Belize 2010_27

Today (March 18th) was a nice non eventful day. I worked hard on getting the blog updated (which was pretty easy with my new method of making notes of the days events). People read books by the pool until we went into town for lunch at 1:30pm. After we ordered at Estel's madre' and I rode our bikes to the local library to see if I could check out the last of the Twilight books Breaking Dawn, yes I am obsessed like every teenage girl out there. They have the book but madre' didn't have any proof of residents with her so we will have to go back. I had a fruit bowl and an order of fried jacks, yum.

After lunch the boys hung out at the restaurant while we did womanly work; groceries and fabric for a flag that Kathy is going to make. We went back to Estel's and got the boys then went for ice cream. Matt and I passed on ice cream but it is still a great people watching place. While the parents ate their ice cream madre' had her bike fixed across the street. When her bike was fixed we rode home and she said it was like a brand new bike.

Belize 2010_26

The rain is finally here, YAY!!! I love the rain especially when you don't get much. Jerry and Kathy came down for a visit this morning with more homemade cookies, yum. I showed them pictures and GoPro video while Karlene packed her bags. On our way home yesterday the boat was making funny noises so J&K offered us their rhino to take Karlene to the airport. Matt, madre' and myself rode our bikes and met them at My Secret Deli for breakfast. Karlene took off at 1:30pm to catch her flight.

Us three bicyclists went down to SAGA to walk the dogs. I finally met Heidi the volunteer coordinator that I have been talking to via email. We got 9 dogs + Cynthia (10 total) walked today. We washed up and measured some of their kennels that Heidi said we could buy off of them if we took Cynthia home. The dimensions of the kennel that would fit under the seat as carry on are ridiculously small, but they have one. We treated ourselves to ice cream for our good deed. We grabbed a few groceries and headed home.

Belize 2010_25

Today is Karlene's last day and we have not been able to kite up to Mexico Rocks yet so Matt came up with our plan for the day. We drove the boat up to Belize Legacy, that is just North of Mexico Rocks and launched our kites from their beach. I had the GoPro on my kite, the wind was light but we made it work. The plan was to kite around there as long as we could and the kids would downwind back to our place while madre' and padre' drove the boat. Karlene was trying her best to stay up wind but it was tough. I asked madre' if there was a plan and she said Matt told her that he was going down to Karlene. I figured it was time to downwind and headed towards them as Matt was coming back up wind to get me.

We made it all the way back to our place with no problems and Karlene asked if we could go further all the way into town, off we went. We landed at Central Park with no problems and packed up. The parents showed up right behind us. We took the gear to the boat and decided we would try the Blue Water Grill for Lunch, they were closed until 6pm so we went to Fido's instead. Lunch was delicious, I had a fish quesadilla and Matt had a calamari salad that he turned into a taco by ordering an extra tortilla. After lunch it was once again time for ice cream.

As soon as we got home we got ready for Jam Night at Legends or better known as "Karlene's going away party" ;) We were taking pictures outside with our bikes almost ready to leave when dad and Gino show up in a rhino. Gino's guitar wasn't working so they came to get dads guitar, we all poked fun at Karlene. I had Gino take a picture of all of us before they left. When we got to Legends we ordered some Cajun fries and dad came out saying that not much was working in there (the band equipment). The band had to improvise and they did a great job. Tanya the steel drum player went back up and really got it going again, she is really good her drum has such an island feel. We got kicked out at the regular time (whatever that is?) and we weren't ready to quit so we went for a swim when we got home.

Belize 2010_24

Matt was on the water by 9am this morning and we followed suit. He went to the cut to ride the waves and I went up to keep him company. The wind was NE so it took me 5 tacks to get up there, once I was there we rode around for a bit and saw the other two get out so we went back downwind to them. I still don't understand what Matt sees in the waves, I think I need more power. The wind was light and I could see Karlene going downwind towards town and dad following to keep her company. Matt and I stayed around our place as much as we could before my kite started to fall out of the sky. I rode passed him once and he pointed behind him at a huge squall coming our way. I went in and madre' barely caught my kite before it fell on her. Matt was in shortly behind me. We packed up our stuff and the squall moved over us towards the north. There was a bit of a sprinkle but no monsoon rain that I am still waiting for.

