Day 25 - Sayaxche to Tikal

We start the day with a boat crossing - it’s a wooden boat that’s very flat and low in the water and takes all the cyclists plus riders. We see other similar boats carrying a van or a lorry, which doesn’t seem possible given how basic they look. It’s about 10 minutes across the water and then we are riding through the lowlands - there is marshland on one side that looks very Harry Potter-esque and thick jungle on the other. There are noises coming from the jungle that sound like dinosaurs ! Apparently there are jaguars and lots of snakes.
Five of us form a peloton and cover 50km in under 2 hours before stopping for coffee - the coffee was mediocre but the service was good and everyone friendly.
Today there are fewer houses along the side of the road although there seem to be more villages with sandy roads going off the main road that we are on - presumably leading to houses.
Amazingly we have a dry day in spite of the forecast. It is a really nice temperature to be riding as the sun is out but there is a reasonably strong wind that keeps us cool and also it’s less humid than it has been - the wind is hard work for John though who does the most time at the front (I don’t volunteer !)
At the lunch stop we buy fresh lemonade with soda - it has crushed ice through it and is quite tangy - delicious when you are thirsty and a bit off your food! The man who serves it says he never goes to Belize without his gun ….. that’s where we are headed next.
The road heads up through the national park to the eco lodge where we are staying - again thick jungle all around and signs warning of snakes, jaguar and ant- eaters. We see a very large dead snake at the edge of the road!
The eco lodge is lovely and the food and homemade iced papaya / melon juice delicious. We only have electricity between certain hoursLäs mer