Belize Bound! So Long! Farewell! (Chapter Five)

For our last couple days, we spent our time in the company of the Machaca staff, volunteers, and students. Sunday, we went down the highway to a local church gathering in the morning, and in the evening, took in Machaca's service at their own café in downtown Punta Gorda.
 

A wall mural at the café feat. a song based on Ezekiel 37:1-10.

'Di BoneVille Café' was its name, based on the bible verses of Ezekiel 37:1-10. Newly renovated and about to be opened up to the citizens of PG! A perfect place to witness and hang out with the locals. Serving delicious food, drinks, and playing games and füssball. A drop-in centre essentially.

The next day, we decided to act like true tourists and go into town to buy some souvenirs. The markets were only set up til mid day, so we searched quickly for the best hammock deal we could find. After a few stops, we found our man and a technicoloured masterpiece was our prize. Along with other little souvenirs and a couple more hammocks (for good measure), we walked to the bus stop to catch a ride back to Machaca. On the way, Papa Jop (the elderly white Jehovah's Witness who made our delicious pizza two nights ago) passed by. He yelled while riding his bicycle, basket filled to the brim, trying to sell his sweet rolls and cheese buns. What a guy.

During the off days at Machaca, Willie and I hung around the gym, playing volleyball, soccer, and basketball with whoever was around. So that's what we did when there wasn't anything for us to do. On this day, we taught some visitors "Bump" and also played 3v3 volleyball with a group of teens from town (one kid had quite the vertical and could spike shockingly well, so it felt extra good to block him. Displaying some quality Canadian volleyball skill in doing so... as well as competitiveness). When we were too sweaty and drenched from the humid temperature, Willie and I retreated and read in our cabin. We heard purring and thought nothing of it, but later realized that there weren't any "house" cats at the camp... Apparently, Jaguarundi inhabit the bushes next to our cabin. Cool, actual wild cats, not stray "pets" with supposed owners.

After supper, when it was dark enough, we headed for the pit in the field to talk and play guitar around the bonfire. The only source of light for miles was our fire, everything else was lit up by the stars; literally billions of them, all visible. No moon to be seen, just a labyrinth of stars. We saw the most we've ever seen. Galaxies were strewn every which way as we took in the 360˚ gaze above. A ghoulish sound interrupted our awe. Howler monkeys. Their creepy hollow screeches resonated from miles away. Hearing these new wild sounds served as a reminder of how foreign we actually were. That realization is quite the feeling: the sense of adventure.

This was our final night of the trip, and still we had yet to stumble upon a snake. If you could remember (from the second chapter), we were told to check the other side of every log before we stepped over, just in case there was a coiled-up snake. Common, we thought they were! Well, my Dad and Don at least got a minor scare... While Willie and I were at the bonfire the whole time, my Dad and Don visited a local residence to check up on a girl who needed medical attention. On the drive there, they ran over something snake-like and decided to reverse back a bit to see what it was. Sure enough, the long snake was scrunched-up in it's coils, lying still. Unsure if it was dead or not, Don leaned out of his window with his flashlight to confirm their suspicions. It featured dark yellow-diamond blotches and was indeed a deadly Fer de Lance (Bothrops asper), the ultimate, venomous pit viper. Just as he was noting it's deadliness, the viper sprung up and lashed out at him. Startled badly, Don floored it out of there! The Fer de Lance is known to eject venom from it's fangs at a distance of at least 6 feet!!! In fact, these snakes are so dangerous that even a small bite could result in an entirely crippled limb. A worse bite could be fatal. Scary stuff. On our way to the Mayan Ruins a few days before (in chapter three), we filled up the van at a gas station, and the employee actually had a crippled hand from a Fer de Lance bite; again (Life Lesson #54), be careful where you swing your machete!
My Dad and Don's close call had definitely fulfilled our snake-encounter quota for the trip, and made us wonder what was under our cabin at night a little too much when we went to bed!

