Secret Beach

Given how widely advertized it is right from the airport, Secret Beach is certainly more of a “wink” secret than an unknown gem. In fact, it is possibly the most visited area of Ambergris Caye and perhaps all of Belize.

Until very recently, all development on Ambergris Caye was along the (eastern) reef side as the fishing, diving, and trade winds that brought people to the island were all there. 

However, in the last decade developers have built a road through the mangrove lagoons that form the centre of the island, making the (western) leeward side more accessible. Currently there are a number of scattered residences being built up along this road, but whether they are foolhardy or ahead of the curve remains to be seen.

 Once on site at Secret Beach there are a number of venues to choose from but the general theme of the spot is consistent: swim, eat/drink, sunscreen, repeat.

We took an afternoon trip by golf cart across the island and down to the crystal waters for a mellow afternoon of floating and eating nachos in a semi-submerged palapa. Despite my best efforts I am not really a natural-born loafer so after half an hour relaxed in the sun I was ready to be off on our next adventure.

Fortunately, the drive to and from the beach was a big enough part of the outing to fill out the day and provide some fun stops and detours to along the way.

San Ignacio

San Igancio is the capital and cultural-economic hub of Cayo, the largest of Belize’s six districts. Founded in the 1800s, the twin towns of San Ignacio and Santa Elana have largely amalgamated over time into a single centre. Two major thoroughfares run through the area, the George Price Highway between Belize City and the Guatamalan border, and the Hummingbird Highway which runs south to Stann Creek. We stayed at the Maya Bella Hotel in the centre of town and enjoyed our stay immensely

The regional population is highly diverse, with Mestizo, Kriol, Mayan, Chinese, and Mennonite communities all active participants. Tourism is a large source of income as the region is famed for its ruins, caves, waterfalls, and riverways.

 

San Ignacio was our base camp for exploring Western Belize as it was both affordable and centrally located to a number of interesting sites. There were originally a few days planned for relaxing, but the sights in the area proved too alluring and we maintained a very go-go-go pace throughout our visit.

Special shout out to the Ko-Ox restaurant for having the best food in town. Steven had heard about them before we arrived and we must have eaten 2 out of 3 meals there every day the entire time we were in the area.

Thoughts Upon Turning 40

 Recently I was fortunate enough to do something which millions of people throughout history have been unable to achieve. If you haven't done it yet already yourself, I hope that you put in the time to make it happen eventually because it is absolutely worth it. I turned 40. I was also fortunate to have very kind and enthusiastic coworkers that refused to ignore my notion of not drawing attention to it and making a very special day.

 Key to the process was my dear "Work Aunt" Michelle, who made a truly monstrous cake for me. Take a minute to process it and I'll walk you through it. It was triple-layered with jam and custard inside and the whole thing was wrapped in fondant icing. And there was a bottle of Jack Daniels embedded in it as well. I brought through everyone in the company that I could think of for a slice and still had leftovers for a week.

 When I was younger, 40 seemed like such a faraway time and big number, but the closer I got the more I realized that most of "being a grownup" is paying your own bills and presenting the facade of having everything in check and under control. I also realized that I had shared about a third of my days on Earth with this beautiful girl and they had been the very best days of my life.

I can see how it would be easy to be nostalgic for childhood or the foolish indiscretions of a young adult, but honestly the very best years have been the recent ones with Kathryn, and all I want is to continue forward with my wonderful best friend for many more to come.

Chariot Fest of India

 Yes, you read that right: Indian Chariot Festival. I wasn't quite sure what to expect myself, and anyone that goes expecting Ben-Hur or Queen Boudica will be disappointed, but if you are looking for a splash of colour and culture, its a pretty neat event that has been a part of our neighbourhood for 41 years and this was the first I had heard of it.

 The chariot itself was around 50 feet high and had this fellow riding in the front along with a few others. The people infront of the chariot were symbolically pulling it on ropes, but it contentedly ran along on a little motor to make it easy on everyone. The event honours the god Jagannatha who apparently leaves the temple once a year to ride in a chariot.

 There was a nice festival near Second Beach after the procession and unlike most of the parades I've seen lately, this one had a yoga booth right across the way from a free feast. Each year the organizers prepare enough vegetarian food to feed 20,000 people which is given away free and I can certainly attest is delicious. There were also displays on vegetarianism and reincarnation along with the usual childrens theatres, music stages and gifts.

6th Year Anniversary and 300th Blog Post Extravaganza

 For our 6th Anniversary the people of Vancouver took to the streets in a spontaneous moment of celebration and song. There was a multitude of street performers singing their hearts out and the crowds surged to join our happy day. Or our anniversary coincides with 'Make Music Vancouver,' a festival of street music throughout Yaletown and Gastown. Whichever description sounds best to you.

 We had a very pleasant evening out with a nice long walk along the sea and through the crowds, ending off with dinner at a little bar in the trendy part of downtown. Here we are posing for a quick selfie on the sea wall.

