Christmas in the Carribbean

Being the fortunate people that we are, we got to spend Christmas on the carribbean island of Roatan, off the coast of Honduras. We met our friends Christine and Ian, from Port Angeles, to spend the holidays snorkeling and relaxing on the beach. Ian is a techno gadget wizard and had this cool underwater camera so we are lucky to have some of his pictures.

Love on the rocks... well the coral reef. Here we are doing one of our favorite things, snorkeling! Most of Roatan is surrounded by coral reef and the west end, where we are staying is surrounded by marine park, so the reef is protected from fishing and harvesting. It also comes very close to shore. It is truly amazing!

A school of damsel fish swimming above the reef.

Our first carribbean sea turtle. We were able to follow this Hawksbill turtle around for about 30 minutes. Enough time to watch it come up for air and munch on the algae growing on the reef. Hawksbills are one of the most endangered sea turtles in the area.

Ian and Christine, posing for their carribbean travel brochure photo. These two newlyweds are traveling around the world for a year!

We didn`t have a Christmas tree so we had to use Kevin. He is wearing the Angel of the Navidad, which was published in El Heraldo, a Nicaraguan newspaper.

Our Christmas feast of bean burritos. We stayed in a really cool jungle cabin across from the beach, complete with hammocks, chickens and a resident cat (DON`T tell Oscar). Roatan is one of the cheapest places in the world to dive so we splurged and went diving on Christmas day, thanks to all of you who gifted us travel money to make that possible!

Kevin was able to go diving again today and had another amazing experience. I am having trouble with my sinuses and a relapse of my previous lung infection, so I opted out.

Alas, the weather gods brought in a storm. This is what our snorkeling beach looked like yesterday! We are hoping to wait it out so we can go back, but are not sure if our wallets are up for it. I keep checking the weather and trying to convince myself that the wind is calming down and the reef will be swimable.

We hope you all had happy holidays!

love Chrissy and Kevin

Jungle Photos...

Cruising the Biotopo Manatee reserve in Bob´s launcha (thanks, Bob). Pristine jungle without a soul around...
Kevin is showing off his skills in the cayuco. The native Quechi people paddle these dugouts and can keep them going straight without switching sides. When they find a promising fishing spot, they stand up and toss out their cast nets. Kevin is working on it, but doesn´t quite have that part down.
The waterfall on the Lampra river. It took us two tries to find this place, but it was worth it.

When we left Rio Lampara, we hiked for 5 hours through the jungle to Livingston. When we told a local from Livingston this, his response was, "you´ll take the boat back, won´t you?"

Feliz Navidad!

It is that time of year again...fake Christmas trees abound, lights are everywhere and people who have never seen snow are singing about a White Christmas. We are getting ready to head to the Carribbean island of Roatan, with Ian and Christine, friends from back home, to celebrate Christmas. We will think of you all as we swing in our hammocks and snorkel with the fishes--the itchy mosquito bites and grumbly tummys subtly reminding us that while it is amazing and fun, it isnt quite home.

LOVE chrissy and kevin

Sweating in the jungle...

First off, I must apologize for the lack of photos now, but it just isnt happening here. Its just too hot to do anything, it seems like. We have been taking 3 showers a day and are sticky and sweaty tonight at 7 even though the sun is down.

We are in the town of Livingston, which is a trip. It is a small isolated town on the Carribbean coast close to Belize. It is also the only Garifuna population in Guatemala, which is shocking after so long in the mountains with the Maya. The Garifuna are a black carribbean people, decended from groups of african slaves which were abandonded (I think...) on the islands of Honduras.

We met a guy here named Polo the other day who is a professional Garifuna musician and taught us alot about the culture. It was one of those fascinating moments in time where the world just throws the right person in your path. We learned alot and were able to observe and overcome alot of the fear we had about being here and interacting with the people--there are lots of stories of robberies and hustlers trying to take your money. All we have found is a slow moving, but mostly friendly culture that is struggling to hang on to a tiny spot in the world that is quickly changing. Anyway, Polo took us to an authentic Garifuna restaurant which we would have never seen on our own and we had an amazing meal and met some really nice people.

