Tag: Tourist

It was UnBelizable

At the start of Feb 2025, Alaskan Airlines had a three day sale to some remote places, one of which was Belize. We had never been there, and we did just renew our passports, so I booked my wife and I a trip, we went near the end of Feb. it was Increasable, or as the people in Belize say, “it was UnBelizable”. We stayed 6 days and 5 nights. Our hotel was the Ramada Princess in Belize City.

Sunrise the first day

On our first day, I had scheduled a “Three in one” tour with Belize Fun Tours, Adrian was our driver, both he and the tours were great, First we went to Alt Un Ha Mayan ruins. It was our first time to a Mayan ruins. Some of the steps were a little narrow, and there were no rails climbing to the top, but it was great.

Second we went to the Belize zoo. If you have ever seen the movie “We bought a zoo”, it kind of got its start similar. There was a lady that want to help the animals, so she started helping and saving them, them it turned into a zoo. Really fun area, good for a family. There were lots of signs and lots of native birds and animals.

Our third stop was cave tubing on a river through a dark cave systems. It was about a half hour hike, carrying a innertube before we entered the river, but it was well worth it.

Our next day started off going on another tout through Belize Fun Tours, this time our driver and guide was Greg. He took us to see a area that had Howler Monkeys living in the wild. That also was a little hike on uneven terrain but again, very much worth it. It the

Afternoon of the same day we went on a Belize city tour, it was educational and we learned how rum was made.

The Third day we took a 1 hour ferry ride to a near by island, Caye Caulker. There we went on a half day snorkeling adventure, with Caye Caulker Snorkeling. I am not much of a swimmer, so I was a little hesitant. Though before we went on the trip I had thought there might be a chance of snorkeling, so I bought us both a full face snorkel mask. Very wise investment, highly recommend if you are going to snorkel. I did not drink any sea water, and the mask was easier to use and easier to learn on. We made 4 stops, the first was bout waste deep and there were sting rays and nurse sharks around us. The second was deeper, though they offered me a fife vest, this one we stayed in the boat. The third was about 4 to 5 feet and it was nice, then they took us looking for manatees, though we did not find any. Then we had a chance to feed both Frigate birds and Tarpon fish. Then we returned back to Belize City on the ferry.

Next day we mostly rested, though I went out and took some bird pictures. We fly back on the day after. Going down we flew from Ketchikan to Seattle to Los Angeles. On our Return trip we flew from Belize city to Seattle to Ketchikan. It was a adventure that if you have the opportunity, we suggest that you do. Belize it or not.

A few more things, First we did not rent a car, and glad that we didn’t, speed limit signs and yellow lines are suggestions there, Drivers there pass each other when ever then want. We only saw one accident while we were there, and were told that they really don’t have too many. In the cities there were bicyclist and a lot of dogs in many of the streets, so drive defensively, if you do drive. Second, there were lots of churches, every denomination that we could think of, it seemed, could be found there. Also many of the churches had private schools attached to them, for the kids. This also was nice to see.

In closing attached are links to the reviews that we did, and a few other links that we did:

Belize fun tours: https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g291968-d6884552-r995189868-Belize_Fun_Tours-Belize_City_Belize_District.html

Howler monkey tour: https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g291968-d16858179-r996296210-Smart_Travel_Belize-Belize_City_Belize_District.html

Belize Zoo: https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g10158066-d300169-r995187439-The_Belize_Zoo-La_Democracia_Belize_District.html

Cave tubing: https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g291968-d17701730-r995190666-Cavetubing5star_com-Belize_City_Belize_District.html

Caye Caulker snorkeling: https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g291963-d27164116-r996299646-Black_Lion_Adventures-Caye_Caulker_Belize_Cayes.html

Some food reviews: https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g291968-d12717515-r995186622-MOE_S_Pizza_Grill-Belize_City_Belize_District.html

Some of our other pictures: https://fineartamerica.com/featured/a-belize-male-iguana-steve-speights.html

https://fineartamerica.com/featured/howler-monkey-belize-steve-speights.html

https://fineartamerica.com/featured/panaromic-alt-un-ha-belize-steve-speights.html

https://fineartamerica.com/featured/alt-un-ha-entrance-belize-steve-speights.html

Tourist

“Tourist” is not a bad word. It can be said, at times, so that it does sound like a a bad word. “look at how they are driving, they must be a tourist”, “That person has a few cameras, they must be a tourist”. “Tourists, should go home and leave our town/city/state alone”. Traveling is and can be fun. Being a tourist can be exciting and fun also. AS a tourist, I have hiked, snuba dived, in the Bahamas, explored caves and caravans in Mexico, I have zip lined, Used a wave runner in the Bahamas, Explored volcanoes in Hawaii, took a tour of Puerto Rico, took another tour in Mexico, walked the beach in Haiti, walked the beaches in Hawaii, traveled across the international date line, took many of pictures, and spent money in each and every community we visited. Tourism can help states, countries, and the local economy. Yes it can also hurt the same, it can destroy nature, it can cause many of headaches. Living in a tourist area, I have seen both good and bad. Every where my wife and I go, we are always telling those that we meet that we are from Alaska. Often it will open a chance for people that have not been to Alaska to ask questions. Sometimes we share some of the lies and misconceptions about our area (Ketchikan). Alaska is on many peoples bucket list. We are proud that we have had a chance to live here. We enjoy being a traveler, a tourist, but we also enjoy being an ambassador for Alaska. There often is a energy and excitement when people travel. Our advice to those we encounter is just to make it happen, don’t continually put it off. No one is promised tomorrow. As I told our granddaughter the other day, today is a gift, that’s whys its called the present. Don’t let fear still your dreams, your things on your bucket list.

Instagram pictures

So a while back we had our portfolio on Zenfolilo, that cost over $100 a year, since our return on that was almost non existent, we cancelled that. since then we have displayed some of our pictures on Instagram, here is the link to it. If your looking for pictures of cruise ships, Alaska sunrise or sunsets, totem poles, eagles, black bears, or some travel pictures let us know. Trying to make it so that people can order digital copies of our pictures, without the watermarks, to use as they see fit or just to print and display.

https://www.instagram.com/sp8s_studio/

Shirt designs

So with all this extra time, I designed a few shirt designs that make a statement. If your interested I can also put the designs on lots of other products, ie hats, phone cases, pillows, lights, clocks and much more, just leave a message, thanks.

Conway Railroad NH

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A few years ago we were in the Eastern states on a road trip from NY to maine back to NY. While traveling thru NH we made plans to ride the Conway railroad. It was during the fall colors. There are different lengths of trips, depending if you want a scenic trip or if you want to take a train trip from one place to another. It would have been nice had we more time for a longer trip, but I believe we took about a three or so, hour-long round trip. I would recommend this if you’re in that part of the country.

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