Ahhh…home.  The word feels like magic as it dances around on my lips.  Quinn and I are both so excited to get home.  We had such an amazing time here but we are more than ready to get back to Canada and get into the swing of life again.  I cannot wait to crawl into my own comfortable bed, be surrounded by clean sheets and be unfazed by the possibility of bed bugs.  Quinn can’t wait to get home and eat his regular foods, watch his regular shows, and be back in his regular life routine.  And Coca, I can’t even mention Coca without my heart melting over how much I miss her!   At the end of every trip I go on I feel like there is no other time that I can empathize with Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz more than now.  I too click my heals and chant “there is no place like home, there is no place like home”.  

There is a huge difference between vacationing and traveling, and sometimes after traveling you are left so exhausted you need a vacation to help your body recover.  Quinn and I are officially at the place of needing a vacation, only we want to vacation at home.  This trip has been full of seeing so much, experiencing more than we envisioned we would, and participating in loads of brilliant activities.  We have been blessed.  I am a firm believer in seeing the world and exploring what all the nooks and crannies of the map have to offer.  I am so grateful Quinn and I have had the opportunity to do just that.  Right now however home is on the mind and we really can’t wait.

Packing our bags up to head off to the airport and signing off for the last time from Central America!  Lots of love, XOXO!

A couple days ago Quinn and I took a catamaran and headed from the island of Utila to the island of Roatan.  I have never traveled so much by water and truthfully I am ready to not do it again for a long long time.  Turns out my body reacts quite differently from spending the day on our family boat out at the lake than it does to any boat (large or small) being tossed about on the ocean.  Neither Quinn nor I enjoyed the travel by boat as it left both of us feeling fairly sick.  Speaking of sick, these past few days have been a pile of yuck!  I cannot believe how unhealthy the foods are here.  There are so many fresh fruits and veggies and last night was the first time in almost a month where a cooked vegetable was served with our meal; they just don’t seem to eat much of them here.  Everything is deep-fried; fresh fish ruined by boiling oil, french fries served with almost every meal, heck, even the bacon is deep fried.  The both of us have completely hit a limit with the food, Quinn can’t wait to get home and put dairy back in his diet while I can’t wait to get home and eat veggies and fruits again.  Our tummies are officially putting up a major protest to almost anything we put in our bodies and with a day and a half left Quinn and I may just wage war on each other over our sparing amount of Imodium left!

It has rained quite a bit both yesterday and now today.  It cleared up enough yesterday that we were able to hit up the beach and snorkel for a while but this morning is another wet day so we are sitting inside reading and writing.  Yesterday was amazing when we went out on the beach, tons and tons of tourists like I’ve never seen in an area like this.  Inland, it is an excitement when you see another traveler, on the islands however it is common ground.  Truthfully, this many tourists just causes a lot of annoyances for the travelers.  The moment the cruise ships hit the islands, the prices almost double.  Suddenly waters that once cost fifty cents are now over a dollar, food is anywhere from twelve US dollars or up, and every single thing turns into a scam.  Yesterday I got almost an hour massage on the beach during sunset for ten dollars, the lady laughed as she said the “dumb tourists” pay twenty five dollars every half an hour.  So yes, the islands are beautiful and I understand why so many people come by for a visit, but visiting is all they do and the price that is paid for those who are staying makes it hardly worth it. 

Hopefully this afternoon will clear up and we can go say our goodbyes to the ocean and all of the beauty it holds.  We may go exploring a bit this afternoon as well and maybe tonight we will even spoil ourselves to a lobster dinner.  Tomorrow we leave at two in the afternoon so it will be an early day of getting organized and getting outta here.  I may blog again before we leave but if not, we will see you all soon. 

Much love from Honduras….

Phew, these past twenty four hours are finally over!  We have arrived in Honduras safe and sound.  We were not feeling confident about chartering a boat with a captain we didn’t know/trust into the middle of the ocean so we stayed an extra day and took the ferry.  This made for a much longer day, a stay over in La Ceiba and then another day of travel tomorrow.  Not ideal but safer so we went with that route. 

Last night was an experience to say the least.  We have been traveling with another couple (Ina and Chris) for the past few days since we are both heading in the same direction (they are also couch surfers).  Yesterday afternoon a couple from California checked into our hostel, we were all sitting outside and saw this new couple talking with a local; sure enough they were making a drug deal.  It is SO frustrating when you are at a place, feeling safe, and then jerks like that come along and invite dealers into your space instantly making you feel unsafe.  We saw them periodically through the night getting very drunk and visibly high. 

We ended up making it an early night and were lights out by ten but at 2am I was woken to the sounds of men banging on the hotel room directly beside us (the Californians).  The lady had apparently stolen the drugs from her boyfriend and the dealer, they were coming to collect but she had locked herself in her room.  Demands of paying back the drugs began and the threats followed not long after.  Eventually the girlfriend (locked in the room) and the boyfriend (locked outside) began screaming and yelling at the top of their lungs.  The dealer left when the screaming began because he figured the cops would be called, but he did make it clear he would be returning.  Great!  A drug dealer is coming back soon to collect his debt in the room beside ours.  I literally thought my heart would explode. 

The screaming continued between the couple.  She accused him of running off to sleep with another girl, he accused her of stealing drugs and called her every name in the book.  He was banging on doors, slamming on windows and causing a scene so she let him in the room.  All the sudden you could hear him pounding on her.  She began screaming and he choked her out.  She got up to run and he slammed her to the ground.  The walls are as thin as paper so we could hear everything, plus they were yelling a commentary the entire time.  Suddenly she let out a huge scream and right in the middle, it stopped.  I lied in bed unable to move, certain I had just heard someone get murdered.  The girl came too and apparently he head-butted her and knocked her out.  She somehow got him out of the room again and the yelling continued.  She then called her Mom bawling saying she was certain he was going to kill her and she didn’t know what to do. 

It was such a helpless position.  Obviously we wanted to go out and help her but truthfully in an area like this that is one of the stupidest decisions you can make.  When drugs, violence, and locals are involved you mind your own or pay the price.  It was obvious this sort of behavior was not new for them but it was horrible to hear.  I was petrified that he would snap and start trying to get into our rooms, or that the dealers would come back and start a war that we would be caught in the middle of.  Needless to say it was a terrible position and left me unable to sleep for the rest of the night.  By sunrise we were itching to get outta there. 

Their night ended when he refused to leave her alone so she packed up and left on her own.  I have no idea how the rest of the evening went for her but I prayed for her safety and for the strength to leave.  Here, sometimes the only thing you can do is pray.  Today as we drove through Honduras our taxi driver got pulled over at a traffic stop to check his license.  Once again the roads were lined with men in uniform carrying machine guns.  We pulled over, our cab driver got out and suddenly a local man with a huge machete was standing a foot away from my car window.  I was frozen in terror.  If I looked at him I feared he would demand my things so I turned my head and began to pray (do you know how hard it is to turn your head to a man holding a machete???).  Our cab driver came back with an officer just in time and the man walked away.  My heart nearly fell out of my chest.  Pray, pray and pray, then thank the Lord for safety. 

The good news is, tomorrow we are off to the islands bright and early; they are much safer.  I cannot get enough of these travels but sometimes with so much stress you need a holiday from your holiday.  It will be nice to finally be on the beach and relax for this last week.  I cannot wait!  By tomorrow evening we should be diving and having an absolute blast!  I will update again soon.  XOXO

Quinn and I had another big day of travel today and I already cannot wait to close my eyes and catch some rest!  On our dive trip to the Blue Hole we ended up meeting another couple who were also going to Honduras.  They were looking at rounding up enough people (six) to charter our own boat to the islands rather than wait for the once a week ferry that leaves on Friday and takes two days.  We decided to tag along with them to catch this boat so we all spent the day traveling to Placencia together.  We have arrived here safely and fingers crossed have set up our boat for the morning (things get canceled last minute a lot around here).  We have decided to head to Utila first and then go off to Roatan.  Utila is supposed to be quite a bit cheaper and the diving there is great right now so hopefully we will get some good dives in as well. 

