Paradise has an off-season...

Emily and I have taken turns sitting behind the front desk of the hotel we're staying at, checking email and trying not to look like we work here. It doesn't really matter that much, as the title suggests - I would guess there have been 7 other guests at the hotel since we've gotten here.

Before we forget, Tikal was amazing. The ruins were pretty spectacular, but their setting might be even more impressive. It was a lot like Jurassic Park, complete with CRAZY noises. We never saw but heard a group of howler monkeys that made spine chilling sounds. They started quiet and far away and by the time they got close Emily and I were running away. We thought they were either a pack of wild boars or a dinosaur.

The jungle was full of huge insects, other playful and less noisy monkeys, and colorful birds. The Mayan temples had incredible views of the jungle and landscape. Remember to bring tons of bugspray and sunscreen next time you're there.

From Flores we took a shuttle to Belize City, a 6 hour BUMPY journey. Most of the road is unpaved. We got to Belize City just after 1 pm, but with the time change from Guatemala to Belize it was just past noon - just in time for the water taxi to Ambergris Caye, Belize. We hopped on the boat as it was leaving the dock with no idea what we were in for. We grabbed a taxi who recommended we stay at Coconuts, where we landed the sunrise suite. We've been there since, and we booked it for another week. We practically have the island to ourselves, and though it's one of the more touristy islands off of Belize, it's really quaint and quiet. There are more golf carts than cars. Our room is about 40 feet from the water, and each morning we walk out to palm trees and sunshine hitting the ocean.

Life is good. Our next blog entries might be a little slow, but we need to unwind. It's almost comical how hard we've crash landed in the islands.

Apparently paradise has an off season.