Belize - Laughingbird Caye National Park

Here's a photo from and a link to more spectacular photos of Laughing Bird Caye National Park - from the Southern Environmental Association's Facebook page. Laughingbird is visited by many, many Maine Stay guests while on snorkeling trips.

The Maine Stay - Belize - TripAdvisor Review

I don't usually like to "toot our horn" here... but this review written by one of our recent guests, Heather Anderson, is so well done and terribly flattering to us and the Placencia Peninsula, that I just had to share...

We just returned from 9 days at the Maine Stay. We could not have asked for anything more. We were a large group (8 people), and Drew and Karen accommodated us perfectly. The cabanas were spotlessly clean, and had everything we needed. Karen nicely noted that if we needed anything at all (ie. bigger pots, different cooking utensils) to just come across the street and she would be happy to lend them to us. They provided us with great information about the peninsula and its surrounding attractions. The bathrooms were beautiful and again spotless. The beach is soft, clean sand, dotted with several palm trees for some shade and privacy. the property is also covered in beautiful hibiscus plants and other vibrant flowers. The water was gorgeous, jumping off the dock was tons of fun. There are beach dogs - but they are harmless! they just want to say hello, maybe get a few pats from you and just check out what you are doing. we loved them. The beds were extremely comfortable, and the rooms were air conditioned, so sleeping here was perfect. for a day time nap, relax in one of the many hammocks on the deck.

As for things to do on the peninsula - the saturday night buffet at Roberts Grove is AMAZING (all you can eat lobster - need i say more??) another great find was The Secret Garden restaurant down in Placencia Village - fantastic food and friendly service. they were also one of the few places that serves American breakfasts - nice to have a little taste of home once and a while! If diving is your thing, go with Avadon divers, they are located just south of the air strip. Ann Marie and her brother run the company and they are such wonderful people, and our day out on the boat was amazing. we saw dolphins, rays, millions of fish, lobsters, you name it, we saw it. Their lunch was incredible too.

I could go on and on about the house and Placencia, but I suggest you book this house and get down there to experience it yourself. Oh and be sure to drop in on Drew and Karen - their house is the coolest house i have ever seen and their knowledge of the country is really cool, they know anything you will want to know. Their dogs are adorable, and they have birds too!!

TripAdvisor Review 20 August 09

Xunantunich - "tunasandwich" - Belize Mayan Ruin

Check out the YouTube video of one of the Mayan ruins that many of The Maine Stay guests visit. This is a delightful day trip to the San Ignacio area and is easily combined with a visit to the Cahal Pech ruins about 15 minutes from Xunantunich. Read what Wikipedia has to say about Xunantunich and Cahal Pech.

Belize Pickles... the California Method

My son Steven sent this email... check out his recipe link below!

So, someone at my office brought in a ton of cukes from their garden, really big ones, and I took home a bunch, cuz it was like, free food, and that's good, because free food means I can buy more ipods, and anyhoo, I was never going to be able to eat these cukes before they went moldy, cuz there were like too many of them, so I figured I should somehow try to extend the life of the cukes, and then I remembered there were these things people made called pickles and preserves and stuff like that, so I started to look into it, using the interwebs, and I found a basic recipe, after some searching--the first several recipes I found had sugar as an ingredient, and I said no, no, no--so I kept looking and found something that was more true, and found a way to do this experiment without special canning equipment and huge vats and special jars and lids and seals and sterilization and all that, because I didn't have the time or energy for that, and to this basic recipe I added about eleventy different spices because I was feeling mischevious, and I thought it would probably be a bust, that things would turn out to be inedible, but I didn't care too much, cuz the cukes were free and it was darn easy to do, so I experimented and went wild and added in the spices like the spicy guy that I am, and wouldn't you know it, these pickles turned out to be the best pickles i've ever tasted, they are mega-delicious, and I brought several jars of them in to work, and people often bring stuff in to work to share, so usually it's like, ho hum, thanks, but people who I don't even talk to a whole lot went out of their way to stop by my desk and rave about how amazing the spicy pickles are, and to please share the recipe, so I was at this point obligated to write it all up, and thus I bring you this internets page that I made, which is passed along with love and best wishes and hopes that the pickle gods may allow your preserved cukes to turn out just as deliciously, and that you may enjoy in the crunching and spicy goodliness of which you might partake if you undertake and execute to the equivalent of my own pickle making abilities, yeah good luck with that!

Aww yeah, that was one sentence.

snipurl.com/spicyp
recipe by Steve Travers

Belize - Waterfalls & Sunsets

One of our guests recently snapped the shot of the waterfall and pool at the Cockscomb Jaguar Preserve... this is a great day trip for hiking, river tubing, rock sliding and "critter" observing!

And then. of course, you can come back to Kokomo to enjoy a gorgeous lagoon sunset sitting in one of our palapa swings on the Marina boardwalk.

Belize... Name That Plant!

Ok folks... this is a "Yucca" type plant with very sharp spikes that seems to blossom every several months. It has grown to a height of 3-4 feet. Any ideas what this is?

Name that Toad...

This little guy has decided to make my desk and work space his home territory. So let's name that toad...
Maybe if I start having conversations with him he'll stay out of my printer!

Any ideas?

Maya Island Air... Belize - Cancun Connection?

