Part 6, Exploring Yo Creek Village

After a couple of full days of travel we opted to take it easy on March 9th and just spend the day exploring Yo Creek Village.  After a delicious breakfast of journey cakes, bacon and beans we decided that the first thing to explore was the house as we had arrived in the dark the evening before. 

A little background first....George Lebard first went to Belize as a Peace Corps volunteer and met his wife, Irma who was a native of Yo Creek Village.  To make a long, and very interesting story short, George and Irma fell in love, were married, and had three sons while living in Belize.  They built their home in Yo Creek Village and lived there until their boys were preteens.  They came back to George's home state of Nevada and have been living here ever since.  They visit their home in Belize as often as they can, though it's not as often as they would like.  Most of Irma's family still lives in the Yo Creek area.  So, the house we stayed in was the home built by George and Irma.  Next door live Irma's sister Lily and husband Pedro.

The Lebard house was shaped like a rectangular U with a courtyard in the middle of the structure.  There are four bedrooms, two bathrooms and a large open living/dining/kitchen area.  A staircase leads up to the second story which was one room with doors on either end leading out onto a HUGE veranda.  Apparently the veranda is an amazing place to sleep under the stars.

You can see that the views from the veranda were amazing.

Looking west.

Looking down on the courtyard fountain.

The second story of the house.

More courtyard.

Our exploration then led us away from the house.  We started out walking down the road directly in front of George and Irma's home, I believe it is to the north (the streets aren't named and the homes have no addresses) and ended up seeing some fun sights.

Looking north from the veranda.

Janet and Brian on one of many rocky dirt roads in Yo Creek.

The road less traveled.

The football (soccer) field.

After walking for a bit we came upon a residence that was getting a new thatched roof.  We stopped to watch the progress and were invited to come closer for a better look.  We met Jose Novelo and some of his friends who were constructing a new outdoor kitchen.  We were all anxious to see thatching in progress as we had stayed under thatched roofs in Tulum.  Mr. Novelo and his family were incredibly kind offering us cake and a drink while we watched.  We were also told about what kind of palm fronds are used (Bay Palms), when they can be cut according to Mayan traditions linked to the moon, and how each frond is carefully placed on the roof's crossbeams to keep out weather. 

Vicente showing us how to divide the leaves of a frond before adding them to the roof.

A thatched roof will last more than 30 years!!!

As we said farewell to the Novelos we walked past one of two primary schools in Yo Creek.  Just walking by caused quite a stir as students waved to us from their classrooms.  We picked out one very enthusiastic kid as Aldomere, Lorena's son, who was probably telling his friends that he knew those Americans down on the road.  Janet approached the school and talked to the pricipal, Maria Elena Blanco, and asked if it would be okay for Janet's students in Cedarville, CA to become penpals with some of the Yo Creek students.

The Yo Creek Catholic Church, the bell and bell tower were restored due to the efforts of Irma and her call to action from the Incline Village Rotary who funded the project.

The Legend Tree....legend is that if you sleep under this tree, the oldest in the village, you will be forever youthful.

Farmland on the edge of Yo Creek Village.

The cemetery.

After a full morning we wandered back to the house to enjoy our leftover dinner for lunch. Janet and Sarah had been told by Lorena that there was a tortilla factory up the road so they were determined to get some tortillas to accompany our chicken, rice and beans. As I mentioned before, none of the roads in Yo Creek are named and none of the buildings have addresses. And as we soon found out many of the businesses have no signs. In fact, most stores in the villages are simply the front rooms of homes with a walk-up window for ordering what you need. So when Janet and Sarah decided to get some tortillas they not only didn't know which house to go to, but they were sorely unprepared for how to order. Luckily, as we came back to the house Brian and I saw Irma's sister Lily and introduced ourselves. She let us know what the correct house was and the tortilla adventure began.

Janet and Sarah headed back up the road toward the north and arrived at the blue house which was the tortilla factory. Two huge bonuses of Belize are that English is the official language and the Belizean dollar is set to correspond with the American dollar with a two to one exchange rate. So you would think that ordering a few tortillas would be pretty simple. When Janet and Sarah asked for 12 the young girl went to the back and then came out and apologized for only having 7, pounds that is! Apparently in Belize if you purchase tortillas you do so by the pound, not by the number of tortillas. Luckily the confusion was ironed out and the ladies came back to the house with one pound of tortillas (roughly 18) for us to have for lunch.

