It was 20°and snowing when we packed up and left Vermont yesterday. A new Moon and one of the shortest days of the year I stood on the frozen pond admits the swirling flakes surrounded by white; snow covered ice and trees the winter home half-done and awaiting spring to be completed. The girls have their own backpacks this time and it promises to be a full on backpacking trip through Belize. shopping solo as we idled out front.

We rushed through last minute errands in Montpelier crowded with shoppers and slush covered streets. At the bank we learned that no one does traveler’s checks anymore were also learned our flight out of Burlington is ½ hour earlier than we thought. The coop parking lot was full, so Colleen did the last-minute

Then it was 35 miles of snow covered highway to Burlington and the days inn where we are leaving our car and staying upon our return in 26 days. We changed out of our winter and caught a taxi to the where our flight was now delayed a half hour

and it was after dark by the time we took off into the snowy skies. Ambiana was on the right side of plane and got the glorious view as a plane emerged from the clouds revealing a strip of sunset ski beneath the black dome of stars that is the universe. Jakobi and I on the other side of the plane saw clouds lit from below by the lights as we flew over New England we landed in Charlotte North Carolina around 9:00 PM and found a nook of the airport to call our own. The girls were restless, and Colleen went off with a friend from college and I lay down to get what sleep I could. After a night on the Airport floor our tent will seem like a feather bed.

ARRIVAL

Our hour flight out of Miami was delayed. We sat on the plane for an hour before we took off. Ambiana and Jakobi did not care because the plane had screens. We landed in Belize around 12:30 PM and proceeded through customs. Jakobi almost lost her passport in the bathroom and customs took my custom a $30.00 bag of granola. I was devastated, it was my comfort. Very sad.

BELIZE CITY

We then took a U.S. $35.00 car ride into Belize city to the more expensive of the ferries to the cayes. I hate the money rush of the locals the minute we land but can’t blame them. just be polite and firm. Colleen went off to the grocery store while Jakobi passed out on the bench and Ambiana and I hung out with the bags.

When Colleen came back I went to both ferry ticket offices and the one we were at was twice as expensive as the other. I met a local spice woman who had a shop near our bench and bought a bottle of hot sauce from her and she told Colleen where the local produce markets was. We woke Jakobi up and moved up the street to the less expensive Ocean ferry and Colleen and Ambiana left for the produce market while I watched over the bags and a passed-out Jakobi. Colleen and Ambiana soon returned with a bag of fruit and veggies and Ambiana carrying a watermelon.

Our ferry was a slightly bigger version of the one we took in Fiji 10 years ago. 40 plus people packed into boat we sat out front and Ambiana spent the superfast ride with their head out the window and air blowing straight back.

Night descended fast and soon we were racing through blackness. It took us 45 minutes to reach Caye Caulker and we disembarked into a ramshackle island paradise. Golf carts and shanty restaurant’s; small hotels and in the basketball court a Creole Christmas celebration with salsa Santa Claus and seemingly all the kids on the island.

We hike on to Bella’s hostel where we set up our tent out back next to a beached a houseboat.
Colleen cooked us some yummy burrito and plantains and then Ambiana and I crawled into our tent and went to sleep. Jakobi and Colleen who had slept on the planes headed out for a walk. Now it is morning, I was out of the tent with sunrise and sat on the small dock on the small bay leading out to the sea. The hostel is coming to life around me as I shake off the weariness of two days of travel. It is hot and muggy out and smells like the sea. When the girls awake we will venture forth and see what the island has to offer us.

Caye Caulker is like a super big Utila, if I was here alone or just with Colleen it would be more fun. If there are no beaches and the kids get restless. Everyone goes out on snorkel and dive tours and then come back in eat and drink. We walked to the split; a channel that is dredged between the 2 halves of the island and there is a bar and a swimming area off the concrete pier and we get in the water but there’s not much else to do, no beach to play on the, no shade to sit in.

Jakobi is a bored and throws a fit and Colleen and Ambiana go for a walk to get away from her. Chillin’ is not an option so Jakobi and I go for a walk too. We return to the area and Jakobi wants a coconut and climbs a pile of sand and tries to get one, I finally wrest one from the palm and she is instantly happy.

Colleen and Ambiana return and we go back to the hostel for lunch and lying around in hammocks.

The Next day we headed out to the spit to do some snorkling, There is hardly any shae and we set up beneath a palm tree behind some shacks near a construction site. I sat there and read while the girls snorkled. When I joined them my mask ripped apart at the seams. Colleen’s snorkle takes on water so we have a matching pair for the garbage. The girls love the water and could stay in the ocean all day but we have to drag them out to take a shade break so they don;t get a bad sunburn.

This whole part of the island is packed with shacks, stores and restaurants. Every block has a lit up crystal water sign and a small grocery store interspersed with concrete block dwellings and a hole in the wall places to eat. Colleen has found a less expensive hostel but we’re only going to stay two more nights including this one, so the hassle of moving is not worth it. I am not content to chill here beyond one more day because this is not a chill spot but need one more day of nothing to acclimate before packing up and spending the day traveling.

The girls have taken a fancy to the hostel owner’s 12 year old daughter Bella and her 2 week old pup Panda and spend the afternoon playing with them both and getting into a massive water balloon fight.

