Belize Trip Blog

The Big Day!

2007-04-24T12:23:00.000-07:00

Wow - it's finally here!

We planned lots of relaxation time in for the morning of the big day so we wouldn't get stressed out. :-) Our room and deck were so nice so it was a great location to laze around and read and relax until it was time to start getting ready.

Our wedding coordinator, Iraida, and the hairdresser showed up at 2 and then the fun began. Roger and I both felt so spoiled. I just sat there while the nicest girl did my hair and makeup and Iraida ironed our clothes. Roger got a little bored with all of it so he went down to the bar (the Katanga Bar) on the deck and some of the other guests bought him drinks while he waited around. Our wedding was the first actual wedding they've done at Belize Legacy so all of the staff and the few guests staying there got really into it.

Before we new it the photographer, videographer, minister, and guitarists pulled up in the boat and it was almost time! We were starting to get nervous to see a small crowd gathering on the beach and to know all the hubbub was for us.

The ceremony was very touching. Both Roger and I had to blink a couple of times to keep the tears at bay (Roger said it was the wind in his eyes though). The minister told us after that she was more nervous than we were.

Click here to see the wedding photos done by Jen at Aqualand who was just great: photo link.

We had an awesome dinner after the reception at Mambo's at the Mata Chica resort, which ties in to our trivia question of the day!

Trivia question: What reality tv show had it's first episode at Mambo's restaurant at the Mata Chica resort in Belize?

Okay - we have to have 2 trivia questions since this was such a big day.

Trivia question #2: San Pedro and Ambergris Caye is the focus of what 1980's hit song?

Answer to the last trivia question: There are 3 stoplights in the entire country of Belize!

Blog update

2007-04-24T12:15:00.000-07:00

Our blog had some problems towards the end of our trip so we weren't able to update it. We had written one more entry for it so I'm going to put that in and back date it. We have tons of photos from our trip to sort through and upload links to so we'll get to that over the next few days.

Quick Update

2007-04-19T18:37:00.001-07:00

Hi all...this is a post mostly for you worrywarts :)

We made it over to Ambergris Caye with no problems. It is a different vibe here than on Caye Caulker; more hustle and bustle and more mega-resorts. Our place is very very nice and the bonus is that there are 0nly a few other guests staying at the resort! Nice and peaceful!

We met our wedding coordinator and videographer today. We also picked out our spot at the resort on the beach for the ceremony. Everyone is extremely nice and helpful, and we feel we are in good hands. We get married tomorrow at 4:30 pm but the fun starts around one when the hair lady shows up to start with Traci. I guess I get to sit around and drink beer until 4:30. The wedding coordinator said she is even going to iron my shirt :)

We are off to the grocery store tonight to stock up the fridge in our condo. It is a bit remote so we need to get some snacks and drinks so we don't always have to take the boat into town for stuff. It took us 45 minutes to get to San Pedro town from the resort this afternoon!

Ok that's all we have for now. We have to run to catch the next boat back to the resort for the evening. We won't be posting tomorrow as we will be a little busy, but look for something on Saturday. We'll be thinking of everyone back home tomorrow and we send our love to you all.

Trivia question: How many stoplights are there in the entire country of Belize? (Hint--not many!)

Bye! Roger and Traci

Greetin's from the Islands, Mon!

2007-04-18T19:23:00.000-07:00

First of all, there was no post yesterday! We were too busy getting ourselves out of Guatemala and over to the Cayes. Didn't miss much as we spent most of the day driving.

After noon we hopped on a water taxi in Belize City (with about 50 other people--packed like sardines--on a boat that holds 30). 45 minutes later we found ourselves on Caye Caulker, a tiny island with a quaint, laid-back Caribbean village just off the coast. Our room at the Iguana Reef Inn is fantastic; as nice as any resort we've stayed at (here or anywhere else). We were both pretty excited to get both consistent a/c and a good shower. The days have been much cooler after the cold front (88ish or so) moved in so we aren't dying from the heat anymore.

