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Waterfalls, Thai Massages, and Housekeeping Ninjas

Posted on by under Belize, Central America, Hiking

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You wouldn’t know it’s the rainy season. Today, like yesterday has been absolutely perfect. Warm, but not hot, and comfortably humid. Of course, you never feel all that clean, but give it a day and you cease to notice. Whether or not this is a good thing, I’m not sure.
We woke up around eight, probably because we went to bed at, well…nine pm. After breakfast we were able to wander around the complex. Complex is best description. Though there are actually only a handful of villas/casitas the property is large enough that the walk from your room to the concierge takes a bit of time, and more than a few stairs. They have a horse stable, garden, pool, spa, two restaurants (which is good since we’re miles from anything), and a river. This must have been some summer home for Mr. Coppola before he converted it. But what I really like is how you don’t notice it, there’s no grandiose entrance or modern, shiny decor. The entrance is off the a small dirt road with a wooden sign indicating your arrival. The road to the lodge, about a quarter of a mile is lined with coconut trees, placed at perfect intervals. Everything about the lodge blends into the environment, from the bamboo vaulted ceilings to the earth tone decor. They also make a specific effort towards conservation. It may be a villa, but our only form of temperature control is an over head fan. We need flashlights at night since its so dark and electricity is used at a minimum, granted, there’s a IPod dock…which I was certainly surprised to see, but everything else, including our semi-outdoor (though thankfully with hot water) is certainly harmonious with its environment.

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Arrival: Blancaneaux Lodge

Posted on by under Belize, Central America

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After traveling nearly 24 hours, an amount of time that could get you to say, Cape Town, we finally arrived at the Blancaneaux Lodge in Belize. Three plane rides, one mechanical break down, and a bumpy three hour backroad ride would land us on the border of Guatemala, in a lake side open air villa overlooking the river. It was well worth it. Continue reading →

Success Through the Lens of Travel

Posted on by under Notes on Travel, Thoughts and Musings

I have often written that travel has changed me. An obvious, and inadequate statement. Yet, I constantly struggled to put into words what exactly had changed. Simply, it was a feeling. Everything was different somehow, better, and worse. But mostly just different. For many, travel is humbling, enlightening, or inspiring. For others, all they take away is a blanketed idea of “thank God I don’t live here.”. There is no generalization. Just as each traveler perceives the adventure differently, what each takes away is often starkly different. I suppose I ought to clarify, the travel to which I refer is not a vacation, though a perfect worthwhile and even occasionally enlightening use of time, but what I’m referring to I can only equate to a journey. The sort where you are thrust out into the world, forced to encounter it as it is, in all of it’s awe-inspiring beauty, and all of it’s cold ugliness; exposed. It is impossible to venture out into the world in this way, and not to be changed. Perhaps it is life changing, but maybe it’s much less, a small seed that will go undetected, but will continue to shape your life in a way unique to the experience. If you were to suggest travel has not changed you, I would be emboldened to suggest that you are either simply wrong, or that there is something greatly wrong with you has a human being.

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En Route: Chicago

Posted on by under Notes on Travel

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The cabin filled with a warm, luminescent orange as the sun set over the western horizon. The airplane, a normally cold, dry, and generally uncomfortable place felt strangely different. The light gave the impression that a fireplace had been placed somewhere unseen casting shadows and suggesting warmth. Outside the wings skimmed the clouds, which completely covered the sky beneath. The scene looked nearly identical to snow, as the slight turbulence sent us bobbing over the frosted hills, the setting sun distorted by the clouds suggesting mountains peeking in the distance, though there were none. I watched, transfixed by the illusion.
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