First Dive...

7/30/07

Today we lazed around in the AM and went for our first dive and snorkel in the afternoon...awesome! We went to a dive/snorkel spot called Shark-Ray Alley. It is a break in the reef where many of the fishermen come back into the lagoon and dump their trash fish...thus many ray's and sharks gather...not to worry, mostly just nurse sharks. Anyway, we saw plenty of nurse sharks and other interesting sea life, including rays, Eagle (spotted) rays, Moray eels, Grouper, Barracuda, and many, many undocumented (I am quite sure by someone) color full fish. The dives were only about 35 ft, but it was great. The water is crazy clear even though it has been really windy here (good for keeping bugs off though...not one bite to date...Yea!). Kim Snorkeled above us with her guide Effrain...he would on occasion free swim down and snag one of our spare regulators to grab a breath...pretty impressive. (Pictures coming soon). By the way, I think Jori is addicted...

Cheers! RB

Ambergris Caye - Lazy...

7/29/07
We are here and between diving and relaxing, not much time for posting...even though there is a Internet connection in our room. It is amazing how connected this country is. We arrived on Saturday and pretty much relaxed and roamed around on Sunday...not to much exciting to speak of. This place is beautiful...the surf breaks on the reef about 1/2 mile off shore, so the beach is really quiet. The island is very laid back and quiet...I could really get used to hanging out here. There are very few cars, mostly bikes and golf carts whizzing around. All in all just a great place.

Cheers - RB

Cave Tubing at Jaguar Paw

Our last day at Duplooys...so sad. We really could have used one additional day here...just to continue to enjoy the jungle...so nice. But as a conciliation prize, we arranged to have one more tour before we hit the airport to head out to the Caye's. We decided to hook up with Fermin again and take a little side trip to float thru the caves at Jaguar Paw (no idea were the name came from, but it sounds good). One note about this little place is that during high season the cruise ships drop off hundreds of people off to do this little trip, so we are very happy it is the low season.

One note on the low season to date...Fricken awesome...beautiful weather and lower prices...

The river is very different than the Macal River (we canoed earlier in the trip from Duplooys). It is very clear with a teal tint from all of the minerals in the water. We had about an hour hike from the van to our the start of our little float...beautiful!

The float took about 2 hours and was great. Cool, but refreshing water just strolled thru the caves and took us along for the slow but steady ride. Just about all of the float was in the caves, or traversing a small bits of jungle en route to the next cave. All in all a great time...too short, but great fun. Side note, there was this dog (German Shepard) that was at the beginning of the trip and jumped into the river...he swam all the way thru the caves and was at the bottom when we got there...turns out he does it all the time...weird).

So from our little jaunt into the caves, we drove off to the airport to catch a flight over to to San Pedro on Ambergris Caye...let the good times role...here are a couple pics of our ride over...and the plane...LOL. So we arrived and are are hanging out...doing some exploring and really just resting because we were going like gang busters for a couple days now. I figure we will get a little rest and start our little diving adventure on Monday or so...but check back to see. That is all for now...

