Good morning!
Today is going to be a long day of much sitting in planes, airports and then cars. We will not be home until very early Saturday morning. Enjoy our last few moments in paradise and our long trip home!
First is my morning coffee with lots of foam!
I had two eggs over medium with bacon and toast. Steve had scrambled eggs and since he forgot to order bacon I was sweet and shared mine. I am such a sweetheart!
A small plate of fruit with my last breakfast.
I wanted to use the video that Bunny took of her shower as she did such a good job holding the phone steady but she didn’t bring her phone to dinner last night. So here is my video. When I showed you the shower the other day, it was only a picture. You couldn’t really see how magnificent it was!
Our bags were all packed and ready to go.
I made sure to return the room key. There was a $100 charge if you didn’t bring it back. We never even used it to lock the room. I should have just left it at the front desk the first day!
These are the only Jaguars we saw all trip.
Goodbye front desk manager!
Today we got to take the van. All our other trips had been in the Land Rover. The van was air conditioned and I didn’t have to worry about getting dust in my eyes. That was nice, but I enjoyed bouncing around in the Land Rover also.
Steve doesn’t look to happy to be leaving. I was looking forward going home and to hang out on the couch in our house!
It was a short drive to the airport. Town was very busy as it was market day. A day trip to Punta Gorda is offered twice a week for market day. I think I might do that next year, but not when it is so hot and muggy. I think it would be very interesting to see all the products that some of the Mennonites have for sale.
Inside the Tropic Air terminal. It also doubled as the post office!
This is an activity I chose not to do.
Hiking, swimming, more hiking, all in a dark cave that required head lamps. No thank you!
Permission granted to board the plane.
Although the man is wearing a plaid shirt, he is not Steve. This man manages Copal Tree from New Hampshire. He comes every few weeks to make sure that all is running smoothly. The staff at CTL is incredibly personable and seemed to be very happy. Many of the team remembered us from last year. It was a pleasure to stay there.
The plane was given a good hose down to get rid of all the dirt and schmutz.
Good bye Punta Gorda! See you next time.
Here you can see the reef around the islands. the deep water is a much darker color.
It was very cloudy at times. Good thing we were flying via the computers!
The rivers were very sinuous! The roads are straight though.
Agriculture and lots of islands from the air!
This is Harvest Caye an island that Norwegian cruise ships land at. Last year there was a cruise ship parked here. Look how long the walkway is to get to the island!
Here is a short video of what you can do on the island. It looks incredible. Imagine how much fun it would be if the ship just parked here all week and you just hung out on the island all week!
At Dangriga, our last stop before Belize City we had a lot of passengers get on the flight. The copilot left the plane so another passenger could board the plane. Steve was instructed to move from behind the copilot to the copilot seat!This is where Steve was supposed to sit.
As Steve couldn’t figure out how to get out of his seat and into the crew seat (not because Steve is stupid, but because he is big and the space was really small), the manager of Copal Tree Lodge sat there. Even he had trouble getting from his seat to the front!
He was very interesting to talk to. Too bad I only got to meet him on the way to the airport today. Lucky for him I only met him today! He manages Copal Tree Lodge and a private shooting lodge in South Africa. As it is very private I will never go there. The owner only lets his friends stay there. I will have to research this so I can get invited there. Wish me luck!
Well remember my post the first day about how much wealthier I thought the town of Placencia was based on the airport? Well, I was slightly wrong. I do think that there are many more expensive houses there. But it is Maya Aviation that has the more expensive terminal. Tropic has the non fancy buildings. Dangriga and Placencia have both Tropic Air and Maya terminals. In Punta Gorda, there is only a Tropic Air terminal.
This is Dangriga airport. The Tropic Air terminal is on the left and Maya Air is on the right. An interesting fact is that we saw many more flights for Tropic Air than Maya Air departing the terminal at the Belize City Airport! Perhaps all the money went to build the terminals and they didn’t have any money left to buy planes!
At the terminal in Belize City this man was waiting for luggage with us. I still have not quite figured out what the t-shirt meant. I know the phrase, but the rose and what looks like a noose has got me flummoxed. I think I will never find out this puzzle. Oh well. There will always be other crazy people for me to look at!
Once we got our luggage check in was a breeze. Unfortunately we were going to have to wait another two hours until our flight was ready to board. That meant more people watching!
Steve was feeling exceptionally generous and bought me my very own bag of Crunchy Cheetos. What a guy! I think I will keep him!
Steve’s name was called and he had to go up to talk to the gate agent.
Poor Steve was selected for additional screening. He was not allowed to talk to anyone once they questioned and examined him. I stayed far away and people watched until I would meet him on the plane. Unfortunately this meant he would lose his Pre Check ability at Houston Airport.
