The travelling tales of a free spirit...

Photos: Masai Mara Kenya

shelleytravels — Tue, 1 Oct 2013 22:08:00 GMT

A little zebra crossing with a million or so wildebeest thrown in, no big deal.

shelleytravels — Tue, 1 Oct 2013 21:49:00 GMT

Free wine, a burnt down airport and a sigh of relief

After a very enjoyable flight (ie many bottles of complimentary wine) we landed in Nairobi, Kenya. For those who don´t already know, a couple of weeks before our holiday, Nairobi Airport burnt down. (Minor set back) I was, however, very impressed with the efficient running of the newly built part of the airport and in no time we were outside under the African sunshine. (With a slight surrounding mist to cool us off). The first panic was not seeing the tour company there with a sign for us as promised. Shit. There were about 6 people with signs but definitely no "Dutfield Party". As I had chosen the Tour Company all blame basically would be on on me and I have to admit, my palms did begin to sweat a little. I daren´t look at Christine who was already nervous about using a company she didn´t know.

A lovely man must have recognised our panicked faces and showed us where to go - around the corner and on the other side of the road were about 200 eager-looking faces holding up signs and there at the front I saw a big smile and the sign "Dutfield Party". Phew.
Michael (who had been dealing with all of our demanding emais for the last few months) is the happiest person I think I´ve ever met! He seemed genuinly excited to meet us and introduced us to our guide, driver and soon-to-be-friend, James. Equally happy and enthusiastic.
After a long bumpy ride we entered the Masai Mara. Straight away we started to see Zebras, Buffalo and Giraffes and by the time we arrived at the lodge we had been lucky enough to share our day with a Cheetah, SIX lions and many other amazing creatures...it was a great start.
Arriving at the Mara Serena Lodge was also a jaw-dropping moment. We could see straight through the entrance and reception lobby´s huge glass doors to the great expanse of Mara plains opening up before our eyes. What a magnificent view!! (I now understood why this was to be my cousin Christine´s 13th visit to the Serena Lodge). We were taken to our rooms which each had the same stunning view. After our delicious dinner we retired to bed early, dreaming of what would be in store tomorrow, having no idea how lucky we would be...

The Rain Gods were in our favour

It was an early 5.45 start and we headed off, binoculars and cameras at the ready. As we left the lodge James told us excitedly that all the wildebeest were running straight down to the river RIGHT NOW so we may see the iconic crossing of the Mara river! He explained that some had already crossed into Tanzania, but it was dry there. With their keen sense of smell the wildebeest knew it was raining back in Kenya and so many had battled the crocodile infested waters once more to return to the green grass of Kenya and wait it out for a while, only to go back to Tanzania again when the time was right!! That right time appeared to be now. That was probably the only time in my life that I had thanked the rain.

Emotional Crossings

James put his foot on it and headed straight for the river, I could see the concentration on his face through the mirror as he skillfully maneuvered the van through the rough terrain. Alongside us were thousands of wilebeest and zebra flying down in the same direction with great urgency! It was so exhilirating and amazing to think that this is powered by pure animal instinct. They just know they must make this journey and they know where to go. In all honesty I was completely overwhelmed by such a fantastic display of gut instinct and I could feel my family around me felt exactly the same. We couldn´t wait to get down to the river! Of course as well as the excitement there was an underlying anxiety as we all knew we may see some fatalities.

When we arrived at the river a lot of the animals had come to a standstill, we were surrounded by wildebeest, zebra and topi and the anxiety we previously felt was amplified, we could feel it all around us from each and every creature. Some knew what to expect from previous years, they were all too aware of the hungry jaws lurking beneath the shiny surface of the river. Not to mention the strong currents to be faced. Others were babies, their first ever crossings, having no idea what they were in for and staying close to their nervous mothers.

We waited for a little while and, true to form, once one wildebeest took the plunge the others hurriedly followed. The current looked strong and we watched with bated breath as each one leapt in and fought for their life to get to the other side. Some were jumped on top of in the panic of it all but they still made it. Some looked close to drowning as they frantically swam and pulled their heads above the surface, breathing hard and fast. All of them won the battle against the current and I thought perhaps that we may be lucky after-all and see every tired creature make it alive. (Cue the happy animals skipping off into the sunset holding hooves and smiling).

I was naive. Two eyes rose above the surface slowly, followed by a long, green familiar-looking jaw, glistening in the sun. The croc had arrived. Back to panic and anxiety. The animals were still crossing, with us willing them on. They were swimming straight towards his shiny teeth. One zebra on the other side decided to swim back across to our side and almost walked right into his mouth. Luckily he wasn´t hungry for a zebra breakfast. James told us that this zebra only had a 50% chance of surviving on the way back, we urged her to return to safety and as if she had heard us she turned around and made it back up the bank. Phew.

The croc was still on the hunt, however, and many wildebeest had a lucky escape as he swam towards them and decided not to take a bite. Unfortunately we realised that he wanted young meet, something easier to swallow. Right on cue he spotted a baby wildebeest. Our hearts sank. "Swim away, swim away!" I´m sure we were all chanting this in our heads. The croc was too fast and within a second we heard and saw the jaws snap and both croc and baby disappeared below. Both were gone. Needless to say a few tears were shed by devasted wildlife enthusiasts all around, but on the positive side, at least it was quick.

We soon discovered that the breakfast buffet was not closed and we saw the same happen again, only this time it was not so quick and a lot more difficult to watch as the baby put up a fight. It had been an emotional morning. You must remind yourself that the crocadile must eat or he will die. The cliched - but true- phrases "this is the circle of life" and "it´s nature" marginally help to ease the upset. I repeated these in my head over and over to form a dam against the flood of tears I could feel welling up inside. When it comes down to it a croc´s got to eat and he had a conveyor belt of options swimming right into his mouth, who could blame him?

