Day 9 - Belize - you better believe it

Morning started with drama at breakfast. On checking in I'd confirmed with the reception that breakfast was included. So I went down for breakfast as one would expect. It was only when I left that I realised this guy was following me with intent. Turns out breakfast wasn't included. I explained that I wasn't aware, and I needed to check on the booking because I'd been told differently yesterday. I also hadn't brought any money down with me, nor did I have the cash as I was running low due to leaving the country.
The man proceeded to follow me up to my room which I felt was pathetic, why he couldn't have waited till I came down/checked out, or even just came down later was just an intimidating power move. It's not like I wasn't going to pay. I was also really annoyed by the fact that the buffet made no sense financially had it not been included, and it would have been cheaper just to have ordered room service, so I was pretty annoyed up by their miscommunication. Ultimately it was their attitude that really wound me up, as I felt they had treated me like a second class citizen since I'd arrived in a hoodie the previous day, rather than designer clothes. I've been thinking for a while that whilst having genes that make me look young is a good thing, it isn't always an advantage.

I got a taxi to the ferry port, where it was rather a long wait. You are told to be there several hours before, but unfortunately there is literally nothing to do, and as it was a Sunday there was nothing to eat either, so it was a case of sitting and waiting. At least there were respectable toilets to use.
The ferry (water taxi) wasn't the most comfortable and far from being the scenic journey I was hoping for, it was a case of looking forward to being there. I think I had romanticised it when actually I would probably have seen more had I gone by road, nevertheless it was the quickest route and is more reliable.

We did stop stop at San Pedro to clear Belize immigration, which took some time for all the passengers, although the general process was actually very quick, then it was a short hop over to Caye Caulker, by which point it was getting dark. I picked up a golf cart on arrival to take me to my hotel as there are no cars there. It felt really late, even though it wasn't, so I was glad to be arriving after what felt like a long day of travel.

It was hard to work out Caye Caulker in the night, except it felt very chilled out, which is the motto "go slow". The hotel owner was really friendly and although the interior of the rooms could do with an upgrade, it was perfectly fine for what I needed and nothing was wrong with it (just a change of decor could liven things up massively). The free water refills were also super helpful.

I walked down the street a bit and stumbled on a lovely restaurant "Hibisca by Habanero" , which was serving some incredible fish and vegetarian dishes as well as wonderful cocktails. Such was the choice that I was determined to come back on my stay in Caye Caulker. I had the blackened barracuda, and the restaurant were able to edit the dish so it didn't come with shrimp, as I have a possible shellfish allergy. To drink I had a habenero sunset tea, which was a bit of a play on sex on the beach and a long island iced tea. It was delicious either way. I highly recommend this place, and am absolutely coming back.

I'm going on a full day snorkelling tour tomorrow so early to bed today!

Day 8 - Sian Ka’an

Travelling alone is always bound to bring up some challenges. This morning provided my first hiccup of the tour. I was up, organised, waiting in reception both aware that I needed to check out, and also leave my luggage ready to collect for later only to find literally no-one there. I was concerned that my pick-up would be arriving shortly and didn't want to cause any issues, but equally didn't want to dump a massive backpack there either.

Thankfully when the guide arrived to pick up, they were very helpful and understanding. Evidently we tracked down a member of the kitchen staff and explained. I had already informed the reception team the previous day, but I couldn't guarantee this message had been passed on of course. Anyway, with the guide's help, I was reassured and we left for the tour. I was told there was only a small number of us, so it would feel very exclusive.

I was really looking forward to this opportunity. One of the main reasons was the opportunity to see manatees, which are really rare. Manatees are one of the world's most endangered marine mammals. They face threats from boat strikes, getting tangled in fishing gear, habitat loss and pollution. Because they reproduce very slowly, with mothers usually having just one calf every two to five years, it can take a long time for populations to recover. Conservation programmes across Mexico are working hard to protect manatees and their coastal habitats to help preserve them for the future.

