Belize, March 2013
A few days before Christmas 2012, I was talking to Coleen. She said, “Mom, Bob and I are taking the kids to Belize for spring break, March 9th through March 16th. Would you like to come along?” I immediately said, “Of course.”
Thus began my adventure preparations. The plans were zip lining, tubing, snorkeling, kayaking, sightseeing Mayan ruins, and visiting a wildlife Sanctuary. First problem, I am not a good snorkeler. To prepare, I was fortunate to have my friend, Zelda, heat her pool one day a week for six weeks, so I could practice using a mask and snorkel. Six weeks later, I was comfortable as a snorkeler. I don’t do tiny bathing suit bottoms well, so found some knee high pants to wear over my suits. I am not a good kayaker, but figured, I would fake it, as I had on three previous occasions. Of course, I had to make arrangements for Tracy to move in for a week at my place, to watch the dog. (She has a friend, who came and did a few home repairs while I was gone. That’s a wonderful bonus.)
At 0700 on 3/9, Tracy took me to Miami airport. I had one large piece of Samsonite luggage. The outside helper took my luggage and said, “I’ll do everything for you.” He didn’t say it meant everything but giving me a seat assignment. Getting to the international gate involved a half hour at the security check, then on to the gate. That was up two flights of stairs, on a sky tram, then going from the tram which arrived at Gate D20, and a walk down to gate D2. When I got to the gate, I had to stand in line and get a seat. They were busy. When I was helped, the attendant said, “All I have is the exit row, can you do that?” Of course, in case of an emergency, I could open the door next to my seat and boss everyone around and get them off the plane. I sat next to Bob, a college student from Western Massachusetts. He was going down with eight other students for a tour and a work on a farm experience. The plane ride was one hour and fifty minutes. I am glad I looked up Belize. I kept telling everyone it was next to Panama. If I were driving it, I would have gone way too far.
At Belize, I had about an hour’s wait for the Crouch family to arrive. It was fun people watching. The Crouch family arrived, and Bob went to pick up the rental car. Coleen and Bob looked great. Kenny is a tall slim sixteen year old, with a voice as deep as his father’s. Lucy is a blonde 15 year old, with the coloring and mannerisms of a young Scarlett Johansson. When the car was rented, and we tried to put in the luggage, and a cooler, it would not fit. Nor would we five fit in the car. It was a modest size Jeep Scout. Bob took the Scout back, and returned with a larger Jeep. It was a Commander. We all fit.
It was midafternoon. We headed in the direction of our condo, stopping at our first event, Mayan Ruins, Altun Ha. As we walked to the ruins, Bob bought a coconut. The salesman chopped the top off in a jiffy with his machete. We saw ruins. Many are still being unearthed. What we saw was spectacular. The ruins were more than I could have possibly imagined. Each step was about 14 inches high. Think about it. (I was sorry I didn’t have a tape measure, but did measure it from the tip of my fingers to the crook of my elbow.) I climbed up one, and then wondered about my safe descent. Did you ever see railings beside those steps? If you go to those ruins, you will see one ruin that has very clean steps. That’s the one I came down on my fanny, lowering myself one step at a time. Later, I noticed that a few of the ruins had a set of steps around the back, recently put in for folks like me, steps that were human size, and also had a railing.
We continued toward the condo, our residence for the week. We were staying at Belize Beach Condos; Sittee Point; Stann Creek District. On our way, the police, who needed to see all our passports, stopped us. In fact, we were stopped several times during the week for a passport check. We stopped for dinner in Belmopan at a place called La Cabaña. It was big, under a thatched roof, and looked interesting. It was memorable. There was a drunk boy of about thirteen, who kept making peacock noises. He and his companions finally left, but went pealing out of the parking lot in their truck, and hit something, (not our car.) They turned a little, and left, never to return. We found out the local drinking laws, when fifteen-year-old Lucy ordered a strawberry shake, and received a strawberry daiquiri. They completely forgot my order. Every 15 minutes after the others were served, the waitress would remind me that there was “only ONE woman in the kitchen,” as she raised her index finger to me. I had plenty to eat from the others plates, so we were fine.
Our trip to the Belize Beach Condo was a long one. The roads for the last five miles were rutty, unpaved, and in many parts, one lane only. We arrived at about 9:30 PM. The owner, Jim, was staying in one of the two second floor units. He let us in. The caretaker, Merto and his wife, Nicolasa live across the street. (It is actually a two lane dirt road.) The condo, a one bedroom very large unit, was on the third floor. The bedroom and the living room had doors leading out to a very large porch. From the porch, one could look down and see the ocean three flights of steps away. The bedroom and bath took up half the unit. The king size bed had swags of mosquito ticking around each of the four posters. The bathroom was equipped with both a deep tub, and a generous shower. The other half of the unit had a living area, big TV and a soft chair, and two sofas that folded out into beds. It had internet service, but was down the first day. It had a dining table that sat six. It had a bar and bar stools, a complete kitchen, great pots and pans, full size refrigerator, stove, oven, dishwasher, another little bar, and a little dinette set. We moved the dinette set into an empty alcove, and I had my own private area back there on my own bed. There was a back door to the unit, going outside, and when we were there, we left both doors open, and had a wonderful breeze. It had ceiling fans and air conditioning. There was a little door near the back, with access to full size washer and dryer. (We shared the porch with another tenant, of a smaller apartment on the same floor. It was three happy sisters who came out on the porch and shouted with joy and love to each other at the break of dawn daily.) The ocean beach had two hammocks, tables and chairs, and lounges ready for our use. There was even a thatched roof area for us to use. Unlike the Florida thatched roofs, called tikis or cabanas, in Belize, they are paladas.
