Let me tell you about our Saturday excursion. We decided to explore the coastal highway. It is basically a dirt road that runs along the coast but far enough away that you can’t actually see the coast. If you just drive the road it is about an hour and a half or so one way. For those of you that know Alfred, we could never just drive a road. We had to drive down every little path off the road to see what was there. This makes for a much more exciting trip. (one of these days even the four wheel drive won’t save us, I’m sure.) So, for those of you that may be looking for things to see when you visit and for those of you that are simply living vicariously through the blog, here’s what you can expect from the coastal highway.
Our first detour was down an overgrown ‘maybe once was’ road. It had been hacked through with a machete at some point which made it possible to drive without actually having to go through the trees. At the end of the ‘road’ we found ourselves in the most amazing bamboo forest. It was beautiful! And eerie! The breeze blowing across the top of the bamboo created a deep moaning sound and the bamboo banging together created a hollow clacking sound. It was very easy to imagine that we had stumbled upon some kind of enchanted, haunted place. I was wishing we had remembered our machete because some of the bamboo really caught my attention and I would have loved to take some home.

Carrying on down the highway, we found a very well groomed dirt road that seemed to have had a gate at one time. Of course we headed down there to ‘have a look’. We found that it led to the Sea where someone at some point had cleared the mangroves and made a beach. We spent a lot of time there beachcombing looking for the most colorful or different shells we could find. And we found quite a lot. We tossed them into the cubby of the truck and carried on to Gale’s Point.
Gale’s Point is a little village who’s only claim to fame is the manatees that live in the lagoon. We thought we might take a tour and go visit them. So we stopped at Gentle’s Cool Spot (in Belize almost anywhere that sells drinks is called ‘cool spot’) where he advertised food, drink, and tours. Mr Raymond Gentle is quite the man. He met us as we mounted the steps to his house. The cool spot part is his deck, the rest of the house is where he and his wife live and not open to strangers. He ran back to tell his wife to throw together four plates of food and then he joined us on the deck. He explained that he couldn’t take us on a tour because someone had stolen his gas. He knows who but doesn’t want to cause trouble. Then he spent the rest of our visit telling us the history of the village and all about the manatees. It was a very pleasant interlude. Here’s the picture I took of Mr Gentle:
The rest of the trip down the road was totally uneventful although the scenery was lovely. All was going well until we needed to stop at the end of the road for gas. Standing in the door of the gas station was a police officer. Just outside the door was a very drunk man, about 50 years old or so, dancing punta. For those of you unfamiliar with punta, it is the (possibly unofficial) dance of Belize. It is basically a continual display of suggestive and blatant sexual moves on the dance floor and very embarrassing to watch. They teach it to the kids in school. As Alfred hops out of the car and goes into the store, the drunk man begins to dance just for me. The police man eggs him on laughing and Brynn and Kori are laughing uproariously in the back seat. (OK I was laughing too – mostly) Alfred took what seemed like three hours in the store and when he finally came out, the drunk guy asked for a two dollar tip for keeping me entertained. We gave him the money and he happily returned to the store to buy more beer.
This would have been the capper on the day if it weren’t for the evenings events. After returning home we proceeded to arrange our beautiful new shells on the table we have reserved for that purpose. Later one of the shells fell on the ground. Kori grumbled about me putting it too close to the edge of the table and went to retrieve it. That’s when it moved. Kori did the girl thing and called her dad who managed to catch the shell and put it outside.
So our lessons for the day were these:
Drunk old guys dancing punta don’t do it for free
When collecting shells, check carefully to be sure you aren’t transplanting some poor, unsuspecting crab.
Words to live by!

Canada night in Belize

So it's Sunday morning and we are happily sitting in Sacrament Meeting and the branch president gets up to read the announcements for the week. Imagine our surprise when he announces there will be a branch activity on Thursday night and the Burgess family will be in charge. Blink ... OK ... we should be able to do this ... Thursday is a long way off. That was the thought process on Sunday. On Tuesday when we thought of it again, it was more of a panicked 'What the heck are we going to do!!! Thursday is in TWO days!' Well, we brainstormed our way to Spanish lessons on Tues night and came up with the idea of having a Canadian culture night. Believe it or not, guys, we have culture! Of course the only 'culture' we could think of at the time was hockey. Brynn did bring 8 hockey sticks, tennis balls and nets with her when we came to Belize. (A year without hockey was too much to bear) On Thursday morning we are still in a bit of a panic because we have close to 20 people showing up and all we have planned is hockey for 8 and some other vague thing in the primary room. Finally it dawns on us that there is nothing more western Canada than cowboys. We need to teach line dancing! Brynn and Kori run off to Alfred's office and the internet to download 'Cadillac Ranch'. We are ready!