My tour was to the Sian Ka’an biosphere, booked with MexicoKan tours. The reserve is about 40 minutes from Tulum, some of the journey is a bit bumpy, so be prepared, but it is worth it for the journey. The biosphere isn't overrun with tourists, and I hope it continues to stay like that. It felt very exclusive and that we were really the only ones there, plus another boat of researchers in the area at the time. It does make the cost of the tour more expensive, but it is worth it. 
The company runs other tours, including longer day tours as well as sunset tours, but this half day tour made the most sense with my itinerary.

Sian Ka’an is a huge nature reserve on Mexico’s Caribbean coast and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Sian Ka’an is home to a rich variety of wildlife, including manatees, dolphins, sea turtles, crocodiles and hundreds of bird species. The reserve protects important ecosystems such as tropical forests, mangroves, wetlands, coral reefs and lagoons, making it one of the most important conservation areas in the Yucatán Peninsula. 

The guide - I wish I could remember her name - was simply phenomenal. She clearly loved her job, and was so passionate about everything she saw and did. She even took time on the way to stop and photograph the sun rising. It's those little details. She really enjoyed working with my camera when she saw birds that my less good vision could see, and was thoroughly enjoying the long lense!

We saw a wide variety of birds in the reserve, including Roseate spoonbills, which like flamingos are pink in colour due to what they eat. It was fitting, as it was Valentines day, seeing this two pink birds in the trees!

We did also see some manatees, although photographing them proved tricky as they were under the water, but we did see them come up to breathe briefly. It wasn't a clear shot and it was very hard to see them, but knowing how close we were and being able to see even some of them given how rare they were was so special.

We had a chance to swim in a cenote, although none of us were super keen, as despite being told that the crocodiles don't come over here, it wasn't 100%. We did have a delicious lunch, before returning back to the hotel.
I ended up being much earlier than expected, so asked if I could get onto an earlier bus, which surprisingly they let me. Win!

Downside, the bus was FREEZING!!! Why does aircon have to be so cold? Is there no happy medium. It took me a while to warm up when I got off the bus.

I arrived and despite the hotel being useless organising a taxi to pick me up, there were actually loads of taxis waiting there, so I had no problems at all. I didn't find the hotel very friendly, and unfortunately despite my want for ease, there was no vegetarian options in the hotel at dinner, so had to suffice with ordering pizza, as I was too exhausted to go around searching for dinner when I was that tired.

The hotel was so so comfortable though, and I was kind of sad I couldn't stay longer just for the beds.

However, I am SO looking forward to Caye Caulker and a new country tomorrow...

Day 7 - Tulum

This was to be the final day of the tour, although not my final day of the holiday, thankfully!

The tour has felt pretty rushed and fast paced, but yesterday was a lovely day where I really got to unwind and enjoy the nature. 

We set off early for Tulum. From what I've heard, Tulum is very touristy and a bit of a party town, not unlike Playa Del Carmen. 

We had a long drive today to the Tulum ruins. We were joined by a super enthusiastic guide who would take us on the tour. The Tulum Ruins are the remains of an ancient Maya city that sits on spectacular cliffs overlooking the picture perfect turquoise Caribbean Sea in Mexico. Built more than 700 years ago, Tulum was an important trading centre where the Maya exchanged goods such as jade and cacao. The city was protected by strong stone walls, and its most famous building, El Castillo, was used as a temple and a landmark for traders travelling by sea. Tulum is one of the best-preserved Maya sites and offers a fascinating glimpse into Maya history, culture and engineering. It also seemed to be home to an enormous number of iguanas who were everywhere and causing some amusement.

After visiting Tulum, we stopped for a very very late lunch. I was not impressed, as not only was music blaring so loudly none of us could actually hear ourselves think, there was nothing suitable to eat. It really frustrated me, as whilst it may have been a trendy bar, it was clearly unsuitable for the group dynamic. I'm sure the tour guide got his commission but he lost out on tips as a result.

Annoyingly there was no time for an afternoon activity despite what the itinerary had indicated, so I spent the afternoon checking in with the tour company for my arrangements the next day, as I'd not had a confirmation on pick up time, and also booking my bus to Chetumal, which turned out to be far more straightforward than doing so online.

