Belize, a little bit of Guatemala and diving in Roatan

After 3 weeks of Costa Rica for Stefan and my little excursion to Perth we made our way South from Cancun to Belize. A 6 hour bus ride and a 3.5 hr ferry trip (including the 1.5hrs we spent at the Belizean immigration, the word 'fast' does not exist here) later we arrived at the small island paradise Caye Caulker. Everything goes really slow on Caye, there's no cars and no proper streets, it's all just sand with mud crabs crossing the street. 

Besides relaxing on the beach, eating and drinking we of course also went diving. A 3 hour boat ride away lies the 'Blue Hole'; pretty much the same structure as the cenotes in Mexico. It's a 400m deep sinkhole with huge stalactites at about 40m depth (that's how deep we went down). Very impressive! There's not much marine life down there except lots and lots of Carribean Reef Sharks, with 3-4m in length pretty impressive and also a little bit scary to be honest. The sharks we usually see while diving are maybe half that size, so we definitely had some respect :) The lunch break in between dives was at a little "Robinson Crusoe" island, paradise indeed. Stefan's photo safari became a "near-miss" event. A coconut fell down a few seconds after he took a shot leaving a sun-struck local repeating the same words over and over again: "You so lucky, so lucky.." :-)

After 3 days on Caye Caulker we took the water taxi to Belize City on the mainland. We thought about spending a day there but it was raining so heavily so we decided to hop on a bus to San Ignacio. On the first day we visited yet another Maya ruin site Xunantunich (very nice again) and ended the day with a number of beers with fellow travel companions. It sometimes feels like you are travelling in a group as you meet the same people over and over again ("Thank you Lonely Planet"). 

The highlight though was our visit to the Actun Tunichil Muknal cave, which was used by the Mayans for ceremonial purposes. To get there we had to hike 45min through the jungle, crossing 3 rivers and then swim to the cave entrance through pretty cold water. We then spent another 2 hours venturing further into the cave, always being in water, sometimes shoulder-deep. Amongst beautiful stalactites and flowstones, you can seeI lots of ceramic pots, ancient tools and also skeletons of people being sacrificed in there. A very cool adventure!

Together with 2 Australians and 2 Norwegians, who we had met on the tour, we had then planned to drive on to Guatemala straight after the tour ended. Unfortunately we came back a lot later than expected so by the time we arrived at the Guatemalean border it was already dark. And the bus we had planned to take from the border to 100km away Flores was pretty much non-existent. So we were pretty much stranded, at 8pm, in the dark at the border... hmmm... I think we all were really happy it was the six of us, at least that gave us some 'strength' against potential thieves and muggers ;) After some time standing around debating what to do, a couple guys offered to organise a taxi for us which we very reluctantly accepted. Were they really organising a taxi or were they planning to rob us? But in the end it all turned out okay, the taxi driver was a really nice guy and safely brought us to Flores. Flores is actually a little island in a lake and offers a great atmosphere. The floodings don't affect the tourist areas ;-)

The town is very close to the mother of all Mayan sites, Tikal. It was supposedly the real Mayan capital (at some stage in history) as the Guatemalan claim but definitely the biggest Mayan city ever. As we've already seen so many temples we opted for a tour that promised to be a bit different, a sunrise tour, pick up 3am...! We arrived at the site when it was still dark and made our way to the tallest pyramid. On top of that pyramid we waited for the sunrise and also the surrounding jungle to wake up. And although the weather was far from perfect it was still magical. 

We were really lucky as we visited on Columbus day, 10 October. We were told that the indigenous people see this day in a sceptical way due to the changes that were brought by the Europeans. Therefore a special event was held at the site with hundreds of Indigenous celebrating rituals, dancing in old Mayan festive clothes. By chance we ran into cultural event.

Our next and last stop in Guatemala was Rio Dulce and closeby Livingston which you can only reach via water taxi. The boat ride on the Rio Dulce is an attraction by itself in beautiful surrounds.

Livingston is a funny mix of Mayans, Latinos, Africans and people from the Caribbean which makes for some very interesting cuisine. Tapado, a seafood soup with coconut cream, is delicious; Guifiti, a local drink, is not, if you ever come across it, stay away. Beautiful beaches? Well, unfortunately something different here:

We also did some further travel planning and realised that we didn't have much time left before the start of our Inca tour in November. So rather than hurrying through Guatemala and trying to see as much in as little time as possible, we decided to put the rest of Guatemala on the list for our next travels. This list really is getting longer and longer each day...

