For 9USD the tour was pretty much what I had expected. The guides themselve spoke absolutely no English and carried no emergencies supplies or previsions however I was thankfully able to understand about 3/4 of what they had said. I will say this if you're not at least reasonably in shape you would not have a very good time on this hike. It's not exactly a walk in the park. I would imagine you can probably pay a bit more money for a proper tour with English speaking guides. There are many companies that offered overnight hikes and camping as well.

The bus ride to Pacaya took about 2 hours and the entrance fee to the Volcano Pacaya cost 40 queztales (5 USD). We didnt end up leaving Antigua until 2:45pm so essentially the bus departed on time if I were judging by Guatemalan time. Started hiking up the mountain around 4:45pm. You can "rent" walking sticks for 5 queztales (~65 cents). I hiked with a couple Brits at the front of the group because we wanted to make it up the mountain before sunset. The hike itself is only about 5KM however what starts as a very easy and well maintained trail with beatuful views of Guatemala City below quickly escalates to loose volcanic ashe where you can quickly lose your footing and finally to the point where you're hiking over solidified lava that is as razor sharp as broken glass. It definitely would not be a good idea to fall up here; you would end up with some very nasty cuts and bruises or worse.

We made finally made it up to the summit or rather where we could see lava pouring out of the side of the volcano right around sunset. I could only stand about 4ft near the lava before the intense heat overwhelmed me and practically scorched my eye brow off. The hike took about an hour and a half to two hours. The rest of the group was extremely far behind so we had almost an hour up top to kill time before the rest of the group finally caught up. I guess the tradition up here is to roast marshmellows on the lava so we decided to partake however we took this a step further and decided to make smores. Sadly, I didnt get any pictures of this part.
It was an extremely interesting sensation standing next to an active volcano and being on the top of the mountain. Like most mountains, the weather is very turbulent and unpredictable. It was very windy and cold however standing next to lava however negated the cold part. At some points if you didnt have proper footing the wind could have easily knocked you over.

When the rest of the group finally reached the summit we started our descent just as a massive fog rolled in almost completely obscuring my vision. Climbing down the side of the mountain in pitch black darkness in cold and windy conditions while making sure not to fall on razor sharp volcanic rocks was definitely a "fun" experiece.

Thankfully I came prepared and brought an LED headlamp. The tour company explained that some sort of flashlight and walking stick were absolutely nessesary. I am extremely glad I had a headlamp otherwise holding a flash light in one hand while carrying a walking stick in the other would have been very difficult. Lots of people were very unprepared. A couple people were hiking in t-shirts and carried almost no water or food. It took a big longer to descend since we were pretty much doing it in pitch black conditions with very little visibility. At one point we had completely lost half the group and had to wait about 5-10 minutes for them to catch up to us.

We made it back down the bottom of the volcano at around 8:30pm. Perfect Guatemalan time since the tour itself was supposed to be back in Antigua by 9pm. We actually didnt get back into the city until 10pm.
This hike was definitely one of the highlights of my time in Guatemala. How often do you get to say you hiked up an active volcano? Unfortunately there was two casualities on this hike and those were my running shoes. In addition to the bottom of them being completely melted they were thoroughly torn up and ripped to pieces from hiking on sharp volcanic rocks. Oh well, it was either that or hiking in sandals.

Anyway, my little adventure is just about over. I'm headed to Guatemala City in a shuttle bus to catch my flight back to Boston. I should arrive home around midnight and then it's off to work Wednesday morning. I'm absolutely not looking forward to seeing snow nor am I looking forward to these new TSA security guidelines. Been watching the news over here and read about the recent security breaches.

Ted was originally going to go to San Pedro La Laguna on Lake Atitlan
but he decided to tag along and head to Antigua with us for a night. We paid around 30USD for a "supposed" sleeper bus from Linea Dorada. They do have sleeper buses however they apparently didnt put us on the right one.

 Arrived in Guatemala city around 6am so it took about 9 hours total. Even though I had a long sleeve thermal shirt on the bus was freezing cold and I was practically shivering all night. Definitely take a sweatshirt or jacket if you're taking an overnight bus. The bus wasnt exactly what they had described, it was very similar to the ADO buses in Mexico but I wouldnt exactly classify it as a sleeper bus.

