Belize and back again

Spent a great couple of days in El Remate and Tikal. Trekked through the rainforest in Biotopo Cerro Cahui in the pouring rain with howler monkeys growling away deep in the jungle whenever the rain stopped.

Next day off to Tikal and Mayan ruins, but met this little tapir on the path at left on my way from Temple IV and just around the bend came across another one frantically tearing away at big strips of bark in a feeding frenzy.

It seemed quite happy for me to click away but at the call of a bird in the trees above, he pulled his snout out of the bark and set off.


Shared most of the early dawn morning with lots of small brown monkeys running across paths and leaping through trees. This fellow was one of a couple I came across leaping through the trees in the afternoon. They´re a lot less aggressive than those of India, so I was quite happy to enjoy their play.
Whilst I enjoyed the day at Tikal and especially being able to put some of this Mayan legacy into Miguel my Columbian prosecutor friend from Yaxha, had explained in French-Spanglish, I thought it time to head for Belize and maybe some more jungle or beach time at the cayes, but I arrived in San Ignacio just in time to seek refuge from the afternoon downpour in the small Mayan museum attached to the Cahal Pech (Land of Ticks!) site. This site features a grand Mayan palace and I couldn´t resist a look....

Back in San Ignacio town, I met a lovely woman of Belize, Darline, an artist and bookstore owner who put it all in perspective. Her theory in response to why the Maya suddenly deserted their fabulous cities, is that the ordinary people they used for indentured labour most likely just downed tools and walked away. Well we spent a very pleasant afternoon speculating on all kinds as things as only two womyn can.. Before long the sun was setting over the river, the radio was issuing warnings of tropical storms on coastal Belize, and I who had spent a week´s Indian budget in less than 24 hours in Belize, decided I´d leave coastal plans behind and head back to Guatemala the next day.


Back in the delightful Flores now. Off to Lanquin and the highlands tomorrow.