Next morning, Sunday, 3/10, by the time I woke up at 0830, Bob and Coleen had gone into the next town, Hopkins, about two miles away, to get breakfast provisions. I’m told everyone but me was awakened by the happy neighbors at 0630. They bought fruit, eggs, oatmeal, bread, tea, juice. We each made our own breakfast every morning. (The grocery stores, mostly owned by Orientals, look like drive in garages. They have almost everything one could need.) We had choices of the above, plus muffins from a small bakery. We also ate leftovers from the previous dinners. At 1100, we were off to do the zip lining. I am not sure about the time, because it took two hours to get to the Park. Our destination was booked at BOCAWINA Adventures.com. We waited and had a bite to eat, at the Mayflower Bocawina National Park luncheonette. The Park is noted for 7,197 acres of jungle flora and fauna, Mayan Ruins, mountains, hiking trails and breathtaking waterfalls. At 2PM, our two zip line experts, Ronald and Hugo, were ready to go with us. We had a person named Nancy join our group. She was a disagreeable lady, turned out she was a 70 year old who had some nasty things to say about any subject. When we were stopped at one station, she began a dissertation on the ants climbing down a tree. Kenny pulled the conversation his way and we got a thorough lesson on the ants. It didn’t stop her for very long, though. On to the zip lining. What an adventure! We had on helmets, jackets with bands attaching the jackets to our trunks, and lots of clunky pulleys attached, and leather gloves, with the right glove having an extra leather tube in the palm, that was to be used to brake if necessary. First, we climbed up a mountain. Yes, it was a mountain. Then we zipped down from one tower to another. Twice we had to repel down a one story tower to get to the next line. It was a blast. Of course, if one doesn’t follow all the directions, one could be caught in midair and not end up on a tower. You will never guess who, of the twelve zips had to be rescued three times. Me. (That’s why we had the experts.) They could rescue fairly easily.) The last ‘run’, zip, I am told, was 2,300 feet. It seemed to go out of the jungle of forest on the mountain, across a football field size clearing, and onto the last tower. We all did fine. No one was dizzy or nauseous or acted afraid. On the way home, we drove through the city of Dangria. Once close to home, we had dinner at The Driftwood, a place right on the beach north of Hopkins. (Our Beach Condo were just south of Hopkins.) We had the suggested pizza. Kenny and I shared one. It was very good. Coleen and Lucy shared a vegetarian one and loved it. Bob had fish and it was good. Between ordering and eating, Bob joined and impromptu volleyball game and ‘held his own’.
Monday, 3/11, our destination was Nohock Che’en Caves, about one hour and fifteen minutes from the condo. We were touring with a company called, ‘Butts-Up’. Our tour guides were Alvin and Alotta. The touring company name, is because some of the cave areas that we were tubing through were shallow, so we would get the ‘butts-up’ suggestion. We got our tubes and carried them for about a mile through woods. Actually, the guys carried their own. The ladies had the guides carrying their tubes. (While in the woods, we got some nature information from the guides. We came across an allspice tree. We got to chew on a leaf, and it gives an anesthesia feel to the mouth. It can be packed in the mouth around a sore tooth.) We all had water shoes on. This adventure was in bathing suits, of course. We each had water vests and headlights on our heads. Nine people in tubes tied to other tubes floated together. We were with a family of four, who it turns out were staying on the second floor of the Belize Beach Condos. They were from Toronto. We went through The Crystal Caves, old caves that had been discovered in the early 1900’s. One Cave was called Hell, so we were to remember that we ‘went through hell’. The caves were 50 million years old, we were told. They had Mayan markings, and we saw beautiful colors and little waterfalls. We had our headlights on, most of the time. And there were shallow parts, where we did the butts up routine. When we got out of the caves, and were back on the river, we noticed lots of natives swimming there. We had many of them say, ‘Welcome to Belize.” It was a school holiday, for the country’s benefactor, Baron Bliss. We then had a nice lunch, a buffet of chicken, spaghetti noodles, watermelon, plantain, rice and beans, corn on the cob, rolls, juice and bread pudding. After lunch, the second adventure of the day was riding ATV’s. I passed on that one. The four Crouches did the event. I got to sit in a large palada, with two grade school boys, the sons of Alvin. Their dad had told them to ‘watch Miss Caffy’, so they did. When the ATV folks came back, they had wild stories to tell. You could read the event by their mud splattered clothes and skin. It was a memorable day. On our way home we stopped at Innies Place in Hopkins and enjoyed lip smackin’ fish dinners.
