Belize November 2007

[lamb]

2+ hours flight San Diego – Dallas, then about the same for Dallas - Belize City...



...is all it took to put us in Belize, Caribbean tropical paradise.

15 minutes exciting flight in a small Cessna plane over breathtaking views - 1st the jungle:



...than shallow crystal clear waters....









...brought us to our final destination – San Pedro village on Ambergris Caye.

25 or so miles long, Ambergris Caye is Belize’s largest Island. For the whole length of the Island, parallel to the shore about 0.5 to 1 mile out, runs Belize’s Barrier Reef.



It is the longest and largest mass of continuous living coral in this hemisphere, second in the world only to the Great Barrier Reef in Australia.

The village of San Pedro is only a couple of blocks, with 2 main streets starched along the beach.

The downtown streets are packed with restaurants and shops – a lot of them very modest.



Tourism has stepped in and replaced fish, lobster and coconut trade as primary source of income for locals. All of it is still there, but in different shape. Like other places in Central America, local folks are very warm and friendly.

People from all over the world now come to La Isla Bonita, the home of Pirates of the Caribbean, to enjoy their time in this tropical paradise.



Let the time stop.

Can I have a local beer please...



The beautiful stretch of coast line is packed with resorts. I found out that only a few were renting kayaks.

I soon ran into problems...

The majority of places rent kayaks only from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM.

Then I heard from many that they don’t allow kayaks to be taken out to the reef. (?!?) They said busy panga and boat traffic, unaccustomed to having kayaks around, created situations in the past where kayakers were getting in trouble.

There were cases of folks getting blown out to sea and had to be rescued – so kayak renters are required to strictly stay inside of inshore buoys.

Then prices were pretty steep... $60 for full day?!? Sounded a bit too much. Ouch.

I finally found a resort not far away from ours. It took a bit socializing with the local resort staff to hook up with the right person... ...eager to show me Belize’s hospitality and cut me a deal, for about ½ the price advertised. I re-assured them I would be careful with the winds, have my GPS and VHF on me and will be smart when picking the time to go out. They let me take Ocean Kayak Malibu 2 tandem and keep it for 5 days.

I brought the seat with rod-holders in the back and a bit of my fishing gear was with me. Sweet.

Now the biggest problem I had was how to fit in fishing before chilling in the sun, swimming, snorkeling, playing with kids, checking out Maya ruins, windsurfing or doing all other gazillion things possible on this island.

I somehow knew I would.



Snorkeling was amazing... My Olympus Stylus 720 SW captured some of the underwater magic...











Snorkeling tours were all day adventures.

Local pangero takes a roll of guide to drop you on a couple of popular snorkeling spots...



tarpon, one of only 2 I saw...







Then he puts instructor’s hat on to teach you how to look for lobster and conch, a local delicacy...



Then he turns skipper to put you on some good snapper spots to load up some fillets.

...and finally a chef, serving up a delicious lunch after pulling up on a lonely beach. Just pack up snapper, lobster and conch into aluminum foil and cook it right over the beach fire.



There is no surf whatsoever along the beach... The coral reef on the outside is where the waves break.



That’s where the deeper water is.

Inside of the reef, beautiful white sand beaches slowly slope - water can be only a couple of feet deep hundreds of yards out.

Warm water 80ish degrees, with those typical shades of tropical blue.

Inside of the reef the water is maybe 15 feet deep at the deepest places at least that I fished or snorkeled at. There are scattered patches of sand and grass beds, with a reefs scattered here and there (to snag on)... And lots o fish.

I quickly learned from locals that the snapper is the main fish. It’s about the only fish served in restaurants. They have many different types of snappers – all taste equally good! There’s other fish, but snapper is THE fish.

12# on spinning reel rig, with ½ oz sliding sinker to drop it down. They liked gulp worms and shrimp... They loved what locals told me they'd dig – a chunk of dead sardina (what they call sardine).











Quantity made up for quality...

The whole time we had pretty steady 10 to 20 knot winds, and the direction kept changing... If the wind wasn’t so bad, I would have explored the other side of the reef.

I managed 4-5 kayak fishing trips, and loaded up each time... Kids and my friends were eager to join me for some kayak fishing...









I released majority of fish, but I did bring back full stinger once or twice to keep the resort grill in good shape. It was delicious.



Food at the local restaurants was awesome! The best chevice I ever had.





Hog Snapper - before:



...and after:



Lonely Planet book once again proved as an awesome travel guide.

With the warm weather, nights were as pleasant as the days...



If you dig tropical atmosphere, and don’t mind being rained on multiple times per day just to have the Sun come back a moment later...





If you like playing in the sand and on the water...







If you can still be happy while constantly being bothered by different insects (mosquitoes and sand flies leading the crowd)...

If you find driving on, well, (hardly you can call ‘em) roads still to be fun...



If you can soak the relaxed and fulfilling life vibe of locals where majority of cab drivers work with their spouses and kids keeping them company... OK, lets put discussions on child safety on a side for a moment...



If you still had a blast visiting Maya pyramids after the boat that took you from the island to the mainland broke down, then beat up bus that took you inland wouldn't start and then finally another boat that was supposed to take you up the river to the archaeological site also broke down one after another... lol



If you don’t have a problem letting the time slowly drag out, where days feel like weeks...


Then you should put Belize on your destination list.

I call unforgettable vacation over Thanks Giving, 3 ol’ bros getting together with their families... Kids and and ol' gang having blast.

Locals sum it up with Unbelizable.

The only thing that sucks is to be back.