This day was called A DAY IN THE LIFE ..ONE OF MY FAVORITE DAYS!!
Town of Jacotenango - visited one of the local indigenous leaders, who at one time had been an alcoholic and had lost his family...he found his way and is helping the young people not to get lost. Indigenous people have a lot of problem with alcohol, same as the Native American indians. This man´s daughter was a basketball MVP 2 years ago...the mother sells products he has grown or made..he carves wood from the local coffee trees and grows agriculture. Very interesting man.
We then went to the market to buy items for a school, in the town of Santa Catarina Barahona. We went to the open market and bought canela, cereal, sugar and milk for the children. We rode in a "chicken bus", so we could experience it. Most of the people on the tour did not know Spanish, so they were given a piece of paper with some simple phrases on it. It was quite an experience...the people really looked at us as though we were from outer space. I enjoyed it very much and managed to hold a conversation with several of the people on the bus. Our group was not suppose to sit next to someone with our tour. No one did, so you can imagine some of the stories. Great experience!
The children in the school were waiting for us and ran to our bus..about 6 years old...each took one of our hands and led us to the school. They were in uniform and appeared to be very excited and thrilled that we were there. They sang us some songs, including a Maya Kakchiquel song, and our group, in turn, sang Old McDonald...they loved it! The teacher explained the role of weaving and farming in the town. The teacher´s presentation was about the celebration of the crops and the cultivation of their products.
Family lunch - Our group was divided into two groups of 8 each. The guide appointed me and one other person as the head of the groups since we spoke Spanish. Each group went with a mother and her child/children to her home for a home-made lunch. My group went to a home with a family of 12...no one spoke any English, but we made it through with my rough translations. Both of the moms prepared pepian, which is made with Mexican peppers, green peppers, tomato, cilantro, onion, chile peppers, seseme seeds and pumpkin seeds. We also had chicken and fruit. I did not eat the chicken because we had seen a lot of chicken sitting outside. The home was very rudimentary...ground served as the floor...lots of open spaces with just a roof. The family was very, very nice and the children were absolutely adorable. My "family" had a weaving loom, and the grandmother-mother did the weaving. They showed us how they did it. It was absolutely fantastic and was an experience that can´t be replaced!!
On to the macadamia nut Plantation, where a prevous American from California lived and farmed a huge plantation. He was right out of the ´60s and was an absolutely crazy person..very hippy type. His place was gorgeous and he was a real entrepreneur. The machinery he used to separate the nuts from the shell was several old pieces of machinery and metal that he had put together years ago. It seemed to do the trick! He also offered facial massages with his macadamia nuts serving as the basis for his oils and cosmetics. Several people had this done, but I did not.
Goodbye Guatemala City...we flew to Flores Island, Guatemala and TIKAL
ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!! TIKAL!! We started at 3:00AM to drive to TIKAL (Mayan Ruins) to watch the sunrise over TIKAL. The trip took 1 1/2 hrs to get there, but it was absolutely worth it! This was done to give us a more indepth view of TIKAL. Travel and Leisure magazine rated this trip very well and asked OAT to create a special experience because this particular trip had been rated so well in the past. In response, part of this trip was the early morning TIKAL experience. The next OAT group did not get this experience because not all of the Route of the Maya OAT trips had this incorporated. Apparently, it was difficult for the next group to understand why they did not get this. LUCK CAME MY WAY!!
In addition, our guide had been a guide in TIKAL for 14 years, so he knew the area like the back of his hand. We had additional time in TIKAL because of this...it was an incredible experience...one I will never forget! We saw temples, pyramids, took a trail through the forest to see the ¨grandpa¨big cedar tree, acropolis´, Plaza of the Seven Temples, Lost World, Twin pyramids in several complexes....incredible architecture. They are no longer working on excavating the area because they believe they know enough about the area at this time.
As if anything could top TIKAL...Josue was kind and generous enough to ask all of us to his home in FLORES...to share the food...his family (sister, father, cousins, etc), and his own story. Words cannot do justice to the emotions I felt...gratefulness, sorrow, enjoyment, unity, love, and a sense of the presence of spirits (the Holy Spirit for me...for others maybe something else...)...all of this and so much more. To hear his story of his family´s journey through the Civil War...was an incredible experience...his family´s journey was one of courage, faith, strength, love, and support and more than I could ever imagine. Without a doubt, we all experienced A DAY IN THE LIFE OF....!!
On to Belize..
On the way, we stopped at another Maya ruins site ¨Yaxha¨, and covered a lot of ruins....nothing to match TIKAL!
I did not care for Belize City. It is very dirty and poor. However, our hotel was beautiful and I imagine there are some top rated hotels on the outer islands (Cays...pronounced ¨keys¨). There are four major ethinic groups, including Creole (not the French Creole), who were people of African and Spanish descent. It is a very integrated city...
We visited Lamanai, our last Mayan site. We took a boat to get there and we had a Belizian guide (since Josue was not allowed to guide there). The boat ride was a blast...it was a motor boat and went fairly fast on very sleek water. We spied a number of wildlife, including a bird that is endangered and which our guide had not seen in all his years. We also stoped to see the village of the shipyard, occupied by the Mennonites.
We had a wonderful farewall cocktail hour and meeting by the hotel pool...our guide bought some more rum for a drink, and we had a beautiful farewell dinner. After dinner, we went by the pool and our bus drivier, who was also a marriachi singer, played us some songs and sang. What a fantastic way to end a fantastic trip.
I hope you have enjoyed the travel log and feel like you have shared some of the experiences with me. Luv u all.....
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