Snorkeling, Mayan Ruins & Waterfalls

This weekend was packed with a lot of exciting activities! Our teachers from UMD are here so they planned some fun things for us to do. Saturday morning I woke up early and went for a run. After breakfast most of our group and some teachers met at a pier and went on a boat to go snorkeling. We first cruised around and then made our way down the Rio Grande. It was beautiful. Then we made a pit stop at an island to listen to a little presentation about the Honduras Marine Reserve area that we would be snorkeling in. It was quite interesting. On the small island we found our host puppy, George's, parents! We also climbed a tower and I looked around at the wildlife with binoculaurs. Next we gathered back in the boat and went to one caye to snorkel. My snorkeling abilities are not quite up to par but I tried my best. We saw quite a variety of beautiful fish and even a nurse shark. It was sitting on the bottom of the sea and it was about two feet long. It actually was kind of cute. :) Then we headed off to a different caye to do some more snorkeling. I really enjoyed the boat ride on the waves and the sun shining in my face. On our way back we stopped at the most gorgeous island. It was like an island one might see on the Sandal's commericals. We didn't stay long but it was still amazing.

We arrived back on land at about 3:30. I took a short afternoon nap in a hammock and then did some lesson planning. After dinner we headed to the Battle of the Drums at the sports arena in town. It was neat to see all of the different Garifuna wear, music and dancing. We stayed for about two hours then went to bed.

This morning our whole group drove in a van to a rural village about an hour and a half away from PG. Our first stop was at some Mayan ruins at a place called Labataam (sp?). It was really intriguing because there was so much history behind it. Our guide also told us about the Crystal Skull that was found at the site by a young girl. I will try to put up photos as soon as the internet connection is strong enough. After our tour we drove to a mayan house where we were greeted by cattle, chickens and kittens. We all ate an authentic mayan dish which consisted of corn tortillas, rice, tough chicken soup and chocolate water. I thought it was alright and unique. Overall our lunch was a great cultural experience. Then we drove about an hour and a half on the bumpiest road I had ever been on past the village of San Antonio to some waterfalls. We did some cliff jumping and swimming. I had a hard time wading in the water and swimming into the waterfall but I did it! I was pretty exhausted on the ride home. Now I'm just procrastinating on my homework. :)