well, after two solid days flying and four days of food shopping in surprisingly spring like anchorage, we're finally back home. It's snowing, and there is a pissed off looking moose across the street daring me to go out of the house. Oh, how i wish i was back in BZ!
I'll post much detail and tons of photos as soon as i get the scanner fired up, but here are some quick notes on our honeymoon trip.
Mata Chica absolutely rocks. I hope anyone who ever wants to stay at a place like that has the chance. There may truly be no finer place to pass a late afternoon than on a hammock in a beachfront casita there. The service was perfect, everyone was helpful and friendly. It is absolutely beautiful. We were so relaxed, the next stage of relaxation would be "meat fell off the bone."
took a bunch of tours, far and away Daniel Nunez's Tanisha Tours is the best. Daniel knows every animal on the rivers on a first name basis. If you like wildlife, he's flat out the best. he'd be zooming up the river at 40 mph, do a 180, and pull over along side a tree and point out a 3" lizard. Sees everything. We went to Altun Ha with him, and stopped to view manatees on the way. We had been there about 20 minutes, watching at very close range, when a way over-full boat from one of the big tour comapanies pulled up, stayed two minutes and left. We were there another 10 minutes after that. I spoke to someone later who was on that boat, he was happy that they "kind of saw a manatee." Daniel has some seriously cool ideas about conservation and Belizean ecology.
also took two tours with Seaduced, and had the same guide both times. Very hard worker. Did the cave tubing/zoo trip, the whole thing lasted about 12 hours. Great attitude, not afraid to put in a long day. Terrific guide.
Overall, the food varied from pretty good to mediocre. Quality was frequently inverse to price. Had two great meals in local places, Papi's diner and Los Cocos. Thanks for the tip, Daniel!
Los Cocos was excellent, basically the restaurant is pretty much the enclosed porch of the womans house. Or so it seems. Had a great fried chicken dinner, with two soft drinks our bill was under $10US for dinner. I left about a $30 tip. Ingredients must have cost more. Papi's was also excellent, had a seafood combo as good as anywhere else, and a fraction of the price. Lime-chicken soup was the food highlight of the trip. Dinner at Blue Water Grill was a big dissapointment, as was Portofino. Mata Chica was good, but not great.
Spent one day in Caye Caulker, Julia did lots of shopping there, and we had lunch at Rasta Pasta. yum. Very good, and much better than the dinner a few nights later at the Rasta Pasta in SP. I was also kind of dissapointed in the changes at Coconuts, their old beach bar was one of my favorite places to hang in SP.
Spent a lot of time snorkeling, mostly good, we did half day trip at Hol Chan/shark ray alley that was a big dissapointment. Our hotel hooked us up with Belize Diving Academy, I wouldn't recommend them. We took our own masks/snorkel, purchased in Target for about $40 a set, definitely the way to go, unless you like having poor fitting masks and snorkels that have been in 200 other mouths before yours. Think about it.
Special note to the perpetrator of Caye Chapel:
shame on you. money doesn't give you the right to do that kind of ecological damage. shame, shame.
Overall, Belize is one of the most beautiful, friendly places we've ever been to. Can't say enough good things about it. Will have more to write when i have pix to go along with it.

Thanks for sharing your vacation with the board.
Love your candor, in reporting. Waiting your pixs.

Weather shock

Thanks for sharing, what a good prelude.

Pictures will be so much fun. Looking forward to them.
Get the fireplace roaring and close your eyes, you will always feel Belize. It's a perfect spot to melt

waiting for more raskage.....

and you're right Daniel is top notch, the real deal. He da man.

true 'dat.

Thanks for sharing and looking forward to your pixs.

Thanks for the overview, we will be waiting for the pix.

Why wouldn't you recommend BAD? Why didn't you like the snokeling trip at Hol Chan? Other than that, sounds like you enjoyed paradise.

curious about "the perpetrator of caye chapel"???? what's the story here?

I know I saw alot of ocean dredging going on when we flew over there....I was thinkin the same thing.

Are they still dredging for fill? That island must be twice it's original size by now.

as i understand, and please correct me if i'm wrong, the huge golf course was created by dredging. this wipes out a lot of the marine life and habitat. i've never really seen grass grow on sand, therefore i bet lots of chemicals are dumped on the sand to support grass. this would all wash into the water when it rains. No mangroves means no filtration. anybody know how the fishing is in the area? bet it's all dead.
just my opinon.

BAD did a decent job, albeit rushed, with Hol Chan, dumped everyone in the water in a rush at SRA, then moved the boat a hundred yards cause there wasn't even a single fish where they dumped everyone. 25 people of varying swimming ability then had to swim 100 yards on their own. nobody really saw anything there, and i just didn't think that was safe.

Dredging is harmful to some extent where ever it is done in a marine environment like exists in Belize. I am no supporter of an effort like was done on Caye Chapel so someone can play golf. There are plenty of golf courses in other places. There are not plenty of barrier reefs in other places.

One should also look out the airplane window when arriving or departing AC and view the amount of dredging that has gone on and is going on. There are lots of places where tourist can go and find the beaches and building developments that have brought on this dredging. There are lots of over developed tourist’s destinations. There are not many left with what AC has to offer, albeit that is being lost in the name of progress and increased tourism. Progress and increasing tourism can be a good thing if it were done in a controlled way taking more into consideration the long term sustainability of the resources and less the immediate financial gain, i.e. the short term greed.


