HOLIDAYS WITH FRIENDS

We were fortunate to have some reminders of home over the holidays this year in the form of friends!  Our friends the Taylors from Portland came for Christmas, and our friends the Culvers from Santa Cruz came for New Years.  I love having friends visit because it gives Andrew and me a terrific excuse to take a day (or two) off work and play tourist to see some sights that we haven’t yet explored.

With the Taylors, we headed to San Ignacio and the Mayan ruins at Xunantunich.  Admittedly, Andrew and I had been to both before (we’ve actually spent a decent amount of time in San Ignacio – it’s my favorite town in Belize).  But there’s something about visiting the giant Mayan ruins with folks who have never seen them to really make you take it all in anew.  The structures – and the view from the top – are truly awe-inspiring.

The grounds and ruins at Xunantunich are so remarkable!

The front door had just closed from the Taylors’ exit when the Culvers arrived for New Years, and we covered a lot of new territory with them.  First up, St. Herman’s Cave in Blue Hole National Park.  I’d been to the park – and it’s Blue Hole – for some birding last spring, but this was my first trip into the cave.  It was amazing!  You can walk about 300 yards into the cave, and within 100 feet you’re in pitch blackness so you need flashflights (or, if you’re less prepared like us, the light on your cell phone).  At the turnaround point, there’s a massive column where a stalactite and stalagmite have joined up.  Nerd-tastic!

Heading into St. Herman's Cave

I was taking this picture in total darkness - just had to assume I had all the Culvers in the shot.

Cooling off - and getting the mud off - in the Blue Hole after hiking to the cave.  That sign on the hillside may or may not say "no jumping."

We also headed south to Bocawina National Park and went on a fairly intense hike (read: there were ropes and rock scrambles involved) to the top of Antelope Falls.  Fortunately, the weather for all of December and so far into January has been (relatively) cool and mild – in the 60s at the start of the days – so I was able to endure moderate outdoor physical exertion without feeling like I was going to pass out from heat stroke.  And the view from the top looking out over the jungle to the sea made it all worthwhile.

The lookout point at the top of our hike in Bocawina.

We also fit in visits to a couple of old standbys – the Belize zoo and a steakhouse on the outskirts of Belmopan that serves up pretty fantastic meals on the weekends.  Like I said, we cover a lot of ground with our visitors.  No one goes home bored (except for maybe teenagers…)

A tapir at the zoo.  I love these guys.

Enjoying a Sunday meal at Trey's "Barn and Grill."

After our visitors had all departed, we made plans to head to a private caye for a long weekend.  Andrew made all the arrangements – getting a group of embassy colleagues together to rent out all 12 units at the resort, making the reservations, organizing the water taxi for us all to get out there… and then promptly came down with a nasty stomach bug that laid him out two days before we were to depart.  On the morning we were to head out, he was feeling a bit better, but he wasn’t up for a drive to the coast and then a boat ride from there… so he ended up staying put and having a quiet weekend in Belmopan, and I had a solo weekend on the caye (with my colleagues).  Truth be told, the weather on the caye was a bit gray and very windy, so I went snorkeling one morning, but otherwise just enjoyed the view.  Hopefully, we’ll be able to make a return trip later this year so that Andrew can experience what he missed this time.  (And he is fully recovered now, by the way.)

My room on Hatchet Caye.  Not a bad spot to watch a couple days go by.

The sunset on the last night on the caye was hypnotizing.

And so, with the new year behind us and January well underway, we embark on what will be our last full year here in Belize.  There are still lots of things on our list to see and do, and we’re happy to cross some more off the list with any of you who’d like to come visit!