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Published: July 21st 2008
On Saturday, July 12, we were picked up in Belize City to go on an ATV/Cave Tubing tour with Cave-tubing.com. We rode 4-wheelers through the jungle on muddy paths for over an hour. It was a lot of fun. Afterwards, we cooled off by floating on tubes down a gentle river that passed through a very large cave. It was so dark in the cave, a little scary I have to admit. We looked at the stalactites and stalagmites with flashlights....it was really neat. Our guide pointed out lots of flora and fauna both on the ATV tour and cave tubing tour. Stephen even ate live termites right out of the nest! Yikes! He said they tasted minty. Apparently termites (a great source of protein) are the thing to eat if you are ever lost in the jungle. They dropped us off at the bus stop alongside the road and we caught the bus to Belmopan, then another to San Ignacio on the western border with Guatemala. We stayed overnight there, did some laundry, ate dinner at a place called Eva's full of other travelers, and struggled to sleep with the very loud music next door.
On Sunday, July 13, we took a shuttle and crossed the border into Guatemala. The border crossings have not been as bad as expected, quite easy actually. When researching for the trip, I read a lot of interesting stories of people having problems crossing land borders. We haven't had any problems thankfully. We spent around 4 hours touring Tikal Mayan Ruins with a German couple, a Canadian girl, and a knowledgeable Guatemalan guide. We have been blessed with very good and knowledgeable guides on this trip! It is amazing to understand how they constructed all the massive structures by hand. We had lunch there (it was included in the tour package), chicken is what they called it but it was rubbery and not good. I enjoyed the vegetables and rice, but Stephen wasn't feeling good, so he gave up after two bites of the "chicken." We took a shuttle to Santa Elena and we're pretty certain we got ripped off. Along the way we have asked locals and other travelers at hostels about what the price should be. We have found the people to be fair, we pay what the locals pay on buses, taxis, etc. But this particular guy charged us more than he should've. Anyhow, we originally planned to stay in Santa Elena for the night, then travel to Guatemala City the following day. However, this being a 10-hour bus ride, we decided to take the luxury night bus to Guatemala City. We bought our tickets then went to eat dinner. Stephen vomitted several times before we ate and I was having problems on the other end. Needless to say, we were a little worried about how the bus ride would go. It actually ended up okay, we had front seats in a nice double-decker bus. They played the new movie "27 Dresses." I enjoyed it even though it was in Spanish and Stephen slept through it even though it was loud.
The original plan also included staying in Guatemala City for a night, but we had heard more than several stories from other travelers and locals that the city is not really safe. So, once we arrived in the morning, we took a 1 hour, 20 min. shuttle to Antigua. We walked around a little with our backpacks, sat in the beautiful Central Park, then found a place to check internet and eat brunch. We took a bus to Parramos, a small village not far from Antigua and walked around trying to find the Parramos Mission Camp. We had made contact with a lady named Margarita (we got her name through family in Florida) and had planned to stay at the camp at least one night. After walking around for awhile (times like these the backpacks get annoying) and the help of a nice storekeeper, we found the camp. The camp is beautiful and had lots of rooms for people: doubles, singles, and dorm-style rooms. Margarita was so sweet and spoke very good English. We napped in the afternoon (much needed, we were so tired), then enjoyed time with Margarita eating, talking, and laughing.
On Tuesday, July 15, we had breakfast with Margarita, then walked around the village with her as she had to visit a couple familes. The first familly (mother, daughter, son) lived in a small tin shack divided into two rooms with a dirt floor. The father had died several years ago (Margarita was not sure of what sickness). The family grew and sold radishes in the small dirt yard for the main source of income. When we walked in the house it smelled very strongly of smoke. Margarita explained that they cooked in the first room over a fire and because of that the mother's lungs were not good. There was a cement pad (mabye 6 ft. by 12 ft.) to the side of the house that was just finished a few days before. Margarita told us a group from the U.S. was coming the following week to build them a small house. They will no longer be breathing in the smoke or be sleeping on a dirt floor. The son had just started school because he now has a sponsor (families have to pay to begin school and also must buy school supplies and uniforms - most families can't afford these expenses), but the daughter who is 13 has not yet been to school. They are trying to arrange sponsors and a 1st grade class for some of the older children who have never attended school. The boy seemed very joyful, he showed Stephen his small top then they played with it. The second family we visited (mother, daughter, son) lived in a small house with cement floor and wooden sides. It apparently had been built by a group from Canada several years ago. Anyhow, a couple months ago the daughter's long beautiful hair started falling out and her skin was turning yellowish. She had not been to the doctor because the mother could not even pay for the bus ride to Antigua, let alone the doctor bill. Margarita has been trying to use connections to get the daughter some help. They still don't know what is wrong with her, but several tests have been run and they had another appointment scheduled. The people here work long, hard hours for only 3-4 Quetzals per day (1 dollar is approx. 7 Quetzals). Most people in the village barely have enough money for food. Some of the cheapest bus rides we took were 3 or 4 Quetzals, which makes it impossible for the people to travel to another town for work, all the money would be spent on transportation. These are real eye-opening experiences, really makes me think.
Back in Antigua, we spent the afternoon walking through the colorful market. Antigua is a very beautiful place, lots of old buildings full of character (it was a Spanish city in the 1700's). We really liked the big, unique, heavy doors. It is nestled between several volcanoes and lined with cobblestone streets. The following morning the shuttle arrived at 4am to travel to Copan, Honduras. The border crossing was again no problem and Copan was not far from the border. We spent the afternoon exploring the Copan Mayan Ruins, greeted at the entrance by 5 beautiful scarlet macaws. Copan Ruins is not as big as Tikal, but is much more artistic, full of sculptures and hieroglyphics. We had pizza for dinner, but the cheese wasn't quite right.
On Thursday, July 17, we took a morning bus to La Ceiba on the Caribbean coast of Honduras. Although some buses are nicknamed chicken buses in Central America, this was the first bus that actually had chickens that we saw. A lady carried them on in a plastic grocery bag. There were two holes in the bag for the chickens heads. I was surprised at how quiet and well-behaved the chickens were. Especially considering they were probably about to be sold at the market and slaughtered. We arrived in the afternoon and were picked up by a nice man named Oscar. Oscar is a friend of a friend who we had made contact with through email. He showed us all around the city, walking for miles. We were exhausted at this point in the trip. Our next and final stop was to be Utila, one of the Bay Islands of Honduras. We had planned to complete the 3.5 day open water scuba diving course before flying home. Even though this was to be one of the big highlights of our trip, we decided since we were tired and not feeling tops (and so Stephen would have more than 2 free days before starting his rotations) that we'd skip this part and just head home. So, we changed our tickets and will be flying home early Saturday morning.
As always, thanks for following along on our adventures. Love, DeAnna and Stephen
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MamaLama
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Steve and Dee, I'm glad you're home, but it was fun traveling with you on your adventure, looking forwarding to seeing you soon.