Month: December 2018

Pictures from Belize

For Christmas this year my wife and I took off and went to Belize. I took some 2,500 pictures and I’m working my way through them. The gallery below will get captions, alt-text, etc soon.

  • View out the window of an airplane showing the wing, ocean, and Belize coast line.
    First sighting of Belize on the flight in.
  • Small roadside restaurant with a porch, and a large Coca Cola sign
    GJ’s Restaurant picked by our driver on the way from Belize City to San Ignacio.
  • Small brown dog sitting waiting for food.
    His guy came running when he spotted customers.
  • Sign over the entrance to a parking lot reads Midas.
    We stayed at Midas Resort in San Ignacio, which we’d recommend.
  • A husky poppy playing with a toy.
    “Husky” the Midas office husky was an important part of our visit.
  • A large orange colored iguana on the ground.
    Midas has two large male green iguanas roaming the property.
  • Nice simple hotel room with bed and wall art shown.
    Our room at Midas
  • A pair of agouti snuffling through leaves.
    Midas was also home to several Agouti.
  • This hand powered ferry coveys everyone going to Xunantunich
  • A woman looking at a large Mayan stone temple at the edge of green grass.
    The main temple at Xunantunich from the main plaza
  • A black iguana at the edge of his hole.
    This Iguana spends the day watching tourists explore his home on the temple at Xuanatunich
  • The frieze on the side of the temple (larger version below).
  • People on the top of a large stone temple.
    People looking out from the top of the temple
  • The jungle creeping back into a manicured scene with Mayan temples.
    A view from the furthest building at Xunantunich back toward the temple.
  • A view of a few Mayan buildings and some jungle.
    A view from Belize from the top of the temple.
  • A monkey hanging from a branch eating.
    The Howler monkeys were yelling from tree tops when we arrived, but quietly feeding later in the morning.
  • A close view of a small Mayan temple.
    One of the buildings at Cahal Pach in San Ignasio.
  • An open public square surrounded by Mayan buildings and filled with trees.
    The central, but smaller, plaza at Cahal Pach.
  • My wife walking through one of the passages at Cahal Pach.
  • A bottle of Belikin beer with a napkin around the top.
    Belikin the beer of Belize served in standard style.
  • A gin and tonic with a light pink tint.
    The tonic was pink which threw me off at first.
  • Tables at an open air market.
    San Ignasio is home of a large and busy open air market.
  • Fuzzy picture of a Sixers game on a bar TV.
    All the way to Belize to watch my first Sixers game of the year.
  • Stone Mayan temple with flat top.
    The east temple from Complex Q at Tikal.
  • Woman walking down steep stone stairs
    My wife walking down from the top of the east temple.
  • Two people standing on the stone stairs.
    The two of us on the steps to the east temple.
  • The peak of a temple through the trees.
    First view we got of Temple I
  • The back of a large Mayan temple
    The back of Temple I
  • The buildings from the main plaza in Tikal.
  • Large Mayan temple front view with stairs and room at the top shown.
    Temple I from the plaza.
  • Stone temples sticking up over the jungle.
    The view from the top of Temple IV in Tikal.
  • Temples over the jungle used for Star Wars' Yavin base.
    All ships leaving Yavin base pass through this scene.
  • Several people sitting on stone steps with a weak fence behind them, but not in front.
    There were lots of people at the top, and that fence in the background was the only safety rail
  • Jumping spider monkey.
    The spider monkeys were one of the coolest things we saw.
  • Spider monkey on a branch
    This guy stopped to watch us for a bit.
  • Monkey sitting at an awkward angle with his hand over his mouth.
    He scooped water out of a hole in the and drank upside down.
  • Baby monkey riding on his mother's back.
    We got really lucky to see this mother and baby passing by.
  • Coati walking in the grass.
    This Coati was snuffling in the grass near the visitor center
  • Female green iguana with eyes closed.
    A green iguana from the rescue program in town.
  • Female green iguana with eyes open
    Another green iguana from the rescue program in town.
  • Male green iguana
    The males turn orange to show off.
  • two people with an iguana sitting on one's shoulder
    My wife and I with one of the rescued iguana.
  • Male iguana watching the camera
    This guy kept his distance and his eyes on us.
  • Canoes at the entrance to cave on a river.
    The entrance to Barton cave.
  • A river floating out of a cave.
    The view back out from the Barton creek cave.
  • A waterfall with large pool at the base.
    The Big Rock Waterfalls in the Pine Mountain reserve.
  • green and black butterfly
    Butterfly from the San Jose Succotz TrekStop
  • Man holding butterfly to show its wings.
    Butterfly caretaker from the San Jose Succotz TrekStop
  • Black butterfly with red
    Butterfly from the San Jose Succotz TrekStop
  • A fake christmas tree on a beach next to palm trees
    We spent Christmas itself in San Pedro
  • View of the ocean from hotel room balcony
    The view from our hotel room in San Pedro
  • Yellow chairs at the end of a dock on the ocean.
    There are some nice views on San Pedro beaches.
  • A woman and a dog watching people from a balcony.
    They were just enjoying people watching.
  • Man on a beach holding a carved manta ray
    This guy sells nice carvings like the ray he’s holding to visitors.
  • Santa and Ms. Clause in a golf cart
    Cause what else would Santa ride on a beach.
  • Woman cooking under a tent on a beach
    There was a party in the town square Christmas morning starting at Midnight. I didn’t stay for much.
  • Sign on a beach that reads Secret Beach
    Rode bikes out to Secret Beach which is anything but secret.
  • A waiter serving drinks on a beach
    There are at least two bars at Secret beach
  • Woman cutting a coconut with a machete.
    Machete, Coconut, and drinks. What could go wrong (nothing for her).
  • Two birds against a blue sky
  • Bird flying over the ocean
  • Rough wooden trail through a marsh.
    Took bikes down to Marco Gonzalez Mayan site. The path looked like something from Myst.
  • Mostly hidden Mayan ruins.
    Marco Gonzalez is mostly still covered in jungle.
  • A large collect of old Conch shells.
    Mayans here used Conch shells to build walls. They are kinda creepy 500 years later.
  • A black iguana sitting on a wooden path.
    Beatrice is one of three Black Iguanas with names at Marco Gonzalez
  • Early dawn with a bird over the ocean.
    Sun rise from our hotel room.
  • Sun rise over the ocean

These panoramic pictures were created with a combination of my iPhone in pano mode and some that are stitched together with Hugin.

Picture of Belize taken from the top of the temple at Xunantunich. Stitched with Hugin.
Same angle made with iPhone.
Picture of Guatemala from the other side of the temple at Xunantunich stitched with Hugin.
Another of Guatemala with the iPhone.
The frieze on the side of the temple. This is actually a cast created over the top of the original to protect it from weather.
The temple taken from the main plaza.
Taken from the side of the temple.
The main plaza at Cahal Pech ruins at the edge of San Ignacio
The main plaza at Tikal
Taken from the top of the observatory at Tikal.
Taken from the top of Temple IV at Tikal. Scenes from Yavin base in Star Wars were shot near this spot.
Another stitched image from Temple IV.
Dock on the beach in San Pedro.
A bit north of Secret Beach (which is anything but secret) we found a nice dock to enjoy our lunch.