#secondchildhood

[roadjanus]

Main square in Krakow. Easter market there...and comparable to the Christmas market we were told. Very colourful. Eggs everywhere. There is beautiful architecture everywhere. So sad that it was cold and rainy when we were there!

[roadjanus]

Lunch at Ramallah, city knock off, Arafat’s tomb, at Jericho, Banksy Wall between Israel and the West Bank.

[ccurrywright]

Going to watch the whole series this weekend including M.I.B. International. Haven't seen the last one, yet. @mairealty #secondchildhood #mib #mibinternational #willsmith #tommyleejones https://www.instagram.com/p/CoMRJc3unuH/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[roadjanus]

March 13. Reflections. Roatan sits more or less on an east-west axis. It is very narrow so you are actually on the north side or the south side of the island. The main tourist sites are on the western end of the island (West Bay and West End) and on the south side at French Harbour. When we first came to the island we stayed at the eastern end of the island. It is much less populated by tourists although there is a lot of building by foreigners. The island is heavily populated with foreigners’ winter homes that actually look very empty right now, but the big American chains are not here. apparently it is because the price of power here is so exorbitant. They are moving into solar power in a big way so that might signal a change shortly. The resorts are, for the most part, old, in need of a refurbishment, but placed on the most incredible white sand beaches. Some of the resorts have done an update and are very busy. Paradise Beach resort has been redone and we sat on their deck/restaurant. VEry busy. Infinity Bay has also had an update. But, for example, Sea Grape has a beautiful location but hasn’t updated for 20 years. Sea Grape also is on a black coral beach. There are black coral beaches along the north side of West End. The coral is dead, but it provides a buffer zone for high water and waves. The resorts build a deck across this coral to the sand which is a bit further out. Yellow sand beaches, like Sandy Bay, are interspersed with the black coral beaches. Anthony’s Cay is the premier resort along the north side. It has wonderful cabins actually out on the water. They also have the dolphins, a big dive Center, a museum, and various other attractions. Lawson’s Rock is a huge condominium complex on the north side which sells and rents condos. It has a lovely sand beach and each condo has its own pool. Decadent.

The reef is very close to the island. It encircles the island and any boat can pop out there. A good swimmer could swim there without too much trouble. Straight out from West End is the part of the reef called the Blue Channel and it is there we saw the most beautiful coral and the most fish while snorkeling. West Bay is home to the most beautiful beaches. People walk out from the resorts to snorkel on the reef. It is an incredible place. We went on the glass submarine boat which gave us a very good view of the coral and fish out from Foster’s Resort (an old and decrepit resort on the most gorgeous beach). We drove most of the north side, all the way to Palmetto Resort on Palmetto Bay. White sand beach dotted with palms. Hardly any people.

We stayed, after escaping from the east end, in a brand new house in the jungle very near West End. I think we were maybe the first residents. It was nice and very clean but echoed because there were no rugs and a tile floor. There were original art works, mostly nudes, all over the walls. Well. Interesting. But it was all good. It was here that the Man and I were sick. Bestie and her man were sick …Bestie on the mainland, then 3 days later, her Man, then 3 days later my Man, then 3 days later me. Some sort of bug. Violently ill one night, then 2 days of lethargy and such tiredness. Then an off and on sickness. We seem to be brewing something. Not terrible, just irritating.

South side, by French Harbour. We drove through this poor village many times as the main road goes directly through it. Eventually we spent the last week at Clarion Pineapple Villas. It is a condo complex. Very North American. Large condos. We have a 1400sq ft. 2 bedroom condo. Beautiful pool with waterfalls. Great restaurant. Security at the gate. We can see the ocean and if it is clear enough we can see the mainland. Misty. But there. From our hotel we can go out to Little French Cay which they advertise as their beach. A tiny little island with the most perfect white sand beach with palms. You pay a fee to go there. Lounge chairs and hammocks are there. Restaurants, showers etc. It is apparently the number 1 excursion from the cruise ships. And I can see why. They come in for a day. We went snorkelling but it was very wavy…woah! Such swells! Honest to God. The most beautiful water. Crystal clear. Even the swells do not impede your view. The snorkelling was OK. Coral was great but we did feel the coral was perhaps not in as good shape as on the other side. Not as many fish. But still fantastic.

But here’s the down side. As we were enjoying the beach, all of a sudden we realized we were being eaten by sand flies (midges). Now we had encountered these little fiends at Placencia where they kept us from the deck in the mornings they were so vicious. Bestie’s man and I were the most tasty and I have suffered for 2 days with those little crazy itchy bites. Bestie had coconut oil on and did not get as many bites. We actually bought the oil for that purpose when we were in Placencia. Lots of antihistamines, anti itch cream, bio-freeze, you name it, we tried it. 3 days in I can now stand myself again and I slept well. I don’t know how to repel them…and I am not alone. Some say DEET, but it didn’t work for me! coconut oil is the best best so far!

