Belize Part 2

After three nights in the jungle, we piled into a van to head to Belize City to catch the water taxi to Caye Ambergis. Caye is pronounce Key. The water taxi is a speed boat that makes the trip in 1.5 hours. I confirmed that I enjoy speed boats most when skiing behind them rather than bumping around on them.

Once we arrived on island, we discovered the transportation was mostly golf carts. They were abundant! The other option of vehicles was mini van taxi. I bet you can guess how we chose to get around...walking. We did have to watch out to avoid being run over by the golf carts. We were blessed with a sunny day the first day at the beach. After checking in, we quickly went to the grocery store for some food. Due to it being an island, nothing was cheap. We worked in a brief snorkel at the end of the dock.

Our first evening, we enjoyed a sail. It was supposed to be sunset sail. The sunset was overshadowed by rain clouds. The star gazing while sailing gently over the waves, however, was worth the trip.  The evening finished with dinner by the sea.

We had breakfasts each day by the sea as well. We spent the day times snorkeling, relaxing by the pool, reading, in hammocks, walking around town. Each day we ate a different place for dinner or lunch. The snorkel trips were about 2.5 hours including travel time.

The first and in my opinion best snorkel spot was Hol Chan. We saw trumpet fish, snapper, grouper, angel fish, different types of parrot fish, blue tang, many different rays, Christmas tree worms, coral, green turtle, nurse sharks, and others. Our guide would point out the different fish and then come up to the surface to share the name. We also went to Shark Ray Alley. This location is where many nurse sharks and rays hang out. The boat drivers feed them so they come very close to the people in the water. I will admit, I was uncomfortable. I know they were nurse sharks, but sharks are sharks in my book. On the way back, we saw a loggerhead turtle.

The next morning it was rainy and windy. There was not a snorkel trip going out until the afternoon. In the afternoon, despite the rain coming, we went to Mexico Rocks. It is mostly coral. I did see an eel and a green turtle. The guide was not nearly as helpful or friendly. The water was quite choppy due to the wind and coming rain. Kalinda was brave and went out the next day to Hol Chan again. She enjoyed seeing the variety of fish. I read and napped while the rain came down most of the afternoon.

One day we went to town and found the craft market. It was small, but had beads, headbands, wooden bowls and dolls. Not far from the market, we found an ice cream shop. It had rich, creamy, homemade coconut icecream. It was delicious.

Kalinda and I also explored a local place for dinner that had King Conch Shell for the spout on the bathroom sink. The water handles were also shells. My favorite food was genuine papusas. I have been looking for these and wanting authentic ones since I left Guatemala. Yes, they are originally from El Salvador, but I first had them in Guatemala.

All in all, it was a great time of relaxation, seeing new things, and good food. I, however, would not recommend Ambergis Caye (at least in rainy season) unless you scuba. There are many more scuba divers and sites to go to than snorkelers.

Jungle of Belize

My friend Kalinda is teaching me the ropes of traveling while holding down a "permanent" job. Although the travels tend to be shorter and geographically closer, they are not less adventurous. We recently traveled to Belize for 8 days. Since we both have been working and learning, we decided to make it easier on ourselves. We arranged transportation to and from airport and around the country prior to arriving.

Exiting the plane, we were welcomed by the warm humid air Latin American colorful airport. Seeing the homes, shops, and people, while driving through the outskirts of Belize City made me feel at peace. Immediately you are aware everything is different than the routine of life in the city and hospital in North Carolina. After riding for about 1.5 hours through the open countryside, the trees became taller, closer together, and more variety. We turned off the main road to arrive a wooden building in the dense jungle.

After the grand tour and explanation of the schedule, we promptly gather our cameras to enjoy the botanical gardens. Many of the plants were labeled with the name, medicinal uses, food/oil uses. We also found out that during rainy season, mosquitoes have a very healthy population in the jungle. After a swim and swing in the hammock, I enjoyed an outdoor shower in the jungle. While there was plenty of privacy, it took some adjusting trusting it was private.

Private outdoor shower

View from the pool

We arrived to dinner in the main area. Dinner was served buffet style but seating was family style. This set up was great for fostering community. During dinner, we picked our activity/adventure for following day. Here is a sample dinner: homemade chips and different dip every night. Second course: pasta dish, two homemade hard cheeses, two choices of homemade bread, fruit, salad fixings, two salads or veggies. Main course: Beef, chicken, and local (Belize) fish, same cheeses and fruit, potatoes someway, two different veggie dishes, rice and beans made with coconut milk. Dessert: three different options each night. One always had "Hershey's Chocolate Syrup" on top.  The grouper and snapper was delicious. My favorite desserts were homemade coconut ice cream, lemon something, lime pie with solid chocolate "crust"/no gluten. We also enjoyed several drinks with local rums and fresh fruit juices.

During the night or early morning, torrential downpours awoke us. Sometimes I could go back to sleep; sometimes not. Breakfast was not served until 8AM. Breakfast did not disappoint. The options were: omlet bar, fresh local fruit, yogurt, granola, boxed cereal, scrambled eggs with cheese, sauteed veggies, a bread (pancakes, fry jacks, french toast, etc), potatoes somehow, cookies, meat (bacon, sausage, etc). One could have orange juice if you squeezed it.

After breakfast we, met for our adventure of the day. The first day began with 11 of us and 3 guides piling into a open trailer behind a diesel truck that would not pass emission tests. We wound our way through a large orange grove, in and out of the river and through mud. This way our shoes were already wet before the rest of our bodies entered the river. We all tumbled out of the trailer to receive a helmet with headlamp, life jacket, and an inter-tube. After a brief walk through the jungle we entered the first of 5 caves. Plopped down in the tube and began paddling with our arms and hands. The river was slow except for a couple rapids in the second cave. The third and fourth caves were shorter, so we did them without our headlamps. This is a way to appreciate the darkness in the caves.

We took a lunch break on a rock outcropping in the jungle between caves. The lunch was complete with a white table cloth, homemade tortillas, fresh cut veggies, hard cheese, salami, and hard boiled eggs.  After finishing the caves, we floated down the river to commercial area with tubes for rent and bathrooms. We rode in a van 45 minute back to Cave's Branch.

The second day, we chose the waterfall adventure.  We began this one piling into a school bus. After off roading in a similar fashion as the day before, we arrived at a small opening in the jungle. We all were given small day packs and 2 liters of water to carry. We walked about 20 minutes in the jungle performing the mosquito dance and enjoying the variety of trees and plants. When we came to the opening of the cave system, we donned our helmets and headlamps. Following the lead guide, we entered. Soon our feet and legs up to our knees were drenched by walking through the river. The stalagmites and stalactites were extensive. We saw a few columns, formations that looked like dams, pumpkins, scorpion-spiders, and bats.

2 hours walk into the cave we all donned our harnesses. Half an hour walk further into the cave we encountered the first waterfall. The second one was about 25-30 feet and required the harness and belay system. The others ranged from 5-10 feet. Upon completing the climbs we back tracked. This meant jumping down many of them. Although I did them all, I did not want to be first. Kalinda was brave a jump the tallest one first. At each waterfall, the lead guide would tell each individual one by one exactly where to jump into the pool below. Each participant would confirm prior to the jump. After completing all the waterfalls, we had the same lunch as the day before including the white table cloth. This time, however, we were inside the cave with our feet in the river. We returned the same way we entered.

Things do not dry during rainy season in the jungle :)

This about sums up our time in the jungle with Cave's Branch.