Belize
Central America
Check out the photos!
We were all “newbies” to Belize, and not too sure what to
expect, but we were told it would be a fun and exciting Spring Break.
Bern Haggard turned out to be our token male, but took to the task with
delight as we all met and made our way to our first destination.
From Belize City, our group flew to the local airstrip on the peninsula of Placencia which juts out into the Caribbean Sea near the southern portion of the country. (Belize, for those of you who are wondering, was formerly British Honduras. It sits on the eastern side of Central America, with Guatemala to the west and Honduras to the south. With English as the primary language, it is an easy destination to travel to without any language barriers, though Spanish runs a close second and most of the country people are bi-lingual.)
In Placencia, we stayed at the Maya Breeze Inn which is owned and operated by Buddy and Tressa Olson. They took great care of us and arranged some wonderful trips for us. Our adventures included a spectacular hike and exploration of a cave called Actun Tunichil Muncnal, which means “Cave of the Stone Sepulcre.” After a 40-minute rainforest hike (and eating termites – ask Linda L about this!), we reached the entrance to the cave – which is only accessible by swimming in! We then swam, hiked and climbed for hours, past amazing rock formations, to reach the inner chambers that contained numerous Mayan artifacts. It is believed that the Mayans used the cave as a place of sacrifice – there are 11 sets of human remains, including one full skeleton of the girl for which the cave is named.
Our group also visited the above-ground excavated Mayan site of Xunantunich (pronounced zoo-nan-too-nich) which lies in the north western part of the country along the Guatemalan border. While in the area we explored the border and a town called Melchor where we bought lots of good stuff.
Our water adventures included days of scuba diving and snorkeling in some beautiful waters surrounded by the coral reef – the fish and aquatic life were fantastic! For lunch we’d dock our boat on small deserted islands known as Cayes (pronounced “keys”). The Cayes looked like miniature Gilligan’s Islands with beautiful sand beaches and lush palm trees surrounded by intense shades of blue water. The local guides grilled fresh fish for lunch – yum!
One day the group took a river boat ride and jungle hike to hear and see the black howler monkeys. When we got there they were all sleeping high in the tree tops, but we also say iguanas, numerous beautiful birds, and even a baby crocodile sitting along the bank of the river in which we had just taken a swim!
The days were filled with fun – kayaking, beach volleyball, coconut bowling, and punta dancing – and the nights weren’t boring either! We suggest that if you were thinking about doing this trip but didn’t come with us this year, that you put it on your calendar for next spring – because you’ll love it!
This article was mostly penned by Susan, with help from Linda, Linda, Ann, and Beth and Bern.
