A Visit from the Moores

Our dear friends the Moores came to visit us for Spring Break. We have lived across the street from each other for nearly 10 years and our kids have all grown up together. Having them here was a wonderful antidote to the homesickness we've been experiencing lately, particularly the boys.

Part I:  Catching Up and Exploring the Island

The Moores had a gnarly week preparing for the trip--lots of work for Chris and Becky, the kids were working on their science fair projects, taxes were due the Tuesday following their departure, and Darby celebrated her birthday the previous weekend.  To top it all off, they left on a red eye on Thursday night. So they arrived feeling a bit stressed and really sleep deprived.

Relaxation was in order! Fortunately they were able to catch an earlier connecting flight and got to our place in time for lunch. Our boys had a half day at school, and it was a wonderful surprise for them to bike home to find the Moores waiting! The kids had a great time catching up with each other, and that afternoon we spent some time exploring the neighborhood, picking coconuts, and buying fruit at the stand down on the corner.

Reunited!

Picking coconuts

Chris and his pineapple

The Moores brought a little taste of Seattle--Fremont Bewing IPA!!!

The next couple of days were very mellow beach days. We hung out at Caribbean Villas, lounged in hammocks, drank fruity rum drinks, sailed around, and just hung out. It was very relaxing.

Beach time

At the Caribbean Villas dock

Liam and Colin sailing on a catamaran

We also took a day trip to Caye Caulker and explored the island. We spent some time at the Split, swimming, playing in the sand, and watching the creation of a music video (!). We had lunch at Bambooze, and the kids enjoyed sitting in the swing seats. Lunch was followed by a quick trip to the Debby Cooper Gallery, and then a nice smooth ride back to Ambergris Caye.

Amy and Becky at the Split, Chris sketching in the background

The kids at the Split

Playing in the mangroves

Big black dudes rapping, bikini-clad girls dancing--must be a rap video!

Part II:  Sailing and Snorkeling at the Reef

In preparation for the Moores' visit, we reserved spots on the Sirena Azul, a beautiful wooden sloop hand made in Sarteneja, Belize. We've admired the S.A.s graceful lines and billowing white sails for months and were really looking forward to getting out on her. Unfortunately, although this day was beautifully sunny, it would also prove to be the windiest by far. This was not great for Becky's tendency to get seasick, but she was a real trooper and toughed it out on the lively sail to Hol Chan Marine Reserve.

On our way to the reef

We like sailing, especially on wooden boats

Figurehead of the Sirena Azul

When we tied up on the buoy, it was calmer but still fairly choppy. One by one the Moores jumped in the water and spent some time getting familiar with the rented snorkeling gear. It was an extremely crowded day at Hol Chan, the busiest I've ever seen it, and there were tour groups everywhere. The general level of business was compounded by all of the scuba tours, which ordinarily operate outside the reef, but had to come inside due to the high winds.

We had an immediate success and found two beautiful sea turtles foraging in the sea grass just south of the boat. We spent some time checking them out, then started to head to the channel. Becky's seasickness started getting worse, and Lochlan was taking on water. He was the first to bail, and I swam him back to the boat where he hung out with the Captain. By the time I made it back out to the rest of the group, Becky was ready to head back, and was quickly followed by Colin. We all got a really good look at a spotted eagle ray before they started heading back. Eventually Darby too was ready to call it a day, so Amy, Liam, and I followed our guide back to the boat. Although we didn't stay out as long as we normally would have and did not get to traverse the channel, we still saw a lot of very cool fish and I think the sea turtles were a highlight for everyone.

Sea turtle

Spotted eagle ray

Our next stop was Shark Ray Alley, which was a hit as always. By this time the winds had started to die down a bit, and the swimming was calmer. We saw lots of nurse sharks, southern sting rays, and horse eyed jacks.

Nurse sharks and horse-eye jacks

The sail back was quite a bit calmer and everyone enjoyed some rum punch on the foredeck. Liam tried his luck at fishing from the cockpit (but had no luck) and we were back at the dock in time for lunch. It was a great day out on the water, even if it was a bit rough at times. 

Chris in the water

Me and my sweetie on the sail back

Part III:  The Crocodile Hunt

That same evening, we rode our bikes to The Office (a bar on the lagoon side of the island) where we met the crew from ACES for a night of crocodile hunting. ACES stands for American Crocodile Education Sanctuary, and they are working to conserve the American Crocodile in Belize. They also relocate 'problem' crocodiles on the island and the mainland. Typically crocs only become a problem when humans do something stupid to change their behavior, usually feeding them. In fact, we learned from Captain Chris that two of the three crocodiles in our lake have been relocated because the locals were feeding them bits of chicken from the road and they were starting to associate humans with food.

