From Chicago we hit Miami. We arrived to a huge thunderstorm that caused flash flooding and the forecast was for 4 more days of rain but we actually faired pretty well. We had beautiful sunny hot days followed by afternoon showers. We spent our days chilling on the beach working on our tans and shopping in the afternoons during the rain. Miami is a colorful place - black, white, cuban, hispanic, portorican. There are more spanish speakers there than there are English. The girls show off their curves and big booty in short, tight dresses while the guys cruise the main drag in their pimped up cars.

After 4 nights in Miami we headed south to the Central American county of Belize. Belize is a pretty poor county with a lot of drug dealings and a high crime rate so we opted to head straight out of the city to the touristy island of Caye Caulker where life if peaceful and slow paced. Only a few kilometers long and about 200m wide the island is very small and has only guesthouses, a few restautants and no paved roads just sandy lanes linned with palm trees and hammoks. There are only a few cars on the island and the locals get around on bikes or golf buggies. We checked into a cute little shack complete with hammocks, a thatched roof and sea views and it was cheaper than the price we paid for our hostel beds in Miami. Happy hour on the island is virtually all day so we took to the Panty Rippers and Rum Punch cocktails. The scuba diving options were quite pricey so we opted for a day trip on the Ragga Queen sailboat for some awesome snorkelling. We had a magnificant day and saw some beautiful coral reef as well as turtles, sting rays, moray eels, baracudas and the best of all - we swam with sharks. Only nurse sharks but sharks all the same and i touched a sting ray. Early nights and late mornings are a must on Caye Caulker. On the Split which is the main swimming point on the island i meet a couple of local 'rusta' boys between the ages of 7 and 9. They were not shy and took to us with great enthusiasm playing tag and mucking about. I tought them how to float and they had a ball. When it came time to leave them there were many hugs and the older one said that i was the best friend he ever had.

From Belize we went back to the states to our last stop Las Vegas - yes our last stop. We stayed at the Luxor which was such a nice change from the hostel scene. We have both been to Vegas before but we both love it so we didn't mind returning. We went to a cirque de solie show and explored all the casinos and shops. Quite a bit has changed since our last trip - a few new casinos and hotels and some of the old ones have gone. Unfortunately Vegas is quite expensive so we pretty much ate Maccas and other fast food the whole time we were in Vegas.

Where to next ! ! ! !