Last night we inadvertently signed up for a sunset cruise that turned out to be a sunset "booze cruise." Click here for a pic of us there. That was entertaining though not as romantic as it could be with reggae music pumping through broken speakers and 25 of your closest friends on a little sailboat downing rum punches like prohibition started tomorrow. On the bright side we did discover a lot of great music to play at our reception :)

Today we went on a boat tour to watch manatees frolicking in the water, fishes swimming among coral gardens, and sting rays and sharks swarming the boat for treats. We actually got to get in the water with the rays and sharks and that might be one of the big highlights of the trip. The sharks are nurse sharks, not threatening to people, but still look daunting nonetheless. It kind of goes against human nature to jump into water with a handful of 6 foot sharks circling below. And I would be lying if I said that the Crocodile Hunter didn't cross my mind every time a stingray swam underneath me--you really can't take your eyes off of them and they stare back with some very deep looks. Traci was able to user her camera underwater and got some great shots of the rays. Here is another.

Tomorrow we head to Ambergris Caye but hope to get back to Caye Caulker someday...

Two more days until the Big One!

Roger and Traci

Tikal

2007-04-16T17:20:00.000-07:00

Roger is back for today´s installment.

Today we got up before daylight so we could prepare for our trek to Tikal. It was a beautiful morning, much cooler again than what we had over in Belize.

The drive to Tikal park took us about 40 minutes from our hotel in Flores, and we passed through many quaint Maya villages on the way. Most of the drive was spent avoiding the various livestock that is left to wander freely around the roadside--pigs, chickens, and horses among other things. When we finally arrived at the park we drove nice and slow as well...mainly because we were taking pictures of animal crossing signs that could only be found in the middle of the Guatemalan jungle. Click here for our favorite. This definitely made us think twice about wandering off the well-marked paths! In case you are terrible at animal identification, that is a Jaguar!

We got lots more animal viewing in when we started the 20 minute hike through jungle to the first temple. Traci experienced her first howler monkey experience when we heard the cries erupting in the jungle, which can be a startling experience if you´ve never heard one before. We followed the sound until we were able to get directly beneath the group of monkeys and the sound was spectacular. Imagine a cross between a tyrannosaurus rex and a giant gorilla screaming at the top of its lungs right above you. Traci was able to get some good video of it and we can´t wait to share.

The ruins of Tikal are astounding! Definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience. We were able to climb to the top of the first temple to get an awesome view of the surrounding forest. Study this picture we took as that will be the focus of my trivia question :) Those are other temples peeking over the jungle canopy.

Over all I think it is by far the most impressive ruins I have visited. Don´t have the space to do it justice here, so we will be ready to share photos and video when we get home. If you Are curious about Tikal you can read up by clicking here. If it comes up in Spanish, you can click an English link on the page.

Finally when we returned back to Flores we had yet another animal sighting. If you recall a few posts ago we talked about seeing an elephant in San Ignacio...well we saw another today. This time it was a rare Egyptian Albino elephant. I guarantee you won´t see another photo of it on the net, so check out the one we were able to get by clicking here!

Our next post will be coming to you from the sun-kissed island of Caye Caulker so stay tuned to find out if we survive the midnight crocodile hunt!

I almost forgot! Trivia of the day: What famous American movie uses Tikal to represent another planet?

Roger and Traci

Guatemala!

2007-04-15T12:27:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone reading our exciting daily updates. :-)

We made it safe and sound to Guatemala and there is even internet in our lobby (although not an English keyboard so this will probably be brief). We are still hoping to be able to upload more photos soon but have not come across another internet access that lets us yet.

It is much cooler today and we are staying in Flores which is a tiny little island on a lake.

Yesterday we went with another couple staying at our lodge into the San Ignacio Saturday market which is the largest market in Belize. It was very small compared to the Portland Saturday market but it was very busy. Most local people come to this each week to buy their fruit and vegetables for the week. Then we wandered around San Ignacio for awhile, went out to the Cahal Pech ruins again for a little bit, ate some lunch, then took a tour of the Green Iguana exhibit. The baby iguanas were so cute I wanted to bring one home until I heard they get to be 6 feet long!

