Rainforest & Reefs
Well of course we can’t all travel smoothly - and the statistics showed that Craig and I’s number was up. The trip to Belize started inconspicuously enough – with me swearing blue murder at Continental’s website used to supposedly check-in online and only getting half the boarding passes required for our journey out. In the midst of this, I had dropped Craig’s passport on the ground and had forgotten to pick it up. This was discovered at 6am once we had already arrived by taxi at Heathrow. Gates close at 7.30am. So Craig had to hoof it back in a black cab and he came back with 1 minute to spare – and £200 out of pocket. What was worse was this was all for nothing, for although we just managed to make the flight to Houston, there was still more to come. Craig got taken to the interrogation room for would-be terrorists. Then our flight to Belize was cancelled. This was notified to us after we had wandered around the Houston airport for 4 hours already. Our next flight was at 1.30pm the next day – not enough to make the most of a bad situation and go and see something in Houston or go shopping or something. This was, of course, the southern states of America, where everything is miles away and only accessible by gas guzzling pickups. So, stuck at the airport we were, with the only consolation was that it could have been worse, and could have been Lübeck airport. The next day, after a massive American breakfast, a trip to the gym, not being issued the correct tickets AND a special search by security – we were on the way to Belize. Finally!
Since we had supposed to be having a non-stop trip the night before, we had booked a private transfer to our lodge on the west side of the country and right in the middle of the rainforest. Black Rock Lodge was probably the epitomy of a luxurious resort AND it was all for ourselves. We had actually arrived in low (rainy) season . The owners of the lodge were also getting married in a couple of days, and so had restricted the amount of booking in the coming days. When we arrived, we were greeted by tiki torch lit paths and a frog hopping across in front of me. The cabin where we stayed was amazing – it was the most modern and luxurious cabana in the lodge and right above the swollen river. The noise was astounding (and probably terrifying to some). It was like being right under a waterfall and a sound which meant one was definitely away from it all.
Since we had lost a day – we had to make up time and fast. So much for a relaxing holiday!! So that night, we went with our guide on a night hike into the forest to discover what weird and wonderful creatures were lurking ready to pounce on us. It turned out that there were loads of insects and bats and very little in the way of mammals – BUT we knew they were out there – we saw fresh jaguar paw prints in the mud the next day.
The next morning we were up with the birds – literally. From the thatched communal restaurant, we met with our guide to watch all of the birds having their breakfast. We saw woodpeckers, toucans, Great Black Hawks and many others. Truly amazing – I am sure my grandmother would have loved this place.
Next we were up for a horse ride – probably the one and only time Craig would ever get on a horse. It was probably because he didn’t want to say no to the guide who was insistent that we should do this. We only went on the basic two hour ride, although I am sure the terrain was probably as tough as I had ever been in parts. We had a dip in the river and then back along the trail back to the cabin. Probably just in time, as the heavens just opened. This was not just ordinary rain as you and I have experienced – but a full on fireman’s hose. In fact, it was difficult to differentiate between the waterfall and the showers.
The next morning, we had to leave our paradise – which was disappointing as it was cut short in two ways. We had signed up for the ATM () tour. This involved hiking through the jungle for 45 minutes, donning on hard hats and swimming up the river for an hour inside limestone caves. Once at our destination, we climbed onto a ledge high up in the cave, took off our shoes and put on socks. This was to stop our sweaty feet dissolving the limestone on the ledge floor. Our guide got us to carefully pick our way through the broken pots and skeletons that were strewn and embedded in the limestone. These were in fact artefacts from Mayan sacrificial and blood-letting rituals and had been there since around 600-800 AD!! We had found out that in November, photography would no longer be allowed in the cave as careless tourists would often blunder into an artefact and smash them – so I guess we were pretty lucky. Half an hour back down the cave (going out is faster than going up) and we were out into daylight again – much to Craig’s relief as he is pretty claustrophobic. I swear I did not know the tour was like this until we went!! While we were in the cave, another famous downpour had occurred. Just to give you an idea of the effects it has, we had crossed the river 3 times going up to the cave and 6 times returning from it!!
That night we stayed in another resort nearby (Chaa Creek) – one that was normally about twice the price as the one we stayed in initially. However, they did have camp casitas for US $50 a night. This was an area that is set away from the posh resort, but apparently walk through the jungle a bit and you will get there. Like hell we were going to do this in the middle of the night by ourselves!! Anyway, our accommodation consisted of a permanent “tent” on stilts and sharing a bathroom with a couple of bats. Pretty cool and as adventurous as we were ever likely to get we thought.
The next day, my birthday, one of the guides had convinced us to make it as long a day as possible trying to cram in yet more sights – well I guess we had lost a day after all. We ended up splashing out for a private guide out to Tikal in Guatemala. This consisted of a 3 hour journey across the some pretty treacherous roads (although we were told we should have seen them 10 years ago!!). However, the journey was well worth it. This is supposed to be the most impressive of the Mayan ruins in the region and consisted of architecture that spanned the entire time of known Mayan civilisation – from about 600BC to 800 AD. And this place was enormous, probably one of the biggest cities in the area at the time. Some of the temples were astrologically aligned so that the ?? could track and predict the weather and the seasons. To top off our tour, the guide pointed us over to the final temple and told us to climb the rickety stairs to the top. We were met with a familiar sight – it turned out that this was the scene where the Millenium Falcon landed in Star Wars VI. This is definitely not in the guide books – but perhaps it is a little crass.
In order to meet our deadlines, and go to our new resort by the seaside, we had to also book yet another private transfer to a sleepy little village called Hopkins. We had booked a treehouse in Hamanasi (probably the only reason I booked this place) only to find out that the air conditioning had broken down. To make it up to us, we were put in the Honeymoon Suite – I think I would have preferred the treehouse, but hey. At least they spelled out our initials in petals on the bed!!
