Belize Day 6 - Free Day!

12/20/2011
Today was a very relaxed morning. Each of us got up at our leisure and enjoyed a complimentary breakfast at Banana Beach before driving our golf carts downtown. It is our 3rd day in San Pedro and I’m becoming familiar with some of the locals. While downtown we did some shopping, mostly with the street merchants. I’m starting to become comfortable bargaining prices. It took me a while to get use to it. My favorite purchase was a wood carving with an eagle on one side and a Maya face on the other. After shopping we ate lunch at Fido’s. I would highly recommend it to anyone anticipating a trip to Belize. The restaurant overlooks the ocean. Lobster is relatively cheap compared to prices in America, so most of our group ordered that. Later on that night we decided to go out dancing and also sang karaoke. I fell in love with the Punta genre of music. Instead of wasting time sleeping that night we went swimming and waited for the sunrise. The sun rose around 5:30. After that I took a short nap in the hammock before departure.

Day 4 Xunantunich

Day 4
December 18, 2011 Xunantunich Maya Temples and transfer to San Pedro


Waking up to our beautiful scenic view of the Cahal Pech Resort was so amazing and was the perfect start to today’s journey in San Ignacio, Belize. We had breakfast and took a few pictures before departing our hotel. We took a short ride to Xunantunich (Maya for “Maiden of the rock”) which is near the western border of Belize and Guatemala. We climbed a few temples, walked through the rain forest, stopped to see ants carrying leaves to their home to use it as fertilizer for food, and saw the sensitive mimosa. It was very interesting to see this plant, as it shrivels up when touched and goes to sleep. Some people use mimosas to help with insomnia or sleep disorders, which I will need after today’s long journey. We then climbed the second highest temple in Belize! It was amazing and took little effort to climb and once we reached the top we took pictures, then saw the wall carvings on the temple and climbed back down. We got back on the hand cranked ferry to cross the Mopan River while our tour guide Randy turned on “crank that” by Soulja boy. We then headed back to Belize City and took a 1 hour and 15 minute boat ride to San Pedro, Ambergris Caye, where we will be staying for three nights.
Greetings from Belize, Thavina Ounnarath

Zipping Through the Jungle Like Tarzan!

December 17, 2011
The first stop in today’s journey was to the Belize Zoo, according to Randy, this particular zoo is unique due to the fact that the animals are in their natural habitats. Throughout the zoo, we saw different and interesting species of animals that we have not encountered before. The highlight of the zoo was being victims of Junior, the JAGUAR! Professor threatened us saying that this could be our punishment for doing wrong during our stay in Belize.
The next destination was zip lining and cave tubing at Cave Branch Outpost . There were 7 different zip lines for us to zip down, all at different speeds, heights, and lengths. The tallest of which was about 700 feet with a speed about 30 miles per hour. We both felt like Tarzan racing down the line through the jungle. After zip lining, we had lunch and off to cave tubing we went! The hike was exhausting, going through the jungle and battling with the currents of the river. The hike was all worth it since the view of the cave tunnel was breathtaking. Traveling with the currents and ripples in the cave was enjoyable. We saw bats and other things by using our imagination, such as the three witches and the jaguar staring us down from above. Once the tubing trail ended, it was not the end of our adventure. Mostly everyone jumped from a cliff into the river, which was an adrenaline rush.
To end the tiresome day, we had an hour ride to our new hotel on top of the hills, Cahal Pech Resort. The view from our patio was magnificent because it was overlooking the village.

From Steven Cao and Lisa Nguyen

Day 1: Lamanai

Yesterday our flight landed in Belize, and ever since the arrival at the Biltmore Plaza Hotel we have all become friends and created many memories in only the beginning of our great adventure together. Last night Shawna, Ben, and Javon decided to take a little swim in the beautiful pool while Thavina and Patty dipped their feet and talked. And yes, it was raining and cold, but that made it even more exciting!

On this trip to Belize there is Professor Harris, Randy the tour guide, Patty, Lisa, Steven, Javon, Thavina, Shawna and Ben. We are driving up to New River Lagoon and riding a boat up to Lamanai then driving out to see Almun Ha. A few amazing things we did was hold a baby crocodile, feed bananas to Spider Monkeys, barter with the natives, climb steep temples in the rain, watch a Jesus Christ lizard run on water, slide down the side of a Mayan mound as a short cut and see a double rainbow.



Even though we were all exhausted from exploring the tops of many Mayan temples, the night is still young so we decided to all go swimming and eat by the poolside. After dinner Ben went and grabbed a deck of cards and him, Thavina, Patty, Javon and Shawna played a long game of Spoons, that was filled with many laughs to the point of tears and injured hands. The victor was Shawna with her quick ninja like skills, and her winning prize was to pick a victim to throw in the pool. Her choice: Ben. Now that the day is over we are all going to write in our journals and pack up our belongings for tomorrows adventures!

Quote of the Night: Inspiration - Forest Gump
"There are table spoons, soup spoons, tea spoons... that, that's about it." - Ben

Created by Shawna Grace

Today is our last full day in the island of San Pedro, Belize. We initiated the day with snorkeling activities that lasted until noon. As we snorkeled we observed various types of marine animals. Our snorkel guide pointed out an octopus, stingray, crab, and other types of fish. It was an awesome experience, especially to those who had never snorkeled before. We all took as many pictures as we could with our water-proof cameras. We then boarded the speed boat and headed towards a different site where we could snorkel with sharks! Swimming with the sharks was an unforgettable experience for every single person in our group. After the snorkeling activities ended, we had the rest of the day free to ourselves. We all choose various activities to relax since the departure date would soon arrive. It was our last evening to enjoy La Isla Bonita

Day 4

On our way to Belize City we stopped at the Belize zoo, where we were able to observe native animals of Belize. We saw vultures, eagles, birds, and wild cats. My personal favorite was the jaguar. Today we arrived at the island of San Pedro via a water taxi that departed from Belize City. The water taxi ride was a fun and unique experience. It was approximately an hour long. We were all anxious to see how the island looked. San Pedro exceeded our expectations! Everything was great, the people, the beach, and the climate. Our rented golf carts provided an unbeliezable method of transportation. We were able to tour the island with much flexibility. After dinner at a great restaurant, we went for walk along the beach.

Day 3

Today we visited the Xunantunich Maya temples and a rainforest medicine trail. The Xunantinich Maya temples are filled with Mayan artifacts that lead to many mysteries. Our tour guide gave us a very detailed illustration of the Mayan life and also discussed several theories related to their emergence. He discussed the three stages of the Mayans, the pre-classic, classic, and post-classic periods. Many unsolved mysteries remain and therefore several theories were discussed in detail. The pyramids provided a fascinating and unbelievable view. We climbed two of the tallest pyramids of Xunantunich, which gave us an amazing panoramic view of both Belize and Guatemala. The pictures speak for themselves. El Castillo was the tallest temple that we climbed. Its height allowed us to see parts of Guatemala! We then went to visit a rainforest medicine trail. This activity was conducted by the creator of the trail whom politely greeted us and discussed the process of utilizing medicinal herbs. He was a very knowledgeable and experienced man. As we walked through the forest, he pointed out different types of plants, trees, and herbs that are utilized to cure many different types of illnesses. He provided a very detailed explanation for each plant, herb, or tree.