King's Children's Home AND some shopping in Belmopan City
We left at our usual time, 8AM. UGH! We did stop by the local flea market (only open 2 days a week) in Belmopan City on our way to the orphanage. Some of the items the students decided to purchase, authentic small machetes and knives, were THEIR decision ONLY! They ASSURED me their parents would be ok with these purchases! I sure hope so! I told them they would need to put them in their checked baggage. During their lunch break at the construction site, Miguel (Mike), our local guide, demonstrated how to clean, sharpen and properly use these new purchases.
We only spent 2 hours at the orphanage and construction site today. The students were HOT and TIRED! Miguel came to the orphanage just before lunch to pick up the orphanage crew as they wanted to see what went on at the construction site. Plus, the students all wanted to eat a picnic lunch together today.
Luckily, the lunch area at the construction site had a breeze so we could sit at the picnic tables and not sweat as we ate our lunch (1/2 of a fish with either the head or tail left on). Interesting!
The construction foreman said that our construction crew had succeeded in speeding up the project so much that the concrete would now be able to be poured in a few weeks! They would beat the rainy season!
Miguel and I were very proud of the students as both crews had done a great job!
Of course, after lunch all of us HAD to have ice cream for the 3rd day in a row!
On the way back to Pook's Hill, our van ran over a piece of metal and a rear tire went flat. The roads in Belize are amazingly rough and I am not sure why we have not had a flat tire before this! Miguel changed the tire for us in a very efficient and quick manner. I think he has had quite a bit of practice on the roads around here. All the girls stayed with the van waiting for the tire to be replaced. The 4 boys decided to jog home. They must have flown the last 2.5 miles to the lodge as they arrived at Pook's Hill Lodge just as we were pulling in!
After their run the 4 boys, Sasha and myself went to the Red Cliff Pool to cool off. One of the drawbacks to swimming at this site are the tiny fish that tend to nibble/bite you after you have been in the water for awhile. Our guides, Miguel and Francisco, said the fish are just nibbling the dead skin off of us. Their bites feel like multiple bugs are stinging your body! To keep them from biting us, we would constantly move our arms and legs!
Tomorrow is either a 9-10:30AM hike OR a sleep-in option. We leave at 11:15AM to take lunch to the orphanage. Lunch: pizza and juice. Yeah! No cooking and not much clean up!
The holiday of a lifetime. The company is Alaksa-owned and thhat makes a big difference to the experineces you get i.e. meet genuine First Nations tribes people. The amount of wildlife was beyond my expectation, and seeing everything on sucha small, intimate boat made it even more spoecial and unique.
Liz O
7 hours ago
Adventure Life covered all the details in planning our trip to Ireland. Any questions we had were answered immediately. Any trip glitches, which always happen when traveling, were resolved immediately. There were no worries, just fun!
Kathleen Weller
22 hours ago
It was an outstanding, up-close, educational vacation of nature, culture, history, animals and geology! It was everything they promised! Binoculars were plentiful on the boat, but I'm glad I brought my own. Food was excellent. Rooms had black-out shades. Pack/wear multiple layers of clothing (I carried a small backpack when off the ship). Crew were delightful and very accommodating! Remember to jump FEET FIRST first when taking the optional polar plunge! Spend as much time outdoors as you are able and ENJOY!!!
Janet Dutton
5 days ago
Excellent travel advice and service
This is my second experience working with Adventure Life. I’m sold. Jess Heuermann is an experienced traveler and provides a lot of useful information when planning a trip. These are the questions I like to ask at the outset - What’s it like to go here, there, what would you suggest, what do people report, can we add any additional side trips? Jess took the time to answer my questions and seek additional information to share with me. Petchie Colina is outstanding in helping with travel logistics and final preparations. Adventure Life has excellent guides and offers private guides and small group adventures. We enjoyed the opportunity to talk with the guides and drivers to learn more about their countries, cultures and histories. A highlight was having the guides pick local restaurants where we could share meals together. Highly recommend.
Claire Cordon
6 days ago
Our six-day tour in Iceland went smoothly with one exception. We had asked for two rooms each night. Somehow we were booked with one room with three beds. It could not be fixed at the first hotel in Reykjavik because the hotel was fully booked. Once informed of the problem, however, Adventure Life rebooked for two rooms for the remainder of the trip. As an 85-year-old traveler, I appreciated that one could participate at different physical levels at many of the stops. Iceland is a great place to visit but on the expensive side.