Hello everyone and welcome to this posting to Life is a Beach!

Instead of a pictorial of our life in Bermuda, this issue is devoted to our exploration of the incredible country of Belize! If you mouse over the map to your left, you'll see our route through this beautiful land. Located South of Mexico and sharing it's border with Guatemala, Belize is famous for it's Caribbean islands or "Cayes" (Pronounced "Keys") as well as it's Mayan ruins and diverse population.

On the 15th of February we flew to Belize City and rented a car for the first week of our trip. We visited Mayan ruins and explored the countryside. Our last two weeks were spent on the Cayes where we traveled by water taxi from island to island.

I hope you enjoy Lori's photography. As always, all the images can be seen full screen by "clicking" on them. For example you can click on the map to see where exactly Belize is located in Central America. Close the window to return here.

For the first three says we stayed in Northern Belize in the Corozal province, staying in the small town of Consejo. The first day we drove (and took two hand pulled ferries) to the small fishing town of Sarteneja. There we visited the Mayan ruins at Cerros, which can also be reached by water (see picture above right). The next day we took a water taxi to Chetumal Mexico to do some shopping. (See map above)

The main crop of the North is sugar cane and the large trucks full of fresh cane or crushed cane stalks are everywhere on the roads. Pictured at left is a line of these trucks waiting their turn to dump their load at the factory.

The Mennonites also have a distinct influence in Northern Belize. They came to Belize in the 1950s from Canada and the U.S. via Mexico. They brought with them their European farming skills and are efficient and hard working so that they have come to dominate the agricultural sector in Belize and supply much of the country’s produce as well as prefab housing.

Harpy Eagle

On our fourth day we drove to San Ignacio (See the Map!) and on the way stopped off at the Belize Zoo. It was well worth the stop to view the Jaguars and especially the Harpy Eagle.

The Harpy is the largest and most powerful raptor found in the Americas, usually inhabiting tropical lowland rainforests in the upper canopy layer. Its name references the harpies from Ancient Greek mythology. These were wind spirits that took the dead to Hades, and were said to have a body like an eagle and the face of a human.

This species is an actively hunting carnivore. Its main prey are tree-dwelling mammals such as monkeys, coatis, and sloths; it may also attack other bird species such as macaws. The talons are extremely powerful and assist with suppressing prey. The Harpy Eagle is the national bird of Panama, although we never saw one there.

On our fifth day we ended up near San Ignacio which is located in the highlands near Guatemala at a jungle lodge called Jaguar Paw. At right and left you see us geared up for "Zip Lining" where one flies through the jungle canopy on a cable. The ride went quite a way with four resting stations. Of course Lori took her camera.

At Jaguar Paw one can also go cave exploring where you float on an inner tube and follow the river going underground where ancient Mayan Priests held their rites.

Jaguar Paw was an amazing place literally in the middle of the jungle. When we arrived we found ourselves to be the only customers there that night. We had our pick of the rooms which all had a different theme. We chose the Voodoo Room!

At right you see me taking in all the pictures and ornaments in our room.

At left is a reflection of Lori in the bed of our Voodoo room, checking up on her email on our lap top. Belize had internet connectivity almost everywhere we went.

At right is a "real" Voodoo doll that I found in an ornate box inside a cabinet in our room.

I told Lori we must stop and get a picture of the jungle before we left. So here it is ....not as impressive looking as in real life.

To the right you see Lori and I at an inland "Blue Hole". Not often can we find someone who can actually focus her camera.

I might mention that, other than the first two nights in Consejo, we "winged it", not reserving any place until we arrived. Often when we walked in from the street we could bargain for a great rate and best room of the house. At the "Paradise" we again rented a room on the top floor with great views and cool breeze. Caye Caulker has three streets all of sand. The only vehicles are golf carts and peddle bikes. The main street is the beach. A truly perfect place to lay back!

The islands of Belize all have long docks out to deeper water for the boats to dock as it's shallow closer to shore.

So what can I say about Caulker .... we were in paradise after all. A week of kicking back, enjoying the sun, snorkeling the reef, meeting new people and going to a different restaurant every evening.

