After a chilled out few days in Belize we were ready for Mexico and its temples again. It was an early start to get to Chichen Itza just after opening and before the crowds, but well worth the 5.15 am start as later in the day the place was heaving with coach loads of American tourists!

The place was amazing with a fantastic main pyramid temple (although we were not allowed to climb it!), an interesting observatory and the highly decorated but morbid platform of the skulls. 

Chichen Itza also has the biggest and most intact ball court we have seen on our travels. Action man also admired this site in his mexican sombrero! You can see the intact hoop in the back ground. This was the target for the ball players, using mainly their hips to shoot the rubber ball through the hoop.

Action Man also accompanied us to Edzna, another impressive temple complex that reminded us of a fortress more than a temple with its huge sheer walls.

As a change from sea snorkelling we tried cave snorkelling in one of the fresh water cenotes near Tulum. It was freezing cold water so we all wore wet suits to snorkel around the stalectites and mites. Incredible site and completely different to any snorkelling we had done before. At times we had 4 inches of head room but below us was a huge cave! This is us with our guide Julio and another English couple (and some crazy man we didn´t know popped up behind us!)

We traveled to Celestun to see the flamingos that gather in the area just off shore. They were stupid looking birds with ridiculously long legs and necks, but were somehow graceful at the same time( according to Miriam) 

One of the highlights of the trip was snorkelling with 9 meter whale sharks ( they can grow to 17m so we were just swimming with tiddlers). This photo is me, Miriam and the guide in the water, you can see the head out in front of us. They were also stupid looking as the trawl around with their heads half out the water filtering plancton. (I think they reminded Miriam of me: big stupid and constantly eating!)

They were quite graceful and slow as they moved, but could really motor when they wanted to. We were able to swim within a couple of feet from them, inches at times when they changed direction. Thankfully we have all limbs intact but have now swam with 3 different types of shark.

 

Obligatory part of the travels is local beers on sunset beaches. Frequently got the photos wrong, which meant we had to buy more beer to take it again ( bugger).

For Miriam´s birthday present she fulfilled a lifelong dream to swim with dolphins, you can see her here shaking hands with Frieda the dolphin. She liked to fetch seashells and play with her toy hoop. Miriam also got to kiss the dolphin, ride on her belly and be pushed on a body board.

Rich found a different animal friend, Freddy the frog, not quite as fun or intelligent as a dolphin (according to Miriam but I disagree).

We had time to chill on the beach and AM liked to take a dip in the late afternoon sun. Here he can be seen impressing the ladies emerging from the sea, eat your heart out Daniel Craig (James Bond).

Our last night on a caribean island was celebrated with cocktails. As you can see action man was the last man standing even after a few tequilla sunrises!!

We have really enjoyed Mexico, especially the second half. The sights have been incredible and this has been interspersed with amazing activities such as seeing the whale sharks and snorkelling in caves. Ending the Mexico leg of the trip with some lazy beach bits has recharged us for the chaos of New York! We have had the Frank Sinatra song in our head for days now.

We added Belize to our itinery as we had heard good things about it and i have to say they were right. The three of us only had 10 days there but loved every bit of it. A short bus trip over the border from Guatamala and we were in San Ignasia which was completely different from the rest of our American travels. Firstly everyone speaks English (horay), Secondly everyone says ¨Hello¨to you and it´s like jumping into the Caribean with dreaded Rastas everywhere and Bob Marley pumping out of every stereo, even on the bus! Very relaxed, which was definately needed.

Here I am relaxing with a Belikin, the local Belizian brew. Like many of the beers we have had it is absolutely fantastic. Miriam is also developing a bit of a taste for the cocktails, especially the tequilla sunrises, very apt really. We have to soak up the local specialities as part of the travelling experience, well that´s our excuse anyway.

Yet another kayaking trip, but this time it was in a massive cave that the Mayans had used to bury their outcasts in. There were bits of pottery and skulls that had fused into the rock sides of the cave. There were also bats and plenty of stallectites/mites.

