Another Sign

A universal truth that speaks for itself.

Cath - But I had to take the photo anyway.

Placencia Elementary School

Would this be a great place to grow up, or what? This was recess time at the local elementary school, and you can just see the kids enjoying the shade under the school building. Placencia is remote, and poor by US standards, but the kids all had clean uniforms and were playing with great abandon during their recess.

Cath - My running buddy, Cheryl, says her Belizean students are in much better shape than many other immigrant students at her school because of Belize's priority on education.

I must say I can't even see the kids in Bill's photo here. Lyra and I did walk right next to the playground during recess (this was while Bill and Will and Eva were snorkeling) and the kids really were having a lot of fun playing on the swings, playing tag, and generally running amok.

Yet Another Sign

The anti-littering signs are clever and entertaining, but not very effective. We saw quite a lot of trash in Placencia.

Cath - This was disappointing to me. I don't mind seaweed washing up on the beach but there was a lot of man-made trash despite many signs pleading for people not to litter and to clean up. There were also many yards with junk and scrap metal and trash heaps right there. WHY?

De'Tatch - Main Entrance

This is the sign for the De'Tatch restaurant off the main sidewalk in Placencia.  If you click on the photo you can see the day's lunch menu.  The price for the lunch special is $11.00 Belizean, e.g. $5.50US.  

De'Tatch - Ocean Side

This is the ocean side of De'Tatch where the dining area is located under the palm trees. As noted elsewhere, we were not big fans of the food at the Inn at Robert's Grove, but since we had purchased the meal plan, we did eat most of our meals there. On our last full day in Placencia, I took Lyra and Eva to De'Tatch for lunch. It was so good we all decided to return for dinner. (De'Tatch is local slang for The Thatch, referring to the thatched roof.) At dinner Will and I had grilled shark steak and Cathleen had grouper. Both of the fish dishes were excellent. Eva had chicken fingers, which were actual fresh fried chicken, not prefrozen.

Although the food was great, the place was super casual, there was a floor in the restaurant, but no walls. In the bar there was no floor, just sand. Their motto seems to be: De Tatch, "No shoes, No ties, NO PROBLEM MON!"

Cath - There were all kinds of kitty cats running around through Placencia, as you might expect in such a warm climate with food aplenty. Just about all of the cats we saw were black and white. It was like they were all descended from a single pair of black and white cats. But at De Tatch, there was a brownish siamese looking cat with pale blue eyes. This cat was not allowed in the restaurant but she came in anyway and promptly made good friends with Will, who was missing our cats terribly.

Placencia Beaches

The Placencia beaches were not that wide, and every night there was a new deposit of seaweed and plastic bottles, but the beaches were long.  We could have walked the five miles from Robert's Grove to Placencia all on the beach.  This is apparently the only spot in Belize with such long beaches, in many other places the coast is mostly mangrove swamp.  

Our Trip to Tikal

One of the high points of our vacation to Belize was a day trip across the border into Guatemala to visit Tikal National Park, site of the largest excavated ancient city in the Americas.  Tikal was a Mayan city, and as we spend more time in Belize, we are coming to appreciate just how large and sophisticated the Maya culture was at its peak.  Tikal was a large city, supported by a network of man made reservoirs and complex agriculture and water management.  In fact, the fall of Tikal coincides with a sustained drought.  Tikal and another Maya city at Caracol in Belize both likely had populations over 100K around 500AD.  

To get to Tikal, we had to cross from Belize into Guatemala.  Belize is a very small country with a population of about 280K.  Guatemala is much larger, with a population of about 14M.  This is one of the major border crossings between the two countries, and in fact an industrial free trade zone is being constructed on the Belize side of the border.   With a professional driver who makes this crossing daily, no luggage and as obvious tourists, this crossing took an hour.  There was a line of at least 20 semi-trailers on the Guatemala side waiting to get into Belize, and our driver said it can take them a day to cross.  We all now have Guatemala stamps in our passports, and also know that the VIN number for the type of Toyota van we were driving is located under the passenger seat (our driver and the Guatemalan authorities spent about 10 minutes searching for it).   I also got a chance to try and explain to the kids the concept of an anti-personnel shot gun, which some of the Guatemalan guards carried.

The Road to Tikal

To be fair, about 80% of the 75 miles of road between Chaa Creek and Tikal are paved (or what passes for paved in Guatemala).  However, the first 12 miles of road after passing into Guatemala from Belize are NOT paved.  

