Belize and Guatemala | FindPenguins

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Trip start
April 2, 2011
Belize and Guatemala The Adventures of Paula
Anchorage International Airport
April 2, 2011 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 0 °C
To Belize!
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Belize and Guatemala The Adventures of Paula
Seattle, WA
April 2, 2011 in the United States ⋅ 🌧 5 °C
Layover in Seattle
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Belize and Guatemala The Adventures of Paula
Dallas, TX
April 2, 2011 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C
Stayed at Motel 6. Fell asleep at 3 in the afternoon and slept like a rock!
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Belize and Guatemala The Adventures of Paula
Belize City
April 3, 2011 in Belize ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C
The humidity is insane! We took a cab to the docks, but the cab driver drove like a maniac. I thought we were going to die, for sure!

The power was out in Belize City, but we found a bar and drank cold beers while waiting for the water taxi.Read more
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Belize and Guatemala The Adventures of Paula
Houston, TX Airport
April 3, 2011 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 24 °C
Paul had to go through the x-ray machine and received a pat-down. I guess he looks shady, because I didn't.
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Belize and Guatemala The Adventures of Paula
Caye Caulker
April 3, 2011 in Belize ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C
The boat ride to Caye Caulker took 45 minutes, and I'm certain that I just shouldn't be on boats. I'm not really sure if it was the heat or the choppy water that was making me sick, but I was NOT doing well. Paul was doing juuusstttt fine, btw.

We roamed the island, which only took 30 minutes to cross. There are no cars here. Everyone is playing reggae music and the people in the streets are humming or singing to themselves. The pace is slow. T-shirts say "slow down: Caye Caulker". It's perfect.

I've been walking around barefoot since I got here. Signs also say, "No shoes, no shirt, no problem."Read more
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Belize and Guatemala The Adventures of Paula
Sunset in Caye Caulker
April 3, 2011 in Belize ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C
Paul and I watched the sunset at The Lazy Lizard, sitting on the beach listening to Spanish/Reggae music in the background. Very romantic!

We also ate conch for the first time.
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Belize and Guatemala The Adventures of Paula
Raggamuffin Snorkel Tour
April 4, 2011 in Belize ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C
Paul and I went on a full day snorkeling trip with Raggamuffin tours., and the boat was named Ragga King. Captain Jerry played Reggae music the whole time.

We both sat at the front of the boat, soaking up the beautiful sunshine, and I hung my feet over the edge and into the water. It was really windy, which was perfect for sailing, and it really cooled things down so that I could enjoy it all.

While snorkeling, we saw a lot of coral, sting rays, eagle rays, nurse sharks, tons of fish (Dorie fish, angel fish, etc), and sea turtles. The water was so clear, and everything was incredibly beautiful.Read more
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Belize and Guatemala The Adventures of Paula
Returning From The Snorkeling Tour
April 4, 2011 in Belize ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C
On the way back to shore, the captain gave Paul some fish bait so he could feed the seagulls. Apparently, they were expecting it, because a ton of them started following the boat.

I realized (too late) that I was extremely sunburned, even though I had been wearing SPF 70. Unfortunately, Paul was worse than me. Maybe tanning before the trip helped out a little. My feet, shoulders, wrists, and forehead were the worst. Paul's back, feet, legs, shoulders and forehead were the worst for him.

We spent the entire way back hiding from the sun in a shaded spot in the boat.

Luckily, the Rastafarian boat captain kept feeding us rum, shouting, "Rum, rum, rum! Drink up! It's an alcoholiday! It's 5 o'cock somewhere."

He fed us ceviche for lunch and said, "I'm not trying to be smart, I'm being cool".

We saw more nurse sharks, a moray eel, a sea turtle, sting rays and an eagle ray.Read more
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Belize and Guatemala The Adventures of Paula
The Effects of Sunshine in Belize
April 4, 2011 in Belize ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C
After we got off the boat, we came across a guy walking around, selling banana bread. We ate it in the evening before we went to bed. It was amazing!

My body is on fire, and the crappy after-burn gel that we bought isn't working. I really just want to bathe in it. Also, there isn't any burn gel in the first aid kit. :(

I finally took some NyQuil to help me sleep.

Note to self: Pack burn gel. Also, bring SPF 10,000!Read more
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Belize and Guatemala The Adventures of Paula
Change of Plans and a Day of Relaxing
April 5, 2011 in Belize ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C
My feet don't hurt as bad this morning. My shoulders and wrists are still on fire and have blistered up.

I took some Excedrin, and smeared on some SPF 90 that I was able to fine in a shop here. Surprisingly, it helped cool my skin down better than that "after-burn" crap.

We planned on traveling to San Pedro in Ambergris Caye today, but we're in too much pain to carry the backpacks. We're just going to hide from the sun, hang out in the hammocks and spend the day drinking rum.

