Costa Rica 18.10.2011 - 23.10.2011

Costa Rica was always on our short list and kind of a step child of Central America to us. We heard it is very expensive and it looks like the United States. So our goal was to rush trough Costa Rica and to get to Panama.

So we crossed the boarder at Penas Blanca and took a bus to Liberia were we wanted to stay for a night to decide where to go. The town had not a lot of sight seeing places, but was just pleasant. We walked around to buy some important traveller stuff that needed refilling. We also refilled our cash bank and went to a ATM machine 520 Colones to 1 US Dollar! We felt like millionaires. With all the rushing we forgot our debit card in the ATM machine and were so happy and thankful when the costumer after us came running towards us with the card waving at us.








During the evening we decided for two destinations in Costa Rica. We wanted to try a volcano again, as the weather was not too bad today and we wanted to see a tropical jungle on the Pacific Coast.

The next morning we packed our now almost dry laundry and started to walk towards the bus station when it started to rain heavily. By the time we reached the correct bus station we were soaking wet.

We bought a bus ticket to the airport of San Jose as we had to change buses there. All wet we boarded this fancy bus with the way too cold air condition. We were happy when we stopped for a toilet break to dry our ourselves with the hand dryers in the rest rooms. The second part of the journey we were first stuck mostly in a traffic jam and then the bus driver rolled the bus into anther bus behind him and we had to wait for the police. As we arrived in San Jose at 21:00 instead of 17:00, we decided to stay for the night and take the bus to Alajuela the next morning.

We took a taxi to the hostel we decided on from the lonely planet. When we checked in we found out that the rooms for US$ 20 were already fully booked and the cheapest option is a double room with bathroom and breakfast for US$ 45. As it was late and we did not want to wonder around or take another taxi, we took the room. Our most expensive hotel room as of yet. The room was really nice and we had had a hot shower the first time since Mexico, at least it felt that long ago!

After a good night sleep we woke up to be surprised by this wonderful breakfast buffet. There was an egg station, great salads and bread, the best pineapples and fruit, no "Gaillo Pinto" in sight!!!

We walked about 40 minutes to the bus station and about an hour later we arrived in Alajuela. We dropped our bags at the hostel and tried to go to Vulcano Poas. We took a scenic bus ride and got stuck in a village called "Poas". As it started to rain heavily we took the bus back and wanted to try again the next day. We spend the afternoon by walking around in Alajuela when the rain stopped and returned to the hostel to work on some computer stuff.

The next morning we took the one bus that leaves Alajuela 9:15 to go directly to the Volcano Poas. The ride took about an hour and a half and it was raining very hard. On top of the Vulcano we walked to some of the view points were we were suppose to see the below:






But we saw this:






All wet we went to the visitor center to have some hot coffee and to wait for our bus to go back at 14:30.

A little sad about all the rain we departed that afternoon to get to the town of "Manuel Antonio" and were hoping for better weather at the Pacific Coast.

We got up early in the morning and entered the 2nd smallest, but the most visited national park in Costa Rica called like the beach town "Manuel Antonio" We got in a group with a guide and started our adventure and "YES" it was not raining and we even had blue sky!

The guide walked with us for about 3 hours and showed us a lot of animals we would have never spotted with our own eyes. The combination of Tropical Forest and beach made this park picture perfect. We enjoyed every moment of it and every moment without rain.


























After the tour guide left us to ourselves we walked a few trails that were very muddy or already closed off due to all the rain. Robert turned out to be also an excellent animal spotter and we were able to see a two or three toed (was not able to count exactly) sloth.








We also saw some monkeys having fun:








At about 13:30 it started raining again and we went to a hostel restaurant close to the park to have a lovely lunch.
Later this afternoon we picked up our backpacks and drove to a surfer hot spot called "Dominical". We never really got to know the small town as we arrived after sunset and got up the next morning at 3 am to catch the bus to the boarder of Panama at 4 am. Not to mention that the bus did not leave until 5 am.

