Orchid Garden Eco-Village Hotel Belize City

... since the plane requires beinding over while walking inside it. She then whacked her head again on the doorframe and I learned more about how to curse in Creole English. I accidentally laughed too loud and became another target of her vitrolity since I was sitting by the door.

Two Ton Tessy didn`t even trust the agents to deliver her one checked bag 15 feet to the terminal without stealing whatever was in it and ...

So we arrive in Belize city by bus, crossing the border from Guatemala ( El Remate). The bus took 5 hours and it was not that bad. 2 hours to the border and 3 hours from there. The scenery was beautiful, green, coconut trees, banana trees, and when we got to Belize, we were surprised to know that everyone spoke English. I always thought it was a spanish first language, but it was sad not to be able to use my spanish any more. Well ...

At dinner last night, the main waiter came over to tell us that Belize kind of sucked but I'll account for him being completely wrong. Bad advertising on his part as well. The excursion that I had planned for Belize was a bus tour through the city, cave exploration (sperlunking), land rovering through the jungle, a private lunch under cabanas, and a river boat ride back to the docks. Because of all of this, I love Belize.

We rode in an open top bus for the city tour. It ...

From El Remate, I hitched my way to the border with Belize. I caught A ride about ten miles into Belize and then got stuck in the rain, with nobody even looking at me as I stuck my soggy thumb in their direction. A bus passed and I decided to flag it down. The country still has a bit of a pirate vibe to it, with lots of seedy expats and foreign corporations registered there. Also, lots of really extreme Christian groups in the country side. Anyways, I rode to ...

... a huge pool with a 10' deep end. As we chatted with the resort owners bats flew in and around the poolside restaurant and bar. No bugs in the air. Lizards climbed on the upper walls and table tops. No bugs on my head and now none on my upper body. Perfect. About the time I started to think about my bare legs I caught sight of it.A toad the size of a small cat.Wow,thats a big toad I said to our hosts. No ...

... seems to be this little communities' largest problem. our host emmeth, runs an african creole drum school, builds drums, and plays shows, both local and in the states. in 1995 emmeth led a giant drum circle at the seattle center, during a folklike festival of more than 100 people, well into the night. of course seattles finest came by and shut that down and threatened to put him in jail. mr. gentle of 'gentle's cool spot' is an older african american man with a kind and ...

... Slow" and its a perfect phrase that encapsulates the laid back feel of the place - I think it would be impossible to be rushed or stressed here. The place has its fair share of characters too including the guy who shouted at us "What are you looking for a hotel or a yellow submarine?" when we were looking for our hostel - think that guy had had a smoke too many. I didn't do too much while I was there ...

... was here, but I have my church family so its still cool! But Casey said he would like to grow up nd be a youth minster or preacher thats awesome. Sorry if things aren't spelled right I am so tired, but Casey didn't want to blog tonight he is tired and has to get up really early in the morning so he can go to a school but he says hi and he loves you to everyone. But I think this is long enough to prove I'm still alive lol but I'm going to go now and get in the cold ...

... arrange for a trip to Tikal for the next day and were told that breakfast would be at 6:45 AM so that we could beat the inevitable Saturday rush at the Guatemalan border. This seemed very early, but Belize doesn't use daylight savings time and was an hour behind EST, so we were actually up around 6 AM every morning anyway. After heading back to our room, we read for a bit. The heat and bugs eventually subsided and we were able to sleep in a room around 75 degrees.

When you first arrive in Belize City, you think to yourself "Is this really a cruise destination?" Well let me assure you, it is! With excursions from water adventures to zip lining to touring Mayan ruins and of course, cave tubing, there is plenty for the family to do. Also, Belize is an English speaking country which really simplified things. We were originally slated to go horse back riding, but after us brothers ...