Flores and Tikal - Guatemala

We arrived in Flores and i was having flash back to my holiday in Vietnam with Carrie. Tour guides getting on the bus and trying to get you on their tours before you have a chance to pick up your bags and think.

However, we booked up for the 3am start to see the sunrise at the ruins in Tikal. I should have learnt by new that when you book tours like this you often don´t get what it said on the tin and the tour ended up costing us double what we had expected but it was worth it.

The ruins at Tikal were amazing, unfortunately the guide was not, neither was the the weather. We climbed to the top of one of the pyramids to be greated with a cloud filled sky and no sun. However we did see lots of monkeys, toucans and something with four legs, it was dark!


Sunrise in Tikal



Temple number four, the tallest of the temples

me!

Flores has been a great place to relax and after our early start it was time for a siesta. I was just settling down when someone was banging on my door. It was Jo, my friend from the ´compound´ she had just arrived and booked into the same hotel. So, some catching up and a few beers later i was totally pooped.

John, Helen and i had booked in for some more fun and games. We went to a place called Ixalupjal where we walked around the jungle canopy on sky bridges, zip wired through the jungle and then rode horses. It was a great day, a little scarey at points but lots of fun.



Me at the top of our sky walk. The jungle was amazing. This shot was taken moments before the heavens opened. We had to go into the toilet and squeeze our clothes out they were so wet.
There 6 bridges on the route. They were stable but long and very high.

John, Helen and Sara at before climbing into the jungle canopy to start the zip wire.

Helen, flying down the wire


There were 6 wires and it took us about 45 minutes to get from start to finnish. By the end we were flying down and ignoring all calls from the guy to slow down!

This was a little scarey is because there had just been a massive storm, when we were soaked from head to toe. We had just climbed the metal structure when we heard the thunder again, i did not fancy being stuck by lightening dangling from a carabina.


Helen, Sara and John after the zip wire. Totally covered in muck soaked to the skin but ready to go again, it was brilliant fun.


The three amigos. We had a little race but John had no chance as the only interest his horse had was eating.

No rest, we are done in Flores and now there is the joy of an 11 hour over night bus to Antigua.

Antigua - I stayed there for a night with Jo. It is beautiful and i will be passing back through here in the next few weeks to climg an active volcano. For now the next steps are to Lake Atitlan to do the PADI High Altitude diving specialty and relax.

xx

Sara

Belize and the Blue Hole

Many many years ago i was helping my friend Sharon unpack her MFO boxes. There was an amazing picture in there of the Blue Hole. Ever since then i have wanted to go there. About 12 years later here i am.

After our very dodgy entry into Belize we made it to Caye Caulker, a very small island where most of the dive tours leave from.

There was a front street, middle street and a back street. You were advised not o go on the back street, the midle street had some restaurants and the front street was full of bars and everything else touristy. Kind of limits you when the rain is throwing it down and the island is only 1.2 kms long and 600meters wide. So Helen, John and i found ourselves in the grips of many happy hours until the weather calmed down enough for us to go diving . Helen and i got a taste for the lime daquiries, full of fresh limes so it was a great source of vitamin C!!


The main street in Caye Caulker, golf buggies are the way round, if you are to lazy to walk.

Frenchies Dive centre. Really good dive company, we had a rough journey out to the Blue Hole but it was really worth it when we got there. They had quite a big boat, we were second to every dive site so got to see plenty of big fish and sharks.

The blue hole is a very simple dive, you follow the wall down, go under a ledge to see the stalegmites and then come back up. The attraction for me is that it is a deep dive and we were down at about 42 meters. John got a little nitrogen narcosis so he had a very happy dive. The visability was great, the photo above was taken without a flash, which at 42 meters is not bad.



Sharks cirlcled as we ascended, there were about 5, it was pretty cool.

Me slowly ascending to the surface.

Safety Stop, perfecting the buddah pose.

The second dives were actually much better than the Blue Hole. We dived the Half Moon and the Aquarium. The corals were amazing. There were so many fish, all different colours, but they are harder to photograph so here are some really beautiful corals.

Massive Sponge with some Millipora Alciconis

Eusimilia Fastigiana

Crinoid - Sea Creature


Dendrogyra Cylindrus

Sponges and gorgonian

Honeycomb Cow fish

Massive Grouper

From Belize we took a bus across the Guatemala border. In one week we had been through 3 countries and done a lot of diving. It is very tiring travelling, i am looking forward to finding somewhere that i can unpack and stay put for a while.

x

Sara

Xcalak

So from the extremely basic living conditions in Mahahual to a little luxury.

John and Helen, two other expeditions members, and myself headed down to Xcalat. We stayed at the Flying Cloud Hotel, which was just amazing.

The rooms were spacious, clean and comfortable with a little kitchen and bathroom. The owners are lovely and could not have taken better care of us during out visit. After being confined with a basic veggie diet for such a long time the gift of cheese cake and a magnum ice cream was all to much and within 5 mins of eating it i passed out. Unfortunately it did not last long enough for a picture but it was delicious.

Back to the Leaky Palapa and they did not disappoint. The food was amazing, the service was brilliant and the wine was perfectly chilled.

On the Saturday they had a fishing competition, it was all very tense as fishermen carried enourmous dorado, grouper, baracuda and other fish up to the scales to be weighed.