For more pictures click here. Costa Rica

Nicaragua 09.10.2011 - 17.10.2011

As the bus we intended to take was already fully booked when we arrived at the bus terminal, we travelled to the boarder by minivan and had to walk through different controls. Chrisy almost wanted to turn around when the immigration officer asked each of us for $10. She said: Mucho carro! Honduras is mas barato! He only mumbled something in Spanish we didn't understand word by word, but I'm sure he said: just go back to Honduras...
As we didn't want to go back to, we paid. We got a receipt for the Nicaragua tourist fee we paid. An immigration fee came on top of that...






At the other side of this boarder area stood a chicken bus to the destination we desired. When we told the driver where we wanted to go next, he nodded and mumbled something. 20min into the ride he stopped and called a couple of times a name... I thought I heard it before. I also had the feeling that he tried to communicate with us. He was just about to give up, when I decided to stand up and go to him. He explained me that there was another bus arriving at this stop going directly to our final destination: Managua.
We packed our staff together and left the bus. 3min later another bus came. All the people at the bus stop were pointing out that it was our bus... When we boarded the bus they smiled and wished us a safe travel... How sweet!
Behind my seat I heard the noise of some excited chicken in a box. That's probably why you call it the "chicken busses". On our way more and more people joined the bus and through the backdoor huge bags of fruits and vegetables were loaded. In some towns people came in and tried to sell their merchandise. Most had fruits, nuts or home baked items, others sold superglue or markers... Very interesting. And after a while, some mor some less successfully, they would leave the bus again!?!

In town was a big fair close to the water. All different kind of amusement rides where build up and the queues were incredible long. On our way there all the roads where blocked by the police. A long convoy offset driving bikes, police cars and limousines makes us believe that it probably was the president. All for us... That wouldn't have been necessary! Seriously...

The city wasn't especially cultural mind blowing. And when we wanted to climb the stairs of an military memorial, a guard from a watch tower told us not to do so... I don't know why, but as he had a gun I better did what he said. We walked a little bit around and sorted out how to get to Granada the following day. Ev and Ingo where to join us on our way.





Granada is the Cash Cow of Nicaragua. Everybody heard about it and most tourist visit it on their travels. To be honest, I also liked the colonial style, the charm and the possibilities within the city. On the first evening we walked around and climbed on the bell tower of one of the churches.


















Our stroll through the streets gave us a good idea about the town and reviled some interesting places. So we watched some people weaving hammocks.






Or just the beauty of modified vehicles...







For the next day we wanted to do an island tour on the lake. The weather was good and Leo was a fantastic local guy who had his own tour company. If you ever go to Granada, go and stop by his office. You will see why you want to do business with him. We went on a three hour tour with the very knowledgeable guide. To get to the boat we had to take a bicycle. I took an old style Bonanza bike... Ask my big brother about how stylish they are!












The lake is a huge and the only lake in which you can find Sharks. They are called Bullsharks. There is a small passage through a river to the sea where they once a year go to get their doses of saltwater. There have been thousands, but there has been a big market with the Japanese, which caught them, cut the fins off and dumped them back into the lake. The big dictator Samosa had once a cage in the lake where he had some sharks in there. He wouldn't feed them for an extended period of time and when he had somebody who didn't follow his word, he would let them throw them into the cage and watch the sharks eat the person.






There are many little islands on the lake. Many of them have luxurious holiday homes on it. Some care taker would live on it to keep an eye on it. The story goes that if you come with some food and drinks, or money, you could stay at some of them...
There are some I would say... Why not?!?

Then there are others where local people still live in their old traditional way. No electricity, a couple of animals, living of the fruit and the fish. They take a boat and row to town to sell or trade their fish for products they need. We went to one island where a big family lived and shared an hour with them.

















One of the boys climbed on a palm tree to get us some coconuts. The water was very refreshing and the flesh very delicious.














The tour led us to a small island. The owner had 3 monkeys living on the island. One of the monkeys learned quickly, that tourist would do almost anything to get to see a monkey from very close. As nothing is free in this world, the monkey would get something in return. Of course, it's a girl who figured this out. So coconuts are very nice treat. But sodas, chocolate or beer are even better.











