Hello Sport Fans

Apologies for not updating earlier, but we have been flat out with this travelling business. We have arrived in Antigua via a multitude of destinations and experience. I have to confess to being unashamedly happy to have left the middle of the jungle and all its inhabitants. In fact it was with relish that I boarded the chicken bus to Antigua, charging up my iPod with Bob Marley's Legend, donning my Rastafarian hat complete with sewn in dreadlocks and swotting up on my West Indian cricket facts. Imagine my blushes when we in fact arrived not on a Caribbean Island, but the Colonial Guatemalan town.

We love it here, the large wooden doors that open on to beautiful court yards of rustic coffee shops, smelling of the local brew and all in the shadows of some of the most spectacular mountains you will see. It is in actual fact the first place we have arrive where we would happily stay a very long time.

Anyhow, to briefly update you of our journey since San Ignacio, Belize:

We made it across the border into Guatemala collecting a lovely new stamp on the way. We travelled down to the town of Flores from where we travelled to see the sunrise at the ruins of Tikal. This involved a hike through the jungle at 3.30am as millions of monkeys decided to yell obscenties at us in their language. We climbed the ruins of Temple 4 (apparently the location for some of the shots in Return of the Jedi - to continue the Star Wars theme of previous blogs). We then proceeded to watch a non existent sun rise as it was obscurred by the clouds - stunning. To be brutally honest we are a bit ruined out, and the site of one more pile of bricks where allegedly something occured my well push me over the edge. Which incidentally is more than likely; as my cousin Duncan pointed out after his travels in the area 'they tell you how to get up the ruins, but no one tells you how to get back down the bloody things'. The words 'health and safety' haven't quite made it into the vocabulary in this part of the world. Still we should be thankful there are places where you can still enjoy a pure and unadulterated thrill without it being entirely wound up in rules and regulations.

From there we made to Rio Dulce to stay in another Eco Lodge in the middle of the flipping jungle. Now to make your own Eco Lodge just follow this simple guide:

1. Clear out your garden shed.

2. Allow all spiders, scorpions and snakes to take up residence in said shed.

3. Furnish minimally and ensure that all doors or windows either have gaps through which things can crawl or don't close properly.

4. Charge money for do-gooding first worlders to stay in said abode.

So it was with relish that we headed to somewhere a little more civilised in the shape of Antigua and recently to the market at Chichicastanengo and Lake Atitlan for a brief excursion. The lake is is set in the shadow of two volcanos and offers some amazing swimming in the freshest water. We were both grateful for a bit of exercise and for the opportunity to give the Guatemalan people tickets to the gun show - or what is left of them.

One last thing; the experience of travelling on chicken bus is quite something else. These old American School Buses exotically painted are crammed with locals carrying all sort of delights (including chickens). Just when you think they can't stuff anyone else on they do. And so it was i found myself listening to 'who's gonna drive you home' under the arm pit of a 80 year old grandma and nestled in her bosom. I love married life.

Till Next Time