Belize is no Bargain

Belize felt very different as soon as we crossed the border from Guatemala, not only was everything in English after about 10 non English speaking countries in a row, but we were also introduced to that very British thing – queuing up at the immigration desk at the border! Belize is part of the Commonwealth and is the only English speaking country in Latin America and Her Maj the Queen is still on coins and banknotes!!

We arrived in San Ignacio (this is where our mates from NZ Steve and Krissy got married) and decided to treat ourselves to a top quality hotel – the Hi Et!!!! One of the few things that struck us on our first wander was how expensive it was compared to the rest of Central America. Beer for instance comes in half pint bottles and costs US$ 2 a go, a main course in a restaurant was between US$ 8 – 10 twice what we’d been paying elsewhere.
The second observation which we’d read about and then experienced from ourselves was the large Amish and German Mennonite communities which exist in Belize. We’ve all read about and seen stuff on TV, quite frankly in the flesh it’s all a bit scary! I don’t think we’ll be converting any time soon! Bryan can’t see himself in a pair of dungarees and a straw hat!
Our main adventure however, was a trip to the ATM caves – no it isn’t an ancient form of cash dispenser, it’s an acronym for Actun Tunichil Muknal (Mayan if you hadn’t already guessed!!). The caves were used for ceremonies and contain many artefacts, burial chambers and stunning cave formations.

This was proper caving for us and very well organised, thankfully as our insurance didn’t cover spelunking!! It involved a 30 minute hike through the jungle and 4 river crossings (wading, not bridges). We then swam into the cave and swan/clambered a kilometre underground squeezing through nooks and crannies and clambering up and down rocks. We even met a Geordie tour guide from Newburn!
We then headed off to Caye Caulker a sand island in the Caribbean Sea and an hour’s boat ride from Belize City. There are no cars there only golf buggies and bikes and of course lots of boats. The Rasta and reggae presence is strong and the accents are brilliant. The view from our room out over the sea was stunning.

We booked a snorkelling trip on a sail boat out over the reef (2nd in size to the Great Barrier Reef), we saw loads of fish and coral and Miss J had her first encounter with sharks, rays and turtles! On the way back the sails went up and the rum punch came out and Bob Marley blasted from the stereo – Happy Days and so relaxing!
Yes, it is a stingray in his arms!

A Quick Dash to San Cristobal and Palenque

We headed into Mexico next to visit two places that we had hoped to get to on our holiday last year but didn´t manage due to transport issues. This involved three buses and a boat, the boat in question being very overloaded with 13 backpackers and their packs which then got hit by a heavy rainstorm halfway up the river. Not my favourite boat trip of our travels!

The rain from the river crossing followed us all the way to San Cristobal de los Casas, the first proper rain we had thankfully seen in quite a few weeks. The temperature however was a bit of a shock. It went from 25 degrees in Flores to 5 degrees in San Cristobal. Out came the fleeces and wooly hats from the bottom of our rucksacks.

San Cristobal itself is a pretty town with lots of tour options in the surrounding countryside. We were a bit toured out though so just enjoyed the ambience of the town as it was busy due to it being a bank holiday weekend. There was plenty of people watching available. One of the dissapointing things about the place however was the lack of places both quantity and quality wise in which to eat (and you all know that we like our food!).

Next stop was Palenque and a visit to its ruins. Although we´ve now seen quite a few Mayan sites and we could be a bit runied out, the runis in Palanque are in a beautiful setting and fairly compact and we visited late on in the afternoon so it was quiet. They were a bit different to others that we have visited as you can clamber around them and venture inside.

It was only a quick overnight pit stop in Palenque before the return trip to Flores via bus, boat ,bus (thankfully a much better journey on the way back) and we then spent our last night in Guatemala at the previously mentioned favourite hotel and restaurant before another early start at 6am - destination Belize.

Last Stop in Guatemala - Tikal and Flores

We took yet another shuttle bus from Coban to Flores which is a village on an island in a lake in the north of Guatemala. To get there we needed to cross river in a rather antiquated roll on roll off ferry. We patiently sat in our bus waiting our turn only for the lcoal police to turn up and jump the queue. We weren´t going to argue as they were all waving guns around!

Flores was really pleasant for a couple of nights stop. You can walk around it in 20 minutes.We found a great hotel which was nice and quiet and just what we needed and made a refreshing change.

The main reason for going to Flores is that it is a great base to visit the Mayan city of Tikal which is probably Guatemala´s most famous tourist attraction. It also has good connections to Belize and Mexico.

The best time to see Tikal is at sunrise, so the park opens at 6am which meant a 4.30am pick up for us. Being prepared as as we always are, the alarm was set for 4am, bags packed etc. However, we slept through the alarm and Mr B woke up and the clock said 4.29am. Oh dear!! We leapt out of bed, threw our clothes on, grabbed our bags and ran outside. Thanksfully, Guatemala time was in effect and we waited until 4.50am to be picked up, despite us convincing ourselves that we had missed our ride.

Once we had doused ourselves in mozzie repellant we headed off with our guide with the very Guatemalan name of ´Boris´ to explore Tikal. It is set in acres of jungle so you get a good walk for your money but the mozzies were at epidemic levels. The ruins however were amazing and we saw lots of wildlife including monkeys and coaties.

Our tour group was a good mix of people and we met up with a few of them that same night for sundowners overlooking the lake. This included Chris and Jo from the other Newcastle in Oz and Frederica from London. We found a great bar called La Terrazza which had brilliant sunset views and did amazing food and the staff were very accommodating to Mr B´s lactose issues. Chris and Jo are in Cuba the same time as us so we are hoping for a catch up there.

Lago Atitlan and Coban

Lago Atitlan is a beautiful lake in the centre of Guatemala surrounded by mountains and volcanoes, small picture postcard villages and some really posh boutique hotels (but clearly we weren´t at any of those)!

We found a great place to stay for 10 quid a night in the village of San Pedro a 30 minute boat ride across the lake. It´s a bit of a chill out place really, so we just kicked back and relaxed. We found a great bar called the Alegre Pub run by a Scotsman from Dundee called Simon. The atmosphere was great, the beer cold and the food spot on.
Our fist night coincided with the US Elections and the pub was packed with Septics (Cockney rhyming slang for Yanks - Septic Tanks get it?)! There weren´t many John McCain fans around and each time Obama won a state the place went nuts with mass whooping which got louder as the night wore on. We left before McCain conceded, but Mr B stayed up and watched the results come in on CNN Espanol in our hotel room so at least we knew Obama had won.
Our next stop was Coban and the beautiful surrounding areas. We took a day trip to Semuc Champey, famous for its stunning river valley and freshwater pools and caves. We spent the morning swimming and clambering around the pools and down waterfalls. In the afternoon we had an adventurous trip into the Cueras Marias an underground system of river caves. We swam and waded through numerous caves with bats and stalactites overhead, clambered up ropes and ladders 1 km into the cave system using candles and head torches for light.


We then headed down river in inner tubes, but not before Mr B had launched himself into the river from a rope swing (apparently it was at least a 10m drop according to Mr B, however Miss McNab said it was probably closer to 5m!!)