backtrack

the week before christmas i was rushing around somewhat trying to a bit more of guatemala before heading onto mexico.

first i went to place called semuc champey in the middle of the country, travelling in various pick ups and minibuses, 15km taking 1 hour but the surroundings were beautiful and i had a big latino man squashed in next to me telling horror stories about cars and buses falling off the edges, plummeting down the cliff sides, i was glad for my limited spanish so as not to hear the details. semuc consists of a series of beautiful turquoise pools on top of a massive river and is incredibly beautiful, set in the lushest jungle. exploring the caves there was a bit of a cheap thrill to; scaling the sides, swimming under rocks, climbing waterfalls all one handed so as not to extinguish the single candle in your hand which is the only light source you have! it aint no wookey hole, i tells ya.

after semuc i headed north to lago de peten itza for yet more beautiful scenery and silvery water, climbing, monkey spotting, hammock swinging and to pick my friendly parasites, the amoebas! i also made it to tikal, the most incredible land of mayan temple ruins in the jungle. caught a beautiful sunset and sneaked in early for a cloudy sunrise and was ¨serenaded¨ by the howler monkeys whilst the temples emerged from amongst the clouds and trees.

finally i am now in here in mexico, staying with pip and family in their gorgeous place.
i leave in a few days to find my destination for new years. have a good one yourselves.

till the next blog adios

greetings

christmas eve and i wake up from my comfy double bed and walk out of the house and onto the beautiful empty white beach and into the turquoise sea. by 8am i am asleep under the hot mexican sun and when i wander back for a fresh papaya breakfast i whisper a wee thanks to the creator of this new christmas experience and my early christmas presents of parasites which cause me to look pregnant and even more ridiculous in my hidious new bikini, i´m working at expelling them...nice!

so i am on my holiday from my holiday, hard work all this holidaying eh! staying with the fornieres in playa is fun again a perfect turkfest would surely thrive here.

as expected at this time of year i miss everyone like crazy, especially mi familia but its really nice to see pip, a little piece of home.

i´ve been running around like crazy this week, trying to see as much of guata as possible, and its been some of the best times for sure but i´ll try and elaborate after christmas.

have a lovely hol/christmas yáll

x

guata

i think i´m just starting to find my feet, and my balls for that matter!
going it alone has its ups and downs but i suddenly really like it. although sharing an experience is really amazing and i miss just looking at someone i know, at that key moment, and knowing that there´s a blueprint of it in their mind too, the freedom and adrenaline of going solo kicks cucu.
some places i´ve been i don´t know whats more irritating, us "the gringos" or the mosquitoes and i frequently muse on the similarities.

spent this morning freezing and roasting myself on volcan pacaya with a hilarious mountain goat-like guide... the infamous calves were stretched to their limits but well worth it. also i found out that volcano skree-skiing is an olympic sport, its ace fun, i´m in training for london.

a few days later...
creation seems to be rearing its head in every flavour, whilst elegant and fragrant there is no lack of spice, everything is fullbodied, vibrant, tantilising and fresh but the sadness, hardness and poverty can leave you with such a bitter taste that is hard to shift and in all honesty i ache to do some work here and get my hands dirty instread of just tasting the bitterness and covering it with the sweetness of the next thing i see.

some of the people here are so beautiful, natural and so generous with their nothing and others are cautious and resentful of your fortune in being born pale/western/"rich".

and a few days more...
i´m now in guatamala, accompanied by bad white wine and a beautiful fresh avocado, reggae sounds wafting, beautiful lago de atitlan before and surrounded by dark, moody looking mountains (obviously rewriting now in a less idealic internet cafe) amongst the mountains are several gatherings of lights, less that there were a month or so ago as whole pueblos were destroyed in flooding and lost to mud.

the week ahead holds hammocks, jungle, mayan temples, many hours on chicken buses i imagine, new people and more bad spanglais. i want desperatley to emmerse myself in the language but i fear the loneliness this brings. i´ve learnt how much i love the english language and how i hate it for being such a huge obstacle for me.

ometepe

this blogging is proving somewhat more difficult than anticipated...not only because of internet access but i am also finding it hard to put down in words that which can´t be described.

i have been in the most beautiful place i have ever seen for the last 5 days...isla de ometepe. an i sland in lago nicaragua that looks like a pair of glasses with no arms. on each lense is a volcano, one is active and one not. the first place i stayed in was finca magdelene, which we trekked up to in the dark. the stars were amazing, the likes i´ve nunca seen. but the morning...oh the morning...i stepped outside and was surrounded by beautiful exotic flowers, green parrots and the lake and volcano looming infront of me, it was so stunning, the aroma of coffee(which is grown at the finca) was pretty perfect also

sorry i´m brabbling somewhat, but this few days i met the most amazing people, kayaked twice out into the lake for sunset and to see the monkey islands, went horse riding (hilariously) drunk rum from coconuts, taken from the trees by the dinner table,and more and more and more.

this travelling meeting people, getting to know them while they are getting to know themselves and vica versa and then saying goodbye mostly forever is a funny way to behave and my wee heart is breaking and remaking every few days... but it is this way and i´ve chose it and i couldn´t be more overwhelmed by everything.

missed home peeps at points though, anyone fancy moving to a volcano island on a lake....eternal turkfest and more.

shalom

(there´ll be photos when i can)

badger arrives in nica

hola all

well after an enjoyable 26 hours getting here, my luggage being lost, passport held and thinking i had been conned and there was no spanish school and certainly noone to pick me up from a remote airport where beatiful skinny children were grapling at me for my money and possessions, of which i had none, i am now more settled in granada. this is an amazing, beatiful and incredibly poor and desperate place. the mood and spirit seems to change constantly from incredibly friendly, open, carefree to resentful and suffering. it is a sleepy place, but not for the my senses, which are tired with hyper stimulation. the smell, colurs, food, plants, people, etc are incredible.
whilst i'm quite sad and miss y'all and being known and not a circus act i am really glad to be here and be privelidged to be a part of this world like nothing i've ever known.

till nxt blurb adios from nica

xxx

the countdown

I'm off in less than 2 weeks!
for those who don't already know, i'm heading off for a bit...

starting in nicaragua and travelling through some of latin america for the next 6 months.

so keep an eye on this blogsite for updates and i hope y'all have a grand 1/2 year or so and hope to hear how you're getting on too.

ciao for now.x

ps - cheers to all those who made it down for some south london pacific action on saturday. i had an ace if not somewhat hazy time.