The Rest of Belize

After our great tour to the ATM caves, we had a quieter day. I hung around town while the girls went off to do some horseback riding. They arranged a guide through the hotel and traveled off to take a trail ride along a river, through some farm land and to a butterfly farm. Their guide was an ex-jockey of African descent with long dreadnoughts who made the ride very enjoyable. I spent the morning updating the blog at a local internet place, and sat in the warm sun in the afternoon reading a book.

That evening we all returned to use the computer to download my digital pictures and burn them onto a cd. Dee had forgotten to bring her battery charger and after a few days had run out of battery and couldn´t take any pictures. So she was anxious to get a copy of all my photos. Also it would be a good back up for me, as cameras can be a prime target for thieves in this part of the world. So we downloaded the nearly 700 pictures I had to that point. We did the same again just before Dee left, so she had a complete photo record of our trip to end of Belize. There certainly are many things to shoot...ie photos...in this part of the world.

Wednesday we decided to head for the Belize Zoo. We had almost to decided to give this a miss but we are sure glad we didn´t. About 9 a.m. we hopped a bus heading for Belize and asked the conductor to drop us at the Zoo which is situated about 30 kms west of the city. It took us about 90 mins to reach the Zoo on this Belizian version of a chicken bus.

As we entered what our travel book described as one of the best small zoos in the world, we immediately came across a man holding a six foot boa constrictor. A couple of us took turns holding this beautiful reptile while we took the obligatory pictures. We then began our walking tour of the grounds and spent the next three hours or so in total fascination and awe at the wildlife here.

The Zoo had been started some years ago by an American women who had come to Belize to make a documentary film. Following the shoot, she stayed on to look after a number of the semi tame animals that had been used in the film and the rest is history. We actually ran into this women at the cage containing some brightly colored red macaus feeding them some peanuts. She offered us some and we also passed a few of the unshelled nuts to the gorgeous birds clinging to the side of the cage.

The Zoo is laid out in a series of very natural enclosures. The bars and netting are very unobtrusive and it was almost as if the animals were in their natural setting. And everywhere there were cute hand painted signs with rhymes on them describing the animals and imploring Belizians to be aware of the need for conservation of their habitat. We walked around marveling at animals such as the tapir or mountain cow, a strange animal looking like a cross between an ant eater and a small hippo, large crocodiles sunning on the banks of a lagoon, and birds of every description.....brightly colored toucans, green and red parrots and even a captive Harpy Eagle like the one we had seen in the wild in Tikal. And there were a host of other interesting animals. But of course the most famous and certainly some of the most beautiful creatures we have seen, were the jaguars.

At first we could not see them in their enclosure until we looked high into the tall trees and spotted one lying precariously on a limb fast asleep. A few minutes later we did see one prowling around in the foliage of the enclosure and he eventually came right up to us at the fence. This magnificent cat has the most beautiful coat...a brownish orange dotted with small black patterned spots. It was a little smaller than a mountain lion but judging by its teeth and sharp claws you would not want to being on the receiving end of an attacking jaguar!! I managed to get a couple of great photos. And later we saw the sleek black jaguar lying serenely in a wooded area near the fence...another magnificent large cat. As I´ve said previously, the sighting of a jaguar in Central America is a much sought after but rare experience, so we felt very lucky to have seen this wonderful animal even though it was in captivity.

That evening we talked about our options for the rest of Belize. We had to be in Belize City on Sunday for our water taxi to Caye Caulker, but we thought we might change our planned itinerary. We had planned to go north to Orange Walk to perhaps see a large Mayan ruin, but we felt Tikal had been enough of this type of experience for a while. And we also considered going to Dangriga where we could, as the guide books say, experience the local Garifuna culture. However, we had heard that Placencia on the southern coast was a neat place, so we decided we would rent a car for three days and head south.

So on Thursday morning we set off, driving through some beautiful hilly terrain covered in thick jungle. The Mayan Mountain range was off to our right and we skirted some of the hills, climbing up into some of them at one point. Along the way we stopped at the Blue Hole, a tourist attraction supposedly worth going to. Unfortunately recent rains had turned the sparkling turquoise waters of this sink hole to a dirty muddy color so we were very disappointed at having paid four dollars each to see a big mud puddle. We did take a walk along a trail in the jungle, but this was slippery and we did not enjoy it much. Dee actually slipped at one point and ended up covered in mud.

