Slow Travel…. Just heard this phrase the other day! It was described to me as traveling at a pace that gives you the opportunity to take in the area! Or like Mom said “stop to smell the roses”. That’s exactly what I am doing!
BELIZE A small country in Central America I chose this country because they spoke English, the USD is good, and it was tropical. After three years of immersion I really have embraced the people that I have met.
Following are my interpretations of the focal points of my adventures!
Arriving with three huge suitcases of worldly possessions! Taxi to Benque town…..arriving at Steve and Juliet’s Hotel Resort overlooking the Town and part of the river. Got settled in and off to explore the town. You never know what you will find * Little homes where people might sell anything from food to hardware in an odd configuration * Chinese have dominated the larger food stores in every town* Tiny home front bars and food vendors (corn,rice, and beans)* Kids are dressed in uniforms representing their school..Roman Catholic * streets are in various forms, paved, dirt, pot holes * women with umbrellas ..didn’t understand until I walked in the heat without one! * There is everything you might need within a town usually in different configuration than we are used to.
Benque is on the Guatemalan border…primarily Spanish and Maya descendants with English spoken by the majority .The border is a free trade zone with aggressive money exchangers, border patrol guards present, with their uniforms and machine guns…Very bustling place daily!
Ten miles out from town is Better In Belize where my property is. The road is dirt and always in need of repair. A beautiful ride into the rain forest….always coming accross something interesting, a cow, horse, reptile, workers with machete or a load of wood strapped to their back. There are about twenty Belizean families living along this road ….but I have no idea where because there are only a foot paths that come to the main road. A old imported yellow school bus travels this road daily during the school season to transport children to and from school…the driver will take others along the way for a small fee! I have ridden several times and have always been entertained by the kids or the dog that rides along slobbering out the window!
Martz Farm treehouse is along this route about 8.5 miles in. A large family property with 14 siblings each owning their share of the estate. I am aquatinted with 5 who I visit and hang out with, each with their own self constructed home. Great family! I will go to the farm and just hang out.
Martz Adventures:
- Horse back riding into the jungle
- Caving
- Listening to Joes poetry in a dark cave
- Flood flys before a rain
- Cooking over a wood fire
- Pontoon boating with Laz
- Climbing waterfalls
- Sitting in waterfall pools and having tiny fish eat your dead skin
- Soaking in hand made swimming pool with crystal clear fresh water
- Eating fresh coconut and sugar cane
- Watching howler, spider monkeys, toucans and other exotic birds in the trees!
- Meeting visitors and good conversation
- Peacefulness of the jungle
- Staying over nite with Lucy and Millie in homes they designed and made themselves
- Watching and assisting Miriam cook for their guests
- Going to the market with Miriam ..
Moving on down to Hopkins town …on the ocean. A place of Expats, Creoles and Garifuna decent. My home was the Funky DoDo hostel four months! Anna and Roy are accommodating hosts and its “home away from home” to their diversified guests. I counted thirty two countries while I stayed! The Hostel animals where a great touch and they receive plenty of loving. Some of the highlights of my stay where:
- Conversation of travel journeys and backgrounds over a few Beliken beers
- Pot luck dinners
- The local characters
- Funeral processions parading past on Main Street
- The local veggie vendor with a truck full to buy from
- The mango festival
- Hanging on the beach daily
- Snorkeling on the reef
- looking for crocks in the mango groves at night
- observing nite of bio luminescence (where fresh and salt water combine)
- pizza and beer …listening drumming on the beach
- local celebration of holiday festivities
Visited a local Shaman for a cleansing ceremony she waved smoking herbs/ plants over and around me ..chanting her rituals. I then had to go to the river to throw the ashes in .
Visited a cocoa farm to learn the process of chocolate making …then we got to do and sample!
Volunteered on Quinton & Dashas organic farm … choc. truffle making, harvesting, cleaning and packaging Chia, pruning trees, picking fruit, feeding animals, observing butchering and learning the processes. Counted over sixty fruit, veggies and herbs they grow! Satisfying days work, with a great home made meal as the final touch!
Journey Patricia 