Ben & Andrea's Amazing Adventures

Attack of the Sand Flies!

2009-01-23T06:38:00.000-08:00

They call them blackflies here but they aren't the same as at home. But they sure do bite! I had these little red marks all over my arms last night but I didn't think much of them. But this morning they have turned into itchy red welts!!!! They are driving me INSANE.....
It's too cold mosquitoes up here so I wasn't really looking out for bugs... I am sorry for it now though.
So we had a wonderful long sleep last night we went to bed at 8:30pm we were SO tired after all that hiking, the temperature dipped to about 10 degrees last night so we lit the fire and put lots of wood on and crawled under the comforters into bed. We work up around 6:30am this morning and came up to the main house for our last breakfast.
I keep getting teary moments about leaving and going home. I miss people and I my house but I don't actually want my normal boring routine life back.... I know it's silly but I keep crying it's just been the most incredible month ever.
okay I have to go back to the room now and pack all my things... a chore I have been trying to put off all morning... it's 8:50am, our transport shuttle to the airport leaves at 10:30am....

Add on...at 10:15am

So we are just waiting to leave now...
and I was reliving all the wonderful foods I have tasted while here... some that I forgot to talk about!

*bananas in rum sauce SO yummy..... was I think my favourite dessert we had this at Trek Stop.
*coconut icecream was also very good. Ben liked the soursop icecream.
*Lobster I can't stop thinking about how good all the fish was. snapper was good and I loved the fish burgers!
*we tried Guatemalan Fried Chicken, I already forget the chain name but it's a huge chain in central America and they opened some in the USA now too... they like their fried chicken!
*Ceviche! SO good here.... I LOVE and Ben LOVES ceviche! we will miss it dearly when we go home.

Trevor called me the resident foodie in the group. Since I know and got really excited about food!
Ashely thought it was really cool how excited and how much I expressed my love of food...lol.... she was the veggie in the group but loved how I talked about food and at least appreciated eating meat etc.... Yes so I am the "foodie"

we hadn't heard that many good things about food in Belize we thought it would be mostly bland and plain... I am happy that we were SO wrong!

Last Day of Vacation

2009-01-22T14:42:00.000-08:00

So as the afternoon draws to a close after a very long day I am a bit sad. Going home with be a tough adjustment. This has truly been the trip of a lifetime, nothing I have ever done compares to this.

Today Ben & I woke up had Breakfast at 7am and left at 8am for our visit to 1000 ft falls. (which is actually 1600 ft tall since the British Army did a repelling exercise a couple years ago and measured it) It's the tallest in Central America. Our car & guide waited for us while we viewed the falls to take us to on actual drop off point for the days hike ahead.

Our drop off point was the beginning of the Cascade Trail and we hiked along the trail for most of the morning I would say, there are many foot bridges, ladders and zig zags across a stream with many mini waterfalls and pools where you can go for a swim. It was very beautiful and I really enjoyed that part of the hiking the most because it was visually so interesting and like a series of monkey bars and jungle gyms to play on!
There is a cold front here so it was a bit cool for swimming but we did have our swim suits just in case the mood struck us.

Then we hiked along the road for a while and hopped on the Lizard Trail which took us to the trail to the Secret Falls & Hidden Pools where we hiked along for 45 mins about before we climbed down into a steep valley to find a private paradise just for us! It was truly a secret waterfall and hidden pool!
There was a little covered dining area & hammocks where we ate our packed lunch and had a little relax. It was so special and lovely.
We set up the camera and the automatic timer and posed in front of the falls & pool so we could have a photo as couple to look back on and remember.

Then we continued on to our next trail Butterfly Falls. It was quite the hike in but the falls were SPECTACULAR! Then we hiked up to High Point where we had a wonderful view of the whole area of Mountain Pine Ridge. It was quite the view! I hadn't realized how high we had climbed.

We also saw thousands and thousands of leaf cutter ants. Ben and I never got tired of finding the ant highways and trying to find out which tree the ants were using and then follow their highways and find the home base! We must have taken SO many photos of leaf cutter ants, we seriously never got bored of them.

We also tried not to step on them, but on the Butterfly Trail we were nearly falling off the trail because the ants were using the trail and the bridge as their own personal highway! They are very cool insects.

It's really interesting because at one level (the highest) the whole area is a true forest of pine! And then if you go down into the valleys it's broad leaf jungle forest again! All day long we went back & forth between the 2 distinct forest types. There is a very clear line which divide each one which is very interesting.

Anyways at High Point I bailed on the hiking at 3pm I called and got pick up. I was tired and my leg (which a pulled a muscle in yesterday climbing the temples at Caracol was giving me problems & pain) so Ben took the radio and continued onward to Devil's Falls on his own and then he is going to walk back to the Inn. If dark falls before he gets back to the Inn he will radio for a pickup.

On the drive back I saw a Jumping Pine Viper snake. (I think that's the name) He was sunning himself in the sun after just eating, he was very fat! and he was very poisonous. The driver/guide pulled over and let me get out of the van to take a closer look, but still a good distance away! I didn't get a photo because Ben had the camera though.

Because the Inn owns 7200 acres of property and there are over 90 miles of trail systems when you leave on a hike they give you a 2 way radio in case of any problems and also so you can get someone to come and pickup you up between trails or take you back to the Inn etc. It's a very good idea I think and came in handy.

When I got back to the Inn I went in the Hot Tub! then went and had a shower came up to the main house and I am having a coffee and updating the blog. It's about 5:10pm now. I expect Ben back around 6:30pm or so. I am going to be hungry I worked up a appetite today! Oh wow! Ben is back and it's only 5:15! He has gone back to the room now to shower and change since he is gross & sweaty! lol...

Well I guess this is almost the end.

Tomorrow we fly out at 3:25pm from Belize International Airport and we arrive in Toronto around 11:30pm or something like that it's going to be a long COLD day of travel.

This has been the best vacation ever! the only thing that would have made it better I think is if Mike, Pauline, Nathan & Katey, Mom, Dad and Jeanetter could have come with us I think it would have been really cool to have done a big family vacation and broken up into groups depending on what activies you wanted to do etc.... Maybe sometime in the future we can do something like that.

We are SO coming back to Belize again!

Okay that's it for now.....

Caracol and more!

2009-01-21T16:39:00.000-08:00

Last night the sky was black and the stars were shinning more brightly than I can remember for a long time, it was amazing and quiet!
We went from the cheapest yummiest meal where I was smashing my lobster open with beer bottles to the most expensive meal of our whole trip where they move silverware around for you in 24 hours... quite the change!

Caracol

Is totally different than Tikal but equally as amazing and stunning. We were one of four groups the entire day! So we had the WHOLE place to ourselves which was SO nice and incredible.... There wasn't more than 16 people total in the WHOLE site.

Our guides picked up in a big red Jeep much more appropriate than the little car we drove up in yesterday for these roads....

It was about a 30 min drive to the check point which is the Ranger station to wait for the rest of the cars to arrive to begin the convoy.
While we waited we had a pee stop and I played with new baby puppies only a couple weeks old! SO CUTE!

Then at 9:30 we started the convoy in to Caracol with our soldiers.
Tikal is only 14 miles away from Caraol and less than that to the Guatemalan boarder.
Caracol & Tikal were at war were each other frequently ...... with such a space between them I can see how and why!

