planning a visit to the U.S.

another couple of weeks have flown by and, despite some rainy days, the house construction continues running smoothly. we are estimating completion and move in during the first week of july. to prepare for that, rick and i will be returning to the U.S. to pack up some of our "necessities" to ship back down to belize. we will be flying into AZ (via Houston) on june 9th and then returning to belize via cancun on 6/25. hopefully we can see as many of our AZ friends while we're there...check your calendars for those dates and let us know. other than that, nothing major to report, except that i am trying to convince rick to take a trip back down south to see the whale sharks that migrate to that area this time of year. we'll let you know what happens with that!

Wow...the last 4 weeks have flown by so fast! I guess it's true that time flies when you're having fun. It doesn't even seem possible that it is May already and May is half over. We’ve been in Belize for 3 months now and it’s feeling pretty comfortable!
Things here have been moving along nicely with home construction and continuing to get settled into our new routine. We usually travel into town (Orange Walk or Corozal) at least once a week and have been to Belize City a couple of times in the last month, too. We have chosen paint colors, tile samples, light fixtures, fans and bathroom faucets and sinks. The inside walls are up, the slabs are poured and the next step will be the plastering and the ceiling. Hope you have been able to follow the progress with our photos! No work today due to rain off and on for the last 15 hours (the parrots are partying this morning in the cool damp air).
We applied for and have been accepted to the QRP (qualified retired persons) incentive program. This required dealing with red tape here in Belize as well as over the phone/internet to AZ, but finally, with a lot of people's help, things were accomplished. Now we can return to the U.S. to pick up some more of our "stuff" to bring back to our new home duty/tax-free. We will fly to AZ sometime in the next 2 weeks, buy a truck, trailer and appliances and drive back to Belize through Mexico in the middle to end of next month. Scott, the guy who sold us our lot, has agreed to meet us in Brownsville, TX to show us the ropes through Mexico. We've heard some borderline horror stories about gringos in that country, so his experience will be invaluable. I’m sure there will be more adventure to report!
Our house in AZ is currently on the market, but Janessa will continue to live there and care for it for the time being (she will be starting her new job as a cake decorator in Phoenix sometime in the next couple of weeks. Yeah!)
Rick has been working right along with the crew or on odd jobs around the lot. He continues to drop weight (maybe 30 pounds now) and will need new clothes or at least a new belt soon. Linda suffered a rib injury a couple of weeks ago, so exercise has been limited, but things are starting to heal now and her clothes are starting to hang differently, too. We moved from Ed and Dee's guest house to our RV about 10 days ago thereby giving up Dee's excellent Italian cooking for dinner every night. That, in and of itself, will help encourage our weight loss!
There have been a couple of incidents that have kept us on our toes lately. A few days ago while the crew was pouring the patio slab for the house the electricity went off ( a common occurrence). Because the well water pump doesn't function without electricity, Ed decided to connect to the water tank on the RV. They were able to finish the slab with the water from the tank and shortly after completion the electricity came back on. Only then did we realize that the buttons that were pushed to change the water flow also affected our toilet. OMG! What a mess!!! That was definitely an adventure I could have lived without! Then, this morning I was making breakfast (french toast) and opened the kitchen drawer to retrieve the pot holders only to come face to face with a tennis-ball-sized mouse. I actually screamed! Rick is headed into the village now to see if there are any traps available. Ewwwwwwww! Other than those two episodes, the only negatives have been the heat/humidity (unusually high for this time of year) and the mosquitoes (in the early am and late afternoon we have to be vigilant with monitoring our outdoor activities). We purchased a couple of tire inner tubes recently and when we get a chance we're going to use them to float around on the lagoon...the water is perfect temperature for cooling off on all of these hot days.
Dee and I spent a couple of hours last week in the “Entertainment Center” in Orange Walk. This is basically a small establishment with slot machines. I found out I am no more lucky in Belize on slot machines than I am in the United States…lol! It was a fun way to spend some time though. Yesterday Ed and Dee threw another poker game and this time Rick and I both came out ahead. A few of the players were people that we met at the last game and a couple of people were new friends. Everyone seemed to have a great time. Besides poker and slot machines, we also have been spending a lot of time playing cards and/or dominoes. There were a couple of days last week where my luck was incredible and nobody could beat me at anything. I often wonder how that works…nevertheless, my luck has returned to normal now.
Gracie’s puppies are 7 weeks old today and are as cute as ever. Not sure if I already mentioned it, but I named one of the puppies that Ed and Dee are keeping...“Diablo” because she is a little devil. She is the runt of the litter but thinks that she is in charge. The other puppy that they are keeping has been named “Goldie” in remembrance of another dog that they had in the past. The puppies and Gracie will be in charge of security on the property as the lots continue to sell and the boundaries are extended. A guy arrived last night from Hawaii to survey the lots that are available and to report back to friends/family at home for possible future purchase. Our community may be growing! Will keep you posted. Thanks for following our adventures!

