Here is a pic of the villas on the grounds of Sueno del Mar. We stayed on the bottom left villa!
The grounds and view of the ocean were absolutely gorgeous. Definitely a wonderful site to wake up to each morning!!
I have broken the trip up into picture collages. Pictures tell a thousand words, right? So this should be about a books worth! ha! We had to take a little tiny crop duster plane from Belize City, Belize over to Ambergris Cay Island where our resort was located. Flying low over the Caribbean Sea was pretty cool even if we were packed like sardines in that tiny plane! HA! Once we got to the Island most of our transportation was done by boat back and forth between our resort towards the north end of the island and to San Pedro, the only town located on the south tip of the island. In San Pedro you either walked or rode on a golf cart taxi.We spent the first few days just relaxing at our resort, enjoying the pool and the beach and strolling the small town of San Pedro on the island. We had a great time looking for souvenirs in the many shops, trying a variety of foods from different diners, and taking pictures! Or first big adventure was to go snorkeling!! Belize has the second largest coral reef in the world and we were determined to check it out! =D We took a boat out to the Hol Chan Marine Reserve, one of the most popular snorkeling and diving destinations! To say I was a bit apprehensive about swimming water, 20-35 feet deep, was an understatement!!! I can swim, but John and I both are not strong swimmers. I was afraid I would be so busy keeping myself from drowning that I wouldn't be able to enjoy what I was seeing!! HA! Luckily, our guide was a skinny, weathered, and very friendly black Belizean who had everything under control! He told us if we were worried about it, we could wear a life vest to help keep us afloat. Instead of wearing it around your neck, though, you wrap it around your waist so that it does not get in your way and keep you up right. With that taken care of, I switched to being nervous about remembering to breath in and out through my mouth! =D After getting our fins & masks on, we slid into the water. Where we were tied up next to some buoys, the water was only about 4 feet deep and quite clear. I took a couple of deep breaths, fitted my mouth piece in my mouth, and stuck my head under the clear water. WHHHOOOOOAAAA!!!!!!!! What a VIEW! After that I was hooked and nervousness was gone! It was simply AMAZING. There was a 2 foot long sea turtle right in front of us. He was so beautiful with his markings and coloring! I almost got close enough to touch him, but he swam away before I could! =(
There really is no way to describe all we saw. We pretty much let the current carry us along...swimming when we wanted to go in a certain direction. There were large schools of many different types of fish, huge coral formations, long barracuda's with big teeth, several ells,jumbo fish 3 feet long & FAT, large conch shells, blue fish like Dory, orange clown fish like Nemo, ones with pink, purple and neon green, large sting rays swimming along. At one point, I was swimming along with a 3 foot long, Spotted Eagle (sting) Ray swimming 6 feet below me! And every time I turned around or looked under me, I was always being shadowed by these medium sized silver fish with big eyes!!! LOL! It was all so cool! EVERY WHERE you looked there was something amazing to see and look at. At one point, the sea floor dropped down 35feet under you and on your right was a large wall of coral reef with fish everywhere. We felt like we were in the middle of a National Geographic film! I tried to touch several small fish, but they all got away before I could. We were not allowed to touch, collect or stand on any part of the reef. Partly because of conservation and partly because it could hurt (cut) you. With the life jacket on, it made it so nice....I didn't have to try to keep myself afloat and worry about drowning. Instead I just had a great time taking it all in. It was so easy to do and the salt in the water actually helps keep you afloat. Because of the life jackets around us, we couldn't dive down any which was a bummer, but our guide would dive down some and scare some of the fish out of their hiding spots in the coral. John and I both are now very interested in scuba diving. You have to be certified to do that (take a class). We couldn't do that this trip because of time constraint, but maybe another time. With the water so clear, it isn't scary at all....you feel like you are just in a HUGE aquarium! After about an hour of swimming in this area we got back in the boat and headed a little ways off to another area called Shark/Ray Alley. Here you can see more sting rays and a lot of nurse sharks. Nurse sharks are harmless and feed off the bottom of the ocean. They are almost tame because of all the