Guat a country!

The third installment in my Central American trilogy snuck up on me in the guise of Guatemala. I'd been a tad relaxed on researching this leg of the journey. This meant that I arrived not knowing an awful lot of what to expect. We had a brief briefing from our superb CEO Susi, and she had been hinting about places and experiences yet to come throughout our journey.

We rolled across the border as it opened (late, as the officials on the Belize side were operating on Belizean time), and half asleep we drove on to Tikal. I was on constant lookout as we drove through the jungle looking for elusive jaguars. Apparently the 'rare' label isn't just a marketing ploy. That, or they don't just walk along the side if the road.

Arriving at the ancient Mayan temple site was exciting. We were led through the jungle by a local guide, stopping at various points across the vast site of ruins. We climbed a temple where the astronomers made sense of the planets, walked amongst the walls they called home and took in the harrowing wonder of the ball court. This is where they played a team death match. The 'winning' captain had the honour of being sacrificed to the Gods.

After a great struggle in the heat of the day, we climbed the tallest accessible temple. But the effort was worth it.

What a view. Jungle. As far as the eye could see. Punctuated only by the two peaks of the other taller temples.

After making our descent we managed to spot some native wildlife. Saw some monkeys high in the canopy, a few iguanas and a whole array of birds including turkeys (not the same as the Christmas kind).

Still no jaguar though.

Unbelizeable!

It's been a while since I updated this blog, so I'm going to use the excuse that I'm still working on Belizean time. The sign on the photo above isn't just for the few vehicles on Caye Caulker. Everyone on the small island lives life by the motto; nothing is done with any speed or taken too seriously. Unless if course it's the serious business of taking care of the rum punch.

Belize is such a beautiful and varied country I feel I won't be able to do it justice here. It has the incredible beaches you envision, but then they're challenged for the top spot by the tropical rain forests and fields (Jurassic Parks vistas)filled with birds (although a group hike failed to turn up any elusive Toucans!)

And the mix of people! Everyone was so friendly and laid back. You have Mayans, Spanish speakers, Mestizo people,  English speakers, Garifuna speakers, Chinese people, Mennonite people and so many more. It's such an exciting variety!

But one of my favourite things about Belize is that you're never far from a sweet treat. National Express coaches in the UK would be vastly improved if someone hopped aboard at every stop selling tarts and cakes!

Belize provided me with my first scuba diving experience. It was so breathtaking (figuratively and literally) I can't believe it's taken me so long to try it. Swimming mere feet above a giant sea turtle is a memory I will always treasure. Then chasing Kevin, our sail boat skipper / sea safari guide, to another exciting spot through the waves will never fail to make me happy.

The memory of sailing back into Caye Caulker, tired, listening to reggae music and with a rum punch in hand (when in Rome!), is what I came on this journey for.

Once upon a time in Mexico...

So, I made it to Mexico!
I'll be honest with you. I had a mini panic in the airport as I was waiting for my flight. Despite previously shrugging off lots of people's raised eyebrows at my adventure continuing to Mexico, I suddenly became very nervous.
What if my limited Spanish completely failed me? What if my credit cards stopped working? What if I got ripped off by the taxi drivers I'd been warned about at the airport?
I think this feeling of panic swelled more considerably as my Whatsapp had decided that morning would be the time it stopped working. So I was heading to a country where I didn't speak the language, alone, without my main form of contact home, and I hadn't got any Mexican pesos ready to go.
I had some worry issues that morning.
But fear not! I made it through! One lesson i'm starting to learn is that I worry way too much. I guess not everyone else runs through every worst case scenario in their head before stepping out the door. (Don't worry dad, I will continue to worry just enough to keep me safe!)
So, I changed money at the airport, met a friendly couple at baggage claim to negotiate the bus minefield with and my Spanish did me well enough to find my hotel safe and sound.
In all actuality though, most parts of Playa del Carmen require very minimal language skills. It's Mexico, but not as you know it. And from what others have told me, I was lucky to bypass Cancun, just up the coast, as it's even more gringo-ised!
Walking down the main tourist thoroughfare should be a competitive sport. You have to sidestep vendors outside their shops calling to you, blinding you with neon t shirts and tacky souvenirs, in addition to the food proprietors trying to entice you in. "No gracias," falls so easily off the tongue now.
But hidden there somewhere is the beauty of the real Mexico. The easiest gem to find is the view of the beautiful Atlantic Ocean, framed by white sand and windswept palm trees.
My morning strolls along the shore, before most tourists had arisen, were some of my nicest moments. The first pelican I met scared the life out of me; to my unaccustomed eye it looked more pterodactyl than seabird!
And I will be eternally glad that I chose to do a tour with G Adventures. Not only did it provide me with a fantastically interesting group of people, who I can now count as friends, to travel with, but our Chief experience officer Susi put every effort in to make it the best trip possible. Her local knowledge was indispensable; I knew we were in for a hell of a trip when on the second day we followed her to a wonderfully friendly and colourfully decorated 'real' Mexican cantina on the way back from visiting the ruins of Tulum, and I had the best lemonade of my life!
What could the trip possibly offer next to top that?

