You betta BELIZE it!!!

Chicken busses, chicken sandwiches, and finally…TROPICAL PARADISE.

Then more chicken buses.

bananas

coconuts

After dropping Kate off in San Lucas (see previous entry), Bryce and I took a chicken bus to Guatemala City and caught a connection to Puerto Barrios, the port town where we thought we would catch a boat to Belize (a.k.a. tropical paradise) in the morning. During our evening bus ride I made the poor decision to eat a chicken sandwich at the bus station. I started feeling sick to my stomach when we arrived in Puerto Barrios around midnight. By 4 am I was making friends with the toilet in our very budget hostel. By budget I mean there was not a complete wall between our bed and the toilet. It’s like they just decided not to finish building the wall all the way to the ceiling, which is very unfortunate for couples when one of them ate a chicken sandwich at the bus terminal hours earlier.

Feliz Cumpleaños a Bryce!

Happy Birthday Bryce! Yes, at 6am on Bryce’s birthday he was loading me into the back of a taxi looking for a private clinic that might be open at such an hour. After 3 stops we finally found a private hospital. After about 10 hours of being hooked up to an IV, a blood test, urine and stool samples, I was told I had contracted salmonella, very common with chicken here apparently. After 13 hours and $300US, I was released from this stuffy, windowless hospital, feeling much better. This all thanks to the extra special care of nurses who kept bringing me vomit-inducing foods and telling me to eat (um…but...I have salmonella!?) but mostly due to Bryce’s tender love and care and vigilance in examining the safety of every needle that poked me.

Punta Gorda, Belize

The next morning we took a boat to Punta Gorda, Belize where we thought we would find tropical paradise. Disappointingly, we found only a customs and immigration office and a friendly European man who runs a tour agency in town (with the primary purpose of taking people out of town). After wandering around for about half an hour and buying a Belize guide book we stopped in to ask this man where the beach was. He replied, “no beach”. No beach? What? “But we’re in Belize…tropical paradise. There was supposed to be a beach here. There HAS to be a beach here.” In reality there would have been. But they built a road and put boulders where the beach should have gone. Genius foresight on their part. Genius foresight on our part not to have read a guide book before traveling to Belize. Apparently, in order to snorkel for an affordable price, you have to go to one of the islands off the coast of Belize City, where you are only about 1km from the Great Barrier Reef (and can therefore get a boat to take you out for cheaper). Bryce was not leaving Belize without snorkeling. (Note to Parents and Rybolts: snorkeling is the new fishing for Bryce. So you see, it’s pretty important to him.) So, we enjoyed our first Belizean beer (way better than Guatemala’s beer) and boarded yet another chicken bus to Belize City, 6 hours away.

Caye Caulker, Belize

We spent one night in Belize City and then took a boat early the next morning to the island of Caye Caulker. The name may not sound like tropical paradise, but maybe that’s how it stays so undeveloped. It was beautiful and actually very touristy but not in the overdeveloped, resort kind of way. Lots of funky guesthouses and cabanas line the beach and we found this lovely fixer-upper called Loraine’s.

Then we spent most of our time mooching off the dock of the more expensive hotel next door. It had shaded hammocks over the water!

In Caye Caulker we enjoyed the most delicious pizza of our lives made by a French woman who was just starting out. Her friend runs a café during the day and she uses the place at night to make pizza. She’s adorable. She plays the sweetest music and the pizza is to die for. We love finding little gems such as these whenever we go somewhere new. We ordered freshly squeezed juices of all kinds and made our own fruity rum drinks! We met a charismatic middle-aged hippy woman who helped establish a manatee sanctuary not far from the island. She was crazy about manatees. I love meeting people who are super passionate about something I know little about. We met a woman who fled Texas when Child Protective Service tried to take her children away (unjustly, according to her). It was one of the more fascinating conversations of my life. We snorkeled on the Great Barrier Reef which included swimming with the sting rays! It was way too short a stay but beautiful and relaxing.

sunset in Tropical Paradise!

Soon it was back to shore and then a 20 hour stint of busses, which included a 2 hour stop at the border to get our visas renewed and our passports stamped and a 4 hour layover in Flores, Guatemala where we enjoyed dinner overlooking a beautiful lake.

amazing tree on the Guatemalan side of the border (Photographer: Bryce Parent)

Water lilies in Flores, Guatemala (Photographer: Bryce Parent)

Flores, Guatemala

Flores, Guatemala

There’s No Place Like Xela!

exhaustion

We were sooo tired when we got back to Xela and sooo relieved to be back in our little home away from home after 2 weeks of backpacks and chicken bus adventures.

The Adventures Continue at Lake Atitlan! Mucho Hippy!

We traveled to Lake Atitlan on Christmas afternoon not realizing that public transport could be a trite sparse on Christmas. So we ended up catching a ride in the back of a pick-up for two hours down windy mountain roads as the sun set and for about half an hour in complete darkness. We decided to spend the night in a small town called Los Encuentros and make the rest of the trip by daylight on the 26th.

As you can see, it was worth the trip!

San Marcos de Atitlan

We stayed in San Marcos, one of several towns situated around Lake Atitlan, each with its own character, each attracting its own breed of hippy backpacker or as our landlord likes to say, “mucho hippy en el Lago”.

San Marcos attracts a very specific and unique type of hippy backpacker, not be mistaken for the San Pedro breed of hippy that is known for smoking a lot of pot. San Marcos hippies might smoke occasionally but they prefer to get high off life and can be found feeling “the vortex” in Sedona, Arizona. Here is a photo montage to help you identify the San Marcos hippy:

What is a moon course? I dunno know but it sounds mucho hippy! Vamonos!Meditation GardenHippy

Unicorn hotel, holistic center, therapy and massagemural on a wall constructed with recycled plastic bottlesmore of the muralstairs turned into an elephant!
We went to this yoga class. We did sun salutations on mats woven from reeds, on a deck overlooking the lake. Crazy hippy!