We saw thousands of successful crossings and watched them disappear towards the horizon, continuing their epic journey in the distance - perhaps skipping off into the sunset holding hooves and smiling afterall (in my imagination this is exactly how it went).
For years I have wanted to catch the Great Annual Migration in full swing and I feel so lucky that I was privaledged enough to witness this thrilling natural event. To make it even better I got to share the moment with my family. What a brilliant, emotional start to Kenya.

Summit Night Kilimanjaro

shelleytravels — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 02:46:00 GMT

As we start the ascent on summit night I feel nervous yet determined & excited. I'm proud that Louise and I have made it this far. This is it. The ultimate test in physical and emotional endurance - not to mention battling the altitude and the cold. It's just past midnight.This is our fifth day of hiking plus We have already hiked for 4 hours today. Yesterday we saw a man so overcome by altitude sickness that he couldn't stand. His guides had to carry him down to the camp below. When I saw him I was mesmerised and tears flooded to my eyes. I knew how disappointed he would be to get this far then not even get to attemp the summit and I felt so sad for him. I can't get the image of his weak, limp body out of my mind as we climb tonight. It's pitch black so every climber has a head torch on and as I look behind me I see a long line of hikers in single file zig-zagging up the mountain towards me; their head torches glowing in the dark and the stars sparkling above. In the distance the village lights glisten as a reminder of how far we have come already. Tonight I have my ipod for added motivation and I am listening to Latika's Theme. The singer has such a beautiful voice that the song takes me into a dream-like state. This all feels so surreal and I want to soak up every part of this amazingly unique experience. I start feeling so lucky that I have the chance to do this and hopeful that we will reach the summit. I'm soon awoken from this dream when my guide decides we should start racing past all the other groups ahead. All of a sudden I realise someone has stolen the air. When did that happen? My breathing is so heavy but I still can't find the air. As we clamber over the unstable rocks to overtake everyone else I wonder why he's doing this to us?! My legs start to ache and soon it feels as if someone has slipped some lead weights into my trousers for fun. My hopes of succeeding slip away with the scree underneath my feet. Mackenzie (our new friend from Colorado) starts cursing at the scree...with good reason. She hates it. We all hate it. With every step you take you just slide back down again, plus there's nothing to dig your pole into for support as the scree just slides away instantly. My music changes to reflect the new tempo I need. Louise asks if I'm ok. "I can't breath and my legs don't work!" is my not so cheery response. I ask our guide Bahati if we can take a break and Mackenzie and Bradley give us some "Blox" - they're like gummy bears with energy and Isotones and they work. We gulp down some water. I'm wearing 3 pairs of trousers plus the waterproof ones lent to me by the porters...on my top half I have a thermal top, T-shirt, 2 thin fleeces, a thick fleece, a huge puffy coat, a wooly hat and gloves (curtisy of Laura Smith!) Despite all this it only takes a minute of standing still up here to feel the ice cold air penetrate through every layer. After this one break though I feel revived and even have little dances when songs I love start playing. It's still tough but at least now I have my breath back. Mackenzie seems to be struggling now though and after a while we have another short break. She seems to get better after this and we continue on for a while. I still have the image of the man with Altitude Sickness nagging me but I keep pushing it out and telling myself that won't happen to us. It's now Louise's turn to ask for a break. She says she feels sick. As she sits down I give her some more of the Blox, she drinks some water and we all have a quick break before continuing up. Soon after Louise's condition has got worse, she says she feels like she's going to be sick and can't go on anymore. Thinking it may be exhaustion and the fact we only had tea and biscuits to start us off I grab an energy bar from Mackenzie and ask Louise to have some of this to restore her energy sources. She tries but it just makes her feel even more sick. I feel helpless, I don't know how to make her better. I want her to make it but not to carry on if it's Altitude Sickness. I think she feels even worse at this point and Bahati says we should continue and Freddy will stay with Louise and help her up. I'm reluctant to do this but Bahati says she'll be fine with Freddy. I ask Freddy to look after her and make sure she eats the energy bar. I tell Louise to take it slowly and hopefullyI'll see her at the top soon. We carry on for maybe an hour and a half after this and it gets even harder but we are taking it slowly enough "polepole". I feel like a part of me is missing though and most of my thoughts are with Louise. I notice even Bradley's movements have now become more laboured with each step. The last bit seems to last forever. I'm praying that Altitude Sickness won't come and grab me when I'm so close and that it will let go of Louise. Finally we make it to Stella Point - the crater rim!! I'm so happy. At last! My body starts to wind down then I realise it's still another hour or so from here to the actual peak. Noooooo. I eat my Dairy Milk and hope this will help. That air thief has returned and with every few steps I have to stop and catch my breath. cold. It's SO cold. My hands and toes have been hurting for the last 3 hours. I have windburn on my face (especially my nose) and my nose has been running like a tap the entire time. Severini is one of the porters but he came up with us today in case of any casualties. He stays with me for the last stretch and encourages me up. Mackenzie and Bradley are up ahead with Bahati. I'm close to the peak when Bahati shouts at me to turn around. "Turn around?" I think. "I'm so close please don't make me turn around!!" When he shouts again I look behind and the sun is rising over the magnificent glaciers. I stand, watching in awe. What a wonderful sight. Then I remember I can't feel my toes and continue on towards the peak, a few steps at a time... I see the peak! The signs read: "Congratulations: You are now at Uhuru Peak Tanzania 5895M Africa's highest Point. World's highest free standing mountain." We have the photos taken to prove we got here and then I become overwhelmed with emotion. I feel proud to have made it but I always pictured being up here with Louise. I wonder if she's still on her way up and then I break down in tears. Not wanting the others to see I start walking back towards Stella Point and pull myself together. I pass by the glaciers and am once again amazed by their beauty, glistening in the morning light. I take in all my surroundings as I know I will never set foot here again in this lifetime. I feel relieved. I picture the first night camping when we saw the peak and how far out of reach it looked and then I see us standing right at the top. It doesn't seem real but I know it is. I'm standing on the roof of Africa. My heart sinks a little as I realise it's not quite over. Now we must go down. My knees feel weak at the thought of this. Bahati gets off the phone and says Louise is safely back at camp and feeling a lot better now. I am so relieved and am looking forward to seeing her again. Seeing the route in daylight makes me glad we climbed up in the dark as we couldn't see how bad it was. It took us 6.5 hours to get up and about 3 to descend down the slippery scree. Tip for anyone about to do the hike: make sure you have sunglasses or your eyes will be completely full of dust within a minute. I have mine luckily. When we get down to base camp every member of staff is waiting to congratulate us in turn. I'm quite touched by this as they all seem genuinely happy for us, I guess it makes all their efforts worthwhile too! We have a drink of juice and Louise pops her head out of the tent. When I go in we share a few tears - I'd like to blame our exhaustion... We congratulate each other on getting so far. Louise explains that she tried another 4 times with Freddy and made it to Stella Point but then he couldn't find her pulse and she was feeling dreadful so he had to carry her back down. I feel a huge gratitude towards Freddy. Louise keeps telling me how proud she is of me and again I'm really touched by this and feel so proud of her too, trying another 4 times and still getting up to Stella Point when she could have given up at the first signs of Altitude Sickness. We have pushed our bodies to the limit. We sleep for about 15 minutes then once again we can't really eat much of lunch as our appetites have disappeared. We really try but have to stop at the risk of forcing it and then being sick! Then we have to start hiking again. WHAT? I think this is some kind of joke and then remember the itinerary. Shit. I could sleep for a year but instead have to hike again?? With little in our stomachs, no sleep and no choice we head off again. Luckily it's downhill and we all let gravity take us but our knees are screaming NOOOO!! We make it down to our final camp in 3.5 hours but it has felt like 10. I'm so shattered I am close to tears. I have never felt so exhausted in all my life - that includes Everest Basecamp, The Inca Trail and countless volcano hikes in Central America. Ding ding ding we have a winner! Mount Kilimanjaro. .

