Yesterday we woke early (relatively speaking) to be fed, packed and prepared for our day-long journey to our next stop – Gallon Jug farm, owned by Barry and Dixie Bowen. A few of the kids had had a touch of “Jaguar Paw’s revenge” overnight, but they were amazingly strong and got it all together for the trip – we are so proud of them! After a 45-minute bus ride we reached the ancient Maya city of Xunantunich, where we climbed the largest pyramid, El Castillo. The views were spectacular and the 3,000-year-old frescoes are breathtaking. We’ll have more time and a proper guided tour at our second Maya stop in a few days – today was just a practice run.
We lunched at Hode’s, a nearby hotspot, and got to Spanish Lookout for the ferry by 1:30. When I say ferry, erase all thoughts you have in your mind. This ferry is a small barge on thick metal cables hand-cranked by a stalwart captain who goes back and forth the 50 feet across the Macal River all day long. At the other side were Barry and Dixie Bowen, our hosts, and Ben Dodge, who runs Chan Chich Lodge. We stacked our bags and some students in the back of Barry’s pickup, stuffed the rest onto Ben’s Suburban, and headed the hour north to Barry’s farm through private roads overseen by armed guards.
We arrived at Gallon Jug, got the students settled in their new space, the loft above the barn, and made our way over to Chan Chich for a cold drink and a swim in the gorgeous pool before having our first dinner cooked by Sylvia and Ida from Silvester Village. The Belizean spaghetti never tasted so good, and everyone slept well.
Note to Frisina/Griffins: No allergic reactions whatsoever. He slept like a baby and woke up hungry and happy. We’ll keep an eye on him, though!