Kidding aside, San Marcos was A-MAAAA-ZING. So relaxing. Great swimming. Great hiking. Great food. We ate almost every meal at this sweet cafe that grows all its own vegetables, roasts its own coffee and uses a composting toilet!

Moonfish Cafe

Great hotel. If you ever go to Lake Atitlan stay here at Paco Real!

our own little bungalow!our lofted bed inside the bungalow!

we enjoyed the company of a very friendly cat that lived outside our bungalow

San Marcos was just the vacation we needed. We only spent 2 days there though. Soon it was off to Santiago, a different lakeside town with more of a visible local culture.

Santiago!

Santiago is situated in the southwest corner of the Lake in an inlet at the base of 2 volcanoes. It is the centre of the Tz’utujil-speaking Maya and is the largest of the lakeside villages. The village was the first in the country to successfully drive out the armed forces after the 36-year armed conflict. The traditional dress of Santiago is still worn by many men in the village. It is rare to see men in traditional dress these days. The men wear long shorts, with white- and purple-striped embroidery. Some of the more elaborate shorts have intricate embroidery of birds and flowers. Here, we enjoyed walking around the town and Kate and I bought “pantalones de Santiago” as the vendors proudly defined them. I have no idea if these pants are actually traditional or just a creation for tourists who have a love for color as Kate and I clearly do.

San Lucas de Toliman

We took a pick-up to San Lucas (another lakeside town) on Monday the 29th, where we said goodbye to Kate. She can tell you more about San Lucas as she spent about a week there with her study abroad/exchange program. I only saw the gorgeous Catholic church and the back of a tuc-tuc- the 3-wheeled, open vehicles that sometimes serves as taxis in warm parts of Guatemala. Besides those 2 sites, I didn’t see anything. There were tears in my eyes. I miss you Kater. ☹

Las Gran Adventuras de las Hermanas Valorosas Villars y su Amigo Colocho!

The Great Adventures of the Valient Villars Sisters and their Curly-Haired Friend!

Las Hermanas...y...

su amigo colocho!

Giant nativity in Xela!

...Just because we're cute

We toured the local market, La Domocracia, to see all the Christmas decorations for sale!


Dyed sawdust used to add color to Christmas décor!
Crab apples tied together on string for use as garland

My very own villa navidena (Christmas village)!

Our Christmas tree!



Trip to Fuentes Georginas! These hot springs are nestled halfway up a volcano.
Fuentes Georginas

The pick-up ride back down the volcano

Zunil, the town at the base of the volcano, right outside Xela

more Zunil
Zunil

Agriculture is cool! (Zunil)

Hiking Santa Maria Volcano (3772 m)

Setting the Scene:
Santa Maria is an active volcano about 7km outside of Xela. It erupted in 1902, killing 1,500 people. Santiagito, usually visible from the top of Santa Maria, is a relatively new volcano that formed out of Santa Maria’s crater. Santiaguito erupts daily, spewing ash all over Xela (it looks like it’s snowing, but it’s just ash), and is considered on of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world. GASP!

Step 1. Woke up at 4:30 am
Step 2. Walked to the Quetzaltreker office. Quetzaltrekkers is the trekking group we hiked with. This non-profit organization is a group of hippies that lead hikes and donate all their profits to 1. The clinic where Bryce and I work 2. a school for homeless children and 3. a shelter for abused women. Basically, they are awesome and extremely hardcore.
Step 3. Rode in the back of a pick-up for 7km in freezing cold darkness to the base of the cone
Step 4. Started a “gentle climb” (as the Quetzaltrekkers like to call it) for about 45 mins.

Jillian started to feel ill and had to stop the group to use the “shit kit” several times throughout these 45 minutes. She strongly considered turning around, but was too bad ass. (Actually I just kept reminding myself that if I chickened out now I would have to repeat steps 1-4 on another day because I will not let myself leave Guatemala without hiking this f$%#ing volcano).

Step 5. The “gentle climb” progressed steadily to a “steep climb” for the next um…4 hours! Jillian continued to use the “shit kit” and drank oral re-hydration salts while panting and holding back tears.
Step 6. We got into the rhythm of the climb and began to enjoy ourselves! Jillian’s illness passed. We could see the peak…so close and yet so far away! Beautiful views that can’t be described or accurately depicted with a camera (unless maybe you are Tom Dooley).
Step 7. VICTORY!
The View
From the top you can see Santiaguito erupt, which according to my guidebook is “an incredible and memorable sight” as it “spouts a great grey cloud of rock and dust hundreds of meters into the air”. To the east you can see the 4 volcanoes above Lake Atitlan and two more above Antigua. To the west, you can see the cones of Tajumulco and Tacana, marking the Mexican border. You can see all of these things...in clear conditions. We did not have clear conditions, just a blanket of clouds. Santiaguito, which constantly erupts about every half hour, did not erupt. Oh well. Maybe I’ll just have to climb it again!

Jingle Buddies
So there weren’t views, but there was a Christmas Eve piñata, jingle buddies candies and the victorious sense of accomplishment that comes from climbing 3,772 meters (con diarrhea!). Just look how happy I was!

jingle buddies!

Christmas Day!
Feliz Navidad!
Wearing cozy PJ’s brought all the way to Guatemala by Kate, from my Aunt Nancy and Uncle Jimmy! xoxo

We were matching girls for Xmas! The skirt was a Christmas gift from me to Kate (note that I bought myself one too). Frosty the Snowman just magically appeared in Parque Central on Christmas morning.

Next it was off to Lake Atitlan! TO BE CONTINUED...