This was our guide David, who as you can see, is a crazy rasta man. He has grown up in the area and was one of the first people to rediscover the caves. The cave system is 9 miles long and he has kayaked/swam/walked the whole system which took 2 days! 

Not only was the inside impressive, but this was the stunning view of the caves we got on the way out. The entrance was in the jungle. Later on Miriam swam in one of the traquil cool pools.

After a few days in San Ignascia we headed down to Caye Caulker ( via Belize city very briefly!). It was a 50 min boat trip from the mainland and this is the sort of pier we were greeted with. The island was small with no cars, only golf buggies to get around.

 

This crazy guy makes these crazy hats from palm leaves and was happy to show us how to make it. This was at the Lazy Lizard bar which was very apt as we saw 3 or 4 large iguarnas basking in the very hot sun. 

The island was surrounded with crystal clear waters and a reef, perfect for snorkelling. We all went for several trips to various parts of the reef. Some of the equipment was a little big for action man! The first boat trip we swam with rays, turtles, nurse sharks as well as baracuda and tuna. The second trip we were surrounded by huge ray which were 4 foot across. We were only in 3 foot of water and there were about 15 rays which were very enquisitive and swam right up to us and over our feet. The guide picked up some of the rays and handed one to me to hold in my arms because of the size of it. Pretty scary as the guide had just pointed out the huge stinger on the tail( and the Steve Irwin thing)!

 

As well as getting involved with the snorkelling, the big man did his fair share of eating and drinking. Here he can be seen sharing lobster tails with Miriam, who was in her element, trying all the local seafood. We had seen a huge lobster earlier in the day.

The last part of our Belize adventure took us on a speed boat ride to the mayan ruins of Lamanai. They were set amidst jungle with several large temples. This is a picture of us on the largest temple overlooking the jungle and river. On the way back we saw a huge crocodile sitting on the river bank. 

Belize has been a nice relaxing few days and now we are going back in to Mexico for the chaos of Spanish speaking people, cities, tacos and more temples. 

Watch this space!!

We spent only 3 days in Guatemala, purely to visit Tikal. As you can see it was definately worth it. We were offered a trip that left Flores at 3.30 am, but after Machu pichhu we decided that we had seen enough temple sun rises. However, we left at 6 to get there early to beat the crowds and were early enough to get some shots like these with the low sun.

This was the main plaza, made up from two temples, a palace and an acropolis.

The most amazing sight was obtained when we climbed some of the taller temples and could see the tips of the structures poking out from the jungle canopy. The buildings were all very impressive but this added view point made it even more incredible. 

This is just to prove we climbed to the top of one of them. It was very steep and hot so god did we know it!. This was the view from temple 4 where you can see temple 5 and the grand plaza in the back ground.This is by far the most impresssive site we have been to in the Americas, both the structures and the local were incredible. We saw lots of wildlife including toucans (which made Miriam’s day), woodpeckers and coatimundi (like a cross between a racoon and an anteater!)

This update was completed at the same time as ‘Mexico too’ so keep scrolling down. x

From Mexico city we did a number of trips. One was to the ancient town of Tula where the temple has 6m high statues of warriors. They were originally designed to hold up the roof but now there is no roof! Miriam decided to conduct a basic ear examination, but got no response! 

There were four of these amazing stutues and this picture give some idea of their size. Also at the site were ball courts and a massive palace complete with 40 or more pillars.

After moving on from Mexico city, we travel north to see El Tajin, another ruin. They conduct a ridiculous ritual (it’s a fancy maypole dance) outside the ruin each day. This involves 5 men which climb a 30m pole. 4 sit around the edge, while the 5th jumps up and down whilst playing a drum and whistle (with no ropes attached to him). After the tune, the remaining 4 fling themselves off the pole, attacted by ropes wound around the pole, and spiral round untill they reach the ground. Abit crazy if you ask me!

