Toes in Sand, Drink in Hand

To be honest that hasn't happened yet. We stopped into a beach bar (Sandy Toes) today in San Pedro on the small island of Ambergris Caye near Belize City. With a brief shower underway we opted for the covered bar area rather than the beach chairs in the wet sand. But it will happen soon!

We arrived here yesterday taking a 90 minute water taxi (catamaran) from Belize City. Although we are here in the 'dry' season, there have been short showers each day. The temperatures are in the high 20's C so everything dries up quickly other than some sand puddles that refuse to drain. A short boat ride (15-30 minutes) away is the second largest barrier reef in the world (behind the Great Barrier Reef in Australia) so scuba diving and snorkeling are very popular over here......along with the many beach bars. We have already found several beach bars to our liking and will go snorkeling over the next few days.

Our Central America trip started 5 days ago in Belize City. The city has surely seen better days and without the daily cruise ship traffic it's slow demise would be complete.  Most of the main attractions (Museum, Anglican Cathedral, House of Culture) were either closed or undergoing renovations during our visit so perhaps we just arrived at a slow period. The best part of the city was the waterfront promenade with some tourist shops and bars, but interestingly it was intended strictly for cruise ship traffic. We managed to find a way in to the secured area on our second try but only by appearing respectable......not as easy as one might think when we are backpacking for a long period of time.......and leaving our drivers licenses at security in exchange for a 'visitor pass'. In any event it wasn't that exciting observing cruisers purchasing overpriced items and bored couples sitting in the bars awaiting a return to their ship. The best sightseeing opportunities were actually out of town, so we hired a driver - guide for one day to take us to the Altun Ha Mayan ruins (only partially uncovered) and then the Community Baboon Sanctuary which actually has never had any baboons but is filled with black howler monkeys. The term 'baboon' was used to describe the monkeys a long time ago and this preservation area stuck with the name. The howlers tend to stay high up in the trees but our guide was able to 'howl' to them and a family came down for a visit and a banana peel offering.

Stay tuned for more exciting updates to come as we explore other parts of the country.

Belize City sailboats were moored in Haulover Creek, protection from Caribbean storms even though the sea has been very calm since our arrival.

Photo from our visit to the Altun Ha Mayan ruins. This was the Temple of Masonry Alters where holy sacrifices to the Sun God were made. Our driver - guide gave us good advice to go there on one of the few days that cruise ships were not in the harbour, so there were very few people walking around the site.

The Black Howler Monkey family coming down from far above at the beckoning of Robert for a small piece of a banana peel. The head of the family let out several very loud howls before descending with the rest of the family following.

The Belize City 'private' promenade for the cruise ships. There were 2 large cruise ships in the bay on this day and this 200 metre long area was still not overcrowded. Many of the cruisers must have signed up for out-of-town activities or already returned to their ship.

San Pedro (Ambergris Caye) waterfront rainbow. There were many tour operators along the shoreline eager to take visitors out to the barrier reef for snorkeling or scuba diving. We decided to wait for a nice sunny day.