Belize Day 1 - Belize City

Welcome to Belize City

Our airplane touched down on a tiny airstrip in Belize City. We stepped out of the plane and were greeted with a heavy downpour of rain. We would have been soaked to the bones, if not for the umbrellas handed to us at the bottom of the stairs. I considered the rain a good sign due to the fact that every time we've traveled and it rained on the first day, the weather would be fabulous for the rest of the trip. It took us no time at all to zip through customs. Then we hailed a cab and were whisked off to our hotel, The Great House.


Belize City is a rough town. There is a great deal of crime and poverty. We read there are certain areas you just don't go in. Our accommodation, The Great House, was in the Fort George section of town and considered a safe area. The reason we selected the hotel was due to a review on the Travel Channel. Plus we didn't feel like riding the Chicken Bus for three hours to San Ignacio after such a long airplane ride. The room was extremely nice with a King Size Bed, hardwood floors, high ceilings with a large fan, and a view of the ocean.

On the main floor is a restaurant called The Smokey Mermaid. There I enjoyed my first Belikin beer. I was famished and ordered the house smoked pork chops, a delicious salty smoked piece of meat. Diane went for fresh fish and chips that were lightly battered, flaky. The fish was probably caught that morning. After a long day of traveling, we fell asleep to sounds of music drifting up from the restaurant.

Next: The Chicken Bus
Location: Belize City, Belize

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How to Build a GoPro Water Ski Rope Mount

Image
One of the best views of water skiing is to mount a GoPro to the ski rope. Here is how to build the rope mount. Parts needed: 2-foot piece of 3/4" PVC pipe Duct tape GoPro bicycle clamp Foam noodle Wrist strap Zip tie Since the 3/4" pipe won't slide over the knot on the ski rope, you will need to cut the PVC pipe down the middle. (like a clamshell)  Fit the two halves over the rope and duct tape them to the rope and the V part of the handle. Duct taping to the V section is key to keeping the camera upright.  Attach the GoPro bicycle clamp to the pipe. Make sure you have a safety leash hooked to the camera and rope so it doesn't end up at the bottom of the lake or river.  I used a wrist strap from one of my still cameras and threaded the thin end through the GoPro latch and zipped tied the other end to the rope.  Add a section of a foam pool noodle to the rope to ensure good floatation. Duct tape the noodle closed. Add some duct tape on each end of the rope n
Read more

Belize Day 4: Actun Tunichil Muknal cave adventure

Image
Eating termites. Swinging from vines. Exploring a sacrificial cave. Sounds like a scene from the movie Raiders of the Lost Ark. And that is exactly what it felt like. This was our adventure into the ancient Mayan cave of fear called the Actun Tunichil Muknal. The guide Juan Carlos and driver picked us up at our hotel in a beat up Chevy van. The rig looked like it had seen a lot of hard road. It wouldn't be long before we learned for ourselves why it looked that way. Juan stopped in town to pick up a young couple that would be joining us, Ryan and Susan. The van then rolled down the two-lane highway till it reached a dirt road turn off. From there, we drove over a washboard dirt road through a valley surrounded by jungle. This part of the ride definitely would test the fillings in your teeth. Pot holes the sizes of craters. Creeks flowing over the road. Yet as I prayed my capped teeth wouldn't fall out, I noticed something unique outside the window. There were families washing t
Read more

How to flip a Sleekcraft boat over in your garage

Image
How do you flip a boat over in your garage? That was the challenge my neighbor had while restoring his speed boat. His 92-year-old father came up with this brilliant system of pulleys and supports that made it fairly easy to turn the boat upside down. We start to raise the boat off the trailer. An engine jack was used to raise the bow. Note the yellow strap from the pulley to the dash. This was to prevent cracking the bow. Close up of the bow pulley system and how the strap slipped off the top wheel.  We should have cut a groove in it to make sure the strap stayed centered. A wooden support frame was built to hang the pulley system and connect it to the transom. We carefully turn the boat upside down. Stern leg bracket: The is the piece that connects the back legs to support beam. The legs were 2x4s and the support beam was two 2x6s. Safely turned upside down.  UPDATE 05/17/2021 The boat restoration was completed a few years back and came out amazing. Here are few photos
Read more