THE TIKAL ADVENTURE, GUATEMALA (Photos posted previously, see below)

Crossing the Guatemalan border from Belize was an absolute breeze compared to our previous crossings into Nicaragua, Honduras & Belize. We walked through in roughly 5 minutes, then jumped on a 'colectivo' (minibus taxi) to Flores where we based ourselves for 2 nights. Having spent many nights in complete holes, we treated ourselves to a 2 star luxury room, complete with jet-propelled, white noise a/c and a terrace overlooking the lake (still no hot water of course). After about 3 hours very comfortable sleep, we were up again and headed along the misty road to Tikal, to catch the sunrise over the ancient ruins and surrounding jungle.

As we walked at high-speed through the jungle in order to climb one of the highest temples (our pick-up was late - this is known in Central America as 'Tico time'!), we could hear nothing but our footsteps and the eerie roars of the howler monkeys. Before too long we found ourselves sat at the top of the temple, watching the sun rise through the mist and over the jungle canopy. Parrots and toucans were squawking and flying through the trees and the howlers were still howling. It felt like we were sat on top of the world - a truly memorable and awe-inspiring moment. The rest of the morning was spent wildlife spotting and wandering around, through and over these famous Mayan ruins which really are spectacular. 

Once back in Flores, we caught up on some much needed sleep, enjoyed the sunset, bid farewell to Matt, our travelling companion of 3 intense, action-packed days - then got ourselves ready for our next journey to Caye Caulker, off the Belize coast...