Unfortunately when we arrived in Guatemala City we were informed they only had two reservations for the shuttle bus to Antigua and not three like we booked. The guy was a real asshole about it so we ultimately decided to take a taxi to Antigua and split the cost. Wasnt a huge loss since we only lost about 5USD for the bus ticket from Guatemala City to Antigua. The taxi was about 45-50 minute ride for 30USD. We split three ways for 10 bucks a piece and arrived about 30-40 minutes before the bus.

Spend the entire day walking around Antigua. It's a really beautiful old Spanish colonial city. Felt like I was walking around somewhere in Europe rather than Central America. A much bigger version of Flores. Antigua was founded in 1500s and was the colonial capital of Guatemala until 1776 when the capital was moved to Guatemala City because a large earthquake completely desimated the city in 1773. Antigua still maintains it's colonial charm. It is a city 5000ft above sea level surrounded by three volcanos. There is also another volcanno called Pacaya which is still active and apparently a popular day trip.

I had never hiked a volcano before let alone an activate one so I booked an afternoon hike to Mount Pacaya for 9USD. The trip is supposed to leave at 2pm and return around 8:30PM. Apparently you can hike to an active lava field where you can literally melt your shoes if you're not careful. Hoping to get some cool pictures of some live lava tomorrow. I have a feeling this hike is really going to kick my ass. Two weeks of hardly any exercising besides scuba diving (drift dives), two short runs and lots of heavy lifting of beers to my mouth.

I was originally supposed to leave Sunday night but I couldnt get the correct bus in time; the bus on Saturday was completely full. The flights were also fucked up so my best option is to try on the Tuesday flight since it has open seats. Hoping to be home by Tuesday night. I take that back, I kind of have to be home by Tuesday.

The weather was absolutely perfect for exploring the ruins this morning. It was overcast with a great little breeze. I climbed most of the ruins in a long sleeved shirt. Last time I explored Tikal the weather was absolutely brutal.

It´s definitely better to get the first bus to Tikal in the morning before it rains or the sun comes out. You also have a greater chance of seeing more wildlife. Today I saw a bunch of howler moneys, wild turkeys, an izote (coatamundi), and some tucans. Took a bunch of pictures of Tikal which I will upload when I get home.

Met another guy down here named Ted who is on holiday for about 3 months in Central America. He has lived in Korea for the last 15 years teaching English. He is also taking the bus to Guatemala City tonight. We finished walking around Flores today and took some pictures. This is a really awesome little place. You can walk around the entire island in about 15 minutes. Most of the bars and restaurants also have a great view of the lake.

Decided to cheap out and ate some delicious tacos at a street vendor in the park for 5 queztals (65 cents US each). Flores seems to be relatively expensive compared to the rest of Guatemala but still cheaper than Mexico. I imagine Antigua and Guatemala City might be the same.

At this point I am just killing time until the sleeper bus to Guatemala City leaves at 9:30pm tonight.

I had already previously booked my return ferry to ticket to Belize City using San Pedro Water Taxi Association. I believe the ferry from Ambergris Caye to Caye Caulker plus the return ticket from Caye Caulker to Belize City cost around 7.5-9USD. Unbelizeably cheap.

We arrived in the "great" and "wonderful" Belize City around 11ish. Giving us plenty of time to sort out a bus to Flores which supposedly leaves at 2:30PM. Booked a bus ticket on San Juan bus company in Belize City at the ferry terminal to Flores, Guatemala for 40 Belize dollars (20USD).

The bus finally left Belize City around 3pm. Originally it was supposed to leave at 2:30pm however a Danish girl had her iPod stolen while walking through Belize City only 4 blocks from the bus terminal and had to fill out a useless police report.

Belize City is an absolute shit hole of a place lined with shanty little shacks and filled with Rastafarian crackheads and nut jobs. I would only recommend going there in passing to catch a bus or a ferry elsewhere. In fact if you can skip Belize City and head to the islands directly from Chetumal or Corozol you are much better off. The sooner you leave Belize City the better. You see there are some third world cities that have a interesting aurora surrounding them. You know they're terrible but ultimately they end up being somewhat safe and have many fasinating things to see and explore. Unfortunately Belize City is not one of them; avoid at all costs since it has no redeeming values whatsoever.. I dont think I have ever meet anyone that had a good experience in Belize City. I have no idea why any cruiseship would ever dock here.

