Caye Caulker #2

Belize is a beautiful country but not perfect. Even the bike had to be locked up or bits walked off in the night.

This was a fantastic Conch Ceviche I had at a local eatery.

My wife, our friends Kar and Ben just having a good meal in the heat.

This is me and my wife. We were on a trip to see some Mayan ruins.

On the boat ride to see the ruins we stopped at this place to feed the spider monkeys. They came right down and ate chips. They loved salty snacks, not bananas!

Pretty bird

All of us on the boat ride to the ruins, cool wind in my hair.

Can you see the little bats on the tree?

Our guide at the ruins telling us how the Mayans made glue from this fruit.

One of the beautiful ruins (rock piles).

A close up of the handsome mug!

Howler monkeys were in the trees all over, just kickin back.

Ben and Kar on top of the highest point!!

It was HOT!! We took breaks as they came. Here is Kar trying out one of the wive's beds.

These little guys scurried underfoot in the dark, kinda creepy.

This is the view out the window of one of the local eateries, why leave?

The locals utilize every angle. This guy charges to take pics of his pet. Only Ben waited til his head was turned.

This is the view from Ben and Kar's room.

These shells are everywhere. Like rocks at my house.

This was a real nice Italian place. We ate there several times and every meal was great!

This is Ben at Cafe Amore, our favorite breakfast joint.

Just some nameless and beautiful flowers along a lonely dirt road.

Caye Caulker, Belize Part 1

After spending most of the previous year in China and then South Korea, my wife and I needed some island breezes. We spent a couple of sleepless weeks planning the trip and were soon off to the tiny Central American country of Belize. I had been there previously and suspected my wife might enjoy it as I had.

We flew into Belize City from Houston. Then we had two options, hop in a taxi for a 30 minute ride to the water taxi or catch another local flight to the island. The price was right so we flew. this is our first view of the island Caye Caulker.

The flight was about 20 minutes and landing on the island this was the airport we saw. Inside was an air conditioner and cold water, yeah! The caretaker of our lodging (eddy) met us here and took us to town for some groceries.

This is one of several Chinese owned grocers on the island. You can get most anything you need but the prices for some items might surprise you.

Eddy secured a taxi who took us out to our rental. Everywhere we went on the island we either road bikes, walked or used the taxi.

Our room was on the top floor of the 3 story building. The 2nd floor can also be rented if you have a larger group. Here is our first view off the balcony!

I could not resist the temptation to take a pic of my wife with the private cove in the back.

Two hours later we were rewarded with a beautiful sunset. Already we were certain we had made a good decision.

Some joker installed a phone at the end of the island right below our house!

This is the rental we had. It was called The Indigo Pearl. We loved it. Wind and solar power, solar water heater so you better be wary! We had the top floor and loved the place alot-can't wait to return!

One Morning we determined to walk into town for breakfast. This is my wife standing near the trail as we begin our journey.

This is a lot for sale on the island. yours for only $100,000! My pretty wife is not for sale!

Some of the locals are not much to look at. These iguanas are common but run away quickly when pursued.

Two of the many docks on the island. Snorkeling near these docks is great with dozens of fish to be seen everywhere.

I think every tourist destination has a similar tree. if you get homesick it's nice to know how far it is to the house.

If I had a boat......

Can't get enough of those Belizian sunsets!

If you know who to talk to you can find this gem. It is a small cove right in town. The ladies in the house will sell you a dozen mullet for $1.

Now you kneel down and wave a fish over the water. Soon a 60' tarpon that weighs 100 lbs or so will snatch the fish from your hand! there are dozens of fish in this little cove. No Fishing.

Another one. I could spend hours doing this, it was so fun!! A day or two later we went snorkeling in the area and swam in among the tarpon, eerie and exciting!

One of the many picturesque places along the island. After a couple of days by ourselves, our friends were coming in the next day and boy did we have some stuff to show them. Next week I'll continue on with our friends in Belize.

AHHHLASKA!! 2006 Fishing with my girl.

My wife Kathleen and I took a trip to Alaska in 2006 to try our hand at fishing. We hoped to view some mountains, rivers and animals. We rented a place on the Kenai River and did some fishing then took a drive south and did some more fishing. We had an incredible guide who really did us well. Nobody got seasick while fishing but we did get pretty wet one day. We took a drive up to the Russian to look at bears and take a hike-that was scary!

Here's proof.

I think this was just heading out of Anchorage looking south across the inlet.

 I feel compelled to point out every little thing on our trips. Here I am pointing to something I found exciting-no doubt my wife was thrilled!

Heading south almost every thing you see is photo worthy. Just one of MANY snow and ice covered mountain tops.

It's not a zoo, but on the way to the Kenai is a place where you can look at a bunch of animals, really cool. This is a herd of elk in the park.

Black-tail deer. Sitka variety.

I am a big elk hunter from Idaho-No way I could pass a nice photo of a decent bull.

Not the best pic of this caribou. I think we took a dozen pics of this guy and he always had another bull blocking his head!

Eventually you have to leave the animals behind and head on down the road. This is the sign to welcome you as you turn further south.

Our cabin we rented was great! Just a few steps from the world famous Kenai river. Here is Kathleen putting away some of our groceries while I, no doubt, perform manly tasks.

Like fishing!! I tried for a while but the fish weren't biting. Kathleen borrowed my pole and caught a fish the first cast-The bite was on!! So I took the pole back, and fished forever without a bite!

Early morning on the Kenai river.

We'll soon be fishing again, will we get one like this? This is the world record caught right here in Soldotna.

Saw this ol feller fly fishing on one of the dozens of creeks.

We headed out fishing in the shadow of Mordor.

Kathleen and I both caught a limit of halibut in a couple of hours. We can definitely recommend this activity.

Damn Pinks! I'll bet we caught hundreds of them. In the salt water they are good to eat but by the time they get to Soldotna they are turning and most locals use them for dog food.

I'm pretty to look at. That is an ugly fish!

Our guide, Gary, took us up river for some trout fishing for free(ish). Kathleen was pretty proud of this one. 

Now here's why we came to Alaska! Kathleen's first Silver Salmon. I took her a while to 'feel the bite' but she was soon catching tasty salmon fillets.

Some of our take from the trip.

The guys next door. It took them almost an hour to fill their limit. Probably could have been done even quicker if they had less beer.

Did somebody say...BEAR!!! he was interested in Salmon, not us.

There's no place like home..there's no place like home...

A picture adds 100 lbs. And sometime makes you look like a reject from 'The Beverly Hillbillies!'

I caught this one by floating a piece of yarn into his mouth. I filleted him and put him in my pocket. My wife was impressed with my wise choice to place a fish in my pocket in known bear territory.

A little further up the river.

 The Kenai river is mostly made up of glacial melt so it is always this beautiful color. I think that lot across the way is for sale. For a bzillion dollars!

How many thousands of places in Alaska look just a beautiful as this? Millions of thousands.

 I have saved hundreds of dollars sleeping in the airport. At the end of a fantastic fishing trip, even a couple of hours on the stinky floor isn't a downer.

The fishing was great, the fish tasted wonderful.