A Gringo from Alberta in Central America. Part 1

I have decided to blog about this trip and to write down the little and big things that I do and see.  The day starts out early at 4 am my old dog always know when something is amiss.  He knows I am going  and he is not coming. But he will have fun with my boys for two weeks.

The first day we had a lay over in Houston. We stayed at a hotel at the airport. One thing I don't like about travelling is airports.  Airports in my mind are artificial. They are also magnify what is wrong with the world: over consumption, general lack of awareness of the people around you and people speeding to get to places that have no meaning.

Day two was much cooler.  Early on the plane and a quick two hours to the Central American country of Belize. Off the plane in a typical Central American airport to a line to clear customs. Anyone who knows me knows lines are not my thing. We get through the line chatting with the people around us exchanging the normal pleasantries about out travels and where we are from. Next into the rental car and headed to the jungle. Because Belize is a small country it doesn't take long to get any where.  A quick ride and a lunch stop and we are in the jungle listening to all the weird noises of the night.  I woke up twice with the heavy rain and the sound of it on the tin roof of our cabin.

Day three.  We spent the day exploring two Mayan ruins both a short car ride from San Ignacio. The sheer beauty and immense scale of the ruins is humbling. To see that societies could build such structures thousands of years ago to me is inspiring. The Mayan people understood astrology, advanced mathematics and were one of the few societies that incorporated the concept of zero in their math.

We explored San Ignacio in the afternoon and were able to get some sweet bananas and mangoes at the market. For those that have ever ate bananas in the tropics you know what a treat that is.  They have an incredible flavour that is not in the banana in CANADA after it has been shipped thousands of miles in a sea can.

Day four. We are up earlier and are real excited.  There are three reasons: we are in the tropics, we are going into Guatemala to visit the ruins at Tikal and today is our anniversary.  All incredible reasons to have a great day.

We spent the day at the ruins in Tikal.  The size, the scope, the ingenuity of the Mayan people floors me.  Of all the things I have seen in my life, other than the birth of my sons, I can't put words together to describe how I feel after experiencing today. I will think some more on this and try and put my thoughts together.

Beyond the archeology,  we saw Tucan's, stick birds, an owl and its chick, a little hairy animal with long tail long nose about the size of a small dog ( a guy told me it's name but no way can I pronounce it), two different kinds of snakes, spider monkeys, howler monkeys and big bugs that I named Dinosaur bugs (I think they had 8 wings)

And it was stinking hot


Day five. Today we drove from western Belize down to Hopkins. Hopkins is a Garifuna village on the Caribbean sea. The drive took us through the capital of Belmopan on the Hummingbird highway. The hummingbird is the most picturesque drives in Belize.  It goes through the highlands and is a tropical wonderland. We stopped to explore a few limestone caves and had my favourite Belize treat.  People will sell small plastic bags of coconut water that they keep in a cooler. It is ice cold coconut water and I don't think there is anything more refreshing in the tropics.

After getting to Hopkins we spent an afternoon in the warm Caribbean Sea and walking on the beach.


Day Six Spent the morning walking the beach them walking through town over to the marina. A beautiful spot on the Sittee river in the afternoon went for a drive down country with some people we met and walked around a small town on a big bay.  You could see the palms on they Caye islands in the distance

Finished off the night at my favourite restaurant the Drift wood.  Where the music changed from Garifuna music to reggae to old country and western. A great night with some new friends.


Day Seven Today spent some time relaxing in the ocean and walking and biking around town.  Bikes are the mode of transportation for most of the town. From the little kids on up to the grandma's and grandpa's.   We stopped at one of my favourite spots sat in the sun watching the ocean and the people engaging in conversation with everyone around us.  Ended the day cooking up on the beach and talking with some new friends.


Day 8 We spent the day fishing and snorkelling out in the Caye's.  Very much Belizian style, we got off a few hours late but that is the tropics.  A quick hour ride out to the cayes and bottom fishing. We caught a lot of fish, way more than we could eat.  Our guide told me that none would go to waste as they would give the fish to local families. Our guide caught a 10 lb barracuda and that's what we grilled up on the beach on one of the cayes. We got to do some snorkelling seeing conch, butterfly fish, spotted moray eel, eagle ray and the bright corals of the barrier reef.



Day 9 Slept late today after the day before the ocean takes a lot of energy out of a person. I think we slept till 7:30.  We spent a lazy day around the pool and walking the beach.  Down time allows for reading and enjoying the day.

Eredera Choruti

This blog is going out to the team. I will not be able to be around for Pandamonium. I don't like missing Pandamonium as it is a great event for the community of Stony Plain and for the community of Silent River King Fu.  Pandamonium is a time to shine in the community and let people know that the martial arts are not about a bunch of individuals wanting to learn to hit people but people working on mental strength, physical strength, spiritual strength and community strength.  Pandamonium brings people together to get to learn about each other.

Now the reason I can't make it is a biggie.  On May 16, 25 years ago , my wife and I decided to start a life together. None of my friends thought my wife would put up with me for this long but it says a lot about her patience and generous nature.

To celebrate our life together to this point, we decided to travel through Belize and Guatemala for a few weeks.  While everyone is doing Kung Fu at Pandamonium I will be doing forms on the sand in southern Belize.

Eredera Choruti (in the Garifuna language this means stay safe)

A pattern is emerging in my blogs

When is a goal not really a goal; if you enjoy doing something so much you rather do it than most anything else?  I am not sure but yondering in the mountains may be my none goal.

I write and talk a lot about the mountains because that is where I am always in the moment.  From the time I start walking in the morning till I end in the afternoon or at night.

I set a goal this year to hike 300 km in the mountains this summer with at least two over night hikes.  Well the snow is barely above the valley floor and I went past 100 km this weekend. I was able to leave work a little early Friday and found myself in Banff and did 40 km  over the weekend.

Friday night I was able to scramble up a tight little valley there was still ice around the little stream. It was quite in this little valley with only the sound of the slowly moving steam headed to the lake.  Saturday was a typical mountain spring day with it going from snow to rain to sunshine all through the day. On sunday I had every thing as I headed home.  I went through two white out snow storms and was able to stop and walk two places on the road between Banff and Jasper.

I am really not sure where I am going with this blog other than hiking makes me happy and it keeps me in the moment.  I think those two things are the secret to a great life.