Baby puffer:
Christmas tree worms:
Fan worm on coral:
Big fish, little fish:
Cool pic:
Great timing:
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Some of my favorite underwater pics from our trip to Belize...
Spotted drum:
Baby puffer:
Christmas tree worms:
Fan worm on coral:
Big fish, little fish:
Cool pic:
Great timing:
Baby puffer:
Christmas tree worms:
Fan worm on coral:
Big fish, little fish:
Cool pic:
Great timing:
Saturday, August 15, 2009
August 8th & August 9th
August 8th was our last day of diving. The first dive was cool, we just saw all the regular fish, but then we also saw a huge pufferfish!
On the 2nd dive, was dropped right down to a bunch of nurse sharks!! The dive site was called "Esmeralda's canyon." The sharks swam right up to us, and when another group showed up with food, we were able to pet the sharks, swim with them, and even hold them! It was very cool.
Me & Mike with the nurse sharks:
Making friends with a nurse shark:
Mike petting the sharks:
In the afternoon, we went snorkeling in Hol Chan Marine Reserve & Shark Ray Alley. We saw another pufferfish, a couple turtles, more nurse sharks, stingrays, a spotted eagle ray, and tons of fish. It was very cool in the reserve, because there were schools of fish, and every age of fish - so we saw the juveniles and adults of all kinds of fish.
Baby tang:
For our last dinner, we walked down the beach to Blue Water grill. Then, we went to Wet Willy's for a few drinks, watched the UFC fight, and listened to a great local blues band.
August 9th was our last day in Belize. :( We had a great breakfast at Estel's, even though we got rained on, and it was super windy. It started raining even harder when we started walking back to our hotel, we got soaked! No problems getting back to the states. We had a great trip, and I didn't want to leave! I can't wait to go back.
On the 2nd dive, was dropped right down to a bunch of nurse sharks!! The dive site was called "Esmeralda's canyon." The sharks swam right up to us, and when another group showed up with food, we were able to pet the sharks, swim with them, and even hold them! It was very cool.
Me & Mike with the nurse sharks:
Making friends with a nurse shark:
Mike petting the sharks:
In the afternoon, we went snorkeling in Hol Chan Marine Reserve & Shark Ray Alley. We saw another pufferfish, a couple turtles, more nurse sharks, stingrays, a spotted eagle ray, and tons of fish. It was very cool in the reserve, because there were schools of fish, and every age of fish - so we saw the juveniles and adults of all kinds of fish.
Baby tang:
For our last dinner, we walked down the beach to Blue Water grill. Then, we went to Wet Willy's for a few drinks, watched the UFC fight, and listened to a great local blues band.
August 9th was our last day in Belize. :( We had a great breakfast at Estel's, even though we got rained on, and it was super windy. It started raining even harder when we started walking back to our hotel, we got soaked! No problems getting back to the states. We had a great trip, and I didn't want to leave! I can't wait to go back.
August 7th - Lamanai
August 7th was our trip to Lamanai. It started at 7 am with a boat trip to the mainland. Then, we had an hour-long bus trip, followed by another hour-long boat ride. On the boat rides, we saw some cool birds, and the boat ride was pretty fun too, lots of turns and going fast. Breakfast was biscuits with meat & cheese - Johnny cakes I think? - and fruit. Once we got there, we had an "authentic Belizean" lunch, with rice, beans, chicken cooked with all-spice, peppers, and salad. It was pretty good, and we were really hungry.
Pic from the boat ride:
Then, we started the guided tour of Lamanai. We saw 4 different temples that have been excavated, out of the 700 or so still covered. It rained for about the first 15 minutes after the 1st temple. Then, we saw another temple, the ball court, and then we came to the biggest temple at the site, that you could see from the river when we drove up. It's called the "High Temple," and we climbed all the way to the top, where the view was amazing. The stairs were super steep and I can't even imagine those 3-4 foot Mayans climbing the stairs! At the top, we could see all around the jungle and the river. The last temple had the famous mask/head that had been unearthed. They uncovered all 4, but ended up covering 3 of them back up, to preserve them. The 4th one is still there, but they have it covered with a tarp, to protect it from the weather. At this temple, we also saw the howler monkeys that we'd heard throughout the whole tour.
