On Thursday 12th November, after a 3.5 hour flight from Guatemala City we arrived in Miami where the fun was about to begin! We stood in passport control for 40 minutes before reaching the desk, where the immigration official took great interest in our round the world travels. During our conversation he abruptly stopped while looking at his screen and gave me a concerned look. It appeared I had been previously denied my entry visa, and as such would need to be collected and taken to another area to have my records checked. We were ushered to the side and then collected by another official carrying a bright red folder (in which he placed my passport), and taken to a room full of dubious looking characters. After an hour wait I was finally taken into a room and questioned by another official about my intentions during my stay in the USA, my history, my employment, any criminal records etc etc etc. After 20 minutes of tense interrogation he finally stamped my passport and I was IN! Before I walked out of his office I asked if I would have this problem again and what the actual reason for my denial was. He informed me that on the online application I had answered “Yes” to the question of whether or not I had a criminal record. What this meant was that while V had applied for us both online, she had landed me with a criminal record and caused this entire issue – I am still collecting favours for this!
After an eventful start we rushed to catch up with the rest of the gang, who had patiently waited for us to get through. We met up at the Dollar hire car, where Lara and Leise had picked up their hire car, a beast of a vehicle which was huge even by US standards. Leise was tasked with driving it, but he did well and managed to get us all to our hotel on South Beach Miami safe and sound. We all checked in, and after a bit of relaxation met up in reception to head to the beachfront for dinner and a few drinks. It was great to be in the States and after a short walk from our hotel we hit the beachfront and found a great Irish bar. We tucked into beer and cocktails as usual, and then ordered our food. This included chicken wing starters, oysters, fish, and these amazing skirt steaks which are thinly sliced and wrapped into a circular shape – very big and very tasty! After a couple more drinks it was time to head home as everyone was pretty tired after yet another early start, and Lara and Leise had an early start the next day to head to Fort Lauderdale.
We woke up after a good lie in on Friday morning, and met up with Georgie to head out for a nice brunch. After strolling the streets we came across a funky bistro called Cafetto and tucked into some great food to start the day. After a good few minutes we began to notice the interesting decor, graphic displays of art and sculpture adorned this lovely little coffee shop..... not what any unsuspecting patron would expect to see over his omelette but pretty funny. After that the girls headed off for some shopping while I headed back to the hotel to watch the Springboks get beaten by France on a flaky Internet stream. That night Georgie, V and I went out for drinks. We found a great bar to start at, and enjoyed some people watching with the stylish and whacky of Miami cruising up and down this very busy street. After that it was time to pick a restaurant and we settled on the World Resource Cafe, which combined sushi and Asian food. We ordered a large sushi platter to start with and managed to convince Georgie that sushi isn’t sushi unless it involves fish! We then had Thai curries and V had tempura with lots of wine and every mouthful was divine! From there we took a casual stroll past all the thriving bars and restaurants, before browsing a late night store selling lots of weird and tacky clothing. Then it was bedtime.
On Saturday we woke up and hit Starbucks for a coffee and hot chocolate, and to sort out some admin on the Internet there – can you believe how tight they are, they charged us for Internet, even after buying their wares! Anyway we then hit the Swiss bakery next door for healthy rolls and made our way back to the hotel to finish packing up. At 12pm Lara and Leise rocked up in their hired car now affectionately known as “the beast” and we headed to Fort Lauderdale with real excitement to board our cruise ship Enchantment of the Seas and head off to the Caribbean
So very short and sweet in Miami but V and I had been here before and here are our highlights and lowlights:
- South Beach is awesome!
- Great shopping for the girls
- Passport control was a serious lowlight but hey at least we got in!
Friday 27 November 2009
Miami - Photos
It's goodbye South and Central America as we fly into Miami
The city skyline
After a mammoth passport control experience we finally get to rejoin our team!
Lara and Leise's hire car, meet "The Beast"
All ready to head to South Beach
A quick bite to eat on our way
Miami South Beach, we love it!
Our hotel
First night and we hot a great Irish bar and restaurant on the beach
After all that stress it's time for a bucket of beer
Everyone is happy to be in the States
This is a skirt steak - best steak since Argentina!