This part of the holiday was to begin the relaxing part – diving most mornings, and sleeping, playing Trivial Pursuit, kayaking and drinking rum cocktails in the afternoon. In fact, for a novice, I now have 8.5 hours of diving under my belt. And the diving was AMAZING. Think Finding Nemo in real life and, if I was a ceramicist, I had have so much inspirational material to work with, I would be employed for life. We saw all of the big things, apart from whale sharks, that lurk in these waters. These ranged from morays, barracuda, stingrays, eagle rays, nurse sharks, turtles and even dolphins. It is quite rare to be diving with the dolphins (OK they were darting past us) so I felt extremely privileged indeed. (BTW, the Belize Barrier Reef is second in size to the Great Barrier Reef in Oz).
And so, it was back to London again. Craig got pulled over my American immigration again but otherwise uneventful. Why can’t the problems happen on the way home – not the way to holiday huh? But anyway, very sate – definitely a worthwhile trip.
Proper photos to come soon on another site. I am determined to do this...
Since we had supposed to be having a non-stop trip the night before, we had booked a private transfer to our lodge on the west side of the country and right in the middle of the rainforest. Black Rock Lodge was probably the epitomy of a luxurious resort AND it was all for ourselves. We had actually arrived in low (rainy) season . The owners of the lodge were also getting married in a couple of days, and so had restricted the amount of booking in the coming days. When we arrived, we were greeted by tiki torch lit paths and a frog hopping across in front of me. The cabin where we stayed was amazing – it was the most modern and luxurious cabana in the lodge and right above the swollen river. The noise was astounding (and probably terrifying to some). It was like being right under a waterfall and a sound which meant one was definitely away from it all.
Since we had lost a day – we had to make up time and fast. So much for a relaxing holiday!! So that night, we went with our guide on a night hike into the forest to discover what weird and wonderful creatures were lurking ready to pounce on us. It turned out that there were loads of insects and bats and very little in the way of mammals – BUT we knew they were out there – we saw fresh jaguar paw prints in the mud the next day.
The next morning we were up with the birds – literally. From the thatched communal restaurant, we met with our guide to watch all of the birds having their breakfast. We saw woodpeckers, toucans, Great Black Hawks and many others. Truly amazing – I am sure my grandmother would have loved this place.
Next we were up for a horse ride – probably the one and only time Craig would ever get on a horse. It was probably because he didn’t want to say no to the guide who was insistent that we should do this. We only went on the basic two hour ride, although I am sure the terrain was probably as tough as I had ever been in parts. We had a dip in the river and then back along the trail back to the cabin. Probably just in time, as the heavens just opened. This was not just ordinary rain as you and I have experienced – but a full on fireman’s hose. In fact, it was difficult to differentiate between the waterfall and the showers.
The next morning, we had to leave our paradise – which was disappointing as it was cut short in two ways. We had signed up for the ATM (
That night we stayed in another resort nearby (Chaa Creek) – one that was normally about twice the price as the one we stayed in initially. However, they did have camp casitas for US $50 a night. This was an area that is set away from the posh resort, but apparently walk through the jungle a bit and you will get there. Like hell we were going to do this in the middle of the night by ourselves!! Anyway, our accommodation consisted of a permanent “tent” on stilts and sharing a bathroom with a couple of bats. Pretty cool and as adventurous as we were ever likely to get we thought.
The next day, my birthday, one of the guides had convinced us to make it as long a day as possible trying to cram in yet more sights – well I guess we had lost a day after all. We ended up splashing out for a private guide out to Tikal in Guatemala. This consisted of a 3 hour journey across the some pretty treacherous roads (although we were told we should have seen them 10 years ago!!). However, the journey was well worth it. This is supposed to be the most impressive of the Mayan ruins in the region and consisted of architecture that spanned the entire time of known Mayan civilisation – from about 600BC to 800 AD. And this place was enormous, probably one of the biggest cities in the area at the time. Some of the temples were astrologically aligned so that the ?? could track and predict the weather and the seasons. To top off our tour, the guide pointed us over to the final temple and told us to climb the rickety stairs to the top. We were met with a familiar sight – it turned out that this was the scene where the Millenium Falcon landed in Star Wars VI. This is definitely not in the guide books – but perhaps it is a little crass.
In order to meet our deadlines, and go to our new resort by the seaside, we had to also book yet another private transfer to a sleepy little village called Hopkins. We had booked a treehouse in Hamanasi (probably the only reason I booked this place) only to find out that the air conditioning had broken down. To make it up to us, we were put in the Honeymoon Suite – I think I would have preferred the treehouse, but hey. At least they spelled out our initials in petals on the bed!!
This part of the holiday was to begin the relaxing part – diving most mornings, and sleeping, playing Trivial Pursuit, kayaking and drinking rum cocktails in the afternoon. In fact, for a novice, I now have 8.5 hours of diving under my belt. And the diving was AMAZING. Think Finding Nemo in real life and, if I was a ceramicist, I had have so much inspirational material to work with, I would be employed for life. We saw all of the big things, apart from whale sharks, that lurk in these waters. These ranged from morays, barracuda, stingrays, eagle rays, nurse sharks, turtles and even dolphins. It is quite rare to be diving with the dolphins (OK they were darting past us) so I felt extremely privileged indeed. (BTW, the Belize Barrier Reef is second in size to the Great Barrier Reef in Oz).
And so, it was back to London again. Craig got pulled over my American immigration again but otherwise uneventful. Why can’t the problems happen on the way home – not the way to holiday huh? But anyway, very sate – definitely a worthwhile trip.
Proper photos to come soon on another site. I am determined to do this...
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