Tuesday, 3/12, our destination was the ocean. We went to the Sittee Point Marina, about five minutes from the condo, and met our guide, Patrick, and his assistant, Adam. The boat was a fiberglass one, which held the five of us and the two guides. We boated out to the reef and the islands. Adam, and then Patrick threw out the net and caught bait fish. That whole routine was amazing to watch. The net is a long cone shaped thing when not in the water. It has weights on the end that passes through the air and becomes a weighted circle. It’s then pulled in and the fish are captured into a container. With the bait, we went fishing. It was and overcast warm day. It was a perfect day to fish. Patrick baited the lines. Bob caught a barracuda, then another, and then, Kenny caught one. Then, Patrick said we had enough for a dinner for us all. We went to one of the islands, named South Water Key and had lunch on the beach. We had chicken burritos, corn chips and concentrated pineapple juice. (We can always learn. In this poor country, we got cups of a concentrated juice, then bags, like plastic pouches of 12 ounces of water. These were to dilute the pineapple drink, and for drinks for the afternoon. These were produced, packaged and distributed by little Belize. To open, ‘you just bite off and end and drink it.’ The printing on the bag= ‘please recycle.’ After lunch, we went snorkeling on the second largest barrier reef in the world. Yes, I snorkeled. In fact, the guide said the best way to get out of the boat, was to put on the equipment, lean back, and fall in backwards and upside down. So I did. What fun! The reef was colorful; the fish were all hues of the rainbow. Coleen and Bob have an underwater camera, so they recorded the event. We finished, and the guys, Bob and Kenny wanted to fish more, so we went back out farther away from shore for fishing. (I thought we were headed for Africa.) No one caught anything the second time, so we were calling it a day. The ride back was probably not as long as it seemed to Bob and me. We were seated near the middle of the boat, and we got bounced and as Bob said, we were wetter on the ride back than while snorkeling. We were so wet and getting so splashed that, we both put on our snorkeling masks so we could see. (I hope if Coleen took pictures of that event, that I never see them.) Back on the dock, Coleen took the braggin’ pictures of the two fishermen. Adam filleted the three barracuda, which were measured as 30 inches each. Back home, we showered. Coleen ran to the store and got, for, Nicolasa, the lady across the street, the needed items for cooking our barracuda and extras for our dinner. The meal was wonderful. The cook made a pan about 16 by 24 inches full of baked delicious barracuda, with onion rings and green peppers swimming in a coconut milk sauce and red beans and rice. We ate our fill, had a second floor couple come over, and they ate with us. (They were newlyweds, about fifty years old, from Madison, Wisconsin, who had found each other at Christian Mingles.Com.) They were going on the snorkeling trip with Patrick the next day. We put some leftovers in the refrig, sent the rest back to Nicolasa, so it did not go to waste. At home, Bob found an article on the internet that said the Vatican had sent up black smoke.
Wednesday, March 13. This morning was a take it easy morn. The loud three sisters from next door were out on the front porch at 0700. They were gone by 0730. The plan was shopping in a local city in early afternoon. Kayaking at dusk at Anderson’s lagoon.
We went touring at the market in Dangriga. Again, couldn’t find Tracy’s purse or Mary’s nativity scene. Everywhere we went I’d take Tracy’s purse, which she wanted me to duplicate, and ask about miniature nativity scenes for Mary. The scene she wanted was, I understand, about the size of a shot glass. No luck again.
On to the kayaking event at Anderson’s Lagoon. We met across the street at the caretaker’s place at 6:30PM.. We wore long sleeved clothes in honor of all the local bugs. We were wearing headlights. The creek was behind their home. We got in the kayaks. Bob and Coleen were in one, Kenny and Lucy in another, and Merto and I in the third. We paddled down the creek about half a mile, to the local marina, around it, and back into another water area, the lagoon. We had our lights turned on until we reached the lagoon. We were in a bioluminescent lagoon. (Phosphorescent microbes in shallow water live where salt and fresh water meets.) The lake glows. It is like sliding across a mirror. When you paddle, the water glimmers at a higher intensity. The fish under the boats glow as they travel. One can put a hand in the water and slide patches of light through their fingers. The effect is magical. It was an event I will never forget. (I am still an awful companion paddler. I probably need to put ‘learning to paddle in a kayak’ on my new bucket list.) That night, Bob told me the internet said the Vatican had sent up white smoke. We found out shortly, that new Pope Francis had been elected.
We were making plans for tomorrow. Originally, it was to tour Acton Tunichil Moknal. Here’s the description: It would be difficult to delve any deeper into the Maya underworld then to take a journey through this 3 mile long cave. The first part was a hike through lush jungle and across Roaring Creek, is easy. Once across, things get rougher and you face the cave entrance, don your helmet and head lamp and swim 15 feet through deep water into the cave itself. From here, it’s hours of walking, climbing, twisting and crawling through the blackness and past strange rock formations until you reach the cave’s mystical main chamber. (Your feet will be wet all day.) The crawling in the dark was my difficult part of the plan. On further discussion, there were a few cowards in our crowd. We made alternate plans. Kenny said he had already toured the caves of Australia, so he could live without it. (He is also the only one I know who has explored both the Australian Barrier Reef, and the #2 Reef in the world, the Belize Reef.) That night, Bob told me the internet said the Vatican had sent up white smoke. We found out shortly, that new Pope Francis had been elected.
