Belize 2017

This is the first post that is all about me!  We've been planning a 40's trip to Belize for over a year.  All of our friends turned 40 this year or last year and we wanted a big trip to celebrate.  I'm not sure how we decided on Belize but I'm glad we did because it was somewhere different.  I only wish we had stayed there longer because there were so many different parts of the country to explore.

There were 4 of us on the trip (me, Carrie, Colleen and Kim).  We stayed on the island of Ambergris Caye, the largest of the islands in Belize.  To get there we had to take a small plane from Belize city to the island.  The water was really shallow and there were these parts of land coming out from the ocean everywhere.

 

The main mode of transportation on the islands is a golf cart.  There are a few cars which are taxi's.  Locals would have their babies on their lap while they were driving.  Everyone drove crazy!  These things were fun to drive!

 

 The first day it rained really hard and then was hot and sunny the rest of the time.  We spent most of the time at the beaches and exploring.  We went to a beach called "secret beach" that took about 45 minutes to get to on a very bumpy road.  It was a long ride in a golf cart but worth the drive.  

Most the beaches in belize have lots of sea grass since the reef is so close so the best way to go in the water is from a long dock.  This was a beach you could walk into.  It was also shallow for a really long way out.  In the second picture there is a tiny dot in the middle of the picture which is my friends standing out in the ocean.  I was too scared to go out that far since I got about 20 feet from shore and thought I saw an eel.

I realized what a bad swimmer I am on this trip.  I really need to get some swim lessons.  I was also reminded of how scared I am of the water.  We went snorkeling and I freaked out and had to have a floatie ring to help me.

We went to a place where there are sharks in the water.  For some reason the sharks didn't scare me as much as the other snorkeling we did. 

We took a boat to another island, Caye Caulker.  We also were on a flight that landed there and this was the airport.  The runway was a dirt road.

The thing we did (and one of the coolest things I have ever done) was go on a tour of ATM Cave.  The only way to enter the cave is with a guide and it definitely wouldn't be safe without one (actually it wasn't safe with one).  Something like this would never be legal in the US. 

"Actun Tunichil Muknal, also known locally as ATM, is a cave in Belize, near San Ignacio, Cayo District, notable as a Maya archaeological site that includes skeletons, ceramics, and stoneware. There are several areas with skeletal remains in the main chamber. The best known is "The Crystal Maiden", the skeleton of an adolescent, possibly a sacrifice victim, whose bones have been calcified to a sparkling, crystallized appearance."

We weren't able to take pictures inside so I'll share some from the Internet since it's impossible to explain the experience.  The trip starts by swimming through a river, getting completely wet.  Then hiking for an hour through the jungle (crossing another river along the way).  When you get to the opening of the cave you have to jump into the water and swim over to the entrance.  We were in the cave for about 2 hours.  We were climbing over rocks, squeezing between them in the water, swimming in the water.  There were several people we saw who stopped exploring because it was too much for them.  At one point the only way through the cave was to be completely submerged in the water except your head.  The opening in the rocks was only big enough for your head/neck to fit through above water.  It was awesome!
This is us after...wet squishy shoes that we've been wearing for hours.  Bruised/banged up legs and elbows. 

Internet pics:

We loved Belize, the people were so nice!  It was full of adventure!  And a fantastic place to spend a week with some great 40 year old friends!