Chrisy was so kind to give another donation. The monkey smelled another treat and took the liberty to go through Chrisy's backpack and after opening all zippers she found some chocolate cookies in one of the pockets. She didn't take long to open the wrapper and start enjoying the sweets. Girls and chocolate. You can't stop them! After Lola (that is her name) finished her visit, she climbed back on one of the trees of the island. I guess she is still on a chocolate rush.... : I like the cookie....





We all enjoyed the tour very much, including Lola.

In the evening we visited a cigar factory where we got led through the different steps of the production of tabacco and how to roll a cigar. We celebrated the learned with a mojito and a cigar, what else?























Granada also hosts a chocolate museum where you can follow the steps from the cacao fruit to a praline. As you can imagine, it is impossible to hold to girls far away from such a location. Especially when there are free samples. Ok, I admit, I had some chocolate as well!


















Next we wanted to visit Ometepe... (eine Insel mit zwei Bergen...) to get there we took a ferry. Nobody had to feed the fishes, which was unfortunate as I didn't see any Bullsharks due to this. I couldn't find any volunteers to jump bleeding into the water either. I couldn't finish creating an evil plan to make somebody volunteer and my hopes that huge waves would sweep somebody overboard didn't come true either. Perhaps on the way back?!?






As it was late and our transport vehicle (a truck) got pulled over by the police, we walked in the dark to the hostel for the night. As there was a power outage, we were happy to find a street side restaurant which had a charcoal grill build out of barrel where we could eat some delicious food in candle light and drink beer out of liter bottles. We only did this to safe our nature from unnecessary many small bottles.

We spontaneously found a guide who was willing to take us up to the vulcano Conception. Our guide walked through half of town to different stores so we were able to buy some items for breakfast and lunch. Our journey commenced at 4am and we were prepared that this 10 hour hike to the summit of the 1610m high vulcano might not bring us a view, as it is known that often clouds are covering the top. Especially now in the rainy season. So it didn't take long that it started raining and after only 1 1/2 hrs there was a strong smell of sulfite in the air. We at least managed to get out of the jungle area and come to an area with overgrown vulcanic rocks.


To be continued... (completed)

Honduras, Roatan Island 04.10.2011 - 08.10.2011

We arrived late in La Ceiba and stayed with a Danish couple in a hostel.

From La Ceiba we took the Tropical Wave ferry to get to Roatan on a 1 1/4hrs ride. Together with the ticket we got a pill for motion sickness. Chrisy must have had this look on her face... Luckily the sea was pretty calm and we did no have any problems.











We had a good view on the mainland and realized how mountainous Honduras actually was. At our arrival a bunch of taxi drivers were waiting to rip us off. The official rate was supposed to be a couple of dollars and not US$20 as they claimed to be. When I started walking away one of the drivers dropped his price drastically, but I am very certain, that he still ripped us off. A 20min ride brought us to West End, a small town known for diving and many bars and restaurants. As our old couch surfing friend Joshua worked at Native Son diving shop, we went there. He was on a dive when we arrived and we checked into Chillies, which belongs to the shop. It had a wonderful garden with colorful plants and many trees. There are little wooden cottages for rent, all in a very good condition and with a lot of charm. My daily breakfast where small mangos which fell from the trees. So small fruits and so delicious...























Joshua did not feel to good this day and we made an appointment for the morning for diving and sent him to rest. We in the meantime went to enjoy the sand and a romantic sunset with frozen margarita and daiquiri. Not too bad though. Our room was comfortable and we slept very good.

Our first dive after 4 1/2 years was together with Morris, who spent the last 4 weeks here diving and this was his last dive. He choose a location called Blue Channel which was located just in view of the shore close by.
Morris and Joshua didn't promise too much when they were saying that this dive side was mind-blowing... It was not too deep with 19m and the walls at the beginning were full of coralls and fish. When we started to dive into dive throuths and little canyons it started to be very special. Thousands and thousands of silverside fish filled every centimeter. Everything was silver and it was almost impossible to see the walls as they only would move out of the way in the very last moment. We dived threw caves and more canyons. It was absolutely amazing. I haven't seen anything like this before. When I looked up towards the surface it almost seemed I could see the bones of the small fish. There were so many that I even lost Joshua for a moment as he was 1 1/2m away from me and the fish took my visibility. We found eachother again and after over an hour we were back at the boat. Wow, what a diving experience...
In the afternoon we went to another dive site with Ricardo. Another beautiful dive with fantastic weather the entire day.











