Mini vacation in Guatemala for Marge and Tom

Just back from two nights away, our first time to get away together since last November. We have been very busy working here with the business and also doing some community projects. Life is good here in the jungle; as one of our good friends here in Belize says, “you came to Belize to live a simpler, quieter life, right? Well, the only problem is, you brought yourselves along!” So true, George, but we love living here and love the life we have created for ourselves here. We went over to Guatemala for some rest and on the way we decided to hook up with Hugo Mayen, a tour guide that we use for some of our Tikal trips. He also does tours of Yax Ha, another Maya site on the way, where the first TV Survivor series was filmed (his father, Hugo Sr. worked with the TV crews). Hugo picked us up at the border and drove us in a very nice Toyota Hiace van to Yax Ha.

This was the start of our tour at Yax Ha. The walls inside this building have scratched in drawings made by the Maya. You can't usually get in, but the guard moved the gate and let us come in to look. — with Hugo Mayen

Another temple at Yax Ha. Yax Ha means Green Water.

This is the edge of a Maya-built very wide causeway, or sacbe.

The sacbe is the total width of this picture. You can see the wall on the right.

Climbing to the top of a temple in the main plaza. Tom was already at the top with the camera.

This was the view of one of the temples from the big temple in the main plaza. It hardly looks real.

This is Tom inside a tunnel that shows the four layers of this building, which the Maya built over the course of about 900 hundred years.

Marge looking down from the top of the highest temple at Yax Ha, with the Yax Ha Lake in the background.

Marge clinging to the wall on top of the highest temple, cringing as Tom backs near the edge to take Marge's picture.

Hugo Mayen and his girlfriend Waleska on top of the highest temple at Yax Ha, enjoying the cool breeze.

After touring Yax Ha for about 2 hours we ate lunch at Hugo's mother's restaraunt in La Maquina on the main road from Belize to Flores and Tikal. We had eaten there before and the meals are always excellent local food served in their thatched palapa with a floor that I decided I had to try to copy for our eating palapa here at Moonracer Farm. We took a collectivo from La Maquina to Santa Elena (a large town on the main land next to Flores). We stood at the edge of the road outside the restaraunt for about 10 minutes until one came by. The collectivos are mini vans that pick up and drop off passengers all along the road from Melcher to Santa Elena. Marge got in the front seat (sitting in between the two regular seats) and I ended up getting all the way in the back seat, the only one left open. The ride wasn't really that bad but some of the bumps in the road for me - all the way in the back - were a bit rough, but for about US$7, not really that bad. We got out of the collectivo at the bus station in Santa Elena and then took a tuk tuk to the island of Flores where we stayed for two nights.

Welcome to Flores, Peten, Guatemala!

Boats for hire to tour around the lake at a leisurely pace.

This is the hotel where we stayed. Basic, but clean and inexpensive, about US$33 for 2 people for 2 nights, or about US$8.00/night/person. The power on the whole island and also for the entire town of Santa Elena was out from about 11am that afternoon until about 2am in the morning. However, not having electricity here in the jungle most of the time made us feel right at home!

Our room had a private balcony, perfect for viewing the always beautiful sunsets over the lake.

Our first morning, looking off our balcony and into the lake, we watched two men rowing a boat from the mainland to the island of Flores, with their dogs swimming along ahead of them.

These two dogs were in the lead, and stuck close together the whole time.

The two dogs made it to shore first, and left a wet path on the sidewalk after they climbed up to street level.

The little black dog at the right was about Jack Russell size, and the boat stayed with him the whole way while the bigger dogs swam ahead. Near the shore, one of the men threw the yellow puppy in the water to swim the last little bit.

The yellow puppy was really quite a good swimmer - better than the little black dog.

All the dogs made it to shore and went about their business for the day. We wandered about the streets in Flores just taking in the sites and relaxing as we strolled along taking pictures. Flores is a very touristy town, many people from all around the world stop in to enjoy the beauty of the lake and take day trips to the Maya sites close by.

One of the streets in Flores.

Another street in Flores.

