Free day and marooned, Sunday, Monday, 27^th 28^th September

This was the view from our hotel down the hill and across to a small island and the larger island of Flores with the cathedral on top and the main land behind.

We had a free day and so Clare, Zoe and I went for a swim along the shore of the lake for about a mile to a place where there is a café and a couple of ropes to swing on out across the lake, a diving board and generally sit, relax swim and relax again.

After a couple of hours of fun and jumping into the water, swinging on the ropes out across the lake and getting wedges if you didn’t get the entry into the water quite right it was time to return. We felt quite relaxed and so we opted to swim back which was another 45 – 50 minutes but at least the water was a pleasant temperature. Unfortunately no one had a camera so no photos!

That evening we were due to go for a sunset boat ride so went down to the dock. Some locals still use traditional dug outs to fish.

 Our sun set pleasure craft.

 It was Steve's birthday so we had a celebration on the boat as we chugged around the lake.

 We passed another party boat that had given us a lift home on the previous night.

We stopped over looking the western end of the lake and watched the sun go down. Some of us went for a swim off the boat and larked around. Then it was time to go home and the engine wouldn’t start and there was no one about. We were marooned on a quiet part of the lake in the dark with no power.

So having already swam over two miles plus larking around on the rope swings we needed help so Zoe dived in and started to swim to shore to get help. She found a passing water taxi who came over and towed us to shore.

After a leisurely breakfast the next morning we made a dash past the guard goose to the bus and set off for our next stop at Rio Dulce, a four hour drive.

It was a long drive and it rained for part of the day, at times very heavily.  

We continued and the weather improved for us to arrive in the afternoon at Hacienda Tijax which is next to the river and marina…a great place to relax.

It was still Steve’s birthday (due to time differences around the world) so we had more celebrations and rum punch.

No we are not dead drunk but acting out the final scene of famous films as a party game...this is Titanic where Rose / me is saying her final farewell to Jack / Steve. It was such fun that I just couldn't keep a straight face throughout the whole scene.

Over the border to Guatemala and Tikal, Friday, Saturday 25^th  - 26th September

Steve, Clare and me loitering at the border against orders from above my head.

Betsy also got through the border but there was something different about her. She now has different number plates, now she is no longer American from Alaska but a locally Guatemalan registered vehicle.

Going thrugh the local town there was a truck with the largest bullock on the back that I had ever seen.

 General view of Guatemalan countryside.

 We stopped at Remate for lunch by a lake in the rain which also had a free jade museum in the white building.

 We entered the Tikal National Park late afternoon and made our way to our camp site. We set out at 6am the next day for a walk to the ruins at Tikal into the forest and spent the next four hours viewing ruins...our last Mayan ruins for the next few days.

 View across the jungle roof tops at th clouds and other monuments standing above the tops of the trees.

Outside of our campsite we found a troop of raccoons.

And other wildlife in the ruins...turkeys.

And then it was a drive to Flores, an island in Guatemala's second largest lake.

 The water taxi crossing from our hotel in San Miquel to Flores.

 Flores water front.

 We arrived on the north shore and took water taxis to get to Flores, a pretty little island in the lake. Our aim was to watch the England v Wales rugby for lunch which Wales won by three points so Kate was delighted and the whole English squad gutted.

I explored around town and took in a colourful bus, the market and finally caught a water taxi home. I happened to meet Steve and Seb at the dock and together we piled into a tuk tuk, plus a well-proportioned driver and two heavy batteries for the bus and the machine struggled up the steep hill back to our hotel.