After a siesta we took back to the streets of Yo Creek to continue our exploration.  We ended up at the library run by retired teacher, Mr. Sosa.  We enjoyed sitting down with him and learning more about the history of Yo Creek.  Many students go to the library each day after school and were anxious to speak to us in the very formal English they learn at school saying, "Good afternoon," and "How do you do?"
One student in particular stuck around while Mr. Sosa was talking to us.  He seemed as interested in the history as we did.  Mr. Sosa introduced him as Nataniel Moh, 12 years-old and a regular visitor to the library.

Later on we met up again with Nataniel as well as Aldomere and Lily's son Pedro Saul.  The three boys chatted with us for quite some time and it was clear that Nataniel was quite a charming young man.

A visit in the street.

 

Left to right: Nataniel, Pedro Saul and Aldomere.

 

And my favorite way to relax in Belize...a hammock and a cold Belikin beer.

 

Lorena's cousin Selena came to make us handmade tortillas for dinner. When I asked to try she willingly said yes but broke into laughter at my lack of finesse.

 

Escabeche, onion soup with chicken.

 

The best tortillas I have ever eaten!

 

Part Five - Belize Bound!

From our quick visit to the ruins at Tulum on March 8th we headed south once more on Highway 307 towards Belize.  The road was in excellent condition and all we could see for miles on either side of the road were trees.  Despite the unchanging scenery we did enjoy attempting to translate the many signs along the road.  In every village we passed we had to slow down for the "sleeping policemen" marked with large signs reading "TOPE".  The literal translation of these large speed bumps was "Run into."  Funny and rather appropriate if one happened to sneak up on us.  It also became apparent that the Mexican government really encourages the use of seat belts...."USA TU CINTURON DE SEGURIDAD - SALVADADE TU VIDA." (Use your safety belt, save your life.) 

After a few hours with Dave behind the wheel and Roger and Brian helping to navigate we neared the Mexico-Belize border...before 4:00 P.M. and hopefully with enough time to get the much-needed insurance for the van so we could legally travel throughout Belize.  It took little time to get through the border at Mexico.  We paid our departure fee, had our passports stamped and got back in the van to cross the bridge over the Rio Hondo and into Belize.  We soon realized that our luck may have turned.  The little green building just past the bridge, the one that our friend George had instructed us to go to and purchase our insurance, was closed! 

But, don't worry, dear reader, as we had been told, the people of Belize are kind and helpful people.  A young man noticed our perplexed faces, came over, and told us that the insurance office was closed because it was a holiday. 

In our pre-trip reading we had read about Baron Bliss Day which celebrates Henry Edward Ernest Victor Bliss, commonly known as Baron Bliss (16 February 1869 – 9 March 1926), Bliss was a British-born traveller who willed some two million U.S. dollars to a trust fund for the benefit of the citizens of what was then the colony of British Honduras, now Belize.  According to the guide books Baron Bliss Day is March 9th and for some reason it never occured to us that like the U.S. the Belizean government may observe holidays on the nearest Monday to the actual date.  Thus, our dilemma.

The young Belizean man let us know that there was another insurance office just a few minutes up the road just past the Belize border offices.  So off we went again and the Belizean kid had a few coins in his pocket for a cold drink.

It took longer than we had hoped to get through the border at Belize as we found ourselves waiting with hoards of Belizeans out for holiday shopping in Chetumal, Mexico.  Eventually all of us except Dave had made it past the required immigration and customs hurdles and were outside waiting for Dave and the van to make it through too.  At least it was a perfect opportunity to go back inside and use the restroom before our last hour of driving into the Orange Walk District of Belize.  In fact, when Brian went in one of the customs officials asked him where he was going in Belize.  Brian told him, "Yo Creek."  The official apparently gave Brian a funny smile probably thinking that this gringo had no clue what he was talking about.

When we were standing outside, still waiting for Dave and the van, we saw that the ICB (Insurance Corporation of Belize) was literally less than one-hundred yards from the parking area.  Roger and Brian decided to walk ahead to make sure the office knew a vehicle was coming for insurance so they would not close before 5:00.

Looking back at the border from the insurance office.



Notice the Belizean flag at half staff...one of the most successful businessmen in Belize, Sir Barry Bowen, was killed in a plane crash on February 26th. Sir Barry headed the Bowen group of companies that includes the Belize Coca Cola franchise, the Belikin Brewery (the only brewery in Belize) the Ford Automobile Distributorship, the Chan Chic Tourism Lodge and Belize Aquaculture Ltd. one of the largest shrimp farms in Belize.