The winners, on the left we have a barracuda and a snapper, then a dorado and Grouper and a Tarpon, i think.
The winning Grouper. Poor poor fish, but very tasky steamed with garlic and lemongrass!

Diving with XTC Divers we got out to the Atoll at Chinchurro. There is so much damage from the hurricane but it does not completely detract much from this amazing site. I hope that it recovers, it will take years if it can.

We saw two Nurse Shark a turtle and lots of other amazing fish and corals. There are some huge sponges there, many of them have been destroyed by the hurricane but there are still some good sized ones.

This shark came straight toward Helen and i, within about half a meter. I didn´t want to take the picture because it would have scared it off and we would have missed the moment, it was so cool!

This was the shark as it swam away.

Massive Tarpon, I took photos of these the first time we went to Xcalak but these are better because i can now use my camera properly! ( There is no photoshop on any of the underwater shots, it is all pure skill!)

Colpophyllia Natans one of the many corals that were ten times the size of the ones that we were surveying in Mahuhal. There is a tiny goby fish if you look closely.

There are lots and lots of amazing sponges, many different colours and sizes.

John and a sponge, just to highlight the size.

From Xcalak we took a short boat trip to Belize. It saved us a whole day of travel but felt totally illegal. We pulled into the port of San pedro and meanedered through the small streets to an immigration office. It was quick and easy and well worth the few extra dollars.

Helen, John and Sara on their trip through the mangroves to Belize.

So the next post will be from Belize and the trip to the Blue Hole, keep tuned in-

Love

Sara

xx

The final week at Mahahual

And so the end is here, time to say good-bye to Global Vision International (GVI). So as not to detract from my blog entry i have said what i really thing about GVI at the end. This is a very held back version but happy to share more on request.

So, the final week. All that praying to the wind God Paid off and we had a good week for diving. Up until this point we had sat around doing very little and we were starting to go slightly crazy!

We did manage to finish all of the sites that we were monitoring, which was quite exciting.


Me with all my monitoring equipment. 30 meter tape measure with a weight, slate and a pencil.

The tape is laid out, at a bearing decided by me, and then we write what is under the tape every 25 cms. There is another person that writes down the condition of the coral and if there is any disease. The data is all written up and sent somewhere........

Last dive was a fun dive. We picked our group and location. Renee, Sara, Christie, Andrea and Jo with Heather at the camera all at 007. We saw a turtle, a big barracuda and lots of other cool fish and coral.

As you can see from the blog i have had fun. I have met some great people and they have made this trip for me. I leave as a Rescue Diver, Emergency First Responder, Coral Reef Conservation and Underwater Photography level 2. There is an achievement in itself.

A few moments from the final week

I finally perfect my flips.
Swinging Andrea and Heather in the hammock, it was pretty high, i would have been scared!


Mixing up the cocktails for the final party. Illusion, Long Island Ice Tea and Jungle Juice.

Sara and Jo, without each other i think we would have gone slightly crazy. A great new friend and someone i hope to travel with a little later on.

My cabana, home for 10 weeks with Crystal, Amanda, Phil, Viv, Me and Renee. We had some good times. We were definitely the best in the kitchen and the most creative on the bread making front.

The next stage is back to Xcalat to try to get to the Atoll, again. After that off to Belize and then Guatemala. I am really looking forward to seeing new countries, diving on different sites and meeting new people.

Bye for now
lots of love
Sara
x


My final words on GVI:

The conservation project with Global Vision International has come to an end. Whilst i have met some great people and had a good time i have to say the following about them.

It was not what it said on the tin. It was badly organised, uninspiring, and the focus was more on the dive courses than the 'scientific' side. The project was sold as a serious scientific project and ,pre-departure, it all appeared to be quite professional. Sadly it was more like an expensive 18-30's holiday. There were no natural leaders and when things went wrong it was comical to stand back and watch.

It was not as professional as many people had expected. It was a bit of a joke, an expensive one. I just feel thankful that i wasn't at one of the other bases where staff and EM's sat smoking pot together.

Nearly at the end - week nine

The base, that has been home for the last 10 weeks, in Punta Gruesa, Mahahual, Mexico.



well it is all coming to end at the conservation project, and i have to say i am looking forward to moving on. I am looking forward to being in new countries, meeting new people and having some meat in my diet.

We finally got back in the water this week, much needed as there was murder in the mangroves! We had to pass the time away somehow so we have been playing a murder game, everyone draws a person place and weapon and you have to get you victim to the place with the said weapon. It has been great fun however, i am dead - killed in the office toilet with suncream, what a way to go.....

other ways of passing the time were far more constructive. The following was all Viv´s idea however, i did endulge him. Spicing up the kitchen duty and adding a little excitement to lunch!


Other ways to pass the long windy days.........


Fliping marvellous, Heather, Jo, Sara and Andrea

Sara and Andrea, trying out a new hairstyle



John and Helen at our masked party. I will be travelling on with them for a while when we leave here on the 20th June.


I have passed my under water photography level 2 and can use my camera much better, it actually has far more functions that i had ever imagined....ooops.

Well dinner has been called, we onlyhave a few meals left, the bread has been more creative so there wil be more photos to come.

Much love

Sara

x