The evening we went and ate Lionfish at Joshua's place. They hunt them on the island as it is an intruder into the environment and a big thread to tho local fish, as they dodn't have any enemies and over populated in the last 2-3 years. So it was a "green" meal, as we supported the environment.

Next morning it was raining and it was colder outside then in the water. First we brought our laundy next door to Jimmy who would finish it by 4pm today. To get wam we quickly went diving at 9am. This time we dived down a wall to 35m and Joshua killed some Lionfish on the way.
When the lid of the bucked with a couple of dead lion fish opened and 3 big fish floated out, he felt a little under pressure. Not only he wanted to avoid to get stung by the very painful spikes of the fish, but also he didn't want to loose his hard earned fish to predators just waiting to eat a dead fish. He was able to catch 2 of the fish and put them back into the bucket and push a big fish away which tried to catch the floating food... Just when he wanted to catch the last one, a big snapper snapped it away in front of his eyes. These one was very big and he couldn't believe what he just had to witness. I hoped he would not start crying...

He Managed to bring 4 nice exemples back to the surface. The rain made the ride back to land very cold and we had first a cup of tea before we went for our last dive. This was full of nice little canyons and many different corals we enjoyed it very much. Time flies by and this 55min were over too fast as well.











With 8 lion fish in the bucket we went back and the young captain started cleaning them and made sure to cut all the spikes off with a pair of











scissors. I made filets out of them afterwards and went to by some fruit from a car standing at the corner. When i wanted to pick up the laundry, Jimmy informed me that it was not ready and that I could pick it up at 5pm the next day. I didn't think this time was very convenient, as I had to catch a ferriy at 7am. He promised to do his best and asked me to come back at 5am, then it would be dryer... Great!
I cooked some kind of chutney ot of the mangos and the hogs plums I found in the garden. I also cooked a stock out of the bones and some vegetables. We first had some vegetable and fish stew, then lion fish marinated in ginger, lime and tomatoes and for a finale the fish with the chutney. It definely was very interesting and delicious. We had a fun evening and at the end of the night we walked back down the road with nice fresh mud high up to our ankles.

I went over to Jimmy's house and called for him. Shortly after all dogs in the neiborhood starting to tell me that it was very early in the day... As I didn't already know.
Our laundry was in his garage and a fan worked hard to get the cloths dry. With not that much affect. Everything was damp and now also smelled of petrol! Fantastic! So we took some bags and stuffed everything inside, as I told him I could live without folded wet clothes after he started the attempt to fold them up for us.
So we packed our wet clothes into the backpacks and our driver which fought with another one yesterday to drive us (then for only half of what he asked at the beginning) was waiting for us on the street. Now we are on the ferry back to the mainland and then to a bus to come to the capital with the name nobody is able to remember.

There we will have a night before taking a bus tomorrow to Nicaragua.

For pictures click here

Roatan Island

Guatemala 18.09.2011 - 03.10.2011

After a ride on a boat to cross the boarder, we arrived in Guatemala.
We were already been awaited by locals on land, who wanted to change our money for us. They didn't wait until we left the boat and were already offering their service to us. After we filled out the immigration papers and waiting for our us driver to decide the best time to leave we finally boarded the little bus. It was another 20 min ride to the Guatemalen immigration office.








Whilst waiting for my turn to talk to an officer I could observe a very young girl going between the banana trees to do her business. She was just about to be finished, when a couple of half starving dogs came and pushed her away and started to go over her products... She stood therewith a bowl in her hand and hit the dogs on their heads. They were not impressed and didn't let them disturb by the little girl. She stood there in here little dress, the bowl in the hand and didn't know what to do.

The immigration process was short and flawless. As long as you pay the 40 quezal fee, everything is fine. The next 2 hours led us over bumpy dirt roads and it was a rough ride in the little bus. When we hit paved roads, all passengers started clapping and were thankful that we made it. The next 1 1/2 to Flores went by a lot faster.

