Belize Saturday, February 14, 2015

After breakfast by Patries, we left Affinity and our new friends for an adventure in Cayo - the district inland where Crystal Paradise is located. 

Eric Tut picked us up at Robert's Grove Marina and we drove the three hours to Crystal Paradise. On the way Eric stopped to buy some pineapple from a roadside stand. He told us that they like to spread the money around, which was neat, I thought.

Eric at pineapple stand

We stopped for lunch in San Ignacio. Rick and I had pile, which is pork cooked underground. It was delicious. We were introduced to Marie Sharp's habanero sauce made with a carrot base. Eric also took us to the San Ignacio Saturday Market where Rick bought a wood bowl.

Lunch at Hoda's Place. 

Rick's purchase!

They have a bit of everything.

A betting game at the market.

San Ignacio market day

Crystal Paradise used to be the family farm. Father Victor Tut decided to change the farm into a tourist destination. They pulled up the banana trees and other crops and began building thatch roofed cabanas. Now they have quite a complex on the Macal River. Victor and his wife have ten children. Jerony is the eldest and Eric is the second child. We have also met Julia and Carolita, their sisters. Carolita has a two year old son, Edward, who stays with her while she is working. We also met Andy, the youngest son. It is so admirable that this family works together on this vision of their father. Eric told is that his great great grandfather was a medicine man and he discovered Tikal. Eric called him Ambrosio. Another son told us that he went by the name of Thomas Green. 

Victor Tut ~ the patriarch 

Looking online I found out that Ambrosio Tut did, indeed, discover Tikal. In the late 1800’s Ambrosia, a Guatemalan gum sapper was searching the jungle for trees to take sap from for chewing gum. He stumbled across a group of “hills’ covered by vegetation. He found the hills to be the ruins of Maya temples, which he reported to his government. Also, there is a neat video online of Mr. Thomas Green, a Macal River dory maker. He was a Creole who was Theresa Tut’s father, Eric’s grandfather. Thomas Green died in 2002 at 95. He carved dories out of mahogany trees. It is so neat to be staying with a family with such deep and important roots in Belize and Guatemala. 

Here is a You Tube video of Mr. Thomas Green rowing down his Macal River in his handmade dory.

Mr. Thomas Green: Life on the River

We paid for a package deal, so we receive all of our meals at Crystal Paradise, along with transport and three tours. It is a very relaxing spot. They have a pretty common area with porch swings and tables where we can play cards. There is an Honor Bar where you can get a beer, some wine or rum. You just record what you take and pay for it when you check out. Neat idea.

Common Area

Honor Bar

Common Area

Pretty flowers put out by Carolita

Rick on the porch swing

At the Honor Bar 

Today we arrived, unpacked and relaxed. We are in Cottage #13. There is a neat little porch in front that has two hammocks and some chairs. We took a walk around the property and tried to find the Macal River, but took a wrong turn. We had a great walk anyway and will find the river another time.

Believe it or not, tonight we had a turkey dinner. It was served with stuffing, rice, black beans, veggies and cranberry sauce. Interesting!

We went to bed early as we had to get a ride to Tikal, Guatemala the next day early. Tikal is a World Heritage Site, so we are anxious to visit!

Belize Friday, February 13, 2015

After breakfast of watermelon and muffin pan eggs with ham and tomatoes, we left No Name Point and the mangroves and headed to Colson Caye. It was windy and more chilly, but it it off a bit. I took a snorkel trip to check it out. It was very murky and there was not much to see.

We headed into Roberts Grove in Placencia and docked for the night. David made Painkillers for all and we took group pictures. Our last hurrah on the boat!!

Dinner tonight was at Singing Sands. Beautiful restaurant and excellent food. 

We all enjoyed our last meal together. Rick and I gave everyone a Million Dollars ~ actually chocolate bars with a Million Dollar wrapper. We had a relaxing final meal. 

Belize Thursday, February 12, 2015

We woke up to another great continental breakfast at Hunter Caye. There was a sunken boat that we snorkeled around. There were tons of fish of all types. We saw a very big crab inside a tiny cranny. There were two very large angelfish that I did not recognize. They had bright yellow spots. Linda identified them as French Angelfish. It was so very clear and bright...a wonderful snorkel site. Patries was kind enough to loan me her mask and snorkel since we have a leaking snorkel and a leaking mask.

After lunch we motored over to Seal Caye on the other side. We had been here before. It was so still and hot that we had a diving competition off of the bow of the boat. It was a great way to cool off.

We then motored to a mangrove spot on the mainland called No Name Point. David served us Mudslides. Yummy!

We had a wonderful dinner of snapper, baked vegetables and coleslaw. Dessert was a cappachino cheesecake.

After dinner we played another game of Cards Against Humanity. This time we played Boys against the Girls. The Boys won. How did they pull that off?

Belize Wednesday, February 11

Patries whipped up a Belizean breakfast of tortillas, eggs, sausage, beans, sheesh and homemade salsa. We have all become fans of Marie Sharp habanero sauce. 

We left Tom Owns and motored for an hour to Seal Caye where we did a wall dive.

Dive mates - Lynda and Dan Rojics and David, our dive master

86 feet deep

Bottom time - 51 

Start 3000 psi

End 1200 psi 

Weight 10 lbs.

