If you’ve ever lived with me or been around me for an extended period of time, I’ve probably bothered you with my absent-minded whistling. For those who have not had this opportunity, you’re missing out! So when I was in the basement of a building today that is scheduled to be torn apart and I came across a room with great acoustics and other intriguing sounds, I decided that I had to record a quick freestyle whistled song for anyone that can appreciate it–especially for the aforementioned.

This room was a large empty storage room that had running air vents and a steadily leaking water pipe, and the song was recorded with an iPod Touch, so it’s not a winner for quality recording. However, I actually think these aspects add something to the song and encouraged me to act on this whistling notion. And while I know my whistling can become tiresome, I hope you can listen to this and feel the love I put in it for you.

Without further delay, Whistle Session 03172013.

P.S. – If you’re curious about the featured image for this post, I came across the “Main Drain” sign and valve while wandering through the basement of this building.

After a lovely ride on the Hummingbird Highway (photos above), our vacation to Belize ended with a longer stay in the area we used to call home: Cayo (San Ignacio and the surrounding area). I used to think that if someday I came back to Belize to live I would probably end up in Punta Gorda, but this trip made me realize how much I love Cayo. PG and Hopkins were great getaways while living in Cayo, but I don’t think I could call anywhere else in Belize home–and I’m not just being sentimental! I don’t even know if I can put a finger on what it is exactly that draws me to the western region of this tiny country. It probably has a lot to do with San Ignacio. One of the best cities in Belize, it’s a major hub of activity but it’s nowhere near as dangerous as Belize City. Plus it has lots of jungle with a wide variety of plants and birds.

We got to catch up with friends of ours who are currently living on the beautiful property where I shot the bird photos above. We also spent time visiting friends in the nearby village of San Jose de Succotz, checking out the Saturday market in San Ignacio (habaneros and apple bananas below), stopping by our old place, and enjoying the overall slower pace in one location for a few days.

I was amazed at some of the major changes that happened in the area in the last year-and-a-half. San Ignacio now has a beautiful central plaza area with fountains, shady spots, and new stores that haven’t been occupied yet. A large part of Burns Avenue–along which lies Mr. Greedy’s, one of our favorite hangout spots–is now pedestrian-only with the road replaced with a brick walkway. Overall traffic signs, one-ways, and road quality have been updated in the city, as well.

Outside of San Ignacio, things seemed mostly the same. They did bury the dump where they used to burn garbage not far from where we lived, and they’ll be adding a waste sorting/transfer facility as part of a larger initiative to improve Belize waste management. The old campus where we used to work has returned to its original use as a hotel, and a couple corn milpas have been added to the grounds. But they still have the cashew tree that I loved!

We also went to Xunantunich, a compact but impressive Mayan site visitors can explore (photos below). We had a beautiful day to be out and climbing around; a local marching band even took advantage of the weather by having a Xunantunich photo shoot in their marching uniforms. They happily reported that they won again at the most recent Belize Band Fest, where marching bands from throughout Belize compete.

We eventually had to head back toward Belize City to catch our plane home. Once we got to the Belize City bus station, we decided to save some money by taking the bus toward Chetumal and having them drop us off at the airport road in Ladyville. From there, a taxi in is only BZ$5 per person (we’ve had other taxi drivers charge us only BZ$5 altogether), or you could pretty easily walk in if you have the time–someone driving by might even be kind enough to give you a lift.

I could say that a week is not long enough to visit Belize, but I don’t know if any amount of time could be “enough.” For such a small country, it has a lot to offer.

If you want to chill on a beach in Belize, realistically you have just a few options: the cayes, Placencia, Hopkins, or some private property your cousin owns. Other places have ocean-front property (Dangriga and Punta Gorda for example) but they really don’t have beaches, especially not if you’re looking for umbrella-drink sands. If you’re doing the too-cheap-to-shave backpacker thing, you might want to avoid Placencia; my understanding is that it’s mostly a good location for diving trips and it’s pricier to stay. Hopkins is sort of the answer to Placencia with cheaper places but still with options for diving/snorkeling, plus it’s close to Cockscomb and Dangriga. However, depending on where in Hopkins you are, the beaches may not be quite as nice as Placencia’s.

