trip report March 2008
 

Well, I know I get a lot from reading trip reports and there have been way too few on the Belize thread. In fact, when I was researching this trip, I would eagerly look each night for more posts, only to be disappointed. So here is a detailed report of our March spring break 10 day trip. I hope it helps someone in their planning.

We flew Continental Vancouver-Seattle-Houston-Belize and made all connections! Arriving in Belize City about noon, we had reserved a Tropic Air flight to San Pedro. We were directed quickly to the Tropic air counter after going through long lineups at customs and made the flight within 15 minutes of checking in! It was a blast to sit in a small 10-seater (hubby was a little nervous but soon began to relax and enjoy). The view of the Cayes and the ocean was very cool--just love the changing colour of the water. We landed and waited for about 20 minutes for a pickup ride from our resort Belizean SHores. The ride took us to a nearby dock and we got on a boat that whisked us to the resort (about a 10 minute ride).

Arriving on the resort dock we were greeted by staff with rum punch, keys to out place and all the info needed to survive at the resort. It was really windy but warm. Our place was facing the ocean and the docks (we upgraded and glad we did!) and was very comfortable. WE had a full kitchen, and a living room area. The best room was the deck with a table and views of the ocean and dock (and all the comings and goings). There was a hammock out front and some lawn chairs.

Before we left home we decided to order food from Lagniappe Provisioning - a company that shops for you and delivers to your place. We found the prices slightly higher than if we bought things ourselves, but sure enjoyed the convenience of having food and wine/beer/rum awaiting for us when we arrived. I recommend this serive (although I see on their website that the business is for sale).

The first day we enjoyed relaxing by the fabulous pool (swim-up bar) and went to dinner at Capricorns (a 10 minute walk down the beach). The food was great but the service a bit slow-but hey we were now on "island time"!

Day 2 - We wanted to rent bicyles to go into San Pedro but alas-they were all out. Tip-book early! So we asked the front desk how long a walk. Well, we were told 30 minutes (duh-after a high speed 10 minute boat ride what were we thinking?!) In our flip flops we began to walk - 1 and a half hours later we limped into San Pedro with blisters. The town has a definite "north end" where the locals live and the center and south end where the tourists hang out. We wandered a bit, bought a few items (including mole skin for the blisters!) and had a great late lunch at Wild Mangoes. We took a water taxi back to the resort (they run every hour or so).

Day 3 - It had been very windy the past few days and many of the tours were cancelled. We really wanted to go snorkelling at Ho Chen and Shark Ray Alley. Luckily the tour company at the resort decided to go ahead this day. We booked an afternoon trip, along wiht about 18 others. The boat ride was fast and took about 30 minutes. The tour guys were wise in decided to forego Hol Chen first as there was a large amount of tour boats already there. SO we went to Shark Ray Alley first. Well, the waves were quite rough (because of the high winds) and by the time we all jumped into the water, there was 20 of us being herded around searching for sealife. It was almost claustrophobic, bumping bodies and swimming in circles. We couldn't hear the guides' instructions, and disappointingly saw only one shark and one stingray from a distance. We had expected to "swim with the sharks and rays". Oh well, we hoped for better things next spot. Unfortunately the same experience at Hol Chen -- too many waves, strong currents, high winds and hordes of bumping bodies. The whole trip was not what we expected.

Later, we nursed our disappointment with some wine on the deck.

Day 4 - Good Friday. Because of the holiday, all tours were cancellled and there was not much to do but hang out at the pool. Oooohh wellll!!

Day 5 - While in San Pedro we booked a catamaran snorkelling tour through Searious Tours. They came to pick us up at 8am and took us back to their San Pedro dock to get the others. There was about 20 people. The catamaran had mattresses to lie on and was very comfortable. They gave us lots of rum punches, offered great snacks and the cruise north was relaxing and fun. We had 3 snorkelling stops that were much more rewarding (actually had a stingray circle us as we swam--it was very eerie!) They then took us to a beach where a BBQ was being set up. We had a great BBQ chicken lunch (but the mosquitos were deadly there-take some repellent!) All in all a great trip - recommended!

