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!

Sent from my iPad

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?