I decided it was finally time to visit Caracol. A site in the Cayo district of Belize where I live, that has just been a little too remote for me to have easily gone to earlier. This is arguably the largest Mayan city in Central America. The site had been occupied as early as 1200 BCE. It became the Capital ruling city of the Mayan empire after a great victory over their rival Tikal in 562 CE which had been ruler of the empire for many years.

It’s an incredible Mayan site to see and very unique as well. The pyramidal architecture of this site generally uses rounded edges which is a style virtually unseen in most of the Mayan world. The largest pyramid named Caana at the central plaza is gargantuan with a flat open plaza on it’s plateau surrounded by another three large pyramids.

At the base of this monstrosity is another larger plaza with a large pyramid across from it that has two equal stelae on either side of it’s main stairway. There are of course pyramids enclosing this plaza on either side as well with a ball court located behind one of them.

The entire site covers over 168 square kilometers and is said to have over 30,000 different structures on it. Many of them are still just mounds, as much of the city remains unexcavated. Just when you think you’ve seen all the major pyramids on the site, you stumble across more pyramids, more plazas, and I’m sure there are still more to be uncovered.

If you are at all interested in Mayan culture, then you should make Caracol one of your priorities for visiting. It is fairly remote from the rest of the action in Belize. It’s about a 2 hour drive from San Ignacio over the Pine Ridge and into the deep jungle within the Mayan Mountain Range. There are many tour guides willing to take you there, and I split the cost with a couple of fellow French travellers. There was only about 1 other tour guide out there with a group, and a few other individuals walking around the site. It makes it even more awesome when you’re sitting on a giant pyramid with no-one else in view, looking over this ancient city.

If you get a chance to visit, jump on the opportunity.

~Jambhala

After putting off an inevitable trip to Flores, Guatemala the past few months the time came for me to venture out there. Now don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t putting the trip off because I didn’t want to go, but merely because other things kept happening in Belize that I wanted to attend, and I was trying to time the trip with getting my visa renewed.

One thing to note here in Belize is that you can keep going to immigration each month and pay $50 BZ ($25 US) for a 30 day extension of your visa. After 6 months however, the price goes up to $100 BZ ($50 US) per 30 day extension. The trick here is that if you leave the country for more than 3 days and then come back, you get to continue paying only $50 BZ ($25 US) each month for your 30 day renewals for the next 6 months again. Now at this point I have been in Belize for over 6 months and my trip out of the country for over 3 days is long due.

So off I go to Flores, Guatemala, a place I’ve heard wonderful things about, and read the reviews both online and in the travel guides. Since I live in Benque Viejo already, it is very close and easy to get to. I caught a taxi for $4 BZ to the border at Melchor De Menco. Standard crossing procedures getting my passport stamped out of Belize (paying the $35 BZ exit fee) and then changing BZ into Quetzales, then getting stamped into Guatemala (Paying the $10 Quetzales entrance fee).

Upon walking into the main street the usual taxi drivers acosted me. But you must say no to their ridiculous prices they quote you for a trip to Flores. If you have a group, you could perhaps negotiate a good deal, but otherwise it’s better to catch a short taxi ride downtown Melchor and then hop on a Collectivo minibus to take the trip to Flores for only $30 Quetzales. It only takes a couple hours and then you’re there , at the gateway to Flores.

Flores is a beautiful city on an island, which because of the bridge could be mistaken for a peninsula. It is in the center of a gorgeous green lake that is both clean and amazingly warm for swimming.

Tuk-tuk taxis drive back and forth across the bridge taking people into Santa Elena the city just at the edge of the lake. I decided to walk and shoot some video on my way.

Upon walking across the bridge I sought out the infamous and highly recommended Las Amigos. Yes, I can now recommend it too, it’s a great place to stay, and they serve all vegetarian food (I am a vegetarian so this is a high delight).

Las Amigos is a very stylin’ place, and full of interesting travellers from around the world. I relaxed most of my 4 days doing very little of anything but socializing and taking a few strolls around the island. I went swimming with some of my new friends, played cards, drank beer, and listened to two beautiful girls from Finland sing some incredible choir songs in their native tongue. That was probably the highlight of the whole trip actually, but it’s not likely that the average traveller will experience that. It is very likely that you would have fun though.

All in all I felt lazy the whole time, partying into the nights, sleeping during the days, and leaving all the tours for the tourists. I’m sure I’ll visit again soon enough, and I highly recommend visiting.