settling into a routine

the day to day "adventures in belize" have settled into more of a routine. cooking, cleaning, laundry (drying clothes the natural way...on the clothesline...can you believe it, mom?), walks, swimming in the lagoon and shopping in orange walk town 30 minutes down the gravel/dirt road for everything from milk (in a box) to paint, tile, faucets and lighting for the new house. the weather has been hot and humid and we even had our first thunderstorm the other night!

dee and ed continue to be wonderful hosts. since the guest house has only a gas burner and refrigerator, dee continues to provide us with delicious dinners every night, often followed by cards or dominoes (depending on how tired Ed is after his day of supervising construction). speaking of construction, the power house is almost complete, the guest house slab has been poured and the plumbing connected to the septic tank, and they have started on the block for the house. things are coming together much faster than i anticipated. after hearing some of the horror stories from others building here, we were cautiously optimistic. it appears we made a good decision on the location and builder for our dream, tropical vacation home.

we continue to put together the requirements for the QRP incentive program and will be returning to belize city sometime later this week to submit the paperwork. bank of america screwed up and deleted janessa from our safe deposit box contract, so jason had to fly to phoenix this past weekend to collect copies of certificates that are required (thanks for trying, janessa and thanks for successful completion, jason!)

gracies puppies turned 3 weeks old yesterday, are growing like weeds and are developing their own individual personalities. their eyes opened last week and they are teetering around on tiny legs that can barely hold their chunky bodies :) gracie is a wonderful mother, but enjoys being able to return to her routine also. she patrols the property at night for security, swims in the lagoon and chases the birds who invade her territory. Ed and Dee have convinced us to avoid the lagoon after dark because of crocodiles...according to them, gracie has had several encounters with the crocs and has only been successful in these encounters because she thought it was playtime. she pulled the intruders out of the lagoon by their tails and then ran around them barking and encouraging them to wrestle. gracie is no worse for the wear. yesterday afternoon while we were up at the construction site, we heard shotgun fire from a property well south of us. the work crew told us that there must have been a croc intruder during daylight hours...now maybe dinner?

we continue to document our progress with photos and will be updating those soon. thanks for following our "adventures" and stay tuned!

construction begins!

Thursday and Friday we spent ironing out the details on the house and playing dominos and cards. On Saturday we received some troubling news about the people selling us the land and building the house (Ed and Dee). After hours of investigation and an in-depth discussion, we determined that the news was incorrect and we decided to proceed with the plans.

For Easter Sunday we were invited to a party at the home of the vice prime ministers brother, just down the road. When we arrived we discovered the main party had been on Saturday, but today the "left-over" party continued. We were welcomed with open arms and spent the next two hours talking with the brothers/family and eating (tamales)/drinking (corona). People here are soooo friendly! When we left their house we found out that they would still be at this weekend home tomorrow, so we invited them to come see our new piece of heaven! Afterwards, we spent the evening playing dominos (Mexican Train).

