School Field Trip

We had a wonderful last day in Flores. The school filled up this week, so they organized a little afternoon trip for anyone who wanted to go. Almost everyone went, us, the British couple that we have made friends with, a Canadian couple, 2 European girls (1 who has also just started a 6 month trip through Central America...maybe we will see her again) and Deter (the head of the school). Deter was an architect who specializes in Mayan architecture.

We took a little boat trip across the lake to a private ranch that happens to lie on an unexcavated Mayan city. This city would have been from 1000 BC. The piece of land would have been completely flat so all of the hills are actually Mayan buildings, a ballfield and pyramid. Deter said that this would have been one of the larger cities with the 2nd largest ballfield.


Because this is a working ranch, this is what I saw most of the time as we had to step very carefully to avoid cow pies.

This looks like a regular hill but almost 3000 years ago it was a pyramid.

As we hiked up the pyramid-hill, we found these pieces of pots. It was really exciting to see this site that no archiologist has ever studied.


Tomorrow morning we will move on to Finca Ixobel which is just outside of Poptun about 2 hours from here. We have been spoiled here in Flores with internet in our room and we will definately miss this wonderful little island. I'm so greatful that we decided to stick around here. We have met some wonderful people, learned some Spanish and enjoyed relaxing on this beautiful lake. We are ready to move on, though and look forward to seeing a new place.

Rain!

Today was a peaceful day.  In spanish class, we finished the book so I'm not really sure what we will do for 4 hours tomorrow.  We spent the last hour of class trying to think of random things to say in Spanish to practice but its amazing how little we could think to talk about.  We still have a long way to go to properly communicate with people but the class was worth it and we have already noticed that our small interactions at restaurants and the hotel are getting a bit easier....dont get me wrong...we still have many moments where someone says something to us and we just stand there like idiots trying to understand it until the dumb it down enough or pull out a calculator.

Today was nice and cool.  About an hour ago, we went out for a little snack at the coffee shop, Cool Beans, and just as we stepped in the doorway, I looked behind me and saw that it began pouring rain.  It took us completely by surprise.  We sat and enjoyed our brownies and the rain let up for a few minutes so we quickly walked back to our room.  It rained for another 30 minutes or so and seems to have stopped now.

Wednesday we hit the road again.

Flores Evening

There are spots where you can swim all around the island and this one just happens to be right outside our hotel. This was the busiest that I've seen it. On this warm, Sunday afternoon it was full of locals and tourists, kids, adults, dogs, brazilian bikinis, europeans in speedos, dreadlocked backpackers and local kids in their underwear. Everyone enjoyed the cool, clean water and the sunset. Notice the tuktuks...these little 3 wheeler taxis are super cheap and a lot of fun.

Santa Elena Market

Yesterday, mostly we took it easy but we did head over to Santa Elena, just on the other side of the causeway, to see the market. Mostly I was just wanting an excuse to ride in a tuktuk since they are everywhere here but Flores is so tiny, it seems lazy not to walk. These pictures do not capture the vibrancy of the market at all. It was really big and there were stands selling everything...fruit, vegetables, hardware, clothes (I bought some underwear), meat (including whole pigs heads), cooked food, toys, electronics...anything you could think of. We were the only tourists there which was a nice change. I finally got to eat a choco-banana....thats a frozen banana on a stick dipped in chocolate and it was everything that I dreamed it would be. The sounds and smells were almost overwhelming...there were religious folks shouting in microphones and sellers shouting out what they have. Food was being cooked everywhere. I should have taken some better pictures because I didnt really pull out the camera until we were in a less busy part of the market. It was a fun way to spend an hour.

Tikal Wildlife

My favorite part of Tikal was the animals. The ruins really are in the jungle and we really felt it. The vegetation off the trails was thick with plants and trees and vines. We could hear howler monkeys which sounded extremely close....oh the howler monkeys. They have the most jungly sound of any animal. When you hear it, you picture a huge jaguar growling right behind you but instead it is these not-so-big monkeys.


Here was a spider monkey up in a tree.

We wandered up on about 2 dozen of these guys...Coatis. They were walking all around a very busy area and couldnt have cared less about us.

This was the find of the day and Rob managed to take the money shot. This is a white hawk which you dont get to see every day. Thankfully, he was squawking quite a bit so that we all were able to see him.

Tikal Ruins

We just got back from Tikal which was pretty amazing. As usual, I'm only posting a few pictures here so you will have to check out the rest with the link on the right. In its day, Tikal was a huge city. It dates back almost 3000 years ago and they have estimated populations of almost 100,000. There are 4000 buildings and monuments of which 1000 have been excavated. The rest are visible as big hills covered in jungle. You can tell that they are pyramids but can see exactly how it all must have looked before it was discovered. Tikal has some pretty big pyramids that can be climbed if you have no fear. The one in the 2nd picture looked terrifying.

More ARCA

This was my favorite of the dozens of monkeys that we saw today. He came right over to us and pushed his nose against the fence in a goofy way. What a cutie.

This is a real jaguar. He has been at ARCAs for 5 years. He was recovered as a kitten from a smuggler. He is a sad case because he is alone and his enclosure was big but not nearly big enough for a jaguar. They cannot release him into the wild and he cannot leave the country. His only hope is for the Guatemala zoo to happen to put in a request for another jaguar. He was absolutely beautiful.

ARCAS

After spanish class, we went with our friends, Ian and Sarah from England (who are on the tail end of a real around the world trip) to ARCA. ARCA is a wonderful organization that rescues animals from different situations and either keeps them at the property or ideally, rehabilitates them and release them back into the wild. This place is a must see if you are spending any time in Flores. The depend on donations from visitors and volunteers. For $100 a week, you can stay and volunteer and receive room and board and make a real difference for these animals. Our guide was a programmer from germany who had been there 3 months. To see all the pictures, go to Picasa.

These birds were all either recovered from smugglers or had been pets. Talking birds will stay there forever because they cannot be released back into the wild. They explained that talking birds in the wild will teach other wild parrots to talk. They will lose the ability to communicate in real bird talk.

Dan and Nikki, we thought of you when we saw the 3 legged ocelot (on the right)

They had dozens of Scarlet Macaws. I'm certain that we will never see this many in one place.

2 more pics

I took this at a restaurant that we ate breakfast at yesterday. They are pretty hardcore...no guns or pooping dogs.


This is a picture of Flores last night. I was about to post some pictures and the power went out...not just the hotel....not just the island of Flores...but all of the towns surrounding the lake. It stayed out for about an hour. We took the opportunity to go up to the roof and see the stars. I dont know if I have ever seen so many, it was absolutely beautiful.

Our room

The pictures dont do it justice. The hotel doesnt provide blankets because you dont need them. We bought one in Caye Caulker when we were freezing and have been happy to have it.


Thankfully, all of our rooms have an extra bed. Within minutes of arrival, our bags explode with stuff!

Its a little bathroom but suits our needs. The shower has 3 knobs...2 are decoys. We have no control over the temperature but generally its nice and hot!

This is the view directly outside our door. We really like the railings.