Here is Steve in the holding pen. Do you think they will play “Enter the Sandman” when he was released to board the plane? (If you are not a New York Yankee fan you will not understand this reference!)
This man had beautiful long grey hair.
The blonde on the right is thinking “What shampoo does he use? His hair is incredibly healthy looking!’
In the terminal there was a young man wearing a green jumpsuit. It did look comfortable!
This plane would be taking us to Houston.
I boarded the plane and found Steve waiting for me.
Yikes! Green Pajama Man Jumpsuit was going to be on our flight! Good think Steve was sitting next to me. Can you imagine the questions?
Good bye Belize!
In case you forgot where Belize is located!
Our warm towels.
The flight attendant was making hot tea-and then put lots of ice in it, so I had that to drink. It was a nice combination with my warm nuts.
I chose the brisket for my lunch. I should have picked something else.
Steve had the pasta, a much better choice.
I was going to watch this movie, but it looked a bit too scary for me. I will have to check out the reviews when we got home and possibly watch it on Netflix.
Later in the flight Snickerdoodle cookies were passed out. I got one for me and one from Steve for me.
There was a lot of fat in the cookies. They sat in my stomach! They were very soft also. I like to make Snickerdoodles at home, and mine are not soft at all. They start out with a nice crunch and get crunchier the staler they get! As the recipe makes many dozen I keep the extras in the freezer. Sometimes I even eat them frozen!
Almost to Texas!
I wasn’t sure if this was a reflection of our plane in the clouds or a UFO, or my guardian angel. I prefer to think that it was my guardian angel!
We finally passed over the coast of Texas and were heading to Houston.
Houston we have landed! Hello Gate E 15!
Since we have Global Entry immigration was quick. There were lots of security individuals with lots of dog sniffing people and luggage.
It turns out that we never needed the TSA pre check on our boarding passes as we never left a secure area.
Finally we made it to Gate C42. Our flight was going to be leaving from here.
We had a number of hours to kill before getting on the flight. I was so tired with the long walk from where we landed, to immigration, and then waiting for our luggage, and onward to the gate that we were going to depart from. So when we finally got to the gate I just stayed there with out checking out where there was a priority pass lounge. I wasn’t going to use passes to the United Lounge as the last lounge we were at was the stinky lounge in Newark, With some of our credit cards we get free passes to either certain Priority Pass lounges or restaurants. Had I not been so tired I would have noticed that there was a Landry’s near our gate that we could have gotten a nice meal . You are allowed $28 credit per person with the Priority Pass. Unfortunately I didn’t think about this until 15 minutes before boarding! Next time!
Getting on the plane I saw a man in another interesting outfit. This guy looked like he had a load in his pants. Don’t you guys know that you are to look at your backside in the mirror before you head out the door?
Did you notice that he even had ripped knees? Those pants belonged in the dumpster not on a body!
We were offered PDB’s. (Pre Departure Beverages). I chose gingerale, Steve got a cola.
Steve was looking forward to watching a movie on the three hour flight from Houston to Newark. Unfortunately in a cost cutting move many of the airlines are getting rid of the seat back viewscreens. The airlines do offer movies that you can watch on your ipad, laptop or smart phone via an App. However they don’t show you the flight maps, or network television. This is a downgrade as far as I am concerned.
The warm towels were nice and hot.
We got warm nuts again.
Tonight’s dinner on the plane. Both Steve and I chose the Asian noodle salad with chicken. The cake was pound cake with a few blueberries in it.
We finally landed and then it was off to the luggage carousel where we would wait and wait for our two bag
Eventually , about 45 minutes after we landed our luggage appeared on the carousel and we were able to call our driver and then get home. Thankfully our driver had a lead foot and we made it home in 90 minutes. Of course both Steve and I were too tired to fall asleep quickly. Maybe tomorrow night we will get better sleep!
Until next trip, I hope you enjoyed yourselves on another Excellent Adventure!
Will we meet Bunny and Jack again?
Has anyone ever seen you wear a green jumpsuit in public? (Notice I didn’t ask if you owned one, that’s a little too much personal information!)
Are you willing to pay big bucks for pants with a baggy butt and ripped knees?
This ends my trip report to Belize and back. I hope you enjoyed it.
We had about a 45 minute drive to Nim Li Punit. Most of the commentary will be of Nim Li and afterward. The drive there was very uneventful.
More artifacts.
Desmond told us that several churches and municipal buildings in the area were built from materials from archeological sites, before they realized that such historical areas should not be mined for building materials.
All that was left were the bones! I had no desire to be in a Belizian jail!
Good bye Coleman’s! We are off to the waterfall.
On the Orvis crew there was a stylist, photographer, assistant photographer, plus three other people who had various jobs.
