Flores
I was a few more hours drive from the border at El Ceibo to the next sizable town of La Libertad. We were able to fill up our tank at a surprisingly greater cost than Mexico (about $3.75 USD /gallon – yes, they use gallons here) and continued slightly north.
We were a bit chagrined to find that our GPS – that worked great in Mexico – has virtually nothing for Guatemala. It literally gives us a blank screen other than a few major highways which are incorrect. We promptly got lost once we entered the first sizable town near Flores. Time to get a good map and start asking directions.
Flores is a nice little lake island town that is only a few blocks long and is connected to land by a small bridge. It’s a colorful place and there are a smattering of tourists lounging on the docks, coffee shops, and milling about. there’s not much to do here, but it’s a good stop-over in the middle of the state of Peten.
We decided to treat ourselves to a place with a pool and spent the afternoon cooling off… it’s hot and there’s no camping here. I’m not sure we ever really planned on driving through Central America in the summer, but here we are.
The town has some good restaurants and hotel rooms with A/C, so we were happy to be here and figure out what’s next. Now is a good time to crack the book on Guatemala while Bode builds forts with the hotel pillows.
(I wish your map page had the ability to take comments.)
SPOILER ALERT
Why weren’t you able to get into Belize (or maybe you weren’t really trying)? Does Guatemala still claim it? I know once in a while both sides’ll shoot people who wander across the border, so I thought maybe some lingering tension made it that Belize wasn’t directly accessible from Guatemala, and vice versa.
Just wondering.
Alright,
Mitch.
I have heard that El Remate is a way cool place to hang out. The closest I ever came to getting shot was in San Benito, just across the causeway and to the right from Flores. Lucky me the guys gun misfired and I ran.
can i ask what you were doing that caused someone to point a gun at you?
Wasn’t trying. I’ve also read about tension between the two countries, but i think it’s now either gone or far beneath the surface. It’s a pretty simple border crossing with Guatemalans/Belizians crossing easily.