BElise: Welcome to Flores!

The view across the lake on the bridge into Flores. So pretty!

When we weren't off adventuring in Guatemala, we based our adventures out of the very cute but very touristy island (in the middle of a lake) town of Flores. It's actually a really cool place from my current perspective because the island is actually the site of the Maya people's last stand against the Spanish during colonization. Nowadays it's filled with fun spots, bright colors, and tourists. Definitely a fun place to spend a weekend. OH! and since we were in Guatemala I finally got to bust out my Spanish and it was so much fun!!! I am way less rusty that I remember, and really had very few problems. Yayy!

The view from our hotel balcony

We stayed in a really fun hotel (there were 20 of us) for two nights and had a great time. Between all the other people, the nightlife, the shopping, and the lake, there was a ton to do. The funny part was, I know that things were all overpriced thanks to all the Gringos, but with the 7.8 Quetzales to a Dollar exchange rate, I still managed to stay pretty far away from broke. And, added bonus, the food there made me realize how great we've got it here in Belize!

Oh, and there was the coolest storm yesterday! Not that that's unusual during the wet season, of course. We got to watch as it came across the lake towards us, though, which was really cool. I think I've seen as much lightning on this trip as I had in my entire life previous.

My roomies and I decided to go swimming in the lake during sunrise this morning (don't ask me why) and it was really fun! We got up at like 5:20 and ran down to the lake. Thankfully, it never really gets lower than 70 degrees outside and the lake must have been at least 75. We swam for about 45 minutes as we watched the sun rise, and it was gorgeous. Plus, I got some beautiful (and artsy. I love!) photos.