Lemme know if this works or not. I can't put a permanent link on the blog yet because I am inept.
Cass or Deon, your help is still required.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bellachimera/
From here, go to the Central america set. Feel free to comment there as well.
also, as I can't read Spanish, you will have to paste into your browser address field because I can't tell how to make it a real link.
I'm special. Enjoy!
Saturday, March 10, 2007
To answer some comments
1 - Miss you guys too.
2 - Dad, I do not know where your socks are
3 - Blake, I took my charger, sorry kiddo. Don't know where yours is.
4 - Baby Fader is in our thoughts, and mami Fader too of course.
5 - Yes Michelle, we are in Guatemala, and heading to San Pedro in a few days where we will be for nights before moving on to El Salvador.
6 - Hmmm, I think that is it. Adios Amigos!
2 - Dad, I do not know where your socks are
3 - Blake, I took my charger, sorry kiddo. Don't know where yours is.
4 - Baby Fader is in our thoughts, and mami Fader too of course.
5 - Yes Michelle, we are in Guatemala, and heading to San Pedro in a few days where we will be for nights before moving on to El Salvador.
6 - Hmmm, I think that is it. Adios Amigos!
Hi guys, Mark here, trip is going awesome, natural beauty to this point has been mind blowing, from coral reefs, to waterfalls, to mountains and volcanoes, just awesome. Have met some cool people along the way, some brits and cdns who were down with hanging out and partying. Girls have not been misbehaving too much, although one of them had lost their bra one night, found the next morning on top of the bar, not sure how that happened, alcohol may have been involved. Good times so far, Guatemala has been cool and cheap. Lots of love out to everyone back home, hope your all doing well. Till next time, -Mark
The road to Panajachel
Ok so let me tell you a little story....
Yesterday we left our little jungle abode and our 2 new Canadian friends (shout out to Heather an Cailey!) in Rio Dulce to go to Panajachel where we are to chill for a few days before heading off to San Pedro...This is Guatemala by the way.
First we have to catch a bus to Guatemala city, this is fine although a long ride (6 hour bus ride) then we have to take a cab to another bus station where the bus there will supposedly take us to our destination. The buses there look like school/circus buses. They are brightly coloured and there is latin music blaring from inside the vehicle. A man takes our bags and tosses them on top of the bus and ties them down with rope. Sketchy but ok, the bags have to go somewhere. 5 minutes into the ride our bus is assualted with street vendors trying to sell us everything from watermelon and water, to gum and books. Then a cowboy preacher man comes on the bus and we all prayed. The seats were very roomy and I thought it was going to be a good time until my bladder announced to me that it really needed to go to the bathroom, and we clearly had another 3.5 hours of travel time left. The bus then stops to let on more passengers and we quickly realize that the roomy seats are actually supposed to seat 3 people not 2, which turned it from roomy to invasion of personal space. I have never been so close to Julia in my life.
the roads are bumpy and the driver doesnt appear to be aware of the speed limit, or the fact that driving into on coming traffic in order to pass, is not really a good idea. Our drive was so focused on speeding as fast as he could that there was a second man who's job appeared to be that of the horn man. Turns out that this man also had the job of climbing on top of the bus while in motion to check on our bags. That my friends is beyond sketchy. It moves right into stoopid and scary mode.
halfway into our ride my butt hurt, my bladder was at the point of exploding, I was thirsty and hungry and I had a slight burn on the left side of my face from sitting in the window seat. Joy.
We pull into Solola where we have to change buses again. Did anyone at any point bother telling us this? The answer is no. If it wasnt for the random German people on the bus who seemed to know how it all works we would have been stranded. We watched as they literally threw our bags from the roof of one bus to the other, amazed that they were even still there, and hoped onto the next circus bus to complete the last leg of our immediate journey. Finally, over 10 hours of bus travel and discomfort later we were in Panajachel, on Lake Atilan. Whew!
Janelle
Yesterday we left our little jungle abode and our 2 new Canadian friends (shout out to Heather an Cailey!) in Rio Dulce to go to Panajachel where we are to chill for a few days before heading off to San Pedro...This is Guatemala by the way.