~Jambhala

 

Well, it’s been awhile since I updated my blog here, but I am still in Belize and am enjoying myself very much working on the Better In Belize Project.

Already quite awhile ago I discovered what I thought looked like a Mayan mound or pyramid on the Better In Belize ecovillage property. I didn’t post about it because I wasn’t sure at first, but after getting a guy from the archeology department to look at it and verify it, which led me to search the surrounding area for more ruin evidence. This led me to discover a series of tiered walls near the main pyramid.

The pyramid, which I had at first thought to be a small structur on a hill turns out that it may in fact be the hill itself. We need to do some excavation to find out more.

That’s partly why I have recently setup a volunteer program to help with building the ecovillage, organic farming, the eco-school, and excavating and restoring the Mayan ruins.

Our team has acquired a house in Benque Viejo, across the street from the BenqueHouse Guesthouse that I am currently staying at. This house is a large 4 bedroom, with a kitchen, living room, bathroom, outdoor shower, and small yard. It is across the street from the riverfront park, and we are making this our volunteer headquarters.

The volunteer program costs $97/week, or $250/month to come down and help us out in organic farming, permaculture development, archeological excavations on the Mayan site, and eco-technology setups for the ecovillage.

The cost includes a bunk accommodation in shared rooms in the volunteer house, as well as basic training for whatever tasks we put you to work on. We are looking at this time for anyone interested in being a volunteer coordinator to help us with the management and organization of this volunteer program.

I’m really looking forward to when the first volunteers arrive, as the volunteer house is empty and waiting. We have only just started the program and have had quite a bit of interest thus far with many applications coming in. Yet most people are planning to come within the next 3 months, and we still have plenty of room for volunteers now and in the coming months.

Anyone interested in becoming a volunteer, or in the Better In Belize ecovillage in general can email me at: jambhala (at) BetterInBelize.com

I hope to see you down here sometime.

~Jam

Guanacaste National Park was our decided destination for adventure. It’s a small National Park reserve that is easy to access right off the highway beside Belmopan. We’d seen it many times before, but decided it was time to check it out.

We left in the early afternoon, and decided to take the sscenic route through Spanish Lookout just for fun. Spanish Lookout is the area of Mennonnite communities filled with farmlands. The Mennonites are a unique and appreciated addition to Belizes cultural diversity. They farm the lands and provide good healthy locally grown food.

They’re a hardworking and honest people. Some of the groups are more traditional and conservative, still following the old ways of farming with horse drawn carriages & plows. They’ve got long beards and look very much like the Amish sects of Mennonitism.

Other groups have evolved with the times and are now using computers, driving vehicles, shaving their beards, and running their own storefront businesses. They provide many products and services to Belize that would otherwise be unavailable (Including importing and installing satellite internet dishes). They’ve also discovered a very high grade of oil in the Spanish Lookout area, and Mennonites have setup oil wells, pumping the stuff out which is so pure that the crude oil can be used in engines without even being processed first.

There are two ways in and out of Spanish lookout, and for the route we were taking we went in via the hand cranked ferry and out via the bridge. It’s just across the Belize River and a small hand cranked ferry comes goes back and forth bringing over 3-4 vehicles at time. If you arrive at rush hour, you may have to wait a few ferry runs, but in general there is not a long wait.

Check out my video of Spanish lookout showing the hand crank ferry, rolling farmlands of Spanish Lookout, and a pumping oil well.

After leaving Spanish lookout it didn’t take us too long to get to Guanacaste National Park. This park is approximately 50 acres of preserved second growth tropical rainforest under the care of the Belize Audubon Society. It holds a lot of diversity of plants, animals, and unfortunately insects.

We arrived to be greeted by a friendly Belizean guy who showed us the maps and gave us a good explanation of the area and trails to be explored. We payed our $5 BZ entrance fee each and then ventured into the park.

The beauty of this place is incredible. It gives you the full jungle feeling with the site of rich tropical foliage everywhere, the sounds of crickets, cicadas, & birds, as well as the smell of flowers. The trails are well made and clear so you don’t have to worry about accidentally stepping on a viper (Which can be a very real danger in Belize when treking through jungles).

Are biggest dislike which we soon realized was the insects biting us. It seemed to be a bad day for bugs with high humidity and little to no wind. We decided to just walk faster because it’s only when you stop to look at something closely that they’d bite you. After covering much of the park area, Mark couldn’t handle the bugs anymore so we went back. The Belizean park host informed us that it’s not usually so full of bugs. It’s because of the recent rains that many more bugs are back in season.