Climbing the High Temple:
At the top of the High Temple:
In front of the Jaguar Temple:
The mask temple:
The trip back was just as long, but we had some rum punch and beers on the way back. I also bought a really cool two-toned wooden bowl from the villagers in Bomba, where we transferred from the bus to the boat. The final boat ride back was super choppy, but still fun.
After we got back, we had 1/2 price margaritas at Cliente and ate some dinner. The coconut-shrimp was awesome! After that, we had a few drinks at Wet Willy's, the bar right by our hotel.
Pic from the boat ride:
Then, we started the guided tour of Lamanai. We saw 4 different temples that have been excavated, out of the 700 or so still covered. It rained for about the first 15 minutes after the 1st temple. Then, we saw another temple, the ball court, and then we came to the biggest temple at the site, that you could see from the river when we drove up. It's called the "High Temple," and we climbed all the way to the top, where the view was amazing. The stairs were super steep and I can't even imagine those 3-4 foot Mayans climbing the stairs! At the top, we could see all around the jungle and the river. The last temple had the famous mask/head that had been unearthed. They uncovered all 4, but ended up covering 3 of them back up, to preserve them. The 4th one is still there, but they have it covered with a tarp, to protect it from the weather. At this temple, we also saw the howler monkeys that we'd heard throughout the whole tour.
Climbing the High Temple:
At the top of the High Temple:
In front of the Jaguar Temple:
The mask temple:
The trip back was just as long, but we had some rum punch and beers on the way back. I also bought a really cool two-toned wooden bowl from the villagers in Bomba, where we transferred from the bus to the boat. The final boat ride back was super choppy, but still fun.
After we got back, we had 1/2 price margaritas at Cliente and ate some dinner. The coconut-shrimp was awesome! After that, we had a few drinks at Wet Willy's, the bar right by our hotel.
Friday, August 14, 2009
On August 5th, the day after our zoo trip was our 3rd day of diving. We went to "Devil's Caverns" and "the Abyss." We did a really long swim-through/tunnel, and then swam for a few minutes to reach the Christ statue. We also got to swim with a really friendly turtle.
Here's a pic of the tunnel we swam through:
The friendly turtle:
After our dives, we took the water taxi over to Caye Caulker, which is another small island, to have some lunch, drinks, and do a little shopping. After we got back to our island, we went to the Pier Lounge at Spindrift hotel for the world-famous chicken drop! You place a bet on this huge bingo board, they throw a chicken in, and whichever number the chicken takes a crap on, that person wins the pot of money ($100 Belizean). I bought 20 squares, and I still didn't win! BOO. It was still fun though!!
At our lunch spot in Caye Caulker:
Waiting for the boat to go back to San Pedro:
August 6th was our 4th day of diving, and the night dive. We had lunch at Elvi's Kitchen, which was pretty good, but didn't have any A/C, as most of the restaurants don't. The night dive was at Hol Chan, and was really cool. We saw tons of stingrays, some eels, lobsters, and an octopus! It was cool being in water so shallow, because we were able to stay under for a little over an hour. The current was pretty strong though, and it's a bit disorienting being underwater in the dark, with everyone waving flashlights around, and running into each other. Mike had the foresight to bring some chem-lights (glowsticks), so we could identify our group and dive-master. We didn't want to get separated from our group like we did when we were in Cozumel, and it worked out really well. Unfortunately, my camera doesn't take very good pictures in low-light, but I did get some good videos, so that was very cool.
Here's a pic of the tunnel we swam through:
The friendly turtle:
After our dives, we took the water taxi over to Caye Caulker, which is another small island, to have some lunch, drinks, and do a little shopping. After we got back to our island, we went to the Pier Lounge at Spindrift hotel for the world-famous chicken drop! You place a bet on this huge bingo board, they throw a chicken in, and whichever number the chicken takes a crap on, that person wins the pot of money ($100 Belizean). I bought 20 squares, and I still didn't win! BOO. It was still fun though!!