The dive was very nice. I wore my leggings for a makeshift wetsuit. Did not get cold. We saw an eagle ray. The plant life and coral was really large and beautiful. David killed five lionfish with his lance. They are so very beautiful, but deadly to all other sea life and are not well loved here in Belize. David was a good buddy for me. I always felt safe with him.

Rick went snorkling and took a swim way out past the other boat. He had a good swim back!

Lunch was barbecued chicken and a guacamole potato salad with hard boiled eggs.

We went on our second dive at 2:30

Dive mates - Lynda and Dan Rojics and David, our dive master.

43 feet deep

Bottom time - 50 minutes

Start 3000 psi

End 1400 psi 

Weight 10 lbs.

Again, beautiful vegetation and not a ton of fish. David killed about 15 lion fish. We saw a grouper, parrotfish and other assorted tropical fish. I saw a fish that was new to me. When I described the fish, David said it was a Drum Fish. What an interesting little guy he was! Dan told me that Divemaster David commented that it was really nice to have divers along that he did not have to "babysit". I was happy to be included in that group since I have not dived for at least 15 years.

Later in the day we tried to sail to Hunter Caye, but the wind disappointed us, so we motored over. We are near an island that is half government Coast Guard. The island has many big coniferous trees rather than only palm trees,

What a surprise...tonight was lobster night!! We had heard that only the Flagship boats served lobster, but since it is lobster season in Belize, they buy it. Lucky us! Delicious meal of lobster with clarified garlic butter and plantains with black beans and pineapple. For dessert we had warmed pineapple. What a special meal.

After dinner we talked around the table for quite a while. We really enjoy our little group. Six of the nine guests live in Denver, so we are looking for a reunion right before Rick's surgery.

Belize Tuesday, February 10, 2015

In the stealth of the darkness, our good Captain David quietly swam to Restless Spirit and freed their fishing pole. Soon a trade - fishing pole for paddle board was negotiated with Restless Spirit Captain J.J.

We spent a beautiful day on Ranguana Island. It is very picturesque with palm trees, white sand and lots of conch shells. Our snorkeling group entered the rocky shore and made it to the far side of the reef to explore. We saw a large nurse shark swimming and later Lynda found one in a little cave. The water was shallow and bright, making for good snorkeling.Tradewinds took a cooler full of beer and soft drinks onto Ranguana, so it was a nice day spent on the island. David and Patries spent the morning cleaning the boat for us. 

Lunch today was amazing! Patries made a Grouper Nicoise Salad with peas, tomatoes and potatoes. David grilled some fresh grouper that was dripping with garlic butter sauce. It was so good. 

After lunch we motored/sailed to Tom Owens island. It is a very small island with a dive certification company. One can come to the island and get fully certified in one week. They also run a research group called ReefCI - Reef Conservation Institution.

For dinner we all got to eat at Tom Owens. They were serving breaded Lion fish, that was surprisingly good for such a ferocious little fish! We had fun chatting with the residents of Restless Spirit, Jim, Lynn and family.

After dinner we played Cards Against Humanity. It kept us entertained late into the night! And Ruthie was the winner!

Belize Monday, February 9, 2015

Today was full breakfast day with eggs florentine and bacon. Patries cooked the eggs in her a muffin tin, which she says is her favorite kitchen tool.

Next came my big dive! David was kind enough to take me down on a "check out " dive...just the two of us on a shallow dive of about 25 feet. I had never used a self inflating BCD, so I had to figure out which was the inflate and which was the deflate. No problems clearing. I was able to find neutral buoyancy quickly. David is a kind teacher and I felt safe with him, He pointed out an eagle ray, a baby grouper and some little critters. We came across an old lobster trap with a large angelfish who was trapped. David undid the wire slowly, cutting himself in the process. We were able to free the angelfish. She swam right out when we backed away. After the Dive, David said I could dive with the others on the next dive, which is a wall dive. Exciting! We have two more dives on Wednesday and Thursday. I am so glad I threw in my PADI card on a whim.

After our lunch of a rice lasagna, we sailed east to Ranguana Island. It is the perfect tropical island with green trees and white sand. Tomorrow we will be able to explore the island. Today we snorkeled around it. Thomas took six of us out to the reef and we snorkeled back to the boat. The water was very shallow and clear. Sightings: large parrot fish hiding in a hole, a school of needle fish, two large starfish, a small trunk fish and many of the assorted tropical regulars. As we swam back to the boat, we stopped at a Belizean fishing boat where rays were congregating underneath as the fishermen cleaned their fish. We saw three eagle rays - the brown spotted ones, and many plain rays with long barbs. It was a bit unnerving as we were in about five feet of water and the rays would swim under you, which was pretty close. 

We had a good Boat Drink today - a piña colada. Tomorrow we are having Painkillers, which we had at the Soggy Dollar Bar on Jost Van Dyke, where the Painkiller was invented.

For dinner tonight Patries made roasted vegetables, chicken with lime butter sauce and cous cous. The excellent meal was followed by a mini lava cake.

Rick, Bruce and I went on the top deck and did some star gazing. Fun for me! We were moored near the other Tradewinds boat and we have been planning on a Pirating move. We want to swap our broken fishing reel for their good one. Well, as the three of us were chatting about how to get to their boat quietly, Bruce suggested the paddle board. We looked over and it was gone. Restless Spirit had beaten us to the punch! Revenge is being plotted!!