Finally....Belize

Belize was our main destination for our holiday. Not only do they speak English, but the Caribbean beaches were beckoning.

Border Crossing

This is a bit different here. Leaving Guatemala was quite stright forward.

Entering Belize we had to import the car. not difficult to do, but car insurance was required - $24 US for 14 days.

Also had to go through a pest control procedure - declare all fresh fruit and veges, the car was sprayed from the outside only, a cost of $5 US.

So, on to our next chosen destination of San Ignacio to look for accomodation. Final decision, after a look at options, was the Midas Resort, a short walk from the town centre. $64 US a night plus tourist and govt tax = $80 US a night! Well, it did have a pool and free wifi.... and the other options were, well...

The next day we went on the ATM (Actun Tunichil Muknal) tour which is one of the highlights of our holiday.

We had heard this was  a must-do, talked to other travellers about it, but weren't prepared to be so amazed. I never thought I would be river crossing in the jungle, swimming through underground rivers and climbing into potholes and caverns of Mayan artifacts and skeletons, and crystal stalactites and stalecmites. Truly spectacular day.

Our guide, Abraham, was of Mayan descent and very proud of his heritage. At only 27 years old he had qualified just recently to take guides into this area but gave us an informative and knowledgable guide to the area.

 

Tips

Choose your tour guide to ATM carefully. We had a group of 4, but saw other minibuses turning up - one guide per 8 people. Our was called Hun Chi'ik Tours.

Accomodation is more expensive in Belize but some of the hotel/backpackers in San Ignacio looked fine, but not so easy parking the car overnight.

HOT tip

Buy bananas from the market - 10 for $1 Belize - thats 50c US, and they are fresh, fresh, fresh! not like the ripened bananas we get everywhere else in the world. Delicious!

Recommended restaurant - Cenaida's Belizean - opposite Martha's guesthouse, for cheap local  food.                  
Also Hannah's is supposed to be good food too.

On to Flores and Tikal

Day 4
Another easy drive through Guatemala to Flores. Passed a couple of Police checks and military posts along the way, got stopped 3 times in total but no problems.

Arrived at Los Amigos in Flores and managed to bags a double bed with shared bath for $25 US a night. A very popular place to stay, it was full by the end of the afternoon with mainly backpackers.

We were entertained by the resident cat, rabbit, parrot and sausage dog, who kept trying to escape every time the door was opened.

The next day we went to Tikal for a day trip. Enjoyed a 3 hour wander around the amazing Mayan structures and climbed to the heights of the tallest pyramid.

Returned to Flores for a quiet drink and meal on the waterfront.

By now, our front bumperguard was detaching itself so we had a quick stop at a local welder. He did a brilliant job and I'm sure no matter how many tumulos, it will survive.
The owner was impressed -  ' new tyres!! 4 of them!! American!!'

Day 1 continued...

Brian had booked accomodation for our first night online, just to reduce the stress of trying to find ourselves in Guatemala.

Driving on to Rio Dulce was a breeze in the end - roads nicely surfaced, passing well kept aldeas (villages) as we made our way Northeast.

Arriving in Rio Dulce at 2pm we managed to encounter our usual street market - Mandy will be proud! - and slowly progressed through the main street looking for our turnoff.

Tijax Jungle Lodge was  a wonderful surprise waiting for us. Taking the usual back road and dirt track, (glad we got those new tyres), wondering if we were going the right way,

then walking over the wooden swing bridges and footpaths through the forest,

we were suddenly in little oasis , a beautiful clear pool and well apointed bar and cafe looking out over the jetty where there were boats moored on the lake. It was a welcome sight as we were sweltering from the heat and humidity, looking forward to getting in the pool.

After checking in we were shown to our accomodation.

Tijax Jungle Lodge, what a wonderful find for $30US a night!

Tips
We stayed 3 nights. It was the down season and even so quite full. When we stayed on our way back there was only the choice of 2 accomodation units left - so best to book in advance.

Places to visit;

Day trip on Collective water taxi to Livingstone - does a scenic tour, stops at a hot water spring, past local jungle villages, wildlife - monkeys and birds.
Have lunch at Tilingoling (near the beach) in Livingstone - seafood chowders, spicy thai flavours with coconut
Watch the local Garifuna families playing and swimming on the beach, listen to the music playing in the beachside bars

Early morning kyak to the jungle to hear howler monkeys if you are lucky

Visit Castillo de San Filipe, a fortress originally constructed in 1595 to protect against pirates. A must-do - the castle and grounds are manicured, safe and a favourite picnic/swimming spot for locals..

Visit and swim in the Caliente Cascadas for a hot natural water shower.

Whohoo...Summer holidays! (in July!!)

Day 1

Finally left Casa Frost at 9am - had calculated for 8am, but, hey, only a 5 hour drive to Guatemala!

This bus was going the same direction as us, but fortunately this time we had the GPS to rely on.

A good sign - in fact often the only one - that a fronterra is coming up, is a long row of parked trucks. Here we saw the truckies with their hammocks strung underneath their truck, getting some sleep while waiting for the immigration to proceed.

Nevertheless we were through the 2 borders in less than 30 mins, and that included a 25c comfort stop for me.
Tip - Show your green card on the El Salvador side and you get preferential treatment, and the priviledge to queue jump as well!