~~oOo~~
When planning our big Canada and USA trip, I wanted to pick somewhere
in the Caribbean to relax after the Orlando VT meet and before our big trip home
to Perth, Australia.
I thought about a cruise and also looked
at various islands including Jamaica because I love Reggae, Calipso music and Rasta
looking fellas. 😜
Anyway,
that was when I discovered Belize, down Mexico way but on the Caribbean side. I also discovered that Belize had an awesome
dive 'blue hole' that you can see from outer space, interesting Inca type
historical ruins in the jungle along with unique monkeys that howl loudly, and
that it was not too touristy but also has stunning islands! Ok, this sounded like our kind of place.
~~oOo~~
BELIZE
ZOO
More investigation revealed that Belize
had a Zoo that had all native animals. Most of them are rescue animals and are well taken
care of, being released back into the environment once rehabilitated. All animals are kept in their natural
environment. Obviously they have
electric wiring in some cases to prevent escape.
I also discovered that the signs in the Belize
zoo are unique. Signs throughout the zoo
are written by locals, they rhyme and are often funny and cute.
Anyway, this cute Zoo was immediately
stuck on my 'must see' list.
Belize zoo is the best I have ever
visited. I am not a real animal person.
I love flowers. But if you are in Belize then I totally recommend that you
visit.
VIDEO
TOUCAN CAN
~~oOo~~
HOWLER
MONKEY RESORT
We were pleased with our choice of accommodation. If you always
stay at the Hilton, then don't look any further. You probably also have never
enjoyed an adventure with the locals.
The howler monkey resort is certainly an
adventure that I totally recommend! The
reason is not because of mozzies, nor the killer ants, nor that slippery bank
leading down to the boat. But because
of the following -
Our hosts Ed, Mel, Yusef and Josef were
so nice! They made us feel like family. Included in the price was pickup and drop off,
full breakfast and dinner every day and homely hospitality. Plus the cabins were surrounded with lovely
shady trees, gorgeous view of the river, nice swing bench seat on the cabin
porch, and of course the main attraction.... Howler monkeys.
😁
Now that is
worth more than a couple of minor irritations.
We would come back again in a heart beat! Thank you guys for a fantastic
stay! And especially Yusef who is
learning the hotel trade to take over one day.
You did an amazing job Yusef!
VIDEO
VIEW FROM OUR CABIN
OVERLOOKING THE RIVER
HOWLER MONKIES IN BACKGROUND
~~oOo~~
LIVING IN BELIZE
Wherever we travel, it is nice to get a feel for how the other
half live. I like local street scenes, markets and checking out houses.
Here in Belize the accommodation is
simple and the houses and buildings are colourful.
~~oOo~~
BELIZE
WILDLIFE
Staying in the Belize jungle we saw
animals that we have never seen before. Howler monkeys, huge iguanas and killer
ants!
When you think of the wildlife here in the
jungle, like the big cats in the zoo, you would never think of being afraid of
an ant?
Yes.... I'm not kidding.... An ant!
~~oOo~~
LEAF
CUTTER ANTS
Well let me tell you, Belize has killer
ants! Be warned!! And you thought us Aussies had dangerous
animals lol.
These cute little leaf cutter ants attacked
various trees, cutting the leaves and taking them back to their holes. Their
mounds are huge.
The activity would speed up in the
evening and at night when they would march in line like an army and pitty help
you if you stepped on that line....
😲
So consequently when we finished the
homemade dinner at the resort and had to head back to our cabin in the
dark. I was marching behind hubby,
behind son Jesse who was holding the torch and telling us when to jump to avoid
being devoured by these big monsters!
VIDEO
~~oOo~~
IGUANAS
I remember my son Dylan seeing his first Rhino at the Zoo and
screaming "Dinosour" at the top of his voice.
This is how I felt when I saw an Iguana in Belize for the first
time! OMG, they look like dinosaurs from
ancient time.
It was fun Iguana spotting on our river cruise with Yusef.
We spotted both male and female (green one). Female iguanas are
difficult to spot.
~~oOo~~
HOWLER
MONKEYS
When I discovered the Howler Monkey Resort on Google and heard
the sound of Howler Monkeys for the first time I was really excited to learn
something new and couldn't wait to see and hear these amazing animals.
The Howler Monkey Resort is located right next to the Baboon
Sanctuary so there are plenty of monkeys in the vicinity.
We didn't see any from our cabin but we certainly heard
them! I will upload a video later. If you have never heard of howler monkeys.... Then just Google the Howler Monkey Resort.
We saw plenty on our cruise with Yusef.
Belize jungle is a birders paradise. I don't have a big enough lens to capture
birds.
~~oOo~~
HOLY
COW!
We went for a walk up the road to the Baboon Sanctuary.
The local cows were inquisitive.
We were not sure if they wanted to chase us or if they were just
checking us out. We said G'day anyway.
