There wasn't any breakfast included with the hotel this morning so we had to get up a little earlier than we wanted in order to find something to eat before our "cave tubing".

A few of the group were already outside the Maya Walk tour office when we passed. Kate was munching on an cheese & jalepeno empanada. I liked the sound of it and she thoroughly recommended it.  She gave me directions to where she bought it, "just up the street, on the left".

Julie wasn't hungry, whereas I was famished, which was not unusual for the both of us.

So I set off along Burns Avenue, then continued up Hudson Street, looking at the several cafes and restaurants to my left but none were open yet. 

At the end of the Hudson street, I reached a roundabout, so I turned back, this time  checking both sides of the street in case he didn't know his left from his right, but still no luck.

I then thought perhaps what he meant was, "to the end of the street and turn left" so at the end of Burns Avenue I turned down towards the bus station and marketplace. It was all very interesting but I didn't come across anyone any selling food.

So I returned hungry to Julie and the rest of the group.

Jonathon overheard me lamenting my misfortune and offered to walk me to the shop selling those empanadas. After all my exertion I was proper starving by now, so Igladly accepted the chaperone.

We didn't have much time so it was a quick march up Hudson Street, all the way to the end, where we reached the roundabout, and then we turned left.

"There it is" he said. It was a Shell garage forecourt, a "gas station"  with a well stocked shop!

They had a display of warm pastries. I couldn't find a jalapeno filled one but I did get a cheese & beans filled empanada. I also filled a bag full of snacks like Cheetos and something else like Cheetos.

As soon as I paid and left the store I wolfed down the empanda. There's something about warm pastry that makes it so delicious regardless of the filling.

Back at Maya Walk Tours, at 8am, we met Mike, our guide and driver for the day. We all followed him to our very tidy minibus. That's when I realised I was the only man doing the cave tubing. Hans, Jens, Kris, Andrew and even David, several years my senior, were all doing the Actun Tunichil Muknal caves. 

So in the company of all the ladies (with the exception of Nicole) we set off from San Ignacio, driving over the Macal river, on the Hawksworth Bridge, a steel suspension bridge, into the neighbouring town of Santa Elena.

We continued through the quirky named villages like Unitedville, Blackman Eddy, TeaKettle, Camalote. Although my personal favourite, the town of Double Head Cabbage, was an hour's drive North from here.

All the bus stops had the town names emblazoned in large letters so was easy to know where you were. 

Mike was very chatty and very informative.

As we drove through Central Farm and the town of Georgeville he pointed out member of a Mennonite community. They are often mistaken for being Amish as they share an almost identical background.

All the men working the land wore dungarees, wide brimmed black hat and long beards.

"Just like in the movies" said Francesca and she was right.

Mike told us that they mostly keep themselves to themselves, especially those who consider themsleves as Old Order Mennonite where they avoid the use of any modern convenience.

"There are moderate Mennonites who do integrate some" he added.

Three quarters of an hour into our journey we passed the outskirts of the country's capital city, Belmopan. As capitals go it was one of the smallest, in fact it was the smallest on continental Americas. It was only established in 1970 after Hurricane Hattie destroyed much of the former capital, Belize City, in 1961.

Eventually, after driving through the town of Cotton Tree, we turned off the highway and a few minutes further we had arrived at the Butts Up Cave Tubing centre.

We parked up,  and used the faciilites to get changed into our swimming shorts. Then we had quick look around a small market place where we bought one of those waterproof phone cases. When I asked "how much?" The answer was $15 so we agreed. But when I came to paying it turned out to be US dollar not Belizean so almost twice the price! Sneaky sods. We also bought a thin beach towel, but not from the same people. They weren't having a penny more from us!

Mike then introduced us to another guide called Mike, although he said "Call me Mikey". The maximum group size that a guide could lead through the Nohoch Che'en caves was six, so we were to be split into two groups. 

We all got kitted out with a life-jacket and a hard hat, and we collected our bright green inflatable ring. There was an option to pay someone to carry them but we all decided not to. To be fair, they were very light. 

We began in good spirits and after only a few minutes we reached some water. However, this wasn't where our gentle floating experience began. There was still quite some distance to reach the start. In fact it was over half an hour's walk away!  

We waded across the shallow water and continued through the lush jungle, passing a few rivers along the way. 

The rubber rings were now getting very cumbersome as the arms began to tire from being held up for so long. Every now and then we had to stop to swap arms.

We were falling behind the group a little. Mikey saw that Julie was struggling and kindly carried her inflatable for the remainder of the way. He had his own ring to carry but his was much smaller, the size of a car tyre, so Julie swapped with him, and she carried his.

It was a shame we spent much of this walk almost running through the jungle trying to catch up with everyone. Otherwise it would have been a lovely stroll.