The ruin itself was a massive complex with many temples and buildings. The most impressive was the Temple of niches which had 365 niches for offerings. I counted them so it must be true. It was a Sunday so entry was free, this meant that lots of people including about 40 white clad, mat carrying yoga people came to ‘ommm’ at a highly spiritual place!

On our tour of ruins we stopped in a town called Oaxaca, which was a bustling market town with a beautiful square full of crap over-priced resturants, we paid 2 pounds each for a can of diet coke, more than in a pub in England!

Saw some great sites in the town, but one of my favourites was this graffitied beetle. I wish i had a car that i could let the kids at school do this to, as long as they would refrain from putting nasty things on it. 

Another Ruin! Palenque is set in the jungle and as you can see it was very hot and humid (sweaty), but worth it. This is just one of the many temples set against the amazing background of the jungle.

In the museum it explained the way that the society lived. There were 3 classes nobility, middle class and peasants, artist were considered nobiltity of course. They didn’t have writting as such but used ‘glyphs’ to document things and artist were important enough to have there own symbol. 

Our journey then took us in to Guatemala.

Welcome to Mexico. Yes the local all wear big hats, have tashes, and live on chille. I think some of the ladies should be made to wear masks like this! These were in a park in mexico city which is a bright and vibrant city with some very grand buildings that would give London a run for its money! We visited the zoo in the park which was one of the best ones we have been to and was FREE!! The park also contains many amazing museums and art galleries as well as all the street vendors.

One of the major sites in Mexico is just outside Mexico City. Teotihuacan is an incredible ancient site that was previously home to an intire city of 70,000 people, complete with temples, 2 of which were huge pyramids. This one was about 64 meters high, the climb up the steps nearly killed both of us (we are still at altitude here, only 2500m but it all adds up). At top we got an fantastic view of the whole site including the temple of the moon (yes another one) which you can see in the background of the photo.

Sitting on the top of the pyramid we saw 4 or 5 butterflies continually circling the pyramid. In the ancient culture it was thought that when warriors died in battle they became butterflies which hepled the sun to midday, pretty wierd as we were on the top of the temple of the sun and did not see any other butterflies in the whole place! 

This is the view from the temple of the moon, thankfully we were only allowed half way up, but it gives you an idea of the size and grandure of the place.

 

This has been a great start to Mexico and we will update you with our future exploits.

Still in Peru and just like all holidays I drag Miriam Kicking and screaming around the galleries (she likes them really) and this pot caught both our eye. Yes its an evil looking duck but does have some symbolic meaning. It was a warrior duck with a shield and staff. I dont know about you but I would not mess!! Some of the other artwork has been equally as impressive and thankfully it is mainly the ceramics that has survived.

This was the Temple of the Moon in Trujillo, which was one of the best sites we have visited in Peru. It was 7 pyramids that have been built one on top of the other, when a new ruler came to power they built a bigger pyramid using the old one as a base. This has preserved some of the carvings and frescos perfectly, as our guide Henry explained. This photo gives some idea of the scale and the amazing carvings on each of the terraces.

 

 This was Chan Chan, also near Trujillo. It was an ancient city that was deserted and as it was in the desert it filled with windblown sand. They have been excavating the area and have found many buildings and the main plaza which was decorated with Llama (although we thought they looked more like guinea pigs!- see what you think) The rest of the site contained a maze of passages to living and temple complexes. 

One of the stranger sites in Lima had to be this dog that was owned by a crazy man. He was very friendly (We think!!) and was happy to let us photograph his dog in whichever outfit he had chosen that day. Surprisingly, the dog also seemed perfectly happy to pose for the camaras.

Peru has been amazing and varied, from the beauty of the cobbled streets of Cusco to the crazy dogs (and people) of Lima, but time to move on to Mexico. More ruins and warmer weather.

