Un Belize-able

I have to start this blog with a big, ol THANK YOU to Bruce. This has been rough! From planes, trains and boat ferries and automobiles we have now circumnavigated the globe. Bruce and I were ready to throw in the towel and head back home, a full month earlier than we had planned. But then, after canceling our trek to Machu Picchu, we decided to try to end our trip on a high note. We wanted to come back to somewhere tropical, where we could decompress on a beach, chill and dive. We decided on Belize after the multiple positive comments that we'd heard from my brother, Brien. He loves this place and has told us multiple times how great the people are, how good the food is and how nice the beaches are. We were sold. We booked a flight and one week later, we were here in Belize.
Belize is NOT for everyone. In fact, it is not for most of you. I love all of ya'll following this (friends and family) and I'm not trying to insult, i just know that most of ya'll couldn't tolerate a place like this. Belize is SLOW....you don't have the "modern" comforts of stuff like shopping malls, TV, cable, air conditioning, electricity (it is kinda fickle), etc. I know for a fact that my mom and sister wouldn't make it a day here! :) Getting here was a bitch, too! Its easy to get to Belize City, but that wasn't our final destination. We flew from Lima to Miami then Miami to Belize City. The "International" airport in Belize City was not much more than a couple of runways, with a small building at the end. It was not at all what you'd expect from an international airport. Next, we had to catch a local plane to San Pedro Town on Ambergris Caye. It was not a plane by any stretch of the imagination. It was more like a flying box. No seat assingments, no nothing. Just get in where you fit in. Carry on's went on your lap. It was crazy. I could reach up and touch the pilot. To go on that flight seemed like an idiot idea but it was worth it. We were rewarded with a 15 minute flight over the second largest barrier reef in the world.

This would not go over well with the FAA-You can reach out and touch your pilot

The MesoAmerican Reef, second largest in the world

After seeing the "international" airport, i shoulda known that the San Pedro Airstrip would be suspect at best. Upon landing we went into a house and in the garage out the back a guy was unloading our luggage onto a wheelbarrow, contraption to bring bags over. It was surreal.

Baggage carosel, Belizian style

It would help security if the fence actually worked

Downtown San Pedro...in rush hour traffic

Rush hour traffic in downtown San Pedro on Ambergris Caye

 The first thing I noticed about San Pedro was that there were only a couple of cars. The "taxi's" were sometimes just golf carts. Golf carts are the main mode of transportation in Belize. In fact, there are several areas of the island which are inaccessable via car. Once again, because we were planning on staying for about 3 weeks, we decided to rent a room in a lady's house rather than a hotel. We totally lucked up and found a room at the cutest place! The owner, Julie is an amazing expat from Vermont. She bought an old house on the beach 12 years ago, tore it down and built a cute 7 room beach house in its place. We couldn't have found a more perfect place. With only 7 room in the place, we felt more like a family than "guests" at a hotel. We had the opportunity to meet her crazy companion, Captain Baxter, an old grizzled Belizian guy who told us the craziest stories about everything!

Arriving at the house that we stayed at

The cool thing about Belize is that the people are very diverse. Everyone thought we were locals and after being there a couple of weeks, we learned the names of all the neigborhood characters. I also dubbed them nicknames that they may not know about. Crazy Capt'n, Weed man Todd, Meth Man Clinton, Old Street Lady, Bru Man, Coconut Leo and  Big Sexy. Seriously, half these people used these as their actual names!

Coconut Leo, heading up to harvest coconuts...note the lack of safety gear...

Crazy Coconut Leo

Crazy Coconut Leo showing Bruce the art of coconut cracking

I also love the Belizan way of life. It is so "Don't worry be happy". There are no safety rules, kids run around without supervision, its like back when we were growing up and you could play outside without a GPS on or an amber alert. Its also interesting to see the ways people transport their kids here. Did you know it is completely fine to ride with you baby in your arms as you drive a golf cart down an unpaved road? Yep! As long as the kid has some head control, its ok! Also, it is completely acceptable to have 6 children in a golf cart. The back seat should be reserved for kids over 5 but the front seat is for the two and three year old...oh and don't forget your 6 month old that you hold in one arm while you steer with the other...Also, allowing your five year old to swim off of a boat pier while you have a drink at the bar across the street is cool...as long as you can see him from the bar stool. I swear, this is the ONLY place I would raise a child. These kids never get hurt, they don't get snached off the street and they don't need expensive stuff like bike helmets, knee pads or safety gear! You save money on raising kids!!!

Three little boys going out in the ocean to fish...probably will bring back 100lbs of fish!

Baby in the front seat of a golf cart...makes me think of all the money we waste on car seats...

Our boat captain, driving Belizian style

Being in Belize was like taking 20 years off of our lives. We didn't do anything all day but lay around, drink and every now and then, muster the energy to go eat. The food was amazing, a blend of Mexican, African and Carribean flavors with the best seafood you can imagine. Every day was fish or conch. Fish curry, fish tacos, fish pupusas, fish stew...you get the picture.

This was taken at 10AM one day, right after i had my first beer of the day!

