Belize 2011

Here is a link to my pictures from Belize.





We flew to Belize early Tuesday morning. When we arrived in Belize City we had to transfer to a smaller plane to get to Ambergris Caye. At the tiny Belize City Airport, we boarded a tiny plane and flew over the small stretch of ocean to San Pedro. The plane was completely full which meant one guy had to sit in the co-pilot's seat. The Airport at San Pedro was even smaller. We unloaded the plane and loaded the van to take us to our condo. However, the van only drove us 2 blocks and dropped us off at a pier. From there, the Tuff-E-Nuff tour company gave us a boat taxi over to our condo's pier. Because Amergris Caye is so small and skinny there is only one road that runs from San Pedro to the rest of the island. It is a dirt road, barely big enough for 2 cars to pass and littered with pot-holes and mud/water patches. Most people avoid using the road and thus the main forms of transportation are boat taxi and biking down the beach. The boat taxi dropped us off and the complex manager took us to our condo. It was a beautiful condo! The condos are owned by people and used as their vacation homes. So when the owners aren't staying there they are able to recoup money by renting out their condos to other people. The people who owned our condo had a journal on the coffee table. The journal was full of entries from people who had stayed in their condo. Telling them about themselves, what they did and suggestions they have for other people who rent the condo. It is a great idea. The rest of day one we spent relaxing by the beach at the pool and exploring the area. We walked down the beach for dinner at The Green Iguana.

Day 2 we woke up early and headed down to Tuff-E-Nuff for our snorkeling tour. Belize has the second largest barrier reef. It's only about a half mile to a mile off the shore. We took a catamaran out to the nature reserve on the reef to snorkel. Our first stop was Shark & Ray Alley. Nurse sharks and sting rays were everywhere. We were able to snorkel right next to them. Unfortunately, another group was not very responsible and just dumped a bunch of chum in the water causing a massive feeding frenzy next to their boat. They also had about 7 people grab on and hug/hold a large nurse shark up at the surface. They were being rude, unkind and unsafe so our group moved away from them quickly.
Our second stop was the larger part of the of the reserve. It had deeper water and a lot more fish. Rays, sharks, turtles, large schools of fish and tons of coral. My mom had the underwater camera and I had the underwater video camera. There were some seriously friendly turtles and nurse sharks that were following us around in the shallow areas. When I put the video clips together I will post them as well.
On our way back we had Belikin Beer, Rum Punch and Shrimp Ceviche.
When we got back we rented a golf cart and drove into town. The road was horrible to drive on! We grabbed dinner at Elvi's. I had an amazing coconut curry shrimp. The set-up was really cool too. They had the natural dirt/sand floor and a preserved tree growing through the middle of the restaurant. Then we explored the town and grabbed some snacks and fruit at local markets.

Day 3 we woke up and went on a trip to Mayan ruins. The ruins we were supposed to see were closed due to all the rain Belize was getting (it was next to a river) so they took us to Cahal Pech. They flew us over to Belize City and we took a van deep into Belize. It was about a 2hr ride. The ruins were still being excavated so it was really neat to see them working and see partially exposed ruins. We were able to walk on them and go inside rooms. While we were there we saw them working on getting a skull out of the ground. After the ruins we grabbed lunch in San Ignacio. They gave us stewed pork with rice & beans and fried plantain.
After we drove to the river caves. We grabbed tire tubes and head lamps and hiked through the jungle to the starting point in the river. We entered the river and created chains of people to float through. The river caves were beautiful. We only had one little issue because our guide was a bit of an idiot. He messed up and lead us right into a large rock at the beginning. Mom was in the middle of the chain and hit the rock straight on. She managed to push off with her foot so she wouldn't hurt herself but the current was so strong that pushing against the current made her flip over. My dad was connected behind mom and when she flipped over it popped him out of his tube too. He hit his ankle on the rock and I got a bruise on my arm from mom's foot catching me as she fell out. No big deal though. We eventually got back to the shallow area, loaded in our tubes and off again. With no help from our guide. He was useless. Not only did he cause the accident and not really help fix it but he also tried to blame it on Ann because she was in the front. However, anyone who knows about the way something works in the water knows you don't steer from the front. At the end of the float there is a cliff to jump from. Dad and I jumped but no one else from our group did.
When we returned home from our trip we went to eat at a beach side restaurant for dinner. I can't remember what the place was called. They also had a natural floor (sand). I got some good fresh lobster that was really good (it's lobster season). Then we returned to our condo and relaxed in the pool/hot tub for the night. Very nice.

Day 4 was our relaxation day. After 2 days straight of all day activities we decided to relax a bit. Hung out on the beach, in the pool and walked around. We decided to take a boat taxi into town and ate at El Fogon. El Fogon is a little local owned restaurant that is actually a part of her childhood home. She cooks over an open fire outside in cast iron pots. Lots of stewed dishes. You eat under a thatch roof, next to the outdoor kitchen. Every Wednesday they have coconut chicken. They hollow out a coconut and cook the chicken over the fire, inside the coconut shell. They use the coconut milk and meat in their rice and other dishes. Unfortunately, we came on a Friday so we missed that meal. I got stewed pork and it was amazing. My mom got salbutes. SO GOOD. It's a fried masa dough topped with shredded chicken, coleslaw, tomato and jalapeno. It also comes with 2 spicy salsas. The spicy onion salsa was really good. One of my favorite things I tried on the trip. We also had fresh watermelon juice which was perfect. Then we wandered the town again before heading back to the condo to relax some more. Mom also found a little boy (he looked about 10 maybe?) to make her a conch shell horn.
For dinner, we biked a few miles down the beach to La Palapa. This was a restaurant on the top of a double-decker pier. I had a good BBQ pork sandwich and we sat overlooking the ocean for our meal. Biking home was humorous because Ann and mom are pretty blind in the dark. Dad and I had to lead them back and call out obstacles.

Day 5 was also a relaxation day. Woke up early for a kayak to the reef. Ate breakfast at Capricorn next door. Their breakfast burrito is the size of a small child! Very good but I couldn't even eat half of it. Hung out on the water all morning. Mom and dad biked into town to pick up her conch horn. The power went out on north island so we had to eat an early dinner. Once the sun goes down, the kitchen goes dark without power and the restaurants close. So we biked down the beach to Aji for dinner. I had a great paella and their sangria was really good. You eat under the trees on the beach. Very pretty. Then it was back to the condo to hang out on the beach/in the pool. Power didn't come back on until it was dark but luckily it stayed on. We couldn't even shower without power.

Day 6 was a travel day. We slept in a bit because we had been waking with the sun each morning. Mom was sick though :-( and within a few hours of waking up my dad joined her. So Ann and I went down to Capricorn for breakfast again while they tried to sleep as much as possible. Ann and I had a very relaxing morning before our water taxi picked us up at noon. Then the travel began. Unfortunately, whatever my parents had was spreading and by the time our plane was landing in Dallas (12+hrs after my dad got sick), I also caught their bug. I almost passed out multiple times and wasn't able to eat. It was a very unpleasant final flight from Dallas to KC.

I couldn't eat for about 3 days but I am eating fine now. I ate my first actual meal yesterday. I still can't eat very much at once and when I do eat, my stomach feels a little irritated but food no longer disgusts me and I am able to eat it!

I made shredded chicken, coleslaw and coconut rice for Ryan last night :-) It is good to be back. And we have the turbo-diesel Jeep for the weekend again!