Team Scarlett

Panic ensues.....OK if Joyce is scared then it must be bad and the nunnery where Ben and Hazel had been sent for Dean is deemed unsafe. We prevaricate for a while then head off to the airport to see what the flight situation is whilst discussions abound about getting a boat going south (into the path of the hurricane yeh right....) or via bus (coz thats the fastest way out and the roads aren`t gonna be blocked by rain and other cars...OK...). The good news is that there is a flight to Belize City and possible Flores going in 2 and 1/2 hours which we all can get on so we book it (but still prevarications continue!). After waiting what seems like an eternity Jeff reappears with the bus and we go back to pack what we only unpacked the previous day in the fastest time ever then hare back to the airport with the shortest of goodbyes to all the staff that we`ve only just met....Oh I hope they`re gonna be OK - there is literally no where to run to.

Stressed phone calls to relatives occur leaving many of the group in tears, but stiff upper lips return and we board our magic carpet to Belize and beyond after a nasty meal at BC airport whilst the others try and book flights to Houston. One makes it, another doesn`t at the last minute which is a decision greatly regretted later.

I never thought that I would go back to Flores...not because its not nice - it is, it´s just I thought there would never be a good reason to. A mere hour after fleeing Belize City I am there again wandering the streets with clumsy wheeled suitcase in hand trundling over cobbled rocks (too big for stones) taking in vistas long since consigned to memory but none the less very familiar. After some debate over where to stay half the group decamp to ´Los Amigos´ hostel just up the road from a cafe I used to frequent in days of yore, whilst my splinter group head for a hotel which is only slightly more expensive at 4 quid a night but has its own shower, beds and view of the lakeside roadworks (with built in alarm clock for 7am). Despite not sleeping at Los amiogos we spend a significant amount of time there courtesy of the cosy sofas, palm trees, kitten, dogs and fabulous veggie food. MOvies next door...Notes on a scandal...nah don´t fancy it...maybe tomorrow. No-one is bothered about Felix coming here, but we all watch the news obsessively for news of PG. It looks like it is to hit Nicuragua and Honduras first.