We hopped on our bikes to go and help the other two. Matt thought he had seen them go in around the Palapa Bar but there were no kites around. We ended up going all the way to town in our bathing suits. We found them packing up their stuff at BC's. Each of us took something at went to Lily's for lunch. Even though we were only in our bathing suits madre' grabbed her purse just incase, good thinking madre'! Matt and I shared some fish fajitas and dad went to get the boat because he wasn't hungry. When we got home it was nap time by the pool. The boys went out for a sunset session and Karlene and I went into town to do some late afternoon shopping. We were both hungry so we dropped in the Papusaria for a snack. We hit all the good shops and headed home. We all went out to see dads friend Doug do his karaoke night. To bad we were all to tired to make fools of ourselves ;)

Belize 2010_23

Matt, dad, and Karlene decided to do a downwinder into town in pretty light wind. I decided to stay and blog for a little bit. Matt and I got the GoPro hooked to his kite to test it out. Once they were all out the hung around for as long as they could then took off. Madre' said that we needed to go into town to get them and why don't I kite and she'll ride her bike? I figured why not. The wind was still light so I kept in site of madre' on the beach incase I needed to come in. I made it all the way to town by myself not knowing where the fam would be. Before I left madre' and I decided we would meet at Central Park. I could see two kites on the beach right in front of Central Park. Karlene landed my kite and madre' pulled up on her bike. They said they would have waited for me but I made the decision to go out last minute. We all had a good time in the light wind. Karlene had an issue right outside of town by the reef so she had a good refresher course in self rescuing, very well done.

We all had a delicious breakfast at Estel's and dad rode home to get the boat to pick us up. Matt is thinking about getting his captain's licence next year so dad doesn't have to do double duty all the time. As we were waiting we saw two girls on a jet ski high center themselves on a sandbar. They were yelling distance away from where they rented it and the guys were trying to tell them to turn the engine off. All they could do is say "what"? The driver got off and tried to rock the jet ski off the sandbar while the other girl just sat there, pretty funny. Matt and I started to walk over to help when one of the guys at the shop jumped on a jet ski to help them.

I was watching the guys at the jet ski shop and they were hand feeding a pelican and trying to pet its head, really cute. Dad parked the boat on the dock with the jet ski's right outside Estel's and we packed our gear and his to the boat. The jet ski guys said that the pelican was their pet and it even nipped at Karlene's board as she walked by. Karlene said she thought the bird thought it was food and told it to shoo. We still needed some more fish so we went to the buoy outside our place. I ended up breaking my pole so I reeled it in and there was an eel on the end of my hook! It was so creepy, squirming like a snake. Matt had to get the pliers and grab the hook to shake him off because nobody wanted to touch it and we didn't know if we could eat it.

Karlene caught a nice sized grouper that had another hook and bait in its mouth. We figured it must have been the one that just got away from Matt. The sea rays had come by then looking for food. We had to move because they were trying to eat our bait, there was four of them all together. No more action so we went home for fish n' chips.

Belize 2010_22

Yesterday must have been the calm before the storm. A cold front moved into today and it feels like the whole island has its own personal air conditioner from Mother Earth, still no rain though. Matt and I woke up and got ready to go walk the dogs for SAGA, we like the cool days and I think the dogs do to. First stop: coffee. This time James made Matt a smiley face. All the years we've been getting coffee in Seattle we've never seen a smiley face! When we got to the SAGA kennels we saw the little rat looking dog we saw tied up outside the office with the skin problem. Her name is Cynthia and she is 7 months old. Matt took her and I grabbed the two smaller dogs that look like they are related.

