Belize 2014 - Part 3 (Final)

Day 5

It was wisely suggested by Tsunami Adventures that we travel to the mainland on Friday to avoid the crowds of the cruise ships, it was a great call.  We were collected at the Belize City water taxi port by Julien who brought us to our driver and co-tour guide Major Tom's and along the way we collected the other co-tour guide Mike.  There were 8 of us in the group who had varied tour combos of ziplining, cave tubing and Mayan ruins, but everyone was agreeable to Major Tom's suggestion that we all participate in all three options.

After stopping for some delicious bean empanadas courtesy of Major Tom, we headed to the Aerial Trek Canopy Tours for my first ziplining experience that included 7 segments and was amazing!

We continued on to Caves Branch River(The Nohoch Che’en Reserve).  After a 30 minute hike and a rock dive, Mike lead us into our cave tubing adventure.

After changing into dry clothes and picking up our lunch (chicken, rice & beans) we headed for the Altun Ha Mayan Ruins.  On our way there, we saw this really cool cactus tree!  Upon arrival, Major Tom gave us the historical tour all while attempting to dismiss Al Gore's climate change concerns every chance he got.

Day 6

On our final day on Caye Caulker we headed out to the Hol Chan Marine Reserve and Shark Ray Alley and the channel with Tzac of Reef Friendly Tours.  We saw nurse sharks, sting rays, turtles, eagle rays and a moray eel.  (The clip below as the batfish from our snorkeling in the split)

In front of our condo, Caye Reef.

The winner of the best ice cream on the Caye Caulker.

They had some strange Ice Cream flavored Oreos...in toxic looking colors.

I had an overdue massage at the Healing Touch Day Spa on Saturday, which was a perfect way to close out the vacation.

Apparently drinking and cycling with a minor is not an issue in Caye Caulker.

Last supper @ Habaneros in the midst of a torrential downpour, fortunately it was the only one of our vacation and we were under shelter at the onset.

Pork, ribs & chicken, YUM!

The Split.

Home of the crazy dude who we witnessed boldly chatting up a young Dutch woman right in front of her boyfriend.

Parting view of our condo.

Waiting on the water taxi!

Were on our way home...we're going home...

Belize 2014 - Part 2

DAY 2:

I opted for an early rise to watch the sunrise from the balcony on day 2.

We went to Belize Diving Services and booked my dive trip for the next day.  This is the dock and boat I’ll be heading out on (boat photo taken later in the day).

There was a soccer field which makes Van Cortland Park look like the Camp Nou!

There are dogs everywhere, yet we see less dog poop here than in NYC where dogs actually have owners to "care" for them.  A gentleman later informed us that the city cleans up the streets.  This sounded fantastic, until he went on to tell us about the monthly eradication of the poor creatures by way of cyanide infused meat after a 24 hour warning to the island.  While heartbreaking to hear, I was relieved when he said that it's been 3 months now since the last one, thanks to organizations working like the Kenny's Shelter and P.A.W. & the Humane Society, the latter runs PAUSE, affordable accommodations where all profits go to providing food, shelter, sterilization and medical needs.  There are definitely a ton of animal lovers on this island.

 What is this, they are everywhere here?

After exploring a few markets, all of which have dusty and frequently expired foods along with some bold imposters, and the local bakery (which thankfully had fresh products) we headed to the Split to go snorkeling and test out our Go Pros.  I spotted a stingray, but unfortunately wasn't adept enough at using my Go Pro to capture it, but later found this hideous batfish on the north side of the Split.  While it was fun and we seemed to have started a trend being the first ones in the water while there, we didn’t stay out too long we having to be mindful of the passing boats and the currents were quite strong quickly exhausting us.

We took another walk through town checking out the local establishments in the daytime before we settled on having some street meat from Terry’s Grill.  I had the chili garlic chicken while Michelle sampled the jerk chicken, both came with rice, beans and coleslaw…complete with local dog companions.  After lunch, we tried the local ice cream shop highly recommended by the 6 year old tour guide earlier in the trip.  We’ll have to verify his endorsement by sampling all the competitors as well.

We just lounged on the beach in front of our condo and did, well, nothing before deciding to take another walk to check out the sunset on the other side of the island (walking from east to west on the island is less than a 5 minute walk).  We set up camp on the dock of Belize Diving Services and we again started a trend.

We wondered around town again noticing interesting storefronts (a lot closed during the low season) and names, and shockingly enough, there is a Starbucks here.  

We also discovered that the island motto “Go Slow.  We have two cemeteries and no hospital” is not entirely accurate.  There are in fact three cemeteries.  I’m only guessing this resulted from few people heeding the motto in the first place.

Local cinema.

Nighttime basketball.

They keep telling us to "Go Slow" and yet they tell us to walk 10 MPH?

We completed our day dining on pizza at the Coconut Reef Italian Trattoria capped by a cocktail and then early to bed for me as I was doing my dive refresher early in the morning.

DAY 3:

My I discovered the new way of dog walking on my early travel to the dive shop.

We first dove Mini Elbow in Turneffe Atoll.  We saw turtles, moray eels, lion fish, lobster, and tons of creole fish.

 The water was gorgeous!

 Our second dive was Black Coral Wall, and the video from both dives!

We went up to check out the view and hot tub on our rooftop and watch the sunset!

We then went to have Middle Eastern food at Aladdin, complete with a Belizean Coke!

After dinner we did some more exploring at the south end of the island that appeared to have more locals than tourists congregating, some for church services!

DAY 4:

Thursday we were determined to get the mini donuts at the Ice & Beans cafe in the Remax (yes, the realtor).  They were AWESOME!  We even got our frequent customer card punches.  While we dined in front of the most incredible view and owner Mario's porch office, he told us his story of how he narrowly escaped the horrible life he was living in oppressive Canada.

We had planned to rent bikes for the day to explore the island, but ended up walking a loop of nearly the entire island.  We spotted a lonely mangrove, and cool dwellings.

Caribbean island cemeteries always have the best views!

The owner was still building this home.

Conch shell wall.

One of the less stable docks.

The air strip.

One of the safer crossings we encountered on our adventure.

The dry path.

The swampy road, several of which we had to pass, I did it barefooted while Michelle bravely did it while wearing flip flops.

The warnings all around the air strip.

The airport...and parking lot.  If you see a bag unattended...

 We finally found our way back to civilization.

A fancy hotel representin' my high school class colors!

After 7+ miles of walking, we headed back to Ice & Beans to reward ourselves with the shaved ice, once I saw Michelle's large, I opted for the medium. 2 more punches!

After a well needed and a brief dip in the pool, we headed out to confirm our zipline/cave tubing trip the next day.  Then we ventured out to sample my second and Michelle's third ice cream shop, which currently has the lead, at least in rocky road...but there's research to be done.  We stopped in for a chat with Kenny at the longest running animal shelter on the island and provided donations. Final endorsement of this entry, the fish and chips at Maggie's Sunset Dinner was absolutely fantastic!!