I was starving by this point, and walked with the others who had also accompanied me as they were booking their airport buses, back to the hotel (which was very nice!), being very indecisive about what I wanted to eat. In the end I settled on a meal at the hotel, which was wonderful. I had some lovely cocktails and some cerviche. I was much happier having had some food, and then got myself organised for the next stage of my journey.

The hotel was also happy to accommodate a takeaway breakfast, so that also helped given how early I was due to leave the next day.

My reflections on this Gadventures tour was it has been very rushed. The places we visited are well worth seeing, but the itinerary hasn't left enough time to do this without feeling like you are going at 100mph. In fact the best day I had was the free day in Merida, which was entirely self-organised. I think extending the tour by a day would make a huge difference, just breaking up the time in Izamal. I think they also need to be clearer on the itinerary about the time changes, because where it has said free time in a lot of places, there really isn't. I was so glad I did my turtle tour at the start of the tour, because had I not, I would have been so disappointed to miss out, as Tulum gave us no opportunity.

I do think we also didn't get the best guide, his heart wasn't in it, and I wonder if some of my experiences would have been a bit different with someone like Gustavo from Costa Rica - so that definitely shapes your experiences. That said, the local guides were super keen and it certainly hasn't put me off using Gadventures for future travels.

Day 6 - Celestún and flamingos

So today was described as a "free day" on the tour, and myself and one of the other girls on the tour had booked a day at Celestún Biosphere reserve, which was a little way from Merida, but still close enough that we would have the opportunity to explore.

Celestún is a small coastal town on the western coast of the Yucatán Peninsula, best known for the Ría Celestún Biosphere Reserve, one of Mexico's most important protected wetlands. The area is home to thousands of bright pink flamingos, as well as mangrove forests, crocodiles, sea turtles and hundreds of bird species. It's normal for tourist to take boat trips through the mangrove channels to see wildlife and visit the natural freshwater spring known as the Ojo de Agua. Originally an important centre for sea salt production, Celestún is now famous for its beautiful beaches, rich ecosystems and ecotourism, making it one of the Yucatán's most treasured natural destinations.

I was specifically visiting for flamingos, which despite being present all year round, were most active at the time of year I was visiting (between November and March), although viewing other birdlife was obviously a bonus.

Celestún is roughly 90 minutes drive from Merida. Once we arrived, we were advised to change into suitable swimwear as we would have an opportunity to go swimming later. We then set off on our boat trip. Unfortunately our guide didn't speak any English, but as it was a wildlife tour seeing was probably the biggest thing, and my Spanish meant I was able to understand some of what was being said, in fact I picked up quite a bit which I was pleased with!

Flamingos get their beautiful pink colour from the food they eat. Tiny creatures such as brine shrimp, algae and other small organisms contain natural pigments. When flamingos eat these foods, the pigments are absorbed by their bodies and deposited in their feathers, skin and beaks, gradually turning them shades of pink, orange and red. The chicks are actually born with grey or white feathers.

We saw quite a few groups, although numbers are lower due to the El Niño, but it was really wonderful to see the groups, and we also saw them in flight too. 
We also saw a number of different birds - a lot of different herons and egrets.

The mangroves were very cooling after and provided a totally different range of scenery.

After visiting the mangroves we had the opportunity to go swimming for a traditional Mayan mudbath, which comes from the mineral-rich mud from the seabed. The mud acts as a natural exfoliant, helping to clean and soften the skin before being washed off in the sea. This local tradition has been practiced for generations and was a relaxing, and fun experience.

On the way back, the wind really picked up making it a very bumpy ride with all of us getting soaked.

We enjoyed a wonderful lunch, and the vegetarian option was actually good for a change!

The afternoon including a complimentary pass to enjoy the beach facilities so we could relax, but as the wind had picked up so much, none of our group really wanted to stay much longer as it wasn't particularly pleasant so we collectively made the decision to head back to Merida earlier than planned. Had the weather been nicer, it would have been a lovely beach area to enjoy and relax, and that is all included.

