So we arrived from the paradise of Caye Caulker to the jungle accomodation called Trek Stop just outside the centre of San Ignacio. When we arrived it was lovely and sunny. The resort is extremely basic, but this makes sense as it is eco friendly and the focus is on the environment. For this reason we were all staying in 2 person wooden chalets. These were tiny to be honest with just enough room for your bags and the beds but as i have done a lot of camping this did not really bother me. The toliets on the other hand, no matter how many festivals or camping trip a person goes on, log drop toliets are never an experience i will warm to! I have an extremely weak stomach for bad smells so i was less than impressed!

We ordered lunch which ended up being dinner as it arrived late and quite cold which wasn´t great as we have been travelling all day. The mood of the group was lifted when we bookedan excursion for the next day to go tubing through caves. The plan was to get up by 9 and spend the day in the sun relaxing flowing down the river in rubber tubes. Most of the group went for this option while 4 others decided to choose a more strenous all day cave hike.

I woke the next morning to terrential rain. The people going for the hike had left at 6 for their tour and as it was mostly under cover they were ok. On the other hand we were much less enthusiastic about spending out ´relaxing´day on the river in the pouring rain. So we decided not to go. TGhe tour operator for the trip was not impressed but it was going to cost $60 and thats quite a lot in terms of budget for a trip that would not be that enjoyable and i can do while im in asia instead. Everyone was quite secretly relieved aboutthis cancellation as most people are travelling for a longer time than this tour so are keen to stick to a tight budget. Espeically because whenwe stay in remote locations there are not many options for food so we have to buy meals from the resortwhich does not stay in line with the backpackers budget!!

As it was raining the resort was miserable so we decide to get a local bus to the town of San ignacio for lunch and a look about even though it was raining. When we arrived there was a large (peaceful) teachers union protest. After some pizza and beer in a local bar (not much else to do in the pouring rain) we made our way back to Trek Stop keen to get the day over with to move to the next destination! We are felt incredibly soprry for the hikers when they returned drenched and covered in mud. They said the hike was enjoyable but coming back to basic accomodation with no heating and poor shower facilities it was quite underwhelming and puta bit of a downer on the experience.

In all fairness if the weather had been decent and the trips had went ahead as planned this stop would have been very enjoyable as it was our first insight to the jungle environmentwith tropical plants and animals. However the weather is unpredictable which makes this accomodation somewhat unreliabe as a choice fora budget backpacker!!