Morning in Crique Sarco

Road to Crique Sarco in Belize...

Belize Roads...

Thought you might enjoy a quick clip of the roads on the way to the Belize City Airport. Don't get sick!

DAY 6: She made it!!

Yep, good ol' Suzzii the Suzuki made it to the airport. She even had a flat tire again this morning. The roads in Belize City were worse than last Wednesday. Sorry, I should have gotten some pictures. I pulled out my video camera, though, and got some great footage. It was just like I was piloting a boat! No joke! The roads were unbelievable!

I'm now hanging out in the George H.W. Bush Houston Airport...hmm..funny...the father of the current president the day before a HUGE election. Go figure!

I'm a bit cranky, not feeling too good and I'm so tired I can't sleep. 2 more hours to go and then I get on my final flight. Sure wish it was going into G'boro! The one and a half hour drive home at 10:45 pm is going to just plane SUCK! Sorry, that was the "cranky" side coming out.

Anyway, thanks to all those who followed this blog. I'll continue to update it from time to time of short video clips of the trip. I would have done more videos, but I left my cable at home!

Ok, time to people watch and hopefully then a nap!

DAY 6: Off to Belize City...

Ok, time to head back home!  I'm ready for good old Greensboro, but not too excited for the long layover in Houston.  Oh well.  I'm off!

Day 5: Photos of handing over school supplies...

I forgot to upload some photos for you all to see where the donated school supplies ended up. Sadly, school was not in session.  Little did I know that at the end of every month, the teachers collect their paychecks and leave the village.  So that means no Friday classes.  I was pretty sad about the fact that I couldn't be there when they were in school.  But what really matters is that they have a whole bunch of school supplies to use.  Either way, I was able to get a couple pictures. Thanks to all who donated items and/or money!

DAY 5: Suzzi the Suzuki not doing well!!

The day started with a satellite phone call to my middle school youth where they were attending a weekend retreat.  I was able to get them while they were at breakfast.  That was a great start to my day!  Then I headed over to Brainards house before getting some good bacon, eggs, bean and fried jack at my favorite local restaurant (it only has 4 tables).

After my belly was full, we headed to the surrounding villages near San Ignacio.  It was a great morning.  However, while we were heading back to San Ignacio, "Suzzii" the Suzuki got a fever.  Yes, she started overheating really bad.

So we had to pull over and cool her off with the little bottled water we had.  I'm a bit concerned that she's not going to make the hour and half drive to the airport tomorrow morning.  I plan on heading out really early tomorrow just in case something happens.

DAY 4: Picture link...

For more pictures, click on this link: Webshots

DAY 4: Crique Sarco and more...

So I'm back in San Ignacio after spending some time in the Village of Crique Sarco. While we where there we...

• Handed out all the school supplies...100 lbs of supplies, 300 notebooks, soccer balls, and more!
• Handed out bunches of candy (might need a dental team to come next!)
• Bathed in the Temash River
• Swatted about a bazzillian mosquitos and little, little bugs
• Slept outside in a hammock.
• laughed a lot...then laughed some more!
• played with the local kids
• took several naps
• ate amazing meals that included chicken, chicken and some more chicken.
• changed a flat tire on "Suzzi" the Suzuki.
• listened to Christmas songs coming from a LOUD stereo on Halloween Day. It was the only CD that Andres Bo's son had. He runs his stereo off of a battery because the only electricity they have is by a generator they run for a short time at night.

There was one serious event that did happened. A group of villagers from the village of Graham River came to Crique Sarco with a dead 6 month old child. But what made this situation even more amazing is that they actually hiked to the village from Guatemala. That's a 6 hour walk with a dead baby. They were in Guatemla illegally and had to come back into Belize.

According to Belize law a doctor must pronounce the date of a dead person before being burying. This means having to take anyone who dies in one of the remote villages to Punta Gorda - a 2 hour drive by bus.

By the time they got to Crique Sarco, they wanted to bury the baby in the village because of the difficulty in the formal Belizean process. Andres Bo is the speaker of the village and also made the decision to finally allow them to bury the baby in Crique Sarco.