Matt practiced a little training on her and she responded really well with sit and stay. Of course the wheels started to turn, faster in my mind I'm sure. Matt stayed at the grocery store with Cynthia while I went back to get another dog. SAGA was only open until noon today so we did as much as we could. When we were done we went to the office and asked Ingrid about Cynthia. Turns out she had no previous owner they just rescued her off the streets, which surprised us because she listened pretty well. We told her that we were interested in adopting her but we would have to do our homework.

Matt and I went to Estels' for a drink until it was time to meet the fam at My Secret Deli for lunch. We talked about what it would take to get her home. I think if she can fit as carry on we could do it but if we had to pay for a plane ticket for her as checked luggage it would be to expensive. Two years ago I researched how much it would cost for Kristah to come down here and it would have cost more than our plane ticket! After lunch we all went to Wings the only department store with the one and only escalator, very fancy ;) Matt found some Crocks that fit, I wanted some to because they were so cheap but didn't find a color that I loved.

Matt, madre' and I took the kayaks out to the reef to get some more fish, we never have enough on fish n' chip night. Dad and Karlene took the hobie out for a cruise. We caught a couple of tiny guys and one I got right through its eye cavity and out through its cheek! I had to have Matt set that one free because it kept making horrible squeaking noises like it was in pain. He got it free no harm done. We were unsuccessful and thought we would try one person paddle and one person fish. That didn't work either so we just floated all the way home with our bait in the water. Still nothing.

We all got ready to go to dinner at Wild Mango's in town, yum. All there meals are gourmet, small and fancy looking but are surprisingly filling. After dinner it was off to Mariano's Arcade for ice cream. When we got there these little girls were trying to get a picture of Sponge Bob Square Pant on their cell phones. Karlene and I helped them out and then Karlene got a picture with him. We went to the Playa Lounge to hear Gino play but he had packed up early because it was slow. The bar had a techno radio station on so we stayed to dance. The parents could only take so much techno so dad suggested we go to Wet Willy's to find some live music. There was no live music there so the parents went home and the kids went all the way south to Jay and Gwynne's hotel Caribbean Villa's to find some music. Nothing. We went through the hotel to go back via the road. When we got to the front it was all locked up and we had to "break out". We were all tired by then and called it a night.

Belize 2010_21

Its going to be about 98 degrees and calm today, perfect for snorkeling and fishing. We drove the boat down to Ak'Bol (a few "blocks" south on the beach) for breakfast. We had couple of friends join us at our feet, trying to find as much shade as possible. I had only ever eaten lunch there, the breakfast was just as delicious. Kirsten (one of the owners) was so pleased with us including Ak'Bol in the article we wrote for The Kiteboarder Magazine that she comped our whole meal. Thanks again Kirsten!

Karlene suggested we get the tube to pull behind the boat today so we went back to the condo to get that and fill up all our waters. Dad wanted to fill the gas tank up before we headed out for the day so it was into town for gas and a few errands. The gas station was so busy, boats coming in and out pretty fast for such a small area to maneuver in. We tied up and the gas attendant gave us the nozzle. It wasn't working so he said to hit it against something. No luck. He tried, no luck. We walked the boat down to the next nozzle. That one didn't work either, I was starting to think they were out of gas! Moved down one more and finally got something. It was taking for ever because there was no pressure. It felt like a half an hour had gone by while we were filling up and the nozzle next to us I think I counted three boats had come and gone! Matt was counting the gallons for dad and dad decided that was enough. He went to get the nozzle out and noticed that the gas was spilling out. The non existent pressure in the nozzle didn't turn it off when it was full. He spent about an hour hand bailing it out from the back of the boat, near the engine.