I’ve always enjoyed my times in Hopkins, and my favorite place to stay there is The Funky Dodo backpackers’ hostel. I first stayed there not long after the owners bought the property and added the dorm, and now they have private rooms, nice new showers and toilets, and an active bar. If you’re there during the high season, you’re likely to meet all kinds of interesting people from around the world traveling through Central America. The owner, Will, is super friendly and can help you find things in the area to do. He also has a weekly beach cleanup that you can participate in if you’re there on the weekend. The dorm has somewhere around 22 beds (bunked) and stays nice and cool. Hammocks and a palapa provide hangout spots, as well as the bar in the evening.

There are two other places that are always must-visits for me in Hopkins: Caitlin’s Bakery and Driftwood Pizza. Caitlin’s Bakery is just a small shack a little way off the main road where an ex-pat woman bakes breads and pastries; the visit is worth it partly for the treats but largely for the conversation with the energetic–and sometimes sassy–Caitlin. Driftwood Pizza is a pizzeria and bar right on the beach on the north side of Hopkins. They keep their sand clean to make it a pleasant place to sit and enjoy pizza and a drink, or you could sit inside if it’s too windy or buggy out. I haven’t gotten to know the owner personally, but he’s a friendly ex-pat who will engage in conversation if you like. Plus the pizza really is good, and not just by Belize standards.

The main drawback to Hopkins is trying to get there. Similar to Cockscomb, Hopkins sits several miles from the Southern Highway. However, unlike Cockscomb, there’s pretty regular traffic in and out of Hopkins so you can pretty easily hitch a ride or catch one of the few buses. A bus leaves Dangriga for Hopkins in the morning and in the evening (something like 10:30am and 5:30pm), and a bus leaves Hopkins for Dangriga at 7:00am and 2:00pm. Alternatively, you can hire a taxi, but those get expensive.

A quick note about hitch-hiking in Belize: overall hitch-hiking has been a pleasant and safe experience for me, but you always have to be smart. I would discourage hitch-hiking alone, especially at night. Obviously, don’t have money or expensive items out in plain sight. I would never ever hitch-hike in or near Belize City: it’s a dangerous place for this kind of activity and it’s not a risk worth taking.

The Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Refuge and Jaguar Preserve is like a childhood home where you shared a neighborhood with the most beautiful girl in school but also got beat up every day by the local bully. Frequently asking myself if it’s worth it (and always answering that it was), I trekked along with camera in hand and Kelly mostly at my side while trying desperately to ward of the swarm of mosquitoes with my flailing arms. Sure, the mosquitoes will eventually penetrate the layers of DEET and possibly implant a bot fly larva in my skin, but my eye is on the prize: a photograph of anything spectacular. While this might sound discouraging, the fortunate thing about Cockscomb is that there are so many spectacular things from which to choose.

Cockscomb is set back about 6 miles from the Southern Highway deep in vivid wild jungle. If you’re cheaping it like we were, you can take the bus or hitchhike and tell them to stop at Maya Center (the village at the entrance road to Cockscomb). Upon arriving here, you can go into the women’s co-op and tell them you’d like to get a taxi in to the park. You can also pay your $10BZ entrance fee here (make sure to get the receipt). The taxi price might vary: I was told it would be $15BZ each, but it ended up being $20BZ each. While I’m discussing the costs of this trip, I’ll take a moment to stress the importance of pulling out enough money from an ATM in a bigger town (closest to Cockscomb will be Dangriga) prior to traveling. We had a moment when we weren’t sure if we’d be able to get a taxi back out of Cockscomb, and that road is a long one to walk. So get enough for the entrance fee, the taxi in/out, the bus to and from Maya Center, and for whatever method of lodging you choose. We went with the “rustic cabin” room (a small room with 2 beds and an electrical outlet) for $40BZ. The only cheaper option would be the campground for $20BZ, but you can check out all the options here.

So it can be difficult to talk about Cockscomb without a slight tinge of negativity solely because of the mosquitoes, but I promise this place is worth it. It has gorgeous trails that take you to a double-waterfall, to a bluff with a view of the second-tallest mountain in Belize, and deep into the untamed beauty of the jungle. You can see amazing things like trails of leaf-cutter ants, the violet sabrewing dancing in the mist of a waterfall, and maybe even an elusive tapir cooling off in the river in the evening. We even came across a big cat paw print (maybe a jaguar?) in the mud.

Some great sights for me this trip were the boat-billed heron (first time!), orange-billed sparrow (first time!), violet sabrewing (first time!), crested guan, amazon kingfisher, and possibly a peccary or–dare I say it?–a tapir! Not sure on that last one (as Kelly put it: we just saw butt) but we think we probably smelled peccary after our sighting.