First we have to catch a bus to Guatemala city, this is fine although a long ride (6 hour bus ride) then we have to take a cab to another bus station where the bus there will supposedly take us to our destination. The buses there look like school/circus buses. They are brightly coloured and there is latin music blaring from inside the vehicle. A man takes our bags and tosses them on top of the bus and ties them down with rope. Sketchy but ok, the bags have to go somewhere. 5 minutes into the ride our bus is assualted with street vendors trying to sell us everything from watermelon and water, to gum and books. Then a cowboy preacher man comes on the bus and we all prayed. The seats were very roomy and I thought it was going to be a good time until my bladder announced to me that it really needed to go to the bathroom, and we clearly had another 3.5 hours of travel time left. The bus then stops to let on more passengers and we quickly realize that the roomy seats are actually supposed to seat 3 people not 2, which turned it from roomy to invasion of personal space. I have never been so close to Julia in my life.
the roads are bumpy and the driver doesnt appear to be aware of the speed limit, or the fact that driving into on coming traffic in order to pass, is not really a good idea. Our drive was so focused on speeding as fast as he could that there was a second man who's job appeared to be that of the horn man. Turns out that this man also had the job of climbing on top of the bus while in motion to check on our bags. That my friends is beyond sketchy. It moves right into stoopid and scary mode.
halfway into our ride my butt hurt, my bladder was at the point of exploding, I was thirsty and hungry and I had a slight burn on the left side of my face from sitting in the window seat. Joy.
We pull into Solola where we have to change buses again. Did anyone at any point bother telling us this? The answer is no. If it wasnt for the random German people on the bus who seemed to know how it all works we would have been stranded. We watched as they literally threw our bags from the roof of one bus to the other, amazed that they were even still there, and hoped onto the next circus bus to complete the last leg of our immediate journey. Finally, over 10 hours of bus travel and discomfort later we were in Panajachel, on Lake Atilan. Whew!
Janelle
Tuesday, March 6, 2007
a quick update
I am once again being pressured to contribute to this blog. With 6 minutes left of internet time, I{ll see what I can do. And in case this hasn{t been mentioned already, the Spanish keyboards are hard to use and I can{t get all of the characters to work.
First, to answer Andy{s question, yes, we have been to a seedier bar than the Jazz - it was simply called Discoteque, and was the only bar open in Orange Walk, which is why we went. Not that the neon lights from the street weren{t enough to draw us in. Our flip flops stuck to the floor, Janelle and I were asked by all 5 of the locals in the bar to dance, and the music was really crappy 90{s nu-metal type of stuff. On the way out, after drinking a beer as quickly as possible, we passed by a couple woman entering the bar who were arguing and trying to pick a fight. Rass!
We{ve seen some pretty awesome wildlife so far, including howler monkeys in the jungle surrounding the Mayan ruins of Lamanai. They{re kind of hard to describe. They didn{t howl as I expected them to, at all. They{re actually really ferocious sounding - kind of like a dog with bronchitis growling in a microphone with something covering it{s mouth to make it sound muffled. Make sense?
Time{s up.
Julia
First, to answer Andy{s question, yes, we have been to a seedier bar than the Jazz - it was simply called Discoteque, and was the only bar open in Orange Walk, which is why we went. Not that the neon lights from the street weren{t enough to draw us in. Our flip flops stuck to the floor, Janelle and I were asked by all 5 of the locals in the bar to dance, and the music was really crappy 90{s nu-metal type of stuff. On the way out, after drinking a beer as quickly as possible, we passed by a couple woman entering the bar who were arguing and trying to pick a fight. Rass!
We{ve seen some pretty awesome wildlife so far, including howler monkeys in the jungle surrounding the Mayan ruins of Lamanai. They{re kind of hard to describe. They didn{t howl as I expected them to, at all. They{re actually really ferocious sounding - kind of like a dog with bronchitis growling in a microphone with something covering it{s mouth to make it sound muffled. Make sense?
Time{s up.