Touchdown in Tanzania

shelleytravels — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 02:50:00 GMT

Leaving Home

Louise and I left the grey skies of England with excitement and anticipation for what may lay ahead on our African adventure... after about 12 hours of flying, a stop-over in Ethiopia and an hour wait in Nairobi we stepped off the plane at Kilimanjaro Airport and were instantly covered by a moist blanket of heat. Inside the tiny Airport I felt my stomach turn as my backpack swung by the conveyor belt minus the sleeping bag I had spent so long choosing back home. Damn it. I envisaged myself being carried off the mountain in a Shelley-shaped icicle and hoped I would be able to rent a sleeping bag in Arusha instead. To my amazement though, 10 minutes later my little sleeping bag came floating by all alone and must have just become detached. Phew. First obstacle avoided and my first highlight: realising my sleeping bag has not been stolen!

At this point we were cursing ourselves for bringing SO MUCH with us. My backpack was about to burst at the seams, not to mention the daypack, fleece AND two coats I carried as they wouldn't fit inside...We also soon realised how far Kilimanjaro Airport is from Arusha and after attempting to haggle with the taxi drivers we took the long taxi ride to our accommodation; Masai Camp. We were staying in a Masai style hut which seemed far more interesting than the cluster of hotels in the town centre. Our stay there was fun, we walked into town and along the way were greeted by almost everyone we passed, "Jambo!!" we would happily reply, this was one of the phew Swahili words we had learnt in preparation but most of the children spoke to us in English, proudly asking us "How are you?" Before giggling and chatting once more to their friends. There were a few local men who had unfortunately learnt the phrase, "Hello baby!" Oh dear. We mainly ignored them.

Arusha Town

There wasn't actually much to see in town, just lots of touts trying to get us to book a tour even though we told them a million tmes we are already on one. On our next visit into town we were very excited to find a bookshop and ended up buying 5 books just because most of them related to East Africa, Kilimanjaro or the Masai...I wasn't quite sure how I could carry all my books and in retrospect I maybe should have bought just the one. Never mind. We failed miserably trying to find a local restaurant as all the ones we wanted to go to seemed to have disappeare. We saw a couple of places to eat but didn't want to risk anywhere we hadn't heard about in case of pre-hike food poisoning. It would be just our luck.

Eventually we gave up and took a dalla dalla (local bus) back to the camp. These buses are quite small like a minivan and there's space for about 12 people. Obviously this means that at least 20 people are squeezed on. We wedged ourselves in and spent the whole journey trying not to fall on top of everyone ...Of course half way back we realised we'd taken the wrong one and at the roundabout it went the other way. We jumped off and walked the rest of the way.

The rest of our time in Arusha was spent eating, playing cards and meeting different groups returning from their safaris. The security Guard befriended us and loved when we spoke Swahili to him. One evening he watched curiously as I painted my nails and I ended up painting his little fingernail bright pink - which strangely he loved and kept on all week. That evening we spent a while trying to get rid of a drunk man who invited himself into our card game only to ignore all the rules and keep throwing all his cards down at once whilst banging his beer bottle on the table - I always attract the best ones!

Louise and I also had the extra bonding experience of a freezing cold communal shower from the first day onwards - there was the option of a hot shower but the cold one was right next to our hut and in our laziness we would rather brave the cold shower with a chance of people walking in on us than walk further to the hot private cubicles. I learnt how lazy I actually am because I hate being cold.

Hammerhead Hunting

shelleytravels — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 08:23:00 GMT

Furry friends and fidgety foes

After a few bumpy bus rides; being pretty much sexually harassed by the bus boy at 3 in the morning whilst trying to get some shut-eye; followed by an early morning boat which successfully converted my hair into windswept and horribly tangled dreadlocks, Stephanie and I arrived in Bluefields. We met a lovely local who helped us with everything and won us over with his huge kind smile. He became our Bluefields guide and information centre. After dinner we decided to have a ''nap'' to recharge for the night ahead. Always a mistake. I woke up to realise it was now 2 a.m. and probably too late to hit the town. Oops. That was Bluefields.