Chris holding the skull of a 12' croc

Learning about the American crocodile

We cruised around the lagoon on the ACES boat for a couple of hours, learning about crocodiles and their habitat. Eventually the first mate Miriam spotted one in the mangroves and she was off like a shot, in the water up to her waist, wading in to the murky lagoon without a second thought. She did not catch that one. A few minutes later Chris piloted the boat to quiet inlet where Miriam took out Stumpy Steve, a juvenile croc missing about 1/2 of his tail. While she let us take turns holding the croc and told us about their physiology and reproductive biology, Chris waded off into the mangroves. We finished measuring and weighing Stumpy Steve, and Lochlan got to release him into the lagoon. A few minutes later Chris came back to the boat with a two footer, and we got to hold him as well. It turned out they had captured this one before, and were able to identify based on the marks they had cut into the croc's armored tail plates (they like to measure the recaptures so they can monitor how they are growing).

Liam holds Stumpy Steve

Lochlan holds Stumpy Steve

Amy with the bigger croc Captain Chris caught

Becky holds Stumpy Steve

Crocs have webbed rear feet

The kids with Chris and Miriam

The juvenile crocs were surprisingly cute and soft to the touch. I never thought I'd hold a wild crocodile!

We ended the evening with a slow ride back to The Office, and Liam helped Miriam capture needlefish from the bow to feed to the crocs that are recuperating back at ACES HQ.

Part IV:  Visiting with Galen and Swimming at Coco Beach

On Wednesday, yet another Seattle family came to Ambergris Caye--Liam's friend Galen from school. The boys started playing Magic The Gathering last year and became fast friends. They've continued to play via Skype since we've been in Belize, and Liam's tales of our time here inspired his family to come check it out for themselves. They were following a schedule opposite from ours (jungle then beach), but we overlapped on the island for this one day. We met in town for lunch at Blue Water Grill, then they invited us back to their resort for a swim.

Liam and Galen

Playing Magic at the beach

Jumping off the top of the castle

Becky and Amy enjoy some fancy drinks

They stayed at Coco Beach, and they have one of the coolest pools I've ever seen anywhere. There is a FREAKING CASTLE in the middle of the pool, with a slide running through the middle of it. Plus, you can jump off the sides of this two story structure right into the water. Lifeguards? Nope. Safety railings? Ha! Naturally, the kids loved it. We swam with the kids for a bit then the adults retreated to the other pool for a round of drinks. It was a pretty fantastic way to spend the afternoon, and Liam could not have been happier to hang out with two of his best buddies for an entire day.

Part V:  The Jungle

The next morning we caught an early-ish water taxi to the mainland, where we were met by a driver from Crystal Auto. With eight people traveling from Belize City to Cayo, it turns out to be more economical to rent a large passenger van than to pay for a transfer in both directions. They drove us back to their lot, we signed the paperwork, and then we headed west to the jungle.

Aside from saving some cash, the other nice thing about renting the van was the ability to stop along the way. We spent a couple of hours at the Belize Zoo and the kids got to see some of the amazing animals that are native to Belize but are difficult to nearly impossible to see in the wild. We got up close to toucans, jaguars, ocelots, scarlet macaws, harpy eagles, jabiru, and many others.

Keel-billed toucan at the zoo

The afternoon was pretty hot and we were all happy to get back into the air conditioned van. We sipped some of the cold beverages we'd stocked up on at Brodies and enjoyed the scenery for the rest of the drive. We arrived at the Parot Nest Lodge in Bullet Tree Falls right around dinner time.

The Parot Nest is a very cool place, located in a bend of the Mopan river with lots of big rainforest trees and beautiful flowers. Theo and Marcus own and run the place, and they are super friendly and helpful. Theo is also a great cook and was very accommodating of all of our various dietary restrictions and preferences.

Lochlan walking out of our cabin

Where we ate breakfast and dinner

The kids naturally made a beeline for the river and spent hours building dams, making things out of driftwood, and looking for frogs, toads, lizards, and insects. The evenings were particularly exciting in the bug department, and we had our first encounter with a fascinating insect called a headlight beetle. This bug is about the size of a cockroach, and it has two little 'portals' on its thorax that light up with brilliant luminescence, much brighter than a firefly. When they take to the air, they zip around at high speeds and the two glowing dots make it look like a miniature race car doing laps around the treetops. They were so fun to watch.