What happens here in these countries is when you arrive to a town, is that a lot of people come up to you and try to bring you to a special place they recommend, so that they can get a commission. In our case a person already. Joined us for the last 20 min of the ride. Hesse very good in connecting with everybody and his person skills were exceptional. He could talk many different languages and had something funny about him. Most of the people in the bus decided for a different hostel after arriving in Flores. As we could get a private room for the same money in his hotel, we chose this one. We also where able to get a good deal on a tour to Tikal for the following morning and a bus ticket to Antigua on the night bus. After it is possible to bargain, as many tour operators are there and compete against each other, it is possible to get prices cheaper as they start of asking for.










Flores is a beautiful town on a little island. There are many little restaurants and bars along the shore. We ate some fantastic food in a romantic atmosphere. We went early to bed, as our tour started at 4.30am. We packed our bags and stored them with the hostel. A small bus came to pick us up and drive to the Tikal ruins. There was Luis our tour guide, who took us on our experience through the jungle to the old ancient buildings and history. After 5 minutes he was already able to show us a beetle the size of an egg. It was some kind of beetle with a huge horn.








We shortly after came to a pond where he was able to attract the attention of a crocodile, which come close to the shore.

The Tikal ruins are in the middle of the jungle and only a small amount of the over 1000 buildings and pyramids is uncovered.








The rest of this once open and wide city has been taken by the nature and is covered under soil, greens and trees. Luis was a very knowledgeable guide not only about the history about this place, but also about the flora and fauna of the jungle. We where able to see colibris right in front of us, a grey fox leading the way up into a pyramid, spider monkeys playing and jumping from tree to tree. he even found a tarantula the size of his hand which he picked up and enabled us to take spectacular pictures of it.








He imitated the calls of the howler monkeys so well, that a entire concert of howling came together and we got a glimpse of them as well. The ruins where absolutely amazing and the mastermind architects have to be praised for their skills. We climbed all the steps and got breathtaking views from the highest one. Overlooking the jungle we could see the tips of the other pyramids and understand what the magic behind this place was.








On the way back we also understood why the tour started so early in the morning. Not only saw we most of the animals in the early morning, now it was very hot and the first thunderstorms announced their arrival. We only got a little wet when we all arrived very tired back at the bus. I am sure that we all slept on the ride back into town.

As we didn't have a rooms anymore we spend our remaining time in the lobby. A nice Austrian girl let us sneak into her room to let us have a shower to wash the sweat away of the day. Then we took the 12hrs bus to Antigua overnight. In Guatemala we had to change into a minivan for the last part of our journey. The bus terminal was very busy and dirty. That was partially due to the fact that every bus produced huge black clouds out of their exhausts. But hey.... when you are that pretty it doesn't matter, right?









On the road we saw the best person transporter ever. It was a auto scooter mounted on top of an pickup truck. A person was sitting in it, holding the wheel... Hilarious!

After finally arriving in Antigua we were so tired that aft checking into th Jungle Party hostel, we had a little nap.


















Refreshed and full of energy we went on the cobblestone streets to discover the beauties of the city. It is magically located at the foot of a vulcano. The charm is in every building and and every stone.








The colonial buildings are in stunning colors and great shape. It once was the capital of Guatemala before a eruption destroyed most of it and the capital moved to Guatemala City. The city was supposed to be abondend, but the inhabitants loved the is city so much that they stayed and rebuild it into it's former glory.


















As we passed many Spanish schools we. Had the spontaneous idea to go into one and talk to them about their offers. We walked into one of them and Julio, the son of the professor assisted us. We felt so comfortable and signed up for a 7 day course with 5hours a day and a home stay with a local family, including breakfast, lunch and dinner.


















Bedia welcomed us next morning and started lessons with us immediately. All classes are usually on a one-on-one basis. There are even classrooms on the roof top terrace with view on the Vulcano. The school even offered free activities in the afternoon where a teacher took a group of interested students to different places. So we went to the cemetery and a church. We also visited the cross on the top of the city and the market. On a market you can see everything... From toothpaste to any kind of vegetable, fresh and not so fresh meat, fruits and vegetables, craft and live stock. It is an experience to walk through the huge markets little passways and look at all the vendors offers.




































