Day Two - Northern Lagoon

Well I must admit I did not sleep all that well the first night. The adrenalin rush of finally being there to the inability to regulate the temperature of the room and the climate change effect on my sinuses...
We had a continental breakfast at the hotel - there were some British military men at breakfast as well. I saw some RAF at the airport the day before when we arrived. It appears they still have a presence here.
From there we waited and waited for our guide to arrive. Aahhh - island time (well I know we weren't on an island...). Our guide, Mario, arrived at the back of the hotel. Unbeknownst to us we were going by water from the hotel pier to our excursion for the day - and boy was it a tiny boat. When they say a 4 man speedboat on the itinerary they weren't kidding!

We headed south past the hotel, past the tiny lighthouse, towards the cruise ship port (OK the curise ships anchor further out than any other island I have been to before) to the mouth of the river that runs between the north and south of Belize City.
We saw much of the city along the river, including a swing bridge and eventually entered the mangrove. Not too far into the mangroves with all the vegetation around us, the small boat our tour guide a stranger and no other boats in sight --- Joseph Conrad and Heart of Darkness came to mind - and we all know that leads me to Martin Sheen and Apocalypse Now but I digress. It was just that solitary. Of course my mom pipes in - hey this is like The Jungle Cruise at Walt Disney World - slightly different trains of thought there. Anyways - there were lots of birds (although by the end of the week I will admit I am NOT a bird watcher), some crocodiles, bats, and HUGE palm trees. We tried to see some manatees but it was too windy and choppy that day and were not out in the open where they normally plan. Overall we spent close to 4 hours out on the water. My mom and I shared most of the drive time.

During one part of the trip I was driving at full throttle through this narrow canal passage - my mind being not as literary at that point - Miami Vice and Sonny Crocket came to mind. Oh come on you gotta laugh at that! At the end of the day our guide informed us that in all of his years of giving tours we were the first group to drive all the way out and back. He could have been making that up but that's OK.

After the boat ride and lunch we headed into the jungle for our next destination - Jaguar Paw.