Day 28 - Honduras (Utila)

A few words on the last couple of days;

Day 26 - Actually more exciting than adverstised! On the way to the first dive site, a Whale Shark was spotted and we went over for a gander. En route, we were accompanied by a school of flying fish, which really do fly! Like for ages! Maybe 30m or so if they feel like it. They were too rapid for my camera but spectacular nonetheless. 

The location of a Whale Shark can be pinpointed by a thrashing mass of tuna er..... thrashing around. Not sure what they were doing really, getting eaten maybe? Plus the odd flicker of shark fin on the surface. Anyway, the form is, get above the shark and jump in with snorkel gear, so I did. They're pretty rapid old things so you have to be quick to spot it. One guy who jumped did, I might have done. Well what I saw was a huge dark long thing about 10m directly below me and passing beneath me. I couldn't swear it was the shark but there aren't all that many things it could have been otherwise. The only thing I am sure of is that when you're in open water, mostly naked, looking for a shark that could kill you if you get too close and annoy it, the need to go to the bathroom becomes very acute indeed.

Day 27 - well I guess the big news of the day - apart from seeing three giant Tarpon by the dock (I never knew fish that enormous fancied getting that close to the shore) is that I passed my PADI Advanced Diver course!! I've been doing a few fun dives over the last few days and training for the qualification inbetween. I have to say I'm rather pleased with myself and dare I say a tiny bit proud. It's been a thoroughly rewarding experience. Not just the diving itself which has been completely brilliant on all levels (right down to 100ft) but the course itself has been great fun too. Its not been without its moments of frustration when things don't go quite according to plan but that's true of anything new of course. 

I finished up the course with a night dive this evening which was a surreal and spooky experience but well worth it for the difference between it and day diving. You get to see all sorts of stuff that just isn't around during the day. Who knew that fish sleep? Well they do! No, really, they do! I saw a bunch of fish snoozing. The Parrot fish were particularly dozy. I even found plankton interesting at night. Another revelation. Finally, night diving is dark and not for the faint hearted. Fortunately, my heart, after a few months of severe trial is far from faint. I loved it. 

The graduation celebrations got quite messy. Actually, let's not beat around the bush, I got smashed to bits, I was so excited about passing. I have some photos but they don't show me in my best light, so I'll keep most of them for personal consumption but I do have one that is passable that I've shared below.

As a last hurrah to my time diving in Utila, I've put some last pics from underwater, including the wreck dive from the other day. These will be my final dive photos and final entry on diving, I promise. 

Day 28 - Terrible terrible terrible hangover.

Sunset on the way out to the night dive

Wreck dive

Lobster

Early doors on graduation night

Epilogue - Sanctuary Belize Private Beach

So that's it! I'm done!

Back to work next week and goodness know how long before I'm able to take on another adventure on this scale.

I've thought a lot about how to end this blog. I've been accused at times of being too graphic in my language, too crude and too boring on occasion. 

So I didn't want to end with anything boring, nor did I want to offend anyone with graphic or crude language. 

That has left me pondering how best to close affairs.

Travelling has afforded me a freedom of expression that I never felt able to explore fully at home and these blog posts have, I think, been a conduit for sharing that to a small but loyal readership. 

I think the day at Sanctuary Belize, standing on a beach that I part own, allowed me to express myself to the full. Thankfully that was captured in picture form and I therefore feel able to share that moment without fear of criticism over language and will worry about it being boring as a separate issue. 

It's been emotional. 

Day 36 - Belize (Caye Caulker)

We set off again today, heading north back along the hummingbird highway, through Belmopan, into Belize City and after dropping off the car, caught a boat to Caye Caulker.

Today we passed a bunch of beardy Mennonites but photos were not allowed by my travelling companion. Something about them not being zoo animals. 

Driving through Belize City was quite an experience. Imagine a micro-Calcutta with coconuts and you're in the right ball park. Now I think about it, the resemblance to Bracknell is striking. The socio-economic profile is comparable, the taste for nylon sportswear is identical and the number of police per capita is disproportionate to the rest of the country. I felt quite at home there. 