On the drive in to Caracol which is 22 miles from the ranger station we saw a group of 6 Scarlet Macaws! WILD ONES! They were stunning. Dad would have flipped out I am sure!

We also saw 3 toucans and a bunch of other birds. Our guides knew LOTS about birds, it's his favourite hobby.
We also saw a toucan that had been attacked by a hawk but was being taken care of and was going to be fine in a couple days to be released. When we saw him he was laying in a box with a towel, he was very beautiful. They were feeding him bananas and papayas. lucky bird!

We were allowed to climb everything and go EVERYWHERE in Caracol. It was very cool. We even went right inside the burial chambers and tombs!

Everything there is so intact compared to any other site I have viewed. It was stunning, totally stunning. Mom and Dad would be SO amazed you would love it, totally love it. And love that there is NO other people!!!!

After Caracol, we stopped at the Frio Cave which is a very large cave but very short you can see each opening from the 2 entrances & exits.

Then we stopped at the Rio On Pools on nice days you can stop and swim there, but the sun had gone away and it was cloudy and cool. But it was nice to stop for a photo. Ben says he could have spent all day taking photos there. It was very pretty.

Then our guide took us to Big Rock Waterfall. Quite the STEEP hike down, a short walk, but very difficult! There was one other group there of like 12 people and Ben went swimming in the pools at the bottom of the waterfall.
He said the water was pretty cold but he stayed in a while and played. I wasn't feeling that great the bumpy roads had made me a little car sick so I was a bit dizzy and didn't go in, plus likely too cold for me anyways. On the way back I sat in the front of the jeep which was better.

Our guides dropped us at 5:30pm and we came back and showered and Ben is having a beer in the bar with his computer and I am having a glass of wine typing.
Dinner is at 7pm... 20 mins which is good because I am STARVING!

After dinner we are going to take a bottle of wine back to our room, lite the fire and play some cribbage!

Hidden Vally Inn is the nicest place we have ever stayed as a couple. We discussed it last night.... by far the nicest and most exspensive. It's totally awesome here and really romantic.

Hidden Valley Inn on the Mountain Pine Ridge...

2009-01-20T17:15:00.000-08:00

We began our travels today at 10am and arrived here at the resort at 4:30pm it was a LONG day, made a little tough by me not feeling 100%, I was kinda very out of it during the travels, but at least it was on a travel day and not an activity day! (that would have been much much worse)

So we got to San Ignacio and hired a taxi to drive us to the resort, which is on a dirt road the WHOLE 1 hour was on a DIRT road, and seriously dude's car took a major beating! I few times I thought the car was just going to breakdown.

Even though the taxi driver had taken some air out of the tires I was still very sure that we blew a tire a few times and was shocked when we didn't. I was happy though that the driver checked the spare first before we headed out of town.

Finally after a very bumpy, dusty 1 hour drive we make it to the most beautiful place I have ever laid eyes on! It's a gorgeous resort with great decor, fireplaces in the bar, dining room, lounge, reception, living room etc... and they are all lit this evening and I am sitting here on the computer drinking a glass of red wine. Ben is on his computer, and I am doing my thing on here, listening to soft music and the sound of fire crackling in the background. It's picture perfect!

I had forgotten how much I missed having really hot water! When we checked in the first thing I did was have a hot shower and crawl into the comfy bathrobe and read the literature on what there is do here with Ben.

We have booked Caracol for tomorrow. We leave at 8am to hook up with the convoy that leaves at 9:15am. The convoy has an armed guard escort to prevent robberies and holdups that were happening along the road by Guatemalans who were sneaking across the border to terrorize tourists heading to Caracol (which is a Belizan Mayan Site) Anyways now everyone goes together once a day and leaves once a day in this convoy with the army escort and there hasn't been any problems since they began doing it this way.

I am very excited for Caracol tomorrow! I should be feeling better tomorrow too, so I am not too worried about that.. and when we get back from Caracol I have set my mind on swimming in the pool and heated Jacuzzi they have here!

I love this place I could live here forever! Okay now I'm going to go and check out dinner!

Last Thoughts on Caye Caulker

2009-01-20T16:59:00.000-08:00

So today we left Caye Caulker we took the 10:00am Water Taxi to Belize city, then took public bus to San Ignancio where we got a taxi to Hidden Valley Inn... but more on that later....
Now some thoughts from my final day on the Caye that I thought up while in transit today...

I will never again be able to eat pineapple anywhere else after here because it's so fresh & sweet!

I LOVE coconut milkshakes and could drink them every day.

I also LOVE bbq'ed lobster and the price!
I had a whole lobster w/ garlic mashed potatoes, rice & beans, rum punch and a strawberry cheesecake for dessert last night all for the price of $25.00 Belizian! Which is $12.50 USD.

I also LOVE the fresh squeezed orange juice, for 1 litre it's $5.00 Belzian or $2.50 USD I am forever spoiled now by the fresh orange juice I was buying here every morning!

So we went to The Spilt and lay around yesterday morning and I went in for a short swim and snorkel.
Ben also snorkeled for a bit, it was nice and calm, good for him to swim around and not get overwhelmed by the salt, currents & waves.

By about noon I wasn't feeling so well, my old friend endo decided to give me a very difficult day... so I had to go back to room, take some drugs and lay down. by dinner I was feeling a little better thus my WONDERFUL dinner as descibed above.

Trevor joined us for dinner (since the group is done now he has a week off before his next gap tour) Trevor said he would hook up with contacts for the next time we want to come down here and visit. I said it would be a while a few years, but even so he said no problem.
I think we will very likely do at least 2 weeks in Nicaragua (with Trevor's help we have become VERY interested!!! and Honduras (Copan in particular for another week) and maybe like 5 days of Belize to hit up the spots we missed for our next vacation.

Sunday and yesterday were both sunny although Sunday was cool with lots of wind.. but Monday was HOT and so was today....

Last night was early to bed, so we could get up and pack this morning and leave for Mountain Pine Ridge.
As the water taxi pulled away we left our sunny warm island for more jungle on the mainland!

Caye Caulker

2009-01-19T16:46:00.000-08:00

Friday night we went out and partied for Sara's b-day, it was good times. Sat was spent recovering from Friday but it was rainy again anyways.... The sun peaked out for a bit though, and finally there was a nice sunset and we fely postive leading into Sunday and our all day snorkel, sailingtrip.

The snorkel trip was good, saw lots of fish, sea turtles (which was cool) lots of sting rays and one shark. the groups befor us,scared away th sharks apparently so that was disappointing.
ben did better snorkelling than 5 years ago, but still only went on 1 of the 3 stops. I got good photos of the marine life though, but all day on teh boat took it's toll on me and I was a bit seasick, not like actually but I was feeling great, and it lasted into the evening and affected me being able to enjoy dinner. 2 half days trips would have been better. I skipped having any of the rum punch because i was feeling poorly. Ben did too.

ps I hate this keybaord the keys are sticky and it's taking forever to type b/c the space bar hardly works....