When we wander the island now, we're noticing that the street vendors are starting to get to know us. They're getting aggressive and rude because we aren't buying anything when we walk by. Some are selling trinkets. Some are selling drugs.Read more
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Belize and Guatemala The Adventures of Paula
Caye Caulker -> San Pedro
April 6, 2011 in Belize ⋅ 🌙 26 °C
After we arrived in San Pedro, we walked around the town and visited the little shops and street vendors.

Our hotel sucks. It's called Ruby's, and it looks like something from a B class Spanish horror film. The beds are tiny (two twins), and the sheets are this gross plastic-y material. Also, there isn't any hot water. The private balcony is great, though. It sits on ground level and looks right out to the ocean.

We spent most of the day sitting on the balcony, since it was shaded from the sun. We watched the people wander by and chatted with the locals that came over. One guy was selling cookies, so we bought some (they weren't very good and had way too much baking soda in them). Pizza delivery, right to our balcony, would have made the day, but Cuban cigars, Belizian rum and over-the-counter Percocet that we found earlier helped. :) We found some Jamaican weed too.

Paul caught a cockroach and is trying to suffocate him to death so he can preserve him in his bug collection. "We don't want to destroy him," he sys. I feel bad for the poor guy, even though he's probably the dumbest cockroach I've ever seen, and keep suggesting that he let him go.

We won some "prizes" from a time share thing. Paul isn't optimistic. We have to go back tomorrow to find out what they are.Read more
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Belize and Guatemala The Adventures of Paula
Overbooked Hotel and Strange Neighbors
April 7, 2011 in Belize
We sat through a boring time-share presentation. 90 minutes wasted. We won a week stay at this place in Belize, however. During hurricane season.

Ruby's overbooked us so we had to switch hotels. I was pretty pissed, since I was still in pain and didn't want my backpack to even touch my sloughed off skin.

We were rebooked at a place called Lilly's, and it was a blessing in disguise. It was a lot nicer, and they have hot water. Win! Plus, Ruby's paid the difference in price.

We wandered around the beach and saw tropical fish all around the coast. We also played with a cute jungle raccoon thing and found a great restaurant where we made a cute kitty friend. We almost bought him dinner!

Afterwards, we laid in the hammock outside our room, drinking rum. Our neighbor came out to talk to us, and was obviously on something strong. He kept telling us about his walking stick he had with him... and how it had a sword in it. What a strange guy...

Update: the cute raccoon thing is called a coati.Read more
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Belize and Guatemala The Adventures of Paula
San Pedro -> San Ignacio:
April 8, 2011 in Belize ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C
We met our shuttle driver in Belize City and he drove us to San Ignacio. His name was William and he told us all about Belize on our drive. We learned about the people and their nationality, where they came from and the history of Belize. He was such an awesome guy!Read more
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Belize and Guatemala The Adventures of Paula
Cahal Pech
April 8, 2011 in Belize ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C
After we settled in at the Parrot's Nest, we went to Cahal Pech (Mayan ruins). I should have brought my umbrella, but I was worried about looking like a weirdo. My skin literally started boiling up. I didn't get another sunburn though.

There weren't too many tourists at Cahal Pech, which was awesome. It was quite a relief to have the whole place to ourselves while we explored. When we were looking around, I found what looked like a seashell, and was completely confused. As soon as I picked it up, I heard what sounded like some sort of alarm start to go off. I think I might have angered the Mayan gods!

Update: It was a snail shell, and the "alarm" was the sound of cicadas.Read more
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Belize and Guatemala The Adventures of Paula
Nature Walk and Learning Things
April 8, 2011 in Belize ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C
After we left Cahal Pech, we wandered around San Ignacio and noticed that the San Ignacio Hotel was offering a nature walk. We were pretty excited, so we signed up.

We learned about a tree called "Grandpa's Balls" thats supposed to help with bugs the burrow under your skin. The sap, apparently, suffocates them when it's spread on your skin, which causes them to come back out for air.

We also ate live termites. Paul loved them, but I thought they were pretty gross. Paul actually had to smoosh them before I would eat it. Eating live bugs freaks me out.

The hotel staff took us to an iguana exhibit at the end of the nature walk, where they housed (and hatched) tons of iguanas. The guy kept putting them all over us! We had iguanas on our shoulders, arms, backs, and even on our heads. <3Read more
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Belize and Guatemala The Adventures of Paula
The Parrot's Nest
April 8, 2011 in Belize ⋅ 🌙 24 °C
When we got back to The Parrot's Nest, we found out that it was named after a one-legged parrot they adopted and named Papaya.

We had a delicious dinner where we sat around a table with all of the other guests that wanted to eat, family-style.

After dinner, Paul caught some bugs. He caught a light up beetle (that kept the room lit all night) and a toad (which he released). There were lots of fireflies that came out after dark, and tons of lizards wandering around.Read more
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Trip end
April 4, 2011