Day 12 - Belize

Sadly, we parted ways this morning.  The boys went home and Mom flew to Punta Gorda.  In the airport, we each gave our top 4 activities from our trip.  Here they are in no specific order.
Nathan: cave tubing, Rio on Pools, snorkeling, jumping off the pier, seeing the jaguars

Evan: cave tubing, Rio on Pools, snorkeling, climbing to the top of the highest temple at Xunantunich

Adam: snorkeling, Rio on Pools, cave tubing, Xunantunich

Holly: Tikal, cave tubing, Rio on Pools, snorkeling

Mom is going to start blogging so that we can follow her trip.  This will last only as long as the internet connection.

Don't let its location on the map fool you.  Punta Gorda (or PG as the locals call it) is not a beach paradise.  I am staying at the nicest hotel that I've seen in town and feel like I'm back in the days of traveling through central Mexico and staying in rooms for less than $10 a night.  The only difference is that I have my own bathroom (and the price).  Also, there is no beach here, though most of town, including my hotel, is set on the Gulf of Honduras.  I took a walk along a dirt road at the edge of town and found a gem of a restaurant nestled between the houses and built right over the water.

I am posting a few pictures of the airport for Evan and Nathan to see.

P.S. Evan, did you remember to add tarantula to your list of animals that we saw?  I forgot to post it from our hike to the cave.

The runway at the PG airport

The terminal

The pilots watching the ground 'crew' pull the plane into place

My view for lunch



Day 11 - Belize

This was our last full day in Belize.  So how do we go out with a bang?  We spent the whole day snorkeling at the barrier reef!  What an adventure!  The Belizean barrier reef is one of the longest in the world, second only to the Great Barrier Reef in Australia.  We can't list all of the animals we saw today, but here are a few: nurse shark, barracuda, spotted eagle ray, parrot fish, blue tang, balloon fish, puffer fish, lobster.  We ate lunch on a caye and watched pelicans dive for sardines.  Great day!

Look, Grandpa!  They put their boats in the water in Belize just like you do!

 

These two houses are the only ones on a tiny spit of land on a mangrove island.  The residents live here year-round.  You'd have to be extremely self-sufficient and resilient to do this.  It is 9 miles to the nearest town... by boat.

Joe: This is the cabin we should buy together!  Unfortunately, I later learned that it is a marine biology research center.

We helped pull in the anchor each time we changed locations.

This was one type of bird we didn't have to ask about.  Right before Mom snapped this picture, these cormorants were drying their wings just like they do on the buoys at Grandma and Grandpa's house. 

Playing music with our pop bottles at lunch.

View from the water of our lodging at Hopkins Village.

 

Evan asked for a demonstration of how to get into this nut, which was in season and EVERYWHERE since it grows wild in Belize.  A man used his machete to get to the edible part for him and then showed him how to drink the milk and eat the meat.  It was a lot like a coconut, but the husk is about 4-5 inches thick.  (The umbrella is his added touch from something else he had earlier in the week.)



Day 10 - Belize

Not many pictures today so here is a description of our day. 

Played while Mom went for a run.

Walked to the two places in town that serve breakfast.  Both closed.  Stopped at the grocery store for cereal and milk and ate at the beach.  (See picture.)

Played in the water.

Sat under the coconut trees at the beach.

Ate lunch at one of only two "restaurants" (more like roadside stands) in town.

Played in the water.

Mom and Dad sat under the coconut trees while we played on the beach.

Had dinner in the same spot that we had breakfast.

Did we mention that it was pretty much us and the herons and pelicans all day?  Our own piece of paradise.

This is the life!

Belize - Day 9

Mom enjoyed an early morning run on a rural country road.  There was absolutely no road noise.  In fact, she was only passed by one car and one young man singing while riding his bike with hiccups.  In the “quiet”, she was surrounded by the sounds of animals waking – cows, roosters, hens, tons of birds, an unknown creature, frogs, and… Howler monkeys.  Since Howler monkeys sound a lot like dinosaurs, little like being on a farm in the middle of Jurassic Park.  (In fact, some of the sound effects for the dinosaurs on Jurassic Park actually were Howler monkeys.) 

After breakfast, we headed toward the coast.  We took the Hummingbird Highway, which is a breathtakingly beautiful stretch of road through the jungle.  We were surrounded by lush forest and mountains.  We stopped at the Blue Hole National Park, where we hiked to St. Herman’s cave and swam in the Blue Hole (two separate locations, but part of the same cave system).  Then we got to our final destination, Hopkins Village and the beach!  We swam in the warm Caribbean Sea and Evan even made friends with another tourist and one of the local boys.  They played ball in the water and jumped off the pier until dusk.  We are already convinced we should have spent a lot more of our vacation here – actually vacationing!

 

This crab joined us for dinner.  Walked right up to the table!

Day 8 - Belize

Today we had some much needed down-time.  We took a kayak tour this morning and saw a lot of wildlife and learned a lot about the Belizean flora.  We saw a Jesus lizard, plain chachalacas with their babies, a boat-billed heron, centasaurs, vultures, a hummingbird on her nest, fruit bats, a heron, a snail kite, a raccoon, and several iguanas.  We spent the rest of the day swimming at a great local swimming pool.  We all even made some friends.  We were there for five hours so we are a little red!  We arrived back at our cabin to find a Howler monkey hanging out in a tree by the river.

 

A hummingbird sitting on her nest.  If you look closely, you can see her beak.