At 4pm we head to the barge dock to catch a boat to the KoKo Klub on the North side of the Caye beyond the split. The ride is free if we spend BZ$10 at the bar. We finally find the semblance of a beach here as well as a nice bar built over the water, beach chairs, a water trampline and climbing pyramid and a fancy infinity pool. Ambiana loved it, this is her kind of place. We swam and played in the water then sat on the roof deck and had rum punch and virgin pina coladas as the sun set behind dark ominous clouds

Am seriously questioning why we did not just find a beach to camp on for three weeks but then remember that the hurricanes torched them all. The girls would be happy to stay here longer because they love the dogs but Coleen and I are ready to explore Belize and find some place more chill to hang out in so we have decided to head to the sleepy fishing village of Sarteneja. We wake at dawn and walk to the ferry through quiet streets before everyone wakes up.

The ferry ride in daylight is just as crowded and just as fast, it is interesting to people watch and to see what we couldn’t see on the way out.

Arriving back in Belize City we head off across the river to find the buses.

We are headed to Sateneja up on the NE coast of Belize. There is a backpackers Hostel there where we can camp, it is on the Caribbean Sea and is supposed to be beautiful. We found the buses a short walk from where the ferry dropped us off. We checked the time of departure then Colleen ran off to the grocery store to re-supply.

The way the buses work is you board them, they fill up and as the bus makes its way to its destination a ticket taker/conducter makes his way down the aisle and collects the fare.

This trip was just over 3 hours and cost us BZ$27 which is US$13.50 for the four of us. We passed mile after mile of flat savannah, i am surprised how flat the country is, i was expecting more sharp steep mountains like Tortola but there is not a mountain to be seen. The flora is like Hawai’i as we are at 17 degrees N latitude. Lots of sugar cane. At Orange Walk Town we took on lots of people and sqeezed 4 into a seat. Jakobi and I shared our seat with a mayan grandmother with a big box of lard on her lap. The people are all so friendly and such a beautiful mix of Mayan, Spanish and African faces. The ride from OWT was long, dusty and bumpy and we were glad to finally arrive and the bus let us off right in front of Backpacker’s Paradise where we are staying!

We were greted by Natalie, the owner and set up our camp in the shade at the back of the property right up against the forest.

There is a communal screened in structure with hammocks, lights, wi-fi and a kitchen. It is so QUIET here after Caye Caulker.

A fellow traveller informed us that the last chance to buy fresh fish before everything shuts up for the holidays is right now so we walked into town to find the local fisherman.

Christmas in Belize!

The town is sleepy and peaceful right on the gulf with little beaches and long piers leading out into the water.

We found the fisherman and followed him back to his house where we picked out a 3# US$5 barracuda which he gutted and fillet for us.

Our friend LUCY who found us every day in Sarteneja and followed us everywhere,

We walked back to our camp as the sunset and Colleen cooked us a glorious fish dinner.

We spent lazy days in Sarteneja. I asked Natalie about the Mayan ruins nearby and how to find them and she told me I would never find them without a guide, a guide that would cost us $US20 per person. I had the feeling she was getting a cut of this fee so declined her offer and after breakfast we headed out to see just how hard it would be to find. We walked through the village to the road we figured from the map that the ruins were on and it lead us out of town though the forest. We came across an Irish-American who lived on the road and he told us to look for a big mango tree so we continued down the road and came across two locals one of which had just killed a snake and wanted to show it to us. I enquired about the ruins and he said he could take us there and headed out into the brush. Colleen figured we had just hired him but i was not so sure, i think he was just being friendly.

He led us through the jungle to a small overgrown ruin and said there were bigger ones just up the road. Colleen was still worried we were going to have to pay him and the girls were being eaten by bugs so we declined and headed back to town, We came across Patrick, the Irish-American, again and when we told him we did not see the ruins he said I will take you there myself. Which he did and there it was, a big brush covered tree topped mound, You could tell it was something ancient because the land is flat all around. Beyond it was a flat courtyard with big mounds at the 4 corners. Pat told us this was the ball-court. The bugs were really bad and the girls quickly left which left me no time to linger (thus I forgot to take photos) and get a sense of the place but still I could feel it, it was awe inspiring so much so that i forgot to take pictures because I was caught up in the thoughts of a vast civilization that had once been here upon the land where no we have all these concrete block shacks selling chips and cell phone towers there was once an elaborate culture that spanned this whole region for hundreds of miles, a culture that has nothing in common with the one here where even the poorest people are staring into smart phones all day. The Mayan world view is now gone buried here in the jungle but the stars overhead which inspired that world view are still overhead every night and staring at them I can almost feel the awe and wonder upon which the Maya looked upon the world and built such majestic temples and cities to reflect it.

We ate lunch on the waterfront and Jakobi tried to go in the water but 1 foot off the beach sunk up to her knees in the mangrove mud. Swimming must be done off the piers here and so we ventured out on the one un the background of this picture and splashed around.

Due to the Christmas Holiday there would be no buses out of Sarteneja on Christmas day and not wanting to be stuck here and not looking forward to that dusty bumpy bus ride Colleen hatched a plan to catch the Thunderbolt ferry to Corozal on Christmas Eve in hopes that the buses there would run on Christmas day and get us to San Ignacio where we were to meet up with my sister Patti. So we packed up and left Backpacker Paradise and headed into town to catch the Christmas Eve 6 on 6 football (soccer) tournament and the 4pm Ferry to Corozal. I spent time at the game watching the action and sewing my backpack.

Then we headed down to the pier and hung out awaiting the ferry, Colleen took a nap, Jakobi and I splashed around in the water, Ambiana began her 2nd book of the trip; “A Wrinkle In Time”. Sarteneja is beautiful, a palm lined waterfront that in the US would be worth millions but here is litter strewn and fronted by concrete shacks in various states of disrepair and construction. We wiled away the afternoon watching a brush fire in the distance and the sun sink lower. The locals came out on their bikes to hang out and swim. Everyone here has a smart-phone and it on it all the time. At 4pm people began arriving for the ferry and it showed up on time and very crowded but they somehow managed to fit everyone on-board.