The last item on our Central American bucket list was the island of Roatan off Honduras. Roatan has been recommended to us by a few fellow divers so of course we had to go there. Getting there from Livingston was not an easy task and became one of the most memorable days on our travels. We started the trip with the 6am ferry from Livingston to Puerto Barrio. Then we walked a few hundred meters searching for a 'collective' (a minibus) to take us to the Honduran border. We then walked across the border to the next bus stop to take us to Puerto Cortes. In Cortes we ran out of the little Honduran Lempiras we changed at the border and had to search for an ATM. Funny thing in Honduras, there's lots of banks but most banks don't have ATM's... so finding one took us a while. Once we had money, back to the bus station to find the next bus to take us to San Pedro Sula. We only found out later that San Pedro Sula was the most dangerous city in 2012, lots of gang wars, murders and rapes. So lucky for us we only spent about 1minute here, changing buses. This final bus then brought us to La Ceiba where we arrived at 5pm - 11hours from when we started in Livingston. As the ferry to Roatan had already left we had to spend the night in La Ceiba. So in the morning, a taxi to the ferry, ferry to Roatan and another taxi to Half Moon Bay - our final destination on Roatan. Mission accomplished.

But this mega-long trip was absolutely worth it. Roatan was absolutely beautiful and although more developed than Caye Caulker still not touristy. It was just perfect. The recommended dive center (Sun Divers) was right next to a cute little beach bar (Sundowners), so as you can imagine we spent our time either under water, on the beach with a Monkey Lala (yummm) or in a hammock on our balcony.

The diving itself was truly amazing and we're already checking airfares from Europe to Roatan. This was definitely not the last time we were here.

Pura Vida in Costa Rica

A completely new chapter in our Round-The-World-Trip has just taken place. Marlene took a "vacation" from travelling to sort some buerocratic stuff out in Australia. This meant that I was facing the threat of having to travel alone. Luckily my newly retired father stepped in and flew out to Central America to accompany me for those nearly three weeks.

Due to the very cheap flight from Europe and lot's of great travel reviews we picked Costa Rica as our destination. We rented a 4WD for 18 days which is really essential in Cost Rica due to road conditions. It would also be possible to travel by bus but you get a lot less done in the same time and with your own vehicle you reach those out-of-the-way spots which was awesome. For us it turned out as a big win.

The adventure started straight away after arriving in San Jose. I flew in first during the day and made my way by public bus into the city centre. Not too much a problem for me despite my fairly poor Spanish. Finding an address in Costa Rica is a very hard thing though. Firstly it is obviously not considered essential to have street names posted (don't even think about house numbers, these simply don't exist) and most addresses are stated as for example "100m north of the church and 200m north of the gas station", seriously, no joke. I somehow found the hotel after asking around. However, I was very nervous about my dad having to make his way after sunset from the airport to a hotel in a pedestrian zone (a taxi driver couldn't help much there). Anyway, I was roaming the streets so I could point him to the well disguised hotel porch if he made it safely into fairly dodgy street. Well, he made it with a few obstacles (3 modes of transport) but invigorated by so many contacts he has made on his travels so far, nice. Our journey could begin.

The first full day we spent sight-seeing in the capital San Jose. My dad, equipped with his new passion the 'smovey-rings again made lot's of friends by showing and demonstrating the 'Ticos' (nickname of the Costa Ricans) this really great new fitness tool. After retiring 2 months ago he became a fitness coach and e-bike guide, lost 12 kilos and enjoys his new life to the fullest. I am very proud and excited for him.

San Jose doesn't have a too good reputation but we enjoyed it and were so lucky by picking a sunny day (rather hard to find in the rainy season in the central valley). In the evening we even went to the National Theatre for a concert of the Costa Rican Youth Symphony Orchestra. They did a marvelous job and the Theatre is a jewel comparable in glamour to the great Opera houses of the World. 

The next morning we picked up our rental car and drove off east into the mountains. Our first stop was Cartago with the biggest roman catholic pilgrimage church in the country, impressive. We stayed Turrialba which is a great starting point for a rafting tour on the Pacuare River. This is what we did the next day. We enjoyed it a lot as you can see from the picture:

This was on 15 September, independence day for Costa Rica. After our rafting trip we enjoyed the festivities on the main square and a fireworks. From there we drove north to the Caribean coast. In Cahuita National Park we did a self-guided walk and encountered our first wildlife sightings. This is really what Costa Rica is famous for. A cayman, a snake and a monkey stealing a banana in the first hour of hiking the rainforests of the country, awesome.

We stayed 3 nights in Puerto Viejo de Talamanca where we did a tour of Indigenous communities, one breeding iguanas, another one letting us make cocoa and giving us a medicinal plants tour in their garden ending the day swiming under a waterfall.

One thing I was very happy with and again made me proud of my dad was that he asked if he could try scuba diving in Costa Rica. So we went scuba diving from Playa Uvita and Manzanilla. He enjoyed it a lot which was great although there are better spots to dive in Costa Rica.

