Had a relaxed final day on Caye Caulker (25th). Woke up to some thunder and rain so wasn't expecting sunshine, but by the the time we'd gone for a late breakfast the sun was out and it was as hot as ever! I had a brief look in a few shops on my wander back to the hotel and realised how very small the island is! I escaped the heat in the air conditioned internet place then relaxed at the hotel for a bit, chatting to others who were there. Once it had got a little cooler I went to the 'beach', although Caye Caulker does not have much of a beach. Some of our group were sat on a concrete jetty as the sandflies were getting them, so I sat there for a while, reading and looking out over the beautiful clear sea. We then went to the area called the "Split" to watch sunset. It's a popular place for people to go for sunset as there is a beach bar there and everyone seems to go there around that time. We went for a group dinner later and it was another BBQ place like yesterday, BBQs are very popular here! Had tasty prawns again. Then it was back to the hotel to pack ready for our early departure on Thursday.

Our journey started at 7, when we took several small boats to get the larger boat to Mexico. We got our exit stamps then took the boat which took a couple of hours to reach Chetumal in Mexico. On arrival there all our bags had to be laid out on the jetty and a couple of army men with sniffer dogs checked them. Mexican immigration was fairly quick (apparently it's not always) then we got taxis to the bus station. Had a very expensive sandwich there (rip off!) and got the bus at 1.30. The bus, well caoch really, was the poshest bus we've seen this whole trip. No chicken buses in Mexico! Took just about 4.5 hours to reach Playa del Carmen then we had to walk to the hotel- I'm sure my bag is getting heavier! Everyone was hungry after not eating much all day so we went out for dinner, our last whole group meal as one of the girls was leaving the next day. The restaurant was "interesting" with the waiting staff playing practical jokes on us. Food was good though, I had vegetable faijtas, with more variety of vegetables than iI have seen on the whole trip!

My final day of the trip was a very relaxed day. I spent a few hours by the pool then went to do my last bits of shopping. Playa del Carmen is very, very touristy and has a main strip with loads of tourist shops where people try to get you to come in and buy....I was glad I had done most of my present/souvenir shopping elsewhere. Went to see the beach and saw the ferry stop where I got the boat from to Cozumel when I was in Mexico 3 years ago. (The picture shows the ruins of Tulum, which I visited last time)
Afterwards I sat by the pool for a few hours before going to pack. Also sorted my taxi for 2.45 am!! Decided to go for the group dinner as I needed to eat. But before dinner the tour leader had organised some tequilla tasting, so I pre ordered my food at the restaurant. The tequilla came in a surprising number of flavours, though I gave mine away! My dinner was lovely, half a pineapple filled with rice, vegetables and prawns. It was expensive, but i needed to spend the last of my pesos and it was really delicious. It was 10pm and time for me to get to bed since I had to get up in a few hours. I said goodbye to the group and headed back to the hotel. By the time I got to sleep I got about 3 hours sleep before my wake up call at 2.20!

My journey home involved 2 changes in America, first in Dallas then New York. I slept on the flight to Dallas, which took my total sleep to about 5 hours! Ha ha! In New York to pass the time (4 hours) I had lunch/dinner at a restaurant then wandered around, read and had a short sleep. Once on the flight to Manchester it was dinner time then I read. I think I slept for a bit but not much. 7 hours later we were back in Manchester (Sun 29th), with a typical welcome of rain!

I really enjoyed my trip through Central America, seeing the "highlights" of Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala and Belize. The 5 and a half weeks travelling there were great and I feel like I was away for ages! When I think back I have done so much, seen many great places and met lots of nice people. It was fanatastic, shame it had to end!