Susan Solo – Photographer | Traveler | Adventurer

Tag: Belize

Belize Snapshot

Last year, I started a new tradition of creating a “snapshot” post from our travels with a handful of superlatives and anecdotes to sum up our bigger trips. It’s a fun way to me to reflect back on specific moments, so to continue that tradition here is my Belize snapshot!

Best Moment

On the last day while snorkeling at Mexico Rocks, a super sweet loggerhead turtle played with us in the water for a good ten minutes or so. Every time he came right up to my face or pushed off of me with his flippers, I dissolved into giggles through my snorkel. As someone who has associated the ocean with nightmarish things for so long, it was an awesome feeling to find such joy and positive associations in the water.

Also? (I’m obviously not good at sticking to only one superlative!) Conquering my fear of scuba diving was pretty awesome. I’m so glad I didn’t chicken out even though I came close. I would have really regretted not going through with it, and it actually turned out to be a lot of fun. It doesn’t look like I’m enjoying myself in this photo (or that I’m even alive), but I am.

Worst Moment

The second runner-up for worst moment was when our taxi cab didn’t show up on Day 1 to take us to IAD for our departure flight. We had to jump in my car and drive to the airport (thankfully only 15 minutes away), find parking, catch the shuttle, and get to the terminal.

Oddly enough, the actual worst moment was also flight-related when we were leaving Belize City. We arrived at BZE an hour late thanks to Tropic Air running an hour behind schedule from San Pedro, we were told that our flight had closed, and there were no other flights out that day. I’m usually pretty chill about travel snafus, but this one caused a minor breakdown in the form of tears. At that point I was itchy from bug bites and sore from too much sun and I just longed for a trip to CVS in the States. Thankfully they were able to expedite us through security and customs and we did get on our plane, but it was a stressful moment.

And speaking of bug bites, candidates for the Worst Moment category continued once we were back home. Mid-way through the week on Ambergris Caye, I accumulated a couple of angry-looking bites on my hand after I slacked off with my bug spray regimen. They continued to stay red and painful two weeks later, so I decided they required a trip to the dermatologist. He did a cryotherapy treatment on the site, and I’m in healing mode now. There are some crazy creepy bugs in Central America, so I highly recommend that you pack and diligently use bug spray, people! But just so we’re clear, despite the flight troubles and the ugly red marks on my fingers that still linger as I write this post, I have incredibly fond memories of this trip.

Best Meal

I know I said I was going to get better about taking pictures of my favorite meals, but I failed again. The problem is that I’m not generally one to take a photo of every meal, but then I eat it and I’m like…wow! That was my favorite meal! And all that’s left to photograph is my sad empty plate. Or the paper wrapper and crumbs from my breakfast at Ruby’s Cafe, for example.

I did take a photo of my second favorite meal though. Our dinner at Temple Run Tavern one evening closely followed the two meals I would consider my favorites: an oven-baked snapper at Portofino (resort pictured on the left below) and a wonderfully fresh meal cooked at home by Ernesto’s wife, Samantha, after a day of fishing.

Something We Learned

We learned a lot on this trip: Belize culture, Maya history, how to scuba dive, and the fact that iguanas like tomatoes but not limes.

We’re Thankful We Packed

Chris and I both bought new fins since the (cheap) ones we were using on previous trips hurt our feet after snorkeling for a while in them. Before we left for Belize, we hit up our local dive shop for some properly fitted fins and it made a huge difference in comfort especially since we did a few longish swims. We used the fins daily, so it was a good purchase even though they took up a huge amount of space in our luggage. If someone could invent lightweight, foldable, packable fins while keeping the comfort and function of regular fins, they’d make a pretty penny for sure.

Oh and I’m always happy to have my rash guards with me on beach trips. I specifically love the Pacifica UPF line from Athleta.

We Didn’t Need To Bring

We probably could have packed less clothing since most days we lived in our swimsuits. Despite many beach-y trips under our belts, sometimes I forget that the vibe of island-life is always incredibly simple, and I end up overpacking. No one cares if I repeat a t-shirt during the week, or which pair of flip-flops I wear with dresses vs. shorts. At least this time I decided not to pack a dressy pair of sandals in addition to flip-flops. Most places didn’t even require shoes.

I also brought a few GoPro accessories that I didn’t end up using. Before we left for Belize, I had pretty serious ambitions for getting all Spielberg with some creative videography techniques, but I didn’t end up using any of the tools I packed other than the Bobber to hold my GoPro steady (or at least steadier) underwater. I’m pretty pleased with the resulting video even sans gadgets.

Trip Regrets

I really (really really) wish we had stopped by Caye Caulker. I hear so many wonderful things about how laid-back and colorful it is, and I think we would have enjoyed spending a day there. Our schedule ended up being fairly packed though, and the idea of one more excursion felt too busy to both of us. So we’ll just have to go back!

Reasons To Go Back

See Trip Regrets above! I’d love to see Caye Caulker, and I also didn’t get to eat a fry jack. Chris had one for breakfast on our way to Lamanai, but I chose the smaller portioned johnny cakes so as not to fill my belly too much before two boat trips and a 45-minute van ride. I passed at the opportunity to even try a bite of the fry jack, and then the day we went back into San Pedro to get them again they were all out! Bummer.