We ended up back in Merida to enormous traffic and road blocks - carnival had started and everywhere was rammed.

I should add, I'd had concerns the previous night that the live music would be continuing all into the night as the area we were staying in was pretty noisy, but apparently people in Merida are respectful, and the music stopped at 10pm, so I needn't have worried.

Our bus couldn't drop us off, due to the road closures, so found the closest place explaining where this was. We were fine with this, and easily found our way back to the hotel. 

In the evening, I went out to one of the live music events as it was literally across the road from my hotel, and meant I didn't need to take anything with me. It was wonderful. So friendly, cultural and all local music and dance. I was so pleased I got to witness this.

It's a long journey tomorrow to Tulum.

Day 5 - Cenotes at Santa Barbara

Izamal is known as the yellow city as nearly all buildings are painted yellow. It is thought the colour was chosen to honour the Mayan sun God, however in 1993, Pope John Paul II visited and as yellow and white are the colours of the Vatican many chose to honour his visit as well. The yellow city was put on the map after this visit, despite always having been yellow.

After yesterday's frustrations, I did manage to get up early and go for my own exploration, realising just how close the town was on foot. I was so pleased I did because it enabled me to get some lovely photos that I had failed to get the previous night. I've still been struggling with my camera but hopefully with practice it'll get there.

Today's trip was an included excursion en route to Merida, to the cenotes in Santa Barbara. After the hectic schedule of yesterday, today was far more slow paced and much needed.

Cenotes are natural pools of fresh water found in Mexico, especially in the Yucatán Peninsula. They were caused by the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs, creating a giant crater about 180 km (110 miles) wide underground. Over millions of years, the impact cracked and weakened the limestone rock around the crater. Rainwater then seeped into these cracks, slowly dissolving the rock and helping to form many of the cenotes found in the region today. When the roofs of some of these caves collapsed, they revealed the clear water inside, forming cenotes.

For the ancient Maya people, cenotes were very important because they provided fresh drinking water and were often seen as sacred places. Today, people visit cenotes to swim, snorkel, and explore their crystal-clear waters.

At Santa Barbara there are four cenotes you can visit to swim in, some are cave like, especially the first one, others are open. The colours were really fascinating, the blues were due to the different amounts of light being reflected and how shallow the water was, one of the cenotes was green in colour which was influenced by the algae.

Lunch was included - for me a bit of a letdown (perils of being vegetarian, does mean it's limiting. I had high hopes for this trip, but evidently most tourist areas don't actually do decent veggie options).

Then it was time to travel to Merida. This took time, as the weekend was the start of carnival and everything was getting very busy. We had the opportunity for an orientation walk in Merida, before a nice meal was planned. Sadly I did feel a bit shortchanged again, as options were limited. In hindsight, I wish I had eaten alone because Merida would have had a lot more options, but as the meal was including the team meeting, it made things a bit more complex. It's something I will need to learn for future trips - to be more assertive about my meals and maybe plan in advance my own options.

Our guide had started to plan our free day quite extensively. He had been quite keen to plug a group tour of his own making (presumably contacts etc, and possibly working on commission), but I had already made up my mind to go to Celestun as it was a good opportunity to see flamingos and I was super keen to see them. Another girl on the tour wanted to join me, and I was glad of the company. I think our tour guide was annoyed, but it said free time, so it's not like we'd done anything wrong, but we were definitely made to feel bad. I think it was down to him not earning as much commission which I'm sure he was banking on, but that was his problem.

Anyway, I was looking forward to Celestun the next day.

Day 4 - Chichén Itzá and Izamal (the Yellow City)

Very early start this morning, as we were due to leave at 7am. The hotel had provided takeaway breakfasts for us, which was very much welcome, although it did make a bit of a hassle for carrying everything to the ferry port with all our baggage!

Having experienced sunset last night, I had the pleasure of watching the sunrise. Still no dolphins by the boat, we were told there might be, I've began wondering if I'll ever see them on my travels :( but the rest of the journey was smooth.

We all needed the facilities when arriving in the port, and despite the toilet needing payment it was quite possibly the most disgusting facilities, so not sure what our money was paying for, because it certainly wasn't upkeep...the joys of travelling in less developed areas!

