Ecuador, Vilcabamba and Banos

Vilcabamba, is a small 'Hippy Village' with an elevation of 5500 ft and is nestled in what is called 'The Valley of Longevity' It is only 142 miles from the city of Cuenca, however, it took a good 6 hrs getting there, via various shuttle buses, and taxies. The scenery was just beautiful as we drove up/down and around the mountains, very green and lush. It's quiet and laid back, the attraction to this area is....it's perfect year round weather, crisp clean air, very low cost of living, and friendly people. The main attractions for tourists are horseback riding (many of the locals ride into town, hitch the horse to a post, do their shopping (fresh veg/fruit market at the w/e). There are not many privately owned cars. There are some great hikes, the most famous being. 'The Sacret Mt of Mandango' but unfortunately closed a couple of weeks ago due to some random attacks on tourists, when 4 men with machetes attacked and robbed them of their money, cameras and i-phones. So, we just kept ourselves safe by walking mainly in and around the village. We only had a 3 day stay there before moving on to our last stop.... Banos.




Banos
Well, It seems we saved the best till last. Situated in a valley of waterfalls and hotsprings, Baños has become a mecca for international travelers seeking year-round temperate weather, a small town atmosphere, and a base for exploring the great Ecuadorian outdoors. Located four hours by bus from Quito, Baños offers many hotsprings, best time to soak is in the am when it is still misty and cooler. Again horseback riding is popular, then there is rafting, climbing and mountain biking. We ended up doing a very challenging hike, which according to the guide books should have taken an hour and a half..... well, it took us two just to climb the vertical part! However, the views from the ridge at the top were spectacular and we rewarded ourselves with a great lunch back in the town for $3 followed by a marvellous massage back at our very comfortable lodgings. Yesterday, Ron and I took the bus to Puyo (60 km) to visit the Botanical Gardens (really nice) and a monkey rehabilation center. It was a fun day and I captured a great vidieo of one of the larger monkeys leaping into Ron's lap and giving him this big old hug (keep in mind these are wild, not domestic) so the volunteers were fairly quick to distract him (the monkey, not Ron) with some food. Another little fellow decided it was OK to be craddled in my arms while giving himself a 'bath' ..rubbing himself all over with a lime, afterwards my shirt and arms were very sticky, not to mention, smelly but it was so fun.



Ron, ever on the look out for "the" place to relocate to, loves this place, however, it's main drawback is it's rather remote location...3-4 hrs from a hospital and airport.

And so, our adventure in Central/South America has come to an end. We are presently waiting for our taxi to take us back to the sprawling city of Quito our international airport for our flight to Miami tomorrow. However, for one last quick treat, immediately after breakfast we spent a couple of hours soaking in one of the nearby outdoor hot tubs, which was almost as good as our massage.

There are always places you wish you could have seen, the Galapagos being one, but we have to save something for a return trip!!

Ecuador, Cuenca

We chose to take a bus back to Quito, rather than risk the possibility of a repeat nightmare taxi drive, then boarded a flight to Cuenca. Again, another city but smaller than Quito, which in recent years, attracted 3500 expatriates. During our 5 day stay (this time we were renting a room in a young couples home, she was Ecadorian and he, Canadian). We had ample opportunity to speak with several expats who were more thanwilling to share their stories and reasons for relocating to this much gentler city with it's 4 rivers flowing through it, and grassy pathway alongside. And here were some of those reasons:

The mountains
The rivers
The people
The culture
The architecture
Sunshine
Cost of living
Parks
Cafes
Critters (lack of)

To give a little history.... Cuenca means 'River Basin' and has an elevation of 8500 ft. The Incas conquered Cuenca in the late 1400's, prior to that the Canari' had been living here since 500 AD. There is an abundance of museums, so we chose best part of a day to explore the most famous ... 'Museum del Banco Central' which had been constructed over what was previously, an Inca Palace. Attached was an archaeological site along with some lovely Botanical Gardens.

This museum has re-creations of typical dwellings from the various regions of Ecuador and a section devoted to the chronicles of the country's currency. Along with the history of the Incas, there were several real, shrunken heads. It was interesting to note that the "white man" was not thought worthy of having their heads shrunk!



We also wandered around The Panama Hat factory .... because, as we all know, Panama Hats come from Ecuador NOT Panama. We were quite tempted to purchase a couple, but discovered the most popular hats that the tourists prefer, sell here for $25, and are categorized as being only a grade 1 ... when in actual fact, a truly decent hat (a grade 20) sells for several thousand dollars and can be more easily purchased online.


