SAN FRANCISCO

We arrived later to San Francisco than we thought but we found the hotel without too much hassle and although all their parking was gone there was a space out front we just had to be out by 9am. I wasn't planning on it after the long drive the day before but needs must I suppose.

Since one of the most iconic things San Francisco is named for is the Painted Ladies, I must go and see them. We saw the ones near Alamo Square and the detail on them is incredible. I am impressed in the talent of the people that built them.

 

I'm a fan of Full House although I only watched it a few years ago since I wasn't born yet back then, I needed to find the house that is represented as the Tanner's residence. I wasn't the only one there as you can see by this woman not wanting to move out my way!  
 

The Golden Gate Bridge is definitely the thing you think of when San Francisco is mentioned. How could I not go and see it? I'd seen a photo taken on a beach with the bridge in the background at sunset and I needed to find it. Unfortunately it wasn't at all sunny when we were there but still perfectly clear. I'd found out the beach we were looking for was Baker beach. We found it and about a hundred different fishermen. It was still awesome though.

 

I'd also heard of a place called Battery Spencer that sounded like a perfect viewpoint. I made the most of my satnav that served as a wifi hotspot and realised the time back home would mean my parents would be home. I thought I'd surprise them. I attempted to face time them and when they answered on the 3rd attempt I held my phone as close to my face as possible so they didn't know where I was. I said I had something to show them and I turned the camera and just watched the smiles grow on their face. Other than a couple messages saying I had made it to the states this was the first time since I'd left home that they had heard from me and it couldn't have been any better.

 

Finally though it was time to get some proper food so before we had to head to the airport and return my car (sobs), Denny's was calling my name! I did the total American thing. I got the burger and milkshake. I regretted after when I couldn't finish either but it was damn good.

 

Next stop Seattle.

Toodles for now.

PACIFIC COAST HIGHWAY - Los Angeles to San Francisco

November 3rd. Today we are driving out of Los Angeles and making our way up to San Francisco via the beautiful Pacific Coast Highway. This is one of those roads, like Route 66, that I feel I just have to drive along.

It was around 9 am when we left our hotel in Los Angeles to start the journey hoping to get to San Francisco not too late in the day with the stops we would like to make on the way. The first thing though is to get out of the busy LA city and to the beach. I wanted to see Santa Monica and the Pacific Ocean. I live in England and have only been to places around the Atlantic Ocean. I knew it would look exactly the same but it would give me a feeling. The realisation of where I am in the world. Somewhere I never thought, only hoped, I would get to.

Once we got to the beach we headed north along the coast. We had the windows down, music up, the sun was shining. It was like a dream.

Going through Malibu I just had to hear Miley Cyrus' Malibu song. I am absolutely in love with that song and I don't think there was a better place to hear it. Like I said, it felt like I was in a dream.

The Big Sur was definitely the number 1 stop I wanted to make because for one Bixby Bridge is a gorgeous piece of architecture and also I promised a friend I would take a picture there for him on his birthday and I don't break my promises.

 

 

 

The entire way up to San Francisco the views were incredible. This was something I definitely wouldn't forget. It took my breath away constantly and I'm glad I got to drive an awesome car in the process.

Driving the Pacific Coast Highway was a dream. I don't remember anything else so beautiful. The beach and the ocean is my happy place. If I wasn't certain before, I definitely was now.

Next stop is San Francisco.

Toodles for now.

LOS ANGELES

We arrived into LAX around 7pm on November 1st and first thought was it was insanely busy! We didn't get out of the airport for a good 3 hours! All we had to do for the rest of that night was find our rental car and get to the hotel. So that's what we did and then just went to sleep really, ready to start fresh tomorrow.

1st proper morning in the USA I could finally look at my car (since it wasn't dark anymore) which was gorgeous! A lovely red coloured 2017 Nissan Altima. It was lush. I was in love. Also the hotel, well it wasn't really a hotel. It was more of someone else's house that you rent rooms from, but it wasn't air b'n'b, I used Booking.com. It was really lovely apart from being small and apart from the random people you bump into every now and then. We had a bunk bed room which was good until there was a cockroach! A little one but it weren't half noisy! Luckily we were only staying for 2 nights. The bed was comfortable I had the top bunk because who prefers the bottom. I have a fear that the top bunk will fall on me. Always choose the top.

