Not Quite Paradise.......but a damn good tan none the less

I was hugely excited about getting on the boat and starting our trip so was only slightly disconcerted to see the weather was less than perfect- overcast skies and a bit of a wind going on. The man in Antigua who i´d booked it with had assured me that, even though it was the rainy season, it only rained a bit at night in Rio Dulce and never once we set sail to belize so I wasn`t too worried.

We all boarded the ship at 1.30 and had a little look around. My bed, the hammock was suspended over the sea and looked quite large and comfy so I was pretty happy about that, particularly when I saw the size of the others cabins- they were tiny little sweat boxes with hardly any room to store a bag next to the old looking matresses! Clearly this boat had not had an overhaul in a long time and this was confirmed by our captain who told us the boat was 50 years old and in need of some work! My fellow passenger sfor the next 7 days were as follows

Cornelia and Joerg- a really lovely german couple who now live in Switzerland with their two children who were also on the boat. They were so in love with each other after 16 years of marriage- it was completely adforable.They had also both had very interesting lives living in other countries so had great stories to tell

Mark and Robert- their children of 14 and 18 years old. Pretty mature and fun to hang out with and had superb english skills!

Judy and R (so called as no one could pronounce his name!)a dutch couple. I had really good chats with her when we couldn`t sleep due to various weather conditions (too hot, too cold, too stormy!) and got on really well. he was pretty quiet but cool to chat to one on one. Both their English was amazingly good, and although i did try some dutch I failed miserably!

Blocka (Ian) and Tammy. THE sweetest Aussie couple ever who i loved hanging out with. they were both so chilled and laid back and had so many cool stories about their travels and their 2 years living in London

Chase (Simon) Marcus and Angharrad. Simon and Marcus were mates from home and Angharrad had met Marcus in El Retiro and they had decided to give things a go and travel for a bit together. It was an interesting combo as clearly on a small boat they had to have a delicate balance between spending time together and not excluding chase! I found Marcus to be a really sound guy, Chase was fun but a bit flakey and Angharrad was fun and loud but a bit self obsessed and unlikely to ask anyone a question about themselves!

All in all though it was a good combination of people to be on the boat with, thank god, as there wasn´t much to do for the next 7 days but hang out and enjoy the sun and each others company!

The first day we didn´t sail too much- just 3 hours on the rio dulce where we moored up for the night by a little restaurant. We all had a lovely dinner and played cards and chatted til the rock n roll hour of 10pm when we all retired to bed as there was no light! I don´t think anyone slept well that night- it rained so no-one in the cabins could open their upper window and get access to air and chase and i cowered under the tarpaulin over our hammocks, hyper aware of every wierd noise and scared of getting soaking!

It was not a happy bunch that assembled for breakfat early the following morning and we remained pretty fed up as we sailed in horrible weather, stopping brieflt in Livinstone to sort out papers etc before hitting the very choppy ocean. The sun was nowhere in sight and we all started to feel a bit nauseous as we bumpedour way over large waves and were unable to even use the sail due to adverse winds. The captain delivered the bad news that we wouldn`t be able to make it to Belize that day as the weather was too bad and we all fell into a bit of a funk, only broken whwn we finally threw down the anchor in a mildly less windy part and were able to swim and relax for a few hours. This soon became a bit dull however as we couldn`t reach the land that we could see due to strong currents and choppy waves and this also prevented us from doing much sucessful swimming!

That evening we huddled under a canopy for dinner (the food was the best thing about the boat- the chef was a genius!) whilst the rain battered down and we heard the first rumblings of thunder. By 9pm we were tucked up in bed and I actualñly fell asleep for the first hour as i was so tired. However, by 10pm I was woken by huge thunderclaps (so close by it sounded like someone was shooting a gun in my ear!), howling winds and water powering up from under the boat hitting my sleeping bag and rendering me soaking! Angharrad and I could see lightening coming remarkably near the boat but as it all looked so beautiful we decided that this was an adventure, despite the discomfort. It was only in the morning when we talked to the others that we realised how scared eveyone else had been that lightening would strike the mast and we would sink! Cornelia and Joerg are experienced on boats and they had a bag packed in case of emergencies!! The actual storm only lasted an hour or so but the wind continued well into the night and i didn`t sleep at all due to waves coming up over my head and keeping me wet and wide awake!

By the next day I had had enough and was ready to abandon ship but luckily Tammy and Blocka let me sleep in their cabin for a few hours and when i awoke at mid day the weather had cleared and we were nearly in Belize. We spent 3 full days there mainly sunbathing and doing a bit of snorkelling. I did enjoy this and it gave me the opportunity to read 4 books and get a great tan but I felt that the snorkelling (plus the equipment on the boat which leaked a lot!) was not all that it could have been. Maybe I was spoilt by my last Belize trip but there wasn`t a lot to see out there except some fish and the variety wasn`t huge. The highlight was a HUGE baracuda who we named Ben who stayed around our boat for 2 days and a reef shark who came to nibble at the remnants of lobster we threw into the sea. Most evenings were over by 9pm as it got dark at 6.30 and we all felt exhausted by 8 due to the lack of light!

On the final full day we sailed back to Rio Dulce, a much smoother trip than the way out!, and moored at sunset for a lovely dinner of lobster and mash. I really loved the food on board and when there`s not much else to do it becomes a focus for the day! Most days started at 5.30am when we sailed so by 7am breakfast was much needed and dinner got scoffed at 7pm! I discovered that rum was my friend on the boat as the hammock was never very comfy and always let some rain in, so drank a good ammount on the last 2 nights and at last found sleep, at least for a few hours!

We got off the ship at 9am, all looking tanned and refreshed despite the hairy (character building?) experiences and found that we couldn`t stop rocking- the post boat syndrome i am still suffering 2 days on! All in all, the trip was NOT what I or anyone else expected in terms of comfort or activity levels but I still had a good time and found that I thoroughly enjoyed chilling out on deck and doing nothing! I do feel sleep deprived but am sure that will pass soon!

I headed to Guat city with Judy and R before getting a ticabus to Tapachula, Mexico where I´m currently awaiting a bus to take me to Puerto Escondido for some last minute chilling and sun bathing before heading home!