We’ll perhaps go see the park again another time at a slower pace, but here’s the video to give you an idea of what this beautiful park has to offer.

Peace & Prosperity,
Jambhala

I decided to go explore the Mayan ruins at the ancient city of temples “Xunantunich”. This Mayan site has been calling me ever since I arrived, and it is so easy to get to, that I haven’t gone yet, always thinking that I could do it any day.

Well the day arrived, and I walked to Xunantunich from my current residence at the Benque House guesthouse in Benque Viejo Del Carmen.

It’s just a short 10 minute walk to Succotz, then a crank ferry crossing across the Mopan, and another 10 minute walk up the hill to the ruins. I’d recommend going earlier so you’re not walking in the mid-day sun like I ended up doing. It’s not far, but it is up a few hills.

When I arrived at the ancient city Xunantunich, I was amazed. I had read that it largest pyramid “El Castillo” is the second largest man-made structure in Belize after the Caana Pyramid of Caracol, but it still amazed me.

I wandered around by myself in an almost desolate city aside from a sparse few people also exploring the Mayan ruins. I took my time, got lots of video, and meditated at the top of the El Castillo pyramid, looking down over the other two main plazas of Xunantunich.

Check out the videos to see what I’m talking about:

After spending a few hours in the main part, I followed some of the trails around the outskirts of the city to see the ruins of what looked to be the nobles part of town. Only the core foundations and remnants of crumbling walls remained, and a little further I even found another small pyramid that is unexcavated with jungle trees growing all over it.

Xunantunich is an incredible Mayan archeology site and was definitely a once powerful ancient Mayan city full of sacred temples and pyramids. I recommend visiting it if you’re ever in the area.

~Jambhala

Mark and I decided to do a trip to Punta Gorda in the Toledo district before he sells his Jeep. Punta Gorda is Toledo’s Capital and the largest southern city in Belize. To be perfectly honest it is not a big city at all, and we found it to be one of the most laid back places in Belize.

It has a beautiful mix of Garifuna, Mayan, East Indians, Chinese, and Mestizo people. It’s also right on the coast just a short distance away from Guatemala and Honduras. It’s a lush area of rainforest, receiving more rain than most areas of Belize, and being home of many farmers, including organic farmers of cacao, and cashew, among others.

Upon arriving in town, we met up with Victor, the local remax representative and then checked in to the Natures Way hostel.  Victor then gave us a tour of the town, showed us some of the available real estate and then took us out to his favorite bars for some drinks. It was a good time.

On Saturday morning I got up early and went on a little exploration around town. I discovered the Saturday market just along the waterfront, and bought myself two big bags of raw cacao beans for $10 BZ total (very good deal). I also bought a bottle of home brewed cashew wine from a fellow on a bicycle. It tasted delicious.

Now one of the things I’ve been looking to get since I got to Belize is a traditional Garifuna style drum. When I had asked Victor, he had told me of a craftsman to check out, so I decided to stop by his house and see what he had for offer.

When I got there, this Garifuna Rasta craftsman named King Ruban was sitting outside with a drum shaped piece of wood smoldering on the inside. Apparently Victor had stopped by his place earlier and informed him that I was coming to buy a drum. So Ruban was already starting to make it.

Ruban greeted me and we discussed what it would take for him to make me a drum. Since would be leaving on the Monday, it didn’t give him much time, but he said he would have it completed by the time I was leaving.

I had been imagining finding a shop with a few drums to choose from, but there were some advantages to having a drum custom made from scratch by this artisan. Since he was on the same block as the guesthouse, I was planning to visit in often to see the progress of the drum and do a video of the drum making process. You can check out my video at the link below:

The Making of my Traditional Garifuna Drum

I met a couple of interesting organic farmers named Gordon and Dija. Gordon has a nice farm called Bedrock Gardens out on the outskirts of town, and he showed me the place and told me a bit about farming the indigenous plants and fruit trees.  I learned a lot from these two in the short time we spent together, as Dija had also lived for over a year in the jungle, surviving easily with a machete and the wisdom and knowledge of jungle plants, animals, and foods.

Back downtown, Mark was spending most of his time at the reef bar, which is in the most ideal location and run by Polly from England. She’s one of the coolest people you could meet, very friendly, and running a diving operation with a focus on reef conservation (Check her website at: http://ReefCI.com). In the evenings there is often live Garifuna music and dancing, and the bar overlooks the beautiful sea with that wonderful sea breeze keeping things cool.