We don’t quite know what we are getting ourselves into with the boat tomorrow so we are both really excited.  I think it is a smaller one (40 feet) and the weather isn’t going to be great so it is quite probable I will hanging over the edge feeding the fish with my breakfast.  Hopefully, if the weather stays somewhat calm it will only take about three hours to get there.  Neither of us have traveled to another country by boat so I am sure it will be a fun interesting day. 

We are now on day seventeen of traveling and are having such a great time.  It is so nice to spend time together just exploring the world and going on new adventures together.  It is incredible what all these new lands have to offer and it is so so fun to be able to share that with Quinn.  With under two weeks left on our trip we are already talking about how much we are going to miss waking up beach side every day and roaming the streets of new places.  God is so good and we are so blessed!  What a great trip this has been!

Today was a huge day for Quinn and I as we did three of the biggest and best dives Belize has to offer.  We headed out this morning before the sun rose and began our rather choppy boat drive two hours into the middle of the ocean.  Our first dive was the Blue Hole and both Quinn and I were a touch nervous.  To get to the Hole you need to descend forty meters; way further than either of us has dove.  Quinn was mostly nervous about his ears and I was mostly nervous about the dark.  There is something very unsettling about diving into the ocean in straight darkness, not knowing what is swimming around you, or whether or not you are in harm’s way.  A common side effect to diving that deep is called Nitrogen Narcosis.  This is a temporary decline or loss of senses and movement and basically mimics the side effects of being drunk.  Understandably being drunk under the water is not good and can cause you to make some really poor decisions so it needs to be monitored closely.  Well…I got it!  About five minutes into our dive my mind started going a bit loopy.  Our group was about twenty divers and when I looked around they were all different depths and I couldn’t tell who was going up or who was going down.  I didn’t know which direction I should be going and I started to panic a bit.  I looked to my left and saw a huge reef shark (or white tip we couldn’t quite tell) and kept staring at it not knowing if it was coming towards us or not.  I was completely disorientated and unless I was looking at the wall of the hole I was a mess.  Thankfully, the wall was a beautiful treat to look at.  The Blue Hole is a submarine sinkhole over one thousand feet across and four hundred feet deep.  It is filled with stalactites and all sorts of formations so it was beautiful to look at; I’ve never seen anything like it under the water.  We saw a few more large sharks while we were down there as well; one was even a bull shark!  The dive was short; eight minutes at full depth to be exact.  At that depth you suck through your tank of air in no time so unless you are diving on two tanks it goes by quickly.  I however was quite glad to be outta there!  I’m glad I was able to see the dive but just as glad to get out of the water and get my head straight again!

Our second dive was Half Moon Caye, it too was an amazing time.  The coral was incredible and you could never get board looking around.  We saw sting rays, turtles, and some great fish.  I however experienced my first run-in with a jelly fish and oh-my how those things hurt.  I did not see it coming but instinctively I knew what I hit.  Unless you pee on it instantly there is nothing to cut the sting so I just had to keep diving while my arm felt like it was on fire.  Thankfully, the pain didn’t last too long and I was still able to enjoy all the magic I was looking at. 

Our last dive was The Aquarium.  It is one of the favorite dives around here and Quinn was especially looking forward to this one.  Our dive master brought along some cooked rice which the fish love so we were swimming through walls of fish almost the entire way.  Visibility was great and we were able to see so many things that left us ohhh’ing and ahhh’ing the whole time.

We are absolutely exhausted now and so ready for bed.  I have sea legs pretty bad tonight so hopefully my mind will stop swaying enough to let me get some rest!  Tonight we will be dreaming of underwater magic I’m sure…I already can’t wait to close my eyes and see it all over again!

