and settled in for the ride. Or so we thought…. About 20 minutes up the road we pulled over at a crossroad and a couple of the local guys opened up the bus and started taking our bags out again! Ten...
read moreUnder the Ceiba tree: The World of the Mayans part 2
The following afternoon around 3pm we took a transfer to Yax-ha, the third largest Maya city in the region and located on a ridge overlooking Lake Yax-ha approximately 30 km southeast of Tikal. Although the children’s entry in Tikal was free, Yax-ha was not and when we questioned this, the guards standing around the ticket booth all seemed to raise their automatic weapons. As the place was practically deserted (we only saw one other tourist during our time here) I thought it best not to rankle them any further so gave them a big smile and...
read moreUnder the Ceiba tree:The World of the Mayans part 1
After spending our first few days at Flores, we were ready to begin exploring some Mayan ruins, and where better to start than Guatemala’s most famous: Tikal. We moved around the lake to El Remate, a small woodcarving village of approximately 370 families, located on the east end of Lake Petén Itzá, for the next four nights staying at La Casa de don David (although we didn’t get to meet that David) #1 as voted by Tripadvisor and Travellers Choice for 2013 at around $82 per night for a private room with two double beds. It had plenty of...
read moreDIPS in Flores, Guatemala
To save a ten hour + bus ride, we took a 1 ½ hour flight with TACA from Guatemala City to Santa Elena about 3km from Flores where we had booked three nights’ accommodation. We stepped off our commuter plane and, even though it was after 7:30pm, we were engulfed by smoke, heat and humidity. With the rainy season on its way, the farmers apply the practice of burning fields then waiting for the rains to bring new grass for their stock animals. Flores is a small island situated in Lake Peten Itza and has a permanent population of...
read moreGringos in Antigua, Guatemala
Almost from the time we walked out through the Guatemala City (GC) airport doors, we felt as though our journey had come full circle and we were back somewhere in Asia. Far from the organised streets, polite citizens and manicured gardens of Naples, GC is busy, roads are chaotic, and potentially dangerous. For this reason we decided not to stay in GC but instead headed directly to the ‘old capital’ of Antigua Guatemala (meaning Ancient Guatemala), about an hour to the south-west (not to be confused with the Island of Antigua in the...
read moreNaples to Fort Lauderdale via the Florida Keys
Hire car really is the most convenient and cost-effective way for us to get around the States, so we booked another car with Alamo which would have us dropping off the car at the Fort Lauderdale Airport in two days’ time ahead of our flight to Guatemala City. Andrea took David to Naples Airport to pick up the car and he came back driving a sleek black compact-size Chrysler. Having accumulated so much ‘stuff’ including all the winter clothing and not wanting to lug it around Central America for the next six weeks we had researched...
read more“A journey is best measured in friends, rather than miles.” – Tim Cahill
Through one of my first jobs in London in the early ‘90’s I met and worked with people from all over the world. Ghanans, Polish, Somalians, Brazilians, and of course always heaps of Aussies and Kiwi’s. It was here that I met Alexandre, a Brazilian guy who I subsequently travelled with and later lived for some time with his family in Brazil, while also fitting in a bit of travel through South America. I was welcomed by his family in a way I had not experienced before – with real warmth and with genuine care and infinite...
read more‘Too blessed to be stressed’ – DIPS in the Caribbean Part 2
Curaçao (as in Blue Curaçao) located just off the Venezuelan coast was where I woke up on my birthday – how lucky am?! After opening a few small gifts and after my breakfast of choice – fresh fruit, scrambled egg and smoked salmon for breakfast we head ashore. Again with no excursion pre-arranged (we prefer to wing it than pay exorbitant shore excursions); we walk off the ship with the snorkelling gear under our arms in the hope of seeing some of the elusive Caribbean coral. We walk through the main port area and out...
read moreDIPS in the Caribbean. Part 1
Aruba, Jamaica ooh I want to take you To Burmuda, Bahama, come on pretty mama Key Largo, Montego, baby why don’t we go? Ooh I want to take down to Kokomo ….. ever since reading about the destinations of the Caribbean cruises I couldn’t get this song out of my head – sad, but true. After the success of our cruise around the Mediterranean, we knew that another cruise would be on the cards again and where better to experience mass people moving by ship than from the Cruise Capital of the World – Miami! This...
read moreOrlando – playground of the USA
Our JetBlue flight touched down in Orlando, Florida and just like that we had no further need for the cold weather gear we had used almost daily for the past four months. We were now surrounded by sunshine, tropical plants, and loud Americans in bright, colourful summer clothes. We had a car booked with a rental company, and made our way down to the service desk after collecting our luggage. Of the vehicle sizes available (economy, compact, midsize, standard, full size, SUV, etc..) we had opted for the ‘standard’, which should...
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