9-12-08
Today was interesting to say the least. Yesterday I got an email from Continental advising to change travel plans because all flights to Houston 9-12 through 9-14 are likely to be canceled due to Hurricane Ike. Adam called his dad, who travels quite a bit, and offered to look into options for us.
This morning, Amy and Adam told us their Saturday flight had been canceled. The next flight available through Continental (at least with seats available) is Tuesday, so they're staying another three nights.
Mr. Flacks called Adam and told us Continental will reimburse you the price of your ticket if you have to change to another airline. When we looked at the fine print, this is strictly for when a flight is canceled. As of now, our Sunday flight has not been canceled. It likely will be though, so we booked flights on American Airlines that go through Miami instead of Houston. The flight to Miami is earlier, and the connecting flight back to Indianapolis is even later on Monday than the
original one through Continental, so my 12 hour layover over night has just turned into an 18 hour layover over night. I will need to get a hotel room for sure now. With all the travel issues, Adam is no longer staying the layover with me (as originally planned when we were going through Houston), and will be back home Sunday night. Honestly, I can't blame him for wanting to get the traveling over with as soon as possible.
Enough negative stuff for now though. Well, not really. In the off season, water taxis only seem to run every 3 hours or so during the day. While in the pool this morning, the bartender Marva suggested we rent bikes and ride them into town. We went for it, and WOW, was it a mistake. The bikes themselves were old and rusted, and the path we took was partially on the beach, partially on a back-road in bad condition. When we made it into town, we were exhausted. We locked our bikes up (though my lock could be pulled open without the key) and looked for lunch. We ended up eating at The Blue Moon Cafe, which was delicious. I had a bbq brisket sandwich, which Adam originally ordered one as well. However, they only had enough for one of us, and Adam switched his order to a burger while I ran downstairs to see if the water taxi folks would let us take the bikes on the taxi. After lunch, we did some souvenier shopping. We both got some cool stuff, but Adam is definitely better at bartering than me, and liketly got better deals. Having no desire to ride the bikes back, especially with souvenirs, we put out the extra cash to get a private water taxi to take us (and the bikes) back to Belizian Shores. This is the point in the day we made our travel arrangements to go through Miami official.
After the arrangements were made, I needed a drink, so back to the pool bar!!! A majority of our friends from yesterday were there, as well as a new couple, Ping and Star, who had just arrived that afternoon. As it turns out, Ping and Star had just come from St. Ignacio, and had done some of the same stuff we did out there (the ATM cave and I think cave tubing), so we had plenty to talk about with them.
At 7:30, we (me, Adam, Ping and Star) got a private water taxi back into town for dinner. Since we didn't actually eat a meal there yesterday, we suggested going back to El Patio. I ordered a Carribean Lobster, and it was freaking delicious (it was served in a tomato basil sauce, and the lobster itself had been cooked in Belizian rum). After the meal, we stuck around and watched Hurricane Ike coverage on the Weather Channel. The storm looked devastating, but seeing a weatherman on-location get so mad that he appeared to quit his job on-air, then walk off camera was absolutely hysterical. After this, we took a water taxi back to the resort, and pretty much called it a night.
Signing off,
Ryan
Sunday, September 21, 2008
9-11-08 (from hand-written journal)
9-12-08
1:11am
Today (well, Thursday) was awesome in ways I could have never imagined/anticipated. We left the Trek Stop at 7am, and hired William to shuttle us back to Belize City. Just like when arriving last Sunday, William was a trip, and very entertaining.
William being entertaining:
William being helpful:
(The following portion is being written from memory on 9-20-08)
When we had arrived in Belize on 9-07, William had recommended that on our way back to Belize City before we head to San Pedro, that we might want to check out the Belize Zoo. I thought it was kind of odd to come all this way and spend time at a zoo, but it was only $8 to get in, so I agreed to it. The zoo ended up being pretty cool. There were some pretty exotic animals there, and I took some of my favorite pictures here at the zoo as well. I'm still amazed at the vibrant color and detail my camera captures.
The jaguar above has been raised since birth in the zoo. In the video below, a zoo employee next to the cage can be heard trying to convince us to pay $100 BZ to get into the cage with the jaguar (we declined said offer):
These little guys are leafcutter ants. We saw numerous colonies of them in the jungle, chopping leaves off plants and carrying them off to other locations. I saw a colony of them on a gravel path at the zoo, which was the first time I had my good camera with me when seeing them, so I snapped some shots and video of them:
(9-20-08 portion ends here)
After spending a little more than an hour at the zoo, we got back on the road, arrived in Belize City at about 11am, and took the noon water taxi to San Pedro.
Me, William and Adam at the water taxi station in Belize City:
On the water taxi:
Insane water taxi employees sitting and laying on the front of the boat as it zips across the ocean:
Upon arrival at about 1:15pm, Adam called Belizian Shores, and they sent a water taxi to bring us to the resort. Our room here is a palace compared to Trek Stop. It's pretty much a fully stocked 1-bedroom condo. Since Adam won the coin toss at the Trek Stop and got the good bed there, he offered me the bedroom, which is where I write this entry from. There is a pull-out couch in the living room, which he is sleeping on.
Some time around 2:45-3pmish, we head out to the pool with walk-up bar(fully equiped with bar stools in the water) to cool off, get some lunch, and have some beers. This is where we met Traci, who has been here by herself since last Sunday. Though here by herself, Traci has met the 20 or so other guests at the resort. She tells us a group are going into the city for dinner and karaoke, and invites us to joing them, which we do. We meet out on the dock, and are introduced to Amy and Adam. Though going to town for different reasons, we also meet MacCleod and Laura as well, who end up joining us for drinks later. When the taxi got to town, they went off to do their Christmas shopping, and we headed to a restaurant called El Patio. It was about 6:30pm, and Adam and I had only eaten a few hours ago, so we didn't order dinner. Instead, we both ordered some fresh fruit to snack on. I got a side order, which was very small. Luckily, Adam ordered the plate, which ended up being more than enough for all five of us at the table. The other Adam, Amy and Traci all ordered various seafood dishes, which all looked excellent. I'd like to go back there and actually eat dinner tomorrow (Saturday). After dinner, we headed over to Club Jaguar for the karaoke. It was about 8:40pm, and the back room they were doing the karaoke at didn't open until 10pm. So, we took some seats on the patio and enjoyed some drinks out there. MacCleod and Laura joined us here for a couple of rounds, but had two small children back at the resort (being watched by the kids grandparents, who were also there on the vacation), so did not stay for karaoke.
Outside of Club Jaguar, waiting for karaoke night to start:
At 10pm, we head over to the other room, pay our $10 BZ cover charge to get in, and go inside. As it turns out, it wasn't open karaoke, but the Belizian equivelent of American Idol, full out with three judges and all. To make it even better, the entire thing was being broadcast on both TV and radio. To bump it up yet another notch, about halfway through the night, during one of the performers, the emcee came over to us and asked where we were all from. When the performer was done, the emcee made a point to introduce our table as very special guests from America, and the camera man zoomed in on us for about 20 seconds.
Inside Club Jaguar:
Videos I found on youtube from the tv broadcast:
The next morning, Laura told me she saw the contest being broadcast on tv (but did not see the part with us). In conclusion, we arrived at Belizian Shores with no plans at all, and ended up on local access television by the end of the night, having some of the most fun of the entire trip.
Funny side story: Shortly after meeting Traci, she asked me "Your name is Gary, right???" I told her that wasn't even close, and reminded her my name was Ryan. Without hesitation, she came back with one of the most brilliant responses I've ever heard, arguing that Gary shares 3 out of the 4 same letters as Ryan, so technically she was close. I was floored at how quick she came up with such a witty response on the spot, and just cracked up.
Side story complete, and it's time to wrap this one up.
Until next time,
Ryan
1:11am
Today (well, Thursday) was awesome in ways I could have never imagined/anticipated. We left the Trek Stop at 7am, and hired William to shuttle us back to Belize City. Just like when arriving last Sunday, William was a trip, and very entertaining.
