The Cockscomb Basin Jaguar Preserve is the first and only jaguar preserve in the world. It is located at the base of Victoria Peak (tallest mountain in Belize at 3675 feet), and covers about 150 square miles. The Jaguar being the 3rd largest member of the cat family prefers to "see" rather than be seen. You're more likely to see prints than the animal itself, however, the rainy season will afford you the best chance. We didn't see any Jaguars while we were there. Other wildlife there include: Jaguarundi, Peccary, Howler monkey, Gibnut, Agouti, Coatamundi, Puma, Ocelots, snakes and 300 s [View Full Entry]

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We toured Lubaantun, which is also known as "Place of the Fallen Stones". This Mayan ruin was built around 700-900 A.D. There are eleven major structures that are grouped around five main plazas. These structures were built primarily with sandstone. Some of the artifacts we saw were: clay whistle figurines, a crystal skull, blades, grinding stones, beads, shells, and shards of pottery. Getting up to the terraces were a challenge so make sure you wear some good hiking boots. Around the ruins are Allspice trees, if you tear off a leaf, the odor is incredible and may make you hungry! The [View Full Entry]

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Placencia offers some good exploring of jungle areas. We took a one hour boat ride to Monkey River. On our boat ride, we went around lagoons and saw Iguanas that were 4 feet. This was a prelude to the wildlife that we were about to see. Once we docked, we put on rubber boots and trekked about 2 miles into the jungle. I was glad we had rubber boots as it had rained briefly in the jungle, my long pants came in handy since there was an abundance of mosquitos but since I had Deet on, I didn't receive any bites. [View Full Entry]

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I picked Belize because I had a sense of adventure about Belize. I had flown home to Arizona via Delta and had volunteered to be "bumped". Their offer was a free round trip ticket anywhere in the USA (except Hawaii); Mexico; Bermuda; or Canada. I had a conversation with a flight agent about where I should go with this ticket. He said he and his wife had gone down to Belize. They encountered a Boa Constrictor drinking water from a puddle in the middle of the road, the snorkeling was incredible, and they rode this "school bus" in which kids would [View Full Entry]

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As a child, we stopped briefly at the Grand Canyon. I remember how grand it was. The canyon seemed to go on forever, but more so, I knew it was deep, and I couldn't see the bottom. It seemed beyond life like to me, and I retreated to the safety of our car. Fast forward, it was summer of 1994, the year of my 20th high school reunion. Part of my vacation was to see old high school chums, the other part of my vacation was to tackle the Grand Canyon. I wondered what it would be like to hike this [View Full Entry]

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