Having seen several Maya ruins and loved every minute of it we moved on to the coast for Christmas. We were going to go to Belize for Christmas but as we got closer and talked to more and more people about where to go we soon realised that Belize could be more expensive than our budget would allow so we made other plans. Again having asked around for recommendations and with time running out we found ourselves in Mahahual on the Costa Maya a little above Belize and right on the coast but still in Mexico. We rode into town late in the day in search for a place to call home for two weeks and to our horror most places were booked up for Christmas. Finally we found the Travel In. Run by a British and Dutch couple (who are nice people) the Travel In can only be described as a flea-pit! Our first night there was spent fighting off the cockroaches, killing ants in their thousands and hiding under what we assumed was once a functioning mosquito net. The cabana, called such in the loosest of applications was damp and smelly. The sheets were a wetter side of damp in them selves. The next morning we were up early and walking along the beach road in search of better accommodation. We came across La Cabanas del Tio Phil and having had a good look at what was on offer booked into the last cabana available. We returned to the `Travel In' and promptly travelled out again with our bags. We returned to our new home and found a full breakfast of fresh fruit, toast and jam, coffee and fruit juice waiting for us on the porch. At that point we knew we'd struck gold.

Raoul who runs the cabanas with his wife Marie gave us a warm welcome with his wicked sense of humor by insisting on calling Chris Austin Powers as a result of the Union Jack stickers on the bike. From then on Chris has been called Austin. Raoul is known to us as Doctor Evil and his sun (Philipe) is know known as Minime. Chris has been introduced to all who come to Raoul's as Austin Powers and we now walk through Mahahual to greetings of "Hola Austin Powers" every day! Or that was the case up until New Years Eve anyway. Chris then got a new name but I'll come on to that!

Raoul proudly has a sign outside his cabanas boasting 100% Relaxation Guaranteed and we have to say he lives upto it. For nearly two weeks we've spent our time sitting, reading on the white beach under palm trees and snorkeling on the barrier reef in the turquoise blue waters of the Mexican Caribbean. Less than 250 metres off the beach outside our cabana is the largest barrier reef in the northern hemisphere. Every day we don snorkeling gear and swim out amongst the coral and fish for hours at a time. The water is so warm its like getting into a bath. We swim over the coral which is no more than 12 feet below us and float weightless amongst fish of every colour, shape and size. Conches a foot across drag themselves along the bottom while cuttlefish, angelfish, stingrays and a thousand other fish nonchalantly watch us watching them. It really is an incredible feeling and a privilege to be able to see all these things. This in itself has made our Christmas something beyond our wildest expectations.

For us Christmas Day came and went like all our other days here. No presents or cards for each other, no decorations and mince pies. In fact Christmas Lunch and Dinner consisted of a packet of biscuits and a bottle of rough wine. Raoul's fisherman was supposed to go out and catch us and Raoul's family something for the day but unfortunately for us he'd got drunk a couple of days before hand and stayed that way of 4 days. We didn't mind, after all we have everything else.

New Years Eve. Well, it was a little different for us this year, especially for Chris. Suffice to say he entered Raoul's shower as Austin Powers and emerged in his underpants as 'Dances With Scorpions'. While sharing several bottles of wine with Raoul and his other guests Chris felt something on his foot (wearing sandals) and looked down expecting the usual moth or cockroach only to find a very large black scorpion on his foot. Not the first time this has happened to either of us but it is the first time the scorpion has been so big and then made a run for it straight up the inside of Chris' trousers. With no alternative but to take his trousers off as carefully as possible (not knowing how high it had gone) he took himself off to Raoul's shower and started stripping off. We listened through the door trying to gauge Chris' progress with the scorpion only to hear a resounding exclamation of "SHIT, Oh SHIT" shouted back. Myself, Raoul, Maire and three other guest all burst into the the shower expecting Chris to have been stung, only to find him franticly pulling off his T shirt. Somehow the scorpion had made its way up the inside of his trousers and having taken them off was rewarded with finding the thing staring him in the eye while sitting on his shoulder. He tried to brush it off again and this time it scrambled its way down his back before making another run again for the back of his neck. At this point we came through the door. To be honest we all expected one of the usual small scorpions that's not much more than an inch long but as Chris threw his T shirt to the shower floor a 5 inch menacing scorpion ran out at us. Raoul then valiantly stamped on it and saved Chris. For the rest of that night and since Chris has been known as "Dances With Scorpions". Although Marie now calls him James Bond instead of Austin Powers.

As wonderful as our holiday here has been it does seem to have been a series of brushes with danger for Chris. There was the evening he stepped out onto the porch of our cabana with a class of wine only to go crashing through the floor to the sand four feet below. No wine was spilt though! Then there were the tavano flies. Similar to horse flies but with a bite that induces incredible swelling to the effected area. Chris didn't get bitten once but four times. His right foot and left hand both swelled up to something near twice their normal size. Extremely painful and when the swelling goes down after 3 days or so a deep bruise is left. Oh, and then there are the blisters. Insisting on making the most of the available snorkeling Chris has proceeded to cover his feet in deep blisters from the flippers. He now has blisters on his blisters!

Should Chris (sorry - Dances With Scorpions) ever recover from his brushes with danger we will finally be leaving here in a day or two for Belize. We have a date with Camille and Alex, good friends from home who will be joining us there for a week of sightseeing and relaxation. It'll be so good to see people from home. One thing that sometimes gets a bit hard on our trip is answering the same old questions about what we're doing so it'll be nice to be with people who already know all that and just relax with friends. We'll only be in Belize for eight days we expect and then its onto Guatemala for some much needed Spanish lessons!