There are thousands of cayes of the coast of Belize, some mere patches of sand with a few palms, some developed with high end resorts or private villas. By far the largest and most commercial is Ambergris Caye. Stuffed full of American and Canadian tourists on their jollies and the flavour of the island reflects North American tastes. We've been there and liked it but wanted something different and less McAmerican this time around.

Caye Caulker is the much smaller, backpackers Caye of choice, just south of Ambergris. It tends to draw a youthful crowd on the whole. It also hosts the occasional ex-backpacker plus companion in one of the few upmarket hotels on offer. 

Caye Caulker is also the last stop on my travels.

And this will be my last official blog. Look out for the 'DVD Extras' blog posted alongside this for all those brave souls who have stuck with it until the end.

I'm taking a final couple of well earned days off from blogging and enjoying the last couple of days in privacy. There is a high chance of shark swimming, nice food and a bit of beach time thrown in but you'll have to see me if you want any detail on that.

Caye Caulker - Backpacker heaven.

A little misunderstanding at hotel check-in resulted in a hard negotiated upgrade to the penthouse apartment. And today's towelarami is......Swans! 

Given the state of Belizean football, we both fancied our chances of being picked for the national team and have started practicing our anthem stance. 

Day 35 - Belize (Placencia)

I neglected to mention that we're actually staying in a small town down the road from Sanctuary Belize for a couple of days called Placencia. The town is actually in the Guiness Book of Records for having the narrowest Main Street in the world (see pic below). Other than that, it's renown for its resort and boutique hotels (including one owned by Francis Ford Coppola) and laid back backpacker hostels. There's not much in the middle ground really. Placencia is strung out along a long thin peninsula a little south of Sanctuary Belize and once you get past that, southern Belize gets very sparsely inhabited indeed, even by Belizean standards. Diving here is supposed to be great but I haven't had the time and there are numerous cayes offshore, including the private one that I mentioned yesterday 😉

Because we are both true adventurers, we headed straight for the same beach bar that we visited the last time we were here and sat there until mildly sloshed. Actually, it's changed quite a bit, so it was both comfortingly familiar and new and fresh at the same time.

I haven't done a hotel review for a long time now, .......so for one final time;

Roberts Grove Boutique Hotel - Placencia 

Accommodation - 5 filet mignon 

The lounge is a little on the poky side, the in-room wine selection a touch limited and the veranda only has furniture for six between the two of us, but to mark them down on these small points seems churlish. 

My bed could have easily accommodated 8 people alone. 

Facilities - 5 filet mignon

The three swimming pools are largely empty and inviting but they seem to have removed the beach jacuzzi that I remember from last time. Dive shop, kayaks, bicycles, beach bars, all the usual amenities are but a flip flop stride from the villa. 

Restaurants - 5 filet mignon

The beach restaurant is excellent. I heartily recommend the lobster fritters with piquant cayenne dip in particular. The Belizian restaurant to the rear is untried but looks good. Beer on draught, which is unheard of in Central America. Breakfast was disappointingly short on marmite but otherwise, superb. 

Location - 5 filet mignon

About five steps from the gently lapping Caribbean. Literally. What else do you want? 

Value - unrated

Best not talk about the price. 

Overall - 5 filet mignon

It was very nice, very boutiquey, and very Caribbean. Almost rustic in some ways but with more than a touch of class.

The view from the veranda.

Every effort was made to use all available furniture. 

The narrowest Main Street in the world.

An menacing pink sundown.

The Tipsy Turtle appetiser plate x2. Tostadas, sliders and wings, plus fully loaded fries (never heard of that before but I wasn't complaining). Burp! Urgh. I feel fat again!

Day 34 - Belize (Sanctuary Belize)

So today brings us to the primary reason for being in this part of Belize, a trip to a developing resort called, Sanctuary Belize. SB is a high end tourist spot with its own beach, equestrian centre, 12,000 acre nature reserve, a private island for owners use, large marina, private airstrip, organic farm, houses, cabanas, etc. etc. etc. It's still very much a work in progress and progress in Belize is notoriously slow. Still, enough Americans and Canadians have invested here to offer some comfort around its long term future. It's in a great spot and with an international airport promised nearby (isn't there always?) which would open the country up to direct European flights, so prospects for Sanctuary Belize are good.

