Summer 2007 Week 1 ::: Belize & Guatemala

With graduation and the move from Chicago complete, it was finally time for the We Came to Make Party™ World Tour to get underway! But not before an 8-hour stop in NYC for some fun with the crew. After spending a few days with the family upstate, I hopped the train to the city. First was coffee with TT, then drinks at Kabin where Mike, Karen, Sai and Dale jumped on board, dinner at Max's and then some Tuesday night fun at Le Souk, where Sami, Exacta and Steven Lee were DJing. Two highlights from Le Souk - seeing Sami's mom, Rose, and the PINK PANTSER. Drunk and tired around 3:30am, I said goodbye to KJ and hailed a cab to JFK. I got VERY nauseous on the flight and seem to remember a similar sensation last time I left NYC for a big trip (Happy Valley-->Barcelona)...uggh!!

Day 1 ::: The 6+ week, 6 country, 3 continent trip officially began in Caye Caulker, Belize a small island (population 800), 20 miles northeast of Belize City. When I landed in Belize City, I took a cab to the marina and then a 45-minute boat ride to Caulker where I quickly found a home at Tina's Hostel at a very affordable 15 Belize Dollars a night (= $7.50). Unfortunately the hostel was the only thing that was really cheap on the island...a decent dinner has been costing me $12!! The first day I took a walk north to the split (the island was cut in half by a hurricane) to hang at the public beach. Some local boys were hanging near me and before you know it I had a sea urchin in my hand. Later on I passed out on a hammock (a recurring theme), ate some Jalapeño Pasta with Lobster at the Barrier Reef Sports Bar and then explored the island by night. Later on I met my roommates, three 20 year old Swedes (David, Petter and Victor) and hung out with them talking about music and parties... they are big fans of Ed Banger Records, so we jammed to Justice before heading to bed. In the middle of the first night, a tropical storm hit and pounded us for a solid 7-8 hours. The island is 4 miles long and only about 650 yards wide at its widest point, which made the storm and my first night in Belize very interesting.

Day 2 ::: The rain finally ended around 11am, which meant we were free to get out of bed and our rooms. I grabbed some food at the Sand Bar (an indoor/outdoor joint with sand even on the inside part!) and then grabbed some rays on the dock outside my hostel. Later that afternoon, me and the Swedes went back to the split to swim and drink beers at the Lazy Lizard, "a sunny place for shady people" - just my style! Day two finished up with a shower, a dinner of fresh fish with banana chutney, a free showing of Pirates of the Caribbean 3 at a local restaurant, hammock time and bed!

Day 3 ::: Oh before I forget - many of you probably don't know much about Belize. It has a population of 270,000 in an area the size of Massachusetts with a long Caribbean coastline. It's most important ancient culture is that of the Mayans, but much has been influenced by the Spanish and British who later settled/colonized the land. English is actually the predominate language, but you'll also hear Spanish, Kriol and Garifuna. Ok...back to the story. Day three was spent in the water snorkeling. Me, Petter, David and Victor took a 1/2 day tour out to three sites along the barrier reef. It was my first real time snorkeling and despite some early trepidation, I had a blast. Besides me and the guys, there was also a brother-sister duo on the trip with us. It turns out that the girl played ice hockey at Princeton a few years after I was there. She found me out by noticing my Tiger tattoo while underwater...small world!

That night I ate dinner at a great little restaurant, Agave, owned by someone from Chicago and managed by someone from Atlanta. I had shrimp crostini and some delicious snapper with a papaya jerk glaze. After chowing down, I hit the hostel and joined a crew sitting outside sipping rum. One of the Swedes brought down his iPod and speakers and before we knew it, we had everyone staying at the hostel on the front porch for a booze and music session. We also got an impromptu fire dance from one of our bunk mates. After that we went up the street for the moment we had all been waiting for since arriving in Caye Caulker... LOBSTERFEST 2007!!!

