Blogs from Stann Creek District, Belize, Central America Caribbean - page 3

We head out early about 8:30 am with Sonny and Leo from Ocean Motion Tours - desination Ranguana Private Island just over an hour from Placencia by boat. It is a stellar day, hot, sunny and calm, can't get any better. We pick up two other couples from Ontario and off we go. About 15 minutes into the trip we spot a pod of dolphins, bottlenose and spotted. We slow down and they play alongside the boat for a few minutes. Seeing dolphins is a sign of luck we are told, cool. After about another hour we arrive at Ranguana Island. It is postcard beautiful, just gorgeous. White sandy beaches, palm trees, pelicans. There is one family living there caretaking the place. There are a few simple cabins where you can stay the night, we are ... read more

The village is starting to fill up with travellers. Every day there are more people here. The new arrivals are easy to spot with their white skin and fancy clothes. After a few days they will figure out that fancy is not needed in this laid back little fishing town. The weather has turned for the good so it's hot and sunny most days. The construction of the building next door to us has shut down until the new year - nice. All in all there are not that many signs of Christmas in Placencia, no big public displays or excessive Christmas lights. A couple of restaurants have set out a few decorations but it is all very modest and not the type of Christmas splash we've become accustomed to over the years in North America. ... read more

We decided two things when we first arrived in Belize, 1 - no complaining, and 2 - no list making. Being business owners and living in a small town, we find that our lives generally revolve around lists. Lists of things to do for work. Lists of things to buy in town. Lists of things to not forget - we are starting to get to that age after all. Sometimes I go downstairs to get something and by time I'm down there I've completely forgotten what it was. Yes, we are getting older indeed. As for complaining, I think it can be easy to see your glass half empty instead of half full. Subsequently, I am not allowed to complain that we have only barely warm, not hot, water which doesn't provide the best of shower ... read more

I always say it takes the first two weeks of any vacation to get things turned off and really figure out the new place you find yourself in. As far as this trip goes - we have fully accomplished both. It was a really busy year for our business back home, working steady right up until the day we left. But after a couple of weeks in Belize, I have never seen Ian more rested and relaxed, he's almost finished reading his fourth book. As for figuring things here out, we really know our way around now, see many of the same people every day. We've tried all the restaurants, like anywhere, some are very good while others aren't great but overall the food here is really good and we can drink the water right from ... read more

We book a half-day snorkel trip to Laughing Bird Caye National Park. The boat comes to pick us up at our dock. We had met a couple from California the other day while we were bike riding in town and lined up the trip with Ocean Motion Tours. Another couple from France was also on board. We head out about 35 minutes, past several small islands and arrive at our destination. It's a very small island, 1.4 acres in total, really cute but smaller than I expected. It has a covered picnic area with about 10 tables, a small building housing washroom facilities and some lovely beaches on either side. Pelicans everywhere, maybe a couple of hundred, just floating and fishing. They are completely socialized, not afraid of people or boats, just going about their business ... read more