Still being on UK time and 7 hours behind at this point (US clocks hadn't changed yet but UK ones had which was great because I got to have 2 days with an extra hour in bed!) I woke up early like insanely early and hungry but we hadn't gone to the shop for supplies yet. That sucked!

First stop for Los Angeles was the Hollywood sign. I couldn't be there and not see it and after a minor detour which our satnav gave us and a small hike we thought there should be an easier way than this. Driving up and down the Hollywood hills was interesting, I'm so thankful my car was an automatic! But eventually we found the sign. 

Next stop is the Walk of Fame and our goal is to find Ellen DeGeneres' star. Typical that when we got there and went one way down the street walking for ages and not finding her I ask a Police man and he tells me it was all the way in the opposite direction. We found her though! And a couple others we were quite excited about. 

Last stop that I definitely want to see is the Griffith Observatory. Mainly because I discovered in the opening sequence of Dancing with the Stars season 23 but also because the view looks stunning and I wanted to see it in person. If you don't know it yet you will eventually realise I'm all about the view.

Target! I love a target! By this point we thought it best to get some food. Don't want to pass out at the start of the trip! Still had 20 days and 8 more stops to make on the trip. The store was huge! It was the target near Paramount Pictures. Stocked up on few essentials and decided to take it easy this evening with a frozen pizza for dinner. We didn't see too much of Los Angeles really but so far the holiday is good and couldn't wait for more!

Next is the Pacific Coast Highway.

Toodles for now.

The longest flight of my life! LHR-LAX 11.5 hours

This was the longest flight I have ever taken. It wasn't as bad as I was imagining but I can't say I want to make it a regular occurrence. I flew from London Heathrow to Los Angeles International on a day time flight leaving at 3.30pm UK time and because of the time difference got to LA by 7pm!

When I got onto the flight I had already been sat at the airport for around 4 hours so was really hoping for some good entertainment and comfortable seats. I was in luck for 1 of those at least; the seat needed some more padding.

The first couple of hours went by quite quickly. I watched Annabelle: The Creation. Don't worry I did look around for any children that could have a view of my screen and there wasn't any so I went ahead. That film was alright. I mean the parts I saw were alright I took quite a nice little nap in the middle. I wouldn't call it scary though. Next was Wonderwoman. That was an awesome film; I can't wait to see more. Throughout the flight I also saw the first 4 episodes of Pitch (I've been meaning to see it for ages but haven't had the time) and then Baywatch, another I had been meaning to watch and was definitely as good as I was expecting. Who doesn't love a bit of Zac Efron. He is definitely aging well.

Lunch was a choice between a chicken curry with rice and green beans or beef stew and if you know me you'll know that I definitely skipped the stew! Pudding was salted caramel ice cream but the caramel was a little too solid. Would've been better a bit softer as all it did was get stuck in my teeth.

I had chosen an aisle seat when I booked the flight mainly because I'd rather have to move for the people next to me than make those people move so I can get out. The guys seemed nice but they hardly said anything. And plus the guy in the window decided to go to the loo while the middle guy did so we all only had to get up the once.

After another nap with some music by Thomas Rhett in the background and then after an hour of just wishing it would end, it was over. I had survived the longest flight of my life. Even better than some of the other incredibly short flights compared to that one! I'm sure you'll hear more about that at a later date.

Toodles for now.

Leaving Mexico! - Trip day 16/17

The final leg of the trip. For the last time we had a walk around the town of Akumal where we were staying and took in all that we had experienced there.

 

And just like that it was time to make our way home. The coach picked us up around 11 am and took us straight to the airport. When we got there we still had a couple hours until our first flight from Cancun to JFK so we just went around some shops and got some last minute items. Mostly treats. The first flight went alright although it was a bit slow and where the plane had 1 TV for every 10 rows you basically had to put up with what's on, on a TV 5 metres away and 10 inches wide or you had nothing.

