Day 7 of Michelle in Belize

Today was an absolutely magnificent day. We went snorkeling off the coast of San Pedro and I swam with sea turtles, sting rays, and all different species of fish. It was amazing!!!!! I had never snorkeled before but found it pretty simple. Oh, we also saw an eel come out of hiding when our guide aggravated him. After staying at one spot for about 45 minutes we went to another location where we were swimming with shark, fish, and a different type of ray. I will have lots of pictures when I get home, they are on an underwater camera that has to be developed.

I swam with this sea turtle.

Me petting a nurse shark (they are vegetarians). 

After snorkeling, the group got back on the boat and headed off to a place called Caye Caulker. On the way the boat crew made fresh salsa and conch ceviche that they got right out of the ocean. It was so cool that they made this right on the boat and served it to us with chips. Once we got to Caye Caulker we had lunch which consisted of fresh conch fritters, slaw and fries; it was amazing!! Next, we walked around the island and just took in the sites. There were lots of vendors and other types of shops with locally made items.

Conch fritters with cole slaw and fries

The Rainbow Grill

The ride back to San Pedro was unbelievable with the sails causing some of us to be in the shade. It was a relaxing way to end the weekend.

Day 6 of Michelle in Belize

Today was a very relaxing, laid back day. I stayed in until about 10 am and then went to the commons areas to blog. After blogging I went to the beach with was only about 10 minutes away. I got some sun, not too much due to the intensity, and then went walking around the city. While laying out two kids came up trying to sell items their mom had made, and of course I had to buy an anklet. I also bought some fresh cashew nuts which were unbelievable. There are so many vendors that have gorgeous handmade items for sell; it was hard to make decisions. We found a great place that had homemade coconut ice cream which was extremely refreshing. After that I went in for a shower and a nap.

For dinner all the doc students and professors went to George's for stewed chicken, beans/rice, and potato salad. This is a traditional Belizean meal, and we had coconut pie for dessert. The discussion during dinner was great because some clarity was given about what to expect next week.

After dinner we walked back to the hotel, I caught up on my blogs and went in for the night. Please stay tuned for tomorrow's blog about our snorkeling excursion.

Day 5 of Michelle in Belize

Well today is the day we are leaving San Ignacio and going to San Pedro. I am definitely glad to be leaving, but as I reflect it has been almost a life changing experience. After the ATM cave tour, I know that I can do anything I set my mind to. Also, I realized that teamwork is one of the most important aspects of accomplishing anything. I could not have made it through the cave without the other group members being so helpful and encouraging!!!!

My final breakfast was at Flayva's and once again it was most tasteful. I did get a chance to talk to the parrot that lives there. As you can probably tell by now, animals are free to roam around everywhere. After breakfast we checked out of the Plaza Hotel and said goodbye to the nice couple that owned the hotel and started off to the zoo.

Me and the parrot

Sever at Flayva's with the parrot

Me with the couple that owns the Plaza Hotel

My luggage weighed around 75 lbs so I paid someone to carry my bag. 

Once at the zoo I was sooooooo happy!!!  The restrooms were a little primitive and the zoo was small, but it was amazing. All animals were native to Belize and you could get up close and personal. The first thing was to hold a boa constrictor. All the animals were amazing and the zoo's animals are mostly rescues. I did learn that Junior Buddy, a famous jaguar that was saved, was there and we got to see him. There is a book about him, so I got it for Madison, my niece.

Self explanatory 

Me with the boa constrictor

After leaving the zoo we headed to Belize City to get on the water taxi which would take us to San Pedro. We started off with about 60 passengers, dropped off a few at a stop, picked up several, and ended up with about 100 people on a fairly small boat.

Water taxi port in Belize City

Inside the water taxi

Sting ray that I saw as I got off the taxi

Everyone waiting for luggage

After 2 hours of travel we arrived on the island of San Pedro which is so beautiful I can't describe. The first thing I saw was a jelly fish in the water. Of course my luggage weighed too much so three of us got a taxi to the hotel. The hotel is actually nice and we have our own private room and bathroom. Once unpacking and resting some, a group of us went to a restaurant called Caliente's. I had chicken and pineapple tacos and fish tacos which were as wonderful as all the other food has been. Next, we walked around and I turned in early for some down time.

Day 4 of Michelle in Belize

Day 4 was a relaxing day in Guatemala by visiting a town called Flores. As we started out, the 8 of us had to squeeze into a small car owned by the tour guide and travel to the border. Once at the border we converted money ($1 US = $7.50 Guatemala), passed across, and got into a mini van off to Flores.

These are the people of Guatemala doing their laundry in the river. The little girl to the right is washing corn so her family can then have it ground into cornmeal. 

This is a family traveling on a motorcycle with no helmets and a baby with no kind of protective gear. 

Guide that took us on the tour of Flores.

Once we arrived in Flores, the scenery was so beautiful and peaceful. We had fresh fruit and visited several shops. Below you can see a picture of the city taxis which are a little smaller than a Smart Car but only have one wheel in the front. 

