So sorry for the delay in posts – I don’t ever really get a chance to sit down and divulge. But now, I’m sitting on an 8 hour drive to Semuc Champay from Flores, Guatemala. It’s a foggy and rainy day but the drive is gorgeous. It’s like something out of Jurassic Park. Our bus is slowly working it’s way around the windy mountainous road and I’m finding it really difficult to try and pass out.
So, where do I begin? Last I posted I was in Caye Caulker, Belize about to hit up snorkeling… And my, was that ever an amazing experience. I swam with at least 40 sting rays, just as many nurse sharks, TURTLES!! SEA TURTLES the cutest things in the sea!! 3-foot EELS, for all you Vegas kids reading this 🙂 it was by far one of my favorite experiences thus far on my trip. Plus, I got to go sailing for my first time that day. The boys went out on a fishing expedition with our new local friend Rasta Earl. They came home with 20 fish and grilled it up for us! Talk about spoiled 😉 We spent our last couple of days on the island drinking rum and swimming in the ocean. Overall my experience in Caye Caulker was incredible. We left with so many new friends and memories. I can definitely see myself going back to spend some serious time there.
Next, we headed to San Agnacio, Belize. I really enjoy staying in all these hostels because they usually have a kitchen and we really enjoy throwing down some delicious dinners. My trip thus far has been highlighted by the best food. And rum. So much rum. Haha our days in San Agnacio consisted of getting drunk on our rooftop overlooking the city.
We hopped on a bus to Flores – which means I’ve made it to Guatemala – my main location I wanted to visit in Central America. The border crossing was easy… It was an interesting ride over though. We had to ride a chicken bus, hop onto a taxi, walk across the border, than jump in a different taxi. It took us about an hour to get to the island of Flores from the border. And talk about a cute little place!!
Guatemala is so BRIGHT and vibrant. The colors are amazing and they fill the streets. Upon our arrival the island was gearing up for a celebration! We still never figured out what holiday it was but the town was hustling and bustling with music, vendors and street meat! The following morning, we took a boat across the bay to a massive rope swing. Oh yeah, and we drank more rum. It was overall very successful, until my last swing, when I basically slid down the entirety of the rope, hitting every knot with my thighs on the way down. Needless to say, I have two MASSIVE bruises on my inner thighs that are quite painful. During the late hours of the night we were on a new bottle of rum adventure, walking down the cobblestone streets, when a musical parade began walking by. We were in an alley way, when all of the sudden there was an explosion right in front of us. I hit the deck, Dana flew against the wall, and I look back to my Canadian, Chris, slow motion falling on his face. Turns out, it was just a firecracker, but seeing my friends scatter like they were gunshots was pretty damm hilarious. That morning, we were supposed to go to the 3 a.m. sunrise tour to the Mayan ruins of Tikal, but thanks to the rum, only 2 of our 6 made it. But this might explain why:
Everyone else, besides me, went on the later adventure that day to the ruins but I stayed behind. I spent the day exploring Flores. I enjoyed the most amazinnng lunch overlooking the water, sipping a bottle of Coca-Cola. I really fell in love with the beauty of that small island. We were staying at Los Amigos, the greatest hostel in Central yet. There were trees growing through the ceiling and hammocks perched everywhere. Not to mention the food, of course, was so so good. We spent a lot of time just soaking up the vibes and meeting other travelers at Los Amigos. I would definitely reccomend it to anyone heading down to Guats. That evening, 10 p.m. rolled around and we got word there was a pub crawl going on. So we headed out to the first bar to find everyone dancing with their shoes off to a popping live band. The no shoe party ended quickly when someone shattered a beer bottle on the dance floor. Blood everywhere! Haha we moved onto the next bar, where immediately a mountain of shoes began to form again. This continues to every bar we entered. There was limbo, beers, music, and a WHOLE lot of us ripping around. The pub crawl ended at a rooftop bar over looking the water. It was a seriously, seriously epic night. The following morning, once again, I was supposed to hit the sunrise set to Tikal, but once again, I missed it… Haha damn. But thanks to Ronald, the ever helpful tour guide, I was able to go to Tikal around noon. And wow, I would have been SO disappointed in myself if I didn’t go. Seriously such an incredible place. The tour guide had explained to me, that in it’s prime, Tikal was a city buzzing with almost 120,000 people. Comparatively, the entire country of England during that time had around 14,000-30,000 people. That blew my mind. Realizing they built these amazing structures with simple tools- and their knowledge of architecture and geometry was endless – incredible! I really felt like I was walking with history. All the feet that walked where mine had. Completely different ideals on how life is -then and now. Pretty unforgettable.
I returned to Los Amigos to find my friends relaxing in hammocks. We finished the night with good ol’ Toy Story, and went to bed relatively early in order to prepare for this bus ride.
So that brings me back to now. We are on our way to Lanquin with the next few days booked full of white water rafting, cave swimming, and (hopefully) a massage somewhere along the way ( I must add Mama D has really been hooking it up in the whole massage area already though, thanks my witch doctor)!
I will try and update more frequently, but we know how that goes! Adios for now! 
P.S.
My lesson for this segment: Family is what’s important. Let go of miniscule things and allow yourself to forgive for the little bullshit in life. We are all on our own adventure and it’s better to share in our lives then always try to do it alone.
P.S.S.
We actually made it to Semuc Champey today… Words cannot even describe the beauty… I was legitimately speechless for a majority of the day. We began our tour through an underground cave, rippled with pressure made waterfalls/slides (which we got to careen down)!! and candlelit walks through dripping caverns. We entered ther depths of the cave and were able to jump from the jagged edges into the dark emerald pools below. Our tour guides were full of energy and super comforting through the pitch black. We then proceeded to the dopest of dope rope swings followed by floating down the river. The day didn’t end there… We decided to jump off a 50 foot bridge into the water below as well. Then the treacherous hike began up a 1.5 mile grade to the view point. Minus my minor heart attack it was thoroughly worth it. Below we could see the blue water. Semuc Champey actually stands for “water that passes under a bridge.” When we finally made it back down to these blue lakes we were literally standing on a land bridge with water flowing under our feet as well as under the bridge. Two rivers flowing different directions. The boys did some tree climbing slash tree jumping as we waded in the pools below. By far the greatest Monday of my life. We are heading back there today to enjoy some swimming again.
#fuckingbueno!!!!
breathe. 