On Monday the first bull-dozer was delivered and then Rick and Ed drove Jim (the owner and operator) back to his home in Copper Bank. He will return tomorrow morning to start construction. When the guys arrived back home, who arrived by boat but the brothers and more family that we had invited over yesterday (with their cooler). They had already been drinking most of the day and were feeling no pain, except for sunburn! They loved our property and spent a couple of hours laughing and sharing with us again. When they left we had dinner and shared our DVD of Jeff Dunham with Ed and Dee. They really liked Walter!

Tuesday construction began and proceeded quickly. The land was cleared for the guest house and main house and the plans were finalized. Ed was so tired he fell asleep right after dinner, so we made an early night of it too.

Wednesday we drove to Belize City to start the process of applying for the QRP (Qualified Retired Persons Incentive Program) and to have the long-awaited car part exchanged in our car. The explanation meeting for the QRP didn’t take as long as we had anticipated and our car would take longer than anticipated, so we walked around downtown for a little while, had a breakfast sandwich in a little café, caught up on the internet and then took a cab to our favorite Belize City restaurant (Riverside Tavern) for lunch. From there we walked back to the Toyota dealership and waited for the service to be completed. From there we did a little grocery shopping before returning home to Progresso Shores. Whew…long day (we left at 0630 and got home around 4p). Will probably be an early evening tonight too!

Thursday was a quiet day for Linda spent around the house. Rick drove back to Belize City to pick up Scott (Ed’s business partner) at the airport. The rest of the day was uneventful.

Friday we drove into Orange Walk to meet with our new Dr, Ricardo Fabro. He did a routine check up and some labs so that he could certify our health for the QRP program. We went to the internet store to see if we could figure out what was wrong with our connection (she said she fixed it), then to get our passports copied for the QRP application, did some window shopping for furniture and appliances and finally some groceries before heading home for lunch. Quiet afternoon and then a game of Mexican train dominoes with Ed, Dee, Scott and his girlfriend, Chrissy before bed.

Saturday was another quiet day in preparation for the big poker game on Sunday. Boy is it hot and humid today! One thing we did determine was that the Smart gal didn’t really fix the internet connection, she simply convinced Linda that she had done so. We’ll have to check with Ed and Scott about what to do…

Sunday the poker game started around noon and we played through the day until about 7:30p. There were ten of us at the peak of the game (Rick and I, Dee and Ed, Scott and Chrissy, Chrissy’s mom, Nancy and Paul, Joe and Janelle (from Corozal). We only lost about $20 between Rick and me…not too bad for my first official poker game! Everyone got along great and immediately made us feel like part of the group. Fun times and good food/drink! What could be better?

Monday morning construction resumed early…they poured the slab for the guest house and started on the well construction! Things sure do move quickly with Ed in charge! We're keeping a day to day photo update of the progress, so check out the pix if you're interested!

decisions, decisions...

Tuesday we spent the day walking around Corozal. It’s a mostly Spanish-speaking town and the roads are very busy with cars, trucks, bicycles and pedestrians. We had breakfast at Al’s Café, pizza for lunch and dinner at “Patty’s Bistro”. None of them particularly fantastic, but all acceptable. We continued our discussions about what we had learned so far about the country (after 5 full weeks) and where we might like to settle down. We also drew up some housing plans for if/when we make any decisions. Overall a pretty quiet day.