COROZAL

It was a quick 30 miute trip into the sunset to Corozal where we disembarked and walked the short way to the Carribean Village RV Park

Camping and RV’s was crossed out on the sign but they still let us camp and we had the entire 100 space lot to ourselves and our own really nice bathroom with a shower. We ended up cooking in the bathroom because it was so windy.

Colleen went into town to find gas for the stove and to buy some food, she loves these missions to get supplies as it is alone time for her and an adventure while I am content to stay back and set up camp. Colleen returned with the gas and some Belekin Stout, the national beer of Belize for a Christmas Eve Treat, it tasted like Budweiser mixed with a weak stout, not very good but it is always good to try out the local stuff.

Jakobi in what has become her Christmas Tradition hung up her sock on a bush and we went to sleep with a street light shining down upon us and the nearby road and fireworks lulling us to sleep. We woke to a morning shower which quickly passed and then we were up in hopes of catching a bus. As I broke down camp Jakobi opened her sock; she got a lime, some chocolate balls and a page from Ambiana
s puzzle book to do on the bus.

We walked to the bus station and found there was an 8:30am bus to Belize City and had 45 minutes to wait so we ate some breakfast.

We rode south to Belize City through flat savannah like country. I spied a pyramid shaped hill and knew it was a ruin and had the overwhelming sense that we are traveling through a wasteland with the remnants of an awesome civilization hidden everywhere. We arrived in Belize City at 11:30am and immediately got on a bus to San Ignacio. The conductor on this bus was a woman and she was an awesome conductor. She found seats for all of us on a crowded bus. I had to stand in the back with the luggage for awhile but that was okay as I like to keep an eye on it. People embark and disembark from the back door of the bus. We passed through the capital of Belomopan. As we traveled further west the country became hilly and more jungley

We arrived in San Ignacio and disembarked at the town plaza where Colleen stuck up a conversation with some French travelers who wanted to consult a map of San Ignacio in our Lonely Planet book.

We found our campsite on it and started walking in that direction when a van headed towards us. We figured it was a taxi hoping for a fare but Patti emerged from the window waving at us. What a surprise, we planned on meeting her but not literally running into her. We hugged and exchanged greetings and agreed to meet up at Mana Kai our campground once she got settled at her place. We excitedly kept walking and walking and walking and realized we had passed our campground long before we saw Patti so were nit so frustrated because if we had found it right away we would not have found Patti right away!

The campground has a big field for tents, several bungalows, a communal kitchen and a palapa with hammocks, wi-fi and to the girls delight a TV, so much for our screen free vacation. I set up our tent and Patti soon arrived and we all hung out catching up then decided to walk into town and check things out.

The campground is right in the city with a big market right next door, the city center is only a 5 minute walk away.

We found the tourist strip with restaurants and tour offices pretty easily and decided this being Christmas to have some Christmas Nachos and rum punch.

On our 2nd day in San Ignacio I woke up first on a misty morning and made my self a cup of tea while talking to the owner of the campground. When the girls woke up Jakobi made us a breakfast of toast and Colleen went to the market and came back with papaya and melon.

Patti arrived around 9:30am and shortly thereafter we set out to find the runins at Cahal Pech, the Mayan Ruins ona hill overlooking San Ignacio that are within walking distance. I found walking directions on Google Maps and we walked back through town and up a steep hill climbing through residential neighborhoods and being Google Maps it took us to the jungle at the back of the complex. Some local kids directed us to the entrance.

CAHAL PECH

At the site there was a small visitor center with some exhibits and artifacts. It cost us each BZ$10 to get in. After checking out the visitor center we followed a path towards some tre covered mounds which upon rounding the corner in front of them turned out to be excavated ruins,

It was really cool. Stone temples and plazas and courtyards and steps. We climbed and sat and stood and walked and explored and listened in on other tour groups.

Ambiana who was not excited about visiting ruins at all was really impressed and wondered aloud ‘Why can’t we build our cities like this?’

I had been looking forward to finding the Mayan Glyph of my date of birth on an ancient ruin and was sad to see that there were no glyphs or stellas or ornamentation of any kind, all was weathered away and that which was not is in museums and art galleries.

We spent an hour exploring the ruins and were really impressed by the beauty of it. The site sits on top of a hill with a commanding view of the countryside. Very beautiful.

We spent an hour exploring and then went back down to town where I found my mayan glyph painted on the side of a building. It is the one on the right side of the picture in the stack of glyphs, 2nd from the bottom

We had decided as a family to take on big tour while in Belize and Ambiana had done some research and had picked a cave tour that sounded really exciting. You hike through the jungle to a cave opening that you have to swim into and then are led into the cave which contains Mayan artifacts and human remains. Back in town we heaed to the Maya Walk Tour office and booked this tour for the 5 of us for the next day. It was US$95 per person, 8 people to a guide, leaving a 7:30am the next morning.

We spent the rest of the day back at the campsite lying in hammocks and chatting with Patti. Colleen cooked us a pork chop dinner and we went to sleep soon after sunset with the rain lulling us to sleep

(No cameras are allowed on the tour, the following pictures came from the web)

We met up with the tour at 7:15am and waited around for an hour before leaving. We had locked our pouchies and cameras in the lockers at the campground because cameras are not allowed in the cave because a tourist in 2012 dropped his camera on a human skull and shattered it. I felt naked without my pouchie and camera, i did not like leaving them behind. When we finally got going we traveled by van for an hour West retracing our bus ride to San Ignacio 2 days ago before turning South onto a dirt road which led us 7 miles through shanty neighborhoods, mahogany plantation planted in rows and huge cornfields carved out of the jungle towards a ridge of jungle covered hills in the distance that gradually came closer. Once we arrived at the sight we were broken up into groups of 8 and given lifejackets, helmets and headlamps.

