Belize and beyond

So the sunrise tour of Tikal was certainly early.  The alarm went off at 2.30am and a couple of hours later we were trekking through jungle to visit the famous temples.  The animals were lively as promised and the call of the howler monkey rang through the air.  It truly is the scariest sound, somewhere between a monster and a big cat´s roar.  I am glad I had been forewarned or I would have been terrified.  I have resolved to bring a ditaphone next travels so we can record all the wierd sounds we here.  Then we can bore you with noise as well as blogs and photos!

We climbed to the top of the tallest temple for a period of quiet contemplation while the sun rose in front of us.  This was difficult given the approximate 100 other people on the tour also sat on this temple, the heavy breathing of all of us who were too unfit to really be climbing the temple and the mist that prevented any glimpse of the sun.  Still it was very cool to see temples jutting out of the jungle and fading in and out of the mist.

The rest of the temple complex was just as impressive.  We had an excellent guide who was really passionate about the subject and had some interesting ideas on the rise and fall of the Mayan empire.

The next day we headed to Belize for some English speaking action and some beach bumming.  We headed to the Caribbean island of Caye Caulker and got a beachside cabaña (beach hut).  The island is so small that there are only golf carts and bikes (no cars) and the whole place has a traveller vibe.  The hope of understanding people went out the window as they all have thick creole dialects!  The food was amazing though!  Lobster coconut curry…hmmm.

We hit the beach hard and on the second day Chris went diving.  He will tell the divers all about it but he did three dives including the world famous Blue Hole.  These were apparently the three best dives of his life so they must be good!

Rather than face another bus ride down Belize, we signed up for a three day, two nights sailing trip down to Placencia  with the dubiously named Ragamuffin tour company.  The trip had 17 tourists and 3 crew.  Everyone was really great and we enjoyed hours of snorkelling, fishing and sailing.  We ate what was caught in the day, mostly barracuda, and the captain was an excellent chef.  At night we camped.  Firstly on an island barely big enough for our tents and the campfire, secondly on a slightly bigger island with a bar.  The rum was all inclusive so it flowed freely!

From Placencia we did a series of travel days.  Firstly, three boats and a bus to Livingston in Guatemala, a centre for Garifuna culture (look it up, its too long to explain here).  We then took a boat down the mighty Rio Dulce to the town of the same name and stayed in a wonderful jungle lodge on stilts above the mangrove swamps.

Today we took a couple of buses down to Antigua, a beautiful colonial town that was once the capital of Guatemala. 

We are trying to get some more photos onto flickr now.  It is taking a long time so we might give up.  They are a bit more edited than the last lot!  Hope everyone is well.

Lorna and Chris x