Belize, an Incredible Journey

South Water Caye sunset (photo by Katie Schroth)

While winter in Wisconsin has its own delights, when I saw the announcement of the UWSP Adventure Tours trip to Belize for January 2016, the allure of learning about the Mayan culture and experiencing a warmer climate was too much to resist. I quickly signed up.

I was part of a wonderful group of 19 people who quickly became friends, traveling, laughing, learning and just plain having a great time together. Some of the travelers were in their 20s and one was in his 70s.

Israel & an inquisitive Vern Schroth (photo by Meryl Lee Nelson)

Thanks to the great leadership and organization of Sue Kissinger, our tour leader and interim director of UW-Stevens Point Career Services, we quickly got to know each other and had a great time together. On our last evening together as part of the group’s final gathering, we sang happy birthday to and ate cake in honor of one of our group members.

Belize is a small country with a small population, but the diversity there is truly amazing. Belizeans come from really diverse cultural backgrounds. Our main guide, Israel, who is Mayan, clearly loves his country and his heritage and not only shared a great deal about his life, and the history and heritage of his country, but welcomed and answered any and all questions.

He was proud to share his heritage and over the days we made an impromptu stop at his daughter’s school (for some reason class started late and the kids were in the school yard as we drove past) and met his wife who stopped after her work one evening to say hi to us and enjoy the Garifuna dancers with us.

Central American spider monkey (photo by Kelly Shevy)

Our first couple of days were spent in Orange Walk Towne. Our first night right after a 7 p.m. dinner, we boated down the river looking for wildlife. Spotting and identifying animals and birds in the dark is pretty amazing and our guides were very good at it. The next morning on the boat trip to Lamanai, one of the major cities of the Mayan civilization, we boated on New River again and saw the animals and birds that are active during the day, as well as a couple that we “sighted” the night before.

Lamanai Mayan Temple (photo by Sue Kissinger)

The Lamanai site was so interesting and we were allowed, if we wanted, to climb a number of the ruins.

It was a joy and a privilege to see this beautiful site. Those of us who climbed really felt like intrepid explorers. Our guides shared so much history and were so knowledgeable about wildlife on the river.

The following morning we headed to Crystal Paradise Resort, an eco-lodge in the jungle. The cabanas were comfortable and interesting. We shared ours with at least one friendly gecko that kept the insects at bay, but tended to be a bit noisy at night. Crystal Paradise was our home base for a couple of days. We visited the Belize Zoo and Education Center, which focuses on encountering animals in their natural habitat. We went cave tubing.

Jaguar Paw cave tubing (photo by Corey Fehrmann)

And one afternoon about half of our group canoed and swam at Barton Cave and the very adventurous and physically fit of our group hiked through Actun Tunichil Muknal (ATM cave). Our stay there also included a day trip into Guatemala to see the stunning sights at Tikal. Pictures cannot do justice to Tikal. The site is incredible. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Center and has literally thousands of structures. The center of the city is unbelievable and for anyone interested in the Mayan civilization as must item on your bucket list. Truly stunning!

Tikal Temple (photo by Carl Rasmussen)

Katie Schroth pointing at the Tikal temple complex she just climbed (photo by Meryl Lee Nelson)

It was at the Crystal Paradise resort that our amazing guide Israel found and pointed out a tarantula nest for one of our group members who loves tarantulas (Corey) and was always on the lookout for them! It was very interesting to watch her attempting to lure the tarantula out so I could get a good look. Turns out they are as leery of us as we are of them. It had come out once, but wasn’t being fooled by a shortage of food a second time! Our last night there, a Garifuna dance troop came in the evening (after our Garifuna type dinner) and talked about their culture and danced for us and with us.

The next day, we made a stop at Marie Sharp’s hot sauce factory and then took a boat to our last stop, Pelican Pouch Resort on South Water Caye, to spend a few days and nights relaxing.

Garifuna Drummers & Dancers (photo by Sue Kissinger)

The sunrises were incredible. The sunsets amazing! The weather perfect! We had the island almost to ourselves, with only a couple of other guests around.

Hammocks in the sun, hammocks in the shade, paddle boarding, kayaking, snorkeling, fishing, drinking pina coladas (hubby) or a cold beer (me), and just hanging out and enjoying the wonderful weather…  Need I say more?

On our last evening the staff cooked up the fish our fisher people caught during the afternoon and served them in addition to our shrimp dinner. We enjoyed another Garifuna dance group and again danced with them.  One of our group members spent the afternoon sitting in the breeze resting and putting together a slide show of our time together. She had it playing on repeat so we could view it; we socialized, enjoyed the breezes, embraced the wonderful evening, and then got ready for almost 100-degree temperate change on the return to Wisconsin.

I remember walking back to our cabana, which was the only one with a widow’s walk, and walking up there and sitting and looking at beautiful clear evening sky – our last evening in Belize.

Pelican Beach (photo by Mary Jo Patton)

The next morning we were up early to catch a boat to the mainland and begin the drive to the airport. We needed an early start, road conditions in Belize being what they are. That didn’t deter last-minute shopping, which meant yet more souvenirs. A perfect ending to an incredible nine days!!

Written by Katie Schroth ’70 (2016 Belize Tropical & Mayan Adventure traveler)