William being entertaining:
William being helpful:
(The following portion is being written from memory on 9-20-08)
When we had arrived in Belize on 9-07, William had recommended that on our way back to Belize City before we head to San Pedro, that we might want to check out the Belize Zoo. I thought it was kind of odd to come all this way and spend time at a zoo, but it was only $8 to get in, so I agreed to it. The zoo ended up being pretty cool. There were some pretty exotic animals there, and I took some of my favorite pictures here at the zoo as well. I'm still amazed at the vibrant color and detail my camera captures.
The jaguar above has been raised since birth in the zoo. In the video below, a zoo employee next to the cage can be heard trying to convince us to pay $100 BZ to get into the cage with the jaguar (we declined said offer):
These little guys are leafcutter ants. We saw numerous colonies of them in the jungle, chopping leaves off plants and carrying them off to other locations. I saw a colony of them on a gravel path at the zoo, which was the first time I had my good camera with me when seeing them, so I snapped some shots and video of them:
(9-20-08 portion ends here)
After spending a little more than an hour at the zoo, we got back on the road, arrived in Belize City at about 11am, and took the noon water taxi to San Pedro.
Me, William and Adam at the water taxi station in Belize City:
On the water taxi:
Insane water taxi employees sitting and laying on the front of the boat as it zips across the ocean:
Upon arrival at about 1:15pm, Adam called Belizian Shores, and they sent a water taxi to bring us to the resort. Our room here is a palace compared to Trek Stop. It's pretty much a fully stocked 1-bedroom condo. Since Adam won the coin toss at the Trek Stop and got the good bed there, he offered me the bedroom, which is where I write this entry from. There is a pull-out couch in the living room, which he is sleeping on.
Some time around 2:45-3pmish, we head out to the pool with walk-up bar(fully equiped with bar stools in the water) to cool off, get some lunch, and have some beers. This is where we met Traci, who has been here by herself since last Sunday. Though here by herself, Traci has met the 20 or so other guests at the resort. She tells us a group are going into the city for dinner and karaoke, and invites us to joing them, which we do. We meet out on the dock, and are introduced to Amy and Adam. Though going to town for different reasons, we also meet MacCleod and Laura as well, who end up joining us for drinks later. When the taxi got to town, they went off to do their Christmas shopping, and we headed to a restaurant called El Patio. It was about 6:30pm, and Adam and I had only eaten a few hours ago, so we didn't order dinner. Instead, we both ordered some fresh fruit to snack on. I got a side order, which was very small. Luckily, Adam ordered the plate, which ended up being more than enough for all five of us at the table. The other Adam, Amy and Traci all ordered various seafood dishes, which all looked excellent. I'd like to go back there and actually eat dinner tomorrow (Saturday). After dinner, we headed over to Club Jaguar for the karaoke. It was about 8:40pm, and the back room they were doing the karaoke at didn't open until 10pm. So, we took some seats on the patio and enjoyed some drinks out there. MacCleod and Laura joined us here for a couple of rounds, but had two small children back at the resort (being watched by the kids grandparents, who were also there on the vacation), so did not stay for karaoke.
Outside of Club Jaguar, waiting for karaoke night to start:
At 10pm, we head over to the other room, pay our $10 BZ cover charge to get in, and go inside. As it turns out, it wasn't open karaoke, but the Belizian equivelent of American Idol, full out with three judges and all. To make it even better, the entire thing was being broadcast on both TV and radio. To bump it up yet another notch, about halfway through the night, during one of the performers, the emcee came over to us and asked where we were all from. When the performer was done, the emcee made a point to introduce our table as very special guests from America, and the camera man zoomed in on us for about 20 seconds.
Inside Club Jaguar:
Videos I found on youtube from the tv broadcast:
The next morning, Laura told me she saw the contest being broadcast on tv (but did not see the part with us). In conclusion, we arrived at Belizian Shores with no plans at all, and ended up on local access television by the end of the night, having some of the most fun of the entire trip.
Funny side story: Shortly after meeting Traci, she asked me "Your name is Gary, right???" I told her that wasn't even close, and reminded her my name was Ryan. Without hesitation, she came back with one of the most brilliant responses I've ever heard, arguing that Gary shares 3 out of the 4 same letters as Ryan, so technically she was close. I was floored at how quick she came up with such a witty response on the spot, and just cracked up.
Side story complete, and it's time to wrap this one up.
Until next time,
Ryan
Saturday, September 20, 2008
9-10-08 (Written from memory on 9-20-08)
9-10-08
(Written from memory on 9-20-08)
Originally, we had asked the manager of the Trek Stop, Tino, about putting together a trip to Tikal. The package he put together with us was pretty expensive, and didn't seem to offer much either. From what he described, he would pretty much be dropping us off at the border, and once we got across, we'd be hooking up with a Guatemalan guide that he trusted to take us the rest of the way on show us Tikal. The prospect of being abandoned at the border to just figure things out for ourselves didn't really sit well with us. When we were doing the Actun Tunichil Muknal cave tour on 9-09, we talked to the Hun Chi’ik guys about if they offered Tikal tours, which they said they did. Since we had been happy with the two tours we had already done through Hun Chi’ik, it was an easy decision to go with them for Tikal also.
We left Trek Stop at about 7am the morning of 9-10, and were happy to find that Rudy was our Hun Chi’ik guide for the day again. He had been an awesome guide for cave tubing, so we knew a fun day was in store. I hadn't realized before that we were only 3 miles away from the border of Guatemala at the Trek Stop. So, after a 5 minute drive to the border, we experienced how different it is to cross a border other than in the United States. It was kind of scary how easy it was to do this. The worst part about the experience was that the country of Belize charges you $37.50 (American) to leave the country (we would have to pay this again at the airport when heading back to the US on 9-14). To actually get across the border, Rudy asked Adam and I for our passports, and took them to the counter necessary to get them stamped at. The security there didn't even need to see us, but just wanted to make sure our passports were stamped. It's crazy how different this is handled than in the US.
After getting across the border, we exchanged about $10 each into Guatemalan currency ($7 Guatemalan for every $1 US), and I stopped at a tiny convenience store to get a bottle of water. The girl working the cash register couldn't have been more than 10 years old, which was a bit of a shock.
At this point we get on the road and drive for about an hour or so to a gas station/gift shop that has the cleanest bathrooms I've ever seen at a gas station.
Rudy once again teaching us about nature while driving through Guatemala:
This gas station/gift shop appears to be the place where you find a guide that actually works at Tikal to take us on a tour. We let Rudy handle this and look at the local crafts the store has to offer. A few minutes later, we meet Pinky, who is our guide for our tour through Tikal. After talking with Pinky for a few minutes, I discover something a bit disturbing. Though he has been a guide at Tikal for over 2 years, this is only the second time he's ever given the tour in English.
As the day progresses, it becomes clearer and clearer that Pinky is a horrible guide. I know that language was definitely a factor in the difficulty of giving us a tour, but I think he was pretty lazy as well. The temples of Tikal are spread over a very large area, so there was a lot of hiking done throughout the day. We would constantly pass other groups with other guides who seemed to have interesting stories about things we were passing, yet Pinky had almost no stories, and we would just walk from place to place. There were a couple temples we saw people climbing up that Pinky was attempting to just walk by. Fortunately Adam asked if we could go up these temples, which Pinky said if we wanted to we could, but he wasn't joining us.
A rare instance of Pinky pointing something out to Adam:
The one temple he actually did join us as we scaled it was the biggest one at Tikal.
For these large temples, you don't actually climb up the stone stairs that make up the building. In the past they allowed people to, but there were too many instances of people tripping, falling, and unfortunately dying, that they no longer allow it. To still allow people to go up these massive structures, they have built wooden stair cases to take you from the bottom to the top. At the foot of this staircase, we saw one of the coolest things we did all day, which were two small tribes of howler monkeys in different trees screaming at each other. I snapped a number of pictures, and even got some video of this.
