Our Central American Adventure in Belize & Guatemala

We have just come back from one of the most ecologically beautiful countries in the world, Belize. Our travels started very early on Sunday, May 28th:

We had to leave at the crack of dawn to catch the 7am flight to Charlotte, North Carolina and then onto Belize City. From Belize City (which was wonderfully sunny and hot!), we boarded a little 6-seater plane which took us directly to our first eco-lodge, Kanantik Jungle & Reef Resort http://www.kanantik.com . There are only 25 cabanas here, and with it being off-season, we pretty much had the place to ourselves - there were only 4 other couples while we were there for the week.

Our cabana was lovely, with lots of Mayan touches in the design and sculpture. The hibiscus flowers surrounded the doors and windows, which meant we got regular visits from hummingbirds (taking a photo of a hummingbird is quite the challenge!).

Over the course of the week (the weather was sunny and hot every day we were there), we did very little except sleep, read, and eat....which was exactly the point of this part of the trip. The one thing we did do which required us to actually move was snorkeling, which was spectacular. Belize is home to the 2nd largest Barrier Reef in the world, and we had it at our doorstep. We took a boat out one day and spent the day in the ocean, amazed at all the different types of fish and coral. In between snokeling, we had a spot of lunch on one of the many islands around the reef, South Water Caye. After lunch, while John was off snorkeling on his own, he actually spotted a nurse shark (he's standing by the statistic of 5ft in length, which is rather impressive!) - nurse sharks don't have teeth, so he felt rather safe to swim with it for a while.

On our boat trip back to the resort, another amazing thing happened - three dolphins came upon the boat and started swimming - they were attracted by the sound of the motor. Needless to say, everyone jumped into the sea to try and swim with them. They stuck around for a good 10 minutes, but kept a safe distance.

Still, we got some great photos...

So, while at Kanantik, our main decisions were whether to sun ourselves by the pool or in the hammock, whether to have the fish or the chicken, and which tropical drink to have....such a rough life! The mosquitos were quite nasty the last few days we were there, so it was nice to know we were going to be heading to the mountains.

The second leg of our journey took us from the sea to the mountains, a 3-hour drive through the Belizean countryside to the Mountain Pine Ridge Reserve and Blancaneaux Lodge http://www.blancaneaux.com . Although it was a rather bumpy ride, our driver/guide made the three hours seem like minutes - he knew so much about the culture, the ecology of Belize, he just talked to us the whole time - it was great!

When we arrived at Blancaneaux, it felt like when Dorothy opened the door in the Wizard of Oz (black and white to colour) - everything was in bloom and there was just a total overdose of colour once you turned into the estate. Blancaneaux is owned by Francis Ford Coppola, and his presence is everywhere in the architecture and design.

They welcomed us with a drink and a smile at the main building, which housed the reception, bar and restaurant. The bar actually has the actual ceiling fan which was used in the opening scene in 'Apocalypse Now', now which was lazily rotating above our heads - tres cool!

Once we were chilled out from the long drive, we then made our way to our Cabana (and what a cabana it was....a deck leading right down to our own private garden and rock pools within the Privassion River - this is our 'pool').

In the evenings, they lit hundreds of candles around the main building (and also in your room), which made it feel so warm and inviting - and not a mosquito to be seen, which was fab!!

This was the more active part of our holiday - Blancaneaux was set on hundreds of acres of which there were gardens, horseback riding, and miles of trails along the river and grounds. We had a wonderful time just wandering around the river and taking dips in the various rock pools when it got a bit hot. For relaxation, they had a Thermal Pool, which I absolutely adored!

One of the highlights of the trip was our travel to Guatemala, to visit the Mayan ruins of Tikal. Another 3 hour drive (each way) in a 4x4, but it was worth it....these ruins were spectacular. We set of at 6am and got there by 9am, still cool enough to enjoy a walk through the jungle (the ruins are part of a natural reserve). You walk about a mile through the jungle and then come upon a clearing, where you see this:

There were four main temples which made up Tikal, along with a 'Grand Plaza' - it's stunning that all of this was built not only 2000 years ago, but without wheeled transportation of any kind, AND they had to clear the dense jungle as well!

John managed to climb to the top of 3 of the temples (no easy feat in 90 degree heat!).

As we walked on the trails which led to each of the temples, we could hear loads of howler monkeys and actully saw a group of spider monkeys. The most wild things were not the mammals in the jungle but the BUGS! Thousands of leaf-cutter ants, army ants, really bizarre beetles, David Attenborough would have been in his element!

We wrapped up our hike and sightseeing after about three hours, then headed over to Francis Ford Coppola's other property in Flores, Guatemala, La Lancha, where we had a refreshing (and much needed!) lunch. La Lancha is located right on Lake Peten Itza, a beautiful setting to relax after an exhausting morning.

The rest of the time at Blancaneaux was rain, and I mean torrential rain (which is what we expected, going deep into the rainforest!). You can see the difference in the water level of the river, before and after one rainstorm:

Staying indoors was fine for us - the lodge had ample supply of cards, backgammon, and Scrabble to wile away the hours! It was a wonderfully relaxing way to spend our holiday...listening to the rain, sipping a specialty drink named after Sophia Coppola (all I know was that it had champagne in it!), playing cards, surrounded in candle light - I didn't ever want to leave.....

The 'Godspeed' comes to Alexandria, Virginia

On May 27th, the day before we were due to leave for our holiday in Belize, we had the opportunity to see the 'Godspeed'. The Godspeed, Jamestown, Virginia Settlement's new re-creation of one of the three ships that brought America's first permanent English colonists to Virginia in 1607, set sail on May 22, 2006, to launch "America's 400th Anniversary," an 18-month national commemoration marking the founding of Jamestown. The Godspeed arrived at Alexandria's historic Old Town Waterfront for the first stop in the 17th- century replica ship's 80-day tour of six East Coast cities.

I was just so proud of the fact that the ship had been built in Rockport, Maine! (here's a photo of the launch from the boatyard in Rockport)

They allowed people to go onto the ship, and all the kids were just so excited - the queue was HUGE! We were happy just to meander around the waterfront and enjoy the festivities before our Central American adventure began the next day....