We enjoyed our usual bus tour around Cuenca, but despite this we found that we walked 30 miles over our 4 days, enjoyed decent cups of coffee, good quality, tasty, inexpensive food. Saw local indians washing their laundry in the rivers (interestingly, in many cases it is the men who actually wash the clothes, while the women supervise) It is evident that a high priority is to have clean shoes, and there are shoeshinners set up everywhere, one even tried to persuade Ron to have his Keen walking sandals cleaned, Traffic still has the right of way here, and crosswalks are totally disregarded, if anything the drivers speed up if they see you using them! It definitely felt a much safer city despite there always being a guard with a sawn off shotgun standing outside every bank.

Ecuador, Quito and Otavalo

It took all day to get ourselves relocated from Panama to the huge sprawling city of Quito, temp barely 60 degrees and raining.... could we really be on the equator? But, with an altitude of 9000 ft we found ourselves wearing multiple warm layers and our rain gear, oh yes, and where was the oxgyen ....the air seemed so thin, this was to be 'home' for the next 4 days. As always, when we are in cities, we find ourselves walking 7, 8 or 10 miles a day as we explored museums, churches and generally get the feel of the place. We found that it did warm up between 11- 3, and our day packs would be full of clothing, as we peeled our layers off. Although Quito was very easy on our wallets, large $1beers, full meal $3 each, alpaca yarn for $5/100gm, Ron had a haircut for $2.75, generally I did not care for this city - it didn't feel safe. We were constantly being warned to be vigilant for pickpockets, not to be out walking after dark. One local lady even discouraged us from walking in a certain tourist area, saying' don't look, don't smile, don't speak to anyone, they could (and here she indicates something being placed over our nose) do to your body what ever they want" .... Well .... that was enough to put me off, and this was in broad daylight! The traffic was crazy, pedestrains second class citizens, and the buses belch out black clouds of exhaust fumes.

Our Quito experience was topped off with a 2 hr taxi ride from hell, the driver, a maniac. The man beside me kept crossing himself, Ron and I were white knuckled in an attempt to prevent ourselves being hurtled all over the place. There were 5 of us jammed in like sardines, luggage strapped on the roof, the driver seemed possessed, overtaking everything, ignoring the double yellow lines on the hair raising bends on what seemed like two wheels. We were most thankful to finally reach our destination, Otavalo, a small town nestled amongst lush mountains. Our accomodation was a cabin a couple of miles out of town, with scenery that can best be described as ' Little Switzerland'...llamas, donkeys, cows, dogs, clean air and oh so tranquil.



Our main reason for coming to this area was to experience "the world famous artisans market", which was somewhat overwhelming but really impressive, especially the live stock section, where locals were buying, selling and exchanging just about everything imaginable, from your everyday farm animal to guinea pigs (on the menu here!) and llamas of course. On Saturdays the venders set up stalls on every available speck of sidewalk and alleyway, and one can literally spend all day browsing and bargaining for treasures.


On Easter Sunday I attended a Catholic church service conducted in Latin and found myself to be the only tourist. Not only that, but the only grey haired person (and I was by no means the eldest) feeling like a giant beside the 4 ft, and under, local indians, who smiled their toothless smiles with bright eyes set in weather beaten faces. We were packed in like sardines standing, shoulders touching, and during the Easter Service, several groups of local indians brought bunches of corn stalks to the alter to receive a blessing for a good harvest. It really was a unique and unforgetable service. Later in the day I went horseriding, something I had not done for 25 years.... Now what on earth made me think I could just step up and swing my leg over the saddle as I had last done! but, I managed on the second attempt with some assistance that time. The horse was no fool he knew he didn't have an equestrian on his back, but we plodded on even through the pouring rain.



After the w/e we chose to take a bus back to Quito instead of a taxi, which turned out to be not only much cheaper but more comfortable too, and then a flight to Cuenca.......but that's another posting.

Panama City/Embera Village

After spending 10 days in two quiet mountain locations, we drove to Panama City dropping off the car we had rented for the previous week, and found our next lodging, a rather quirky hostel for the next few nights. The city seemed noisy, stiffling and hot after the cool mountain air and we were thankful to have a small pool we could dip into. Our first day in the City we did our usual "hop-on/hop-off" Bus Tour in order to get a feel for the city's sights, and then explore on foot the areas which appealed. Naturally, one of the highlights was visiting the locks of theCanal, which as most people I'm sure, we found to be really intriguing. Another nice area we walked was along the city waterfront, which ended up being an 8 mile walk, and our aching legs certainly confirmed that.

