Monday, March 7, 2011

Milka & Lovre


After the birders left, our cabin didn’t stay empty for long since we had two couples coming in that same day. One couple, Milka and Lovre from Maryland, arrived at the International Airport fairly early, so Selmo did the pickup at airport and took them cave tubing. Tom did the later airport pickup, and the timing worked out so that he met Selmo at the end of the Georgeville Road and saved him the ride all the way up here and back to drop off Milka and Lovre.



The next day our four guests went to ATM with Gonzo and Carlos. They had a really good time, despite sharing the tour with a couple of women from New York City who weren’t quite up to the rugged adventure, and, in fact, couldn’t even believe that our guests were staying at a place with no electricity. How do you dry your hair in the morning?!?


On their final day they went to Caracol with Selmo. Milka and Lovre were the only guests who went, so they had a private tour of the Caracol site, as well as of Rio Frio Cave and Rio On Pools. They returned shortly before dark, and the ftour of us hung out in the kitchen while I did some prep work for dinner and we waited for the Tikal travelers to return.

Although they’ve lived in Maryland for over 20 years, Milka and Lovre are originally from Croatia. They moved to the US after they were married and their oldest son was born, so they have an adult’s perspective on life in Croatia. They felt very comfortable in Belize, and as we talked we realized it is because a lot of the things that are done here and the way people live is very similar to rural Croatia twenty years ago – no electricity, few cars, subsistence farming, and a relaxed attitude of hard work. Tom and I talked about some of the things that surprised us when we moved here, and Lovre just smiled and said “Of course that’s how it is.”

Milka and Lovre got a ride from Tom into San Ignacio, and took the bus to Belize City where they caught a water taxi to San Pedro for the next part of the trip. Sara and Casey, our other guests at the time, were also going to San Pedro so the four of them made plans to meet out there. It no longer surprises us that visitors’ paths cross so frequently here – it’s just the way it works.

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