My new work ethic..i'm going to put this sign up in my office

After chilling in Belize for almost two weeks, we got the energy up to dive. Actually, we were waiting for Bruce to fully recover from his pneumonia. We went out with a local Belizian dive shop to several local reefs that were rife with life...big life. We saw tons of big Southern stingrays, eagle rays, big tarpon, huge 30+ lb grouper, snapper and my favorite, nurse sharks. Any one that dives knows that one of the first things that you are taught as a diver was to not molest the sea life. Well, these folk in Belize didn't get that memo. They were molesting the hell outta those sea creatures. I saw a dive master grab a nurse shark by its dorsal fin and hitch a ride, then he flipped it over and began petting it like a dog. He beckoned me over, while he's holding the 200+lb shark in his arms and what did I do? Go over, like an idiot and pet the shark! (Hey, you only live once!!!) It was awesome, to be so close to something so big and scary!

We also decided to venture out and see some of the country. Our first foray into the "country" was a 30 minute boat ride over to the next island of Caye Cauker. Now, remember, I told you that Ambergris Caye had only a couple of cars, people mostly walked and used golf carts. It was a slow, quiet way of life. Well, Caye Cauker made Ambergris Caye look like Manhattan. You can't imagine how quiet the island was! You could walk the entire lenght of the island in less than 30 minutes. There were no hotels, only guest houses and rooms for rent. Everyone walked and we didn't see any golf carts. As we strolled down the main beach road in Caye Cauker I thought, "I really needed this break from Ambergris Caye, all the golf cart traffic and huge population of 12,000 people was starting to get to me"....

Hotel option in Caye Cauker

Fast food, Belizian style

Me and the Cake Lady on Caye Cauker

Room accomodations on the cheap!

We had to indulge in the lazy Belizian days and the Palapa bar was a good way to do it! We found this lonely bar, riding a golf cart up a dirt road. It stood over the water and had the most ingenious idea! Let your patrons swim in the ocean and hand them beers and alcohol down via bucket so they don't have to sober up enough to walk up the stairs! Brilliant! Needless to say, we spent hours adrift outside of the bar.

After I read the sign, I was ready to take them up on the offer!

It was a busy day...laying around

We also decided to go to the mainland of Belize to see the ancient Mayan ruins of Lamani. I knew it was an all day trip but I wasn't quite prepared for the all day-ness of it. It was hard for me to actually wake up to an alarm and be somewhere for a scheduled boat. The trip to Lamanai was long but well worth it. It started with a 1 hour boat ride to Belize City, followed by a 1 hour car ride up into the country about 40 miles away from the Mexican border, followed by another one hour boat ride up a river, thru mangrove forests and jungle in oppressive heat to reach the Mayan ruins of Lamanai. It was worth the three hour journey.

Boat ride down the New River in Belize, on the way to the Lamanai ruins

Our "bus" that we took to the dock...I felt like I was going back to the 1970's

You felt like you had stumbled upon an Indiana Jones movie set. After leaving the river dock, we walked thru jungle to a series of perfectly hidden Mayan ruins dating back to 200 BC. Everyone has their ideas about Mayan culture, but if you recall, they were one of the most scientifically advanced cultures in prehistoric times. They developed the perfect calendar (2012 here we come!!!), astrology, medicine and even a written language. To see the ruins of their civilization was humbling. I had touched the Great Wall of China, seen great works of art in Europe and now, I got to scale a 212 foot monument over 2,000 years old! Scaling the monument was also logged under the Dumbest-things-i've-ever-done list. What made me think that climbing up the near vertical face of a 2000 year old monument using just a rope as a "fail-safe", in the middle of a jungle, in a third world country, 3 hours away from the nearest hospital was probably not the brightest thing i've done. But like i said, you only live once! For the 20 minute climb in 100 degree jungle heat we were rewarded with views of the jungle canopy and the river that stretched on for miles. I am not a fan of jungles, mostly because of its main residents, bugs. This jungle was truly alive. We were screamed at by howeler monkeys and kowati, scrambling across the trail. We saw lizards and colorful toucans and thankfully, no spiders! It was a successful day in the jungle!!!!

The Jaguar Mayan Ruin

The Great Lamanai Ruin, standing 212 feet above the ground

The view of the river from the top of the ruin

We made it!!

So now that I got up here...how the hell do i get down?

What goes up, must CLIMB down a tiny ass rope

This had to be one of the best locations EVER! This was the perfect end to an amazing journey around the world. Now that we've finished our trip around the world I can say that this would be my favorite place to live! It has everything we've ever wanted: a slow pace of life, a beach, people that appreciate life and living, diving and an amazing reef and alcohol!!! I never realized how much you don't need in life and what is important. Restauraunts should have dirt floors, no windows and dogs wandering around, a nice restauraunt should require a shirt but not shoes, children should be able to run free, everyone should know each other, streets should be made of sand and not concrete and evenings should be spent listening to the ocean breezes in the palm trees. I haven't put on anything but shorts and flip flops in almost a month and I don't miss anything. I don't need air conditioning, stores, TV, fast food or fancy clothes. This is the way I believe that life should be. You better Belize it!

Check out the pics from our last country, Belize by clicking here