Roatan

We made it down here no problem and it is BEAUTIFUL!

Our host Dan was at the airport to greet us.  We stopped by a little grocery store to get some breakfast and lunch items and then on to the cabana.  Sundancer Cabanas are small two story wooden houses nestled in the trees along the beach. We are on the second floor with a big screened in front porch.  Although we have AC we didn't need it.  The strong ocean breeze kept it nice and cool.   The place is full of trees and flowering shrubs and as a result there are beautiful birds and lizards everywhere.  It is mango season and Alden is in heaven. There is a huge mango tree right next to our house and she and the fruit bats are enjoying the bountiful supply of fruit, literally on our doorstep.  As soon as we arrived we threw on our suits and headed for the beach.  Sandy Bay beach is a secluded little stretch of beach that has palm and almond trees growing right down on the sand.  There is a long dock with an elevated observation deck. We all enjoyed jumping off of it into the water below.  We did a bit of snorkeling and saw a conch and two sea stars.  Did not make it out to the reef because it was pretty rough.  A lady that we met on the dock suggested that we should try in the morning as the sea is calm then.  And that is our plan for today.  Tilghman and I were up early and did some yoga at the end of the dock as the sun came up.  We have just finished breakfast and are slowly motivating to snorkel out to the reef.  It is so peaceful here, the wind in the palms, the calls of the birds and the chatter of angry hummingbirds. Mmmm a beautiful day in paradise.

View from our steps of all the mangos

Ketchup

In Flores (an island on a big lake) we stayed in a beautiful hotel called Casazul. It was painted blue! In the morning we went to a cute breakfast place with steps down to the water, Tilghman and I played with the fish. We watched cool ducks that went underwater from our table. We took a shuttle to Tikal, and our hotel room was awesome, I am sure mom and dad have already covered all the boring things about Tikal, so I will list the cool stuff. We saw Coati Mundis (raccoon like copper colored things with long tails and pointed noses) they eat tarantulas!, a crocodile about a meter long, weird bird things, and a paca (kind of like a capybara) but didn´t get a picture of anything. our guide, Chino, a very awesome guy, caught two red pump tarantulas, and I touched both, dad held one and tilghman touched one, got to go, see you later, bye, alden

bad things about Tikal

I stepped out of the van, ants bit me. I slipped going into the hotel. I went to find the showers, I slipped again and hit my butt. I dryed off my feet, and slammed my finger in the door. I did not like Tikal the first hour we were there. After that, I had to to take a little rest. That was just a bad morning.
Tilghman

You won't believe it!

As we walked in the lobby we saw the Costa Rican Futsal team here at the hotel. Laura got the kids to pose with them. Major cool here. Pic to follow. We found another mall across the walkway with movie theatres. I was tempted to go watch El Era de Hielo 4 (Ice Age 4), but our Spanish isn't up to it yet.

Hotel Tikal Futura

Made it safely back to Guate. Actually found an honest and very nice taxi driver who took us to our fancy hotel. And I do mean fancy! It is by far the nicest hotel that I have ever been in. We really felt like the Clampits come to town, in our dirty flip flops and musty backpacks. Our hotel room on the 8th floor quickly took on a very unique smell as we tried,in vain, to air out all of our damp clothes. After playing in the pool all morning and lunch at the huge mall across the street the children are taking a much deserved nap. They have been truly awesome throughout this whole trip. They have adjusted so well to the language, the food, the early mornings and late nights and all of the uncertainties and readjustments that come up while traveling like this. Truly we could not have wished for anything more. And the trip itself has been amazing. From smoking Volcano El Fuego to the towering Temples of Tikal, this trip has exceeded all expectations.
Thanks to everyone who has followed along with us on this incredible journey and we are looking forward to seeing everyone later this week.
xo. SALT

Going back to Guate

Up early this am to catch our flight back to Guatemala City. Left Hotel Jungle Lodge with heavy hearts. Had a wonderful last day/evening in Tikal.
After our awesome sunrise tour we had a great breakfast at the hotel. Alden ordered her Guatemalan favorite, fried plantains and black beans and Tilghman his new fav scrambled eggs (way to go out on a limb there, little buddy).
Rested for a bit while the children played in the pool. Walked down to the little tienda where the guides hang out and found Chino who had promised to take the kids tarantula hunting. After a few failed attempts we were finally able to coax a big girl out of her hole. Sully actually let her crawl up his arm while I shivered and shook a good 20 feet away.
Sully walked back into the park to get some video. The place is just so unbelievably huge pictures don't do it justice.
The kids and I stayed back at the entrance and took a little hike around to see some wildlife. We were not disappointed. We saw a bunch of wild turkeys, two cotamundis, a paca (which is like a big guinea pig with long legs), some weird chicken like birds with long orange legs and red eyes (which we have yet to identify), a crocodile and a bunch of ever present spider monkeys.
Watched another futsol match between Guatemala and Costa Rica during dinner, Guate lost 3-2 :(
After dinner both kids practically fell asleep at the table - we had, after all, been up since 3:30 am. We'll get some pics, etc. Up soon.

Here´s a look up at Templo IV