Belize City

Belize Trip

Day 1:

Catch the red eye (12:55 AM) to Atlanta...layover 4 hours then catch another 3 hour flight to Belize City.  Sleep on both flights most of the way.  Rent a car (2015 KIA Sportage) and find our way to Villa Boscardi B&B where we will rest our heads for the next three days.   After getting checked in we drive to the center of the city to check out the area.  Park the car and peruse the Belize Historical Museum then explore the center a bit then grab some much needed dinner and then get back to the villa to shower and relax.

Day 2:

Have a wonderful breakfast at Villa Boscardi then drive an hour North to Orange Walk and hop on a boat with Eco Tours and see some of the mangrove.  Feed a spider monkey a banana and look for crocodiles (none:( and see lots of birds.  Arrive at Lamanai Ruins and walk through an amazing  jungle to get to the ruins.  Climb the high temple (134 steep steps!) and catch a magnificent view of the whole area.  We see and hear Howler Monkeys at our same level in the tree tops making a ruckus.  They are super cool and really loud!!  We marvel at the beauty of the place and then go see four more parts of the archeological sight.  Enjoy a Belizean lunch of stewed chicken, rice and beans, plantains, and coleslaw provided by our tour guides and then back on the boat for an four ride to get back to home base.  

Take a drive into Orange Walk and peruse the town.  Stop at a mini grocery for a few cookies to snack on and then take the highway back to Belize City.  Before getting back to Villa Boscardi we stop for dinner at Atlantic Restaurant.  Rick has some fabulous shrimp curry and I order a small bowl of egg drop soup with a chicken sandwich.  My soup comes out in a bowl big enough for THREE people.  I can't eat it so I have to leave most of it on the table.  (I hate leaving leftovers....such a waste of food!)  I do love my sandwich though:)  

Get back to the Villa and enjoy a shower and some down time!

Day 3:

Have another wonderful breakfast at the Villa then grab the car keys and head out toward the west this time.  Our destination is San Ignacio, which is close to the Guatamalan border, to a market place and some more ruins.  We find the market place and buy a few trinkets.  A hat for Rick (can't find any bells for me), a handmade wood drum and some maracas for the kiddies to play with.  We have a wonderful lunch at the market.  I choose a panada (a corn dough with meat, beans and cheese inside and fried on a griddle).  Rick chooses a chicken quesedilla with an amazing fresh tortilla.  The fruit at this market looks wonderful.  The cauliflower is twice as big as what I can find in the grocery stores at home!  After the market we drive to Cahal Pech Ruins.  These are just outside of Santa Elena and really fun to explore.  Only part of them are uncovered and there were only a few people there which gave Rick plenty of room to climb and explore all he wanted while I watched and took pictures:)  Lots of mounds yet to be uncovered!!

After Cahal Pech we headed back toward Belize City and stopped at the Belize Zoo.  This is an animal sanctuary with all rescued animals.  We got to feed the Tapir (the national animal of Belize and quite an interesting looking one), feed the Toucan (my favorite bird!  I was so excited to have an encounter with one), and high five a jaguar!  (He was on the other side of the cage but we were right there with him)  He was a beautiful animal and I was a little nervous being so close to those sharp teeth of his.  He even snarled at Rick!  Just before leaving the howler monkeys started howling.  Holy Smokes!!  They were sooo loud!  It was really cool being just feet from them while they were carrying on like that.  The zoo keeper said they do this twice a day, in the morning and in the evening.  And we got to be there for that.  Loved it!

After the zoo we stopped at Old Belize and had dinner.  Rick had the Lobster and I had The traditional Belizean meal again.  (Chicken, rice, beans, and cole slaw)  Now we are back in our room just enjoying doing not much of anything:)  It's been a great time in Belize City.  Tomorrow afternoon we catch the Ferry over to Ambergris Caye!