belize city & caye caulker, belize

Grabbed my 5am shuttle, and 5-6 hours later I made my way around Belize City. Not long after crossing the border from Guatemala into Belize, things started to look noticeably Caribbean. Houses elevated on stilts, and signs like 'Cessy's Place' and 'Haat Fyah' became the norm.

Now that I'm in Belize, it's time to speak English.

Belize City is the former capital. Walking around the scorching city for a few hours made me feel more at home since it's so multicultural. You can heard accents from all over the world here.

I was just here for a handful of hours, but I found the people to be really friendly and smiling.

A Taiwanese drink shop:

In the early afternoon I caught a ferry to one of the nearby islands, Caye Caulker.

Shortly after our departure, it took the liberty of breaking down. It took over and hour longer to reach our destination and the passengers of our boat had to switch to another boat on its way back to the mainland. So, all of us piled into the other boat, and all of the passengers from the other boat got onto our boat.

I felt happy to finally arrive at hot, salty Caye Caulker with the views, sandy streets, and Reggae beats.

After booking my hostel - just barely getting a room - I went out to look for tours. Diving the Blue Hole is extremely famous, but I'm not a diver so that limited me. You can always snorkel the Blue Hole as well, but it takes a long time to get there and it's expensive. If I'm going to see the Blue Hole, I imagine it's better to go back there after getting my dive certification.

For now, I'll stick with the night snorkel, something I didn't even know people did.

When I told an older American man in our group that I'd been traveling for the last five and a half months he looked at me as though I were crazy and asked me if I wanted to starve.

My underwater camera didn't work well at night, even with flash. We did see a fair bit of sea life though, including octopus, sea urchins, fish, shrimp, and lobster. Apparently there was also a squid, but I missed it. But, I can always go to a restaurant if I want to see a squid!

After our dive with wet suit and flashlight, they gave us nachos and alcohol-infused juice.

The next day was for wandering around Caye Caulker, taking the ferry back to Belize, and a bus back to Flores in Guatemala. I could easily have stayed longer, but for a few reasons I decided that this sampling was enough for now. I would definitely come back here, however.

So true.

Back in Belize City.

Time for dominoes.

The bus service from Belize was great since a man came on board and explained everything needed for the border crossing back into Guatemala. He said that the border officials ask for 20 quetzals to enter Guatemala, and despite the fact that it's illegal, it's simply better to pay it than to not get an entry stamp for which you will later be fined $100.

See you later, Belize!

flores & tikal, guatemala

The next place I stayed at was in small, tourist-ready Flores which is close to Tikal.

Somebody asked me where I'd just come from but I blanked out. The countless buses, taxis, hostels, and places visited - I start to forget where I've just been.

No sooner had I arrived than I booked a sunrise tour to Tikal for the next morning. Our tour departed Flores at 3am and began with a walk in darkness.

All prices were clearly listed for tours and buses. Little things like this matter since it makes you feel that you're probably not getting ripped off.

The conditions were on the cloudy side, but it was still cool to sit on an ancient ruin watching the sun rise over the chattering Guatemalan jungle. Even with so many tour groups visiting Tikal each day, the wildlife is abundant in the jungle which surrounds the ancient city.

They call Tikal the New York of the Mayas with its tall intimidating temples peeking through the tops of jungle vegetation. The higher the temple, the belief was that you were closer to God. Copán in Honduras is the Paris of the Mayas due to the prolificacy of sculpture. 

Tikal was a powerful commercial centre, so naturally it was attacked often. The city is over 16 square kilometres with around 4000 structures, though there could be thousands more underground, still uncovered.

playful monkeys

Can you see the spiders?

These big-headed ants bite. Watch out!

Only the warrior ants look like this - with the giant head. Endlessly resourceful, the Mayans used them for stitches.

Toucans look like they have just walked out of a cartoon.

Climbing steep staircases, you are supposed to zig-zag your way to the top. This way is safer and less tiring, but also takes longer.

Our guide with a tarantula on his head.

What you probably picture when you think of Tikal:

Even soldiers use their phones to take pictures.

Back to Flores.

No matter how many 'don't flush your toilet paper' signs there are, party hostel toilets inevitably have disintegrating tp in their bowls.

From Flores I allotted a few days to head into Belize before heading back here to pick up my bags and move further north.