Another narrow street on the hill in Flores

This is the cathedral in the center of the island. It was built on top of a Maya temple that was destroyed by the Spanish. We then walked over to Santa Elena to wander around the markets and explore what the local town had that was interesting. Tom found some new "crocks" for about US$3.50, and we munched on freshly cutup mango as we meandered through the market place. One thing that Marge and I reflect back on a lot after we walk around local markets in cental american towns, we are usually the ONLY white people, and we are just walking along taking in the sights. We feel completely comfortable and talk with a lot of the vendors and people hanging out, just like we would anywhere else we go. All of the locals are very friendly, offering us some of the local fruits and vegetables or to show us some of the local sites (like caves up in the hills - but we did not have the proper clothes for a jungle hike). Getting around in Santa Elena is done mostly be taking tuk tuks. They are basically low powered motorcycles with 3 wheels, room for 2 (or 3 if you have small butts) people in the back seat, the driver in front single seat, sometimes teaching their 3-5 year olds how to drive. To go anywhere in the area costs 10Q or US$2.75 for 2 people.

Tuk Tuks everywhere!

This is the Santa Elena market. The selection of produce made me consider moving to Guatemala.

More Santa Elena market. One of our goals was to get some bed spreads and we found the vendor that we visited last year when Margaret Rush was here. She had the size we needed and for a reasonable price we finally got something to cover our guest beds that brightens up the rooms. We meandered back to our hotel hot and tired, took a swim in the lake and then relaxed with a bottle of wine (much more affordable in Guatemala then in Belize) to enjoy the sunset.

The second night's sunset was more dramatic, and Tom found the sunset setting on the camera (hey, we've only had it for 5 months...). The following morning we got a local breakfast in the park near the cathedral and headed over to Santa Elena to start our journey home.

This is the Santa Elena bus station.

They put gringas in the front seat of the collectivo. So, from our room in Flores, aboard the tuk tuk, then collectivo to the Guatemala/Belize border - just about 2 1/2 hours. We called Julio who was waiting for our call in San Ignacio, he came and picked us up and home we went! Great little mini vacation. We can't wait to get a few more nights off sometime to recharge our batteries again!

Fortunately Jalis is a good boy, and he stopped when all four of us on the hike yelled his name as he was heading for the 800 foot drop over the waterfall after a King Vulture perched in a tree slightly below the dropoff. But it was a beautiful view...

Today Tom and Julio delivered the book shelves they have been making to the 7 Miles school. Some of our guests made donations to help build the shelves - thank you! The teachers and principal were delighted with the shelves, and the boys were happy to have some time out of class to unload the truck.

Jalis, the good boy, always tells us when we have an intruder in the dining room. Tonight it was just a snail sucking snake, rather than a scorpion.

We're now listed on Darn Good Digs!

Thanks to Earen, Sara, and Margaret, and Sarah, all former Moonracer Farm guests, we've just been listed as the first Belize establishment on the Darn Good Digs website. Our new listing can be seen here. Thank you, ladies!

Liz: At Home In The Jungle

From Liz: Their journey here to Moonracer Farm

(At the Tropical Education Center - Prior to their arrival at Moonracer Farm):
I am happy to report that although the screens had holes, the bed was missing a slat and the mattress was a 2" foam pad, and although there were crocodiles in the pond 50 feet away (about the same distance as the bathrooms) and we found a black scorpion crawling across the floor of our room after dark, we survived our night "roughing" it summer camp style without any major problems. The kids had a great time, the dad rose to the occasion and the mom experienced a case of grumpiness the next morning, which passed after a good meal and some meditative time next to a beautiful river.

We took a night tour of the Belize Zoo and saw some animals up close that are hard to see in the day, like a big jaguar and a harpy eagle. The tour started with the opportunity to hold a boa constrictor which Patrick and Otis were brave enough to do. Our guide, one of the zookeepers, howled up to the howler monkeys, starting an outburst that lasted until we were well away. I have to confess here that I am not a jungle type of a gal. Deadly poisonous snakes, fire ants and mosquitos that could be carrying a nasty disease like Malaria or Dengue Fever don't excite me. So, about halfway through the tour I wanted to be home with the kids tucked safely into bed. While Otis shared the sentiment, Patrick and Sofia had a great time on the tour and we recommend it.