Most surprising thing we saw yesterday: an elephant walking unleashed down the street to take a drink in the Macal River (this made a lot more sense when we saw the circus tents). We would have taken a picture but we were so in shock.

Coolest birds we saw yesterday: 2 parrots out near the dining area at the lodge and 2 toucans near Cahal Pech.

Dumbest thing we did yesterday: walk a quarter mile down to the river behind our lodge - it really did sound like a good idea for the first few minutes but the hike back up in the 98 degree humid heat of the afternoon about did us in!

Thing I am most happy about today: how much Spanish Roger knows!!! As soon as we crossed into Guatemala everything changed immediately.

Tomorrow: Tikal!! We are so excited!

Happy Friday the 13th!

2007-04-14T08:44:00.000-07:00

So, now we know why John Wayne walked so funny. It was from riding horses! Ouch! I sure don't remember being that sore when I was a kid and rode them.

The 11th grade son of the family running the lodge we're staying at took us out on a horseback ride yesterday through the little nearby village and into the jungle. We laughed a lot at ourselves as we managed to stay balanced on them but it was a little sketchy sometimes. Our guide put us to shame - he was wearing flip-flops and carrying a machete to clear the brush on the way and since our horses were followers whenever his would start galloping so would ours and it was all we could do to hang on and go with it. Luckily we have no video of that to share with everyone.

Other than that we took it pretty easy yesterday. We hope everyone had a wonderful Friday the 13th!

Trivia of the day: Belize is the only country in Central America where English is the official language. We've also heard quite of bit of Spanish and some Creole. We were surprised to learn there's a fairly large Amish and Mennonite farming communities here and also a pretty large Chinese population.

Today is the day for the Saturday Market in San Ignacio and tomorrow we check out of our lodge and cross the border into Guatemala! Look for our next post from there. We are so looking forward to having a/c in our room!!! :-D

Cool Things

2007-04-13T12:22:00.000-07:00

First of all--thanks for all the comments! We really enjoy reading them...

Cool things we saw yesterday:

A skull of a sacrifice victim embedded in a cave wall.
An Amish youth driving his oxen-cart through orange groves.
Blue Morpho, Banana Owl, and Glass Wing butterflies and hundreds of eggs, pupae, and caterpillars.
A stray cat begging for food at Eva's Bar and Grill
A lizard being chased by a car up a back-jungle road (ok so it was our car...but boy could that thing run).
Hundreds of bats swarming around our heads.

Cool things we did yesterday:

Drove our car through a creek - twice!
Canoed through a pitch-black cave to visit the Mayan underworld.
Visited the Green Hills Butterfly Farm.

Wow! No wonder we're so tired!

The highlight of the day was Barton Creek Cave. The Maya believed that man was created in a cave, and when you die you return to the cave and must fight the nine gods of the underworld to be reborn.

They also believe that the rain god, Chac, resides in the cave and when the Maya were in need of rain, they would go in to the cave and offer a human sacrifice to the rain god. Archaeologists have found remains of 29 different people in the cave. Luckily it's supposed to rain this weekend :)

That's all for now. Next time we are trying our hand at being Belizean John Waynes.

Traci and Roger

2007-04-12T13:23:00.000-07:00

Roger here.

Traci is putting me in charge of this entry, so consider that fair warning.

We are starting to acclimate a little. It isn't totally freakin' hot, just really freakin' hot (somewhere around the 94F mark as I sit in the back of a little restaurant using their computer to post this. No A/C).

Anyway yesterday we were busy with scouting around some ruins in the area. First was Xunantunich (say: shoo-NON-too-neesh). After a short hand-cranked ferry ride across the Mopan river we drove up to the site and left the car and proceeded to climb the second tallest skyscraper in Belize. "El Castillo," as the temple is called, rises about 130 feet above the site. On top you can see all around and even into Guatemala, which is only a few kilometers away. It was quite a climb to the top and needless to say we are ok with not seeing giant stone steps for a while.