Wednesday we packed up, finished up on the internet and visited with Las Palmas owner, Charles, for one last time. We also met a couple from Canada who are doing the same thing that we are (journeying throughout the country to see where the best “fit” is). They have chosen the northern end of the country, but have not yet purchased any property. After leaving the hotel we went to the pastry shop down the street for breakfast of cinnamon rolls (fantastic) and juice. Rick also had to try the Johnny cakes (kind of like a McMuffin, but the dough is corn-based and his had only cheese in the middle). We then headed out of town in search of Santa Rita, another Mayan Ruin supposedly right on the edge of town. Instead we found the Belikin/Coca Cola distributing warehouse and exchanged our empty bottles for full ones. The guys there gave us directions to the ruin, but we still weren’t having any luck. We stopped another gentleman coming out of a business and he offered to show us to the site in person. We followed him for less than a mile and, sure enough, there it was. He told us about the small site (the birthplace of the Mestizo’s) and then left us to explore. From there we left Corozal en route to Copper Bank to the southeast. After a couple of hours on bumpy, dirt roads and a ferry ride, we arrived at Cerros Beach Resort outside of Copper Bank. We met Jenny and Bill, the owners, who fixed us lunch and showed us around. Their cabanas were beautiful and right on the beach, but no access to the internet. After a couple of hours we returned to the dirt roads and ferry rides (x2) and headed for Sarteneja. The journey took us about 2 hours and brought us to the quaint little fishing village on the coast of the turquoise Caribbean Sea (Corozal Bay). We found lodging at Fernando’s Guest House, unpacked (once again!) and settled on the front porch to enjoy the view and breeze. No WiFi in the house, but Fernando’s sister/nephew have an internet café a couple of blocks down the lane. We headed down there about 515p, ordered dinner and caught up on the internet. By 7p our food was still not ready and the bugs were biting, so we asked if the food could be packaged “to go”. Instead they offered to bring it to our room when it was ready. 30-45 minutes later it arrived and was incredible. Rick had lobster and Linda had fish…well worth the wait. We played some cards (Rick won) and then off to bed.

Thursday we headed back to the internet café for internet and breakfast and then back to the room to await the arrival of Fernando Jr. who was going to show us some available property in the village. Several nice lots were available for a great price, but only one close enough to the water to even be considered. We don’t think Sarteneja is the place for us…a bit too far off the beaten path, right in line for damage if a hurricane came to visit and too small of a village to easily fit in as a gringo. We found another restaurant in town, Chez Didi, and split an order of lasagna with salad for lunch. Then we headed off in search of Warrey Bight since we had been told there was a great white sand beach there. After 90 minutes of bumpy, hot dirt road, we found the sea, but no white sand beach. The ride gave Linda severe indigestion, so instead of continuing the search, we headed back to our room. Linda took a nap while Rick sat on the patio smoking a cigar and admiring the view. We then walked to the end of a nearby pier and watched the kids playing in the bay, enjoying the breeze until sunset over the water. From there we headed back to Chez Didi for the steak dinner Rick had prearranged with her while we were there for lunch. Linda’s stomach still wasn’t back to normal, so she just had a sandwich, but Rick enjoyed his steak dinner and arranged to have another steak with eggs for breakfast in the morning. More cards after dinner, then off to bed.

Friday we started out with another round of packing, followed by breakfast at Didi’s and then another road trip. We left Sarteneja and journeyed for a few hours back to Orange Walk for a BBQ’d chicken lunch and fill up of gas. From there, back to Progresso Shores to iron out a decision about the land that Ed and Dee have available for purchase. We visited some of their friends, Phil and Linda, to get an estimate on an apartment rental for if/when we purchased, to live in while a house was being built. Phil was busy building his home on his large piece of land, but took a break to answer some of our questions and show us his rentals (gorgeous!). From there we ended our journey back at Ed and Dee’s and when we arrived we again fell in love with the view, the surroundings and the company. They again welcomed us into their home (air conditioned this time because of the excessive heat, thank God), offered us drinks and we continued our discussions where we left off on Monday. Dinner, drinks and conversation throughout the evening and then we were set up in the guest house for a comfortable nights rest.

Saturday we spent the morning in continued discussion about intentions. Phil and Linda stopped by in their pontoon boat around noon and took us for a ride in the lagoon. It was a beautiful, sunny day and the ride was incredible. The rest of the day was spent visiting between the six of us, defining options for a move and clarifying legalities. Good times!

