Flores and the neighboring village by the lake :) (Day 187 of the world trip)

09.03.2020

Today was already our last day in Flores :(

The two New Zealand girls and Edgard, the Brazilian guy from our dorm, had booked the Tikal tour for today, so an alarm clock rang before 4:00 am, which made me jump up, but then they were really quiet, so you can go back to sleep immediately, so no problem :)

Around 6:00 am, the Dutch girl also woke up and started getting ready. With all her stuff, she left the room about half an hour later and we wondered where she was going so early in the morning with all her luggage! :O

But well. Maybe she had a different tour or a bus ;)

Since it wasn't our business, I couldn't find out any further details :p We finally went downstairs for breakfast: oatmeal, banana and soy milk <3 It was quite delicious and while we were munching, our hostess came by and we chatted a bit about our onward journey.

The goal is the city of Antigua, about 8 hours away by bus from Flores, which is surrounded by volcanoes and is said to have a beautiful old town <33

The buses for this all go via Guatemala City as a night bus, where you arrive between 4:00 and 6:00 am and can book a shuttle that takes you further to Antigua. Somehow, everyone has a story to tell about Guatemala City, because unfortunately, it is also a dangerous city as a million city in Central America.

The Belizean from the bus a few days ago had told us that he was robbed at a gas station - in broad daylight and despite security cameras and witnesses around him :O

The guys approached him and greeted and hugged him as if they were friends, so that on the security camera it looks like a gun is not being held against your body under your jacket... "You know what to do," he just said and so the Belizean was taken to the nearest ATM, had to withdraw his maximum amount and then also pay for the tank filling at the gas station.

He said that in certain parts of the city you can't trust anyone, not even the police... And: "You only have one life. Never play the hero, but simply hand over the extorted loot so you don't get shot."

Good tip!

Our hostess in Flores also had a few stories to tell about the crime there. For example, her brother had a gun held to his temple by a motorcyclist at a red traffic light to extort his mobile phone and yeah... the list could probably get a lot longer :O

For this reason, we decided to pay a few more euros and go directly to Antigua, which is touristy but certainly beautiful, with the connecting shuttle and not spend the day in Guatemala City ;-)

So we booked the night bus for 9:00 pm via the hostel, which the shuttle would follow, which would wait for all the passengers. It can't get any easier :)

After we had sorted out all the logistics for the onward journey, we checked out and were still allowed to stay in the accommodation in the common areas and leave our luggage, which was super nice!

The brother recommended that we take the boat across the lake to the village of San Miguel, because from there you can walk to a viewpoint and a beach, both of which are supposed to be really beautiful.

Since we didn't have a plan for today anyway, we found the suggestion very convenient. We first took a round through Flores itself to take a few photos and then we went over to the small boats that take you over for less than 1 € per person :)

The ride took a maximum of 5 minutes but it was quite nice, as you had a nice view of both banks and I could take more photos^^

On the other side, we climbed a few stairs before we turned off at a football field and came to the hiking trail that would lead to both destinations. Since it looked nice and wooded and quiet there, and we were all alone, we took the longer route and mostly heard howler monkeys! :O

They are small but have a really good organ :D You think you're in Jurassic Park or something when you hear their screams and then you're really surprised how small the monkeys are when you see them in the tree ;-)

Unfortunately, there were also many mosquitoes, but we have spray against them, which Jonas even used :p

We briefly stopped at the junction to the beach, but then decided to go to the viewpoint first. On the way there, in the whole little "hiking forest," there is again an old ruin and on a side path we even found a few remains of it :)

The viewpoint itself was then not surprisingly on a hill that you could climb up via wooden stairs. Once at the top, there is a small platform with a panoramic view and again it was really beautiful <33

You could see how small the island of Flores is and the sun was shining cool on the water of the lake and yeah. I loved it and was grateful for the tip, because otherwise we wouldn't have come here :)

After the viewpoint, we actually wanted to check out the beach, but I suddenly had a stomach ache and unfortunately we had to go back already :(

On the boat ride back to Flores, we were offered a tour that takes us to the zoo, where you can see native animals that were injured or kept for species protection. That actually sounded pretty cool, but we decided to go for lunch and then chill out on the rooftop terrace of the hostel instead ;)

With a bit of YouTube, the time passed well and then the three from Tikal came back, so we could chat cool again!

Especially with Edgard, we talked about social security and health care in Germany compared to South America/Brazil and also exchanged ideas about traveling again. He is now our best source for continuing our journey, as he travels from south to north through America and has already been to the countries we still have ahead of us ^^

For sunset, a German - Victoria from Dresden - joined us on the rooftop terrace and again we chatted a lot, which was cool as always.

That's the great thing about hostels with dorms. If you're lucky, you meet lots of nice people and can just talk and exchange ideas and yeah. Meeting people is always a highlight because it makes traveling so interesting ;-)

So until 8:30 pm, we happily talked and then the brother, together with a French couple, drove us to the bus station, where the night bus was already waiting for all the passengers.

It was a large, really modern bus with two levels - VIP downstairs and the "normal" people like us upstairs :D :D

The seats had a folding footrest and everyone received a small bag with a water bottle, a water biscuit, and a candy when boarding (although Jonas' candy was missing from his bag :O Scandal :D ).

Actually, it was quite comfortable, but not as comfortable as in the previous night buses, but hey. We're not too picky there :D

The bus rolled off quite punctually and we closed our eyes in order to get some sleep - this time by the way with a lock on the backpack for sure, so we don't make the same mistake twice :p :D