Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes

Jimmy Buffet had it right when he wrote this song about escaping normality and just enjoying life. We have now settled nicely into our travel happy zone, with warm weather, lazy days and fun activities.

We have just wrapped up our 3 week stay in Belize, with our final 7 days in the laid back seaside village of Hopkins. We stayed in a nice cabana with a small pool several metres from our deck and four other neighbour cabanas. A friendly couple from Parry Sound, Ontario were in the cabana next to ours and we quickly embraced the friendship, joining each other for many great trips during the week......Placencia (beach town) together with the Monkey River (where Caity enjoyed a one month U of C program studying howler monkeys), Dangriga town, a bioluminescent experience in a lagoon along the Sitee River and a fishing/snorkeling trip back out to the Belize Barrier Reef (near South Water Caye). Our fishing trip was very successful, reeling in 15 cowhead porgy keepers between the four of us and a stingray that gave me quite a battle, earning it's release following the photo op. When we were back on shore our guide filleted 6 of the porgys for us (each fish could feed 2 people) and that evening we hosted a fish bbq dinner for our other younger cabana neighbours......3 mothers from Alaska on a girl's trip and a couple from Denver. We were also treated to an evening of drumming and dancing by the local Garifuna  people at a local restaurant. With Hopkins being a fishing village we enjoyed fresh seafood throughout the week, and in our spare time enjoyed time around the pool or riding bicycles along the beachfront road. It was time to leave when Pocahontas had half her body covered with mosquito and sand flea bites!

Bus service in and out of Hopkins was complicated so we booked a driver from San Ignacio to Hopkins and enjoyed his local knowledge along the way, especially during the scenic Hummingbird Highway section. Fortunately for us he was also available to drive us today from Hopkins to the Belize City airport so we gained some more Belizian insights along the way. 

We are now in Panama City where we will spend 5 days, exploring the 80 km Panama Canal half the time. After being spoiled by English speaking Belize we will now have to reboot our limited Spanish vocabulary.

We had the Green Iguana cabana for our one week stay at Latitude Adjustment in Hopkins. The pool was a wonderful way to cool off at the end of the day.

The beach area, two hundred metres from our cabana. Similar to the cayes, the beaches were narrow but extended quite a ways along the seashore.

Enjoying our time at the Coconut Row beach bar. Perhaps some company could use this shot in a commercial!

During our boat tour along the Monkey River we came across these Fish Bats resting under the curved trunk of a riverside tree. We stopped a bit later along the river and did a short walk through the jungle watching and listening to the black howler monkeys interacting with one another.

Arriving back to the Placencia harbour. The majority of boats either went out on fishing or snorkel / dive trips.

Walking along the Placencia beach and it's colourful cabanas.

Out for dinner with our Canadian cabana neighbours and listening to some Garifuna drumming, with some local youngsters dancing to the rhythm. The Garifunas (West Africa heritage) were the original settlers of Hopkins.

Pocahontas enjoying her prize. Thought I would post this picture in case she tries to tell anyone how much larger it really was! It was still a very nice catch, large enough to feed two people.

Reeling in my stingray who gave up quite a fight. Before reaching the surface I was imaging a massive sized fish.  Our wonderful captain-guide Noawel held him for the picture and then cut the line to release the ray.

The 6 porgy's we elected to keep, leaving the rest to Noawel and his son, who filleted them for us. The fish had been kept in a bucket with water and ice while we were on the boat so a few of them took on an unnatural frozen pose. They tasted wonderful that evening straight off the bbq.

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