Guatemala

Waving good bye to Belize, it was now time to once more brush off the old Espanol. A reasonably smooth border crossing later and we were in Guatemala.
A fair bit larger and a lot more undulating than its northeastern neighbour, Guatemala boasts an interesting landscape. Hills and mountains covered in jungle alternating with flatter patches of semi-open fields with cattle and vast swats of banana, guava and oil palm fields.
Our minibus steered on stochastically paved roads towards the wilderness, and came to a halt at Tikal, which is both another ancient Mayan city and a nature reserve. The howler monkeys started to howl, the coatis sneaked around and the spider monkey peed from a tree as we were guided amongst the ruins and the jungle.
After a growing number of mayan ruins, one tends to be a bit blasé, but Tikal offers something extra, besides the jaguar filled forest and the tallest pyramid, towering above the canopy: The geek in me reacted when I overheard a Spanish speaking guide mentioning Nueva Esperanza. And indeed, Tikal was where they filmed the outdoors scenes of the rebel base on Yavin IV, from where the rebel fleet launched its attack on the Death Star and its exhaust port in Star Wars ep 4: A new hope. There might be some photo editing on some of the scenic pictures when I get back home.
After witnessing the setting sun hit the Jaguar Pyramid, we mixed the rum punch and lighted the bonfire, as this was camping in the wilderness.
At sunrise, or indeed earlier, I woke up, either from the itching from a billion mozzie bites or from the ruckus of the howlers, grabbed a traditional Guatemalan brekkie (refried beans, nachos , scrambled eggs and fried plantain) and set off towards Rio Dulce.
The town itself is rather avoidable, being just a street with no sidewalk and lots of fumes, but from its docks one can take a short boat ride and enter a whole different world. Bungalows, marinas, villas and laid back hotels intersperse the jungle that grows all the way to the riverbanks. Thatched roofs and pillars rather than walls create open air accommodation and a closeness to the surrounding jungle and river. Of course, that also creates a closeness to the more bitey and buzzy of its inhabitants, so I had to put long trousers and bug repellent on, and making sure that the bed was completely covered by the mosquito net.
The nearby hot springs, including the hot water fall was well worth a visit, as was a half day tour to the nearby town of Livingston. Only accessible by boat, the town is more about the fact that it's mostly populated by Garifunas (African Caribbean) and therefore culturally unique to the area, than the town itself. The boat ride to get there was actually more interesting, with lots of wildlife spotting on the riverbanks, in the mangroves and on the wee little islands.
As the resort was open air, there was, again, a curfew at 22 in the afternoon. The early bedtime didn't bother me too much, though; they provided free kayaks in the early morning, and so I got to do a bit of sunrise paddling every morning, in the tranquillity of the flat river.