January 2nd
Flew out of Philadelphia airport and landed in Houston Texas. From there we got on another plane to Belize. On the plane we met a really nice guy named Leo who is a native to Belize but was going to school in California. On the ride down we asked him all kinds of different questions about the country, where to go, what to see and do and he was extremely helpful to us. When we arrived in Belize City we were going to have to take a taxi to the bus terminal and then from there, a bus to San Ignasio where we would be staying. But since Leo was getting picked up from the airport by his parents and they were going toward San Ignasio anyway offered to take us most of the way with them. On the way to our destination we stopped at an outside restaurant and got some food. After we left there they drove us to the bus terminal that was 20min outside San Ignasio. Before parting ways we got Leo and his brothers number so we could arrange some time to hang out and go camping or something.

While waiting for the bus to come I decided to go up to someone at a nearby building and ask him how often the bus normally comes. He told us usually 20 minutes but today it was running behind so we just sat around and talked to him for a while. After a while and no bus a taxi came by and asked us we’d like a ride to San Ignasio for $5 Belize ($2.50 US) each. Sold. There was also another couple in the taxi from Australia who travels the world to developing countries to help farming. The taxi dropped them off first on the way and then took us the rest of the way. We learned his name was Ramos and he was a native to Gautamala who moved here 25 years ago and decided to stay because of family, really nice guy and we had some good conversation on the drive. When we left he gave us his number and told us if we ever need a ride anywhere just give me a call and I’ll come pick you up and take you wherever.

Before he left we asked to use his phone to call Marvin (the guy we’re renting our house from) and arrange for him to come pick us up. The phone was kind of breaking up and I could barely hear what Marvin was saying but it sounded like he said he’d be there shortly and then the call disconnected. I thanked Ramos anyway and just figured ok whatever if he doesnt come in a while we’ll just find another phone to call him on. Ramos then left to drive some more people around. 20Min or so later he came back to tell us Marvin had called him back and wanted to let us know he’d be by shortly to get us. 5 hours in the country and we’ve already met more nice people than in America. Seriously every person we’ve encountered so far has just been extremely helpful and friendly in every way possible. You feel so welcomed here unlike at home.

After a short bit we met up with Marvin and hopped in another taxi to take to the house (which is walking distance from the middle of town but up a giant hill so taxi was easier with all our crap.) When we got to the house we were both blown away. We were expecting a big house but seriously nothing like this, its huge. Marvin showed us around the house and to our room. We then hung out on the balcony for the night just enjoying the amazing view and all getting to know each other. At around 7ish Alex and I decided to call it a night since we were so exhausted from the plane ride and lack of sleep from the previous day. So we got into bed and were layin there about to fall asleep when we saw this huge black shape flying around….. first thing to cross both our minds was awwww shittttt there’s a big ol bat in the room. I decided to get out of bed and check out what it was with a light. Turns out it was a ginormous moth that was bigger than my hand. We also had a cool little lizard come and join us that night. So of all things to get into the room, we made out well.

Jan 3rd
We woke up early since we went to bed so damn early the night before. Not wanting to wake anyone else up we decided to go for a walk and explore the Mayan ruins behind the house. Marvin had told us the night before it was just down the trail behind the house but that was it. So we decided to go on a little adventure. We found the ruins without much trouble at all. Walking around them was amazing, especially since no one else was there aside from us. The whole time I couldnt help but think, holy shit….this is in my back yard….. we decided to head back after a bit since we were both starting to get really hungry. When we got back to the house we found Marvin and Kinki our other roommate both awake. Kinki said he was going into town to catch a bus so he’d walk with us to show us the way into town and where to eat. We ended up eating a little place called Pops. I got a vegetable omelet with a side of two waffles and fruit and Alex got Rancheros with a side of Fried Jacks. The food was amazing. And the fruit….my god…. going down here I assumed I’d be eating some awesome fruit but I didnt really think about the common stuff back home like bananas or oranges. Eating a truly fresh banana was like trying a new fruit for the first time, just so amazing tasting, even star fruits which I normally consider to be pretty bland were amazing. We were both stuffed after the meal and it only ended up costing 14 dollars and we were ordering the more expensive stuff on the menu. You could easily get a really good filling meal there for less than 5 bucks.

After breakfast we decided to explore the town a bit and just walked around to various stores. We both got a cool little bracelet with a hand carved stone representing the symbol from the Mayan calendar for the month we were born in. From there we bought some stuff we needed for the house like hangers and outside the store there was someone selling passion fruit ice cream of 50 cents. I mean really who could pass that up? And it like everything else we’ve encountered so far, was amazing. From there we decided to walk down to the river and relax. We saw some fish in the river and fed them some of the left over fried jacks from breakfast. We also saw a really cool caterpillar and a colony of leaf cutter ants. We then decided to walk back to the house and do some stuff around here and I decided to sit down and write this lovely little thing. More to come in the future though I’m not sure how detailed I’ll be through out all this since this took me a good 20 min to remember/write but there will be plenty of pictures. Now we’re both hungry again so back to town to find some more awesome food.

(ok so im going to try and keep everyone posted on what we’re doing down there but i quickly realized there is no way in hell i’ll be able to write anywhere near that amount of detail in future posts because well theres is just too much cool shit goin on to write about it all.)