As you can imagine, by late afternoon each day, we were feeling no pain. Pictured at left is me at the Lazy Lizard wearing a hat of palm leaves and hoisting a glass of .... what? Herring? This drink is for the birds!

Pictured at right is one of the many boats that came through the Spit. They often docked for a quick bite and a drink (or two). This vessel sailed right on through. If you click on it to enlarge, you'll see the line of serf in the distance which denotes the barrier reef. This reef is the second largest in the world next to the Great Barrier reef in Australia, and travels the length of Belize.

Some more magic from Lori's camera. A close up of a local swimmer (left). Notice the clarity of the warm water.

The lizard pictured is a rather small one compared to the others we saw but Lori liked the colours in the image. They get huge in Belize and can they ever move!

Ok, ok .... so it's a picture of booze. But again it's the arrangement of colour and glass that's important, not the contents! This picture would even look good framed behind brother Randy's bar!

To the right you see Lori and Francesca on the beach in front of the Paradise. We met Francesca and her boyfriend and became friends. They are from Brazil and want us to visit! Guess where we are going next year?

Did I say there were lots of good restaurants in Caulker? Habaneros was one of the best! Never had better seafood. I also loved the stained glass window and had to get an image of it.

The fishing tour shop picture (right) was interesting because of the mother and child.

You didn't think just because this is a posting of our exploration of a new country that we wouldn't include golf! No way! Caye Chapel was a great deal at $150 each which included clubs, cart and as much golf as you could get in a day.

Mouse over the picture of (left) and you'll see by reading the sign that this course had some unique hazards. No going into the reeds to look for an errant ball! There was also water hazards on every hole.

Another picture of me at a bar. One would think I had an affinity for such places. This one was at the clubhouse at Caye Chapel where we had lunch.

One week to go and we left Caye Caulker to visit the largest of the Belizean islands; Ambergris Caye. This is a favorite destination for many visiting Belize. Forty-five miles of sandy beach and palm trees. Lots of resorts, beach bars and restaurants. We again took the advice of our taxi driver, in a car this time, and after checking out a few different places settled in at the Coconuts Hotel in San Pedro, the only town on the island.

If you look at the map you'll see that Ambergris Caye isn't really an island, but part of the Yucatan Peninsula hanging down from Mexico. It's only separated by a canal built by the ancient Mayans which now forms the border between Belize and Mexico.

The Coconuts Hotel turned out to be a great place to stay. The beach was right out in front of the bar. It also had a huge swimming pool. Every night there was different entertainment and the first night we met lots of the locals, many of whom were ex pats like ourselves. We found that many of these people came to visit and stayed.

Lori had to shoot Marilyn in the lobby of the Coconuts. Just behind her was the pool. Our room was again on the upper floor overlooking the beach.

At right is an image of a dive shop out on a pier. There are many of these buildings over the water along the beach.

This sailboat picture could be a post card advertising Belize as a destination. The line of white on the horizon is the surf over the barrier reef.

Many of the pictures you'll see in the rest of this posting about Belize depict the tropical paradise that is Ambergris Caye. Some, like the one at right, have been played with in Photoshop. Mouse over to see the original.

Some of these images were taken because of their splash of colours, like the sailboat (which was for rent). Then there are colourful characters like the fellow in the hammock.

Ambergris Caye has two roads, one down the middle and the other the beach itself. Of course, in San Pedro, there are more and all paved in cobblestone.

Out of the huge pile of Lori's rejects, I recovered the picture at left. She didn't like it because the background was "blown out", but I think it conveys the brightness and heat of the day and the sanctuary of a cool beach bar and tall cold rum and pineapple. We both drank the local rum as it was inexpensive and plentiful.

At right is another picture of the beach that just went on and on.

At left a couple of fishing boats in the sunset. As with most costal towns, fishing is a mainstay of life for many locals. Mouse over to enlarge and click to see full page.

At right is a local woman trudging home after a day of work selling her Creole blankets.

So that is all for this posting. I hope you enjoyed the imagery of Belize and have an idea what its like to visit there. It would even be a great place to retire! If anyone plans on going, give us a call or email first for advice. Overall we found the people, although poor, to be very friendly. The country is great. The Cayes incredible.

We will leave you with a final image of the beach on Ambergris Caye. This resort had a few places for sale in it. We are tempted.