many divers and snorkelers. You can touch them, hug them, just not put your fingers in their mouths! LOL! We saw a lot of them. They average about 4-5 feet long. Our guide spotted 2 in a cave in the coral. John and I stuck around seeing if they would come out. When they did, they were HUUUGGGEEE!! Even though I knew they were harmless, I decided to keep some distance between us! haha! One was about 8-feet long! It had a 1 foot baby on it's back and another 2 foot one on it's belly! We brought along some cheap water proof cameras, but the pics didn't turn out all that great. Nothing like being there! John and I were so hooked, we later borrowed some snorkeling equipment from some awesome people at our resort and snorkeled right off the resort dock! Typing all this make me want to go again SO BAD! haha! I found a pic on the internet that was taken in the area we snorkeled and shows what we saw! (Bottom of collage)
John and I took several trips back to the mainland. Our trip to the Mayan Lamanai ruins was an all day trip starting out with a boat ride at 6am with about 20 people in our group. Once we reached the mainland, we entered the New River and then wound our way through the marshes for 26 miles!! There was so much to see; birds, interesting trees and vegetation, monkeys, lizards, etc! Our driver was quite used to the tour and knew what lay ahead; so many times we were at full throttle and whipping around turns and bends in the river! It was quite the ride to say the least! =D We finally got to a tiny village where we had a Belizean style breakfast of fresh tropical fruit and johnny cakes. The johnny cakes reminded me of a Ham Mcmuffin, only a lot better! We then boarded a very old looking blue school bus and headed down a very pot covered dirt road. It was quite the bone jarring ride! About 45 mins later we boarded yet another boat!! After another hour boat ride, we finally arrived at the Lamania ruins!
We ate some Belizean food for lunch in a very nice picnic area on the Lamanai grounds. The food was white rice and kidney beans that they boil in coconut milk and a curry type chicken. All very good and tasty! We then walked about 10mins through the jungle to the main temple. This temple is quite impressive and has a staircase that goes straight up the middle. There is a break about a forth of the way up with a large ledge before it continues even steeper till it comes to a smaller ledge about three fourths up before continuing with the last small section. The steps are very narrow and steep. Well, I didn't come all this way not to climb the thing, so with our tour guides words of how going up was physical but coming down was psychological, ringing in my ears, I started climbing. Where was John? He left me in the dust and was already half way up! Such chivalry! LOL! Oh and did I mention how HOT it was? On the boat with the wind in your face, you didn't feel it as much. But once we were in the jungle...UHG! So with sweat dripping off my face I start climbing what felt like a vertical wall! Once I got to the smaller ledge, I took a break and did the wrong thing of looking down!! LOL! OH LORD! It doesn't seem so high from the bottom and I am not even all the way up yet! Knowing full well people would ask me if I climbed to the top, I decide to worry about getting down later and continued up! The top had a very small, sorta flat, ledge with NO guard rails and nothing to hold on to! So I held onto John! LOL! The view from the top was AWESOME! At this point you are about 215 ft. above sea level and you can see out over top of the rainforest and the fresh water lagoon snaking off to one side for miles. Truly breath taking! Ok, now to get down! It definitely was very scary! Because of the pitch you kept feeling like you were falling forward. Another girl in our group and I decided the best way to get down alive was to scoot down on our bum one step at a time! HAHA! Whew! Made it! =D We enjoyed touring a few more smaller ruins on the grounds, and then it was time to head back and do the boat, bus, boat ride all over again! =)A day later, John and I boated back to the mainland again. This time we were going to be driven by van almost all the way across Belize to another Mayan ruins site called Xunantunich (Soo-nah-tu-niche). We departed from Belize City, Belize and it took about 2.5 hours to drive across the country. Probably would only take about an 1.5 hours, but there are speed bumps every few miles to keep you from going too fast and to allow locals to cross the road. We also went through many small villages. The countryside was beautiful with mountains and the rainforest to the west and plains to the east. It was interesting to see the different towns and villages we passed through. This is a third world country and they do not have much...makes you so grateful for the things we often take for granted.
