Tulum, Mexico
The original plan had been to have 3 nights in Cancun before flying out from Cancun Airport to Europe, but after researching it ourselves and having fellow travellers tell us that they didn't enjoy themselves there, we decided on trying to find another place to spend our last few days in Latin America. The decision was Tulum, just 2 hours south of Cancun, but less touristy (as always though, still pretty touristy). We had been told Mama's Home was the hostel to stay at and despite a relatively large setback on our journey to Tulum from Belize (Nikki's credit card was eaten by a machine), we arrived determined to make the most of this awesome town.
Ironically, one of the first things we did on our first day was immediately leave the town and head north to Playa Del Carmen an hour away via Collectivo (public buses). While Tulum is nice, it doesn't have many shops and what we needed were clothes. The ones we had brought were sweat-stained and shrunken, so we topped up on some necessities and then headed back to Tulum (all before lunch- the two of us are nothing if not efficient).
That afternoon we headed to one of the popular attractions of Tulum, a cenote. There are many cenotes in the area and essentially they are natural springs. They are all incredibly beautiful and refreshing and we had a great afternoon swimming in the cool water and jumping off the rock face. We had grand plans the next day to visit some more of them, but unfortunately a torrential storm in the morning meant we weren't able to get there. We also had to skip out on the local ruins, but to be honest we feel like we've given ruins a pretty good run.
We spent our last night packing up and getting ready for the 30-hour journey to Athens. Nikki's opinion of her bag improved slightly after discovering she could manipulate its functionality (it has been the bane of her existence for the better part of 3 months). We were incredibly excited for the next part of our adventure and while we have absolutely loved South and Central America and all the wonders it has to offer, the prospect of new sights, smells and sounds are highly anticipated.
Ironically, one of the first things we did on our first day was immediately leave the town and head north to Playa Del Carmen an hour away via Collectivo (public buses). While Tulum is nice, it doesn't have many shops and what we needed were clothes. The ones we had brought were sweat-stained and shrunken, so we topped up on some necessities and then headed back to Tulum (all before lunch- the two of us are nothing if not efficient).
That afternoon we headed to one of the popular attractions of Tulum, a cenote. There are many cenotes in the area and essentially they are natural springs. They are all incredibly beautiful and refreshing and we had a great afternoon swimming in the cool water and jumping off the rock face. We had grand plans the next day to visit some more of them, but unfortunately a torrential storm in the morning meant we weren't able to get there. We also had to skip out on the local ruins, but to be honest we feel like we've given ruins a pretty good run.
We spent our last night packing up and getting ready for the 30-hour journey to Athens. Nikki's opinion of her bag improved slightly after discovering she could manipulate its functionality (it has been the bane of her existence for the better part of 3 months). We were incredibly excited for the next part of our adventure and while we have absolutely loved South and Central America and all the wonders it has to offer, the prospect of new sights, smells and sounds are highly anticipated.
Caye Caulker, Belize
Leaving Flores also meant leaving behind Guatemala, and after the heat and humidity of the past 2 weeks we thought we'd do it in style in a fully air-conditioned bus that would take us the 5 hours to Belize City. From here, a short 90 minute water taxi ride would get us to paradise - also known as Caye Caulker. Picture every travel magazine you've seen with that amazing island in the Caribbean surrounded by white sand and turquoise water that annoyed you because you'd never be able to justify going there - well we got there. It was our first venture into the world of Air BnBs as well and we weren't disappointed. Our host, Ariel, welcomed us into her home that was only one street back from the beach (and very importantly had fabulous air conditioning).
One of the big highlights of the island is that it boasts the second largest barrier reef in the world just off the east coast. After having to take a raincheck on a tour the first morning due to Dom's stomach not behaving, we ended up taking advantage of the opportunity and signed up for a snorkeling tour on our second day. We'd end up seeing nurse sharks, sting rays, a sea horse, countless numbers of colorful fish and plenty of coral which pretty much filled in the gaps of the sea life we missed swimming with in the Galapagos. Over the 3 days we had on the island, we'd consistently find ourselves lured to The Split (a channel of water the separated North and South Caye Caulker). Here, in the crystal clear ocean, we'd indulge in a few delightful ice cold beers and watch the sun set. Overall, it was a pretty nice stepping stone to get us from Guatemala to Mexico, and we couldn't have been happier to have stumbled across this little piece of paradise |
Flores. Guatemala
After a not so comfortable bus ride from Lanquin, we got to the small island in North-East Guatemala, Flores. It's a small island in the middle of a large lake with plenty of cool cafes and places to stay. The main 'purpose' of the trip to Flores was to visit the Tikal ruins- incredible Mayan structures about an hour and a half away, most famous for being in the first Star Wars movie.
