Posted by Seth on June 12, 2009 under Uncategorized | 
It turns out that it isn’t possible to spend every waking moment of every day underwater enjoying the marine life of Belize. Sad, but true. The good news is that there was enough to do on land that it made the time between dives pass pretty quickly. We didn’t even have to bother with the inland jungle excursions and we still found ways to fill our time. Much of that was spent wandering around through the streets of San Pedro on Ambergris Caye or around Caye Caulker, watching the locals go about their daily business. You can learn a lot about a place by just watching folks doing their thing.
Whether it was headed to or from school or hanging out on the waterfront and performing some rather acrobatic leaps off the docks into the water, everyone seemed to be having a pretty good time.
I think that the most significant thing I learned about the Belizeans is that they have learned to relax and enjoy life, even while taking important things seriously. Definitely a good balance to strike.
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Posted by Seth on June 4, 2009 under Uncategorized |
Sure, the Blue Hole may be the most famous single landmark (watermark??) off the Belizean coast, but that doesn’t mean that it has the best diving. In fact, I’d argue that the diving just offshore along the reef is significantly better, especially when the transit time to and from the dive sites is taken into account. Forget riding 2+ hours each way to get to a dive site. The reef is literally minutes from any of the many docks along the shoreline. The reef structure is still pristine, with coral fingers stretching for miles and clear, warm water all along the reef.
We dove with Chuck & Robbies Diving and couldn’t have been happier with the operation. If they weren’t running a particular trip (Blue Hole, for example) they’d make the necessary arrangements for us to get in on the other boat. And the stuff the did operate was top notch. They’re a relatively small operation so they max out with about 12 divers on the boat. Another two or three folks from the shop would be in the water with us, spotting animals and otherwise making sure things went well. I can’t recommend them as a dive operator highly enough.
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| Petting one of the nurse sharks on the reef |
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| A spotted eel pokes its head out looking for a snack. |
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| I’m a sucker for angel fish. I’ve spent entirely too much time and air chasing them underwater. |
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| This eagle ray was absolutely stunning. |
Another thing that the near-shore diving has going for it off Ambergis Caye is the Hol Chan Marine Park. The park is guarded by marine patrols and very strictly monitored. Yes, there is a surcharge for access but the operators work that into the package price so it doesn’t really matter. And if the extra $10 is what it takes for the dive sites to be so well preserved I’ll take it every time. Diving the Hol Chan Cut is an amazing experience. The water is shallow – the dive maxes out around 30 feet – so there is plenty of bottom time available to swim with the turtles, rays, eels, fish and sharks that call the area home. Depending on the currents the visibility can drop down a bit with silt in the water (also an effect of the shallow dive profile), but the animals are close enough that it doesn’t really matter.
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| One of many turtles, feeding on the grass in Hol Chan Marine Reserve |
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| A crustacean, taking up residence in one of the many homes available. |
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| Pretty fish & coral |
I’ve been missing the diving pretty much since the moment we surfaced on that last dive. With water this beautiful and so much marine life, all just minutes off the coast, it is easy to understand why.
Lots more photos from the diving in Belize – both at the Blue Hole and just off Ambergris Caye – can be found here.
Posted by Seth on June 1, 2009 under Uncategorized |
As crazy as the act of flying for no particular reason other than to collect the miles may be, at least it is reasonably easy to try to explain to people. Elite status and miles to redeem for a reward ticket are relatively easy to explain, even if the other person doesn’t really believe that there is any value in those things. And lots of free drinks and riding in the pointy end of the plane are also relatively well understood. But what about a trip where there aren’t really any miles to be gained, status to be had or – gasp – free drinks on board?? I recently took one such flight and thoroughly loved every minute of it, even with little concrete to gain from the trip.