At our lunch spot in Caye Caulker:
Waiting for the boat to go back to San Pedro:
August 6th was our 4th day of diving, and the night dive. We had lunch at Elvi's Kitchen, which was pretty good, but didn't have any A/C, as most of the restaurants don't. The night dive was at Hol Chan, and was really cool. We saw tons of stingrays, some eels, lobsters, and an octopus! It was cool being in water so shallow, because we were able to stay under for a little over an hour. The current was pretty strong though, and it's a bit disorienting being underwater in the dark, with everyone waving flashlights around, and running into each other. Mike had the foresight to bring some chem-lights (glowsticks), so we could identify our group and dive-master. We didn't want to get separated from our group like we did when we were in Cozumel, and it worked out really well. Unfortunately, my camera doesn't take very good pictures in low-light, but I did get some good videos, so that was very cool.
Rest of vacation
Well, the internet was sucking pretty bad in Belize, so I didn't finish my blog while I was there, and so I'm going to post the rest of our vacation now!
Thursday, August 06, 2009
The zoo on Tuesday was awesome! We decided to take the water taxi over to the mainland, rent a car, and drive to the zoo ourselves, rather than take a guided tour. I'm so glad we did, it was much more of an adventure. The zoo was really cool, we saw tapirs, coatumundis, peccaries, macaws, a toucan, a puma, a jaguar, spider monkeys, howler monkeys, and other stuff too!
Toucan:
Tapir:
Spider monkey swinging from a tree:
Jaguar:
Toucan:
Tapir:
Spider monkey swinging from a tree:
Jaguar:
Tuesday, August 04, 2009
Mike proposed!!
Dinner last night at Victoria House was fantastic. We both had the filet mignon dinner, with garlic mashed potatoes and fresh vegetables. After dinner, we took a nice little romantic walk out to the beach, and to the end of the dock, where there was a cute little palapa shelter, that was lit up with little twinkly lights. Then, he popped the question! And of course, I said yes! Here's a pic of my beautiful ring:
Monday, August 03, 2009
First 2 Days of diving
Yesterday and today were our first 2 days of diving. We dove with Chuck & Robbie's dive shop, which is just a couple hundred feet down the beach from our hotel. It's been beautiful! Each day we do 2 dives, with an hour surface interval between each. Yesterday, we went to "Tackbox" and "Mermaid's Lair." We saw all the normal Caribbean fish - yellowtail snappers, angelfish, parrotfish, blue tang, etc. We also saw quite a few nurse sharks, and even a sea turtle! At the end of our second dive yesterday, I surfaced sooner than Mike did, since I was sucking down my air too fast, but while he was still down there, he got to see a bunch more nurse sharks and even grabbed onto one of their tails!! After our second dive was over, the boat ran out of gas (guess someone forgot to refill it during our surface break) but another dive boat towed us back. Thankfully, all the dive spots aren't too far out from the island - you can actually see where the reef drops off from the shore.
Today was some pretty similar diving, we went to "Tuffy's Canyon" and "Derdenellos." We saw a bunch of the same kinds of fish, but we also saw a spotted eagle ray really close, a HUGE barracuda, and a very friendly turtle that hung out with us for awhile. Some pictures from our dives will follow this post.
Tonight, we're headed to Victoria House for dinner, which is a really nice restaurant on the south part of the island. It's air-conditioned inside, which will be awesome, since most of the restaurants here are not. They even send a taxi to pick you up for free!
Tomorrow we're headed to the mainland to visit the zoo!
Sunday, August 02, 2009
We made it!!
Well, we finally made it! We arrived a few hours later than expected, and they lost one of our bags, but it's okay, we're on vacation! We took a taxi to the hotel, and got all checked in. After that, we headed out to find some food, since we were starving! It was pretty late, but we ended up finding a little restaurant right down the beach from our hotel, called Lily's. Mike had a cheeseburger, and I had a fried seafood platter. It was pretty good, a little more expensive than I would have thought, but that's ok. Here's a nice pic from the restaurant.
After dinner, we walked around some more, did a little window shopping, and had a few drinks at Jaguar Paw. There was a pretty cool little town square right in front of the bar, so we did a little people watching, and listened to some good music. Here's a pic of me having a drink at Jaguar Paw, with the wind blowing all around me!
After dinner, we walked around some more, did a little window shopping, and had a few drinks at Jaguar Paw. There was a pretty cool little town square right in front of the bar, so we did a little people watching, and listened to some good music. Here's a pic of me having a drink at Jaguar Paw, with the wind blowing all around me!