The road is very dusty now (and reportedly a real mess in the rainy season).  I suspect the drivers must have to replace their air filters after every trip.  Needless to say we drove with the windows up.  I opened a window and stuck my arm out to get this shot, and now the automatic lens cover on my camera has stopped working properly.  

Ceiba Tree

On the path leading into the Tikal ruins, there is a huge Ceiba tree beside the trail.  The Ceiba was sacred to the Maya, who beleived it connected the planes of the Underworld (Xibalba), the skies and the terrestrial realm.

The Ceiba is prevalent all over Central America, giving its name to cities in Honduras and Puerto Rico.  The tree was grown commercially for much of the first half of the 20th century, when it was commonly known as the Kapok tree.  Its fruit provides the kapok fibers that were used in life preservers and auto upholstery until synthetic alternatives were developed.  

Temple II

This is Temple II, the first major Maya structure we saw as we entered Tikal.  I believe this is the second or third largest Temple in Tikal.  It is really tall, as you can see from looking at tiny Eva in the foreground.  This is the back of the temple, the front faces onto the Grand Plaza.

Great Plaza

This is a view of the Great Plaza, with the Central Acropolis on the left and Temple II in back.  There is an excellent map of Tikal here, which helps to provide a sense of the layout of the site.  

When Tikal was a living city, it was clear (no jungle) and the different plazas and building complexes were connected by causeways.  Today, you walk from complex to complex under a jungle canopy and it can be difficult to keep oriented to how the city looked overall.  

According to our guide Noah, the population of Tikal at its peak was 80K - 100K, which would have put it on par with the largest European cities at that point in history.  (On a related note, the population of Belize during the peak of Maya civilization was reportedly 1M.  Today it is just over a quarter of that, 280K.)

Packing Lyra

Lyra has ridden everywhere this trip in an orange canvas baby carrier that works like a non-rigid backpack, holding Lyra onto Cath's back.  Unfortunately (or not) the back pack does not fit me, so when I carry Lyra she rides on my shoulders.   

Turkey

Tikal is truly in the jungle, and we saw a lot of wildlife.  This is a Central American wild turkey, known technically as an Ocellated Turkey.

We also saw a spider monkey, howler monkeys, a young crocodile, a tarantula (which Will held), and an animal I thought was a Coatimundi, but according to Wikipedia is correctly called a Coati.  Like everywhere else in Central America, we also saw a wide variety of birds.

On the drive in from Belize, we saw a good variety of domestic animals.  Horses were very common, in almost every yard and tethered on patches of grass beside the road.  They are used for riding, and also as pack animals.  We saw many pigs (and piglets), goats, sheep, chickens, ducks, turkeys and of course mangy dogs.  We also saw many, many Brahman cattle.  Guatemala must be a significant meat producing country (one of their beers has a Brahman as a logo).

Cement Factory

Our guide Noah explained that the Maya made cement by heating limestone, then grinding it up and adding water and some other stuff (I was not listening carefully).  I believe this was one of the pits used for heating the limestone.  

(On a side note, the Greeks and Romans are really lucky so much of their building was done with granite and marble.  The Maya built with limestone which is soft and easily erodes.  I suspect huge amounts of Maya culture has been lost because the stone it was carved into literally dissolved.)

View From Temple IV

This is one of the iconic views at Tikal, looking out over the city from near the top of Temple IV.  This is such a famous view that George Lucas used it as the backdrop for a scene late in the original Star Wars movie, now known as Episode IV: A New Hope.  You can see this view as planet Yavin 4, the site of the rebel bases here.

Temple 4 is very high (a long climb up steep wooden scaffolding).  This view gives a great sense of just how big Tikal is.  The low structure to the far right in the photo is in the Plaza of the Lost World.  The very tall structure middle left is Temple III, the two structures further to the left are Temple II and Temple I.  The area of Tikal that has been excavated (really partially excavated) covers 10 square miles, the full extent of the Tikal National Park is 222 square miles.

From this location, Tikal does have a mystical feel, and in fact  woman was sitting near where I took this photo meditating.  I am not sure how Will and Eva affected her experience.  They generally do not promote calmness.  

Going Where No Hamster Has Gone Before

Will and two of his close friends have created a society based on their stuffed animals.  They have different cultural groups, religions, wars, etc.  Most of the key animals are small rodents, especially hamsters.  

These two, Twinkie and Ginger, made the trip to Guatemala to see Tikal so they could report back to their friends at home.  

Tropical Mystery

This is Cath here, posting under Bill's login. I must say that this @(#*$&(@)*$ Aperture software is not very intuitive and it is taking an unreasonable amount of time to complete a simple post. But the software and Bill's document filing system are not the tropical mystery.....