We were assigned a guide named JamJam and led down a muddy path to the 1st river crossing which was wide and deep and had a rope strung across for us to pull ourselves across with if we so choose. There were lots of groups of 8 and we had to wait our turn to cross. Jakobi was the 1st one in and would maintain that position the whole tour. JamJam talked as we walked about the jungle, the trees and the cave we were about to explore. It was only re-discovered 30 years ago in 1986 and opened for tours in 1997. The name means Cave of the Holy Tomb and it is a sacred place for the Maya; a place the priests and the ruling class used to enter the underworld to petition the water god for rain and his wife the storm goddess for fertility. It was not a place the common people ever went and before entering one got high by chewing morning glory seeds and by placing a brew made from the sweat of a toad up the anus. We crossed the river knee high twice more before we came to the cave entrance which was shaped like a 30′ high hour glass and had a stream running out of it.

There were two other groups entering with us and together we floated into the ‘underworld’, into a pool inside the hill leaving the bright jungle behind. Once inside each group took a different path through a jumble of boulders and streams that filled the passage which was about as high and wide as a subway tunnel but which creviced and nooked upward for about 30 yards. We climbed over smooth boulders and through tight passages and up small falls, pausing to let other groups pass before we emerged ankle deep in the main passage. Jakobi was right up front the whole time scrambling with JamJam while I took up the rear so I could linger a bit longer and explore all the formations and .the hidden nooks and crannies with the beam of my headlamp. We are going in 900 meters and have just completed the most difficult 100 meters.

In 300 meters we will ascend out of the stream into the main chambers where we will see Mayan artifacts and human remains. Here at the 100m point there is above us an opening to the world above which JamJam explained was most likely the Mayan’s principle entry point as the scramble we had just completed would not have allowed the Mayans to bring in the offerings to their Gods.

From that point to the ascent we were in water the whole way sometimes passing through pools that were over our heads. I appreciated the life vests at these points because they allowed us to just float in wonder. JamJam pointed out various formations and the minerals that made them, he told us that the Mayans considered the stalactites that descended from the ceiling to be the roots of the Tree of Life and thus sacred. He set the scene for us thus: “Imagine you are a Mayan Priest, stoned out of your mind and advancing through here in torchlight (he had us tirn off our headlamps and then shook his flashlight to simulate the flickering of fire) and you are here in search of your gods, all these formations come alive and move and tremble. You are in the midsts of your Gods, imagine how awesome and sacred and experience this would be!” At 500m we climbed out of the stream upa big rock and onto a shelf where we removed our shoes but not our socks so the oil on our feet does not degrade what we are about to walk on. JamJam then led us into a large chamber, our path delineated by a red ribbon beyond which we are not to set foot. groups of 8 are scattered about the chamber, their headlamps like mini constellation in the space which is huge, listening to their guides who are explaining what they are seeing. JamJam had a laser pointer and he pointed out shards of pottery, vessels brought in filled with tributes of maize, avocado, and banana for the gods.

The pots were broken but not by the passage of time but by intent he explained, to release the spirit of the offering form the pot. We then saw our first human remain, a skull, encrusted with minerals deposits plus leg and arm bones, a sacrifice to the gods with a blunt hole in the back of the skull. Nearby were blood offering bowls, offerings of royal blood. The males took blood from their foreskins while the females ran a 9 bladed string through their tongues. All over the chamber were shards of pottery and a few intact vessels that only had a chip, called a kill hole in them. These were the blood offering vessels. In the next chamber we saw smoke deposits on the roof and stalagmites that had been carved into the profiles of their gods. Once again JamJam painted the scene using his flashlight to paint firelight on the walls and invoking a tableau of of stoned revelers, and drums and flutes bringing the chamber to life full of the power of the Gods. Occasionally we had to stand aside as groups that were ahead of us made their way back the way they had come. We climbed into an even larger chamber that had in its center a pillar from floor to ceiling. JamJam moved us to one side of the chamber and asked one of the girls with us to remove her helmet and had her stand next to a small stalagmite. We turned off our headlamps and he shined his light on her and the column and two nearly identical shadows of a female form appeared on the wall. This was another formation carved by the Mayans int the shape of a female god, another example of of how the Mayans brought this cave to life inhabiting it with their Gods. For our ascent to the final chamber we had to climb a 12′ aluminum ladder into a small chamber beyond which we were not permitted to go. Strung across the passage was a wire fence. As another group lingered there JamJam pointed out to us another skull on the floor up against the cave wall. It had a hole in the top of it and JamJam told us that this was the infamous skull upon which the camera was dropped initiating the ban on cameras on tours. And I have to agree with the ban. The tour must be treasured in our mind’s eye and would have been diminished with camera flashes going off all along our route, up ahead and behind.

