Wild Week with the McKenzies!

Sargassum Seaweed

Candace and Stan McKenzie arrived on February 14th, and a wild, frantically paced week began so that we cuold see as much of the area as possible in a short period of time!  After a first-night dinner at our local Chinese restaurant with Laura and Bill Connelly, the following morning we set off for new adventures.

Dave was able to take some days off during the week so that he could share a few of the new adventures.  Our first trip was by air in the air ambulance to San Pedro to have an afternoon of snorkeling.

The four of us went directly to our hotel, Caye Casa, and walked nearby for lunch.  Not only did we get rained on in a sudden squall, but unknown to us the restaurant had kitchen issues.  After an hour plus of waiting for food, we went back to the hotel to get into swimsuits for our snorkeling adventure, a little on the hungry side!

Lil Alphonse, the snorkeling guide, was highly recommended by Nathan and Megan to us.  I had never had a really successful experience of snorkeling, i.e. the mask leaked, I would always come out of the water to breathe, etc.  Alphonse spent a good deal of time showing us (we had a young woman from Italy with us, too) how to clean the mask and how to put it on and use it.  To my astonishment, I jumped right in and snorkeled like a pro!  We went to Hol Chan Marine Reserve, and I've never seen so many beautiful fish--more even than the last time I was there!  Alphonse, of course, knew the names of everything!  A couple of highlights were the barracuda and the 6-foot long eel which he coaxed out and which slapped Dave in the leg!  The coral reefs were beautiful, too!  A magnificent experience!  Some in the group thought it was extremely cold, especially out of the water and in the wind, but I think that I was so excited by the whole experience that I felt totally comfortable!  (I hope Candace doesn't mind my posting this picture, which is one of my favorites--the spirit of it!)

After snorkeling in Hol Chan, during which I could get no pictures, since I was in the water, we went to Shark & Ray Alley.  I chose to stay on board and take photos of the other crazy people who went to swim with nurse sharks and rays!  The sharks were in a frenzy at times, but Alphonse was able to hold a couple of sharks and rays, and Candace, Dave and Stan were able to pet them.

The whole snorkeling experience was absolutely wonderful and one that I am so glad that I dove into, despite the fact that I still had the flu and a sinus infection!  No time to be a wimp!

After dinner in San Pedro with some dancing in the streets, since it was the day before Ash Wednesday, and after a little shopping in the town, we took off in search of the Great Blue Hole!  Here is a picture of San Pedro after take off and of Lighthouse Reef on the way to the Blue Hole.

Air traffic was busy out at the Blue Hole, but it remains an amazing thing to see!

The following morning, the four of us drove to Cayo District.  We stopped at the Orange Gallery for lunch and for shopping before heading for the San Ignacio Hotel and Resort.  We had to arrive in time for a tour of the Iguana Conservation Project.  My favorite guide, Bert, was there to give us the tour and to teach us about iguanas.  I noted that there were far fewer iguanas than I've seen in the past.  Sadly, Bert was leaving the Project that week, and many of the iguanas had been released to the wild, as no replacement for Bert had been found and as the veterinarians had apparently quit, too.  For the protection of the iggies, the iguanas were released to the wild, which is the purpose of the Project, anyway.  But the ones that were there delighted the guests!  I had to get a picture of the iguana on the girl's hat!  Candace and Stan and Dave had fun getting to know the iguanas, too, while I took pictures (OK...maybe I am a wimp).

The four of us went to Guava Limb Cafe for dinner, taking the latest reservation they had, which was likely not the best idea, since they were out of all the good specials!

On Wednesday morning, we were up early for our tour into Guatemala to Tikal.  (The roads in Guatemala are definitely better than in Belize.)  Berta was our guide, and she was very knowledgeable of natural and cultural history.  Here she is in front of the Ceiba tree, which is the national tree of Guatemala.  

