Hansel And Gretal

                                      Minature hut in the front of the trail leading you up

Selva Negra was a famous place to visit, stay, eat, horseback ride, taste coffee, kayak, or take a walk. This is a famous destination for tourists and it’s quite worth the trip.  The day I chose looked like it was ready to pour, but I went anyways. Instead of hiking all the way, I took a bus halfway up and hiked the rest.

As I looked up at the sky, I started moving a bit faster. Then I felt some rain drops and I started running. There was no point because I thought I was almost there because I passed the entrance sign. From the street to Selva Negra is like 5 miles-crazy. 

It was inevitable, I was going to be stuck in the pouring rain. I did have a rain jacket, but I didn’t want to show up a hot mess.

As it started raining harder and harder, I had to go underneath a tree. The branches were covering me, but I was still getting wet.  A local man approaches and he’s carrying some buckets with a banana leaf over his head. If this was New York and you needed an umbrella, people would just look at you and keep going.  What does this man not wearing any rain gear do?

He gives me the green banana leaf and insists I take it from.  They are probably so used to the rain that it doesn’t make a huge difference to them. Regardless, he didn’t have to give me his banana leaf, but he did. Off I went with the banana leaf on my head onto the street. Another guy passes me and he is laughing. I’m just jogging in the rain with this banana leaf over my head.  All you have to do is dump the water off every few minutes and you’re good to go.

The Selva Negra staff passes by and tells me to get in, which I do. I love the rain, but not for 5 more miles.  This isn’t my half marathon all over again. This guy asked me where I found that leaf and I said someone gave it to me. He said he thought I pulled it down myself. Well, I may be a monkey sometimes, but not this time.

Even in the rain, Selva Negra is such a special paradise. It reminds me of Hansel and Gretal with the green moss on stone houses. It has different stone paths leading to the forest where the cottage rooms are placed.

The rain takes a break and I sit outside on the Lake and order a coffee. It’s made fresh on the property and from the taste of it,”Wow.” Something about this lake is like this mystic feeling. This lake feels like the lochness monster is going to come up while you are eating. It’s 1600 meters above the ground allowing you peace and quite and freedom from noise.  Behind me they have gardens growing freshly grown spices and vegetables. For lunch, I order an eggplant sandwich with tomato and mozzarella-absolutely delicious and fresh as could be. 

There is this little wedding ceremony area with a rocking chair where I sit and think. 

I get up to walk around the lake and into the forest. There’s a couple horse stables on one side and the other side is the rooms. It’s truly an incredible place and I head back down at sunset because I have a bus to catch. A lovely lady who works at the front desk offers to give me a ride down. I find out that she is from New York and she has lived here for 6 years with her husband and family.  She works in the hotel and her husband sells property. She lives on one of the ranches I past with the horses. What a wonderful life I would imagine.

                       It's a wonderful life. 

Nature's Way Guest House

It's amazing how far kindness can go with people.  Being kind, courteous, respectful, interested, and caring has opened up so many doors for me when traveling. 

When it comes to finding a place to stay, there are specific ways to get yourself ahead of the game. When talking with the owner or initial person(usually referring to the owner or person in charge). Instead of thinking about your needs, the price, where you can go to eat, what to do-try the opposite. Ask what they enjoy to do, where they like to eat, when they started the guest house, comment on the atmosphere and decor positively-make a positive imprint on their memory.
 It's okay to spend some time talking with them instead of rushing in and wanting to plug your phone in and go on WIFI. When you take time and acknowledge people, it will change your stay in extraordinary ways.   

When I arrived at Nature's Way guest house, I was shouted at from an office. He told me to walk forward and I did towards his office. He was sitting in the chair with his feet up on the desk. It looked as if he was swimming in a pile of books and old posters filling up the walls.  For me, this is just like an instant conversation starter. My being gravitates towards scholars and well educated people, especially of the older generation. I always want to learn from them-always, always. Professors, supervisors, and those with true life experience, which is how our being learns just through experience.   

Therefore, I told him that I was only in town for a night and was headed to Honduras. I shared with him my mission and we talked about his amazing travels and work in the military. We shared what we love about Mayan culture and Guatemala.  He had two daughters and you could see the pure passion and love in his eyes.  His pride towards their accomplishments and his desire to Thoughts always cross my mind with this generation,

 "Wouldn't it be great to have a father to discuss all these theories, experiences, passions, epiphanies, and beliefs with?"

Anyways, we just kept talking until his other old friend named Charlie chimed in with our conversation. I was standing there with my bags at my feet and after all this conversation, we talked about the room. You have to put the effort in first.  
I put my bag down and I am all ready to put my bag away and take a shower. 