The bus through Belize and into Guatemala was largely uneventful with the roads being a little better in Belize. Once on the Guatemalan side we had to worry about dodging the occasional rogue donkeys, some pot holes and stray dogs. The border crossing at the Belizean checkpoint took a little over an hour however once on the Guatemalan things oddly moved much quicker. We crossed into the Guatelian border as it began to get dark and I figured I would experience some local culture by purchasing a Gallo beer for 10 Queztals at a local tienda before reboarding the bus onto Flores.

We arrived at Flores around 9PM. Total travel time by bus was about 6 hours including the hour and half that was spent queuing in customs and immigrants in Belize and Guatemala. Guatemala customs was much faster.

Although i've only been in Flores for about 2 hours this place is already starting to grow on me. It's a little colonial town with cobblestone streets and old shop buildings. Me and Mark ended up finding a pretty decent hotel room for about 12USD/night. Flores is actually an island on a lake connected to the mainland by a small causeway; it is the main travel point for most people heading to visit the famous Tikal ruins. So far it seems like a very safe little place with lots of charm. I will try to do more exploring. I have a catch a bus at 5am tomorrow to explore Tikal all day and then I have the entire rest of the day to explore Flores before finally getting the overnight sleeper bus to Guatemala City at 9:30pm before returning to Boston. Should arrive in Tikal around 6am tomorrow so tonight is an early night. Adios and Buenos Noches

Walked over to Frenchies Diving to get our equipment sorted out. If you think Mexican dive shops are disorganized then you havent seen a Belizean dive shop. Again, the motto "Go Slow" applies here as well. We were supposed to be there at 9AM however by the time everyone got their equipment we didnt leave the dock until at 10am. In their defense, the divemaster gave a really good introduction and safety briefing. There were only about 8 divers on the boat which was split into 2 groups. 4 divers each plus one divemaster per group. Water was pretty rough but I managed fine, I could tell a bunch of people on the boat were getting see sick in the 6-7 foot ocean swells.

Both dives were in the Hol Chan national park. It took about 25-30 minutes for the boat to reach the dive sites. The first dive we did was Eagle Ray Canyon. It was a 70ft dive for about 55 minutes. Thankfully the dive lived up to it's reputation and I managed to see 5 spotted Eagle Rays. An awesome dive in my opinion. The visibility was not as good as Cozumel and the water is a bit more rough but I really enjoyed this dive. The coolest thing about Hol Chan is that the groupers have absolutely no fear of divers. They will literally come inches away from your mask and allow you to touch them. In Cozumel you can't really get near them. I'm guessing they must feed them here. As we descended tons of groupers followed us along our dive. The 2nd dive wasnt as good but was still decent enough. We dove a place called Pillar Corals. It was a 50ft dive for about 45 minutes. Lots more groupers, a friendly turtle and nurse shark. Sadly, no Eagle Rays on this dive though there were a few absolutely massive groupers who decided to hang around us for part of the dive.

I don't really have any interesting stories for New Years Eve. It was actually quite tame in comparison to most of my New Years eves celebrations.

Met up with that Australian girl and bunch of people whom she had dove the Blue Hole with at a place called Wet Willy's.

Large BBQ joint on the otherside of the island. I actually didn't eat because I wasn't hungry but the food looked really good; everyone that ate there also seemed to agree. Cant remember the price but it was a sort of all you can eat buffet.

After dinner we sat around Wet Willy's and listened to a guy play guitar while people smoked weed and ate hash brownies. Seemed like they do a lot of that here. Sadly I didnt partake in this..

Apparently for New Years Eve the best parties on the island are I&I Reggae Bar and Sunset Disco Bar. Both places were absolutely packed. I&I is a cool reggae bar with an upstairs balcony and swing sets for seating. Very chill little place.

We stayed here for the countdown however I'm pretty sure we missed it. Almost every single person had a different time on their watch or phone so I believe we had about 3 "official" countdowns until we had realized that one of them must have been the real one after the locals started lighting off fireworks. No champagne here but plenty of Belikin beer and rum and coke to go around.

The group started to disperse around 1am since everyone was tired from scuba diving that day. I walked back to the Sunset Disco Bar to try and find those English girls so I could get their email addresses since they had taken tons of pictures last night. Unfortunately, I couldnt find them anywhere.

New I was leaving the next morning to go to Guatemala so I decided to call it a night and head to bed.

The ferry to Caye Caulker took about 35-40 minutes and arrived around noon. Started walking the streets (or rather street) looking for accomodation. I use the term street loosely since there are no paved roads in Caye Caulker, only dirt roads where golf carts are the main form of transportation. While the population of Ambergris Caye is about 10,000; there are only about 1500 people on Caye Cauker.

