Day one:
most of you know this drill. get up at 2AM, hired driver dude calls, can't find out house. wake the kids, throw them in the car. sit around at airport for what seems like days, and then finally - we're off!!
blah blah blah, and we land in belize. as always, customs and immigration is painless. the downside - since we did not fly to AC, we could not go to Jet's
.
After way too long at the auto rental place in the sweltering heat, we were on the western highway. the ride west is always interesting, and often pretty. we all noted how often the scenery completely changes in belize.
Finally, we made it to San Ignacio, and we were STARVING! The boys had their first taste of stew chicken, rice n beans, and fresh watermelon juice. it was YUMMY! a quick stop at the market for snacks, water, and a 6 pack of belikin, and DuPlooy's here we come!
we rented the 2-story casita there, and the boys got comfy downstairs, and we took the upstairs. bf and i were pooped, so we rested while the boys looked around. as soon as they waled out the door, they called to us. no s%$t, there was a keel-billed toucan in the tree right above them!! Leo (13) was sooooo happy he got to see one!!
it was about dinner time, and we were so tired we thought we would fall asleep in our food. my son Steve (10) was so tired, he asked if he could walk back to the casita. a minute later, he came back into the dining room telling us to come out, we had to see something. walking the 10 yards to the bar, the bartender was feeding an animal some papaya. we went to see, and it was two kinkajous!! while i was concerned that they feed them, i had never seen one before, and it was a thrill for us all!! had coffee and mango cheesecake, and we could not stay awake any longer.
Day two:
i get up very early, especially in the jungle. i LOVE the sounds and mist in the mornings. Bf asked me to wake him, and we went out to the birding deck for coffee. duPlooy's has a bird feeding station, and we watched the aracari (small toucans) and other birds do their thing. (yay!) the boys joined us 2 hours later for a very delicious breakfast overlooking the canopy. we expected to meet up with SIN and his fam, but were surprised we had no cell service that far out of town. so, we decided to make our own plans, hoping to find him. we took a FABULOUSLY cool swim in the macal, got dressed, and headed off to xunantunich. it was very hot, but the boys were real troopers, and we were surprised how interested they really were in the ruins and history of the maya. we climbed to the top, learning lots of stuff on the way.
when we returned to duPlooys, hot and sweaty, we went right back in the river!! sooooo nice. coming back to our room, which was a little isolated from the lodge, someone called out "did anyone order room service?" we yelled "no, thank you. not us." the voice said, "i think someone ordered room service!" bf started to say "sorry..." when i looked out the door, i saw SIN and his very cute son, Chase, walking up the catwalk toward our place. very big hugs ensued.
(our boys had no idea, and thought i was nuts embracing some strange man in my bikini). we quickly changed out of our swimsuits and the rest of the family joined us for introductions.
we were all hungry, piled in our gimungous SUV, and they directed us to Hodey's (sp?). yum, yum, more stewed and fried chicken, cold drinks, lots of chatting, and a playground for the kids. we walked all around SI, and the kids seemed tired. i treated them all to ice cream, but i cant remember the name of the place (i suck at names). we made plans to meet the next morning early, said our goodnights, and crashed.
what a great first full day for both us and the boys!
(more to come...)