Day 2: How our trip was almost ruined!!!

Good evening!!!

What a great day we had today.

The Best Western Biltmore Belize does an outstanding job with breakfast.  I've traveled quite a bit on these student tours and I often find myself comparing breakfasts from across the world.  I wasn't thinking that this one would stand out, but it did.  Breakfast opened for us at 6:30.  I was ready to go and headed down pretty early.  A couple of the boys were also awake and joined Mr. Bemis and I.  The buffet provided was quite the spread.  They offered your expected variety of fresh Caribbean fruits.  One could choose to add yogurt to their fruit if they chose.  For hot options, the Biltmore had a wide sampling.  There were scrambled eggs with melted cheese, pulled chicken and/or pork, and Sausage, Peppers, and Onions.  Added to those options were a couple of different sauce type choices.  One was a little spicy and had sauteed onions and the other was similar to refried beans.  Of course, there was also a potato option.  I selected all of the above.  I felt I had too.  As a chaperon, it is my solemn duty to test the foods available to the students in order to provide an accurate assessment to their taste, quality, and uniqueness.  As I was finishing, I realized the Biltmore also provided an omelette station. I might be ordering one tomorrow.

Albert had told us what to expect today.  He said we'd be taking a short driving tour through Belize City and then we'd head about an hour northwest.  Here, he informed us, we would get off of our bus and board boats.  We would travel up the New River to see some Mayan Ruins at a place called Lamanai.  He said we wouldn't be getting wet and that we should prepare for some sun and bugs.  I started thinking about what we might see and what to expect...and it hit me, I am Indiana Jones and this Mayan Ruin is my temple of Doom.

My shadow...or Indy's shadow, you decide?

A couple of the kids getting ready for the adventure!

Pondering the days adventure.

The Warrior is an excellent driver.  He's a quiet guy, but he knows the roads of Belize.  Driving through the city, we came across some pretty tight roads, but he navigated those streets without concern.  Albert narrated our tour and answered our questions.  We learned a little about Belizean Independence and their school system.  We saw the old Governor's house and a little monument on the coast memorializing a man who donated his life's fortune to repairing the city after a hurricane had hit.  We then took off to the New River.  Along the highway, Warrior came to an abrupt stop.  He backed the bus up and Albert, with a pretty excited tone, informed us that there was a Jabiru off on the fields next to the road.  The Jabiru is a stork.  It is the largest bird in North America.  At first, we couldn't see the bird, but it flew into a clearing and we could see it without obstruction.  The wingspan of the bird can grow to over 10ft.  We would have missed it if it wasn't for the Warrior's instinct.

North America's largest bird, the Jabiru.  

Albert explaining how rare the Jabiru is to see in the wild.

  When we arrived to the dock, we boarded our boats.  All of the boys and Mr. Bemis hopped onto the smaller of the two boats and the rest of us joined our guide, and Albert, on the larger boat.  We began our 45 minute cruise to the ruins and I thought I'd try out the GoPro a bit.  Here are some of the pics:

Our guide was also our captain.

Headed down the New River.

It's hard to make out, but I am soaked.  The left side of the boat got hit with waves throughout the trip.  It was hot out, so we didn't complain.

There were bats in this tree.  We scared them away.  They scared us.

We finally arrived at our destination and disembarked the boats. We carried some coolers over to a picnic area and began to have lunch.  It was home cooked chicken, beans, and rice.  We also had some really spicy salsa.  I enjoyed lunch very much, but I was too excited to see the Mayan Ruins to care about food.  We started off on our tour by walking up a small hill.  Our guide told us that this was actually the original temples.  When a new ruler took over, he would cover the old temples with fill and then build new ones.  Most of the ruins that we would be seeing were second or third generation ruins.

Selfie time!!!

As we walked through the paths and meandered around many different ruins, we kept on hearing a strange noise. It sounded like dinosaurs attacking something.  It turned out to be Howler Monkeys.  I took some photos, but the internet will not allow me to sync them to the blog...plus, they were from pretty far away.  Needless to say, they were intimidating.  We eventually reached the high temple.  This was a really cool.

The chaperons getting ready to climb the high tower.

The group before we climbed.

Mr. Bemis prepping himself for the climb

Trying to be goofy before getting serious about climbing.

Frequent readers of this blog can attest to my aversion to heights.  In Ireland, I kissed the Blarney Stone.  In Paris, I've been to the top of the Eiffel Tower.  In London, I've ridden the Eye.  I didn't really like any of those experiences, but I am not going to visit somewhere without doing what I am supposed to as a tourist.  That means climbing to the top of Mayan ruins.  The kids seemed unfazed...me, I was fazed.

View from the middle level.  Albert is waving to me.

View from the base.  Those are all Saugus kids at the top.

This video shows my epic climb to the top of the High Tower.  It should be noted that we were pretty much alone while visiting this site.  These ruins are from roughly 500 years before Christ.  Many are as old as the pyramids.  And we were there alone.  That's super cool.  Unlimited access to one of the coolest historic sights I've ever witnessed.  I've traveled the world and this was one of the most intimate historical experiences one could ask for.  While I might not really be Indiana Jones, I totally felt like him when I got to the top of the ruin.

We eventually had to return to the boats.  It had been a long day and dinner was awaiting us back at the the hotel.  That didn't mean our adventure was over.  We still had to get back to Warrior and the buses...that proved a little harder than it should.  The kids were tuckered out and the day had certainly been an exhausting one.  It was not surprising that many of them fell asleep.  They probably didn't even realize that we almost ran out of gas...even while they, individually, had.  At one point, I had to stand to one side of the boat to ensure every last drop of fuel made it to the motor.

The fuel held out and we made it back safely.  The kids are really getting the swing of things in Belize and they are making the most out of every situation.  Here are a couple of literal examples:

Here are some exhausted individuals:

Once back at the Biltmore, we prepared for dinner.  It was chicken with french fries.  The kids were pumped.  We also got some Cream of Carrot soup.  The kids were a little less pumped.  For dessert, we got chocolate cake/brownie.  The kids were pumped again.  The internet here is strange.  At times, it works great.  At other times, it struggles.  It is struggling today.  I had a whole storyline prepared in my head on the boat ride home, but technology is not letting me upload what I want where I want it.  That said, it is almost 11pm here.  The kids are in bed and we are planning on some more adventures tomorrow.  We will be caving, zip-lining, and eating!  I am hopeful our new hotel's internet will be a little stronger.  I also hope you are all enjoying this blog.  I am trying to keep up with the photos for you all too.

Good night!!!

Mr. Lavoie, spending another evening in a darkened hotel lobby.