Belize Trip

View of the Organic Bamboo Farm where we stayed in this little hut for our first 2 nights in Belize...our stay included fresh organic meals, a canoe tour on a big river where we saw a bunch of howler monkeys, and an educational hike through the rainforest.  (Now we know why the Spanish settlers didn't stick around -- the bugs!!)
Instead of showering we decided to rough it and bathe in the swimming hole near the farm one night -- only to find out there are "piranha-related" fish in there which like to nibble on your legs and buns!  Sarah never quite got used to it.  Besides the swarms of mosquitoes and getting lost in the rainforest in the dark on the way back, the were natural mud masks which were almost worth it.  Oh, and Sarah got some funky rash all over her legs at some point during the day which lasted throughout the rest of the trip!

A typical meal for us vegetarians, which is also popular in all of Central America -- black beans, fried plantains, soft/salty white cheese, tomato, avocado (overabundant to our excitement, and also why the people are called "green bellies" in some parts of Guatemala!) and always accompanied by corn tortillas.  We also frequently enjoyed lots of amazing fruit and fresh orange juice...I think the food might have been the best part!

Guatemala Trip

Since my visitor's visa expires every 90 days, I was forced to leave Honduras for a couple days and go to a country that does not share a border with Honduras.  Sarah and I met up in Belize and traveled through Guatemala for a week.  I had a fun time with her and really enjoyed seeing more of Central America.

   

Guatemalan culture is very different from Honduras in many ways, for example, in their dress.  These men are sporting the typical outfits of a town near Lago Atitlan.

The women also wear sashes around their waist to tie on their skirts.  All of the clothing was very colorful and beautiful to see.  I really enjoyed visiting the markets and eating lots of fresh fruit.  One day I ate an entire pineapple by myself!

 

These are the shoes we bought at the market before our hike on the volcano -- in addition to spicing up our photos on the hike, these babies saved our other shoes from getting melted on the volcanic rock.
 

View from hike to Volcan Pacaya -- we took the night hike, which was a great way to spend our last night enjoying some breathtaking views of the Guatemalan landscape.