The last few days of our trip have been great; very low key.  We are now in Caye Caulker and have really enjoyed doing a lot of nothing.  Yesterday we browsed around some of the shops, today we spent some time on the beach.   This morning we also went to a laundry mat and cleaned up all our clothes.  Ahh, I could roll around in my backpack all night now smelling all the clean clothes.  It’s so funny, you can actually smell people and figure out if they are vacationing or travelling.  The vacationers smell of hair product and perfume while the travelers smell of Belize busses, body odor, and just plain stank.  So yes, with our laundry all done up, smelling nice and folded neatly we are feeling like we just won the jackpot! 

We have discovered Belize is much smaller than we thought.  Most people who travel here tend to go very similar routes.  We have ran into people the whole way that we met at some other point in the trip.  Last night we ate dinner with a couple we met at Parrots Nest.  It is so nice to have familiar faces to just say hello too as you’re walking down the street.   I think we will spend another day or two here and then head off to Placencia to hopefully find a way to Roatan by charter boat.  The route to Roatan is quite confusing and takes us all over the map (about two days at least of travel) unless you can find six people to charter a boat.  Chartering a boat would take one day to get there, it would mean by-passing some unpleasant cities and would just be much easier.  So far there are four of us ready to go, send us a prayer that we can find two more so we can get to Honduras in a breeze.

Today we signed up for our big Belize dives and we are sooo excited!  We head out tomorrow to do three dives, one of which is the Blue Hole.  Neither Quinn nor I have dove that deep and I’m a bit claustrophobic so hopefully all goes well and I can enjoy myself without a little panic attack.  The sharks in the hole start at about three and a half meters long so at forty meters deep (or more) with sharks that large headed my direction I may just pop out of the water in no time!  When I first told Quinn about diving with all the sharks here he was a little apprehensive, now the tables have turned and he is the one chasing after them while he can hear me screaming underwater behind him haha.

Anyway, we are off for an early bedtime tonight…I am sure we will have lots to write about tomorrow!  Missing everyone at home and wishing you could all be here to enjoy these adventures alongside of us!  Hugs and kisses!!!

Well, I know I have said this one million times before on this trip, but today was amazing!  Our day started much too early, we were up at 4:15 in the morning so we could pack up our things and head to the bus stop for the very first bus outta there (which clearly could not come soon enough)!  We were intending on going to Corozal so we could get the water taxi from there to San Pedro but the bus was behind and would not be leaving until 6am so we hoped on a bus to Belize City and took the water taxi from there.  Walking around BC is a huge no-no for tourists; thankfully, we had a really helpful gentleman sitting beside us who was more than happy to walk us to where we needed to be.  Great way to start a great day!

The water taxi to the islands was about 2 hours.  We arrived on the island of Ambergris Caye and got settled into our hotel room, unpacked and headed straight to the pool to cool down.  We don’t know how long we intend to stay on the island so we decided to do our snorkel trip today.  This afternoon we went on the Hol Chan Marine Reserve snorkel trip along with Shark Ray Alley.  What a blast!!!!  We had an incredible afternoon!

We spent our time swimming with nurse sharks, some of which were over ten feet long.  Our guide even flipped one upside down (which almost puts them to sleep) and then let us hold one…what a rush!  We also swam with string rays (quite a few different kinds) some with stingers over six feet long.  The reef itself was phenomenal to swim around in; I don’t even have words to describe it.  Being in the ocean is like opening up a fairy tale and being a part of the story.  The fish, the colours, everything is like a dream. 

On our tour we met a great couple Shelly and Rob.  They invited us out for dinner tonight and we had the best meal of our trip yet.  They even treated us to supper as an early wedding gift; so kind!  Here, everyone rents golf carts and cruises along the island that way.  They had a cart so we jumped on the back after dinner and drove around the island checking out the markets and stopping in for some wonderful homemade ice cream.  It is so nice to meet so many people from around the world who share the same excitement of discovering a new place.  Shelly and Rob really topped off our day and helped to make our first night to the islands a wonderful time! 

Tomorrow we will sleep in, hang out at the beach and maybe even do some shopping.  I already can’t wait to wake up and start our day!  XOXO!  Oh, and thanks for the prayers!  My back is doing a million times better already!