The next day we took a boat which ran through the night to 'Little Corn' and found our cute beach hut to sleep in along with a Canadian girl Emily who we met on the boat. Little did we know we were not alone in our little hut. Just before bedtime Emily discovered a mother cat with all five kittens under the bed. Wonderful... to be honest I didn't mind this feline presence but Emily wasn't best pleased. After safely re-locating the furry family I was awoken in the middle of the night to a loud bang and low and behold by the next morning our cuddly friends had returned. We decided it was a battle we would not win and so they stayed.

Our other room-mates included several land crabs scurrying loudly across the floorboards at night - just to scare the *!@* out of me - and unfortunately my old friends: bed bugs. After a few nights we switched rooms and got rid of the bothersome bugs. (The land crabs still continued to make me jump every night with their scurring ways but I could deal with that.)

"He that can have Patience, can have what he will”

The actual island was a dream. Waking up pretty much on the beach couldn't be anything short of wonderful for me...but it was the underwater life that won me over. For many years I have longed to swim amongst Hammerhead sharks and when I heard that they frequent the little corn waters I booked myself on the dive. We spent the first 20 minutes doing nothing but wait. Wait. Look. And hope. I squinted so hard in my search that I'm sure I began to see creatures that didn't actually exist. All of a sudden my wish was granted and it appeared. Sleak, cool and beautiful. I was so happy ... I watched intently until he disappeared and then 2 more arrived. I was the happiest person alive for those few moments. I watched the sharks move like slalem skiers in slow motion as they elegantly passed us by and even came close to have a look at us. One turned on his side to bear his stomach to us all. I'm not sure what he was trying to say... I wonder what they make of us scuba divers with our big tanks and clown-like fins...

Some other creatures I bumped into on the island included nurse sharks and eagle rays... We saw the eagle rays as we were emerging from some under-water tunnels - it was as if they had been there waiting for us. They are stunning creatures. One nurse shark swam right up to me and smiled for the camera which pretty much made that dive for me :)

Speaking of cameras, before my hammerhead dive I was so excited that I may finally be seeing them and knew I would want some great photographic evidence. So I cleaned the lens, cleared the memory card and fully charged one of my batteries.

As we entered the water and I switched the camera on my stomach turned. I had somehow managed to load it with the fully flat battery. I mentally kicked myself in the head the moment I realised and decided that the photos in my head would suffice should we see the wonderful sharks...of course as I didn't have a working camera it was a dead cert that we would see them. I therefore take the credit for our group seeing hammerheads. And I was lucky enough to do a second dive and see an even bigger one - with a fully-functional camera! The end.

Breaking Border Rules oops

shelleytravels — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 04:14:00 GMT

So I left Utila (finally!)I took the ferry and then an 8 hour bus to the capital of Honduras, bit of a dodgy area but just stayed in my hostal and slept as not a place to walk alone at night... it was a whole day of travelling too so was tired after my partying on the island! Woke up early the next day for another long bus journey only to arrive in Nicaragua and be told they don´t want me. Basically there was a confusion with my visa from Honduras and I had outstayed my welcome in that part of the world. Bollocks!! Was not a good day :S So anyway they didn´t charge me a fine thank god but basically said we´ll give you 5 days to leave our country. Thanks.

I consequently had to take another bloody f!?*ing long bus the next day to get to the OTHER side of Nicaragua, cross the border to Costa Rica and then take ANOTHER bus to return to Nicaragua AAAGGGHHH!!

So I took a chicken bus from Managua (Nicaragua) to the border. I stood in line for an hour to get my exit stamp from Nicaragua. I then walked for what seemed like bloody miles (with my backpacks now including multiple heavy books from diving WHYYYYY????) in the sweltering heat of midday by now....I arrived in Costa Rica and queued for TWO more hours to get an entry stamp for costa rica... followed shortly after by an exit stamp from costa rica. A nice man in the queue helped with my big backpack by the end as I think he could see I was wilting.. I was halfway back to the Nicaragua immigration when an official man stopped me and told me I had to wait in Costa Rica for 3 hours before I can re-enter Nicaragua NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! By this point it was 2.30 pm and so I wouldn´t have time to get a bus back to Nicaragua but I really was not in the mood to face discovering another country just yet. The man was adament that I must walk back 50 metres, sit down there and wait.

We ´conferred´ for quite a while and somehow I managed to charm him?! I showed him by mashed up toe (oh yes. I walked into a speed bump whilst drunk in utila I hadn´t mentioned that, ripped off a bit of my toe and by now it was covered in make-do plasters..it looked a bit of a mess). Anyway I gave him a bit of a sob story; batted my eyelashes; he asked if I was single - I said yes. He let me through? Go figure.

I then spent another TWO hours in a seemingly non-moving queue to get my stamp back in to Nicaragua. Keeping my backpack on was a BAD idea. My back and shoulders were dying. The boy in front of me laughed that we were in a ´´queue for the queue, haha´´ HA. HA. I was not impressed. Hopped back on a chickenbus and headed back towards a new town... Got offered a massage on the bus followed by the offer of a kiss and sex. This was after I told the boy I have a boyfriend who I´m in love with and that a massage would be out of the question - but SURE sex would be fine?! Actually it was quite difficult to say no to a massage as I was so achey!! But no thanks sleazy boy. My stop came and somehow managed to flash everyone my underwear as I leaped off the still-moving bus -oh great - my little shorts fell down whilst I tried not to drop my bags. Oh well I gave a huge group of boys something to talk about...the glamour of travelling...

Anyway by now I´m a sweaty dirty disaster and would quite like a shower and food. All I had eaten was a bit of bread I bought off a kid on the bus as no-one else was buying and he looked sad. Of course the lady who owns the ONLY recommended hostal in my book was not there. Of COURSE!! I saw a couple of other hostals and no-one was there but finally had luck.

I ate, bathed and was ready for bed. What a party girl.

