BELIZE, CENTRAL AMERICA
May 2005
For years I would hear from Chris how great the ruins how blue the water (when scuba diving or snorkeling) and how laid back the culture was of Belize. One year Chris and I had planned to go but work never allowed the chance so the trip was scrapped. In early 2005 I decided to choose a destination off the usual path to travel somewhere without knowing a soul or a plan to go somewhere that was not a major city or in Europe. Belize was it. With no agenda just a rough guide a ticket and a backpack l left Brooklyn to head to central America, BELIZE. Full of fear and excitement I left may 17 2005 with not a clue what I was doing except that I had to take this trip. World travel was fairly new to me having only traveled Amsterdam (Holland) Frankfurt (Germany) and Copenhagen (Denmark) this would be a different experience that I would want to expand on and continue in other countries. I remember reading about Caye Caulker the day before out of a Mens Health Journal magazine and I said that looks like a great place to start. Four hours and a water taxi later would place me at the start of excursion. A cab driver gave me 2 pieces of advice when I arrived outside the airport. One watch out for the women in Belize City they fast, fast, fast. Two take it easy and slow down no shirt, no shoes, no problem the popular motto of Belize. The first stop was Cay Caulker one mile west of Belize Barrier Reef, a small beach village with a distinct cultural flavor not found in large scale tourist developments. To me this place was so chill that penguins migrate here for the winter. A population of 1300 people derived of Mestizo, Garifuna and Creole culture occupy this 5 mile long white sand village. Snorkeling, diving and fishing tours are the main attraction or swimming with man-rays and sharks in a nearby cove. Caye Caulker was the best place to start or end the trip, which I did both.
From Caye Caulker I would travel back mainland to take a bus from Belize City to Orange Walk District to see the ruins of Lamanai. A majority of the ruins in Belize are recently uncovered and not even a fraction of the amount that are still covered by jungle and mounds of earth due to non existent funding for excavation. Lamanai was built by the Mayans around 100 B.C. and in translation means "Submerged Crocodile". Most of the trip were tours of mighty Mayan temples more impressive than I had imagined. In San Ignacio I would experience Xunantunich a.k.a "the Maiden of the Rock" which stands atop a steep 2 kilometer hike. Here holds one of the largest temples in Belize known as El Castillo 40 meters high and yeah we hiked up the top, shocking! Going down was much worse for fear you would crack your skull open on the steep steps, how did the Mayans do it with such short legs? Of course there would be taller temples to climb like in Caracol which holds the largest Mayan site in all of Belize 88 square kilometers with possibly 30,000 structures built at one time. Only the core of the city can be seen, 38 square kilometers and at least 38 structures. The largest of these structures Caana also known as the "Sky Palace" towers above the forest at 42 meters high with 3 temples above that, this is the largest building in all Belize. The best tour of this trip was in Actun Tunichil Muknul 5 kilometers of subterranean caverns partially in water. For starters there was the 40 minute hike through the jungle that your guide mentioned not to touch a thing or fall behind without speaking up. The second fact would be the 10 feet of water that you had to swim just to enter the cavern at the river base, I don't know how to swim ...yet. The caverns where known as the entrance to the underworld consisting of sacrificial chambers, burial grounds, tombs, stalactites and water up to your neck. The caverns were dark and narrow at times at other moments we had to climb our way into areas that were above water level. This portion of my trip was full of adventure different than what I would experience in N.Y.C., different not better.
My final days were spent back in Caye Caulker where the weather was the brightest and the people remembered your face because the island was that small. There I could chill on the beach, drink a few brews, watch the sites go bye and remember the sites that were ...truly beautiful! That's another story.
