Hotel Hacienda Flamingos San Blas

... come to an abrupt halt - it ached for the rest of my stay &amp; made good sleep difficult.<br><br>Good sleep was not on the cards anyway as the whole point of being there was to patrol the beach every night looking for nests &amp; relocating the eggs to the hatchery where temperature &amp; humidity are controlled (incorrect temperature can produce hatchlings of all one sex!) and the eggs are protected from poachers &amp; predators.<br><br>During the day ...

... and played the legendary uno deep into the night. There were lots of hammocks strung around, and we spent lots of time chilling and reading, and gazing into the horizon. It felt kind of like a blend between the programmes Shipwrecked and Lost lol. Yesterday we were taken on a boat trip to a nearby inhabited island, with a larger Kuna settlement and had a great cultural experience. We interacted with the people ...

Santiago Ixc ths closest town to the island of Mexicalitlan, reputedly the original home of the Aztecs, which formed the blueprint for the selection/layout of Tenochtitlan in Mexico City. Few combis go & little else to do in town, so left at 7am hoping to get back to hotel in time to check out at 1pm. Pleasant boat ride there - saw my first roseate ...

... by river(sandflies - jejenes!) The beach was disappointing - fine dark sand meant water not clear & too shallow for swimming. Surf beaches out of town but wrong season, so dead. Should no longer be surprised about room prices in surfer towns being high - guess they all camp on the beach!

... Tam and Plantate were great hosts. We spent most of the time on the beach lazing around and swimming. Unfortuantely there was not any real surf in the area but there are some good breaks apparently but I didn't make the effort. I would have made more of an effort except when I went and saw the types of body boards you could rent or buy it wouldn't have been worth it. The rentals looked like some surfers 10 years ago had left them there ...

We went to another island today called pelican island, this is the smallest island we have visited so far and equally as beautiful, this one would take about 2 mintues to walk around. Another day of relaxing and snorkelling. We had decided to stay on Diablo island over night, so at 5.00 pm we were taken to Diablo island to spend the night ...

... all a rider of a Ducate! Once we got off the toll we entered the world we were looking for. Narrow roads filled with everything from oxcarts, horses, chickens, kids and every other farm animal you can imagine. We started to see our first thatched roofs and the poverty we will be seeing for the rest of the trip. People stopped what they were doing and watched as we were passing. The road was very windy which suited us just fine ...

... rethink their business model. Although this is the first stop of our trip, Barney already found what he was looking for. All it took was a little sunshine and some locals telling him that he is already in the best spot in Mexico - well that and some herbs that are lawfully used for medical purposes back home. I wish him good luck. I hope that one way or another he is able to relax and escape the specter that he carries.

... stone relic and tasty eel suppers, and would have liked to stay for the modern equivalent in the fish restaurant on the shore- we could see all kinds of treats being delivered but wasn't going to risk modern Aztec warfare by trying to nick a bit. But we got here, bowed our heads in respect to our tribal ancestors, and returned to Santiago. By taxi. Dammit, so nearly....

... Eventually the ferry gets to port at 9:30 pm a 6-1/2 hour ferry ride not the 5 as purported. Oh well, this is Mexico. Disembarkment is strange as they tell us the drivers of the vehicles must leave through door #1 and all passengers must le and ave through door #2. We are supposed to meet our mats on the wharf. Rita sees another couple in front of go through the gate to the vehicle area so she goes with me and we get through with no problems. However the couple behind us who ...