When we arrived, the Miss Lobesterfest pageant was just finishing up so we drank beers and peered through the fence to catch the winner discuss how "the children are our future" and we need to "teach them well and let them lead the way" - the speech sounded strikingly similar to the that of the Kellogg Prom Queen! HaHa! We drank rum, beer and pineapple wine and mixed it up with the crowd. It was a pretty cool experience since there were not many tourists at this event. The Swedish boys decided they were going to feast on lobster for the first time... WASTED. Our new local friend and chef, Esther, showed the hooligans how to attack the lobster, but they didn´t pay much attention, opting instead to dive face first into the shell. They also added Marie´s hot sauce, which eventually made its way into Victor´s eye. NOT GOOD. But he was not deterred! And kept plowing away on the poor lobster. Later on we danced in the streets, jumped on golf carts for sport and continued our drunken adventure. I finally made my way home at some point... drunk.

Swedes Eating Lobster:





Day 4 ::: I got up around 10am and noticed that the Swedes were still fast asleep, hugging bottles of water and likely very hungover. I went up to the split for one last dip in the water. While I was there, I taught some young local boys how to have a chicken fight... they loved it! After a shower and one last meal at the Sand Box, I said goodbye to my new friends and walked to the airstrip to catch my flight to Guatemala. I had a few issues with my flight (aka the pilot forgot to stop in Caye Caulker to get me), but got to Belize City just in time to meet up with my friend from NYC, Pooh, and head over to Flores. When they finally did come for me, I got to sit in the copilot´s seat...pretty cool!

We got to Flores, Guatemala around 4pm and then took an hour minivan ride north to the Tikal Inn where we´d stay for the night. We took a quick hike, hopped in the pool and then ate before calling it a night before 9pm.

Day 5 ::: 4:30am wake-up calls are tough no matter how much you´ve slept! But, we decided it was worthwhile to catch the sunrise and beat the crowds inside Tikal National Park, the site of ancient Mayan temples built sometime around 500 BC. The Mayans suffered a mysterious collapse around 900 and soon thereafter the temples started to become overgrown with jungle fauna. It wasn´t until 1848 that the Guatemalan government sent out an expedition to visit and rediscover the site, which encompasses nearly 550 sq km of land. After the early rise, we made our way through the park to one of the temples to meditate, listen to the morning sounds and watch day break. Unfortunately it was quite hazy so we didn´t really get to see the sunrise, but it was amazing nonetheless. We spent the next 4+ hours wandering the park, listening to Tikal and Mayan history and climbing many of the temples.

Sometime around 9:30am, we broke for breakfast and a quick nap. After that, Pooh and I then hopped on another minivan and made our way just outside the park entrance for a Canopy Tour. Basically we climbed a bunch of really tall ladders and then zip-lined our way Tarzan-style through the jungle on 8 different lines. I even took a few videos, which are quite hilarious (see below). That afternoon we took a 1hr minivan to Flores/Santa Elena and then caught a bus south to Rio Dulce. We left late, stopped a million times for unknown reasons, had chickens on board with us and thought we were going to die a few times as the driver sped crazily down the roads. But after 4+ hours we finally made it to our destination. Having arrived late at night, in the dark, in a strange Guatemalan town... we decided to go for the easy and nearby lodging option, Bruno´s. We got a decent room with AC, a hammock and a view of the marina, which was great. We just hadn´t counted on the rooster who began cock-a-doodle-dooing around 3:30am.

Canopy Tour Helmet Cam:


Day 6 ::: Up, out, eat and on the road! This time we opted for the "chicken bus" or locals bus to Finca El Paraiso, a ranch that is home to a beautiful spot in the jungle where a wide, hot waterfall drops about 12m into a clear, cold pool. We spent the afternoon alternating between the hot and cold areas, intermittently swimming underneath the waterfall and rocks to experience an amazing natural sauna. We took a short hike to the source of the hot water and watched as the sulphury water bubbled out of the earth. We got back on the chicken bus to Rio Dulce and then quickly made our way to the marina and rented a private boat to the island, San Felipe, to check out a fortress and castle which was built in 1652 to keep pirates from looting the villages around Lago de Izabel (Isabel Lake). We took a quick tour of the grounds and the castle before heading back to our guesthouse for a quick shower. We ventured off to Rio Brava on the marina for a delish shrimp dinner. Some internet, reading, beer and bed!