The Nature Resort Lodge, is right next to the Community Baboon Sanctuary. It is perfectly understandable if a visitor is inclined to assume they are the same. The folks all know each other, and many of them are family members. The separate institutions offer the exact same services at the exact same price. From what we can tell, and loosely confirmed by a local villager, there is a rivalry between the two places and the family members.

The Nature Resort Lodge features cabanas built on the land of Dr. Young’s family. To get to the cabana, you have to slosh through wet grass, some mud, and cross a line of cinder blocks known London Bridge. The room is more in line with the type of places we usually stay in. It’s basic, small, has a squeaky bed, small bathroom, no tv, but does have an ambiance-killing flourescent lighting. Thankfully, the room does have air conditioning. The previous occupants of the room, however, probably didn’t figure out the point of the a/c. Ubiquitous bug guts on the walls that seem to be the only decor. At $50 a night, it’s considered somewhat of a bargain. Meals are cooked on premises by a kind lady named Gloria. The food is as simple as the room. Hard bread, canned beans, a small portion of rice, and a little bit of chicken. Hey, it’s BZ$5 and fills us up.

There is a small refridgerator, a coffeemaker, and instant coffee in the room, but no drinking water. When we asked Gloria if they had any, she directed us to the local Chinese grocer down the road. We’re precious, she tells us. We have to drink purified water, while they are perfectly content drinking rain water. If that is all that makes me precious, then yes… we are very precious.

Besides the hiking, monkey viewings, and canoe trips, there is nothing to do. If it weren’t so humid outside, I would have loved just sitting on the deck chairs outside relaxing or reading. During the dinner, we asked Gloria what people did for fun in Bermudian Village. She responded with a laugh. Is there a bar? Another laugh. What do you do at night? More laughter. This is it she informs us. Armed with this information, I polished my arms and legs with Deet, and sat on the deck with Karen enjoying the sounds of raindrops hitting the roof of the deck.

The village is the complete opposite of the Ambergris Caye. Bermudian Village is Belize. Here, we are the only tourists. Even if we had the cash, there’s nowhere to spend it.

One week is more than enough time to spend in Ambergris Caye. In fact, 4 or 5 days would have ben sufficient. There aren’t many activities besides the pricey watersports that will keep you entertained. The beaches are somewhat disappointing with all the seagrass washing up ashore. Bettina left us this morning to head back home before embarking on an Alaskan adventure next week. We, on the other hand, will spend the next couple of days on the mainland in Bermudian Landing, where we will stay at the Community Baboon Sanctuary.

Bermudian Landing village is a mere 45 minutes outside Belize City. However, it took us about 3 hours to get there. Dr. Roy Young who runs the Nature Resort Lodge next to the CBS was to pick us up at the airport. The idea of holding up a sign with our names at the arrival halls never entered the brilliant mind of this Cornell educated PhD. We did notice him before, and did suspect that he was Dr. Young, but there wasn’t any indication of who he was. So we sat, and waited, and waited, and waited, and called him on our phones to see where he was. The number we had was for the Lodge, which always had a busy signal. We finally found his cell number, and phoned him. Turns out he was at the airport and “didn’t see us.” How the hell was he supposed to know who we were? He was already on his way out of the airport. I told him we were at the domestic arrival hall. Somehow he mistaken that to mean the domestic airstrip in Belize. Again, this is a Cornell PhD I’m talking about.

Another hour passed, we’re starving, tired, and Bettina is probably in Miami waiting for her connecting flight. He finally shows up 2 and a half hours later in his gold colored Trooper. He’s a pretty nice, quiet man, and probably the only person in all of Belize not wearing an old t-shirt with shorts and sandals.

We decided yesterday to rent a golf cart to explore the island on our own. The cart does a neckbreaking 5mph, but I think some carts do go faster. Island Adventures probably stock the slower ones for the tourists. Once all the paperwork was signed, and handed the keys, we headed to the north island for the new butterfly jungle exhibit located at the lush Rendez-vous Resort. The north island is where all the swanky joints are, but you’d never have guessed that was the case at first glance. After we paid the BZE$5 toll to cross the bridge, it was nothing but constuction sites, ditches, and mosquito breeding grounds. Bettina wisely applied an extra coat of deet. Once we passed all this, the mansions and the luxury condos, and new resorts start coming in view. It looks like a building craze up there with all the construction sites. The resorts, though, do seem out of place. Behind all their beachviews is the lagoon that resembles swampland. Stillwater is everywhere, and with that mosquitoes.

Bettina was driving, so I got to be chauffered around in the reversed backseat taking photos of all the decrepit buildings. I also got splashed with mud from all those ditches in the road. The speed demon cart did get stuck a couple of times. Being the lone male in the group, I had to jump in the sludge and push the cart out while Bettina put the pedal to the metal. The carts were so light that I can push with one arm. My herculean strength came in handy one night when we had to squeeze in a tight space. I got out of the cart and pushed the cart behind us out of the way. Voila… instant parking. Too bad I can’t do that back home with cars.

