Day 23; 7-30-05:

Today we had decided to go to a semi-resort just outside of town called the Trek Stop. I really liked it. As soon as we got there we played two rounds of frisbee golf because they have a course there. I got the all time record with a score of 33. Afterwards we got a Sprite and played darts. Soon it was starting to become time to eat so we went to the restraunt and had dinner. Once done with dinner we played another game of frisbee golf and then started up a movie called Shanghai Knights with Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson.

Day 22; 7-29-05:

Week 3 (read down)

Day 21; 7-28-05:

Today we got up at eight to go on our snorkel tour at Laughing Bird Caye. We arrived at the tour shop and picked up our supplies. Next we boarded onto the motorboat that was on the beach. As soon as we got out to the ocean the waves got really big and our boat would go filling over the jumps at speeds of 50-60 MPH. After 45 minutes of this chaos we arrived at the caye. We got out our gear and went out on our first snorkeling excursion. When we finished we went in for lunch that was served by our tour guides. The meal was chicken, potatoes and coleslaw with a tortilla. Before lunch we saw some 4-5 foot lemon sharks, with feeder fish attached to them, swimming in the shallows right near the beach. We warmed up in the shallows (in a different location!) while we were waiting for our tour guide to take us. Soon we were back out on the ocean snorkeling. When we were finished it was time to go back. We enjoyed our wild ride back to the peninsula. When we got back I read for two and a half hours and finished my book. Afterwards we went fishing but it didn’t work so well because it was so dark. We went back ate our peanut butter and jelly dinner, played some Texas Hold ‘em and went to bed.

Day 20; 7-27-05:

Today we got up early and went to the tour center for our snorkeling trip. Unfortunately the weather was bad so we couldn’t go on the tour. We came back and went swimming at the beach. After I dried off I went to the hammocks to read my book called The King of Torts by John Grisham. I read until two and then we went to the tackle shop to buy bait for fishing later this evening. After the tackle shop we rested in the hammocks and played catch. At about five we went fishing until about six and then we went to dinner.

Day 19; 7-26-05:

I woke up and brought my book down to the common area where my family was. We ate breakfast and I read my book a ton. Soon my dad and I went down to the hammocks on the beach under the palapa. We read for a while but soon went out to play in the ocean and go boating on the surf. After swimming we dry off and read in the hammocks. The rest of the day consisted of reading and more reading and hanging out at the beach. When it was time for dinner we went to Omar’s for dinner.

Day 18; 7-25-05:

When we woke up we went to breakfast and then hiked over to the bus station to go to Placencia. The bus ride took another two hours. We arrived in Placencia and visited to hotel some friends had recommended in Gail’s Point, The West Wind Hotel. We stayed here and played in the water the rest of the day until it became dark and I found a book in there library. The book was called Deception Point by Dan Brown. I liked the book so I read throughout the night.

Day 17; 7-24-05:

The next day we got out of bed at 7:20 to go fishing. We got our stuff together and waited for Donna to come at eight. Soon he came and we waded out to his sailing vessel. When we got out into the lagoon we each dropped our lines and started trolling. After a while my dad got a catch but it slipped away just as we were pulling it in. A little while later I caught a barracuda. Soon after, I pulled in a jack. Then Donna’s line caught a big barracuda. After Donna’s catch I pulled in another jack, and then when we were fishing for snapper my mom reeled in a jack. All told we had five fish and I had caught three. After fishing we went to Gentle’s for our lunch and then went to our room to pack to leave to Dangriga. Once packed we started hiking to Donna’s to catch to bus. We found out that sometimes the bus doesn’t go all the way into town so Donna introduced us to a guy who would take farther out of town in the back of his truck. He dropped us off at a house near the end of the peninsula. When the bus arrived it picked us up and we endured a two hour ride to Dangriga. When we got to Dangriga it was already dark. We picked up our stuff and found a nice, cheap hotel near the ocean. Once we got settled, we headed to the Bonefish for dinner. When we got back to our hotel we watched The Waterboy with Adam Sandler and then went to sleep.

Day 16; 7-23-05:

We woke up and walked up to the point where Manatee Lodge is. Because there is one of the biggest populations of manatees in Central America a lot of tourists come by to see the manatees. While we were waiting for our breakfast at Manatee Lodge we walked out to the dock and sat down and took a couple pictures. A group of three people from South Carolina had just finished a manatee tour and came up to our dock. We talked to them a bit about traveling in Guatemala, but soon a lady came out and told us our breakfast was ready. We went inside and ate. We started to take a walk and met up with this guy named Donna. He said he would take us fishing tomorrow at eight.

