Off to visit friends in Belize

hendi_alex · Sat Apr 04, 2009 9:00 am

so will be mostly off line from the 5th through the 11th. Am wishing everyone happy gardening while away.

applestar · Sat Apr 04, 2009 9:31 am

Have a safe and FUN trip!

webmaster · Sat Apr 04, 2009 12:13 pm

Have fun Alex. Sounds like a fun trip.

green~acres · Sun Apr 05, 2009 6:33 am

Have a super trip, Alex. See ya when you get back.
Julie

hendi_alex · Wed Apr 08, 2009 12:50 pm

Just checking in from Belize. Trip is going great so far. Weather was very hot the first two days, but yesterday and today so far in the high sixties and seventies. Went to visit Caracol yesterday. Very interesting site with great ruins. Will post a few photos upon return to states. My friend's home overlooks the Belize river, is jungle like between the house and the river, but with nice paths. Back yard is full of tropical fruit trees. Lots of birds, butterflies and other animals in surrounding grounds.

webmaster · Wed Apr 08, 2009 1:41 pm

Looking forward to the pics.

wingdesigner · Thu Apr 09, 2009 5:01 pm

Sounds like a great trip! Welcome back when you do get home.

The Helpful Gardener · Fri Apr 10, 2009 12:45 am

"when you get home" assumes he comes back; I have heard Belize can be intoxicating...

HG

hendi_alex · Mon Apr 13, 2009 2:12 pm

My friends wonderful location overlooking the Belize river, a couple of miles from San Ignacio.

[img]https://farm3.static.flickr.com/2353/1794928066_57f8f3db8e.jpg[/img]

This trip to Belize mostly consisted of visiting close friends, so you will find few 'adventure' shots. But for anyone interested here are some links to photo groupings. BTW, the trip was not nearly as disasterous as the 2007 trip. This time their 'pet' coati only bit and scratched till I was bleeding three times with the third time being an all out attack. As a visiting biologist said, "never get a coati for a pet!" They are a member of the raccoon family and are quite active and have very aggressive play. The critter only attacked my wife twice, with the second attack being pretty harsh as the coati tried to bite and scratch our point and shoot camera from my wife's hands. When upset the thing acts very much like when a domestic cat goes crazy.

House and grounds:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/15582147@N04/sets/72157616689974368/detail/

Caracol Mayan ruins
https://www.flickr.com/photos/15582147@N04/sets/72157616713884054/detail/

Sink hole near Santa Familia. Photo can't capture the scale of this site.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/15582147@N04/sets/72157616714932198/detail/

Miscellaneous:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/15582147@N04/sets/72157616626232347/detail/

Belize real estate. These photos capture the typical kind of housing found inland between San Ignacio and Belize City.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/15582147@N04/sets/72157616714646738/detail/

Photos from 2007 trip:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/15582147@N04/sets/72157602768460624/detail/

The Helpful Gardener · Mon Apr 13, 2009 3:45 pm

Pretty sure I saw pics that said return trip; welcome back!

HG

Earl K · Tue Apr 14, 2009 8:23 pm

Great pics Alex,As always.Welcome back and hope you had a great time .Hope you and your wifes wounds are healing well.Ill remember not to get one of those as a pet.

The Helpful Gardener · Tue Apr 14, 2009 11:10 pm

Not quite as bad as a killer pig, I hope? No visit to the fine medical esablishment at San Ignacio?

HG

2cents · Wed Apr 15, 2009 6:50 am

alex,
are you upto sharing what new cuisine adventure were available in Belize?
glad to see you had a pleasant trip, except for the coati.

hendi_alex · Wed Apr 15, 2009 7:35 am

HG, the scratch and bite marks from the coati were superficial. The critter was a bit of a nuisance however, with all of those biting/scratching mock attacks, that would sometimes spontaneously turn more serious. Definitely not a good choice for a pet, especially to be allowed around guests.

2cents,
Hmmmm! Cuisine?? Not too much comes to mind there. However keep in mind that we were interior Belize in San Ignacio which only has a population of perhaps 12K-14K. Still it is the second largest 'city' in the country. All of the modern tourist industry is centered on the coast and the coastal islands, so would imagine that the food industry has much to offer there. Belize has many exotic fruits and one of the special local treats is the juice of most of those. You can get fresh coconut, mango I think, orange, watermelon, lime, and other fresh juices. The local beer is Belikini, which to me tastes intermediate between a light American beer and a heavier European beer.

There are few good restaurants in San Ignacio. I have eaten at a small Italian restaurant there and also at a restaurant attached to one of the nicer hotels in the area. The food was very average at both. There seems to be no such thing as grain fed beef in Belize, so expect even filet or ribeye to be very chewy.

On this trip, other than the visit to the Italian restaurant, our hosts prepared our very tasty meals, but just the usual variety from her international cuisine style repertoire. The fresh grown bananas, oranges, grapefruit, from our host's property, plus the other locally grown produce were a particular delight.

I'm not sure that food is a very good reason to visit Belieze. Great scuba or snorkle sites or whale shark watching, great beaches and warm weather, fantastic Mayan sites, tours of the rain forest reserve, all do contribute to making Belieze a fine destination, especially to escape the cold of a U.S. winter.