Thursday, 3/14. We had breakfast at the condo. Then we were on to the ruins of Xunantunich (pronounced shoe nahn too’ nech) in the San Ignacio area. It was 0900 when we left the condo. We had been in the car so long, we stopped at a recommended open air restaurant, Hodes, for an early lunch before the tour. You put your rental vehicle on a wooden platform and are manually pulled across a narrow river to the ‘very close to Guatemala’ side of Belize. The ruins are amazing. They are older than expected, and higher than expected. One had fourteen royals buried one layer over another in a high high structure. The steps on the ‘grand’ side are each very high. The four Crouches did lots of climbing. I made my way up one with the newer model steps with railing around the back side. We are told there were monkeys there, but they were a no show. While waiting for the family to return, I talked to a few armed soldiers. These tombs are close to the border, so the soldiers keep the fighting Guatemalans away. Again, we stopped at the markets, no purses or nativities. On the way home, we enjoyed the beautiful mountains of Belize. We kept hoping to find a guy walking along carrying his machete, so Lucy could get a picture. When the guys were walking, the camera was not ready. I am told it is the tool they use at work each day, so they do take it home daily. Lots of the men are the ones who cut the brush under the orange trees that are everywhere on the ocean side half of the country. On the way home, we stopped at a Mennonite bakery and bought cookies and cinnamon rolls. The sales people were two girls about eighteen years old. They were dressed in long dresses and head coverings. Next, dinner at Tina’s, By the Beach. We ate outdoors, under a roof. I had beans and rice and shrimp. So very good. Coleen and bob had the same. Kenny had a different Spanish dish. Lucy waited ‘til we got home to finish some delicious beans and rice. 9PM, and our doors are open front and back. No screens. Dog Roxy is at my feet. She’s the caretaker’s dog, and is 110% what a dog should be. I want to take her home in my suitcase. She then moved to have Kenny scratch her ears. Since the ocean is right there, about 50 yards away, the tide sound is glorious.
Friday, 3/15. Last day here. We got up, started out about 0930. Headed for Corkscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary. On some maps the place appears simply as ‘jaguar reserve’. Going in, saw several signs marked ‘Jaguar Crossing.” Other signs were for walking trails (Go figure!) I thought we would see jaguars in cages. No, there are 60 roaming around. It’s a tropical forest with walking trails, some with waterfalls. Terrain is for average to above average walkers/climbers. 200 species of birds make noises. Monkeys were supposed to be calling each other, (howler monkeys). Great nature to see. The book says: ‘Belize’s four other wild cats, the puma, ocelot, margay and jaguarondi also reside and pass through here.’ We did not see any jaguars, animal or car. There were about twenty trails. Unfortunately, they had run out of maps. No problem. The Crouch family, resourcefully took pictures on their cameras and devices, so we had trails marked for us. We climbed and climbed. The area is quiet, the vegetation beautiful. It sure is rain forest beautiful. Kenny and Lucy forged ahead, Coleen, Bob and I worked our way around, found another small waterfall. I was out of practice for long walking, so headed back to the starting point. The four of them found another waterfall and did some wading. Then Kenny and Lucy joined me, and we had a nice visit. Coleen and Bob returned with wonderful pictures. On the way back, we stopped for lunch at Iris’ Sunny Side Up restaurant in Hopkins. Food was great. I had fish soup. It was a light New England style chowder. It was full of chunks of fish, shrimp, sweet peppers, and onions. She said for the milk, she used Carnation. She also used salt, pepper, sage, Italian seasoning and allspice. Next, we went to the woodcutter’s shed. We had ordered some crosses. They were carved out of Purple Heart. I had no idea there was a tree by that name. The crosses were beautiful. We headed back to the condo. Lucy and Coleen walked home because they were trying to get 10,000 steps a day in. We got to the condo, and did a ‘clean out the condo before leaving’. We took all the portions of food stull i.e. partial box of oatmeal, molasses, a tomato, etc. to the city baker, Caitlyn. She’s an Ex-Pat as they say. An American married to a Belizean. She is running a bakery out of her home in Hopkins. The bakery looks like a small garage with a set of shutters that open when she’s ready to do business. The home she, her husband, and the three children live in, is up on poles/stilts. Downstairs of the residence, are the stairs, clotheslines and a tied up dog. We went to dinner at ‘Love on the Rocks’. All food entrée’s presented were still cooking when served on a flat rectangular rock. Rock is 700 degrees. Bob and Kenny had steak, I had fish, Lucy had a non rock pasta and shrimp dish. We got to taste three sauces while we ate. First was a tangy fruit, second, my favorite, cilantro pesto, third a concoction that would go with cheese. Bob started with a fish soup, we all shared a shrimp cocktail, then dinner. So Good.
Next morning 3/16 back to the airport in Belize City. The ride to the airport was uneventful. The line to get tickets was long. The wait to get through security was very long. We had a chuckle, because the zip line Nancy was there in line. As soon as we got into the loading area, I said good-bye to the Crouch family, and hello to Nancy. Turns out she’s retired from a sales kind of thing. Has no car, rides her bike around. Counts her pennies so she can vacation at foreign places. We got separated when we entered the plane, Thank God. The flight was wonderful. My seat mates were pleasant, and interested in each other. In Miami, I arrived at a ‘perfect storm’ occasion. Some big concert, some big tennis match, spring break from lower schools and colleges, a Saturday evening, equaled 2,000 people trying to get through ‘Passport certification and inspection’. We had the police, they were giving out free water, and every passenger was short tempered. It took two hours from touch down ‘till walk out of the airport.