Taxi

Basket ball court in front of a school. 

 After roaming around we stopped to have lunch at Terrazzo where the view was gorgeous. As I ate I could see a private island, watch boats and just relax in the breeze.

A private island which has a hotel.

Hotel rated highly by Trip Advisor, 

Salad with corn, avocado, shrimp, sprouts, tomato, lettuce, cucumber and onion which were all fresh and locally grown. 

My empty plate. It is unreal how fresh the food is here and how distinct the flavor is.

Lewis our guide and a girl native girl Guatemala making fresh, homemade corn tortillas. 

Man selling ice cream. 

During our visit we went to a traditional market which was different. If you can imagine Dollar Tree, Dollar, farm stores, kitchens where cooking is taking place, and "vendors" selling homemade items, you can vision where I was. Oh I forgot, we were walking down very narrow alleys once inside the market. After the market we headed back to San Ignacio. It was an real eye opener to see the culture and way of life of the people in Guatemala. I think Americans, including myself, could do without a lot of the conveniences we take for granted.

Day 3 of Michelle in Belize

Caracol--Mayan Ruins

Well, today we got up and ate breakfast at Flayvas, which consisted of fresh bananas, papaya, watermelon, and oranges (all grown locally).  Afterwards we started on our 3-hour drive to Caracol. Of course the group wanted to stop and look at another cave called Rio Frio. I’ve inserted pictures of inside the cave, but I chose to not go in very far. Most everyone is excited about these adventures, but I am scared to death!!

Now we were off again to the Mayan Ruins in Caracol, but had a little snag; the van had 2 flat tires. Luckily, a logging truck came by and helped change the tires. I had visions of us dying from lack of water out in the middle of nowhere in Belize.  Since I am writing this blog you know that I did not die of lack of water. Finally, we arrived at Caracol and went to look at the Mayan ruins. During our tour I learned about the historical culture of the Mayans. It is amazing to think of all the work and effort put into the dwellings without the use of modern technology. 

I respect the culture and the history of the Mayans but I decided to let George the driver take me on a tour of the jungle around the ruins. He told me about the plants and animals around the area. Below is a fruit (I will look up the name later and post) that I ate. There was not that much meat and a lot of seed. The other picture shows a strangler fig literally killing the tree. The scenery was absolutely wonderful, and very peaceful. 

The next part of the trip involved climbing down a very, very steep mountain and watching the rest of the group jump from a cliff into the water. I really tried to go down, but physically and emotionally unable to accomplish the task. I went back to where the van was and rested by some horses tied up. When the group returned they were full of exciting stories. Below is a picture of the sun setting at the end of a fun filled day.

Day 2 of Michelle in Belize

Ok, let's see what has happened since yesterday. We did find out that the AC works in the hotel for $10 American dollars per night. Needless to say we are paying every night for this luxury!!! Electricity is very expensive; something we don't think about that much. So that is the "boring" stuff. 

This morning we got up and traveled at least 1 hour to a place called the ATM Cave Tour, #1 on the Discovery Channel's things to do. Before we started, the group stopped at a store to use the restroom and as you can see from my picture we had to pay $1 Belize money which is 50 cents American. I've also included a picture of some little kids at the store that I talked to. 

There is no way to describe what I went through during this 3-4 hour adventure inside of a cave filled with water and jagged rocks. I am just going to list a few of the horrifying experiences:

• Jumping into deep water way over my head and having to swim across to the other side and crawl up the bank on my stomach
• Wading through water up to my shoulder in the dark with my hand on a group members shoulder...I cried the entire 15-20 minutes which seemed like an hour!!!!
• Each time I thought it could not get any worse it did. Next we had to climb up a rock about 15 feet and crawl up, take our shoes off and continue in our socks!!!
• Explanation for socks only is so we did not ruin the artifacts
• Now we had to spend hours listening to the spiritual rituals of the Mayans while looking at clay pots and skeletons. The entire time I could only think about how I was going to get out of this place. 
• Please remember I'm still in my socks, and now there is a ladder that we have to climb. I wanted to cry again, but I did not. Once climbing the ladder, we looked at more clay pots. The big issue was coming down; it was horrible. Now we are headed out, the same way we came in. 
• This does not sound that bad, but there is now way to make it sound as bad as it was. 
• Oh, I forgot about almost having a heat stroke and having to sit down in the middle of the cave with the guide pouring water on my head for about 15 minutes. How embarrassing with 7 other people watching!!!
• There is a link above that will show you a tour, because we could not take in cameras. Also, I forgot to tell you we had to cross (wade through) 3 rivers during our 45 minute hike before even starting our cave tour. 
• Pics below of scenery while traveling in to the site. 

Once this horrible experience was over, we were headed back to San Ignacio and back to the Mayawalk for dinner. I had a porterhouse steak that was suppose to be wonderful, but it was so tough that I could hardly chew it. By the way, the picture below is of one of our many friends that joined us for dinner.

Oh, also I'm including a picture of our entertainment for the night.