Wednesday, June 18, 2014 - Canoeing and the Xunantunich Mayan Temple Ruins

I didn't sleep well last night because I am worried about Jason.  He has been having tummy troubles.  I got everyone up at 7:00 a.m. and went down for breakfast of granola and milk, toast and beans, a bowl of fresh fruit with pineapple, papaya, and watermelon, scrambled eggs and sausage.  The coffee is really good and strong too! Take a look at that amazing rain forest behind them!

There were these cute lizards hanging out with us...

We left at 8:30 for a canoe trip on the Macal river.  It was nice and relaxing being on the water.  Danika and Jason went with Izzy (our driver and guide) and David and I had a canoe to ourselves.  It was really hot paddling in the sun, so we tried to stay in the shade of the trees as much as possible.  We went upstream for about a half an hour, then turned around and came back.  The scenery was beautiful. 

We saw tiny insect eating bats that eat about 200 mosquitoes an hour.  They were really cute, but hard to notice unless they were startled and flew around.  We also saw a large iguana hanging out high up in a tree.  The best was a green tree snake swimming through the water.  It looked like it was going to swim in front of the boat, but we were drifting too fast.  It ended up right beside me and swam smack into the side of the boat.  It was so startled we thought it was going to jump in the boat, but it swam off behind David.  Then we saw a large group of cormorants flying up the river towards us.  It was great because they kept coming and flew right over us. 

After the canoe trip, we went to a market and bought a mango and some coconut water.  The mango was fabulous!  Izzy took out his knife and cut it up for us.

We drank the cold coconut water out of the bag...

We lunched at Benny’s in San Jose’s Succotz disctrict.  There was no daily special, and loads of tourists, so I wasn’t impressed, but David said his meal was awesome. He had the Mayan Pibil, pork cooked in an underground oven.  He tried the Belizian Marie Sharp's Beware hot sauce, which was supposed to be ridiculously hot, but he said it was just fairly hot.

We crossed the Mopan river by hand-cranked ferry.  The operator let Jason and Danika work it for a bit.

After lunch we hiked up to the Xunantunich Mayan Temple Ruins.  The scenery was gorgeous and it was great to learn more about the Mayans.  On the way out we saw some howler monkeys hanging out in the trees. The babies were so cute.

It was awesome because there was hardly anyone else there.

That's us and our guide!

It was steeper climbing than it looks...

Stopping for a break...

After climbing the first level, this is what we see as we walk around the side...

More climbing around the back side...

The view on our way out...

Some locals on our way home... 

Then we stopped at a pharmacy to get some help for Jason, and then we went back to the market so Izzy could pick up some vegetables for dinner.  The kids fell asleep on the drive back and I have to say that I was nodding off as well until we hit the last 5.7 miles which is on a dirt road that is full of potholes.  Izzy drives really fast, so it was like being on the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland.

When we got back, David showed me a bite at the bottom of his leg just above his foot. It is really swollen and has a white head of puss… not very nice… I think it is infected.  I think we should get it looked at.  He is in the shower now.  After his shower, he popped it and I put some Neosporin on it… It is looking a bit better.

Outside we saw some howler monkeys in the trees nearby.  There was a really cute baby that was moving really fast from the main bar/lounge cabana towards our place.  It was nice to hang out and watch them.

We went for chips and salsa again at 6:00 p.m.  It is a different salsa every night.  It is also really nice to sit around and chat.  There is a dad named Barry who is here with his daughter, Nora.  She is 10, but very tall and looks more like 12!  Danika and Jason have been hanging out with her and playing in the hammocks.  Dinner was fabulous, chicken wrapped in bacon along with potatoes and salad. 

After dinner we went back upstairs and had coffee and sat around and talked.  We saw bats at the hummingbird feeders and a large toad came in to say hello as well.

There is so much wildlife here… Such a nice evening! It is 9:00 p.m., but it feels much later.  It gets dark here around 6:30 p.m!  I am really looking forward to tomorrow because we do the ACTUN TUNICHIL MUKNAL (ATM) cave.  It means cave of the stone sepulcher.  I think Danika will love it.  We hope Jason feels better too.