Very cool leaf-mimic grasshopper

Enormous beetle on our screen

Headlight beetle, you can see the bright dot on the left side of his thorax

Part VI:  Exploring the ATM Cave

Early the next morning Amy and I did a bit of birding in and around Parot Nest. We saw quite a few of the eponymous birds (mostly white-fronted parots) as well as three keel-billed toucans and many neotropical migrants. After an early breakfast we were met by Carlos the Cave Man. Carlos was our tour guide for ATM last year when we were first scouting out Belize, and we really wanted him to lead us and the Moores through the cave again. Unfortunately his back has been giving him lots of difficulty and the doctor told him he had to take a break from the cave for a few months. So, our guide for the day was Patrick. He did a great job, but he wasn't quite as funny as Carlos and didn't seem to have the same easy connection with the kids. He teaches jungle survival to militaries throughout the tropics, and he taught us a lot during the hike to the cave, which covers just over a mile and crosses the river three times.

First river crossing

Upon arriving at the cave entrance, we took a quick dip in the refreshingly cool water and ate some lunch. Then we donned our helmets and head lamps, left everything else behind, and swam across the deep pool at the entrance. This is one of the most challenging portions of the entire hike, but all the kids handled it with aplomb.

Into the cave

Approaching execution rock

One of the many cool formations

We applied 'war paint' using the red stones we found in the cave

The next bit of the hike through the cave is really great, like something straight out of an Indiana Jones movie. You have to wade through water the entire time, which ranges from ankle deep to neck deep, and the cave itself ranges from soaring cathedrals of crystalline formations 80 feet overhead to very low passages with barely enough room for an adult to pass through while turned sideways.We saw numerous bats, wolf spiders, huge blind cave crickets, and whip scorpions. It is not for the feint of heart!

After about a third of a mile of this challenging terrain, the cave levels out and the hiking gets easier. We started to see some stele and pottery fragments at this point, and Patrick began explaining the Mayan mythology of the underworld and why they conducted so many ceremonies in the caves (there are literally thousands of caves throughout the limestone geology of Belize, and every single one has numerous Mayan artifacts in it).

Eventually we made it to a dry waterfall. This requires a bit of free climbing up a stone structure in the middle of the river, then a short gap to ascend the sloping surface of the waterfall. We had to take off our shoes and put on socks--the shoes are removed to protect the artifacts, and the socks are put on to protect our feet. We hiked the rest of the way up the waterfall and immediately started seeing numerous pottery shards and an increasing number of intact pots. Many of the pots in the cave are quite large, and I wondered how on earth they managed to get them to this point in one piece.

The path entered into a very large chamber, and as Patrick shone his light in a slow sweeping arc, we saw hundreds and hundreds of pots, all of which had been used in some sort of ceremony. He explained that most of them probably carried food, which was offered in tribute to the gods. Within this chamber we came upon our first set of human remains--a clearly visible skull and a handful of leg bones. As we walked deeper into the cave, we encountered human remains more frequently. Patrick told us that we were heading forward through time, and into a period in Mayan history when a relentless drought was taking a severe toll on the population. They believed the gods were angry, and required more profound sacrifices before they would be satisified.

The hike culminates at the upper reaches of the last chamber, in a narrow passage, where we saw the surprisingly well preserved remains of the Crystal Maiden--a teenage girl of the royalty who was sacrificed sometime around 900-950 AD. It is believed she was the last human sacrifice made in the cave. The Mayan civilization collapsed shortly thereafter.

The hike out of the cave was much quicker because we did not stop as frequently to examine the formations or listen to Patrick's explanations of the geology or history. We were all tired at the end of the hike but very happy to see the green of the jungle.

I hung back with Lochlan during the hike back, and Colin and Liam surged ahead. They were lucky enough to see a keel-billed toucan flying through the jungle, and Liam said it was one of the best views he's ever had.

Lochlan and me on the hike back

We all went to bed early that night and slept very well.

Part VII:  Touring the Mayan Ruins at Xunantunich

The next morning we got off to a nice easy start and drove our rental van south through San Ignacio and then west towards the Guatemalan Border. Our destination:  the Mayan ruins at Xunantunich (pronounced Shoo-nahn-too-NEECH), located just north of the town of San Jose Succotz. In order to get to the access road, we had to drive on to a hand-cranked ferry to cross the river. There are several of these throughout Belize, but this was the first time we've had an opportunity to use one.