View from the highest ruin in Tikal:
Though Pinky was a terrible guide, we were lucky to have Rudy with us. Even though he did not work at Tikal, he seemed very knowledgeable about the place, and Mayan culture in general (possibly because there is another set of Mayan ruins, Xunantunich, very close to St. Ignasio that Hun Chi’ik also does tours of). He told us interesting facts about how Mayans constructed their villages of temples in a circle formation for acoustical reasons. In this formation, a member of royalty at the top of a 200 foot tall temple could address the village on the ground, as well as the village folks talk back to the royalty at the top of the temple, and both parties could hear each other perfectly. He also told us about a sporting event that sounded like an early version of soccer (or football, if you will) where you could only use your knees and elbows to hit the ball, and the goal was more like a goal you would find in a whirleyball court, almost like a basketball backboard with a hole cut into the center that you had to get the ball through to score. What was interesting about the game is that originally, it was a religious thing, and the winning team would get sacrificed (they believe in reincarnation, so being sacrificed was actually an honor for them). As time passed, the game became more for entertainment value, and eventually it switched so that the losing team were the ones sacrificed for entertainment value. Yet another fascinating thing Rudy shared with us was that a number of the paths we were walking on to get from temple to temple, though now covered in plant growth, used to be made out of a specific type of rock (the type, I cannot recall) that was capable of reflecting light. This was done so that even when the sun went down, the light from the moon reflected off the path, lighting it up and helping visibility. I couldn't believe that for such an early civilization, the Mayans were very clever in how they lived and constructed their society.
Rudy telling us a story while sitting on a ruin Pinky didn't feel like climbing with us:
More Tikal photos and video I like:
You can actually walk in and out of the structures in this picture below:
And we did!!!
Resting on a Mayan bed in a temple we could go in:
Near a concession stand, someone who I'm not sure actually worked at Tikal was passing around a tarantula for people to hold. Adam jumped at this opportunity:
The picture I took:
After the tour, we went to the restaurant they had on site, and enjoyed an authentic Guatemalan meal (which was pretty similar to the style of food in Belize honestly). After that, we headed back to Belize, getting back to the Trek Stop at about 2:30 in the afternoon I think (or maybe it was 3:30). Since we had spare time on our hands, we walked down the road to Succotz, and planned on checking out Xunantunich. Unfortunately, the little crank-boat ferry that gets you across the river to get to the ruins had closed early for the day due to a holiday (which I can't remember what it was). So we head back to Trek Stop, and check out the butterfly garden they have on site there, which ended up being very cool. I took a number of pictures in the enclosure, as well as a little video tour of the place.
Eventually we got hungry, and walked into Succotz for dinner, only to find that they were only serving Nachos, and rice and beans. I'm not sure if this was because they were out of everything else, or if this was possibly for the holiday that was going on. We ordered one of each, and it ended up being a pretty decent meal. Rice and beans apparently includes chicken, which definitely helped. After the meal, we were told there was live music going on in town, so we followed the noise until we found where things were setup in a cool little open-aired shelter/gazebo type place. Unfortunately, in Belize the definition of live music is having a DJ spin music, which neither of us were particularly interested in. So, at this point, we went back to Trek Stop, and packed our stuff up for the move to San Pedro the next morning before calling it a night.
(Written from memory on 9-20-08)
Originally, we had asked the manager of the Trek Stop, Tino, about putting together a trip to Tikal. The package he put together with us was pretty expensive, and didn't seem to offer much either. From what he described, he would pretty much be dropping us off at the border, and once we got across, we'd be hooking up with a Guatemalan guide that he trusted to take us the rest of the way on show us Tikal. The prospect of being abandoned at the border to just figure things out for ourselves didn't really sit well with us. When we were doing the Actun Tunichil Muknal cave tour on 9-09, we talked to the Hun Chi’ik guys about if they offered Tikal tours, which they said they did. Since we had been happy with the two tours we had already done through Hun Chi’ik, it was an easy decision to go with them for Tikal also.
We left Trek Stop at about 7am the morning of 9-10, and were happy to find that Rudy was our Hun Chi’ik guide for the day again. He had been an awesome guide for cave tubing, so we knew a fun day was in store. I hadn't realized before that we were only 3 miles away from the border of Guatemala at the Trek Stop. So, after a 5 minute drive to the border, we experienced how different it is to cross a border other than in the United States. It was kind of scary how easy it was to do this. The worst part about the experience was that the country of Belize charges you $37.50 (American) to leave the country (we would have to pay this again at the airport when heading back to the US on 9-14). To actually get across the border, Rudy asked Adam and I for our passports, and took them to the counter necessary to get them stamped at. The security there didn't even need to see us, but just wanted to make sure our passports were stamped. It's crazy how different this is handled than in the US.
After getting across the border, we exchanged about $10 each into Guatemalan currency ($7 Guatemalan for every $1 US), and I stopped at a tiny convenience store to get a bottle of water. The girl working the cash register couldn't have been more than 10 years old, which was a bit of a shock.
At this point we get on the road and drive for about an hour or so to a gas station/gift shop that has the cleanest bathrooms I've ever seen at a gas station.
Rudy once again teaching us about nature while driving through Guatemala:
This gas station/gift shop appears to be the place where you find a guide that actually works at Tikal to take us on a tour. We let Rudy handle this and look at the local crafts the store has to offer. A few minutes later, we meet Pinky, who is our guide for our tour through Tikal. After talking with Pinky for a few minutes, I discover something a bit disturbing. Though he has been a guide at Tikal for over 2 years, this is only the second time he's ever given the tour in English.
As the day progresses, it becomes clearer and clearer that Pinky is a horrible guide. I know that language was definitely a factor in the difficulty of giving us a tour, but I think he was pretty lazy as well. The temples of Tikal are spread over a very large area, so there was a lot of hiking done throughout the day. We would constantly pass other groups with other guides who seemed to have interesting stories about things we were passing, yet Pinky had almost no stories, and we would just walk from place to place. There were a couple temples we saw people climbing up that Pinky was attempting to just walk by. Fortunately Adam asked if we could go up these temples, which Pinky said if we wanted to we could, but he wasn't joining us.
A rare instance of Pinky pointing something out to Adam:
The one temple he actually did join us as we scaled it was the biggest one at Tikal.
For these large temples, you don't actually climb up the stone stairs that make up the building. In the past they allowed people to, but there were too many instances of people tripping, falling, and unfortunately dying, that they no longer allow it. To still allow people to go up these massive structures, they have built wooden stair cases to take you from the bottom to the top. At the foot of this staircase, we saw one of the coolest things we did all day, which were two small tribes of howler monkeys in different trees screaming at each other. I snapped a number of pictures, and even got some video of this.
View from the highest ruin in Tikal:
Though Pinky was a terrible guide, we were lucky to have Rudy with us. Even though he did not work at Tikal, he seemed very knowledgeable about the place, and Mayan culture in general (possibly because there is another set of Mayan ruins, Xunantunich, very close to St. Ignasio that Hun Chi’ik also does tours of). He told us interesting facts about how Mayans constructed their villages of temples in a circle formation for acoustical reasons. In this formation, a member of royalty at the top of a 200 foot tall temple could address the village on the ground, as well as the village folks talk back to the royalty at the top of the temple, and both parties could hear each other perfectly. He also told us about a sporting event that sounded like an early version of soccer (or football, if you will) where you could only use your knees and elbows to hit the ball, and the goal was more like a goal you would find in a whirleyball court, almost like a basketball backboard with a hole cut into the center that you had to get the ball through to score. What was interesting about the game is that originally, it was a religious thing, and the winning team would get sacrificed (they believe in reincarnation, so being sacrificed was actually an honor for them). As time passed, the game became more for entertainment value, and eventually it switched so that the losing team were the ones sacrificed for entertainment value. Yet another fascinating thing Rudy shared with us was that a number of the paths we were walking on to get from temple to temple, though now covered in plant growth, used to be made out of a specific type of rock (the type, I cannot recall) that was capable of reflecting light. This was done so that even when the sun went down, the light from the moon reflected off the path, lighting it up and helping visibility. I couldn't believe that for such an early civilization, the Mayans were very clever in how they lived and constructed their society.
Rudy telling us a story while sitting on a ruin Pinky didn't feel like climbing with us:
More Tikal photos and video I like:
You can actually walk in and out of the structures in this picture below:
And we did!!!
