Well, that’s it. We crossed the Mexican border today and have had to say goodbye to [1] Belize. We liked it so much there that we stayed longer than planned, but we had to move on if we were to see anything of Mexico! In fact, we´re also hoping to squeeze in a couple of other places into our Mexican itinerary so time was getting really tight.

Since the last post, we spent 18 days in Placencia, a fishing village in the south of Belize. On the way there we popped in very briefly to Sittee River as Neil was hoping to get in some dives at a nearby atoll, but our arrival coincided with a huge storm that kicked off the rainy season and this sent the insects mad. The air was teeming with flying termites and mosquitoes and we had to escape. The next day we caught the first bus out of there. There were no seats so we had to perch on our rucksacks at the back of the bus.

“Will we make the connection to Placencia?”, we asked the ticket inspector.
“Don´t worry, mon. I´ll have a word with the driver.”

He was as good as his word. The bus doubled in speed and everyone had to hold on for their lives as we flew down the highway, Bob Marley blaring from the speakers.

We made the connection.

The storms followed us to Placencia, and most nights our sleep was broken by howling winds and crashing thunder. Sometimes the rain was so bad it sprayed though the shutters and onto the bed. But by morning, the sun had broken through and it was time again to slap on the factor 45.

We went to Placencia mainly for one reason: diving. We found a great dive shop and Neil finished his Advanced certification. Not to be outdone, Marilena rapidly caught up and got both her Open Water and Advanced certificates. The diving in Placencia was fabulous and we are now both totally hooked. We went out a couple of times trying to find whale sharks, the biggest fish in the world, growing up to 18m in length. No chance. The second attempt was especially frustrating as one appeared just as we were surfacing, but it was on the wrong side of the boat… Oh well, we’ll have to try and find them in Thailand instead. We did see, on the other hand, loads of barracuda, moray eels, other kinds of shark, spotted eagle rays, sea turtles and beautifully coloured reef fish.

If any of you fancy learning to dive, we really recommend that you come to Belize for the second biggest barrier reef in the world, the best coral atolls in the Caribbean, warm and clear water, and great marine life. We also recommend Patty Ramirez of Splash dive shop. She´s professional, patient and friendly, everything an instructor should be. In fact, the whole crew were great and we were really sorry when we left Placencia. We went diving together so many times, we felt almost part of an extended family.

The last few days have been hectic. Last Friday we were partying at the start of the Lobsterfest in Placencia. The next day we got up at 4:30am for the first bus to Caves Branch and did a three-hour hike in the jungle. On Sunday, we went riding on truck inner tubes on an underground river through the Mayan Underworld, and got to jump 10m from a high bank into the river. The same day we got on a bus to the Mexican border. Tomorrow we start with the first great Yucatan ruin at Tulum. More on that next time!

That’s all for now. Hope you are all well. As always, we´d love to hear what you’ve been up to.

Hasta luego,

- Neil & Mari

03:44:03 - Wednesday, 29.06.05