Amy, our intrepid driver, fearlessly drove our enormous van onto the ferry. We all took turns cranking the ferry across, and in no time at all we landed on the far side. Amy drove the van off, we all piled back in, and were at the ruins in just a few minutes.

Our van on the ferry

Colin and Lochlan crank us across

Just before getting on the ferry we met a young man named Valdez, a registered tour guide, and he rode with us to the ruins. We were all glad we hired him, because he provided a wealth of information about the site, the architecture and symbolism of individual buildings, and the larger historical and political context within which Xunantunich was built.

The name itself means "stone maiden." There are many tales of early explorers of the site encountering a Mayan woman dressed all in white who would run away after making eye contact. When the explorers followed, they saw her enter one of the buildings and apparently disappear.

We hiked up and over the king's palace, where we saw several howler monkeys in a nearby tree. We climbed up to the top of the far side of the palace and had a great view of El Castillo and the intervening structures. Valdez pointed out the perfect alignment between the structure we were standing on and the features of the temple several hundred yards away. We saw this over and over again throughout the site, symmetry everywhere. The Mayans also repeated the numbers 9 and 13 regularly (nine gods of the underworld, thirteen gods of the spirit world).

Valdez explains the layout of the rulers' palace

Baby howler monkey

View of El Castillo and intervening structures

The fam, with El Castillo in the background

I particularly enjoyed the detailed carvings around the top of El Castillo. Unfortunately the British obliterated about half of the ornate carvings when they used dynamite to remove the trees and soil from the top (a rather indelicate excavation tool) but the bits that remain are really cool. Once again they are rife with symmetry and symbolism--a giant holding the flat earth, the gods on the  west face in the guise of jaguars, Xs in their eyes symbolizing their absolute power, and on and on. The carvings would still have looked cool but we definitely would not have appreciated them as much without the explanations from Valdez.

The three amigos on the east face of El Castillo

El Castillo is very tall (in fact it is the second tallest structure in the entire country) and we had great views of the countryside in all directions, and could see far into Guatemala. We spent several minutes enjoying the view and the fresh breeze before descending down to the ball courts and then ending our tour at the small museum near the entrance to the site.

Working our way to the top

Enjoying the view

Close up of the carvings on the west face

We retraced our steps to the ferry and across the river, bid adieu to Valdez, and headed back to Parot Nest for a quick trip down the Mopan River in inner tubes. The kids spent the evening decorating eggs in preparation for Easter the next morning, and once again we all went to bed early and slept well.

Ready to launch

Naturally the kids were up at the crack of dawn to find their baskets and hunt for eggs. I was a little nervous the kids might find more than they bargained for in the jungle undergrowth, but there were no venomous snakes or insects encountered and a fine time was had by all.

Darby and Lochlan coloring eggs

They found their Easter basket!

We said good bye to Theo, Marcus, and the Parot Nest Lodge and drove east to Belize City. We dropped off the Moores at the international airport and said a (somewhat) teary goodbye. We are really going to miss them and are looking forward to seeing them again when we are back in Seattle.

Saying goodbye at the airport

Coda:  Adrift at Sea

After we returned our rental van at Crystal Auto, they dropped us at the water taxi. There were far, far more boats returning from the cayes then there were heading towards them, and every single boat was packed to the rafters. When we arrived at Caye Caulker, the beach was covered with thousands of people. As soon as our boat touched the dock, we were boarded by two armed Coast Guard troopers, and I noticed police and tourism police all over the place. The Coasties relocated us to a different dock, and we were told to get off our boat and on to a different boat. I noticed several very agitated people get into the scrum around me, and several of them were soaked up to the waist or armpits. I found out later the dock had collapsed shortly before we arrived because it was completely overloaded with people trying to catch a boat back to Belize City!

I nearly did not make it onto our new boat, but when the captain saw that my wife and children were already on the boat, he let me board too. We made it about halfway between Caye Caulker and Ambergris Caye when one of the two outboard motors died...then the other lost almost all power...and we were adrift. We sat pretty much motionless in the water for the better part  of an hour before another water taxi pulled alongside and we all transferred to the new (working) boat which quickly whisked us to town. It was an exciting (and slightly stressful) ending to a wonderful week with our friends.