Resting on a Mayan bed in a temple we could go in:
Near a concession stand, someone who I'm not sure actually worked at Tikal was passing around a tarantula for people to hold. Adam jumped at this opportunity:
The picture I took:
After the tour, we went to the restaurant they had on site, and enjoyed an authentic Guatemalan meal (which was pretty similar to the style of food in Belize honestly). After that, we headed back to Belize, getting back to the Trek Stop at about 2:30 in the afternoon I think (or maybe it was 3:30). Since we had spare time on our hands, we walked down the road to Succotz, and planned on checking out Xunantunich. Unfortunately, the little crank-boat ferry that gets you across the river to get to the ruins had closed early for the day due to a holiday (which I can't remember what it was). So we head back to Trek Stop, and check out the butterfly garden they have on site there, which ended up being very cool. I took a number of pictures in the enclosure, as well as a little video tour of the place.
Eventually we got hungry, and walked into Succotz for dinner, only to find that they were only serving Nachos, and rice and beans. I'm not sure if this was because they were out of everything else, or if this was possibly for the holiday that was going on. We ordered one of each, and it ended up being a pretty decent meal. Rice and beans apparently includes chicken, which definitely helped. After the meal, we were told there was live music going on in town, so we followed the noise until we found where things were setup in a cool little open-aired shelter/gazebo type place. Unfortunately, in Belize the definition of live music is having a DJ spin music, which neither of us were particularly interested in. So, at this point, we went back to Trek Stop, and packed our stuff up for the move to San Pedro the next morning before calling it a night.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
9-09-08 (from hand-written journal)
9-09-08
5:56pm
Today we went on the Actun Tunichil Muknal cave tour, and it was nothing short of incredible. We went through the Hun Chi’ik Tours company, who we were impressed with from cave tubing yesterday. Unlike yesterday, today we were not the only people on our tour. An adveturous couple from Hawaii in their late 50's named Kellie and Liz joined us. When we got back from cave tubing yesterday, they were actually there in the park enjoying a bottle of wine, chatting with our driver. They travel all over the world, and had some very interesting stories to tell. However, this story is about caving, and not them.
The requirements for this tour were as follows:
1. Bring a spare dry sent of clothes to change into afterwards.
2. Bring socks.
The drive to our destination was about an hour, and included driving 7 miles on a rugged gravel "road." On this "road," we had to drive over a river twice, which reminded me of the Unviersal Studios tour where you go through the parting of the red sea on a train.
When we got there, we started on a 45 minute hike to the cave entrance, which included wading through the Roaring Creek river three separate times, one of them being up about halfway to our knees.
When we got to the mouth of the cave, we put on our helmets and lights, got into the pool, and swam into the mouth of the cave.
(Note, this isn't us swimming into the cave. We didn't get any good shots of the cave entrance, so I snagged this from a google search)
Inside was absolutely stunning. There were tons of natural rock formations everywhere. The entire cave system is always flooded with water, but most of the time it was just up to our ankles. There were a few places it was up to our waists, and a couple of spots deep enough that we had to swim across. The goal of the hike is that when we got deep enough into the cave, we did some light climbing up some rock walls, tour our shoes off, and entered a set of chambers almost completely preserved in calcification, fillwed with Mayan artifacts, from pottery to bones (from human sacrifices likely), and finally one completely in tact (preserved female skeleton known as the Crystal Maiden (who was erie, yet beautiful at the same time). This is the point where it was necessary to have socks. I got two different explanations as to why we needed socks, and I'm not sure which was true. One was simple, which was that since we had to take our shoes off, having socks on would give us a small amount of protection against walking on bare rocks. The other was that they wanted to protect the cave as much as possible from the oils in our skin which could have an effect on the rocks we were walking on.
The Crystal Maiden (Once again, taken from google because none of ours turned out)
At this point, we back-tracked out of the cave (I think taking some shortcuts because going back only took about 20 minutes). We entered the cave around 10:30am, and got back to the mouth of the cave around 1pm, spending close to 2.5 hours underground. At this point we had some bagged lunches we brought with us (some people's got invaded by ants, but mine seemed to be fine), then hit the 45 minute hike back to t our van. When we got there, our driver was waiting for us with freshly cut watermelon, pineapple (I think, I didn't actually have any), chips and salsa. After the refreshing snack, we changed into our spare dry cloths, got in the van, and headed back to Trek Stop. Having left at about 7:45am, we got back at 4:30pm. I can't stress enough how incredible this experience was!!! With two positive esperiences with the company, we are hiring Hun Chi’ik Tours again tomorrow to be our guides for our tour of Tikal in Guatemala. I can't wait!!! Well, I'm wrapping this up at about 10:53pm, and I think I might be calling it a night. 6am will get here too soon, and I want to be well rested for tomorrow. After Tikal, we spend one last night at Trek Stop, then head to San Pedro for some much-needed (after 4 days of compost toilets and rain-water showers) touristy resort-style relaxation.
Goodnight me,
Ryan
5:56pm
Today we went on the Actun Tunichil Muknal cave tour, and it was nothing short of incredible. We went through the Hun Chi’ik Tours company, who we were impressed with from cave tubing yesterday. Unlike yesterday, today we were not the only people on our tour. An adveturous couple from Hawaii in their late 50's named Kellie and Liz joined us. When we got back from cave tubing yesterday, they were actually there in the park enjoying a bottle of wine, chatting with our driver. They travel all over the world, and had some very interesting stories to tell. However, this story is about caving, and not them.
The requirements for this tour were as follows:
1. Bring a spare dry sent of clothes to change into afterwards.
2. Bring socks.
The drive to our destination was about an hour, and included driving 7 miles on a rugged gravel "road." On this "road," we had to drive over a river twice, which reminded me of the Unviersal Studios tour where you go through the parting of the red sea on a train.
When we got there, we started on a 45 minute hike to the cave entrance, which included wading through the Roaring Creek river three separate times, one of them being up about halfway to our knees.
When we got to the mouth of the cave, we put on our helmets and lights, got into the pool, and swam into the mouth of the cave.
(Note, this isn't us swimming into the cave. We didn't get any good shots of the cave entrance, so I snagged this from a google search)
Inside was absolutely stunning. There were tons of natural rock formations everywhere. The entire cave system is always flooded with water, but most of the time it was just up to our ankles. There were a few places it was up to our waists, and a couple of spots deep enough that we had to swim across. The goal of the hike is that when we got deep enough into the cave, we did some light climbing up some rock walls, tour our shoes off, and entered a set of chambers almost completely preserved in calcification, fillwed with Mayan artifacts, from pottery to bones (from human sacrifices likely), and finally one completely in tact (preserved female skeleton known as the Crystal Maiden (who was erie, yet beautiful at the same time). This is the point where it was necessary to have socks. I got two different explanations as to why we needed socks, and I'm not sure which was true. One was simple, which was that since we had to take our shoes off, having socks on would give us a small amount of protection against walking on bare rocks. The other was that they wanted to protect the cave as much as possible from the oils in our skin which could have an effect on the rocks we were walking on.
The Crystal Maiden (Once again, taken from google because none of ours turned out)
At this point, we back-tracked out of the cave (I think taking some shortcuts because going back only took about 20 minutes). We entered the cave around 10:30am, and got back to the mouth of the cave around 1pm, spending close to 2.5 hours underground. At this point we had some bagged lunches we brought with us (some people's got invaded by ants, but mine seemed to be fine), then hit the 45 minute hike back to t our van. When we got there, our driver was waiting for us with freshly cut watermelon, pineapple (I think, I didn't actually have any), chips and salsa. After the refreshing snack, we changed into our spare dry cloths, got in the van, and headed back to Trek Stop. Having left at about 7:45am, we got back at 4:30pm. I can't stress enough how incredible this experience was!!! With two positive esperiences with the company, we are hiring Hun Chi’ik Tours again tomorrow to be our guides for our tour of Tikal in Guatemala. I can't wait!!! Well, I'm wrapping this up at about 10:53pm, and I think I might be calling it a night. 6am will get here too soon, and I want to be well rested for tomorrow. After Tikal, we spend one last night at Trek Stop, then head to San Pedro for some much-needed (after 4 days of compost toilets and rain-water showers) touristy resort-style relaxation.
