Sharks, monkeys and a baby jaguar

¡Buenos Tardes Amigos!

I hope that this entry makes sense, seeing as we´ve had very little sleep in the past couple of days. After a couple of typhoon style days on the Caye, the clouds finally parted and we were treated to tropical bliss.

Scott and I decided to celebrate the sunshine with a day sail/snorkel trip. Our boat was called the Regga King and our crew referred to our time at sea as an "alcoholiday". The waters off of Belize are clear and beautiful and we saw some incredible fish and sea life. I think that Scott has conquered his fear of all things "ocean" and actually enjoyed being part of the underwater world!

Yesterday afternoon, right after our morning bike ride, we boarded the ferry back to mainland Belize, and after an uneventful ride in a non-crackhead taxi to the airport, we hopped on a little plane to Flores. More on that tommorrow though... I let the camera´s battery run down, and it just died while we were uploading all our new pictures... oops. Look forward to some more soon...

Rain, beer and lobster, mon!

Gianni and the iguana we found in his pool
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Our quarters















La cucina in the villa















Guess who?















The beach where we saw two sea turtles laying eggs
















Beach in Tulum


















Our highly stressful agenda















Hola Amigo!























Door to door gravel delivery service















Beautiful church in Tekax















Merida- our camera died after this shot















He was really upset after Mexico lost. Again.















Weeeeee















A street in Valladolid















Out for a weekend stroll















View from our bed in Caye Caulker















Streets made of sand




What up Mon(s)!?

We are drying off in an internet cafe on Caye Caulker, Belize. Our wakeup call was the shrill hum of a major wind/rainstorm. I think that we were both sort of relieved, because the inclimate weather gave us the excuse to sleeeeeeeeep in and relax, without the guilt. The caye is pretty small and very tropical, although, you won't see many pictures of it today, due to a rigorous campaign of "camera preservation." Everyone will just have to wait until we see the sun and/or go crazy with cabin fever.

The trip down to Belize City was entertaining. After we dropped off our beater car in Cancun, we boarded a luxury bus en route to Chetumal (a border town). Our ride was quite swanky as it included comfy reclining seats, a free soda, air-conditioning, movies (in Spanish) and an awesome bathroom-- much bigger than the ones on an airplane.

When we went to board our second bus, the one which would take us to BC, we were very surprised to see an old American school bus pull up. "Hmmm", we both thought in unison. It turned out OK, we ate some spicy plantain chips, got some leg cramps, and I managed to make a complete fool of myself. You see, there was a cute toddler in the seat in front of us-- so cute that I complimented the mother on her "beautiful baby girl." She thanked me and then said "it's a boy." Scott was grinning from ear to ear.

After a few "crack-head" encounters in Belize City, we finally boarded our water taxi and reached the island. Our first order of business was food, so we filled up on lobster at the Rainbow Grill. Last night, we enjoyed alot of reggae and Belikin (the beer of Belize) at the Oceanside bar. Hopefully, the "I 'n I" bar will have some live reggae this evening (the seats there are actually swings).

In the mean time, please enjoy the pictures from the first part of the trip in Tankah, etc...

Flamingos, potholes y la ruta puuc

Traditional Mayan woman


When's the last time you saw a dead bat?


Ruins are cool


And we thought the Romans were creative...


Awwww

The current inhabitant of Labná



Glad vertigo didn´t kick in

Palaco Norté



Scott praying to the God of "longevity"


Kabah


One of the guys farms honey in the jungle which is delicious!


Hey, watch your hand mister


Most villagers live in thatched huts


Almost like the roads at home, except smaller


Woohoo!


Never did rain that day


Yes, another sunset-from our balcony


Boats in Célestun


Muchos Flamencos

¡Buenos tardes hombres!

A highlight of our trip was the Ruta Puuc, the road which connects some of the most beautiful Mayan sites in Mexico. We explored the ruins of Labná, Sayil, and Kabah, and since these are a bit off of the beaten track, we could climb anywhere we wanted. I think we saw a total of 5 people, including Mayans...