Back home most of the mountains are granite which erodes to rounder mountain tops.
There didn’t appear to be anything in them today.
These might have been something else as they don’t really look like the other Birds of Paradise arrangements!
I wasn’t crazy how my picture turned out as they moved their hands and they weren’t holding hands any more so I got them to get up and move into the other room where I didn’t need flash on my camera!
I posed their hands in a much more romantic fashion. What good sports they were! They probably thought I was nuts! Her diamond is set in a halo style. That is a very popular setting now a-days. I would not get my ring set in that style because I think it will look very dated in a few years. That or it will stay popular. I think the jewelers like it because it uses many diamonds and the jeweler therefore makes more money. But what do I know?
Steve had the cake with caramel sauce.
I had the Mayan Chocolate Budino again.
Let’s have some watermelon juice first!
Pancakes with chocolate, banana and toasted coconut! That is butter and not scrambled eggs on top of the pancakes!
This couple was going to go on a zip line. She was having an alcoholic drink while we waited for the Land Rover to arrive! Like me, she does not like heights. She was very much afraid to go on the zip line, but she told her partner that she would do it!
The pod continues to grow.
Eventually the pod reaches a stage where it is ready to be picked. 
The full grown pod is quite large.
I put one of the seeds in my mouth, the bean was quite sweet. I am not dead yet, so you can tell that it is safe to eat! It was gooey though!
A small piece is then cut off where the bud was and then inserted into tree that is very hearty. This heartier tree is the root stock.
The bud is then wrapped to prevent harm to the plant.
An alternate method is to use a v like graft.
I was told that you should take this seed also when you take your turmeric for better healing. Of course I have no clue what plant it was from!
All I remember was that it was red!
I am seriously concentrating! 
That is another adventure that you can do. I think part of the rum distillery is learning about making rum drinks also. Perhaps next time. Yesterday Steve and I saw a number of guests sitting at the bar around 5 in the afternoon with many glasses holding booze. I think they had gone on the tour. Either that or they were having a wonderful time on vacation!
Bunny was drinking a delicious looking drink. I told Ducky the bartender that I wanted him to make me one after lunch. Bunny was having problems with her phone and was worrying about all the roaming charges she was going to have. I put her phone on airplane mode and showed Bunny how to get on the lodge’s wifi network.
There is lots of booze and lots of bananas in this drink. There is also a lot of chocolate sauce. A scoop of ice is added to the blender before it is blenderized.
Inside the cabinet is the blender, so it’s not too noisy.
Here is Ducky presenting me my drink.
Doesn’t it look good?
This is where I will be sitting the rest of the afternoon.
I had to get more ice added to my drink as I was starting to feel too loopy. There is something not quite right about being drunk in the afternoon.
The weather didn’t clear all afternoon. I don’t think that Steve will catch any fish this afternoon.
This is a picture of a bonefish. It was very dark compared to the fish that he catches at Delphi. Steve was very wet and cold all day as it was a cold and rainy day!
I wasn’t sure if that was a face or not!
Good morning to you! As I have been cranky about people not liking my posts I am suggesting that you go up to the beginning of the post and click on the blue heading of the post. That way you will be able to go directly to the blog website where you will see the like button on the bottom of the post. Then you take your little index finger put it over the like button and press “like”. If you are reading on a desk top, then you need to use your mouse. It is really quite simple. I could be really mean and make this post in two parts. Those that clicked the like button would be kept on the mailing list. Those that don’t would get scrubbed. But I am nice, and I am not going to do that. As you could just go directly to the website and read the posts that way.
Did you click the blue post heading yet?
I had a plate of fruit on the side.
This morning I headed to the lower veranda to hang out. All the howler monkeys were asleep and I didn’t see many birds although I could hear them. On Trip Advisor many people had posted about the great number of birds that they saw on the bird watching expeditions here. One person mentioned that they saw over 175 different species over 4 days! That is a lot of birds! I can’t say that this is something I will try as the thought of wandering around in the jungle trying to locate birds is not my cup of tea. Especially with it being so humid out and there are lots of bugs in the jungle.
My lunch time view.
I ordered the beef quesadillas. They came with all the usual fixings.
Instead of having something highly caloric for dessert I asked for a fruit plate. Talk about a generous serving!
Fooled you! I decided that I would walk down, but wanted to push the button to call the tram to test it out.
I think there were over 300 steps to reach the gym and I did not want to end up walking down and not getting a ride back up and needing to walk 300 steps back up. Momma didn’t raise me to be a fool!
The tram sounded like it was moving, so off I went, as I was reasonably assured that I could ride back up the hill.
