The Boys In Belize

 The boys arrived in Belize, however they felt like they were in a human washing machine all night.

They left Roatan, Honduras a half day early as bad weather was forecasted. However, the weather service we subscribe to made a HUGE error and they were out there in some crazy high winds. 

The lowest clocking in at 40 knots and the highest was 52 knots. Yikes! 

This is what happens to a new burgee in 52 knot winds..

The boat rocked side to side incessantly. They had the crap kicked out of them. Everything on the counters of the boat and inside some cabinets came flying out and went everywhere! The seas were probably around 7' or so which generally aren't too terribly bad, but the winds were hitting the boat smack on the beam (that damn beam... yet again!) and made it a restless night. At least for Brad that is...as he ran the boat himself for the night. The rest of the guys may have been able to get a few hours of shut eye. They recouperated with long naps this am and then hit the town to check out downtown Placentia, Belize. 

   The dingy dealio!

A fisherman lying on a pier / under a bridge while fishing off the dock. 
And here I just thought it was someone passed out drunk.

It doesn't look like anyone liked their guacamole. 

     Art. Groovy baby. 

                                                

Placentia is known for the longest wooden sidewalk in the world, or something like that. 

At least it used to be wooden. It's now made of concrete and painted to look like wood.

 A local street sign. Too funny. Something Brad will never call me. Ha! 

Sid's getting investment vacay ideas for he and Suzy Q! 

       

The boys entered through the side 

door of course...

At least the hurricane shelter is cheerful!

With Bocas del Toro Panama in their review mirror, Danny's son Issac learned today that there had been a HUGE swell recently in Bocas and the surfing cognoscenti had arrived...

Sadly the boys (and I!) missed out. The likes of Kelly Slater, Sunny Garcia and Greg Long were out there riding the massive waves. 

Would have been an EPIC sight to see and I'm sure all of Bocas has this event on their radar.

But the boys had other events up their sleeve..

Yesterday they left in a hotel van headed to some Mayan ruins which was a 1 1/2 hour drive.  

This was the ball court.

The ruler of the kingdom used to have a house on top of this pyramid. 

The tomb apparently doesn't exist since Brad forgot to snap that pic. Ha-ha!

After touring the ruins, they drove another 45 minutes to get to the caves. The last 6 miles were on dirt roads...they must have felt like Willy Nelson... On the road again! (gotcha Gael)

They were with a really nice guide named Vince and went to his house for lunch.

Here's Vince and his wife who both hail from authentic Mayan heritage. Their tasty lunch included fresh chicken (they raise and slaughter their own) rice, and a curry dish made from hearts of palm. I hear it was delicious! All of their food is grown on their land and made by hand between the two of them...even the chili powder!
How nice of them to open their home. 

This is their kitchen and yes, that's a dirt floor. 

This is their stove where they cook tortillas, etc. Humbling isn't it? 

On one side of the hearth was a round metal plate where they make tortillas using corn that they grow on their own plot of land...just down the road. No GMOs here! 

Here's his wife blowing on the embers to make the fire hotter. 

Then Brad and Sid took turns making tortillas. How hard can it be right?
I can't stop laughing at this photo. Wish I had been there!

Guess which ones Brad & El Sid made?

And if you need to use the loo, just venture into the backyard. 

There was a river flowing just below his home called Blue Creek. 

Here it is and the water was actually blue. 

His neighbors were busy doing their laundry in the creek. Seriously. 

He said that it's quite common to see the ladies strip naked to walk in the river.
The poor guys missed out on that peep show. Ha!

Vince said that the village where he lives loses one to two dogs per month due to the 

JAGUARS at night! Nervous much?

Then the guys left on foot from Vince's house to head to see some caves. 

It was about a half mile walk through the jungle.

 And don't grab any trees along the way!

They walked alongside Blue Creek all the way to the entrance of the caves.
What is not shown are all the rocks and boulders they had to climb up and over. 

A rope swing the local kids put up. 

The entrance to the cave. 

Heres the crew! Brad, Sid, Danny & Isaac. 

They sure had FUN! 

None of the pictures inside the cave came out. 

Probably because Brad has his phone inside a plastic bag.

This is a photo of Issac who climbed up a 25' high wall with their guide & jumped off into the water!

They saw lots of stalagmites and stalactites, bats and more. All good fun!

As they headed back to town, they learned that there were authentic Amish and Mennonite communities in Belize. How's that for random?

And these people aren't of Mayan ancestry. 

And also some rather large critters that can grow to the size of a donkey!

Good thing they are now off to Amburgis Key for more excitement! 

They arrived Brad was were worried about their slip as the port captain wasn't sure if our size boat would fit. Well.. It did, but barely!

I can't imagine pulling into this slip. 

Only Brad could pull this off!

The sights of San Pedro on Amburgis Key. 

Golf carts were everywhere. 

This was the main sidewalk in town. Wow. 

An election is coming up. We're voting for captain Danny. 

This is where they are docked at. 

El Sid wrestling a sea turtle. Ha!