Caracol, Rio Frio Cave, Rio on Pools, and Big Rock Waterfall

On Sunday we got to go to the Caracol Mayan Ruins. It was similar to the other Mayan Ruins we have visited already. It was a huge site and the largest structure was enormous. I had not seen a structure that large yet here. After we went and saw the Rio Frio Cave. The entrance was absolutely gigantic. In my picture you can barely see me. It gives you an idea of how large this entrance was. Then we went to Rio on Pools. It was basically a river but there were pools of water that you could swim there. The rocks were very slippery and I fell a few times. I found it hilarious. Our final stop was Big Rock Waterfall. To me, this last stop made the trip for me because we got to go cliff diving and see an amazing waterfall. The trip started at 7:30 in the morning and we got got back at around 5:30. The drive up to Caracol was about 2 hours of constant dirt road. It was one of the last things for me to do on my list before I come home. I have one more thing I want to do before I leave Belize.

CANCUN!!!!

This weekend I was fortunate enough to get to visit Cancun, Mexico for the weekend. We (me and my friend Tom Sullivan from New Mexico) left on St. Patricks Day from San Ignacio and arrived at the border town of Chetumal later that night. We stayed at a hotel there and then left for Cancun in the morning. All in all it was about a 10 hour bus drive. Don't worry everybody, I did not feel threatened by anything while I was in Mexico. A few of the restaurants were really nice and they got us in Congo lines and things like that. Out of all the beaches I have been to I think Cancun's was the best. One bad thing did happen however when I was in Cancun. One night Tom and I went swimming in the ocean and I left my camera wrapped in my shirt on the beach and someone came by and stole it. At the time I was very upset but continued on with my night. The next day we left Cancun to come back home around noon. We finally got back to the border around 7:30 P.M. When we crossed back over we found out that the last bus had left about 30 minutes before we got there. We decided then to take a taxi to the nearest town and stay there for the night but all of the taxis were full and we could not find a number to call one. As I looked around I saw a young woman and decided to ask her where she was going. She told us they could take us into town and drop us off so we got in the back of their truck. When we got to the town that was about 10 miles away they asked us what our plan was for the night. We told them we needed to get back to San Ignacio which is about 4 hours away and they offered to take us all the way back because they lived somewhere close. As I thought back on my day I realized that any little thing could have thrown the timing off of meeting this people. For example, I went to Wal-Mart at the border because I knew a camera there would be cheaper then in Belize. Then we got in a taxi with a driver that did not speak any English. We asked him to drop us off at McDonald's and he dropped us off downtown. Ha ha my point being everything happens for a reason and I am very blessed.

San Pedro and Caye Caulker

I have been really busy lately but today I finally have time to update my blog. Last week we went to Caye Caulker (pronounced Key Kocker) on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday and then we traveled to San Pedro for Saturday and Sunday. Caye Caulker was amazing. I went on a manatee tour where we saw a few manatees. Not very exciting but after that we went snorkeling on the barrier reef. It was really cool to see all of the different colored fish. Our guide went towards the bottom of the ocean and called up an eel. He told us if the eel got close to us then we needed to kick our feet. All of a sudden it started rushing towards me and I had to kick my feet like crazy to get it away from me. After this we got to go to Shark Ray Alley. This was one of the most amazing things I have ever seen. Hundreds of sting rays and nurse sharks swam around us. I got to hold a sting ray and I held onto a nurse shark for a few seconds and it gave me a ride. Then all of a sudden a four or five foot barracuda was right behind me. It had razor sharp teeth and luckily it swam off because they are very dangerous.     On our way back to the dock we noticed the locals were gutting a hammerhead shark on the dock. I asked them if I could take a picture with the head since they had already cut it off and he let me. Another thing that we did there was go swimming in "the split." Caye Caulker was split into two different islands a few years ago when a hurricane hit the island. Overall Caye Caulker was very beautiful and I want to go back before I leave.

As soon as we arrived on San Pedro we needed to get our hotel. We stayed at this place called Martha's and it was probably the worst hotel I have ever stayed in but it would work because we just needed a place to sleep at night. After we got our hotel we decided to go parasailling. It was so easy to do and one of the most relaxing and breathtaking things I have done. We were hundreds of feet above the ocean and we thoroughly enjoyed the view. During this time the people on San Pedro were celebrating a holiday called bare and bliss day. Their holiday lasted three days. The first day all of the children ran around throwing paint everywhere, the second day all of the grown ups ran around throwing paint on each other, and the third day everyone joined in together. Being the person I am, I ran and got some appropriate clothing and joined in with them. Within five minutes I was covered in paint but it was a lot of fun and we washed off in the ocean. I also got a pleasant surprise on San Pedro. They sold enormous burgers! A whole pound of beef served with pepper jack cheese and barbeque sauce. It was the best burger I have had since coming here. San Pedro was supposed to be more lively then Caye Caulker but I actually think I liked Caye Caulker better. Overall though it was a great trip.

Lazy weekend

Bridge that connected the town to the rest of the country

This weekend we had a scheduled trip to the botanical gardens here. It was actually not that bad. Our guide was a really funny guy. He told us a story about how he used to have a problem with peeing his pants and then he took some medicine here and it strengthened his bladder and he stopped wetting the bed. Other than that we saw many different plants that they use for medicine. We ate a few fruits I had never seen before. After our tour of the gardens the best part of the trip came. We got to go swimming and I got to jump off a huge rock into the river. Our advisor was with us and told me not to do it and that it is not covered by my insurance but I had to do it anyways. So I got to the top and waited for my roommate (Tom)  to jump off and then I would go after because he went feet first and I wanted to go head first. (Tom is in the blue trunks and I am in the red trunks) Then my reckless mindset came into play and I dove in head first and it went awesome. Pretty good rush for me. After that we stopped at this wooden bridge that connects a small town to the rest of the country. It is pretty amazing to see that they still have no other way to get across that river and the year is 2011! Anyways we have a long weekend coming up and I hope to go to Honduras. This trip is going by so fast but I am trying to make the most of it.