The Chicken Bus to San Ignacio

With a regretful goodbye to the Belizean Coast, we headed inland to the town of San Ignacio. A speedboat ride across to the coast, followed by a pimped up taxi ride with blacked out windows across Belize city to this beaut of a bus station:

Bus to nowheresville

To be greeted outside by rows upon rows of Bluebirds; retired, American school buses that have been Central America'd up (AKA paint job and sound system). And so we threw our bags in the back along with sacks of rice and beans (no joke) and got on our bumpy way.

It doesn't feel at all long since we last blogged, probably because it's not - but after busy days, it's nice to think back on what we've done. And cull through the masses of photos I take to delete the mundane, inappropriate and downright terrible. What's left is a good selection which makes the blog - and we're hitting nearly 100 different computers viewing each post - so we're glad people are enjoying what we write!

Getting off the bus in San Ignacio was brilliant. It turns out the cushions on school buses aren't designed for two hour bump-fests. They weren't 40 years ago when they were made, and they definitely aren't now. I might buy a cushion for the next one... backpacking in your 30's, right? So what better way to say hello to the town than a walk around and get settled down to watch the world walk by with some nachos...

A happy camper

San Ignacio is only a short stop for us, as we didn't want to head all the way into Guatemala in one day. But Belize is brilliant, and well worth a far, far longer trip on its own. Nearby to this little town are some great Maya temples which were built from 900BC through to 800AD - the temples of Cahal Pech. This blog so far has seen a lot of underwater photos and more temples in Tulum and Chichen Itza, forgive us! But they're all different and all beautiful. This one was a 15 minute walk from town, through the local streets...

Dogs kept following us. Which Sarah loved.

Apart from the amazing structures, the beauty of this place was that we had it ALL to ourselves for the entire visit - a far cry from the manic-ness of Chichen Itza. Queue one or two silly photos... I'll save the words and let the images tell the rest!

Tomb Raider - Broadstyle

Plazas, followed by plazas, followed by plazas...

Off the beaten path, somehow?

And it's no sacrifice
Just a simple word
It's two hearts living
In two separate worlds
But it's no sacrifice
No sacrifice
It's no sacrifice at all

Plaza G. What a name.

Glimpses through the jungle

The site of a few interesting scenes

Forget the ruins...
CHECK OUT THIS PALM TREE!

This temple rocks. 

Goin' slow in Caye Caulker

Greetings from Belize! After a great time in Tulum in Southern Mexico, it was time to head a bit further South and get a true taste of the flavours of the Caribbean Coast and it's go slow, what's the rush attitude.

After the border crossing from hell of Mexican queues, paperwork, heat, dodgy 'immigration' fees (can I get a receipt for that?) and nearly missing the boat... it didn't take us long to appreciate the relaxed attitude to enjoying life. But entering a country by speedboat was a great way to start!

Out of immigration, out of Mexico and into the speedboat!

Our destination was Caye Caulker, one of the islands off the coast of Belize, a Commonwealth State. It was a beautiful long, thin island that you could walk round in 2 hours - full of palm trees, playing kids, reggae music and rastafarians on the beach, One of the most instantly relaxing and safest feeling places we've ever been to.

So where are the cars?!

Day 1 was spent at the Split, a relatively new channel that has carved the island in half - making for a great spot for swimming, snorkelling, people watching and beer drinking. The local Belikin Stout is pretty damn good! 

Ja mon!

Come nightfall, it was time to get a taste of the famed rum punch - this is an old bucaneering island after all. And we worked out where all the cars were. Or weren't. The only vehicles on the island are golf carts. Taxis, minibuses - the lot. Amazing!

Life is good.

Day 2 we decided to splash out, by booking up for the Ragamuffin's day tour of three beautiful snorkelling spots, all nestling inside Belize's coral reef - a huge reef which is only second in size to the Great Barrier. Jumping on board, Cap'n Rob and the crew soon had us at ease with his Caribbean twangs and some great reggae music. We set sail for the first spot...

Cruising the Caribbean, never thought we'd do that!

Shortly after leaving the mooring, the local birdlife got a bit interested - so our fish bait was used to get the attention of some of the passing Frigates.

Slightly prehistoric looking, right?!

