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! 

I'm not sure I love the small plane feel...there's a lot more of a direct realization that there's very little between you and...the world. 

Crazy looking at the dark patches on the ground and realizing they are the shadows from the clouds above!

But then skies parted and we saw the blue green waters of the islands. We were quickly picked up by a nice man in a golf cart from Matachica (the number of golf carts running up and down the streets in San Pedro was pretty amazing -- don't think I've been anywhere else with that many golf carts as main transportation vehicle, tourists and locals alike!) and transported to a speed boat to get to our resort. Much fewer mosquitos when traveling by speed boat!

We soon arrived at Matachica, where we would be staying for the next 4 nights. 

Quickly snapped a shot of our cabana before Baba could explode his things all over the place. 

Initiating beach relaxation mode!

The pool is considerably more crowded, so I get too embarrassed to do my very bad swim form laps. (Baba says I don't look bad per se, I just look like I'm intentionally trying to swim very slowly 😆).  Luckily, the beach by the resort seems to connect to other beaches all along the shore, so aerobic exercise can change back to nighttime walks. 

Check out the little creatures we caught keeping us company!

Okay, maybe you need a closer look:

We had to keep our flashlights on to avoid stepping on them. They're not exactly the fastest moving...

Baba 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!

Belize - Day 4: Monkeying Around

Today is our last full day in the Belize jungle. We opted for the morning excursion to the Escarpment today (learning of the day: escarpment -- a long, steep slope, especially one at the edge of a plateau or separating areas of land at different heights) to see if we could catch some raptors / birds of prey (sidenote, shouldn't they be called birds of predators?). We also got some more history as we passed Sylvester town where most of the farm workers live -- apparently it started as a chicle farm -- where the people living here actually tapped these big trees for gum to make chiclets for exportation! 

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 Baba'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. 

After lunch (delicious shrimp tostada, and fresh avocados because they're in season and literally dropping off the trees), I went back to the pool for some aerobic exercise while Ian took an afternoon nap. Remembered to take photos of the pool this time!

Tonight would be our last safari ride -- we decided to aim for the more animal-active dusk hour. Besides the standard birds again, we also caught up with a whole clan of howler AND spider monkeys. 

Check out these jumps!

These are my favorite Belize trees -- "Rain trees" -- this one is hiding a woodpecker, two brown jays, and more! (No, this isn't a Where's Waldo, you'll just have to trust me that they're there).

During this time of year, it generally gets a little rainy or at least very cloudy by the end of the day, so this was the best "sunset" shot I could get. 

Pretty nice view nonetheless at Lake Seca though.

Perhaps appropriate to close the day (and our Jungle safaris) with a "see you later alligator" (okay, fine it was a crocodile). 

Belize - Day 3: Gallon Jug

Today we woke up early (6am!) for the birding and nature morning drive. Off on the safari jeep again! Hoping we catch a puma in better light this time.

Well, regardless of the animal sightings, it was a beautiful morning, clear, sunny, not that hot -- really picturesque. And the air smelled so fresh! Not just like green stuff, but also slightly sweet, maybe from flowers, but it was pretty intoxicating. 

Spoiler alert: no pumas. But we caught a pair of foxes running down the road again.

And I figured the weather was so beautiful I would take the opportunity to snap some photos of the "common" animals -- like the deer: 

And the pigeons (funny story, they're kind of territorial, so at one point, one was running alongside the jeep as if it wanted to fight us! 😆)

The Gallon Jug post office. So a tiny bit about the town and the Chan Chich lodge on the grounds: it was all developed and owned by the Bowen family, the billionaires behind Belikin beer. It is an archeological site as well, with lots of universities flying out regularly to examine the Mayan ruins on the property. We heard there are about 50-60 people who live/work here permanently, with their roughly 20-25 children. Here's the post office:

They raise almost all of the food for the village on the 33000-acre farm -- which, on the protein side, includes grass fed beef, bird-friendly coffee, and of course free range chickens.

Driving around, we also caught some glimpses of the very impressive house where the "Boss" (Mr. Bowen, current CEO of Bowen & Bowen) stays -- it was high up on a hilltop overlooking the entire estate -- not too shabby indeed for a weekend vacation home!

Back at the lodge, I decided we couldn't do this much eating with only sitting in the safaris as our only physical activity, so we went for some laps in the pool (really cool, will definitely be back tomorrow so will get the photos then! Our swim visit today was cut short by a thunderstorm) and then for a short hike around the property. 

The hiking trails included a brief peek into a Mayan burial chamber:

And lots and lots of HUGE jungle vegetation. 

Which of course then must include lots of encounters with creepy-crawlies:

We also made sure to enjoy the views from our new villa -- yes, this photo might have been taken from the bed:

We wanted to do a dusk drive today but the lodge was little wary of the weather (dark skies all around), so we decided to call it a day and spend those hours looking at the trail cam sightings with a drink at the bar instead. The bartenders/servers Johnathan and Sean were amazingly entertaining -- and informative! They gave us some restaurant recommendations for the San Pedro half of our trip coming up. 