When the group in front of us departed we moved up to the fence and peered beyond at the full skeleton that lay splayed on the floor before us. They don’t know much about this skeleton whether it is male or female, whether it was a sacrifice or a burial because to move it to examine it would crumble it into dust. The skeleton gives the cave its name and is a powerful sight as we imagine who it was and how it came to lay here to be viewed now day after day by thousands of tourists. We lingered for a bit and then it was time to make our way back to the upper world. We ran into a bit of a logjam of people as we descended the ladder and at the point where we paused to put our shoes back on. Our way out was much quicker than the way in but not as quick as some groups who entered the cave after us and now passed us on the way out. We paused to consider some green plants growing here in the darkness and learned the seed arrived in bat poop and that it is bacteria in the poop that nourishes the plant and gives it its green color. We found ourselves alone and I asked if we could all shut off our headlamps and sit in the dark for a moment. JamJam took us back through different routes where he could leading us into a narrow crack chest deep in water called the devil’s spine which we excited by a sharp right turn into an even narrower crack. Jakobi and Ambiana were in awe the whole time, often leading and Jakobi swimming like a frog whenever she could. We passed another crack and and peering in I could see another chamber and JamJam said I could go in and the whole group followed and to get out we had to climb out of the water and scramble over boulders following JamJam’s shouted instructions until we met up with him again. He then led us back to the entrance via the high water route they use during the rainy season which involved crawling up and over and down a narrow passage way and then we were back at the entrance. JamJam allowed us a few minutes to float again in the pool just inside the entrance soaking in and sealing the experience before we floated back out into the sunlight of the outer world and climbed out of the stream and back onto the muddy path. Three river crossings later we were back at the vans where we changed into dry clothes, scarfed up a yummy lunch and drank rum punch.

We got a group picture with JamJam and poached a few oranges form the grove nearby and then it started to rain as we scrambled into the van for the hour ride back to San Ignacio. Patti treated us to ice cream, Colleen when on a tortilla hunting adventure, the girls watched the TV and I lay in a hammock reading TC Boyle…Patti stayed for Chicken burrito dinner. the tortilla mission was a success!, and by 8pm we were thoroughly asleep after a truly astounding day!

Wet warm weather here in San Ignacio while back in Worcester VT the high today is -6 and the low is -15 ad below 0 for the next week. We certainly picked the right time to go! Today we are off to see the ruins of Xunantunich in San Jose Succroz.

We were going to take the bus to the hand cranked ferry across the river and then walk the 1/2 mile to the ruins but Patti splurged on a taxi for us for US$12 which took across the ferry and right up to the site.

We rode ten miles west of San Ignacio to within 3 miles of the Guatemalan border where we joined a queue of crs for the ferry

We had a bit of a wait at the ferry as only four cars can fit on it and we took the time to browse the native crafts for sale at the ferry landing. I have my eye on a Mayan Calendar that is etched on a circular peice of slate and found one that has both the month glyphs and day glyphs on it but am hesitant to buy it now and lug it around with me for 2 1/2/more weeks.

The ferry is hand cranked across the river on a cable, the passengers stand in front of the cars. There are armed soilders here to protect the tourists from thieves who cross the border from Guatemala

We paid our BZ$10 each and entered the ruins where we walked up a small hill and entered one of the plazas surrounded on 4 sides by stone structures. Off to the South towered ‘El Castillo”, the castle, a temple that rises 130 feet above the plaza. Jakobi immediately wanted to climb it but first we checked out some of the smaller structures. Like the ruins at Cachel Pech these ruins are only partially dug out of the tree covered hillsides they have become over 1000 years.

The site sits on top of a hill so it has a commanding view of the countryside.

On the East and West sides of ElCastillo are two friezes of Mayan Glyphs, plaster recreations to protect the originals which are behind them. Jakobi likes climbing the temples and exploring the secret passages.

From the top we had an impressive view of the whole complex and the rolling hills of the surrounding countryside and a glimpse into Guatemala. We lingered while groups with guides came and went, eating lunch and watching a troop of howler monkeys gambol through the tree tops below us. Ambiana and Jakobi really liked seeing the monkeys.

Once we descended Ambiana wanted to play hide and seek among the chambers at the base of the temple. The girls all decided that they liked Cahel Pech better but I really like the big temple and the view from the top.

On the way out we found 4 stelle under and enclosure and I finally got to see some original Mayan glyphs.
We took a few dance videos through out the site and on the walk back to the ferry got caught in a downpour and were absolutely soaked. At least it was warm rain.
We rode the local bus back to San Ignacio where I succeeded in getting $$ out of an ATM and then bought some pasta for tonights Cheesy Mashed Potato Pasta dinner.

DOGS OF SAN IGNACIO

We lounged back at our campground, the girls playing with the dogs, me reading, Colleen and Patti playing cards. Patti said goodbye, tomorrow she is heading to CayeCaulker for 3 days of diving. while we head south to Hopkins for hopefully a week of beach side living.

After dinner Collen went into town for some Afro-Dance aerobics while the girls and I played Phase 10. Ambiana and Jakobi facetimes Gaelen earlier today. We have gotten off our screen free vacay and are also not on starvation diet as markets and stores are close by

We packed up at 8am and caught the 8:30am bus to Belomopan where we waited an hour to catch the bus to Dangriga. The ride down the HUmmingbird Highway was beautiful, finally jungle covered mountains. We should have just stayed on the bus and been dropped off at the Hopkins Access road but we did not know this.

Once in Dangriga learned we had 4 hours until the Hopkins bus so we got on the next bus south and were dropped off at the Hopkins Road and caught a taxi into town where the hostle told us they did not offer camping, we had a couple of choices so we headed North along the main road and kept seeing signs for Kismet, Colleen went ahead to investigate and returned in a car with the owner who brought us to her funky little guest cottage bungalow space right on the sea.

We set up our tent under a small thatch covered space 20 feet from the water. Jakobi and I went for a swim, the water is really shallow for a long ways out.

We hung out and ate a rice meal and a nice man got Jakobi some coconuts and we tooka short walk and then retired to the tent to play Phase 10 and have a family meeting about what to do with our remaining two weeks here. Jakobi has been a pain in the ass complaining all the time about everything and being bored and needing buttloads of attention while the rest of us are content to relax and are able to entertain ourselves. Jakobi kicked Colleen in the face when she lost her hand in Phase 10 and screams about everything and is making this trip unbearable. I am content to just chill, would be happy here for a week but that is unlikely as Jakobi would be bored. Traveling was much easier when she was a baby and had fewer needs. Ambiana on the other hand is a great traveler, she has her books to entertain herself and can amuse herself with dancing.