 Afterwards we had some honey wine we found in Sooke last year and a little piece of cake that Kathryn had custom decorated just to make me smile and swoon. All in all an excellent celebration and a great start for our next 6 years together :)

 

For those of you keeping score at home, this is also our 300th blog post. We only noticed because the setup showed we had 299 posts before this one so its not really a big deal, but does go to show that we have done a good job of sticking with this silly blog over the last 5 years rather than posting every 6 months and only talking about how we should try and post more ;)

This Be Wine Country

Love at first sight. Unfortunately the luggage monkeys destroyed my huge tun of wine.  Well not really.  They were decorating a lawn (empty) but I couldn't help going up to one and hugging it in the glorious fall weather of Niagara-on-the-Lake.

Now for the context.  Geordie, Peter, Sharon and myself took a drive around Niagara-on-the-Lake wine country.  Lots of orchards, nuts, cheese and a winery or two or three or thirty.  The different colours of the grape vines are different species of grape for different wine types.

This is a peek into one of the operating wineries.  This one is an ecologically run one that utilizes solar energy and no chemicals.  Very nice.  It smelled really good in there too.  It had a scent of oak casks mostly.  It was a great day driving about lovely countryside.

Vivacious Visit in Victoria

I was so excited when my lovely cousin Carolyn got accepted in to the MA program at University of Victoria. Hurrah!  So Geordie and I went to Victoria to help get her settled in to her gorgeous dorm and see her and her mom.  This is us below being kind of gangsta'. Carolyn and I are wearing our new sunglasses.

We were big tourists too. Auntie wanted to do a high tea so we did. This is at Gatsby Mansion. A lovely high tea half the cost as that at the Empress in the same area and just as yummy.  We are holding our pinkies out to drink it properly.  Witty banter was exchanged.

We went to Bouchart Gardens as well. Auntie had been there a while ago but it was a first for the rest of us.  We saw fireworks and lots of lovely grounds. Expensive place but very pretty.  It was an excellent weekend and I was sad to go.  Fortunately I get to see my cousin more often so YAAAAAY!!!!! 

Canada Day Pancakes with Men in Uniform.....Oh yes.

One of the Harrison Hot Springs activities that one could do was join the local Fire Department for a fund raising pancake breakfast. For donation we got coffee, juice, sausages, fruit and pancakes. Yum. Looked like they were doing business as we got there a little late but it was still going hard with every table full. The photo below was taken afterwords. But that is the HHS fire house.

This is what it was like in full. We chatted with a nice local couple who gave us some good tips on hikes in the area. Very friendly town. We were short on cash for the suggested donation but it was no problem. On the back row you can see all the uniforms. I don't know what they would have done if there was an emergency.

Especially as they were giving rides to everyone who wanted one on their fire engine. Did we go? Obviously. I had never ridden in a firetruck before although Geordie has in Pinawa. Also I have a thing for flirty men in uniform including emergency personnel. They were a really fun bunch. I think emergency personnel get the short end of the pay and media stick sometime so I always try to support.

Schwartz's Deli

While we were passing through Montreal, we made a point of taking a quick jaunt to Schwartz's Deli for a smoked meat sandwich. Schwartz's is a Montreal institution with a constant lineup for dine in and take away, a wall of celebrity photos and a poster from the Schwartz's Musical they apparently made a few years back.
Once you're inside you are typically seated wherever there's room, with different groups of people often sharing the same table since every chair is a precious commodity there. We lucked out and were able to sit at the counter to watch the food being prepared and to have a bit more room to ourselves.
Montreal smoked meat is certainly tasty and the pickles they have alongside were nearly large enough to keep Kathryn happy. I find it a bit more rare than I typically go for, but as a once every decade or so treat it is pretty great stuff.

Zaphod Beeblebrox's

Summer on the west coast has been a bit of a chilly bummer, but around Canada Day in Ottawa it was a fiery haze of awesome. Needing to get out of the heat and rehydrate a bit, we managed to take in a drink at Zaphod Beeblebrox's, which gets its namesake from the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy and was high on Kathryns hit list for watering holes.
The bar itself was nothing particularly special or memorable, but the drinks menu made the trip worthwhile, Kathryn here is enjoying a Pangalacticgargleblaster, though perhaps not one as impressive as described in the books.
While not actually a referenced drink, I still found the Deep Thought to be quite good and since we were sharing drinks anyways it made sense to mix things up a bit and see how a few of them tasted. I will say they poured a decent drink for less than I had expected to pay.
So all in all, fun in a nerdy way.

Latvian Market

We got around the Baltic countries mostly with regional buses which typically had pretty long drives between cities, so we'd stock up on food before each one. Going between Riga and Vilnus we got some supplies at a series of old zeppelin hangars which had been converted into a huge marketplace.
There was a wide range of foods to eat there including some rather suspicious looking dried fish which we declined to be adventurous enough to eat.
We did end up with some nice cheese, butter and delicious dark Russian-style bread. Having completely neglected to bring any cutlery we managed to get our food ready with a nail file Kathryn happened to have in her bag and made some very tasty sandwiches on the bus.