American wheels

I'd had a plan when I set out on this trip to spend a few days driving around Florida. I thought it would be a good way to see different places, and it would give me a little more freedom than my Greyhound-heavy schedule had previously afforded me.

But as my journey south continued, the doubts began to creep in.

I'd heard nothing but negative comments about renting a car in the USA. No website I researched would give me a clear price for the rental, or made it so confusing that I wasn't sure what I'd be signing up for.

Even then, if I made it through the rental process, I'd then be left to fend for myself amongst the crazy drivers, often taking no notice of the rules, on these giant, reversed roads.

I ummed and I ahhhhed as I tend to do; considered the alternatives, and in the end threw caution to the wind. I managed to find a good pricing system on the STA website and just went for it. After all, how many times will I get to cruise the open highway heading up the Atlantic coast in the Sunshine State?

In actuality the car didn't quite fit the free spirit image.

It was a Ford Focus.

But a bloody good one! Just over 500 miles on the clock, new car smell, very lovely to drive.

And drive it I did! When I first got to the garage and the employee of the year waved his hand at three cars, said "One of them." and walked off, I was about to call the whole thing off! But I persevered, found a nicer attendant to show me the buttons and such, and then I was on the road. 

My initial experience wasn't so fun; the roads and roadworks around Fort Lauderdale were just messy, for a lack of a better adjective. The closure of the main road I'd planned to take threw another spanner in the works. But every cloud has a silver lining; it gave me the chance to visit Denny's for sustenance and to re-work my route. 

After my eggs and pancakes I hit the road and never looked back. The automatic aspect proved a doddle (after a few phantom gear stick grabbing). And to be honest, it provided some of my most enjoyable times cruising along listening to classic rocks stations, watching the changing lagoon landscape of Florida accompany me on my journey. Admittedly it also provided me with one of the most stressful experiences too; never try to follow a GPS to Hollywood Beach hostel. Roundabouts do NOT work in America! 

Yet all of it made up a great chapter in my trip, and have given me skills, experiences and memories I never had before. I can't wait to get back on the road! 

Good ol' Southern hospitality

It was with a warm glow I stepped off the plane in Myrtle Beach. In both ways. It was a bit of a shock to feel the comforting, enveloping warm air of South Carolina, even at ten in the evening. 

I'd had a lovely conversation during the flight with a local lady from Myrtle Beach who spent her time flying to different schools across the USA, advising schools on improving literacy, so we tried to set the world to rights (see Cantell folks, I'm still on the case over here!). 

My warm physical feelings were accompanied by warm anticipation of the South Carolina coast. After a few weeks in cities I was really looking forward to some time by the beach. And the few people I met arriving in Myrtle Beach confirmed the Southern stereotype. They were friendly, helpful and almost made me suspicious! 

Friday morning I woke up to the sunshine and walked one minute to the beach. The warm sun on my face was just what I needed. When I headed back to the motel I met the owner and the handyman. Both were lovely and couldn't help me enough. Dan, the handyman, even practically begged me to borrow his bike to go for a cycle. 

By heck I'm glad I took him up on his offer. I spent possibly my favourite afternoon so far cycling up through the hotel area, along the boardwalk and past the sights. Everyone I passed smiled or said hello. I stopped to take photos, watch the sea, browse in tat shops, look at the fairground and generally people watch. I treated myself to a late lunch then went for the return leg. 

I cannot explain how pleasant this was. I must've been smiling to myself the whole few hours I was cycling. Maybe that's why people kept smiling at me; maybe I was spreading smiles (or looking like a simpleton!). 