Amazing Day Trip to the Embera' Village


We were picked up at 7:30 by Anne Gordon - who was an animal trainer for film & TV for over 20 years when she was hired in early 2004 to work on a film "The End of the Spear" which was shot in the jungles of Panama. The production company had contracted to use the Embera' tribe as their actors for this real life story. During the months it took to film this movie Anne became friends with many of the Embera' people and fell in love with their quality of life and how warm and open hearted they are, and as fate would have it, she is now married to one of the Embera' men from the village, so we really felt fortunate as she was the perfect guide.

Anyway, to get back to our memorable day, after picking up another couple of Americans the 5 of us drove for an hour out of the city, before climbing into a hand dug out canoe with an outboard engine for the 90 min ride up the river, we were told it would have taken a day to paddle the same distance! It was really quite a challenge for our 3 native men to navigate the river against a strong current and in places the river was so shallow it was necessary to lift the outboard engine out of the water while we all climbed out and pushed the canoe through several of these low spots. That in itself was fun, and all so peaceful, seeing turtles gathered together warming themselves on rocks, and various birds gliding overhead.

There were about 100 total, counting the many children, living in this simple village consisting of about a dozen or so round open huts on stilts, with tree bark floors, and palm frond roofing. Each 'home' had it's own open wood fire set on a sand bed, simple pots for cooking, and a few hammocks for sleeping. Access up into the hut was by a log propped against the side with wedges cut for steps, when a family were away for the day then the log was simply turned round to show the smooth side!



Clothing for the women were brightly colored lengths of cloth just wrapped around their waist, the men wore only loin cloths, and all barefoot. No drawers or closets required for clothing, only a clothes line to dry the lenghts of cloth.

The river was used for bathing and washing their 'clothing' - with downstream as the bathroom area. Everywhere was tidy and picked even though there were kids, dogs and chickens everywhere.



We were able to roam the village freely, taking photos of the children swinging on woven ropes, playing kick ball, pretending to ride a horse, which was just a stick or pulling each other on a plastic 5 gallon container cut in half, which was their 'sled'. They all had big smiles and always wanted to see the photo you had just taken on your digital camera. The women weave
beautiful hand crafted baskets, or made jewlery from various pods/ seeds/ while the men wove monkey masks or did amazing carvings of birds, turtles, hummingbirds made from wood or hard nuts.

The men would also fish (meals were not set times, and as Anne said, you could never be quite sure what you would be served, she has learned to eat many things an American would not normally consider). Much of their time was spend 'body painting' each other with elaborate designs using the juice of a special fruit. These designs only last 10 days so it was a constant upkeep.

We were introduced to an elder who was the herbalist and took us on a tour informing us, via Anne as our interpretor, of the properties of the various plants, he was a gentle, quietly spoken man.

We were given a simple but delicious lunch of cooked fish/plantains/fruit, served in large palm leaves formed into a pouch, and afterwards treated to some traditional dancing, singing and the playing of simple handmade instruments. Our return trip down river was much quicker but just as enjoyable.

It was easy to see why Anne fell in love with these warmhearted friendly people and their easy going lifestyle, and we were all a little sad when it came time to leave.

Note: The majority of this tribe lives about 300 miles further into the jungle.

El Valle de Anton, Panama

Despite recommendations for us to visit Bocas Del Toro (Panama's principle tourist draw to some of the most beautiful beaches) we decided to continue to seek out the quieter more remote mountainous areas, and so found ourselves in 'El Valle de Anton' elevation 2000 ft, nestled in the crater of a giant extinct volcano, last active some three million years ago! To be fair it is a popular, second home 'weekend get away' for the folk who live in Panama City, approx 2 hr drive away. Our lodging has been a modest hotel with the big attraction of having a large covered roof patio, hammocks, comfortable bamboo furniture, great views of the mountains/creater rim, along with warm breezes, so when we want to read, relax, or enjoy our breakfast of fresh fruit this is the spot to be. (Speaking of fruit....huge local pineapples for $1...perfectly ripe and juicy....what a treat!)