Afterwards we went back into town and visited Cahal Pech--which means "Place of Ticks". Yes we sure know how to pick them. No big pyramids to climb, but very mysterious. Passageways and antechambers all over the place. By this time we were hot and exhausted, and made our way into downtown to get a bit to eat and do some internetting.

Back at the lodge we worked in some hammock time before dinner. Two new guests had checked in and through casual conversation we learned that one of them works for the real estate association in San Francisco...she calls our office back home in Salem all the time to order product. Even in the jungle we can't get away from work!

That's all I have for now--stay tuned for the next post when we write about our journey to the Mayan underworld, Xibalba. Yes, we did live to tell about it.

Question of the day--guess how many bug bites we have between the two of us? Wait, nevermind...we can't keep up.

Trivia of the day-- I got nothin'.

See you tomorrow!

Roger and Traci

We're here!

2007-04-11T11:02:00.000-07:00

After several months of anticipation - and a pretty long night of flying - we finally made it to Belize!

We got through Customs without a hitch and were excited to find our wedding coordinator's assistant waiting to meet us. She copied our passports and we signed the application for the marriage license - woohoo - almost legal now!

With about 3 hours of "airplane" sleep and now trying to acclimate to 90 degree very humid weather we got our rental car and started our drive inland. I was surprised that the main highway - even though it was a 2 lane road - didn't have a painted median - and people drive right down the middle of the road until someone comes the other direction. Roger was pleasantly surprised to find the roads much better than Guatemala!

We decided the animals at the zoo wouldn't notice that we needed showers so we stopped at the really pretty cool Belize zoo. Spider monkeys, tapirs, parrots, coatis, agoutis, oh my! The black jaguar though was the coolest thing I've ever seen. She was pacing and panting behind a chicken wire fence about a foot away from us. Every time she snorted we jumped. The harpy eagle was the next coolest thing. He looked surprisingly a lot like Foghorn Leghorn.

We drove through a bunch of little villages on the way to our first lodging. The last 3-1/2 miles took about 20 minutes on a very rocky road. The Crystal Paradise Resort isn't what you'd expect a resort in the US to be like but it's a very cool jungle lodge. The rooms are little cabanas with high thatched roofs really close to the Macal River. They don't have a/c but they do have a ceiling fan. We can hear all kinds of birds, bugs, and geckos through the screen windows. And we are being watched over by our roommate we've named Lyle - a 3 inch gecko. It's definitely an authentic jungle experience!

Here's a photo of our cabana.

Dinner is family style and was awesme - mini tostadas, chicken, rice, cole slaw, fried plantains, and banana bread, and whatever you want to drink from the honor fridge. All of the other couples at dinner are bird watchers who are super obsessive about comparing notes all during dinner about the birds they've seen all day. We're thinking about memorizing some bird species so we fit in at breakfast tomorrow. :-)

Trivia of the day: Did you know that Caye Caulker is one of the only places in Belize you can see the Black Catbird rustling through the brush? Neither did we but we heard all about them at dinner. Our new bird watching friends have told us to keep on the lookout for for an exotic island black bird that apparently looks like a lot like a crow. I guess fledgling birders must start somewhere.

Question of the day: Can someone let us know if the Belizean inch-long ants are harmless leaf cutter ants or their nefarious cousins the painful biting bullet ants? We're anxious to know because there's a boatload of them running around the dining area.

P.S. We're having a great time and Lyle says hello!

Almost Ready!

2007-04-06T20:26:00.000-07:00

We're almost ready to take off on our 2 week vacation/wedding/honeymoon to Belize!

Our plan is to use this blog to record our trip along the way so stay tuned for more information (depending on how frequent the internet cafes are).

First stop: San Ignacio and the Crystal Paradise Resort.

• Trivia of the day - The Mosquito Coast (starring Harrison Ford) was filmed in Belize.

• Question of the day - What other movie starring Harrison Ford is Roger's all time favorite?

- Traci