Oysters for Lara and V
V ready to tuck into her steak
Seafood for Georgie
A great dinner and first night in the USA
Day 2 and time for brunch
Our new home and a good place to find some food
A great little bistro
Interesting decor, check out the picture behind Georgie
Raunchy sculpture and picture in the background...
V and Georgie off for some shopping and the beach
Yet another stunning beach on our travels
Some very arty areas in the city
A good day shopping for Georgie
The perfect restaurant for dinner
Beer and cocktails to start
and then onto the wine for dinner
The food was amazing and the girls are obviously happy!
A great last night in Miami
They never had my size ;-)
Looks good on Georgie!
It's Saturday and "The Beast" arrives to take us to fort Lauderdale and our Caribbean cruise!Wednesday 25 November 2009
Guatemala
FLORES AND TIKAL NATIONAL PARK
After the most amazing time, and with great disappointment we woke up early on Tuesday 10th November to catch our water taxi from Caye Caulker to Belize City. It wasn’t the best start to the day for us either, as V was applying for our US visa waivers online while I was washing dishes. Hers was accepted and mine was declined, not the greatest news just 2 days before we were due to fly to the States. Anyway we had a taxi to catch so had to get moving! The water taxi takes just over half an hour, and on a cloudy day we arrived in Belize City nice and early to catch our bus to Flores in Guatemala. Flores is a picturesque town situated on a tiny island just off the mainland, which you access over a bridge. The bus was late but we finally jumped aboard at 11am to begin our 6 hour journey. The bus was no great shakes either, a very old vehicle with no aircon and certainly not what we had been used to so far on our travels although we had been warned and were happy there weren’t any chickens on board with us.
On our journey we stopped at the Belize – Guatemala border where we had to pay the customary exit visa charge, in this instance US$20 to the Belize government. The border post was very rundown and not the greatest first impression for either country. We had our passports stamped on the Guatemala side before exchanging some US dollars for Guatemalan Quetzals. This is not done with the usual Foreign Exchange Bureau, but rather individual guys who greet you as you step off the bus waving thick wads of cash in your face to exchange. A very bizarre welcome but they actually offer better rates than the banks, which just shows what sharks the big corporations are!! We stocked up on cold drinks and continued our journey. We arrived at the town on the mainland just outside Flores, and were swiftly booted off the bus and ushered onto mini vans. With our bags all packed precariously on the roof we were taken to a shopping centre to draw some cash, before being dropped off at our hostel in Flores. This semi form of kidnap off the local transport is the tour operators’ way of getting you to sign up to their tours or to book into accommodation where they get a cut!
We only had 1 night in the town, and the main attraction is the ruin site at Tikal National Park. Naturally we booked our tour through our kidnapers who kindly offered to collect us at 4.30am to take us to the ruins and back in time for our 2pm bus to Guatemala City. The condition for the agreement was that they would definitely have us back in time, and would drop us of at the bus station after we had collected our bags from our hotel. They agreed wholeheartedly but we were to be caught out a bit later..... We then hit the Internet cafe to try and resolve the issue with my US visa, which involved calling many US agencies with zero success. After much pulling of hair we gave up and emailed my best man Paul in Dallas to see if he could help us and make the application the next day while we were on our Tikal tour (after 24hrs of the initial online application you are able to apply again). We all went back to our rooms to drop off some kit and then go for a stroll and find somewhere nice for dinner.
We came across a lovely restaurant right on the water called Mesa de los Mayas, where we tucked into some great pizzas. We over ordered a bit so took some back to our rooms for breakfast in the morning as it would be too early to grab anything! Then it was home time, and after a quick episode of Heroes V & I hit the sack. The alarm went off at 4am and it was not a happy family at that time. We quickly got ready and waited for the others downstairs. Georgie was next but Lara and Leise had managed to sleep in, so in a frantic hurry to get ready in time could not shower before we left. Leise is a shower addict, so being deprived of his morning shower was of great inconvenience to him leading to severe grumpiness, much to our amusement! Our tour guide picked us up at 4.30am and off we went to pick up some other guests at surrounding hotels and hostels, before the 90 minute drive to Tikal.
