Day 1: Touch down in Belize to discover our one and only piece of luggage, Alyssa new rucksack, did not make the flight with us. Common occurrence apparently. We opted against the long fumy bus ride and took a 2 hour cab ride instead to Benque Viejo, a friendly little town near the Guatemalan boarder that we would be calling home for the next two weeks. Our hosts are great. There's Jam, one of the most interesting and friendly people I've ever met, who is managing the development of the Eco-village. He's from British Columbia and although he's only been in Belize a couple of years, his knowledge of the Belizean culture, and local flora and fauna seems virtually limitless. Herbalist, eco-enthusiast, energy healer, founder of the Rainbow Religion; he's pretty much the best task manager we could have hoped for. Mathias and Aisha, our other two hosts, have been just as warm and welcoming. Mathias is from Germany and after living in Belize nearly two years, he met Aisha, who's from Belize. Among her many talents (belly dancer, a great cook), she is an excellent henna artist and hopefully Alyssa will be able to show you some of her work. The two were recently married and have already applied for land from the Belizean government, and hope to have their own self-sustaining eco-farm/community. All Belizean nationals are entitled to good amounts of land, which is plentiful here, and often has un-excavated Mayan ruins waiting to be discovered. Also living here are two cats and one friendly dog who stay busy chasing toads and geckos. We had a great meal of "beans and rice" (as opposed to "rice and beans," in which the two are mixed together), and slept very well in our own cozy room. The next day would be the first day seeing, exploring, and learning about the eco-village, a few miles away deep in the sub-tropical rain forest.
Pictures from Day 1
No comments:
Post a Comment