We arrived at the Xunantunich site and a guide showed us around the grounds and gave us the history of the site. John and I were in awe! We found this site a lot more fascinating then Lamanai. Here, many of the ruins have been excavated enough to give you a real feel of what a Mayan settlement would have looked like. There is the main temple which stands 130 tall and then many smaller structures laid out around it. There is a large gathering area, roughly the size of a football field in front of the temple. The acoustics in this area are amazing. You can clap your hands and here the echo. We could also here people talking in a normal tone of voice from the top of the temple, though we couldn't make out what they were saying. If the buildings on the sides of the plaza were fully excavated and someone was shouting from the top of the temple, it is easy to see how well they would be heard! We found the history of the Mayan people so interesting. These people were very brilliant! We spent a few hours just touring the site and asking questions. The temple itself was a different style than the one in Lamanai as the steps curved up the side...which made it a lot easier to climb up!!! =D It was quite interesting to learn that many times new rulers would build over top the existing temple structure with a new look of their own. So as archaeologists have excavated this site, they have found covered up staircases, rooms, carvings, etc. We finally made our way back to our guide who then took us back down the mountains to our next destination - cave tubing!! Yeah, you read that right! haha! 
After eating a quick lunch at a nice little diner, we headed to the cave tubing site. Basically you walk through the rainforest for about 30mins carrying a large black inner-tube till you come to the cave entrance. Only this cave has a river running through it! Our driver was our cave tubing guide and he tied a robe to John's tube and then we formed a "train" by hooking our feet under each others arms so we could stay together. I will admit I was a bit nervous about entering the dark, ominous cave!! We had head lamps on so we could see once inside, but it was still rather spooky! All in all it was a really neat experience. We were in the cave for about 40 mins. before coming out on the other side of the mountain. Inside the cave was quite interesting. There were many neat rock formations smoothed and sculpted by the trickling water. The cave ranged from being about as wide as two car widths with a 10 foot ceiling, to the size of an enormous ball room with a 50 foot domed ceiling! This chamber was very impressive! Only problem was the optical illusion that about freaked me out! With my inner-tube in the lead we started to approach the domed wall yet I could NOT see ANY opening!!! The water was obviously flowing in the direction we were going, but how it was exiting the chamber was beyond me!!! Because of the shape of the domed ceiling, all I could see was the water meeting the wall! I started to have some serious concerns about the size of the passage way out of the chamber...maybe I should have warned our guide about my claustrophobia issues!!! About 10 feet from the wall, the optical illusion broke and I finally saw a decent size opening!! WHEW!!! After we excited the cave, we continued down the river for another mile or two. It was quite relaxing and great fun! =)
We really enjoyed the resort we stayed at. It was super quiet, peaceful and relaxing. Being there in late Oct. helped, but the people who own these villas are just very nice and friendly as well. Many of them live there for extended periods of time and or vacation there regularly. They made John and I very welcomed and we had a wonderful time getting to know several of them. On our last night in Belize, a group of us went out to eat at an upscale Indian restaurant called the Blue Lotus. It was in San Pedro, but we had to take a pontoon boat across the lagoon to reach it! Here are a few pics I found on the internet that shows the restaurant in the daylight. By the time we got there, it was getting dark so my pics are not as good.
Even though it was a palapa style structure, it was very nicely done inside with lots of woodwork and beautiful decor! It was very unique to say the least!
We had shrimp, lamb, and a chicken each in it's own special sauce severed with steamed rice. The chicken had a curry sauce, I can't really remember what kind the lamb was, and the shrimp was in a buttery, slightly spicy sauce. I am usually not a fan of naked shrimp, so I was surprised to find it delicious! We were also served flat bread flavored with herbs. Everything was quite good! The last collage are pics taken that evening. We really enjoyed ourselves and had a nice time visiting with the different couples from the resort. Our boat ride back to the resort was quite eventful when a storm blew in and we were not in the covered boat as it was getting worked on! Ahh yes, great memories of an awesome trip!
Whewee!! I KNEW this was going to be a killer of a post! LOL! Guess that's why I kept avoiding it for a whole year! LOL! And I didn't get it posted on the actual anniversary, oh well, better now than never! =D Guess I could have just left it at pics, but in many ways I am writing it down for my own sake as I don't want to forget the details in years to come! =)
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