Embracing a new start in Belize 2012

When I thought about my expectations of Belize, the country conjured up images of turquoise waters, miles of sandy beaches, beautiful diving and snorkeling sites, jungles and Mayan ruins.  I almost stepped foot in the country while I was living in Mexico aged 19, and had loosely planned to go there via Guatemala, but ran out of time.  Following a stressful 2011 after the death of my father, I decided the perfect way to kick start January 2012 would be to fly out to Belize for a week, to chase some rays and recharge my batteries whilst being among nature.  So off I flew, and three flights later I landed in the sleepy fishing village of Placencia, in Belize.  My home for that week was Turtle Inn, the brainchild creation of Francis Ford Coppola, which consisted of nineteen beautifully crafted cabanas of bleached thatch and native wood, decorated with furnishings inspired by Balinese culture.  The hotel was suited more to honeymooners than for a thirty plus year old single woman, I later found out – but no matter, it was only for a week and hardly an issue as I actually met some lovely attached people out there.

I arrived truly exhausted and in desperate need of a wash, as one does after long haul flights, so imagine my amusement when I discovered I not only had an indoor bathroom, but an outdoor shower too, and baptized the latter one immediately, then headed out to town and planned some activities for the week that would see my stresses slip away, and stretch beyond the confines of the hotel swimming pool and the beach.  I cycled in on an old fashioned bicycle with no hand brakes, only a peddle which I had to turn anticlockwise to brake, an interesting technique to say the least, as I had never encountered these two wheelers before.

The first activity I booked was a boat trip along Monkey River, where I spotted black howler monkeys en route, crocodiles by the water’s edge, turtles, and a solitary yellow / green iguana perched up high on the branch of a tree, basking in the thirty degrees heat!  The next stop was Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary, and not one animal in sight with the exception of various kingfisher birds along the river; I was disappointed not to spot any jaguars that so many people had mentioned lived within the confines of the sanctuary, so moving on from the animals, the highlight of that trip was the river tubing.  The aforementioned activity involved not quite a tube, but something akin to a car tyre minus the ridges, into which I sunk my slender body, with feet and head sticking out on either side of the so called tube.  And into the river I went, chilling in the sun with the gentle current of the water carrying me effortlessly upstream.  A word of warning though, to reach the site I had to trek through miles of sludgy mud!  I followed in the footsteps of our guide and ended up removing my Converse shoes and going barefoot in the mud as the grip was better, and thankfully I was only wearing shorts, so the mud that rode all the way up my legs was easily removable.  Preceding the tubing, I swam under a beautiful waterfall, felt the water spray me, and then come crashing down on my body, cooling me from the intense heat of the sun, and really feeling the full force of the water – pure bliss.

The penultimate day of my trip I signed up for a visit to Laughing Bird Caye, a world heritage site renowned for its snorkeling and diving.  Having previously been accustomed to seeing live lobsters in miniscule fish tanks at Spanish restaurants, I was pleasantly surprised to come across a few in the wild waters of the Caribbean sea in Belize.  But the biggest shocker of the day was having an eagle ray swim by within a less than a metre of me, fortunately, without stopping to explore me!  I, on the other hand, just floated on the water playing dead, completely paralysed, but less out of fear and more in awe of the creature I had before my eyes.

Physical activities such as swimming, cycling and trekking were counter-balanced by holistic therapies; on one occasion I opted for a Thai massage out of curiosity, and had my body stretched and contorted in many positions I never even thought possible.  By the end of the week, I felt like my batteries had been recharged, and even though I had blown all of my savings in the space of a week, it was without a doubt the best investment I had made in months, as I was able to piece my body and soul back together in such an incredibly short space of time.  Plus money can always be recouped at a later date in future!

© Copyright Vanessa Sicre