The hostel we were staying at, Los Amigos, had a great travel agent with cheap prices so we booked a tour to visit the ruins on our first full day. It was a 'Sunset Tour' and we slowly made our way throughout the national reserve from late afternoon, strolling through ancient ruins and catching glimpses of animals flying through the thick trees. Our guide even tried to coax a tarantula from its underground lair, but didn't succeed. The ruins gave a sense of the enormity of the empire and it certainly wasn't an easy walk to get from place to place. We've been to a few ancient sites now and each time we try and picture people from the past going about their days. It's hard to imagine. The end goal is to reach the highest ruin for sunset and our guide got us there with minutes to spare. The view from one side looked back over the ruins we'd walked through, with the tops of the taller ones poking out like meerkats through the dense forests. As the golden orb of the sun got closer to the horizon, we went round to the other side and sat quietly taking in the view. It's only later thinking about it when we realised how incredibly lucky we are to be able to sit on an ancient building, filled with history and mystery and watch something that happens everyday, but is just mesmerising. An early night and we were up early for a nice breakfast and coffee, looking out over the lake. Flores is very laid back and we embraced the lifestyle quite quickly. We had plans to head for a swim in the lake in the afternoon, but found some great people to chat to at the hostel, so we simply sat and got to know them throughout the day (buckets of beers included). Then it was relatively early to bed to ensure we were up for our 4:30am start the next day to travel to Belize. |
Lanquin, Guatemala
We arrived in Guatemala City and great traffic and a good taxi driver got us to our bus to take us north. We soon witnessed the beauty of the country as we travelled a long winding road up and down beautiful mountains. Our destination was Lanquin, however our bus stopped in Coban, about 2 hours short. This was expected and we begun the hunt for a public shuttle to take us the rest of the way. We were pressed for time as a lot of things shut down around 4.30-5.00 and it was about that time. Eventually a local clearly understood what we were looking for and told us where to go...only for them to tell us that the last bus had departed for the day. Damn. Then some guy said he'd take us for $50 quetzales (basically 5 bucks). We'd been told $30 was the going price but we didn't care that we were being fleeced and our bags were chucked on top of the van while we crammed in back. Too easy.
The next 4 days were some of our favourites (we keep saying that). Lanquin is most famous for its natural springs and so our first day was a tour there with some others from our hostel, Zephyr Lodge. We stood in the back of a ute and made our way to the river. We got to jump off rope springs and bridges before then being taken into ancient caves - an amazing experience. We were given a candle to hold onto which lit our way for 2 hours as we swam and climbed and scraped through the caves. The final element was a rock jump from a couple of metres into a natural pool in the cave. Amazing. Then it was back out through a couple of rock slides to a waterfall for some more cliff jumps (it wasn't till the next day that we saw the warnings in the hostel saying to not do certain ones- all was well though!). We then had a walk up to lookout point which showed the springs themselves before we got to walk down and get in the crystal clear water and relax. We swam around and chatted, occasionally sliding down one of the natural slides that led into another pool. Then it was back to the hostel for an early night after a long day. The following day was a relaxing one by the incredible infinity pool that the hostel had. We read books, ate food and got to know a couple of fellow travellers. We arranged to go zip lining with some of them the next day, as well as river tubing in the afternoon. We very much enjoyed sitting in the tube, beers in hand, floating slowly along. The evening included a few more drinks and some games of pool, all while a big tropical storm poured from above. Then it was an early bus transfer the next day to our next Guatemalan destination, Flores |
Jaco, Costa Rica
The aim for this part of the trip was for it to be the 'holiday' within the holiday - meaning a bit of time to stop and do nothing. This sounds ridiculous as we've done nothing but fun things for 2 months, but we were pretty exhausted after going non-stop and wanted a chance to recharge the batteries.
Our place of choice was Jaco, on the west coast of Costa Rica and it couldn't have been more ideal. We had found a relatively new hostel called Room2Board and the photos online looked amazing. We took them with a grain of salt, but it very much lived up to our expectations. We spent the week laying in rooftop hammocks reading books and listening to waves crash into the rocky shore. We also took the opportunity to buy groceries and cook Our own food, which was not only cost effective but incredibly delicious. After 4 days of relaxing by the pool, we decided we should make the most of at least one local attraction and bussed down to Manuel Antonio National Park. It was hot and humid but the shady trees provided some relief as we peered up into them hoping for a glimpse of a sloth or monkey. Luckily we got to see both - the former being hilariously clumsy and slow. After a sit on the beach watching raccoons steal people's belongings, we decided to head back to Jaco. The hostel was offering a zip line tour at a local park and as Costa Rica is renown for this activity (there being over 2000 locations in which to do it) we decided to spend the morning of our last day doing that and we couldn't have been happier with the decision. As it was a Monday the place was dead and we had 2 guides to ourselves taking us through the 15 lines that they had set up. The views were incredible as we soared along and our guides were so enthusiastic to share their knowledge of the local area. This was followed up by a waterfall climb which took us to a freefall jump (similar to bungee jumping but on a smaller scale). It just got better as we then had a private tour from the resident botanist who explained how certain trees and plants are used by the locals and animals relationships with them as well. All in 2 and a half hours. Perfect. We headed back to the hammocks after that to enjoy our last afternoon (and for Dom to get through some more Game of Thrones- winter isn't coming for us though. Zing). For once we had a midday travel time so we relaxed through the morning and made our way to the bus that was taking us back to the capital San Jose. After a night in town (not a huge amount to do although the local soccer final was on- we just watched NCIS), we got up nice and early for an 8am flight to Guatemala City |