I already miss all of our new friends..... everyone went home today :( okay I gotta go meet Ben for dinner, I am very hungry, last night on the Island!

oh ya the otto here is GO SLOW! that goes for service in the restaurants too, so you have to get there before you are already hungry to eat!

Rainy Day Friday....

2009-01-16T14:53:00.000-08:00

Okay another day of rain... yesterday all rain, today all rain... although a few moments ago a patch of blue sky appeared! We are all praying for sun tomorrow!

Today we girls went shopping and got pedicures or manicures, it is Sarah's birthday so the girls spent the day together. I got a pedicure, and I picked a bright coral colour polish and the girl did a flower pattern design on my big toe. I have happy feet!

And I bought a cute dress for tonight! With all the rain and wind there isn't much to do besides shop and get pretty and do internet... Ben is drinking at sports bar owned by Canadians he is enjoying cheap beer! I knew better than to drag him shopping!

Sarah is getting a massage currently and I decided to buy internet time (which is not chea)before returning to the hotel to get all dressed up going out tonight to celebrate Sarah's birthday! we are going to dinner as a group and then dancing and we ordered her a birthday cake (a surprise!) I am going to wear my new dress.

So yesterday when we got to the island we had a small late lunch I had a lobster wrap SO good. For dinner I had grilled lobster with garlic butter sauce! And this morning for brunch I had a lobster omelet! Lobster is very cheap here so I am filling up :)

I was a little sad to not have any email.... or comments on the blog today :( where is everyone?

Tomorrow Ben and I would like to rent Kayaks and go around the island.. and hopefully go swimming at the spilt (which is where they tried to make a nice beach and a hurricaine washed it awaye and divided the island into 2 parts... now called the spilt. But is still the best swimming to do on the island. And apparently to find sea shells....
Katey I have my snorkel and I am ready to go and find a pretty shell to bring home for the baby so hopefully it's nice and warm and sunny tomorrow so I can go swimming/shell searching at the spilt.

Sunday is our big sailing trip and snorkel day with 3 stops - one being in Sting Ray/Shark Alley (nurse sharks) where we swim with them. Lunch is included and on the way home, RUM PUNCH too! Hopefully we have sun for the trip I think being on a sail boat will be totally awesome! And it's the last day we will be all together since everyone leaves on Monday.

Ben and I staying here on the island on Monday and leaving on Tuesday for Mountain Pine Ridge, where we are staying for 3 nights at the Hidden Valley Inn. Which is a posh place to stay with fireplaces in the all the suites and you can book a private waterfall and champange lunch for the day! Ben says we have been good on budget, and after all this rain we deserve a little treat. We have done well staying in pretty cheap places without hot water etc.... and last night we had ants coming out of our sink, a WHOLE colony of ants and I was totally freaked out, it was gross but it was fixed.... we think.... I half expect the ants to be back tonight....
So staying at the hidden valley inn will be really great. I am looking forward to it, also while we are there we are going to visit Caracol another Mayan site which was a rival city to Tikal.

Okay my 30 mins is coming to an end!!! is there any news or gossip going on ??? I would love to know how people are doing....

Thursday Travel Day

2009-01-15T07:44:00.000-08:00

It's cloudy and drizzling, but not too bad.... I hear the islands are just partly cloudy and it should be clearing up soon! Let's hope so!
I can already taste Lobster I am thinking about it so much!!!!!
more later... must catch the bus now to Belize City to then catch the water taxi to the Caye Caulkner.

crystal cave

2009-01-14T19:07:00.000-08:00

i am a wicked caver! i hiked 4 km up a mountain to the entrance of the the crystal cave. we descended 300 ft into the cave to the bottom and then climbed up back to the top 300 ft and hiked back the 4km to the parking lot.

ADD ON
I forgot to say last night that the hike was through the rainforest it was steamy and warm, like a steam bath! Inside the cave was VERY humid, sweat poured off us the whole time but my skin looks fantastic! The rainforest was very beauitful, stunningly so!

i am so incredibly proud of myself. the cave was harder than the atm cave but awesome! the formations were incredible and our guide rudy was amazing. i have never done anything like this before and rudy really added to our experience with his stories of the mayan people and his personal stories of exploring these caving systems.
it was sarah, (whose last name is haynes mom) marcie & tim from colardo and ben and me again, the fab 5.

ben is also having lots of fun too and loved the caving too. lots of small spaces and places i couldn't imagine going on my own. ben has been taking lots of photos.

yesterday i was a little down and homesick but today i am much better and feeling good. i am happy to be missing the cold snap and snow back home.

tomorrow we head to the coast and the islands, here i come beach!
although we have a long day of travel tomorrow.
today is day 18 of my vacation and i am so excited to finally be going to the beach and eat lobster! trevor says the restaurant called the happy lobster you have lobster and eggs for breakfast! i am very excited about that meal!
okay goodnight!

camping in the rain in belize

2009-01-13T18:22:00.000-08:00

the rain starting on day 1 of the canoe/camping trip and hasn't stopped, sometimes it slows to a drizzle but then it will pour heavy again. everything was wet, we were wet and a bit cool....
but thankful the support staff did all the hard work and cooking. the guys were awesome. but i am glad the camping part is over.
now i hope this cold front leaves so we will have sunshine for the beach days on friday.

i am using bens tablet computer, so no keyboard, slow to write. we are using the hotel wireless, but i am really not a fan of the place we are staying, partly because of my mood likely and the rain.
i am too tired and cold to type really too much about it tonight. i think i am a bit homesick today. the weather made most people cranky and we got annoyed with each other easily i think.

tomorrow we are getting up and doing the crystal cave since it's the only tour here not affected by the rain. -lots of climbing and cool mayan cultural things, but it's a dry cave no water like the atm. i should have lots to say about it tomorrow.
ATM is closed to tours due to the high water levels right now so i am glad we did it when we had the chance.
goodnight!

San Ignacio, Belize

2009-01-10T19:48:00.000-08:00

So yesterday we got into San Ignancio around noon, checked into our hotel.
Our whoel group decided to do the cave tubing adventure. We did it 5 years ago when we were here, and just decided to go again, we didn't have too, we could have done something else, or done nothing, but we just decided to go along with it. It was still fun, and we enjoyed it, but it was the same caves we had done before. We went to bed early and rested up for the big adventure we did today.

Today we did ATM which is the Actun Tunichil Mukal caves. You hike 45 mins over land and cross 3 small rivers before you reach the entrance of the cave. Then you get headlamps and helmets and swim across of deep pool of water about 15ft across where you climb up onto the rock bank inside the cave.
From there is a full hour of wading in water from a couple inches in depth all the water to chest deep and scrambling rocks and making your way through all the twists and turns. There are some very small spaces! and it's a good thing I had a helmet because otherwise I would have brained myself a few times.
The way in was SO much fun, but really a challenge, and not at all a walk in the park. I was quite impressed with myself for being as good as I was as finding my footing, and places for my fingers to grip into the rocks walls as a crawled, and wound myself through the caves and the waters.
inside the cave once you reach about 1 mile inside is the burial ground for where the Mayan people tortured and people as sacrifices to their gods.
They were downright nasty, pulling peoples jaw apart, ripping out their ribs cages, and spinal cords and while the people were still alive and leaving them for die a slow, painful death. So far there are 14 different persons who have been discovered in the cave, although they suspect there are many more. The cool thing none of it is roped off, the whole cave is a living museum. you just walk around exactly as it was found! clay pots, artifacts and bones.
The coolest of all was a complete skeleton in the back of the chamber, they call her the crystal princess, because they know she was from a very royal mayan family they think she was about 18 when she died. We got lots of great photos and then spent another hour hiking back out of the caves going back the same way we came through.
Only about 50 people a day get to go into the caves, and there is much talk about them becoming closed to the general public soon. So I am VERY glad to have gone to see them. It was a life changing experience seriously. Ben and I had such a good time.
Only us, Sarah and the other couple our age from Colorado went of this tour, the rest of our group stayed behind and did other tours or had a lazy day.