I will admit to having more than a casual interest in this place. My companion and I made a small investment here the last time we visited Belize and we were keen to see how things had been progressing. Actually, I'll come clean, I just wanted to lie on a beach that I owned a little bit of. So it was a shameless ego trip as much as anything. Not something I can feel very proud about but I TOOK A STROLL ALONG MY OWN CARIBBEAN BEACH!!! HOW COOL IS THAT??? I never really expected to be able to say that, so I've taken the opportunity to say it and beg the forgiveness of the reader for the outrageous indulgence. 

In any event, they'd made better progress than we had expected and there are a bunch of people now living there full time, lazing in the sun and basically living a pretty comfortable and relaxed life. Which is nice. 

http://sanctuarybelize.com

Marina nearing completion 

Beach bar area

Exclusive beach

One of the occupied houses

Pre-dinner drinks in tonight's 5* resort. I hope to god there aren't any 6 or 7* resorts in Belize. We are upgrading at an alarming and wallet busting rate. A beer here costs more than a hostel stay in Nicaragua!

Day 33 - Belize (Hopkins)

Today we hired a car. The idea was to drive right through the centre of Belize on jungle roads and down to the south eastern coast to a village called Hopkins.

Hopkins is the cultural centre for the Garifuna ethnic group. Belize is incredibly culturally diverse - a product of its fascinating history. There is a large Mayan contingent (obviously) Honduran immigrants, Guatemalan labourers (Belizian Poles if you will), a sizeable Mennonite community (Amish-like agriculturists and builders with a German heritage who shun modern technology), Creoles (from the Caribbean islands), and Mexicans up north, where Spanish is now becoming the first language. 

Anyway, the Garifuna are a part of this big melting pot. They descend from Nigerian slaves who were shipwrecked on St Vincent in 1635 and because they weren't terribly cooperative, having decided to throw their lot in with the French, got deported by the British. Only after thousands had died on route, the survivors arrived in Belize and today, continue to preserve their traditions in and around the Hopkins and Dangriga area.

How about that? Some actual facts and some history too! I had a good chat with a Garifuna guy who told me a bit about their community in Hopkins, their language (he spoke to me in Creole English but they have a dialect between themselves that is unintelligible to outsiders) and how fiercely proud they are to be Garifuna. 

After the not unexpected uncertainty over whether we'd actually booked a car, where we were supposed to pick it up and what it would actually look like, we finally found and jumped in our jalopy and set off down the Hummingbird Highway. There are only four paved roads in Belize and this was one. It's kinda like their M1. All other roads are just dirt track.

I was driving and I'll admit to being slightly apprehensive about sitting behind the wheel of an unfamiliar car, in a country with a poor reputation for road discipline, which had the steering wheel on the wrong side, which was manual (I own an automatic) in sandals, after three months of not driving. I decided to not tell the car hire guy about any of this and anyway, it was fine after about five minutes. 

The journey itself was a complete joy. One of the most pleasurable drives I can remember. 

We wound our way through orange groves, which were being harvested by Guatemalans. We passed long lines of lorries heaving with the sunshine fruit beginning their own long journey to Miami. We travelled through mahogany and teak plantations, the latter taking a mere 35 years to reach maturity, the former, only coming to full growth after 75 years and grown for the benefit of some lucky Belizian grandchild or other. We traversed vast tropical valleys and thick mountain jungle along the largely deserted main artery in Belize and both thoroughly enjoyed it. It was a genuine mini adventure. 

Although our destination was Hopkins, we decided to stop off in the largest town in the area, Dangriga. Dangriga it turns out has little to recommend it. Hopkins lies a few miles south off the main road and several miles down a dusty track. It's partly a backpacker haven and partly a resort hotel town. Now that I'm travelling in company, I have been persuaded to accept a higher than average checkout bill. So resort hotel it was. And very nice it was too. 

With characteristic honesty, my companion pointed out yesterday that the balance between brown and silver hair on my head has shifted since travelling and it's not been in favour of brown. This is in part due to the sun, part because my hair is longer at the moment and it shows more but mostly because of the Georgian homestay I think. In any event, I don't mind. It makes me look more intelligent than I really am, it marks me out as a grown up, which I am, and it prevents young people talking to me. So it's all good. 

