the beginning...

After what I would call a stressful flying experience, Philip and I made it into Belize, with all our luggage and no problems. The first two days have been quite relaxing as we really haven't done much. Yesterday after arriving, we hung out with my friend Kristen a bit and had dinner from Friendship Chinese Restaurant which is basically food dropped in oil that didn't taste as rewarding as I remember, then we swam a lot in the pool in the backyard. I think for Philip, the pool is more exciting... maybe it has something to do with growing up in the middle of Indiana farmlands! Today, after a slow start and a morning swim we ventured north to the
"Community Baboon Sanctuary" and "no" there are no baboons in Belize, but locals call Howler Monkeys Baboons. As we walked into the bush I was stung by a Doctor Fly, which I'm pretty sure is more painful that a bee or wasp and that was just the beginning of our bug horror. As it had just finished raining, mosquitoes were everywhere, but mainy on my skin. I'm sure our group of 8 people must have killed hundreds of them by the time we were done, but alas we got to see a family of Howler Monkeys so close that we could have touched them. As I was staring into the trees one dropped hanging upside down from his tail a mere foot from my face. Quite fun! After our bush tour, we headed to Altun Ha, a smaller excavation site of an ancient Mayan Ruin. The road that lead there was bumpy, broken and wide enough for one car. At one point I asked Phil in all seriousness if he thought it was a one way road, but as a truck came speeding towards me I figured otherwise. I guess veering both vehicles off the road partially into the grass is common in order to not crash. We returned home in search of dinner, just to realize that most places were closed and ended up eating at "Li Chee" another Chinese restaurant. Tomorrow we head to San Pedro, a well known town on the largest island near the reef for two days of beaches and snorkeling! later...