Path of Beauty Tour 2015

It has been a hard year. I went back to work and school this year after 15 years of being a Stay-at-Home Mom. Now I am a Work-from-Home Mom. I love, love, love my job, but the transition has been difficult as we all learn new roles in our family. After a busy, wonderful, stressful, exhilarating year, I need rest, inspiration, and beauty. Therefore, I knew our next adventure needed to be really special!

My husband always likes to tell the story of Grandpa Dishman taking him and his friend to Banff when they were teenagers. As he described the beauty of the scenery to me, I knew that is where I wanted to go. So after a couple of months of brainstorming and planning, we have finally nailed down the "Path of Beauty Tour 2015." This summer, we will intentionally place ourselves in the path of beauty for the benefit of inspiration and peace. We will be made to lie in green pastures and lead beside still waters in order to restore our souls.

I am really looking forward to our time together as a family. I cannot wait until I am surrounded by my little tribe and I have their complete undivided attention. I can't wait to play together and drive together and swim together and hike together and experience all the beauty that God has created, together.

Path of Beauty 2015

Cacao Farm

9 May 2013

The tour I was most excited about taking in Belize was the Cacao Trail. I love chocolate and I've been very interested in the bean to bar process, so the idea of visiting a cacao farm was even more interesting. Some of you have checked out already, but bear with me as this farmer is probably the most interesting man you'll ever meet!
Meet Eladio Pop. He's a Mayan Cacao Farmer who is passionate about his 30 acre subsistence farm in southern Belize. He has farmed this particular spot for the past 40 years (he's 54!). For about 2 hours we trekked over the hills and through the woods looking at eating everything he grows. Every time we crested a hill or turned a corner there was something new to try!

Maroon bananas

Hub holding some of the many things we were snacking on: Cacao & Jippi Joppa

Eladio demonstrating how to harvest and eat Jippi Joppa

Following Eladio up the hill

 Eladio spoke to us quite a bit about his farming philosophy. He shuns traditional slash and burn farming techniques in favor of a more natural farm. He has learned to grow in harmony with the nature that surrounds him. Indeed, I had expected a more American style farm with rows of plants and such so I was surprised to see how the cacao tress are actually planted and sheltered (and thrive) beneath the canopy of the forest. It is easy to see how Eladio works in coordination with nature to get the most from his little farm. He understands the needs of each plant and animal that inhabits his farm and works hard to meet each need....even the rodents. At one point he cuts down a coconut with his machete and opens it up for us. After we inhale the delicious interior, he leaves behind the other half for the animals. There is enough for everyone he tells us, and he is right! He has raised 15 children off this farm.

Eladio separated out the Cacao seeds from the pulp. The pulp is used to make wine and the seeds chocolate.

Traditional Belizean Rice and Beans lunch prepared by Eladio's wife & daughters.

How to Make a Crappy Room Bearable in 10 Easy Steps

May 2013
San Ignacio, Belize

We arrived in San Ignacio via the Benque bus from Belmopan, had some delicious Belizean Stew Chicken at Lydia's across the street from the bus stop, then took a taxi up the hill to our hotel, Cahal Pech.
Now, this seems like an appropriate time to mention that I wanted to stay at Trek Stop. A popular backpacker spot, TS will only set you back around 15 bucks (pp) a night and is only a short ride into town. However, Hub wanted a pool. After imagining a sweltering all day trek up and down Mayan Ruins, it didn't take me long to give in to this request. Appear: Cahal Pech Village Resort. "Look, they have these budget huts on the hill and still have a pool!" Too bad that budget hut would set us back about $90 a night after taxes! But....it had a beautiful pool. Besides, it has the word resort in the name, I'm sure it will be nice.

Wrong.

We arrived at the hut to find hostel like conditions. Mind you, I am not opposed to hostels, I have stayed in several in South America and I feel comfortable using them. However, I am opposed to staying in a hostel and paying the price of a resort. Which is exactly what we did at Cahal Pech.
So, if you ever find yourself stuck in a bad room, I am sharing the measures we took to help us make our room less crappy. You never know, these may work for you someday as well!

#1: Do some laundry

It may seem like a chore, but clean clothes make everyone feel better. Besides, that hammock was too small to hold anyone that's not Mayan anyhow. It was crying out to be repurposed!










#2: Redecorate

When we discovered the full size mattress was resting on a twin size box spring, we were only slightly disappointed. However, when we saw a small a/c unit in a room that has no glass in the windows, we decided to take matters into our own hands. We moved the bed over and arranged some extra blankets with the curtains to create a unique "air distribution system" that blew the cold air directly onto our faces. BTW-when your mom used to say that cold air on your face will make you sick...she was wrong. Fact.



#3. Steal Borrow from others

Our porch was empty, and with a dysfunctional hammock and weird bed situation, we needed a place to relax! Enter: the hut next door. They had some great looking patio furniture over there so under cover of darkness we stole it and set up house in our patio.








