Hopkins and Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary

Hello Everyone!

This past weekend Sarah, Steph, Lee and I headed back to Hopkins for some good relaxation by the sea. It ended up working out really well because we went back to the same place as last time, Jeanie's Jungle Resort by the Sea. She was going to put us in a building she's working on and intends for budget travellers, which would cost about $7.50 Am per person, which is the same rate as you would pay to pitch a tent on her property. But, then she wasn't sure that she felt the building was really ready so she put us in one of her nice cabins that go for about $100 Am per night at the $7.50 rate! Yay!
We ate at a couple local places, saw some drumming, swam in the super nice water.. we had hoped to go kayaking but it was pretty rough out on Saturday so no such luck.
Here's a shot of Lee reading on the beach: pretty much all we did for most of Friday and Saturday.

Then we also strolled up the beach towards the fancy resorts. We ended up getting a drink at this pool and sea side bar that is in the centre of all these super fancy villas for sale. So we watched the rich people wander around as we lazed about in their pool and on their comfy pool chairs.
Sunday morning we got up bright and early and headed out in a local's car (for a small fee) to Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary. Apparently they have a bunch of jaguars in the area, other jungle creatures and stuff.. mostly we just saw bugs and jungle. But that's cool too :-) We ran into some birders, on a bird watching competition who politely hushed us because we were making too much noise in the jungle.. they were pretty intense, have all the gear: mosquito jungle hat thing, chair, various binoculars, safari pants with matching shirt... We did all agree that with the amount of time they put into searching it would be pretty rewarding to spot some cool bird like a toucan.
Here's a couple pictures of us there, so you can get an idea of what the jungle flora and fauna looks like...





We walked about four trails during our morning at Cockscomb. One went up to this little waterfall. No one else was there so we were able to relax, wade in the water and just enjoy it.
Here we are - little photo op of us to keep the parents back home happy. We're still alive and well!That's all for now folks, hope all is well,

San Pedro

Hello Everyone!

This weekend we headed out (finally) to the Cayes. We took a water taxi from Belize City - here's a shot of Steph, Lee and Sarah waiting by the harbour. All the sailboats in the background are a classic shot of Belize city.The taxi ride in was a little over an hour long. Almost the entire time there seemed to be this white line in the distance. Turns out it's the barrier reef! There are big waves where the water meets the coral because it's so shallow. Pictures never do what you're seeing justice, but here's what it looked like.

We were in San Pedro to visit a former volunteer Kate and her local boyfriend, Bigs. Bigs works at a Dive shop and Kate has some friends so we had the hook-ups! We got snorkel gear on Saturday for $5 Am each and set out on a friend's boat. We did two stops: Tuffy's Canyon and Dos Cocos. The water was pretty rough so we had to be careful but either way it was really cool - and now we can say we've snorkeled the second biggest barrier reef in the world! Yay!
That night we went to Sarah and Will's (An American girl and local guy) place and had a BBQ - homemade tortillas, fresh snapper - yummy! It was an all-round great weekend by the sea. Here's our smiling faces - Lee can't keep his eyes open for pictures - but big smiles!!



Love to all,