Very brief but amazing visit to Bolivia has led us to Peru. We were not supposed to come as our bus out of Bolivia was delayed by 48 hours then we had to wait at the border for over an hour. First stop was in Cusco which we fell in love with and decided we could happily have a weekend retreat here. The city is centred around a square that is lined with churches and cathedrals. Obviously the first few days were centered around the FA Cup where we watched Pompey win before exploring some of the surrounding ruins 

On the surrounding hills were a series of ruins one of which was qengo a cave that was lit up by a hole in the roof. It is supposed to give an eerie feeling that Miriam seems to be getting.

Overlooking Cusco was Saqsaywaman which was a huge and impressive fort up on the hillside. We were amazed by the accuracy of the stonework that as you can see is spotless. You couldnt even get a coin in between the cracks of these giant rocks.

 

I dont know if they are angry people but everyday there is a procession and that isnt an over exageration. I dont think a day has passed that we havnt seen some sort of celebration. This one was a toddler day where all the little kids a paraded around the square. The best one has to be the Potato day where they all had banners celebrating their claim on the spud.

 

In preparation for Machu Piccu we took the big man out for a spot of rock climbing at the fortress overlooking Ollyantambo. One hell of a view but god they must have been fit. Thousands of steps at 4000ft is hard work no matter how fit you are.

 

One of the highlights of the trip had to be Machu Picchu which was good as we got up at 5am to see the sunrise. As you can see it was a little misty but we still got an incredible view as the clouds lifted and the sun burst through the mountains. 

Miriam as usual had to make friends with the locals and this Llama or Alpacca was called Doris which surprised us as well I cant remember the other names but they were equally stupid.

Some of the ruins were not as impressive as some we have seen but the setting certainly made up for it. Not a bad place to work as a farmer.

Managed to get food poisoning on the train back from Machu Picchu but still struggled to watch Man U win the cup the next day.

The next stop was the Nazca lines which meant another flight in a tiny plane. It was a 4 seater and not too bumpy although Miriam did sit clutching the sick bag for a while. Amazing site as we soared around the lines but unfortunately our camera decided to wipe the photos so will have to rely on the memories (or Miriams!!)

Still 2 weeks left in Peru so will update you all soon.

Bye for the 3 of us

We have now moved on from our brief visit to Chile and we are now in Bolivia. We flew in to La Paz which is at 3500 meters above sea level. The plane landed at 4000m and it instantly took the breath away! This is the view we had as we were driven in to town with the Andes in the background.

We have been to visit some pre-Inca ruins. These are in Tiwanaku. There were a number of temples and some fantastic carved stone totems. I quite fancy having a go at doing some myself. It great to see some historic sites again.

 

 One of the most memorable experiences in Bolivia had to be this plane ride into the amazon jungle. It took off from a runway and landed on a grass field in a jungle clearing It only had 18 seats and we could see into the cockpit which is a little unnerving when the pilots appear to be gazing out of the window!! The journey in was fine but we had abit of turbulence on the way back.

One of the things we did in the Amazon was fishing for Piranhas. Both myself and Miriam caught 4 each and a black salmon each and they had bigger teeth than the Piranhas! The big ones we took back and ate for our lunch. The piranha was quite tasty.

One of the main events was swimming with Pink dolphins. There was a pod of 4 dolphins in the water with us. We could only see them when they came out of the water for air because the water was so murky. 

In the back ground you can see an Alligator which was in the water, about 30 feet away from where we were swimming! Dispite the gators, caymen and piranhas we came out with all limbs intact!

We also saw three different types of monkey, fresh water turtles sunnying themselves on branches, Capperburras ( pigs sized rodents), as well as many different types of birds.

We also when hunting for Anacondas, and were the only group lucky enough to find them! 

 

This is the view over the Temple of the sun, a inca ruin on Isla del Sol in Lake Titicarca. Ironically for the hour walk at high altitude it was raining, untill we reached the peak and were gifted this view as the sun broke though the clouds.

