Its Christmas Eve and were on Caye Caulker and I walked outside round the back of our apartment this morning, on our 1st morning here and I could have cried, with happiness, cheesy I know, but its true, looking around, palm trees are scattered around the shore behind our house, a little lone boat bobs up and down on the calm water, a fat iguana scurries along the sand looking, I suspect looking for Christmas treats or maybe thats just me getting caught up in the moment, he was probably just making his way back home after a morning stroll by the sea. Either way, I had a bit of a moment, I didnt cry, but as much as I miss being around my family for these lovely holidays, I thought, I am in the next best place, a beautiful island in the carribean, soaking up the warm sun and swimming in the light clear green sea.
And, Guess what, I saw my very 1st shark today, Age and I were snorkeling near the shore when these 2 little boys about 10yrs old said they´d show us the 2 sharks that they had discovered and that were hiding under the jetty. I was a bit bloomin nervous as they were only feet away from us as the boys were telling us this and I didnt fancy being a sharks lunch time snack! but, holding our breath, we dove down 2 ft looking past the lingering shoawl of fish and then, saw a large black head lurking under a piece of corregated metal, it was about 1ft long with tiny piggy eyes, oh my goodness, if the head was a foot then its body must be about 7ft long!! (and ive just googled nurse sharks and they grow to between 7.5-14ft!) it is a nurse shark, and probably nearly as long as I am tall, this freaks me out a bit, and thought this is amazing, but maybe I have actually had enough of snorkeling for the day and would get safely back onto dry land again, quick smart. Im thinking though, maybe now I can say I have swum with sharks!? Maybe, but either way, Im a little bit nervous about getting back into the water tomorrow incase one of these guys fancies treating itself to a bit of tasty Cate for its Christmas lunch or even if they dont want to snack on me, if I saw one full length gliding beside me I may just have a small heart palpitation!!
Just after sun set, I finally had my pedicure that I have been wanting to treat myself to for a week now. I have very pretty feet again with a peachy pink colour gracing my nails, then met up with Age and an English couple I had left drinking in a beach bar earlier, for another rum & pinapple (this tastes so much better enjoyed on a carribean island sipped next to the sea) then home, a little light headed to cook a yumi dinner in our sweet kitchen whilst watching Star Wars, ahhh Christmas Eve.
Buenos Noches amigos xxxx
Thursday, 24 December 2009
Monday, 21 December 2009
Feliz Navidad one and all xxx
Feliz Navidad, A very Merry Christmas, Feliz Nuevo Ano and Happy New Year everyone xxxxx
I hope you all have a fantastic holiday filled with lots of laughter, fun, great food and good times, I miss you all, heres to a great 2010 xxxxx Adios amigos
P.S Mum, Dad & Sean, Hilary, Annie & George, Ian & Jonathan and Anna, Kathy & Andrea & Marco we have sent you Christmas cards, but these were posted 3 weeks ago in Cuba so am crossing my fingers that you all receive them in time, but am thinking it might be wishful thinking considering how slow Cuba is & the snow in England, you may not, so my apologies and they will have to be Happy New Year cards instead - bugger
Tales from Cuba...
Hello and Merry Christmas
Weve just got back from 2 wks in Cuba, traveling around the north south and west of half of the country, if that makes sense, and heres what I thought. Well pictures and thoughts of one of the places we visited, the rest will follow later today. Hopefully off to see some Manatees am so excited, I love them!!
Vinales
What a wonderful delight of a place, and a much needed tonic on our 2 week trip touring around Cuba. Vinales is set in a lush valley in the north west of Cuba, surrounded by the most incredible mountain range, home to lots of organic fruit farms, tobacco and coffee plantations and genuinly lovley people, barely a jintero or scamster in sight, quite refreshing.
Only having 2 nights and 1 full day here, we decided to explore on foot and see as much as we could. This is where our adventure and possibly the most lovely day in cuba started. Age and I set out on foot, with a little guidence and direction to help us get started on the right path from a couple of locals. With a mass of bananas, (i know, I cant believe after 29yrs I have actually trained myself to like them!) water, and a smatering of fried plantain chips left over from last nights feast, we set off in search of Rauls organic farm and then hopefully on to La Cueva las Palmerito (a natural swimming pool in a cave). Off we trecked, its funny to see Age and myself in our walking shoes and ruck sacks, looking all sensible and ready for a hike he he!
