Lobster Burrito
Ali, Liam (with "Bad Pedro" mustache) and Dylan
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
New Year's Eve Feast Island Style
Great NYE dinner at Waruguma.
Lobster Burrito
Ali, Liam (with "Bad Pedro" mustache) and Dylan
Lobster Burrito
Ali, Liam (with "Bad Pedro" mustache) and Dylan
Friday, December 27, 2013
Cotton Tree Lodge Day One - 12/27/13
After waking and putting on bug spray, headed off to the community room for breakfast to start the day.
Today's main event was a "medicinal plant walk" with a local shaman Santiago Chub as our guide. Before heading off to Santiago's house, we had to stop by the boot room to get our rubber boots for the muddy jungle trek.
Santiago is from Santa Anna, a nearby village. He's 54 years old and has lived in the area his entire life, learning from his grandfather, who lived to 104. We spent a couple of hours with Santiago at his home and in the surrounding jungle. Santiago showed us a variety of plants that were used to treat headaches, toothaches, upset stomach, diarrhea and other ailments. He also pointed out herbs that would help with the pain of childbirth and treat gonorrhea, which prompted some awkward laughter from our tour group.
Santiago provided the first of several inspirational experiences on our trip. He is very connected to the land, his home, his family and his Creator. He spoke often of his gratitude for what has been provided by God. He is a deeply spiritual man and not someone easily forgotten.
After our tour we returned to the lodge for lunch and siesta. Post-nap activities included swimming and kayaking on the Moho river, where we saw lots of large iguana and beautiful white birds. A very casual afternoon.
That night, Jenny joined a group on a nocturnal jungle walk lead by Armando. She reports that they didn't see too much - an owl, lots of spiders, crayfish, snails and "water vines." She also heard, but didn't see, what came to be our nightly lullaby - the Howler monkey.
Today's main event was a "medicinal plant walk" with a local shaman Santiago Chub as our guide. Before heading off to Santiago's house, we had to stop by the boot room to get our rubber boots for the muddy jungle trek.
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| Ali in the boot room |
Santiago is from Santa Anna, a nearby village. He's 54 years old and has lived in the area his entire life, learning from his grandfather, who lived to 104. We spent a couple of hours with Santiago at his home and in the surrounding jungle. Santiago showed us a variety of plants that were used to treat headaches, toothaches, upset stomach, diarrhea and other ailments. He also pointed out herbs that would help with the pain of childbirth and treat gonorrhea, which prompted some awkward laughter from our tour group.
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| Medicinal Plant Walk with Santiago Chub (center) |
Santiago provided the first of several inspirational experiences on our trip. He is very connected to the land, his home, his family and his Creator. He spoke often of his gratitude for what has been provided by God. He is a deeply spiritual man and not someone easily forgotten.
After our tour we returned to the lodge for lunch and siesta. Post-nap activities included swimming and kayaking on the Moho river, where we saw lots of large iguana and beautiful white birds. A very casual afternoon.
That night, Jenny joined a group on a nocturnal jungle walk lead by Armando. She reports that they didn't see too much - an owl, lots of spiders, crayfish, snails and "water vines." She also heard, but didn't see, what came to be our nightly lullaby - the Howler monkey.
Cotton Tree Lodge - Arrival
Cotton Tree Lodge is an eco-resort in the Toledo district of southern Belize, next to Punta Gorda on the Moho river. We made the trip from Belize City by car; normally a 4 hour trip that took us nearly 5 hours in the dark, through the fog, on hilly, pockmarked roads.
It's only about 200 miles from the airport to the resort, but there are only three paved highways in Belize. All other roads are dirt and are ravaged, if not washed away, during the rainy season (May to November) and tough to navigate the rest of the year. The last seven miles of our trip to Cotton Tree Lodge, in the dark, in the jungle, were spent carefully trying to keep our Ford Explorer from getting stuck in the mud or worse.
We were met by a friendly, welcoming staff at CTL, who prepared a late dinner for us in the lodge community space. After dinner, we were escorted down the raised wooden path to "Chris's house" where we would stay during our visit. It's the home of the resort founder/director, Chris Crowell. Chris happened to be on vacation away from CTL this week, so we were lucky to be able to stay in his cool jungle retreat.
It's only about 200 miles from the airport to the resort, but there are only three paved highways in Belize. All other roads are dirt and are ravaged, if not washed away, during the rainy season (May to November) and tough to navigate the rest of the year. The last seven miles of our trip to Cotton Tree Lodge, in the dark, in the jungle, were spent carefully trying to keep our Ford Explorer from getting stuck in the mud or worse.
We were met by a friendly, welcoming staff at CTL, who prepared a late dinner for us in the lodge community space. After dinner, we were escorted down the raised wooden path to "Chris's house" where we would stay during our visit. It's the home of the resort founder/director, Chris Crowell. Chris happened to be on vacation away from CTL this week, so we were lucky to be able to stay in his cool jungle retreat.
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| Chris's House |
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| The path through the resort |
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| Second floor deck at Chris's house |
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| Jenny enjoys the hammock chair |
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| Liam in the upstairs room |
Thursday, December 26, 2013
Belize Adventure Begins
Our trip started early on the day after Christmas: 6:45 a.m. departure from East Montgomery Street so we might get to Dulles two hours ahead of our 10 a.m. flight to San Salvador on Avianca/TACA. We were early, made it through security in plenty of time to have a coffee before boarding the flight.
Once everyone was aboard, the captain announced a one hour delay due to "heavy air traffic." Forty five minutes later a family of four came on board the plane, which seemed to suggest the captain had not been exactly truthful about the reason for the delay. We were concerned about making our tight connection (about 1 hour) in San Salvador for our flight to Belize City.
Despite arriving nearly an hour late in San Salvador and having to connect at the opposite end of the airport, our flight to Belize City was waiting for us (and about a dozen other people making the same connection). Our flight arrived in Belize at the originally scheduled time - clearly the "heavy air traffic" delays are built in to their flight schedule.
We picked up our rental at the Hertz counter and headed out for the jungle around 4:30 p.m. Five hours later we pulled into our place in the jungle, Cotton Tree Lodge, tired after the 16 hour trip, but ready for the adventure to begin.
Once everyone was aboard, the captain announced a one hour delay due to "heavy air traffic." Forty five minutes later a family of four came on board the plane, which seemed to suggest the captain had not been exactly truthful about the reason for the delay. We were concerned about making our tight connection (about 1 hour) in San Salvador for our flight to Belize City.
Despite arriving nearly an hour late in San Salvador and having to connect at the opposite end of the airport, our flight to Belize City was waiting for us (and about a dozen other people making the same connection). Our flight arrived in Belize at the originally scheduled time - clearly the "heavy air traffic" delays are built in to their flight schedule.
We picked up our rental at the Hertz counter and headed out for the jungle around 4:30 p.m. Five hours later we pulled into our place in the jungle, Cotton Tree Lodge, tired after the 16 hour trip, but ready for the adventure to begin.
A Year of Change Ends in Belize
2013 was a year of change for the Regan clan. We finally moved the homestead to Baltimore, aka Charm City, starting a new chapter and maybe new traditions for the family. In this spirit we traveled to Belize for the New Year, leaving early on the day after Christmas to travel to the rainforest of Punta Gorda and beaches of Ambergris Caye. Once again, I'm attempting to capture our trip on this blog. All photos are available through the link on the right.
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| "Our" house in the rainforest at Cotton Tree Lodge |
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| The view from "our condo" on Ambergris Caye |
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