14 January A leisurely sail from San Pedro via English Cay to Belize City to drop Mike off, then the luxury of staying a few days in Cucumber Beach marina, running water, hot showers, wifi and washing machines. However, sadly also rats that board the boat at night to eat our bread and pooh on the deck! This did give Mark an excuse to buy large and vicious rat traps but as yet nothing to report – I fear his rat catching is going to be as good as his lizard trapping attempts. At least we are constantly in touch with wildlife on this trip!
We had a few days spare before Mark’s mother arrived for her birthday trip, so we set off to explore some Cays and found a couple of peaceful spots with manatees and dolphins and no other yachts just the odd fishing boat or tourist speed boat whizzing by. 20 January back to Belize City to pick up with Sandy & Susie on an overcast and rainy morning – the arrivals hall was a gloomy place not just because of the weather but alas that one bag had been ‘misplaced’ by the airline.
Putting a brave face on the weather we set off ‘up-country’ to visit a Mayan site called Lamanai which, in order to get there, required us to take an open boat for an hour up the increasingly rainy river. Our comments that we were lucky it was cool and not baking full sunshine rather fell on deaf ears.
Fortunately the weather improved after lunch and we had a really good tour through the jungle with Howler monkeys making their strange noises, looking at amazing Mayan temples and other ruins. The sun stayed out for our return journey down the river and we able to enjoy the jungle sights, local fishermen in dug-out canoes, beautiful birds and even a crocodile was spotted.
A long climb up!
The following morning, with the sun finally appearing from behind rain clouds we set off for a gentle sail in search of the ‘desert island’ experience. 24 January we were up at dawn to put up birthday decorations and haul up the flags to dress the boat overall, then after a short sail we arrived at Lighthouse Reef, a wonderful coral atoll - a perfect day to celebrate your 70th birthday. The next few days were spent snorkelling in turquoise seas, looking out onto sandy palm tree fringed islands, creating & enjoying gourmet meals, and a bit of dolphin spotting.
Dressed overall
Birthday Supper
Unfortunately the fishing score has sunk to zero again although we did catch a barracuda who managed to wriggle off the line at the last minute, and we even failed to catch a picture of it!
Although a wonderful time was had by all, having 3 women on board did prove a bit stressful for Mark who was heard to mutter, more than once, when trying to leave the boat, ‘it would be easier to herd cats’!
30 January we set off bright and early in a hired jeep to drive Sandy & Susie back from Placenia to Belize City, this proved to be the cheapest method of travel and it meant that we could spend some time enjoying a bit of the interior of Belize, which makes a nice change from just looking at the shore. We dropped them at the airport before going to Belize Zoo which, is fantastic, before heading back to Placencia on the dirt road route – Predictably we hit a big hole at speed and destroyed a tire – not such a cheap day out after all! | 