(Landing at JFK)

The second flight wasn't until around 11pm from JFK back to Heathrow. Some people had a cheeky McDonald's and others, including me had nothing. Once we boarded the flight and took off it was around midnight so all we wanted to do was sleep. The crew had other ideas though. At around 1 am they decided to bring around dinner. A curry of all things. It was nice but not something to eat on a plane at 1am. Arrival was safe and we quickly collected our bags but due to the times of the National Express, we had to wait a couple hours until we could leave the airport. The rest of the journey though was alright. We had a nap on the coach on the way to the ferry and once we got on that ferry, we knew we were home. My parents and my brother were there waiting for me. I had an awesome time but it was so nice to be home!

(Final flight home)

 

Toodles for now.

Our final full day in Mexico! - Trip Day 15

I got up at 7. I just couldn't stay in bed any longer. But everyone else seemed to still be sleeping so I very quietly left the room to get myself breakfast. Watermelon, scrambled egg and they graced me with my favourite of French toast. My morning was filled by a couple hours at the beach before our last dive at 11. We had to wait for a storm to pass but once it had, we ventured out for the very last time. We ended it all with a barracuda and some turtles.

Our final lunch was a ham and cheese sandwich and chips. Some people after lunch volunteered to do some turtle blood testing. This would've included trying to catch the turtles in the first place and they are very strong. I passed on that one. Instead I went for a snorkel around the bay and saw a ton of turtles. Great way to end the trip.

I showered for the final time in Mexico and we finished the evening with an ecology quiz with dinner. This trip has been amazing. I am so glad I experienced this.
Toodles for now.

Lionfish dissection -Trip Day 14

I woke up at 6.30 after sleeping for 10.5 hours! Cornflakes today with a lecture on threats to a coral reef and then 9 am was our Open Water Diver Theory test. You needed 38 out of 50 to pass and I got 46 so I definitely passed! I went and bought some gift items then headed to the beach for the rest of the morning.

Lunch was hot dogs and egg and potato salads. I started to pack a few items which I knew I didn't need any longer on this trip and then made my way back to the dive centre for the last dive to complete the practical side of the divers course. We had to take our mask off fully an put it back on again, lower and only float up and down by natural breathing and then use a compass to navigate our way through the ocean. Once that was done, we did a bit of a fun dive since we had plenty of air left in our tanks and saw a turtle and a lionfish. Then at our 5 metre stop we all held hands and did the Mexican wave to celebrate finishing the course.

After our dinner of shepherds pie and veg we had a lecture and talk on lionfish and Rachael did a lionfish dissection demonstration to see how much it has eaten, whether it's male or female etc. It was kind of gross but cool at the same time.

 

It also happened to be one guys birthday so we got to have ice cream cake for his birthday which he didn't know about. I videoed his reaction whilst Rachael brought the cake out.

 

It was then an early night for me. I'm beginning to become old.

Toodles for now.

Scuba Diving - Trip Day 13

Breakfast today was chocolate cheerios, a lecture on mangroves and seagrass, then theory classes for our dive theory test. Our final hotel pool session which for me started with an incident which was pretty funny and just something I would do. I started to dive into the water without putting the regulator in my mouth which since 2 days ago it being weird to breathe underwater, I am no comfortable to think I can breathe without one! I choked. It was funny but luckily only Steve and Analie knew it happened so I wasn't too embarrassed.

Nachos and salsa with cheese flatbreads for lunch, then onto dive 3 in the open water. This one was at motorcycle reef (I've added a map so you can see where these places I'm talking about are.) and funnily enough, there is an actual motorcycle at the bottom!

We saw a blue parrotfish, another ray, a lobster and a trumpet fish. It was so cool and this time my ears weren't so bad with descending and I managed to get to the bottom easier and faster. Alex is awesome. Every time we see each other (not just when we are diving together but around town) he goes 'Hey Katie, My Buddy!' in his Italian bad man accent.  (That's Alex below)

We did some exercises at the surface then boarded the boat. This driver was different to the one we had before but it was ok because this one was a fast driver and that made it more enjoyable. It was great. We unloaded and disassembled our equipment and marked of our log books.

