Marco Gonzalez Maya Site, New Friends and Earthquake

Marco Gonzalez Maya Site.

They now have a bathroom at the site. The small building to the left is the bathroom.  They were just working on the foundation in September 2010.

If you remember back in February I blogged about going out south on the island to Marco Gonzalez Archaeological Reserve to hunt for Mangroves.  It was so fun and very interesting.  Bill didn't get to go and was so upset he missed out on all the fun, so he has been wanting to go ever since.  Bill and I biked out to the site on Tuesday morning, but when we arrived the young fellow that was working the entrance booth said the mosquitoes were really bad because it has rained two days before.  We really were not prepared that day so we decided to come back another day later in the week.  We thought we would ask our new friends from Washington if they would like to go to the Maya site and they said yes so we made plans to go back on Friday.

Walking in to the site.

The water is stained from the Red Mangroves.

Lisa and Ron had a golf cart for the day on Friday so they picked us up at 12:30pm and we all headed out to the Marco Gonzalez Site.  I was going to be our guide this time, well at least try to be our guide.  When we arrived the same young fellow from before was at the entrance booth again.  I asked him how the mosquitoes were today and he said he had lit several fires to smoke the mosquitoes out, so it was better today.  However, we came prepared today and after a good spray of insect repellent we were ready to go in to the site.

Interesting roots system here.

Flora and fauna in the jungle.

Maya pottery found at the site.

Maya Ruins

The sap of the Che Chem tree is poisonous. If you touch the milky sap and scratch yourself, you will itch all over.  However, the antidote , the Gumbo limbo tree is usually close by .  Both trees usually grow side by side

It was pretty hot that day, but everyone seemed to enjoy my tour of the Maya site.  We stopped off at Mr. Joe's Lone Star Grill and Catina (note the name, Mr. Joe is from Houston, TX.) to get something cool to drink.  Lisa and Ron opted for the Blue Hole drink and said it was great.  After a few drinks and cooling off for a bit we headed home, we had some more new friends arriving on the 5:00pm water taxi from Chetumal, Mexico.

Lisa and Ron have a Blue Hole drink from Mr. Joe's.

Pamela and Michael are from Oregon and this would be their first time in Belize.  Yes, you read that right.  It would be their very first time in Belize.  They packed up four suitcases and left the United States and moved to Belize. 

Pamela and I had met online and had emailed back and forth for a few months.  A week before they were to arrive Pamela emailed me and said they did not have a place to stay and could I help.  I said yes of course and gave them information about Pedro's Inn where they could stay temporarily until I found them a place more permanent.  I got busy and luckily I found them a great beach front condo to rent and it was right on the beach, just what they had ordered.  We had all the details worked out and had secured them a place to live for the next 7 months three days prior to their arrival. 

We were to meet Pamela and Michael at 5:00pm when they arrived on the water taxi but they got in early.  The cab had already picked them up and dropped them off at the condo.  So Bill and I walked over to meet them in person at their place which is just around the corner from where we live.  They were just so happy to be in San Pedro and to know someone like themselves who had also just packed up, moved to an island and followed their dreams. 

First things first, they needed to get a few groceries and a couple of things that they needed for their first night stay in their condo.  So we headed over to Maria's fruit and vegetable stand.  We introduced Pamela and Michael to Maria and told Maria they had just moved here and would be new customers. 

Introducing Pamela and Michael to Maria.  If you see Michael and Pamela in town make sure and say hello to them.

After dropping everything off they purchased at their condo, we walked downtown to show Pamela and Michael around some.  We decided to stop at Fido's and have dinner.  We happen to have seen Coconut Leo (a San Pedro celebrity) walk by and we invited him over to our table and introduced him to Pamela and Michael.  Leo is known for climbing coconut trees all over the island and can put on quite an acrobatic show.  Leo sat down for a while and chatted about his children and where they lived and what they did.  Leo being in his late forties said he had been told he looked to have the body of a 15 year old, all muscle.  I guess that is what you get if you have been climbing coconut trees all your life.

Michael and Pamela.  Michael got a little too much sun on his face on the boat ride from Mexico to Belize.  If you see them in town make sure and say hello.

Leo chatting it up with Michael.

Leo had Michael laughing big time.

Leo telling us about his family.  You could tell he was very proud of his two sons.

Last night when Bill and I got home from dinner out I opened up my laptop and signed on to facebook.  I read a post from a friend that lives in Placencia (a little further south) that she had felt a tremor from an earthquake.  So I decided to check it out and sure enough in there had been a 5.1 earthquake in El Estor, Guatemala located about 98 miles SSW from Belmopan the capitol of Belize.  We did not feel anything in San Pedro.  Did you feel any earthquake tremors?  If so, the USGS (U.S. Geological Survey) wants to know.

Just some earthquake trivia:  The most common measure of an earthquake used is the Richter Magnitude Scale which was developed by Charles F. Richter in 1935 as a mathematical device to compare the size of earthquakes.