What an adventure!
A few days before Christmas 2012, I was talking to Coleen. She said, “Mom, Bob and I are taking the kids to Belize for spring break, March 9th through March 16th. Would you like to come along?” I immediately said, “Of course.”
Thus began my adventure preparations. The plans were zip lining, tubing, snorkeling, kayaking, sightseeing Mayan ruins, and visiting a wildlife Sanctuary. First problem, I am not a good snorkeler. To prepare, I was fortunate to have my friend, Zelda, heat her pool one day a week for six weeks, so I could practice using a mask and snorkel. Six weeks later, I was comfortable as a snorkeler. I don’t do tiny bathing suit bottoms well, so found some knee high pants to wear over my suits. I am not a good kayaker, but figured, I would fake it, as I had on three previous occasions. Of course, I had to make arrangements for Tracy to move in for a week at my place, to watch the dog. (She has a friend, who came and did a few home repairs while I was gone. That’s a wonderful bonus.)
At 0700 on 3/9, Tracy took me to Miami airport. I had one large piece of Samsonite luggage. The outside helper took my luggage and said, “I’ll do everything for you.” He didn’t say it meant everything but giving me a seat assignment. Getting to the international gate involved a half hour at the security check, then on to the gate. That was up two flights of stairs, on a sky tram, then going from the tram which arrived at Gate D20, and a walk down to gate D2. When I got to the gate, I had to stand in line and get a seat. They were busy. When I was helped, the attendant said, “All I have is the exit row, can you do that?” Of course, in case of an emergency, I could open the door next to my seat and boss everyone around and get them off the plane. I sat next to Bob, a college student from Western Massachusetts. He was going down with eight other students for a tour and a work on a farm experience. The plane ride was one hour and fifty minutes. I am glad I looked up Belize. I kept telling everyone it was next to Panama. If I were driving it, I would have gone way too far.
At Belize, I had about an hour’s wait for the Crouch family to arrive. It was fun people watching. The Crouch family arrived, and Bob went to pick up the rental car. Coleen and Bob looked great. Kenny is a tall slim sixteen year old, with a voice as deep as his father’s. Lucy is a blonde 15 year old, with the coloring and mannerisms of a young Scarlett Johansson. When the car was rented, and we tried to put in the luggage, and a cooler, it would not fit. Nor would we five fit in the car. It was a modest size Jeep Scout. Bob took the Scout back, and returned with a larger Jeep. It was a Commander. We all fit.
It was midafternoon. We headed in the direction of our condo, stopping at our first event, Mayan Ruins, Altun Ha. As we walked to the ruins, Bob bought a coconut. The salesman chopped the top off in a jiffy with his machete. We saw ruins. Many are still being unearthed. What we saw was spectacular. The ruins were more than I could have possibly imagined. Each step was about 14 inches high. Think about it. (I was sorry I didn’t have a tape measure, but did measure it from the tip of my fingers to the crook of my elbow.) I climbed up one, and then wondered about my safe descent. Did you ever see railings beside those steps? If you go to those ruins, you will see one ruin that has very clean steps. That’s the one I came down on my fanny, lowering myself one step at a time. Later, I noticed that a few of the ruins had a set of steps around the back, recently put in for folks like me, steps that were human size, and also had a railing.
We continued toward the condo, our residence for the week. We were staying at Belize Beach Condos; Sittee Point; Stann Creek District. On our way, the police, who needed to see all our passports, stopped us. In fact, we were stopped several times during the week for a passport check. We stopped for dinner in Belmopan at a place called La Cabaña. It was big, under a thatched roof, and looked interesting. It was memorable. There was a drunk boy of about thirteen, who kept making peacock noises. He and his companions finally left, but went pealing out of the parking lot in their truck, and hit something, (not our car.) They turned a little, and left, never to return. We found out the local drinking laws, when fifteen-year-old Lucy ordered a strawberry shake, and received a strawberry daiquiri. They completely forgot my order. Every 15 minutes after the others were served, the waitress would remind me that there was “only ONE woman in the kitchen,” as she raised her index finger to me. I had plenty to eat from the others plates, so we were fine.
Our trip to the Belize Beach Condo was a long one. The roads for the last five miles were rutty, unpaved, and in many parts, one lane only. We arrived at about 9:30 PM. The owner, Jim, was staying in one of the two second floor units. He let us in. The caretaker, Merto and his wife, Nicolasa live across the street. (It is actually a two lane dirt road.) The condo, a one bedroom very large unit, was on the third floor. The bedroom and the living room had doors leading out to a very large porch. From the porch, one could look down and see the ocean three flights of steps away. The bedroom and bath took up half the unit. The king size bed had swags of mosquito ticking around each of the four posters. The bathroom was equipped with both a deep tub, and a generous shower. The other half of the unit had a living area, big TV and a soft chair, and two sofas that folded out into beds. It had internet service, but was down the first day. It had a dining table that sat six. It had a bar and bar stools, a complete kitchen, great pots and pans, full size refrigerator, stove, oven, dishwasher, another little bar, and a little dinette set. We moved the dinette set into an empty alcove, and I had my own private area back there on my own bed. There was a back door to the unit, going outside, and when we were there, we left both doors open, and had a wonderful breeze. It had ceiling fans and air conditioning. There was a little door near the back, with access to full size washer and dryer. (We shared the porch with another tenant, of a smaller apartment on the same floor. It was three happy sisters who came out on the porch and shouted with joy and love to each other at the break of dawn daily.) The ocean beach had two hammocks, tables and chairs, and lounges ready for our use. There was even a thatched roof area for us to use. Unlike the Florida thatched roofs, called tikis or cabanas, in Belize, they are paladas.