In a rare moment of sensitivity, he avoided commenting on the bit at the back of my head which has refused to produce as much hair as it ought since I reached 40. For some reason, all the energy that used to go into hair production on the back of my head has been redirected to my nose. This affliction I am less happy with and blame my father for. I imagine my travels have done nothing to promote further growth up top but as I can't see it I'm not sure what has been going on. The fewer reminders of what might have happened up there, the better. 

Rush hour on the Hummingbird Highway

Check out the towel monkey!

Day 32 - Belize (Teakettle)

This post is entitled, 'Indiana Penn And The Cave of Doom'

Went for a bit of a stroll in the jungle today with my new travel companion and a local guide by the name of Lenny. 

I ought to make it clear that we're currently in West Belize, one of the Jungley bits. And when I say jungle, I mean JUNGLE with a capital 'JU'. Our guide informed us that we were in a place where roam deadly Vipers, Jaguars, Pumas, Tapirs and Botflies (they're the ones that burrow into yourskin, lay eggs and then all the baby Botflies crawl out when you're sat in a meeting back at work three weeks later). Actually, in the end, we didn't see any of those and only managed to catch sight of some Leafcutter Ants, a Millipede and a badly wounded Stick Insect. Anyway, that wasn't why we were in the jungle. We were trekking to a cave, Actun Tunichil Muknal.

The journey involved wading through three rivers, avoiding leeches, up hill, down dale and learning from Lenny that the Belize Army plan for the defence of Belize against Guatemala was basically, try and stay on their feet for 24 hours before being overrun and hope that the UK manages to get the Paras over in time to save the day. 

When we got to the cave, it really was right out of an Indiana Jones movie. One has to swim in through the entrance before wading through shallows, then over jagged rock and into the bowels. So Lenny, Short Round and I dove in and got cracking. I won't describe the journey in any detail but in the two and a half hours we were underground, we spent about an hour and a half in the water, and an hour cave climbing. Most of the cave climbing had to be barefoot for the following reason; This is a largely  untouched Mayan ritual cave, with very delicate pottery and assorted artefacts barely a few inches away from where one was putting ones foot. There was a bit of archaeologists tape signalling the finds but it was very easy to overstep the mark and do damage, so bare feet rather than clompy boots required. The cave system was gigantic and goes on for about 5km in total although we only did the Mayan bit which was about 1000m in. 

The whole thing was completely surreal, to be inches from artefacts that had lain in the same place for 1500 years, untouched and until recently, unseen. It felt like a huge privilege to be there. There were a bunch of skeletons dotted about they having been sacrificed well over a millennia ago That was truly spooky. 

The return journey was again, cave swimming, wading, climbing etc. it got so tight at one point, that you had to squeeze your neck through a gap that would foil 95% of Americans. It was called the self decapitation point. If I'd tried it a couple of months ago, I might not have made it! 

I wouldn't say that it was the most strenuous day I've had. Anyone with a moderate level of fitness and thin neck could do it. The trek there and back was pretty straightforward too. It does require a bit of get up and go though. Wading through rivers is chilly, swimming in a cave is not difficult but occasionally uncomfortable, cave climbing isn't dangerous but you have to pay attention. Plus you're soaking wet for hours. Personally, I completely LOVED the experience. I did get a bit lost in my own world of Mayan booby traps, ducking from imaginary poisoned darts and fleeing from illusory rolling boulders etc. but that's just my overactive imagination trying to make my life more exciting that it really is. 

Once back in the open, it was a trek back to the start point, dripping wet, for a packed lunch from the lodge of cheese and tomato sandwiches, crudités, boiled eggs with salt and pepper and homemade syrup cake. All washed down with lashings of ginger beer. 

If you take diving out of the mix, today was up there as one of the best days, with horse riding up a volcano. Big grins all round today. 

P. S. I made up the ginger beer bit - but it would have been highly appropriate. 

The site is SO culturally significant and fragile, no cameras have been allowed in since 2012. So I've had to use three internet pictures for the first time in my blog. You wouldn't get it if I just used words. I've also stuck a few in from yesterday to make up for that.

Yesterday in the jungle

New team member wondering where his valet has got to. 

Posh jungle lodge

Lizard in the lounge plus enjoying an iced jungle G&T.