As I got to the Southern end, the sun began to set and that quieter area could possibly have been even more beautiful. What a day. My sweet Carolina! I definitely will return to you somewhen. 

Washington D.C ...with the big guys!

It was quite exciting to leave the bright lights of NYC and arrive in Washington D.C. This was for a number of reasons...

1) I was meeting up with Emma who I'd met in Boston (yes, I made a friend!), which was nice as it meant seeing a familiar face.
2) I was getting to a quality hostel with laundry facilities (Woohoo! Clean clothes!)
3) Emma had booked me on a night time tour of the major Washington monuments.

This meant that I would save time, and I would have a knowledgeable brain to pick over questions that I have found inevitably arise for me around US political areas. My curiosity and interest has constantly been piqued by their legal / political system that continues to both baffle and amaze me.

The tour was pretty good. It started off worryingly with many more people than who had signed up (there's a process people!). This proved a problem logistically getting the whole group to cross the roads at once. (As a side note, the countdown on pedestrian crossings is starting to stress me out.... QUICK! I only have 55 seconds to cross the street!)

Fortuitously, we lost people along the way. Don't worry, they're not still wandering; dinner reservations took priority. So we could ask our lovely guide lots of questions as we walked the Mall, saw the Washington monument, the war memorials, The White House and countless other white, pillared buildings.

The best part was coming face-to-toe with the big guy. Good 'ol Abe. It was very cool to see him and the guides were full of interesting stories such as the two sides of Lincoln. My only qualm was that he didn't have any great wisdom to bestow upon me.

The next day I met some other big guys who were more animated (only slightly). We visited D.C zoo, which, because it's part of the Smithsonian was free to visit! It was a great collection of animals, gorillas, otters, elephants and I even saw a panda!

The best guys though were the giant tortoises and a weird, prehistoric looking, giant turtle thing. Nature is weird, but totally amazing. At the risk of turning this blog into a shell-athon, check out these big fellas!

Night at the Museum

During my time in New York, I probably didn´t do nearly as much cultural / artistic / worthwhile activities as I should've done. I left the MOMA unvisited, the MET was not high enough on my hitlist and the Guggenheim didn´t get me too interested. I almost made it to the David Zwirner Gallery (based on a recommendation by a charming art student on the bus into New York), but the queue was all the way round the block, and I´ve made a promise to myself to limit my time in lines as I´m getting older (life is too short to spend it queing).

Museum wise, I did get to the Museum of Native American History, only because I stumbled across it by Battery Park. It was a worthwhile visit though as it has an abundance of information and exhibits about the whole variety of indigenous people, from both North and South America.

Later that day I made my way up to Central Park to visit the Museum of Natural History. I had planned to get there later in the day as I´d heard that it was free for the last hour. Now I´m not a cheapskate (well, maybe sometimes), but as a sense of British pride, I begrudge paying to visit a museum where its counterpart in London is always free. So ten minutes before the witching hour of 4.45 I arrived at the mighty building. I was excited before I even got in as they had dinosaur shaped Christmas trees outside (what would Ross make of those?). And then as the clock ticked to the free time, I was let loose!

It really gives you a sense of urgency with a strict time frame. I think there´s a gap in the market for speed-museuming. You bypass all the bits you´re not really interested in and get to the good stuff!

And what some good stuff they have. My personal favourite was the car-sized skeleton of a giant tortoise. If Doug ends up like this, we´re all in trouble!

The museum also gave me a chance to see some of the wildlife I´d missed out on in Canada. Finally saw a Moose, Buffalo and a few varieties of Bear. The North American displays were possibly the most interesting as they gave an insight into the wildlife habitats that I hadn´t really learnt much about previously. I shall be on the look out for cougars and such like as we cross the desert in the New Year.

Although I only had a limited time, I thoroughly enjoyed my night at the museum. The limited time made me concentrate my plan of action on the areas that really interested me. Also, I didn´t leave with the usual museum-leg fatigue. As the security guards ushered me out (I really used every minute) I left smiling, especially as night had fallen and on exiting I was gifted with the most glorious view of the Manhattan skyline across Central Park.

I headed down towards the bright lights, but a little part of me wondered what was about to happen behind the locked doors of the museum.