The charm here is once again the cooler climate, the lush scenery and clean air - though one finds 'pockets' of smoldering trash which is not so pleasant - a frequent occurance throughout Panama it seems. And the reason we are not at the coastline at this time of the year..... the comfortable 70 degree temps. Like Boquete, this is a popular place for hiking.....we did over extend ourselves a bit on a 3 hr strenuous and challenging walk one day with our legs feeling like jelly at the end, but we enjoyed ourselves and slept well.
Another shorter and kinder walk for our legs boasted of it's unique square trees along with their square growth rings. - We read that saplings from these trees were being grown in FL to see if they retain their squareness in a different environment, however, it is believed that the shape is probably due to some unknown but purely local condition.

Other attractions include horseback riding and warm thermal pools with the added attraction of indulging in a mud bath with supposed curitive properties all located in a remote forested area.....we restrained ourselves and just did a facial!


El Valley de Anton is pristine, quiet, and lacks a town center, however there is no evidence of trash, shacks (or worse) dwellings for the poor, for this is not an area where the indigenous people live. What does strike one as being unusual here is the number of bicyles due to the extensive flatness of the crater. However the cyclists could benefit from a couple of safety tips, such as, don't ride down the center of the roads at night without a flashlight or any kind of reflector on your bike, and the preferred dark clothing only makes you blend into the inky blackness of the night.

At times clouds DO tend to roll on down the mountain sides, almost reaching the town, feels a bit like being wrapped up in cotton wool, then the warm breeze becomes a little cooler and chases us indoors for a while. Several times today we heard a vehicle drive by with a loud booming megaphone making what we thought was some important announcement..... such as to the impending eruption of the volcano maybe? ... only later to learn it was a truck full of watermelons that someone was trying to sell!..... that's the problem of having an over active imagination.



There is an extensive choice of places to eat, from a road side stand that prepares the most delicious chicken or beef tacos $1.50 to a fancy Irish pub, that looks more like a country estate with it's stone walls, and upscale landscaping, where one can purchase fish/chips or sheperds pie for less than $10 and a beers $1.

Tomorrow (28th) we exchange our peace and quiet for Panama City.... better get the ear plugs out.

Boquete, Panama

And so, all good things must come to an end .... we said farewell to our jungle house and climbed into a taxi at 7 am to drive down the 7 km teeth rattling road for the last time in order to catch the 90 min water taxi to Golfito. Here we boarded a 2 hour "chicken bus" ride to Panama's border, thankful to have secured a seat. We prepared ourselves for the forewarned, complicated process of crossing into Panama, however it turned out to be a fairly simple, if somewhat disorganized, process because before we knew it, we were bundled into a taxi (deciding it was well worth the extra cash NOT to take another local bus which would have been a 4 hr, no a/c trip to our next destination). We received one last scrutinized head to toe check from a couple of armed police who obviously lacked any form of humor as my rather timid smile was received with a piercing frown.

Oh what luxury.... we were gliding along smooth well marked roads where 2 hr later we arrived in the mountain town of Boquete, elevation about 3000 ft, with it's cool fresh climate and lush pristine natural setting and our 'home' for 6 nights. Boquete is known as 'The valley of eternal spring' and is a well known destination for outdoor lovers with plenty of hiking trails and surrounding breathtaking vistas of mist covered hills, nearby forests, and many coffee plantations, farms and gardens. There are jacaranda trees, bougainvillaea and azaela blooming everywhere in fact the ground is so fertile here I would bet that if one stuck a stick in the ground, it would start sprouting leaves in no time! The climate is perfect, no air conditioning OR heating required year round! That's not to say there is not a rainy season or that it doesn't get cool at times, but folk just throw on a sweater or blanket at night.



There is a large community of expriates from the US and Canada now living here, some are involved with the much needed voluntary work (teaching, dental and medical services) for the indigenous folks that are very prevalent in this town, they have so very little, and one can see their poverty everywhere. Generally they seemed to prefer to keep to themselves, and would rarely make eye contact. We were fortunate enough to visit and spend a little time with several Americans who relocated to this beautiful area, and patiently answered many of our questions, they don't seem to miss living in the US at all.

Observations:

- An over population of wandering, seeminly homeless dogs, malnourished and skittish. We were actually told to pretend to pick up a rock, then the dog would flee.... this is how these poor animals are treated.

- Garbage needs to be placed in elevated wire baskets outside residences in order to keep it out of reach of these dogs.

- And, like everywhere we have been, the smell of burning of trash is always in the air!