One of my favorite trails at Cockscomb is the one that goes to Ben’s Bluff. It’s along here that you’ll have a good chance of seeing the violet sabrewing, and the view from Ben’s Bluff is wonderful. It’s also fascinating to watch as the change in altitude causes a change in ecosystem. Near the end, you suddenly go from walking through dense tropical jungle to walking through pine and ferns. Crazy.

The Tiger Fern trail is also very worth the effort (and it requires quite a bit of effort). At the end you are treated to a stunning double-waterfall, and there’s an area along the trail where you can pitch your tent. My cousin and I did a poor job of planning our hike and ended up at the waterfall at dusk, so we camped right at the waterfall. This is not a good idea. The terrain is very rocky, and do you really want to be near a water source at night? Remember what lives out there that might get thirsty…or hungry.

On our first full day in Belize, we took a bus from Belize City straight down to one of the southern-most villages called Punta Gorda (or PG as most call it). The bus ride is about 6.5 hours, but a large part of it is through the beautiful mountainous/forested region along the Hummingbird Highway. If you wanted to take a break during this long bus ride, you could always stop at the Blue Hole National Park where you can swim in a small sink hole filled with super clear blue water, do some birding along a number of trails, or explore St. Herman’s Cave.

Once we got to PG, we made our way straight to the bed-and-breakfast  Hickatee Cottages where we were staying for the night. Hickatee Cottages is one of our favorite places to splurge on a little in Belize. It’s a little pricier and it’s about a mile out of town, but we think it’s worth it for the beautiful setting (a couple of trails through the jungle are available to walk and you might catch sight of the howler monkeys), the good night of sleep, and the owners Kate and Ian and their cats. And they minimize any inconvenience of the distance out of town by providing vehicle transportation from and to the bus station and by offering bicycles to ride into town whenever you might desire. Plus, if you get dinner at Hickatee, Ian makes an amazing bowl of callaloo soup! I could go on and on about how much you can learn about the area from Ian and Kate, but to avoid the risk of coming off as obsessed and turning this blog post into a novella, I will move on and save the rest for a TripAdvisor review.

We got some rain in the morning a la Febrero Loco, but it stopped by the time we were ready to venture into town. PG had always been one of my favorite locations for a getaway while living in Cayo, Belize, but I don’t know if I could really define why. It’s along the ocean with a view of the mountains, so it’s a beautiful place, and it’s the chocolate center of Belize (the cacao festival is in May). The town itself is pretty quiet, though, and doesn’t offer a lot to the average tourist after 5pm. However, it is a great place to stay while visiting locations in the south like the Mayan site Lubaantun, the IXCACAO (formerly Cyrila’s) cacao farm and chocolate factory, or the Sapodilla Cayes. And sometimes you just need a quiet, sleepy town to relax in for a couple of days.

After visiting a Mayan co-op craft store, we made our way to the Cotton Tree Chocolate factory, which is really just a small shop where you can get a quick tour of the process for making chocolate from the cacao seeds and then buy some delicious chocolate and other chocolate products (lotions, hot cocoa mix, etc.). The tour is free–although it would be nice to tip–and really quite fascinating, so definitely go for it if you stop by.

We also happened to be in PG on a Wednesday morning, which is one of their market days. I was so excited to find some vendors selling cacao fruit! I felt like I hadn’t properly photographed it the last time I had one, so this was one of my major goals. The outside pod of the fruits are yellow, red, or green, and pretty thick. Once you crack or cut this pod open, the fruity part is the white-ish sticky coating around the seeds that you can suck on. The fruit tastes nothing like chocolate, but it is very sweet and–I think–delicious. The inner seeds also taste nothing like chocolate (quite gross actually) until they are fermented and then roasted.

We also picked up oranges and malay apples at the market and began the next leg of our trip to the Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary and Jaguar Preserve, which was really going to be ruffing it compared to Hickatee. I’ll explain more in the next post, but if you plan to spend time somewhere remote like Cockscomb, or even Hopkins, make sure you pull out plenty of money from an ATM before you head there!

Kelly and I recently spent a wonderful time in Belize visiting people and places we missed from our time living there and escaping the very cold weather of Minnesota. You can sort of see the blanket of snow covering the state in the perhaps overly “artsy” Instagram image on the right above. Our first visit in Belize was going to be to Punta Gorda, but our plane wasn’t getting in until after the last bus left going that far south. It’s a really terrible idea to stay in Belize City for any longer than you can help–especially at night, and we were too cheap to pay for a puddle-jumper to take us straight to Punta Gorda, so we decided to take the last water taxi out to Caye Caulker for the night.