We had the most wonderful day, trecking through lush fields, watching farmers plough their farms with the help of strudy buffalo, climbing through bat caves and down steep cliff faces, watching fellow tourists, lazy ones on horse back chug along, swimming in natural pools in caves filled with staligtights and staligmites, eating juicy pinaples fresh out of the ground and chatting in our broken Spanish with the old man farmer who grew them. Buying his fresh coffee beans and tasty sweet honey, and sniffing his hand rolled cigars pretending we know how to tell a good one before we buy these too.
Weve just got back from 2 wks in Cuba, traveling around the north south and west of half of the country, if that makes sense, and heres what I thought. Well pictures and thoughts of one of the places we visited, the rest will follow later today. Hopefully off to see some Manatees am so excited, I love them!!
Vinales
What a wonderful delight of a place, and a much needed tonic on our 2 week trip touring around Cuba. Vinales is set in a lush valley in the north west of Cuba, surrounded by the most incredible mountain range, home to lots of organic fruit farms, tobacco and coffee plantations and genuinly lovley people, barely a jintero or scamster in sight, quite refreshing.
Only having 2 nights and 1 full day here, we decided to explore on foot and see as much as we could. This is where our adventure and possibly the most lovely day in cuba started. Age and I set out on foot, with a little guidence and direction to help us get started on the right path from a couple of locals. With a mass of bananas, (i know, I cant believe after 29yrs I have actually trained myself to like them!) water, and a smatering of fried plantain chips left over from last nights feast, we set off in search of Rauls organic farm and then hopefully on to La Cueva las Palmerito (a natural swimming pool in a cave). Off we trecked, its funny to see Age and myself in our walking shoes and ruck sacks, looking all sensible and ready for a hike he he!
We had the most wonderful day, trecking through lush fields, watching farmers plough their farms with the help of strudy buffalo, climbing through bat caves and down steep cliff faces, watching fellow tourists, lazy ones on horse back chug along, swimming in natural pools in caves filled with staligtights and staligmites, eating juicy pinaples fresh out of the ground and chatting in our broken Spanish with the old man farmer who grew them. Buying his fresh coffee beans and tasty sweet honey, and sniffing his hand rolled cigars pretending we know how to tell a good one before we buy these too.
Our treck lasted about 6 hours and we did it all by ourselves, which we were very proud off, accept the part in the cave, which was pitch black and absolutly couldnt be done without a guide. His name was Jose and met us atthe entrance to the cave, a really friendly local farmer who led us by torch light slowly through the cave, I only fell over once! It took about 15min to reach the natural cave pools where Jose lit 3 tiny flames and we stripped off (much to Jose´s delight! urgh!) and enjoyed a lovely refreshing swim in the cool waters, really amazing, but I did think that suddenly a horrible crazy creature from the depths of the cave was going to pull me under and Id never be seen again, so I stuck colosely to Age, so that If I got eaten then so did he and at least we could go together! Im suh a scardy cat!
On the way home, we passed the local park. There was all ages making use of this area, young men playing a game of football after work, a mix of teenagers and younger playing a great animated game of base ball, middle age mums running laps trying to get fit again, and parents watching from the stands, cheering their kids on and just chating amongst themselves, winding down after the day. It was so lovey to see, the sun was setting, casting a beautiful orange glow all over the field, and there was a real sense of community, general mood was jovial and light hearted. Age and I just sat there, watching and cheering for the base ball players and admiring the people running laps, one old man inparticular who was like forrest gump, he just did lap after lap after lap, his t-shirt growing wetter and wetter by the minute, but the determination on his face was realy refreshing to see and we gave him a big cheer when he finally called it a day and staggered on his way home.
The day was coming to an end, it had been fantastic and all there was left to do was mozey home, kick off our smelly clothes and relax with a rum and pinapple and a tasty peso pizza aahhhh.
Its officail, we love Vinales xxx
Monday, 7 December 2009
Cuba, cuba, cuba
I am in Cuba, and what a strange old place this is!! We are finding our feet here, just left Havana, and to be honest, Havana felt like one big flogged to death photo opportunity! The crumbling architecture is wonderful, the Jinterios who constantly hastle you, are so bloody annoying and make you not want to talk to anyone, the food is tasty, but we may get a bit bored of pizza and rice, beans and pork! so our feelings are mixed at here moment.