On our last day, we packed up and finally had to say our goodbyes. One last game of tetherball was needed, along with pictures, hugs, and blessings. Homeward bound, we were. The time we shared at Machaca and in the Southern Toledo district will be remembered dearly! It was such a blast to travel and just be with my Dad and brother on such an exciting trip, which gifted a fresh environment and culture for us. Who knows, we might find ourselves down there more sooner than later.

... You better BELIZE IT!

S.T.T.I's Class of 2012 at Machaca

Our goodbye photo with Cliff, Luke, and Don.

Willie taking it all in.

Enjoy the final vlog installment!

Belize Bound! So Long! Farewell! (Chapter Five) from MannyG on Vimeo.

Music:
Ben Howard - "Only Love"
 ~~~
p.s. Wow, it has been seven months since our amazing trip to Belize. It took me a long time to finish this series of posts, but it has been a joy to continuously relive the memories for every single one of these five segments. I'm glad I stuck with it for my family's sake! And now, maybe I'll be free from my conscience to blog more... We'll see! Ha

Ciao for now!

Belize Bound! The Cayes of Belize (Chapter Four)

On our fourth day in Belize, we got up early and drove down to Punta Gorda for a day trip to the Cayes [Keys] (the many islands between the mainland and the barrier reef), all of which are a leisurely boating distance from shore. We went with an American family with three kids who have been staying and helping out at Machaca for the past little while. Physically, the blondest family ever (as you'll see in the vlog).

Patrick, a young Belizean, was our tour guide along with his even younger assistant. Both knew the Cayes' inside and out, especially the prime fishing and snorkeling spots. Fishing was our first stop as Patrick anchored the boat and pulled out a bucket of these rustic looking, nylon-raveling, wooden handles. We hooked some bits of fish flesh then unraveled the nylon lines into the sea, tugging when we felt the presence of a hovering snapper. Red snappers to be exact, scaly and snappy with a spine dorsal fin. It took Willie the longest to catch one, and everybody cheered once he eventually did! The fearless Bubba (the youngest of the three kids) was actually raking in the most fish. He was so excited to the point of flinging himself hard from the side of the boat onto the floor, landing on his knees in a triumphant fashion. Crazy kid.

From fishing we motored on to another island to check out the lighthouse where TIDE's HQ was; a conservation organization for the cayes' wildlife and environment. It was beautiful to climb to the top and look out over all the surrounding area.

Snorkeling was next on the agenda! I had never done it before so it was awesome maneuvering in between the coral and seeing all the colourful fish darting into the tiny holes and cracks. Once you got over the fact that there were barracuda amongst you, it was smooth sailing. The sun was our biggest threat however, and my back paid dearly. (We didn't head to the barrier reef because it was much pricier and about 20 more miles by boat unfortunately.)
After we had our fill of snorkeling we went out to deeper waters to swim. Patrick swam pretty far to dive many meters for conch shells (you'll see his assistant holding one in the vlog that he brought back). During this time, Jeremy, the dad of the family we were with, ended up diving down with a mask only to spring back up in a panic. He quickly swam back to the boat and explained his terror. A barracuda swimming underneath him stopped to look up, stared at him, and started to draw closer! ... I know I would freak out. Who knows if it was the same one, but after our swim, we put a hunk of meat on a line, trolled the boat and luckily caught a barracuda. Patrick wrestled in the heavy line and bludgeoned the thing as it tried to flail free. It's teeth were jagged and it's eyes were cold. Scary creatures.

Our last stop out on the sea was this thatch hut, small island resort. It featured a breezy bar/restaurant that was onlooking the dock with an aquarium. It oozed retirement. Or maybe just a nice getaway! An iguana we saw on shore about 3-4 feet long was definitely enjoying its stay, as it lazily chilled out in the sun.