Last week was spent on Rio Dulce and Rio Lampara, visiting Bob from PT. We were able to paddle local cayucos which are SMALL wooden dugouts and made the locals laugh as we tried to stand in them, like they do, and went swimming in the process. Bob was great and lent us his launcha (power boat...kevin was delighted) and we were able to spend several days exploring the mangroves and finding the waterfall near the head waters of the Rio Lampara. We were also able to hike from there to Livingston, which was about 5 hours through the jungle.

I will try to post some pictures for this blog soon. But just know that we are alive and sweaty and covered in mosquito bites and learning and living and taking it all moment by moment. love c

Chichicastenango es mi pueblo...

Wednesday we went to Chichicastenango, which is famous for the largest market in Guatemala. It was truly huge and mind blowing. The colors were outrageous and again proved what we had already learned--there is no such thing as clashing in Guatemala.

We watched the market get set up on Wednesday night and then just wandered and perused most of the day Thursday. It was definitely aimed at tourists which was a challenge. Many things were overpriced and tough to bargain for, but we did manage to buy a few presents for folks back home.
As you might imagine, the food markets are one of our favorite spots. It is fun to examine the piles of fruits and try to figure out what they are called and how you eat them. We haven´t been doing much cooking, so we don´t buy much, but it is still fun.
Thursday night was the beginning of the "burning of the devil" festival, one of the wildest things we have witnessed so far. It began, as we are realizing all important and not so important events here begin, with huge, loud fireworks. I am always mystified how a country that has been so recently at war celebrates special occasions with explosions. Then a statue of the Virgin Mary was marched across the square and up the stairs of the church.

Music for the event was provided by "La Gran Manzana" ("the big apple"), a 12 piece band complete with marimbas, horns and matching red suits. They also had a towering stack of speakers, enough to make any Def Leopard fan shake in their boots. The music was so loud that you could feel the bass pulsing through your body and I was worried that it might send my heart into arrythmia. Still, they rocked. But for some reason most of the locals weren´t dancing.

Then the bulls came out. We realized it wasn´t that the locals didn´t like to dance, but that they feared for their lives, or eyeballs at least. The bulls consisted of rebar cages built over a fiberglass bull with fireworks attached everywhere. A man would climb into the bull and after the fuse was lit, the bull would chase people across the dance floor as things began to explode and shoot off into the crowd. At one point a huge bottle rocket ended up in the middle of the band and they kept on playing without missing a beat. I even got hit on the head, but recieved no permanent damage. In fact I feel tougher, as if there is less for me to fear--maybe this is why Guatemalans can handle so much adversity. There were five of these bulls in all and then the evening ended with, you guessed it, more fireworks and a reminder to be back at the square at 630 am for the next events.
The next morning we woke up at 400 am to huge explosions. Yup, more fireworks. We made our way to the square by 630 for the beginning of the "celebration of the immaculate conception". It started off with a dance of giant cartoon characters in the square to music by La Gran Manzana and more fireworks. Before the dances, the characters were blessed by the priest. There was also a group who danced in traditional costumes and wooden masks. They then travelled through the city and danced in different neighborhoods. As we borded the chicken bus to leave, we could hear the familiar sounds...la grand manzana and fireworks.

Tajumulco (or stumbling my way up to the tallest point in Central America)

So there we were, sitting in the offices of Quetzaltrekkers, a non-profit treking company here in Xela. They had an overnight trip leaving to Tajumulco on Saturday at 4:45 am (it was Friday at noon). Why not? We thought, it can´t be that hard... two things you should know at this point: a) Tajumulco is the highest peak in Central America at 4220 meters or about 14,000 ft. and b) I had been hacking up a lung for about 4 days. But how could we resist the adventure?

By the way, Quetzaltrekkers is a very cool organization that is run entirely (not one paid employee) by volunteers. They commit to 3 months of guiding trips and pay for almost all of their living expenses out of pocket. The money they raise goes to support Escuela de la Calle (school of the street) which provides education for poor kids who would otherwise be unable to go to school. So far this year they have raised Q480,000 for the school, which is about $65,000.