Sunday we headed over to the Catholic Church early hoping to get lucky again with Mass times, but found out that they don’t have an early Mass, instead celebrating at noon. We joined up with Ed and Dee again and picked up where we left off on Saturday. Mid-afternoon they had visitors, the primary earth mover in the country (and many of his family members) and the country’s minister of security (the head of all the country’s security issues). We all ate, drank and visited all afternoon (the kids playing all day in the lagoon) and managed to end the day with the security ministers business card and well-wishes. Chicken Marsalis for dinner (yummy) during which we announced our final decision…lot #2, a new home (to be built by Ed) and a fully furnished 40 ft. RV (for us to live in while the house is being built and then for use as a guest house until the guest house can be built) now belong to Mr. and Mrs. Richard Ludka. We celebrated the announcement with a game of dominoes and then went to bed.

Monday we spent the day ironing out more details, swimming in the lagoon and preparing for a trip into Orange Walk tomorrow for shopping, legalities and lunch. Rick and Ed drove into the village and while there met the village policeman, Omar. He covers the villages within a 50 square mile area and gets around on a bicycle. If you need him quickly in a distant village, you have to go and pick him up! When they got home from the village, Ed found that their dog, Gracie, had started labor and given birth to her first puppy. Labor continued throughout the day and by the time we went to bed she had given birth to six more puppies. Rick fixed a pot roast for dinner and there was a game or two of dominos thrown in throughout the day for good measure.

Tuesday we all drove into Orange Walk in Ed’s truck and from 0830-1530 ran errands…setting up the internet, bank, shopping (groceries, TV, supplies), meeting the Dr. and pharmacist and having lunch. By the time we got home we were all exhausted, but Linda decided to unpack our purchases and set up housekeeping. Dinner was delicious again and then early to bed after some TV.

Wednesday we spent on the internet and phone trying to get a wire transfer for the down-payment of our purchase. The electricity went off so we were dependent on battery for the computer. Per the BofA website, we found out that large transfers are not allowed without a special pass that has to be mailed to the address on the account. We also learned that we can’t make 800 calls from our cell phone in Belize, so we had to crank up the generator to get Ed and Dee’s house phone to work. After about 30 minutes on the phone (at who knows how much/minute), we determined there was no way to make this work without flying home or waiting for the pass to come in the mail. After hours of deliberation and maximum effort on everyone’s part, we were able to solve the issue with family support (thanks Bob and mom). It was a rough day, so we decided a game of dominoes would lighten the mood…ladies won! After that a game of cards (Rick won), dinner, a little TV (very little) and bed.

week #5 adventures in belize

Wednesday morning, St Patrick’s Day, we left San Ignacio (after breakfast and a quick internet check) and headed to Belmopan, the capital, to run some errands. We stopped by immigration and found out that our passport stamps had expired 2 days earlier…we thought they were good for 30 days, but the officer said the date selected was at the check-in officers discretion and he/she had only given us 28 days. She didn’t charge us a late fee and renewed us for another 28 days (good until 4/14). We then went to the bank and picked up our Belize Visa cards…they actually had arrived from Belize City and were waiting for us. From there we went to the Belize Zoo under a light mist of rain and spent a couple of hours learning more about the country’s native species. We finally saw a jaguar up close and personal! Next on the agenda was a trip into Belize City to see if our car part had arrived and to get our brakes checked within our 30-day warranty. We got lucky and found the dealership without much searching only to find out our part had not arrived…it was stuck at the Guatemalan border for some unknown reason. We walked to the Riverside Tavern for lunch (DELICIOUS burgers) while the dealership checked our car brakes and then headed back to the dealership to await its completion. We finished our errands around 4pm and decided we had no reason to stay in Belize City (expensive, noisy, crowded). We drove into Orange Walk and found a room at D’ Princess Hotel. We got settled in, walked to a nearby restaurant for dinner (Rick had some amazing ceviche) and then back home for the night.

