Belize? Yes, Please!!

We arrived at the Sleeping Giant Rainforest Lodge around 5:30 pm, after a very pleasant drive thru the towns of Balmopan, (capital of Belize) and Armenia.

We were scheduled for a night tour but decided to rest up and start fresh the next day.  The lodge had a great 360' view and Shelby and I woke up at 4:45 am to make the 30-minute hike up to this wooden deck.  It only took us about 14 minutes, we must be in good shape!  Hahaha.

It was worth the hike and getting out of bed.  The boys slept in.  😴

We even caught some fog rolling through the mountains which made the view even more spectacular.

I look forward to my morning coffee and planning my day, this view from the River House made it hard to plan anything except relax and breath...

Our first full day, I booked a kayaking tour on the Belize River.  Our guide, Abel also does birdwatching tours and was very knowledgeable regarding the wildlife in the area.  The best part was hearing the Howling Monkeys answer his call.  It sounded like something right out of Jurassic Park!!

 This is the front of our accommodations.  We were only able to book the first three nights here as National Geographic had a group coming in.  We took what we could get.  It was a great little house.  Full kitchen, living area, two bedrooms and two very large bathrooms.  Our room at a hot tub and a private patio area.

The kids' room had this great koi pond outside their entry which also led to the garden and peacock pen. (That's John and me outside of their room.)

On our second day, I booked the St. Herman's Cave Tubing.  It was a nice and tranquil experience.  For more information on this cave, you can click on the name.  It was absolutely beautiful and we could not have asked for nicer weather.  

On the third day, we traveled to the Actun Tunichil Muknal (ATM) cave which Emilio and Shelby said worked out perfect as we saved the best for last.  A total of 5 miles trekking in and through the cave system took us about 3 hours.  Unfortunately, the previous tourists were removing artifacts and dropping their cameras on the skeletons so we no longer can take anything in.  Thus, no pictures of the caves or the serious rock climbing we had to do.  

Please click on the name of the cave to explore the Mayan ruins as we did, just from the comfort of your couch!

I'm not a great swimmer and entering the cave system was a bit tricky but luckily my family and the guide were a great help.  It was worth the fear of swimming in 12 feet of water without an oxygen tank strapped to my back.  Also, the hike took us maybe 30 minutes through a path cut through the jungle.  It was breathtaking.  We had to cross the same river about three times on our journey. Luckily there was a rope I could hang on to.  

I am a very fearful person but I'm also a very stubborn person.  I refuse to let fear get in the way of having fun and being adventurous with my family.  

You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing which you think you cannot do.
Eleanor Roosevelt

Our second room was the River View Room with a fabulous outdoor shower.  For the more modest guest, there is also an indoor shower.

We loved the outdoor shower!! We truly felt like we were in the jungle.

I hope you enjoyed peeking into my spring break.  More than anything I loved spending time with my family and it was made even more special being close to God's creatures and Earth's beauty.