During this time madre' had sent Karlene to get some potatoes and meet us south at BC's. Madre' and I started to wonder what she was thinking, "did they leave me", "did I go to the wrong dock"? While we were helping dad as much as we could I was people watching. There was a small tour boat that had filled up and the "captain/tour guild" was walking back to his boat and customers after grabbing a couple of beers. He was about two steps away and the boat came untied and started to drift away. The customers on the boat hadn't noticed until it was too late. The tour guild was telling them just put the boat in reverse, well the woman that was trying to do it couldn't get it in gear so this man jumped behind the wheel and put it in reverse. No harm done, pretty damn funny though.

After dad hand bailed about 15 gallons (mostly sea water) out from the back he had to jump in the water. The gas attendants went to the store and bought some soap for dad and Matt so they washed themselves and the boat off. They apologized and said they were getting the pump fixed. Finally we were off, it was like sitting in a sauna with the lovely aroma of gas everywhere as soon as we got going it was like someone turned on the air conditioning and it blew all the stank away.

We got to the dock outside of BC's, there is a bar on the dock that Karlene waved from and gets up from her seat as the same time a man did. Apparently she just happened to run into Gino and they had a beer, so much for us worry about her she was just fine. Matt walked to Sharky's to get some more bait and hooks, Madre' walked to the bank and I walked to the post office. We all met back at the bar on the the dock. Madre' was taking forever and I thought that she might have said "meet back here on the beach" where we split up. It ended up being the line out the door and the bank was so incredibly slow that made her take so long. We all had a coke before we took off and Gino had come back to get some food because the place he walked to was closed. We invited him to come but he needed to eat before his gig at 4pm.

It was about 2pm when we finally got going after all our mishaps. We anchored just north of the cut by our place around some coral. As soon as the engine was off I jumped in to cool off. I put some snorkel stuff on to find the fish. The water was really murky and the current was strong. I couldn't see many fish at all and after they had cast a few times with no bites we packed up and moved south to our ball. There was a boat tied to the buoy so we anchored just south of them. I pumped up the tube and sat in it until someone was done with their pole. We all caught a few small ones and I caught one keeper. We called it a day just before sunset. It was tubing time! Karlene went first and had a riot, then I went and had a riot. We forget how much simple fun tubing is.

It was Karlene's last Friday night so all the kids got ready to go out. While we were getting ready the whole north side of the island had a power cut. Madre' said it was probably from all the air conditioners going today. We could still hear music coming from the big resorts that had their own generators. Karlene and I got ready by headlamp light and it was into town for papusas. We rode our bikes up and down the beach for live music. We came across The Bikini Bar and thought it looked like fun. The waitress looked like a hooker and the guys on stage were all local reggae singers that sounded awful! The waitress got us three chairs on the beach and a drink. Matt was not impressed while all Karlene and I could do was laugh. This place was the lowest of the low but made for a good laugh. After we had finished our drink we moved on to Fido's. This place was packed, could barely find a seat. The music was good but we were all tired and decided to call it a night.

Belize 2010_20

We were supposed to kite up to Mexico Rocks today but the wind as usual was not cooperating. Karlene made us a delicious breakfast and we went out to the pool to get some sun. After a couple of hours we rallied the troops to go snorkeling and fish. Our first stop was Mexico Rocks a perfect day sunny and just a slight breeze. We had a great time snorkeling almost all of us had a camera and Karlene took dads scuba gear.

When we were all done we moved closer to the reef to fish. I had a few bites but never got anything but a snagged line on the coral, just about every cast I threw I had to reline with a weight and hook! We moved down south a bit and Matt was getting a fish almost every cast! We kept five fish total (thanks to Matt) and called it day.We planned on going to the Road Kill for Thursdays Jam night but dad got a message it was canceled. We decided to order pizza and while we waited for it we rode our bikes up to El Pescador for a few games of pool and a drink. Matt played bar tender until someone came to help us. I was coupled with Matt for pool but got really into this Belizian Ring game and had to give my turns up to madre' so I could finish. I got so into the game that everyone left me but Matt. The bartender Antonio helped me and also told me the strategy for next time. On our way home the tide was so high we were pushed off the trail, I rode over something I had to put my foot down and broke my sandle! The pizza made up for it, so yum.