Favorite Photos

Chris and I both love this first one, and then Chris’s other favorite is the spotted eagle ray below. My absolute favorite photo from the trip is the last image of our sweet turtle friend getting chummy with me while Chris is in the background.

May 4, 2015
Photo Friday – Jack

Today’s post is short and sweet, and I’ll start by pointing out that it’s not even a photo that I took. Chris captured this portrait of sweet Jack, the spider monkey we met in Belize on a tour of Lamanai. He lives along the New River, and appreciates a banana hand-out every now and then. (Jack, not Chris, in case that wasn’t clear.)

May 1, 2015
Photo Friday – Early Worm

The understatement of the year would be to say that I’m not a morning person. I’ve attempted on various occasions to adjust my daily routine to incorporate earlier hours, but I have never been one to spring out of bed in the morning all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. During our time in Belize I never quite adjusted to the two-hour time difference, so I woke up every morning earlier than I do on a typical weekday at home. It worked out well because that jet lag made it fairly easy to get up at 4:45am Monday morning to visit Lamanai.

Our journey started at 5:15am when we took the boat from the villa to San Pedro in order to catch a water taxi to Belize City, and then a van to Orange Walk. In that time, I was able to grab the sunrise photo below. It’s something I’m rarely awake to see, especially on vacation. The early worm gets the photo in this case!

April 24, 2015
Moving Pictures: Belize

In addition to improving my underwater photography skills, videography currently sits at the top of my creative goals list. Put a still camera in my hands, and I feel comfortable in most photography situations. In contrast, I pretty much have no idea what I’m doing as soon as I flip the video mode switch on my cameras. Sure, a few basics from photography spill over into videography like composition, exposure, and focus. I at least know to try and hold the camera as still as possible (a tricky feat underwater!) and when I can’t hold still, it’s best to use a stabilizer like a tripod. Frame rates, codecs, and audio bit depth, however, are all a mystery to me at this point. Video editing is also a whole other ball of wax. Whether I have the skills and knowledge or not, I do enjoy putting together videos of our travels as of late even if I feel like a total newbie.

An example of my noob-ness at videography: I didn’t realize I needed to film at the same frame rate when using multiple cameras for one project. How is one supposed to know that anyway? I noticed a couple of my clips looked a bit different than the rest, and after some time on Google I learned that nugget of info about different frame rates. So mistake-by-mistake, hopefully I will learn enough to get as comfortable with video as I am with still photography since that’s mainly how I taught myself to use an SLR – practice, reading, researching, and learning from my mistakes.

Here’s a little film I put together with clips from our Belize adventures.

Belize 2015 from Susan Marks on Vimeo.

April 22, 2015
A Tiny Slice of San Pedro

One of my takeaways from Belize is something I suspected I’d be able to confirm on this trip: I prefer to roam around on my own schedule, and I crave control over my local transportation (e.g., having a rental car if things aren’t within walking distance). I still definitely love staying in a more remote location or at least away from the main crowds, but I enjoy randomly going into town whenever we feel like it, trying lots of new restaurants, and getting lost and exploring on our own. Since we stayed on Ambergris Caye at a villa situated several miles north of San Pedro beyond the paved roads, our main option for getting around was by boat. It was actually such a fun change and we appreciated a break from navigating, but we didn’t spend as much time looking around the town as we usually do since we couldn’t hop in a car and go. Ernesto graciously provided us with plenty of opportunities to go anywhere we’d like though. We just chose to spend most of our time in and on the water, thus we didn’t get to know San Pedro on an intimate level. The trade-off was that in staying at the villa we chose, we had our own personal guide and ended up with some awesomely private tours of touristy locations that made us feel completely spoiled, so I’m not complaining one tiny bit.

Plus we did poke around bits of San Pedro so I don’t feel like we missed it entirely. We did our initial grocery shopping trip when we arrived, and one morning we savored a delicious takeaway breakfast from Ruby’s Cafe on the way to Lamanai. We also returned to town for our scuba class, for more groceries, and an ATM run. So in those few brief moments, I snapped a handful of photos to show you a small sliver of the character and colors in San Pedro. (All of these were taken with the Canon PowerShot D30 waterproof camera. It’s not a bad little point-and-shoot.)

A few of our meals were spent at restaurants walkable from the house rather than in the heart of town. We frequented the bar at the resort next door, X’Tan Ha, a couple times for drinks. Who can resist a grass-thatched hut right on the water with hilarious warnings on the menu?

And one final thought – as much as we had fun on Ambergris Caye, I regret not trying harder to get to the little island south of us called Caye Caulker. We docked there briefly on the way to Belize City when we toured Lamanai, but we only had a glimpse of what I hear is a very charming, laid-back isle. It was an option to visit Caye Caulker via Ernesto’s trip list, but we simply ran out of time. We’ll just have to put it on our must-do list for next time. I’d like to find out what this pee sign is about (or maybe not).

April 20, 2015