Well I was saddened when I woke up Thursday morning (Shauna and Chris' first morning in Belize) to see how gloomy and rainy it was outside. The whole time I have been here it has rained maybe twice during the day and finally when I have more visitors the rain wants to come!! Boo!
Waking up Friday morning seemed a little more promising. I met Shauna and Chris at the water taxi terminal where we were picked up by our tour guide, Vitalino. Vitalino gave us a partial tour of the city on our way to the Western Highway. I'd say each tour I get, I learn something new about Belize. It was good for Shauna and Chris too because I got to show them the vicinity of where I work and walk daily. Vitalino was really funny and very informative along the way.
We headed to Jaguar Paw Reserve which is about 37 miles down the Western Highway. From there we headed about 6 miles in to the rainforest where we would be zip-lining and cave tubing. Our first activity was zip-lining. We had to climb a series of stairs before reaching the practice run to see if we were capable of controlling ourselves on the line. If I walked those stairs everyday I'd be in excellent shape! The practice line was a great introduction to what was to come! From there we went through a series of different heights in the trees and different lengths from tree to tree. It was AWESOME!
Never did I think I could go 80+ feet in the air in a tree stand and travel along 400+ ft of zipline. With all the greenery below, it did not feel so high up and it was such a thrill ride. You control your speed so you just let yourself fly until you approach the next tree stand where you use your gloved hand to slow down. It was an amazing feeling!
We piled back into the van and proceeded back down the road to go cave tubing next. You take a little trail down to a creek/river where there's shallow areas with a deep pool overlooked by a rock ledge. This is where we would end. Because it was so hot we took a quick dip in the deep pool. The fresh, cold water felt sooooo refreshing. After we were refreshed we began our hike to the beginning of the caves. At the start of our hike we proceed through a series of small caves where Vitalino described the Mayans and what they would use these caves for (human sacrifice, shelter, etc). Flashing our lights above we could see a bunch of little insect bats. There were also stalagmites forming all around (in perverted imagination shapes).
From there we proceeded on a ~45 minute hike into the rain forest. Along the way, Vitalino showed us all different plants and insects. He described what certain plants can be used for such as medication and treatments. We tried the inner stem of one plant that tasted just like plum. We also saw termite nests where Vitalino, Chris, and Shauna proceeded to eat a termite (apparently it tasted just like carrots but I couldn't find myself putting one in my mouth). We also tried this small ball-like fruit/nut that Vitalino had to crack open between two rocks. It tasted similar to coconut.
As we were stopping to taste plants/bugs or find tarantulas, you could see other tours passing us where the guide wasn't even talking to the group members. I'm glad we had Vitalino because he was really giving us abundant information and making our tour really personal. The other tours also only went through the one cave where we took the extra hike and went through 2 large caves!
So along the way, Vitalino kept poking in different holes looking for tarantulas. On his website (cavetubing.bz) there are pictures of him with tarantulas on his face! Poor Chris was nervous of tarantulas and the fact that Vitalino could find a hole every so many feet!
When we finally go to the beginning of the cave system (that we would be going through), it was like an oasis in the middle of the jungle! You peer over this edge and look down to two cave openings (one on the left and one on the right) and this beautiful pool of clear, clean water with vines hanging all around. I was in complete awe! There was another group there and some of the guys were jumping off a cliff edge into the deeper pools. It was creepy because the cave to the left had a rock face that looked evil with the cave opening looking like its mouth that would swallow you whole. Vitalino shared with us that the Mayans believed the caves to be an evil, dark place; comparing it to Hell. Vitalino describes cave tubing as going "to Hell and back."
Luckily we were headed to the cave on the right. Still dark but not as creepy looking. Vitalino helped us slide into the cool water where we got on our tubes. We began floating down the river (with the use of our hands) because there was no current at this part. We all hooked on to each other and Vitalino paddled us through the first cave. It's crazy how dark it gets upon entering the cave with only a little bit of light coming from the oasis behind us. It was really peaceful and relaxing. I couldn't even imagine being a Mayan and entering those caves without a headlamp on. We saw some 'crocologs' that have been know to scare past tourists.