Just after 5:00 we were all back in the van with everything we needed to continue on into Belize.  In just under an hour we were in Orange Walk Town and headed west on the very dusty and bumpy San Antonio Road toward Yo Creek Village....previous home of George and Irma Lebard, our friends from Tahoe.

We arrived in Yo Creek and immediately met two of Irma's sisters, Laura and Rosie, who showed us the way to the house.  When we entered through the beautiful tiled courtyard we were greeted by amazing smells and one of the nicest Belizean women, Lorena, Irma's cousin.

Lorena had been at the house waiting for us with a wonderful dinner ready to go. We feasted on chicken stewed in a traditional Belizean spice blend called red recado. Along with the chicken we had coconut rice and beans, coleslaw and our very first Belikin beer.

Our first dinner in Belize...ready for a Belikin toast!

After dinner I called my parents' home to check in with them and the boys only to have my mom say that Ben and Sam were both happy, neither had cried or been sad, and neither had asked about us at all.  What a relief and the perfect way to end the day!

Parte Cuatro: Tulum Day 2 - The Ruins

We awoke relatively early on Monday, March 8th, with plans to have a quick breakfast, pack up, and go visit the Mayan ruins at Tulum before driving all the way south into Belize. We quickly learned that plans for a quick breakfast were not in the stars for us as we sat down to eat at the Retiro Maya restaurant. We waited quite a while for our breakfast (which was delicious) and then waited a bit longer for the bill so we could be on our way.

All ready for the next leg of our trip!

      

Nearly an hour later than we had hoped to be in the van we headed the couple of miles to the ruins where we did a quick unguided tour....basically we walked quickly and snapped photos and tried to take in as much as possible in the hour we had allotted ourselves so that we would have adequate time to drive into Belize and obtain the necesary insurance for our car before the insurance office closed.

The name Tulum (pronounced "too-LOOM") means wall, referring to the fact that Tulum was a walled city, protected on one side by steep cliffs facing the sea and on the other by a wall of about 12 feet in height. Tulum served as a trading port.  The Maya site may have been formerly also known by the name Zama, meaning city of Dawn.

Iguanas lounged in sunny spots throughout the ruins.

El Castillo - The Castle

This is the tallest building of the archaeological site. It may have functioned as a navigational aid, directing Mayan craft through the break in the reef to the beach.

Temple of the Descending God

Side view of the House of the Columns

Obviously we could have used a tour to get the real history of the site but we did enjoy the beauty of the ruins and their location.  This Mayan site is unique in that it is the only one right on the sea.  As we left the ruins after our one hour of allotted time we all agreed that Tulum definitely deserved to be revisited.

But, our true destination was waiting for us so again we loaded up into the van and made our way south to BELIZE!

Vamos de vacaciones! (Parte Tres) - Tulum Day 1

After arriving late in Playa del Carmen on the 6th and then seeing the crowds of people congregating on the beach early on the 7th, we opted to forego any exploring around Playa and get an early start on the 45 minute drive to Tulum where we hoped we could enjoy some swimming and sunning with fewer crowds.

We had been warned by several people prior to our trip to be careful driving in Mexico.  Maybe these people meant in and around the larger resort areas, maybe they meant at night.  As far as things went for us, Highway 307 was great....in far better shape than our own Interstate 80 in the Sierras.

With Dave at the wheel we were in Tulum in very little time and headed out to our home for the night, Retiro Maya http://www.retiromaya.com/.  Like most of the other places of lodging along the coast in Tulum, Retiro Maya is made up of thatched-roof cabanas and the hot phrase to describe them is "Eco-Chic."  This basically means mosquito nets over the beds, rain water acting as the main source for showers, toilets, and washing, generators to keep the lights on in the evenings, and water heated by the sun.  Our cabanas were charming and cozy and the one Brian and I had boasted an amazing view from our patio as well as a partially outdoor bathroom!  Check out the little "yard" fencing in the area near the shower!

Our own little yard with open-air shower.

The cabana with patio.

A net to keep the mosquitos out.

But with the sacrifice of hot water at our fingertips came breathtaking views, white sand, turquoise water, and pure enjoyment.

Retiro Maya as seen from the beach.

Paradise....

Brian's vacation face.

The view from our patio.

It took us no time at all to change into our bathing suits and enter the salty blue water.  How refreshing to be in the surge of the waves with all of our worries forgotten.  More beach-combing, sunning, and walking along the water's edge soon led us to the agreement that after getting cleaned up a margarita was needed.
In addition to the cabanas the Retiro Maya also had a beautiful open-air bar and restaurant with a very charming staff , especially Jessica, the Italian-born hostess/waitress/barmaid.