They mystery is why, aside from the creepy crawlies you see here, we really have *not* seen all that many tropical wigglies. Why? I have been to other tropical, warm and wet places and seen bugs big enough to carry off the furniture. I suppose one of the reasons I like it so much here in Belize is that it has been relatively bug-free.

The kids did find a scorpion in our cabin; we must have not shut the door all the way. I was actually not present for that and Thank Goodness for you probably would have heard the shrieking all the way back in the U.S. It must have stood still long enough for its photo op and then scurried around, just as terrified as Eva was, trying desperately not to be caught.

The tarantula picture is from Tikal. While there was no way I was going to touch it, it doesn't seem quite as horrible to me as the scorpion. The tarantula was so large it looked almost like one of the kids' toys, like a Beanie Baby. And it didn't move very fast (although I am sure it can when it wants to).

So I am not sure why, in this tropical paradise where so much is Alive, the volume of large and spectacular insect life isn't higher.  There were no scary surprises in the River Camp loo or showers, not even in the twilight hours.  But I am not complaining.  

What we have found instead, now that we are in Placencia and down by the beach, are these microscopic sand gnats.  They are teeny, you can barely see them at all but they feast upon you as soon as you go outside and you find out later just what a smorgasboard you've been.  The itching is torturous.  Unfortunately, I think these gnats have had many many generations to build up their resistant to deet and other insect repellant.  We can't tell that the bug spray is working at all.  I guess the bugs you can't see are worse than the ones you can.

Jellyfish Attack

Will has had a bit of a rough vacation in terms of minor injuries.  His worst experience came within a couple of hours of checking in at Robert's Grove.  Will and I were swimming in the ocean, and all of a sudden he was running up to the beach screaming like he was on fire, which I guess in  sense he was.  He had just had his first run in with a jellyfish.  

His arm had red swollen welts which he, unfortunately, spread to his belly when he drew his arm tight in an effort to stop the pain.  Poor guy looked like he'd been flogged with a cat o' nine tails.

Will said it felt like he'd stuck his arm in an electric socket.  This photo was taken about an hour later, after some of the swelling went down.  We gave Will a Benadryl, and it seemed like the pain went away after about ninety minutes, and Will was fine the next morning.  

Fortunately we were told that jellyfish are uncommon here, and we have had lots more swimming without further incident.

Snorkeling Trip

Yesterday morning I did a half day snorkeling trip with Will and Eva.  We only went about 30min from Placencia, not all the way out to the barrier reef which is 20+ miles off shore.  

I am very glad this was only a half day trip, and it appeared at first it might turn into a disaster.  Neither Will nor Eva had snorkeled before, and Eva is not a strong swimmer, a fact she is in denial about.  Our guide Bernard was not helpful, more of a taxi driver, not offering much in the way of snorkeling guidance.  

We were snorkeling off the boat, and the first place we dropped anchor had decent sized swells.  Eva could not get the hang of clearing her snorkel, or keeping water from getting inside the mask (and of course she blamed the equipment).  She also struggled to tread water in the chop, making it much harder for her to adjust her gear.  I could not take my eyes off her because I was afraid she would drown, and of course Will just took the opportunity to critique her swimming.  After the second time I had to drag her back to the boat I told her she could not get in the water without a life preserver.

Eva did not react well.  She is stubborn and prideful, and the thought of having to wear a life preserver when her brother did not was far worse than any fear of drowning (8 years olds apparently being immortal).  Fortunately we did not stay in that spot long, and went next to a small island for some shell collecting which Eva and Will loved.

Eva eventually accepted 'trying' the life preserver (she was concerned that she would not be able to get her mask in the water with it on).   The life preserver worked well, and I could snorkel without worrying about Eva.  We saw a ray, many angel fish, numerous varieties of coral, starfish etc.  Both kids said snorkeling was a high point of the vacation.  Of course Eva continued to complain that the life preserver prevented her from diving below the water (which was about 10 feet deep), but she was able to see just about everything from the surface, and she did not drown.  We stayed in the water close to an hour, and everyone was exhausted afterwards.

Cath - I am SO GLAD I wasn't around for this.  Lyra and I spent time wandering around Placencia and eating gelato at a place run by a real live Italian woman far from home.  More on that with photos after I get home and can use my PC to look at the photos on my camera.

Channeling His Inner Dog

On the boat ride out to the snorkeling spot, Will played the dog hanging its head out the window of a speeding car.  He went so far as to droop his tongue out as well, but that did not make an attractive photo.