Last year when we were here we met some French people that worked in Manhattan. They were in tremendous shape and walked down and up the stairs. I am not French, so I am therefore not in tremendous shape.
I was happy to see that the tram was indeed on its way back up.
I didn’t need to rest on the bench on my way down, I would have needed a long rest if I tried to walk up the stairs.
Halfway point!
The gym. They did a lot of renovations since last year, extending the gym.
There was an exercise bike, a weight system and some other equipment. The gym was air conditioned, but I don’t think that it was ever turned on. So even if you wanted to work out, the gym would take forever to be at a comfortable temperature.
There was also a bathroom with kayak paddles and life preservers. There is something about those sinks that are mounted above the counter. I don’t really like them. I prefer my sink mounted into the counter.
The dock was completely renovated since last year. There had been a flood and it destroyed the dock.
Looks like the couple decided to go kayaking. Did I tell you yet today how much I hate kayaking?
I was going to sit in the chairs and read instead.
Of course it started to sprinkle as soon as I sat down. This is the view downstream. Eventually the stream hits the ocean.
So I headed back to the gym and to the tram.
I pushed the button and the tram started heading down the hill.
The tram! The tram! See these people on the left? They carried big sticks with them. We had such sticks in our room, but did not know what they were for. They were walking sticks!
I pushed the up button and off we went!
The view looking down to the river was not very good at all with the plexiglass being all dirty.
With a little elevation it wasn’t so bad after all.
Someplace in the jungle is our room!
There were even birds of paradise growing near the tram tracks.
Then it was time to relax and wait for Steve to come back from fishing.
This is a picture of a tarpon. Much, much bigger than Steve’s fish. Steve unfortunately did not have Victor take a picture of any of today’s fish.
Tonight’s amuse bouche was devilled eggs again. They were just as yummy as the first time we had them.
My drink of the evening was a Spicy Mayan. Copalli Rum, all spice leaf, lime juice, simple syrup and orange bitters.
Steve had the chicken wings for his starter.
I can’t remember what kind of soup I had. I neglected to take a picture of the menu so your guess is as good as mine. It was green though!
Steve ordered the chicken. It was too dry. He did enjoy the puréed carrots.
I ordered the fish. It was very good. Since Steve didn’t really enjoy his chicken I shared my fish with him. I am such a kind and generous spouse, aren’t I?
For dessert I ordered the pineapple coconut pie. Actually it was pineapple pie with coconut ice cream on the side. I guess that explained why the pie didn’t taste like coconut at all. Slow learner that I am, I didn’t realize that the ice cream was coconut until 2 nights later. More of that story in another blog post!
Steve had the vanilla cake for his dessert.
Breakfast, like all the other meals is served on the porch.
First order of business was ordering coffee. I needed some. I slept better than the night before, but I still woke up several times. Maybe tonight I will get over four hours sleep in a row. I feel like I was back in the days of breast feeding when I rarely had a good stretch of sleep. Did you know that a baby having a four hour stretch of sleep is considered sleeping through the night? Also, a four hour stretch of sleep is considered necessary for good health. I agree with that. In my younger days I used to be able to sleep for a good nine hours with out waking up. I can’t remember when that happened last!
For breakfast I ordered the French Toast with bacon on the side. For you bacon lovers, and who isn’t a bacon lover (excepting Miss Mary!) it was nice and crispy. Just the way I like it.
Here we have the upper bar, not many people hang out at this bar, but you could if you wanted too!
Here we have the upper Christmas tree, the porch where all meals are held is in the background.
Another view from the porch.
This is a picture of the gift shop. Last night Steve told me that he realized that he forgot to pack a cap. When he is fishing he needs a ball cap to keep the sun out of his eyes. Last year Steve forgot to pack a cap also. As Steve is very fastidious with his packing for trips I inquired if a ball cap was even on his list. Steve told me he thought not, which was a very good guess as no cap was packed. Anyway I suggested that he either go to the gift shop before it closed for the evening or have a staff member call Steve’s guide to bring an extra cap for Sunday’s fishing trip. Steve, the obedient husband that he is, went to the gift shop and bought a very fugly ball cap. Its saving grace is that it has a dark under brim, that should help keep the glare out of Steve’s eyes. As this week is promising to be cloudy, he might not even need the cap!
Here is the little ride to the Canopy Suites. Unfortunately there are only four and they were sold out when we booked our stay. We stayed there last year and they were really nice, but very warm as the air conditioning units were undersized for the rooms.
Down this way is our room. That’s enough of that for now, let’s go back to the main lodge before I show you the room.
There was a guest at the front desk inquiring about places to take a jog. I quickly went in another direction. Let’s not spoil a good vacation be being too active now shall we?