Goodnight me,
Ryan
9-08-08 evening (from hand-written journal)
9-08-08
7:39pm: Rewind - William
When we arrived in Belize yesterday, Adam had made arrangements with Trek Stop to have a shuttle take us from the airport in Belize City to the Trek Stop, which is in between St. Ignasio and Succotz. They did not offer this service themselves, but recommended us to a guy named William. Adam called this guy, made the arrangements, and we were told he would be the guy in the bright yellow tweety bird colored shirt. When we stepped out of the airport, there he was in his yellow shirt. We bought some refreshments (it was HOT!!!), and got on the road for a 2.5 hour trip to Trek Stop. Right off the bat, William starts talking, telling us stories, and pointing out random things to us. As it turns out, William is freaking hysterical. The slogan on his business card is "Wow, we are there already?" I agree with it 100%. The 2.5 hour trip took about 3 hours, and he kept us entertained the entire way, setting the mood for the entire trip. We'll be using William's shuttle service again when we leave Trek Stop on the 11th to leave for San Pedro, and look forward to it!!!
9-08-08
(written from memory later on 9-15-08)
When we arrived the night before, the G*A*P group informed us they were doing the Actun Tunichil Muknal caving tour in the morning. We originally planned on joining them, but were a bit beat after a day of traveling. Also, the Hun Chi’ik Tours folks had come by earlier in the day and gave them a small presentation on what to expect on the tour, as well as what you needed to bring along. I actually got that presentation from Edward after the G*A*P group left for their tour (when Adam was still asleep this morning). In retrospect after seeing the presentation, there's no reason we couldn't have gone on the tour with the G*A*P group, but it was very cool the next day when we did it with a group of only four, as opposed to joining their group of about 12. I'm very happy with what we ended up doing that day anyways, which was cave tubing.
Adam wasn't 100% on board with the idea of cave tubing, but I kind of pushed for it, as everything I had read about, and people I had talked to said that cave tubing was "the thing" to do in Belize. After we had finished, Adam was very happy that he agreed to do this.
Rudy was our guide for cave tubing, and this is when we found out how cool he was (and were also happy he was our guide for Tikal later on the 10th). Rudy was very relaxed, and was an endless pool of knowledge about nature. He had information about every plant, tree, insect and animal we came across. The thing that sticks out the most to me is when he picked up a plant, told us it was a species of begonia, then started peeling the stalk. He broke off pieces for us, and told us to take a taste. Oddly enough, it tasted just like sour apple, and was very good.
After about an hour or so of hiking and learning about nature, we arrived at where we started tubing. We strapped our lights to our heads, put our innertubes in the water, laid down in them, and started down the river. We floated through two different caves while heading down the river. Throughout the trip down stream, Rudy continued to point out things in the caves like bats and other animals and insects. Since we did this trip an entire week ago, and I'm just writing about it now, the details aren't the freshest in my mind.
When we got to the end of the caves and hiked back to the van, there was fresh watermelon and chips and salsa waiting for us. This is also where we met Kellie and Liz, who ended up doing the Actun Tunichil Muknal cave tour with us the next day.
Something cool about this tour was that we were literally the only people in the caves that day. We had originally wanted to do this on Thursday, but were warned against this, as Thursdays are generally cruise ship days, and both the nature trails and caves are so congested trying to get people in and out before their ship takes off again, that it takes a lot of the fun away from the experience.
When we got back to Trek Stop, we changed, then took a cab to St. Ignasio to check out a place called Hanna's for dinner that William recommended. Just like with his suggestion to avoid cave tubing on Thursdays, he was spot on about Hanna's as well. I got a lamb meat burrito there, and it was excellent.
William was trying to explain to us that certain cabs were cheaper than others, but we couldn't really figure out how to tell the difference between the cheap and expensives ones. As a result, our cab to St. Ignasio was $6 Belizian, and the cab back was $20 Belizian. Both were still pretty cheap, so we didn't care.
When we got back to Trek Stop, the G*A*P kids were in the kitchen/library hut playing a card game called Mafia. This game was very similar to a game I used to play a lot at the Indiana Trip Factory house my sophomore year in college. The premise of the game is that everyone is dealt a single card, used to assign them a role. If it's a number card, you're a citizen. If it's an ace, you're a member of the mafia (depending on the number of people playing, there can be more than one mafia member). If you get the queen, you're the detective (since they were mostly European, they called the detective the queen, which I thought was kind pretty funny). After roles are assigned, there's a narrator that tells everyone to put their heads down. The narrator then tells the mafia to raise their head(s) and choose someone to murder (done with hand gestures silently to keep the mafia members identities secret). This is the point in the game it gets different from how I played in college. After the mafia members choose their victim and put their heads down, the narrator then asks the doctor (who was dealt a king) to raise his head and choose someone to heal. If he chooses the same person to heal that the mafia chose to murder, that person is saved, and there is no murder victim that round. When the doctor puts his head back down, the narrator asks the prostitute (who was dealt a jack) to raise his head and choose a client for the evening. If the prostitute chooses a member of the mafia, the mafia was "occupied" that night, and there was no murder victim. I found the doctor and prostitute characters to be pretty pointless to the game, but I wasn't in charge, so it was out of my hands. After the prostitute puts his head down, the narrator tells everyone to put their heads up, and reveals the murder victim (if there is one), who flips their card over to reveal their role. If the detective/queen was the victim, the mafia wins the game. If anyone other than the detective/queen was murdered (or if no one was murdered), the round continues. At this point, you start going around the circle, and everyone makes an accusation on who they think is in the mafia, and it turns into a game of paranoia, manipulation, and lies. If accused, you have the opportunity to plead your case as to why you are not in the mafia. When the group comes to a consensus on who they think is in the mafia, that person is asked to flip their card. If it is the detective that gets accused, once again, the mafia wins. If it is a mafia member, everyone else wins (unless there is more than one mafia member, in which case, another round is started). You continue doing these rounds until either all the mafia members are found, or the detective/queen is murdered/found. We played this game for probably a couple of hours, but people s tarted to fade and turn in for the night. The G*A*P kids were leaving at 7am for their next destination, and Adam and I had to be in the kitchen/library at 7:45am for the Actun Tunichil Muknal cave tour. All in all, it was a very fun night.
Playing Mafia with the G*A*P kids:
More Mafia with the G*A*P kids:
7:39pm: Rewind - William
When we arrived in Belize yesterday, Adam had made arrangements with Trek Stop to have a shuttle take us from the airport in Belize City to the Trek Stop, which is in between St. Ignasio and Succotz. They did not offer this service themselves, but recommended us to a guy named William. Adam called this guy, made the arrangements, and we were told he would be the guy in the bright yellow tweety bird colored shirt. When we stepped out of the airport, there he was in his yellow shirt. We bought some refreshments (it was HOT!!!), and got on the road for a 2.5 hour trip to Trek Stop. Right off the bat, William starts talking, telling us stories, and pointing out random things to us. As it turns out, William is freaking hysterical. The slogan on his business card is "Wow, we are there already?" I agree with it 100%. The 2.5 hour trip took about 3 hours, and he kept us entertained the entire way, setting the mood for the entire trip. We'll be using William's shuttle service again when we leave Trek Stop on the 11th to leave for San Pedro, and look forward to it!!!
9-08-08
(written from memory later on 9-15-08)
When we arrived the night before, the G*A*P group informed us they were doing the Actun Tunichil Muknal caving tour in the morning. We originally planned on joining them, but were a bit beat after a day of traveling. Also, the Hun Chi’ik Tours folks had come by earlier in the day and gave them a small presentation on what to expect on the tour, as well as what you needed to bring along. I actually got that presentation from Edward after the G*A*P group left for their tour (when Adam was still asleep this morning). In retrospect after seeing the presentation, there's no reason we couldn't have gone on the tour with the G*A*P group, but it was very cool the next day when we did it with a group of only four, as opposed to joining their group of about 12. I'm very happy with what we ended up doing that day anyways, which was cave tubing.
