Cahal Pech - San Ignacio, Cayo District, Belize

After a scrumptious breakfast with delicious coffee and watermelon juice, I hiked back up the hill, past Casa de Iguana, and up to the Mayan ruins of Cahal Pech.

I met a handful of US-based Archaeology grad students (including one from SUNY-Cortland and a professor from University of Montana).

This site is still being discovered.  VERY cool to watch discoveries happening -- literally -- while I stood there.

On the way back, I saw a sign for a mahogany furniture maker.  As I snapped a pic, Linda -- the owner -- came out.  We spent an hour chatting.  Been down here for a dozen years, from Grand Junction, Colorado.

Showed off her shop.  OLD Moak 12" cabinet saw.  The table raises and lowers, rather than the blade.  LOTS of Belizean mahogany.  She gave me a DVD, but I don't think she has a website [EDIT: I was wrong.  See link above].  Very nice lady.  Quality projects.  Asked me if I wanted to play shop foreman for a few months, while they do built in cabinets for a polygon house, being built an hour away.

I solved the "What to do about the glasses" thing for the next two days' tours.  I forgot that I'm also carrying these:

They're Uvex over-prescription-glasses safety goggles, with a bifocal segment.  They hold very securely, and -- especially if they'll also fit over my clip-on sunglasses -- should do the trick.

If they don't fog up so much that I can't see through them :-)

On the way back into town, I wolfed down two glasses of fresh coconut water -- all the rage in the States as a "sports drink," but ... just a staple of life, down here.

So ... without further ado ... today's pictures:

For Mom: One of your CSU peeps screwing off on company time :-)

Some kind of flying bug, and ... a LOT of them.

HELP !!  We can't make a triangle !!! (Pretty much what was going on.  I stayed out of it).

Anybody else detect just a slight tinge of chauvinism in this one ??

Bob & Susan: this one's for you :-)

Linda's place.  Very nice woman.  Very nice shop.  Very nice product.  We talked so much that I forgot to take more pics !

Not Linda's.  Pretty sure it's Mennonite, and hand made.

I'm in the room, cooling off.  Had to rinse out my shirt, as always.  Wearing it wet is just a little slice of heaven.

Ciao for now, then, from the Mayan Ruins (and mahogany furniture) Division of ... The Gulag.