One Scheme of Happiness

Snorkle Face

Watch out fishes - here I come.

Abalone Caye

Start climbing.

From the rickety tower, looking down.

The water is great!   Come on in!

Hello down there!  Wait!  Come back!

On the back porch.  How could you not be happy standing here?

(no, I'm not chilly or crazy - I'm trying to protect my poor skin from the sun!)

Look - nature!

Next stop - Snake Caye!

Where the Frigates Are

Right after breakfast, we headed down to pier.  There we received our official welcome to Punta Gorda.

We loaded vital supplies...

...gathered friends and family...

...and we were off!

Into the mangroves...

...where the frigates are.

They perched on branches, flew over our heads.

We cruized right through frigate alley, enjoying the morning, the bird calls, watching for manatee (we didn't see any of those).

I brought blanket squares.  I didn't get much done, but the wool had a nice day on the sea.

Not a bad life for the wool, I'd say.

Breakfast at Hickatee

Freshly baked bread, still warm from the oven.  And the jams!

Guava. Mangostein. 

I could live on this stuff.  Local coffee.  A fruit plate.  Oh yum.

FO: Jungle Socks

I had to rename these, due to their first modeling session.

"Edwardian Boating Socks" is nice and sophisticated, it's true, but these socks haven't made it onto a boat yet.

The do, however, have jungle on them.

Not that I have much need for socks here...

And the Gang's All Here

Back at Hickatee, we head for the plunge pool.

...someone is already there waiting for us...

Hello scorpion!!

Ugh!

Jungle cat to the rescue!

Good thing that Pinto the kitty was there to protect us!

Sweet kitty.

The rest of our party had arrived as well - we gathered by the pool to while away the hot hours of the day before dinner.  There are eleven of us.  Not counting the cats and scorpions.

Tough work, all this relaxing.

Zipping Around Belize

In Big Falls, we meet right up with Bob and Ruth!

Before we can blink, we are strapped into harnasses.

Then...

...zip!

...zippy...

...zip...

...zip...

...zip!

Whee!

After half a dozen ziplines...

...it's tubing time!

(I don't have tubing pictures yet - we did have a waterproof camera, but those need a different download.  Stay tuned.)

After two hours floating down the Rio Grande, we were whisked back to Big Falls for lunch.

(and rum punch)

We devour the standard Belizian lunch (or Belizian tourist lunch, at least) - roasted chicken legs and thighs, rice and plantains.

(and rum punch)

From here, we drive back to Hickatee Cottages!

Bus Ride to Las Faldas

We took the James Bus Line from Punta Gorda to Big Falls.

It was a sweaty, bumpy ride.

But we enjoyed seeing more of the countryside.

And here - the main cemetary of Punta Gorda as we jostle past.

And we arrive for our ziplining river adventure!

Marie Sharp's

The local hot sauce.  Yes, I will certainly be bringing home some of this.

Also: it smells so lovely here!  Every time I turn a corner, some new flower is shooting yummy fragrance my way. 

Dinner at Asha's

We were supposed to eat elsewhere this night, but the thing about Punta Gorda is that if a cook doesn't feel like cooking one night....well, he just doesn't.  So when we arrived for our reservation at Earth Runnings, no one was there!  Instead, Ian (from Hickatee Cottages) - ever resourceful - took us over to Asha's new restaurant over the ocean (which opened only four days prior).

We had the place to ourselves and settled into a cozy corner.  The surroundings were basic but clean.  Only one other table of guests arrived during our entire dinner.

First up - order the local beer!  Belikin!

Tasty!  And dinner itself - amazing.  For me, conch curry, mashed potatoes with garlic and steamed veggies.  Ben had grilled fish.

Everything was fresh and cooked to order by Asha, who also took our orders and brought our drinks.  We relaxed over the ocean, watching the waves and clouds and enjoying our food and drink in the cool evening breeze.  Because nothing was pre-made, our dinner experience took several hours.  But we had no other other pressing plans, aside from relaxing.

Conveniently, Ms. Flo (the owner of the best  - and I suspect only - taxi in town) lives right next door and drove us back down the potholed road to Hickatee.