There's something about Mother Nature that captures me and makes me forget about the rest of the world. There is not a worry to be had when you're surrounded in a setting so serene, so picture-perfect, so indescribable. I thought I had witnessed this when I lived up in Michigan. The sky in the upper peninsula is speckled with so many stars that you feel as is you have your own personal nightlight. The world is quiet up there, the smell of the outdoors beats any other.....
...and then I spent the weekend on the Sarstun river that borders Belize and Guatemala and I have found a new favorite, hands down.
Friday afternoon, perfect sunny, hot weather and we headed out on a 40-minute choppy ride across the Gulf of Honduras with Roberto (our tour guide extraordinaire) and Toto (the captain's second mate aboard) to our destination, Rio Sarstun. One of the best parts of this entire weekend was being able to finally practice my Spanish!! I cannot say I did a great job but I was able to do basic translations for the crew at the eco-lodge and in Livingston bartering for souvenirs, as well as holding my own through 3 games of 15-ball (similar to 9-ball) with the locals at the only bar on the river.
Back to the Mother Nature part that I fell head over heels for...
Lodging was a simple eco-lodge, which sat on the edge of the Sartstun, that supported some of the locals. It consisted of 4 bedrooms with 2 bunk beds in each, screened windows, scorpions on the wall (JK but we did have one scorpion visit one of the bedrooms...), lights that came on/turned off whenever the generator was working, and running water as long as Mario pumped some that morning. It wasn't what I would call rustic, in fact it was pretty luxurious to be roughing it, but it still had the feel of being outside. I'm still waiting to be able to sleep outside under the stars in a hammock...
We arrived, busted out the kayaks and went exploring, took a hike up into the jungle to see an untrekked, never explored cenote up in the jungle (unreal.) and then headed back to the lodge. After an amazing meal called TAPADO (a local specialty stew of crab, shrimp and fish ready to dissemble with coconut milk and plantains served with rice and tortillas), we headed up to a bar to try out the local beverages (rum & gallo beer). It was fun but the best part was the ride home on the boat, in pitch black with no lights except the stars above to guide us. The water was still except for our wake. The reflection of the treeline helped guide the boat from running straight into land. The only sounds you heard was the break in water and a random critter talking in the jungle. If you know me, you know that I did not want to get off the boat at this point.
Night one - woke up with a few bug bites at the crack of dawn, enjoyed a cup of coffee while the others woke up, and called it good.
Saturday we started the day off with an authentic breakfast of beans, eggs, queso, plantains, and tortillas followed by a short boat ride out to Playa Blanca... a beautiful white beach with hammocks sprung between every pair of trees, beautiful water to swim in, and Toto welcoming us with COCOLOCO's (coconuts cracked open and topped off with rum - mmm!). We spent the day walking along the beach, napping in hammocks, playing beach volleyball, and tubing in the water aka very hard work! After a beach BBQ, we headed into Livingston (tourist center of Guatemala) to support the Guatemalan economy. Afterwards we all headed home to the lodge for another tasty meal, this time of PACHAY (fish and herbs steamed in a banana leaf served with the standard rice and tortillas) and a night of socializing.
Night two - woke up with a thousand bug bites way before the crack of dawn, itching my skin straight off. Attack of the bed bugs. So I'm dosed up on antihistamines and anti-itch cream for the next couple of days but I suppose better someone who's used to roughing it outdoors than someone who is scared of bugs!
Another authentic breakfast this morning, a scorpion visitor in one of the bedrooms, and a boat ride down the Moho River in Belize to search for howler monkeys, iguanas, and crocs. We only saw iguanas but that's better than nothing!
Towards the end of the Moho River, we crossed paths with the CottonTree Lodge - another eco-lodge that looks amazing to stay at whenever I visit Belize again.
The grounds of the lodge are home to a cotton tree - a natural giant beauty of Belize.. you can see us standing in front of just the base of the tree below.
And now we're home... it was amazing. I never want to leave the jungle... Who wants to come back here with me?
.jpg)
.jpg)
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment