As is typical for us this time of year, we generally seek warm water and sandy beaches, because we like to snorkel. We can only handle so much sun, so this year we traveled to Belize for an amazing adventure! We spent 6 days in San Ignacio in the Cayo District. From here we traveled to Tikal National Park in Guatemala walking among the most impressive ruins of the Mayan civilization; it was fascinating. The highlight of our trip took us deep into Belize's famous ATM (Actun Tunichil Muknal) Cave, a natural & archaeological wonder. Although it isn't for everyone, we highly recommend it. We also tubed through Caves Branch Caves, that was fun. We spent 5 days on Caye Caulker, a small island on the Western Caribbean. We walked the sandy streets, snorkeled and enjoyed the beautiful sunsets. Our entire trip to Belize was an experience we will not soon forget. We met so many nice people, enjoyed the local food at unheard of prices and as they say, "It was unbelizeable!"
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| Getting ready to land in Belize City |
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| Midas Resort in San Ignacio |
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| Our room at Midas |
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| Kent & Lisa . . . she served our breakfast and cleaned our room daily |
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| Outdoor dining patio where we ate breakfast & checked the Internet |
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| A cute cottage at Midas Resort |
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| Colorful Cabanas |
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| Saturday Market in San Ignacio |
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| Mayan ruins located on a hill above town with walking distance |
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| Interesting shapes, sizes and textures |
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| Long narrow walkway |
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| Our first glimpse of Mayan ruins |
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| Bottled Coke is the official drink & they make you return the bottle immediately! Drink up! |
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| Walking back down the hill from Cahal Pech ruins |
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| Hanna's became a favorite place to eat |
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| They do things differently in Belize |
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| Crossing the border into Guatemala |
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| A lady washing clothes on a rock at the lake near El Remate |
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| Tikal National Park |
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| We start off with a small monument and a few altars |
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| Up, up, up . . . we got a lot of exercise at Tikal |
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| Up on top of the monument |
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| If you understand Mayan then you could read this |
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| Looking towards Temple 1 Great Jaguar from Maler's Palace |
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| Great Plaza |
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| North Acropolis |
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| Temple 1 |
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| Interesting face |
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| The work will never be complete |
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| We saw a few spider monkeys |
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| We went to Tikal with two other couples, Elias was our tour guide |
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| Now, these are some serious steps |
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| This way to Temple IV, the tallest of the temples |
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| Taking in the views from the top |
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| This scene was in Star Wars IV . . . A New Hope |
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| Flowers in the rain forest |
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| Bananas growing at our hotel |
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| Iguanas were everywhere |
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| Getting batteries & donuts for our ATM Cave hike (Actun Tunichil Muknal) |
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| Soft drinks only come in bottles! |
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| Heading towards the cave, it's quite a journey just to get there |
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| Crossing the Roaring River |
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| Zane, our driver picked oranges that we all enjoyed . . . even Kent! |
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| White Ibis taking off along side our car |
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| Carlos with his machete, he only takes small groups and he is an excellent tour guide |
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| We had to cross the river three times |
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| ATM Cave entrance, from here we donned helmets & headlamps, swan & waded through water to reach the upper chamber |
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| The cave is full of stalagmites and stalactites only seen with a flashlight as the cave is pitch black, there are no lights |
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| There are crystallized remains of 14 humans in the cave. Socks only in this area, no shoes allowed |
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| Mayan pottery is scattered about in the upper chamber . . . absolutely amazing! |
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| The Crystal Maiden |
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| What an incredible experience! It was an eleven hour day, but definitely the highlight of our trip to Belize! |
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| The ferry to Spanish Lookout, only the driver is allowed to stay in each car, everyone else must walk on |
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| We had to stand on the side while two men operated the ferry with a crank & wheel . . . the ride is free |
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| Crossing the Belize River |
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| Mennonites travel by horse & buggy and cars |
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| Cave Branch, here we hiked and tubed through limestone caves and through the jungle |
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| Kent is ready . . . |
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| ahhh refreshing! |
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| Eddie was our Tour Guide, here he is entering a cave |
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| Yes, even I like the water |
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| It was so pretty, we passed one area where parts of "Mosquito Coast" were filmed |
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| Authentic Belizean lunch . . . chicken, rice & beans, potato salad and plantains . . . yum! |
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| Back at our hotel it's time to dry out our clothes |
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| A sail boat welcomes us to Caye Caulker |
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| Look at the color of the water . . . the Western Caribbean! |
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| We arrived by water taxi, it took 50 minutes to travel the 18 miles |
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| Streets of sand, no cars . . . just bikes and golf carts and of course flip flops! |
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| Island Magic, our hotel for the first three days |
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| Our room with a view of the sea |
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| There are a few unusual signs around town |
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| This sign is near the airport |
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| Our first sunset |
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| We are here to relax and snorkel |
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| The Chinese run all the markets throughout Belize |
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| Can you imagine buying either of these coolers? That's $84.50 Belizean and $74.50 US!!! |
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| Breakfast at the Happy Lobster . . . eggs, hash browns and sausage |
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| Kent talking with Bernie Burnside, a Pastor we met from Texas. His group had been a a missions trip to Punta Gorda, they are here to relax before going home |
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| Out on the town after a full day of snorkeling |
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| Doesn't this look relaxing and peaceful? |
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| Even with the golf carts Caye Caulker is so quiet |
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| We noticed a man selling these banana & potato chips, so we had to try them . . . if only we had done so sooner! Yum! |
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| Pile of conch shells |
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| Pretty hibiscus |
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| Belizean house on stilts |
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| Pay phones were common to see. BTL is the phone company, one of our tour guides said it really stands for "Better Try Later" |
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| We stayed at the Iguana Reef Inn for our last two days |
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| Beautiful hotel grounds |
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| Our room |
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| Yes, these are our bath towels, almost too pretty to use . . . |
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| The Split was formed by Hurricane Hattie in 1961. We kayaked across here looking for sea horses . . . unfortunately they were hiding |
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| We spotted a starfish |
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| It's a pretty starfish, we also saw tarpon and other colorful fish |
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| Supplies coming in from Belize City |
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| Sunset from our hotel |
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| Delivering crates of bottled soft drinks |
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| A nice lady we bought a few souvenirs from |
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| Snorkeling was awesome, we saw Loggerhead turtles |
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| Southern Stingray, they weren't too scary |
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| Adult Blue Tang |
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| Burrito grunts always hung out in schools |
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| My favorite snorkeling companion |
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| Sea urchin and a pretty gastropod shell . . . Kent spotted these for me |
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| Horse eye jack . . . funny name for a fish |
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| Spotted lobster |
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| Cow fish . . . very unusual and the only one I saw |
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| Scenery along Front Street |
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| Kent enjoying the outdoor patio at Sandros Piccola Cucina . . . the best Italian Restaurant ever! Yum! |
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| Our last sunset . . . oh so pretty! |