Tomorrow is the first day of camping on the Belize River. We spend 3 days, and 2 nights camping and then back for 2 night in San Ignacio again ( we are thinking of doing the more difficult caving tour which includes some repelling!) Then from then on to the ocean and the beach for 4 days of relaxation and fun!

Okay so hopefully the hotel we stay in on the way back from camping has Internet, since we are staying at a different place than where we are tonight or last night.

Guatamalans are CRAZY!

2009-01-10T19:31:00.000-08:00

So the title of this post is Guatemalans are crazy. Why are they crazy??? Because they are obsessed with fireworks. Trust me they light firecrackers morning, noon and night! I can not explain it enough to really give a complete description but I wil try!
I was REALLY angry the last day in Flores because they fire crackers continued until pretty maybe about 11pm or midnight. And there was a band playing in the square and lots going on in by the church. So I had trouble blocking out the noise to fall asleep. But at least I knew I didn't have to be awake until 7 30 the next morning to get ready and leave at 9am for Belize.

What I didn't know is that at 4am firecrackers would be going on continuously every 10 mins for the next 3 hours! yes every 10 mins from 4am to 7am a series if really loud firecrackers went off AND a man banging a big band drum the kind marching bands use that are wore on the chest and tha man was walking around the town going boom boom boom bbbbrrrrrrrrrroooommm (that was my version of a drumroll) and repeat...

I thought I was going to commit murder and they it got worse at 6am a full mariachi band began to play! and people were dancing and dressed up in costumes! Then they stopped in FRONT of our hotel and did the performance and lit of MORE fire crackers in FRONT of the hotel they were going off at my eye level in our 3rd floor street facing room. How do I know it was eye level??? Because I was WIDE awake and really grumpy, Ben could nothing but laugh apparently my fit of anger was funny to view.

Finally at 7am I had had it and I went and showered and got dressed for breakfast. So yesterday was a little rough for me having been up from 4am onward.

Trevor says they do it all the time. If they have a new baby, they lite firecrackers, if they get married they lite them, if someone dies, they have them, if someone's wife cheats on them they lite fireworks, Trevor says it's how you know they are Guatemalan.
But Ben, myself and the rest of the group have just decided that they are crazy!

Tikal

2009-01-08T15:01:00.000-08:00

Tikal was AMAZING!

ps. my foot is fine. overnight it completly got better and no sign of anything today. I think I just stabbed it on a rock or dull glass yesterday.

Anyways it was very good day, I climbed 4 temples yes 4 temples, one was the HIGHEST temple called Temple 4 at 210 ft high. It was quite the climb and the first climb of th day, but totally worth as dawn broke over the jungle and a mist covered the tree tops and then peeking out of the jungle & mist were some of the tips of the highest temples of Tikal. The sun burned off the mist pretty quickly in the morning so I am SO glad we endured the 4am wakeup to leave by 5 to get to the park at 6am when it opened totally worth it.

Only 25% of Tikal has been excavated thus far, there are over 300o buildings as part of Tikal. They have unearthed 6 temples but they know and named a large mound of dirt, trees and brushes, Temple 7. It seems every year they find something new and add another piece to the puzzle of how the people lived and who ruled etc.... Currently they are still even excavating Temple 4 which we climbed. Only the top as been excavated so far. The bottom is still covered under the jungle. They have built wooden steps in order to get to the top of temple 4.

The 2nd climb was a lesser temple in the lost world complex of buildings, I got to climb the actual stone steps on that one.

The 3rd climb was the one that almost did me in! The wooden stais are not stairs at all but a ladder type of deal. and VERY steep, I mean REALLY steep. I got half way and was beginning to shake and sweat and was really thinking at the next platform I should just head back down because I couldn{t do the height. But then I decided that the view was likely worth it and pressed on! My heart was racing and when I got to the top I was dizzy and shaking from the adeneline and fear! I had to sit down and breath for a few minutes before I could walk along the top and rest take in the view.
The view was INCREDIBLE, and a couple of us fromthe group sat down with our feet over the edge (I took a photo of my feet actually and Bens too) it was very worth it and I am SO proud of myself for doing it. It was so scary and I had vertigo a couple times....
Going down was no easier! It was a slow decent, I walked down like climbing down a ladder, most people did it that way.

The last big climb was Temple 2. Which is one of the twin temples that face each other. 2 people have fallen to their deaths at Temple 2 so now you climb wooden stairs at the side to reach the top and not the stone steps. Temple 1 which faces it directly is closed to the public to walk on, so it can be perseved in good condition. Its really beautiful and nice to take some photos without little dots of people covering the temple steps etc.... and ruining the shot!

We were allowed to walk all over most of the ruins which was pretty cool, I doubt it will be that way forever. And going to Tikal in the morning was really good because there werent too many groups of people there yet by noon we were done and heading back to the bus, I am also glad we did it in the morning because it was nice and cool compared to the afternoon sun!

We got lots of great shots of Tikal and I really enjoyed myself it was very very cool.
Tomorrow is back to Belize and San Ignacio for 2 nights and then camping for 2 nights after that!

ps we are going camping on the Belize River, the same river we did the night croc tour in and saw all those HUGE crocs at the beginning of Belize!!!!

Oh the marching band is going by again too.... ok ben is ready to go.. he was ready 10 mins ago so I am signing off ! Tikal was SO amazing... beyond words really....

Flores, Guatamala

2009-01-07T14:46:00.000-08:00

So we are in Flores yesterday, today and tomorrow and then on Friday am back to San Ignacio in Belize. Tikal was not today it´s tomorrow... I am a dolt and can´t read the itinerary.....

Anyways .... so I am buying cheap time at an internet cafe around the corner from our hotel it´s a buck an hour... American. Not bad! and thankfully the keyboard is english with just a few different keys for their accents etc.... so not too hard to type.

Today was a water taxi to San Jose, had a spanish lesson (could have used that last week!) and swimming and relaxing and exploring Flores.
Tomorrow is Tikal and the 5am wakeup!
I stepped on something in the grass while swimming and hurt the bottom of my foot right on the sole of the feet near my toes.... it´s killing me to put pressure on it... I hope it´s better for tomorrow and all the walking around Tikal we will have. I thought it was a rock or glass... but I am not sure. There is no pucture mark that I or Ben can see, I just am worried that it won´t be better for tomorrow which would totally suck.

