Crossed the border into Guatemala on Saturday and headed to Flores (in the torrential rain!). Flores is a tiny place located on an island on Lake Peten Itza, connected to the mainland by a causeway. It's a bit like a Lilliput Lane place with little cobbled streets but quite nice, if we could have seen it properly! I went for a wander (armed with my rain jacket) and returned to the hotel about 10 minutes later looking like a drowned rat! We ended up getting a van to take us 500 yards along the road for dinner as it was so bad! Anyway, our reason for being in Flores is that it is close to Tikal which we visited on Sunday and there my bad luck began - my 10 day old Olympus camera packed up (3 days later it started working fine again - eh?!), my SLR wouldn't focus on anything, I couldn't get money out of any ATM (and had already spent my emergency US cash!), my phone stopped working so I can't send or receive texts, I lost some stuff in the laundry (1st time in 8 months!) and then myself, Sarah and Marjo narrowly missed being hit by a tree that just cracked and fell (the whole tree, not just a branch!) towards us - we had to run to avoid it. Could have been very nasty. So, either it is karma (and I've now done my penance!) or someone has it in for me right now!

Anyway, Tikal. It's one of the largest archaeological sites and urban centres of the pre-Columbian Maya civilisation. The Mayans settled here in 700BC - it's a low hill above surrounding swampy ground, right in the heart of the jungle. It is still in the process of being restored but they have uncovered a huge complex already. The national park is 550 square kms and the central area of the ancient city is about 16 square kms with over 4,000 structures. Tikal was the capital of a conquest state that became one of the most powerful kingdoms of the Maya period. We climbed a few towers (exhausting!) with the highest one being 64m. They only had ladders to get up and down with no real safety precautions but the views were pretty good! Saw lots of coatis which are a kind of raccoon and very cute. They have really long tails that just kind of stand erect like an antennae! Also saw and heard some howler monkeys which have a really strange call (well, a howl really!!).

That night, 4 of us girls estranged ourselves from the group and went for a quiet, sensible dinner where we also had a bit of a moan and get a few things off our chests - has to be done sometimes!

The following morning we headed to Rio Dulce to another kind of eco lodge. This one was slightly more developed though as it had wifi! So hardly really in the jungle! We crossed the river to get to the lodge where there were a load of very fancy yachts moored from all over the world. We each had little huts which were nicely done out with white painted floors and walls and mozzie nets (well, mine was useless as it had holes in it!). I spent the rest of the afternoon just chilling out in the bar area which was super relaxing. Just after it got dark, Marjo headed back to our hut and came back to tell me that we had some 8-legged friends sharing our room. I went to have a look (brave soul that I have become!) and it was a huge huntsman. b******s! There goes my magnet again! Anyway, we discovered that Lucie, a 19 year old Brit, loves spiders (weirdo!) and she offered to go and get it, which she did. We then had to do spider patrol (reminded me of my time in Vanuatu!) every time we went into the hut.

After dinner we all went to the boys' cabin as they had a fancy room (with ensuite bathroom while us 14 girls had to share one joint toilet/shower - that's fair - not!!) and a terrace. We all got suitably merry and then I remembered that we had to get up at 5am as we had booked onto a howler monkey kayak tour at 5.30 so Marjo and I called it a night - and survived with no extra legs in the room!

I enjoyed the kayaking, even though it wasn't as extreme as the stuff we did in NZ. I've decided that, unlike horse riding and ice climbing, kayaking might be up there with mountain biking as a potential future hobby. Only problem was that Marjo and I obviously both have a very strong left stroke as we kept going round in circles when we weren't concentrating! We went through the mangroves into the jungle and heard a whole heap of howler monkeys. They make a really odd, loud kind of growl sound. They are actually considered to be the loudest land animal as their call can be heard from 3 miles away! Didn;t see many though although we saw lots of trees moving!

Got back to the lodge to find there was a power cut so our fan wasn't working - nooooo!!! Had some breakfast and then went on a trek and canopy tour into the jungle. This was pitched as a fairly easy amble but bloody hell, once the heat and humidity was involved it was hard. We huffed and puffed while the guide pointed out various flora and fauna - all very interesting but I looked like a lobster by the time we got back. Dived straight into the pool as the power was still off and it was the only way to cool down!

Slept for most of the afternoon and then because we still had a power cut and there was nothing much to do, we headed to bed. Not again! There was a giant cockroach at the foot of my bed and another spider at the head. We had to call for our spider whisperer who came and retrieved both, along with doing a thorough check of the rest of the room. Thank goodness, just as I was wrapped inside my super thick mozzie net (which felt like an airtight Tupperware container inside) the power came on so our fan worked again. Still, I woke up in a pool of sweat the next morning. Nice!