All I want for Christmas this year is Belize...Please!

Feliz Navivdad,

After Lisa, Paul and I got to Belize City we caught a ferry boat to Caye Caulker, an island 20 miles off the coast of Belize in the Caribbean. We were greeted with sun, palm trees, sand and people more than willing to take you to “one” of the best hotels/hostels on the island. Since we didn’t have any reservations, we decided to go along with one lady.

After about a 15 min walk, we came upon the Tropical Paradise Hotel a cute, clean place right on the water. However they were asking $70 Belizean dollars (which is about $35 US dollars) for three people and we thought we could do better. So after a few more minutes we came up a place for $45 Belizean a night for three which works about to $7.50 US dollars per person. Great, we’ll take it!

Sure the beds were broken and provided no support since all the springs were damaged. And yeah, the door to the bathroom was about three feet in length and provided no privacy and the fan was not securely fastened to the ceiling, with promises of fallen on top of us when we were sleeping. The shower had no hot water and trickled out with as much speed and the workers on the island and both the shower and bathroom sink drained out of a hole in the floor and onto the sand, but it was cheap!

Happy with our find and thinking we were savvy travelers we changed and decided to explore the island. However on our return we realized that the room was for 7 guests and not 3 since we found about 4 cockroaches in our bags and room. Trying not to freak out we all sealed our bags and tried to get a good night sleep. The next morning I reached in my bag to grab some clothes only to have a cockroach scurry up my arm. He also had his brother in there too!

After two days at the Roach Motel, we decided that there are more important things than cheap and checked into the Paradise Hotel. However, it was late and at the last moment and they only had one room which we needed to change the next morning. A little more expensive, but the second room had air conditioning. A rare and wonderful treat. The problem now is Paul is leaving which means that the room is too expensive for two people.

So again Lisa and I moved to yet another hotel. This one wasn’t as nice as the Paradise, but cheaper. Although this room had its’ own share of “amenities” namely the bathroom. The toilet upstairs was leaking….a lot. The bathroom ceiling was bulging under the weight of the water, which was running down the wall and dripping onto our toilet. And every time you used it you would get a sprayed by the dripping, slightly used water. And yes, this place had cockroaches too, but we decided to stay together as one big happy family.

The island itself was very nice. Slow paced and just the thing that you are looking for to relax. Our days were filled with getting up, eating, laying out in the sun and more eating. There were some good places to eat and some were really cheap, like $3 US for a complete meal. For breakfast we liked to go to Cindy’s boasting of organic coffee and great breakfast food.

It was here that I would get my peanut butter and toast and I also attempted at ordering an ice coffee that went something like this:

ME: Can I get an iced latte here?
WAITRESS: Sure, no problem.
CINDY (owner): Here you go, but I have never understood people ordering iced lattes because by the time it gets to the table, the ice is melted. (She had poured steamed milk over the ice cubes.)
ME: (after tasting the lukewarm nastiness) Uumm…I am sorry, but is there anyway I could get this made with cold milk instead?
CINDY: I am sorry, that is just the way we make it.
ME: I realize that, but could I just cold milk instead of steamed that way it won’t melt the ice?
CINDY: But we always use steam milk, that is why I have never understood people wanting iced lattes.
ME: I just don’t understand (shrugging my shoulders in disbelief).

I did end up getting some sort of blended cold coffee drink, but that was neither what I wanted nor was it good. From then on I realized that thinking outside the box a little bit was a harder stretch than me drinking hot lattes.

For my Christmas present for myself I decided to get certified to SCUBA dive. It was amazing. I hadn’t thought about getting done on this trip which is strange because this is something that I have wanted to do for a very long time, but then I saw signs for it and Paul just got it done in Honduras, so I decided to do it.



The first day was just watching the videos and doing some reading. I met with my instructor Bert who was totally cool and just the person you want for this kind of experience: funny, patient, confident, competent and kind. The next day we went out to the Belize Reef for two dives to do my first series of water tests. This involved me preparing my gear, breathing underwater, taking my mask off under water, and a number of other things.

The following day we dived to 60ft which was incredible. The complete feeling of floating in space, not to mention that we saw a huge sea turtle. It basically just stopped and stared at me for awhile, trying to figure out what I was. It was something out of a movie or felt like I was in outer space and this was some alien looking at me. Words cannot describe it.

There were two guys with me that day who were getting their advanced diving certification which turned out to be a great thing for me. Not only did they have to do most of the things that I had to do they were going to do an extra third dive that was a navigational dive. Bert showed us how to use a compass and then we charted out a underwater course, something that I wouldn’t have had the option to do on just getting my open water certification.