The following two days I spent in Isla de Ometepe which is an island in the middle of a lake with 2 huge volcanoes. I wanted a bit of a rest and ended up doing a full day volcano hike - what is WRONG with me?! We sat in the crater of the volcano which was quite cool but the hike was tough enough for me with my dodgy knee and mashed up toe... NO MORE VOLCANOES!

I spent a couple of days in Granada which is a lovely city... partied hard with free tequilla involved, oh dear...met a Swedish girl called Stephanie and we decided to go to Corn Islands together.

Gallery: Nicaragua 1

shelleytravels — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 03:45:00 GMT

Corn Islands!

Gallery: Utila 2

shelleytravels — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 05:12:00 GMT

Diving!

Gallery: Utila

shelleytravels — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 04:42:00 GMT

Gallery: Guatemala 3 Another Volcano

shelleytravels — Mon, 18 May 2009 04:02:00 GMT

Gallery: Guatemala 3 Volcano Hike

shelleytravels — Mon, 18 May 2009 03:52:00 GMT

Gallery: Guatemala 2

shelleytravels — Mon, 18 May 2009 03:37:00 GMT

The Naked Dive of a Dive Master Master Scuba Diver...

shelleytravels — Wed, 13 May 2009 13:08:00 GMT

So....Maaike and I arrived on the crazy diving-mad island of Utila. I completed my Rescue Diver course. My instructor got decompression sickness which wasn´t a great start. He also was completely shit to be honest. When he got bent another instructor took over, Phil. He saved the day as he could actually teach and I finished the course with him, feeling like I could actually save a life. (Which is the point). I did a wreck speciality course which teaches you about penetrating the wrecks (of course I giggled like a child everytime they used the word ´penetration´ and once again felt like Joey from Friends.) I had decided to leave the island after the courses when all of a sudden I found my self drunk in the bar high-fiving everyone as they cheered ´´she´s staying woooo, new DMT!!´´

(DMT is Dive Master in Training for those who don´t know). Hmmm well seeing as I said it I guessed I should start with the training. I began the course and six weeks of fun ensued. During this time I got to assist on a Rescue Course which was SO MUCH FUN!! I think I fake drowned 100 times, I would take off my mask, my regulator, weight belt and act like a complete fool underwater to see if the guys could cope. My guy did well although he spent every second above the water cursing ´Damn you Shelley!´ I also completed my 100th dive there, which is traditionally done...naked. I didn´t think I would ever do it naked but found myself bikini-less trying to strategically cover my parts with a white board slate and failing miserably. I think it may have worked until the point where I couldn´t put my bikini bottoms back on and had to get my instructor to help. Oh the embarrassment.

The same day I did my final Dive Master test which was of course the ´snorkle test´. Oh dear. They taped a funnel to my snorkle and I placed the mask and snorkle over my head. Through the funnel they poured a beautiful concoction of Rum, Tequila, Beer, Sambuca, Coke and the real killer...HOT TABASCO SAUCE. Thanks guys. I sat on the bar trying to guzzle it down as quickly as it was being poured in with the crowd all cheering me on. Meanwhile, the hot sauce was burning my mouth and throat and my stomach - full of bubbles - was beginning the process of deciding that it must reject all of it´s contents. I tried to ignore the gagging reflex.

I finished the drink. Phew. The last mouthful landed mainly on Phil´s shorts as I just couldn´t take anymore and removed the snorkle from my mouth oops... I was just feeling the sense of relief that it was over when I realised I had to do the mask clearing skill. Crap. They poured beer into my mask until full and then I had to clear it to ´demonstration quality´. I was just trying not to be sick, screw demonstration quality.

Afterwards I ran to the bathroom, did a big burp and realised I didn´t have to be sick. It was a good moment. I survived the snorkle test and kept it all down including hot sauce. I have to say though that this was the worst test of all. I would rather have done the Physics test again than endure that...but it all ended well...

We also did a staff trip while I was there to Cayos Cuchinos. We did three dives (the last on a little plane wreck which was interesting). The dives were good there as it´s protected and we saw nurse sharks, baracuda, many pretty schols of fish, turtles...it was a great day. When we returned to the boat the drinking commenced. Oh dear. What a state...everyone was wasted when all of a sudden the captain spotted dolphins, I just remember hearing ´´Dolphins! Mask! In!´´ And so I drunkenly shoved my mask and fins on and leaped in. The dolphins swam around us and we could hear them chattering away underwater...it was a wonderful moment, then they swam away and we realised Danny the captain was not so impressed with us all abandoning ship oops.

We partied away on the boat until arriving back at the shop, jumped off the top dock together (which I have to say was considerably easier after drinking) and in the end only 3 of us made it out that night to continue the fun. I was proud to be one! One thing I loved there was the fact that I could just borrow the kayak with a friend and go diving together whenever we wanted. I had a lot of fun doing that. Except the day when the currents got strong and the dive shop sent the boat out to rescue us haha...oops... I also did some night dives with a friend and we sat watching the Phosphorescence, there were so many different types and some that dropped like falling stars surrounding us. It was magical.

There was also a night dive on the ship wreck. That was a really cool dive! We swam inside the wreck at night time, up the stairs and into the rooms. A lot of fun, and managed to see a little baby octopus changing colours in front of us :D We spent many nights just swimming around the dock playing with the phosphorescence which was a lot of fun and the sea was suprisingly warm at night. Oh and we all hired an island for the night for Kelly´s birthday which was brilliant..wow there´s so much to say about Utila...I cannot possibly fit it all in here!

Just to say that I learnt a lot there and became a hundred times a better diver. I passed the course and also completed some specialities and so I can now call myself a ´Dive Master Master Scuba Diver.´ Woop! I saw my first two cases of Decompression sickness there which were horrible but also a good warning on the dangers of diving and not following the rules. The chamber is not somewhere I ever want to end up.

