Exploring Belize

2005-04-25T13:48:00.001-07:00

Our welcome to the blue seas and jewel like cayes of Belize

2005-04-25T13:48:00.000-07:00

The remarkably stunning Ambergris Caye west coast

2005-04-25T13:46:00.000-07:00

The waiting room at Belize International Airport

2005-04-25T13:45:00.000-07:00

I'm leaving on a jet plane...

2005-04-25T13:44:00.000-07:00

Relax..don't worry!

2005-04-25T13:43:00.001-07:00

After a gruelling journey from London to JFK, then a ‘lovely’ stay at an airport hotel at La Guardia, followed by a flight to Houston – we were finally on our way to Belize. It was a quick acclimatisation to the heat, which involved me going to the ladies toilet to change into my shorts and sandals and then a panic when I realised I had left all my money in the toilet. Fortunately no one took it and we saw that as a good omen on which to start our trip.

2005-04-25T13:43:00.000-07:00

The first person to greet us ...Iguana Rocks

2005-04-25T13:42:00.001-07:00

Maya had never been on a small plane before and was a bit apprehensive, especially when her seat belt didn’t work. This was followed by a conversation with a lady sitting near her who said ‘Don’t worry, I’ve been in this plane when it’s crashed before. It was fine, everyone just got out and walked back to shore’. Never mind – we made it to AC, grabbed a cab and headed for our first destination. Mata Rocks.

2005-04-25T13:42:00.000-07:00

The view from our room at Mata Rocks

2005-04-25T13:41:00.001-07:00

We were greeted by the wonderful staff there. I cannot praise them enough. We dumped our stuff in our room, dipped our feet in the sea and headed off to Elvi’s Kitchen. The food was good, the staff were lovely but it felt expensive and geared towards USA tourists.

2005-04-25T13:41:00.000-07:00

Our first sunrise on Ambergris Caye.

2005-04-25T13:40:00.001-07:00

We got up for every sunrise in Belize. In fact on the first few nights we got up at 4am and hung out with the hotel’s security guard, communicating as best we could with our limited Spanish and her limited English. Nevertheless we had fun exploring under the pier with our torches in the moonlight.

2005-04-25T13:40:00.000-07:00

Breakfast at Mata Rocks beach bar - The Squirrel's Nest

2005-04-25T13:39:00.000-07:00

Mata Rocks preparing for my first open water dive

2005-04-25T13:37:00.001-07:00

The Squirrel’s Nest is Mata Rock’s fab little beach bar. It is usually buzzing with people and we met some truly gorgeous people from the northern USA and Canada who were escaping the freezing weather.

2005-04-25T13:37:00.000-07:00

It was really tough relaxing on Ambergris Caye

2005-04-25T13:36:00.001-07:00

The beach at Mata Rocks is small, cute and perfectly formed. We enjoyed paddling and we took the opportunity to snorkel at Victoria House Hotel’s pier, which has a surprising number of interesting fish under it. We ate at their bar restaurant a couple of times and while expensive, the food was superb. We had our first conch ceviche there and loved it.

2005-04-25T13:36:00.000-07:00

our snorkel guide spearing a lobster

2005-04-25T13:35:00.000-07:00

During our week on Ambergris Caye:
We went snorkelling to Hol Chan in a glass-bottomed boat.

2005-04-25T13:34:00.000-07:00

colourful coral

2005-04-25T13:33:00.000-07:00

I did my diving certification with Pro Tech. I cannot recommend them highly enough.

2005-04-25T13:25:00.000-07:00

Hol Chan fish

2005-04-25T13:23:00.000-07:00

The SAGA animal shelter. They are doing a great job with few resources.

2005-04-25T13:22:00.000-07:00

An Ambergris Pot Licker looking for a new home at the shelter.

2005-04-25T13:21:00.000-07:00

We visited SAGA Animal Shelter.

2005-04-25T13:20:00.000-07:00

This is 'The Cut'

2005-04-25T13:19:00.000-07:00

This Neighbourhood Watch sign gave us pause for thought

2005-04-25T13:18:00.000-07:00

Music played on the sea always sounds better - The Palapa Bar

2005-04-25T13:17:00.000-07:00

This dog couldn't wait for the hand ferry to carry him across so he jumped ship and swam

2005-04-25T13:16:00.000-07:00

Then hand ferry across the cut.