I had a shower in one of the outer showers today not the one in our room. Mainly because there were 8 of us trying to use the one shower. It was lovely. I had a relaxing time ready up on the Padi information ahead of our test. Dinner was mac 'n' cheese with garlic bread and another lecture on how to survey a coral reef then I went to bed by 8. I was so tired. I never thought I would willingly go to bed that early!

Toodles for now.

Day 2 of the Open water diver course! - Trip Day 12

Day 2 of the dive course started with pancakes, a lecture at the CEA and a theory class and quiz. Then our second trip to the hotel pool to learn some more dive skills which included taking the mask off and on again under the water. It took a little while for our entire group to master. It's harder than you think.

Lunch wasn't until 2pm and consisted of a burger and chips. Once lunch went down we went back to the dive centre for our second open water dive to practise what we just did in the pool but this time out in the open ocean. This time we went to Half Moon Bay and did the skills 16 metres deep. This dive was incredible. After we practised the skills we had time to go around some of the coral reefs and 2 eagle rays glided past us. It was a thing straight out of Finding Nemo! Also a barracuda and some turtle egg shell too.

When we ascended, after a 5m stop to decompress, we did some tired man tows. I pulled Alex along by his tank whilst he laid on his back but I don't think we even went anywhere. He found it funny and turned and pushed me the rest of the way by my feet. So much for him being the 'tired man'. We got back onto the boat and out of our equipment and basically became a speed boat on the way back to shore. It was a lot of fun. Alex and Analie signed our Padi dive books and got them stamped.

Dinner was chicken and rice. Then a lecture and a turtle talk and a turtle walk. We walked along to Playa Tortuga to see some turtles nesting, a couple were beginning to. We had a bucket of baby turtles to release into the ocean but they were sleeping so we couldn't release them otherwise they'll just get eaten. I fell asleep on some random hotels sun lounger as we were told we would be woken if anything happened. Unfortunately nothing really did and the rest of the team had to wake me up so we could go back to our hotel. As we were walking back along the beach some woman said hello to us and then continued to follow us for a while. It was creepy.

 

Toodles for now.

First full day at Akumal! - Trip Day 11

Breakfast consisted of fruit loops with better milk than the weird stuff at camp but still not great and some toast. A lecture at the CEA (Centro Ecologico Akumal) at 8am about reef ecology and then our beginner divers class in a hotel pool next door. At first the whole breathing under water thing was scary since it's not exactly normal, but after a bit you kind of get used to it. We had to learn how to get ourselves to go down and back up without swinging and also to balance in mid water and no go anywhere. More difficult than you may realise.

Lunch was a tuna sandwich and some chips and at 2.30 we had to be back at the dive centre for our first open water dive. You could say I was nervocited. (Nervous and excited if you didn't get that) We went on a boat to a barrier reef system outside of Akumal bay. We barrel rolled off the sides of the boat and took hold of a rope to wait for everyone. It was scary as the waves were hitting me in the face. As we started to descend I started to panic a little so took a couple minutes at the surface to calm down before continuing. My ears have a hard time equalising so the instructor Alex helped me with that and since we had an odd number of students Alex ended up being my buddy. Buddies are for in case of emergency. If your air stops working you can join onto your buddies tank. Once you are down at the bottom of the ocean and have gotten used to breathing via a tank it was actually very tranquil. We saw a ton of fish including Dory! The reef looked amazing.

A shower then some haddock, rice and veg for dinner. And just as last night. We sat on the beach for a while.



Toodles for now.

Trip Day 10

It was an early start as our coach was leaving at 7.30am for Akumal. We had to empty our tent, sweep it and mop it before taking a group picture in front of the sign. We said our goodbyes and left Calakmul for probably the last time. The coach on the way back up north was the same as the one we rode down on. Comfy seats, apparently was used for a baseball team.

 

The journey was long since Akumal wasn't too far from Cancun and it took us 7 hours to get between Cancun and Calakmul last week. We stopped again at that little shop on the way for some snacks. These Doritos are really good by the way.

 

 

 

When we arrived we got a tour of the facilities and our room. A room which was filled with 6 bunk beds and 1 bathroom. Then we had lunch. It was pizza. I loved the food the local village made for us but to have some normal food was incredible!