School was great, but within a week you can't learn everything of a language, however we have now a lot more possibilities to communicate and understand then before our classes. Now we have our little cards to learn vocabularies... The food at our host family was delicious and I ate everyday like a horse. I can't remember when I ate so much! It was a fun family which hosted 2 more students at the time we were with them. It was easy to build connections to other students and we spend time in the evening to do different things like going for a drink, go for yoga classes or go study in one of the cafes.

After our week of lessons was over we decided to go to San Pedro At lake Atilan. A little town at the shore of a lake surrounded by volcanos. We arrived later then expected due to some landslides which covered parts of the streets. The hostel we found was nice and had a nice garden cafe where we could relax and have some food. We rented a kayak next day to paddle along the shore for 3 hours. Our "sun protection" was more a moisturizer then a protection and so we got a good sunburn on our legs, arms and face... Wonderful! But our excursion was nice even though the last 30 min it was raining.




































It is a true pleasure to watch people work. In the hope that our cloths wouldn't end up in the lake we went on a search for a place which could live up to this challenge...


















As we wanted to see the most amazing places, we got up at 3am to get picked up by the person who sold us the night before a guide to get up to "the Indian Nose". As he forgot to tell us, we had to get a transport to the next village. To do so he brought his bike with him. Chrisy only looked at me and said: it's the first time on a bike for me! Do you think he has a helmet? LOL... I only thought: it's the first time for me with 3 people and 2 small backpacks on a bike... I smiled and said that it will a piece of cake and so we sat on the bike (well me on the lagguage frame) to go up and down in this hilly area. To get around the corners of the narrow roads we had to risk a little bit... Then there was this long steep hill and the bike did not have enough power to get the three up there. I jumped of the bike and ran next to it. If I would have known how long the hill was, I probably would have said: try harder... When I caught up with them on the top I was a little out of breath, but definitely warmed up for what was coming next... The next 2 km went over dirt roads with deep potholes, so this time we jumped up and down on top of the bike. Good that my mum didn't see it...

We finally arrived on the mountain which we intended to climb. As it was pitch black, we couldn't see it. Our guide was a young guy. We put our headlamps on and went off. He had a firm speed and it didn't take long that we were hot and sweaty. The hike to the top went through maiz fields, banana plantations and coffee plantations. Then we came into forests and jungle areas. We had a couple of stars which gave some additional light to our lamps on the rocky and steep trail. After around 3 hours we finally came to the top. It was chilly and we could see the lake in the dark lying in front of us. The first glimpse of morning was at the horizon. The first lights of the towns around the lake light up. It was quiet and peaceful as we were the only people. We enjoyed the silence and the fact that we were together on this place. The lake had a chain of vulcanos on one side and the one furthest away puffed some clouds from time to time. What a wonderful and touching moment. This was a moment when I had to think of Roy (yes man, I love you! You were so right that it makes it even more enjoyable when you have the person next to you which you love!)



































Shortly aft a group of 20 Israelis joined us and the silence was over. It was amusing to watch them taking their pictures. Our way back led us through huge fields of maize, with plants 3 times my size. I know that I'm not the tallest person, but this really was tall! They harvest everything with machetes here! Respect for the work this must be!








We were tiered after we came back to our hostel and enjoyed a warm shower before we had a big warm breakfast and a nap. In the afternoon we went for a coffee and some cake with a German guy who lived there for 9 years already. Then we wanted to paint our own picture with a local artist. His speciality was the bird view pictures. As he said the day before that 2 hours should be plenty to finish our masterpiece we went to get some advise from him. After almost 2 hours he said that the picture was to wet to do anything else for the day and that we should come back next day to finish it. As we left at 8am, we were ins some kind of situation. He offered that we could come back at 6am to give us plenty of time. I still can't believe that we got up and left with a wet painting and some fun memories on a 14 hour journey through half of Guatemala.



