Eventually we arrived at the entrance to the cave system where the exceptionally clear water was a refreshing reward for our hike.

I waded in up to my waist. It felt so good.

Whilst we cooled off in the river, our rubber rings were being tied together, split into two groups.

Of course it made sense as one guide would struggle to navigate the caves with us all ten of us tied together but I didn't quite understand the logic behind creating a group of six and a group of four. Anyway, Julie and I found ourselved in a group with Evie and Katie.

The others set off first, being pulled by Mike. We followed closely behind with Mikey. 

We weren't the only tour group setting off, another group with pale blue inflatable rings were jockeying for position to enter the caves first.

We all had our head torches so we could shine our spotlight on the rocks to get a clearer view of the caverns. They weren't anything special, not much in the way of dramatic stalagmites dripping down but it was pleasant enough bobbing around, with Mikey who was sat on his own little rubber ring, gently pulling us, like a tug boat.

Breaking the monotony we heard the sound of rushing water. "Rapids up ahead" I joked. Julie's eyes popped out of her head but as we turned the corner we saw it was a small cascade creating all the comotion. It was only about half a metre high and pouring into the pool in which we were floating.

Just to the left of the cascade and saw the first group getting off their rubber rings and scrambling onto the rocks. We soon pulled up behind them.

Julie didn't fancy it and asked if she could simply stay where she was but Mikey insisted that we followed the first group. His dilema was that the tour included a section where you explored on foot, and he couldn't leave us unaccompanied in order to take Katie and Eevie on the walk. So we had to disembark.

Getting off was a struggle but somehow we managed to make it onto the rocks without falling into the water. The next challenge was to walk along a path worn smooth by the thousands who had gone this way before and also made extra slippery by the wet feet of the six who had just gone before us.

Julie struggled and it all came too much for her. She came to a point where she couldn't carry on, so we came to a stop. Katie went on ahead and caught up with the other group. Evie tried but also came to a point where she couldn't continue.

Mikey did the honourable thing and stayed with us three.     

We sat down and waited for the others to return. Without the sunlight the temperature was cool to say the least and with only the light from a collapsed roof in the distance and our head torches, we sat shivering in the dark for well over half an hour.

It was far from a pleasant experience.  We felt stranded, as if we were waiting to be rescued.

The only nice thing about the experience was looking at the sparkling stalagtites all around us. These centuries old deposits had a strange reflective quality when we shone our torches on them.

The Nohoch Che'en caves was a busy attraction with several groups heading off in different directions. A few came past us, along the path where we were sat. They looked at us with some concern or confusion but then carried on their way.

Still we waited for our seven to return. Eventually, after a few false alarms, they did.

We all got back onto our large inflatables which was a different challenge altogether. I still don't know how me managed it without falling in.

Returning to the water we continued our journey, floating closer towards the collapsed roof and then, flowing downstream, we soon came to a section where the water was shallow.

"When I say Butts Up you need to lift yourself up or you will touch the bottom" said Mikey.

Moments later he went "Butts Up" and we all straightened our bodies as best we could to avoid scraping the river bed with ... well ... our butts, for want of a better word. All our effort was worth it as we sailed over without any incident.

He called "Butts Up" a few times after that. It was quite the workout!

On the last one I was slow to react, or perhaps he was late with his early warning, either way I literally hit rock bottom. The water was so shallow we even got a little stuck and had to push ourselves along.

Clear of the shallows we carried on, with Mikey now wading in the water, pulling us towards the exit.

Some other groups were getting off at this point and walking back but we continued down stream. So we sat back and relaxed and let the flow carry us to where we began.

To be honest I was glad it was coming to an end. Personally, for me, "cave tubing" conjured up something a bit more adventurous than simply bobbing along sedately in the dark.

Having said that, the next part, where we bobbed along sedatley downstream was actually the best part of the tour.   

The sun was shinning, the birds were singing and we were sat side by side at the front of the our small cluster with uninterupted views of the spectacular jungle unveiling itself in front of us.

After an hour and a half being stranded in the caves even the warmth of the sun on our faces felt emotional. 

Adding to the blissful vibe Mikey even donated his inflatable so that Julie could rest her legs on it, like a floating foot stool!

We were in the world of our own, just the two of us floating down a river in Belize.

It was only when we rotated 360 did we catch a glimpse of the other six and be reminded that we were in fact here with a group, two of which were actually still sat behind us. 

Not far from the end Mikey allowed us the freedom to get off our rubber rings and swim the remaining 200m. He was a little concerned about Julie but he needn't have been. She really enjoys swimming, and this was her first opportunity to do so on this trip. Without any hesitation, she threw herselves into the crystal clear water. 

Of course I quickly followed, still wearing my buoyancy aid because I still can't swim. But I wasn't missing out on this experience. It's not everyday you get to swim through a rainforest in Central America!