Is this the plane that will be flying the rumored Maya Island Air Belize City - Cancun route? Don't know for sure, but I do know that this photo was taken June 2nd, 2009 at an unknown location. The ATR 72 is a twin-turboprop short-haul regional airliner built by the French-Italian aircraft manufacturer ATR. It seats up to 74 passengers in a single-class configuration and is operated by a two-pilot crew. See Wikipedia for more detailed information.

For those of us in the tourism industry, the prospect of travelers getting to Belize via Cancun is an exciting development... opening up the possibility of significantly better connections and fares for both North American and European passengers.

Belize Collage

Collage of the 5 minute walk!

A Five Minute Walk In Belize...

A 5 minute walk in our back yard this morning yielded this splash of colors!

More on Obama and PM Dean Barrow (Channel 7 News)

Barrow on Barack's Visit to Belize
posted (April 22, 2009)
And moving on to the subject that’s been quite the buzz recently, the PM discussed his meeting with US President Barack Obama and the possibility – however remote – that he could come to Belize. The two leader shared a table at the official summit dinner on Saturday night in Port of Spain and Barrow says it was Obama who asked him about Belize.

Hon. Dean Barrow,
“He was extremely friendly, it is not just what he said but the body language that accompanied his pronouncements, suggested this is somebody serious about a fresh start in terms of hemispheric relations. He appeared genuinely interested in Belize. He didn’t know about Belize and when he said that he would like to visit and that he is recording an intention to visit, I took him seriously. As I said to Adele in Trinidad and Tobago, he told me that he proposes within the next month to six weeks to nominate an Ambassador to Belize.

The person he has in mind is, I think he described him as an old college buddy, and we all know of the sorts of friendships that are formed between and among college buddies. But my sense that he was choosing his pick for Belize very carefully, that it was deliberate that this was somebody personally close to him and that it would be a question of good looking out for Belize under the watch of the new Ambassador. Of course the nomination has to go to Congress and nobody can be certain that Congress will approve. The President also made the point that once the new Ambassador is in place, that would make it even easier or certainly less difficult to arrange the logistics of his visit to Belize. So I took him very seriously.”

Cancun to Belize City Air Connection ???

Apparently Belize's Maya Island Air is telling those who ask, that they hope to have their service between Cancun and Belize City running by "mid-summer." Although I have seen nothing on rates or schedules, this is bound to at least make a pretty good size dent in the total cost of getting here from the US, Canada and Europe. For Canadians and Europeans it will mean being able to bypass transiting the US. This is a huge plus for them.

P.M. Barrow: President Obama to Visit Belize

Belmopan, Belize, 20 April 2009 - (Belizean.com) - Prime Minister Dean Barrow stated in a radio interview in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago Saturday, that U.S.A. President Barrack Obama will visit Belize. The Belize Prime Minister who was attending the Fifth Summit of the Americas In Trinidad, was interviewed by KREM radio reporter Adele Ramos.

The Prime Minister's interview was broadcast in Belize yesterday Sunday April 19th. Prime Minister Barrow stated that over dinner on Friday, President Barack Obama had expressed an interest in visiting Belize. According to Barrow, President Obama indicated that he will put forward to congress within the next month or six weeks, his nomination for a new U.S.A. ambassador in Belize. "After this we will be in a better position to start to make arrangements for the logistics of the President's visit," stated Mr. Barrow.

Belize Beach Cabanas

I discovered a photo of our original Belize cabanas taken shortly after they were constructed. We tend to forget that landscaping and mother nature are such an important part of the ambiance of the "places" we create in our lives. The photo taken currently, shows, over time, how we have slowly worked toward the right combination of natural beauty, relaxing atmosphere and privacy. The pictures were shot from the road side of the cabanas, looking toward the ocean. It's a startling contrast and humbling reminder of how much some time and "mother nature" contribute to our lives. More photos of the cabana suites are here.

Are the Iguanas in Belize Spying On Us?

So I was up early one morning and heard a rustling noise as I sat out in the garden palapa. Took me a while to figure out where the noise was coming from. When I spotted him, this guy just calmly and slowly moved his head back and forth eye-balling me... one at a time! While sitting in that comfy gutter, I'm sure he was probably thinking about what he was going to tell the rest of his crowd about the nice digs he discovered.

Belize Guest Photos... Always a Treat!

The Eyers family has been enjoying Belize and The Maine Stay for two weeks and Rob was kind enough to share some of his excellent photos of their various travels. The photo below is of Robert's Caye. More of their pics are posted here.

Belize Video

This is a great new video about Belize... very well done and really highlights how much is packed in to this small English speaking country only 2 hours from the US! When you are done, have a look at one of the best family owned beach cabana suites in the country.

Lazy Belize Day in the Sun...

Lazy Day in the Sun
Originally uploaded by traversbelize

Do you suppose these guys are resting from their tireless efforts to keep away the various monsters that try to invade the Kokomo compound? Or maybe they just need a break from the run out to the Marina and quick dip in the water (well... not Little Bit!). Bowdoin (on the lounger) and Sir Charles seem totally unfazed by the whole thing.

Lunch in Belize Anyone...?

One of our favorite places to get a great lunch and enjoy the scenery in Placencia Village is the Barefoot Beach Bar. It's right off the Sidewalk and the food and drinks are excellent. Cassie and Bryce are great folks and the whole atmosphere is just delightful. And yes the colors in the picture are real and untouched!

Proud Grandparents in Belize...

Good Morning... to Eva Kathren Whitmore, 7 pounds 13 ounces, born February 24th, 2009 to Kristen and Christopher Whitmore and three year old brother Tate of Wiscasset, Maine. More pics here.