Mick and I woke up this morning and had a leisurely breakfast watching the lake and relaxing. I nixed our morning run, thanks to massive pain in my legs and butt. 600 steps, remember? We are now waiting on some laundry, using the internet (duh) and then off on a tour of the lake with a local boatman, Carlos. Tonight we are taking an overnight bus to Antigua where we will be spending the holidays.
Mick and I at our favorite hang out in Flores, Cool Beans: a jungle dining area, lakeside, unlimited coffee, board games, books, movies and fun people!
12-22-09
We left San Ignacio early in the morning and headed over with a small, but eclectic (one other vegan and a local SF man who is an active member in The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgance and who is going to be on the Jerry Springer show), group of people to Tikal in Guatemala - home of the largest Mayan ruins in all of Central America. Edgar, our tour guide, was amazing and not only did we learn all about the Mayans but also ended up hearing all sorts of stories about the gangs and violence in Central America and how people make it to America and what it costs depending on which route you take. Insane! After Tikal we jumped a bus to the lake island town of Flores, where we spent the evening exploring and joining in the local festivities.
Flores, Guatemala - an island town in Lago Peten Itza.
Here´s what a Guatemalan Posada looks like. Mick and I jumped on in and followed baby Jesus to the church.
I love, love, love the town of Flores.
Our impression of a Mayan sacrifice.
Note the wooden safety rail. Apprently 3 people sacrificed themselves, accidentally, to the Mayan Gods recently.
The view from Temple 4! Would you believe I climbed over 600 steps today?!
12-21-09
High excitement today! We left the island pretty early on a water taxi and headed off for the Belize Zoo. The zoo is amazing, only native animals that have been injured or orphaned or born in the zoo are kept and the spacious enclosures mimic their natural enviroment. From there we had a quick lunch and headed off for cave tubing. Although thrilling in itself, the real adventure came from the fact that the water level was rising from all the rain and we either had to cancel the tubing or bust butt to get in the river and hope to not get trapped in the cave. Of course we chose option B! After caving we jumped a bus to San Ignacio and spent the evening exploring the town and meeting locals. We even got invited over for Christmas dinner by one of locals!
Mick and I getting ready for Cave Tubing of Death!
The goal was as follows - don´t smash into a cave wall while tubing in the pitch black.
Looking back at the cave entrance . . . I am not going to lie - it was a little scary.
Tapir´s in the Belize Zoo.
You don´t just come to the zoo for animals, oh no! It´s all about the poetic sign posts as far as I can tell.
Junior the Jaguar. I know that I shouldn´t have, but I couldn´t help myself! Before my mind could stop my body I reached out and petted Junior, much to the horror and then jealousy of Mick. (Both hands still intact!)
12-20-09
Today was our last day on the island and although neither of us really wanted to leave, we were both ready for new adventures and the much cheaper country of Guatemala. After my last blog update, Mick and I spent the afternoon watching the rain, enjoying the view, hanging with new friends and playing a fierce game of trivia.
Trivia night with Mandy and Chris. Our team didn´t take first place as planned, but we still made it in fourth. Who knew that Basra is Iraq´s second largest city?
Go figure the one time I challenge a local to an arm wrestling match he turns out to be an ex-boxer. I didn´t win the drink, but I swear with his jacket on he looked pretty puny!
We spent a lot of time practicing our hula hooping skillz and left Caye Caulker awed by our awesomeness . . . well the school aged children at least.
Bugs vs. Alison
Bugs: 94 Alison: 4
No comments:
Post a Comment