After the Ruta Puuc, we traversed the Yucatan peninsula and now find ourselves on the west coast in a village called Célestun. Our trip here was quite an adventure, seeing as we took the proverbial shortcut and found out that our map was not exactly always exact to say the least. Please note, that even if a map states that a road is of adequate quality, it could mean that it is actually a one and a half lane jungle path with more potholes than cement... and did we mention the mosquitos?

Aside from the excitement of not having to change a flat tire, there were also those moments when we suddenly ended up in a village and the road we were on just sort of stopped. It´s always interesting to try to communicate with someone who only sees a white person once every leap year. Other than money-pronounced "mohnee" (see the picture with the kids) and "thank you", we were basically limited to our combined 20 word and 5 phrase vocabulary. Nevertheless, clicks, hand-gestures, and a guy with only one good foot (on a rickshaw) pointed us in the right direction.

Tomorrow we set off for Mérida, the cultural center of the Yucatan. Our goal is to get up at 6 AM and take off...Any bets?

Tacos, cervezas y federales

Stained glass adorning the iglesia next to our hotel

I love the sunset...

Another view of the main plaza

I took this from our balcony, the rickshaw survives!

It seems that Jesus is ashamed of his body

Church of St.Francis in Oxkutzcab, pronounced O-sh-kutz-cab

Feel like we're back home!

¡Buenos noches compadres!

Unfortunately, we left the memory card, with the last two days captured on it, back at the Hotel San Antonio - so in order to keep up with our comings and goings, pretend like we just kinda "showed up" in the middle of the Yucatan. Our pictures of Tan-Kah, Tulum and Casa de Jonny will be posted whenever we get around to it...

We left the Riviera Maya this morning and ended up here in Ticul. From what we were told by our SUPER friendly waiter, Coco, we were two of the ten Americans this year that vacation, here, in the middle of nowhere. I guess the Germans and Italians are the real connoisseurs of Mayan ruins. Oh well. More carne asada for us!

The big drama of the day unfolded when we were stopped by the federales on the way out of Quintana Roo (a state in Mexico)...A dude, not a day older than 17, came up to Scott's window and started rambling on in Español. Needless to say, we understood zero words, and I decided that it would be a good idea to just hand him our dictionary...he started laughing. They checked our trunk and Scott thinks that they let us go because of my incessant, unintelligible questions about the ruins, the weather, his family, etc...(In broken Spanish, of course.)

Tomorrow morning, we are eating desayuno (breakfast) by the light of the big screen tv. Greco´s, a cafe across from the main plaza, is showing the Mexico vs. Portugal match at 9 am...Wonder if we´ll make it?

Riviera Maya, Policia, etc...

Who's ready for the parade, anyone??

The famous Cenote Azul

This is so stressful!

Our entertainment was watching this guy trying to start his boat...for an hour.

No caption needed...

This guy found the perfect way to cool off!


¡Hola Amigos!


Our first day in Puerto Morelos was nice and muchos relaxing. We ate as soon as we got to the beach (big surprise), and boy oh boy, was it every bit as tasty as we remembered it. We finished off the evening by watching an amateur futball match in the village square. I guess World Cup fever is in full kick, haha, here in Mexico.

During every adventure, there is a moment when you think to yourself, "Oh Shit!!" - Scott and I had that special feeling on the way down to Tulum. We had just passed through a yellow light, when a friendly officer pulled us over and informed us that we could've caused a M A J O R accident with our haphazard driving (in spanish, of course). I bet all of you can guess what happened next...Yep. With our wallet a little bit lighter, we made it to the beautiful Tulum corridor.

We are staying at Casa de Jonny tonight- it's actually a villa, but because the pool is being worked on, and the cinco perros (5 doggies) that ferociously guard the place, Jonny gave us a significant discount.