Search and Enjoy,EXPLORA
Saturday, December 27, 2008
VOLUNTEERING IN KENYA
VOLUNTEERING IN KENYA
In July of 2005 I left for Kenya. This was my sixth trip to Kenya since I started doing volunteer work there in 1998.I am a team leader for a non-profit organization called Global Citizens Network. GCN provides opportunities for small groups of individuals to go to Kenya for 21 days and experience the culture while working on community projects. At the present time we are assisting with the construction of a health clinic.I arrived in Nairobi a few days before the other volunteers so I could spend some time with my old friend, James. I met James on my first trip to Kenya when the volunteers stayed with his family and we have remained good friends ever since. James is now married and has a beautiful daughter, Kim. He and his wife have a small house outside of Nairobi where they always welcome me and make me feel at home. I spent my first couple of days relaxing, eating and playing with Kim before getting to work and preparing for the team to arrive. Our group was made up of three nurses from Minneapolis, an environmental scientist from Colorado and her son who is in high school, a computer programmer from the Silicon Valley, a student from Duke University and a recent college grad who was starting her first job after the trip.After a few delayed flights and one missed flight everyone made it to Nairobi with no lost luggage (which is rare) and off we went to Maili Tatu our new home for the next three weeks. Maili Tatu is a very small Massai village in southeastern Kenya on the slope of Mt. Kilimanjaro not far from the Tanzania border. The trip from Nairobi takes about six hours in a private vehicle (public transport can take a couple of days). The trip is long and dusty because few of the roads are paved, but it is a great introduction to the beautiful Kenyan landscape.When we arrived in the village our hosts and some of the health clinic committee members greeted us. Luckily we made in time to have a couple of hours of daylight (there is no running water or electricity in the village) so we could get acclimated to our new surroundings. Since we arrived on a Saturday we had Sunday to get settled in before starting work on the health clinic on Monday morning. On Sunday we had a formal welcome from the Clinic committee and presented the money that we were donating to purchase the necessary building supplies. Our hosts, Saita and his wife Monica, prepared a fantastic dinner for us before we had what would be the first of many evening bonfires. The bonfire is where we discussed all the business of the day and planned the next day and also where the volunteers got to relax and get to know each other (we had never met before arriving in Nairobi).Monday morning we all woke early, eager to get to work on the clinic. Mt. Kilimanjaro was showing itself very proudly with none of the usual cloud cover; what a great welcome. After coffee, tea and biscuits we were off to work. When we arrived at the clinic we were told that we would be working on the latrine. Because there is no running water, the clinic would naturally have an outhouse. We were told that the plan was for a six hole long drop. This would require us digging a hole approximately 8 feet long, 4 feet wide and 30 feet deep (yes, 30). Using only shovels and picks this would take up our entire 3 weeks and then some. Undaunted, we started digging and made it down about 2 feet in our first day, WOW! Progress.Our days were filled with digging, cooking, carrying water from the well, washing cloths, reading, journaling, playing with the school kids and making new friends in Maili Tatu.Friday is market day in Rombo Town (the closest market town to Maili Tatu) so I insisted that all the volunteers go to experience a real African market at least once. Friday morning the group, minus myself, went with Monica to Rombo Town. It is about a 2 hour walk but they managed to get a matatu (very, very, overcrowded trucks used for transport) after about 30 minutes. I went to the clinic and worked for a few hours before going off on my own adventure. I went to find another old friend of mine, John Myani. John had given me a goat on my last visit, which is a great honor among the Massai and makes us something like brothers. His house is about an hour away so I started walking wishing I had not waited until noon when the sun is so hot. I did manage to get ride on a motorbike and was there in no time. To my disappointment John was away. He is a teacher and had been posted at a school near Amboseli. I walked back to Maili Tatu (no rides this time) and waited for the others to arrive so I could hear their tales of adventure and discovery in Rombo Town.On the following Sunday we were invited to a harambe. Harambe is the national motto of Kenya and in Swahili means "unite" or "come together." As an event a harambe is when a community comes together to raise money for something. In this case