After the kayaking trip, we flew from Dangriga to Belize City. As we were landing, we noticed that the airport looked different --
it was the municipal airport, not the international aiport where our next
flight to Flores, Guatamala was supposed to leave from in half an hour.
Once on the ground, we found out that the international airport was closed due
to foggy weather. An hour or so later, we got back in the 12-seater plane to
try again. The pilot got down to about five hundred feet before pulling up
and returning to the municipal airport. The morning flight to Flores, Guatamala
was cancelled.
When planning our trip, we definitely wanted
to go to Tikal (near Flores), but had left 4 nights unplanned. At 10am, we
decided we should get a bus to San Ignacio, a 2 hour drive, instead of waiting
for the 2:30pm flight to Flores. There was lots to do around San Ignacio, and
it's less than 10 miles from the Guatamala border. We shared a minivan with
the other four passengers from the plane, and were at the Mayan ruins just
outside town before the afternoon flight was scheduled to depart.
After getting a room (with hot water and air conditioning! luxury!) and
lunch, we made plans to visit the Actun Tunichil Muknal Cave the next
day. Then we took a cab uphill to the Mayan ruins about a mile from the
town, Cahal Pech. Cahal Pech means "Place of Ticks" in Mayan, so named for
abundance of ticks present years ago when cattle herds grazed in the area.