Jungle Ride

Our last planned adventure in Belize was a jungle horseback ride. Valerie had never ridden a horse before but she was willing to humor my burning desire to be horseback once again! After another gorgeous morning, with coffee and sunrise swim, we headed to a nearby stable.

This will remain one of my favorite places to drink a morning cuppa!

Val enjoying her first coffee of the day

We were each assigned a horse and then in the company of three guides, off we went. We rode through several orange groves and then into the jungle. Several of the guides have seen jaguars, but we were not so lucky (although perhaps we were lucky not to see them!) Partway through the ride, we dismounted and had the option of a cooling dip in the Sittee River. I was the only one crazy enough to go in the river completely, and it was worth the slightly damp clothes on the return ride. 

Sittee River

Silver and I

Upon our return, Michelle, the owner of the stable, gave Valerie and I some fresh starfruit! I have never seen this fruit on the tree before.

Following Michelle's advice, we decided the best way to combat saddlesore-ness was to spend the remainder of our day in the water :) 

The only challenge was deciding on which way we wanted to enjoy the water. The day, as you can see, was gorgeous.

Maya Ruins and Cave tubing!

Our first day of adventures began with a gorgeous sunrise.

After an early breakfast and two cups of coffee, we (and several other guests) piled into a van and drove two hours to Xunantunich, a Mayan archeological site with stunning views of Belize and Guatemala.

We also got our exercise! Howler monkeys called in the jungle, but unfortunately, they wanted to be heard and not seen. Valerie and I had been exercising each day, including a fitness challenge to build up to doing 100 squats in a day. After all of these steps, we decided that we had earned a day without squats!

After a delightful lunch at a local cafe, we began the second part of our day. We arrived at St. Herman's and suited up for a short jungle walk, and then descended into a cave system for some river tubing. Although we had headlamps, we all turned them off and tubed in the dark for a little while! 

It was an amazing experience. The water was cold and in some places, very deep. The pitch black can be a little scary, but we survived :)

Beaches and Dreams

Our first few days in Belize were nice and slow. We settled into a lazy routine of waking up for sunrise over the sea, eating breakfast, and then deciding where to spend the first part of our day...rooftop, on the beach, in the hammocks, or in the pool. Both Val and I took a lot of naps, enjoyed playing fetch with Ruger, the manager's dog, and overall, unwinding and losing complete track of time.

Winter on the Indian Ocean

We were due to restart our Portuguese lessons today, after a week and a half off due to Dad's travel.  We arrived at our language school promptly at 9.  To our surprise, there was a class using our classroom.  Dad went in search of the headmaster.  We found Dad about 10 minutes later, waiting in the office for the headmaster to arrive.  The headmaster is a jolly man.  He has a truly delightful laugh, and he uses it often.  He was very apologetic, but for reasons I'm still unsure of, he informed us that our language instructor was in either Maputo or South Africa.  Orlando had mentioned that his mother was having surgery, so we think this may be part of his absence.  In the space of our conversation, we were told we would have another language tutor assigned to us.  Our new tutor will begin teaching tomorrow.

Afterwards, we ran a few errands.  Dad made Trip 2 to the bank to try to set up an account.  Now he knows a bit more of what he needs to establish an account here.  I think he should be able to do that in another two trips to the bank!  We also went to the equivalent of Staples for a few things.  As we drove around, we saw this athletic fellow:

He balanced on his hands for a few minutes.  On an earlier trip around the same praca (plaza), we saw him swinging from his knees on the metal bar (behind him in this picture).  

The city looked and felt different today.  It is cold and overcast today, although Dad laughs at me when I say it is cold.  The temperature is about 70, but I've felt cold since waking up.  There is a cold wind coming in from the ocean.  

The beach was gorgeous when Mom and I went for our walk today.  The sand was clean and washed smooth from the tide.  Because it was colder today, there were only a few other people on the beach.  I have always loved overcast days at the beach.

I commented in an earlier post that I love Out of Africa but have never actually finished the book.  I took the book with me when I went to Michigan in June.  I loved it.  At one point, Karen Blixen wrote, "Yes, this is how it was meant to be."  That perfectly describes how I felt today at the beach.  Yes, this is how it was meant to be.

Sabado (Saturday)

We took a little drive down to the beach to see the fishermen bringing in their catch of the day.  I didn't take any pictures of that, partly because there weren't many fish and also, I prefer to take pretty pictures.  Dad and I sat on the breakwater for a while, enjoying the sound of the ocean and watching a soccer game.  It was a nice little outing for our Saturday afternoon.  Dad got to practice his Portuguese a bit with the fishermen, who thought we were keen to buy a pipefish (I think it looks like an eel).  

Fora e marinha (Outside and Sea)

Today is a gorgeous day in Sofala Province.  Mom and I decided we needed to have our breakfast outside to enjoy the lovely breeze.  There is a daycare or a school nearby and we can hear the kids playing outdoors.  I thought I would just send a few pictures of our peaceful pequeno-almoço fora (breakfast outside).

This is our view from Mom and Dad's veranda.  As you can see, they live in an enclosed complex, as most people do here in Mozambique.  I think some might feel claustrophobic to live within walls, but it feels normal to me.  It is a standard security measure here.  The tenants prior to Mom and Dad added nicely to the garden, leaving a peaceful green space for them to enjoy.  

This is not your typical garden gnome.  This is the skull of a sea turtle, tartaruga marinha.  Sea turtles live in all of the world's oceans except for the Arctic, but like many creatures, have been hunted for food to the degree that their populations are dwindling.  In some cases, they are hunted for their shells as well.  (I should add, this skull was in my parents' garden they arrived.  I'm hoping it was just found on the beach.  Hunting of most species of sea turtles is illegal.)  Did you know that sea turtles can live eighty years or more?  I also learned they are immune to the sting of the box jellyfish.  Sea turtles can then eat the poisonous jellyfish, which helps to naturally control the jellyfish population.  

I really love learning about natural systems.  The balance in the world is so delicate.  It is amazing when it functions as it should and heartbreaking when the natural order is disturbed.  Consider these examples of the connection of the sea turtles to their world.  Sea turtles return to the beach to lay their eggs.  Some even return to the specific beach where they were hatched.  The nutrients from the nests they create and from the eggs they lay help to fertilize the sand dunes and beaches, which in turn provide better growth of vegetation.  The vegetation is vital to prevent erosion.  I read that on one 22 mile stretch of beach in Florida, sea turtles lay 150,000 pounds of eggs annually.  If that number diminishes due to hunting of the sea turtle or her eggs, the beach will also be affected.  A sea turtle will lay about 100 eggs in a nest.

Sea turtles also eat the sea grass on the bottom of the ocean.  Sea grass needs to be cut back in order to grow.  The beds of sea grass are where many types of sea life lay their eggs.  Fewer sea turtles would mean less growth of sea grass.  This would then impact other marine life, including some which are a food source for humans.  

Well, now you've had your lesson in ecosystems for the day!  I hope it has been a helpful reminder to take care of our world.