Here is another view of the main area. The Christmas decorations are still up. I think I will check out the chairs on the desk and put my feet up for an hour or so.
The pool area is pretty, but the water was too cold to swim in or to even dip my toes in. I am not sure if there is a hot tub, I will have to inquire.
After hanging out by the pool for a bit I retreated to the room. My phone battery needed recharging and that is difficult to do pool side. I must admit that it was difficult to hoist myself from the chaise lounges as they are so low to the ground.
The iced tea was nice and refreshing.
The burger was tasty, but I think I will choose something else tomorrow. Steve’s steak last night was a little bit too well done. Same problem with the cheese burger today. Also, they don’t have any french fries, just home fries so I guess I will have a salad Monday.
After Lunch I decided to work on my blog post on the veranda. There was a nice fan blowing air above me and lively music playing on the sound system. You can’t see it because of the haze but I think that is the ocean in the distance.
Unfortunately I didn’t see any hummingbirds sipping sugar water. Just some teensy flies. Ditch that, I just saw a hummingbird come by but I must have scared him!
I went back to the room and sat on the porch reading in the afternoon. First stop was this couch, but it was a bit lumpy.
So I migrated across the room. Much better!
We had new guests that were in the villa next to ours. I heard an “OMG, a spider!” I lifted my head up and inquired if I needed to freak out also. No need, the spider was in the jungle. Phew!
The amuse bouche was snook on a cracker with pickles on top. Steve liked it better than I did.
I ordered a watermelon smash. It was smashing! Ha Ha! Capalli rum, bourbon, Peychaud’s bitters, mint, lime and watermelon chunks. So refreshing!
Steve ordered the Farm Lamb Tostados for his first course. Shredded lamb, cabbage slaw, Queso fresco and Pico de Galle. He liked it.
My first course was the beet salad with fresh vegetables.
We both ordered the Pan Seared Caribbean Snapper with roasted carrots, sautéed curry cabbage, and lime butter cream sauce. It was yummy.
For dessert Steve had the chocolate cake.
I had the lime ginger curd.
Then it was back to the room where I struggled to open the door, until I realized that I was grasping the door number and not a door knob!
New trip report! Steve and I are trying to continue his caught fish a month streak. We decided to try Copal Tree Lodge in Belize again. We had such a nice stay last year, and Steve was lucky enough to catch a permit so we were excited to try again. The streak might be broken as Permit are very difficult to catch. The weather is expected to not cooperate also, as we are not expecting to see much sun. If the streak is broken it will make our lives easier as we won’t be having to gallivant all over to keep the streak going!
This way!
Okay, now stop!
You are on your own now, buddy!
The Cheetos were so good I made him buy us another package of crunchy Cheetos to share!
Soon it was time for us to board our next flight. This is the plane we were going to Punta Gorda in.
This one is much better. But if I can’t make fun of Steve, than who can I make fun of?
We actually saw the second picture first. Coming from the lodge you would enter thorough the gate and then take off in one of the boats. But that is making a short story long and is neither here not there!
Upon arrival at Copal Tree Lodge we were given a glass of Ginger Infusion. It was refreshing but spicy. It was comprised of ginger lime and honey. Alcohol free. Drat! You can see that I am not getting manicures. I thought that would make my nails healthier. I am not sure if it is working!
As usual, Steve had a a glass of wine. I had the sparkling wine. It was not champagne as it was not from France.
The amuse bouche for the evening was devilled eggs. Did you know that I never had a devilled egg until I was in my 40’s?
I had the beet soup as my first course.
Steve elected to have a salad.
For dinner I had the pan fried Creole grouper with coconut cilantro rice, sautéed garden greens fried plantains. Next time I will say hold the plantains!
Steve had the steak, it was more medium than medium rare.
For dessert I had the Mayan Chocolate Budino. It was very sweet. Can you imagine, me saying something was very sweet! It tasted like a thick cold chocolate with caramel and bananas.
Steve played safe and had the chocolate ice cream with chocolate sauce.
Good morning! Today we leave Copal Tree Lodge for Belize City, and then on to Houston where we will spend the night. Then we fly to New York on Wednesday.
I enjoyed my glass of watermelon juice. I would have preferred the fresh squeezed pineapple, but none were ripe in the garden. We were told that a large percentage of the food is from the property. The little boy in the background was trying to get a closer view of the hummingbirds. They had canopy suite 14, which was across the pool are from ours. They had a lot of people in that room, the two parents, a nanny, two smaller children and a nanny. Not sure where everyone slept!
I had the french toast, with toasted pecans.
Steve had the egg burrito. He ate it with a a fork and knife. Otherwise he would have ended up with a big mess.
