Tikal-ed Pink!

Dear Readers,

When I left you I was in the lovely town of Flores, Guatemala. Flores is nice, but I think the main reason people go there is to do a day trip to the Mayan ruins of Tikal, which are about an hour away. The great appeal of Tikal is that these giant Mayan pyramids exist amongst such thick jungle vegetation. There are also accomodation possibilities at Tikal, but not much in the way of restaurants or other activities (so, I´m told), which is maybe why people choose to stay elsewhere.


Anyways, I took the first shuttle leaving from Flores to Tikal, which left at 5 am, in order to get to the park by 6 when it first opens. Supposedly a good reason to do this is to avoid all the crowds, but when I left around midday the park did not seem that much more crowded. A better reason to go early is to avoid some of the midday sun and heat.


As I walked through the park, the early morning fog lent an eerie almost mystical feeling to the ruins. (Although, I have to say that the imagary of Mayan sacrifice from Apocalypto is kind of stuck in my head.) The sun slowly started to burn off the fog, but the jungle remained oddly quiet. Once the fog was gone the cool eerie feeling disappeared, and instead sweltering heat took its place.


Walking around the ruins was interesting. The thought of people, centuries ago, toiling in the dense and humid jungles just to build all of these huge temples is kind of amazing. I think apart from what my own imagination came up with I didn´t get a lot of insight into what these temples are really about. This was entirely my fault for being too cheap to pay for a guide, which I think I can now chaulk up to a lesson learned. The one really cool thing about the ruins here is that you are allowed to climb up most of them. You can´t actually climb the ruin itself, but along the side they have built wooden staircases leading up. Coming from a Western country the fact that you can do this is totally mind blowing. These pyramids are really tall, and it felt like each pyramid I climbed was increasingly taller and the steps more steep. When I got to Pyramid 5 it was like climbing a ladder straight up. I guess they allow people to do this because there is no fear of getting sued here.


As equally interesting as the ruins is the wildlife within the park. I was especially fascinated with the turkeys that mill around the temples of the Gran Plaza. These are not your ordinary turkeys. I think they are related to peacocks, and take after their cousins with their beautiful shimmering plummage.

I also saw some spider monkeys but wasn´t able to get close enough to take any good pictures. =(


After about 5 and a half hours of walking around and seeing almost all the temples (some of them are kilometers away) I was cooked, and I took a shuttle back to Flores.

The rest of the day was spent recovering from the ruins and preparing to make my next move to Lanquin.

Next Time: Spelunking with candles in Semuq Champey

xx,
gwen


Good thing I left my trumpet at home!


View from top of temple 4.


View from twin temple.


A pretty tree.

Crossing the Border

Dear Readers,

Finally we get to move on to Guatemala. From the town of San Ignacio, in Belize, it's a short taxi ride to the border. Going through the border to Guatemala was a breeze. But the easy times couldn't last forever. Unfortunately, my guidebook wasn't so clear on what the next step should be once you've crossed the border, and there were no other travelers around to offer any suggestions. I was immediately flooded with requests from taxi drivers offering to drive me to Flores, which was my next destination. The prices they were asking for seemed astronomical, because after all I'm in Guatemala and things are supposed to be cheaper, right? Well, apparently transportation is not always cheaper, but that's a whole 'nother blog. Eventually I settled for paying 70 Q (quetzales), a little less than $10, to get to Flores. I'm pretty sure i payed double what the locals were paying considering the taxi driver drove me to the border town and then put me on a local minibus (more like a minivan). I did get to sit in the front seat which is one of the most comfortable ones in the van. This was very fortunate because the road, if you can even call it that, to Flores was in really bad shape. The road wasn't paved and there were massive holes and divits causing the driver to go really slowly and in a winding pattern to avoid the bigger bumps. The border town and the drive to Flores left a not so great first impression of Guatemala. After having actually been here for almost a month I have to say my first impression is not the one that I will leave with. The border town was dusty and dirty, and also seemed to be very poor and chaotic. Certainly that is a part of Guatemala, but really there are so many different sides to this country it is constantly surprising you.

When I finally got to Flores and checked into the hostel I was relieved that it was less than $5 a night. Yay! Finally, something cheaper. But then I looked at the hostel menu. Most meals were more expensive than a nights accommodation, which is a pattern everywhere.

