Travel Time!

Oh boy! It's been a fun couple of days!

So on Sunday, Ellen, her fiance Eric, and I got on a bus at 6 am to travel to Belmopan and then eventually San Ignacio. We had to get up at 5 am to get ready, say goodbye and get to the bus stop. The bus ride took quite awhile. It wasn't an express bus so we stopped a lot! About every 20 min. the bus would stop to pick up or drop off. If we took an express bus we would have traveled directly to Belmopan. We stopped in Dangriga for a 10 min. break and then went to Belmopan. We got to Belmopan at around 11:30. When we got there we were supposed to call a guy called Giovani. He is a friend of Ellen's home stay brother Howard. They worked together and Giovani was supposed to hook us up with cave tubing and zip lining. We called him at Belmopan and he picked us up, along with his tour partner Dion. They are the best tour guides in Belize!!! If you ever come to Belize, especially the Cayo District or San Pedro...look these guys up!

They picked us up and for $150 US they drove us to the cave tubing/zip lining place, bought us drinks, they were our guides through the caves and zip lining, and drove us all the way to San Ignacio; they also helped us find a hotel and a place to eat that night. LOVE THEM!! They are too funny! Dion loved the fact that Eric flew over 2000 miles to propose to Ellen. They definitely kept us entertained all day.

Zip lining was a lot of fun and Ellen conquered her fear of heights....well sort of. There were howler monkeys earlier in the day but we missed them...typical. The guides were super funny as well. All around good time. Then the cave tubing. While hiking to the caves we all got into a conversation about food and by the end of it we were all starving!! We've eaten things like armadillo, iguana (can only be female!) cocao, caldo, king rat, etc. The basic rule down in Belize if the animal is breathing, they most likely will hunt and eat it! The water was pretty chilly going into the caves but no one got hurt ( sorry mom..tehe..) Dion was a great guide and we had fun looking at the bats and how they make their holes in the ceilings of the caves. When we got out of the caves it was raining..... :( .... so we were a tad cold. We searched out iguanas and talked to keep warm. It was fun though, good bonding experience. When we got done I was almost blue but all in all it was a good day. When we got into town we found a hotel call the Casablanca and again...if you come to San Ignacio....Casablanca hotel! It's $75...belize...per night. For three people, that breaks down to $15 US....HOLLAR!!! And decent rooms! Hot water! Great beds and clean! It's a great little hotel....go now!

Anyways....so we got to the hotel and at first we could only stay the one night. Well we are planning on staying in San Ignacio until Wednesday, we need a place for two more nights. Then we met up with Giovani and Dion at this awesome restaurant called Hoya's (I believe) great food! We all chatted for awhile, had a few Belikans...and relaxed. We terrified the guys but explaining some of the winter sports we do in Minnesota...their faces were priceless!! Dion is a semi professional soccer player and he's convinced that if he's asked to play in Minnesota...he's going to be sick that month...tehe. Afterwards we went back to the hotel and found out there were some cancellations so we get to stay at the hotel all three night! It's a good day!! I took my first HOT SHOWER in 2 months!!! Can't even describe how wonderful that felt!! Then we went to sleep pretty fast...it was a long day!

On Monday we met up with our amazing tour guides once more and headed out to Xunantunich and horseback riding. Xunantunich is the most beautiful Maya temple I've seen yet! It's huge! We climbed to the top of the highest temple, The Castillo, and it's 180 ft. high. Awesome view! You could see Guatemala from the top. That was so worth the trip! Then we went horseback riding in the rain forest. It was the best trail ride I have ever been on! We saw howler monkeys, tik tree...which are used to make yachts, and saber trees. The saber tree is said to hold up Belize and it keeps the heavens were they are supposed to be and the underworld where it's supposed to be. It's on the Belize national emblem. It was some pretty crazy riding and if you haven't rode horse before...don't go on this trail ride. It was at the Banana Boat resort and they also had a mini zoo! I saw a jaguar and it was less than 3ft away from me!!! So beautiful! They had spider monkeys just walking around the resort that you could feed and just watch. They also had tons of different birds. A little deer was also there and all Dion and Eric wanted to do was eat it.....silly boys....tricks are for kids.

The trail ride was so amazing and I got a beautiful horse named Rain Drop. Eric got Glenda, and Ellen got Rocky and she was mighty testy. Tried to knock Ellen off a few times, wasn't quite used to the trail yet. We went through mud, rivers, fields, etc. Crazy fun! Again we drove home and had some dinner with the guys and just hung out. It was another awesome day! We are so glad that Howard hooked us up with these guys and they are going to help us out at San Pedro as well. Again we only paid $150 US for both tours and the trail ride was at least and hour and a half. Bunch of travel time in between and they bought us lunch. Great deal all around :D

Today, Tuesday, is our rest day. We are planning on just exploring San Ignacio and relaxing. Slept in and took our time. Tomorrow Giovani is going to take us to Belize City to catch the ferry out to San Pedro. There we are relaxing and snorkeling....gonna be good!!!

Hope everyone is good back home and hopefully I can find an internet cafe there keep you guys posted! Stay warm...I know I am ;)

Love ya all and miss you! Only...what....14 days till I see la familia!! Excited!