No miles. No status. Nothing, except the opportunity to fly to a new (to me) airport on a new (to me) airline. And so it was that on a sunny Belizean afternoon I walked to the San Pedro airport (air strip is probably a more accurate description), walked in to the Maya Island Air ticket office and requested a seat on the next available flight from San Pedro to Caye Caulker. Fortunately for me the next flight was leaving in a scant 15 minutes. The agent at the counter made a call on the walkie-talkie to the operations center to inform them that an additional stop would be necessary on the flight – my stop. I handed over USD$25 in cash (how often do you buy an airline ticket in cash??), took my boarding pass (a laminated color-coded piece of paper) and waited out on the shaded deck for them to call our departure.
Ten sweaty despite the shade minutes later the “red boarding pass” flight was called and we walked out onto the grass, around one plane and up to the side of our Britten Norman BN-2. What great luck for me! Not just a new line on the map and a new airline, but I also got my first flight on this particular type of airplane. This was just the icing on the cake. We were assigned seats by the airline employee collecting our passes (I think it was by passenger size but I’m really not sure) and a couple minutes later we were flying at 2,500 feet over the reefs of Belize.
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| Looking down, shortly after takeoff from San Pedro |
A boat crossing the flats between the Cayes |
The flight from San Pedro to Caye Caulker is all of 13 miles long, a distance that the Britten Norman BN-2 covered in a scant 8 minutes. Actually that seems a bit slow, but neither they nor I were in much of a hurry. The flight and the landing at Caye Caulker were both uneventful and shortly after the plane pulled up to the end of the runway I was out the door and staring at the airport:
Just a hundred yards or so past the end of the runway along a sandy path and I was back on the beach, meandering my way towards the downtown area, and I use the term “downtown” loosely. There are a couple bars and restaurants and a few hotels and guest houses. And that is it. It was incredibly quiet there, which is either really nice or downright spooky, depending on your point of view.
The walk from the airport to downtown took about 20 minutes, just enough time to see what there was to see and head over to the ferry dock where I was able to purchase my return ticket to San Pedro on the local boat service. Another 20 minutes or so on the boat and I was back on Ambergris Caye.
Thus ended my 90 minute “mileage run” that had nothing to do with miles and everything to do with being just plane crazy.
Posted by Seth on May 28, 2009 under Trip Reports |
Perhaps calling it a war is a bit more hyperbole than necessary, but there are several options for pupusas in San Pedro town on Ambergris Caye, two of them happen to be right next door to each other and the quality is truly impressive. They were just one of the many incredibly satisfying and reasonably cheap meals available on the island, assuming that you’re willing to walk away from the typical tourist hotspots on the waterfront. There were some good options in that category, too, but at 3-4x the price. Both were good, but as usual the local fare generally won out.
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| Sarah gets started on another evening of delicious papusas at Pupuseria |
The pupusas – corn meal pancakes stuffed with meat, cheese and beans (or some combination thereof and then fried) were truly delicious. A native dish of El Salvador, they are offered on Ambergris Caye by a couple competing restaurants that are literally right next to each other. Both women cook the delicious morsels on griddles right out on the street, in full view of the public. Both have their own recipes for the various stuffing options (my personal favorite was the chicken & cheese; the bean options were too runny for me) but there doesn’t seem to be too much stress in the rivalry. In fact, other than this report I’m not sure that there actually is any rivalry. Sarah, one of the proprietors of Pupuseria (on Pescadoro Drive near Black Coral Street) and a native El Salvadoran has been working her craft for nine years in Ambergris Caye and seemed as happy to be doing it this past weekend as if she had just started. Each pupusa is handmade when it is ordered, fried up fresh and served hot right to the table. There are sides of slaw and hot sauce to round out the flavor. And the best part – they are only BZD$2.50 (1USD = 2BZD) each; the bottles of soda cost almost as much. Getting a great meal for less than BZD$20 for two people is a very likely reality. There are other things on the menu but with the main option this good it isn’t really worth bothering with them.