Since Bibbs from Eugene had told us to come here he had left us some names of people to visit. After walking a little further down the spit we found the first person, Irvin Vernon. He told us that he hadn’t been feeling well and his knee was hurting him. The people in the village say he’s ninety but he looks twenty years younger. It was hard to stay there because stinging red ants were everywhere. The next lady was named Louise. We found her and she gave us a bottle of Cashew wine for us and another bottle for Bibbs. Next door was the next guy, Moses. He gave us a lot of fruit from his garden. Paul, mom and I went down the lane to the sports fields. We played baseball with the locals. They seem to argue and cuss more then played baseball, mainly they cussed more. It was really hilarious. Afterwards we played some basketball with them and then went to get water at Gentle’s. Afterwards we went swimming with our friend Joshua in the lagoon on the right side of the spit. We went to this hole in the sand called the Boiling Hole. The hole feels really warm when you get inside of it. It’s about 1.5 feet in diameter and nobody can touch the bottom. When you try to dive down the spring in side pushes you up so you cannot go down. After this we went to our place and changed. Paul found a coconut and tried to break it open. Moses and Donna came at dark and showed us how to break the shell open. We would hit the coconut on its soft part on a sharpened stick that was cemented into the ground. Once the coconut was driven into the stake we would twist it so the shell peeled off. Then you would use a matchetee to break open the real coconut inside and drink the coconut waters inside the coconut. Soon it was time to go to bed so we picked up a quick meal at Gentle’s and headed for bed.

Day 15; 7-22-05:

Today we woke up and Paul, mom and I went to get breakfast at Coco’s. Dad came and found us and told us we had to hurry if we were going to catch the bus going to Belize City. We packed up our stuff and tried to get a taxi. Just before we got the taxi I tried to get some pictures of a good skate spot at the plaza. I got a couple pictures but not very good ones. Anyway, we got the taxi to take us to the bus stop. We arrived at the bus stop and boarded a bus leaving to Orange Walk, Belize. When we got to the boarder we got our exiting stamps for Mexico and then our entering stamps for Belize. We soon arrived in Belize City after a three hour bus ride. We then caught the bus to Belize City. The bus took another two hours but we had arrived in Gales Point, Belize, population: 500. When we arrived it was already dark. We got a quick dinner at Gentle’s Cool Spot, one of the two restaurants in town. We met up with Emitt and Jill and stayed with then for the night because there was no other lodging.

Day 14; 7-21-05:

Today I stayed in bed until mom and dad came back with the news that we couldn’t stay in our hotel because someone had already reserved it before us. We liked our room because it was by the pool but we finally gave it up. We got another room farther away from the room except that this one had four beds and was much bigger. In the afternoon I felt better so Paul and I went swimming. We swam for a long time and my dad came out at the end. Soon after, we went to the Holiday Inn for dinner in their restaurant. After dinner we took a break at the internet café and updated everything. After that we went home and read then went to bed.

Day 13; 7-20-05:

Today I stayed in bed until 12:30 and then we switched to a different and better hotel with a pool. There I also just stayed in bed a bunch until Paul went out to the pool so I decided to go out to the pool chairs and lay down. My dad had went to the store and now he came back with some food. He brought back some crackers that were like Ritz and soup. I had asked for Toby’s tofu pâté but he couldn’t find any.

Day 12; 7-19-05:

Happy Birthday to me! Today was my birthday! I basically stayed in bed the whole day. Paul and Mom went out to go on a walk. They came back with a pair of flip-flops for me for my birthday. They are really nice. They we walk over to the clock tower which is a war memorial and then over to the government building. Next we went to the Espresso Café but I got sick and had to go back to our hotel. Everyone came back and went to bed.

Day 11; 7-18-05:

Yep, still in the hospital. I barely got any sleep. Finally they found out what was wrong with me. I had salmonella. The whole day they were pumping bottles of saline into me through the needle. At about noon they found a new disease I had, amebas. At ten I forced them to let me out so I got to go home. When I got to the hotel I laid down in my bed and watched Los Simpson’s in Spanish.

Day 10; 7-17-05:

We arrived in Chetumal at one in the morning and went to bed. When I woke up I felt kind of sick. I took a shower and afterwards barfed. I barfed a couple more times until we got a new room with AC and guess what�Eep, barfed again. I passed the whole day barfing and sleeping. At 10 o’clock at night we went to the hospital. They stuck an IV needle into me and started pumping bottles of saline into me through the needle.

Day 9; 7-16-05:

Today we went to Xel-Ha. We entered Xel-Ha and got our map of the place. We went on the jungle walk first and visited Moe’s Flight, where you grab onto the rope and swing into the water. After that we got some inner tubes and floated down to where we get our snorkeling gear. We picked up the gear and started to snorkel. We snorkeled all day and then went to the buffet for dinner. We got back into town and relieved that we had to get out of Tulum before the hurricane hit. We got tickets on a bus to Merida at 2:30. But at the Weary Traveler someone said that there was a curfew at noon. So we got our money back and took a taxi in Chetumal.

Day 8; 7-15-05:

I woke up that morning and Paul came in to tell me that a hurricane was going to hit Tulum. The hurricane was called hurricane Emily. We went into town to get breakfast and then headed out to the beach for the day. Before dinner we came back into town to the Weary Traveler for there barbeque.

Day 6; 7-13-05:

We woke up late and got a taxi to take us to the Mayan Palace (the place giving us the free

Xel-Ha) for our free breakfast buffet. I really enjoyed it because off to the side they had burner where a lady would make you a grilled taco like thing. I loved them. You could choose the toppings so I put pollo verde, frijoles y queso (chicken with green spicy sauce, beans and cheese). When we got back into town it was 3 o’clock. We looked for flip-flops and a cheap hotel. We found neither. After coming back empty handed we went to the beach until dinner.