Next morning, Sunday, 3/10, by the time I woke up at 0830, Bob and Coleen had gone into the next town, Hopkins, about two miles away, to get breakfast provisions. I’m told everyone but me was awakened by the happy neighbors at 0630. They bought fruit, eggs, oatmeal, bread, tea, juice. We each made our own breakfast every morning. (The grocery stores, mostly owned by Orientals, look like drive in garages. They have almost everything one could need.) We had choices of the above, plus muffins from a small bakery. We also ate leftovers from the previous dinners. At 1100, we were off to do the zip lining. I am not sure about the time, because it took two hours to get to the Park. Our destination was booked at BOCAWINA Adventures.com. We waited and had a bite to eat, at the Mayflower Bocawina National Park luncheonette. The Park is noted for 7,197 acres of jungle flora and fauna, Mayan Ruins, mountains, hiking trails and breathtaking waterfalls. At 2PM, our two zip line experts, Ronald and Hugo, were ready to go with us. We had a person named Nancy join our group. She was a disagreeable lady, turned out she was a 70 year old who had some nasty things to say about any subject. When we were stopped at one station, she began a dissertation on the ants climbing down a tree. Kenny pulled the conversation his way and we got a thorough lesson on the ants. It didn’t stop her for very long, though. On to the zip lining. What an adventure! We had on helmets, jackets with bands attaching the jackets to our trunks, and lots of clunky pulleys attached, and leather gloves, with the right glove having an extra leather tube in the palm, that was to be used to brake if necessary. First, we climbed up a mountain. Yes, it was a mountain. Then we zipped down from one tower to another. Twice we had to repel down a one story tower to get to the next line. It was a blast. Of course, if one doesn’t follow all the directions, one could be caught in midair and not end up on a tower. You will never guess who, of the twelve zips had to be rescued three times. Me. (That’s why we had the experts.) They could rescue fairly easily.) The last ‘run’, zip, I am told, was 2,300 feet. It seemed to go out of the jungle of forest on the mountain, across a football field size clearing, and onto the last tower. We all did fine. No one was dizzy or nauseous or acted afraid. On the way home, we drove through the city of Dangria. Once close to home, we had dinner at The Driftwood, a place right on the beach north of Hopkins. (Our Beach Condo were just south of Hopkins.) We had the suggested pizza. Kenny and I shared one. It was very good. Coleen and Lucy shared a vegetarian one and loved it. Bob had fish and it was good. Between ordering and eating, Bob joined and impromptu volleyball game and ‘held his own’.
Monday, 3/11, our destination was Nohock Che’en Caves, about one hour and fifteen minutes from the condo. We were touring with a company called, ‘Butts-Up’. Our tour guides were Alvin and Alotta. The touring company name, is because some of the cave areas that we were tubing through were shallow, so we would get the ‘butts-up’ suggestion. We got our tubes and carried them for about a mile through woods. Actually, the guys carried their own. The ladies had the guides carrying their tubes. (While in the woods, we got some nature information from the guides. We came across an allspice tree. We got to chew on a leaf, and it gives an anesthesia feel to the mouth. It can be packed in the mouth around a sore tooth.) We all had water shoes on. This adventure was in bathing suits, of course. We each had water vests and headlights on our heads. Nine people in tubes tied to other tubes floated together. We were with a family of four, who it turns out were staying on the second floor of the Belize Beach Condos. They were from Toronto. We went through The Crystal Caves, old caves that had been discovered in the early 1900’s. One Cave was called Hell, so we were to remember that we ‘went through hell’. The caves were 50 million years old, we were told. They had Mayan markings, and we saw beautiful colors and little waterfalls. We had our headlights on, most of the time. And there were shallow parts, where we did the butts up routine. When we got out of the caves, and were back on the river, we noticed lots of natives swimming there. We had many of them say, ‘Welcome to Belize.” It was a school holiday, for the country’s benefactor, Baron Bliss. We then had a nice lunch, a buffet of chicken, spaghetti noodles, watermelon, plantain, rice and beans, corn on the cob, rolls, juice and bread pudding. After lunch, the second adventure of the day was riding ATV’s. I passed on that one. The four Crouches did the event. I got to sit in a large palada, with two grade school boys, the sons of Alvin. Their dad had told them to ‘watch Miss Caffy’, so they did. When the ATV folks came back, they had wild stories to tell. You could read the event by their mud splattered clothes and skin. It was a memorable day. On our way home we stopped at Innies Place in Hopkins and enjoyed lip smackin’ fish dinners.
