Belize and Guatemala

Last week Meg and I got back from an 11-day trip to Belize and Guatemala. Why Central America? I wanted to go somewhere I could relax on a beach and not feel obligated to see all of the cultural sites but still have interesting things to do if I felt like it.

“http://mushpots.com/blog/slideshows/ca0608/ca0608.html”

We started our trip with a jaunt across the Guatemalan border to see the Mayan ruins at Tikal. My mom told me it would be worth it to spend a little extra money to hire a guide, and she was right — we definitely would have gotten lost without one. The ruins that have been excavated were impressive, but it was even more awe-inspiring to look around and realize that pretty much every mound of dirt was actually another structure waiting to be unearthed.

The humidity of the jungle was stifling, and the mosquitoes were relentless, but the view from the top of Templo IV was majestic enough to wipe such trifles from my mind.

We waited by the pond for quite awhile hoping to see some cocodrilos, but the only one we caught sight of was the poor little guy tied to a tree to amuse the tourists. I felt guilty for taking a picture, especially after one of the workers at the site tugged on the little croc’s line to try to get it to move.

One of the reasons we chose Belize was that almost everyone there speaks English. The same is definitely not true in Guatemala. Let’s just say there’s a reason my freshman-level Spanish hadn’t crossed my lips in 18 years. Actually, I managed to get my point across fairly well in the few situations I had to speak Spanish, although I’m sure I butchered the grammar. I had no problem remembering the word for pool, though — I guess that particular memory trick worked. (Hint: The Spanish for pool is piscina — you can work it out.)

After our archaeological expedition, we took an extremely cramped bus (my left knee still hurts) and a breezy water taxi to Ambergris Caye for a few days of relaxing on the beach. There’s not a lot to tell about that part of the trip, just long, lazy days of getting up late, finding a decent restaurant for our daily rice and beans, and then strolling along the beach until sunset. San Pedro is known for being a party place, but since Meg and I don’t drink, it was much more pleasant to lie in hammocks and watch the boats scatter the moon’s reflection on the Caribbean. The hammocks were also a good place to overhear some interesting conversations, but I want to keep my blog family-friendly, so I won’t include them here.

We spent our last day on the island taking a catamaran trip to Caye Caulker with a couple of snorkeling stops along the way. I’d never used a snorkel before, so it took a bit of practice to get used to being a mouth-breather. (Some guys I know would have had no problem.) The marine life at the Hol Chan reserve was very cool to watch. We even saw a sea turtle munching on sea grass. It hung out just long enough for our guide to snap a close-up for us.

I have to admit, I have a completely irrational and almost pathological fear of sharks, so I almost stayed on the boat at Shark Ray Alley. But I managed to persuade myself to jump in, and we only saw a couple of nurse sharks at a safe distance. There were a lot of rays, though, and it was pretty cool watching them glide through the water.

Our plans for a zipline canopy tour and cave tubing on the mainland didn’t work out, so we went to another Mayan site, Altun Ha, instead. Just like Tikal, there was oppressive humidity, swarms of blood-sucking demons the size of snot, and remains of the grandeur of an ancient civilization.

Our last full day was more of the same, but on a larger scale with a river trip to Lamanai. Our guide on that trip was pretty interesting, telling us the history of places along the river and pointing out native species of birds and plants. When we motored past the Mennonite settlements along the river, he slowed down to point them out to us as though they were another interesting type of animal. “Look, there’s a young Mennonite, maybe 12 or 13. And there’s one wearing green standing by the tractor with steel wheels.” As for Lamanai, it can’t quite compare with Tikal, but it’s still very impressive.

We probably could have squeezed in one more activity if we had known our flight home was going to be delayed by three hours. As it was, we spent pretty much the entire day at the airport sweating and smelling other people doing the same. I’m glad to be back to Seattle’s version of summer.