it was to send two girls to nursing school. We arrived early and were ushered into a small house made of what looked like mud and cardboard, but quite comfortable nonetheless, where we were served lunch. After eating we joined the gathering crowd under a large acacia tree and waited for things to get started. Several people made speeches (in Massai and Swahili) and then people started going up in a very orderly fashion and giving their donation. By the end they raised 108,000 Kenyan shillings (about US$1000), which was enough to pay each girls tuition for one semester, buy school supplies and maybe a new dress and a little pocket money.The second week we continued digging and cooking and washing and playing. One afternoon we were invited to the primary school for a visit. We left work early, had lunch, washed up, put on the cleanest cloths we could find and went to the school. It was a great afternoon. The students sang for us and we took turns asking questions. We asked the students about Kenya and they in turn asked us about America. At the close of the meeting we presented some gifts for the school that we had brought from home and purchased in Nairobi. They were very happy with all their new bounty (composition books, pencils, pens, crayons, colored markers, maps, etc.) but the piece de resistance was a shiny new professional Adidas soccer ball. The reaction from the boys was no less exiting than if they had won the lottery. (I see a soccer game in our future, Kenya vs. USA). The festivities ended with a closing prayer by one of the students. We spent the next hour or so talking with the teachers about the school and visiting with the students one on one. After dinner we had our traditional bonfire, looked at the stars, and all agreed that days don't get much better than this.During our visit to the school we were challenged to a volleyball tournament: GCN volunteers vs. teachers. We set a date for Friday at 3:00. If we had any sense we would have spent the next few afternoons training, but we did not and it showed. On Friday we arrived at the school to find that everyone was already out in the field waiting for us. A net had been erected (regulation of course) and the challenge was on. I won't go into details, but we lost. After watching our performance the girls challenged us to a match. I am proud to say we won, but I think luck was on our side (they were very good).Hanging out with the kids never fails to be a highlight of my trips to Kenya. After the game some of us walked up to Elephant Hill (aptly named because it is the highest point in the village and the people can spot the elephants coming to eat the crops). Sad to say we did not see any elephants.Week three was more work and more play. Everyone was settling in to the rural Kenyan life and feeling quit at home. One day another old friend of mine, Sarika, visited us. I knew Sarika's uncle, Parpai who was a Member of Parliament and was the one who asked if GCN could help with the health clinic project. I am sad to say that Parpai died a few years ago of cancer, a big loss to his community and to Kenya. Sarika once gave me a red she cow, another gift of great honor among the Massai. Today he was back to do more nice things. He asked if the volunteers would be interested in going to a ceremony to celebrate the circumcision of some young Massai. We of course jumped at the opportunity and the plan was made. On Saturday morning a Kenyan wildlife service truck picked us up and off we went. The drive through the bush looked like a scene from "Out of Africa." When we arrived at the manyatta the festivities were already in full swing. The warriors were doing their traditional dance and the women, dressed in their traditional beads and red togas were cooking and doing a dance of their own. To be in Africa and witness such a thing so far off the beaten path from the tourist centers was truly the chance of a lifetime, this was the real deal. In Massai culture it is customary to bring gifts of tea and sugar when visiting someone's home. Knowing this, but being unprepared, I gave our (very drunk) host some money after which he fell off his stool and planted his face in the dirt (he was coming to when I left). We headed back home, trying to make it before dark.They say that all good things must come to an end and our time in Maili Tatu was no different. This was my last chance to see my friend John (the teacher who had been away), so I set off early in the morning with three of the other volunteers and started walking. We had been walking for about 45 minutes when I saw a very familiar face coming towards us; it was John. He had been told that a white guy had been by the house several days ago to see him and, being the clever teacher that he is, he knew it must have been me, so he was walking to Maili Tatu to say hello. I introduced him to the other volunteers and he invited us back to his house to visit. When we arrived his wife put on the teakettle