As me and Mark searched for hotels we were approached by a shifty looking fellow offering us his hotel room which he had already prepaid up until the 2nd. For some odd reason which we couldnt figure out he was in an awful hurry to leave the island. Seemed like he wanted to make a bit of his money back since he was leaving early and they wouldnt give him a refund. He was going to charge us 45 bucks for the rest of his hotel stay however hotel receptionist wasnt very bright and didnt understand that the room had already been prepaid and wanted to try to charge us an extra 75 Belizean dollars a night to stay in his already paid for hotel. In the end he realized they werent going to let him do this so he left the island and handed us his keys to his hotel room. He told us to "use it as a party room or something." Odd.

Me and Mark decided to tempt fate and try to stay for one night. Back to this odd fellow again, he was in such a hurry to leave that he left a bunch his clothing and a bunch of important paperwork fron his job in the room. It begs to ask the question - Why did he want to leave so badly?

Before we could actually settle in the room the manager had told us we had to leave so we obligated which was good because I really didnt fancy staying in a room where some sort of crime scene may have occured. We eventually found a place called Rainbow Hotel for 100 Belizean dollars (50USD split between two people so 25USD/night) however they only had one night available. We were both tired of lugging our bags around so we agreed to stay there. It is a actually a pretty decent place with an air conditioner and cable TV. There are numerous more cheaper and shittier places on the island to stay however I have to give Mark shit about requiring that any place have air conditioning. Not that I mind; Air conditioning is great.

We rested up a bit and decided to "hit the town." Settled on a place called Oceanside Bar which I had been to on my last trip to Caye Caulker. It's a small bar/disco with a sand floor and cheap happy hour drinks with local rum. To my suprise they had karaoke tonight. We had dinner at a placed called Herbal Tribe and met up with a couple British girls who came along with us for the journey. Herbal Tribe was a good enough place however fast service was not their strong point nor is that the strong point of any place on the island. The Caye Caulker motto is - "Go Slow." They honestly arent kidding. It seems to apply to every faucet of life here.

Anyway I decided to do a few karaoke songs. Much to my surprise my performances were a big hit. The bar must have been set pretty low. This bar also has a bunch of poker machines. It's pretty odd seeing poker machines in a bar that only had a sand floor. I keep forgetting gambling must be legal here. San Pedro actually has a casino on the island.

Around 11pm one of the Australian girls I met at the hostel back in Cozumel about 4-5 days walked into the bar while someone was performing a rendition of Sweet Child of Mine by AC/DC. Appropiate? - I think so. Pretty small world; I hadnt even realized that she might be on her way to Belize and last time I spoke to her she was headed to Tulum. I imagine it's a bit like South East Asia where lots of backpackers follow the same route and tend to run into each other since Lonely Planet tells them to stay and go to the same places. She stayed out for a few drinks but had to leave early since she was waking up the next morning at 5am to the dive the Blue Hole. The English girls were also ready to leave as well since they were still a bit jet lagged. I also figured it was time to take off since me and Mark were diving at 9am. We all planned to meet up tomorrow for New Years at the same place. I really hope I end up finding them all again since they all took about a hundred pictures last night and I forgot my camera like an idiot.

I spent the entire morning walking around the island and taking some pictures. I'm guessing I looked pretty desperate because I was offered weed by every single Rastarian on the beach about five times. I also decided that I was well overdue for a run so I figured now was as good a time if anyway. This was a bad decision on my part; 85 degrees and 70-80% humidity makes for a completely miserable run. I only managed about 4.5 Miles before the dust, sun, and humidity got to me. Dodging golf carts driven by drunken tourists and and equally high locals on bicycles also doesn't not help either.

Coincidentally Mark whom I had left in Cozumel, Mexico the day before had emailed me and said he had gotten sick of Cozumel and was on his way to Caye Caulker, Belize which is where I originally told him I would be. Thankfully he told me what flight he was on so I knew his plane was landing in about 20 minutes. Since Ambergris Caye is a small island I literally walked over to the airport and onto the runway and decided to meet Mark so he would know where I was otherwise he would have made it all the way to Caye Caulker only to find out I wasnt there yet. Pretty sure he was a bit surprised to see me.

I figured I would stay another night in Ambergris before heading to Caye Caulker for some diving and partying for the New Years. Mark had procured a room at place called Spindrift Hotel for 175 Belize dollars (about 85 USD). A little too rich for my blood but he also had air conditioning and his hotel was not made of plywood. Much nicer than that cheap little shanty that me and Bart were staying in but for 15 bucks I cant complain.