PS: I guess I was supposed to add, IMHO.

PPS: I should also point out that the marine ecosystem is being protected by the setting up of marine reserves that stop those awfull local fisherman from catching fish while allowing, in some cases a short 1/4 mile away, the wonderfull land speculators to dredge up the same marine ecosystem to manufacture land that Mother Nature never intended to be there in the first place.

The rapeing of Belize is underway & will continue until with-in ten years you won,t know the place,especially AC. It's fast becoming the place to go in leaps & bounds. "Money talks,Money talks
Money talks.

So true. That is why we planned this trip, so that we can experience it NOW, before it becomes a big "tourist" destination. Already there are many cruise ships with Belize as a port. We use to go to Negril, Jamaica, years ago, now I hear there is a freeway from the airport in Montrose, just doesn't seem right.
.... only three days until we are there !!

Your correct Jack and Rose. But where does that money come from? You, me and others like us, right? :rolleyes:

Glad you brought up the cruise ships, and not me. A lot of the popular mainland sites are palgued with hordes from the cruise ships. may be good for BZ economy, but i think i will consider places other than AC for our next trip there. Some of tour operators, especially Tanisha, did a great job of dodging the crowds. Definitely ask before booking a tour if they dodge the cruise ship crowds. For example, Cave's Branch is deluged with cruisies in the am, so find an operator who does the zoo for example in the morning, and then cave tubing when the hordes have moved on.
Just got back to alaska in time for a huge new TV advertising campaign here about the positive impact of cruise ships to our economy, I'm a little more concerned about the ability of a small area like BZ to absorb possibly 6-8k extra tourists in a day.

something to think about....

I guess what is interesting to me is how we, and I certainly include me along with the rest of you, voice our concerns and complaints about how the “other tourists” are ruining Belize. I sit in my condo on the beach in AC complaining about other condos being built. I drive my golf cart into town and complain about the traffic. I go out and catch my fish and complain about all the fish being caught to supply the restaurant demand. I talk about the pollution from the garbage and sewage while I take out my garbage and flush my toilet. Go figure.

Raskage, here is an interesting copy of an article on the cruise business in Alaska.

"Because of its lack of dependence on the cruise industry for income, Alaska is relatively unique as a cruise destination. Caribbean ports are known to overlook environmental violations for fear that cruise lines may cease port calls, but Alaskans have taken a firm stand on environmental issues. The reaction to environmental assaults, combined with the broader economic issues, is visible in many Alaskan communities. Some communities limit cruise ship visits. For example, residents of Sitka overwhelmingly voted down a proposal to construct a wharf that would enable ships to offload passengers directly into the downtown area. The town of 8,800 people believed that the need to transport passengers ashore via lifeboats would keep a lid on its more than 225,000 cruise passenger visits per year.

The town of Tenakee Springs was more aggressive. It proclaimed that cruise ship tourism is incompatible with the community's lifestyle, facilities, and services, and vowed to take whatever steps necessary to prevent this type of tourism in the town. When the first cruise ship came to visit in August 1998 -- a small ship with only 120 passengers -- the city tried to persuade the ship to cancel the visit. After that effort failed, cruise passengers were handed leaflets as they disembarked, and were told they were not welcome as part of an organized tour, but they would be welcome to return on their own. Most businesses closed during the visit. A similar welcoming strategy was undertaken for the inaugural cruise ship call at the island of Molokai in Hawaii in December 2002, but the stop was cancelled because of high sea conditions."

Maybe we need some Alaskans in the Belize Government.

I hear you bywarren, we are all part of the problem, but as long as countries such as Belize are not doing enough from the get go to slow down development & when allowing it adhere to very strict guidelines or paradise will be lost forever.I can't think of one place that was over developed that ever recoverd later. The #1 problem in these cases is "GREED" plain & simple.

Wait until you see the Subways,KFC'S,Mickey D's & the like arriving & there is no doubt they will come.

I suppose if I lived there I would be welcoming the new development for jobs and the like. They must also realize on AC that there are not enough Belize natives to fill all the jobs, so others will come in for the jobs, & housing is needed as well as all the other needed infrastructure. Don't forget along with rapid growth comes rapid increase in crime, mainly the drug folks. I noticed a fair amount of crackheads there already.They better get a handle on that before it's to late

Trust me you don't want alaskans in the BZ government. I just got booted out of our regional Native corp's board meeting for having the audacity to suggest drilling for coal bed methane in our pristine wilderness could have negative environmental impact.
as far as your earlier post, we all do that. "Shut the door behind me" syndrome. Or,as we called it back in PA; "Pocono mentality"
ah, progress.

I don't want to detract from the interesting, intellectuial discussion you gents have going, please do continue.

But, I wanted to ask Raskage.....in your post above (2nd above) you mention "Cave's Branch is deluged with cruisies in the am". Are you referring to the river or Ian Anderson's facility? I assume the river. I can't imagine Ian hooking up with the desecrators.

I was referring to the cave tubing only.