It was a miserable morning and the rain was bucketing. V and I managed to forget our waterproofs back at the hostel, so had to buy a yellow bin liner posing as a wet proof poncho from the guides. All kitted up and after a quick coffee we began the tour of these impressive Mayan ruins. Our guide was a very strange local guy who was clearly passionate about his subject, but not the most capable of getting his message across. His English was excellent, but he had a tendency to waffle on and lose the point, every time! The tour was a long one and lasted several hours and it’s fair to say we switched off from the lecture after the first half hour, merely because it was so hard to follow. After traipsing through the jungle in the rain through several temples involving some seriously steep climbs and bumping into a tarantula or two we finally came across the Acropolis. This is the main part of the ruins, and as we arrived the sun was out in full force and we were lucky enough to enjoy the impressive sights around us. We were given half an hour to enjoy the ruins and then made our way back to the meeting point to head back to Flores for our bus to Guatemala City.
We were thrilled when the tour had ended a little early as this would mean we would have plenty of time to get back to catch our bus. Typically the tour guides were late and could not find our bus driver, so we left late after all and a little stressed but we were promised we would get back on time and that our bus driver was fully aware that he had to drop us at the bus station after we had collected our bags. Needless to say as we were dropped off at our hotel our driver professed not to understand our Spanish or English and had no idea of the agreement, played ignorant and sped off. We then rushed indoors and asked the receptionist to order us a taxi while we collected our bags. As what could only have been expected we came down the stairs to find the very helpful receptionist had managed to book us the smallest taxi in all of Guatemala! With time ticking away we had to go in turns and to get to the bus station but luckily we made it with a few minutes to spare. We then had the joy of an 8 hour coach ride to Guatemala City which involved much sleeping after the early start. V and I also received a text from Paul to confirm my US visa application was now accepted and there should be no problems – more on this later......
GUATEMALA CITY
We arrived in Guatemala City at 10pm that night and the drive into the city was a bit of an eye opener. Not the nicest looking place in the world and we were very grateful we would be leaving very early the next morning. We grabbed a taxi after much fighting between them over our fare, and then made our way to our hotel near the airport for the night. The parts of the city we drove through consisted of blocked off streets and high walls and razor wire, rundown buildings, and poor areas. When we arrived at our hotel it was also heavily fenced off and in a secured area. The hotel was really a large old family home which we presumed had been converted into a hotel once the kids had flown the nest. Happy family portraits still hung all over the walls but it was lovely and clean so we were more than grateful. We all logged on to the Internet to check emails, and then it was bed time. We were up at 6am for a very quick breakfast and then given a lift by the hotel owner to the airport to catch our flight to Miami.
It was a very quick stop in Guatemala, so we can’t comment too much as we have seen very little, but here are our highlights and lowlights:
- Tikal National Park – stunning ruins even if the tour we did was a little long
- Guatemala City, looks an absolute dive!
- The people are reasonably friendly, but you always feel they are looking to rip you off!
- We didn’t have time to go there, but by all accounts Antigua is amazing so this country isn’t all bad ;-)
After the most amazing time, and with great disappointment we woke up early on Tuesday 10th November to catch our water taxi from Caye Caulker to Belize City. It wasn’t the best start to the day for us either, as V was applying for our US visa waivers online while I was washing dishes. Hers was accepted and mine was declined, not the greatest news just 2 days before we were due to fly to the States. Anyway we had a taxi to catch so had to get moving! The water taxi takes just over half an hour, and on a cloudy day we arrived in Belize City nice and early to catch our bus to Flores in Guatemala. Flores is a picturesque town situated on a tiny island just off the mainland, which you access over a bridge. The bus was late but we finally jumped aboard at 11am to begin our 6 hour journey. The bus was no great shakes either, a very old vehicle with no aircon and certainly not what we had been used to so far on our travels although we had been warned and were happy there weren’t any chickens on board with us.
