Our next stop on the trip was going to be Dangriga in Southern Belize, so that we could see the local celebrations for Garifuna Settlement Day. However, as it was a Public Holiday, we thought that a lot of the hotels would be booked up by locals, so we decided to go elsewhere. We discovered that it was really easy to cross the border into Guatemala from Belize, so we decided on here for our next stop. We were pretty excited about visiting another country, making three in total: not bad for a month's 'work'!

After leaving Belize and paying an exit tax that is used by the government to directly maintain the country's national parks, we walked through a relaxed passport control area with no customs: we were in Guatemala! We met a tour guide who offered us a private transfer in a 4x4 for just under £20 each, which we were both willing to pay for a bit of luxury after a whole morning of sweaty buses! Especially as the car would only take two hours to get to the island of Flores, as opposed to over four on the bus! Our driver, William, drove us through lush green countryside, with lots of sapphire blue lakes breaking up the large areas of forest. William even stopped the car so that we could take photos of the largest lake, where local women were washing their clothes on the bank of the water.

We picked up a local tour guide just outside Flores and he suggested a hotel to us. We went to look at a room, but there were electric wires hanging out of the shower head, so we decided to give it a miss! After trying one of the hostels recommended in the Lonely Planet guide, which only had dorm rooms left, we stumbled upon 'La Posada de Don Hose', which had a nice welcoming feel to it, complete with an old lady in a rocking chair in reception! The room was loads better than the other one we had seen (no live wires dangling into water), and at £14 a night for a private double room, it was a bargain! However, when we came back from lunch at a restaurant overlooking the lagoon, the bathroom floor was soaking with water leaking from the sink. Matt tried to mime the problem to the lady on reception who didn't speak any English and she eventually appeared with a mop! Later though, there was another puddle, so we ended up with a sweet towel and bucket combo provided by the maid to solve the problem!

We spent the next couple of days wandering around Flores and the neighbouring town of Santa Elena. Flores is a small island on a lagoon, with lots of little side streets that intertwine through each other, that you could spend ages walking around. The architecture has a Spanish villagey feeling, with lots of brightly painted houses and a town square (which has a massive Christmas tree in the middle!) There are plenty of small bars and restaurants overlooking the lagoon, but they're pretty quiet as the island is so tiny. We also walked across the long road bridge off the island, over to neighbouring Santa Elena. It is a bit more Americanised, with a shopping mall and even a Burger King and Pizza Hut (which I was not expecting to see in Guatemala!) We got a Tuk-Tuk back across the bridge to Flores - they are so much fun to ride in, I might get one imported to home!!

One night in Flores, we went for tea at a traditional Guatemalan restaurant that served weird meats, like agouti and gibnut (you can guess who picked the venue that night!) Well, we TRIED to go, but when we found it down one of the side streets, the front door was pushed to, even though there was a sign saying it was open outside. When we peered through the window, we saw no customers in there, just two old women watching the Spanish soaps really loudly on TV, with their backs to the door! We decided to cut our losses (much to Matt's disappointment) and go elsewhere - after all, Burger King was just across the bridge, and I'm (pretty) sure a Guatemalan Whopper with cheese doesn't have raccoon in it!