Spatial Blog Posts

I thought it might be helpful to give everyone a sense of where the various areas I've blogged about are located in relation to each other, so here is an interactive web map. I built it using the MapBox API, some Leaflet Javascript for the pop-ups, and a bit of CSS. Click on a point, and a pop-up will show a photo from that spot, along with a link to a related post. I'll update the map as we continue to visit various places in and around Belize.

Click here for the full-screen version. 

A Bird in the Hand

That's worth two in the bush, right there

Earlier today I was working and Amy was computerizing and she exclaimed "BIRD!!!" I turned around and sure enough there was a dove struggling against the screen in the window in front of our kitchen sink. Amy very calmly walked up the bird, picked it up, posed for a photo, then released it just outside our front door.

Logwood

Belize was founded primarily by English pirates Baymen who made their living by overtaking and boarding vessels then selling the cargo cutting logwood and exporting the lumber to the United Kingdom where it was used to produce dye. I read this before we moved to Belize, and I've always wondered what 'logwood' looks like.

Yesterday I was riding back from the Island Academy with Liam and we saw some interesting looking lumber in the alley between Xanadu and Marina's. We saw Glenn (one of the local Rasta dudes) and a worker from Xanadu standing next to the lumber. We asked them what it was, and they said "Logwood!" We took a couple of photos, and I asked what they were planning on doing with it. Turns out they will be made into posts for some new construction happening within Xanadu.

The logwood, er, logs, which are made of...wood

Close up of the lumber

Food, and the Tale of the Great San Pedro Lettuce Bust

Food has been one of the greatest challenges here in Belize. I do most of the meal planning, grocery shopping, and cooking for the family, and it has taken quite a bit of adjustment. The whole supply-chain thing just hasn't been sorted out very well yet, and the country has some pretty draconian restrictions on the importation of food. I can understand the latter, but I wouldn't mind so much if the former was in better shape.

In any case, we all lost weight the first two months here. It took us awhile to figure out that the entire town should be treated as a single grocery store, and the individual markets within the town as the various 'departments' you would find at any grocery store in the U.S. For example, one store is great for dairy products, another for canned goods, still another for spices, and we get veggies on Tuesday morning from the Mennonites and fruit on Thursdays from the Spanish-speaking fellows from Sarteneja. The largest grocery store on the island is about the size of a typical corner store in Seattle (for those of you familiar with Fremont/Phinney/Green Lake, think Market Time). Many stores are just little shacks with a couple of shelves of whatever they managed to get off the barge that week.Over the course of an average week, I visit 5-7 different stores/markets/fruit stands to procure the ingredients necessary to feed the family.

Leticia, the Sarteneja boat. One day the owner (Juan) offered me a ride in it, then he offered to sell it to me for $20,000 USD. He gave me a tour of the boat, and it is a very well-made, hand-built wooden vessel. But I don't think I could fit it in the overhead compartment.

The Mennonite boat. They don't like to have their pictures taken, but one of their Belizean helpers didn't mind.

Super Buy South. This is the largest grocery store on the island. Note the bike rack and storefront parking area.

I suppose that's been an adjustment, but it's been even tougher to get comfortable with the reality that the inventory is totally, utterly, and inexplicably unpredictable and unreliable, everywhere. That particular type of bean that you've been buying every week for three months? GONE FOREVER! Sometimes the Mennonite cheese is orange, sometimes it is yellowish, sometimes it is just white. No particular reason (maybe they just ran out of the unnaturally orange food coloring?). Sometimes there is no dairy of any kind, for days and days. Occasionally a shipment of Takis (one of our favorite new found Mexican snackfoods) will appear and no more will be seen for weeks. You get the idea.

Even when the markets are well stocked, there is not a wide variety of ingredients, and labeling simply doesn't exist. Occasionally, we might see a label that indicates what is inside a bag (usually written in Sharpie), but rarely is there a 'sell by' date and I have never seen nutrition information on domestic groceries. It is possible to buy imported canned/dried/processed foods, but they are super-duper expensive and usually expired.

