Nice and warm!

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The warm sunshine, clear water and a clean air was a welcome change after days of horns and loud music in Cancun. We kept our stay short in Belize, the cost to explore here is much higher then Mexico or the other Central American countries, but it was worth a peek for a few days to see for myself if it was true what I had heard about Belize for so long. A welcomed change, for me at least was the fact that they speak English in Belize. We did spend an afternoon snorkeling in the clear warm water with sharks and sting rays circling us looking for dinner......the colors of the corral was a beautiful array flowers under the sea. Each evening we would go for a walk on the small island down the sand roads that criscrossed the island. With only 2 motorized cars on the island, it was quiet and so very relaxing.....At 6 AM we boarded our water taxi back to Belize City to find a bus to take us to Guatemala. After 3 hours we came to the border wit Guatemala, jumped out and paid our $20 departure tax, ouch and jumped back on to head into new lands. The going was quite slow for some time, Guatemala being a poor country has many roads unpaved, even if they are supposed to be main thoroughfares. After six hours the air-brakes of our old bus announced the arrival of the remote intersection where we jumped out to hitch a ride to the near by lakeside village of El Ramate. I had a small amount of trepidation about coming to Guatemala. Often travelers had warned me to be on guard or be extra careful. Combine this with the only news I had read in the states about Guatemala lately was about a U.S. tourist getting shot during a robbery fanned the small fear within.

Soon I will be sharing with you about Guatemala. cheers, Dean