A Jeanne in the Kitchen

I have no idea what type of flowering tree this is, but I found it very intriguing and beautiful. I love all the little curly q’s it produces.

Too much good food and too little time. But we did out best to make a dent in sampling all the good restaurants and food places around the island. While we were strolling around town after we had showered and changed from another day of diving, we ran into one of our dive masters and asked him where to go for lunch. He suggested Jambel. Jambel was a a very good choice indeed. We enjoyed our delicious Jamaican style meal with a gorgeous view of the sea.

As with many of our adventures while traveling, we often only eat one real meal per day, so we make it a good one. This was definitely a very good, very tasty meal too. I ordered shrimp creole with just a cool, refreshing glass of iced tea. As you can see, it was loaded with fresh shrimp.

While Larry ordered the fried fish. Both came with rice and beans and vegetables.

I need to find a way to get paid to travel and write travel reviews. I could so easily get used to this way of living.

Life is short. Enjoy it while you can and make the most of all your days.

Not everything in Belize has to do with diving or fishing or the beach. There are mangroves all over Belize too, and not just on the islands.

Mangroves are one of the only types of trees that can thrive in partial seawater submersion. They survive by perching above their submerged anchor roots. They also have evolved complex methods to get rid of salt: either excreting salt from their leaves or by excluding salt in the first place via their taproots. They also grow knobby aerial roots stretching above the water to collect oxygen. Millions of these toe-like roots provide structural support for Belize’s coastlines, trapping and filtering sediments and preventing erosion. 

The dense growth habit of mangroves also provides breeding and nesting havens for many types of birds in Belize: anhingas, neotropical cormorants, brown boobies, white ibis, a multitude of herons and others. Large populations of lobsters and crabs lurk in the mangrove’s shadows, and more than 70 species of fish feed and spawn in the mangroves, providing the basis for marine ecosystems and local human communities’ diets. 

We saw many beautiful birds on San Pedro. We saw everything from the city birds, to two different types of pelicans, to cranes and herons, to the beautiful pink Rosette Spoonbills.

There were plenty of sea birds that we saw all along the coastal shores.

There were city birds.

And then there were the birds of the mangroves.

We saw beautiful, elegant cranes.

We saw two types of herons.

And we saw some beautiful pink spoonbills, known as Rosette Spoonbills. Like their cousin the flamingo, they get their beautiful pink coloring from the shrimp and algae they eat.

One well-loved marine mammal that browses its way through the mangrove channels, and the nearby seagrass beds, is the manatee. Belize is home to the critically endangered Antillean manatee. Due to habitat destruction, entanglement in fishing gear, and boat collisions, scientists believe there are only 2,500 Antillean manatees left in the wild. We looked for manatees, but we did not see any this trip, though I was told they were around. Maybe next trip.

The marine reserves in Belize are sanctuaries for some of these manatees. Each day, a manatee may eat up to 100 lbs. of vegetation, mostly seagrass. Seagrass beds are also carbon sinks, with deep and rich carbon sequestration occurring beneath their roots. Rising water temperatures encourage algae growth, however, which can smother seagrass beds and take away important feeding, breeding, and calving grounds for the manatee.

Besides the birds and the manatees, the mangroves are also home to the crocodiles. There are many crocodiles in these mangroves, just waiting for the perfect opportunity to catch their prey off guard. We picked up a couple and drove them home, and they had a video of a huge 14 footer. He killed their neighbor’s 160 lb dog. Again, we were on the lookout, but we did not see any crocodiles either. I would have liked to have seen one, but definitely from a safe distance, and out of harm’s way.

This concludes my sub set of my Belizian series, Life in Belize. I still have a lot more to share with you about the foods and flowers of Belize. So don’t go anywhere. There is still plenty more good stuff coming your way. 🙂

This picture is actually from a tree, and not a flower. It is a Kapok tree. The buds open up to little “cotton balls”. My friend’s yard used to have a whole bunch of these when we were growing up. I always loved those beautiful trees. They looked so gorgeous when the whole trees popped with cotton balls. This brings back fond memories from my childhood. 🙂

There were so many brightly colored flowers all over the place in Belize. Some are very familiar to me while others are very different and exotic. They were all beautiful though. I loved seeing each and every one.

I have no idea what these flowers are, but I fell in love with them all the same. they were right in “our own backyard too” at our hotel.

In case you hadn’t noticed, I LOVE flowers. They always brighten my day.