Steve is not exercising, he was reading a book about fly fishing in Belize and practicing for next time. I asked Steve is there were pictures of the different places to stay in that book. He told me that it was basically about the fishing, anglers don’t really care about the accommodations as most of the non anglers do. The anglers only want to know, what kind of fish is there, and how many. Steve related to me that one lodge was described as fairly basic. Definitely not a lodge for me!
We said good bye to the GM and told them that we were looking forward to coming back to Copal.
Good bye to the one lane bridge.
Good bye Punta Gorda, although this sign says “Welcome!”
This family had their laundry hanging outside to dry. I think it was going to get very dusty from all the cars that drove by. Most of the time it is dry season, and very dusty here. During the rainy season, I am sure the mud was very bad.
The airport in Punta Gorda was very small.
This is a map of Belize. We will fly to Placencia and pick up more passengers and then go to Belize City. On our way to Copal, we stopped at Dangriga also. 
Our plane was a small one. 
We sat right behind the pilot. There was no assistant pilot on the flight. Of course I told him I would be able to help if needed. How many times does he hear that? I am sure too many!
Not much leg room here. 
We were happy. Steve is giving the camera that crazy eyed look. One of these days i will find the license he was given to fish in the NYC watershed area. We joked that if you took a look at the picture you would want to lock him up! 
Here is a view of the island where the cruise ships stop. Those ships are humongous! 
These are shrimp farms. 
We landed at Belize City airport and went to pick up our luggage. 
It was pretty cold in the airport again. I was bundled up in my anti bug scarf that made me look like I had a schmatte on my head (schmatte is a Yiddish word for rag). Steve bought a big KitKat bar and a dark beer for a snack while we waited for our plane. I had a water. You can see a few of my grey hairs in this picture. I may need to have to buy a face cream with a little tint to it to cover up my age spots. On second thought, I am 62, and people who are 62 are old and can therefore have age spots. My crows feet are in good shape, and as long as I keep yapping my nasolabial folds don’t look that bad. The scarf covers my neck so we can’t discuss whether or not I have a turkey neck. 
After a four hour wait we finally got to board the plane. The man in front of me ordered a Prosecco, so I did too. What could go wrong?
We were offered warm nuts and more alcohol. I had another glass of Prosecco, this time in a proper glass. Steve had his usual wine. 
I ordered the barbecue short ribs with kale and yams. Meh. 
Steve had the spinach ravioli. 
We had to circle Houston for quite awhile. There had been rain storms. 
We had to collect our luggage and bring it back to the hotel with us. Steve is noticeably unthrilled here. 
Especially as he knew I was going to take more room pictures! 
Soon it was lights out, except for the airport outside our window and we went to sleep.
Steve is very happy about our adventure today. We were going to go snorkeling and have lunch on one of the cayes or islands in the Caribbean Sea. They don’t call it the Atlantic Ocean here. I don’t know why. Cayes is pronounced keys.
Steve ordered the scrambled. He thought his breakfast was a bit skimpy. 
We were told to report to the front steps of the building at 8:30 for our Jeep ride to the marina. As Steve always feels that on time is 5 minutes early, we were waiting at 8:25. There were other six people who were supposed to go with us who did not show up in a timely manner. Finally two showed up, they were one of the French couples that had gone up and down the steps to the river.
This is the marina that we were departing from. It is the same marina that Steve went to for his fishing adventures.
Here is the boat we were going to go on. Everyone got a life vest to wear.
I look great in mine!
Our first stop was to drop off the cook and our supplies for lunch. We would be returning here after our snorkeling. 
We got to wander the very small island. It was a resort and went out of business a few years ago. I don’t think I would have been happy here. Guys who just wanted to fish, belch and sleep would probably enjoy themselves. 
Steve was fascinated by the thatch ceiling. No, he is not going to try to have this replicated in any of our homes.
Steve liked this art work. It was pretty rusty, but it represented a school of fish.
Soon we reached our snorkeling spot. The anchor was dropped and we got ready to go into the water.
Steve put his flippers on and was first to go in. Sorry, but no pictures of us in our masks. I should have asked one of the French guys to take our picture, but “Eh, bien!”
Here are Steve and the rest snorkeling, I quit early. I talked to one of the French ladies, but her accent was a little too thick for me to understand. 
Here is our guide, he found two conchs and wanted to know if they should be saved for lunch. We all told him no. I was surprised that the French said no, as I though the French love escargot. 
Here is our guide acting silly and pretending he was the conch god!
After we snorkeled we went to another little island. No doubt Steve is looking for fish. 
The French family wandered around. I stayed near the boat. There was a lot of sea weed that had arrived in the area. In fact many areas have been bothered by Sargassum. 
We stopped at the Ranger station to pay the fee to visit the national park that we were visiting.