Tikal was incredible in its size and expanse of Mayan ruins!  I thought that a four hour walk sounded a little extreme, but we could have spent more time there and still not seen all that there was to see.  All the eras of development of Mayan buildings are represented there.  Here are some pictures of the site!

Following a relaxing time by the pool and dinner at the resort, we set off the next morning for Spanish Lookout.

Ferry "motor" to Spanish Lookout!

Our purpose in going to Spanish Lookout was to see the refurbished airplane that was once BERT's. But it was not visible at the airport, though we saw the dirt strip.  (Interestingly, there is a fly-in there next weekend, so Dave will likely go there by air and then will be able to see the "new" airplane. This is the first fly-in event that I have heard of since being in Belize.)

On Friday, Dave was back on duty, more-or-less, and Candace, Stan and I toured Belize City, which meant my driving them around to the House of Culture, St. John's Cathedral, and the new "Belize" sign in the shoreline park!

Candace, Stan and I arranged for a tour of Lamanai on Saturday, which included pick-up at 7:00 AM at our house!  Can't beat that! Lamanai Tours leave from near Orange Walk in boats on the New River.  One of our first stops was to visit the spider monkey who has taken up residence, alone (unusual for a spider monkey, but none of the "women" brought in for him stayed), on the river.  One reason the monkey is happy is that tour boats stop to feed him! Here is Candace offering some watermelon to the fellow, who really would have preferred pineapple today.

Lamanai (or "submerged crocodile") lies on the banks of the New River Lagoon.  We arrived and ate a wonderful lunch!  Then we toured the site, including the highest Mayan temple in Belize.  Our guide had an "assistant," Eduardo, who was a delightful boy!  He is learning to be a tour guide, but still needs to go to high school (I hope!).

Stan & Candace at Mask Temple

On the return boat trip, we stopped to visit with a lazy crocodile, enjoying a view from his log!

Arriving home, we found Chef David had been preparing a feast, complete with menu!

Candace and Stan had one more morning before their afternoon flight back to Seattle.  Surely, there was time for one last site to visit!  About the only thing open on a Sunday in Belize is the Zoo, so we headed out there for a final adventure.  In fact, it was a great adventure for me, too, as Candace and I did the Jaguar Encounter!  Junior Buddy was taken out of the area for a few minutes while Candace and I entered a cage with a guide.  Junior Buddy came out, and for a treat from the handler, did somersaults!  Then Candace and I fed him!  We were able to pet him and feel those powerful muscles and the pads of his feet when he was on top of the cage above us!  We loved it!  (Stan, thankfully, took pictures!)

We found a Howler Monkey and its mother in a tree.  The baby Howler was learning his climbing skills, and mom had to catch him a few times!

Unfortunately, the week had to end.  I don't know that I have ever seen as much of Belize (and a bit of Guatemala) in that short of time!  We were on the move at break-neck speed--and had the best time doing it!  I hope they return for a follow-up visit!  Surely, there is something that we left out!

View of New River Lagoon from the highest Mayan Temple in Belize

Story in Pictures

Sunset in Placencia

Jeremy and Jonattan came for Christmas, and the two weeks that we spent together was absolutely wonderful!  They were such great travelers, always ready to experience another adventure, frequently going to places that Dave and I had never seen so could not recommend!  What fun!  Time has flown by since the visit, and without pictures, I would have a difficult time remembering all of the experiences that we had.

Of course we went to the Belize Zoo, which was another great trip!  As we were there in late afternoon, I was able to see the nocturnal animals out and awake for the first time!  Here's a little owl, who was very interested in studying me!

As we would be on the road on Christmas Day, we celebrated with an "Almost Christmas" dinner and opening of gifts.    

Here are  a couple of photos of Christmas gift-giving!  

(Dave received a Go-Pro so that he can learn to do movies from the airplane!)