2005-04-25T13:15:00.000-07:00

Hammock House is a funky place to have a drink if you need a break heading up north

2005-04-25T13:14:00.000-07:00

This horse is waiting for his owner on the other side of the hand ferry

2005-04-25T13:13:00.001-07:00

We walked to the south and hired a golf cart for the day to go to the North. Up north we saw some great houses, bounced around a lot in big potholes, visited the Palapa Bar and ate some BBQ at Hammock House. We watched the ferry traffic jam. On one of our crossings a local dog joined the group on the hand ferry, but when it wasn’t moving quickly enough, he jumped off and swam.

2005-04-25T13:13:00.000-07:00

The lagoon is beautiful at sunset

2005-04-25T13:12:00.001-07:00

Everyone joins in with the painting during Carnival in San Pedro

2005-04-25T13:12:00.000-07:00

The ladies dance at carnival in San Pedro

2005-04-25T13:11:00.000-07:00

On the way back from the North we experienced Carnival and gave some adorable little children a lift back.

2005-04-25T13:10:00.001-07:00

We ate at a number of places but the ones we recommend are:

Victoria House – pricey but lovely location and yummy food.
Papi’s – good value and great food.
Antojitos – Mom and pop shack style. Cheap, great food and local experience.
Rico’s – expensive, yummy breakfasts. Get a seat on the deck.
Caliente’s – delicious burritos.
Vendors in town – the best burritos.
El Divino – huge portions USA style.
Hammock House – good value, funky location.Celi’s – We ate here on our last night. The food was good and the staff lovely.

2005-04-25T13:10:00.000-07:00

Security is tight on the beaches in San Pedro

2005-04-25T13:09:00.000-07:00

You wouldn't want to throw dirt and make this area dirty!

2005-04-25T13:08:00.000-07:00

While on Ambergris Caye we walked to town and back about twice daily and occasionally borrowed the hotel bikes to look around. We rarely used taxis and only hired a golf cart once. Unless you have some sort of disability, have to get to the north end of the island or have to carry something heavy, there really is no need to hire a golf cart. You get to see more of the island, meet more of the people and generally have a better experience walking and cycling. Coming back at night we either used a torch (flashlight), which we brought from home or on one or two occasions we hired a taxi.

2005-04-25T13:07:00.000-07:00

Baggage check in at the airport

2005-04-25T13:06:00.000-07:00

Then we went off for our next stage of the trip. I must admit that we loved Ambergris Caye so much we wanted to stay longer but could only get a room for one extra night, so we decided to come back at the end of our trip and booked our last night at Mata Rocks.

2005-04-25T13:05:00.001-07:00

We went to Crystal Car Hire and hired a little two-seater pick up truck. Now, by USA standards, this would probably be considered dinky – but we bloody loved it. We drove off to Belize Zoo and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, as the zoo was virtually empty. This is not zoo for people who feel the need to be entertained. It is designed with natural habitats in mind and not for the benefit of the visitor. If you want the opportunity to see some of the amazing local wildlife, this may be your only opportunity. The Harpy Eagle was just amazing

2005-04-25T13:05:00.000-07:00

The only place you are guaranteed to see native Belizean animals is at the zoo.

2005-04-25T13:04:00.000-07:00

The quirky Tapir

2005-04-25T13:03:00.001-07:00

The many faces of the Belizean landscape

2005-04-25T13:03:00.000-07:00

The long road to Hopkins

2005-04-25T13:01:00.000-07:00

We then headed south to Hopkins where we had decided to go for a night. We had not booked anything so drove into town on a wing and a prayer. The drive was beautiful. On one side you can see the Maya mountains rising above the land. The weather was quite moody when we did our trip and there also happened to be a bush fire so it all looked particularly dramatic. Driving through the jungle is also an experience to be remembered with the gigantic plants and trees towering over you as you pass. It makes you feel like you have arrived in the land of the giants.

2005-04-25T12:59:00.000-07:00

Beaches and Dreams welcoming beach palapa

2005-04-25T12:58:00.000-07:00

Cabana at Beaches and Dreams

2005-04-25T12:56:00.001-07:00

We turned left when we got to town and started at one end, visiting every hotel and guesthouse along the way. We had some pretty strange experiences while doing this and realised that Hopkins is truly unique. The last place these two tired travellers tried was Beaches and Dreams. Funnily enough, I had read good things about this hotel in the past. As we drove up, the new owner greeted us with a big smile and made us feel right at home.

2005-04-25T12:56:00.000-07:00

Escaping the sand flies

2005-04-25T12:55:00.000-07:00

Worth getting up early for.

2005-04-25T12:54:00.001-07:00

The crowded beach at Hopkins

2005-04-25T12:54:00.000-07:00

Having fun in Hopkins

2005-04-25T12:53:00.000-07:00

Young men drumming at the Garifuna drumming centre in Hopkins

2005-04-25T12:52:00.000-07:00

Oooooh Barracuda!