We both spent most of our evenings at the Reef bar, and on Sunday night when the live Garifuna music was playing, I was taken by the spirit of the music and danced wildly to the African-Carribean vibe along with a couple of cute Garifuna girls. For anyone who has not experienced the music of the Garifuna people, their music alone is worth a trip to Belize and one of the Garifuna towns. It is mostly fast trance drumming on various sizes of drums and turtle shell drum sets, as well as group harmonic singing/chanting in the traditional Garifuna language. So beautifully tribal!

I had been hoping to receive my drum that night, but Ruban told me it would be ready in the morning before I left. Luckily it was, but the skin still wasn’t dry, so I had to wait until I got home to Benque before it was ready to play.

The whole journey to Punta Gorda opened my eyes to a new part of Belize. The diversity there, the laid back nature of the place, the rich lush growing habitat, the beautiful multi-cultural women, and the incredible Garifuna music are all good reasons to visit Punta Gorda. I will definitely go back for another visit sometime.

~Jambhala

The Belize zoo is a place I’d been meaning to visit for quite awhile so that I could check out all the animals, and know what to be looking for in the jungle.

Mark and I decided to go on an excursion to Monkey Bay which is right near the Belize zoo in an attempt to avoid the heavy construction that is still going on at our beloved Benque House.

Upon arriving at Monkey Bay, we stopped at one of the best bars in Belize, “Amigos”! This place has so much character, with it’s jokes posted all over the walls, and it’s fun-loving friendly staff. The highlight of the place is when you arrive for Happy Hour and then get the chance to “Shoot Your Wad” for a free drink.

Okay, to give you an idea of what that means. Happy hour napkins are green, as opposed to white ones. When you collect enough condensatoin on your napkin from your drink, you have a soggy green wad which you can then shoot into one of the designated mini-basketball hoops located on either side of the bar. You must follow the rules though in order for it to count (essentially that means sitting down on one of the bar stools).

Bonus: you get 2 free beers if you can shoot it into the basket off one of the waitresses butts.

I scored on my first practice shot with a white napkin, but since it wasn’t a happy hour green napkin, it doesn’t count.
We were going to come back for happy hour later to try our luck, but first we had to go check in to our rooms in Monkey Bay across the field.

We checked in to the mens bunk room, and since we were the only guys staying there, we had it all to ourselves.
Then we headed down the road to check out the Sibun river. It looked pretty nice, typically a Belizean jungle river with the usual iguanas in the trees and lots of beautiful birds flying around.

After relaxing by the river for a bit we headed back to Amigos for happy hour. Unfortunately neither Mark nor I could score a free beer during happy hour, but some of the regulars were scoring free beer after free beer. Of course after happy hour finished I managed to shoot a white napkin wad in. Oh well, we certainly had a good time and met some new interesting people.

The following morning we went to Belize city so that Mark could get a bug bite looked at by a dermatologist. The red bite mark had been getting bigger and bigger over the past few days, and after a few different diagnoses (some of which sounded pretty aweful) Mark decided to get a professional opinion.

We found the dermatologist and he said it was just a minor fungal infection, gave Mark a prescription for some antifungal cream, and that was all. We then went to the Belize zoo to see all the cool animals.

The Belize zoo is an awesome place, and I highly recommend everyone check it out if you’re passing through. They have cool creole poems to describe each animal, and the animals have a large area that is very much their natural habitat to live in. You get to see most of the critters as though they were in the wild.

I got some incredible video clips of many of the animals there. Watch my Belize animals video mix on YouTube.

Belize Animals at the Belize Zoo

At one point the Tapir turned around a sprayed piss on Mark and his bag. Hehehehehehehe, it was really funny, particularly because the sign had a poem that warned to watch out or he’ll piss on you. I knew something was up when the beast started to turn around and walk backwards toward us, so I got out of the way quick.One of the last stops along the zoo area was the spider monkey zone. I absolutely love spider monkeys, and so we watched these guys play in the trees for awhile. I got a lot of video clips. I haven’t uploaded all the video mixes yet, so tune in to my YouTube channel if you want to see the other ones, but for now you can check out this mix:

Spider Monkeys Play in the Trees

After a good day of seeing all the Belizean animals, it was time for Happy hour at Amigos again. We stopped off and had a few drinks shooting our wads. Happy hour was almost over and we were about ready to go, and then all of a sudden Mark shot his wad and SCORED!!! YEah!!Alright, I had to buy 1 more beer and try my luck 1 last time. I shot and SCORED!!! Yeah!! right on! We took our winning beers capped to go, and off we went. All in all a great day.

