We slept in today - 7:45a! We decided to have a quiet day of rest instead of booking a tour. We had a late breakfast/brunch of some scrambled eggs, fruit (pineapple, bananas, and dragonfruit - which I had never had before, but it was pink and tasty), and some fry jacks - which are made from a tortilla mixture and fried. They puff up and have a bit of a crunch. They were delicious. We also had some local honey, which was good too. The family left after brunch, so it feels incredibly quiet around here. Another couple showed up today, but they are pretty quiet. We spent the day just hanging around the main area, reading, napping a bit, reading some more. In the afternoon we saw some iguanas out on the grass by the ... read more

We got up a bit before 8a to pack and get ready to check out. The Canadian couple had told us about a bakery around the corner from where we were staying, saying they heard it was the best in Belize. We stopped by there to pick up some baked goods for the bus ride. It smelled great in there. We got to pick up a tray and some tongs, and put what we wanted on the tray. Then bring the tray to the front and they wrap and pack up your goodies. We got a piece of carrot cake, a sweet roll, a cookie, some fruit filled pastry, and another sugary flaky pastry. Everything cost about 4 Belize dollars. We continued on and found our way to the temporary bus terminal. We had to wait ... read more

It's been a long day, but we are finally here! Our flights went well and ran pretty much on time. We landed in Belize at 2:55p and our luggage came out within the first five bags. Incredible. The airport is very small, and there was a reggae band playing music around the baggage claim. It was a kind of fun way to be greeted. We zipped through customs and walked outside and found our driver. We had read enough things about not staying in Belize City and decided to head straight to Orange Walk. The drive from the airport took about 80 minutes. Our driver was really nice and informative. The drive was nice - it's really pretty around here. Lots of lush green jungle/trees all around. It is definitely warm and humid too, but not ... read more

Today we got to sleep in! It felt great. We walked to the grocery store to pick up drinks and snacks, then walked to larcomar. We decided to go to the Museo de Oro (gold). It was a really nice exhibit. It came with a free audio tour and had nice pieces to look at. My favorite part was the dark room at the end of the tour that had rows of pieces lit up. It was beautiful. Afterward we had lunch at CafeCafe and then walked back to the artisan markets to do last minute gift shopping for family at home. Spent the afternoon just walking around enjoying the sites, and eventually headed back to the hotel to relax for a bit. We went for dinner around 8p at Las Tejas, a cute restaurant down ... read more

Adam got up early to try and go to Huayna Picchu, but when he met up with the guide, the guide said he needed to have decided the night before. In the end it didn't matter, since no one in our group got there early enough to be in the group of 400 they let go every day. It sounded like a lot of people just walked up there and waited (because the buses didn't start early enough). Adam then decided to go to Machu Picchu earlier with his dad, Andrea and her sister to hike out to the sun gate, which none of them did the day before (except Adam's dad). Carrianne, Steve and I had breakfast at the hotel and then headed up around 8:45am. It was nice to not have a guide or ... read more