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The last week in Guatemala sort of kicked our ass. We had a fantastic time touring the ruins at Tikal, swimming in crystal clear pools in Semuc Champey and going cave swimming with only a candle before heading to the cute colonial town of Antigua. During this time, however, I got a brutal chest cough and cold and Steve got a 'mucho-bad' ear infection. Oh, and a volcano erupted right by Antigua, we sat through a tropical storm which resulted in major flooding and road closures to northern Guate and many deaths. Merely bumps in the long road of travels.
Only in countries outside of N. America and Europe can you go caving in only a bikini and sandals... and a candle. Not only that, it had been raining ALOT and the water in the caves were high, high enough that you had to swim the entire time against strong current. I was left in the dark at times when my candle went out and everyone had gone around a corner! It was so much fun and everyone exited after the hour with a few scrapes and bruises but huge smiles on our faces. We then proceeded to the rope swing that goes out over the river a good 25 feet up and you have to let go at the right time to fall into the river. I was screaming the first time and swallowed a bunch of water (hence the cold???). Finished off with tubing back to the hostal.
The next day we took a bus to Antigua, 8 hours in the 2 worst seats on the bus. Lucky us!! We were stuck in 3 days of rain, Steve didn't do anything as he was in lots of pain but I headed out and took as many pictures as possible in the rain. Like I said earlier, the rain caused lots of flooding and the roads were closed to the northern areas we wanted to see. No point waiting around when we could bus to the bay islands in Honduras to see Nicole and go diving. Had a lovely 17 hour travel day, stayed in a sketchy area in La Ceiba then took the early morning ferry to Utila. Hello Caribbean waters!!!
We found the dive shop that nic was staying at and gave her a nice surprise (she didnt get our email that we were coming). Well, I think that we are a nice surprise!!!!! Steve couldn't dive due to the ear but I did my open water course and loved it so much I did my advanced course. Over 2 weeks I was able to do 15 dives!!! These included a night dive, deep dive, wreck dive and numerous others. Saw eels, spotted eagle rays, turtle and dolphins!!!!! The big plus was being able to dive with one of your best friends who knows the area and is lots of fun! Steve came out on the boat a few times when we were looking for whale sharks and went snorkelling. The boat captain was fun, a guy named 'Cookie' who played great music and kept us laughing. Somehow Utila swallowed us up and all of a sudden 2 weeks of diving, getting eaten by sand flies, drinking at the local bars and hammock swinging had passed. Time to move on since we have less than a month left in our travels.
Said a sad goodbye to Nicole, travelled for 2 straight days and are currently in a bar watching Mexico and France play in the World Cup (drinking cerveza at 12pm is fine!!) in Leon, Nicaragua. The last of many long bus trips are behind us and we have a few weeks of volcano sledding, lake swimming, surfing and beach bumming ahead of us. We come home mid-July only to pack up the Jimmy and head out camping and hiking for the rest of the summer. And contemplate where we want to travel next...
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