I guess it was just one of those moments where you know you will suffer, but also know that the rewards will be worth it. We started out with several bus rides to about 3000m. The last one was crammed full with at least 77 people on a chicken bus. I got off with grumbly tummy I attributed to motion sickness. It was cloudy and cold with little visibility for the spectacular views we had been promised. As we got higher I felt sicker until I could only walk for about 10 minutes before I had to stop and take a break to catch my breath. We arrived at a chilly and damp camp and ate slimy undercooked pasta for dinner. Things were not looking good at this point.
The next morning we woke up at 4:00 to climb the last 200 ft to the summit. It was cold, but clear and my hopes were high. Then we began to climb. I felt awful. Dizzy, weak and painfully slow. I soon resumed my post at the back of the lineof our group of 32 people. It was even worse than the day before. I had to stop evey 3 or 4 minutes and rest. Yet somehow I knew I would make it, the slowly lightening sky and the thought of Kevin already there at the front of my mind.

After an excruciatingly slow hour I finally made it. It was amazing and amazingly cold. Was I really in Guatemala? I had on everything I owned and could barely feel my fingers in theborrowed wool gloves I wore. But it was still worth it. Every damn step. I was sitting on top of the world, watching the sun light up and erupting volcano and the coast of the pacific in the distance. The hike down was gorgeous with amazing views and my breath coming easier with every step. We ended it all with the best chicken bus ride I´ve had, complete with a special CD just for us Gringos playing (loudly) on the stereo. It was just too much to listen to Lady in Red, Love Hurts and Hotel California as we decended the mountain. Even better, the next day found us at Fuentes Georginas, amazing hot springs in a jungly setting. We soaked our sore legs in the largest hotspring I have ever seen. The pool is so deep you can dive into it! I am still hacking up a lung, but got some medicine today and hope to be better soon.
We miss you all and wonder how things are at home (hint hint to those of you we haven´t heard from ;) love c

Lobos, Zopilotes, y Aquacates

Though we left San Pedro a week ago, there is a story I have been meaning to post, but with so much to see and do, who has time for an internet cafe!

During some of my last days in San Pedro I volunteered some time at my Spanish School. One of my tasks turned out to be helping the owner of the school, Vicente, make guacamole for the class break. While we scooped aquacates(avocados) he told be an interesting story. Vicente is probably 50 years old and a super funny, friendly man. He has lived in San Pedro la Laguna his entire life.

He told me that when he was a boy, no one bought or sold aguacates even though there were wild trees everywhere in the forests surrounding towns. At that time, there was no road to San Pedro, only boats(mostly human powered) and so there was no access to markets away from San Pedro. So the aguacates fell to the ground and most were eaten by the local lobos (wolves) and zopilotes (turkey vultures) and others sprouted into new trees. It seems that at the time there was a stigma about eating the aquacates cause it was animal food, not people food.

He explained that his family was extremely poor, and so did go to the forest to collect aquacates. They snuck the aquacates home and always kept them hidden. This was partly out of pride. They did not want anyone to know they were so poor they had to eat aquacates. Impoverished locals who ate aquacates were referred to as lobos or zopilotes by others, slurs in that time.

But times have changed. 30 years ago a road went into San Pedro creating a market in far away countries and cities for aquacates. The locals all consume aquacates now, you can buy huge deliscious aquacates on any street corner for 1Q (13 cents). On market day in Santiago, a neighboring town(above) the square is so filled with aquacates bound for places afar, you can barely walk around. I have never seen so many aquacates in my life! Still there are gleaners in the square picking up dropped and damaged aquacates to take home.

Vicente finished his story with many laughs that we pay up to 14Q for and avocado in the states. We finished making a huge and deliscious bowl of guacamole before a pack of lobos and zopilotes descended and scraped every last smear of green onto tostadas. It´s great to be an animal in Guatemala!

Kevin