The butterfly exhibit was pretty neat. We didn’t stay for the butterfly dance because we had a free wine tasting to attend. I’m not a wine connoisseur, nor am I a big fan of wine, so can’t really tell if they were any good. Afterwards, we zoomed back down the muddy road of the north island back to San Pedro, stopped at DandE’S for custard, then gassed the cart over to the area of the lagoon where some local 14 year old boy feed, pets, and kisses an old lady crocodile. He’s a legend we hear, but the secret is that he actually raised the croc.

After declining the offer to kiss the croc, I took the keys and headed further south to see more of Ambergris. Like the north, new resorts and condos are all under construction. I came across a fork in the road with a sign pointing straight for Dump or left for Beach. Left was definitely the option as it allowed us to drive along the coast. The sun was setting and stomachs were growling so we turned around to head back to our cabanas. On the way back, we saw two cute dogs hanging out and I whistled to call them over. One immediately barked at us and began to chase after us in the speedster. Mind you, we were close to the ground, and there are no doors on golf carts. I floored the accelerator to the max 5mph with Cujo foaming at the mouth, and showing his chompers, running about 3 feet from the cart. I figured if he was going to try to get even close, I would have no choice but to slam the cart against the rabid dog and send him to doggie hell.

San Pedro in Ambergris Caye is a bit like any other seaside town. Pricey restaurants with t-shirts and souvenir shops dot the main drag. Unlike other seaside towns, everything is locally owned or expat owned.

It’s lobster season right now. In fact, we missed the lobsterfest and the crowning of Miss Lobster Fest 2006. The finer joints in town charge NY prices for the lobsters and they don’t even cook it well enough to justify the prices. In typical Jonathan & Karen fashion, we seek out the mom and pop joint in a little shack that charge about half the price, but tastes twice as good. One such joint is Warguma (sp?) on the middle road. It’s easy to get pass it as it’s just a tiny little shack with only two tables. The owners hardly speak any english, which allowed us some spanish practice in ordering a lobster burrito and a fried snapper. The total was around $15 for the both of us. Cheap by AC standards.

Reef Restaurant across the street from tourist-filled Caramba is a good standby. While there is no air-conditioning, there are ample fans to keep you cool. You can also order an iced cold Beliken, among other drinks, to cool you down. It tries a bit too hard to cater to the tourists. The decor is completely overdone with giant seashells on all the walls. The flourescent lighting also makes you notice the white sand all over the floor. The food at pretty good prices makes up for it’s over the top cheesiness. What’s great about Reef is that it’s a place the locals go to for a nice dinner.

Ruby’s and Celi’s are great local delis/bakeries/snack shops. The locals swear by Ruby’s Johnny Cakes. Though, I have yet to have one, I think Celi’s version is pretty good as well. Either one of these are great for budget eats. Plus, there are also the small shacks by Jaguar Temple that are excellent choices.

The other joints we’ve eaten were all tourist restaurants. Caramba and Fidos were all really comfortable, clean, atmospheric, but the food was absolutely forgettable. The Fidos next the Royal Caribbean Resort has the great beach views. Once you dig into the food, you will quickly realize that your cash is paying for the views. I’ve eaten better at the CUNY cafeteria during my lunch break. The lobster burrito is wrapped in a cardboard thick tortilla while the lobster meat lacked any resemblance of lobster. I could have been served an imitation crab stick and would’ve probably enjoyed that much, much better.

Tonight, we’re headed for either Papi’s, another mom and pop shop, or the big bad Elvi’s for their Mayan buffet.

First things first. Happy Independence Day to folks back home. I’m celebrating the independence of my country by taking a holiday from it. And oh yeah, go Takeru Kobayashi!

I’ve been in Belize for two days now, and yes, those pesky mosquitos have been feasting on me. Bite Blocker seems only to work during day light hours or when there are less mozzies around. It’s totally fine when I’m soaking up sun on the beach or drinking at the bar. Moz’s do swarm around me, but they don’t bite. Ok, maybe one bite. But that’s it. Come night time, forget about it. Bite Blocker just doesn’t work for me. That’s when the Deet comes in. The 3M Bug Repellent does wonders. The bugs do come but they flee immediately. Gotta love that. The air conditioning in the room keeps the bugs away when I’m asleep, so no complaints there.

I am traveling with Bettina who is also a feast for the mozzies. Perhaps her presence is diverting some of the attention from my juicy skin.

The day finally came for us to head for Belize. After some drama and worries about the weather down in Placencia, Karen, Bettina, and I made some last minute changes to our itinerary. Tasha & Glen cancelled, but we’re headed to Ambergis Caye instead of rain soaked Placencia.

My “free” ticket forced us to leave a day early, and thus having to stay a night in ghetto ass Miami with some ghetto ass guests at the ghetto ass Days Inn by the airport. It was just a night, so it didn’t bother me at all. I certainly wouldn’t make the Days Inn be my base in Miami.

So far it hasn’t rained, which is a pleasant surprise. Today was just spend laying on the beach, swimming in the pool, and just soaking up the sun. Who knows? It could be pouring buckets tomorrow.