Mexico!

I cannot believe we have been in Mexico for two weeks already. It is amazing how fast you can settle somewhere and feel like you have lived there forever. We took a ferry from Ambergris Caye, Belize to Chetumal, Mexico, we then had to take a bus to Playa Del Carmen. The whole trip took way longer then expected as the ferry took about 3 hours, the line for customs was huge and we had to wait for our bus... We left Belize at 8 am and we did not arrive in Playa until 8 pm that evening.. made for a VERY long day.

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We rented a two bedroom condo in Playacar, about a 20 minute walk to the action in downtown Playa Del Carmen. We were so happy to finally have a place we could call home for the next month. Our cute little condo had everything we needed and we quickly settled in.

We chose to stay in the Mayan Riviera as there is so much to do and see. We knew we could easily find new places to explore and stay busy.

first day at the beach in Mexico

The first few days we went to two different Cenotes ( A cenote is a natural pit, or sinkhole, resulting from the collapse of limestone bedrock that exposes groundwater underneath) and did some Christmas shopping

Cenote Jardine Del Eden

Cenote Jardine del Eden

Azul Cenote

Azul

and then... our first guest arrived! YAY to a visit from Nana. As you know the girls go through phases where they are terribly homesick, this visit was an awesome pick me up and they couldn't wait until she arrived. The week was spent with another Cenote visit, a trip to Puerto Morelos, a walk along fifth avenue, a pirate cruise, a few trips to the beach, two date nights for Johnny and I and lots of much needed cuddle time. Despite her burn from the first day in the sun, and a total rain day when she arrived, I think she had a blast, and we were sorry to see her go...

Anneka and  Nana at the beach

Date night with some old and new friends, amazingly we met Annabel and Nick in Nicaragua, then again in Guatemala and now here in Mexico, we hope to see them when we head to Australia.  

Puerto Morelos

 

abord the Jolly Roger for some RRRRRRRguably good times

Fifth Avenue

Casa Cenote

Next visit- JESSE!!

Ambergris Caye, Belize

Well, as many of you know, I HATE winter, I am a fair weather everything and can't stand being cold. My dream has always been to have our beautiful summer place in Ontario and then escape the cold winters and fly ...somewhere.. the hope on this trip was to find a place that ticked all our boxes, pretty tough to do as there are just so many spectacular places in the world. The islands in Belize almost did...I say almost, because apparently everyone else feels the same way and the real estate prices are crazy expensive. This was the first place where I felt like we were on vacation, I don't mean the first place we relaxed, or had a drinks by the beautiful turquoise water, (that happened in tons of places). I mean, this is the first place where I didn't feel like a "traveler" I felt like a tourist...and I am not sure I liked that. So why would I want to retire here??...for the obvious reasons, the beaches are incredible, the food amazing, English is the first language (score!) and its just so EASY being here..

It wasn't too bad of a trek to get from Hopkins to Ambergris. We bid a fond farewell to the Godwins and our new friend "Captain" Ash took us to Belize City where we caught the ferry to Ambergris.

from the ferry, our first glimpse at this beautiful island

We were staying in the south end of San Pedro and checked into our hotel...a splurge for the Lambers, we actually stayed in a hotel (not hostel, B&B or guest house, but an actual hotel!) called Corona Del Mar, apartment style right on the beach...pure bliss, but comes at a hefty price tag, $150/night almost triple are usual budget for accommodations, but when in Belize...

Corona Del Mar

The waterfront from the ferry dock

We only really had 2 full days, we quickly booked our day of snorkeling for the next day and just toured around the small little area of San Pedro.  We booked a tour at reasonable price of $120 for all of us, taking us to the Hol Chan Marine reserve and Shark Ray Ally, it was an incredible morning and we saw tons of sea creatures and fish...Shark Ray ally was crazy! The boats have been going there for 30 years, so all the nurse sharks and sting rays come swimming as soon as they hear the engines. It was unbelieveable how many there were, and amazing that we could hop right in and swim along side them. Livy has gotten exceptional with her snorkel, so her and Johnny are able to dive down and touch all the creature...it was pretty impressive.
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The next day we rented a golf cart (yes we are THOSE tourists...but hey, everyone does in in San Pedro!) and headed out to "Secret Beach". Quite an adventure getting there as it's on the other side of Ambergris Caye, but the paved road ends and the golf cart does not have too much power, so it was  a long ride (about an hour). We arrived at a spectacular beach with crystal blue water and white sand for miles. We hunkered down for the afternoon, met an awesome couple from Texas who just got engaged...(hi Lauren and Mike), had some beers and just enjoyed the beautiful water. What a great day.