Thursday we spent cruising the area in and around Orange Walk. The area is surrounded by sugar cane fields so we thought we would see if the rum factory had tours. No luck but we enjoyed our touring. We also contacted Jungle River Tours to arrange for Friday’s adventure. We found a great restaurant for dinner and talked with our waiter, Fred, about what it’s like living in northern Belize. He advised us that there was a new area being built up northeast of Orange Walk in Progresso that we might want to check out…we’ll have to see what it is all about.

Friday we drove to Come and Dine Restaurant for breakfast and then back to the hotel to prepare for our tour. We walked to the tour company and from there we were driven to the dock on the New River. Humberto, our guide, took us down river for 2 hours spotting crocs, spider monkeys, iguanas, countless birds and insects and beautiful flora of the area. We actually got to hand feed bananas to the wild spider monkeys! We arrived at our destination around 11am, Lamanai Mayan Ruins. We toured the ruins with our guide for another couple of hours…some of the findings are incredible, especially the jaguar temple (see photos). After the ruins hike we returned to the picnic grounds and had the lunch that had been prepared for us…stewed chicken, rice/beans, potato salad and green salad. Excellent picnic! We had a few minutes to visit the gift shops and then back on the boat for our return trip home. Along the way we again enjoyed the jungle sites and sounds. We got back to the dock around 4p and walked home. Linda lay down to rest for a few minutes and then didn’t want to get up…Rick cruised the internet and then went to a street vendor across from the hotel for some BBQ chicken dinners. Early to bed after all that fresh air today and plans for an early morning.

Saturday we packed the car (again) and started off towards Corozal near the Mexican border. On the way we took a detour to visit Progresso, as recommended by Fred on Thursday. After a bumpy, dirt road we entered the village on a huge lagoon connected through a river to the Caribbean Sea. We didn’t see anything terribly interesting, so we turned around and headed back to the main road. On our way back we saw a sign for Progresso Shores Development and thought we might as well check it out since we had come this far. We went down a long dirt drive and came across a gorgeous view of the lagoon amid the partially cleared jungle. We came to an open gate and continued through. At the end of the drive was a beautiful private home with a couple of guest houses. No signs were apparent, so we pulled into the circular drive in front of the home to turn around. Suddenly we were joined there by a man who was looking at us skeptically. We told him we were lost and turning around, but he, Ed, invited us into his home to meet his wife and talk about the area. His wife, Dee, was extremely friendly, gracious and welcoming and their home was absolutely beautiful. We spent the next 2 DAYS with them discussing the area, their land, their friends and their lives and being treated to wonderful food, drink, boat rides and lodging (in the guest house). If ever there was a weekend that was “too good to be true”, this was it! They have 20+ 2-acre lots for sale on the lagoon and we have lots to think and talk about!

Monday we packed our stuff, said good-bye to our new friends and headed up the dirt drive that we had off-handedly entered two days before. Scott, Ed and Dee’s friend/neighbor, escorted us to the turn-off for Corozal as he headed to Copper Bank, another near-by village, before joining us again in Corozal (his girlfriend, Cristy, lives there). We arrived back at the New River, crossed it by hand-cranked ferry, reached Corozal and found our hotel just in time for lunch. We hit a Chinese restaurant for lunch and then spent the afternoon walking around town and catching up on e-mail. We had a drink at the Corozal Bay Inn, right on the waterfront, and then headed to Hailey’s for dinner with Scott. We had a great chat/dinner before saying good-bye/good-night to another new friend and then headed back to the hotel for the night.

Extreme Adventures

Sunday night we had dinner at the gathering place in San Agnacio, Hode’s. They had everything from bar to outdoor restaurant to juke box to arcade to playground and the place was hopping. Rick had “enchiladas”…the sauce was a cross between spaghetti sauce and picante sauce and the cheese inside and out was tasty, but unique. Linda had shrimp fajitas…again tasty, but unique in presentation. After several attempts they were able to get the internet up and we were able to update ourselves on the “outside world”.