- Fine dining, $12.... Beer $1 unless bought at a groc store then it's 50cents!

- Aggressive drivers, cars/ taxies/ buses, all oblivious they have indicators but love their horns.

- Excellent roads.

- Electricity erratic, one day we were without electricity for 7 hours, not sure what would happen had this been Christmas Day and all those turkeys cooking.

- Locals holding out a parrot, for sale along the main roads.... I wanted to buy them all and then set them free again.




Two coffee pickers that agreed to a photo, but would not smile.

Bamboo House

One would NOT believe the roads we drove on in order to reach our 'Jungle Home' which is well and truly "off the grid" During the 7 hour journey we drove over mountains that look as though the road would only support a bike, across wooden bridges barely wide enough to accomodate our 4 tires, even through a few low rivers. At one part of the journey we opted for a short cut that took us through a small town to an unmarked river crossing. To get across, the car had to be backed down a steep incline onto a "single car" rusty ferry propelled by a wooden boat lashed to the side of it..... quite the adventure.


Our "Jungle Experience" is not so scary after all. No mosquitoes :) and the monkeys keep their distance, but oh how they have entertained us as we watch them travel through the canopy of the trees in large groups with the young un's hanging on. It's keeping the racoonls at bay that is the challenge, all our food is either in a mini fridge, the oven or locked in a mesh screened cupboard. Yes, we have a few hard backed beatles, spiders, lizards, bats, birds that actually fly through the 'A' framed roofing, but we are doing GREAT!
We need to be vigilant with the clearing up after food prep due to the industrious ants. Katie and I took the 30 stepping stone walk to the open air bathroom one night only to see 2 pairs of eyes shinning in our flashlights .... we had disturbed two racoons playing in the toilet water! I am actually very impressed with the bathroom area, simple wood/ stone trough for a sink, and a bamboo covered pipe shower with folage for walls.

There is a beautiful butterfly garden at one side of 'the house' and they frequently drift through our living quarters, and the smallest birds rest among the bamboo beams singing their hearts out... it is truly like living in a garden. We are lulled to sleep by the sound of the ocean and the howler monkeys calling out to each other.



The house with 'no walls' actually is really neat, a simple construction, a bit like a ' Swiss Family Robinson' tree house only it has raised deck levels from the ground, not up in the tree tops, and the four of us are enjoying it immensely. Our days are simple, even though the jungle comes to life at the earliest sign of daylight, we just take in all the strange sounds and scents... these monkeys can really make a racket. We don't get going till we have had our coffee, which takes us to about 9 am, and by 'getting going' I mean, we meander down to the beach, a 3 min walk away, and 'wallow' in the tidal pools - watching the brilliantly colored macaws - for a couple of hours. Then it's breakfast/lunch around noon, followed with reading and sleeping till 4 pm ...none of us have a desire to move any faster than a sloth! We can't, it's too hot. Then somehow it's evening time, fix dinner, play cards, sleep, and start the whole hectic process all over again the next day!

All four of us can say we have this relaxation thing down to a science!!


We did change up the routine one day by taking a remote walk to reach a waterfall which we had been told was a great place for a swim. So using the cobble stone river as our guide we carefully picked our way through the water which was anywhere from ankle to chest deep! (had we not been assured that this indeed was the right way we may well have turned back as there were no directions - just word of mouth). Shaded by the lush canopy filled with monkeys we trekked onward until we reached the cascading waterfall with it's deep refreshing cold pool. Here we lounged at the base of the falls thankful that we were able to steal a brief reprieve from the tropical heat. The 45 minuite walk back along the riverbed afforded us an opportunity to encourage a couple with directons to the falls, feeling we were now seasoned explorers!

March 5th Costa Rica

Today we left our quiet cocoon haven, the bio thermal springs, which we had enjoyed for the past week, and drove " the never-ending nightmare" of a road (5 hours to cover 40 kilometers in first and second gear all the way!) interspersed with sheer drop offs and at times the road partially washed out. We eventually reached the town of Monteverde, snug in the misty greenbelt of two cloud- forest reserves( elevation 4000 ft)... a good massage would be greatly appreaciated right now. However the views were quite magnificent, and we joked about how the tourist folk were missing out on NOT charging us for this 'adventure ride) Rain gear, smartwool, and mud boots are definitely in order here. This is also our first hostel experience ( have to say I miss my own private bathroom, and the bed could be compared to a park bench... BUT, there IS a sloth sleeping in the tree right outside our bedroom window.

