Too Much Rain

 It's raining again here, and I'm tired of it It's typically a desert in the summertime but this year we are flooding. Very droll.
So here are some nice pics of the private island I stayed at in Belize earlier in the year.

Sunny Day

Been meaning to post this pic for a while. Sunny day in Belize. Clear water, lazy sailboats, pretty much paradise. 

Day 3: Into the Great Beyond

Well, yes I did survive the zip line. Once off the edge, I couldn't slow down, lest I get stalled somewhere in the middle, and I dare not look down, so I just kept my eyes on the rapidly approaching landing pad. I'd estimate I was going about 30 miles an hour across 1/4 mile zip line. About half-way through the experience, I could feel my body start to twist, and only then did real panic set it, last thing I wanted was not to see where I was going, that would be almost as bad as seeing where I was going. But I remembered the training on how to twist back, and ever so slowly I righted myself.

And all too quickly, it was over. I was caught on the other side, inches from a tree, and unhooked from the line, to make way for the others. Lots of screaming going on from the other tourists (or at least I think it was them, might have been me still screaming, not sure) but soon enough we were trekking to our next zip line platform, Shorter and more inclined, but I was ready for that one. By our last zip line I was able to look down and see the trees, people and pool beneath me.

After we landed, it was a quick change from the zip line gear into the cave tubing gear (well, we carried an inner tube with us.) Along the path to the cave, there were many others heading in the opposite direction, completely soaked and grinning from ear to ear.

"How's the water?" I asked.

"Refreshing!" or "Brisk!"

Translation: Freezing cold.

No matter, I'd ensure I was on top of the tube, and not get that wet.

Wrong. By the time the adventure was over, I'd be completely soaked, head to toe in crystal clear water that I"m certain was pumped in from the Arctic Ocean. Brisk and Refreshing were an understatements. I'm pretty sure I saw the Titanic hit yet another iceberg throughout the journey underground. The cave has been there for tens of millions of years, slowly gathering water that filtered in from the ceiling, forming stalagmites and stalactites in all kinds of fascinating shapes. Small bats hung from the ceiling, fast asleep, waiting for the tourists to leave before taking flight to feast off the insects that fluttered about at dusk. 

We wore small mining helmets with feeble headlamps while we floated in this alien world, the weak rays only serving to enhance the shadows that were omnipresent. The sense of claustrophobia was enormous. Fortunately I love tight enclosed spaces so it allowed me a chance to explore with my hands and eyes.

Tiny currents moved us gently toward the end, aided by our flailing about (seriously, ever tried to steer an inner tube while you are sitting on your back? It's a heck of a lot harder than it sounds, and you look ridiculous in the process.)

Just as I'm managed to thaw my extremities, the tour guide brought us on land to show us around and guide us to the next lake. By the time we'd reached the lake, I'd warmed up again and hitting that water froze me solid. Fortunately the lake was smaller, and we could free swim in it is we wanted to.

I was never so glad to get the sun's rays on my body as I had after that experience. I think by now I'm finally warm enough to dump all the layers of clothing I've been wearing since then!    

Day 3: No Pics

So on the third day of my vacation in Belize, I wanted to go zip lining and swim/explore an underground cave. I debated taking my camera along (it's pretty sturdy) but in the end, I opted against it. And of course, it's the one thing I really should have brought. Oh well, I'll do my level best to describe the day.

The day starts, as usual, at 6am. I love Belize because they get almost 12 solid hours of daylight and nighttime. At 6am, the weather is warm and sunny, and will stay that way until nightfall, when it will be slightly less warm, and dark. So when I step out of my hotel room, I know just how the day will be. 

The hotel has a tour van waiting for me, with a few other tourists from Taiwan, who turned out to be very nice. The ride was about 90 minutes, or 1 hour in Belize time (every long ride in Belize is said to take 1 hour), way out to the countryside. Plenty of typical Belize-esque houses, and quite a few abandoned in mid-build. 

The roads typically have "sleeping policemen" every mile or so, which is a Belize term for a speed bump. And a serious speed bump at that. Something that would tear off the suspension of a car if you hit it doing more than, say, 10mph. It's cheaper than running speed traps, and allows the police to do more important things. Beside every sleeping poliemen are people and small stalls selling things, typically fresh fruits. But once we got out well past any towns, the sleeping policemen went away. 