On our journey we stopped at the Belize – Guatemala border where we had to pay the customary exit visa charge, in this instance US$20 to the Belize government. The border post was very rundown and not the greatest first impression for either country. We had our passports stamped on the Guatemala side before exchanging some US dollars for Guatemalan Quetzals. This is not done with the usual Foreign Exchange Bureau, but rather individual guys who greet you as you step off the bus waving thick wads of cash in your face to exchange. A very bizarre welcome but they actually offer better rates than the banks, which just shows what sharks the big corporations are!! We stocked up on cold drinks and continued our journey. We arrived at the town on the mainland just outside Flores, and were swiftly booted off the bus and ushered onto mini vans. With our bags all packed precariously on the roof we were taken to a shopping centre to draw some cash, before being dropped off at our hostel in Flores. This semi form of kidnap off the local transport is the tour operators’ way of getting you to sign up to their tours or to book into accommodation where they get a cut!
We only had 1 night in the town, and the main attraction is the ruin site at Tikal National Park. Naturally we booked our tour through our kidnapers who kindly offered to collect us at 4.30am to take us to the ruins and back in time for our 2pm bus to Guatemala City. The condition for the agreement was that they would definitely have us back in time, and would drop us of at the bus station after we had collected our bags from our hotel. They agreed wholeheartedly but we were to be caught out a bit later..... We then hit the Internet cafe to try and resolve the issue with my US visa, which involved calling many US agencies with zero success. After much pulling of hair we gave up and emailed my best man Paul in Dallas to see if he could help us and make the application the next day while we were on our Tikal tour (after 24hrs of the initial online application you are able to apply again). We all went back to our rooms to drop off some kit and then go for a stroll and find somewhere nice for dinner.
We came across a lovely restaurant right on the water called Mesa de los Mayas, where we tucked into some great pizzas. We over ordered a bit so took some back to our rooms for breakfast in the morning as it would be too early to grab anything! Then it was home time, and after a quick episode of Heroes V & I hit the sack. The alarm went off at 4am and it was not a happy family at that time. We quickly got ready and waited for the others downstairs. Georgie was next but Lara and Leise had managed to sleep in, so in a frantic hurry to get ready in time could not shower before we left. Leise is a shower addict, so being deprived of his morning shower was of great inconvenience to him leading to severe grumpiness, much to our amusement! Our tour guide picked us up at 4.30am and off we went to pick up some other guests at surrounding hotels and hostels, before the 90 minute drive to Tikal.
It was a miserable morning and the rain was bucketing. V and I managed to forget our waterproofs back at the hostel, so had to buy a yellow bin liner posing as a wet proof poncho from the guides. All kitted up and after a quick coffee we began the tour of these impressive Mayan ruins. Our guide was a very strange local guy who was clearly passionate about his subject, but not the most capable of getting his message across. His English was excellent, but he had a tendency to waffle on and lose the point, every time! The tour was a long one and lasted several hours and it’s fair to say we switched off from the lecture after the first half hour, merely because it was so hard to follow. After traipsing through the jungle in the rain through several temples involving some seriously steep climbs and bumping into a tarantula or two we finally came across the Acropolis. This is the main part of the ruins, and as we arrived the sun was out in full force and we were lucky enough to enjoy the impressive sights around us. We were given half an hour to enjoy the ruins and then made our way back to the meeting point to head back to Flores for our bus to Guatemala City.
We were thrilled when the tour had ended a little early as this would mean we would have plenty of time to get back to catch our bus. Typically the tour guides were late and could not find our bus driver, so we left late after all and a little stressed but we were promised we would get back on time and that our bus driver was fully aware that he had to drop us at the bus station after we had collected our bags. Needless to say as we were dropped off at our hotel our driver professed not to understand our Spanish or English and had no idea of the agreement, played ignorant and sped off. We then rushed indoors and asked the receptionist to order us a taxi while we collected our bags. As what could only have been expected we came down the stairs to find the very helpful receptionist had managed to book us the smallest taxi in all of Guatemala! With time ticking away we had to go in turns and to get to the bus station but luckily we made it with a few minutes to spare. We then had the joy of an 8 hour coach ride to Guatemala City which involved much sleeping after the early start. V and I also received a text from Paul to confirm my US visa application was now accepted and there should be no problems – more on this later......