" We don't have a room- we are completely full with the private group here, but I can help you find something else."

" Sure, that would be great." Still extremely nice and happy. 

He drew a small map and pointed them out and I am thinking, "Please don't make me do this." It is pouring rain and I do not have the energy with my backpack and extra bag.  

We still keep chatting a bit more and then he tells me he is sorry because he knows it's raining. He is looking at me and I am putting my backpack on and he says,
"You know what I never gave you a tour."

I am thinking, " Does this man know how exhausted I am."

I smile and say, "Ok sure."

He says, " I want to show you the part upstairs we are going to remodel." 

We walk up the stairs and there is a nice bathroom, 3 bedrooms, and just some construction pieces here and there-nothing major. We walk towards the corner where there is a bunk bed, a fan, mosquito net, and a cool breeze coming from the window from the beach. 

He says," If it's okay with you, you can stay here tonight."

I smile brightly, "Yes, it's definitely okay. 

His wife is downstairs grumbling a bit at first because I heard that no one except family stays upstairs. 

I made friends with his wife and gave her some nice compliments and I was thankful to have a nice place to stay. 

It's amazing how far acknowledgement and time can go.

PRIS

If I would have just rushed in and said, " Hi, do you have a room? The answer would have been, "No, we do not try two hotels down the street."

Singing in the Rain

The weather was gloomy and it was not the day for kayaking. When they sky looks like it is about to fall down onto the ground. It just might not be a great day for kayaking, but I was with some cheerful, upbeat, carefree people.


"If we get wet, we get wet."
I thought to myself, "Okay, then lets go get wet."
That is whole lot of wet!

This couple was from Minnesota or North Dakota or one of those outdoors kind of states.  They were casually dressed with shorts and t shirts and I was wearing my rain shoes, rain jacket, and rain shorts.  Due to not catching ammonia, I realized this was a good choice because we were in for a fun surprise. 


Our guide was Mojita so I just called him, "Mojito." I made sure to say his name extra times so everyone would laugh. It was the beginning of a beautiful, entertaining Priscilla adventure. 

 

Off we went in the 4x4 down by the river. Mojito threw the raft into the water and slipped right on his butt. We were all laughing so hard that one of us was bound to fall down and that would be the Sarah, the wife from the unknown state fell down on her face. She had mud all over t shirt and face.  She was such a good sport and laughed off the whole thing. She just wiped it off and dipped her face into the river.  Luckily, my Kean's gripped the mud just enough to keep me above land.  I made a smart decision to leave my phone behind because we also planned on swimming(separate from the mud bath of course).

Of course, I sat right next to Mojito because I told him I wanted to be the one doing all the work.  Always interested in a workout at all times.  It worked out great because the couple did not care if they paddled or just sat there.  They were pretty fascinated with nature.  All of us kept looking up at the sky at the same time because we knew it would rain.  And it just so happens that Belize was waiting for some good rain as it was just raining on and off for days. 

5, 4, 3, 2, 1 and there came the rain.  It came pouring down so hard that I felt bad for the others who did not have a rain jacket.  Instead, they just got soaked, especially Mojito.  We were paddling to cover underneath the tree and we were still getting wet.  We all looked at each other and paddled back out into the rain.  It was so beautiful. It felt like "The Notebook" where they were paddling in the rain except it clearly was not a romantic encounter with my buddy Mojito, but it was for the married couple. 

We just kept paddling and after 15 minutes or so, it finally stopped. Mojito and I began to switch off singing and I was singing so loud I think I scared away the birds, iguanas, monkeys-any living organism in the jungle.  Mojito was describing all these different types of trees, plants, animals as we were going along.

In Belize, there are different colored iguanas-green, black, yellow, and orange. The only one I had not seen was the orange one and I was on the lookout for one.  It appeared that I had left eyes at home because I was not seeing anything that was pointed out.

The couple were basically Wildlife experts from National geographic as they were pointing out more plants and birds than Mojito.  It was some advanced hiking trip for me, but I still did not see the leopard, which is what I wanted to see. 

Amongst the Sibun river are some of the most amazing plants, fauna, birds, but also the water is fantastic.  It is warm, clear, and clean leaving us to jump  right in and swim away.  It was paddling and swimming paddling and swimming:) It rained again and we were splashing each other with our paddles like teenagers. 

When leaving we stopped by an archaeologists house to see all his ancient finds-very interesting.  

My dear Mojito, so kind and sweet, is an example of a tour guide who becomes a friend and a resource to learn about Belize. 

Let the rain cleanse you, heal you, and receive you. PRIS