2005-04-25T12:50:00.000-07:00

Snorkelling heaven

2005-04-25T12:49:00.000-07:00

Approaching South Water Caye

2005-04-25T12:48:00.000-07:00

The real desert island experience at South Water Caye

2005-04-25T12:47:00.001-07:00

We loved Beaches and Dreams so much we ended up spending three nights with them. While in Hopkins, we went fishing, went to South Water Caye for lunch (the food wasn’t worth the journey but the journey was worth the food!) and had an amazing snorkelling experience. We went to the drumming centre, got to know some really nice local people and artists, ate gibnut and armadillo – both of which we found delicious – commissioned a drum and hung out. Hopkins was one of the highlights of our trip. The people we met were lovely, the children were adorable and it just felt that there is nowhere else in the world quite like Hopkins.

2005-04-25T12:47:00.000-07:00

Glorious South Water Caye

2005-04-25T12:46:00.000-07:00

The last stop for petrol on the long drive south.

2005-04-25T12:45:00.001-07:00

We then headed off to Placencia. On the way, we stopped at the Cockscomb Maya Centre. It was very unassuming and the Mayan women who worked there were friendly and smiley. I have to say that we did not see anything unique amongst the crafts there and the prices were higher than in some of the tourist shops we had been to. Nevertheless, we bought a few pieces and continued on our journey.

2005-04-25T12:45:00.000-07:00

Great cabanas at the Green Parrot

2005-04-25T12:44:00.000-07:00

Green Parrot pier

2005-04-25T12:43:00.001-07:00

The main road in Placencia

2005-04-25T12:43:00.000-07:00

The famous landmark of Barnacle Bill's on Maya Beach, Placencia

2005-04-25T12:42:00.000-07:00

We stayed at Green Parrot, which had our favourite beach cabana. We loved the shower and Smiley, the resident smiling dog! The hotel was very nice but we discovered that many of the resorts in Placencia depend on keeping you there. It was a bit disconcerting being asked at 10 am whether we were going to have dinner at the hotel that evening. People who did not have vehicles said they felt trapped at their resorts. We headed into Placencia and found we arrived on the tail end of the arts festival. I have to say that while Placencia is a cute little town, it was our least favourite place. We did enjoy having a drink at Mango’s and eating at the Hungry Ghecko and the Purple Space Monkey. We also had breakfast at Roberts Grove Inn on our last day, which was very handy as they now run a petrol station, so good breakfast and gas and we were on our way to San Ignacio.

2005-04-25T12:41:00.000-07:00

David found us with our drum

2005-04-25T12:40:00.001-07:00

While we were eating one evening, walking down the dusty road towards Placencia we spotted the artist from whom we had commissioned a hand made drum. Lo and behold – it was pitch black outside and we were sitting in a restaurant, but we spotted him with our drum under his arm. He had come to Placencia to find us so he could deliver it to us in person. I have avoided mentioning people’s names here because I do not like to invade personal privacy, but I am sure that the artist would love the publicity in this case. The artist’s name is David. He is a very softly spoken, lively, funny and charming guy who is hugely talented with wood. You will see his work in a number of different shops in Belize as he is also extremely hard working and promotes himself well. His woodwork is beautiful and fairly priced. If you meet him, ask him to make you something personal. We bought him dinner, paid for the drum and dropped him off at a family member’s home in Seine Bight village.

2005-04-25T12:40:00.000-07:00

Plane in the woods in Placencia

2005-04-25T12:39:00.000-07:00

Belize has some big bugs

2005-04-25T12:38:00.000-07:00

Leaving the beach and heading inland was sort of a jolt. By this time I had not been bitten by mosquitoes but the sand flies had started to eat me in Hopkins and continued to do so in Placencia. I also had a nasty horse fly bite, which I got while hanging out with a crazy but interesting horse guy in Hopkins. Also, on our second morning in Placencia we had been woken to the tale of one of our neighbouring cabana residents having been bitten by a scorpion in his bed. We had also seen some big bugs. I am not particularly frightened of bugs, but I am frightened of pain, so we were very careful with our stuff.

2005-04-25T12:37:00.000-07:00

The squatter in our room at the San Ignacio Hotel

2005-04-25T12:36:00.001-07:00

When we arrived in San Ignacio we had two days to kill before we were heading for our jungle lodge, so we thought we would have a bit of luxury and AC and booked into the San Ignacio Hotel. This hotel was clearly luxurious in it’s day (which appeared to be the seventies) but had not updated since then. I do have to commend the hotel staff for not baulking when they saw our luggage absolutely covered with thick red dust from the road trip.