Adam wasn't 100% on board with the idea of cave tubing, but I kind of pushed for it, as everything I had read about, and people I had talked to said that cave tubing was "the thing" to do in Belize. After we had finished, Adam was very happy that he agreed to do this.
Rudy was our guide for cave tubing, and this is when we found out how cool he was (and were also happy he was our guide for Tikal later on the 10th). Rudy was very relaxed, and was an endless pool of knowledge about nature. He had information about every plant, tree, insect and animal we came across. The thing that sticks out the most to me is when he picked up a plant, told us it was a species of begonia, then started peeling the stalk. He broke off pieces for us, and told us to take a taste. Oddly enough, it tasted just like sour apple, and was very good.
After about an hour or so of hiking and learning about nature, we arrived at where we started tubing. We strapped our lights to our heads, put our innertubes in the water, laid down in them, and started down the river. We floated through two different caves while heading down the river. Throughout the trip down stream, Rudy continued to point out things in the caves like bats and other animals and insects. Since we did this trip an entire week ago, and I'm just writing about it now, the details aren't the freshest in my mind.
When we got to the end of the caves and hiked back to the van, there was fresh watermelon and chips and salsa waiting for us. This is also where we met Kellie and Liz, who ended up doing the Actun Tunichil Muknal cave tour with us the next day.
Something cool about this tour was that we were literally the only people in the caves that day. We had originally wanted to do this on Thursday, but were warned against this, as Thursdays are generally cruise ship days, and both the nature trails and caves are so congested trying to get people in and out before their ship takes off again, that it takes a lot of the fun away from the experience.
When we got back to Trek Stop, we changed, then took a cab to St. Ignasio to check out a place called Hanna's for dinner that William recommended. Just like with his suggestion to avoid cave tubing on Thursdays, he was spot on about Hanna's as well. I got a lamb meat burrito there, and it was excellent.
William was trying to explain to us that certain cabs were cheaper than others, but we couldn't really figure out how to tell the difference between the cheap and expensives ones. As a result, our cab to St. Ignasio was $6 Belizian, and the cab back was $20 Belizian. Both were still pretty cheap, so we didn't care.
When we got back to Trek Stop, the G*A*P kids were in the kitchen/library hut playing a card game called Mafia. This game was very similar to a game I used to play a lot at the Indiana Trip Factory house my sophomore year in college. The premise of the game is that everyone is dealt a single card, used to assign them a role. If it's a number card, you're a citizen. If it's an ace, you're a member of the mafia (depending on the number of people playing, there can be more than one mafia member). If you get the queen, you're the detective (since they were mostly European, they called the detective the queen, which I thought was kind pretty funny). After roles are assigned, there's a narrator that tells everyone to put their heads down. The narrator then tells the mafia to raise their head(s) and choose someone to murder (done with hand gestures silently to keep the mafia members identities secret). This is the point in the game it gets different from how I played in college. After the mafia members choose their victim and put their heads down, the narrator then asks the doctor (who was dealt a king) to raise his head and choose someone to heal. If he chooses the same person to heal that the mafia chose to murder, that person is saved, and there is no murder victim that round. When the doctor puts his head back down, the narrator asks the prostitute (who was dealt a jack) to raise his head and choose a client for the evening. If the prostitute chooses a member of the mafia, the mafia was "occupied" that night, and there was no murder victim. I found the doctor and prostitute characters to be pretty pointless to the game, but I wasn't in charge, so it was out of my hands. After the prostitute puts his head down, the narrator tells everyone to put their heads up, and reveals the murder victim (if there is one), who flips their card over to reveal their role. If the detective/queen was the victim, the mafia wins the game. If anyone other than the detective/queen was murdered (or if no one was murdered), the round continues. At this point, you start going around the circle, and everyone makes an accusation on who they think is in the mafia, and it turns into a game of paranoia, manipulation, and lies. If accused, you have the opportunity to plead your case as to why you are not in the mafia. When the group comes to a consensus on who they think is in the mafia, that person is asked to flip their card. If it is the detective that gets accused, once again, the mafia wins. If it is a mafia member, everyone else wins (unless there is more than one mafia member, in which case, another round is started). You continue doing these rounds until either all the mafia members are found, or the detective/queen is murdered/found. We played this game for probably a couple of hours, but people s tarted to fade and turn in for the night. The G*A*P kids were leaving at 7am for their next destination, and Adam and I had to be in the kitchen/library at 7:45am for the Actun Tunichil Muknal cave tour. All in all, it was a very fun night.
Playing Mafia with the G*A*P kids:
More Mafia with the G*A*P kids:
9-08-08 (from hand-written journal)
9-08-08
One night has passed here at Trek Stop. Adam is still asleep at 7:45am now, but it's technically only 6:45am to him (still a bad excuse). When I stepped out of our cabin, one of the first things I saw was a man walking around with a machete. I smiled and nodded, then went in the opposite direction.
I'm sitting here in the kitchen/library area, and realized this is the first time I've seen Trek Stop in daylight. The tropical trees and plant life I'm seeing at the moment are gorgeous. I really want to walk around and take pictures, but my camera is locked in Adam's suitcase.
There's a group of younger people here with a travel group called G*A*P Adventures. It consists of about a dozen or so 20-22 year olds from the states, as well as the UK, Germany, and likely other places as well, plus a creepy 30-year old (who appears to be in charge) who looks like he came from a hippie commune, and appears completely indifferent about everything going on around him. After Adam and I got some dinner last night at a local place in the village of Succotz called Benny's, we played cards and drank Belekin (local Belizian brewed beer) with the G*A*P kids. I learned two new card games from them, Kings in the Corner, and Shithead. To quote the one and only Kelly D, "Good Times."
8:45am - Adam is still out cold.
The Trek Stop kind of reminds me of Camp Wise, especially when it's dark out. There are gravel paths to get from place to place here, and we're sleeping in a cabin with a clothes line outside of it. If someone randomly started singing "Circle Game," I would not be shocked at all. DRAGONFLY INSIDE A JAR!!!
I just got a huge smile on my face when I look at the time. My co-workers are at our Monday morning meeting, and I'm sitting in a hut in the jungle, staring at a bottle of Bacardi Superior that I could (but won't) dive into without any consequence (other than to my empty stomach) :)
Adam finally woke up, so I'll wrap this up for now.
Until next time,
Ryan
One night has passed here at Trek Stop. Adam is still asleep at 7:45am now, but it's technically only 6:45am to him (still a bad excuse). When I stepped out of our cabin, one of the first things I saw was a man walking around with a machete. I smiled and nodded, then went in the opposite direction.
I'm sitting here in the kitchen/library area, and realized this is the first time I've seen Trek Stop in daylight. The tropical trees and plant life I'm seeing at the moment are gorgeous. I really want to walk around and take pictures, but my camera is locked in Adam's suitcase.
There's a group of younger people here with a travel group called G*A*P Adventures. It consists of about a dozen or so 20-22 year olds from the states, as well as the UK, Germany, and likely other places as well, plus a creepy 30-year old (who appears to be in charge) who looks like he came from a hippie commune, and appears completely indifferent about everything going on around him. After Adam and I got some dinner last night at a local place in the village of Succotz called Benny's, we played cards and drank Belekin (local Belizian brewed beer) with the G*A*P kids. I learned two new card games from them, Kings in the Corner, and Shithead. To quote the one and only Kelly D, "Good Times."
8:45am - Adam is still out cold.
The Trek Stop kind of reminds me of Camp Wise, especially when it's dark out. There are gravel paths to get from place to place here, and we're sleeping in a cabin with a clothes line outside of it. If someone randomly started singing "Circle Game," I would not be shocked at all. DRAGONFLY INSIDE A JAR!!!
I just got a huge smile on my face when I look at the time. My co-workers are at our Monday morning meeting, and I'm sitting in a hut in the jungle, staring at a bottle of Bacardi Superior that I could (but won't) dive into without any consequence (other than to my empty stomach) :)
Adam finally woke up, so I'll wrap this up for now.