Flores is a tiny teeny island in Guatamala in a fresh water lake called Peten. It´s really beautiful. I am really excited for tomorrow & seeing Tikal.
Ben is more excited to see Caracol (which is in Belize and at the end of our trip) than Tikal but I am the opposite. Caracol and Tikal were warring most of the time with each other and Caracol is actually larger than Tikal, but not totally escavated yet.

Trevor our guide is GREAT! I really like him. The group is also really good. No wet blankets or annoying people to spoil things so that´s excellent! we have 2 nurses in the group. So I may have one of them look at my foot if it´s still bothering me tomorrow..
I am worried I was bitten as opossed to just stepping on something sharp..... it´s a bit swollen and painful, but I don´t know if that is just from walking on it ..... hmmm can´t find the question mark on the keyboard here....

Tonight I am going to try the White Fish dinner here, it´s a local fish from this lake and apparently really amazing... so I guess we´ll see! I loved fried bananas and icecream with honey last night! SO yummy....
speaking of food I am suppossed to meet Ben for dinner at a restaurant about 50 steps away from the internet cafe about now... so I guess I should get going! also my stomach is growling.

Tomorrow wil be a long day at Tikal. if I feel up to it I may post tomorrow since internet is so cheap and close to the hotel.

okay dinner time it is for me! just as soon as the marching parade-band goes by... for some reason they have a marching band and parade here everyday just before sunset. and firecrackers which are really just noise markers... yesterday was the 12th day of Christmas so the day about the wise men or something but apparently Trevor says they do it ALL the time for any reason.... okay the band has passed so I can leave now!

Gap Trip Night

2009-01-05T20:15:00.000-08:00

Had my first pina colada of the trip! Finally feels like a vacation.... It was SO yummy. It was at a seaside open air restaurant this afternoon while we chilled out and relaxed in the city and I had a GREAT fried fish burger for lunch which really hit the spot!

Met our trip guide Trevor - seems cool and lots of experience. There are 11 people on the trip 3 single girls and the rest are couples. 12 of us total if you include Trevor. One couple is retired/older. The others are married younger like us. It looks like a good group. 2 of the girls went on the Kayak, island hopping tour here in Belize last week.

We met a single girl from Calgary in our group who is actually from Henderson PS in Kingston although she is 5 years older than me, she went to Frontenac HS. SMALL world!!!! Sarah is super cool, and has been on 3 gap tours before this to Ecuador, Peru & some others in South America. She seems to have traveled alot, since she has also been to the Greek Islands and Australia. We talked with her for a while. I think she will fun to hang out with, she likes to snorkel so maybe I have found a snorkel buddy!!!! (since Ben isn't really good or into it) She also camps and hikes a lot so Ben likes her too.. lots of common interests and things to talk about.

We leave tomorrow at 7:45 we have a 6 hour bus trip tomorrow ahead of us until we reach our hotel in Flores, Guatalmala from here in Belize City.

Wednesday is Tikal! we will be leaving at 5am from the hotel for Tikal we were told tonight ugg.... but you can see more wildlife and it's cooler temperatures to walk around so I understand the benefit.

Katey & Nate - Glad you are enjoying the blog... K bought you something I saw and it just screamed out to me that it was very you!! I can't wait to see you when we get back :)

Kris- I am also glad to have missed the freezing rain... I don't envy you. omg it's SO hot heat.... I have been eaten alive by mosquitoes though.... I am very itchy.

Mom K- Can't ever get enough of animals especially baby ones!!!!

Jenny- New Years was spent in El Rosario with the German couple and a lovely bottle of Chilean Red Wine in the cabin on the mountain... so peaceful and wonderful, it feels almost like camping in Ontario in the summertime. Although we fell asleep before midnight but that's okay :)

Okay it's 10:30pm I must go to bed !

I held a baby crocodile and touched a baby money!

2009-01-05T09:19:00.000-08:00

Our flights and transfers all went smoothly... from Honduras to Belize via...El Savador.
We got to Belize early Saturday morning and then off to the sanctuary. We stayed with an lady in her home, she cooked for us it was basic, but very cheap and she was a good cook! We tried lots of traditional Creole food. Not American Creole, but Caribbean Creole. They don't like to be confused! It was relaxed and we used the weekend to just unwind and decompress.

The monkey sanctuary was pretty good. We went on a guided tour and fed black howler monkeys they are very endangered. One had a new baby only 6 weeks old! I held out my hand and the baby reached out and grabbed my fingers! it was SO cute... they monkey's are totally wild but the one troop is pretty used to people. We just fed them Coca leaves nothing they can't get themselves in the wild. They makes the loudest howler noises ever and sound like monsters in the jungle at sunset and dawn.... you would never guess that noise if from such a little monkey!

At night we went on a night croc tour in a canoe in the Belize river. It was pretty cool, lots of BIG crocs and one baby one that our guide caught for us and we held in the boat... so cool! I loved the baby croc and his cute little noises. both times it was just Ben & I and the guide so it was a nice private tour and we had lots of time with the animals.

Today we are in Belize city at our hotel, tonight at 6:30 we meet up with the rest of our gap tour group and go for dinner.
They like Canadian tourists here in Belize alot because we built their sewer system for them and I guess gave it to them basically for free. And we built some bridge for them too here in the city.

Oh ya it's VERY hot here!!! Honduras was much cooler cause we were in the mountains, but Belize we are dying of humidity and heat!

Tomorrow we go to Tikal & Flores in Guatamala Tues,Wed & Thurs. Friday we are in San Ingacio. Don't think I will get to a computer/internet connection until Friday... If I am lucky....

There is only one computer here at this hotel, so I am buying time for the first time of the trip so that's pretty good...It's quiet so far seems to be in between checkout & checkin times... but when the rest of the group arrives I am sure internet usage will be harder to get and I don't know what the computer facilites will be like at the rest of our hotels with Gap.

how ben almost died and other stuff.......

2009-01-02T17:42:00.000-08:00

omg there are mosquitoes here! they attacked us at dinner. in the mountains it was 18-20 in the day and about 12-15 at night and there were no bugs. hiking was wonderful with no bugs. but down here in the city near the coast they are here......just when i was thinking how lucky we were to have no bugs.

a funny story i forgot to talk about before was the one when i almost became a young widow.

ben and i were hiking in la tigra and we saw a beautiful butterfly, i was anxious to try and photograph it. and ben and i followed it down the trail a bit, it landed and i hurried to catch kinda running over top of ben who lost his footing and one foot slipped off the cliff ! yep he nearly went down about a 75 ft drop down the mountain. he was not that pleased with me and accused me of trying to kill him. he says i pushed him but i deny that i did.... he was okay though and i couldn't help laughing about it and the shocked look on his face right after when it happened. with the commotion i lost sight of the butterfly and did not get a photo.

we both laugh now.....

so i hope the hotel in belize city has an internet connection on monday night and hopefully i can post then.

san pedro sula

2009-01-02T14:05:00.000-08:00

we are in an americanized hotel near the san pedro sula airport tonight. the internet is very slow so i can not post photos. excuse the typos too please i must hurry and have much to write.........

didn't get to copan no travel on jan 1 being the holiday.... so stayed longer in el rosario and enjoyed the park la tigra. when we come back to honduras in the future we will visit then.

valle de angeles
so on tuesday we took a chicken bus to valle de angeles the artist village and stayed there overnight. it was fun, a very cute place, lots of shopping! we bought an oil on canvas painting they took it off the frame and rolled it up for us.
we had some amazing food. pinchos are kabobs we had a combo pincho of sauage and shrimp with veggies, rice, beans and tortias. we also had a mixes seafood ceviche which was amazing that day for lunch!
dinner was plato typical since lunch was so big, and some wine and beer and took in the night. there was a reglisious festival that night in the village square across from where we were eating dinner. it had a full drum set and guitars and amps and people in costumes, with flags and tamborines singing. we called it full on jesus rock. very interesting to watch......