Willie's allergies had kicked in so we decided to call it a day and head back to Punta Gorda. Although once we got home to Machaca, we went with Don and Cliff to visit another resort named Hickatee Cottages, a Bed & Breakfast spot hidden in a deep pocket of the rain forest. The British husband and wife owners were once students of Don and Cliff's at Machaca. They decided to come back some years later and build their own little cottage oasis (getting some notice from travel magazines too). As we arrived, we walked in on a local Galifuna drummer playing for the guests on the restaurant's veranda. It was super tribal-esque, and even the British husband had his own drum to join in. When the drum lesson was finished and the guests went on with their night, we hung around to talk with the owners. They offered us free drinks so we all asked for Sprite, but the husband somehow mistook Cliff's order for a beer. I jumped at the opportunity to try the local brew. Belikin, Mayan Temple beer. Mmmm, 'twas really good. Good enough for me to buy a shirt at the airport when we left, and yes it did say "You Better BELIZE It!" on the back.

After seeing and gawking at our first tarantula of the trip, we hopped back into the van and took off back to Machaca for the night; making a pit stop at Papa Jop's, the local Jehovah's Witness, for a pizza for the road. It was delicious.

Here's the vlog, enjoy! Stay tuned for the last chapter!

Belize Bound! The Cayes of Belize (Chapter Four) from MannyG on Vimeo.

Music:
Architecture in Helsinki - "Escapee"
Metric - "Reflection #9"

Belize Bound! Mayan Ruins & Local Futbol (Chapter Three)

  On our third day down in Belize we got the opportunity to visit one of the many famous archaeological sites of Mayan Ruins with Don. Lubaantun (pronounced Lou-bawn-tune with a mysterious low accent) was where we tread upon and where they found the biggest of those perplexing, perfect crystal skulls. You know, the whole Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull spiel. WAS IT EXTRATERRESTRIALS WHO CRAFTED THEM??!?!?! Who knows... Maybe the end of 2012 is when they'll return, and that is what the Mayans were referring to when they ended their calendar!!! Eerrrrrrrrie (I love speculation). Anyway, we went and saw the rubble of genius craftsmanship from the Mayans. They apparently built their structures in a way that would prevent disaster from the many earthquakes in that age.

 

  A solid structure was assured by carving the end of each stone to wrap around the next to prohibit them from shifting. Pretty savvy!

  Our guide also showed us the grassy strip/lane where the Mayans had this fight to the death event. Those who were chosen would battle and the winner was even sacrificed to the "gods". Crafted stone helmets and stone knuckles were used in the fight, and these were on display in the tour hut as well, with all the Crystal Skull articles.

  The trees around and within the ruins were massive. Two types in particular were extremely interesting: Rubber and "Tourist" trees. The rubber trees seeped their leaky, milk-coloured latex sap, which is natural rubber of course. You will see a couple photos of this in my vlog below! Super cool. When the substance dries and hardens you can stretch it like those miniature Stretch Armstrongs we all loved as kids (I still love them! Can you even find them anymore?). The "Tourist" trees were self-explanatory as well (at least to the locals)... Tall, thin, and sun-burnt red! Hilarious. There's also a photo of one in the vlog!

  Another highlight was when we found a killer bees nest, extremely alive, in a tree cavity on site. I pretty much held my breath while passing it. I realized that I should get some video of them though, so you'll see that too in the vlog (don't worry, I kept a safe distance).

  When we left the site, many of the local women came down to the stream just before our van and laid out all their handcrafted souvenirs for purchase (they catch wind of tourist presence and rush over to set up camp to sell their gifts). We declined this time though and continued toward our van, which was parked up on the inevitably muddy hill. This was a problem. Don's 15-seater van was no match for the slant and muddiness of the hill. My Dad, Willie, and I all got behind the van and pushed while Don tried to make it to solid ground. We almost made it without any muddy casualties, however... my Dad, with a final shove, lost his footing and ended up face first in the mud! Willie and I loved it, as well as the local women who were watching from their souvenir spots. My Dad, being himself, laughed it off and hopped back in the van as quickly as he could. Fun times.

