Moving on

getting ready to explore!

cave by candlelight

survived the cave! Thrilled to the bone

Semuc Champey, Guatemala

So it's been a while since we've updated... Let's see.  We left San Pedro after our rent was up, freshened up with a little Spanish to assist us in the Central American World.  We headed to the well known Antigua, Guatemala.  It was a long ride to get there, and a little bit of a disappointment once we got there.  It's a beautiful cobblestone colonial town but is jam packed with gringos, tourists, and expensive restaurants.  Not to mention the fanciest looking Mcdonalds we have ever seen.  There were chandeliers hanging from the roof and a fountain in the middle of it! Unbelievable.  After a couple days there we escaped to this beautiful hostel just out of town called Earth Lodge.  We had unlimited use of the sauna there, great food to eat, an amazing view of the stars and some crazy hiking trails.  It was a sweet escape, and a great place to relax.  Afterward we headed to Semuc Champey and stayed in a little village called Lanquin.  We stayed at the Zephyr Lodge which was managed by a fellow Canadian who hooked us up!  We saw the amazing waterfalls and natural pools, and explored a crazy cave filled with water and stalactites with only candlelight to guide us.  We got to climb up a waterfall with only a rope to hang on to, and slide down algae covered slippery rocks like a waterslide!  It was pretty Indiana Jonesy.   We explored a local cave and then waited until sundown to watch hundreds of bats fly out of the entrance. We floated down the Lanquin River, and spent a lot of time hangin in the sun and sleeping in hammocks for only 2 dollars a night!  We passed through Livingston Guatemala and spent a night in a little pretty town called Omoa in Honduras.   Now we made it to Utila in the Bay Islands and are working on our Open Water Diving course!  Tomorrow is our first official dive, so we'll get some pictures of cool fish and post em up.

the view from Earth Lodge, Antigua

Lanquin bat caves

Zephyr Lodge, Guatemala

a random cow stampede

Omoa, Honduras

Hola Amigos

Colourful cemetary in Chichi

Family shop in market

 Phew! It seems like it's been a long time since we've posted a blog. It has been quite a low key and relaxing time though so we didn't feel like we had much to write about. On January 29th we left Mexico and made our way back in to Guatemala. We took a long bus ride to a town called Chichicastenango. There isn't much to do there except on Thursdays and Sundays a huge market overtakes the town. People come from all over adn set up stalls selling all sorts of things. It was quite the transformation when we woke up on Sunday and saw the streets filled with stalls. So, we did A LOT of shopping and spent lots of time scouring the stalls. Let's just say our backpacks are a little bit heavier which is nothing to complain about. I plan on sending stuff home while Emerald has just been leaving things behind! We left Chichi after three days and traveled to San Marcos la Laguna which is a little town on the shores of Lake Atitlan. It's a small, quiet and relaxing town with a population of 3000-  a lot of which are super hippy travelers passing through. It was good to be somewhere relaxing because we had been traveling a lot the past week and needed some chilling out time. In San Marcos we hiked to a waterfall and then did nothing but swim in the lake and eat amazing food (mmmm currryy), we even joined in on a potluck at our hostel. Emerald checked out a spirirtual chocolate ceremony but that's a story for another day. Hehe On our last day in San Marcos we got up at 8 and met up with a guy named Guy to go paragliding! It was soooo awesome, unbelievably awesome! We bussed up to the top of a mountain and Emerald went first, she had to run off the side of a cliff and barely made it. It looked like she was running in the air because the sail was already picking her up. We both got to fly in the air for about 20 minutes each. We went over the lake and swooped down through the hills. It was a crazy view we had and we both felt like birds! hahaha. We landed in a field with a lot of cows and pies. I had a crash landing and scraped up my knee but I'm actually quite proud of my battle wounds and happy to show it off! teehee :) We're now in San Pedro la Laguna which is across part of the lake from San Marcos. We've rented out a beautiful 4 story house over looking the lake and volcanoes, with an outdoor BBQ and tons of kitchen space.  It is called the Casa de Parrothead.  (House of the Parrothead) and it is dirt cheap between 3 of us plus other friends who have been coming and going. In San Pedro we're taking Spanish lessons for the next week. We've already done 6 hours and it is pretty intense. There is A LOT to learn and it's hard to retain it all in my mind. We've been to another potluck and met many Canadians. We have yet to meet any Saskatchewanians though! Anyways, now we're off to make smores for our Spanish teachers.. we had to bring something cultural but couldn't really think of anything else that we could buy down here that would be Canadian. Maple syrup? I don't think it exists here. Adios! Pictures to come later :)