Jessica - Retiro Maya's most charming girl.

After our time on the beach and getting cleaned up we sat down at a table with an incredible view of the sea and waited for our mango margaritas.  The laid back attitude of the area helped us relax even more.  Once our margaritas were delivered to the table I knew that I was in a very good place!

Mango Margaritas!

We all willingly took a sip....Janet was a little surprised by the strength of the tequila!

After refreshing ourselves with the margaritas we decided to wander down the road and see what dining choices we had for dinner.  We ended up at another open-air resaurant where we enjoyed beautiful and delicious food.

Almondine grouper

Tuna steaks

Steak and Seafood Brochette

With full bellies we all headed back to our cabanas to get a good night's rest before venturing out for another busy day....visiting the Mayan ruins in Tulum and then heading south into Belize.  The sound of the waves, wind, and little critters in the night all added to the experience.  Speaking of critters....Janet and Sarah discovered a huge scorpion in their shower which Roger quickly relocated outside using his ever-trusty Leatherman multi-tool to grab the intruder.

Vamos de vacaciones! (Parte Dos) - Playa del Carmen

We arrived in Playa del Carmen on Sunday, March 6th, later than we had originally hoped after the chaos at the Cancun airport.  We attempted to find our hotel, Playa Palms Beach Hotel http://www.playapalms.com/, but soon realized that there are a LOT of one-way streets in Playa.  And in the evenings, especially during the weekends, many of these one-way streets are blocked off for pedestrians only as you get closer to the beach.  We already knew that our hotel didn't have parking so once we figured out its general location our mission became finding a safe place to park our huge rental van overnight.  After turning this way and that and Dave maneuvering the beast through tiny crowded streets we glimpsed the sign for a parking garage but not in enough time to make the turn.  So, around we went again on the one-way streets until we got to the parking garage which was not only enclosed but also had a security guard on duty. 

Once we got the van parked we unloaded all of our luggage and began the walk a couple of blocks to our hotel.  Once we got there we really felt like our vacation had begun!  I had found the Playa Palms Beach Hotel through a simple search on the internet during our trip planning and was taken by the online photos and reviews from previous patrons.  And all I can say is the internet did not let me down.  The Playa Palms was gorgeous!!!!  Even though we arrived just as night was beginning to fall the view was still amazing and our rooms with private balconies were stunning!

Swans made out of towels to greet us upon arrival at the Playa Palms.

The view from our balcony when we arrived late from Cancun.

After quickly getting cleaned up, settling in to our rooms, and snapping a few photos we headed out onto the streets of Playa toward a restaurant our friends George and Irma Lebard recommended called El Fogon (the fire hearth) which was an open-air restaurant overflowing with patrons. The smells emanating from the huge grill were mouth-watering. Hours of standing in the hot, crowded immigration hall in Cancun were catching up with all of us and we were suddenly HUNGRY! After waiting for just a few minutes we were seated and ordered some Mexican cervezas and began to peruse the menu. I soon learned that the little Spanish I knew would end up being about all we had to communicate to order our dinner. The entire menu was in Spanish and I wasn't familiar with many of the phrases. Our waiter tried to speak English but he did just about as well as I did speaking Spanish. Eventually we ordered a dinner that was supposedly for five people but our waiter insisted that it would not be enough for the six of us and we should order an additional plate of food to have enough. Chalk one up for the locals....we were duped. We did not need an additional plate, in fact, we could have invited another five people to dine with us and still had leftovers. We ended up with a HUGE pile of various meats, veggies, queso, tortillas, soup, chips, and a few different salsas! It was SO MUCH FOOD! And it was SO GOOD! The cervezas started to get us more in the vacation mode as well and we all agreed that despite the earlier events of the day, we were happy to be in Mexico.

Roger and Janet happy to be enjoying a beverage before dinner.

Dave and Sarah with their Modelo cervezas.

Looking rumpled but happy after our day of traveling.

El Fogon.....a crowded street-side restaurant offering up HUGE servings of grilled foods.

A walk back to our hotel after dinner gave us a glimpse of the vast array of goods for sale on the streets. There was pottery, jewelry, clothing, you name it. We tried to bypass as much as we could knowing we would be coming back to Playa on our return trip from Belize so we opted to walk back to the hotel and get some much needed rest.

We all were up and moving relatively early the next morning and started the day with a walk along the beach in search of a hot cup of coffee. I loved the white sand beaches of Playa. Unlike sand in many other areas, the sand of the Yucatan is made of tiny particles of fossils, shells, and coral. Just sifting it through your fingers yields dozens of tiny treasures.