El Rosario and la tigra
the next day we caught yet another chicken bus to san juancito, which really means they drop you at the road to san juancito and you walk to the town which is 2km.

let me explain chicken buses
the chicken bus was so full words can not describe it. people were crammed to the ceiling and hanging out the windows and doors of the converted school bus now public transportation affectionatly called chicken buses! we were not going to get on because it looked so full, but the bus money man waved us on and put our packs in the under the bus compartments. we were standing on the last step of the bus near the doors and the money guys were hanging out the doors with one foot inside the bus! seriously as the bus puffed black smoke and twisted and turned up and down the mountains we surely thought we would fall out and die.
at one point i starting laughing it was so commerical.

okay so back to our 2 km trek to san juancito.... then find out it's another 2kms straight up the mountain to the park and our accomdations.
thru research we discovered that there was a b&b we could try and see if they had room.... lucky for us they did.
we made it half wat to el rosario which is 1/4 up the mountain after our 2km trek from the road before we came across a another canadian girl who works in honduras and was going to the park for the day. she brokered a ride in pickup truck with some men who were going up for herself and us the rest of the way up the mountain for 300 lempira. highway robbery but i would have paid anything by this point.
2 times the truck couldn't go forward on the steep mountain and we had to get out and push the truck to get it going again and then run after the truck and jump in.
yes go ahead laugh i nearly died........but it is funny thinking back.

finally we make it to the top to Cabaña Mirador El Rosario, it's a b&b owned by a german couple who speak english! so we did not have to stay at the visitor center thankgod. they fed us dinner and breakfast for the 2 nights we were there. the park was amazing and very beautiful.

this morning we packed our bags and they drove us back to the main highway to catch the chicken bus back to the city where we got a coach bus to san pedro sula 4 hours.... and we are here.
tomorrow we fly out at 7am to belize city.
plan is to visit the a monkey sanctuary 45 mins from belize city..... http://www.howlermonkeys.org and stay there sat and sunday night then hook up with the gap tour monday in belize city and start our 2 weeks with them.

whew okay that's it!

our day downtown tegcigalpa

2008-12-29T13:24:00.000-08:00

today we went downtown and wandered around the central park and suroundings. we climbed up a big hill or small mountain for a view of the city.
we tried a snack of green mangos with salt- very tasty. and papaya shake which was delicious!

also booked our flight from san pedro sula to belize city. the flight we wanted on monday is full. so we are stuck flying out sat at 7am with taca air transferring thru el savador. also costing us double the money we hoped.

-6:40 pm additional posting
we went to cafe honore just a couple blocks from our hotel we shared a crab/shrimp/avocado ceviche, then we each had a steak,salad,bread and potatoes and then i had a baked pear and icecream dessert which was soooooo good really hitvthe spot! we also ordered a bottle of red wine. appartently this place is one of the nicest places to eat in the city, it was likely our nicest meal here in honduras but it was nice and relaxing.

the plan tomorrow to take a bus to the town valle de angeles, the artists village, then stay there overnight at the one and only small hotel.

the next day wednesday the cloud forest called la tigra just outside the town el rosario. we are planning to stay overnight basically camping indoors at the visitor centre. i do not expect it to be nice. but it does have private rooms.

then early on thursday bus to tegcigalpa to get a bus to copan see the ruins staying there overnight.
and then bus friday evening to san pedro get up at 4am for our flight at 7am sat.

after we leave here tomorrow we likely won't have internet until friday night in san pedro or until we get to belize city on sat..

me posing at the top in the park which was very pretty

view overlooking downtown

view from the top

in the park

one section of hill we went up

the stairs down
we found the stairs only going down we walked up the hard way

self photo time

typical homes in the downtown of tegcigalpa

pretty home with pretty flowers near the park

breakfast

2008-12-29T07:15:00.000-08:00

breakfast was fried plantains, beans, tortilla, a fried egg and a piece of soft salty cheese. juice and coffee. it was very filling, i love fried plantains. no milk for coffee, but i expected that so used extra sugar.
ben is in the shower. the bathroom is very nice. lots of hot water!

yes mom we have a phrase book, ben is decent at french. they speak very quick though so he misses alot of what they are saying.

okay off downtown to get sorted out.

our little pet newt

2008-12-28T21:10:00.000-08:00

we have a newt that ran into our room tonight when ben opened the door to look outside and check the outside temperature after our nap tonight. he is now behind the dresser in our room he's pretty cute.
after my last post we went found food most things were closed being sunday afternoon but we found a little place down the block from our hotel the guy here recommended had a really good soup and some chicken and veg dish we ate.
then we came back to the hotel and slept for 4 hours. then watched some tv. we get all the main american stations in english. hopefully we get tired again in another few hours and then sleep until morning.
tomorrow we are going to go downtown and check it out as well as plan the rest of our days here in honduras there is a local travel agency we are going to use to make arrangements.
ordering food and not speaking the language was difficult tonight so we think trying to book tours and places to stay might be a little hard and a local travel agent can help us with that.

we are here !

2008-12-28T11:36:00.000-08:00

we made to our hotel a really cute bed and breakfast in the colonia palmira area in tegucigalpa.
our hotel is the linda vista. our flights were all on time and our bags made it too!
we both slept most of the flights and landing here wasn't too scary it was kinda fun.
the hotel has free internet and we are staying here tonight and tomorrow.
ben brought his laptop so i am sitting in our room blogging and posting photos!

the common area at the hotel

view from the garden outside our room

more of the view

the door to our room

Travel Day to Honduras!

2008-12-27T23:03:00.001-08:00

It's 12:17 am on Dec 28th. (for some reason the blog says it's still Saturday I don't know why the date hasn't changed!)
We leave for the airport around 3:30am from our house and our flight takes off at 6:20am this morning! Right now we are just finishing last minute packing & sorting of our things. I just came home from a last minute run to the drugstore! Ben is counting money and I am waiting for my next set of instructions....

All is good and we are very excited! It's a good thing I slept for about 6 hours in the car today while we drove from Pembroke to Toronto. Hopefully Ben gets some sleep on the on plane.
We got a folding cribbage board for Christmas so I am excited to have something to do on many travel days.

My camera went on the fritz tonight.. not my slr that one is fine. My point & shoot panasonic lumix basically it's broken .... we don't know if it's going to work for this trip. We are taking it with it but Ben isn't holding out much hope.... I am sad and cried. We have Ben's digital camera, but I want my own... and I haven't used his before...

It's now 1:30am....
There was also a small emergency with my pack, that Ben thought it was much bigger than it was (I knew all along what wouldn't fit that he wanted to cram in there) I think we have made it work? I guess we'll see.....

