We arrived in Flores on the 8th November (I think! Its like being in a time wharp out here). We spent two nights in the lovely quaint town lined with cobble streets and pretty colourful houses beside a lake. We stayed in a hostel called Los Amigos which was very cool, it was on different levels with lots of trees and plants and hammocks in the courtyard. They had a rabbit, a parrot and about 6 dogs of all different shapes and sizes. The food there was brilliant and we stayed in a 6 person dorm - our first full dorm experience since we arrived in poaya del carmen where there was only one other person on the last night. The dorm was full, mostly with boys which was weird but they were friendly enough. I had a top bunk in the corner and there was no wall next to me, just some straw beach mats hanging down from the wooden framed roof. We met Becki and Aaron who I went out with in Playa whilst Fi was stuck in Mexico and lots of other travellers from across the world. We managed to get some clothes washed there too which was nice!
The next day we got up at 4:30am to catch the shuttle to Tikal, a very early start and a very cramped shuttle but it only took an hour to get there so it was okay. Our tour guide was Caesar who spoke very good English and had a great sense of humour. The ruins of Tikal are set amongst a national park that is truly stunning. Felt like we were proper explorers in the jungle! We were guided around the Mayan ruins for about 2 hours and climbed to the top of Temple 4 which gave the most beautiful view across the canopy of the jungle and you could see the tops of other ruins in the distance. Oh and I STROKED A TARANTULA!! I asked Caesar to find one as I am going to try and get over my fear of spiders, he did find a red backed tarantula and it felt kinda soft like a puppy, but i couldnt bring myself to handle it asd it was all over the place running from hand to hand like a hamster and then ran up a guys arm and i couldnt handle that.
We returned from Tikal and went for a wander in Flores and bought some random bits and bobs from a tat shop. We then walked to the lake and I had a little swim, the water was really warm but not all the clear and there were lily pads floating around, i got out promptly when i started to wonder if there were crocodiles in the lake! We went out for dinner and had a nice pizza and then headed back and drank a couple of beers before hitting the hay.
The next morning we caught a shuttle to get to Lanquin and the long anticipated ZEPHYR LODGE! (I have had a picture of this hostel as the background of my work laptop for the months leading up to the trip). The shuttle was long, hot and arduous. I was wedged between Fi and a Guatemalan lady and barely had room to breath. We got stuck waiting to cross a canal and it was mental, cars and vans pushing everywhere to get to the dock and even a lorry with two horses in the back. It got so hot in the van when we stopped and we were sat at the back so rather than make everyone move I climbed over Fi and hopped out the window, glad I did as we were stuck there for ages.
We finally arrived at Zephyr at about 8/9pm after travelling on the most bumpy road ever! Checked in and were shown to our room, we were in the dorm but on an upper level by the window sharing a double mattress on the floor and right under the rafters, it was dark and i was super paranoid about the spiders. There is a tarantula that lives in the wall on the way to the outside shared toilets and I heard rumours of scorpions but luckily didnt see either the whole time i was there, phew! We had a quick shower, and went into the bar/social area where we again saw Aaron and Becki again who had left the day before us from Flores. they were playing a giant Jenga drinking game with other travellers.
The next morning I went on the Semuc Champey tour, Fi was feeling a bit rough and it really wasnt her thing. I went with Becki and Aaron and about 15 other travellers from New Zealand, Israel, America, Germany, Holland, Canada and Ireland. They were all in their 20s and were all awesome! Oh apart from one guy who was 50 originally from England but had been living in Brazil. The tour was absolutely amazing, probably making Caye Caulker snorkel trip the 2nd best day of my life. We went on a HUGE rope swing into the river which was super fun, I went for a double swing as opposed to dropping straight in the second time i did it and nearly took myself out on a tree. We then walked to the cave which was scary as hell. I stuck close to Laura, a 6ft 2 girl from california, i felt safe with her lol. We all had orange stuff from a plant that our tour guide picked and smeard on our faces like tribal people. Our tour guide was Carlos and my god he was insane. He was in the bar the night before drinking tequila and he was definitely still drunk when he took us on the tour the next day. He was cool though.
So we all wondered into the cave with our candles into the dark with crazy Carlos leading the way. We looked like some weird satanic cult about to perform a ritual. We had to swim in certain places and I scratched myself up pretty good on the rocks. We arrived in a place in the cave that had a high-ish ceiling and deepish pool so we climbed up to a ledge and jumped in, which was terrifying beacause there were rocks to the right that you needed to avoid and you cold hit your head on the ceiling. We then continued on in the dark and climbed up a little waterfall in the cave. The scariest bit was when we got to a hole about 4ft wide which had water gushing down it and we had to jump through it into the darkness. Carlos was on the other side, i jumped and hit my head bad on a rock and was then swimming around between Carlos' legs trying not to grab onto something I shouldnt! Eventually he pulled me up but it was terrifying! We made our way out of the cave and all survived.