One of the things I've come to realise is that unlike Costa Rica where you just didn't want to take your eyes off the road in case you missed some wildlife or scenery, Mexico wasn't quite so dramatic on the roads. It was no slight on the places we visited, but it's been less well looked after, and sadly you'd see litter or just grass and roads. It was more of a relief when I arrived at our first stop, Chichén Itzá because this was definitely something worth seeing.

Chichén Itzá is one of the most famous ancient Maya cities in Mexico and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Built over 1,000 years ago on the Yucatán Peninsula, it was an important centre for trade, religion, and astronomy. Its most famous structure is El Castillo, a large pyramid dedicated to the feathered serpent god Kukulcán. It is now one of the New Seven Wonders of the World and gives tourists a fascinating glimpse into the remarkable history and achievements of the Maya civilisation.
It is an enormous area, and isn't limited to just the pyramid which is so well known, but absolutely loads of ruins. I've never been to Egypt, but I often think the Mayans are massively underappreciated when it comes to what they achieved. 

It was incredibly hot, and there were a lot of tourists, as you'd expect. Sadly one of the older participants in our group struggled to cope in the heat, so her and her daughter rested which was such a shame for them. It was an information overload, but still incredibly fascinating. I definitely struggle to retain so much information, but the images will definitely stay with me, and the impressiveness and intricacies of what was achieved.

I would have liked to have spent more time visiting some of the local market stalls but we had a jam packed day ahead, so in the end, made a rushed purchase with an overpriced trinket model of the pyramid but I'm happy I bought it.

We had lunch at a local place which had been organised for the group with authentic Mexican cuisine. This was a relief as they had catered for veggies, and it was really tasty as well. We left feeling absolutely stuffed!

The next part of the journey was a drive to Izamal where we had a local food experience planned, and a "short" orientation of the City. All good I thought, although after such a long day, I quite had fancied relaxing in the hotel which was actually very nice, and enjoying the pool.

The food experience involved making some tostadas, which whilst they were cooking, we went on the walk. The local guide was super passionate, but what was meant to be a short walk, turned into a very long adventure. I had felt annoyed, as I'd wanted to walk around capturing the City as the sun was setting, and taking photos of it in its golden yellow and we were losing light. The final straw was this mad idea to climb the former Mayan ruins in the city, which make a view point now. Whilst it did make for a wonderful sunset, it was exhausting and frustrating in what could have been a lovely time to spend time in the city.

I did feed this back, because it felt rushed, and I'm sure others would have wanted to spend more time in this beautiful city, taking it in, rather than at a time when we'd all had a long day.

We enjoyed our tostadas, but nearly everyone took up the offer of a lift back to the hotel as we were exhausted!

Day 3 - stunning desert islands

 Today was the opportunity to take a boat trip to visit the three islands across the Holbox peninsula.
"Bird Island", "Passion Island" and "Yalahau spring". 
After some initial challenges with payments, we were organised onto the boat tour, setting off on a small boat for the journey. 

We started off at Passion island, which was absolutely stunning. It's a small uninhabited island, and provides absolutely breathtaking scenery. If you're drawing a desert island, this is literally what you imagine.

We stopped off at the Yalahau spring where there is a cenote (more on cenotes in a later post) to swim in and was an opportunity to buy lunch. I made friends with an iguana here who was determined to end up in my photo albums, posing in all different angles.

Our final stop was Bird island, which is a sanctuary for many species of bird life, including flamingos, pelicans, herons and other birds. Sadly we didn't see any flamingos but we did see a number of other birds there.
The tide was starting to come in, so our time was cut a little short. We also had to pick up a couple of other tourists who'd got stranded as well!

The journey back was a lot more bumpy due to the changing tide/currents, so we were all a bit wet on arrival and pleased to arrive back in the warmth.

I enjoyed a nice ice cream when I arrived back, and then met up with some of the other ladies on the tour for pizza on the beach with cocktails to watch the sunset.
I've really enjoyed Holbox. It's been very relaxing and a lovely vibe to it.

