Whoa, today was awesome. We had a long drive up to another resort in the mountains for cave tubing and it was totally worth it. We each had an inner tube and once we reached the river, we had to back paddle upstream into the cave. Once inside, we alternated between walking and tubing deeper into the cave until we were about a half a mile from the entrance. We got to see many different kinds of stalactites and stalagmites, climb up into little caverns with ancient Mayan pottery and fire pits, and see the odd bat here or there. Some of the stalactites we saw had crystals and positively shimmered, others were a lovely shade of red from iron, some even looked like bacon! Our guide, Pablo, was wonderful, telling us about all the different things we were seeing. We had headlamps, which was very helpful because as you can imagine, it's pretty dark in a cave. Once we had reached the end of the cave, we had a picnic lunch by headlamp. It was the best cave picnic I've ever been on. Once lunch was done, we got to float back to the mouth of the cave. We floated mostly in the dark, which was fine for someone my height but EDP hit his head a few times on the rocks. I did manage to beach myself once or twice in shallow areas and after I fell out of the current a few times, Pablo held onto my tube to keep me from falling too far behind. Once we were back at the cave entrance, we made our way out of the water and EDP had a couple of fun jumps off a cliff into the water. Then it was back to change into dry clothes and head back to Hamanasi. Now, it's happy hour and we're reading with a couple of delicious drinks before dinner!
Kayaking down the Sittee River
This morning was a lazy one for us. We didn't have to meet our adventure guide until 9am! After a late breakfast, we headed off to meet Arne, our guide for kayaking down the Sittee River. It was a relaxed trip - and not just because EDP did most of the work. We started in a creek, which was covered in a canopy of tree branches. Then we made it out to the river. It was wide and slow and we were following the current so we could be a bit lazy sometimes. We saw lots of herons and iguanas but no crocodiles. I can only assume they heard I was coming and hid in fear.
After making it back to the resort, we had lunch and some lazy pool reading before heading off for massages. Very relaxing! Now, it's ,ore reading time before dinner and then it'll be an early night as we have an early wake up tomorrow for cave tubing!
Swimming under a Waterfall
Today was an early morning for us. At 7, we met our guide, Alfredo, and headed to the Mayflower Bocawina National park to hike up to a swimming pool at Antelope Falls. Along the way, Alfredo pointed out various birds, plants, insects, tress, etc. that were in the Belizian rainforest we were hiking through. The first part of the hike was easy going - normal foresty trails. Then things began to get steeper and stairs appeared to help us out. The stairs really got your heart rate going! Finally, the stairs gave way to steep rocks and roots. There were ropes to help us up and did they ever come in handy! Along the way, there were a few places where we could stop and see the the falls. We climbed just over 700 feet and the falls were along side us most of the way - and went up even higher than we did. After a few challenging rope/rock/roots sections, we were rewarded with a swimming hole under part of the waterfall. The water was "refreshing" but totally wonderful after the hike up. EDP and I spent a few minutes directly under the falls, enjoying the massage-like effect of them. It was stunningly beautiful and a wonderful experience. And nothing like anything I've ever done before. Then, it was back down the way we came - taking less time than it did to go up.
This afternoon has been filled with a delicious Hawaiian pizza, some reading in a hammock on the beach, a long nap and more reading. We're off to dinner soon and then I suspect it'll be another early night. Tomorrow, we're kayaking along the Jungle a River. EDP informs me that the person in back steers so I can look forward to a front row seat!
Swimming with the Fishies
We've made it to Belize! After a very early wake up call on Saturday (2:30am) and three flights, including the puddle-iest of puddle jumpers, we've arrived at Hamanasi. After lunch and a brief orientation, we made our way to our treehouse, which is fricking amazing. We've got a fabulous porch with a hammock that EDP tried out early on plus a fantastically large room and a lovely bathroom. After relaxing a bit, we went to the Adventure Center to finalize our activities and then had an early dinner followed by an early bed.
Today, we had our first adventure - snorkelling! And we were the only people on the boat so we had our own private snorkel tour with our guide, Neal and our captain, John. It was amazing! With the salt water, I just bobbed around, trying to take it all in. We had the GoPro going so hopefully, we got some good pictures. We saw tonnes of fish, including angel fish and a bunch of different kinds of parrot fish. Plus, we saw a fish that looked just like the rainbow fish from that kid's book! We also saw a couple of octopuses (octopi?) and lots of lobsters. Oh, and a really ugly worm that I thought Neal was going to touch me with. And I definitely flailed and panicked. And EDP definitely laughed. We did two snorkels. One was out in the reef and one was closer to the shore of an island. I really surprised myself with how much I loved it, I can't wait to go again later this week,
After returning to the resort, we had lunch and then hung out by the pool for a bit. Then it was time for our private beachside dinner. We had a little table set up out by the water, away from the buildings of the resort. It was really nice, though I got quite chilly by the end. Now, we're heading back to the treehouse for what will definitely be an early bedtime. Tomorrow, we are taking a waterfall hike and it leaves pretty early. Plus, we've totally earned a good sleep after our snorkelling.
