I'm on my last day in Belize, leaving tomorrow. And I have to say that I had a great time here, and will miss it when I go back.
I finished by spending approximately one week in San Pedro (were it happened also to be carnival), one week of inland trips, mostly around San Ignacio, plus one week with ReefCI. And I am now resting and spending the weekend in Placencia.
For a quick recap, in case in interests future travelers here:
In San Pedro, I went diving with Chuck & Robbies. They were absolutely great and had a great time with them. They really help me go over my nervousness the first couple of days (it was my first time diving since certification). I also loved how they kept the groups smalls, and were really accomodating. I also think I feel in love with the reef over there, and can't wait to go back (which is not going to be an easy trip for me. Coming here from Asia is quite a long and expensive trip...). But I'm sure I will one day, since I promised a friend we'll come back here together one day.
With ReefCI, I had a lot of fun learning how to spearfish lionfishes and learning also a lot about fishes, corals, lobsters, etc. The marine biologist there did quite a good job answering (almost) all of my crazy questions. The remoteness and castaway feeling was quite nice, and it did help me (a little) with trying to disconnect.
Regarding non-diving activities, watching carnival and people spraying paint at each other was fun. I also visited Lamanai, the zoo, the baboon sanctuary, cave-tubbing, the ATM caves, Caracol and Xunantunich. I loved all of that. And I am absolutely amazed at the quantity and quality of wildlife here, as well as the beauty of the environment. Currently living in China, where the ecological situation is absolutely incomparable, I must say that I found this absolutely amazing. I do travel a lot, and seen a lot of beautiful places, but I really loved it here.
I also loved learning about the Mayas, of whom I really didn't know much (I am really much more versed in Asian, and especially China's, history and culture). I found them absolutely fascinating.
But mostly, I met a lot of great persons here. I had a great time with them, made new friends, and got invited to dive again with several of them. So I know I'll have several dive buddies waiting for me when I ever come back, or maybe if they ever come to Asia (or any other place). We do have a few ideas of trips we'd like to take, now we just have to make them a reality.