GUATEMALA CITY
We arrived in Guatemala City at 10pm that night and the drive into the city was a bit of an eye opener. Not the nicest looking place in the world and we were very grateful we would be leaving very early the next morning. We grabbed a taxi after much fighting between them over our fare, and then made our way to our hotel near the airport for the night. The parts of the city we drove through consisted of blocked off streets and high walls and razor wire, rundown buildings, and poor areas. When we arrived at our hotel it was also heavily fenced off and in a secured area. The hotel was really a large old family home which we presumed had been converted into a hotel once the kids had flown the nest. Happy family portraits still hung all over the walls but it was lovely and clean so we were more than grateful. We all logged on to the Internet to check emails, and then it was bed time. We were up at 6am for a very quick breakfast and then given a lift by the hotel owner to the airport to catch our flight to Miami.
It was a very quick stop in Guatemala, so we can’t comment too much as we have seen very little, but here are our highlights and lowlights:
- Tikal National Park – stunning ruins even if the tour we did was a little long
- Guatemala City, looks an absolute dive!
- The people are reasonably friendly, but you always feel they are looking to rip you off!
- We didn’t have time to go there, but by all accounts Antigua is amazing so this country isn’t all bad ;-)
Saturday 21 November 2009
Guatemala - Photos
7.30am and ready for the water taxi from Caye Caulker to Belize City
Goodbye to our favourite island
V and Georgie as we arrive in Belize City
Time to kill and strolling the streets
Lara and her favourite, the Manatees!
Hunting for the Internet, and we find the Radisson hotel
The border and unfortunately we are leaving....
Georgie, Leise and V as we hit the Guatemala side
Welcome to Guatemala
Leise at the Guatemala version of foreign exchange...
Our bus - no luxuries here!
The bridge into Guatemala
We swap the bus for a minivan into Flores
Our bags are packed precariously on the roof....
Welcome to Flores
Some interesting local transport
The streets of Flores
A picture in our hotel of what the town looks like
Welcome to our new hotel
The Guatemala flag on the left
Dinner time
Great restaurant and great pizza, right on the waterfront
Bed time for V
4.20am and we are up and ready first for our trip to Tikal
Lara is late for the first time on tour, still no sign of Leise!
Our funky new raincoats
Welcome to Tikal
It's pouring first thing in the morning
The sun finally comes out and time to ditch the plastic raincoats
Off we go...
The National Tree of Guatemala
Look at the state of those feet!
Our tour guide gets nice and close to a tarantula
Leise and Lara heading deeper into the jungle...
Lara, Leise and Georgie
Georgie almost fell down a muddy slope, much to the "concern" of her friend V
Lara and V take a break - it's a lot of walking!
A sign for one of the many temples here
Time to climb to the top of this one
I am right behind them....
Lara halfway up
Georgie loving the view at the top
Quick pose at the top
Spectacular view!
V sits this one out and writes up some postcards!
And on we go.....
Tired and sweaty now!
V in front of another temple
It's a steep one!
And up we go again - V joins in this time ;-)
It's a tough one
We all made it though
Another great view
Lara and Leise, last ones down ;-)
This is malaria territory and they are out in force so we stop to apply some more mossie spray
This was our 3rd application in 3 hours, no chances taken!
Welcome to the Acropolis, the centre of the ruin site
A view of the perimeter
Well earned break before we head down
It's well hidden in the jungle
The grounds are beautiful
Lara and V off to explore
This part is stunning
Leise and I conquered this guy while the girls rested...
Glad we don't have to climb this one!
Panoramic view of the Acropolis - very impressive!
Time to head back, we have a coach to catch...
Dropped off and abandoned, so much for that lift to the station!!!COACH TRIP TO GUATEMALA CITY
Some healthy yoghurt before we depart =
The girls are ready for the 8 hour slog! =
V still tryin to make up her mind about this local delicacy...
Looks good but looks can be deceiving!
Our Guatemala City hotel. This is typical when we arrive at any hotel, Internet time ;-)
Our humble digs on our last night in Guatemala, Miami tomorrow!
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