This is
a continuation of our trip to Belize in February, 2005. We moved closer to
San Ignacio so we could base the
rest of our trip from there. We left Caye
Caulker by water taxi and headed to Belize City. After being accosted by
people offering to "help" with our bags, Luis from
Crystal Paradise Resort
picked us up and
we were off. Well not really. My wife saw some
material on Caye Caulker and wanted to look for it in Belize City. Luis
was kind enough to drop her off at a store and go around the block. They
had exactly what she wanted plus others. We now have the fabric but I'm
still waiting to see what she does with it.
The ride to Crystal Paradise was pleasant. We stopped for lunch on the way and enjoyed the scenery. When we arrived, Luis said this is your home. Enjoy it.
We
had a Valley View Cabana. Couldn't see the valley but it was nice in any
event. Couple of chairs out front and a hammock. There are 2 cabanas
in each building and they could be noisy if your neighbor snored. It was
quiet, though, and I think our neighbors were too tired to be noisy. We
didn't have any problem with bugs except for one morning. We had a parade
on ants going into the suit case where the almonds were stashed. I guess
that one was our fault.
Meals
were interesting. The dining area had an open bar with an honor system.
They usually had enough Belikin and
rum to make things OK. I even tried the Cashew Wine. Interesting but
you have to like sweet wines. The meals were served community style.
You sit with whoever you want and they bring the bowls of food around. The
food wasn't special but I didn't leave hungry. Breakfast was interesting
because we learned a few things. You can roll scrambled eggs up in a
tortilla rather than eating them like we normally do. You can also do
peanut butter and jelly tortillas just as easy as regular bread. We still
do both at home. We also found that Marie Sharp's Habanera sauce won't
kill you (in moderation anyway). The main thing about meals, though, is
the people. We met a lot of nice people there and that made it even
better.
We didn't see as many birds as we heard. When the sun came up, so did the birds. Very noisy and you don't sleep through them. We did see some parrots and that was cool.
We
scheduled our tours through Crystal Paradise. The first day we went to
Caracol to see the Mayan ruins. I believe these are the largest in Belize.
There are still archaeologists working there. We saw a toucan and howler
monkeys before we saw a ruin. That was pretty cool. There are
several pictures of the ruins if you want to see them. I don't have enough
information to explain them though.
We
stopped at Francis Ford Coppolla's Blancaneaux Lodge on the way. I was
impressed. Wouldn't mind trying it
some
time. Is elegantly rustic a real expression? If you go to Caracol,
stop or ask your guide to stop so you can look around.
On the way back we stopped at Rio Frio cave and Rio On for swimming. It was OK but not special. I think most of the tours stop there on the way back.
Our
second day took us to
Tikal for a day trip. Victor from CP took us to the
border and introduced us to our driver.
He told us to not exchange for Guatemalan currency since everyone took US
dollars where we would be. We paid our exit fee ($35 or so) to leave
Belize. We then left with Hugo for Tikal. The drive was interesting.
Many more horses than I expected. Also that part of the country seemed to
be more poor than Belize. I was kind of amazed watching the young girls
carrying water on their heads.
When we
arrived at Tikal, Hugo introduced us to our guide Hugo (not a typo). He
showed us around and had good
knowledge of the ruins. I wish I could remember more. The Temple of
the Jaguar is the big one. Very tall but not real wide like the Belize
temples. We climbed the wooden steps to go up temples 2 and 4. Nice
view from both. I don't remember the number of the temple but we climbed
one up the stone stairs. You have to kind of go up sideways. Great
view though.
We saw howler monkeys, spider monkeys and another toucan on the way to lunch. We had the local Gallo beer with lunch. In spite of what our Caracol guide told us, it was pretty good.
Our third day wasn't planned. We decided on a canoe trip down the Macal River. I think it was about 11 miles to San Ignacio but I'm not sure. It was easy paddling all the way. We saw a couple of herons I wish I could have photographed. One was a light iridescent blue and the other was kind of a patchwork. Cool to see.
We
dropped the canoe in San Ignacio and wandered around. We went to the open
air market but it was mainly food
and that wouldn't do us much good. We had lunch at Nefry's and enjoyed
that. Their patio is beside
Maya Walk tours and across from Eva's. I
don't hear them mentioned much but I liked them. We looked in some of the
stores expecting to see local products. A lot of them, though, were
American imports. Too much like shopping at home.
The next day was leaving for home. We stopped at the Belize zoo on the way out. I was impressed at how nice it is to be no bigger than it is. I'd recommend it. Luis from Crystal Paradise took us to Belize City and stopped at the zoo for us.
When we got home to the land of no Belikin, it snowed. That's a rough transition.