I introduced Jakobi to raking the sand to give her something to do and she came up with the game of sand golf to amuse herself for awhile.

Rain on the tet but it is gone by the tme we get up. We take a morning swim and have eggs for breakfast with toast. Colleen wants to go to Glover’s reef for a week but it is expensive and the logistics are tricky. Their is a Dutchman here named Gaston with a sailboat who offers to sail us out to Tobacco Key for two nights on his boat where we can snorkel the reef. Colleen bikes down to Sitte Point to inquire about Glovers and while she is gone Jakobi and I go out to Gaston’s boat to check it out. It is 100 years old this year and in it’s original state it is the same type of craft as the Titanic’s lifeboats. Gaston has retrofitted it into a sailboat and it is beautiful. The girls would get their own berths and Colleen and I would sleep in the forecastle. After a quick tour Jakobi and I jump overboard and swim back to shore. Colleen returns and Glovers is out so we confirm the trip with Gaston and then go get ice cream to celebrate.

A Belizean Cemetery

TOBACCO KEY

After dinner Colleen and Ambiana take the bikes to get dessert while Jakobi and I hide beneath a sheet to escape the sandflies while watching the clouds race across the face of the moon. Orion is rising and Colleen and Ambiana return with German Chocolate cake and lemon pie which we eat by the sea beneath the moon then go to bed until the rooster wakes us and we peer out at the orange sunrise. Our boat is offshore awaiting us and the sea is as smooth as glass.

Our trip got off to a rocky start because after we had packed up all our stuff Gaston casually informed us that we were paying US$150 for only one night on the boat. We had misunderstood and were disappointed and when we communicated this to Gaston he got huffy and threw in the 2nd night for US$25. As were stowing our extra stuff in Trish’s room off he went in the dinghy with Ambiana and Jakobi. AMBIANA IS NO LONGER AFRAID OF THE DINGHY!!!!. Gaston came back for us and soon we were all aboard. He then went over all of his rules for being on the boat most of which I forgot and was sternly reprimanded for the duration of the trip. There was no wind so we motored out of our anchorage and off were were to Tobacco Key 15 miles off the coast. As we moved out the mountains of Belize came into view behind us, we passed Dangriga and in about two hours made it to the Key which is only about 100 yards long and 20 yards wide, covered with palm trees and shacks on pilings and has 2 bars one at each end.
To avoid paying BZ$5 a person for entering a marine sanctuary we had to leave the boat and spend the day on the Key. We passed the time snorkeling the reef on the south end of the key where we saw lots of pretty coral and fish. Jakobi is not bored snorkeling and could do it all day and has learned to dive down beneath the surface. We left the girls on the beach and Colleen and I had a snorkel date and went out a bit farther to the edge of the reef and saw a 10′ long shark cruising at about 4 meters down.

Back aboard at sunset Colleen made rum punch and Gaston shared some weed with me and we took in the beautiful colored clouds on this last day of calendar year 2017. Gaston went back ashore to party and we cooked dinner and played Phase 10 which Jakobi finally won for the 1st time ever. We were in our berths long before midnight, the girls in their own rooms so to speak. Firecrackers went off ’round midnight and next thing we knew Jakobi was asnugglin’ us. We spent the 1st day of 2018 hiding out on the key again. The snorkeling wasn’t so great because we woke to a NW wind and white caps on the sea. Jakobi had raisins for breakfast and promptly got seasick. A puke over the sides and all was well again. The wind and white caps stirred up the ocean and visibility sucked. The wind eased in the afternoon and Gaston took us in the dinghy to the other side of the reef where we floated back to the little beach snorkeling the whole way amongst pretty canyons of reef with sandy white bottoms. I ended up towing the dinghy most of the way as Gaston was on the hunt for a lionfish. I tugged it all the way around the point, my feet cramping in my fins and when Gaston finally re-appears he barks at me ‘You are too close to the ref” rather than a thank you for taking care of my boat. He is a condescending dick and I am ready to be off his fucking boat. He was very nice to a puking Jakobi and he made us a nice dinner out of that lionfish and does all the dishes but still i don’t like being around him. Slept soundly the 2nd night and woke up to wind and rain. Colleen dreamed she caulked her teeth together and I laughed about that all day. It was a rough crossing back to Hopkins, strong winds and big waves and Ambiana, Jakobi and me on the verge of seasickness which was exacerbated every time Gaston stopped to light up a cigarette or pull in a fish from his trolling lines. A big wave rolled Jakobi across the deck into me and let loose the boom scattering the solar panels and knocking off the stern support for the boom and causing me to wonder what we would do if Gaston fell overboard but that didn’t happen and as we got closerr to Hopkins the surf subsided and no puking occurred.

