Thursday 8 August 2024
Belize: Final Thoughts
Wednesday 7 August 2024
Belize - Day 8: "Secret" Beach & Kayaking
This being our final night, we decided to eat at the resort restaurant, which can't be beat for convenience and ambiance. Wrong side of the island for sunset, but still a nice rainbow sky.
Tuesday 6 August 2024
Belize - Day 7: Eating & Shopping San Pedro
Thanks to my meticulous reading of the resort website, I realized that instead of paying for a taxi or piloting our own golf cart through what we've heard is truly dangerous-sized potholes (true story, another couple at the resort today told us they got into an accident where they actually flipped into a lagoon and the wife went flying into the water! Yeah definitely not for me!), we can catch the same water boats transfers with other resort guests who are headed to or back from the airport for free! Faster, more enjoyable, less work, and free? Um, yes please!
Btw, we were sharing the boat transfer with another couple from NY, the husband was also a long term Googler who recently left to start his own company -- and small world time -- they had run into the couple celebrating their anniversary from our plane ride at their previous resort!! Ah serendipity.
So, onto our self created food tour! First stop in San Pedro: famous Elvi's kitchen (pronounced Elvis, by everyone it seems). We only had the street corn. Tasty, but I've had better -- but the fact that it was a restaurant where the floors were beach sand? That was worth experiencing.
Monday 5 August 2024
Belize - Day 6: Sharks!
We got back around 4, which gave us some time before dinner -- perfect for pool lounging. I used to like the Chan Chich pool better but today realized that by afternoon, our pool actually gets pretty good shade and it has these cool in water loungers! Reminded me of the lounge beds at the hot springs in Costa Rica, but the water/air here is nicer and interesting birds fly overhead more.
And to top it all off at the end -- a fruit (I think pineapple and key lime?) paleta (traditional Belizean popsicle dessert) coated in white chocolate. Because of the tartness of the lime, not my favorite dessert -- but glad I can now say I've tried a paleta.
Yes, those are leftover bug bites from the jungle on Ian's hand!
Sunday 4 August 2024
Belize - Day 5: Farewell Jungle, Hello Beach!
Last morning waking up to the Chan Chich birdcalls! I can see why birding appeals to people as their mobility decreases -- I swear I see more of the birds (and get better looks at them) just sitting still and waiting for the birds to come to the trees outside my window.
One last breakfast as well -- review of the food here: it had some ups (burger was so juicy, shrimp curry was delish, shrimp tostado was better than Sanchos, fries were really well done) and some more mehs (fish was a bit dry, flauta was under seasoned), but one note remained true always -- there was SO much of it. And the avocados were so flavorful. I liked them so much I had them bring me a whole one...and then they told me we had a tree outside our villa -- picked one for the road!
Parting thought: upgrade to the villa really made for a much more pleasant stay. Note to self for future travel: if area has mosquitos, only book rooms with A/C.
One last safari drive...to the airport!
Smallest airport we've ever traveled to.
Also the smallest plane we've ever boarded!
Crazy looking at the dark patches on the ground and realizing they are the shadows from the clouds above!
Ian reports that Ambergris Caye is much more of a "you're in vacation" vibe place. I have to agree, the jungle is peaceful...but almost TOO peaceful. You have more of a "I'm here for introspection and mindfulness and self-learning" feel.
Tomorrow: we go snorkeling at Shark Alley, part of the Hol Chan Marine Reserve. The departure time is 1pm...when the UV index is estimated to be 10. I am heavily considering wearing yoga pants to save my legs from sunburn. Wish us luck!
Saturday 3 August 2024
Belize - Day 4: Monkeying Around
But now the farm produces coffee, hot sauces, and the various product/livestock for all the residents/guests. Here's the machine where they process the coffee beans.
Belize is apparently filled with butterflies year round -- they were EVERYWHERE. Many would just fly right into our jeep. And they'd congregate on the roads because they like the minerals in the water puddles. Check out the whirlwind of butterflies!
Beyond the farm, things quickly got more jungle-y. This area was pretty heavily impacted by the hurricanes about 3 years ago -- here is all that is left of what once a majestic mahogany tree (national tree of Belize).
Our new guide, Luis, showed off his amazing birding skills honed from 30 years of working at Chan Chich. There were way too many varietals for me to mention here but my favorite was the red bodied toucan (yes, I know the official name is something else). The beak is so unique it looks fake to me. Yes, this is a photo I took of his phone, because I didn't have a cool enough camera to get anything nearly this good.
It was a not insignificant drive up there -- probably an hour each way, made slower by the fact that we had to stop and clear the road of fallen trees and creeping sharp vines every now and then. And of course every time we tried to help, it turned out the vine had poisonous caterpillars or sharp barbs on it...jungle after all!
We weren't even sure we'd be able to make it because there is a bridge that is often covered by water -- we managed to eke by today with only about a foot of clearance!
We made it!
Such a cute little lookout hut for guests to sit and sip a beer while enjoying the view.
The only thing marring the experience was the ABUNDANCE of bugs. Sadly no mosquito netted room here! (This is sadly not the full extent -- the other side of Ian's arms were just as bad -- I managed to escape with much fewer bites -- 10 points for long sleeves and copious amounts of bug lotion!)
We followed a couple hawks through the spotting scope which was a first for me -- [note to big sky, we should do more of that from the living room! The birds are so much cooler looking up close!]
As we neared the lodge, we ran into a family of howler monkeys so our came the spotting telescope again! So cool looking at the animals up close like this.