Cheers! RB

Tikal Mayan Ruins

So we set off to Guatemala at about 6:30…yea that is starting to be the common time for getting up anyway…remember the comment about getting light at 6:00 and dark at 6:00…oh and every living think in the jungle wakes up and makes noise…the 2.5 hour trip from Duplooys to the Tikal was pretty much bone jarring the whole way. Oh, before I go any further just to explain, Tikal is the largest Mayan Ruin site, with 6 large temples and numerous (thousands) of smaller palaces and marketplaces. The site itself covers about 23 square miles…yea…fricken huge. I am pretty sure we hiked about 6 or 7 miles around this place…did I say it was huge. Anyway, back to the story of the day…so we smoked thru the boarder pretty quick after sending our tour guide Fermin (Oh yea, another super friendly and knowledgeable guide from Duplooys) off into Guatemala with our passports and $$ without us…a little un-nerving to say the least. But in the end, he returned and we brushed passed the lines of students and backpackers lined up at immigration (I would have included a picture here, but the signs were pretty strait forward…”RESTRICTED AREA, NO PICTURES”…so I abided. So the first thing you notice as you cross the boarder in to Guatemala is that the road is dirt and gravel and is full of pot holes…super suck, talk about suspension buster…wow! Kinda funny that the main road from Guatemala to Belize is dirt…just weird. As we drove we started to notice several stark contrasts between the two countries. First, as you drive thru Guatemala, there seems to be no jungle or forest, only pastures with trees spotted around…and only a couple cows…even more odd, all this pasture for a couple cows?? It was really sad to see all of the forest either already destroyed or on it’s last legs…Fermin informed us that Belize has been very forward thinking about setting aside land and imposing restrictions on the creation of pasture vs. maintaining the forest (Quick little side note…Dulooys does not serve any red meat due to the fact they would have to support pastures to get it…pretty cool we thought).

And the second contrast was the people. While at about the same income level, they seemed or maybe looked to be more poor than their Belizean cousins…I cannot really explain it, it was just something you noticed as you looked into their faces…I know what you are saying “very, very touching Brown, now get back to the stories”, so I will. So after about 2 hours of driving, we stopped and picked up our Guatemalan guide…guess his name…do it, I bet you can figure it out…that’s right…Louis! So we called him Louis #4…kinda rolls off the tongue don’t you think? From there we hit Tikal…it was amazing. From out of the jungle comes this amazingly complex and intricate city made completely of Limestone…I would imagine it rivals Egypt in both scale (entire site) and complexity. Louis told us a million and one things, but I can remember maybe like two, so I would really recommend you check out Wikipedia or some other source, because the details are incredible. We hiked up most of the large temples that could…they were high, some like 60 meters, rising right out of the jungle canopy.

We had some good wildlife experiences, including some howler monkeys, Kuati (like raccoons), Tarantula (ask Jori about this one), Turkey (no not Dave), and some other crazy bugs.

After like 5 hours of hiking around we headed back to our little jungle retreat…oh yea, don’t forget the crappy road…when all you want is a quick little shut eye in the car…crappy roads don’t help…I am sending a note to the Guatemalan government to complain damn it! “Are you afraid of my Guatamalan-ness!” - Name the Quote…

So after getting back at about 6:00 pm (yea 12 hours of driving and hiking), we pretty much had some dinner and crashed…long day in the jungle=excellent sleep…it has been written thus it should be…
Cheers! RB

DuPlooy's

I just want to start off by saying that hammocks are just about the coolest things ever…a couple pillows and a good book and you can nap and read for hours. especially when the music and visuals are provided by none other than mother nature herself…absolutely gorgeous…ryan gave a little insight to our first days travel so I guess I will continue from there…in the morning after breakfast we decided to walk down to the belize river (like 2 min down a little path) and try out some canoeing. Initially we did the traditional married couple split but a little ways up river ryan and I thought we should intervene and save our friends marriage by switching it up a little…Kim with me and dave with ryan…all worked well until the boys decided that instead of hopping out and pulling the canoe through the 6 inch deep rapids they would paddle it out…as kim and I turned to see how they were doing…from the other side of the rapids of course J…they boys got a little tangled up in the trees by the shore and then, well…you know what comes next don’t you? after some giggling…okay, a lot of giggling, we got everyone situated again and learned that the river is definitely boss…it claimed my headlamp (which never returned) soaked my camera, water logged my new book and slipped dave’s wedding ring ever so gently off his finger, ha, ha…apparently plastic bags are the way to go around here and we feel a little silly for leaving them in the room…oh well, live and learn (and get wet) we paddled a little further and pulled off at a place called Macaw bay…walked up the path and ventured into another little home/resort where we met ron…the non-stop talker that educated us about some of the local animals and birds while we drank belikin and stayed out of the rain…we had excellent timing as a mini storm/shower came rolling through and sitting in the little thatch roof hut we stayed dry and happy (especially kim who learned that she really likes single barrel belizian rum) ron and his partner have lived at macaw bay for four years and have taken their piece of property from dense overgrown jungle to spectacularly manicured gardens and walking trails…they also had recently rescued a young toucan that had been pushed out of its nest by its mother (for reasons unknown)…this poor little thing had been attacked by about 40 “bot flies” and would not have survived if the guys hadn’t found it…bot flies are nasty little things that land on you and then lays eggs under your skin growing and living off of YOU…yuck. Anyway this little thing will make it for sure and they hope to have a beautiful bird that will stick close by for years to come…after the rain we headed back to the river and climbed in our canoes…slowly paddled back downstream and took some nice cool showers before dinner…all in all, a superb day, but then why wouldn’t it be…the jungle is awesome…”if you have the means, I highly recommend it”…
Till next time…jori

