Hotel Casona de la Isla Flores

... expensive not to say time-consuming. It could take a decade to uncover just one temple. Well, that being said, the most impressive structures were those of the Grand Plaza with temples I (Jaguar) and II. I climbed Temple II, which gave an amazing view of the central compounds. Actually, contrary to at Angkor Watt, you are not allowed to climb the actual stone steps, but instead you climb using some – more or less steep and strenuous – wooden staircases built ...

... very good prices. It was great to get some healthy food for a change so I thoroughly enjoyed my vegetarian lasagna and salad. Flores is a nice island in a beatuful lake in northern Guatemala. The island is completely developed and does not have much to it, however its claim to fame is its vicinity to Tikal an ancient Mayan ruin.

Tikal was first settled and built up between 4BC-900AD and then mysteriously vacated. The local guides believe ...

... chose a wise spot for which to cut the heads of people!!
Some 5 mins later, Rebecca peered over the top, she who doesnt "trudge" when climbing,
had chosen to enjoy the views as they unfolded.

We sat in the rain, enjoying the view and the feeling for not long enough.. Our decent
was made through somwhat wobbly
knees into the now sweaty jungle below.

Barring the repeated sightings of spider monkeys and meerkats (or whatever they were)
the other highlight for ...

... open her knee which then needed 4 stitches.


It's dark in here


Before we exited the caves, we needed to drop down a hole through a mini waterfall. Just before it was my turn the guide’s waterproof bag that contained cameras slipped off a rock and went down stream, so the guide disappeared after it, collected it and came back, but there was a big gap between the previous group to go through the hole and me. I sat facing the guide as he told ...

... two other people sitting under a street light looking out at the water so I wasn’t too fussed.
We waited about ten minutes and more people came, then various sized buses came and I got on mine.

It was a full big old school bus and the windows were open and it was getting light so I didn’t sleep much but did loll my head for a few minutes.
We passed the first pigs I’d seen in Guatemala, snuffling by the roadside, so that made me happy. Almost as a ...

... road and having to
choose the better of the best paths. Yeah, I'm sure everyone has met
this point at one time or another in their life, but it does not happen
often, and it's important to remember that it's never a bad spot to be
in.

Predating all of this was an e-mail from Global Vision
International (GVI) saying that the director would essentially be quite
interested in an interview at some point during the week. Well, on the
day I got around to ...

... br>
Kar dobro sem se nahodila in opazila veliko ptic, saj jih je baje v parku preko 300 vrst, med njimi tudi tukani in are. Srecala sem se s tarantelo, rakunu podobno zverinico, kaco, vellikimi hrocsi in pisanimi metulji. V parku naj bi zivelo tudi 8 jaguarjev...teh nisem vidla:( pa LEVCKOV TUD NE :))))

CE ZELIS OBISKATI NAJPOMEMBNEJSE KOMPLEKSE STAVB, MORAS PREHODITI NAJMANJ 10 KM. Maja pa japonke...sem faca ne?
Tikal National Park, Guatemala leskovar

... over what to do tomorrow but at least we had an exiting walk across a very windy bridge (see lesson No 3). In the end we decided to go to Belize and stay in San Ignacio, either doing an organised trip in the afternoon or taking a leisurely stroll to a bit of jungle with a ‘swimming hole’- as in a hole we can swim in just in case you need any clarification (cough, Anwen). Can’t believe we’ve only been here two days, feels like a lot longer!!

Tikal National Park, Guatemala sarahelective

... was lost in their own thoughts and the conversation was minimal as we left the small town and headed out into morning mist.

As the bus, laden with well-fed westerners and their backpacks, struggled up a hill, we entered the jungle. The anticipation was heightened by yellow warning signs at the side of the road. The first showed the shape of a rattle-snake, the second the unmistakable outline of a jaguar, while the third ...

... 100 drips of sweat I climbed back down. Some strange looking ant-eater type animals were playing at the bottom of the temple.

Passing the palace and a few other temple complexes, we continued onto Temple 5.. this was impressive. The stairs to the top are really steep so they have built a ladder at the side of it. The ladder was still pretty precarious to climb though! The platform at the top is also very ...