It’s time for me to move again. The BenqueHouse Guesthouse in Benque Viejo Del Carmen is nearly livable and just in time too. Mig, Mark, and I will be moving into it in 2 days, so the construction workers are scrambling to get the last details of the ground floor completed so that we can move in.

The BenqueHouse guesthouse will not be open for business until the upstairs is completed. That’s where 7 rooms will be added to accommodate the guests. Hopefully construction on it will only take another month or so, because we’re going to be living downstairs while the construction is going on over our heads.

The contractor and construction workers have been doing an amazing job so far. When we first saw this house, it looked like a craphole. We were visualizing to just clean it up a little and make it as livable as possible, but as business plans surfaced and plans restructured, the decisions were made to build it into a high-end guesthouse.

Take a look at the before and after pictures.

BEFORE:

AFTER (and still in progress):

So while we’re talking about construction, I’d like to mention the construction going on currently at the Better In Belize Ecovillage. Proper roads are finally being put in to give easy access to more of the land, and trails have been cleared down to the river as well. It’s starting to look slightly developed, but of course keeping in tune with nature in an eco-friendly manner.

Check out the construction pictures below.

It’s nice to finally see some construction going on here, as this will be the next place I move to. Hopefully sooner than later, but we’ll see how construction goes and how long it takes to get a livable infrastructure in place. I can’t move there until it’s got internet setup, and although we have the satellite internet equipment waiting in the wings, we still need to get the energy to power it and a laptop.

It also seems that an old Mayan wellspring was discovered, which is great. It means that there is water in the ground available for us to use. It will need to be filtered before use, but there are many simple ways to do that.

All in all, I am enjoying the changes and progress of both the BenqueHouse guesthouse as well as the Better In Belize Ecovillage. I’ll keep everyone updated on the progress still to come.

~Jambhala

Prelude

2 days before the race

Our team went out for a practice run on the Macal river. After a couple of hours of canoeing we got back onto shore in our green plastic canoe and met a Belizean who was worried about us taking this boat in the race.

We questioned his concern and he told us that he used to take people out in canoe tours and that he’s used this type of canoe and it is very slow and hard to use. He told us that it’s not good for long distances, but if we used one of the other canoes we’d fare better.

Since the other canoes he recommended were being rented from Tony (The same guy that was renting us the one we’d been practicing in) we figured maybe we should listen to this guy. We took one for a test run and sure enough it ran smoother and faster. Unfortunately we had already put all of our sponsor logos on our current canoe.

The Belizean guy had a solution for that too. He recommended a rasta artist who could paint the logos onto our boat before the race and lived right near the bridge where we were keeping our boat. Excellent. In a few moments of pondering our options we decided to switch boats, and got the Rasta painter named Sebastian to get to work painting our boat.

1 Day before the race

We get a call from Michael (Head of our support team) who is in Spanish lookout and has found an even faster sleaker traditional dugout dory canoe. It seems this boat is for sale and he’s been negotiating with them to buy. He asks us if we want it, and we question about getting the logos redone a third time. Michael says “no problem, I’ll take it down to Sebastian immediately to get painted before the race”. Without Arlene (our other team member) around to make the decision, Elly and I decide to go for it.

This means we will now be in a new racing division. The Dory division. In the evening, we do our orientation for the race, listening to the rules, and how to deal with dangerous situations on the river etc… We get our stickers with our team number on it for the canoe and we inform registration of our switching divisions. Afterwards is a big party in the center of San Ignacio to celebrate the night before the La Ruta Maya race begins. Bands play music, people dance, and vendors sell food. We had some good fun, but went to bed early to get well rested for the morning.

Day 1 San Ignacio to Banana Bank (The Beginning)

We get down there in good time with all of the gear we’d backed for the trip. We each have a bag to strap into the boat, foam to cushion our seats, and bailers to get water out of the boat.

Michael and I check in with Sebastian who has finished painting our logos on the boat, and we carry the boat to the crowded riverbank. We quickly use string and duct-tape to get all of our stuff secured and tied in to the boat before launching.