Saturday, August 01, 2009
layover and delayed
On our way!
We made it to the airport!! I'm waiting in line for my morning Starbucks fix, and we should be boarding in 20 minutes. I'm soooo excited!!!!
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Mike's home!
Yea!!! Picked Mike up from the airport today!! So good to have him home. And, we finally made our flight reservations, so we're really going now!
Saturday, July 25, 2009
School's out for Summer!!
School is officially done for the summer!! I took my Criminal Procedure final on Thursday, and now my 3 weeks of vacation can begin!
I just booked our room at the Blue Tang Inn today. I decided to go with room #14, which is on the third floor, so we won't have anyone stomping around above us, and it's in the corner, so it only shares a wall with one other room. All the rooms at the Blue Tang have full kitchens, so we can cook for ourselves some of the time, which is good since Mike can't eat any seafood, or a lot of spicy food, and guess what is mostly served in Belize? Yep, you guessed it, seafood and spicy food! Anyway, the room also has a jacuzzi tub, which is always a plus! It's not designated as an "ocean view" room, but you can just walk a couple of feet out onto the balcony and see the ocean. It was a bit cheaper, and the girl said it was actually much quieter than the ocean view rooms, since it's not looking over the street. Here are some pics of the room:
Inside room 14:
The kitchen:
The view from the balcony:
I just booked our room at the Blue Tang Inn today. I decided to go with room #14, which is on the third floor, so we won't have anyone stomping around above us, and it's in the corner, so it only shares a wall with one other room. All the rooms at the Blue Tang have full kitchens, so we can cook for ourselves some of the time, which is good since Mike can't eat any seafood, or a lot of spicy food, and guess what is mostly served in Belize? Yep, you guessed it, seafood and spicy food! Anyway, the room also has a jacuzzi tub, which is always a plus! It's not designated as an "ocean view" room, but you can just walk a couple of feet out onto the balcony and see the ocean. It was a bit cheaper, and the girl said it was actually much quieter than the ocean view rooms, since it's not looking over the street. Here are some pics of the room:
Inside room 14:
The kitchen:
The view from the balcony:
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Getting ready for Belize...
Well, I hope to post a trip report during or after our trip to Ambergris Caye, Belize next month, so I'm just setting up my first post and checking the controls on blogspot....
We're planning on staying at the Blue Tang Inn, and taking advantage of one of their package deals. It includes 7 nights in an ocean-view room with a kitchenette, 5 days of diving, and air-travel from Belize International to San Pedro.
Here's a pic of the hotel...
Some of the things we want to do while we're in Belize:
-scuba-dive (of course)
-Mayan ruins tour - Lamanai, Altun Ha, Tikal, or Xunantunich
-Snorkel and swim with the rays and sharks at Hol Chan Marine Reserve & Shark Ray Alley
-Belize zoo
-Cocksomb Basin & Jaguar Reserve - this one's unlikely with the amount of time we have there, but it's still on my wishlist!
-Manatee tour
Some of the restaurants we plan on trying are:
-Rojo Lounge
-Wet Willy's
-Barrier Reef
-Los Cocos
-Esperanza's
-Lily's
-Estels
-Caliente
-Portofino
-Crazy Canuck's
-Pier Lounge
-Capricorn
We're planning on staying at the Blue Tang Inn, and taking advantage of one of their package deals. It includes 7 nights in an ocean-view room with a kitchenette, 5 days of diving, and air-travel from Belize International to San Pedro.
Here's a pic of the hotel...
Some of the things we want to do while we're in Belize:
-scuba-dive (of course)
-Mayan ruins tour - Lamanai, Altun Ha, Tikal, or Xunantunich
-Snorkel and swim with the rays and sharks at Hol Chan Marine Reserve & Shark Ray Alley
-Belize zoo
-Cocksomb Basin & Jaguar Reserve - this one's unlikely with the amount of time we have there, but it's still on my wishlist!
-Manatee tour
Some of the restaurants we plan on trying are:
-Rojo Lounge
-Wet Willy's
-Barrier Reef
-Los Cocos
-Esperanza's
-Lily's
-Estels
-Caliente
-Portofino
-Crazy Canuck's
-Pier Lounge
-Capricorn
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