and brought out their two beautiful children, Daniel and Jacinta. We drank tea and filled each other in on everything that had happened since we last saw each other a year ago. John and his wife insisted we stay for lunch (Kenyan people are the kindest people on earth), but we reluctantly had to decline. I explained to John that the health clinic committee was having a going away party for us and asked if he and his family would please come. He agreed right away, but his wife had other commitments and stayed behind with the kids. We arrived back in Maili Tatu to find a huge gathering of people and enough food to feed a small army (lovingly prepared by some of the local women). We were each given a small beaded necklace with a beaded cross on it as token of appreciation and something to remember Kenya and all the wonderful people who welcomed us into their community and their lives. We were told that our toilet hole had reached 21 feet. How many people can say they helped dig a 21 foot toilet hole in Africa? I'll bet not many, but these nine volunteers have joined that proud elite group (or possibly founded that group). We ended the day with our last trip to town for a Fanta and one last bonfire. Tomorrow we would be going back to Nairobi and then to the famous Massai Mara for a Safari.The trip back to Nairobi was somber. As much as we were all looking forward to a hot shower and some western style food, I don't think anyone could deny that they would miss Maili Tatu far more than they would have expected three weeks ago. We arrived at our hotel and had our hot showers and then went down town for our western style food, and I still missed Maili Tatu.The next morning we set off on The Great African Safari. What can I say about it except that it was amazing and magical. We saw elephants, zebra, giraffes, wildebeests, monkeys, hippos, gazelles, impalas, lions, cheetahs, and everything else you only see on the National Geographic Channel. You can't go to Kenya without going on safari, but all the time I still missed Maili Tatu. Kenya is one of the most visually stunning, magical, and romantic places I have ever visited. The landscape ranges from rainforest to tropical to semi arid savannah and it has a dizzying array of wildlife, however it does not take long to discover that the Kenyan people are the real gem there.To learn more about how you can share in this experience or to find out about volunteering in other countries check out www.globalcitizens.orgSearch and Enjoy,EXPLORA
In July of 2005 I left for Kenya. This was my sixth trip to Kenya since I started doing volunteer work there in 1998.I am a team leader for a non-profit organization called Global Citizens Network. GCN provides opportunities for small groups of individuals to go to Kenya for 21 days and experience the culture while working on community projects. At the present time we are assisting with the construction of a health clinic.I arrived in Nairobi a few days before the other volunteers so I could spend some time with my old friend, James. I met James on my first trip to Kenya when the volunteers stayed with his family and we have remained good friends ever since. James is now married and has a beautiful daughter, Kim. He and his wife have a small house outside of Nairobi where they always welcome me and make me feel at home. I spent my first couple of days relaxing, eating and playing with Kim before getting to work and preparing for the team to arrive. Our group was made up of three nurses from Minneapolis, an environmental scientist from Colorado and her son who is in high school, a computer programmer from the Silicon Valley, a student from Duke University and a recent college grad who was starting her first job after the trip.After a few delayed flights and one missed flight everyone made it to Nairobi with no lost luggage (which is rare) and off we went to Maili Tatu our new home for the next three weeks. Maili Tatu is a very small Massai village in southeastern Kenya on the slope of Mt. Kilimanjaro not far from the Tanzania border. The trip from Nairobi takes about six hours in a private vehicle (public transport can take a couple of days). The trip is long and dusty because few of the roads are paved, but it is a great introduction to the beautiful Kenyan landscape.When we arrived in the village our hosts and some of the health clinic committee members greeted us. Luckily we made in time to have a couple of hours of daylight (there is no running water or electricity in the village) so we could get acclimated to our new surroundings. Since we arrived on a Saturday we had Sunday to get settled in before starting work on the health clinic on Monday morning. On Sunday we had a formal welcome from the Clinic committee and presented the money that we were donating to purchase the necessary building supplies. Our hosts, Saita and his wife Monica, prepared a fantastic dinner for us before we had what would be the first of many evening