The ride to Flores took a good 8 hours. It involved a lot of curly roads through the mountains. We also had to cross a river on a ferry, which was basicly a floating piece of wood with on either side two small speedboats moving it along. There were a lot of cars and a big truck on the wooden structure.
Once we neared Flores two guys jumped onto the bus to welcome us to town. They turned out to be working for the touring agency and helped us to find a working atm machine in town. Once I got money out we drove to Flores, a small island connected to the maiinland by a bridge.
Once we got off the shuttle we walked to the hostel. The hostel called Los Amigos turned out to be really nice and was run by two Dutch guys and a Guatemalan woman. We decided to chill out in the hostel after the long journey and eat some food in the hostel, which was really tasty.
The next day Jannik was feeling a bit sick so we decided to relax in the hostel. Later on I had a walk through town. Flores turned out to be a very smalll island. Within twenty minutes I had walked the whole place. That night we had some drinks at the hostel which was fun.
Jannik was feeling better so we decided to rent a canoe. We went to a little house across the lake where we did some rope swinging. We met a few British people who rented a canoe as well. Afterwards we went back and had a drink at a rooftop bar. We then headed back to the hostel and went into the hostel steam bath which was quite relaxing. That nightt we had a big night in the hostel bar drinking quite a few drinks.
The day after we decided to go on an afternoon tour to Tikal, and old Mayan city in the jungle. We were fairly lucky with the weather as it was sunny with some clouds here and there. The tour took a good part of the afternoon. We could climb most of the old temples. Unfortunately later on it became cloudy, so we couldn’t watch the sunset.
Once we got back to the hostel we went out to have some food. Jannik met a local girl who came along with us. After dinner we went to a street party with a lot of locals. It was intersting to hear songs by Dutch dj’s like Martin Garrix blasting the big speakers in the street. Later on we went to a bar where they were playing some pumping beats as well.
The morning after Jannik came into the dorm and told me he was not joining me on the bus to Belize. He decided to spend another day with the local girl he met. I was a bit surprised but then grabbed my bag and got onto the bus to Belize. On the bus were two Swedish girls from the hostel who were headed to the same place I was going: Caye Caulker.
The ride to Caye Caulker was fast and smooth. We crossed the border after about an hour driving. From there it was another three hours to Belize City. I surprised the road signs were all in English, as well as the names of the shops. Only when I got off the shuttle I realized this was not a Spanish speaking country. It turns out it still had a relation with the United Kingdom, so everyone speaks English.
The whole country turned out to be completely different from what we had seen so far. Wooden houses instead of concrete, rasta people instead of Mayans, English versus Spanish and above all, everything felt a lot more modern. The roads turned out to be well paved. Also the prices turned out to be a lot higher, which were very comparable to the prices we pay in Europe.
I went to a cash machine and grabbed as much money as I could, as i wasn’t sure I wouuld be able to get money as soon as I got to the island. We then grabbed the ferry to Caye Caulker which took another hour or so. The views from the ferry were like the once you see on postcards; white beaches with crystal clear light blue water.
The Swedish girls and I decided to go to the same hostel. A rasta guy welcomed us to the island and offered to bring us to the hostel, as he would get money if he brought us there. Meanwhile the sun was shining pretty strong and we were all carrying big heavy backpacks. Once we got to the hostel where we wanted to stay, it turned out that all of the staff were gone to go fishing. The people staying at the hostel weren’t sure whether there were actual beds available.
We finally decided to then get a hotel room and share it among the three of us. It turned out to be even cheaper and for once we didn;’t have to worry about having to lock all of our stuff in lockers and having a bunch of strangers in the room. We checked into the hotel which turned out to be really nice. I sat down and did some Skyping home. Afterwards I went to Raggamuffin tours to confirm the sailing trip that we had made a reservation for.
That night I went out for dinner with the two Swedish girls. I ordered a large lobster which tasted really good. After dinner we watched the last part of the superbowl with some Americans. Later on we had a few drinks in reggea bar.
The next day I woke up and had some breakfast. It was only ten o clock, but already the sun was boiling hot. After breakfast I met up with one of the Swedish girls and we went to the dock to do some sunbathing and a swim. After two weeks of visitng temples and having mediocre weather, I now had a feeling I really had landed in paradise.
In the afternoon Jannik arrived to the island and we had some beers and cocktails at the dock. We then had some lunch and went to Raggamuffin office for our briefing for the sailing trip that was going to depart the next day. That night Jannik and I went out to eat a large lobster at the same place I ate one yesterday. It was just as good as the day before.
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