Day 1: Lost Luggage and Laminai

I'm calling this trip "L & E's Excellent Adventure" because adventure it was. Not the dangerous kind but the kind that takes you out of your usual habits and makes you experience highs and lows and change your view of things.

18 days in Belize and Guatemala with my friend E. I love birds and nature, she loves archeology and we both love to travel so we figured between the jungle, ocean and Mayan Ruins we would find enough to keep us occupied. Four months of planning, but really we had no idea and our plans changed along the way.

At times it felt like a cross between Survivor - the tribal council, the bugs, the heat, the reward challenge and Amazing Race - different languages and cultures, amazing sights and the chance to work through fear. Climb a 200 foot high Mayan Temple anyone?

So here goes, the adventure begins. I'll try not to cram this journal too full, but the trip has left us full of memories.

Day 1: Laminai

After a very early start we arrived in Belize City airport. I will never forget my glimpse of the incredibly bright turquoise ocean from the air. The colour went right through me. It was like a dream. And the airport runway was lined with tall palm trees. I though "We're not in Kansas anymore Toto!" A thought I would think a lot over the next two weeks.

So we wait for our luggage. And wait and wait. And yes, our luggage was lost. And there is only one plane a day. I decided not to let it bother me. All I really needed was my bird book and it was sure to arrive the next day, right?

We were met by the lodge driver and he kindly drove us to a gas station where I found a khaki green San Pedro fishing hat (a necessity in the sun) and a toothbrush. No T-shirt, oh well - I can wash my clothes! What a concept! That hat, now drenched in bug spray, is one of my proudest souvenirs.

Did I mention that it was hot, like sauna hot? We were drenched in sweat almost immediately, a feeling we would grow to love.

We drove across the country in about two hours. It's a small country. We then got on a small boat and cruised down a lovely river to our lodge, built beside Laminai, the excavated ruins of a Mayan city.

I only had one bird that I really wanted to see on this trip, a Northern Jacana, mainly because they walk on lily pads and that sounded pretty cool to me. Luckily, I saw them my first day! It was good to get that out of the way so I could relax and enjoy whatever came our way.

Laminai Lodge is very luxurious. We had a little cabana overlooking the river. I said to E, "So this is how the idle rich live! I like it!". But I could never really get over a slight feeling of guilt being pampered like we were. Fun, but not something I need to do everyday.

The picture is the view looking out over the river from the lodge's open air dining room. Note the beauty! Note the palm trees! Note the lack of bug screens!

Belize Trip Back Blips
Day 1: Lost Luggage and Laminai
Day 2: The Ruins of the British (and Mayan) Empires
Day 3: Journey to Chan Chich
Day 4: Jungle Oasis
Day 5: It's a jungle out here
Day 6: We win the Survivor reward challenge
Day 7: Floating down the river to infinity
Day 8: A Military Escort
Day 9: People Watching
Day 10: Toilet Humour
Day 11: Tikal Immersion
Day 12: Roxie and the Machete
Day 13: Communing with Tikal
Day 14: Slash and Burn
Day 15: Swimming with Sharks
Day 16: Passage of the Mangroves
Day 17: Exploring San Pedro
Day 18: Lost and Found