Arrived in Belize...Finally

OK, well we finally showed up after being delayed in Dallas...wow that duty free shop is fun. Anyway, the flights were actually pretty quick (2 hours from Phx to Dallas, and 2.5 from Dallas to Belize City), and upon our arrival we met Louis #1 (more to come on this later). OH...and just to make sure you know, if you ever arrive at the Belize city airport, don't run to the bathroom right away...go strait to customs...just trust me on this one. So anyway, Louis took us on the 2.5 hour, I think you could call it a drive...to Duplooy's. Unknown to us, Belize City is about 18" above sea level, making it and the area directly surrounding it very susceptible to massive flooding (like in Hurricane season). But that was just our first surprise. As we left the swamps/bogs around the airport (looked like jungle to me...:)) we made our way into the forest, which is actually a Pine rain forest...I know weird...but it was pretty neat...Oh and by pine rain forest I mean like one pine tree per acre...not that many really (but that is what they call it). Louis #1 convinced us to stop off at a local "establishment" to grab a quick "water" and use the restrooms...this turned into a hour affair and was incredibly fun...got to meet some locals and partake in our first Belizian beer...Belikin...oh yea it is pretty good. Once we got thru that, we drove another hour or so to the resort which is absolutely beautiful. It is located about 2 miles off the highway, and in Belize what that means is that it is in the middle of no where. The road from the highway is dirt and heavily rutted...a sign of recent rain and constant use, but none the less very passable. After that we arrived at our little piece of paradise and met Louis #2 (yup...count'em...#2). He was (and is) extremely helpful. He showed us to our room (oh yea, by now it was dark...funny thing about being at the equator...gets dark at 6:00pm, gets light at 6:ooam), down a long plank boardwalk that stretched forever into the jungle. But once we got there (and forgot about all of the sounds and sights) it was great. Two stories, looking out over a river gorge...well really looking into the jungle, but the river is down there...somewhere (more to come on that)...blah..blah...Ok from there we went to dinner and met...you guessed it Louis #3 our fearless waiter. He is great...just smiles and says "OK" to whatever your request is. So just to recap, that is 3 Louis's...all super fun as it turns out. But I am going to sign out on this note now, so just wait for more...oh yea, there was not much more after dinner...sooooo tired after traveling all day. Cheers! RB

Count down...

Well we are close now and as always, making last minute runs to the store to pick up this and that...man 3:00 is going to come early...damn the TSA an the whole 2 hours early thing...I say early flights should get privilege...say 1/2 hour early...because really man who is ready to cause mass destruction before 8am anyway...just a thought...see you on the dark side...

Oh, and thx to the folks who got together to send us off...Cheers! RB

The Plan...

OK, as we are pretty much on top of this little trip, I will go ahead and fill you in on the plan. A little insight into where we will be when...like an itinerary...well kinda.

