Lots of different things to write about this time, so let´s try to be efficient and write less than a complete book :) Also, this post won´t be as “blue” as the previous one, promise ;)

So after the ocean, it was time for an environment that´s a bit more “hilly” - we took off to the Cayo district in Western Belize, to a place called San Ignacio. We used it as a base to explore two different Maya ruins; Cahal Pech and Xunantunich (hope this is correct). Both are very different, though equally impressive.

Next up were preparations for a day of celebration: Mayo´s bday (see comments on previous post ;)). We decided to celebrate this one in Hopkins, a pretty out-of-the-way beach town with hardly any roads, no cell phone reception … you get the idea! Stayed in a highly hippy-oriented place - the owners were interesting, our fellow guests were not (ask Mayo for the full story)! After some nice fish-n-cake meals :) it was high time to run off; on to Caves Branch, time for cave-tubing! Surroundings and caves were really impressive. Tubing was fun, though not very fast, pictures should explain it all!

Following this we had the intention to visit the Lamanai ruins (yes, another one), however once we arrived it turned out the place was one giant tourist-trap so we skipped it and instead crossed the border back to Mexico to visit the ruins of Kohunlich! The only way to get there was by hitchhiking, which still is good fun, especially if you need to watch out where to put your feet as the bottom of the truck was full of holes. Anyway, Kohunlich was impressive as it´s still mostly covered by jungle, and has some really nice Mayan masks.

Time to weave further up north; we ended up near Valladolid to swim in a cenote; a sinkhole filled with groundwater. Quite an impressive experience, and it seemed the water was even clearer than in the Caribbean Sea! As we wanted to blend in some more “wildlife-related” activities we decided to head further north, up to Rio Lagartos, where we made a tour through some mangrove forest (incl the marvellous number of one crocodile and lots of birds) and spotted some flamingos in nearby saliñas.

So much for this “diary-wise” post for now - hope you enjoy the pictures once more!

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Cahal Pech

On top of Cahal Pech

Xunantunich - skyline

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… or whatever way you’d like to pronounce yet another word for “island”! Arright once again! After almost a week of gray skies, it’s time for a little more sunshine, blue skies and oceans, palm trees, reggae, yah man, etc! (Look here for more terminology!)

After a little bus-and-boat ride we arrived on Caye Caulker, home to everything which is slow, sunny and very Caribbean! Time to continue enjoying the sun, swimming, snorkeling and … surprise … diving! The first few days mostly consisted of “decelerating” - after all the motto down here is to go slow. This appeared to be pretty easy, even wildlife seems relaxed when approached! We also made a brief visit to San Pedro… Madonna might have fallen in love with the place, we sure didn’t!

Our “plans” sort of separated after a while; Mayo went off to do an Open Water Diving course, however due to a cold she could not complete it. Yes - Caribbean nights can get chilly - trust us! She’s happy to receive some comforting messages from you guys though ;) René (that’s me!) on the other hand did another six good dives at the Turneffe Atoll, the famous Blue Hole and some other keys (or cayes…). Yep - the diving counter has really started rolling now! :)

Right now we’re off to the jungle again, back on the mainland (in the hills, even…). Our main “concern” at the time being is where we should be celebrating Mayo’s birthday (Jan 27 people - don’t forget! ;))! Any suggestions are welcome or course! And again, enjoy the pictures and to all you guys in Northern America and Europe - good luck with the weather!

Take care!

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Our house! ("on the middle of the beach")

Our view!

Rene's hammock + content!

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