Belize

19 January 2008
Belize Border/San Ignacio, Belize
                The bus trip to Belize City took about 2 hours.  Arriving at Belize City, we got off the bus after being horded with taxi drivers, and went inside the bus station.  We had already decided to go to San Ignacio the next day, but after thinking about the comments from others, and the bus schedule saying there was a bus leaving for San Ignacio within 10 minutes.  We decided to skip Belize City, and go right on to San Ignacio. 
                After another 2 hours on the bus we arrived in a little town up in the mountains called San Ignacio.  We gathered our bags, and went searching for a hotel.  A man approached us, and tried to talk us into going to some cabins across the river.  We wanted to search for ourselves first.  Hotel Plaza was the choice.  They were out of room with bathrooms inside the room, but there was one available on a lower floor with a bathroom right outside the room.  This room was cheaper because of the bathroom situation and no television, $35 Belize dollars, or $17.5 US, not bad.
                We unloaded our things, and went out into the small city.  There were many different tour groups advertised around, so we decided to check out our options for the next day.  Each tour group had a different price.  They all raved about this cave tour but, it would cost us $80 US each, not something in our $100 a day budget.  Walking around we were being indecisive so it was time to eat. 
                There was this Italian Cuban restaurant that looked nice.  We ordered a Fettuccini Shrimp dish to share and a couple of local beers.  Beer on the menu was the same price as a coke.  During dinner it started to rain really hard, and it seemed like it wouldn’t let up.  Because we hadn’t decided which tour we were going to do that evening, and the rain was not going to allow us to keep searching.  We bought some dessert (cookies) at the store next to our hotel, and retired for the night.

20 January 2008
San Ignacio, Belize
                The sky was grey, but the rain had stopped.  We went of our room around 7:30 knowing our decision had to be quick regarding the tour.  The decision was settled on a canoe tour down the river, which included a small hike, and lunch. 
                Our guide ended up being this really nice Belizean who enjoyed talking about his past.  He also had a garbage bag underneath his jacket to keep himself dry.  We headed down to the river where the canoe was awaiting us, and got into the water.  After being in the water only 5 minutes, the guide was showing us Iguanas hanging out in the trees on the riverside.  These iguanas were different from the ones in Tulum, they were much bigger and had huge spikes.   They were awesome just hanging out in the trees and bushes all along the riverside..   Continuing on our trip we saw different birds, ant hives in the trees, and termite hives.  Soon we came across a small overhang, over the river.  There were tiny little bats sitting upside down on all 4 legs.  This was interesting to the both of us.  The ride up river was about a mile total then we got out for a short hike.
                The guide took us up the river bank, on a paved road, and down a trail.  Even though there were people living alongside the trail/road, we felt like we were in the middle of nowhere.  He showed us different plants used for traditional Mayan remedies, like colds, snake bites, and cooking.  Finally we came upon a house where no one was home.  It overlooked the mountains, sitting on a couple of groomed acres.  We decided to have lunch.  The lunch provided to us included 3 fruits (banana, orange, and watermelon), a ham/cucumber sandwich, a packet of cookies, and a bag of fried banana’s (tasted like bad potato chips).  
                After lunch we headed back down the trail, arriving at the river we met another couple who was on the same tour.  So we paddled side by side back to the starting point.  The ride back though not as excited was fun.  Some of the Iguana’s were still perched in their spot, and the bats were still just hanging there. 
                We went back to our room for a shower, and to update the website further.  There was a restaurant with internet next door to our hotel, so we decided to try to fully update the site.  Doug hooked up the computer, and the update slowly began.  Anna went on another computer to answer emails, and do some research on Flores, Guatemala.  An hour later Anna finished her stuff, site had barely updated.   After another hour went by, we ordered a plate of nachos, and a couple beers.  Three hours had gone by the site still had another hour and a half to go if we were lucky.  The decision was made to stop the upload, and check the folders for any issues.  Over three hours had gone by with us at the restaurant/internet café, the website was not updated, the photo page now does not work, and the internet cost us about $12.  We were not happy.
                It was about 9:30 by now, and we wanted to get up early the next day to leave for Flores, Guatemala.  It was time for bed. 

21 January 2008
San Ignacio, Belize
                We were up early and quickly got to the bus station / taxi stand in town.  A bus showed up for Benque (the town closest to the border on this particular road).  The bus dropped us off in town and a taxi was waiting.  He agreed to take us to the border for $5 Belize dollars.  We loaded up in this guys little run down Honda Civic and we were dropped at the border.  Of course when it was time to pay he insisted that he meant it was $5 each.  We caved and paid the extra money (which worked out to an extra $2.50 USD).  Before we could get our passport stamped we had to pay an exit fee of $37 Belize Dollars.  Moments later we were stamped and off to Guatemala.