The highlight of Utila was the chance to swim with whale sharks! I swam with these gigantic graceful magnificent creatures 9 times! The first time I slid into the water, looked down and the shark was swimming right towards me, looking at me, he swam underneath me and I was so awe-struck that I even forgot I had my camera in my hand...it was A.M.A.Z.I.N.G :D

So anyway, I finished the Dive Master course, said goodbye to my little apartment, all my friends and the ´comfort-zone´ I´d ended up in and headed off towards Nicaragua with great enthusiasm to see something new and be on the road again!

¿Hablas español?

shelleytravels — Sun, 3 May 2009 12:45:00 GMT

So we arrived in San Pedro de la Laguna and enrolled in the Spanish course. My first teacher was pretty shit although I did learn a lot about her recent break-up with her boyfriend. Brilliant. That´s what I´m paying for? Anyway I ditched her and ended up with the best teacher in the world :) I stayed there for a month learning Spanish and living with a Guatemalan family who were lovely too :) I also learnt some of their local Mayan language which my Guatemalan mum was really excited about! Another student was living in the same house (Maaike from Holland) and we got along really well. We both volunteered with a local project and taught English to the children for a month. It was a really wonderful experience and I miss them now :(

I had the chance to be creative and make educational games to play with them. We had a great time and their English improved which was great to see. They especially liked the cake we bought for them on the last day :D The language school had activities every night and we took part in every single one - even the football game against another school. We won 8-1 and I miraculously scored one of the goals (and no it wasn´t an own-goal thank you those who were inevitably thinking that):) We even managed to make friends with owners of the only 2 salsa bars there (one of which wasn´t oficially open which meant we had our own private bar woop!) We studied hard, volunteered every day, did our homework, took part in the school activities and still found time to salsa :) Overall I learnt a lot, taught a lot and had a great time. I even taught some of the teachers how to dance salsa and bachata. An English girl teaching Latin American guys how to dance?!! Disgraceful state of affairs. I taught Josue to salsa and he cooked us lovely food and was great company, and put up with my "developing" Spanish language..

We enjoyed a nice horse-ride where I realised that by this point I was known by most of the village who called out to me as I rode by which was a lovely feeling. I made a particular friend at the school who sold me popcorn everyday yum :) It kept me going through the classes... Oh and we kayaked across to San Marcos one day, got a bit lost on the lake but made it there in the end...

I took a chicken bus to the huge market Chichicastenango (try saying that drunk.) We only just avoided a head-on collision half way up the mountain with another van (not a fun moment) and then almost crashed on the motorway - there are some insane drivers in Guatemala. They got me to the market three buses later anyway. It was a huge market with so much to look at and vibrant colours everywhere but I prefer the San Francisco market for authenticity. Anyway that in a round about way concludes my month in San Pedro. I miss the children though!

Maaike and I left San Pedro together and headed for Antigua. We arrived at 12.30 and by 1 o´clock I was on a bus on my way to hike up another volcano....how did that happen?!

I ended up witnessing the semana santa celebrations on the way, climbed the volcano and cooked marshmallows in the incredibly H.O.T. lava, watched the sun set up there, got back to Antigua and salsa'd the night away. The guys in that bar were almost rivals to cuban dancers so we had lots of fun! We left the next day and made our way to Livington. This place gave me weird vibes to be honest...one bar sported a sign which read ´´Blacks and whites welcome´´. Hmmm. Shady. I didn´t think I had to check that kind of thing. A couple of local guys from the hostel took a few of us to a bar but it was all just odd. We went to the beach and some waterfalls where I got to jump in of rocks. That was fun. Overall though I wouldn´t recommend Livingston. Weird weird weird.

We travelled across to Honduras and took the ferry to Utila...ready to dive!

Bats and midnight hiking

shelleytravels — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 05:43:00 GMT

Boat Trip and Mayan Ruins

A group of us left Belize together and headed to Guatemala.

Renee and Andrew: hilarious Canadians who remember every funny line from every funny film ever written

Alexis: fashion designer who should be a comedian, made me laugh constantly

Paul: has the best job working on a boat for a Stringfellow kind of guy, has brilliant stories

Benny: smooth with the ladies Hungarian who I think had a different girl in every town we stayed!

Martin: brilliant Swedish guy, seems quiet but comes out with the best one-liners ever...

So anyway we stayed in Flores for a couple of nights. The first day we took a boat to the 'beach'. We swam in the lake for a couple of hours and then were picked up again. The only problem was that the guy broke his engine. We ended up in the middle of this huge lake with a broken engine, no oars and no radio system. Shit. We were f?*!ed... we floated around for a bit wondering what to do, and why he wouldn't have any emergency oars and then he managed to get the engine running a tiny bit, turned the boat backwards and the 15 minute ride back took over an hour. But we got back, that's the most important thing.

The next day we went to the Mayan ruins of Tikal. We didn't want to take the tour guide from out bus, consequently he hated us for the rest of the day. I don't know what the big problem was, we wanted to see the ruins in our own time...anyway they were my favourite ruins...surrounded by jungle with lots of interesting animals wandering around. We saw some brilliant monkeys close by and other animals whose names I have forgotten...the park rangers became our guides for a bit too, so we didn't need the annoying guide with his weird American accent and huge attitude problem!

We spent 8 hours walking around, chatting, seeing the sites and listening to the sounds of the jungle, then crawled back to the bus.

Beautiful Guatemala

After Flores we headed off to Lanquin in a very 'cosy' minibus. We shared this with a couple of other guys, one being Tom from Sweden. He seemed OK for most of the ride but when we stopped in a town to get some food we ended up alone (the only vegetarians) and then I realised he's actually a bit strange. I quickly found the others and we continued on our journey. On arriving at the hostel we were all pleasantly surprised. The dorms were cabanas surrounded by green grass with a river running by... beautiful and tranquil. They also had a cow which made it for me.

While there we visited Semuc Champey - a stunning group of blue-green fresh water pools. Heaven. We had a brilliant day here swimming with the boys being boys and jumping off every rock they saw. After we went to the bridge and while they all jumped off it I realised I should represent the girls and I jumped off too - very exhilarating, like the bungy but with no rope... AGGH! :) We took our truck back through the mountains and returned for the all you can eat buffet - could life get better than this?