However, it wasn’t until the next day that I really got another awesome opportunity, we dived to a 100ft. For an open water certification you can only go 60ft and you need to complete five dives. Since I got that extra third dive in the day before, I got my five dives in and because I was doing really well Bert trusted me to take me to a 100ft. It is at a 100ft that nitrogen narcosis starts in (a cause from having more nitrogen in the blood than the body can absorb leading to a “drunken state of being”) and we had to do some additional tests at that depth to see the effects on us. There wasn’t really anything that was noticeable to any of us. We got one more dive that was a multilevel dive meaning that we started at 80 ft, then 60 ft and lastly around 40 ft. I can honestly say that the whole experience was one of the coolest things that I have ever done in my life.

Over all the whole island was great. Lisa and I decided to check out another island called San Pedro on Christmas Day. This island is more touristy and even has ATM’s, dance clubs and a hospital. We didn’t like it as much as Caye Caulker which is quieter and more intimate. I missed my friends and family on Christmas Day which was the first time that I have ever missed it in the 27 years that I have been born. Plus, it didn’t really feel the same with 89 degree weather, sun, sand and palm trees, but it was a transition I greeted with SPF 15.

Flores and Tikal

Greetings All!

Lisa and I left Guatemala City on Saturday morning to catch the luxury bus. It was actually really nice, double decker bus, with air conditioning that worked too well. Even despite the cold Burger King that was served and the tissue-like blankets the 8 hour trip went pretty fast.

We got into Flores around 6 pm and in about 10 mins we had our hotel, shuttle ticket to Tikal and bus ticket to Belize. The Mirador del Lago Hotel was pretty nice. Our first one was on the top level, only unit with a huge balcony over looking the lake and Flores. Beautiful!

Flores is a tiny island city that is pretty much quiet all year round according to a local that I asked. You could walk the entire island in about 3o mins. I am not sure if it was ever completly surrounded by water, but now there is a small road that connects it with the mainland.

The following day we got our shuttle to Tikal at 5 am in the morning. I know it was difficult for me. The bus was a little late, promising to have us watch the sunrise in Tikal, but we got there around 7:00 am instead. Once in Tikal it was a short 10 min ride through the Ancient Mayan Ruin Park.

The Mayan Park is one of the largest collection of ruins in the world and it was absolutely amazing. We first headed to the Gran Plaza which holds Temples I and II. It was incredible to see the temples, alters, and offering tables. You could totally see this Gran Plaza as a working/functioning "city center."

We lucked out and ran into Dave, Megan, and Paul. They left the day before us and we were worried that we wouldn't see Dave or Megan to say bye. Both of them are leaving for the States. We miss you already.

From the Gran Plaza we headed to Temple IV the highest of all the Temples. From there the view was beautiful. From all around you only could see the rain forest and the other Temples sticking through the trees. We also saw a lot of monkeys climbing and jumping from one tree to another.

After that we headed for the other Temples, six in all and the other collection of ruins. They are similar in appearance of the pyramids in Egypt. The only real difference is that the Mayan Temples have stairs that go all the way to the top of the temple. We had lunch, finished up the rest of the sights and headed home after about 7 hours of walking and climbing in the park. It was tiring, but well worth the trip. What a great experience.

We went back to Flores to stay the night and then head out to Belize City the next morning, again catching a 5 am shuttle. Only this time we had to change rooms because the first one was for three people and we are only two. Needless to say it wasn't as nice as the first one. It was on the second floor right next to the street so it was very noisy. When you used the bathroom sink, the water would drain from the bowl to the floor. Also, the toilet/sink emitted a foul smell...something like a gases sulferic smell. I guess we had our very own hot natural springs in our own room.

The next morning we met up with Paul and were picked up at 5:10 am in a shuttle that took us on a 1 min ride to the other side of the island. From there we waited until 6:00 am for the bus. Ha ha...they said the 5 am ride to Belize was the best, but they must have meant the 1 min shuttle ride.

It took us about five hours to get to Belize City and we jumped on the 12:30 pm boat to Caye Caulker. Caye Caulker is an island off of Belize about 20 miles away. It is very beautiful here. More to come on this!

Hope all is well and love you all!
Craig

Up coming travel plans...

Hello Everyone,

I just wanted to write you all to let you know what I will be up to for this holiday season. This Friday is my last day in Antigua and school. Lisa, Dave and I will be heading to Guatemala City for the evening and then catching a "luxury" bus to Tikkal to see the ruins.