I figured now was a good time if any to start some heavy power drinking since I wasnt diving tomorrow. Rendezvoused with Bart at BC's around 3:30pm and introduced old Markie to Bart. Mark was a bit tired so he went back to back to his hotel to crash for a few hours. 5 hours later I was still sitting in the same bar stool where he left me. Estimated that I drank just shy of a 24 pack that night. I'm guessing Bart had a very similar amount and smoked enough cigarettes to kill a small child. Bart had been going on and on about the burritos at BC's so I decided to tempt fate and get some solid nourishment and soak up some alcohol. Bart was correct; the burritos at BC's for 5 Belize dollars were well worth it.

Fast forward many hours and Belikin beers later. Mark decided to crash and me and Bart continued onto a club called the Tackle Box which is located on a pier on the the waterfront. This is where the story gets very interesting. There are always some stories that you wish you could remember every minute detail; Unfortunately this isn't one of them. My brain and corneas are now forever permanently scarred.

Enter two girls and I use that term very loosely came up to me and Bart at the bar. One was a very large and grotesque local girl baring a very good resemblance to Aunt Jemima. The other one looked like a malnourished, poverty striken crackhead. The latter taking a very keen interest in Bart or was it that other way around?

I wasn't really feeling this scene. I was being accosted by every single local Belizean asking me to buy them drinks. I met a very friendly and sociable drug dealer who also claimed business was slow and also wanted me to buy him a drink.

Unfortunately for him I had no interest in buying from him nor buying him anything. I skipped out and decided to hit up one of the local carts for some street food. Ordered a cheese burger for about 4 Belizean dollars. Guessing it was around midnight. I stopped in one last bar on the beach for another beer and decided to call it a night.

As I proceeded to return to my hotel room after a long night of drinking I noticed that the door to the room was slightly ajar. From here I witnessed something that no human being should ever be witnessed to. It seems my new friend Bart had decided to secure the services of a local provider and I had just walked in on the end of their business transaction. I'll leave the rest of the details to your sick and sad imagination.

I decided to go down to my friend Mark's hotel and crash there for the night. Unfortunately the security guard would not let me in nor would he go up to Mark's room and wake him. I chilled out for about an hour before returning to my room when I was sure his guest of honor was gone; Thankfully I was correct.

Next morning when I woke up to find my new friend was long gone to catch the 7AM ferry off to continue his raunchy adventures however my adventure still continues....Next up Belizean karaoke, poker machines and finding old and new friends.

I arrived at Playa Del Carmen at around 5:45am just in time to watch the sun come up and take few pictures. Found a street vendor across from the bus terminal selling tortas for 25 pesos; pretty decent too (pretty sure they were pork but I can't be 100% sure). Of course I didn't realize that I was at the wrong bus terminal. The ADO bus station across from the ferry terminal does not go to Chetumal. You need to go to the main one on Avenida 20 to catch the bus. This was easily remedied by a 20 peso (~1.5USD) taxi ride or a short walk. I didn't want to miss the bus so I opted to take the taxi ride. If you're not an idiot like me you might as well just walk.

I arrived at the main ADO bus station at around 6:15am which was just in time to catch my 6:20am bus to Chetumal. Bus was completely full so I am glad I had bought my ticket yesterday otherwise there would have been very limited seating. You can easily purchase your bus ticket ahead of time at the ADO terminal in Cozumel or Playa del Carmen. I highly recommend this. ADO also allows you to pick your seat when you purchase a ticket so I was able to get a window seat at the front of the bus however usually if the buses are empty you can sit in any seat. They'll also usually make one stop or two stops to grab a quick bite to eat.

The bus of course left on timely Mexican fashion at around 6:30am and was pretty uneventful; I slept the entire way. We arrived at Chetumal bus terminal a little after 10:45am. So four hours and 15 minutes total travel time including stops.

The most interesting thing was when I arrived at Chetumal bus station I discovered that they had recently started running a new ferry called San Pedro - Belize (Express Water Taxi) for 30USD. I believe the Belizean attendant stated that this ferry started Oct 30th of this year. The great thing about this ferry is that it bypasses the trip to Corozal entirely and leaves from the Chetumal Maritime Terminal (Terminal Maritima de Chetumal) which is only a 20 peso taxi ride away from the ADO bus station. It's amazing that 20 pesos in Cozumel would barely get you two blocks while in Chetumal it seemed like we could go for miles. I split the taxi with a guy I met on the ferry named Bart so the tax ride really only cost about 80 cents USD. Bart is retired and lives permanently outside of Playa del Carmen and is just visiting some friends in Ambergris Caye in Belize and is then off to Honduras.