Costa Rica

On Feb 27th we picked up our rental car and drove 3 hours north of San Jose to the mountains where we have been staying near a rain forest in a delightful, off the beaten track, quiet and peaceful hot springs "resort" consisting of our casita and one other .... total occupancy of tourists, four on 35 acres! Generally this location is used by the locals at the weekends for picnic gatherings and dipping in the various pools, we were told 200 plus came last Sunday(family day) Having enjoyed having the place to ourselves all week we are planning on a day trip out this Sunday! The air is clear with cool refreshing breezes that carries a delicious citrus scent, which wafts from time to time, from a cirtus factory several miles away(almost like marmalade in the making.. it's just lovely). This is THE place to calm one's soul. We are spending hours lounging in the warm spring pools day and night (though I prefer the day time) swinging on the porch watching the sun rise/set, while being entertained by the varying sounds of the rain forrest (which can almost be deafening at times).

We are starting to distinguish which bird/monkey/frog is serenading us since we took a couple guided tours.....one at the nearby Hanging Bridges in Arenal. Oh my ..... what a truly wonderful experience this was. Our 3 hour guided walk (once again just the two of us, high season is Dec) was truly awesome, we crisscrossed the jungle by a series of suspension bridges (17 total and varying in length 16-330 feet) at various levels above and through the colorful rain forest....ground level to canopy. We had good views of the Arenal Volcano, from the rainforest, and waterfalls within. We were amazed at the industrious Leaf Cutter Ants (see photo of how nothing is left of a huge palm leaf). We observed a ' palm eyelash pitviper' (one of the many poisionous snakes) quietly digesting his lizard meal, trantulas hiding in their holes, Spider and Howler monkeys swinging high in the canopy. Saw and smelt the Peccary (wild boar) trust me, they truly do stink. Our guide had with her a very powerful spotting scope and we were able to see up close, and capture a couple of photos, of a Rufous tailed Hummingbird, a coloful Motmot. Surprisingly the national bird is not the elusive, brilliantly colored Toucan, but rather the clay colour robin, reason being, this cleaver bird can imitate 22 other birds and preditors. The Toucan, we finally figured out, is seen very briefly in the early am and at dusk. I was rewarded for my patience today after waiting an hour and a half, to capture my first and only decent photo of this elusive bird... it was worth it.


Our week here has slipped by quickly and have no plans as to where we will be spending the next 4 days, but that's all part of the adventure. We will meet Donovan and Katie at the San Jose airport on Fri evening, then the following day take off on a 10 hour drive south for our week in our thatch roof only, open air jungle house... we may encounter our first mosquitoes!

First month in review

As Ron and I are sitting on the porch of our charming Casita high in the mountains of Costa Rica, we were recalling the various " adventures" we have experienced during the first month of our trip:
- a week spent with Nicole and Jeff (friends of Donovan) in Mexico who treated us like family and helped us ease into this new environment
- 4 Maya ruins
- 5 cenotos (having swum in 3)
- 3 caves, two being dry, one wet that we canoed in
- reef snorkling for a day
- an afternoon of horse racing Belize style (bareback)
- yoga under the jungle canopy
- river tubing passing women washing their clothes on the rocks
- transportation by plane, bus, car, horse drawn rail cart, bicycles, sailboat, golf cart, water taxi, and our aging legs
- presently in a rain forest enjoying natural hot spring pools
- friendly, charming and helpful locals in 3 countries.

This beats a rocking chair on the porch back home!

Belize - Barton Creek

On Feb 21st eight of us from the Parrot Nest Lodge hired a guide to show us the the most amazing cave, only accessable via a very tippy canoe, we had to be careful to sit completely still, which was challenging for the two hours we spent inside these caves. Each canoe held 3 people and visibility only made possible by a large light powered by car batteries. - at one point we switched all lights off and experienced the most eerie, pitch black darkness imaginable, aware only of the quiet dripping of water from the stalactites - there were a few bats but thankfully they did not bother us.

The beauty of these caves was staggering, the roof for the most part was 85 feet high with many levels of shelves holding Mayan artifacts, and some bones/skulls...it was/is known as the "Entrance to the Sacred Underworld." There were times when all 3 of us in each canoe had to lie completely flat on our backs as our faces were but an inch or so from the roof. It was impossible for our cameras to capture the beauty, and we know that one day it will not be possible for tourists to continue to have this accessability to such a wonder of nature. It made the rather precarious, extremely rough, 2 hr drive on the worst road imaginable in a car with no suspension, and which broke down twice, well worth the discomfort. Despite the appalling road, we passed through some of the most beautiful mennonite farming land with the air scented with thousands of citrus trees...all fruit handpicked!