But kept our distance and left them do the job of keeping the grass down at the local church.
But kept our distance and left them do the job of keeping the grass down at the local church.
This was so nice.
Walking along the side of the road in the jungle early in the morning
with the smell of the dew and early morning birds chirping. Love it!
~~oOo~~
LAMANAI
MAYAN RUINS
Belize has many Mayan ruins.
Maya civilisation stretched across much of what is now southern Mexico,
Belize and Guatemala.
Mayan civilisation dates back to before the Aztecs which are also known for their large temples.
Mayan civilisation dates back to before the Aztecs which are also known for their large temples.
The Howler Resort arranged for a day trip for us to Lamanai
which is the most popular of the Mayan ruins in Belize.
Lamanai is located in Orange Walk District. To get there it is 1 hour by boat.
~~oOo~~
BOAT TO LAMANAI
Lamanai is the Spanish historic name for lama' an/ayin, which
means "submerged crocodile."
Many crocodile carvings have been found throughout the ruins which would
indicate that this animal had a very important role in the Mayan Mythology.
The river is home for many crocs.
Our guide arranged for us to be here early to enjoy the ruins
all to ourselves before the people from the cruise ship turned up. The guide was very knowledgeable, telling us
stories of the Mayans and their culture.
They had a distinct hirache with the affluent having a very comfortable
life and the poor rarely lived to 30 and were small like pigmies because they
weren’t allowed to eat well.
Here is the ball court where a ping pong like game was held with
the opponents either side slamming the ball to and fro hitting this stone in
the middle.
This wasn't a pleasant Sunday sport. Underneath the stone was found a ceremonial
vessel containing liquid mercury.
There are 2 versions of how the game went. Guide says that the winner of the game was
sacrificed because that paved the way past many layers in the afterlife to a position of
importance. I believe the guide.
His wife is a Mayan descendant so that is why he was so knowledgeable.
His wife is a Mayan descendant so that is why he was so knowledgeable.
On the net it says that the looser was sacrificed with the
winner gaining a position of importance.
Mayans believed that human sacrifice was necessary for the continued
success of agriculture, trade and health.
The High Temple is the biggest in the area. Hubbie and Jesse decided to make the climb to
the top. I stayed and enjoyed more Mayan
stories told by our guide.
The Mayans inhabited this area for almost 2,000 years. They didn't
have cart wheels or metal tools so these temples and pyramids are amazing
structures. They studied the stars and
were mathematicians.
No one knows
exactly how the civilization was destroyed in the 9th century. It is thought that either disease, warfare,
over farming or drought was the cause.
What is known is that the Mayans were a resourceful lot with an
interesting culture.
Meanwhile, the boys had made it to the top, and obviously were a
bit out of breath, giddy and thirsty.
From the peak they could see right over to the Caribbean Sea.
The Mask Temple had a 4m stone mask of an ancient Maya
King. Our guide explained that this mask
was found intact behind another construction that had been built in front of
it. This was built by another King
obviously to hide the past.
It was difficult to listen to our guide here because the howler
monkeys decided to add their input.
They were so loud!
Check out the Video.
VIDEO
OUR GUIDE COMPETES WITH THE HOWLERS
& A STRANGE WHITE MONKEY
What a great day we had!
We all helped with bringing the lunch esky up to the seated area so
after our walk through the ruins. We
enjoyed home cooked local food prepared by our guide's wife along with a cool
can of coke.
There were a couple of gift shops, one of which our guide's
family owned so we bought a couple of trinkets.
A
well recommended must do when visiting
JUNGLE
RIVER BOAT TRIP
Taking a jungle river boat trip is mandatory when staying at the
Howler Monkey Resort. There's nothing
better than sharing local experiences with the locals!
Yusef took us out in their boat and we played spot the
wildlife. It was fun and
entertaining. The trip was so
relaxing. Hubby got to have a chance to
play with his big birder photography lens and we both really enjoyed Yusef's
company. He is such a lovely lad.
😀
~~oOo~~
FUNNY
AUSSIROSE STORY
This
day wasn't without a minor hiccup. Yusef
was down the hill ready at the boat. But
when we opened the door to our cabin we were confronted with a sea of black
ants. These ants we learnt later are the
jungle cleaners. They swam through,
clean up and disappear.
It just so happened that they were right outside our cabin when
we wanted to go on the boat trip. 😝
No problem....
For hubby and Jesse.
They quickly tippy toed at fast speed over the black sea of obstruction
and ran down the hill.
Me? Not so agile.
Lol.
😮
I ended up gate crashing through the sea of black ants spread
everywhere. Ants ended up in places I don't want to remember!!!
I screamed and slid down the hill. All the whilst blurting out a stack of
colourful language that I am not repeating here.
