Bit of an early one again today as we are visiting the Yaxhá ruins on our way to Belize.

We had a mercy run to the local shopping mall last night. Our supplies of cold wine have run out!! Oh no!!!!

I was also on the lookout for a new padlock for my case. After the flight to Flores my case turned up without one and the contents were not where I had put them. It would have been impossible for any of it to move around on its own as it was too rammed in. So the only conclusion is that it was opened and examined and then the b*****s lost my lock!!  I don't really want to fly to Miami without the case being locked securely.

It was a decent sized mall and I wouldn't have minded an hour or so in there but there was no time and the wine was more important.

Well, there we were choosing a bottle and along comes half of our bus, looking for exactly the same thing. Great minds!!

We looked like a bunch of winos queued up at the checkout!!

So once again our cases are piled up on top of the bus, covered in tarpaulin and off we go.  After Yaxhá we are crossing the border to Belize. This will involve all of us getting off the bus and wheeling our luggage through the Belizean Immigration and Customs. Then we have to load it all up again and we can be on our way.

What a faff!!

But first to Yaxhá 

The discovery of these ruins is a work in progress and they stand next to two lakes the Yaxhá and the Sacnab. There is a round shaped island in the Yaxhá lake which is believed to be the Mayan cemetery. The city itself dates back to 600BC which makes it all the more impressive as we were probably still living in mud huts then ,in what is now England, at the start of the Iron Age.

We were greeted by the rather scary sound of the Howler Monkeys. They sound like an angry big cat, check it out on youtube :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vxlnZ8BihI

In actual fact they aren't that big and it's the males that make the noise, either to attract some young and fanciful females or to ward off other males who aren't quite so loud.

This was a quieter site than Tikal but it was nonetheless impressive. Four of us made up a splinter group from the rest of the party abetted by Walter, as we wanted to see the ruins but also to check out the bird life. To be honest the others were mostly too loud to ever see any of our feathered friends, unless they had been nailed to a branch!

The first one we spotted was a male Trogon with a beautiful red chest, then there were flycatchers, parrots and humming birds. Sadly no Toucans and we were not in the right area to see the magical Quetzal.

Well it was lunchtime, another three course meal! I was starting to dislike the look of food, it was all a bit much for me as I normally just eat one meal a day or maybe two small ones and never three courses.

Something I forgot to mention earlier. Ever since we landed here in northern Guatemala, our bus has been escorted by the local tourist police. Also when we have been out of the bus, they have followed us around the archaeological sites as well. And here they were having a sneaky lunch on expenses at the table behind us. No Twinkies on the menu for them!!

Back on the bus and I began to worry for the safety of our bottle of wine. We would have to take everything off the bus at the border and the consensus was that our precious cargo would be confiscated.

Needs must when the devil drives. So I wrapped it carefully and wedged it under my seat as we left the bus. It would just have to take its chances.

As the bus pulled to a halt at the border it was greeted by a group of small boys, maybe 10 years old or so. They helped us poor old ladies off the bus (bless them) and then insisted on helping Cheepi unload the bags.

We all trotted into immigration with our passports and then collected our luggage to wheel through customs. I'm getting a lot of stamps in my passport on this trip.  As we emerged from customs, which actually looked a bit like a garden shed, an empty garden shed, no customs officers in sight, our bags were grabbed by the same young boy and taken to the bus.  I gave him a $1 bill for his persistence.

And the good news is ....... We still have the wine!     Yay!!

So we are now in Belize. And we bade a fond farewell to our escorts.

It is quite a bit more scenic than Guatemala, there are quite a few affluent looking properties but again poverty is evident. It must be almost impossible to get lost in Belize as there are only four paved roads.  The map making industry in Belize is a bit glum about this and I wouldn't recommend buying any shares in the company.

Belize used to be known as British Honduras until 1981 when it became independent ad changed its name to Belize.  Queen Elizabeth II is still head of state as the country remains in the Commonwealth. They have a parliament and a prime minister, although the two Houses are known as the Senate and the House of Representatives.  Apparently there is little crime in this country, so much so, that the Prime Minister regularly takes a morning run alongside the main road outside his house, completely unaccompanied by men in dark glasses and suspicious bulges under their armpits.

As we neared our hotel in Belize City the area looked a little less posh and I wasn't sure that the statement about the lack of crime was actually correct.

We were staying at the Raddisson Fort George, which looked really nice as we drew up under the port cochere.

We were greeted with a very hefty on the rum, Planters Punch. The first taste took me back far too many years, to my first trip to the Caribbean at the tender age of 17, when I got a bit tiddly on the stuff with my friend Gaile.

However I am now made of sterner stuff and negotiated my way, quite successfully and unaided to my room.

I arranged to meet Sharon a bit later. 

My bag arrived quite quickly and I was desperate for a shower. I thought I had time but  I was just about to dive in when there was a knock at the door. Thirsty Sharon had arrived. Bum!

I asked to give me 15 minutes and dived in and out of the shower, washing my hair along the way.  I half expected her to knock at the door again but by the time I was dressed with dry hair, she still hadn't come back.

Oh God, have I upset her?? I couldn't remember her room number but knew she was on the floor above me. So I phoned what I thought was her room and got Ed and Diana, oops, time for Plan B.

However I couldn't implement Plan B until I found Sharon's surname. Plan B was to ring reception and find out her room number but it was no good just asking for Sharon, was it?? Now what did I do with that scrap of paper she had given me with her name and email address on?

At last I found it and rang her. She didn't sound very happy, so it was with some trepidation I took my trusty ice bucket and a warm bottle of wine along the corridor to the lift, stopping on the way at the ice machine.

Well, I was right, she was a bit annoyed and I apologised profusely. Luckily she was grown up enough to accept and our friendship continues.

Dinner was a short bus ride away and was the usual size, What more can I say, I'm full!!

Ivania broke the news to us on the way back. There were four big cruise ships due in tomorrow and they would be doing the same trip as us.  We needed to be at the river before them if we stood half a chance of seeing it in any peace. So, the sparrow's intestinal gas is now gathering and it's time for bed once more.