Julia
Sunday, March 4, 2007
Welcome to Belize
We got to Corozal and I fell in love. It is a small town and you can hear reggae music in the streets. We ate amazing Belizean food, and stayed at this adorable Inn on the water. The roof of the inn is a giant patio with hammocks and chairs, and since we were the only ones in the hotel we didnt have to worry about being bugged by other people.
We met this man named Shey, who owns a barber shop/radio station/ tv repair place. He was very goodlooking until he took his hat off. He had this MC hammer flat top haircut. Sigh... he was wicked nice though, and very cool to hang out with. We only spent one night there, but I would have stayed longer if we could have.
Ok, so the next day we did this day trip in lamanai to see the mayan temple. Very cool. mark and I walked all the way to the top which is over 33 meters. From there you could see the entire jungle and the water, it was breathtaking. I have cuts all over my legs, and blisters on my feet because of it, but it was so worth it.
We stayed the night in Orange Walk, which was sketchy at best. We got a drink at this disco, and it was awful! Wet, sticky floors, there were only 4 people and they were making out, and fighting, and generally sleazy. The place had bottles everywhere and huge cobwebs in every corner. We high tailed it out of there as fast as we could. Yuck. It was hundred times worse than Jimmy Jazz. Our hotel was made of concrete and all the windows were barred. It kinda felt like prison, espcially when they gated the door at night. I do not recommend that town. nope.
Mark tried to update the blog himself, but his computer was being iffy so he gave up, and Julia is taking a ridiculous amount of time emailing.
Right now we are in Caye Caulker. It is stunningly beautiful here. A small island in Belize, no cars, clear water...you can walk the whole town in 20 minutes, or if you are really lazy you can rent a bike or a golf cart. Our cabana is on the water, and we have lizards under our stairs. They nod to us as we pass, and Julia and I often comment on how cute they are. We went snorkelling yesterday and I pet a shark and sting ray's. It was probably one of the coolest things I have ever done. We are spending two nights here in paradise before we move on, but I could spend eternity here without a doubt.
Hopefully pictures will be coming soon... ugh, I know. We are slackers.
We met this man named Shey, who owns a barber shop/radio station/ tv repair place. He was very goodlooking until he took his hat off. He had this MC hammer flat top haircut. Sigh... he was wicked nice though, and very cool to hang out with. We only spent one night there, but I would have stayed longer if we could have.
Ok, so the next day we did this day trip in lamanai to see the mayan temple. Very cool. mark and I walked all the way to the top which is over 33 meters. From there you could see the entire jungle and the water, it was breathtaking. I have cuts all over my legs, and blisters on my feet because of it, but it was so worth it.
We stayed the night in Orange Walk, which was sketchy at best. We got a drink at this disco, and it was awful! Wet, sticky floors, there were only 4 people and they were making out, and fighting, and generally sleazy. The place had bottles everywhere and huge cobwebs in every corner. We high tailed it out of there as fast as we could. Yuck. It was hundred times worse than Jimmy Jazz. Our hotel was made of concrete and all the windows were barred. It kinda felt like prison, espcially when they gated the door at night. I do not recommend that town. nope.
Mark tried to update the blog himself, but his computer was being iffy so he gave up, and Julia is taking a ridiculous amount of time emailing.
Right now we are in Caye Caulker. It is stunningly beautiful here. A small island in Belize, no cars, clear water...you can walk the whole town in 20 minutes, or if you are really lazy you can rent a bike or a golf cart. Our cabana is on the water, and we have lizards under our stairs. They nod to us as we pass, and Julia and I often comment on how cute they are. We went snorkelling yesterday and I pet a shark and sting ray's. It was probably one of the coolest things I have ever done. We are spending two nights here in paradise before we move on, but I could spend eternity here without a doubt.
Hopefully pictures will be coming soon... ugh, I know. We are slackers.
Friday, March 2, 2007
Janelle, Call Contact Brenda asap
Hey Janelle, It's your bro. I hope your having a ton of fun and have'nt gotten into the payote yet, lol just kidding. Brenda needs you to get in touch with her as soon as possible. Wes left and she needs to talk to you to find out what to do. Please contact her as soon as possible.
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