It was a nice to days but I was happy to be off the boat and back at Kismet setting up our tent again 20 feet from the sea. We walked to town for groceries but ending up eating out at Emily’s Cool Spot where we had Pineapple Jerk Pork Chops and banana coladas. We spent the night sitting out of the rain in kismet’s kitchen talking with a couple from VT, Noah and Bess who Colleen actually knew through Richarda. After dinner we went to the bar next door with the other tourists to listen to some music, I left with the girls and Colleen stayed late for the Garifuna drumming.. We spent a lazy next day at Kismet, morning and afternoon swims, a walk North past the fancy resorts to the lagoon and then to Nice Cream for ice cream. I made a solo trip to the store for dinner and colleen biked to the marina for fuel for our stove and returned with bacon and salad for our pasta dinner. It is full on dark here by 5:30pm, no twilight at 17 degrees N latitude. The dogs of kismet sleep outside our tent all night and bark at anyone passing by. This trip for Jakobi has been all about the dogs, I am tired of the mangy beach dogs always sniffin’ around. Ambiana is up all night going to the pooper with a stomach bug I got up at sunrise and found her sitting in tears on a beach chair staring out to the horizon where a distant rainstorm obscured the rising sun. It sucks to be sick so far from the comforts of home and we are considering pushing back our pack up a day if she is not feeling better.

CASTILLO BEACH, HOPKINS

We hung around Kismet until Ambiana flt well enough to move on and then we walked through Hopkins, 2-3 miles to the southside to Castillo Beach which is the spot we’ve been looking for.

A wide sandy beach amongst the jungle with swings in the palms, a large thatched covered pavilion with hammocks and tables and two friendly boys, Norman 11, the owner’s son and Rodwyn, 6 Norman’s nephew, to play with Jakobi. Once I had unshouldered my load and recovered from the long hot walk I looked around and loved what I saw. and located us a nice spot to pitch our tent-home under neath a palm but close to the sea. Colleen borrowed a bike and rode to the store for dinner while Ambiana lay in a hammock and slowly got better. We know she is alright when she begins to dance on the beach. Jakobi and I beat Rodwyn and Norman in a game of Belize Baseball which has 4 bases set out in a square with home plate half way between 4th base and 1st base. After the game I took a hammock break while Jakobi continued to play. We are going to suffer when we get home because it is COLD here with a NW west blowing, we put on our long pants and shirts and I have my winter hat on my head. After a dinner of curried rice and veggies we retire to the tent to sleep with the rustling palm fronds sounding like rain and their shadows dancing on the tent roof. Colleen and I both woke in the middle of the night and peed in the moonlight on the beach.I go up at sunrise to bask in the golden light and even now it is chilly, I wonder if this is related to the storm on the East coast pushing colder air this far south. The sky is clear for the moment from the clouds that have persisted over the past few days and soon the will rise above the clouds and bring us some warmth.

We have found our spot here at Castillo Beach beside the Gulf of Mexico with its gentle palm fronds swaying in the breeze and the ocean lapping in our tent-dreams. A lazy place to pitch our home and enjoy the pleasures of doing nothing. Ambiana has finished a Wrinkle in Time and has passed it on to me and is now reading a Michael Creighton novel. Colleen goes on her runs and does her tummies and Jakobi has a quartet of friends as Norman and Rodwyn have been joined by two of cousins and they run around the place playing hide and seek, sardines, volleyball, soccer and coconut toss which involves sticking a long piece of stiff grass in a baby coconut and flinging it through the air to see whose goes the farthest. Jakobi and I are the still the baseball champs though Norman whips us in everything else.

I took the bike to the marina to get more gas for our stove and then we took a family walk south along the beach to the point in the distance passing all the fancy places to stay that are our neighbors. These are the nicest buildings I have seen yet in Belize and it is funny to think that we share the same sea and sand and yet we pay US$10 a night while these places cost US$300 a night. Is that what a bed and a roof is worth? In our 2 weeks here we have encountered few backpackers and fewer backpacker style accommodations other than on Caye Caulker. It seems the average tourist here comes for 7-12 days, stays at one resort and from their ventures out on ‘tours’ to the various sites, ruins, zip line, cave etc. On our travels on the public bus we are often the only tourists as those staying at the resort are picked up and brought to the airport by a resort shuttle.

Ambiana loves the fancy resorts and has picked out her favorite and Jakobi and Colleen conspire to treat Ambiana to a pre-birthday Pina Colada on it’s veranda luring her down to it with a ‘let’s take a walk on the beach’ ruse. Ambiana is thrilled! Jakobi not so as earlier in the day she got icky stomach and puked twice so her and I walk back to Castillo Beach to relax while Colleen and Ambiana stay for Happy Hour Hordevours and a swim in the pool. The next morning we were supposed to be up at 6am for the &am bus but there was rain on the tent so we decided to sleep in an catch the 2pm bus instead. Yesterday I found the Mayan Calendar I have been looking for, it is 12″ in diameter, is carved not etched, has both the month (“Hab”) and the day glyphs (“Tzolkin”)and a carving of the rain god in the center. It was US$100 but I got it for US$90 and it is now tightly wrapped in newspaper and plastic and tucked securely in my backpack.

All packed up we hiked down the beach and turned inland to our bus stop and caught the 2pm bus which was the funnest bus so far on our trip cruising up Hopkins main street with Lucky Dube playing on the sound ssytem and picking up all the locals heading into Dangriga, such a beautiful collection of people, kids and babies in all shades of brown.

We went 12 miles North to the road to the Mayflower-Bocawina National Park and started to walk the 4 mile access road and were picked up by one of those resort shuttles on its way in to gather up a van load of guests who had spent the day zip lining and rappelling waterfalls. In no time at all we were at our destination. We checked in at the park office and set up our tent by a stream. When it was up I noticed my legs covered with bugs and swep them away but my legs had been bittwn 100x’s and they burned for an hour and the next day were covered with 100’s of little black spots the remnant of which are still visible on my legs as I type this 3 weeks later as pinprick tiny black scabs.