A Day Snorkling

While in Caye Caulker we had the good fortune to spend a day with maybe the oldest guide, 73 year old gentleman, Juni, who was a gentle man in every sense. He made his own sail boat named Trinity, only holds 8, and he has been taking tourists out on snorlking trips nearly everyday for the past 54 years. He is strictly for the "oneness and enjoyment of creation" maybe the only such guide that does not provide or encourage alcohol on his excursions. (All other such tours boasted," free rum and cokes, as much as you want," on the way back).He surprised us with the best snacks and wonderful stories of his life.

We snorkled with rays which Juni just picked up and petted and placed over our chest so we could see their smiling faces as it glided over our facemask! We played with a large green moray eel, that entwined himself around Juni like a streamer - absolutely no fear. Huge fish came from nowhere and just attached themselves to us, they were most inquisitive to check us out. It was our first experience to snorkle and swim with several sea turtles and we found ourselves hardly breathing as this underwater world accepted us. In some respects we were transported back to our Kwaj days, enjoying the many schools and variety of brightly colored fish. The only disappointment was the coral being somewhat brown and dead, we were so very spoiled by Kwaj in this respect, but we are told the coral is changing like this that all over the world.

Juni shared his world with us and we felt we had been privy to a very special day, other tours may have been good, but ours was magical.

Belize Jungle

Gomez

We are spending the next week in lodgings called " The Parrot's Nest" in San Ignacio (western Belize) on the edge a rain forest. It was blistering hot when we arrived, a 60 mile drive from Belize City (which we both agreed to be the 'armpit' of the world). It took two and a half hours to do this short distance, there were almost more potholes than dirt road. Our transportation was an old school bus which had two speeds ..... a bat out of hell..... and grinding halt .... stopping between 70-100 times (in a cloud of dust) to let the locals on and off.

Our accommodations are becoming even more rustic, wooden hut, corrugated roof, chicken wire windows. While relaxing on our deck we noticed a couple of strange looking animals (Agouti) otherwise known as " The Royal Rat! " as this animal was a dish served to Queen Elizabeth in 1995 when she was visiting Belize! I have definitely stepped outside my "comfort zone".

A fun Day
The owner of our adjoining property (English fellow from Oxford!) gave us a ride into town, "San Ignacio" located 3 miles away, and we spent a while pottering around the daily fruit market before walking to the local Maya ruin called Cahal Pech, meaning " place of the ticks" once home to the Maya Royal family. It was very accessable, low key, no hoards of tourist coaches.
On our return home we stopped off at the iguana hatchery, had a very informative tour guide who introduced us to "Gomez" the 15 yr old reigning male who lives the life of riley. It was cute seeing Ron covered with many of his offspring. We cooled off mid afternoon with a 40 min float down the muddy river which surrounds the property...I was very happy I wore shorts rather than a swimsuit as the fish were having a grand time nibbling our butts as we sat in our large inner tubes, I began to wonder, a little late perhaps, about the possibility of river snakes. We enjoyed relaxing on the communal deck watching the sunset on the river, feeling good to have done a 5 mile walk as we were beginning to feel a bit sluggish.




Gomez's offspring!

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Belize

Having dropped off our rental car in Chetumal we had a few hours to kill before meeting up with our pre arranged ' cross the boarder ' guide so we took ourselves off to the large Maya Museum, and having visited several sites, we now had a greater apprection for what it had to offer. Getting across the boarder into Belieze proved to be a bit of a hassel, thankfully we had a guide, otherwise I think we would still be stuck in Mexico! It feels comfortable being back in an English speaking country!

Considering we hadn't booked our accomodation for our 2 nights in Corozal we felt fortunate to find the last room availabe in a bar/ motel run by a Welshman, a good cooked breakfast was provided and we also managed to have our laundry done, the first time in 2 weeks, for the amazing price of 50 cents/pound. The clientele were mixed and varied, and we enjoyed some lively conversations during our stay. Corozal itself did not have much to offer.

Sat 11th we caught the daily 7 am ferry to Sarteneja, a sleepy fishing village of only 3000, where there are hardly any cars, somehow the locals manage to transport several young children and infants at one time, on the handlebars and navigate the dirt pot holed roadways.