Dinner tonight was steak, which we gobbled down before we remembered to take any photos (a little tough, but more due to the cut of meat than the cooking -- the redness was perfectly done) but here's the dinner napkin -- I know we've been on a number of cruise ship napkin folding classes, but this one was impressive!

With that, another day over. Tomorrow is our last day at Chan Chich -- we hope to do a morning drive up a small mountain to see some birds of prey, do some more laps at the pool, and then hopefully catch a sunset. Crossed fingers that the weather cooperates!

Belize - Day 2 - Puma!

I have to admit I did not sleep as well as I was hoping -- the mosquito netting, while romantic and picturesque, was not the easiest to maneuver and didn't quite keep all of the biters at bay. Good thing we weren't rushing to anything this morning. 

After a very large breakfast (large for me at least, maybe it's normal sized for people who enjoy breakfast regularly, but I honestly felt a little uncomfortable afterwards), we got to see the lodge in its daytime glory. 

The grounds at the lodge are really quite spectacular -- so many different species. Miles of hiking paths with dozens of different birds (based on the plethora of calls I heard this morning).

We took it easy today for the morning -- I caught up on some Olympics events and Baba caught up on more sleep. Which left us refreshed and ready for some physical activity: canoeing! Or, if you're Baba, more like "drinking beers while on a lake."

That's right, leaving me to do all the paddling! 

Okay, I guess I didn't do much either -- it was more like a controlled float for an hour. But amazing scenery again - SUCH smooth water, couldn't have asked for better weather.

Oh right -- what animals did we see? A fox on the way out (so little! Much smaller than foxes in the US), toucans, random little birds, a pair of mammals that we can't remember the name of (will ask our guide tomorrow), a pair of spider monkeys and a juvenile crocodile!

After the sunset, we set off for our night drive. It went for an hour or so where we literally saw nothing but deer after deer after deer. And then, we stopped by a field where our guide swore he saw something. From the binoculars, I honestly felt like we were just looking at a bush. I was positive that he was just saying he saw something so that he could call the drive a success. But then we drove around the other side to get "a better look" and then the "thing" popped its head up so we could get a good look --- it really was a cat! I wouldn't have known if it was a jaguar or a puma but he assured us it was a puma because of how it was deep in the tall grass stalking a deer. No photos, so you'll have to also just trust us, but you can pretend it looked like this:

Now that we've confirmed the cats really are around, we are ready to get some daytime looks/photos of them. So tomorrow, 6:30 morning wildlife drive.

Oh I forgot the most important development of the day! The lodge manager felt so sorry for me and my mosquito issues that he upgraded us for free to the luxury villa! It is NICE -- A/C, glass walls all around, lovely wooden paneled floors -- but most importantly -- no more need to deal with the mosquitos!! 

Looking forward to a much better night's sleep today!

Belize - Day 1 - Arrival

In celebration of our fifteenth anniversary (and also because I will take any excuse to travel), we are headed to Belize for a week! This was as "last minute" as it gets for me, so we booked tickets and hotels only a couple months in advance, coming in with much less research and planning compared to my normal travels -- so will see how it goes!

Started off with some very entertaining flight companions -- across the aisle from us on the plane were a couple celebrating their 37th anniversary (same date as us!) but man the stories that they told...let's just say one involved him being a sperm donor to fund his dentistry school studies and now having connected with NINE children (and who knows how many more are out there!). 

Unfortunately the flight arrived a bit late so the lodge had to cancel our connecting flight to their property -- it's in the middle of the jungle so they were worried about flying in the rain after dark -- better safe than sorry! So we ended up taking a long drive to Chan Chich instead -- luckily our driver Levy was very chatty and informative. Most surprising facts learned: Belize is very young, it declared it's independence in the 1980s, the national animal is the tapir, many of the locals still speak Mayan, and we might see pumas, ocelots, and jaguars at this lodge!

Here's a photo of Baba enjoying a chicken tamale from the gas stop -- it had a whole chicken wing (bones included) in the middle! Baba's verdict: a little messy, but sufficiently tasty. 

The ride was....very long and bumpy. Levy kept saying "we are almost there"...and then we'd go another 20 minutes. We eventually rolled into around 9:30. I can definitely understand why most folks travel to Chan Chich by plane. 

Though we did see a tapir, a fox, an owl, and some birds on the drive in, so it wasn't all bad!

We were greeted at the lodge with drinks and cold towels - apparently we are the only guests staying on the entire 33000-acre property tomorrow! 

It's been a more tiring travel day than I'd anticipated, so the bed is looking extra enticing (though I can already tell that mosquito netting is NOT just for show).

Off to sleep!