Hello All,
My trip has been quite exciting from being on the local news in Orange Walk, going canoeing with the crocodiles, horseback riding, and cave tubing where my camera got wrecked.
On our last day in Orange Walk a few of us decided to go to the cultural centre to make some Mayan pottery. We had some masks to choose from or plates to mold the clay into. It is quite the process and about half an hour after we arrived the local news was there with their cameras. We continued to work on our art work while a few of got some help from the locals teaching us. Then the news lady interviewed the man that was showing us how to make Mayan pottery. They wanted to interview someone from our group, but no one wanted to until I said that I would if someone else would do it too. Erika volunteered to do it with me. After an extensive interview with the person showing us how to make the pottery, Erika was next on camera. After they asked her a few questions, they moved the camera to me. I wasn't nervous, but once the camera was right on me, I think I got a bit nervous. The lady asked me a few questions such as why I was interested in making the pottery, why I am interested in the culture, and if it is difficult to make the pottery. They told us that it would be on the 7pm news that night. That night, our whole group was invited over to Orlando and Cyndi's place, the owner's of the hotel we were staying at. They have been extremely welcoming to our group and very hospitable. Orlando picked us up in his truck and we all piled in the back and headed to his house. Once we arrived, someone mentioned that we would be on the news, so they turned on the tv to watch. Yes, there we were on the local news of Orange Walk. They showed the different art that we were making and Erika and I were both on the news! We may be able to get a copy of it, so I can show you all when I get home.
Another adventure that I have had is canoeing with the crocodiles at night. This was done in Bermudian Landing when we were staying at the Howler Monkey Lodge. Half of the group headed out to the Belize River with Russell, our guide for the night. There were 2 canoes and 8 of us heading out for this trip, which meant that only a couple people were paddling while the rest of us sat in the middle of the canoe. The river was so calm and there were no mosquitoes, which was really nice. The fish in the river were leaping up in the air and back in the water and soon enough, we had a big fish in our canoe. Kim and I put our legs up on the sides of the canoe and it flopped all the way to the back of the canoe when Russell scooped the fish out. After awhile, we were pretty good at scooping the fish out and putting them back in the water. We soon saw some orange eyes in the distance and we all had headlamps, but had them turned off so we could see the crocodiles better. After about 30 mins. of canoeing down the river at night, we were in shallow enough water for Russell to get a crocodile. He got out of the canoe and picked up a baby crocodile to bring to over to show us. The crocodile was squirming and making a weird sound; we each had a chance to hold the small crocodile and get our pictures taken. It was pretty neat to see the crocodiles in their natural environment. After awhile, we headed back to the beginning. I had a great night canoe trip with the crocodiles!!
Yesterday, was quite an adventure with cave tubing and zip lining. I brought my camera in a waterproof case to take pictures of the caves while we were going through them in our rubber tubes. It was so refreshing to get in the water after hiking up to the top of the caves in the heat, sweating as usual. We had our headlamps on, but didn't use them most of the trip. Once we were in the caves, it was very dark so we didn't really know who was in front of us or behind us unless we turned our headlamp on. The water was very calm so we had to paddle a lot of the way with our hands. I took my camera out to take a few pictures and my hands were a bit wet, but didn't think it would damage my camera. At the end of the cave tubing, I tried to turn my camera back on and it wouldn't go on. Some of the water must have leaked into my camera and wrecked in, but hopefully my memory card is still fine (over 400 pictures taken!!). After drying it out, it still wouldn't work. Aggie has lent my her camera for the rest of the trip, since she has another one. Thank-you Aggie!!!!
Today we are heading off to Guatemala, which I am pretty excited about. Well, I am off to face the heat again.
Rosalyn
