Belize - Jungle (Part 1)

We had 2 Southwest companion passes this year so I really was keen to use them on more exotic destinations and settled on Belize for Thanksgiving week. But when the flights opened up, the cheapest fares went super fast so I ended up with the fully refundable fare. Sigh. So am not sure I ended up with the cheapest option but at least baggage was free.

Saturday:

The flights connected through Denver so before the trip, I started to worry that the 55 minute connection was going to be way too short. I talked to the airline beforehand who told me the gates should be close by and if we made sure to sit near the front, then we should have enough time. I realized that there was one way I could make sure to get front seating so I upgraded all of us to earlybird checkin. When we got to Denver to connect, I was super happy to have it because it turned out there were tons of families in the family boarding group and we managed to squeeze in before them and were easily able to get seats together. Also on this leg, for some reason both kids wanted to sit with Charles so I suddenly had a ton of time on my hands. Unfortunately, our departure from Denver ended up getting 2 hour delayed - we even had to go back to the gate at one point since all the delays resulted in the plane getting iced over (remember it was Nov!) so we had to go back to get de-iced which was kind of crazy.

The one thing about long flights on Southwest was the lack of food options. Also since our connection was so short, we also didn't have time to buy any food. Charles had some bakery items with him and I bought some packaged fruit/cracker boxes for the kids from Safeway. For myself, I brought salami, cucumbers, crackers, and cheese. The kids didn't eat much of their items but they had a lot of other snacks to tide themselves over. Another mom and her 5 yo kid sat next to me in my row and I was impressed with how much stuff she had prepared for her kid. The kid had a bag full of stuffed animals, toys, and activity books. My kids just had tablets in front of them.

Cave Tubing

Upon arrival, we were met at baggage claim by our driver from Caves Branch. We had paid for the all-inclusive package which includes all meals and though we got in super late, they had 4 plates of dinner held for us which was super appreciated. Then we walked in the pitch darkness up many flights of stairs to our tree top lodge. I had opted for the canopy view treehouse and it was truly as amazing as I imagined. It had a nice bunk bed which was perfect for the kids. Our all inclusive package also included excursions so we had to decide during dinner what tour to do the next day. They recommended cave tubing but I was kind of confused about how to dress because they recommended tennis shoes and long pants.

Sunday:

Luckily at breakfast the next morning, the actual tour guide said the kids should wear swimsuits but to my horror when I was getting Christopher ready, I realized the new water shoes I brought for christopher were both for the left foot (I had bought 2 different sizes meaning to return one). And his only other shoes were flip flops. So he had to wear his tennis shoes. For me, I wore these super old shoes that I used to wear for dragonboating though I had socks as well for some reason. Then I opted to not wear a swimsuit myself (this was a terrible mistake) and just wear dri fit shirt and pants. Charles made a worse choice of wearing his tennis shoes even though he had packed water shoes. Hannah was the only one truly properly attired in swimsuit and mesh water shoes.

We rode a massive jeep to the river and then they gave us the tubes and that's when I realized we were essentially going to be in the water. Even though we sat in these inner tubes, our butts were just in the water and same with our shoes. Then we had to paddle upstream. The kids got life jackets and just got pulled along by the guides for the ride. Once we were in the cave though, it was amazing. We had headlamps and there were bats and lots of cool mayan ruins. At one point, christopher had to pee and one of the guides took him off to a corner to do his business. It started raining on the way back downriver and continued all afternoon - it turned out it was good we did the tour this day because the river rose so high that all subsequent caving tours had to be cancelled.

When we got back to our room, we immediately headed to hot showers and attempted to dry off our gear. But humidity was so high - nothing dried here! We tried really hard though. Dinner at the lodge was an experience - we were assigned a table and got to meet other guests every night. There were 3 courses every night and the food was amazing. Unfortunately, there were also a lot of bugs since it was the jungle and it was all outdoor (though covered) dining. The restaurant was also the only place that had wifi so that's when we tried to download all our mail.

Hiking the ruins in the rain

The rain continued throughout the night as well. It was the loudest rainstorm I had ever encountered - probably the sheer amount of rain combined with being in a treehouse. It was so loud that I could barely hear myself.

Monday:

On this day, we opted for the mayan ruins tour. There was a bit of a mishap in their counting of the number of people who opted into this tour so they moved us into a truck with another guide. The kids didn't have boosters or anything which made me feel slightly uneasy but I figured it would be silly to run back and try to grab their booster. As a result of us getting our own ride to the ruins, it turned out that we had our own private tour too. The driver was our tour guide and basically told us we didn't have to wait for the other shuttle to get there. What was great was that he helped the kids go up and down the steps since it was still rainy and wet which helped us relax and enjoy the area more.

Guide helping Christopher go down a super steep section.

Tuesday:

The jaguar

On this day, we split up. Charles convinced Hannah to do the Black Hole Drop tour though she really wanted to go to the zoo and ziplining with me and Christopher. I imagine she would have enjoyed that more but The Black Hole tour was included in our all inclusive and sounded super exciting whereas Zoo/Ziplining cost a little extra. Also the Black Hole tour actually said minimum age 10 but these enforcements actually was not strictly enforced since Hannah was only 7. They said it was up to us and the concern was mostly if she could do the hike to the top.

So Christopher and I went to the zoo first and it was raining but they gave us all umbrellas which made it bearable. I also signed us up for the jaguar encounter not really knowing what would be involved. Christopher started getting really scared at the last minute but I made him go anyways and it turned out okay. We basically sat inside a cage while the jaguar was fed above us. Really close and personal for sure.

After the zoo, we were all driven to the ziplining place which was also our lunch stop. And then unfortunately it started raining hard again. Sigh. Seeing that, I was losing the desire to go ziplining. But then it started slowing down so by the time we were done being suited up, it had stopped raining. Christopher started getting nervous again but I asked the guide if he would get to go with someone and they said for sure. The zip lining here was pretty good - there was one super long line over the river and canopy that was gorgeous. At the end, Christopher said he loved it which was the best outcome.

After we got back, we found Hannah and Charles and Charles said she did the best of all the kids. Apparently some of the older kids (11/12) started crying when they saw the crazy drop they would have to rappel down. I was super proud. At dinner, we had new dining companions and it turned out to be the kids that Hannah met during her tour that day. This was great b/c she ended up playing cards with the kids after dinner was over.

Wednesday:

Transit day! On our way to Ambergris Caye. To be continued in Part 2.