So the men built a small wood box for the child. According to some who still practice ancient Mayan religion, they drilled a small whole in the box to allow the spirit to get out and begin it's way through the spiritual levels. Hmmm?

Long story short, it was very sad to see something like this, but very facinating to see how two villages interacted, and to see how they deal with the their dead.

Here are some pictures...

Andres Bo building the coffin.

Watching as they prepare the baby in the coffin.

Back from the jungle and going to clean up.  I thought I'd toss in some photos before I do that.  It was a great couple days down in Crique Sarco.  Some amazing and interesting stories to tell.  I'll get to the story telling later tonight.  Until then, enjoy some photos!

Beginning of the road to Crique Sarco.  I look like a GIANT next to the Suzuki!

Lunch time!

Bo Family this morning before Brainard and I left for San Ignacio.

DAY 2: Punta Gorda to Crique Sarco...

I'm now in Punta Gorda. It took us about 5 hours. It was a great ride. I think Brainard and I laughed most of the way there. We talked most about the funny stories from our bike ride across Belize last year. We stopped at a store along the way to purchase more school supplies and a couple volleyballs.

Anyway, we are not heading to Crique Sarco now. I'm a bit concerned that the Jimmy isn't going to do so well on the muddy road. By the way, we call the Suzuki Jimmy "Suzi" now. She's really loaded down!

Ok, gotta run. Tonight I'll be update Row Radio now that the SAT phone is working. I will update the blog again on Saturday night.

More to come....

DAY 2: Up at 6 a.m...

It's early Thursday morning and I'm feeling a bit more refreshed.  Thought I'd toss off another blog entry before heading out.  I'm sitting in my single room with no air conditioning that cost me $35...yet, they have wireless internet!

The plan is to drive to Crique Sarco today.  Brainard will be joining me.  It always adds to the adventure with Brainard!  It will take us at least 6 hours to finally get to Crique Sarco.  I'm guessing because of all the rain and flooding they've had that the final 2 hour dirt road to the village is going to provide some serious video footage and stories to tell!  Can you say STUCK!

Tonight we sleep in the jungle in hammocks!  Much better than a stuffy hotel room for sure! Hmm...I wonder if there will be wireless internet?  Joking!

I've managed to bring 100 lbs of school supplies with me that I managed not to declare at customs.  Just in case you do something like this, find the agent that looks like he got no sleep the night before and rather be back in bed than at work.  I greazzzed right through.  I mean doesn't everyone bring over 1oo lbs of luggage when they go on vacation?

Ok, got to get movin'.  I'll be back as soon as I can.  Thanks for stopping by!

PS - Thanks to Amy Raab, I have a card to open up each day of the trip.  Yesterday's was from Patrick Palen...thanks man!!

DAY 1: Made it!

I'm going to apologize first for any misspellings or typos. My brain has been up since 3:30 a.m. and it's not working properly. Some would say it never works properly. Anyway...

Other than waiting 10,000 years in Houston waiting for my flight to Belize City, everything went very smoothly. My "ride" is perfect! It's about as big as a small bathroom (minus the toilet), with a cracked windshield and it's a STICK!! YES!! I haven't driven a stick shift in a LONG time. Is there something wrong that I get excited about driving a "beater" around the country of Belize?

On a sad note, the country has gotten severely hit with lots of rain. Today was the first day in 3 weeks that they haven't had rain. The country is heavily flooded with thousands of houses sitting in, or underneath water. The radio was saying that they are worried about crocodiles getting close to the houses. Yikes!

I got into San Ignacio about 6 p.m. tonight. I wasn't able to get the satellite phone to work properly, so I had to rely on my memory from my last visit over a year ago to remember where Brainard lived. Success! I found it, but Brainard was not there yet. So I got to hang out with his parents.  They are unbelievably welcoming. It was great to catch up with them again. We talked about everything from weather to Obama.

Tomorrow we head to Crique Sarco to deliver the school supplies! Brainard will be coming with me. I'm glad he's coming. He'll be able to help me with videoing and DRIVING!

