Blogs from San Ignacio, Cayo District, Belize, Central America Caribbean - page 11

5 delirious hours on the bus brought us to La Milpa Field Station on the Northwestern border of Belize this past Friday. One thing that never ceases to amaze me while I’m here is the lack of infrastructure. Our path to La Milpa looks something like a 30 degree angle, all the way over to Belize City, and then back across, up to the Northwestern border. La Milpa also goes by the name Programme for Belize- An Opportunity for Positive Action. How word gets out about this place I will probably never know, but I'm certainly glad it does. Sponsored in part by the Massachusetts Audobon Society, they basically educate Belizeans and tourists alike about the jungle, fauna, animals, and importance of preservation. We spent much of our time taking guided nature hikes and birding, though ... read more

Visited the stately and impressive Mayan Temples of Xunantunich last weekend. Probably one of the more breathtaking views since weve been here, also afforded a look at nearby Guatemala, which I hope to visit at some point during my travels here. There are members of the Belizean Army with big ass guns on top of the temple. They weren't entirely friendly at first, but later warmed up to us, the more questions we asked. It was slightly disconcerting however, when they would sight something in the distance with their guns. If you ask me though, not a bad post if you're in the military. The rest of the weekend was spent in vacationers fashion, visiting a nearby resort with a local friend of ours. I'm truly enjoying the Belizeans affinity for rope swings on the rivers. ... read more

Friday and Saturday we endured orientation to the place that we shall be calling home for the next several months. Friday was a dull 8 hours of hearing about what could be summed up into one, succinct point, "Use common sense." It was however, nice to get some information and spend some time on the campus. If you're curious about the campus, I shall tell you about it. Galen is directly off the Western Highway outside San Ignacio. It is a small community of about 200? students. There is one main building, the library, and a new student center. We have 4 classrooms, and already, after 2 classes, I'm fairly certain I know nearly everyones name in the courses. Saturday we started off bright and early to the local market, which is teeming with more fruits ... read more

The first week here was certainly not without it's problems. Arriving in San Ignacio we were told that there was a mistake in booking our rooms. Me and my roomate Chris spent the first three nights of the trip in the Venus Hotel. After acquiring some of the local flavor on the first night, we took a trip up the hill to Cahal Pech. The site itself is among the smallest Mayan sites in the country, however it dates back close to 3000 years. The name Cahal Pech literally means "place of ticks" as it was first excavated in the 1950's when the land had been cleared for cow pasture. The site served as a place for the Mayan elite to worship the gods, and is also thought to have been used for astronomical calculations. ... read more

we had heard this little town just a few miles from the guatemala border was full of nice people but geez.... our taxi driver was actually smiling while heaving our packs into the trunk. it made you almost paranoid as to what he may know that you don´t...but in the end, i guess it was just that happy water they drink here. each and everyone we ran into here was helpful, happy and eager to hear your stories of travel. we decided to take in the local mayan ruins that sat atop their tiny town. the walk was welcomed as we had yet to burn a calorie in the prior 24 hours. a few minutes to relax around a finer hotel we snuck into on the way back and we were good to go. oh, and ... read more