The four of us climbed into the car and drove south towards Punta Gorda.  Dave and I had ventured as far south as Placencia, but had not taken the Southern Highway to Punta Gorda.  We stayed at a beautiful place, The Lodge at Big Falls, on the Rio Grande River.  (Big Falls is the name of the village, though there are no actual falls there.)  We had two casitas, and a visitor was already staying in my bathroom!  

Dave was able to escort him to the deck, unscathed.

Here is our casita with a river view.

The first adventure was a short visit to Laugh Out Loud Children's Home, seeing Melissa Fisher at their beautiful site outside Punta Gorda!  A new counselor had just arrived, and of course, her name was Pat!  LOL (no pun intended)!

We then went on down the road to Ixcacao  

for lunch and a tour of how chocolate is harvested and made.  Mmmm...what a great place!  We had chocolate pork and chocolate chicken, with calaloo and hot chocolate!

Everyone had bowls of cacao beans that needed to be shelled, then ground with a metate and mano.

Jeremy discovered that a friend of his in San Francisco purchases cacao from this small grower for specially crafted chocolate.  We had a great time buying the finished product!

We next drove to Rio Blanco Falls that were lovely.  The walk through the jungle led to falls falling into a deep pond!

The drive through the villages was interesting, as the people of the south, in Toledo District, seem to use more thatch than what we see in Belize District.  I called them "Thatch Subdivisions!"

The four of us were interested in finding the Mayan ruins of Uxbenka.  These ruins are not excavated much, so it was a little like seeing ruins as the larger, more developed tourists sites may once have been.  We asked a woman and her children if we were on the right dirt road, and she said that we were and that the villagers collect money that is given to the city council for the upkeep of the site.  Not knowing if this was an innovative way of begging or not, we gave them some money for the information.  We then saw a man on horseback who also directed us to the end of the road and who also said that the village collects donations for the upkeep of the site.  He was fine with our telling him that we'd already donated, and he gave us a bit of a tour. The site was interesting, and here is a moss covered stella.

Christmas night was spent in the Lodge bar with the owner and a friend.  Great fun celebrating with new friends!

The following day we went to another Mayan site, Lubaantun.  The road was unbelievably bad to get to the site, but the place itself was great!  

We did go through Punta Gorda, the major town of south Belize.    Hmmmm...

From Punta Gorda, we drove to Placencia, which sits on a peninsula.  We stayed at Robert's Grove, a large resort with beautiful beach.  

Dave and Jeremy and Jonattan went snorkeling on one afternoon while I stayed to sit on the beach or poolside for a day of reading and relaxing!  We also spent an afternoon walking through Placencia, which is pretty place.

The big adventure from Placencia, and a primary purpose of our visit there, was to take a tour up Monkey River.  It is a beautiful river that we reached after a long boat ride through mangroves.  We headed up the river, watching the birds fly and crocodiles lie on the sandbars!  We then took a walk through the jungle in search of howler monkeys, who were quiet in the trees that day.  Lunch was in the very small village of Monkey River.  We saw manatees on our way home.  I did not know that they breached like a whale!

After returning to Belize City, Dave flew the the air ambulance as a taxi to take Jeremy and Jonattan to San Pedro for a couple of nights.  The day was beautiful, and we took a flight over the famous Blue Hole!  The Barrier Reef was stunning, and the Blue Hole was an odd scene in a sea of blue!

Jeremy and Jonattan had a wonderful time snorkeling at Hol Chan and swimming with sharks and rays in Shark and Ray Alley!  They also explored San Pedro for a couple of days, and enjoyed their time in San Pedro and stay at Ramon's Village.

Jeremy, Jonattan and I had one last adventure, going to San Ignacio for a day.  We toured Xunantunich.  The Howler Monkeys were very noisy in their greetings for us!  

Jeremy and Jonattan climbed the highest temple!

Though I have no pictures, Jeremy and Jonattan also enjoyed visiting the Green Iguana Project, playing with iggies!

The trip was incredibly enjoyable, I hope for them as it was for us!  Since Dave and I have decided to stay another year, I am hoping that they will be able to visit again!