bonfires. The bonfire is where we discussed all the business of the day and planned the next day and also where the volunteers got to relax and get to know each other (we had never met before arriving in Nairobi).Monday morning we all woke early, eager to get to work on the clinic. Mt. Kilimanjaro was showing itself very proudly with none of the usual cloud cover; what a great welcome. After coffee, tea and biscuits we were off to work. When we arrived at the clinic we were told that we would be working on the latrine. Because there is no running water, the clinic would naturally have an outhouse. We were told that the plan was for a six hole long drop. This would require us digging a hole approximately 8 feet long, 4 feet wide and 30 feet deep (yes, 30). Using only shovels and picks this would take up our entire 3 weeks and then some. Undaunted, we started digging and made it down about 2 feet in our first day, WOW! Progress.Our days were filled with digging, cooking, carrying water from the well, washing cloths, reading, journaling, playing with the school kids and making new friends in Maili Tatu.Friday is market day in Rombo Town (the closest market town to Maili Tatu) so I insisted that all the volunteers go to experience a real African market at least once. Friday morning the group, minus myself, went with Monica to Rombo Town. It is about a 2 hour walk but they managed to get a matatu (very, very, overcrowded trucks used for transport) after about 30 minutes. I went to the clinic and worked for a few hours before going off on my own adventure. I went to find another old friend of mine, John Myani. John had given me a goat on my last visit, which is a great honor among the Massai and makes us something like brothers. His house is about an hour away so I started walking wishing I had not waited until noon when the sun is so hot. I did manage to get ride on a motorbike and was there in no time. To my disappointment John was away. He is a teacher and had been posted at a school near Amboseli. I walked back to Maili Tatu (no rides this time) and waited for the others to arrive so I could hear their tales of adventure and discovery in Rombo Town.On the following Sunday we were invited to a harambe. Harambe is the national motto of Kenya and in Swahili means "unite" or "come together." As an event a harambe is when a community comes together to raise money for something. In this case it was to send two girls to nursing school. We arrived early and were ushered into a small house made of what looked like mud and cardboard, but quite comfortable nonetheless, where we were served lunch. After eating we joined the gathering crowd under a large acacia tree and waited for things to get started. Several people made speeches (in Massai and Swahili) and then people started going up in a very orderly fashion and giving their donation. By the end they raised 108,000 Kenyan shillings (about US$1000), which was enough to pay each girls tuition for one semester, buy school supplies and maybe a new dress and a little pocket money.The second week we continued digging and cooking and washing and playing. One afternoon we were invited to the primary school for a visit. We left work early, had lunch, washed up, put on the cleanest cloths we could find and went to the school. It was a great afternoon. The students sang for us and we took turns asking questions. We asked the students about Kenya and they in turn asked us about America. At the close of the meeting we presented some gifts for the school that we had brought from home and purchased in Nairobi. They were very happy with all their new bounty (composition books, pencils, pens, crayons, colored markers, maps, etc.) but the piece de resistance was a shiny new professional Adidas soccer ball. The reaction from the boys was no less exiting than if they had won the lottery. (I see a soccer game in our future, Kenya vs. USA). The festivities ended with a closing prayer by one of the students. We spent the next hour or so talking with the teachers about the school and visiting with the students one on one. After dinner we had our traditional bonfire, looked at the stars, and all agreed that days don't get much better than this.During our visit to the school we were challenged to a volleyball tournament: GCN volunteers vs. teachers. We set a date for Friday at 3:00. If we had any sense we would have spent the next few afternoons training, but we did not and it showed. On Friday we arrived at the school to find that everyone was already out in the field waiting for us. A net had been erected (regulation of course) and the challenge was on. I won't go into details, but we lost. After watching our performance the girls challenged us to a match. I am proud to say we won, but I think luck was on our side (they were very good).Hanging out with the kids never fails to be a highlight of my trips to Kenya. After the game some of us walked up to Elephant Hill (aptly named because it