Back from my great 3-week group trip through Central America. We saw, did and experienced a lot! Hard to select the absolute highlights... but here we go for my top five:

1. The ATM cave in Belize (picture). Swimming and climbing in the dark (with some help of headlights), until our guide stopped us and shone his big torchlight on yet another proof of Maya presence centuries ago or yet another great rock formation. The jury is still out on whether Mayas really offered people here, but it is quite likely they did.

2. Tikal. Of the three Maya cities we saw. this was most impressive to me. Probably the combination of the massive Maya structures and the jungle surrounding and partly covering it worked for me. There must be hundreds more Maya buildings out there yet undiscovered or left untouched. I would say leave the site as it is now, but despite the good intentions of its guides and protectors, I'm afraid in a few years from now it will not look as we saw it anymore.

3. Snorkeling (ehh... is that decent English?) in Akumal, face to face with giant sea turtles, and with a barracuda at a more healthy distance. Despite many snorkelers and divers around, the turtles seemed undisturbed and swam and ate 'business as usual'. My first view below the sea surface (with clear sight that is), certainly not the last!

4. Hiking the Pacaya volcano. Maybe our hike was a bit beyond reasonable responsibility, as close as we got to steaming hot lava and this with a thunderstorm coming pretty close... But it sure was an unforgettable experience.

5. Meeting two Maya families in their everyday life. Was it real or show after all? Our guide guaranteed that we saw real daily life routines and rituals. I have some doubts, tourist visits must have changed their lives. But I felt really welcome and the extensive knowledge of the guide (though he became a bit 'preacherous' in the end) impressed me. Good to experience some present-day Maya life beyond the mass tourist souvenir markets! 

Back home now and back to my everyday routines... They seem so boring compared to what we saw and did in Mexico, Guatemala and Belize...