Flores is a very cute little town. It is basically an island in the middle of a lake, and it attracts a lot of tourists because it is clean, colorful, and supposedly safer than the neighboring towns.

Either the first or second night I was there Guatemalans celebrated this burning devil festival. It wasn't as exciting as it sounds. In Flores people celebrated by taking devil pinatas and burning them in the streets in front of their homes, and by setting off tons of firecrackers. Apparently, other towns such as Chichicastenango, have much more elaborate celebrations. In Flores, everything was over in a matter of minutes. I think burning the devil is supposed to cleanse your house of bad spirits for the new year. (I've included a couple pics of the night at the end of this blog.)

Next time: The Mayan ruins of Tikal.

xx,
gwen

A devil.

The big Christmas tree in the plaza.

Gringos waiting around the plaza for something cool to happen.

merry christmas!

dear readers,

happy holidays! this year my gift to you is that i went back and added some more photos to my previous posts. hopefully the new year will bring posts with lots of photos, but i can´t promise anything.

enjoy!

xx,
gwen

Belize it or not...

The final leg of my Belize trip was a stop in the inland town of San Ignacio (aka Cayo). From Placencia I took a quick but exhilerating early morning ride water taxi ride to Mango Creek. Finally after 3 days of soggy weather the sun was gently rising as we sped through channels in the mangrooves. From Mango Creek it was a direct bus to the capital, Belmopan. Fortunately I only had to wait a couple of minutes for the bus to Cayo. The bus wound through some mountains, past orange groves, and houses. Before I knew it I was Cayo, which was nothing like I had expected it to be. I had heard from many people that Cayo was the kind of place you could get stuck in. I´m not sure why that would be the case. It did have the advantage of being a little bit cheaper than the other places I had been in Belize, but then again there wasn´t any beach nearby either. Maybe you have to be in Cayo for more than a couple of days to truelly appreciate it. There are a ton of expats there, so there must be something about it.

Anyways, my main reason for going there was to go cave tubing. Cave tubing was fun, but did not turn out to be the crazy adventure described to me by my friend who went this summer. I found out from the guide that the trip differs in various seasons depending on what the water levels of the river are like. When I went the water was very low, so the trip was more of a relaxing lazy river kind of ride. The first part of the trip involves hiking to the starting point of the first cave. The guide pointed out some trees and plants, which I´ve entirely forgotten about. What I do remember is eating some termites that he pointed out to us. First he pointed out the small termite mound attached to a tree. Then he told us that they tasted like carrots and mint. Of course the intriguing flavor combo meant I had to try some. Luckily the termites were really really tiny, so it was easy to eat them without thinking about it too much. And guess what? They really did taste like carrots with the slightest aftertaste of mint. Mmm. Refreshing. Too bad you would have to sit there all day to get any real amount of nutrition.

Finally, after about 30 minutes of walking we reached the starting point of the "ride." We hopped into our tubes, turned on our very weak headlamps, and away we went into the pitch black darkness of the first cave. Being in the caves was very calm relaxing and at the same time the utter darkness was a little unnerving. There really wasn´t much to see because flooding during the high season had eroded or broken most of the cave formations. The coolness factor comes from floating down a subterranean river in a tube. At the end of the cave you finally see the light from outside and it´s a bit like being reborn.

the view inside the cave.

the sunset on the ride home.

Cave tubing was a pleasant way to end my trip in Belize. The next day I crossed the border to Guatemala, and that experience was pretty, ¨eww!¨, although Guatemala has since redeemed itself with me. But, more on that next time.

Happy New Years! (Can you believe it´s almost 2009?!!)

xx,
gwen

Next time: crossing the border to Guatemala.

It´s unBelizeable!

Where was I? Ah, yes! Raggamuffin sailing trip. I decided to splurge because I heard that this 3 day sailing trip leaving from Caye Caulker going down to Placencia, Belize, was an absolutely amazing trip. I don´t know if I should ruin this entry by starting off with my opinion. Basically I thought it was a good trip. I had fun, and I got really comfortable with taking underwater pictures, but I don´t know if it was worth the price tag. At the same time I think I´m totally biased because we had such poor weather almost the entire time. I think if you´re going to pay the money for the trip check out the weather ahead of time, or else come prepared with your own internal sunshine.