Okay it's now 2:04am and Ben and I going to lay down for an hour rest then wake up at 3am and head to the airport!

Much love to everyone we will be safe don't worry moms Pauline & Judi :)

Christmas & Boxing Day

2008-12-26T11:44:00.000-08:00

Christmas Eve was spent in Kingston and then we got up Christmas morning and headed off off to Pembroke at noon. It was a busy, long day but a good one!

In less than 48 hours I should be in Honduras on the first day of our 4 week long adventure. I am nervous, anxious, excited and happy! The nervous & anxiety part is about making sure we have packed everything we will and making the flight connection and all that logistical stuff.

It turns out that we won't be able to have someone clean our driveway & sidewalk while we are away as nobody would do it for only the 4 weeks they only wanted a whole winter commitment. And that was going to cost 400 bucks so I think not! Oh well... hopefully we don't get too much snow or at least we get a late January thaw.....

So tomorrow it's back home to Toronto to tie up a few loose ends then early to bed because we have to be awake at 3am on Sunday to be at the airport for 4am! Our flights leaves at 6:20am from Pearson :) We connect in Miami (we have 65 minutes between the flights YIKES!) and then late Sunday afternoon get into Honduras... which will be noon Honduran time.

omg... I am so excited and I can barely stand the waiting! I will never be able to sleep tomorrow night!

All done!

2008-12-19T12:17:00.000-08:00

So today is a pretty big snowstorm especially for Toronto and the fact that this city does not deal well with gobs of snow all at once!
We all got sent home early from work! I was home at 2pm and now I am done working until Jan 26th which is 5 wonderful weeks away.
I have not had this much time off since I was student many many years ago. I am so excited!

Today Ben arranged for the post office to hold our mail while we gone and has made some inquires about hiring someone to do our driveway & sidewalk for us.
Cathy is going to check on the house once a week to make sure we haven't been robbed or a window is broken etc and take in our junk mail for us.
My goal tomorrow is to go across the street and let the neighbors know we will be away also and leave them my parents phone number just in case of emergency.

Wow I can hardly believe that I won't be going into the office for 5 weeks! It's almost impossible to grasp at this point!

9 days from now we will be on an airplane flying to Honduras! It's going to be the trip of a lifetime!

New Glasses!

2008-12-16T21:13:00.000-08:00

My eyes are sore, red & stinging.
I managed to get in my contacts tonight to wear to the company Christmas party but man they hurt. I felt them in my eyes all night! Kristina thinks I may have had in them backwards... or maybe I am just not going to be able to tolerate contacts..... I dunno....

So today I went in and order prescription sunglasses. They are REALLY cute with sparkles on them! And I got a 2nd set of regular glasses free, so that was fun to pick out. The new regular set also have SPARKLES on them!!!!

I am excited to pick them up ! So I am feeling good that at least I will have decent glasses for my trip! I love shopping for glasses because it's shopping yet I get the money back so it's kinda FREE accessory shopping.

omg my eyes are SO sore right now.... and red I look like I am on drugs or something they are so red..... I wonder if they were this red at the party too!!!

Okay to bed with me! The party tonight was pretty fun I ate ALOT of smoked salmon.

At last!

2008-12-15T19:53:00.000-08:00

So I have been talking to people who wear contacts to get some tips and finally today something clicked after talking to Kristina a girl I work with and I came home tonight and after about 50 mins I FINALLY got the contacts in both eyes.... to take them out was about 15 mins and they didn't feel very good.. I am not sure if maybe I had them in backwards??? I don't know how to tell which way is the right side up....or if matter???
Anyways I am still going to order a prescription pair of sunglasses for the trip tomorrow or Wednesday but maybe the contacts will eventually work out for me in the future.

Dukoral

2008-12-09T14:35:00.000-08:00

Okay so I am sitting here forcing myself to drink a HUGE glass of water with the Dukoral vaccine dissolved into it.

What is Dukoral? Well I copied and pasted the information below.

This medication belongs to the class of medications called vaccines. It is used to help prevent travellers' diarrhea caused by enterotoxigenic E. coli (ETEC) and cholera in adults and children 2 years of age and older. It is recommended for people traveling to areas with a high risk of cholera or travellers' diarrhea.

This vaccine cost me 80.00 for the two doses. You take one 3 weeks before departure and the 2nd dose 1 week before departure. You pour into a full glass of water along with some little white crystals that come in another package I guess this helps the vaccine and it says the crystals are flavoured with Raspberry... so I though okay this can't be too bad and it smelled pretty good when I was mixing it.
Well if Raspberries taste like shit then I guess Dukoral tastes like raspberries!
It is truly the MOST DISGUSTING thing I have ever had to drink an ENTIRE glass of.... I hate it and it was 80 bucks so I better not get sick on my damn trip after drinking this crap!

In 2 weeks I have to drink a second glass... ugg....

I may DIE before our vacation begins....

2008-12-09T08:42:00.000-08:00

So I found out that the international airport in Tegucigalpa, Honduras is like one of the MOST DANGEROUS airports in the whole world to fly into due to the various mountains and twists & turns the pilot must maneuver through.
One of my college friends from Sheridan is currently in Honduras filming right now and has described the decent into Tegucigalpa, Honduras here:

http://wherethefisron.blogspot.com/2008/12/of-beauty-and-darkness.html

I am now positive that I am going to die in the airplane before we even land and begin our vacation.

I HATE flying... I HATE airplanes
a lot of gravol is going to be needed for this!

18 Days & Counting Down

2008-12-09T08:29:00.000-08:00

I just realized that in less than 3 weeks we will be off on our long awaited Journey!
and I don't think we have quite finished working out and planning what we are doing in Honduras or exactly where we are staying... Oh well we'll get it sorted out next week once Ben is done working. His last day of work thus Far is Dec 15th and my last day of work is Dec 19th.

Then we are off to Kingston on the 22nd for Christmas with my family, then heading to Pembroke on the 25th to Ben's family arriving in time for Christmas Dinner and staying until the 27th when we head home. One night of sleeping in our own bed and then we are off at some INSANE time of the morning on the 28th (I think our flights leaves at 6:30am or something equally as ungodly & horrible....)

I am finally getting really excited about the trip, it's finally beginning to seem real now.
Next week Ben & I are taking a trip to MEC to pick a few more items we are in need of and then we will get everything packed and ready to go before we leave on our Christmas tour through Eastern Ontario.

We still to find a company to shovel the driveway & walkway while we are away... and someone to collect our mail and drive by our home to make it's okay..... hmmmm... we REALLY should get on this task!
We have decided to set the house to about 5 degrees and turn off the water while we are gone to save on money heating wise as well as to make sure we don't come home to any surprise leaks!

Wow time is moving quickly!

Contacts.....

2008-12-02T11:58:00.000-08:00

So last night was my appointment with the eye doctor for a contact lens assessment and lesson... Well it didn't go so well. they messed up my appointment and didn't have me slated for the correct room or time slot and so they were totally unorganized and rushed. And I got given reading material on how to put the lenses in and then they left me on my own... then they came back and gave me super rush explanation and left again and continued to just pop their head and ask how it was going.. which I said not well. I never did get the lenses in my eyes and they were of no help.
They sent me home with a pair to try out on my own at home, charge me 25.00 for the appointment and suggested that I rebook again for another day when they can see me properly. uhhh how about no? Unless they aren't going to charge me again because they screwed up my first appointment. I am not impressed!
So if anyone has experience with contacts and would like to shed any light on or share tips about how to get them I would appreciate it!