The cave system was fascinating with minerals in the walls that glittered like diamonds. In between the 2 caves we were going through was a huge jut out rock ledge that parts of it looked as though they could fall any second! Every time Vitalino said 'Butts Up' not 'whats up' meant to pick your butt up or get a free butt massage ;-) Upon entering the next cave we could see formations like an elephant, a woman holding a baby, a jaguar. You could also hear a waterfall in the distance that sounded like it should be 100 ft drop. Come to find out it was just a lot of water rushing over a 2 foot rock ledge but the echos in the cave made it sound so much bigger. Where the waterfall existed was an area in the cave where above collapsed. It looked like something out of a movie (like an in cave oasis). Nature at its best!
We also tasted spring water that was falling from the ceiling. It was so cold and pure tasting. From there we exited the second cave and proceeded to float down the river for another 20 mins or so. Here there was more of a current so we relaxed and enjoyed the ride! The sun on the outside felt great compared to the cold water and cool air of the caves and we also saw some different colorful birds. When we got to the end, there were boys jumping into the deep pool from the cliff where we swam earlier.
All of us piled back into the van and headed back towards the highway. On the way we stopped at Vitalino's wife's restaurant where she made us lunch: stewed chicken, rice/beans, coleslaw and fried plantain. Chris and Shauna loved it and don't get me wrong it was delicious but I'm ready to try something new ;-) Vitalino's youngest pikni (child) was there and they had him tied up in a hammock. It looked like a good, safe place to keep him and he seemed to be chillen. They also gave me a free cave tubing t-shirt because I had emailed them to book the tour :-) The shirt says, "I've been to Hell and back in Belize."
After lunch we made our way back towards the city and to go to the zoo. When people told me the zoo was the animal's natural habitat....they weren't kidding. It was literally just an area in the rainforest! The first thing we saw were snakes. The zoo keeper took one out for us and Shauna put it around her neck! Because she was so brave and I didn't eat the termite I took my time to shine at this moment and I put the snake around my neck too!! Eek! To feel how strong the snakes muscles are was crazy!!
From there we had a speedy but great tour through the zoo. We were a little pressed for time because of how long we spent cave tubing but it was still perfect. Vitalino was really knowledgeable of all the animals. We saw vultures, howler monkeys, a tapir (which is the national animal), wild hogs, parrots, toucans, pumas, crocodiles, a jibaru, and jaguars!! Vitalino pulled a tarantula out of a tank and immediately put it on his face for us. He described that tarantulas do not bite people but if they feel threatened they violently shake their bodies to release the hairs on their abdomens that make the area itch for weeks! Shauna held it and then to our surprise.....Chris held it!! Knowing my luck that thing would start shaking when it got to me so I couldn't let myself hold it. The jaguars were soooo pretty. Never did I think I'd see these cats in real life let alone with just a chain link fence in between us!
When we got to the howler monkeys, Vitalino made the noise they make. Apparently the monkeys are very territorial and he really had them going! The noise they make is so loud and woo the one monkey seemed soooo angry haha! The zoo was really nice and I know my school does a lot of work with it. I hope when I come back to Belize that I could spend some more time there. Vitalino was such an amazing tour guide and we had an awesome time with him! I recommend him to anyone!
He got us back to the water taxi in perfect timing for us to catch the water taxi from hell. Out of all the times I have taken the water taxi, this was by far the most miserable time. They put so many people and so much cargo on the boat that it was really weighed down along with it being really wavy lately. Two hours later we finally arrived in San Pedro and caught a taxi to the hotel.
