Saturday morning was spent poolside at the hotel, with Ellery and Fletcher playing their wonderful imaginary games. Around 1 p.m., it was finally time to say goodbye, check out of the hotel and head, almost literally, across the street to the tiny Placencia airport and fly to Belize City, and then to Houston.

At the hotel in Houston, we were greated by friends Leslie and Phil and their kids, Rachel and Gabe, for a late by satisfying dinner. Then, this morning, it was back to the airport and the flight home.

And so, we are home. At least physically.

written by  shoshtrvls on September 5, 2009 from Houston, United States
from the travel blog: Belize, Guatemala and Honduras (2009)
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Early in the morning, we set out with Rene, Billy and the crew to Laughingbird Caye, a small atoll about 1/2 hour away by boat. Along the way, we had the good fortune of being followed for a bit by several dolphin, which gave the kids a real thrill.

The Caye is tiny and uninhabited with the exception of the park ranger who makes sure that there's no fishing and no removal of coral or shells from the area. While Billy and Rene went scuba diving a bit offshore, the rest of us went snorkeling ... and it was fabulous. We saw a greater variety of fish than I've seen anywhere else, parrotfish and angelfish and barracudas and nurse sharks and dozens of others. The coral itself was not particularly vibrant but the fish more than made up for it. Lunch was on the island and then a second snorkel/dive and home we came.

The rest of the day was pure relaxation ... napping, sitting by the pool, and enjoying dinner with the Raineys. The evening ended with a spectacular full moon over the ocean (I really couldn't capture it on film but I tried) and a painful sunburn ... but well worth it.

written by  shoshtrvls on September 4, 2009 from Placencia, Belize
from the travel blog: Belize, Guatemala and Honduras (2009)
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Ellery immediately staked out her territory -- a 6 year old named Fletcher. Fletcher came attached to a 2 year old sister, Sophia, a nanny named Ariel, and parents Renee and Billy, tv producers from Los Feliz. And there were great people, so while the kids played, and then ate dinner, and then had a "dessert party," the adults sat and talked and drank and generally had a wonderful evening together before stumbling back to our respective huts on the beach.

written by  shoshtrvls on September 3, 2009 from Placencia, Belize
from the travel blog: Belize, Guatemala and Honduras (2009)
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Once in Punta Gorda, we immediately jumped onto the Belize equivalent of a Chicken bus -- an old school bus that does the familiar hop-on, hop-off type of route -- and made it to Mango Creek in 2 hours. Then it was a 20 minute boat ride on the Hokey Pokey Water Taxi to Placencia, otherwise known as Paradise. Or a movie set.

written by  shoshtrvls on September 3, 2009 from Punta Gorda, Belize
from the travel blog: Belize, Guatemala and Honduras (2009)
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Shortly after 4 a.m., Gustavo, our driver for this leg of the journey (too much to do in one day by bus) arrived and we loaded up, heading for Copan, Honduras. Ellery and I slept for the first few hours, but eventually woke up for a second roadside breakfast around 9 a.m. During this break, we had time to chat with Gustavo, an adorable guy who spoke terrific English, thanks in large part to his having visited his sister in Atlanta every year.

Crossing the border into Honduras was fairly straight-forward, owing in large part to the fact that visitors to Guatemala often make this journey to Copan. And it is definitely worth the side trip.

Copan is very different than Tikal, and we had a great guide, Juan Carlos, to show us around. Because the stone in Copan is hardened by the lava of the volacnoes, unlike Tikal, much of the carvings are in terrific condition. So, while the scale is not the same, the quality is supurb -- Mayan kings, serpants, and jaguars all come to life on the massive stones. Just as facinating is the history of the excavations, including the diversion of the Copan River, which had been erroding much of the site. Copan also has a fantastic on-site museum, where many of the sculptures are displayed.

After about 3 hours in Copan, we proceeded to Puerto Barrios, on the Carribean coast. Again, the landscape changes were very evident as we returned to the land of tropical plants, cowboys and thatched roof huts. Still, not all was unfamiliar -- at Ellery's request, we stopped for lunch at a McDonald's.

written by  shoshtrvls on September 2, 2009 from Copan, Honduras
from the travel blog: Belize, Guatemala and Honduras (2009)
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Anyway, our housing options were limited and night had fallen, so we ended up staying at what was probably the most tattered of "hotel" of them all. Without going into details, suffice it to say, it was the opposite of where we had been and where we were going. We slept on top of the sheets and didn't use the bathroom (which we paid extra for). It was, however, less than $9 for the night.

However, the stop was worthwhile simply for seeing the place, and for meeting Phillipe. Phillipe appeared at first to be your average hustler, trying to get us to buy things, taking us to hotels and restaurants where he would receive a kick-back from the proprieters. But, he was facinating in his own right. If his stories hadn't been so detailed, including facts that you had to live to know, I wouldn't have believed him, and I'm still not sure I do. But Phillipe, born and raised in Livingston, found himself with admission and a scholarship to the University of Illinois thanks to the local priest. With a dual degree in music and environmental sciences, he went to work for the US Navy at Point Mugu in California. But neither navy life, nor life of a scientist suited him, so he went back to music, playing all up and down the west coast and in Mexico. Eventually, he returned home, and found himself hanging out with Jerry Garcia. (I checked out this last one and apparently the "rumor" of Garcia hiding out in Livingston is not just Phillipe's). In any event, whether any of this is true or not is almost beside the point; Phillipe was a great story-teller and made the night a most interesting one.

written by  shoshtrvls on September 2, 2009 from Livingston, Guatemala
from the travel blog: Belize, Guatemala and Honduras (2009)
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We started the day, as we always do, wandering the local market. Here, while the food and produce was mostly sold in the typical crowded maze with tarps overhead, the rest was along much wider paths, open to the sky. Here, the market backs up to the chicken bus station, and the array of brightly colored buses was as much a treat as the bright fruits and vegetables.