We were amazed to see mile after mile of orange groves lining the road heading south. We had no idea that there was such a large orange industry in Belize. We passed several 18 wheelers, their open trailers overflowing with tonnes of oranges. And we drove passed two processing plants where several of these huge loads were waiting to be dumped and turned into orange juice. By the way, it was delicious orange juice.

We left the main highway after a couple of hours to join the dirt road to Placencia. Although this was only 25kms or so, it took us well over an hour, including a wrong turn we took at an unsigned fork in the road. The road was very rough and dusty and we had to inch along in places. We did, however, eventually reach Maya Beach and then Placencia. We were again surprised to find that the promise of lots of accommodation was not true as we had to try over a dozen hotels before we landed a couple of small rooms near the beach. Unfortunately the air conditioning in our room wasn´t working and we spent a very hot and humid night before changing rooms for our second night.

Placencia is a beach town that obviously has been targeted by developers for its beaches and weather. There were a number of resort developments and large homes being constructed in the area, which are probably good investments at this time. When and if they build a good road to this area, property prices will sky rocket. We saw ocean front lots with private beach for sale for 50k USD which is unheard of for beach front property. But we aren´t in the market!

We spent a couple of days relaxing on the beach and then on Sunday we headed north to Belize City. We retraced our path along the rocky coastal road and turned north on the county´s main north-south highway. After half an hour or so, we turned to the west on another rough track which took us to Cockscomb Basin Nature Preserve, another wildlife sanctuary our guide book said was worth a detour. We bumped and banged along the track which was supposed to be 6 kilometres but seem at least twice that, until we finally reached the visitor centre. After paying our $5 entry and signing in (an obligatory part of visiting most reserves in Central America) we set off for a walk through the jungle. Dee had decided to equip herself against any potential mosquitoes and had donned her wide brimmed hat with hanging mosquito netting falling down from the brim to her shoulders. She looked quite the sight, but it wasn´t long before the lack of mosquitoes and intense heat and humidity, caused her to remove her head cage in favour of some fresh air.

We had a very pleasant walk through the jungle and along a slowly flowing jungle river until we eventually joined a trail climbing up towards a water fall in the park. We made our way through the thick jungle, encountering some howler monkeys playing in the trees along the way, and after half an hour or so, came to the small falls cascading through a tight rocky gorge and spilling into a small pool at its base. I had been the only one to bring a bathing suit along, so after changing discreetly behind a large boulder, I plunged into the waters for a refreshing swim. It was lovely and I think the girls wished they had brought their suits.

After I dried off, Sue, Rose and I continued along the trail while Dee, who was feeling a little tired , headed back to the car park. We began a steep climb to a look out point high above the jungle canopy. It wasn´t long before we broke out of the deep shade of the jungle and into the intense midday sun. We were all sweating profusely and breathing hard as we made our way upward. It was hard work, but we made it to the top and were rewarded with a magnificent view across the jungle to Victoria Peak, the second highest point in Belize, some miles away. And then it was back down. When we reached the waterfall and pool again, we all agreed that there should have been a sign there saying to have your dip after you do the climb to the lookout as we were all much hotter and more tired than we´d been on the way up to the falls.

We resumed our trek north on our way to Belize City. We did stop in at Dangriga on the way long enough to assure ourselves we had made the right decision in not stopping there overnight. A run down and unlovely town where a fifteen minute drive through was enough Garifuna culture!

We reached Belize City about 4 pm and drove through the city looking for a guest house our book recommended. Unfortunately there was no guest house at the address in our book but luckily there was another nearby which proved to be a fabulous old home which had been converted to a guest house. It was called the Great House Inn and we decided to splurge for one night as we were near the docks in this part of town and were surrounded by rundown buildings and dangerous looking alleyways. We had a large two room suite which was a nice treat, albeit for 125 USD !!

The next morning we headed to the water taxi terminal for our 10.30 taxi to Caulker. We had arranged with the rental company to drop our car there. They would send someone from San Ignacio on the bus to meet us around 9.30, but by 10 there was no sign of him and we started to worry. He eventually showed up however, saying the bus had broken down en route. Anyway, that taken care of we climbed aboard the taxi, a large covered speed boat which held about 50 people, equipped with three 200hp outboard motors to send us speeding over the ocean to Caye Caulker a few miles away.