That evening - our last at Belizean Shores - we booked dinner at The Rendezvous. This was a 10 minutes walk north of the resort. Again an excellent meal - recommended. The restaurant is run by a woman from Toronto. They has a chocolate mousse dessert in the shape of an Innukshuk (hometown nostalgia!)

End of Part 1. More to come....

Thanks for taking the time to post - looking forward to the next installment!

Really enjoying your trip report! Thanks for posting!!!

LvL - yes, thanks for the report. As you point out there seem to be very few on Belize. I just went back and read over mine from last year and made myself really want to return!!

Looking forward to the rest of your report.

Thanks for the report. I'm going to Belize on the 23rd, so keep it coming!

Part 2...

Day 6-We headed back to San Pedro the morning of our 6th day in Belize. The experience at Belizean Shores was great and I would recommend this resort to anyone. It was especially great to be able to cook our own meals.

We flew back to Belize City, landing this time at the municipal airport. This was a cool experience as the runway is VERY short and right beside the water. It amazed me how quickly the plane could come to a stop and turn on a dime! We had arranged for a pickup from our next accommodation - Maya Mountain Lodge - just outside of San Ignacio. This is about a 2hr drive from Belize City.

Our driver was Sandra-- a very friendly, talkative hilarious local woman. She is one of the very few women taxi drivers in the country and trying very hard to run a taxi/shuttle business in a job dominated by men. She gave us a wealth of information on what it is like to be a Belizean. She gave info on the history and politics of Belize as well. She is well known in San Ignacio so seek her out for rides if possible! We made sure we requested her to drive us back to Belize City for our flight home.

Maya Mountain Lodge is a small eco-lodge about a 5 minute drive, or 30 minute walk outside the city. It is surrounded by jungle. There is actually a 45 minute nature walk leaving from the resort that was developed by the Lodge owners. After we settled in to our small cabin (there are about 7 and a larger building with rooms), we took the walk and enjoyed the peaceful environment. There is a Mayan cave site at the top of a hill that has a view and a bench for resting.

We had decided to go with the breakfast/dinner meal plan at the Lodge as we had heard of great food there. Well, we are absolutely glad we did! The meals were fabulous -- 5 gourmet courses prepared (we were told) by a cook who had been lured from the kitchens of Francis Ford Coppola (he has a resort in Belize). We had such a wonderful meal to look forward to at the end of each day in the open-air dining room! Be warned though--alcohol is not available at the lodge but you can bring your own and they will supply you with an opener and glasses. Good cheap wines can be bought in San Ignacio.

We had 4 full days booked at the Lodge and we did 4 tours, 3 through Mayawalk Tours and one through the Lodge itself. All the Mayawalk tours were booked online prior to leaving home.

Day 7 - We had booked the so-called ultimate tour experience in Belize. This was the ATM Cave booked through Mayawalk, one of the few tour companies licensed to lead tours there. The tour began with an hour drive, then a 45 hike through the jungle, fording the river 3 times to a cave entrance. After donning helmets with headlamps, we swam into the cave and hiked/scrambled/swam for an hour and half. We finally climbed up onto a ledge where there were many 1000 yr old Mayan artifacts and skeletons lying on the ground. We were able to walk right up to each artifact. Our guide was very knowledgeable. It was a very intense tour and you definitely had to be in shape. We are both in our mid-fifties, in fairly good shape and it was a real work-out. But worth it --do it if you can!

Day 8 - A trip to Tikal (Mayan ruins)in Guatemala. This involves a 2 hour drive to get to the ruins. We got off to late start, not sure why. We were driven (with 10 others) to the border about a half hour away. We had to walk across the border where our guide and a new van was waiting to pick us up. Our guide was Luis, very knowledgeable and quite a character. He was very passionate about the Mayan culture and spiritual beliefs. The ride to Tikal was long and on some very bad roads - gravel for the first 20 km and then badly-paved the rest of the way to the ruins. Once there Luis gave us a great tour, walking us around for about 4 hours. We then had a BBQ chicken lunch and 30 minutes or so to shop for souvenirs. We arrived back at the border at 6pm (we were told we had to be through before dark - we all wondered why, was it dangerous? We were later told the border closes at dark so we needed to cross before then!). All in all a great day!

To be continued…