Now it is Thursday night and we are at the church with hockey equipment and CD in hand. One little Spanish girl picks up a stick and says 'I don't know what this is.' Brynn explains that it is a hockey stick and we are going to play hockey. 'Oh' says adoreable spanish girl 'I've seen these on TV.' Meanwhile along comes little spanish girl's big brother. As all good sisters anywhere would, the little girl sees an opportunity. 'Do you know what this is?' Brother answers 'YES! It's a golf club.' Now, you all know the look and voice of sister 'NO it's a hockey stick!' Well, let me tell you, for people who had no idea what the stick was when we started, Belize took to hockey. As Brynn put it later: 'Belizeans are INTENSE hockey players!'

(for those of you that are interested, the room we are playing hockey in is our chapel/classroom/cultural hall at church)

Meanwhile, back at the ranch (so to speak) how was the line dancing going? We were having a blast! I must say, though, dancing in a stuffy room in the +30 heat takes it out of you! We had two groups going and switched off halfway but, of course, I had to dance the entire time. We did have to take a short recess while Todd (American peace corp) got over the name of the song. Apparently he's never heard of a Cadillac ranch. At the end of the evening we all got together for one large line dance. While we were dancing, one of our young men wandered in and asked Kori if we were doing a traditional national dance. She said 'well, kind of. It's a cowboy dance.' So I guess we now have a national dance.

pictures

Hi All!! Here are the pictures I've been promising for the last couple of blogs. Hope you enjoy them.

Our hike to the falls:

Big, Hairy, Ugly spider!!

Our trip to Belize City:

The Princess Hotel. It is one room wide. Each room opens onto a balcony on one side and overlooks the sea on the other.

Bowling...

The department store! Yay!

Downtown, Belize City














The Zoo:








The Tapir

So that's it for now. I'll catch you all later.

A Ramble from the Jungle

ARG! It can't have been a whole 6 days since my last blog! I am in blog withdrawl! Sadly I'm also in blog block (kinda like writers block but ... well... basically the same) so I will probably just ramble for awhile. It is your own fault. Only Shelda has asked any questions and I warned you I might run dry. I've also been very busy and haven't gotten around to downloading my pics for awhile so this will be another thousand words to make up for the picture I'm not showing you.

On Thursday, we decided to take the girls to Belize City for a few days. We know people here who go every weekend to get away from Hopkins and back to civilization. I don't know where in Belize City they go but we definitely didn't find much in the way of civilization. OK, not quite true. We did find the only movie theatre and bowling alley in Belize - oh, and an actual department store. Along the lines of a SAAN or Woolworths but considering where we are, that's a department store. The kids were very excited when the marquee at the theatre said Harry Potter was playing. So was I. A movie we actually wanted to see. Sadly, the marquee was just to set us up for disappointment. In reality 'Harry Potter' was meant to be read 'Invasion'. So instead of the British wizard we watched a bad remake of the invasion of the body snatchers. And, for those of you that missed the original, the fact that the remake was worse than the original says a lot! We did enjoy the bowling alley, however. It turns out it is a 10 pin alley which made life interesting, to say the least. Think of Brynn and Kori with ten+ pounds of brightly colored projectile in their hands. Alfred did a lot of turning away to laugh uproariously without hurting our feelings. Brynn did eventually knock a pin down and the ball Kori threw backward by accident didn't do any permanent damage.

We did hit the museum and that was cool! It is in the old colonial jail and includes exhibits of the jail and life therein; an exhibit of Mayan history; a pictorial history of Belize including video of the bad hurricanes in the 60's and before; and an exhibit of the bugs of Belize. Now I will know what it is called as I run screaming from it in the bush!