Tuesday, 3/12, our destination was the ocean. We went to the Sittee Point Marina, about five minutes from the condo, and met our guide, Patrick, and his assistant, Adam. The boat was a fiberglass one, which held the five of us and the two guides. We boated out to the reef and the islands. Adam, and then Patrick threw out the net and caught bait fish. That whole routine was amazing to watch. The net is a long cone shaped thing when not in the water. It has weights on the end that passes through the air and becomes a weighted circle. It’s then pulled in and the fish are captured into a container. With the bait, we went fishing. It was and overcast warm day. It was a perfect day to fish. Patrick baited the lines. Bob caught a barracuda, then another, and then, Kenny caught one. Then, Patrick said we had enough for a dinner for us all. We went to one of the islands, named South Water Key and had lunch on the beach. We had chicken burritos, corn chips and concentrated pineapple juice. (We can always learn. In this poor country, we got cups of a concentrated juice, then bags, like plastic pouches of 12 ounces of water. These were to dilute the pineapple drink, and for drinks for the afternoon. These were produced, packaged and distributed by little Belize. To open, ‘you just bite off and end and drink it.’ The printing on the bag= ‘please recycle.’ After lunch, we went snorkeling on the second largest barrier reef in the world. Yes, I snorkeled. In fact, the guide said the best way to get out of the boat, was to put on the equipment, lean back, and fall in backwards and upside down. So I did. What fun! The reef was colorful; the fish were all hues of the rainbow. Coleen and Bob have an underwater camera, so they recorded the event. We finished, and the guys, Bob and Kenny wanted to fish more, so we went back out farther away from shore for fishing. (I thought we were headed for Africa.) No one caught anything the second time, so we were calling it a day. The ride back was probably not as long as it seemed to Bob and me. We were seated near the middle of the boat, and we got bounced and as Bob said, we were wetter on the ride back than while snorkeling. We were so wet and getting so splashed that, we both put on our snorkeling masks so we could see. (I hope if Coleen took pictures of that event, that I never see them.) Back on the dock, Coleen took the braggin’ pictures of the two fishermen. Adam filleted the three barracuda, which were measured as 30 inches each. Back home, we showered. Coleen ran to the store and got, for, Nicolasa, the lady across the street, the needed items for cooking our barracuda and extras for our dinner. The meal was wonderful. The cook made a pan about 16 by 24 inches full of baked delicious barracuda, with onion rings and green peppers swimming in a coconut milk sauce and red beans and rice. We ate our fill, had a second floor couple come over, and they ate with us. (They were newlyweds, about fifty years old, from Madison, Wisconsin, who had found each other at Christian Mingles.Com.) They were going on the snorkeling trip with Patrick the next day. We put some leftovers in the refrig, sent the rest back to Nicolasa, so it did not go to waste. At home, Bob found an article on the internet that said the Vatican had sent up black smoke.
Wednesday, March 13. This morning was a take it easy morn. The loud three sisters from next door were out on the front porch at 0700. They were gone by 0730. The plan was shopping in a local city in early afternoon. Kayaking at dusk at Anderson’s lagoon.
We went touring at the market in Dangriga. Again, couldn’t find Tracy’s purse or Mary’s nativity scene. Everywhere we went I’d take Tracy’s purse, which she wanted me to duplicate, and ask about miniature nativity scenes for Mary. The scene she wanted was, I understand, about the size of a shot glass. No luck again.
On to the kayaking event at Anderson’s Lagoon. We met across the street at the caretaker’s place at 6:30PM.. We wore long sleeved clothes in honor of all the local bugs. We were wearing headlights. The creek was behind their home. We got in the kayaks. Bob and Coleen were in one, Kenny and Lucy in another, and Merto and I in the third. We paddled down the creek about half a mile, to the local marina, around it, and back into another water area, the lagoon. We had our lights turned on until we reached the lagoon. We were in a bioluminescent lagoon. (Phosphorescent microbes in shallow water live where salt and fresh water meets.) The lake glows. It is like sliding across a mirror. When you paddle, the water glimmers at a higher intensity. The fish under the boats glow as they travel. One can put a hand in the water and slide patches of light through their fingers. The effect is magical. It was an event I will never forget. (I am still an awful companion paddler. I probably need to put ‘learning to paddle in a kayak’ on my new bucket list.) That night, Bob told me the internet said the Vatican had sent up white smoke. We found out shortly, that new Pope Francis had been elected.
We were making plans for tomorrow. Originally, it was to tour Acton Tunichil Moknal. Here’s the description: It would be difficult to delve any deeper into the Maya underworld then to take a journey through this 3 mile long cave. The first part was a hike through lush jungle and across Roaring Creek, is easy. Once across, things get rougher and you face the cave entrance, don your helmet and head lamp and swim 15 feet through deep water into the cave itself. From here, it’s hours of walking, climbing, twisting and crawling through the blackness and past strange rock formations until you reach the cave’s mystical main chamber. (Your feet will be wet all day.) The crawling in the dark was my difficult part of the plan. On further discussion, there were a few cowards in our crowd. We made alternate plans. Kenny said he had already toured the caves of Australia, so he could live without it. (He is also the only one I know who has explored both the Australian Barrier Reef, and the #2 Reef in the world, the Belize Reef.) That night, Bob told me the internet said the Vatican had sent up white smoke. We found out shortly, that new Pope Francis had been elected.