See, look--it's Tofu!

And this is 1 lb...of...rice? Yeah, definitely rice.

So, we eat a lot of rice, beans, eggs, and fruit. The fruit is absolutely amazing here, and is by far the cheapest ingredient we buy. We've started making our own tortillas, salsa (two different kinds!), guacamole, enchilada sauce, pizza and banana bread.

We've also tried lots of new foods:  dragon fruit, soursop, sapodilla, breadfruit, chocho, plantains, and many others. We've even tried four kinds of fish--lionfish, grunt, tuna, and pluma. I prefer the lionfish by far, but I do not think I will ever become a regular consumer of sea food.

A custard apple

Inside of a custard apple. They are related to soursop, and taste somewhat similar, but creamier and...different.

The boys holding a dragon fruit.

Inside of a dragon fruit. Tastes like a slightly less tangy kiwi.

Soursop.

Inside of a soursop. They taste like a combination of banana and strawberry but are the consistency of snot. Best in smoothies and ice cream.

Sapodilla.

Inside of a sapodilla. This is a very tasty fruit, hard to describe, but a bit like sandy maple candy.

Fried grunt! Tastes just like fish.

One of the enduring peculiarities of the fresh produce here is how much of it stays green, even when it is perfectly ripe and delicious. My understanding is this is because it never gets cold enough here for the color change to kick in.

These bananas are totally ripe, in fact some of them are beginning to turn brown...without ever being yellow.

From L-R:  grapefruit, orange, tangerine, and lime. All ripe, all delicious.

Our cooking equipment is alright. We have an electric cooktop, and a Mexican-built gas stove. However, it is a bit mysterious, in that the oven has settings 1 thru 5. We have no idea what temperature any given number corresponds to, but over the past six and a half months we've figured it out (bake bread on 3, roast veggies at around 4, pizza about 4.25, etc).

Some fryjacks Amy made. They are a Belizean staple, and Amy did a great job.

I think we've figured out the food situation fairly well, and we definitely have some new favorite dishes, but we are all looking forward to the bounteous farmers markets and grocery stores back in Seattle.

And now, for the tale of The Great Lettuce Bust!

Every Tuesday I ride my bike to the lagoon side of town where the Mennonites dock their boat. They bring thousands of pounds of produce from Corozal to San Pedro. Most of it is purchased by local restaurants and veg retailers, and by the time I get there everything is a bit picked over. However, this past Tuesday, the Mennonites were there, but no produce. There was a large group of people standing around, in postures that suggested they'd been waiting for quite some time. That's when I noticed the Belize Customs guys.

I waited for about a half hour, then I saw David, one of the Mennonites that I've chatted with several times. I asked him if they were in trouble. In his typically understated way he said "Hmm, yes, perhaps a little bit." I asked what happened, and he explained that they bought some lettuce from a wholesaler in Corozal. It turns out that guy didn't have a permit to sell the Mexican-grown lettuce the Mennonites bought. However, there were at least six other guys who bought lettuce from this particular wholesaler, and the Customs guys let all of them go. David felt very strongly that it was a setup.

So the Mennonites and the Customs guys talked, haggled, and argued for another 45 minutes or so, then the Customs people confiscated about 300 heads of lettuce. I asked one of the locals if they would throw away the food. They laughed and said "Oh, no! They will probably sell it." I asked if it could be given to the orphanage in Belize City, or even to some of the poorer communities here in San Pedro. They laughed again and said "never." It was pretty disheartening to hear.

The upside of this situation is I was there at the beginning of the produce day! I was so happy! But then about 100 Belizeans came out of the woodwork and it was a total feeding frenzy. Overall Belizeans are laid-back, friendly, and warm people, but they DO.NOT.WAIT.IN.LINES. Ever. At one point I had had my hand in a sack of onions, and two women jammed their hands in on top of mine and started grabbing onions. There were many similar encounters. At the time it was pretty damn frustrating, but another part of my brain was thinking "wow, this is so completely different than any grocery shopping experience I've ever had, I am definitely going to remember this!" I managed to get all the food we needed and we all ate happily ever after.