Our ride for the day

the girls would not leave Lauren alone...poor girl!

Livy is fierce!

Anneka and I in the back seat of the cart

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That was it for Ambergris...not a long stay, but I definitely think we will be back as the potential for an income/holiday property is pretty good...we'll see.

Hopkins, Belize

Last summer a family from our neighbourhood decided to pack it all in and move to Belize (awesome right?), their son Fox was in Livy's class when they were little. Natalie and I have stayed in touch over the years, and when Johnny and I were devising our itinerary, we knew we would make a stop to visit. Natalie, Steve and Fox are living in a sleepy little fishing village on the mainland called Hopkins (about an hour north of Plancencia). Still unmarred by tourist (although I bet that will change in the next 10 years). This place was just what we needed.  After many months of hopping around, (we usually only stay in 1 place for 2-4 days), we thought this would be a great place to stay for a bit and recharge. I know I have mentioned this in my previous posts, but Livy has been feeling quite homesick and the thought of reconnecting with an "old friend" lifted her spirits. Natalie introduced  us to Dorthy's Cabanas, small basic 1 bedroom cabanas, with a private deck, right on the beach, price was reasonable (for Belize) at about $85/night....

That's our place 

  

from our deck, literally right on the beach

The ride from Flores to Hopkins was fairly easy...border crossing was a breeze, and the shuttle took us right into Belmopan (about 3-4 hours from Flores). Once you cross into Belize from Guatemala, the changes are significantly noticeable. The roads are in much better conditions, and every sign is in English...what a change after seeing Spanish everywhere for 2 months.

Border crossing Guatemal to Belize

From Belomopan we were going to catch the bus to Dangriga, then Steve, was going to pick us up in Dangriga.  We arrived in Belomopan and just missed the bus, next one was not coming for another hour or so, we decided to bite the cost and hired a taxi to take us right to Dangriga. Steve was waiting for us in a bright orange shirt, a big smile on his face and a beer in his hand ...the perfect reception. One thing I have learned while travelling through Central America is to not stress about getting from A-B. There are always; buses, shuttles, and taxis willing to take you anywhere, and you never need to book those ahead...

The rest of the week was a blur of reconnecting with old friends, meeting new ones, home cooked meals, swimming, snorkeling, spear fishing (for Johnny) and laying around in hammocks listening to the waves. I was recharged after 4 days and ready to move on to the next adventure (those that know me can attest, I hate sitting around for too long), but the kids absolutely LOVED it here and wanted to stay longer. Livy and Anneka had a blast getting to know the locals and playing with all the kids feeling a sense of belonging. Something I know, they have missed for a while.

The girls and some of their new friends

Just Playin'

Anneka and Captain Ash

Great day on the water

Johnny and Captain Ash-spear fishing

A drumming lesson at the Garifuna drumming centre

Our new BFF's for the week-Thank you Godwin's for a spectacular time!

We were so lucky to have such great company for our stay. If anything, this week did teach me something...we really need to slow things down a little and try to stay at least a week in 1 place every month or so. While I feel antsy after a few days, the kids really need it. They are suffering a little from Travel Fatigue...I know, sounds like I am being a spoil brat,

"oh, we are SOOO tired from all this traveling."

Honestly though, as my friend An has stated in her amazing blog post about Travel Troubles (check it out, it is a great read and she really captures EVERYTHING that I am feeling http://www.somewherewego.com/chile/travel-troubles/). I had visions of spending never ending quality time with my family, lazing around, laughing, playing in the waves, exercising (ya right), and feeling more relaxed then in the last few crazy years.....but this isn't always the case...the planning (where to next, where are we staying, how are we getting there, what are we going to see when we get there), the fear of missing something amazing while trying to keep my kids on somewhat of a routine is not always easy. The girls crave structure, I never thought they would, but they are dying to go to school, (we have decided to enroll them for a few weeks at an international school in Koh Lanta Thailand or Goa, India). While I would love to literally Glob-trot all over the world, we have realized that we may have to sacrifice a few places in order to have a healthy balance...our amazing, very relaxing stay in Hopkins Belize proved that. 

Having fun with the supermoon right off our deck

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This sweet little dog I was in Love with, I wanted to take her home...

Liv and her little Jamari

Beautiful Placencia-we celebrated Johnny's 49th birthday here...

Flores and Tikal- Guatemala

We left Semuc Champey by shuttle quite early in the morning, the bus ride to Flores was predicted to be 6 hours (took 8, so not too bad). Flores was to be our last stop in Guatemala...I think we were all ready to stay put for a while so we were all a little excited Belize was almost here.