The best part of the whole trip by far (and possibly the best part of the entire adventure to date) was the stop we made at the zoo on the way home. It is amazing!! It is built without much impact on the environment: Just adding paths and fences. The enclosures are huge and the animals are all orphans or rescues. The animals are also all acclimated to humans so they actually come to the fence to say 'hi' when they hear you. It was especially cute when one or more of the animals in a cage were sleeping and the roommates would try to wake them up when we approached. It was like they were saying 'Wake up! We have company!' Then they would proceed to show off. The otter climbed the fence in front of us so that he could look us in the eye. The jaguar cub acted like a puppy trying to get our attention as he played and the best was the harpy eagle. Panama (the eagle) loves people. He even refuses to eat unless he is hand fed. He was a pet that was rescued but doesn't seem to hold a grudge. He was up in a tree when we got to his cage. Brynn and Kori started talking to him and he immediately flew down to get closer. (for those of you who don't know what a harpy eagle is, you should really google! They are beautiful, amazing, HUGE birds) Well, after visiting for awhile, the girls noticed that there was a viewing stand up some stairs by the cage. So they left and ran up them. Then they started talking to Panama again. He looked around for a minute or two and then flew up and grabbed the fence right in front of Brynn and Kori. It was like he was playing hide and seek. It was cute but somewhat intimidating to be inches away from talons about two inches long and sharp! The zoo is definitely worth the two hour drive and if anyone is interested, when you come, we'd love to go again!

Sorry about the lack of humor today. Blame the block! Ask questions! Comment! Inspire! And, I promise, as soon as I get to it I will download my pictures and do a total pictorial for the past couple of blogs! Love you all (well, OK all of you that I know but I'm sure the reast of you are very nice too.)

Are we really as dumb as we look?

If you are looking for a totally pointless, make work exercise, you can get a piece of paper and write 'yes' and 'no' at the top. Now, as you read this blog, you can mark 'yes' every time we prove our stupidity and 'no' when we prove our intelligence. Just don't send me the answer. I don't want to know. For the rest of you that actually have a life, just enjoy the blog.

On Saturday we decided to go on a hike. We enjoy hiking as a family and really haven't done any since arriving in Belize. There is a national park not far from our house with an amazing hike to Antelope Falls. (Now for those of you playing the game, here's a 'no' moment) This hike is very difficult and so steep that, in places, there are ropes to help you climb up. There is no way I am in good enough shape as of now, to even consider attempting this hike. So we decided to start slow and work our way up. The Antelope Falls hike is our goal and we will reach it before the year is out. But there are other hikes at this park and we carefully considered them all before deciding to take the 'moderate', 35 min, mostly flat hike to the top of other falls. (I can't remember the name ... starts with a B) Before leaving home, we pack 1 litre water bottles for each of us, our cameras and a can of Off. We also make sure we have the first aid kit in the car. Sounding good so far, right? If you answered 'yes' you might want to re-read that paragraph. Don't feel bad, though, we missed it, too. When was the last time you can remember (or perhaps you will have to use logic and common sense if you don't hike or travel much) that a hike to the top of a waterfall was flat? By definition, don't waterfalls start 'up' and fall 'down'?
But I digress, let me start at the beginning of the hike. Or really just before the beginning. That would be when we got lost trying to find the trail head. (this would be the 35 minute flat hike part of the day) We finally ended up in someone's back yard and he and his 5 month old german shepherd came out and pointed us in the right direction. (Cute puppy!)
Finally we are on our way. Embracing hiking safety, Alfred leads and we put the girls between us so that no one can get lost (again). For those of you that don't know, Alfred was born and raised in Alberta. This means he has, inherent to his make-up, a gene that dictates that whether he is driving down the highway or hiking up a mountain in 33 degree heat with 100% humidity, he goes '10 over'! After jogging for the first 10 minutes or so (no one said I was quick on the uptake) I realize that I am dissolving into a puddle of water. This is where I use my prerogative as wife and decree that we are all going to slow down and take our time. This is when Alfred uses his prerogative as a husband and gives me his 'oh brother', frustrated, eye-rolling face and announces we only have three hours before dark. But we slow down.
We see some great things on our 'flat' hike up the mountain. There is highway after highway of leaf-cutter ants crossing the path. It is amazing to see all these leaves walking across the path with ants under them. There are enough that we now know for sure that ants can take over the world any time they like! There are butterflies flying around that are literally the same size as Kori's head and birds that sit comfortably on a blade of grass. It is beautiful. Pretty soon we are deep in the rainforest. It is fairly dark and there is no breeze. It is hot! The smells are incredible. Then we hear crashing in the bush. The girls and I stop and take stock. We have seen deer tracks and tapir tracks but don't think either of those are making the noise we are hearing. Did you know that Belize has the largest jaguar population in the world? And the park we are in is a jaguar reserve? Then we hear a ROAR. All of us jump, someone screams (not me) and Kori nearly runs me over to start back down the path. This would be when we notice that Alfred is laughing at us from his vantage point much further up the path. He shouts down to ask if we are afraid of humming birds. Yes we are being attacked by humming birds. Ok, maybe attacked is too strong a word but they are buzzing around our heads. And humming bird wings beating around your head sounds like a roar. Really! Alfred did admit he could hear them even considering how far he was ahead of us. After surviving that life threatening episode we continue on to the falls. They are so gorgeous! The water is tumbling down huge boulders of limestone. we take lots of pictures (I'll show you later. I haven't downloaded them yet, sorry) Kori and Brynn take off their shoes and socks and dangle their feet in the water (we could have gone swimming in the pool at the bottom of the falls but we didn't bring our bathing suits). As soon as their feet hit the water they are surrounded by little fish. They are 'cleaner' fish and they swarm around and clean all the dirt off of the girls' feet. All in all it was an amazing hike. And we got back to the truck long before dark. Luckily we didn't see the HUGE spider until we were in the car on the way home. (big, hairy, can you say tarantula?) Again, I'll post pictures later.