Unfortunately bypassing Corozal at the Belize border means that it was almost impossible for me to convert my Mexican pesos into Belizean dollars. This could be a huge problem as pesos are practically worthless in Belize unless you need toilet paper. Actually, it would be useless at toilet paper too since Mexican pesos are plastic. I tried at least 4 banks in downtown Chetumal and none of them had or would exchange US dollars The Belizean attendant at the ferry told me about one place in Ambergris Caye called Milo's that would exchange currency but probably at a huge cost or terrible exchange rate. Make sure to have US dollars if you're going into Belize and skipping the Corozal border crossing otherwise it will be almost impossible to change your pesos into dollars. I stupidly had most of my currency in pesos because I wasn't sure how long I would be in Mexico and hate getting charged ATM fees. Luckily Bart was able to exchange about 200USD of my pesos into dollars so I should be good for a while until my direct deposit goes through on Wednesday.

Mexican customs and immigrations at the Marine terminal is basically 1 guy in a booth. There were maybe 7-8 people in total taking the ferry. The "border patrol" consisted of looking at your passport and stamping it. Not much in the way of questions. The Mexican army also briefly stopped by. They had a drug dog however I use that term very loosely since the dog appeared to be a very young golden lab. He looked like he would rather play fetch than look for drugs; very menacing indeed.

The ferry departed on time at 3pm from Chetumal; It took approximately 2 hours. The water looked like glass and was as calm as could be. The blue-turquoise waters are absolutely stunning in the sun. By the time we approached Ambergris Caye around 5pm the sun began to set. Belizean customs on Ambergris Caye was slightly larger than Mexican customs at the Chetumal Maritime terminal. It consisted of one small room on a dock with about 2 immigration officials. All they basically asked was if you had been to Belize before and how long you were here, stamped your passport and sent you on your merry way.

I missed the last ferry to Caye Caulker so I had no choice but to stay on Ambergris Caye. Me and Bart decided to get situated and sat down at a bar for our first Belikin beer (The national beer of Belize). The exchange rate is 1USD to 2BZD. The going rate for a Belikin beer seems to be about 4 Belizean dollars (2USD). Not quite as cheap as Mexico but still decent. The average beer in Cozumel cost 20 pesos (approximately 1.50USD depending on exchange rate)

There were hawkers all along the main street trying to solicit business for hotels. It seems most of the places were full or so they claimed. We walked around to a bunch of places that wanted to charge anywhere between 60 to 100 Belizean dollars. Finally we stumbled onto Ruby's which is a budget accommodation right on the water. Bart had previously tried to email this place earlier and they informed him they were full however once we arrived we discovered rooms were available for 60BZD a night (30USD). Me and Bart shared a double so it only cost 15USD/night. Not exactly the Hilton and a little rundown but well worth the price, especially for the location which is right on the main room and also on the water.

Bart had been to Belize many times previously but had not done so in a few years so he had the general layout of the island. We bar hopped to a few places along the beach and found the price of Belikin beer to be pretty consistent at 4BZD (2USD). Restaurants however were a different story. A lot of them seemed to have meals priced around 20-50BZD. Not exactly cheap by budget standards. We decided to eat food from the street vendors and found a little hamburger stand which sells burgers, burritos, hotdogs and pork chops. Burgers were 5 Belizean dollars (2.5USD). Really good burger with onions, cheese, lettuce, tomato, hot sauce, etc. Burritos were about 4 Belizean dollars (2USD).

Spent the night walking around to some of the beach bars and meeting all the local expats of the island. Ambergris Caye too seems to have quite a large foreign community though since it's quite smaller than Cozumel it's really easy to know everyone. With only about 11,000 people you're bound to bump into the same people. I am thinking of staying in Ambergris Caye one more day to explore then taking the ferry off to Caye Caulker. I hope to do at least one day of diving tomorrow. Haven't decided if I will stay in Belize for the New Years or head to Guatemala. There is something very nice about not having to speak in broken Spanish and being understood. All the locals here speak English (or some sort of derivative of Creole/Spanglish).