We're home - what an amazing holiday!

Here you go - some pictures and stories from our great holiday. We had so much fun that it was hard to pick which pictures to share with you - we took over 200! I'm sure the next time you see or talk to either of us, we will still be ranting and raving about our trip!

Our first day in Mexico we went into Playa Del Carmen. You just stand anywhere on the side of the road and the buses pick you up. Our resort was about 20 minutes north of this town. It is a cute little town and we spent the day walking around and stocking up on boose!

The Grand Mayan is a huge resort and so nice - thanks again Joey and Shannon! We had a two bedroom apartment with a mini pool on the deck. King size bed, huge tub in our room, full kitchen - huge. It's so fancy. The women even came in the evenings and got your bed ready for you!
We were never up early so we didn't get first pick at chairs on the beach or the pool. The pool was huge. The beach was beautiful. And since it was so windy you couldn't really feel the heat - this was great for me since I don't really like the heat very much.




We went on one day trip to Xel-Ha and Tulum. Xel-Ha is where you can go snorkeling. I of course had a life jacket on and had to tag along with Wade. It was so fun.
Tulum is a Mayan Ruin site right on the ocean. It was beautiful. Our tour was pretty rushed though so we didn't get as much time here as we wanted.



We went to a Mexican Fiesta night. There was a delicious Mexican buffet and some great entertainment. Wade got called up on stage and had to "perform" for the crowd. It was quite entertaining! The next day people were still recognizing him.






A nice shot taken one evening.






Ah yes, pina coladas on the beach. Much time (well most of our time in Mexico) was spent relaxing on the beach and in the pool. There were a few drunk afternoons!
Our bar tab at the end of the week was a little larger than we expected!




We bussed it to southern Mexico. Here a guy picked us up, in this pimped out station wagon, and took us across the border into Belize. The guys who do these transfers make it so easy and there are no hassles with the border patrol.

As soon as we got into Belize, we loved it. The people are so welcoming.


This is the plane we took over to San Pedro. The flight was beautiful and super short.
San Pedro is this little island town. They drive golfcarts to get around.
Owen, the boat captain picked us up. The boat actually broke down in the ocean and another one came to get us! Lucky for us it was a calm night and a great one for star gazing.



We stayed at the Salamander Hideaway. You have your own private cabana on the beach or back a little in the jungle. There is no air conditioning and you have this little fan above your bed.
There are only 8 cabanas so it is really quiet. The resort is about a 20 minute boat ride north of San Pedro so it is pretty remote. So nice.
They also served a 6 course dinner - I could never make it to the main dish! The last day I found a scorpion in our room!

We did a lot of reading - Wade finished two books!
Mike would get us coconuts - to eat or drink. It was the real island life.





We almost always had the beach all to ourselves.
You could walk out into the ocean and see all types of different fish and crabs.
We went snorkeling and it was so amazing. We saw so so many fish! I wish the underwater camera pictures turned out so we could show some of the fish that we saw. Wade saw two nurse sharks.

The local guys that work at the resort took Wade out fishing on the other side of the reef. They caught some fish, but nothing big. They showed him their way of fishing - all hand lines. It was interesting to learn how they do things and tell them how we do things.
The reef (which is the second largest in the world) is right off the coast. We could hear and see it from the beach. You could go snorkeling anywhere and see tons of beautiful fish.

After three nights on the beach, we headed into the jungle.
Our friend Karen picked us up at the airport and brought us to the Belize Jungle Dome, which she runs.
This place is so cute and our room was so nice and cozy. We had some great dinners with the other guests, all telling about our adventures of the day.



We took a day trip to Tikal, Guatemala. I think this was my favorite day of the whole trip. It was a long day though, 6am - 7pm.
This is us on the top of the largest temple - I think 164 metres. We were above the jungle canopy and had an amazing view.







These are the steps going to the top of the largest pyramid. It was scarier coming down!










This is the largest pyramid. Great view from the top!

We got to see alot of the Guatemala country side. This made us realize how lucky we are here in Canada and how we take alot of things for granted. But the people of Belize and Guatemala always looked so happy!





This is one of the large temples in the Grand Plaza. Huge. We had such a great tour guide, Armando, who took us along the jungle trails so we weren't around the people. We saw a trantula, monkeys and toucans.


Sorry for all the ruin pics but I love them!

Here we are at the Guatemala border.
Belize and Guatemala make alot of wood carvings. Wade found a beautiful toucan carved cane to bring back for Grandma Lambe.

It was so great to see our friend from PR, Karen. We kept saying how weird it was that we were there - now it's weird that we were there and already are back home.
We enjoyed seeing Karen in her home. You work really hard and deserve to be so happy - and you seem really happy in Belize!
You should all go visit the Belize Jungle Dome!





Us before heading into the cave.

Look how tanned we are!

This is the entrance to the cave. You have to swim into it (me in a lifejacket of course). For like the first hour, you are in and out of water. Climbing over rocks, squeezing thru small holes etc. Amazing! Huge!Wade was in awe the whole day.

Then you have to take your shoes off and walk around in your socks. You are walking around all sorts of ancient Mayan artifacts.

The cave features were amazing. There are all these tunnels that come together in a huge cathedral where there use to be sacrifices.






We got to see a few skulls and then this full skeleton.

Our last day in Belize. It was hard saying goodbye since we had just said hello 3 days earlier!





We had such an amazing holiday! Two weeks was the right amount of time. We met lots of great people. Mexico was nice and relaxing - just what the doctor ordered. I don't know if we have ever been that relaxed. And Belize was 100% more than what we expected. Beautiful. The Belizean people are so friendly - and great cooks! I hope we will be able to visit Belize again in the future.

Now we are home, back to work and the winter! Can't wait to see you all and share some more memories from our trip.