Thursday, 3/14. We had breakfast at the condo. Then we were on to the ruins of Xunantunich (pronounced shoe nahn too’ nech) in the San Ignacio area. It was 0900 when we left the condo. We had been in the car so long, we stopped at a recommended open air restaurant, Hodes, for an early lunch before the tour. You put your rental vehicle on a wooden platform and are manually pulled across a narrow river to the ‘very close to Guatemala’ side of Belize. The ruins are amazing. They are older than expected, and higher than expected. One had fourteen royals buried one layer over another in a high high structure. The steps on the ‘grand’ side are each very high. The four Crouches did lots of climbing. I made my way up one with the newer model steps with railing around the back side. We are told there were monkeys there, but they were a no show. While waiting for the family to return, I talked to a few armed soldiers. These tombs are close to the border, so the soldiers keep the fighting Guatemalans away. Again, we stopped at the markets, no purses or nativities. On the way home, we enjoyed the beautiful mountains of Belize. We kept hoping to find a guy walking along carrying his machete, so Lucy could get a picture. When the guys were walking, the camera was not ready. I am told it is the tool they use at work each day, so they do take it home daily. Lots of the men are the ones who cut the brush under the orange trees that are everywhere on the ocean side half of the country. On the way home, we stopped at a Mennonite bakery and bought cookies and cinnamon rolls. The sales people were two girls about eighteen years old. They were dressed in long dresses and head coverings. Next, dinner at Tina’s, By the Beach. We ate outdoors, under a roof. I had beans and rice and shrimp. So very good. Coleen and bob had the same. Kenny had a different Spanish dish. Lucy waited ‘til we got home to finish some delicious beans and rice. 9PM, and our doors are open front and back. No screens. Dog Roxy is at my feet. She’s the caretaker’s dog, and is 110% what a dog should be. I want to take her home in my suitcase. She then moved to have Kenny scratch her ears. Since the ocean is right there, about 50 yards away, the tide sound is glorious.
Friday, 3/15. Last day here. We got up, started out about 0930. Headed for Corkscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary. On some maps the place appears simply as ‘jaguar reserve’. Going in, saw several signs marked ‘Jaguar Crossing.” Other signs were for walking trails (Go figure!) I thought we would see jaguars in cages. No, there are 60 roaming around. It’s a tropical forest with walking trails, some with waterfalls. Terrain is for average to above average walkers/climbers. 200 species of birds make noises. Monkeys were supposed to be calling each other, (howler monkeys). Great nature to see. The book says: ‘Belize’s four other wild cats, the puma, ocelot, margay and jaguarondi also reside and pass through here.’ We did not see any jaguars, animal or car. There were about twenty trails. Unfortunately, they had run out of maps. No problem. The Crouch family, resourcefully took pictures on their cameras and devices, so we had trails marked for us. We climbed and climbed. The area is quiet, the vegetation beautiful. It sure is rain forest beautiful. Kenny and Lucy forged ahead, Coleen, Bob and I worked our way around, found another small waterfall. I was out of practice for long walking, so headed back to the starting point. The four of them found another waterfall and did some wading. Then Kenny and Lucy joined me, and we had a nice visit. Coleen and Bob returned with wonderful pictures. On the way back, we stopped for lunch at Iris’ Sunny Side Up restaurant in Hopkins. Food was great. I had fish soup. It was a light New England style chowder. It was full of chunks of fish, shrimp, sweet peppers, and onions. She said for the milk, she used Carnation. She also used salt, pepper, sage, Italian seasoning and allspice. Next, we went to the woodcutter’s shed. We had ordered some crosses. They were carved out of Purple Heart. I had no idea there was a tree by that name. The crosses were beautiful. We headed back to the condo. Lucy and Coleen walked home because they were trying to get 10,000 steps a day in. We got to the condo, and did a ‘clean out the condo before leaving’. We took all the portions of food stull i.e. partial box of oatmeal, molasses, a tomato, etc. to the city baker, Caitlyn. She’s an Ex-Pat as they say. An American married to a Belizean. She is running a bakery out of her home in Hopkins. The bakery looks like a small garage with a set of shutters that open when she’s ready to do business. The home she, her husband, and the three children live in, is up on poles/stilts. Downstairs of the residence, are the stairs, clotheslines and a tied up dog. We went to dinner at ‘Love on the Rocks’. All food entrée’s presented were still cooking when served on a flat rectangular rock. Rock is 700 degrees. Bob and Kenny had steak, I had fish, Lucy had a non rock pasta and shrimp dish. We got to taste three sauces while we ate. First was a tangy fruit, second, my favorite, cilantro pesto, third a concoction that would go with cheese. Bob started with a fish soup, we all shared a shrimp cocktail, then dinner. So Good.
Next morning 3/16 back to the airport in Belize City. The ride to the airport was uneventful. The line to get tickets was long. The wait to get through security was very long. We had a chuckle, because the zip line Nancy was there in line. As soon as we got into the loading area, I said good-bye to the Crouch family, and hello to Nancy. Turns out she’s retired from a sales kind of thing. Has no car, rides her bike around. Counts her pennies so she can vacation at foreign places. We got separated when we entered the plane, Thank God. The flight was wonderful. My seat mates were pleasant, and interested in each other. In Miami, I arrived at a ‘perfect storm’ occasion. Some big concert, some big tennis match, spring break from lower schools and colleges, a Saturday evening, equaled 2,000 people trying to get through ‘Passport certification and inspection’. We had the police, they were giving out free water, and every passenger was short tempered. It took two hours from touch down ‘till walk out of the airport.
What an adventure!