Belize And Points West

Monday

Carlos met us right outside the Belize City airport, handed me a Belikin and drove us to the San Ignacio Resort Hotel. It has been around for about 50 years, and the grounds are immaculately preserved. The room had a back patio with a hammock, of which I took lazy advantage. The restaurant overlooks a jungle preserve, and there was plenty of exotic birdsong. Later that evening we saw a few Kinkajous, aka Honey Bears, jumping from limb to limb to eat the insects that were scurrying around the canopy. Equally fluent in English and Spanish, and when not talking with tourists, Belizean Creole, the hotel staff went out of their way to tell us about them, and point them out with flashlights once the sun went down.

Tuesday

Walked down the hill from the hotel in the morning to check out the local market, and have some breakfast. Simple stalls were selling pig tail, chicken stew, fry jacks (basically Sopapillas either on their own or filled with beans, eggs, and cheese), and a variety of fruit juices. After a breakfast burrito, we walked around to look at the local fruits and vegetables. Alejandra bought an unripe sapote (avocado like fruit), and a custard apple. We stopped at a local coffee shop, and then headed back up the hill to the hotel. That afternoon, Carlos (who had also been our airport shuttle driver) picked us up at the lobby and took us back toward Belize City. We stopped at Jaguar Paw for some Cave Tubing. We grabbed our tubes and hiked over the river at three points before finally reaching the mouth of the cave. I was impressed by the size of the giant royal palm trees on the way. We got in the water, and Alex had a hilarious reaction as she was nipped on the butt by several small fish. The cave overhung the water in a swooping, nearly ninety-degree curve. We slowly drifted underneath the massive rock into the darkness of the main cavern.

Looking up you had a close up view of the striation of various mineral deposits in the limestone. The cavern darkened and opened up as we glided deeper into the interior. Carlos swam-walked and pulled us around on the two tethers attached to the front of Alex's tube and the back of mine. As we turned on our headlamps the walls glittered with pieces of quartz scattered about the rocky interior. Interesting formations, dripping stalactites, and pieces of wood that had been fuzzily calcified appeared before us. After what seemed like nearly an hour we finally saw the daylight at the other end of the cave. Transitioning to the daylight was like passing back into life from the underworld. The canopy beckoned ahead. We heard, but did not see, some howler monkeys. After just a short trek we disembarked on a gentle shore. Walked backed to the changing rooms, and then headed back to the hotel.

Once arrived, we walked around the nature reserve behind the hotel restaurant. Saw the Iguana Conservation Project site, which we realized obviated our need to pay for the actual tour. The lazy jub-jubs were hanging off the sides of a mesh metal cage. Had dinner and watched the Kinkajous come out again to eat the bugs at dusk.

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