Royal Orchid Hotel Belize City

... up again with all the luggage. It did...eventually...and we were on our way again but this time over a road that alternated between dirt, new blacktop and potholed asphalt. Just after dark the bus pulled into Flores which is on a small island in the middle of Peten Itza lake. The city is connected to the mainland by a kilometer long causeway.

This time around the world I haven't done much planning and am ...

... he'd probably climb inside of it's carcass or eat it or something though. The guide did point out the type of spider that he ate (spans the size of your hand), and the termites that I believe he ate as well. The termites had the ability to eat their way through the limestone and you could see these black lines through the cave where they had tunneled. I was willing to eat either one in spirit of Bear Grylls but then the spider grossed me out.

The next segment of ...

... along the river on the way to exploring a sacred Mayan cave. It was a cave and cavern that had us swimming upstream in the dark with just little miner lights on our helmets to light the way. But thats a story for another blog. Lots to see in the wild here and so much to learn about the medicinal plants, the hundreds of birds and more sea life than a Cousteau special. Beautiful place. At least the natural places.

... and have built up anti toxins in your body, I guess"? "No" , he replied. "I have never been bitten by a venomous snake." He went on to enlighten us about his theories on the vibes we put out around the snakes and how they can sense whether we mean them harm or not. Uhuh, did you just tell us that this snake will attack and chase you down to bite you ? My flight for life vibe would be pegged as I ran screaming through the ...

... dinner i went out for a wander and couldnt believe how friendly everyone was. There arent many cars in the area and its pretty poor so lots of people have bikes. Locals would come upto me and start chatting, and my imediate thought would be "omg they have a rasta accent they r going to try to mug me", when in actual fact all they wanted to know was where i come from etc. Really nice people. The next day i went to Lamanai (mayan ...

... rains hit us on the way back. We were handed out rain jackets just in time, but we still were soaking wet. Good times! My trip was short due to the fact I had to get back to work. But it was a short trip well spent. I LOVE BELIZE!! And I will be going back because I have a free cave tubing when i pass through. The trip was a huge success when I get back I got promoted to represent Belize as well as Costa Rica and Nicaragua.

... game of soccer and others played games with the smaller kids. So many more friendships were made just by hanging out and playing with them. When we got back to the base, we all headed straight into the ocean. We swam around, bodysurfing and jumping into the waves until we had to get ready for dinner. Showering was a pretty great experience...we even felt clean for a few minutes before spraying ourselves all over with Off again. After dinner we went back to the village for bible ...

... small houses, mostly metal-roofed and without glass windows, a small school near the village center, a couple of basic businesses (grocery and restaurant), and a soccer field. Though it was much smaller and poorer, it reminded me a bit of Hana on the island of Maui. The road was also paved here, which was a welcome change after the past 2 or so miles or dirt. Just beyond the village of Cristo Rey was our destination: the Crystal Paradise resort.

... by twelve. The funny thing is, it was exactly what I had been expecting it to be. It just turns out that slutty American girls with no shame, and a bunch of drunk, posing jocks, are much more appealing on TV than in real life. It was bad enough that there was a male:female ratio of approximately 10:1, and that I had to pay $50 to get in, and that the free bar wasn't actually free due to the obligatory tips, and that I had to wait for 90 minutes in the queue; but the ...

... to a jungle I've ever been in, let's put it that way. We hiked up to the top of the hill....and there we were...in the temple complex. It was like...what you see in National Geographic. This place is one of the last temples you can hike up on. I just felt like I was...amidst something old. Really old. Similar to the feelings I got when I went to the Louvre in Paris...or when I licked the Liberty Bell in ...