Since our last blog we´ve been to 4 countries - Samoa, USA, Mexico and we´re now in Guatemala - we have been busy!!

Samoa was awesome, so laid back and the people were probably the friendliest we´ve come across. We spent 3 days on Upolu (one of the islands) - basically chilling out, swimming, snorkelling, sunbathing, reading...you get the picture. Clear blue water and white sand and staying in a beach fale, wake up, open the door and there was the sea. Then we spoke to other travellers who told us Savaii (the other island) was even better, which we found hard to imagine. So with a Danish couple (Tau & Katrine) we met, we spent a day on 2 buses and a ferry to get there...and it was worth it! More clear blue water and white sand and even better beach fales. Much of the time was spent doing pretty much nothing as we were both looking forward to the sunshine after freezing in New Zealand. We did hire a heap of a jeep for a day with Tau & Katrine and explored the island. Highlights were an awesome waterfall where we saw a famous rugga player (!) and then Joel nearly being swept away at the blowholes. He tried to put a coconut in the blowhole just as it was about to explode so with that and the wave crashing over from the sea, he turned to run but disappeared in the white mist!! It was quite scary at the time, you hear stories about stupid tourists doing things like that! He came throught it though with cuts and bruises all down one side, sure he´ll learn! On the west side of the island we looked into ´tomorrow´ - literally as the international date line was just there. Tomorrow looked just like today. We also went voluntarily to church (!) to mingle with the locals and took in a local rugby game in the village - both great experiences. So....after 10 awesome days relaxing it was off to crazy LA.

It was Clare´s birthday on the flight to LA but all we could get was a glass of champagne, no upgrade! We arrived in LA still on Clare´s birthday, so was probably the longest one she´ll ever have. Her brother Chris picked us up from the airport and it was straight down to San Diego. After spending 2 days with Chris and Laura in their retreat they had hired in the San Diego mountains (thanks you so much!!) it was off to stay with Clare´s aunt for a while. We saw a lot of San Diego with her family and had such a wicked time - we overdosed on slurpees, frittos and root beer though! It was so nice to stay in someone´s house and be able to relax and have a base for a while. Thanks to Debbie and Cheyenne for showing us what San Diego has to offer and we´ll def be back!

After finding out the bus to Mexico would take 1 day and 22 hours we decided to fly and it was worth it...and it only took 3 and a half hours, money well spent! We spent a couple of days in Mexico City which wasnt as scary as most people say (well, we had no probs). We saw the sights - lots of cathedrals, churches, museums etc, found a great coffee place and prepared for the next part of our trip. From here we bused it to Oaxaca, stayed there for 2 nights and it was a great little place, such character and there always seemed to be something going on. San Crisobal was next and was prob our fav place in Mexico, really cute and small and had the best coffee we have ever had! We spent one day horse riding up to a village in the mountains, that was great once Clare had switched her racehorse for a tamer one! Not joking, she got an ex race horse, I think her Spanish wasn´t clear enough when she said she had been 10 times and not 10 years of experience! So, once Seabiscuit was gone it was my little pony all the way. We ached quite a bit after that, 4 hours on a horse through the mountains does take it´s toll. From here we went to Palenque which we had heard great things about but was a bit disappointed - they are Maya ruins and very popular so the site was packed even when we got there for opening. We stayed in huts in the jungle and the heat was horrendous, we weren´t exactly sad to be leaving there.

That brings us up to date - Guatemala! And what a beautiful place it is. The boarding crossing was funny, on a little wooden boat across the river! We´ve just been to Tikal, which is the mother of all Maya ruins and WOW. We got there about 7am and it was virtually empty and a bit spooky walking through the jungle with all the animal sounds. This place is sooo much better then Palenque and with not as many people. We did see some monkeys, little funny things that looked like anteaters and the incredible toucans, which we´ve only ever seen in books - they are awesome for real! We´re staying in Flores, about an hour from the Maya site, which is a cute little town, cobbled stones, old houses and what not. Our hotel is right on the lake and the sunsets are brilliant. Unfortunately we leave here tomorrow as we´re off to Belize to do some diving. We´re both really looking forward to that, we´ll prob spend about a week there and then we´re coming back into Guatemala and heading south.

Hope you enjoyed the update.

Clare and Joel x