In the end, we probably broke near-even with what it would have cost to take the small plane south, but Caye Caulker can definitely be a cheaper overnight stay if you want it to be. We stayed at a backpacker’s hostel called Yuma’s House, which was really very nice for a hostel. It’s right on the beach a short walk from the water taxis, it has lots of hammocks for chilling out, it’s clean, and it’s not far from restaurants/bars/things to do (not that Caye Caulker is big enough to say that anything is really all that far). We paid for a private room with a double bed, but you can go cheaper with a dorm bed; we just wanted to make sure we got a great night of sleep before starting out the next day. If you want to stay here, though, you really should reserve online as early as you can because it’s very popular and fills up fast.

Immediately after checking in to Yuma’s House, we booked it to one of our favorite restaurants in the world: Sandros Piccola Cucina. That’s right, it’s fantastic Italian food on a Caribbean island in Belize. He used to have his restaurant in a little shack on the beach, but now he’s expanded into a full-blown restaurant with a bar and dessert on the opposite side of the island (near the Atlantic Bank). If you get here at the right time of year (June-February), he’ll have lobster available for his pasta, but I highly recommend his blue cheese pasta. Yum!

We spent the rest of our time on the island walking around and grabbing a couple drinks. We were amazed to learn that Belikin, the only beer company in Belize, had made some limited edition brews including one called sorrel stout. It was very tasty, but I don’t think it’s technically a stout. It was fruity and delicious, though, so I’m not complaining. Apparently, they will be making a chocolate stout around the time of the cacao festival in the south, which we’ve heard was good when they made it the previous year.

The next day we were turning right back around and leaving early to catch a bus south to Punta Gorda, but I snapped some sunrise photos before we boarded our boat. In hindsight, we planned a bit too much traveling into 1 week in Belize. We would probably choose only 2 locations next time and stay in each longer, allowing for more relaxing. But, it was still a great time all around, and I’m already missing it, especially now that I’m back in a land of ice and snow.

Kelly and I are beginning to count down the hours until we depart for Belize, C.A. While it’s  a lot of work to prepare for traveling internationally, it can also be a lot of fun. I always love pulling out my passport and looking over the stamps it already contains and imagining what stamps I might get in it before it expires.

This particular trip is extremely exciting for the fact that we get to leave behind the frigid, snowy, and dead landscape of Minnesota, in exchange for 80-degree weather and tropical flora and fauna. Those shorts and swim trunks never looked so good.

I may occasionally update photos while in Belize, but I’ll definitely share my experiences and photos when I return. Now that I’m freshly shorn and fully packed, it’s time to distract myself with some family time and Super Bowl commercials.

Some of the places I’m most excited about visiting on this trip:
 •  Hickatee Cottages in Punta Gorda
 •  Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary
 •  the Italian restaurant (Sandros Piccola Cucina) on Caye Caulker
 •  the market in San Ignacio

I’m also looking forward to bringing back some great photos. When we were living there, I was always nervous to look like a tourist, but I think for a trip like this I’ll just need to embrace it. I might have to change my approach, though, if we buy the restaurant above the chocolate factory in Punta Gorda and turn it into a long-term arrangement. Oh, dreams.

While there were some super-brief tiny flurries earlier this season, we just had our first real snow in Rochester, MN, on Sunday. I think I love it most when it starts to snow late at night because there’s the realization that it definitely is snowing and the anticipation for just how much it could snow while I sleep. And the orange glow of street lights and the long shadows it casts lend themselves to the strangeness of watching the transformation of my immediate world. Some would say this experience of awe and wonder shows that I’m a giant kid–which might be true–but I would hate to think adulthood requires its absence.

It continued to snow all day Sunday, but I ventured out with my cameras to try to capture some snow scenes. I stopped at Assisi Heights first to see if there were any snowy scenes to photograph. I grabbed a couple Polaroid shots (above). The black & white one of the Virgin Mary ended up looking a little creepy on the PX600 Silver Shade film I used, but kind of in a good way.

I had to be careful with my cameras because the snow was still coming down hard and it was pretty wet. I decided to make snow scenes I did capture via my digital SLR into black & white images because I feel like it really shows off the contrast and texture of the snow and between the snow and trees. I also think it better portrays the sense of stillness and quiet that comes with a snow-covered forest.