It’s almost time for the race to start, and we still need to paddle upstream to the starting line. We get in the boat, launch into the waters and that’s when we realize the instability of this sleek dory dugout. Balance is immediately a concern as the boat starts to rock back and forth. Everyone in the the team needs to be in sync to balance this boat, but it just ain’t happening. This is the first time we’re trying out this new craft, and as we tip from side to side and start taking on water, we realize that we’ll never make it anywhere in this boat.

Half submerged, we manage to turn ourselves around and get back to shore just as the canoe sinks. The crowd was laughing and cheering, and so were we. Our support crew leader Michael jumps into action to get our backup canoe.

We start untying our gear and retrieving our bailers and foam cushions. Then to the rescue comes our Belizean friend from the previous day who had recommended the other canoe. He paddles across the river to where we are, and presents us the boat! Hurray! we have a stable canoe that has all our sponsor logos on it.

We hurry to get our gear tied down and paddle up towards the starting line. Then we realize that our official team number stickers are on the other canoe, AND we have now switched back to the Pleasure Craft division from the Dory division. So we pull to shore close to the starting line on the opposite side of the river and I jump out of the boat and eagerly search the crowds for one of the official race volunteers. I find the Timekeeper with 5 minutes to spare before start time and tell him our story quickly. He gives me the okay to continue without stickers and says we’ll sort it out in the evening.

I jump back in the boat and we head up to the starting line, staying a bit to the back of the line in order to avoid the rush of the serious paddlers.

Our strategy is to be the last ones paddling under the bridges where people are all eagerly watching the race. So when the fog horn calls the race to begin, we just drift along with a few other pleasure crafts and then let everyone by before paddling through the cheering crowds of spectators on either sides of the bank and on the bridge.

—

We continue paddling for a long time and then we run out of water. We’re nearing the bridge to Spanish lookout, where we call Michael to bring us water and the energy balls we left in the freezer. We arrived faster than expected to the bridge and so had to pull over to the bank and wait for him to show up with supplies. In the meantime, the other canoes we had passed along the way all go by and the safety boat which follows the last canoe pulls up and asks if we’re giving up. We tell them no, and explain our situation.

Just as they start telling us the rules, that one person must remain in the boat at all times, Michael pulls in, screaching to a halt and jumps out of the Land Cruiser with jugs of water and an armful of energy balls. We quickly relaunch the boat and start heading down the river again.

The sun is blazing hot, and luckily Elly and I had a dip in the river while we were waiting so our clothes are soaked and keeping us cool. Arlene isn’t doing so well, and starts to refuse to eat energy balls and isn’t drinking much water either. She claims that she doesn’t like the electrolyte drink Elly gave her.

We keep going, but the safety boat comes to check on us, and after questioning Arlene a few times, who is complaining about aches and pains all over, they decide she needs medical attention and remove her from the canoe.

Elly and I are now on our own, heading out to paddle the last few miles in to Banana Bank. After a long haul of paddling, we make it in last place. When we pull in, the Japanese support team help us pull our canoe on the shore and we find Arlene in the medical van, hooked up to an IV because of dehydration. Our support team isn’t there yet because as it turned out they took the wrong road to Banana Bank. Mark, our photographer shows up first and lends some money for beers. Elly and I go get our food, and wait for the others.

When the others finally arrive (Matt in the Motorhome, and Michael in the Landcruiser). Elly and I cruise off with Michael to go get massages in San Ignacio and sleep at home for the night.

Day 2 Banana Bank to Bermudian Landing

Early up in the morning, and snoozing in the vehicle as Michael drives us to Banana Bank. It was nice to be able to sleep in our own beds the night, and the massages we received from Ana the Masseuse were wonderful. I felt as though I hadn’t even paddled the previous day.

When We arrived at Banana Bank, we went and got our breakfast and ate it in the motorhome with Arlene. She was not doing too well. She had caught a throat cold and was coughing quite a bit. Each day our team must start together in the canoe or else we get disqualified, and there is no chance of substituting another paddler either. Arlene wasn’t in any state to paddle, but she was going to start the day with us and then get picked up by the Safety boat ASAP.

We got our gear together and went to launch our canoe. Once launched, we paddled to the back of the line to wait for the starting horn. The countdown starts 3, 2, 1 and the canoes start going, but the horn never blew. “Get Back HERE!” shouts Tony the Timekeeper. “Get Back Here Now!! Listen for the Horn!!!”. The canoes stop and start paddling backwards as they realize it was a false start. We didn’t have to move, since we were so patient to begin with.