  We got back to the Machaca Center for lunch (the classic of chicken and fried beans on rice) to find out that one of the staff family's son, Austin (8 years old), almost cut off his big toe with his machete. The day before, he was bragging about killing snakes with it and now there he was, almost without his right big toe! The doctors are pretty sketchy down in Belize. The one they had gone to didn't want to stitch up the severed toe. Luckily, the nurse rightfully interjected and did it herself. Ridiculous! They only care if they're paid extra down there.

As Lindsey put it well...

Life Lesson: When wielding a machete, always swing away from yourself!

  Machetes are common tools down in Central America. It's always handy to have one with you when you're in the bush; just in case a snake is within striking distance. Seeing someone hacking the surrounding bush with their machete (for no apparent reason) is a regular occurrence, and it's awesome.

  Anyway, I will conclude this chapter with my soccer experience down in Punta Gorda. That afternoon, after our Mayan Ruins adventure, Willie and I went into town to play soccer with a local Grade 8 class. We brought plenty of soccer balls to give to the children and took to the field, splitting the class into three teams to play a mini world cup tournament. The field was (to no surprise) MUDDY! So we all ran around barefoot, kicking the ball in and out of the mud. They called us the "Big White Sirs". The joy on the kids faces was priceless.

  We also got the chance to play with a local club team a couple nights later. I brought my white indoor turf cleats down and obviously got them drenched with mud. So other than that hindrance, it was super fun to play with those guys. At first, they were hesitant to pass the ball to me because they didn't know my skill level (I also do not look like a fluent futbol player), but after a few touches they realized that I was decent. I was dubbed "The Ostrich" because of my lanky running figure. They couldn't get over it! We also gave the team a bunch of Phoenix jerseys (a Winnipeg Youth Soccer Club), which they could use for their league games.

  Here's the next vlog... It's just some snippets of what I've been talking about in this chapter. Enjoy. Ciao for now!

Belize Bound: Mayan Ruins & Local Futbol (Chapter Three) from MannyG on Vimeo.

This is my third installment of our trip down to Belize! We checked out the Mayan Ruins of Lubaantun, and also had fun playing soccer with a local Grade 8 class and a local club team. This video just shows some small snippets of the experience, nothing too elaborate! Enjoy!

Music:
Of Monsters and Men - "From Finner"

Belize Bound! A Whole New World (Chapter Two)

From the tiny Punta Gorda airport, we were picked up by the crew. Hopping into one of their vans, we then made the trek to their site. First of all, the main highways are nicely paved, but the side roads are vastly potholed (worse than expected). At the beginning it was funny when we hit our heads on the roof of the van, but by the end of the week we were road sick every time! It didn't help that our drivers would swerve and weave around the craters at suddenly decreased/increased speeds.
We arrived at their spacious Machaca Outreach Center (not pronounced Ma-cha-cha as my Dad hilariously mistook it to be, but Ma-cha-ka) where we would be staying for the next week. The place was located in a massive clearing, surrounded by lush rainforest. We have friends from London, ON (Don and Cliff) who also run a Technical College on site, and Don would keep reminding us that he had pretty much built everything there. Impressive; the buildings included a gymnasium with a basketball and volleyball court (all regulation, I was assured), dining hall, women's two-story dorm cabin, a few men's cabins, the outdoor technical college work hut, and ~5 house cabins (p.s. the gym, dining hall, and college work space were all practically outdoors with the exception of roofs). It was greatly developed, yet still contained the Belizean culture and feel. It was quite the place. The cabin where we slept felt like a classic anthropological setting. A long, four-roomed, stilted place with a screened-in hall/lobby area, wooden floors and walls, and a red, tin roof. The concrete stilts are needed because of flash flooding as well as for wildlife of course. On average Belize gets ~140-200 inches of rainfall per year! You better BELIZE IT (Ha, gotcha with the pun)! Every night it would pour, and I mean POUR! Plus, it wasn't even the rainy season when we were there... yikes. The downpours would arrive in increments of 10-15 minutes as well. So there would be breaks in between of nothing, then it would start up again. It was very hard to get to sleep, or get back to sleep! They said that sometimes, if they needed to get to the airport the next day, they would go into town the night before just in case the road became a river and they couldn't get across!
