Our arrival at La Lancha

June 21st- We’re at La Lancha!
Now, I know you won’t read this until later, or my previous post, as we’ve now arrived and been informed that they are having trouble with their internet (I imagine that’s common out here!). Maybe tomorrow…
Oh, and so much for carseats. We knew we wouldn’t use them much (many vehicles don’t have seat belts), but wanted to be responsible and have them for our longer trips. I specifically wrote to see what kind of vehicle would be picking us up from the airport and did it have shoulder belts? I was assured that all the seats had belts, and some were shoulder belts. So, we packed all our stuff for his trip down to only 2 duffels and a carry on, and lugged 4 car seats with us, to be greeted with a van (11 passenger if all the seats are up, which they weren’t) that is nearly the exact replica of the one we rode in to Zacapa 6 years ago with 15 people on our mission trip. You guys remember that? Not enough seats for everyone and a few lap belts. Oh well.
Anyway, we made it safely here and were so warmly greeted on arrival! Luci came out to the van to meet us, and helped the kids out and listened to all their stories. She escorted us to our rooms, stopped at the pool when the kids wanted to look at their first really big bugs, (“He’s going swimming!” said Alex), and pointed out a small nighttime animal on one of the branches overhanging the path (some type of rodent related animal, but cuter, called a "four eyed possum"), letting us stop to take a picture.Ella was fascinated with the stars Luci pointed out (“Oh, look! There are stars over here, too!” Ella cried every time we went around a corner). We are the only guests here for the next two days, and Aaron and I can hardly wait for the morning when the sun comes up and we see the glorious view of the lake off our deck, which, by the way, we share! Our rooms are side by side, joined by a common deck instead of separated on the hill. We have been so blessed with our room arrangements, for having to be in two separate rooms. I think tomorrow night will find us out in the hammock on the deck once the kids are in bed…:-) We also have air conditioning here… yeah!
Even in the dark, this place is amazing. We drove almost an hour from the airport to get here, about half that time on unpaved dirt road with sufficient potholes and bumps to settle the contents of about anything. The kids were super silly in the van. The many many stone stairs to our casitas are lit with candles, and fresh flowers decorate our rooms and bathrooms. The lake is not lit by lights on the opposite shores, so we really can’t even imagine what it will be like and we are awaiting the full impact of the glorious view in the morning. All we can really see right now are the leaves and branches of plants surrounding our deck. As we pointed the deck out to the kids, we reminded them that these branches are not on bushes, these are the TOPS of the trees… so please stay back!
The boys in the next room are noisy- howling like howler monkeys right now, while the girls are quieter but restless. Elizabeth is working herself up over the bugs (of which there are none right now), and Ella is all over the bed she’s sharing with Maria, who is giggling and talking (Eventually they fell asleep, Elizabeth still with no bugs present, and Ella on top of her pillow propped up on the arm of the couch). I’m off to bed now, too, possibly to be wakened by real howler monkeys in the morning. I’ll post this as soon as I can, but I imagine it won’t be until after we get back from Tikal tomorrow, if we even have access then.

We’re planning on an early breakfast, then off to tour Tikal!