This quiet peaceful location was the perfect place for us to recover from our flu like symptoms and recharge our batteries before heading off for Caye Caulker... a small spit of land, 6 miles by half a mile requiring 2 water taxies and a 3 hr trip to reach, but this will be another chapter.

Northern Yucatan by car

OK so we actually managed to get around in a rental car that sounded as though it was going to 'peg-out' any second, I was convinced we would be stranded in the middle of nowhere, and our skeletal selves eventually stumbled upon, as barely a car was seen throughout that week, just the occassional bicycle with worn tires carrying stacked firewod balanced rather precariously. However, not so and our first couple of nights were spent in what was supposed to be a very sleepy fishing village, however, our w/e coinsided with the annual steer roping / musical event and as our hotel was so close by we could hear the locals enjoying every cord played till 3 am!

While in the area we drove to Rio Largartos (ate THE best fish soup) and toured the 'salt beds' nearby. The water was flamingo pink as it evaporated leaving great amounts of industral salt behind.

On Sunday Feb 5th decided to drive to Tulum, a good 2 hr drive south, and found ourselves staying in the deluxe room of a hostel (which equated to a cheap motel room), however it included a pancake breakfast and we took advantage of the communial kitchen for other meals. Two nights there was enough, so off to Bacalar, where we enjoyed views across its tranquil lake. While here we spent a day enjoying the Maya ruins of Coba, and where thankful that our 4 mile walk was well shadded. Eventually we reached the largest pyramid in Northern Yukatan. Despite the blistering heat, I thought, " I'll probably not pass this way again, so why not give it a try". Climbing up was a lot easier than climbing down - steep narrow steps each a foot in height - after 129 of them my legs were reduced to noodles for a couple of days, but oh the sense of achievement! :)

So far the food is OK, no mosquito bites and we still find everyone to be friendly and charming.

We added a few photos to the Mexico album, check out the one of Ron....he gave the Maya calandar a spin and it stopped by itself right on his next birthday! Click the link at the top.

Mexico, the beginning of our Central American Adventure

Not your normal mode of transportation!

Has it only been a week since we left the US and arrived in Merida Mexico? It certainly seems longer as we have been busy and on the go since our departure. Our first week was spent with Nicole, Jeff and little Asher, their adorable son, (they are here working as missionaries for Calvary Chapel of Ft Lauderdale) and have been such gracious hosts.
We are adjusting to this new culture where poverty is prevalent, yet the locals greet us warmly. One evening, following a church service in a small village outside Merida, we had the privilege of helping hand out a selection of breads to the poorest of the poor, who responded to us with sincere greeings, huge smiles and hugs, it was a humbling experience.
Jeff took time from his busy schedule to guide us on three amazingly different sightseeing experiences," The Mayan Ruins" at Uxmal. "The Lol-Tun Caves" and 3 Cenotes (water holes) here's a brief note on each:
Uxmal
The name Uxmal means 'three times built' in Mayan. "The Pyramid of the Magician" is it's highest structure (117 feet high). The Maya would often build a new temple over an existing one, and in this case five stages of construction have actually been found. Uxmal was one of the largest cities of the Yucatán peninsula and, at its height, was home to about 25,000 Maya.
Lol-Tun Caves (comprised of many kilometers, but we walked through only a fairly well lit single kilometer). These ancient Mayan caves first occupied seven thousand years ago, provided water and clay for domestic use, but above all, it was a religious center and shelter. This cave is noted as having the longest sequence of human occupation in the northern Yucatan peninsula. The remains of mastodons, camel, and bison long since extinct were believed to have fallen into these caves over 14,000 years ago.
The Cenotes at Cuzama
There are believed to be over 6,000 cenotes in the Yucatan state alone, but only 2,400 are registered. We visited 3 of these spectacular "water holes." The transportation was rather unique - a horse, or I should say, poor half starved nag, pulling our cart along a 12 mile single narrow railroad track. So, when two carts met one got off the track and back on again to continue. We decended into one of these underground cenotes via a hole just wide enough for our shoulders to get through down a steep vertical wooden ladder set into the stone. The water below was incredibly blue and clear with Stalactite formations adding to their beauty, it made for a lovely place to swim. The other 2 were a little easier to decend into but even so, all part of a fun and memorable experience.

Click the link at the top to see our photos.



Here is the fish where are my chips?