Another great place there was the Lanquin cave. In the evening we explored the cave and then waited in the entrance for the bats to exit at sunset. Millions of bats flew past us in a constant stream...I could feel the air from their flapping wings as they whizzed past my head! This was an amazing experience I will never forget. I don't think I'll ever see so many bats all at once in my life ever again.

Cross - dressing and a disgusting boy.

One night at Lanquin was designated 'Ladies' Night' were all the girls get an extra 2 for 1 Happy Hour. The other condition for this was that any man dressed as a girl also received the same. The boys seemed reluctant at first but once the fancy dress box came out there was no stopping them - Benny in a sexy dress, Martin in a lacy green corset and skirt...they looked brilliant. We all had a fantastic night but the boys seemed to enjoy being girls too much hmmm...

The next night was a quiet one for me. We had the buffet again and went to bed. When I woke up the next day the people in the dorm next to us told me what happened in the night. If you're eating it might be wise to read this after.

At around 3 a.m one guy woke up to see a guy roaming around the room naked. He didn't really want to see anymore and so turned the other way and fell back asleep. Someone else woke up to hear the guy being sick but for some strange reason didn't do anything about it. When everyone started to stir in the morning they began to smell something horrific. The guy had been sick all over one of the girl's bags and ALL her clothes too (yuk) and had somehow mistaken the dorm for a toilet. Yes. For number 2. He 'took a dump' right in the middle of the room. To add insult to injury he stole 250 pounds from a girl's purse and wiped his bum with one of her receipts! When I asked if they knew who it was they said that all they knew was his name: Tom and that he was from Sweden. By the time they woke up he had gone. Noooooooooo Tom from Sweden! I had even spoken to him that morning before he left! If only I knew. We arrived on the bus with him only a few days before and he was going to stay in our dorm. The only reason he didn't was that the receptionist realised there was already one person in the room and therefore no space for all of us, so he slept next door. I was so grateful that he didn't stay with us but felt very bad for the bunch of people who had to deal with that. What a big loser. Who would do all of that? I'm still confused today but will never forget Tom from Sweden.

Midnight Volcano Hike

We arrived in San Pedro which was a chilled out village by the beautiful lake (Lago Atitlan). Unfortunately we all got bed bug bites from our first night there and Paul got them in the new hostel on the second night. We left for Xela the next day by tuk tuk and chicken bus. The chicken buses are old American school buses, decorated elaborately by each owner and generally named after the owner's wife, like'' Lulita''. They are EVERYWHERE in Guatemala. They're cheap but also many thefts occur on them with armed men often shooting the driver before stealing from the passengers. We saw a few gunshot holes through the windows which didn't really fill us with confidence - but that's Guatemala.

Anyway (I'm not there now mum so don't panic). We arrived in Xela and decided to climb the volcano Santa Maria that evening. We rushed around the markets and bought cool 80s style jackets from a second hand market stool. The looked awesome and ready to climb!

I've never been so cold in my life!

We were picked up at midnight and started climbing around 1 a.m. It was one of the toughest hikes I've done (including Everest Base Camp and Macchu Pitchu). The climb was so steep and the air seemed to disappear. I'm not sure where it went. Renee was like Mr. Motivator up at the front whereas Lex and I struggled to find this elusive ''air'' substance. It seemed to last forever, almost everyone in the group fell over at least once in the slippery mud but eventually we reached the top. What a FANTASTIC feeling :) Then we had to wait for over an hour in the freezing cold for the sunrise NOOOOOOOOOOO! Paul said he was suicidal. We sat huddled together under the ONE sleeping bag we had cleverly decided to bring?! Why not 4 damn it! After an hour the guide decides to tell us that he can make a fire - after an hour, really???? Great. It turns out he's actually shit and Paul ended up making the fire. This was a bit of a comfort but actually it was more smoke going in our eyes than anything... well we tried.

Finally the sun rose over the volcanoes and we realised that our blue lips were worth it. What a stunning sight. There were pinks and purples in the sky and a smoking volcano in the distance...then we watched the one next to us erupt!

Fantastic! It was all worth it. We started the hike back down slowly regaining the feeling in our toes and fingers :)

Hottest Bath in Guatemala!

The next day we went to the huge market San Francisco. This was very local with the usual hustle and bustle of a market, new smells and sites, new food to try. A very interesting morning apart form the cows heads. I was not impressed by this but am trying to erase it from my memory - only a few Mojitos to go and it will be gone. Later we visited the hot springs. This was A.M.A.Z.I.N.G! After the numerous freezing showers in in cold climate to actually feel HOT water is indescribable. At first it felt too hot even; my legs started to sting... but as I submerged my whole body a felt a blanket of cosy warmth. We stayed for a few hours enjoying the heat then dragged ourselves out of the water, re-emerging as human prunes. What a great day.

The next day we took the chicken bus back to San Pedro.

Stingrays and Psychopaths

shelleytravels — Sun, 8 Mar 2009 10:29:00 GMT

Diving in Playa

So...I left Cancun and headed for Playa Del Carmen...another touristy resort but I had to go to experience the diving. Playa is another place with cenotes (underground cave systems filled with water...not a good description but I tried...). Anyway, on my first night there I happened to meet a Cuban guy NOOOOOOO not really what I wanted having just left the other one in Cuba. This guy had all the usual lines like ´you´re beautiful´and ´you have pretty eyes´bla bla...I spent most the night trying to talk about Heribel so that he would get the message but it didn´t really work, we found a Cuban salsa bar and had fun dancing but all in all it was a bit of a frustrating night: a) He would not get the hint even though I spent the whole night talking about another guy b) For a cuban guy he was not a brilliant dancer hmph.

