We caved in San Ignacio in Belize, we climbed and marvelled at the Tikal ruins over the border in Guatemala, we swam in lake Peten Itza, and we cascaded and caved again in Semuc Champey near Coban surrounded by the majesty of the Guatemalan Alta Veracruz mountainous countryide.
We joined a lot of tours to do this stuff, which is unlike us, but having good guides enabled us to do and see stuff that wasn't otherwise possible, as we will explain a little later. Moreover, we probably had a bit of a group mentality aruond this time because of some lovely people we met. And meeting great people has been a real bonus.
From the first time we saw them at the Oceanside kareoke on Caye Caulker, to realising they were in the next cabin to us at Marin's, then the boat back to Belize city, then the bus to San Ignacio, then staying at Hi-Et, then going on the ATM cave tour, then crossing the Guatemala border, then staying in the next room in El Remate's Sun Breeze, then the dawn Tikal tour, then the bus to Flores, then them having the deluxe suite above us in Casa de Lacandon in Flores - we spent most of 5 lovely days in the company of Paulo and Marc, the Cuddly German Couple with the incredible ancestry - via Cape Verde, Spain, Brasil, Bavaria and now hailing from Dusseldorf.
Just as Marc and Paulo had to start heading back to Mexico before returning to the Fatherland we caught sight of the enemy in El Remate. Smiling along at the sight of their victory against Greece in the Euros, we met the evil Swedish couple. Except of course they weren't: evil or a couple. Marie and Per (you can pronounce it how you want - he doesn't care) are the Svensk Super Siblings that we have a feeling we might still know many moons from now. We have just had to say goodbye to them (in Coban, central Guatemal) as they have a sailing trip to do back up to Belize where Marie has been studying. From El Remate, we did the Tikal sunrise tour, bus to Flores, Happy Bean breakfast, Freddie-Mercury-jazz-guitar-dinner, bus to Semuc Champey, the amazing Semuc Champey pools and waterfalls (which we might not have considered seeing if Per hadn't got us excited about them), the Lanquin caves and then the bus to Coban, and finally dinner and breakfast at the lovely Casa D'Acuna.
Marie will be remembered for her distaste for guidebooks (especially the LP Central America as carried by 95% of all tourists anywhere - more later) until the final morning when she was photographed taking notes from the bible (as it is known) while Per read aloud. Meanwhile Per will be remebered for his shopping; in particular his ability to seek and then miraculously find 1984 vintage Casio digital wrist-wear, and one dollar basketball shirts.
These two may also have had a profound effect on our future. We have an inkling of something we might do when we get back to the world next year based on some of Per's work. It has us really excited - the only problem is that we kind of have to sit on ot for 7 months and hope it is still a possibility when we get back. Let's see. Unfortunately readers, we have to keep some mystery in this epic tale.
Anna and Marc ensure they have the proper protection before venturing towards the cave entrance
Come on you reds! Per and Marie after the hike up to the Semuc Champey viewpoint
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