Day 2 - Travelling to Holbox, plankton and stars

As with many tours, there are often days that involve more travel than others.
This was one of these days.

After a more leisurely start than I have been used to with some tours (it wasn't a painful 7am start!), but a departure of 9.45am which was much more pleasant, we took the minibus to Chiquila where we would board the boat taking us to Holbox.

The ferry is a short crossing but we still wanted good seats to take photos as we arrived on the island.

Holbox gets its name from the Maya words Holek Box, which mean “black water,” because of the dark water in the lagoons around the island. Its long, curved shape was created by sand, waves, and ocean currents over many years. The island's shape made it a great place for Maya people to fish and travel. Later, pirates and sailors used its quiet bays and hidden waterways as a safe place to stop and hide!
You could totally see how it might be considered a pirate island as we started to arrive in, it seemed both a tropical paradise and a hideaway at the same time. I was very much looking forward to exploring.

When we arrived it was a bit chaotic, having walked the short (HOT) walk to our hotel, we needed to organise what we needed because our rooms weren't ready before our Chief Experience Officer (CEO) decided he had a good suggestion for lunch. As part of this involved orientation of Holbox, it seemed sensible to join in, but finding the location did take a long time, and as many of us were pretty hungry, it was one of those walks that seemed to go on for ever. That said, when we did find the restaurant, it was worth it as it was a very cool and relaxing location, with enormous portions (far too much for one person!). I did regret not going for a breakfast bowl, as my lunch had a lot of salad cream, but the juices were absolutely wonderful.

I spent the afternoon wondering around town and taking photos/playing around with my new camera, before finding one of the vegetarian/vegan restaurants that had been recommended. This was a fantastic choice (Arte Sano, for anyone interested) and ended up being my best meal of the trip.
I then went back to get ready for our evening excursion to visit the bioluminescence (which is a natural phenomenon where microscopic marine plankton (phytoplankton) emit a bright neon-blue light when the water is disturbed). It was quite a weird sensation, and not quite as bright as I'd expected but still very interesting. The best bit was getting photos of the stars, because it was such a dark area with no light, so the sky was very clear.

Definitely found Holbox a lovely relaxing place to be.

Day 1 - travelling like a local and turtles!!

I probably should start off by saying, if anyone had watched the celebrity race across the world they had literally started in this area of the world this year, so had made me incredibly excited about my trip. It had been one of the few series I hadn't got FOMO from because I was like "I've been there", or "I'm going there in a few weeks!!!", so I was super excited watching it. I also ended up picking up a tip from the show about connectivos, but more on that later...

For the beginning of the tour we were based in Playa del Carmen, which is very touristy and to put it bluntly a resort area geared up for partying. It's a good base for tours due to its proximity to the airport, but the tours don't stay there long, partly for cost I expect, but also because it's not real Mexico. That said, the hotel was really lovely and it even had a white noise machine which helped to cancel out potential noise from the street. I don't think I needed this because I was exhausted but it was helpful all the same.

Breakfast was incredible (we had to purchase), but it was so tasty, out on the rooftop, and true flavours of Mexico. If this was how things were going to continue I felt like I was in my element.

I had had a dilemma because I wanted to fill the day with something and make the most of it, despite how tired I was, but it seemed to be too late to book onto any turtle tours that picked me up, but there were plenty running if I could get myself there. Annoyingly taxis were a fortune and I didn't want to do that. The staff at the hotel explained that I could take a collectivo. If I'd not heard of this on RATW, I'd probably have been a bit unsure, but having seen what this was, I knew exactly what to expect, these are basically like the tro-tros from Ghana, and having done this before regularly I wasn't phased at all.
I also messaged the person organising the tour and they offered a lift from the collectivo stop so I'd be able to find it easily as I mentioned I had limited signal.

It was so smooth, and when I arrived there was David waiting with his motorbike ready to take me to the beach in Akumal. He was friendly, and it was a lovely ride (not at all far), whilst we had the chance to small talk, but it was nice in the heat to have the wind cooling me down on the bike. When we arrived, he explained everything and what to do with my stuff/where the lockers were, and then where the group would be meeting.

