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.