Today was another incredible experience.  We came to Orange Walk last night and took a tour down the “New River” which brought us to the Lamanai Ruins.  The boat ride was amazing, the highlight was most definitely seeing all the crocodiles.  Lamanai means submerged crocodile and man oh man did it live up to its name.  I have never seen crocs in the wild so it was absolutely thrilling for Quinn and I to spot them.  We also stopped at a little river bank and fed some of the monkeys.  We were blown away by the beautiful river, all the birds flying above us and the iguanas lining the trees.  The ruins were also quite a treat.  Once again we were surrounded by towering ruins that dated way further back than my mind could comprehend.  It was wonderful.

The high from the day quickly faded away this evening though.  Quinn and I head off to the islands tomorrow morning and honestly it could not come soon enough.  This town is a dump, a dangerous dump to boot.  It is filled with people just waiting for your guard to go down.  When we arrived at our hostel the first thing the manager said to us was not to get drunk, he said if you get drunk in a place like this you will get robbed for sure.  In an attempt to fix the concerned look he had just created he assured us it is very rare for tourists to get killed here for their belongings, mostly just held at gun point….perfect, now I felt much better!  He also said the homicide rate in Belize right now is nearly four times the rate than Afghanistan.  In Afghanistan there are 9 homicides per one hundred thousand people, in Belize there is forty.  He was pretty clear this is a town you come in for the tour and leave as soon as you can; it only took a few minutes in the town for us to get that vibe as well.

Tonight a lady came up to me and started gently tugging on my hair speaking in Spanish.  In Spanish I told her that I didn’t understand what she was saying and asked her to leave.  Because I replied back in Spanish she thought I could understand her so she just kept repeating herself and grabbing at my hair.  She then gave my hair a good tug, pulled me in and whispered in clear English “I think you and your hair are F*ing hot”, then walked away muttering in Spanish again.  What the heck??  So scary and annoying…I hate it when people make me feel that way.  So yes, tonight we are holed up in our hotel room not wanting to go out on the streets or leave our stuff alone.  Morning can already not come soon enough.

Hopefully tomorrow will go much better.  I think we are going to splurge on a bit more of an expensive hotel just to have a night of clean safe relaxation.  I suppose we will see what the next few days will hold.  As for now, wish us luck as we leave this hole and travel on through to the border of Mexico to catch our ferry to the islands.  Should be an adventure…

Today was an absolute blast!  Quinn and I did a day trip to Guatemala so we could see Tikal, one of the largest agrological sites in the pre-Columbian Maya civilization.  The day started at six in the morning when we began the short drive to cross the border into Guatemala.  After the boarder, we drove for another two hours to reach the ruins; the drive was beautiful.  Guatemala is an amazing country with green as far as the eye could see.  Our driver took us to a family’s home restaurant for tamale, a traditional food which is a starchy corn bread steamed while wrapped in leaves with chicken in the middle and lime on top.  He then took us to another restaurant where we tried a cookie made from local nuts which they claim hold the same amount of nutrients as breast milk.  Both were interesting, fun to try, but not sure if I would eat them again. 

When we finally arrived at Tikal we were blown away.  The ruins were so much larger than we could have imagined in our minds.  This amazing site dates back as far as the 4^th century B.C., much of it has been restored yet large portions are still left in their original condition.  It was hard to believe this small area was home to anywhere from ten to nine thousand Mayans.  To walk through their homes and their temples, to try to begin imagining what daily life looked like for them, it was all so interesting.  Our tour guide was a brilliant man who had a heart for Tikal as his father and grandfather both worked on the restoration of the temples.  He was very intelligent and filled our minds with more information than we could absorb.  What a great way to spend the day!

After the ruins we stopped for another traditional meal and headed on to do some shopping in the markets.  I picked up a few things myself and as always Quinn just walked around in a daze at all the newness.  Just driving through the country took our breath away, it was a brilliant time just watching the people lining the streets, the cows hogging the roads, and all the color the homes had to offer.  Our guide even pulled in and let me take pictures of the graveyard because I was so blown away by it.  Each grave was extravagant with paintings, decorations, art work, and food offerings.  Most families still carry on the tradition of maintaining their family members grave as elaborately as possibly as a sign of remembrance and effort for their lives.  The graveyard and the effort behind each grave amazed me.