Until next time,
Ryan
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Pictures, pictures, and more pictures!!!
I think I have the majority, if not all of my pictures online at this point. Unfortunately, the majority of the shots taken with my underwater cameras turned out pretty poor. The things taken with my digital camera, however, turned out excellent. This trip alone made it worth the $70 purchase from woot.
Without further delay, here are the links to my photo albums on flickr:
9-07-08 pictures
9-08-08 pictures (cave tubing)
9-09-08 pictures (Actun Tunichil Muknal cave, most turned out crappy)
9-10-08 pictures (Tikal)
9-10-08 pictures (Trek Stop Butterfly Garden)
9-11-08 pictures (Belize Zoo + water taxi ride to San Pedro from Belize City)
9-13-08 pictures (Mostly horrible snorkeling pictures that didn't turn out well)
9-14-08 pictures (Mostly wasting the last shots on my waterproof camera)
Adam had a few disposable cameras as well, and when he gets those developed, I will likely add them to their respective dates of my photo sets. I also have a number of videos still to upload to youtube and post here.
There are plenty of more updates to come still!!!
Ryan
Without further delay, here are the links to my photo albums on flickr:
9-07-08 pictures
9-08-08 pictures (cave tubing)
9-09-08 pictures (Actun Tunichil Muknal cave, most turned out crappy)
9-10-08 pictures (Tikal)
9-10-08 pictures (Trek Stop Butterfly Garden)
9-11-08 pictures (Belize Zoo + water taxi ride to San Pedro from Belize City)
9-13-08 pictures (Mostly horrible snorkeling pictures that didn't turn out well)
9-14-08 pictures (Mostly wasting the last shots on my waterproof camera)
Adam had a few disposable cameras as well, and when he gets those developed, I will likely add them to their respective dates of my photo sets. I also have a number of videos still to upload to youtube and post here.
There are plenty of more updates to come still!!!
Ryan
Monday, September 15, 2008
Trek Stop vs. Belizian Shores video tours
The trip is over, the blog is just beginning!!!
I AM HOME!!! Though this experience was absolutely out of this world, it feels good to be home after 8 days as well.
Even though the trip is over, there is plenty more to come for the blog. I kept a written journal that I plan to transcribe to the blog here, as well as close to 300 pictures and videos to share with you all from the trip. I'm actually about to head to Target now to get my three waterproof cameras developed, then I'll head back home and start uploading the digital stuff.
(Most likely not so...) Fun fact: Do you know what the title of this blog entry is parody from??? Of course you don't ;) Here's some links to a couple of commercials that will show you though:
Commercial 1
Commercial 2
Commercial 3
Commercial 4
Alright, time to get some pictures developed. You'll likely get at least one more update tonight with some pictures.
Until then,
Ryan
Even though the trip is over, there is plenty more to come for the blog. I kept a written journal that I plan to transcribe to the blog here, as well as close to 300 pictures and videos to share with you all from the trip. I'm actually about to head to Target now to get my three waterproof cameras developed, then I'll head back home and start uploading the digital stuff.
(Most likely not so...) Fun fact: Do you know what the title of this blog entry is parody from??? Of course you don't ;) Here's some links to a couple of commercials that will show you though:
Commercial 1
Commercial 2
Commercial 3
Commercial 4
Alright, time to get some pictures developed. You'll likely get at least one more update tonight with some pictures.
Until then,
Ryan
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Hello from Miami, Fl
Well, Houston flights were officially canceled, so we made a good bet on going with American Airlines through Miami. I'm in the hotel lobby of the Red Roof Inn at the moment, and paid a few bucks to check my email on a public terminal here. My flight tomorrow is at 11:15, and I'm hoping to be home by 3:30 - 4:00pm. I'll update everyone when I get home. I'm pretty beat now though, so am heading back to my room.
I hope all is well with everyone,
Ryan
I hope all is well with everyone,
Ryan
Thursday, September 11, 2008
We have arrived at Belizian Shores!!!
Hey all,
Just checking in to let you know we've made it to destination number 2, Belizian Shores. Compared to Trek Stop, it's a palace. Our room is pretty much a condo, and it's amazing. I took my first real (meaning not from caught rain water, and with actual water pressure) shower today since Sunday, and shaved for the first time since Monday, and I feel great!!! Adam and I met a woman at the pool/bar named Tracey who has been here all week by herself, and has made friends with all the other 20 guests here. A big group is going into town tonight for dinner and drunk karaoke. Naturally, we're joining them.
Let's try again with a couple of pictures from Tikal (FYI, click on the pictures to get much better, higher resolution versions of them):
These are howler monkeys. They were in this tree screaming at monkeys in the tree next to them by the first temple we hiked up (picture 2 is us at the top of said temple).
In other news, I just got an email from Continental saying our flight is likely to be canceled or delayed due to hurricanes in Houston. I have to tell him this when I get back to the room, and we need to figure out what we're going to do.
I'm going to wrap this up though, and get ready for some drunk karaoke!!!
Until next time,
Ryan
Just checking in to let you know we've made it to destination number 2, Belizian Shores. Compared to Trek Stop, it's a palace. Our room is pretty much a condo, and it's amazing. I took my first real (meaning not from caught rain water, and with actual water pressure) shower today since Sunday, and shaved for the first time since Monday, and I feel great!!! Adam and I met a woman at the pool/bar named Tracey who has been here all week by herself, and has made friends with all the other 20 guests here. A big group is going into town tonight for dinner and drunk karaoke. Naturally, we're joining them.
Let's try again with a couple of pictures from Tikal (FYI, click on the pictures to get much better, higher resolution versions of them):
These are howler monkeys. They were in this tree screaming at monkeys in the tree next to them by the first temple we hiked up (picture 2 is us at the top of said temple).
In other news, I just got an email from Continental saying our flight is likely to be canceled or delayed due to hurricanes in Houston. I have to tell him this when I get back to the room, and we need to figure out what we're going to do.
I'm going to wrap this up though, and get ready for some drunk karaoke!!!
Until next time,
Ryan
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Tikal
HELLO BLOG-O-SPHERE!!!
Today is the first day I've been able to post from a real computer instead of my DS, and it's a good day to do so as well. Today Adam and I crossed the border into Guatemala and went on a tour of Tikal, the largest Mayan ruins site in the area. To say this experience was breath-taking simply wouldn't do it justice. We saw some of the most incredible man-made structures I've ever seen in my life, some big enough to rival the Egyptian Pyramids. We also came across some very cool wildlife will in the park, including a couple different types of spiders, and two different types of monkeys (spider and howler). I've been trying to upload a couple photos for about 15 minutes now with no luck, and can't handle it anymore. We're going to go get some dinner now and check out this crazy festival going on in a village up the road called Succotz. I'll try again with some pictures later tonight if I have time. If not, maybe there will be a better internet connection at the Belizian Shores Resort, which we head to tomorrow.
I can't believe the trip is half over. It seems like we just got here.
Until later,
Ryan
Today is the first day I've been able to post from a real computer instead of my DS, and it's a good day to do so as well. Today Adam and I crossed the border into Guatemala and went on a tour of Tikal, the largest Mayan ruins site in the area. To say this experience was breath-taking simply wouldn't do it justice. We saw some of the most incredible man-made structures I've ever seen in my life, some big enough to rival the Egyptian Pyramids. We also came across some very cool wildlife will in the park, including a couple different types of spiders, and two different types of monkeys (spider and howler). I've been trying to upload a couple photos for about 15 minutes now with no luck, and can't handle it anymore. We're going to go get some dinner now and check out this crazy festival going on in a village up the road called Succotz. I'll try again with some pictures later tonight if I have time. If not, maybe there will be a better internet connection at the Belizian Shores Resort, which we head to tomorrow.
I can't believe the trip is half over. It seems like we just got here.
Until later,
Ryan
Monday, September 8, 2008
A quick update from the jungle
This place is amazing. I'm keeping a written journal that I will transcribe later, but typing on this ds is slow and a pain. Time to shower, then have some fun though!!!