After lunch we had a couple hours free so we headed to the beach. It was about a 3 minute walk and it was well worth the wait. We hadn't been given our snorkels yet but we still went into the water and found some turtles! It was the best feeling ever. One stuck its head out of the water right in front of me.

For dinner we had spaghetti and garlic bread. Once again it was normal food. Afterwards we went down the road to this little ice cream place and had some rocky road ice cream. Sat on the beach for a little bit before it shut. The beaches shut at a certain time to let the turtles come onto the shore to lay their eggs. We moved to the bar/restaurant that was by the beach for a while. They didn't seem to care about the age limits for drinking. Everyone had a drink anyway. The beer was called Sol. Never heard of that one before, it must be a Mexican thing.

Toodles for now.


Trip Day 9

Officially half way through the trip! Can't believe how quick it's going. 8 more days to go!

We were up at 6am for mammal tracking. Not my favourite one of the week but everyone had to do something twice and we ended up with this one. Still couldn't see and tracks myself though. We had gotten back about 10 so still a solid 3 hours until lunch with nothing to do. Treated myself to some snacks and sat down with my book and puzzles. This day was going so slowly so I half packed up my things. This was the last day in Calakmul. We leave tomorrow morning.

Lunch was a weird mixture of beans, mash and rice with lemon juice. After lunch was jungle skills with John in which we were split up into 3 groups and we had to follow coordinates and the winning group get a prize. We did arrived in first but apparently missed one of the points so we were disqualified.

For the final night there were sign ups to either monkeys or birds if you wanted to got on those and I love monkeys so of course I wanted to go see some in real life! I was so fast to that sheet and my name was top of the list. It was so cool! We saw Howler monkeys and spider monkeys in the wild. Some had babies on their backs and a small juvenile was just messing about in the trees. We also saw a crocodile. Not in the tree, in a swamp.

Dinner was spaghetti again with hibiscus water. And as tonight was our last night in Calakmul we had a bonfire with marshmallows! The movie 'Shutter Island' was put on the projector in the lecture room but as I'd already seen it, I knew what was going to happen so I only watched a little bit. I got some M&Ms from Tim's Tuck Shop and ate them by the fire. I also got Pringles for tomorrows journey back up north.

I was so tired I went to bed about 10, which for this last week at camp, was extremely late!

Toodles for now.

Trip Day 8

I can't believe I have survived a whole week! It was a habitat day today. We walked all the way down to transect 1 to a 20 by 20 metre plot to do some touch poles and measure trees. Once we did that we walked back via the old transect 3 and up the road. You could say I was a little sweaty! I needed a shower by this point since I didn't have one yesterday and as I did I rinsed a couple of my tops at the same time. A sit on the sofas in the museum with my book before lunch, which was delicious. Spicy minced meat and carrots with rice and hibiscus water.

I had a free afternoon and at first I laid in a hammock which Mira lent to me then I ventured to the science room because it was quiet, played some cards, did some puzzles and chatted with Jamie the habitat guy and Josh - part of the monkey team. Dinner arrived but we didn't notice. Deep in conversation. We noticed when a large queue began to form out of the kitchen. Vegetable soup and pineapple juice AND finally they brought back some bananas. We had some on the first day which were lush but hadn't seen them since.

Today was Katie and Etienne's birthdays and they had an angry bird piñata full of sweets. Which was a nice 'dessert' since we haven't really had any treats since being here.

We had a late night bat session as well and luckily we managed to get 3 and one of them were pregnant! Considering the last bat night got cancelled. I got a surprise when Veronica released the bat and it flew straight into me! At KM27 (where we were for these bats) the radio signal isn't very good and we couldn't get through to base camp since we finished our research early. The truck was coming to get us at midnight anyway but as we were early we ended up laying in the road for 45 minutes. (As I think back on that now, all the creepy crawlies that could've been on us and we didn't have a clue. Imagine the tarantulas!!) The sky was incredible though. There was a gap in the trees above us and with everything being pitch black the stars lit up so bright. There was a perfect view of the Milky Way! Best thing I've ever seen!

 

 

Toodles for now.

