By the time we left Tikal (around noon), I'd had plenty of exercise and had definitely used muscles that weren't accustomed to being used. We stopped at a nearby 30 minute canopy tour of which several members of our group took advantage. On another day, I would have enjoyed that. Then we went back to our hotel for a quick lunch and refreshing minute in the pool before hitting the road to return to Rio Dulce. By the time we reached Rio Dulce, it was already dark. The only way to reach our destination for the night, a town called Livingston, is by taking a boat down the river for about an hour. There are no roads that go there. So, there we were, piling into this little motorized boat called a lancha. We were going pretty fast in spite of the dark, and a couple of times we had to swerve or slow down abruptly to avoid obstacles such as another boat, fishing nets, etc. By the time we docked at our hotel, my hair was thoroughly ratted and plastered back. Quite a site! We stayed in little cabins with mosquito nets over our beds. We had to take the boat a few more miles down and across the river to reach the main part of Livingston, where we had a less than exciting seafood dinner. We explored the town a little in the dark, and it was very interesting. It was like being in a different country because it is so remote. It is on the banks of the Caribbean Sea and was therefore settled by people from Africa. Even the language there is different. The atmosphere is very laid back, kind of like a mix of reggae and hippie environment.
Sunday morning we road the boat down the Rio Dulce and into the Caribbean to reach a place called 7 Altares. On the way, we actually got to see dolphins in the sea! Seven Altars is comprised of a series of small waterfalls leading into small pools of water. Unfortunately, our timing wasn't right to see much in the way of waterfalls as they haven't had a lot of rain lately. It was still very pretty, though.
We had to do a lot of climbing on rocks beside the water, which was a bit challenging for me, but I made it. Finally, we reached the last pool, where we swam. I think I am the only person in our group who didn't jump from the big rock down to the water, but I was convinced that I would have slid off the edge if I had tried.
After we cleaned up a bit, it was time to begin our journey home. Of course, the first leg of the journey was the hour long boat ride up the river to Fronterra. This time, though, we could actually see to enjoy the beauty of the river and all of nature surrounding it.
This is not the most flattering picture of me, but I am going out on a limb to post it because it is my only picture with our new friend, Cecilie. She is from Norway and is currently studying at the same school as us.
She was the only person outside of our group on this trip, and we all had various opportunities to discuss God and beliefs with her throughout the journey. She asked a lot of good questions and is very open to hearing from us. She told us that she wants to read the Bible because she thinks it is a good model for how to live a good life but that she doesn't believe in God. At one point, she commented that she wished she believed because she thinks it would be better. The previous weekend, she went on a trip with a group of European non-believers. She continuously tells us how much she prefers our company. We love her very much and are praying for her. She asked us if we have really every experienced God in a way that made us know that He is real, because she said she hasn't. That is my prayer for her. Please pray that God will reveal Himself to Cecilie in such a way that there can be no doubt in her mind.
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