Saturday, March 10, 2012

Un-Belize-Able



BELIZE
Our Belize trip this year is in a new spot for us. We are traveling with our friends,
Dana and Cathie. Dana did the research for the trip and our final destination will be
Placentia.

Sixteen miles of natural sandy beach, a virgin mangrove-fringed lagoon, a wonderland of coral-studded cayes, nearby jungle rivers and pristine rainforest Garifuna, Creole and Mayan cultures and ancient Mayan ruins make Placencia the ideal location for vacationers.


We arrived in Belize City late afternoon. We stayed in this Bed and Breakfast for one
night before the 4 hour drive to Placentia, our final destination.
Breakfast on the patio at the B and B.
A nice drive on the Hummingbird Highway with a few stops
along the way, we arrived at the Maine Stay in Seine Bight.
This is our home for the next week. Placencia is located on
a peninsula...the bay on one side and the Caribbean on the other.
Just chillin'
Cathie catching some Belizean sun on our private beach....watch out...
the sun is very intense.
Standing on our deck.....getting all the ins and outs.
We had two cabanas connected by the deck....one had the kitchen
and the other had the laundry room. Quite nice for two couples.


FOOD, FOOD AND MORE
One of the favorite restaurants in Placencia.

Many good meals out.....one of our first meals in Belize City where
Dana got to experience first hand the hot hot habanero sauce....
rather by accident. He was sweatin' be the end of the meal.


The local fruit and vegetable truck.
We had the traditional Belizean stew chicken, beans, and rice
at a roadside stand. Ohhhh, Cathie was having pizza!
Another fine meal out in Placencia.
I think this was Gary and Dana's favorite breakfast meal.... a stuffed fry jack.


SNORKEL TIME
Our snorkeling trip to Laughing Bird Caye. A small beautiful
island where rangers actually stay for two weeks and then go home for a week.
We snorkeled all around the island, had a Belizean BBQ lunch, and then relaxed
on the beach.
Prince was our captain and guide in the waters. We saw some
amazing fish, lobsters and barracudas.
Here's Cathie's lobster dinner!
Dana, our wagon master, making sure we are where we are suppose to be!
Doesn't get much better than this!
Some chips and salsa after the snorkel dive.
Yeah, Dana, that's where we were.
A great day of snorkeling.....Laughing Bird Caye
in the background.
Time for Gary's nap......
Walking the "street".....a little shopping.


CAVE TUBING

We're ready for a cave tubing adventure. It was a little bit of a hike to get to the cave,
walking through a jungle, with our guide explaining the different types of
plants...saw a huge termite nest in a tree and of course, some biting bugs.
Into the cave we go.....

THE VILLAGE

In the village just outside of Placencia, you see many colorful houses.
A very wealthy area........
to a very poor areas....less developed. As we drove to and from town,
many of the locals were just hanging outside on the streets,
sitting on their so called porches and curbs. They seemed to be happy and
friendly.



Hopkins....about an hour away from us...

Took a drive to the town of Hopkins....a building under
construction.
Found the bakery but nothing available. She went shopping the day before
so she didn't have time to do any baking. Come back tomorrow.
Hopkin's local fruit stand....we did try some plums.
Off to the the barrier reef for our last snorkel trip. Congrats to these two--they have been retired for ten years!
UN-BELIZE-ABLE