The End

A Day in the Sea

We spent most of yesterday in, on, or near the sea. It began with a trip to the dock at Xanadu Resort, just down the street from us. They have a prominent NO FISHING sign literally carved into their dock, but I met one of the managers, a fellow named Al, and he said it would be fine for us to spear some lionfish. In fact, he encouraged us! I'd heard about Al many times before I actually met him--he and his family sailed away from South Africa, but after five years of cruising, they arrived in Belize and everyone was ready for a break. His wife got a job at Xanadu, one daughter got married, another went to Canada to study, and his son got a job on a Caribbean megayacht. So now they are "stuck" here but he doesn't seem too upset about it.

After gearing up, Liam, Nicholas and I started searching the waters in and around the dock. We saw lionfish just about everywhere we looked. Liam speared six (!), I speared one, and I helped Nicholas take his first ever shot with a Hawaiian sling. He hit the fish, but it was not a killing shot, and it got away. He was somewhat disappointed, but the kid shows real promise.

We strung up our catch and took a few "trophy" shots before we cleaned them.

The fishermen and their catch

They look small, but surprisingly those fish are almost entirely meat--Liam calls them "The Beef of the Reef"

Later that afternoon we took out one of Paul's boats and sailed north towards Mexico Rocks. Unfortunately a big squall came through that delayed our departure, and Nicholas and Lochlan were playing in the spray on the trampoline and quickly got soaked. By the time we got to Boca del Rio they were shivering, so we decided to snorkel there.

The fish were beautiful, as always, and we saw two new species:  a peacock flounder and a smooth trunkfish. We also saw three southern stingrays, which Nicholas particularly enjoyed.

Peacock flounder

Smooth trunkfish

Southern Stingray

'Goliath', the sorely neglected tour boat

Lochlan was experiencing technical difficulties with his mask, so he swam back to the boat and I hung out with him while Amy continued exploring the reef with the other two boys. We played a game Lochlan called "figure out all the work that needs to be done on that boat," referring to an ancient catamaran anchored off our port bow that was converted from a sailboat to a dive/snorkeling guide boat. We came up with about thirty things before the rest of the gang appeared and we had to stop. Lochlan has a keen eye for detail and I think he's got a bright future helping me with boat projects. :)

Sailing into the sunset

We had a brisk sail back to Caribbean Villas, and after cleaning up and enjoying some dinner, we joined Nicholas' family for a bonfire and marshmallow roast. It was a wonderful day!

The Kaplans Visit

Last week Amy's family visited--her parents Dan and Linda and her sister Julie and Julie's daughter Madison. They all recently relocated from Arizona to Kentucky and were very happy to escape the cold and snow for some warm Belizean sunshine.

Cousins!

We spent the first few days of their visit relaxing in San Pedro. We took them to our favorite beach hangout, Caribbean Villas, where we enjoyed some beverages from the Catamaran Beach Bar, and took Dan, Julie and Madison out to the reef for some snorkeling. Julie and Madison had never been sailing or snorkeling, and although there was some initial trepidation, I think they both enjoyed the experience.

Julie and Maddie at Caribbean Villas

Maddie's first time on a sailboat

Father and daughter

The boys had to attend school for three of the week days of the Kaplans' visit, and during that time, Amy took her family to the Palapa Bar, Caye Caulker, on a sailing trip with Rum Punch to see Shark Ray Alley and Hol Chan, and to the shops and restaurants of San Pedro.

The Kaplan ladies at Palapa Bar

Dan on the Rum Punch

Nurse sharks at Shark Ray Alley

Sea Turtle at Hol Chan

The Rum Punch

On Wednesday afternoon, we took the boys out of school a bit early to catch the water taxi to Belize City where we were met by Hubert from Cahal Peche Resort. He loaded all eight of us into his van and drove us to San Ignacio.