Internet is very scare so Ill write my blog on mine and ages new lap top and post at a later date.
The places where we stay, the casa particulars, rooms in peoples houses are so lovely, we just stayed with a wonderful old lady, it was like staying at tyour grandmas house, we shared a rum and pinapple, cooked her spagetti and pesto and had a good old chat.
Just arribved in small seaside town, Cienfugos, I love to be by the sea, have a beutifuul old decadant house to stay in with very kind lady, so Ill be in touch in a week or so to let you know how we are finding the rest of this intriging, crazy, edgy country.
Adious Amigos xxxx
Internet is very scare so Ill write my blog on mine and ages new lap top and post at a later date.
The places where we stay, the casa particulars, rooms in peoples houses are so lovely, we just stayed with a wonderful old lady, it was like staying at tyour grandmas house, we shared a rum and pinapple, cooked her spagetti and pesto and had a good old chat.
Just arribved in small seaside town, Cienfugos, I love to be by the sea, have a beutifuul old decadant house to stay in with very kind lady, so Ill be in touch in a week or so to let you know how we are finding the rest of this intriging, crazy, edgy country.
Adious Amigos xxxx
Tuesday, 24 November 2009
Oaxaca pics - Hierve El Agua, El Tule
We visited surrounding sights of Oaxaca city. We went to a tapestry house, a nice man showed us how they make rugs etc and the dyes they use, my hand was a pallete for the colour mixing, so I was left with a pink hand, I didnt mind so much. We also visited Hirve al Agua a petrified waterfall, really stunning, Age had a swim, it was chilly though so I just dipped my toes in. ooh and also saw El Tule which is the largest tree in the WORLD!!! SO so huge, its was really stunning with the light shininig through the branches, and just the sheer size of it.
Where to next.... San Cristobal
San Cristobal was next on the list, this seemed to be the destination that most people headed to next, at some point, it had great reviews so we thought we´d check it out. We took a 1st class night bus as it was a 13hr journey, this saved on accomodation for the night and actually is the only way to do these big journeys. With a bag of treats to see us through, we boarded the bus and of we went into the night, soon to awake in our new exciting destination, and even though you get there a bit tired and groggy, this soon lifts, helped by the excitement and buzz of being somewhere new, and not being able to wait to explore.
We had heard San Cristobal was cold as it was up in the mountains, but on arrival at 11am seemed nice and warm, the cold was to come later, in the afternoons and evenings, ooh after 3 months of summer sunshine and hot hot heat, my little body doesn´t feel equipped for for the drop in temperature - I don´t know how I will ever adjust to living back in cold climates of the UK eek!!
After 1 night in a sweet, but cold hotel, we explored and discovered these great apartments which over looked the whole city, we´d have our own terrace too, the price was high, well, for our budgets anyway, (actually half the price of a travel lodge in England!) but we decided this was too great to pass up so treated our selves and ended up staying 3 nights. We cooked ourselves spicy pasta in our cute little kitchen, ate frsh fruit and pastries for breakfast in the warm morning sun on our private terrace and curled up and watched films in bed in the evening, sipping on good wine, ahh bliss!! Its so lovely to have a base like this for a few days, this is something I miss a bit, my things spread around me, having complete privacy, being able to go to the supermarket and then cook a lovely meal in my own kitchen.
There was some kind of festival happening over the weekend we were there and the main sq was filled with a huge stage and live music and djs playing into the night. One evening we happened to bump into Craig again, randomly, so the 3 of us eneded up enjoying a few drinks together inthis funky little bar, shared some great food and danced in the main sq till nearly 1am.
Me and Age have this habbit of being able to bumble around places for days without actually planning anything or really seeing all of the sights, so we decided it was about time to go an explore behond the confines of the city and see what else was there. An amazing trip to a Canyon followed, (again the pictures will be posted shortly when Age wakes up and shows me how) there we were at miday on a Wednesday flying up this Huge incredible canyon, in a speed boat, spotting crocadiles, monkeys and pelicans on the way, what a wonderful life!! It was such a fantastic sight, and I had been really sick (food poisoning I think) earlier in the night but this re charged me and put the fresh air back in my sails horray!
We ended up staying in San C a bit longer, (not in the nice apartment but a cheapy, and bit smelly hostel) than expected due to us both being sick, but now that was all out of our system it was time to head on to Palenque and absorb ourselves in Mayan culture.