Monday morning we arose early for our tour of hiking, climbing and swimming in Actun Tunichil Muknal (ATM) ancient Mayan ceremonial site and cave. This has been described as one of the most unforgettable and adventurous tours you can take in all of Belize and they described it right. The tour started with an hour drive, most of which was on dirt roads, then a 45 min hike through the jungle, crossing through roaring creek three times, getting us ready to be wet all day long. After the hike we rested and ate half of our sack lunch to get our strength up for the adventure to come. At the wide, hourglass shaped entrance to the cave, we donned our helmets, complete with headlamps. We then started with a frosty swim into the cave through a deep pool and then we followed our guide, walking, climbing, twisting and turning our way through the blackness of the cave for over 4 hours (2+ hours in and 2+ hours out). Giant shimmering flow-stone rock formations competed for our attention with thick calcium carbonate stalactites dripping from the ceiling. Phallic stalagmites (see photos) grow up from the cave floor. At one point we were required to replace our shoes with socks to protect our feet from sharp rocks and to prevent damage to the cave surface from oils in our skin. Eventually we ended up in a gigantic underground room strewn with hundreds of pottery vessels and shards, along with human remains. Our final destination required us to climb a 16 ft extension ladder which had been anchored to the cave wall. Once on top we discovered one of the most shocking displays, the calcite-encrusted full skeletal remains of the woman who Actun Tunichil Muknal (cave of the stone sepulcher) is named for. She is one of fourteen human skeletal remains, seven of which were children that have been discovered in the cave. All are believed to have been offerings to the rain god, Chaac, in sacrifice for rain in a time of drought in the second half of the 9th century. The woman had been killed by breaking her back and leaving her in the cave to die. By this time we were quite worn out, but realized we had to do the entire journey again, backwards this time (including the cave, the hike and the drive). When we got back to our room we were past exhausted, but felt blessed that we were able to experience this magical place since there is word that the site will be closed to the public sometime in the near future. After a shower we returned to town for dinner, then back home for fire-flys and bed.

Tuesday morning we got out of bed feeling better than expected with only a few aches, pains and bruises…thank God for fish oil (thanks, Beth!). After a breakfast of French toast we drove to Xunantanich, one of Belize’s most easily accessible and impressive Mayan archeological sites. Along the way we saw many of the locals washing their clothes in the river…scrubbing with brushes on the rocks. Amazingly, the whites stay very white! We then crossed the Mopan river on a hand-pulled wooden ferry (see photos). Linda asked the ferry operator for his permission to photograph him and he agreed only because we were kind enough to ask (native people in this country aren’t very keen to having their pictures taken as it “draws away life energy”). The ruins were beyond incredible (see photos), the tallest being 157 ft tall. We climbed steep, stone steps which were built into the walls of the pyramid-shaped structure. From the top of El Castillo was a spectacular 360 degree view of the Mopan river valley with Guatemala a mile to the west. After leaving the site we returned to the ferry and then drove on to DuPlooy’s Jungle Lodge, home of the Belize Botanical Garden (Rick was in heaven). The park is 45 acres with 2 miles of trails identifying many of the trees and shrubs found in the four different Belizean habitats. It even had a native orchid house and a special exhibit on the products and uses of the native palms of Belize. After two hours of exhaustive study we decided to return to town for lunch (or so we thought). On our way back on the right side of the road we saw the Princess Hotel and Casino! We decided to try their café and our luck. Lunch was tasty and Linda’s luck was pretty good, but Rick made up for that! We finally made it home for a break and maybe happy hour before dinner. We later returned to town for dinner and internet update, but all the restaurants internet was down. We ate at Flayva’s and Rick decided to try Gibnut, the Royal Rat. This rodent was served to Queen Elizabeth II when she was in Belize a few years ago. It was outstandingly delicious….Linda even tried it. Afterwards, we found an “internet café” to check our messages and then home to bed.