Our next stop was Tortuguero. A village only reachable by boat famous for it's National Park of canals and a prime turtle nesting site. At night we did a turtle tour which meant that we could watch a huge Green Turtle lay her over 100 eggs into a sand hole from not even 1 meter behind her. Then she covered the hole again, camouflaged the area and "sprinted" out into the waves again. This was an incredible experience. In the morning we did a canoe tour through the canals spotting wildlife. Our first and only sloth (Faultier), an otter, monkeys, caymans, turtles just to name a few. 

Back to our car after a 1 hour water taxi ride we drove on to Sarapiqui where we spent the night in a Rainforest Lodge. Again, a walk in the rainforest over a 280m hanging bridge brought us close to 'strange' jungle animals. The next morning was reserved for more action. At Hacienda Pozo Azul we first took a two hour horse ride and then a canopy tour, zip-lining through the forest. A first for both my dad and I. On we went to La Fortuna after that (the own car really gave us the chance to experience so much in such a short time). 

La Fortuna is on the base of Volcano Arenal which was active between 1968 and 2003. What is left are hot springs very much in the same style as we know them in Austria. However, we were already looking at cutting our expenses and found free hot springs through Tripadvisor. Right next to a hot spring resort is a car park from where you can make your way down to the river. This river is carrying the hot water which you can enjoy just like in the expensive resorts. No showers are provided though and the locals nickname it "The bruise" as it is quite slippery and rocky but we did fine with our sandals on. The hotel in La Fortuna was also great with a nice pool and jacuzzi.

The next morning we ventured out for the highlight of the whole Costa Rica Trip. We walked up Cerro Chato Volcano which is located right next to Volcano Arenal and gives you great views of the bigger brother from the top. This was not a walk in the park, it was a tough, steep, muddy, tricky ascent to the top and down to the volcano lake. The natural 'steps' partly washed away by rainy season floods reach over 2 meters in height, a real challenge at times. As always, all the pain is mostly forgotten already on the way down. Once again I was very proud of my father and surprised about his great fitness level.

The next day should have been a recovery day with a long drive to Monteverde National Park. Firstly we didn't realise that it would be mostly on dirt roads which lengthened the trip substantially. Secondly, we added a waterfall experience by visiting Viento Fresco Falls. To see all 4 waterfalls we descended over 700m down to swim in 3 of the pools but of course had to go up all the way again back to the car. Our legs told us tales of our previous' day adventure, ouch.

Arriving the Cloud Forest area of Monteverde wasn't too spectacular. It was raining cats and dogs in the evening, due to the clouds/fog you can't see much at times. However, we took a guide in the morning for a 3 hour walk through Curacancha Park. Our guide was a bit unlucky and we didn't see too many birds and other wildlife, we had better tours in Costa Rica. Anyway, the hummingbird pictures turned out great:

In the afternoon we left this cloudy place and went on to Liberia, the second biggest city in the country. From there we took an early morning self guided exploration tour of Rincon de La Vieja which I would call "Little Yellowstone". Mud pools, steaming hot springs and sulphuric smells, something completely different again. A few hours later by car we then found ourselves on the Pacific coast in Playa Coco. A further, very adventurous 2 hours over a rocky dirt road brought us to our night stop in a surfer hostel in Playa Tamarindo. An experience I am happy to have shown my dad as well, it was not bad at all, very relaxing atmosphere and sweet smells.

The next day we again travelled fairly far to Manuel Antonio where we found a great hotel right on a beautiful beach. We liked it that much we stayed for 3 nights and even came to relax a bit. We also loved the adjacent National Park with amazing beaches which we could enjoy before the crowds arrived. We adapted our sleep rhythm to the sun and therefore could venture out at dusk at around 5.30am.

From there our last stop was Corcovado National Park. We again took a water taxi from Sierpe to Bahia Drake and stayed in little fishing and tourist guide village for another 3 nights. Corcovado National Park is maybe the best spot to see wildlife in the country which we experienced on day trip to the park. The next day we did two more dives just off Cano Island which was truly spectacular. We saw so many reef sharks, rays and other marine life, again, very memorable.

Then we made our way slowly back to San Jose over the mountain ranges where we did some final souvenir shopping. Costa Rica really lives up to the expectations and is such a beautiful country. The only downfall is probably the price level. It has increased dramatically over the last years and is certainly the most expensive Central American country (I am writing this while in Belize, so I can say that). We would say it was only about 20-30% cheaper than in Europe, not much at all. With all the activities and tours you can do it can become a very expensive holiday. This is not a place for backpackers on the cheap, they will go into Nicaragua or Guatemala more and more due to the price levels.

We still enjoyed it a lot and got to see so much in these three weeks it was amazing. We really soaked up the Pura Vida lifestyle:

The comment by my father which made me start thinking was the following though: "I have no idea how you and Marlene can travel like this for an entire year, this would be too exhausting for me". Well, one more substantiation to our claim that a round-the-world trip is not really a holiday, it's hard work.