From one hammock to another

After a week of studying, we decided that lounging around in a hammock and swimming in a crystal clear fresh water lake sounded perfect. Casa del Mundo, a beautiful terraced hotel that is built into a steep rocky cliff overlooking Lago Atitlan was a place we thoroughly enjoyed on our trip three years ago, and we decided we had to go back. It was almost just as we had remembered except for the minor detail that the lake had recently risen 10 feet and many of the terraces are now underwater. We've heard a few theories for this rise, but the most likely one has to do with the previous two years producing unusually high rainfall which also collects more sediment and since there are no overland rivers flowing out, the sediment has been clogging the underground exits. At least the sunken terraces made for some interesting snorkeling.

At Casa del Mundo we enjoyed waking up early every morning to do yoga and go for a relaxing swim when the water was the most calm before breakfast. Every night a delicious set four-course dinner was served at large community tables where it was easy to get to know other guests and chat until the candles at the table had burned all the way down.

From Lago Atitlan, we spent one night in Antigua during semana santa before setting out on our longest travel day of the trip. Unfortunately we didn't realize that Good Friday was the most difficult day of the year to catch public transportation when we decided that would be our big travel day to get all the way to a small island in Belize. The next 20 hours were filled with chicken buses, several taxis, a shuttle bus, a night bus with reclining seats, an air-conditioned van that was owned by a generous man who offered to take us where we were heading for the same price as the bus would have been, and a launcha (motor boat) that was only running because the owner was driving his own family over to the island for the Easter holiday. We finally arrived on Tobacco Caye and checked into our rustic, but awesome white-washed private cabin with a porch overlooking the water. Because the tiny 200 yard long island sits on top of the barrier reef, we were able to snorkel right from the dock each day to see amazing coral formations, tropical fish of every color and size and some majestic eagle rays.

Although we enjoyed our time on the island, we quickly realized that Belize didn't resonate with us the same way most other Central American countries had. We noticed the culture felt more aggressive overall and less welcoming than other indigenous Central American cultures and we found that English with a heavy island accent (their official language) was actually harder to understand than the Spanish we had become accustom to. So after a handful of days in Belize it was time to continue our trip north.