The "I Almost Crapped My Pants" Day

Belize. Known by most for it's outstanding natural preserves which hold unbelievable animal and plant diversity. Known by me as the place we nearly died multiple, multiple times at the hands of terrifyingly unconcerned drivers.

The ship had to anchor off of the shore a good mile or so and we took small boats to shore. I think that living with a person who works in safety has rubbed off on me in a not-so-good way. I kept looking around for life jackets on this small boat that was literally PACKED full of people. They kept telling us to squish together more so more people could fit onto the boat. There were no life jackets. And the fire extinguisher was rusted. The boat helpers were like TWELVE years old so they would have been useless in an emergency. You can blame AJ for my obsession with life jackets. Here are some pictures so you can see for yourself what a freaky panic-y person I am:




Do you see a life jacket?? I don't EITHER!! AHHHH!!

Like sweaty uncomfortable sardines. . .

The twelve year old showing off while the boat went full speed toward land.


Then we transferred onto a bus. It was a very old bus and the air conditioning wasn't functioning at all. It was at least 85 degrees out and 99% humidity. We got to stay on the bus for 1.5 hours. We were on our way to a newly discovered archaeological site that was supposed to be amazing. It is 32 square MILES in size and is only just beginning to be excavated. So exciting!! I didn't really care about the AC not working because we were headed into the jungle baby, just like Indiana Jones!! Did I mention that I took a LOT of anthropology and archaeology classes? That might explain my interest in Archaeology a little bit.

The problem I had was the driver. He scared the crap out of me. He kept running the tires on the bus off the edge of the road at incredibly fast speeds (at least 55 mph or more). Each time he did it we were on a curve in the road and were passing someone. It really stressed me out. Badly.

AJ and other passengers dealt with the terror by trying to sleep. Sleeping did not work for me.


The freaky bus driver.


We arrived at a dock on the side of this rural country road. From this point we boarded a patio boat with seats and headed another 1.5 hours up the New River. We saw all sorts of wildlife and we finally had a competent and nice driver!! Here are some pics:

Spider Monkey


We passed a Mennonite compound. The guide told us they were so isolated out here on the river that they began to have "genetic problems" from cousins marrying cousins. We saw several members of this group selling peanuts on the side of the road and several more members were fishing along the river. It was really funny because after the guide told us about them we saw some Mennonites fishing and we all busted out our cameras and took pictures. I was no exception. I stood up with the rest of the passengers to get a real honest to God photograph of a real live Mennonite!! Success!! (Yes I realize that I see Mennonites all around New Mexico, but the whole group mentality took over - when one person does it we all had to do it. Mooooooo. I'm one of the herd I guess.)

Part of the Mennonite compound

Psst!! There they are! The most elusive creature of them all!!! (I'm making fun of myself for taking the picture of these nice people in case you can't tell.)


We finally arrived at the site. Half of our group was unable to walk the 1.5 mile uneven trail to see the different areas. So they all sat in the shade at the "food hut". See how out of breath they all are? We walked 50 feet from the boat and I took this picture. They all busted out the water and . . . eye drops? Anyway. It was weird that they paid all this money for this tour and knew what the physical requirements were.


This is the first temple we came to. It was also the smallest one we saw. They were actively excavating it (lower left side behind the yellow tape) when we walked up. All the workers stopped for the tourists.


This is a large face on the side of the temple, an identical one is on the opposite side. They are going to remove this face from the temple to protect it from the elements. It is composed of limestone and with the frequent rains it won't hold up well unless it is reburied. . . which isn't going to happen. An identical one will be put in it's place for tourists.


This is a drawing of the face and the area around it. The measurements that they record are as you can imagine very detailed.


Sing it with me now: In the jungle, the mighty jungle, the lion sleeps toniggghhht


One of three really large temples.


The tourists (and I confess, us too) were more interested in the howler monkeys in the tree than the temple. We had just emerged from the jungle when the monkeys caught our attention, so no one had really even glanced at the temple when I took this photo. I thought it was really funny that everyone was facing the wrong way.


This is one of many attempts to get the temple behind us but not the sun glare in the picture.


My "Coke Light" had some health advice for me. I think I'll take the advice.


This little building is the "Immigration Office" back at port.


The bus ride back was even more terrifying that the one there. But I survived and my underwear was remarkably unsoiled.