The sea was surprisingly rough and the powerful outboards drove the boat through the waves with bone-jarring force. Luckily the sea became much calmer as we approached the reef which runs a few miles off the coast of Belize...the longest in the Americas. About an hour after we set off, we were disembarking at Caye Caulker one of the many small islands dotting the sea just off the coast.

It was soon evident that we had landed on pretty unique island. I left the girls standing in the shade of a building near the quay and went off in search of Chan´s Supermarket where our contact for the apartment worked. The road leading away from the quay, like all on the Caye, was no more than a wide path of smooth sand. I immediately saw a couple of golf carts and several people on wide-tired bicycles, the only two modes of transport on the island other than the most common of course...two bare feet.

I was pointed to our apartment and I returned to the quay where we got a golf cart taxi, loaded up our luggage and ourselves (amazing what can be loaded on a golf cart) and were off to the apartment about 1km away. We found we had a nice two bedroom place in a small apartment complex. There was a living-dining room, a kitchen and two bedrooms, one with two beds for Dee and Rose. This proved to be just fine for our stay on Caulker, though the temperature on our little thermometer-equipped alarm clock never dropped below 29 C inside. The ceiling fans did provide some welcome air circulation but we had to quickly acclimatize to the sweltering nights.

The next four days were spent pretty much relaxing on this island which is no doubt the most laid back place we´ve ever encountered. There are no beaches to speak of on the island but you can go in swimming in a couple of places where there is a small strip off sand or off the long jetties that reach out into the unbelievably blue and turquoise waters of the Caribbean.

On our second day on the island we arranged to go on an all day boat tour which took us to a manatee reserve and out to the reef. On the way to see the manatees, we encountered a pod of dolphins that swam along beside the boat and we all had a good look at these wonderful creatures. We reached the manatee reserve which was almost all the way back to Belize City, and spent the next three hours in search of the elusive manatees. We did see a few off in the distance but we all agreed that we spent too much time puttering around the small islands looking for brown blobs in the water. However, having at least sighted some of the rare animals, we finally took off in the direction of Caulker.

After a lunch stop on St George´s Caye, we headed out to the reef to do some snorkeling. Our first stop was right beside the reef and we donned snorkeling gear and jumped in. Unfortunately the snorkeling was not great for Sue and me who have snorkeled in many outstanding locations before, but Dee and Rose enjoyed it well enough. Our second stop however, was much more interesting. Shark-Ray Alley as it was called is an area due east of Caulker just inside the reef. And as the name implies, we encountered a number of large sting rays that swam all around us. And I swam off toward the nearby reef and was delighted to spot a 9 ft nurse shark lying on the bottom in 10 feet of water. I got fairly close before he lazily flicked his tail and disappeared into the coral heads. A few minutes later back near the boat we all saw another smaller shark and the largest barracuda I´ve ever seen while snorkeling...quite a sight. So the rays and sharks saved the day for us, although it had been great to be out on the beautiful ocean.

It was hard to get up much energy for doing much else on Caulker...not that there was anything to do. Tours to the reef is the main pastime other than sitting under a palm tree reading a book. We rode around the small island on our bikes, did some souvenir shopping and used the internet at one of the two internet cafes on the island. And, we did manage to stay awake after dinner long enough to play cards each night. And soon we were packing our bags for our Thursday departure.

Dee and Rose were returning to Canada on a noon flight from Belize City, so we said good bye to them as they headed off on the morning boat taxi. It had been great to have them with us for the past three weeks. We had had some wonderful experiences and had very much enjoyed their company. But as they headed north, we were on our way south. Our flight to Costa Rica was scheduled for 5 pm, so we took our stuff down to the quay for the 1pm water taxi back to Belize. Our flight was on time and we made our connection in San Salvador with no problem, arriving in San Jose about 9 pm.

Our time in Belize had been interesting but I don´t think we´ll be in any hurry to return. The highlight was obviously the ATM caves, but the rest of the country was just ¨ok¨. But we were now on to a new country and new adventures. It was hard to believe that we were starting the second half of our three months in Central America and Peru, but we were anxious to experience Costa Rica, a country about which we´d heard a lot of good.

Until the next installment.....