Britt is high

life's work

Emerald is really high

the view

laundry, backyard and a bean burger

hallway of our casa

central american pankekes mmmmm..

the view from our casa

our house mural and title :)

Howler Monkeys

We made it into Guatemala and to a little island called Flores.  It was a beautiful, tiny little island with a freshwater lake all around it.  We swam almost every day, and across the lake to other little islands too.  We met up with a couple friends again at this really cool hostel called Los Amigos.  It was by far the coolest hostel yet, filled with cool people, delicious food, animals, and a jungle theme.  It was so much fun there we ended up staying almost a week. One of our adventures included taking a boat across to another island and having a night BBQ of spicy sausage, potatoes and corn on the beach.  Then we hiked up to a place called El Mirador which is the highest vantage point around the area.  It gave us an awesome view of the stars, the cities around us, and the sunrise.  We camped up there with our friend Joe.  Initially, one of us was going to sleep on a hammock and two of us on the floor.  But at one point there was this HUGE, nasty scorpion climbing up the tree beside where we were supposed to sleep and after Joe cut its head off and we were all too chicken to sleep on the ground.  So we crammed the three of us into this hammock and tied ourselves all in so we wouldnt fall out.  It was one seriously squishy sleep.  But we made it through the night to watch the sunrise! We also ventured to Tikal finally, and bumbled around the ruins for a day.  We saw some incredible views and heard some crazy loud howler monkeys!  We also had the best sandwich of our lives at this little restaurant called Cool Beans in Flores, which we highly recommend if any of you end up going there.  It was a BLT sandwich on homemade bread with carrots, guacamole and mustard on it.  MMMM....... We had like 5 during our stay.  We then bussed to Palenque and trekked through the really cool ruins there.  It was like being in a jungle wonderland, they were the coolest ruins yet! There were gigantic trees everywhere, and water falls that would blow your mind.  We also trekked through the jungle with our five finger shoes (that have been awesome) and followed a waterfall nearly to the end.  We were taking a break after walking for a while and got stalked by a whole family of monkeys! It was really neat, they seemed to be as interested in us as we were in them.  The next day we took a bus to San Cristobal and it was the worst bus ride ever.  It was a long, bumpy, twisty, rollercoaster journey that lasted five hours.  Emerald got the worst motion sickness of her life, and is happy that she survived :) Here we are in San Cristobal now and so far is the true Crysal Ball of Mexico haha.  Its full of culture, art, cool buildings and interesting people.  But is it ever cold!! It makes us feel a little closer to Canada.   

Tikal ruins

Palenque ruins

You Better Belize It

Wow, the last few days have been full of adventure! We made it to San Ignacio in time for the big Saturday market that gets hosted every week.  People from all over the area come to sell their fresh fruits and vegetables, chicken, clothes, jewelry and whatever else they have to sell.  We saw some of the biggest carrots of our lives there.  We also bought two whole chickens and made supper back at the hostel we were staying at.  We cut up the chicken with three cool guys from B.C and had a big supper together.  It was a first time for everybody(cutting up a whole chicken)and I would have been more grossed out if those guys hadn't been making it so much fun.  The next day Britt and I went to Iguana Park with a guy from the U.S.A named Ben.  We saw some HUGE iguanas that were bright orange and striped and also some little green and black ones.  We started talking to one of the locals named Douglas and he ended up taking us on a really cool canoe ride up and down the river.  Then he took us to meet up with his family/community and we went IGUANA HUNTING! It was crazy.  They brought slingshots with them and we met some of their friends with a shotgun and they shot them out of the trees.  One fell into the water about a foot from my head and the guy I was in the boat with jumped right out like a dolphin and fished it out of the water.  Then they brought us back to their farm where we picked fresh oranges off their trees, and played soccer in their big open field with about twelve of us.  Man, those Belizeans have quick feet. There were cows, kittens, puppies, pigs, roosters and chickens all around us in the field. We tried our best to avoid the cow pies. We saw some HUGE pigs, about 350 pounds. Afterwards they chopped up the iguana and made this delicious iguana stew with lots of seasonings.  They also cooked up the iguana eggs.  Britt and I tried both, and man that was an experience. There's a first time for everything right! It was a crazy day, and we've had so much fun in Belize.  The people have been so great and the weather has been beautiful. We're sad to leave but it's time to see Guatemala.

Crazy Canadians

Iguana Stew