We then walked to the national park and on the way stopped to jump off a 15m high bridge! Again, I was petrified. I didnt land too good and rather than belly flopping i took all the impact on my arse - ouch. We then continued to the park where we stopped and ate lunch and all shared a bottle of tequila. Bad idea because we then trekked for about an hour through the jungle up stone steps that were slippery and muddy. I was truly exhausted and thought i might pass out at one point. But it was so worth it - we got to the view point to the most magnificent view of the pools at Semuc Champey, it was stunning. We then continued on a very precarious descent to get to the pools. The water was gorgeous, chrystal clear blue and green pools. We slipped down from one pool to the other on a mossy slide on the rocks. I jumped from the high verge next to the pools into the water which was scary as you had to throw yourself quite far out to get into the water and not land in the bushes. We then got to the highlight of the day - a 20m waterfall.
I stood on the edge shaking slightly as I looked at the water crashing down beneath me and ahead at the rapids that were forming in the river and thought - 'f*ck it', so I jumped. It was insanse, that feeling of freefalling and not knowing if youre going to emerge from the water! But I did, and then had to climb up a rope all the way back up the waterfall, which was SO dangerous, if id have slipped i could definitely have died. But i didnt so thats good.
I was exhausted after the tour. We made our way back to the van and were all crammed in the back of a pick up truck with a metal frame, it was so uncomfortable, we had to stand and it was soo sooo bumpy. As we crossed back across the bridge we jumped from we stopped to pick up a local boy who had his arm in a sling. He was with his Mum and it his arm was in a bad way. I didnt see but a girl who knows first aid sorted out his sling as it wasnt done well and said she could see the bone through his flesh. Turns out he was chopping stuff with a machete in the woods and had caught his arm - ouch! On the way to Semuc, a man got in the back of our van with a machete, I wonder if it was the same one. We dropped them at the hospital in town and went back to the hostel for dinner and drinks.
The next day I was so exhausted with a slight hangover so we planned just to go tubing but it was quite cloudy and a bit chilly so we didnt. We just hung out in the hostel, its so beautiful in the social area, they have hammocks and long tables and no walls so you have a panoramic view of the surrounding jungle. The day before (after returning from the tour) we discovered that the water pump had broken so for the next 2 nights in Zephyr lodge we were without water - even to flush the toilets with! Me and Fi went to the toilets and had a wash under a bottle of water, we planned to wash in the river but it was 5pm by then and we didnt want to talk back from the river in the dark through the jungle!
The next day we left for Guatemala City to continue our travels. It was very sad leaving and again the shuttle took about 9hours. At Guatemala City we were picked up from where our shuttle stopped immeadiately by the driver of Quetzal Roo, a hostel run by australians. They were so so helpful and booked our onwards transport for us and the hostel in Nicaragua. The dorms were small and cosy and the whole hostel was like an apartment in a block of flats. Manuel (guatemalan born but with british grandparents) took us out for some dinner with an indian man a mexican man and an american dude, but turned out we were having dinner at the local fun fair! Manuel was like a kid, well, at a fariground! Hes 29 and hadnt been to the fair for 15 years. We ate Popussa, a cheese stuffed tortilla with tomato sauce and pickly stuff. They were so yum me and fi had two. Manuel then went on a ride with the american dude and then we went on the dodgems, somehow he managed to drag me onto one with him! It was such a surreal and bizarre experience and very funny!
The following morning at 5:30am we left to get the bus to Nicaragua. We got on the King Quality bus for the journey that started at 6:30am and finished, supposedly, at 11pm. The bus was AMAZING, huge reclining seats, basically an egg n bacon mcmuffin for breakfast and free wifi. We were in heaven. Until 6 hous later when we reached El Salvador and had to change buses to a crappy old King Quality bus that was hot and dirty and everything was broken. Plus we had to sit next to locals as there were no seats left together. That was at 12pm, for the next 11 hours we were stuck on this bus and it was torturous! We finally arrived in Nicaragua at 1am and managed to get to our hostel in a taxi where the doors didnt open from the inside and were just exposed metal, pretty scary at that time of night in the capital city. We went straight to bed and the next day booked our bus to costa rica. We got on the bus at 12 that day and should arrive in Costa Rica by 6pm - fingers crossed!
I am sat on the bus writing this now, they are playing ice age in spanish lol. This bus isnt so bad as its clean and not too busy. Shall post when i get wifi.
Until next time :) xxx
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