More Belize Tomorrow!

Sorry 'bout that. Wally world finally got my non digital prints done (the machine broke - who knew??) so I will get Day 5 - Ocean Adventures posted soon.

I spent all day today at the State Capitol with a whole lotta kids... Soooooo not tropical vacation!

But the kids had fun, right?? Right.

More tropical vacation tomorrow...

Made in Belize...

And arriving in the mail. A lovely pair of socks from the Feisty Ms. Christina!

I don't think my toes have ever been this happy!

Thank you!!

Belize Day 4 - R & R is a good thing!

After Lamanai, it was time to rest.

We were all ready for a day to just chill by the pool, walk the beach, read, and rest.

Our condos had full kitchens so on Wednesday morning, I made breakfast burritos while WxMan and the girls slept in. Oddybobo and her family was in the condo right next door and The Boy would make it over to our place daily to hang with the girls and watch cartoons while the morning got rolling along.

It. Was. Fabulous.

The pool was calling, so I got the kids all suited up and covered with sunscreen and off we went.

Sweet One decided to go all literary...

Somebody with great gams used her down time to knit - imagine that...

Otherwise we all just enjoyed the sunshine and the view.



Oddy's hubby and The Boy were having a great time!

WxMan was a very happy camper!

As were Yabu and Dash.
The guys grins may have been due to the ministrations of the bartender. She had.... uh.... attributes.

Later that evening we all got together and cooked a fantastic meal with the fresh snapper that Yabu procured. I fried all kinds of stuff, Christina smothered her portion with all kinds of peppers and onions, Oddy's hubby made an awesome citrus chutney - it was all DELISH!

Later that night after a few drinks and our wonderful dinner, WxMan decided to show off his mad flipping skillz by treating us all to a back flip off the pier. Good grief - I will admit, I had visions of shark bait...




But as you can see, he made it out alive. That's good, because I wasn't going in after him... Nuh uh - I saw *that* movie too. ::shudder::

Anyhoo, there were more open ocean adventures in Belize Day 5! I'll be posting it just as soon as Wal-Mart gets my film developed from the waterproof camera. Whoohoo!

So Rich...

Why is it that you are so happy posting about your trip to Belize?? Aren't you glad to be home??

Hello self! Why yes, I *am* glad to be home. Sleeping in my own bed is a particular bonus... But to be honest, Mother Nature is messin' with me, and I miss the sunshine. For example, note the weather today...
Capice?

Belize Day 3 - Lamanai, Baby!

So here we go, off on another adventure!

Remember when I said that the paradise payoff = very small planes??

Yeah. That and wacky assed runways carved out of sugarcane fields. Like this...

Now granted, I took these pictures at the end of our tour of Lamanai - just before I willingly got back on the plane - more Dramamine, please! - to fly back to San Pedro.



Because, seriously - I was green to the gills when we got there. Even with Dramamine, the flight was bumpy and riddled with swoops! and falls! and when the pilot guy did the big tilty banking curvy thing (yes, that *is* the technical term) in order to land, and I spent s few minutes looking at the ground with WxMan staring down at me from his seat next to me??

It was all I could do not to throw up. Good God.

Then as we landed, and I was thanking the no puke gods of the universe (because once on the ground the odds of me puking decrease exponentially - yay!) the plane came to a stop.

More like a STOP!!

As in "Thank God we were all wearing our seatbelts and the seats are relatively soft when you whack your head on them!"

We were all looking around with our WTF?? faces on and the pilot exclaimed:

"Wow! What was that??"

Shit Dude - if you don't know, I sure as hell don't!!

And then he concluded,

"Well, we must have hit a rock. The plane's stopped - you can all get off..."

Thanks. You don't need to tell me twice... More than happy to.

So here we are - tiny little rock hittin' planes in the midst of the sugar cane.

And here come all of these happy looking guys in older minivans and a Honda (I got to ride in the Honda) ready to take us to the boat, and off on our tour of the New River up to Lamanai. Whoohoo!

That's my boat. Uh huh...

It was great. Nathan, our guide, took us 25 miles up the New River stopping frequently to point our wildlife (read: birds) along the way. For pictures of that - Christina has me covered...

Best line from the beginning of the trip? "Hey kids - this is NOT Disneyland. Keep your hands inside the boat at all times."

Which loosely translates to: "Guess what kids, there are things in this river that will EAT you - act appropriately."

Word.

We got to Lamanai and it was everything I had hoped for... Here is a view of the top of the High Temple from the Lagoon...
And it just gets better from there...

First stop was the Jaguar temple - a quick left after the howler monkeys...

Can't see them? Yeah - me either. Like I said, Christina got much better pictures...

Jaguar Temple was cool. Even cooler was our guide, Nathan. He was so passionate about all of the information and history. He really took time to explain in detail what it was we were seeing and the kids stuck to him like glue - hanging on his every word... It was great.


We got to see where Mayan kings and queens lived and ruled, the sheer scope of the buildings was impressive - especially when you consider the manpower required to build such massive structures.





On our way to the High Temple, we even saw a few critters...

Here is a line of ants we were instructed *not* to disrupt...

No problem there - I think I saw that movie... Yeepers!

Later it was a pretty green snake...

Made even prettier given the fact it was moving away from us. Yay!

Here are the girls infront of a very primordial looking frond.

And a pretty flower!
The funny thing was, usually I have to curse and cajole, beg, plead, scold and sometimes threaten to get them to line up and pose for a picture. On this day though, they were so wanting to stick to Nathan to hear what he had to say next I would call them over for a photo-op and after the briefest of frustrated looks they would run over, snap to, and smile so I could quickly get my shot - and then they would run back. Loved that.

So here we are at the High Temple. In a word?? Whoa...




WxMan made it all the way to the top. Sporta, dang near and Computa Half-way. Me?? I stayed on the ground. Happily.

I got the kids to pose on the steps - Wee one, Computa, Sporta and Oddy's hubby and cutie Boy.

Then we were off to the Mask Temple.



Christina took one of my favorite pictures of the whole trip...


I can see that shot being our Christmas card this year.

After the Mask Temple, we trooped through the jungle and enjoyed a traditional Belizean lunch of black beans and rice with stewed chicken, fresh fruit, salad, cole slaw, fried plantains, and this awesome habanero onion relish - yummy!

Then it was back on the boat for another ride on the New River. Lovely...


And can you say tired but happy?? Oh yeah...








Soon it was time to bid Nathan a fond farewell and *gulp* get back on the plane. Oh goody...

Here is a picture of me not long after take-off... (WxMan thinks he's funny...)

Yes, I *am* holding on with both hands, dang it! Shut up! It's helping!!

Flying over we saw a few things...

The sugarcane plant.


Talk about hard work - the guys who cut the cane were standing along the road with all these trucks loaded to the gills waiting to go to the factory. They looked pretty damn tough...

Then the Rum Factory...


I really came to enjoy their product!

And the river we were just on...

After a few minutes we landed safely in San Pedro. And I got to order one of these...

Rum Punch anyone?? Mmmmmmm...

Then it was a quick water taxi ride for some R&R at the resort. In fact - that's tomorrow's post. Belize days 4 & 5 - R &R is my friend...

See you then!