Belize, as you have seen from my other pics, is very flat, and the mountains jut up rather suddenly, and then go flat again, unlike places like the Blue Ridge mountains, which gradually creep up on you. It was a set of the pop-up mountains that our tour group was going to. 

The zip lining area was really nicely set up, tons of tourists there so they had an efficient assembly line process down pretty well. I was pleased to see the equipment was both reasonably new and in good condition. Our group was led by two nice guides, up some very steep stairs. Higher and higher we climbed, all the while the guides were running a detailed conversation on the local flora and fauna, history of the area, and what to expect on the zip line event itself.

Somehow I found myself in the front of the tour group, which meant that I was going to be the first on the zip line.

Did I mention I'm afraid of both heights? Well, no turning back now. I get a solid instruction on how to brake, and twist should I get turned around, and how to land (hint, it wasn't into a tree) and pointed off the edge of a cliff, towards the great beyond on the other side.

So, taking a deep breath and trying not to look down, I step off the edge.

Did I survive? Tune in later to find out!

Day 2: Lamanai

 So after lunch, it's a brisk walk to and through the ruins and surrounding areas. The original city of Lamanai has only been excavated to about 8 percent of original. It's difficult to explain the sense of age and permanence of the structures. When near them, and climbing their stairs to the top, you get a sense that they were built to last forever, and will be here long after mankind is gone. There is also the reminder that at some point in their past, they were used for sacrifices, and enough blood was shed to permanently stain the stonework.

The stairs were steep and built for the ruling caste, who were clearly much taller than my 6' frame, going up the stairs to the top was tiring, and heading back down was only accomplished with the utmost care, and usually in the squatting and scooting motions.

In the next to the last picture here, taken from the top of one of the ziggurats,  you can just barely make out a few people in the middle left of the picture. It was a long way down and I didn't mind one bit taking my time scooting down to get to the ground again. As a possible point of reference the palm trees were about 60 feet tall. We were up over 100 feet in the air, and I could plainly see just how flat most of Belize is, see the last picture for example, we were well above even the tallest trees, looking out past the New River and into the countryside beyond.  Nearly as flat as Texas, but much more interesting (sorry Texas.)

Day 2: Continued

 Continuing up the river, we started to see these snake-like plants all over the trees. Accurately enough, they are called Snake Cactus, and apparently fool the tourists. I was not fooled however! (riiiiight) 

Docking and having lunch, we were greeted by the little lizard fellow below. Known as a Jesus Lizard for its ability to run on water for short periods of time, they are more accurately called a Basilisk, and it's rare to see one with an intact snout. He was kind enough to pose for a picture before running off.

Recap from the trip: Day 2

 So our second day starts right proper and early, off to the New River for jungle exploration and wildlife watching, and then to the Mayan ruin, Lamanai. Along the way we'd see all kinds of exotic birds (who are darned hard to catch in flight with any degree of clarity),  reptiles of all shapes and sizes, strange new plants (I now know where air plants come from), and plenty of mammals, like the wild monkey pictured here. 

We stopped at a midway point and had a traditional lunch of jerked chicken with red beans and rice. I would soon learn I was going to be eating that dish a lot over the vacation. No matter, I loved it.

One of the other things we saw, were people fishing on the river for, well anything they could catch, colourful houses, Mormon enclaves and John McAfee's summer house (for sale for merely 1.25 million US.) Along the way our wonderful tour guide pointed out to us (there were a number of other people on the boat, including some wonderful Canadians, who I took pics of later) the hidden wonders of the river that we traveled. Bats dozing in the sun, termite mounds in trees, cactus plants that looked like tree pythons ready to pounce, and he kept up a steady stream of very bad puns (It's Unbelizeable!)

Recap from the trip: Day 1

 So we arrive in Belize and right off the plane, things are different. For one, there is the old fashioned mobile staircase that attaches to the plane that you walk down. Two, the terminal has a live band playing while you go through the very light customs. A refreshing change from the sullen paranoia that permeates airports in the US.

By the time we got to the hotel, it was about 2pm and according to the desk clerks, Belize kind of shuts down at 5pm, so it's really too late to go out on an excursion into the wilds of the country.