Another delicious restaurant we “discovered” was down on the southern part of the island, known as Someplace South. It was actually recommended to us by the owner of PATZ, Belize Eats – 1. It was a very tasty, good find indeed.

It was a beautiful garden restaurant with a flair for romance, especially with all the garden seating and soft lights all around.

If the garden is not for you, a place by the bar would be just fine too.

Because we live in Colorado, where beef, pork and wild game are the culinary specialties, when we go to any place by the water, we always order a lot of fresh seafood dishes. We did that at Someplace South as well. Larry ordered the pasta del mar.

And I chose curried lobster.

Both were delicious, and tasted every bit as good as they looked. They were both loaded with plenty of fresh seafood. We were very full, but very satisfied. Someplace South is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, which many other places are not. Some are only open for breakfast, others are only open for lunch, while others still are only open for dinner. But no matter what meal you choose, I promise you are going to love it at Someplace South.

There are plenty of good eats in Belize. There is no way we could sample everything in one trip. Oh darn! I guess we just have to go back again soon. 🙂

The beaches of San Pedro. There are plenty of beaches on the island, but most of the public beaches, at least the ones that are most accessible, are relatively small. Beach front property is prime real estate on the island, so most of the good beaches have been snatched up by the bigger resorts. But if you are willing to take a leisurely drive along the bumpy roads, you can still see plenty of beautiful beaches that are open to everyone.

These lovely ladies, an aunt and her niece, were planting a garden of hearts at their new restaurant they are opening up soon, located right on the beach. These ladies were on the southern part of the island.

Secret Beach, or as it is also known as Not-So Secret Beach, is all the way up on the northern part of the island. It is a big party area.

These are the main activities at Secret Beach.

Even the dogs have adopted this way of life.

Two mermaids on the beach.

Beach on Everyone, beach on.

When we are on vacation, I absolutely refuse to cook. For one, I cook all the time at home and I like a little break. But mainly, I want to sample as much of the local cuisine as I can. Experiencing as many new and different experiences as I can is part of why I love to travel so much. I LOVE TO LEARN new things, see new things and go to new places.

PATZ Delicatessen was a little place owned by an American ex-pat who now makes Belize home. Everything was fresh and made to order and very good. We stopped in for lunch, while out on one of our island expeditions.

Larry and I decided to split a meal since we knew we would be going out for dinner later. We do this a lot when we travel so we don’t eat to much. We split a chicken salad sandwich and a salad with a side of fries, which made for a very delicious light lunch.

PATZ, like so many of the fun places we stopped at, is an open air restaurant filled with plenty of personality and local art.

It is so much fun to look at the world through the eyes of a tourist. You see things in a whole new light, with a new perspective.

These little colorful flowers are all over the island, and the tropics. They come in all colors, but I mostly saw them in purple this trip.

On the island of San Pedro, the sea is a way of life. It is even said the name Belize comes from the word belikin, which means land facing the sea. Life In Belize – Part 1. The residents depend on the sea for food and the rich marine life is one of the main reasons for so much of the tourism industry, which is the main industry to the island, and Belize in general. When we were leaving to go to Belize, there were a lot of sport fishermen with their fishing poles in hand who were on our plane. And then there are the divers. We told all the fishermen to leave some fish for us to see too. 🙂

This is the marina in Belize City that we left out of en route to San Pedro.

Our ferry. We weren’t quite sure if we were even going to make it over to San Pedro. We experienced some engine trouble about half way to the island. One engine completely blew out. But our captain pushed through and we did eventually make it to San Pedro safely. !Muchas gracias Capitan!

Larry and a friend on the bridge in Belize City before we got onto the ferry. This gentleman was security for the ferry company. I guess they have a lot of problems with the locals.

We’re on our way. San Pedro, here we come.

Pro Dive, the company we dived with. The whole staff was FANTASTIC. They were all so friendly and knowledgeable. Their name says it all. They were all definitely PROS! Belize offers some great diving. It is on the same reef as Cozumel (our absolute favorite place to dive) and Roatan, Honduras. We see a lot of the same marine life in all three places, and yes, we have dived all three places, and many, many more places too. The underwater topography is different, but the marine life is the same.

The Ladies behind the scenes and in the office.

Hernacio hard at work on the other side of the office.

Our boat for the week, the Lady “R” .

Carlos, one of our great dive masters for the week.

Thank you all for a fantastic week of diving. 🙂 You know we will be back again, as soon as we can make it.