The first spot was pretty amazing, and was supposed to just be a warm up to test our skills. The fish were pretty impressive, but the coral was fascinating (is it a plant? an animal? it grows, but it sleeps...)

The amazing coral

Garif, our dive guide

Shoals and corals

And our new underwater camera got even more use... how are you loving this multimedia folks?

Sarah's diving skills are coming along!

Back to the boat, and we cruised to the second spot at a local fisherman's catch cleaning site - where the big fish converge. Jumping in, we were soon absolutely surrounded by huge shoals of big members of the Tuna family. Gulp!

Nosey buggers

After fighting our way through the shoal, the star attractions were waiting for us - sting rays, manta rays, eagle rays and nursing sharks. Sarah... grab the camera, I'm going in!

Feeding frenzy

Hanging around

Strike the pose...

The biggest of the nursing sharks was about 10 foot long, but they just suck meat off you - not bite it. So that's safe. Apparently.

Hey guys!

And to add to the craze of selfies (and my turtle selfie) I thought I'd try and get a ray/shark selfie...

Snap.

Dive site 2 over, we jumped back on board and headed to site 3 - the channel in the reef which opens up the Cayes to the wider ocean. This area was full of huge rays floating and gliding, little and big turtles busy eating and incredible eels and fish.

Grab shell, dude!

Chillin'

After a bit of freediving through an underwater cave at 15m depth (which took several attempts to get the nerve!) it was time to get back to the boat. Turn on the stereo. Get out the rum. And cruise home under sail... Good times.

Chur!

Our crew

Caye Caulker has been an absolute beaut. Three nights here aren't enough, but I don't think a year would be either. It's got the views of a hollywood hideaway, but the relaxed and intimate feel (and cheap prices!) of backpacker heaven.

Drink it up!

So, it's a big thumbs up from us for Belize so far! No hurry, no worry...

The honeymoon continues...

Fun in Tulum

Our warm up to Mexico complete, our next stop was a two and a half hour bus ride away back on the coast, at Tulum. We had booked our accommodation in advance mainly due to the amazing reviews 'Posada Los Mapeches' had on Tripadvisor. We weren't disappointed as we spent three days being spoilt by our adopted Mexican mum Chelo (the guest house owner of amazing wooden houses on stilts) who fed us heartily at breakfast time, provided us with heaps of hints and tips on local attractions and made sure we were safe at night on the guest house provided bikes...

Heading off for a night out -
head torches and high vis vests = dorks

On our first night we decided (despite the cycling issue) that it was time to sample tequila with it being the national drink and all. Two margaritas later we were convinced that Caribbean cocktails are the way to go around here!

A bit tipsy on two sips!

Once we'd eaten we were fine to cycle home in the pitch black (don't worry mums!) and after a good night's sleep, spent the next day on the beach at Akumal, a short collectivos ride up the road. Akumal is home to lots of sunbathers and more importantly turtles hanging out near the beach underwater. The perfect place to test out our new waterproof camera!

Matt and turtle selfie, as you do

Turtle spotting is heaps of fun

Every 5 minutes or so they popped up for air!

Tans topped up, we were ready for day 2. With a bright and early start we quickly pedalled to the Tulum Ruinas to get ahead of the tour groups. These ruins aren't as impressive as Chichen Itza but oh boy were they spectacular looking over the coast.

Fortress like

Overlooking the Caribbean

Saying hi to one of Tulum's resident iguanas -
see if you can spot him

Amazing to think of this as a once bustling city...

...now deserted, or at least until the tour buses turn up!

That afternoon we decided to take Chelo's advice and head to the 'Dos Ojos' Cenote, one of the more impressive limestone sinkholes in the area. We weren't really sure what to expect but were absolutely blown away by the crystal clear water and almost Mars like scenery underwater in both of the pools at the cenote.

Entrance to the first pool

We spent absolutely ages diving down in the water and exploring...

Diving down

Exploring

Matt doing his best impression of a crab

Catching the afternoon rays

Surreal but memorable experience complete for the day we decided to round things off with a quick ride to the beach.

Bikes + beach = Matt's idea of heaven

Cruising back to the Posada

What a great few days - we loved Tulum and would highly recommend to anyone fancying a bit of winter sun!

Our hut at the posada -
thanks Chelo for a fantastic stay!

Next stop - Belize!