Saturday, February 2, 2013

Belize

As is typical for us this time of year, we generally seek warm water and sandy beaches, because we like to snorkel. We can only handle so much sun, so this year we traveled to Belize for an amazing adventure! We spent 6 days in San Ignacio in the Cayo District. From here we traveled to Tikal National Park in Guatemala walking among the most impressive ruins of the Mayan civilization; it was fascinating. The highlight of our trip took us deep into Belize's famous ATM (Actun Tunichil Muknal) Cave, a natural & archaeological wonder. Although it isn't for everyone, we highly recommend it. We also tubed through Caves Branch Caves, that was fun. We spent 5 days on Caye Caulker, a small island on the Western Caribbean. We walked the sandy streets, snorkeled and enjoyed the beautiful sunsets. Our entire trip to Belize was an experience we will not soon forget. We met so many nice people, enjoyed the local food at unheard of prices and as they say, "It was unbelizeable!"

Getting ready to land in Belize City

Midas Resort in San Ignacio

Our room at Midas

Kent & Lisa . . . she served our breakfast and cleaned our room daily

Outdoor dining patio where we ate breakfast & checked the Internet

A cute cottage at Midas Resort

Colorful Cabanas

Saturday Market in San Ignacio

Mayan ruins located on a hill above town with walking distance

Interesting shapes, sizes and textures

Long narrow walkway

Our first glimpse of Mayan ruins

Bottled Coke is the official drink & they make you return the bottle immediately!  Drink up!

Walking back down the hill from Cahal Pech ruins

Hanna's became a favorite place to eat

They do things differently in Belize

Crossing the border into Guatemala

A lady washing clothes on a rock at the lake near El Remate

Tikal National Park

We start off with a small monument and a few altars

Up, up, up . . . we got a lot of exercise at Tikal

Up on top of the monument

If you understand Mayan then you could read this

Looking towards Temple 1 Great Jaguar from Maler's Palace

Great Plaza

North Acropolis

Temple 1

Interesting face

The work will never be complete

We saw a few spider monkeys

We went to Tikal with two other couples, Elias was our tour guide

Now, these are some serious steps

This way to Temple IV, the tallest of the temples

Taking in the views from the top

This scene was in Star Wars IV . . .  A New Hope

Flowers in the rain forest

Bananas growing at our hotel

Iguanas were everywhere

Getting batteries & donuts for our ATM Cave hike (Actun Tunichil Muknal)

Soft drinks only come in bottles!

Heading towards the cave, it's quite a journey just to get there

Crossing the Roaring River

Zane, our driver picked oranges that we all enjoyed . . . even Kent!

White Ibis taking off along side our car

Carlos with his machete, he only takes small groups and he is an excellent tour guide

We had to cross the river three times

ATM Cave entrance, from here we donned helmets & headlamps, swan & waded through water to reach the upper chamber

The cave is full of stalagmites and stalactites only seen with a flashlight as the cave is pitch black, there are no lights

There are crystallized remains of 14 humans in the cave.  Socks only in this area, no shoes allowed

Mayan pottery is scattered about in the upper chamber . . . absolutely amazing!

The Crystal Maiden

What an incredible experience!  It was an eleven hour day, but definitely the highlight of our trip to Belize!

The ferry to Spanish Lookout, only the driver is allowed to stay in each car, everyone else must walk on

We had to stand on the side while two men operated the ferry with a crank & wheel . . . the ride is free

Crossing the Belize River

Mennonites travel by horse & buggy and cars

Cave Branch, here we hiked and tubed through limestone caves and through the jungle

Kent is ready . . .

ahhh refreshing!

Eddie was our Tour Guide, here he is entering a cave

Yes, even I like the water

It was so pretty, we passed one area where parts of  "Mosquito Coast" were filmed

Authentic Belizean lunch . . . chicken, rice & beans, potato salad and plantains . . . yum!

Back at our hotel it's time to dry out our clothes

A sail boat welcomes us to Caye Caulker

Look at the color of the water . . . the Western Caribbean!

We arrived by water taxi, it took 50 minutes to travel the 18 miles

Streets of sand, no cars . . . just bikes and golf carts and of course flip flops!

Island Magic, our hotel for the first three days

Our room with a view of the sea

There are a few unusual signs around town

This sign is near the airport

Our first sunset

We are here to relax and snorkel

The Chinese run all the markets throughout Belize
Can you imagine buying either of these coolers?  That's $84.50 Belizean and $74.50 US!!!

Breakfast at the Happy Lobster . . . eggs, hash browns and sausage

Kent talking with Bernie Burnside, a Pastor we met from Texas.  His group had been a a missions trip to Punta Gorda, they are here to relax before going home

Out on the town after a full day of snorkeling

Doesn't this look relaxing and peaceful?

Even with the golf carts Caye Caulker is so quiet

We noticed a man selling these banana & potato chips, so we had to try them . . . if only we had done so sooner!  Yum!

Pile of conch shells

Pretty hibiscus

Belizean house on stilts

Pay phones were common to see.  BTL is the phone company, one of our tour guides said it really stands for "Better Try Later"

We stayed at the Iguana Reef Inn for our last two days

Beautiful hotel grounds

Our room

Yes, these are our bath towels, almost too pretty to use . . .

The Split was formed by Hurricane Hattie in 1961.  We kayaked across here looking for sea horses . . . unfortunately they were hiding

We spotted a starfish

It's a pretty starfish, we also saw tarpon and other colorful fish

Supplies coming in from Belize City

Sunset from our hotel

Delivering crates of bottled soft drinks

A nice lady we bought a few souvenirs from

Snorkeling was awesome, we saw Loggerhead turtles

Southern Stingray, they weren't too scary

Adult Blue Tang

Burrito grunts always hung out in schools

My favorite snorkeling companion

Sea urchin and a pretty gastropod shell . . . Kent spotted these for me

Horse eye jack . . . funny name for a fish

Spotted lobster

Cow fish . . . very unusual and the only one I saw

Scenery along Front Street

Kent enjoying the outdoor patio at Sandros Piccola Cucina . . . the best Italian Restaurant ever!  Yum!

Our last sunset . . . oh so pretty!