Our trip to Coban

Last week we only had Tuesday and Wednesday available for "fun". Tuli and Cesar drove us to Coban. We had never been there before. Unfortunately we had a major delay on the highway so it took most of the day. The hotel we stayed at had a zoo of native animals. While we were checking out some birds in one cage, a little monkey reached thru the bars, snatched Spencer's glasses right off his face and threw them onto the concrete. We couldn't even react until it was over. It bent the frames pretty badly, but fortunately we were able to get them fixed (cost: less than $3!) Here you can see the bird that distracted Spencer; the little, but long black arm and the innocent monkey face--little mischief maker! Notice Spencer is minus his glasses! We had fun wandering around town in the evening. The next morning we went to a reserve called Ram Tzal. It is a Ka 'chi word. Even the lobby was fascinating with lots plants, saddles and rustic decor. I was worried about the hike to the view point for the water fall. But I didn't want to be left behind. We took it nice a slow and it was AMAZING! First we walked thru a bamboo forest. In places the trail was about 18" wide--but in those places it was too dark for pictures. We all had bamboo walking sticks--and it is a good thing, because it was slick and rain from the night before kept falling off the leaves onto our heads. When we came out of the bamboos we were in ferns and similar plants. As we started circling around and going up, we were in the midst of a different type of pine. The wet pine needles were slick and it took lots of concentration. We had a guide with us--thank goodness. Finally we got to the look-out for the falls. The picture does not do it justice. Even from a distance (we were much higher and across the canyon)it was spectacular! We loved the bridges over streams and smaller water falls along the way. We owe a great debt of gratitude to Tuli and Cesar. We had hoped to go to Flores and see Guy and Lisette Bake who are serving in the Coban Mission; but the crazy doctors' appointments didn't leave us enough of a window. That is a disappointment. The trip back was fast and uneventful and we arrived at the bus terminal with 15 minutes to spare! We got home late Wednesday to start the rounds of appointments on Thursday and Friday. We love you all. We've enjoyed getting pictures from several families and we've added them to our screen saver.