[roadjanus]

Guatemalan truck taxi.Banana store on roadside. Cicadas. Mushrooms at Yaxha. Top of Yaxha temple Laundry day at the river. Cute kids are everywhere

[roadjanus]

Friday. We are off to our big snorkelling and fishing day. WE booked with Akeem (also through Jack, at Flowers Management). I hav to say I don’t think he was a Gold Standard Tour Guide. Sure hope everyone was healthy! A fibreglass 30’ boat with a pretty big motor. We did skip along and we found ourselves out at Moko Caye. A beautiful island with white soft sand and palm trees everywhere. Troy, the cook, was with us and promised to make us a lunch of fish and chicken. Kareem was the captain of the boat and also the guide for snorkelling. Off we went. Bestie and I and Kareem swam off the Caye into the corals. I have to say that I never saw so much coral. It was mostly a golden brown with splashes of purple or yellow here and there. Great forests of coral, like trees and underbrush and rocks, boulders and pebbles. Little multi=coloured fish dart from hiding places, which abound in this environment. Some fish are bright blue, with yellow stripes, some are a blue-green with yellow eyes. Some have a checkered body with an orange belly. Kareem told us that the problem with the coral is that a seaweed is growing over it…indicating too much sunlight. The seaweed keeps the sun from reaching the corals and they are dying. Parrotfish eat the coral, so it is illegal to fish for parrotfish. The health of the sea and therefore the corals is very complicated. Water is too warm, water is too acid, too much algae bloom, the list goes on and on. Coral is actually a construction of little animals that build up a calcified home for themselves. The animals come out to feed at night. The tiny little calcium construction is the coral we see. So beautiful. One of the most dangerous things for coral is sunscreen with certain ingredients. Amazingly, I believe that my Wal-Mart brand sun screen is good.

There are problems here for sure. No cautions about sun screen. Tours don’t even mention it. The people always choose money making over the environmental impact. Well, who can blame them…their children have to eat. Poverty pushes people towards actions that we in affluent nations decry. I do wonder though who owns the tour companies and tour boats. It is not the poor people and they charge a good dollar for all tours. Quite a bit more than I expected. Maybe 2 years and Covid has changed the price structure of the tourist trade. I don’t know. But if the tours can be sold at such an inflated rate, then maybe they can have more care for the land and the sea. What a complicated problem. I can see that there are some efforts being made by government. For example, we met some men who were collecting and counting flies (of all things) which they say are invading from another country and damaging the fruit and produce in Belize. They are monitoring the influx of these flies so they can get ahead of them before they destroy the agriculture industry. And, our guide Kareem told us that there is no fishing in the National Marine Park, which is a huge area of ocean just out from Placencia. I asked if we couldn’t fish there because we needed a permit and he said no. There was absolutely no fishing. It seems there are many questions here, and few answers.

[roadjanus]

Sunday…We now have a golf cart. I actually missed our golf cart that we had at Gleniffer Lake, so this is a treat. We headed out to explore and saw the village Main Street which is just for walking. Checked out the fishermen who were cleaning their catch at the beach and ate dinner at Omar’s, apparently the best Belizean foot around. I had conch in a very tasty vegetable sauce. Bestie had crab which she had to wrestle to submission and The man had fish and chips with homemade fries. VEry good. Bestie’s man had a creole fish concoction. The men had snook as the fish of the day…never heard of that before but it’s good. And for dessert…key lime pie. Excellent crust. Very good custard filling. Overall, a 10.

Monday. Met with our property manager. He also acts as a tour guide and general factotum . Ask and he shall figure it out for you. He is arranging a snorkeling/fishing tour, a transport to San Ignacio and various other things. Then we hopped on our cart and drove the 12 km to Maya Beach. There we lunched at the Maya Beach Bistro. It was delish. I had a curry, coconut rice with shrimp and fried bananas. So good. The rest of those characters had fish and chips. WTH? On the way home we stopped at the biggest grocery we could find. These groceries are full on department stores with all the little things you could ever need. A general store. We found yoga mats and bought a couple to aid in our exercise routine.

Tuesday. Bestie and I hauled the heaviest kayak ever to the canal and paddled our way through the canals that front the property. We weren’t quite brave enough to go out into the ocean or lagoon, but we had fun anyway. There are miles of canals. Water is green , liquid green. Tomorrow we’ll be braver. The temperature is about 26C. Bit of a breeze. Right now we’re sitting on the roof deck gazing out at the ocean and palm trees. What could be better. Bestie’s man is fishing. Maybe he’ll catch supper. If now we’ll go down the street and find some. What a relaxed lifestyle. Covid is on the rise here, but we are alone. Everyone wears masks on the street and in the restaurants. (Back in Canada: Heard our little grandson has not developed the disease from his close contact. ). All good.

At the restaurant at Maya Beach. Darth Vader has lunch with us. Menus were on iPads.

Above, Main Street in Placencia and our little boat that takes us across the canal. The tourist trade is down here. There are many, many places for sale. We hear that it is very hard to transfer title here as the government is so inefficient. Terrible bureaucracy. Restaurants are empty. Beach on ocean side is empty. For miles. That must be very hard on the people. Prices are comparable to ours at home. Dinner yesterday was about 50 Canadian. But it was good. It is totally quiet everywhere you go. Read today that shortly tourists entering Belize will have to buy insurance for quarantine. I wish they would have had that when I pulled in.

[ginakent]

Got walkie talkies for me and Niyah. The original cell phone 🤣 #LimaCharlie #OverAndOut #FamilyFun #Laughter #SecondChildhood #OnlyChildLife #MommyDaughterMoments https://www.instagram.com/p/B7mbqEoh_G9/?igshid=1cvalpm616emy