 Currently in Copacabana (the bolivian one not the brazilian one!!) and watched this bizzare ritual outside the cathedral. It is the blessing of a car and involves the owners dressing there car with flowers and banners, and the priest throwing holy water over them and inside and outside the car with a plastic flower!

 

In a few hours we start an 11hour bus journey to Cusco. Really looking forward to Peru, especially Macha Pichu.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hi all hope you are all well.

Well another continent is about to start. We have spent the last 15 weeks in a camper van and are now looking forward to beds again. Still, we have had an incredible time here and can see why people rave about it. Since the last blog update we have seen a great deal of the North Island, in fact all of the North Island. Amazing place, but like most, we preferred the South Island.

 

One of the highlights had to be the volcanic areas that although stank of sulphor were amazing to look at. They supplied us with geyzers that flew 18 feet into the air, bubbling mud pools and spectacular views like the one above. As you can see it was chucking it down, something that happens far to often here.

 

Another must do on our trip was a rugby game which again is something I would recommend. We watched the Wellington Chiefs against the Crusaiders. The Chiefs were 8th in the Super 14s and the Cruisaders hadn’t lost once. We won still against all odds. Must have been us. The game was in the evening and we had spent all day watching the V8 super cars racing round the town. Not as exciting but I did manage to blag our way in for free.

Our final highlight had to be sand surfing. It involves hurling yourself down huge dunes on a boogie board. As you can see, the dunes were massive. IF YOU LOOK CAREFULLY AND ZOOM IN, YOU CAN SEE MIRIAM IN THE BOTTOM RIGHT HAND CORNER AT THE BOTTOM OF THE FIRST DUNE BY THE WATER WITH A WHITE AND A YELLOW BOARD. The dunes were about 50 meters high and god did we know about it. They took about 15mins to walk up the steep slippery slopes then only about 15 secs to slide down. Definately worth it though. 

 

After lying down (as we supposed to) the big man decided that we should stop being whimps and try it standing up. Here he is giving us a quick lesson.

 We eventually sussed it and Miriam even had a go. I would love to have tried one of the bigger slopes with a proper board, oh, and a drag lift.

So, off to South America tomorrow and we land in San Diago for a night then onto Bolivia followed by Peru then Mexico. Looking forward to the historic sites again as well as hotel rooms (Colin, you did us proud still!!) Bit worried about the time frame as we only have 3 and a half months left. Sounds a lot but time is really flying by.  Will update you soon and keep the comments coming.

Cheers folks.

The three of us

 

 

Happy Birthday to me!! Yes I am 21 again for the 10th time. This was my fry up that Miriam lovingly prepared for me. Having a fantastic time still and looking forward to food and beers tonight. I’m sure you had all remembered and have sent my cards to my home address, but emails will do (thanks to all of you who did, much appreciated) Well here are some of the piccies from our past few weeks. Enjoy.

Hi All. Yes this is the sort of views we have to put up with from our New Zealand campsites! Shame there is no Spinnaker Tower! This was taken five minutes from our pitch on an empty sandy beach. Life is hard!

 

We went on a boat trip to see Sperm whales and also, as a bonus, saw a pod of about 200 Dusky dolphins. We watched them for about 20 minutes as they froliced around the boat and jumped out of the water. It was like a well rehearsed routine.

 

On our whale watching trip the highlight was the whales. We saw 2 of the 17m sperm whale. They surfaced for about 15mins, they didn’t do much except spert water in to the air in 3 metres jets, but when the dived down to return to hunting we could see their amazing tail as it came out of the water- magical!

We are now in Taupo in the north island and we have been to visit some of the geothermal sites in the area. Some of these take the form of muddy spiting pools, giant geysers but this one had all of these and beautifully coloured pools like the one in the picture above. 

 Hope you keep in touch.

All the best, the three of us.