We had slept in pretty comfortable beds until now, but we were not so delighted to find nylon sheets and saggy mattresses. Never mind, we could relax, watch TV and turn on the AC. Within five minutes we found a huge scorpion on the floor. We did the brave thing and called a man to save us!

2005-04-25T12:36:00.000-07:00

I'd prefer a cabana..the room at San Ignacio Hotel

2005-04-25T12:35:00.000-07:00

Busy San Ignacio bus station

2005-04-25T12:34:00.001-07:00

We had to return our car, which seemed like a simple exercise. We had been instructed to wait at the bus station at a specific time when the car would be collected. We waited, chatted to cab drivers, had a Belikin, and waited some more. I wandered off to see if there was another bus station but a policeman told me that if we were told to meet at the bus station, we were at the right place. Eventually we gave up, went back to the hotel and called Crystal motors. We were told that the guy was there waiting for us. We explained that there had just been the cab drivers, one bus and us during our hour-long wait but he insisted the guy was there. So, we dutifully returned to the bus station. No one from Crystals was there. Eventually we went back to the hotel and I called Crystals again a little peeved by now. Fortunately, the guy they had sent had some initiative and located us at the hotel. There was another bus station and he had been there. He was British and we chatted a bit and off he went.

2005-04-25T12:34:00.000-07:00

Downtown San Ignacio

2005-04-25T12:32:00.000-07:00

You have to swim to reach the ATM cave

2005-04-25T12:30:00.000-07:00

The pots are broken so they do not rise up against the gods

2005-04-25T12:29:00.000-07:00

male remains at the ATM cave

2005-04-25T12:27:00.001-07:00

We went into town, did the required stop at Eva’s (good fried chicken and quite an international crowd) and then headed back to the hotel. We thought we would do the hotel’s big promotion – The Green Iguana Tour and Mini Medicine Trail - . Personally, I was not too impressed. It seems they got a bunch of green iguana eggs, hatched them and are keeping them in a big screened house so that they can charge tourists to look at them. They have dressed this up as a conservation project. Now while the lovely woman who gave us the tour was interesting and entertaining, there was no real information up about their ‘conservation project’. Anyway, that evening we bumped into a group who had just come back from the ATM caves. They looked somewhat shell shocked. They were lovely people and one of them was a lady in her fifties who wasn’t completely fit. They had a rough time but loved it and assured us that our plan to go the following day was spot on.

Off we went, very excited and apprehensive. The hotel had booked us with Pacz tours and our guide couldn’t have been better. He even had a story to tell about how he had survived the deadly Fer de Lance. It was a quirky group and it contained the most annoying person in the world. I am well travelled and have met people everywhere. I live in a big city, but I can truly say that this guy really took the biscuit as the most annoying person ever. This made it somewhat awkward at first as everyone trapped in the van with him as we drove to our destination was really annoyed. That is, until we realised that in addition to being the most annoying person in the world, he had the thickest skin in the world. This meant that we could vent our frustration openly. Even the guide joined in. It made for a laughter filled day.

2005-04-25T12:27:00.000-07:00

The female sacrificial remains in the ATM cave

2005-04-25T12:26:00.000-07:00

Learning bushcraft with my guide.

2005-04-25T12:25:00.000-07:00

I am not going to tell you too much about the ATM experience because if someone had told me the truth, I probably would not have gone. Had I not gone, I would have missed a once in a lifetime experience. It is scary at times and requires some strength of body and soul, but it is worth it. If you can do it – do it because it won’t be accessible as it is now for much longer.

2005-04-25T12:24:00.001-07:00

We ate at the San Ignacio Hotel on the last night and very good it was too. I must say though that they served us the smallest bread pudding portion that I have ever seen in my life.
The next day we were to be collected for our trip to Ek Tun. The owner turned up a bit flustered as she had not done her shopping in town yet. We told her to just go ahead and we would make ourselves comfortable in the bar. Having left the coast and the coastal breezes, this was the first time we really craved air conditioning as we found San Ignacio quite humid. The bar at the San Ignacio hotel is air conditioned, very nice (they hold a huge weekly karaoke night there which is immensely popular) and the bar man was just adorable. While we both quite like having a drink in a bar, we had not done this yet for our whole trip. So we chatted to the bar man and hung out. Turns out that his mother and sister run a restaurant called Rasta Pasta on Caye Caulker. Anyway he was a sweetie and gave us some further insights into life in Belize only as a good bar man can. I also found that the drinks were slipping down more and more quickly. By the time the owner of Ek Tun arrived to pick us up, I was very merry.