Akumal is home to one of Mexico’s most important populations of green sea turtles, and strict conservation measures are in place to protect them. Visitor numbers are limited, guides enforce rules on keeping a safe distance, and designated swimming areas help prevent disturbance to the turtles while they feed in the seagrass beds. These efforts have helped preserve both the turtles’ natural habitat and the opportunity for visitors to observe them responsibly in the wild.

As a result my group was a small group of around 8 people making it easy to keep up with the guide at all times and not worrying that I would fall behind and miss something (my worry wasn't the swimming, but that my goggles would steam up and I'd miss something). My goggles did seem to be behaving themselves today, thanks to the technique they showed us at the start where they washed them in washing in up liquid at the start. All this is new to me as an inexperienced snorkeler. What I was struggling with was the extra buoyancy from my mandatory life jacket, as it kept tipping me over. In the end, I used a float which helped enormously and meant I kept up with the guide constantly and improved my experience massively.

The guide had an underwater GoPro, which enabled them to take photos during the experience, but some of the most special experiences were being up close with these creatures. We obviously respected the distance, but being so close was so special as someone who just loves animals.

I travelled back looking for a late lunch, and surprisingly finding something vegetarian was proving tricky. Despite my Spanish being able to order sin hongos I think as in English, sometimes some places just can't be bothered to remake something that already had mushrooms in it and my other options were limited. It was frustrating. Hopefully it will pick up.

I got back to the hotel and made the most of the swimming pool, although it was starting to cloud over so wasn't really sunbathing weather, I then decided to have a nap before the meeting with the team later.

It was a small group, and quite a few older people within it, but still a nice vibe. We went for a nice meal later which had a few more options thankfully before getting ready to leave for our journey the next day to Holbox.

Back in the Sky

 The only problem with going to Costa Rica last year, was it made me forget just how much I had missed travelling. And this was a big problem.

In the past I have been able to maximise my budget through student travel companies such as STA Travel (RIP!!), offering discounted flight prices, as well as compromising my comfort staying in hostels, but now I'm in my late 30s, I do prefer a bit more comfort, as well as my own room. My travel style definitely isn't the luxury end, so I can cope with more basic hotels (although if a swimming pool is thrown in, I'm not going to say no), but with a very busy lifestyle, you definitely need to the best of both worlds. Make the most of the budget, coupled with as much comfort as the budget will stretch.

The tour I took with Costa Rica was a Gadventures classic. I opted for my own room, paying a supplement, and this definitely gave me just this. Having had a couple of issues (not with the tour itself, although I did get rained on due to a pipe burst!), I ended up getting some compensation, and felt G had handled the situation very well, so I was keen to use this, and the vouchers as soon as possible, even though I had a couple of years to do so.

I have been slowly making my way through Central America - as you will know, I visited Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua (with a fleeting visit to El Salvador unintentionally) back in 2010, cutting short Costa Rica and Panama, due to all the issues we had on route.
Panama still remains on the list, but I felt drawn to Belize, the only English speaking country in the area.
However, as I began to research travelling to Belize - for obvious reasons at the time of writing, I was keen to avoid travel via the USA and annoyingly flights all went via that area, so I started looking at Mexico instead, learning that there were relatively easy routes into Belize via the coast.

My research led me to a tour of the Yucatan region, another classic tour, which would give me the opportunity to take in culture as well as some wildlife, which I would then combine with my own organised trip to Caye Caulker in Belize after the tour ended.

Due to my own disorganisation, waiting for Black Friday deals and for flight prices to hopefully come down, I ended up flying Air Canada again, rather than the direct Cancun flight I had been hoping for with Virgin, but maybe it was a happy coincidence, as I've really appreciated flying with them on my recent trips and their customer service has been excellent. I did still have a bit of apprehension about whether my flight would have issues following the time of year and possible snow, in Canada, but it was all seamless and I arrived in Cancun in the middle of the night with no issues at all, met by my G adventures airport transfer ready to start my next adventure.