Ouch!

2008-11-27T06:48:00.000-08:00

So I went to the doctor last night and got my shots-Diphtheria, Tetanus, Whopping Cough &Polio (all in one needle thankfully) and then one for Hep A and one for Typhoid!
My arms felt okay for about an hour afterwords and then by 9pm last night they were throbbing and sore and causing me alot of pain. I got 2 needles in my left arm and one in my right arm.

Then I had a HORRIBLE sleep because I couldn't get comfortable with my arms being so sore and Ben bumped my arms at least a few times in the night and that caused me to wake up in pain.... I am going to be EXHAUSTED by lunch time today! and my arms are STILL really sore this morning. I didn't expect the pain to last so long!

Doctor Doctor!

2008-11-26T09:21:00.000-08:00

So tonight at 5pm is my doctor appointment to get all my shots and medicines for our trip.
I think I am getting 4 needles... Hep A and typhoid that I picked up from the Drug Store (they were just over $100!!! not covered by ohip or our drug plan) and I need a tetanus shot and maybe a Diphtheria shot as well but those last two are covered by ohip thankfully.

I will be getting a whole bunch of meds to take with us, Maleria drugs, anitbicotics etc.... Fun fun.
I am not looking forward to the shots......Ben couldn't raise his arms move that 45 degrees from his body after his...

Also I am getting a general checkup and all the fun stuff that goes along with that... i would rather stick a fork in my eye than spend evening going to the doctor.... Ben is working so he won't be with me.... I am beginning to get anxious... I hate doctors and I hate being poked even more!

Gah...

2008-11-24T08:23:00.000-08:00

Ben worked all weekend....
So on the weekend I went to the Tilley store and bought a hat and socks for my trip.
I also had a FANTASTIC shopping trip to Zellers with Cathy man we both love that store! And then we went for a nice latte at the starbucks and a little treat after all our shopping.

Sunday Cathy & I went out for breakfast at this REALLY cute little breakfast place that is new and has great prices and great food. It was very enjoyable. Cathy went home to study and then I tackled Christmas Shopping at Yorkdale... which was mostly horrible & annoying and I bought very little for the amount of time I was there and I came home cranky. I also went to the Shoppers and Dollarama... both were much more enjoyable than the mall.

I tried to pickup my vaccines for my trip that I need to take to the doctor's on Wednesday night but they were over 100.00!!! our health plan doesn't cover ANY of the cost of the vaccines... well just after having spent the weekend Christmas shopping and shopping for my trip I was way too broke to pay 100.00 for the vaccines. I will have to get the money from Ben and try and pick them up tonight or tomorrow. I am shocked by the price for just 2 shots.... and it made me even more cranky....

I did some lanudry and tidying yesterday too and was again annoyed in th evening that my shows DH and Brothers & Sisters wasn't on because of some dumb music awards.

It was a productive weekend but not at all a fun one.
(oh except for my Zellers trip with Cathy and breakfast on Sunday)

Checking items off my list....

2008-11-21T08:00:00.000-08:00

So last night I went to the dentist and got my teeth cleaned so I'm good to go for our trip!
Next week on Wednesday I have a doctor appointment at 5pm to get all my vaccines & medicines I need for the trip too. Ben went this week and already got all his shots.

And tomorrow I am doing some shopping I plan to head out to Lululemon, Mec and the Tilley store... okay actually I doubt I will get to all 3 places... but the Tilley store is the one I am supposed to go too the most and try on and get a hat :) so that one will get accomplished the other 2 highly questionable.

This weekend I keep telling myself I am going to go Christmas shopping... but it really depends how motivated I feel... Ben is working all weekend but at least he's here in town so home late in the evenings.

I am thinking this year we won't get a Christmas Tree... sigh... there's just no point since we will be in Ktown & Pembroke before, during and after Christmas and then we leave for our trip on the 28th so that doesn't leave much time to enjoy tree and then take it down and get rid of it when we get back.

Last year we got an Ikea Christmas tree for 20 bucks and it was fun to put up and have but again we didn't have Christmas at home and when we got home it was a mess the tree had dropped alot of the needles because it got dried out with no one watering it and it wasn't that that fun much to take the decorations off and clean up afterwords...

Lost and Now Found

2008-11-20T08:15:00.000-08:00

Good news! My red gortex hiking boots have been found! YAY! So everyone can relax now and stop searching their homes and cars for me :)

for those wondering they were in a box OF BEN's in the truck of my truck.... I blame Ben.

So it snowed last night and all I could think of is that I am going to be away from snow and cold for 4 whole weeks! December in Toronto is usually pretty tame and I like snow at Christmas so I can deal with some snow over the next 5 weeks and use deal with a 'short' winter when I come back.
I hate the cold, and snow and actually I hate winter in general!

Things to Pack & Items to Purchase

2008-11-19T13:18:00.000-08:00

I am a geek I know!

But I came home the other night and packed ALL my things for my trip :)
Mostly just to see what I need to buy and what I already own. But I laid it all out and made a list of things I still need....

I own my pack already :)

I have 5 tank tops some with built in bras some not.
1 good sports bra.
1 pair of nylon pants
1 pair of lulu lemon pants (as a warm layer for the colder cloud forest type of areas)
1 pair of capri pants that roll into shorts
2 pairs of shorts
1 pair of swim type activity shorts.
1 full piece bathing suit and a cover up tube top thingy
1 Marino wool long sleeve shirt
rain pants
rain coat
1 fleece

things to buy....

I need one light sleeve top (nylon or something just for bugs & sun)
I need a bucket hat with a string so I won't loose it
I need a travel towel
I could use some decent quick drying socks... I have my eye on some from the Tilley store.....
I have decided to buy a new bikini a good one from speedo that is not a string bikini so it won't fall off during the water sporty things we will be doing....

I DO own excellent water proof hiking boots but they are currently lost and/or missing in my home or I left them at someone else's home.... but they are lost and I do not know where they are and this is stressing me out!!!

hmmmmmm I know about bug spray and sun lotion etc... I am just not quite into packing those items yet..... still on about clothes....

Do I need sunglasses??? and should I try to buy a pair of prescription sunglasses before we leave??? Do I need to see in great detail??? I could just bring a cheap pair of sunglasses but I won't actually be able to see clearly more than 5 feet from my face...
Thoughts?

Where does Bendrea come from?

2008-11-19T11:13:00.000-08:00

Hello all and welcome to our travel blog about our 4 week adventure through Belize, Guatemala and Honduras.

Now some of you may wonder about the name of the blog being Bendrea... well it was a nickname we kind of got in college from our friends since we were apparently rarely seen apart from each other.
And we were totally Bendrea before they was such things as Bennifer or Brangelina FYI.... and when I was trying to find a name for this blog simple stuff like ABAdventures was gone and I was having trouble find something nice & short as our blog URL.
Okay so make sure you check back in with us from time to time as we get ready for our adventure!