I wish I had been able to write about this experience sooner because now I´m having some trouble remembering what exactly we did each day. Basically, the whole trip was a variation of sailing, snorkeling, eating, sun bathing, and chatting. In the evenings, for enterntainment, there were liberal amounts of rum punch going around. I wasn´t particularly keane on the stuff because I thought it tasted like citrus flavored molasses, but the rum by itself was great. The most famous rum of Belize is called 1 Barrel, and it is award winning stuff. If you can find it it´s definitely worth trying. Anyways, another great part of the trip is that the staff cooks dinner every night featuring whatever seafood they caught that day. Unfortunately, none of the macho men on the trip were able to catch any fish worth eating, so we were stuck eating fresh lobster and conch. Poor us! The coconut lobster conch creation we had for dinner the first night was especially inspiring. At night, to have a bit of a respite from the boat, we camped out in tents on various islands (cayes). The first night we camped on Rendevouz Caye, which if you could see how small it was would make you laugh that someone actually owns it. Rendevouz Caye was basically a bit of sand, some palm trees, and a half finished dock. The second night we camped on Tabacco Caye which, in comparison to Redevous Caye, was a downright metropolis featuring a snack shop, bar, and year round inhabitants. I should also take some time to mention the friendly and interesting crew. The captain, Miguel, was a tall pirate looking African-Nicaraguan, who had a goatee and several teeth oulined in gold. Miguel could tell a good story but you never wanted to sit too close because he has that habit of punching people in the arm for emphasis. The man does not know his own strength, and I have the bruised shoulder to prove it. The first mate, Reynolds, was by far the most normal of the crew members. He is Garifuna, which is (I think) a subculture that exists all along the Carribean coast of Central America. At night he enteratained us with some drum playing, which caused some of the local women to jiggle in ways I didn´t think were possible. Last but not least there was Kevin, whom I guess you could call the ship´s squab. He seemed to be taking all the orders and doing all the work. Kevin was also a very interesting person. He was always quick with his explanations for everything. Including when I asked what the 3 tear drops tattoed on his chest meant. He said each one was for a girl who had broken his heart. Considering his other tattoes feature skulls and guns I decided that it was best to accept this explanation. Not to worry! Kevin was super friendly and it would be hard to believe that they meant anything else.

On day three, the trip ended as we pulled into port in Placencia under a torrential downpour. The ending was a bit anticlimactic, but everyone was pretty much exhausted from the trip.

Next Time: San Iganacio

you better Belize it!

Dear Friends,

I´m so sorry for the delay. Just for the record I am mostly fine. I haven´t been very good about blogging for various reasons. 1) It was just too expensive to sit around in an internet cafe in Belize. 2) Then the start of my Guatemala trip featured slower than slow internet. 3) Finally, I have been sick for the last 4 days. =( Poor me. The good news is that I´m almost 100% again. Yay! The other good news is that I have part one of my Belize blog ready to post. Yay!

xx,
gwen



Ah, Belize. Sweet sweet Belize. You entice me with your vibrant colors and easy to use keyboards, and meanwhile you secretly empty my wallet.

