With that July 13 deadline looming over us, we knew we had five days to get to get from Cancún, Mexico to Quetzaltenango, Guatemala. This in mind we set out on an intense bussing trip: a 6-hour overnight to Chetumal at the Mexican/Belizean border set to arrive at 4am; and then hope to catch a bus at 7am from Chetumal to Flores, Guatemala via Belize City, another 9 hours on the road. With much ambition and little sleep, we set out on the journey which went as well as we could have hoped.

Border crossing into Belize by foot

Crossing fees were paid to exit Mexico, and another to enter Belize (a nominal amount in the range of 5 to 10 US), Julien and I slightly making fools of ourselves continually talking to the customs officers in Spanish when the official language of Belize is, after all, English. A clandestine banana was allowed through and we jumped back in the bus to zip through Belize.

A bit of a fright to see barreling down the highway behind us; it was actually empty.

Remember that forward-motion sleeping-in-public-transportation skill I mentioned previously? More evidence of said skill in action.

We arrived in Flores an hour later than originally planned for a grand total of 10 hours in a fairly uncomfortable shuttle. Nevertheless I had a certain affinity for our transport of the day and asked Julien to snap a photo of our ride for the day and me, in all my travel-apparel glory.

Flores is a small touristic island about 45 minutes south of the ruins of Tikal, and we quickly settled into a lakeside hotel and set out to find some food and drinks. Passing through Belize City, we picked up a trio who were to become our best travel friends for the following days, and happy-hour drinks and laugh-filled conversation on the lake were in order. And the sunfall was a beaut.

The next morning we had our 3:30am wake up call to head out on the famous “sunrise tour” of Tikal. I had been on this visit twice before so I knew that the “sunrise” part is a bit of a misnomer. Because Tikal is in the jungle and it is incredibly humid, the sun never peaks through until about 10am when it has burned away all the morning mist. That said, the tour is amazing in that you get to experience the jungle waking up around you. In complete darkness (and only with a guide) you make your way down a dirt path for about 30 minutes until you arrive at Temple IV, the tallest of the temples you can climb; this puts you well above the tree-line and you have an uninhibited view of the surrounding jungle. And then you wait. First a few insects start humming, then the birds start calling to each other, until finally (and the most impressive in my opinion), the howler monkeys start their pastime, howling away at each other through the ever-lightening mist. And little by little temples can be seen poking above the treeline. The following photos are in the order they were taken to give an idea how the morning light gradually welcomed us into the day, but how heavy mist can quickly obscure the views.

Temple I by moonlight

Bringing in Temples I, II, and III for hugs

Me taking a photo of Mark and Juanita, two of our Flores-trip friends on their “bestie-moon”.

The howler monkeys sound ferocious (our guide said their howls are used as the sound effects for the T-rexes in Jurassic Park), but they are actually quite small monkeys.

Click here to see our video of the T-rex monkeys.

Levitating at Mundo Perdido, or Lost World

Julien trying termites; they apparently taste like carrots. This is also Julien’s face when eating actual carrots.

The Central Acropolis

Group selfie with Temple I (Jaguar Temple) from Temple II (Temple of the Masks). Clockwise from left: Jackson (Australia), me, Julien, Juanita (Oregon) and Mark (Oregon)

Temple II, dedicated to the wife of Jasaw Chan K’awil, the ruler buried in Temple I

Wandering through the Central Acropolis

Back in Flores, Julien and Mark decided to go for a dip in the lake

I had never heard of a Coke float, so intrigued, I gave it a try at the lovely Cool Beans café. My ruling: good, but I prefer the root-beer version.

We were so tickled to see boats drive up to shore with tubs of food, tostadas with a myriad of toppings to choose from and cakes of the chocolate, banana, and carrot variety. It was delicious, cheap, and best of all, nobody got sick!

Julien, Anne, Mark, Juanita, Jackson: lakeside eating, lakeside happiness

The next morning we headed to Cool Beans for a hearty breakfast (which ended up being a day-saver for what was to come).

Breakfast company

The view from Julien and my room

Our bus was headed south down the main highway from Flores to Cobán. Usually a six-hour trip, we were quite surprised to be stopped within an hour; there was a blockade across the highway, protesting the factory that was contaminating the local river causing illness in children and wiping out the fish population. We were warned it could be a long wait, but with these types of situations, one never knows. Optimistic, we carried on playing cards and snacking on gas-station food (another day-saver that we were marooned next to a gas-station!), content to spend a few more hours with our new friends as we ultimately had different destinations that day. Once noon passed and we had spent about three hours on the highway, the idea came up that we may return to Flores to wait out the day in comfort and attempt the trip again the next day…discussions that were quickly squelched when we found out that there was a blockade behind us as well. To make a long story short, 10 hours on the highway later, agreements were made, demands met, and the blockade was open. We still had five hours left of our trip and arrived in Cobán at two in the morning. A bit more adventure than we were expecting, but more importantly, just two days to get to Quetzaltenango to our host family.

Travel crew!

Roadblock selfie

Jump-for-joy selfie with news the blockade was lifted

Once past the blockade, our shuttle raced down the highway for about 20 minutes, speeding through the darkness, past traffic until we reached another hold-up, a river crossing by “ferry”, a large raft with four 25 horse powered engines attached.