TIKAL

We woke up at 3AM for the sunrise tour. We took an hour bus ride where I got to see a sky full of stars and lightning that streaked through the whole sky. When we arrived to the park we were in the middle of the jungle racing through dark paths to who knows what. We couldn't see anything and I have not even started talking about the noises we heard....

The most alarming was a cross between Darth Vader and a dying mule. And it would not stop. Screetching, squaking, and constant moaning booming throughout the jungle! We reached an infinite amount of stairs and began the climb. We got lucky, because we were able to see the sunrise, a lot of times the clouds do not break. Pictures will never do it justice but here goes..

TIKAL is one of the biggest archaeological sights for any ancient tribal civilization. The Mayans lived throughout a lot of Central America, but this was their booming metropolis!

I got to hold the scorpion as well! Since scorpions are nocturnal and it was the middle of the day, the guides could make it fall asleep in seconds by just covering it with their hands.

The ants are so different than any of the ones we see in the states. I love this picture because one ant had stopped to clean its legs

and another one came to help it out!

This was king Cacoa's bedroom. He was the most powerful & important king of their whole history (and the only one ever to have a window in his bedroom!) He was over 6 ft tall when most of them at that time were averaging 4ft. 

Our tour guide was showing us how the Mayans produced chewing gum from this piece of fruit. (You can also slit the trunk & take the sap to produce gum!) Other major products they cultivated were corn, avocados, & squash. 

Our guide Carlos, said that while the Mayans lived here they were not surrounded by forrest because they used the trees to burn the limestone to make the mortar to build their temples. 

These were the 3 chambers the superiors came from. Only the wealthy played their sports and interestingly enough they would kill the winners because they wanted to offer the best gifts to all their different Gods. 

This was their BUSTLING DOWNTOWN!

We were delirious at this point & just joking around. We had a nice picnic & took the 11 o'clock bus home. Hard to believe we were finished with our day at 1. But we had been up since 2:45 AM! We did manage to take a nice DIP in the LAKE though!

Kenny G. is Alive in Belize!

We stayed at this run down hotel in San Ignacio that was the equivelent for 6 American Dollars! You pay for what you get right? Well Kenny G was easily the highlight. He spent 20 years in New York and definitely had the hustler like attitude. But he took such good care of us and made sure we had a great time! Here is Kenny in all of his glory!

He said if he ever did meet Kenny G. he was gonna kick his (you know what) for stealing his name!

Water Caving

Our last stop in Belize was this quant sleepy city in San Ignacio, Belize. We took a day trek about an hour drive outside of the city. We had lunch in these cute tekkie huts and then went straight into the cave. It was a combo of swimming in freezing water, climbing, inching, sliding, scooting (you get the picture I am sure....)

One of our Guide's giving us the biggest smiles ever!

This is Sophie and I in front of Guatemala's national tree. They are HUGE in the middle of the jungle!

One of the highlights of the tour was the very ending. We hiked up to this tiny chamber completely in the dark. When our guide turned on the lights this is what we saw. 

Snorkeling

We went snorkeling in Caye Caulker which was easily the highlight of my time at the small Island. We got to swim with sting rays, drink water from a sack, & had some amazing fruit. It was just so fun to see spectacular colors everywhere you looked. ( This blew the Texas rivers out of the water, which is the only other snorkeling experience I had!)

We clowned around the rest of the day with all our new best friends!

The Rough Time Line

The Plan is to be in Central America for 2 months. (I will be mainly traveling in Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, & Panama.)

Next I will fly from Panama to Peru & do Manchu Pichu! I will be in South America for 2 months. (Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, & Argentina.)

Next I will go to Africa for 1 month. ( I plan to go to Egypt, maybe Israel, & South Africa.)

Then I will spend 1 month in India and 3 months in the Asia Reagin. (China, Japan, Tawain, Thailand, Vietnam, & Malayasia)

Lastly I will spend a month in Australia & New Zealand! (The maps were difficult to find...)

Belize Post Cards

So far these are my token Belize pictures. I landed in Belize city and caught a great sunset. Then had an early night with my last bit of Tex-Mex for 10 monthes. The next morning I took the "Water Taxi" over to Caye Caulker. I stayed at this amazing place called Tina's backpackers hostel Loaded with hammocks, bunk beds, and surprisingly enough a lot of Europeans. The modo here is "go slow" so you can imagine how delighted I am to be here. I have met some amazing people and had great food. So far the highlight was snorkeling with the stingrays! 

The finished product... Kinda

Badda-bing-badda- BOOOOOOM!

So this has taken me 3 steady days of packing & repacking to make sure everything is where it needs to be. Thank goodness for lots of pockets & compression sacks for your clothes!

What is going in the PACK-PACK:

Clothes:

- 1 Beach towel, 1 quick dry towel  

- 1 headlamp

- 1 yoga outfit 1 rain coat  

- 3 doo rags

- 3 pairs underwear  

- 1 pair of PJS

- 1 sports' bra, 2 regular bras  

- 3 pairs of shoes

- 3 dresses, 1 skirt/top outfit  

- 1 bathroom "d0p" kit

- 1 bathing suit  

- 1 t-shirt (thanks Monica!)

- 3 pairs of shoes

Amenities:  

- 1 pair of scissors  

- as many feminine products possile

- 8 cliff bars  

- 1 pair of silver wear

- tons of pens & pencils  

- 1 first aide kit

- LOTS OF PEANUT BUTTER (thanks Hayley!)

Electronics: 1 MacBook laptop, an 80G IPOD, 1 camera, 1 external hard drive (thanks Boz Bros!)

Equipment: 1 yoga mat, 1 sleeping bag

The blurby Materials I am Leaving behind

For the last few months I have been one with the boxes. First I moved out of my classroom. Then I moved out of my House in Austin. (Both of which I have been the last 3 years.) Finally I moved back to HTOWN.

For the last month or so I have been living in Houston with the parentals. My life consisted of teaching the kiddos tennis, mini road trips on the weekends, & sorting through all of my high school schooo that I never dealt with Back when we were flooded in '01. So 3 moves in less than 2 moths. I sure do have lucky parents.....

Peter Pan Picks

Somehow last summer in the midst of my travels I became captivated with my shadow. It became a joke to see all the funny positions I could catch my shadow in. Now, I call them my Peter Pan pictures. You will see them all along my travels. No matter where you go your shadow is sure to follow.

Tikal, Guatemala

Rothbury Music Festival Summer 2008

San Miguel, Mexico

The Game Plan

"A journey of a thousand footsteps begins with one single step."
-Lao Tzu-