Soon it was back to the deserted island again for our lunch. 
A table was set up inside the building for us to eat at. 
There was a bar set up for drinks also.
There was cold lobster salad, grilled chicken and fish. Although lobster season is officially over until the lobsters finish mating you are allowed to serve lobster that has been previously caught and frozen.
There was also a warm green salad, plantains and cole slaw.
Warm soft tacos also. 
I had a little of everything. 
The French group asked if they could move the tables outside. I of course thought this was crazy. That there must have been a reason for us to sit inside, maybe it would cut down on the bugs. So Steve and I ate inside, and tried to keep the food covered from the flies that came in through the open doors and window. 
Steve and I walked around the decaying resort. It was pretty creepy. 
This must have been the old fish tank in the dining room. 
I followed Steve down to the pier.
We took a look at the schools of swimming fish. Those are not weeds, but many fish!
Steve wandered off to the bar and found out that we could have Mojitos or Daiquiris so he brought back one of each.
We decided to joint the French family sitting outside. Here is the sugar cane that we could nibble on if we chose to.
We were offered some local chocolate. It was very good.
Then there was fresh coconut. 
Here were almonds and watermelon. The almonds were from trees on the island. They had fallen to the ground, birds had eaten the outer shell, and our guide smashed what was left for us to eat.
This required a lot of work to do!
They liked to hang out at this island.
We had chips on our way back to the marina. Pico de gallo also.
Punta Gorda has one bridge over the river. It is a one lane bridge.
Coming in for a landing!
This was our boat, and the gear that the staff unloaded for the day. Our boat was called the Kulcha Beach.
When we got back to the Lodge I took a picture of Steve’s picture from yesterday. Like most lodges, anglers submit their pictures and people think that they too will catch a fish. Steve’s fish was a lovely fish.
These are the horses that you can ride on at Copal Tree Lodge. I am not sure if I showed you them before or not. I thought it was a bit too hot to ride in the jungle.
We went to dinner early and I had a “Happy Mama”. I wasn’t too happy with it. Give me my fruity martini any day. I should have asked the bartender to just make me a fruity rum drink. Hold the chartreuse, gin and bitter. Steve had a Dark and Stormy, but I forgot to take a picture of it.
Chef’s amuse bouche was pico de gallo on a plantain. Not my favorite.
Steve and I shared the grilled vegetable salad. There were too many grilled vegetables on it, to make me happy. I kept looking for pineapple in my salad!
I didn’t see anything on the menu that I was crazy about, so I asked the waitress if the chef could give me a piece of fish. Success! I am not sure what the purple stuff was. I didn’t care for it whatever is was, but the fish was good.
Steve had the chicken Bolognese. We have had it at home with turkey, but not chicken. He said it was quite tasty.
For my dessert I asked the waitress if instead of the cream puff with rum raisin ice cream and caramel sauce I could have vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce and she said Yes!
More pretty flowers to look at. 
My coffee came with cream in it already. That enabled me to be even more lazy, as I didn’t have to lift the pitcher and pour cream into my coffee.
Another glass of pineapple juice. This wasn’t quite as good as yesterday’s, as it wasn’t as frozen. Still awesome though!
I decided to try the scrambled eggs. I think that the fried eggs tasted a little bit better.
I wasn’t sure if I showed you the bar in the dining area. They only make the coffees here. Downstairs there is a real bar.
Hmm… just follow the signs. 
Up the hill a little farther. 
There it is. Looks like it is under construction. 
There is a nice view, but I think the view from our Canopy Suites is nicer. 
The floor looks nice. The floor on our veranda where i have put my mat, has slots between the wood. 
Pretty flowers on the way back. 
Here is the view of the river from just below the Canopy Suites. went down to lunch at about 11:30 as I was scheduled to have a massage at 1.
This is a view of the dining area at lunch time before all the guests arrive. Now that all our children are grown and we don’t have any grandchildren I have decided I am not crazy about little kids in the dining room. I am not sure where I want them, but I definitely don’t want them sitting next to me. I have become an uncaring individual.
I ordered a slightly sweetened ice tea. It was so dark that it looked like a cola but it was an ice tea.
I ordered the salad with fruit and grilled chicken. Today we had watermelon again. I have decided that I prefer pineapple. Who would have thought it? Next thing you know I will order pizza with pineapple on it also!
This is the downstairs bar area. They have a picture flip stand of all the fish that the anglers have caught during their stay here. I emailed the concierge Steve’s picture from yesterday. I was so excited for him to see it when he came back from his fishing trip today.
