Blogs from Toledo District, Belize, Central America Caribbean - page 2

Yet almost another week down...it was a busy one! Last weekend, we chartered a boat to Livingston, Guatemala. It's about an hour boat ride from Punta Gorda. When we got to Guatemala, our guide, Ishmael, was waiting for our arrival. We got on another boat and took a two hour ride up the Rio Dulce. The coast of Guatemala was so different than Belize and was super neat to see. We passed many small fishing villages and stopped in a yacht marina-two very different worlds. When we got to land, we took a tractor ride up into the mountains to Finca El Paraiso, the hot springs waterfall. The water was steaming, as Gretchen would say. We stayed at a place called Casa Rosada, which was a bunch of small bungalows right on the coast. We had ... read more

After a rocky start with a missed flight due to snow, we are officially in Belize. Saturday we flew into Belize city and took a water taxi to Caye Caulker, a tiny island off the coast of Belize. The day we were there went quickly but the time was well worth it. It is a completely different way of life; barefoot kids, wandering dogs and all travel done by foot, bike or golf cart. From there we took a small 12 seater plane to Punta Gorda, where our clinic is. It was the most enjoyable flight experience of my life, complete with a layover that included a bar on the tarmac and the Caribbean sea a hop, skip and a jump from us. Views from the plane on our trip over gave us an idea of ... read more

We last left our heros at Hotel Backpackers in Rio Dulce. Hotel Backpackers is the hotel that is run entirely to profit Casa Guatemala, the never-never-land-esque orphanage/children's home/school/clinic/farm. We actually spend a full week at the hotel, where I spent my last week of work before taking a 'real' vacation. This was an ideal place to work from - their restuarant is on a dock over the river and has really strong WIFI all the way out on the water. If I was bold enough to risk it, I bet I could have paddled out on a kayak and still gotten WIFI a few meters into the river. I didn't do that, however I did hold multiple meetings with the river shimmering in front of me - on the phone with my colleagues trudging through snow ... read more

As we approach another Saturday (time is just FLYING by!) I should tell you about the rad Saturday I just had last week, and some other stuff I've been up to! If you can't tell yet, my soul needs some pretty frequent replenishing of things that are awesome, luckily I don't have a hard time finding those kinds of things. Last week we had a teachers retreat at a beautiful centre, so that was a nice mid week break (see the pictures to see why!). Got a chance to chat with my colleagues and just have a Wednesday off from teaching, which anyone can appreciate! We also got Friday off of teaching, because it was Garifuna Settlement Day on Saturday, a day to celebrate when the Garinagu people came to Belize from St. Vincent. The Garifuna ... read more

What better place to relax and recover than my friend's private eco-beach retreat in southern Belize! David and Wayne had been inviting me down to their new home just north of the small village (and I mean small - like 30 people) of Punta Negra, and finally our calendars coordinated! I got a ride to their place with them and the Punta Negra school teacher, Teach, who was wearing a Green Bay Packers hat! All right!! We took an amazing journey through the mangroves and past Monkey River, dropping Teach off at the Punta Negra point....where about 6 homes are sitting along a rapidly eroding beachline. Most of the villagers came out to greet us, and we hollered that we'd be back in a few days for "the birthday party!" (I don't remember the little girls' ... read more