Thursday, July 31, 2008

Back in Rockport, TX 78358


So here I am back again - missed Rockport while I was in Guatemala; although I had a great journey to Semuc Champey and across the highlands of Guatemala to San Christobal de las Casas in Mexico.
















Along the way, I passed through market days in some great little villages and towns where indigenous dress changed from place to place and the marimba band played in the plaza at Huehuetenango.


I can certainly understand why Liz loves living here in Rockport! Despite the humidity, it's easy to enjoy life here. This
was the delightful sight that greeted us in the lane at the end of Liz's road as we drove out today....
....a baby armadillo, so incredibly busy munching away it was unaware of the rising sun or of me so close by.


Yesterday we went out on a boat Liz is taking care of, with her next-door neighbour Lonnie in the captain's seat.
(Deb and Al will be amused to know that we went to a shrimp boil a few weeks ago to celebrate Lonnie's installation in the chair of the local lodge!) Headed out from the canals of Key Allegro into the Gulf and on to Copano Bay.

We're feeling a bit shaken up today from all the bouncing around. Sadly my Apollo Bay music festival hat (yep that one with the paint smears from the ashram) went flying in the middle of the Gulf; fortunately Lizzie captured it on camera for posterity..
Off to Castaways now to get a new one!

Monday, July 21, 2008

Belize and back again

Spent a great couple of days in El Remate and Tikal. Trekked through the rainforest in Biotopo Cerro Cahui in the pouring rain with howler monkeys growling away deep in the jungle whenever the rain stopped.

Next day off to Tikal and Mayan ruins, but met this little tapir on the path at left on my way from Temple IV and just around the bend came across an
other one frantically tearing away at big strips of bark in a feeding frenzy.

It seemed quite happy for me to click away but at the call of a bird in the trees above, he pulled his snout out of the bark and set off.


Shared most of the early dawn morning with lots of small brown monkeys running across paths and leaping through trees. This fellow was one of a couple I came across leaping through the trees in the afternoon. They´re a lot less aggressive than those of India, so I was quite happy to enjoy their play.
Whilst I enjoyed the day at Tikal and especially being able to put some of this Mayan legacy into Miguel my Columbian prosecutor friend from Yaxha, had explained in French-Spanglish, I thought it time to head for Belize and maybe some more jungle or beach time at the cayes, but I arrived in San Ignacio just in time to seek refuge from the afternoon downpour in the small Mayan museum attached to the Cahal Pech (Land of Ticks!) site. This site features a grand Mayan palace and I couldn´t resist a look....

Back in San Ignacio
town, I met a lovely woman of Belize, Darline, an artist and bookstore owner who put it all in perspective. Her theory in response to why the Maya suddenly deserted their fabulous cities, is that the ordinary people they used for indentured labour most likely just downed tools and walked away. Well we spent a very pleasant afternoon speculating on all kinds as things as only two womyn can.. Before long the sun was setting over the river,
the radio was issuing warnings of tropical storms on coastal Belize, and I who had spent a week´s Indian budget in less than 24 hours in Belize, decided I´d leave coastal plans behind and head back to Guatemala the next day.


Back in the delightful Flores now. Off to Lanquin and the highlands tomorrow.

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Guatemala

After a 2 day journey which involved a Greyhound bus to Monterrey in NE Mexico, an ealy morning flight to Houston, followed by a late morning flight out, I finally arrived in Guatemala in the early afternoon.



Spent a couple of hours at the airport, but this is what I spent my time enjoying... It's not just the views either, the atmosphere here is delightful





Flew on to Flores in the Peten, the lowland jungle in the north of the country which is the location of many Mayan cities. This is what greeeted me from the hotel balcony, Lake Peten Itza. It's also the view from my balcony...






And as these things go, in the middle of my after-breakfast stroll to explore the island of Flores, I somehow ended up going to visit the Mayan ruins at Yakja, some 80 kms away and as I discovered on my return to Flores - the site of Survivor 2005 - with Miguel, a prosecutor from Bogota in Columbia on his first ever holiday by himself! I think he must have been de-stressing. He translated Spanish into French for me, I got the gist of about half of it but what an interesting day.

My first sight of Mayan civilisation and in the twin-pyramid structures peculiar to Tikal (the more famous site) and Yaxja.

Looking forward to tomorrow's adventure: who knows where that will take me!

Monday, July 7, 2008

Mexico

We just got back from spending a few days in Mexico over the 4 July weekend. It rained nearly all the time but as we were on a coach tour it wasn't too uncomfortable. However one of the main places we visited where we didn't sit on the bus for most of the day was Real de Catorce http://www.realdecatorce.net and we couldn't do a lot of exploring there because it was wet wet wet!

But the old cobblestone streets made it easy
to walk without slipping, even in Liz's boat shoes with the drainage holes in the heel which also sucked the water up. I had brought them with me instead of my own walking 'boots' for the warm weather which I had expected in Mexico even if we were in the mountains.


I didn't mind much because we were back at our hotel
at a lower altitude by 4pm and the sun was shining in time to go into town. It poured again while we were having dinner and the streets became a raging torrent in the time it took to eat a quesadilla! Luckily a taxi with one little Mexican lady stopped for us and we arrived back not too wet.


And speaking of food I ate a yummy cactus flower and cactus sprout salad that did wonders for the digestive system...




Very miserable on the bus on the next day (raining and raining and all we seemed to do was endless travel on the bus - missed the independent travel!)


I love travelling although I feel perhaps a little trepidation at heading to South America without any Spanish after the . Next week I plan to be in Guatemala for a couple of weeks. I'll be back in time to head to Miami to fly to Peru. I've been emailing with a woman in Chile who tells me the time I plan to go there will be rainy season still and far too cold to go the far south as I'd planned. So after the rain in Mexico last week and as there's all that volcanic ash still filling up the atmosphere in other parts of Chile I'm interested in, I've decided to spend only my last few South American days in Chile and use the extra time to travel to Ecuador and Bolivia from Peru.


Just had some sad news from Laura who I stayed with in West Bengal; ITTM will no longer exist in Kalimpong. Just after Laura's stint as coordinator ended and she had returned to England, Barbara who set up the trust and the centre, returned to an indefinite strike in Kalimpong. Ghorkas are seeking an independent homeland and are very active politically. There had been a number of strike days already during the time I was in and around Darjeeling & Kalimpong. Everything is closed, including transportation at these times.

It was very difficult for such a place as ITTM to exist whilst there was ongoing uncertainty from the
unsettled political situation in the Darjeeling Hills. ITTM, the trust, will continue to exist; Barbara's view is that it's just time for some transitioning. I am so glad I had the opportunity to be in Kalimpong and stay at ITTM.

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Galveston oh...

Went on a daytrip with Liz a few days ago to Galveston which was so gorgeous. Still lots of history to the island despite the hurricanes.


Only downside was, Liz wasn't having a bar of me singing Galveston, Oh Galveston on the way, but we did get to do some really cool stuff like driving along the beach...and eating catfish.



Thanks to Liz's friend Claudette I also got to tick off another item on the checklist - she told us about the old Galveston soda fountain. Here's my yummy cherry soda!

The checklist - Hmm, well I've also now met a Skip - he'd been to a crawfish boil and bought us a big bag of crawfish to feast on; they're just like yabbies!


Sunday went for a great walk around Port Aransas. There is a fabulous birding center with alligators (which I didn't get to see!), turtles and lots of cranes and waders and fantastic roseate spoonbills.



And one just for Helen... I finished up my walk at the beach and there she was - south Texas surfer woman
heading out to the surf!