Belize 2010_19

Now that me madre' is home I haven't been keeping up on the blog because she is here and I don't have to write whether or not I had cream in my coffee ;) !!! So I will try and catch up the best I can, anyway if it were me looking at this blog I would be coming back for the pictures. These pictures were taken last Wednesday. We went into town for breakfast, Karlene saw a man on the side of the road and asked him if she could show him her mad skills on the guitar, we got home and the boys got the hobie cat up and running for a sunset cruise, damn that thing can haul!

Belize 2010_18

Finally! The wind is here. Matt new the forecast looked good so we slept in a bit longer. I could hear dad pumping up his kite so we got out of bed. Matt fixed us some cereal and we saw Jay outside our place kiting so we hurried up a bit. I told madre' that we would love to get some pictures if she wanted to and she said yes of course. All the boys were out by the reef so I stayed close to get my 15mins of fame with madre'. I swear it couldn't have been more than 10mins and they were all hogging my camera time!

I was south of our place and I saw Karlene biking home, I hadn't even noticed she wasn't there this morning! I was hoping she would come and join us but she found a seam was coming undone on one of her struts. We all kited for a good long while and dad went in because they had to go into town. Before I went out kiting madre' asked if we wanted to kite into town and they would bring the boat. I told Matt my plan on the water and he told Jay. We started making our way down town, but we stopped off at the Palapa Bar to give them another show. Jay really enjoyed that! When we did get into town I still hadn't seen the boat so we kept going on towards J&G's hotel. We all passed under a couple doing parasailing and we all waved to one another, it was pretty cool looking up at them from the water. The water was so choppy in town we didn't stay long.

We got to Caribbean Villas and it was all show again. It was only us three and a kid on a windsurfer. We got quiet a crowd gathering for us, Jay went in and Gwynne was ready to catch him (even if she wasn't there the kite school Sail Sports Belize is located there so there is always someone there to launch and land). The water outside of their place is almost as flat as ours so that made it that much more fun and easy to show off. After one attempt at a seat belt grab I noticed that one of my bindings screw had come out and it was sliding all over the place. I was tired anyway so I went in. I packed up my gear and Gwynne was a doll and got me an ice cold beer.

Matt had few more minutes on the water and a pretty big whip out and he called it quits. We were all drinking a beer enjoying our downwinder and showing off as I see my dad in the boat. I ran up the dock to help him and we came back for another beer. Dad said the girls were waiting for us at Fido's (a bar/restaurant in town). We all hopped in the boat and drove up there, Karlene had a table waiting for us and madre' was still running around getting her shopping done. Matt and I hadn't planned on going into town as well as we should have because we didn't put any extra clothes in the boat. Good thing Fido's is a beach bar! After we ordered I called The Blue Lotus Restaurant and explained that I had left my water bottle there last night. They put it on the next boat over and I took madre's bike to get it. We had a delicious snapper sandwich, J&G walked home and we walked to get ice cream.

It was still windy when we got home so Matt and I went out for an evening session. I was so tired and not to mention a little tipsy so I told myself that it would be a nice cruising session. Ya, right! The wind was to good to waste so we made it another big air session. Madre' took some pictures but it was getting pretty dark. Her and Matt saw some dolphin, I missed them. We knew we were going to Legends tonight so we went in after about an hour I would guess. All I wanted to do was go to bed but that wasn't happening because J&G were meeting us at Legends for their last night here (tomorrow they are off to the main land for 3 days of exploring). We had some beer and cajun fries with them and then it was time to move into the bar area where the band was set up and already going. The Frat boys were there but didn't make fools out of themselves this time, thank goodness. It was another good and long night and Matt even joined the band drumming for a couple of songs. I was so freaking hungry when we got home at around 1am and I made some fabulous grilled cheese sandwiches then it was off to bed.