Enjoy today

At 5.30am this morning, we were in a pick-up truck on our way to Lake Suchitlan for our kayaking adventure.

The water was extremely still. There was no one about, apart from one or two fishermen. The sunrise revealed beautiful scenery. We hugged the coastline, and spotted many birds – most of them birds we’d never seen before or even heard of.

We’re fairly inexperienced kayakers, and although we were having fun, we were constantly having to catch up with the other two kayaks.

On our way back to Suchitoto, we stopped at Agua Caliente. This is when I realised that I’d forgotten my swimming costume. My clothes were soaked from paddling, so I decided to jump into the hot spring fully clothed.

Breakfast at La Casa de la Abuela was rushed. Andy had a drip coffee which he enjoyed. We ate quickly as we were leaving at 10am; we met up with Arnando, who was going to be our driver again today. Still very chirpy.

We’re a little sad to be leaving Suchitoto. This tiny laid-back town’s certainly a discovery. The four hour drive to El Cuco went quite fast, with the hilly landscape giving way to towering volcanoes, and eventually the Pacific Ocean.

As he left us, Arnando gave each of us a hug.

We’re staying at La Tortuga Verde for two nights. When Andy was learning Spanish in preparation for this trip, the word tortuga came up in almost every single lesson. He joked at the time that this wasn’t a very useful word to know. How wrong he was!

We’re given numbered bracelets, which means that everything we order can be charged directly to our room.

We had smoothies on the beach, and signed up to a 30 mins massage each. That was a good move! So relaxing (with the sound of the waves in the background) and a good therapy for those achy kayaking muscles.

Sunset on the beach. Black sand. Little crabs scurrying along. A few people surfing. Some playing football.

At the bar, we grabbed ocean-facing seats, and happily sipped our cocktails – piña colada (that fresh pineapple again) and margaritas.

We have a whole day here tomorrow.