Mayan Ruins! - Trip Day 7

A jungle lie in today as our museum tour wasn't until 9.30 but I woke up at 5am just like every other day of the trip. I didn't mind though, it keeps me closer to UK time. Vanessa gave us a tour of the museum talking mostly about the Mayans and their temples. At 11am we set off in mini buses to the Mayan ruins of Calakmul. It was the most interesting thing I have ever seen in person. We climbed all the way to the top of structure 1 which was very steep and then to the top of structure 2 which was even steeper. By this time I was covered in sweat and smelt like a skunk but still we went up another structure which to me felt even taller than the last ones. At the top there was a swarm of dragonflies. It was beautiful but of course couldn't get them to stay still to catch a good photo. (see below)

 

 

We saw the Mayan king's house but weren't allowed in because they were excavating something. We had our lunch in the carpark. It was mole (anyone know how to put an accent onto a letter?) chilli and chocolate with chicken and rice and more hibiscus water. We left the ruins at about 4.10 pm (very specific) and took about an hour to get home and by the time we did the showers had a queue. 25
people trying to get in 2 showers. I waited until after our second lot of herpetofauna surveys so I wouldn't go to bed smelling.

We were sitting in the lecture room when the science team came in to watch a movie and since the only plugs were in this room I gathered they needed some power for the laptop. Dinner was shell shaped pasta with veggie chunks and pineapple juice. John asked me how the food was. Which was very nice, then translated it to the cook lady from the village who smiled back at me and said thank you. Some of us chatted for a bit and some played cards to pass the time before the herps.

We left around 8pm in the back of the truck to KM27. Unfortunately we didn't get any snakes but we did get some frogs. A couple really big ones and a couple really, really small. We got to the end of the transect and headed back to the truck to go jungle cruising to find random animals. We got to about KM35 and turned around to come back to camp. We had a few emergency stops because Ettiene was seeing snakes in the road. He jumped out only to find it to be a trick. It was funny. The only thing we definitely saw was a tarantula. It was a biter but Ettiene decided to pick it up anyway. We really weren't that keen but he obviously was! We got back to camp around 11pm, the latest I'd been up since we arrived at camp.  I couldn't be bothered to shower at that time of night so I wet wiped it!

Toodles for now.

Lazy Day - Trip Day 6

I woke up to a high pitched noise but the rain from last night had finally stopped. It's the 1st of August and our first activity was herpetofauna surveys on transects 1 and 2 using pitfall traps. We didn't have any herps but there were a few spiders in one of the pitfall traps. Eww.

 

 

It was probably the hottest day of the week so far since I was sweating buckets and smelling of crap after only an hour. We had some time before the next lecture so I went and got some Pringles. The lecture we had lasted just over an hour in the steamy hot lecture room/dining room and I honestly kept falling asleep. I don't even remember what this lecture was about. Oops. We had another break before lunch so I sat in the museum on the sofa for a while because even though it is still hot in there, it is slightly cooler than anywhere else.

Lunch today was lentil soup and hibiscus water. I had a completely free afternoon so I just hung out in a hammock in the science room and read my book whilst waiting for dinner. Egg fried rice with carrot bits mixed in with what Hannah called 'still lemonade'. Purely just lemon juice.

 

We were supposed to be going to do a bat project but it had been raining and bats can die from the cold so that was postponed. I went for a shower in the dark with spiders and a huge butterfly instead. Bit of a lazy day for me this one but should pick up tomorrow.

 

Toodles for now.

Trip Day 5

Up at 5 for another session of birds. This one was at a place they called KM27 so we had to take a truck ride. Mexico: the place where health and safety seemed to be out the window and I find myself sitting in the back of a pickup truck.

This session of birds was more successful than the last. We had 2 hummingbirds, a pygmy kingfisher and a yellow breasted tanager. There was a 5th bird in the mist net but managed to untangle itself just before we got to it. All I got was that it was red. I released the tanager back into the sky unharmed of course. For part of the Operation Wallacea research we needed to take measurements of the birds wings, beak and body.

 

 

On the way back from the bird surveys the truck had metal railings around the bed so we were able to stand up. Although you do have to watch out for any branches hanging low!