Sign, Sign, Everywhere a Sign

One of the funniest things in Belize are the signs you run into. The Belizeans don't think they are as funny as we do but they have been known to chuckle over a few themselves. These are a few we have run into so far:

This may seem like a no brainer but think about it. The pavement you see in the picture is the runway for the Placencia airport. If you look closely at the end of the runway just above it on the right edge of the picture, you can see the only road into Placencia Village from the highway. That's right, it creates a T intersection with the runway. We know of one person who forgot to yield (don't ask) and ended up with tire tracks denting the roof of his truck cab. Not kidding!

Also in Placencia, this possible solution to all (OK half) the world's problems. I have no idea why this sign exists. It is just stuck in the ground in the middle of downtown.

This sign is just outside Hopkins. Looks perfectly logocal right? It is on the fence around the garbage dump and we all agree life is much prettier if the door is closed. Problem? You can see the door hinge just to the left of the sign but ... no door. The fence just ends. The door has been gone for what looks like many years by the amount of growth in it's place. Someone, however, keeps repainting the sign to keep it looking nice.

This is my favorite so far. Mostly because we have to buy our gas at the Texaco (in belize the accent is on the 'a' not the 'tex'). This sign is down the very questionable road between Hopkins and Sitee River. You will notice there is no arrow on the sign. It is situated beside the road at the juncture of four roads that intersect in a kind of a diamond shape. (it looks like there should be five corners but there are only four) To find the Texaco, you take the road on the far right. The sign is beside the road on the far left.

Those are my favorites so far but I'm sure there will be more. I expect there will be a part two to this segment. If nothing else, it breaks the monotony of long drives. Perhaps southern Saskatchewan should take note? The final picture here is Brynn and Kori's favorite. They love the pirate Calico Jack because he allowed women to crew for him. The flag they made in order to be 'pirates of the caribbean' on our yacht trip last month was a recreation of his pirate flag. (in case you aren't up on your pirate lore, each pirate had his own, unique flag) Imagine the excitement in our car when we ran across this:

Month End

I live my life surrounded by business people and always 'month end' is a big deal. Well, I've decided I can have my own month end! Kind of a wrap up of the last 31 days. Of course, the big news of August was hurricane dean. (now we are awaiting hurricane Felix supposed to hit Wed.) But there was so much more to the month. And stuff that didn't really fit a blog. So here are some pictures of the month. (I know - business month end are a study in chaotic organization. My month end is more a study in total randomness. I do things my way)

Now we know why the houses are built on stilts. To keep out unwanted crawlie things and water!! This is the underneath of my house right now.

We finally met our first croc. He was sitting beside the road and we stopped and all jumped out to take his picture. The kids tried to get closer but, thankfully, scared this guy back into the river.

We got our first ride on a yacht. Very cool. A boat with a bathroom. Definitely my idea of boating! Kori got seasick which was kind of a bummer but the rest of us had a blast. We went snorkling and swimming off the back of the boat and when we came out of the sea there was a handheld shower to rinse off with.

Kori cut my hair on the deck of our villa. Then I cut hers. Both of us did a pretty good job, if I do say so myself!

Now, to finish off, just a few of my favorites from August. See you in September (I know it already is September but I was just thinking of the song!)