So it's off to the pool instead. Here is where the reality of being in another country sets in, there are parrots flying over squawking at much larger birds of prey (some kind of vulture perhaps. The locals call them "eagles.")
And of course all the palm trees are laden with fresh coconuts. Anyway, here are two shots of the interior courtyard of my hotel. The pool never had anyone in it, so I had it all to myself the entire week. Now that's a vacation!
In addition, the bar that night (I don't drink, but I did visit to check it out) was playing calypso music. Fair enough, but the lyrics of the song were about the movie Terminator.
Sung by a woman who sounded a lot like Sade.

I could get used to this place...

Greetings From Belize!

Greetings to all my visitors from the sunny country of Belize!
I'm here on vacation for a week or so, but if I like the place (and it looks like I'm going to) then I may stay and become a ski instructor ;-)
It's 85 degrees here and about 90% humidity. In other words, just the way I like it. It's around 2.30pm here and the city apparently rolls up around 5pm, so today I'm hanging by the pool at the hotel. Tomorrow is the exploration of the Mayan ruins and river rafting. The day after that I will be doing kayaking and cave tubing.
Will have lots of wonderful pics (I hope) to share with you soon.
In the meantime, I'm turning on the A/C!

At the Old Mill

Along a ridgeline in West Virginia is a series of enormous windmills. According to Wikipedia, there are supposed to be 119 'mills built along several mountain ridges, but where I was, there were only 10 (or so, I didn't keep count)

I tried to line up a shot with multiple 'mills in view but wasn't satisfied with the results, so I went with just this one in the picture, and the results are much more pleasing (to me anyway)

I Promised Some Landscapes

Taken during my vacation in West Virginia. Overlooking a small stream whilst standing on the wooden bridge. Pictures of this area during the summertime can be seen elsewhere on this journal.

I have a 10-20mm lens that I rarely used and considered selling recently, but decided to give it a swing during this trip, in place of my normaly used 17-35mm (which is my go-to lens for landscape work)

I shot mostly at 20mm and I'm pretty happy with the results.

Pulse

Pulsing Xenia to be exact. When the water is still, you can see the flower heads pulse and contract as they filter the water in search of nutrients. Very cool to watch, but they are considered a pest in reef tanks.
That's all the animals for now, the next sets will be of the landscapes and snow.

I See You

One of the major, in my opinion, highlights of the invertibrate house, was their collection of walking sticks, all hanging upside down from a single large plant.

Fantastic creatures, you can see the eye following you wherever you go.

Sweet dreams :-)

Tiger Tiger

Burning bright. Actually this poor kitty had an upset stomach so mostly it (I respect it's privacy) was growling loudly and eating grass, but it did stop long enough to glare for me and look suitably tigerish.

A Rose by Any Other Name

Returning to the aquatic realm, here is a trio of Rose Anemones. Part of another reef tank at the DC Zoo.

Macro lens, bounced flash, and otherwise right from the camera.

Speaking of Lazy

The totally unrelated Red Panda, seen here snoozing at the very early hour of 11am.

Cute looking creature, about the size of a large Racoon.

Laziest Animal Ever

Why anyone still cares about the Panda is beyond me. Here is an animal that refuses to eat properly (bamboo leaves are both non-nutritious and not the panda bear's original diet), and refuses to reproduce without some major external help.

Yet somehow this candidate for the Darwin Awards Gold Medal has become the face of the entire wildlife movement.

Anyway, here it is, doing what it does best, laze around doing nothing.

Still very cute however.

Dangerous Dan

The Mantis Shrimp. One of the most dangerous creatures in the ocean. Also good at solving rubik's cubes (don't believe me? Youtube it)

I kid about the last part (but it is on Youtube) but they are highly intelligent and very very dangerous.

Beautiful plumage, even though that's not nothin' bleedin' to do with it.

Shy this one was, wouldn't come out entirely so this is all you get.

Where there are Lions

There are usually lazy Cheetahs about. Different enclosure of course, but there they were, lazing about in the early morning sun.

Large and In Charge

The lions had a wonderful home but the viewing area was, understandably, elevated and separated by water, thus making eye level photography somewhat difficult.

This fellow, however, wandered up to the water's edge and paused just long enough (no doubt looking at us as a breakfast snack) for me to get one semi good shot.

I'd love to get closer to these magnificent animals, but there's probably a reason they don't let us anywhere near them.