With everyone back in line, the horn blows and the race begins. We start paddling slowly at the back with the other slower paddlers and after 20 minutes or so, we flag down the safety boat to unload Arlene. They recognize quickly what our intentions are and waste no time picking her up and letting us get back to paddling.

This was the longest day of the race. A 64 mile long stretch which includes going over a waterfall at one point. We just kept pushing on, paddling in trance as one part of the river begins to look like any other and we have no way to judge how much farther to go except what the safety boats tell us as they come by to check on us from time to time. We soon realize that the safety boats have no idea where they are either, as every one tells a different story of how far we’ve gone and how far we have left to go.

At one point we must’ve been lagging far behind the rest, because the army boat picked us up and gave a tow, telling us we’d never make it at the turtle pace we were moving at. They towed us for a while and then let us loose.

We were now paddling through Howler Monkey territory. The Baboon Sanctuary was around us and we saw families of howler monkeys on either side of the river. They were sitting in trees watching us go by, and at some points they would be howling back and forth across the river to each other and from tree to tree. It was a symphony of howler monkeys. This was truly one of the most magical experiences.

We continued on in our paddling trance and then saw the army boat on the river. They came by to let us know that we were coming up to the falls and to keep to the right. They also mentioned that 7 canoes had already flipped going through, so we best be careful.

Where-ever there are dangerous rapids along La Ruta Maya course, there are always volunteers there with flags to guide you through the safest part of the rapids. We followed the instructions and went straight on over the first waterfall.

It was only about a 2-3 foot drop that went kind of gradual as the water force created and angle to float over it with. Water thrashed against the sides of the canoe and splashed over the edges as we plowed through the rapids over the fall and into a thick mess of waves. The next part we had to keep to the right and a we cruized over a lesser fall with ease. Only a bit of water got in the boat, which I quickly bailed out when we got back into the calm waters again. Gee, that was easy, but we both laughed at the idea of taking the dory dugout through there. We would’ve been sunk for sure in that thing.

After the falls we made it in a couple hours later and even put on the steam at the end to pass one of the Japanese teams so we wouldn’t be last again. WooHoo!! Second day completed, the hardest part behind us.

Our support team was ready and waiting for us this time. We got into some clean clothes had our dinners and I went and setup my tent. Parties were going on all around the area, but we were so tired and sore that we just finished eating, and went to bed. I rubbed tiger balm all over myself and did some yoga and self massage before sleep. A bar right next to my tent was blasting music late into the night, but it didn’t seem to bother me in my tired state.

Day 3 Bermudian Landing to Burrell Boom

Up early morning to pack up my tent, then go check out the motorhome and the rest of my team. They were just getting up when I knocked on the door, so I went off to collect our breakfasts and return to feast.

It appeared that Arlene was still not feeling very well, so Elly and I would have another day of just the two of us paddling. Today it would only be 36 miles, so we weren’t too concerned, although we didn’t get massages from Ana the previous night, so our muscles were a little worse for wear. However, Ana was going to be waiting for us in Burrell Boom when we got in, so we had something to look forward to.

When the race started this time, all went well. The safety boat insisted that Arlene must paddle out to the first safety checkpoint 2 miles in before we could drop her off this time. It turned out to be more like 4-5 miles, but Arlene managed it quite well. She also got to paddle through some areas with howler monkey’s in the trees howling. It started raining when we set off and we were all drenched.

After dropping her off, we pushed on hard. We got into our paddling trance and kept going and going. We were neck in neck with another canoe for awhile that also only had 2 people due to one of them getting a sore back. We seemed to be able to keep a lead on them most of the time, but they’d always pass us when we pulled over to the bank for pee breaks, or just decided to have a break to eat fruit and energy balls.

The sun came out only once for maybe 20 minutes, and the rest of the time was drizzling, sprinkling, pouring, and  whatever. It was wet. Nearing the end of the day the army boat came by with our competitors being towed. We were starting to get a bit cold from the wind, and yet the water of the river felt soooo warm. They towed us for a bit and then handed us off to another safety boat which gave me a space blanket to wear. They only towed us a little way since we were so near the end anyways, but it was much appreciated. We paddled in the last little way and were happy to get in where our support team was waiting for us.

When we got out Michael, Matt, and Arlene guided us to some fresh dry clean clothes and a hot shower at Ana’s hotel room, followed up by a 30 minute massage each. It was fabulous.

