King's Children's Home AND some shopping in Belmopan City

We left at our usual time, 8AM. UGH! We did stop by the local flea market (only open 2 days a week) in Belmopan City on our way to the orphanage. Some of the items the students decided to purchase, authentic small machetes and knives, were THEIR decision ONLY! They ASSURED me their parents would be ok with these purchases! I sure hope so! I told them they would need to put them in their checked baggage. During their lunch break at the construction site, Miguel (Mike), our local guide, demonstrated how to clean, sharpen and properly use these new purchases.

We only spent 2 hours at the orphanage and construction site today. The students were HOT and TIRED! Miguel came to the orphanage just before lunch to pick up the orphanage crew as they wanted to see what went on at the construction site. Plus, the students all wanted to eat a picnic lunch together today.

Luckily, the lunch area at the construction site had a breeze so we could sit at the picnic tables and not sweat as we ate our lunch (1/2 of a fish with either the head or tail left on). Interesting!

The construction foreman said that our construction crew had succeeded in speeding up the project so much that the concrete would now be able to be poured in a few weeks! They would beat the rainy season!

Miguel and I were very proud of the students as both crews had done a great job!

Of course, after lunch all of us HAD to have ice cream for the 3rd day in a row!

On the way back to Pook's Hill, our van ran over a piece of metal and a rear tire went flat. The roads in Belize are amazingly rough and I am not sure why we have not had a flat tire before this! Miguel changed the tire for us in a very efficient and quick manner. I think he has had quite a bit of practice on the roads around here. All the girls stayed with the van waiting for the tire to be replaced. The 4 boys decided to jog home. They must have flown the last 2.5 miles to the lodge as they arrived at Pook's Hill Lodge just as we were pulling in!

After their run the 4 boys, Sasha and myself went to the Red Cliff Pool to cool off. One of the drawbacks to swimming at this site are the tiny fish that tend to nibble/bite you after you have been in the water for awhile. Our guides, Miguel and Francisco, said the fish are just nibbling the dead skin off of us. Their bites feel like multiple bugs are stinging your body! To keep them from biting us, we would constantly move our arms and legs!

Tomorrow is either a 9-10:30AM hike OR a sleep-in option. We leave at 11:15AM to take lunch to the orphanage. Lunch: pizza and juice. Yeah! No cooking and not much clean up!