Flores was such a beautiful place, so laid back, relaxed and ‘tourist’ friendly. It was like a little hippy island with people making jewellery everywhere and wearing cheesecloth! We looked up the local hostel to beg with them to let us use their shower and bathroon facilities and they were happy to let us chill out there and shower all we liked. We spend the day abusing their internet and icy cold showers and having our nostrills abused by the heavy body odour that seems to attach itself to those places! Its like everyone staying there is adverse to getting a cold shower and would rather just smell bad! Anyway, we got done what we needed to and then headed back to the van to sleep.
The traffic woke us early and we found a couple parked next to us that we had met in Cancun! Small world!
Fred and Emmy have been traveling for 16 years! They would spend months at a time in one place but always in their trusty campervan! How amazing! Thats what I want to be doing when Im in my 60’s!!
We spent the day with them and went to one of the islands on a lancha (water taxi) and walked to the beach through the rough paths. we saw all kinds of birds and even spotted a couple of howlers. We swam in the lake while the fish nibbled our toes and then back on Flores went out for dinner! Alex had the Blanco which is a local fish and he said…I quote! It was the nicest fish he had ever had! We gossiped about travels, how Fred and Emmy had met and their travels and even had yet another bottle of wine sat outside our vans on camp chairs way into the night! As always we had spent longer there than we had planned to and had to leave early the next morning with our heavy heads!

Our next stop was Finca Ixobel where we had to really apply control when we were asked if we would be horseriding, volunteering to help in the farm or going cave diving! We just didn’t have the time or the budget so after a relaxing afternoon reading our books we had to hit the road.
We drove through the wonderful scenery of Guatemala.It would not have surprised us if a T-Rex had wandered out of the landscape. Huge boulders littered the land like they had been thrown from space and the green trees and plants had slowly crept up their sides to keep them there. Here and there farmed land appeared in sections of patchwork quilt and the coffee plants swayed in the breeze. We were heading to one of the countries most wonderful phenomenons. A boiling hot waterfall empties into a cool lake creating a natural steam room on a shelf under the cascading water. We arrived too late to visit so stayed close by and had dinner with a family by the edge of a lake. We watched the family fishing before dinner with a line and a hook as the sun set and enjoyed the peace and tranquility of the setting.
As we ate the skies opened and the rain started. We tried to wait it out but it was never ending and it looked like it was staying for the night. We ran for the van and kicked about a thousand toads on the way! we huddled up for the night and sure enough it rained, and rained AND rained!

Find out what happens next on our travelling wedding adventure!

We woke up…to the rain…in a soggy field and decided we were getting wet anyway so headed to the waterfall. We trudged through the mud and small rivers that had been created by the continuing heavy rainfall and were wet to the bone by time we got to the waters edge. We looked at the swollen brown river swirling and gushing downstream. There was a boy and his Mum in there so we thought well lets do this!
We stripped to our swim stuff in the pouring rain and it certainly wasn’t warm! We climbed down the sharp rocks and got into the cold pool. Two steps in and we were in the strong current running around the rocks. I was nearly pulled in and luckily grabbed hold of a rock and managed to pull myself up. The river was swirling and moving so fast that all the silt and mud from the bottom made the water brown and we couldn’t see the bottom so had to edge along tentatively placing our feet. Alex managed to get out of the rapids and into the slower moving part of the pool and swam under the boiling waterfall. He sat on the shelf behind the water and I waited perched on a rock, unable to move because the current was so strong. He swam back to me and said the water was actually so hot, had it not been raining he wouldn’t have been able to go under it! Im glad I didnt go in because he said the shelf was directly under a bat cave and so he sat in lots of bat guano! Eugh!
Next challenge was actually getting out! I had to get back into the water to get to the side and it was like the current had doubled in strength. I couldn’t find a solid footing and the ground kept disappearing beneath my feet. Alex clung onto me and pulled me up onto the next rock and eventually pulled me out! I was shaking like a leaf and had gotten into a state with myself. Im a strong swimmer but I didn’t stand a chance against that current had I lost my grip or if Alex had let go!
Yet again, Alex saved the day and we trudged back to the van freezing cold, shivering wet through but in each others arms. There were some little girls selling banana bread back at the van so we had a small sugar hit and set off on the road to Honduras! What a start to the day!

Find out what happens next on our travelling wedding adventure!