Belize - Cave tubing & ATV (Quad biking)

Unable to spend more than one day chilling out, we took an early water taxi back to the mainland for some real tourist 'tours'

We had picked a big firm but without a cruise ship in port we were greeted by a guide in his beaten up old car & informed it would be just the 3 of us all day - result!
We drove up into the surrounding hills & hoped on some quad bikes 

then headed deeper into the jungle to the limestone caves for a Mayan journey called Xibalba - or to hell & back.

We walked for 25minutes through the jungle armed with just rubber tubes & head lights. With no idea how we were going to get we left the rest of our kit locked in the car so I've stolen these images off the Interne. We drifted down stream on cool, crystal clear water through the underground caves; stopping to view an underground waterfall at a halfway sink hole, before popping out the other side.

Belize bound...

A misty cool morning departure from Belize. Some were more tired than others !!

The road bounced us for 3 hrs before we arrived at the Belize border.

You could immediately tell there was increased wealth. Improved infrastructure, housing in better keep & a warm greeting by customs when you arrive.

Belize City (is not the Capital of Belize, Belmopan is in fact), lies on the coast & is the commercial centre & jump off point for most tourists to the Caye islands just on the horizon. We'd arrived into the port area a day early so it was a pleasant surprise that on a speculative call the 1st person I spoke to told us to get a taxi to the airport & we'd be on the 1st flight.  

15minuts later we were out in Sam Pedro walking along the shore looking for our hotel to see if we could check in early.

The January temperature in Ambergris has been lower than normal, the cold snap hitting America has circulated south & the wind is strong but warm.... not stinking hot as we'd expected. We therefore didn't need a fully a/c flat so traded down into a semi a/c'd condo (just bedroom). Karina's expert haggling enabled us to a room rate that meant our additional night was for free, result :)

Having settled in we strolled up the beach & found a bar serving refreshing fizzy amber-yellow liquid it had all the signs of a well used watering hole!

Tikal

A misty cool Jungle morning saw a group of us trudge up Jungle enclosed paths with mini van sore bums & cameras at the ready. The excitement of finally arriving at Tikal was clear on all faces.

What soon became clear was the before & after restoration work that has happened since re-discovery of Tikal. The Jungle had quickly reclaimed the temples & structures since the city's abandonment in 900AD

We set off on our own to see & listen to the Jungle by ourselves (animals & birds we saw shown below).

To bring the city to life a scale model recreated the the entire site. Grand Plaza photographed above only.

Animals & Birds of Tikal.

 

Palenque to Flores

We'd originally planned to stay in Palenque 2 nights so we'dhave a full day to explore the ruins, but having seen the ruins the day before, we decided to crack on to & catch the 6am bus Guatemala.
I'd read lots of bad reports about the borer crossing bus company, so we aired on the side of caution & checked in to a dirty little hotel in town, eat local tortillas & crashed early so we could be sure of a bus pick up. At 5.50 we came downstairs to find no one about & the hotel gates locked. After 10 minutes of ringing bells & running about we grew increasing more desperate about getting outside, so as to not miss the bus! Eventually we decided on the only solution was to climb off the 1st floor balcony. I shinned down a lap post, caught the bags from Karina & then she followed me down. Covered in 'don't climb' paint, but out, we could finally laugh about it.

The bus turned up 10 minutes late, & at almost the same time the night porter finally showed up to unlocked the front door. Nightmare averted & blood pressure tested we settled into our 8hour border crossing journey.

The road ran straight as an arrow for 3hrs to the border town of Frontera Corazal. Once there & through immigration we dropped down to the river side, boarded a launch with 6 other travellers & headed up stream to Bethel on the Guatemalan side of the border. Once through immigration we boarded a new bus & bounced along an un-metaled road for 2.5hrs & then a further hour on a metaled highway to San Benito. The ride was surprisingly uneventful & we didn't experience any of the scams that we're on the internet; main becasue Karina kept the drivers on a tight leash as only she can !!

Guatemala - the border & our first images of the countryside.

Flores is an island town connected by a causeway to San Benito. We checked into a friendly backpackers & strolled along the island's shore watching the sun drop into the western jungle.  

 

Amigos back packers (yes a 2nd Amigo's backpacker) - Flores. 

We swapped traveling stories with other travellers, ate & enjoyed a beer or 2 & crashed early. Our next moring journey to Tikal was a 4.30am start.... we werestartign to feel no jet jag at all.