Incentives To Visit Us! – 12/26/06

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a great vacation!

Our first experience hosting visitors has come to an end – my aunt and uncle fly back to Washington State tomorrow. This has been such an exciting adventure for everyone. It is so nice to have family here experiencing our life, and it is a once-in-a-lifetime adventure for them. We look forward to the opportunity to host future guests, so here’s a taste of what could be in store for you, too, if you choose to visit us. Think of this as a tantalizing incentive; a vacation brochure for what awaits you during a visit to the Lemanskis of Central America...

Part of what made this experience so great is that Melissa is such a thoughtful hostess. Auntie Moe and Uncle Max stayed at the Klassen property, which has a fantastic view of the hills of Blue Creek and the flat savannah beyond stretching past the hills of Mexico. We blogged about this location earlier in Melissa’s original tour of Blue Creek. She really rolled out the welcome mat for our family, borrowning a plug-in cooler in which she included baked treats from the pastor’s wife, sliced tropical fruit, orange squash (home-made Belizean orange juice), bottled water, and a fresh bunch of delicious apple bananas. The breakfast included at the Klassen House each morning was just as welcoming – a filling farmer’s breakfast made fresh daily by their friendly maid (or kyeksha). Except for Wednesday morning, of course, when Melissa made crépes for everybody.

My aunt has an extensive background in horticulture and was just as excited to see Central American flora as she was to visit us. We decided to take her to the jungle resort/Mayan ruins of Chan Chich, close enough to the border to see the hills of Guatemala in the distance. The ride is an adventure in itself and we hoped it made them feel special since you can only visit Chan Chich if you have a reservation (which are incredibly expensive) or are personal friends with the American owners. We are lucky because our friend Abe is friends with everybody. He simply called the owners and asked if we could visit for the day.

The jungle setting at Chan Chich is a fantastic introduction to the wildlife and plants of Belize. The monkeys are abundant there, and we learned quickly that monkeys don’t just throw their poo on people. When you think it’s starting to rain – but there are no clouds in the sky and your guide jumps back while screaming “Get out of the way,” you realize that these dirty primates can just as easily urinate all over people who are standing on the jungle floor, staring up at them with their mouths open in amazement. Luckily, we all escaped without feeling the wet wrath of wild monkeys.

One thing we missed on our last trip to Chan Chich is the painted stucco that still exists on the inside of the king’s tomb. We also learned that here, as well as Lamanai and most other Mayan sites, kings would build their temples directly on top of another king’s pyramid to assume their authority and absorb their power. So when excavating a pyramid or temple, the further you dig reveals an additional layer of the building – each with its own art, inscriptions, history, and stories to tell. That, and we also saw a bat with cute little bat feet that had a particular fondness for Melissa – it actually flew at her. It’s still cute, though. Look at those little bat toes!

The day after, we took them horseback riding through the bush, along the edge of the rainforest. One of the school board members had his horses saddled up for the four of us to use, and we walked through the back country of Belize, enjoying the views and birds along the way. It was a fun way to see what the Mayans and the Mennonites cleared out to establish their communities while at the same time enjoying the beautiful day.

The next day, we all headed to Belize City to spend a few days at the Radisson Fort George. Not after a slight delay, however. You see, there aren’t many police patrol cars in Belize. Instead, there are police checkpoints where they examine the registration and insurance stickers in your windshield. Our insurance sticker, however, fell off. We spent 45 minutes at the checkpoint waiting for proof of insurance to be faxed in while the officer explained that he could both impound the vehicle and put me in jail for improper documentation. Thank you, Susa, for coming through for us! It was my favorite fax ever.

From Belize City, we took a river tour to the ruins of Lamanai. It was so much fun touring these ruins with my family; they both were so interested in the history of Belize to start with. Lamanai was one of the largest and longest occupied Mayan sites in Belize, but very little of the enormous site is fully excavated. Many of the mounds and hills are identifiable – and the map shows you how many structures there actually are. Auntie Moe conquered her fear of heights on the High Temple (Good Job Moe!). And, the new picture we took of the Temple of the Mask shows the side view of the staircase that once covered the mask. A Mayan king had covered it with his own temple, building a layer of limestone stairs in front of the mask itself. You can see the zig-zag profile of the staircase in the corner above the mask that once extended the full length of the temple. I think each U.S. president should build a new layer of White House when they enter into office; that will offer something just as interesting to excavate in 500 years.

The next day we drove along the Western Highway to the Belize Zoo to see all the animals of Belize not readily visible where we live. Whoah. For a third-world country, this zoo is amazing. Even for a first-world country, this zoo was very well done. For a second-world country, well, nobody is really sure what that is so I would say it’s still pretty nice.

Here I finally got to see a Tapir, or Mountain Cow – the national animal. This thing is bizarre, but docile and you can actually pet it. If you do though, it will wipe its slimy pig-snout on you which moves a lot like an elephant’s trunk (only shorter). We saw otters, birds, a giant Jabiru stork that stood there and shivered like a chihuahua, and all five jungle cats found in Belize. The greatest one we saw was the Black Jaguar. At first glance, it looks just like a puma, but if you look closely you can see the leopard spots all over it. A rare recessive gene produces these beautiful cats, and the zoo had two of them. How fancy!

There was also a large Harpie Eagle that had no fear of man. I’d seen many pictures of these, but didn’t realize until I saw one in person how enormous they are. It stood almost to my chest, with thick heavy feet that could tear my arm off if I put it through the fence. So, I didn’t.

After all the adventure, it was time to relax. So, we took a water taxi to San Pedro Town on Ambergris Caye to spend a day relaxing on the beach and snorkeling in the Caribbean. It was so nice to just kick back and take in the views, with the waves crashing on the Great Barrier Reef just offshore. On an uninteresting side-note, this island was the inspiration for Madonna’s 1980’s hit, “La Isla Bonita.” We didn’t like it quite as much as Caye Caulker, but it was a fun way to spend Christmas Day.

Boxing Day (the holiday after Christmas Day) was spent in Belize City. We went to visit the Tourist Village, which can be entered only with a foreign passport. Cruise ship passengers arrive on this dock, and native Belizeans are not allowed in. Consequently, all prices are in US dollars and everything is targeted toward boat people who want to spend a lot of money on their port of call. We don’t make US dollars and can find most of the same souvenirs elsewhere. It’s kind of sad that this is the only impression many people will have of Belize. Thank God for long, incredibly detailed blog entries to fight the misconception that Belize is an Americanized, polished playground for America with all the same amenities, but in a steamy tropical setting.

Tomorrow, my family will fly home. But we will first go to the Belize museum, where most Mayan artifacts end up. There is also a large Belizean flag on display there that was flying at the World Trade Center, then pulled from the rubble after 9/11. Afterwards, we will drop the family off at the airport and Melissa and I will get our Belizean driver’s licenses, since that was part of the documentation I failed to show at the police checkpoint. According to the informative and merciful officer (thank you, P.C. Ramos), foreign driver’s licenses are only good for 3 months here. But, we’ll have local I.D. to ensure we get the Belizean rate for everything from now on!

So, if you made it through all of that, then you have a good idea of what’s in store for you if you, too, choose to visit us in this area that we’ve made our home. It’s fun to host guests, and we would LOVE for any of you to come down as well! We have a whole week off for Easter, plenty of time to plan your vacation…