Here we go...First on the Belize Portion (July 25th - August 3rd):

• July 25th (6:00am) - Flying out from PHX to Belize City (Belize...) We go directly into the jungle to Duplooy's (http://www.duplooys.com/) for some good ol'...well something.
• July 25th - July 28th - Hang out in the Jungle, maybe some lounging, rafting, exploring of Indian Ruins...I don't know, I don't know if we will have time
• July 28th - August 3rd - Off to the beach...that is all really...and what I have been waiting for. We will be out on Ambergris Caye off the coast of Belize to enjoy some lounging and Diving...sooo excited. We are staying at http://www.xanaduresort-belize.com/ ... Should be pretty sweet!
• August 3rd - We are off...departing to Costa Rica, while Dave and Kim head back to AZ...

Costa Rica(August 3rd - August 22nd) This portion is a bit more "Squishy" if you will due to the fact that Jori and I have purposely left it pretty open...but her is my current best guess:

• August 3rd - Fly to San Jose (yea, we have to fly from Belize, back to Miami, then to San Jose Costa Rica...damn if that does not suck). We are staying a this little hotel called Posada El Quijote (http://www.quijote.co.cr/) Looks pretty sweet...but time will tell.
• August 4th-5th - River Rafting on the Rio Pacuare river (http://www.riostropicales.com/english.htm) we are taking a two day rafting trip...details to follow
• OK, here is where it gets dicey....
• August 6th - 10th - Arenal Volcano/Monteverde Cloud Forest - Time for some jungle hiking and zip line action...Yeaaaa Haww...oh yea, and maybe some molten hot magma! We have looked at staying at this place on the west side of the volcano...pretty sweet (http://www.arenalobservatorylodge.com/EN/)
• August 10th - August 19th - We tackle the beaches of the Nacoya Peninsula (North Pacific Coast)...starting out in Tamarindo, then...who knows...but definitely some surfing.
• August 19th - August 22nd - Wind up the trip with a stay at Tabacon Springs (http://www.tabacon.com/) at least we think so...this may have to land earlier in the trip, but...wow, this place looks sweet!
• August 22nd - Fly home...maybe....

OK, there you have it, a rough plan...very rough, but well thought out and completely relaxing... anyone else interested in coming...Cheers! RB

Last Day of Work

okay, the stress phase has now passed and things are really starting to get exciting...Ryan and I finished up our dive certification over the weekend at lake pleasant and while the visibility was less than spectacular - like 20ft or so if you don't stir up the algae on the bottom like i did on my first dive (although the dive masters told us that it was actually pretty good for lake diving in AZ) at any rate i had a blast and can't wait to get my flippers on in ambergris caye, belize. the photo here is of the famous blue hole...about a two hour boat ride out from the caye and while i am loving my new favorite sport, i think this round we will be skipping the hole for dives closer to shore. but first stop when we arrive is duplooy's "the belize jungle lodge for adventure travel"i dont know about you but i think this hammock will suit me and my napping habits just fine :-)

A little pre-vacation stress...that's normal right?

so its now less than a week to the start of our month long vacation and i am starting to get a little freaked out...dont get me wrong here - in theory it sounds wonderful to be on hiatus for an entire month but as i start to think about making sure all the little things are wrapped up (the house, the pool, the yard, the dogs, the cat, my job, the mail...) the more and more nervous i get that we are forgetting something that i can't quite put my finger on. and then from there i try and tell myself that if i can't put my finger on it, it must not be that important, right? oh well, what can you do? i'll tell you what i am gonna do...i am going to stop writing this blog, get my work done to the best of my abilities, pick up our scuba gear on the way home (for our certification dives this weekend), hang out with the dogs for a bit, get some good sleep tonight, have a great time this weekend diving with my fabulous husband who has done a phenomenal job planning this trip with little to no help from me, and get through the last two days of work prior to our departure on Wed morning at 6am!!! how in the world can i be stressed when i am so grateful to have this opportunity to travel to new and exciting destinations with the man i love? (well in my 31 years i have actually become quite skilled at being stressed but i really want to turn over a new leaf and not "sweat the small stuff" - guess you'll have to check back in later to see how it goes :-) more soon, jori