You'd Better Belize It: Part 3 The End

 

One of the many things I loved about Belize was all the beautiful flowers that were everywhere on the resort grounds.

I have no idea what types of flowers they were but I had a lot of fun snapping shots of them anyway!

We also had a guard lizard. He hung out on our porch but every time Emil tried to catch him he escaped. One time he flung himself into the bushes from the second floor. 

A bit extreme, if you ask me!

The resort only had one little restaurant and just a handful of waitresses. 

Our favorites were Maria and Trina. 

This is us with Maria.

This is the view of the restaurant from the beach.

Or poolside

  This was our table. 

I loved how they used the fauna on the grounds to decorate the tables.

Everyday it was different. Simple but beautiful.

Our last two days there we spent lounging by the pool and beach. 

 The pool was only 5 feet deep but surprisingly quiet during the daytime when many people are off on excursions.

I was surprised how well Emil adapted to hanging out at the pool rather than being active by surfing or something.

I, myself, made that adaptation long ago. :)

This was the extent of our waves so I guess he didn't have much choice.

What do I miss the most about Belize? 

Lazy mornings with views like this.

Also maid service. I think I would pay good money to have someone come bring me fresh towels, make my bed every morning and straighten my room. That was sooooo nice!

It was also wonderful to only think about what I wanted to eat each night.
No "What's for dinner?"
We had a wonderful time, I would do it again in a heart beat!

Part 2: Xunantunich, Snorkeling and Coco Plum

These little fellows were outside making the biggest racket one morning.

 Lucky for them they were so cute or I might have thrown a flip flop at them!

Lion Fish Emil caught on the camera.

Tuesday we went on our snorkeling expedition. We went to Tobacco Reef and South Water Reef.

The snorkeling was pretty cool. Emil got some video on his new Go Pro Camera and has even made a video and a funny trailer you can see on his Facebook page.

But I was more in love with this little island.  Coco Plum

This is the dock, complete with 2 hammocks.

It use to be a larger island but a hurricane in the 60's split it into 3 separate islands. 

This was the middle of the island. It wasn't too far away. Maybe a football field.

It was amazing!

Everywhere you looked it was like looking at a postcard. The water was so clear an this unbelievable shade of turquoise.

 

This was the dining room. No glass in the windows. Just a frame.

It's an adults only island. When we told Noah he was appalled at the injustice. He couldn't grasp why they would ban kids.

They  only have 7-8 cottages, a restaurant and a bar. Each of the cottages is brightly painted with a deck and chairs or hammocks and lounge chairs underneath for tanning or just relaxing in the sun.

There are a few other buildings for staff and equipment.










Emil didn't waste any time at all getting comfy.
After some discussion we decided that we could have done a day or two there but I think we would have gotten bored after that. It was so pretty though!

I guess this was the big house. It was out on the point and was bigger than the other cottages. The water was the same shade as the house. SO Cool!

This the deck behind the bar. You just sit there and let all your worries drift away.

I think I should have zoomed in more with the timer!

Wednesday found us at the Mayan ruins of Xunantunich. (I think that's how it's spelled.)

We had to cross a little river to get there and the ferry was a floating platform big enough for one van. There was a old guy there who would hand crank the ferry across the river. He was only too happy to let tourist give it a try too. Emil had to give it a try.

 First we hiked to the small temple. Then when we were hiking over to the big temple behind us we heard Howler Monkeys in the jungle to the right. They were seriously scary. At first I thought it was a jaguar. 

This was the best picture I could get. They were way up in the canopy.

This is Xunantunich from the side. It was taken with Emil's Go Pro which is cool in that it gives a 180 degree view but also tends to bend at the sides.

 The big temple had some impressive friezes on them. 

It was quite a hike and we had to take a rest stop about midway. Here is Emil at the top with his Go Pro on his wrist. 

And this is the picture his camera took. Pretty Impressive!

This is the only way I felt comfortable being that close to the edge. On My BUM! Oh my, it was high.

We were so close to the border to Guatemala we could see it from the top of the temple. There were also armed border patrol walking through out the tour area. It was a bit jarring to see guys walking around with automatic riffles. 

What a trip! 

You'd better Belize it! Part 1: Hopkins Village

(That's just one of the slogans I saw at the airport. Kinda cheesy, kinda cute.)

So, so, so many pictures. I will only share the best with you though I promise!

We left Norfolk at 7am Saturday. We got to Belize at 5pm. This is where we caught our hopper flight to Dangriga. It's looking out on the airstrip which was basically a 2 lane strip with the water on one side and a trailer for the office on the other. This was the waiting room. 

This was our first realization that AC is not commonplace. We arrived at our Resort about 8pm.

We were so tired! We had a tasty late dinner and went to sleep pretty quickly.

This was our Villa. We were in 5A. 

We had the upstairs room.

I didn't take pictures of our room. Actually, I did but they were all dark so here are two from the site.
It was totally cute and just perfect for the two of us.

This was our view from our deck.
The entire resort only had 9 villas. I loved how cozy it was!

 Sunday we found out there was a Catholic Church in the village and were able to attend it.

It didn't look like much but the location was prime!

It was just across the street from the library. Here is Emil on our mode of transportation while visiting Hopkins Village. Bikes!

Thankfully it was only about 2.5 miles from the resort to the end of the village. :)
Hopkins was a very impoverished village. Here was a typical plot of land.

The people are very poor but are generally happy. It amazes me how happy when they have so little. It's a true testament to the fact that money can't buy you happiness.
There were all sorts of questionable establishments.

( Is it a description? A warning?)

This was the actual establishment.








Some made us laugh more than others.


This was the Police Station.
We never actually saw a police officer.
So that was good?

We had breakfast at a little cafe one morning. It was cute and run by a German couple.

We picked up some groceries at a Chinese market. It reminded me of the Shiloh Shopping Center. It had everything!








This is Liko. He is Mayan and we bought a "Happy blanket" from him. He was so funny and all the goods made in his shop were made by family members.

So that gives you a glimpse into the village and next post I'll share our excursions. We went to the Mayan ruins of Xunantunich and snorkeling off the reef with a visit to a island called Coco Plum!