El Guacamayo Camp Ground San Ignacio

... were becoming. Bones began to appear and skulls started to become very visible. Although we did not go there, our guide pointed to us a path that led to a chamber with many baby sized bones.

There was one skull that was particularly interesting. It was of a man who was probably in his twenties, which at that time was middle age. The forehead of his skull was flattened and so were some of his front teeth. Apparently, this man was an elite himself. When he was a child a ...

... 8230; I’ve never said 'No Gracias’ quite so many times. The journey out to the boarder was a feast for the eyes.. the town was very colourful and there were palm trees aplenty. I find the whole thing a bit bizarre to comprehend, however, since what is exotic and exciting for us is actually a harsh reality for many of the people we saw – poverty was everywhere and so we didn’t really mind that we’d probably paid about 6x the amount as ...

... up his first song, then performed a few more. At one point he stopped to pose so people could take photos of him and he dedicated his songs 'to all the ladies' much to the delight of the screaming 12 and under crowd.

We stayed after to clean up and then had ice cream, what a treat! Take a look at what was waiting for us at the ice cream stand... this furry little tarantula was just hanging out on the wall, about 3 inches across.

... who now runs the only pirate theatre in San Ignacio. It cost 2 Belizean per person to enter, winner take all. We lovingly named our team Mangoes for Stacey in reference to Stacey´s mad mango cravings. To set the record straight, we weren´t last but we weren´t first either. All in all, not too shabby for a team of only 2 native English speakers. Rocky the local stray walked us through the deserted streets back to J&R. It´s going to be a really early start in the morning.

... Pottery was strewn everywhere - something like 1500 years old. You could see where the Mayans lit fires and the place where water would have run down. There were skulls and piles of bones - these were usually sacrifices as the skulls were damaged (ie a blow to the head). Just fascinating. The bones were crystallized from the conditions in the cave.

The cave itself was full of really interesting formations or rocks, stalictites and mites. Our last stop was ...

... structures which we could climb. The view from the highest was stunning, looking out across Belize and into Guatemala. While we were gazing around there was an awful noise that started from somewhere in the trees. It was Howler monkeys and we were able to view them up close. We stood very quietly taking photos and they became curious and gradually ventured closer and closer. They were only small ones and so very cute!

... amazing part. Lara Croft would be so jealous! The great thing was that I had to this all the way back again. There was no helicopter waiting at the end. I asked the guide just in case. I am absolutely knackered and absolutely happy that I did this. It is my first time in caving adventure and it was so challenging and rewarding. So, on to Tikal tomorrow.

... stop looking at eve I know shes beautiful she like you is made in my image, and I know shes unlike anything else in the universe, but focus okay now tend the garden easy enough its perfect but theirs is things to be done. But really the big thing ,don't eat of the tree in the center of the garden , everything else is amazing, as I declared when I made so all you can eat all the time except the one tree, eve that goes for you to. Fast forward to eves conversation ...

... into a streetside gutter. (I'm sorry to relate that unfortunate event to others Marieke, I hope you forgive me...it was kinda funny, but only because you weren't hurt). My first day in Belize with Marieke and her friend Natalie was pretty sweet. We grabbed some food and then headed to the Mayan ruins of Cahal Pech, located atop a large hill in San Ignacio. I was expecting some small ruins, maybe a couple buildings...but oh, was I wrong. Cahal Pech (literally- the place of ticks ...

... searchlight. Getting into the cave was a bit tight as we had to brush up to a rock whilst bumping over rock on the bottom, but then it opened out to between 10 and 20 feet wide. We needed the lights because the ceiling is over 100 feet high in places. The cave is a living cave so there were lots of water drips coming down on us, but it was worth it to see some magic stalagmite and stalactite formations. Some of these where on the ceiling whilst ...