#4. Take a tour

Nothing can change your perspective better than natural beauty! We took a kayak 10 miles down the Macal River and spotted a few bat hangouts and several iguanas chilling by the water.









#5. Make some friends

 The key to understanding a place is understanding the people who call it home. This man is a staple in town gathering restaurant leftovers for his farm. He spotted us from across a park and rode his horse across the entire park to come talk to us.








#6. Use Deet

Bugs in the jungle are okay. Bugs in town are okay. Bugs in the patio are okay. Bugs in the bed are NOT okay. After finding this centipede in the bed one morning, I sprayed the entire box spring, mattress, and my body with Deet each night. Hub wasn't real excited about going to bed with a greasy, smelly lady, but hey, a girl's gotta survive, am I right?












#7.Take a swim

Although our hut was bad, the pool was pretty awesome. We definitely made use of these two pools after our days of exploring.











#8. Go Shopping

San Ignacio is known for their beautiful market and it did not disappoint. We were able to pick up some fruit and snacks to keep in our room to help us avoid the "resort food" they were serving up in the dining area.









#9. Save Cash                            

 Fruits and snacks weren't the only things we picked up in town. For the same price as one drink at the hotel bar, we were able to purchase our own drinks at a local market. We also bought a gallon of water after the restaurant staff sweated us a little for filling up our bottles.








#10. Enjoy the view.

Sometimes we get stuck in a place we're not happy with, but when traveling, it's important to find the silver lining. Here it was all about the view. The hotel overlooked the city of San Ignacio and beyond, and if we ignored all of the dry season fire smoke for a few minutes, we could sit and take in the beauty of the valley in front of us. And that is what it's all about.

Punta Gorda, Market Day

8 May 2013
Punta Gorda, Toledo, Belize

Our first day out the gate we wanted to explore! We commandeered some bikes from the cottages and rode them into town.

Punta Gorda is a small town that sits on the edge of the Gulf of Honduras.

Although Belize is in Central America, Punta Gorda (PG) has more Caribbean influence than Latin American. You can see this influence in the town, the buildings, and the people. You can hear it in the lilting, lyrical Kriol that you hear spoken by the people. English is the official language of Belize, and this makes it a very easy place for Americans to travel, however, Kriol is the language you hear spoken in the streets of PG.
The town is quite small and very charming. We were able to explore most of it by bicycle, but we also enjoyed parking the bikes for a bit and walking around because it was market day!

"May I take your picture?" Sure...but I won't look at you when you do! ;)

Today's Menu

My favorite kind of restroom--outdoors

PG Clock Tower in the middle of town

Fruits & Veggies on display

Hub makes a friend. He wanted to prepare us for the apocalypse. So thoughtful.

Turning the corner to find water

I chuckled at this tiny place when we drove into town, but I have to say, place was hopping come lunch time!

Punta Pizza & Cotton Tree Chocolate

PG Courthouse

One of the "must do" things in PG is take a tour of Cotton Tree Chocolate. It is a tiny little shop on Front street right at the town entrance across from the gas station. When you walk in the door the intense smell of chocolate hits you and your mouth will start to water! Here they make small batch chocolate for sale throughout the whole country! The girl working in the shop took us on a small tour of the operation from bean to bar. It is hard to believe that they produce so much chocolate out of that little shop, but they do.

Cacao Beans

Grinding the seeds with a modified drill. The blow dryer is for separating out the nibs.

2 Front Street...OPEN!

The set-up

Chocolate Paste

Pre-molding

 After chocolate, we were hungry. Upon recommendation of Ian, our host, we rode out past the bridge to a seafood restaurant for lunch. We ordered some weird looking juice which made us a little nervous at first, and soon after digging in, a truck drove up from the local health department, making us a tad more nervous! However, we were soon put at ease when he loaded up with take-out containers and off he went again. There's no recommendation like the local health department and we enjoyed that lunch as it was very delicious!

While riding back to the cottages, we were exhausted and sunburned and had had enough of being stared at by the locals. (PG doesn't seem to have caught on with the tourists yet, which makes it the ideal location to visit, just be prepared for some strange looks) In the middle of town is a brightly painted round building out of which a woman was walking and waving at us. We pulled over to the side and looked behind us to see to whom she was waving. Turns out she was waving at us! It was Kate, from Hickatee, in town for a meeting. It was so fun to see someone we knew there in the middle of PG. We chatted for a few at the gate and then went on our way again.  On the way back we got a little lost while looking for a store that clearly had shuttered. We stopped on the side of a dirt road and I pulled out a map from my pocket that I had cut out of our guidebook. Before we could get our bearings on it a large, brightly clothed woman rode up to us on a bike and asked us where we wanted to go, using that beautiful Kriol accent. She was smiling a big, friendly smile as she pointed us in the direction of Hickatee.
We arrived back a little tired, but enjoyed the scenery we had seen via bicycle much more than if we had hired a taxi.