I had a great time in Belize, but I definitely payed a price for it. It´s not that Belize is really that expensive, it´s just expensive in comparison to the rest of Central America. Undoubtedly, if you wanted a warm tropical Carribean vacation you could go to Belize and have a very nice time and it could be cheaper than going to some resort. It´s possible to keep the day to day costs of housing and food somewhat cheap, but what ends up eating a hole in your wallet are all the diving and little day trips you can do.
My time in Belize started with a bus trip across the Mexican border. As soon as I saw my mode of transportation I had a the thought of, ¨ Oh, man! Now, I´m really in Central America.¨ The bus was an old Blue Bird made over with a brightly colored paint job. The paint was probably the only improvement made to the vehicule since it´s past life as an American school bus. When I stepped onto the bus I was overcome with the weird sensation that I was back in school and had to decide where to sit on the bus. I picked a seat in the middle and soon we were on our way. Night quickly approached and soon the bus was whizzing through towns in the silent and smokey (people burning trash) night air; the road illuminated only by starlight and the occasional glow of Christmas lights from a passing house. We finally reached Belize City and I buddied up with some Swedish girls so that we could split a taxi. It was too late to catch the water taxi to my original destination, so I had to stay overnight in a hostel. I´ve been told that Belize City is a very sketchy town. I would have to agree, but my point of view is maybe a little skewed since I arrived there after it was dark, and left for Caye Caulker the first thing in the morning.
The next morning the sun was shinging brightly as the Swedish girls and I caught the ferry to Caye Caulker. Caye Caulker is a pretty little island about 30 minutes boat trip (speed boat) from the main land. We all ended up staying in a hostel called Tina´s which is right off to the side from the ferry dock. I would recommend Tina´s for the ambiance and the sweetness of being able to hang from a hammock with a view of the ocean. However if you´re not into being eaten alive by bedbugs and you don´t like your water to smell like moldy shower curtain then Tina´s is not the place for you. I fall into the later category, but it took me two days and a couple dozen bites later to realize that. After I got settled in my hostel I spent the rest of the day hanging out at the split whilst I munched on fresh pineapple and attempted to finish Love in the Time of Cholera. The split is the premier sunbathing spot on the island, and is essentially a small patch of sand at the end of the island with a restaurant and two concrete piers jutting out from it. I guess the spot is popular because the piers are convenient jumping in points as to avoid wading through all the sea grass just off shore.

Day two of Belize was all about diving. The Swedish girls and I booked an all day diving trip featuring a dive to the Blue Hole with a company called Aqua Dives, which cost us about $175 each. If you´ve never heard of the blue hole it´s this massive sinkhole down into a cave, that was made tons of years ago, and is now underwater. It was first made famous by a Jacques Cousteau documentary. Even though the dive is quite deep, 130 ft. down, they let open water divers do it because it’s only an 8 minute dive. Since there isn’t a whole lot to see on the way down it seemed like the descent was pretty rapid, and before I knew it I looked down at my depth meter and we were almost at 130. And right when we were almost at our maximum depth we swam under the ledge and we were suddenly swimming between these massive stalagtites that took thousands of years to form, millions of years ago. It felt really cool to be down there like I was actually in the documentary. After a couple of minutes we swam out from under the ledge, and then the dive master put his hand up to his forehead like a fin, which is the sign for shark, and I looked down underneath me and saw the shadowy shilouettes of a dozen or so sharks. They weren’t close enough for me to see any details like teeth, but I still got shivers down my spine. The two other dives that day were fun dives at Half Moon Caye wall and the Aquarium. On both of those dives we saw lots of different kinds of fishes and coral. Between the dives lunch was served on the island of Half Moon Caye and consisted of the typical Belizian meal of stew chicken with rice and beans. After lunch we did a quick nature walk on the island and I got to see actual hermit crabs in the wild, and lots of frigate and booby birds. The booby gift shop was not as exciting as it sounded.

Overall, the day was a tremendous success, we were blessed with good weather and calm seas.

The next day I did made an overnight stop to the city of San Pedro on Ambergis Caye. I hadn’t actually heard anything particularly exciting about it but I decided it would be worth checking out a bigger city in Belize. I think it was good for me to go there and see something more of the real Belize, but it kind of burst the bubble of the cute tropical paradise image that Caye Caulker presented. Caye Caulker is such a small island and everything looks freshly painted in a rainbow of bright colors. There aren’t any paved roads on Caye Caulker, just sandy lanes. As a result there are almost no cars, just some golf carts. San Pedro on the other hand is much more urban and caters more to tourists who want to stay in resorts or who want more nightlife. In comparison Caye Caulker almost looks like Disneyland.
After a day hanging out in the hammocks of some expensive resort, it was back to Caye Caulker for me. My last night in Caye Caulker was spent at the other hostel on the island called Bella´s. Staying at Bella´s was like staying at some really cool summer camp. The dorm room was kind of barn like, with high high ceilings and a loft that connected to another room higher up, which connected to another room in a tower. The best thing about Bella´s was no bug bites!

After a night at camp it was off to my 3 day sailing trip with Raggamuffin tours.
(to be continued)