After that on the 20th of December Lisa and I will be going to Belize until the 23rd. We will then be heading to Tulum, Mexico for Christmas and then Playa del Carmen for the New Years. While I am in Mexico and Belize my phone will not work so I will not be able to call you or receive calls. :-(

I am not sure how often that I will be checking email during that time, so I wanted to wish everyone a MERRY CHRISTMAS and a Happy New Year. I have been thinking about you all a lot during this time and hope you are all happy.

After January 2nd I may head back to Antigua to study more, but I am not sure. I still want to visit Monterico Beach in Guatemala (not to be confused with "brown-sacks" Champerico) and Guatemala is really close to El Salvador and Honduras so making trips down there would be easy. However, I am getting anxious to travel more and see more countries and the thought of staying in the same location seems a little boring.

I will keep you posted and I apologize for not keeping the blog as up to date as I would like.

Again, I love you all and wishing you all a wonderful holiday season.

Be good to yourselves,
Craig

Chi Chi

Hello All,

Lisa, Sarah, Charlie and I went to Chi Chi over the weekend. Right at the moment I can't remember how to spell the city name correctly, but it is something like Chichicanstanago, but everyone calls it Chi Chi.

Chi Chi is mainly known for its' market. Every Sunday people come from all over the country to set up their little booth selling anything from pottery to bags, to hand-made crafts. And there are also the other people coming from all over the country to buy these things.

It is really popular with tourists who want to buy gifts for there friends and families at a really cheap prices. This wasn't me though :-) No gifts for anyone this year...ha ha. No I would love to bring things back, but as I am going to be traveling for six more months this is really possible.

I was really impressed with how many people there were and the selection of the crafts. It was amazing to see this massive market form before your eyes and the vanish again. The work that goes into carry these goods is impressive. Lisa and Sarah bought a lot of things and then we had lunch. It just so happened that a group from Celas Maya was there so we got to catch up with a lot of students that we haven't seen in a while.

All in all it was a great day trip.

Take care,
Craig

Rio Dulce and Livingston

Hola Mi Amigos!

I just got back from Rio Dulce and Livingston this weekend with my friend Eric. It was great. I have decided that riding in his Range Rover is a little better than taking a chicken bus. Livingston is on Guatemala's Caribbean coast which is only about 20 miles of Caribbean coast since what is now Belize was taken from them.

Livingston is about 4 1/2 hours from Antigua and you cannot reach it by car. You need to travel to Puerto Barrios (which is one of the dirtiest places on Earth) and catch a ferry boat to Livingston. It is amazing to see that the concept of littering or other environmental issues don't exist in other countries. Granted these people have bigger problems, but it is funny to see someone finish eating a bag of chips and throw the bag away in the ocean when they are done.

We got to Livingston Friday night and checked into the Rosado Hotel which is a cute little place on the water. Rio Dulce is one of the main rivers in Guatemala and it empties into the Caribbean Ocean. It is really quite beautiful.

That night and all the next day it rained which sort of sucked. Mainly because my eyes were glazed over in excitement of the thought of hanging out on the Caribbean sun and sand, so I only brought short sleeve shirts and shorts. Not really the warmest of clothing. On Saturday we hung out in the city of Livingston.

I am not sure if you can call it a city for it is really, really small. It has a lot of Garifuna influence which is really similar to what we would think of as "Jamaican." I didn't really care for this city too much, although Lisa loved it. I think that my expectations were a little high though.

The following day was great. The sun was out and everything was beautiful. Eric and I took a boat up Rio Dulce...What an experience. At the mouth of the river you go into this canyon with steep sides. The amazing thing about it is that the sides are completely covered in trees and other vegetation. It reminded me of "Lord of the Rings" when they are traveling down the river. Is that sad?

We were going to this finca (a big farm) that is only accessible by boat. It was so amazing to experience this. After about traveling up the river for about 25 minutes we cut across to a section partitioned off by trees and such. Then we went through this dense area of trees, which I thought was the shore, up this little tiny river that was no more than 6ft wide.

After about another 20 minutes of traveling through this little river that had trees growing all around us and Iguanas running about we arrived at the finca. There are about 20 people that live there year round to take care of it and the cattle. The farm is about 600 acres, built in roads, bridges and houses. Really amazing.

The next day we left and I wished we had one more day. There is a beach called "Playa Blanca" that I wished I would have visited. I don't think that it is worth to go back, but I am glad that I had the chance to experience it.