(So this blog was the first part, the good part, of the last few days. I left it in its original form just so you get the idea of how happy I was about life. The second part, the next blog, was possibly the worst 24 hours I’ve ever had in my travels. I went from extremely high on life, to being completely frustrated. I won’t give away the details, but notice that there are very few pictures? If you want to read the happy stuff, this is for you. If you would rather hear me rant on frustrations, check out [View Full Entry]

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My Latin American odyssey began in the only English speaking country in Central America. This was an added bonus as I had yet to learn any Spanish however I chose Belize because of the great reports of diving on the second largest reef in the world. I based on the backpacker island of Caye Caulker and it proved to be an ideal place to qualify for my PADI Open Water certificate. I had managed to time my visit to the island at the height of the rainy season (mid-October) and in fact the day I landed the plane had to circle [View Full Entry]

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In 2003 I was working a tour leader for a Canadian adventure tour company and my route took me through Mexico, Guatemala and Belize. That is how I ended up in Caye Caulker for the first time. On one of my trips, I went with a local friend to rent some snorkel gear and met this lady that had a cat sanctuary. She was renting snorkel gear at the time. That is how I first met Madi from P.A.W. (Protecting Animal Welfare) cat sanctuary. Of course, at the time, I was working as a guide and traveling so much that my [View Full Entry]

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Alright...I know it's been almost 2 weeks since my last blog but a lot has happened and at the same time not that much has happened. So...my last blog was about staying in at the hostel El Retiro in Lanquin and seeing bats and going in caves and climbing and descending waterfalls and seeing really beautiful natural limestone pools. While I was there I met this girl named Asha. She is from Australia and I had a lot of fun with her. She was headed to the Bay Islands in Honduras and I decided I was going to change my plans [View Full Entry]

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When we arrive in Belize we went straight out to the islands with Bob and Miriam and spend the first 2 nights in San Pedro. The appearance is of a small European city, but the atmosphere is all Caribbean. Instead of cars everyone drives golf carts, so of course we had to rent one for a night and rip around the island. Everything here was slow paced, grooving to the reggae music coming from every doorway. Then there’s the chicken drop… And it really is just how it sounds, they put a chicken in a fenced off square with a numbered [View Full Entry]

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After an 11 hour trip via 3 buses, 1 very interesting border crossing and 1 water taxi to the caribbean island we've made it to the island of Caye Caulker off Belize. What a place! Wish we were staying here longer. Most of the locals speak Creole, it's full of ice-cream coloured wooden houses, sounds of reggae, and smells constantly of rum and fish or chicken barbecues. I need more time to upload photos, so hope they have done it justice! In fact I have a lobster getting ready for a hot barbecue for me now and need to be there [View Full Entry]

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Photos from Mexico. Guatemala, Belize. Every one have a happy fall and great times everywhere. Patricia [View Full Entry]

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I was able to go to Belize through a course I was taking at my university. I have posted the research below that was done through my visit to Belize. Kyndall McDorman Dr. Erik Terdal Coral Reef Zoology July 30, 2009 Fish Prevalence in Corals or Grass Flats? Caye Caulker, Belize Introduction Ocean creatures live in certain areas or near certain objects for various reasons including survival. I am interested in researching this topic because it may explain why corals are important for fish and their dependence on them. This would, in turn, explain why we need to protect ou [View Full Entry]

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Flores, Guatemala. A touristy island many stop at on the way to Tikal or Belize. It’s very quiet and nice view with a lake surrounding, but very expensive and catering to tourists. On one street is all of the souvenir vendors who sell the same items (shirts, postcards, handbags, small crafts or Central America memorabilia) for comparably the same prices, though a few shops you can get them to barter the price down a bit. To get here, we took a ‘luxury’ bus across the border, just needing a stamp and passport check to cross, easy enough. Then we took a [View Full Entry]

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I am without photo uploading capabilities or a lot of computer time on this trip, so I'll be keeping these updates brief and expand when we get back. Wes and I arrived in Belize on July 18th and headed straight to Caye Caulker for some relaxation and island time. Our first night we went for a quick swim at the split, a beer at the Lazy Lizard, and then spent the evening enjoying the breeze on the balcony of the Mira Mar Hotel. Grilled lobster and snapper made me glad we came here during lobster season! We spent our first full [View Full Entry]

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