I was escorted to my massage at 1. They had a nice changing room where I could shower before my massage. I think it is a nice thing to do for the masseuse. Who wants to rub oil all over a dirty body? It’s not always possible, but when it is, I do so. Of course afterwards you are supposed to let the oils stay on your body until they are well absorbed. So then you have to walk around with a greased up body and hair all akimbo from the oils and the pulling on your scalp. Instead of going back up to our pool and room I figured I would relax by the pool.
I didn’t get much of a chance to relax as Tatoo man came by the lower pool.
He was covered with them! 
I showed Steve a picture later and he thought having left tattooed on the left hand was a good idea. Steve wondered about having clockwise and counter clockwise tattooed somehow as he always gets that confused.
That was two in a row! All the other anglers were quite envious of him! Today’s fish was even bigger than yesterday’s fish.
Our amuse bouche was chicken salad on a cucumber slice.
Steve had the roasted vegetable soup.
I had the shrimp seviche
For our entree Steve and I both had the snook.
Steve had the spice cake for his dessert.
I had the lime pie with banana ice cream.
Good morning! One of the pleasures of going south during the winter is seeing flowers in bloom. 
I had a cup of coffee with milk and sugar again. Yesterday I actually asked for half and half. I have no idea if I got it or not. I met a guy in the grocery store once and we had quite the discussion of the merits of half and half versus light cream in your coffee. I thought there was no difference. The man insisted on light cream. No worries, Steve was in the milk aisle getting our 2% milk for cereal! 
I decided to go for the fried eggs and bacon. That bacon was really good, the eggs were very fresh, the color of the yolk was very vibrant. I am not sure if that means the eggs were fresh or not, but supposedly most of the food at this resort is farm to table. 
I asked if they had juice this morning and got fresh pineapple juice. It was a almost like a smoothie, so cold and delicious.
It was nearing lunch time, so I went back to check out our pool. That’s my gear on the chaise lunge all the way to the right. It gets shadier there first in the afternoon, so I figured I better claim it while our neighbors were off examining the Mayan ruins. 
Steve had mentioned yesterday that we have a lot of equipment on our roof. i think that is equipment to heat the hot water, and also for the wifi up in the canopy suites. 
Lunch was the green salad with chicken. Today they chef put watermelon on the salad. There was a big noisy group at lunch today. About 12 people. They were talking very loudly. I heard snippets of the conversation, San Francisco, chocolate, cereal, no fat and cancer. I hope they are not staying here.
After lunch it was back to the pool where I waited for Steve. Let’s hope he catches a fish!
On our way to the tram I spied the cookies that I had mentioned in yesterday’s blog post. I couldn’t refuse and tried one.
It was pretty good.
Here is Steve getting in the tram.
Down we headed on the tram to the river.
There was a French couple who wanted to walk down the steps. There were a lot of steps.
Then another couple came following their friends.
We got to the bottom. I was worried that they would want to go back with us in the tram, it only holds four people and we would be six!
I asked Steve to take a picture of me as most of my pictures are of him. (Actually they are of him, food, his fish and other stuff.) I don’t trust him often with a camera. He did an alright job here. I am in the center of the picture and in focus. The clothes that I am wearing have insecticide in them. I am tying to not get bitten by bugs. Now, not only will I be rotting from the inside out with all my strange ailments, but will have my outer layer decay at the same time. Just give me another 20 years or so, that should be enough to keep me happy. By then just think how many blog followers I may have!
There was some construction going on. I think they are making a new pathway to the river. There was supposed to be a gym here, but I sure wouldn’t want to come down here and exercise.
Here we have Steve looking at the river. I am not sure what he is thinking. I just pray that he stays between the crocodiles and me. 
There were kayaks for those individuals who wanted to paddle around. No thank you.
One of the French guys stayed longer to get pictures. It was very pretty out. I liked the reflection in the water of the trees. Except for that smudge in the water. Do you think it was a crocodile? I didn’t stay long enough to find out. 
So back up the tram we went. The French people all went up the stairs. No wonder they were so slim and trim. The one lady was looking for her husband. I hope he returned, safe and sound. 
Deviled eggs were are amuse bouche tonight. I do like a good deviled egg. These were quite fresh, sometimes they are made hours in advance so the yolk is quite hard. These were very creamy. 
Steve had the green salad, which was very similar to my salad at lunch minus the chicken. No your eyes are not out of focus, it was the low light. 
I had the conch fritters for my starter.
Steve’s entree was the filet mignon wrapped in bacon with the fried egg on top.
I had a ginger curd with coconut cookie and some kind of fruit sauce. Steve asked me what kind of fruit it was. I couldn’t remember from the menu and was too tired to ask. I liked the sauce very much. The family at the next table ordered a Happy Mama drink with their dinner. The father and the grandfather said they were going to rename it a Happy Dad. Perhaps I will have another specialty drink Sunday night before dinner.