We were just about to skip Guatemala and I am so glad we decided to go.  It was definitely a day to remember and a place both of us would love to go back too for a longer period of time.  Tomorrow we are off to Orange Walk in Belize to experience some of the swamp life. 

I do have one prayer request at the moment.  Last night I pulled my back and have been in excruciating pain ever since.  I have never experienced pain this great so I am a little worried not being able to deal with this at home.  I am amazed I got through the day however I have been in bed since the moment we got home tonight and am brought to tears when I have to move.  I have no idea how I am going to travel anywhere tomorrow let alone with a twenty pound bag on my back navigating through the most dangerous city the country has to offer.  Please pray for my back to heal quickly.  Please also pray that travel is safe and manageable for us in the mean time.  Also, because of my back and hip issues I have a doctor’s appointment with a back surgeon the week we return home; please pray they can find another solution aside from surgery.  Thank-you. 

Looking forward to writing soon with our next adventure….

Once again, we are happy to report we are having an amazing time!!!  Yesterday was our first relaxing day.  We basically did nothing and it was amazing!  With all the activities to do around here, the many things to see, and the heat, we have been absolutely exhausted.  Our day started with Quinn, Diandra, Tiff and I walking into the village just to look around; we perused a little and then headed back to our cabin to play cards for the afternoon, read our books and nap in the hammocks.  It really was a perfect day of down time. 

At our hostel there is a house away from all the huts with a kitchen and an outdoor eating area where all the guests hang out at dinner.  Our uneventful day turned quite eventful at dinnertime.  I was on the far end of the table eating and all the sudden the hostels watch dogs started barking like crazy.  I turned around to see three men dressed in full camo carrying (and pointing) their machine guns right in our direction.  They tried to sneak up on us and then gathered around the entrance, surrounding us with their guns and not one word.  My heart stopped.  I had no clue what was going on and my mind started racing at one million miles a minute.  The whole group of us stopped breathing, we didn’t move, we didn’t speak.  My initial reaction was to look at Tiffany, and then panic hit.  My mind expanded into a place of horrific thoughts and suddenly I could see us all on our knees, guns pointed at our heads while our entire luggage got ransacked.  It is amazing the places your mind allows you to go when you are away from home.

After about three minutes (a lifetime) our host came out of the kitchen to see what the dogs were going so crazy about.  After some short discussion they said they were the police and they had got a call our property was being robbed.  She said it wouldn’t be possible since the dogs had not barked (although we hadn’t been in our cabins for about an hour so I really didn’t know).  The police got another call during this discussion and it turns out the property next to us was getting robbed and they had the wrong address, so the police gave us a quick apology and headed off.   The whole group was a ball of nerves by this point.  I don’t think in all my travels I have been approached in that way so it was a new very scary experience for me. 

The whole ordeal called for quite a lack of sleep that night.  Suddenly sleeping in the jungle with one million noises all around, the rain pouring down on the tin roof, and the spiders the size of oranges crawling around didn’t seem so fun.  Nope, last night, I wanted my own bed…my mom’s bed!  We did indeed survive the night though and although exhausted, we are alive to tell about it.  It turns out the house that was getting robbed belonged to a Canadian couple who were not in the country and had left some valuables lying around.  Thankfully no one was hurt so I suppose that is all that matters.

So yes, our uneventful day turned into quite an exciting day after all!  I remember right before dinner thinking “Wow, every day has been such an adventure so far, what will I possibly blog about tonight”?  Turns out my online journal willed a good story into action. 

Today Quinn and I headed back into San Ignacio for a visit to the market and the Iguana farm; tomorrow we are heading to Guatemala for the day…I’m sure there will be much to write about when we return.

Lots of love to everyone!  XOXO