You might be wondering at this point why I wanted to go to the Belize jungle. That's what I was wondering the next day as we bumped our way over miles of rocky dirt roads that felt about 10 times worse than any dirt roads I've been on before. If you wonder why it is so expensive to get around Belize, it's not just the high cost of gas but the cost of spare tires and parts for the cars. We passed a village on the way to Moonracer Farm that is without power. Our guide told us it was scheduled to get power but then the entire village voted for the political party that lost the election and now they don't get power. There are poles along the road up to a point but no power lines. Perhaps that's also why the road is so bad. Our guide said it was because they would just get the road fixed and graded and then the heavy rains would come and wash the dirt away, leaving rocks and holes. Big rigs coming through to pick up oranges and deliver things make the problem worse.

Finally we arrived at our destination, Moonracer Farms, a lovely place in the middle of the jungle where you can pick fresh oranges, grapefruit and bananas right off the tree to go with breakfast. The cabin was immaculate and cozy, the screens in perfect condition, the beds comfortable, and the hosts are friendly and understand (and welcome!) children. We had a wonderful homemade meal that reminded us of home, pasta with a garlic and cheese sauce along with vegetables and chicken. Today, sitting on the hammock on the porch listening to the birds and monkeys, watching hummingbirds fly around just outside the screen, and seeing the kids happily exploring a new place and learning about the jungle, I'm glad we came.

Patrick with boa at the zoo

TEC - docks near rooms

TEC - Crocks in ponds

Bumpy roads

From Otis: San Ignacio Lizard Farm and Ka'ax Tun Park

From Otis, one of our recent visitors. This is what we are encouraging our guests to help us with, seeing Belize through their eyes. (Thanks so much Otis, you are great!)

Visiting the lizards (iguanas) was pretty fun. If you poke your hand towards the baby iguanas' tummies they will whip their tail fast at your hand. The grown ups will puff up and fight each other for territory. I liked Moonracer Farms. There is no electricity and it's fun there. I saw army ants. The army ants can kill scorpions and even a chicken and bigger. They are powerful and scary. My dad lifted me over one of their marching lines and we drove over a big line in the truck. And you just have to love Marge's cooking. You have to try it. You're going to love it.

We went to a jungle park with caves and vines you could climb up. My dad wouldn't let me climb very far because I can't climb but there was a boy named Melver who could climb super high. But his dad climbed higher and higher, all the way up the cliff. In Marge's outdoor kitchen, Melver can climb up to the rafters and walk on them and higher. There are caves you can go into. There are pottery shards in many of the caves that the Mayans left. There are really big creepy crawlies you're going to have to watch out for, like spiders and bats. The bats eat fruit so don't worry about them. Tom has a machete. It is really light and sharp. I got to try chopping down a tree with it. The rest you have to discover for yourself.

Sofia at San Ignacio Lizard Farm

Baby Green Iguanas

Mayan Pottery Shards

Otis Climbing

Melver's Dad (Julio) Climbing

Julio, Tom & Marge

Emerging butterfly

A few days ago, we noticed a wiggling cocoon on one of the palapa posts. As I was standing and talking to Julio a day or two later, I noticed that the top of the cocoon had broken and the butterfly was coming out. Here are the pictures, in order, of the butterfly emerging.

Red legged honeycreeper

We found this little bird on the path between the cabins. It had trouble staying upright, couldn't hop or perch, and was a little twitchy. Because of its long bill and green feathers, we originally thought it was some sort of hummingbird, but eventually determined that it was too big. I posted pictures on FaceBook, which were shared by our nature-loving friends, and we found out that it was a juvenile red legged honeycreeper.

We put it in a bucket so it was away from drafts and fed it sugar water and squished papaya. Within a day, it was hopping around and eating on its own, with the favorite foods being papaya and very ripe banana. I made sure to keep the dogs in the house and just left it perched a table in the kitchen with a good supply of papaya, banana, and water. It didn't move much for a few days, and then started hopping around the table and sometimes fluttering to the floor. In about a week, its feathers had grown, and I went out one day to start lunch, and it was gone. We're pretty sure it flew the coop since no predators could get it in the kitchen, and we didn't find it fluttering around on the floor or outside the kitchen. Now we're keeping our eyes out for a tamer-than-usual honeycreeper, although they seem to like to stay higher in the trees, so it's likely we'll never see it again.

TripAdvisor Travelers' Choice 2012 Winner!

Just checked our TripAdvisor listing and found out we're a Travelers' Choice 2012 Winner in the top 25 B&Bs in Central and South America. A big thank you to all of our guests who wrote their wonderful and much appreciated reviews!

Click here to see our TripAdvisor listing.