Walking through a forest with a fresh carpeting of snow is invigorating for me. It really is a whole new world ripe for exploring. I also enjoyed watching the woodpeckers and nuthatches flitting a light dance through the falling frozen flakes. I’m sure it was not nearly as enjoyable for them to be the ones flitting about in the cold, probably attempting to merely find sustenance to survive in this new, harsh environment…but hey, tomāto/tomäto, right?

When I got home, our deck had a layer of very damp snow, and I was compelled to make a snowman. This snowman quickly took on a Calvin-and-Hobbes sort of shape and concept. I was running out of time to make him snow arms, so I had to settle with dead tomato plant. This is also why he has a sad expression; how would you feel if you had lousy, good-for-nothing, twiggy tomato arms? Perhaps I will start planning ahead now for my next snowfall sculpture.

I’m hoping to get a lot more snow this winter. Last winter was dry and warm for Minnesota standards, and this first snowstorm seems to promise a much better season.

As we enter the cold winter months, an occasional treat of tropical flavors can be just what we need to lift our spirits–all the better if it can literally warm us on the inside. This chutney is a delicious mix of sweet and spicy with a bit of tang, and it can be eaten hot or cold. What is chutney? I really wasn’t certain until recently: essentially it’s a spiced jam or preserve, almost like a relish, but it has specific connections to eastern foods like curried dishes. However, chutneys are good with many dishes. So far, I’ve really enjoyed this pineapple hibiscus chutney on pan-seared mahi mahi and baked brie with crackers; it’s a condiment with very diverse applications.

Ingredients

• ¼ cup dried hibiscus flowers
• 2 cups pineapple chunks, chopped (canned–no sugar added–or fresh)
• ⅔ cup chopped sweet onion
• ¼ cup white wine vinegar
• ¼ cup water
• 2 tablespoons fresh ginger, finely chopped
• ½ teaspoon sea salt
• ¼ cup honey
• 1 tablespoon sweet hot sauce
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• ½ teaspoon paprika
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon coriander
• ¼ teaspoon cumin
• ¼ teaspoon allspice

Instructions

1. Combine all the ingredients in a heavy saucepan and heat on the stove on high until it boils, stirring often.
2. When the mixture begins to boil, reduce the heat to medium-low and allow it to simmer for 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Remove from heat and cool.

The most difficult ingredient to find might be the dried hibiscus flowers. They sell this in the international foods section at a local grocery store here, and it can sometimes be called different things: hibiscus, sorrel, and flor de Jamaica are the names I’ve heard. This also makes great tea or juice!

For the pineapple, you can use fresh or canned, and you can even save yourself the step of chopping it up more if you buy crushed pineapple. While I’m usually a big fan of fresh fruit and veggies, pineapple is one of those fruits that I feel needs to be somewhat locally grown to have its full flavor fresh. I blame being spoiled in Belize for a year+ of my life. So canned pineapple does it for me, but definitely no sugar added!

For the sweet hot sauce, you can use any that you think would go well, but I still have some Hot Mama’s Manganero–mango and habanero–hot sauce from Belize that I slowly but steadily tap into. So good!

Heat the chutney until it’s the consistency you want, but it should thicken some. You can choose to leave the hibiscus flowers in and eat them (I think they’re tasty but they can be a little chewy), or you may wish to have them in a tea ball or something to allow the flavor to be added to the chutney while making it easy to remove them when finished.

This chutney is delicious with brie on crackers, which would make a great snack/appetizer for upcoming holiday get-togethers. To make this, bake your brie at 350°F for 10 minutes, topping it with chutney for the last 1-2 minutes. Mix together the softened cheese and chutney a little and enjoy!

I was surprised at how well the flavor of pineapple went with onion, ginger, and spices. Do you have any recommendations for surprisingly delicious combinations? As always, let me know if you try this and what you think of it!

Pineapple & Hibiscus Chutney

 

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Recipe type: condiment

Ingredients

• ¼ cup dried flor de jamaica flowers
• 2 cups pineapple chunks (canned–no sugar added–or fresh)
• ⅔ cup chopped sweet onion
• ¼ cup white wine vinegar
• ¼ cup water
• 2 tablespoons fresh ginger, finely chopped
• ½ teaspoon sea salt
• ¼ cup honey
• 1 tablespoon sweet mango hot sauce
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• ½ teaspoon paprika
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon coriander
• ¼ teaspoon cumin
• ¼ teaspoon allspice

Instructions

1. Combine all the ingredients in a heavy saucepan and heat on the stove on high until it boils, stirring often.
2. When the mixture begins to boil, reduce the heat to medium-low and allow it to simmer for 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Remove from heat and cool.

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