Once set up we took a walk and checked out the very overgrown and un-excavated Mayan ruins across the road and then hiked a 30 minute loop through the rainforest checking out all the giant ferns and jungle plants. The jungle is really lush with big ferns, tangly vines and tangles brush everywhere. Dinner was Cheesy mashed Potato Pasta and then it was in the tent to escape the bugs. In the middle of the night I awoke to find Colleen peering out the tent at our bag of food, she had heard a noise and we found a jungle mouse in our bag of bread. We shood it away and then brought the food bag into the tent with us.

In the morning it was January 9th, Ambiana’s 12th birthday and we had birthday breakfast with presents from Jakobi, a cookie and a pineapple. Then we hiked 2.6km to Lower and Upper Bocawina Falls where we swam in the jungle streams and stood underneath the jungle waterfalls. There is a fancy resort in this park and we stopped by the restaurant and had a birthday lunch of fish tacos and burgers. The girls were done hiking for the day but there was still Antelope Falls to see so I set out first alone while Colleen stayed with the girls and power hiked 2.8km through the jungle, past more overgrown Mayan ruins and up many many steps cut into the ridge beside the falls to a beautiful cool pool at he base of a small falls above the 200′ Antelope Falls. I had a nice swim and a super waterfall massage then took in the view from the lip of the falls where I could see out the Caribbean sea. There was a white hawk up there and it was beautiful to see it take off and soar out over the jungle and ridges below. I hustled down so Colleen could make the hike as well. It was just as well that the girls didn’t want to hike because the upper third was really steep and gnarly and it would have been difficult and slow going for them. I am glad Colleen and I got the chance though as it was definitely the best hike we did in Belize.

HUMMINGBIRD HAVEN

We left Bocawina at 8am walking out the 4 mile access road. This time we walked a bit farther before being picked up by another resort shuttle which took us back out to the Southern Highway where we waited for a bus to Belize City. When it came Ambiana recognized the fare taker from a previous bus ride, the one she calls the Polar Bear guy. We rode back through Dangriga and then NW 29.5 miles up the Hummingbird Highway to the HUmmingbird Haven, a campground/hostel Colleen had found in the Lonely Planet.

Once again we are the only one’s here. Our Host has a Mayan wife and a 3 year old boy Jimmy and he let us pick any spot out in the big field and we chose one near the river which has a sweet little swimming hole in it which we all jumped in once we had gotten the tent up. That is all we did all day other than sit in the communal kitchen and read. The Haven has several guest cottages and 2 dorm rooms, all empty of people. I found the communal book shelf and found a book on the Hawaiian wife of Kamehameha who tore down the idols after he died and ushered Hawai’i into the modern world.

We spent the afternoon sitting on th 3rd flor balcony of one of the dwellings looking out over the beautiful short steep jungle covered mountains to the west. It is so lush and beautiful here, this is how I imagined all of Belize would look. We saw a Toucan! We had Tuna Noodle for dinner and then listened to a podcast before a long cold night in the tent.

Today we rode the bus 12 miles to the NW to the St Hermans/Blue Hole National Park. and hiked down to the cenote. I was not impressed at first but on further exploration discovered the cenote had 2 sides and on the 2nd it looked like the water went into a small cave. We put on our bathing suits and entered the water and swam under the lip of rock and the cavern opened up inside to a huge stalactite cavernous bowl with bats and beautiful acoustics and lots of dark nooks and crannies to swim into and explore. It was a super sweet swim spot and the Colleen and the girls and I had huge fun splashing around in it. It was super beautiful to be back in the deepest darkest recess of the cave and to peer out the small crack to the bright jungle daylight beyond. After we got out we kep telling everyone who hike down how cool it was but no one else put on a swim suit and went it.

We then hiked for half an hour through the jungle to the other park entrance where St Herman’s Cave is. The big tour here is to tube through the cave and as we walked to the cave’s mouth we kept encountering people with tubes returning from their float. We were the only ones without tubes.
The cave mouth was a big hole in the base of a steep ridge with stone steps descending into it and a cool wind blowing out of it. A path led 200 yards into the cave with a stream to our left. Past 200 yards you could only go with a guide and an inner tube and we stopped their and watched a constellation of headlamps float towards us on the stream. Tourism in Belize is centered around these pricey tours which are about US$100 a person, everything is a tour and catered to the people with money who come here for a week and shuttle between the airport, the resort and the tours in private vans. They see Belize out a tinted window as they drive through. This shuts out most of Belize as the common folk are reduced to working for the corporate resorts. There need to be more locally owned stuff like Castillo Beach but the people with $$$ would never stay there. Backpacking options are few because of this set up and it is unfortunate. We have met few fellow travelers in our 3 weeks here and talking story with fellow travelers is one of the things I like best about traveling.

We caught a local bus back to the vicinity of our campsite and bought some ‘Christ Cream” from a local dairy with a missionary bent of helping the locals achieve their full potential in christ. The ice cream was not very good and we walked 1.5 miles back down the highway to Hummingbird Haven and took a nice cool swim in the creek and spent the remainder of the day on that 3rd floor balcony reading and relaxing and enjoying the jungle-licious view. Candi, our Mayan host made us tortillas for dinner and we listened to our nightly podcast from Outside Magazine about the Science of Survival. Tonights episode took us through what happens when one is stung 1000 times by African Killer Bees.

BACK TO HUMMINGBIRD HAVEN

Awoke to a misty morning and was told by Candi that the buses would be crowded today because it is a Friday and that the 9:30am bus would be our best bet. We packed up and were ready in plenty of time and even had time to dry the tent. We walked up the highway and waited 1/2 hour for the bus which took us to Belomopan and then on to Belize City. Jakobi spilleda yogurt everywhere and I got shit from the bathroom attendant at the bus stop when I went in a took some paper towels without paying the BZ$1 bathroom fee. Our bus into Belize City was Express and we were there before noon.