The next morning we drove into Guatemala and picked up our guide, Oliver. He is a birder and would prove to be extremely helpful in pointing out birds, insects, and other wildlife as we toured the ruins.

This was our third time visiting Tikal, but we still saw new things--Lochlan and I hiked up to the top of the North Acropolis and saw several temples we didn't even know were there; I hiked up to the top of Temple II for the first time, and all of us saw Temple V for the first time. Temple V is particularly interesting because it is one of the oldest temples in Tikal, it is the second tallest, and it has rounded corners. Unfortunately it is not possible to climb to the top, but we got a good look.

Early morning birding at Cahal Pech before the drive to Guatemala

Lochlan, Maddie, and Liam on the observation deck of Temple II, Temple 1 in the background

Same view with me and Amy (it was a bit hot and humid)

Red lored parrots

On our hike to Temple IV, Lochlan spotted a jumping spider, and Oliver noticed a green wasp flying towards it. He asked all of us to stop and watch:  the wasp landed on the spider, stung it, and then proceeded to bite the legs off the spider's paralyzed body. Oliver explained that the wasp lays its eggs in the bodies of spiders, and when they hatch, the larvae eat the inside of the spider. It was fascinating to watch this small wasp completely disassemble the relatively large spider, then carry off the head and abdomen. The whole process only took a few minutes, and the boys were absolutely transfixed.

Everyone made it to the top of Temple IV and we posed for several photos before heading back down to the jungle. We saw many interesting birds--slaty-tailed trogon, violaceous trogon, yellow throated euphonia, red-lored parrots, Montezuma oropendolas, and a wood thrush (OK maybe that last one isn't exactly 'exotic', but it was the first time I had ever seen one!).

On top of Temple IV

Dan and Linda atop Temple IV

On our way back toward the parking lot, Oliver heard several brown jays making quite a ruckus, and he said "I hear toucans too!" We all hustled towards a large tree where all the birds were gathered, and after about 10 seconds of searching, we found the first keel-billed toucan, then another, and another. We were fairly close, and it was definitely the clearest and longest view I've had of toucans. Then Liam noticed why all the birds were making such a fuss--there was a very large boa stretched out in the middle of the tree! It looked like he was digesting a rather large meal, but I can't blame the birds for getting upset.

Keel-billed toucan (click to embiggen and look in the middle)

The brave explorers have finally found the elusive Temple V!

We continued on to Flores, which is a charming little town on the Isla de Flores on lake Peten Itza. We visited Flores very briefly with my parents when they were here in December, and we were so pleasantly surprised by the town that we decided to stay overnight with the Kaplans.

Chillin' on the rooftop deck in Flores

View of the narrow streets of Flores

Our hotel was right in the middle of the island and had a rooftop deck with a pool! We swam with the kids, enjoyed some beverages, and then walked along the lakeside promenade. We found an open-air restaurant with great views of the lake. We asked the waiter if he knew any English-speaking guides that could take us on a tour of the lake, and he gave us the name and phone number of a friend of his. We set the tour up for the next day.

Our ride for the tour of Lake Peten Itza

Loki meets a monkey

Maddie, making friends before everything went horribly wrong

En route to the Mayan 'ruins'

Fortunately the view from the tower was most impressive. Our hotel is just to the right of the church.

Saul (the guide) and Chico (the boat captain) met us at the lake shore in the morning and we headed along the south shore of the island to a zoo on another island, connected to a peninsula by a very mobile suspension bridge. Amy had read that the zoo was a bit "sad", but I was pleasantly surprised by the facilities and the condition of the animals, particularly for the newer portions of the zoo.

The kids really enjoyed seeing the animals, all of which are native to this part of Guatemala. There were many species of parrots, turtles, cats, peccaries, and deer. The kids really liked the spider monkeys in particular, and were able to "shake hands" with several of the monkeys.