Punta Gorda Flickr Set: http://www.flickr.com/photos/96624310@N07/sets/72157633778627083/

Hickatee Cottages, Punta Gorda, Belize

7 May 2013
Punta Gorda, Belize

We arrived at the Punta Gorda airstrip early evening via Tropic Air's small prop plane (booked at a discount through Hickatee). Ian from Hickatee Cottages immediately met us at the strip with a warm handshake and a smile. He warded off small children selling wares as we made our way to his truck parked out front. We piled into the truck grateful to have finally arrived after leaving our home at 3:30 that morning. He gave us a quick tour of Punta Gorda as we made our way to Hickatee. It was impossible to get our bearings as he wound through the narrow dirt streets but it was interesting to hear him talk about the little town with such pride and describe he and Kate's genesis there in PG (they originally hailed from England several years prior to opening their guest cottages in southern Belize).
After bouncing down a long dirt road at the edge of the jungle we turned into a small drive. Immediately the sounds changed and we could hear the insects buzzing and birds calling in the twilight. There was a small clearing of cottages, all with their porch lights cheerily welcoming us. Ian dropped our backpacks in the pathway and we followed him into "Charlie's Bar", the main building. Ian gave us a Hickatee Cottages run down and afterward showed us to our cottage where our bags had already been shuttled off.
We had booked the budget traveler's "Den" but ended up in Wilby Suite, which was a pleasant and happy surprise for these weary travelers! We followed the path and came to a quaint little cottage at the edge of the clearing. Inside the dim lights and Belizean woods were warm and welcoming. We walked around the cottage in disbelief, it was so beautiful and nice! We just didn't expect to stay in such a nice place.

After a long day of traveling the warmth, charm, and cleanliness of this cottage was awesome!

Fresh flowers from the surrounding jungle decorated our room.

The glass-less windows kept out bugs, but not the sounds of the jungle at night! Incredible!

Charlies bar: the main building at Hickatee. We took our meals on the porch.

 After unpacking and getting settled, we wandered up front for some dinner. Kate is an awesome cook and we enjoyed her fresh bread every night and fresh muffins each morning.

Dessert: local chocolate buttons and chocolate liquor. If you're lucky, Ian will come around one more time for a refill. ;)

The lighting at Hickatee is dim during the night due to their conservation of power. When I booked Hickatee I was under the impression that they were solar powered during the day but no power at night. I was pleased to find out that they run on generators after 11 pm in order to keep the fans running. We had to be careful of our electric consumption, however, we did not bring anything more than a phone charger so it didn't affect us. Only minor sacrifice (if you can call it that) for the amazing jungle location!
We were ready for some sleep after all of that travelling and Hickatee's warm welcome made us feel comfy cozy!

Hickatee Flickr Set:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/96624310@N07/sets/72157633779139748/

A Happy Accident

May 2013

We decided to celebrate our 15th Anniversary with a little adventure so we packed up and headed off to Belize!
We arrived late afternoon in Belize City airport, the thick air smacking us in the face as we walked off the plane onto the only runway. Our flight was filled with cliches of all kinds: lovey dovey newlyweds with bright, new, shiny rings glittering on their fingers; cell phone toting executives with perfectly coifed wives sporting pressed resort wear; small groups of young co-eds in daisy dukes, bikini tops and wife beaters, and as we made our way to Tropic Air gate 6 we watched all of them get whisked away. Meanwhile we sat on the wooden benches in an empty terminal and wondered....can this be right? Where is everyone going and why are we not going with them?

Waiting in an empty terminal

 We got our answer soon enough.

Soon it was time for us to board our flight. We squeezed into a small single engine prop plane and soon we were experiencing some of the most incredible views of our lives! The plane took off from Belize City airport wavering into the sky as it carried us to the southernmost city in Belize, Punta Gorda. On the way we made several stops for mail and a few passengers here and there. The multiple take off and landings were part of the amazing experience; my stomach lurched as we teetered toward small dirt landing strips on the edge of the Caribbean. The views of the small villages that occupy the coast were beautiful. On one side of the plane the sun was rushing toward the hills of Guatemala and on the other side of the plane land and water mixed in various formations creating beautiful art on the ground. I pressed my face up against the glass and I could barely tear myself away. We had booked the plane (despite the cost) merely out of expediency and convenience as we had already been traveling 10 hours that day and wanted to arrive in PG as quickly as possible. Therefore, the awesomeness of the flight was just a happy accident!!

the land and sea creating art outside of the window

our view from directly behind the pilot

sunset

I haven't been in a plane like this since high school

I believe we were taking off from Dangriga

Let the adventure begin!