 

 

Lunch today was rice, beans and plantain and our second lecture. This time about reptiles and amphibians. I found out that slow worms have legs! Small ones but still legs. I never knew that.

 

4 o'clock was a trip down the road to transect 4 to measure some trees and to do a touch pole experiment. A touch pole experiment means you put a pole vertically every 2 metres in a 20 mete square plot and see how many points of a plant touches it. Trying to walk through a very dense forest with a pole and  cobwebs everywhere was a mission alone. After that we went on a 1km walk to try to find peccaries again. We were unsuccessful but did find a tarantula nest. I know the best thing to find ever! Luckily no tarantulas came out of it no matter how much Natalia tried to make them.

 

Dinner arrived later than expected tonight but when it did arrive, the swarm of people that ran towards the kitchen was crazy! It was like no one had eaten all week. Pasta and veg with iced tea.

 

 

We had an evening lecture on neotropical mammals with Kathy - the expert on spider monkeys. She was making a joke about how they hug each other just to get favours. A nice torrential downpour, which they haven't had in weeks so they were loving it and off to bed.

 

Toodles for now.



First proper day of the expedition - Trip Day 4

7 am start with cornflakes and powdered milk and mammal transect lines, looking for tracks. Our team leader for this activity was Natalia from Ecuador. She was a genius because she was finding tracks everywhere when I couldn't find a thing. She pointed to indents in the leaves where an animal had trod and the faint footprint underneath, another indent where a red rocket deer had been laying and on our way back we saw a group of about 6 or 7 peccaries. One even came towards us until Natalia shooed it off.

At 11.30 we learnt some jungle skills with John the Australian. It lasted 2 hours with a detailed discussion on how to survive if your plane crashed in the middle of a jungle and some knot tying.

Lunch today was chicken soup with rice and mango juice. Definitely much better than I was expecting. Since it's a conservation trip. we were here to learn as well as help in the projects. We had a lecture about the Calakmul area that we were in. At 3.30 I was in the bird group with Tiffany the Canadian and Enrique the Mexican who knows what any bird is just from hearing its call. Unfortunately we had no birds in the mist net this afternoon. They were probably put off by the thunder going on around us.  We'll have to come back.

I had a shower in daylight today which was much easier than the dark. The shower was in a little cubicle. And dinner was those beans and mashed potato with hibiscus water. I am starting to sense a theme with those beans and also I now know I like to drink flower juice!

Toodles for now.

Journey to Calakmul - Trip Day 3

Day 3 of the trip began at 5am to have breakfast and be packed and ready for the coach at 5.45. The hotel made us packed lunches with ham, cheese, lettuce and mayo sandwiches (which tasted pretty disgusting actually), a banana, a water bottle and a mango juice carton. Our journey on the coach was approximately 7 hours with a stop at the dive centre to pick up a guy named ross then a stop at a random shop in the middle of nowhere to grab a snack and to drop ross onto another coach which had people going the other way. They had just had their first week in Calakmul and were moving onto the second half of the trip. They were all saying how amazing it was.

 

KM20 was the name of the camp we were on our way to. We put our bags in one little room and had a tour of the facilities, got our tent allocations and our first lunch at the camp. All the food is prepared by a local village. It was beans but not the Heinz baked kind, some brown version that had a weird texture and weren't as tasty. It came with chicken and pure melon juice. Much better than I was expecting for a camp in the middle of nowhere.

We had a relaxing afternoon with my first trip to the loo. It had one section for your pee and another which basically was just a hole for number 2's. It'll take time to get used to but the paper goes in a bucket in front of you not down the hole. (It took just as long after I got home to get used to not putting the paper in the bucket because my bathroom at home has the bin in the same place as the bucket was in Mexico! Some awkward moments happened there!). The 'door' to the loos was a tarp. The team leader, whilst on our tour, demonstrated how to enter like Indiana Jones with the disinfectant to keep the stench down.

Dinner from the village was more brown beans and spicy scrambled egg with lemon juice (I'm sure you are loving the dinner chat right after a loo chat aren't you?) And that was followed by a shower in the dark. Not the most pleasant or easy thing to do.

Toodles for now.