We were staying at the Matarocks which was this beautiful white washed hotel right on the sea. Walking up the stairs....it reminded me of what Greece looks like. Our room had these high ceilings with a kitchenette and a balcony overlooking the sea. We all showered and got ready then headed to dinner. It was great to share Belize with people that are close to me! :-)
The next morning we enjoyed breakfast on the beach then lathered up in sunblock and laid out by the pool/sea all morning. Around 2 p.m. we got picked up at our hotel dock by 'Searious' tours. We set out to snorkel in Hol Chan and Shark/Ray Alley. We got to snorkel without life vests on which was nice because it was pretty windy/choppy so the life vests would have slowed me down. The water felt great once we got to jump in! Upon jumping in I saw a sea turtle feeding on the sea grass!! It was soooo cool!!
There were tons of fish of all sizes shading themselves under the boat. Swimming along we saw this huge (atleast 5 ft) green eel! Apparently our guides usually pick him up but today he looked pretty angry and came so far out of his hiding spot! From there we swam into deeper water where we were along side this huge reef cliff. Just ahead you could see a sting ray swimming through the channel. Down below we could see these huge bottom feeding sting rays. Swimming along the reef we could see so many colorful fish of all sizes! (like nemo!) The coral was absolutely beautiful and hiding underneath was a large lobster. Heading back towards the boat we saw another cool sea turtle! I want one!!
We climbed back into the boat and headed over to Shark and Ray Alley. Upon pulling up, a ton of nurse sharks and fish swam up to our boat and our guides threw some dead fish parts into the water for them! I couldn't believe we were getting in the water with these things!! Jumping into the water there were no sharks around but our instructor came back with one in his arms. The skin of it was rough (like a pumice stone) and so muscular. When you flip them on their backs its like putting them to sleep. I even hugged the nurse shark!!
Next our instructor grabbed one of the bottom feeding rays and it felt so squishy (just as I remember from touching one in Vegas). After he left the ray go he gave me a small dead fish part and all the little colorful fish ate right from my hand! It was so cool!! We also saw this huge rainbow fish that was bigger than my torso (which is pretty big at the moment). When we got back in the boat the guides gave us homemade coconut cookies that were delicious and the perfect thing to cure the saltwater sickness.
When we got back we showered and then rented a golf cart. We took the golf cart and another couple from our hotel to a lagoon about a half-mile from our hotel. Shauna and Chris had went there the first night with another couple and saw 3 HUGE crocodiles (NOT ALLIGATORS!). The pictures Shauna showed me were frightening and the ones they saw looked like dinosaurs! When we arrived there was only 1 (that we could see). It was about 10 ft off shore until this cart full of drunk girls showed up and went running towards the water. Next thing you know this croc was creeping its way towards land where it took about 3 steps out and plopped down. At that point everyone had started running back towards the carts but when they saw it stopped they stopped too. Think again...it got up and took a few more steps! Woo I've never been so scared in my life! I knew I wouldn't be the one getting eaten but my plan wasn't to see someone else get eat either! It was definitely a thrill!
After jump starting our hearts for the night we headed into town to have dinner. We ate at Elvi's kitchen where Marielle and I went to a Mayan buffet. It was just as tasty as I remembered it. It felt great to sleep with the AC that night! I love getting all bundled up and prefer to sleep when it's cold.
Sunday was more of a relaxation day. We hung out around the hotel and headed into town for a bit too. We had a delicious lunch on the beach followed by a golf cart tour of the Northside of SP. We were in search of the butterfly jungle but did not come upon it. We did however see future retirement homes or vacation rental homes ;-) From there we got some delicious ice cream then they dropped me off at the water taxi to head back to the city :-(
It was such an UnBelizeable weekend with such amazing people!! It was the perfect weekend to close in on my current stay in Belize. I hope Shauna and Chris enjoyed themselves as much as I did. They gave me the boost I needed to finish out my last couple weeks :-)
A good friend is a connection to life, a tie to the past, a road to the future, the key to sanity in a totally insane world. A friend accepts us as we are yet helps us to be what we should; they are relatives we make for ourselves, yet some come into our lives and quickly go. Some stay for a while, leave footprints on our hearts, and we are never, ever the same. Let’s be grateful to the people who make us happy. <3