The view from our balcony at Playa Palms not long after sunrise.

Beach-combing....Cozumel in the background.

Playa Palms Beach Hotel looking through the garden courtyard towards the sea.

So after some beach-combing for shells for the boys and taking more photos of our gorgeous hotel we hit Highway 307 south to Tulum.  Adios, Playa! Hola Tulum!

Vamos de vacaciones! (Parte Uno)

On the morning of March 4th, Brian and the boys and I set out for Redding, CA and home to my oldest sister Pauline.  This wasn't just any trip....this was the first leg of our journey to Central America.  We were meeting my parents (Grandma and Grandpa) to pass Ben and Sam over for 11 days at their home in Happy Camp while Brian and I traveled to the Yucatan in Mexico and into Belize.  We had a short but enjoyable visit with Pauline, Howie, Olivia and Isaac, spent the night in Redding and were taken to the airport early on the 5th by my dad.

Our flight left Redding with no delays, arrived in LA, and by mid-morning we were checked into our hotel in Los Angeles just minutes from LAX where we would depart the following morning for Cancun.

We spent the afternoon and evening in LA visiting with Brian's good friend Marisa, her little girl Sylvie, Marisa's husband Steve, and Brian's other good friend Nate.  We enjoyed catching up with each other as we hadn't seen Marisa and Steve since their wedding in October 2004 and we had never met Sylvie.  We hadn't seen Nate in quite a while either.  Everyone had a great time and we had a very tasty and spicy dinner at a hole-in-the-wall Thai restaurant called Jitlada.  This restaurant served wonderful food and definitely earned the acclaims it's received in Gourmet magazine.

Early on the morning of the 6th we arrived at the airport to check-in and fly to Cancun.  When we got to the customer service counter we were told that we were listed as flying stand-by for the flight.  This was not what we were expecting and once we had cleared security Brian started making phonecalls to the airline to see what was going on.  Once an agent was at the gate he went through the whole story with her and she assured us that we had seats on our flights in and out of Cancun. 

Afer four and a half hours we arrived in Cancun to high clouds and temperatures in the low 80's.  When our plane landed the pilot came on the intercom telling us that there wasn't a gate available for us at that time and we would be dropped on the tarmac, loaded onto buses and taken to immigration and customs.  This should have been a red flag....no gates available?  too many planes in at once?  As our buses pulled in at a back entrance to the immigration hall we entered to see at least two thousand people waiting in long snaking lines to get through immigration.  It soon became apparent that entering through a back entrance was only making a bad situation worse as passengers from later flights who deplaned through the gates were getting ahead of all of the shuttle bus flights despite our own snaking lines and patience.  After about two hours of waiting, and seeing no efforts on behalf of the Cancun airport staff to keep people organized and calm, they finally opened more counters but failed to recognize the existing lines and let the nearest people come through immigration.  This caused a loud uproar and lines began to collapse as frustrated people began to push their way forward.  By this time Brian and I had become helpers to two families from Canada who were each traveling with three children.  We did our best to help them move all of the kid gear - suitcases, booster seats, etc. - but when the lines collapsed we did what instinct told us to do, surround the kids and keep them safe from the masses of pushing spring-breakers.  As Brian put it, you know things were bad and emotions were running high when the moms immediately turned to the obnoxious college kids and told them off without censoring their language.

To cut a long and tiring story short, soon after the lines collapsed I left our little group to go use the restroom and saw Brian's parents waiting in line closer to the center of the building.  At that point I couldn't keep the tears back as I ran to them and hugged them.  They quickly told me to go find Brian and join them in line.  At that point we knew that Brian's Uncle Roger and Aunt Janet were somewhere in the chaos and hoped we would all be able to meet up once things settled down.  After another two hours and the help of a very nice husband and wife from Philladelphia who helped us hold our place in the masses of pushing people we made it to the immigration counter where the Mexican official barely even looked at the photos in our passports as he stamped them and motioned us through.  As Brian and his dad went off to find our luggage in the mountains of bags that had been piling up for hours, Dave received a text message from Roger and Janet saying they were outside waiting for us.  Funny that they were the last of our group to arrive in Mexico but the first to make it through customs.

Even more amazing was that a representative from the rental car company had waited around for us for hours and was there to take us to the rental car agency and get us on the road south to Playa del Carmen. 

As we made our way out of Cancun we had a hard time not talking about the ordeal we had just experienced but also vowed to let it go and get on with our vacation!  Vamos a la Playa!