Rain also means mud... I'll get to a funny story in my next chapter.

You may be wondering what the reason was for us being there... Communication isn't the directors' forté, so only one thing was for certain: My Dad would be speaking on mental health and lecturing the staff on how to deal with the people involved in their ministry. Machaca is presently running a discipleship program for young adults/youth who have come from a troubled past of drug addiction. Even some of the staff have been down a troublesome road, and it was amazing to see how they had turned their lives around, credited to God's love, grace, and help (I would tell you some stories, but I do not believe it is my place to share those here!) The program is 12 months long from January to December and is based on Christian leadership development. A lot of these young adults/youth are from the directors' church back in California, so this program is to separate them from their past lifestyle and have them start-a-new in a drug-free environment (some are local Belizeans as well). They are mentored by the staff, trained biblically, help run a cafe/church in the town, and interact with the local community. For those who are interested, in the first month of the program Don and Cliff teach a trades course (either electrical, construction, etc.), then do a final group building project in one of the surrounding communities with the students. The primary focus is to teach/certify local Belizeans to equip them with the knowledge needed to help develop their own communities.

p.s. Much to our surprise, an old family friends' son was also there volunteering with the course, so it was great to catch up with him and see what he was up to as well.

We arrived during this course, so Willie and I did not have much to volunteer for at the centre. I took Grade 9 electronics, but I did not want to go near all of their practice circuit boards. In fact, our first day there we found a bat near death, struggling and flapping beneath one of the boards (you'll see some pictures in the second vlog). Bats weren't the only thing we discovered down there. The amount of species that live in the rainforest boggles my mind. Don went on and on and on, listing all of the creatures he has ran into, as well as those he thankfully hasn't ran into! So I'll list them here for you as well... Enjoy:

Jaguars, Jaguarundis (mini jags), Tarantulas, Tarantula Wasps, Iguanas (up to 7 feet), Barracudas, Tapirs, Killer Bees, Armadillos, Lizards, Jesus Lizards, Basilisks (not the Harry Potter kind), Manatees, Scorpions, Mighty Termites, Mighty Cockroaches (massive), Army/Fire Ants, Howler Monkeys, Fireflies (hundreds), Coral Snakes, Fer-de-Lance Vipers, Parrots, Vampire Bats, and MORE. UnBELIZEable.

They had it all. We were fascinated by the stories Don and Cliff told. Even walking around on site led to encounters with many new and exciting insects or animals. Whether it was parrots flying overhead, hearing playful growling in the bushes (jagurandis), stepping over a line of army ants (who marched nonstop all day in this line of who knows how many metres), or seeing a 4-inch long wasp stumble about unpredictably in the air. We were also told to always look on the other side of rocks or logs when we were walking because there could be a poisonous snake (fer-de-lance, or coral) coiled and waiting. However, our biggest shock came the first night when we were about to go to bed. But I'll let my second vlog tell/show the story of our first ever SCORPION experience... Check it OUT!


Belize Bound: A Whole New World (Chapter Two) from MannyG on Vimeo.
We arrived at the Machaca Outreach Center in the coastal tropical rainforest region of Punta Gorda, Belize. Creatures galore, we couldn't have imagined how many different types of species lived down there. In this second installment, we check out the center's site as well as some creature interaction. Enjoy!

Music:
Grouplove - "Tongue Tied"
The Antlers - "No Widows" (Daytrotter Session)

Belize Bound! BON VOYAGE! (Chapter One)

As you may have noticed by now, I work at my own pace. That said, I'm kind of disappointed that it has taken me this long to get going on blogging about my incredible experience in Belize. So let's get this show on the road!