And landed hard on my
butt! Luckily camera bag and camera
survived! Last minute rescue from the
boys, still laughing their head off…… pulled me up and assisted me into the
boat. It was not a lady-like look, I can
tell you that much. 😏
Tip..... Don't mess with little black Belize jungle cleaning ants!
And you thought those killer leaf cutting ants were
dangerous!!!
Sadly our jungle adventure came to an end and we headed out to
Belize boat dock for our ferry to Cay Caulker - our final destination.
~~oOo~~
CAYE CAULKER ISLAND - BELIZE
No shoes, no shirt, no problem.
Caye Caulker is well known for its go slow slogan.
I discovered Caye Caulker on virtualtourist.com. Sadly that site does not exist anymore. I was a member for 16 years. Tripadvisor bought it out and then destroyed
the competition!
It was a similar picture to this one by a member called
vulindlela that attracted me to Caye Caulker.
If you come across my blog here Jeremy. Thanks mate.
Caye Caulker and the relaxed time that we had here certainly was
the best way to end our 6 week holiday. Here we just laid back, chilled with the
locals over a few very cheap rum cocktails and had lots of fresh seafood.
What a view to chill to!
😎
Our Hotel was right near the spit inlet and the lazy lizard
beach bar. We also had our own pier on
the beach here where we could swim with the fish.
~~oOo~~
SEADREAMS HOTEL
Giving back to the island.
Not only was this hotel in a fabulous location on a quiet street
close to the spit, not only did it have a lovely private beach pontoon, rooftop
bar with great views and yummy home style cooked breakfast every day.
What is so good about this Hotel is that the owners started up
the high school on Caye Caulker and they help fund it. By staying here, a small portion of our
accommodation money is given to the high school. How very nice is that!!
We had a very nice 2 bedroom ground unit, very clean and
spacious. They also have bikes that you
can use to ride around the island. I
totally recommend the Seadreams Hotel for your stay here.
Caye Caulker is located a 40min ferry ride from Belize City. The island is about 5 miles long and 1.2m
wide. If you want white sandy beaches then
this place is not for you. What Caye
Caulker does have is culture, an abundance of fresh seafood, fishing, reef snorkeling,
diving and a fantastic social atmosphere.
~~oOo~~
THE LAZY LIZARD BEACH BAR
Speaking of social atmosphere, this is the place to hang out.
The lazy lizard beach bar was our local. The view over the spit
inlet is gorgeous, the rum cocktails yummy, seafood divine, island music and
people watching is the order of the day.
Especially the gorgeous local fellas.
Especially the gorgeous local fellas.
LAZY LIZARD BAR AND VIEWS
We also played a game like coits where you had to toss a small
rice sack into the hole on a bit of board. There was a local that no one could
beat but we all had fun trying.
Meanwhile others were either jumping off a high rock into the
water on the other side of the spit or chilling with cool drink right in the water
under a shade sale with tables in the water.
~~oOo~~
SIP AND DIP
Speaking of the above, there are a few beach bars like this
right in the water. Perfect way to cool off.
You'll
be pleased to know that there is one ATM on
Caye Caulker. It is located inside the
Atlantic Bank on the street parallel to the main street, back one.
I heard that on the weekend the ATM may run out of money so get in
early.
~~oOo~~
SPORTS BAR
If you are a sports fan like hubby, you'll be pleased to know
that there is a sports bar here located right at the pier where the boats come
into the island.
We arrived at happy hour.
Cocktails all round. Hubby could
watch the football and I was happy people watching.
Nice walk back to our hotel along the beachfront.
~~oOo~~
NO SHIRT, NO SHOES, NO PROBLEM
Yes, no dress code on Caye Caulker. Most restaurants have big
wooden benches and swings for seats.
That was fun, swinging whilst sipping a cool drink and watching the
stunning view over the Caribbean Sea.
Like in New Orleans, you can also ask for a drink to go. One restaurant we even got a free rum punch
to take away.
~~oOo~~
STREETS OF CAYE CAULKER
There are no cars here. They
have golf buggies and bicycles. We
enjoyed our daily wander around the sandy streets.
~~oOo~~
MOJOS FISHING
Hubbie and Jesse had already tried float and fly salmon fishing in
Vancouver Canada.
Here with Mojos Fishing
they went deep sea fishing and caught barracuda, mackerel and reef bream. After we were able to eat some of the fish
caught.
The Lazy Lizard Beach Bar cooked it 3 different ways for us along with some nice salad.... Yuuuum!
Last photo taken by Jesse.
~~oOo~~
We were sad to leave this idealic destination. From here we headed back to Australia via
Houston to LA, staying there for 1 night at Portofino Hotel, Redondo Beach. Then headed back home via Hong Kong for a few
days to adjust back to Perth time.
Thanks for dropping by. I
hope I have given you a few ideas for your next trip. Please leave a comment.
~~oOo~~
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