After work, I joined my wife and raced to the airport, where after a lengthy trip, arrived in Belize City. They opened the airliner and the humidity was the first thing we met. While the temperature was only about 85, so was the humidity. I loved it. We hit the puddle hopper for a fairly exciting ride and landing at Ambergris Caye. A taxi met us and whisked us off to Xanadu Beach Resort. Outstanding resort on the south side of San Pedro. I loved the layout and the condo was superb. Lots of room to move and a kitchenette so we could spread our gear out and eat meals at our room in the evening. Three days later, a water taxi took us back to Belize City where our guide met us and took us off to Pook's Hill Lodge in the interior of the country. This is a really neat resort, as there are only 11 cabanas, so the maximum population of tourists will be less than 35. There was one other family there when we arrived, so we had the tour guides all to ourselves for the visit. We struck out for two Mayan ruin sites, did some cave tubing, a zip line experience, a cave expedition to a Mayan religious site and a trip to the national zoo. The guides were terrific. The food was even better. The beer was nicely cold. Back to Ambergris Caye, where the Blue Tang Inn gave us a room on the top deck so we could see the ocean above the palm trees. A tropical depression set in for 2 days, which really cooled things nicely. Tons of rain, but it felt great. Had dinner at Carolines' Cookin', a local restaurant that is well worth the visit. The other really nice lunch spot was Elvi's restaurant. We scheduled a snorkeling trip to the Hol Chan Marine Reserve and swam with the stingrays, nurse sharks and turtles. What a great time. To end the visit, we booked ourselves on a sunset catamaran sail and had a very relaxing last evening on the island before returning home. The air was thick, clean, and wonderful to breathe. I could have stayed there forever.
The trip was not only memorable for the amount of animals we saw but also for the people and accommodations at the two camps where we stayed. Our first guide, BK, was a wealth of information about the animals, landscape and down to the plants and what they were used for. Everyday out was a learning experience with him. All the people at the camps were gracious and the food was excellent.
Our second camp in the Okavanga was just as good as the first as far as the staff, accommodations, food and animals. After our experience at the first camp we amazed that the high quality remained the same. Our guide, G, made sure we were able to enjoy every experience including a rush through the bush to witness a cheetah and an ensuing hunt that he heard over his radio.
In both camps there were enough guides out that if they saw something the other guides were informed which helped in seeing as much as possible. It was also nice that the concessions were large enough that we did not have vehicles following each other throughout the day.
Normally there is always something in a trip of this length that we think could be improved upon but this is the rare case where we cannot think of anything. From the time we left the States to when we returned it was one of the most hassle free vacations we took.
Perhaps emphasizing the use of the laundry facilities at the camps would be useful because of the luggage restrictions would be the only thing I can think of as an improvement to future clients.
Kenneth Dropek
1 day ago
Mary was so pleasant and professional. She made sure all of our questions were answered.