roni's Central America journal

Sunday, September 04, 2005

Since I might have hit a size limit with this blog site, or am having some other problem with publishing here, I am now "migrating" to a new blog for the continuation of my trip...
Please now visit http://ronisbelizestories.blogspot.com to keep current.
thanks!

Thursday, August 25, 2005

View from the entry area to the main courtyard - the mask is under the thatched roof cetner right.

The side area administration buildings of the main temple - I went to the top set of steps on t.he right

The main courtyard area

A couple more photos of the temples and surrounding buildings

Here is the view from the top of Temple IV. There are several other temples above the trees.

On the way back to the entrance, we saw a whole colony of these guys - scuffling for a little berry like fruit that falls from the trees. This was an animal I had never heard of before, (in the racoon family) and of couse, I have forgotten the name...

Maybe I will get the view from the top later - right now, blogger does not seem to want to import it...Meanwhile here is another temple. The Maya are so interesting, because we really don't know anything about their civilization, or why it ended. We know they had highly developed mathematics and astronomy, and some sophisticated ways of collecting and moving water, and of course the hotly debated human sacrifice questions, but not much else...

We got up to temple IV by way of these stairs (over 155 of them by one woman's count) because most of the temple, except for the top which is above the tree tops, is still buried in plant life, and is not scheduled for excavation anytime soon.

On top of Temple IV, some aloe leaves had names carved into them - a new take on graffiti...

An unusual caterpillar started climbing the shoe of our guide. Supposedly the spiky appendages are for protection, and emit some kind of toxin to kill or infect enemies. Our guide was careful not to touch, and then shook him off the shoe before he reached the sock.

On the main plaza, this stone mask built into the front of one wall was covered by a thatch roof for protection. This mask is about 8 feet tall.

On a side trail, we discovered the only orchid which grows in the ground - and one was in bloom!

Seems like a docile green snake, but we were told he is a poisonous one. You can see a part of the bottom of him in the lower part of the photo. He was over 2 feet long.

Here is part of the administration building from group G. Tikal was begun to be dug out from the undergrowth in 1954 by some archeologists in University of Pennsylvania.

Our guide was good - he had a combination of knowledge of the Mayan civilizations, local flora, fauna and animal life, and when he found out we were interested in the medicinal plants, made more of an effort to show us some with their use. This little ant is a tiger ant - has a nasty and toxic sting. Fortunately, I am relaying that information secondhand. He is about an inch long.

Tikal - Just around the corner (well, a 2.5 hour ride, including going through customs and immigration) in Guatemala is one of the larger of the Mayan ruins. Being a little of a Mayan ruins tourist, (past forays include Chichen, Tulum, Coba, Uxmal) I figured I would probably go from San Ignacio - but I ended up going the next day, when I met two nice young men from England who were going and had room on their tour.

My first afternoon in Belize, after the non-existent food of Taca arilines (warning - when flying Taca, bring your own food - they will only give you a cookie) I wandered into a restaurant promising Belize fare. I had the worst piece of over fried fish I have ever tried to eat, but fortunately there was enough other stuff ont he plate I didn't starve. Even though they have this great mural in the back room (this was only one small section of it!) don't go to Elvira's to eat.

After an early morning flight from San Jose that changed in El Salvador, I an my luggage made it intact into Belize about 10 AM. Hot, humid, very strange mixtture of bustle and peacefulness. I got out of the airport, and decided to waste no time in Belize city, but got to the bus station for the 2.5 hour trip to San Ingacio (aka Cayo) in the west. A small city full of tourist activity, reggae music and funky fun, I found a comlfy little room and went out exploring. I was gently told not to travel as a woman alone after dark. I had gotten so spoiled by the safety level in Costa Rica!! But here, at dusk, running across the street in front of Eve's (A restaurant/tour operation/bar and internet cafe) was the nighly spectre of (shades of Alfred Hitchcock!) of larks...if you need to walk under them at night - walk quickly!

Sunday, August 21, 2005

Here is the view of the river at the local hot springs. I went this week for a hike with some folks who I met in Monteverde, who joined me in Orosi for their last days in Costa Rica.

Then, this morning, this little guy near the end of his life was almost caught in someone's dustpan.