Great job, don't you think so?

Our journey in a little minivan was the toughest so far. The first 5 hours were on mountainous dirt roads with more or less surface... Steep up on one and deep down on the other side. Because of the rain we sometimes slide down the hill and on the otherwise I was surprised that we made it up again. The driver got all out of the van. I wonder how long these vehicles actually work before they fall apart. I'm certain that the suspensions need to be exchanged on regular basis. I don't want to know how many screws where loose in this reasonable new car. We arrived late at night in a town where we had to change into a different vehicle to manage the last few kilometers. After 30m we got pulled over by the police, which tried to find a reason to make some money. I only heard a couple of people saying to stay out of trouble or even better out of contact with the police. After 15min discussions between our driver and the officials we proceeded on. The roads were even worse and the jeep had to work hard on the steep roads. We even had to pull a minivan for an kilometer as it got stuck. We finally arrived at our hostel in the middle of jungle at 11.30pm, ready for a beer, a shower and a bed. We slept in a dorm room with many mattresses under the roof of a building.

Semuc Champey









Next morning we went to the caves. As another group didn't arrive in time we went into the caves just with our guide and a candle in the hand. At first we could walk in the water, but soon we had to swim, still with the candle in the hand. We had to climb up and down some walls. We saw great formations of stalagmites and stalactites and other strange objects. It was very spooky and romantic at the same time. We had to leave our candles behind when we came to a waterfall. Our guide had a lamp with him and we climbed up a ladder in the waterfall. The water was not cold, but a little chill definitely came at this moment when the water poured down on our heads. The current was pretty strong and we had to hold on to ropes in the next section of our adventure. It was an amazing experience and when we came to the last part of our cave tour we could climb up a wall and jump from 3m into a deep pool. Even Chrisy overcame her fear and jumped... When our guide left us sitting in the dark for a couple of minutes with the noise of the water and the bats flying around us we both thought what a beautiful way to spend your wedding anniversary!

Our way back we could even enjoy more as we knew what to expect and what would come next. Our candles didn't go out and we slide down from some walls to land in deep pools. Just before we reached the entrance to the cave again, another group came our direction. Everybody had a huge smile on their face and I am pretty sure that everybody will talk highly about this trip.

I am also certain that only here you can go on a tour like this without signing 37 wavers and wearing a helmet and bubble wrap and life west. I love it!

We then took a tube to ride down on the river for 15min. The water was cold and with a strong current and it was a lot of fun.








We then got guided to the pools of Semuc Champey by our little friend who was probably 9 years old, but had the selfestime of a 25 year old one. I don't know exactly why, but I changed into some fresh cloths. We had to walk through some knee deep water due to the high water of the river. Somehow I stept a little too far of the track and disappeared instantly from the water surface. I found myself lying in the river, including the backpack and the dry cloths on. This was exactly 6 min after putting them on. Luckily the camera didn't get wet. However I got a nice deep cut on my knee from the fall. As the water wasn't really clear I was a little worried about an infection. My little friend went to a plant and rubbed something of the underside of a leave and told me that is was a Maya medicine. So I put it on my wound and off we went.










The pools of Semuc Champey are of a wonderful turkies color and nice and warm. It was a true pleasure to swim through them. We went to different areas, one wher we could jump into the next one, one where we could slide down into the next pool.








We dived under a Waterfall into a small cave. The area is a true phenomena as the river actually flows under this area with a high force. When we saw the area where the river disappeared and where it came out again we felt very impressed and wondered how this quiet oasis above the river was possible.


















After this experience we took a shuttle to Rio Dulce. To get there we had to travel 6 hours on very bumpy and almost not existing roads. The rain did only add to the adventure factor and made the roads nice and slippery. We sometimes didn't dare to look out of the windows and down the hills where wild rivers were flowing.

The night we spend on a side arm of the river in a hostel build over the water. It was nice and relaxing and just the right thing after the long and "moving" ride...

Next morning we would make our way to Honduras....


For more pictures check the following links

Antigua

Flores and Tikal

San Pedro de Laguna

Semuc Champey

Rio Dulce