We didn't have an alarm for the first time in days! Of course, we were still up pretty early - those howler monkeys don't let you sleep much. Roger went to sit on our front porch for a bit and saw parrots and coatimundi in our yard. We walked the grounds a bit and found a huge troop of coatis in the back area of the inn. They are seriously adorable - especially the babies! While we watched, spider monkeys arrived as well.

We had breakfast, finished packing and met our driver (Jose - the same one who brought us to Tikal) at around 9:00. He took us to a co-op gift shop that had crafts (and some crap) from multiple artists. I didn't expect to but we did find a few items. With shopping done, we hit the road. Jose's wife works toward the Belize border so we picked her up along the way. As we approached the border, Jose dropped us off and we walked across the bridge into Guatemala. A very odd experience! I knew it would all be ok though because the Guatemalan customs officer was listening to "Take On Me" so I knew the Bees were with me.

A driver from the other side picked us up and brought us to San Ignacio in Belize. We found our rental car place and after a little bit of a wait while he finished cleaning it, we hopped in our Xterra and headed the short (so we thought) distance to our hotel. Ugh. It was not a great experience. We drove around for close to an hour trying to find our hotel using a stupid map from a travel book. We even stopped to ask someone and he told us that the hotel was across the bridge in the neighboring town but we didn't believe him. Unfortunately the same stupid map had hotels AND restaurants on it and we were looking for hotel #4 but were driving past restaurant #4. Totally frustrating and boy did we feel dumb! When we finally figured it out, the hotel wasn't that far away. San Ignacio is small but full of one way streets and hills. It's got character for sure but it's a bit rugged - not a place I'd want to find myself alone at night.

Our hotel is great - about 10 minutes outside of town and in the woods. By the time we found it and checked in, we were wiped out. We cleaned up and asked at the front desk for lunch ideas. They sent us to Hannah's in town and even gave me a secret tip for where to park because I was not interested in parallel parking in that town. WOW the food was fantastic! Roger ate cow foot soup. Yep. There were actual foot pieces in the soup. He loved the broth but didn't eat the feet. My lunch was the best food I've had on this trip so far.

We headed back to the lodge and jumped in the tiny pool. It was freezing but felt good. There was a family there hanging out and I started chatting with one of the kids. They apparently have been travel ling in Central America since mid-December. I said that he was pretty lucky and he said it was because his dad was "retired" and he actually did the air quotes when he told me. It cracked up his dad because he's actually between jobs. Nice family from Colchester England.

We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing - Roger in a snazzy hammock - on the huge porch outside of our room. The breezes were amazing and as the sun went down, the birds got really loud!

Dinner was a fantastic Chinese-inspired 5-course meal. We started with spring rolls (could have had a whole meal of these), then a peanut soup (and learned the word for peanut in Spanish is very similar to the french cacaouet), then banana-pine salad (bananas and pineapples), cashew chicken with tropical veggies and coconut rice, and a pineapple cheesecake for dessert. Holy cow we ate a lot. I can't forget to mention the ginger-limeade we had with dinner. Part-way through dinner, another couple came and sat near us. We chatted with them a bit and I asked where they were from since their accents weren't immediately obvious to me. Originally they were both from Russia but they currently live in Malden, MA. Seriously? How odd to meet someone from so close here in Belize!

We brought a calico cat back to the porch with us and got a great cat fix. She was incredibly friendly and definitely loved the attention! The evening was spent on the porch researching plans for the next day and Roger writing in his journal. Time for bed and of course what do I see? A cockroach on the sink. Ugh! I thought we were past that... Roger tried to kill it but no such luck. We closed it in the bathroom and I slept like a baby so apparently I'm getting used to the bugs.