Belize

Trent and I were talking the other day and I said something along the lines that I can't believe that it had already been 3 weeks since we left Belize.  He turns to me and says, "more like 5 weeks".  What?  When did that happen?  I'm very much ready for another vacation.  But before I start planning another exotic location, I first should recap my past experience.

We choose Belize because we both wanted different things and Belize seemed to have it all.  Trent wanted to sit on a beach and I wanted to have adventure.  Our vacation started in  the jungles of Belize.  We stayed at Table Rock Jungle Lodge outside of San Ignacio in the Cayo district.  It was only 5 miles from town, but it was 5 miles of muddy bumpy roads.  We were defiantly out in the jungle.  We arrive just as the sun set and it was wet with rain.  My hair was crazy due to humidity.  Our host was kind enough to show us to our room and explain that our cabana had a live eco system in the roof and not to worry when we hear the sounds of the geckos as they were probably enjoying a meal of bugs living in out roof.  She also was kind enough to say that it best to pull back out sheets and shake out our pillows just in case a scorpion made himself at home.  It made us a little nervous but made it part of the adventure.

Table Rock was beautiful and very relaxing. Imagine hammocks under thatched cabana roofs.  They offered great adventures with our package and we got to experience some great things.

 To begin with we canoed the Macaw River to see a butterfly breading ground and hike a Mayan medical trail.  Both were great.

Table Rock was small but it had some fun other guest.  We enjoyed the company with 4 older Brits who thought Table Rock was just a little too primitive.    Yes it was primitive, but I loved every minute of it.










We spent a day at Tikal Guatemala.  By far, this was worth it.  We met our taxi driver early and headed down to the city center to catch the beginning of this 4 day canoe race that the whole country was following.

Tikal was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!  Loved it.  Our tour guide was top notch and took us behind the scenes at many places.  We had behind the scenes access to a royal Mayan palace.

We also went to one of the archaeological digs sites because our tour guide found out that I studied it at school.

We climbed up and down the Mayan temples.

Another adventure we enjoyed was the cave ATM.  You literally hike 3 miles into the jungle, crossing the river 3 times.  To enter the cave you have to stand out in the middle of the river and swim into the mouth of the cave.

Once inside the cave, you spend the next 3 hours walking, climbing and exploring a Mayan ritual site.  You're in and out of the water and its pitch black inside.  The cave houses many Mayan artifacts and bones.  The only things stopping anyone from stealing a Mayan artifact is a piece of orange painters tape.

After the jungle, we headed down to the beach.  While the beach was windy, it was beautiful.  Blue green water, white sand.  Our room literally was feet from the beach.  We stayed at Maya Beach Hotel.  It wasn't super fancy or anything, but it did have the best restaurant on the peninsula. The picture of the beach was taken from our bed inside the room.  It was so nice to sit with the windows open, wind blowing and listening to the sound of waves.

While at Maya Beach, we toured Placencia Village.  For some reason, I got it in my mind that the Village wasn't far from our hotel.  So we grabbed the bikes from our hotel and rode 10 miles one way to the Village.  Who's stupid idea was this?  We rode 10 miles on a beach cruiser in the humidity.  My bum was so sore, it was difficult to convince myself that it was worth the ride back to the hotel.

We also went snorkeling.  They take you out to this little island and its no bigger than some backyards.  there is just enough space for a bathroom, a few tables and a barbecue.  It was a lot of fun seeing coral, fish, squids and sharks in the water.  We also swam with big 3 foot sea turtles.

Now last but not least, on our last day, we had to fly out form the beach to the airport.  I some how managed to sit as co pilot for the 30 minute light.  Coolest thing every!


While I enjoyed Belize very much, I wouldn't move there.  Nor would I be planning my next adventure there.  I'm glad I went.  It was a wonderful anniversary gift to spend 8 days with Trent.