Okay, I realize it's a little late to say "happy holidays," but I just couldn't get to an internet - at least one that would open up this page or that would work at a reasonable pace!

We are now very very far from Panama. We are, in fact, in Belize! I never thought we'd come here, as it sounded so expensive. And I was right! One plate of food costs five dollars! And a beer costs two! We're only staying long enough to do some snorkelling, and then it's back to the highlands of Chiapas for us!

Now let me tell you about our trip up here. After I last wrote, our plans changed dramatically. We left David and headed for the Pacific beaches of Costa Rica. When we arrived at the town we thought would take us to the beaches, we discovered we hadn't read the guidebook very well. The route to the beaches was very difficult and long, and would add too much time to our trip! So we had to ditch the Pacific beach plan. Oh well.

We headed instead to San Jose, the capital of Costa Rica. This is where we spent Christmas. The weather was so lovely there! It wasn't deathly hot or humid, but was something like early autumn in Saskatchewan, or Vancouver year-round.

A few days before Christmas we decided to buy each other gifts. Just simple, small things. So we split up for a few hours downtown in the pedestrian only area, where people were selling various things on mats on the road, like toques and scarves and mittens (I'm not sure why) and ripped off movies like Madagascar II. Which I bought, by the way. And it was terrible - you could hear the theatre audience laughing in the background, and the sound quality was very fuzzy.

Anyways, while I was out shopping George was being very sweet! He bought Christmas decorations and sneaked back to the hotel and decorated our room! I was so thrilled when I got back. There was garland and glass balls and lights!

On Christmas Eve we didn't do too much. We just drank lots of rum and played Grand Theft Auto with some Guatemalans who we didn't know too well. In the morning we opened our presents. George bought me a beautifully hand carved box with handmade dominoes inside! I love it so much. I bought George a package of fireworks! They're legal down here, and as I've mentioned before, people are setting them off at all hours of the day and night for any occasion. Actually on Christmas Eve it sounded like a war zone!

At this point we'd been in San Jose wandering the streets and watching movies for about a week, so it was time to go. Now, I know I told you we were going to fly over Nicaragua because of the danger, but we didn't. Instead, we went right to one of the most dangerous cities. We're such smart travellers!

We didn't mean to, of course. We meant to get there in time to take the earliest bus to Honduras, but we didn't take into account the local Christmas travellers. The buses were all full of Central Americans trying to go home after the holidays! So we had to stay in Managua, Nicaragua for two days. This is the city that held the most violent protests, and this is the city that the guidebook recommends skipping anyways.

At the bus station, a man recommended we walk with him the half-block to our hotel, as it was so dangerous, and we happily accepted, and gave him a two dollar tip. But then we wanted some supper and had to venture out later on by ourselves, and realized that it was just fine and the people were just trying to scare us into giving them money! Man, I hate that. It happens far too often! It was only one block to the restaurant, and I carried a decoy for thieves - a purse with nothing but Costa Rican change and a pen. George carries his wallet with no more than ten dollars in it.

Anyways, after two days we escaped Managua and took a twelve hour bus to Northern Honduras where we ate some of the greasiest pork I have ever seen. The next day we went to a coastal town where we hoped to take a three hour ferry to Belize.

But of course, this didn't work. The schedules had changed and they weren't running for another six days. But if we went to Guatemala, a mere two hours away, we could take a boat there for much cheaper. But wait! All the men were saying to us that we would never make it in the bus, so we should take their taxi. The boat in Guatemala, they said, only runs at noon, and only today! And how much would that cost, we asked? Only sixty American dollars! But they'd get us there so fast, they said.

We told them we'd take our chances with the bus, and after finally shaking them off with their heads sadly shaking at our stupidity, we found the bus, crossed the border, went to the proper coastal town, and got on the boat with an hour to spare. And there would be more boats tomorrow.

And now we're in Belize! We spent one night in a sleepy little town. It was quite lovely, and the people were very friendly! Many people came up and talked to us, and most of them didn't want anything! We even found tamales, my favourite food!

But it was the most awkward and uncomfortable bed we have ever had, so we decided to leave. On New Years Eve, we came to this town, Placencia. It's very beautiful, with one road for cars, and the rest of the town is just a collection of houses scattered over a large beach. It's difficult at times navigating through them, but it's impossible to get lost.

On New Years Eve, we had a great time! We drank way too much rum again, and we danced all night to a salsa band on the beach! It was fantastic! We also tried to set off some fireworks, but learned that they are illegal here in Belize. A policeman came to us after two fireworks and told us so, but luckily he was very kind and understanding.

When we decided to go home, we discovered that we had either lost our key or left it inside the room. Damn! First we spent an hour looking for it around the beach, then resigned ourselves to sleeping on the lawnchairs on the porch. But luckily the granddaughter of the landlady rescued us! She hammered off the lock and kicked in the door! She was so nice.

We've just been spending our days lounging on the beach and eating burritos. I'm also nursing a cold, so I can't go snorkelling yet. But in a day or two I will be able to. Then we are going to go on a full day snorkel tour!

We don't have much time left in our trip, either! Just seventeen days! We plan on going to the ruins in Tikal, Guatemala, and then back to Chiapas, Mexico for some shopping!

It won't be long now, friends! See you soon!