~~~

BUD LIGHT, MILLER LIGHT, HEINEKEN... CAAHHHH-ROHHNA! This beer seller was serious. He would walk up and down the steep aisle with an intense glare that would charm American bills out of anyone's pockets. A few people in front of us were finally coaxed and hailed him over. They ordered a few Bud Lights and asked how much it would cost them. The man as he poured the second of the two, exclaimed, "$27!" They were choked... "I guess it's too late now," one of the guys said as he forked over two twenties. He replied, "These are King Cans, boys!" and went off for his next sale... "BEER, HERE! BEER... HERE!" 
Too funny!

We were at the Miami Heat game vs. the San Antonio Spurs, and it was our night lay-over until heading down, over the Gulf, to our destination of Belize. We were fortunate enough to snag some nose-bleed tickets for this clash of super talent. It was just our luck that the game turned out to be a doozy. LeBron James probably had his worst first half of the season, which resulted in the fans booing him, as he did not score a point until a free-throw (1 for 5 from the strip & probs 0 for 6 FG wise, mind you) late in the second quarter! UNBELIZEABLE! Oops, I meant unbelievable. I'm not even in Belize at this point... I'll try and save those puns for later; just you wait! Anyway, Tony Parker just TOOK OVER in the first half. He was relentless, hitting everything as well as driving and draining ridiculous runners. However, it was in the second half when the three-headed beast of Chris Bosh, LeBron James, and... nope not Dwayne Wade (who was injured), but Mike Miller was unleashed!! James went 4 for 6 and Miller went 6 for 6 from behind the arc! The arena was going nuts, it was quite an exciting game. The icing on the cake was definitely Bosh's 360⁰-pivot-two-handed-throw-down, which he uncorked from the free-throw line. Ultimately, the Heat came back from a 20+ deficit and ended up winning 120-98. What a game!

With an early flight in the morning, we headed back to the hotel and crashed. Our journey had just begun and it felt like we had been gone for a while already.

After arriving in Belize City, we were greeted by the inevitable, touristy nature of it's airport. It was hilarious. This picture captures it the best:

Pushing that aside, we couldn't wait to discover the raw country itself. As well as to see what life was like for the locals and also the outreach team, with whom we were going to be staying with!

TO BE CONTINUED...

Here is the first installment of my short Belize vlog series! Watch to check out some clips and pictures of our trip. Enjoy!


This is my first vlog installment of our trip to Belize. My Dad, Brother and I had an amazing experience hanging out with an outreach team in Punta Gorda in the south district of Toledo. Here is just a taste of what it looked like...

Music:
Kanye West & JAY Z - "Gotta Have It"
M83 - "Echoes of Mine"

A Belizean Prologue of Sorts

Disregarding social networking... If you've been wondering whether or not I'm alive or if I was eaten by some Belizean jungle cat... I arrived ALIVE! Currently, I am sitting in UofM's library watching the Starbucks line increase to 30 people. Okay, maybe not 30; at least 20. Who am I kidding, I'll definitely stand in line once it goes down. Gotta use up those Christmas gift cards, you know?

I've been home for a week now, but have been busy with finishing up missed assignments, labs, and also studying for two tests, then writing them the next day (I'm bad for that). But now I'm FREE (somewhat) to blog about my amazing experience down in Central America. I hope to post a "chapter" of my trip for each day I was there, including stories, intriguing info, and even vlog snippets as well. I figure it would be better to produce small short clips instead of one long time consuming video (which I've done a lot of in the past). So hopefully you agree! And I also hope you don't mind Belize puns because I may pull out a few, just sayin'. Stay tuned!