I had a great next few days though as I did my first few dives of this trip. We went to the cenotes and it was a magical world down there full of stalagtites glistening through the light of the torch. The caves were pitch black in places making it feel eery and strange and in others the sun shone through from above to create the brightest blue you could imagine....the water was crystal clear and beautiful and the experience was one not to be forgotten... I decided to dive in a few cave systems and enjoyed every one. It was worth it to travel to Playa.

The Psychopath

The hostel where I stayed was brilliant except for one thing. They had a boys dorm and a girls dorm. In the girls dorm were a few nice people and also a crazed psychopath who thought I was trying to kill her. She was about 50 years old, had bleached blonde hair tied in a scrunchy, PERMANENT purple-looking lip-liner that must have been tatooed on (eek) and at all times she wore her swimming costume - yes in the evenings too...and to sleep.

The day she arrived she chatted away to me and seemed fine. On her second day I said hello and she informed me that I wasn´t allowed to talk to her. When I questioned this, she replied gruffly (and with squinted eyes for an evil-looking effect):

´´You should be under arrest for my first degree murder last night.´´

´´Sorry? I´m not entirely sure I know what you´re talking about,´´ I replied in an innocent sounding English rose manner..to which she responded:

´´Yes. You. Do. And that´s the last time you falsely accuse me of anything! I´ll have the cops come down so hard on you you won´t know what to do or think!´´

At which point I left the room.

My next few nights I slept with one eye open as I was then convinced that in thinking that I wanted to kill HER she would make the first attempt on ME. This was not helped by a bunch of Canadians telling me that a psychopath had just done something horrific on a bus in Canada and that it´s possible she would try to kill me. Thanks guys. Everytime I entered the room she stared me down and needless to say I didn´t sleep much while I stayed there.

After a few days I left for Tulum and a guy from the hostel (Darius) joined me. Tulum was like when someone raves about a film being hilarious and a ´´must-see´´ for weeks and when you watch it it´s just mediocre. The beach was pretty and the ruins were interesting but that´s about it. Things weren´t helped by the fact that on my second night I got food-poisoning (for the third time so far) :(

The nice doctor gave me some pills (I´ve learnt to go straight away and not wait for it to get worse) and after a couple of days I was feeling a lot better and ready to bus it to Belize.

Go Slooooow...

...is the motto in Belize where I stayed. Needless to say the pace of life on that island was snail like. Many times I was heckled at to ´´GO SLOW´´ as I raced through the streets at my usual walking speed. It was my first real caribbean experience with dreadlocks and joints almost everywhere you looked. My first 4 days there happened to coincide with the random storm. It rained day and night, night and day, non-stop. The usual activity ceased; no dive/snorkeling trips went out, the beach remained empty, the streets were empty too, even in the evenings people decided not to leave their houses and so the bars and (only) club were all dead. I ´ventured out´on my missions to buy banana bread and occasionally to have a drink...but spent the rest of my time inside chatting.

Mission

As it turned out I had chosen a brilliant hostel to stay in. The guy who runs it is called ´´Mission´´. He is a real friendly guy and cooked fish soup for us almost every night which was delicious :) Seeing as there was nothing else to do in the rain most people decided that smoking weed seemed like a good idea - and smoke they did! Day and night, night and day - and I got high from just being around them! The only one with another agenda was Fabritz, a little Italian guy with dreads and a one track mind. I guess you have to admire his persistence as every girl who walked though that door was hit on by him in some way or another. I opened my eyes one night to feel his dreads resting on my neck, his face right next to mine. When I asked what he was doing he replied, ´´You smell so good...´´ well odor de mosquito spray has not yet been discovered by Channel or Gucci so maybe I´ll give them a call. He soon realised that his best option was to return to bed quietly. Maybe one day he'll learn something about girls.

A ´´hole´´ lot of money...

Well one reason for my trip was to dive the Blue Hole. I did it. It was OK. At 40 metres down my mask decided to flood and wouldn´t clear, so that didn´t help much and the dive was interesting but not my best. When the snorkelers returned to the hostel they had seen turtles, sharks, eagle rays and more (I wasn´t at all bitter that I´d paid a million times more than them) so I booked myself on the snorkel trip.

On this trip I swam with huge sting rays, eagle rays, nurse sharks and more. It was a beautiful day and very worth it...the Eagles Rays soared though the water beautifully and I could see how they got their name. They were the highlight of my day. After swimming the free all you can drink rum was the icing on the cake (well it is the Caribbean)...

I spent a few days chilling at Caye Calker and when new people arrived we had a few house parties in the hostel. I met a guy and had a bit of a romantic moment under the stars out on the kayaks, we chatted and watched the phosphorescence sparkle in the water, it looks like stars in the sea and it´s the first time I´ve seen it properly. Nothing else came of that though as he was more interested in fishing than in me I think! Although I did have a pretty lesbian girl interested in me so my ego wasn´t bruised too much! I learnt how to dance to their music (punta): basically wiggle your bum as fast as possible and was congratulated on my karaoke. One day the scandinavian girls decided to cook hash cake...I had learnt from Amsterdam and ate mine very slowly. The girls ate theirs in few few minutes and were wasted. When I started feeling happy I went for a siesta, I had the best dreams ever but woke up at midnight!!! I panicked that it was too late to go out and I had missed the night, and then realised that everyone else was passed out around me too. I think the cake was a bit strong!

Well that pretty much sums up Belize for me! Oh and being fed delicious lobster at 3 in the morning by Mission was pretty brilliant too. I miss him!

Gooooo slow...

Gallery: Guatemala Part 1

shelleytravels — Mon, 9 Feb 2009 12:24:00 GMT

Flores to San Pedro

Gallery: Belize

shelleytravels — Tue, 3 Feb 2009 09:51:00 GMT

Chilled out Island

Gallery: Cuba!!

shelleytravels — Tue, 6 Jan 2009 14:32:00 GMT

Cuba and my lovely Cuban Man

Gallery: Merida and Cancun

shelleytravels — Tue, 6 Jan 2009 14:17:00 GMT

Cenotes and my Mexican Family