Eventually, at a bend in the river where we had crossed earlier in the morning, we got out of the water and carried our gear back to the centre. They had excellent facilities where we could shower and change from our soggy swimming costumes.

Before we left we said goodbye to Mikey and slipped him $40. He had travelled here on the bus for over an hour for this job. He didn't have another one lined up but he was going to hang around all day in the hope of bagging another. You just had to admire his determination to succeed.

Back at the minibus Mike was pouring a complimentary rum punch for us all. His first few glasses were filled almost to the top, from which we benefited, because by the time he came to the last ones they were two thirds empty!

Fortunately I don't think those late to the party knew they had been short changed.

Lunch was included with this trip and we didn't have to wait long for it. Tibalba's Teaky Tavern was only a few minutes away. It had a lovely feel to it, simply built, in the style of a  Polynesian Tiki bar with a thatched palm leaf roof.

It was also nicely done on the inside.

There wasn't much on the menu for me but there was at least something. A portion of rice & beans, served with plantain and sauted vegetables did the trick.

Julie had exactly the same but with the addition of a barbecued chicken in a slightly spicy sauce. For a small shack in the middle of nowhere the standard was high. I heard no complaints.

I had finished mine in a flash. My attention drifted away from the food and I began to look arount the restaurant. Hanging from the thatched roof were a lot of flags. Some were representing football teams like FC Barcelona and Real Madrid, there was also a large Brazilian flag. Below them, in a row looking like bunting, were a series of smaller flags.

I'm quite good at identifying the countries but I struggle with the numerous yellow, green and red variations of the West African countries.  "Harley (grandson #3), would know them all." said Julie. It's true. He's incredible when it comes to identifying flags.  

At the end of the row was the Welsh flag. I may be biased but it has to be one of the coolest flags in the world!

Anyway, with us all fed and content we returned to the minibus to start our return journey to San Ignacio.

With full bellies we were all a little tired, so instead of bothering us with his banter Mike put on some music. I couldn't imagine the god awful drivel he played being his type of music.

Kristin and Caitlin on the other hand were singing along, word for word. They obviously loved these songs. For me, they seemed as if they were written by a twelve year old girl, for twelve year old girls, like something straight out of the Disney Club.

It may sound melodramatic but listening to this music was quite traumatic for me.

Kristin and Caitlin found my distress funny, or at least I hope they did. I hope I didn't offend them. I can get quite opinionated about music.

We reached San Ignacio around 2:15pm. We could have had a busy afternoon exploring the Mayan ruins of Cahal Pech a half hour walk away but instead we decided to pull the curtains shut and have a siesta. What a great decision that was. We slept for over three hours, a deep beautiful sleep that totally recharged us.

Jonathon messaged the group and had arranged to rebook last nights restaurant, the Guava Limb, due to an overwhelming approval from everyone. As last night we weren't all seated togther, but split into three groups. Thankfully we weren't sat alone this time. We ended up with Poppy, Francesca, Katie and Jonathon.

We skipped starters and went for some Panty Rippers! A local cocktail, made with a coconut rum (like Malibu), mixed with pineapple juice and grenadine syrup. It reminded me of the night Julie and I met, where I was drinking Mailbu & Orange by the pint glass!

The main courses arrived. Tonight I tried their tomato and chickpea curry. Whilst the flavours were nice, it was extremely mild, as if they had forgotten to put any chilli in it whatsoever. I reached out for the emergency Marie Sharp's hot sauce on the table.

A few splashes rescued it.

Julie had the chargrilled steak this evening, with a mushroom diane sauce on the side, in a small jug. It was interesting to see on the menu an "imported steak" which cost an extra $30. She went local and was quite happy with it.

Conversation was flowing well. Jonathon was a good host asking many questions, as if he had a packet of "breaking the ice" cards in his pocket. We came to "What would you tell your younger self?"

"Be more confident" was Poppy's answer, explaining how she suffered from chronic shyness. Julie had a similar "believe in yourself" message about standing up to those who try and boss you around.

I popped up with "I would tell myself that life is beautiful" Francesca immediately stood up and gave me a high five. It sounded a bit naive so I felt I had explain a little more and added "life can also be shit, often at the same time. So focus on the good, let go of the bad. You will always find the beauty."

Someone then asked Jonathon to answer and he said "learn better who to trust and who not to trust". He was about to open up on a very personal experience when Kate arrived at the table to ask about cheesecakes.

She couldn't have arrived at a worse moment and I'm sure she must have sensed the coversation suddenly stop. Hopefully she didn't think we were talking about her.

With the topic irreversibly changed we order our cheesecakes. I chose a Kaluhla (coffee liquer) cheesecake, and it was stunning. 

We paid the bill and returned to the hotel. I don't think anyone wanted to party on this evening. It was an early night all round.