Advertisement
Published: September 30th 2008
Edit Blog Post
Belize is the most beautiful country I've ever been to. This includes both the scenery and the people. I have never met such friendly locals in my life - and they actually keep talking to you even if you don't buy whatever they are selling! We met so many people on Ambergris Caye, we were beginning to feel like locals ourselves by the time we left.
The trip to Belize City from Flores, Guatemala was only a 5 hour ride. As soon as we arrived, a large Belizean man immediately opened the door to our van and bellowed "Welcome to paradise ladies and gentlemen!" This pretty much set the tone for the next few days.
We took a ferry straight for San Pedro on Ambergris Caye (Caye just means "island"). I had read that this town was a bit touristy and expensive, but it also had the best snorkel spots so we decided go anyway. What a great decision! Since we were there in the off-season we were pretty much the only tourists, prices were low and we met so many people! Our new friends even cooked us dinner one night - grouper and crayfish, it was delicious! Our
first afternoon was spent on the beach, on the pier, or in the water. The water was around 80 degrees, and the colors were unbelievable. There wasn't a whole lot of marine life right by the shore, probably because of the heavy boat traffic, but we did see a puffer fish, lots and lots of sand crabs, and giant conch shells. Our hotel had an ocean view, plus it was the first time on the trip we had our own private bathroom. Truly paradise!
The next day we went on a snorkel adventure. The big spot is the Hol Chan Marine Reserve, which is a national park protected by the government. The pictures I think speak for themselves - it was an experience I will never forget. Belize's coral reef is second only to the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. Although Jenn and I tried to avoid guided tours as much as possible on this trip, the location of the reef means you have to hire a guide to take you out there. Our guides were wonderful because the knew the reef extremely well - which hole to find an octopus in, which to find a lobster in, what
all the fish were called, everything. They showed us a great trick for keeping our masks from fogging up, there's a type of sea fan you can rub on them, it worked great. If you ever watch Samantha Brown on the travel channel, our guides were the same that were on her show and took her snorkeling. We also went to Shark and Ray alley, which is where we saw the Nurse Sharks and Southern Sting Rays. We even got to hold them underwater. The stingrays were HUGE and really heavy, and the sharks were so docile (it probably helped that our guides brought them plenty of fish as a reward).
In addition to the location, what was great about Belize was its slow, relaxed pace of life. It was such a nice change from what we were used to, and much needed break from the fast pace of our trip. It was really hard to leave.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.115s; Tpl: 0.015s; cc: 12; qc: 57; dbt: 0.0549s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
jens dad
non-member comment
slick
way cool photos and report