2005-04-25T12:24:00.000-07:00

Arriving at Ek Tun

2005-04-25T12:22:00.001-07:00

We crossed the river amused by the sight of the owner’s monkey (black howler) and dog waiting for her patiently.

2005-04-25T12:22:00.000-07:00

A close bond between two Ek Tun residents

2005-04-25T12:21:00.001-07:00

The monkey was quite assertive and tends to nip. I had a few words with her and she left me alone for the rest of the visit. While I am sure that many people are flattered by her attentions, I work professionally with animals and have a great deal of respect for them. Especially wild animals. So, having a monkey climbing on me, pooping occasionally and nipping was not something I found flattering, just irritating. Nevertheless, I loved observing her behaviour and watching her interaction and bond with the dog. There is another dog there and a couple of cats. There were three horses when we got there, but only two when we left. I won’t go into details about that as it was incredibly upsetting, but lets just say that life in the jungle can be hard.

2005-04-25T12:21:00.000-07:00

Ek Tun is in a true jungle setting

2005-04-25T12:20:00.000-07:00

Lovely cabana at Ek Tun

2005-04-25T12:18:00.000-07:00

The bat cave at Ek Tun

2005-04-25T12:17:00.000-07:00

Ek Tun is a beautiful and very unique location. There are just two cabanas and you have extensive land to explore. It is idyllically beautiful and the owner has landscaped the area sensitively. Meals are served at a table shared with the owner and any other guests. The food was good quality home cooked meals of the sort that I would make myself. Very rich, filling and tasty.

2005-04-25T12:16:00.000-07:00

North Ambergris Caye

2005-04-25T12:15:00.001-07:00

If you are looking for a romantic get away and you won’t be frightened by things like lizards in your toilet at night, Ek Tun is rustic and fabulous. It is also a fabulous place for nature lovers. We are quite amateurish at animal spotting but we managed to see (and remember) a pair of otter in the river, white hawks, bats, green parrot, king vulture, toads, toucans and a dying coatamundi and it’s accompanying (extracted for our viewing pleasure) botfly.

Due to various circumstances that occurred while we were staying at Ek Tun, we were not able to do any trips so we just enjoyed ourselves on the property. We still had not seen any ruins so we arranged to quickly visit Xunantunich before we headed back to Belize City. We went early so there were hardly any people.

We then took a taxi from San Ignacio to Belize City hoping to fly to Caye Caulker. We had heard rumour that the airport at Caye Caulker was open and we were being hopeful.

We arrived at the airport and just after we had unloaded our luggage, one of the staff told us there were no flights to Caye Caulker. Disappointed we started loading up again to be told that they had changed their mind and there would be a flight! Hurrah! We then discovered that the airport on Caye Caulker was not open officially and that we would be the test flight before the opening. We flew in a little four seater. It was great and we arrived at Caye Caulker airport with no fanfare or champagne despite requesting it as the first flight. Never mind.

We went off and booked into our hotel, the Tropical Paradise. It was the cheapest and most basic of the hotels we stayed in. But it was adequate and clean. But if you are planning to spend your day outside, they are fine for sleeping. I think they have better rooms available but we just took what we were offered.

Caye Caulker has it’s charm. We saw a fantastic art gallery there, the best we visited in our trip. We had the hottest meal there too. Just a bit too hot in fact. We couldn’t eat it. It was the only meal we didn’t enjoy. We swam at the cut and had a few beers at the bar there. I have to say that I was harassed by guys and this was the only time in Belize we had experienced this. It usually went like this ‘Hey pretty/sexy lady’. The guys were usually so stoned that even if I had been interested they couldn’t have done much anyway. There was much more open drug taking than I had observed anywhere else and a much more international crowd. We watched a man fishing in the cut. He just waded in and pulled out fish after fish. We then went for a little walk around the island to see the sun set. During this walk we explored a little nature area near the airport, which was lovely with some trees labelled.

We did not spend much time on Caye Caulker, but it was not really our cup of tea. We caught the first water taxi in the morning, which we shared with a number of school children. One of the many things that amazed me in Belize is how the school children can wear pristine white uniforms and look so clean! Kids in the UK wear black uniforms and still look a mess.
As we arrived back at Ambergris Caye our hearts lifted. We really loved the island so much. As soon as we got there, we quickly headed back to Mata Rocks for our last night. On this night we had a suite and spoiled ourselves. We had to try to ignore the fact that we were going to be going home the next day. But we are already planning our return trip.

2005-04-25T12:15:00.000-07:00

Wish we were there now!