We continued down the path to see the rest of the animals, and then Maddie sped ahead around the bend to visit the monkeys again. Shortly thereafter we heard blood-curdling shrieks, and we rushed around the corner to find a terrified and sobbing Maddie. None of us saw it happen, but apparently she walked up to the cage and one (or more) of the monkeys grabbed her hair and another grabbed her face. She got scraped up by a fall during her escape from their clutches, but was fine. The running joke from that point on was that Maddie was ATTACKED BY MONKEYS! She didn't think it was that funny at the time, but hopefully that will change once she gets a little perspective on the encounter.

The next stop was a "Mayan ruin" that as still completely covered by dirt and vegetation. That was disappointing! But the views of the lake from the top were quite nice.

We piled back into the boat for our final stop, a lakeside restaurant on the other side of the lake in a town called San Jose. The restaurant had seating on a palapa-covered dock right over the water, with a boat dock extending out into the lake that was perfect for swimming. The boys, Saul, and I went swimming in the surprisingly clear water while Dan fished and the ladies chatted and enjoyed some adult beverages.

Enjoying the ride to San Jose

Liam and I jumping off the dock into the lake

Pina coladas can sometime make people act silly

After finishing our delicious lunch we piled back into the boat and motored back to Flores. We spent a couple hours walking the town and buying souvenirs before our transfer picked us up and drove us back to San Ignacio.

Typically colorful building in Flores

The next morning we'd planned on taking a tour of the Barton Creek caves (this is the cave system we toured with my family in December). However, Maddie had an ear infection and needed to visit a doctor. We were able to reschedule the tour for the afternoon and Julie, Amy and Maddie went to the doctor first thing in the morning. We spent the balance of the morning walking around the farmer's market and checking out the various shops in San Ignacio. We ate lunch in town, then took a cab back up the hill to meet out tour guide. We made it with minutes to spare, but it turned out the tour guide had arrived and left, explaining he needed to put freon in his suburban. He returned about an hour later, but the AC still did not work--he said the "tube was bust." This was the first of many confusing, questionable, and potentially outright false statements we heard from him over the course of the next four hours. The statements ran the gamut:  at one point we were driving through a stretch of road with flowering citrus orchards on either side, and he insisted that the wonderful smell was actually from a native tree that was blooming at the same time; he referred to a "spoonbill ani" when a groove-billed ani flew across the road; he told us that the creek in the cave system we were exploring filled up from the bottom; and I could go on and on. The trouble is, there was just enough truth in much of what he said that if we had not been living in Belize for the past 6 months, we most likely would have believed it all.

Dan, pretending to be disinterested in the market as I filled my backpack with super cheap muy delicioso produce

Maddie playing in the fountains of central park in San Ignacio

Maddie, Julie and Cody prepare to enter Barton Creek Cave

In any case, we still got to explore the cave, and water was much lower than it was in December, so we were able to proceed quite a bit farther upstream. I think everyone enjoyed the experience.

The next morning Amy and I woke early to do some birding before the trip back to Belize City. We decided to check out the Cahal Peche Mayan site, just down the road from our hotel. It was awesome! And we saw a lot of cool birds, including two blue-crowned motmots. We ate breakfast at the hotel, then took the entire group to the Mayan site and explored for about an hour. Fortunately we saw the two motmots again, and the kids had a great time 'discovering' all of the rooms, stairwells, and hallways connecting all of the ruins. It was a surprisingly cool ruin, and we had it completely to ourselves.

Last day of cousins (for awhile)

One of the temples at Cahal Pech

Liam in the entrance to one of the many rooms

Cool staircase

Sailboats just beyond the swing bridge near the Caye Caulker water taxi dock

Our transfer driver, Huber, drove us to Belize City and dropped us off at the Caye Caulker water taxi before taking the Kaplans to the international airport. We said our goodbyes and gave hugs all around. It was a nice visit and I think everyone had a great time.