Since I have been in San Ignacio, I have not stopped moving until today when I got sick. Otherwise I would have continued in my real Disneyland. It’s a land of natural adventure. There are many guides, some certified, some not, to take you on different tours. When I got here, I called the guy that I met on CouchSurfing.org who was going to be my host. He picked me up and took me and my bags to his rented house. He has two big dogs, one was overbearing and made me praise my well behaved goats even more. His place was a bit dirty, but no bugs besides mosquitos. Still, I was out of my comfort zone immediately. However, we had some great conversations and cooked together with fruits and vegetables I bought from the outdoor market. When I went into the room where I was to sleep, there was a t-shirt hanging up that was pro-Palestinian and had an Israeli flag with a line crossed through it. I turned it over and made the best of it. I am not into the politics of these people and do not take sides, but I didn’t want him to know that I had a Jewish background. It somehow came out in conversation however. He asked me a question, I answered it. He didn’t seem anti-Semitic, but the next morning when my guide called for my Mayan cave trip, he didn’t want to get out of bed. He had told me he would give me a ride to the office where they collect everyone for the trip. On the way there, he said it wasn’t going to work and that I needed to leave. I was relieved, I would be able to get closer to my comfort zone and not be the one to hurt anyone’s feelings. The idea of couch surfing is great, but I think that may be my first and last time. We had a nice parting where he wondered if he made a mistake in having me leave. I was just thankful to have my stuff and get to a new place right in town, conveniently in walking distance to find guides for various trips.
I booked a room with my own private toilet and felt the return of some of my comforts. Travelling expands us to get out of our comfort zones, but makes one appreciate the familiarity of home. I realized that I no longer need to experience getting out of my comfort zone. I can stay comfortable all of my life if I so desire. That is liberating. There is a cheap motel nearby. It is called The Hi-Et. A fellow traveler on the street and I had a good laugh on that. But, I secretly tucked the memory of Hyatts, Sheratons, and Hiltons away for safe keeping.
My own room with my own bathroom was a paradise today. I got sick. I must have eaten something or been effected from the river water. I was sitting on the toilet sweating. My whole body was perspiring and I felt cold. After the initial fear of death passed (that happens), I went to my Abraham teachings. Almost immediately, I thought of how much Gratitude I have for my parents and what they share with me. I focused on that instead of pain. Soon I was feeling better. I was able to go to the store to get more water for my tea. The day before, my tour guide for the cave tubing threw rocks at an Allspice tree until some leaves fell into the river. He collected a small handful and today I made tea out of them along with allspice seeds from the market. It is supposed to be good for the stomach.
My first guided trip was to the ATM (Actun Tunichil Muknal) Mayan Cave. It is required to have a certified guide in this area. Once you are in the cave, you can see why. We probably went into this wet cave about ½ to ¾ of a mile. Sometimes we had to swim, but mostly walk in water with small head lamps, following our guide. It eventually opened to a wide cavern, but mostly we walked through smaller spaces filled with stalactites and stalagmites. The end of the cave is filled with some broken Mayan pottery and a sacrificial skeleton called the crystal maiden. It looks like she was sacrificed by strangling as they offered her up to the gods. When we left the cave, the contrast of the darkness and sometimes narrow spaces had me so delighted to again be out in the warm sunlight on dry land, walking in the jungle, witnessing the purple morning glories.
The next day I hired a guide to take me in a canoe down the river to see birds, trees, and many iguanas sunning themselves in the tree tops. For a number of hours, we were immersed in the nature of the river listening to Melodious Black Birds, watching King Fishers, egrets, green herons, small blue herons, a rare white heron, red robed doves, vultures, yellow warblers, parrots flying high in the sky as well as toucans from a distance. My private guided canoe trip cost $30 U.S. dollars or $60 Belize dollars.
The next day I went river tubing in caves. All of the many, many caves in Belize are carved out from water on limestone. A certified guide gave me a private trip through a few caves in an inner tube. Since it was just him and I, there was time to turn off the headlamps and sing/tone in the cave. It was too short, I could have floated down the river the whole day. This is probably the most peaceful thing I have done so far, minus the mosquitos on the walk down to the river. They demanded that I donate a small percentage of my blood to them. It is a small price to pay as part of the entrance fee to the jungle ride.
I think it would be a good idea to create small indoor pools to float in for a cure for insomnia. A small generator could create gentle waves. Or perhaps there are water beds that have motors to create these peaceful motions. Instead of taking sleeping pills, we can use the movement of water and float, feeling held by the water.
On Saturday is the open market. Many people come to sell fruits, vegetables, seasonings, clothes, jewelry etc. I saw some rabbits in cages. I wanted to buy them all and free them. If someone did not buy them for pets, they would be put in a stew. But, someone pointed out to me, if I let them free, they would have been taken down by an animal anyway. I realized that I was in a foreign country and that I just had to witness their reality without trying to change it.
Later, a few of us hired a taxi to drive us to Xunantunich, a Mayan ruin not too far from San Ignacio. he view from the top stretched green as far as the eye could see. It is strange being amongst ruins where human sacrifices to gods are common, however, this is still happening in the world today. It is just a little bit more modernized and people disagree about the way this should be done. But, we are still living amongst this archaic way of being. Maybe that is why everyone loves butterflies. We went to a small butterfly farm on the way to the ruins and flourished in the blue fluttering of these peaceful creatures.
I am still recovering today from my stomach episode, but I am thankful for having my own room with el bano. I am thankful for hot showers and clean kitchens, for air conditioning and heaters, for my parents, and my goat, for water filters, for the governmental regulation of restaurants so we can choose an A rating, for those stickers on the mirrors of food establishments that persuade one to wash their hands if they are handling food. But, I am also thankful for unspoiled nature that we can still find on this globe; where trees are still standing simply because there is not the money to cut them down to create industry.
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