Oooh, another lie in, I could get used to this! Our bags were to be outside by 12.30 so we were free to wander once more.

Breakfast at leisure and no Jimmy Morales, hard luck Jimmy! 

As we are flying off to Flores this afternoon and we have a morning at leisure. We need to go back to the jade shop as Sharon wants to check that she has been given the discount on her jewellry. Let's hope we can find it this time!

We are also going back to Santo Domingo as I only had my compact camera with me yesterday and I wanted to take some photos in the glass museum. Yes, I'm still lusting after some of those modern pieces.

OK, so we got lost again and had to ask a friendly cab driver where to find Santo Domingo. Doh!!

At the jade shop it turned out that there was no discount in the first place, so that was that. Strangely I thought that there had been as well but maybe it was all lost in translation.

We didn't fare much better at Santo Domingo as it was Sunday and the glass museum was shut.

After a bit of a stroll and a mooch in the craft/tat shops we got back in time to put the cases out and jump on the bus to go to the airport, via a lunch stop.

Our flight was leaving at 6pm-ish, so lunch was quite leisurely.

Sadly, we were going to lose Oscar when he left us at the airport. He has been an amazing driver, squeezing us down tiny little streets and alleyways, sometimes with only an inch or two spare on either side. 

And I will never forget him sprinting across four lanes of fast moving traffic to fetch us some samples of obsidian from the other side of a dual carriageway. He has always given a helpful hand to we ladies, as we get out of the bus and we will miss his happy face. Muchas gracias Oscar xx

We arrived at the airport in good time and Ivania went off with our passports to see if we could do a group check-in. I don't think we do this at home but if she was successful, it would mean no standing in a long line at the check in desk.

She must have sweet talked them into it because she came back with our boarding cards and we proceeded to get rid of our luggage.

It was only a small airport by Miami standards but it had a few shops to look round, some of them were a bit pricey though.We were due to board just before 6pm but my suspicions of a delay were first aroused when there was no plane sat at our gate by 5.45pm  Hmmmm.

There would be a one hour delay.  OK but, it was dinner on our own tonight and by my reckoning it would be gone 9pm when we got to the hotel and I doubted there would be much chance of getting a meal that late.

So, it was time for a $3 Margarita and a trip to Subway, so at least we had something to eat, if needs be.

Meanwhile the heavens opened and it was almost impossible to see much outside. And, here's our plane ....... And, it was time to get on, in the pouring rain.   No jetways fit an ATR72 unfortunately, so it was a walk on the tarmac and up the steps. Bless them, they were well prepared with heaps of black umbrellas which we used with thanks.

I was sat next to Kristin and as I sat down I suddenly realised that I wasn't sure if I had still got my posh Panasonic camera. Had I left it in the restaurant at lunchtime or had I left it at the gate??

Too late we were airborne!

Luckily I had been downloading all my photos quite regularly, so at least I had those, even if the camera was a goner.

It was a one hour flight but they still managed to give us a snack ( a processed chicken roll and some dried fruit and nut thing) and a drink. Also my fears about being on an old crate and crashing into the depths of the Guatemalan jungle, only to be eaten by cannibals, were all unfounded, as this ATR72 was one of the newest we'd seen. Instead of the usual lit no smoking sign, it now had a no mobile devices lit up sign.

So we landed unscathed and luckily, all our luggage arrived with us.

We now had a different bus and a different driver. Enter Cheepi. Not as personable as dear Oscar but pleasant enough.

The bus on the other hand, did not meet with approval. It was a bit more cramped with no overhead rack for our extra bits we all carried. Oh what the hell, it had wheels on each corner and an engine and brakes, surely that was enough?? 

It also transpired that, although the getting to the airport, the delay and the flight actually took about seven hours, the reason we had flown when the road trip would have been about six hours, was that it was a bit too dangerous to go that way. I'm not sure whether that meant the roads themselves were dangerous or that there was a chance of being attacked by headhunters!!

We were staying at a hotel in Peten just outside Flores, which I think is a small island, joined to the mainland by a short bridge. It was kind of a Key West style building with lots of white wood and plantation shutters. As rooms go it was OK, there was a bed at least.  I even had a lake glimpse if I stood on tiptoes and peered through the fronds of a palm tree.

Sharon was a bit miffed as she had expected to be given a better room than she had, due to her being a frequent flier with OAT. Unfortunately she was outgunned by Nadine, who had travelled with OAT aver 25 times and also Diana and Ed who were celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary..

She was duly pacified by half a bottle of Chardonnay as we sat out in the balmy evening air, having unpacked for the umpteenth time.

I found my camera in my hand luggage. Dippy or what??