I had heard about a super place to stay called El Panchan nr Palenque, from a mexican guy id met in Juayua El Salvador, it was in the jungle, I wanted to find this place. After a couple of nights in town, we headed out to the jungle and found El Panchan, a fantastic, peaceful, calm place consisting of little groups of cabins, a great italian-mexican restaurant and not much else. Our cabins were run my Margarita, a lovely chatty lady who kept very spic and span cabins and rooms. Once settled, all you could hear was the buzz of the jungle insects, trickling water from the nearby river and the distant call of monkeys and gheckos, bloomin brilliant and tranquill!
So so lovely to enjoy really good home made pasta, by candle light, listening to local bands as we people watch and chat about our days exploring.
I´ll tell you more about the ruins later, but now, breakfast beckons and a stroll by the sea front, as weve moved on to a place called Campeche, a small colonial town by the sea on the mexican gulf coast in the Yucatan, its a complete mixture of very old town, 80´s beach front and pastel colours, and some slightly modern buildings thrown into the mix.
Hasta luego amigos xxxx
We had heard San Cristobal was cold as it was up in the mountains, but on arrival at 11am seemed nice and warm, the cold was to come later, in the afternoons and evenings, ooh after 3 months of summer sunshine and hot hot heat, my little body doesn´t feel equipped for for the drop in temperature - I don´t know how I will ever adjust to living back in cold climates of the UK eek!!
After 1 night in a sweet, but cold hotel, we explored and discovered these great apartments which over looked the whole city, we´d have our own terrace too, the price was high, well, for our budgets anyway, (actually half the price of a travel lodge in England!) but we decided this was too great to pass up so treated our selves and ended up staying 3 nights. We cooked ourselves spicy pasta in our cute little kitchen, ate frsh fruit and pastries for breakfast in the warm morning sun on our private terrace and curled up and watched films in bed in the evening, sipping on good wine, ahh bliss!! Its so lovely to have a base like this for a few days, this is something I miss a bit, my things spread around me, having complete privacy, being able to go to the supermarket and then cook a lovely meal in my own kitchen.
There was some kind of festival happening over the weekend we were there and the main sq was filled with a huge stage and live music and djs playing into the night. One evening we happened to bump into Craig again, randomly, so the 3 of us eneded up enjoying a few drinks together inthis funky little bar, shared some great food and danced in the main sq till nearly 1am.
Me and Age have this habbit of being able to bumble around places for days without actually planning anything or really seeing all of the sights, so we decided it was about time to go an explore behond the confines of the city and see what else was there. An amazing trip to a Canyon followed, (again the pictures will be posted shortly when Age wakes up and shows me how) there we were at miday on a Wednesday flying up this Huge incredible canyon, in a speed boat, spotting crocadiles, monkeys and pelicans on the way, what a wonderful life!! It was such a fantastic sight, and I had been really sick (food poisoning I think) earlier in the night but this re charged me and put the fresh air back in my sails horray!
We ended up staying in San C a bit longer, (not in the nice apartment but a cheapy, and bit smelly hostel) than expected due to us both being sick, but now that was all out of our system it was time to head on to Palenque and absorb ourselves in Mayan culture.
I had heard about a super place to stay called El Panchan nr Palenque, from a mexican guy id met in Juayua El Salvador, it was in the jungle, I wanted to find this place. After a couple of nights in town, we headed out to the jungle and found El Panchan, a fantastic, peaceful, calm place consisting of little groups of cabins, a great italian-mexican restaurant and not much else. Our cabins were run my Margarita, a lovely chatty lady who kept very spic and span cabins and rooms. Once settled, all you could hear was the buzz of the jungle insects, trickling water from the nearby river and the distant call of monkeys and gheckos, bloomin brilliant and tranquill!
So so lovely to enjoy really good home made pasta, by candle light, listening to local bands as we people watch and chat about our days exploring.
I´ll tell you more about the ruins later, but now, breakfast beckons and a stroll by the sea front, as weve moved on to a place called Campeche, a small colonial town by the sea on the mexican gulf coast in the Yucatan, its a complete mixture of very old town, 80´s beach front and pastel colours, and some slightly modern buildings thrown into the mix.
Hasta luego amigos xxxx
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