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| Huevos Rancheros at My Secret Deli in San Pedro, Ambergris Caye, Belize |
The other great option for local food in San Pedro comes in the form of the many delis that they have in town. There are more than a handful and keeping track of all of them proved somewhat difficult. But whether looking for a hearty breakfast or a filling lunch of rice & beans with chicken or fish – all for less than BZD$15/person – the delis are a great way to go. My Secret Deli (that’s the real name, not one that I refuse to share with you) offers up options for a variety of tastes all at very reasonable prices. For breakfast the Huevos Rancheros were quite good, as was the Belizean breakfast served with fried jacks – the Belizean entry into the “every culture has a slightly sweet fried dough option at breakfast” competition. They are puffy, doughy, deep fried and just the slightest bit sweet. Oh, and they are delicious either on their own or when used to scoop up eggs, beans and bacon.
There are also some local dining options each evening in the park at the center of town. The vendors vary based on the night, as does the quality of the food provided. But it is definitely cheap and reasonably filling. And if you’re feeling truly adventurous head over to the corner of Barrier Reef Drive and Caribeña Street where you’ll see a guy and his grill out in front of the town’s slot parlor. He’s got BBQ chicken and pork chops, as well as rice & beans. It cooks up fresh so it can take a bit of time if he doesn’t have any ready right then (better than salmonella) but it was damn good and worth the bit of wait and the BZD$15 I dropped for a VERY large meal (I had both the chicken and the pork chop that day).
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| Enjoying the Grouper Club wrap, the great view and a Beliken for lunch at Wild Mangoes |
Moving up from the local “holes” to more tourist-focused restaurants the quality spread got a bit wider while the price point rose rather uniformly. Fido’s, right on the waterfront just north of the center of town was particularly expensive for the quality. It wasn’t bad, but there are way better options for the money (about BZD$25 for a sandwich at lunch). One of the better options at the higher end of the market is Wild Mango’s, just south of the park on the beach front. Yes, the dinners are expensive (lunch is more reasonable) but the food is top notch. The flavors blend well without being overpowering on any one front and the ingredients are ridiculously fresh. And you really cannot beat the view that comes with the meal. Looking out at crystal clear blue seas just 30 feet from the table and extending as far as the eye can see is quite a relaxing way to enjoy a fine meal.
An island institution, Elvi’s has been around seemingly forever and has been cooking up good local food that whole time. Whether you head there for the weekly Mayan buffet night on Fridays (approx. BZD$50/person) or just order up a regular meal from the menu, the local flavors shine through quite impressively. They also have the cool factor of a sand floor and a huge tree growing up through the middle of the main dining room. El Patio presents a similar menu and effect (sand floor, mostly covered outdoor seating) but the food was a notch lower in quality; the flavors were not quite as well defined.
One final note about fresh ingredients – they make all the difference in the world. The piña coladas and margaritas were all delicious because the ingredients were fresh. Apparently it is more expensive to ship in the high fructose corn syrup mixer blend crap than to use fresh lime juice or coconuts. That is a good thing for the discerning drinker. And for the not so discerning drinker the Beliken beer is local and quite refreshing.
A few other random notes on dining in San Pedro:
- Lots of restaurants are closed on Tuesdays. Others are closed on Sundays. Plan appropriately.
- At the more local places expect to speak more Spanish than English. Even a bit of broken Spanish (all I’ve got, really) was enough to get by, but it definitely helped.
- The best value propositions for a “splurge” meal is probably lunch at Wild Mango’s. All the quality while still keeping the price point reasonable, right up until the third daiquiri kicks in.
Pupuseria
Pescadoro Drive, just south of Black Coral Street
My Secret Deli
Caribeña Street, just west of Pescadoro Drive
+501.226.3223
Elvi’s
Corner of Ambergris Street and Pescadoro Drive
Wild Mango’s
Beachfront at Tarpon Street
+501.226.2859
Reservations recommended for dinner
Fido’s
Coral Reef Drive between Pelican Street and Ambergris Street; also accessible from the beach
+501.226.2056
El Patio
Barrier Reef Drive and Black Coral Street
+501.226.3898
