Sunday, December 26, 2010
Christmas in Belize, December 17-25, 2010
For Christmas this year, we went to Belize. We chose Belize because it would be warm, because it would be a foreign country but they speak English, because no one was saying “yuck”, because we’d had friends who had gone there, because we someplace interesting is the only way to get us all together, and keep us from fighting. That was the biggest thing I asked for for Christmas – that we’d be able to have this trip without fighting.
I got my present! Hurrah!
The first disaster was that Cait’s luggage did not arrive. That had enormous potential to wreck the trip – but it did show up one day late, and only caused minor inconvenience in the long run.
The first cool thing was that we all got there about the same time,and we got our car, and we found our hotel and we liked it! The Hotel Mopan, not too expensive nor too classy, with very nice folks running it. They sent us to Bird Isle for dinner, which was a GREAT place, local food, on the water, inexpensive, we could see the stars and avoid any bugs and we probably spent 2 hours over dinner and enjoyed it all.
The second day, we went to Altun Ha, a pretty well excavated Mayan site. Pyramids are high. They build a new layer every 52 years. The one I climbed had 8 layers, 400 years of pyramid, very tall, and so steep I came down using all fives. Bob and the kids climbed several more. We had a wonderful guide who told us all kinds of things about pyramids and mayans, few of which I can remember. But one important thought: The Mayans had large holes in their ears. These ear holes were to enable the elite Mayans to travel in time and space. Mayans believed in time travel, and these holes were part of the vehicle for it. The piercings we have nowadays are probably wannabe time and space machines as well.
That afternoon we were able to retrieve Cait’s luggage and get to Sittee River. Sittee River is pretty, but way too buggy and I cannot recommend it. However, Hopkins was fun and right next door. We had bikes and our car, and we got around. Even though it was too buggy, we had the Tree of Life right outside our window, and I have never seen or heard so many wonderful birds.
Hopkins was beach and beach is fun. Soren made a sand angel. Andrea, Bob and Elizabeth went snorkeling. Cait and Soren went canoeing down jungle rivers. We had a lovely dinner with an ex-pat hippie who rents rooms and will cook meals on request. Elizabeth said it reminded her of Stranger Creek, because Trisha was so welcoming and so non-traditional.
One side trip we took was to the Actun Tunichil Muknal cave. This was one of the “holiest of the holy” Mayan sites – a place where priests would go to prepare themselves for major ceremonies. To get there you need to get a flat tire somewhere along a 7 mile rutted dirt road, walk about 2 miles to the cave entrance, swim into the cave, make your way between rocks, under rock falls, through a stream which is going against you. At one point, the going was so narrow Bob had to take off his helmet because he couldn’t get his head through the opening. Once you’ve gone about a mile thorugh this watery way into the cave, you have to take your shoes off and put on socks only, because you are on holy and unexcavated ground. We saw incredible limestone features, offering bowls and urns, skeletons of 4 sacrificed people. The skeletons were over 1000 years old. Our guide was great – he had worked with the archaeologists as they began in the cave, he has provided tours in this cave since it opened over 12 years ago. He gives about 200-250 tours a year – he’s been in this cave over 2500 times! We learned a lot from him. Side note – Indiana jones had a crystal skull. This translates as the cave of the crystal maiden. The only skeleton laid out so you could identify all the person parts was the crystal maiden. So, I guess we saw the real thing.
Another side trip was to the Mayflower pyramid site. They have just begun excavating it, and we didn’t really go there for the pyramid anyway. We went for the trails, because Elizabeth wanted to do some jungle hiking. The trail was “steep in places”. They had places – many places – along the trail where they had put ropes to help you navigate up or down. Elizabeth said, in the US this would have been called “most difficult”. But we all made it up and down again, although Andrea threatened to stop halfway and got the kids all prepared to not expect her at the top. Wuss. But she made it anyway. The trail was lovely, the view spectacular, the water cool. The kids swam in the pool, and Andrea soaked her head and her feet. Bob didn’t even bring his sticks, and he made it! And never complained (what a surprise). Soren and his new phone fell in the water – and both
survived!
The last days didn’t see the end of the trip. We dropped Cait at Maya Center, so she could make her way to Maya Mountain Agricultural Research Station or something like that. They’re all about sustainable agriculture, and so is Cait. She wants to see how it happens in Belize, being part of the movement in Kauai. So, that’s where she is now.
The rest of us headed back to Belize City – which was pretty quiet, not at all a mardi gras scene, on Christmas Day. We stayed in an old fashioned hotel with ceiling fans and wood floors, a beautiful old building on the waterfront. Andrea and Elizabeth walked all around the Fort George area, but Soren and Bob were DONE and full of bug bites. Elizabeth went home, and so did the rest of us – with images of pelicans sploosh/plopping in our heads.