A long weekend in Amsterdam
Back in October, EDP had to go to Amsterdam for work. So I went, too. And we had a lovely long weekend in that beautiful city.
We landed on a Thursday morning and after dropping bags off at the hotel, we ventured over to a part of the city where there are a large cluster of museums. We started off at the Rijksmuseum, which is a national museum and home of many amazing works from the Dutch Masters, including Rembrandt's Night Watch, which was incredible. Though, as amazing as it was, the best part of the museum for me was the stunning library. I could have spent hours in it but I don't think EDP would have let me. After Rijksmuseum, we headed towards the Van Gogh museum. We stopped for a quick lunch at a little food stand along the way where we had some tasty soup and were greatly amused by the dog that must have belonged to the owner. He would drop his ball at someone's feet and bark until they threw it. Problem was - he was VERY well trained and if the ball went beyond where he was allowed to go, he'd just stand and stare at it until someone threw it back to him. Very amusing for us. The Van Gogh museum was wonderful. I loved seeing the progression in Van Gogh's style and learning more about his life and now I really want to read the book of letters to his brother that was published after his death. After the museums, we headed out for dinner at a lovely little French place that felt very French and very rustic and then it was back to the hotel for a well-earned sleep.
By far, the highlight of our trip was our food tour from Hungry Birds that we took on Friday. It's the first time we've taken a food tour and it's made me realize we should take one every time we travel. Our guide was Zosia and she was a wonderful guide and adorable person. Our group was small - just four of us plus Zosia. We met at the corner of the Albert Cuyp Markt, the largest outdoor market in Amsterdam. It was on a list of cool places to check out in the city so we got very excited when we got to the tour meeting spot early and had time to wander through. Amazing stalls of cheese and meats and fish and vegetables and fruits and flowers... I would love to have something like that daily to do shopping at but that's just not how things work here! Once our tour started, we were taken to about 10 different places throughout the city, including a couple of places in the market. We got to try some traditional Dutch specialities - stroopwafel, gouda, pickled herring, genever - along with other delicious treats from many different cultures. Amsterdam is one of the most multicultural cities in the world and their food scene reflects it. It's hard to get traditional Dutch cuisine and if you ask for a recommendation for a restaurant, it won't be anything Dutch! In addition to all the delicious food we had, we also got to see a lot of the city, including this beautiful "secret garden" that was so peaceful and quiet. Once our tour was done, we headed over to the Rembrandt House Museum to see where Rembrandt lived and worked for about 17 years. Very interesting! Then it was back to the hotel to relax for a bit with some cheese and bread and wine before heading back out to check out the Red Light District.
Let me tell you - that was something else. It's really quite touristy. Well, touristy and bachelor-party-y and 18th-birthday-party-y. It was cool to walk through. We ended up getting there a bit earlier than expected so we wandered a few streets over and found a carnival set up in a square. I got cotton candy. It was enormous. We had hoped to find somewhere to get hot chocolate for our wandering through the Red Light District but no dice. It's not as big as I expected - one main canal with ladies on either side and a number of tiny pedestrian alleys. There were tour groups wandering through and lots of young gentlemen out and about. And lots of tourists.
Saturday was another busy day. First, we got up and went to a market near our hotel so I could get a pancake from Tom. Zosia told us that Tom made the best pancakes in the city. When we found him, he told us we heard wrong - he actually makes the best pancakes in the country! Tom used to be a top chef in Amsterdam and quit a few years ago to set up his own pancake stand. He built his own cart and now spends his days making pancakes. You can tell he loves it - and loves talking to his customers. He let me go into the cart to get my picture taken with him. Next time we go back, I'll go out of my way to get another pancake from him. It was delicious and he was lovely. After that, we rented bikes and biked along the Amstel out to a small village. It was a beautiful day for a ride and we enjoyed seeing some of the countryside. Once back, we took a boat tour through the canals, learning more about the city and seeing areas we hadn't seen yet. I particularly enjoyed seeing all the houseboats - some are quite the extravagant set ups! Then it was on to dinner, which was rijsttafel, which translates to rice table. You get a big bowl of rice and then all these little dishes of different things to try. It's Indonesian, so lots of peanut-y things. And quite delicious.
Sunday was our last day in the city. The Amsterdam marathon was on so there was no transit. We earned our breakfast by walking into the city centre to a little place called Gartine that was recommended to me. AMAZING eggs Benedict. One of the best I've had. After that, we ventured over to the Royal Palace. It's not technically a museum - the palace is still used by the monarchy but I think mostly for really significant events. It was beautiful. The chandeliers were particularly stunning. Once we were done at the palace, we headed back to the hotel for a bit more relaxing, one last dinner and then called it a night since I had an early flight out the next day.
I absolutely loved Amsterdam. It's tied with Prague for my favourite city in Europe and I can't wait to go back!
We leave for Belize in a week
Packing has started - in that form of tossing things into an open suitcase with no thought to what's actually going in. With the exception of books...
This is the first time we've taken a lay-about sort of vacation so I'm packing more books than usual. I put a stack aside a few months ago but now I've really thought things through. I'm taking 10 with me - 2 audios, 2 ebooks & a stack of paper books.