Later,
Ryan
Later,
Ryan
Saturday, September 6, 2008
My bags are packed, I'm ready to go...
I'm leaving on a jet plane tomorrow morning for Belize!!! Unlike John Denver, I do know when I'll be back again, Monday, September 15th. I'll update the blog as I can while I'm there, but I'll see you all when I get back in a week!!!
As always, I hope all is well with everyone,
Ryan
As always, I hope all is well with everyone,
Ryan
Friday, September 5, 2008
Luggage 2: Electric Boogaloo
When we last left off our amazingly boring August 24th blog entry, titled Luggage, our hero, Ryan, had spent way too much time babbling about ordering a luggage set from woot.com, and making the foolish decision of offering to buy people a beer who actually made it all the way to the end of the entry. As the adventure continues, has Ryan received said luggage yet??? Will he be stupid and offer people free beer again??? Will he discover the true secret meaning of the crystal skulls??? Let's find out together...
Fed Ex has the worst package tracking system I've ever encountered. After getting my tracking information emailed to me for my mediocre luggage set, the tracking information told me the package was picked up in Irving Texas on August 27th, then scanned as arriving in City of Industry, California, on August 29th. With the state of the economy, especially gas prices, I failed to see how going through California to get from Texas to Indiana was saving them money, but that's why I don't get paid the big bucks. Anyways, with the 29th being the beginning of a Holiday weekend, I didn't expect a whole lot of progress on the package until at least Tuesday. However, when Tuesday had come and gone, and there was no update to the tracking information, I began to get worried. I called customer support, and was informed that the package was scanned as leaving California on August 31st. With it now being September 3rd, I asked why that information wasn't available online. The question was dodged. I asked where the package currently was, and was told "I don't know." For a company that specializes in shipping packages, that all have fancy barcodes and tracking numbers, you think that information would be at their fingertips, but I guess you'd think wrong. With no update to the online tracking still the next day at 4pm, I decided to call customer service again. I wasn't surprised that I went through pretty much the exact same thing again, but found out that my package had made it to Kansas at some point that day. Right before I went to bed, I checked the tracking information one last time, and discovered that at 2:32pm, the package had been checked into Champagne, Illinois. It only took nine hours for that information to pop up online, and sadly it was an improvement, as the previous scans for leaving California, or arriving in Kansas still never showed up online. When I woke up the next morning, I was amazed to find out that the package was in Indianapolis, and already on a truck to be delivered. When I got home from work, there was my package:
Upon closer inspection, I discovered that the company that makes this stuff is so confident in their product, that they don't feel it necessary to spell their name right on their box :)
(For those of you that either can't read the small text or can't spot it, Beverly Hilis???)
When I opened up the package, there was a price-tag of $200 on the set, so getting it for $40 from woot was quite a bargain. It's definitely not the best quality set of luggage in the world, but it suits my needs just fine, and I'm happy with my purchase. It has a "new car" smell to it, but I am airing it out at the moment, and have lysol and nuetra-air on standby if need be.
In other news, I am not making much headway with the cold. Sinex lets me breathe for 9 or 10 hours, so I plan on taking it on the trip with me. T-Minus 40 hours until I get on a plane to leave for Belize!!!
I need to get some dinner now so I can head out to the cd release party of my favoritest local band, The Born Again Floozies.
Until next time,
Ryan
Fed Ex has the worst package tracking system I've ever encountered. After getting my tracking information emailed to me for my mediocre luggage set, the tracking information told me the package was picked up in Irving Texas on August 27th, then scanned as arriving in City of Industry, California, on August 29th. With the state of the economy, especially gas prices, I failed to see how going through California to get from Texas to Indiana was saving them money, but that's why I don't get paid the big bucks. Anyways, with the 29th being the beginning of a Holiday weekend, I didn't expect a whole lot of progress on the package until at least Tuesday. However, when Tuesday had come and gone, and there was no update to the tracking information, I began to get worried. I called customer support, and was informed that the package was scanned as leaving California on August 31st. With it now being September 3rd, I asked why that information wasn't available online. The question was dodged. I asked where the package currently was, and was told "I don't know." For a company that specializes in shipping packages, that all have fancy barcodes and tracking numbers, you think that information would be at their fingertips, but I guess you'd think wrong. With no update to the online tracking still the next day at 4pm, I decided to call customer service again. I wasn't surprised that I went through pretty much the exact same thing again, but found out that my package had made it to Kansas at some point that day. Right before I went to bed, I checked the tracking information one last time, and discovered that at 2:32pm, the package had been checked into Champagne, Illinois. It only took nine hours for that information to pop up online, and sadly it was an improvement, as the previous scans for leaving California, or arriving in Kansas still never showed up online. When I woke up the next morning, I was amazed to find out that the package was in Indianapolis, and already on a truck to be delivered. When I got home from work, there was my package:
Upon closer inspection, I discovered that the company that makes this stuff is so confident in their product, that they don't feel it necessary to spell their name right on their box :)
(For those of you that either can't read the small text or can't spot it, Beverly Hilis???)
When I opened up the package, there was a price-tag of $200 on the set, so getting it for $40 from woot was quite a bargain. It's definitely not the best quality set of luggage in the world, but it suits my needs just fine, and I'm happy with my purchase. It has a "new car" smell to it, but I am airing it out at the moment, and have lysol and nuetra-air on standby if need be.
In other news, I am not making much headway with the cold. Sinex lets me breathe for 9 or 10 hours, so I plan on taking it on the trip with me. T-Minus 40 hours until I get on a plane to leave for Belize!!!
I need to get some dinner now so I can head out to the cd release party of my favoritest local band, The Born Again Floozies.
Until next time,
Ryan
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
The summer cold = evil in it's purest form
So Monday morning I woke up and it hurt to swallow. My nose was stuffy as well. It was in the 80's and 90's all weekend, and I was outdoors for quite a bit seeing live music at Rib America at Military Park. In extremely unlikely conditions, I somehow managed to catch a cold. It's a nasty one too. I'm 4.5 days from leaving for Belize, so the timing is just perfect. I've spent the entire day drinking herbal tea, using my neti-pot to try and flush my sinuses out, and sucking on cough drops. Man, I hope I can kick this before leaving on Sunday. Summer colds are EVIL!!!
Monday, September 1, 2008
Passport Health Literature
A couple weeks back when I was getting my vaccinations, I had to go to a place called Passport Health to be vaccinated for typhoid fever and polio, because my normal doctor's office did not carry these vaccinations. Along with the vaccinations, the nurse there gave me a 41 page packet of information about to Belize. I've been flipping through this packet over the weekend, and it is painting Belize to be a place where I'm almost guaranteed to get mugged and raped. Also, they state that just about all forms of transportation there are deemed to be not safe. Now I definitely understand the need to be safe, and appreciate them pointing out things like potential crime and transportation worries. However, this literature lays these worries on very thick, and it seems like the kind of thing that would cause paranoia in travelers. I will definitely take their warnings seriously, but at the same time, if I took these warnings to the extreme, it seems that the only safe thing to do in the country would be to sit in my hotel room and watch tv (and they also warn that this can be dangerous as well depending on the location of your hotel), which simply isn't happening.
In other news, we're less than a week away from the trip, and I'm ridiculously excited!!! I've started checking the 10-day weather report there, and as of now, there's a 60% chance of rain every day we'll be there, which is a bummer. It is hurricane season there though, so I guess that's pretty much to be expected. Whether that means constant rain, or a 5 minute rain storm at the beginning of the day, I have no idea. I guess we'll find out when we get there.
I think I'm going to get dinner started now though. I hope everyone's having a great holiday weekend.
Ryan
In other news, we're less than a week away from the trip, and I'm ridiculously excited!!! I've started checking the 10-day weather report there, and as of now, there's a 60% chance of rain every day we'll be there, which is a bummer. It is hurricane season there though, so I guess that's pretty much to be expected. Whether that means constant rain, or a 5 minute rain storm at the beginning of the day, I have no idea. I guess we'll find out when we get there.
I think I'm going to get dinner started now though. I hope everyone's having a great holiday weekend.
Ryan
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