is the highest point in the village and the people can spot the elephants coming to eat the crops). Sad to say we did not see any elephants.Week three was more work and more play. Everyone was settling in to the rural Kenyan life and feeling quit at home. One day another old friend of mine, Sarika, visited us. I knew Sarika's uncle, Parpai who was a Member of Parliament and was the one who asked if GCN could help with the health clinic project. I am sad to say that Parpai died a few years ago of cancer, a big loss to his community and to Kenya. Sarika once gave me a red she cow, another gift of great honor among the Massai. Today he was back to do more nice things. He asked if the volunteers would be interested in going to a ceremony to celebrate the circumcision of some young Massai. We of course jumped at the opportunity and the plan was made. On Saturday morning a Kenyan wildlife service truck picked us up and off we went. The drive through the bush looked like a scene from "Out of Africa." When we arrived at the manyatta the festivities were already in full swing. The warriors were doing their traditional dance and the women, dressed in their traditional beads and red togas were cooking and doing a dance of their own. To be in Africa and witness such a thing so far off the beaten path from the tourist centers was truly the chance of a lifetime, this was the real deal. In Massai culture it is customary to bring gifts of tea and sugar when visiting someone's home. Knowing this, but being unprepared, I gave our (very drunk) host some money after which he fell off his stool and planted his face in the dirt (he was coming to when I left). We headed back home, trying to make it before dark.They say that all good things must come to an end and our time in Maili Tatu was no different. This was my last chance to see my friend John (the teacher who had been away), so I set off early in the morning with three of the other volunteers and started walking. We had been walking for about 45 minutes when I saw a very familiar face coming towards us; it was John. He had been told that a white guy had been by the house several days ago to see him and, being the clever teacher that he is, he knew it must have been me, so he was walking to Maili Tatu to say hello. I introduced him to the other volunteers and he invited us back to his house to visit. When we arrived his wife put on the teakettle and brought out their two beautiful children, Daniel and Jacinta. We drank tea and filled each other in on everything that had happened since we last saw each other a year ago. John and his wife insisted we stay for lunch (Kenyan people are the kindest people on earth), but we reluctantly had to decline. I explained to John that the health clinic committee was having a going away party for us and asked if he and his family would please come. He agreed right away, but his wife had other commitments and stayed behind with the kids. We arrived back in Maili Tatu to find a huge gathering of people and enough food to feed a small army (lovingly prepared by some of the local women). We were each given a small beaded necklace with a beaded cross on it as token of appreciation and something to remember Kenya and all the wonderful people who welcomed us into their community and their lives. We were told that our toilet hole had reached 21 feet. How many people can say they helped dig a 21 foot toilet hole in Africa? I'll bet not many, but these nine volunteers have joined that proud elite group (or possibly founded that group). We ended the day with our last trip to town for a Fanta and one last bonfire. Tomorrow we would be going back to Nairobi and then to the famous Massai Mara for a Safari.The trip back to Nairobi was somber. As much as we were all looking forward to a hot shower and some western style food, I don't think anyone could deny that they would miss Maili Tatu far more than they would have expected three weeks ago. We arrived at our hotel and had our hot showers and then went down town for our western style food, and I still missed Maili Tatu.The next morning we set off on The Great African Safari. What can I say about it except that it was amazing and magical. We saw elephants, zebra, giraffes, wildebeests, monkeys, hippos, gazelles, impalas, lions, cheetahs, and everything else you only see on the National Geographic Channel. You can't go to Kenya without going on safari, but all the time I still missed Maili Tatu. Kenya is one of the most visually stunning, magical, and romantic places I have ever visited. The landscape ranges from rainforest to tropical to semi arid savannah and it has a dizzying array of wildlife, however it does not take long to discover that the Kenyan people are the real gem there.To learn more about how you can share in this experience or to find out about volunteering in other countries check out www.globalcitizens.orgSearch and Enjoy,EXPLORA
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)