For those who don't know who Brainard is, he's my Belizean friend who lives in San Ignacio. He truly is the most street smart person I know! He once was heavily involved in gangs back in the day, has been to jail for something that has to do with a machete, and more. When he decided to go to church more rather than be a part of a gang, he literally had to fight his way out. I am truly blessed to consider him one of my best friends. You'll see more of him later.  Until then, just know he's a guy who will do anything for someone else.

Even after a long day of traveling, there was a simple gift of the day. I drove into the sunset my whole way to San Ignacio. Enjoy the picture!

Well, my belly if full of rice, beans and chicken now, so the sweet coma state is not far off. I hope to update the blog again in Punta Gorda tomorrow before heading into Crique Sarco.  

See you all tomorrow!

Day 1: Never again 3:30 am!

Note to self...don't get a 6am fight out of Raleigh! Houston is now my home for the next 3 hours until I hop on my next flight to Belize City. All went well this mornng...coffee was good...Solo, my dog, was a bit confused...hit the road by 3:30 a.m. and even managed to find a parking spot close to check-in. This was a huge blessing since I have two 50 lb bags full of school supplies! The next blessing will be if they actually get to Belize when I get there. Ok, stay tuned!

Hello, again! My journey back to Belize is coming up (Wednesday, Oct. 29). I'm so excited to see my favorite Belizean friends again and to hand over to the kids bunches of crayons, markers, staplers, paper, and much more! Many thanks to those who donated school items and money for the students in Crique Sarco! Also a big thanks to those who helped get the word out!!

• Alamance Child Development Center
• Troop 116, Greensboro
• Cindy Farmer (FOX 8 News Greensboro)
• Greg Lloyd (the one who can fix anything!)
• Alamance Presbyterian Church Vacation Bible School (youth &adults)
• Mike Farley (1st Quadrant Asset Management, Inc.)
• Ashlee Durham
• Abby Wood
• The Richardsons
• Alamance Presbyterian Church Youth Group
• and so many others that dropped off items at my door. The list goes on and on!!

My updated tentative itinerary is first to make it to Belize in good time! I should land in Belize City around 3pm and I’ll either drive straight to San Ignacio to visit Brainard August - a great friend of mine and great friend ROW - or head straight to Punta Gorda to update my blog and crash for the night. FYI -Brainard drove our support vehicle when Nick Beazley and I bicycled across Belize. Brainard is the most street smart brother I know! (Across Belize Expedition)


I'll spend a good amount of time in the Village of Crique Sarco catching up with the people, helping them to rebuild after massive floods from this years rainy season, and capturing a lot of video footage. I found out that the kids are not in school on Thursdays so the teachers can pick up their paychecks, but I hope to run into the principle so I can personally give him the school supplies I have for the school.

Village of Crique Sarco

(southern most jungle village)

From there I plan to head back to San Ignacio to spend some more time with Brainard and to capture video of the surrounding villages near San Ignacio where ROW has done, and continues to do, AMAZING work!So keep coming back! I will update this blog as I go with pictures, video and more!


One thing I love about a trip like this is that you never know what’s going to happen. So if I get a flat tire, or it rains the whole time, then so be it! It will be a great story to tell in the end!

Remember, life should be led more like an expedition rather than a journey! A journey is only going from point "A" to point "B." But an expedition is a journey with a purpose!Stay tuned!

It's time for the occasional adventure! On October 29th, 2008 I will travel to the country of Belize on my own to do a variety of things.

My first objective is...well...don't miss my 6am flight out of Raleigh! This means I need to be up and gone out of Greensboro by 3:30am! Not looking forward to that. My second objective, and most importantly, is to deliver school supplies to the only school in the southern most jungle village of Crique Sarco. Gotta love the Belizean government...they finally build the village a new school, but didn't give any school supplies. That make sense!


Secondly, Rivers of the World (ROW) has asked me to capture footage and create 3 videos of the work they do in Belize. I'll be traveling mainly the central and southern region in a little Suzuki Jimmy ( Check out my ride!) That's a lot of "me" time in such a stellar vehicle! Stories are bound to happen just with my ride alone! Is it just me, or does this vehicle look like a roller skate?

You know of all the times I've been to Belize, I've never gone there to do what typical tourist do. Maybe this time I'll actually take time to see some blue ocean water. I just can't get enough of traveling off the beaten path, though!