Flores is a town in Northern Guatemala, on an island on Lake Petén Itzá, linked by a causeway to the town of Santa Elena. Many people stay in Flores as a landing point to get to the nearby Mayan ruins Tikal.

The welcome sign as you come over the causeway

Flores from the water

Flores itself is a great little town, very pretty with lots to do. We stayed at a Hostel called Los Amigos. We have been so lucky with hostels lately, this one was arguably the prettiest. Low couches, and hammocks all over with trees and flowers in every nook and cranny...making little private areas for people to sit and have drinks. At only $55 a night, this was a steal!

Liv and I catching up on our blogs

a hammock area

The dining area

We planned on doing Tikal the next day so we thought we would enjoy Flores...We walked around town had some lunch overlooking the lake and then went to Jeorge's Jungle Swing,  a famous swing, across the island on the main land...$5 to take a long boat and $1.50 to use the swing, totally worth it. 

The centre of town

Lunch overlooking the water

Flores

Taking the long boat across the lake

Something I have not mentioned is I woke up a couple of days ago feeling like crap (man, I really don't have time for this!) felt like a sinus infection.Getting meds in Central America has been fairly easy. Even in some seemingly remote places, meds were available...(have I mentioned Anneka had lice in Ometepe, UGH! Not sure how she got it...Thank goodness I brought my industrial lice comb, after the shampoo we were easily able to buy, and a LOT of combing we finally got rid of them, YUK). Anyway, went to the pharmacy for sinus meds and was able to communicate my needs...they sell you pills by the singles, kind of funny, but was able to feel somewhat better so I could enjoy the day. Went to Jeorge' s Jungle Swing and had a great time swimming and jumping into a beautiful fresh lake. To be honest it felt a little like home...

Sun off the water made the pics look magical

Liv taking off

 

Jumping platform

Anneka

Tikal

Older (900 BC) and more impressive then then Chitzen Itza (I have heard I will let you know next month when we visit Mexico), Tikal National Park is a UNESCO Heritage site, a Mayan ruin definitely not to be missed. We opted not to do the sunset or sunrise tour as the park charges you $15 more a person and we are trying to save where we can. I was excited to go, and was hoping the kids would be a pumped as I was...to be honest, they were quite bored....the temples are largely spread out, the day was really hot, thank goodness our walk was through jungle on nice paths or we would have been dying by the heat... Once we would reach a temple the kids were quite impressed (how could you not be!), climbing up the steep stairs, overlooking spectacular jungle...what a site. 

Notice how little Liv and Anneka are! Hardly any tourists anywhere

When we got to The Great Plaza (one of Tikal’s highlights) Liv said, "we should have just hiked here...this place is awesome and has basically everything we have been looking at for the last 4 hours".  |I see her point...All of the temples to me were so impressive, but maybe to a 6 and 10 year old they all looked the same. In The Great Plaza, you’ll find Temple I, (which you’ve undoubtedly already seen in tourism brochures). It’s a massive and awe-inspiring structure that rises to a height of 144 feet. Temple I is on one side and across the plaza is Temple II, which you can  climb to get views of the surrounding area.

The Grand Plaza

walking through The Grand Plaza, this was the palace

Temple 2, The Mask

Looking at Temple 1, the Grand Jaguar

The Mask, that's Johnny in the right corner

Overall we have LOVED Guatemala...I will say I still think I liked Nicaragua slightly better, but that's just me, many will disagree. After Antigua, every place we went had its own charm and uniqueness, even though you were in the same country, you really felt like you were exploring an entirely new area.We got around entirely by tuk tuks, private cars and shuttles. In the end that was a huge part of our budget (when we leave Belize and are in Mexico for a month I will have a whole post dedicated entirely to our Central American budget). Johnny wishes we had a car for Guatemala as he feels we would have saved a ton. Food was delish, and quite cheap in most places. Lodgings were slightly higher in Guatemala then in Nicaragua but we still managed to stay in MOST places for $50-60/night...(CAD) Some of our favourite hostels were here in Guatemala. 

I have forgotten that I meant to add a highlight reel for every country...I am a little behind so I will try to quickly summarizes

My Guatemala Highlights include:

Montericco and the baby turtles...so cute!

Semuc Champey for sure!

Climbing Masaya and roasting marshmellows

Lake Atitlan 

My Nicaragua Highlights include:

Granada

Islets of Granada

Apoyo Lagoon (one of my faves)

Ometepe (all of our faves)

Note: we did not make it to Leon or Corn island. but heard both are spectacular and worth the trip...for sure next time!)