After the market, we did the historic church/monastery/convent tour, stopping at the Church in the Parque Central, Las Capuchinas Convent, La Merced (which houses a fabulous museum of ecclesiastic art), and the Church of San Francisco. All of these buildings, whose origins are deep in the 16th and 17th centuries, have been partially destroyed as a result of several large earthquakes and yet, the fact that they are mostly in ruins simply adds to the atmosphere.

Two items of note: first, in one of the markets, an American began talking to Ellery -- the type of American I will never become. A bit of dialogue revealed the following: he's a former marine, he moved to Guatemala because he didn't want to pay "those ridiculous taxes" (HELLO ... who paid your salary when you were in the service?), Obama is going to decide who my doctor will be, and .... the man speaks barely a word of Spanish after being here for over a year. How is that possible? I wouldn't have believed him had he not gotten into a car bearing license plates from ... Pennsylvania. I am shamed.

The other item is more humorous. After our church-in-ruins tour, Ellery and I stopped at a cafe in the Parque Central. We oohed and aahed at the pastries in the case but, having just eaten lunch, resisted them. Good thing too, because as I was sipping my cappuccino, I saw one of the barristas remove a packaged frozen cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory and slide it into the pastry case!

Tonight will be an early one for Els and I because tomorrow is a long one; at 4 a.m. we leave for Copan in Honduras, and from there to Puerto Barrios and on to Livingston for the night, before returning to Puerto Barrios for the boat back into Belize.

Oh, and finally, this hotel rocks. An incredible building, incredible rooms, incredible service, all very understated and comfortable. The perfect twin to our hotel in Atitlan.

written by  shoshtrvls on September 1, 2009 from Antigua Guatemala, Guatemala
from the travel blog: Belize, Guatemala and Honduras (2009)
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The morning started with breakfast on the patio of our stunning hotel, and then continued with a walk through the gardens, where parrots and toucans looked on from overhead. From there, we road into town in one of the many tuk-tuks that ply the roads, and headed out for sea -- or rather, for lake.

The lake is routinely traversed by a variety of different types of boats. First, there are the flat-bottomed, traditional wood canoes used by the fisherman. Next are the launches that regularly cross the lake, takeing people from town to town, or even from a solitary dock to the next town. Like the collective minibuses, they ply the routes and pick up and drop off passengers along the way. And then there are the larger tour boats, and the smaller kayaks, all of which give the lake a unique charm.

We first took a launch to San Marcos La Laguna, a tiny village that must house about 30 yoga and spiritual retreats. There's nothing much there, but Ellery and I found a quite little bit of rocky beach and had an improptu swim in the lake.

Then we moved on to San Pedro La Laguna. Again, there wasn't much to the town, but it was well situated to take in the view of all three volcanos. Here we rented some horses and while the landscape was not particularly pretty or interesting, it had the benefit of having horses that could actually be riden (as opposed to being brainwashed trail horses) and Ellery for the first time experienced the comfort of cantering and the joy of riding without restraints.

The third and last village we visited was the largest and most interesting, Santiago Atitlan. The residents of Santiago speak only a Mayan language; very few spoke even Spanish. And the dress was also unique -- men wore white pants with birds and flowers embroidered on them; women wore head dresses that were what appeared to be very long red belts wrapped around their heads. The main path from the dock was lined with the usual assortments of shops and stalls, although with the addition of art galleries featuring paintings in traditional Mayan style.

And just out of town was what has to be one of the most bizarre religious shrines I've ever seen -- a small little building housing the evil spirit of Maximon. Maximon is a wooden figure festooned with silk ties ... yes, silk ties and scarves. There's a cigar in his mouth and two ashrays at this sides. And the Mayans bring him offerings. Really, really strange. (And I'm particularly upset that this picture of him is also blurry, since I paid a good Q5 to take it).

From there we went to the Church, dating from the 1500's. Again ... not your typical sight. The wooden sculptures of the saints were covered in garish fabrics and the really special ones were wearing, yes, ties.

After a visit to the produce market in Santiago, we returned across the lake, taking in some last beautiful vistas before leaving this paradise and taking a minibus to Antigua. The road to Antigua has little of note along the way; even worse, at one point you pass through the ubiquitous third-world urban sprawl of concrete buildings that are either falling down or unfinished (you can never tell), piles of trash along the roads, and huge trucks spewing out black smoke from their tailpipes. I confess, I feared that this was a preview to Antigua, but I was very wrong. At least, I think I'm wrong.

We arrived in Antigua after dark, and just as it started to pour, so thus far we've seen only our hotel, but what a hotel it is. A 16th century palace just off the main square, very recently redone as a luxury hotel. The rooms surround a Spanish style courtyard, with open air hallways lined with comfortable couches ... one of which I am sitting on right now, finishing up this installment of our travels.

written by  shoshtrvls on August 31, 2009 from Panajachel, Guatemala
from the travel blog: Belize, Guatemala and Honduras (2009)
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