We then ate our dinners and went to watch part of a video festival on kayaking and canoeing. We also had a couple shots of tequila to celebrate. The videos were good, but I was getting tired, so I went off to do some yoga and then sleep.

Day 4 Burrell Boom to Belize City

The final day of only 25 miles. At this point I feel very confident that I will finish the race. I’m just hoping that it won’t rain today. Arlene was talking about finishing this last run with us last night, but this morning she says she doesn’t think she can do it. She had been up all night before coughing.

The teams line up to launch their boats, as there is only one launch spot due to a steep bank. We get our boat in the water and start paddling to the back of the line as per usual. Although we had our nice massages the previous night, Elly and I have very sore muscles. The overexertion from the past 3 days has taken its toll on us.

The fog horn starts the race, and we begin at a slow pace. As we go, our muscles start to tighten and warm up a little and it becomes a bit easier. Once Arlene is going she decides that she does want to finish the race today, and when the army boat asks if we’re okay, she tells them we’re just fine. Elly and I wonder whether this is a good thing or a bad thing.

As we push on, Arlene proves herself to us. Her arms aren’t as sore as ours and once we get into a rhythm of paddling, she shows her strengths.

We managed to pass another canoe (the same one we’d been neck in neck with the previous day, and they have their third person today too). We maintained a lead on them and the army boat cheered us on as we passed them.

At one point the waves from the sea were coming towards us providing a challenge of having to push harder to make headway. We pushed on and when we could see the sea ahead of us, we were guided down a side channel through a canal of mangrove trees. The mangroves were sooooo beautiful, and the waters looked like a good place for crocodiles to hang out.

The mangrove canal seemed to go quite a ways, and we passed some sunken boats and some kids floating around in old freezers. The end must be near. It felt very close, and eventually we came out of the mangroves into the city. Houses were on either side with people cheering us on as we paddled. “You’re almost there, keep going!” they shouted.

Our arms, shoulders, necks, and backs were weak, tired, and sore, but we were now sprinting with the finish line in mind. When we finally saw the bridge that marks the finish, we were very relieved, and pushed even harder with the last of our energy. Many people were still there waiting for us, and cheering as we came in!!!

Hurray!! We finished!!!

We docked our canoe, and left it for our support team to deal with as we wandered over to receive our metals of participation (Of course we came in second to last, so we weren’t expecting any prizes). The wooden metals were reward enough, showing that we’d completed La Ruta Maya Belize River Challenge.

~Jambhala

Well folks, it’s official, I am now a competitor in La Ruta Maya canoe race. This is a 4 day, 3 night event of grueling paddling in teams of three people per canoe down the Belize river from San Ignacio to the sea in Belize city.

I’m going to be paddling a canoe for 4 days straight, zigzagging across central Belize in crocodile infested waters for 170 miles (Approx. 274 kilometers). The race starts this Friday and finishes on Monday.

Am I crazy?! Possibly, but then maybe I’m just determined to push myself to my limits and step outside my comfort zone to see what I’m really made of.

I’m certainly not doing it alone. There will probably be over 100 other canoe entrants, and each one will have 3 person teams.

My own team is made up of Canadian Vancouver Islanders. 2 Dragonboat Divas that have been competing in dragonboat races and even won first place in Prince Georges first competition. These 2 Divas (Arlene Gerein and Elly Ruge) are pumped up and ready to rock! Then there’s me, the martial arts performer of chain and staff fire spinning.

I think we’ve got what it takes to pull through and finish the race. We’re not trying to win by any means, but just have an adventure of a lifetime. We decided to be “Team Chillaxing”, and take it easy as we enjoy the pleasant scenary along the way, eat energy balls, watch the birds, the iguanas, and of course the crocodiles as they swim around the canoe waiting for us to tip over.

We’ve been practicing on the Mopan river which is a tributary upriver from where we start the race. These pictures show Elly and I on our first attempt at the actual race route starting at the lower bridge in San Ignacio.

This is going to be a fun challenge, and since we’re in the Pleasure Craft division, we’ll be with the many other competitors that just want to have some fun. Check out La Ruta Maya Belize website!

La Ruta Maya follows the ancient route that the Mayans took to trade their wares with the many cities and villages along the way.

I’ll let everyone know how I fare in a follow-up post next week.

Wish Me Luck!

~Jambhala

P.S.- Thanks goes out to Remax Belize Property Center, and Better In Belize Ecovillage for sponsoring our team in the race.