Hi there,

I've heard from quite a few of you who have been to Ian Anderson's Caves Branch (thanks for the photos, Marty -- they helped me convince my boyfriend we should go there!), so I'm very excited for our trip there in two weeks.

Here's my big concern, though -- we need to get from Caves Branch to Tikal. I've priced this out through a travel agent and it seems really expensive -- we just want to stay overnight there and then fly back to Placencia. Does anyone know how to get from Caves Branch to Tikal by bus, or how much this trip would cost if we just tried to do it by taxi? Any recommendations?

We do not speak Spanish, so we can only hope that things will go smoothly at the border if we try and do this on our own.

Thanks so much,
Effie

If you are staying at caves branch, you'll
L O V E IT!!!

But I am surprised you haven't asked Ian how to get to Tikal .. He's great for figuring out how to get anywhere on a budget.

1. take a bus from Caves Branch ( 6 7 9 10 am, the earlier the better) to Belmopan, change to bus to border. Exit Belize, enter guatemala, then barter for a mini touris van to take you directly to Tikal. Theres no problem at the borders .. Guat isn't a bad place.

cost of bus: about $4.00 us per person
cost of mini van to tikal: about $25.00 us per person.

That's it.

You should stay one night in Tikal, then later afternoon go to flores and spend a second night there, the next day you can get a similar mini tourist van to the flores airport and then fly to belize city (you can not fly direct to Placencia) and then a connecting flight to Placencia.

Have a great trip.