Paradise beaches, swinging monkeys and coral reefs: Mexico, Guatemala and Belize

Landing in Cancun on the last day of November, following a flight from London on which we had booked no food (oops!!) we grabbed a taxi to take us to our hotel (booked on internetvery good deal) in downtown Cancun, away from the posh beachside complexes as we wanted to get out of the there and travelling onwards asap the following day.

Lesson number one came all too quickly when the taxi driver seemed to offer us an amazing price for the drive to the hotel. Only too late once en route did we realise that he had given us a price in US dollars, not the local Mexican currency, and the amazing price was not-such an amazing one. I found it strange that so many locals dealt solely in USD purely for the tourist trade, surely it makes sense to use your own currency, after all, that's what it's there for. I guess they are just interested in making life as easy for all those hundreds of (especially American) tourists flocking to their sunny Caribbean shores.

Day one of life in Mexico took us south towards Playa del Carmen, fairly Americanised, lots of designer shopping malls, but wow, what an amazing beach. Totally entranced by that beautiful turquoise blue, we dashed straight into the water. The next day things just got even better, travelling to Tulum, a Mayan ruin site with nearby beach cabanas. Here I got my fill of paradise beachesmy favourite place of the whole trip yet to come was here, so much so that we re-visited exactly the same place on our return trip, after a nightmare thirty-six hour bus journey from the depths of Guatemala.

A bed suspended from the ceiling of a wooden beach hut cabana, a stone's throw from the waves outside, set in stunning surroundings. White sands, rocky outcrops, hammocks swaying in the breeze, comfy chairs on a private beach, a lovely restaurant with amazing food playing chilled out music, and the whole place lit by candle and torch light at night. So simple, yet so wonderfully special. Turquoise blue and green waters, small waves to play in, and a nearby reef upon which you could hear waves breaking when you awoke in the morning.

Tulum's Mayan ruins were impressive, the first that we visited, but in hindsight, not as remarkable as those in Tikal, Guatemala, and Chichen Itza, Mexico. Nevertheless, incredibly striking due to their location, near this beautiful ocean that I was truly spellbound by.

A little further into our journey, further down this same coast we came to stay on an island, Caye Caulker, a few kilometres northeast of Belize City. What instantly warmed me to Belize was the fact that the locals speak English, given that it is a former British colony, so it was reassuring to appreciate how welcoming these people were. Their Caribbean-style lilt and laid-back atmosphere amused me; as we stepped off the ferry upon arrival, a guy hanging out on the quay told us to go slow; clearly no rushing was allowed round here. It was on Caulker that we stayed the longest of anywhere on our trip, and did our snorkelling. Off on a day trip to visit three different dive sites, we first stopped by in the boat at a turtle feeding ground, just in case we could spot them. They were there, and very impressive too. Just as my boyfriend lined up the underwater camera to take some pictures of them, he was nipped in the side by one of the turtles - probably protecting its friend. The snorkelling guide was clearly unsettled by the biting incident but luckily regained our confidence for us to later swim with sharks. Definitely worth it for a look under-da-sea.

It wasn't until much later on our trip that my final travelling wish was fulfilled, to go to the rainforest, and especially, to see monkeys in the wild. In the depths of the forest at Tikal, the most amazing Mayan ruin site with huge temples rising up above the canopy and awesome views of the Guatemalan forest, we were walking along a secluded path to visit some smaller and lesser-known temples. We were alone on our walk, having seen only a few other people along the path, when suddenly; something fell out of the trees onto the floor beside me. It was some fruit, and would have hurt if it had hit me! Then there was more, fruit raining out of the flora above me. As a squinted up, I suddenly saw some little monkeys swinging about from branch to branch. They were spider monkeys, little ones with long arms, legs and tails, not like the howler monkeys we had heard howling amongst the temples earlier in the day. I could not believe my eyes when I saw them swinging about quite happily, incredible! There were at least three or four, and when they seemed to swing off, I began to continue along the path, and then saw more. Admittedly, they are hard to photograph, so high up and hidden between branches, but I just felt so lucky to have seen them playing, in their natural habitat. What a bonus to my whole trip.