There are occasionally some insects who come into your life. This spider was in the shower one night. At about 5 inches across, it was the biggest spider I've ever seen. I didn't want to put a finger near it for size - wasn't sure if it would bite me.

Here is Rocher with tattoo aritst and Spanish teacher (and Motown music fan) Kenny and his partner Magaly (they've got two gorgeous little girls together) who also works at Montana Linda.

Here is Nano, Rocher's best buddy, iwth his face paint.

Rocher's birthday party was last night. Held over at Linda's casita, Rocher had balloons, face paint, loads of good rum, food and people passing the guitar around and singing in Spanish and English. Here is Rocher on the right with Flo from Germany. Face paint of both by yo.

Sunday, August 14, 2005

Greetings from the cloud forest! Suprisingly, it wasn't as rainy as you would expect, mainly just drippy. All the water is held in the moss and leaves.

A view through the side field. I must say, this is the best thing I have seen yet..(and one of the most expensive!)

View from the porch.

Way off the road, this is the driveway in. We saw a toucan, heard some other birds, and I felt like I had died and gone to heaven.

Finally, I went and had a look at some real estate in the area. Monteverde area is more expensive than most of the country, and the roads are hellacious. But I found this lovely finca (farm) with 2 hectares (5 acres) of ORGANIC certified coffee and this 3 BR house.

One last flower photo for now - it is obviously NOT an orchid, but was in the orchid garden. It practicalyl begged me to take its photo! It really reminds me of how Georgia O'Keefe saw things...

Here is another of the miniatures with the collector's daughter, Charron, holding the leaf to give you a sense of scale.

Here is one of the miniature orchids - I think it measured under a quarter inch.

OK, this is NOT an orchid, but I saw him under a leaf there. (I also saw a blue morpho, but he was too fast for me!) He is a tortoroquilo.

This one was less than an inch. He had some really rare ones, and some very unusual ones. Our guide in the cloud forest said that they have found orchids fossilized, and that they could well be one of the oldest genus of plant life on the planet.

This one was about an inch across.

It seemed as if every flower wanted its photo taken! I was having so much fun in there.

Each flower on this strand was less than an inch.

He had them tied to trees, growing in moss, and most were not in bloom, but there were over 300 species represented there, all from Costa Rica.

The place was a private collector's back yard, very well organized and most were in genus groups with labels.

When I walked in and paid the admission, I was given a small magnifying glass. I used it on some of the flowers, and experimented using it with the camera, because I couldn't get close enough some of the flowers were so small. This one was about 2 inches, and was one of the larger ones I saw.

The next morning, I decided to check out the orchid garden right outside of town on the way to Monteverde. A couple from Quebec said they didn't think there was that much to see, and that the orchids were very small, but I ended up spending about three hours there, taking over 100 photos and salivating. Here are some of the better ones.

This was the only good photo I got in the forest at night - it is a walking stick, and measures about 5 inches long.

One last photo of the perisoza (sloth). I finally got a decent one! This was taken on the evening of the night tour of the cloud forest. With flashlights, the sounds of the birds and insects were incredible, much more intense than during the day, when most hide out...

Friday, August 12, 2005

One of the very interesting things found growing off a fern.

The tops of trees, looking down.

Here is a river from several hundred feet in the air. The bridges swung a little bit, especially when you had other people running on it, but it was worth the trip to be up there.

I decided on a second walk in a private nature preserve with suspension bridges so I could see the canopy at a slower pace than I could with the zip lines.

The plant the tapirs like to eat.

Something in the undergrowth

This is a plant that the tapirs like to eat.

The adventure begins - dissolusioned with the USA, a 49 year old unfettered American woman is looking for a new home...

: Name: roni; Location: Costa Rica

In April of 2005, I sold my house and most of my possessions, and decided to look around for a while to see what else there is for me in this life. Previously a fine artist, a web and graphic designer, I did seven years as a corporate project manager designing internet tools. Caught between unfulfillment, and disturbed by the direction my country of birth is taking, I'm seeking a life more harmonious with my values - living simply in a warm climate, more sustainably and gently on the planet.

View my complete profile

roni's Central America journal

Sunday, September 04, 2005

Thursday, August 25, 2005

Sunday, August 21, 2005

Sunday, August 14, 2005

Friday, August 12, 2005

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