Nathan's Insights

World Trip 2012-13: Day 101 – San Ignacio to Flores, Guatemala

January 5, 2013

Saturday 5 January 2013
Highlights: Tikal Ruins

Today we left Belize behind getting up around 6 am in order to have breakfast and be on the road by 6.40 am. Border control was interesting, we paid $18.75 USD To exit Belize and about $1.25 USD to enter Guatemala. The interesting aspect is we walked past border control and Andrea then went back with our passports to pay the entry costs and get our passports stamped. We easily could have entered the country without getting checked. I’m guessing they aren’t really worried about terrorists or illegal immigration!

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Belize, Flores, Guatemala, MayanSun, San Ignacio

World Trip 2012-13: Day 100 – San Ignacio, Belize

January 4, 2013

Friday 4 January 2013
Highlights: Actun Tunichil Muknal (ATM) Caves.

During the night it rained very hard and as a result all our booked activities today underwent major changes. For me the Actun Tunichil Muknal Caves or the Cave of the Crystal Sepulchre was changed from a 11.30 am departure to 8.15 am. This news was delivered by Andrea shouting “Nathan are you awake?”. Actually this turned out to be a good thing as otherwise we would have been hiking back in the dark across rivers which I don’t think would have been very safe.

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Belize, MayanSun, San Ignacio

World Trip 2012-13: Day 99 – Caye Caulker to San Ignacio, Belize

January 3, 2013

Thursday 3 January 2013
Highlights: Travel day by boat and public yellow school bus

Travel day from Caye Caulker to San Ignacio which meant a 45 minute water boat ride back to the mainland and away from paradise, literary since that was the name of our hotel!

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Belize, Caye Caulker, MayanSun, San Ignacio

World Trip 2012-13: Day 98 – Caye Caulker, Belize

January 2, 2013

Wednesday 2 January 2013
Highlights: Snorkelling and cruising in the Caribbean.

Today the majority of the group opted for a day of snorkelling in the Caribbean and exploring the second largest coral reef in the world after the Barrier Reef in Australia. As we had 14 people Andrea managed to organise a boat just for our group 🙂

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Belize, Caye Caulker, MayanSun

World Trip 2012-13: Day 97 – Caye Caulker, Belize

January 1, 2013

Tuesday 1 January 2013
Highlights: Walking around the island and relaxing by the ocean

An extremely easy day walking around and exploring Caye Caulker while recovering from yesterday’s partying. The islands main transportation options are; golf carts, bikes and walking. You have to watch out for the golf carts as they can be silent killers 🙂

But mostly this was a day of relaxing and listening to the ocean and occasionally slipping a beer as I stared into the horizon.

Belize Photos (Facebook)

Belize, Caye Caulker, MayanSun

World Trip 2012-13: Day 96 – Playa de Carmen to Caye Caulker, Belize

December 31, 2012

Monday 31 December 2012
Highlights: School bus transportation, New Year’s Eve

A big day of taxis, buses and boats on a major travelling day that ended up with me on the Caribbean Island of Caye Caulker, a part of Belize.

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Belize, Caye Caulker, MayanSun, Mexico, Playa de Carmen

World Trip 2012-13: Day 95 – Playa de Carmen, Mexico

December 30, 2012

Sunday 30 December 2012
Highlights: Tulum Ruins

Kate got my message last night about an earlier start for the Tulum Ruins visit which was a good start to the day. Kate sneaked into the breakfast area to meet us having the presence to not take off the hotel bracelets when she checked out yesterday.

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MayanSun, Mexico, Playa de Carmen

World Trip 2012-13: Day 94 – Playa de Carmen, Mexico

December 29, 2012

Saturday 29 December 2012
Highlights: Meeting new tour members

Another lazy day walking around Playa del Carmen, watching some TV and writing blog entries and emails to those back home that I miss before meeting new tour members.

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MayanSun, Mexico, Playa de Carmen

World Trip 2012-13: Day 93 – Playa de Carmen, Mexico

December 28, 2012

Friday 28 December 2012
Highlights: Farewell Dinner

After 14 days it was time to end the Mexico Ancient Civilizations part of my Mexican and Central America trip. Today we farewelled Tina, Luna, Sam, Patricia, Aaron, Lauren and Kate. I had originally been a little concerns that I would fit into a basic style tour aimed at 18-39 year olds but the departing tour members made me feel very welcome and I’ll miss them all to varying degrees.

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AncientCivilisations, Mexico, Playa de Carmen

World Trip 2012-13: Day 92 – Chichen Itza and Playa de Carmen, Mexico

December 27, 2012

Thursday 27 December 2012
Highlights: Feeling better, Chichen Itza

The best thing about today was walking up and feeling much better. The group as a whole was also doing a lot better which was great news considering we had a 3 hour trip to Chichen Itza (without toilets) and and 3 hours later to Playa de Carmen.

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AncientCivilisations, Chichen Itza, Mexico, Playa de Carmen