9 Days in Belize and Tikal, Guatemala

Pictures by John Niebler and John Zastrow

Monday March 31
Needless to say we did not go diving on Monday. It was still colder (about 65-70 degrees), still windy and I needed a back adjustment. Every time I bent over my back gave out. Apparently many others were hurt as well. The masseuse that made room for me in her schedule turned down ten other people. So Monday we explored Caulker. It’s laid back, but it’s shack-ish. The locals were more indifferent than anything else. We stopped at a Maya Island Air office and found that all our plane reservations were screwed up. Diane, a wonderfully friendly and efficient travel agent, spent about an hour and a half fixing things. (She was late getting into the office because her son’s boa constrictor was loose in the house. They had to catch it before she could leave.)

We explored the whole town, which is only about 6 streets total. There is only one decent beach on the island. It is at a place called The Split. Hurricane Hattie ripped the island in two in 1961. So we swam for a bit and laid out in the cool sun for a few hours reading.

At night we ate outside at a restaraunt across from our hotel. They had tin foil wrapped buttered snapper with potatoes. Fantastic. We sat and drank in the cool Belize night until it was time to head back and pack up for our flight to Tikal the next morning.