Well, the diving in Belize, mostly on Lighthouse Reef, was very good: the reefs are in very good condition. We dived the Blue Hole, which I found a slight disappointment. It’s billed as being the dive of a lifetime, but when we were there the visibility wasn’t good, so there wasn’t much to see. We dropped down to 43m to see the stalactites which were discovered by Jacques Cousteau: they are very impressive, being huge, but that was about it. The rest of the diving was marvellous: lots of reefs with fish in abundance, turtles, eagle rays and even the odd shark. Unfortunately, I have no photos of the trip, as I left my underwater camera at home rather than drag it round Central America, but here’s a picture of us arriving back in Belize City on the luxurious Belize Aggressor III – Diane was waiting on the quayside with the camera.
We all parted on Saturday morning: the rest of the group to the airport for their flights back to the UK, and Diane and I by bus to Flores in Guatemala. The trip was interesting, on an old bus through the ramshackle border at Melchor. We disembarked to clear customs, and ended up being scammed again for a few quetzales by the border guards. I can’t decide whether this is very annoying (I mean gosh, I’m English, this doesn’t happen in our country, it isn’t right) or whether I don’t care (a couple of quid, yes, whatever). Anyway, loads more people pile on after the border and we proceed to Flores. This is a lovely little town on an island, where we plan to change buses to go to Guatemala City and on to Antigua. We will stay here a couple of days though, to chill out – not literally though, as the weather is toasty!
Boats are popular here with tourists and locals for trips around the lake, and as ferries across to smaller villages.
Flores is on an island, attached to another town called Santa Elena, which is where the work gets done. We venture over there looking for an ATM. Nobody in Guatemala wears a helmet on a motorbike, not even the police. It’s family transport: we often saw Dad, Mum and the two kids on one Honda CG125. Sometimes Mum was pregnant also, or using the phone, or carrying pans.
We ate tacos from the local street vendors on a couple of evenings – they were very good, as was the chocolate cake!
After a nice layover, we took the night bus to Guatemala City, leaving at 9pm and arriving at 6am. We booked on Maya de Oro, which has big seats which more or less fold down into beds, so we get some sleep. We’re met at the bus station by a minibus which takes us (and 12 other people) to Antigua, where we arrive at about 8am. We’re going to do more Spanish lessons, and we’ve arranged to rent a little apartment through the school. Here’s a couple of Antigua’s more famous sights: the volcano of Agua, and El Arco. I suppose Frida’s bar is a bit famous also. (Still no helmets for the motorcyclists, even the policemen!)
After a refreshing night’s sleep, we venture into the local mercado to buy supplies. These are spices and colourings for food, and also importantly at this time of year for the nativity scenes which are in abundance in the magnificent churches here.
Our apartment is small, but quiet. We enter through an ice-cream shop next to the Spanish school and through another locked door into a courtyard, and then into our rooms. The parents of the guy who runs the school live next door. Here we are, anyway.
Being a Spanish colonial town, Antigua is built around a central square with a fountain. Here’s a slightly blurry photograph of the fountain, and Father Christmas.
The Sky bar is a nice place to pass the sunset hour. The table behind us were a company having their office Xmas party, and enjoying it hugely, con mucho tequila 🙂
The square is very popular with tourists, both foreign and Guatemalan (lots of them come here for weekends to escape Guatemala City). Hence there are many street vendors, and also artists such as this mime.
On Christmas eve, we buy supplies for Christmas day. The market is very crowded, but Diane buys some vegetables to go with the supermarket chicken and bacon. So, we can have a bacon sandwich on Xmas morning, then a meal in the evening, kind of like at home.
The Guatemaltecos are extremely fond of fireworks, especially bombas, which make very loud bangs. These go off all night, often at 6 in the mornings also, and really are loud: can’t hear the television-type loud. Christmas eve is a massive bomba-fest, and then on Christmas morning, at midday, they all go off together all over the town, and indeed the country. We are told, though, that this is nothing compared to New Year’s Eve, when they get really serious about it. Watch this space.
Anyway, there was our Christmas. Back to the Spanish lessons next week, and then New Year next weekend.
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